SimCity Series

SimCity
SimCity is a city-building simulation video game, first released on October 3rd in 1989, and designed by Will Wright. SimCity was Maxis' first product, which has since been ported into various personal computers and game consoles, and spawned several sequels including SimCity 2000 in 1993, SimCity 3000 in 1999, SimCity 4 in 2003, SimCity DS, SimCity Societies in 2007, and SimCity in 2013. The original SimCity was later renamed SimCity Classic. Until the release of The Sims in 2000, the SimCity series was the best-selling line of computer games made by Maxis. SimCity spawned a series ofSim games.

On January 10, 2008 the SimCity source code was released under the free software GPL 3 license under the name Micropolis.

Objective
The objective of SimCity, as the name of the game suggests, is to build and design a city, without specific goals to achieve (except in the scenarios, see below). The player can mark land as beingzoned as commercial, industrial, or residential, add buildings, change the tax rate, build a power grid, build transportation systems and take many other actions, in order to enhance the city. Once able to construct buildings in a particular area, the too-small-to-see residents, known as Sims, may choose to construct and upgrade houses, apartment blocks, light or heavy industrial buildings, commercial buildings, hospitals, churches, and other structures. The Sims make these choices based on such factors as traffic levels, adequate electrical power, crime levels, and proximity to other types of buildings—for example, residential areas next to a power plant will seldom appreciate to the highest grade of housing.[10]

Also, the player may face disasters including flooding, tornadoes, fires (often from air disasters or even shipwrecks), earthquakes and attacks by monsters. In addition, monsters and tornadoes can trigger train crashes by running into passing trains. There was also a reported case of a very rare nuclear meltdown. Later disasters in the game's sequels included lightning strikes, volcanoes, meteorsand attack by extraterrestrial craft. In the Super Nintendo version and later, one can also build rewards when they are given to them, such as a mayor's mansion or a casino.

[edit] Scenarios
The original SimCity kicked off a tradition of goal-centered, timed scenarios that could be won or lost depending on the performance of the player/mayor. The scenarios were an addition suggested by Brøderbund in order to make SimCity more like a game.[11] The original cities were all based on real world cities and attempted to re-create their general layout, a tradition carried on in SimCity 2000 and in special scenario packs. While most scenarios either take place in a fictional timeline or have a city under siege by a fictional disaster, a handful of available scenarios are based on actual historical events.

The original scenarios are:

The PC version (IBM, Tandy compatible; on floppy disk), CD re-release, as well as the Amiga and Atari ST versions included two additional scenarios:
 * Bern, 1965 – The Swiss capital is clogged with traffic; the mayor needs to reduce traffic and improve the city by installing a mass transit system.
 * Boston, 2010 – The city's nuclear power plant suffers a meltdown, incinerating a portion of the city. The mayor must rebuild, contain the toxic areas, and return the city to prosperity. In some early editions of SimCity (on lower-power computers that did not include the nuclear power plants), this scenario was altered to have a tornado strike the city. Much like the Tokyo scenario below, the mayor needs to limit damage and rebuild.
 * Detroit, 1972 –Crime and depressed industry wreck the city. The mayor needs to reduce crime and reorganize the city to better develop. The scenario is a reference to Detroit's declining state during the late 20th century (See also History of Detroit) and the 1970's economic recession.
 * Rio de Janeiro, 2047 – Coastal flooding resulted from global warming rages through the city. The mayor must control the problem and rebuild. In some early editions of SimCity (on lower-power computers that did not include the flooding disaster), this scenario was altered to have the objective be fighting very high crime rates.
 * San Francisco, 1906 – An earthquake hits the city, the mayor must control the subsequent damage, fires and rebuild. The scenario references the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
 * Tokyo, 1961 – The city is attacked by a Godzilla-type monster (Bowser in the SNES version). The mayor needs to limit the damage and rebuild. The scenario is strongly based on the original series of Godzilla films.

In addition, the later edition of SimCity on the Super NES included the basics of these two scenarios in two, more difficult scenarios that were made available after a player had completed the original scenarios:
 * Hamburg, Germany, 1944 – Bombing, where the mayor has to govern the city during the closing years of World War II and rebuild it later. This scenario references the bombing of Hamburg in World War II.
 * Dullsville, USA, 1910 – Boredom plagues a stagnating city in the middle of the United States; the mayor is tasked to turn Dullsville into a metropolis within 30 years.

