Please join us on Thursday, December 12th at 3pm to chat with SimCity 4 Designer, MaxisJoseph. Joseph will be talking about the rewards system in SimCity 4. Get there early to submit your questions.
SimCity News
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Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 22:10
Thursday, December 5, 2002 - 22:00
Please join us on Thursday, December 12th at 3pm to chat with SimCity 4 Designer, MaxisJoseph. Joseph will be talking about the rewards system in SimCity 4. Get there early to submit your questions.
Tuesday, December 3, 2002 - 22:00
Learn all about SimCity 4 Artists, Architecture, and Advisors!
Thursday, November 28, 2002 - 22:10
Now you can create your very own SimCity 4 Fansite with the SimCity 4 Fansite Kit. Download yours today!
Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 22:00
Want to see some of the highlights of creating landscapes? Watch the newest video in the Video's area.
Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 22:00
For those of you that missed this event, transcripts are available at SimCity.com.
November 12, 2002
Speaker: Michael McCormick - Designer
Topic: MySims
maxisdevinoch says, Hey everyone! Welcome to our latest SimCity 4 chat.
mosquito9999 smirks.
maxisdevinoch says, With us today is Mosquito9999, a.k.a. Michael McCormick -- Game Designer on SimCity 4! He's here today to answer all your questions about the MySim feature of SimCity 4 and how the advisors in the game work.
maxisdevinoch says, Say hi to your fans, Michael. =>
mosquito9999 says, Hello to all of you SimCity fans!
maxisdevinoch says, And now, our first question! Remember, keep the questions coming!
The speaker is presented with question #4 from kryss2002: What exactly is this MySims feature, and how will it improve gameplay?
mosquito9999 says, My Sims can be thought of as your "sim on the street" advisor that provides local feedback about how things are going in a particular neighborhood.
mosquito9999 says, You can pick your Sim, move them into a house, and watch and listen to what they complain about (or praise you for).
mosquito9999 says, The advisors give you general, overall feedback about your city. My Sims give you local feedback about things right around their house...
mosquito9999 says, You can see where they work, follow them as they drive around town, and their lives can improve.
mosquito9999 says, They can get better jobs as their education improves (if they have local schools).
mosquito9999 says, You can also import Sims from the Sims and move them into your Sim Cities, which is pretty cool if you ask me.
The speaker is presented with question #1 from pokeseth: Can you follow your MySims everywhere?
mosquito9999 says, Pretty much...
mosquito9999 says, Each wealth level of Sim has a different car that they drive. They drive to work in the morning and drive home in the evening.
mosquito9999 says, They post messages about the local attractions that they visit, but they don't actually drive there.
The speaker is presented with question #3 from jqocosm: What happens to a Sim when they move out?
mosquito9999 says, Sims will move out for all sorts of reasons, some good, some bad.
mosquito9999 says, If a Sims wealth improves and a better job is available, they might move to a better home.
mosquito9999 says, Each time a sim moves out they'll post a message letting you know about and telling you where they moved.
mosquito9999 says, They might also move if there house is destroyed by let's say a meteor or giant robot.
mosquito9999 says, Sometimes they make it out alive... and sometimes not.
mosquito9999 says, They can also get forced out by simple redevelopment. Wealthier Sims pushing them out.
mosquito9999 says, If there is no where for a my sim to live in the city, they will pack their bags and leave town for good.
The speaker is presented with question #30 from jqocosm: Can your Sim work in a municipal building, such as a police station, school, hospital?
mosquito9999 says, Yes they can.
mosquito9999 says, My Sims can get jobs in any buildings that provide jobs, and municipal buildings fit the bill.
mosquito9999 says, Even the tennis courts need a sim or two working there. Its fun seeing what job my sim gets.
mosquito9999 says, A job at the local highschool, an assembly line worker at the manufacturing plant, and so on.
mosquito9999 says, My Sim will start complaing if their commute to work is too long.
mosquito9999 says, Also, they'll let you know if they are happy with their commute (or if their is too much traffic by their house).
