Simcity 5 - Trailer, rumors and answers

[SimJymm]

So far it's just rumors.

I was just recently over at GameSpy and saw this article. http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/121/1219681p1.html
and it looks like Maxis maybe coming out with SimCity 5. So I guess we'll have to to see what EA has to say at the upcoming Game Developers Conference.

I honestly would love to see a new SimCity. I did play SimCity Societies but it just didn't have the same feel as SimCity 4.

Can't wait til there's more facts.

[cameranutz2]

Simtropolis has a write up also...

http://www.simtropolis.com/news/_/first-image-of-simcity-5-from-german-magazine-gamestar-r139

I really hope they get this one right. Sim City Societies was a big let down for me.

[Saturnfly]

I'd love to see a modernized version of SC4, rather than the craptastic SimCity Societies, which doesn't even belong in the SC franchise (cheers for that, EA).

[SimJymm]

Here's a few pictures that are floating around the Internet.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb6/ElderJymm/simcity-003.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb6/ElderJymm/simcity-002.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb6/ElderJymm/simcity-001.jpg


I'm surprised that the last image has signs that aren't in Simlish.





...

[ElementMK]

Interesting. Could they be making a game that takes the customization options of SC:S and combines it with the concentrated awesome that was SC:4? Maybe. I'll keep watching.

[fraroc]

SimCity Societies could have been a kajillion times better, it was a good game but not great at all. CitiesXL blew me away when I played it and hopefully this does too!

[Chicken0895]

Looks good, but isn't Sim Societies technically SC5, even though it's not really a Sim City at all?

[kiwi_tea]

Looks good, but isn't Sim Societies technically SC5, even though it's not really a Sim City at all?

Wash your mouth out! No. It's not. It's not even a game that happened.

[SimJymm]

Here's a snippet from an article over at The Escapist News http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116083-Rumors-Swirl-Over-SimCity-5-Announcement-Next-Week



"...according to an interview with Maxis Vice President Lucy Bradshaw given to a German gaming magazine called GameStar and reported by Spanish website Jimdo, Maxis is currently developing SimCity 5 using a new engine called "Glassbox".

The interview is translated from German to Spanish to English, so there will be a little bit of specificity lost. Nevertheless, Bradshaw mentioned that the new Glassbox engine will have built-in multiplayer, roads that won't have to follow straight lines, and upgrade-able buildings. She nixxed the idea of importing your house from The Sims into your city, however."

[maxon]

SimJymm, I wonder if those some of those pictures might be from somewhere else. The first one looks like it *might* be Emergency 2012. Not saying it is but it looks similar to the artwork for that to me.

[~Dee~]

Wait until 6.March when EA/Maxis have a conference where they apparently announce something new.

I hope it's Sim City 5, it's been a long time. I love playing city building games.

[ElementMK]

All of these ruminations remind me: Why do niche foreign sites always have early info and interviews regarding Sim games? It makes no sense. A small fraction of their player base is German. A huge amount of the player base is American, and an even larger fraction speaks English. So why do they always do this?

[jhd1189]

I hope this is true... Sim City is one of my absolute favorite things, and I avoided buying Societies after all of the awful things I heard about it.

Any thoughts on the screen shots floating around? They don't quite look consistent from one picture to the next, so I suspect that if they're actually official they might just be concept art. They do seem to have a Maxis-like feel to them, though. And SimJymm, you're totally right: where's the Simlish?!

[kiwi_tea]

As I understand it there are no images of the game itself, only conceptual stuff at this point.

[simsample]

I really hope this goes ahead! Sim City is one of my favourite series. :)

[hungry1987]

Yes, please bring us SimCity 5. There was no game like SimCity (I played them from SC2000)

Tryed CitiesXL but that doesn't have the "I build this town!" feeling that SimCity had.

I somehow fear, that it is going to be a dlc game. Somehow I hope it is not going to be published by EA!
Please bring us a SimCity like in the good old times. Maybe on some disks instead of a download with DRM and a lot of "social features"...

[SimJymm]

SimJymm, I wonder if those some of those pictures might be from somewhere else. The first one looks like it *might* be Emergency 2012. Not saying it is but it looks similar to the artwork for that to me.

I never heard of Emergency 2012, so I checked out some screenshots at their website and they do look similar. As to the last image the lack of Simlish bothers me. But the middle image does have a strong "Sims" feel. Odd thing is while I was looking around for Emergency 2012 images the GameStar site popped up a few times, but this might be due to the search engine.

So like folks have said we'll have to wait and see if any Facts come out of GDC. I'm crossing my fingers, I really want to play a new and proper SimCity. :)

[maxon]

I never heard of Emergency 2012, so I checked out some screenshots at their website and they do look similar. As to the last image the lack of Simlish bothers me. But the middle image does have a strong "Sims" feel. Odd thing is while I was looking around for Emergency 2012 images the GameStar site popped up a few times, but this might be due to the search engine.

So like folks have said we'll have to wait and see if any Facts come out of GDC. I'm crossing my fingers, I really want to play a new and proper SimCity. :)
Yeah, it was only a moderately successful game. It was fun for a while but got repetitive (not worth a recommend). I'd not say no to a new SC though. I like SC4 but my favourites are still the first two. The feel of the first one was so funky and quirky and I played 2000 to death. I think I have played more single games of SC2000 than any other video game ever - including Mass Effect which I have played to death AND the sims - possibly combined. The odd thing is when I try one of the freebie versions you can find on the web, I no longer get it.

[ccrogers15]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vQ55nkW9eIY/T1Rhkq1Bq4I/AAAAAAAAB0Q/pcR_shlj6Us/s1600/clip.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T6fr5B1e3KM/T1RZgKB33jI/AAAAAAAAB0I/Mns4O-QzONM/s640/clip.jpg
and it IS being made by maxis:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-phAv7OQta8o/T1RiSE7GOeI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/tgNfZ-0qV8A/s320/maxis2012.jpg

http://survivalhorrorlist.blogspot.com/2012/03/simcity-5-fully-confirmed-titled.html


This is the trailer from GDC. Its a slideshow trailer, but its legit and was confirmed by EA`s twitter as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vCZUrPIudCU

Im happy. Its a slideshow from GDC, but its in game, and proves the early screens were in fact real. Its being made by maxis, and is just simply "simcity" meaning its a reboot.

[ccrogers15]

Simcity 5 fully confirmed. Titled "SIMCITY": http://survivalhorrorlist.blogspot.com/2012/03/simcity-5-fully-confirmed-titled.html

[haricots]

Also... SURPRISE! ITS BEING MADE BY MAXIS!

AAAAAAAAAAARGH!
Sorry, I exploded by happiness..
AAAAAAAAAAARGH!

[maxon]

Maxis is still part of EA right? Hmmm - I was just considering kicking all EA games into touch and removing bloody Origin from this computer.

[HarVee]

I can't come to believe that EA would even continue the SimCity franchise after almost an entire decade since to the last (real) installment and considering that Societies was a failure.

Also, A 3D SimCity? Anyone here want to lend me their NASA computer? Because I seriously doubt that a 3D SimCity will perform well even on modern gaming computers. Hell, even SC4 is a little bit too much for even the most high-end of computers; at least on high settings that is.

[SimJymm]

It's still too soon to say that the "leaked" trailer can be considered a fact. I think the first fact we'll have to wait for is Maxis/EA to announce the game. Announcement should be on Tuesday.

Latest article I've found is from Joystiq and they discuss the rumored trailer for the game. http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/03/rumor-leaked-pre-visualization-simcity-5-trailer-purports-2013/

[SimJymm]

Well from what news Kotaku has ... http://kotaku.com/simcity/ ... SimCity is back. YAY!!


