SimCity 3000 - Illumination

[@vequintana]

This song kinda helped me sort through a depressive state I was in a couple years ago. I felt the angst of the beginning. The piano and flute represented hope and that hope just kept growing and growing. Music that makes you feel or even improves your feelings is so beautiful. It's true beauty.

[@KoploperMau]

After a big disaster (sometimes caused by yourself), somehow, this track ALWAYS plays. I think it represents you looking at the damage you've done, and then slowly rebuild parts of the city. The further the music progresses, the further your city gets on top of the damage that is done when after several minutes of music you've cleaned most of the rubble away and the city goes back to how it was before. :)

[@mathewgodfrey1517]

Then you cause another disaster.

[@CWINDOWSsystem32]

So that's why this track is so memorable for me. Much of my childhood in gaming consisted of loading up the premade cities (I took a particular disliking towards Farmsville) and bombarding them with disasters for hours...

[@RetroAmateur1989]

@@CWINDOWSsystem32 hehe, twas not like we knew how to play or anything. So we just demolished cities xD

[@porirvian8457]

@@CWINDOWSsystem32 I loved Madrid, Madison, Moscow and Frankfurt. Hated Farmville, London, Seoul and Craterville. :D

[@ClintonYapCY]

So true!! After every disaster

[@SilverSpade92]

Love that thud sound. Sounds like a rock dropped into a giant tube that goes on for a mile underground, and it hits the bottom with an echoing thud.

[@Tubascope]

This is a beautiful composition. Was always my favorite while playing years ago. There are truly some talented musicians/composers in the gaming world

[@everyhourinaday]

from the composer Jerry Martin, who is totally underrated for his Sim City compositions, I personally find his work a "future" minimalist and ambient masterpiece :-:, and also the piano and shopping theme songs from first The Sims are amazing

[@ilyano1511]

Somehow, this music seems to represent a lifetime, with the feelings you hear. He was born at 0:00 and died at 7:47. You hear the mystery in the first 2 minutes, and then at 2:30, I start to feel a child's innocence. 4:18 is like he is now mature, and 5:07, he began to learn how to enjoy life and live peacefully. Finally, with a pace, he dies, but everything continues after him. And also, the mystery has never gone in the whole song.

[@GoMathPro]

agresifadam hey guy, that way, that perspective gave me some ideas about a short. Thanks dude :D

[@Xainable7]

+agresifadam abi sen ne yaptın ya.

[@BeckerAviation]

I love this comment

[@kj4ilk]

agresifadam so much true i agree

[@Silenthunter199]

This track should be send to space to show aliens how our life looks like.

[@quizboy99]

Y'know, of some reason, this song would always play after a disaster

[@nerosonic]

well the first part is miserable and then the song picks up after that, letting the player know that there's still hope

[@tomato2you]

Or financial problem lol

[@lifevest1]

UFOs hacked the spaceport???

[@CP-jk3tc]

@@tomato2you Oh yeah every time, and with Mortimer Green's worrying face ...

[@MarkFendy-sw7hn]

Where ever you all are at staying at! All you ever can have is hope!

[@thefugue1298]

I love how the opening piano chords from “Broadway” are used in this track

[@Penoatle]

Every song on the soundtrack used the cords. I think, not sure of the Unlimited tracks. Still cool though.

[@aloftmelevar]

i'm 19 and i've never played the simcity games growing up, just a little of sims 2 and a whole bunch of sims 3 (had nearly every pack for that). however, on the sims 3 website back in the day, there was a little flash-based story creator where you could take screenshots from your game and create stories out of them, adding text and music and effects, kind of like a powerpoint presentation. all of the music in the creator was taken from every simcity and sims game as early as simcity 3000. this is where i heard a whole bunch of different sims songs for the first time; heck, sometimes i didn't even go there to make stories at all and just listen to the music that was on there. this one in particular was one of my favorites. when i was older and tried to find these songs again, i learned that i had been listening to simcity music. now, the creator has been broken for years and i haven't been able to get back on. all the old stories on the website have been hidden and cannot be accessed. it's honestly so depressing going on the sims 3 website today, it's so depressing :( i honestly don't know why they keep it up. but it was through that website i got a bigger slice of sims history through music. does anyone else remember that story maker? no one else in the community seems to remember it or bring it up. i spent many a time from the ages of 8-11 reading legacies and different series and whatnot.

