Welcome to the first development diary for Metropolisim. I am so excited to be writing this and officially kicking off the first round of information being released to the community of potential fans and players. I look forward to getting to know you as we take this journey together. Mostly I want to say thank you for being here and being eager to learn more about the game.
This first entry in the Development Diary is going to focus on the housekeeping items. Making sure we set a baseline of who I am, what Metropolisim is, and what you can expect over the next months as the games development continues and we work towards our release date.
First things first. What is Metropolisim? The tagline describes the game as a deeply complex city building and management game and while this succinctly gives an overview of the game, I would like to take an opportunity to describe in more detail exactly what the game is. To do that, I need to give some context.
I am a fan of deep and challenging simulation games that aim to replicate the realism, as much as possible, of whatever they are simulating. Sure, casual games with what I call surface level simulation are fun, but the fun doesn’t last, and the enjoyment players get from those games quickly wanes. My true passion is for games you can get lost in. In order to do that, the player needs to be given incredible amount of control over the world. For a city builder this means letting them take on all aspects of building and managing a major city.
There have been several great city building games over the past 25+ years, and I greatly respect and want to honor that history and lineage because it has allowed me to reach this point. But if I’m being honest there has not been a definitive city building experience to-date. To me each prior title has stopped short of going deep enough with the control they give to players. They let players zone some areas, plop down a few buildings, and then watch the city come to life. Maybe the player can adjust some artificial tax rates up and down, set a city ordinance or two, and but that is usually where it ends. And the impact of those things is generally very low. That isnt enough for me. I believe in order to make a good game you have to make a game you want to play. So thats what I am doing.
With Metropolisim I am delving deeper into city simulation than any game ever has. I want you to lose track of time managing your city. I want you to get that just five more minutes feeling every time you play. So how am I going to do that? You are going to have unpreceded control over your city. Sure, youll be able to place buildings, build roads, zone areas for residential and commercial growth, and all the other baseline expectations you have for a city builder. Those are all a given. But where Metropolisim really shines is what happens next.
In Metropolisim every inhabitant of your city is a fully simulated individual with their own needs. They will go to school, go to work, partake in leisure activities, and get stuck in traffic. Everything they do will modify their happiness which will dictate how effective they are and ultimately how much tax revenue you generate from them. Long story short, youll want to keep them happy. But thats easier said than done.
In order to ensure your city keeps running youll need to manage a lot more than citizen happiness. Here is just a small taste of some of the things youll be responsible for, Mr. Mayor. Setting tax rates. Maintaining essential services like water, power, and internet. Hiring and firing individual city maintenance workers who are required to keep the city clean and repair infrastructure as it breaks down. Intelligently setting city policies and ordinances to promote growth. Deciding how much to spend on education on a school-by-school basis which will change the education and happiness level of citizens in different neighborhoods. Hiring police officers, assigning them to stations, and setting their patrol routes. Deciding which fire stations respond to fires and how much to fund them. Determining where to build hospitals and other healthcare facilities and how many doctors to staff them with. Balancing investment in bringing in new businesses and jobs to your city vs. other city expenditures. Designing an adequate traffic network to keep commerce flowing and allowing inhabitants to reach their destination timely. And much more. I will have a lot more to share in the coming weeks and months.
Please believe me when I say these items are truly just a small percentage of some of what I consider the deep simulation elements of Metropolisim. As your city grows in size youll be met with rewards, decisions, and opportunities to keep the game challenging, but still fun.
Thanks so much for taking the time to learn more about Metropolisim. I can’t wait to share more about the game with you over the course of the next year. I have posted answers to some frequently asked questions below, as well as my contact information. I’d love to chat with anyone who is interested. So don’t hesitate to drop me a line. Now it’s time to get back to work.
Thank you,
-Roy
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Metropolisim coming out?
Right now the game is slated for a 2020 release date in Early Access.
What platforms will it be available on?
Metropolisim is and will forever be exclusive to PC (Windows/Linux/Mac builds will be available)
How large is the development team?
1.
How long have you been working on the game?
Development started in June, 2018.
When will I be able to see screenshots?
SoonTM. But I promise it will be worth the wait.
How can I support the game?
Follow me on social media. I am active on Reddit and Twitter. Links are at the bottom of the page. You can also get in touch with me via e-mail at metropolisimgame@gmail.com.
What does the post-release life-cycle of Metropolisim look like?
This game is a passion project of mine as a die-hard city builder and sim game fan. I plan to support the game indefinitely with as little DLC as possible. That’s not to say there will not be DLC for major enhancements and new features, but major features will also be added for free indefinitely.