I wonder how moddable it will be, like maybe a mod to change the signs to Simlish. :)

[ccrogers15]

Heres the trailer:
http://youtu.be/iiuruey9da4


Heres the brand new site with several juicy details:
www.simcity.com

Features:

Constructible Worlds
Immersive 3D worlds and tactile interactions give you the power to shape the city you envision.

Customize buildings to unlock additional functionality and offer additional gameplay benefits.

Experiment and place buildings in different locations and watch how it affects your city.

Play with new enhanced design tools like curvy roads and zoning to create the city you always wanted.

Complete missions to unlock better buildings and create the most impressive city in your region.


Multiplayer:
Work together with friends to build a region for the first time! The cities in your friends’ region will directly interact with each other.

Want to be a good neighbor? Send fire trucks to help your friend in an emergency.

Want to be a bad neighbor? Produce mass pollution and watch your friends’ Sims become sick.

Team up to share resources and accomplish great feats like launching shuttles into space.

Participate in global challenges like lowering the total pollution output in the SimCity world to unlock a trophy to place in your city.

Check regional and global leaderboards to compare your city with your friends.

Every decision in your city and those in your friends’ cities will impact the greater SimCity world.


ITS GONNA BE MULTIPLAYER AND DEV BY MAXIS! OMG!

[cameranutz2]

Just watched the announcement vid about 10 times on YouTube...CAN'T WAIT

[jeffrompas]

Me too, gotta love the quirkiness in the trailer. Hoping that this won't be like societies.

[SimJymm]

Here are the system specs needed to run it --
(from the order page)


Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better or Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.0GHz or better

Operating System:
Windows XP/Vista/7

RAM:
Windows XP: 1.5GB
Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB
PCs using a built-in graphical chipset are recommended to have 2GB RAM

Graphics Card:
ATI X1800 or better*
nVidia 7800 or better*
Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better*

DVD-ROM:
8x or better

*Minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM and Shader 3.0 or better support.


-- I'm not an expert by any means but this doesn't seem to be too bad.

[ccrogers15]

Mainly cause the game is now called SIMCITY and not called SIMCITY 5.

[jeffrompas]

Quote from kotaku (http://kotaku.com/5891168/simcity-already-has-bonus-content-system-specs-and-16+player-multiplayer-apparently):
Those buying either the Digital Deluxe or Limited Edition sets will get access to a range of superhero content, including a superhero and supervillain themselves (the game has individual Sims, so they'll appear in-game), along with their relevant buildings (or lairs) and special events (the villain goes on a crime wave).

Hopefully this means that the limited edition carries the same content as the digital deluxe one.

[AdonisPluto]

I hope so

[AdonisPluto]

This is going to be interesting

[simsample]

I merged these two threads, apologies to anyone reading who is slightly confused by the double posts!

[SimJymm]

So what under the hood of the Glassbox Engine?

Here's an article from Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/164870/GDC_2012_Breaking_down_SimCitys_Glassbox_engine.php) that explains the mechanics. And I like the part of the quote below that mentions SimTower and SimCopter! :)

"You should be surprised by how simple this is, and frankly skeptical of how you can build a SimCity game out of this," joked Glassbox system designer Andrew Willmott at GDC on Wednesday.

Willmott broke down how the Glassbox engine works on a basic level. Glassbox was built with all future Maxis-made simulations in mind (classics SimTower and SimCopter were namedropped as possible directions to go, though these are obviously not announced products), though for now it's being utilized just for the upcoming SimCity revival.

This is a somewhat technical but I thought some may like to know more.

[maxon]

Me too, gotta love the quirkiness in the trailer. Hoping that this won't be like societies.
Well, in regard to that, this worried me a bit:
"Experiment and place buildings in different locations and watch how it affects your city."

[SimJymm]

The SimCity developers held a Reddit AMAA (http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/qmi0w/iama_maxis_development_team_on_simcity_amaa/ ) (Ask Me Almost Anything) today (Thursday March 8, 2012) it was from 12:00 - 3:00 PM PST.

It's a long read with "only" 2485 comments. Luckily they give you the top 200 when you go to the link. :)

Here's a taste.

We’re making SimCity, not some dopey casual game.

The most important thing is the integrity of the simulation underneath it, the stuff that represents the systems that make up a real city. I don’t want to enforce sustainable design principles in the game – I want them to emerge as natural consequences of your interaction with the simulation.

If you don’t deal with your sewage, with traffic congestion, with walkability & transit, with ground and air pollution – your city will reflect that! And there are lots of people who will want to explore the simulation and see what happens when they do. Making some polluted, congested, urban nightmare is a total win condition, as far as I’m concerned



...

[ElPresidente]

It isn't a fake. EA has confirmed the game's development at the current GDC.

Anyway merging this thread with the other one so we have a single SC5 thread rather than two.

[Synthesis]

Given the crap I put up with Steam, and how I've slowly adjusted to dealing with similiar, though not entirely the same crap with Origin, I know that won't be stopping me from playing this. I still have SimCity 4 installed--3 is just too simple for me to go back to after that, I need incredibly depth and complexity--but god, does the game have its issues now.

[maxon]

Originally Posted by Ocean Quigley -- Creative Director
We’re making SimCity, not some dopey casual game.

The most important thing is the integrity of the simulation underneath it, the stuff that represents the systems that make up a real city. I don’t want to enforce sustainable design principles in the game – I want them to emerge as natural consequences of your interaction with the simulation.

If you don’t deal with your sewage, with traffic congestion, with walkability & transit, with ground and air pollution – your city will reflect that! And there are lots of people who will want to explore the simulation and see what happens when they do. Making some polluted, congested, urban nightmare is a total win condition, as far as I’m concerned
Well, that certainly sounds like total win to me.

[SimJymm]

Some in-Game footage from HWClips the article is in German but you can handily choose a language.

clip 1 (http://www.hardwareclips.com/video/7183/Sim-City-5-Inside-the-GlassBoxEngine-gfx-not-final-1of4) -a little building and map creation,Agents+Paths+Zones

clip 2 (http://www.hardwareclips.com/video/7186/Sim-City-5-Inside-the-GlassBoxEngine-gfx-not-final-2of4) -economic loop and it's game effects

clip 3 (http://www.hardwareclips.com/video/7187/Sim-City-Inside-the-GlassBoxEngine-gfx-not-final-3of4) -environmental effects

clip 4 (http://www.hardwareclips.com/video/7188/Sim-City-Inside-the-GlassBoxEngine-gfx-not-final-4of4) -fire simulation

The videos are shot by hand of a presentation by Andrew Willmott at GDC. As stated in the article the videos are in the Debug mode and not the final graphics.

[jeffrompas]

Yay for zoning! Ploppables are just Infrastructures like power plants etc. :D

[Robodl95]

Here's the major news from what Sim Jym posted. This game is gonna be awesome.

[Andrew] We can support a much richer set of transport options this time around, in terms of what agents (cars/people/bikes) can travel along what kinds of routes. (Hilariously so sometimes -- due to forgetting a line in a data file we had cars driving in the air along power lines at one point.) What will be in there for ship, I honestly don't know at this point. I'd love to see you building that housing area for real though!

[Ocean] Maxis didn’t develop Societies – we did SimCity 2k, 3k & 4 (and the original of course!)
I’m not going to bash Societies, but I will say that this new SimCity was built from the simulation engine up, and is the one that I wanted to make after I finished working on SimCity 4.

[Dan] There’s no lack of data present in our simulator, we’ve been experimenting with playful ways of representing that data to the player. That doesn’t mean you’ll have any less detailed data on your city, in fact, in a lot of ways you’ll be able to explore your city data along other dimensions that weren’t possible with previous SimCities. We’ve taken a lot of inspiration from modern data visualization techniques/style and we’ve built in the notion of ‘data layers’ into the game. For example, if you want to know everything about how power is flowing through your city, you can click on the power data view, you’ll be able to see electricity flowing down the wires, buildings will change colors representing power stored, plus you’ll get global stats about your cities power system (output/usage, etc).

