How can I keep my sanity while playing Cities XL?

[arca 0]

So, I'm having some problems.  But before I start with them, I am happy enough with the game overall.  We all know it need some love/help.  I'm waiting for it to evolve, but until we get the things we need from Cities XL, please help me figure out a way so that I don't go insane while playing it.

I can't stand some things.

What is with the foundations around yards? The little white cement boundaries of yards are really sticking out  to me.  I like the game from a zoomed out view, but if I zoom in, I feel like I need to quit immediately. Postcard view makes me feel slightly better.

What is with the need to build on 100% flat land?  Is it just me or do the lots not "bend" with the landscape as they could in some cases with SC4?  I know sometimes SC4 did it poorly (swimming pools on a slope and such), but at least the lots seemed more flexible.

I think we need more resources and types of resources.  If this is going to be an MMO, we can't be trading such a small amount of things.

Why is every building gray?  My gods. I have never seen so much gray and variants thereof in my life.

Do the early commercial office buildings seem oddly huge to you?  I had a population of like 1,000, and I set up my first few offices, and they were multi story and pretty fancy looking. It just seems strange. Perhaps I will just wait til later to build offices.

Do the roads seem terribly European to you?  Something about the striping seems off to me. And the crosswalks seem designed for huge throngs of people to cross. They are just very wide and stripey.

The farm field textures are terrible, two dimensional and the buildings are plopped right on top of that texture. No animals, or edges or fences. Just striped texture and building. Bam, you have an ugly farm with roads on all sides.

I get mad when I see the denizens of my city doing something ridiculously funny, like an old man on a bench talking to a bird, when I know some developer somewhere spent time making that and not time, I don't know, fixing the farm textures. I don't give a damn about some man on a bench. Like, I wish the man on the bench was funny, but, in comparison to the things I'm mad about, he is not helping.

I am retarded when it comes to laying bridges, apparently. I can't get them to connect on one side or the other, sometimes.  I have yet to figure this out, and it's distressing me.

When it comes time for a road expansion, I become discouraged about what I"m going to be forced to destroy. The roads don't seem to line up very well for me, even if I leave one side of the road with more space sometimes. I am probably just a ***** who can't do it right, but, there are times when I miss the grid keeping me on track.

I know, I'm having custom content withdrawl. I know more is coming, and fixes are coming and content is on the way. But, until then...how can I make my city something that I want to look at?

I have decided against ever letting the auto fill tool build a neighborhood or office park or industrial park for me. It puts in weird and ugly filler textures between the lots, particularly on industrial buildings that look so bizarre and out of place.

What are some overall tips you guys have for building a city?



 

[Ocram's Razr 963]

Most games do not have buildings on slopes. SimCity 4 only had it for 1/2 of medium wealth residential. I do, however, think that each building should have a unique foundation. I think that there should be more types of farms and for these farms to have 3D crops (orchards, wheat, corn, etc). It DOES indeed need more colour and small offices are indeed rather large.

[littlesquare.dot 0]

Originally posted by: arca

So, I'm having some problems.  But before I start with them, I am happy enough with the game overall.  We all know it need some love/help.  I'm waiting for it to evolve, but until we get the things we need from Cities XL, please help me figure out a way so that I don't go insane while playing it.

I can't stand some things.

What is with the foundations around yards? The little white cement boundaries of yards are really sticking out  to me.  I like the game from a zoomed out view, but if I zoom in, I feel like I need to quit immediately. Postcard view makes me feel slightly better.

What is with the need to build on 100% flat land?  Is it just me or do the lots not "bend" with the landscape as they could in some cases with SC4?  I know sometimes SC4 did it poorly (swimming pools on a slope and such), but at least the lots seemed more flexible.

I think we need more resources and types of resources.  If this is going to be an MMO, we can't be trading such a small amount of things.

Why is every building gray?  My gods. I have never seen so much gray and variants thereof in my life.

