greglab
GamesLive

Urban Life

Five boroughs. One city. Your NYC story.

A persistent stylized 3D multiplayer NYC sandbox spanning five boroughs, personal homes, street life, jobs, businesses, vehicles, and shared stories.

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World
5 boroughs
Persistence
SQLite
Hosting
Railway
First commit
2026-09-05

What it is

Urban Life begins with a borough choice, a studio apartment, and empty pockets. From there, a player can find work, travel, acquire vehicles and housing, enter businesses, and shape a persistent character across a compressed five-borough city.

Times Square supports performer and photographer work, while Public Works sends players to repair city infrastructure. Staffed businesses and furnished interiors extend street-level activity beyond the sidewalks.

Traffic, pedestrians, police, businesses, homes, garages, jobs, and vehicles share the multiplayer world. Shared rides let players travel together, and NPC personalities give recurring city characters distinct behavior.

Three.js renders the stylized city, Socket.IO synchronizes players and world activity, and the Express service persists the world in SQLite on Railway.

Highlights

  • ●Five connected boroughs
  • ●Jobs, homes, businesses, and vehicles
  • ●Shared rides and distinct NPC personalities

Capabilities

Key features

Five-borough sandbox

A compressed NYC-inspired world connects Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island.

City jobs

Times Square performing and photography join Public Works repair and staffed indoor jobs.

Homes and businesses

Players begin in a studio and can explore furnished interiors, staffed venues, garages, and larger homes.

Street life and vehicles

Traffic, pedestrians, police response, drivable vehicles, and street navigation make movement part of the city story.

Shared rides and personalities

Players can ride together while named NPC personalities and precinct dispatch create recurring encounters.

Under the hood

How it works

  1. 1Three.js and esbuild produce the stylized city client, interiors, characters, vehicles, maps, and HUD.
  2. 2Socket.IO carries real-time player, traffic, vehicle, job, and interaction state through one Express service.
  3. 3The server validates gameplay changes and persists characters, assets, housing, vehicles, and world detail in SQLite.
  4. 4Railway runs the single shared world and Games Hub identity resolves a returning player's persistent character.

Recent changes

Full changelog →

  1. Added shared rides and NPC personalities

    Introduced shared rides, distinct NPC behavior, and precinct dispatch in version 0.13.0.

  2. Staffed businesses and furnished interiors

    Filled businesses with staff and made their interiors playable in version 0.12.0.

  3. Populated expanded neighborhoods

    Added street-level life across the expanded city in version 0.11.0.