While the scenarios were meant to be solved strategically, many players discovered by dropping the tax rate to zero near the end of the allotted timespan, one could heavily influence public opinion and population growth. In scenarios such as San Francisco, where rebuilding and, by extension, maintaining population growth play a large part of the objective, this kind of manipulation can mean a relatively easy victory. Later titles in the series would take steps to prevent players from using the budget to influence the outcome of scenarios.
 * Las Vegas, 2096 – Aliens attack the city. This invasion is spread out over several years, stretching city resources. While somewhat similar to Hamburg, the scenario included casino features as well as animated flying saucers.
 * Freeland, 1991 – Using a blank map without any water form, the mayor must build a game-described megalopolis of at least 500,000 people. There is no time limit in this scenario. While similar to the earlier Dullsville scenario, Freeland took advantage of the SNES version's clear delineations between city sizes, particularly metropolis and megalopolis. In the center of Freeland is a series of trees that form the familiar head of Mario. However, as with all scenarios, the player is unable to build any of the reward buildings from the normal game.

Also, several of the original scenarios, such as the Bern scenario, could be won simply by destroying the city, as they checked only one factor, in this case traffic. In the SNES version of the Boston Nuclear Meltdown Scenario, there was a bug, such that when you are pressing any button, nothing can happen in the game, effectively pausing the game but allowing you to build or take any other actions. In this manner, you can bulldoze all the nuclear power plants before any of them can explode, averting disaster. However, the cost of rebuilding the power infrastructure afterwards made winning the scenario even more difficult than normal if you used this tactic.

SimCity 2000
SimCity 2000 (SC2K) is a simulation/city building video game and the second installment in the SimCity series. SimCity 2000 was first released by Maxis in 1993 for computers running Apple MacintoshOperating System. It was later released on the Amiga, DOS & Microsoft Windows, followed by a release for OS/2.[1] In 1995, SimCity 2000 won "Best Military or Strategy Computer Game" Origins Award.

Overview
New types of facilities include prisons, schools, libraries, museums, marinas, zoos, hospitals and arcologies. Players can build highways, roads, bus depots, railway tracks, subways, train depots and zone land for seaports and airports. There are a total of nine varieties of power plants in SimCity 2000, including coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, wind turbines, hydroelectric dams (which can only be placed onwaterfall tiles), solar and the futuristic fusion power and satellite microwave plant. Most types of power plants have a limited life span and must be rebuilt periodically.The unexpected and enduring success of the original SimCity, combined with the relative lack of success with other "Sim" titles, finally motivated the development of a sequel. SimCity 2000 was a majorextension of the concept; the view was now dimetric instead of overhead, land could have different elevations, and underground layers were introduced for water pipes and subways.

Players can build highways to neighboring cities to increase trade and the population. These neighboring cities are named after British Science-Fiction sitcom characters notably from Red Dwarf.[2]

The budget and finance controls are also much more elaborate—tax rates can be set individually for residential, commercial and industrial zones. Enacting city ordinances and connecting to neighboring cities became possible. The budget controls are very important in running the city effectively.

Another new addition in SimCity 2000 is the query tool. Using the query tool on tiles reveals information such as structure name and type, altitude, and land value. Certain tiles also display additional information; power plants, for example, display the percentage of power being consumed when queried, and querying roads displays the amount of traffic on that tile. Querying a library and selecting "Ruminate" displays an essay written by Neil Gaiman.

Graphics were added for buildings under construction in the residential, commercial, and industrial zones, as well as darkened buildings depicting abandoned buildings as a result of urban decay.

News comes in the form of several pre-written newspaper articles with variable names that could either be called up immediately or could be subscribed to on a yearly basis. The newspaper option provided many humorous stories as well as relevant ones, such as new technology, warnings about aging power plants, recent disasters and opinion polls (highlighting city problems). SimCity 2000 is the only game in the entire series to have this feature (besides the discontinued children's version, SimTown), though newer versions have a news ticker. The newspapers had random titles (Times, Post, Herald, etc.), and prices based on the simulated year. Certain newspapers have a special monthly humor advice column by "Miss Sim". Some headlines have no purpose whatsoever in the game, such as "Bald Radio Found" or "Frog Convention".

