Townscaped
Around twelve months ago I did something most unsual for me, and bought a computer game. Well sort of a game... more a toy... for making things...
Townscaper provides one with the virtual setting of a shallow sea within which one can construct all manner of cartoonesque maritime townships. The play space is a massive hexagon in which each tile can be one of several distinct shapes arranged randomly across that space. Click on a cell to add a block of land. Click on that to add a tiny house (possibly only one room in size). Keep clicking and you will soon have streets and apartment blocks. Explore more of the game's quirks and you can have palaces and parklands.
Others online can tell you how it is done, while I will focus on just one cool thing - that randomly generated array of tiles. If you are obsessed with symmetry then you have to confine yourself to very small parts of the space in which circular, triangular and rectangular patterns preside. If you want bigger towns then you have to surrender yourself to more elaborate contours, just as human settlements must naturally conform to geography.
Some of my oldest designs are still my favourite. Canal Town was inspired by my fantasy city-state of Nartellfar but there are key differences between them. Townscaper depicts its designs as antique yet modern rather than the medieval setting of D&D - Canal Town is thus a more recent-seeming locale than Nartellfar. It is also smaller, as the game only allowed so much space. Canal Town is an island while Nartellfar is on an isthmus or something. Finally, Canal Town has a palace and so likely has nobility, while Nartellfar is republican. If you click here (then follow the arrows rightward) you can browse screen shots of Canal Town.
Another of my designs is Gardenvale, which maximises green open spaces by enclosing the entire design in a wall. In it I played with having a port district, but also farmland and a terraced apartment complex, complete with pool. The complex has its own gardens and, because the structure is hollow, some of those gardens are permanently shaded, and can be accessed by archways and light wells. Click here (then follow the arrows rightward) to browse Gardenvale.
The hollowness of some structures (in part an effort-saving tactic as it involves fewer clicks) then contributed to a recent saying of mine - 'alfresco everything'. This architectural topic deserves its own post but, for now I'll say that, in this pestilent time we need more transitional spaces between the indoors and outdoors, combining freshness with shelter. This affected some of my designs (see from here onwards).
Another thing that shifted my design ethos was the discovery of a website that converts Townscaper files into walk-thru settings (it has a small default setting you can explore right now). This took my attitude right to street level and suddenly I was much more interested in the interconnectivity of my designs. The doors and windows in Townscaper are mere decoration. Now I was ensuring gaps and arches allowed ground access between areas. I enticed stairways to form and, in the absense of that, cascading rooftops that could be easily climbed (see from here onwards). And now many of my designs have as much inside as outside. Only problem is huge designs challenge the walkthru website and so I now specialize in making compact yet complex settings.
I have saved the best for last. One exciting feature of Townscaper is the option of making propeller-lifted hovering platforms (somewhat reminiscent of the destination in the Prop Cycle arcade game). They can be constructed over some circular or oval patterns and are a lot of fun to find. I was soon considering how they integrated into an overall setting. Neighbourhoods had landing pads or ponds on which my sky towers could come to rest. There is even a hanger with a hovering platform harnessed inside (see from here onwards).
I can understand why so many lazy days and late nights can be had in just clicking. This deceptively complex activity has done that to me. If you have the time and inclination then try Townscaper.
Townscaper provides one with the virtual setting of a shallow sea within which one can construct all manner of cartoonesque maritime townships. The play space is a massive hexagon in which each tile can be one of several distinct shapes arranged randomly across that space. Click on a cell to add a block of land. Click on that to add a tiny house (possibly only one room in size). Keep clicking and you will soon have streets and apartment blocks. Explore more of the game's quirks and you can have palaces and parklands.
Others online can tell you how it is done, while I will focus on just one cool thing - that randomly generated array of tiles. If you are obsessed with symmetry then you have to confine yourself to very small parts of the space in which circular, triangular and rectangular patterns preside. If you want bigger towns then you have to surrender yourself to more elaborate contours, just as human settlements must naturally conform to geography.
Some of my oldest designs are still my favourite. Canal Town was inspired by my fantasy city-state of Nartellfar but there are key differences between them. Townscaper depicts its designs as antique yet modern rather than the medieval setting of D&D - Canal Town is thus a more recent-seeming locale than Nartellfar. It is also smaller, as the game only allowed so much space. Canal Town is an island while Nartellfar is on an isthmus or something. Finally, Canal Town has a palace and so likely has nobility, while Nartellfar is republican. If you click here (then follow the arrows rightward) you can browse screen shots of Canal Town.
Another of my designs is Gardenvale, which maximises green open spaces by enclosing the entire design in a wall. In it I played with having a port district, but also farmland and a terraced apartment complex, complete with pool. The complex has its own gardens and, because the structure is hollow, some of those gardens are permanently shaded, and can be accessed by archways and light wells. Click here (then follow the arrows rightward) to browse Gardenvale.
The hollowness of some structures (in part an effort-saving tactic as it involves fewer clicks) then contributed to a recent saying of mine - 'alfresco everything'. This architectural topic deserves its own post but, for now I'll say that, in this pestilent time we need more transitional spaces between the indoors and outdoors, combining freshness with shelter. This affected some of my designs (see from here onwards).
Another thing that shifted my design ethos was the discovery of a website that converts Townscaper files into walk-thru settings (it has a small default setting you can explore right now). This took my attitude right to street level and suddenly I was much more interested in the interconnectivity of my designs. The doors and windows in Townscaper are mere decoration. Now I was ensuring gaps and arches allowed ground access between areas. I enticed stairways to form and, in the absense of that, cascading rooftops that could be easily climbed (see from here onwards). And now many of my designs have as much inside as outside. Only problem is huge designs challenge the walkthru website and so I now specialize in making compact yet complex settings.
I have saved the best for last. One exciting feature of Townscaper is the option of making propeller-lifted hovering platforms (somewhat reminiscent of the destination in the Prop Cycle arcade game). They can be constructed over some circular or oval patterns and are a lot of fun to find. I was soon considering how they integrated into an overall setting. Neighbourhoods had landing pads or ponds on which my sky towers could come to rest. There is even a hanger with a hovering platform harnessed inside (see from here onwards).
I can understand why so many lazy days and late nights can be had in just clicking. This deceptively complex activity has done that to me. If you have the time and inclination then try Townscaper.
Labels: Images
posted by Dan at
28.1.22
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