Disappointing things but also very interesting things to see on those screenshots!

[Alkaola 18]

I think the new simcity will go another route than we have known before ..  and yes it could be a disaster but there might be some interesting things to look at before we fall in disappointment. 

If I look at those screenshots I see somewhat cartoonish armoshpere, but well i'm sure the graphics will be better when the final release is there ... 

On the other side is see some very interesting pictures. If you look at Dirk's thread 

link: https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=368&threadid=89604&enterthread=y

you can see some cool stuff.  

On the first pic is see a somewhat modern ( very futuristic) skyline, it's not bad at all ... just look after the buildings and you 'll see the mountains ( that's a good thing ). The sky isn't bad eather, the only thing that is disappointing are the very simple roads, everywhere the same ( where are the highways !!) and a little bit alien like

On the second pic we see a very colourful and peaceful picture of a rural area. If you look at the sky you know its dawn or sunset. I like the atmosphere in that pic. I didn't see any trees but i'm sure TM will work on that . And a nice eye for detail! You see those pumpkins? I like that very much, it's just a nice lovely detail we Simtropolians love. 

The dirt roads are there too, so this can be a good sign that there will be different kind of roads. 

The third pic is mostly interesting. Because like TM said the new Simcity will focus more on 'Society '  .. well you defininately can see on that pic what kind of political influences there are playing.  Some kind of communistic city ! You don't see it ?   Well I would LOVE that. That you can make big regions ( hopefully )  with all different kind of cultures and city styles.  If this game is focused on that it's worth playing anyway.  I like the 'reddish'  influence very much too on the third pic. 

So it might be that there are cultural and political influences in the new simcity. That can be very nice. We have seen these kind of City Journals too with SC4( many of you know 'Rodina' made by Sepsis) This imaginary country is typical socialistic and Sepsis tried to make the building style like just like Eastern Europe to make it more realistic. 

On the fourth pic we see more industrial influences, and don't tell me that there is no pollution on on that pic there is, and that's in my opinion a good thing.

The last pic is i think a night view of the first pic shown in Dirk's thread. I think the night lightning must be much better to get a realistic view. Also the sky is not realistic either .. But TM  wants our suggestions and we will give them

So let's just be more positive about this game, it might be a great new concept to play with. And ofcourse old skool things like zoning, pipelaying should be included but the game is still in an early stadium, give those guys from TM a break.

Sorry for my english mistakes, and I hope we all have a more open mind after this post

[simcity4crazyguy 24]

Girl, I pretty much agree with you!

The farm picture took my breath away, I mean...c'm on! A barnyard at 3d with a sunset, what more can a rural lover want?

sc

[Boggy1 45]

Thats an awesome little breakdown of the pictures Alkaola!

The one gripe I have are the clouds and the very blank terrain, as the graphics and rendering do kind of suck. Also, the red sky is just a little bland...doesn't look too realistic.

Those are my only real problems though, and I'm pretty sure that TilMil will work on them fully!

[Gman55 0]

The poster of what I think is the evil, Big Brother Sim Mayor on the side of the building just reaffirms the "social" aspect of the game, a part of which I'm not interested. Just take SimCity out of the title already.

[MrCinatit 30]

There were a few things which interested me as well about the pictures, Alkaola - and you summed up many quite well. I would like to add a couple:

1) Perhaps I am not looking at it right, or it is the angle, but one of those roads looks like it is at a different angle from the rest. However, I can tell you quite certainly - there is a house sitting on a corner which is not following the grid.

I also see a river in the back ground, and the terrain does not look completely flat. This is a HUGE relief - one of the perfect ways to break up the grid is with a terrain with rivers, hills, mountains, etc. Of course, those who know me know I enjoy terra-forming the most - and I hope this game has some inclusion of that.

2) I will simply say I smiled a lot when I saw this. Farms! Yes!

3) A great point about the socialization of the game. From what it sounds like, the buildings themselves will actually change as the personality of your city and its people change. For instance, I read that if your city comes to focus more on security, security cameras will begin popping up on some of the buildings. The same looks true for banners - and I am sure there are other goodies which will pop up should you choose to go in another direction with your city.

In a sense, this sounds a lot like "lot props", but ones which actually change as your city changes. Additionally, I would bet the buildings availability will change as your city society changes.

I had not considered this aspect of the game much yet, as it is a newer aspect. But, it is beginning to intrigue me more.

