official SimCity (2013)

[remixedcat]

[.Markus]

That's not a bug, it's a feature.. :)

[HawkMan]

looks like someone's been modding to me.

[Teebor]

looks like someone's been modding to me.

There are quite a few reports of things like this happening, no idea if they are legit or not though.

I do agree though that for so many to be in one city its got to be staged, the most I've heard about on other forums is one occurrence in a city

[ILikeTobacco]

That's not a bug, it's a feature.. :)

It's a tourist attract! The shaking one is an earthquake simulator and the one at an angle is one of those upside houses!

[PGHammer]

Okay - I got my copy of SImcity LE today (retail at Best Buy, after coming up empty @ Walmart - out of stock). While you can register a retail copy via Origin, it still requires you to install via the DVD (which immediately triggers the update cycle). And yes, my fellow laggards - you can STILL get the free game (as I mentioned earlier, my choice is the NFS Most Wanted reboot, which is downloading right now). You have until midnight (0000) in your time zone on Monday 25 March to take advantage of the free game offer. I'll be on one of the NA East servers (closest to me) providing they aren't all booked solid. (PGHammer20607B on Origin)

[hhernan]

New patch 1.8 just released:

Update 3/22/2013 - Update 1.8

General

• Police station can no longer hold more prisoners than the capacity.
  
• Added missing roof texture for certain commercial building.
  
• Added completion moment cinematic for Great Works.
  
• Visiting police cars have avatar of neighbor above them.
  
• Arcology Population reflects the population of the Arcology, not the city.
  
• Fixed a clog in the pipes where sewage would sometimes get backed up and act jittery.
  
• Region Wall will pop up when a new chat message has been received.
  

Road Improvements

• Improvements to cases when connecting a new road to an existing road that goes over uneven terrain.
  
• Tuned some of the road snapping priorities to address some edge cases where it wasn?t behaving as desired
  
• Fixed a case where a new road would sometimes cause an existing road to change its shape drastically.
  
• Made Upgrade Roads mini-tutorial appear at appropriate time.
  
• Fix to four lane bridge to improve divider line placement.
  

Text Improvements

• Clarified alerts about residents not moving in because of high taxes to state if it is residents, commercial businesses, or Industry that won't move in because of high taxes.
  
• Improved text and icons on cities in region view.
  
• Updated text for "Become a Suburban City" mission to improve clarity.
  
• Updated requirements text for HazMat garage for clarity.
  

Add me as friend on Origin: herhey

[scaramonga]

NvM

[scaramonga]

Patch 1.9 hopes:

Game Improvements:

* Removed Always Online (DRM) requirement.

* Allow offline saves as optional.

* Removed city boundary limits, entire region can now be populated.

Bug fixes:

* Fixed city linking - resources can now be correctly bought and sold.

* Fixed erratic population AI - citizens will now live in the same house, work at same job.

* Population figures now accurately represent correct city population.

* Further improvements to road users AI.

* Fixed balance between residential, industry and commercial populace - no more 'Workers Needed' messages.

* Fixed problems with sewerage works and water table replenishment.

Other:

* Sacked Liar Lucy 'the fudger' Bradshaw

[spaceelf]

Patch 1.9 hopes:

You forgot

'People will stop whining that the game isn't what they want at every opportunity.'

[PGHammer]

You forgot

'People will stop whining that the game isn't what they want at every opportunity.'

Deranged - I have an idea what folks that are complaining were expecting: basically an upgraded SimCity 3000 Unlimited. While SimCity 4 was easier, by default it was almost TOO easy - you could draw zones, but NOT individual streets.

I installed the game earlier today (Friday) and have a sandbox *region* - a seriously large eight-city monster (the largest available). I'm working on one city at a time - letting each grow to a certain point before founding the next.

Sandbox play was not something I got to do in the two closed betas (neither had Sandbox Mode as an option); however, the Sandbox allows things that normal play does not. It's also the closest thing to an offline mode (or traditional SimCity).

In my Sandbox region, I have my first specialized city - a regional gateway/semi-tourist trap. It's home to a municipal airport now (a larger airport will be built as a Great Work later) and my first mansions.

I'm not even halfway through the region yet.

