The SimCity 5 Thread (Formerly "Is SimCity 5 Ever Coming Out?").

[Nique 291]

My protest/tribute to come with a new simcity game!

  Edited August 16, 2011 by Nique  

[Ndragonawa 37]

A couple things I would like to add:

1. I'm going to have to disagree with some people that mods and plugins do not make SC4 SC5. So far (to my knowledge,) we have not been able to fix any of the bugs or add support for modern hardware or change the UI (which BADLY IMO needs work.) I'm not discounting in any way the hard work that our modders and BATers have done to make the game more enjoyable but just because someone has a "skinned" XP to look like 7 does not make it Windows 7.
   
   
2. If a developer (doesn't have to be EA) decided to create the next great city simulator, all they essentially have to do is to create a framework -- the simulator engine; the graphics engine and terrain generator; traffic controller; maybe basic standards such as utility poles, water pipes, types of zones and mass/rapid transit concepts, etc -- the rest (buildings, trees/foliage models, transit models, etc) could be designed by the community. It would be a rather smart idea to make this game 3Dmax/gmax compatible for obvious reasons, as well supporting other CAD standards. This would IMO cut costs while streamlining production.
   

Just my two cents in all this.

Edit for strikethrough.

  Edited August 17, 2011 by Ndragonawa  

[jacksunny 741]

or change the UI (which BADLY IMO needs work.)

Actually, the UI can be changed. You might want to check out this thread.

[Ndragonawa 37]

or change the UI (which BADLY IMO needs work.)

Actually, the UI can be changed. You might want to check out this thread.

Ah sorry, did not know that existed. What I was going for in that statement was that for the most part we haven't be able to add new menus, seeing as my menus are chocked-full of puzzle pieces and alt versions of the same lot (transit stations.) But it looks like we may be able to do that after all. Yes I know those lot hider/revealer lots exist (I forgot the official name.)

Also, what's stopping us from hacking the .exe? As with all mods you still need to buy the game to install the mod so EA will still make money even if there is a 3rd party patch. On second thought they'll probably sue us, for daring to try to make their game better --but if such an event were to happen we're probably get press for it, meaning more people will buy SC4.

Again, just thoughts, input appreciated and all that.

[jacksunny 741]

Also, what's stopping us from hacking the .exe?

Uh... it's illegal. :|

[Ndragonawa 37]

Uh... it's illegal. :|

Kinda figured that out already when I said we'd get sued...

So much for that idea... crap.

[jacksunny 741]

Once it becomes abandonware, I believe we are allowed to edit the .exe, but who knows when that will happen.

[Mootilda 76]

Once it becomes abandonware, I believe we are allowed to edit the .exe, but who knows when that will happen.

No. abandonware does not mean that you are allowed to hack the executable. That would require a new EULA (End User License Agreement).

  Edited August 18, 2011 by Mootilda  

[jacksunny 741]

Once it becomes abandonware, I believe we are allowed to edit the .exe, but who knows when that will happen.

No. abandonware does not mean that you are allowed to hack the executable. That would require a new EULA (End User License Agreement).

Ah, thanks for the info.

[Msprintz 25]

Once it becomes abandonware, I believe we are allowed to edit the .exe, but who knows when that will happen.

No. abandonware does not mean that you are allowed to hack the executable. That would require a new EULA (End User License Agreement).

The way I see it EA has violated their end of the EULA, which would in effect allow any third party access to modifying the .exe file.

All they're doing is just selling the box with the game, sans support which they seem to have left completely in the hands of the SC4 mod community. In doing so they've essentially violated their agreement to "Support" the product.

[Mark Waybill 242]

I believe in the concept of 'abandonware' in that it's silly a company maintains rights over a game they no longer have any proper connections with, and I feel that hacking an exe should be perfectly cool. Then again my suggestions are always very communistic and I do realise that if the company gets any good revenue from the game there is a validity for it's continuing to have domination over it, but I fail to see how unless they are secretly planning on surprising us all with SC5 and saying 'april fools we were making it all along lol srsly dude' they are getting much from it now. Sales of 4 can't be that high atm? Not sntirely sure but certainly it can't be their biggest profit generator.

Simcity 2000 I feel should be considered abandonware and the exe hackable. I mean Maxis as a company is like Italy as the Roman Empire now. I don't even know if Will Wright is doing anything to do with SC these days. But I feel as we have a demand for sc5 that we have in some respects a moral right to the exe, as the game belongs more to its fans than its creating company surely? It's lived it's useful life as a profit generating object, now let it become a classical work like Shakespeare or Chaucer that we can quote and abuse how we wish.

[Mootilda 76]

The important question is not whether something is morally right. The question is: what would the courts decide? EA has given us the rights to the original SimCity source code. Until they give us the rights to the SimCity 2000 / 3000 / 4 source code, I doubt that the courts will decide any differently.

