SimCity: Gameplay

[jacksunny 741]

Perhaps the road options with a green arrow are upgrade tools. You just click and drag over a strip of road and it upgrades for you.

I like that you have to connect to the region first. It makes it more realistic, the Sims have to come from somewhere.

[NCGAIO 562]

...That makes sense when you think about it, because it'd take less resources to run the game+the programming and development software.

If this is the case then they should have undersized minimal hardware requirements for the game.

Just repair the lags on screen when watching the video in higher resolution eg 720 ... or maybe did not have a good hardware available in the studio to make the video who knows ... ?

[VeritaScientia 150]

I have experience coding a large program, it's NOT easy making sure every little variable works completely. I once had an error in an airline simulator program that I'd developed. I was working on an airport demand subroutine, there ended up being a problem where the demand was always set to 0. It took me two weeks to find the error in the code, it was in a different subroutine. The problem subroutine wasn't coded to send the flight time like I'd intended it to, thus the demand subroutine--which needed the time the plane would land, didn't have that time,so it always ended up at 0.

...That makes sense when you think about it, because it'd take less resources to run the game+the programming and development software.

If this is the case then they should have undersized minimal hardware requirements for the game.

If they're using a dev version of the game, a dev version isn't a final, or even a full, version of the game, so the minimum requirements of the full version don't even matter.

  Edited October 6, 2012 by CaptCity  

[Ocram's Razr 963]

Often the early alpha and beta versions have yet to be optimized so they are laggy.

--Ocram

[NCGAIO 562]

Regardless of the stage or whatever version they have used and with only four months to launch announced is surprise to see the game fails in screen motion because should theoretically run on any current hardware.

Being demo; beta; development or whatever it is... it's a very bad thing to present in a video demonstration.

Of course not everyone cares about details mainly the audience "How do I play.. run in my portable... it's easy?".

  Edited October 6, 2012 by NCGAIO  
Removed quote of post that was removed.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

Can anyone clarify anything about different types of industry and resources including offices, agriculture, food, textiles, farms, and restaurants/grocers? We already know that generic shops take generic manufactured goods to sell to sims. Will restaurants and grocers take solely food and sell it to sims? Restaurants were mentioned. Will there be farms and where will they be? How will offices be handled?

Cities XL had similarly jagged edges in their curved roads though its zones were all rectangles (mostly squares).

I hope for the best and I am glad to hear that Maxis is working on rail connections. One thing I found that was odd that it seems like there is only one wealth level of factories. SimCity 2000, SC 3000, SC 4, and Cities XL have dirty/heavy industry, manufacturing industry, and high tech industry. Heck, SimCity 2000 had 11 industry types (Steel/Mining, Textiles, Petrochemical, Food, Construction, Automotive, Aerospace, Finance, Media, Electronics, and Tourism). According to the video, there is generic industry, 3 wealth levels of commercial zone (so I guess malls and offices are treated as the same thing), and money making resource "Big Business" (Metals, Petroleum, Trade, Gambling, Electronics). What happened to manufacturing industry? Are the default factories manufacturing industry? If so what happened to dirty industry? What happened to clean industries? Electronics could be considered high tech industry but I want farms that produce food and organic material/fiber for direct consumption, markets/restaurants as well as food processing and textiles (though polyester can be made from petroleum). I read something about metal being used to make cars in an earlier interview and cars and electronics being used to make high tech (or was it sports) cars.

[Pygma 24]

As far as i have understood, the work sites sent out a request for X workers, then it will search for that number of workers along the roads (because the searching is done with agents, as the rest of the simulation):

Then they've stated that it will be possible for sims from one city to work in another city. so i guess that the job-request-agents also follow the railway and "Highway" that connects the different cities within the region.

And they really start this from scratch every morning? Somehow weird. But it might still work out.

[VeritaScientia 150]

Regardless of the stage or whatever version they have used and with only four months to launch announced is surprise to see the game fails in screen motion because should theoretically run on any current hardware.

Being demo; beta; development or whatever it is... it's a very bad thing to present in a video demonstration.

Of course not everyone cares about details mainly the audience "How do I play.. run in my portable... it's easy?".

Think of the game like a piece of woodwork, the process of optimizing software can be seen as sanding the woodwork before painting it, why would you paint something before sanding it just because your client wants to see how far you've gotten on building their woodwork? You really wouldn't, unless you liked making more work for yourself. Being that Maxis is in a deadline-driven business, they aren't in a habit of making more work for themselves, everything is on a schedule, that's why the first things you've seen were basic roads, and the last things you'll see finished are aspects of the game that the player won't interact with, like areas of the world where cities won't be able to be built (though I hope these end up few and far between).

