Cities Unlimited

[Nevets13 27]

Originally posted by: cuboctahedron

Originally posted by: KeanoManu

But with the actual globe option, everything will be out of proportion. Building London will take up half of Britain and so on. But it would be cool to have the option.quote>

I don't know how big the region size is actually going to be; I was hoping though the the play area size, e.g. Britain, would be identical (area-wise) to the actual size of the  the islands, so you can theoratically rebuild a whole country (providing you have enough harddisk space).

It's not that Monte Cristo has to mimic every hill, river or other details of a country/continent, but basically just have the contours of the coast-lines, and the climate main features (desert, artic, tropic, temperate, mountainous etc).

Indeed it would be horrible if you build a city like london, and have Heathrow airport located in Bristol or Luxembourg-City be a suburb of Paris.

In addition, perhaps Monte Cristo could use the mapping of a game like Microsoft Flight-Simulator as template for the geographic features.quote>

Yup, that is pretty much how I imagine them doing this as well.

[Arthuryazhemskiy 0]

the whole game should be scaled to match that of real life. The cars, people, terrain, buildings, trees. The scale was pretty off in SC4

[theyeti2001 0]

Hi Philippe, love your interaction with the community here, great stuff! One of the things I'd like to see if you do happen to go down the zoning path is to be able to split zone densities for better realism and then tag buildings with what zones they fit into. For example instead of having just medium density residential, this could be split into medium res-urban/inner city, medium res-suburban and medium res-rural so that the kind of aparment blocks that you would see in an inner city area don't grow in the suburbs or vice versa and rural areas may have logging camp style medium res, same with say light commercial you could have light com-urban, light com-suburban and light com-rural so that you don't get small office towers growing where all you are looking for is corner shops or farming supply depots in the inner city. with industrial you could make light industrial park zones, dirty factory zones, warehouse zones, farm zones etc so that the right kind of builings grew where you wanted and not like SC4 where you had to constantly demolish those odd buildings that just didn't fit correctly into the area you were trying to create. I think if this had been available in SC4 from the start then not so many CJers would have gone down the "plop most buildings" path and EA/SC:S wouldn't have made the mistake of interpreting this as "Players want to plop all their buildings." Regards The Yeti.

[Pinkyred9 0]

i think if they made it so you select the place in the world your going to build and the building design corisponds (did i spell that right?) to the area you select. pick England, and well everything is british, Australia, Australian, American, american style.Brazilian... (yeah I think we get it!). That's a suggestion for any monte cristo developers out there! But you have give me the first hundred million kidding!

[Nevets13 27]

Originally posted by: Pinkyred9 i think if they made it so you select the place in the world your going to build and the building design corisponds (did i spell that right?) to the area you select. pick England, and well everything is british, Australia, Australian, American, american style.Brazilian... (yeah I think we get it!). That's a suggestion for any monte cristo developers out there! But you have give me the first hundred million kidding!quote>

I am slightly against this, I think where we select should have the landscape, flora, and fauna match where we selected, but the buildings should be up to us. If I want to build a bavarian town in the outback, I am going to create one!

[Androv 6]

I don't think Monte Cristo is going to have the time, or resources, or patience, to plan out different building sets for multiple parts of the world. They'll probably have a mix of US/European buildings with a couple of special ones from Asia/Middle East. Unless they have the Sydney Opera House as a landmark I don't think anything from Australia will get in.

I also think that regions the size of Britain or France are completely unrealistic expectations from the developers, unless... well, no, I think they're still unrealistic. That belongs to SimNation, not a sim where you can zoom all the way in see your people crossing the road.

As for climate/terrain, I admit I would be fond of a detailed way of picking the spot to start a city. City Life had the choice of five 'climates' to build in - Temperate/Tropical/Sunny/Mountain/....the last one was Desert or something like it. The climate influenced (along with the scenario) the citizen's mood and the number of tourists that would come. There aren't that many more climates that you can go for (except for Arctic/Tundra) so I think a simple selection of climates would probably be alright.

[Mr.YGuy 0]

Well it looks a sounds like it will be a great game so far and am looking forward to knowing more about it as it's being developed further. It's certainly a game for me to look out for!

[ccecill 52]

I think that one thing that you guys should look at that probably no one has addressed here is what the interface for the game will look like. SC:S's is just horrid, and City Life's was awful too. SC4's is nice, but leaves much to be desired...

Just wanted to bring up something a little different...

[lrfox 2]

I just tuned into this and i have to be honest, i haven't read through the entire thread and probably won't so sorry if this is redunant.

First, Thanks to Philippe for hearing us out.

At this point in the development i wonder how much flexibility the developers have in terms of changes to the interface, etc?.(that is sort of a question/ statement hybrid).

Second, I was wondering what and if there are plans for future user custom content. My suggestion would be to set up something that works with the latest versions of 3dsMax. It seems that most gamers worldwide use that to edit custom content. Is this something that's possible?

again, this looks very promising and thank you for listening.

