JoshuaH

My currently active region has a population of somewhere around 500,000, and has been around for just a few days shy of a year now - though perhaps not long for a Sim game, a rather long time for a saved computer game. In any case, I began wondering, per capita - how long - in real time - has it been since you first established your currently active region(s)?

Being the loyal SimCity fan I am, I purchased the game the day after it came out, regrettibly. I can't think of anything useful to say about it, other than that with an urban design oriented development team I think that the game could have been much more than it is.

I've been rather curious about the whole SimCity Creator bit too, but I'm going to have to second the majority here and say that the chances of it really being the kind of game we expect are slim, if possible at all. A chimpanzee can be a crowdpleaser, but he can't write a form letter. Likewise, it's really illogical to expect a crowd pleasing EA to actually deliver a piece of intelligent art... unless that's what the crowds prove they want of course, which really winds up coming back to what we're doing as an SC community to stomp on their toes at present. In any case, it will be interesting to see what this new title's all about.

Alright folks, I'm back. Sorry about the small pictures. In the future I'll post 640x480 shots, unless you guys prefer them larger. In any case, thanks for the feedback. :-) Some time has elapsed since my last report; as I eluded to you before, the rapid growth of industry was beginning to have detrimental effects on the health and wellbeing of the community. The Baytown district has continued to experince booming growth, prompting a health crisis due to air and water pollution issues; what began as a small industrial burg south of the railroad tracks from Downtown quickly spiraled into ghetto conditions for the poorer classes. In spite of this, the overall luxury of our Base Penninsula neighborhood has continued to improve. The East side of Base Peninsula (shown below) continues to show strong signs of sustained urban health: A special board of commissioners delegated to the creation of a new high-wealth pilot project west of town sponsored a special urban layout which it deemed condusive to rapid growth. It has also been expected to act as a showpiece to the rest of SimNation. Featured below, the new Richtengarden neighborhood is surrounded by walls, large artificial ponds, and monuments; outside to the north it is independently powered by wind turbines and possesses it's own off-grid water system. Surrounding it's walled interior light density residences and a small commercial district blend gently into the Beachfront district, where a new Museum was recently built. Downtown shows strong signs of change; steam from the new Geothermal plant to the south rises over our fairly new Rialto Neighborhood just south of Main Street. Meanwhile a strong commercial district has continued to grow, replacing what once was automotive dealerships and low key restaurants with what is now office complexes. The new train station is the vicinity's most distinguishing factor however, as it's presence presents direct regional access as well as local access to Rippling Waters' new Liberation Industrial Park. Also of note, the new Town Hall stands directly across the tracks to the right of Main Central station in the picture below. As can be seen somewhat visibly around town, commerce is having a hard time keeping up with demand for growth. The result is a mild present labor shortage, which is one of the issues being addressed by the new industrial park and future Commercial district which is expected to take it's place: Below you see the new Liberation Industrial Park, my most exciting report. Following the despicable living conditions of the city's historic Baytown industrial district, this newly planned industrial park hosts a new generation of cleaner industrial opportunities, broader avenues and flora, as well as direct rail service from downtown. At bottom of picture below the new Destiny Ave. stretches eastward toward old Baytown, where it will ultimately become a part of the new downtown economic project. To the right of the picture a large new water treatment plant addresses the water polution problems which have plagued Rippling Waters for years. To the north and south, roses line the streets as a symbol of labor equality. A Graphic demonstrates the path of Destiny Avenue.&nbs