The speaker is presented with question #58 from jqocosm: Can your Sims become injured or ill?
mosquito9999 says, My Sims have a health score that is affected by local healthcare (hospitals, clinics), pollution and such.
mosquito9999 says, So, yes they can get sick and they'll let you know about it.
mosquito9999 says, Their health can also improve by lavishing care on an area. The sims talk about their trips to the doctors.
mosquito9999 says, They don't get injured per se, but they can get snuffed out by sudden disasters that a mayor might unleash on a town.
mosquito9999 says, My Sims will also post messages about close calls with disasters such as approaching fires.
mosquito9999 says, They have a good chance of making it out alive if their house gets demolished, but they don't always make it.
mosquito9999 says, And Sims get older too. If they get old enough, they will eventually die of old age. If this happens, their offspring (who looks VERY much like the parent) will take over and the generation will be noted in their name (e.g. Bella Goth the 2nd).
The speaker is presented with question #114 from pokeseth: Can you keep track of the wealth of the Sim? By exactly the amount of money they have or by the house they live in?
mosquito9999 says, The house they live in is the primary indicator of my sims wealth.
mosquito9999 says, The starting wealth is determined by the type of house you move the sim into.
mosquito9999 says, For example, you move them into a shabby little cottage they will be low wealth.
mosquito9999 says, Move them into a posh mansion and they start the game at high wealth.
mosquito9999 says, My Sims can increase their wealth level (hint: education is the key to success), but they will never DECREASE their wealth level.
mosquito9999 says, If there is no suitable job for them at their level (high wealth sims require high falutin' jobs such as CEO), they will leave town eventually.
The speaker is presented with question #60 from jasco: If you haven't fully developed a "sim" from the Sims, will we have access to "premade" sims included with Simcity 4?
mosquito9999 says, Yes, SC4 will ship with a bunch of pre-made Sims, some that you'll recognize from the Sims.
mosquito9999 says, You can change their names and horoscope sign. If you do own the Sims, you can import all of your sims into SC4 for use as My Sims.
The speaker is presented with question #140 from super_raptor: how many sims can you have in the game?
mosquito9999 says, You place up to 5 my sims in any one city.
mosquito9999 says, We limited it to five, because getting feedback from any more than that starts to get overwhelming.
mosquito9999 says, Each of the my sims will let you know how things are going for them in the neighborhood.
mosquito9999 says, If you got a whole pile of my sims (10? 20? more?) all giving you feedback, it would be too much to deal with.
The speaker is presented with question #153 from redsalamander666: will your Mysims participate in riots or protests if you cut funding for a civil building they work at? Will they start riots?
mosquito9999 says, No, the my sims are fairly law-abiding.
mosquito9999 says, They might complain about a riot that is getting near their house. We debated letting a my sim lapse into a life of crime, but decided against it. They inform you, the player, about situations.
mosquito9999 says, They like to go to work and come home to a safe house, breathe clean air, have nice services nearby... much like you do.
The speaker is presented with question #142 from nina_kanina: CanMy Sims have pets?
mosquito9999 says, They COULD have pets, but you will never know about it
mosquito9999 says, No, no pets for my sims. You better go buy the sims unleashed
The speaker is presented with question #116 from nina_kanina: Are My Sims always going by car or can they go by bus, train or subway?
mosquito9999 says, Just like the other sims in the city, they can take multiple forms of transportation to work.
The speaker is presented with question #99 from kingleo_the_conqueror: How did you get the idea to add this feature in Simcity 4?
mosquito9999 says, A big idea with SimCity 4 is more local feedback and local simulation.
mosquito9999 says, A bunch of the buildings have user-tunable local effects (fire, police, schools, etc.)
mosquito9999 says, As I said above, advisors generally comment about your overall city. My Sims are trying to give the player more feedback about the LOCAL thang, what's happening in a particualr neighborhood.
mosquito9999 says, I think of them as little local probes... Such as, hmmm... I wonder what a rich sim who lives in that house might look like and what they would have to say. So I drop a sim into the house and blamo, they start posting messages.
mosquito9999 says, We also wanted to tie the game in with the Sims a bit. Fans have always wanted more personalization and identification with those little sims living in their sim cities. Now they can get some of that with the my sims feature.
The speaker is presented with question #202 from jqocosm: What is the size of an area that a Sim considers its neighborhood?
maxisdevinoch says, Remember to keep the questions coming everyone!
mosquito9999 says, They have different areas for different sorts of issues, but generally a my sims neighborhood is about 100 meters.
The speaker is presented with question #166 from pokeseth: If certain events/buildings take place near the MySim's home/apartment, will they react to it? Will they comment on it "The Casino made my wife start gambling"
mosquito9999 says, yes indeed. My sims recognize key commericial services and the presence or lack there of many municpal buildings (health, fire, police).
mosquito9999 says, They have a fondness for new landmarks and rewards that show up near them. If the buildings are built too far away from their homes they won't notice it though.
