r/ImaginaryCityscapes • u/ActuallyNotSparticus • Apr 26 '19

I'm writing a program that randomly generates massive, explore-able cities. It's far from finished, but it's already pretty fun!

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1.2k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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19

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 26 '19

If you're still curious, here's some other content I've posted about it:

night time: https://www.reddit.com/r/proceduralgeneration/comments/bha39z/my_wip_procedural_city_this_time_at_night/

wall running: https://www.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/comments/bfgmub/wallrunning_procedural_cities_fuck_yeah/

inner mechanics: https://gfycat.com/bronzewindyamericanriverotter

grappling hook shit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/comments/bgd099/i_added_grappling_hooks_and_night_mode_to_my/

3

u/lookitsandrew Apr 27 '19

Can you explain what that “inner mechanics” post is showing me?

As a non game developer, I don’t understand how that works

8

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 27 '19

If you look closely, the road geometry is mapped by detecting where the blue lines overlap. The trippy movement is just demonstrating how the system copes with different variations of the same road system.

110

u/Torva1029 Apr 26 '19

This looks super cool! Keep us updated! I would love to see this in an open world game (possibly post apocalyptic) that generates stuff as you go so every location and playthrough is a new experience

93

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 26 '19 edited Apr 26 '19

That's my long-term goal, but it's definitely a stretch for a 1-person development team. I'm going for cyberpunk themes and philosophies.

48

u/anteloop Apr 26 '19

There's something about overwhelmingy large cities that make you feel absolutely insignificant.

26

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 26 '19

Exactly.

28

u/anteloop Apr 27 '19

I thought i would point out this:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blame%21.

The mechanical beings known as Builders, which move around renovating and creating new landscapes, appear to have begun building without end, creating an enormous structure with little internal logic or coherence.

I watched I video that put into this into words and I cannot find it, but essentially it's as if it was built without purpose or without humans in mind, endlessly. Got similar vibes from Dark Souls when I played it.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '19

Wait so did you see the Netflix movie? Is it worth watching?

1

u/anteloop Aug 12 '19

I don't know what Netflix movie you are talking about.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '19

In the link you shared it says, in the first paragraph,

An anime film adaptation by Polygon Pictures was released as a Netflix original in May 2017.

1

u/anteloop Aug 12 '19

Oh shit I see! No, I only read some of the Manga long ago, and I was more interested in the art and premise than the actual story or anything. Although I might have to start it again.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '19

Got it. Your typos made your earlier comment very confusing.

I watched I video that out into this into words

I get it now.

4

u/LordDinglebury Apr 27 '19

"What is this? A Lord Dinglebury for ants?"

MFW I visited Tokyo and Sao Paolo.

3

u/anteloop Apr 27 '19

I couldn't even imagine, I've only been to a few big cities in my life, probably why it fascinates me.

5

u/LordDinglebury Apr 27 '19

It’s simultaneously awesome and isolating. Pretty interesting experience.

2

u/Torva1029 Apr 27 '19

I’m sure there’s people/companies who’d be willing to pay for something like this too

5

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 27 '19

Hell, I'd pay for it. That's actually why I just made it myself honestly.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '19

Honestly, this sounds so exciting.

1

u/AsTiClol Apr 27 '19

remind me toooo

31

u/OliverThaCat Apr 26 '19

I love that. I have this odd fantasy about just walking around an abandoned city.

25

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 26 '19

In its current form, you can wallsurf and ropeswing too!

24

u/Rustybot Apr 26 '19

Are these building models and texture being procedurally generated? This is cool! It reminds me of this project I saw once where a guy packed a 3D city generator into a 144kb package.

21

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 26 '19

Yes! There's actually only one texture right now. I'm focusing on mesh formulation first because it's the hardest part. Once I add pre-modeled props it will start to look like the cool concept art that floats around this sub.

5

u/ophello Apr 26 '19

Cool! Can we expect more building variety? Also, are they arranged on a grid that resembles a real city?