4) Again, I smiled when I saw this one. Before, we had been presented with mainly utopian cities. Here, we see a dank, dirty, polluted city - and I for one like creating cities which are a bit rough around the edges.

5) Cool little shot. Pretty neat we get to stand on a balcony.

[PennDOTguy 5]

Ok...thanks...now I feel a little bit better.

I'll give it a chance now.

[Alkaola 18]

I fully agree with your points MrCinatit ... it's just good to light it all up in a more positive way .. i'm sure it will only improve the game if we are benevolent and positive

EDIT: and ofcourse ! I do remember your amazing regions, i like terra forming very much too .... i made huge regions .. it's just an amazing part of the game .. making a landscape

[BurroDiablo 222]

I admit, I loved the Third picture... its starting remind me of Black and White 2 where you actions influenced how you buildings looked and the atmosphere of the game... the contrast between Good and Evil settlements on BW2 was incredible.

I for one am still dissapointed with the game but i'll give it a shot anyway, some of the aspects of this game could be very very unique and i'll not going to let it pass by.

[Goldfish4209 9]

1. Sure, it' ok, but I still want better.

2. Did anyone catch the funky textures and floating tractor?

3. Why is it red? It just looks odd...

4. Hands down cheesy exotic sludgeish industry.

5. What's with the funky clouds/polluti9on/whatever it is in the sky?

Well, the atmospheric effects do look nice, but I don't see much better.

[Alkaola 18]

well eventually the most important thing of a game is gameplay .. so i hope that TM makes the gameplay good ...

[NYM1980 3]

I've been pretty skeptic about this game for a while, and still am a little, but if you think to the future, when/if a BAT for SCS is released.  We have some absolutely amazing BATers who have created buildings for Sim City 4 that are actually very difficult to tell if it is real or fake.  If they can do that, imagine how our cities in SCS will look.  That is what excites me the most, and what would make me buy the new game when it comes out. 

[the olive 0]

This social aspect I think could be a good thing, the red city looks like it would be an evil dictator city, a military type city, which I think is good, but they should have just added that to what they already have, not replace what they have with this social thing.

So far, I don't like it, but SC4 looked terrible when the first screens came out, so there is still hope, we can only hope.

[MINIggy03 227]

I can't get over how bad the roads look, and how they don't even connect to the lots. Why are the roads raised up and everything else is lowered? It looks bad....very bad...and lets take a look at the fact that there are two lanes, but the cars all seem to drive in one lane, or not even in their lane. And then of course there's the very weird mixture of cars from different times.

BLECK...EASILY sticking to Simcity 4.

[Gman55 0]

Originally posted by: El Burro I admit, I loved the Third picture... its starting remind me of Black and White 2 where you actions influenced how you buildings looked and the atmosphere of the game... the contrast between Good and Evil settlements on BW2 was incredible.quote>

I fail to see how that's a good thing. I played B&W 2 and it was easily the WORST city builder I've ever played. An outright joke and further proof that Molyneux is a hack. But I digress.

The point is the "good and evil" evolving architecure stuff is not unique, hasn't been implementing in a fun way in any game I've played, and, most importantly, is not SimCity as we know it.

Edit: And like in B&W2, "challenges" will be required to unlock new buildings. I only hope that SCS's challenges involve more than guiding a spy through a maze or hurling beer barrles over lakes -- thanks for those mind blowing experience, B&W2.

[Garek Maxwell 1]

I think everyone should calm down and at least consider that this game is in a very early stage of development still, with not a lot of information given just yet. (I also don't get the revulsion with the idea of "societies in cities" and that some people want more "realism" over this ... Since when is a society-less city realistic?) There's very little information released yet, and not very many images. Has anyone seen more than about 12 pictures tops? Until then, they should at least wait and see what else is there before they say "it's terrible! I'm never buying from them again!"

Anyway, there are a few things I've noticed about the screen shots that have been released.

1. There was a picture with a traffic light that is apparently floating over what appears to be a futuristic form of traffic control. This could mean they're going back to what they did in Sim City 2000, where in the future you would have futuristic buildings. However, this could also be a part of their "society" gauge system in perhaps a "innovation" vs. "back to basics" slider? I don't know, but it's something to consider...though I hope there'd be more subtle changes towards a futuristic look as you progress rather than suddenly finding one of these popping up in your city.

