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Thursday 6 March, 2008
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.
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