Building SimCity: How to put the world in a machine

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

A new MIT Press book, *Building SimCity*, is prompting renewed interest in how the classic city-building game emerged from earlier traditions in simulation, systems thinking, and computer history. Commenters highlight the book’s blend of design ethnography and technical detail—covering SimCity’s algorithms, Maxis’s broader “Sim” ecosystem, and the tension between making a fun game and creating a meaningful model of reality. The conversation also branches into related works on simulation and emergence, critiques of digital/print pricing, and modern successors aiming for deeper, more granular city simulations.

Book content & focus

  • Described as an academic but readable history and technical study of SimCity and related “Sim” games.
  • First part: historical antecedents of simulation and city models (tabletop, analogue computers, systems thinking, cellular automata, artificial life).
  • Second part: design and implementation of SimCity, Maxis’s history, and play experience. Includes detailed diagrams of clocks, tile encoding, main loop, and map-scan algorithms; no code listings.
  • Scope is pre-EA SimCity: original, SimCity 2000, and SNES version. Later titles only appear as context, e.g., SimCity 3000’s troubled development and role in weakening Maxis.

Reception and expectations

  • Several readers are enthusiastic, calling it engaging, deeply researched, and historically rich, while stressing it is “academic” rather than purely anecdotal.
  • Some are attracted by its origin-story angle and technical detail; others compare it to more “fun” narrative histories and hope to read it later or via libraries.

Pricing and formats

  • Multiple comments note odd pricing: ebook more expensive than paperback, high prices for related MIT Press titles, and confusion about size/format.
  • Some lament lack of bundled ebook with print purchases.

Simulation vs game debate

  • Extended debate on whether SimCity is meaningfully a “simulation” or “just a game.”
  • One side: it’s a toy model with many shortcuts tuned for fun, still a simulation on a spectrum.
  • Other side: its design goal was fun, not realism, so extrapolating to real-world cities is misleading; analogies are drawn to Monopoly.
  • Counterpoints note all models simplify, many games are simulations to some extent, and that even very simple economic models influence real policy.

Simulation, learning, and rhetoric

  • Discussion of “Simulator Effect”: players mentally overestimate model depth, filling gaps with imagination; designers deliberately offload complexity to the player’s mind.
  • Example from The Sims: zodiac signs are purely cosmetic, yet testers perceived behavioral effects.
  • Cited rule of thumb: don’t simulate more than one layer below what the player can actually observe.
  • Comments reference “procedural rhetoric” and how simulation rules can convey ideology or propaganda, intentionally or not.
  • Thread explores how simulations can teach concepts that are hard to grasp via equations alone, including historical analog mechanical models and classroom city-building exercises.

Maxis, Spore, and SimWorld

  • The book’s author appears in-thread, answering questions about covering SimEarth, SimAnt, SimLife, and especially The Sims to explain Maxis’s broader arc.
  • Some comments recount a shelved “SimWorld” vision to interconnect Sim games (e.g., zooming from SimCity into The Sims), influencing The Sims’ architecture and expansion model.
  • Spore is discussed as a bold but compromised project; pre-release talks are praised, and there is curiosity about how marketing vision diverged from shipped game.

Related resources and talks

  • Numerous links shared: historical talks on simulation UI, early The Sims demos, long-form interviews, an academic anthropology book on artificial life communities, and essays on SimCity in education.
  • There is interest in similar works that blend history, ethnography, and technical depth; a few related books and MIT Press series are suggested.

Indie city-builder project & nostalgia

  • An indie developer presents a retro-style city builder aiming for deeper simulation, with features like player-designed buildings, visible interiors, citizen-level modeling, and mixed-use zoning. Community responds positively and requests creative modes and GOG release.
  • Several reminiscences of formative experiences with Sim games (SimEarth, SimAnt, SimFarm, paper-and-pencil “SimCity”), emphasizing their impact on thinking about systems, sustainability, and even career choices.