2. The atmosphere does need work. However, it's early in development and I'm sure those working on this game will listen to community feed back. Besides, I doubt they'd leave the sky looking like that. They could do far more better without any major hits to the basic hardware requirements and with minimal effort over all...I'd think anyway. However, one thing I'd like to see is pollution have more of a "grittier" appearance. It looks 'okay', but it could be way better. The green look is alright for a very cartoony take on pollution, but I think it should be a little more realistic. A brownish haze would be more appropriate, as that's what you see in badly polluted areas. I would even go as far as saying "keep the green for radioactive areas", as it's perfect for that even when it's cartoony. It also couldn't hurt to maybe give buildings in the area some more grit because of the pollution, but I doubt that'll be incorporated.

3. Some of the screen shots seem to indicate that some cities have completely different architectural styles, potentially because of where they are located. I don't remember anyone specifically saying such, but perhaps you can choose where to start your city around the globe? Doubtful, but it's a possibility.

4. The roads are a little strange in that they do rise up on certain terrains. This was a problem in City Life AND Sim City 4 that I didn't like. Why should the sidewalk be several feet off the ground while the building is shorter than the road? Eh, hopefully they'll have the roads conform to the terrain more before they release it.

5. I like MrCinatit's thought about there being "lot props". This opens the possibility for greater customization and uniqueness for buildings that we currently don't have. (Yeah, we do have props. How many are animated though? This could be an option, along with many other things, in this game.) I'm definitely interested in how customizable they make this game though, as it's one of the things that made Sim City 4 last so long. So far, not much information... But even those who think this game will be terrible should look out for how customizable it is, as they just might find that they can have their way with a few tweaks and additions. Never know anyway...

[samantha 138]

Thanks for sharing your ideas and comments about the screenshots, nicely described Alkaola and MrC

[Ded 30]

If you look into the background of the farming picture, you clearly see that the dirt road connects with the street in the background. Thats a very good sign.

[Jasoncw 12,060]

Mr.C., All of the roads are on grids. They're on slopes though, and like in SC4, sometimes that can give the illusion of slightly diagonal roads.

I like this thread. 

[Sim shady 12]

i am skeptical of the game, quite obviously, but Dirks pictures offer more hope than our fisrt pictures we saw. The diagonal house looks like we are not limited to 4 directions for buildings, but omg those square roads that pop a meter off the ground look aweful, i was really hoping sc5 would  offer a way for cars to pull into their driveways without driving over sidewalk...especially not 3 feet tall sidewalks...-.-

[J0nnD0ugh 31]

What I notice: It all looks boxy & I see no highways or curves. Bridges are blah. Sorry, but I'm a transportation guy. I do realize this is a prototype or whatever.

[MrCinatit 30]

Originally posted by: Jasoncw Mr.C., All of the roads are on grids. They're on slopes though, and like in SC4, sometimes that can give the illusion of slightly diagonal roads.

I like this thread. quote>

Upon further review, you are right. They are on slopes.

[BurroDiablo 222]

Gman55- I didn't say the game was any good, I was merely pointing out thats that what it reminds me of... A Sim City game doesn't need stuff like that because, up untill now, its not been a social simulator and it should have never become a social simulator. I liked that picture however... maybe its because its different to what we've seen already or maybe its becuase that sort of stuff appeals to me... bit of both I think. I've come to terms at how bad the game could be but i'm still willing to give it a chance since its only in its early stages; 6 social 'energies' is VERY few if you ask me... if your lucky, you'll have conquered 5 by the end of the week, leaving 1 for the weekend.

[drxav 0]

Since that game is being made by those who made Caesar IV, I'm not very enthusiastic about it. To me the next step of a SC game was to get rid of the grid and focus on "architectural urbanism" developpement. I've played a bit to Caesar IV, and to me that game is a catastrophy. It's visually not so beautiful, plunders lot of memory ressources, and removes all the fun features of the latest Impression Games titles such as Emperor or Pharaoh (The guys that did Caesar 3). I played Medieval Lords, and was very impressed by the totaly gridless construction, it gave me freedom in my design, and it didn't seem so hard to do.

