A nice thick manual

[LivingInThePast 364]

One of the things missing from modern SimCity games and many wishlists is a manual.

At a time in the distant past, all Maxis games came packaged with thick manuals that not only had tutorials (though a good game doesn't need one) but also loads of information about cities, as well as artwork and poems, which I'm sure I scanned (I did) about real cities and what makes them so unique.

But during the Maxis dark ages (didn't own any games of that era, most are Windows-only anyway) and certainly into the EA days, the Maxis manuals became like everything else: a small guide with tiny text describing basics and explaining controls...in 8 languages.

I'd love to see a thick manual again, not only with descriptions on how to make the most awesome city ever, but also some essays and documents, perhaps about the Houston highway system (Houston Freeways, 2003, which is sadly out of print but was re-released as a free PDF), or something about Detroit abandonment (always a popular topic) or the history of London, or something. And of course, artwork, poetry, and a few in-progress sketches are great. Not exactly coffee table book material, but a fascinating read nonetheless.

Even if that's not possible (it would greatly increase the price of the game, I suppose), a fantastic strategy guide would make up for it.

Here's a bit from my blog which details some of that:

In the book, SimCity 2000: Power, Politics, and Planning Revised Edition, which is a wonderful book from a bygone era when Prima strategy guides were far more than essentially a GameFAQs guide with pictures, an interview mentions Trip Generation, in which Fred Haslam (co-designer of SC2K) receives a book called Trip Generation. According to Haslam, Trip Generation "is over a thousand pages and weighed more than both my cats. And it was nothing but graphs and numbers."

I mean, what do you think?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

You have a good point. This is going to be a complex program, so I foresee not a third-party user's guide, but a set of manuals that can be purchased.

The basic document on how to install the program, link to the server and register should be "in the box" along with a separate description of the controls and perhaps a brief tutorial.

After that, an in-depth help system should be provided in the program/server itself. While a basic help system must be provided initially, this can be enhanced over time, perhaps something on the order of our Omnibus.

As for hard publications, electronic or paper, there should be a much fuller explanation of the program's capabilities, and perhaps a few scenarios. A separate custom content manual should be available describing the requirements and tools for making custom stuff. I have no problem with EA/Maxis asking for money for these documents. Perhaps the price point here should be held around ten dollars for the user's guide, but the sky is the limit for the modder's guide.

The quality of such publications should be as good as you get with any technical document. It should be free of inside writing that would only be understood if you were a programmer with the source.

Good technical writing is expensive to produce, so I wouldn't expect to find it available with the release, but later on as an extra. All in all, I prefer an electronic document with, perhaps, a downloadable PDF file.

  Edited March 9, 2012 by A Nonny Moose  

[RodC 7]

I think you're living in the past, LivingInThePast.

The last strategy game I bought recently had a manual of about 12 pages, and most of those just explained how to install the game. As much as we all enjoyed them, thick manuals are a thing of the past. EA is pushing Origin these days so that they don't even have to waste money on a printed manual at all, and the electronic manual will cover nothing more than installation and getting started.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I think you're living in the past, LivingInThePast.

The last strategy game I bought recently had a manual of about 12 pages, and most of those just explained how to install the game. As much as we all enjoyed them, thick manuals are a thing of the past. EA is pushing Origin these days so that they don't even have to waste money on a printed manual at all, and the electronic manual will cover nothing more than installation and getting started.

Let's hope for a happy medium. This isn't a shoot-'em-up game with obvious operation. Something more than an installation guide is surely required?

[BurroDiablo 222]

EA stated a while ago that it wanted to substitute all printed manuals with digital versions instead. I think they have already started doing this. So yeah, this is a pipe dream.

[LivingInThePast 364]

I realize that printed material accompanying games is (sadly) largely a thing of days of gone by, but this is freakin' SimCity! You'd think they'd celebrate with something special. I wouldn't mind paying for a "real" strategy guide, you know.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

EA stated a while ago that it wanted to substitute all printed manuals with digital versions instead. I think they have already started doing this. So yeah, this is a pipe dream.

Now that depends on your point of view. A page of type is about 1K bytes, so a "nice thick manual" of 1 MB would contain about 1,000 pages. At that depth, I'd expect all the DFDs for the program as well as a full discussion of each functionality. Something on the order of 50K (50 pages or less) would probably do the trick.

[RodC 7]

Even strategy guides are getting harder to find these days. In fact, books in general are slowly becoming obsolete. It's all about the bottom line.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Even strategy guides are getting harder to find these days. In fact, books in general are slowly becoming obsolete. It's all about the bottom line.

That, my friend, is why one should pay for such documents. It is far too costly to produce good tech. stuff to give it away. Try and find an assembler manual with a description of the instructions for your CPU and you'll be looking at substantial moolah. If there was money to be made doing this, EA will do it.

