Just released. Not a wargame, I know, but plenty of 'strategery' here.
Anyone take the plunge?
http://www.simcity.com/ (http://www.simcity.com/)
broke at the moment :(
it looks great and the Verge gave it a very good review score.
I was wavering about getting it, but decided not to, mostly because of the DRM. Sounds like the launch was not smooth...
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/05/gamers-line-up-to-play-simcity/
This article (http://kotaku.com/5988286/?post=57955552) really drove home to me that this is a game for multi-player. And it also drove home how much players may come to depend on other players for the success of yours/their cities and how easily you can get screwed if someone up and abandons/destroys their city...
Potentially atupid question...can players build cities that are not contemporary or futuristic? If I wanted to build Victorian London or gaslamp era New York, is that possible?
Quote from: Gusington on March 05, 2013, 11:04:51 AM
Potentially atupid question...can players build cities that are not contemporary or futuristic? If I wanted to build Victorian London or gaslamp era New York, is that possible?
Don't think you can Gus.... just contemporary cities.
Quote from: steve58 on March 05, 2013, 10:57:08 AM
I was wavering about getting it, but decided not to, mostly because of the DRM. Sounds like the launch was not smooth...
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/05/gamers-line-up-to-play-simcity/
This article (http://kotaku.com/5988286/?post=57955552) really drove home to me that this is a game for multi-player. And it also drove home how much players may come to depend on other players for the success of yours/their cities and how easily you can get screwed if someone up and abandons/destroys their city...
The game can be played solo, on a region you set to private. It allows you to control all the cities in the region.
You are still connected to Origin though.....
^Thanks...still think I'm going to pass on it because of the DRM.
Here's a link to the online manual if anyone is interested: http://www.simcity.com/en_US/manual
The DRM has me turning away and the fact that I roughly bought DW+Expansions for the same price and cannot spend anymore money. I have gotten to the point I will not purchase Ubisoft games or others who have DRM that punished the Paying customer..... shame because it looks well done.
PE
I pre-ordered Sim City and am anxiously waiting to get home from work to give it a try. I'm not thrilled about Origin either but I've played the Sim City series too long not to take the plunge.
If you're interested I'll be sure to put some thoughts together to give you an idea of what the game is like through a "wargamer's" lense.
Did anyone actually buy the game on the forums though? The game is supposed to be highly collaborative and I'm looking for a few people to build something awesome with.
It would be great to hear your thoughts on the game.
I'm trying, and failing :P, to not buy it at full price. It looks really good and I too am too invested in the SimCity line to be stopped by the DRM..... much as I gave into the Steam requirement for CIV...
I know... I'm weak..... :-\
Other than graphics and multi-player (which I have no interest in), is there a reason to get this if I still have III and IV?
^ it does sound like it adds a new dimension of modeling the behavior / actions of city inhabitants -- from one of the reviews:
'For the first time, the game does something it has long pretended to do: SimCity simulates discrete urban behavior, tracking how every person and every object interacts. "We now have every car and every person and every garbage truck and every criminal represented by an autonomous agent in the environment," says Quigley, who served as the creative and art director on the new game. "Then we give each of them simple rules about how they should behave—so a criminal goes around looking for a place to commit crime, and a policeman goes about looking for places where crimes are being committed. What you get is a city built out of the emergent interactions between all these agents."'
*Disclaimer I have not played the game yet*
To speak to the question "should you buy it if you already have III/IV?" I would say yes but with the strong caveat that this is a reboot as far as I can tell not IV with better graphics and new features. I've spent a good amount of time lurking on reddit where the fanboys are flaming each other over the merits of the new approach to Sim City - most of them played the beta extensively so I'd say the info is fairly reliable.
At any rate, notable differences that may turn you on/off to the game that I've read:
1. Smaller city sizes (encourages collaboration between territories) Note that other cities can be managed by the same player... no multiplayer necessary.
2. A "critical mass" where cities start really needing collaborative help to grow. Essentially at a certain point everything goes south because the city is trying to provide every need for its citizens in one place and in this attempt fails to satisfy any needs at all. This may be on purpose so you have to collaborate between other cities.
3. No RCI density. Now it's just RCI and no heavy or light. The density of your zone is determined by the infrastructure and availability of services. Have you ever played the "Caesar" games from way back in the day? It's a lot like that.
4. No subways - i've heard a million justifications for this but something that may piss you off.
I could go on - but these are a few. There are a lot of beta playthroughs on YouTube, they're pretty interesting to watch.
Again, if someone does break down and buy the game please hit me up for some multiplayer!
