Sim city 2013 beta.

[TruckWEB]

I've been in countless betas since I started using computers (I am old you know lol) but this is literally the FIRST time I've been unable to play a game during any testing period. It crashed every single time I tried playing it. I sure hope Maxis likes all the reports I sent in :(

Must be hardware/software related on your side. Did not have one single problem running Simcity. Other than the fact that I hate Origin, the game never crashed and while playing, I did not find any major bugs.

[Tech085]

For the ppl with game crashes I bet is there hardware or software not being compatible with the game, Some ppl shouldn't be on a computer especially the oldie ppl since they can't learn new things they shouldn't use a computer, Maybe Apple is more likely for them is much simpler to use. or either that they doing something wrong during the installation. example like my dad. he always does stuff wrong with computers.

[HawkMan]

For the ppl with game crashes I bet is there hardware or software not being compatible with the game, Some ppl shouldn't be on a computer especially the oldie ppl since they can't learn new things they shouldn't use a computer, Maybe Apple is more likely for them is much simpler to use. or either that they doing something wrong during the installation. example like my dad. he always does stuff wrong with computers.

Did you just say that some people should use computer(basically calling them incompetent) on this site, because there may be a technical HW or SW problem making the game not work for them, a BETA game... seriously...

[djdanster]

To all the people talking about the crashing. From what I've seen and experienced myself it's the AMD 5xxx series card (5770 in my case) with the latest 13.1 CCC that is causing the crash. I found that when I reverted to the older drivers (12.10 initial Windows 8 drivers) it worked absolutely fine.

[Crisp]

Mine crashed right at the end of the hour, I also had Aliens visit my city and started abducting people, which is weird as all the disasters say "not in beta".

[Elliot B.]

Mine crashed right at the end of the hour, I also had Aliens visit my city and started abducting people, which is weird as all the disasters say "not in beta".

I want an alien visit :o

[PGHammer]

To all the people talking about the crashing. From what I've seen and experienced myself it's the AMD 5xxx series card (5770 in my case) with the latest 13.1 CCC that is causing the crash. I found that when I reverted to the older drivers (12.10 initial Windows 8 drivers) it worked absolutely fine.

I have an AMD HD5450 (same series, but lower) but went with the 13.2 beta drivers - nary a problem.

[Kirkburn]

While I had some problems logging in, I'd say I'm quite liking it.

I quite like lessened pressure to make the layout 'perfect', much more about freeform expression - making a city look like you want, rather than having to place X in location Y in order for it to be efficient. No real city is actually laid out that perfectly.

I especially like that going off grid layout is perfectly reasonable.

Certainly it feels smaller than previous SimCitys, but can't say I'm too bothered - with the smaller scale, I like the idea I can fiddle with and customize a specific amenity, rather than have 10 identical ones dotted around the landscape.

Ran perfectly at high settings on my laptop, too.

Read a preview on another site and was disturbed by the fact that the city grids are complete square! The author said it was like 'having your grid stamped' on the playing field. That is BS, that is not what SimCity is. I don't want to be confined to a square, I want dynamic building.

God knows what game he was playing. SimCity gives you a whole bunch of settings for winding roads, including freeform drawing.

Sure the actual zone limits are square - but what the hell else are they going to reasonably be?

On the difficulty: certainly it doesn't seem high - but...

• This is beta - balancing is generally one of the last things you do
  
• This is the start of the game ... you don't throw people in the deep end when they're starting a new game. Quite possibly it's balanced towards higher population = more difficult. Which ... makes complete sense.
  

[Jlobb2]

For the ppl with game crashes I bet is there hardware or software not being compatible with the game, Some ppl shouldn't be on a computer especially the oldie ppl since they can't learn new things they shouldn't use a computer, Maybe Apple is more likely for them is much simpler to use. or either that they doing something wrong during the installation. example like my dad. he always does stuff wrong with computers.

You're an idiot. Like father, like son.

Doing something wrong during installation? Really? next..next..next..finish. This demo was click Download, click Play. How does one fudge that up?

[WildWayz]

For the ppl with game crashes I bet is there hardware or software not being compatible with the game, Some ppl shouldn't be on a computer especially the oldie ppl since they can't learn new things they shouldn't use a computer, Maybe Apple is more likely for them is much simpler to use. or either that they doing something wrong during the installation. example like my dad. he always does stuff wrong with computers.

WOW - I can honestly say, several years ago, I used to train farmers on how to use a PC. Yes, farmers. The one that stood out, was a 70 year old. He sucked up the knowledge like a hoover and was a pleasure to teach. His 25-35 year old colleagues however, didn't give two hoots and all they were interested in was skiving out of doing their work. Don't give oldies a bad name.

[Haggis Veteran]

I dont know whether to buy this or not, i loved the old games but not sure if i am past the sitting for hours playing games phase lol

[Nashy]

Hope they do something about the slow and laggy UI and game play. It's not exactly smooth, I would hate to see a full map sized city trying to run.

[Elliot B.]

I dont know whether to buy this or not, i loved the old games but not sure if i am past the sitting for hours playing games phase lol

I haven't played a truly addictive game since Team Fortress 2. I hope this works out.

[xendrome]

By now most of you that took part in the "Beta" have probably gotten the e-mail which says

Thank you for playing SimCity!

We hope you enjoyed this sneak peek at SimCity! We're excited to bring back the defining city-building simulation coming to PC on March 5, 2013!

For those who haven't pre-ordered yet, we have a special offer for you!

Pre-Order by January 31 and Get $50 Off Your Next Purchases*

So it's 100% obviously to me this wasn't a "beta" test at all, but a time limited demo to entice you to purchase the full version, while I know they are in the business of making money, I have to say it's pretty crappy to try to pass it off as a "beta test"

[spaceelf]

So it's 100% obviously to me this wasn't a "beta" test at all, but a time limited demo to entice you to purchase the full version, while I know they are in the business of making money, I have to say it's pretty crappy to try to pass it off as a "beta test"

I think it was both, they needed to make sure their servers would hold under load and adjust if necessary. There may be another beta as such, but we'll see.

[Stoffel]

I only noticed I got the email on sunday night, by the time I got everything downloaded, installed and updated, the servers went down, so I never got to play the game :(

Is there a way to play it offline?

[PGHammer]

By now most of you that took part in the "Beta" have probably gotten the e-mail which says

So it's 100% obviously to me this wasn't a "beta" test at all, but a time limited demo to entice you to purchase the full version, while I know they are in the business of making money, I have to say it's pretty crappy to try to pass it off as a "beta test"

Which is true of most betas (closed OR open) for the past several years. About the only products that have traditional betas these days are from (surprisingly) Microsoft - and even then, it's mostly operating systems and Office on the application side. By and large, it's even been true of games in the F2P from the jump space - look at SMITE, for Ned's sake.

Still, given that, SimCity 2013 (compared just to SimCity 4 Deluxe) is so much better it hurts. Same applies to CitiesXL 2012. To put it plainly, Glass Box is a massive step forward for simulation engines merely from a graphical point of view - throw in the data layer and it is WAY too useful for real-world urban development - which is another area where SimCity gets a lot of use.