The speaker is presented with question #226 from petreko: If you make a regional enviroment will we see Sims moving between them if they work/live in different areas?
mosquito9999 says, A my sim prefers to work in their home town, but if they can't find a convient job, they will look in a neighboring city. They drive off the edge during the morning commute and back again at night. They won't actually move to a neighbor city though. If your current city no longer meets their needs, they'll move out of town entirely.
mosquito9999 says, And you won't see them in the neighboring city. Alas.
The speaker is presented with question #240 from ander5rulz: Will MySims have to pay taxes
mosquito9999 says, We can assume they are good tax-paying sims, just like all the others, but they don't have their own finances.
The speaker is presented with question #52 from jqocosm: Can you move a Sim into a farm?
mosquito9999 says, A farm is considered a type of business, so no, they can't live their. They can work on a farm, as they often do if you set up an agriculture town. I frequently see my sims getting jobs as crop pickers at the local Jez Knight Acres farm.
The speaker is presented with question #248 from kristi1105: can I actually see mysims move around inside buildings or do i just see them walk to and from buildings?
mosquito9999 says, To see sims moving around inside a building, you should try playing the sims
mosquito9999 says, In SC4 you see the my sims driving around from home to work and back, with an indicator that shows where they are (to make them easier to find in a busy city).
mosquito9999 says, If they are off screen, the indicators are helpful in tracking them down.
mosquito9999 says, You can also click on the my sim head in the UI panel and that will jump the camera to my sim's current location.
The speaker is presented with question #180 from indigospin: What sort of interesting little quirks are there with the MySims?
mosquito9999 says, Some quirks, let's see...
mosquito9999 says, You can import pets if you've played the Sims Unleashed.
mosquito9999 says, It gets pretty funny when you have fluffy the cat as CEO of a big chemical factory.
mosquito9999 says, All the great fan-created Sim skins could also be imported (if they were moved into a Sims house).
mosquito9999 says, That way you could have wacky alien or lobster my sims living in your town.
The speaker is presented with question #267 from managerjosh: Can we have pets (eg. import them or not?) Earlier you mentioned our mysims can't have pets and I'm confused now. Please clear this up.
mosquito9999 says, My Sims don't have pets.
mosquito9999 says, But they can BE pets.
mosquito9999 says, So, yes pets can be imported. I thought the question meant "can a my sim own a pet in SC4".
mosquito9999 says, You can import an animal and name it and move it into a house and it will find a job and drive to work and do all the useual my sim stuff.
mosquito9999 says, I hope that clears that up.
The speaker is presented with question #264 from jqocosm: Can personality traits of a MySim affect how they react to a city?
mosquito9999 says, Yes, a bit.
mosquito9999 says, The main factors that effect my sims are wealth and location. But other factors affect them too.
mosquito9999 says, Age, health, astrological sign all affect what sorts of messages they will post.
mosquito9999 says, My sims do not currently have all of the personality traits that the Sims do in the Sims.
maxisdevinoch says, Keep those questions coming everyone! A few more and we have to wrap the chat up. =>
The speaker is presented with question #280 from managerjosh: Is Road Rage a factor in affecting our sims?
mosquito9999 says, Not road rage per se, but bad traffic makes for an unhappy my sim.
mosquito9999 says, They will complain about long commutes to work. And it isn't just checking for distance.
mosquito9999 says, A short commute that is HEAVILY congested is a long commute as well.
mosquito9999 says, My sims like it when they work close to home and have smooth uncongested roads. Potholes make them angry.
The speaker is presented with question #289 from nina_kanina: If a My Sim dies or moves out of town, can I replace it with a new My Sim?
mosquito9999 says, Yes you can.
mosquito9999 says, You can have up to 5 my sims in your city at once.
mosquito9999 says, If a my sim moves out of the city, it opens up a spot.
mosquito9999 says, Remember, if the my sim dies of old age, they get replaced by their son or daughter, so that doesn't open up a spot.
mosquito9999 says, But you can always boot a my sim out of your city for whatever reason you want. That puts them back in the pool of available my sims.
mosquito9999 says, If a my sim dies due to a disaster that also opens up a spot.
