Features and Priority

[townscape]

Edited the OP.

[townscape]

So, does everyone agree on those zone categories?

Zoning Tool         
           -Residential
                   -Rural
                   -Low density
                   -Medium density
                   -High density
           -Commercial (this is where height limits will be more useful because of non-density classification)
                    -Core Commercial
                    -Commercial mixed use
                    -Service Commercial
           -Industrial
                    -Light Industry/Private Businesses
                    -Heavy Industry
                    -Agricultural

or do you have something to add to this? Comments are welcome.

[croxis]

What is core vs service? What I have seen in my area is usually just commercial zoning.

[townscape]

In our case it will probably be commercial lots that need a lot of space and parking like malls, supermarkets, hardware, direct depo sales. Although the description in the info at the bottom of the first post says also about fuel stations and car repairs too. Also I don't think offices enter services.

To think about it this would make sense: you wouldn't see giant malls with big parking spaces in a dense and cramped location.(Well you can do it, but no sane planner will waste that much on parking space)

[croxis]

Make sense doesn't mean it wont happen Wallmart has tried to get into denser areas of my city. Would controlling lot size make more sense?

[townscape]

Tomkeus posted that his subdivision algorithm defines density by floorspace and lot size.

http://www.zoningmatters.org/facts/districts

lets try and do something out of it. my try:
*zoning classification with separate lot size slider in account*(actually it goes well without it too)
Single Housing
Medium Density(Duplex/Multi-dwelling)
High Density(High-rise/Multi-dwelling)

Neighborhood Commercial
Commercial-Mixed(C1,C2,C3)
High density Commercial(C4,C5)

Limited Industrial (Enterprises that give low pollution, other neg effects)
General Industrial(A little less restrictive in terms of production pollution)
Least Restrictive(The worst stuff every dweller hates when in proximity to his home, includes the other ind types too)
Agriculture

Parks/Entertainment
Historical Quarter (a layer that protects a built-up district from development for it's historical or architectural importance)
Dumps

[ihatetacos]

this is just a random thought but how about introducing soil types into the game?

you could have your gameplay layer and then a soil layer beneath it.

It could be used to create variety and a challenge with the game to make players have to work with what nature gave them.

For example:

Bedrock or granite close to the surface would atract skyscrapers because they are easier to build there but subways would be 10x more expensive to build in the area because the rock is hard to cut through.

Sandy soil like in Sanfransisco  would make it more expensive to build skyscrapers and would do more damage to structures durring earthquakes.

Top soil would be good for farming but would have a huge negative impact on water pollution if dirty industry would occupy space there because chemicals can easly seep through soil into ground water.

just an idea

[coronadian]

May I also suggest, an R&R type in the game, so sims don't just have to get to work, but they also like to react once in a while.

Bars/Pubs, Parks, Sport Grounds, Beaches, Cinemas, Zoos, etc.

Each one could effect a certain income/age range over x amount of tiles, with a certain percentage of chance.

So for instance every day 5% of $ sims (25% of $$ sims and 50% of $$$) look for R&R (after work). They look at their options (every R&R enabled building within say 1h commute time), then go to the one that  is nearest, yet attracts their income range the most. $ will go to pubs more than $$ or $$$ for instance, yet $$$ will prefer a country club which doesn't even accept $ and only has a very low percentage for $$.

R&R buildings should also have a capacity, so not many people will fit into a neighourhood pub, but many into a Zoo.

Also, every building/lot should be able to be a combination of R/I/C/R&R.

Does that make sense?

[croxis]

Yes, but how does it impact gameplay? How does this improve the general need for business?

[coronadian]

The R&R part? Simple, just like jobs, sims need places for R$R or their unhappy (eg. land-value goes down, mayor rating goes down, crime goes up, etc). Without R&R $$ and $$$ sims won't even move into certain areas, or abandon them again.

Also it has an impact on traffic of course, if everybody wants to go to your redlight district :-)

[croxis]

Sounds a little too much like cities xl imho, which had a leisure demand. I feel that a more generalized business demands encompasses leisure as well as all other commercial aspects well enough. But I am not the one writing the simulation, so who knows.