15

SIMCITY (1989): BUILDING BLOCKS FOR FUN AND PROFIT

Maxis’ SimCity, first published in 1989,¹ is one of those games whose premise doesn't sound much fun at all. Only the most open-minded of gamers would have found a game about city planning anything to get excited about, and Will Wright had to work hard to find a publisher. Who wants to be mayor of a virtual town, overseeing seemingly tedious matters as constructing highways and power grids? On paper, the game looks like some disgruntled developer's idea of a joke. Yet Wright was able to use these atypical gameplay concepts to make one of the most critically acclaimed games ever, launching a best-selling series of sequels and spin-offs that is still vibrant today. SimCity not only established Wright as one of the world's foremost game developers, but introduced a new subgenre of strategy games typically called “god games” or “system simulation games,” though “management games” might be the best descriptor. Such games focus on simulating complex systems, such as the ecosystem in Maxis’ SimEarth: The Living Planet (1990) or the railroad transportation system in Microprose's Railroad Tycoon (1990).

The fun of these games doesn't come from obliterating enemies or rescuing princesses. Instead, they're about observing the results of one's decisions played out on a grand scale. They are system games that encourage tinkering and experimentation, and the grounding in everyday reality adds to the thrill. Few of us have firsthand experience flying to outer space or gunning down enemy soldiers, but almost all of us have spent some time in a city. Many of us have wondered why cities are the way they are, and what would happen if someone came along and changed things. These games offer precisely the opportunity to be in charge—to make the big decisions that have a real impact not just on our own lives, but on all the citizens in the community.

SimCity appears quite intimidating, with an array of windows stuffed with information. However, the tidy graphics and catchy music suggest a less serious, more playful tone. Players could either build a new city from scratch or take control of one based on a historical scenario. Shown here is the San Francisco setting.

These games are also wonderfully educational, encouraging us to see the world as a collection of complex, intertwining systems; a constantly evolving mosaic whose pieces interact with one another in often surprising ways. They can model anything from economics to evolution. Will raising taxes stimulate or stall the economy? How should a mayor plan and respond to natural (or even extraterrestrial) disasters? How does an intelligent, sentient being evolve from a unicellar organism? SimCity and its many sequels, clones, and derivatives vary widely in theme and content, but they're all about managing a complex, intricate system. They are both virtual laboratories and electronic playgrounds.

Before moving on to a specific discussion of SimCity, it's worthwhile to mention some games that predated or may have influenced its development. As usual, even a highly original game like SimCity has its precedents: its gameplay concepts didn't spontaneously come into being. We've already discussed Don Daglow's Utopia in our discussion of Dune II (see Chapter 6, “Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (1992): Spicing up Strategy in Real Time”), but it's worth mentioning again here. This 1981 game for the Mattel Aquarius and Intellivision put players in charge of a small island economy. The goal was to generate revenue by constructing buildings and pacifying the populace. It was intended for two players, who would simultaneously work to build up their respective island while inciting rebellion on the other's. Occasionally the computer would generate a random natural event, such as a tropical storm or hurricane.

Box back for the Commodore 64 version of SimCity.

Critics such as William Cassidy of GameSpy and T. Byrl Baker of GameSpot have described it as an unsung hero, a progenitor of both Wright's SimCity and Sid Meier's Civilization, a turn-based game mentioned in Chapter 6 that we'll discuss again later in this chapter. However, it's not clear whether Wright or Meier ever played the game, and similarities could be coincidental. Daglow began work in 1987 on a computer game version of the boardgame Civilization from Avalon Hill, but was promoted to an executive position at Broderbund and never completed the game that established Meier's legend. He also signed the original distribution deal for SimCity with Maxis and Broderbund, defending Wright's vision against “bureaucratic meddling.”²

Back of the box for Coleco's impressive Fortune Builder.

A slightly later and even more obscure predecessor is Circuits and Systems’ Fortune Builder, a 1984 game for the Coleco ColecoVision. This game has much in common with SimCity. Players began with an empty map, then built roads and all manner of buildings whose earning potential depends on their proximity to other kinds of buildings (i.e., a hotel next to a factory will not do well). The goal is to generate a specified net worth before reaching the time limit. It also offered a two-player mode, which used a split-screen to let players compete in real time. As with Utopia, there were also natural disasters that could affect gameplay.

Although Utopia and Fortune Builder both have features found in later sim games, neither achieved the staggering success of SimCity. One reason could simply be a matter of bad timing; both were console games, a market that collapsed in 1984. By 1989, few gamers cared about old ColecoVision or Intellivision games. It's interesting to speculate, though, what might have happened if these enterprising games had been ported to the Apple II or Commodore 64.

