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

[BKPB58 1]

Originally posted by: thecross21

Well there is a Sim City Creator coming out in 2010 (or is it 2011?), some people are wondering if that's the Sim City 5.quote>

Sim city creator already came out in 2008 or 2009.

And I think its time TO STOP THE STREAM for a while.We already have simcity,2,3 and 3K.Then now its 4 and its expansion pack rush hour and deluxe.Let's have it a rest because,simcity 5 will already have realistic graphics and sound and more-free like camera.We even have a NAM for rush hour and its very POPular(lol pop).

Give EA a rest and give them more time for their other games and I think they will release but not on

[BKPB58 1]

Originally posted by: thecross21

Well there is a Sim City Creator coming out in 2010 (or is it 2011?), some people are wondering if that's the Sim City 5.quote>

Sim city creator already came out in 2008 or 2009.

And I think its time TO STOP THE STREAM for a while.We already have simcity,2,3 and 3K.Then now its 4 and its expansion pack rush hour and deluxe.Let's have it a rest because,simcity 5 will already have realistic graphics and sound and more-free like camera.We even have a NAM for rush hour and its very POPular(lol pop).

Give EA a rest and give them more time for their other games and I think they will release but not on

[MTA3479 0]

Word on the street is that there is a SC5 beta being created.

[Liberater444 11]

yeah well the "word" on the street is usually the drunken hobo on the street, spewing lies to pull u into utter devastation.

I would like SC5 to come out semi-soon as well, with some maybe an included BAT and LotEditor, NAM, and texture/prop library. Maybe a little easier to use BAT UI.

[MTA3479 0]

I think this one might be true. Either that, or the moderator that said it is a drunken hobo.

[Fee_Nicks 7]

Short answer: Not in the way most people here want it to go.

Long Answer: SimCity, as most people can see, grew nearly exponentially in size, complexity, and detail throughout its first 4 installments, finally ending with the computer-felling, RAM-devouring Simcity 4. There are simply so many things for the CPU to keep a watch on, from pathfinding to the randomized details on lots, that there simply is hardly anywhere for the series to go up in either complexity or detail. However, the vast majority of comments and wishes for the 'inevitable' next installment of the SimCity series seems to suggest a certain... disregard for both the constraints of time and resources for both the developers and CPU - far from seeing that the game, 6 years on, is still a resource hog, some stop and forget that SimCity is a simulation game, and thus must find a compromise between having too much and having too little - to some, there may, even with the NAM and other things like it, still be not enough options, but to others Rush Hour may have given them too much: personally, I think many of the NAM interchanges seem quite a bit superfluous.

You can think of SimCity 4 and SimCity Societies (or Cities XL, but I'd like to keep that for a little later) as being on a line - SimCity 4 defining the strategic/complex side of the line, while Societies forms the casual/Sim-level side. From the many 'SimCity 5 Wish List' threads I've seen, it seems that many want the next SimCity to be even further on the side SimCity defines. This will most likely not be the case.

I left out Cities XL for a reason; from the meager things I have heard about the game (sadly, mostly negative) it seems that the direction the game wants to go is more along the lines of interregional 'multiplayer' play - which seems to be neither SimCity 4 or Societies: thus, it gets its own axis, making a triangle - and within this triangle, I can reasonably assume, is where the next game we can call the successor to SimCity 4 will most likely lie - not overly complex, not overly simple, and with some sort of hybrid between SC4's Region play and Cities XL's PO - that is, if there is ever a city-builder that can possibly stand up against the leviathan SC4 is and give something... different.

[Simguy228 0]

If they were to make a SimCity 5 for PC/MAC should'nt they make a NAM and RHW mod for it??

[Larks2242 251]

Looks like Will wright has given up on the series we may never see another one with him again. His qoute saying that "Sim city worked itself into a conner" does not give me much hope that another decent simcity will ever come out. It looks like they are targeting very young kids based on the wii game. Sad that he abandoned such a great seres of games.