Though there is no "true" victory sequence in SimCity 2000, the "exodus" is a close parallel. An "exodus" occurs during the year 2051 or later, when 300 or more Launch Arcologies are constructed; the following January each one "takes off" into space so that their inhabitants can form new civilizations on distant worlds (although the visual representation of the scene consists of the Arcologies exploding in a manner similar to bulldozed buildings, one by one).[3] This reduces the city's population to those who are not living in the Launch Arcologies, but it also opens wide areas for redevelopment and returns their construction cost to the city treasury. This is related to the event in SimEarth where all cities are moved into rocket-propelled domes that then leave to "found new worlds" (leaving no sapient life behind).

The game also included several playable scenarios, in which the player must deal with a disaster (in most, but not all scenarios) and rebuild the city to meet a set of victory conditions. These were based in versions of real-life cities, and some were based on real events such as the 1991 Oakland firestorm, the 1989 Hurricane Hugo in Charleston, South Carolina, or dealing with the 1970s economic recession inFlint, Michigan—but also included more fanciful ones such as a "monster" destroying Hollywood in 2001. More scenarios added with the SCURK included a nuclear meltdown in Manhattan in 2007.

SimCity 2000 was the first Sim game to feature the semi-nonsensical phrase "Reticulating Splines", which means to make a network of splines. Will Wright has stated in an interview that the game does not actually reticulate splines when generating terrain, and he just inserted the phrase because it "sounded cool".[citation needed] The phrase has since been featured in SimCopter, SimCity 4, The Sims, The Sims 2, Spore, The Sims 3, and The Sims Social. It is also used in the web-based game Glitch, the music service Turntable.fm, the study site khanacademy.org and the Humble Indie Bundle Android app.

[edit]Scenarios

 * Charleston: Begins in August, 1989. The city is hit by a hurricane, a recreation of Hurricane Hugo.
 * Dullsville: Begins in June, 1910. The citizens are bored and the objective is to make the town into a metropolis.
 * Flint: Begins in August, 1974. The city has high unemployment, because of the mass exodus of industries. A recreation of the 1970s economic recession.
 * Hollywood: Begins in January, 2001. The city is attacked by a giant robot.
 * Oakland Hills: Begins in October, 1991. A recreation of the Oakland Firestorm of 1991.
 * Davenport, Iowa: Begins in May, 1993. A recreation of the Great Flood of 1993.

Streets of SimCity
Streets of SimCity is a 1997 racing and vehicular combat computer game published by Maxis. One of the game's main attractions was the ability to explore any city created in SimCity 2000 by car in a cinematic style. The game, like SimCopter, is in full 3D and the player's vehicle can be controlled using a keyboard, a joystick, or a gamepad. Another notable feature is the game's network mode, in which players can play deathmatches with up to seven other individuals.

Notably, it is one of the few games in the Maxis series that Will Wright did not work on, and the last Maxis game to be developed and released without supervision by Electronic Arts<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-BtG_page_9_0-0">[1] (which acquired Maxis in 1997 and assisted development of Maxis games thereafter).

[edit]Objectives
The game offers several different modes of play:
 * Career
 * This is the primary, mission-based play mode, in which the player takes part in one of four television shows, with missions being presented as "episodes." There are four different shows to choose from, each with a set of episodes that increase in difficulty.
 * Zippy's Courier Service
 * Players take the role of a package deliveryman who must make a certain number of deliveries in a certain amount of time; over time, his package delivery operation expands.
 * Galahad's Watch
 * Tasks players with first weeding out corrupt cops and then uncovering and stopping a vast criminal plot.
 * Granny's Wild Ride
 * Has players play the part of Granny, who has discovered plans for an alien invasion that must be stopped at all costs.
 * Race for Your Life
 * Involves the player in a number of fast-paced races as a race car driver.
 * A fifth, untitled category also exists, and contains several unrelated missions that include post-apocalyptic deliveries, deathmatches, and, in several cases, following a plot line specific to that mission. The details and objectives vary from mission to mission in this category.
 * Players' Choice
 * This is a non-mission play mode, and allows the exploration of any of the more than fifty included cities or a city built in SimCity 2000 or SCURK (see below). Four levels of difficulty are available in this mode: Sunday Driver, Bad Hair Day, Commuter's Revenge, and Crush Hour. Sunday Driver features neither traffic nor packages to deliver, allowing uninterrupted exploration of a city. Bad Hair Day, Commuter's Revenge, and Crush Hour feature increasingly well-armed and insistent enemy vehicles, as well as more packages. Packages can be recognized by their distinctive appearance and representation on the minimap as green dots. Delivering a package to its destination within the specified time results in a cash reward.
 * SCURK (SimCity Urban Renewal Kit)
 * is an editing program packaged with the game designed to allow the creation and editing (but not simulation) of cities for use with Streets of SimCity.
 * Network
 * A non-mission play mode in which two or more players can establish a deathmatch with a selection of four different connection options. The player can join a room or create his/her own, give themself a name, a car, establish rules, and designate the map on which the match is to take place. Up to seven players at a time may play on a single map. There are two online play specific options:
 * Deathmatch
 * A player is out of the game once the player's car is destroyed; the last remaining player is the victor.
 * Freeplay
 * Players are not withdrawn from the match when their cars are destroyed. This mode also uses a point system. Players may also team up (This feature requires an even number of players on the map). The Streets of SimCity online community is relatively small, so most players end up playing matches with people they already know.

