Why can't Gaia remake towns?

[Monako SM]

We saw them trying to do towns 3, with a team that wasn't actually capable of making it. We never got an html version of Gaia towns and they keep focusing their attention on other things.

Why is it that games like Ponytown which is based entirely on donations able to make a functional online virtual town spaces but not Gaia?

[Addium]

Monako SM

We saw them trying to do towns 3, with a team that wasn't actually capable of making it. We never got an html version of Gaia towns and they keep focusing their attention on other things.

Why is it that games like Ponytown which is based entirely on donations able to make a functional online virtual town spaces but not Gaia?

I empathize with your frustration regarding the desire for a revamp of Towns 1.
I truly understand. Yearning for a blend of nostalgia with modernized 2D graphics and layout.
This had been a vision I have held for approximately five years now...especially during the Pandemic.

If you follow Lanzer's work library, he's been trying to get Towns 1 to work with ruffle.
However, there are still a few bugs that are making it difficult for it to even be playable again.

Meanwhile, the closest virtual space that we currently have is Rally 3D.
It's definitely no Towns 1 (nor Rally for that matter without actual racing).
But it's been a decent solution to an instant hangout that is able to run without installing a third party client/program.

And because I can now say this, this current build by HelloKittyGitHub is much better than the previous team's version.
It's such an improvement from what they had before with the previous team.

[Monako SM]

Addiu

I empathize with your frustration regarding the desire for a revamp of Towns 1.
I truly understand. Yearning for a blend of nostalgia with modernized 2D graphics and layout.
This had been a vision I have held for approximately five years now...especially during the Pandemic.

If you follow Lanzer's work library, he's been trying to get Towns 1 to work with ruffle.
However, there are still a few bugs that are making it difficult for it to even be playable again.

Meanwhile, the closest virtual space that we currently have is Rally 3D.
It's definitely no Towns 1 (nor Rally for that matter without actual racing).
But it's been a decent solution to an instant hangout that is able to run without installing a third party client/program.

And because I can now say this, this current build by HelloKittyGitHub is much better than the previous team's version.
It's such an improvement from what they had before with the previous team.

Yeah, it is frustrating tho that Gaia basically waited for ruffle. And we're still struggling. the 3D rally is basically the same as towns 3? Just seems to be a much more simplified version based off of what I'm seeing when playing.

For some reason the link to Lanzer's work library isn't working D:

[Addium]

Monako SM

For some reason the link to Lanzer's work library isn't working D:

Ope. I somehow typed 'http' twice in the link. It should work now.

Monako SM

the 3D rally is basically the same as towns 3? Just seems to be a much more simplified version based off of what I'm seeing when playing.

Rally 3D and Towns 3D were both separate standalone builds.
Yes, this current build is simplified to make it run faster with a lot less lag.
The artwork layout like the 24/7 store, cars, parking lot, etc. were all borrowed from the previous build.
The rest is completely re-coded from the ground up by HelloKittyGithub.

You can see all his update logs in his thread in Site Feedback.
Gaia Worlds Project.

[Simon Coneja]

I would like to towns to come back someday... also I like your avatar

[x_gokai-okuzuko_x]

Addium

Monako SM

For some reason the link to Lanzer's work library isn't working D:

Ope. I somehow typed 'http' twice in the link. It should work now.

Monako SM

the 3D rally is basically the same as towns 3? Just seems to be a much more simplified version based off of what I'm seeing when playing.

Rally 3D and Towns 3D were both separate standalone builds.
Yes, this current build is simplified to make it run faster with a lot less lag.
The artwork layout like the 24/7 store, cars, parking lot, etc. were all borrowed from the previous build.
The rest is completely re-coded from the ground up by HelloKittyGithub.

You can see all his update logs in his thread in Site Feedback.
Gaia Worlds Project.

Since you seem pretty in-the-know -- what exactly was the problem with the previous team?

[Kujura]

At this point, I don't think I really care anymore.
My best friends all quit, and they were the ones I hung out with in towns, back in the day.
I'm sure I'll check it out whenever they manage to redo it in one way or another, but my excitement for it is pretty much gone.

If they make housing work again without infernal lag, I'd consider doing that.
I love decorating living spaces so so much. It was already my favorite thing in Animal Crossing xD

[Einjelato]

Kujura

At this point, I don't think I really care anymore.
My best friends all quit, and they were the ones I hung out with in towns, back in the day.
I'm sure I'll check it out whenever they manage to redo it in one way or another, but my excitement for it is pretty much gone.

If they make housing work again without infernal lag, I'd consider doing that.
I love decorating living spaces so so much. It was already my favorite thing in Animal Crossing xD

Honestly Gaia has already made games (Fishing, Towns, etc.) and has the aesthetics to make something akin to Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, etc. which has the potential to draw people. But yea, can't say I have high expectations and anticipation but whatever comes out, I'll check it out haha

[Kujura]

Einjelato

Kujura

At this point, I don't think I really care anymore.
My best friends all quit, and they were the ones I hung out with in towns, back in the day.
I'm sure I'll check it out whenever they manage to redo it in one way or another, but my excitement for it is pretty much gone.

If they make housing work again without infernal lag, I'd consider doing that.
I love decorating living spaces so so much. It was already my favorite thing in Animal Crossing xD

Honestly Gaia has already made games (Fishing, Towns, etc.) and has the aesthetics to make something akin to Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, etc. which has the potential to draw people. But yea, can't say I have high expectations and anticipation but whatever comes out, I'll check it out haha

Well... yeah the games never really appealed to me here tho.
Towns was only fun because of my friends. The rest? Big shrug tbh.

