Idea about building Regions

[Dutsy 9]

Hi folks,

I've been on the beta of SimCity and I'm here to release some feedbacks.

First, I would apologize for my poor english even if you'll understand me.

I'm fan of SimCity since SimCity2000, including SC3K and SC4. I've spend a lot of my time on those incredible games this is why I'm so happy and thankful about the new SimCity, despite all the negatives facts that have been noted so far. However, I'm not going to focus on what has already been mentioned. (cities tiles size, dead spaces between buildings, lacks of control on building density, lacks of statistics tables, no terraforming, and more...)

Unlike some people, I've not forget that is a beta version, and that 3 months are still remaining for developing and adjusting settings. I just hope that the Maxis Dev Team will hear us. Even if the gameplay is absolutly not comparable to SC4, I felt a lot of fun playing this new Simcity. For me, the size of a city tile isn't a big problem as the entire region is interconnected (so interactive).

In fact, the biggest problem of this new game is the region system. It works fine, and I'm so hurry to try this on final software, however it's seem not so much realistic. Let me explain. If you want to build a realistic region, forgetting certain things because the game engine, you're forced to make small rural town (and must avoid square cities), otherwise you're going to have "forest of skyscrapers".

So I've had a idea (sorry for sorry for those who have had the same ; maybe it already been proposed...). Instead of have big useless space between cities, try to get a conurbation involving all cities of the region. The base concept is the same as in SC4. Because a picture is worth a thousand words (especially when you don't speak too much ), here a map I made. Note that it's inspired by the map of the beta.

(warning 1000x1000 pixels)

On beta version, we were able to play on the 4th tile. On this map (please remember that is just an draft), if I had to build a large downtown, I would take the 3rd city (or maybe the 1st), I guess. The 4th tile will be a coastal small city, with maybe some casinos on the border of ocean. The 1st tile would be a city for studies, with a large university while the 6th will be a heavy industrial area. Obviously, all this is just an idea, a project and and it's certain that you guys would not make the city like me.

So there is two ways to do this. First, bring closer the cities. Then make the region less empty (like adding hills, forests (lot of forests), farms?,...) and finally lay down the transit system. Highways should be draggable, because each player will plan his city differently, and that shouldn't hinder the development of his city. (heavy train are already) Overpasses and Interchanges would be built automatically when crossing with the road tool (like in SC4). Unfortunately, according to game engine, the space between cities can't be changed, I think.

It's not much but at the same time it is much more. :kitty:

This message for sharing my idea, but also to have an answer : is it technically possible ?

Thanks for reading, and hope some answers from the dev team...

Yours,

Dvergar

[Ocram's Razr 963]

First off, I would like you to know that I was not in the beta and I am typing this in the middle of the night.

I read somewhere that it was possible to group the boxes for "cities" next to each-other but it was not desirable because the cities would look dead and the regions would not need as much land area.

I think a better idea is Regional Minor Works tiles (farms, forests, etc) that work like Great Works on a smaller scale.

--Ocram

[SilverCyric 130]

I like it, it would be like picking a small, or medium, or a large tile from a region

[Wosterlee 15]

It's a nice thought and my addition to it is to fill the empty spaces between the tiles with some agriculture. (Sims do need food right?)

Also, the release date of Simcity is set at March 7, so don't expect many changes from the beta gameplay.

[EG0611 57]

First off, I would like you to know that I was not in the beta and I am typing this in the middle of the night.

I read somewhere that it was possible to group the boxes for "cities" next to each-other but it was not desirable because the cities would look dead and the regions would not need as much land area.

I think a better idea is Regional Minor Works tiles (farms, forests, etc) that work like Great Works on a smaller scale.

--Ocram

You are right and I want to add another idea to your idea. What about using highways and railroads as city tiles with forests, sea, rivers and mountains.

[Mafagafus 1]

I also didn't get the invite to play, so keep that in mind

You say they have 3 months to correct the problems but in fact, it's less than 1 month. If you count the days, it'll be less than 40 days until the expected release in March, 5th. That said, they have less time than that, as the game has to be ready before so they can record and ship physical copies to stores around the world. They have to fix the bugs within this week, so we'll probably see a huge patch day 1.

From all I've seen, this Simcity won't focus on creating huge metropolis. They won't offer the space, and they won't offer the space continuity needed for metropolis. Instead, we'll have areas in a region. I believe you can think it as medium and small sized cities, where the neighbohoods are separated by some green land, or even a group of small cities connected and working together. The idea of a city containing a great CBD (central business district) and also having industries and residence areas seems impossible for now.

It would be nice if those empty areas between cities would be filled with buildings according to what is built next to the borders. It wouldn't have any engine effects, just for the sake of beauty.

As for your region, I like it a lot. But I'd put the industry zone in 5, as there's a river near (industries uses a lot of water to produce, to waste, to cool down equipment...), zone 6 would be a suburb and provider of basic workers to the entire region. I'd integrate it with subway (if they exist to the game anyway), ferry boat) and a road that goes to zone 3 instead of having to cross the entire industrial zone.

Zone 4 could be a residential - tourism area, with lots of "summer recreations", like beaches, condos, hotels, casinos. I'd also install one Nuclear Power Plant there, specially if it's more of a bay area. Zone 2 and 3 would be mainly residential zones, but 2 would also feature commercial zones along the main road, probably leading to an international airport at WS, who knows.

This region would only work if it's possible to build that road between 3 and 6, otherwise it would be a master traffic jam and probably a very poor region 6... Which would also be highly entertaining for the mayor anyway

I guess at some time, we'll have a region planner program, be able to create our own customized versions. That's what I hope anyway

[fatbuster 44]

I actually like this idea. It wouldn't change how the current system works since the pre-made connections would still exist & and it would easier to make something that looks like a real city, at least from afar. The only issues I see with this is that they may have to add highways we can use since they would likely be cutting deep into our cities. It would require them to add user-made over/under passes so we can have roads crossing the highway. Overall though, I would love to see this added into the game.

You should try showing this to Mr. Quigley on twitter to see was he thinks about this.

[Zukunftstraume 220]

I wish it was 3 months, at this point they've probably already finalized or near-finalized the game and started mass producing it.

[DmainEvent 195]

^^^^^^^ Yep. The game is set. Their may be a tweak or two if they find a bug, but there is basically a "code freeze" with all functionality that will be in the first release. Now, they may be working on additions, that will be released later, but the game is as it will be right now.