GridRoad
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
>> Buy on Steam <<
GridRoad has left itch.io and is now available only on Steam. Steam keys have been sent out to all existing purchasers.
(If you cannot claim your Steam key either contact itch.io support or email me directly at rajacorp@proton.me or contact me via discord.)
(You will not be able to claim a Steam key if you got the game for free)
*
GridRoad is a traffic optimisation simulation game. Build roads, place roadsigns and tweak traffic lights to build the most efficient traffic junction!
Remember that time you were stuck in traffic for the umpteenth time at that idiotically designed junction? Remember how you swore you could have designed a better intersection in your sleep? Well look no further
GridRoad is currently in early-access and in active development. Future versions of GridRoad will only be available through Steam. Purchase now and you'll get:
- Play and optimise 13 levels (around 3-4 hours of gameplay)
- Frequent content updates (New levels!)
- Have your say on the future of GridRoad development
- A key to the future steam version when it becomes available
- Take advantage of the limited-time itch.io early access price
- Prove that those pesky highway engineers are a bunch of amateurs
This has been a dream project of mine and I hope you'll join me for it, Thanks!
Download
This game is currently unavailable
Development log
- GridRoad v0.21 out now! (Win/Mac/Linux) + GridRoad comes to Steam December 6th!Nov 22, 2023
- Experimental Mac Build Out Now!Nov 16, 2023
- GridRoad v0.20 + Mac build out tomorrow!Nov 16, 2023
- GridRoad v0.15 + Future PlansOct 01, 2023
Comments
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Can you not require phone number on the discord? I don't have one to provide but would like to say a few words there...
This game looks like it would be great on an iPad. Do you have any plans for (or interest in) porting this to iOS?
Very interested! I will likely look into porting to other platforms (switch/iOS etc.) once I'm done with the desktop release. So in the second half of the year.
About lane merging, it doesn't make sense to have an arrow pointing straight (out of the road). I feel like it would be better to have something line this:
Maybe even include an arrow pointing at 45 degrees to the left or right depending where we want to merge (not the usual 90deg arrow).
This is what the sign looks like and on the road there are usually multiple arrows pointing in the same direction (45deg angle) before you can't go any further. (could also be a blue sign in Europe).
And since the game only shows what's on the road, then I think it would be better to just have the 45deg angled arrow.
I agree that the sign makes more sense. But the issue I have is incorporating the extra signs into the current control scheme. I'm looking into changes/improvements to the merge system to give the player more control and I'll hopefully have an update with these changes coming within a month,
It says existing purchasers will be given a steam key, but i can find it anywhere. I checked email and looked through itch but i didn't see anything. I'm not sure where to look.
Get in touch with me somewhere: Discord, email etc. (I don't think there a way to dm on itch).
also, I'd suggest making a forum post or sending an email to itch.io support as well.
Dude, I returned the game from Steam because I didn't understand it. But I noticed something. When I went to the file location of the game, I saw that it was still playable (but it cannot be opened from Steam.) I registered here to write about this situation :)
That's a little odd. The game has no DRM so perhaps that has something to do with it but I would've assumed Steam would uninstall the game first. Thanks for letting me know though ;)
If you have time, could you let me know what parts I did a bad job of explaining/teaching? Is the tutorial not good enough?
I gave it a second chance. I bought it again. But since there was no update for a long time, I returned it again. I am sorry
Older builds should now be downloadable again for everyone who has already owns it.
Can you please just leave a copy of the old version (pre-Steam) up on itch for those who already got it?
Trying to figure out a way to do this currently ;)
So, now you've moved the game to Steam, you've deleted all builds from Itch?
Those of us who claimed the game for free are now left with nothing?
It's complicated:
a. GridRoad will be taking advantage of Steam specific features such as steam leaderboards, so I can't continue with a non-steam version, which is why I have provided keys to everyone who purchased it.
b. Steam has a policy where I cannot undersell the game on any other storefront
c. Steam's prices are inclusive of any sales tax (if it says 4.99 you're going to pay 4.99)
d. Itch's prices are exclusive of sales tax (if it says 4.99 then you pay 4.99 PLUS any sales taxes from your country)
What this means is that the only way for me to have GridRoad Steam keys available for sale on itch is to overcharge them, deliberately charging a higher price so I don't violate Steams terms by undercutting their price. I don't want to overcharge anyone so I removed the game from sale. I think the only way to do this is to remove the builds from itch (they're still there but hidden).
