SimCity Creator
Encyclopedia
SimCity Creator is a video game in the Sim game series by Electronic Arts
. It was released for the Wii
in September 2008.
formula that sees players managing a city and placing residential, commercial, and industrial zones for buildings in addition to facilities such as police stations, hospitals, seaports, and stadiums. Players are also able to customize the look of their buildings by choosing from several themes for the city such as Egyptian
, Roman
, Japanese, European, Las Vegas
, and near-future styles, in addition to ones that result in a crystal or confectionery-like appearance to buildings. Players are also able to tour their city, rendered in 3D graphics
, in a helicopter
or airplane. If the player builds an airport, more touring vehicles can be unlocked. In contrast to the DS title of the same name, players are not able to greatly advance the technology of the city short of the examples above.
Taking advantage of the Wii, the pointer function of the Wii Remote
is used to directly draw
roads and train tracks onto the map. Cities can also be shared among players through WiiConnect24
. The game's advisers have been redesigned to resemble MySims
characters.
Similar to SimCity 4
, SimCity Creator features a day and night cycle, as well as a seasonal cycle last seen in the SNES version of SimCity
. Players may tackle disasters including dinosaur
s, giant robots
, tornadoes, aliens, fires, and meteorite impacts.
This zone's buildings include houses for low-density zones and apartment towers and skyscrapers for higher-density zones.
Sims can work in stores and offices, and the commerce can be taxed.
Offices are usually built on commercial medium or high density zones.
Hotels and restaurants are sometimes built as well.
Sims may work here but it lowers land values and pollutes the air.
Roads and streets are basic lines of transportation that cars, buses and trucks drive on. They can be either curved or straight.
They can lead into each other to form crossroads or roundabouts. Heavy congestion can cause pollution above the affected road.
Highways are 4-lane roads. Cars travel faster on highways than roads or streets, however they need on-ramps to function.
You cannot build streets over rivers, however building a road or railway over a river automatically creates a bridge.
Railways are what trains run on, however they require train stations to work although they lower traffic congestion.
Subways are underground railways so they do not require buildings to be bulldozed, which makes it a more sensible choice for dense citys. They are more expensive to build than ordinary railways, about 8 in-game currency per tile, however making it more sensible not to use them to link parts of your city that are far away from each other and do not have buildings in between them.
Subway stations are also smaller than train stations occupying a 1x1 square rather than a 3x3 square for regular stations.
Subway stations are also easier to link to rails than ordinary railway stations.
Seaports are where boats stay. Seaports increase industrial demand.
Airports are where planes land.
If an airport is built you will see planes, helicopter, airships and hot air ballons flying above your city, especially near the airport.
Airports also raise commercial demand and enable several flight missions to happen.
, MySims Kingdom
, and MySims Party
.
IGN
gave the game an overall score of 5.9 or "Mediocre".
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. It was released for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
in September 2008.
Overview
SimCity Creator follows the basic SimCitySimCity (series)
SimCity is an open-ended city-building computer and console video game series and the brainchild of developer Will Wright. It is published by Maxis . The game was first published in 1989 as SimCity, and it has spawned several different editions sold worldwide...
formula that sees players managing a city and placing residential, commercial, and industrial zones for buildings in addition to facilities such as police stations, hospitals, seaports, and stadiums. Players are also able to customize the look of their buildings by choosing from several themes for the city such as Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, Japanese, European, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, and near-future styles, in addition to ones that result in a crystal or confectionery-like appearance to buildings. Players are also able to tour their city, rendered in 3D graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
, in a helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
or airplane. If the player builds an airport, more touring vehicles can be unlocked. In contrast to the DS title of the same name, players are not able to greatly advance the technology of the city short of the examples above.
Taking advantage of the Wii, the pointer function of the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
is used to directly draw
Draw
Draw, draws or drawn may refer to:* The act of drawing, or making an image with a writing utensil* A part of many card games* A part of a lottery* Wire drawing...
roads and train tracks onto the map. Cities can also be shared among players through WiiConnect24
WiiConnect24
WiiConnect24 is a feature of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for the Wii console. It was first announced at E3 2006 by Nintendo. It enables the user to remain connected to the Internet while the console is on standby...
