Rockvil Across the Decades

A side-by-side comparison of Rockvil, South Dakota, across the five simulation years (2041, 2051, 2061, 2071, 2081), drawn from room descriptions and SCORE table items in the source code.

Skyline and Buildings

Aspect	2041	2051	2061	2071	2081
City Hall	”Well-maintained” portico; plaza functions normally	”Aging” portico	”Aging” portico	”Crumbling” portico; interior “decrepit”	Ruins
Skyscrapers	InfoTech and Silicorp towers stand	Classical glass-and-steel landmarks	Still standing	Still standing but sky is gray and smoggy	”All gutted”
Construction	Normal urban fabric	Landmark train station demolished for Church building	Kennedy Park is “a construction site” (score 13); new Indoor City “cheaply built” (score 34)	Luxury townhouses replace Kennedy Park; Church constructs on demolished landmarks	Everything destroyed

Transportation

Aspect	2041	2051	2061	2071	2081
Elevators	Functioning	Functioning; Perry takes elevator	”Out as usual” (score 3, 1 pt)	“Out as usual”; Perry climbs stairs	Derelict
Skybus	Operating	Operating	Terminal “run-down and needs repairs” (score 123)	“Shut down” after failed privatization (score 12, 2 pts)	Gone
Tube	Operating	Operating	Operating but “filthy and covered with graffiti” (score 115)	“Shut down” (score 31, 2 pts)	Derelict
Spaceport	Operating	Operating	”Closed” (score 99, 3 pts)	Closed	Gone
Skycar factory	Functioning	”Operating at just over half capacity” (score 109)	“Less than half capacity” (score 110)	“Fraction of capacity” (score 111)	Abandoned
Main Street Bridge	Intact	Intact	Intact	Intact	”In ruins” (score 44, 2 pts)

Commerce

Aspect	2041	2051	2061	2071	2081
Dunbar’s	”Upscale,” “crowded despite steep prices"	"Swank,” “elegant boutique with wealthy clientele"	"Very swank,” “catering exclusively to the wealthy elite”	Appointment only; guards scrutinize; restricted areas for Churchmen in violet and gold	Gutted
Foodville	Stocked normally	Stocked normally	”Sparsely stocked” (score 18)	Food rationing (score 19, 4 pts); “clerk is rude and guard is rough” (score 135)	“Looted” (score 39, 3 pts)
Fast Food	Beef products served	Beef products served	”No longer serves beef products” (score 73)	Converted to “seedy bar” (score 72)	Destroyed
Banks	Multiple banks	Multiple banks	”Only two banks forced to merge” (score 84)	Church “owns only bank in Rockvil” (score 83, 3 pts)	None
The Coachman	Restaurant operating	Restaurant operating	”Frequented by wealthy Churchmen” (score 43, 1 pt)	“Off limits to ‘animals’” (score 42, 3 pts)	“Lies in ruins” (score 41, 3 pts)

Government and Services

Aspect	2041	2051	2061	2071	2081
Government	Official comments “how well things are running”	Official complains department has been “laid off” (score 136)	Austerity continues	City Hall crumbling; government hollowed out	None
Police	Normal policing	Jail “overcrowded and unsanitary” (score 75)	“Casually beating black youth” (score 91); “guards are rude and rough” (score 97)	Shoot old woman (score 27); club women senseless (score 35); drunken curfew killing (score 117)	Gangs rule
Post Office	Normal	Normal	”Long line at window” (score 124)	Long lines; reduced service	Gone
Fire Station	Functioning	Functioning	Functioning	”Only one dilapidated firecopter” (score 127)	Abandoned

Parks, Public Spaces, and the River

Aspect	2041	2051	2061	2071	2081
Kennedy Park	Open park	Open park	”A construction site” (score 13, 2 pts)	Luxury townhouses	Ruins
Halley Park	Public park	Public park	Statue “missing and pedestal defaced” (score 67); duck pond “dried-up” (score 66)	“Converted to estates for wealthy” (score 61); “shot on site if you entered” (score 65)	Abandoned
Riverside Park	Public park	Public park	Public park	”Restricted” (score 92, 2 pts)	Ruins
River	Clean	”Polluted” (score 132); wastes dumped (score 104)	“Very polluted” (score 133)	“Incredibly polluted” (score 134); “on fire as usual” (score 108)	Dead
Sky	”Light"	"Light"	"Gray and smoggy” (score 118)	“Gray and smoggy”; coal-burners “belching black ash” (score 107)	Perpetual haze
Cemetery	Maintained	Maintained	Maintained	”Defaced and partially bulldozed” (score 48, 4 pts)	“Abandoned… a hiding place for thieves” (score 47, 4 pts)

The People

Aspect	2041	2051	2061	2071	2081
Class structure	Middle class still exists; Perry writes, Jill paints	Middle class shrinking; Dunbar’s clientele “wealthy”	Vanishing middle class; “beggar woman” in Jill’s painting	Rigid class system: Churchmen/nobility vs. serfs in “industrial slum”	Survival; cannibalism
Religion	Pluralistic (Catholic, Protestant)	Church pamphlets appear (score 53); train station demolished for Church	Catholic church “closed and defaced” (score 49); Church youths harass old Jew (score 74)	Protestant church “torched by mob” (score 85); Church controls everything	Church presumably rules what remains
Crime	Normal urban crime	Mugging possible (score 125)	Capital punishment for “most crimes” (score 76); public execution begins (score 78)	Capital punishment for “all crimes” (score 77); Execution Matches draw “enthusiastic crowds” (score 79)	Gangs (score 38); wild dogs (score 45); cannibalism (score 111)

Synthesis

The transformation follows a clear arc: the 2040s are a functioning, if strained, liberal democracy. The 2050s show the first cracks — layoffs, pollution, Church pamphlets, police overcrowding. The 2060s are the tipping point: the middle class vanishes, the environment collapses, the Church ascends, public executions begin. The 2070s are full theocratic fascism: Church monopoly, serf labor, Execution Matches, secret police. The 2080s are post-apocalyptic: everything looted, gutted, or in ruins; people eating people.

What makes the game’s argument powerful is that you revisit the same locations. The Rockvil Centre plaza, Main & Kennedy, the Parkview Apartments vestibule, Dunbar’s — each is a control variable. Only the year changes. And the year reveals everything.

See Also

• the-apartment-across-decades — The Simm apartment as microcosm of the city’s decline
• societal-decay — Thematic analysis of the collapse across all systems
• church-of-gods-word — The rising theocratic power
• 2041 through 2081 — Detailed year-by-year pages