SimCity 4 Progress Report

IGN.com reports on SimCity 4 and they include a 7 minute demo movie on their media page.

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SimCity 4 Progress Report

We check up on the latest developments with Maxis' metro-builder. Seven new movies inside.

by Tal Blevins

While the European Computer Trade Show is usually just a rehash of games we saw at E3 and not many new titles, the show does give us the chance to see how some titles are progressing in their development. At a recent Electronic Arts event at their Chertsey Studios just outside of London, we once again had a chance to sit down with Producer Sean Decker and see the latest on Maxis' SimCity 4.

One of the biggest highlights of the recent demonstration was the superhighways. Unlike SimCity 3000, you won't have to deal with the irritation of connecting city streets to highways. To save time and frustration, once you lay down a superhighway, you're automatically prompted as to where you want the on and off ramps at any intersections, and will also ask you whether you want to add ramps to both sides for easy highway access. And the superhighways won't just be able to carry more traffic, but the traffic will also go faster, so you'll see commuters using these superhighways heavily in the mornings and evenings as people make their way to and from work.

Commuters are sure to use the superhighways the most, and you can keep a keen eye on the traffic flow by zooming in to see how many cars are on the highway, but you'll also be able to tour your city through the movements of any of the dispatched vehicles, such as fire engines, police cars, or trains. Simply attach your camera to the vehicle and you can survey the scene from wherever the vehicle goes. This is a great way to get a first-hand view of riots in action or that nasty fire on the East Side.

Superhighways and tours of your city are fine and all, but SimCity 4 doesn't just focus on the urban side of things. Every city needs food and other agricultural products, so Maxis is including farm production in the game. We got our first glimpse of the agricultural end of SimCity 4 this week, complete with orange groves, horse farms, and alfalfa fields. While the farms won't change on a seasonal basis, Sean did tell us the more agricultural demands your city has the more intensive the farming output will be.

We also saw the missile base was also in the latest version. Although they create a bit of pollution and suffer from the "NIMBY" (not in my back yard) curse, missile bases can earn you a lot of money from the military. They're also going to be useful in solving some of the problematic disasters that are sure to strike your city from time to time. Although Maxis wouldn't tell us exactly what disasters the missile bases would be useful for, we have a good idea that they might be a keen defense against other-worldly invaders, among other things.

Uncle Ben knew it, Yoda knew it, and Maxis knows it: With great power comes great responsibility. While the missile base packs a powerful punch, each one must first be tested. Hopefully the test will go as planned, but occasionally a missile will go awry, and spray flaming debris around the area.

We also saw a full-scale riot break out because Sean plopped a nuclear power plant right smack dab in the middle of town. As much as we tried to convince Sean to take out those dirty whiners with a quick missile strike, he decided the law was the best way to deal with the situation Riots can, of course, can be counter-attacked with more police presence in the area. If you have a police station near, you can dispatch a riot squad to different points around the riot in an attempt to quell the angered populace. You effectively need to surround the marauding crowd with police as the rioters will move toward the point of least resistance and just continue flipping cars down the street.

Those of you waiting for SimCity 4 shouldn't be tortured for too much longer. The game just recently went alpha, and now the team is working hard on hitting the beta stage, which should be in the next three to four weeks. As Sean told us, "Pretty much where we are right now is trying to make sure everything works great in the game," and from what we saw at our most recent viewing, the team at Maxis has been working hard toward that goal.

Be sure to check out the movies on the media page for the full seven-minute demonstration for yourself.