So, who else is tentatively excited for this? I'm mainly happy that it seems to be a true evolution to the franchise and not a free to play game or based off Facebook for social interactions or something like that, as has been pointed out by the reveals up on so many websites now. I'll point to Joystiq but there are plenty everywhere.
I've been a SimCity fan since the original and 4 was certainly quite the experience - was it really almost 10 years ago now?? Geez... but it's nice that they are announcing features that I wanted to see in 4, like a full 3D engine and curved roads. Also they've taken the multiplayer that was in 4 to a new level as well, which sounds pretty neat. Maybe we can get a GDNet SimCity group together to hook up our metropolises.
Still not enough info for me to pre-order on Origin but I'm liking what I see so far...
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#3 Members - Reputation: 179
Posted 07 March 2012 - 05:04 PM
Not excited at all. 3d graphics? Curved roads? Those are the last things sim city needs, and I dont mean that in antipathy to good graphics.
Ive played countless hours of simcity2000. The follow up promised more depth to the game dynamics. I looked hard, but I didnt see it. The game mechanics are still a black box; and a fairly stupid one, in many instances. Why is nobody using the highway that runs right through the busiest part of your city, while the streets parallel to it are still clogged? I want infographics to make these things clear; and not in a 'yeah, the game is just kindof stupid' kind of way.
Curved roads? Why not implement a realistic traffic traffic algorithm on the manhattan streets first, before you are going to obfuscate what is actually happening to your city by a (probably) dysfunctional 3d camera system?
Ive played countless hours of simcity2000. The follow up promised more depth to the game dynamics. I looked hard, but I didnt see it. The game mechanics are still a black box; and a fairly stupid one, in many instances. Why is nobody using the highway that runs right through the busiest part of your city, while the streets parallel to it are still clogged? I want infographics to make these things clear; and not in a 'yeah, the game is just kindof stupid' kind of way.
Curved roads? Why not implement a realistic traffic traffic algorithm on the manhattan streets first, before you are going to obfuscate what is actually happening to your city by a (probably) dysfunctional 3d camera system?
#4 Marketplace Seller - Reputation: 8955
Posted 07 March 2012 - 05:43 PM
The only SimCity I've ever played is SimCity 3000. It was a really fun game, and I sank many hours into it.
I think one thing that it lacked was some kind of end-game purpose, after you've researched all the technology and expanded your city and are out of dept. Even a Rollercoaster Tycoon style, "You won, but go ahead and keep playing anyway" message would do it for me.
The first dozen times I tried to build a highway, I was really confused why nobody used it. I eventually found out that you have to build on-ramps connecting the highways to the roads, and then they'd be used just fine. Maybe you just didn't discover that? Building on-ramps wasn't really intuitive or consistent with building other objects in the game.
I think one thing that it lacked was some kind of end-game purpose, after you've researched all the technology and expanded your city and are out of dept. Even a Rollercoaster Tycoon style, "You won, but go ahead and keep playing anyway" message would do it for me.
Well, on-ramps typically help.Ive played countless hours of simcity2000. The follow up promised more depth to the game dynamics. I looked hard, but I didnt see it. The game mechanics are still a black box; and a fairly stupid one, in many instances. Why is nobody using the highway that runs right through the busiest part of your city, while the streets parallel to it are still clogged?
The first dozen times I tried to build a highway, I was really confused why nobody used it. I eventually found out that you have to build on-ramps connecting the highways to the roads, and then they'd be used just fine. Maybe you just didn't discover that? Building on-ramps wasn't really intuitive or consistent with building other objects in the game.
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#5 Members - Reputation: 179
Posted 08 March 2012 - 02:19 AM
Yes, I did use on ramps. And maybe they even worked in simcity 3000 and onwards, because I didnt play it that much, so I wouldnt really remember.The only SimCity I've ever played is SimCity 3000. It was a really fun game, and I sank many hours into it.
I think one thing that it lacked was some kind of end-game purpose, after you've researched all the technology and expanded your city and are out of dept. Even a Rollercoaster Tycoon style, "You won, but go ahead and keep playing anyway" message would do it for me.Well, on-ramps typically help.
Ive played countless hours of simcity2000. The follow up promised more depth to the game dynamics. I looked hard, but I didnt see it. The game mechanics are still a black box; and a fairly stupid one, in many instances. Why is nobody using the highway that runs right through the busiest part of your city, while the streets parallel to it are still clogged?
The first dozen times I tried to build a highway, I was really confused why nobody used it. I eventually found out that you have to build on-ramps connecting the highways to the roads, and then they'd be used just fine. Maybe you just didn't discover that? Building on-ramps wasn't really intuitive or consistent with building other objects in the game.
Generally speaking, my point about the black-boxness of the game dynamics applies, however. That always bothered me. d rather have they set a decade or two in increasing computing resources to work on fixing that, rather than fixing the graphics.
#7 Members - Reputation: 155
Posted 08 March 2012 - 05:40 AM
Misunderstand me correctly, I like the fact that Maxis is doing this, as opposed to some third-party developer (Sim City Societies was a complete hax), I just hope they're going to do it justice.
Experimentation usually isn't a bad thing, and something Will Wright was infamous for, but DarkSpore (made after Will left Maxis) was like Blizzard doing "Warcraft City".