If Will Wright wasn't inspired by Utopia or Fortune Builder, where did he get his ideas? Wright himself often credits his wide reading and research interests. These include Jay Forrester's urban planning theories (SimCity), James Lovelock's Gaia theory (SimEarth); and Christopher W. Alexander, an architect concerned with “pattern languages” (The Sims, see Chapter 22, “The Sims (2000): Who Let the Sims Out?”). According to Wright, “I'll find some subject that I'm reading about that fascinates me. It will pique my interest and then I'll slowly become obsessed with it. About half of those subjects I'll end up seriously pursuing as a game project.”³ This approach has seemed to work well, and no doubt at least some fans of the games have found themselves interested enough in the ideas behind them to conduct their own research.

A more immediate inspiration for SimCity was Raid on Bungeling Bay, Will Wright's first game. It was released in 1984 for the Commodore 64 and later ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System and MSX platforms. Raid on Bungeling Bay is an action game set in a war zone; it's the player's task to fly a “helicraft” around a 2D map, dropping bombs on six different factories. The gimmick was that the factories evolved over the course of the game, developing more powerful weapons to use against the player and eventually a super weapon—a battleship—to destroy civilization itself.

Although Raid on Bungeling Bay is considered a classic by many, Wright himself had more fun creating a map editor to aid in the game's development. With that, an odd idea occurred to him: could the process of making a map (or, by extension, a full-fledged city) be fun for other people? It was this question that led Wright to his research on urban planning. Besides the emphasis on urban planning, the game would also have another novel feature—there was really no way to win or lose. Wright describes the experience quite aptly himself: “My games are more like a hobby—a train set or a doll house. Basically they're a mellow and creative playground experience.”⁴

Not surprisingly given its radical nature, Wright had a hard time finding a major publisher after he completed a version for the Commodore 64 in 1985. Wright described his experiences trying to get Broderbund interested in the concept: “They kept saying, ‘Where's the ending? When do you win or lose?’ And they wanted to have an election where you got kicked out of office or not. And I was like, ‘No, it's even more fun if you're doing it badly.’ And they just parked it. They decided they weren't going to release it.”⁵ Wright ended up having to form his own publishing company, Maxis, with Jeff Braun. Broderbund finally published the original Commodore 64 version and ports for the Apple Macintosh and Commodore Amiga in 1989, with a PC version following shortly after.⁶ Let's take a look now at the game itself.

Taken on its own, Wright's Raid on Bungeling Bay is a classic action game with depth, but its most significant historical role would be in influencing SimCity’s development. SimCity’s final terrain model would look very similar to what is seen in this screenshot from the Commodore 64 version of Raid on Bungeling Bay.

SimCity puts players in charge of a city, either one they build from scratch or an existing one that requires some type of reform (a “scenario”). Players are allocated a budget for setting up buildings, basic utilities (electricity and water), and highways. Cities must be divided into three zones: Residential, where the citizens or “Sims” live; Industrial, which houses factories and warehouses; and Commercial, where the Sims go to shop and tend to business. Players can adjust the tax rate to receive more income, as well as set a budget for police, fire, and transportation departments (the Super Nintendo version adds a casino and amusement park for generating additional revenue). All of these factors affect other factors; for instance, densely populated areas with low property values have an increased crime rate. Such a situation might occur in a city with too many factories and not enough or poorly situated residential zones. Likewise, the player has to make sure that the city is properly powered; natural disasters can cause blackouts that, if untended, quickly lead to drastic problems.

Screenshot from the Commodore 64 version of SimCity.

However, the gameplay isn't necessarily about building a wealthy or well-ordered city, and it's even possible for players to introduce their own natural disasters (such as an earthquake or Godzilla-like monster attack) just to view the awesome consequences. This is a point Wright has made frequently in interviews: sometimes, doing poorly in this game is as much fun as doing well.

For the first few months after its release, sluggish sales indicated that Broderbund's executives were justified in their skepticism. Fortunately for Wright and Maxis, however, word began to spread. The game received its big break when Newsweek covered it in a full-page story, instantly catapulting it from the fringe to the mainstream. The game enjoyed a tremendously broad appeal, winning over large audiences who had formerly cared very little for computer games. The game was viewed as not just fun but educational, and it found its way into 10,000 classrooms.⁷ The game eventually sold millions of copies, a fact that made a sequel practically inevitable. However, the next few “Sim” games would not be direct sequels, but a plethora of mediocre spin-offs. The first was SimEarth: The Living Planet, a game released for a range of platforms in 1990.

