I got Simcity 2000 from the promo now, couse i remember playing it a few years back. The thing is, i found it utterly boring after an hour. Especially when compared to the game i really like: Ceasar.

Reason? a) not easy to learn - as opposed to ceasar, the relation between things doesn't seem to be all that clear to me and at the same time game throws at you everything at once, whereas in ceasar complexity builds up slowly with each scenario. In ceasar you immediately know (and can immediately check with overlays) the effects of proximity of certain kinds of buildings, the needs of the population, the demands for products. The response to the changes you make in a city is almost instant. Things are clear (without losing depth). Here it's a mess.

b) no goal - sandbox idea doesn't seem to appeal to me. And scenarios - well I complain about complexity, so you can guess - i fired off scenario, looked at the big city clueless to where is what and what should i do now, sighed, and turned it off.

It seems nothing drives me to go on with this game. I don't feel purpose. Actually i don't even now what i should do in this game and am attacked with the feeling of pointlessness and being lost.

I guess when I was young i just had fun clicking with no idea what to do. Now I just got bored. But maybe my approach is wrong? Maybe some of you can say something that will make it easier for me to get started with this game? I really like Ceasar so i thought the legendary grandfather of all city builders will do it for me. And it didn't. I'm dissappointed.

I'm also really interested to know what people like about this game (as i am interested in game theory) and why do they play, what is the most rewarding about it. Maybe you can give me an answer?

You really need to be able to enjoy the sandbox aspect to get in to the SimCity games, and that's not everyone's cup of tea. For me the draw of SimCity 2000 is building up my city of choice, going from a tiny town to a massive metropolis and all the challenges along the way. There's end-game considerations- do I want to aim for a green city focusing mostly on high-tech industries, or go for a heavy-industry city this time around? Do I want to try to get the population as high as I can by packing in as many archologies as people will fill, or do I feel more like creating some sprawling, low-density suburbs with lots of greenways? Then there's the considerations of how to get there- let the city grow organically then try to introduce more structure later on, or go with a centralized plan from the start that may be less than optimal in the short term? Try to get an educated populace early and bring in the high-tech industries, or put off building the expensive colleges for a while and just use low-tech industries to build up my funds? Basically it's a big sandbox with lots of ways to play around, which I find quite enjoyable. Other people, of course, have their own reasons, while others need a more definitive goal for an enjoyable experience (and thus don't care for the game that much).

I'm not THAT against sandbox - for example I like arcade games, that don't have definite goal but points. Pinball is my favourite, and the goals you set by yourself, as in your example: do I want to reach the highest score? Do i want to unlock all the modes? How big can I go in ramp challenge? How much can I get from the Time Warp mode? There's no end game as such here.

I have to admit though, the example of goals you posted made me want to give it another try.

I also got bored with Theme Hospital recently, which does have a scenario system (and sandbox option too), so this may be not exactly about goals. What frustrates me is precisely that i don't know why I am bored :P I also like the idea of building a city from ground up, as in cesar, you start with a few tents and a well, and some farms, then you go up to alll the patrician villas, colloseums, theatres and so on. Is it interface? Lack of tutorials (yeah i read through the three tutorials in manual)? Responsiveness? Reward system? Slow pacing? No idea.

One thing you could try is to put together a rough idea of a city you want to create in your mind, then you have the goal of trying to make that city a reality in the game.

I realised i may just suck at the game. Tried something yesterday, but nothing seemed to work. Maybe there are some cool let's plays of SC2000 on youtube so i satisfy my curiosity, playing ceasar in the meantime :P (or pharaoh, or other)

One thing that helps is to start with a pretty flat terrain, and preferably a river or coastline so you can build a port. You do this via Edit City. Then don't go overboard in the beginning. Just set up some basic infrastructure so people start settling. Power, power lines, water, and some zones and roads. Don't make the zones wider than 6 (with roads on each side) or they won't be fully settled. I prefer to turn off disasters too, as otherwise they can eradicate vast amounts of your city. Oh, and try to build airports on hills, otherwise the planes will crash into buildings all the time. With disasters off this isn't a huge deal, but the crashing sounds every now and then are annoying.

It's a fun sandbox game, but I actually wish it was bigger. When I've built out everything there isn't much to do. Except wait for the biggest Arco I guess.