IGN has a live stream going right now. They are going to play for the next 9 hours! :o
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/03/01/ign-live-presents-simcity-marathon-starring-greg-miller
Thanks Bart...if there was a mode to build historical cities this would be a no brainer for me. Oh well.
You US guys are lucky. We here across the pond have to wait until thursday.
I have pre-ordered.
If you all want an impression of what the game is like, I suggest you visit Let's all be Mayor! (http://www.letsallbemayor.com).
Especially part 7 (last one) gives a great general overview of what to expect. Be warned it was a livestream, though, and runs for 4 (!) hours.
Anyway, the thing with this new version is that you have a section of land, divided into several sectors. You build a seperate city in each sector.
There was a lot of complaining about the map being so small and the game being more a SimVillage than a SimCity, but those whiners haven't got a clue about the gameplay.
Like CitiesXL, the new SimCity now goes the route that your one sector city cannot have it all. They want you to specialize and let cities from other sectors fill in gaps of the others. They share all kinds of resources, or at least you can tell them to.
In the end, when all the sectors have been built up, you still have this huge metropolis. It's also visible in any sector, because the game actually renders the other sectors still when playing on a given sector.
Another cool feature is that you can now invite people to your big map and give them access to sectors to build their cities in. Effectively building a metropolis together.
You can do this as an open to all game, or just with friends only. Of course you can also keep it all singleplayer too.
I am pretty stoked for this one.
There are a billion streams right now for Sim City.
I think the most popular (and best one) is this:
http://www.twitch.tv/talutha
He's playing a few other people simultaneously so you get an awesome feel for the collaboration involved.
It looks great, but willing to wait. Will not pay top dollar for it. Wait for Xmas steam sale ;)?
Impressions from Total Biscuit as he tries to get onto a server (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/05/gamers-line-up-to-play-simcity/)
Quote from: DeathTouchWilly on March 05, 2013, 11:30:24 AM
Did anyone actually buy the game on the forums though? The game is supposed to be highly collaborative and I'm looking for a few people to build something awesome with.
I already posed pics in the screen shot forum.
Impressions, making money his hard in this game and all those basic services building are so darn expensive. I guess it forces you to be patient and do Intercity deals. Takes some time if you are do things yourself.
So.. what are the dirty details on the DRM scheme?
Quote from: Nefaro on March 05, 2013, 05:09:17 PM
So.. what are the dirty details on the DRM scheme?
Well it's Origin. If you play BF3 then you're not bothered by it.
Quote from: jomni on March 05, 2013, 05:12:45 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on March 05, 2013, 05:09:17 PM
So.. what are the dirty details on the DRM scheme?
Well it's Origin. If you play BF3 then you're not bothered by it.
I don't play BF3.
the mac version isn't out yet?
Quote from: Nefaro on March 05, 2013, 05:13:19 PM
Quote from: jomni on March 05, 2013, 05:12:45 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on March 05, 2013, 05:09:17 PM
So.. what are the dirty details on the DRM scheme?
Well it's Origin. If you play BF3 then you're not bothered by it.
I don't play BF3.
Basically Origin is EA's version of Steam.
lol - LIVE feed from IGN and the guys game just crashed!
lol and again!
Very tempting but the news of the rough release and the DRM are making me wait until a sale. I know at some point I will buy the game but not for full price and not before they work some of the kinks out.
The game was a total mess today. If you want to buy it, I would wait a little bit to let them get the server issues ironed out.
Ah! the downside of the server based thingy...
In the future when they decide to permanently close the servers, you have no more Sim City to play. Maybe force you to buy the sequel.
Quote from: jomni on March 06, 2013, 03:43:44 AM
Ah! the downside of the server based thingy...
In the future when they decide to permanently close the servers, you have no more Sim City to play. Maybe force you to buy the sequel.
IIRC i have read somewhere, that there is some cloud computing component involved and part of the AI (the up to 200 000 ? little independent
agents -the mathematical term- that are used to represent Sims and also hidden material quantums that each try to reach their individual destination) get calculated 'in the cloud' and/or on EA servers... ?
so no servers, no sim city >:(
Quote from: Nefaro on March 05, 2013, 05:13:19 PM
Quote from: jomni on March 05, 2013, 05:12:45 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on March 05, 2013, 05:09:17 PM
So.. what are the dirty details on the DRM scheme?
Well it's Origin. If you play BF3 then you're not bothered by it.
I don't play BF3.
You need to be connected to play.
Yes but in case of BF3 it would be rather silly not to. It's a multiplayer game afterall.
