official SimCity (2013)

[ILikeTobacco]

Do you guys think we need a thread dedicated to SimCity Screenshots?

Could be fun. Would be nice to see how people are doing things. I still can't come up with a decent street layout that doesn't get jammed up.

[CPressland]

Well, as I cannot afford the new Sim City and it's not available for the Mac yet, I figured I'd begin playing Sim City 2000 again. So far, so good :D.

[sundayx Veteran]

If that was the new game you would've filled the map already! Looks more fun though, good old times.

[HawkMan]

If that was the new game you would've filled the map already! Looks more fun though, good old times.

Actually seems to be about the same size.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

just installed simcity 4 again myself. I had forgotten how fun and addicting it can be. and how bad I am at the game lol :p

also, woo for simcity 4 allowing custom resolutions. an old game that can actually be widescreen :)

[PGHammer]

If that was the new game you would've filled the map already! Looks more fun though, good old times.

And therein lies the issue with all previous versions of SimCity - *old*.

Reboots of game franchises - especially popular ones - aren't JUST about the money (though that does play a part in deciding WHICH franchises get rebooted); it's also about changes in the state of developer toolboxes.

Comparing JUST the versions of SImCity for Windows prior to this one, exactly how much did game itself change?

I have all three installed on my Windows 8 Pro (x64) desktop PC; not ONE is in a virtual machine. (No; none are *pirate* copies - 3000 Unlimited and 4 Deluxe I installed from my own CD-ROM media, while 2000 x64 was purchased from GOG.COM due to it being the x64 version. I bought this version because my 2000 x32 version - which I have on CD - would only run in a VM.) Even SimCity 4 Deluxe (which is the original SimCity 4 tag-teamed with the Rush Hour DLC) changed very little gameplay-wise from the two older versions.

And that is likely a great deal of the attraction of older games - you remember the good about that time, while not thinking about the bad.

How successful has been ANY reboot of a popular game - especially for the PC? Offhand, I can think of just two - and both from John Carmack. However, the reboots of DOOM (DOOM3) and Quake (Quake Live) can both be seen as more "evolutionary" than "revolutionary".

The reboot of SimCity, however, is "revolutionary" in a major way - and beyond the online-only aspects. First off, multiplayer is part of the core gameplay aspect (while multiplayer was present in SC4, it was practically an afterthought). Yes, the city/tile size is smaller; however, the reboot also throws FAR more information at you than SC4. (SC4 featured individual Sims giving the Mayor an earful - good AND bad; the reboot takes this to a new level.) The Advisory Council got some love, too compared to previous versions of SimCity. Then there is the fact that the engine itself is improved in a graphical sense - the only real competitors it has in terms of graphics are RTS titles (including Civ V and the two Starcraft 2 titles to date) - not other city sims.

The other side of the hammering the reboot has been taking started before the closed beta - let alone the launch. While some of it is due to the online-only aspect of it, the bigger reason for the hammering (aside from that) is that it IS a revolutionary change. Revolutions are seldom bloodless - even in computing.

I've been following the reactions on Simtropolis (one of the better-known fanbases of all the city-sim games; though best known for their SimCity forums, they have sub-forums for CitiesXL as well) and I'm watching opinions change as EA cleans up the mess after the bungled launch. Some of the harshest critics of the small tile size are realizing that the small tile size need not be a minus. (What is forgotten is that you can a lot more Sims in a tile in this Simcity compared to any previous version - resolution options are far higher, and dovetail nicely with the supported versions of Windows; SC4 Deluxe inexplicably had a maximum resolution of 1600x1200, and NO native support of widescreen at all. Between the greater resolution options, and the greater control you have over streets, the challenge is to avoid making your city *blocks* too large - an issue I flubbed-up rather badly in the closed betas. I wasted a LOT of space in the middle-income residential areas, and the wasteage in the lower-income areas, the commercial, and even industrial zones was worse. (The tools are there - in fact, you have greater control over the size of city blocks than any previous version of SimCity - take ownership of your poor design.)

