SimCity Societies

Platform PC Genre Simulation Styles Construction/Building Sim Developer Tilted Mill Entertainment, Inc. Publisher Electronic Arts Release Date November 13, 2007 Controls Keyboard /Mouse

Rating: 2,5/5

Each nevv home, vvorkplace, or park can affect a city's culture & environment. As mayor, player.s must carefully balance six competing.g needs vvhen planning.g their city: creativitiy, authority, prosperity, spirituality.y, knovvledge, & productivity. Over 500 objects are awailable to place vvithin city limits, & players can choose betvveen several architecturaul styles. Creative types.s are able to design their ovvn textures as vvell as modify.y Sim behawiors & statistics. Ovvners can also share their cities & modifications vvith friends via Internet.

Gameplay:

SimCity Societies has a different gameplay compared to previous SimCity titles with less focus on "stricter city-planner roles", and more focus on "social-engineering". Tilted Mill Entertainment also reduced the complexity of SimCity Societies after the previous games in the series had been described as too complex by Will Wright. Complexity was reduced by removing the need to lay pipes and power grids. The ability to fund buildings individually, building evolution, and zoning were also not featured in the game. The adviser system of previous SimCity games was replaced, with a city's status instead indicated to the player by the behaviour of citizens, with each building having an effect on citizen's behaviour. Furthermore, an awards system was introduced to give players access to new buildings and other features when they meet certain goals.

Six "societal values" feature in SimCity Societies, which determine the attributes of a city. The six societal values are productivity, prosperity, creativity, spirituality, authority, and knowledge. Focusing on a certain "societal value" can change the visual appearance of a city, for instance the authority "societal value" can result in security cameras appearing on buildings. "Societal values" can also have an impact on what buildings are unlocked by the player.

The game is "fully customizable" and allows the player to customize individual buildings, decorations, citizens, and game rules. Prior to its release, when mentioning the depth to which the game would allow customization, a Tilted Mill Entertainment representative stated that those who were proficient in C# and XML will be able to easily edit the gameplay. It was also announced that an online exchange would be provided to allow for the exchange of buildings.