[Starmanw40 6]

What will be in SC5 when the full release is available? Just Wondering ok.

[rainyday 2]

Short Answer: SC5 will never be released. It is a discontinued game which now only consists of worthless spin-offs. I think we would be better off leaving things that way instead of becoming deluded into thinking that EA cares about any community.

I wouldn't hold my breath on it for one second

[jabezscratch 159]

Originally posted by: rainyday

Short Answer: SC5 will never be released. It is a discontinued game which now only consists of worthless spin-offs. I think we would be better off leaving things that way instead of becoming deluded into thinking that EA cares about any community.

I wouldn't hold my breath on it for one secondquote>

I pray to God that you're wrong although you're probably right.

Am I missing something when it comes to SC5?  Isn't the SimCity franchise a cash cow?  I go into stores and still see SimCity 4 on the shelves.  Except for Star Craft no other PC game has that kind of shelf life.  You'd think they'd pump out a new version of SimCity every 12 months like an EA sports game (i.e., NHL, NBA, NFL, etc.) just to rake in the money.

[Msprintz 25]

Originally posted by: jabezscratch

Originally posted by: rainyday

Short Answer: SC5 will never be released. It is a discontinued game which now only consists of worthless spin-offs. I think we would be better off leaving things that way instead of becoming deluded into thinking that EA cares about any community.

I wouldn't hold my breath on it for one secondquote>

I pray to God that you're wrong although you're probably right.

Am I missing something when it comes to SC5?  Isn't the SimCity franchise a cash cow?  I go into stores and still see SimCity 4 on the shelves.  Except for Star Craft no other PC game has that kind of shelf life.  You'd think they'd pump out a new version of SimCity every 12 months like an EA sports game (i.e., NHL, NBA, NFL, etc.) just to rake in the money.quote>

Unfortunately unlike Sports game( which are usually updated rehashes of the previous years game), it takes a little longer to build a fully functional city builder game.  I'd say a good sequel to SimCity 4 would take at least 5-6 years, about the average time it takes for the next iteration of SC to come out actually. 

You're right on the mark though, few games have that long a shelf life.  I'd wonder if a sequel could possibly match or surpass it?

[MattShizzle 11]

I don't see it happening unless EA sells the rights. As big a failure as socieies was and how EA seems to want to get rid of PC gaming... Be nice if Will Wright could get the rights back. I'm sure within a few years technology could handle it - basically finer detail and changing a few other things. Big problem with EA is they rush to get games out before doing enough testing, and then they're loaded with bugs - and often they take forever to or even never fix them with patches - the modding communities do a much better job of it when EA even bothers to.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: jabezscratch

Am I missing something when it comes to SC5?  Isn't the SimCity franchise a cash cow?   quote>

 

Expansion packs are the cash cow.   SC4 only had one expansion pack:  Rush Hour.   After that, there were none.

Why would we pay for an expansion pack when there are many mods, new buildings, etc available for free?

Since we are not likely to pay for expansion packs, why would any company pay developers to create expansion packs?

(btw, I have no insider information here.   This is a personal opinion.)

[MattShizzle 11]

There's also a huge ammount of modding done with the Sims and they still sell plenty of EP's.

[citiesxlfan42 27]

Alright, let's make this straight: If we keep saying that SC5 will never come out and we don't believe, it won't happen. No one likes a pessimist. If we say yea, there's a chance. Let's make it happen!

[asd195 1]

we should sign a petition

[DazzaDazza 29]

It will come out one day. the reason why they have not released one yet is because they know a large amount of people still play SC4. So they are just waiting until SC4 dies completely, SC4 probably still give them some revenue each year.

[earwax_man 18]

Originally posted by: Meg

Originally posted by: jabezscratch

Am I missing something when it comes to SC5?  Isn't the SimCity franchise a cash cow?   quote>

 

Expansion packs are the cash cow.   SC4 only had one expansion pack:  Rush Hour.   After that, there were none.

