Until SimCity may have overlooked City skylines franchise seems to be picking up the slack. The iconic Maxis series may have created the genre, but Colossal Order showed the industry what an urban city builder could look like. City skylines 2 will try to revolutionize the genre once again, but hopefully he’s still looking at SimCity series for inspiration.
SimCity 2013 may have killed the franchise, but that doesn’t mean it can’t offer other aspiring city planners. Several interesting and unique features have been added to the game that have not been used by city planners since then. Concepts like multiplayer and modular building upgrades can work really well if given the proper attention, and Colossal Order seems to be the perfect development studio for the job.
SimCity 2013 multiplayer should be expanded into City Skylines 2
One of the coolest features SimCityThe reboot in the 2010s was probably its online mode, but the unique concept was heavily overshadowed by how Maxis handled it. Players were forced to enable this feature and the servers were down at launch. Constant server failures made the game unplayable, and those eventually caused by server problems SimCity fail. However, this concept can work well if given proper care.
SimCity multiplayer mode allows players to build their own cities next to each other. The game was divided into several regions, each of which could have several cities. Players could join these regions, select a piece of land, and then build your own city, exchange or sell resources to other players. They could work together to build gigantic Great Work projects that would benefit the entire region, such as an international airport, a space center, and an arcology.
City skylines 2 can take advantage of this online experience and improve it. Instead of forcing players to participate in always-online features, it can be offered as an alternative mode. Players can once again build cities next to each other and work together to build a better future. Colossal Order could even expand on the Maxis concept by adding ways to sabotage other cities, a more involved trade system stemming from competition for resources, and even more Great Works projects for players to work on.
SimCity 2013’s modular building was a great addition
One more interesting thing SimCity a feature that doesn’t really transfer to other city planners this is its modular construction system. Public buildings and emergency services are an important part of any city building, and players are usually forced to place more of the same buildings as the city expands. Their city can quickly fill up with schools, hospitals, police stations and other public buildings. This is the main part City skylines experience, but SimCity decided to do it a little differently.
Some of the buildings in SimCity can be upgraded with new parts. For example, players can add more cameras or car garages to a police station, more classrooms to schools, helipads can be built at fire stations, and the local superhero can get tons of new building upgrades. Each of them upgrades can be placed on buildings where the players wanted, and each improved different aspects of this service. This feature made the office buildings look more alive, and that’s one of the main things SimCity 2013 managed.
Paradox has yet to demonstrate anything City skylines 2 gameplay, so there’s a chance that a version of these features already exists. A modular building system is most likely to appear, but a form of multiplayer could also be in the cards. There’s no way to know yet Paradox Interactive has something to discover more, but if these features are not in the game, they should be considered.
City skylines 2 is currently under development.