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Rhibecka's Sims City 4 (PC)
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| [March 6, 2008 01:52:56 AM]
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GAMEPLAY #2
After playing the for a few more hours I have gained a new understanding of this innovative simulator. For example, I found the sum of money I started with insufficient when I first started playing. The city's money was quickly squandered on unnecessary frivolities (Who knew that a bustling city doesn't need a Hospital till the population reaches 10,000?). However, I now find the game extremely accessible and can appreciate the ways the designers alleviate a beginner's problems. For example, in easy mode the game starts you off with rather generous funds in comparison to what is required of the "new" mayor. I really appreciate that the game starts you with a rather large sum of money. I feel the game gives you a good amount of wiggle-room with the budget; which allows the player a sufficient amount of creativity and freedom in which to start their city.
Although I am still disappointed I did not find the tutorials sufficient, I have found this game extremely fun. The interactions between me, the player, and the game allow for a successful form of rather addicting game play. Much of the challenges involved with the game represent real life challenges that cities face. For example, keeping the town's funds in order is a huge source of challenge as well as reward. The player is challenged to make successful deals with neighboring towns and even face decisions involving raising taxes and maintaining utilities and services. All these aspects (and many more) contribute to this game having a very low boredom factor. I felt myself drawn to play for hours because of the game's addicting qualities. The fact that the game is very emergent, allows the player to enjoy exploring their own destiny through the building of a successful city. As the desire to maintain and improve one's city kept me playing for hours, with no hint of boredom.
This gameplay experience has left me very impressed. The game has excellent graphics, offers a wide variety of interactions, and has truly mastered a manageable level of resource management (see more in Game Design section). However, this would not be a good game log with the recognition of some qualities the game lacks. I still can not ignore some of the less intuitive parts of the game. For example, I was not able to access the tutorials tips I needed in the beginning of the game. The way to toggle them on and off was not obvious at all. It took an experienced player to tell me about them, when the game should have made them more accessible. I was also disappointed with the way the game communicated necessary information. When information needed to be expressed to me, a dialog box came up in the center of the screen. This always distracted from what I was trying to accomplish at the moment, and I was not able to pause from this position. This made it difficult to fix important problems quickly. I felt it would have been better for the dialog boxes to pop up in the corner of a screen, since they came so frequently. This would allow the player more freedom to control the game world during times of crisis.
Another qualm I have with the game involves how difficult it is to come back from mistakes. When I would be negligent and too trigger happy with the "cheetah speed" setting, I sometimes found myself bankrupt. Once your city hits bottom, it is nearly impossible to revive it. This only happened with one of my cities, but the memory of disappointment and sadness has not left me. I could not believe how difficult it was to revive a bleeding city! Cutting funds made citizens strike, and raising taxes made people leave. This makes for a very depressing situation. A city you spend hours mastering can be ruined with a few minutes of not paying attention!
Many of these frustrations accompany any resource management game. However, I feel this game did an excellent job at providing the player with a well balanced form of resource management. This brings me very nicely to the main subject of my Game Design section; which focuses on the ways this game effectively provides the player with challenge requiring proper resource management.
DESIGN
This game is clearly a game dedicated to challenge the player in the form of resource management. Many games which rely heavily on resource management can take it too far for beginners. For example, Civilization III takes resource management to the extreme, requiring the player to reach a high level of skill to surpass even easy mode. However I feel Sim City 4 had a proper learning curve for the average player. Although the player may face a slow start, learning how to use resources available to you soon becomes intuitive. In every city your money (simoleons) are your main resource you are challenged to maintain. Money is the key to a successful city in real life, why should this be any different for a game dedicated to simulating the issues associated with creating a real city?
I was impressed at how well the game designers balanced challenge with reward. An excess of challenge (especially those involving resource management) often leaves the player frustrated. A frustrated player is likely to quit playing the game and simply "give-up". On the other hand, a resource management game may be too easy, leaving the player bored and wanting to quit. There is a fine gap in which the player feels sufficiently challenged and sufficiently rewarded. I feel Sim City 4 succeed in placing the player an appropriate level of challenge.
Although I was a bit overwhelmed in the beginning, I quickly learned the basics and was able to appreciate the dynamics between resource management and game play. For example, building a successful city is not simply about making a profit. It is necessary for the Mayor to manage everything from traffic to air population. All these small aspects add up to make for an extremely awarding game play once a successful city is established. Understanding the intricacies of rule/ player interactions has led me to declare this a game worthy of playing and a game truly worthy of creative praise.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Mar 6th, 2008 at 01:54:01.
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| [March 6, 2008 12:46:20 AM]
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SUMMARY
Sim City 4 is a city building simulator in which the player acts as the Mayor. As Mayor the player is given full control of the city and has the ability to create a booming metropolis, an agricultural paradise, or even pave a path of destruction with natural disasters.
GAMEPLAY #1
From the beginning I found this game to be another great edition to the Maxis simulator games. The graphics were extremely impressive and from the start it was clear that I had a lot to learn about the game. I began playing the game by opening a random city and trying my best to succeed (I have already mastered Sims 2, how hard could this be?). Wow, it only took me three minutes to realize that going through the tutorials would be a must. I was very anxious to dive right into the game and I wish that the game had provided "tutorial tips" along with my first city. I really appreciate it when simulator games teach you the rules of the game while you play your own file. Once I took the main tutorial I understood why "tutorial tips" may have worked for Sims 2, but defiantly would not have proved very effective for Sim City 4. The expanse of the game was massive. After taking the "beginners" tutorial I found four other tutorials that were still dedicated to simple concepts. The variety of options within the game were extremely impressive and rather intimidating. After the tutorials I was left with the thought, "This game has plenty of room to get extremely complicated. How will I manage?"
Once I had heard all the tutorials and mentally prepared myself for my first city, I dove in. I was rather surprised at how difficult it was to establish all the basics for my city. I found out that this game was not about simply "learning the game". This game is about learning how to play the game in the way they want you to play the game. After struggling to understand simple problems like, "Why aren't people moving in?" and "Why do I have no money?" I found myself frustrated. I left the tutorials with a feeling of excitement, yet I quickly found the actual gameplay very confusing. I knew my enjoyability of the game was limited by my insufficient knowledge of the basics. But I was not going to give up on a game in which I was determined to enjoy. Finally I got up the courage to ask help from a friend who literally plays this game 24/7.
At every bump I hit, I simply asked for his advice. This method of learning quickly proved extremely effective. I learned this game becomes much easier once a strategy is established. My friend developed a method for a successful city by using specific learned tricks and short-cuts I would have never found in a mere few hours of playing. Within a half hour of his advice, my knowledge of the game had multiplied ten fold. (I had even learned that the tutorial tips I thought the game lacked actually existed, and I merely had to toggle them on.)
As of now I can more clearly see how this game could become addicting. The player is given an extraordinary amount of control when it comes to the construction and maintenance of each city (as well as the entire land as a whole). Once past the basics of maintaining a city, the player has a vast range of manipulation and control. Although I wish the tutorials had been more efficient at preparing me for the emersive gameplay, I realize that more experienced gamers could have solely relied on the tutorials. I have left the first game session knowing how this game is meant to be played; and after a short break I intend on successfully playing the game in the way the designers intended.
Until next time!
-Rhibecka
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Rhibecka's Sims City 4 (PC)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Monday 3 March, 2008
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This is the only GameLog for Sims City 4. |
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