The Cities Unlimited Archives: Climate and Weather

Yet another entry from the Cities Unlimited archive! Posted with the permission of their orginal author, tr0ub1e, these are articles archived from the Cities Unlimited website (along with their respective comment threads) before the boards were closed down. A huge thanks to Metropolis member Ephemeron for his foresight in hanging on to these, and his hard work cleaning up the formatting! The usual Drawing Board disclaimer applies. Note: dark red text indicates links to other pages on the boards that are no longer active.

Climate & Weather

a Conceptual article by tr0ub1es0me

#12466 tr0ub1e

(author & contributors: danielches, DHamp, djvandrake, jack11, mad_genius, MrGSCoTTc, simwario, Special Kei, tr0ub1es0me, Usman)

Links to relevant CitiesXL.com discussion threads:

Weather/Seasons

Pure Gameplay vs. Fluff (Disasters & Weather)

Let It Snow!!

It would be nice for aesthetics if we could visually see different weather in the game, and it wouldn’t be that hard for Monte Cristo to implement ? but I would be much more interested in this aspect of the game if it would actually affect our cities in different ways. It should not just be eye candy, it should affect gameplay. This would add more of the realism from the natural world to the game, which is a very real part of city planning. Getting it wrong can be catastrophic - as many towns and cities have witnessed throughout the history of civilisation.

Building a city near an ice-capped mountain range would have increased risks of avalanches. In colder weather we would see snow on the landscape, on roads, vehicles, and buildings. There would be ice on roads and sidewalks resulting in more accidents and congestion, and we would see frozen lakes. In wet and windy weather, there would be increased flood risks, and landslides; land could also get weathered away, in addition to the land erosion and deposition caused by the water in rivers and the sea. Building near coastal cliff-tops too may seem like an idyllic location, but will likely get eroded away over time meaning there could be a massive landslide after a long period of time. You could lose a whole section of the town that you built there, but didn't take proper notice of the warning signs when part of it started sinking!

After periods of long rain, water levels would rise and you could be faced with floods ? building a city on marshland or floodplains can be hazardous if you have not considered the future risks of flooding. Wetter regions with violent weather would mean that you really have to take extra care in where you decide to build your towns and cities, and invest in water defences if necessary to stop the water in rivers or the sea from reclaiming land if you build on low-laying or even depressed terrain close to the natural water level. Altering the terrain dramatically to remove natural rivers could also resort in future flooding. Acid rain in wet weather could also be included as a result of high levels of pollution in your city, with increased building maintenance costs and (in extreme cases of contaminated rainwater) ? plants and trees dying off. The water supplies could become contaminated as well, resulting in lower health of your residents and higher deaths if you do not cut-off and change the supplies, or improve conditions.

It could be implemented so that climate or weather is an option that can be turned on and off. This could be tied to the "Standard" and "Advanced" options - see the Concepts article Difficulty/Complexity Level. Players could turn off if they don't want it and prefer something basic. Enabling the advanced options would mean the weather and climate aspects are included. For those players who want the full works in the gameplay department, but don't have the CPU muscle to move those pixels, I would hope Monte Cristo allows stepped graphical settings for weather. You should be able to select either to see the full blown weather, or simplified - with just the resulting effects on your region.

Along with climate effects, I think it's important that the game pays attention to the flora and fauna that go with certain climate regions. If I'm building a mountainside ski-resort type of city, the last thing I want to see is palm trees in front of city hall! It should be easy enough to exclude certain props if the climate is set to be northern instead of tropical.

Regions of different climates have different frequencies of rain or snow or drought, and this will lead to different subsets of natural disasters (see the Concepts article "Accidents, Crimes & Disasters" for more info). Of course, elevation and proximity to large bodies of water play a part too. For instance, you wouldn't expect a flood in a desert region with high elevation and nowhere near water. Likewise, you'd expect hurricanes more so than tornados on a region of small low-lying tropical islands. Climates would also limit the number of weather conditions that will affect our cities as we play them.

Should the "planet" idea be incorporated into CITIES XL (see the Concepts article Planetary Idea) then it would be easy for the game to determine the local climate. Weather patterns would vary greatly depending on which part of the world your region is located in, and the local terrain. Areas near the poles or in mountain ranges at sky-high altitudes would have cold weather and see snow all year long. Desert regions would have hot weather all year long and experience dust-storms. Equatorial regions would also have hot weather throughout the year. In some vast flat areas, they would face increased threats from tornadoes. High winds would be more likely in canyons; while rain and wind would both be more common in valleys. The game should have a variety of climates from arctic through to tropical, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Hot weather and climates would create problems like drought, increased bush and building fire risks, and lowering water levels in rivers ? meaning ferries may become inoperable too; while extremely hot locations may have arid unfertile land unsuitable for farming or any plant-life, and with no water supply at all ? meaning any resources must be supplied and shipped from another area outside of the region, increasing costs dramatically.

However, resort towns on the coast with hot weather would have extremely high levels of tourism boosting their economy. Mains water supply consumption would increase in hot weather, as would the amount of electricity needed as air-conditioning is being used consistently and region-wide. Cold weather and climates would create problems like frozen water mains pipes, icy roads meaning longer commutes with more accidents and congestion, less tourism, greater city expenses for despatching snowploughs to clear the roads, greater electricity consumption for increased heating usage around the city. Rain, fog, snow and ice would all increase commute times by transport networks by varying amounts due to bad road conditions and more accidents. However, resorts in cold snowy locations would have the chance of achieving an increased tourism level for winter sports and such.