The speaker is presented with question #295 from petreko: Do you have to use "MySIms" in your city at all or can you build like you we have done previously?
mosquito9999 says, You can play the game without placing a single my sim in the city.
mosquito9999 says, It is an additional feature to give you more local feedback and to help you identify with the little sims in town more.
mosquito9999 says, I like to place a sim in my city as one of the founding members of the town.
mosquito9999 says, That sim will start off in a modest low wealth home. I then keep an eye on them as I'm playing and building my city, checking in on them now and again.
mosquito9999 says, It is then cool when years later they have moved up the ladder and reached high wealth.
mosquito9999 says, You get an award if you manage to keep a sim in the city for 10 generations.
mosquito9999 smiles.
maxisdevinoch says, I'm looking for a good question to wrap up our chat, so give me just one minute to find a nice one to end with. Keep them coming, by the way!
maxisdevinoch says, And our final question of the chat... The speaker is presented with question #297 from jqocosm: What are some of the new features of the advisors?
mosquito9999 says, Besides the advisors animating to express their moods, a cool feature is links in their feedback.
mosquito9999 says, When an advisor tells you that taxes are too high or a particular fire station is complaining about their funding, you can click on a link embedded in the message that can jump and zoom the camera (e.g., to the fire station in question), as well as call up a data map or select the appropriate tool. The links provide handy short cuts and jump you to where the action is.
mosquito9999 says, Some of the links in the my sim messages can jump you right to where the sim works or too their home for example.
mosquito9999 grins evilly.
mosquito9999 grins evilly.
maxisdevinoch says, Well, that concludes our chat for the day! Thanks to Michael McCormick for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer all these questions and thanks to you, the fans, for showing up to ask them!
mosquito9999 says, Thank you all for coming and I enjoyed your questions!
mosquito9999 bows gracefully.
mosquito9999 bows gracefully.
maxisdevinoch says, Thanks again and don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses on your way out!
Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 22:10
Thank you to everyone that attended the chat event. If you were unable to make it, the transcripts are now available at SimCity.com.
Maxisdevinoch says, Howdy everyone! Welcome to the latest in our series of online chats with members of the SimCity 4 team. Today we have producer Sean Decker with us, who's here to talk about Region play! Say hi to your fans Sean!
agentdecker says, ola
maxisdevinoch says, And now for our first question! Remember, keep submitting those questions to me!
The speaker is presented with question #6 from managerjosh: What is Region Play in SimCity 4?
agentdecker says, Getting right down to the meat of the chat.....Region play is a way for your cities to interact with each other in a much deeper way than in previous SCs. Cities have economic as well as political implications to each other now.
The speaker is presented with question #4 from jqocosm: What are some new gameplay possibilities that regions introduce?
agentdecker says, In previous SC your city had to have everything in it. Everyone had to work there, live there, shop there, etc. Now your sims can commute to other cities, get there goods other places, etc. You don't have to have the biosphere mentality. This means that you can specialize your cities. You can create an all industry city or a resort town. You can change your taxes so only the rich or only the poor will want to live there. You dream it. You make it.
The speaker is presented with question #15 from centurygamer: How many regions do we get to play in?
agentdecker says, We are shipping the game with 6 regions, 4 real world and 2 we have created. You will also be able to make regions from scratch using the terrain editing tools in the game. Another possiblity is for you to use data from SimCity.com (not available yet) and create any region in the USA with that data. Sorry-rest of the world, we've only gotten good data from the US government so far.
The speaker is presented with question #30 from salvadorpatino: Can we build inter region highways and other ways to have all our region connect?
agentdecker says, Not at this time. All of your play has to be contained within a region. You can, of course have that highway go throughout your region (from one city to the next).
The speaker is presented with question #35 from salvadorpatino: If we want to have a small island in our region, how could we connect it to the rest of the region without having to build a huge industrial port?
agentdecker says, Great question. You can connect your island by building a bridge/causeway (like the real world).
The speaker is presented with question #36 from jqocosm: Do land values of a city affect other cities in the same region?
agentdecker says, Not per se. Cities do effect the demand for places for high wealth people to live. So if you have a great, rich community that is meeting the needs of the rich in your region, the demand for housing for them in other cities will be low.
The speaker is presented with question #46 from space_fighter: Can you propose 'deals' with other cities or will the game automatically do it like in SC 3000 Unlimited?
agentdecker says, Deals are completely up to you. The nice thing in SC4 is that you can "chain" your deals. So, in one corner of the region you could have a city that supplies a lot of power. This city makes a deal with the next city. This city in turn makes a deal will all of the ones it is connected to and so on. So you could have centers of power, water and garbage collection for your entire region, if that's what you want.
