I was pretty disappointed with how Factorio reworked how fluids worked in the expansion. The old system had its quirks and the new system is obviously more performant, but it throws realism out the window which is a bummer.
That game, Timberborn, shares some design elements with roller coaster tycoon.
A block based 3d world they can be modified by the player.
Units walking around on player defined paths, with their mood influenced by pretty bushes.
But there are no obvious performance considerations like in the article.