SimCity mod extends maximum city size, but not without performance problems

Previously, Maxis confirmed that they've no plan to extend SimCity's maximum city size . And so it falls to modders to help those feeling hemmed in by the game's virtual borders. Can it be done? Yes, sort of. Project Orion is such a boundary extending mod, and will let the game's mayors build free of the vanilla base limit. Don't plan a ribbon cutting ceremony for your city's east wing just yet, though, as its use will mean dealing with some pretty significant performance issues and glitches.

The mod's listing on Simtropolis runs through some of the errors, not least of which is that you can't build roads outside of the boundary without first installing a second mod . Even then, you won't be able to elevate them.

Other issues? Land value and pollution maps will be visually misaligned, meaning, among other things, that you'll need to guess the actual happiness levels for each zone based on the way the map is offset. And then there are the performance issues. As your city expands, you will likely encounter lag.

Still, the mod is in beta. It's possible that, in time, these issues will be worked out. If not, it's a case of whether the base game's restriction is worth trading for the mod's own annoyances and foibles.

Thanks to Reddit .

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.