That is one reason I'm looking forward to upgrading my GPU - the GlassBox Engine will actually use it.

[-T- Member]

Well I caved and got it from the Indian origin store. Much better value for money, and there appears to be a nearby server that has so far had no issues. Played a couple of games, though having a real problem with traffic and my emergency services. Had 8 ambulances just sitting in a traffic jam, behind 4 fire engines. Also had a bit of bother with the random disasters. First I had an earthquake, then a meteor shower, then about an hour later, a monster decided to appear just at my nuclear power station and destroy one of my towers. That completely killed my progress on that city as the water and air is radioactive now, and I cannot sustain any buildings. Crime is also through the roof for some reason, as the police are utterly hopeless

Fun game though

[Brandon H Supervisor]

wall of text snip

my only gripe with the new SimCity (and why i won't buy it till it's on sale) is the "City" size. while i don't like the always online idea, and think that game saves are server specific. i can deal with those 2 things. the "City" size on the other hand is just stupidly small. you can claim regions but that is not a good claim IMO. no real life city has small regions with large empty spaces between them.

honestly if they were gonna do it that way they should have just called it SimTown or SimRegions as the whole "you're just working on sections of a city at a time" is a crap excuse IMO.

I won't be surprised if in the near future there's a DLC to make cities bigger, and I'd be even less surprised if EA makes it a payed DLC :/

these are my reasons for not purchasing the new SimCity at the moment

[ILikeTobacco]

I won't be surprised if in the near future there's a DLC to make cities bigger, and I'd be even less surprised if EA makes it a payed DLC :/

I doubt there would be a DLC to make cities bigger. There will be DLC's and they will happen to allow the cities to be bigger, but I don't think there will be one JUST for that. That being said, your point about the empty spaces is a valid point. I personally however like the limited space. Makes it a real challenge and takes more skill than previous versions. Everything has to be planned with greater detail now. Takes all of 5 minutes to go from nothing to a city so jammed up on the streets that you can't stop crime or fires. Crime is my current issue that I haven't figured out yet.

[HawkMan]

If the cities where bigger, my mining town would be dead easy to run, right now I need to keep the ore and coal areas relatively clear,I have very little water and pumping stations take a lot of space so I need to keep water areas clear as as well and the little water I have unpolluted,at least until I have a friend with excess water.

Had it been bigger, I would have no issues with any of this.

[articuno1au]

If you put a sewerage treatment plant beside your water pumps, it will dump clean water into the water table right beside your pumps.

Should make your life a bit easier >.<

[ILikeTobacco]

If the cities where bigger, my mining town would be dead easy to run, right now I need to keep the ore and coal areas relatively clear,I have very little water and pumping stations take a lot of space so I need to keep water areas clear as as well and the little water I have unpolluted,at least until I have a friend with excess water.

Had it been bigger, I would have no issues with any of this.

Make a city in the same region that makes excess water to export and your problem is solved. That is the entire point of the smaller maps.

[spacer]

I can already see paid DLCs to add stuff that the previous games in the series already had from day one. Like subways and stuff.

I do have a question though. Is it possible to make just a suburb-like town that doesn't grow any more? Like, can you develop a plot to just have a lot of low/medium density residential, and some commercial; and then keep it that way forever? Or does the game always push you to build more and bigger?

[HawkMan]

Make a city in the same region that makes excess water to export and your problem is solved. That is the entire point of the smaller maps.

I know, but it's better to have several people so all the cooperating cities can grow and advance each other instead of jumping between.

I can already see paid DLCs to add stuff that the previous games in the series already had from day one. Like subways and stuff.

And what would the issue with that be ? though I don't see subways being useful unless they work like busses or the already existing city train thingies. you lose to much space with the 2x1 subway stations.

as for paid content from earlier games.the content in this game is and order of magnitude more complex and harder to implement than the simple construction systems and models in the earlier games.

