new "real" Sim City in 2013

[WC_EEND]

Well one thing you need to do if you're comparing SC4 to SC13 is look at the out-of-the-box game with no mods, including Rush Hour.
-Still, even 90 degree rail curves weren't possible in vanilla SC4.

This is very true and something people tend to forget quite easily. I mean, SC4 when it orgininally launched was nothing like the way it is today.

Now, there definitely are some flaws with SC2013, but I think it gets some unfair bashing because everyone expected wanted it to be like SC4 only with full 3D graphics. Maxis hasn't done that and now we have a game that is SimCity but isn't an SC4 successor in the literal sense. For me it'll largely depend on what EA plans to do with it now. If they plan on using the DLC milking model here, it'll kill the game, however if they release (paid) expansions that contribute signifcantly to the gameplay and continue fixing bugs, I see no problem with the DLC model.
I was veeeery skeptical about it (€60 price wasn't helping) and I have come to the conclusion it is actually a pretty good game (albeit with some issues like city tiles that are too small, achievements not syncing between servers, having to re-play the tutorial when switching servers, overpriced police/hospital/fire department and fires that break out much too often)

Xander

[Swordmaster]

-Still, even 90 degree rail curves weren't possible in vanilla SC4.

What's a 90 degree rail curve? Sounds painful to me.


Cheers
Willy

[NCGAIO]

[  I cannot see why anyone would pay for a game that requires you to be online to play it.

Good point ..  it is because the vast majority do not read the details before purchase and people just have had the exact notion of what it represented because of the chaos that was established at launch ..


Much of complaints from consumers (buyers) of the game say they do not know they were buying a  simcity "MMO" and  was not for nothing that the petition against a DRM jumped from 8 to 50 thousand signatures in five days.


It was the first time that EA did this?...  We know we shall not!


It will be the last time that will happen?... I doubt it!


In fact while there is expansion in the market for new (and unwary) players with access to the network  fixed  and mobile all this is forgotten and this scheme "gold mine" tends to proliferate.


That's the bet that guided the gods(*) of  the gaming market since the beginning and unfortunately seems that really was the winning bet.


* (As for utopian statement that they would change the world)

[kassarc16]

Maxis Insider Tells RPS: SimCity Servers Not Necessary

[metarvo]

I guess something's going right; the game is sold out at the local Wal-Mart.  While I still probably won't play it, I can see that it could become a good game in its own right.  Although, as others have said, it's no SC4, but our SC4 is a whole new game as well when compared to the vanilla release.  The idea that it should be compared to vanilla SC4 instead of our SC4 is a good point.

[Haljackey]

 Goona shell out 100 bucks on games this month... hope at least one of them works the way it's supposed to. 



($60 for SimCity, $40 for Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm)


By the way, If you want to take back the game and Origin denies you a refund, call your bank/credit card company and have them charge-back your purchase. You are entitled to your money back since EA is based in the US... But they'll ban your Origin account. A class-action lawsuit may take place due to this legal dispute. What's the point of paying $60 for a half-done game you can't even play?

Several features like cheetah speed and private region mode are still disabled for me... They are dropping several non-core features to stabilize their servers.

[kassarc16]

Corners Cut

It may be the only way they could deliever what they promised, but this game is just a disaster.

[dedgren]

Yup, scale still seems to be hard to nail down! 

That is beyond awful.  Cringe-worthy.


David

[kassarc16]

That is beyond awful.  Cringe-worthy.David

Funny, it looks just like CitiesXL... a few years ago. Sad we couldn't have expected more.

[Diggis]

Corners Cut

It may be the only way they could deliever what they promised, but this game is just a disaster.

They made a big deal about how this simulator was smarter than the previous versions but by the sounds of that post it's a huge step back!

[z]

Corners Cut

It may be the only way they could deliever what they promised, but this game is just a disaster.

They made a big deal about how this simulator was smarter than the previous versions but by the sounds of that post it's a huge step back!

I remember all the complaints about the traffic simulator when SC4 first came out, and reading the list here, it's déjà vu all over again.

Maxis never did fix the SC4 traffic simulator, of course.  I wonder what that bodes for the new one...

[WC_EEND]

They made a big deal about how this simulator was smarter than the previous versions but by the sounds of that post it's a huge step back!

In some ways it is, but in others it's just as daft as original SC4 simulator. I do personally think the data views are considerably better though.
Priority #1 for EA/Maxis should be fixing the bugs and lowering the prices of fire departments (having fires when you can't afford a fire station yet is annoying to say the least, especially because fires are so common).

edit: something I've really grown to hate is that my emergency servcies will stop at red lights. When half my residential zone is on fire, there are other priorities than stopping at red lights.

