Sim City 2000

"A guide for pupils and teachers"

by Jade, Pieran, James and Adam in Year 4

What is Sim City?

Sim City 2000 is a program that is designed to let you build your own city but it only works if you know what a city needs. If you build up enough skill you will be successful in building a huge metropolis but if you don't learn what it needs, your residents will leave you in disgust, with neglected buildings and polluted rivers left behind.

It may look like a game but it teaches it's players more about Geography than any other program on the planet!

Can you see the power station, factories, water pumps and hospital? The only problem is, the power station is in the middle of the town. This will cause pollution and the houses near it will not be worth a lot of money. Rich people might move into the new area at the left away from the factories.

It is amazing what you need to build under the city. This is the view of the water system. We put a water pump next to a lake which provides loads of water.

How does it work?
 

This is the control panel. If you look at the icons you can see bulldozing tile, water, trees, electricity, power plants, water pipes, water pump, water tower, water treatment, roads, highway, subway, onramp, subway contractor, rail way, seaport, airport and many others.  You can change your landscape by changing your terrain by moving the icons up and down. We made a model of the Ambleside area and the Barrow in Furness peninsula. Guess which was the easiest place to build. You can get ideas from other maps based on other real places in the world including Hollywood. What does it teach you? It teaches you what you need where you live. Your city needs a power plant otherwise people won't move in. You also need water and after you've done that houses, commercial areas and industry. You may put other things in as well after you've made sure that everything ok, including; parks, marinas, airports and zoos.

Why is it good in a school?

It's good for pupils to about how landscapes can effect settlement.
 

This picture represents the ages of people in your city. This is one of many graphs in the program. They are really detailed and exactly like real life. It teaches you to use and read these graphs.

This is a bit like a spreadsheet. You can choose how much to spend on different things. You can also change the taxes. Don't raise taxes too much or people will leave or not build factories.
 

You can also learn about Hydro Electric Power and even build a whole city powered by the wind!

Top Tips

Be careful what your money is spent on, because if you don't spend enough money on emergency services and health your city will be a massive disaster. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!

Newspapers
 

This is a newspaper written by the people in your city.  It has popularity polls and tells you what people think of your decisions. You must take notice of what people are saying.

Mayors houses

If you are successful in building an excellent city you will be awarded a mayors house. Here's one to look at, if you don't now what one looks like.

If you keep your excellent work you may be able to afford Fusion Power and have a statue of yourself! Or start your own sports team in their own stadium.

If you city lasts long enough you might be able to make Arcos. Huge buildings with domes that a million people live in. They are fantastic.

THE SECRET CODE!!!!

There is a secret code that gives you £10,000 ("taxable" - ed.).
If you want it you can send us an e-mail:

citybuilders@ambleside.schoolzone.co.uk

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