It didn't just have Sim-as-agent, it went as far as trying to model ELECTRICITY as an very fast moving agent rather than doing something sane like simply representing it as a fixed force that only is limited by carrying capacity of the wires and how much juice is in the local grid. Absolute madness and very unsurprising that it gave you a fairly small plot to work with because anything larger and performance issues would exponentially grow.
Yes, modeling electricity as being agent-based is retarded. Arguably, the original
SimCity (1989) has the most advanced power line system since as lines got longer power dissipated. This was likely an extremely simplified number based on tiles and indications are it got removed in
SimCity 2000, because partially
trying to calculate that is a huge pain when dealing on a macroscale, so much so that
Factorio (as linked) which usually has autistic calculations like this, is also either simplified or doesn't exist.
Meanwhile it also had poop agents, which seemed entirely unnecessary (I'm of the opinion that sewage doesn't need to have its own network).
Construction materials are a different thing from consumer goods. Due to the volume of goods involved, shipping costs are a real issue and no matter the global cost, as long as the local price is around the same, constructors will go for the option has the shorter shipping times / lower shipping costs. This also is how many places end up choosing the materials they use to construct things. This can also be observed from many historical cities where available resources do make a difference in what is the preferred method of construction. Got lots of sand and clay? That means the place will prefer brick construction over wood construction. Got quarries making lots of aggregate gravel? Concrete both poured and pre-fabricated becomes the preferred choice, especially if steel rebar also is available. Got oil? Bitumen won't be a problem to get.
Working in reality and working with a simulation are too different things, and sometimes things don't translate into the other either based on too hard or not fun.
A lot of cities have small concrete plants but those aren't actually concrete from-scratch, they're ready-mix suppliers. The base dry product (Portland cement, made from limestone) is imported from somewhere else, all these plants do is mix it with water and crushed gravel to have liquid cement, which is perishable and has to be used in the area the same day. Same thing with asphalt...oil reserves don't mean better access to asphalt. Oil has to be exported out to be processed, and then re-imported as finished products. Maybe if you had a full oil refinery as a business in your city, but even then, you're up for a wider market and the local area would still have to buy it at market price.
The oil example is especially egregious, in
Factorio (yes I'll use it as an example again), the rocket silo's three ingredients all use oil at some point in their process (assuming Nauvis, which uses the most grounded production cycles, I'm not talking about Gleba's plant-based fuel)
Your examples only make sense in very limited economies, with poor or non-functioning logistics. And a modern city simulator should have all the logistics that it needs to function properly.
A city builder should have some challenges to deal with, because otherwise you just get a glorified paint program. Having higher costs until you set up your naval infrastructure shouldn't be a hard problem to solve, especially if there is some industry to fill the local demands at least partially.
Generally, when it comes to
Cities: Skylines being a "city painter" it's that the core simulation mechanics that were present in the SimCity series when juggling land value, pollution, crime, taxes, etc. just aren't there, and can't really be modded in because that's not how the mods work.
edit: spelling
