SimCity

SimCity is an open-ended city-building video game series originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series, SimCity, was published by Maxis in 1989.

SimCity (2013)

Regions

Cape Trinity

Cape Trinity sweeps along the sunny coast of Trinity Bay, along an important shipping route. With only three city sites, Cape Trinity is a cozy region with a good mixture of natural resources and land value.

Clearwater: Clearwater is an important connection between Norwich Hills and Trinity Point. Clearwater is poised to become a major trade port, shipping resources to the Global Market from Cape Trinity.

Trinity Point: Jutting into Trinity Bay, gorgeous views make Trinity Point prime real estate for a coastal resort town.

Norwich Hills: Tucked away in the foothills, Norwich Hills is ready for a modern mining operation to take advantage of the hills' extensive ore deposits. Fossils found in the hills hint at underground oil deposits.

Whitewater Valley

Deep in the valley of a massive mountain range, this region features the confluence of two rivers into one larger river. Five city sites hug the banks of the rivers while a rail network winds its way through the base of the mountains.

Brakeman's Folly: This wooded hilltop site has a rail tunnel running under it that exits riverside. For those willing to clear the forest, Brakeman's Folly has an overabundance of metal deposits; both coal and ore.

Riverbend: Straddling the southernmost tributary of the Cascadia River, this site presents the challenge of developing a city that crosses both banks. The reward to such an industrious mayor is a deep reservoir of crude oil.

Elm Grove: Filled with a dense forest, Elm Grove has a modest oil reservoir and a light sprinkling of raw ore. The fresh mountain air is alluring to visitors in this wooded site.

Twain: What this sprawling site lacks in natural resources, it makes up for in ease of use. Extending into Rio Fuerte, Twain connects to the regional rail line and is ideal for shipping to the Global Market via the river.

Whitewater Crossing: Situated between the confluence of two great rivers, Whitewater Crossing has copious coal and ore deposits ready to be extracted and shipped along the river.

Reflection Atoll

This tropical island destination has sandy beaches ready for the island explorer looking for a laid-back adventure in the sun. A wide assortment of natural resources distributed across the islands gives each island its own identity.

Soirée Sands: This sundrenched site has white sands that tourists will flock to. High land values lend themselves to developing an educated city while the shoreline can support a ferry to transport tourists and workers.

Ingot Landing: This hilly site at the base of Clipper Mountain is flush with raw ore. Rail tracks and a sandy bay provide mayors specialized in mining with a means to export their resources.

Summit Vista: This plain has a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains. High land values create an ideal location for an educated city of resort. Railways and shorelines provide locations for transit options.

Grand Haven: This site rests in Ring Bay, offering a nature wonderland with high land values. Mayors will find this an ideal site for a tourist or education city.

Cinder: Set at the base of Mount Cinder, this site's large coal deposits will provide many years of profit. A rail connection and shoreline provide opportunities for mayors to sell their coal on the Global Market.

Petrol Bay: With a massive crude oil reservoir, Petrol Bay is ready to become home to an oil drilling city. The site's shoreline curves around a large bay to facilitate crude oil sales to the Global Market.

Trader's Ridge: Don't let the bluff in the middle of this site get in your way, tunnel through! This site has coal, raw ore, and crude oil deposits to meet your needs. The shoreline provides a perfect location for Trade Ports.

Serenity Key

This lush tropical island chain features three habitable islands, surrounding a dormant volcano. Two of the islands share a great works site. Each island's cities are connected by road and rail, but all cities in the region are connected to each other by water.

Oma’oma’o: In the shadows of the eponymous Mauna Oma’oma’o, this site has generous sampling of coal, raw ore, and crude oil. Mayors will find the resources in this site ideal for a new extraction business.

Nui Lani: The natural beauty of this site, with its white sand beaches is a haven for green cities. Though this site lacks raw resources, its tropical beauty provides a gorgeous backdrop for an educated city.

North Wākea: The natural resources of this site provide everything a mining or drilling business needs to ramp up production. The thick grove of trees here helps to clean air pollution for the region.

South Wākea: A former fishing village, this site has convenient access to calm waters between the islands. This peaceful site is great for a tourism city or industrious mayors can exploit this site's natural resources.

Nāmaka Beach: Once a sprawling playground for the wealthier islanders, this site has an ample supply of both raw ore and coal ready to be extracted from deep within this site's plateau.

Paniolo Pointe: Previously home to a large ranch, what this site lacks in natural resources, it makes up in natural beauty. Casino destinations or green Academy cities will find a beautiful home here.

Rambling Badlands

This arid desert landscape is split across the middle by a range of peaks and cliffs. The Saguaro River serpentines its way through one side of this region, quenching the thirst of cities that border it.

Verdant Jungle

Deep in the heart of a lush tropical rainforest, this region features two clusters. Mayors have to decide if the region will continue to thrive as a green paradise or if they will exploit the land's natural resources.

Desolation

The most prominent pockmark on the face of this region is Fallout Epicenter, a smouldering ruin of a site. This windswept, interconnected region needs high tech recovery to unearth the natural riches buried deep within.

Viridian Woods

This heavily wooded region features lush green forests fed by lazy rivers flowing through the region. A wide variety of sites in several groups provide many opportunities for mayors to cooperate to fill the region with massive cities.

Sunrunner Bay

Attached to the mainland by only a narrow highway, this small island projects into Sunrunner Island. This sunny island is a getaway for free spirits and artists. A pair of city sites share this island and all its natural splendour.

Discovery Delta

Roll on down the lazy Rye River as it flows through Discovery Delta. This expansive wetland region follows the course of river tributaries with creeks and ponds forming among the city sites. Four groups of cities are situated to develop amazing cities in the delta and complete great works.

Horizon Archipelago

This picturesque chain of islands has several cities on each of its three major islands. These rocky islands sit high in the water, with exposes cliffs dictating interesting city planning choices. Island shores with spectacular ocean views lend themselves well to developing wealthy resorts.

Titan Gorge

This massive region features sixteen diverse city sites grouped into four clusters. Titan Gorge runs down the heart of the valley, ending at a bulge in the Reposado River. A soaring rail trestle spans the wide gap between two expansive plateaus.

Edgewater Bay

Surrounding a shining cerulean sea, Edgewater Bay is a serene setting ready for development. Seven city sites stand ready to become major trading ports, casino cities or the home to an amusement park.

Granite Lake

This scenic lake features two distinct clusters of cities. The mountainous upper half of this region provides breathtaking views of the lake below and good variety of natural resources. The lower area below Granite Lake features sprawling city sites useful for large tourism cities.

Quotes about SimCity

• In the old SimCity, you started with all the technology at once, but in this one you have to wait for things to become invented. In other words, technology expands as you play the game. For instance, you start out with coal, oil, and hydroelectric, but as time goes by, solar and nuclear are invented. We also tried to make the learning feedback loops more realistic. In SimCity 2000, a lot of the feedback comes through reading the Sim's newspaper.
  • Will Wright, as quoted in "Will Wright: The Mayor of SimCity" (1994), by Kevin Kelly, Wired

External links

• Encyclopedic article on SimCity on Wikipedia