Demo version released ~ For all those that can't wait

[Tropod 144]

A demo version has apparently surfaced........

www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/60285

After registering on the official site, you recieve the following message;

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Cities XL Demo Activation

Congratulations! You can now try the Cities XL Demo for the next 7 days.

The Cities XL Demo gives you an early but limited access to the game with which you can:

 

• Start building 1 city in one of the numerous planets
• Create your avatar and use it to visit Capital City: an example of what you will be able to do with the full Cities XL game.
• Chat with other players and share your tips to be successful as a Mayor
• Trade with other players for the resources, goods and services your citizens and businesses may need

With this account, you will be able to enjoy Cities XL for the next 7 days with cities limited to 22000 inhabitants.

Have fun!

Reminder:

Preorder Cities XL now and get Cities XL Limited Edition for the price of the Standard version now!

The Limited Edition box will include the following additional content:

 

• 5 additional maps for solo mode
• 5 exclusive landmark buildings
• 1 exclusive city hall: Los Angeles? City Hall
• 2 permanent blueprints : the Mayan pyramid of Chichen Itza and London?s Big Ben. These blueprints will be available from the start and can be built as many times as you wish
• A bonus tee-shirt to make your avatar even more unique
• An honorific medal to display proudly on your personal profile page on CitiesXL.com
• 3 postcards
• A 41x34cm poster

Preorder Now!

The Cities XL team

http://www.citiesxl.com

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Note; the forums there are not active/open yet, so don't bother asking about them

(EDIT: Demo may not be playable until 8th Sept).

[gianthaiku 5]

This is true! i do have the demo for Cities XL from Pc Gamer!

[JakeMD 107]

Do you have a source?

[masochist 111]

Source is right here:

[Cities XL Demo in PC Gamer]

But...it won't actually be available until September 8th.

[JakeMD 107]

Dang thats the day I start school.

Looks awesome, hopefully some of us can get our hands on it.

[gianthaiku 5]

funny, i got the demo working yesterday.

[princeblowfly 0]

Originally posted by: gianthaiku

funny, i got the demo working yesterday.

quote>

How did you do that??

[zwr100 2]

I'm so confused!

There was a demo disk but it didn't work...

Now there are sites like this on: http://www.filefront.com/14444145/Cities-XL-Playable-Demo/ that offer a playable demo???  Do you need the disk and the download?

[JakeMD 107]

The demo will work on September 8th

[zwr100 2]

I stumbled across a search result - 'Cities XL' - Demo available NOW - and followed the link: http://worthplaying.com/article/2009/9/1/news/67991/

which took me to filefront

http://www.filefront.com/14444145/Cities-XL-Playable-Demo/

I downloaded and unzipped it, but it either didn't run or was crashing to the desktop immediately.  Anyone else try that demo? Do you need to do anything besides download and unzip it (do you need a demo disk?)?

THANKS

[JakeMD 107]

All demo-related posts were combined into this one.

[AndisArt 2,068]

Originally posted by: swat-medic

Dang thats the day I start school.

quote>

Me too!

[Lumbergh 0]

downloaded the demo from a german site, registered it but now it won't connect due to server issues or something.

does the 7 day trial start now since I already installed it or sept 8th as is mentioned in this thread?

I am confused.

[geek12 0]

I've downloaded the demo, registered and noticed that the link that was placed in my start menu didn't work. So, i ran the exe in program files/monte cristo and for some reason, it's working fine. But, it won't let me download the update to the game so i have no idea what to do other than to wait for the server to start responding. ( i can only imagine how many people are trying to connect right now).

And honestly, lumbergh i don't know.

[jugioh1012 2]

Originally posted by: andisart

Originally posted by: swat-medic

Dang thats the day I start school.

quote>

Me too!

quote>

Same here!

[fukuda 351]

The demo has already started.. I just built a city of 2000 inhabitants this morning

[geek12 0]

fukuda, did you have to update to the newest version (the one that fixes connection errors for vista users) or did you manage to find the patch separately orrr something i'm missing?

[SimBorg 1]

Same here, the demo is not working.

I am using Xp Pro with Sp3 and the demo seems to have a issue with this version of windows.

Most likely no big deal, I am not much for MMO's anyway.

Thanks

[fukuda 351]

 Yes, I was able to update to the newest version this morning Here's a pic with the demo planet names to prove that I'm not lying (no NDA in the demo)

[Lumbergh 0]

all I get is a download failed message. have tried multiple times today. what's the deal? can I download this patxch elsewhere?

[fukuda 351]

 They are in my computer so I should be able to upload them somwhere else.. It's safer if you just wait for the servers to be back again, though

[dhyta23 0]

I grabbed a issue of PcZone just for the Demo. It's installed and the link allowed me to create the account after a few errors. Now its updating and I hopefully will be playing soon. Can't wait!

