Research Questions

[Maaike 0]

Hi all, My name is Maaike and I am a PhD student in The Netherlands. I was hoping I could ask you all some questions for my research. 1.) Are any of you urban planners/architects in 'real' life as well? 2.) If so, is playing SimCity of influence on your work? 3.) Can the logic of the game (when things go good or bad for example) change from one city to the other? Or is it mainly the look of the city that changes while the internal logic remains the same? 4.) Have you ever played (and liked) The Sims or The Sims Online? 5.) What exactly is the function of the forum on architecture, urbanism and planning? 6.) How important is creating custom content for you in terms of liking the game? If you answer, could you please indicate whether I can quote you? Thanks in advance! Maaike

[S_C_mbody 0]

As simcity is mainly based on urban planning aspects, I bet you there is. I have met three poeple here on simtropolis thatwere either like you (in college studying urban planning) or in RL, urban planners. I am myself an urban planner.

Yup, simcity is what got me into it and is why I am lying here today.

The internal logic in the game changes very often, as does an urban planner's logic. Juest like in a real city, there are overall goals, but you also need to know what to do in order to get there when you are in different situations.

I have played sims 2 once. However, I didn't really like it. In it were aspects which I didn't enjoy as much as simcity. It didn't aquire my taste. As for the architecture, that was the only part I liked. Although it wasn't entirely realistic, it was enough for my likeing, and I had fun playing around with it!

For sims 2, creating costom content is importent and fun. Although costom content plays a big role in simcity too, I am not good at BATing or MODding, so in simcity the making of costom content is more importent to me.

Yes, you can quote me. It's another thing weather you may or may not quote me. Yes, you may quote me. I would prefer if you used my username rather than my name however.

[Nik-nik 3]

Hi Maike, leuke vragen.

 1.) Are any of you urban planners/architects in 'real' life as well? 

Nope. Commercial manager at a recycling plant

2.) If so, is playing SimCity of influence on your work? 

Yes, browsing on ST (-simtropolis) takes up a bit of my time (joking!)

3.) Can the logic of the game (when things go good or bad for example) change from one city to the other? 

Yes, I get the idea there is a randomizer in the game.  It is very difficult to play bad once you get the first city of the ground.

Or is it mainly the look of the city that changes while the internal logic remains the same? 

You can change the look of the city by playing around with taxes. Put one tax at 20% and that particular type of structure will not or hardly grow

4.) Have you ever played (and liked) The Sims or The Sims Online? 

Yes, I do not like Big Brother, so I am also not attracted to SIMS

5.) What exactly is the function of the forum on architecture, urbanism and planning? 

HUGE. As I am not a city planner by nature I get a lot of good ideas from this forum. I also look quite differently nowadays at how a city transit network is laid out and also at modern architecture, I started to appreciate it more since I started playing SC4.

6.) How important is creating custom content for you in terms of liking the game?

The game is good. Custom content makes it great! It also extends the game pleasure as you see people experimenting with various content. A good example is the ploppable water. It adds a complete new way of laying down a city.

Nik-Nik

[1973tr6 0]

I'm not sure if this is helpful, but since you asked about cross-over between SC and real life, I'll throw this in . . .

Just for the record:  I'm not a city planner, just a wanna-be.  I'm currently on disability and unemployed.

At one time back in the late '80's or early '90's, I heard rumors about a Maxis game\program called "SimHospital."  It was supposed to be used as a training tool for hospital managers.  I read about it in a trade magazine (computer geek type), but never saw anything about it after that one article.  So I don't know if it actually existed or not.  If it did, and you can find someone who actually has had experience with it, you might be able to ask them some questions about its influence on their RL job.

[S_C_mbody 0]

I used to be a wannabe, and that's what got me to be a city planner.

Do what you want in life. If your a wannabe, don't stay as a wannabe, be what you wannabe.

[asteconn 9]

Which country be you in S_C_mbody?

[Maaike 0]

Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

I'll probably be back with more questions later on...

Cheers,

Maaike.

[stryker1942 0]

1.) Are any of you urban planners/architects in 'real' life as well? 

I am a student, but I am currently in a competition to redesign the mass transportation system of my home state.  My team (3 including myself) has made it to state finals, where we will compete against the other 2 teams in October of 2008 (this month!).  While the mass transit in this game are not very realistic, there are some parallels to real life.

2.) If so, is playing SimCity of influence on your work? 

Not very because again, the game is not realistic enough.

3.) Can the logic of the game (when things go good or bad for example) change from one city to the other? 

I believe so, though in my experiance it doesn't.

Or is it mainly the look of the city that changes while the internal logic remains the same? 

I'm not really sure.

4.) Have you ever played (and liked) The Sims or The Sims Online? 

No.

5.) What exactly is the function of the forum on architecture, urbanism and planning? 

Very big.  I am not a great urban planner, but I can spot other people's mistakes easily, so seeing what other people do is very nice..

6.) How important is creating custom content for you in terms of liking the game?

Custom content, for me, just makes the game more realistic to play, or makes it less cumbersome.  Hole digger lots is a good example, and so is the NAM.

[phoenix7 3]

1.) Are any of you urban planners/architects in 'real' life as well?

I wish. Maybe in the future.

3.) Can the logic of the game (when things go good or bad for example) change from one city to the other?

Yes, I think so. The game has many variables, and even small changes like street placement or water funding can make a big difference.

Or is it mainly the look of the city that changes while the internal logic remains the same?

The internal logic does change, but the town's appearence changes a lot more. There are many buildings, like real life, and there are always new combinations of buildings to be seen,

4.) Have you ever played (and liked) The Sims or The Sims Online?

Yes, I play Sims 2 for fun, but SC4 is what I play if I am in an intellectual mood.

5.) What exactly is the function of the forum on architecture, urbanism and planning?

The forum gives me ideas for SC4, and I'm sure it could give me ideas for real-life urban planning.

6.) How important is creating custom content for you in terms of liking the game?

The vanilla game is fun, but custom content adds replay value. I have so many plugins, some of which I feel are better than Maxis buildings, and I get a small thrill when I see a new building grow. Custom content can also make the game much more realistic, terrain mods, water mods, and the NAM all come to mind. CC can also make it much easier to make the game do what you want it to. Examples of this include the Hole Digger Lots, Transit Network-to-Network transitions, and the GLR.

EDIT: For images of custom content, you could use this one of the NAM, the most popular user-created mod, but get their permission first. http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/1862/roadpp1ai5.jpg