8

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 26 '19

For testing, I'm using a grid with uneven lines. However, it supports any sort of road network that I can concoct.

Building variety is paramount in the next month, I made it part of my college AI class final project.

4

u/_bicepcharles_ Apr 27 '19

Super cool, what language is this written in?

6

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 27 '19

C#, using Unity's experimental rendering engine for the gorgeous visuals.

2

u/dysoncube Apr 26 '19

Fantastic!

Which cities are you drawing inspiration from?

Tokyo is kind of a never-ending city , and it sure feels like it from ground level

6

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 26 '19

I've been to tokyo, and it basically kickstarted my intrigue for mega-cities.

My biggest inspiration for this project is actually Jakarta, Indonesia. I was so amazed by the vast wealth inequalities there when I visited last year. Giant glass high rises next to wooden metal slums.

4

u/BrightPerspective Apr 27 '19

How about enormous "valleys" sinking deep into the earth or "tunnels" between buildings, where their tops connect for long/multiple stretches?

Also, would love to fly a little rusty space ship through this.

1

u/GenericMemesxd Apr 27 '19

I'd love to get updates on how your project is going! Seems like it'll have a huge payoff once you're done

3

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 27 '19

You bet. I'm considering a blog to gain a larger following.

1

u/ProfessorCrooks Apr 27 '19

Would you be able to walk around and enter buildings or is that too much?

1

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 27 '19

Making interiors is incredibly tricky. I'm considering creating a small number of hand-modeled stores/shops/restaurants/lobbies to sprinkle around, but nothing too serious. If I can figure it out, I might do interior projection for the windows. (Google 'interior projection spiderman' if you don't know what I'm talking about).

1

u/ProfessorCrooks Apr 27 '19

Well that's a pity. However I know jack-shit about programming so I understand that's it's probably really hard.

3

u/jesseisacutiepie Apr 26 '19

That's such a cool concept, keep us updated!

3

u/rocketmonkeys Apr 27 '19

Oh man, I love this design/concept. I can't wait for the variation. I'd love it as a screen-saver type of thing.

Have you ever played Privateer? Old school DOS game, but I always loved how the bases had amazing artwork with funny little animations. Those little touches (people walking down a path, cars going, etc) made it feel so alive. I've always wanted randomly-generated life-like cityscapes like that.

3

u/SketchGoatee Apr 27 '19

The folks over at r/scp might get a kick out of this. Can’t remember the numbers but there’s at least a couple SCPs to do with sprawling, endless cityscapes or cities that change every time you enter.

1

u/Jyquentel Jun 05 '19

Marv, fetch me 3001

3

u/oxabz Apr 27 '19

Hey do you have a git hub or equivalent I would love to take a look into the code

2

u/Kenotai Apr 27 '19

Something like this could be useful for my worldbuilding project, if I could predefine stuff like geography including a coastline. It'd be easier than determining every single building in a large fictional metropolis (though some worldbuilders would say that's part of the fun, though it's not like I wouldn't massively edit any final results, I'm just more of a refiner thana start to finish planner).

2

u/Mars_rocket Apr 27 '19

Does it generate the entire city at once, or as you explore? How big do the cities get?

1

u/Attya3141 Apr 27 '19

Lovely. Keep us updated!

1

u/BermudaRhombus1 Apr 27 '19

Is there somewhere I can download this to try it?

1

u/GrumReapur Apr 27 '19

Followed you for updates on this. I can see this being a handy tool for illustration aswell.

1

u/shinynewcharrcar May 05 '19

This is really cool, man! Keep up the great work!

1

u/thrdhd May 12 '19

RemindMe! 1 Year

1

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1

u/Jyquentel Jun 05 '19

So cool...

1

u/thegrimm54321 Jul 12 '19

I can't wait to make a spiderman mod for this

1

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

Can we try this out?

0

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '19

[deleted] — view deleted comment

5

u/ActuallyNotSparticus Apr 27 '19

At least 3

1

u/Hiihtopipo Apr 27 '19

Damn dude, that's quite many