The singleplayer potion of it doesn't really deserve a name.
Simcity, on the contrary, is very much a singleplayer game if you choose it to be. I can understand the grumbling of people about it still having to connect to the EA/Maxis server.
The concern of this being a means to force people to buy the next game seems to be valid, but I don't think for the next sequel already. Firstly, Maxis seems to have bigger plans for this game, so it'll run for quite a while.
Secondly, EA has indeed shut down servers late last year, but for games that were either quite old, or at least two newer games in the series were already released.
Then there is always the option to provide people with an edited exe file later on if the servers must close, but people still want to play SP.
There is no way of knowing, but I am not too worried about it.
Origin, Steam, it's all the same to me. And I understand game companies trying to make piracy as hard as possible.
Even the logins trouble currently with SimCity are forgivable. You can't expect them to upkeep a huge overhead of servers only to be stuck with obsolete hardware a few weeks after release and many gamers, but those who truely enjoy it have moved on to do other stuff.
It's a concequence of the system. Patience it a virtue. Luckily I have more things to do than gaming. ;)
I never purchase games with "always-on" DRM. EA can suck it.
I caved..... :P. Havevn't bought a game on release in a while so I don't mind ... too much. Just don't tell my wife!
So far it's fun. It seems easier to make money, at least at first, but that maybe becuase the act of zoning is free now. Mind you other things cost more so maybe it balances out but in the early game I seem to have more money.
Which makes it harder to resist the "build everything everyone asks for right away" syndrome that takes you into a death spiral of no funds. :P Did I mention I suck at this game...
I had the game throw me out twice it about 4 hours of playing. But I got back in after a 5 or 10 minute wait. Nothing lost in my game, picked up right where I left off.
It really looks sweet while playing and runs smooth. In fact it runs smoother than SimCity 4 ever did on my system.... ???
The maps seem a bit small but I haven't played enough yet to see it that's annoying.
Really liking the new road system. No more bulldozing roads to upgrade, just right click and pay for the change. This affects the zoning density of all zones next to that road section. Bigger volume roads = higher density zones.
More later when I've played more.
So now EA has implemented
Waiting Rooms due to overloaded servers?? Sounds to me like someone did not think this "always on" DRM through...
http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9337036.page
Quote
Hi Mayors -- some of you may have noticed we've implemented Waiting Rooms on some of our busy servers. If you have any questions about how the waiting room (or our servers) work, this FAQ should help.
Remember, if you are placed in a waiting room, you are always welcome to join a new server that is available. Just note that cities are not shared between servers, so joining a new server will mean building a new city.
When the news broke the first thing I did was hit Steam to see if it was available.
Nope.
My luck with EA has not been great. A year or so ago they pinged me to reactivate my Origin account. I tried and for whatever reason failed. Couldn't log in.
Now Sim City pops up and I'm thinking, "Hey, I loved that game 20 years ago. Maybe I should buy this one."
But the Origin + AlwaysOnDRM is a formula that is waiving me off. Then I read the news about waiting rooms and game crashes.
So instead of *buying* the game to *review* it (and EA should provide me with a copy, but I haven't asked and we're probably still a bit small to be on their first-call reviewer list) I'm going to ignore it. Sorry EA. You're on your own. Maybe I'll pick this up when it's on sale for $5 and moves to a DRM that works. Like Steam.
^First thing I did was run off to Steam too.
I've ordered it, have a fast connection and plenty of time so I'll report back here.
Sounds like these guys have never heard of a VM farm for their servers.
Quote from: jomni on March 06, 2013, 03:43:44 AM
In the future when they decide to permanently close the servers, you have no more Sim City to play. Maybe force you to buy the sequel.
That is
precisely what will happen. And that is why I will never buy this game.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on March 06, 2013, 02:02:17 PM
Quote from: jomni on March 06, 2013, 03:43:44 AM
In the future when they decide to permanently close the servers, you have no more Sim City to play. Maybe force you to buy the sequel.
That is precisely what will happen. And that is why I will never buy this game.
No I don't think this will happen with the sequel. Maybe the game after that, sure. But I won't expect them to force everyone on the next game.
I believe this is a false sense of anxiety.
Quote from: Yskonyn on March 06, 2013, 03:34:28 PM
Quote from: Huw the Poo on March 06, 2013, 02:02:17 PM
Quote from: jomni on March 06, 2013, 03:43:44 AM
In the future when they decide to permanently close the servers, you have no more Sim City to play. Maybe force you to buy the sequel.
