CIM2 requests and suggestions

[Gogomaester]

As i have read almost everything about CiM 2, I would like to say just one thing, but probably it will be solvedwithout my note:

-When a sim goes from A to B and two or more lines are going there (same time), the sim should use the line, that comes first. -That would be a nice addition, because of making two lines in center with interval 5 minutes and 1 line in suburb with interval 10 minutes. (I am sorry I do not know the english word - branching?) It was in Traffic Giant too.

thanks

 

[wyqtor]

Here are my suggestions, after viewing the gameplay demo:

1. Heavy rail and S-bahn networks. Since the cities are dynamic with CiM2 and one of the screenshots shows that it's already possible with the game engine to build single tram tracks, it wouldn't be too much to ask for the ability to build heavy rail and S-bahn networks, would it? Unlike the metro net, these would have overhead catenaries and would be able to have level crossings with roads.

2. The ability to build access-controlled motorways, both on-ground, elevated, and below-ground (think Boston's Big Dig, with underground interchanges and ramps to ground level), with or without additional HOV/Bus lanes. Also, elevated ramps and the ability to build them at various levels above the ground, so as to make complex custom interchanges. Since these are presumably also build with the traffic company's money, the player should also have the ability to build toll plazas on entry/exit ramps, so as to generate profit from the NPC cars. Also, the ability to build taxed parking spots in the city center, or to use for park-and-ride.

3. Pre-metro, the ability for trams to also go underground or overground in the city center, but at costs more comparable to building full-scale metro tunnels or overpasses. User Eis_os is trying to implement this for CiM1, it would be a nice touch if it were there from the start in the sequel.

4. Make the CiM2 engine moddable and with the built-in ability to add custom transportation networks, both by yourselves in future DLCs and by the modders, without replacing the existing ones. Trolleybuses and monorail would be nice; they could also be re-added in a separate DLC, but I'm not very fond of game sequels that are offering DLCs of content already implemented in previous versions of games. So the trolleybuses and monorail should either be included from the start or provided as a free patch(es) later on. Sell the base game at a higher price if you must, but I urge you to avoid going down the path of adding gameplay functionality (rather than more cosmetic addons, like vehicles) in small DLCs other than full-scale major expansions like Tokyo (like in the case of the metro stations DLC). As other suggestions, but rather for possible DLCs, I would suggest aerial cable cars and gondola lifts, suspended mononorails like in Wuppertal, maglev, speedboats, people movers, etc. Concentrate on making the base game the best you can, with metros, trams and buses - the other ones could easily be added later if the game is built to be extendable, which should be one of the top priorities.

5. Don't waste precious development time on implementing helicopters. They shouldn't be used as transportation in major metropolises because of noise pollution.

 

[co_martsu]

maybe we are more excited, cause we have to wait till 2013 to try it, while you can already see what's going on with it.

So next time we should hold on before announcing a title so you don't have to wait as long We just really wanted you guys to know about CIM2 and to have a chance to give feedback on the development. And surely we will keep you updated

 

[AshleyTayles]

So next time we should hold on before announcing a title so you don't have to wait as long We just really wanted you guys to know about CIM2 and to have a chance to give feedback on the development. And surely we will keep you updated

It's great you guys plan on keeping us updated. I am very heavily interested in game development, and seeing these pre-alpha videos and things are very interesting to me.

Few questions,

1. When will we be able to pre-order?
2. Will thee be a boxed version available? If not in shops, but purchasable online? I know lots of companies are moving to digital only, but my connection is not very good
3. Got any job openings? XD

Keep up the great work. I love hearing about development so keep us posted!

 

[unmerged(314950)]

Hi, I love the new cim2 gamevideo.

I would like to know:
1, Will the Routemaster return or if more Double Deckers will be introduced?
2, Will their be a Bus Station?

Thank You PS i know its very early to ask.

 

[Alex_brunius]

It will feel very wierd to have the city "grow" dynamically around your transportation network in the matter of a few day's (I read that every ingame day is 24min).