[CommodoreTech 5]

I think manuals with lots of 'story' in really sell it for kids. I still have the SC3K manual (and box! remember when games came in boxes! sheesh) and I remember I used to love reading all the advisor's back stories, the tutorial and all the other information again and again. The same with the SC4 strategy guide, I read that many many times.

But I don't care much for them now. I like some bit of paper in the case, otherwise it seems a bit bland when you open it the first time and have nothing relevant to read while it's installing...

[NBAFAN1 28]

The age of boxed PC games is over. Everything is fully digital now. Even a company like Paradox which specializes in complex grand strategy games doesn't make printed manuals.

  Edited March 9, 2012 by NBAFAN1  

[BurroDiablo 222]

Last boxed game I bought was BF3... was totally pointless, even that with the disk I still needed to download it from Origin. Being an EA game, it didn't come with a printed manual (came with 2 small slips of paper about gun clubs or something).

If there is a full move to digital distribution, I would like to see some savings passed on to customers. SC5 Deluxe is shipping at £65! Probably be the most I'll spend on a PC game in a decade... but that's only if SC5 lives up to expectations, there's a small chance I won't be parting with my money at all.

  Edited March 9, 2012 by BurroDiablo  

[RodC 7]

Last boxed game I bought was BF3... was totally pointless, even that with the disk I still needed to download it from Origin. Being an EA game, it didn't come with a printed manual (came with 2 small slips of paper about gun clubs or something).

If there is a full move to digital distribution, I would like to see some savings passed on to customers. SC5 Deluxe is shipping at £65! Probably be the most I'll spend on a PC game in a decade... but that's only if SC5 lives up to expectations, there's a small chance I won't be parting with my money at all.

The price threw me off at first too. I put in my pre-order for $79.99. This is by far the most I have ever paid for a game... ever!

Sorry to say, though, that EA won't be passing on any cost savings to us. Just wait until all the $15 DLC packs start getting released in 2013 and 2014.

[Odainsaker 2,134]

A physical manual...

...Bwahahahahahahahha!!!

Aaahhhahahahahah!!!

He he, har har, ho ho...

Next, they will start asking for internally complete games that have been fully play-tested even as we are trying to phase out physical disks.

Too bad, as I would pay the extra for a proper manual, as the simple act of reading should not be dependant on hoping that the electricity doesn't suddenly go out. Like the "Twilight Zone" episode, us post-apocalypse bibliophiles are going to find ourselves with all the free time enough at last to read to our heart's content, and then accidently shatter our only set of reading glasses. When the power goes, access to a civilization's worth of written material will flicker away with it.

"The world has been nuked, and now I can't read up on SimCity zoning guidelines! It's not fair!!!"

Actually, the best general reference book to find in the vein of the classic SimCity manual is Spiro Kostof's The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History, followed up by its companion, The City Assembled: Elements of Urban Form Through History. If they were to bundle those two with the game, I would be impressed, and if the broadly painted design concepts from either book were to trickle into our City Journals, I would be tickled.

  Edited March 10, 2012 by Odainsaker  

[brynhyfryd 222]

Ahh the old trip down memory lane.

I used to love the days when PC games were boxed. I had so much excitement looking at the box and manual on the ride home from the shops. Once home I would be installing the game and catching up on any missed content that was needed to be read before finally playing the game.

I would gladly pay a premium for a boxed version with a nice thick manual which included a strategy guide. I would gladly add an additional £20 to the purchase price. Maybe maxis could release a limited edition boxed set of the game to sit along side my existing collection.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

If I remember correctly, a long manual and a pretty art book (along with different packaging) is what made Spore Galactic Edition. Seeing as that was the last Maxis game...

[Mark Waybill 242]

I'd support the notion of a nice thick heavy manual smelling of an Edwardian library with a leatherbound cover and a foreword by Chas. Dickens, if it weren't for the fact that in the words of that famous character from Ghostbusters print is dead these days, and such a thing would be far too costly and nobody would buy the game with the additional price aside from hardclore fans. As an optional possibility in theory it could work but I think maxis have more pressing concerns like expansion packs and further development to worry them rather than making nice accompanying manuals. However maybe a reasonably sized print manual could work, with choice select poetry and artwork, essays etc

[brynhyfryd 222]

If I remember correctly, a long manual and a pretty art book (along with different packaging) is what made Spore Galactic Edition. Seeing as that was the last Maxis game...

You are correct.

http://www.spore.com/what/spore_ge

Now if only maxis could do a similar offering for simcity

[tSlater 134]

I fondly remember the large manual from Sim City 2000. I read it front to back, and keep in mind I was a definite A.D.D. kid. There are not very many books at all in my lifetime I've been able to sit down and read front to back.

