Functional Parks with Rules

[DestructionPancake 25]

Ok, this has always been a pet peeve of mine with SC4. Why don't parks and recreation facilities have any feedback? User rating? Congestion? Efficiency? Average Horse-shoe score?

It's always bothered me that every other civic facility has some level of interactivity while parks are simply squares that suck up money and may or may not make your mayor rating go up.

I would like to see parks become overcrowded as density increases. I would then like it if their park effect decreased or even became negative. I'd like to be able to upgrade parks.

I would like there to be some interaction between neighborhoods and the parks. As in, family communities need playgrounds and ranger stations. Old communities need walking paths and shuffleboard courts. How well recreation facilities are matched to neighborhoods and user needs affects thier ratings and thus, the mayor rating.

I would like it if parks were affected by environmental factors. In high crime areas parks lose their basketball nets and swings. In low health areas they're unused because everyone is convalescing inside the house.

I know people are already complaining about micromanagement, but I've always felt this was an oversight. Recreation facilities can be a big political tool and I don't think it makes sense that the parks in Sim City have thus far been fairly shallow.

Any thoughts?

[Mark Waybill 242]

I think Sims should firstly use the parks in the first place, in a way that means they are actually doing something. Naturally various types of facilities should be built in various neighbourhoods. Usage would be an issue more for facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, or so forth, than for say botanic gardens or park greens. With the module system I believe and hope parks will be buildable in a lego fashion, so, for instance, instead of making thousands of mods or petitioning Maxis to build a ten mile long wishlist, you can customise parks like you would a Sim. If you want a bench there, place it there. If you want a set of swings over yonder by that apple grove, do as ye please and so forth.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Agreed. Cookie cutter parks are not what I want in a new implementation. Also, if a park has a sports field, there should be a way to book it, charged or not. Similarly with conservatories, etc. It should also be possible to have public events at parks.

  Edited March 18, 2012 by A Nonny Moose  

[Disraeli Blue 1]

I like allotments to be added to the park/health section as they are adding an environmental aspect to the game.

Think of them as multi-purpose lots as they are

Educational

Improve health (fresh veg)

Cut pollution (food miles)

The whole community aspect (might lower crime & add new crimes in times of recession/depression)

Would be really easy to expand in a "lego fashion"

& fun

The only negative would be land space as they can take up alot of room, but they are normally situated along railway lines & major roads in europe (A & M roads in the UK)

History of allotments in the uk - http://www.allotment...ent-History.php

[Mark Waybill 242]

The community gardens in SC4 were sort of like allotments. But yes I'd agree allotments/community gardens are good ideas and would be easy to build in a modular fashion, although it would only make sense to build areas of ground with paths, or planting boxes, as of course the Sims would have to do the dirty work and plant the vegetables, build sheds there etc. We as Mayors would naturally only be able to allot space for such purposes.

Whereas Council maintained parks could be built in the modular fashion and maintained as such, with say a new flower bed being added.

[DestructionPancake 25]

I think Sims should firstly use the parks in the first place, in a way that means they are actually doing something. Naturally various types of facilities should be built in various neighbourhoods. Usage would be an issue more for facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, or so forth, than for say botanic gardens or park greens. With the module system I believe and hope parks will be buildable in a lego fashion, so, for instance, instead of making thousands of mods or petitioning Maxis to build a ten mile long wishlist, you can customise parks like you would a Sim. If you want a bench there, place it there. If you want a set of swings over yonder by that apple grove, do as ye please and so forth.

I agree about the modular system. That's the best way to fit parks to the needs of particular cities. ALthough, I do like having some large park plops for when you need to take up a lot of space or as a placeholder until you feel like being a landscape designer. I actually think the BSC parks with the paths and gates are almost perfect. IF we got something like that in SC5 with a few more options, and maybe something similiar for plazas and rivers a la peg, I'd be satisfied as long as they actually worked and had some management tasks.

[tSlater 134]

One thing I think would be highly beneficial is to declare or "zone" areas as parks, even if zoning does not result in anything growing in that area. Almost always as I built my city, I would leave some area.. perhaps a hillside, perhaps a shoreline, or perhaps a city block undeveloped and would keep the trees there as a natural area. But the residents would demand parkland, and there was no way to make that wooded area a "park" without demolishing the natural features of the area.

[Mark Waybill 242]

I agree with T Slater. Parks should initially be zoned, according to some broad category like 'sports recreation' or 'national park/nature preserve' and then modular units added as time goes by and demands are felt by the community. After all in 1900 when theoretical Simsburg begins as a small rural town on the banks of the River Sim, the populace aren't going to demand skateparks and flower gardens and cinemas. A nice area shaded by some trees with a bench or two and a cricket ground will suffice nicely.

