Tribute to Simcity 3000

[Holodoc]

This is the third year for me. It starts in the spring and ends about August. It's Simcity 3000 Season.

Simcity 3000 (or sc3k) is the ultimate ant farm, and you're god. It is a symphony where you play all the instruments. It is a delicate balance of elements which earn a Kiss The Mayor Day every July 1st...

How does it work?

Well, you select a type of terrain: lots of water? more land? hilly or mountains? Also, you decide when the city should start. Okay, start with 1900. Not everything has been invented yet, so you learn to do with the resources you have; as time passes, things will be available to you for improving your city.

So what does your future populace need? They need water, power, education, health care, transportation, and places to live, work, play, and buy stuff. The fine art of maintaining all these things and keeping your city flourishing and in balance is such a joy and an accomplishment, you have no idea.

You know you're on the right track when your citizens offer
the Foo Foo Shops their patronage.

I need to get out more...

[Christina]

and I thought my social life began and ended with a keyboard  and mouse...

[Peter_Pevensie]

Did he just say Kiss The Mayor Day? ;D

I love these kinds of games...I'm a Civilization addict from way back, i.e. college days.  Lately it's been Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri, which can still absorb me for hours, and, of course, Civ3.  I prefer to excercise my godhood on the level of planets as opposed to cities, I suppose.

By the way, what does one buy at a Foo Foo shop?

Peter braces himself for the inevitable answer...[/i]

[Holodoc]

Peter_Pevensie said:

By the way, what does one buy at a Foo Foo shop?

Foofie things for the ladies.

[Christina]

derived from the French frou frou mayhaps?

[Holodoc]

Probably.

btw:

(Ewwwww)

[Christina]

^^ that looks like a cue for a good earthquake, or flood or something!

[Holodoc]

Christina said:

^^ that looks like a cue for a good earthquake, or flood or something!

Actually, I turned off the disasters. There's enough to do without them. Besides, I know why they're in the game: for people like my former boss, who want to open up fully developed cities and hit the red button on a whim.

I should mention that there are two versions of Simcity3000. I am using the original version, since my computer's processing speed is only 200mhz.

The upgraded one from two years ago is called Simcity3000 Unltimited (aka sc3k unltd). It works the same way, only it has these assorted enhancements and quirks:

• You can terraform your brains out before the game begins, as the land shaping tool is now a part of the terrain selection process. I normally spend a lot of money and time straightening out shorelines and hills to let houses and waterpumps exist on a shoreline or allow a road up a mountain. So you can imagine how this saved me.
  
  
• There are three architectural styles you can select: regular (presumably US/Canadian style), European, and Asian. Given my penchant for alpine houses, you think I'd go for the middle, but my cities under Unltd have thrived in Asian mode the most.
  
  
  
  I think I just found out the German translation for "FooFoo"
  
  
• A Thanksgiving Day Parade. Don't ask me why this option never occurs in the American mode. But every once in awhile, you can approve a parade. When late November rolls around, the game goes into autopilot and you watch a parade for awhile. When Santa Clause and his reindeer have made their appearance, the parade is over and everything resumes as normal.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Other time sensitive quirks occur according to the month. Two holiday landmarks are tiggered in Oct and Dec. There are others among the housing that the citizens build, but my favorite occurs in this incidental vacant lot in the commercial district. Several times a year, the citizens sell stuff in the lot: pumpkins, Christmas trees, etc.

Selling fireworks from mid-June thru July 4th

Half the fun of the new version is seeing what new designs are attributed to the regular things you've become accustomed to

Farmland in Asia: They really know how to paddy

But alas, this new version crawls on my PC and takes up almost 500mb, including a program you can design new houses with which crashes on me. So I've put it on Dad's computer for when I visit there, and keep the old one on mine to play ant farm with. Besides, the intro movie on the original is superior.

Ah, disasters. That's right. I was reminded because this new version also has a feature in which you are given a real life city, an objective, and a time limit to achieve it. I tried to get Liverpool ready for a Beatles reunion concert AND a Megadeth concert simultaneously to appease two generations of rabid British fans, and they kept rioting and not letting me do my work. In those scenarios, all the parameters are present and you cannot turn off disasters.