How on earth can this contradiction be solved?

I assume you would need to do something like 12 day long years, but even that is a stretch as a single year ends up being almost 5 hours of play time!



I do love dynamic growth though, please put alot of effort in it. Large capacity, short commuting times and cheap prices to an underdeveloped area outside town should see that area development explode in growth.

 

[co_martsu]

It's great you guys plan on keeping us updated. I am very heavily interested in game development, and seeing these pre-alpha videos and things are very interesting to me.

Few questions,

1. When will we be able to pre-order?
2. Will thee be a boxed version available? If not in shops, but purchasable online? I know lots of companies are moving to digital only, but my connection is not very good
3. Got any job openings? XD

Keep up the great work. I love hearing about development so keep us posted!

1. I don't know about pre-order, since that is Paradox's job Most likely couple of weeks before the release in Q2 2013.
2. I hope so! Just like with CIM1, but again, this belongs to the publisher.
3. Unfortunately we don't have any job openings. But be sure to follow Colossal Order on Facebook for more company info

Hi, I love the new cim2 gamevideo.

I would like to know:
1, Will the Routemaster return or if more Double Deckers will be introduced?
2, Will their be a Bus Station?

Thank You PS i know its very early to ask.

I'm sorry I can't answer your questions yet with certainty. There will be a variety of different vehicles available, but I think it might be just stops for the buses.

It will feel very wierd to have the city "grow" dynamically around your transportation network in the matter of a few day's (I read that every ingame day is 24min).


How on earth can this contradiction be solved?

I assume you would need to do something like 12 day long years, but even that is a stretch as a single year ends up being almost 5 hours of play time!

I do love dynamic growth though, please put alot of effort in it. Large capacity, short commuting times and cheap prices to an underdeveloped area outside town should see that area development explode in growth.

There's the challenge for us. Some aspects of Cities in Motion will not be as realistic as others, but for us the important thing is making an entertaining game. We will surely try our hardest to make a fun sequel to CIM!

 

[gaerraty]

Suggestion: U-Drive-It Mode

Those who have played SimCity 4 with Rush Hour expansion might remember U-Drive-It mode which allowed players to drive with different vehicles (busses, police cars, trains, etc.) in their cities.

Of course SimCity's execution could have been more refined – driving in axonometric view was awkward in addition to many other questionable things. However, I really loved the idea to have an opportunity to experience your own city in close-up view.

So, I'm suggesting samekind of feature to Cities in Motion 2: ability to drive your own routes with busses, trams and metro trains.

To simplify things, busses could be "locked" to lanes on the road to avoid complexity caused driving over people's gardens or off the bridge. Other vehicle controls could be very simple: acceleration, braking, switching lanes, turning left and right, opening and closing doors and horn/signal. Vehicles could be driven in 3rd person view (aka. above roof) or perhaps inside the cabin (which would obviously need some extra artwork and rendering). There could be two different modes: free drive and route challenge mode. Free drive mode could be ideal to explore your city for new routes or to test drive factory launched new vehicle. Route challenge mode would be like a mini-game to drive selected route correctly without delays and also remembering to stop on stations/stops.

Main focus should be just on delivering a new way to enjoy your hard work done, not to trying obsolete dedicated bus, tram or train simulators. Also, it should not have any impact on the gameplay, routes or financial situation.

Sometimes it is the most enjoyable moment just to watch how masses flow through your network, so why not offer and extra option to enjoy it. And of course nothing would make you more willing to fix the traffic jam than waiting ages in it.

Feel free to comment.

 

[unmerged(467496)]

Some basic gameplay requests:

1. Allow citizens to start their car journey by turning either direction at the end of their driveway. Forcing them to always turn right causes silly looking journeys along dead-end roads and problems at the edge of the map.

