Maxis came by yesterday and brought SimCity 3000 for a very early look - so early in fact that it took two or three attempts to get it up and running on our machines.

　　SimCity 2000 is still selling well - over five million units worldwide. According to Luc Barthelet, general manager at Maxis, people are still uploading tons of cities to their site - to the tune of some 75,000 in December. It seemed an obvious step for Maxis to create another SimCity game.

　　SimCity 3000 will have 250 buildings for you to play with, compared to the mere 80 available in 2000. Better yet, the buildings are scaleable and have animations - carousels spin round and round, for example. The goal is to have unique animations for each and every building. Lest you worry that all these newfangled buildings will conflict with cities you've already got working, SimCity 3000 will support SimCity 2000 cities.

　　Traffic in SimCity 3000 will be based on traffic density. Where 2000 simply had animations turning on and off, 3000 will have traffic that's tied into the simulation, which follows density patterns that you can actually follow through the city. The same is true for pedestrians. And since the 3000 cities will be four times the size of the 2000 ones, pedestrians have a number of places they can go.

　　"We wanted to have a lot more immediate feedback to decisions," says Lucy Bradshaw, the executive producer of the game, "...and to capture an incredibly rich graphic ." The graphics already show what a difference four years makes in the computer gaming world, and as for immediate feedback, suffice it to say that constructing buildings should be at least as straightforward as it was in 2000, plus there are plans now for helpful hints to aid you in some of the trickier aspects of city building, like creating subway systems and laying water pipes.

　　And as for those rewards you might remember from 2000, well, they'll be back. And Bradshaw promises that they'll be "more than just eye candy" this time around. "There will be components that add to the play value as well."

　　Watch for SimCity updates here in news and for a complete featured preview later this year.