Biggest Failure of CXL?

[gabry85 2]

Originally posted by: Deathcat001

...look at the 3 sim citys before SC4, they wernt good.quote>

What?

[parrotti 11]

i said cityxl is an update of citylife

[Yucan 0]

There's a lot of things that bug me... but having played the Demo a bit, there's one thing that stands out at the moment:

Lot size

I think, one of the biggest accomplishments of SC4 was the Lot-System. Sure, it was still grid and often does not behave the way I'd like to, but it made it possible to have large buildings (factories, malls, those new HK complexes), as well as tiny ones (diners, pencil towers)

With CitiesXL you have one Lot size. Yeah, that road needs an upgrade, so I have to demolish both buildings on both sides and afterwards there's an alley, but also a huge gap in the middle of the city.

That bothers me most - right now after playing the demo (there's still the lack of terraforming and public transport, two things that might bother me even more)

[Keegan V50 15]

To me,CXL's biggest failure is when you zone a development area,the buildings tend to be repetitive,which doesnt looks like RL.

[poshbakerloo 186]

For me its a combination of the zoneing and roads...

If you have a curved road all the zones are still square and you end up with awkward gaps between the buildings and between the roads and buildings...

Also in the demo I started off with a road running thru the middle of the city. This got very very congested but it was very hard to upgrade it. I had to demolish a load of buildings even to fit in a small road. All the lots are the same size...which is another issue!

[_MostlyHarmless 17]

I haven't played the game yet...but it seems obvious: MC wanted to design a superior city simulator, and the majority of the ideas and input came not from the developers, but from the community and consumers who would ultimately buy the game. The fact that so many people are already unhappy with it suggests a major communication problem (or MC just not caring what the community wanted). This is the problem. MC wanted feedback, yet as the game developed feedback was not always taken into account. I've seen the MC forums, and the ideas there are staggering, brilliant. Yet here are, frustrated.

[J-P 0]

 I still play SC4 and I will until a real new city building game will come out.

[Edited deogatory comments - abcvs]

[Mctittles 0]

Originally posted by: hua10

Originally posted by: edman2012

I think that the system requirments are too high. You needa 8800 gt to run it full! the average person doent have it. i also dont like how it uses online play too much.quote>

i spent $300 on an 8800gt back when it was released, the updated 9800gt sells for about $100

you're telling me the average person who wants to play a game with this level of graphics is unwilling to spend $100 on upgrades when the high range of cards cost upwards of $800?

try console gaming if you think this is too expensive lol

quote>

I have a pretty top of the line pc and still can't run the game with any decent frame rates.  Sure when I first start building a city in the demo it's fine, but try and visit the big central city they allow you to view.  Panning/zooming in that city is very jerky and unenjoyable.

[LordOscar 0]

Originally posted by: northsider1983

The fact that so many people are already unhappy with it suggests a major communication problem (or MC just not caring what the community wanted).quote>

On Jeuxonline.fr we are quite happy: we just got our weekly message from Gregory. Guess what? There's nothing new in it. Just some empty words as usual like "don't worry we're working hard to deliver the best game we can".

Wait, there are some news: "there are already many players on the demo confused with the complexity level [of the game] with cities they are not able to manage" "(Il y a déjà pas mal de joueurs sur la démo qui trouvent que le niveau de complexité est à la limite du trop complexe, avec des villes qu'ils n'arrivent pas à gérer.)".

Oh well.

[DCMetro34 577]

Originally posted by: LordOscar

Originally posted by: northsider1983

The fact that so many people are already unhappy with it suggests a major communication problem (or MC just not caring what the community wanted).quote>

On Jeuxonline.fr we are quite happy: we just got our weekly message from Gregory. Guess what? There's nothing new in it. Just some empty words as usual like "don't worry we're working hard to deliver the best game we can".