Some of the hardest challenges would be choosing to develop your city in an equatorial desert away from any water or in arctic terrains - featuring some extreme weather and climate features; with little connection to the outside world and as such, many more problems to deal with than in other geographical locations with better access to other parts of the world and more natural resources.

External Sources

Article contains ideas and segments from:
This post by simwario at Simphoni
This post by mad_genius at SimCity Central
This post by DHamp at SimCity Central
This post by Usman at SimCity Central
This post by djvandrake at SimCity Central
This post by danielches at SimCity Central
This post by MrGSCoTTc at SimCity Central
This post by jack11 at SimCity Central
This post by Special Kei at SimCity Central
This postby Special Kei at SimCity Central

Post any other comments, suggestions, additions, or adjustments here too.

#12469 aibo

5 - Very Important. These features are a must-have! (100%)

If the approach is fantastic, I like very expert.

But this development will be possible in the game?, I think it is very complex!.

For example, if there is snow on the roads, there are trucks to remove snow solve the problem?. Also, we can build dams to store water and its subsequent distribution, or purify sea water for consumption?. I think it opens many possibilities that make desarroy game very complex for MC. I think the last word is MC.

#12471 imprezza

2-Not as important as other features

i would like it to be in the game, but if it increaces the cpu usage allot then it shoulden't be in the game.

#12478 Profplum

4. We've never really had weather/seasonal effects in a city simulator and I think it fits perfectly in the "next stage" of gameplay.

we already have done the whole "night/day" cycle, lets go farther with the next step.

Like aibo said, this could allow us different ordinances and controls over things like snow storms. More car accidents happen during bad weather, so better have proper funding to respond. Tornados spawning from really bad storms, less people go out when it rains...etc etc.

I really think it's the next step. You could even decide what seasons you'd have when you are in the planet view for that specific planet. Do something similar to Sims 2: Seasons where they give you 4 seasons slots and you can have them in any order you wish. Create a all-wintery planet, or a desert baron land of dry heat.

If not like that, I wonder how complicated it would be to do an equator effect.

For snow(and other effects), they can do snow build up procedurally like in Sims 2easons(lol sorry for the overuse of Sims 2 comparison) so everything gets covered.

Just want to add a karma to your score...you guys are doing a great job with these articles.

#12924 Bountytaker

As I said in the seasons article:

3- I'm all for improving the realism and the visuals of a citybuilder game. However, as your system shows, it can get very deep and, therefore, very complicated. I could see a system like this taking a year or more to create, and months for a ne player to learn. It definitely has value for me, but only up to a ertain point.

Please note, although no boardcode and smiley buttons are shown, they are still useable

#12929 Pedro Rodrigues

5 - I'm all for it! And I think that people who say that these features shouldn't be included because they will increase the CPU usage, they should pay more attention to the part of "turning On and Off option", because if that option exists, people who want these features will be happy and people whose computers can't, stand with these features would not have any problem turning them off. Just a thought...

#13007 The Yeti

3 - I don't mind either way, would be nice, but not if it came at the expense of more important things like scale, traffic and pathfinding, and other simulated city functions.

#13022 ToeJam

The Yeti wrote:

3 - I don't mind either way, would be nice, but not if it came at the expense of more important things like scale, traffic and pathfinding, and other simulated city functions.

ditto :)

#13025 tykho

The Yeti wrote:
3 - I don't mind either way, would be nice, but not if it came at the expense of more important things like scale, traffic and pathfinding, and other simulated city functions.

same here.

also I'd like to be able to turn it off. I don't want my cities go down the sea.

#13093 jon

Ok, i was really against this at the start, but i've since changed my tune. if it's possible to do CORRECTLY, then i want to see it. Weather can have very real effects as well as some serious aesthetic effects. if there is a mode where i can look at my city at dusk after a snowfall and it looks like the following picture, then count me in:

(Picture taken by Bowest at archboston.org and re-posted by Patriots1228 there)

it's so beautiful and i can just see this type of thing being the icing on the cake after spending hours creating a city you want and then kicking back and looking at this. Count me in.

#13103 Steven Heuer

4- would be a 5, but I worry if too much is put into CU, the game will be tough to run.

#13112 ToeJam

nice example picture Jon. :)

i don't see snow a whole lot these days but having it in the game may be the next best thing. ;)

i just hope it won't be a resource hog though. :(

#13136 yajimari21

2

This = CPU death~ no matter how nice it would be to have it. Monte Cristo should give me some highways, el trains, nice subways, other mass trans, and some compelling gameplay before even thinking about this!

Great idea if they can avoid CPU death though.

#13140 jon

ToeJam wrote:

nice example picture Jon. :)

i don't see snow a whole lot these days but having it in the game may be the next best thing. ;)

i just hope it won't be a resource hog though. :(

I agree i hope it's not a resource hog which is why an on/off option would be a great idea. I'm at college right now, and we just got 8 inches of snow, first big storm of the year, it's beautiful.

#13141 Steven Heuer

If I had to choose one or the other I would choose climate regions over weather.

weathers nice, but yea, resource hog. I think things like well done deserts and rainforests are a real possibility.

And on/off for weather would be excellent. But what would be the point of putting a ton of work into a wonderful feature, if no one can use it?