Creating a realistic urban environment can be a challange. Especially at a 1:1 scale. Leveraging the power of OpenStreetMap vector data, we craft our buildings with precision and detail.
But that's not all! đ
With the integration of the Houdini engine, we take our simulation to the next level. All non-landmark buildings are meticulously generated by spawning instances of wall elements, ensuring a diverse and authentic cityscape for you to drive through.
See you in Barcelona.
Hasta La Proxima,
Mike
Taxi Life: Developer Blog #14
Hello Drivers!
We're back again with another exciting update on our progress with the development of the game! As we continue to fine-tune and enhance the gameplay, weâre thrilled to share some of the new features and improvements we've been working on. So, let's get into the latest updates:
Driving Model Fixes
We've made substantial improvements to our driving model. Our team has been working hard on refining the physics and tweaking the handling to ensure that the driving experience is as immersive and responsive as possible. We believe you'll enjoy the nuanced and authentic feel of driving mechanics when you get behind the wheel.
New Vehicle Alert
WE've added a new vehicle into Taxi Life. It's sleek, it's fast, and it's all set to bring an extra dose of thrill to your driving experience. We can't wait for you to discover and drive this new addition to our vehicle lineup! But remember, always follow the rules of the road in and outside of Taxi Life đ
AI Improvements
Our AI has also received a significant upgrade. The aim here isn't just about upping the challenge, but also about making the game world feel more dynamic and alive. With smarter traffic patterns and more lifelike pedestrian behavior, we're striving to create a rich and immersive urban environment for you to navigate.
New Voice Overs
We added new voice overs for the passangers as well as the new tutorial guide. We hope you'll enjoy them when you get your hands on the game and let us know what your thoughts are on what you hear in the video below.
Tutorial Update
Tutorials are crucial to any simulation game and that's why we've added a new tutorial to guide newcomers through the game mechanics. It's currently in the polishing stage, and we're making sure it's as helpful and comprehensive as possible. We'll be sharing more information on the status of the tutortial in the coming days/weeks.
Thank you!
As always, we're very greatful for the feedback you all have been giving us throughout this time. Keep the comments and feedback coming and remember Taxi Life is coming at the end of 2023 so make sure to wishlist if you haven't already. Stay up to date with the latest news and updates from the Simteract team, please join our Discord and follow us on Twitter.
P.S.
There have been some people asking about livestreams. We've had a bit of a break on streams, but we're coming back with more live content for you all very soon. Stay tuned!
Hasta La Proxima,
Michal Simteract Community Manager
Taxi Life Developer Blog #13
Hello Drivers!
We are thrilled to announce a series of updates that we have implemented in our game to enhance your gaming experience. Our team has been hard at work making improvements, and we can't wait to share them with you. So, without further ado, here are the latest additions and changes:
Menu Improvements
We have thoroughly overhauled the menu interface to enhance both its aesthetics and usability, making sure that your navigation throughout the game is as seamless as possible. Here's a detailed look at the changes we've made.
Streamlined layout: We have reorganized the menu layout to be more intuitive, with logically grouped and clearly labeled options. This makes it easier for you to find and access the features you need without any unnecessary confusion.
Visually appealing design: Our design team has worked diligently to create a visually engaging menu interface. The new design not only looks great but also contributes to an enjoyable and immersive gaming experience.
Manual Saving Option and New Task Spawning System
In response to your suggestions, we've incorporated a manual saving function, granting you greater flexibility in determining when and where to save your progress. Furthermore, we are currently developing a new and enhanced task spawning system for the game. Once implemented, this updated system will supersede the previous one, offering a more captivating and dynamic experience as you advance through the game.
Enhanced Car Controls Quick Looks Feature
We've significantly enhanced both gamepad and keyboard controls, resulting in a more engaging and reactive driving experience. In addition, we've addressed and incorporated the quick looks feature to improve situational awareness during gameplay. This function enables you to swiftly survey the surroundings, simplifying the process of strategizing your moves and responding to obstacles.
Camera Operation and Rotation
We've improved the camera operation, resulting in a smoother and more user-friendly movement. We've introduced camera rotation during turns and we believe this addition heightens the sense of immersion, giving you the feeling of being in complete control of your vehicle.
