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As others have said, I've always thought of the "Sim" as meaning "simulator." I see no point in changing one letter when Simtropolis is open to all city simulators (except that one we don't mention coughsocietiescough). I do, however, propose that the subtitle of the site be changed to reflect this openness. As it stands, my bookmark of the site reads "Simtropolis - A Simcity Community | SimCity 2013, SimCity 4..." I think that this should be changed to either "A City-Building Community" or the slogan "Many Cities, One Community," so as to include all city builders. Just a suggestion.

One reason I like living in Arizona - we don't have to deal with DST.

Going with a space theme for now...

Of the games I've played, I think the Portal and Elder Scrolls universes could make interesting movies, but that's about it.

Pretty much anything on History Channel. Who is your favorite superhero?

Section 1. Terrain, Trees, and Tips for New CJ'ers Now, MMP's are great for a small area, or even a city tile; but to cover an entire region with only MMP's would be madness. That's what God-Mode Trees are for. In CJ's, people often cover their region with trees using the God-Mode Tree Controller, which is the tool used in God-Mode to cover large areas with trees. Most CJ'ers who do so also use a custom tree controller, and a custom terrain mod. Custom tree controllers replace the Maxis God-Mode Tree Controller trees with custom trees (for instance, Cycledogg's trees). Terrain mods replace the Maxis terrain with custom terrain. MMP's, custom tree controllers, and terrain mods are all ways to make your region and the cities within look better and more realistic. One way to effectively use these in a CJ is by using a terrain mod, using the custom tree controller to cover the desired areas of your region with trees, and then adding MMP's for the final details when you want to show off that area in you CJ. To cover an entire region with detailed MMP painting, only to show some parts of the region in a CJ would be wasteful. You may be thinking, "Okay, this is all great, but how do I get a terrain mod, custom tree controller, and MMP's?" To answer your question, here are some lists of popular terrain mods, custom tree controllers, and MMP's: (List in topic) Custom tree controllers (In same topic ^) MMP's (Thanks to marsh for this wonderful list!) (All MMP's used in this tutorial are either induvidually on this list, or in a pack on this list. I think.) Section 2. Creating a River Scene In this section of the tutorial, I will give you tips on how to create a river scene. Please keep in mind, this is one river, with a set of MMP's that look good together. There are many other options and combinations to make a river, and as always with MMP's, there's no set-in-stone "right" way to do things. I am merely giving you general tips and inspiration. The MMP's/Terrain I used (most of them, anyway...) to make this scene: PPond Water PEG Shoreline Plops - Gravel PEG Shoreline Plops - Rock Clusters PEG Shoreline Plops - Small Rocks PEG Shoreline Plops - Boulders VIP Cattails and Other Flora PEG Cattails VIP Rocks VIP Automata and Various Other MMP's Cycledogg Trees Cycledogg's Olympic Terrain Mod Cycledogg's Olympic Tree Controller Heblem's Ploppable Dirt Ploppable Alsphalt by ??? I think that's all. First, using one-tile PPond Water, I created a river. The shape/size doesn't matter. Next, I used 1/4-tile PPond to make the river wider, and smoother. Then, I added some PEG Shoreline Gravel for the banks of the river. (Note, after making this scene, I'd advise you to switch this step and the following steps. While it is impossible to plop other MMP's on this gravel, it is easy to plop this gravel on other MMP's. Learn from my mistake ) Then, I plopped some PEG Rocks in the central area of the scene. Some more of this... Next I added some flora; some by VIP, others by PEG. I continued to add flora, rocks, and also some dirt by Heblem. I then plopped some trees by Cycledogg and VIP, and also used Cycledogg's Olympic Tree Controller. Adding small details for extra eyecandy... And the finished product! I know I left out the bottom left-hand corner, but this was simply for the purpose of this tutorial, so you get the general idea. (This was not very good, anyway.) Section 3. Creating a Forest Scene In this section of the tutorial, I will give you tips on how to create a forest scene. Please keep in mind, this is one forest, with a set of MMP's that look good together. There are many other options and combinations to make a forest, and as always with MMP's, there's no set-in-stone "right" way to do things. I am merely giving you general tips and inspiration. MMP's/Terrain I used (most of them, anyway...) to make this scene: VIP Seasonal/Evergreen Fagus, Aesculus, Firs, Cattails, Ferns VIP Rocks PEG Small Rocks and Boulders Lilypads by ??? PEG Shoreline Plops - Sand 2 Cycledogg 2009a Seasonal Trees (I think) Cycledogg Trees Cycledogg's Olympic Terrain Mod Cycledogg's Olympic Tree Controller Flowers by ??? JRJ Transparent Ploppable Water I think that's all. Let's start off with a clean slate, and use Cycledogg's Olympic Tree Controller to add some trees. I thought this little clearing would be nice for a lake. I used Jeronij's Transparent Ploppable Water to create a nice little lake, and plopped some VIP Cattails. Next, I added some VIP/PEG Rocks and PEG's Ploppable Sand. With the transparent effect on the water, I thought this looked really nice. I also added some VIP flora. I started adding some seasonal flora (mostly by VIP, but some by Cycledogg). Remember: In order to get the full effect of seasonal flora, make sure you wait until Sept. 1st in game, pause the game, and then plop away! And went extremely overboard... This went from being a lake in a forest, to a magical pixie spring. But at least it looks nice. Section 4. Creating a Tropical/Jungle Scene In this section of the tutorial, I will give you tips on how to create a river scene. Please keep in mind, this is one river, with a set of MMP's that look good together. There are many other options and combinations to make a river, and as always with MMP's, there's no set-in-stone "right" way to do things. I am merely giving you general tips and inspiration. The MMP's/Terrain I used (most of them, anyway...) to make this scene: Heblem's Yucatan Terain Mod Rivit's Coastal Mod _marsh_'s White Sands Beach Mod SimFox Trees Heblem's Tropical MMP's and God Mode Tree Controller JRJ Rocks Goldiva's Rocks and Tropical Flora Cycledogg Trees I think that's all. Let's start off with a clean slate again, this time with an ocean shore. Then I used Heblem's Tree Controller to add some tropical trees. To give the jungle more variety, I plopped some tropical MMP's by Heblem and some of SimFox's trees. I plopped more tropical flora, some by Goldiva, others by Cycledogg, and others by Heblem. (I changed to the White Sands Beach Mod at this point, the other one I was using just didn't look right.) Adding more details for a tropical feel, including JRJ Rocks, Goldiva Flora and Rocks, and Heblem's Beach Huts.. The final product (without the grid, for added effect!) Section 5. The End? Thank you all for reading! I hope this tutorial helped you better understand MMP's and how to effectively use them to create realistic scenes in SC4. These are not the only ways in which you can use MMP's. These were merely examples of how they can be used. Think of MMP's as your medium and yourself as the artist. No one can tell you how to create art (except my art teacher), so use MMP's how you want to, in the way that you feel is right. This is "The End?" because I might create a "Part 2" to this tutorial, in which I explain other ways to use MMP's to create other scenes. However, even if I never make a Part 2, I hope this tutorial inspired you to use MMP's to create your own scenes, whether for a CJ, or for your own use. If you have any questions/comments/concerns, please PM me, and I will try to answer you as best I can. ~ Charles/Evan

