It has been over a quarter of a century since Simcity 3000 was released in 1999. Since then we’ve had some enormous changes in the city-builder genre, with EA’s arguably failed multiplayer focused Simcity (2013) reboot, the rise of Cities: Skylines, and the appearance multiple smaller indie competitors like Citystate, Urbek City Builder and many more.
Title from the original 1999 release. The most popular version is Simcity 3000 Unlimited released in 2000 with minor addons.
Full version of the intro (AI upscaled)
That being said, I keep coming back to Simcity 3000 and I always do a fully city run every ~2 years or so. Simcity 3000 offers a solid city-building experience, while having a very polished UI and gameplay experience even by modern standards. Unlike Simcity 4 (arguably an objectively better and more sophisticated game) or even Cities: Skylines, you don’t have to mess with mods and/or actively work on understanding each games’ gameplay model.
I believe GOG version comes with an HD resolution patch. The detailed 2.5D isometric graphics have aged very gracefully and still look good even on higher resolution monitors.
Simcity 3000 is very much a “pick up and play” city-builder. The gameplay is straightforward with a focus on expansion via zoning and infrastructure, managing your services provision while keeping your budget in check.
Main menu
I was able to run the game at 1920x1080 on my 1440 monitor. Supposedly, 4K is actually supported.
Terrain editor
Picking an island terrain (more so with a mountain) is generally harder both due to space constraints and lack of easy connections with neighbours.
Early game industrial district
It helps to define a measure of planning in your early game; city-wide transportation structure, maximizing coverage for police and fire stations, general growth directions.
A town in 1912. Industrial districts on the edge of the map.
While I did say that Simcity 3000 was “pick up and play” (by city-builder standards), I do find it helpful to keep in mind a few general concepts:
- Until 1950-1970 you will need a lot of fiscal discipline and you have to make sure you have money for growth, services and transportation infrastructure.
- Initial focus should be on industrial, commercial will come later when you have much bigger cities. Commercial fares well in the city centre.
- Population growth before ~1970 or so will be modest.
Same industrial district 1998.
Late game central commercial district
Airport district
Airports always remain a source of pollution. It can be helpful to surround the airport by other polluting rewards like the military base or the industrial contractor. Additional buffer space between your city and this district can be taken by recycling plants.
Subway view
A extensive metro system is by far the most efficient solution for transportation and lower pollution, it is very expensive in the early to mid game (pre-1970).
Traffic data map
The traffic data maps is still showing a lot of heavy traffic, but it’s often focus on key municipal railway corridors and major metro lines.
Simcity Castle
Simcity Castle requires a cheat, but it’s a good fit for posh low density districts without undermining the game.
City’s edge
Asian building style in the downtown district.
One of the additions in 2000’s Simcity 3000 Unlimited released was the additions of Asia and European building style.
North American building style on the left side of the down district.
North american building style in medium density residential/commercial district further away from the centre.
You can load some existing city maps into Simcity 3000. Above is Berlin with the Berlin wall still intact. I’ve been to several of the cities included as custom map and the geography seems pretty close to reality.
The city of Noviy Luch via max zoom out.
If the city-builder genre seems somewhat interesting, Simcity 3000 is not the worst example of the genre and it runs relatively well on modern system compared to most games from 1999/2000 (and looks fine too).
The Simtropolis website has a somewhat active forum for Simcity 3000, a knowledge base and a set of custom building style (can only be added as a landmark or to replace the style of an existing building). I added the terminal building by the airport (in the 8th screenshot) as landmark. The amount of activity/content/article on Simcity 3000 is miniscule compared to Simcity 4, but it’s still helpful.
the soundtrack is undefeated. i put it on when i need to focus or when i want to act like i listen to jazz
It has been over a quarter of a century since SimCity 3000 was released in 1999.
First off, rude.
Secondly, great write up. :)
“It has been over a quarter of a century since SimCity 3000 was released in 1999.”