The OTHER reason I went with a Sandbox is that I could not find a free public space on the server I wound up on (NA East 3) - so I am playing it safe and getting my feet wet in the Sandbox before creating a public region myself.

[scaramonga]

You forgot

'People will stop whining that the game isn't what they want at every opportunity.'

They wont, never will, and more so, after spending $60 on a 'virtual paint pallet' with no soul.

Glad your happy with that, the 'majority' are not, sorry ;)

[spaceelf]

They wont, never will, and more so, after spending $60 on a 'virtual paint pallet' with no soul.

Glad your happy with that, the 'majority' are not, sorry ;)

Good to know you're a majority. I'll be sure to write that down.

[spaceelf]

Deranged - I have an idea what folks that are complaining were expecting: basically an upgraded SimCity 3000 Unlimited. While SimCity 4 was easier, by default it was almost TOO easy - you could draw zones, but NOT individual streets.

It isn't the game that makes them hard to take seriously. There were certainly design decisions I find annoying here.

It's the DRM tirades and demanding developers and publishers heads on platters I find just a little tiny bit (extremely) ridiculous.

[HawkMan]

Patch 1.9 hopes:

Game Improvements:

* Removed Always Online (DRM) requirement.

* Allow offline saves as optional.

* Removed city boundary limits, entire region can now be populated.

Bug fixes:

* Fixed city linking - resources can now be correctly bought and sold.

* Fixed erratic population AI - citizens will now live in the same house, work at same job.

* Population figures now accurately represent correct city population.

* Further improvements to road users AI.

* Fixed balance between residential, industry and commercial populace - no more 'Workers Needed' messages.

* Fixed problems with sewerage works and water table replenishment.

Other:

* Sacked Liar Lucy 'the fudger' Bradshaw

So basically make it super easy to play the game and impossible to ever run out of money by building cities that make no sense at all.

[PGHammer]

Good to know you're a majority. I'll be sure to write that down.

Deranged, by "majority" he means the "hardcore" - the SAME folks behind the rather intensive SC4 modder community. That, in fact, leads to my BIGGER bone to pick - considering that practically the entire SImcity dev team came from either SimCity 4 or a previous one, could it in fact be that the decision to go in an entirely different direction may have well BEEN a conscious one, so as NOT to stomp all over a still-popular (and still supported) SC4?

Creating (basically) a near-clone of SC4, in my humble opinion, would likely have been taken (by the same folks) as trying to kill a still solid game - and they would have been, in point of fact, accurate. So a decision to respect that SC4 is still viable and still supported (in fact, you can purchase it via Origin today) is supposed to be a bad thing?

No; this game is not aimed at the "hardcore" - that is what SC4 is about. It's still available and still supported - if you like it so much, why aren't you playing it? (Reminds me of all the anger and angst regarding Windows 8 - even though Windows 7 has not only NOT gone away, it's not due to GO away for another seven years, at minimum - 2020, to be precise.)

[scaramonga]

Deranged, by "majority" he means the "hardcore" - the SAME folks behind the rather intensive SC4 modder community. That, in fact, leads to my BIGGER bone to pick - considering that practically the entire SImcity dev team came from either SimCity 4 or a previous one, could it in fact be that the decision to go in an entirely different direction may have well BEEN a conscious one, so as NOT to stomp all over a still-popular (and still supported) SC4?

Creating (basically) a near-clone of SC4, in my humble opinion, would likely have been taken (by the same folks) as trying to kill a still solid game - and they would have been, in point of fact, accurate. So a decision to respect that SC4 is still viable and still supported (in fact, you can purchase it via Origin today) is supposed to be a bad thing?

No; this game is not aimed at the "hardcore" - that is what SC4 is about. It's still available and still supported - if you like it so much, why aren't you playing it?

Well, thank god someone still understands the 'SC scene'! I really thought all hope had been lost, thank you :)

[PGHammer]

Well, thank god someone still understands the 'SC scene'! I really thought all hope had been lost, thank you :)

scara - I own SC4 as well - while I didn't buy it on launch day, I DID buy it (the Deluxe Edition - the one that includes the previously separate Rush Hour DLC). SC4 and the new Simcity are different, and it's very much largely by design. While their development teams have a lot in common (look at the development team for this version - most, if not all, CAME from SC4), the target audience is radically different. In fact, the targets of SC3000 Unlimited and SC4 are also different.

