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Will Wright Talks New Sim City, 'Uncollecting'

Posted by simoniker on from the uncollecting-is-the-new-black dept.

Thanks to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for its interview with Sim City and The Sims creator Will Wright, ostensibly about forthcoming title The Sims 2 - however, Wright also notes that "a new version of 'SimCity' is in early planning stages", lamenting that "'SimCity' kind of worked itself into a corner... We were still appealing to this core 'SimCity' group. It had gotten a little complicated for people who had never played 'SimCity.'" He also espouses his new hobby, 'uncollecting', as he explains, after handing out "lapel pins commemorating the Soviet space program" to the interviewer: "I buy collections on eBay, and I disperse them out to people again. I have to be like an entropic force to collectors, otherwise all of this stuff will get sorted." Update: 05/24 20:10 GMT by S : Commenters note there's a transcript of the same interview with added detail, over at GameSpy.

41 comments

  1. Plagarism? by nkodengar · · Score: 5, Informative
    A more or less exactly the same conversation took place on GameSpy last week (14th May).
    Wright sits down at the café table and holds out a small baggy filled with old Soviet commemorative lapel pins. Wright: Take one. GameSpy: Russian pins? Wright: I'm uncollecting. I buy collections on eBay, and I disperse them out to people again. I have to be like an entropic force to collectors, otherwise all of this stuff will get sorted. It's like the opposing force, uncollectors.
    Source: http://www.gamespy.com/articles/515/515914p1.html
    1. Re:Plagarism? by nkodengar · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Then again both articles are by the same author... /me hides under his desk

    2. Re:Plagarism? by simoniker · · Score: 5, Informative

      Interesting, and well-spotted - seems that the writer (Steve L. Kent) sold his raw interview to GameSpy, and an edited one to the Seattle P-I - getting paid twice for doing the same thing is neat!

    3. Re:Plagarism? by nkodengar · · Score: 1

      Hehehe thanks

      I read the original article after randomly going to the GSpy site and it was the 'uncollecting' idea that has stuck with me. Whilst Will Wright might not be the first to do it, its the sort of thing that could spread around and become another phenomenon like flash mobs.

  2. Cool. by mr_jrt · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Good old Will Wright. I like his style.

    --
    Boo.
  3. uncollecting by CrazyClimber · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'd be happy to let you "uncollect" my old comic books. My wife would be even happier.

    1. Re:uncollecting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your comment is funny, but it makes sense for actual collections of individual widgets too, not just collections of parts that compose a complex widget.

      As a collector, I appreciate it when the collections of others are sold off piecemeal, rather than as a whole. If I have 47/50 widgets, I don't want to buy a 50 widget set, especially in an auction setting, where I might have to try outbidding someone that's looking for all 50. I want to buy the 3 that I don't have. If I were to buy the set of 50, I'd be faced with recirculating the extra 47 that I don't need or want - but that's exactly the service that "uncollectors" provide, whether their goal is to act as entropic forces or not. Their chaos will bring a bit of order to someone else, particularly (and ironically) collectors.

      If my collections ever have to go (and I hope they never do), I will sell everything off individually. It would take forever, but I'd just accept that as a responsibility for having hoarded the stuff in the first place. "No free rides for dilettante collectors" is also an appealing concept for me. And for those serious collectors who actually need 47/50 of the widgets I have, I'd rather make them work at buying whatever they need than deprive someone else of the opportunity to get them, or the other 3. It's all work that serious collectors would invest anyway.

  4. Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by cloudless.net · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think there should be difficulty modes in Simcity, so beginners can start with "easy mode" with less stuff to care about. By the way, will the next Simcity be truly 3D?

    1. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by bersl2 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I think there should be difficulty modes in Simcity,

      In SC2000, there were. Though the only(?) difference was your starting money (20k, 10k, 10k in bonds).

    2. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by Orne · · Score: 2, Funny

      But but, I was told there's a complete three dimensional engine underneath SimCity 4...

      You can move the screen up, down, left and right, and you can zoom in and out, and you can rotate... in.. 90 degree blocks... just like you can in Isometric with 2D sprites and 1/4th the hardware requirements. Err...

    3. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by jafuser · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sim City 3000 was originally planned to be 3D, and they even got pretty far into the concept. I've still got some screenshots of it on my drive somewhere.

      It was abandoned because the hardware requirements were not up to par to handle the simulation and 3d rendering at the time.

      I'm hoping they bring back the idea, now that we seem to have adequate hardware for the job. I remember getting so excited about it, only to be given the biggest letdown that 3000 was basically a pretty-ified and dumbed down 2000.

