SimCity

• Bern, 1965 - The Swiss capital is clogged with traffic, the mayor needs to reduce traffic and improve the city.
• Boston, 2010 - The city's nuclear power plant suffers a meltdown, irradiating 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, Michigan).
• 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 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.

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:

• 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, 1900 - 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.

In addition, the later edition of SimCity on the Super Nintendo (SNES) included the basics of these two scenarios in two, more difficult scenarios that were made available after a player had completed the original scenarios:

• Las Vegas - 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 - 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 bear the familiar head of Mario. However, the player is unable to build any of the reward buildings from the normal game.

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.

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.

Ports and versions

SimCity was originally released for home computers, including the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS-based IBM PC. After its success it was converted for several other computer platforms and video game consoles, including the Commodore 64, Mac OS-based Macintosh, Acorn Archimedes, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, EPOC32, mobile phone, Internet, Windows, Virtual Console, FM-Towns, OLPC XO-1 and NeWS HyperLook on Sun Unix. The game is also available as a multiplayer version for X11 TCL/Tk on various Unix, Linux, DESQview and OS/2 operating systems. Certain versions have since been re-released with various add-ons, including extra scenarios.

In 2007 the developer Don Hopkins announced that One Laptop Per Child XO-1 will receive a free and open source version of the original SimCity. It is to be called Micropolis for trademark reasons.

Super Nintendo variation

SimCity for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System features the same gameplay and scenario features. There are several differences associated with the Nintendo port. The Nintendo port was developed and published by Nintendo, and Nintendo incorporated their own ideas. Instead of the Godzilla monster disaster, Bowser of the Super Mario series becomes the attacking monster, and once your city reaches a landmark 500,000 populous, the player receives a Mario statue that is placeable in the city. The Nintendo port also features special buildings the player may receive as rewards, similar to the rewards buildings in SimCity 2000. There are also city classifications, such as becoming a metropolis at 100,000 people. Also unique to the SNES version is is a character named "Dr. Wright" (whose physical appearance is based on Will Wright) who acts as an advisor to the player. This edition is featured as Nintendo's Player's Choice as a million seller.

Detailed information about ports of SimCity Classic
Platform	Version – Release date	Comments	Image
Amiga	V.1.0 – NA 1989	Alongside SimCity for the Macintosh, this was the first and original version of SimCity. It ran on any Amiga with at least 512 kilobytes of memory, and was distributed on a single floppy disk.
	V.2.0	This version has been enhanced with the ability to switch title sets. A title set consists of all the images the game use to draw the city, and by changing the title set one can give the city a different look and feel. Because of this new functionality, SimCity 2 requires at least 1MB of memory, twice that of the original version.
Amiga CDTV	EU 1991	To make the game more pleasant to play when viewed on a distant television, this version of the game shows a closer view of the city. Other changes includes a user interface more suited for use from the CDTV's remote control, use Red Book audio for music, and the addition of three scenarios.
Amstrad CPC	V.1.0 – EU 1990
Atari ST	V.1.0 – NA 1989	This version features scenarios but has no music and the game's graphics are less colorful than the graphics of the Amiga version.
BBC Micro Acorn Electron	V.1.0 – UK 1990
Commodore 64	V.1.0 – NA 1989	This version lacks police/fire stations, stadiums, railways and disasters. It also forgoes the stat screen useful for evaluating the city's development. The player can select between eight scenarios or on randomly generated terrain.
Macintosh	V.1.0 – NA 1989	Features high resolution monochrome graphics.
PC	MS-DOS – NA 1989	Features high resolution EGA graphics and PC speaker audio.
	CD-ROM – NA 1994	Released by Interplay for DOS, it featured 256-color graphics and added live-action video.
	Windows – NA 1992
Super NES	JP April 26, 1991 NA August, 1991 EU September 24, 1992	Published by Nintendo under license by Maxis, the SNES version of SimCity had additional features not found in the original SimCity, including graphics changing to match the seasons (trees are green in summer, turn rusty brown in the fall, white in the winter, and bloom as cherry blossoms in the spring), civic reward buildings, and a very energetic green-haired city advisor named Dr. Wright (after Will Wright), who would often pop up and inform the player of problems with their city. In addition, the SNES version of SimCity had two additional bonus scenarios, accessible when the original scenarios were completed: Las Vegas and Freeland (see section on scenarios). The style of the buildings also resemble those in Japan rather than those of North America in Western releases. A Nintendo Entertainment System port was also planned, but was cancelled. Nintendo also put their stamp on the game, with the most dangerous disaster being Bowser attack on a city (in place of a generic movie-type monster), and a Mario statue awarded once a Megalopolis level of 500,000 inhabitants is reached. The SNES version of SimCity has been released for the Wii's Virtual Console service.
ZX Spectrum	V.1.0 – 1989	Has all the features (such as scenarios, crime, and disasters) of later versions of the game, only with much more limited sound and graphics.
Footnotes: SimCity Classic is available for Palm OS and on the SimCity.com website as Classic Live. It was also released by Atelier Software for the Psion 5 handheld computer, and mobile phones in 2006. The July 2005 issue of Nintendo Power stated that a development cartridge of SimCity for the NES was found at Nintendo headquarters. Never released, it is reportedly the only one in existence. Additionally a terrain editor and architecture disks were available with tileset graphics for settings of Ancient Asia, Medieval, Wild West, Future Europe, Future USA and a Moon Colony. Versions of SimCity for the BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, and Acorn Archimedes computers were published by Superior Software/Acornsoft. Programmer Peter Scott had to squeeze the 512k Amiga version of the game into 20k in order to run on the ageing 32k BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. Despite this, it kept almost all of the functionality of the Amiga game and very similar graphics (although only using four colours). DUX Software published a Unix version of SimCity for the NeWS window system using the HyperLook user interface environment, and a multi-player version of SimCity for the X11 window system using the TCL/Tk user interface toolkit, both developed and ported to various platforms by Don Hopkins.

