SimCity: Getting Started

1. SimCity: Getting Started • The simulation software is located on the computer’s hard drive. To start the program, click on the windows key, all programs, Maxis, SimCity 4 Deluxe, SimCity 4 Deluxe. A student can also type in SimCity in the “Search programs and files” box.

2. Picking a Place • When the game starts, pick any of the places shown to start a city. Edit the terrain if desired. Then click on the mayor’s hat to start Mayor Mode. It is a good idea to make the land somewhat level. Spend only a little time on this screen before going to Mayor Mode.

3. Zoning • The city will need zones and a power plant before citizens will move in. Add any power plant shown by choosing from the information given. Add zones marked residential, commercial and industrial (green, blue, yellow). More area needs to be zoned for residential than the others. Only a little area is needed for commercial.

4. Budget • On the bottom of the screen there is an option to monitor the budget. Mayors who watch the budget will be more successful. If a mayor goes too far into debt, the game ends as the city is bankrupt. This actually happens in some places (see Greece) and will hopefully never happen in the U.S. Be sure the city makes more money than it spends each month.

5. Summary • Getting Started • Picking a Place • Zoning • Budget

6. Water Department • Mayors who want larger buildings to move into dense residential zones will need to provide simulated citizens with water. Click on the icon that shows electricity and pipes and select the middle icon for water options. Add a water pump to an area that does not have pollution (away from industrial and power plants). Build pipes to connect the water to other areas.

7. Sanitation Department • In the same menu as the water in power, there is an option for sanitation. This department will remove garbage from the city. If a city does not have sanitation, piles of garbage will make the city a mess. Start by zoning a small landfill. Keep it away from residential zones since people won’t want to live there. Be sure that the dump has road access so the garbage trucks have a way to get there.

8. Police and fire • Mayors can make their citizens safe by putting police and fire stations in the city. Under the “Civic Tools” icon options are shown to create different sizes of protection. Be very careful when adding these as more protection costs a LOT more money. It is a good idea to watch how the monthly budget gets changed while adding protection.

9. Education • Simulation citizens will get smarter and work at better jobs if they have more education. If the citizens make more money, that means they can pay more taxes to the mayor. Add some schools to help the education citizens. Be careful to add only the number of schools that are needed. Be careful to watch as the budget increases so that the city won’t be spending too much.

10. Summary • Water Department • Sanitation Department • Police and fire • Education

11. City Growth • The key to having a big city is to think big when setting up zones. Plan to use the whole map instead of just a small part of it. Don’t try to make a perfect city, make a large city and then improve it as time goes on. Always watch the budget so that more money is being made then spent. If the budget gets out of control, the game ends and the mayor gets fired.

12. Setting up a web page with multiple tabs • By looking on the Internet we can find that creating pages with tabs has been done many times. A good example is at http://blixt.org/articles/tabbed-navigation-using-css#section=step-3 • Check out the web site and download the tabs-hover.zip document. It will come with 5 files that we can use. • http://www.scottbunin.com/tabs-hover.zip

13. Web Page With Tabs • By editing the setup that we have received, we can show information on separate tabs so that an end user can navigate just to the portions that interest them. Have the first page talk about the mayor (that’s YOU). Show a picture of yourself. Tell about your policy towards the citizens. Are you a benevolent leader or an evil dictator? Make sure the page looks professional. Use all that you have learned about HTML and JavaScript.

14. Picture of the Mayor • If you look at the small circle on the top of your screen, you will notice there is a web cam there. Go to http://pizap.com/ and you will be able to get images of your self with interesting affects. Don’t be shy. If you want to avoid your real looks, use severe alterations so on one will even recognize you. Place this on your main first tab.

15. Summary • City Growth • Starting Publisher • Web Page With Tabs • Picture of the Mayor

16. City Population • The success of the city can be shown by how many people want to live there. The more people that live in the city, the more successful the mayor is. Larger populations have more money and will pay more taxes. The taxes collected, the more power a mayor has. Try to get the population as high as possible.

17. You can’t put the game directly on the web page because the game runs on the local computer. However, you can use the img tag to show pictures gathered from screen shots. Press the “Print Screen” button in the top right corner of your keyboard. Edit the screenshot in paint. Save the file to your local folder and bring it to the web folder when uploading. Screen shots

18. Other tab topics • Now that we have the first tab set up about the mayor, we will want to use some other topics for the city. The mayor gets to choose what they think is most important. Some examples topics include, but are not limited to, budgets, fire department, police department, sanitation department, a specific part of the city or even a disaster.

19. Rubric • Page 1 looks professional with function information and aesthetically pleasing considerations to introduction to the mayor and the city (40%). • Page 2 has a sub topic of the city that is professional and aesthetically pleasing (30%) • Page 3 has a different sub topic of the city that is professional and aesthetically pleasing (20%) • Page 4 has a different sub topic of the city that is professional and aesthetically pleasing (10%)

20. Summary • City Population • Screen Shots • Other Tab Topics • Rubric

21. Um… wait a second… how did you get page 4? • If you take a look at the setup for each of the pages that come with the package for one to 3, it is possible to extrapolate the concepts to include an additional page. How do you do this? That’s your job to figure out. Start by copying page 3 to a file named 4.html and see what you can do to edit it and make it work. The other tab’s html will need editing too.

22. Future Design • SimCity 4 has been out for a long time. Advances in simulation software have been accumulating. A new version of SimCity has come out. It was initially a flop. The program was supposed to work online and people were not able to run it online. The reviews were so bad that I never bothered to pay for it. Hopefully later versions will do better or improvements on this new version will make it better.

23. Simulation and Design • To create programs like SimCity 4, a lot of talents are required. Computer Artists have to create all the things that are seen on the screen. Musicians have to compose all the sounds and songs that play. Programmers need to perfect the math and mechanics of the virtual world. Students who enjoy this kind of computer interaction will find a lot of work available in the future.

24. College/Careers • Students can choose paths that enable them to function in the real world the way they are successful in the virtual world. If some one can design a virtual city very well, they can probably design a real city. The concepts here have been simplified so that mayors can look at a lot of things. Just like the virtual experts in the game, real life experts are needed in transportation, pollution, electricity, sanitation and budgeting. The next expert could be you.

25. Summary • Page 4 • Future Development • Simulation and Design • College Careers