      --
      Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
    4. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by cloudless.net · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah wouldn't it be nice if I can zoom into the streets and decorate the exterior of my own house? Or perhaps even integrate it with The Sims.

    5. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by Reedo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You might be interested to know about Children of the Nile. It's a city building game due later this year that's being made by many of the creators of the Caesar/Pharaoh/Zeus series that's completely 3D (you can zoom down into the streets and follow people around) and based in ancient Egypt.

    6. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by DrEldarion · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yes, but SC3k isn't anywhere near as beautiful, and as we all know that's what counts (or at least that's what people seem to think...)

      Of course, it's not the graphics that are making the requirements so high - it's all the simulation that's going on. I seem to remember reading that traffic routes are a MAJOR CPU hog. A huge city can bring even the most top-of-the-line desktops to their knees.

    7. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but SC4 is still a major hardware hog. Not because of the graphics, but because of the simulation. Once a city gets to a certain size its pretty much unplayable.

    8. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by Telastyn · · Score: 1

      If I'm not mistaken, SimCity 4 is properly 3d in most places. It also runs like a dog once your city gets sufficiently large. I found it to be the least fun of the group.

      [ship the game without a random map generator! for shame...]

    9. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by TomGroves · · Score: 1

      I think there should be difficulty modes in Simcity, so beginners can start with "easy mode" with less stuff to care about.

      There are. Buy Simcity 4 Deluxe or Simcity 4 + Rush Hour and you can play at easy, medium or hard (hard is regular Simcity 4 difficulty)

    10. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by suyashs · · Score: 1

      Only if they could add the extra stuff in Sim City 4 using Sim City 2000's engine. IMO, Sim City 2000 was the pinnacle of the whole franchise. It seemed that it went downhill from there, mainly due to the shoddy graphics system (crazy amounts of RAM are needed to keep build the kinds of things that were standard in Sim City 2000)...I say they make sure that Sim City 5 is extremely optimized, perhaps by studying 64k demos etc.

      --
      http://chrono.posterous.com/
    11. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by prockcore · · Score: 1

      I think there should be difficulty modes in Simcity, so beginners can start with "easy mode" with less stuff to care about.

      Brilliant!

      Level One: You control everything in your room.. can you make sure the clothes stay off the floor?
      Level Two: You control the house, keep the weeds under control, trim that fucking tree.
      Level Three: You are now the head on the neighborhood watch, make sure everyone has working lights, pass out flyers reminding people not to let people wearing prison stripes into their house.
      Level Four: You are now the head of the Homeowners Association, control your neighborhood with an iron fist. Send out hundreds of letters telling people to control their weeds and not to park in the street.
      Level Five: You are District 5 Zoning Commisioner, make sure that no one can put a gas station within 10 miles of your neighborhood.
      Level Six: You work for the DOT now, hold back funds for any street repairs, and be sure to kill that monorail plan dead. Don't forget to mention that more lanes means more traffic, and we could eliminate our traffic problems by reducing all roads down to one lane.
      Level Seven: You're now the mayor! Congratulations, your only responsiblilty is to show up on TV every once in a while to remind people that you're the mayor.

      and so on! I will make millions!

    12. Re:Simcity 3000 is already too difficult for me by msoya · · Score: 1

      Level Eight: You control the country. Go buy a Civ game Level Nine: You control the planet. Luckily for gameplay, there's some nasty aliens to fight and other planets to colonise! (but I can't remember any good games along these lines, not having played many) Level Ten: You're god. Destroy the entire universe, and turn it into a game of Pac-Man.

  5. 1: Off topic by Oncogene · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I find his 'uncollecting' activity to be far more fascinating than any information concerning another Sim City or any developments thereof.

    Brings to mind ObeyGiant's take on phenomenology. This scould certainly prove to be a fun project along the lines of GeoHunting.

    --

    - - - - - - -
    "All hail the glory of the Hypnotoad."
    1. Re:1: Off topic by shunnicutt · · Score: 2, Funny

      I immediately called my ex, who is an avid -- actually, compulsive -- collector and described this new hobby of 'uncollecting'.

      His response? 'I hate him.'

    2. Re:1: Off topic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Is that so?

      It sounds like a stupid idea to me. "Uncollecting" is going to make it much more likely that item will never be seen again. Individual items are going to be much more likely to be lost, misplaced, or thrown away.

      Collections are meant to consolodate items so it will be easier to maintain and preserve them as a group.

