Even in ancient times, when people first saddled animals, the universal realization that transport was a human future came. Since then, the world has been building roads and constantly needs more and more quick movements. For this purpose, trains, planes, ships, cars are being created today, routes are laid for them and giant companies are flourishing in this field. How they manage to establish effective transport systems, which will not only give people a high speed of movements, but also bring income for further improvement? The game industry tried to answer this question in the distant 1990, when the famous Sid Meyer (Sid Meier) created the economic strategy Railroad Tycoon. She took a place at the source of the genre of all existing transport taicuns who were able to gain considerable popularity. We set out this story in more detail for you here, and now we propose to get acquainted with the review of the latest representative of the genre. Looking ahead, let’s say that this time we were honored to tell about the actual revival of transport strategies. You will learn about how the return of the once popular and now forgotten game from the era of isometric graphics of the beginning of two thousandths in the era of revolutionary technologies Crysis 2 and Battlefield 3. So, gentlemen and ladies, we meet CITIES in Motion -Modern remake of the famous Traffic Giant 2001.
An example to follow
The idea of creating CITIES in Motion originated in the bowels of the Finnish studio Colossal Order a little over a year ago. As we already said in the preview, the last representative of the transport genre of transport was released more than four years ago. Sooner or later, someone would fill the resulting gap, since there is an audience, there are no rivals, like any generally accepted standards, and you can only look back at what has long been forgotten. The idea was not to finance the idea, but a well -known Swedish publisher Paradox Interactive. He, if he misses, only through the quality control department,. However, this time figures from Paradox We went even further than their principles and conducted open beta testing: a month before the exit they gave out the thirsty fans assembly CITIES in Motion with one city and the only regime. Judging forum users actively joined in the study and began to publish their reports, dumps with mistakes with errors and suggestions for improving. It is worth noting that there was not a single negative review among them, despite the availability of the preliminary version of the preliminary version. In addition, the developers joined the discussions of topics on the forum, which is not common today. Questions flowed through the river, but almost everyone found his own official answer. We will recall this at the end of the article.
In the state “on gold” CITIES in Motion Already conquered all kinds of digital distribution services. Among them, Steam was especially stood out, where each pre -order immediately got the opportunity to download the full version and play. However, the incident did not become resonant-the developers assured that only the early builds with errors and sorties that gamers themselves during open beta testing were available in Steam, and assured that after the release the game would automatically be updated. The fact that those who were worried about the purchase in advance, besides themselves, are interesting CITIES in Motion They will also receive additional content in the form of five old vehicles available from the very beginning.
With an eye on the past
CITIES in Motion It is a transport strategy with the best qualities of the old and recognized fans of Traffic Giant from Jowood Entertainment. The player acts as the head of the company, which this time will carry out the construction of a public transport system not independently, but together with the city administration, distributing tasks and establishing priorities of development. In addition to the administration, requests will send you to the table and citizens. How else? After all, this for them we create convenience and comfort of movements. Complaints about high tariffs and breakdowns of rolling stock here is a common thing. Sometimes it reaches exotic: “Bobra’s local family interferes with noisy trams, remove the ways in this area,” the authorized animal protection inspector reports. And here you can’t explain that this is the most profitable line in the history of your company. But there is a choice: you can agree and plan the railway laying again, or refuse and put up with a decrease in the rating. By the way, the overall success of the enterprise depends on it: the higher the rating, the higher the popularity and more passengers, higher income, the city develops better. And vice versa.
IN CITIES in Motion At our disposal, in addition to buses and trams, there are metro, ships and helicopters. In Traffic Giant, we recall that there were no last three types – instead they were offered a suspended monorail, train and high -speed Maglev. The players then criticized this approach due to the perfect uselessness of such a bulky technology in small settlements (up to 20 thousand inhabitants) and the high cost of building (they could be built only in free areas-such is the restriction of the engine). It is much more convenient to lay rails for spacious trams right through the streets. Colossal Order With an eye on this critic, it was exactly what the gamers wanted. Buses and trams, as it was in Traffic Giant, starts according to the usual scheme: we put three types of stops (the Bus Stop sign on the platform, a stop closed from rain and wind, spacious and comfortable for passengers of the station), we lay the rails (only for the railsTramvaev, of course), mark the route, give the name and open the line. Over time, people accumulate at each stopping point and, based on their number, we decide on the launch of a larger or smaller number of machines.
The most interesting begins with acquaintance with a new mode of transport for Taikunov – Metro. It was present only in the famous Chris Sawyer’s Locomotion 2004. There we could let the railway underground, on the ground, take it to the overpass. This was the main advantage among such projects. Developers from Colossal Order created something similar, but with improvements. IN CITIES in Motion We can build a single system of railways at three levels underground, on the ground, on the flyover, above buildings, above the water, and so on. Moreover, each level has its own value. For example, having decided to hold a high -speed metro under the river, you need to understand that this will need a lot of money. It will be cheaper to bring buses or trams to both shores, and carry out the crossing using a ferry and look at the number of passengers. If the combination does not cope with the flow, then in this case you can save again by putting the metromost. In addition to ships and metro, another innovation relative to Traffic Giant appeared – helicopters. Previously, we saw them only in Transport Tycoon and the same locomotion. They are not very spacious, but quickly move important people to the place of work, and tourists from hotels to parks, theaters or museums. Unlike Transport Tycoon, V CITIES in Motion Helicopters do not disappear in 2030.
