City Life (computer game)
| City Life | |||
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| Studio |
 Monte Cristo
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| Publisher |
 Deep Silver
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
April 25, 2006 |
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| platform | Windows , Mac OS X | ||
| genre | Building strategy game | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | mouse and keyboard | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
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| medium | 1 DVD, download | ||
| language | German | ||
| Age rating |
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City Life is a real-time building strategy game released in 2006 by the French developer Monte Cristo . In the role of the mayor, the player must ensure that his city grows and that an intact social structure develops in addition to a sustainable economic structure. The social structure is modeled by six different population groups and their relationships to one another.
Gameplay
Population groups
In City Life there are the following population groups: rich people, tie wearers, trendsetters , workers , hippies and day laborers . Citizens prefer to live with members of their own population group or with friendly population groups. The simplest resident, the day laborer who has the smallest needs, can develop into a hippie or worker. Therefore, he is friends with the hippies and the workers. A hippie develops into a trendsetter; therefore, as already mentioned, he is friends with day laborers and trendsetters. The worker will one day wear a tie, which is why he is friends with him and the day laborers. Trendsetters and tie wearers both develop into the rich, which is why they like the rich as well as the hippies and workers. A day laborer becomes a rich man with all imaginable needs. Quarrel is of course a problem, as e.g. B. the day laborers and the rich are enemies. In order to avoid clashes between hostile population groups, buffer zones should be set up between the city districts . Each group of the population contributes to the city's well-being in its own way and is therefore indispensable.
needs
The population groups have eight needs: work , food , health , education , security , leisure , environment and neighborhood quality. The day laborers cannot afford services and are undemanding, while the workers and hippies are demanding on basic needs (care, health and work). In addition to basic needs, the trendsetters and tie wearers primarily demand access to education and security, while the rich expect access to all services. The middle- and low-income populations (day laborers, blue-collar workers, and hippies) become more demanding as the city gets bigger. Workers and hippies even demand access to high quality services over time.
building
- Residential houses: Citizens' accommodation
- Roads and bridges: Are necessary to connect urban areas and buildings with each other and to make them accessible to all residents.
- Urban institutions: Offer citizens the opportunity to meet their basic needs ( medical care, security, education , ...).
- Leisure facilities: These buildings bring in money for the city coffers and entertain the citizens.
- Private companies: offer jobs to the citizens and represent a rich source of money for the city.
- Energy and waste management: Delivering the city energy and dispose of the resulting waste .
Main tasks
The aim of the game is to build a flourishing city in which all population groups live together peacefully and to meet their needs . The main tasks are to found a city in a self-chosen environment with the sum of money that is initially available to the player. In addition, the player must ensure that the city's population increases in order to fill the city coffers.
particularities
The player has the possibility to wander through his own city in the first person view and to choose between four different times of the day and night.
reception
The Austrian Federal Agency for the Positive Rating of Computer and Console Games described City Life as "a very good game that gives a great feeling of freedom". The player learns "to orientate himself in a closed system and to influence it through his own actions". The magazine Bild der Wissenschaft called City Life “a game in which a lot can be learned about urban development, but also about the complex fabric of society”. The Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung saw "a worthy competitor to" SimCity "". The Stuttgarter Zeitung praised the influence of the population in the game principle, which was "a stroke of genius after all the simulations of recent years". The computer game trade press mainly focused on the graphics of the game: "great graphics" ( PC PowerPlay ), "superb graphics " ( PC Action ), "wonderful 3D graphics" ( PC Games ).
successor
The official successor to City Life is Cities XL , which was released on October 8, 2009 and had an online game mode ready. This was later discontinued. Cities XL 2011 has been on sale since October 14, 2010 . Although both games were rather poorly received, Cities XL 2012 was released on October 21, 2011 . On February 5, 2015, another successor was released with the title Cities XXL .
Web links
- Herbert Aichinger (Teleschau): City Life: Virtual parallel societies Stern.de, June 16, 2006.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Federal Agency for the Positive Rating of Computer and Console Games via City Life ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Press review on the official German website about City Life: citylife-game.de
- ↑ Andreas Bertits: In the test: It all sounds very familiar to us. In: PC Games . Computec Media Group , February 12, 2015, accessed November 21, 2015 .