Your students will design their future city by employing a remarkably robust software package known as SIMCITY 4 Deluxe. If you've never used it before, it may seem daunting at first, so be sure to refer to section B in your handbook for tips and techniques. You can also view a brief video overview of the game at the SimCity website. In addition, since it is a popular game, have one of your students familiar with it give you a brief tutorial.
When using SIMCITY for the first time, you'll see there are tool bars for different parts of the construction process. You and your team should take the time to the function of each button. After you're familiar with the buttons, allow your team to play the game before they begin any designing. Like all complex software, there is a learning curve, and you will become more comfortable with SIMCITY's features the more you use it. Click here for tips and tricks you need to keep your city running tip top.
In the meantime, here's a brief overview. The city is built by SIMS, who are the traditional citizens of all SIMCITIES. The game requires that you be responsible for the lives of these SIMS. If you provide them with good lives, they'll keep coming to your city. But, if life in your city is a hardship, the SIMS will pull up stakes and move out. So, right away, you have one feedback mechanism: is your city growing, shrinking or staying more or less the same?
When you start the game, you'll see you have various building options. You can either build your city from scratch, or use the game's "Starter Town" template. You can also design the terrain upon which you'll build your city, or use a pre-built terrain.
If you choose to build from scratch, your terrain can include rivers or coastlines, forests or cleared land. It can be raised or lowered, or even stretched. And, when you design your city, you can decide where you'll put houses, industries and commercial zones, what kinds of highways, streets and roads you'll build, how you'll power your city, and what education, city services and recreation facilities you'll provide.
If you use the Starter Town, or Real City Terrains, SIMCITY will do a lot of the work for you. The Starter Town is a prebuilt city, based on city planning theories from different areas and eras of the world. The templates include transportation, zones, power, water, landfills, and various civic, historic, and recreational buildings. The Real City Terrains are starting terrains based on geographic data from real cities all over the world. You can also find more Real City Terrains on the SIMCITY 4 Deluxe website. Just remember that the Real City Terrains feature does not give you any prebuilt areas.
Regardless of which options you choose, you'll find the game rich with feedback mechanisms. The "Query" button for instance allows you to click on just about anything in your city and get important information about it. Or, click on the "Data," "Ordinance" or "Budget" buttons and see growth or decline projections based on what you add to or delete from your city. These buttons will teach your students that design decisions come with costs and trade-offs. Should more of their city's capital be spent on hauling away trash or on fighting crime? Increasing education or fighting pollution?
A few final points about designing your city. Once your team has decided upon an overall design, you'll need to review which section of this city they want to illustrate with their model. It's a good idea to select a section that incorporates a mixture of residential, industrial and commercial zones.
Also, there's one feature of SIMCITY 3000 that you'll never employ - the "Disaster" button. Make sure you tell your students to disable the Disaster button each time they use the game. Otherwise your SIMCITY will be plagued by calamities such as earthquakes, fires, tornadoes, riots --- even alien invasions.
Remember
to let your students have fun with SIMCITY3000. They'll quickly
discover learning really can be enjoyable.
