Guy beats Sim City 3000

[Ruldra]

Simcity is supposed to be an unbeatable game, but what this guy did is the equivalent of counterstopping: to build a city with the maximum population possible and keep that population number for 50,000 years.

To do that, he spent years coming up with a zone pattern to ensure maximum density in a given area and using that same pattern across the entire playing field. The results are interesting: There's no need for roads and vehicles since everyone lives close enough to their workplaces. There are no hospitals, schools or fire departments. Police, however, is everywhere.

Because this is, in fact, a totalitarian megacity where everyone has been successfully dumbed down, sickened with poor health, enslaved and mind-controlled just enough to keep the system going for thousands of years. Sims don't even need to leave their blocks since every block is exactly the same.

The perfect city, the perfect society, turns out to be a miserable place to live.

Watch and be in awe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ezZgAl6aN8

Interview with the creator right here.

[crithit5000]

I always wondered back in my SC2K days just how big and dense a city could get if you used only subways to shuttle folks around, but I never really got around to actually trying. Nor did I ever consider SC3K's neighbor perks to magnify all that free space. Nice find.

[Vyxx]

The work of an evil genius.
Watch out for this man.

[Ed Oscuro]

Because this is, in fact, a totalitarian megacity where everyone has been successfully dumbed down, sickened with poor health, enslaved and mind-controlled just enough to keep the system going for thousands of years. Sims don't even need to leave their blocks since every block is exactly the same.

But zero water pollution and zero congestion. The stats for education and health are 100 / 50, doesn't seem too bad to me considering how poorly most sims have it.

From the interview, it also seems that the "practical considerations" were "ideology" as opposed to an actual game benefit, as no actual efficiency improvements are remarked.

I don't follow the conspiratorial line of thought here. This is an impressive achievement and I support it, but this is simply a self-contained model, which is unrealistic. It's a game, at that, and not really intended to be a completely realistic model. I think that systems tend to suffer from entropy, inevitably; that's life and not really a great revelation for me.

[Ruldra]

But zero water pollution and zero congestion. The stats for education and health are 100 / 50, doesn't seem too bad to me considering how poorly most sims have it.

But quite some air pollution. The high education comes exclusively from libraries; one has to question what exactly are they reading, considering they are still docile as sheep even with all their education. As for life expectancy, none of them ever reaches the age of 60; doesn't sound good to me.

Don't forget to check the aura stat, which shows happiness. Out of 6 million residents, not a single soul really likes living there.

From the interview, it also seems that the "practical considerations" were "ideology" as opposed to an actual game benefit, as no actual efficiency improvements are remarked.

He could've built hospitals and such to improve life expectancy and happiness of the sims, but that would've cost him some space, which in turn would diminish the total possible population in the city. He ignored the sims's welfare to build more residential areas. That's what he meant by practical considerations.

I don't follow the conspiratorial line of thought here. This is an impressive achievement and I support it, but this is simply a self-contained model, which is unrealistic. It's a game, at that, and not really intended to be a completely realistic model. I think that systems tend to suffer from entropy, inevitably; that's life and not really a great revelation for me.

Yeah, a city like that wouldn't last long in the real world, due to many other variables not present in the game. It's just that he managed to build the perfect dystopia, enslaving everyone for eternity. It makes you wonder what someone can accomplish once he has the power and tools to control all the variables.

[moozooh]

The high education comes exclusively from libraries; one has to question what exactly are they reading, considering they are still docile as sheep even with all their education.

Howto's and manuals! :D

[Elixir]

I wish I understood whatever it was I just watched.

[Ed Oscuro]

Yeah, a city like that wouldn't last long in the real world, due to many other variables not present in the game. It's just that he managed to build the perfect dystopia, enslaving everyone for eternity. It makes you wonder what someone can accomplish once he has the power and tools to control all the variables.

It can't be done. It's physically impossible. Even if you managed to have complete domination over mental states, any civilization that is predicated on subjugation is weakening its response to external forces - be those externalities catching up with you (oil spills) or actually other species.

Using the "Red Queen's Hypothesis" ("It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place") we see that individual actors even within a system always have strong incentives to overthrow a system (be it a good one or a bad one).

I know Orwell was thinking somewhat along these lines of stopping evolution completely to preserve the situation, see above again. The societies in 1984 would realistically be on the brink of collapse; they certainly wouldn't be stable (i.e. North Korea). This game simulation doesn't allow for inefficiencies (like building up new infrastructure in good times to prepare for bad).

Also, on a more basic level, where are Sims born? 50,000 years and they never get invaded.

Anyway, the "high education, low happiness, low air quality" sounds like New York City, or (insert your favorite big city here). In real life, if you could have a dense city like that, people might be happier with a surrounding parks system as sprawl is contained in a small area (as efficiency was the goal here; cities are very efficient in their use of resources, and are argued to be more "green" than suburbs).

[Never_Scurred]

I wish I understood whatever it was I just watched.

Same here, so i'm just gonna freepost instead.

[Enhasa]

Will Wright is rolling over in his grave!

That video is one of the funniest things I've seen recently, only in how serious this guy took everything about it. I almost fell out of my chair when it said that one city was inspired by "the art film" Koyaanisqatsi. Reggio is rolling over in his grave!

It's nothing interesting that happiness, health, etc are poor in his city when the only decision variable is population density. And maximizing population is a popular goal for some people in all versions of SimCity (very similar to maximizing map completion in Castlevania games, and yes, I think these people have to be OCD). I remember people using glitches to bulldoze tiles while still keeping the people there. In 2000, you can build a ton of launch arcos, but then they all launch into space when you've built enough.

It's just a game, so the relating it to the real world falls flat, but the idea of combining SimCity with politics is completely valid. The guys at Maxis all had strong political views (no cookie for guessing where on the spectrum) and the games are overwhelmingly infused with this. Everything from the cheat codes to the descriptions to the game mechanics indicate this. That only made the SimCopter controversy more amusing really.

[moozooh]

I'm so rolling in my grave right now!

[Ed Oscuro]

It's nothing interesting that happiness, health, etc are poor in his city when the only decision variable is population density.

Also that SimCopter thing is hilarious, I didn't know a thing about it, thanks!