new "real" Sim City in 2013

[NCGAIO]

I recently hammered Maxis about their lack of realism, especially concerning the transportation networks. Did you see the 1 tile 90 degree rail curve in the latest gameplay video? Even SC4 does not have that!

Believe it or not, Maxis actually got back to me about my comments, essentially saying "We're working on it."

Interesting ... the same thing happened to me...


It is clear that the concern is more with the gameplay of the new Simcity than with its realism. Or else there would be scenes like these ...



souce: SimCity vídeo Estratégia Gameplay # 1

- Drivers front with torticollis to see the traffic light ...

- Tram drivers having to hold up the chair to make the turn

- Sims having to shrink to fit in cars ...

Not forgetting of course the toy commented vision of buildings that are the result of low poly modeling that has very little worked textures

Anyway ... a little game to pass the time!  

[Haljackey]

Watched the Maxis Live Broadcast today. Simtropolis was represented in it as well.

A couple new things to note:
1. Subways will not be in the game.
2. Services like hospitals and police stations can be expanded to boost their capacity (and maybe coverage). You don't have to demolish them and build bigger ones.

[Tarkus]

Watched the Maxis Live Broadcast today. Simtropolis was represented in it as well.

'Twas very cool seeing Zelgadis in the broadcast.

Responding to an earlier point:

If I am reading the above correctly, it could cost approximately over $100.00 just to play SC20313 single player mode.  WAY TO MUCH if you ask me.  Why can't it be all-in-one lise the past Sim City games.

The game's starting MSRP is $59.99 US, not $100.00.  And while it is an online-based game, it's been well-established that there is a single-player mode.  If you're referring to this:

List of Pre-Order bonuses - potental DLCs after Simcity 2013's release in Feb. 2013:

Terraforming DLC : $20.00
Singleplayer / Offline mode DLC : $30.00
Bridge Design Selection (as in SC4) DLC : $15.00
Elevated Roadways/Railways DLC : $25.00
You Drive It Mode : $40.00
Sandbox Mode for Singleplayer/offline DLC : $50.00

None of that has been confirmed or announced by EA Maxis, nor is a lot of it remotely likely to be--I believe Monorail Master was trying to be facetious.  The game was designed from the start to be multiplayer/online, and that's been known since the game was announced, and the reason for no terraforming is due to the designers' use of terrain as a puzzle element.  There's been hints that UDI will be a separate game module (ala Streets of SimCity and SimCopter), and bridge designs and elevated networks are, by all appearances, already in the new game.  There probably will be some DLC, but how is that really any different from having an Expansion Pack like Rush Hour? 

I think a lot of the fury surrounding the game on community fansites is based on an erroneous "end-of-world" fallacy, that the release of a new SimCity will automatically cause SC4 to instantaneously fall off the face of the earth.

-Alex

[mike3775]

Wow it looks like grapghics I would expect to see on my ipad, not a quad core PC

[Haljackey]

A little bird just told me freeways will be included in the game. They're having trouble with on/off ramps though in pre-alpha testing.

[Wiimeiser]

A little bird just told me freeways will be included in the game. They're having trouble with on/off ramps though in pre-alpha testing.

Thought they'd be including them minus ramps due to a bug. Exactly what I thought, surprisingly enough...

[dragonshardz]

I, uh, hesitate to post this, but I chatted with Michael Donahoe at PAX Prime this year and recently got an invitation to go down to the studio and playtest the game a bit. All under NDA of course, and I've yet to hear anything back from him after I expressed my interest, but hopefully I will be able to go down there and tell all as soon as legally allowed.

[Monorail Master]

The game's starting MSRP is $59.99 US, not $100.00.  And while it is an online-based game, it's been well-established that there is a single-player mode.  If you're referring to this:

List of Pre-Order bonuses - potental DLCs after Simcity 2013's release in Feb. 2013:

Terraforming DLC : $20.00
Singleplayer / Offline mode DLC : $30.00
Bridge Design Selection (as in SC4) DLC : $15.00
Elevated Roadways/Railways DLC : $25.00
You Drive It Mode : $40.00
Sandbox Mode for Singleplayer/offline DLC : $50.00

None of that has been confirmed or announced by EA Maxis, nor is a lot of it remotely likely to be--I believe Monorail Master was trying to be facetious.  The game was designed from the start to be multiplayer/online, and that's been known since the game was announced, and the reason for no terraforming is due to the designers' use of terrain as a puzzle element.  There's been hints that UDI will be a separate game module (ala Streets of SimCity and SimCopter), and bridge designs and elevated networks are, by all appearances, already in the new game.  There probably will be some DLC, but how is that really any different from having an Expansion Pack like Rush Hour? 