Thank you!
We hope you're as excited about these updates as we are! Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we are committed to continually improving the game based on your input. So, please keep the suggestions coming, and thank you for your continued support!
Hasta La Proxima,
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Dev Blog #12 | Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator
Hello Drivers!
We've been busy working on some exciting updates to our game over the past month or so and based off of last Mondays livestream, we think you're going to love what we have in store for you. Here's a rundown of some of the latest changes and improvements that we've made.
Core Loop Improvements
The core gameplay loop in Taxi Life is going to be super important so we must make sure that itâs working correctly. We've removed loads of common issues and now you can easily pick up and drop off clients. We've also improved the AI traffic flow and will be further improving it later down the line. The AI traffic and pedestrians is what makes the city of Barcelona feel alive and we hope players will get immersed in the city when the game launches.
Garage Panel Improvements
Weâve restored the Garage panel to the game. You can easily enter the garage, repair, refuel, and clean your car, check its parameters, and even buy a new one. Plus, we're adding more features in upcoming updates, so stay tuned!
Skill Tree Improvements
Now we mentioned this in the past about the skill tree being added into the game, and now, itâs ready to be used. The experience you're gaining is going to be put to good use and you will gain experience points as you level up to fill up that skill tree and progress your game. Plus, we've added basic menus, so you can change resolution, load quick saves, and auto-saves with ease.
Charging Stations and Keeping your Car Clean
Want to make your car look like it's fresh out of the showroom? We've implemented a dirt and cleaning mechanic! The car can get dirty, and you can use the car wash to clean it. You can also clean the car in the garage, and you can even charge EVs at gas/charge stations. We've got you covered, no matter what kind of vehicle you're driving.
Car Model Improvements
We've also added some new cars to the game and now they are fully functional from both cabin and TPP view. We've also added the small city car (the blue one you guys may have seen in our previos social media posts) with a few things left to fix in the cabin, but it's ready for you to take for a spin.
Collectibles
We've hidden some collectibles in the game world, just for you! If you're in range of one of them, hold down the action button to get some EXP. It's a way to level up, and we've got some tweaks planned, so keep an eye out for those!
Miscellaneous Changes
We've made loads of smaller and bigger fixes, like map visual improvements and new levels. They look great, thanks to our LA and LD teams, but all levels are still under construction. And we've improved the controls for wheel support. It's better now, but we're still going to be working on it in the future.
Thank You!
We hope you're as excited about these updates as we are! Weâre planning on releasing Taxi Life at the end of this year and we just wanted to thank the community for sticking with us throughout the entire development process for Taxi Life. Make sure to follow us on our socials and join our Discord to stay up to date with the latest news and updates from our team.
Hasta La Proxima,
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Taxi Life | Developer Blog #11
Greetings Drivers!
Weâre back again with another Developer Blog for you all today and weâre going to be covering things that we talked about in last nights livestream which you can check out by clicking here as well as some thing that we didnât cover yet such as improvements with the AI, implementing the new car wash in our build and much more. So, with that out of the way, letâs dive right in!
The Garage
The Garage has been reworked several times during the process of development in pre-alpha. At one point, we had to completely remove it from the building to start from scratch. Now, itâs nicely taking shape and players can now choose the type of vehicle they want to buy and sell, with some stats to the side showing the efficiency and power of the vehicle theyâre buying, as well as the type of vehicle, automatic or manual transmission and so on. We still have to work out for some tweeks, but overall itâs looking pretty good so far. Let us know what you think!
The Car Wash
Cars in Taxi Life will get dirty. Thatâs a fact and players will be able to wash their vehicles now using the in-game carwash feature that will help keep the cleanliness factor high and the customers coming into your vehicle happy. We donât have anything to show right now of the car wash itself (more info on that soon) but for now, please enjoy this dirty vehicle.
AI Improvements
We were finally able to add drivers inside of AI vehicles! Now that the cars have some life in them, we were able to improve the AI so they drive more dynamic as well as turn on there headlights at night. Further down the line we will be adding more improvements to the AI to make the experience driving in Barcelona as close to the real thing as possible.
