"Inner Space IV" — Discovering the Classic "Cities: Skylines" in 2022
From SimCity 3000 to Cities: Skylines. Welcome to Groveland Heights (using the Foggy Hills startup). Will the residents flee? Which district would you move into?
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GamingTranscript
00:30Hello DP community and welcome to a very different episode of Innerspace.
00:35Today we'll be exploring a virtual city right here on planet Earth.
00:41I am not a gamer by any stretch but some 20 years ago I was semi-active on SimCity 3000.
00:49That addition changed everything because it introduced the building architect tool.
00:54For the first time in the game's development the player community could create and share
00:59custom buildings for the game.
01:01It was a vibrant community and I too contributed some assets for SimCity.
01:08This summer I needed a creative diversion, something I could do on my laptop.
01:13While researching what became of SimCity I discovered its modern successor, Cities Skylines,
01:20a product by Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive that builds on everything that made SimCity
01:27so immersive and fun to play.
01:30So over the course of, I guess, two weeks I acquainted myself with the software and
01:35its community and set out to build my very first Cities Skylines world.
01:40Good or bad, everyone's going to see it today.
01:43I'm fairly certain I possess zero city planning and engineering skills but let's try to enjoy
01:50it nonetheless.
01:53Groveland Heights is a completely fictional city, so if any of the street configurations
01:58or areas seem familiar to you, it's pure coincidence.
02:02I never even lived in a place called Groveland Heights.
02:06But I do remember a neighborhood street named Groveland.
02:11The roadmap for this episode begins with some basic orientation to Cities Skylines.
02:17Next I'll take you on a guided tour of the various districts that make up the city, and
02:23I think it will be both fun and fitting if I honored my patrons today by giving them
02:28their own streets.
02:30They were wonderfully patient over the summer while I was bogged down on a different project.
02:36Now for the rest of the DP community, I included a Star Trek reference somewhere in the city,
02:43and I'd like you to try and spot it during today's activities.
02:46I'll pin the first comment that correctly identifies that Star Trek easter egg.
02:52The episode will conclude with a random cinematic tour of Groveland Heights, so that each of
02:58you can immerse yourself in this world while you discover the various details and cool
03:03animations that bring the simulation to life.
03:07So with that out of the way, let's get started.
03:12All right.
03:13A game begins by choosing a land plot.
03:16There are various terrains and climates, and I believe this one is called Foggy Hills.
03:21I chose this primarily because I wanted waterfront communities, and you can see we have this
03:26significant river.
03:28In hindsight, I wouldn't choose it again because the terrain isn't very smooth, making it more
03:34challenging to plop down buildings and assets.
03:38This side isn't too bad, but the western half is basically a massive, uneven hill.
03:44I had to spend a lot of money on landscaping to make this suitable for various assets.
03:50Your first land plot comes with a single connection to the world, this incoming highway
03:54connection, from which you build your eventual road network.
03:59The game progresses as a series of population milestones.
04:04Each milestone unlocks new buildings, zoning, services, and other assets that help the city
04:09to flourish and come to life.
04:12The first population milestone was Little Hamlet with 440 residents, Worthy Village
04:19with a population of 900.
04:21I reached Tiny Town status with 1,400 residents, Boomtown with 2,400 residents, Busytown required
04:29a population of 5,000, and then Bigtown at 7,500.
04:35This was really my immediate pursuit, reaching this milestone, because I wanted tall buildings
04:41for a modern city look, but tall buildings require high-density zoning, and the high-density
04:47zones don't come into play until this level.
04:51So it was at this point that I felt the city was really beginning.
04:54You see here, this side of the river, originally I was not going to develop this part.
05:00It's just a sliver of land when you consider the plot boundary right here.
05:06But this would eventually become Riverton District as a way to boost the city's overall
05:11population.
05:12And you can see that Riverton actually began life as one of my garbage dumps.
05:17The other obvious pattern here is that I left this region kind of remote.
05:22My plan was to develop here, in the central region, do a little development across the
05:27bridge in Riverton, and then later on, this would be a good spot to lay down an airport,
05:34given its higher elevation.
05:36Alright, we're here at the origin of the city, with its world highway connection.
