SimCity 4 Developer Chat Transcripts
Thank You to everyone that showed up for our developer chat with SimCity 4 Producer, Frank Simon. We have posted the transcripts from this event at SimCity.com for those that were unable to be there.
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Everyone give a big hello to MaxisFrank, Producer of SimCity 4! He's here to answer design and gameplay questions many of you may have about SimCity 4, although he's also up to answering the random odd question, so feel free to start submitting them.
doggyspew {question presented} How many Sims can occupy you´re city?
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Our first question! Keep them coming!
maxisfrank {public msg} actually a couple of ways to answer this, so I'll give ya both....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...first a given city can hold a large number of occupants based on the size of the city....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...a large city can theoretically hold about 1.2 million inhabitants....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...i say theoretically because it varies based on the TYPE of people that live there....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...wealthy people like more space 
maxisfrank {public msg} the other way i would answer this is the number of SIms from The Sims that you might import...
maxisfrank {public msg} ...MaxisJoseph has already talked about this, so I'll just say that you can turn loose 5 of them on your unsuspecting population
wils2350 {question presented} How or will zoning be different
maxisfrank {public msg} zoning has undergone a major facelift...
maxisfrank {public msg} ...the most striking change is the fact that streets will be placed as your zones are laid out....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...buildings will orient themselves towards these streets....
maxisfrank {public msg} ....it really gives the city a look more like a real city...well, in addition to creating some traffic problems (just like real cities)
jqocosm {question presented} is it true that there are cemeteries in the game?
maxisfrank {public msg} but of course
maxisfrank {public msg} in fact, they'll...well...um grow as your population gets larger
maxisfrank {public msg} not to mention a few 'effects' that cemetaries will have on say certain holiday's that may or may not be in October
bartons2 {question presented} do cars appear and disappear like in SC3, or do they actually go places?
maxisfrank {public msg} one of my favorite things in SC4 is the traffic...it's not one for one with the population, but instead is a represantive model of the traffic patterns in your city
maxisfrank {public msg} you will actually see traffic jams occuring at different times of the day as people commute to and from work
maxisfrank {public msg} of course, if you're a kind and considerate mayor (which all of you are, I'm sure you'll help your Sims out by providing alternate means for them to get to work...or shopping...or....
doggyspew {question presented} Do you see an connection point to your city, if you have connected it with a road from another city?
maxisfrank {public msg} yep! in fact this is one of the key aspects to a successful city in SC4
maxisfrank {public msg} neighbor connections can be used for quite a few things
maxisfrank {public msg} from bringing in residents from nearby cities to run your industries, to exporting the goods your industries create to the rest of the region
maxisfrank {public msg} and not just roads can connect, highways, subways, pipes, power lines, seaports, airports....egads there's quite a few ways to connect your cities
hugzncuddles {question presented} Are there any changes to the landscape possibilities, when generating them?
maxisfrank {public msg} oh yeah! you can truly sculpt the terrain to how you want it to look
maxisfrank {public msg} from raising mountains to lowering valleys....seeding forests, gouging out valleys
maxisfrank {public msg} you can spend hours just playing the 'terrain game' before ever getting to your cities
bigjoekaiz {question presented} Are highways any easier to use this time around?
maxisfrank {public msg} yep, we've done some things that should make them not only easier to use, but also to make them more visually appealing
maxisfrank {public msg} one of the things that drove me nutz in SC3000 was the braiding of highways if they got too complicated
maxisfrank {public msg} we've put together a network system this time that really allows for a lot more creativity on the user's part and allows them to create highways they way they want them to look
maxisfrank {public msg} some of the things that make them easier are the previews on cloverleafs and onramps so you can line them up exactly where you want them
maxisfrank {public msg} the fact that bridges and tunnels are automagically created when you go over valleys or water or steep terrain also makes it much easier
sam_lawrence {question presented} How many Rewards will there be, and what are some of the more important ones?
maxisfrank {public msg} oooo, a question that I get to be mysterious about
maxisfrank {public msg} there are a good deal more rewards this time around....and my favorite part is that they are tied to HOW you play the game
maxisfrank {public msg} so one day you may decide to create a happy city (read high mayor rating) and get a Major Art Museum
maxisfrank {public msg} the next day you might decide that population is your ultimate goal and instead you earn the Stock Exchange
maxisfrank {public msg} any way you decide to play, the way to earn these are defined in the catalog (so I guess it's not too mysterious)
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Keep those questions coming!
bigjoekaiz {question presented} What kind of dynamic feedback is available in the game... things that you can just zoom in and see, such as traffic jams in an area?
maxisfrank {public msg} this is something we've spent a good deal of time on to make better in SC4
maxisfrank {public msg} we all believe here that you should be able to play the game while watching the city develop around you
maxisfrank {public msg} things that we've put in that aid the player in this are: crimes happening (some of these are rather hysterical),
maxisfrank {public msg} building conditions distressing as things turn bad...
maxisfrank {public msg} props changing on the lots to reflect high crime, or trash build up....
maxisfrank {public msg} if you let pollution get out of control, the smog will roll in
maxisfrank {public msg} traffic, of course is another dynamic visual....like I said before, we want you to play your city by watching it develop....hopefull spend a little less time in the charts & graphs (although, they're there too, just in case you like that kinda thing)
jqocosm {question presented} has commerce been given more importance than in SC3k?
maxisfrank {public msg} ok, making and assumption that you're talking about C (commercial) here....
maxisfrank {public msg} we've broken C into two major parts....commercial services and commercial office
maxisfrank {public msg} this allows us to provide local residents with things like shopping malls (Cs) and business districts with gleaming skyscrapers (Co)
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Hang on one second, folks... we're experiencing technical difficulties...