It would be absurd to suggest that I no longer have any rights to my own house because I have received benefits from it for years. Why should a company have any less rights to their own property?

[simcity4deluxe 95]

They might be making it, I mean they could just be travelling all over the world looking for buildings to make and doing things to make it worth your money, but I'm just saying this because I have hope that SC5 will eventually come through.

[nukeu123 307]

you know im suprised the ea has YET to make a Simcity 4 for console (ps3 wii xbox) huhh :|

[Mark Waybill 242]

Let's face it. If they ever make sc5 it'll lack the features we want, be an online Facebook game like Cityville, cost money to play, and have gameplay similar to a poorly made version of sc Societies.

I think it's time we just made it ourselves already...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Let's face it. If they ever make sc5 it'll lack the features we want, be an online Facebook game like Cityville, cost money to play, and have gameplay similar to a poorly made version of sc Societies.

I think it's time we just made it ourselves already...

Considering all the custom content available now, I think you are correct. The problem for a new implementor would be coping with the current user base.

[Mark Waybill 242]

Well, I've been playing Cityville and recently there was a reward decoration given for placing a Best Buy store in your city, which later reverted into a electronics store without the logo after the offer had expired. Then even more recently there was the option to build a Capital One bank in your city, and this got me thinking. Possible source of revenue for any company/group looking to make a sc5?

I know only a commercial company NEEDS profit, so I would probably aim this notion at such an entity, although a 'private' company could also use it (i.e a group of fans CREATE a company to create market and sell their own game with it's own title) but it struck me as a better way of making money than making players use real money to purchase special in game items.

Now I'd be laughed out of ST if I suggested in game pop ups and banner ads were the way to go, but imagine if every commercial building, or a good deal of them, was a real life company and building. Also, transit systems could be similarly based. The one issue that would arise I can think of is locality, in that naturally some businesses do not exist in some parts of the world. This could be overcome by tile sets. (American tileset, English tileset etc) Also major international companies like Microsoft could easily do this sort of thing, as well as online companies.

This would generate advertisement revenue without actual advertisements as it were in the game, and also keep the game free. Working by the same principle as banner ads, the game would become like a website.

Just an idea i got from placing a Capital One bank in Cityville.

[shinkarom 0]

I didn't read the whole thread.

I think, if we can't get SimCity 5 (or if we get , it would be struck by sequelitis), we at least can do more Photoshopped fakes. (soomething like contest on Cracked.com).

Sorry, I can't do such fake myself.

But I can understand EA.

<sarcasm>Who needs to revive eighties with a dynamic city, transportation system that can rival with OpenTTD's, very detailed financial system and, what's most important of all, soundtrack by Jerry Martin. No one.</sarcasm>

It's the symptom of today's gamers. If you check games about Star Trek, you will find there many FPS, some RTS, one Bridge Commander, but no simulator with a mission gernerator.

We must be grateful to Maxis, that they did not close The Sims. (They can close it and start releasing sequels to Medieval).

I'm very sorry for whining.

[Shishka 14]

I know this has been asked a million times already.

The only thing is ive noticed that EA has been still releasing SimCity games for Ipad/Ipod/Blackberry.

Also it seems EA still owns the domain for SimCity5.com until 2012.

(Before Societies came out)An EA representative stated that if SimCity Societies does not fare well with a large portion of the Sim City fan base, than a new, traditional Sim City title will be planned for the future.

(2009 Interview)

Shack: I was playing SimCity 4 last night. It's been a long time. When are we going to see SimCity 5?

Lucy Bradshaw: You know what, honestly, the Sims division owns the SimCity franchise. I did SimCity 4 with the team, and honestly, I love SimCity. It's my favorite game ever. It's what got me into gaming, and I want to see that franchise do well.

Shack: So... would you say that EA is committed to the franchise?

Lucy Bradshaw: Oh, absolutely. In fact, there's a new SimCity version that's out for the iPhone.

Shack: Yeah. It's pretty good.

Lucy Bradshaw: Yeah, and there's lots of different directions... I think, you know, Maxis games have traditionally been something that allows you to take a lot of different avenues and different directions. It's about, where would we reinterpret [simCity]. When that comes to the fore, and that passion's in the right place, all of a sudden we'll be able to take advantage of it.

It sounds like she avoided his first question by not directly answering if we will see a SimCity 5 so there might be a hint.

I know the chances are low but is there still a slim chance we will get a SimCity 5?

[GMT 389]

Tranceplante 'The sad thing here is that EVEN if EA releases a new simcity, I am sure it will suck. They have a way of making bad games lately, seriously i would be very surprised if they would stay ''true'' to the game'

Can't say that. EA used to make great games back then, after 2003, they were all disasters.