[Nevets13 27]

Originally posted by: Androv

As for climate/terrain, I admit I would be fond of a detailed way of picking the spot to start a city. City Life had the choice of five 'climates' to build in - Temperate/Tropical/Sunny/Mountain/....the last one was Desert or something like it. The climate influenced (along with the scenario) the citizen's mood and the number of tourists that would come. There aren't that many more climates that you can go for (except for Arctic/Tundra) so I think a simple selection of climates would probably be alright.quote>

You also have to remember that different terrains around the world change depending where you are at. A desert in Australia isn't the same and one in northern africa, or one in north america.

Different climates:

Temperate-Eastern US, Europe, Canada.

Tundra-Northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia

Subtropical/Tropical- Florida, Carribean

Rainforest-Amazon, South East Asia, West Africa

Plains/Savana-Central US, Patagonia, East Africa.

Desert-West US, Australia, Middle East

Mediterranean-Southern Europe, California

Mountainous-Rockies, Himalayas, Alps

[dasilva 3]

Originally posted by: ccecill I think that one thing that you guys should look at that probably no one has addressed here is what the interface for the game will look like. SC:S's is just horrid, and City Life's was awful too. SC4's is nice, but leaves much to be desired...

Just wanted to bring up something a little different...quote>

Hi ccecill, we actually did not started yet implementing the interface of the game but we know it is a really important part of the success of a city builder game: it's like your own job, if your boss doesn't provide you with the right tools, you'll hate it.

We are right now at the planning stages on the interface topic. Maybe a good point for a dedicated discussion

Hi Irfox, thank you for the support. I think I answered your first point. And the second one is easy: our artists use 3dsmax! ;-)

[bixel 1,224]

3dsmax is cool, I use it from time to time...but you what is even cooler 4DS MAX YEEEEhhhh!!!! Of course you have to train your mind in quadimensional multithreaded thinking in order to even comprehend the transducing 2d vortrexicon to 4matix translation. But anyway enough of that ... (munch munch munch) mm potato chips!!!

[lrfox 2]

Awesome. that's good to know. thanks again for your help and time.

[gabry85 2]

Yay! Can't wait to design my 3D skyline!

[AdmiralCrunch 11]

Will there be dates in CU? Would you choose from a specific date to start from (such as 1900, 1950, 2000, 2050...) and as your city progresses, the technology progresses?

Think SimCity 2000 and 3000.

[Jamonbread 222]

A few suggestions..

I hate the edges of the city in SC4. Cheesey and screenshots at the edge of your city weren't very good. So I suggest showing the edges of the neighbouring cities so the cities blend and this would really come in handy with terrain too. I love the idea of creating your own cities sizes and shapes and options to expand later in the game. I felt the small plots in SC4 were pointless. I didn't enjoy making them and I just made them as fillers. I would also love to see regional rewards for example a nuclear power plant isn't going to be in the major city but in its subburbs. I suggest alowing cities that have an electrial connection to a large city be allowed to build one as well. Also I would love to see more government rewards. Large government buildings that have offices and employ.

Have bigger offices available and more elaborate Government buildings as the region (not just that city) gets bigger and asllow only one of the bigger buildings in the region. I love your dedication to hearing us out I'm definetely buying this game even if I have to buy a whole new computer. I'm savin up.

Thanks phillipe

[Rean2 10]

Originally posted by: Jamonbread A few suggestions..

I hate the edges of the city in SC4. Cheesey and screenshots at the edge of your city weren't very good. So I suggest showing the edges of the neighbouring cities so the cities blend and this would really come in handy with terrain too. I love the idea of creating your own cities sizes and shapes and options to expand later in the game. I felt the small plots in SC4 were pointless. I didn't enjoy making them and I just made them as fillers. I would also love to see regional rewards for example a nuclear power plant isn't going to be in the major city but in its subburbs. I suggest alowing cities that have an electrial connection to a large city be allowed to build one as well. Also I would love to see more government rewards. Large government buildings that have offices and employ.

Have bigger offices available and more elaborate Government buildings as the region (not just that city) gets bigger and asllow only one of the bigger buildings in the region. I love your dedication to hearing us out I'm definetely buying this game even if I have to buy a whole new computer. I'm savin up.

Thanks phillipequote>

I can guarantee you, there will be no wierd/disgusting/shallow/empty void/hole/abyss/canyon in the outer edge of cities. In City Life, the background terrain were prerendered to a point with a static image of the appropriate background in the horizon. Even if you peered over to the edge you would just see a reflection map for the water, so it would look like water is on the other side. Of course there were no Neighboring cities in City Life, it would be a pretty good idea to include neighboring cities. Instead of rendering the neighboring city completely, set a low LOD (level of detail) image for that city. So from what i can see from City Life, there will be no "edge" that will kill the citie's look. Unless Phillipe corrects me wrong

[Jamonbread 222]

Rean2 you've read my mind

[Arthuryazhemskiy 0]

i would like to start in a very small map, and as i gain more finances, i would like to buy adjacent land, in small incriments. Once the land is bought, it is part of the original map, this will allow for the player to create maps of any size from very small to a limited size. This limit has to exsit to stop the user from opening a map that will bring a cpu to a standstill. if you make the area around the very small map very tiny pieces, it will result in endless sizes and shapes of map types. Or you can just give us a huge hunk of land and let us carve a piece of land using a knife tool and it can be any shape we want, like using the knife tool in photoshop.

