The ambiance of SimCity, as captured by its art director

Comment
Blocks of flats wink at each other in the dark - their lights turning on and off and on again, in accordance with the imagined routines of their residents. A field-full of Pink Floydian pumpjacks nod dolefully. Scores of lorries trundle along invisible wires to their eventual destinations in the ceaselessly impressive Glass Box engine. That’s the new SimCity, as bottled by best-named art director Ocean Quigley. Check out his videos below.

What do you think? Game developers are so often prepossessed with building dystopias, and they’re very good at that. But it’s astonishing too how close they can come to creating living facsimiles of our own bustling world when they put their mind to it. That's what I think.

Find out more about how the cogs in Maxis’ beautifully systemic machine work in our Steve’s SimCity interview. Also, about how Glass Box handles homeless people. You heard it here first.

Login to comment

Enter your PCGamesN username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
Forgotten your password?

SimCity 4.0 update restores key features disabled at launch

SimCity Amusement Park expansion to rollercoaster into town on 28th May

Will Wright thinks SimCity’s launch issues were "inexcusable"

SimCity sales ensure it has a "long service life in front of it" as EA learn lessons from a "challenging launch"

SimCity update 3.0 will "make traffic smarter" later this week

Maxis working on "additional fixes" for SimCity post-poogate

EA's recent bout of layoffs reportedly affect 10% of entire workforce

SimCity goes offline for a bit later today ahead of patch 2.0

Simcity update 2.0 arrives April 22nd, will allow mayors to drive in style

SimCity Attractions Set DLC rides toothpaste to America

SimCity Mac release will allow players of both platforms to play together

SimCity DLC adds Nissan-branded building to the game - it is free, mind

SimCity update 2.0 will fix recycling centre bug and streetcars

SimCity always-online decision made for the game's sake, say EA: "DRM was never even brought up once."

SimCity 100% residential city reaches 1.32 million population without exploding

SimCity Trackmania City video shows how awesome the scenic route can be

SimCity patch 1.7 remedies traffic congestion

SimCity players in the UK can claim their free game on Origin right now

SimCity sold 1.1 million copies in first two weeks

SimCity owners can choose between Battlefield 3, Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 3 and more for their free apology game on Origin