Simcity (part2)- vintage games at gameplay | discountedgame

Ports and versions


The main menu of SimCity Classic.

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


The box art of the SNES port of SimCity.

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 threw in their own ideas. Instead of the Godzilla monster disaster, Browser 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 adviser 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.[10]
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 adviser 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 canceled.

Nintendo also put their stamp on the game, with the most dangerous disaster being Browser 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.



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:

Best Entertainment Program 1989.
Best Educational Program, 1989.
Best Simulation Program, 1989.
Critics' Choice: Best Consumer Program, 1989, Software Publisher's Association.
Most Innovative Publisher, 1989, Computer Game Developer's Conference.
Best PC Game, 1989.
Member of the 1989 Game Hall of Fame, Macworld.
Game of the Year, 1989., Computer Gaming World.
Second Best Simulation of all Time for C-64.
Fourth Best Simulation of All Time for Amiga, .info.
Editors' Choice Award: Best Simulation, 1989, Compute.
Editors' Choice Award: Best Recreation Program, 1989, MacUser.
Best Computer Strategy Game, 1989, Video Games & Computer Entertainment.
Best Game Designer of the Year: Will Wright, for SimCity, 1989, Computer Entertainer.
Best 20th Century Computer Game, 1989, Charles S. Roberts Award.
Software Award of Excellence, 1990-1991, Technology and Learning.
Best Educational Program, 1990, European Computer Leisure Award.
Tild D'Or (Golden Award): Most Original Game, 1989, Tilt (France).
Game of the Year, 1989, Amiga Annual (Australia).
World Class Award, 1990, Macworld (Australia).


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.


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Simcity (part1) vintage at gameplay | discounted game

SimCity is a city-building simulation game, first released in 1989 and designed by Will Wright. SimCity was Maxis' first product, which has since been ported into various personal computers and game consoles, and enhanced into several different versions including SimCity 2000 in 1993, SimCity 3000 in 1999, SimCity 4 in 2003, and SimCity DS and SimCity Societies in 2007. The original SimCity was later renamed SimCity Classic. Until the release of The Sims in 2000, the SimCity series was the best-selling line of computer games made by Maxis.

SimCity spawned an entire series of Sim games. Since the release of SimCity, similar simulation games have been released focusing on different aspects of reality such as business simulation in Capitalism.

On January 10 2008 the SimCity source code was released under the free software GPL 3 license under the name Micropolis.

SimCity is bundled for free with the Games On video game exhibition at Federation Square, Melbourne.

History

Vintage SimCity running on Macintosh System 6SimCity was originally developed by games designer Will Wright.

The inspiration for SimCity came from a feature of the game Raid on Bungeling Bay that allowed Wright to create his own maps during development. Wright soon found he enjoyed creating maps more than playing the actual game, and SimCity was born.

In addition, Wright also was inspired by reading "The Seventh Sally", a short story by Stanislaw Lem, in which an engineer encounters a deposed tyrant, and creates a miniature city with artificial citizens for the tyrant to oppress.

The first version of the game was developed for the Commodore 64 in 1985, but it would not be published for another four years. The original working title of SimCity was Micropolis. The games represented an unusual paradigm in computer gaming, in that it could neither be won nor lost; as a result, game publishers did not believe it was possible to market and sell such a game successfully. Brøderbund declined to publish the title when Wright proposed it, and he pitched it to a range of major game publishers without success. Finally, founder Jeff Braun of then-tiny Maxis agreed to publish SimCity as one of two initial games for the company.

Wright and Braun returned to Brøderbund to formally clear the rights to the game in 1988, when SimCity was near completion. Brøderbund executives Gary Carlston and Don Daglow saw that the title was infectious and fun, and signed Maxis to a distribution deal for both of its initial games. With that, four years after initial development, SimCity was released for the Amiga and Macintosh platforms, followed by the IBM PC and Commodore 64 later in 1989.

On January 10 2008 the SimCity source code was released under the free software GPL 3 license. The release of the source code was related to the donation of SimCity software to the One Laptop Per Child laptop, as one of the principles of the OLPC laptop is the use of free and open source software. The open source version will be called Micropolis (the initial name for SimCity), since EA retains the trademark Simcity. The version shipped on OLPC laptops will still be called SimCity, but will have to be tested by EA quality assurance before each release to be able to use that name.


Objective



SimCity on the Atari ST.The objective of SimCity, as the name of the games suggests, is to build and design a city, without specific goals to achieve (except in the scenarios, see below). The player can mark land as being zoned as commercial, industrial, or residential, add buildings, change the tax rate, build a power grid, build transportation systems and many other actions, in order to enhance the city.

Also, the player may face disasters including: flooding, tornadoes, fires (often from air disasters or even shipwrecks), earthquakes and attacks by monsters. In addition, monsters and tornados can trigger train crashes by running into passing trains. Later disasters in the game's sequels included lightning strikes, volcanoes, meteors and attack by extra-terrestrial craft.

In the SNES version and later, one can also build rewards when they are given to them, such as a mayor's mansion, casino, etc.


Scenarios
The original SimCity kicked off a tradition of goal-centered, timed scenarios that could be won or lost depending on the performance of the player/mayor. The original cities were all based on real world cities and attempted to re-create their general layout, a tradition carried on in SimCity 2000 and in special scenario packs. While most scenarios either take place in a fictional timeline or have a city under siege by a fictional disaster, a handful of available scenarios are based on actual historical events.

The original scenarios are:


Bern as depicted in the Future Europe "tileset" (Amiga).

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:


City of Dullsville in Classic Graphics (Amiga).

