Targon

While I am not a coder these days(I stopped programming back in 1993), I started playing the original Sim City shortly after it first came out all those years ago, and have always been into city building games. As such, I would love to help come up with ideas for the game. One idea I have always wanted to see for Sim City 5 was that the type of commercial business that develops is based on the demand in a neighborhood, as well as for the city as a whole. In Sim City 4, we saw a general breakdown into the main categories for commercial and industrial. I propose that for this new project, things become a bit more specific based on what types of businesses are needed by sims. The following are just some of the businesses sims would want to have access to. Grocery stores movie theaters convenience stores pizza delivery Chinese food delivery party supplies pool supplies and/or services. Book, record/CD, DVD stores. Movie rentals Restaurants(places sims would want to go to eat, which is different from delivery or groceries) Clothing stores Fast Food Electronics stores The list goes on, but you get the idea. If the project uses stages of development like SC4 did, the size of these could increase, so you could have small places like Radio Shack, or larger stores that service more people once the city is larger. With needs for things like groceries and such by each house, a focus on neighborhoods needing access to certain services could be used to trigger what businesses are built on a given commercial lot. No more of the 4 different pizza places like in SC4 if my system works. Anyway, I hope to be able to help.

Originally posted by: owenluby Why can't the whole community make a new game? With all the stuff we want?quote> Software development has two main parts to it, the design phase, and the code phase(which also requires good design). Many people who complain really are not and probably will never be ready to be a part of a design team, though some are or will be. Having a good idea or design isn't enough though, you need talented artists, coders, and even composers(for the sounds/music). Those with the ability do tend to have a bit of an ego as well, so trying to get a group like this coordinated and working together would probably be next to impossible. I do think that a small group of 5-10 people MIGHT be able to get a good initial design put together, but getting the coders and such focused and listening to that design team without being paid money would be the real difficult part. So, I'm ready to put my money where my mouth is when it comes to game design, but I don't have several millions of dollars to pay a team to get a product to market. I will also admit that my focus tends to be more in the area of fantasy roleplaying when it comes to what I want to see in a game, but I spend most of my time playing games that make you think, so I have experience there too.

There are several ideas I have had for what I would like to see in Sim City 5, 6, 7, or whatever. Obviously not all of these would be desired by everyone, so there would be options to turn them on or off. One feature that I enjoyed in the previous Sim City games was the way new advances in technology would unlock different things. So you can't build an airport until the invention of the airplane and such. Some people like it, some people don't. Now, I am also a big fan of the Civilization series, so one idea that I would find enjoyable would be to have Sim City be "within" the context of a Civilization style game. So, you as the player would develop technologies, but at the same time, you are responsible for how well each city evolves. The landscape of the city would be based on where the city is in the world, so if you are right on a river in the "Civ" map, that's where your city is in the game. You have the time of a Civ game turn(and of course you can pause in City mode) to plan out your city and such. An interesting side effect is that you could really see how technology advances would provide advances for the city. Even things like roads wouldn't be available, so you would be forced to lay things out as best you can with your given resources. Buildings with a stone foundation would be built faster with masonry, and so on. You could even end up with different style buildings based on the Civ you end up playing, with a mix of styles if there are multiple cultures in the city. Even without those two ideas(which wouldn't be simple), the next thing I would like to see added are neighborhoods. If you live in a residential area, you will have certain businesses you want/need. A supermarket/grocery store is a big one, with things like a movie theater, convenience store, pizza and other food types(with a possible need for delivery based on city size). Remember that pizza delivery may be common for many of us, but it's not always available. So, not only do you need a good mix of residential, commercial, and industrial, but the way buildings develop should be based on the needs of the people. So, if you have no supermarket, commercial space will generate a supermarket, or other place for your sims to buy food at. And obviously, it will be based on demand how things play out. Each neighborhood SHOULD have it's own wants on this sort of scale so you don't end up with 10 pizza places but no other services. There should be alternatives to the current set of transportation systems in the game. From bike paths, to light rail, to normal rail. Bus stops should be a seperate layer on top of your transit system, but at the same time, a stopped bus WILL slow down traffic. Mono-rail, and even a skyway(for the future if you have a passage of time). Think stuff like the city in "The 5th element", where rail can go up and down buildings as well as along/under/above the ground. Having high-tech be a selectable way to zone would also help since it is within the power of a town planning board to decide what types of businesses are allowed into a given area. If the Civ idea doesn't work for people, then having access to different style buildings would also be good. And finally, I would like to see different types of religious structures for different religions.

Finally some news on Sim City 5... http://www.gamespot.com/news/6160951.html?sid=6160951