[edit]Vehicles

 * The StreetRat is modeled after an older 60's Volkswagen Beetle model
 * The "Azzaroni" is designed based on the Ferrari 250
 * The "J57" is based on the Ford GT40
 * The "Airhawk" is designed as an early 1970s F-Body (Pontiac Firebird or Chevrolet Camaro) car.
 * The "StreetRat" and "HMX Utility Van" are among the car sprites that appear in SimCity 3000.
 * The Vehicle on the cover, which appears in the menus of the game, is a 1964 or 1965 Ford Thunderbird. Though it appears on the cover and in the menus, it is not playable.

SimCity 3000
SimCity 3000<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> ( SC3K<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">) is a city building<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> simulation<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> personal computer game<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> and the third major installment in the SimCity series<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">. It was published<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> by Electronic Arts<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> (EA) and developed by series creator Maxis<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">, a wholly owned subsidiary of EA. It was released for Windows<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">, Macintosh<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">, and, through an arrangement with Loki Games<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">, Linux<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0" style="line-height:1em;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">[1]

Gameplay and changes from SimCity 2000
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">There are many changes between <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> SimCity 3000<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">and its immediate predecessor <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> SimCity 2000<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">( SC2K<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">). These changes span both the integral city management aspects of the game, as well as its graphical and landscape aspects. More and newer city services are featured. These changes give the game a feel greatly different from that of <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> SC2K<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">The most notable change is the addition of the concept of waste management. In SC3K, once a city has a population greater than 1,000, garbage begins to accumulate, and must be disposed of at the expense of the city. Farms and agricultural structures are also introduced, appearing on large light industrial zones in a city with low land value and little pollution. A new zoning density was also added, totalling three densities, compared to SC2K ' s two. In addition to their limited life span, power plants were also made vulnerable to decreasing maximum output due to age.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Although the concept of neighbor cities was introduced in SC2K, it was greatly expanded upon in SC3K. New for players is interaction with neighbouring cities, negotiating rudimentary business deals with other mayors, such as the sale or purchase of water, electricity or waste management services. These generate a monthly charge which is either added to or deducted from the player's treasury, in accordance with the deal. Canceling a neighbor deal would incur a substantial cash penalty.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Although not strictly a city management aspect, SimCity 3000 simulates the effect of land value on construction much more realistically than in SimCity 2000. In SC3K, land value creates very distinctneighborhoods which tend to contain narrow income bands, creating well-defined slums, middle class areas, and wealthy areas. Land value is also determined by the city center effect where buildings that are at the city center have higher land values and those buildings on the borders have lower land values.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Business deals were another new concept to SC3K; by allowing certain structures (a maximum security prison, casino, toxic waste conversion plant) and Gigamall (a large shopping mall) to be built within the city, the player can receive a substantial amount of funds from them. Business deal structures, however, have serious negative effects on a city<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="line-height:1em;white-space:nowrap;">[vague].

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">There are several changes to the graphical interface in SC3K. Although the game retains the pseudo-isometric dimetric perspective of its predecessor, the actual landscape became more complex and colorful. In SimCity and SC2K, the playable landscape is mostly brown, while in SC3K, the playable landscape is a more realistic green color, along with other colors that progressively change by height, from beige (beach sand) to green to brown (bare ground) to white (snow). In SC2K, land could either be flat or sloped, and all slopes were of the same steepness. In SC3K, there are five distinct steepness of slope, creating more varied landscapes. Also, there are different types of trees which can appear on the playable map.