For other Sim games, see the list of Sim games.

Critical acclaim

SimCity was critically acclaimed and received significant recognition within a year after its initial release. As of December 1990 (from a Maxis document by Sally Vandershaf, Maxis P.R. Coordinator) the game was reported to have won the following awards:

In addition, SimCity won the Origins Award for "Best Military or Strategy Computer Game" of 1989 in 1990, and the multiplayer X11 version of the game was also nominated in 1992 as the Best Product of the Year in Unix World.

Legacy

The subsequent success of SimCity speaks for itself: "Sim" games of all types were developed — with Will Wright and Maxis developing myriad titles including SimEarth, SimFarm, SimTown, Streets of SimCity, SimCopter, SimAnt, SimLife, SimIsle, SimTower, SimPark, SimSafari, and The Sims, as well as SimsVille and SimMars, which were both never released. They also obtained licenses for some titles developed in Japan, such as SimTower and Let's Take The A-Train (just called A-Train outside of Japan). The most recent development is The Sims, and its sequel, The Sims 2. An upcoming release, Spore, was originally going to be titled "SimEverything"—a name that Will Wright thought might accurately describe what he was trying to achieve. The game yielded five sequels:

• SimCity 2000 (1993)
• SimCity 3000 (1999)
• SimCity 4 (2003)
• SimCity DS (2007)
• SimCity Societies (2007)

A fifth SimCity was revealed by Electronic Arts chief financial officer Warren Jenson in 2007. The title of the game is SimCity Societies and it was released worldwide on 13 November 2007. Societies has a larger focus on the city's inhabitants rather than on its architecture. Since Will Wright was busy with "Spore" and SimCity 4 was deemed too complex by some, Tilted Mill was given the task by EA to create SimCity Societies.

SimCity inspired a new genre of video games. "Software toys" that were open-ended with no set objective were developed trying to duplicate SimCity's success. The most successful was most definitely Wright's own The Sims, which went on to be the best selling computer game of all time. The ideas pioneered in SimCity have been incorporated into real-world applications as well. For example, VisitorVille simulates a city based on website statistics.

The series also spawned a SimCity collectible card game, produced by Mayfair Games.

References in other games

• In Space Quest IV, in the Software Excess Store, a game called Sim Sim is available. It is described as a "simulated simulator specially designed for creating simulated simulators" and that "you can create a simulated environment in which you can create any simulated environment you want".

• In Postal², an unplayable arcade game called "SymHomeless" can be spotted in various locations around town. Text in the game describing the phony game reads "lawsuit narrowly averted by changing 'i' to 'y'."

• Dr. Wright appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube as a collectible trophy. He also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, where a player can use the Assist Trophy item to summon him. He then causes a tall building to suddenly sprout from the ground, damaging any player who it touches, besides the player who summoned Dr. Wright.

See also

• Government simulation
• Municipal government, the basis for SimCity.
• Micropolis (software)
• Lincity

References

External links

• Official SimCity website
• SimCity Classic Live (requires registration)
• SimCity.com Fansite Directory: Maxis' official and comprehensive SimCity fansite directory.
• SimCity at MobyGames