That is precisely what will happen. And that is why I will never buy this game.
No I don't think this will happen with the sequel. Maybe the game after that, sure. But I won't expect them to force everyone on the next game.
I believe this is a false sense of anxiety.
A sense of anxiety felt annoyingly over the years. Has Steam folded? Stormeagle? No. Let an important client/server fall, then we can wail.
Quote from: Martok on March 06, 2013, 07:15:26 AM
I never purchase games with "always-on" DRM. EA can suck it.
I'm with you on this...
Quote from: LongBlade on March 06, 2013, 11:15:22 AM
Maybe I'll pick this up when it's on sale for $5 and moves to a DRM that works. Like Steam.
...and with you on this.
Quote from: Bison on March 06, 2013, 06:37:04 AM
Quote from: Nefaro on March 05, 2013, 05:13:19 PM
Quote from: jomni on March 05, 2013, 05:12:45 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on March 05, 2013, 05:09:17 PM
So.. what are the dirty details on the DRM scheme?
Well it's Origin. If you play BF3 then you're not bothered by it.
I don't play BF3.
You need to be connected to play.
LOL!
The ultimate abuse.
A bit ironic when their host servers keep screwing up, too, isn't it? ::) You'd think after Ubi's debacle, these cheesed*cks would've taken note. It's good that EA doesn't have any single-player games that entice me to use this crap DRM.
Quote from: Bismarck on March 06, 2013, 03:40:03 PM
A sense of anxiety felt annoyingly over the years. Has Steam folded? Stormeagle? No. Let an important client/server fall, then we can wail.
EA shut down a bunch of old game servers. The list is too long to recount here. Suffice it to say that, yes, most gamers will move on (including me in all likelihood) but for anyone interested in playing Civ 5 five years from now, their record isn't good.
http://www.ea.com/1/service-updates
I'll whine then. ::)
The fact it has anything to do with Origins is an automatic no sale for me. I got ripped off for $10 from the service, but it will be the only $10 they get from me.
Quote from: LongBlade on March 06, 2013, 05:17:48 PM
Quote from: Bismarck on March 06, 2013, 03:40:03 PM
A sense of anxiety felt annoyingly over the years. Has Steam folded? Stormeagle? No. Let an important client/server fall, then we can wail.
EA shut down a bunch of old game servers. The list is too long to recount here. Suffice it to say that, yes, most gamers will move on (including me in all likelihood) but for anyone interested in playing Civ 5 five years from now, their record isn't good.
http://www.ea.com/1/service-updates
I'd be pretty upset as well if EA shut down Civ 5, considering it's a 2K game... :P
As for the list, more than half of it consists of sports games with annual releases that the entire community moves on to. Add in assorted Facebook crap and 5+ year old MP shooters and there aren't a lot of "Oh no! Not that one!" games on that list.
The price and server functionality today are bigger concerns for me than the possibility of it one day being shut down.
^ my concern also.
I seldom plays games long after release - so a server disappearing in 2/3/5/10 years isn't really a problem for me. There are no games I'm that mental on that I play them continuously
Quote from: Arctic Blast on March 07, 2013, 01:41:14 AM
Quote from: LongBlade on March 06, 2013, 05:17:48 PM
Quote from: Bismarck on March 06, 2013, 03:40:03 PM
A sense of anxiety felt annoyingly over the years. Has Steam folded? Stormeagle? No. Let an important client/server fall, then we can wail.
EA shut down a bunch of old game servers. The list is too long to recount here. Suffice it to say that, yes, most gamers will move on (including me in all likelihood) but for anyone interested in playing Civ 5 five years from now, their record isn't good.
http://www.ea.com/1/service-updates
I'd be pretty upset as well if EA shut down Civ 5, considering it's a 2K game... :P
As for the list, more than half of it consists of sports games with annual releases that the entire community moves on to. Add in assorted Facebook crap and 5+ year old MP shooters and there aren't a lot of "Oh no! Not that one!" games on that list.
Heh. 2K is a powerful company.
Sure, many of those titles are annual sports titles. But some are not. I'll be the first to tell you that once I leave a game it's a rare time that I come back to it, so shutting down, say, Armies of Exigo, won't break my heart. But that said, if I cared, I'd like the option to host my own MP game with some buds for old time's sake.
I can't remember anyone marketing Armies of Exigo as a game whose multiplayer shelf life had an expiration date. There should be some truth in advertising if that's the case.
It's common to find a statement that says they can terminate service (servers) anytime hidden in the user license. These aren't advertised.
