SimCopter

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{{Infobox CVG |title = SimCopter |image = Image:Simcopter box cover.jpg |developer = Maxis |publisher = Electronic Arts |distributor = |designer = Will Wright |engine = |version = |released = 1996 |genre = Flight Simulation |modes = Single player |ratings = ESRB: Everyone (E) |platforms = Windows 95/98 |media = 1 CD |requirements = Intel Pentium-class CPU or better, 16MB RAM, 2x CD-ROM drive, SVGA display, mouse |input = Keyboard and mouse or joystick }} SimCopter is a 1996 computer game from Maxis. This game is a 3D offshoot from Maxis's normal fare, putting the player into a 3D city. Like Streets of SimCity, SimCopter also lets the user import SimCity 2000 maps into the game.

1 Objective
2 Helicopters
3 Equipment
4 External link

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Objective

As the name implies, SimCopter puts the player in the role of a helicopter pilot.

There are two modes of play. The free mode lets the player import and fly through cities of their own or any of the 30 cities supplied with the game. However, user cities sometimes need to be designed with SimCopter in mind, and most of the time the player must increase the number of police stations, fire stations, and hospitals to allow for speedier dispatches. The second mode is the heart of the game, the career mode. This puts the player in the shoes of a pilot doing various jobs around the city. These jobs include:

Rescuing sims from burning buildings, runaway trains, and capsized boats
Clearing traffic jams
Aerial firefighting
Catching criminals
Riot control
MEDEVAC
Transporting VIPs

The player starts with a small, weak helicopter, but as they accumulate money they can upgrade their existing helicopter and purchase new ones. Some jobs require certain equipment in order to complete them, and better helicopters offer greater speed, handling, and capacity. By completing jobs, the player earns money and points. When the player has accumulated enough points, the game lets them move on to the next city. The player then has a choice of going into a new city of the same difficulty or advancing to the next level. There are ten levels of difficulty, with new types of jobs being introduced and previous types of jobs increasing in difficulty.

The player is assisted by paramedics and police which will ride in the helicopter and can be deployed when necessary. The player can also dispatch police cars, fire engines, and ambulances.

There are five virtual radio stations that can be listened to while in the helicopter: classical, rock, jazz, techno and a mix station featuring all songs from every other station. The file format of the music is low quality WAV, and if a user wants, they can import their own music into the game as long as the music uses the WAV format as well.

The game became controversial when a designer inserted sprites of men in trunks kissing each other that appear on certain dates, which was caught shortly after release and edited from future copies. He cited his actions as a response to the intolerable working conditions he suffered at Maxis. [1] The designer, Jacques Servin, was fired afterwards, but his career and confidence were only boosted.

SimCopter contains some bizarre, if endearing, quirks. For example, even though the helicopter modeling, air physics, and building modeling are all well-done (considering the time during which it was made and the budget), certain other aspects of the game seem like they were added at the last minute with little or no testing or effort going into their creation. The most obvious of these quirks are the civilian models, which appear normal while in the air but are actually borderline grotesque when seen up-close. The "faces" of the civilians seem to wrap the wrong direction around their heads, as there is usually a line that runs down the front of their faces. They speak in a bizarre, grunting language that almost seems like a precursor to Simlish. Car modeling, as seen in the opposite screenshot, is very, very basic, with little or no actual textures.

The format of the game would serve as a precursor to the U-Drive-It mode of the SimCity 4 expansion pack, Rush Hour.

Image:Simcopter.png

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