Cities: Skylines, SimCity, other city building games etc.

[SkylineObsession]

For the two people here that play them, perhaps we can use this topic to share experiences/pics/vids etc of our creations.

I finally caved late last year and got my brother to build me a PC with specs beyond the recommended for Cities: Skylines and even though there are still some framerate issues sometimes, so far it's paid off as this is one bloody good looking city building game - and much more realistic than the last ever SimCity game since your unlocked blocks to build in are all beside each other instead of being connected by motorways (the reason i never bought the last SimCity).

At the time of this post i haven't got screenshots handily available, but will work on that. Only have two cities at the mo too, neither of which has over 50k people i don't think. Still learning things as i go.

But so far this is the best city building game i've ever played, and i loved the crap out of SimCity 2, 3 and 4 (when i wasn't getting constant CTD's)...

[Rare White Ape]

Man the only game in this genre that has ever grabbed me is Sim City 2. I think it's the nostalgia at work here. I've put so many hours into it on and off over the years.

Unfortunately I think the subsequent Sim City games have been utter trash. So tell me, does Cities: Skylines carry the mantle that the Sim City games have neglected?

[SkylineObsession]

Okies. My first city, with unlimited cash mod enabled (which i found out about later, as my brother had turned it on after he set up my new PC and Steam, and created this save).


CBD beginnings including the main drag;


From above

[SkylineObsession]

New residential sections. The hills are hard to notice sometimes unless you angle the view this way, which is an awesome 'feature'


This is how bad my pollution got until i (i think) replaced the wastewater pipes with waste/water treatment stations. Took a few ingame months for the polluted water to dissipate. Looking down on my industrial area in the forest. Was orginally near the commercial area, but as i unlocked more of the map i kept moving it further away, to where it is now


City still getting bigger. That green patch is eventually going to be the main cbd/skyscraper area.

[SkylineObsession]

Farming fire doesn't work - just stick to fireplaces


And my last shot of that city for now, have moved onto my second one with no mods now i've gotten the hang of the game a bit more.


Commercial and industrial (distance) in my new city

[SkylineObsession]

Love how you can zone specific regions in commercial (leisure etc) and industrial (farms, oil farming, ore extraction, forestry). This is one of my farms (now right in the middle of a residential zone - but had no complaints so far so is staying for the mo.


And my forestry zone, now a lot bigger and greener


From another angle

[SkylineObsession]

New fancy subdivision over the other side of an inlet, with curved streets


My hydro-electric dam massively overflowing. I had a much bigger dam just past the bridge on the right, but because this river goes in two different directions from its source directly to the right (out of shot) it was pumping in more water to the dams than they could cope with, which meant my industrial area in the foreground got flooded before i could build flood walls. So bulldozed the big dam and the resulting waves somehow made this one overflow, so got rid of them both eventually. Water effects are still awesome though.


City as it is right now

[SkylineObsession]

Last three shots for now

My first attempt at a wharf. Would be nice if the ground on the land side of it automatically went the same height, but oh well


Container ship docking to the out of shot wharf on the right. Haven't found a decent place for the cruise ship wharf yet


CBDish and residential view

[SkylineObsession]

What is it that the SC games have neglected RWA? I know curved roads was one for a while, which this one does with ease (mostly up to you how curved you want it). You can also press page up when making roads to raise them above ground to pass over other roads/railways etc, or Page Down to make tunnels anywhere. I've bulldozed a lot of default motorway intersections and made my own with ease (there are preset ones, but they aren't always the best depending on available land etc).

Unlike SimCity, putting down RCI zones doesn't cost a thing, neither does de-zoning. Can only put them next to roads though, so roads come first.

Unlike SimCity it doesn't cost to use the bulldozer. And purchasable buildings (police station, cemetery, hospitals, parks etc) can be relocated (at a small cost) or bulldozed.

Depending on how soon you bulldoze something you've paid for (roads, pipes, buildings etc) you can get a partial refund on it/them. Handy if a road design isn't what you want it to be or didn't turn out how you wanted.

Any road can be up or down graded. Select the type of new road you want, press the upgrade icon and re-lay the new road on the old road. It'll make your single lane roads into six lane roads (some purchasable buildings may need to be moved, but it automatically demolishes any RCI buildings if needed), or vice versa. Or simply line the edges of your road with grass or trees. One of the best features about this game!

Management wise i think its similar to SimCity, but possibly has some different things too.

Features wise it has craploads more. You can make/build; all sorts of different design and size roads, hydro-electric dams (completely up to you as to the location/length/height etc), bus routes (like, actually plot the routes yourself, and put stops where you want - and you can have multiple routes), taxi stands, cruise ship wharfs, cycle paths, walking paths (sealed and gravel), canals (three depth options), flood walls and more.

Only things i've found troublesome at the moment is that you always need backup power lines to your residential etc areas (or you need a sharp eye/memory), as if the power gets lost your population of say 40,000, it will drop to a few hundred in a matter of seconds(?)/in game days and then after repairs you'll have to turn off costly buildings (another great feature) around the city and get your budget back into the green and wait for your residents to slowly return.

Happened to me twice (badly) so far, and nearly went bankrupt the first time. :s

[GreatScawt]

Very nice!! I own and enjoy Cities Skylines, but I just haven't put the time in. I always have issues with the early game and managing my utilities and loans.