The speaker is presented with question #50 from 1337smurf: Can a region have one Airport and Seaport that all cities in the region can share?
agentdecker says, Airports and seaports increase the ability of the city they are in to grow commercial and industrial businesses. So, if you are going to have a largely industrial city, locating it on water would be wise.
The speaker is presented with question #65 from frontenac: Will we be able to see "MySim" traveling from one city to an other, and will we know in which city this "MySim" is working and/or traveling?
agentdecker says, Yes. If your sim has a job in another city, you may catch them at work (usually 9-5). When commuting, you will see them driving to the edge of the city you are in and off to their job.
The speaker is presented with question #75 from frontenac: I saw an example of a regional map. All the cities did not have the same size. How does it work? Can we decide the size of each city/region?
agentdecker says, So each region is diced up differently. Players will be able to dice up regions they create into whatever pattern they choose (as long as it fits the overall region size).
maxisdevinoch says, Just one minute here, folks. Sean's run off to get something.
agentdecker says, Cliff really wanted a coke.
agentdecker says, so i had to go get it for him, sheesh
The speaker is presented with question #97 from smirkozor: As you can only place 5 mysims in ur city, are you able to place 5 mysims in each region that you have built in?
agentdecker says, You can place 5 Sims in each city within a region. So if you have 40 cities, that's 200 Sims in that region alone.
maxisdevinoch says, Actually, it was just water, but you'd be surprised how friendly people are here at Maxis. =>
maxisdevinoch says, And I figured producers don't have all that much to do, really. =P
maxisdevinoch says, Actually, we were busy figuring out this question....
The speaker is presented with question #100 from andromedaroach: How much real-world land does the entire region represent?
agentdecker says, Per Billy Hsu, our Development Director, there are 16,777,216 meters in a region.
The speaker is presented with question #122 from space_fighter: Once you've diced a region can you change it or is it stuck like that forever?
agentdecker says, It is "stuck" like that. You can, of course create a new one.
The speaker is presented with question #144 from lancer088: How many city sizes are there? How do they compare to SC3K Cities? Is there only 1 size for regions?
agentdecker says, There are 3 sizes (small, medium, large) which are the same as SC3k cities. There are different size regions.
The speaker is presented with question #157 from salvadorpatino: can we have national (or regional) parks in our region? Areas like a made up grand cayon that atracts turists, or other natural wonders?
agentdecker says, In a different way than that. We have rewards that can only be achieved when certain requirements are met for a region. Examples would be the Tourist trap or the Major league stadium. No National Parks at this time.
The speaker is presented with question #78 from jennao: Will there be automatically generated neighbours (like in SC3K) or will you have to make them all yourself?
agentdecker says, No. You will make every city in your region. It is totally up to you as to what cities are there and what their makeup is.
The speaker is presented with question #166 from jqocosm: If there is infrastructure on both sides of a city border, will it still be possible to 'reconcile edges'?
agentdecker says, So this brings up an interesting point. Lets say you build a city and then go to a city next door. In this new city you decide to do a little terrain editing. Make a river, raise a mountain, whatever. When you go back to your original city, if the cities are to mesh up, you can reconcile the edges. In doing so, you make destroy some of your infrastructure. You will be show (with a graphical overlay) what areas of your city will be effected. You can, of course, choose not to reconcile and have the differences in height remain.
The speaker is presented with question #181 from space_fighter: How exactly do you switch between cities in a region? Or even switch between different regions?
agentdecker says, The old traditional way. You exit your city and go to the region mode. You can then go to another city or another region.
The speaker is presented with question #146 from trekker2000: Is SC4 designed to be expanded on in the future with expansion packs as you did with The Sims?
agentdecker says, What do you think?
The speaker is presented with question #187 from trekker2000: As region play is going to probably consume a lot of hard drive space, can you give an estimate of how much we should expect to use up on our hard drives for SC4?
agentdecker says, 1 Gig is the HD space for the game itself. Regions are taking up about 5-25 MB depending on the number of sims living there.
The speaker is presented with question #188 from andromedaroach: If you're building a city in a map at the edge of the region, can you make transportation connections to the greater SimNation?
agentdecker says, Yes. Any connection to an unincorporated city within your region or off the region will connect that city to the SimNation\
The speaker is presented with question #197 from doggyspew: how many citizens can occupy the region (in it´s largest form)
agentdecker says, Ummm.....how many months straight do you have to play this game? Millions. Lots. Many, many, many.
