![My Cities XL Region - 1 city with 75 thousand residents](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00001-480x300.jpg)
I first played Cities XL in May of 2011. I last played a year ago in April 2012. At the time I said I couldn’t wait until Sim City came out. However, we know what a fiasco that has become. So, discouraged about playing Sim City I decided to load up Cities XL. This is the first one – not 2011, 2012, or Deluxe. The graphics are pretty amazing and rival anything in the current Sim City.
![Cities XL - maximum zoom](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00004-480x300.jpg)
I don’t know how I never zoomed in this far before, but it’s pretty great. I really have the feeling of having built a real city in a way that I never have before. It’s so fun to zoom in all the way and then move around the city. Check out how neat it looks at night.
![Cities XL - max zoom at night](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00008-480x300.jpg)
Oh, and not to be a jerk, but it can actually be a big city:
![Cities XL - PLENTY of room to build](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00006-480x300.jpg)
Yeah, I think it’s going to be pretty hard to convince me to spend $60 on a broken Sim City with this great game when the latest version is about $30. Perhaps part of the reason is that they have in-game ads. But at least the ads look realistic.
![Cities XL - ads](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00007-480x300.jpg)
It was hard to get back into after a year – with all the mechanics involved so I started a new city.
![Cities XL - my second city in the volcano map](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00012-480x300.jpg)
The volcano map:
![Cities XL - Deux - volcano map](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00013-480x300.jpg)
After a while a restaurant opens up in my city:
![Cities XL - a restaurant in my city](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00020-480x300.jpg)
Later, around 10,000 citizens, I think, I gain medium density skilled worker plots:
![Cities XL - medium density skilled worker housing](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00027-480x300.jpg)
It’s neat that you can see road usage end while zoomed all the way in.
![Cities XL - zoomed in, but still seeing road usage](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00029-480x300.jpg)
The moon was a nice touch:
![Cities XL - the moon! 2013-04-06_00032](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00032-480x300.jpg)
This is an executive level low density house:
![Cities XL - executive house 2013-04-06_00034](http://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-06_00034-480x300.jpg)
And a bridge I constructed:
Anyway, the point of this post isn’t really to poop on Sim City. It’s more to point out that there’s a great alternative out there that doesn’t force you to play with others and I’m actually having a blast playing it. And, unlike with Sim City – Sim City 4, I actually am doing really well and making money without having to play the game at a really slow pace.
2 responses to “In the Wake of SimCity Fiasco Another Look at CitiesXL”
SimCity’s not that bad.
I have another huge post I’ve been planning for a bit – just been a bit busy. I’ll go into more there rather than commenting here.