Collision Detection
We added a new sound to help notify players when they are nearing an object. This will help when backing up when in first person mode alongside with the rear-view camera. Of course, this will be further improved upon as we work out the kinks. Right now â itâs sort of detecting collisions everywhere and we donât want to distract drivers that much!
The Menu
It might not be much, but we were able to finally improve the games menu a little bit. We added a new loading screen (that is subject to change) as well as interactable options for the player to make adjustments.
New Types of Steering Wheels
We added the possibility to use more steering wheels in Taxi Life as this will allow players to add a broader variety of steering wheels while playing Taxi Life too not only be restricted to one type. More info on this soon as we develop the game and head into alpha and beta versions.
Thatâs all folks!
First and foremost we wanted to thank the community for being with us throughout this development process. We are heading closer and closer to getting out of pre-alpha and into a full alpha version of the game. We will be looking for volunteers to help us test in the future before full release, so please make sure you join our Discord and follow us on social media to stay up to date with the latest developments from our team. On that note, we wish you all farewell and until next time!
Hasta La Proxima,
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Taxi Life Developer Blog #10 |
Weâre well into 2023 and we got some fresh new content from the development of Taxi Life. We shared some stuff with you guys on our last Mondays livestream and now, weâre going into more detail about some of the things that we have implemented. Letâs dive right in!
Progression Panel
We added a new progression panel where players will be able to add skills points to their character that will benefit them throughout their adventures in Barcelona. At first, the player wonât have access to all the perks as we want the player to explore the city and play at their own pace which will lead to unlocking more perks later down the line.
New Vehicle Model Added
We added a new vehicle model into Taxi Life making it currently 5 out of the 6 total cars weâre going to add upon the release of the game. Obviously, all vehicles are modified in such a way to avoid licensing issues and we will never unfortunately have real makes and models in Taxi Life. So, which real-life vehicle model does this remind you of?
New Collectible System
Collectibles are also going to be an activity players will be able to do in Taxi Life while exploring the city. Driving around youâll encounter messages notifying you that there is a collectible nearby as shown below:
Now â these messages won't give you the exact location of the collectible, and it will be up to the keen eyed of you to find the object. Weâre thinking about how to let the player know that they found the collectible item simply by highlighting the object or maybe have an arrow pointing to it. For now, weâre going to leave it as it is and come back to it later down the production line.
Company Management Panel
We mentioned the company management panel before and we showed you guys a sneak peak of whatâs to come and now, we have a little bit more to show. Company management wonât be available to players at the start of the game as we want to ease players into the game rather than just showing everything that they can do at once. Think it makes sense. With that being said, company management will be available to the players later down the line where they will be able to hire/fire drivers, buy vehicles, real estate as well as manage their finances. Check out some of the cool images below:
For now â that about sums it up! We hope you enjoyed this edition of our developer blog and in case you missed it, make sure to check out the livestream we did with Unreal Engine where we took a deep dive with our Art Director and Head of Development on how we generate cities at a 1:1 scale!
A big shoutout to our community on Discord and if you want to be a part of it, make sure to join and stay up to date with the latest and greatest news from Taxi Life. See you in the next one!
Hasta La Proxima,
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Taxi Life A City Driving Simulator | Developer Blog #9
Hello Drivers!
We hope you had a great holiday season, and weâre looking forward to sharing some exciting news with you in the new year! In the last milestone, we worked on the company management panel, improved pedestrians in Barcelona, and more. So let's dive right in!
New Car
Weâve added a new electric vehicle into Taxi Life. You can only view it from the outside for now, though; weâll show you how it looks from the inside next time. Until then, here's a picture of the new car:
Company Management
We added a new panel where you can assign cars to drivers. Of course, this is still in the early development of the Company Management system and we're working hard on fleshing it out as much as we can before the full release of Taxi Life.
Collectibles System
Weâve talked about this system before, but now weâre making some real progress. In Taxi Life, aside from company management and the missions youâll be able to do, there will also be fun things to do on the side, like collect some special items throughout Barcelona. When you want to take a break from grinding and working your business, just step back and enjoy the city skyline as well as other amazing sights there are to explore in Barcelona.
