Simcity Livestream Recap: Great Works, Attractions, and Traffic Simulation

Here’s a recap of the Livestream chat, there’s some stuff we missed but we included most of the major details.

Ploppable buildings can also come with extra modules and “unlockables” to help further customize that building. You can add more police cars, or fire engines and other features.

Power options that are available include coal, wind, solar, nuclear energy, etc… GlassBox can also generate a real time wind map that controls the wind currents. This is something you should keep in mind when placing the wind turbines.

So far the only disasters revealed are tornadoes and a dinosaur attack.

Residential, Commercial, and Industrial zoning is back, but to make it simpler, only one type of zoning is available. Zone density will be based on the types of roads and traffic surrounding that area.

For multiplayer, each player will control their own city. In fact, you can control multiple cities in the same region. You can collaborate with other players to create “Great Works.” One such example was in the E3 Demo where 3 players would cooperate to create an international airport. Other “Great Works” include a space shuttle, arcologies, and a solar farm. More “great works” are to be revealed later.

You can keep track of your friends through a leaderboard-like function called the “City Log.” This sound’s like Simcity’s answer to Need For Speed’s Autolog.

Several types of roads are available, some of them include the standard roads, avenues, and avenues with light rail. However, the most interesting feature is the inclusion of curved roads, now Simcity is finally off the grid!

Traffic simulation can get very complex, but thankfully, the Glass Box engine covers it all. Each Sim you see will have somewhere to go and something to do. They will add to the traffic simulation by using various modes of transportation. Even at pedestrian crossings, the Sims will wait for the light signal to change before crossing the street. To add further to the detail on what Glass Box is capable of, break lights will light up as cars slow down at intersections. Simultaneously you may see school children walking home from school or Sims leaving their houses as they head off to work.

The level of detail in Simcity even goes down through the supply chain. Commercial businesses can go out of business if they no longer receive shipment from Industrial zones. Factories not only ship to commercial buildings, but can also deliver goods to ploppable buildings as well. However your city doesn’t have to include all three zones, you can rely on your friend’s cities to provide workers for factories in your city.

Expect to see various attractions around the city such as large parks and casinos. At the E3 demo, a specialized tourist city can have another type of attraction like a stadium. So far there are two types of stadiums available, a large “pro” stadium, and a small “convention center.” Landmarks are also returning, but this time they will provide jobs and can attract Sims to your city.