There’s nothing higher than a studio product of trade veterans, and Magic Gasoline Video games proves that. The corporate is at present celebrating the discharge of Cityscapes: Sim Builder on Apple Arcade, a brand new city-building title with all of our favourite options. I jumped on the alternative to talk to Kip Katsarelis, chief product officer and founding father of Magic Gasoline Video games. He’s been within the trade for some time, working at Maxis – creators of SimCity, Spore, and The Sims – whereas studying the ropes from one of the best and growing his personal ability set and aptitude.
Cityscapes: Sim Builder is paying homage to The Sim’s 2’s customizable neighborhoods in my eyes, permitting us to create a sandbox metropolis of our goals full of skyscrapers, housing, and sightseeing locations. For now, it’s an Apple Arcade Unique, and can probably keep as such. I requested about the opportunity of it coming to different platforms, however as a result of success of Arcade, that isn’t a probable situation.
As a long-time Sims fan and a participant of many builder video games, I’m intrigued to know extra about Cityscapes. So I inquired how Magic Gasoline Video games made positive that Cityscapes can be completely different from different video games in the identical style – comparable to EA’s SimCity Construct It – and what units it aside.
Kip tells me that there are some nice metropolis builders on cellular like SimCity Construct It, however what units them aside is that Cityscapes isn’t a free-to-play recreation like its rivals. Which means anybody with an Apple Arcade subscription can leap into metropolis planning proper now. There aren’t any restrictions on how lengthy you may play at a time right here, as sources don’t run out and there aren’t any gimmicks that make you go away for a few hours and are available again – you may veg out and play for so long as you want. I like this strategy and want extra cellular video games would enable longer playtimes.
Eager to dig deeper, I requested what Kip thinks is one of the best factor about Cityscapes or his personal favourite options within the recreation. “There’s a lot to love on this recreation, so that is powerful”, he says. All of the random occasions that seem within the metropolis are his favorites, particularly issues like “alien craft, turtle sanctuaries, meals truck pop-ups, and even a tree planting ceremony”. Why don’t extra video games have turtle sanctuaries? They sound pleasant. To discover every of those specific situations, gamers want to achieve particular circumstances to be able to set off them. They’re nearly secret, I’m advised, as they’re not documented. Think about the problem accepted.
Sustainability can also be an enormous a part of Cityscapes – the Magic Gasoline Video games workforce wished to convey fashionable sensibilities into the sport, says Kip. It’s a key pillar of the sport and each choice we as metropolis planners make impacts the well being and happiness of residents. “You may make choices on clear or soiled energy choices, enhance walkability in your metropolis, and determine to protect forest and wildlife”. Which means gamers can create dense metropolises dotted with inexperienced areas for metropolis dwellers to get pleasure from. There’s a sustainability rating that builders should take note of, so don’t overlook to get these inexperienced thumbs out.
We’ve all been sufferer to disasters in varied builder video games – the Gathering Storm enlargement for Civilisation 6 involves thoughts right here, as do the freak and frequent fires in any Sims recreation. This spurred me to ask if it is a characteristic we are able to stay up for managing in Cityscapes. Spoiler alert from Kip right here – “the sport begins off within the aftermath of a Hurricane. Nonetheless, that’s in regards to the closest we get to disasters within the present recreation. It’s one thing the workforce experimented with in pre-production with a meteor strike, however didn’t make it into the ultimate launch”.
This results in asking about the way forward for Cityscapes. Are there any expansions or large content material updates deliberate for the long run? The reply is sure. The sport is nearly a live-service app, so nearly something is feasible in a future replace. “We do have extra content material coming within the type of our Metropolis Cross characteristic, which incorporates Tulips of Amsterdam, and in June there shall be a Seaside Day set”.
As a model new title, I puzzled whether or not the creation of Cityscapes differed from earlier tasks the workforce had labored on and whether or not manufacturing went easily. “Each challenge I’ve labored on has its challenges, its ups and downs throughout growth”, Kip says. Fortunately, the Magic Gasoline workforce is product of city-builder veterans that rose to the problem of a brand new IP. Cityscapes differs from a variety of their latest video games, however being a metropolis builder, it had a variety of familiarities for the workforce to get pleasure from and get into.
