Los James Franco: The Beginning

Let me just start by saying that I've never really played Sim City in any of its incarnations. However, simulation games are probably one of my favorite genres to a large degree (barring, of course, those games that place you into professions that I personally consider to be ridiculously boring). So anyway, I figured I'd really jump into Sim City 4 since I grabbed it on sale on Steam the other week.

Today is the day. I'm at work and I'm pretty damn sure that I'm not going to do anything productive today so I figured I might as well have some fun. To my credit, I just took my last final exam of my undergraduate career this morning and (since I was up until 4 am studying) I figure that I owe it to myself to do something enjoyable.

But enough with the excuses.

Here we are. Sim City 4.

You might notice that I already started a city called Dundoo. It was my first attempt and is pretty small and landlocked, thus I am going to attempt something a little bit more challenging. Let's see...

I decided to go with the large plot just north of Dundoo since I ran some rails up along the northern border of that industrialized dystopia of a city. Now, what to do with this block of land to make it interesting...

This seems nice. Let's add some beaches too for tourism and shit.

I changed the unrealistic water body to something a little bit more probable. And now I'm sick of messing with terraforming. On to mayor mode!

OH! But wait! I have to name my city!

Hmm... Let's go with "Los James Franco." I feel good about that.

After I was welcomed as the newly-appointed mayor of this budding landscape (a fireworks display was put on for my enjoyment), I got right to work. First thing: capitalize on the railways from Dundoo to our south. Meanwhile, I meet my staff. They all seem pleasant enough.

Alright. Los James Franco seems to be pretty much zoned. I've got the plans for a skyline on the lower west side, industrial production on the lower east side, and most of my other residential to the north. I have a little more space for some smaller businesses north of our planned residences and (for our upscale residents who will undoubtedly be hip to the new "green" and "organic" trends) I even have a little farmland zoned.

Looks good. Lets open for business.

Um, Mayor ... Are you expecting something to happen? Are you expecting some Sims will move in, despite having no source of power? I have news for you: NOTHING will develop if you don't provide the juice! Unless you actually like these empty spaces, these open and pristine plots of land, build a power plant!

Jesus. Well that would be Jonas Sparks, my utilities advisor. What a dick. In fact, he's scowling and shaking his fist at me as I write this. Sorry man, it's not exactly like I do this every day. God.

Okay let's build a damn power plant.

After reviewing my map, I found a nice spot on the opposite side of the river for the plant. Since nobody physically lives in Los James Franco yet, there won't be much political backlash for me having to obliterate the national forest that resides on the property.

Perfect. Six coal plants ought to do it. Still need to run power lines though.

Alright, cool. Looks like that did the trick. Hopefully Jonas supports the changes I have put in place. Only time will tell I suppose.

Mayor, we don't make a dime when produced goods go nowhere. It looks like our industrial growth is putting a strain on our limited neighbor connections. Put some gas in the industry engine by rolling out more road or rail systems to our neighbors. We can't sit on our laurels while we're sitting on our products, can we?

Oh shit! I totally forgot about the railroad to Dundoo! All that crap about needing electricity totally sidetracked me from getting that initiative in place. Thanks Neil. Let's do this.

Wait...

Now, my city planner Neil Fairbanks is making a stink about something else. It's come to my attention that having no roadways leading off of the main land mass of Los James Franco might be making it difficult for anyone to move in.

Ugh, fine. I'll foster some transportation...

Okay. I have now established both a rail and road network that lead out of the city limits. For those coming from Dundoo, prepare to be met by my impressive suspension bridge that gives visitors a fantastic view of the (I hope) skyline as they make their way into the city.

Let's see if this stuff helps at all.

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It has now been nearly three years since I stepped foot onto the hills of Los James Franco and I can happily say that today, November 20, ??02, our population has surpassed 500 residents. In fact, Neil Fairbanks just got done telling me. He's also suggested that I build myself a mansion to act as my residence during my time as mayor. While I personally feel that this would be a conflict of interest, Neil would know best. Guess I should pick a spot to break ground.

In other news, developers seem to be building primarily on the north side of the residential district and in the middle of the downtown residential space. There doesn't seem to be much commercial development going on currently though. Additionally, a few factories have sprouted up and I'm assuming that most of my residents are working there.

OH SHIT! MY POWER PLANT IS ON FIRE!

And I never even got a chance to look for a good spot for my mansion. Oh well. Better go check and see what's up.

Damn, that's not good. And it looks like I forgot to build roads to the power plants. Hm. It also seems that I forgot to build a fire station. The odds may be stacked against me, but I have faith in my city. Logically, I believe that we can construct 1.5 miles of roadway before the flames consume the power plant.

There we go, but the fire seems to have spread to the remaining power plants. Yep. They're all on fire now. Dammit. No use wasting time though, better build my fire st--

OH MY GOD! FOUR OF MY POWER PLANTS JUST EXPLODED!

No! I can't stop yet, we can still save the last--

NOOOOOOO!

Somehow, the final two power plants have just exploded! Their flames weren't even that severe!

Coffee break's over--now! You've got power problems criss-crossing this city, and if you don't get your rear in gear, there's going to be a major meltdown. Get the power grid off the skids, pronto!

SHUT UP JONAS! I FUCKING REALIZE THERE'S A POWER CRISIS CONSIDERING I JUST WITNESSED THE EXPLOSION OF ALL SIX OF MY POWER PLANTS AND THE DEATHS OF WHAT I CAN ONLY ASSUME TO BE HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT WORKERS!

I REALIZE THAT IT'S CHRISTMAS, BUT ONE PROBLEM AT A GODDAMN TIME!

Okay, calming down. I need to build those plants. Let's fix that road first and then get to constructing.

Mayor, you've got screaming Sims pounding on your door, clamoring for power for their blenders and their bagel-toasters. But they won't be pounding long. They'll ditch this unpowered place pronto if you don't build another power plant, posthaste.

JONAS! JESUS CHRIST, I FUCKING GET IT! I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF IT RIGHT NOW! DEAL WITH THE GODDAMN PRESS CONFERENCE YOURSELF. TELL THEM I'M DOING EVERYTHING I CAN!

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Okay. The date is January 27, ??03. The plants are constructed and are online. The new power lines have been run, and I even had the opportunity to build a small fire station on the property to tend specifically to the plants in case (God forbid) something similar to this tragedy every occur again.

12/22/??02
Never forget.

Sam Armstrong, my public safety advisor, just informed me that we only suffered a loss of $1,650 during the disaster. A small cost when compared with the lives that were lost in the tragedy. We will persevere though.

I have, however, had some time to mull over the entire event, and I'm starting to realize that things don't quite add up.

First of all, why did the plants explode? They were coal-burning power plants. There was no combustible material present that would have caused a structural detonation like the ones I witnessed that day.

Second, if the fires truly began in plant 2 (as I saw), why did plants 1, 2, 4, and 5 all explode simultaneously? Something doesn't seem quite right about that.

Lastly, when plants 3 and 6 exploded, their flames weren't nearly as severe as those in the first four.

All of these observations lead me to one chilling conclusion: CONSPIRACY.

While I won't inform my advisors for the time being, I have good reason to believe that the SJF plant disaster was no accident. Indeed, it is my belief that the buildings were brought down with controlled explosives and simply made to appear as if they suffered from catastrophic fire damage.

However, what the currently unknown conspirators have failed to take into account is that I am no fool.

While I shall remain silent for now, I will continue to observe and take note.

In the words of Fox Mulder, the truth is out there.

More to come.