Simulation Games

[Anacybele]

So, I noticed I was the only person in that game genres thread to mention simulation. Aren't there any other people here that play any of these games? I find some of them to be really fun! Simulation is, to give it a simpler term, create and control. Where you create/build something, and control and maintain it for however long you like.

My favorite games in this category are Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, Zoo Tycoon 2, and Sims 2 (screw Sims 3, it sucked, imo).

RCT is probably one of the most popular games in this group, and the series also got a title on the 3DS (Roller Coaster Tycoon 3D). But I think it needs a new installment on the PC! RCT3 has aged very well, but soon enough it too will become unplayable due to technological advancements in computers. Don't leave us fans hangin', Atari. :(

Sadly, the Zoo Tycoon franchise is currently dead because Blue Fang closed down after its contract with Microsoft ended. I wish someone like Atari would buy the series and continue it. I mean, these guys made RCT, which is totally awesome. Imagine what they could do with Zoo Tycoon...

The Sims isn't ending anytime soon, that's for sure (Sims 4 is currently on the way).

I've also played Sim City 4, but was terrible at it because I could never figure out how to NOT completely run out of money. I played Mall Tycoon 2 and had a similar problem. All my stores would go bankrupt. xP Shrine Circus Tycoon was alright, but I'm not a circus person at all so... (and I later broke the disc in half anyway because somehow it wound up on my bedroom floor and I stepped on it) The oldest simulation title I've played is probably Sim Town though. This fun little game is all the way from the windows 95/98 days and I'd still enjoy it every now and then if I could. ^^

Oh, and I did get to play the first RCT back in the day, but I hardly remember it. I just remember seeing RCT2 in stores and wanting it so bad. But I got RCT3 for Christmas instead! :D And let's not forget the first Zoo Tycoon as well as the DS titles in the series. The first game was fun, but it was SO hard to keep your animals happy. Thankfully. ZT2 made this much easier. Similarly, Zoo Tycoon 2 DS is much better than Zoo Tycoon DS for pretty much the same reasons.

[S_Cero]

Zoo Tycoon 2 was the shit.

[Cowboy Karimov]

I play X-Plane and Gran Turismo.

[Excellen Browning]

I enjoyed playing sims 3 a lot more than the first two games. The stupid DRM thing aside. Maybe that's partly because the load times weren't nearly as bad but for a very large part due to the reality the entire neighbourhood was the playing field. It also allowed me to take a basic design and add a pattern to it and/or color it in a way I want.

Also I find designing houses much more pleasing although the landscaping options are just too limited in my opinion. Primarily in the neighbourhood screen. If I wanted a mountain chalet per example I can build that, sort of, and a mountainous, sort of, terrain on the lot. But I can't put it in a mountainous region, which is really frustrating to me.

[Nobody]

When I was a kid, I used to play the original Roller coaster tycoon a lot. It's an amazing game.

[Rewjeo]

I thought I saw something about a new ZT... exclusive for the XBox One...

ZT2 and RCT2 were, like, the two biggest games of my childhood. I need to get my hands on all of those discs again sometime.

[DancingDanny]

I used to play Sim Theme Park on the Playstation a lot... It was pretty fun! :D

I loved it when you unlocked the camera that lets you walk around the park!

Edited February 7, 2014 by DancingDanny

[Elli]

I love Simulation games, Roller coaster Tycoon, Sims theme park, Transport Tycoon, Sim Ant, And so many more, I played them so much as a kid and still do.

[Orpheon]

This is my new favorite simulator game. GOTY hype. By the way, I'm being serious. I'm actually looking forward to this/

[Elli]

This is my new favorite simulator game. GOTY hype. By the way, I'm being serious. I'm actually looking forward to this/

Oh my goodness.... That video nearly had me laughing out loud, and nearly in tears.... when it was climbing... seriously lol!

[MacLovin]

sims 3/medieval are still fun.

[Anacybele]

The reason I didn't like Sims 3 is mainly because it took away all the freedom Sims 2 gave you. In Sims 2, you could build your own neighborhood first and make Sims later. Sims 3 forces you to start with making a Sim and I couldn't find any feature that let's you make more neighborhoods.

Freedom is a big factor in simulation games. But Sims 3 didn't have enough of that. Forcing the player to make a Sim before anything would be like RCT forcing you to start with building a coaster. Instead, you can do a tutorial, sandbox mode OR campaign right away and you could add a coaster to your park later.

[Knight]

I think Rollercoaster Tycoon is still one of my favourite games on the PC. I also consider Civilization a good strategy/simulation game, I've logged countless hours into Civ V.

[Shin]

I used to play the original Theme Park back in the day, I always managed to bankrupt myself. I do have a soft spot for the Sims, especially 3.

[Vashiane]

The reason I didn't like Sims 3 is mainly because it took away all the freedom Sims 2 gave you. In Sims 2, you could build your own neighborhood first and make Sims later. Sims 3 forces you to start with making a Sim and I couldn't find any feature that let's you make more neighborhoods.

Freedom is a big factor in simulation games. But Sims 3 didn't have enough of that. Forcing the player to make a Sim before anything would be like RCT forcing you to start with building a coaster. Instead, you can do a tutorial, sandbox mode OR campaign right away and you could add a coaster to your park later.