Wait, there are some news: "there are already many players on the demo confused with the complexity level [of the game] with cities they are not able to manage" "(Il y a déjà pas mal de joueurs sur la démo qui trouvent que le niveau de complexité est à la limite du trop complexe, avec des villes qu'ils n'arrivent pas à gérer.)".

Oh well.

quote>

They might be. MC might be trying to give us their best. but it's just our standards. It is very hard to make a computer game, much less than one that will 'top SC4 by a long shot', so let's cut them some slack.

[USA_Pride 49]

Originally posted by: YucanWith CitiesXL you have one Lot size. Yeah, that road needs an upgrade, so I have to demolish both buildings on both sides and afterwards there's an alley, but also a huge gap in the middle of the city.quote>

That's my biggest pet peeve.  As my city naturally grows and I need to upgrade the roads, it means I must demolish not only the road, but also any business on either side of it.  When I rebuild the road usually the best I can do is to shift the road to one said which allows me to only build on one side of the new upgraded road.

This could easily be solved by allowing you to do an in-place road upgrade to add more lanes and by allowing losts of different sizes.  However, preferably you would be able to build roads with extra right-of-way so you could upgrade with no negative consequences (but not even SC4 has that option).

[USA_Pride 49]

Originally posted by: Victor Valdes

To me,CXL's biggest failure is when you zone a development area,the buildings tend to be repetitive,which doesnt looks like RL.quote>

I am very critical of Monte Cristo and CXL, but in their defense, they claim the demo only has 10% of the buildings that will be in the initial release of the game.  This of course was done to keep the download size reasonable.

I never really paid attention to them anyway, I was much more concerned with something that's not so easily fixed; fundamental game mechanics.

[Jokurr 175]

I'd say the biggest failure is their financial model, turning a city sim into an MMO was a bad idea in the first place, now they're gimping single player to make that MMO that few people liked more appealing.

That is definitely not the only failure though, the lack of promised features, static simulation, zoning by wealth, ridiculously expensive basketball courts and many others also contributed to my decision to not buy this game.All the little things definitely added up.

[shpangler 19]

I haven't played the game, so I cannot properly judge, however I can tell from these responses that I would not like this game as much as my beloved Sim City 4.

Sim City 4 has some charm about it that cannot be taken away. In a sense, I like its unique 2.5d view (or whatever it is) and its simple graphics. This new game seems to be defining a game of their own, which is absolutely understandable, however I think that I can speak for a lot of people when I say Sim City 4 isn't too far off. Even though it's pretty old for a PC game, Sim City 4 still has a faithful following, thanks to user-content, and its fun gameplay.

In the end, it seems to be a shame that a great city simulator would be the equivalent of Sim City 4 with some major (but far from impossible) upgrades. The community here has already altered the game significantly with creations, however a new game would definitely feed the fans.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

 

[Lukfi 3]

Originally posted by: N106

We'll probably be using SC4 for a few more years until computers advance to the point that we cannot play it. Then, Simtropolis and other SC4 sites will die. One by one, users will become inactive, as they can no longer play Sim City 4, and are left without a replacement.

By about 2015, the loud voice of SC4 fans wanting a good SC5 will have been silenced.quote>

That won't be happening. SC4 doesn't need 3D acceleration (getting old 3D games to work can sometimes be a b*tch), current PCs handle software rendering without a problem. SC4 runs on Windows 7, which will be good for at least another five years. After that, we have virtual machines... no problem there.

Sure the number of people will diminish in time... but I think SimCity 4 has at least until 2020 before the biggest international communities are reduced to a handful of the most hard-core followers.

Okay, back to topic. Biggest failure of Cities XL? Communication with the community. The community were never told "we'll do this", "this is not possible" or "don't expect much there". Then people expected too much and now they feel that their ideas have been ignored. Also, pricing. People don't feel like paying for content that in SC4 was included from the get-go, or is available for free as a community addon. Well, everyone wanted a better city builder than SC4, but maybe SC4 with custom content, especially NAM, is just impossible to beat.