However some basic templates could still be used, especially for features such as sports grounds that have a basic structure universally.

[DestructionPancake 25]

One thing I think would be highly beneficial is to declare or "zone" areas as parks, even if zoning does not result in anything growing in that area. Almost always as I built my city, I would leave some area.. perhaps a hillside, perhaps a shoreline, or perhaps a city block undeveloped and would keep the trees there as a natural area. But the residents would demand parkland, and there was no way to make that wooded area a "park" without demolishing the natural features of the area.

I think a "Wildlife" or "Greenspace" zone would be nice as it is difficult not to infringe on those areas even after you mentally zone them. Something like that could have a park effect, perhaps slightly lower, without the maintenance costs.

But I'd still like traditional modular plop parks.

[KeanoManu 42]

I like the idea of zooning parks. Most parks aren't square and small. In many European cities there's large, often rectangular, parks in the city centres and in the suburbs it's usually just a green area with a walking path and some benches and maybe a (very) small artificial lake/stream. Not like it was in SC4 where they were always square and totally out of scale.

But if you look at the first picture that became known from the game there seem to be zooned parks.

  Edited March 20, 2012 by KeanoManu  

[Thetford 22]

I always liked the idea of zoned parks, not only does it replace fairly repetitive park lots if you want to create a large park, but also it would allow more fluidity and even create such things as walls/fencing all around, a pathway winding through etc.

Does anyone remember in SC3K, in the premade city of San Andreas (though it could appear in your own towns), a large house on the low density side of the river. It was surrounded by walls/hedges/fences and had a gatehouse/driveway. The thing was, those fenced lots were separate and modular from each other and the main house, but obviously seemed to acknowledge each others existence. Perhaps parks could work like that, creating a boundry, and placing things such as playgrounds, fountains, ponds and lawns in them, and could reflect the property value and use in the surrounding areas, and conform to the shape you give it.

[Mark Waybill 242]

I'd like it if the following scenario could take place without too much effort and without modding necessity.

I have an area bound by roads and I zone it a la CXL as a park, only it merely becomes a zoned area classified as park-type a. This type allows for certain elements within a spectrum to be added unless I wish to upgrade the park to include more, which would increase maintenance costs and capacity etc. If I just want an area of green space, a cycle path and some small clusters of bushland then fine. That'll cost very little to maintain, especially if the grass is not cut except where necessary.

Now I might wish to add other facilities at a later point. If for instance the local residents clamour that there isn't any lawn bowls facilities, I should be able to plop one within the park space. That would however be considered separate from the park. But if I wished to add a fountain, play area or drinking tap (maybe that last was a bit too micromanaging but you get the picture) I should be able to and it would become part of the park, and be included in the park budget, which is of course a public facility, not a private enterprise.

[Catmando 7]

I'd like it if the following scenario could take place without too much effort and without modding necessity.

I have an area bound by roads and I zone it a la CXL as a park, only it merely becomes a zoned area classified as park-type a. This type allows for certain elements within a spectrum to be added unless I wish to upgrade the park to include more, which would increase maintenance costs and capacity etc. If I just want an area of green space, a cycle path and some small clusters of bushland then fine. That'll cost very little to maintain, especially if the grass is not cut except where necessary.

Now I might wish to add other facilities at a later point. If for instance the local residents clamour that there isn't any lawn bowls facilities, I should be able to plop one within the park space. That would however be considered separate from the park. But if I wished to add a fountain, play area or drinking tap (maybe that last was a bit too micromanaging but you get the picture) I should be able to and it would become part of the park, and be included in the park budget, which is of course a public facility, not a private enterprise.

With what we've seen of modularity in constructing the game's buildings it wouldn't surprise me at all if we could hand-design zoned parks, i.e. adding fountains, trees, paths, etc. I think a more fluid form of what we see in Simcity 4's modular uber-packs would be ideal. I love designing and constructing the parks, although it's a pain in the butt waiting a full minute for the parks menu to open, as you can imagine. Just last year I made a modular university for my city. I don't remember who made the university or who made the particular park pack I was using, but they worked together almost flawlessly and I filled sixteen city blocks with various university buildings, paths, gardens, etc. Naturally, it would've been far easier if I could've just plopped down the pieces of the university, zoned the whole area a park, and added all of the little details via the options available for park amenities.