Games for Lunch: SimCity Creator

In a nutshell: A pocket metropolis
10/17/2008 5:03 PM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 3

0:24 As time passes, I get more lumber to build even more Residential areas, which leads to ... more lumber. There's no real strategy yet ... all I can do is build Residential areas and roads. I understand I'm still learning, but this "tutorial" seems ridiculously slow.

0:25 Mr. Maxis comes in and tells me to build a public square (Cavemen had public squares?). "The happiness of this city is in your hands!" He's so peppy!

0:30 I keep trying to save up enough lumber for the public square, but I get bored and decide to build more residences and roads instead. Seems I can't build roads over existing Residential zones. Makes it hard to adjust my plans as I go...

0:31 The public square gets built. The exponential nature of the growth is starting to lead to a surplus of lumber. I wish I had a bit more to do with it.

0:32 Now we're getting somewhere ... Mr. Maxis will now let me build farms to create "a culture of food." Is that like a culture of life?

0:35 The little Sim people seem to be moving in to my residences as quickly as I build them. I guess I'm doing the right thing, then.

0:39 Catastrophe! No sooner does my initial fish source run dry than a tornado hits, destroying four buildings. Could be worse ... at least I've got plenty of money to rebuild. I even put in some farms to feed the now-hungry fishermen.

0:43 My time is mainly spent building new Residential areas and farms and waiting for the month to end, so I can get more lumber to build more ... Residential areas and farms. Not exactly thrilling, but watching the huts and shacks pop up is kind of relaxing in its way.

0:44 New stuff! Mr. Maxis tells me to build a trade center ... so the Sims can make tools and trade stuff and ... stuff! Yeah!

0:47 After dotting the landscape with some trade centers, the game hasn't really changed that much. I'm still sitting and watching my city fill itself in.

0:48 "E=MC2, Ace!" Mr. Maxis is actually using it as a greeting. Awww... Anyway, the Sims want to build a "symbol of the age" to stand throughout time as a sign we were there. Heady!

0:50 Some almost-excitement as a few areas of my main city run out of food. Then I build some farms and they're OK again. Whew! That was close!

0:51 The Sims have decide to build an altar to prevent future tornadoes. Way to logic things out, you dumb Neanderthals.

0:53 Since that starvation scare, I've gotten a bit manic about building farms. No Sim is going hungry on my watch. Especially when there's barely anything else to watch.

0:56 My four micro-cities are all quickly pushing up against the immovable boundaries of the forest. I'm only 1,000 people away from my goal, though.

0:57 The Sims want a pyramid. Apparently they're Egyptian cavemen?

0:59 One of the grazing areas has run out of little, pixilated elk to hunt. What luck! I replace the useless grazing space with a central pyramid, a few farms and a bunch of prime Residential real-estate. Booyah!