[Andrew] We've addressed this elsewhere, but I just want to repeat, single player is definitely still a big focus. And if you want to play all the cities in a region yourself, that's absolutely possible. I think there's some research somewhere showing that, even with strictly multiplayer games, people wind up soloing for the majority of gameplay hours, so you're not alone!

[Ocean] Yeah, like SC4, you can build out a region by yourself, and make all of the cities serially. There are lots of players who just want to control their own world, and they don’t want anybody to interfere with it. But even those solo players are going to be participating in the flow of resources that constitute the core of the games economy – the economic landscape that they’re operating in will be shaped by the actions of other players, even if they are only playing solo. In addition, there will be regional challenges and opportunities that you’ll be competing against other regions for. So you can play by yourself. More social players can play with their friends and accomplish more, faster, but that’s their choice.

[Ocean] SimCity is all about creating and controlling a pretty complex simulation. The trick is to make the simulation intelligible, so that the cause-and-effect relationships are apparent to the player. So that you can see what’s going on.
It has to be accessible to people who have never played SimCity before. Just because the simulation is complex doesn’t mean that it should be hard to understand.
And we’re doing our best to model real-world systems with some degree of integrity, so that you’ll understand something of how they actually work. And you’ll make the tradeoffs that real cities have to make.
For example: sure coal is filthy and will sicken & kill Sims who live down-wind, but man is it cheap! And it makes plenty of power! And it works at night! And when the wind doesn’t blow! Sure, I can put up with air pollution and increased mortality for that!
So we’re not trying to lecture people and tell them what to think, we’re building a game that lets them try stuff out for themselves, and see what happens.
As for custom content – think back to SC4 - first we just need to get the game out, and make everything work robustly.

[Andrew] The news ticker was a great idea. We're trying to update it a bit for the new SimCity, move it from the era of print to today's online papers and blogs. But it's a great way to get a bit of personality and humour into the game, which I think is a lot of what makes a Maxis SimCity game.

[Ocean] We’re making this the richest, most sophisticated simulation we can. SimCity is only as good as the simulation underneath it –that’s what makes it worth caring about.
And as for music – Yes! Kent Jolly is our sound designer, and he’s very, very good, another long-time Maxis veteran.
One cool thing I can say about the game’s audio is that we’re binding it to the pulse of the simulation. When buildings are running simulation rules (like generating power, for example), they’re driving music and sound effects (that are synched to the overall beat of the simulation). The audio is telling you what the simulation is doing, it’s not just filler. And that’s a general aesthetic rule for us – there shouldn’t be any filler in the game, everything is there to show you what the simulation is doing. Everything you see is doing a job.

[Dan] The size of our new cities are roughly equivalent to the SC4 medium sized city (2 kilometers square). That said, you can connect cities together inside a region and build out a network of connected cities - each city providing different resources and abilities to its neighbors and the region. For example, one city could be a residential suburb which provides workers every day to a nearby industrial city. The industrial city could be providing power to the suburb. You can play both of these cities yourself, or even run the entire region by yourself, or invite a friend to help out. As for the biggest gameplay improvement, we’re moving from a purely statistical simulation model to an agent based model. So one example of how that’s different would be that the vehicles you saw in SC4 were just visual representations of ‘traffic density’ at that location, they weren’t real, if you watched them long enough they’d fade out as they turned corners. By contrast, with our new simulator, each and every vehicle and person is a real simulation entity heading to some real destination. So traffic jams occur naturally – it’s really fun to build out a road structure, start zoning, play for a while, and ‘discover’ where your busiest intersections are. Thanks for your support, we really do take our community seriously and are trying to deliver the game that we all want to play

[Andrew] Zoning is pretty much the same as SC4. Without that it's not SimCity! You do plop key buildings like fire stations as usual (unless you're okay with your city burning to the ground every so often), but most buildings are simulator generated.
Limited Edition vs. Collectors Edition

[Kip] Trust me when I say the base game is going to be loaded with content. We wanted to give our hardcore fans an opportunity for something extra if they decided to pre-order the game. We came up with the Heroes and Villains for our hardcore fans. Inspired by SimCity lore, Super Sim or Maxis Man as he’s sometimes called, was first seen in SimCity 2000. We decided to bring him back in a much bigger way in this SimCity.
The Collector’s edition is jammed packed with content. We have 3 new landmarks that will serve a function in your game, helping to boost tourism. They will also influence the building around them. The base game will include plenty of landmarks as well.
To clarify, the Limited Edition is a pre-order special of the base game and priced at $59.99, just like the base game. The Collector’s Edition is an Origin exclusive, priced at $79.99.

[5M0K3]

Personally I wish they would spend this time making new games rather than updating old ones again and again and again. I wish they would just send out a patch for like $10 dollars or something to add to your game, making it better. But to me, all of these sequels and whatnot are just the same thing with better graphics.

EDIT: I'm not saying I wouldn't give SC5 a chance. But both EA and Maxis are very creative, and I know they could make great NEW games.

[Robodl95]

Personally I wish they would spend this time making new games rather than updating old ones again and again and again. I wish they would just send out a patch for like $10 dollars or something to add to your game, making it better. But to me, all of these sequels and whatnot are just the same thing with better graphics.
Simcity 4 is ten years old, I wouldn't call that updating again and again. It's simply outdated. You can update, but it gets to a point where you can't stretch the system anymore and it's easier to create an entirely new game. Considering what we know about the game (which is hardly anything) wait before you write it off.

[smorbie1]

can't wait! when will it come out?

[Chicken0895]

Wash your mouth out! No. It's not. It's not even a game that happened.

*Washes mouth*

Sim Societies? I've never heard of such a thing :lol:

[SimJymm]

Personally I wish they would spend this time making new games rather than updating old ones again and again and again. I wish they would just send out a patch for like $10 dollars or something to add to your game, making it better. But to me, all of these sequels and whatnot are just the same thing with better graphics.

The underlying mechanics of SimCity (dropped the 5) are so different from SimCity 4, that to call it a remake is a disservice. This is a City Simulator done with a totally new game engine and is fundamentally a different game. But yes, you can call any new game that's being made remakes if they visit the same game genre that's been done before and you're right there are games being made to look new but are still the same game with a fresh coat of paint. But I think the new SimCity goes deeper than that.

Like Robodl95 says don't right this off as just a remake.

[RomerJon17]

Well on the trailer,
You should see a notice on the footer ( Bottom)

"Images not representative of actual game."

Man I hope it won't be like Sims Societies...

But Sims Societies isn't made from MAXIS...

[Axe Gaijin]

To everyone that´s hung up on the "made by Maxis" thing...
Maxis is a name owned by EA, they can slap it on anything they like, just like the new Bioware studio they opened couple of months ago that has hardly any ties to the original Bioware.

I'd be surprised if anyone on this new Maxis team was involved on any of the old Sim City series. It's just smart marketing.

[acid_fairy]

I haven't been this excited for a game in a loooong time. I'm so, so glad Maxis is making it. I have extremely high hopes - here's to hoping I won't be let down!

To everyone that´s hung up on the "made by Maxis" thing...
Maxis is a name owned by EA, they can slap it on anything they like, just like the new Bioware studio they opened couple of months ago that has hardly any ties to the original Bioware.

I'd be surprised if anyone on this new Maxis team was involved on any of the old Sim City series. It's just smart marketing.

From the Reddit thread: '1.) Are there any developers left at Maxis who worked on Simcity 4 that will be working on this version of Simcity?

1) Yes! A lot of us.