About the screenshots, well, I think this won't get better, might even be worse. If any of you played Caesar IV, yes the roads are 50cm high, they added the diagonal house laying, but not at intersections. And graphically it is like laying pasteboard houses on plastic ground. It's ugly. I'm not enthusiastic about those screenshots because i've far more inovation and imagination on simtropolis than in theses. I feel like watching city life 2. (Beuarrrk)

I read the article about it, they say there will be no more micromanagment features, that is to say energy or pipe laying, etc. This is surely no micro management, however the way it was handled in SC4 is anoying. As for the societies stuff, it's funny because i don't quite get the concept. Must be an Anglosaxon way of seeing the world (No offense), but a city is more like divided in social classes than in cultures. Well, all this to say that I think they tried to catch up with a City Life concept, thinking that this was the direction. Not satisfactory for me, i'll stick to my (simtrop)pimped SC4 for the moment.

Yes, i know i'm bad, i haven't even touched the demo, but i have a bad feeling about it.

[Odainsaker 2,137]

I'm still not sold on the 3D graphics. Yes, computers are more advanced and powerful, but still not powerful enough to capture the scope and scale many of us would like with detail and complexity. Notice none of the screenshots showed a wide angled panorama with hundreds upon hundred of buildings, that there is a stark drop-off of detail with depth, and most of the buildings themselves all have the classic 3D boxy-look of simplified geometry. In the end, the overhead will simply cannibalize all system resources, as many of us playing the current SimCity 4 or Civilization 4 on large maps with full settings into the late game stages can attest. Maxis has been here before, with the first unveiled version of SimCity 3000, which was in full 3D with ground level views. It was ultimately an ugly and completely unworkable disaster, and they had to simply scrap years of work and quickly whip up the cartoon graphics we all now know of that game.   You can see the infamous first SimCity 3000 images and read of their controversy on this Gamespot article about Maxis: http://www.gamespot.com/features/maxis/page7.html

City Life picked the idea up, but there it still looked like stripped-down buildings. These images for SimCity Societies truly look alien, while the natural trend in SimCity has always been toward increasingly more real-world realistic and detailed appearances. Why buck the trend for the sales gimmick of full 3D. Of course, Maxis was burned hard over the early SimCity 3000 preview, so it is not as if we haven't been here before. Indeed, the mock-ups we are seeing now could very suddenly change.

Full ground level 3D like this would make sense to me if we could design our cities from the details of ground level. That is, we could choose the widths of sidewalks and streets, use overlay zones to set maximum building heights, set streetscape built-to lines or setbacks, choose wall-to-wall constructions and lay out service alleyways, choose the arrangment of tree lines and parallel parking options, require mixed-use buildings, designate a general architectural style if desired, etc. If we can design the general streetscape in this manner, and this is indeed much of what urban designers do, then ground level 3D would have a real purpose tied to the fundamentals of city design. I don't know if solely plopping lots from a giant starter reward chain full of locked items would ever give us enough of those options in the same way that dynamic overlay zoning fitting building models into player-designated zoned lot parameters with numerous transit options would. Could we ever do this on a map larger than those from SimCity 4 and with a more advanced under-the-hood simulation engine than we have ever seen? Yes, I want SimCity to grow in city design complexity, not just grow in graphics hardware overhead. Otherwise, it is all just eyecandy...expensive resource devouring eyecandy, which must somehow share those resources with Vista, and play nice without troubleshooting with most of the possible graphic accelerators out there.

Obviously, we need alot more detail of how this game works.

However, on a different note, I really do like some of the new international landmarks being included, and applaud the willingness to include them. Architectural fans out there, can you pick out the great landmark from Tehran?

[cirugo 1,889]

Where's the subways?  The avenues?  The buses?  The freeways and side streets?  The monorails and trains?  

Looks like CityLife...a game I kept on my computer approximately two weeks...with an added patina of control through societal influence.  No thanks.

[BurroDiablo 222]

^^^Stop me if im exaggerating... but those Buildings looks about as good as the one in SCSoc... and that was 10 years ago!

[simcity4crazyguy 24]

Originally posted by: El Burro

^^^Stop me if im exaggerating... but those Buildings looks about as good as the one in SCSoc... and that was 10 years ago! quote>

You're exaggerating.

sc

[MarcosMX 222]

For real these pictures are much better than SCS...lol

[MadSim 1]

Originally posted by: simcity4crazyguy

You're exaggerating.

scquote>

no he's not...

[republicanpride3 0]

Um, no I was going to say those pictures looked better than scs as well.