While SimCity may have gone under the radar, the Cities Skylines franchise appears to be picking up the slack. Maxis' iconic series may have built the genre, but Colossal Order has shown the industry what an urban city-builder can look like. Cities Skylines 2 will attempt to revolutionize the genre once again, but hopefully it still looks at the SimCity series for some inspiration.
SimCity 2013 may have killed the franchise, but that does not mean it has nothing to offer other aspiring city-builders. The game added a couple of interesting and unique features that have not been emulated by an urban city-builder since. Concepts like multiplayer and modular building upgrades could work really well if given the care they deserve, and Colossal Order seems to be the perfect development studio for the job.
SimCity 2013's Multiplayer Should Be Expanded in City Skylines 2
One of the coolest features that SimCity's 2010s reboot introduced was probably its online mode, but the unique concept has been heavily overshadowed by the way Maxis handled it. Players were forced to engage with the feature, and servers did not work at launch. Constant server outages made the game unplayable, and those server woes ultimately caused SimCity to fail. However, the concept could work well if given the right amount of care.
SimCity's multiplayer mode let players build their own cities alongside each other. The game was split into multiple regions, with each able to house multiple cities. Players could join these regions, pick a plot of land, and then construct their own city, sharing or selling resources with other players. They could work together to build giant Great Work projects that benefited the entire region like an International Airport, Space Center, and Arcology.
Cities Skylines 2 could take this online experience and improve upon it. Instead of forcing players to participate in always-online functions, it could be offered as an alternative mode. Players could once again build cities alongside each other, and work together to build a better tomorrow. Colossal Order could even expand Maxis' concept by adding ways to sabotage other cities, a more involved trading system stemming from resource competition, and even more Great Works projects for players to work toward.
SimCity 2013's Modular Building Was a Great Addition
Another interesting SimCity feature that has not really carried over to other city-builders is its modular building system. Civic buildings and emergency services are an important part of any city-builder, and players are usually forced to place more of the same building as their city expands. Their city may quickly fill up with schools, hospitals, police stations, and other civic buildings. It is a core part of the Cities Skylines experience, but SimCity chose to do it a little differently.
Some of the buildings in SimCity could be upgraded with new pieces. For example, players could add more cells or car garages to a police station, more classrooms to schools, helicopter pads could be built on fire stations, and the resident superhero could get a host of new building upgrades. Each of these upgrades could be placed on the building wherever players wanted, and each one would improve various aspects of that service. This feature made service buildings feel more alive, and is one of the main things that SimCity 2013 got right.
Paradox has yet to show off any Cities Skylines 2 gameplay, so there is a possibility that a version of these features exist already. The modular building system is the most likely to appear, but a form of multiplayer may be in the cards as well. There is no way of knowing until Paradox Interactive reveals something more, but if these features are not in the game they should be considered.
Cities Skylines 2 is currently in development.