I think a lot of the fury surrounding the game on community fansites is based on an erroneous "end-of-world" fallacy, that the release of a new SimCity will automatically cause SC4 to instantaneously fall off the face of the earth.

-Alex

What I mean by that was the typical actions Electronic Arts does in reguards to downloadable content, DLCs. Just look at other EA games such as Battlefield 3 or Mass Effect 3. Want a different ending for Mass Effect 3 instead of only one? That'll cost ya $15. Or for Battlefield 3: instant unlock all weapons, attachments, and/or vehicles "a.k.a. Timesaver Packs" for both Multiplayer and Co-Op is $10 - $30.

It's experiences like those that make me and loads of other people, to expect EA to throw in / implement small-medium sized DLCs that cost between $10 - $30 into SC2013 a few weeks after release. Instead of combining several or many of those DLCs and putting them into a disk, and then labeling it as an expansion pack just like what they did for SC4 called "SC4: Rush Hour Expansion Pack".


But anyways, the livestream yesterday did reveal several very interesting things, they are:

-City Size is mostly like SC4's land size
-Cars on 4+ lane roads spread evenly on both sides inorder to ease/try-to-prevent the infamous single-lane backups commonly seen in SC4.
-Train crossings have traffic lights that turn yellow when a train is coming, red when a train is crossing, and the traffic AI can make U-turns there. Even though it's still in development, there's still hope that Maxis will replace the traffic lights with train crossing lights+barriers similar to the Modular RR Crossing Mod that we have for SC4.
-Bus stops. They did say in the livestream that they did multiple researches to find to maximum distance an average person would walk to a bus stop, which is 400 meters. While placing the bus stops, they only come in sign form, no shelter, and the radius of the stop is shown on the road as a color. Green=Sims most likely to use the bus stop/tram stop/etc, Red=Sims least likely to use it.
-Water transport WILL be in the game. Ferries and of course cargo ports.
-Sadly, no subways
-If you do demolish a road with built lots on them, those buildings along the road will demolish as well.
-You will be able to take over other cities, but only if the city's owner gives it to you, etc. Thus making this feature look a whole lot like a form of Scenario Editor.

Watched the Maxis Live Broadcast today. Simtropolis was represented in it as well.

A couple new things to note:
1. Subways will not be in the game.
2. Services like hospitals and police stations can be expanded to boost their capacity (and maybe coverage). You don't have to demolish them and build bigger ones.

Not only services like hospitals and police stations can be expanded. But also: power plants to increase power output, bus/tram depots to add more vehicles, fire stations, etc.


On a final note, near the end of the livestream they revealed that this week(and probaly next week) is:

DISASTER WEEK!!!

All during this week/next week, Maxis will reveal the disasters that will be in SC2013. If you watched the livestream all the way to the beginning of the Sims 3 part, Maxis revealed 1 of the 4 disasters that you can activate while you're playing your city. The one they showed was "METEOR STRIKE", words can't describe how awesome that disaster plays out. But I did notice the current disasters in SC2013 during the livestream:
-Meteor Strike
-UFO Invasion
-Fire (or earthquake) It's Earthquake
-Typhoon/hurricane (or Tornado) It's Tornado
-The last 2 I listed, I could barely tell because of the quality of the livestream.

But since Maxis did say that "The actions of your city will affect the neighboring cities such as: High pollution spreading into other cities, or a very high crime rate will cause nearby cities to have an increase in crime, etc.", maybe they'll implement a feature like this:

If a tornado happens in your city, if it leaves the city, the tornado will strike in the city that's in the tornado's path. Or if an earthquake occurs in your city, cities farther away from it's epicenter will vary in damage. Such as: Mag 7.0 quake occurs, epicenter is in your city, the cities near by suffer a Mag 6 quake, further away they suffer a Mag 5, and so on...

It would be awesome if they do add that, but for the time being keep a close eye on SC2013's development because they did say that it's "Disaster Week" now...


EDIT::: Found out this. Check their FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/SimCity to check the Disaster Week progress and other stuff...also a chance that the Servo Robot attack from SC4 may be in SC2013 aswell...

[RickD]

I am puzzled by the attention the disasters get. I honestly did not think anyone would care about this. I even kinda forgot that there are disasters in SC4. 

[mave94]

I don't know what's cool about disasters, too. I never use them. EA released a video about the disasters yesterday. If you want, you can see it here [link].
I will not stop playing SC4 and switch to the new one.

[art128]

I am puzzled by the attention the disasters get. I honestly did not think anyone would care about this. I even kinda forgot that there are disasters in SC4. 

I know someone who's fond of disaster movies etc. He even made a disaster movie in SC4 [Remake-like of 2012].. He can spend quite some time creating a city and then destroying it.