2. Provide an option to allow cars to drive on the left hand side of the road.

3. Add natural disasters that destroy parts of the city / its transport system - particularly tunnels / elevated track which should be more vulnerable

4. Remove the ability for citizens to walk across the sea floor!

5. Bus stops on hills

6. Better thought out tasks in the campaign; if the task is to build a line, require the player to keep it open for a while or to make so much money from it. It should not be possible to build a bus stop, add it to a random existing line, take the money then remove it from the line 5 seconds later. Also the tasks should require sensible lines to be built that are useful for your city rather than a line to an isolated farm which would never make any money.

7. People shouldn't have to go home between each visit to another type of building. In fact, considering your new 24 minute day, there should be a rush to the shops at lunch time from office areas. Also, if your are modelling days you should model weekends - increased shopping and leisure visits and decreased industrial office visits.

8. Provide the ability to move existing content in the map editor

9. Make citizens, just occasionally, actually want to get on a boat!

10. Make the minimap panel stretchable rather than fixed size.

11. Fix whatever makes the FPS slow to a crawl whenever a map contains a large number of stops (even if no lines are using them)



Also some requests from a modding standpoint:

1. Use a well known programming language for scripts, like JavaScript or c# so modders can enhance the game without having to figure out a new undocumented programming language first. I read that you are using Unity which supports both of those.

2. Allow the catchment area and attractiveness of stops to be scriptable rather than hard coded into the engine

 

[gaerraty]

1. Allow citizens to start their car journey by turning either direction at the end of their driveway. Forcing them to always turn right causes silly looking journeys along dead-end roads and problems at the edge of the map.

I haven't noticed this. Thou it sounds like a problem.

2. Provide an option to allow cars to drive on the left hand side of the road.

Could be nice addition, especially if cities like London is going to be available.

3. Add natural disasters that destroy parts of the city / its transport system - particularly tunnels / elevated track which should be more vulnerable

Only if Colossal Order is trying to beat the all-new SimCity 2013, which actually might happen...

4. Remove the ability for citizens to walk across the sea floor!

I haven't paying attention to this either.

5. Bus stops on hills

At least in pre-alpha gameplay it seems to be possible – I think.

6. Better thought out tasks in the campaign; if the task is to build a line, require the player to keep it open for a while or to make so much money from it. It should not be possible to build a bus stop, add it to a random existing line, take the money then remove it from the line 5 seconds later. Also the tasks should require sensible lines to be built that are useful for your city rather than a line to an isolated farm which would never make any money.

True, but campaign mode will most likely be completely revamped.

7. People shouldn't have to go home between each visit to another type of building. In fact, considering your new 24 minute day, there should be a rush to the shops at lunch time from office areas. Also, if your are modelling days you should model weekends - increased shopping and leisure visits and decreased industrial office visits.

Weekend idea is brilliant – in my opinion – but it adds lot more micromanagement.

8. Provide the ability to move existing content in the map editor

For this I have nothing to say.

9. Make citizens, just occasionally, actually want to get on a boat!

Yes! But it is unclear if water busses are available (at initial launch).

10. Make the minimap panel stretchable rather than fixed size.

In addition you could print out full screen image of your lines as a line map.

11. Fix whatever makes the FPS slow to a crawl whenever a map contains a large number of stops (even if no lines are using them)

As I have understood moving to Unity from custom game engine will solve performance issues.

 

[unmerged(400803)]

7. People shouldn't have to go home between each visit to another type of building. In fact, considering your new 24 minute day, there should be a rush to the shops at lunch time from office areas. Also, if your are modelling days you should model weekends - increased shopping and leisure visits and decreased industrial office visits.

Weekend idea is brilliant – in my opinion – but it adds lot more micromanagement.

As you can see in the scheduling menu around 5:25 in the gameplay video there is the option for a special weekend schedule already given

 

[Bel_Alex]

Well, let's go. And previously sorry for my English.

On citiesinmotion.ru we created RealPriceStandart for transport and infrastructure. I talk little more about this - may be this will be interesting for you for realisation in CiM2.