“We knew the complexity of all these video games and tackled the powerful stuff early, like diagonal roads and the varied simulation methods. The largest problem we confronted was determining methods to make all of it work on a cellular gadget”. The workforce, he tells me, wished a recreation that had all of the options of a PC or console recreation, however was additionally accessible to cellular gamers at any time. “This meant numerous iteration on the UX and surfacing the simulation in a means that anybody may decide up and play. I feel the workforce did an amazing job”. I agree, Cityscapes seems great.
Talking of accessibility, I requested how Magic Gasoline approaches accessibility in a metropolis builder recreation, and whether or not there are any modifications or exceptions made for Cityscapes. Kip compliments this as an amazing query, and feedback that it’s an enormous problem on any platform, however particularly on cellular gadgets.“The toughest half is surfacing what’s occurring within the simulation, giving gamers sufficient info to troubleshoot an issue and perceive methods to repair it with out overwhelming them”.
A means that the sport tackles that is by means of the usage of speech bubbles from residents. Solely a certain quantity seem at anybody time in order that gamers can sort out issues separately. One other ease-of-use characteristic is the highway creation instrument – it’s a easy tap-and-draw state of affairs that Kip says even his younger child can use. I recognize issues like this, particularly in cellular video games, as fiddly controls should not what you want on a small display screen.
I requested Kip how he feels town builder style has modified from the early PC exclusivity days, particularly to suit cellular {hardware}. “It’s superb how visually gorgeous metropolis builders look immediately and the extent of element”, he says. “We felt delivering on giant, stunning cities was going to be a important side for Cityscapes on cellular. We wished to seize day/night time cycles, fascinating site visitors flows, terrain of varied heights, and even climate to provide gamers a AAA expertise. Making that every one work on cellular gadgets takes an skilled workforce, who’re devoted to craft”. Judging by their roster of workers from studios like Maxis, it feels like Magic Gasoline has the dream workforce.
Being a member of Maxis’ workforce within the days of Sims and SimCity should depart an impression on somebody, so I requested if any of SimCity’s components went into Cityscapes. The brief reply isn’t any – however engaged on such a pinnacle recreation clearly teaches its creators issues.
I additionally puzzled if there have been any essential classes that Kip realized whereas engaged on the classics. He tells me that making metropolis builders is difficult – which I can solely think about may be very true, having not made any video games myself. “One among my go-to learnings is that in relation to life sims or metropolis builders, everybody has the rulebook of their head. It’s our job as builders to ship on these expectations in software program”. Which means builders in Kip’s workforce keep on with what’s anticipated to be able to hold expectations fulfilled. He provides some recommendation right here, too: “Do your analysis, discuss to your gamers, and deal with what you already know. When your recreation is lastly out, gamers will at all times attempt to push the boundaries of the simulation and if the sport delivers when pushing these corners, you’ll have a success”. I’ll bear that in thoughts for if I ever make a recreation, and recommend you do too, expensive reader.
To complete off, I needed to ask about Sims. I couldn’t resist. So I requested what Kip’s favourite recreation or enlargement pack is – both that he labored on, or to play. Mine’s Makin’ Magic for The Sims as a result of you may’t beat that yard curler coaster merchandise. It seems that the music from The Sims Urbz is on a everlasting loop in Kip’s head – and you already know what, I totally see why. That recreation had the Black Eyed Peas in it, who recorded variations of their songs in Simlish for the sport. “They even carried out for us on the EA campus, which was cool”. That’s, certainly, extremely cool, and I’m jealous, even when it was years in the past.
I and the Pocket Ways workforce thank Kip very a lot for taking the time to talk to us, and indulging my Sims-fanatic aspect, in addition to giving us a superb have a look at Cityscapes: Sim Builder and the influences that went into it.
What are you ready for? Go and seize Cityscapes: Sim Builder on the App Retailer proper now and construct your dream metropolis. Or for one thing rather less mayoral, attempt these hidden object video games, wildlife video games, Lego video games, or greatest video games like Minecraft for some sporty goodness.