Like, I am here for over 10 years and saw things come and go.
So I know.
I'm feeling just very 'meh' about Gaia's projects and games these days.
They start stuff and then abandon it again.

I try things out as they get released.
But, well, the only thing keeping me hooked here lately is my avatar.

[Einjelato]

Kujura

Einjelato

Kujura

At this point, I don't think I really care anymore.
My best friends all quit, and they were the ones I hung out with in towns, back in the day.
I'm sure I'll check it out whenever they manage to redo it in one way or another, but my excitement for it is pretty much gone.

If they make housing work again without infernal lag, I'd consider doing that.
I love decorating living spaces so so much. It was already my favorite thing in Animal Crossing xD

Honestly Gaia has already made games (Fishing, Towns, etc.) and has the aesthetics to make something akin to Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, etc. which has the potential to draw people. But yea, can't say I have high expectations and anticipation but whatever comes out, I'll check it out haha

Well... yeah the games never really appealed to me here tho.
Towns was only fun because of my friends. The rest? Big shrug tbh.

Like, I am here for over 10 years and saw things come and go.
So I know.
I'm feeling just very 'meh' about Gaia's projects and games these days.
They start stuff and then abandon it again.

I try things out as they get released.
But, well, the only thing keeping me hooked here lately is my avatar.

Yea.. the people you spend time here definitely make most of the experience. Perhaps if Gaia didn't abandon things and commit, they could put something out that might be worthy as a nice spot to hangout and perhaps even get your friends to come back? Haha, I don't know some wishful thinking. But I'm in the same boat as you in that my avatar is what keeps me coming back here although I am making effort to socialize while I'm here biggrin

[Addium]

x_gokai-okuzuko_x

Since you seem pretty in-the-know -- what exactly was the problem with the previous team?

I don't know what goes on behind the scenes since I do not work for Gaia.
I am only a member of the SCAS beta-testing guild.

I also like to keep track of any updates from the Staff that were made publicly regarding anything Towns related.

To answer your question, here is a quote from Lanzer during the Ask The Staff thread on (May 02, 2023).

(Spoiler below to prevent page stretching.)

Lanzer

First I would like to apologize for the state of the new Gaia Towns.  The final product was not what was promised in terms of performance, and we were very let down by the performance of the talent behind the project, as well as their output.

I agree that GaiaOnline is community first, and we do solicit comments and suggestions from Gaians to determine what to update first, and which directions and features involved in our updates.  At the same time, there are certain features such as our event based games that are more of an outlet of our creative team.  The core idea behind a 3D space provide us to apply a lot more gameplay related features that our teams wish to realize, and if coded correctly, would had brought forth brand new features that aren't in everyone's zeitgeist.  Unfortunately the team we hired was not calibrated to create our vision with the performance necessary.

From a technical standpoint, the things we want to do with the performance we want is possible, but it requires much higher talents, and that is our current challenge.

With the current state of the 3D towns, we are leaning on porting Towns 2 to HTML5.  Though just like having a good 3D towns, HTML5 version of Towns also require specific talents geared towards making high performance HTML5 apps, and having a team with the right match in talent is our current challenge. Once we have the right resources, we will start working on the translation.

Sorry for the long and winded response.  We spent a lot of time and resources to try to bring new life into the community, and that won't be our last attempt.  On a side note, ideas integrating LLAMA and GPT based character interactions are super interesting and I had been testing these models on my free time.  They're fun to play with, but no where close to prime time as you cannot tweak the direction of the interactions to prevent undesired outcome or involve actual gameplay parameters.  Though we are keeping a close eye on any fun possibilities with the technologies.

[Monako SM]

Addium

Monako SM

For some reason the link to Lanzer's work library isn't working D:

Ope. I somehow typed 'http' twice in the link. It should work now.

Monako SM

the 3D rally is basically the same as towns 3? Just seems to be a much more simplified version based off of what I'm seeing when playing.

Rally 3D and Towns 3D were both separate standalone builds.
Yes, this current build is simplified to make it run faster with a lot less lag.
The artwork layout like the 24/7 store, cars, parking lot, etc. were all borrowed from the previous build.
The rest is completely re-coded from the ground up by HelloKittyGithub.

You can see all his update logs in his thread in Site Feedback.
Gaia Worlds Project.

Thank you! I'll take a look at these. :3

[Monako SM]

Simon Coneja

I would like to towns to come back someday... also I like your avatar

Omgosh thank you, I like yours. <3

[Monako SM]

Kujura

At this point, I don't think I really care anymore.
My best friends all quit, and they were the ones I hung out with in towns, back in the day.
I'm sure I'll check it out whenever they manage to redo it in one way or another, but my excitement for it is pretty much gone.

If they make housing work again without infernal lag, I'd consider doing that.
I love decorating living spaces so so much. It was already my favorite thing in Animal Crossing xD

I get what you mean, the majority of the people I know also have left too. Though I do really enjoy talking to new people as well.

Omgosh if they actually got houses working again, or even something new I would be really happy. I love that sort of decorating.

[VermiIIion]

Frankly Gaia needs to fix its games and towns, and at that point, just needs to be picked up by a larger channel, youtube or otherwise. I want to see Gaia flourish again, really and truly. It was my childhood, and I still come back.