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You will have to start over, it will be a totally different game.

In terms of graphics, this is the tech demo I planned to start with as the base and then work from there:
https://demos.littleworkshop.fr/infinitown

The 3d visual is a nice touch. But.. the map structure is still bi-dimensional / mono-layer? like, underground structure: water / sewer pipes, electrical connections, internet, underground trains, etc. Or raised structures.

Omg yes. Keep up the good work. I'm sad that so little people actually play My Colony. It's the best simulation game out there! And suggestion for MC2 - please make deleting a single pavement possible (like you delete other stuff like ore deposits)

Thanks @itsLiseczeq

@Ansom I can add an underground layer no, no problem.

I am considering making a major change to the concept of a game file in MC2. Instead of the current region/city model, I am considering doing infinite (or at least way larger) sized procedurally generated planets, sort of like a world is generated in Minecraft. The map would be loaded in "chunks" like in Minecraft and so the engine would only actively process the chunks that are near currently have active players. Other areas of the map might process in the background on a less frequent interval.

In this way, it would be easy (well, easier) to have multiple players on the same map in real-time.

For performance, all game processing will be done in a separate worker script, the way it is currently handled in Epic Adventure, Colony Wars, and My Empire. Those games all separate out the client/server code, which makes implementation of real-time multiplayer a lot easier.

My thought is that players could create a local game file. Others could join their game if they choose to and start their own settlement somewhere on the planet. If somebody else has a settlement on another players local game file, the server player would have to be online for everyone to play. Each player would have their own resource pool, although that might be customizable on a per-game basis.

Players would also be able to download the server code and install it on their own box, running their own private server if they wanted to. In theory a single privately run server could host multiple planets as well, with trade networks between them, just depends on how powerful the server is. A private server hosted on a powerful PC or cloud hosting service should be able to handle quite a few players at once. The operator would be able to set custom parameters for the universe and assign other operators.

I have been thinking of ways to decentralize the multiplayer experience in MC2, so there is no single point of failure as there is in MC1. It would also lower my costs, and private server operators could take care of administration in their own servers. I think designing it this way from the start will allow for a pretty robust multiplayer experience.

Of course, you can always just play offline too, or in your own household via LAN. But I do like the idea of scrapping the region/city concept and replacing it with an entire planet concept, that just keeps loading new chunks as you scroll through the world. To me it is more realistic. And a single planet can now have multiple biomes, different resources in different parts of the world that you will have to build trade/transit networks to utilize.

Anyway, I have a lot of plans for MC2. It's not just going to be MC1 with 3d graphics. There are a lot of things I have wanted to implement that would have been too hard to just nail on to the existing game engine.

Interesting, so will the servers work like in Minecraft? Or will we need to have a game file ? (if we aren't the server owner obvsly)

bastecklein said:powerful PC [...] should be able to handle quite a few players at once

Did you mean planets at once?
Also thats great because if the simulation is mostly handled by the server and the client only does displaying, it would lower the inequality between mobile and PC players (if i understood correctly).


And what about the global market ? I guess it will be amongst same-server players otherwise cheating will be very easy as we have access to the server.
Maybe server owners can setup some kind of special trade routes between 2 servers if they trust each other.

bastecklein said:I do like the idea of scrapping the region/city concept and replacing it with an entire planet concept, that just keeps loading new chunks as you scroll through the world. To me it is more realistic. And a single planet can now have multiple biomes, different resources in different parts of the world that you will have to build trade/transit networks to utilize.

I love it !

@Sobeirannovaocc the game file information would be saved on the server or whichever device is acting as the server. So if somebody set up a dedicated MC2 server on their PC or on a cloud solution, the game data would only be stored on that particular device, which means that if the server operator does a backup of the data, he would be in effect doing a backup for everybody on the server as well.

You are right that a good server should also provide good performance to all clients, as all the clients really have to take care of is the rendering. And since the server does not have to process any rendering, it should be able to handle quite a bit, since it's essentially just processing a bunch of building and population statistics in the background, and keeping track of what is getting built.

Of course pathfinding would be the slowest operation that it has to do, although I am considering taking some of the emphasis off of having a ton of rovers.

Actually, I can see that there is a lot to discuss concerning MC2, so I am just going to add a new MC2 section to the forum.

I would like to request you make one more project with scroll2D before you move on to making My Colony 2. I know this is a huge request but this idea will be loved by everyone. My idea is that you make a version of scroll 2d that has the building/recource/rovers/tech system from my colony, but has no actual content. Instead, the player can upload textures for buildings, rovers, or resources they with to create. This would allow us to create our own antiquitas or my colony style of game. The file with all the images and code that makes up the content (buildings and stuff) could be exported so other people could try it. We would define all the terrain types and species types. Each one would, like in my colony, generate a tech base which we could make rovers based off of. Each species/terrain combo we could define what buildings and vehicles start in the starting area. Each species/civilization would of course have a list of which types of terrain they could colonize (like the planets in my colony). We could have a checkbox option for the different features like crime and stuff, but we would have to define what buildings do. We could define how having different amounts of certain resources affects the terrain and build options, like the atmosphere in my colony. I understand this is a large request but I know for sure many people would like it. There would of course be an area where you play the game and an area where you create the stuff. I would recommend you allow us to define different terrain types, so like how there is normal land and water in my colony. This would allow for people to make really cool games and share them without having to learn a lot of complicated coding. Also, this would allow everyone to make their own games with scroll 2d without you having to publish the source code. It would be a lot of work but I think it would be worth it for you. You could charge between $5 - $20 for it, depending on how many of the features I said you actually added. @bastecklein .

also maybe make a Nintendo switch version of My Colony 2? Just an idea