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Nothing stands idle

A lot of buildings promised something and then just sat there. Now robot crews roll down a ramp to the fire, helper robots walk to building sites, the home printer has its gantry, rockets launch, and the post office, the bike docks and the sawmill all get on with it where you can see.

By Wayne Fellows · · 3 min read

A white voxel rocket climbing on a column of smoke from its launch tower, a tall tower of gardens beside it and a town of houses and a railway below.

After the flyers I went through the rest of the town looking for anything that said it did a job and then didn't move. There was a lot of it. A robot crew bay with robots that never left. A rocket that never went anywhere. A post office whose van was painted in its bay. So this is the other half of the same rule. If a building says it does something, you should be able to watch it happen.

Robot crews

The robot crew bay now sends its own carrier, a red cab with blue beacons and a long low deck with three fire crawlers on it. At the fire the crawlers roll down its ramp, spread out round the house and spray it. When it's out they climb back aboard and the carrier drives home.

Open a larger picture. A red robot carrier at the kerb by the robot crew bay, its fire crawlers on the deck behind the cab, among flats with planted balconies.
Home again, crawlers aboard.
A red lorry with a long low deck and hazard rails.
The robot carrier.
A little red tracked robot with a water cannon on top.
A fire crawler.

Helper robots and the printer

The helper robot hall's robots walk out to every home going up within 12 tiles and stand by the site with their toolboxes. A home they're sent to waits at its first floor until its robot turns up, then the rest goes up while the robot looks on.

A small teal robot with a white head carrying an orange toolbox.
A helper robot, toolbox at the ready.

A home near the home printer is now printed, not built. A big yellow gantry goes up over the plot instead of scaffolding, and its head sweeps back and forth, climbing as the floors go up.

Open a larger picture. A yellow gantry over a block of flats going up, its head over the top floor, in a street of brick terraces.
Printed a layer at a time.

Rockets

The rocket on the Rocket Pad launches now. There's a countdown with steam round its base, then it climbs straight up with a flame and a trail of smoke, and the pad stands empty for a while before a new rocket is built back up a stage at a time. The Star Memorial's little rocket launches too. Its hearses still go by road, so the rocket is on top of its normal work. The smoke is plain cubes for now. It reads as puffs from a distance, and looks blocky up close.

Open a larger picture. A white rocket on its launch tower with steam round its base, a tall tower of gardens behind.
The countdown.

Out on the streets

The post office sends its red van round the homes and shops nearby. The freight distribution centre sends lorries that call at several shops in one trip. A transfer station sends a big green trunk lorry to the landfill with everything the bin lorries brought it.

Open a larger picture. A red post van seen from above, driving down a street between flats and shops.
The post van on its rounds.
A red box van with a marigold band and a white roof.
The post van.
A green lorry with a long ribbed container.
The trunk lorry, off to the landfill.

Bike docks and mobility hubs send riders out, the EV charging hub's bays fill with real cars that drive in to charge and leave again, and a watch hut volunteer walks a loop of the streets nearby.

Works that move

The sawmill's saw spins, the lumber yard's loader boom swings over the logs, and the clay pit has a digger working back and forth. They move on the shelf too, so you can open the sawmill in 3D and watch the blade go round.

Open a larger picture. A round clay pit dug in steps, a little orange digger at work beside the water in its middle.
The clay pit's digger at work.

Questions, or spotted something wrong? Write to me at hello@voxelcity.games. Thanks for reading, Wayne

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