SimCity 2013

UI Design / Scripting

Working on a game like SimCity is a dream for many that grew up playing computer games, myself included. Therefore, I was extremely excited to work on the next iteration of this storied franchise.

Although excited, I knew SimCity was going to be a great challenge. SimCity is a deep simulation game. There are many underlying systems, all working in unison that make up a city’s operation. Much like spinning plates, the player is responsible for keeping all of these systems up and running. Any of these systems fall into disarray, and their city can come to a screeching halt.

The player relies heavily on the UI to guide the decisions they make in order to keep their virtual sims happy.

Data Layers:

Data layers are a graphical representation of the game systems we have in SimCity.

By layering visual data onto the live game models, we were able to clearly highlight points of interest in a new and innovative way. Utilizing the tactility of the game engine, the player is able to pan the camera around their city while flipping through numerous data layers. This allowed us to uncover the intricacies of the deep simulation directly into the live game world.

This tech really shows best in motion. I found a great example posted by Richard Shemaka, the awesome engineer responsible for this tech.

Data Visualization:

Of course, there is still a place for traditional spreadsheets and graphs for the more global information. Below are population graphs which give the information needed for the player to balance the amount of residential, commercial and industrial of their city. 

The detailed population spreadsheet started off as a debug tool I used to help me better understand the game. Throughout development, it was essential for me as well as the tuners to balance the game's difficulty curve. It became so helpful in fact, that we decided to include it in the final game!

Multiplayer:

Another huge addition added to the SimCity franchise with this latest iteration is the ability to play in a multiplayer region. Now players can co-exist in a region, sharing resources between one another. Also, all regions are able to buy and sell the goods they produce to the global market. This global market is a live economy, so if a lot of people are selling their coal to the global market, the price for coal will drop significantly. The player is able to log into SimCity.com to track the global market and set themselves up to be producing whatever good is in high demand to maximize profits.