Pretty much sums up what I've seen when watching Twitch TV streams.
http://www.dorkly.com/article/50759/simsimcity-the-simcity-simulator (http://www.dorkly.com/article/50759/simsimcity-the-simcity-simulator)
What a damned debacle. I can log on but cannot start a city.
Crazy stuff. They should have prepared for this like MMO's since it works in the same way now.
Quote from: Bison on March 07, 2013, 11:21:05 PM
What a damned debacle. I can log on but cannot start a city.
don't believe they had learned from it ::), the Euro launch 2 days later was stiiiill f*&%ed-up as well >:(
... yep, i had taken the plunge too ;)
(sometimes i love a game where i can sit and watch a situation develop and only do a little interaction here and there... like CommandOps BftB in the Wargame world )
most of the time of the S(erver) i(s) m(alfuction) City release day i was reading the German language EA forum and the angry ppl venting there ... while the server were disconnected... or when i was in, i couldn't claim my invite-only region start city.
positive side of that f*&%-up: I started the forced! tutorial ... server disconnects, but it counted as i've i had finished it, and next time ...late afternoon, i was finally able to do my first city experiments.
Tutorial:
You don't have to do it at all. When it starts, click on the options drop down, located in the very top right of teh screen. Select erturn to main menu or whatever is says. It'll complain a bit but it lets you out of the tutorial and you never see it again ... for that server...
I Logged on no problem when I got home from work yesterday, played for about an hour. Quit. Made dinner, watched news. Tried to log in again and EVERY server was marked as busy. OK, I've got chores to do, my wife came home and we spent some time watching our recorded TV.
Logged in again about 9:30 pm. Straight in. Played until about midnight, only "problem" was a red message in the upper left syaing it had lost contact with the srever and was trying to reconnect. Didn't affect my playing. about 10 minutes later a green message syaing it had reconnected.
So yeah it's a pain I can't play when I want but it hasn't been life crippling... :P
It's a very fun version of SimCity. Lots to do even if you are waiting for the money to pile up. Small side tasked that can net you a pile of cash quick - collect 5000 tons of garbage in 24 hrs = $30,000! Stuff like that.
Well Wednesday night I can definitely confirm server problems left and right but yesterday the game worked flawlessly for me. If you can palate the DRM even a little perhaps wait a few weeks and then maybe give it a try.
On Ars Technica someone brought up the interesting point that online-only games almost 100% of the time have a shitshow of a release. This track record stretches back to Ultima Online which is like a decade old. Any major online-only release has been a mess at first. And this stretches across all companies. My suspicion is that testing for extreme load is a lot harder to do than one might think.
Look at Blizzard, a company I think is fairly reputable. Both their online-only games, WoW and Diablo 3, were unstable debacles at release. They took some time but they made it right.
Quote from: DeathTouchWilly on March 08, 2013, 07:01:28 AM
On Ars Technica someone brought up the interesting point that online-only games almost 100% of the time have a shitshow of a release. This track record stretches back to Ultima Online which is like a decade old. Any major online-only release has been a mess at first. And this stretches across all companies. My suspicion is that testing for extreme load is a lot harder to do than one might think.
Look at Blizzard, a company I think is fairly reputable. Both their online-only games, WoW and Diablo 3, were unstable debacles at release. They took some time but they made it right.
I still do not understand this phenomena. Sure, it may be hard to test pre-release, but don't they have data from the prior release failures? Can't they make some kind of an educated guess as to load requirements at release? My money is on they can, but it is more cost effective for them to weather through the initial hiccups and complaints, wait until the dust settles and the demand ebbs, and then implement the necessary server capacity without overdoing it. It does not make sense that this problem happens 100% of the time on accident.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on March 08, 2013, 07:05:55 AM
My money is on they can, but it is more cost effective for them to weather through the initial hiccups and complaints, wait until the dust settles and the demand ebbs, and then implement the necessary server capacity without overdoing it.
Exactly ! >:(
The problem is: they already got the money ...and the product is
unique.
there is no competitive product that give exactly the identical
entertainment experience at least at the time of those releases.
The only way out -from the customer rights political sight of view- is a bill from the EU: If the already payed
service is not provided at release day, there has to be a refund (maybe 15% of the price) to each customer who files in a claim and evidence (screens).
like we have here in Transportation services, where there is refund for delayed trains and flights
I've played for about an hour so I'm going to hold back on my first thoughts which were clearly influenced by the server issues.
If nothing else, EA is consistent (http://consumerist.com/2012/04/04/congratulations-ea-you-are-the-worst-company-in-america-for-2012/).