[ensign in the red shirt]

Well... I did try it, several times, and gave it a fair shot.
I just didn't find that it could keep my interest and turning it on became a chore rather than a pleasure.
I built this big city that covered the whole map and had got the stage of pollution-free power stations etc. and waited for the big reward screen at the end of the game. I think that I expected it to end by a certain date (I can't remember which specific date I was convinced was the finish) and kept it all rolling along. As did the date. Came and went without even a nod of congratulations or a hows-your-father.
Strangely, I was looking forward to playing it so much (I even bought it for money) because I wanted a game with no violence. Not that I'm a pansy, you understand, simply the Aliens in SMAC had whopped my sorry ass for the last time and I wanted to play something that wasn't going to kill me. My favourite game was (the original)Railroad Tycoon, which had everything a good game needed, or so it seemed at the time.

Now, it's almost exclusively Civ III, although again I am getting bored by getting kicked in the pants by the Americans. BTW, it's a strange thing, but the American tribe are one of the worst to start as and also the most violent and untrustworthy neighbour in the game. The best, I've found so far, are the Japanese. Curious, considering the game's parentage... what is Sid trying to tell us? (also curious that he took a break during Civ III's development to make a Sim game).

[Holodoc]

That's weird re Civ.

Re SC3K: was it 3000 or an earlier one? 3000 is very different from the others from what I understand. And I've seen the first one from over a decade ago.

There is a certain approach one takes and a more patient mindset to being along. You need that symphonic POV I think. And I think it ends after 3000, which I have never reached myself. I deemed my city as having as far as it could go when it's all occupied and I don't want to make any more changes to it - or simply can't. That's usually in the 2300s. I consider that the end for me.

One thing which will never work is not being able to make a city stand on its own feet. Learning the limitations and balances and what works best placed where to inspire the little people to build takes research and practice. It's learning those tricks and getting those initial results which warm one up to the game.

I have downloaded cities made by urban development studens and was simply awed by their handiwork (at the website, you can do this) and the buildings I'd never seen. I suppose with patience one can reach such perfection. But for me, the "game" is in the making and experience and rewards and result. It isn't a contest, and if there is a congrats beyond every July 1st, then I haven't gone far enough and may never. I'm having too much fun.

[ensign in the red shirt]

Yup, it was 3000 Unlimited (cos that had the Sydney Opera House in it). That's another thing: you get to build all these landmarks so your city is littered with famous buildings and then you discover later that the famous landmarks are actually sitting on prime real estate which you need for high quality housing...

And it is strange about Civ III - been thinking about it today and it really makes no sense. I believe that it was a very grown up decision to give the American tribe the tough breaks to encourage US kids to play as someone else and also to appease the other countries who get bored with US propaganda. But I still would not have expected them to be quite so handicapped. Thinking about it, the two major strategy games, Civ and AoE, teach a lot about the world and its' history.

[Holodoc]

ensign said:

Yup, it was 3000 Unlimited (cos that had the Sydney Opera House in it). That's another thing: you get to build all these landmarks so your city is littered with famous buildings and then you discover later that the famous landmarks are actually sitting on prime real estate which you need for high quality housing...

That's not it at all. First of all, the game provides you with several pre-formed real-life city terrains. Several of the landmarks are needed for people who want to reenact the development of a known city.

Second, the existing landmarks, which only cost a minimal amt to place down, are very important for your city's development in two ways:

1) There are times when your city hits a development plateau (note to the uninitiated. The reason I refer to this as an ant farm is that the bldgs and quality of bldgs is determined by the inhabitants. You just provide the resources and zone what type of structures will go there, and they do the rest). You put one of those landmarks down, and they're inspired to build more and of higher class, thus requiring the rest of the city to grow with it.

2) There are some things one should never build near other things. These along with parks and public structures and rewards can create a buffer zone between. This way, you avoid wretched housing and the Sims live in higher income areas. Nobody lives next to the Gurgle & Smelt factory or an airport in my city. (Actually, it's the 21st century, and most of my industry is geeksville anyway - low pollution labs and parks - thus posing less of a problem for anything existing on the other side of those borders)

btw I have the MCG and Sydney Opera House in my current city.