![]() From coal, oil, wind, solar and even nuclear - you get to make the decision, but must be wary of the upfront costs, lifespan and environmental concerns that go along with each. You still have plenty of options when it comes to power generation. Another nice feature is that all of your infrastructure needs (power, water, sewage) are provided underneath the roads, which is a welcome improvement to those of us who were used to manually building power lines and water pipes to service our Sims. For example, laying out a road in any shape and alignment desired will then determine the lot sizes and shapes accordingly to match. This increases player control on the look and feel of their cities exponentially. In the limited time I was given, I was able to get a good idea of how the game played and just how much it has improved.įor starters, while SimCity 4 relied on a simple grid pattern much like the previous versions had, the new SimCity is much more free-form. ![]() ![]() The beta was limited to a one-hour gameplay period, and then I was forced to start all over. The closed beta began with a "Getting Started Scenario," which gave a quick overview, and then I was on my own to build and create my city. Instantly, I was transported back to the fond childhood memories that the previous versions had provided me. While I had not played SimCity in quite a few years - since SimCity 4 - it came back to me immediately, much like riding a bike. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take part in the first closed beta period for the new game back in January. This is heady stuff! You can actually click on individual Sims in the game walking, riding the bus or driving their car and see in real-time where they live, where they work, where they are currently heading and even their individual happiness level. In previous versions a traffic jam animation would be shown to represent a traffic flow problem the new SimCity will produce a traffic jam dynamically by masses of Sim agents that simulate travel to and from individual work locations. These agents are simulation units that represent objects such as water, power and individual workers. ![]() While the previous versions of the game simulated high-level statistics and then created graphical animations to represent the simulated data, the new gaming engine replaces those statistics with agents. The game still utilizes single-use zoning (residential, commercial and industrial) as its primary planning tool, but the interactions between these land uses are much more complex thanks to the new GlassBox simulation engine. Their latest iteration, simply named SimCity, seeks to take sandbox gaming to an entirely different level. Video games have come a long way since the '80s, and with each of its subsequent releases: SimCity 2000, SimCity 3000 and SimCity 4, Maxis increased the level of detail and control that mayors had on their cities. I played the original SimCity when I was 10 years old, and as crazy as it sounds - the game had a lot to do with my career choice.and here I am almost 24 years later. The classic franchise, which started way back in 1989 with the release of the original SimCity, has always strived to make us all into mayors and chief planners of our own living, breathing cities. With the upcoming March release of its latest iteration of SimCity, Maxis seeks to stoke the inner city planner in all of us once again.
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