I make a fatwa against EA anyway. They get no more of my money.
EA
Amazon suspends sales of SimCity video game
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21712910 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21712910)
Is it challenging enough? Take Tropico i like the design but too easy.
Quote from: fran on March 08, 2013, 02:22:29 PM
Is it challenging enough? Take Tropico i like the design but too easy.
Yes. One city clearly cannot do everything this time. Expensive buildings and little space. Intercity trade is necessary. You can start multiple, ple citiesports he map. I for one cannot solve my sanitation problem.
update: Sanitation problem solved. I did not build enough water filtration plats to keep the water that is pumped clean. But i'm now running out of water (water table depletion). Time to buy water from other cities (I will create a city that provides excess water). I like the challenge. Here's an informative post about water. http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/107735/does-the-water-table-replenish
Also my industry is stagnating. I have a relatively wealthy population and they don't want to take industrial jobs. Some big factories are finding it hard to get people to work for them. This means I need another town to provide low class workers, and also develop technology (through education) for high tech industrial jobs.
Other interrelationships that I learned... Low education levels lead to more dumb people starting fires. People who cannot earn enough turns to crime. Pollution leads to sickness. The need for middle income citizens to vitality the shopping scene (commercial business). Civic amenities (parks, schools sports) lead to personal wealth (land value).
Server issues aside, it is really a great game.
The city zones are too small. Really fun game, but the small zones are pretty limiting. I'd like to see agriculture zoning and a few more odds and ends.
Also while I'm thinking about it. I sort of miss being able to place my own power lines and water pipes. Also I don't see any means to raise/lower land, build bridges and a few other things from previous editions.
Finally the zoomed in textures suck. Fuzzy images are not cool.
I also forgot. What the hell happened to zone density control? And freaking one way streets? Man this game is getting my blood pressure up now that I think about it after a seemingly soothing 3 hour game play session.
Quote from: Bison on March 09, 2013, 12:33:18 AM
I also forgot. What the hell happened to zone density control? And freaking one way streets? Man this game is getting my blood pressure up now that I think about it after a seemingly soothing 3 hour game play session.
Zone density is influenced by the density of the streets.
Small zones force you to interact with other cities.
One way street is useful. Hope they add that.
I actually appreciate that they got rid of the power lines and pipes.
I thought they said they will look at increased city sizes in future. Current sizes allow the game to be more assessable by keeping required specs low. Could be load of bull but they do have big enough following to do good things in thefuture . I just hope it is game engine improvements and not just pointless skins dlc.
Jomni, sounds nice and detailed.
Quote from: jomni on March 09, 2013, 02:13:47 AM
Quote from: Bison on March 09, 2013, 12:33:18 AM
I also forgot. What the hell happened to zone density control? And freaking one way streets? Man this game is getting my blood pressure up now that I think about it after a seemingly soothing 3 hour game play session.
Zone density is influenced by the density of the streets.
Small zones force you to interact with other cities.
One way street is useful. Hope they add that.
I actually appreciate that they got rid of the power lines and pipes.
I understand that zone densitiy is tied to street size the issue is an avenue eats up a ton of space on an already excessively small map.
Look at how much space some of the specialization buildings take. Again disproportionately large compaired to zone size. And why cann't I have a map set that has a huge city space availible? Why do I have to be forced into building 3 to 12 small cities? It called SimCity not SimSupplyChainManagement. I don't mind building the different cities because it can be fun to link commerce, but vary up the zone size.
http://www.ea.com/news/a-simcity-update-and-something-for-your-trouble (http://www.ea.com/news/a-simcity-update-and-something-for-your-trouble)
Can redeem free game on 18/3 and they claim to increased server capacity by 120%
For what it's worth, Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/SimCity-Limited-Edition-Pc/product-reviews/B007FTE2VW/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1) in the U.S. currently shows 2,778 negative out of 3,014 customer reviews.
Well I'll say I haven't had issues getting onto a server today.
Quote from: Bison on March 09, 2013, 01:56:28 PM
Well I'll say I haven't had issues getting onto a server today.
They're generally fixed.
