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Subway Builder: A realistic subway simulation game

subwaybuilder.com

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Re: Subway Builder: A realistic subway simulation game

#101

Post by as1mov »

rustystump wrote: post #95
999900000999 wrote: post #63

I like the idea. But this is a very weird way to sell a game. 1st, we have Steam. That's where I and most people buy games. 30$ for a random exe is going to be really inconvenient. Launch it on Steam at the same time, or at a minimum promise a key. It's also not clear why it's just a bunch of American cities, if you're pulling the data from Google anyway, any city ( within reason) should work. If you need additional…

Perhaps my most favorite game is not on steam and sold as a sketchy exe/jar file. I say more power to sketchy .exe game devs and down with steam. Now excuse me, my Pather friends called and there is a colony using ai which must be purged by Lud’s holy fire.

Ha I was going to mention Star Sector as an example of a great game that's not on Steam, but looks like you've already got that covered.

Highly recommended space sim for anyone else reading this!

Re: Subway Builder: A realistic subway simulation game

#102

Post by wiseowise »

0xbeefcab wrote: post #6
ivape wrote: post #4

What tech did you go with here?

Not my game, but the creator https://x.com/colin_d_m?lang=en posted a lot of tweets with technical details, also his website I think has some info. He had some pretty interesting methods for 3D building transparency and stuff like that

(It’s pure TS/JS with Electron, in case you don’t have Twitter account)

Re: Subway Builder: A realistic subway simulation game

#104

Post by rob74 »

tantalor wrote: post #7

In this genre, Mini Metro is really fun, highly recommend. https://dinopoloclub.com/games/mini-metro/

I had fun with Mini Metro for a while, but in the long run it's a really frustrating game, because it always ends in failure - you start with a few stations and a few lines, but the game keeps throwing more and more passengers at you until you end up frantically trying to plug the holes in your network or "rewiring" it on the spot, and sooner or later everything inevitably blows up in your face. Plus of course it's wildly unrealistic with the way you are able to just delete your existing "tracks" and instantly construct completely new connections between your stations out of thin air, or just "teleport" trains/carriages from one line to another.

Re: Subway Builder: A realistic subway simulation game

#105

Post by kkapelon »

rob74 wrote: post #104
tantalor wrote: post #7

In this genre, Mini Metro is really fun, highly recommend. https://dinopoloclub.com/games/mini-metro/

I had fun with Mini Metro for a while, but in the long run it's a really frustrating game, because it always ends in failure - you start with a few stations and a few lines, but the game keeps throwing more and more passengers at you until you end up frantically trying to plug the holes in your network or "rewiring" it on the spot, and sooner or later everything inevitably blows up in your face. Plus of course it's w…

>it's wildly unrealistic with the way you are able to just delete your existing "tracks" and construct completely new connections between your stations out of thin air

You can disable that in the settings.

Re: Subway Builder: A realistic subway simulation game

#106

Post by hatsuseno »

I'll be entirely honest here, this kind of game is generally up my alley but I clicked off when I came across the list of available cities to build in being exclusively in the US. Not even a fictional playground for messing around in the engine, just "US primacy or bust", doesn't inspire confidence for a full release down the line. Not that I don't understand why it's like this, pulling the required real-world data is hard enough as it is, but it will limit the market I think.

Re: Subway Builder: A realistic subway simulation game

#107

Post by jstummbillig »

noduerme wrote: post #83
jstummbillig wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The moment I have been waiting for: Top 1% player in all scenarios, both Mini Metro and Motorways. AMA. No, they are both really fun (and highly addictive in my case). I like that you can do a scenario in 30-ish minutes (and even pause if you need to). I personally prefer Motorways over Metro, but alas, both highly recommended. Fantastic game design.

Thanks! I've played the daily Mini Metro challenge for years and very rarely made it into the top 10%. I've gone through phases with widening loops, grids, etc. I always feel like there must be some mysterious "trick" I don't know. Questions: 1. How important is it to make sure you alternate symbols? (Beyond the obvious of not having 3 in a row). Do you go out of your way to avoid two in a row? 2. Is it better to put…

1. Alternation matters because circles spawn most often, triangles next, squares least. I avoid 3+ in a row almost religiously; 2 in a row is fine unless that segment is already stressed. If I can cheaply flip a segment into triangle-circle-triangle (or similar), I do it.

2. Where to put big junctions: Squares are rare magnets, so giving every line access to at least one square prevents square-bound riders from piling up on transfers. My "major" hub is usually a square near the geographic center or a bridge choke, and I try not to merge too many trunks into one block-split load across two nearby interchanges if possible. If you have special shapes (stars, etc.), connecting each special to exactly one line that meets others only at an interchange keeps flows predictable.

3. Crossing lines away from stations: It's not catastrophic, but on busy trunks the cumulative hit adds up. I'll avoid mid-block crossings on high-throughput segments; elsewhere I don't contort the whole map just to eliminate a single crossing. Net: treat it as a tax, pay it only when it saves tunnels or ugly detours.

4. Random station getting swamped: Triage in this order: turn it into an interchange (boarding speed), add a loco, then a carriage on the most burdened line, and only then re-route another line to cross it. If nothing stabilizes, drop a short "shuttle" micro-line from that station straight to a square/triangle sink, then delete it once the queue clears. Pausing to redraw aggressively is part of the game.

On those early "beginner's luck" highs: seed luck is real but also the game rewards ruthless mid-game rebuilds more than early cleverness. Don't be sentimental about lines-pause, re-lay, and keep every line touching a square.

I have not heard of or seen a secret level!

Re: Subway Builder: A realistic subway simulation game

#109

Post by fragmede »

hatsuseno wrote: post #106

I'll be entirely honest here, this kind of game is generally up my alley but I clicked off when I came across the list of available cities to build in being exclusively in the US. Not even a fictional playground for messing around in the engine, just "US primacy or bust", doesn't inspire confidence for a full release down the line. Not that I don't understand why it's like this, pulling the required real-world data i…

Maybe they'll come out with expansion packs.

Re: Subway Builder: A realistic subway simulation game

#110

Post by jstummbillig »

arh68 wrote: post #69
jstummbillig wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The moment I have been waiting for: Top 1% player in all scenarios, both Mini Metro and Motorways. AMA. No, they are both really fun (and highly addictive in my case). I like that you can do a scenario in 30-ish minutes (and even pause if you need to). I personally prefer Motorways over Metro, but alas, both highly recommended. Fantastic game design.

Wow. AMA, you say? When do you prefer loops, or lines? Additional lines, or carriages? How much do you tear down at once? if you don't mind me asking I'm like median on Metro, ~60 hours over years (though perhaps just the one hour, 60x, &c). Never too late to learn some strategy, I guess. Never played Motorways.

Loops vs lines: Loops only in a dense core where you can keep shapes alternating and include a square. Use lines for suburbcore and river hops.

Lines or carriages: Early add lines, midgame add a loco, then carriages on the trunk that is actually redlining. Late add an interchange at the first overloaded transfer before more cars.

Tear-down: Hm... how much, not sure how to quantify. Definitely something you must do in every long running game but the extend is different. As a heuristic: Pause and rebuild when queues outrun a single weekly upgrade. Reorder shapes, make sure every line touches a square, split any mega-hub into two nearby transfers.

As you probably have guessed: There is no real silver bullet. Knowing the best move is basically impossible, the space is too complex. As a most useful general skill, it's important to recognize problems very early and optimize ruthlessly.

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