GameDaily - "Sim City Societies" Pre E3 Producer Interview

[Deever]

This is the same link that a member posted on Simtropolis that I would like to share here too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L8ZxGwl_O8

This interview would explain some very important concepts about the game. Some people might like it, others won't.

[Romaq]

http://media.pc.ign.com/media/925/925931/vids_1.html is the link, though it's already posted.

--Romaq

[Aushun]

wow, heaps of stuff popping up suddenly :D

[Romaq]

Aye. I think EAGame's best bet is to find good things to show off to people and keep them talking about what makes SC5 *unique* and more interesting to the huge group of people that bought SC4 and no longer play it... FOR GOOD REASON. My nephew played around with SC4 a bit and he quickly became bored with it, and he's 11. That may not make the SC4 hard-core people happy. It doesn't make *me* happy, but marketing is marketing, and reality is reality. I avoid confusing marketing with reality, except for the reality of marketing. Does that make any sense?

I should be in bed. Hope springs eternal and it's going to be a long six months if I can't sleep for waiting on something new about SC5.

--Romaq

[MarkDuffy]

Thank you, Deever! :)

On youtube also! Gotta LOVE it!

:D :D :D

~ ~ ~

I just finished watching the most excellent GameDaily Pre-E3 YouTube video.

I am STOKED! I now have MEAT to talk about. One of the things that didn't inspire me about SC3U was that my starting city was booooring. Here, with SCS, I get to see my city immediately.

It will grow MY WAY !!! Six Societal energies to choose from & not only one from previous SimCities. Mix & match within a larger city. Separate city sections, each with their own flavor, if we want to.

Classic SimCity fans will still be able to build cities they are used to, but now there is more. Much more!

So very much to choose from also & we can rest assured that we will get TM's famous graphics while we expand our cities. I am gobbling the fantastic screenshots up as fast as I can find them.

I also love the uncluttered interface along the bottom. Much superior to C4.

I got a HUGE kick outta the line that "Your people don't have to be happy [but you can make them happy if you want]; they just need to be made to go to work!" ~ <evil grin>

It is also nice to see EA properly marketing TM's game. EA rocks also!

:) :) :)

[Romaq]

It did seem to go rather well, and she got out the message with what she had available. I still have concerns for Transit, 'mass plopping without zones' and Custom Content issues, but I can hope they are simply holding back until they have sold work to show. It really would *not* have been happy if Ms. Bernstein's computer crashed to desktop during the demo, and perhaps it had, but that's the 'take' we didn't see. E3 being the very public place it is, I'd be very shy about showing ANY code that wasn't rock solid.

Perhaps that's all it is. But for what's there, it looked pretty solid. We'll see.

--Romaq

[Aushun]

I don't think E3 will be so public anymore. Come July, they'd be marketing the game a bit more perhaps, especially with the new, supposedly media-friendly reformat of the Expo. That was some pre-E3 event I think, where they probably stuffed all the games into one room.

[Romaq]

Ah. Well, I know E3 isn't 'public', in the sense of general public attendence, but when in a 'crowd of peers', one does not wish to expose code that potentially causes the game to crash to the desktop. 'Crowd of peers', potential clients, reviewers, or any other crowd. She wasn't in a place where doing a 'second take' is advisable.

--Romaq

[MarkDuffy]

GameDaily has a new Preview (http://www.gamedaily.com/simcity-societies/pc/game-previews/6360/?articleID=43009) out as of an hour ago.

[Marius]

From the Gamedaily Preview:

Preview : SimCity Societies
Build a world and a culture to live in it.
by Steven Wong

These days, The Sims get all the attention, but the massive metropolis-building game SimCity started it all. The classic favorite makes a return in a brand-new installment featuring upgraded gameplay in SimCity Societies.

Like many of the games that would later copy the city-building formula, SimCity's developers painted the franchise into a corner. They had literally thrown in the kitchen sink with SimCity 4, and between infrastructure planning (power lines) and underground water mains, the game had become far too complex and unapproachable to attract any new players. Societies hits the reset button and steers the franchise in a different direction. Players can still get their city-planning skills going, but with one-third the micromanagement. Both power and water pipes will be removed, leaving players with only road design and traffic to manage. However, Societies shifts attention from zoning out areas to creating entire cultures to match their cityscapes.

In addition to building up simolians (the game's currency), each city generates "social energies." These energies come in six forms: Industry, Wealth, Obedience, Knowledge, Creativity and Devotion. Different buildings give off specific energies and citizens adapt according to the city's vibe. By using this design, players can toy with various social experiments that include eco-friendly buildings, whacky Creative cities with gingerbread houses or dystopian police-states. Or players can go for it all and even try for a free-wheeling eclectic society.

The decisions the player makes have major impacts on how their cities turn out. A technology-free society might not require simolians to construct new buildings, but will rely on generating manpower instead. The game's interface, including the text font and music, will even change to match the city's mood.

New building types and bonuses become available as cities expand in certain directions. Creating a strong dystopian society will earn the "Master of Puppets" medal, permanently unlocking several Obedience buildings and granting players 15 free Obedience points for each new city they start, making it much easier to repeat similar city types. Although citizens will come to reflect the city's profile, SimCity mayors will still need to manage over their happiness; though police states will settle for general contentment. Societies will dispose of bothersome advisors and go with a straightforward, visual design. Which means, if citizens become bored or malcontent, they could go on a vandalism spree. Destruction causes parts of the city to be shut down, eventually leading to complete metropolitan paralysis. Homes need to placed appropriate distances away from jobs, and venues must generate happiness in order to keep things from getting out of control. A news ticker keeps players up-to-date on major events. In the meantime, they can spend their time using the streamlined controls to drop buildings down, including an eyedropper tool used to copy and paste existing buildings.

Open-ended free play will remain a huge factor. Players can still develop disasters onto their cities and watch how emergency responders react. Big Brother can put his secret police to the test by setting up pockets of dissent throughout and see how things turn out. Just like in previous games, statistical overlays can be brought up to show crime rates, property values and social energy production.

This could be the city planning project this franchise needs. Come back to GameDaily for the full review of SimCity Societies, scheduled to release November 2007.

Related Links

SimCity Societies Game Guide

Hmm sounds very Tropico ... love it!!

[King Faticus]

I sure hope not.... then I can only imagine what I myself am seen as.... I am a content creator (and a baker in the mornings) and make my money that way:/ but it really isn't as technical as it sounds once you get into it:o

[Techleo]

Well that seals it. No powerlines of water pipes to plan out. Doesn't mean theres no power of water. Just no planning the infrastructure. Guess we leave that to the cities bueracratic oversight board hehe.

[King Faticus]

actually... does the mayor plan the cities in RL?

[Marius]

No ... the Mayor takes money under the table ... and grafts the public ... like any politician.

[Mike Lattiak]

No ... the Mayor takes money under the table ... and grafts the public ... like any politician.

Go America!

[King Faticus]

Go America!
lol I thought it was "Sim Nation"

[Azeem]

No ... the Mayor takes money under the table ... and grafts the public ... like any politician.

Marge: My name is Marge Simpson and I have an idea. It may sound a little boring at first.
Mayor Quimby: Chat away. I'll just amuse myself with some ****ographic playing cards.