SimMars was a strategy game

Strategy game

A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...

 in development at Maxis

Maxis

Maxis is an American company founded as an independent video game developer in 1987. It is currently a subsidiary of Electronic Arts . Maxis is the creator of one of the best-selling computer games of all time, The Sims and its first sequel, The Sims 2...

 around the same time as the release of the wildly popular Maxis game, The Sims

The Sims

The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...

. A trailer

Teaser trailer

A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...

 for the game was included on the SimCity 3000

SimCity 3000

SimCity 3000 is a city building simulation personal computer game and the third major installment in the SimCity series. It was published by Electronic Arts and developed by series creator Maxis, a wholly owned subsidiary of EA...

CD

CD-ROM

A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....

. From the trailer, the premise of the game seemed to be a manned mission to the planet Mars

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

, followed by a terraforming

Terraforming

Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...

 and colonization scenario, typical of the Maxis world-building game style. The game presumed to be an integration of previous Maxis titles presented in 3D, possibly including elements of SimEarth

SimEarth

SimEarth: The Living Planet, the second life simulation computer game designed by Will Wright in which the player controls the development of a planet. The game was published in 1990 by Maxis...

, SimLife

SimLife

SimLife: The Genetic Playground is a computer game produced by Maxis in 1992. The concept of the game is to simulate an ecosystem; players may modify the genetics of the plants and animals that inhabit the virtual world. The point of this game is to experiment and create a self sustaining...

, and 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,...

.

An arcade game titled SimMars is in The Sims: Vacation, where it is described as follows:

"Direct mankind's first mission to the red planet! Launch rockets and deploy robot probes! Deploy teams to search for alien resources! Establish and run a network of specialized colonies to create a self-sufficient civilization! Provide your colony with food, shelter, and power! Fast, furious, adrenaline-pumping action!"

On May 12, 2000, Maxis released the following statement: "SimMars is on hold and we do not have staff at Maxis currently working on the game. With the phenomenal success of The Sims, we've decided to move resources to support that franchise

Media franchise

A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...

 as well as other titles that we haven't even announced yet."

SimMars Mod

Some time around 2006, a small team of amateur modders started work on a mod

Mod (computer gaming)

Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...

 for the Maxis city-builder 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...

, named "SimMars". Inspired by the original game, the mod aimed to replace the original Maxis content with fan-made Martian architecture. The mod is currently in open beta, and was featured on the ModDB front page. The installer can be downloaded from ModDB, and requires either the SimCity 4 Rush Hour expansion or Deluxe Edition to run.

External links

• IGN.com SimMars Preview (19 July 1999)
• ModDB.com SimMars Mod Homepage