[geek12 0]

Eventually it did let me update, now i just have to figure out how to place a city hall

[fukuda 351]

You have to place a City Link first

[kiwispanker 1]

I downloaded the Demo earlier today; been playing it for a few hours now. I can tell you one thing though, I will be RE-INSTALLING SIM CITY 4. I am not impressed with CitiesXL at all.

For those of you interested in the Demo and can't get the filefront to give you the download, try going to http://www.worthdownloading.com/download.php?gid=3400&id=19933 (I believe someone mentioned it before). Click on the Dutch Mirror, and you be prompted to download the zip file (about .98 gigs). The crashing will be fixed when you first run the client (auto-update). If for some reason, the said website stops giving out demos, then I'll think of a way of transferring it to whoever wants it. Just PM me I suppose.

[Trantor 0]

1 - why do I , as a mayor, decide what kind of people (unqualified workers, skilled workers, rich people, etc) will live in each place??? That doesnt make any sense. Who will live where should depend solely on their hability to pay for real state in determined areas of the city... and the real state price is NOT the mayor who determines (at least not directly). What determines it is the location, services, access, police and firefighter coverage, etc! The way it was done on CitiesXL seems like I am the mayor (or owner) of some communist city where EVERY one lives in housing projects where the government determines who can or cannot live in each place!

2 - I played the tutorial and the full game, and I didnt discover how to change the speed of time. Am I just missing it or was it left absent from the game, because Montecristo had the brilliant idea of making the game real time because of the MMO features??? Its just mindboggling to administer a city without being able to pause time to check problems and think on solutions... I noticed some companies were losing money, and before I could discover why and think of a solution, several of them had gone bankrupt... and then I had to MANUALLY bulldoze them down, another stupid thing btw, covered in number 3

3 - why should mayors bulldoze buildings down?? As I take it, vacant places can be used by other companies! In fact, this whole thing is not properly managed... a real state and a building is NOT the city hall property, after they were bought by individuals. Bulldozing down stuff should (after the real state was bought) should cust the money to BUY THEM BACK from the owners (and no, bankrupt owners dont lose their property to the City Administration). Although I posted this in the old Cities Unlimited forums, I was never heard. You should be able to plan zones, and while doing that, no one goes live there... AFTER you plan, you click some ok button, and just then people start moving to the new zones... and when they move, they BUY the property and the City Hall makes money... but when you want to bulldoze something, you will lose that money because you have to pay citizens back.

That would make some interesting gameplay... like destroying schools and other facilities in an area (losing lots of popularity) just to DEVALUE real state in the area, so you can buy it back and demolish to build that brand new road!

4 - forest trees are huge. I feel like I am playing in Endor! There is this industrial area with big chamneys, and I dont see them from the rooftop of other factories in another area because the trees are all huge and as tall as the chimneys. Also notice the trunks have the same diameter as cars passing by!

5 - reading messages in the game, it seems you can only have 5 online cities at the same time?? What?

6 - Limited number of terrains in single player? So Montecristo is saying we wont have those nice terraforming from Sim City we all liked so much?

I wont even discuss the already controversial subject of mass transit, because that pisses me off.

[Adnoxaei 0]

Bankrupt structures do not need to be bulldozed. If demand goes high enough, then they rebuild into another building.

[croxis 150]

I'm under NDA still but,

1) I have the same issues but I've learned to accept the premise (make the game more game and less simulation)

2) It is for the sake of balance in the online feature so that those on fast speed will get richer faster than the poor ones. The online component feels like it is made to be played for a couple hours at a time, not massive building stints

3) As mentioned, people will come back

4) I like the woodsy feel

5) It is this way with any MMO, you have a finite number of characters. Or in this case, cities.

6) I think it comes with a limited predfinied set, but there will still be terraforming options for user created content. This is just my speculation though

[Trantor 0]

I still dont like the system of deciding where people will live. That sucks compared to Sim City more realistic approach.

As for the features made in some way because the game was suddenly made to be an MMO, I cant express all my disgust with it.

[LordOscar 0]

I played the demo up to 22k inhabitants. Here is my opinion.

++

- great graphics, some are photorealistic

- ability to zoom in or out is quite impressive

==

- music is just ok

- traffic animation on streets feels good

- avatar creation is nice (but I don't really know what to do with it later in the game)

--

- no city management except two taxes level

- quite simple economy

- graphics bugs everywhere (roads don't connect, cars pile up at end of streets, blue and white "rays" to the sky, and so on)

- many technical issues ; been forced to restart the demo 6 times in 2 hours

- no micromanagement, no real background for the city, no details, just "low", "medium" or "high" things (or red orange green)

- repetitive buildings

- UI is clearly not finished and quite static

- no city ambient sounds

- no real help from the councellors, they seem to only say "money is flowing" or "people are leaving"

- to me this game is clearly not a MMO. You only trade with people (or trying to) and chat with them.

I think I won't buy this game.