Our main idea was create realistic ratio for prices on transport and infrastructure (trolley wires, tram rails, tunnels etc.). We counted the prices from real money to game money (1cim ~ $75) and as result we have got pretty realistic view. For example, trolley wires costs 56cim (~$4200), tram rails - ~180cim (~$14000) for segment. In this case, for example, price of bus MAZ-103 - 1650 (~$125000), LAZ-A183 - 2510 (~$190000), MB Citaro - 3000 (~$225000); tram KTM-19A (with IGBT) costs $325k - it's 4340cim, and so one. This Standart has some nuances in regard metro and modern trams (Citadis 302, for example), but if you are interested - I can send you PM with our details.

Second very important detail: maintenance cost of transport. As I understand from game video, now maintenance cost of trams will be lower than buses? It's great and very realistically. In our formula maintenance cost depends on many things: mode of transport, reliability, control system (for e-transport) and so one. This allows for realistic ratio on maintenance cost. For example, new tram with IGBT costs more (sometimes very more!), than old tram. However maintenance cost of new tram lower than old.

Third: consumption of transport. We create complex formula for electro transport, what include total mass, max speed and engine control system of vehicle. Now we works on some formula for buses, what well be include power of engine, Euro-standart and mass of vehicle. Again, if you would be interested in it - I can send details in your PM. I talk this, because may be you already decided with your economy system.)

Fourth: capacity of transport. We consider it's a simple formula. Buses and trolleys - nominal capacity (5per*m^2)/2.2, tram - nom.cap/2.4, metro - nom.cap/2.5. These values very good looks in CiM: not much, not enough.

Well, as I said, if economy system of CiM2 still not defined - I can offer you our help.


Now a few suggestions.

1. Trolleybuses, please With normal catenary (and trams too), and really individual more of transport.
2. If through stop passes some routes, what follow in the same direction, passengers have use the first bus, what came. Well, I find the difficult to explain this, sorry. But I hope you understand, what I wanted to say.
3. User should be able to choose the number of cars on metro train (3-8 cars for example) and trams (1-3 cars or 3-8 sections) in depot. If you buy two identical tram, you must be able to merge it's. If the design of the car can do it, of course.
4. In depot need "repair shops", where we could restore old vehicle. If, for example, condition of the bus = 40%, and we don't have money to new bus, we just can repair this old bus (+30% condition, for example).
5. Tram tunnels and overpasses.

Here. This is a small part of suggestions from russian community, but my post is big. I'll add more later.

 

[rsdworker]

As you can see in the scheduling menu around 5:25 in the gameplay video there is the option for a special weekend schedule already given

where? i don't see link to video


my suggestions

i like see custom stations Layouts - the problem with CIM1 stations was fixed entrances which no chance to make flexible eg stairs at one side of road leading to ticket hall under the road also the station depth - the deeper CIM citizens had to reach platforms via escalators
so my suggestion is add a Elevators and staircases and ramps and add on parts to stations

so my example - i click on Metro build menu and click on Standard station ( simple station) and the platform layout appears - so i place two single platform under the other metro (no station exists at location) so once that platform ghosted image appears and i click on ticket hall and place under the road and above metro line 1 and add platforms for metro 1 - appears ghosted after placing them and once everything is placed - i place elevators to help older or wheelchair CIM citizens move around so a simple is click on upper level then click on lower floor - to finish off - just click on last floor again (metro 1 westbound and pop up will ask you - name this elevator - i type in and once that done the elevator shaft appears (ghosted) then i place other elevator (metro 1 eastbound and Metro 2) so works same way so i click on layout menu and click on entrances - i place one near pub and one near shops and put elevator between them and i place the passageway to ticket hall
so to make escalators connect to levels - i place escalator at top level (first level of station) and click on lower level and click again to complete escalator connections, - once everything has finished - i click Done and ghosted station will change and the elevators and escalators will have settings (shown on station facility menu)
a interchanges would be custom means a different layouts each station so CIM citzens wouldn't have to walk out of station and re enter station again and older people can use elevators

 

[unmerged(400803)]

where? i don't see link to video

Here you go. Someone already posted it, but I don't know who it was. Just change to HD Quality and watch it fullscreen, so you can see it pretty clear and all the details and hints . Stop around 5:25 mins and have a look at the menu to the right.

