Open the garage door in ProtoWorks now and the street is no longer empty. A car rolls past, someone walks to the corner, and a passer-by might wave as you come close. None of it asks anything of you; the world just keeps turning while you print.

▶ Watch the neighbourhood come alive on YouTube: a one-minute look around, from a sunny morning to headlights after dark, filmed in the game.

Why the street had to come alive

A garage only feels like a beginning when there is a town outside it. Until now you could drive your pickup through a carefully dressed neighbourhood where, apart from your neighbour and the shopkeepers, nobody was out. For now the new people are simply part of the scenery; one day we would love some of them to walk up to your garage as customers.

Cars that drive like cars

Up to about 18 cars drive around you in the morning and evening rush, fewer in the middle of the day and only a few at night. Cars only come and go where you can't see them, so you shouldn't catch one blinking into existence.

Streets, sidewalks and cars are built at real US sizes, so your garage and your pickup sit at the right scale:

| Thing | In the game | Real-world reference | |---|---|---| | Residential street | 6 m wide, two 3 m lanes | a 10 ft lane | | Sidewalk | 2 m | 5 to 6 ft | | Cars | 3.6 to 4.5 m long | compact to mid-size | | Speed limits | 25, 30 and 35 mph | US town streets |

Cars follow the roads you already know: one lane each way, keeping right, and they swing through junctions in a smooth curve instead of snapping round the corner.

  • Corners: they slow down before a turn, to about 8 mph for a tight right turn.
  • Following: they queue with a polite gap and don't tailgate.
  • Junctions: cars take turns. If another car is already crossing its path, the next one waits at the line.
  • You: they stop for you and your pickup, and give a soft honk if they have had to wait for you for a few seconds.

The small things sell it: an engine you hear as a car passes, brake lights when it slows, headlights and tail lights in the evening, and wheels that roll and steer.

A brand-new sedan

The old sedan looked blotchy and had oddly tinted headlights, so it got replaced. The new one started as concept art from five angles and was turned into a 3D model from those views. It lights its own lamps: bright white headlights, red tail lights and bright red brake lights. Its paint is even, its whole wheels turn, and the sedans parked around town kept their own colours.

People on the sidewalks

About 16 people are out during the day, and only a few late at night. They have believable heights, from 1.66 to 1.85 m, and walk at an everyday pace of about 3 mph.

  • They keep right and step around lamp posts, trees, bins and each other.
  • They cross at junctions when no car is near or coming, and cars wait for them.
  • Now and then someone stops at a corner to look around.
  • Walk up to someone and they turn their head to you; some of them wave.

For now they wear the clothes of our shopkeeper and workshop crew. Concept art for casual passers-by is in progress; if it works out, the street will look less like everyone just left work.

Making the walk believable

The walk looked fine in a screenshot and wrong in motion. So we checked every person with a tool that compares each joint with what a real body can do and measures how the feet meet the ground. It found three things:

  • Knees: in some animations knees twisted far past what a real knee allows. Every animation is now corrected for each character.
  • Standing still: people waiting on a corner shuffled their feet about 23 cm without going anywhere. Now their legs and hips hold still while arms and head keep moving.
  • Sliding feet: the walking animation ran at a guessed speed, so feet slid over the ground as if on ice. We measured how fast each character's feet really travel and matched the animation to each person's pace.

You'll probably never notice the fix, and that's the point: once you have seen feet skate, you can't unsee it.

What's next

What we're exploring next, with no promises on timing:

  • Casual passers-by with their own clothes and faces.
  • A better walk made for these characters.
  • Neighbours with a bit of routine, like a walk to the shops or a chat at the corner.

Thanks for following along! Tell us in the YouTube comments: what should the first neighbour knock on your garage door to get printed?