    3. Re:1: Off topic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you a broad or a faggot?

  6. uncollecting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's already a successful business model. So successful that most people are familiar with the term 'chop shop'. Take a collection and break it up because the parts are worth more than the whole.

  7. "Uncollecting" games by superultra · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, I assume that if he truly feels persuaded by this vast etropic force, him and EA will be selling this new Simcity at cost right? You know, disperse funds back out to people otherwise "all this stuff will get sorted"?

  8. SimCity 4 was 3D? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I know that they said it was, and requires a basic 3D video card, but I'm not sure that it's the best example of a 3D engine. Actually, it struck me as an update to the crufty old SimCity engine, but with 3D objects grafted on.

    I mean, load up a busy city and zoom in -- see how all the buildings get all pixelated for a few seconds, before the higher resolution sprites are loaded? That is not the behaviour of a 3D engine.

    1. Re:SimCity 4 was 3D? by Orne · · Score: 1

      That is not the behaviour of a 3D engine.

      Well, its more like the behavior of a 3D engine with a very short Level of Detail distance, and a new texture file to substitute in each band. Combine that with a low cache (maybe just too much texture variations), and you have constant texture swapping.

  9. I'll help uncollect! by Torgo's+Pizza · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is a personal message to Wil Wright. I hear you have a rather large collection of small regtangular green colored pieces of paper. This collection was a result of having so many big selling games. As a friend, I'd be more than willing to help you uncollect these pieces of paper. Please email and we'll set something up!

  10. He better watch out... by I_Love_Pocky! · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Or the Soviets will make him an unperson.

  11. 3D? Nah... by igrp · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I am not so sure 3D would really work that great for a "Sim City"-style game. All ressource issues aside, isn't the point of "Sim City" to be actually running a city by keeping an eye on the big picture? I always found the decision making process to be most challenging and, frankly, most fun -- just like in the real world, as you're city grows you find yourself unable to please everyone and have to prioritize.

    And I am just not sure the more "The Sims"-like approach will work all that well in a "Sim City" game (remember, "Sim Tower" which was about managing just one single building complex but in reality was little more than an elevator management simulation?).

    Or, maybe I am just old-fashioned and like my 2D games way too much... ;)

    1. Re:3D? Nah... by MBraynard · · Score: 1

      It does work. It's called Sim City 4. Came out over a year ago.

    2. Re:3D? Nah... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      simtower was fun back in the day, as were simant and simfarm. i dont know if i would be entertained by those exact games now but i spent hours playing before. they should continue with the alternative sim games but like you said, we need something more to do other than elevators and roach problems. they concentrate way too much on graphics (and it's still not cutting edge) and not enough on gameplay. whatever happened to the great sim games? now all we have is a shitload of the sims and shitt simcity. i played the sims once when it came out and lost interest after a day. i coudnt even playn the expansions because it seemed like the same game to me.

  12. Obligatory Game Screen by pragma_x · · Score: 4, Funny


    Information - MyCity4
    Founded: 1900AD
    Population: 103,245

    Your Rating is: Poor
    Your current treasury: $3
    Your current debt: $-30,000
    Citizens claim taxes are too high.
    Citizens are demanding more roads.
    Citizens are wondering why its suddenly impossible to collect things.
    Will Wright is demanding more stuff to uncollect.

  13. What? Where? by DeadboltX · · Score: 1

    What? Wheres the obligitory "In soviet russia..." jokes???

    1. Re:What? Where? by Trejkaz · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Russia, space program lapel pins uncollect YOU?

      Or... In SimSovietRussia, the country runs YOU!

      I just don't know anymore.

      --
      Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  14. His robot is the bomb. by Trejkaz · · Score: 1

    I like his robot. In fact I think there are a few preschools which could do with licensing that robot.

    --
    Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  15. They can't spell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    I haven't seen it yet. I hope to get over there. My other friend, Yute Saito is working with Nintendo now. I don't know if you have met him. He did SimTower for us. He did Seaman.

    It's Yoot Saito!

    1. Re:They can't spell by ug_rulz_all · · Score: 1

      SimTower was ownage. Best of all, there were no suicidal plane pilots. As for the new SimCity, my suggestion would be for the user to create their own neighborhoods or vicinities where they can place multiple cities. The cities can be linked through transportation, and often times what goes on in one city could adversely affect others around it. For example, if a major disaster strikes one city, the population around the disaster area will 'repel' into nearby cities, requiring the player to act quickly in all those cities in order to handle the sudden population influx.