Chicagoist: Weekend Diversion: The CTA Video Game

smussy

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:29:53 -0600

oh, okay. cool. i've been to the train museum in union, so ...

mich

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:05:56 -0600

That is some of the funniest shit I've ever seen. Thank you Marcus.

Marcus Gilmer

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 12:06:18 -0600

Damn. And once again my past comes back to haunt me.

dpattison

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 11:56:13 -0600

Quit complaining about the cars smelling like urine, Marcus. You can't smell!

send9

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 04:30:43 -0600

It's a simulator; the point is just to drive. It's not any different from Microsoft Flight Simulator or especially Microsoft Train Simulator. This is meant for train buffs, the type of people who read chicago-l.org and go to the train museum in Union.

smussy

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 03:06:57 -0600

i think this is rad. but i *am* confused about how this is a game. what is the game part? trying not to drive like a dick? learning how to drive? i mean is there some sort of mechanism that tells you you've effed up to the point where you've "lost a life?" i'm from the ms. pac-man generation (yes, i just said that). so i need a translation here.

Marcus Gilmer

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:25:20 -0600

I have to point out a few things: 1. Rob - our film guy - gets the kudos for stumbling across this via the-jet-set link; and 2. An article I read in doing a bit of background work about the game said one of the lines featured on the Tokyo version is one of the most well-known points for people to commit suicide via throwing themselves in front of a train...which begs the question, is that actually part of the game? dodging jumpers?

Albanyparkour

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:49:31 -0600

Japan is very foreign, even for another country. I want to see it pull into the terminus at Kimball though. Thank you for adding the worry that japanese film crews are taping my commute to my 700 page list of fears Marcus. Right under "Snorkelers with ill intent" and above "Hairless Cats"

jaja007

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:46:45 -0600

"Doing that thing where the train slows to a stop" The one time I've played a train simulator -- at London's transport museum, where you can "drive" your choice of underground lines -- I did this all the time. Trains don't brake very quickly, so stopping in exactly the right place is more of a challenge than you might think. Still sounds like a boring game, though.

Pakennedy

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:31:52 -0600

@ BlueFairlane: Its a Public Transit simulator. The few people that actually had interest in this game would shoot themselves if they had to play at the speed of smell too. I love in the last video how they made the trains seem like they were a dangerous, unpredictable adrenaline rush. Beginning around 1:15 (especially at 1:30 when they use slo-mo to punctuate the trains passing each other), they start using all sorts of video editing tricks to make it seem edgy, but when you think about the subject, it has to make you laugh.

Pakennedy

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:31:16 -0600

@ BlueFairlane: Its a Public Transit simulator. The few people that actually had interest in this game would shoot themselves if they had to [i]play[/i] at the speed of smell too. I love in the last video how they made the trains seem like they were a dangerous, unpredictable adrenaline rush. Beginning around 1:15 (especially at 1:30 when they use slo-mo to punctuate the trains passing each other), they start using all sorts of video editing tricks to make it seem edgy, but when you think about the subject, it has to make you laugh.

BlueFairlane

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:30:21 -0600

At first I thought this had to be fake, but then I clicked the links to some of the other videos and rode from Armitage to Fullerton in about a minute. No Brown Line train I've been on has ever gone from Armitage and Fullerton that fast.

Tower18

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:37:47 -0600

Man, that's dope. I worry about replay value though. I'd LOVE to play that, but it'd get really old really fast.

happyfunball

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:54:32 -0600

Not to be "that guy" but this was a tip I sent in to Margaret back in the day. She probably ignored it, in favor of a puppy with a sweater on or some other shit. Maybe Gmail released a new feature that day.

three

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:12:53 -0600

the graphics look impressive. the gameplay... uhh.

gerobobo

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:30:30 -0600

that's one...umm...exciting game.

The Meteorologist

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:25:49 -0600

You've got to be kidding me. That's fucking awesome. Nice find, Marcus.