| Billobob's Sim Site | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hi!This is my simcity3000 site!It may not have any fancy graphics,but I hope you like it! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
The new faq has just been posted at simcity3000.com.You can check it out below. I will edit a sim weekly newsletter every Saturday.Drop me an e-mail if you would like to recieve it. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| A short a paragraph about the upcoming sequal to Sim Tower,Yoot's Tower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
So far it sounds like it's going to be really cool!One of my favorite new features I read about were skybrigdes to connect towers.Read more about yoot's tower at yoot.com.You can acess the site through my link to it. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Here's the sc3000 faq | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| My posting this here obviously constitutes permission for this to be up verbatim on Wren's site. Other SimCity Webmasters, please e-mail me at [email protected] for permission to re-post this verbatim on your sites, as you should when you'd like to use or re-post any Maxis copyrighted material (such as screenshots, etc.). SimCity 3000: Revised list of Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) -- 10/1/98 Question: When will SimCity 3000 be released? Answer: We're entering the homestretch right now. We've just gone "alpha," which means the code now includes all of the features that are going to be in the final version of the game. It doesn't mean that all the pieces are working together - they're just all there. This is an important time for us. In addition to tracking down bugs, we're spending countless hours "tuning" the simulation. Tuning is when we, for example, make sure the game doesn't play too easy for experienced players or too difficult for newbies, that the simulation models are behaving realistically and the game's pace is right. Question: What are the key differences between SimCity 2000 and SimCity 3000? Answer: We're giving experienced SimCity players a whole raft of new options in SimCity 3000. First, you're going to be able to zoom in closer to your cities like never before. In fact, you'll be able to get in so close, you'll be able to see individual pedestrians and vehicles. There are over 350 3-D rendered buildings (compared to about 80 in SimCity 2000). We've added a medium level of density for commercial, industrial and residential zoning. Strategically, one new area to explore is making deals with neighboring cities. Become the local power resource, or water baron, or even the biggest gargabe disposal service in the area. On the flip side, outsource all of these if as Mayor you want the most pristine city possible. Occasionally, you may even find your city to be a proposed site for new business development, as Mayor, you weigh the pros and cons and set your city on a new path based on your decisions. The hard core SimCity fan will be looking for the little details too. For example, plop a hospital into your community and you'll notice little doctors and nurses in the vicinity. Neighborhoods develop more naturally and realistically - so low density residential neighborhoods have lots of gardens, swing sets, and tidy little yards. Zoom in closer than ever before, to find out what's going on in individual neighborhoods. 3D interactive sounds, animated sims and traffic and richly detailed graphics all combine to make you feel like you are right in the heart of the city. We've also added some new wrinkles to the simulation, such as our new garbage simulation layer. We're planning to provide a free Building Architect Tool from our Web site at http://www.SimCity.com. This program will allow players to construct their own structures with a building-block style interface. These buildings can then be used in the game or traded with others on the Web site. You'll also get to improve the appearance of your cities by using up to 10 of 110 landmark buildings (more below). And the game offers a lot more events and rewards that come as your city grows develops (also see below). All of the features mentioned above combine to make the gaming experience richer and more personal. Right now you can do a little zoning, put in a power plant and a water system, and then zoom in and see all the action in your new city. The visual feedback is stunning and entertaining all on its own. This new look and the new environmental sounds pull players into their cities like never before. In addition, we're giving players tools to truly customize their cities. One big part of this is the real-world landmark buildings. SimCity 3000 will have dozens - from Big Ben to the Empire State Building. Question: How will traffic appear in the game? Will you be able to see gridlock? Do cars park when they arrive at their destinations? Answer: Traffic is much more complexly illustrated in SimCity 3000, though the complexities of parking and specific destinations still remain in the future. You'll see animated cars, trucks and other vehicles stopping at corners to let pedestrians cross in front of them, turning corners, taking highway on- and off-ramps, etc. Vehicles such as police cars, fire trucks, and construction machinery will show up in the sorts of places you would expect to find them. Traffic will bunch up where it gets crowded with too many travelling Sims, and also at places where intersections have been badly designed or where damaged roads are showing up due to inadequate funding of transportation maintenance. Question: What about disasters? Answer: The disaster animations in SimCity 3000 are beautiful and complex. When a tornado funnel passes over a road, you'll see vehicles, people and debris sucked into the funnel, tumbled about and eventually tossed into the air (that is, if you have failed to warn the Sims of the tornado's approach by activating the Early Warning Siren, which causes them to clear the streets and take cover). Other disasters are fire (which happens in a series of stages, culminating in an explosion), earthquake (which happens along faultlines and actually shifts terrain), riots, and a complex UFO-related disaster. Question: Will you be able to convert SimCity Classic and SimCity 2000 cities to SimCity 3000? Answer: SimCity 2000 cities, yes. Classic cities no, though if you have both you could always convert a Classic city to a 2000 city and then reconvert to 3000. Question: How do landmarks work in the game? Answer: Landmarks are basically there to enhance the visual look of the game and allow the creation of more realistic, less-generic looking cities. You can place up to 10 of them in the game at a time, and mix them up as much as you want. Landmarks come from all over the world, and range from the obvious (Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal) to the not-so-obvious (Austria's Schloss Neuschwanstein, Spain's Temple Expiatiori de la Sagrada Fam�lia) and from the huge (Empire State Building) to the small (the Alamo). In addition to the dozens of landmarks that ship with the game, you will be able to download many more from our Web site and use those as well. Also available at www.SimCity.com will be dozens of real city terrain maps, based on topographical data (some will also be shipped with the game as well). Question: Will you be able to see wildlife in undeveloped areas? Answer: Sorry. Try SimSafari! Question: How do you get Sims to build farms, and what affect do they have on the