Simcity 3000

Developer: Maxis Publisher: Electronic Arts System Requirements: Processor: 166mhz cpu Memory: 32 MB of RAM Hard Drive: 230mb disk space available Video: 2mb of video memory 8x cd-rom drive

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Simcity 3000 runs perfectly on my system and it doesn't seem to have any noticeable bugs. This game improves on past simcity games with updated graphics, more buildings, more realistic gameplay and generally more to do as mayor.

If you've played simcity 2000 the change from building squares in the original to dragging out your zones will not be a big suprise to you. This is a good change because it allows more customization in your city layout. Simcity 2000 also introduced new buildings which are present here with many more additions. Things have really been broken down in this entry into the simcity universe. For example, instead of building a police station which is assumed to have a jail, you will build police stations to protect the city and jails can be placed far from residents to make them feel safe.

There are many new things a mayor must deal with in this game. The first thing I overlooked on my first city was garbage disposal. I built all these zones, laid out nicely and population boomed. Next thing I know I'm getting messages about the nasty state of my city and the population starts falling. Garbage was accumulating everywhere because it had nowhere to go. So, I built some incinerators. This took care of my garbage problem but pollution got high and land values dropped because I built the incinerators too close to residential zones. Many ordinances can be enacted which will reduce garbage levels in the city. You can even build recycling facilities and educate your citizens ala the trash presort ordinance which will make your recycling more effective. A mayor must also provide water and power to his citizens and there are several ways this can be done.

In simcity 3000 you can trade with your neighbors certain utilities and services. Drag a power line from your nuclear power plant to the edge of the map in one of the four cardinal directions and you can build a connection (for a fee) to supply power to the neighboring city. They will pay you monthly for this service and it can be very useful for developing cities to do just this. You can also BUY power, but with the clean power sources available I wouldn't recommend this. The player can also import/export water and garbage.

Water is the more difficult to set up for your city in my opinion. But, if there is a lake you could place pumps along its side to provide water. Water towers on open ground will provide this same affect but generally doesn't put out as much. Desalinization plants can be placed on the beach to convert seawater into drinking water. Interestingly, water can get polluted and your citizens will complain. You can then build expensive water treatment plants which can clean up your city's water supply.

There is a huge variety of buildings in this game and I am very pleased with this. Different buildings will appear within a zone depending on its land value. Imagine my suprise when I got my first very high land value in commercial zones and got my first skyscrapers! Commercial tax income was on the rise and I was pleased with my city. You can place 3 different densities for each zone type. Build light residential for your typical houses, medium for apartment buildings or dense for high-rise apartments. If you want your city to have a high population you will find yourself building more dense than anything.

Your city has statistics which you can view at will to see how your city is faring. Health and life expectancy can really help your population grow as more people will want to live in your city. Likewise with education, a highly educated workforce will eventually attract clean industries to the city and your pollution levels will drop, raising health and land values.

I find myself still overcoming challenges in sc3k and having fun doing it. My saved game's population is rising and I'm getting better at effectively zoning my city. Buy Simcity 3000 here.