[@DiamondCalibre]

That bass sax at around 2:40 really invokes a distant ship foghorn for me. Totally genius.

[@metroidnerd9001]

I'm pretty sure it's a bass clarinet, but either way it produces the same effect.

[@tutorialsandstuff3349]

Holy shit were you not in like band when you were in middle school. This is a flute, and the second instrument is a NORMAL clarinet

[@metroidnerd9001]

@@tutorialsandstuff3349 We're talking about the instrument that plays from 2:35 to 2:40. It's way too low to be a regular flute or clarinet.

[@guikirsch9758]

Contra-alto or contrabass clarinet, I think

[@themasterofstealthcj]

I can't be the only one who used to get freaked out by this? I was like 6 back in the day though haha.

[@iheartterror9862]

Same, I always thought the aliens would arrive during this track..

[@SomeGuyWhoPlaysGames333]

Not really, this song is rather peaceful sounding for me.

[@Ray_Shabaz]

themasterofstealthcj me too. I read the title to fast when I was little and it sounded like it's pronounced elimination. And because of the music, it matched. For the game called SimCity 3000, the title of the music, and the music sounds as if the city will soon come to an end with complete destruction

[@garageman1989]

this music is so peaceful. it really does open up minds.

[@TheOfficialFivervex]

The beginning of this song always reminded me of those 19/2000s TV, soap operas

[@Stefanonimo]

5:53 goosebumps everytime this part starts

[@ronaldlivingstone9757]

Beautifully haunting.

[@salmartone1383]

+ronald livingstone you are right beautify haunting

[@AnnebelBuntOnline]

Beautifully haunting it is.

[@jigri_pokhri]

Hauntingly beautiful.

[@earthwolf82]

Oh yeahh best piece of music in the sim city series in my opinion...

[@salmartone1383]

+earthwolf82 and also might just be the saddest

[@earthwolf82]

True that

[@NikkiWrightVGM]

Listening to this with headphones on my eyes start to tear up around 6:36 the track becomes so powerful >.

[@LordDucky1]

+Nikki Wright Like many of the other tracks this gradually builds up and gets upliftingly divine as you go on.

[@BeckerAviation]

+Santiago Chang I love your comment.

[@Ashnotast]

Simply beautiful.

[@Silentchap]

A haunting tune. It inspired me to craft an ending to a tale I've been writing. Thank you for sharing it with us all.

[@momsune]

i wouldn't mind reading that, could i have a link please?

[@ericspowers]

Wow.. this was 13 years ago when I was 16. Music like this make this game so full of pure EPIC WIN and PWN. Sim city 3000 was pretty epic and hard until SC4 came out.

[@ericspowers]

Also every time I listen to this I see Zelda 3 all day. Also on Simcity 5 too.

[@Liko81DJ]

+Eric S. Powers Honestly I like 3000 better than 4, and still play it. 3000 was everything I liked about 2000 while tweaking the things I didn't (like bonds). It was also very graphically slick with an overall consistent look and feel. 4 took a good thing too far IMO; they integrated it with The Sims (which I never played, though I must be the only guy on the planet not to like the Sims series), added missions you pretty much have to play, and the graphical modelling of the Sims including the advisors was a step back from the animated sprite portraits. Overall less cartoony, more realistic, only not.

[@SomeGuyWhoPlaysGames333]

I think both games have their pros and cons. For one, I hate how schools in SC4 only cover a certain radius.

[@ericspowers]

However, with mods from Simtropolis it still holds water but yo can only use 1 core to play it though(And I have a FX-8320!)

[@kylehill3643]

Actually SC4 is pretty easy I'm not in debt and don't use cheats. Just don't always listen to the advisors (unless it's something serious like fixing a water leak of course) and keep spending to a minimum. Like Liberals if you over spend you will make your city go broke pretty quick and then have to rely on *credit* or loans as they call it in this game. Relying on credit DOES NOT win you praise.

[@detectivekr]

SimCity has some of the best music. It's great for listening while studying.

[@arthurmilano2920]

"ohhhHHHHH NOOOOOO MYYY BEAUTIFFFFULLLL NEIGHBORHOOD. my CIIIIITTY NOOOOO!!!! ...oh. oh no.. its All rUINEDDAAWWWWAAHHHHH" *5 minutes later and into the music piece and replanning of a new home for everyone left* "We will previal."

[@zipcodeness]

I got teary eyed.

[@607]

This really hits me hard... good times ; w ;

[@year_month_day]

I'm getting a strong Pink Floyd vibe here

[@PHILMKD95]

My pet bird loves to hear this song, slowly walks towards the speakers on my computer desk, looks down below, then does a little hop, then walks the other way and does another hop, every hop he does with a cheerful chirp. It was the cutest thing.

[@607]

Nostalgia!!! Amazing man, thanks for uploading.

[@fromouterspace21]

Best one. That piano

[@jonathanharrington8851]

I used to deactivate this piece when I was playing the game as a kid because the first 30 seconds creeped me out. Then I finally listened to the whole thing once. Now it's probably my favorite piece in SC3000.

[@himbourbanist]

That theme from 'Broadway' hits so hard on this track

[@kyleehiggins6007]

Just hearing this soundtrack takes me back......

[@R2d233de]

is it ok to shed a tear? I miss being a kid!! i remember buying the big box and being so excited to play... I would spend hours playing

[@r.a.6459]

The most memorable part starts at 5:53, my brother played this game back in 2005 and I watched him play for hours.

[@solouno2280]

I find this eerily soothing

[@BaronRougeCF]

WTC - Twin Towers Theme

[@BackAgainize]

THIS is music.......the memories.....driving home from a day at the office in the urban city.....oh god, so classic.....oh god, inspiration!

[@srewonilo]

piano at 4:18 - literally epic.

[@ateralbus8240]

For some reason reminds me of Olivier Messiaen

[@BackAgainize]

Music inspires me to do my best at work the next day, even in the deep early morning hours.

[@hortaserj]

Maxis: Hey Jerry, don't go crazy on the soundtrack, it's just a game Jerry Martin:

[@ocass66]

You know how this is the song that plays after a disaster? I just realized I'm listening to this just as Hurricane Harvey is leaving.

[@shadyparadox]

And I'm happening to listen to it right after Helene. I didn't think to connect the two until I read this.

[@ryangriffin18]

I want this played at my funeral

[@dyoodong]

When a disaster like a tornado ends, this song always started playing...

[@Luigibro606]

This was creepy. When I was younger, I always got it when I was paving subways underground and I'd freak out.

[@A88mph]

this song creeped me out as a kid.

[@Jombo1]

4:17 chills

[@DeadEyes669]

I don't know but for some reason, this song makes me think of the prison escape from Shawshank Redemption.

[@TravisWalls1]

Listening to this while I work late tonight. Amazing how much more I'm getting done now.

[@McLarenMercedes]

Used to play this on my mp3-player when resting in the sun. This one and other SimCity3000 music. This particular one has a great build up though.

[@andreaberni620]

Games such as SC3K made my childhood memorable: thanks.

[@Tylersaur09]

This song always played after a natural disaster... I remember having a tornado once and it hit one of my towers and it was a pile of rubble... and this song started to play...

[@hullian1113]

First couple minutes of this sound like its been pulled straight out a 90s soap programme cutting to the advert break.

[@Matakshaman]

When I heard this, I panicked thinking something bad would ruin my city. It did. xD

[@jtblcksheep3376]

This song is the precursor to the infamous "Primordial Dream" from SimCity 4.

[@metroidnerd9001]

Unlike Primordial Dream though, this song goes through significant shifts over its time, drastically moving its mood from one that's similar to Primordial Dream to a much more hopeful and optimistic one. I think that's why this song isn't as infamous and is instead more widely loved than Primordial Dream.

[@Cramerica66]

@Tylersaur09 It would always play for me once my city inevitably went into debt and crime started happening all over the city.

[@Ciaothecat]

Whenever my brother and played Sim City 3000, this music often came on whenever building anything underground.

[@lucasragnarsson3810]

this game to me its one of the best childhood games i ever played and listening to this track once in game gave you this creepy vibe i really will miss the old days of Simcity 3000 or the Sims original kind of sucks these days people seem to forget about these types of classic games so were stuck on fortnite. but then somehow i get this weird question how is it possible that we went from basic normal fun classic games to modern Battle royal games its really sad

[@607]

I have now listened to this soundtrack so many times that even this track doesn't hold nostalgia for me anymore. But it's still incredibly beautiful.

[@nx1379]

This and The Sims: good times of simpler days

[@r.a.6459]

The better version of those Zynga -ville games. CityVille requires internet and friends to progress; SimCity requires neither.

[@Irelia05]

This song make and made (when I was a child) feel so scare and depressed D:

[@Guns_and_Grunge]

this song always gave me the chills, always had to change it. It kinda sounds like one of the songs that might have played during the original unsolved mysteries with robert stack

[@NostalgiCrazy]

Lol I thought this too!

[@CK-yb5pi]

2:40 on is very Phillip Glass-esque. Wouldn't be surprised if there was lots of inspiration from his music.

[@pspboy7]

...digs out SC 3000 Unlimited to play :)

[@TheTrainmobile]

When all the tornadoes you spawned in destroy your city and the feeling of complete emptiness washes over you.

[@daguru324]

Okay fans, Can you still find enjoyment in playing SimCity 3000 and/or SimCity 4 at the same time (not literally like two windows open, but dedicating time to play both of them)?

[@MegaFCKforever]

beginning of the track could be a great piece for at Donkey Kong Country stage

[@SpikeSpiegel96]

It easily could be in Silent Hill or any psychological horror game. So great track

[@skreign]

sounds like a resident evil save theme

[@kj4ilk]

when this comes on you know shits going down in the very near future

[@SkinnyEMedia]

Love the Sim City 3000 soundtrack. Always have and always will. Works well even as an album on its lonesome. I miss this era of simulation games. It beats CALL OF DUTY or GEARS OF WAR to the punch!

[@olsonbryce777]

Those game you compared it to aren't even in the same genre bruh

[@Sharpie473]

this theme reminds me of supernatural beings for some reason... It also came on alot near the Halloween part of the year

[@chekolin007]

Excelent song! Best of SC Series

[@KoploperMau]

Always after ANY bad disaster.

[@HotEmeraldX]

In my opinion, the first half sounds a lot like a horror soundtrack. I like it though

[@Aurylite]

I love when the piano chords come in at 4:16 until the end

[@kzt396]

Never remember this track

[@Joe22c]

That's why you build the power plants//industrial sectors//land fills//waste-to-energy incinerators on the corners of the map so 3/4 of your pollution goes to your neighbours :D

[@NikkiWrightVGM]

5:53 Yeaaaaaah......

[@Maetel22]

such depth

[@cliftonmallicott7247]

This Song Always Came On After I Destroy An Entire City With Natural Disasters And Start Rebuilding and Reparing The City..

[@scj6693]

This is like SimCity 4's Primordial Dream, only less creepy and more..inquisitive.

[@PHILMKD95]

The game that never ends, only if you're broke.

[@nerosonic]

love when it hits 2:33

[@EgorAnanyev]

At 2:26, the city gradually wakes up.

[@diesirae4546]

Perfect

[@remolachia]

Behind those walls hides a youtube video. you type slowly and to the extent that the letters follow each other and drawing written words you understand what you are doing: you are going to intervene in the order of things. now you register your watch as it brushes against your wrist and go to the bathroom. then you come out of the bathroom and look at yourself in the mirror. You plan your next 3, 4 moves. You load water in a plastic bottle and drink it, you look at the cat that looks at you. Your cell phone only charges its battery. Come on, you have little time left! Come on, quick, don't stop. Don't let intrusive thoughts about cancer or pretense get into you. you have to arrive and you just have to think: just a little more. but that little more is always a little more ahead, always in front of your nose that, wow, is now purple. You didn't think that could happen but it has happened and then you imagine your body dressed in a blue suit, your black shoes on a light wooden floor, as shiny as a new eyelash. In front of you, an orchestra of 45 musicians, winds, percussion, strings, pianos, timpani, a synthesizer. behind your back: 45,000 expectant, anxious, desiring, excited, depressed and rushed people. 30 thousand sitting 15 thousand standing 4 lying down. fast fast fast!!! is now. to the side of the plane falls the violet curtain that is a very heavy curtain of frieze. someone coughs it incorporates a ti. someone turns to cough. it incorporates a ti. pronounce 5 words. the ones you want the ones you want at that moment. antelope, intact, stew, melingue, ministry of production. to repent: you know it. is now: turn on the movement of your hand. and everything rushes: it begins

[@TheMeanConservative]

-Jack, we need an autopsy by 9 tomorrow. -who do you think did it detective? -I don't know.

[@kitsunekoast478]

This song is equivalent to primordial dream but this feels like an 80’s theme to the song in SC4

[@metroidnerd9001]

Unlike Primordial Dream though, this song goes through significant shifts over its time, drastically moving its mood from one that's similar to Primordial Dream to a much more hopeful and optimistic one. I think that's why this song isn't as infamous and is instead more widely loved than Primordial Dream.

[@fredtehbinman]

eerie as fuckins

[@Zack-if8se]

If you enjoy this track, try Terrain from Simcity 4. Similarly haunting and beautiful. Never played 3000 myself but boy, what an experience this song is.

[@kinoepigrafe]

Reminds me of Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason

[@DeathPenguin1000]

The beginning reminds me of when you are in the Tomb of Ramses in Serious Sam.

[@Zerolagg]

God knows how much i miss SC when this song plays...

[@Guercinator]

Great for doing homework to

[@r1e5p3l7i2c]

4:18 on - awesome!

[@MauriceSaraber]

I remember playing this for months on my Compaq with windows 98 back in the early 2000's, I believe my big brother fixed it after crashing at least once a month because of this game 🤣

[@KH990j]

Probably the most melancholy song I know.

[@manu_romero_411]

5:20 The background reminds me of Bumper to Bumper from SimCity 4.

[@andrewbeck1516]

I want a Sim City Pandora station

[@remolachia]

detrás de esas paredes se esconde un video de youtube. tecleas lentamente y en la medida en que las letras van sucediéndose unas a otras y dibujando palabras escritas comprendes lo que estás x hacer: vas a intervenir en el orden de las cosas. ahora registras tu reloj como roza tu muñeca y vas al baño. luego sales del baño y te miras al espejo. Planeas tus proximos 3, 4 movimientos. Cargas agua en una botella de plastico y la bebes, miras al gato que te mira. Tu celu carga solo su batería. Vamos tE queda poco tiempo! vamos, rápido, no te detengas. No dejés que te penetren pensamientos intrusos sobre el cáncer ni la simulación. tienes que llegar y solo tienes que pensar: tan solo un poco más. pero ese poco más se adelanta siempre un poco más, siempre por delante de tu nariz que, wow, ahora está de color violeta. no creías q eso podía suceder pero ha sucedido y entonces imaginas tu cuerpo vestido de un traje azul, tus zapatos negros arriba de un piso de madera claro, tan brillante como una pestaña nueva. frente a ti, una orquesta de 45 músicos, vientos, percusión, cuerdas, pianos, timbales, un sintetizador. a tus espaldas: 45 mil personas espectantes, ansiosas, deseantes, ilusionadas, deprimidas y apuradas. 30 mil senrtadas 15 mil de pie 4 acostadas. rapido rapido rapido!!! es ahora. al costado del plano cae el telón violeta que es una cortina muy pesada de friza. alguien tose. lo incorporas a ti. alguien vuelve a toser. lo incorporas a ti. pronuncias 5 palabras. las que quieras. las que quieres en ese momento. antilope, intacto, estofado, melingue, ministerio de producción. de repente: lo sabes. es ahora: enciendes el movimiento de tu mano. y todo se precipita: comienza

[@maszlagma]

@slavetothecause I agree! I love the deep sounds in it!

[@kylehill3643]

SC4 is actually pretty easy just don't overspend and adjust budget levels to your size. If you pay for the services of a big city when you only have a stupid *burg* town less then 50K you are wasting lots of money and not being efficient. You will go in the red so fast you won't know what happened. Keep your priorities on your infrastructure as it's used the most. (Wish Congress would see that instead of wasting money on useless social programs) Once you get a good income going THEN you can splurge and do social/city ordinances but still try to keep it realistic.

[@tannerswett8276]

Who's listening to this during the coronavirus pandemic?

[@mariocardoso1959]

Global Warming, economic system collapse, pandemia... I'm from Brazil, with our president, this is the only music i can imagine. Thousands of people dying, mass unemployment and the army controlling our democracy.