The Next Generation - Drawing Board Ideas

Drawing Board V: Grid(s)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:04:00 -0400

As I mentioned in my previous post, I think Metropolis will need to dispense with the Sim City 4 grid model (and I think there is a fair amount of community consensus on this as well). Using a grid, as we all know, makes it difficult for any organic-looking city features: curved roads, of course, but also any thing that needs to conform to a terrain feature, a boardwalk for example. But while we all want to break out of the grid, it must be admitted that it's also very useful: Many cities are built on a grid basis, and a grid makes it easy to fill up space in a logical fashion. So, how can we dispense with the grid while keeping it's benefits? [More]

Drawing Board IV: Lots and Structures

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:33:00 -0400

One of the gripes that has come up with Cities XL is that having fixed lot sizes makes it a major headache to expand a road; To accomodate the extra space it is often necessary to demolish the lots lining the road on at least one side. Typically the retort is that "well, it's a headache in real life too." True enough, but it's not necessary in real life to tear down the entire lot to shave a few extra yards off it (and then leave it vacant because it doesn't "fit" anymore!) While part of this is a problem with how roads are laid, it also indicates a deeper problem with the zoning model in both Sim City 4 and Cities XL. [More]

Drawing Board III: Services Coverage

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:43:00 -0400

Continuing on with some feature ideas, today I want to talk about how coverage is determined for city services like police, fire, and hospitals. But first, the usual disclaimer:

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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

This series of posts are not to be read as "official" ideas for the Metropolis Project, they are simply my personal thoughts about what some cool game features might be. The final feature set for the game will be decided by the community and the development team contracted to build the game, and may not include any of these things.

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Drawing Board II: Building Speed

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:17:00 -0400

Continuing on with some feature speculation, here's a short, simple one that impacts the gameplay in a fairly significant way: building speed. But first, let me repeat my important disclaimer about this series of posts:

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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

This series of posts are not to be read as "official" ideas for the Metropolis Project, they are simply my personal thoughts about what some cool game features might be. The final feature set for the game will be decided by the community and the development team contracted to build the game, and may not include any of these things.

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Drawing Board I: Planning Mode

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:29:00 -0400

Now that I've laid out all the basic design principles for the game, I'd like to take a little break and speculate about some specific features that I think would be good advancements over SC4 and would make for a really compelling experience. Note the use of "speculate" up there: I debated staying away from this subject, for fear of distracting too much attention from the more immediate focus of the project (fundraising). But, let's face it, talking corporate structure and budgetary allocations all the time is a bit dry, and this stuff is fun to think about. Besides, I have a whole list of these ideas and hey, it's my blog :) So, I'll indulge myself a bit here, with an important disclaimer: [More]