Producer Blogs: How I Mayor: Dirty Secrets of High-Tech Industry

Welcome, Mayors, to my high-tech metropolis. Brian Bartram here, Senior Game Designer on SimCity, and I’ve been given the green light to show you how I built this city of the future. I’ve got a problem, though – investing deep in education has left my coffers nearly empty. But there’s a clever solution here, a protip that I’m going to share with you. Pay close attention, I’m going to make gold out of garbage!

DAY ONE

When I founded Wintermute, I knew that I would need to plan ahead to create a high-tech city. It took patience to build up a University to provide the strong education influence that I would need to convert dirty industry into clean (and profitable) high tech industry. But the result is worth it – I love the look of gleaming silver, clear blue, and bright yellow along with the interesting shapes and crazy structures of high-tech industry.

DAY TWO

It’s no surprise that education doesn’t come cheap, and my investment in this University has left me nearly broke. Luckily, there’s a big business that fits my city perfectly – electronics manufacturing. The money is good but the cost of raw materials is really cutting into my profits. Maybe there’s another way to look at this problem...

DAY THREE

While considering how to handle my city’s garbage problem, I noticed that Recycling not only reduces garbage, but it also recovers alloy and plastic – which just happens to be the resources that I need to produce computer processors. Wait, this building will help me solve two problems at once? Gimme a loan, I need that Recycling Center right now!

DAY FOUR

It didn’t take long to equip my new Recycling Center with modules to recover plastic and alloy for use in my electronics manufacturing big business. I also make sure to provide my neighbors with recyling trucks to pick up their garbage – a win/win deal! I’m raking in so many resources that I’m able to stop importing them from the Global Market.

DAY FIVE

It almost feels like cheating – collecting other people’s trash and turning it into the raw materials I need to make some of the most profitable goods available. But the results speak for themselves – my high-tech city is clean, profitable, and full of smart, happy Sims. It was definitely a challenge, and required patience and planning. All the same, I’m delighted to show off my city to the other developers in the office and a high-tech city never fails to impress.