TCW Podcast Episode 188 - Will Wright's Sim City

We look at the life of game designer Will Wright who developed the hit game Sim City. Wright was, and is a very talented individual with a deep passion for learning. As a child, he was not into video games, and only his interest in robotics led him to investigate computers more. From there he was enamored with the original Flight Simulator and the possibilities it promised. Though it was not until his exposure to Conway's Game of Life that he really took an interest in programming.  This led to his development of Raid on Bungling Bay, and from the tools used to make that game, he found more fun in creating a city simulator he call microtopolis. This simulation game would eventually become what we know as Sim City!

Solaris by Stanisław Lem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_(novel)

What is Montessori in 18 Minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljuw3grZ11Q

Victor Tugelbend: https://discworld.fandom.com/wiki/Victor_Tugelbend

The Cannonball Run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2hGFN8NlLQ

Apple II Flight Simulator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHdW9RA6skQ

Raster Blaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4n5elO-LLs

Play Game of Life: https://playgameoflife.com/

Documentary on Game of Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk2MH9O4pXY

Memorable Moments in the Wild Kingdom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbJXzwURlRw

C64 Raid on Bungling Bay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CjNj1gfj0I

NES Raid of Bungling Bay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZudVNf7hN0

TCW 084 - Time Shared: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/time-shared/

Servomechanism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servomechanism

Forester's Urban Dynamics and Cities as Systems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYPO4qFjJ_E

Little Computer People: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrltIjcCqLc

Amiga Sim City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Ji4qgsWuA

Intellivision Utopia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3__gYnnulw

SNES Sim City Retrospective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSjqjR0XeKc

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

TCW Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @tcwpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major online retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/