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05/10/00 Page 1 of 3 With the success of SimCity 3000 and The Sims, you could forgive Maxis for sitting on its haunches while it basks in the glory of its two latest strategy games. But the Walnut Creek, California-based developer, headed up by Will Wright, isn't taking any breathers. Already, the company has started development on two new games centered within the Sim universe. One of those two games is SimsVille, a strategy game that combines the macromanagement gameplay of SimCity 3000 with the micromanagement of the more recent The Sims. Instead of creating cities or maintaining households, you will be able to design and manage your own personal suburban town complete with homes, businesses, and shops. The game stresses visual feedback, and more than any other Sim game before it, your town's prosperity or dire straits will manifest through a number of onscreen changes. We spoke with Maxis' Christine McGavran, executive producer for SimsVille, to find out more details about the game.
GameSpot: In SimsVille, the player will be able to impose direct control over an entire neighborhood at once, and not just a single household. Will the game be a micromanaged version of SimCity 3000? A macromanaged version of The Sims? Detail SimVille's basic gameplay mechanics. Christine McGavran: It's definitely a challenge bridging these two products, but it's exactly the type of challenge we love to take on at Maxis. What we've focused on in our design is defining the set of interactions that is the most engaging and relevant for a village setting. While it's not practical to control every decision of each of your Sims at this scale, we're now able to explore a larger story involving the Sims' behaviors as these relate to the community they live in - investigating where they work, where they shop, community events, and politics. And because a village is much smaller than a city, we are able to provide a level of interaction that is more detailed and personal than would ever be manageable in a large metropolis. The game focuses on a general goal of creating a successful and happy village for your Sims. Your most immediate objective is filling the basic needs of your Sims - these being a place to live, money, food, clothing, and friends. Your tools for doing this include giving them land to live on, successful businesses to get jobs at, stores to shop at, and other Sims to befriend. Once your Sims' basic needs are fulfilled, they begin the natural pursuit of happiness - a larger challenge for you, the mayor. Items factoring into happiness include, of course, worldly possessions, specialty stores and restaurants, community events, clubs, town services, and a quality neighborhood. Next: Control and graphics |
