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Egregoria: 3D City Builder without a grid

github.com

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Re: Egregoria: 3D City Builder without a grid

#21

Post by Pannoniae »

LargeTomato wrote: post #2

This is awesome. I like cities skylines but I prefer the simulation aspect to the gamified aspect.

Yeah. Cities: Skylines just feels so soulless to me. It's like me looking at a model railway - it might look cute but it's just dead. The game is effectively a traffic simulator, with citizens not really having agency (beyond the Chirper which most people are annoyed by), and next to zero economic management. No mixed zoning or organic growth, you effectively run a completely planned economy. There's not much external trade or a real economy which needs all sorts of skills to function. It feels really eery and creepy to me.

Re: Egregoria: 3D City Builder without a grid

#22

Post by abno525 »

digdugdirk wrote: post #4

Are there any examples of sim games like this being used by real cities? I could imagine it'd be a useful visualization for where tax revenues are generated/utilized at the very least.

Nit exacly what you asked about and more as an anecdote, it was used once during elections for president of Warsaw.

https://citymonitor.ai/community/2002-warsaws-mayoral-candid...

Re: Egregoria: 3D City Builder without a grid

#23

Post by cpeterso »

digdugdirk wrote: post #4

Are there any examples of sim games like this being used by real cities? I could imagine it'd be a useful visualization for where tax revenues are generated/utilized at the very least.

Not really a game, but:

> After the success of SimCity, Maxis received numerous requests from various companies to develop simulations for their industries. After rejecting many requests from other companies, the team eventually agreed to make a prototype of SimRefinery for Chevron:

[SimRefinery was] a simulation of their refinery operation, for orienting people in the company as to how a refinery works. It wasn't so much for the engineers as it was for the accountants and managers who walked through this refinery every day and didn't know what these pipes were carrying. — Will Wright

https://obscuritory.com/sim/when-simcity-got-serious/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimRefinery

Re: Egregoria: 3D City Builder without a grid

#25

Post by itsmartapuntocm »

Pannoniae wrote: post #21
LargeTomato wrote: post #2

This is awesome. I like cities skylines but I prefer the simulation aspect to the gamified aspect.

Yeah. Cities: Skylines just feels so soulless to me. It's like me looking at a model railway - it might look cute but it's just dead. The game is effectively a traffic simulator, with citizens not really having agency (beyond the Chirper which most people are annoyed by), and next to zero economic management. No mixed zoning or organic growth, you effectively run a completely planned economy. There's not much externa…

The goofy aspects of Simcity like the animated advisors and the music really made it feel alive. It’s why I still prefer the old ones to CS.

Re: Egregoria: 3D City Builder without a grid

#27

Post by bobthepanda »

Pannoniae wrote: post #21
LargeTomato wrote: post #2

This is awesome. I like cities skylines but I prefer the simulation aspect to the gamified aspect.

Yeah. Cities: Skylines just feels so soulless to me. It's like me looking at a model railway - it might look cute but it's just dead. The game is effectively a traffic simulator, with citizens not really having agency (beyond the Chirper which most people are annoyed by), and next to zero economic management. No mixed zoning or organic growth, you effectively run a completely planned economy. There's not much externa…

The sequel, from what it seems like, is focused on zoning and growth via land values, and does feature some kind of trading mechanic, though I guess the real proof is when it comes out.

The question that is hard to balance in sims like this is how do you make something like this a fun game. it's a pretty tricky balance.

Re: Egregoria: 3D City Builder without a grid

#28

Post by dalmo3 »

Pannoniae wrote: post #21
LargeTomato wrote: post #2

This is awesome. I like cities skylines but I prefer the simulation aspect to the gamified aspect.

Yeah. Cities: Skylines just feels so soulless to me. It's like me looking at a model railway - it might look cute but it's just dead. The game is effectively a traffic simulator, with citizens not really having agency (beyond the Chirper which most people are annoyed by), and next to zero economic management. No mixed zoning or organic growth, you effectively run a completely planned economy. There's not much externa…

You perfectly describe my sentiment every time I try playing CS. No matter how gorgeous it looks at some point it just strikes as hollow and disengaging.

Re: Egregoria: 3D City Builder without a grid

#30

Post by Pannoniae »

dalmo3 wrote: post #28
Pannoniae wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. Cities: Skylines just feels so soulless to me. It's like me looking at a model railway - it might look cute but it's just dead. The game is effectively a traffic simulator, with citizens not really having agency (beyond the Chirper which most people are annoyed by), and next to zero economic management. No mixed zoning or organic growth, you effectively run a completely planned economy. There's not much externa…

You perfectly describe my sentiment every time I try playing CS. No matter how gorgeous it looks at some point it just strikes as hollow and disengaging.

The most recent example is KSP2 - they unironically have degraded the physics engine on purpose because the lead designer thought that wobbly rockets were fun. I think that person has never played KSP1, KSP2 is simply another soulless game with small injections of carefully controlled-dosage "fun".
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