Experimentation usually isn't a bad thing, and something Will Wright was infamous for, but DarkSpore (made after Will left Maxis) was like Blizzard doing "Warcraft City".
#8 Crossbones+ - Reputation: 3307
Posted 08 March 2012 - 08:56 AM
I remember the days of playing plain ol' Simcity on my SNES. Those were the days.....
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#9 Members - Reputation: 817
Posted 09 March 2012 - 07:51 AM
I can't wait. The trailer brought up so many memories.
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#10 Members - Reputation: 1360
Posted 09 March 2012 - 09:20 AM
I think there have been weeks where I spend more time in my SimCity 2000 metropolis than in outside in the real life city. I'm not familiar with the later versions, but as far as I'm concerned, the more CPU and GPU processing will be dedicated to the actual simulation rather than improved graphics, the better. Two and a half dimensions ought to be enough for anybody. Although I have to say the trailer looks really cool.
Perhaps it would be interesting if they would connect the online SimCity world with real events happening at the same time, like fluctuations in oil prices, financial crises, political tensions, pandemics etc. I would find that more challenging than the spawning of the occasional mutant velociraptor in some random location.
Perhaps it would be interesting if they would connect the online SimCity world with real events happening at the same time, like fluctuations in oil prices, financial crises, political tensions, pandemics etc. I would find that more challenging than the spawning of the occasional mutant velociraptor in some random location.
#11 Members - Reputation: 317
Posted 09 March 2012 - 11:27 AM
From what I can see from the GDC demonstration, and the reddit responses, it sounds like they're going for an even more deeper simulation. Resources are now finite, such as water and coal. The cars and pedestrians are not just visuals, they're actual agents that go from one destination to another. Windmills don't always generate power because some days may be less windy.
It sounds exciting, but I'm still reserving my judgment until more gameplay videos come out with real cities, instead of just demonstration city.
It sounds exciting, but I'm still reserving my judgment until more gameplay videos come out with real cities, instead of just demonstration city.
#13 Members - Reputation: 179
Posted 10 March 2012 - 12:29 PM
Thats cool and all, but what I am worried about is how visible this depth is to the end user. What I would like to see is more in-depth info on why a particular neighborhood is booming, for instance. Can I get a map showing the network connections of all commuters in and out of a given neighborhood, for instance?From what I can see from the GDC demonstration, and the reddit responses, it sounds like they're going for an even more deeper simulation. Resources are now finite, such as water and coal. The cars and pedestrians are not just visuals, they're actual agents that go from one destination to another. Windmills don't always generate power because some days may be less windy.
It sounds exciting, but I'm still reserving my judgment until more gameplay videos come out with real cities, instead of just demonstration city.
Stuff like that is what I liked about simcity; but in the end, the frustration that 90% of things seemed randomish or otherwise outside of your control put me off.
#14 Members - Reputation: 952
Posted 10 March 2012 - 12:43 PM
Can I get a map showing the network connections of all commuters in and out of a given neighborhood, for instance?
You can in SimCity 4 (well, they don't present it by 'neighbourhood' - instead you can select buildings (housing or workplaces) or roads, but the model is certainly there). Having said that, I preferred 3000 - 4 has fewer levels for land value... and I generally suck at it in a way I didn't with its predecessor.
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#15 Senior Staff - Reputation: 2793
Posted 10 March 2012 - 02:19 PM
They say the graphs are being redone more towards infographics to make things easier to read (easy to say, we'll have to see how it looks) but also the citizens will be actual game agents so you can get much more detailed info on how the city is running by querying them directly, hopefully on a level similar to your imported Sims into SC4, which I thought was a great feature
#16 Members - Reputation: 367
Posted 12 March 2012 - 08:42 PM
There was this game called StarPeace I played for a while. It was essentially an MMO SimCity. You build your little space in the world and then you have to interact with the global market (make goods that are in demand, set prices to control supply and demand). I wish they would do that with the new SimCity. A persistent world real-time option.
#17 Members - Reputation: 92
Posted 13 March 2012 - 12:42 PM
I like the Sim City on the SNES the best. It's more goal-oriented. I remember getting an immense thrill after growing my city to megalopolis level. The other sim cities that I've tried (2000 and 3000) were less fun. Once I got the formula down, it got easy, even on hard mode. All I needed to do was start on a flat map with minimal water, put industrial zones on the edge, commercial/residential zones at the center, and plop various public buildings and parks in the middle of those clusters. I only paid attention to the land value, since that was the most important.
#19 Moderators - Reputation: 13585
Posted 13 March 2012 - 11:43 PM
Yeah SimCity 4 is one of my fav games, which I still go back to sometimes. I'll be very disappointed if they screw this new one up, or produce an abomination like SimCity Societies.
P.S. Did anyone else ever see the ending of SimCity 2000 when you finally build the ultimate city?
[edit]Also, n.b. that while SimCity 4 had four fixed isometric camera angles like it's predecessors, the buildings are actually polygonal 3d models.
P.S. Did anyone else ever see the ending of SimCity 2000 when you finally build the ultimate city?
[edit]Also, n.b. that while SimCity 4 had four fixed isometric camera angles like it's predecessors, the buildings are actually polygonal 3d models.