Though I'm like you and most people, I don't care much about having super tornadoes, volcanoes etc.

[catty]

The roads certainly give a new meaning to the world indestructible, it doesn't matter what you do to them they look as good as new afterwards

... if you ignore the disasters happening the city setup makes interesting (its all very neat and tidy) viewing

-catty

[NCGAIO]

I am puzzled by the attention the disasters get. I honestly did not think anyone would care about this. I even kinda forgot that there are disasters in SC4. 

Just a guess ...


The frustration is as great as the expectations about the new SC that anything with some resemblance to what had become a reason for a flashy video to compensate fans.


Even if it is something with no practical sense, disasters like UFO, robots or maybe Pigs killers.

[Haljackey]

Chatted with some Maxis members today. They didn't leak much to me but did release a bit more info regarding highways and things.

1. Highways 'do not move'
2. They are exploring various configurations as to making highways within the playable area.
3. No farms, at least inside the play area. 'This isn't SimFarm'.
4. No 'undo' button, at least at this moment. That, complied with the inability to quit without saving means everything you do is final.

EDIT: One of the Maxis members was on Simtropolis chat today. They're also lurk on the SC2013 boards on that site and the SimCity.com forums. They also respond to a lot of tweets.

[NCGAIO]

..... at least inside the play area. 'This isn't SimFarm'.

With absolute certainty ... is also not SimCopter nor SimTower is much less SimIsle or SimGolf and in no way is SimLife or SimPark nor will one day Streets Of Simcity ...

Anyway ... maybe they should say "This isn't Simcity... is SimTown" at least there would be so many complaints!

Note: although it is not any of the above games if everything goes according to the plans for the GB these should also be "glassboxeds" and will join the family of MaxiS SimplegameS

[mike3775]

I am puzzled by the attention the disasters get. I honestly did not think anyone would care about this. I even kinda forgot that there are disasters in SC4. 

I love playing with disasters on.  It gives something different to the game when unexpected things happen

I miss being able to play a city knowing a disaster is going to happen.  I still have nightmares about finally being able to create a megalopolis(the highest level) on the SNES version of Simcity, and not having a camera when I finally achieved it, so I left the game running to run out to a store to buy a disposable picture to grab a picture of it, and coming back and my entire city was leveled due to a fire from a plane crash

[RickD]

I love playing with disasters on.  It gives something different to the game when unexpected things happen

I miss being able to play a city knowing a disaster is going to happen.  I still have nightmares about finally being able to create a megalopolis(the highest level) on the SNES version of Simcity, and not having a camera when I finally achieved it, so I left the game running to run out to a store to buy a disposable picture to grab a picture of it, and coming back and my entire city was leveled due to a fire from a plane crash

Well, I did like the random floods from the first SimCity. If that would be implemented on a realistic level, requiring you to build countermeasures (dikes, drainage, flood basins, ...) that would be great.

[mike3775]

I love playing with disasters on.  It gives something different to the game when unexpected things happen

I miss being able to play a city knowing a disaster is going to happen.  I still have nightmares about finally being able to create a megalopolis(the highest level) on the SNES version of Simcity, and not having a camera when I finally achieved it, so I left the game running to run out to a store to buy a disposable picture to grab a picture of it, and coming back and my entire city was leveled due to a fire from a plane crash

Well, I did like the random floods from the first SimCity. If that would be implemented on a realistic level, requiring you to build countermeasures (dikes, drainage, flood basins, ...) that would be great.

I liked the nuclear meltdown scenario as well.  You sorta have it now with SC4, but you have to cause the meltdown

[Haljackey]

Dirk at Simtropolis has written a review of the game based on his visit and experience playing the game when he and another ST admin were invited to visit Maxis last week: http://community.simtropolis.com/topic/51614-maxis-visit-thoughts-and-impressions/#entry1288420

EDIT: Dirk himself replied to my comments... looks like the beta may be a farce. http://community.simtropolis.com/topic/51614-maxis-visit-thoughts-and-impressions/#entry1288470

[mike3775]

I loved how the #$%clown Maxis employee brushed off the concerns about always being online to play a freaking game.

I REFUSE to ever buy a game that requires me to always be online.  I hate games like that.  I want to come home, and play.  If I lose internet, I can't play.

There is a reason the cloud OS by google didn't do very well in the market

EDIt:  IF Simcity was important to them, they would have incorporated the things the long time fans care about.  They don't care about the long term fans, they only care about the kids who have the attention span of guppies, otherwise it wouldn't be a different paint scheme on the very few buildings that will be in the game so you have more repetition than SC4 had when it first came out before people got the BAT tool