[Rean2 10]

Originally posted by: Arthuryazhemskiy i would like to start in a very small map, and as i gain more finances, i would like to buy adjacent land, in small incriments. Once the land is bought, it is part of the original map, this will allow for the player to create maps of any size from very small to a limited size. This limit has to exsit to stop the user from opening a map that will bring a cpu to a standstill. if you make the area around the very small map very tiny pieces, it will result in endless sizes and shapes of map types. Or you can just give us a huge hunk of land and let us carve a piece of land using a knife tool and it can be any shape we want, like using the knife tool in photoshop.quote>

very good idea, maybe have a sort of "puzzle piece" at every end of the piece of land to extend to. Although some of it is already in City Life, i would like it if it would be "endless". The computer would randomly generate the extended land when you buy surrounding areas and you can change it buy putting in factors like a plain, valley, mountainous region, a river side, the coast etc.

[Arthuryazhemskiy 0]

thats what i had in mind.

[JCS072488 0]

Originally posted by: Cheese89

Originally posted by: Sap59

* Some sort of easements on roads so when you upgrade from say a 2 lane to a 4 lane you don't have to wipe out a whole row of buildings like what was done in SC4.quote>

In real life terms, it is realistic for buildings to have to be moved or demolished in order to make way for road expansion. One of my biggest problems with City Life was that all of the roads, whether they were 2, 4, or 6 lanes, have the same width. Two-lane roads have massive sidewalks to compensate for this... and it just looks ugly.

While its nice not having to demolish your buildings when you upgrade your road, I'd rather have to knock a few structures down if it means a more realistic game.quote>

 

I feel the same way.

[JCS072488 0]

It would be great to be able to curve the bridges and for them to have more gradual approaches.

I cant wait for CU come out.

[Jamonbread 222]

I'd like to at least have diagonal bridges. Bridges are built to have the smallest span as possible and without diagonal bridges I think it takes away from the realism quite a bit.

[Arthuryazhemskiy 0]

yes, please make bridge building in any direction and also, bridges that can go from one region to the other. Meaning that the the line dividing two regions is water, a bridge can still be made without being interupted and without having to make an island in the line.

[rctshack 182]

I just want it to be like real life. In real life, how do cities start out? In real life what do you see when you get to the edge of a city? In real life how do people get from point A to point B. I would much rather have a game that simulates real city life, than just a game to create entertainment. Sim city felt to need to turn certain aspects cutesy and add the U Drive It mode which was a game and not real, that stuff was bothersome and not needed... the demographic for these types of games don't need antics to entertain them, they wants real life issues and real life graphics to entertain them. Myself included onviously. Whenever I hear people bring up questions like "What should the edges of the city look like?", the obvious responce should be, Like the edges look in real life. Which the answer is the next land/city over.

[JCS072488 0]

Another thing that would be nice to have is being able to measure distances between one point and another. Like if you want to build cities that is a grid like some cities are you can distance your major roads out about a mile apart and have your neighborhoods, small roads, and streets in between them to be more realistic for a large metro area.

[Twister_Chaser 0]

I would definitely like to have a mix of weather please. A game alternating between dusk, dawn, sunset and nightfall isn't enough for me. I would like to see cloudy skies, stormy clouds, rain, storms, a thunder shower with thunder effects, lightning, maybe even with the addition of the four seasons aswell which we can toggle on and off aswell depending on what type of city we are building.

I haven't played City Life before, but I'm really motivated in purchasing this game whatever the outcome may be. I haven't been so enthused about a game since knowing Sims 3 was been developed. I'd rather purchase Simcity Socities than Simcity 5, due its differences and uniqueness.

I would really love to have more transport additions such as trains, push bike and scooters to commute to work and/or school, and even an opportunity where you can still have certain transport in the game without having to demolish if commuters decide not to use it as frequently but the odd people still ride it, if transport mode changes.

Thankyou so much to the guys at Monte Christo, I can't wait to hear the release date for this game

T_C

[Arthuryazhemskiy 0]

how will you be able to see the city if there are clouds covering it during rain and snow?

[Elaclairee 0]

There are clouds in SC4, both in region and city... just very high up. All you do is zoom below them.

Hmm... wow, if MC pulls out all the stops, I would be floored if I saw a heavy rain start to flood my streets and maybe even flood rivers, cause mudslides, and collapse of retaining structures and such... that would be soooo nice.

Weather, climate, and disasters related to... all in EP1, that would be quite a hit, no?

Yeah yeah, you want it ALL to be in the base game, but wouldn't you rather them take the extra time and just go all-out with it, then deliver it 6-8 months later?