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Overview

• TimeWalk.org is building an historically-accurate recreation of New York City, starting with Manhattan ...as of 1609, 1660, 1776, 2023, and other periods
  • The goal is to be able to virtually "walk around" Manhattan and experience time travel
• The project is built in Unreal Engine 5.2+ and will run on Windows and Mac desktop computers
  • Eventually it will be available on iOS, Android, VR, and AR devices
  • Someday soon, with AR (e.g. a future 3rd generation Apple Vision Pro), users could walk around outside in Manhattan and see a virtual "overlay" of that same scene as it was in 1609, or 1660, or 1776, or whenever
• We will start by reconstructing the buildings and landscapes of the city using historical maps and other documents to accurately place the buildings, hills, rivers, roads, and piers. Next, we will add animated animals (birds, horses, livestock). Then sound effects. Then vehicles. Then (eventually) actual people in historically-accurate clothing.
• We want this project to be as realistic as possible, using Unreal Engine 5.x on the latest high-end PCs & video cards (e.g. Nvidia 4090). Over the next 3-5 years, high-end rendering will be available in smartphones and VR devices. Where it is not, we can rely on hosted cloud services (e.g. Nvidia Now) to render remotely in real-time. In earlier projects (e.g. Mill Valley CA), we relied on Unity3D and SketchUp. The quality of graphics was not sufficient to inspire historians and other users.
  • Where detailed references are not available (e.g. we have great maps of 1660 Manhattan, but don't know the exact materials or colors of the buildings), we will provide our "best-guess" as a placeholder
• Like Wikipedia, TimeWalk will be an open-source, ever-evolving document. Qualified users will be able to leave edit notes on objects (e.g. "this house actually had 3 stories and yellow stucco exterior: source = xxx"). Qualified 3D artists can then be employed to make those edits.
  • Ideally, historically-knowledgeable volunteers can provide these edits. Where funds are required to hire 3D artists and animators, we will raise funds through a 501c3 non-profit (as Wikipedia does now).

TimeWalk Framework

We'd like other cities/towns/countries to be able to assemble their own "TimeWalks" (e.g. Boston, Paris, Rome, Tokyo). The Manhattan 1609-1664-1776 project is a prototype of a system that should make that easy. Wherever we can, we should make blueprints for our various systems that other locales can then customize for their use. We want to be able to recreate historic moments in our scenes, which requires accurately representing the sunlight, weather, etc.

This framework would include:

• Building metadata: Latitude/Longitude, Address, Year Built, Year Replaced, Owner names, 3D model location, etc.
• Procedural building placement: A PCG that places buildings where they belong, and uses placeholders where necessary
• Map alignment: Let history editors overlay translucent maps on the terrain to align scenery accurately
• Time-traveling: allow user to go forward/backward in time (at adjustable rates). Change sun/sky/moon accordingly. Tides up/down.
• Seasons: enable summer, spring, snow, fall colors, bare trees, etc.
• Weather: allow rain, storms, snowstorms, high wind, solar eclipse (!)
• Sounds: crickets/wolves at night, harbor sounds, seagulls, tavern noise, etc.
• NPC animals: AIs to control and animate any creature-type
• NPC people: AI-driven characters, with audio dialog
• Level loading management: e.g. do we need to load a new Unreal "level" to go from 1660-1664, or just adjust a single level?

Manhattan - project plan

1. 1609 Manahatta ("Lenapehoking") as it was when Henry Hudson first sailed up the Hudson River
2. 1660 New Amsterdam: Dutch colonists had built ~350 houses, taverns, as well as a fort and windmill on the tip of Manhattan. Population ~2,500.
3. 1776 New York: The British took over in 1664 and grew the city northward past the Wall. Population ~22,000. Note that 2026 will be the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Goal is to complete our 1776 version well before then!
4. 1882 New York: In the midst of the "Gilded Age" (and the TV series of that name)

TimeWalk Inspirations

• The Time Machine (1960)
• The Time Machine (2002)
• San Francisco 1906 (pre-earthquake)

New York Map References

• The Iconography of New York City
• Eric Sanderson's 2009 TED talk on the Manahatta Project
• New Amsterdam - Wikipedia
• Geography of New York City
• 1811 Grid Plan - shows before and after terrain
• Wikipedia Trees of NYC
• New York City Evolution Animation
• The Buildings of Manhattan
• 1874 Water Map by Egbert L. Viele
• 1660 New Amsterdam details spreadsheet

1609:

1660:

2023: