City Skylines, Building London - Part 3

West London - Westminster, Hyde Park and fancy buildings

Part 1, Part 2

With the last couple of days playing Cities I have been tackling some of the more famous parts of London. The risk of accidentally building on Hyde Park ground meant I had to bite the bullet and build it. Naturally it was a massively enjoyable time sink. The Serpentine was dutifully bridged although it doesn't look particularly majestic... perhaps something to fix later. Laying out the paths and adding other little details was really fun. Seeing the little smiley faces appear after dropping in toilets and cafes was pretty addictive. When people like what you're doing green smiley faces appear above their houses, this subsequently creates a tiny dopamine rush... 

The thing that makes my citizens most happy is when London FC win a game of Football. London FC plays at Stamford Bridge but sadly I can't find a way to name them Chelsea. Stamford Bridge being the major stadium I've built leads me to the awkward and unplanned circumstance of Chelsea FC (London FC) being my Cities preferred team, something to tweak later perhaps if possible... or maybe first come first served? 

I found someone had made a model of the Albert Hall so I put that down and before I knew it I was marking out Green Park and St James's Park... oh the hell with it, in went Buckingham Palace and Westminster too! I chose to leave most of central London for now, but it throws up the most central question I was wrestling with; how to make the buildings look more... Londony? 

Hyde Park and the Albert Hall, in the distance Westminster with Oxford Street slowly growing up behind Marble Arch

I didn't mind Shepherd's Bush and Chiswick looking quite American but could I really build up historic areas like Chelsea, Kensington and Westminster to look like modern American suburbia? Once again the Steam Workshop provided the answers, the modders for Cities make this game! It took a bit of fiddling but before long I had Victorian Housing popping up all over. 

Victorian Houses looking suitably Londony 

With Chelsea, Fulham and Kensington growing nicely I decided to turn my attention, properly for the first time, to the south side of the river. Learning from Hyde Park I built up the London Wetland Centre first. It was one of the places I really wanted to visit when I lived in London but never did. The Nature Reserve option from the Parks DLC made it look really good, I mixed in some zoo and park buildings giving it that Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust feel. 

The Reservoir Lagoon in the London Wetland Centre, some Barnes houses in the distance with Hammersmith Bridge

West London is really starting to take shape now, but with increasing population comes new problems, one that is all too familiar to real-life Londoners: traffic jams! I've heard traffic management is one of the biggest challenges of this game and by the looks of Chiswick roundabout, it's one I'm going to have to wrestle with next time...

Chiswick Roundabout jammed up...