
                         SIM CITY 2000 Suggestion List
                              Last updated: 3-6-94

     This is a list of ideas for improvements to the game SimCity 2000 (SC2K)
     from Maxis.  It is a compilation of suggestions from people on CompuServe
     and the SC2K mailing list (which is actually a list for all Maxis games)
     on the Internet.  I have included the names of the contributors and their
     addresses.  Please note that addresses are in Internet form, including
     CompuServe addresses.  For those CIS users not familiar with this form, it
     is your CIS ID number with a period instead of a comma, followed by
     "@compuserve.com".  F'rinstance, my CIS address of 72172,230 would be
     72172.230@compuserve.com.

     Contributions to this list should be mailed to Dave Lartigue at either
     of the following addresses:
          Internet:      lartigue@firefly.prairienet.org
          CompuServe:    72172,230

     In the case of two people suggesting the same thing, I will usually credit
     the first person, unless the second expresses the idea more fully.  If you
     wish to elaborate on another person's suggestion, please note the number
     of the suggestion on the list, and in future updates this will be noted.

     Please note that the items collected here are suggestions, not bug fixes.

     This list will be regularly updated and distributed on CompuServe (in the
     Gamers Forum under the "Other Games" section) and on the Internet.
     Anyone wishing to donate an FTP site for the list, please contact me.  For
     the moment, it is available on request at my address above.  I will post a
     general message on the Simlist mailing list when a new update is
     available.

     Thanks to all who have contributed, and thanks to Maxis for providing such
     an entertaining game!

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1)   Toll highways and bridges.  Would provide extra income, but at the expense
     of possible commercial development.  However, may help to decrease
     pollution and traffic by encouraging carpooling.
     (Dave Lartigue: lartigue@firefly.prairienet.org /
     72712.230@compuserve.com)

2)   Wildlife Preserves and Scenic Routes.  You could designate an area of land
     (or a highway) as a wildlife preserve/scenic route.  This would increase
     tourism and Sim-happiness, but the designated land would be locked out of
     development.  Some encouragement for more aesthetic cities, rather than
     slash-and-burn.
     (Dave Lartigue)

3)   Amusement Parks as Recreation objects.  5x5 squares?
     (Dave Lartigue)

4)   SimSuffrage:  The Sims should be given the right to vote every few years
     and if the ballot goes against you, you are booted out of office.
     However, it's a SimElection -- you'd still run the city, but you'd have to
     pick a new name.  There would be no real penalty for losing, but it would
     remind players that real-life mayors must listen to the complaints and
     needs of their citizens.
     (Alan Czarnek:  71401.3330@compuserve.com)

5)   Power Brokerage.  You should be able to sell off extra power to
     neighboring cities for a certain amount per watt, and likewise be able to
     buy power from neighboring cities.
     (Peter Kasmir: 72420.1776@compuserve.com)

6)   Advanced forms of transportation that appear after a certain date, such
     as elevated trains, monorails (that go from arcology to arcology), etc.
     (Darin Gurney: 71620.2531@compuserve.com)

7)   Ski Resorts on the slopes of mountains.
     (Darin Gurney)

8)   A floating Arcology that could be built on water.
     (Darin Gurney)

9)   Underground power lines, along with undersea power lines.
     (Darin Gurney)

10)  Highway and Rail Tunnels.
     (Darin Gurney)

11)  A wartime *mode* where you are trying to fortify your city against
     invaders.  That is, set up defenses batteries, and provide shelters
     for your citizens while still growing your population.  There would be a
     drain on your young male populations, of course!
     (Darin Gurney)

12)  Bridges that go over land, from one hill to another.
     (Sushil Gupta: 70314.3052@compuserve.com)

13)  More selections for highway bridges.
     (Sushil Gupta)

14)  Stadiums which look like the stadiums for the sport you select.  I.E., a
     football stadium with a gridiron, baseball with a diamond, etc.
     (Sushil Gupta)

