Has the positive vibe left SimCity?

[JoshuaH 1]

Hi folks.  I haven't been much into SimCity or gaming in general quite like I once was, though I'm trying to get back into the genre again.  I've been doing some thinking though, and I was wondering what you guys' would have to add to this.

I think alot of us remember playing SC original way back when it was ugly and flat... Then there was SC2K which was phenomenal and SC3K which just seemed like some sort of dream come true.

It seems like something changed round about when SC4 came out though; it might be me, or it might be something about a certain nastalgic feel which I can't exactly put my finger on.  I think SC4 is a great release... lots of new (and needed) features over it's predecessors, and overall it is a great game... though to date nothing has been released to match it.

Doesn't it seem like the city building genre has become dry and boring these days?  New city building games feel like they don't have any life in them and the community itself doesn't seem focused on the sort of 'brotherhood' that the old maxis clans used to have like it once did.

I guess what I'm trying to get at, to all the SimCity fans that have been out there for years, is it just me trying to grasp at my fond childhood memories, or are our SimCity traditions being threatened by some sort of neutralizing deadening affect?  If it's the latter, what are you guys' opinions on what we need to keep the SimCity culture alive and healthy?

I think that graphics are taking too big of a place in games these days; we need to be making up for it.  Back when SC first came out in the 80's, you had to imagine people going to work and living in those little houses that were only 3 or 4 pixels across; and you had to imagine that the little colored boxes were actually pieces of land; you had to imagine that the 1-D buildings were actually 3-D skyscrapers.  Yet somehow it was fun; it was so fun it could eat up a whole afternoon in the blink of an eye.  Now we've got games where you can get so close to your sims that you see their pixelly little armpits; everything's all 3-D and punked up to appeal to the eyes of people that pass by and see it in the passing glance.  Graphics have replaced our imagination with dead textures and computer generated sequences that can't possibly keep SimCity alive.

I think that SimCity is more about the community than just the cities; it's about players that care about city building, commercial models, archetecture; it's about seeing the urban footprint as a sort of artform, and playing on that.  SimCity has been around for 20 years now, and that's what it's about.  I know that we all tend to get wrapped up in real life and forget games like this, or get bored of games like this, but before we let a 20 year record die in the "progress" of graphics-savy teenagers, let's think about what's really fueled SimCity all these years.

What does SimCity mean to you?  Let's hear some stories and good old fashioned discussion!

[KingTitan 6]

Oh boy. I sense cans of worms all over the place. I somewhat agree with you but quite the opposite... SC4 has EXPLODED over the past couple years. Look at all the STEX creations, and all are functional. Don't worry...there is always a place for SC4.

Try out SimCity Societies.. Maybe you will like it. Or maybe you won't.

[Jasoncw 11,949]

Just the scale of the SC4 community is so much greater than the previous SimCity games.  I wasn't around then, but from what I've seen of it, it was really only a handful of small websites.  SC4 has quite a few medium sized forums, and a few very large forums.

The STEX alone has 27,000,000 downloads, from 1,600 uploaders.  And the forums have a lot of activity too.  I think it takes a lot of nostalgia to think that the SC4 community isn't the best.

[JoshuaH 1]

I think you guys are right here, and as I did elude to a bit, I think some of my issues are personal. I was an avid SC fan until the last few years. In more recent times I let business stress me to the point that I began to loose touch. I guess when you loose a part in something you automatically start feeling like it's not there or not as prominent anymore.

[Godzillaman 21]

Nah...the positive vibe left the newer Sim Cities...

[Spartan968 0]

We still have a nice group here, although I think what you are saying about newer games is somewhat true. While I love great graphics, just having that doesn't make a game. I would prefer better graphics as long as improving them doesn't sacrifice the quality of the game.

[dogma555 187]

as for graphics and gameplay, it does seem that many times graphics act as a substitute for gameplay, the two really need to BOTH be there imo.. but of course gameplay is more important.

[squeeb 0]

Personally, I love Sim City 4 - and I was a huge 2k fan back in the day.  However I am discouraged by some of the things I have read about Societies - I'll have to check it out some day...but I am in no rush.  SC4 is where its at. 

As for the community its hard for me to say.  I didn't have internet access back in the early 90's so the community was me and my friends in real life who played.  This seems like a nice forum though.  Will probably stick around

[Karybdis 34]

Societies was unfortunate. It really had potential for modding, and if it had been more fan centric, it could have been as big as SC4

What really happened though is that so much energy is invested in SC4 already that it would have taken a miracle to get it reinvested. Sims2 managed, but it also had a massive modding community partially spawned off here.

We'll just have to see what happens with Simcity Creator in 2011. It may be more fan centric, and it may pull people back over. Most of the true diehards though are waiting for Cities Unlimited I think. I certainly am.... If it's good, we'll work on it to the same degree as SC4.

[tommyvercetti7 0]

read the first bit and got bored, i wouldnt say sim city has lost its 'appeal', i hate societies, and i hope that the new one will not be like it - i like all the transport options, thats it, societies is my only problem

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

Just from floating around as many SC4 sites I can find, I know that the enthusiasm for Sim City, especially SC4, is still alive and well. Societies, dispite its glorious failure to most of us, made people realize what a sim game was supposed to be, a sim game like they used to be, like SC4, SC3k, and even SC2K. And as long as there is a comunity to support this game, this game will not go under. LONG LIVE SC4!!!

