Release log
Where we've been
Every public release of the Slopcouver prototype, newest first.
Each entry says what changed for players and, where we knew of problems when it went out, what they were. Many private test builds came between these; they aren't listed. Times are Vancouver time. For the earliest releases the exact minute wasn't written down, so those times are marked “about”.
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Release 147: Lighter on iPhones
- Lighter on iPhones: less memory churn while the city starts, and a slimmer setting for the smallest phones (a shorter streaming radius and fewer neighbourhoods, cars and people at once): about 65–70 MB less memory on an iPhone, and the most at the edges between neighbourhoods.
Release 146: Everything in one place
- Everything in one place: the front page now shows what's in the city today, what we're working on (faster loading, steadier iPhone play, more measured buildings), and links to the map (iso.slopcouver.ca), Labs (labs.slopcouver.ca), @slopcouver on X and a contact address.
Release 145: Pre-built streets
- Pre-built streets: the street grid now arrives pre-built: about 6 s faster to play on an iPad, a second on an iPhone, with the same memory.
Release 144: Painted walls
- Painted walls: the Midland storefront now wears a photorealistic texture, generated from photos and our 3D model (no lettering), seen when you're near.
- A more honest memory readout for phones.
Release 143: Solid ground
- Solid ground: the whole city's ground is rebuilt from the City's 2022 LiDAR survey, so streets, parks and shorelines sit at their real heights (land is 2.5 to 4 m lower than before; the sea stays put). Shorelines meet the water naturally, the viaducts and the Lions Gate approach rest on real ground, and ramps on Georgia, Dunsmuir and Granville are gentler.
- Bloedel Conservatory sits on its hilltop plinth.
- Goose chases: pedestrians chased by the goose back away from a red crossing instead of freezing.
- The Midland storefront's shop windows reflect the sky.
Release 142: A real storefront
- A real storefront: the Midland building on Columbia Street, just south of Olympic Village, now has its actual shopfront: pilasters, gridded windows, a door with side lights, a green awning and a sign band, measured from photos and drawn in the game's own style. It's the first of many.
- The front page scrolls again with the mouse wheel, keyboard and touch.
- Small fixes: the baked ground is now cached properly between visits.
Release 141: Wind, photos and a faster start
- Wind you can see: street trees sway with the live weather's wind, from a gentle stir on a calm day to a gale; on a really windy day (25 km/h and up) autumn leaves blow past you. Off during disasters and with reduced motion.
- The city from the air: past the built area, the ground now shows the City of Vancouver's 2022 aerial photo instead of a flat sheet. It loads after the game starts.
- Safer decks: cars, bikes and walkers stop at the sides of raised viaducts and bridges instead of driving off them; deck ends and junctions still let you through.
- A faster start: the ground is built ahead of time instead of on your device (about 3 seconds on an iPad in testing).
- Taller where it's true: four more buildings take their LiDAR heights, in East Van, Hastings, Killarney and Renfrew.
Release 140: The city, measured
- Building heights from the City's 2022 LiDAR across all 20 areas, with towers rising from their podiums downtown; trees from the LiDAR canopy.
- Roof colours from the City's 2022 aerial photos.
- Landmarks: Canada Place rebuilt; the Granville Bridge's steel truss; the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts raised to their real height with new piers and deck lights; the Cambie Bridge's piers.
- The 2D map now shows the whole city: tap anywhere to go there.
- A Windstorm in disaster mode (only when you choose it).
- Smaller things: kayaks stop at bridge piers; your car reads at night; search finds Marine Drive and Langara–49th stations; What's new keeps itself up to date.
Release 139
- Faster start: building fronts share their graphics, about a quarter less preparation on an iPad; and a car parked in an area that hasn't loaded yet comes back where you left it.
Release 137
- Links onto water land you on the shore: a shared walk or drive link onto False Creek or the harbour puts you on dry ground nearby, facing inland, or in a kayak if there's no shore in reach.
Release 136
- The SeaBus crosses Burrard Inlet between Waterfront and Lonsdale Quay on its real timetable.
- A softer shore: cars stop at the water's edge and walkers wade in, instead of a hard wall.