As far as the popular songs go: "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi, "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney, "Please Come Home for Christmas" by the Eagles, "Little Saint Nick" by the Beach Boys, and "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson. As for the more traditional music (by no particular artists): "Coventry Carol," "Carol of the Bells," "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming," "What Child Is This?," "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," "I Saw Three Ships," and "We Three Kings." I generally prefer songs like these over the stuff played on the radio. My favorite albums to listen to are the Narada Christmas Collections. They have some very nice renditions of traditional songs done by lesser-known artists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYXejFusiUM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XDl_A6pOHE I also like George Winston's "December."

You've got to be kidding me... "Wii knee?" "Wiitis?" Why single out Nintendo? What about Sony or Microsoft? But really, what is the point of this study? Should we all just give up on Nintendo games? If so, we might as well give up on playing sports, because you can get many of the same injuries from playing tennis or baseball in real life as you can playing them on Wii Sports. Everyone who has any sense knows that playing video games in excess, as with anything else, is unhealthy. Playing games with any controller on any console from any company can be bad if you do it non-stop. Moderation is key - don't stare at a screen for hours on end, take frequent breaks, sit in a comfortable position, rest your hands, and you'll be fine. Regarding the "Nintendo hallucinations": the person had previously been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, so I don't think it's valid to attribute the problem to video games. And yes, I have experienced minor health issues from playing Nintendo games, but nothing exclusive to Nintendo. Every once in a while after playing too much my thumbs and hands ache for a day or two, but I've had the same problem after typing or writing too much. I'm sure other people have experienced the same thing from playing the Xbox or Playstation.

The first "Game Awards" (replacement of Spike's former VGAs) has just ended yesterday. Here are the winners in each category, as well as the nominees. Dragon Age: Inquisition won game of the year and Nintendo won developer of the year. What do you guys think of the results? I'm glad that Nintendo got the spotlight this year, with Mario Kart 8 winning in two categories and Smash Wii U winning best fighting game. Nintendo consistently puts out fun, well-made games but (in my experience, anyway) seems to have a reputation as a developer for little kids. Maybe these wins will change some people's minds. As far as the other categories go, I'm also glad that Shovel Knight won best indie game. I think that Pokemon ΩR/αS should have won best remaster, but maybe that's just because I've never played GTA and I'm partial to Nintendo. To be honest, I don't see how "Mountain" made it into the games for change category. I guess it was nominated because it tries to stretch the boundaries of what defines a game, but I really wouldn't consider it a game in the first place. The Game Awards also gave developers the chance to show off their upcoming titles. You can check out the full list here on Polygon. As for the biggest reveals, Nintendo demonstrated gameplay from the upcoming Zelda Wii U; Hello Games released another trailer for their space-exploration game, No Man's Sky; the creators of Rust, Facepunch Studios, announced a new game, Before; the first trailer for Adr1ft, a space-survival game by Three One Zero, premiered. I'm really excited for the new open-world Zelda game. No Man's Sky and Adrift look like they could be really cool, too. What are your thoughts? Also, if you're interested, you can watch the whole awards ceremony here on YouTube.

Happy holidays! (too soon?) The cats love this time of year.

He won "trending gamer" over StampyLongHead, PewDiePie, Jeff Gerstmann, and VanossGaming. I don't really understand the choice. Trending gamer implies that the gamer is popular, and PewDiePie (whether you like him or not) is definitely the most popular of these people. His channel is the most-subscribed on YouTube, it is one of the fastest growing, and his videos have a combined view count of 6,978,310,059. If the category was something like "most talented gamer" or "most entertaining gamer," it would be a different story.