The speaker is presented with question #206 from headchef0: Is SC4 designed to be played online?
agentdecker says, We have something in the works right now on that very subject, but its too soon to talk about details.
The speaker is presented with question #229 from jennao: Is there going to be a "region exchange"?
agentdecker says, Players can send each other regions and Maxis is working on a way to help players facilitate that exachange.
The speaker is presented with question #195 from salvadorpatino: can we have cities that are totally dependent on agriculture in our region?
agentdecker says, Yes. We really wanted to make farm towns a feature in SC4. In fact there are rewards that you can only get based on the amount of farms in a given city or the region.
The speaker is presented with question #243 from salvadorpatino: could you tell us what you think is the best feature in region play?
agentdecker says, Personally for me, it is making specialized cities. Making a university town. Making my own High tech Silicon Valley. Making a resort town. An industrial powerhouse. All of these cities work within the context of each other an help my region grown. So I have to look at how I build a city on a much larger level.
The speaker is presented with question #249 from van_de_graaf: what are region economics like. do big cities support your farms , is there a trade balance?
agentdecker says, There are two major factors to consider, demand and desirability. Demand is spread throughout cities, so if one city has a lot of industrial job and not enough sims to fill those jobs, there will be demand for residences. If you started a new city next door, then the demand would transfer over. Now, in order for the Sims to want to live there, that city has to be desirable. It has to have the services they want. Schools, fire protection, etc. So yes, there is a balance of jobs, people and commerce.
maxisdevinoch says, Just one or two more questions and then we'll have to let Sean get back to fetching me wat.... I mean, back to his hard work.
The speaker is presented with question #199 from 1337smurf: What if you have cities on opposite sides of your region, will it be possible to make connections with them?
agentdecker says, You will actually have to create those connections through the interveaning landscape with rails, subways, highways, etc.
The speaker is presented with question #272 from nina_kanina: how difficult will it be for a beginner to learn the game?
agentdecker says, Actually we focused a lot of our UI effort in making it easy for someone who doesn't know the game to get in and play. Every button in the game has an extensive tool-tip on it. Almost a mini-manual, which tell you what it is and when to use it (this can be turned off at anytime). The simulator anticipates what you want to do. If you are drawing a road and start going over water, it will pop up with instructions on how to create a bridge. We have made it much easier to get a city started, but more difficult to get to and maintain large cities.
maxisdevinoch says, Thanks to everyone who turned out for the chat and thanks to Producer Sean Decker for taking time out of his hectic schedule to swing by and answer all your questions!
agentdecker says, Thanks all for the chance to talk to you about SimCity 4. Our release date is mid-January, so look for it in stores at that time. It is a wonderful game and I know you will be very pleased with it.
agentdecker says, Thanks again.
mayorsteven says, Thanks for coming, guys!
maxisdevinoch says, Don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses on your way out! Enjoy your afternoons/evenings!
Tuesday, November 12, 2002 - 22:00
We will be hosting a chat event on Thursday, November 14th at 3PM (PST) with SimCity 4 Designer, Michael McCormick where he will answer all of your questions about the MySim feature in SimCity 4. Get there early to submit your questions.
Tuesday, November 5, 2002 - 22:00
We have posted 5 new articles from the SimCity 4 production team about Props, Customizing You Cities, Automata, Scripting, and Region Play!
Thursday, October 31, 2002 - 22:00
Thank You to everyone that showed up for our developer chat with SimCity 4 Producer, Frank Simon. We have posted the transcripts from this event at SimCity.com for those that were unable to be there.
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Everyone give a big hello to MaxisFrank, Producer of SimCity 4! He's here to answer design and gameplay questions many of you may have about SimCity 4, although he's also up to answering the random odd question, so feel free to start submitting them.
doggyspew {question presented} How many Sims can occupy you´re city?