SimEarth is a planetary ecologist's game. The dense interface, steep learning curve, and lack of immediate feedback made it inaccessible to most gamers.

SimEarth, which was never as well received as SimCity, put players in control of a planetary ecosystem that they could affect by altering its temperature, atmosphere, and landmasses, then observing how these conditions influenced the evolution of living organisms. The game was based on James Lovelock's famous Gaia hypothesis. The hypothesis describes the earth itself as a living organism; its organs are living and nonliving entities, who interact in powerful and dynamic ways. Although this idea is certainly intriguing, the game's steep learning curve and complex interface (described in the manual as a “planetary spreadsheet”) turned away gamers looking for a more SimCity-like experience. Lovelock himself contributed to the game's manual, a 212-page document loaded with facts, theories, and even the occasional one-liner, such as “is this a random world or did you planet?”.

The next Sim game was SimAnt, released in 1991, also for a variety of platforms. This ant colony simulation attracted a bit more attention than SimEarth, probably because of its less intimidating interface and subject matter. This game was followed by another abstract/scientific title called SimLife, a 1992 game that focused again on ecosystems. However, this time players could modify the genetic code of plants and animals. Wright would return to this theme in 2008 with Spore (discussed later), though in a much more accessible fashion. In 1993, Maxis released SimFarm, a game that, as the title suggests, had players managing a farm.

SimAnt put players in charge of an ant colony. The colorful graphics and zany situations (such as being destroyed by the “evil lawnmower”) made the game more accessible than other sim titles, but it never attained SimCity's level of success.

SimCity 2000 offered a substantial leap in audiovisuals, along with new buildings and events. Shown here is a disaster caused by a giant robot.

None of these spin-offs achieved anywhere near the popularity of the original, which finally received a true sequel, SimCity 2000, in 1993. This game marked a huge leap forward in audiovisuals, with the city now shown in isometric perspective instead of the top-down view of the original. This angled perspective made the structures look more realistic; taller buildings visibly looked taller. The sequel also added many new structures and options, such as subways, airports, and seaports. Although all the new bells and whistles pleased fans and critics, others were more impressed with the SimCity Urban Renewal Kit, which allowed players to alter the in-game images to represent particular buildings or settings. The award-winning game reestablished the franchise and was widely discussed in gaming circles and beyond.

SimCopter is one of the more unusual sim-games, casting players in the role of a helicopter pilot. The gimmick was that maps from SimCity 2000 could be imported into the game, allowing players to fly through a 3D re-creation of their own cities.

Nearly a dozen other spin-offs followed SimCity 2000. Two of the most intriguing of these are SimTunes and SimCopter. SimTunes (1996), designed by Toshio Iwai, is a musical game for children. Players draw a picture using dots of various colors, each of which represents a certain musical note. Then up to four “bugz” crawl over the picture, playing the notes of the resulting composition. Players could also add functions, such as having the bugz turn or jump. SimCopter (1996) is a 3D game that puts players in the cockpit of a helicopter. Gameplay consists of redirecting traffic, apprehending criminals, fire fighting, rescues, and (naturally) transporting people. One nice innovation was the ability to import maps from SimCity 2000. However, Maxis was later embarrassed when it was discovered that a disgruntled designer named Jacques Servin had inserted some unauthorized code. The code caused mobs of shirtless male “himbos” with fluorescent nipples to appear on certain dates, hugging and kissing each other. Maxis quickly removed the code, but the word had spread.⁸ Streets of SimCity, released in 1997, was a racing and “vehicular combat” game that also allowed players to import maps from SimCity 2000. However, the game is now considered the black sheep of the Sims line, mostly because of its poor collision detection, driving simulation, and quality assurance.

Along with better audiovisuals and more buildings, SimCity 3000 was significantly more complex. Players could now negotiate with neighboring cities, selling or buying services like water or power.

The third official sequel, SimCity 3000, appeared in 1999. By this point, 3D games had taken over the industry, and Maxis's management “wanted the game to be 3D so much that it wasn't receptive to the people who were actually making the game telling them it wasn't going to work,” according to Ocean Quigley, Maxis's art director.⁹ Unfortunately for Maxis, the intricate detail of the SimCity series made a move to full 3D difficult indeed; the graphics and processors of the era simply couldn't handle it. The long line of so-so Sim titles had cost Maxis much of its credibility and revenue, and the floundering company was finally acquired by Electronic Arts. Luc Barthelet was named the general manager, and the young French engineer faced a difficult job salvaging the project. One of his first decisions was that SimCity 3000 would not be a 3D product, a choice that finally brought focus back to the project.

