Line #12 Trivia/SimCity


1	* CreatorBacklash: Will Wright defended the changes in ''Societies'', saying that the series had gotten far too complex, and he personally enjoyed each one less and less. The gamers who actually thought complexity was the whole point weren't satisfied with that answer, moving onto other complex city-building games that [[VindicatedByHistory didn't set the gaming world on fire, mostly due to the complexity getting too out of hand]].
2	* CutSong: Apparently there were supposed to be twelve additional songs in the ''Rush Hour'' expansion pack, but some four or five were removed in the final product.
3	* DistancedFromCurrentEvents: A plane crash disaster in ''4'' was cancelled because of the World Trade Center attacks. The developers cited this trope.
4	* DummiedOut: Several examples from ''4''.
5	** 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".
6	** 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.
7	** 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.
8	** 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.
9	** 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.
10	** City ordinances from ''3000'' like the public smoking ban are still in the game files, but unused.
11	* ExecutiveMeddling: According to Wright, the publisher refused to release the original ''[=SimCity=]'' as is, because they felt players would feel the need to have a win condition. Wright appeased them by including winnable scenarios - and of course, the scenarios were the ''least'' popular feature of the game.
12	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
13	** The Windows 95 version of ''[=SimCity=] 2000'' is typically considered superior to the DOS version, but GOG and Origin only offer the DOS version for digital download. This is technically because it's much easier to get it running on modern computers (it simply requires bundling the game with UsefulNotes/DOSBox, as opposed to [[https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/SimCity_2000 reverse engineering the entire game code]]), but it's still somewhat annoying.
14	** ''VideoGame/SimCity2000 Network Edition'' was a network multiplayer version of ''[=SimCity=] 2000'' that only had a limited run in 1996 due to being a commercial failure. The game has never been rereleased.
15	** The Super Nintendo version of the original [=SimCity=] has fallen under this as it was pulled from the Virtual Console due to Nintendo's license contract with EA being expired.
16	* KillerApp: [=SimCity=]'s SNES port was this, being a launch title that sold two million units - which is no small feat considering that it also had to contend against ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' and ''VideoGame/FZero''. What helped it was that it was not only completely different from the original PC version, but that it was also developed and published by Creator/{{Nintendo}} themselves, with series creator Will Wright assisting them.
17	* MarthDebutedInSmashBros: The DS version of ''[=SimCity=] Creator'' replaces all the advisors from the first game (excluding a cameo by Servo 3000 in game artwork) with Mr. Maxis the Sim Master, who calls himself a veteran from ''DS''... except he wasn't. Mr. Maxis is from the Japanese version of ''DS'', who made his western debut with the sequel. ''[=SimCity=] DS 2'' was released in the west under the [[MarketBasedTitle renamed title]] of ''[=SimCity=] Creator'' to tie in with the Wii release.
18	* MultiDiscWork: ''[=SimCity=] 4'' needs two [=CDs=] to be installed.
19	* NoExportForYou: The rare ''[=SimCity=] 64''. It was released only in Japan due to it being for the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive, a failed module which died within months of being released.
20	** There was also a standalone port of VideoGame/SimCity2000 for the Nintendo 64 that was only released in Japan. This was probably due to the fact that the game includes anime cutscenes and a DatingSim which appeal to a Japanese audience.
21	* Averted with the SNES ''[=SimCity=]''. The original plan was for it to be Japan-only, with the west getting [[BadExportForYou a version for the NES instead]]. Ultimately, the NES version was cancelled in favor of releasing the SNES version worldwide.
22	* PortOverdosed: The original 1989 game is one of the most widespread games of the era, appearing on almost every computer platform available at the time, in addition to later console/handheld and cell phone ports.
23	** ''2000'' also counts, though its complexity and relatively high requirements resulted in compromises that's the root of all the issues that got it branded a PortingDisaster- specifically, being ported to systems that had even less memory or processing power than what the base game was written for.
24	* RereleasedForFree: The original game has been re-released under an open-source license as ''Micropolis''.
25	** Before that, there was a web version of the original [=SimCity=] titled [=SimCity=] Classic Live. It was only compatible with Netscape and Internet Explorer and it was only available on the now defunct [=SimCity=] 4 website.
26	* ShoutOut: Two large high-tech industrial buildings are named [[VideoGame/EarthAndBeyond Progen and Jenquai]].
27	** There's a small high-tech industry called [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries Kane Tiberium]].
28	* {{Vaporware}}: The ''[=SimCity=] 3000'' CD includes a preview of [=SimMars=]. The ''[=SimCity=] 3000 Unlimited'' CD and ''The Sims: Livin' Large'' CD include a preview of ''[=SimsVille=]''.
29	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
30	** The SNES version of ''[=SimCity=]'' was originally intended to be an NES game. [[https://archive.org/details/simcity-nes A near-complete prototype build]] of the NES version was dumped and released on the internet in late 2018.
31	** ''[=SimCity=] 3000'' was going to be in [[http://www.gamespot.com/features/maxis/sc3k3d2.html full 3D]].
32	** ''[=SimMars=]'' was going to be a game about colonizing Mars. A trailer was included on the ''[=SimCity 3000=]'' CD.
33	** ''[=SimsVille=]'' was going to be a game focused on a downtown area, a feature that ended up in ''The Sims: Hot Date''.
34	** ''[=SimCity=] 4'' was originally going to have more expansion packs after ''Rush Hour'', but they were all canceled after Will Wright deemed the game had gone too complex. One of them in particular would have been focused on nature and the environment in the same way that ''Rush Hour'' focused on transportation, and would have added things like waterfalls and mountain lakes.
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Context Trivia / SimCity