City building games have a Soul Problem pt.2

Re:City building games have a Soul Problem pt.2 by AnotherGoodName on Saturday October 03, 2026 @12:50PM (#49945828)

AI is going to be big here. You previously had to create a few art assets and reuse them. Cities has to be grids of blocks of buildings. You couldn't have an agent go and design a building that curved to the block perfectly. The slope couldn't have some stairs easily.

The author of this created these images with AI and that's exactly the solution for game makers. There may be base assets but AI is pretty damn good at contextually modifying them.

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Re:City building games have a Soul Problem pt.2 by encom on Saturday October 03, 2026 @01:28PM (#49946103)

I don't want to buy an RTX 6000 just to play Sim City.

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Re:City building games have a Soul Problem pt.2 by swozey on Saturday October 03, 2026 @01:35PM (#49946143)

The next sim city will be some online generation slopfest you pay $10/mo for and you'll love it, you wont own the game or the hardware

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Re:City building games have a Soul Problem pt.2 by yolp5 on Saturday October 03, 2026 @01:50PM (#49946266)

Just adapt to it luddite. Thisbis the future resistance is futile.

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Re:City building games have a Soul Problem pt.2 by thereisno on Saturday October 03, 2026 @01:15PM (#49946023)

I saw a city sandbox (no simulation, just a kind of zen garden) on a voronoi grid but I forgot what it was called. No AI, and you could build in random shapes.

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Re:City building games have a Soul Problem pt.2 by drewmate on Saturday October 03, 2026 @01:24PM (#49946083)

I think that’s Townscaper. A very relaxing “cozy” city builder with no real goals or challenges. It’s just a fun sandbox that algorithmically generates the city based on your clicks on a voronoi grid.

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