sim city 5 First SimCity 5 screens and details surface

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

First SimCity 5 screens and details surface

It turns out that SimCity 5 may exist! Scanned images of a feature in German magazine, Gamestar, seem to show lots of concept art and a few early details of a sequel.

According to the feature, picked over by NeoGaf, the next SimCity will be set 20 years after previous entries and feature organic cities that won?t have to stick to America?s regimented block system.

There?s also mention of global leaderboards to celebrate the most efficient player metropolis and a new graphics engine to power everything. It?s also supposedly due out next year.

It?s all unconfirmed at the moment, but the timing is good. Maxis are due to announce a new game at GDC next week. Hopefully it?ll turn out to be the SimCity that fans have been waiting for.

Source: PC Gamer

A new Sim City game? Can it be true? And will it not suck? One can only hope...

[techbeck]

My fav SimCity was the 2000 version. I tried SC4 and its just to much you have to do to build a city. When games start to be like work, I pass.

[Skyfrog]

I always loved the Sim City games but they seemed to get worse with each new version. Hopefully this one won't require a supercomputer to run it.

[threetonesun]

I always loved the Sim City games but they seemed to get worse with each new version. Hopefully this one won't require a supercomputer to run it.

SC4 came out at a very bad time in computer hardware history. I would hope that one today could leverage multi-core processors and our currently massive GPUs to be detailed and somewhat fluid.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

I am excited.

Loved the 2000 or was it 4th?

Really don't remember, but I am excited for this one

[Rudy]

The original was the best! But if they release an OSX version I'll probably try it out

[PyX]

Woah, I want it. They should alternate between developing The Sims and Sim City, releasing one game every 2 years.

They?re screwing up The Sims by releasing so many redundant expansion packs and they?re screwing up Sim City by not releasing anything.

[comecon]

Nearly 10 years I have been waiting desperately for this. Ever since they said SC4 would have more than one expansion and all they did was Rush Hour - thank god for sites like Simtropolis and Cities XL in the midterm. I just hope EA doesn't make it for social networks or for tablets etc. It should be a proper sequel with some depth that requires some intelligence to play and succeed (unlike the abysmal SC Societies). I have never bought an EA game since they swallowed up Maxis and essentially killed off one of their biggest games. On the reverse side I hope they don't turn it into The Sims with endless expansion packs and new versions that only bring updated graphics to the table and the need to purchase expansion pack after expansion pack again to get the features you had in the version previously. Please respect SimCity, EA!

[red.]

Yes! Yes! Yes! I want this more than i want Allison Brie! I've been playing 4 for a long time and didn't even think we'd get a proper sequel. It's funny, today was one of those days I decide every six months to check about SimCIty news and was surprised to find out about it. Can't wait as long it's a proper SimCity.

I just hope they don't dumb it down and keep some of the micro management from SimCity 4 and Rush Hour. I know that some people found that a bit tedious and difficult so i hope they can implement something that both new and experienced players can enjoy and play. And like comecon said, i hope there aren't a load of expansion packs. But most of all i also hope the game isn't pirated too much and is successful because i want to them see it as a game that can succeed and we get more games like this.

[Alladaskill17]

SimCity 3000 Unlimited, or go home ;) this looks cool

[Raa]

SC2000 was the best IMO!

Looking forward to seeing what SC5 might be like...

[Fourjays Veteran]

Hope it is true, although as usual with new releases under old names I will remain very sceptical and wait for user reviews before getting excited. There is too much rubbish released under classic names these days just for the sake of it - Sim City Societies is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

Bit confused by "the next SimCity will be set 20 years after previous entries" - since when did Sim City really have an era? :s

[.Neo]

I played SimCity 3000 to death. I was absolutely in love with the game building amazing cities with millions of sims living in it. I ended up hating SimCity 4. For no apparent reason my cities would drain of their inhabitants, the maps weren't large enough to support more than a few hundred thousand sims and I hated the region concept for that very reason. All I wanted was to build a single megapolis. SimCity 4 didn't support that.

Something else amazing about SimCity 3000 was the music. I don't think I've ever played a game with a better soundtrack. SimCity 4's was pretty good too.

Bit confused by "the next SimCity will be set 20 years after previous entries" - since when did Sim City really have an era? :s

All architecture of SimCity 2000 (except for those domes), 3000 and 4 was 20th century-based. Looking at the screen shots SimCity 5 has a much more 21th century feel to it (the newer buildings at least).

That was the downside about SimCity: Cities couldn't develop a historic city center with newer buildings surrounding it. Everything was from the exact same age. I also didn't like the fact everything was so static. Everything had to be build in accordance to the map's grid.

Here's to hoping SimCity "5" will finally make it! SimCity Societies was an insult to the "SimCity" name.

[Fourjays Veteran]

What about our current era? Except for future power plants there was nothing exceeding our current level of technology. All architecture was 20th century-based. Looking at the screen shots SimCity 5 has a much more 21th century feel to it.

