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The towns in Cities in Motion were pristine, untouchable, because it was a game about running a transport company only. But as designer Karoliina Korppoo explains, when the studio began to design a sequel, they wanted more. "The cities were too static," she says. "With this [sequel], you can really feel the cities change with the decisions you make."
This time, they're alive, responding to the transport networks that the player carves out in a way that Korppoo says was inspired by the PC classic Transport Tycoon. Neighbourhoods grow, property values rise and, as blue-collar workers take trams to the edge of town, a new industrial estate begins to develop. It all happens organically around the player, whose powers are limited only to laying roads or track, albeit with the occasional aid of a bulldozer when necessary.
Still, that infrastructure can be extraordinary. As Korppoo shows me another demo map, I point out a stunningly complex spaghetti junction formed of maybe a dozen intersecting roads and onramps that knot together or spiral above and below each other in the most complicated commuter capillaries you have ever seen. Yes, she says, I can build something like that if I want to, though it may take some practice. I can build big and I can build beautiful.
I can build very big, in fact. The sequel's maps are four times larger and the game is now powered by the Unity engine, which allows me to pan around at will and which does a fine job of showing off the new day and night cycle. That's not merely cosmetic either, Hallikainen adds, as commuters now have different transport needs at different times of day, something to be exploited: "During that morning rush, if I send a bus every ten minutes, I'm going to make so much more money." Should you wish, you can get into the business of timetabling your entire network.
This time, they're alive, responding to the transport networks that the player carves out in a way that Korppoo says was inspired by the PC classic Transport Tycoon. Neighbourhoods grow, property values rise and, as blue-collar workers take trams to the edge of town, a new industrial estate begins to develop. It all happens organically around the player, whose powers are limited only to laying roads or track, albeit with the occasional aid of a bulldozer when necessary.
Still, that infrastructure can be extraordinary. As Korppoo shows me another demo map, I point out a stunningly complex spaghetti junction formed of maybe a dozen intersecting roads and onramps that knot together or spiral above and below each other in the most complicated commuter capillaries you have ever seen. Yes, she says, I can build something like that if I want to, though it may take some practice. I can build big and I can build beautiful.
I can build very big, in fact. The sequel's maps are four times larger and the game is now powered by the Unity engine, which allows me to pan around at will and which does a fine job of showing off the new day and night cycle. That's not merely cosmetic either, Hallikainen adds, as commuters now have different transport needs at different times of day, something to be exploited: "During that morning rush, if I send a bus every ten minutes, I'm going to make so much more money." Should you wish, you can get into the business of timetabling your entire network.
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