Thorough approach to details
Colossal Order provided for three main game modes: campaign, scripts and “sandbox”. The campaign is proposed to go from the origins of public transport in Berlin in 1920 to ultramodern and high-speed transportation systems in Amsterdam 2020. In addition to these cities, miniature versions of Helsinki and Vienna are also recreated. They differ not only in architectural features, but also with their problems that pop up in tasks. Each is simply oversaturated with interesting exclusive missions.
In scenarios, we begin the game at a certain historical moment in one of the four cities. As a new leader, you are invited to the company when fuel will rise in price against the background of the economic crisis in the complete absence of electric vehicles, or when almost the entire rolling stock is outdated and forces the company to think about an unprofitable loan. Our task in both cases is to get out of the situation, otherwise only bankruptcy remains in the prospects. “Sandbox” is a free development regime in the selected period of time of the 1920-2020s, but here there is a fuss with requests from citizens.
All four cities are growing and developing: stations, airports, ports are opening (yes, there is an intercity transportation, highway and road interchanges are being built here regardless of the player, new buildings are being built and old ones are being demolished. Each virtual year will have to take into account these changes and adjust its system. This is a difficult task, not everyone is able to solve it. But it is here that the charm lies CITIES in Motion – In freedom of choice. Before laying a new route, you need to understand who and where it will move;Does it make sense to use trams instead of a bus;maybe it is on this site to organize a ring movement? Remember, answer any question in an economic strategy means to count a little. And here it is necessary to count a lot, because the authors have provided numerous factors affecting your wealth in the game: the general condition of the economy, oil prices and electricity, city population, motorization and unemployment. All this together will be reflected in the reputation of the enterprise and its profit. To ensure highly appreciating your company by transport, you will have to build a lot, but to build wisely, otherwise you risk covering overpopulated zones with a small technique and encounter overpassification of passenger traffic on the route. Remember the talls familiar to our eye in buses at rush hour. Critics from the population cannot be avoided, which means not to get from the administration of subsidies and return to the growth of motorization, an increase in traffic jams and a decrease in profit.
Despite the fact that in any economic strategy of graphics and sound, far from the most important places are occupied, Colossal Order I decided to use all the available possibilities of specially created for CITIES in Motion engine. Here, from a bird’s height, we observe a dynamic city where there are animated cars, passers -by, trees, attractions and so on. And every year their appearance is changing. In 1920, these will be old cars and passers-by in hats and cloaks, and in 2020, fashion and design will be transformed beyond recognition. The graphics are really pleasing: narrow alleys are plausiblely shaded, birds throw their silhouettes on the roofs of buildings, barges and boats scurry around the water, dissecting the waves, and in the stadium football players are zealously hit. Even an accident and fires that block the movement were worked out to the details. Sound accompaniment is accompanied. Когда в одном месте много автомобилей — пение птиц и плеск волн заглушаются шумом двигателей, когда много поездов — стук колес доносится отовсюду. The authors assured us that if the game pays off, in future additions they will develop this idea and introduce in CITIES in Motion Parameters such as environmental pollution with exhaust gases and noise.
Nothing is perfect
But whatever the amazing game, it cannot avoid the shortcomings – modern projects are complex software inventions. CITIES in Motion no exception to the rules. High level of quality, study of little things and details, the versatility of gameplay at first glance are almost invisible disadvantages, which eventually arise into serious problems. So, the player is destined to suffer with the placement of vehicles on the route – neither schedules, nor uniform automatic distribution of rolling stock, nor even just the release of the selected machine at the right stop is provided. Imagine: all buses, trams or metro trains are launched from one stop in a blade and crowd in lines when entering the next. At the initial stage, this is not significant, however, having hundreds of cars in the city, constantly engage in their uniform distribution along the route – an extremely unpleasant occupation. In addition, traffic lights were completely forgotten. They are neither on the roads nor on the ways. Trains, of course, do not encounter – stand in anticipation until another composition passes, and cars are taught the same. However, even in old locomotion and Transport Tycoon This moment was worked out with impeccable care. Hence some limitations of the laying of the ways: trams and railways are carried out only by the steam room. And one more significant drawback – you can not upgrade the stops. To change a simple bus sign to a full -fledged covered station, you have to make at least 5 serious actions for each dependent route.
Of course, addressed to Colossal Order Immediately after the launch of open beta testing from the forum users, numerous questions rained down. Well, how did you create such a grandiose project and did not bother to think about such significant trifles? The developers recklessly reply that they wanted to quickly release the game and look at the result of their one -year work. Everyone undertakes to fix in future patches, DLC and addons. They also promised to reflect on the creation of special tools for those who wanted to make their own models, as well as a service where it would be possible to share all this with other people. In addition, in future updates, such an unusual mode of transport as trolleybuses will be presented. This will be possible only after completing the contact network modeling for trams. By the way, for them the tool is promised to create a single track track, as was the case in Traffic Giant. As for the traffic lights on the railway, the developers will only decide on a full -fledged sequel, where, according to rumors, they want to entrust the player as well as long -distance transport – aircraft, trains and ships. But while this is all in the plans, we will enjoy the almost perfect remake of the good old Traffic Giant and wait for the corrections of small problems.
Pros: a worthy return of the genre;thorough study of details and the development of cities;thoughtful and realistic economic system;gameplay fascinating and not boring over time;decent graphics and multi -channel sound;Convenient card editor.
Cons: lack of a schedule system on routes;the surface system of laying railway tracks without traffic lights;It is impossible to combine and improve the stations/stops;too small mini-card with important data;No tools for fashion builders.