The cities were modern, but they weren't exclusively of one era in SC4. Like real cities the buildings were a mix of varying eras. I think it is a given that SC5 would follow the same trend of representing the architecture of real cities (therefore including more 21st Century buildings as you said) but that is why I was confused by the comment - it was never really era specific, just "current". And SC4 wasn't released 20 years ago, although it may feel like it!

Having looked at the original information in more detail though, it appears the 20 years comment has been taken out of context by PC Gamer. The info on NeoGaf only mentions that SC5 is set to arrive 20 years after SC1 - no mention of it being the game setting at all.

[+virtorio MVC]

SimCity 4 was great. I'm looking forward to this.

A new ThemePark would be nice as well, EA.

[neufuse Veteran]

a lot of those images I saw 3 years ago when SC5 talk started... why are they showing back up now as new?

I want a SimCity 5 that was like all the other sim cities just more advanced, not some social interactive game like the sims...

[.Neo]

The cities were modern, but they weren't exclusively of one era in SC4. Like real cities the buildings were a mix of varying eras. I think it is a given that SC5 would follow the same trend of representing the architecture of real cities (therefore including more 21st Century buildings as you said) but that is why I was confused by the comment - it was never really era specific, just "current". And SC4 wasn't released 20 years ago, although it may feel like it!

I never said it was. I just said that all SimCity 2000, 3000 and 4 buildings had a 20th century look-'n'-feel to them. It's not like your cities would actually go beyond that giving them a more futuresque appearance. It could very well be that SimCity "5" will also incorporate 2020-2030 architecture and vehicles making everything appear 20 years more advanced than previous SimCity games.

I didn't play SimCity 4 a lot but everything in SimCity 3000 looked the same regardless of the year you were playing in. Vehicles and special buildings in 1900 looked exactly the same as they did in 2050.

[.Neo]

a lot of those images I saw 3 years ago when SC5 talk started... why are they showing back up now as new?

Really? That makes me sad? :(

I'm off crying myself to sleep now? :cry:

:broken:

[Fourjays Veteran]

I never said it was. I just said that all SimCity 2000, 3000 and 4 buildings had a 20th century look-'n'-feel to them. It's not like your cities would actually go beyond that giving them a more futuresque appearance. It could very well be that SimCity "5" will also incorporate 2020-2030 architecture and vehicles making everything appear 20 years more advanced than previous SimCity games.

I didn't play SimCity 4 a lot but everything in SimCity 3000 looked the same regardless of the year you were playing in. Vehicles and special buildings in 1900 looked exactly the same as they did in 2050.

I know you didn't say it was released 20 years ago, you misunderstood. I was referring to the era differences (if SC is "current" era and SC5 is 20 years ahead and "current" that'd make SC4 20 years old).

I wasn't disagreeing with you about the incorporation of more modern architecture either, just the (apparently false) remark in the article about the era. SC has never been tied to a particular era other than the current century and its architecture. As you say, everything looks the same from 1900 to 2050 - hence why the remark about the era made no sense. How can it be set 20 years after a game whose "era" spans 100-150 years? :p

Anyway, as I said it appears to be a misunderstanding on PC Gamer's article - the original merely says SC5 comes 20 years after SC's first release, with no mention of it in the context of the game's setting.

[PyX]

Really? That makes me sad? :(

I'm off crying myself to sleep now? :cry:

:broken:

Don?t mind about it, Maxis is supposed to show off their next game this week.

If those screenshots are old, at best we will get better graphics. And at worse, we will get ? no new Sim City :(

I?m pretty confident about it, it?s been SO much time and the hardware has improved so much since then. There IS something to be done about it and the timing is right. They can make something really incredible if they want and it?ll sell like hot cakes. I hope it?ll be on OS X too?

[n_K]

I loved SC2000! Still got both the install floppes here as well :D.

The jazzy music was really funky, ah, such memories of that.

[Nashy]

Hope this is true. SC4 is great, I've been dealing with Cities XL for my new fix, but by God it's slow once your city is a decent size.

[DrakeN2k]

PLEASE BE TRUE . AS I HAVE JIZED MYSELF

[redfish]

According to the feature, picked over by NeoGaf, the next SimCity will be set 20 years after previous entries and feature organic cities that won?t have to stick to America?s regimented block system.

If they mean by that that blocks can be organized in angles, curved areas, and at different sizes, that's cool, but I don't see it in the screenshots. I see curved roads, but not buildings.

The main feature I want in any new SimCity games is a return of generated terrain. Its a pain in the ass having to create your own terrain every time you want to create a city.

Also, I wouldn't mind being able to start earlier in history, before cars and electricity, and build up a historic city center, and then play into the 20th century.

[einsteinbqat]

SC2000 was the best. SC4 was ok. I hope this SC5 is true and that it will be available on Mac from the start.