[edit] Advisors and petitioners
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">SimCity 3000 and its revision, Unlimited, feature seven advisors, each covering a specific issue, who help players make proper decisions in the game by providing recommendations and advice. As opposed to previous versions of SimCity, these advisors actually give in-depth advice, rather than brief summaries of the situation in their department.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">There are also petitioners, many of whom are citizens of the city, that request players to modify city policies, such as lowering tax rates, or enacting an ordinance. Some are outside interests, often pushing proposals which would harm the city in exchange for a boost to its financial coffers.

[edit] News tickers
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">In addition to advisors, a news ticker scrolls along the bottom of the screen, displaying pertinent information about the city in the form of news stories, such as indicating that the city needs more schools, or how well a particular city department is functioning. Generally, when things were going very well in a city, the news ticker would display headlines which are comical, or even nonsensical and often seemingly useless to the player. Examples of such headlines being: "Semicolon declared sexier than comma in grammarian's fête", or "(City Name) prints all wrong numbers in phone book, leads to 15 marriages" or quotes from a "Tommy B. Saif Sez." Other headlines may be labeled "(City Name) News Ticker" or "From the Desk of Wise Guy Sammy". On occasions, the ticker will even provide a foreshadowing of an approaching disaster, for example, sometimes reading "Did you feel that big truck pass by? What? It wasn't a truck?", "Tidal waves reported off coast", "strange sightings reported between Areas 50 and 52", "Mrs. SimLeary buys prize-winning cow", or perhaps another quote from a set range of different headlines before a disaster occurs. The text in the ticker can then be clicked to reveal more about the news item.

[edit] Landmarks
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Independent real-world landmarks are also introduced in SimCity 3000, but are mostly for aesthetic purposes (though placing a building would open up an option in the city ordinances window for tourism advertising), and are free of construction cost. Examples of landmarks featured in the original SC3K include the Parthenon, the CN Tower, Notre Dame, the Bank of China Tower, the Empire State Building, the Pharos of Alexandria and the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center with each tower a separate building, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and even the Fernsehturm TV Tower in Berlin.

[edit] Music
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Another major change from SC2K is the addition of a live music score composed by Jerry Martin. The new soundtrack incorporates New Age and live jazz songs, which add greatly to the overall feel and depth of the game compared to the MIDI music in the previous game. The fifteen tracks from the game are also available as MP3s for download on EA's SC3K website for listening outside of the game.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1" style="line-height:1em;">[2] The jazz musicians are Vincent Herring on alto and tenor saxes, Ryan Kisor on trumpet, Joey Calderazzo on piano, Dwayne Burno on double bass, and Jeff Hamilton on drums.

SimCity 4
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">SimCity 4 (SC4) is a city-building/urban planning simulation computer game developed by Maxis, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. It was released on January 14, 2003. It is the fourth installment in theSimCity series. SimCity 4 has a single expansion pack called Rush Hour which adds features to the game. SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition contained the original game and Rush Hour combined as a singleproduct.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">The game allows players to create a region of land by terraforming, and then to design and build a settlement which can grow into a city. Players can zone different areas of land as commercial,industrial, or residential development, as well as build and maintain public services, transport and utilities. For the success of a city, players must manage its finances, environment, and quality of life for its residents. SimCity 4 introduces night and day cycles and other special effects for the first time in the SimCity series. External tools such as the Building Architect Tool (BAT) allow custom third party buildings and content to be added to the gameplay.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">SimCity 4 was praised for being the second game in the SimCity series to primarily use a 3D engine to render its graphics, the first being SimCity 64 for the ill-fated Nintendo 64DD. It received widespread acclaim, won several awards, and was one of the top ten selling PC games of 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="line-height:1em;">[4] It was however criticised for the difficulty of gameplay and computer performance.

[edit] Regional gameplay
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Neighbor cities play a larger role than in the previous versions of the game. For example, neighbor deals can be established, where a city can exchange resources such as water, electricity, garbage disposal with other cities for money. Players may develop several inter-dependent cities at the same time, eventually populating the entire region.As with previous SimCity titles, SimCity 4 places players in the role of a mayor (or several mayors), tasked with populating and developing tracts of lands intocities, while fulfilling the needs of fellow Sims that live in the cities. Cities are now located in regions that are divided into segments, each of which can be developed. The player has the option of starting the city in a segment of any of three area sizes, in real measurement the smallest has a length of 1 kilometeron a side, and the largest has a length of 4 kilometers on a side.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="line-height:1em;"> [dead link] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height:1em;">[5] The size of a region and its layout of segments can be changed in a bitmap file provided for each region.

