Will Simcity 5 Have UDI

[samima 92]

I was wondering if Simcity 5 will have UDI, because the newer city building games, like Cxl and its successors don't have it. In my opinion it would have made the gameplay more interesting. With the graphics Simcity 5 is said to have, it would be a good idea if they have it.

[doorknob60 11]

Yes it was always one of my favorite features of SC4, and I used to always play Streets of SimCity, all the time, as a kid, just to drive around my cities, I would hate to lose that ability. Really hope there's the posibility to drive around, hopefuly in full 3D behind the wheel perspective too. That would be icing on the cake for me

[MandelSoft 2,769]

I think it will not be a priority during the development of the basic game. Personally, I would rather have complex infrastructure options then UDI. Why drive around in a city with bland infrastructure?

[Charlie_Zane 963]

It would be nice to see it in simcity 5, but i don't think it will be embraced as much.

[SONIC 1 1]

I really hope that their will be UDI in Sim City 5!

[jacksunny 741]

I wouldn't mind UDI in the game, as long as they focus on making the main game bug free, then UDI.

  Edited March 8, 2012 by jacksunny  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I wouldn't mind UDI in the game, as long as they focus on making the main game bug free, then UDI.

If and only if it can be turned off. You'll notice the hype said something about earning things through missions.

UDI should be a separately paged module that can run on a separate processor if available.

It might just make a rather nice expansion pack. I would not buy it.

[croxis 150]

I would rather have that features as an expansion pack/DLC and have the primary development resource all go to the main core game.

[Terribletown USA 18]

I don't really care about having a UDI/SimCopter aspect to the game. I'd rather the developers concentrate on gameplay.

[JoeOh 20]

I don't really care about having a UDI/SimCopter aspect to the game. I'd rather the developers concentrate on gameplay.

But Terribletown, I want to drive around in my 3D city and cause all kinds of shenanigans! Don't blow that for me dude...

[Tarkus 6,932]

UDI, as it was implemented in SC4, left me a bit lukewarm. The idea was nice, but there were implementation limits that really kept it from being a truly immersive experience. The fact that the new game will be true-3D brings up the possibility that they could eventually have something like Streets of SimCity that interfaces with the new SimCity. In fact, the developers have suggested as much already, namedropping SimCopter as something they could do with the engine.

First things first, though. They need to finish SimCity. Then they can start handling things like new SimCopter/Streets to work with it.

-Tarkus

[Mark Waybill 242]

Naturally the feature would be nice but if it's another gimmicky feature like it was in sc4 that doesn't work properly is boring and isn't from the driver's perspective then I'd rather they concentrate on more important things first.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

From a CJ point of view, if UDI was coupled with an easy way to make a short video clip of your city in action... either from the air or by road, that could be useful.

Not to everyones liking... but even if they do have it I am sure it will be able to be turned of or on as it is in SC4.

[Mark Waybill 242]

I think a basic UDI could be made like with one helicopter and one basic sedan to start off with, and missions/other vehicles etc could be add ons/updates later. Maybe an update pack could be added every so often like with Simutrans or something. The ability to take videos/pictures should be easy to create for any game, so I shouldn't think they'd have any problem with that. However missions, interacting with citizens/buildings in a complex way (driving a tank around blowing stuff up realistically or riding a skateboard through your city and robbing people etc) should come after development of more integral aspects of the simulation. From what I've seen Glassbox seems a strong core for this game so I am cautiously optimistic that with expansion packs/updates the game should achieve a lot of what we've wanted all these years. UDI I am sure will exist at some point in the future, but I am not overly concerned if it is or isn't included in the initial release, I mean they do only have a year!

[Terribletown USA 18]

I don't really care about having a UDI/SimCopter aspect to the game. I'd rather the developers concentrate on gameplay.

But Terribletown, I want to drive around in my 3D city and cause all kinds of shenanigans! Don't blow that for me dude...

lol, well I'm not saying it shouldn't happen... but I think it should be an expansion pack (sort of like Streets of SimCity and SimCopter bundled together).

[Ocram's Razr 964]

No it will not. That will cost extra (and come later).

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I am totally indifferent except I would like to be able to drop the whole works off and not have it occupy any memory. It should be a separate, optional task. It should not be included in the first go around because it is yet another thing to implement and will take resources from the main game.

