SwampYankee

cat.png with transparency & hands edited out for maximum memeability

Cities Skylines 2 - Again, you can’t do everything you already can in CS1. Plus, the first game is supported by a huge number of mods. There’s really no reason to play the new title. Again, it does not perform any better.

CS2 looks and performs better than the original now that a lot of the bugs have been squashed and optimizations are in place (in my experience, anyway). Its memory management in particular is way better than CS1. I don't get the simulation slow down to the same extent that I did in CS1 as the population increases.

The new road tools alone are reason enough for me to never go back to CS1. The service building upgrades are an added feature that's a big plus as well. I also find that the economy is a little more functional and transparent than in CS1 (again, after multiple patches).

I don't find the lack of bike lanes, quays, or modular industry to be so important as to ruin my enjoyment of what is otherwise a state of the art city building game.

As an art appreciator, and someone whose professional duties include project management, I love this comment, especially "[project management] can help you make something, but it won't be art."

KSP2 is a unique situation, there are no improvements coming because the studio was shut down. I'm not sure the others belong alongside it. I have the most experience with CS2 and I can say confidently, even at launch, it was better than the original in a lot of ways. It was buggy and unoptimized, and lacked content, and it deserved the criticism it got for those reasons. Since then, most of the bugs have been ironed out, performance is way better, and they've released a bunch of content packs, several of the most substantial ones for free. Even at launch, I never wanted to go back to CS1 just because of how much better the road tools are. Now? No contest. CS2 is a great city builder.

On the one hand, I'm glad for the pressure that people with less patience than I have are applying to these companies to release their games in a better state. On the other, I think there's a lot of unwarranted criticism and vitriol that goes along with it that's disappointing to see.

Keep that spirit of rebellion alive, my tufted compatriot.

Just riffing on a popular concept. I totally agree.

How paradoxical.

Fire up the mixer, because we've got work to do.

So I read ~~your~~ the other guy's edit on the original post, too, and I agree. HOWEVER, now is a time for us to stand up for principles and speak clearly about what we believe. Playing the devil's advocate is fun, but counterproductive in a world with so many devils willing to advocate for themselves.

Since I just realized you're not the guy I originally responded too, I guess it all comes down to this:

(And I won’t give you my opinion on it.)

I'm sharing my opinion. If your opinion is the same as mine, then let's join our voices instead of engaging in relativist masturbation. If your opinion is different, then you're wrong and we can talk about why if you'd like.

And to be clear, I'm a relativist, to an extent anyway.

Sure, but freedom of speech should be protected from government prosecution or suppression to the extent possible - a simple concept that seems to be fading from our collective memory more and more with each passing year.

The best you can hope for is that your daughter & her friends don't get killed by ten million pounds of sludge from New York and New Jersey.