None of that's relevant, though.
Those of us who claimed the game for free on Itch should be able to download - from Itch - whatever builds were published before the move to Steam, full stop.
It doesn't matter that we didn't pay anything - we took advantage of an offer to have access to the game as it existed at the time (early access, pre-release, whatever). Taking away access now comes over as mean-spirited at best. I wouldn't have expected a Steam key, but I do expect to be able to download what I've claimed.
I don't really get your "I won't sell on Itch" standpoint either, tbh. Plenty of devs sell on both platforms, accepting that Itch adds sales tax. I live somewhere with 20% sales tax and I've bought several games/dev-specific bundles from Itch which included Steam keys, albeit on sale (Agelvik's Black Friday '23 sale being the most recent). I don't care about leaderboards either, so offering a version without this feature wouldn't bother me.
Please reconsider your decision!
I do not care if you "get" my standpoint. Steam's terms are Steam's terms. I'm not going to violate those terms because it makes you personally unhappy.
If you think I have misinterpreted the terms by all means correct me.
I will try to see if there's some way to keep the old itch builds available for owners, but I don't think there's a way I can do this without the issues you claim are irrelevant cropping up.
It probably just depends on your location if Steam adds sales tax to your purchase. Steam has always added additional sales tax at checkout for me in addition to the game price. Different regions charge different tax so to base the game price on the tax is ridiculous.
I don't know who you're complaining about. Me, Steam or Itch.
This is what Steam says on checkout for most of the EU and as far as I can tell, every country with VAT outside of the US.
So your logic for not being allowed to charge the same price on itch and steam is invalid. VAT is not applicable to most customers.
I don't know why you're arguing from a place of complete ignorance. Read the section on rules, number 4 and then please tell me the magic spell I can cast to make the world you want a reality.
You can claim it from your library page.
You sent me an email:
"As you have purchased GridRoad on itch, you are entitled to a free Steam Key. To claim:
I checked 'my purchases' and all it says is :
"Nothing is available for download yet."
Below that line I had:
"Claim Steam Key"
and a Steam Sign In button. Do you have those?
This is my fault as I did not word the email properly (and I'm hesitant to send out another one as clarification because it's a little bit spammy)
You can only claim the Steam key if you purchased the game. Not if you got it for free.
Seems like a missed opportunity not give everyone a key. It would have been a great way to market the game upon launch.
Will the Steam Release get Achievements aswell?
Yes! It's early access so it's being updated constantly. I expect to have achievements in the game within a month.
Hello, where can I get the key of Steam? I have already bought it here.
Same question.
if you bought GridRoad, it'll be in the same place you download the game from on itch.io
If you got it for free you unfortunately don't get the Steam key.
and me too (^人^)
if you bought GridRoad, it'll be in the same place you download the game from on itch.io
If you got it for free you unfortunately don't get the Steam key.
Oh ok, I see. Thanks for mentioning it! You should probably pin your reply or put this as a note in the downloads page of the game in itch.io/in this product page at the top, because I am sure a lot got it for free XD
Go to your purchases (https://itch.io/my-purchases)
Click GridRoad (Not Download!)
Claim Steam key
Hi again. Some more ideas for you. Hope they're helpful:
1. Gridlocked cars obscure the coloured traffic light arrows. Maybe the coloured arrows could be overlaid "on top" of the cars so they are always visible?
2. The "Final Report" window obscures the final scene, showing which cars/junctions are having problems. I wish I could move it out of the way.
3. With the saved maps/layouts slots, it would be useful if they were labelled with the score they achieved (if any).
4. I really want to know if anyone can beat my scores! It would be great if users could upload their best score, so the "Final Report" could say: "The highest score so far is 21,320."
5. Regarding AI/game logic, a user below said below that the cars aren't "crashy" enough in the latest (v0.21) release. As you said, it's a delicate balance to get right. I think the most important thing is that the best solutions make logical sense, and don't rely too heavily on random trial-and-error. For example:
In the screenshot below, no cars are routed via the circled traffic light. I can set that light to all red, or all green; or remove the light, or even remove the road square it's on. I always get exactly the same score of 20,000, which makes sense.