[edit] Game modes
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Upon selecting a specific segment in a region, gameplay is divided into three "modes". Mayor and MySim modes become available after choosing a name for the city. The god mode is available before establishing a city.

[edit] God mode
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">The first is the God Mode, which allows players to design or terraform a selected tract of land where the city will be built. God Mode also allows players to trigger disasters, including tornadoes andearthquakes among several others. Players can select an area where a disaster will occur and even control the direction of certain disasters. Most terraforming tools are disabled after the city is named and founded. The player still has some terraforming tools made available in Mayor Mode, although they become very limited and expensive, and can still trigger disasters at will. However, a cheat (or mod) can be used to enable the terraforming tools lost after founding the city:ALT+CONTROL+SHIFT. In addition to these abilities, God Mode also gives the player tools to reconcile the borders of the cities, so as to fix any discrepancies created during the terraforming process, and a day/night cycle adjustment, so that one can make it always day, always night, or alternate between day or night in accordance with the in-universe game clock. Both the ability to reconcile the city edges and the ability to modify the day/night cycle are available even once the city has been established.

<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> Mayor mode

[edit]
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">The second of the modes is the Mayor Mode, where the actual city building is conducted. Several advisors may give advice to the player on how to best manage a city. Players can build transportation networks, which include roads, streets, avenues, highways, railways, subway lines, and bus stations.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Areas of land in this mode can be zoned as residential, commercial or industrial areas where the city will begin to grow. Agriculture is now a separate industrial zone-type, unlike previous version of SimCityenabling for farms to grow regardless of high land value, so long as there exists demand for agriculture and agricultural zones have been provided. Zones are now automatically aligned towards roads and most buildings must be adjacent to a road in order to function properly; streets are automatically created when zoning on large tracts of land. Buildings are now classified into several wealth levels, zone types, and building size stages, which are affected by the region's population and the city's condition. The game simulates urban decay and gentrification with buildings deteriorating accordingly. Buildings originally constructed for occupation by higher wealth tenants can now support lower wealth tenants in the event surrounding factors forces the current tenants to vacate the building; this allows certain buildings to remain in use despite lacking its initial occupants.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height:1em;">[6] Buildings and lots can now be constructed on slopes.

<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Other activities that players can do in Mayor Mode include building civic buildings that need constant funding to work properly, such as schools, hospitals, parks, police stations, jails, fire stations. These buildings now come in two or more sizes compared to the single, universal types that were used in previous games. Settlements also need public utilities such as electricity with more or less polluting and more or less expensive types of power stations, water pumps, water purification plants, and waste management services. Facilities that had previously provided citywide coverage, such as educational facilities and medical facilities, have now been modified to provide a more limited coverage, as it has been with police stations and fire stations in previous SimCity titles. Funding can now be adjusted for individual buildings rather than having to change the funding to all buildings, allowing users to specify how much money should be spent to supply a service in accordance to the local population. Maintenance expenses for public utility facilities will increase as they age. The maximum output of facilities also decreases as they get older. The rate at which facilities age is dependent on the percentage of its capacity being used and the level of funding being given to it.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1em;">[7]

<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> My Sim mode

[edit]
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">The final mode is the MySim mode which enables players to create user-defined Sims, which will live and work in the city the player has created. When moving a Sim into a city, the player can choose from a selection of characters or import others from The Sims. Sims can be killed by certain disasters or catastrophic events, leave the city if conditions are unfavorable, or die of old age. After they die, their "child" sometimes takes over for them by taking their name, house, and job.

[edit] Building designs
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Buildings in SimCity 4 borrow heavily from early 20th century architectural styles, particularly Art Deco and Romanesque Revival, while houses can appear in a traditional American Craftsman style. However, there is an additional, more modern, architectural style similar to Houston's architectural style, and a European style that is based on the skyline of Frankfurt, Germany. The construction of new buildings on zoned areas is now animated. There are a number of buildings based on those found in San Francisco, including the Shell Building (appearing as "Wren Insurance"),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Shell_Building_7-0" style="line-height:1em;">[8] 450 Sutter Street (appearing as "Vu Financial"),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-450_Sutter_8-0" style="line-height:1em;">[9] and the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Building also known as 140 New Montgomery Street (as "The Galvin Corp").<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-140_New_Montgomery_9-0" style="line-height:1em;">[10] The May Company store in Los Angeles, now LACMA West, also appears as "Dennis Department Store."

