Here's a little thing that might interest some of our bus gamers, and will probably excite the pants off the younger readers, though older readers might find it a bit insipid.
It's a Virtual Bus game, except you actually DRIVE this bus.
It is a game still under development, and comes from Poland or somewhere in Eastern Europe. The language is foreign, but there IS an English language Readme file.
The graphics are pretty basic, and consist of a green world, with a couple of tower blocks, which gives all the atmosphere of a slightly green Ballymun! There are long straights, curves, dual carriageways, intersections, bus stops, and even a terminus layby.
The dynamics of the bus however, are excellent, with a tight steering lock, taking turns wide, correct outswing dynamics for the front overhang, a FULLY operational driver's cab, individually controlled opening doors (that DO open), working lights, indicators, horn, and the somewhat frustrated presence of an irate controller! However, the bus is very difficult to steer or control using a keyboard. And can take corners at breakneck speed without skidding! But the acceleration and braking dynamics are all correct, and the bus is limited to 85kph. Practice helps.
You can simply drive the bus round in circles, but bus stops are provided, and virtual passengers(!), and the idea is to operate a route and collect as many passengers as possible, while following a timetable, and keeping the controller happy!
The bus is an Ikarus single decker, but unfortunately for our purposes, is a LEFT HAND DRIVE, i.e you have to drive on the wrong side of the road! Other traffic consists of a solitary Scania single decker bus which glides gracefully around oblivious to you. The Scania bus is made up of very simple .BMP files, so it should be possible to substitute it with a KC or something. But remember it will drive on the wrong side.
The simulator is a cab view, and by using the mouse, you can drag that view all over the place, looking up, down, sideways, and zoom in and out. Within the limits of the rather rudimentary graphics.
The design of the game seems to allow for other possibilities that are not present here. Now, if anyone had any game programming experience, they could get into those files, switch the bus to the other side of the road, draw a new road plan, add more scenery and buildings, and even provide something from the Dublin Bus fleet to drive! It should even be possible to model Dublin city! Traffic lights are present in the background files, though have not been utilised in this program.
It is still in the design stages, though seems to have been around for three or four years in slowly updated form. This game is basically like a green plan, with huge capacity for development and addition.
At the moment though, it is the nearest thing you younger guys will get to actually driving your 17A bus round Ballymun! It is freeware, but don't be afraid to fiddle round with the files, and see what else you can make it do, or what you can add to it!
You need to create a new folder on your desktop first. Call it 'vbus' and then open the following link. Click on the current version, which is 'version a4e' and download all the files to your new 'vbus' folder. Then click on the english language 'readme' file for operating instructions, before clicking the little bus icon to open the game! And like I said, go into the other files, too, and see what you can alter or add, but remember to back up the originals first!
vbus.rulez.pl/indexen.html
It's a Virtual Bus game, except you actually DRIVE this bus.
It is a game still under development, and comes from Poland or somewhere in Eastern Europe. The language is foreign, but there IS an English language Readme file.
The graphics are pretty basic, and consist of a green world, with a couple of tower blocks, which gives all the atmosphere of a slightly green Ballymun! There are long straights, curves, dual carriageways, intersections, bus stops, and even a terminus layby.
The dynamics of the bus however, are excellent, with a tight steering lock, taking turns wide, correct outswing dynamics for the front overhang, a FULLY operational driver's cab, individually controlled opening doors (that DO open), working lights, indicators, horn, and the somewhat frustrated presence of an irate controller! However, the bus is very difficult to steer or control using a keyboard. And can take corners at breakneck speed without skidding! But the acceleration and braking dynamics are all correct, and the bus is limited to 85kph. Practice helps.
You can simply drive the bus round in circles, but bus stops are provided, and virtual passengers(!), and the idea is to operate a route and collect as many passengers as possible, while following a timetable, and keeping the controller happy!
The bus is an Ikarus single decker, but unfortunately for our purposes, is a LEFT HAND DRIVE, i.e you have to drive on the wrong side of the road! Other traffic consists of a solitary Scania single decker bus which glides gracefully around oblivious to you. The Scania bus is made up of very simple .BMP files, so it should be possible to substitute it with a KC or something. But remember it will drive on the wrong side.
The simulator is a cab view, and by using the mouse, you can drag that view all over the place, looking up, down, sideways, and zoom in and out. Within the limits of the rather rudimentary graphics.
The design of the game seems to allow for other possibilities that are not present here. Now, if anyone had any game programming experience, they could get into those files, switch the bus to the other side of the road, draw a new road plan, add more scenery and buildings, and even provide something from the Dublin Bus fleet to drive! It should even be possible to model Dublin city! Traffic lights are present in the background files, though have not been utilised in this program.
It is still in the design stages, though seems to have been around for three or four years in slowly updated form. This game is basically like a green plan, with huge capacity for development and addition.
At the moment though, it is the nearest thing you younger guys will get to actually driving your 17A bus round Ballymun! It is freeware, but don't be afraid to fiddle round with the files, and see what else you can make it do, or what you can add to it!
You need to create a new folder on your desktop first. Call it 'vbus' and then open the following link. Click on the current version, which is 'version a4e' and download all the files to your new 'vbus' folder. Then click on the english language 'readme' file for operating instructions, before clicking the little bus icon to open the game! And like I said, go into the other files, too, and see what you can alter or add, but remember to back up the originals first!
vbus.rulez.pl/indexen.html
