Battleplans/cityplans

[RedRalphWiggum]

You know how HoI has battle plans where you can draw arrows etc to remind yourself how you want to plan your battle?

Well, it would be great if, at game setup, we could have a map overlay where we could roughly sketch out a plan for the city, even on a basic level. All we'd really need is the ability to sketch roads, zones and so on onto an overlay which we could call up during the game to see if we were sticking to it. I know when I'm playing Tropico, when the map is first generated, I mentally make a note of where I think the commercial housing, industrial areas etc should go. Having this as an actual in-game tool, even on a very basic level, would be great.

 

[Uglyr]

+1

 

[Kimberly]

This is something I've always missed in Simcity. Making a proper grid plan requires building the roads when you're starting out, which really hurts your budget--it's much more sensible if you can make a master plan for free and overlay it on the map for when you actually want to build.

 

[Sn3ipen]

I love this feature in Prison Architect and use it every time i start a new prison and i feel that sketching and noting directly on the map should have been a mandatory feature for any strategy/simulation game with some complexity.

 

[Sotrax]

+1
Just an overlay mode that can be activated and deactivated!

 

[MouldyK]

I love this feature in Prison Architect and use it every time i start a new prison and i feel that sketching and noting directly on the map should have been a mandatory feature for any strategy/simulation game with some complexity.

I spend a good hour or two planning out my Prison to have a capacity of around 100 with all the basic facilities like workshops, showers, mess hall etc. before I dig deep into actually building the thing. So I am all for this suggestion.

 

[Stagua]

Yes! That is what all city builders should have. Also some kind of "Note book" to write things down, or some kind of automatical log of city development: bus route 1 opened in january 1929, first cruise port placed in 1935 etc.

 

[Taghan]

This is necessary, good idea.

I remember back in my SC4 days I used to sketch a grid plan in Paint or even on a sheet of paper. A Prison Architect style planner would be a useful feature.

 

[Philemon1976]

That would be something really new and never done before. should be considered (like street names - but this is just from SC4... ;-D)

 

[Victor Cortez]

This is something I proposed for CIM2.

1) It shouldn't be just a sketch, it has to be something you actually plan and when you want, click a button and construction starts
2) This would be very useful to make sure all roads can be properly placed and that there won't be any collision problem
3) A "planning mode" would give you something to do when you're out of funds
4) Construction shouldn't be immediate but it should take some time, a la Prison Architect
5) Maybe this mode could be made available if you upgrade the cityhall with a planning office

 

[Philemon1976]

...
4) Construction shouldn't be immediate but it should take some time, a la Prison Architect
...

Big projects like building a bridge or a stadium should take their time, like a (game) year oder two.
It would add realism to the game. just plobbing and voilá, its there, is a bit frustating.

And a planning mode would be good for having a great masterplan in mind - to take precaution of meta-planing like a highway or a airport.

So you dont have to remember all the time: "I want a highway here, dont forget of avoid building suburbs"

You can build a street grid without really needing it in the moment, but considering the further evolution of the city.

you get the picture. ;-D

 

[Kimberly]

Another lovely thing with construction that takes time, in conjunction with city plans, is that you can model the disruption (extra traffic, noise, pollution, etc.) caused by construction. This encourages players to either build everything all at once, or very slowly so as to cause minimal disruption (with the aid of a long-term plan).

 

[Toa Kraka]

Back when I played SimCity 3000 (and Pharaoh), I used to spend hours planning out the grids of my cities. If this game uses curved roads, though, won't the non-grid-based nature of it make a grid-based planning feature unworkable?

 

[Crotalidae75]

Back when I played SimCity 3000 (and Pharaoh), I used to spend hours planning out the grids of my cities. If this game uses curved roads, though, won't the non-grid-based nature of it make a grid-based planning feature unworkable?

Why would it be unworkable? The preview video shows roads being laid out at 90-degre angles. It should be still possible to do it.

 

[TotalyMoo]

A very, very lovely idea indeed! I'll make sure our developers see this and take it into consideration in some way or form

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

A very, very lovely idea indeed! I'll make sure our developers see this and take it into consideration in some way or form

 

[RedRalphWiggum]

(Sort of) on the same topic - will we have a minimap?

 

[whosthebestcop]

Damn good idea sir, damn good idea.

 

[Quaade]

support the idea of making plans/sketches along with time used for building. I hope for a "lot" of time so it would have an impact of planning. Let players start with a small town and develop from there, after all... being elected mayor when there are no citizens? however, the old town will eventually get transformed especially building large projects like highways and bridges, should take a longer time so you should plan ahead when you expand or wait to tear down the old bridge before the other larger one has been build.

 

[karolans]

Maybe you could use the district layers for this? Set up districts and work on them later...