Another franchise ruined for the cash is Need for Speed series. The original game aims for simulation-like racing while still maintaining all the fun. Then the simulation part was toned down a bit in series by series after the first game, until it feels just right in NFS 4: High Stakes and then Porsche Unleashed, and finally Hot Pursuit 2. After that, it went down into Underground series just like SC4 to SCS: pure gaming by dumbing down. It is just a fancy graphic for depicting real world cars, excessive customization, and silly physics.

Then suddenly in 2009, they decided to throw in the realistic version (NFS Shift) after the success of GT and Forza series. If anything embodies the true spirit of NFS, it is the Shift, not the continuation of its arcade siblings (Hot Pursuit). However, fans who jumped on NFS bandwagon nowadays are mostly from the Underground era, which undoubtedly attracted many new fans. And I see that some of them began denouncing the Shift series. EA has created a big gap within its major title fans. However, they are unlike SC communities, we are not going to jump into SCS or any other silly sequels EA trying to push. We are waiting patiently.

EA went profit only a couple years back. period.

all these halfbutted games they release on annual bases with basically 2-3 changes to the previous version proof it enough.

I mean, do we really need a full-blown new version of all those EA Sports games on an annual basis, just to cater for the new team setups and a different rule here or there? Upadating or patching the new rosters and release a "real" new version of the game when there's big changes in visuals or physics or coding would do the trick easily imho.

as for NFS, of course it went down the tuning lane back when underground was released and attracted a hell of a lot of new gamers.

It was time for that. The tuning niche existed ever since and grew more and more and with the enormous success of the first "the fast and the furious" the whole tuning thing got a whole new attention in public. all of a sudden folks wanted to pimp out their ricers even more than before.

car customization in terms of performance was nothing new in gaming (the GT series allowed that ever since, just to name big title), but visual customization had to be the new trend to gaming. Thats why NFS UG was so successfull (and the fact that it allowed those who couldnt afford a GTR34 to still trick it out the way they wanted)

And of course people who loved these tuning features got angered as they slowly disappeared again as the games got back to more realistic racing and the afore mentioned movie turned from a tuning showcase to a normal action movie. I'm one of those who didn't like it that much and I dare to say that to a certain extend that this is due to the feeling of responsibility. its a fact that all these illigal street racing themes boosted them in real life.

wow so much off topic...

anyways, I honestly doubt we'll ever see a true sim city 5, unless EA sells it's rights.

[DavidB_ 83]

Tranceplante 'The sad thing here is that EVEN if EA releases a new simcity, I am sure it will suck. They have a way of making bad games lately, seriously i would be very surprised if they would stay ''true'' to the game'

Can't say that. EA used to make great games back then, after 2003, they were all disasters.

Another franchise ruined for the cash is Need for Speed series. The original game aims for simulation-like racing while still maintaining all the fun. Then the simulation part was toned down a bit in series by series after the first game, until it feels just right in NFS 4: High Stakes and then Porsche Unleashed, and finally Hot Pursuit 2. After that, it went down into Underground series just like SC4 to SCS: pure gaming by dumbing down. It is just a fancy graphic for depicting real world cars, excessive customization, and silly physics.

Then suddenly in 2009, they decided to throw in the realistic version (NFS Shift) after the success of GT and Forza series. If anything embodies the true spirit of NFS, it is the Shift, not the continuation of its arcade siblings (Hot Pursuit). However, fans who jumped on NFS bandwagon nowadays are mostly from the Underground era, which undoubtedly attracted many new fans. And I see that some of them began denouncing the Shift series. EA has created a big gap within its major title fans. However, they are unlike SC communities, we are not going to jump into SCS or any other silly sequels EA trying to push. We are waiting patiently.

EA went profit only a couple years back. period.

all these halfbutted games they release on annual bases with basically 2-3 changes to the previous version proof it enough.

I mean, do we really need a full-blown new version of all those EA Sports games on an annual basis, just to cater for the new team setups and a different rule here or there? Upadating or patching the new rosters and release a "real" new version of the game when there's big changes in visuals or physics or coding would do the trick easily imho.

as for NFS, of course it went down the tuning lane back when underground was released and attracted a hell of a lot of new gamers.

