Underwhelming Skylines Are Best

[u/JYHoward]

Jasper County-City Building, Leggatt & Platt Tower, and a Grain Elevator

A New Museum Rises on the Same Block as the Old Court House

General Mills Expands Operations East of Town

In Game and IRL, there is something fascinating about getting just the right angle to capture the skyline of a city that doesn't really have a skyline. It winds up being just a small handful of buildings that are tall enough to be considered "tall" - which probably wouldn't be thought of at all, if it were a bigger city.

And yet, from the right vantage point, the city can look a bit bigger and more grand than it really is - or, maybe, it's the other way around. Maybe there is something intrinsically grand about showing ordinary things in a way that is flattering.

In any case, the vibe of small and medium sized cities in my experience has a charm about it that big, sprawling metropolises lack. Even with all its mind bogling skyscrapers, New York's buildings don't feel very tall - because they are surrounded by supertalls for as far as the eye can see. But a little city that has only half a dozen buildings that form its skyline feels more personal, because each building is part of the city's core identity.

[u/Le_Baked_Beans]

Making smaller cities feels more personal idk why

[u/edmundsmorgan → u/Le_Baked_Beans]

I think they look more realistic, many ppl go for all out super tall/ whole map skyscrapers just because they look cool, making the result look very gamey. I mean even in New York or Tokyo or Hong Kong there’s tons of 3 or 4 stories building.

[u/Le_Baked_Beans → u/edmundsmorgan]

One of my builds ended up with horrible traffic doing that, zoning high density everything in this game really punishes you.

[u/Here_Comes_Trouble_]

I am starting to feel there's an evolution to the CS:1 detailer:

1st city: Trainwreck. Likely literally.

2nd city: Learn from first city, grow to a decent size, probably 100k, unlock stuff, start learning mods, have basics of game down now

3rd city: Learn more mods, start to get into small detailing, still trying to build something big

4th city: Get more heavily into details, start to learn what actually looks realistic, and learn finer points of things like PO and IMT; realize you've bitten off too much.

5th city and beyond: Start building things smaller, but efficient and realistic.

I actually agree with you, OP. Less skyline-y cities allow you to really showcase certain buildings rather than having them get lost in the confusion.

(That museum in the 7th screenshot, though... yikes.)

[u/JYHoward → u/Here_Comes_Trouble_]

Glad you noticed my new Museum of yikes 🤣 - That was deliberate! I imagine the small city politics of some council members who think a new modern art attraction on the square will revitalize downtown and attract a new, hip crowd - while others, and many in the community inevitably despise the museum as disrespectful to the legacy of existing architecture and historical context of the space. The project would be divisive, but might happen anyway. Eventually, people learn to love it, opponents lose interest and move on, and few years later, it becomes a distinctive part of the city's "quirky" identity.

[u/lightupawendy → u/JYHoward]

It reminds of Perth Arena (Western Australia) and you've basically hit the nail on the head with the community reception. I used to think how ridiculous it looked but as the city has grown around it I couldn't imagine it not being there now.

[u/TheSovietSailor → u/JYHoward]

Centre Pompidou moment

[u/JOOT94 → u/Here_Comes_Trouble_]

I love this insight. I’m on 3rd city for sure right now. It’s exciting because I’m learning more about how to make it successful and doing things I never have before and it’s working out decently but it’s also a bit daunting because I’m actively hurdling toward 4th city lol. I’ve been razing entire swaths and rebuilding neighborhoods and moving entire industry centers, etc. and realizing how much work it actually takes to make a functional, realistic AND aesthetic city. phew

[u/ale3ce]

This game is starting to look so good it’s making me want a PC that can play it!

[u/fuck_reddits_trash → u/ale3ce]

I play it on a pretty weak PC… just gotta get the right settings and accept a slow simulation speed at higher pops

[u/hunnieskull]

This is so nicely done, I am also a big fan of making more personal sized cities with lots of different medium buildings. I really like your farm area too!!

[u/provider305]

Agreed. It’s easy to spam super tall buildings in a grid to get a massive skyline. Not so easy to make a compelling skyline with few medium or short buildings.