- Record saves an MP4 where your browser can, with a flight log of the route beside it.
- Bridges: buildings no longer poke up through the decks.
- Search says "Searching…" while it looks up street corners and stations, instead of "No match".
- Disaster mode adds a tsunami and a sea monster to the earthquake. They appear only when you choose them.
Release 135
- iPhones load reliably: they start on a lighter setting, and the start uses about a third less memory on every device.
Release 134
- Faster start: the game prepares its graphics in a few parallel batches, about a third quicker on an iPad.
Release 133
- A new front page. It opens on a goose flight over Burrard Inlet towards Canada Place, recorded in the game, with three more views from around the city: Lions Gate, False Creek at night and Coal Harbour. Start and the three starting places work as before.
- Light on your data: the flight plays only after the page has loaded, muted, and can be paused. It stays a still picture if you've asked your device to reduce motion or save data, or on a slow connection, and it stops as soon as you start.
Release 132
- Marpole and Fraserview, the 19th and 20th areas: south to the Fraser River and its North Arm, from Granville St to Fraserview's golf course and the river's edge.
- Long sessions stay light. Areas you leave are let go and built again when you come back, so memory no longer keeps growing the longer you play, on phones especially.
- The water at the edges of the outer areas is dug the same way on both sides of a seam, so the bay off Kits and the lakes no longer show a raised flat sheet or a step at an area's edge.
Known at the time
- The first start after this release cuts the ground again once (as on a first visit), so it takes a little longer; later starts are back to normal.
- A shared link or Places "Go" that lands on water or under a bridge deck can put a walker or car on the bottom, and a car can drive off a beach onto the sea bed. Fixes are being tested.
Release 131
- Radio. In Drive, the Radio button plays CiTR 101.9 (UBC) and CJSF 90.1 (SFU) live from the stations themselves. It stays off until you turn it on, Next switches station, and it is left out of your Record clips.
- Search finds street corners ("Victoria Dr & E 45th Ave"), the SkyTrain stations and landmarks in the outer areas, and Vancouver General Hospital.
- Small phones: the Drive buttons no longer push Handbrake off the screen.
- A faster site: since 6 Nov, 20:20 the game's code is delivered as a few files instead of hundreds, so it loads faster, especially on a return visit.
Known at the time
- Memory still grows over long sessions, because areas you've visited are never unloaded.
- A shared link or Places "Go" that lands on water or under a bridge deck can put a walker or car on the bottom, and a car can drive off a beach onto the sea bed. Fixes are being tested.
Release 130
- Sand on the beaches. Kits, English Bay, Spanish Banks and the city's other beaches are sand now, with driftwood, and the car slows to a crawl on it.
- A stunt score. Jump the ramp (or any drop) and the game scores the distance, the time in the air and any spin, doubled for a clean landing, with confetti, a cheer and a best for each car.
Known at the time
- Memory still grows over long sessions, because areas you've visited are never unloaded.
- On a 375-pixel-wide phone, the Drive buttons push Handbrake partly off the left edge. A fix is coming.
- A shared link or Places "Go" that lands on water or under a bridge deck can put a walker or car on the bottom. A fix is being tested.
Release 129
- A faster start on phones and tablets. As the map grew, three start-up steps (placing utility poles, the City's road work and the bus-stop signs) each checked every street in the city for every item. They now look only at the streets nearby, so the city builds sooner. The city itself is the same.
Known at the time
- Memory still grows over long sessions, because areas you've visited are never unloaded.
- A shared link or Places "Go" that lands on water or under a bridge deck can put a walker or car on the bottom. A fix is being tested.
- A few buildings stand through the Granville and Cambie bridge decks. A fix is being tested.
Release 128
- Tony Soprano's Suburban. New players start in a big carmine SUV (a joke name; no connection to the show). "Choose your car" switches between it and the Evos, and a car you've already chosen stays yours.
- Cruise ships at Canada Place, ready for the port's season: a ship berths, leaves bow first, sails out under the Lions Gate and sounds its horn. None are scheduled yet.
Known at the time
- Memory still grows over long sessions, because areas you've visited are never unloaded.