 

[slornie]

where? i don't see link to video

It's got its very own thread.

 

[unmerged(400803)]

It's got its very own thread.

good to know xD

 

[GE90-115B]

I've posted this before, but since we got a new thread for CiM 2 I take a chance to copy it.

When you are a placing a station in the game, you see the green "ring"(with lack of a better word) around the station which tells you potential passengers. The center of this "ring" is the platform and not the entrance/exit of the station itself.

I do believe with walkways this "ring" should be altered to something more complex since I've seen ridiculous long walkways IRL before. They are not very popular, but I think people do complain less about them than just walking om the street when changing lines. I do not know how you could work this out the best.

This is something I consider for the metro upgrade:

The whole station as of today should be in pieces(I do believe that some places this aren't needed, so to have the option for the old model would be a nice thing).
-Entrance/exit.
-Stairs.
-Escalator.
-Elevator(to increase attractiveness for disabled people).
-Big entrance. Something like this that offers the whole package.
-Lobby.
-Stairs and escalator.
-Platform.
-Walkways and moving walkways.
-Small walkway and wide walkway to handle huge amount of passengers.
-Moving walkway to increase attractiveness
-Different levels all the way from bottom to lobby level.
-Slopes(with moving walkway), stairs and escalators.

Maybe to have some retail space also? I've read that the only metro systems in the world that are profitable, wouldn't be if it wasn't for their retail and renting space.

Tunnels
More tunnels too choose from. 1, 2, 3, 4 track with good merging capability and better priority for handling of trains. Choose the direction of the tracks at the platform.

Since the clogging seems to get fixed, I'm not gonna mention that.

Kind of went overboard with this post. Not all of these are that important, but I do believe they will ad more playability to the game.

 

[Alex_brunius]

What I would like to see in regards of stations is the OpenTTD approach.

As long as placed reasonably adjacent stations will merge together to a single one (even those of different kinds). Prefferably we will be able to add underground walking passages connecting nearby metro stations with eachothers and possibly also multiple entrances for the same big station.

Real metro and commuter train stations can often have upward to 10 exits and 4 different lines at different levels/directions.

Something nice would also be to have underground (or bridge) passages to allow alot of passangers crossing a road without getting in the way and stopping traffic, trams and busses on a busy path.
Possibly this could even be something we can do to all crossings, pay to upgrade them and get rid of people crossing the road by putting them on another level.

 

[AshleyTayles]

Heres a question regarding the Timetable system

If a bus is scheduled to leave a stop every 2 hours, will the passengers go to the stop just before that time like in real life? Or will they still turn up even if the bus left 10 minutes ago and have to wait for 2 hours and give the stop a angry face?

In CiM1 it was not very possible to create a long, low frequency route as people would turn up at a stop even if no bus is scheduled to arrive for quite some time, making all the passengers unsatisfied.

 

[Alex_brunius]

If a bus is scheduled to leave a stop every 2 hours, will the passengers go to the stop just before that time like in real life? Or will they still turn up even if the bus left 10 minutes ago and have to wait for 2 hours and give the stop a angry face?

In CiM1 it was not very possible to create a long, low frequency route as people would turn up at a stop even if no bus is scheduled to arrive for quite some time, making all the passengers unsatisfied.

I guess we all would be pretty angry in real life aswell if you would have to choose to either be 30min late or 1.5 hours early because the buss only departs every 2hours regardless of the time you had to spend waiting. The more frequent depatures the happier travellers, I don't see a problem with the CiM1 way of doing it.

 

[meister_lampe]

It's great to hear, that there will be CiM2!

I support most suggestions from the other players, here is another one: The profit of the different modes of transport should be more balanced. In CiM it's nearly impossible run a profitable network without underground lines, but most cities in the world do not have an underground system.

Thanks for listening and keep on producing great games!