SimCity 3000 may not have been 3D, but it did boast great graphics and even more sophisticated gameplay. Naturally, there were more structures to build, which now included farms and wastewater management services. Players could also interact with neighboring cities to work out business deals or purchase services. There was also a greater emphasis on land values. A jazzy score by Jerry Martin rounds out the package. Incidentally, SimCity DS (2007) for the Nintendo DS is based on this version of the game.

SimCity 4 is one of the latest official SimCity games for the PC. The audiovisuals have been enhanced for modern hardware, with an interface reminiscent of The Sims. Shown on the bottom is the “night mode.”

SimCity 4, released in 2003 for Apple Macintosh and PC, is the fourth game in the long-lived series. This release finally brought the game up to 3D graphics. It also allowed players to shape land (terraforming) before establishing their city, creating mountains, canyons, and mesas as desired. Neighboring cities and towns played a greater role, and day and night cycles were finally depicted graphically. Perhaps the most interesting innovation, though, was the ability to import Sims from The Sims, who could afterwards “tell” players about their personal lives in the new city. Although most critics had positive things to say about the game, a few glitches and performance issues cropped up that dampened their enthusiasm. Greg Kasavin of GameSpot remarked that while the game “does a fine job overall of living up to its name, … [s]ome players will invariably get soured on the experience due to some of the bugs and the missing or underdeveloped features and options.”¹⁰

Caesar is essentially SimCity set in ancient Rome, though with emphasis on military strategy.

In 2007, a game called SimCity Societies by a developer named Tilted Mill Entertainment debuted for PC. Tilted Mill had achieved some recognition for its Caesar IV (2006), the fourth game in a series that we'll discuss in a moment. With SimCity Societies, Tilted Mill strived to create a “social engineering simulator” rather than another mayor or god game. Players work to balance three competing ideals: Creativity and Authority, Knowledge and Productivity, and Prosperity and Spirituality. The balances are affected by buildings, which either increase or decrease the levels. The gimmick is that the look of the city will change depending on its core values. Despite an interesting premise, the game was widely criticized for counterintuitive gameplay and performance issues. Steve Butts of IGN called it “fun … for a short period but you'll constantly be battling the developers’ decisions about how the game should work,” and Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot wrote that “unlike most city builders, there's nothing to keep you engaged.”¹¹

Screenshot from SimCity Creator.

Although SimCity Societies may have been a disappointment to some, fans were more receptive to SimCity Creator, a 2008 release by Hudson Soft for the Nintendo Wii platform. The game takes advantage of the Wii Remote to allow players to “draw” roads and tracks. Another interesting feature is the ability to view the city from a helicopter or airplane.

Wright's most ambitious project to date, Spore, debuted in 2008 for the Apple Macintosh and PC. This high profile project hearkens back to 1992’s SimLife, though Wright was careful to make this game more accessible to the general public. The player begins with a species of unicellular organisms, guiding its development through the stages of evolution until it becomes a member of a spacefaring culture. One much-talked about feature of the game is “asynchronous sharing,” which allows players to download and import creatures from other players. Once they reach the space-faring stage, they can visit the planets and civilizations of other players as well.

Obviously, Maxis and later Electronic Arts exploited the SimCity brand as much as they could, producing dozens of spin-offs and four direct sequels. However, other developers and publishers were also eager to create their own Sim-like games. One of the most successful and perhaps enduring of these is Impressions Games's Caesar, which debuted in 1992 for the Apple Macintosh, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, and PC. Essentially SimCity set in Roman times, Caesar focused more on military combat and real-life history. The game was popular enough to warrant three sequels, the final one being the aforementioned Caesar IV. Impressions also developed city-building games based on Ancient Egypt, Greece, and China.

Another branch of SimCity-style games are called “business management simulations,” which focus more on business and commerce. Perhaps the most influential of these is Enlight's Capitalism, published by Interactive Magic in 1995 for Apple Macintosh and PC. Designed by Trevor Chan, Capitalism is about founding and growing a thriving corporation in retail, manufacturing, research and development, or farming. While the game attracted mainstream media attention for its highly detailed and realistic gameplay, its steep learning curve was not suitable for the casual gamer, but did appeal to teachers and professors. Chan remarked in an interview with GameSpot that “for the Capitalism series, I attempted to immerse myself in the academic world by reading an extensive list of academic books on the subject during the early stage of development. On the other hand, the gaming perspective came relatively effortlessly, as I have always been a gamer.”¹² An expanded version called Capitalism Plus appeared in 1995, and a full sequel, Capitalism II, was published by Ubisoft in 2001. Chan also introduced the “Empire” franchise of business simulation games, beginning with Restaurant Empire in 2003. Other games in this franchise include Zoo Empire (2004) and Marine Park Empire (2005). As their titles suggest, these popular games are focused on a single business sector.