Also, SimCity 4 wasn't really optimized for laptops (what I'm suspecting you mean by "portables"), though at the time, laptops weren't as common as they now are. I'd hope that SC13 is able to be run within the parameters of laptops nowadays. Tablets however, I don't see SC13 translating well to tablets at the present, clicking and dragging still seems to be a rather important part of the road-construction control scheme.

  Edited October 7, 2012 by PTPLauthor  

[A.Burgess 2]

As far as i have understood, the work sites sent out a request for X workers, then it will search for that number of workers along the roads (because the searching is done with agents, as the rest of the simulation):

Then they've stated that it will be possible for sims from one city to work in another city. so i guess that the job-request-agents also follow the railway and "Highway" that connects the different cities within the region.

And they really start this from scratch every morning? Somehow weird. But it might still work out.

By no means am I an expert in this, but what I do know from programing and software design is that storing where each individual Sim works will slowly take up a large amount of storage space especially when there are high populations. An easier thing to do and a less resource intensive thing to do would be to have cycles that "count" as cars (or agents) pass.

[NCGAIO 562]

A pity not understand anything joinery to discuss the matter, my field is another.!

Portable.? .. any hand device .. from EA- "how he wants, when he wants and on the device he wants".

OcramSeattle the answer is easy ... simplification to enhance gameplay!

The magic in G.B... transform transport routes in collecting and distributing resources as cited...

  Edited October 7, 2012 by NCGAIO  

[jamezz_2005 5]

After watching some new videos online I just had to log in to say this game is shaping up to be very impressive! Can't wait - has been so many years since the last true SimCity release.

[bunky 6]

One of the only things I'm REALLY dissapointed about ... next they'll tell me there is no Mixed-Use Zoning/Buildings ...

I'm much surprized that I haven’t read more about whether mixed-use zonings and buildings will be included or not. More and more real cities are starting to realize the importance of this for healthy urban settings.

[Greyflame 54]

I recall the mention of mixed-use zoning in one of the Q&As, though I forget exactly where. IIRC, the basic answer was akin to "We don't include it at the moment, but there's no reason the engine can't support it. So if it works for the game play, it's certainly an option."

I can't fathom any world in which it WOULDN'T work for game play. So here's hoping |D

[Greyflame 54]

NEWS:

"We considered vertical mixed use, and although it makes good city design sense, it doesn't work well in a game. Instead we totally support horizontal mixed use as well as neighborhood commercial, you just have to set up your city blocks that way."

A bit of a shame, but not too surprising and far from a deal breaker for me.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

So I am assuming that since offices and retail are in the same zone, then those would be one of the few mixed use buildings available?

--Ocram

[Xenocity 343]

After watching some new videos online I just had to log in to say this game is shaping up to be very impressive! Can't wait - has been so many years since the last true SimCity release.

Same here.

[jacksunny 741]

The Glassbox engine likely wasn't built to support mixed-use zoning.

[Screwballl 196]

So I am assuming that since offices and retail are in the same zone, then those would be one of the few mixed use buildings available?

--Ocram

Pretty much yes..

Seems to go back to basics with just the 3 main zones

[Wiimeiser 444]

The Glassbox engine likely wasn't built to support mixed-use zoning.

But was it designed for agriculture?

[Pandemic 32]

Maxis' posted their live broadcast on SimCity, and shows some new gameplay,

[VeritaScientia 150]

The Glassbox engine likely wasn't built to support mixed-use zoning.

But was it designed for agriculture?

Simple answer: yes. Agriculture can be disseminated in terms of agents. There's no reason why it can't be included in the game, I'd only see one issue, and that's with the way the zoning is handled, there should really be freeform agriculture zoning.

[Architect_1077 0]

No subway? That sucks...

[Tzar Aleksander 1]

hello the game is called Simcity not simcity 5 ok

[VeritaScientia 150]

The Glassbox engine likely wasn't built to support mixed-use zoning.

With minor tweaks to the code, it could support mixed-use zoning. The likely reason why we're not seeing mixed-use zoning, is because the way the pathing works out, the people living in the mixed use would rarely travel outside their block more than likely.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

I guess that makes sense. I think that would make mixed use zoning equivalent to arcologies then. Unfortunately, they treat a shop the same as a restaurant the same as an office the same as a gas station as well as a dirty factory the same as a clean, high-tech factory.

What would be optimal is complex resource chains. Shops being unchanged (sell manufactured goods), restaurants and grocers selling food, gas stations selling refined gasoline, offices consuming some manufactured goods and some high tech goods/electronics but producing a lot of wealth and high tech factories requiring manufactured goods, manufacturing factories requiring refined metals, food, and/or heavy industrial goods and dirty factories requiring coal or petroleum.

--Ocram

[Ombedor 23]

I guess that makes sense. I think that would make mixed use zoning equivalent to arcologies then. Unfortunately, they treat a shop the same as a restaurant the same as an office the same as a gas station as well as a dirty factory the same as a clean, high-tech factory.

