The new Sim City (released March 5)

[OCGuy81]

Just curious if anybody has played the new Sim City that just came out.  I know Sim City and roadgeeking seem closely tied, and I wanted to see if any of you have played, and what your initial thoughts are?

How're the roads in this one?  I've always loved building impressive freeway networks, and I hope this game takes what SC4 did and multiplies it!

Worth the money to download?

[DaBigE]

After the long lull since SimCity 4 came out, I was ecstatic to find out the series was continuing. From what I've seen, roads are much more robust than SC4...you can do winding roads, cleaner diagonals, etc. I haven't purchased it...yet... I'm still waiting to find out if EA came to their senses and included an off-line mode. If the game is 100% online only, I'll be sticking with SC4+Rush Hour until it doesn't play anymore. If my city is going to go down in flames, I want to be the one that caused it, not some 10 year-old from Canada. Nor do I want to be dependent on spotty internet service or EA's servers (more-so the latter).

[rickmastfan67]

I'm still waiting to find out if EA came to their senses and included an off-line mode.

From what I've heard, they didn't.  I'm in no way going to buy a game that I can't play completely offline in case some stupid tech cuts my internet when trying to install FIOS for somebody else (yes, this has happened once to me.  Lost the phone line (+ DSL) for 4 days because they refused to send a tech back out to fix something THEY DID @ Verizon!!) or I'm on a train/plane for several hours.  They claim that the way the game runs, they need to use the power of the cloud to do calculations, thus no offline mode...  A poor excuse from them, just admit that they are using always-on DRM because of pirates.......  Seriously, always-on DRM makes people want to pirate the game more instead of buying it!!  All they need is a normal serial code + online activation of the serial code + linking it to your EA account that you own the serial and it's done.  No always-on DRM bullshit!

What irks me is that I bet in 2 years or so, when they announce a new version, they will "shut down" the servers for this version of the game just after the new one comes out making it completely unusable.  That's another reason why I ain't getting it UNLESS they make it so you can play it offline fully as long as your computer can run it!

[/rant]

[seicer]

From what I wrote at another forum:

There has been a lot of flack over the DRMs and the requirement that even to play the game, you must have a stable internet connection. Even being off line for more than 3 minutes (e.g. a hiccup, storm, etc.) will cause the save state to fail. I hate what EA has done to the games - even as nice as they may be on the outside, the DRMs severely cripple the game.

--

"It is still possible to play the game alone — personally managing all the plots in a region, shifting from city to city like a grandmaster playing chess against a half-dozen challengers at once. But it is not possible to play SimCity 5 without being connected to the Internet."

Sim City/Maxis developers had an AMA on Reddit that ... became quite heated over the DRM situation. I was there for that, it was hilarious, chilling and sad that EA has that much control over Maxis --
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2013/03/simcity-5s-multiplayer-blues/4860/

That said, Cities XL had a DRM feature like this new Sim City - and was gone within months. Other EA games with this silly DRM feature were essentially abandoned when those servers were turned off year(s) after.

[OCGuy81]

I started reading reviews, and they weren't favorable.  Apparently, you don't have the ability to create highway interchanges, long one of my favorite things to do in any Sim City game.  The highways are already created by region, and you can only link your streets to the main highway system.

And the online only thing.  That kind of sucks.

I think I'll stick with SC4 and Cities XL for now.

[vdeane]

There's also the issue that the current head of EA hates single player games.

[codyg1985]

I bought the game, but I have yet to be able to play any of it since the servers have been filled up. I am not shocked at all by this development, though. Many people saw it coming.

[vtk]

I still play Transport Tycoon, from way back in 1994.  Or, rather, I would play it (probably on a DOSbox VM) if that were necessary.  Instead, I play its open-source clone, OpenTTD.  There are other examples of games I play from the 90s that I still enjoy occasionally, when technically possible.  Usually these are games which haven't had updated versions, or the newer versions differ drastically. 

The point is, I play computer games that are very old, and if I'm going to buy a computer game, I expect to be able to play it indefinitely.  I doubt this will be possible with the new SimCity, because servers cost money to operate, and eventually EA will turn them off.  I suppose it's possible that EA will release a patch to enable offline play, or allow people to run their own SimCity servers, at some future date before the official servers are unplugged – but I'm not counting on it.

It looks like SimCity 4 + Rush Hour + NAM is going to be a game I play for decades.



I still haven't heard from anyone who's actually played the game other than some reviewers who didn't have the final version.  Looking forward to reviews and screenshots from ordinary folks who bought it and play connected to EA's servers.



Reticulating splines.  There, someone had to say it.

[rickmastfan67]

You know there is something really wrong when Amazon Suspends Digital Sales of SimCity!

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2013/03/07/amazon-suspends-digital-sales-simcity

[Duke87]

I haven't played it and have no intention of ever doing so. Any file or software that contains DRM is banned from my computer (and I've kinda outgrown SimCity in general, besides).

The lack of offline play and, particularly, lack of offline save data storage are big problems for me as well. I don't do cloud computing. I demand to be able to personally store and back up my own data without another entity having access to it (and thus control of it).

