Why I like this game over Cities: Skylines
Posted: 04 Jun 2024, 02:03
I'm probably going to make some enemies here, but I'm just going to come out and say it: In the race between TheoTown and Cities: Skylines for my favorite NON-SimCity city simulation game, this game's got the top spot, without question. And there's a lot of reasons for that.
1. It's lightweight on whatever device I play it on, PC or mobile, and can usually maintain a consistent 60 FPS, Unlike CS which struggles to maintain a decent framerate even on current gen technology, especially when your city begins to creep towards Megalopolis status.
2. I grew up with SimCity 2000 on the PlayStation 1 and PC, and seeing as this game uses the same camera angle and graphical style as 2000, I naturally fell in love with it immediately. Heck, I've taken to coining the nickname "SimCity 2000 V2.0" for TheoTown, and it works pretty well, because at it's core, this game feels like an upgraded version of SimCity 2000. I even slapped that game's soundtrack into this game to really drive home the fact I'm playing the classic game that defined my childhood and got me hooked into this genre (Along with SimCity Classic on Super Nintendo, the soundtrack for which I ALSO put in this game).
3. While I have played SimCity 4 and have modded that game to death the last time I played it, I still feel like I have more creative freedom in this game than I did in any of the SimCity titles. Yes, the lack of "God Mode" to customize the map before establishing the city can be a huge headache, especially in Online Regions, but aside from that, I feel like I have much more control over what happens in the city in this game than I did in any other city sim I've played.
4. The fully 3D city sim games I've played never sat well with me. SimCity 2013 was a chore to play and ultimately ended up being the death of the SimCity series, as well as Maxis in general, and while Cities: Skylines DID have it's strong points, it still felt like the negatives outweighed the positives.
5. Even though it's only run by one developer, from what I've seen, TheoTown has a much, much, MUCH better track record than Cities: Skylines as far as expansions goes. I mean, my goodness, did you guys see how badly that recent DLC for Cities: Skylines 2 crashed and burned!? There's killing your series after 24 years of on-and-off success, like SimCity, and then there's shooting it in the foot after just ONE release, and then proceeding to bury it after just TWO RELEASES!! That's got to be a record or something. Someone get Cities: Skylines a trophy for killing their series faster than any other city sim series in recorded history! So Lobby, give yourself a pat on the back for that. You, a lone wolf, managed to avoid releasing an expansion or update that killed your game as a whole, while a game with tons of people behind it probably just dug it's own grave, and the grave of it's entire series. How does that even happen!?
I know I've spent a good amount of this post spitting hate at Cities: Skylines, and frankly, that's because I kind of... am. As far as spiritual successors to the late SimCity series goes, Cities: Skylines has turned into a disaster area, like a nuclear power plant just went critical right in the heart of it's operation. Meanwhile, an indie game run by one person has managed to maintain a consistent string of success without gutting itself with future updates. I don't know what to call that, but at this point in time, it's not even a race anymore. TheoTown beats Cities: Skylines as the superior spiritual successor to SimCity, plain and simple. And that's why I can say with absolute confidence that I will never play that series again. And whenever possible, I will try to point other likeminded players of city sim games like myself towards this one, since it's just that much better in every way.
But that's just my take. What about you guys? Why do you love TheoTown so much? Is it because you see it as the superior spiritual successor to SimCity, or is it because another city sim game like Cities: Skylines didn't quite do the trick for you? Is it because you prefer the SimCity 2000 approach to these games that TheoTown is absolutely OVERFLOWING with? And did you even play SimCity at all before jumping into this game? I'd love to hear your feedback!
1. It's lightweight on whatever device I play it on, PC or mobile, and can usually maintain a consistent 60 FPS, Unlike CS which struggles to maintain a decent framerate even on current gen technology, especially when your city begins to creep towards Megalopolis status.
2. I grew up with SimCity 2000 on the PlayStation 1 and PC, and seeing as this game uses the same camera angle and graphical style as 2000, I naturally fell in love with it immediately. Heck, I've taken to coining the nickname "SimCity 2000 V2.0" for TheoTown, and it works pretty well, because at it's core, this game feels like an upgraded version of SimCity 2000. I even slapped that game's soundtrack into this game to really drive home the fact I'm playing the classic game that defined my childhood and got me hooked into this genre (Along with SimCity Classic on Super Nintendo, the soundtrack for which I ALSO put in this game).
3. While I have played SimCity 4 and have modded that game to death the last time I played it, I still feel like I have more creative freedom in this game than I did in any of the SimCity titles. Yes, the lack of "God Mode" to customize the map before establishing the city can be a huge headache, especially in Online Regions, but aside from that, I feel like I have much more control over what happens in the city in this game than I did in any other city sim I've played.
4. The fully 3D city sim games I've played never sat well with me. SimCity 2013 was a chore to play and ultimately ended up being the death of the SimCity series, as well as Maxis in general, and while Cities: Skylines DID have it's strong points, it still felt like the negatives outweighed the positives.
5. Even though it's only run by one developer, from what I've seen, TheoTown has a much, much, MUCH better track record than Cities: Skylines as far as expansions goes. I mean, my goodness, did you guys see how badly that recent DLC for Cities: Skylines 2 crashed and burned!? There's killing your series after 24 years of on-and-off success, like SimCity, and then there's shooting it in the foot after just ONE release, and then proceeding to bury it after just TWO RELEASES!! That's got to be a record or something. Someone get Cities: Skylines a trophy for killing their series faster than any other city sim series in recorded history! So Lobby, give yourself a pat on the back for that. You, a lone wolf, managed to avoid releasing an expansion or update that killed your game as a whole, while a game with tons of people behind it probably just dug it's own grave, and the grave of it's entire series. How does that even happen!?
I know I've spent a good amount of this post spitting hate at Cities: Skylines, and frankly, that's because I kind of... am. As far as spiritual successors to the late SimCity series goes, Cities: Skylines has turned into a disaster area, like a nuclear power plant just went critical right in the heart of it's operation. Meanwhile, an indie game run by one person has managed to maintain a consistent string of success without gutting itself with future updates. I don't know what to call that, but at this point in time, it's not even a race anymore. TheoTown beats Cities: Skylines as the superior spiritual successor to SimCity, plain and simple. And that's why I can say with absolute confidence that I will never play that series again. And whenever possible, I will try to point other likeminded players of city sim games like myself towards this one, since it's just that much better in every way.
But that's just my take. What about you guys? Why do you love TheoTown so much? Is it because you see it as the superior spiritual successor to SimCity, or is it because another city sim game like Cities: Skylines didn't quite do the trick for you? Is it because you prefer the SimCity 2000 approach to these games that TheoTown is absolutely OVERFLOWING with? And did you even play SimCity at all before jumping into this game? I'd love to hear your feedback!
