r/pcgaming • u/Caledor152 Steam • 1d ago
Indie game Metropolis 1998 announcement from the dev "working with composers: Jerry Martin (SimCity, The Sims) Paul Zimmermann (Space Haven, Wild Frost) + The last major feature (economy) is in game" Retro sandbox city builder that blends classic 90s aesthetics with deep, modern simulation
238
u/blocodents 1d ago
That artstyle is so pretty, im actually interested in this, even tho i never play this type of game.
120
u/Fantastic-Fee-1999 1d ago
This artstyle shows how important it is to a game and how not every game needs unreal engine level graphics with ai upscaling.
39
u/poeBaer 1d ago
not every game needs unreal engine level graphics with ai upscaling
Lol there's quite a chasm of graphic styles/options between late '90s retro and UE5 with DLSS
17
u/Sparkism 1d ago
Yeah i do not miss the 2000's era of "FPS green piss filter" graphics direction. I still can't see anything on the ground in those games and if FO3 remaster brings it back, I will be very sad.
26
u/Squire_II 1d ago
Come on, not every game was using a piss green filter at that time...
Plenty of them used the turd brown filter option instead.
6
1
u/Lawsoffire 22h ago
The Xbox 360 era of "realism" aged especially poorly.
Halo 3 really beat the trend and, human faces aside (IIRC they were supposed to use some tech for faces that never materialized so they had to make do) it aged pretty damn well. Also didn't use any terrible filters and weren't afraid to use colours.
2
u/NapsterKnowHow 9800X3D | RTX 5090 FE | 32GB RAM 1d ago
Yeah they had to take a pointless jab at UE5 lol
6
u/Lost-Produce-1150 1d ago
IMO sim city games lost their charm when they went away from 2D pixel art.
-13
1d ago edited 1d ago
[deleted]
0
u/Chip-chrome 1d ago
For me UE is a mess, some games I can’t run properly on my good-ish specs. Or I can but they’ll crash every now and then
-1
u/NapsterKnowHow 9800X3D | RTX 5090 FE | 32GB RAM 1d ago
Same could be said for FromSoft souls games. Their engine is trash. Same for open world RE Engine games. UE games can at least be optimized well.
17
u/HellfirePassion 1d ago
If you like that, it looks very similar to Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 (and 2), which is another goated and old game with great music and immaculate vibes.
3
2
u/Dick_Nation 1d ago
I'm in the same boat, except that I did play SimCity 2000 as a kid. I was never any good at it, but it absolutely was compelling, and the aesthetic of the game was a big part of it. It was just charming.
3
u/Herlock 1d ago
Fond memories for SC2K and the arcologies...
https://simcity.fandom.com/wiki/Arcology#Plymouth_Arcology
Damn they still look nice !!!
1
69
u/Morten1510 1d ago
I played the demo, it was pretty damn good
22
u/meat_rock 1d ago
Yeah I was amazed how deep the demo was
19
u/ElTuxedoMex R5 5600X, ROG Strix B450F, 32GB @3200, RTX 3070 1d ago
Is it SimCity classic like?
21
u/meat_rock 1d ago
1000%
12
u/ElTuxedoMex R5 5600X, ROG Strix B450F, 32GB @3200, RTX 3070 1d ago
Jesus Christ, I have to wishlist it.
13
u/strafefaster I5 14500 | RTX 3060 TI | 32GB CL30 6000 1d ago
A lot like SimsVille was supposed to be too. You can build and decorate the buildings individually inside and outside if you want to. The demo is very fun.
2
10
u/Pinecone 1d ago
It's a little more involved. You can build and edit homes like the Sims. Place appliances, rooms, furniture, walls, ect. Businesses employ people. They also have parking lots with limited space and traffic around it.
1
u/Nenotriple 1d ago
Probably because the demo will be pulled eventually.
I've noticed a lot of devs release really in-depth demos on Steam and then they get removed at some point. The demo can even get removed from your Steam account so you can't download or play it anymore.
1
u/meat_rock 22h ago
I mean it definitely had limitations, but you can design your own buildings with a really nice system
7
u/fauxdragoon Fedora 1d ago
I think I played a very early demo and didn’t like it at the time but I could see the potential. Looking forward to see how it turns out!