05:46You know, I thought I was being clever, extending this thruway as an express tunnel to the upper
05:51districts, but you can see clearly that the bulk of northbound traffic is not using the
05:56tunnel.
05:57The outlanders are using the off-ramp.
05:59They are trying to access the downtown streets, or the industrial section, to the left.
06:11This is an overhead view of the downtown district.
06:14There is very little housing here.
06:16It is mostly government buildings, hotels, offices, and a mixture of low-density and
06:21high-density commercial.
06:29Cloverdale was really my first residential development, and the site of the city's first
06:34elementary school.
06:35The district was so named because of the shape of its streets.
06:40Cloverdale doesn't have a traditional park asset, but it does have extensive walking
06:44paths, effectively making the entire district a park.
06:53Immediately north is Glendale District.
06:56Glendale has the city's largest park, and one of its two high schools, that L-shaped
07:01building.
07:02If I were living in Groveland Heights, I think I'd want to live here, in Glendale.
07:07It's right across the avenue from the Expo Center and Shopping Plaza.
07:11We have easy access to the Riverton Bridge.
07:20Riverton is a lot nicer now, without the landfills and traditional factories.
07:25Its industrial zone is now agriculture, which isn't as dirty, but Riverton continues to
07:30be the city's solution for trash, with its incinerator plant there on the right.
07:42People come to Riverton on the weekends for horseback riding and fishing tours.
07:53North Bend District used to be the site of the city's oil power plant.
07:58That has since been removed, but North Bend retains a small section of light industry.
08:03There is very little pollution here, and much healthier trees.
08:10On the opposite side of the city artery is Middleborough.
08:15IQs are high here.
08:16Middleborough is the location of the city university and public library.
08:21I had great fun building that elevated pedestrian walk.
08:25Those things are real, though I've never seen one quite this large.
08:35Uptown District is the city's cultural center.
08:38There is lots of housing here, and plenty to do.
08:41In addition to key government buildings like City Hall, police headquarters, and a general
08:46hospital, Uptown District has a modern art museum, theater, and cinema.
08:51Residents can take a quick metro ride to Middleborough if they want to swim or use the gym.
09:02Nestled in the northwest corner is Hillsdale District.
09:05Were it not for the approaching flights, Hillsdale would easily be the quietest place in Groveland Heights.
09:17Hillsdale recently replaced its traditional elementary school with the city's first
09:21and only community school.
09:24Hillsdale was so named for being, well, hilly.
09:27It's like a more rural version of San Francisco.
09:32We are now approaching the airport located in Madison Hill District.
09:37This is the requisite airport neighborhood.
09:40And there's always an unfortunate community situated right by the airport.
09:50Groveland Heights has a three terminal regional airport.
09:53Surprisingly, City Skylines doesn't have parking structures.
09:57Now, you can't have an airport without parking, so I was pleased to learn, with the help of
10:01the community, that it's easy to build one using the game's asset editor.
10:06So yeah, that's a DP parking lot there.
10:15When I was able to acquire the Science Center and transition to solar power plants, I thought
10:21it made sense to group them into a Science Park District.
10:25The smaller building is a Research Center.
10:33The Industrial Park District used to be several blocks of pure, dirty industry.
10:38Later, I had the means to specialize in forest industry, which cut down on the pollution
10:43footprint.
10:45When the industry demand dropped, I rezoned nearly half the district for office space,
10:51light commercial, and residential.
10:53So people actually live here now.
11:01The last residential district is West End, which runs alongside the elevated expressway.
11:07West End has the Rival High School.
11:10Growing up, I never lived in an area that didn't have at least two Rival High Schools.
11:16Whenever I look at West End, I can't help but imagine it's the city's low-income district.
11:25Okay, so that wraps the guided district tour.
11:31Before the street dedications and closing cinematics, let me draw your attention to
11:36some interesting animation details in Cities Skylines.
11:41Some are cool, some are weird.
11:44Vehicles driving on dirt roads kick up dust.
11:49Emergency vehicles not only have flashing lights, but those lights reflect off the surrounding
11:54buildings.
11:58When residents die, a hearse or van comes to pick up the body.
12:05Vehicles sometimes pass through one another.
12:09Airplanes turn too quickly after taking off.
12:16And pedestrians walk way too fast in this game.