Looks like EA is still being EA though, with the ban-your-account stick ever handy. If you read RPS, you know this is about the zillionith time they've threatened unhappy customers with a ban on their EA account. In this case, a very Clinton-esque response from a "Customer Service" rep to a customer requesting a refund:
http://www.gamechup.com/ea-refuses-to-refund-user-for-simcity-threatens-account-ban/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_47231 (http://www.gamechup.com/ea-refuses-to-refund-user-for-simcity-threatens-account-ban/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_47231)
Quote from: Steelgrave on March 09, 2013, 07:21:21 PM
Looks like EA is still being EA though, with the ban-your-account stick ever handy. If you read RPS, you know this is about the zillionith time they've threatened unhappy customers with a ban on their EA account. In this case, a very Clinton-esque response from a "Customer Service" rep to a customer requesting a refund:
http://www.gamechup.com/ea-refuses-to-refund-user-for-simcity-threatens-account-ban/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_47231 (http://www.gamechup.com/ea-refuses-to-refund-user-for-simcity-threatens-account-ban/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_47231)
That is one of the reasons I haven't purchased a new EA game for years, for what little good it did with almost everybody else running out and buying whatever EA dishes out.
Quote from: PanzersEast on March 08, 2013, 11:43:21 AM
EA
Amazon suspends sales of SimCity video game
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21712910 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21712910)
Not a good sign.
This thread made me want to have a go at a city sim (but not SimCity) first thought was Children of the Nile but then spotted Tropico 4 on sale and couldn't resist at a 75% discount and been having as lot of fun with it - it has also got the second best sound track of all the games I own, Revolution Under Siege still takes the number one spot.
SimCity is an unmitigated disaster. It took my friends and I a day to get a region started together, then the city that I started (and got up to 80K people) errored and not won't let me into it or any other city on that server. So I either wait until they fix it (day two of the problem) or I have my friends abandon their huge cities and go to another region. Our inter-regional trade has not been working anyway (so all the extra MW of power that I spent money on to provide my friend with a clean city goes to waste).
Throw in a few CTDs and that just is icing on the cake.
The bad thing is that the game is relatively fun, when it works.
I guess we are all getting a free EA game (better be my choice and not one foisted on me). But the amount I spent on SimCity was higher than the cost of any game. I won't be getting any more super-duper editions from EA, you can bet on that.
I don't know I've got mixed feelings about the game and I've logged a good number of hours over the last couple of evenings. I'll set the server issue to the side. It's a huge annoyance the least of which is why am I forced to be online for a game I've go ZERO interest in playing MMO style. The gameplay itself is actually quite fun, but the forced nature of the game to develop several small cities to create a supply chain was a bit frustrating at first. Now I've just taken over all of the city sites on my map and basically plan them as a single city. I still think the city regions are way too small. Also I'm not sure how the hell they justify only having 8 regions types. They don't vary, there is no randomization, there is no means to customize a map. That is complete bullshit. I see a swarm of DLC in bound to expand map sets, building types, and some more features.
I haven't played because I won't buy EA. Both of my kids went for it and both are seasoned gamers who grew up on SimCity.
They pretty much echo what Bison just said. A really fun game with some shortcomings and annoyances that they felt shouldn't be there
and could eventually be game killers. Neither felt it was worth the money at this time. We get this sometimes from Paradox but their
games are fixed by the time the 60 dollar mark is reached.... is what my boy said.
Yeah, EA used to be the game company back in the day. Now? Now I don't think I've purchased one of their titles this decade.
Quote from: Wolfe1759 on March 09, 2013, 08:14:02 PM
This thread made me want to have a go at a city sim (but not SimCity) first thought was Children of the Nile but then spotted Tropico 4 on sale and couldn't resist at a 75% discount and been having as lot of fun with it - it has also got the second best sound track of all the games I own, Revolution Under Siege still takes the number one spot.
I know a lot of folks have pissed on it, but Cities XL 2011 and later are actually really enjoyable city builders. You can get them pretty cheap on Steam or Gamersgate.
And now they say some servers will go off line for upgrades.
http://www.ea.com/asia/news/simcity-update-2-from-lucy
None of these problems would have ever cropped up when the game is not server-based.
I really like the Cities XL games and you are right...they do not cost 60 bux.
The older SimCity is cheap at GoG.
Yeah. I was playing Sim City 2000 over the last few weeks but the nostaliga just couldn't keep me playing.
The funny thing is everyone complained that Cities was focused on social groups, but SimCity is the exact same way. Even more so now then in the past. They've forced you with the economic supply chain model coupled with the zoning methods to plan not a city but social group areas.
I must caveat that I am still enjoying the game. I'm just not sure it's worth $60 right now even if there weren't all the server issues.
Quote from: Bison on March 09, 2013, 10:35:52 PM
Quote from: Wolfe1759 on March 09, 2013, 08:14:02 PM
This thread made me want to have a go at a city sim (but not SimCity) first thought was Children of the Nile but then spotted Tropico 4 on sale and couldn't resist at a 75% discount and been having as lot of fun with it - it has also got the second best sound track of all the games I own, Revolution Under Siege still takes the number one spot.
