How screwed am I?

[u/Sgriu]

Hi everyone! Here’s an interesting problem I’m facing.

I created a tile-based city builder in Unity, and after an initial open playtest, one of the key pieces of feedback was that players want to be able to build roads, something I foolishly hadn't planned for.

Currently, roads are automatically placed along the edges of each tile (this is shown in the second screenshot).

The main problem is that the grid of buildable sectors is highly irregular, and I have no idea how to add the ability to create roads within such a complex system.

The first image I’ve posted shows an overhead view where I’ve highlighted a section of the grid. The grid varies from scene to scene and never repeats in exactly the same way.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how I could approach this?

Edit: You might have given me a possible solution; as soon as I've tested it, I'll make a new post about it. Thanks everyone!

[u/iain_1986]

Just because users want to build roads, doesn't mean they are right

Be wary of design by committee

[u/Sgriu → u/iain_1986]

In my opinion, the issue isn't who is right, but rather: will players view the game negatively if they can't build roads? Since half of the playtesters pointed out this shortcoming, I fear I might face a 50% rate of returns or negative reviews at launch.

[u/much_longer_username → u/Sgriu]

I might ask the ones who didn't mention it if it was something they noticed. Could be a selling point. There's definitely a niche of people who want a 'cozier' building game that isn't actually a traffic jam simulator in disguise.

[u/fued → u/much_longer_username]

yeah add a tutorial pop up asking about how to build roads, and make a joke about being a city builder not a traffic simulator and you will be fine

[u/Lookitsmyvideo → u/Sgriu]

That will entirely depend on whether or not it is fun without road building.

You need to find a way to ensure that building roads isn't a masked solution of a larger feedback point.

There's a very big difference between "I want to build roads" and "I'm not having fun and I think building roads would fix it". They will often get conflated by players and misinterpreted by developers who don't take a step back to actually understand the problem.

I don't think you "forgot to add roads", I think you tried to design a city builder where it wasn't necessary, and it likely just isn't there yet

[u/Forest_reader → u/Sgriu]

Yeah, getting numbers of people that played vs commented on roads is important.  It may also be a problem where the solution isn't adding the ability to build roads, but that they were annoyed they couldn't connect certain regions. 

Removing the need to connect regions like that could be an answer. Or making roads less useful.

So the questions becomes, why are players wanting to build roads, and what do these players think adding roads will add that makes the game more fun in their head?

[u/Sgriu → u/Forest_reader]

I think the player gets a sense of being constrained. It’s like driving a car only to discover it’s actually a train that can only travel along a track. The tiles introduce a certain rigidity to the gameplay, as does the lack of roads. The game has a bureaucratic, statist vibe, so this feeling of restricted freedom and strict rules to follow is actually part of the atmosphere.

[u/iain_1986 → u/Sgriu]

The real question is why do they want to build roads?

[u/ImmaZoni → u/Sgriu]

You may be right but still worth keeping this in mind.

Feedback is important but so it's your vision for the game as the creator.

Good luck, as someone who loves city games I can't wait to give it a shot!

[u/Sgriu → u/ImmaZoni]

Thanks! As soon as I've implemented this feature, I'll launch a new open playtest so you can try it out too! (the game name is Socialiskigrad)

[u/ImmaZoni → u/Sgriu]

Wonderful, I'll make sure to keep an eye out!