If it weren't for that manual, there are lots of things about city design and planning I would have never learned from the game itself. Even beyond city planning, it taught me about the "falling building" effect in photography, and taught me about one of my now-favourite buildings, the Flatiron in NYC.

So with that said, I'd love to see a book like that again for SC5, even if it's a separate purchase. But I'd rather it be physical than digital. Something I can read on the bus (lol no kindle) or whilst playing the game itself.

[BurroDiablo 222]

If I remember correctly, a long manual and a pretty art book (along with different packaging) is what made Spore Galactic Edition. Seeing as that was the last Maxis game...

You are correct.

http://www.spore.com/what/spore_ge

Now if only maxis could do a similar offering for simcity

Spore was released in 2008, EA stopped printing manuals March last year. So as I said before, as nice as a reaaaaaaaally thick manual would be, It's probably not going to happen.

[Sap59 3]

I would like to see a thick manual but a downloadable PDF file would work for me too.

  Edited March 10, 2012 by Sap59  

[VeritaScientia 150]

I think a thick manual would rock and if I were to get a hold of a beta-test copy I would certainly contribute to writing the manual if Maxis were interested. I might put together my own interactive manual if I feel my skills were up to it, since there's several different ways of designing cities nowadays.

[meowza 230]

A manual would be nice as a side item. I've brushed through all the SC games without reading any of the available manuals though, and I want to do the same with the new SC. Learning should be an intrinsic and enjoyable part of the game. I could clearly see now though how some people would be selling guides on how to optimize the SC experience.

  Edited March 13, 2012 by meowza  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

All things being equal can we not start a SimCity (20xx) Omnibus edition on this site? It would need to be separated from the SC4 edition, but there is no reason why a split could not occur on an intro page for the Omnibus.

Initially, perhaps we could entice EA/Maxis into contributing some initial articles.

Edit: Who knows? We might be able to earn some money from EA for being the reference site for 'learnéd' articles on the game. We might even be able to afford a better server.

  Edited March 13, 2012 by A Nonny Moose  

[Terribletown USA 18]

1. Put .PDF on thumb drive

2. Go to Office Depot

3. Print .PDF

4. Buy 3-ring binder

5. ?????

6. Profit

[trar 334]

I too would love to see a manual on par with the SimCities of old(it'd still be alright if it were only in PDF form)but it probably won't happen. I guess i'll have to settle for a fan-made guide (like the Omnibus) or other books about cities. Probably both.

  Edited March 24, 2012 by biff  

[Catmando 7]

All things being equal can we not start a SimCity (20xx) Omnibus edition on this site? It would need to be separated from the SC4 edition, but there is no reason why a split could not occur on an intro page for the Omnibus.

Initially, perhaps we could entice EA/Maxis into contributing some initial articles.

Edit: Who knows? We might be able to earn some money from EA for being the reference site for 'learnéd' articles on the game. We might even be able to afford a better server.

A Simtropolis-hosted or at least Simtropolis-made one is what I had in mind after browsing this thread a bit. I find it very unlikely EA will bother with something as nice as a printed manual, but I don't see why the community couldn't create one. It would need to be a lot more comprehensive than the current Omnibus, though. I liked the concept of the Omnibus, but I never found it very helpful. It had some information that might've been helpful to newbs and then some higher-level stuff like guides on BATting that I never followed very well. I did like some of the other articles. There was one about terraforming coastlines that I thought was nice. More importantly, I found information lacking overall. If an older, simpler game can have a several-hundred-page manual of small print and graphs galore, how could Simcity 4 be summarized in a few dozen pages?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

If we were going to create a new fanzine for SimCity (5/2013) we'd need to get Dirk to agree to carry it as a separate section like the Omnibus.

The first articles could just be lifts from the documentation released with the game, protecting EA's copyright and with permission. After that, perhaps some well-edited player articles based on experience with the product as well as some think-pieces on what may happen with custom content and extensions.

We are at least 18 months from organizing such a thing.

If you were able to purchase a paper copy of the current Omnibus, it would probably come in at something in excess of 100 dollars U.S. Good technical writing is very expensive in man-hours, has to be accurate, well researched, and adjudicated by an editorial board.

And by the way, Dirk, the Omnibus would make a great DVD to add to the donation support for this site.

[Mark Waybill 242]

I don't think I'd read a manual if it wasn't in paper form anyway, unless I needed help, in which case I'd google for help. But I agree that if anything like this will happen it'll most likely be fan made.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I don't think I'd read a manual if it wasn't in paper form anyway, unless I needed help, in which case I'd google for help. But I agree that if anything like this will happen it'll most likely be fan made.

Consider the possibility of a context sensitive help system which took you to the relevant part of the 'manual'. You know, just hit F1.