But, if I set that traffic light to 1-on/1-off (x6), to match the lights above and below, I get a score of 20,900. If I set that light out of phase (by rotating the wheel once), I get a score of 20,700. That doesn't seem logical.
Then again, the restricted budget limits these "hacks", so maybe the possibility of discovering these illogical "Easter eggs" is intentional? Or maybe I've misunderstood how the cars could stray into (and immediately out of) that lane, and how that might affect collisions...? In any case, it's a very minor quirk that probably doesn't matter, but I thought I'd mention it.
Best wishes :-D
I always appreciate feedback thanks!
1. I'm not sure what you mean by "coloured traffic lights arrows"? Do you mean you can't tell if the traffic light is green or red when cars are under the traffic light?
If so, I'll try to come up with something to make it more obvious.
2. Good point, I'll try to add an option to minimise the final report window soon.
3. I'll be redoing the map save system soon, I'll try to include scores where appropriate.
4. Coming very soon in the Steam version! (either in the first steam release or the first steam update depending on how quickly I can work)
5. Regarding the traffic light weirdness: That's an extremely strange circumstance that I haven't heard of/seen before. I'll look into it and try to fix it asap. Thank you for the report.
In regards to the general crashiness of the cars I am very conflicted at the moment. For me, I find it very odd that people are requesting the cars should be more crashy as it's the opposite of what I expected. I'm kind've stuck between what I think should be done to make the game more fun and what players are telling me.
1. Yes. :-)
5. I also noticed you can point that traffic light in the opposite direction, and still get the same scores.
Another thought:
It's really hard to see the differernce in colour between the red and purple cars/flags (on my monitor, at least).
---
ON CRASHY-NESS:
People don't like change, and crashy-ness is a fundamental part of gameplay. When I played v0.21, I initially thought the cars weren't crashy enough, but only because I was used to v0.15. After playing all the levels I changed my mind.
So, I think crashy-ness should be set at whatever level allows for the most interesting/varied/challenging maps. For example, I love TANGLE because there's no single obvious solution, and lots of layouts get scores without gridlock. :-D
Is there a txt based manual? I dont mean the in-game tutorial.
No, but I can try to include one in the next update if that's something you'd be interested in?
(The game's discord is a good place to get help in the meantime)
I saw the great tutorial but for maschine learning (POC) a text file would be better ;-)
You've made me curious now :D
What are you using machine learning for?
I’m curious too. I hope to find the perfect intersection. I just wanna check the opportunities.
I'm very interested by what you might find! How does the text file help? Surely you can't just feed the file to the machine learning algorithm and expect it to learn?
Good luck!
It's safe? Because my windows told me it's unsafe.
Yes very safe
It's safe. I make the unity builds on a fresh computer and upload them directly to itch.io.
If you're unsure you can wait for the Steam version which will be out in a week and a half.
Love all the updates! Traffic lights are much easier now, and you kept the UI clean and simple. Genius!
It's still hard to see which lights are in sync. One idea... A "simulate" button. When clicked, a big number "1" appears and all traffic lights illuminate to show the 1st phase. Each click shows the next phase.
Wishlisted, and wishing you the best of luck.
Thanks so much!
There's two things that I will be implementing soon to help with the issue you're having:
1. When you hover over a segment of a traffic wheel all the traffic lights on the map will change colour to the highlights phase. (This was suggested by someone in the discord)
2. Something similar to what you're suggesting. Either exactly as you describe it or a button that overlays a smaller version of the traffic wheel over each tile with a traffic light.
Yo, cool game and a nice update, thank you. I think in the new update the traffic isn't 'crashy' enough. So far I have only played the priorities level, the first one, and I got 17200 by just placing the arrows, no lights.
Simpici-T? - No lights 7750
It's a delicate balance. I can't make the car AI too stupid or it will make more complicated levels near impossible. Those earlier levels are intended to be easier.
Wishlisted!
Cheers buddy!
I don't seem to be able to download 0.2 or 0.21 :/ it wants me to buy the game again
OK, false alarm. I have to go into my library
Looks really interesting! Any build for linux soon?