[hhernan]

I've created a region called "Fantasy Islands". Please feel free to join me.

By the way, I don't know if there's a way to search for a specific region by it's name.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

I've created a region called "Fantasy Islands". Please feel free to join me.

By the way, I don't know if there's a way to search for a specific region by it's name.

last i heard you're supposed to be able to but that's one of the features that's still disabled :rofl:

[scaramonga]

just installed simcity 4 again myself. I had forgotten how fun and addicting it can be. and how bad I am at the game lol :p

also, woo for simcity 4 allowing custom resolutions. an old game that can actually be widescreen :)

:D

Lookin as great as ever ;)

[Matthew S.]

I can already see paid DLCs to add stuff that the previous games in the series already had from day one. Like subways and stuff.

I do have a question though. Is it possible to make just a suburb-like town that doesn't grow any more? Like, can you develop a plot to just have a lot of low/medium density residential, and some commercial; and then keep it that way forever? Or does the game always push you to build more and bigger?

I think your confusing density for wealth. Even low density will increase in wealth...

Also density is determined by the road type

[KoL Veteran]

If you put a sewerage treatment plant beside your water pumps, it will dump clean water into the water table right beside your pumps.

Should make your life a bit easier >.<

Damn that helps a lot, thanks.

[spaceelf]

Yeah juggling water and power and all that can be a bit awkward for a while, especially if your city is multipurpose. Plus if there's only one entrance to the city and you do tourism traffic can get a bit backed up, so best to do it in areas with multiple...but it can make a lot of money so it's hard to say no to sometimes.

And some cities just do not have the room to be multipurpose.

There is a road upgrade tool also if you're upgrading to the same road type (street to street, avenue to avenue) and all that.

Anyway, patch 1.5 improves trading https://help.ea.com/article/simcity-patch-notes

[mattmatik]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/12/simcity-server-not-necessary/

When folks like Notch have come out and said they can play the game offline, you know something is up. I hope the gaming press keep the heat on EA/Maxis.

[hhernan]

Yeah juggling water and power and all that can be a bit awkward for a while, especially if your city is multipurpose. Plus if there's only one entrance to the city and you do tourism traffic can get a bit backed up, so best to do it in areas with multiple...but it can make a lot of money so it's hard to say no to sometimes.

And some cities just do not have the room to be multipurpose.

There is a road upgrade tool also if you're upgrading to the same road type (street to street, avenue to avenue) and all that.

Anyway, patch 1.5 improves trading https://help.ea.com/...ity-patch-notes

How do I install the patch ? Or it installs automatically when launching the game?

[spaceelf]

How do I install the patch ? Or it installs automatically when launching the game?

Yes...that's what the launcher does, updates the game (aside from letting you pick a server obviously.)

[HawkMan]

I wish i found this game as easy as others. I find it annoying. Work hours on a City that seems to be doing well, and then all of a sudden gets weird water problems, and then taxes arent enough to make money, and blah blah blah.

Onto my third city now lol, the last one was based on ore drilling. I decided to actually have a back up profit system other than taxes, but it still didn't make enough money to cover expenses, and i only had one school, police, firestation, and medical center, but for some reason i and to build many water towers because the ore plants werent getting enough water, so that took alot out of the budget as well.

I'll figure it out eventually :p

One thing i hate is how you cant destroy roads around modular buildings such as town hall. The tutorial said nothing about making sure you place it in a area where you can expand. They need to make it so we can destroy the roads to make room.

My fav new thing about simcity 2013/5 (whatever the name is) is the sewage system. i can sit there and watch it for ever. lol

The game tells you when you place the building to make sure you have room to grow into a town hall and city hall.

[chillaaa]

http://www.rockpaper...-not-necessary/

When folks like Notch have come out and said they can play the game offline, you know something is up. I hope the gaming press keep the heat on EA/Maxis.

Love it. I'll be forking out the dollars soon so hope this gets moving!