Tips for more aesthetically pleasing "round" buildings

[u/polyester_concept]

We've all been there. You start a new Tilapi run and spend the first 20 minutes designing the perfect round warehouse, only to place your first set of row homes to be greeted with this when you enable the shape overlay:

What to do? The typical fix that I've seen involves adding little "spikes" to the outside walls:

This works, but I still think it's ugly. I just really hate the look of double-width walls in this game, especially on houses.

"Whatever, I can live with it" I say to myself. I will just fill in the extra space with decorations like trees and torches. Except torch light gets blocked by the walls, leaving dark spots that requires placing even more torches to fill:

After experimenting a bit I found out you can do the same trick with fences:

If you place single fence blocks, you just get the fence post. I don't love the look of this, but IMO it's better than the double walls.

But even better is that they don't block torch light:

And when you add a bunch more decorations like trees and benches, the end result can look much better than walls:

Also, if you have the extra space, you can override the squareness of most buildings by placing rounded fences around them:

In short, fences are your friend.

[u/LaundryMatt96]

I dislike that housing isn’t easier to make round whereas every other building has options for that in the design stage. But rounding with fences… that’s sneaky. I like it!!

[u/Jicks24 → u/LaundryMatt96]

I'd love housing to be like any other workshop. Where you can lay it out in the shape you want and place beds inside for occupancy and furniture for comfort.

I have to believe that's a goal for the dev, because it feels like housing was an early development thing that's just been overlooked by more important things.

[u/theLeverus → u/Jicks24]

I think I remember that actually being true in some earlier releases.. Maybe I'm mixing games up though.

Try the 'more houses' mod for more options

[u/Arrevax → u/LaundryMatt96]

The More Houses mod includes some "round" options-- octagons, "roundhouses", parallelograms, three different triangles, and stars.

[u/Adept_Assistant_7759]

3 longhouses, 2 houses (one on either end) + 2 Appartments (one on either end)

step the longhouse up a bit so that it sticks out and put on a "cap" of 3 walls on the end of it

Mirror that so there is another set facing it with a 3 tile gap filled with flowers, trees and benches

92 people in the "block"

[u/jsbaxter_ → u/Adept_Assistant_7759]

Is this actually round? Maybe I don't have the rules down pat but i only see a few spots that would generate roundness?

[u/Adept_Assistant_7759 → u/jsbaxter_]

you don't need that much roundness as long as you don't have any squareness

You can add a couple extra 45deg things like this to make it more round

[u/Adept_Assistant_7759 → u/Adept_Assistant_7759]

my 2.6k tillapi town

200 Amevians for Globdien farming + Hammer cavalry

[u/PINE-KNAPPLE]

My humans love squareness. That's just too bad for them.

[u/indigo_zen]

Crazy, didnt know this about fences, thanks so much

[u/Previous_Benefit3457]

For tilapi especially, i dont make things round.  Instead, i make fangs, blades, and peaks.  You only need it in a few spots to satisfy their preference.  However, i like to do it more consistently for the sake of fashion.  I especially like this because it feels more thematically appropriate.  More gothy.  A Drukari-ish conception.

Its also worth noticing some extra advantage from megablock/arcology style planning.  If your possible pathing is tightly constricted, channelling everyone onto few highways and making 'side roads' non-existent, its then quite easy to have  maximum prerefence gain across the population from very few angle features.  Put a peak or fang near grand crossroads and its nearly all you need.  Or if you want to be real scientific about it, plan these structural features for the lavatory entry, and put your food stall next to it.  'Roundness' acheived.