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Convert SimCity 2000 cities into Minecraft worlds

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Re: Convert SimCity 2000 cities into Minecraft worlds

#41
post #37
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not playing Minecraft, but this has fascinated me from afar. AIUI, Microsoft has two teams on two different continents essentially developing two very similar but subtly incompatible versions of the same game. Funky. Do they share any code or formats? Are the client/server interoperable? Does the C++ one even have a server implementation?

I recently got into Minecraft due to kid reaching Minecraft age. I keep meaning to write an intro for technical parents, because it's very confusing at first. The original was written in Java, and people decompiled and reverse engineered it almost completely, so there are tons of mods that reach in and change things deeply. They then created MCPE (pocket edition) which was a "cut-down mobile edition". That evolved in…

> Mojang-provided servers ("Realms") are Bedrock

You can also rent a JAVA realm. And if you outgrow the realm (want to use mods), you can download the world and run it with a "real" (modded) server.

Modded servers are another rabbit hole...

Re: Convert SimCity 2000 cities into Minecraft worlds

#42

Very cool idea and execution. Slightly off-topic; if there ever was a excellent example of what it means when a C# program is being written by a java developer, this would certainly qualify. Was this ported from a java project?

When did we get C# devs flexing on Java devs? Isn't like that like a paint by numbers expert flexing on a paint by letters kinda person?

Re: Convert SimCity 2000 cities into Minecraft worlds

#43
post #37
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not playing Minecraft, but this has fascinated me from afar. AIUI, Microsoft has two teams on two different continents essentially developing two very similar but subtly incompatible versions of the same game. Funky. Do they share any code or formats? Are the client/server interoperable? Does the C++ one even have a server implementation?

I recently got into Minecraft due to kid reaching Minecraft age. I keep meaning to write an intro for technical parents, because it's very confusing at first. The original was written in Java, and people decompiled and reverse engineered it almost completely, so there are tons of mods that reach in and change things deeply. They then created MCPE (pocket edition) which was a "cut-down mobile edition". That evolved in…

Thank you for the high-effort comment!

Has there ever been any community-led effort to create and maintain a "Minecraft spec" (similar to the Tetris spec) and make an open source reference implementation, or is the game to complex for that?

Kind of surprising Mojang didn't go into that direction (e.g. to match Redstone behavior).

Re: Convert SimCity 2000 cities into Minecraft worlds

#44

Is this what “reticulating splines” means, then? Almost 30 years later and I still don’t understand but the phrase is eternally trapped in my mind.

I looked this up once to determine if it was real or just hilarity. And the answer is great. From [Sims Fandom](https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Reticulating_splines) site:

> The words 'reticulate' and 'spline' both have dictionary definitions, which has led several people to determine a meaning for the phrase, such as "to make a network of curved elements." However, Will Wright stated in an interview that the term itself is meaningless, as SimCity 2000 does not reticulate splines when generating terrain; the phrase was included in the game because it "sounded cool."

Re: Convert SimCity 2000 cities into Minecraft worlds

#45
post #5

This reminds me a lot of SimCopter (1996) where you could also import your SC2k city and fly around and do missions. Mostly about helping people in various forms of distress by picking them up and flying to various destinations. Great flashback from 90's gaming, I remember tossing people out at random when flying which was always hilarious when you're a young kid. You could then pick them up and fly them to the hospi…

SimCopter was actually the inspiration behind this project, but what annoyed me was that the buildings mostly looked nothing like in SimCity 2000.

Re: Convert SimCity 2000 cities into Minecraft worlds

#46
post #38
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://github.com/jgosar/mine-city-2000/blob/master/MineCit... contains "private byte[][][][][][][] _blockDatas;" which made my eye twitch. But generally I think it's just older than the git history indicates. The sln file mentions Visual Studio 2010!

Hi, I'm the author of this project. I actually coded most of it in 2014, i just did some refactoring and uploaded it to GitHub in 2019 after I mentioned it in a job interview and the guy asked if the code is uploaded anywhere so he could look at it.

Hi jgosar, and thanks for joining into the discussion :D

I figure you noticed the drastic increase in repo activity and stars. What's your own opinion on java-ness of the code? Do you feel it is an accurate assessment?

I hope you didn't take it personal, I've most certainly done similar things when I learned C# after doing java for the initial university courses.

Re: Convert SimCity 2000 cities into Minecraft worlds

#48
post #44

Is this what “reticulating splines” means, then? Almost 30 years later and I still don’t understand but the phrase is eternally trapped in my mind.

I looked this up once to determine if it was real or just hilarity. And the answer is great. From [Sims Fandom]( https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Reticulating_splines ) site: > The words 'reticulate' and 'spline' both have dictionary definitions, which has led several people to determine a meaning for the phrase, such as "to make a network of curved elements." However, Will Wright stated in an interview that the term its…

It sounds cool indeed. That's why this project includes a reticulateSplines method :)

https://github.com/jgosar/mine-city-2000/blob/master/MineCit...

Re: Convert SimCity 2000 cities into Minecraft worlds

#49
post #5

This reminds me a lot of SimCopter (1996) where you could also import your SC2k city and fly around and do missions. Mostly about helping people in various forms of distress by picking them up and flying to various destinations. Great flashback from 90's gaming, I remember tossing people out at random when flying which was always hilarious when you're a young kid. You could then pick them up and fly them to the hospi…

> Playclassic.games does not intend to violate any copyright or violate any license of a game.

I thought there was a chance this site might have arranged licenses from the original publishers, funded by revenue from the (many) ads, but no, it appears to be good old fashioned piracy.

Edit: I tried Settlers, which has one of those copy-protection systems that involves entering information that can be found in the printed manual. Either I got very lucky, or this game has been cracked. Or, as the site euphemises it, “unblocked”.

Now, I’m sympathetic to the cause of video game preservation and use of abandonware, but the second you put ads around it and make money off it for yourself, you cross a line.

Re: Convert SimCity 2000 cities into Minecraft worlds

#50
post #49
post #5

This reminds me a lot of SimCopter (1996) where you could also import your SC2k city and fly around and do missions. Mostly about helping people in various forms of distress by picking them up and flying to various destinations. Great flashback from 90's gaming, I remember tossing people out at random when flying which was always hilarious when you're a young kid. You could then pick them up and fly them to the hospi…

> Playclassic.games does not intend to violate any copyright or violate any license of a game. I thought there was a chance this site might have arranged licenses from the original publishers, funded by revenue from the (many) ads, but no, it appears to be good old fashioned piracy. Edit: I tried Settlers, which has one of those copy-protection systems that involves entering information that can be found in the print…

Plus, intent isn’t relevant. If the copyright holder doesn’t pursue, you’re fine. If they base their decision on “intent,” then fine.

Infringement is infringement, intentional or not.

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