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SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

thran.uk

61–70 of 217 posts

Re: SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and I still dream about arcologies even after 9/11 and London's Greenfeel Tower fire? The vertical living seems very strained to me after events like that. Sure, they are not common issues, but there's always that thought in the back of my mind of what if.

The Grenfell fire was caused by petty corruption. Someone involved in its construction used a cheaper flammable cladding material instead of the (slightly!!) more expensive fire resistant version. It’s very on-brand for places like Russia and China but clearly western countries are not immune to this kind of thing either. After the fire there were investigations into towers constructed here in Australia. Many used th…

What does that have to do with the actual idea that being in a tall building could make it difficult to escape. It doesn't matter if the cause of the disaster is cheap building materials or an external force acting on a properly built building.

Re: SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

#62
Another factor was that although both SimCity 3k and SimCity 4 both had a maximum of 256x256 tiles for their cities, the scale was different.

A SimCity 3000 tile edge was equivalent to 64m, whereas in SimCity 4 it was 16m. The scale of the city in SimCity 3000 was bigger as a result.

Hoping to test this principle of largest possible map sizes out soon.

Re: SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

#63
post #12

This was one of my favourite games. City simulators took up an enormous amount of my childhood and I still dream about arcologies. When I see a modern development like Brentwood in Canada's BC or some older ones like along the river in Chicago it reminds me of the wonders we can build. As an aside since it's in the article, what are other cultures' irreverent targets? e.g. Anglo-cultures seem to casually joke about d…

> and I still dream about arcologies even after 9/11 and London's Greenfeel Tower fire? The vertical living seems very strained to me after events like that. Sure, they are not common issues, but there's always that thought in the back of my mind of what if.

I feel like at the scale of an arcology, there isn't really much of a meaningful difference between there being a fire blocking your escape in the massive structure vs, say, fire blocking you escape in a mall. You're either completely surrounded by fire or you're not.

Re: SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

#64
post #59

I love this game so much. One of the reasons I started to make a city builder* is because I don't like where the genre is going. The focus on photorealism in modern city builders took away the apophenia, or "food for imagination" that was a core element since the first SimCity. As a matter of fact, Will Wright used to say that the real simulation runs in the player's minds (or something like that). Sure, there's some…

> I don't like where the genre is going.

Got an opinion on Timberborn? I think it's a great city builder, plus a fluid dynamics simulator where if you guess wrong everyone dies.

Re: SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

#65
post #59

I love this game so much. One of the reasons I started to make a city builder* is because I don't like where the genre is going. The focus on photorealism in modern city builders took away the apophenia, or "food for imagination" that was a core element since the first SimCity. As a matter of fact, Will Wright used to say that the real simulation runs in the player's minds (or something like that). Sure, there's some…

you had me at apophenia

Re: SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

#66

> SimCity 3000 is the best SimCity I disagree! SimCity 2K FTW. :) Best balance of complexity IMO and ran pretty well on my old Mac. I'd love a retro-futuristic reboot.

i first played 2000 when it was bundled with my family's windows 95 pc, and was sad to learn that gog/steam sell the inferior dos variant. but, yes, 2000 was just right.

Re: SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

#67
post #59

I love this game so much. One of the reasons I started to make a city builder* is because I don't like where the genre is going. The focus on photorealism in modern city builders took away the apophenia, or "food for imagination" that was a core element since the first SimCity. As a matter of fact, Will Wright used to say that the real simulation runs in the player's minds (or something like that). Sure, there's some…

> I don't like where the genre is going. Got an opinion on Timberborn? I think it's a great city builder, plus a fluid dynamics simulator where if you guess wrong everyone dies.

Not the same genre (at least for me). Timberborn is more like a colony builder (think Rimworld) than a city builder (SimCity/Cities Skylines). Its the micromanaging vs macromanaging, in a colony builder you are micromanaging what each creature does (such as timberborn or rimworld) while on a city builder you manage the city itself and invididual pawns are alot less important! Plus the survival aspect in that sense doesnt really add up when I'd like to play with the simulation aspects - education, traffic, crime, etc..!

Re: SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

#68
SC3K’s art was not “crafted pixel by pixel.” It was rendered from 3DS Max. Maxis released a version of G-Max called the Building Architect Tool that included a template with the same lighting rig that they used for the in-game assets. This tool rendered and exported the various zoom levels and orientations.

Re: SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

#69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't like where the genre is going. Got an opinion on Timberborn? I think it's a great city builder, plus a fluid dynamics simulator where if you guess wrong everyone dies.

Not the same genre (at least for me). Timberborn is more like a colony builder (think Rimworld) than a city builder (SimCity/Cities Skylines). Its the micromanaging vs macromanaging, in a colony builder you are micromanaging what each creature does (such as timberborn or rimworld) while on a city builder you manage the city itself and invididual pawns are alot less important! Plus the survival aspect in that sense do…

100% agree here. City builders for me eschew individual citizens in favor of group statistics, to oversimplify it.

Re: SimCity 3k in 4k (2025)

#70
post #59

I love this game so much. One of the reasons I started to make a city builder* is because I don't like where the genre is going. The focus on photorealism in modern city builders took away the apophenia, or "food for imagination" that was a core element since the first SimCity. As a matter of fact, Will Wright used to say that the real simulation runs in the player's minds (or something like that). Sure, there's some…

>https://microlandia.city

thanks for sharing that. i'm a big city builder fan, but this one slipped by me. looks cool, and i'll be picking it up!

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