Do the early commercial office buildings seem oddly huge to you?  I had a population of like 1,000, and I set up my first few offices, and they were multi story and pretty fancy looking. It just seems strange. Perhaps I will just wait til later to build offices.

Do the roads seem terribly European to you?  Something about the striping seems off to me. And the crosswalks seem designed for huge throngs of people to cross. They are just very wide and stripey.

The farm field textures are terrible, two dimensional and the buildings are plopped right on top of that texture. No animals, or edges or fences. Just striped texture and building. Bam, you have an ugly farm with roads on all sides.

I get mad when I see the denizens of my city doing something ridiculously funny, like an old man on a bench talking to a bird, when I know some developer somewhere spent time making that and not time, I don't know, fixing the farm textures. I don't give a damn about some man on a bench. Like, I wish the man on the bench was funny, but, in comparison to the things I'm mad about, he is not helping.

I am retarded when it comes to laying bridges, apparently. I can't get them to connect on one side or the other, sometimes.  I have yet to figure this out, and it's distressing me.

When it comes time for a road expansion, I become discouraged about what I"m going to be forced to destroy. The roads don't seem to line up very well for me, even if I leave one side of the road with more space sometimes. I am probably just a ***** who can't do it right, but, there are times when I miss the grid keeping me on track.

I know, I'm having custom content withdrawl. I know more is coming, and fixes are coming and content is on the way. But, until then...how can I make my city something that I want to look at?

I have decided against ever letting the auto fill tool build a neighborhood or office park or industrial park for me. It puts in weird and ugly filler textures between the lots, particularly on industrial buildings that look so bizarre and out of place.

What are some overall tips you guys have for building a city?

  quote>

All good points, and you've only just scratched the surface.  It infuriates me that things like cheesy animations made it into the final release, but instead of meat and potatoes we got a microwave dinner.

There is very little variety in ALL aspects of the game (resources, buildings, power sources, leisure spots, utilities, parks...  you name it!), parks are essentially non-existent, highways are absurdly buggy, as are bridges, no mass transit, poor detailing, amazingly limited terraforming tools (and related texture issues), and I could go on and on, but there's no sense in beating a dead horse.

Point being, MC should really stop talking about GEMS and whatnot until this early beta that we've all purchased plays like a somewhat finished, perhaps half-way polished game.

 

[Sainty 0]

You are not retarded, just less understanding than us others

[USA_Pride 49]

Originally posted by: littlesquare.dotPoint being, MC should really stop talking about GEMS and whatnot until this early beta that we've all purchased plays like a somewhat finished, perhaps half-way polished game. quote>

Wow.  I feel the same way.  I call it a "paid public beta".

I really disappointed because I bought the game for the single player, but because you can only trade with omnicorp you can only build your cities so big because the trade fairness is so far off you can't get the resources you need.

As for the "Planet Offer"...  I call it the "Pay to Have the Game You Already Paid For Fixed Offer".  As for the "content" we get from MC, big whoop, some buildings.  SimCity 4, seven years after its release has more content released for it each day, and it's free.

MC has ripped off the people who wanted to play single player and shut down the modding\custom content community all in their pursuit of sustained monthly income; forcing what should not be an MMO into an MMO.

 

[bluespottedhorse 49]

I didn't buy the game for all the reasons you mentioned. In fact, nothing has changed since the testing began other than patches to fix glitches. However, I have to believe they will add the features that most of us have requested. Until then, I'll won't be purchasing the game.

[USA_Pride 49]

Originally posted by: bluespottedhorse

I didn't buy the game for all the reasons you mentioned. In fact, nothing has changed since the testing began other than patches to fix glitches. However, I have to believe they will add the features that most of us have requested. Until then, I'll won't be purchasing the game.quote>

Don't forget that many of the features, even after there release cannot be purchased.  You must make the base purchase of the game (~$40 USD) and then rent the rest of it (~$9.25 USD a month).

