History VideoGame / SimCity

* ''[=SimCity=] 3000'' (1999) was mostly a graphical and feature update. Originally it was going to be in full 3D, but the technical limitations of then-current hardware led Maxis to revert to 2D graphics. The graphics stayed isometric but were promoted to high-definition, new variables were added including fire hazard, approval rating, water and garbage pollution, neighbor deals ([[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts which were quite unfair]]), and support for bigger cities that could reach the million inhabitants with a bit of luck. (It also eliminated hydroelectric power plants that lasted forever, so you could no longer leave your city running overnight and come back to a prospering metropolis with a million Simoleons in the bank; this was counterbalanced by a much more forgiving revenue system that made it much easier to maintain power plants) A later expansion, called ''Unlimited / World Edition / UK Edition'', added a scenario editor, a building editor, as well as Oriental and European building sets. This was [[VideoGameRemake remade]] as ''[=SimCity=] DS''[[note]]some people however argue that [=SimCity=] DS is just [=SimCity=] 2000 with 3000's skin slapped on and some minigames thrown in- the game suffered the same loading times and scrolling issues that plagued the console ports of [=SimCity=] 2000[[/note]] and also for iDevices under the title ''[=SimCity Deluxe=]''.

A SimulationGame released in 1989, and the first ''Sim'' game "created" by Creator/WillWright (actually a team of developers, most notably Don Hopkins, who go largely uncredited). It's been around for a while: the original was widely released, it could be played on first-generation UsefulNotes/{{Apple Macintosh}}es (i.e. the ones with black-and-white screens) and popular [[UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum 8-bit]] [[UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC micro]][[UsefulNotes/{{Commodore64}} computers]].

[[folder:''[=SimCity=] - Original Game]]

[[folder:Simcity - Original Game]]

[[folder:Simcity SNES]]

[[folder:Simcity 2000]]

[[folder:Simcity 3000]]

[[folder:Simcity 4]]

* EverythingsBetterWithLlamas: To an art form!

* [[LethalJokeItem Lethal Joke Building]]: The Tourist Trap reward building from ''[=SimCity=] 4''. This seemingly useless [[EverythingsBetterWithLlamas llama-shaped]] building known for its [[EverythingsBetterWithLlamas far-spitting llamas]] boosts the demand caps for low-wealth residents by a whopping 100,000, which makes it incredibly useful for building large cities. Although it has a slight [[NotInMyBackyard NIMBY]] effect on residential zones, it increases the desirability of nearby commercial zones by a significant amount. Commercial high-rises and skyscrapers seem to cluster around it as if it were a capitalist idol.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yogziBGCv0A&t=4m17s Random disaster]] feature in ''[=SimCity=] Creator'' for the Wii could summon some of the series' staples such as HumongousMecha and [[AlienInvasion UFOs]], but it can also summon some pretty bizarre ones too, such as giant [[DropTheHammer hammers]] and GiantHandsOfDoom that pound your city, controllable giant SpikeBallsOfDoom and [[ThisIsADrill drills]], and even a stampede of [[EverythingsBetterWithLlamas giant llamas]].

* EndlessGame: There is no way to "win" Simcity. The game will simply keep going on until the player decides to stop playing. The closest thing to a victory condition is building a city that achieves megalopolis status, which happens when the population hits 500,000.

* {{Jumpscare}}: The Plane Crash disaster, which is a loud "WHOOSH!" (the jet engine) followed by a "BOOM!" (the crash itself). It can be quite startling if you're minding your own business and it occurs without manually triggering it from the Disaster Menu. And once you do build an Airport the planes will crash randomly, sooner or later.

* UnendingEndCard: There is an option to "quit the game", which would lead to a "see you later" card accepting no input from the controller.

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: One of the [[Main/{{Arcology}} arcologies]] in ''2000'' is said to be designed around what is best described as non-Euclidian. There's also rumors that a [[Main/{{Morlocks}} sub-species of human]] crawls around in the depths within.

* UselessItem: Hospitals will randomly occupy a newly developing residental zone, but they will have no benefit on your city, taking away valuable space until bulldozed. Schools would occupy the same niche, but by getting three, six, and nine of them at once, you get the gift of libraries which help develop your other residential zones. Once you got the libraries, though, the schools were fair game to demolish.

A SimulationGame released in 1989, and the first ''Sim'' game "created" by Creator/WillWright (actually a team of developers, most notably Don Hopkins, who go largely uncredited etc.). It's been around for a while: the original was widely released, it could be played on first-generation UsefulNotes/{{Apple Macintosh}}es (i.e. the ones with black-and-white screens) and popular [[UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum 8-bit]] [[UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC micro]][[UsefulNotes/{{Commodore64}} computers]].

* ''[=SimCity=] 2000'' (1993) was the first major extension, replacing the 2D top-view with faux-3D isometric graphics, and introducing most of the features of later games: water pipelines, underground rail, highways, healthcare, education, rewards, a wider assortment of power plants and a separate building editor, the SCURK ([=SimCity=] Urban Renewal Kit). Interestingly UK PC Gamer magazine still ranks this as the best [=SimCity=] despite its age. It is widely remembered as a port overdosed title, even though not a single console from Super NES to Nintendo 64 was capable of running that game without collapsing.

It shouldn't be confused with ''ComicBook/SinCity'', unless you forget to build police stations. Or are playing on the appropriate map. It should also not be confused with the 2013 incarnation of ''[=SimCity=]'', [[VideoGame/SimCity2013 which has its own page]].

The series also spawned a number of spin-offs ''other than'' VideoGame/TheSims, some of which are listed below. Most of them tend to be "''[=SimCity=]'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets such-and-such]]."