SimCity 4: Rush Hour
SimCity 4: Rush Hour<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> is the expansion pack<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> for SimCity 4<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> created by EA Games<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> and Maxis<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;">, where the player builds a city<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19px;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> from scratch.

[edit] U-Drive-It
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">If the vehicle sustains excessive damage (either by crashing into other vehicles or traversing into water), it will burst into flames and subsequently explode. This is shown by a colored diamond above the vehicle, in-game called a "plumbob" (much like the ones in The Sims) which can turn from green to red to represent the vehicle's current state.U-Drive-It is a new add-on to Rush Hour, a mode where players can take control of cars, planes, and many other vehicles and drive them around the city. There are two modes of driving: Scenario Mode, where the player has a limited amount of time to win money or prizes, or Free Drive, that allows the player to drive freely.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Some vehicles have certain individual features, such as a police siren on police cars or the capacity to damage sections of the city with munitions from vehicles such as tanks, helicopters and jets. Also, some boats may cast fish nets or tug other boats to safety.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">GameSpot has related U-Drive-It to Streets of SimCity,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-RH_GameSpot_review_0-0" style="line-height:1em;">[1] and indicated the feature including an enhanced physics model partially based on that ofSimCopter.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-RH_GameSpot_preview_1-0" style="line-height:1em;">[2] However, while Streets of SimCity and SimCopter can alternate between a first- and third-person view, U-Drive-It is restricted to third-person.

[edit] Roads and highways
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">The ground highway was also a new addition, which is cheaper but more obtrusive than elevated highways, but still carries the same capacity and can connect to roads in the same way. The t-intersection for highways was also introduced. Another addition is a toll booth which you can put on roads, highways, or avenues to get money. However they make traffic problems worse and lower the player's mayor rating.The newest addition to the roads section are one way roads and avenues. One-way roads are the same size as normal roads only they stretch into one direction, while avenues are 4-lane (2 lanes per direction) dual carriageway roads the same size as highways, with some shrubbery in the center strip (defined by the wealth of buildings on the road). Avenues existed in SimCity 4's predecessor, SimCity 3000; but not in the original SimCity 4.

[edit] Public transportation
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Major changes to the public transportation section were made. The monorail, a fast moving above-ground railway, was introduced for high densityareas. Unlike its similar partner, the above-ground railway (Elevated Rail), the monorail is much more modern-looking and faster, and also can be built over ground level roads, highways, avenues, streets and railways, much like an elevated highway. The elevated rail is cheaper than the monorail and can connect to the city's subway system.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">The public parking garage was also introduced, which when used with stations and bus stops can be used to create a "park and ride" system.

[edit] Water transport
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">The ferry system was introduced as the only change to the water transport section. The ferry system came in two types: Passenger, for people only, and Car and Passenger, for both.

[edit] Route query
<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> Another new feature in Rush Hour is the route query; with it, it is possible to check the routes the Sims use to get to their jobs, allowing the player to see directly where the Sims need to go and how they do it.

<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;"> Disasters

<p style="line-height:19px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:-webkit-auto;">Two new disasters are included in the pack, UFO attack and Autosaurus Wrecks. The UFO attack summons a mother ship which fires a destructive blast and spawns smaller ships. Autosaurus Wrecks is a robotic monster made of road vehicles, which bears similarities to MechaGodzilla. Autosaurus will go on a rampage, and eventually explode.

Credits
SimCity Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity

SimCity 2000 Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity_2000 

SimCity 3000 Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity_3000

SimCity 4 Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity_4

SimCity 4 - Rush Hour Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity_4:_Rush_Hour

Streets of SimCity Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_of_SimCity 

SimCity Series Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity_(series)

Maxis Wikia: http://maxis.wikia.com/wiki/Maxis_Wiki 

SimCity Wikia: http://simcity.wikia.com/wiki/SimCity:SimCity_Wiki 

All information, citation, and reference can be found on these Wiki's.