Josh
06-18-2007, 07:49 PM
I will start this post by saying I am a Tilted Mill/Impressions fan, I own everything from Lord of the Realm 2 up with the exception of some of the expansions. By comparison I am only a casual Sim City fan, I play it for a week or two roughly once a year.
From the standpoint of a fan of TM, and not someone who has been dreaming of sim city 5000 for years... This game has gone seriously, and most fundamentally awry in its most basic philosphy. And here is whats wrong "We aren't doing zoning, you are selecting which building you want, and putting it exactly where you want it to be, here we are going to put down a little antique shop..."
In Caesar, Pharaoh, etc, Emperor ruled all, everyone was more or less, by extension Emperor's slaves, sure we pay them, but we own all the industry, all the resources, all the production, and decide who gets fed and who gets what goods. In essence, the games modeled dictatorships with a planned economy. We paid our workers in crowns, denari, gold, or bread, But every citizen was employed by the state. The rare walker (the trader or merchant) was the single free man on the map.
What made sim city sim city, is not screenshots, its not the look. It was quite simply, that it modeled a roughly free market, businesses were free to flourish or fail, homes were constructed based on what the citizens desired or could afford, commercial properties were run by the owners to meet the needs of the population, We just created a proper environment, we kept the incubation chamber warm, so to speak, to let growth flourish in our petri dish of a city. We tweaked the taxes, zoned more regions, made travel more efficient, kept utilities flowing to the whole system, But we did not "put down a little antique shop"
Sim City - Soviet Blok Edition, just doesn't make sense, for this game to make sense we have to imagine a city where the mayor walks down the street and says "this area needs more antique stores!" he then pays for and orders the city building crews to start knocking down some space and breaking ground on "Glorious Leader's Antique Emporium" Glorious Leader then pays the staff of the building, and makes sure to either oppress or appease his population so they come to work, so glorious leader can take in the profits from each day's Victrola and Curio sales? Sim City? no, this is madness! This is Sim Despotism.
Are we really going to have a city where people start complaining that there aren't any good state owned ice cream stands, because we haven't built them one yet? That they are unemployed because we haven't built any Government controlled union steel mills for them to work at?
Fundamentally, the more I hear about this game, the more I think it is complete and absolute rubbish. Sim City lineage or not, it just doesn't sound like you are making a very good or believable game. What works for ancient Egypt just doesn't fly when "Simulating" (Or did everyone forget what the Sim part meant?) a modern day city.
Even if you made Sim City : Communist China Edition, You wouldn't see that kind of state level control. People in the lion's share of china set up their own stands, build their own factories, market their goods to America, etc. I highly doubt china is dictating the construction of "The People's Discount Antique Warehouse"
I don't remember the number, so let me pull one out of my butt, 500 buildings, and you want us to care, which store or boutique we build, or if we build ritzy upscale apartments or tenement buildings, When the old system did all this automatically, logically, and used it as the games feedback and achievement system?
I think you have a bomb on your hands for a few good reasons.
-Sim City fans are going to absolutely hate it.
-Anyone who casually liked to play sim city wont recognize it.
-Anyone who likes the idea will have played city life.
-Your loyal "City Builder Series" fans aren't on the Sim city forums for a reason. (we like the ancient world)
And the obvious reason this game was commissioned by EA....
-Fans of "The Sims", wont buy this either.
Sincerely, and I cannot repeat this enough... I don't want to put down a little antique shop!
Note: To any potential replies, My critiques comparing it to soviet russia, dictatorships, etc, is not in response to the system of oppression, indoctrination, and propaganda included in the name, but the basic principals of the economy, even a friendly happy "free" city.
From the standpoint of a fan of TM, and not someone who has been dreaming of sim city 5000 for years... This game has gone seriously, and most fundamentally awry in its most basic philosphy. And here is whats wrong "We aren't doing zoning, you are selecting which building you want, and putting it exactly where you want it to be, here we are going to put down a little antique shop..."
In Caesar, Pharaoh, etc, Emperor ruled all, everyone was more or less, by extension Emperor's slaves, sure we pay them, but we own all the industry, all the resources, all the production, and decide who gets fed and who gets what goods. In essence, the games modeled dictatorships with a planned economy. We paid our workers in crowns, denari, gold, or bread, But every citizen was employed by the state. The rare walker (the trader or merchant) was the single free man on the map.
What made sim city sim city, is not screenshots, its not the look. It was quite simply, that it modeled a roughly free market, businesses were free to flourish or fail, homes were constructed based on what the citizens desired or could afford, commercial properties were run by the owners to meet the needs of the population, We just created a proper environment, we kept the incubation chamber warm, so to speak, to let growth flourish in our petri dish of a city. We tweaked the taxes, zoned more regions, made travel more efficient, kept utilities flowing to the whole system, But we did not "put down a little antique shop"
Sim City - Soviet Blok Edition, just doesn't make sense, for this game to make sense we have to imagine a city where the mayor walks down the street and says "this area needs more antique stores!" he then pays for and orders the city building crews to start knocking down some space and breaking ground on "Glorious Leader's Antique Emporium" Glorious Leader then pays the staff of the building, and makes sure to either oppress or appease his population so they come to work, so glorious leader can take in the profits from each day's Victrola and Curio sales? Sim City? no, this is madness! This is Sim Despotism.
Are we really going to have a city where people start complaining that there aren't any good state owned ice cream stands, because we haven't built them one yet? That they are unemployed because we haven't built any Government controlled union steel mills for them to work at?
Fundamentally, the more I hear about this game, the more I think it is complete and absolute rubbish. Sim City lineage or not, it just doesn't sound like you are making a very good or believable game. What works for ancient Egypt just doesn't fly when "Simulating" (Or did everyone forget what the Sim part meant?) a modern day city.
Even if you made Sim City : Communist China Edition, You wouldn't see that kind of state level control. People in the lion's share of china set up their own stands, build their own factories, market their goods to America, etc. I highly doubt china is dictating the construction of "The People's Discount Antique Warehouse"
I don't remember the number, so let me pull one out of my butt, 500 buildings, and you want us to care, which store or boutique we build, or if we build ritzy upscale apartments or tenement buildings, When the old system did all this automatically, logically, and used it as the games feedback and achievement system?
I think you have a bomb on your hands for a few good reasons.
-Sim City fans are going to absolutely hate it.
-Anyone who casually liked to play sim city wont recognize it.
-Anyone who likes the idea will have played city life.
-Your loyal "City Builder Series" fans aren't on the Sim city forums for a reason. (we like the ancient world)
And the obvious reason this game was commissioned by EA....
-Fans of "The Sims", wont buy this either.
Sincerely, and I cannot repeat this enough... I don't want to put down a little antique shop!
Note: To any potential replies, My critiques comparing it to soviet russia, dictatorships, etc, is not in response to the system of oppression, indoctrination, and propaganda included in the name, but the basic principals of the economy, even a friendly happy "free" city.