Dynamic cities do you guys like them?

[Bumpy Johnson]

I love the idea of dynamic growth and I like what CO has started but it needs to be carried out to the fullest extent. Finish the process and work out the kinks. First, there is nothing wrong with taking ideas from other games, refining them and making them your own. Don't short change a good idea because you're wary of the comparisons. To make this facet of the game work better, you need much more variation in the buildings - more civic buildings, more CBD (central business district) buildings, more park and recreation facilities, more sports and event complexes, row houses, condominiums, etc... Then add zones for these buildings - leisure, recreation, government, business, suburban and urban abodes. So we can add what we need when we need it. Areas without mass transit can only experience minimal growth if any while bringing different types of mass transit to an area stimulates an increased growth rate. This way mass transit is still the focal point of the game.
IMO, there's a lot that can be done yet in this game. I do hope CO gets away from those insignificant scenarios such as "building a line so that a small group of people can get to the opera" or things to that effect. How about "build a line to an area because a developer is building a community there and requires some type of mass transit service" or " an event complex has a bunch of scheduled events that require extra trains, trams, busses, etc.. during certain hours" or " the Olympics will be in your town for three weeks, maintain this level of service for a bonus". That would take things up a notch. Especially with dynamic growth.

 

[mackintosh]

While I like the idea of dynamic growth, I don't like the implementation. I much preferred the way it was done in CiM. I guess I prefer CiM as a transportation problem solver than a city builder. Sure, predetermined growth is somewhat limiting, but at least it avoids the pitfalls of spamming the map with countless schools and libraries. I'd almost prefer no growth at all to what it currently is - an illogical mishmash of randomness.