Things weâve fixed
Development is never a straight path. When one aspect of the game improves, another can become unstable. While some of these issues have been addressed, we wanted to share a few things that we improved upon since last time.
Pedestrians were a big part of Taxi Life. They made the game feel more alive and more like a real city. We were happy to finally have them in the game, but they left a lot to be desired. So, we took some time from our previous milestones and made them better.
Destruction system: In the last sprint, we implemented a system for external damage to your car as well as your surroundings so it feels like you ran over a trash can instead of just hitting it.
Vehicle AI: Another aspect of Taxi Life we're working on is realistic traffic scenarios. The player should feel like he's experiencing realistic traffic scenarios as he drives throughout the city. The AI for the cars is turning out great, and it's getting better and better as we add more and more functionality to it. For example, the AI now knows how to approach an intersection and let pedestrians cross the street.
Save System
Finally, we're working on implementing a save system in Taxi Life. To start with, we've already begun adding the following features to the save function:
When you save your money will be saved
When you save your experience will be saved
When you save your position will be saved
When you save your time of day will be saved
When you save your vehicle damage will be saved
Happy New Year!
As you can see, we have been pretty busy throughout this time of year and now itâs time to relax and prepare for the new year. We wanted to thank the community for sticking with us throughout this entire year. We are starting to have a great little community surrounding Taxi Life and weâre excited to see it grow. If itâs your first time here, welcome and make sure to join our Discord channel and follow us on all of our socials.
On behalf of Simteract we wish you all a happy new year!
Hasta La Proxima,
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Taxi Life A City Driving Simulator | Developer Blog #8
Hello Drivers!
Itâs been a while since our last Developer blog, and weâre excited to talk about some of our achievements during the last sprint. We started working on a variety of topics ranging from the company management panel, the saving system and polishing the first vehicle model that you are all aware of and among other things, the new shiny radial menu. So, letâs dive right in!
Company Management
(This image is a mock-up and not a final version of the company management panel and is subject to change during the development of Taxi Life)
The general premise for company management is something that our Train Life players might have some familiarity with, but with some functionality that has been upgraded. Youâll be able to hire/fire drivers, buy real-estate, as well as manage your finances. In Taxi Life, youâll be able to play the game how you want, whether itâs enjoying the scenery of Barcelona or diving deep into the ins and outs of creating the ultimate transportation company.
Car 1 and The Save System
Taxi Life has come a long way since we started writing these blogs and going back in time a little bit, the functionality of the cabin in the first vehicle was practically non-existent. Now, we have fully fleshed out the cabin and everything should be working from the back-up camera to the in-game radio as well as AC so you can stay cool in the Barcelona weather.
Another thing we wanted to talk about was the saving system. We believe itâs super important for players to have the ability to manually save the game and not rely on auto saves. You ask and you shall receive! If you have any more features that you would like to see added into the game, we encourage you to let us know in the comments!
AI Destruction and The New Radial Menu
Not only are players going to notice significant damage to their vehicles when driving erratically but also to the AI vehicles as well, adding more to the immersive nature of Taxi Life. The new and improved radial menu can help you in avoiding crashes with AI by giving you the ability to quickly interact with your car. From lowering the window down at your clients request to turning on the AC, youâll be able to swiftly decide without moving the camera around too much. Unless youâre into that kind of gameplay. Again, the choice is yours.
Steering Wheel Support
Probably one of the most asked questions in the community and weâre happy to say that we completed the implementation of steering wheel support. We did some tests with the Logitech 920 steering wheel in-house, and weâre proud to say that Taxi Life will support most steering wheels on the market as well as pedals and gear shifters.
You guysâ rock!
From the social media posts to the developers streams that weâre doing, itâs a true pleasure to see the community so passionate about Taxi Life. As time goes on, weâre growing our members and the general interest in the game and for that, we thank you! If youâre new here, you can check out our monthly community livestreams where we have some light conversations with our development team and share some âbackstageâ access to the production of Taxi Life. Usually, these streams are on a Monday @ 7PM CET. Check out our last one:
With all that in mind, we wish you guys farewell and until next time!
Hasta La Proxima,
Michal Simteract Community Manager
Taxi Life: Developer Blog #7
Hello Drivers!