- A shared link or Places "Go" that lands on water or under a bridge deck can put a walker or car on the bottom. A fix is being tested.
- A few buildings stand through the Granville and Cambie bridge decks. A fix is being tested.
Release 127
- Stunt ramps. In Drive, press ` (or the Ramp button on a touch screen) and a plywood kicker drops in ahead of the car. Hit it at speed. Up to three at a time; they clear themselves away.
- Disaster mode: the earthquake. Press U (or the Disaster button) and choose Light or Strong: the ground shakes, the trees sway, the water sloshes, car alarms go off and people head for open space. Stop ends it.
- This log, corrected: the city's TransLink buses run to their timetable, along with a stretch of the SkyTrain Expo Line and the False Creek ferries. The SeaBus isn't in the game yet.
Known at the time
- Memory still grows over long sessions, because areas you've visited are never unloaded.
- A shared link or Places "Go" that lands on water or under a bridge deck can put a walker or car on the bottom. A fix is being tested.
- A few buildings stand through the Granville and Cambie bridge decks. A fix is being tested.
Release 126
- Victoria-Fraserview and Killarney. The 17th and 18th areas.
- Dunbar's bluff without the 19 m step.
- Houses stay put: after jumping back to an area you've visited, the nearby houses are there without you having to move.
- Long sessions grow more slowly: the game now lets go of what it drops, so the renderer releases it too.
- The far water stays blue from the air. Flying high over English Bay no longer shows grey ground where the sea should be.
- Landmarks: the East Van Cross, lit after dusk, and the Bloedel Conservatory's dome at the top of Queen Elizabeth Park.
- This release log, and UBC's credit for the campus building data on the About page.
Known at the time
- Memory still grows over long sessions, because areas you've visited are never unloaded.
- The map shows only the areas you've visited, and clicking an outer area lands you at the edge of downtown. The map is being rebuilt.
Release 125
- Sunset. The 16th area: Fraser St to Knight St, between E 41st Ave and SE Marine Dr, with its streets, blocks, about 5,700 buildings, City street lights and trees.
- Level ground in Renfrew and Collingwood. The low spots along Boundary Rd and Still Creek are fixed.
- Transit data updated to include the new area.
- The route recorder (desktop): press L to record a route and Shift+L to replay it with cinematic cameras.
Known at the time
- After jumping back to an area you've already visited, nearby houses can stay missing until you move.
- On long sessions memory keeps growing with every area you visit, because areas are never unloaded.
- Smaller things: Snap back not yet checked on a real phone; “Kensington Park” isn't in search; a few buildings sit too high (in Collingwood, on Fraser St around E 19th to 23rd, and one each in Southlands and south Kerrisdale); the iPad can reload when several game tabs are open.
Release 123
- The map grows to 15 areas: Hastings-Sunrise and the PNE, Renfrew, Collingwood (to Boundary Rd), Oakridge, the SW Marine Dr connector, Southlands and south Kerrisdale. Heights corrected in Kerrisdale, Oakridge, Dunbar and Collingwood, including a 10 m step on SW Marine.
- Buses drive into the new neighbourhoods.
- Pedestrians cross the street at signalled junctions.
- The goose lands on roofs, small ones included, and chases without pinning; parked vehicles behave.
- Record button (R, desktop) to capture a clip.
- City now: a built-in tide table, and the City's real Road Ahead work sites.
- Travel to Slop Toronto from the Places panel, with a “Back to Slopcouver” way home.
- Phone play: a 3rd | 1st view switch, Snap back, Stick or D-pad and right- or left-thumb settings, and fewer buttons. A key press no longer flips the touch layout on a tablet with a keyboard.
- Looks: calmer road sealant lines and a tighter golden-hour glow around the sun.
- Fix: the pale backdrop plane that showed through in some neighbourhoods is gone.
Known at the time
- Snap back not checked on a real device; “Kensington Park” isn't in search; a few buildings sit too high; low spots in the ground along Boundary Rd and Still Creek (fixed in 125); the iPad can reload with several game tabs open.
