Grids vs. Curves in City-Builders

I am always amazed when I look at the layout of US American cities – especially New York City. The streets are straight lines, like somebody drew them with a ruler and a triangle! German cities, due to the age of most towns, look completely different.

So, when I am playing city-builder games and placing streets, the first thing I always do is change the layout tool from straight lines to curved ones. Whenever I do try to place straight roads – usually because it is more efficient to do so – it just looks weird to me. To my eyes, it does not look like a real town. We have straight roads in Germany as well, of course. But a lot of them are straight-ish with curvy roads in between. In very old places, you get tiny streets where only one car can fit, and you have to steer your car in between the parked ones on the side if another vehicle comes from the opposite direction. Throw in some cobbledstones for some additional fun!

When playing games like Cities Skylines (I or II), I do not want to achieve the best or most efficient town, though. I just like growing them organically without planning a lot. I think this is also why I like City Tales – Medieval Era so much. The way you place districts automatically leads to such organic growth with curvy roads.

(Blaugust Post No. 8)