City Building as a Living Toy

[croxis]

http://blog.simtropolis.com/post.cfm/city-building-as-a-living-toy

Discuss

[tomkeus]

"Gardening" mentioned in the blog is THE main reason I wanted to have external economy simulated and beyond the control of a player.

[JoeST]

That was a very good article

Joe

[Atomius]

Hmm yes a good article. 'logical yet unpredictable' is exactly what i'd aim for in a increasingly complex simulation game. I have been thinking on the issue of realism vs gameplay for some time, and it seems to me that balancing realism/complexity with fun/gameplay is the thing to do. Simcity 2000 did this well but is now dated (even though i first played it in 2003 and still like it) 4 was more realistic and sure was fun but... lacked that character 2000 had imo

[croxis]

Part of the character was what all the old maxis games had; the off beat humor and obsession with llamas.

[Atomius]

true. also the era itself to an extent. whilst i first played 2000 in 2003 it is one of the only video games i have played, and i like it's style.

Hmm also to the 'gardening' thing, i myself have experienced this to an extent. I guess it's the predictability and logical nature of simulation games. But i don't think they have to be entirely predictable. Disasters for instance don't happen at regular intervals even if you have no fire stations and much industry it will most likely lead to a fire.