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Our first question! Keep them coming!
maxisfrank {public msg} actually a couple of ways to answer this, so I'll give ya both....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...first a given city can hold a large number of occupants based on the size of the city....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...a large city can theoretically hold about 1.2 million inhabitants....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...i say theoretically because it varies based on the TYPE of people that live there....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...wealthy people like more space
maxisfrank {public msg} the other way i would answer this is the number of SIms from The Sims that you might import...
maxisfrank {public msg} ...MaxisJoseph has already talked about this, so I'll just say that you can turn loose 5 of them on your unsuspecting population
wils2350 {question presented} How or will zoning be different
maxisfrank {public msg} zoning has undergone a major facelift...
maxisfrank {public msg} ...the most striking change is the fact that streets will be placed as your zones are laid out....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...buildings will orient themselves towards these streets....
maxisfrank {public msg} ....it really gives the city a look more like a real city...well, in addition to creating some traffic problems (just like real cities)
jqocosm {question presented} is it true that there are cemeteries in the game?
maxisfrank {public msg} but of course
maxisfrank {public msg} in fact, they'll...well...um grow as your population gets larger
maxisfrank {public msg} not to mention a few 'effects' that cemetaries will have on say certain holiday's that may or may not be in October
bartons2 {question presented} do cars appear and disappear like in SC3, or do they actually go places?
maxisfrank {public msg} one of my favorite things in SC4 is the traffic...it's not one for one with the population, but instead is a represantive model of the traffic patterns in your city
maxisfrank {public msg} you will actually see traffic jams occuring at different times of the day as people commute to and from work
maxisfrank {public msg} of course, if you're a kind and considerate mayor (which all of you are, I'm sure you'll help your Sims out by providing alternate means for them to get to work...or shopping...or....
doggyspew {question presented} Do you see an connection point to your city, if you have connected it with a road from another city?
maxisfrank {public msg} yep! in fact this is one of the key aspects to a successful city in SC4
maxisfrank {public msg} neighbor connections can be used for quite a few things
maxisfrank {public msg} from bringing in residents from nearby cities to run your industries, to exporting the goods your industries create to the rest of the region
maxisfrank {public msg} and not just roads can connect, highways, subways, pipes, power lines, seaports, airports....egads there's quite a few ways to connect your cities
hugzncuddles {question presented} Are there any changes to the landscape possibilities, when generating them?
maxisfrank {public msg} oh yeah! you can truly sculpt the terrain to how you want it to look
maxisfrank {public msg} from raising mountains to lowering valleys....seeding forests, gouging out valleys
maxisfrank {public msg} you can spend hours just playing the 'terrain game' before ever getting to your cities
bigjoekaiz {question presented} Are highways any easier to use this time around?
maxisfrank {public msg} yep, we've done some things that should make them not only easier to use, but also to make them more visually appealing
maxisfrank {public msg} one of the things that drove me nutz in SC3000 was the braiding of highways if they got too complicated
maxisfrank {public msg} we've put together a network system this time that really allows for a lot more creativity on the user's part and allows them to create highways they way they want them to look
maxisfrank {public msg} some of the things that make them easier are the previews on cloverleafs and onramps so you can line them up exactly where you want them
maxisfrank {public msg} the fact that bridges and tunnels are automagically created when you go over valleys or water or steep terrain also makes it much easier
sam_lawrence {question presented} How many Rewards will there be, and what are some of the more important ones?
maxisfrank {public msg} oooo, a question that I get to be mysterious about
maxisfrank {public msg} there are a good deal more rewards this time around....and my favorite part is that they are tied to HOW you play the game
maxisfrank {public msg} so one day you may decide to create a happy city (read high mayor rating) and get a Major Art Museum
maxisfrank {public msg} the next day you might decide that population is your ultimate goal and instead you earn the Stock Exchange
maxisfrank {public msg} any way you decide to play, the way to earn these are defined in the catalog (so I guess it's not too mysterious)
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Keep those questions coming!
bigjoekaiz {question presented} What kind of dynamic feedback is available in the game... things that you can just zoom in and see, such as traffic jams in an area?
maxisfrank {public msg} this is something we've spent a good deal of time on to make better in SC4
maxisfrank {public msg} we all believe here that you should be able to play the game while watching the city develop around you
maxisfrank {public msg} things that we've put in that aid the player in this are: crimes happening (some of these are rather hysterical),
maxisfrank {public msg} building conditions distressing as things turn bad...
maxisfrank {public msg} props changing on the lots to reflect high crime, or trash build up....
maxisfrank {public msg} if you let pollution get out of control, the smog will roll in
maxisfrank {public msg} traffic, of course is another dynamic visual....like I said before, we want you to play your city by watching it develop....hopefull spend a little less time in the charts & graphs (although, they're there too, just in case you like that kinda thing)
jqocosm {question presented} has commerce been given more importance than in SC3k?
maxisfrank {public msg} ok, making and assumption that you're talking about C (commercial) here....
maxisfrank {public msg} we've broken C into two major parts....commercial services and commercial office
maxisfrank {public msg} this allows us to provide local residents with things like shopping malls (Cs) and business districts with gleaming skyscrapers (Co)
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Hang on one second, folks... we're experiencing technical difficulties...