Lucy Bradshaw was executive producer for SimCity 4, and is very much involved with the new one I was creative director and art director for SimCity 4, and art directed SC3k. Andrew was SimCity 4’s lead graphics engineer. Kip was test lead on SimCity 4. Guillaume Pierre (our scripting lead) was another lead tester on SC4, Venkat Ajjanagadde did roads for SC4 and he’s doing them for the new one. There are a lot of SimCity veterans on the project, but we’ve also got new people who grew up playing SimCity and are bringing fresh ideas to it. It’s a good mix.'

I read this at SimPrograms (http://www.simprograms.com/39693/maxis-development-team-answers-questions-on-reddit/).

[SimJymm]

SimCity pre-order news from the Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/video-game-in-denver/simcity-pre-order-news).

It seems most of the retailers are going to be offering the same pre-order bonuses consisting of new characters and some new buildings. The new characters are 'Protector of SimCity' MaxisMan and the evil Dr. Vu and his henchmen. There will be a Super Hero Headquarters and a Super Villain Evil Lair. To make it complete there will be crime waves as events added to the game.



...

[wlionrjl]

Maxis is back from the dead! Finally a new PC game after playing only old games for nearly 3 years.. I really felt like SC5 was a lost dream when I was reading the Simtropolis forums months ago :beer: It's gonna be interesting to see how an agent based simulation will work instead of a statistical one. Sounds like they need to scale down and cut down on variables quite a bit to work for that system to work in the average computer. It can mimic and visualize a real-life system better but I hope the effect won't the that the game gets dumbed down or be too constrained in a box. Societies was boring because the simulation was too simple, rigid and transparent.. what's the point of playing if you already know what's going to happen next in the game? And I hope they don't shove the online multiplayer money-making junk down our throats which seems to be EA's main strategy these days. Anyway still can't wait for the game and more info!

[pico22]

Maxis is not back and never will be; it is, as already stated, just a clever marketing ploy. Even EA people know that their brand is associated with shoddy workmanship, at least in Sim world, so they dug up Maxis to fool us. - What "quite a few" actually means is anybody's guess, of course.

What is clear is that at least two teams are involved (there are certainly more); one is developing (great looking) graphics and (at least) one other is working on game features, using much more basic graphics. What will happen when these two - and others - finally get together is, again, anybody's guess.

While the practice of several teams working on a project is standard everywhere, perfect coordination at the final stage, combined wth thorough testing, is essential if the product is to be any good. EA is anything but perfect at this stage, as witnessed by TS3 and its EPs, so let's just hope they will get (much) better people for SC5. I's love to see a great SimCity again.

[Robodl95]

Maxis is not back and never will be; it is, as already stated, just a clever marketing ploy. Even EA people know that their brand is associated with shoddy workmanship, at least in Sim world, so they dug up Maxis to fool us. - What "quite a few" actually means is anybody's guess, of course.
Maxis never went anywhere... The company was bought by EA in the late 90s (TS1 would never have been produced without EA's money so be thankful), then they did TS2 and sometime during TS2 expansions The Sims was transferred to EA's Sims Studio and Maxis made Spore.

[RomerJon17]

Here is a video =D

SimCity Insider's Look GlassBox Game Engine - Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS0qURl_JJY)

DESCRIPTION:

Insider's Look at the new Glassbox engine powering the next SimCity game. SimCity Gameplay Lead Dan Moskowitz describes the concepts of Resources, Units, Maps, and Agents and how they affect the complex simulation behind SimCity.

[punkrockgoth1988]

RomerJon, thanks for the link. I was hoping to see non-straight roads/bridges included in that, but it was interesting all the same.

[maxon]

Well, that looks promising.

[RomerJon17]

I will keep up-to-date checking out Simcity videos =D

Man thank god Maxis is back in business =D
They do a lot of brilliant creations =D

[cameranutz2]

From joystiq.com...

"Good news: If you want to download SimCity somewhere other than Origin, you'll have the option to do so. An EA representative confirmed with Joystiq that the title would be available for purchase on other digital distribution platforms, though a list of stores has yet to be finalized. SimCity is arriving sometime in 2013.

Lead designer Stone Librande confirmed that SimCity would be an internet-dependent experience. Players will need to be online on Origin while playing, even if that wasn't the point of purchase. The always-on connection becomes necessary with the game's emphasis on multiplayer and regional impact, and the use of a global economy that all players can influence."

I was actually looking forward to this game. But, if I HAVE to be logged into Origin to play, I''ll pass. :|

[SimJymm]

I'm with you cameranutz2, the always on Internet connection to Origin may be a deal breaker for a lot of folks. I really didn't want the game for it's multi player aspect.

The mod-ability will probably be non-existent too. To bad that a really good idea can be killed for some by the insistence that a game can only be a "social" experience.

Well I doubt I'll be looking for more news after this.


Well maybe one more bit of news from http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/28/simcity-will-not-support-mods-at-launch/

[Robodl95]

I think the global economy sounds really interesting, just because a game has multiplayer doesn't make it a social game... If you have friends who play (or meet nice people online) I think it would be a lot of fun to mess with and cooperate with each other. A constant internet connection sucks but I don't really care.

@ SimJymm, Maxis has expressed their commitment to modability. They aren't focused on that right now because they just need to the game to work right but every game takes a little while to reach it's potential.

[RomerJon17]

Well I don't like to spoil myself...
I just wait for next year =)

[SimJymm]

I think the global economy sounds really interesting, just because a game has multiplayer doesn't make it a social game... If you have friends who play (or meet nice people online) I think it would be a lot of fun to mess with and cooperate with each other. A constant internet connection sucks but I don't really care.



It's not a game that has multi-player it's now a game that's only multi-player. When I want to enjoy a game with friends or meet new players I play MMOs. When I want to build cities I want to build them solo.

As to EAxis's commitment to mods we'll see.

[RomerJon17]

It's not a game that has multi-player it's now a game that's only multi-player. When I want to enjoy a game with friends or meet new players I play MMOs. When I want to build cities I want to build them solo.

As to EAxis's commitment to mods we'll see.

I hope someone won't destroy your city in multi-player XD LoL
Hmm... If it's possible to do so...

[Mistermook]

I'd have bought this in a heartbeat before I heard about the always online requirement. Now I'll probably pass, I've heard nothing but bad things about Origin.

[Robodl95]

It's not a game that has multi-player it's now a game that's only multi-player. When I want to enjoy a game with friends or meet new players I play MMOs. When I want to build cities I want to build them solo.

As to EAxis's commitment to mods we'll see.
Maybe you should read some of the articles because none of them say anything about an only multiplayer game. In fact a lot of them specifically point out that you can play solo like normal... just with an internet connection.

[SimJymm]

@Robodl95 I stand corrected, I let my anger about the have to go online(to start the game)/only on Origin BS blind me to think that it would now be an only multi-player game. I assumed a lack of being able to play other regions was a given. It was one of the great things about SimCity 4 that I liked.

http://www.edenstyle.it/the-game/multiplayer-and-singleplayer-modes-in-simcity.html

Having said that; I'm still not getting the game if the situation of "online on Origin" doesn't change. There's going to be plenty of games to enjoy so that the lack of this one won't bother me.

[DigitalSympathies]

What about those without internet? Think of the hermits!

[kristie91]

I get annoyed when games with a solo mode have to be on the internet. What if I'm on computer with no internet. What about the people who play games but don't want or have internet. I think its a nuisance.

[jeffrompas]

From The Escapist:
according to Gamespy. "EA has confirmed that you will not be kicked out if your connection is interrupted."

Eh, isn't it still basically the same thing? Still needing connection at startup?

[Mistermook]

It just means that there's really no compelling reason in the first place for there to be this sort of requirement. It's not that game actually needs to phone home to play, it's that the game developers were told to force people to phone into Origin.

[ElementMK]

Requiring an internet connection as a form of DRM is an awfully ironic choice. It forces paying consumers who want to play the games on-the-go to pirate it. For some, this may be their first exposure to piracy.

