dvrabel on 14/8/2008 at 16:03
I fancy playing SimCity again. Which one of the numerous incarnations is the best? And which ones will run on modern PCs without too much messing about?
Ulukai on 14/8/2008 at 16:30
SimCity 2000 was always my favourite but IIRC uses some kind of VESA SVGA driver so you might have trouble with it. 3000 was graphically nicer but was missing...well, both arcologies and that special something. You'll probably have more joy running it under XP though.
Apparently, the latest one is terrible. I still recoil in horror at the look of the thing!
ChickenMcOwnage on 14/8/2008 at 17:23
I agree with Ulukai; 3000 was good and all (and nice graphics!) but it's just missing something I can't quite put my finger on. 2000 was great. And 4 can suck a lemon.
june gloom on 14/8/2008 at 18:50
Go play the SNES one. ;)
demagogue on 14/8/2008 at 20:15
All I can say is stay away from SimCopter!
Quote Posted by wiki
The game gained controversy when a designer inserted sprites of shirtless "himbos" (male bimbos) in Speedo trunks who hugged and kissed each other, who appear in great numbers on certain dates. Their fluorescent nipples were drawn with a special rendering mode usually reserved for fog-piercing runway landing lights, so they could easily be seen from long distances in bad weather. An unintended emergent behavior of the code caused hundreds of himbos to swarm and crowd around the helicopter, where they would be slashed up by the blades, and then need to be air-lifted to the hospital -- which earned the player easy money. The easter egg was caught shortly after release and removed from future copies of the game.
The designer, Jacques Servin, was fired afterwards. He was fired because he added unauthorized content (which delayed the release of the game, and caused Maxis to miss Christmas season.) He cited his actions as a response to the intolerable working conditions he allegedly suffered at Maxis (similar to the complaints later voiced against Electronic Arts in the EA Spouse controversy).[1][2] Because of the prank, Yahoo! Games has it listed as one of the top ten controversial games of all time.[3]
Although I do remember that the radio was good -- funny and good music -- a precursor to GTA.
Zerker on 14/8/2008 at 20:46
Get the Windows 3.1 CD version of 2000 if you can find it (assuming you have a compatible version of Windows or a VM to run it in). I have a copy and since it just runs like a normal windowed application, you can run it at ANY RESOLUTION. Even 2560 x 1600 :) No VESA stuff to deal with either.
pbldcttr on 14/8/2008 at 21:40
simcity2000 is the best one for me. i have 3000 and it was fun, but kind of weird. simcity4 was cool looking with all the fancy graphics and detail, but felt more like work and less play, and i quickly got bored by playing it. simcity2000 works ok on my computer. (using xp). i'm using the windows version, not the dos one.
Chuck on 15/8/2008 at 00:43
I found a copy of SimCity 4 at a thrift store for a buck, and a year later it is just sitting there, untouched.
When I get the city-building bug, I play Tropico instead.
dvrabel on 15/8/2008 at 08:51
SimCity 2000 seems to to work fine with DosBox. Thanks for the suggestions!
doctorfrog on 16/8/2008 at 02:35
Quote:
Their fluorescent nipples were drawn with a special rendering mode usually reserved for fog-piercing runway landing lights, so they could easily be seen from long distances in bad weather.
I'd heard of gay content being in SimCopter, but this is hilarious.
I actually have this and other Maxis games in the original boxes with manuals in a closet somewhere, from when Maxis sold out to EA and blew off all their original stock at tiny prices. I only ever played SimCopter with an unofficial OpenGL patch which allowed me to fly through my own SimCity cities (minus the in-game GUI) in 3D-accelerated glory.
'Twas a Voodoo 1, I think, had that pass-through cable to the other video card. Those were the (horrible) days.