. The game's advisers have been redesigned to resemble MySims
MySims
MySims, formerly The Sims Wii and Nintendo Sims, is a video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts as a spinoff to Maxis' The Sims franchise for the Nintendo DS and Wii in 2007, then re-released for Microsoft Windows and Mobile phone in 2008.It is the first game in the...
characters.
Similar to SimCity 4
SimCity 4
SimCity 4 is a city-building/urban planning simulation computer game developed by Maxis, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. It was released on January 14, 2003. It is the fourth installment in the SimCity series. SimCity 4 has a single expansion pack called Rush Hour which adds features to the game...
, SimCity Creator features a day and night cycle, as well as a seasonal cycle last seen in the SNES version of SimCity
SimCity
SimCity is a critically acclaimed city-building simulation video game, first released in 1989, and designed by Will Wright. SimCity was Maxis' first product, which has since been ported into various personal computers and game consoles, and spawned several sequels including SimCity 2000 in 1994,...
. Players may tackle disasters including dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s, giant robots
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
, tornadoes, aliens, fires, and meteorite impacts.
Zones
In SimCity Creator, areas can be zoned by the type of development and the density. There is also a landfill zone available which allows garbage to be stored. Each zone is color coded:- Residential (green ): Housing for sims to live in.
This zone's buildings include houses for low-density zones and apartment towers and skyscrapers for higher-density zones.
- Commercial (blue): Where stores and office buildings are located.
Sims can work in stores and offices, and the commerce can be taxed.
Offices are usually built on commercial medium or high density zones.
Hotels and restaurants are sometimes built as well.
- Industrial (yellow): Contains the factories and warehouses.
Sims may work here but it lowers land values and pollutes the air.
Transportation
Zones must be connected by lines of transportation. Some of the types of transportation choices for a city include roads and highways.Roads and streets are basic lines of transportation that cars, buses and trucks drive on. They can be either curved or straight.
They can lead into each other to form crossroads or roundabouts. Heavy congestion can cause pollution above the affected road.
Highways are 4-lane roads. Cars travel faster on highways than roads or streets, however they need on-ramps to function.
You cannot build streets over rivers, however building a road or railway over a river automatically creates a bridge.
Railways are what trains run on, however they require train stations to work although they lower traffic congestion.
Subways are underground railways so they do not require buildings to be bulldozed, which makes it a more sensible choice for dense citys. They are more expensive to build than ordinary railways, about 8 in-game currency per tile, however making it more sensible not to use them to link parts of your city that are far away from each other and do not have buildings in between them.
Subway stations are also smaller than train stations occupying a 1x1 square rather than a 3x3 square for regular stations.
Subway stations are also easier to link to rails than ordinary railway stations.
Seaports are where boats stay. Seaports increase industrial demand.
Airports are where planes land.
If an airport is built you will see planes, helicopter, airships and hot air ballons flying above your city, especially near the airport.
Airports also raise commercial demand and enable several flight missions to happen.
Development
The game was first announced on February 12, 2008 by Sims label president Nancy Smith along with other upcoming EA Sim titles including SimAnimalsSimAnimals
SimAnimals is a life simulation video game published by Electronic Arts for the Nintendo DS and Wii console systems. It was released on January 21, 2009 in North America. It was released on January 29, 2009 in Australia and January 30, 2009 in Europe....
, MySims Kingdom
MySims Kingdom
MySims Kingdom is a video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts as a spinoff to Maxis' The Sims franchise for the Nintendo DS and Wii in 2008...
, and MySims Party
MySims Party
The game received mixed reviews among critics. Reviews for the DS version were generally more positive, with the Wii version reciving big criticism on use of controls. IGN said "At best, the mini-games of MySims Party offer a simple diversion for children...
.
Reception
The game has received mixed reviews, with a Metacritic ranking of 67 out of 100, based on 17 reviews.IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the game an overall score of 5.9 or "Mediocre".