* EldritchAbomination: The Monster in ''2000''. It's unclear whether it's a robot, a living creature, or an alien ship, or even if it's actually from outer space and not just a movie prop gone berserk.

** The ''Rush Hour'' / ''Deluxe Edition'' of ''[=SimCity=] 4'' adds difficulty settings, and even the easiest difficulty setting is still pretty hard. Forget the fact that you start off with 500,000 Simoleons on this setting; if you don't spend them wisely and generate revenue within a couple of years, you ''will'' be bankrupt. On the other hand, the difficulty of maintaining a thriving city in ''[=SimCity=] 4'' is what compels people to keep playing it. Those who play a sufficiently large number of hours may [[TetrisEffect see everything differently]], and maybe even have increased respect for every government in RealLife.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Somewhat averted with period-accurate utilities only being available within their specific time period (i.e, oil power plants are only available after the 1930s, while airports are available after the 1950s). Despite this, there are no graphics changes to represent cars or different building styles, and newspapers can say completely anachronistic things which do not match the time period of the city you're currently in.

** Additionally,

* SecretTestOfCharacter: Typing "call cousin vinnie" in the cheat console will trigger an event where a shady woman called Vinnie will offer you a large sum of money acquired through dubiously legal means. If you accept, you will simply get $100,000 with no strings attached. If you refuse, you will get the [=SimCity=] Castle on your reward buildings, which will crank up its surrounding land value to Astronomical and put your local approval rating all the way to maximum.

** The "Reticulating Splines" status is so pervasive, ''[=SimCity=] 4'' even parodies it, with the status "Gesticulating Mimes".

* CyberCyclops: The Monster is one of the flying, robotic, one-eyed, laser-shooting variety.

!!Tropes in the Sim City world:

* SchmuckBait: Confused why [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDJzf5jqccw "Primordial Dream"]] is left unchecked by default and decide to check it anyway ''without'' playing the song first? Have fun playing the game while listening to the frankly out-of-place ''creepy'' track the entire game, ''because it will be the only one that will play if you do decide to check it!''

* SchmuckBait: Confused why [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDJzf5jqccw "Primordial Dream"]] is left unchecked by default and decide to check it anyway ''without'' playing the song first? Have fun playing the game while listening a frankly out-of-place ''creepy'' track the entire game, ''because it will be the only one that will play!''

* DummiedOut: Several examples.
** Dirt roads were supposed to be present and would have been cheaper than streets but also have lower capacity. They were presumably cut due to redundancy. The transport adviser was supposed to recommend them as a cost-saving measure and the leftover code has been reused by the [[GameMod Network Addon Mod]] team to create the "Real Highway Plugin".
** The City Hall was supposed to be upgraded 2 times as your city grows, like the airports who are upgraded when they reach higher capacity. The in-game City Hall is supposed to be the Small City Hall, and models exist in the game files for the Medium and Large versions alongside the fully functional code, making it unclear why it was cut, and trivial to re-enable, though due to a [[GoodBadBug bug]] one of the trees will be replaced at random by any custom prop installed, meaning unless you patch it your small town city hall could have an airliner, sequoia or concrete slab on the front lawn.
** Similarly to the cut City Halls cut above and the airports in the retail game, the Seaport was supposed to upgrade when it reached high-capacity.
** There was a large amount of code, apparently cut fairly early in development since it's mostly incomplete, that added weather and also complex water mechanics, such as aquifers and salt water. There was supposed to be a desalination plant that would take salt water and turn it into fresh water, and it was possible to drain the water table if you exploited it too much. The only remnants of this in the final game is the "Water source: Aquifer" note on the water buildings, though the final product aquifers are bottomless.
** A garbage incinerator was going to be implemented. It was apparently cut very late in development, since most of the code is complete and it even has an icon in the game file that looks similar to the incinerator in ''3000''. It would have been a cheaper alternative to the Waste-To-Energy plant that consumed garbage but only produced pollution and no power. Some plugins restore it to the game.
** City ordinances from ''3000'' like the public smoking ban are still in the game files, but unused.

* {{Arcadia}}: Keep your city small, focus on agricultural development [[note]] or high-tech industry [[/note]], clean energy, plant lots of trees and build lots of parks and you have your own Arcadia. Some rewards like the Resort Hotel only unlock if you have little pollution.

* ''[[VideoGame/SimCity2013 SimCity]]'' (2013) was designed by Maxis, who intended this game to be more of a direct sequel to ''[=SimCity=] 4'' than ''Societies'' was. It also introduces online multiplayer to the series proper, a game mode that has not been explored since the long-forgotten ''[=SimCity=] 2000 Network Edition.'' However, due mostly to poor planning, server overload and bugs wrecked its release -- badly enough to prompt Paradox to greenlight ''VideoGame/CitiesSkylines'', which literally bills itself as "the ''[=SimCity 5=]'' that never was". Periodic updates over a period of eight months restored the game to approximately the level of functionality promised on launch, albeit with major bugs still gone unsquished. Late the same year, an expansion was released: ''Cities of Tomorrow'', focusing on bringing cities into TheFuture by building huge [[{{Arcology}} Arcologies]] called Mega Towers, unlocking new technologies with an advanced Academy, or taking over the region as O{{megaCorp}} and dispensing the highly addictive {{phlebotinum}} Omega while gradually overtaking all facets of Sim life.

It shouldn't be confused with ''ComicBook/SinCity'', unless you forget to build police stations. Or are playing on the appropriate map. It should also not be confused with the 2013 incarnation of ''SimCity'', [[VideoGame/SimCity2013 which has its own page]].