One of the few complaints that I have with SimCity 4 is the few number of regions to develop that come with the game. Sure, you can customize and build your own region, or import a user created one, but it would be nice to have a bigger selection out of the box. I've built cities on most of the default regions over the years. The biggest exception to this is the London region. The London region is large and flat, with the River Thames the only large geographical obstacle to navigate. With that being said, it is a region that is prime for developing a large city. I usually pick my cities based on previous visits to the actual city or because of some affiliation with the city. None of this is true for London. While I think it is a cool city, I've never been there and thus don't have any real connection. In this case, I selected London just because of the region availability on the game.
When viewing a map of London, it appears to be an incredibly complex city. Unlike most cities in America, and unlike most cities I've developed in SimCity, its city streets do not follow a grid. This isn't surprising as most European cities don't follow a grid. SimCity is setup to follow a grid (there is literally a grid on screen when you build) and I think it is the best way to maximize space, so I decided to nix the European layout for a more familiar grid. You don't have to build in a grid layout, but the buildings are squared and don't always line up to the street correctly if you build diagonally.
The region has a larger, central plot where London proper will be located. I will use the surrounding plots of land to build the boroughs of London, using a map to approximate their location. I also plan to build the major landmarks found within London and its boroughs, though the exact location will be of my choosing. The highway system will be based on my own design, not following the real highway system of London. I've decided to omit the Underground and rail system until later when the city is larger, but it will likely be of my own design as well. The Underground in London is incredibly complex, and I don't know if I could follow it even if I wanted to.
In terms of gameplay, I've decided to use a few enhancements. I don't consider this cheating at all. I've played this game for 20 years, and at this point I feel like I can do what I want. Plus, the regions are so large it takes forever to build even with the enhancements, let alone if you have to wait for money to be generated. The biggest optimization I use is the bank mod that I downloaded, which gives you a cool $50 million in cash. This is plenty to build everything you need/want in your city, without having to wait for your city to generate the money through taxes. It also allows you to build infrastructure like highways when your city is small, which is much easier because you don't have to navigate around structures if building later when your city is populated. Currently that is the only mod I am using. I have used numerous mods in the past, but at the present time this is the only one I have loaded into the game. I may search for more as I further develop the city.
The other big enhancement I am using is the "howdryiam" cheat, which removes water requirements for buildings. This region has numerous plots of land without any water, so supplying those cities with water would require a complex water infrastructure linking city-to-city until you reach a water source. This is incredibly cumbersome and complex. I've done it before, and don't really enjoy it, so for this city I decided to use the cheat instead.
Below, I've posted a few pictures of my city. There's a regional map and satellite view, as well as an aerial view of London and the north London borough of Hackney. As I develop the region and individual boroughs, I will provide updates in these City Journal posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment