Ultimate Uberhood

A year in SimCity lasts 24 days, that is to say four seasons (or quarters), lasting 6 days each. I will use Belladonna Cove’s season order to refer to each quarter (Quarter 1 is Spring, Quarter 2 is Summer, etc.) but note that each neighborhood will have different seasons to simulate different climates.

Since a year lasts 24 days, it can easily be divided into 12 months, as follows :

Day	Season	Month	Zodiac Sign
1	Spring	February	Pisces
2	Spring	March	Pisces
3	Spring	March	Aries
4	Spring	April	Aries
5	Spring	April	Taurus
6	Spring	May	Taurus
7	Summer	May	Gemini
8	Summer	June	Gemini
9	Summer	June	Cancer
10	Summer	July	Cancer
11	Summer	July	Leo
12	Summer	August	Leo
13	Autumn	August	Virgo
14	Autumn	September	Virgo
15	Autumn	September	Libra
16	Autumn	October	Libra
17	Autumn	October	Scorpio
18	Autumn	November	Scorpio
19	Winter	November	Sagittarius
20	Winter	December	Sagittarius
21	Winter	December	Capricorn
22	Winter	January	Capricorn
23	Winter	January	Aquarius
24	Winter	February	Aquarius

I need to warn you of the difference between a gaming year, and the civil year. The gaming year here refers to the 24 days cycle of seasons. However, as you probably noticed, the gaming year only starts in February. My Sims might still celebrate the new year on the first day of January, even if the rotation cycle is not over yet.

Another quirk of my system is that the months are not perfectly aligned with the seasons. This is a compromise I made because of holidays : I did not want Winterfest to fall on the very first day of Winter (even though it would have been realistic) so that it can have snow. It also works to have Spring begin in February, since it gives a boost to romantic interactions, it’s nice for celebrating Love Day.

With this system, I can easily keep track of the date in my game.

I usually refer to it like this : Year 1 / Quarter 1 / Day 1 (Y1/Q1/D1 in short) for tracking purpose. However, if needed for storytelling, I can also spell it out like this : Monday, February, Day 1 (of Year 1).

I also attached a zodiac sign to each day, because I love astrology and I wanted to give my Sims signs based on their birthday rather than their personality. More on that in the Aging system.

I use this calendar to organize my rotations, but also to keep track of holidays and important events. Some of them might even become commemorations later, if they impact the entire neighborhood.

Here is the list of official holidays in SimCity:

• New Year : January, Day 22
• Love Day : February, Day 1
• Carnival : March, Day 2 (Veronaville only)
• Bunny Day : April, Day 4
• Music Day : June, Day 8
• Sports Day : July, Day 10
• Spooky Day : October, Day 17
• Ancestors Day : November, Day 18
• Winter’s Eve : November, Day 19
• Winterfest : December, Day 20
• New Year’s Eve : December, Day 21