What would be optimal is complex resource chains. Shops being unchanged (sell manufactured goods), restaurants and grocers selling food, gas stations selling refined gasoline, offices consuming some manufactured goods and some high tech goods/electronics but producing a lot of wealth and high tech factories requiring manufactured goods, manufacturing factories requiring refined metals, food, and/or heavy industrial goods and dirty factories requiring coal or petroleum.

--Ocram

Are you sure that all shops are treated the same? I thought the original glassbox slides implied that complex resource chains were supported. So even if you only have one type of commercial zone, that doesn't mean that all the businesses that grow on them have to be the same type. Perhaps businesses grow based on trying to fulfill supply and demand within the overall economy of the region.

[MaxisGuillaume 289]

What would be optimal is complex resource chains. Shops being unchanged (sell manufactured goods), restaurants and grocers selling food, gas stations selling refined gasoline, offices consuming some manufactured goods and some high tech goods/electronics but producing a lot of wealth and high tech factories requiring manufactured goods, manufacturing factories requiring refined metals, food, and/or heavy industrial goods and dirty factories requiring coal or petroleum.

Have you played openTTD with resource chain GRFs?

[Ocram's Razr 963]

I have played OpenTTD, Simutrans, Cities XL, and LinCity in the 10 years since SimCity 4 was released. :-)

--Ocram

[VeritaScientia 150]

I guess that makes sense. I think that would make mixed use zoning equivalent to arcologies then. Unfortunately, they treat a shop the same as a restaurant the same as an office the same as a gas station as well as a dirty factory the same as a clean, high-tech factory.

What would be optimal is complex resource chains. Shops being unchanged (sell manufactured goods), restaurants and grocers selling food, gas stations selling refined gasoline, offices consuming some manufactured goods and some high tech goods/electronics but producing a lot of wealth and high tech factories requiring manufactured goods, manufacturing factories requiring refined metals, food, and/or heavy industrial goods and dirty factories requiring coal or petroleum.

--Ocram

I'm getting heart palpitations thinking of something like that being in SC13.

One of my favorite games was Railroad Tycoon II, they had many chains like that, that if added to SC13, this game would, in my eyes, be worth $200 and I'd pay it........(you didn't read that Maxis....)

Glassbox+RRT2 or 3-style resource chains=possibly the most realistic economic simulation possible

Here's an example of how some of the RRT2 resource chains worked for those who never played it:

Iron + Coal -> Steel Mill= Steel

Steel -> Tool & Die Factory= Goods

Steel + Tires -> Auto Plant=Cars

Steel + Food ->Cannery=Food (only available until sometime in the 20th Century when the Canneries stop accepting steel in favor of aluminum

Some maps, and some custom maps could have the Goods sent to a Port where they'd be traded for something like Rubber to feed into another resource chain, then the Autos for something else for another resource chain.

Cities would consume Passengers, Mail, Autos, Food, and a couple other resources I believe.

  Edited October 15, 2012 by PTPLauthor  

[Vodahmin 0]

I guess that makes sense. I think that would make mixed use zoning equivalent to arcologies then. Unfortunately, they treat a shop the same as a restaurant the same as an office the same as a gas station as well as a dirty factory the same as a clean, high-tech factory.

What would be optimal is complex resource chains. Shops being unchanged (sell manufactured goods), restaurants and grocers selling food, gas stations selling refined gasoline, offices consuming some manufactured goods and some high tech goods/electronics but producing a lot of wealth and high tech factories requiring manufactured goods, manufacturing factories requiring refined metals, food, and/or heavy industrial goods and dirty factories requiring coal or petroleum.

--Ocram

I'm getting heart palpitations thinking of something like that being in SC13.

One of my favorite games was Railroad Tycoon II, they had many chains like that, that if added to SC13, this game would, in my eyes, be worth $200 and I'd pay it........(you didn't read that Maxis....)

Glassbox+RRT2 or 3-style resource chains=possibly the most realistic economic simulation possible

Here's an example of how some of the RRT2 resource chains worked for those who never played it:

Iron + Coal -> Steel Mill= Steel

Steel -> Tool & Die Factory= Goods

Steel + Tires -> Auto Plant=Cars

Steel + Food ->Cannery=Food (only available until sometime in the 20th Century when the Canneries stop accepting steel in favor of aluminum

Some maps, and some custom maps could have the Goods sent to a Port where they'd be traded for something like Rubber to feed into another resource chain, then the Autos for something else for another resource chain.

Cities would consume Passengers, Mail, Autos, Food, and a couple other resources I believe.

A bit off topic but if you really like these kinds of games, you should try Capitalism II. So far the best economy simulator I've ever played (and I also played RRT series).