game? Answer: Sims are likely to build farms on low-density Industrial zones that are away from roads, relatively unpolluted, and low land value. If you zone a large area of low-density industrial with less than three edges with roads, where pollution is low and land value is low as well, you have good chance of the seeing Sims set up a farm. Farms are an exception to the rule that nothing will develop unless it's close to a road (part of it must be close enough to a road for the barns to develop, but fields and pastures can spread over a large area). As time goes on, though, and local land value or pollution increase, some canny Sim real estate developer will convert the farm into other types of low density industry. So you will usually see farms only in small cities or on the edges of large cities. Question: Will we be able to see neighboring cities when connecting road networks or making deals? Answer: Neighboring cities can be seen through a special map, which shows general information about how large the city is growing and where. When you make a deal with a neighbor you see the other city's Mayor (as represented by the game's artificial intelligence), not the city itself. Question: Please list the languages in which SimCity 3000 will be released. Answer: In rough order of appearance: English (US), English (UK), French, German, Dutch, Swedish Italian, Spanish, Portugese Russian, Polish, Japanese Chinese (traditional and simplified), Thai, Korean Turkish, Greek (manual only) Question: How will the Building Architect Tool work? Will it allow you to design any game elements other than buildings (such as freeway intersections)? The Building Architect Tool allows you to create buildings from a set of blocks. Once you have a form you like you can texture it and then apply details like windows, doors, roof detail and of course landscaping. It is focused on the creation of buildings rather than what we refer to as network elements like roads, wires or such. Once you have created a building or buildings you create a "tileset" that will be used in SimCity 3000. You will be able to load saved cities with any tileset you select. Question: What's the resolution and color depth at which the game runs? Answer: SimCity 3000 will support any resolution from 640x480, 800x600 and up and runs in 16-bit color. Question: Will there be a Mac version of the game? If yes, when will it be released? Answer: Yes. SimCity originated on the Mac, we definitely want to bring it back to this platform. We've heard from a number of Mac owners who are SimCity fans on this topic. We don't have a definitive date for release but it is in the works. Question: Will climate and time of day be represented in the game? Answer: Not really. There are hints of this, such as the fact that you get different kinds of trees depending on elevation (pine trees on mountains, palm trees at sea level, a couple layers of deciduous trees in between). But in a game where months and years can go by in minutes, it has not seemed key to gameplay to simulate diurnal rhythms and changing climate (not to mention the technical challenges of doing so). Nevertheless, watch for clouds at the further out zoom levels during the rainy seasons. Question: What are the start dates in the game, and how much money will you get at different levels of starting difficulty? Answer: For start dates, the start dates are the same as for SimCity 2000: 1900, 1950, and 2000. Difficulty affects not only the amount of Simoleons (the unit of currency in SimCity 3000) that you start with but also features of your terrain. Question: Will you have a SimCity 3000 Network Edition? Answer: Not with release of SimCity 3000, although you will be able to participate in contests and events that we run at www.SimCity.com. We also intend to release new buildings and other elements on the website over time. Question: Will there be a SimCity 4000? Answer: There will definitely be future versions of SimCity. Question: Of the 350 buildings that are to ship with the game, how many are landmarks? Answer: There are actually more like 500 buildings if you count the small 'filler' buildings that surround major structures. Without filler it's about 400. Approximately 110 of the buildings that ship with the game or to become available from the Web site will be landmarks. Question: What's the difference between a landmark and a reward? Answer: Landmarks are available all the time, and are based on famous real-world buildings. Rewards are buildings and features you gain access to by achieving a level of success in the game, and are not based on particular real-world buildings. In addition to the ones from SimCity 2000 such as Mayor's House, City Hall, Statue and Arcology, there are many new and exciting rewards you will see during play. Question: And those new and exciting rewards would be? Answer: You'll just have to wait and see! Question: Are there arcologies in the game? What arcologies are there? Answer: Yes. There is one kind of arcology, a Launch Arcology. Question: What are the different kinds of zones in SimCity 3000? Answer: Each of the RCI types (Residential, Commercial, Industrial) now has three kinds of density: low, medium, and high density. And the differences between these densities is very visible. You also zone for airports, seaports, and landfills (one of the ways you deal with the new garbage problem). Question: What's the news ticker, and how will it differ from the newspaper in SimCity 2000? Answer: The news ticker is a continually scrolling text box at the bottom of the screen giving you 'headlines' about current events. It's a lot like the scrolling news banners you see on many news-oriented Web sites, or the strip encircling One Times Square in New York. It will tell you about everything going on in your city, from warnings that tornadoes are likely (something to watch out for so you can in turn warn your Sims) to more mundane stuff like complaints about traffic and not enough schools. It serves a somewhat similar function to the newspapers in SimCity 2000, though it's much less 'in your face' and more up-to-the-minute. Different types of messages come across the news ticker, signaled by different colors. Some give you general information about the goings on in your city. Others are communications from one of your Advisors or a Petitioner; if you click on one of these messages you'll open directly to the Meet window for that character. A third type of message updates you on game states, such as when your simulation speed is set to Pause. Finally, red underlined messages alert you to emergency situations that require your immediate attention. Click on these messages to take you to the site of the emergency in progress. Question: What exactly will you offer at SimCity.com after the game ships? Answer: SimCity.com will offer a wide array of activities and events intended to add to your experience of playing SimCity 3000. We'll have downloadable buildings and tools, including the Building Architect Tool. We'll have chat rooms and message boards where you can meet up with other SimCity 3000 players and swap stories, tips and strategies. We'll have regular articles, polls and quizzes about cities and the real-world issues they confront, as well as live events featuring real mayors and city planners and Maxis staff. And we have a couple of surprises up our sleeves ... well, you'll just have to wait and see. -Suneel
|
Favourite links
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
This page has been visited
|