I'll get a build out with the next update (it will be a smaller bugfix update coming out in the next couple of days).
Unfortunately, there are simulation differences between OS's so the developer scores may be innacurate.
(Also I've heard from several people successfully running the game on linux through Wine if you don't want to wait)
Linux build up now!
When can Chinese support be added?
Language support is probably ~3+ months away. However, I will be improving the tutorial soon and it will be mostly visual and the rest of the game has very little text.
Sorry to disappoint but I'm working on this independently so I don't yet have the funds for localisation.
I am really confused by this. I am trying to divert the green and blue cars, but the game keeps telling me they aren't set up properly. I've tried a couple different things but the game insists I keep all the cars on one road instead of sending them off into the center area. Please help me understand why it doesn't recognize the middle paths for green and blue? Thank you!
you need turn arrows in the green path and the blue path
and im confused why you need those 2 tiles between blue car and red flag
Thanks for the reply and tips! I totally forgot you had to tell the cars where to turn each and every time. Anyone else would look at that and go "oh road is turning right, I should turn right, but hey no arrow so I'll just drive straight like a crazy person" :P
In regards to the confusion, you are also right. Those two tiles were from a previous attempt and I forgot to remove them. They are obviously redundant.
It's easy to miss sometimes. The debug mode really helps.
Hey sorry for the late reply, like Anton said below, you're missing a couple of turning arrows:
Experimental mac build is out now folks. I don't have a mac so I can't test it myself but I should hopefully be getting feedback from some mac users soon.
i am on mac but i dont have money so sorry
i mean i can buy it on steam when i get money but i heard about the update thing so how does that work
It was updated on itch.io, you have to redownload it one itch to get the new update. The steam early access release is just around the corner though, I'm just waiting for Valve's approval then the Steam page will be up and release will come 2 weeks after that.
Working well on Mac so far for me; have not identified any bugs that are not already attested in the discord.
It's working well on Mac, but draining battery unlike anything I've ever seen before. Almost impressive actually!
lol, there's not much I can do about battery drainage! Glad it's working well for you
The new update is awesome. Thank you :)
Thanks a load :)
I was asking for it, but my post is pending for like 2 weeks, then I will ask for it now.
If the game releases on Steam, the price will be the same?
maaati_mk
The price on steam will be 4.99 while it's in early access. (It's possible I might change my mind but it won't be lower than 3.49).
Purchased this game 2 weeks ago, does it update automatically or do I have to download new files? if so, where?
If you have the itch app it supposedly updates automatically. If you don't then you have to come back to the pages and download the new update.
(I just released a new update btw)
I know you have traffic light updates on the way, but it would make a lot of sense to have the default as all segments red when you place it. all green is identical to no traffic light, defeating the point of them, and I spend most of my time clicking all the segments to red before working on a timing pattern. Loving the game though :)
Done and done :)
You can now copy traffic lights also, and you can cycle the pattern clockwise and anti-clockwise.
For this early stage and low price of 2$: good game! Can recommend for traffic junkies like me :D
There are some bugs/oddities though:
Looking forward to returning to this game once there is more content!
Edit: Formatting.
Thank you :)
1. Yes unfortunately there are some differences with how the game runes on different systems so what works on one PC may not work on another. That said, Giga is way too hard so I've temporarily retired it in the latest update until I improve car AI.
2. Yeah I know that's frustrating. I will be spending time on improving the car AI so hopefully this doesn't happen as much.
3. Added in the recent update!
4. I've made improvents to this in the recent update. You can copy traffic light patterns and you can also cycle the pattern clockwise or anti-clockwise.
5. I am currently working on a better tutorial as I need to do a better job of teaching the player. Lane changing in particular lots of people find unintuitive so I'll put extra effort into that. Regarding signs, I want to keep the proximity restriction in place. Having too many signs close to eachother is extremely difficult to understand when you have larger road layouts and ends up just being messy.
6. Added in the recent update! You can add whatever arrowhead you want to any prexisting sign.
7. This one is a bit of a compromise. Finding a path for the car is currently quite laggy so I have it setup that it only check when you hover over the lane or press the start button. (I'll be improving this with future updates).
sounds good! I'll definitely check out the game every now and then to see what changed.
