It can’t be a coincidence thatCities: Skylines 2andLife By Youwere announced simultaneously. While Paradox has yet to announce any compatibility between the two, there’s plenty of room and opportunity forLife By YouandCities: Skylines 2to work together in some way. The developers would miss out on an enormous opportunity if there weren’t already plans – just think back toSimCity 4, which was compatible with bothThe SimsandThe Sims 2. This gave players so much creative room to build intricate worlds of cities and suburban neighborhoods that they could use differently withinThe Simsfranchise.
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Paradox could undoubtedly take notes from this compatibility, and there are plenty of ways thatCities: Skylines 2andLife By Youcould work together to becomeeven more of a competitor withThe Sims.
6The Ability To Import Worlds From Cities: Skylines 2 Into Life By You
No matter how big or small, cities players make inCities: Skylines 2could be made available inLife By You. It’s not yet clear exactly how big the worlds will be inLife By You, but if there’s an opportunity to grow into the world, players could get a headstart in designing the layout inCities: Skylines 2.
It would be a fantastic way to merge the two games with additional gameplay mechanics. This was a highlight for players ofSimCity 4, which was cross-compatible withThe SimsandThe Sims 2. For example, inThe Sims 2, players could import worlds created inSimCity 4withcustomized terrain and road layoutsready to move Sims into. And judging by the world creator tool briefly shown inLife By You’s announcement event, it looks like it has the potential to work similarly.
5The Ability To Import Life By You Neighborhoods Into Cities: Skylines 2
Suppose players could import cities or worlds fromCities: Skylines 2intoLife By You. In that case, the opposite should be implemented too. That is, building a bustling neighborhood or world inLife By Youand building upon that inCities: Skylines 2. If players played both games simultaneously, they may come up with ideas they’d never thought of inCities: Skylines.
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So instead of having to build that new idea from scratch in the other game, they could have the accessibility to transfer it over and continue with it in a city-builder mindset rather than controlling individual characters.
4Moving Life By You Characters To Cities: Skylines 2
InSimCity 4, players could choose to play in MySims mode, creating or importing Sims to live in a city they’d built. This provided the ability to move them around and follow their day-to-day lives and receive feedback on how they felt about their living conditions, like the quality of healthcare and education, as well as the efficiency of their water and power supplies. In turn, players could use thisto increase residential happinesswithin their cities.
A similar mechanic could be introduced inCities: Skylines 2,with the characters created inLife By Youtransferred to whatever city or world players are working on.
3Life By You Could Be A Micro-City Manager
To bring players from theCities: Skylinesfranchise toLife By You, Paradox has the opportunity to marketLife By Youas a micro-city managerwithout the mayoral responsibilities. Instead, it would be the developer’s way of expanding the MySim tool fromSimCity 4, implying that you can zoom into the individual residents of a player’s world or city created inCity Skylinesto take control of their lives.
Related:Cities Skylines 2 – Features We’d Love To See
But inLife By You’s case, players seem to only be able to change and modify the environment around them rather than entire industries or other inter-city systems.
2Features From Cities: Skylines 2 Could Appear In Life By You
Since the release ofCities: Skylines,there have been 15 DLC expansionsthat add more features to the game. AsLife By Youis being touted as “one of the most moddable and open life sims out there,” it’s hard to believe that the game will limit players to building only suburban neighborhoods or small towns.
It’s clearbuses will be a mode of transport inLife By You, so it would be cool to see the return of other mass transit systems like ferries, cable cars, monorails, and even airports fromCities: Skylines. The ability to micromanage these facilities would be a welcome addition, too, like players being able to control and manipulate traffic lights and stop signs in theMass Transitexpansion forCities: Skylines.
1Cities: Skylines 2 Should Take Notes From Life By You’s Development
Whileplayers can mod inCities: Skylines,it’s limited compared toLife By You. Paradox’s next foray into life simulation promises to ship with the development tools used to make the game, meaning that players will have access to what developers used to create worlds, objects, quests, conversations, and so much more.
In a way,Life By Youis a collaboration between Paradox Tectonic and the players, demonstrating the developer’s ability to have a symbiotic relationship with its consumers, treating them as more than just customers and as budding developers. The team behindCities: Skylines 2should take note of this, which may lead to even more freedom and creativity within the upcoming city builder.
Cities: Skylines 2is currently in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.Life By Youis currently in development for PC and enters Early Access on September 12.