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Oooooookay. That was odd.
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Give Frank just one second, he'll be right back...
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Yay!
maxisdevinoch {public msg} And all is well again...
maxisfrank {public msg} whew
maxisfrank {public msg} commercial services are things like movie theatres, shopping malls
maxisfrank {public msg} commercial offices are things like those beautiful skyscapers, office plazas
maxisfrank {public msg} obivously commercial office pays much better than commercial service so getting to commercial office will attract the wealthier residents....which of course leads to more tax dollars to spend!
jc20 {question presented} how do the different cities tie into the region. Are there just blocks that each city inhabits, or are their rural spaces inbetween the cities? Is there some type of reginal government where say, you have to work with the other cities to develop a freeway? or meet some type of goal working as a region?
maxisfrank {public msg} the cities in your region are geographically connected to each other, that way you can actually build the entirety of your region the way you want it
maxisfrank {public msg} you can play each and every city in your region, and you make the decisions for how each of those cities is built out
maxisfrank {public msg} the way you would get a freeway across an entire region is by building it city by city....the good news is when you get to the edge of one city it will let you make a neighbor connection to the neighboring city
maxisfrank {public msg} once you load the neighboring city, it will have a nice little highway nub for you to build from (just to make sure you can line things up nicely)
alis31 {question presented} how is pollution modeled this time around?
maxisfrank {public msg} ok, four major types of pollution we deal with in SimCity4
maxisfrank {public msg} air, water, garbage & radiation....hopefully you won't see much of radiation (unless of course, you are a not so nice mayor and liberally use the disaster toys)
maxisfrank {public msg} air pollution has two major contributors, dirty industry and traffic
maxisfrank {public msg} water pollution also comes from dirty industry and quite a bit from agricultural zones as well (this seems to be a shock for a lot of people)
maxisfrank {public msg} garbage of course mostly comes from the people living in your cities, ignore recycling and find yourself buried in trash!
everjams {question presented} Does each city have it's own budget or doest it all go to a regional budget
maxisfrank {public msg} each city has its own budget, but you can 'share' the burden of things between cities
maxisfrank {public msg} for example, place a power plant in one city and do a neighbor deal for power to get things hopping in neighbors
maxisfrank {public msg} these deals are great sources for additional cash to use in the supplying city as well
nina_kanina {question presented} how are the agricultural zones made. Can you choose your crop?
maxisfrank {public msg} you don't get to choose a specific crop, but instead of trying to get 'optimal' agriculture conditions, in SC4 you can zone agriculture right off the tool bar
maxisfrank {public msg} crops vary between fields that you lay out so you get something of a patchwork of different crop types in your city
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Let's do one more good question before we let Frank get back to work. Gotta get the game done, ya know! =>
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Looking for a good question to end on....
maxisdevinoch {public msg} And our last question...
halveblue {question presented} What are the transit options?
maxisfrank {public msg} we
maxisfrank {public msg} 've really put a lot of thought into how the Sims get from point A to point B in your cities
maxisfrank {public msg} they can walk to work, if it's close enough
maxisfrank {public msg} they can drive to work via streets/roads/highways
maxisfrank {public msg} they can take the bus (if you've provided bus stops for them)
maxisfrank {public msg} they can take the train (if you've provided train stops for them)
maxisfrank {public msg} or they can take the subway (if you've provided subway stops for them)
maxisfrank {public msg} different wealth residents want different ways of getting to where they want to go
maxisfrank {public msg} the higher wealth residents tend to drive (or be driven in their limos)
maxisfrank {public msg} while the rest of us are always looking for the most efficient way to get there, be it by mass transit, driving or walking
maxisfrank {public msg} all of these options allow the mayor to manage the traffic in their cities and between their cities
maxisfrank {public msg} I just wanted to take a second and thank you all for the wonderful questions....
maxisfrank {public msg} ...we've been really sweating out the details of SimCity4 for you so that you have as much fun playing the game as we do! Feedback from our community has really been a great source of inspiration in addition to fuel to keep us running to the end!
maxisfrank {public msg} Thanx again!
maxisdevinoch {public msg} Thanks again to Frank for taking time out of his frantic schedule to break out of the shell of development and come down to chat with us for a while! We'll have a transcript of the event up soon! Thanks for coming everyone!