[zane900 1]

I traditionally do not judge games until my hands are touching the released edition, but I am certainly disheartened by Monte Cristo's failure to include inherent features such as railroads in the non-MMO offer.

[nashville nelson 51]

We are the biggest failure of CXL, because we are not the main target group of the game.

CXL seems to be a "City Building Game", what i think, most of us would like to have, is a "City Building Simulation"

So, we are discussing a Game that isnt made for us, so we fail. ;-)

[Livin in Sim 83]

[N106 10]

Lukfi, you make a fairly good point. But still, 2015 or 2020, eventually, we'll all have to do something else. I've accepted that we are never getting a Sim City 5.

However, I'm also mad about the pricing. You shouldn't have to pay several dollars a month plus a 40 dollar purchase just to get the full game. Do we have to pay monthly to use Sim City 4? No!

Another future forecast: In about 3-6 months, Simtropolis wil shift back to Sim City 4, and Cities XL will end up a small, dilapedated section like the Sim City Societies part of the website.

[zarboubou 0]

Traffic light don't work in cities xl !!! Look like power down in the city... Why ?

Citiex Xl need more work.

Why traffic lights don't work in the game. Power down in the city ?? 

  Please use the edit button to add to your post.

[joris24 0]

Well theres a lot, i dont botter the online play or payment, but they have to make it more fun and more usefull to play online. BTW IVE ONLY PLAYED THE DEMO

it arent big things just all kinds of small things

Ok at first:

Lots: Lots in variable sizes like sc4 , also because it will fill a lot of room if you dont use the rectangle lot maker, but the other ones. Also later on maybe gapfilles , for example a triangle building or something like that.

Traffic: At first improvements in how people drive, why they all tend to take the shortest rout on the biggest road. I mean if you know a road is blocked you dont go back on the road everyday right?

So if theres a alternative rout that is completely free and is only a little bit shorter , they should take it. Maybe they can have a radio tower that allows people to avoid blocked roads even more (news will get them better info)

If you make a road to a one way road you should be able to see what way its going.

If you have a road and you want to upgrade it to a bigger one why isnt that possible, now you first have to demolish it and then put the road back there. And also make an option that if you do that and there are buildings in the way that those get demolished on one of the sides of the road.

Stratistics: Traffic stratistics should be improved a bit. And other stratistics also.

Education fire etc..: why arent there neighbourhoods of unqualified workers that have bad quality education also when they are in the area. And thats with everything. At sc4 you could have really poor neighbourhoods, here it seems inpossible. Buildings are not going to old and not cleaned etc...

Why cant you change the funds of a school and such things

Why isnt there a max amout of crime people to educate or people for a hospital. I mean a school cant have endless amounts of students on a lot as big as every house.

More types of hospitals, schools etc.. (clinics research intensive care or something like that) (primary school , secundary school , university , top university , boarding school  so schools for stupid-smart and schools for rich and poor. 

Trading etc: its not working properly i cant accept all trades , sometimes i cant sell it cood. Maybe more advanced contracts that you set a date it expires or something like that. 

Elektricity: not enough is parts that fallout like in cs4

water: the same

Maybe more ways to trade and contact with online close cities, the avatar wont be used much! You have to create something that results in contact with neighbours. Maybe a channel in the chat window.

If the trade wont work and you dont have a lot of fuel your city fails cuz your industry goes down and also your citicens.

and some other things.

Stop doing the avatar stuff and make the game more buildings etc.. MC cuz the players will want it. Also i would like to know how much will be in the updates you get with planet offers. Maybe a pre released patch, update note???

 

[jeeper 14]

I played the beta for about 30 minutes before I uninstalled it.

How disappointing.

[DuskTrooper 316]

The biggest failure?

The fact that it did not even remotely live up to the hype.  Everyone, say hello to City Life II!

SC4, Forevermore!

[JakeMD 107]

Why spam the threads with this shield?

