Societal Energies Demystified

[soldyne 111]

So I went over to the Tilted Mill forums and asked around about Societal Energies.  I explained (or rather complained) that the whole energies thing just made no sense and had no logic about it.

well, almost right away, a TM developer got on and started explaining their logic to me.  according to TM the societal energies works like this:

SCS is all about creating a city with a mood to it.  it is also about getting your sims to feel and work with that mood.  when a building "produces" an energy it is basically setting the mood of the city.  a building that "uses" an energy is one where the sims require a certain mood level before they will want to use it.

so a bank produces prosperity and authority.  that is because a bank sets a mood of money and policy in the city.  a mall on the other hand "uses" prosperity which means that the mall is a venue that people will only want to use when the mood of the city is a prosperous one.  if the city has a low or 0 prosperous outlook no one will want to spend lots of money at the mall and thus the mall does not work.

another example:  the Public Clock sets an authoritarian mood because it promotes a sense of control over the local time.  the city hall also promotes control because it is the seat of government.  jails however "use" authority because no one will want to use them or even care about crime in a city that has no sense of authority and thus the jail will not function.

so if you ever find yourself wondering why a building "produces" or "uses" certain energies try looking at it from the perspective of setting and requiring a certain mood.

TM also said that there are still a few (very few) buildings which still don't seem to make sense and they are working on ironing out those buildings in the next patch or for the expansion.  for example all agricultural buildings produce or use spirituality except the orchard with uses prosperity...  for the most part though the whole mood concept really works.  remember though that such things are always open to interpretation so I would like to open the discussion to help answer questions about the energies of different buildings.

[Nelson340 1]

Originally posted by: soldyne

SCS is all about creating a city with a mood to it.quote>

Umm...I thought that SimCity was about creating a city with a STRATEGY to it?

[soldyne 111]

ok, so what is your sim city strategy? strategy of city building is defined by the player. when I play SC4 I design all kinds of different cities in my region from rural, suburban, industrial, slum, downtown, utility, etc. when I play SCS I play with strategies to create totalitarian kingdoms, or spiritual farming communities. the strategies are different, but they are still strategies.

if you are referring to the lack of focus on money then remember that money is not the only resource in SC4 and it is not the focus of SCS.

Perhaps you should take a look at the CJ section of the forum for a minuet. what is the overall feeling of some of the best CJs on this forum? do you think they care about making money or balancing the budget or even about any of the resources? I believe that most of those CJs are all about plopping down BATs and cheating on the money and power just so they can develop a city with a certain look and feel for the ultimate purpose of telling a story. that is the point of SCS, build a town with a mood and tell a story.

if you are not looking to make a CJ or share your pics with others then continue playing SC4 with your grids and charts. if you want to create a beautiful skyline in a cybertech city or a rose tinted sunset in a romatic village and share that story with others then SCS is what you are looking for.

yes Sim City is about creating a city with strategy, but, the strategy is entirely up to each individual player based on the goals they are trying to achieve.

[Gyrobot 0]

Orchards and vineyards use up Prosperity because it is a luxury crop, generally nice to have some nice fruit to your table, but you need people who could afford to spend money. Likewise, productivity workplaces drains said mood because no one likes to work there, its grueling, tiring and the wages are terrible. So the venues offers a solution to it by giving the worker class a place to recoup (albeit unconstructively mostly)

[soldyne 111]

ah ha! that helps expalin things. nice view point Gyrobot.

[Namesys 3]

In other way, another proof, why this shouldn't be called simcity, but something else. It's not a simulation. I personally don't live in a city/town, where every single building influences the overall people minds. It's just a fair city-builder for kids, which is fine for couple of hours, and you end up playing this game for a week maximum.

[Gyrobot 0]

True, but I sorta liked reading the flavour text that came with it. And need more explaination of SE affecting certain buildings?

[katamariguy 6]

nice. finally

[Gyrobot 0]

Yes, but necromancy is bad mmkay? Anyways, it lets me put up another SE Demystified...

Why does most of the properity workplaces drains productivity?

