Cities: Skylines has been out for five whole years now, and in that time, players have built some truly remarkable things with it. There’s Justin Roczniak’s YouTube channel, in which he uses Cities: Skylines (and a lot of mods) to talk about the history and application of real-world urban development, for example. Now, someone has used the game to recreate the opening of the BBC’s popular TV drama EastEnders.
Reddit user vyers07 uploaded the clip to the Cities: Skylines subreddit, and as with the TV show, the camera rises up to show the massive urban sprawl of the city. Being an American, I had to look into this a bit, and I’m reliably informed that it’s set in a place called “London,” the same fictional location featured in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.
In all seriousness, it’s an impressive build, even if some shortcuts had to be taken for the sake of scale. The A205 wraps around the southern half of the city, and the Isle of Dogs juts out into the River Thames over on the east side. A large stadium has been placed where I believe the real Sutcliffe Park stands, and London and Tower bridges are dutifully represented.
Here’s the clip – you’ll have to apply the blandly pleasant opening bars of EastEnders with your own imagination:
Presenting to you: The City of Eastenders, currently at 500k pop. from r/CitiesSkylines
Once again, being American, I know nothing about EastEnders beyond what I’ve already said: it’s a BBC soap opera and apparently very popular. If it’s anything like the soap operas we have over here, it’s probably full of divorcees coming back to life after convoluted murder plots whose details are pored over in tabloids you find in supermarket checkout lines.
There’s no telling what the residents of this virtual East End get up to – Cities: Skylines’ simulation doesn’t get detailed enough to reveal the private inner lives of its citizens. But if you’re looking to spice the game up a bit, check out our list of the best Cities: Skylines mods and maps.