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Oooooookay. That was odd.
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Give Frank just one second, he'll be right back...
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Yay!
maxisdevinoch {public msg} And all is well again...
maxisfrank {public msg} whew
maxisfrank {public msg} commercial services are things like movie theatres, shopping malls
maxisfrank {public msg} commercial offices are things like those beautiful skyscapers, office plazas
maxisfrank {public msg} obivously commercial office pays much better than commercial service so getting to commercial office will attract the wealthier residents....which of course leads to more tax dollars to spend!
jc20 {question presented} how do the different cities tie into the region. Are there just blocks that each city inhabits, or are their rural spaces inbetween the cities? Is there some type of reginal government where say, you have to work with the other cities to develop a freeway? or meet some type of goal working as a region?
maxisfrank {public msg} the cities in your region are geographically connected to each other, that way you can actually build the entirety of your region the way you want it
maxisfrank {public msg} you can play each and every city in your region, and you make the decisions for how each of those cities is built out
maxisfrank {public msg} the way you would get a freeway across an entire region is by building it city by city....the good news is when you get to the edge of one city it will let you make a neighbor connection to the neighboring city
maxisfrank {public msg} once you load the neighboring city, it will have a nice little highway nub for you to build from (just to make sure you can line things up nicely)
alis31 {question presented} how is pollution modeled this time around?
maxisfrank {public msg} ok, four major types of pollution we deal with in SimCity4
maxisfrank {public msg} air, water, garbage & radiation....hopefully you won't see much of radiation (unless of course, you are a not so nice mayor and liberally use the disaster toys)
maxisfrank {public msg} air pollution has two major contributors, dirty industry and traffic
maxisfrank {public msg} water pollution also comes from dirty industry and quite a bit from agricultural zones as well (this seems to be a shock for a lot of people)
maxisfrank {public msg} garbage of course mostly comes from the people living in your cities, ignore recycling and find yourself buried in trash!
everjams {question presented} Does each city have it's own budget or doest it all go to a regional budget
maxisfrank {public msg} each city has its own budget, but you can 'share' the burden of things between cities
maxisfrank {public msg} for example, place a power plant in one city and do a neighbor deal for power to get things hopping in neighbors
maxisfrank {public msg} these deals are great sources for additional cash to use in the supplying city as well
nina_kanina {question presented} how are the agricultural zones made. Can you choose your crop?
maxisfrank {public msg} you don't get to choose a specific crop, but instead of trying to get 'optimal' agriculture conditions, in SC4 you can zone agriculture right off the tool bar
maxisfrank {public msg} crops vary between fields that you lay out so you get something of a patchwork of different crop types in your city
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Let's do one more good question before we let Frank get back to work. Gotta get the game done, ya know! =>
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Looking for a good question to end on....
maxisdevinoch {public msg} And our last question...
halveblue {question presented} What are the transit options?
maxisfrank {public msg} we
maxisfrank {public msg} 've really put a lot of thought into how the Sims get from point A to point B in your cities
maxisfrank {public msg} they can walk to work, if it's close enough
maxisfrank {public msg} they can drive to work via streets/roads/highways
maxisfrank {public msg} they can take the bus (if you've provided bus stops for them)
maxisfrank {public msg} they can take the train (if you've provided train stops for them)
maxisfrank {public msg} or they can take the subway (if you've provided subway stops for them)
maxisfrank {public msg} different wealth residents want different ways of getting to where they want to go
maxisfrank {public msg} the higher wealth residents tend to drive (or be driven in their limos)
maxisfrank {public msg} while the rest of us are always looking for the most efficient way to get there, be it by mass transit, driving or walking
maxisfrank {public msg} all of these options allow the mayor to manage the traffic in their cities and between their cities
maxisfrank {public msg} I just wanted to take a second and thank you all for the wonderful questions....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...we've been really sweating out the details of SimCity4 for you so that you have as much fun playing the game as we do! Feedback from our community has really been a great source of inspiration in addition to fuel to keep us running to the end!
maxisfrank {public msg} Thanx again!
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Thanks again to Frank for taking time out of his frantic schedule to break out of the shell of development and come down to chat with us for a while! We'll have a transcript of the event up soon! Thanks for coming everyone!