An earlier attempt at a business simulation was Railroad Tycoon, a 1990 game designed by Sid Meier. This series, focused on the train industry, was successful enough to warrant a scad of sequels. The latest is Sid Meier's Railroads!, a 2006 game published by Firaxis Games. Of course, there are plenty of other “Tycoon” games with different themes, such as Chris Sawyer's RollerCoaster Tycoon (1999), Holistic Design's Mall Tycoon (2002), and Blue Fang Games’ Zoo Tycoon (2001). Bullfrog Productions also developed two popular games in this subgenre: Theme Park (1994) and Theme Hospital (1997). Business-simulation games seem to have become popular among casual gaming fans. A quick glance at the strategy section of Big Fish Games, a major distributor of casual games, turns up titles like Fish Tycoon, Plant Tycoon, Virtual Farm, Restaurant Empire, and even Fairy Godmother Tycoon.¹³

Box back for the Atari Jaguar version of Theme Park.

Sid Meier's Civilization (also known as Civilization or Civ), published by Microprose in 1991 for most viable platforms, takes a radically different spin on the genre. The two most noticeable differences are a much larger time frame and turn-based, rather than real-time, gameplay. Instead of starting players off in modern times, Civilization and its sequels begin in ancient times (the first begins in 4000 BCE). Players then work to build up empires that gradually become more technologically advanced, eventually reaching the Space Age. Like the SimCity games, players can adopt different gameplay styles. Some will prefer to build up a strong military and conquer rival civilizations, whereas others may take a more passive stance. However, the game can be won, though in different ways—by destroying all rivals, sending a spaceship to Alpha Centauri, or simply by earning the highest number of points when time reaches the modern age. One of the game's main appeals is that players must make choices about which technology to research next, with each new technology affecting the gameplay in fundamental ways. For instance, the civilization who first develops flight technology will have a tremendous military advantage over its rivals. The turn-based gameplay also makes a considerable difference. Gamers could take as long as they wanted to make endless micromanagement decisions, and it was easier to move troops and settlers. The Civilization series has been incredibly popular in its own right, leading to numerous sequels and spin-offs.

Civilization offers turn-based gameplay and individual units (settlers, soldiers, etc.) that can be moved about the map. The civilization eventually develops new technologies, forcing players to adapt their strategies to accommodate.

Will Wright's SimCity was one of the most important and influential games at the turn of the 1990s, leading to hordes of sequels, spin-offs, clones, and derivatives that has represented a considerable slice of the gaming industry ever since. Although modern sim games are orders of magnitude more complex than Wright's original, his basic gameplay model has endured. Whether building theme parks or corporations, players seem to enjoy simulating wondrously interconnected systems. As computer, console, and handheld technology continues to improve, we are likely to see even more sophisticated and nuanced SimCity-influenced games.¹⁴

¹It was released in 1989 for PC, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, Apple Macintosh, and Amstrad CPC. It was later released for a number of other platforms including the Atari ST and Nintendo's Super NES.

²See http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/column_index.php?story=8450.

³See Melanie Cambron's interview with Wright at http://www.gignews.com/goddess_wright.htm.

⁴See Geoff Keighley's “Simply Divine: The Story of Maxis Software” at http://www.gamespot.com/features/maxis/page2.html.

⁵See Brandon Sinclair's “Spot On: Here's the Pitch” at http://www.gamespot.com/c64/strategy/simcity/news.html?sid=6183997 for this and other fun stories of great developers who struggled with timid publishers.

⁶Other versions would continue to be released over the years.

⁷See “Inside Scoop: The History of SimCity” at http://simcity.ea.com/about/inside_scoop/sc_retrospective02.php.

⁸See Ben Silverman's “Controversial Games” article at http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/controversial-games/530593.

⁹See http://www.gamespot.com/features/maxis/page7.html.

¹⁰See http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/simcity4/review.html.

¹¹See http://pc.ign.com/articles/834/834720p3.html and http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/simcitysocieties/review.html, respectively.

¹²See http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/capitalism/news.html?sid=2833574&mode=news.

¹³For the whole list, see http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/genres/29/strategy.html.

¹⁴This development might well be spurred by Maxis's decision to release a free version of the original game under a GNU license as part of the One-Laptop-Per-Child initiative. The license allows other developers to see and borrow freely from the code, provided that they don't use Electronic Arts’ trademarks. The first of the major projects to take advantage of the arrangement is Micropolis by Don Hopkins.