It popularized the simulation game genre and turned Maxis - a start-up launched in Orinda, Calif., by Wright and Jeff Braun - into an industry titan. But the first version wound up selling more than 1 million copies and changing the nature of gaming. Will Wright, the creator of “SimCity,” imagined when he designed the game that it would be interesting only to architects and city planners. I wouldn’t be where I am today without ‘SimCity.’ They got satisfaction from building pristine cities so efficient they could run themselves.

Like Baker, many of the players who went on to become planners generally said they didn’t like to activate the game’s built-in “disaster” mode, which unleashes earthquakes, hurricanes or Godzilla on cities.

The fact that no one likes to live near a landfill. The ability to see how transit, livability and the economy are all connected. In more than a dozen interviews for this article, people who went from “SimCity” enthusiasts to professional planners talked about what they liked about the game: The way you can visualize how a single change affects a whole city. “That’s what really got me thinking about urban planning and ‘SimCity,’ where you put in trains, where you help people move,” said Trinh, now acting senior transportation planner for Caltrans in downtown L.A. Years later, after getting his undergraduate degree, he wanted to travel but because he was under 25, he had to rule out cities where he would need to rent a car to get around. When she was 10, a librarian saw her drawings and told her there was a video game she should try.Ĭuong Trinh played “SimCity” in a summer school class in junior high. of City Transportation Officials in New York City. I had no idea it was an actual career,” said Nicole Payne, now a program official for the National Assn. It was the first time they realized that neighborhoods, towns and cities were things that were planned, and that it was someone’s job to decide where streets, schools, bus stops and stores were supposed to go. For many urban and transit planners, architects, government officials and activists, “SimCity” was their first taste of running a city.

It was succeeded by “SimCity 2000” in 1993, “SimCity 3000” in 1999, “SimCity 4” in 2003, a version for the Nintendo DS in 2007, “SimCity: BuildIt” in 2013 and an app launched in 2014.Īlong the way, the games have introduced millions of players to the joys and frustrations of zoning, street grids and infrastructure funding - and influenced a generation of people who plan cities for a living. Thirty years ago, Maxis released “SimCity” for Mac and Amiga. He served as a council member in Campbell, Calif., from 2008 to 2016, a tenure that included two stints as mayor. Today, Baker is the vice president of transportation and housing at the nonprofit Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

Possible to change work time simcity pc