Simulation

The Sims 2

Description

In this sequel to the The Sims, Maxis has created an entirely new, 3D engine, similar to the console Sim games. The player can rotate the camera in a 360° view, or shuffle the camera to the left and to the right.

The Sims are also fully animated, articulated characters. They have a wide range of movements, most of which are humorous. Eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, getting kissed, proposing marriage, etc. with each having a specific animation for it.

The Sims 2 has an expanded Build mode. The player can now create large houses, going up to four floors, with new types of wallpapers, carpets, stairs, fireplaces, and more. The player can connect parts of their house via a deck or patio, or a balcony-type catwalk. …

SimCity Classic

Description

SimCity sets you as the mayor of a new municipality, with the responsibility of building and maintaining a place where citizens can move to and work and be happy. The first task is to place essentials such as housing, transport links, schools, factories, and shops. There are 50 types of these, allowing for homes of all standards and different types of businesses. Make sure to consider which sites are effective for which tasks. Some power sources pollute, others don’t but are more expensive. Taxes must be raised to ensure an income, and then portions allocated to public services such as policing and roads. Earthquakes, floods, and fires are all emergency situations that must be dealt with to contain any damage.

Successful mayoring will cause the small village to grow into a town, then a city, and finally a metropolis. As the city’s size grows so do its needs. Commercial buildings may suddenly find that they need an airport to expand trade, or housing may find itself changing rapidly as vast amounts of people come and leave. …

Virtual Resort – Spring Break

Description

Design your own holiday resort by building rides, hotels, bars, swimming pools and much more. Much like other “tycoon” style games, this see’s you trying to keep the little people happy and help them with their needs.

The game has two modes; scenarios and sandbox. Scenarios see you trying to accomplish certain tasks, such as getting fifty people drunk within two days. Sandbox lets you play the game with no missions, and no time limit. …

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004

Description

As the name suggests, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight, is that year’s version of the popular simulator from Microsoft and celebrates 100 years of flight. Flight Simulator 2004 includes 9 historical aircraft such as the Wright Flyer from 1903, DC-3, Vickers Vimy, Curtiss Jenny and the Ryan NVP ‘Spirit of St. Louis’ that you can pilot and new challenges centered around the historical aircraft. It includes a new help system called ‘Learning Center’ and an improved ATC, and a new dynamic weather system. The GPS systems in Flight Simulator 2004 have been completely overhaulled and are now based on real world Garmin 500/295 GPS systems. …

Microsoft Flight Simulator X

Description

Microsoft Flight Simulator X or FSX is the tenth version of Microsoft’s line of civilian flight simulators. It updates the series to take advantage of up-to-date technologies including DirectX 10 and features much improved graphics and multiplayer support in the form of “Shared Skies” feature, which allows multiple players to share the cockpit.

The standard version is aimed at casual players and features 18 planes, 40 high-detail airports, 28 high-detail cities and 30+ structured missions.

The player can choose between flying predefined missions or free flight anywhere he or she wants in single player or multiplayer mode. The whole world is modelled in the game and in this version the maximum altitude is 100 million feet. New aircraft in this version include Airbus A321, DHC-2 Beaver floatplane, Boeing 737-800 and a new ultralight, Air Creation Trike 582 SL. …

Elite

Description

Elite is a free-form space trading and combat simulation, commonly considered the progenitor of this sub-genre. The player initially controls a character referred to as “Commander Jameson”, starting at Lave Station with 100 credits and a lightly armed trading ship called Cobra Mark III. Most of the game consists of traveling to various star systems, trading with their inhabitants, gaining money and reputation. Money can also be gained by other means besides trading; these include undertaking military missions, bounty hunting, asteroid mining, and even piracy. As the player character earns money, he becomes able to upgrade his ships with enhancements such as better weapons, shields, increased cargo capacity, an automated docking system, etc.

The game utilizes pseudo-3D wire-frame graphics; its world is viewed from a first-person perspective. It has no overarching story, though a race known as Thargoids play the role of antagonists: their ships will often attack the player-controlled ship, forcing the player to engage in space combat. Combat is action-oriented, taking place in the same environment as the exploration. The player must use various weapons the ship is equipped with, as well as manoeuvre the ship, trying to dodge enemy attacks. The player can also choose to attack neutral ships; doing so will decrease the protagonist’s reputation, eventually attracting the attention of the galactic police. …

Freelancer

Description

The war between the Coalition and the Alliance depicted in Starlancer had raged on and the Alliance forces were losing. A final plan was organized to punch through the Coalition attackers and send five colony ships across space to the Sirius Sector. 900 years have passed since then and the Sirius sector has been colonized by the surviving ships, dividing the area between four major nations: Liberty, Rheinland, Kusari and Bretonia. The fifth sleeper ship, Hispania, suffered a malfunction in flight, and is thought lost. In the spacelanes between these nations borders and outside of any specific jurisdiction lie undeveloped solar systems, pirate bases, corporate outposts and the neutral Freeports. One of these Freeports has come under attack and been destroyed by an unknown enemy attack. Survivors of the attack, including a freelancer Edison Trent and his business associate, Lonnigan, are evacuated to Planet Manhattan, capital city of the Liberty nation. Once there Edison hears rumors about military buildups and friction between the Sirius nations. It will be up to Trent to seek employment, rebuild his lost assets and discover the meaning behind these rumors.

Freelancer is a third person or first person space simulator and trading game, much like Elite or Wing Commander: Privateer. Players, taking the role of Edison Trent, will need to visit several locations on each planet in order to trade cargo, buy and repair equipment as well as obtain information. In space, Trent controls his spacecraft from either a first person or third person perspective and is able to use primary and secondary weapons. Destroyed enemy spacecraft often leave behind cargo which can be tractor beamed into the cargo hold. …

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