[eternal_sky 0]

Originally posted by: gspang4207

You know, I asked some questions about CXL before all the demos and I got a lot of nasty, rude responses from people here.  Now that I have played the demo, ha...the laughs on you.  CXL SUCKS!  This site was good before with the focus on SC4, but you know, I am sick and tired of hearing about CXL.

The graphics are ok.  I don't like the online mode.  I don't like the idea of buying planet subscriptions or whatever the hell they call it...no updates...the whole planet concept is a good one, but not thought out well.  I don't care about having an avater or an email box to check on cxl site or any of that crap.  I think they really, really missed the boat on this one.

They got everyone sucked in with flashy graphics and videos and the game is very disappointing.  Its Simcities Societes, but an online version.

So I go back to my original comment...here's another one for the $5 bin at Walmart.

And it's disappointing that this site has lost its SC4 focus and moved to CXL. 

quote>

Amen to that!

[Rallo00 0]

Alright I agree with a few of you but disagree with a lot of you, I played SC4 since it came out and I loved it, still do, but its still 6 years old, just Windos XP, I havent caved in to Vista but it looks like I will to 7, CXL is, and I know most of you will explode now, a better game. Heres why:

It is more realistic, last time i drove around I didnt go on 90 degree or 45 degree roads I went on long swooping curves and not so perfectly perpendicular intersections.

Home and business lots are square and they do have funky gaps between them where they let the vegetation take over.

Mayors of real cities do have to be very in depth in how their city grows, a business asks for a permit you have to approve it or not. You want to wide a street you have to use public domain and destroy peoples homes to do it.

Water, and all resources for that matter, is limited look at the south's water war or California's watershed management problems. Last time I check were did we get most of our oil from, trade! Even though the trade system isn't perfect neither is real life.

Traffic is based on time I take the route that quickest to get to work not the shortest, if you build an avenue from the back of your city to the front but you already have a real short avenue but heavily congested up front the peeps will take the longer but FASTER way, something in real life, the highway may be shorter but the back roads are faster when theres a 14 car pileup on the highway.

Stats on roads is there if you use your brain at all. The road tools says it handles 80 cars/minutes. When the lights red its obviously above 80 cars/minutes.

In a real school system you don't adjust costs per school you do it for the whole system, school systems are poor cause the whole city is poor.

in CXL you can choose what house goes up where with the toggle random growth or choose individual models option in the options menu, so your rural town can look rural.

Now back to the original post, the biggest failure are all the bugs which i started a thread about and massive computer resource hog the game is at mentioned before, that said this game is still a great leap forward, you people will realize that in 6 years time when the next city sim comes out and you'll be saying "Na, man CXL is way better i'll never switch"

[gabry85 2]

Originally posted by: Rallo00

that said this game is still a great leap forward, you people will realize that in 6 years time when the next city sim comes out and you'll be saying "Na, man CXL is way better i'll never switch" quote>

You're right... in a way.

When I played SC Classic I was happy.

When I switched to SC2K I said "OMG, this game ROCKS!"

When I switched to SC3K I said "Wow, not bad, but I prefer SC2K."

When I switched to SC4 I couldn't say anything because the game was so spectacular.

When I read about SC4/RH I couldn't wait to buy it.

When I registered to SimTrop to download the NAM and other custom content, I was like a kid in a toy store.

When I read about SCS I simply tried to ignore it.

When I read about SCS Destinations, I laughed.

When I heard about CU (now CXL) I was drooling.

When I tested CXL... I said "Meh... what's wrong with ya?"

Just me, though. Please, go ahead.

[Mexicanboy13r 12]

I agree with you dusktrooper. Played the demo and found out that I simply uninstalled it after 20 mins of game play. I couldn't believe the hype the game generated and it ended up in disappointment. How sad...

[Legosim 14]

the only thing thats good about it is that there is no block style building, and 3d camera movements, other than that ehhh, and the whole pay for stuff is major FAIL