... What? No it doesn't... Whenever you select a neighborhood, if you want to start working on the town just go into the options menu and select "Edit Town". You don't HAVE to make a sim first, I almost never do...

And if you want to create your own neighborhood, there's a Create-A-World tool. I'm not very good at it though...

But oh my gosh, Simulation games are my favorite. ^_^

In addition to the Sims (which I actually quite like), I've also played all the Roller Coaster Tycoons, all the Zoo Tycoons, Mall Tycoon, Cruise Ship Tycoon, MySims (does... that count?) and Sim City (more like Dad played Sim City and I drove around his town. Terribly).

I'm a part of that unpopular opinion that I liked the Sims 3 over 2 just because there's SO much more customization. I kind of dislike that there's a bit of a plenty for switching around between households, but it doesn't bother me too much. The neighborhoods are also lovely (although if I sat here and listed my complaints and likes, we'd be here FOREVER).

[RJWalker]

SimCity 4 is my favourite of the series. Also, my dad is an even bigger fan. It's the one game he plays.

Shame they never made another SimCity game after 4.

[Vashiane]

SimCity 4 is my favourite of the series. Also, my dad is an even bigger fan. It's the one game he plays.

Shame they never made another SimCity game after 4.

... But they d - OH.

Yes, I know, SUCH a crushing disappointment... I was hoping for a SimCity 5... :(

[Excellen Browning]

Aye, I too never made a sim in the sims 3. The only sims game where I actually played families was the first one, where I made the ketchum household(with ash, brock and misty) and then annoyed my sister by making them marry her characters and have them move in with me. Oh and they were all spies.

But seriously, I just used the other two games to build stuff.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Gyarados

[Anacybele]

... What? No it doesn't... Whenever you select a neighborhood, if you want to start working on the town just go into the options menu and select "Edit Town". You don't HAVE to make a sim first, I almost never do...

And if you want to create your own neighborhood, there's a Create-A-World tool. I'm not very good at it though...

Strange, I clearly remember create-a-Sim being my only option when I first installed and tried out the game and there only being one neighborhood I could choose at all.

But even if the options you're telling me about do exist, they must be harder to find than in Sims 2, because I had no problems there. xP

[Vashiane]

Strange, I clearly remember create-a-Sim being my only option when I first installed and tried out the game and there only being one neighborhood I could choose at all.

But even if the options you're telling me about do exist, they must be harder to find than in Sims 2, because I had no problems there. xP

... Um, nope.

The options menu is this button off to the bottom left of the screen, when you pull up the menu it gives you everything you can do, like saving the game, exiting, etc, but it also has something called "Edit Town". THAT is your very best friend right there.

And yeah, the base game only has one world but you can download another free one from the site.

Although I bought two of the store worlds because lolRiverview.

[Anacybele]

Well, there's a problem right there. Sims 2 had THREE default neighborhoods. :P

And the big add neighborhood button was right there to the right if you scrolled through the neighborhoods. That was a lot more obvious than a tiny little menu button on the bottom left. I never noticed that at all. xP

[Tamanoir]

I did played to, one of the Sim City, and to Zoo Tycon when I was younger. the Sims never really interrested me...
That was moderately fun, but I'm kinda bad at this. There's a lot of stupid things to do that are really funny, but will makes you lose hard.
See, the problem is clients doesn't like innovation. My realistic replica of the life in the jungle had really few success. I mean, having people being able to walk with animals, and all the animals walling around freely was an amazing concept, but al they told me was security this, animal rights that....

But the best simulator are german's transport simulators (JDG ws the first thing I thought about while reading this topic.

[Magical CC]

Zoo Tycoon 2 was the shit.

Indeed, Zoo Tycoon 1 is a lot better.

[Rewjeo]

Eh, I'd say that has more to do with nostalgia and how old you were when you first played them. I picked up ZT2 first and was young enough that the more cartoony nature of the game fit me better. I'd want ZT3 to be more like ZT1 probably, though.

[BrightBow]

I used to play Sim City 3000 a lot. I played 4 too but not for very long. All those years and I still didn't know how to handle the traffic of a decent sized city.

Then there would be Anno 1602. I played Anno 1503 too but I never figured out how to make a profit there. If I remember, rather then getting taxes from them, you had to sell the products to the villagers.

Anyway, Anoo 1602 is probably my favorite game in the genre.

Since nobody on this board has ever heard of it, an introduction: the game is about building up colonies in the new world.

There are always tons of islands on one map and you will have to colonize more then one of them if you want to build a huge colony because of the resources needed for that.

I really like the setting of it. Having all those islands on a map, seeing your own colony grow along with those of competitors. It's quite a sight. And the game still looks as beautiful and colorful as back then.

Plus, it's interesting to have this competition without actual warfare. Trying to get the good islands before they do and stuff.

There can still be war, though. Initially the map is extremely big and there seems to be enough islands for everyone. But if you want to move up, you might have to declare war on a competitor if they sit on an island with vital resources so you are not dependent on trade.

However, despite the option for warfare, it's still firmly a simulation game. Outside of scenario's, competitors will never declare war anyway unless you start to colonize their islands or something.

An army is way too expensive to build and maintain anyway. They also need tons of different resources. It's not easy to get ore and then turn that ore into something suitable for the military.

Edited February 8, 2014 by BrightBow