"Inner Space IV" — Discovering the Classic "Cities: Skylines" in 2022 - video Dailymotion

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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?

Transcript

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.

"Inner Space IV" — Discovering the Classic "Cities: Skylines" in 2022

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