But even beyond that, they've made the game stupid by oversimplifying it. No subways? Blech. Power and water tied to roadways? Ehhhh. Density equals road size? Come on now. One thing I enjoyed about previous versions of the game was the ability to meticulously micromanage all the infrastructure. Make too many things brainless and automatic and you've spoiled my fun. I get that this was done because a lot of casual players found all the micromanagement of infrastructure tiresome and were driven away by it, but by doing away with that you've gone directly against what the core fanbase wants. Of course, EA only cares about making money and will gladly tell 1,000 hardcore fans to go fuck themselves if it means selling the game to 10,000 people who otherwise wouldn't be interested.

[algorerhythms]

No way am I buying SimCity 5. I'll stick with SimCity 4, since it actually works, and works without an internet connection (try playing SimCity 5 at an airport...) Not to mention the new version doesn't allow reloading save states. Which takes a lot of the fun out of the game, because you can't destroy your cities with tornadoes and then reload.

The whole thing has had me thinking about uploading the terrain generator I made for SimCity 4 to my website. Though the reason I haven't so far is I would have to rewrite some of the code to make it more usable.

[Stratuscaster]

Even if you WANTED to play the new SimCity - you can't. The game launch has been plagued by download issues and server crashes since it's release on Tuesday.

The "constant online" requirement doesn't bother me so much. I suppose if you want to call it "DRM" you can - but from what I understand the whole point to the game was to make it more social - which you can't really do without other people and connectivity to them - and the game does continue to progress while you aren't playing it but others are.

It's not for everyone, that's for sure.

Eventually the servers will get fixed. And in the meantime, I expect a price drop on the game to spur sales - and THEN perhaps I'll consider it.

[Desert Man]

Sim City: The game where you can manage a city better than real-life councilmen, LOL. 

I played SC original a few years ago, used to have SC2000 and rented SC3000, except I skipped SC4. I would love to play SC5 (or SC4 to prepare myself for the newer version), because it's educational and lots of fun to build, manage and repair your own model cities. Just make sure not to overdo the number or system of roads, because the cost of maintaining them can be pretty darn high!

[vdeane]

That's what money cheats are for...

[vtk]

I would love to play SC5 (or SC4 to prepare myself for the newer version),

SimCity 4 won't prepare you for the new SimCity.  To put it in movie terms, the new one is a remake of the original with big-budget visual effects, not a sequel to SC4.  SimTown is probably better preparation.

[Stratuscaster]

That's what money cheats are for...

Apparently in the new SimCity, that's "CTRL-W."

SimCity 4 is often discounted to $10 or less, and often bundled with the additional content. It's worth picking up at that price, and there's a whole SC4 community with roads-based mods.

But yes, SC4 doesn't do much to prepare for the new SC.

SimCity Societies MIGHT - but that was such a deity-awful game, I can't recommend it.

Situation on new SC is improving by the day...but still not up to snuff.

[seicer]

I would love to play SC5 (or SC4 to prepare myself for the newer version),

SimCity 4 won't prepare you for the new SimCity.  To put it in movie terms, the new one is a remake of the original with big-budget visual effects, not a sequel to SC4.  SimTown is probably better preparation.

Yes --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cCL0T2pVP8

[rickmastfan67]

Here's some stories you guys might want to read:

Anonymous Maxis Insider Says SimCity Server Dependence Exaggerated
Modder Shows How SimCity Can Be Played Offline
Maxis Details SimCity Update Plans, Ignores Video About Offline Play
Maxis GM Addresses Decision to Make SimCity Require a Constant Connection

[DeaconG]

On top of all of that, the traffic algorithms are broken, the agent system for their sims is broken (would someone explain to me how sims will go to any job that's open every morning and go home to a different home every night?); the RCI system is completely borked (you can build cities with no industrial and very little commercial, mostly residential and they will make money hand over fist)...it goes on and on.

I will not play a game that requires me to be tethered to an internet connection, full stop.  I made the mistake of buying one years ago called Superpower 2...I was not happy when my connection went out one day and I couldn't play the game (may GolemLabs burn in Hell forever).

SC4+Rush Hour+NAM is the way to go until EA/Maxis pulls their head out their nether regions.

[vdeane]

the agent system for their sims is broken (would someone explain to me how sims will go to any job that's open every morning and go home to a different home every night?);

Simple: the claim by Maxis that the game models each sim is a lie and it's really just a finer calculation for the old system of using the ratio of RCI to determine demand.

[vtk]

Actually the agents do model each sim, but Maxis didn't think it was worth giving all those agents enough memory to remember where they slept last night or where they worked yesterday.  This was explained in one of the articles linked above.

[NE2]

Maybe it's just a city of swingers.

[vdeane]

Actually the agents do model each sim, but Maxis didn't think it was worth giving all those agents enough memory to remember where they slept last night or where they worked yesterday.  This was explained in one of the articles linked above.

I can give you that only on a technicality.  In spirit they really don't.  SimCity 4 actually did the same thing... just look at the "route query" tool.

[ilvny]

I won't be buying it based on the reviews posted here and the fact that my graphics card (which I already replaced for The Sims 3) does not meet the minimum requirements.

I might still have SimCity 3000 Unlimited and SimCity 4, but they're buried in my attic somewhere.  Are either of the games compatible with Windows 7 32-bit?

[DaBigE]

I might still have SimCity 3000 Unlimited and SimCity 4, but they're buried in my attic somewhere.  Are either of the games compatible with Windows 7 32-bit?

SimCity 4 works just fine on my Windows 7 64-bit, so I'd imagine it would have no problem on a 32-bit. I have no clue about SC3K.