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 games.
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.

View prices, features, reviews of SimCity deluxe gameplay | discountedgame

Product Details
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition
From Electronic Arts
List Price: $19.99
Price: $14.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Games Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Games Average customer review:

Product Description
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition turns you into a citizen, a criminal, an architect, a mayor, even a god -- bringing you deeper into SimLife than ever! As you create railways, ferries, plan out streets, you also get to use that transportation in a series of great new driving missions


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Games Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #134 in Computer & Video Games
Brand: Electronic Arts
Released on: 2003-09-22
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Platforms: Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 98, Windows 2000
Dimensions: .80 pounds
Features
Create, build and run the most realistic city you can imagine
Connect your metropolis with other cities you've created to form a massive region of SimCities
Sculpt mountains, gouge valleys, and seed forests
Deploy police cruisers and fire trucks to the scene
For 1 player

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Games Editorial Reviews
From the Manufacturer
Get SimCity 4 and the Rush Hour expansion pack in one convenient package. Create, grow, and breathe life into your ideal urban environment. Fight disasters both realistic and fantastic. Govern your own virtual metropolis as you see fit with SimCity 4 Deluxe.


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Gmaes Customer Reviews
Moderately good computer needed...
First off, great highly addictive game. I was hooked on it the first time I saw it in action at my friend's house. I bought it last year and I still like playing it every once in a while.

I was a bit upset though when I played it on my old computer. I found that the vehicle missions would get complicated because the graphics would "chunk up" as my graphics card would struggle to keep up. It's no fault of the game though, I just had a very bad computer >_<. I like this games, I sort of like the music, and the replay value is high. Sim City 4 Deluxe
What an unbelievable game!!! It really lets you take control of whatever you want. The tutorials are good for getting you started, which is exactly what they were meant for. Not too short, not too long. The gameplay I felt was fantastic. Especially for the price. You just cant beat it. Start small and just watch your cities grow. There are a lot of decisions to make which makes the game really appealing for me. I'm also a big C&C fan and I felt the interface was very similar. Great buy for an ever better price!!!

Cool fun and even educational
Sim City 4 Deluxe is a great strategy game with outstanding graphics and effects. It is fun for any skill level player, even older children. It can even be a great learning tool into land usage, geography, economics and social studies. I can't stop once I begin playing.

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Gameplay | Discountedgame goes for history of games

Hi everyone and welcome to discountedgame.

This is created for us all games and toy lovers.
I was just sitting around thinking about games this morning and it just occured to me- why and how games were created??? Hmm... interesting right?

So my first post would be like the history channel. ( :

I think you might be wondering the same thing sometimes.

Below is the cool information I got from wikipedia. Enjoy! I wil update often so don't forget to gameplay | discountedgame again.


A game is a structured or semi-structured activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes also used as an educational tool. Games are generally distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more concerned with the expression of ideas. However, the distinction is not clear-cut, and many games are also considered to be work or art.



Tug of war is an easily organized, impromptu game that requires little equipment

Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interactivity. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational or psychological role.


Known to have been played as far back as the 30th century BC, games are a universal part of human experience and present in all cultures. The Royal Game of Ur, Senet and Mancala are some of the oldest known games.



Definitions

Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein was probably the first academic philosopher to address the definition of the word games. In his Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein demonstrated that the elements of games, such as play, rules, and competition, all fail to adequately define what games are. He subsequently argued that the concept "games" could not be contained by any single definition, but that games must be looked at as a series of definitions that share a "family resemblance" to one another.


Caillois
French sociologist Roger Caillois, in his book Les jeux et les hommes (games and Men), defined a games as an activity that must have the following characteristics:

fun: the activity is chosen for its light-hearted character
separate: it is circumscribed in time and place
uncertain: the outcome of the activity is unforeseeable
non-productive
governed by rules: the activity has rules that are different from everyday life
fictitious: it is accompanied by the awareness of a different reality

Chris Crawford



Computer game designer Chris Crawford attempted to define the term games using a series of dichotomies:

Creative expression is art if made for its own beauty, and entertainment if made for money. (This is the least rigid of his definitions. Crawford acknowledges that he often chooses a creative path over conventional business wisdom, which is why he rarely produces sequels to his games.)

A piece of entertainment is a plaything if it is interactive. Movies and books are cited as examples of non-interactive entertainment.
If no goals are associated with a plaything, it is a toy. (Crawford notes that by his definition, (a) a toy can become a games element if the player makes up rules, and (b) The Sims and SimCity are toys, not games.) If it has goals, a plaything is a challenge.

If a challenge has no “active agent against whom you compete,” it is a puzzle; if there is one, it is a conflict. (Crawford admits that this is a subjective test. Some games with noticeably algorithmic artificial intelligence can be played as puzzles; these include the patterns used to evade ghosts in Pac-Man.)
Finally, if the player can only outperform the opponent, but not attack them to interfere with their performance, the conflict is a competition. (Competitions include racing and figure skating.) However, if attacks are allowed, then the conflict qualifies as a games.

Crawford's definition may thus be rendered as: an interactive, goal-oriented activity, active agents to play against, which any player (including active agents) could interfere one another, and which is designed to make money for the creator.

Crawford also notes (ibid.) several other definitions:

“A form of play with goals and structure.” (Kevin Maroney)
“A game is a form of art in which participants, termed players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal.” (Greg Costikyan)
“An activity with some rules engaged in for an outcome.” (Eric Zimmerman)

-----A game is an Escapist Theory---gameplay | discountedgame----- (:




Paul Cézanne - The Card Players, 1895