[Suggestions] Improvements for the game

There should also some developments like paid WiFi, free WiFi(for happiness), metro rail transportation, cyclist tracks(for happiness).

- 12 Awesome Ideas to improve the Game -

1. The Global Trade HQ could do with a facelift. It looks a bit outdated now next to the Vu Tower.

2. The general consensus is too many random items. So when you enter the Global Trade HQ instead of generating items at random, I'd like to see graphic button's representing each of the stores (Building Supplies, Hardware, Donut Shop etc). Each button would take the player to a screen (the same as the current load out) except the generated items would relate to the type of store selected instead of it being complete random luck.

3. People - Where are the people? This was the first question my 3 year old daughter asked me. She has a good point, there's plenty of cars rushing around but NO people. It's truly bizarre and the fact this was pointed out by a toddler really says something. Sims should be interacting with the city being created. I would have thought this would be at the heart of the game. I understand that the pixel size makes it difficult but something is better than nothing.

4. Game effect of specialization buildings - They sit there and do nothing except a few cars pull into the carpark. Lets see an airship for the hangar, a hot air-balloon for the balloon park, a helicopter for the heliport.

5. Let's have a car occasionally drive into or up to the Mayor's Mansion. Currently it's the only building that has NO visitation.

6. Military - How about having an army barracks etc. New buildings for the defence of the city under "Police" or "Government". Seems all the more plausible with Dr Vu up to his tricks.

7. Other new building specializations - Zoo, Museum, Art Gallery, Ocean Aquarium, Swimming Pool, Taxi Company, Bike and/or Car Rental, Sightseeing Tours, Cinema, IMAX Theatre, Ice Rink, Circus, Racecourse, Children's Playground, *Skate Park, Lake, Tennis Courts, Golf Course, Bowling Alley, Bar, Disco, Cafe, Carwash, Shopping Mall, Supermarket, Hairdressers, Pet Store, Bank, Offices, Courthouse, Prison.

8. New Landmarks - Petronas Towers, St Basil's Cathedral, Space Needle, Burj Al Arab, Burj Khalifa, Trevi Fountain, Atomium, Lotus Temple. (These are just a selection of landmark attractions I think would compliment the cityscape) obviously there are hundreds of possibilities.

9. New Rail Transportation - Railway Station (upgrade as rail network improves) under Transportation and track available for purchase like roads. It would need a tunnel entry point (along the same side as the current tunnel). If the track and road cross paths it would form a railway crossing point with a barrier. Of course players wouldn't have to invest in a rail network, if unaltered the tunnel would be visible but closed. Rail is an important addition to transportation. As the tracks are upgraded the trains that run along them would also get better. Rail would increase happiness, taxation and could also potentially be used for freight trains.

10. Opening Ceremony - I was thinking of a way to get the Mayor a bit more involved. Mayor's often cut ribbons for opening's of new businesses, perhaps there could be a way to incorporate this into the game for a few extra Simoleans, Keys or Simcash?

11. Building Types - In the Settings menu have a 'Buildings' button, which lists names of all available residential buildings under a subheading type. This way players will have insight into what the end result (final upgrade) will look like and change plans according to the upgrade path they want to take. Fully upgraded buildings needn't all be skyscrapers, there could also be villas and mansions.

12. Flyover - Currently when zoomed out the best you get is a limited view of a section of your city. It's nice for players to really see their city. I would suggest putting a 'movie cam button' on the bottom left hand corner, which when pressed generates a flyover shot, allowing players to see their city in it's entirety.

I will say that overall the GTHQ is good, particularly since they introduced the refresh button. Getting items can be difficult but it depends on the time of the day and how many people are buying, so patience is required - and if you can't buy it, build it.

A lot of people complain because they can't get what they want right away. I don't think the costs are too expensive after all the game is mostly free, as the saying goes "Rome wasn't built in a day" if people want more content more quickly they'll have to reach into their pockets. I also think it's important to have limits on costs of items sold in the Trade Depot to keep costs reasonable.

EDIT: Since the latest patch, the new Beach looks awesome and has decent effects. They've also added the Skate Park, so thanks to the dev team for that. Hoping for some further improvements with the existing specialization buildings! (See number 4) 😕mileyhappy:

There are so many great suggestions here!

With regards to Global Trade, I realise this may not be a popular idea, but I think the game would be much more enjoyable if special items were allowed to be sold, but not advertised on GTH.  Why?  As we all know, it is extremely frustrating to click on an item to find it already sold. The current first-come-first-serve system is also unfair to those with slower devices or connection speeds.  On the other hand, there is nothing better than finding that long-sought-after-item sitting there next to some random blankets or logs.  Oh Happy Day!  If the items could only be found by luck (or pre-arranged trade) it would not only be more fair, it would also be more satisfying.  Of course we'd all like to be able to search for the item we want.  But I understand the problems inherent in a searchable GTH.  The only way it might work is if there were a waiting list or something. But then the shelves would be full of undesirable items only.

I really like how the gifts force us to look at other cities.  Some people have really cool layouts.  How about an option for "liking" other cities, and their mayors would get rewards based on number of "likes"?   It would also be great to give rewards for total number of visitors.  That would encourage people to sell better stuff on GTH (and also to come up with more creative City names).  As gifts are only given once in a 24 hour period for visiting each city, it would be great if there were some sort of marker to indicate which cities have already been visited.  It is very difficult to remember, especially as many city names are in languages I can't read.  

On more aesthetic issues... we need more variety of buidings.  I would love high-capacity building that are *not* skyscrapers.  They block out everything else.   Also, please let us plant trees.  Some of the natural trees that I had designed my city around were wiped out with the latest update.  I'd pay (sim money, not real) to plant them where I want them simply to have my city look better.  Rivers would be a bonus.  I'd like more colourful parks, too, like the sakura park.  Expensive, but worth it to have a nice looking city.