I remember shortly after its launch, a particular version of SimCity was criticized for pandering too much to the same crowd as "The Sims" - especially due to the "My Sims" features.

No - it wasn't the current version of Simcity, either - the criticism was ten years ago, and of (get this) SC4.

While there IS overlap between SC4 and this version, there's not much. There isn't MEANT to be much, either.

And that's something that a lot of folks that are whacking Simcity for reasons OTHER than the errors (which it deserves a whacking for) don't seem to get.

This version of Simcity is designed to be almost a prep course for the deeper toolchest that is SC4 and the mods thereof. And it needs it, as SC4 is horribly lacking in any sort of add-on that explains mods and how to use them. (One of the most popular mods is for something that was just as badly busted in SC4 as this game - traffic pathing.)

I like both games - but for different reasons.

[matt4pack]

Part of what Sim City was about is the creativity side of making unique cities which is just severely limited with the tile sizes in this game and has been replaced with the micro-management aspect. I just don't think the micro-management aspect can sustain this game. I've created a metropolis, mining city, and a university tech city. The only 2 left are tourist and gambling which after that I don't think there will be much incentive to play anymore as the creativity aspect from previous games is so restricted.

If they want long term longevity out of this game something has to be done with the tile sizes. I've been playing my free game NFS more then Sim City lately because my cities run out of space and then all you are left with is the micro-management.

[spaceelf]

Part of what Sim City was about is the creativity side of making unique cities which is just severely limited with the tile sizes in this game and has been replaced with the micro-management aspect. I just don't think the micro-management aspect can sustain this game. I've created a metropolis, mining city, and a university tech city. The only 2 left are tourist and gambling which after that I don't think there will be much incentive to play anymore as the creativity aspect from previous games is so restricted.

If they want long term longevity out of this game something has to be done with the tile sizes. I've been playing my free game NFS more then Sim City lately because my cities run out of space and then all you are left with is the micro-management.

As I've said before, I expect copious amounts of DLC packs. Sims 3s amount of DLC is far beyond what anyone would consider normal.

[HawkMan]

Yeah, I think people are seriously under estimating SimCity here. the engine itself is an order of magnitude beyond the simple simulation of SC4. but if you look at the game it takes a lot of the corner stones from SC4, ready to expand on them, and not only have everything you need from SC4, but surpassing it. a lot of the SC4 stuff like grants and such are already implemented, but in the form of addons to police stations, hospitals and firestations. like the fire prevention education(marshal) neighborhood watch programs and such.

I expect one of the first major addons to come will be a traffic focused one, where you will be able to micromanage traffic a lot more. with one way roads and maybe even custom traffic lights and controlled directions in intersections, though one way streets takes care of much of this.

it also brings back stuff like the arcologies from 2000, except this time they make sense, as opposed to a tiny skyscraper sized building in your city. and whereas the previous sim city had very simple simulation of traffic and zones. SimCity simulates every citizen up till 500, when each individual citizen start representing multiple citizen for the simulation to be manageable, not even a quad CPU i7 motherboard (that's a LOT of cores) would be able to keep up with simulating 100k+ sims.

So as it is right now, SimCity is both simpler and far more advanced than SC4, but look forward, it'll be far surpassed SC4 on every level.

I think I'll start a sandbox game someday this week maybe during easter and see how my idea of avenues with roundabouts with T intersections instead of regular X intersections work.

[spaceelf]

I hope not. Making traffic even more annoying to manage doesn't seem like a great idea.

[+virtorio MVC]

I hope not. Making traffic even more annoying to manage doesn't seem like a great idea.

Then in that case don't buy the addon; micromanaging traffic sounds incredibly fun to me.

[spaceelf]

Then in that case don't buy the addon; micromanaging traffic sounds incredibly fun to me.

sheesh that and pollution are 90% of the gameplay already

[+virtorio MVC]

sheesh that and pollution are 90% of the gameplay already

Yes, but currently you're micromanaging the streets to trick the game into working properly.