Advancing the City Simulator Genre
Ask yourself what the best city simulator game is, I’m pretty sure you will say one of the Sim City games. However not the most resent one. Riddled with DRM which collapsed the fundamentals of the game around it for no reason whatsoever. The question is, with such a big following behind Sim City, why is the genre so neglected to the point only nostalgia creates sales due to the logging of the title, with little advancements in the major schemes of things.
First thing think Glass Box, the engine EA created for Sim City. Those packets are amazing, and the general idea should be the core idea behind any simulation game in the future. However let’s expand that further and deeper. When I mean further, let’s look at one of my favourite TV shows. Person of Interest, when I mean further I look at that show and mean the interconnected processes and data which is been generated.
If I put down a building, it should be an empty shell. Then if people move in, that building will slowly get alterations, things like surveillance cameras for example, security inside the home, fire alarms etc. These systems starting to be in place which calculate more and more what is happening user wise around those areas. Also for example if I decide my city is a nanny cam city, all these cameras could be interconnected providing the player with very detailed information and patterns relating to their simulated inhabitants. If for example the city isn’t as big of a nanny state and respects privacy, information about inhabitants and the general entangled response systems will be less effective providing less information and reacting at different times.
At the core, this is what many people thought EAs Glass Box engine would do in the latest Sim City. At least be providing more complicated packets and calculations then what the end product was.
It isn’t just the simulated characters which should have data created about them. It should also be the player, how the player is interacting with the game. For example if they are struggling, what settings they have applied or general polices or laws which are in effect in the city they have created.
Of course I want laws and other legislative items also included, which have an effect on how the city manages and operates as well.
