Comment by yreg
2 years ago
I really miss these building games that used an isometric grid. RC Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, Sim City, TTD, …
Yes, it's less realistic, but it is so pleasant to work with. Everything you build aligns perfectly and if you want, you can neatly fill the entire map.
In comparison, (even with many mods) my Cities Skylines or Planet Coaster creations never look quite right. Building the roads and paths is always awkward and frustrating.
I've seen a lot of fancy full realistic 3d simulation games this past decade, but they can't hold a candle to a well thought out 2d simulation with solid controls.
Take a look Parkitect. It's very much a modern RCT, complete with grid layout. As a fan of RCT1/2, I found it very enjoyable.
I have mixed feelings about that one. The building is much better than RCT (1-3, the ones that I've played) both coasters and buildings, however I don't like the art style at all and the terrain is mostly flat and much less interesting. Also the additional goods movement and service building hiding aspects that they added somewhat detract from the fun in my opinion. In the first RCT only the entrance (and possibly exit, I don't remember) had to be above ground, so with a bit of coaxing you could build rides that are underground except for a hole above the entrance, which was neat. Also, unlike RCT3, Parkitect doesn't let you move the camera to a path view (grid layout and isometric view are not really related), which is something I like to do.
One thing RCT does better than other sim games I've played is having a ton of customization options (Parkitect does this too). I like Timberborn also and wish it would have more customization possibilities like the RCT games. There are some limitations in the RCT games, like setting up a free monorail system doesn't cause anyone to use it to get to the next ride they are heading to, but in terms of decorations there is quite a bit you can do with it.
I don’t think the original RCT would let you build underground at all? Seem to recall that starting (or becoming practical?) from RCT2 onwards.
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Nice, this seems very much like what I was talking about. I will keep an eye on it, thanks.
Check out 'Against the Storm' my friend!
I played about 80h of that game and you bringing it up in this context is quiet strange. I mean is not even a city builder...? The whole stick is that it's rogue-like and each game lasts at most 30-40 minutes, which is antithetical to the game loop of building a city
Sorry I should have elaborated, but I was on my phone and I wanted to make sure parent poster didn't miss out since I like that game that much.
He likes building games that use an isometric view and simple grid so I figured Against the Storm is a nice modern option although I can see why one would dislike it because of the roguelike elements.
> I mean is not even a city builder...?
What defines a city builder? Steam describes it as one. Game description: A dark fantasy city builder where you must rebuild civilization in the face of apocalyptic rains...
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It’s one of the big reasons why Satisfactory was never quite as, well…satisfying as Factorio for me.
You can hold down a key (Ctrl I think) to force snapping to the "world grid" now. That makes everything you place line up even halfway across the map.
Or just place foundations and build on top of that
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The later games that were 3D were dreadful in comparison. I don't know why, some people really enjoy them but if you've played these old classics you can never really understand how they made 3D so bad.