Release 120
- The city west and south: new areas for the south side (to King Edward Ave), Kitsilano, Point Grey, UBC and the University Endowment Lands, Dunbar, Kerrisdale, and Mount Pleasant, Kensington and Cedar Cottage. UBC uses its 2025 building heights. Their places are in search, and the location chip names spots like Kits Beach, Jericho, Spanish Banks and Wreck Beach.
- City now: live 311 pins, tides, air quality and Road Ahead work, loaded once the city is on screen.
- Fixes: the Evo car-share controls show only in Drive; the helicopter roams the whole map; stray floating pieces removed from area edges; phones skip far-away street details.
Known at the time
- Buses didn't yet enter the new areas (fixed in 123); a gap on SW Marine Dr between Kerrisdale and the south side (fixed in 123); a pole standing in a lane at National Ave and Main St.
Release 117
- East Vancouver: Gore Ave to Commercial Dr, Burrard Inlet to E 10th Ave, with traffic across the join, City trees and lights, real building heights and addresses. About 18% of the City is now playable.
- The goose stays on roofs after landing, floats when a link drops it on water, and flocks in the parks with a wingbeat sound.
- Desktop key hints for each mode, and number keys to switch (6 is the goose).
Known at the time
- Buses didn't enter East Vancouver yet; a pole standing in a lane at National Ave and Main St.
Release 116
- A new phone layout: one menu instead of many buttons.
- The goose flies, hisses and poos.
- A live city: TransLink buses on their timetable, a stretch of the SkyTrain Expo Line, the False Creek ferries, Mobi bike docks, and the weather in °C.
- Fixes and looks: the Davie St cherry trees are back, five poles moved out of buildings, and midday shade.
Known at the time
- After landing on a roof the goose could sink through the building to the street (fixed in 117); a goose dropped on water by a link stood on the bottom (fixed in 117).
Release 109
- The goose honks (H, or the Honk button on touch), and people nearby scatter.
- Fixes: trolley poles out of the roads, street trees out of lanes, the What's new link, and overlapping on-screen controls at some window sizes.
- An About link on the front page.
Known at the time
- The tree clean-up dropped the Davie St cherry trees, and five moved poles ended up inside buildings (both fixed in 116).
Release 107
- Looks: haze, water, the helicopter's rotor disc, street lamps and park lawns.
- Metric: km/h and metres.
- The About page, linked from the in-game sources panel.
Release 104
- A busier harbour and more to do: ships at anchor, ferries, marina boats and seaplanes; the Burrard Bridge and Siwash Rock; the goose; the Places panel; and What's new.
- Fix: a start-up check no longer steps a copied tab of the game down to a lighter setting by mistake.
Release 102
- Fix: wooden poles moved out of the middle of streets, and no longer doubled up on City street lights.
Known at the time
- Poles are still solid: drive into a roadside pole and the car stops dead.
Release 99
- Stop signs stand on the curb where traffic actually stops: 484 of them, up from 21.
Known at the time
- Mapped traffic lights and stop signs away from the simulated traffic routes aren't placed yet.
Release 98
- Fix: traffic lights face the drivers. They used to show drivers their dark backs.
Release 97
- Fix: a normal reload in Safari after an update no longer says “The game could not load”.
Release 96
- Safer starts: if the game closes while it is starting (for example when a phone runs out of memory), the next start in that tab uses a lighter setting and says so.
Known at the time
- After such a recovery the front page can show your saved setting while the game starts lighter; an on-screen notice explains it.
Release 92
- Lighter on phones: large textures are shrunk on the phone setting, and the rusty rail strips are left out.
Release 82
- Fix: no road shows on the water under the Lions Gate Bridge deck.
Release 81
- A new home address: slopcouver.ca. The older addresses forward to it and keep your saved links working.
Release 80
- One search box: the duplicate Search button is gone.
Release 79
- Wording: the False Creek start card now says where you really start.
Release 78
- The first public release, on slopvancouver.ca: the game, with a front page of starting points. The City's murals appear as patterned panels where the real artworks are, with their titles and artists.
Known at the time
- The third-person camera could clip into tree foliage; the False Creek start card named the wrong spot (fixed in 79).