One of the most important features in Cities in Motion 2 is Dynamic Cities, which simply means that the maps change during the game. We chose to make our maps a lot larger than in the first game, and with all this new space to build in, we wanted to make an environment that reacts to player decisions, leading to new, interesting situations in the game world. That’s how dynamic cities came to be.
The most common way to play CiM2 is to have a pre-made map, or generate a city using the map editor. However, thanks to the mechanics behind dynamic cities, you can even start with a completely empty map and just start placing roads, and city buildings will be generated based on your layout. You can also place buildings by hand (even all of them if you wish, just like in the first game), but the building generation system lets you quickly create interesting road systems for your transport company, and the housing to go with it. You can also generate buildings and then choose to replace them with others in the map editor.
During play, dynamic cities react to new routes and different vehicle types. The city center area requires roads with many lanes and excellent connections, whereas areas with detached housing do well with just a bus line or two. However, if you want to see the detached houses develop into high-rises, or open an area with lots of entertainment options like theaters, cinemas and shopping centers, you’ll need to build more transport types and more lines to encourage citizens to expand.
To keep cities in balance, the system creates areas of different types. If an industrial building spawns first, it’s very likely to spawn more of its kind around it, creating an industrial area. If the city already has plenty of industry, but not enough blue collar worker housing to meet the personnel needs, it’s more likely that blue collar housing will spawn when a new road is built. The city stays in balance on its own, creating areas where the player’s company will find new route options and passengers to transport.
Cities in Motion 2 is a transportation simulation, and thus the player does not zone or place buildings (apart from depots and stops and stations, of course) in the city. The city is the sandbox, and the game is about connecting it with transport. The option to build roads opens up possibilities of optimizing routes carefully: is there a stretch of road that’s constantly blocked by traffic jams so your buses get stuck? No worries; make a shortcut by building roads with only bus lanes! With the placement of waypoints, you can ensure the buses always take the shortcut and won’t get stuck again. Are two suburbs really close to each other but have no road connection? You could always build a metro line above or below ground, but it’s expensive and might be overkill just to connect a sleepy suburb. Just build a road and put a tram line on it! The main reason to allow the player to build roads is to give them control of the whole map and always find new places to work with.
The most common way to play CiM2 is to have a pre-made map, or generate a city using the map editor. However, thanks to the mechanics behind dynamic cities, you can even start with a completely empty map and just start placing roads, and city buildings will be generated based on your layout. You can also place buildings by hand (even all of them if you wish, just like in the first game), but the building generation system lets you quickly create interesting road systems for your transport company, and the housing to go with it. You can also generate buildings and then choose to replace them with others in the map editor.
During play, dynamic cities react to new routes and different vehicle types. The city center area requires roads with many lanes and excellent connections, whereas areas with detached housing do well with just a bus line or two. However, if you want to see the detached houses develop into high-rises, or open an area with lots of entertainment options like theaters, cinemas and shopping centers, you’ll need to build more transport types and more lines to encourage citizens to expand.
To keep cities in balance, the system creates areas of different types. If an industrial building spawns first, it’s very likely to spawn more of its kind around it, creating an industrial area. If the city already has plenty of industry, but not enough blue collar worker housing to meet the personnel needs, it’s more likely that blue collar housing will spawn when a new road is built. The city stays in balance on its own, creating areas where the player’s company will find new route options and passengers to transport.
Cities in Motion 2 is a transportation simulation, and thus the player does not zone or place buildings (apart from depots and stops and stations, of course) in the city. The city is the sandbox, and the game is about connecting it with transport. The option to build roads opens up possibilities of optimizing routes carefully: is there a stretch of road that’s constantly blocked by traffic jams so your buses get stuck? No worries; make a shortcut by building roads with only bus lanes! With the placement of waypoints, you can ensure the buses always take the shortcut and won’t get stuck again. Are two suburbs really close to each other but have no road connection? You could always build a metro line above or below ground, but it’s expensive and might be overkill just to connect a sleepy suburb. Just build a road and put a tram line on it! The main reason to allow the player to build roads is to give them control of the whole map and always find new places to work with.
I have a few questions though.
