Reticulating splines (including many derivative forms) is a phrase included in many Maxis games (or their non-Maxis successors), including SimCity (SimCity 2000 and later), SimCopter, The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. The phrase is most often shown in text while on a load screen, though in its first appearance, in SimCity 2000, it was spoken by a female voice. The term has become a somewhat well known in-joke and reference to SimCity or Maxis games in general.