News

28/12/2018 Chuffing into 2019

While being also busy with work & life I still work on the project now an then. There have been some issues about performance and "precision" for the new game area. The latter means that the version of the game engine which I currently use utilizes 2-byte floating point values when rendering the 3d-models. This leads to quite noticable "errors" when the 3d-models and the terrain get bigger. On some mobile devices the new level also shows a very "coarse" terrain display. I tried some techniques to circumvent the problems but I now decided to move from version 2.x of the Godot-Engine to version 3.x which hopefully addresses these issues.

This will require quite some extra-work. But that version change was due anyway during 2019.

Oh, and I'll spend 2 weeks on a boat around the Shroppie during summer 2019. This will most certainly include the llangollen. So I can gather some data & experience first hand. :-)

06/06/2018 Progress on "Coming Soon"

Until now much of the preparation work on the next "Coming Soon" content took place inside the 3D editor (I use Blender for that) and also in some other tools (QGIS, Landserf, GiMP...). Now I put the new terrain together and moved it into the Game Project. There's still very much left to do but at least I can say that the Narrowboat "Pixel Princess" chuffed an "OK" to me while going across the aqueduct. It did also work on Android devices which was one of my concerns.

01/06/2018 Bridge 28W of the Llangollen Canal

Bridge 28W has now a checkmark. This involved research on the internet (found no blue prints of bridge 28W ;-), 3D editing, adding data for the moving parts and finally programming some control code to use it in the game. Some screenshots show the bridge in the tutorial level (just for debugging purposes). The little footbridge 28AW is next... (See Bridge 28W in Google Streetview.)

07/05/2018 Bridges, bridges, bridges...

I'm still adding some essential buildings to the new scenery. The next one on the to do list is Bridge 28W. That will be the first lift bridge in the game. Still some way to go...

19/04/2018 Version 1.6 is lurking around the corner...

While the download numbers in the play store are rocketing (16,500 as of today) the game updates come at true narrowboat speed. ;-) At least the next version is not far away. Don't expect too much. It just contains some adjustments and corrections and a new section with a little mini game. I know that this wouldn't keep you busy for weeks but I heard of a canalside event and hope that the mini game may be useful. So please see it as an experiment and not as a general direction where the game is heading. Until release there's still testing & correcting to be done. So maybe in a week if no big obstacles show up...

20/03/2018 We get (slightly) popular

I was surprised to see that the Android version of the Narrowboat Simulator was considerably gaining popularity during the last week. I still have no idea what has caused this increase. I guess that either the app search ranking somehow went up in googles play store or the game was mentioned in a very popular place. Either way, I now seriously consider releasing an iOS version of the game. The Apple version will probably cost a wee bit to justify the expenses for the developer account and devices. Feedback about this is welcome at the forum.

24/02/2018 Just messing around...

05/02/2018 Version 1.5 is now available.

What is changed:

• New workboat "Otter" contributed by Giles Williams. Look for it in the level "Enjoy the ride". This model comes with its own engine sound because Giles provided some very good recordings of a "Lister 2 Pot". Sorry that I kept the max rpms at a lower level then the real one. I just didn't get it to sound "right" in the upper rpms.
• Android: Tilt-Steering is possible: Reviews asked for that. I get that the tiller control can get fiddly on smaller phone screens. Perhaps this helps. You can enable it on the options screen. And you can also select if the game should try to keep the view horizontal by reverse-tilting it.
• Android: Gyro-Camera: This is basically a poor man's VR. You can hold your phone/tablet in some direction and the view changes accordingly. If your phone/tablet is equipped with a gyro then a new button should appear in the upper right part of the screen to enable/disable this feature. A swivel chair is helpful...
• I changed the sky (more clouds) and the water color (still room for improvement, I know).
• A centered view from stern.
• Some little tweaks and corrections.

Youtube:

Narrowboat Simulator now has its own Youtube Channel. There's just one video in it, yet.

Ozyy is making some great videos about the NBS. Here's one about the 1.5 update: Thank you, Ozzy!

10/01/2018 What's in the works...

I just wanted to keep you up to date about what to expect in the near future:

Tilt-Control:

I've got the impression that players with smaller phone struggle with the touch-screen tiller control. The next version will include an option to move the tiller by slightly tilting the device left an right. It'll also be possible to activate inverted steering (tilting left will then move the tiller to the right hand side). Naturally, tilt steering is only useful on mobile devices (Android, for now).

I am also looking at camera angle control by gyro (holding the device in a specific direction). But this probably won't make it in the next version.

A Mini-Game level:

I'm working on a specific little stretch of canal featuring three swing bridges. I intend to use it for a kind of mini-game (event related). I'm stil unsure though if it will make it in the very next version. (The image below is an in-editor screen shot.)

A new boat!

This new 3D model of a workboat was contributed by Giles Williams. Thank you! Along with the boat came sound recordings of a "Lister 2 Pot" engine. Below a picture of its first test drive. I hope to make this available in a new version near the end of January. No promises though. ;-)