Also, thanks for the link kassarc16, really insightful and it matches my experience so far.

Xander

[NCGAIO]

Well .. it seems that "some" are unhappy with the direction of this whole story!

Who have helped to post this??

      Inflated artificial population code -

Up to 5000 effective population


Up to 50000 effective population


It seems that the excuse of having a real simulation to justify the resources suppressed with Reboot for the new game is slowly crumbling!

   - MISLEADING REGARDING POPULATION COUNT..

    -  Freight/industry/commercial "bugs" explained

    - Traffic "AI"... This is why services and traffic are broken!

So what is left is what everyone already knew ... be just an addition to kick upwards ORIGIN as all that the "publisher housEA" has done before and will continue doing.

     - Simcity server not necessary -   


That was the fate of Simcity ...       



meanwhile ... in the publisher housEA 

- - "Dear shareholders   ... there comes another prize of the Worst Company of the year but do not worry ... Our numbers are going up http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=EA

This is a crazy world!    


Note:  fight against DRM is total waste of time but for those who felt harmed by not knowing about the limitations this is a good path that should be followed by all countries.

    -Force companies to change language from "buying" to "licensing" when dealing with DRM-restricted goods-

[Grneyes]

Goona shell out 100 bucks on games this month... hope at least one of them works the way it's supposed to. 



($60 for SimCity, $40 for Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm)


By the way, If you want to take back the game and Origin denies you a refund, call your bank/credit card company and have them charge-back your purchase. You are entitled to your money back since EA is based in the US... But they'll ban your Origin account. A class-action lawsuit may take place due to this legal dispute. What's the point of paying $60 for a half-done game you can't even play?

Several features like cheetah speed and private region mode are still disabled for me... They are dropping several non-core features to stabilize their servers.

So, wait, did you return the game?

[metarvo]

Even though some are still having trouble with the game, others are enjoying it now, and many of the worst problems are being resolved.  So, I feel like the time has come for me to stop complaining about SC2013 or EA/Maxis for now. 

[memo]

...It's a diagonal bridge!

[Haljackey]

So, wait, did you return the game?

I haven't, but luckily if I wanted to return it I don't have to deal with Origin since I bought a physical copy. Anyone who pre-ordered the game who did so on Origin are screwed at getting a refund unless they do what I indicated in my post above. I believe if you ordered it off Amazon they're actually accepting returns.

The whole way Amazon is handling this SimCity mess is quite impressive, and has made EA/Origin look embarrassing in terms of customer service. It hasn't really contributed much to their stock price, however.

[NCGAIO]

..... I believe if you ordered it off Amazon they're actually accepting returns.

The whole way Amazon is handling this SimCity mess is quite impressive...

Perhaps because Amazon sells and does not rent things and wisely  she wants to keep their "client buyer" happy and satisfied .


With respect to shareholders...that's exactly what I meant with the crazy world ...




Weird things happen in these moments ...

   - Is Electronic Arts Played-Out? - and - A Huge Untapped Market

_________________________________

Again...  fight against DRM is total waste of time but for those who felt harmed by not knowing about the limitations this is a good path that should be followed by all countries.
     - Force companies to change language from "buying" to "licensing" when dealing with DRM-restricted goods-

[NCGAIO]

Sad ... very, very sad!

The theme on - Inflated artificial population code - reminded me of a posting exchanged with MAxisGuillaume that fortunately reproduce here in December. -
topic=14437.msg443014

->click to large<-


I did not know because it had disappeared from where I posted ... well it seems that now I know!


- Modification to have the real number of population -


How to mod simcity 2013 - getting started basics

[vortext]

So, who knew a week after release the server issues were going to be the least of Maxis' problems?! For those who haven't kept track, it turns out the the Glasbox engine - the one thing I thought the new game still had going for itself - is poorly designed and/or implemented (check SimCity on Reddit for more). Reports are coming in about fudged population count (really, the code for this actually says 'fudged population count'! Check NCGAIO posts below for more info) , horrible pathfinding which leads to all sorts of problems and now this.



That's right, freeform, hand drawn regional highways are actually possible in debug mode, which has been unlocked, as well as unrestricted offline mode. . What's more, they show the same 'guidelines' as ordinary roads or avenues which really begs the question; why are cities restricted when it starts to become apparent regional play is in fact very much possible?! A number of answers come to mind.

- rushed development process to get the game released on time to push EA quarterly sale figures. From what I've read this wouldn't be the first time.

- regional possibilities (freeform highways, terraforming) are to be sold as DLC later on.

- the Glasbox engine really is so complicated Maxis hasn't quite grasped all its implications.

Most likely it's a combination of all of the above. That said, it's encouraging modding has already started. Lets just hope it will continue up to the point Maxis can't shut it down anymore.