1 <head><title>Inside The Simulator
</title></head><body>
3 <h1>Inside The Simulator
</h1>
5 <h2>How the Simulator Works and Strategies for Using It
</h2>
7 Many factors influence the chance of your city's prospering or
8 floundering: both internal factors (the structure and efficiency of
9 your city) and external factors (the regional economy, disasters,
14 Your city is divided up into three primary zones: residential,
15 commercial and industrial. These zones symbolize the three basic
16 pillars upon which a city is based: population, industry, and
17 commerce. All three are necessary for your city to grow and thrive.
22 <li>Residential Zones are where the Sims live. Here they build houses,
23 apartments and community facilities such as churches and schools. Sims
24 are the work force for your city's commercial and industrial zones.
27 <li>Industrial Zones are used to site warehouses, factories, and other
28 unsightly and polluting structures which have a negative impact on
29 surrounding zones. One of the major goals of planning is to separate
30 these "nuisances" from the areas where people live. In this
31 simulation, industrial zones represent the "basic" production of your
32 city. Things produced here are sold outside the city to an "external
33 market," bringing money into the city for future growth.
<p>
35 <li>Commercial Zones represent the retail stores and services in your
36 city, including gas stations, grocery stores, banks, and offices.
37 Commercial areas are mainly dedicated to producing goods and services
38 needed within your city. This is called "non-basic" production or
39 production for the "internal market."
<p>
44 <h3>Population -- Residential
</h3>
46 The major factors controlling residential population are birthrate,
47 availability of jobs and housing, unemployment, and quality of life
50 Birthrate as used here, is actually a combination of the birthrate
51 (positive) and the deathrate (negative). Within Micropolis there is
52 always a positive birthrate.
<p>
54 Availability of jobs (the employment rate) is a ratio of the current
55 commercial and industrial populations to the total residential
56 population. As a rule of thumb, the number of commercial and
57 industrial zones together should roughly equal the number of
58 residential zones.
<p>
60 If there are more jobs in your city than residents, new settlers will
61 be attracted. If the job market declines during a local recession,
62 your people will migrate away in search of jobs.
<p>
64 Housing for your residents is built in the residential zones. These
65 zones must be powered and connected to the places of employment by
66 roads. The structures built in residential zones are influenced by
67 land value and population density.
<p>
69 Quality of life is a measure of relative "attractiveness" assigned to
70 different zone locations. It is affected by negative factors such as
71 pollution and crime, and positive factors such as parks and
74 <h3>External Market -- Industrial
</h3>
76 There are thousands of variables that influence your city. All these
77 variables can be influenced by your actions with the exception of one.
80 The external market (the economic conditions that exist outside of
81 your city) is controlled by the simulation -- there is nothing you can
82 do to change it. In many ways, this external market is the original
83 source of all city growth. Towns frequently begin as production
84 centers (steel towns, refineries, etc.) that service a demand in the
85 surrounding region. As time passes, the external market grows to
86 reflect the regional growth going on around your city.
<p>
88 The industry in your city will attempt to grow as the external market
89 grows. For this to happen there must be room for expansion (more
90 industrial zones) and an adequate labor supply (more residential
93 <h3>Internal Market -- Commercial
</h3>
95 The internal market is completely influenced by the conditions within
96 your city. Internal production, created in the commercial zones,
97 represents all the things which are purchased and consumed within the
98 city. Food stores, gas stations, retail stores, financial services,
99 medical care, etc. -- all depend on a nearby population to service.
100 Within Micropolis, the size of the internal market determines the rate at
101 which commercial zones will prosper. Commercial zones need enough
102 zoned land to build on and an existent, sufficient work force to
103 employ. The structures built in commercial zones are mainly influenced
104 by land value and population density.
<p>
106 Commercial zones grow and develop to serve the expanding internal
107 market. Commercial growth will usually be slow at first, when the
108 population is small and needs very little. As your city grows,
109 commercial growth will accelerate and the internal market will become
110 a much larger consumer of your total city production. This
111 accelerating effect, when the external/industrial production is
112 overtaken by the accelerating internal/commercial sector, can turn a
113 sleepy little town of
50,
000 into a thriving capital of
200,
000 in a
118 The tax rate you set controls the amount of income generated by your
119 city. As taxes are collected each year (simulation time), the Budget
120 Window will appear, giving you the fiscal details of your city and a
121 chance to adjust rates. The simulation determines the amount of
122 revenue collected by assessing each zone an amount based on its land
123 value, current level of development and the current tax rate.
