Why I’m Choosing Small Maps for Mayor

In modern city-builders, infinite land often equals vanishing urgency. I want Mayor to recapture the rarer feeling I once had, the moment I hit Megalopolis felt like a finish line and a city well-earned.

Constraint as Motivation

Small maps force meaningful choices. With limited area:

Every road has cost and consequence.
Each service must be placed to cover a real, finite population.
Zoning becomes deliberate. Optimization, iteration, and clever tradeoffs turn play into a design puzzle where progress is visible and earned.

SimCity

SimCity on the Apple 2e, a city on a small map, what a game! Squeezing an extra block into a dense area was painful and rewarding. The map edge made you feel the challenge of how to reach that milestone of 500,000.

Two Map Philosophies

Big Map Freedom and Sprawl

Strengths: scale, spectacle, exploration, creative road designs above and below ground, terraforming in general, more types of buildings, more rewards…

Small Map Tension and Mastery

Strengths: concentrated systems, visible cause-and-effect, meaningful milestones, sense of urgency, able to speed-run.

Mayor And Small Maps

Map cap sized for dense simulation.
Milestone tiers that feel like real progress
Specialization and optimization mechanics force meaningful tradeoffs: industry vs commerce, vertical growth vs transport capacity, local services vs citywide infrastructure.
Visual clarity so one glance shows happiness, bottlenecks, service coverage, issues
Map boundary for neighboring connections.

Closing

Choosing small map for Mayor is a conscious design choice to bring back old urgency that feels like a city-builder, a puzzle, and a story.

Welcome to the Journal Wall
From Site Admin, Dec 10, 2024

This is my journey taking shape, one entry at a time. Here, I post reflections, track my progress, and share my story. Each entry becomes a building block—for my personal growth and to help others.

Game concept

I’ve decided to temporarily put Dragon Warrior Legacy on hold. It’s a dream project I’m still passionate about, but the sheer size and scope of it means it could take a year to finish. And right now, I believe it’s smarter to focus on something more manageable, more achievable, and most importantly to generate real, tangible income.

So what’s next? I’m diving into something fresh: a mayor-focused city planning game. But this isn’t another SimCity or Cities: Skylines. This game shifts the player’s role from a distant city planner to an on-the-ground mayor. The player will face tough choices like handling political rivals, balancing public approval, and making hard moral decisions — all while trying to keep their job through re-elections.

Here’s why I believe it’s a smart, money-making move:

1️⃣ It’s smaller in scope, faster to develop, and more achievable. I’m not trying to compete with massive titles. Instead, I’m creating something unique, focused, and replayable.

2️⃣ There’s real market demand for this concept. People love games where you get to make important decisions — and being a mayor (with all the power, politics, and consequences) taps into that experience. It’s an untapped idea that has already gotten positive feedback.

3️⃣ It’s a product I can sell. While Dragon Warrior Legacy is a passion project, this city-planning mayoral game is something I can realistically bring to market. It’s a game I can finish, package, and sell on platforms like Steam, where small, unique games can generate a steady income.

I’m excited about this. Dragon Warrior Legacy will come in time, but this is the first big step to prove that I can turn game development into a sustainable business.

Thank you all for the support and guidance to make this possible.

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