Why would we pay for an expansion pack when there are many mods, new buildings, etc available for free?

Since we are not likely to pay for expansion packs, why would any company pay developers to create expansion packs?

(btw, I have no insider information here.   This is a personal opinion.)

quote>

I'd buy it if it added mroe customisability, and bug fixes

[masi_23 2]

The community should do a fund raiser so we can buy the rights! Lotto anyone? lol...

[chazman 1]

i wish it wuld ....heh i dont think so thogh

[citiesxlfan42 27]

The Stupid Fan Club peeps said they were doing three new projects. Could one be SC5? But if so, it could turn into an epic duel for the rights. And yea, I beleive that EA a) wants to mess up game franchises so that b) they can bring computers back to only Microsoft programs. Ugh.

[MattShizzle 11]

I think they want to get rid of PC gaming altogether and move it all to consoles.

[tiks 0]

I think we all should spam EA begging for a real SimCity 5 =O

[DCMetro34 577]

Originally posted by: tiks

I think we all should spam EA begging for a real SimCity 5 =Oquote>

Heck yea! Hey! Maybe we'll get a developer that listens to us! And, maybe, we will get a decent game! Or am I asking too much?

[Larks2242 251]

Originally posted by: DCMetro34

Originally posted by: tiks

I think we all should spam EA begging for a real SimCity 5 =Oquote>

Heck yea! Hey! Maybe we'll get a developer that listens to us! And, maybe, we will get a decent game! Or am I asking too much?

quote>

I agree how cool would that be if they just gave in

[ScaryMonkey 0]

I'm inclined to believe that neither EA or any other company is going to make a "proper" Sim City 5, for one simple reason:  The "hardcore" SC fan base that wants more complexity and more depth is not a large enough market segment.  This is especially true given the high development costs for simulation-type games.  And for the same reason, I think it's a waste of time to petition EA to step up or to wait in vain for them to get around to making "something" (which will inevitably not live up to the very high expectations.)

However, I think there is a way to get "Sim City 5";  Of course, it couldn't be called that, but who cares what the title is?  I think "Sim City" as a brand has been buried by EA, and the spiritual successor will have to be something new.

As for what that way is, I've started a blog outlining my ideas on what I think is the most feasible way to make this happen;  You can read the main entry here:

http://blogs.simtropolis.com/nextgen/index.cfm/2009/10/11/The-Open-Source-Future--How-we-can-finally-get-the-game-we-want

If you can't be bother to read all that (although I recommend you do!) my basic idea is a community-funded and community-directed but professionally developed game, released as open source;  My belief is that this is the only way to get a next-generation game for such a niche market without compromising on quality.

Every time I read someone's comment that "we should petition EA to make SC5" I ask myself:  Why do we have to ask them, like some kind of humble serfs with hats in hand?  It's us that funds these games (by buying them) in the first place!  If they won't give us what we want, we need to take matters into our own hands... we don't lack the means, only the organization.

[earwax_man 18]

Why don't they just make an expansion pack? Wouldn't that be quick money? One week's work on bug fixes and maybe the ability to allow us to customize their game fully would take very little work and would give lots of money in return

[MattShizzle 11]

I seriously doubt they'll bother making another expansion pack more than 6 years later - Rush Hour is an expansion pack to the original 2003 game.

What could they really add? Extra lots? The community does a better job then they likely could. Maybe something to have climate so you could have tropical/arctic regions.

A good idea for a new game might be to have "product placement" ads like in movies - ie instead of made up businesses there would be real stores/restaurants/etc and the ad money maybe could reduce the price of the game (BP actually did that in Societies.)

[Larks2242 251]

Originally posted by: earwax_man

Why don't they just make an expansion pack? Wouldn't that be quick money? One week's work on bug fixes and maybe the ability to allow us to customize their game fully would take very little work and would give lots of money in return quote>

I seriously doubt they would make a expansion pack for simcity 4 as the technology is so obsolete now they would be better off making a whole new game.