<p>
125 The tax rate has a global affect on your city's growth rate. If you
126 set it low (
0%-
4%), growth will be brisk but the city income will be
127 low. If you set it high (
10%-
20%), you will collect a lot in the short
128 run but in the long run tax income will decrease along with the
129 population. You must keep tax income high enough to invest in new
130 development, but low enough not to scare off residents and businesses.
131 A high tax rate is one way to control city growth, should you want to
132 experiment with "growth control measures."
<p>
136 City budgeting affects the way your city grows. City infrastructure
137 cost is represented by three departments: police, fire, and
138 transportation. You may set the funding levels separately for each.
139 All three departments will request a certain level of funding each
140 year. You may supply all or part of the requested funds, in the
141 attempt to balance safety needs and budgetary concerns.
<p>
145 <li>Police Department: Police stations lower the crime rate around a
146 territory. The effective radius of your police station is related to
147 the amount of funding allocated to the police department. Police
148 stations cost $
100 per year to fund.
150 <li>Fire Department: Fire stations prevent and extinguish fires. The
151 level of funding determines the effective radius of a fire station.
152 Fire stations put out fires within this radius much sooner than
153 outside it, and decrease the chance that they will start in the first
154 place. Fire stations cost $
100 per year to fund.
156 <li>Transportation Department:When you build roads and rail systems
157 you are charged for construction and yearly maintenance. The larger
158 your transportation network, the more it will cost for upkeep. If you
159 decide not to or are unable to pay this maintenance cost, roads will
160 slowly deteriorate and become unusable. The maintenance cost for each
161 piece is: Road - $
1, Bridge - $
4, Rail - $
4, Rail tunnel - $
10.
167 Electrical power makes modern cities possible. Efficient and reliable
168 power transmission to all zones is the goal of good "power
171 The entire power grid of your city is periodically checked in the
172 simulation for links to power. If a zone is connected (by other zones
173 or power lines) to a power plant, the zone is considered powered.
<p>
175 Zones must be powered for development to occur. Many things (such as
176 fires, tornadoes, earthquakes and bulldozers) can knock down power
177 lines and cause blackouts in parts of your city. Development will stop
178 in unpowered zones, and if power is not quickly restored, the zone
179 will decline back to its original state of emptiness.
<p>
181 Redundant power plants and power connections can make your power grid
182 more reliable, but running more line adds construction costs.
<p>
184 <h3>Transportation -- Traffic
</h3>
186 One of the most important elements of city structure is the
187 transportation network. It moves Sims and good throughout your city.
188 Roads typically occupy as much as
25%-
40% of the land in urban areas.
189 Traffic along these roads indicates which sections of your road system
190 are used the most.
<p>
192 Traffic levels are simulated by a process known as "Trip Generation."
193 Over time, each populated zone in the city will generate a number of
194 trips, depending on the population. Each generated trip starts at the
195 origin zone, travels down the road, and if a "proper destination" is
196 reached, ends at the destination zone -- otherwise, the trip fails.
197 Trip failure indicates inaccessibility of a zone and limits its
200 The majority of generated trips represent people commuting to and from
201 work. Additional traffic is generated by residents traveling to
202 shopping, recreation, etc. When analyzing traffic, the simulator tests
203 the following traffic routes:
<p>
205 <i>Traffic Patterns
</i><p>
230 When Sims drive away from an origin zone, they have a limited "trip
231 range" in which to find a destination zone. Heavy traffic decreases
232 the trip range. If the destination zone is too far away, the trip is
233 unsuccessful. Repeated unsuccessful trips will cause the Sims to move
234 out of the origin zone.
<p>
236 Each road has a limited capacity for traffic. When this capacity is
237 exceeded traffic jams will form. Traffic jams drastically lower the
238 capacity of a road, compounding the problem and frustrating drivers.
241 Traffic conditions fluctuate quickly. Avoid traffic problems by
242 providing several routes for the traffic to take.
<p>
244 A road must be adjacent to a zone for the zone to be connected to the
245 traffic pattern. Zones do not conduct traffic the way they conduct
250 Pollution levels are tracked in all areas of your city. This is a
251 general "nuisance level" that includes air and water pollution, noise
252 pollution, toxic wastes, etc. Pollution has a negative impact on the
253 growth of residential areas.