It reminds me of when I purchased Spore four years ago. I didn't have an internet connection at home, and I was unable to install my brand new game. I was forced to use my crappy netbook at the library to pirate a copy just so I could play it back home. It was my first attempt to pirate a game, and the experience has certainly ... influenced my purchases ever since.

Thanks for the crash course, Electronic Arts!

[RomerJon17]

NEW VIDEO UPLOADED!!!

SimCity GlassBox Game Engine Part 2 - Scenario 1: The Economic Engine
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxTcm1YFKcU)

DESCRIPTION:
Insider's Look at the new Glassbox engine powering the next SimCity game. SimCity Gameplay Lead Dan Moskowitz describes the Economic Loop for Residential, Commercial, and Industrial zones in the game.

[Obey]

Do anything for this game. (';

[Ive]

So EXCITED for this. Aaaaah!

And the fact we can preorder now is a sort of safeguard that it wont just be dropped :up:

[RomerJon17]

NEW UPLOADED VIDEO!

SimCity GlassBox Game Engine Part 2 - Scenario 2: The Economic Engine (http://youtu.be/Hro0BEquiPE)

DESCRIPTION:
Insider's Look at the new Glassbox engine powering the next SimCity game. SimCity Gameplay Lead Dan Moskowitz describes the Water System and Water Delivery methods in the game.

[RomerJon17]

NEW UPLOADED VIDEO!

SimCity GlassBox Game Engine Part 2 - Scenario 3: Fire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SfcDW2yJiM)

DESCRIPTION:
Insider's Look at the new GlassBox engine powering the next SimCity game. SimCity Gameplay Lead Dan Moskowitz describes the creation and spread of fire in the game.

[Ive]

Really like the look of it. But it annoys me to no end that the boxes around the houses are greener than the regular landscape. Hope they include som "filler" like in Cities XL.

[smorbie1]

Does anyone know the release date?

[simsample]

This is looking great, I really love these videos where we can see how the game works. :)

[RomerJon17]

This is looking great, I really love these videos where we can see how the game works. :)

I just keep in touch with the videos =)
When Simcity video uploaded on YouTube, I will post on this thread quick =)

[candesco]

Really like the look of it. But it annoys me to no end that the boxes around the houses are greener than the regular landscape. Hope they include som "filler" like in Cities XL.

Keep in mind that what you see so far are placeholders and not the final product.
So that can change.

[maxon]

Keep in mind that what you see so far are placeholders and not the final product. So that can change.
Yeah those are not the intended final graphics - the guy keeps saying so on the videos. All I can say is if it's as good as SC2000 (though updated with lots of whizzy graphics and a bazillion new features) then my game playing will be settled for the next decade. It's looking pretty promising in those vids.

[Ive]

Yea of course :) So I hope there will be fillers so that the landscapes can look even.

[RomerJon17]

NEW VIDEO UPLOADED
SimCity E3 Gameplay Trailer (http://youtu.be/SObs9KnK0Ng)

[maxon]

NEW VIDEO UPLOADED
SimCity E3 Gameplay Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SObs9KnK0N)
That's 404-ing for me. Dammit.

[Honeywell]

Try this:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SimCityEA

[maxon]

Thanks - not sure whether that's awesome or not. There seem to be a lot of ploppable buildings. OTOH - rampaging dinosaur.

[kiwi_tea]

A little bit of bad news though (http://www.simprograms.com/41365/kotaku-confirms-simcity-is-an-always-online-game/#comments)

[RomerJon17]

That's 404-ing for me. Dammit.

Sorry I forgot to put a "g" on the ending of the URL :/

SimCity: Never Stop Building (http://youtu.be/SrqymOVt3LE)

^^ MUST WATCH, MUST WATCH, MUST WATCH ^^

[Honeywell]

That's a shame about the always-on connection. I was pretty much going to be buying this sight unseen but having experienced EA's lack of support and complete disregard for their customers (and zero faith in the technical abilities, they can't even maintain a website ffs) this game will need to be OMG1!! amazing before I'll consider buying it now. :(

[Ive]

I will get this regardless. I'm starved for a city builder.

At least there is hope since Maxis is in. Maybe if the "work relationship" is good, they will have them on for TS4 too. Fingers crossed.

[~MadameButterfly~]

The always online crap makes me ill, but I was already holding back my excitement when I heard the game was going to be released. So...I am not really surprised there would be some BS thrown into the mix to muck it up.

I guess TS4 is going to have the same fate. :\

[Ive]

If TS4 get that, then I'm gonna flip.

Sims has always been a backup for me. So that when internet has been down etc I would always play.

Anyway, no more off-topic for me.

[wlionrjl]

Always online connection required? DRM? Multiplayer online economy? City evolves while I'm not playing? Way to ruin another fan favourite, EA. I won't be buying this after all.

[ElementMK]

New 9 minute gameplay video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YceL2C4TW4Q).

[AzemOcram]

That 9 minute video answered some of my questions but leaves more unanswered or even brings more questions begging for answers.

1. What about food? Restaurants were mentioned. Will there be farms? Where will the farms be?
2. What happened to industry? It looks like there is only one wealth level of industry when there are 3 (4 if you include agriculture) in SimCity 4, which is further elaborated in Cities XL with resource chains (all factories require office services, heavy industry requires fuel, manufacturing industry requires heavy industrial products, high tech industry requires manufactured goods, and larger offices require high tech goods).
3. Since resources are a major part of the Glass Box engine? What resources will be used? Will there be automotive industry (present in SimCity 2000 as a taxable industry and present as buildings with mere statistics identical to manufacturing industry for factories and Commercial services for dealerships)? Will recycling center make garbage disappear or will it turn garbage into ore/metal/products? If there are farms, will there be textile industry? Textile factories would take organic materials from farms/plantations for fibers and dyes or use the petrochemical industry to make clothing, which could be sold in boutiques or could be a component of cars.
4. Will there be other "Big Businesses" other than Petroleum, Metal, Trade, and Gambling?
5. How will they fix the perpendicular train crossing, which even Monte Cristo/Focus Home interactive could not fix?

[maxon]

Resource chains - yes, please.

[RomerJon17]

They better make subways and make really good railway crossing :D

[AzemOcram]

From the video and interview, I found out the following:

Offices and Shops are currently treated as the same, "selling happiness" and hiring sims while buying products bought at factories. The customers are for each building, not segregated by the offices on top and the ground level shops.

There is only demand for a generic type of factory but industry cleans up with education.

There is no agriculture or food resources in the game at the moment though they might be planned(?)

There are no subways or pipelines possibly because Glass Box does not allow underground view(?)

There are no one way roads or upgrading/customizing roads though these are seen as a possibility (Guillame said it was a "good idea")

[Synthesis]

The shrinking in scale from SC4--I wouldn't mind if the game were a little smaller, though I'd prefer it not be, but more and more, this seems to be more 'SimTown' scale alongside the removal of terraforming and the checkboard region patterns....all very worrying.

[Ion496]

You can only build stuff along roads now.
Water pipes gone, and merged with roads.
City size is decreased.
Cities having obnoxiously big gaps of road between them, meaning that replicas of real regions and non-replicas of SimCity regions are going to have stupidly large empty spaces.
No more disasters.
Preorder DLC already announced.
ALWAYS ONLINE.
NO SAVING OR LOADING.
ORIGIN.

[Synthesis]

With everything their teasing, Origin is the least of my concerns (don't get me wrong--like Steam, I'd rather not deal with it if given the choice).

[AzemOcram]

Actually, there will be disasters. In fact, you cannot turn off/prevent certain "realistic" disasters from occurring. I certainly won't buy this game full price.