So even if you wait, you're till going to have to pony up the bucks each month to be able to make a real city, because as of right now there aren't any plans I've heard of to un-gimp the single player game.

[SimBurger 0]

Bridgesquote>

You're not retarded regarding bridges. They are impossible to lay. They're impossible because of the immense flexibility MC gave to them (a plus), but it becomes an impossibility to effectively lay a simple bridge because of that flexibility (a minus).

Detail of Visualsquote>

One phrase: Video Card. They're trying to make things good enough to be amazing, but not too hardware demanding for the average user. The more detail, the more muscle you need in a computer. I purchased a top of the line system and this game still sometimes hesitates on it. So its a big ... big game. I completely love the red trees on one of the maps, but get a little bummed when I zoom in and realize its just a blob of red/orange. I've always assumed it was just because of hardware limitations.

Boring Buildingsquote>

Buildings are gray - in my opinion - because of the european influence of this game. My first impression of the game was that all the buildings were what I called "fart brown" Its no big deal. As you build the Elite residences you start to get the more snazzy colors and its noticeable on the skyline. They will expand the building options im sure.

European Looking Roadsquote>

Roads don't seem european to me. I often see similar roads here in San Diego and always have a little chuckle at how well they pulled it off.

Silly Animationsquote>

I have to agree on some level. Try to think like MC. Their goal was to make the game a little more "fun". So again, no bad intentions im sure. Had they released the game with NO such animations people would correctly say the game completely lacks personality. So this is why they spent time on it. Although I wonder if they think that's what people do in the lower income housing areas - standing on the cars and porches and dancing like monkeys ...

Road Symmetryquote>

Agreed that its very hard to make thing symmetrical. This may be our skillset though, as I see many cities with beautiful road systems.

Filler areas in Zoningquote>

This only happens when the six squares wont fit properly. However, this begs the question - why wont they fit? But nothing you can do manually will change that. Even if you delete those filler boxes, you can't manually place one, most of the time.

I call this game a "Paid Public Beta"quote>

I have to agree. MC has stated that the game is being tested by the best testers out there - real life people

Pay $9.25 a monthquote>

The game doesn't have to cost $9.25 a month. Just to clear that up. The price dips to $6.18 or so if you do it in 3 month batches.

-SB-

[Sincx 0]

All fair points, and as another said in this topic....you only just scratched the surface.

With most things you learn the work arounds at some point but in the end you will be facing all that this game has to offer anyway   Sorry to put it that way but ye...thats how it is....if they don't quickly fix alot of the BASIC stuff this will be a game we all look back at thinking and saying to your friend asking about it:    O that Cities XL game...the game that COULD HAVE BEEN great...ye...dont buy it it's a waste of time.

[morriswalters 16]

Why do lots have foundations?  Because they would float like little magic carpets, when placed on uneven terrain, if they didn't. SC4 lots were always combinations of square tiles and tiles other than houses could stretch, aka swimming pools on slopes. But houses sat flat and had foundations when placed on hills. So in this game lots are fixed sizes and include yards and can be placed in any orientation you wish.  The foundation walls are an attempt to make the boundry area at the edge of the tile make more "sense".  Why do it this way?  I have no information about how they reason, but I wouldn't want to design a mass zoning tool if all the lots weren't the same size.

Building color.  Looks real world to  me.  SC4 played with the color pallette to make it more visually interesting I suppose.  I guess MC could do that to the game, I don't much care one way or the other.

Office buildings currently are a function of the limited amount of content, MC will either be successful and this will eventually go away or the point will become moot.  Having said that it only makes a difference if your city remains really small.

Roads are roads, but the crosswalks are interesting.  Did you know the the width of the crosswalks is related to the length of the roads, or actually multiples of the minimum road segment.  They get longer until after 5 or 6 snaps when they reset.

Bridges are a topic for a tutorial.