New DLC Suggestion: Law and Order

[deanwebb]

As one who avidly paints skylines while relaxing... I would rather just plop down enough police stations to cover my city, build a few prisons, and then leave crime all generalized. When I'm relaxing and unwinding and watching cims visit the amusement park, I don't want to suddenly be faced with a gruesome murder. Or a gruesome murder statistic.

I'm with metatoaster, let's show more info about which Cims are using public transport, rebalance the pollution and power mechanics, make it so I can get an idea of the monetary value of goods arriving/departing cargo stations, let me see better which industries and commercial zones need improved access to the supply chain, and so forth.

I like happy problems.

 

[Fox_NS_CAN]

As one who avidly paints skylines while relaxing... I would rather just plop down enough police stations to cover my city, build a few prisons, and then leave crime all generalized. When I'm relaxing and unwinding and watching cims visit the amusement park, I don't want to suddenly be faced with a gruesome murder. Or a gruesome murder statistic.

Agreed.

 

[DigiDave]

I think all the ideas presented here have merit. Each to their own. I see no reason why all of these elements could not be included where the players themselves can select from a menu to either have these elements included or not; in much the same way we can with turning disasters on and off.

 

[Pops121]

Well this again, been suggested so many times and you will get the same answer from the devs, "wont happen!!!". Requires a major rewrite of the code to include a political aspect. But, there is no harm in dreaming.

 

[DigiDave]

It's amazing what they can do with DLC? The developers have been able to add extra policies and add other elements to the game since its release. Given that the DLC Packs offer so much extra to the game, you would think it would not be so hard for game developers to continue adding more content. In fact we know that they often do it. It's what keeps the game alive.

Keep posting and discussing. It's not uncommon for game developers to pick up on what fans want. In fact if the only thing you do is dream about it ... then of course nothing will happen. There's also the fact that just because one person's proposal is not implemented does not mean it can not be further discussed. I have enjoyed this thread as I have not read anything previously and at any rate it does not hurt to rehash these things. No one is forcing others to read.

I'm still waiting on a city builder / sims game. I much prefer to actually play my games during the waking hours ... when I am dreaming, that's when I do my real living.

Keep posting.

 

[deanwebb]

I do sometimes RP a city council that basically robs one section of the town to reward another, as some cities have done. This is where district styles can come in handy, choosing seedy-looking buildings for "the other side of the tracks" and shiny skyscrapers for the upscale part of town.

 

[PkK]

[…]Maybe here is possible to expand the crime rate statistics: murders, robbery, drugs, gangs, prostitution, gambling. With this you could implement new police buildings - each specialised in a crime category ex. Drug Enforcement Agency. […]

There could also be policies for legalization by category - at least for drugs, prostitution and gambling.

 

[akeela84]

There could also be policies for legalization by category - at least for drugs, prostitution and gambling.

Try and explain a kid, maybe 3-10 year's old what those policies do in this game.
Cities skyline's is having an age rating of PEGI 3
https://www.igdb.com/games/cities-skylines/age_rating and I highly doubt this will be changed.

 

[metatoaster]

Try and explain a kid, maybe 3-10 year's old what those policies do in this game.
Cities skyline's is having an age rating of PEGI 3
https://www.igdb.com/games/cities-skylines/age_rating and I highly doubt this will be changed.

DLCs don't have to follow the same rating. See: Blood & Gore DLCs for Total War games.
I for one would legalize murder on my first day as mayor because it's a terrible great idea. Imagine the savings, no more costly criminal trials!

In all seriousness, this game would really benefit from a DLC that makes you face the many tough choices that real mayors face. There's never enough money or people to address every problem. Sometimes I want to build the perfect Utopia and that's fine, but I find it gets boring pretty fast... and it's so easy. Cities get bland when everything is perfect: contrast with the shitty parts of town would make your high-class neighborhoods all the more impressive.

 

[brother_korahael]

If anyone remembers the original SimCity games, crimes were divided up into various categories, the main ones being general and serious crimes (vandalism and petty theft, for example, as a form of general crime, and assault, battery, murder, etc, as serious crimes). These games were also given an "E" rating. To get away from having to label crimes they can simply be classed as "petty", "capital", and "organised". It would give you the opportunity to put to use specialised law enforcement and deal with criminal problems without referencing actual crimes. "Catching the bad guys" is something kids love doing, even big kids like me.

But beyond law enforcement, public safety and emergency response is a whole field of fun and excitement, and for those who don't want that interrupting their model-city-building you should be able to switch it off like you can disasters. It wouldn't turn it into a law enforcement simulation any more than Industries turns the game into a primary resources operation simulation.

On a related note, something I've always wanted to build is an "army town". I've always wanted to recreate the strange dichotomy that you find in the Australian city of Townsville, which is both a University city and an army town, having the best marine biology department in the country while at the same time also having one of the largest military bases in the country. The presence of the two, coupled with some of the largest coffee plantations and cattle stations in Australia, it's got some real quirks. I'd love to see military bases become an option, where they can be made like districts, and their "type" is dependent on the main building you establish (like Industries and Parks). They have profound effects on the economy of the city, and they can help out during emergencies and disasters.

I see a "Public Safety and Security" themed DLC as a great buy, personally. But that's just my opinion, and I understand if the devs have other things in mind.