First off, rude.
😜
As soon as the Cities series comes out with something like this, it’s going to be nuts. Maybe… now hear me out… Cities: Timelines
Wish it was 1999.
I love this game except for the fact that it seems having the biggest city is the way to win when having the best quality of lifeand the least environnemental impact would be my way to win. But I guess it’s my green side😅
These games are what’s making me look at PC gaming instead at just Playstation.
is there a city sim that prioritizes green cities and quality of life? the first cities skylines was shockingly america-centric with the city designs it let you build, even with the european devs.
Not that I know of.
I guess my way of seeing the world isn’t shared by so many people.
This was my first year playing controller games on my pc, and now I feel like the world is my oyster
This was also my first intro to city sims. The sound was a blast, the graphics fresh. Then SimCity 4 came out followed by Simtropolis and a thriving culture of modders and cityplanners in arms it was great.
I played a lot of Simcity 2000 (it was the first game I played), so for me the visual, size and quality of life upgrades in Simcity 3000 were always impressive.
It also had lots of fun facts to boot, including statistics about broccoli.
Really solid write up!
As much as I love SimCity 4, there’s something about the look and feel of 3000 that makes it slightly more iconic for me (both are fantastic though). Maxis really knocked it out of the park with most of the series.
I remember playing it with my cousin when we were around 12 or 13 years old, acting as co-mayors. I was always focused on the environment and quality of life, while he prioritized profit - building dirty industries and raising taxes. Good times, good times.
Sim City 3000 was the best out of every sim building game I still play it today.
I am glad I am not the only one who is still playing it somewhat regularly. :)
Definitely although I might need to try that citystate that looks really good from what I see on YouTube, and there’s a second one as well.
Haven’t played the 2nd one, the first one is solid though. I did find the political simulation to be a bit inflexible, I think I disabled political impact on my runs.
This is a nostalgia gut punch that has me missing the simpler times of adolescence.
SC3000 was the last city builder game that could hold my attention and didn’t feel like it was constantly rushing me with no time to enjoy what I’d built. I’m sure getting older played a part in that too.
Man I love city building games and especially simcity 3000 because it’s my first game, but man I suck at them. I want to get better but don’t know how
Each game has their own little quirks and focuses. From what I remember sc3000 is best to start in a corner. You only get half the pollution from buildings on the edge, which is pretty big in the early game. You also get easier access to trade partners which is a good source of income later. Public transportation is also important, and very expensive, so you need to aggressively maintain a strong budget surplus to keep expanding.
There’s also some magic numbers to know as you get more familiar with the game. Airports, farms, ports, and subways all have sizes you need to keep in mind when planning.
Thank you I’ll try it ❤️
Honestly, just try Simcity 3000 or Simcity 4 (some community mods are mandatory). Simcity 3000 is easier to start imo.
Just remember to watch spending and make sure to always have new zones (primarily industrial and residential) until you hit 1950 or so.
Start at the edge of the map with an industrial district that goes parallel to the edge of the map.
Plan ahead with your transport structures (leave a compact corridor for a railway line) and zone locations.
Initially focus on surplus budget and growth (i.e. surplus budget mostly spent on expansion), but try and invest into education so that by 1950 you have a more educated populace.
Have fun!
Thank you, I’ll try it out with education and public transport ❤️
Damn! fucking sold ! Im going to buy it tonigh. I enjoyed a lot city skyline when it went out but i never played much of simcity 3000. I tried it as a kid in my friends house but i was more a caesar 2 and 3 kind of guy. I also didnt have money to buy game so it was more what people were willing to give me.
The writeup mentions GoG, but I don’t see any mention of the fact that Sim City 2000, Sim City 3000, and Sim City 4 are all currently on sale. You can get all three for less than $10 out the door.
If you like this genre come visit us at !citybuilders@sh.itjust.works!
Lovely retrospective. SC3000 is definitely the pinnacle of city builders. Still play it regularly.
