I beg to differ - this is not a bug!

[TheMurderousCricket 5,127]

So, I dived back into SC3000…

To be honest with you, while I have always liked this game, most of my past cities have been quite mediocre overall. I have never achieved „astronomical” land values in any of my cities. „High” was the peak of my mayoral abilities and even this was reduced to some isolated spots of the game map. However, as a „warm-start beginner”, I decided to completely change my strategy. Instead of saving up pennies, I put as many services, parks and amenities as I could right from the start of my projects. Though I have been taking a yearly hit for a few initial years, my cities grew well and got richer every year. Until one day I have noticed the first „astronomical” label in my commercial district. But the story is about to begin just now…

After several years, I have noticed that my ludicrously expensive comm district has suddenly turned into a slum with „very low” land values. What the…?

Since I have never gone past „high” in my previous projects I was quite surprised until I found information in various sources (including this forum) that there is a „bug” in SC3000 which causes really expensive areas to recalculate to 0 once they achieve their highest possible land value. „Okay, so this is a bug” – I concluded. But before long, this issue has burrowed into my mind and got me thinking…

What if this is not a bug? What if this is an intentional mechanism?

And the second conclusion I made was – „What if this is an intentional representation of the "economic bubble" effect?”

While a „fringe” statement, I believe that this may actually be an in-game mechanism that is aimed at representing a „bubble burst” event. A situation in which land prices grow so high that people can no longer afford to buy them and pay rents (taxes) causing the prices to undergo a "correction". This translates into the SC3000 moment where prices plunge back to reasonable values again, causing a player to experience a „bubble burst” (albeit, lacking newspaper headers).

While I like to consider this peculiar SC3000 "bug" to be a representation of a real-world problem, I also accept the fact that it may not be entirely accurate. One of the reasons I can think of, is that you can regain the "astronomical" label in a matter of months once you introduce some crime or pollution into the "crashed" area. However, a classic "bubble burst" scenario postulates that all prices plummet to minimum and rise back up gradually, over an extended time frame.

I did not manage to find any resources that would look at this „problem” from a different perspective - the one which I have just shared with you. While all this may indeed just be a bug, I still prefer to think of it as a game mechanism and not an issue per se.

Do you know a programmers’ oversight can actually be regarded as an advantage? I think all this just shows how timeless and ingenious SC3000 is in its "simplicity". What do you guys think about this theory?

Best regards,
TMC

[CorinaMarie 29,926]

I love the theory.

It's a useful way to give a real world explanation for what occurs in the game. You can carry it one step further and when the bubble bursts, you can continue to improve the area to get to the highest land value again. In other words, you can cycle thru the slow increase after the values plummet. (As I understand it, that's how peeps made those super dense cities with a zillion population.)

[VetinarisClerk 271]

That's an ingenious way to explain an overflow error. 😉

[TheMurderousCricket 5,127]

On 20.11.2020 at 4:05 PM, CorinaMarie said:

You can carry it one step further and when the bubble bursts, you can continue to improve the area to get to the highest land value again. In other words, you can cycle thru the slow increase after the values plummet.

That'd indeed be an exciting challenge, though I'm not sure if it is possible in SC3000. It takes a lot of effort on its own to achieve the "bubble burst" event, so I guess you'd have to stack parks and museums on top of one another to increase land value again after the overflow error. 

Do you perhaps know if any of the SC games mentioned here do have the "bubble burst" mechanics? This could be an interesting feature.
 

On 20.11.2020 at 4:23 PM, VetinarisClerk said:

That's an ingenious way to explain an overflow error. 😉

Thanks! 

[CorinaMarie 29,926]

51 minutes ago, TheMurderousCricket said:

Do you perhaps know if any of the SC games mentioned here do have the "bubble burst" mechanics?

I was fairly certain that some of the uploads of older record breaking cities had that in their notes. The two that seem familiar tho, don't specifically mention that part.

You could peek in these just in case:

 

[doon 78]

Hi! Here's the city that deals with the land value bug:

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/31783-aquaia-5sc3/

You can get the land value to overflow twice near the center by using 4x4 buildings and going roadless to reduce pollution, and by moving the buildings underwater and surrounded by marinas.

You may be interested to know that the game does simulate a demographic bubble. Here's something to try: keep the life expectancy maxed at 89 for a few hundred years. Eventually, when your workforce falls below 50% of your population (check the Population chart), the RCI demand for your city will get wonky.

Also check out Molleindustria, over the past few years he's released two screensaver-style city builders which are more focused on moral hazards and systemic collapses and fold catastrophes.

[TheMurderousCricket 5,127]

5 hours ago, doon said:

Also check out Molleindustria, over the past few years he's released two screensaver-style city builders which are more focused on moral hazards and systemic collapses and fold catastrophes.

You're telling me!?  I've been a frequent visitor to Molleindustria! I even wanted to post a link to these city-builders for Simtropians to enjoy. I might actually do it now:

http://www.molleindustria.org/lichenia/

http://molleindustria.org/nova-alea/

One thing I don't necessarily like about this page is that they are flaming communist. To an extent that makes even a fairly liberal guy like me blush with embarrassment.

But overflowing SC3000 city twice?  Ye gods, I can't even begin to imagine how much effort could that take!

[VetinarisClerk 271]

Uuu lichenia looks interesting.

I actually thought about a citybuilder where you had to supply food as well - agriculture as a resource, not just a type of industry. But the more polution your industry produced, the more it would supress food production, which would limit population. 

So the trick would be balance, zoning, and tech. Growing a city like a garden.

Dunno abut commies, but seeing how capitalism's response to global warming is to deny and delay - yeah, I can see where they come from.

[VetinarisClerk 271]

So I tried Lichenia and just as I was starting to figure out the rules, it froze my browswer. 🙁

Anyone had that happen to them? 🤨

[TheMurderousCricket 5,127]

1 hour ago, VetinarisClerk said:

Dunno abut commies, but seeing how capitalism's response to global warming is to deny and delay - yeah, I can see where they come from.

True. I think the world has lost itself somewhere on the way. Neglect of some ideals and reasoning antagonizes and radicalizes the adherents of these ideals. This is why we have climate change denialists on one side and eco-terrorists on the other. Eating a sausage makes me a monster in their eyes. 

1 hour ago, VetinarisClerk said:

So I tried Lichenia and just as I was starting to figure out the rules, it froze my browswer. 🙁

Anyone had that happen to them? 🤨

I have never played this game so far, so hard to tell. Make sure your browser is up to date.

[VetinarisClerk 271]

3 hours ago, TheMurderousCricket said:

So I found a better version of Lichenia. Lost a couple of hours on it. The genereral idea is the same, the graphic is still pixelated, bit it's much more straightforward:

Terra Nil