 

[metatoaster]

If anyone remembers the original SimCity games, crimes were divided up into various categories, the main ones being general and serious crimes (vandalism and petty theft, for example, as a form of general crime, and assault, battery, murder, etc, as serious crimes). These games were also given an "E" rating. To get away from having to label crimes they can simply be classed as "petty", "capital", and "organised". It would give you the opportunity to put to use specialised law enforcement and deal with criminal problems without referencing actual crimes. "Catching the bad guys" is something kids love doing, even big kids like me.

What absolutely needs to be avoided is just adding three new types of crime icons that can appear over houses, for which you need to build three kinds of specialized buildings with their own vehicles. That would just increase traffic and feel pointless, we need some actual game mechanics and agent visuals for such a DLC.

I do think a DLC that showcases crime would have to show some of it on the streets. Maybe not murder, but let's say hold-ups represented in a slightly cartoony fashion. Armored vans for cash transfers, complete with the attacks on them. Or shoplifting, where you see the thief try to get away from the cops to stash his loot. Pickpockets and beggars walking the streets. The best visually would be taggers spray-painting your buildings.

Even just car accidents would give some life to the streets, but imagine a car chase!

 

[Beer Fiend]

What absolutely needs to be avoided is just adding three new types of crime icons that can appear over houses, for which you need to build three kinds of specialized buildings with their own vehicles. That would just increase traffic and feel pointless, we need some actual game mechanics and agent visuals for such a DLC.

I do think a DLC that showcases crime would have to show some of it on the streets. Maybe not murder, but let's say hold-ups represented in a slightly cartoony fashion. Armored vans for cash transfers, complete with the attacks on them. Or shoplifting, where you see the thief try to get away from the cops to stash his loot. Pickpockets and beggars walking the streets. The best visually would be taggers spray-painting your buildings.

Even just car accidents would give some life to the streets, but imagine a car chase!

Sim City 4's agents for showing crime was pretty good. A tagger spraying graffiti here, two people cartoonishly fighting there, Pies being thrown about (seriously!) it was great.

 

[brother_korahael]

What absolutely needs to be avoided is just adding three new types of crime icons that can appear over houses, for which you need to build three kinds of specialized buildings with their own vehicles. That would just increase traffic and feel pointless, we need some actual game mechanics and agent visuals for such a DLC.

I do think a DLC that showcases crime would have to show some of it on the streets. Maybe not murder, but let's say hold-ups represented in a slightly cartoony fashion. Armored vans for cash transfers, complete with the attacks on them. Or shoplifting, where you see the thief try to get away from the cops to stash his loot. Pickpockets and beggars walking the streets. The best visually would be taggers spray-painting your buildings.

Even just car accidents would give some life to the streets, but imagine a car chase!

I would definitely prefer that. Seeing the visuals for the crimes being committed would be much cooler than the abstractions I came up with. Like in SimCIty 4, when graffiti occurred in certain areas you could see it. That was a cool visual indicator that a certain area wasn't completely law abiding. You could have homes that have some trash or kicked letterboxes or damaged property to reflect bad neighbourhoods. Add riots to the disasters panel! (I'm having flashbacks to the Washington DC scenario in SC2000, so many riots, so much fire) I'm totally on board with it.

My abstractions idea was a compromise, which not even I liked.

Sim City 4's agents for showing crime was pretty good. A tagger spraying graffiti here, two people cartoonishly fighting there, Pies being thrown about (seriously!) it was great.

I loved that about SC4!

 

[deanwebb]

I've got assets for "The Other Side of Town" that include graffiti, garbage, and other indicators of socio-economic distress. Don't need a DLC for that when I can tap the workshop.

 

[dj97]

I've got assets for "The Other Side of Town" that include graffiti, garbage, and other indicators of socio-economic distress. Don't need a DLC for that when I can tap the workshop.

But despite the use of all those assets, the game could still treat the neighborhood as a crime-free area. It's not just about looks. It's about the simulation.

 

[deanwebb]

But despite the use of all those assets, the game could still treat the neighborhood as a crime-free area. It's not just about looks. It's about the simulation.

I got cops racing down the streets with lights flashing all the time. Looks like a tough neighborhood to me.

 

[Beer Fiend]

I got cops racing down the streets with lights flashing all the time. Looks like a tough neighborhood to me.

Or it's just someone on the other side of town calling the police and the busted crime system (and district mapping) making all the police cars go screeching across town.

 

[Mazisky]

They had gangs and many subcultures planned after release but they scrapped them and replaced with day\night cycle and after dark. I guess they were right (day\night cycle was priority number 1 imho) but now it may be time to resume that idea.

 

[Beer Fiend]

Just bringing this back to attention, I really think this will improve the immersion in cities.

The game is still a bit too nice.

 

[Onytoytoy]

Yes , a law and order dlc would be cool, but also with more life to the city like:

Strikes, protests and riots, (and also good things like parade ?), and like adding social classes to the game wich interact with crime and every stuff. protests and riot would be then different following the type of demands (ecology, economic, etc...) and some riots could really go bad and make some chaotic state in parts of the city.

And mostly, bit of challenge, the game is so much easy that the dev need to find a way to make it bit challenging for players who want just not contemplating game.