An offer to take over SC3000.com and SC4ever.com

[Dirktator 2,327]

I received this email today from Wren, the webmaster at Maxis.  I met him a few years ago when we went down to preview Rush Hour and meet Will.  Wren started two sites, www.sc3000.com and www.sc4ever.com before being hired by Maxis to be the SimCity webmaster (it sounds like he has since moved on to the Sims)...

Still, he has offered to give these two rather legendary sites over to Simtropolis, as he doesn't have the heart to pull the plug on them and he's too busy to maintain them or port them over.  Anyway, he wrote me, below, and I thought I'd share it with you.

I think I will take him on the offer.  I used to lurk on both his sites long before I started Simtropolis, so they have a certain nostalgia for me, not to mention many other SC players, I'm sure.  I think we'll bring them under the ST umbrella, and make it part of our network.

Hi Dirk,

 

It’s been quite awhile since the Maxis days in Walnut Creek! I remember meeting you at the headquarters there back when SimCity 4 was up and coming, and thinking that you were really taking things way beyond where I’d left off at the time with regards to the online site. As I look at Simtropolis.com today and see its coverage of CitiesXL, SimCity 4, and how timely it is with the technologies out there (for example Twitter), I am greatly impressed with its evolution. Ultimately, I know that the online presence stems from a real love of the SimCity series in particular, something which I think we have a lot in common.

 

Below I have a wild idea, but first as some background, I’ll only say that taking a job with Maxis/EA pretty much has meant that the SimCity sites I started have been collecting dust since about 2003, and yet I just can’t seem to pull the plug on them.

Starting March 9^th, I’ve been on an 11 week sabbatical after working on the Sims 3 site for about 9 busy months, and find myself having to use a lot of my time off just recovering! During some of my time though, I’d wanted to at least port my two SimCity sites over to PHP for several reasons, but before I took that on (if I even do) I wanted to bounce an idea off of you.

 

Since I’ve noticed that Simtropolis.com uses cfml, I was curious if you’d be interested in somehow combining sc3000.com and sc4ever.com into Simtropolis, making a sort of “larger Simtropolis” that also covers the games of yore. I have no real concrete idea how exactly it would be done, other than to just toss this out there and see if you think it would be of any value to you and the legacy city building community at large. Of course, certainly your emphasis is wisely on the new genres since they are forward-facing, though I admit to personally having a lot of nostalgia for the first four SimCity games and so I just wanted to see if this is a combo worth pursuing. Actually, I’d even love to see a mini site for SimCity Classic, since that is a site that I never built even though I played the heck out of the game. Granted, the Internet wasn’t really born yet in the Classic days.

 

Oh and technically, the sites both use IIS, ColdFusion MX, and MSSQL Server for the DB. It’s something I could just give you, possibly, for “integration”. Or maybe it’s not so simple. In fact, doing anything with the sites would be considerable work, save for leaving them live as is.

In any case, thanks for your time and best wishes to you! I hope you enjoyed your trip to Paris. I really enjoyed reading your article on your CitiesXL impressions.

 

Sincerely,

 

Wrenquote>

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Sounds good.

I always wondered if there was a similar site for SC3000...

Could make ST even more diverse. Like a real metropolis.

[Ntq€310 1]

I would think this would be quite a interesting idea. Seeing as both are such large parts of the community and it's growth. But when i see this site, and other such sites i can't help it to feel sad for what has happened to simcity, and maxis as it's moved on to spore and the sims. Shame ain't it? But in a positive note this is a very nice offer, and it really does show how important simtropolis is to the community in general.

[Haljackey 17,398]

 I wonder if this Wren fellow has anything to do with Wren Insurance in SC4.  You know, the the most repetitive building in the game?

Sounds like an interesting idea.  I'm sure we are all fine with sub-categories for older Simcity games.  I know for a fact that some members still play SC3K and SC2K.  There's even some new CJs about them!  If there's a way to integrate this into ST, then why not go for it?

All the best,

-Haljackey

[JakeMD 107]

what an offer! Sounds good to me

[Ducio 285]

Whoa! I remember Wren from the SC3000 chatroom when he was the legend MaxisWren

Sounds great!

[Duke87 1,070]

So... what exactly does "bring them under the ST umbrella" mean? Just slap a new coat of paint on them and make them subsites here? Or actually integrating those knowledge trees into the omnibus and sticking the files on the STEX? Or something else?

[Streetwise 3]

I like this idea as well, as I've been thinking about SC3000 more lately, and it would be helpful to those here still playing the older SimCity versions.