--Ocram

[Misanthrope]

Has this video been posted yet?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=tsm_1_tw_s_vg_mdi5w6?docId=1000856141

( 'Hope I'm not necro'ing this thread. There hasn't been a reply in a month, and the game is not even out yet and the interest is already dead D: )

http://i.imgur.com/dtSck.jpg
^A shot of a region
I haven't played any of the previous games, so I don't have a basis for comparison... but this looks really small. And kind of sad. It would be nice if the entire mesa was filled with buildings instead of having large open gaps. I usually play MMO games, so the always-online requirement doesn't bother me much. Although I suppose this means we won't be getting any mods? The part with the cops and robbers look really cute xD

I'll probably be buying this game anyway, since I don't know of any other comparable city-building simulators. I've heard of Anno 2070, but does anyone know if it's worth getting?


(I do wish the video would stop zooming up on Ocean Quigley's face and his creepy beard. It's kind of disturbing).

[Ive]

Anno 2070 or the previous anno games that are also good is not really a city builder. It's more of a resource hoarding logistics managing type game.

I like his moustache :giggler:. It says not final software so maybe they have refined the minor things for the release. Or so I hope :(

[maxon]

Yeah - agree on with Ive on Anno 2070. I like the game but the focus isn't the city building. You build to build resources and options: it's a means to an end. OTOH, you can build underwater bases.

Men and facial hair - I have never got it. Creeps the hell out of me.

[Mistermook]

Sometimes creeping people out is part of the fun, he said stroking his comparatively mild-looking goatee.

[jhd1189]

Has this video been posted yet?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=tsm_1_tw_s_vg_mdi5w6?docId=1000856141

( 'Hope I'm not necro'ing this thread. There hasn't been a reply in a month, and the game is not even out yet and the interest is already dead D: )

Thanks for posting this--I guess I had missed this video. I can't speak for anyone else, but my interest hasn't waned. I'm obviously not pleased about the whole Origin and forced-to-be-online thing, but I'm so thrilled with the idea of a Maxis-made SimCity that I'm willing to overlook a lot.

I'll probably be buying this game anyway, since I don't know of any other comparable city-building simulators. I've heard of Anno 2070, but does anyone know if it's worth getting?

I haven't played Anno 2070, but I love Anno 1404 (which is called Dawn of Discovery over here). The city building aspects of that game are fun, but they're secondary to the challenge of building a trade empire that can support nobility. The main focus is on resources and production, so I guess it makes sense that Anno 2070 follows suit.

Since a couple of you guys have already mentioned it... how does Anno 2070 stack up? I still have a lot that I need to do in Dawn of Discovery, but I've had my eye on 2070 for a while.

[maxon]

Since a couple of you guys have already mentioned it... how does Anno 2070 stack up? I still have a lot that I need to do in Dawn of Discovery, but I've had my eye on 2070 for a while.
Pretty similar in many ways (I loved 1404 too) but I would say less hefty than 1404 - it took me less time to get through the campaign. There are the usual scenarios and challenges and there's a pretty nice thing going on with three competing factions (you can build in three styles (bit like European and Eastern) - at once in some situations). A lot is similar though. There's been one (free) mini campaign released and an EP. There's some background stuff going on with politics (you vote for the factions regularly which, depending on who wins, gives various advantages). It looks pretty - that might sound pretty ephemeral but it really is attractive. I love the underwater stuff with the whalesong. I've been playing again recently. It's very nice to sit with for hours on end.

[Ive]

maxon pretty much said everything. And it's a lot of fun to play online (if you have the patience to play for hours at an end without quitting, it's still quite active). Most people like peaceful games and the campaign and mini-missions are cool too. Also the music and everything is really nice. I like the globe and want it as a wallpaper :(

I got it on release and haven't regret it!

[jhd1189]

Awesome! Thanks for the input, guys. I won't clog up this thread with any more Anno stuff, but 2070 is definitely on my list.

[AzemOcram]

There is a new Strategy Video and it makes things look more promising. I like the variety of casinos there are and I hope that the smokestacks to the right of the ones (in the menu) used are cleaner and more efficient (less coal consumed and more electricity produced).

http://youtu.be/bpzouhrHCpM


Also, I play Anno 2070 and it is fun but I will need to wait until after I upgrade my computer before I can play again and I will need to buy Deep Ocean in order to play since I used up my activation limit from updating firmware.

[maxon]

ooo - like those customisible buildings - that does indeed look more promising.

[ElementMK]

Maxis developers hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/14umm1/we_are_the_simcity_dev_team_from_maxis_amaa/) a few days ago, if any of you are interested in some minor details.

[C_Guy]

In-less they make a single player offline version, I'll be playing SimCity 4 Rush hour still!..

[SimJymm]

Maxis developers hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/14umm1/we_are_the_simcity_dev_team_from_maxis_amaa/) a few days ago, if any of you are interested in some minor details.

Kotaku has an interesting article about the AMA http://kotaku.com/simcity/


In-less they make a single player offline version, I'll be playing SimCity 4 Rush hour still!..

I totally agree, they should make SimCity 4.5 for those who want the single player offline game play.

[maxon]

I think I'm going to be really torn on this one. The more I look at stuff about SC5, the more I like what I'm seeing except the always online bit. It's not that I have trouble with connectivity so much (I live in a city though occasionally our ISP has problems), more than I just don't see the point of being online all the time. I like interactive playing sometimes - I play a few games multiplayer - but I can't see myself playing SC with others except now and again. Sometimes - a lot of the time - you just want to play a game to amuse yourself, like reading a book isn't usually an interactive experience. I really can't see the point (once the game is validated, if they must). It wouldn't be so bad if it was an option. I dunno, we'll have to see how this is gonna go.

[Spiritbw]

Just checked on the state of this game after a few months away. This online thing is becoming wore the more I hear aobut it. Which is sad becasue otherwise it sounds like a good game.

[Mistermook]

Well, I got a gift card for Xmas that would have otherwise gone completely unused so I suppose I'll be the guinea pig for this particular game. I even signed up for the beta. Maybe if anyone else gets the game here after it comes out, assuming it doesn't have a hissy fit over my system, we can do a MTS SimCity Region for giggles.

[maxon]

Well, report back once you get going Mistermook - actually release date is not far off now is it?

[Mistermook]

March or something like that. I actually wasn't happy about the whole thing because I was hoping I'd be able to find some Guild Wars 2 Gem Cards or something, but the local Gamestop doesn't carry those. And while I have a 360 I haven't actually turned it on but once or twice in the whole of last year, and now that I've got a new computer the thing is almost certainly just going to keep on collecting dust.

[Artimis]

I personally not getting this game as I have had enough of a bodgey games that use the sims 3 elements (including sims 3). I hope that this game does not cause as many probelms for people who do buy it, one question, does this game acturally has a single player option at all.

[Mistermook]

From what I understand it has a single player option, but I'm not sure if still requires an internet connection to play the single player option. That is, I know that they're going to "require it" in the sense that the game as you buy it will have that, but I don't know if once it's all cracked and modded and whatnot if it will turn out that the game can't support itself in a single computer environment.

[Mootilda]

does this game acturally has a single player option at all.Yes, it has a "single player" option, which requires a constant internet connection and which will be affected by other players through the "global marketplace". No, there is no way to play by yourself, offline, without any effect in your game from other players.

To play by yourself, claim all 16 cities in a region.

[Artimis]

Yes, it has a "single player" option, which requires a constant internet connection and which will be affected by other players through the "global marketplace". No, there is no way to play by yourself, offline, without any effect in your game from other players.

To play by yourself, claim all 16 cities in a region.

Thanks :) seems a little exterme but if it works, it works.

[CinderEmma]

I'm personally buying it, so is my BF. I always struggled with previous Simcity games, to the point that I can't play because I don't understand the plumbing. I played the beta and enjoyed the heck out of it, I'm excited :)

[Mootilda]

It certainly seems to be geared to the more casual player. EA probably made SimCity 4 too hard for the average player, and they've been backing off since.

