City Characters, Press and Culture- another dlc idea.

[Dr. Scheufhausen]

City Characters, Press and Culture would contribute to establishing a City Theme. The Characters would be the best part but the Press would be like a regular summary of the exploits of your City Characters and the events that they bring about, as well as notifying you of changes in the statistical trends of your city. There could be multiple perspectives and presented as if from local (or outside) presses. These would act as guideposts in your effort to create an overall City Theme. You would not have direct control, only influence over time. You could Like some stories and Not Like some others, for example. Ultimately you could try to create an artsy city of high culture, a sports city that creates star athletes and wins championships, a tech city that brings in production moguls, a city of high finance, a city of corrupt officials and high crime, a virtual police state, and idyllic society, etc., or a combination of these themes and more. It would be possible through the use of City Characters.
Most of them would appear and live in the city based on certain conditions. Some would appear per district, and others would affect things city-wide. They would be city employees, civil servants, and residents. Some would have real effects or cause some events to happen, but many would have cosmetic or stylistic influence, or possibly increase the chance that a more effective Character appears.
Here are some examples of the City Characters I'm thinking of:
Corrupt Magistrate; CharismaticPolice Chief; Paragon of Parks and Rec (holds events); Sports (or Arts) Superintendent; Corporate Powermonger; Contraband Guy (may cause residential explosions and lowers land value if a government raid occurs); Lead Thug; Esteemed Professor of (Economics, Tech, Arts, students who graduate there are more likely to work in the field); Genius Mechanic (makes city services that use vehicles more efficient, or sets up shop in a district and benefits local industry); Philanthropist (improves land value + a special effect); Socialite (keeps the status quo); Nosy Neighbor; Rock/Movie Star; Promoter; Whistle Blower; Local Prodigy (a public school student whose accomplishments or failures are followed by the press)... I'm not sure what all is possible, but I could keep coming up with these. There should be hundreds of them.
Finally, Culture would allow Office space to specialize in Arts, Entertainment and Mass Media, providing another avenue of employment for educated people; and these districts could be used to directy influence the City Theme.

[NoirMoutton]

Sounds like a whole new different game...

[Dr. Scheufhausen]

Naa, a majority of the changes would be cosmetic and the community could provide alot of the content that would be used. We already have Theme Managment, which could be expanded on by the devs and used for district-wide Character management, through the Press. Rush Hour already implements Events, which would be the most effective contribution of Characters to the game, and most characters would not produce events, only cosmetic effects or tweaking existing parameters. The characters wouldn't necessarily have to appear in the living city, but it would be cool if some had a unique home or caused some small cosmetic change in their district or place of employment, just to show you they are there.
The major additions to actual gameplay would be the proliferation of Events, Press and the creation of Arts/Media districts. The Press would pop a window once per month that shows you media publications from various districts in your city. You could toggle this feature off since it would just be for your enjoyment, to give the illusion of actual gameplay. It would consist of selections from a host of stock stories, alot of dummy script and such, but some stories and the format would give you a sense of general trends in your city, and how close your population is to being of one mind or culture. By Liking a story you can promote the sort of behavior that it talks about, alter the chance of a Character moving in or out, and over time your press releases naturally become refined, reflecting a homogenous or unique population spectrum. This part of the game would strictly be a text-based player experience.
An Arts, Entertainment and Mass Media district would be a specialization for Office zones, like Liesure and Tourism but with employment being the primary function. Also, there could be some policies specifically for these districts that do things like: spread a tendency for people to seek one type of career path, run out the elderly or call them in, call in shoppers or rich people, ostracize or publicize a Character. These effects would go beyond the district and influence whole regions of the city.
This seems like stuff that could occur within the existing game structure, without the need for too much new code or whatever, but what do I know? I suspect the bigger issues would come from the weight of new assets and events on lower-end PCs, and also from the ethical issues that come up with rendering a realistic-feeling press and city culture. I would not want C:S to be able to render a patently Communist, Fascist or Hillbilly Backwood society, but I might want a commune, a backwood, or a militaristic society- as rendered through cosmetic changes and vivid characters. I imagine retro-style dossiers or Character profiles with cartoony photos.
If all of this is not too much for the devs and the community, there could also be an endgame where eventually a military base moves in, or a secret research facility, or a pro sports team, or everyone spontaneously switches to solar power at their own cost, or healthcare becomes free for all...
... I know it seems like I'm talking about a whole different game, but I suspect most of the mechanisms are already in place to make this happen. For people who want to spend some time living in their city, the addition of Characters is a simple creative writing project that can greatly enhance player immersion, especially if the Characters actually affect your city.