My suggestion would be to do it

[buildsolid 4]

Sounds like a great idea, you should do it!

[Andreas Roth 629]

SC3000.com used to be among my favorite sites when I got internet in the late 1990's, and it has become legendary indeed. I'd hate to see if it would vanish for whatever reason, even if I don't play SC3000 anymore. I think it would be best if you keep the sites as they are (not merging them with Simtropolis), as it's not only the information, but also the presentation that has become an icon in those times. Huge props to Wren for keeping them alive during all those years, and even now I visit them occasionally, just for nostalgia.

[Sam 163]

I remember those two sites very well. In the days I was playing those games they were as Simtropolis is to me now. I hope they will live on, and I think its a great idea for Simtropolis to adopt them. Like Andreas though I think they should retain as much of their original character as possible.

[zane900 1]

wren has made you an offer you cannot refuse.

[Dirktator 2,327]

Yes, I would be keeping those 2 sites in their original states, there would be no plans to "slap a new coat of paint" on them or anything. We would of course make it part of our network, so that means they may reside under sc3000.simtropolis.com and sc4ever.simtropolis.com as an example, ideally, we'd like to keep the original domain names.

[Kevin 101]

I remember those sites... I did quite a bit of downloading from SC3000.com. If Simtropolis can do something to continue their legacy, I say let's do it!

[Boggy1 45]

That's actually really cool. It'd be great if ST could continue keeping those two websites active!

[Kevin 101]

Actually, I'd even love to see a mini site for SimCity Classic, since that is a site that I never built even though I played the heck out of the game. Granted, the Internet wasn't really born yet in the Classic days. quote>

I wonder if there is any demand for a "Classic Simcity" forum on ST that would cover SC3k, 2k, and Classic

[Jasoncw 11,949]

I think that's a great idea!

Also, about Wren Insurance, yes, it is named after him. A lot of the buildings are named after Maxis staff.

[JakeMD 107]

I wonder if there is any demand for a "Classic Simcity" forum on ST that would cover SC3k, 2k, and Classicquote>

I would say so. i know I still have sc2k installed, and play it from time to time, and I know there is a few CJ's on it (as mentioned above).

[beebs 129]

That would be awesome! Even if just for the nostalgia, it would be neat to see them stay around.

[MrCinatit 30]

sc3000. Wow - that brings back some memories. I spent a lot of time there, as well - that was my first SimCity game, as well as one of my first windows-based computer games. I believe I was more of a lurker there than anything else, but I did make some occasional posts here and there. I especially remember the community basically freaking out when SC4 was announced - there were some who were not impressed the least little bit.

It has been about a year since I have been back - looking there was great for old-time's sake, but it was quite depressing to see the community had indeed been largely forgotten.

I wonder what became of MGMStar? One of my favorite posters and lot makers.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Retro will always have an appeal.

I remember Dirk saying recently that he is aiming for "completeness"...  in terms of the Sim City / Simulation genre.

This is an ideal opportunity and we should take it.

[Hamish 1,370]

This sounds like a really good idea.

Just like craig said, "completeness" was the word that sprung to mind when I read this thread. And so, we are getting there.

I never really went to these sites much though, SC 2000 brought me into the Sim City games, and I sort of skipped SC3k. But this sounds like a great idea.

[Kevin 101]

Looks like Wren announced it over on sc4ever.com

[kj3400 178]

Sounds good to me. It'll be nice to see the older SC games here....a one stop Sim City destination!

[DuskTrooper 316]

All in favor of the annex...say aye...

AYE!

*pounds gavel*

Congratulations. Welcome to the Dirktatorship.

[Danlikebooks 6]

AYE!

I used to use the knowledge tree back in the days... 2006 if I remember correctly.

[Kevin 101]

Wren has made a detailed post over at Sc4ever.com's forums, in addition to what he wrote on the homepage.

[mightygoose 92]

one step closer to world domination of the citybuilding genre...

[R30hedron 28]

I really like the idea of annexing those two legedary sites, if they weren't ever there, I'd never have heard about Simtropolis or how to create custom regions.

Good luck with the annexation

(In response of DuskTrooper's post, AYE!)

[Tropod 144]

All you need now, is for Tilted Mill to give up their (SC) forums, and Maxis to give up their (SC) sites, and it'll be all mine, mine.....er, yours, I mean yours mwahahahaha

I think, if memory serves, I learnt about SC4 over at one of those 2 sites; sc4ever/sc3k.com