Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
SIMCITY,
THE MOST FAMOUS CMS OF ALL
Although it isn't the oldest CMS,
SimCity
has inspired every CMS that has come after it.
Published by Maxis (now a part of Electronic Arts) originally for the Commodore 64,
SimCity
achieved its greatest success on the IBM PC, and players can now try the first
version of the game free on the web. (Visit
http://simcity.ea.com/play/simcity_classic.php
if you're interested. Note that the web version does not include all the features of the
original game.) A host of other games in the same mold followed
—
SimAnt, SimTower,
SimFarm,
and so on
—
which met with varying degrees of success.
The object of
SimCity
is to build a city and attract people (called
sims
) to live and work
there. The basic economic unit is money, which the player can spend in various ways to
improve the city. The player's primary task is to zone tracts of land into one of three
types: residential, commercial, or industrial. As people move into the city, their occupa-
tion of these areas begins to produce tax revenue, thereby replenishing the city's coffers.
This produces a straightforward positive feedback loop: Zoning costs money, but occu-
pied zones produce more money, thereby enabling the player to do more zoning.
The positive feedback is kept in check by other demands on the city's purse. Sims will not
move into a region simply because it has been zoned; it needs other amenities as well.
Foremost among these is electricity, so the player has to buy power plants and electrical
lines to provide it. The sims also need a way to travel from the residential zones to the
industrial zones to work and to the commercial zones to shop. This requires road and rail
networks, which also cost money. If the roads are inadequate to meet the traffic or if the
sims have to travel too far to work, they will begin to move out of the city, resulting in a
loss of tax revenue. Finally, when the city reaches certain population thresholds, the sims
begin to demand expensive amenities: a sports stadium, an airport, and so on. Again, if
the player doesn't provide these, the sims begin to leave.
In addition to the electricity, roads, and civic amenities, the player pays for other com-
mon services, such as fire protection and police. Fires break out from time to time; left
unchecked, they destroy the buildings and leave the land unzoned. To combat this, the
player must build and maintain fire stations. Crime takes place in industrial areas,
depressing property values and reducing tax revenues. Building police stations, at yet
more cost, suppresses crime. Industrial areas and roads also cause air pollution, which
further depresses the value of nearby residential property. The player cannot reduce air
pollution; he simply has to keep industrial and residential areas separate.
The game's algorithm mathematically determines the value of each area. A zoned area
with parks or a river nearby will be worth more than a similar area that lacks these ben-
efits. The more valuable a zone is, the more sims move in and the more tax revenues the
zone produces. The player can build parks and situate residential zones near woods and
rivers to increase their attractiveness.
continues on next page
