Do our cities look the same to visitors as they do to us?

[MagicPagan]

I did a couple of forum searches to see if this question had already been asked and answered and couldn't find anything on point.

The reason I ask is that I have residences at the same levels as in some of my neighbors' and FS members' cities (lvl14/15), but they appear differently in their cities than they do to me in mine. The ones I view in other cities look larger to me than they do in mine.

If the answer to the question is "no," I think it would be a really cool feature to have...something like View City as Guest or something like that.

 

[NightshadeCS]

Yes, our cities look the same to us as they do to them. However, there are two races, humans and elves, and the buildings differ between the two.

This is one of the reasons people create a second city, so that they can experience the different elements of the other race. There are also slight differences in building sizes and production amounts, though those tend to even out once you get into the guest race chapters.

There are certain attributes of the buildings you cannot see when visiting a neighbor, though, such as production time, etc. You can only see the name of the building and what level it is.

 

[Huor]

The only real differences I know of is backdrops are not available in the app and the app has better zoom features than the browser which makes things appear different. The browser also seems to have better resolution on the buildings, but that may be due more to the zoom differences.

 

[StarLoad]

Lets not forget the animations effect, when you see anothers city all animations are active even those that are expired or not working

 

[shimmerfly]

Interesting question @MagicPagan!

@ed1960 Do you mean when someone visits my city they see animations even though I have them turned off?

 

[Gladiola]

@MagicPagan I also have observed that buildings sometimes appear larger in other players' cities when I visit. I have thought maybe it is an optical illusion due to being placed near buildings I'm not as familiar with or due to the relative size of cities.

 

[NightshadeCS]

@ed1960 Do you mean when someone visits my city they see animations even though I have them turned off?

Whether or not you see animations is controlled by your own settings. If you have animations turned off, you will not see them in any city. And vice versa.

However, I did not know that you see the animations of an expired building as if it were not expired, but I suppose that makes sense, since you also see factories working even if they have finished productions. All part and parcel of not knowing what any of the buildings are doing in someone else's city.

 

[MagicPagan]

It's wild to me. I thought since a level 14 elven residence has a defined footprint, it ought to look the same size in any elven city.

 

[NightshadeCS]

I personally don't see a size difference when comparing cities. I would point to a disparity in the zooming, or as Gladiola said, possible just a difference in apparent size due to the buildings around it.

 

[MagicPagan]

I personally don't see a size difference when comparing cities. I would point to a disparity in the zooming, or as Gladiola said, possible just a difference in apparent size due to the buildings around it.

It briefly occurred to me that perhaps they look smaller in my own city for ease of navigation in moving buildings or road, collecting coins, etc.

Since @Gladiola has also noticed it, at least I know I've not gone completely around the bend...not just yet.

 

[Aritra]

Whether or not you see animations is controlled by your own settings. If you have animations turned off, you will not see them in any city. And vice versa.

However, I did not know that you see the animations of an expired building as if it were not expired, but I suppose that makes sense, since you also see factories working even if they have finished productions. All part and parcel of not knowing what any of the buildings are doing in someone else's city.

My factories (and other goods producers, Festival Merchant for example) stop when they are finished. That is sometimes how I can tell if everything has been restarted or if I missed one (not just checking for remaining zzzs because those blend in sometimes and I've missed them in the past when I used that as my measure? "Is everyone working now? Good. I'll be back in a few hours." Also, I can tell when FM is finished (not just early collect available) because the fire goes out. When I collect, the fire relights. This is the same concept as the factories, but wanted to mention it because I thought it was really cool.

 

[Aritra]

I did a couple of forum searches to see if this question had already been asked and answered and couldn't find anything on point.

The reason I ask is that I have residences at the same levels as in some of my neighbors' and FS members' cities (lvl14/15), but they appear differently in their cities than they do to me in mine. The ones I view in other cities look larger to me than they do in mine.

If the answer to the question is "no," I think it would be a really cool feature to have...something like View City as Guest or something like that.

Not sure of the likelihood, but one thing I can think of with the appearance of size is maybe you are zoomed differently at that city. It sounds silly, but maybe? Is everything in the city a bit bigger, or just the residences? I keep my cities zoomed out a bit (game setting zoomed out, then zoom on browser: 67% has been best for my larger city and 80% for the baby). Then when I visit someone else, I have a narrower view/things are automatically bigger as a whole. Relative size illusion can surprise us more than expected, but if the residences are at same level and surrounded by the same type stuff, then I don't know (if surrounded by different type stuff, it could add to illusion because some things block the view or reveal more of the buildings behind them).

Also, I asked my FS members to visit my city and tell me if they could see which buildings were enchanted because I didn't know if the sparkles were visible just for me (like zzz and finish production icons are only visible to me). Answer was yes, they could see the sparkle.

I do like the "view as guest" ability. Not sure what success to expect if pursued, but it would have my vote.

 

[MagicPagan]

Not sure of the likelihood, but one thing I can think of with the appearance of size is maybe you are zoomed differently at that city. It sounds silly, but maybe? Is everything in the city a bit bigger, or just the residences? I keep my cities zoomed out a bit (game setting zoomed out, then zoom on browser: 67% has been best for my larger city and 80% for the baby). Then when I visit someone else, I have a narrower view/things are automatically bigger as a whole. Relative size illusion can surprise us more than expected, but if the residences are at same level and surrounded by the same type stuff, then I don't know (if surrounded by different type stuff, it could add to illusion because some things block the view or reveal more of the buildings behind them).

Also, I asked my FS members to visit my city and tell me if they could see which buildings were enchanted because I didn't know if the sparkles were visible just for me (like zzz and finish production icons are only visible to me). Answer was yes, they could see the sparkle.

I do like the "view as guest" ability. Not sure what success to expect if pursued, but it would have my vote.

Zoom settings are the same for all, including my own city. If I zoom in on anything in any city, I go back to normal settings before I leave that city.

And in the cities where the residences appear larger, so does everything else. Sometimes it's a pain, especially if the city title has me looking for the 2X3 builders hut in a sea of lvl 32 residences...I do try to leave NH as the player has requested, and for culture buildings, I'll search for the most valuable one.

 

[MagicPagan]

..."Is everyone working now? Good. I'll be back in a few hours."

Love this. Have actually thought this out loud as I finish collection.