An expansion pack that is totally optional would be fine with me if I don't have to pay for it. This includes any aspect that is My Sims related. The Sims are objects in the simulation and not the be-all and end-all of the program. If you want that, buy a copy of The Sims. In the simulation, the Sims appear, have duration and a set of variable properties, and are scrapped just like a vehicle.

I truly hope that the first release will simply be a full scale city building simulation, with no particular emphasis on any goal like going to work. These goals need to be set by the player. Other items and scenarios can be added later, or even be created as mods.

  Edited March 12, 2012 by A Nonny Moose  

[meowza 230]

Maxis already hinted that they will be bringing back UDI. From the Maxis AMAA:

[Andrew] The general enthusiasm for flying/ driving/ boating/ swimming/ hot-air ballooning around your city has been noted =). But first we need a SimCity you can explore, so that's what we're concentrating on right now.

I will say this is the kind of thing we love doing -- enabling players to build and explore their own worlds, if that doesn't sound too foofy.

And as stated on the simcity.com FAQ:

We made the decision to focus on the soul of the city and let players control the greater landscape than the individual Sim.

So considering both statements, I'm assuming that UDI will be merely an optional flavor to the game. Even if it's optional though, I would be interested if they made the UDI far more engaging than in SC4.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

Yes, optional. Optional to buy, no option to play in base game.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Amen. But if it is there, you should be able to operate a Sim, not just a vehicle.

[Xanares 1]

Eh, couldn't care less. Something like that would take up too much development time that could be put into fine-tuning the simulation.

[Jazzmaster 716]

Amen. But if it is there, you should be able to operate a Sim, not just a vehicle.

GTA: SimCity?

[Larks2242 251]

I think it is really early to speculate, all the details are still being released, i'm hoping there will be an E3 presentation on the game.

[Mark Waybill 242]

I'd agree with the sentiment that this should have a lower priority for development than other aspects, but if it is ever added to the game in whatever form I would agree with the former comment regarding being able to control sims as well. I think the Heroes/Villains aspect to this version is a precursor to the potential of this game to be connected with other genres, so yes a SC GTA would become possible as an extension of UDI. The potential is huge, as most sorts of first person games could in theory be set in a city built with SC. So even though I agree this is for later development and shouldn't take place above more important features in future I can foresee it's potential being realised to make something that SimCopter can only look up to with jealous fury.

[E28 3]

I'd like to see UDI back, and there is a lot more potential for it this time, but I'd rather have the ability to create better transport networks, not drive around on a boring grid of roads as others have said.

[samima 92]

UDI was a very good feature to the game, but now i agree if it is going to delay the release date, it would probably be best if they make it into an expantion pack. If it is not going to delay the release date, then i highly reccomend having it as a feature to the game. If they are going to make it (expantion pack or built in), i would reccomend they add big airliners, naval ships, drones, aircraft carriers, etc.

  Edited April 15, 2012 by samima  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

It really depends on what you want out of the game. I want a city simulation, period. I don't feel the need to drive a pedal car around the streets of my city. That should be a separate program that can access the running city or a snapshot thereof.

[LivingInThePast 364]

The problem with UDI was that it was poorly implemented. It wasn't the controls so much, it was the speed. Even on fast processors, it chugged along at no faster than the equivalent of maybe 50MPH (at best). The fact that Sims "plumbob" turned red (which was faster on some cars) whenever you hit cars wasn't very fun...especially when cars appeared and disappeared at random. And then on highways and bridges, it "locked in" the lane so you couldn't synthesize a great car chase. And I'm not even talking about the other vehicles, which were VERY hard to control.

That being said, a good UDI would be great...just not at first release.

[Mark Waybill 242]

I think if it was outsourced to another department specially designed, considering (a) it wouldn't affect the main simulation at all and would be a peripheral entity, and there is to be a physics engine anyway already, and (b) a simple engine could be developed easily by EA for this sort of thing, and utilise the physics engine, and if you viewed it from the driver's position you'd only need to add a simple internal graphic for the dashboard and simple steering animations (or add a avatar creator which also would be easy, utilising Sims resources)

MySim mode on the other hand would affect the game itself, by preserving certain Sims indefinitely.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

You would only have to preserve Sims for 20-80 ingame years before they logically die. MySims and U-Drive-It Streets of SimCity 2 should not come at the same time as the base game.