City Masterplan - Dev AMA #01

Since opening our feedback channels across all our global communities, we have been absolutely blown away by your passion. You've shared so many incredible ideas, detailed feedback, and deep insights into what makes a city builder truly great.

As a dedicated indie team, we can't always reply to every single message instantly, but we are actually reading everything. To ensure your voices are heard, we've selected 10 suggestions. Now, let our Dev Team give you honest, transparent answers about the features you care about most!

Q1: Add graphics quality presets so the game can run smoothly on devices with different specs. (无手文)

A (Game Designer): This is a solid suggestion! We plan to implement these settings at launch to ensure the game runs well across as many different hardware configurations as possible.

Q2: Add a gameplay mode to start from a specific year and unlock utilities and facilities as time progresses. (e.g., starting an old town in the 1800s and expanding as new tech becomes available). (Emilithe)

A (Game Designer): This is a cool idea! While we do not plan to adopt a Historic Mode at launch, we will reference the progression of real-world urban development for the gradual unlocking of buildings.

Q3: I hope to see modular transit stations to make building transport hubs easier. (ᴿᵉ.将离)

A (Game Designer): Modular design is definitely on our radar! For the initial launch, we plan to support modular features for transit hubs, such as allowing you to adjust parameters like the number and length of station platforms.

Q4: Avoid an overly clean or “perfect” look for the city. When everything is spotless, it can start to feel a bit artificial and plastic... It would be great if your game handled this more dynamically—like adding natural wear, dirt, and variation automatically based on how areas are used or maintained. (Ay12345)

A (Game Designer): We completely agree that imperfection feels more realistic, which is why you can already see wear and dirt on the buildings and roads in our Steam screenshots. However, to ensure a smooth experience at launch, we will consider dynamic weathering systems after the game is released.

Q5: Will there be left-turn and straight waiting areas at intersections? (unac)

A (Game Designer): Dedicated waiting areas for left turns and straight lanes won't be available at launch, but this feature is already under active consideration!

Q6: I would love to see a non-square based zoning mechanic, where buildings can fill in any nook and cranny we give them... it goes a long way in making a city feel more realistic. (SkilzBuildz)

A (Game Designer): Broken grids are a headache for us too! We are currently using a non-square based zoning mechanic, which helps fill these areas more efficiently. This feature is still being refined, though. We will implement the non-square based mechanic for the majority of building zones at launch, and then continue to improve it post-launch to bring you the best experience.

Q7: Will there be office and shopping mall combinations? (GunsNFloyd)

A (Game Designer): We are aiming to support these combinations visually at launch.

Q8: Will there be multiplayer? Either co-op building or multiple mayors managing different cities on the same map? (Emilithe)

A (Game Designer): This is a great idea, but multiplayer features aren't in our plans. City Masterplan was designed from day one to provide a high-quality, immersive gaming experience for the single city planner. Introducing resource management under a multiplayer mode would completely upend the architecture of the entire game. Thanks for understanding!

Q9: Hoping for early custom content support! (无手文)

A (Game Designer): We are aiming to include a basic editor at launch. We will also provide a set of custom content creation guidelines so planners can start prepping their custom assets in advance. However, please note that this feature might not be available exactly on Day 1. We really appreciate your understanding!

Q10: I'm hoping there is a plan for map makers to import heightmaps... I'm also curious to see more about the terraforming tools in general since the trailer appears to show some sort of procedurally generated rock debris. (PoplarPonderosa)

A (Game Designer): We are aiming to support importing heightmaps at launch, along with basic terraforming tools. However, the procedurally generated rock debris you spotted is not currently planned for the initial release. We'll re-evaluate adding it post-launch depending on optimization and performance.

That's it for our first Community AMA! A huge thank you to every Planner who submitted ideas to help shape City Masterplan.

If your suggestion wasn't covered today, don't worry—this is just the beginning of our conversation. Let's keep the suggestions going!

Want to share more ideas or just hang out with fellow Planners? Come join our Discord: https://discord.gg/jxBhKz29N5