SimCity, the mother of a generation of popular simulation games, will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its original release in February.
A new version of the game, SimCity3000 (called, inevitably, SC3K), is slated to hit the market that month. The upgrade will allow players to design even more elaborate urban systems -- complete with buildings, political intrigue, crime, and other facts of city life -- and watch them fail or thrive.
As a tip of the hat to the SimFans who have snatched up more than 5 million copies of games like SimCopter and SimEarth, and launched over 40 unofficial sites on the Web, Electronic Arts is making the original version of SimCity available on the Net free of charge.
Visitors to a revamped version of the SimCity Web site can download SimCity Classic as a Java applet that will work with most recent-generation browsers. (The new site is currently in beta, and will replace the one now at SimCity.com after 4 January.)
The Net version, while still a single-player game, allows players to chat and exchange tips with one another while building their imaginary metropolises.
The new SimCity site will offer more resources to players than the current one, which is a marketing site. Says company spokesman Patrick Buechner, "SimCity.com will be a community for SimCity players. They'll be able to swap cities, download new buildings, and learn about real issues facing cities today."
How real? Try garbage. One of the hassles facing mayors of 3K cities will be where to put the trash -- put it in a landfill, burn it, or make a deal with the mayor of a neighboring city to take some of it off your hands, if you've maintained the access roads in and out of town. As the dumps max out (think New York) and the air gets foul (smell L.A.), recycling starts to look like a must -- but, as mayor, should you pass a "Mandatory Trash Pre-Sort Ordinance"?
Sim oy vey!
To help SimFans wrap their minds around such heady matters, the new site will feature guest essayists from the fields of government, architecture, and urban planning. The site currently offers a musing by J. H. Crawford, author of an upcoming book called Carless Cities, on whether the modern city could survive without the automobile. (Crawford thinks it can.)
The Sim family of games has found a permanent niche among players who want demanding, systems-oriented scenarios and intense play, but don't depend on serial slaughter to boost their adrenaline index.
"Even in this day and age of kick-ass graphics and 3-D sound," one fan writes in a forum area at SimCity.com, "SimCity Classic still hits the spot."
