What to do:

Do part 1 as individuals – trade the program around so that everyone has some time to play with it. For parts 2-4 of the "to do list," all students in the group should be present for practically everything – ten minutes here or there is no big deal, but I don't want several hours of the game to be played without one student being present. If problems or disagreements develop, please make an appointment to see me as a group and we'll try to iron it out. You can do parts 2-4 in whatever order you choose.

(1) As individuals, play around with the game for an hour or two, learning how to make the program work, what kinds of things can and cannot be designed, how long it takes to do various things, etc.

(2) Build a city from scratch starting either in 1900 or 1950. You may use whatever difficulty level you prefer (I encourage those who are experienced with the program to play at higher difficulty levels) and it is up to you whether to have "disasters" turned on or off. I will distribute terrain requirements. Play the simulation for at least 100 years of program time (this will probably require several sessions of a few hours each, so make plans accordingly). You will find that once you get the hang of it, you can comfortably run the program at the faster speeds for long stretches, occasionally slowing down or pausing to take care of emergencies or to start new projects.

Note: Some of you will probably decide that your first city is a failure and you want to start over again. Feel free to do so without consulting me, but reflect the fact in your journals. Note that you do not need to create a successful city to successfully complete the assignment – as far as I am concerned, you can choose to intentionally run the city into the ground to see what happens. (However, please do not intentionally inflict any of the more spectacular disasters – invasions of space aliens etc. – on your city.)

(3) Look through the "starter cities" on the SimCity disk and discuss how they are designed. Choose one of these cities and play it for 10-15 years. Compare it to your own city. You may, if you choose, write up one joint account of your discussions and include it separately in each journal.

(4) Look through the stored cities on the SimCity disk and discuss their differing designs. Choose one of these cities and play it for 10-15 years. Compare it to your city. You may, if you choose, write up one joint account of your discussions and include it separately in each journal.

What to turn in:

(A) Journal (30 pts). Keep a running journal of your reactions to participating in the SimCity simulation. I will be looking for your ongoing reactions to some of the following questions:

• How well does the simulation actually simulate real life? What types of things are included that you would not have thought of? What sorts of things are important in cities that are omitted in the simulation?
• What kinds of discussions are you having within your small group about which choices should be made? What options are proposed and what are your group's reasons for deciding in favor of some ideas and against others?
• What strategies enable you to "win" the game – or at least construct successful cities? (In other words, what are the biases of the program's designers?)
• Are the issues that we have discussed in class raised in the simulation? In what way? Does the simulation help to explain things that were initially unclear to you, or does it raise questions about the course material or class discussions?

You will turn in the journal three times, twice as a work in progress and once as your final draft. Journal entries should be typed (single-spaced text is fine for this assignment only). The journal will be due on:
          Thursday, March 28 at 5pm (8 pts)
          Thursday, April 18 at 5 pm (8 pts)
          Thursday, May 9 at 5 pm. (14 pts)

You may, if you like, turn in any or all of your journals earlier than the deadlines above, depending upon when your group chooses to get started on the assignment. You may petition me for different due dates if you would like to do the majority of the assignment later in the term.

(B) Summary (5pts). When you have finished your journal, write a summary of what you feel you have learned from the simulation using approximately 3-4 double-spaced pages. Writing style can be very informal. Turn this in with the final draft of your journal.

(C) Presentation (5pts). On a day to be determined in consultation with the class, we will have a "city tour" where your group will present its city and tour the cities built by other groups.

(D) The City. Please save your city onto a diskette and turn it in to me (please do not send it via email). Make sure the name of each group member is on the diskette. (No specific points assigned, but you must turn in the city to pass the assignment. I will generally refer to them when evaluating the journals.)

(E) The SimCity disk is the property of Millikin University. No student in your group will receive a grade for the course unless it is returned in full working condition or replaced.

SimCity Links

SimCity Home Page

The Semiotics of Sim City, an article by Ted Friedman

The World According to Will, an interview by Daniel Seaberg with SimCity creator Will Wright

The Uses of Sim Sidewalks, by Steven Johnson, is an examination of SimCity 3000 by three urban scholars. The link didn't work when I tried it, but maybe it will come back up again. It looks like an interesting article.