The Perfect Simcity 4 City

[frdrcklim 139]

Perfection. Goal that changes. Never stops moving. Can chase, cannot catch.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Amen.  You spend 10% of your budget getting to 90%, then the rest getting to 95% and after that it is a labour of Sisyphus.

[Androgeos 73]

I see the thread title and I think of Magnasanti, but that's SimCity 3000.

 

My idea of perfection changes with every city. In the last city I created, "perfection" meant "create a SPAM community". I got that in less than five years game time. I didn't even need to go beyond low-density R and C. A low goal, but that was "perfection" to me for that map.

[atsummerlin53 47]

Most people probably don't even have a "perfect" city in mind when they play the game. They just use the original, custom, and personal content to see what kind of city will pop up. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Perfection is really impossible.  You just go from minor goal to minor goal, filling up the landscape according to your personal convictions.  Generally, happiness is in the eye of the beholder.

[Pl4idMan 2]

This thread is exactly why this game is still so great and so entertaining after so many years. It keeps us chasing the carrot, which may or may not exist, but who cares because the chase is so damn fun. Long live Sim City 4.

[CaterpillarKing 52]

I wonder if you could model a city after real life techniques and get a "perfect city". Some games are good at that, and I think SC4 is one of those games.

[mrsmartman 200]

A city with 19 million people:

http://www.simcity.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=93855&extra=page%3D1%26filter%3Ddigest%26digest%3D1

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Sorry, I don't read character.  However, I would expect a county with over 1 billion people to create very large populations in SC runs.  They don't seem to object to the serious overcrowding.

[MushyMushy 3,618]

While it's neat that they got such a high population in their city... it's really ugly. It's just a bunch of Hamster Tenements (ew Maxis ew ew ew).

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

One man's ant hill is another man's city.  I simply don't try for that kind of aggregation.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

I agree. That city illustrates the versatility of SimCity perfectly, though. This city is probably perfect in terms of maximum inhabitants and highest population density.

 

 It doesn't take a Harvard degree, however, to tell that it is far from realistic or beautiful, i.e. it is far from perfection in these respects. It goes to show that the goals you "beat" in SimCity are, ultimately, your own. Yes, after making that city, the creator can proudly lean back and say "I beat the simulator" - to a population that may not be possible to exceed, yes. The next person may "beat" the simulator to a city that's so realistic that everybody's jaw drops. Or to a concept that's so unique and so intricately put into practice that everyone is in awe.

 

This is precisely what I love so much about this game: You can enjoy that very special moment when whatever you envisioned for your city is finally unfolding in all its glory on your screen and you can say "I did it. Boy, I did it!" And tomorrow? Who knows what challenge you will pick...

[jmsepe 2,039]

Whatever, I still prefer to see Starbucks in every corner of the road than McDonald's. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I tend to confine Starbucks to corners within medium density industrial parks.