Welcome to the 7th edition of the Taxi Life Developer blog! Weâre going to be talking about some back-end stuff like the map, pedestrians as well as some changes in the 1st car model. By the way â in case you missed last Mondayâs stream, we talked about all these things with our Lead Game Designer and producer! Check the stream out here.
Before we get into the details of this blog, please remember that you should take everything that weâre working on with a grain of salt as everything could be subject to change and iterated upon when the game fully releases at the end of next year. With that out of the way â lets get into it!
The Map
We added some map filters where players will be able to see a lot of details such as speed cameras, places of road accidents or roadworks as well as landmarks found throughout Barcelona. You can also create your own custom route by placing multiple points on the map so you can efficiently plan your next trip.
Pedestrians
Now, this may sound like a trivial feature to add into our game, but oh boy did we have to fight with this beast to make it work properly. This honestly took us a few months to get down correctly but once we got it, we knew we were headed in the right direction. There is still some kinks to work out here and there and if you noticed on the last live stream we did showcasing this, the pedestrians looked like something from the Walking Dead show (we did this on purpose to show you guys just in time for Halloween) but the animations and all that jazz will be getting a facelift in the future so no worries, you wont be getting attacked by zombies in Taxi Life.
https://youtu.be/6Ujf1F0pUDI
Car 1 â The White One
We added a whole new list of features when it comes to the first cars cabin. Everything ranging from a back-up camera, emergency lights, the cabin light as well as 3 new camera modes that will help with the immersion of driving a car in the big city. More features for the other 2 models of cars you have seen in the past will be added soon and you can bet we will let you guys know when that happens!
https://youtu.be/b_BdiRL8b7I
The Radial Menu
The Radial menu is going to complement the player when driving around the city of Barcelona. You will be able to do things like quickly and efficiently open the window upon your clientâs request, turn on the AC or explore the other functions the vehicle has to offer.
Thanks!
Thanks to all of the current and future supporters of Taxi life! We believe in this project just as much as you do and with all the support weâve been getting throughout our livestreams and social media posts â it gives us the motivation to bring you guys a driving simulation game that you all will play for years to come.
Itâs been a while buy weâre finally back with another Developer Blog for Taxi Life! With Gamescom in early September as well as the release of our other game Train Life, itâs been hectic! But weâre getting back in the flow of things with keeping you guys updated on the development process of Taxi Life.
The last Developer Blog we sent was way back in July! With the name change of the game already in full swing, we have a lot to talk about in todays blog regarding updates and changes to the current build for Taxi Life. So, lets get into it!
Shake, shake, shake that camera!
Now, every time you crash into something, the camera will shake, giving you that feeling that you hit something. When you damage your vehicle, you should experience some wobbles when your in FPP mode in the cabin of the car notifying you that you should probably start thinking about visiting a repair shop.
3 new camera modes
We added 3 new camera modes to our new vehicle models and thatâs in FPP (dashboard), FPP (Hood) as well as a complete FPP where you are on the bumper of the car. This should give players some good options to explore the streets of Barcelona in which ever perspective they want.
Random Events
We added random events into the streets that will have impact on your gameplay. For example, there could be a car that is broken down on the side of the road and this causes the traffic to become heavier. Better make sure you donât pick up a passenger thatâs in a rush!
Unfortunately, we donât have any footage of this saved, but when I dig around, I will be sure to show you guys on our socials and Discord!
2 New unlicensed vehicles
Over the past 2 months or so, we added 2 new unlicensed vehicles. The van is going to be electric, where you will have to go to a charging station instead of a gas station. Looks futuristic, donât ya think? Which one is your favorite?
The Pedestrians, they can cross the street now!
So, for a long time, the pedestrians in Taxi Life didnât know how to cross the street. Maybe it was because they were scared or didnât have a hand to hold on to. But now, after lots of therapy and the pedestrians will now cross the street impacting the gameplay of the player. No, you canât run them over. Yes, you need to wait for them to cross if you donât want to get a penalty.
https://youtu.be/6Ujf1F0pUDI
Thatâs all we got, for nowâŚ
We hoped you enjoyed this edition of our Developer Blog and make sure to follow us in all the places and deepest crevices of social media as well as join our official Discord channel!