<p>
255 The primary cause of pollution is industrialized zones. The level of
256 pollution created by an industrial zone increases with its level of
259 Traffic is another cause of pollution. There are limited means of
260 combating the pollution level. Lowering traffic density, limiting
261 industrial development, and separating the pollution from the
262 residential areas will help.
<p>
266 Crime rates are influenced by population density, local law
267 enforcement, and land values. As population density increases in an
268 area, the number of crimes committed increases. Crime will also
269 increase in areas of low land value.
<p>
271 The most effective way to deal with high crime rates is to introduce a
272 police station into the area. Based on its level of funding, the
273 police station will reduce the rate of crime in its sphere of
274 influence. A long-term approach to lowering crime is to raise the land
275 value of the area. One way to do this is to demolish and rezone (urban
280 Land value is one of the most fundamental aspects of urban structure.
281 The land value of an area affects how that area is used. In this
282 simulation the land value of an area is based on terrain,
283 accessibility, pollution, and distance to downtown.
<p>
285 The farther the residents have to go to work, the lower the land value
286 where they live, due in part to transportation costs. The value of
287 commercial zones depends greatly on accessibility by the populace.
290 Land value is also affected by surrounding terrain. If land is closer
291 to water, trees, agricultural areas, or parks, its value will rise.
292 Creative placement of zones within the terrain, with little
293 bulldozing, can make good use of this natural advantage.
<p>
295 Land value and crime rate have a feedback effect on each other. Lower
296 land values cause crime rates to rise. Higher crime rates cause land
297 values to drop, and can cause "transition areas" near your central
298 city to rapidly decline in value.
<p>
304 <h2>Micropolis, Unix Version.
</h2>
305 This game was released for the Unix platform
306 in or about
1990 and has been modified for inclusion in the One Laptop
307 Per Child program. Copyright
© 1989 -
2007 Electronic Arts Inc. If
308 you need assistance with this program, you may contact:
309 <a href=
"http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Micropolis">http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Micropolis
</a> or email
<a href=
"mailto:micropolis@laptop.org">micropolis@laptop.org
</a>.
312 This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
313 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
314 the Free Software Foundation, either version
3 of the License, or (at
315 your option) any later version.
318 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
319 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
320 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
321 General Public License for more details. You should have received a
322 copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If
323 not, see
<a href=
"http://www.gnu.org/licenses/">http://www.gnu.org/licenses/
</a>.
326 <h3 align=
"center">ADDITIONAL TERMS per GNU GPL Section
7</h3>
329 No trademark or publicity rights are granted. This license does NOT
330 give you any right, title or interest in the trademark SimCity or any
331 other Electronic Arts trademark. You may not distribute any
332 modification of this program using the trademark SimCity or claim any
333 affliation or association with Electronic Arts Inc. or its employees.
336 Any propagation or conveyance of this program must include this
337 copyright notice and these terms.
340 If you convey this program (or any modifications of it) and assume
341 contractual liability for the program to recipients of it, you agree
342 to indemnify Electronic Arts for any liability that those contractual
343 assumptions impose on Electronic Arts.
346 You may not misrepresent the origins of this program; modified
347 versions of the program must be marked as such and not identified as
348 the original program.
351 This disclaimer supplements the one included in the General Public
352 License.
<b>TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, THIS
353 PROGRAM IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS IS," WITH ALL FAULTS, WITHOUT WARRANTY
354 OF ANY KIND, AND YOUR USE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE ENTIRE RISK OF
355 SATISFACTORY QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE RESIDES WITH YOU. ELECTRONIC ARTS
356 DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTIES,
357 INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY,
358 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY
359 RIGHTS, AND WARRANTIES (IF ANY) ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING,
360 USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE. ELECTRONIC ARTS DOES NOT WARRANT AGAINST
361 INTERFERENCE WITH YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THE PROGRAM; THAT THE PROGRAM WILL
362 MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; THAT OPERATION OF THE PROGRAM WILL BE
363 UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT THE PROGRAM WILL BE COMPATIBLE
364 WITH THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE OR THAT ANY ERRORS IN THE PROGRAM WILL BE
365 CORRECTED. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN ADVICE PROVIDED BY ELECTRONIC ARTS OR
366 ANY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY. SOME
367 JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF OR LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED
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369 CONSUMER, SO SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS MAY
370 NOT APPLY TO YOU.
</b>
projects / micropolis / blob