The New SimCity

Rorschach · 2013-09-01T10:10:22.000Z

DeepT:

So now, if there are two fires in a city, and 2 fire stations, one truck will go to each fire or will it be two trucks going to the same fire via different routes?

A better example:
In the morning everyone is going to work. Do they all head to the same factory until it is full and then all head to the 2nd factory until it is full, etc… ? Or is it sensible and allocates the factories before the workers start to drive there?

Allocation absolutely occurs before the vehicles hit the road in the fire truck and any other service vehicle case(trash, busses, delivery, etc.). I don’t know for sure in the general worker or shopper case.

Nephrinn · 2013-09-17T17:03:51.000Z

It appears the “future” of Simcity has been leaked:

Maxis/EA revealed in a tweet today that the official reveal will be on the 19th: https://twitter.com/simcity/status/380084396209868800/photo/1

I’m sure most “mayors” expect bigger cities in their futures and will be very disappointed if is not.

Joe_M · 2013-09-17T17:30:24.000Z

What, you aren’t excited for shoebox-sized cities of the future?

geewhiz · 2013-09-17T17:59:51.000Z

The big reveal will be that the game will actually work eventually!

Or not!

Razgon · 2013-09-18T03:28:59.000Z

Notice that your building will get higher, not bigger, because THERE IS NO ROOM FOR IT!..

lordkosc · 2013-09-18T08:32:39.000Z

People can’t be buying this DLC crap, can they?

jpinard · 2013-09-19T21:12:37.000Z

The prices on the Simcity DLC’s are simply ridiculous. It’s convinced me to not buy Battlefield 4, and I will probably not get Sims 4 unless it’s got such amazing hereditary and mutational capabilities than even an old genetic researcher like myself could be happy with. Feels like they’re gearing up to release “stuff packs” for Sims 4 for $50 this time around. o.O

Destarius · 2013-09-21T00:10:40.000Z

I’ve decided that I will not be buying Sims 4 nor Battlefield 4 as a matter of principle. There are plenty of developers who don’t engage in such blatant practices or pricing negatively impacting gameplay that deserve my gaming dollars. That said I’m sure that there are probably more than enough other customers who are prepared to overlook these practices to make my stand commercially meaningless from their perspective.

Nesrie · 2013-09-21T20:11:26.000Z

Destarius:

I’ve decided that I will not be buying Sims 4 nor Battlefield 4 as a matter of principle. There are plenty of developers who don’t engage in such blatant practices or pricing negatively impacting gameplay that deserve my gaming dollars. That said I’m sure that there are probably more than enough other customers who are prepared to overlook these practices to make my stand commercially meaningless from their perspective.

I’ve got a soft spot for Sims. But i barely played 3 after a few months and never spent my original 1000 points because I thought the price for digital dollhouse toys was outrageously high. I am disappointed Sim City is still a DLC churn machine even though they never got the actual game fixed properly. i still don’t think they can fix something built on their weird broken ideas, but I don’t know they’ve even tried so much as patch it up a bit so they can sell more stuff.

Destarius · 2013-09-21T22:12:07.000Z

I’m not sure who was responsible for the Sim City problems. Maybe they were honestly ambitious and failed to reach those heights, which is noble.

The other part of me says they were being disingenuous on the design bits (seeing the math behind some of the simulation and the traffic horror stories) and hobbled themselves by forcing an always online mode which added very much of nothing apparently (well no one I have read since to be thrilled about this new ‘feature’). I’m also suspicious that “Actual Working Sim City Mode” with properly large cities has always been part of the DLC plan.

geewhiz · 2013-09-22T06:47:50.000Z

The online part would have been fun if it actually worked. If you are going to promote something as a key factor (online) and have to limit the size of the cities, than make certain it works well. I mean really the fan base for this game is going to have simulation geeks trying to figure out the formulas etc - did the company really think they could fool the players? That is the saddest part of the whole ordeal.

cicobuff · 2013-09-22T15:24:18.000Z

Destarius:

I’m not sure who was responsible for the Sim City problems. Maybe they were honestly ambitious and failed to reach those heights, which is noble.

The other part of me says they were being disingenuous on the design bits (seeing the math behind some of the simulation and the traffic horror stories) and hobbled themselves by forcing an always online mode which added very much of nothing apparently (well no one I have read since to be thrilled about this new ‘feature’). I’m also suspicious that “Actual Working Sim City Mode” with properly large cities has always been part of the DLC plan.

I thought it was quite obvious that they decided to MMO the city builder design and everything that sucks follows from that. Small instance size, city specialization to encourage trading and interaction, always online etc. they can claim all they want otherwise, but it’s blatantly obvious they decided that they wanted a MMO first and a city builder second.

jpinard · 2013-09-22T15:34:19.000Z

Destarius:

I’m not sure who was responsible for the Sim City problems. Maybe they were honestly ambitious and failed to reach those heights, which is noble.

This is not the case. They were told over and over again about several design decisions people would hate and the Leadership at Maxis ignored it.

lordkosc · 2013-09-22T15:34:44.000Z

I like how the press release for the expansion mentioned 2 million players.

Engadget

Gaming articles on Engadget

Gaming articles, stories, news and information.

I wonder how many are actually playing? :p

cicobuff · 2013-09-22T16:18:26.000Z

lordkosc:

I like how the press release for the expansion mentioned 2 million players.

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/09/19/simcity-cities-of-tomorrow-expansion-announced-available-nov/

I wonder how many are actually playing? :p

Judging from the comments section in that particular thread. Not a single one.

sharaleo · 2013-09-23T17:00:13.000Z

cicobuff:

Judging from the comments section in that particular thread. Not a single one.

Well it looks like 28 people now, but judging from their reactions, I’m pretty sure none of them are biting on the expansion.

Destarius · 2013-09-23T20:02:50.000Z

Wow, the comments section is filled with the bitter and disgruntled. I loved this comment best:

Hi, welcome to EA car dealership, how can I help you?

I’d like to buy a sedan please.

We only have 2 seaters here though.

Oh, well I was really hoping for 4 seats.

Hmmmm, how 'bout you buy this car. Its still only 2 seats, but look how tall it is!!

Joe_M · 2013-10-02T14:27:21.000Z

So I launched SimCity, created a new region and city in sandbox mode, loaded into my new city with $1,000,000 in cash and had this vague idea that that was more money than I needed to fill this tiny shoebox full of structures. I then frowned and closed SimCity. I’m sad now.

Bob_Violence · 2013-10-04T07:56:30.000Z

Update from the horse’s mouth! Only seven months after launch, they’re “exploring the possibility of an offline mode.” So that’s good to know. They’re also working out the guidelines for user mods. On the other hand, bigger cities aren’t gonna happen, because their engine is just too damned powerful.

tgb123 · 2013-10-04T08:35:03.000Z

I thought it was “impossible” to get the game working offline. “Exploring the possibility” probably means figuring out how much they can get away with charging for an offline mode as DLC.