[City Planner 121]

I agree so far as to say that yes, many of the more modern city building game releases do feel stale and boring to me. They feel as if they have been homogonized, pasturized and purified. I really didn't care much for Societies, as it was rather boring to me, but I know many that enjoy it tremendously. Of the people that I've talked to about SC4 compared to so many other CB genre'd games there seems to be 3 camps.

1. Those who hated SC4 because of little things like the water pipes or having to draw out the power poles and thus won't play it.

2. Those that still love SC4 to this day. For me it says volumes for a game that is over 4 or 5 years old and it can still hold my interest today as it did when it was first released. Granted had I been playing it fulltime since release I may not be quite as interested in it but I do have a tendancy to become bored rather easily. But for the moment, in my opinion it's still the best CB game to have come out since it was first released. And finally...

3. Those that loved the gameplay of SC4 but with todays games being all flashy, they can no longer stand playing a pixelated game. I think it took me some getting use to again as the first time I fired up SC4 in a couple years I almost immediately uninstalled it once I saw the closest zoom level with the horribly pixelated graphics but I persevered to where I find the game a great deal of fun seeing what I can create and am now able to overlook the lack of flashy graphics for the sheer number of options of city creation in SC4. I've not found another City Building game that allows me to create anywhere close to the amount of diverse cities as I can do in SC4.  And the models that can and are created for SC4 are sometimes absolutely mind boggling on their complexity and details, unlike almost all if not all other CB games that I've played in 3D with dull box style models with a texture slapped on it to try to resemble something actually having depth and detail.  In my opinion it's still not there. 

I really don't see anything coming out in the next several years that can rival SC4 and Im not a fan boi by anymeans of SC4 or any other game but more of a realist. I think it's going to take such huge computing power to try to create a modern 3D CB game that can rival the size, and feature set of SC4 that we're still a couple years off from seeing those types of computers. Until that day, as SimHoTToDDy said: LONG LIVE SC4!!!

[patfirefghtr 160]

With SimCity4 no I dont think it has left at all... The sales alone of the game are still in top 10 or 20 for sales... With all the great custom content and makers, I belive SC4 will be around for a long time to come yet upon the 5yrs already out from the first release back in 03....

alj:   Please keep on topic and there is always report to moderator button that can be used....

[samsam2 0]

I really agree with alj. I am quite shocked nobody here takes notice of JoshuaH's signature and avatar. Maybe it's because I am european.

That would be part of a great community as well.

[nihonkaranws 88]

What?

[baertooth 330]

My guess is they haven't taken a close look at JoshuaH's avatar yet.  But I agree, they are inappropriate.

[dogma555 187]

hmm i actually missed the icon at first too.. certainly isnt the best way to make an impression of yourself to the sc community.

[catty-cb 4,412]

I agree with Alj about JoshuaH's avatar and signature, didn't notice at first, but not happy now I've seen it.

Originally posted by: alj Seriously: am I the only one who finds JoshuaH´s avatar and signature inacceptable?

@ Jasoncw: what kind of moderator are you?

No regards in this case

aljquote>

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

It's not SC in my opinion, It's the lack of quality sequels from the game developers. SC4 came out in 2003....it's now 2008 and the only thing close to a sequel we got in all these years is the work put in by the modding community. We look forward to a new sequel just to get dissapointed by crappy development who mess with things that are not broke. This is a problem throughout the whole gaming industry.

I personally think SC is still a very deep and addictive game with custom content still coming out regularly and the community is still very active.

[BlackStar 0]

No. Now get on with your work. MOVE!

lol

Well, have you ever seen a game last this long? (This is, of course outside games such as Pac Man/Tetris/bla bla bla)

[IDS2 3,429]

OK, yeah, his avatar and signature are offensive to some people. Guys, it was 60 years ago. I'm sure he isn't trying to convert you all to Nazis. You don't need to make that big a deal over it.

Anyway, I don't think it's lost the vibe. I certainly think the site is still alive.

[JanYpe 17]

Originally posted by: IDS2 OK, yeah, his avatar and signature are offensive to some people. Guys, it was 60 years ago. I'm sure he isn't trying to convert you all to Nazis. You don't need to make that big a deal over it.

quote>

Which doesn't make the avatar any less idiotic.

This is not, however, a thread about this guy's avatar.

[Death54 3]

Umm, about the guys avatar, did he change it, because I googled "Live long, and prosper" as well as "United Federation of Planets" and I just found a bunch of stuff about Star Trek, nothing about Nazis.

About the positive vibe leaving SimCity, I believe it hasn't left the community but has left the game developers.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

Originally posted by: Death54

Umm, about the guys avatar, did he change it, because I googled "Live long, and prosper" as well as "United Federation of Planets" and I just found a bunch of stuff about Star Trek, nothing about Nazis.

About the positive vibe leaving SimCity, I believe it hasn't left the community but has left the game developers.quote>

Yo dawg, he changed it.

Anyways, I think we should stay on topic.  I think there is still a great deal of positive energy surrounding this game.  If you doubt me, post a city journal and see if you get flamed.  You won't, because we all love the game and we love to see what other people create!  This game is amazing in that you can always browse the forums and exchanges to find something new.  It's almost like user-created expansion packs!  The SC4 community is really quite great and I feel really good to be a part of it (even if only a small, slightly mediocre part)

[starrdarcy 4]

Back on topic guys... there is a forum for that stuff anyways.

I think SC4 has been made so much better from the moding and custom content community. In a way that probably was not expected. With additions like NAM and countless mods and addition, we really have made this game more realistic and enjoyable.

I dont think the fun or positive vibes have been lost