Thankfully there are lots of good alternatives if you don’t want to play Simcity 3000 or SimCity 4; considering the 20+ years of modding and a gigantic custom asset library, it’s IMO the ultimate “modern” city-builder.
Are there? I’ve been searching for a good alternative for the last year or more and I haven’t found one. Everything that anyone lists doesn’t scratch the same itch as CS. Anything I see suggested is a different take on the genre. It’s always the same list including things like Manor Lords, Foundation, Workers and Resources, Timberborn, the Anno series, the Tropico series, etc.
And don’t get me wrong, those are all fantastic games that I love for many different reasons. But they aren’t what I would want as an alternative to CS/2 or SimCity.
I genuinely hope there are alternatives, though. I’m just frustrated at running into the same list over and over with suggestions for completely separate styles of games.
I definitely agree that Anno, Timberborn and Tropico are not really like SimCity/CS.
I would say check out these games for a more classical city-builder feel.
Urbek City Builder - the tutorial might give you the impression this is a puzzle game inspired builder. It’s not if you play on the largest map and focus on urban development.
Microlandia - In development (the latest builds are on itch), but with a lot of promise and in some ways very reminiscent of Simcity 2000/3000 (not only in terms of graphics).
Citystate 1/2 - I’ve only played the first one. I would recommend disabling the political components, even if they are a headline feature, they are badly designed and annoying. The city-building component is fun though.
TheoTown - Have only played a few hours of this one, some gameplay element are not to my taste, seems to have a massive modding scene.
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve tried out Urbek and TheoTown and found them lacking in certain places. Urbek definitely felt more like a puzzle game, but I’ll try to give it another shake. TheoTown just never grabbed me for some reason.
I haven’t tried Microlandia or Citystate. I’ll check them out.
I think part of what I’m missing are the traffic sim segments from SC1, especially with some of the traffic mods. It made the city really feel more alive. With 2’s simulations being so broken, it ruined that side of things for me.
I am subbed to that comm. I’ll have to make a more concentrated effort to go through it though. I haven’t seen much of it pop up on my feed.
Again, I appreciate the suggestions. I keep hoping to find something that hits the same as CS1 or what 2 was supposed to be.
I initially had the exact same issue with Urbek, but if you choose the largest map size and plan ahead (farming/industrial areas at the edges of the map, residential districts in “midtown” etc.), it can play out more like Simcity.
I will add that I essentially abstracted out some the puzzle elements by designing modular “blocks” for certain things like farms and by pre-placing industrial resources on the edge of the map (where my industrials districts would be located).
Thankfully there are lots of good alternatives if you don’t want to play Simcity 3000 or SimCity 4; considering the 20+ years of modding and a gigantic custom asset library, it’s IMO the ultimate “modern” city-builder.
Are there? I’ve been searching for a good alternative for the last year or more and I haven’t found one. Everything that anyone lists doesn’t scratch the same itch as CS. Anything I see suggested is a different take on the genre. It’s always the same list including things like Manor Lords, Foundation, Workers and Resources, Timberborn, the Anno series, the Tropico series, etc.
And don’t get me wrong, those are all fantastic games that I love for many different reasons. But they aren’t what I would want as an alternative to CS/2 or SimCity.
I genuinely hope there are alternatives, though. I’m just frustrated at running into the same list over and over with suggestions for completely separate styles of games.
I definitely agree that Anno, Timberborn and Tropico are not really like SimCity/CS.
I would say check out these games for a more classical city-builder feel.
I am assuming your subscribed to [email protected] ?
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve tried out Urbek and TheoTown and found them lacking in certain places. Urbek definitely felt more like a puzzle game, but I’ll try to give it another shake. TheoTown just never grabbed me for some reason.
I haven’t tried Microlandia or Citystate. I’ll check them out.
I think part of what I’m missing are the traffic sim segments from SC1, especially with some of the traffic mods. It made the city really feel more alive. With 2’s simulations being so broken, it ruined that side of things for me.
I am subbed to that comm. I’ll have to make a more concentrated effort to go through it though. I haven’t seen much of it pop up on my feed.
Again, I appreciate the suggestions. I keep hoping to find something that hits the same as CS1 or what 2 was supposed to be.
No worries.
I initially had the exact same issue with Urbek, but if you choose the largest map size and plan ahead (farming/industrial areas at the edges of the map, residential districts in “midtown” etc.), it can play out more like Simcity.
I will add that I essentially abstracted out some the puzzle elements by designing modular “blocks” for certain things like farms and by pre-placing industrial resources on the edge of the map (where my industrials districts would be located).