I know a lot of folks have pissed on it, but Cities XL 2011 and later are actually really enjoyable city builders. You can get them pretty cheap on Steam or Gamersgate.
The problem with Cities XL is compatibility. It runs like crap on some high-end systems. Otherwise, I think the mechanics are pretty deep for the genre.
You really can't put the server issues aside in SimCity. You run the risk of so many things not working as designed or, worse, getting cut out of your game. This one is certainly a "don't buy" until they iron out the issues.
I've never had an issue with Cities running on lower or higher end systems. I guess I've been lucky.
I'm not dismissing the server issues. They exist but to be fair, I haven't had issues getting on a server after the first day.
Quote from: Steelgrave on March 09, 2013, 10:06:32 PM
Yeah, EA used to be the game company back in the day. Now? Now I don't think I've purchased one of their titles this decade.
Working for ANTIC magazine, I had a lot of dealings with EA back in their early days when every game was a must-buy classic. They were a bunch of pricks back then as well.
Hmm...how did I manage to overlook the Cities games? Might have to investigate...haven't played a good builder since Anno 1404.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on March 10, 2013, 02:37:29 AM
Hmm...how did I manage to overlook the Cities games? Might have to investigate...haven't played a good builder since Anno 1404.
If you like Anno 1404, then Anno 2070 is a real gem. Do some reading on Cities XL, some people with certain configurations of graphics cards or dual processor CPUs have trouble running it. This is a fairly common issue.
The Cities XL games are available for a very low price quite often. It is a lot of fun but after a few hours, since we have played so many
city games, you may feel you have done what you wish to do and want to move on. If you love playing cities they are only a few bux.
All this talk has inspired me to reinstall Simcity 4 Deluxe.
Tunnels and flyovers will soon be implemented.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w3OSE6n9VcQ#at=94
Thats a pretty neat feature.
I also saw they have implemented a new region to play in as well.
i didnt think it beforehand, but they have a steady pace improving upon the game.
Quote from: Yskonyn on August 13, 2013, 06:38:16 AM
Thats a pretty neat feature.
I also saw they have implemented a new region to play in as well.
i didnt think it beforehand, but they have a steady pace improving upon the game.
The benefits of "always online". Lol!
For those who don't know. Single Player mode is live. (I haven't tested though)
http://www.simcity.com/en_US/game/info/single-player
Played a bunch yesterday in "offline mode".
You can switch SimCity to offline mode at its startup menu. If you want true offline you'll need to put the Origin shell in offline mode as well.
Now I haven't played in long time but it did seem faster to me. Plays just like the normal game except you don't get the global market prices for selling stuff, just some fixed pice. Fine by me.
Switching between cities in one region is much faster.
All that and all the improvements over the last 10 patches and it seems to be a much better game than at release.
Maps are still on the small size, and I don't see them getting bigger unless modders can figure that out, but you can still make an ok sized city.
To me, it still seems much easier than SimCity 4.
Yes it is easy.
You have jammed your plot full of stuff in no time and from there on its just grinding to get the requirements done for the special buildings. SimCity has become nothing more than a quick time waster IMO.
That's a pity. I'm still out then.
UCG and GR - this was one I DID manage to avoid :-)
Quote from: JudgeDredd on March 23, 2014, 11:15:11 AM
That's a pity. I'm still out then.
UCG and GR - this was one I DID manage to avoid :-)
There's always time
If you can get it real cheap then buy it. It looks really cool and works well.... just not the same as old Sim City's.
I agree. Simcity 2013 is a really fun game. It is, however, not as engaging, challenging, or as fulfilling as Simcity 4.
I have only played in single player mode. The only challenge I found was trying to build the first city in an uninhabited region. I could not produce enough incoming citizens to support moderate wealthy citizens to support my business core. The easiest solution is to simply start another city in the region. Suddenly my housing demand shot through the roof -- in both the first and second city. It's obviously programmed. (If region = Cities(+N), then residential demand = +50%)
They have done an excellent job of making information available to mayors. Eye candy is great. Your cities will seem much, much more alive. It looks spectacular. The implementation of building modules is very good.
I like the improved transportation options and controls within a city, but I don't like not being able to create my own regional transportation system.
Fans of Simcity 4 should definitely get it cheap, especially if you held back because of the MP requirements. I'll admit that it does fulfill the 1 turn more (1 hour more) phenomenon of many great games.