[Misanthrope]

I'm kind of bummed of having missed out on the beta offers. Thousands of keys were snatched up in a matter of minutes D:

Within an hour of playtime, people have maxed out the region and it's kind of worrying how small everything is.

But that's okay though, since in a few months EA is going to release SimCity: LargeCity DLC. And for the low price of $25 extra dollars, we will be able to experience the full city building experience!



Off topic: Following the recommendations from this thread, I went and got both ANNO 1404 and 2070. That game is highly addictive. I spent so many hours building my multi-million dollar trade empire :king: But fuck bandits though, they were annoying as hell.

[Ive]

Yea, I always turn bandits off and choose the non violent factions :D

[~Dee~]

Yea, I always turn bandits off and choose the non violent factions :D

I didn't know you can turn bandits off, how do you do that?

[Mootilda]

What do bandits have to do with SimCity? Perhaps you should start an Anno thread.

[AzemOcram]

SimCity has a lot of good features, all of the good ones thanks to Glass Box. It also has some bad features thanks to Origin.

I read that the main sim+game loop is on one thread and everything else (which is considerably less intensive) like rendering and audio are on another thread.


--Ocram

[lisfyre]

Yes, it has a "single player" option, which requires a constant internet connection and which will be affected by other players through the "global marketplace". No, there is no way to play by yourself, offline, without any effect in your game from other players.

To play by yourself, claim all 16 cities in a region.

That's cool because I'm used to that after playing SimCity 4 for years. I don't know about you but I built cities in my region one right after another so I didn't have a chance to get bored. It definitely challenged me.

If the live game is going to be as easy as beta was, my region should be built up in no time. :rofl: I'm looking forward to this game and have a few friends lined up to make a region with. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the online thing.

[GabyBee]

I played the Beta, and the SimCity hype has definitely drawn me away from the Sims for a bit (along with work and Star Trek Online).

I like everything about the game that I've seen/heard/played so far. Except the following:
- City size. This seems to be a fairly common complaint. The city block size is very small.
- No subways (although trolleys are a pretty good consolation prize).
- That's about it...

I get the feeling EA/Maxis will be releasing an urban themed expansion to the game at some point that may add subways (and other urban themed stuff) and give players the opportunity to build larger cities. There's just no way you can build a true "city" on the plot size they have there now. It's just too damn small.

[Mistermook]

Okay, I did the second Beta last night.

Overall I was not impressed that they didn't allow us to engage in the multiplayer aspects of the game to see what those would be like, and I'm hoping there's just some weird issue with the graphics of the beta because while I don't have a top of the line system with a $300 graphics card I was a little frustrated that the overall of the game wasn't quite as crisp as I was expecting. The roads in the new game are probably the highlight, but I'm not sure if I feel they're better than say, Cities XL (though a lot of the rest is still more intuitive.) The beta city better be a very small one, because it feels small, considering how large blocks have to be to expand even to the beta limit of medium density the actual play cities better be larger. Most of the time the game play was really easy - but that might be because even when I had the game on fastest speed it appeared to be slower than The Sims 3 on fastest. That is, this is not the game of previous versions where you could blink on fast speed and a decade has past. I'm not sure if that's because it's limited by design, if it's not utilizing all of my RAM/cores, or if it's just that computer intensive. Since they put a time limit on play I wasn't doing things I might have done on another beta like check my temps and see how it was impacting my system. But mostly I was expecting a crash test of multiplayer by now - I'm really afraid that if they don't do that launch is going to be a pain in the ass.

[cameranutz2]

I also played Beta 2 yesterday and I do have one of those $300 GPUs and I'm here to tell ya, the graphics looked pretty damn good to me. Yes there is a bit of blur when you get down into the streets and follow around a garbage truck or check on a Sim living in a trailer where the grass is growing over the above ground pool, but seriously, how often are you going to do that? I do have to say that the scale of the bus stop signs are way off base and are a bit annoying but I don't plan to spend a lot of time looking at them so I'll get over it. I've noticed also that the scale of trains is a bit off from the depots but again, I'm not gonna sit there and stare at them so I'll get over it.

Yes the maps are small. But, the game is meant to be played by region, not city. You really don't want to throw polluting industry and service buildings in with your cozy high income housing. Put that stuff in another city in the region and use it to your advantage to keep your residential areas clean and prosperous with happy Sims that pay taxes without complaint because you have given them parks and sporting venues and earn you achievements and money to make them even happier with bigger homes and skyscraper condos. Using a second city within the region as a resource for services was an option in testing.

Bottom line is you want 16 cities in the region with specific goals and purposes, doesn't matter if you play them all by yourself or with a group of friends. You can achieve greatness in a small space. Perhaps one day EA will release bigger maps but I'm OK with what they gave us in the meantime.

I ran the game on cheetah speed the entire time I played and I have to say the cars whizing around look like ants on speed. Entire city blocks were converted to condos and office buildings faster than the Sims in S3 take a shower on high speed in my game! Probably because the dumb shits have to do that stupid spin before getting naked I dunno.

I agree there should be/should have been multiplayer testing but I doubt at this stage that will happen. There were some bugs fixed as a result of the last beta test so no doubt the same will happen with this test.

Bottom line is, for the little amount of time I got to play I was very happy with the results and look forward to playing the full version soon. No doubt the game's performance will depend on one's build just like every other game, including S3.

[SimJymm]

Quill18 a YouTuber who I love to watch made some videos of his Beta time.

Let's Try: SimCity BETA - Part 1/6 (The Tutorial)
http://youtu.be/Xvk_7RGvzT4

Let's Try: SimCity BETA - Part 2/6 (The Region Tutorial)
http://youtu.be/O_xAranJSK0

Let's Try: SimCity BETA - Part 3/6 (Playing the ACTUAL Game)
http://youtu.be/kbFs4mTCbvA

Let's Try: SimCity BETA - Part 4/6 (Suddenly: Graphs!)
http://youtu.be/Pf-BpcmMz60

Let's Try: SimCity BETA - Part 5/6 (Dumbed down? I don't think so!)
http://youtu.be/u6SakRWTSRs

Let's Try: SimCity BETA - Part 6/6 (Polluted Hellscape)
http://youtu.be/pDqxNcolSkc

After watching these videos I'm tempted to buy and play. It's good that you can have all 16 "cities" in a region for your own use or shared with folks you know and trust. This makes the multiplayer aspect of the game less irritating than I first expected.

Always online may still be a problem due to my sketchy internet service.

Still debating.

[ElementMK]

If the live game is going to be as easy as beta was, my region should be built up in no time.IIRC, the beta intentionally increased stuff like money made from taxes so you could build up a city faster than the actual game.

[tangie0906]

Since I'm new to SimCity games I plan to play in sandbox mode, which enables cheats. So money won't be a problem, nor will unlocking lots that I want to use.

I'm a little worried though. I don't have the greatest internet speed but I tried to participate in two of the betas and couldn't get on the server either time. :(

I think it was a failure of their server test rather than my internet, but either way I'm more than a little worried! If Amazon didn't offer that $20 credit I wouldn't have pre-ordered it.

[Volvenom]

It's have preordered SimCity along with University. The last one I wasn't gonna buy :(

Looking forward to playing city building again, it's been so long.

[aeval99]

Is it midnight yet?http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/aeval99/smileys/smileyvault-cute-big-smiley-animated-066_zps8f87f68b.gif
I'm personally buying it, so is my BF. I always struggled with previous Simcity games, to the point that I can't play because I don't understand the plumbing. I played the beta and enjoyed the heck out of it, I'm excited :)
The plumbing made SC4 a tedious bore, for me. Lay-out plumbing, add a subway, fix the broken plumbing, level a hill, fix the broken plumbing, connect to a region, fix the plumb...oh, screw this.