I'd love to see Give Way/Stop signs with associated traffic priority rules, and also left turn and right turn light signals. ohh and while I'm wishing for things... slip lanes, lane change options
Oh and lastly... how do I select which monitor to play on? It plays on my secondary monitor which is in portrait mode :(
OK.. monitor was easy, I had forgotten the hotkey!
But... how do we retry a level without clearing all the markings and light settings?
When you complete/fail a level there's an exit button, a retry button in the middle and a next level button.
you want to hit the retry button in the middle.
I was thinking about how stop/give way could be implemented, and had the idea that you could draw a solid, or dotted line across the edge of a square and it would then become either stop or giveway.
My issue with give way lines is that it would be a little overpowered in the context of the game.
It's worth testing give way signs. They wouldn't work on some levels, like the round about (where you would normally have give way signs) because there's just too many cars. But on other road layouts where you have created several slip roads and the traffic isn't too high it could work. Makes sense instead of the car just driving out. But it would change the game, so should be tested first
This is a really nice game!
I only have one Problem so far: Two cars turning into the same lane.
If that happens, they get stuck, even if there is no traffic in front of them and therefore it ends so many attempts of certain levels. Maybe a yield sign or an internal Priority Queue might help with that.
But again: This is Great!
Great game! When is the next update ? Thank You!
Can join discord more stuff
where i can find discord link ? TY!
update : i found it, TY!
Is it similar to freeways by Justin smith?
Yes, but more difficult IMO and only intersections (without viaducts). And added street light.
thank you!
Running this game on a Dell Precision 3550 laptop strangely makes the game autoscroll to the bottom right corner. I can use the middle mouse button to move around but it'll still move it back to the bottom right corner. The laptop has a touch screen so I don't know if that is somehow causing a conflict.
Is this available for Mac? If not does anybody know how to run a Windows exe on Mac?
The program you are looking for is called Wine: https://www.winehq.org/
It doesn’t work with all software though, and requires some advanced knowledge to get working sometimes.
Few ideas (maybe some repeated):
But generally it bring much fun :) Waiting for right-side traffic. Keep working! :)
Hi, great game, but can i play it in window? I would appreciate it there was some visuals for traffic light phases, like some small rings. I lose so much time on checking what i set in more complex levels.
To improve the traffic light timings you could add a sensor at the back of the queue to automate the timings.
I don't quite understand, could you go into more detail please?
I'm just replying so he doesn't. He means that he wants stuff so the traffic lights turn on when it's near the traffic light, Just like how some traffic lights work in real life.
Ah I see, thanks for clarifying.
I feel like that would make things significantly too easy so it's unlikely that I'd be adding this. Sorry Mikey!
Great game! Is a leaderboard planned?
Yes! Should come along with the Steam Early Access release later this month. (Everyone who has purchased on itch gets the steam version free also)
AMAZING game! I'm addicted. Can't wait for the next update!
SUGGESTION:
Traffic lights are frustrating. Each one has to be set individually, and it's hard to see at a glance which ones are in sync. So...
What if there was a panel where you could set all possible light phases for the map. (i.e. multiple red/green circles). You give each phase a number. Then you set individual lights on the map by giving them the corresponding number.
That way you set each phase once and can quickly copy it, or change multiple lights at once. And if the number is shown for each light on the map, you can see at a glance which ones are in sync.
Just a random idea...
Thanks for the kind words :)
The upcoming update will have a few improvements to traffic lights to make them less tedious. Mainly the ability to copy lights similar to what you suggested and also being able to click+drag on the traffic light wheel,
I'm having a think about a "master traffic controller" sort of feature but it obviously requires a bit of thought to do properly. So it may or may not end up in the game depending on how much I feel it is needed/how difficult it is to design.
What might be easy (honestly no idea but here I go anyways) while improving QoL significantly would be to add a toggle button to show/hide all traffic light cycles at once so things are easier to see at a glance. Might need some new layout though since they could overlap with each other how it is now. (so maybe not so easy after all)
Can you add sandbox mode?
It's planned, should be in the game in around ~2 months ;)
Okay
i can't seem to get all the cars to mov right on the first level, the first one fails, or the second one fails, and idk why ):
if you post a screenshot here or on the discord I'll be happy to help
i figured out that i needed to get the car to the right flag