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Show HN: Terra Firma, a playable erosion simulation

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Re: Show HN: Terra Firma, a playable erosion simulation

#51

Post by ModernMech »

awelxtr wrote: post #13
greggsy wrote: post #8

I like poking around with these sorts of sandboxes, but in order to gamify it, you might need some objectives, limitations and planning goals, eg: - you have a limited amount of some mineral or rock that erodes quicker or slower than others, and you need to move water from one location to another. - there is a magma chamber growing under a mountain. Move the villagers out of harms way / destroy enemies. - introduce s…

Why do they need to gamefy it? Toys as townscaper exist and have received positive feedback.

My favorite aspect of this game is that it’s not actually a game, and more like a zen garden. Adding more game elements would ruin that aspect.

Re: Show HN: Terra Firma, a playable erosion simulation

#52

Post by hutzlibu »

krageon wrote: post #33
throwaway290 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of us prefer open ended sandboxes/simulators like Minecraft, C:S, flight sims. Following game designer gets boring fast, setting own goals is always fun Speaking of CS, I wish this simulator had heightmap export.

Minecraft has a story and an ending, with the opportunity to get there as you'd like. Why not have this for this game?

Not the original Minecraft.

Re: Show HN: Terra Firma, a playable erosion simulation

#53

Post by benj111 »

gremlinsinc wrote: post #37
benj111 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an accountant. I really /really/ want to play an accounting game. (I'm not an accountant, although I have partially trained as one)

I'm bad at managing my own money, I'm wondering though if a game that sneakily teaches budgeting etc might be good, maybe call it 'the American dream' and it's basically the Sims but with real expectations on how life will play out with random tragedies etc.... car breaks down. it could even include wages from statistical sites and mortgages and rent pegged to the national average, as well as healthcare.

where are you from? im sure someone could suggest a good website for managing money.

from the sounds of it you know what the problem is, and judging by the site this is posted on you have the skills/intelligence so open up a spreadsheet and get to work.

i found the mr money mustache site quite useful on the motivation front fwiw.

Re: Show HN: Terra Firma, a playable erosion simulation

#56

Post by Hortinstein »

notahacker wrote: post #49
gampleman wrote: post #30

Actually if this had a good export feature, this could be a very useful tool for other level designers to start crafting their imaginary worlds in a way that those worlds make logical sense. Especially if you could mod in/script/configure strange flora/fauna, this could be a great tool.

You could contact Neal Stephenson and see if he actually wants to build the geologically accurate MMORPG called T'Rain...

know this book wasnt his best, but I really enjoyed it. I wonder if he had heard about dwarf fortress when writing that section

Re: Show HN: Terra Firma, a playable erosion simulation

#57

Post by letsburnthis »

Just a heads up, I think there's a couple typos on your steam page. In the second bullet point it says "Observe the ecosystem respond to the availability of water. Plants automatically -gross- across the -lanscape-..."

Cool idea and thanks for sharing. I'm definitely going to give it whirl.

Re: Show HN: Terra Firma, a playable erosion simulation

#58

Post by mehwoot »

gampleman wrote: post #30

Actually if this had a good export feature, this could be a very useful tool for other level designers to start crafting their imaginary worlds in a way that those worlds make logical sense. Especially if you could mod in/script/configure strange flora/fauna, this could be a great tool.

Do you have any idea of what you'd want to import it into?

I get this feedback a lot, but I'm unsure what formats would be most useful- there are a lot of different heightmap / GIS formats to choose from.

Re: Show HN: Terra Firma, a playable erosion simulation

#59

Post by mehwoot »

throwaway290 wrote: post #14
greggsy wrote: post #8

I like poking around with these sorts of sandboxes, but in order to gamify it, you might need some objectives, limitations and planning goals, eg: - you have a limited amount of some mineral or rock that erodes quicker or slower than others, and you need to move water from one location to another. - there is a magma chamber growing under a mountain. Move the villagers out of harms way / destroy enemies. - introduce s…

Plenty of us prefer open ended sandboxes/simulators like Minecraft, C:S, flight sims. Following game designer gets boring fast, setting own goals is always fun Speaking of CS, I wish this simulator had heightmap export.

this

I might gamify it a little bit more, but personally I love the fun that comes from exploring a set of mechanics by yourself without anyone telling you what you're trying to achieve.

My aim is to build a set of simulation mechanics that are accurate enough to teach you a little bit about how the processes work in real life but also responsive enough to let you play around with them and create what you'd like.

Re: Show HN: Terra Firma, a playable erosion simulation

#60

Post by mehwoot »

bradbeattie wrote: post #47

Any plans on dealing with topsoil vs bedrock? Seeing water only on the surface above what looks like an impermeable layer looks odd to me, unless I'm misreading the video.

Yes. Plus different rocks types, since how different rocks respond to erosion is an important factor in why the world looks the way it does.
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