It's been a while since I didn't tell you about Taxi Life. A name that may not speak to you, since it is the Urban Venture game, currently in development, which has been renamed as such. The developers are particularly active, whether on their Discord server or during Twitch or Youtube streams on their channel. Here's what to remember from the latest exchanges with the community.
Taxi Life takes place in Barcelona, in a 1:1 scale city. In recent weeks, several lines of work have been defined. The first is cabin interaction. Many elements will be functional in your taxi. You can raise and lower the windows, start and stop the engine, put on the hazard warning lights or even press the GPS buttons in the interior view. In 3rd person view, interactions will be via a circular menu. It makes the game more immersive. Realism is the key word here, and Simteract is also working on adding light effects, so, facing the sun, you will have to squint to avoid being dazzled.
The system of missions (and mini-games) has been mentioned. Unsurprisingly for a taxi simulation, you will have to pick up passengers. Taxi Life will allow you to manage your rounds by taking several users at the same time in certain cars. You will be able to have conversations with them (the voice-overs are not recorded at the moment). These will react to the way you drive. They might lose patience if your driving is a little too violent. It is important to clarify that Taxi Life is not Forza.
Driving is more like a BeamNG.drive type simulation. Moreover, like the latter, Taxi Life manages vehicle damage and maintenance. There will be certain requirements, like refueling, tire pressure, washing the body, and sending the car in for repair if your windows are smashed from a crash. Running out of gas is also remarkably managed, since you will have to call a tow truck to repatriate your vehicle. If you are on a mission, your passenger will have to take the bus home… with consequences for your business.
AI, the cornerstone of a good simulation
The developers announce that they are working hard on the artificial intelligence of Taxi Life. Traffic, traffic lights, NPCs and decorative elements. Bringing the traffic of Barcelona to life is a challenge. Remember that Simteract is developing an AI-driven traffic solution in parallel soberly named “Traffic AI”. No doubt it will be used for the development of Taxi Life. The Spanish police will also ensure compliance with the highway code. Forgetting a turn signal or running a red light, and that's the fine! Of course here, no chase. It will probably be a fines system like in Bus Simulator.
Compatibility
Finally, the developers complete their last stream Dated when talking about Steam Deck compatibility: "We want to make the game accessible to as many people as possible, so that's something we're looking at closely." As for steering wheel support, the game will support all steering wheels including the Logitech G29.
Simteract Youtube channel.
The game's Discord server.
Taxi Life's Steam page.