We took some notes from Simtropolis and Reddit gamer impressions of their playthrough with Simcity. Unfortunately EA forbade filming the gameplay so we have to rely on word of mouth. The impressions outlined below are from Simtropolis user ferryv and Reddit user dudelsac.
Zones
- Zone layout is dependent on the placement of the roads. You can still choose where you want to zone but this method allows you to zone in a way that avoids empty spaces.
- So far only government buildings are ploppable.
- Sprawling residential neighborhoods have more grass. The more densely populated areas have more concrete.
Ploppables with Modules
- Each of the ploppable buildings have unique add-ons.
- If you build a school you can add dorms around it.
- You can place additions like a bell tower, extra garage, and a flag pole on a Fire Station.
- A garbage dump you can lay out more dumps and place a dirt road to them.
- You can stack cell blocks on top of each other for the Police Station.
Services (Police, Fire, Power, etc..)
- When you build a water tower, you see the water table map. The darker blue areas have more water. Once you build it the water flows down into the city. (No pipes?)
- Power flows through the city automatically, no need to lay power lines.
- A service’s radius of effect is now influenced by how long it takes for a service vehicle to reach a destination. So the more intersections you have the longer it takes a service vehicle to reach a part of the city.
- Water Treatment Plants
- Basketball and Soccer field parks.
- Coil, Oil, Wind, and Solar power plant options so far in the demo.
Traffic
- When you click on a car, all information about who’s driving it, where they live, and where they are going to is presented on the screen.
- The traffic agents may select some cars to avoid traffic jams by heading through other routes.
Data Layer
- When you query a commercial building you can see information on Energy, Oil, and Water it consumes, As well as income, garbage, and number of jobs.
Disasters
- Meteor shower destroys everything.
Roads
- Highways are already layed out across the region. You can connect your city to a highway.