[Mistermook]

Plumbing wasn't a lot better in the Beta, since without being able to micromanage it some I had a real tendency to end up with poo-on-the-streets. Of course the second beta was crippled with x'd out features and upgrade paths, so maybe the secret is in transforming your poo pipes into SuperPoo Pipes as demand increases.

[aeval99]

LOL! There's a lot of poo in this iteration of the game. I guess it complements the devs obsession with peeing in the Sims series.

I only played the 3rd beta and I had no problem with sewage or plumbing. Plop down a water tower and a sewage plant, or buy the services from a neighbour and then forget about it. Now, if I can just get a handle on the emergency services I'll be...not pulling my hair out. Somehow, I ended up both receiving ambulance service from 2 cities and providing extra trucks for 1 of them, but do you think I could get an ambulance to pick up a Sim with a broken leg who lived about a block away from the medical building? Oh, hell no! *grumbles*

And don't even get me started on germs. :faceslap:

[sirams]

Seems pretty decent game. Reminds me of those days when I spent many hours on SimCity2000. Haven't played city simulators since then but now, while watching these beta videos, I have a strong nostalgic feeling...

I've heard that the reason the initial map is so small is because the focus of the game is not on expanding but on keeping a good balance and cooperation among cities and regions in both singleplayer and multiplayer modes. Sounds reasonable, although it might be unusual for hard-core city builders.

Also one of the beta testers on Youtube confirmed that you don't need Internet connection to be always online. In fact, during his gameplay video I saw that sometimes his connection broke and the game showed a warning message but he still could continue playing without issues. Also, this information was confirmed in some threads about Origin vs Steam. People say that in Steam the offline mode is fake - you have to have Internet connection even when turning off online features of Steam. Origin is better in this aspect - you can actually disable your Internet connection and still be able to play (if the game supports it). Also some gamers say, the customer support is much better for Origin than for Steam. Origin guys respond faster and are really able to help and also refund without any issues while Steam support is mostly throwing FAQ quotes at you. That's what I've heard.

Back to the SimCity. What I still miss is the ability to interact with the city. It would be great to be able to walk the city from the mayor's view and be greeted by citizens ... or maybe getting a rotten tomato in your face for being a bad mayor. Of course, I don't want Societies style, I'm talking more about something like Godfather where you could manage your criminal city from the map and also drive around and get things in order yourself or with help of some tough guys. But anyways, it should be just as an option for people who like that style of city sandbox games. For others, the game should stay as it is - a construction platform.

I've heard, Simcity 5 GlassBox engine has modding built-in, so let's hope modders will be able to do something. Or maybe EA will provide some good modding tools.

[Delphy]

Saw a blog post yesterday saying that eventually they'll increase the size of the cities. It doesn't come out here till Thursday, but still, looking forward to the game and the future enhancements.

[gwynne]

I downloaded and installed it, and started up a city with no problems, but I'm at work and actually playing is not an option. Still, just letting people know the servers seem to be functional...for now. :) Not sure how ugly it may get at eastern-seaboard primetime.

I was in a couple of the time-limited betas and really enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to playing it.

A lot of old time SimCity players (especially the SC4 players who have been hanging on to that title for years) are really irritated about several of the new paradigms (always-on/social aspect) and mad enough to spit nails about other stuff (map size), but I had an awesome time in the betas.

Edited to add: Here's some cheat stuff I haven't personally tested yet.

(CTRL-SHIFT-C to enter cheat console, but I think the ones below don't require the console to be open, your region just has to have "Sandbox" clicked during creation.)

http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/19dcdd/sandbox_mode_shortcuts/c8n1dcx

Here are all the sandbox mode cheat keys:
Toggle Fire On/Off ALT + F
Toggle Crime On/Off ALT + C
Toggle Health Issues On/Off ALT + M
Toggle Air Pollution On/Off ALT + A
Toggle Ground Pollution On/Off ALT + P
Toggle Homeless Sims On/Off ALT + H
Add §100,000 to City Budget ALT + W
Toggle Sewage On/Off ALT + S

[tangie0906]

If you'd have taken a look at the EA Simcity forum earlier today, you would have seen a lot of very unhappy people. * Edit - just took a look and there are currently a lot of furious people!* I guess people have had problems all day. I was in two of the betas but never got to play in either one - Beta 3 I was stuck on 'processing large file' and it finally installed at 12:06am - EST. Since the beta was over at 12:00am, yeah. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!

Anyway, some people were having this same problem today, starting at midnight. I was luckier this time. The game was here when I got home for work and amazingly enough it fully installed in about an hour and a half (I have the disk version but that included game updates). Played for about 3 hours but lost server connection twice. The first time it didn't last very long and I thought my city was gone - and considering how crooked I laid the streets I thought this was OK since I'd have another chance to do it better, LOL! But it came back up and my city was still there. I started a second city because this cooperation stuff is pretty much built into the game but a little while ago I lost the connection to the server again.

I picked a 5 city region and as I said I have started two cities in it. It's private, meaning no one else can come in and start building unless I invite them. It's been interesting learning how everything works. Since the city plots are so small each city has to specialize and cooperate with other cities. One of my cities is sort of focused on mining and I may start an oil drilling lot also. My second city is going to be a gambling city and so far my citizens love me, lol.

I kind of feel about the multi-player like I feel about simporting in TS3; kind of an interesting novelty but not really all that fun imo. Even if you were playing with friends I don't think this would be all that fun. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that playing your own bigger cities would be just as much fun as this multi-player stuff. But that's just my take on it so far.

I've never played any of the previous simcity games and I do think this one is a lot of fun overall, but since I have lost connection with the server twice now - currently down as I type this - I sure wish they had made an offline mode. I get that the EA CEO has decided that online & multi-player (and microtransactions) are going to be a part of every game they make, but so far that has meant a loss of freedom and creativity for the player and that to me is a shame.

Of course YMMV. :beer:

[Mistermook]

I stopped and started several times and never had any trouble getting online, but I wasn't picky about which server I'd use or whether I'd be connecting to somewhere across the world or not. There's really no appreciable difference in play for a server in Europe or Oceania as far as I can tell. Maybe it makes a difference if you're looking for specific people or you're concerned about saves, but it's not been a big deal on launch day so there's that. Playing with a crowded 16 city region vs solo play, I think what's interesting is that the gameplay starts to feel very different. You specialize your city more since you're constantly getting aid from other cities for things like healthcare and fire protection, but conversely you're also dealing with a lot of the other city's issues without really intrusively informing you that you are. I had a city concerned with oil manufacturing, for instance, and little else, and it went for a very long time without any sort of services... but after a while I noticed I'd not built a lot of commercial buildings either, which meant my sims were shopping elsewhere. I suspect similarly I was providing all the industrial buildings for the cities around me, and maybe another city was getting rich on buying my poop and such.

I *finally* figured out the settings that best turned my computer out for tilt-shift, which surprisingly wasn't the highest settings the game would run on but the middle graphics settings. Apparently letting everything be terribly clear just waxes all that tiltshift out of existence or something. The cities are too small, but they feel less small if you turn off the visible borders to me... out of sight, out of mind. I got my game preordered from Gamestop so I have the Heroes & Villains set - which would be cute if it didn't require quite so much handholding/click this button to spend money over and over again to engage a completely separate game system that amounts to a really terrible time management minigame ala Facebook games.

[sirams]

Just curios about the in-game camera: how low can you go? In videos I see that when "flying" through the city, usually the camera is a bit higher than I would love to. Is it some kind of limitation? Maybe some future mods will be able to fix it. In comparison with Cities XL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMhTyUmBfSs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEonp5nbsok
As you see, you can move the camera almost down to the ground (or even to the water). That gives deeper feeling of immersion. Although Cities XL misses people on the streets - there are too few of them ...