It was time for that. The tuning niche existed ever since and grew more and more and with the enormous success of the first "the fast and the furious" the whole tuning thing got a whole new attention in public. all of a sudden folks wanted to pimp out their ricers even more than before.

car customization in terms of performance was nothing new in gaming (the GT series allowed that ever since, just to name big title), but visual customization had to be the new trend to gaming. Thats why NFS UG was so successfull (and the fact that it allowed those who couldnt afford a GTR34 to still trick it out the way they wanted)

And of course people who loved these tuning features got angered as they slowly disappeared again as the games got back to more realistic racing and the afore mentioned movie turned from a tuning showcase to a normal action movie. I'm one of those who didn't like it that much and I dare to say that to a certain extend that this is due to the feeling of responsibility. its a fact that all these illigal street racing themes boosted them in real life.

wow so much off topic...

anyways, I honestly doubt we'll ever see a true sim city 5, unless EA sells it's rights.

And I'm still playing NFS Underground/Underground 2/Most Wanted!!! Logitech G25 is the best wheel EVER

I do agree with you, it needs to be something completely new if EA/Maxis are even going to hint at releasing a SimCity 5/6 (remember SimCity Societies...). Maybe they should ask the NAM Team to help them work on transport features. Ah, now that's what's needed: a core SimCity with all the basic features (Road/Street/OneWay/Avenue/Highway, basic schools, hospitals, police and fire station etc.), and an optional "addon pack", which provides NAM-like features for us die-hard roadgeeks (RHW, NWM, RAM etc). I could launch into a massive monologue now about my thoughts, but I won't...

[Simtopia23 0]

However now EA with 9-9-9 plan, launched the official facebook page of Simcity, and some days ago they launched the new section of Simcity in the EA's site...

Facebook page

Simcity in the EA's site

[Ndragonawa 37]

However now EA with 9-9-9 plan, launched the official facebook page of Simcity, and some days ago they launched the new section of Simcity in the EA's site...

Facebook page

Simcity in the EA's site

So... the're gearing up for a release? (At E3, perhaps?)

[Simtopia23 0]

However now EA with 9-9-9 plan, launched the official facebook page of Simcity, and some days ago they launched the new section of Simcity in the EA's site...

Facebook page

Simcity in the EA's site

So... the're gearing up for a release? (At E3, perhaps?)

finally EA pay attention to simcity franchise and Simcity 4 is dated 2003 so i think that someone of EA wants to restore the series maybe with a new game.

The facebook page is very important because now EA, after the failure of Societies, have again a contact with the fans of the series.

[Mootilda 76]

Then again, they could just be trying to take SimCity 4 sales away from Steam, and working on a new "SimCity" facebook game to compete with CityVille.

[Ndragonawa 37]

Then again, they could just be trying to take SimCity 4 sales away from Steam, and working on a new "SimCity" facebook game to compete with CityVille.

Maybe, but who really knows? Starcraft II came out 12 years after Brood War. Windows 8 is Longhorn reborn.

IDK just my thoughts...

[jigsaw 227]

if you tie some factors:

they have finally got their websites back up to date,

created a facebook page for one of their oldest games,

the inactivity of some of the best BAT'ters in the community,

the announcement that they are going to remake some old games,

for the first time in a few years i actually think that a new game is in the works... trust me when i say they read the forums.

  Edited November 7, 2011 by jigsaw  

[Simtopia23 0]

if you tie some factors:

they have finally got their websites back up to date,

created a facebook page for one of their oldest games,

the inactivity of some of the best BAT'ters in the community,

the announcement that they are going to remake some old games,

for the first time in a few years i actually think that a new game is in the works... trust me when i say they read the forums.

what???

[1ajs 49]

think about just how long it has taken to get the custom content we have i would say ea has allot work ahead of them and their scared to takle it

[Mark Waybill 242]

It is good to see these steps taken by EA. I never gave up all hope of a ressurection of the franchise. (I still haven't got 3d with my own project) The Facebook page is a good step and I agree with the aforementioned sentiment it gives them contact with the fanbase (finally!)

As to the Facebook game... If the level of realism was anywhere NEAR that of sc4 the lag on such a game would be immense. I doubt that's the direction they'll take things. Maybe something related like a portal for sharing cities or somesuch forum style application? A BAT/MOD sharing database?

The actual game I can't see being an online one at present. And certainly not a free one! If they do release sc5 FINALLY (I can not stress that finally enough... Imagine those capitals the size of planets...) one thing I think that has to be insisted on is it being an open project. I don't mean open source but the fans, and the more skilled members of the sc community, need to have a part. Even if it is just consultation and market research, there's little point in making sc5 at all unless it meets expectations.

Thus if they make it, they need to tighten their belts, pull up their socks and heil Will Wright, because there's a lot of catching up to do! They need to be dedicated to it. Listen to the community. If a feature at present is unviable keep the add ons coming, make sure the game will not be a last hurrah, but the start of a new and permanent project. It can be successful. There are the numbers to buy it and reccomend it. I feel that if they go about this the right way we can get all we asked for.

So... It is good to see this step taken and it gives me a little hope for the firs time in years. Keep up the good work.