Essentially, you got a nice building that can generate a better and safer source of revenue then persay a sweatshop. Of course it gives off prosperity because it allows a city to invest in some form of business, but where to tap from really? You are basically forced to work in cubicles where creativity isnt encouraged and the bottom line is money. You can tap from entertainment venues since you can invest in something say...a deli chain, or maybe real estate firms. And generally you have an eager workforce who wants to go from working in an assembly line to something that pays more and gives your sims a possibly nicer future.

[soldyne 111]

dont think of it as "draining". when a building subtracts from an energy it is not reducing the energy in the city but is instead being fueled by it. another way to look at it is to say that sims will not work or play in a place if the city does not have the right atmosphere. if you have a city with a ton of prosperity and creativity but no productivity and you plop down a factory that is fueled by productivity then no one will work there because it is not the "in" thing to do. you sims may prefer to work in office buildings or go to clown school for example.

As for the office buildings using productivity...well, you still have to work hard and efficiently even if your job is just to sit at a desk all day and pound out paperwork.  A desk job in an office setting is still very similar to an industrial assembly line.  it just happens to be cleaner and prettier than a factory.

[Goroshkoff 0]

well, soldyne, I must say I like your approach I really love the game.. yes it might piss some ppl of at times - and it does me. the roads are stupid and a few other things, too. but the game is lovely. it has such a cozy feel to it...

[Gyrobot 0]

Indeed, you are not pressured to build a giantgantic metropolis at all. You can build a decent thriving small town built on primitive industry and the like and not feel tempted to evolve the city. Plus, it actually allows me to create an agricultural town that grows throughout the years.

[Hahayoudied 3]

To soldyne:

You helped clear up some things for me that I didn't look closely enough at. However, there are still major problems with SCS I haven't gotten over with, including a large number of people.

Marketing flaws: It should be labeled SimSocities, NOT SimCity Socities. Thats like labeling bitter foods as sweet candies! Also, EA ordered Tilted Mill to release 20 expandtion packs the day SCS was released (I think). I think the expandtion packs are priced too high. For example, I have to pay $30 to buy an expandtion pack that adds airports and seaports in SCS. If you were to buy SCS with all the expandtion packs, you would have spent about $300 or $600.

Program flaws: SCS is rigged with program bugs, even with all the patches. One of the flaws was how the game was so slow, and crashes more frequently than SC4 deluxe without any updates.

Technical support flaws: I have heard about people complaining that the technical support doesn't help much. One person said that they blamed on muticore processors (now thats a lame excuse for a reason why SCS is so rigged with program bugs), Window Vista (supported by SCS), and the graphic card (the graphic card was also supported by SCS).

[soldyne 111]

Marketing Flaws:  agree completely.  but a bad title does not make a bad book.

also, SCS is not just an airport and seaport, you need to get out more.  SCS is about creating enitre resort complexes including tourist destinations, theme parks, resort hotels, monuments and attractions.  the airport and seaport are just there to accomodate the increased tourism in your cities.  really the ports are just a small part of what SCS will offer.

also I am not sure where you get your figures from.  SCS will be available for download here in the US for $19.99.  pretty much every Sims2 expansion costs that much and all they add are clothes and furniture...

Program Flaws:  agree again.  but, there are 5 patches out for the game and many people say that the latest patch cleared up most of them.  people who are still having trouble are most likely due to local problems.  I personally have had a great experience playing the game with just as many glitches as I do playing SC4, Oblivion, or any other high end graphics game.

Technical Support:  disagree.  those people who are having trouble with tech support are not talking to right people.  They are most likely trying to contact EA tech support which is a load of carp.  if they go to the tilted mill forums and post their grievence in the tech support thread a TM developer will respond within 24 hours (unless it is a weekend or holiday).  they also respond a lot to suggestions, comments, complaints and will even carry on a random conversation.  I'd say that the tech support for SCS is better than any game I have ever played before.

A large portion of the fixes and additions that came in the patches were due to the conversations and complaints on the TM forums.