15)  Elevated trains.  [Others had mentioned elevated trains, but Sushil went
     into a little more detail.]  Cheaper than subway, more expensive than
     regular rail.  1x1 sized stations, above ground, and able to connect to
     rail.  Effective as commuter rail.
     (Sushil Gupta)

16)  Special events like the Olympics.  Will cost a lot, but increase industry
     and commerce revenue, as well as tourism.  You must have at least two
     stadiums before you are asked.  Would create a heavy toll on traffic.
     (Sushil Gupta)

17)  SimFarm!  Combine light residential and industrial.
     (Sushil Gupta)

18)  Instead of rebuilding power plants every 50 years, simply pay maintenance
     costs for nukes and fuel gosts for gas and coal.
     (Sushil Gupta)

19)  Highway Patrol.  If you have enough miles of highway, you could get a
     highway patrol office.  Might reduce traffic.
     (Sushil Gupta)

20)  More rewards!
     (Sushil Gupta)

21)  More interesting military bases.
     (Sushil Gupta)

22)  The ability to edit terrain without losing the city.
     (James Walker: 70007,4651@compuserve.com)

23)  A mode that would allow you to select an icon (bus stations, for example)
     and then would highlight all of those structures on the map.
     (James Walker)

24)  A right-click property inspector.
     (James Walker)

25)  A true flat view, straight down, to help in placing pipes, subways, etc.
     (James Walker)

26)  Expand the advisors into more areas [suggestions welcome on which areas!],
     plus the ability to turn them off if desired.
     (James Walker)

27)  Change the river icon in the terrain editor so that you can point the
     direction of the river.
     (James Walker)

28)  The ability to turn off parts of the simulation that may slow it down.
     (IE, cars, planes and helicopters, animation).
     (James Walker)

29)  An UNDO!
     (James Walker)

30)  Go back to rating cities by population (town, city, capitol, etc.).  It
     is frustrating that nothing happens when your population reaches 1
     million.  The last reward you get is Arcologies, which allow you to
     dramatically increase your population, but there doesn't seem to be any
     reason to do so after that point.
     (Dave Lartigue)

31)  Have built-in hints in the form of "special research studies".  You could
     get hints on, say, reducing pollution, by funding money towards a study
     that, after a few years, would give ideas on reducing pollution.
     (Dave Lartigue)

32)  Malls as recreation items.  Sure, malls spring up as a commercial zone,
     but in every city I've ever been to, malls are strategically positioned,
     usually next to the interstate.  Also, you'll notice that being close to a
     big mall is often a selling point for homes in newspaper classifieds.
     (Dave Lartigue)

33)  Extend the college concept and have a "university" zoning construct. You
     could zone an area for this and it would promote dense residential
     (student housing) and light commercial zoning in its immediate
     neighborhood, the effect depending on the size (small --> virtually no
     effect, large --> very spread out effect). As time progresses, you could
     get things like a "free" hospital (med school) and sports stadium.  Also,
     as time goes by, if your university is doing well, it would start
     demanding more space, which of course will cause all kinds of problems
     for the neighbors.  (I grew up in Austin, TX, which has no shortage of
     friction between the University of Texas and everyone else.)
     (Steve Rodrigues: steverod@cs.berkeley.edu)

34)  How about courthouses? Once you get to a certain size, you can get one of
     these, maybe some government buildings when you get bigger...  It seems
     that lots of little towns I have driven through have their courthouse (if
     they're the county seat) very prominent in the center of town.
     (Steve Rodrigues)

35)  Another "outside world" suggestion:  be able to compete with your
     neighbors for industries.
     (Steve Rodrigues)

36)  Other utilities, such as telephone, TV, and radio stations.
     (Steve Rodrigues)

37)  The ability to save cities as .PCX, .BMP, or .GIF files.
     (Fred Chang: fchang@delphi.com)