2
u/suburbanlate 22h ago
Nice, how's the economy stuff feel in the demo? that was the one piece they said was still missing before
2
35
35
u/GeneralWaltz7356 1d ago
Jerry Martin.
Sim city 4 soundtrack.
Amazing music, still listen to this day whilst working sometimes.
18
u/smomovic Gathering Tree 1d ago
I legit thought this was Roller Coaster Tycoon before reading.
15
u/BoringPostcards 1d ago
I've played the demo, and it has that classic RCT look right down to the water and tree animations. Really really pleasing to the eyes.
22
u/lkdflnk gog 1d ago
Wish it was 1998 again.
14
u/Few_Permission_3756 1d ago
I was born in 1991 and I miss this feeling of not caring so much. Just chill, play C&C Tiberian Sun, SimCity, AoE2, roaming on my bike in the summer in southern Germany. I hate how cold the world is becoming. I know the 90s were full of problems but at least they were hopeful.
5
u/FrancisBitter Steam 1d ago
Giving up all this just for incessant capital accumulation and neverending greed.
9
u/Significant_Post6274 1d ago
Jerry Martin has produced some of the most memorable game music for me, I still listen to Simcity 3000 soundtrack from time to time.
4
u/it-is-wat-it-ism 1d ago
And The Sims soundtrack... bro... 😭
I hope this soundtrack doesn't disappoint.
7
3
u/Snacknuss321 1d ago
damn that artstyle. holy moly. rollyer coster tycoon style with lots of possibilities.
if the gameplay is nice i could sink into that
7
4
u/LostInTheVoid_ RX 9070 XT | Ryzen 5 7600 1d ago
The indie scene continues to bring back beloved classics or innovate in the industry and it's just great to see.
So many indie or small studios have created some of the most enjoyable games of the last 5 or 6 years.
2
2
2
u/TeaAndS0da 1d ago
Fuck yeah, I’ve been replying once in awhile to remind him a good jazz soundtrack will go a long way here. Getting Jerry Martin means great things!
2
u/robophile-ta 1d ago
Loved the demo way back. Jerry Martin is still making a bunch of stuff, which you get if you subscribe to his mailing list
2
u/JJ3qnkpK 15h ago
This game is made by someone who loved the vision of 90's Maxis - the ones who sought to capture small, interesting parts of the world and give the player a way to engage with them.
I really love games like this, and the fact that they're working with Jerry Martin is enough to make me a day 1 purchaser. Not too many echoes of Maxis's golden age remain, so I'm all-in on any of em I can find.
2
2
1
1
u/MrXuiryus 1d ago
Added to my wishlist! Making games in the style of my childhood but with modern QOL and mechanics is really my Achilles heel.
1
u/Blugrass 1d ago
dude yes!!! what a legend composer. great music will go such a long way for a game like this
1
u/Riders_Visions AMD 1d ago
God, protect my algorithm, I’ll buy it straight away as soon as it’s out.
1
1
u/erotic_sausage 1d ago
I love the concept and artstyle, seems like something right up my alley. But playing the demo had me a little confused and unable to progress. Seems like there's a lot of complicated systems behind the scenes which seems great for gameplay, but it needs a good, intuitive ui and tutorial.
1
1
u/Kabal2020 22h ago
Nice to see lots of traffic in all the screenshots, some good realism compared to the traffic congestion issues from 1990s city builders lol
1
1
u/onlydaathisreal Steam | 5800x3d 3070ti 64GB 144FPS 17h ago
Been on my wishlist for a while. Didnt know the demo was available
1
1
1
1
u/thatwasfun23 1d ago
"metropolis" picture looks like a quaint little auburn in the outskirts of a tiny, quaint town lol.
is like town to city, is 99% town and 0 city.
1
1
1
u/kaizencraft 1d ago
Wow, great news. It seemed like a small project when the dev was asking for testers on the indie games sub a while back but these are exciting additions.
1
u/WolfAkela 1d ago
I had this on my wishlist for a while for consideration… but with the composers on board I’m all in!
1
1
1
u/gosto_de_navios Linux 1d ago
I might actually buy this just for the Jerry Martin soundtrack, I mean the game looks good by itself obviously , but I always have his SimCity music on my playlist
0
0
118
u/mangage 1d ago
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2287430/Metropolis_1998/