38)  In addition to the terrain editing mode, an icon editor that would
     allow you to design buildings and icons.  Say, a condo that looks like
     one in your area.
     (Fred Chang)

39)  Bookmarks.  I'd like to be able to assign, say, five bookmarks and jump
     directly to them.
     (Dave Lartigue)

40)  Track popularity on the graph so you'd know what was going on at times
     when your popularity was up or down.
     (Dave Lartigue)

41)  Recycling Plants, which of course would help somewhat with pollution and,
     in the future, Air Treatment Plants.  Expensive, but they cut through
     the smog.
     (Dave Lartigue)

42)  After, say, 2200, have a Spaceport in addition to Air- and Sea-.
     (Dave Lartigue)

43)  Ferries as alternatives to bridges.  You'd need one on each bank, fairly
     close to each other.
     (Dave Lartigue)

44)  Underwater tunnels.
     (Dave Lartigue)

45)  A driving add-on which would allow you to drive (or fly!) through your
     city.
     (M.J. Bluett?: mj.bluett@ic.ac.uk)

46)  In real life electric (and telephone) wires run parallel with roads.  Why
     can't we have this? You would be able to select a road, road with power,
     with water, or with power and water. There is no need to take up two tile
     widths for both out to the SimAirport, for example. Bridges and tunnels
     should have this capability too. And while I'm at it, subways and rail,
     too, should conduct power.
     (Karen Todd: ktodd@census.gov)

47)  Until the aforementioned recycle plants become availble in time, trash
     dumps should be considered. (I know, pretty yucky idea, but it's
     realistic.)
     (Karen Todd)

48)  I miss the hot keys from SC classic. I know B for bulldoze still works,
     but how about p==power, t==train, s==subway, r==roads, w=water, etc..
     Maybe even command-p for power plants, command-t for train stations,
     command-s for subway stations, etc. You get the idea.
     (Karen Todd)

49)  Why do Sims complain so much about polution and *have* to live close to
     work? They should be smarter than that. Maybe if the eq is high, Sims
     would live farther away and take the subway, if the eq is low, they'd
     have to live close and drive.
     (Karen Todd)

50)  One thing I've always wanted was an increase in the problem of land
     competition -- especially agricultural/suburban. So -- "Farm" zones
     that are *extremely* cheap to build (or just pop up on their own), are
     extremely low density, but something bad happens to you (popularity?
     inflow of new residents falls? I dunno) when you get rid of them. Or you
     have to pay extra to re-zone them (bribery + eminent domain).
     I guess I like the early stages of the game, and would be willing to see
     more detail -- dirt roads, for example, or county courthouses, and stuff
     that survives without electricity (like the aforementioned farm zones)
     Or the chance to build a 21st century agrarian community powered by
     windmills with electric cars on dirt roads.....SimCommune!
     (Stanley Chin: chins@vrinet.com)

51)  Golf Courses.  I'm a golf addict and I want my Sims to be able to play
     as well.  I usually give my Big parks names of famous golf courses but
     it would be nice to see some bunkers and water surrounding freshly cut
     grass..
     ("Eagle": blake@calvin.se.fit.edu)

52)  Country Estates.  Historically, rich folk are the ones on the outskirts
     of the city (the enclaves may get swallowed up, but that's another story).
     If you build/zone residential stuff really far away from the center of
     town, maybe we could have a step up from luxury homes and have the estates
     of the "ultra-rich": huge, sprawling things. Anyone who's ever visited
     River Oaks in Houston, or Chappaqua in Westchester County, NY, or Heart
     Castle in California, will have an idea what I'm talking about. (This is
     the "filthy rich beyond imagining" type of people.)
     (Steve Rodrigues)

53)  Post Offices as government buildings.
     (Simon Leung: sngpit.dnet!leung@turtle.fisher.com)

54)  Highways on the ground, instead of always in the air.
     (Simon Leung)

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