Your Questions for Maxis (for March-April 2012)

[nashville nelson 51]

Will there be fractionally angled roads? I.e., will there be roads at angles other than multiples of 45 and 90 degrees? What about avenues, highways, and streets? And will zones and buildings have orientation options other than the four cardinal directions?

Good Question! They didn´t explicit say that there will be fractional angled roads. They only said the roads are spline based and there will be curves and we take fractional angled roads for granted. The media files Maxis published also don´t show fractional angled roads, just curves (maybe i missed something?).

Sorry for misusing this thread but i think this question is so fundamental it needs to be ask!

[jacksunny 741]

Will we be able to zone parks, seaports, airports, etc?

[z1 566]

Will the diagonals in the game be true diagonals, unlike in SC4? I.e., will a diagonal distance be shorter than the corresponding combined orthogonal distances? And will there be diagonal bridges?

  Edited March 29, 2012 by z1  

[Spinmaster 75]

You are focused on a solid single-player experience. Thank you for emphasizing that. But how does the "online only" system requirement affect the single player experience? It doesn't say "online for multiplayer." The implication I get from this is that even single players must be online somehow. Is it just an anti-piracy measure, or is there more to it?

[ChuckChuck 17]

Q: Now that EA has confirmed that to play SimCity you will need a constant internet connection, even in solo play, due to the global economy aspects of the game, I assume this to be a centralized system, what will Maxis do to prevent/deal with the inevitable shutdown of the servers (they recently announced this for 14 games) that will turn this game effectively in a useless plastic disc in a paper box, as is the fate of every game that relies on a central server for activation, DRM checking, online aspects, etc.?

  Edited March 29, 2012 by ChuckChuck  

[z1 566]

Q: Now that EA has confirmed that to play SimCity you will need a constant internet connection, even in solo play, due to the global economy aspects of the game, I assume this to be a centralized system, what will Maxis do to prevent/deal with the inevitable shutdown of the servers (they recently announced this for 14 games) that will turn this game effectively in a useless plastic disc in a paper box, as is the fate of every game that relies on a central server for activation, DRM checking, online aspects, etc.?

Maxis has already stated that you will be able to continue to play the game on your computer if the servers go down for a while.

[ChuckChuck 17]

Maxis has already stated that you will be able to continue to play the game on your computer if the servers go down for a while.

Keyword "for a while", I would like to know what that means, 1h, a day, a week?

In any case my question is if the global economy is such a major aspect of the game what is Maxis doing to future proof their game when the servers will inevitably be shut down, be it in 2 or 10 years from release. (shut down, not temporary down time)

[The Game 2]

(shut down, not temporary down time)

Probably do what they did with CIties XL and provide a patch providing freeplay fix's

I'm not sure but that would be my Assumption on what they;d do

[TheRealDeadaim 38]

Q. As the Glassbox engine models each sim as an individual agent does this mean the spec of a PC will limit each city tile to a maximum population? If there is a limit, what can a reasonable computer expect it to be?

  Edited March 30, 2012 by TheRealDeadaim  

[TheRealDeadaim 38]

Q.When are we likely to see screenshots from the game?

edit: grrr, forum keeps merging my posts.

  Edited March 30, 2012 by TheRealDeadaim  

[nashville nelson 51]

Q: Can we place buildings or roads above tunnels or under bridges ? Can we place bridges and tunnels at ground level without ugly on- and off-ramps ?

[TheRealDeadaim 38]

Q.Can you confirm as to whether or not the game will be pay to play?

[LivingInThePast 364]

As the game progresses, will players be forced to create "eco-cities" to keep their cities viable, or can they continue building as if that's not a problem?

On a related note, will players be forced to run "socialized" capitalism, like placing gas stations?

[z1 566]

Will there be diagonal tunnels?

[Schulmanator 5,812]

What if we want to have a rural area? Or a roadless town? Or an ancient city? Are we forced to build a city that more or less is like everyone else's or can we do our own thing our own way?

[We have freedom and flexibility in SC4 and I think that should be preserved]

[drdru7029 52]

Will we be able to have access to detailed and in-depth statistics related to the functioning/progress of our city? I.e., the new engine allows us to intuitively discover many different social/economic/ecological states at-a-glance, but if we like, will we also be able to see the numbers and historical trends behind them?

If such statistics are offered, even as a tertiary 'extra', can they be in-depth and comprehensive (not just a graph but with the numerical data included) for the great many of us in the community who find such data immensely satisfying and useful?

[wadeal 5]

Dear Maxis

I've been a fan of your games since I started Primary School, I'm now 23. I've owned every true Simcity game, Sim Earth, Farm, Ant, Copter, Tower and loved the (at least attempt ) at capturing realism and attempting to be a simulation.

The Sims games, Simcity Societies and Spore took things in a simplified (Dumbed Down) direction that I really believe alienated your original player base. This is not only something that occurred with the Sim games, other big games have gone the dumbing down route in a (failed) attempt at more sales (ie Civ V) in place of creating a game with longevity and replayability (ie compare the Simcity 4 community that still creates mods today and still plays countless hours to Societies, or again with Civ; Civ 4 compared to Civ V, This AoE online crap compared to AoE II).

Will this be another dumbed down Sim game like you keep insulting your lifelong fans with or are you going to create a true Simulation game? Is this going to be another cartoon looking kids game, because the clips I've seen and the interviews I've read suggest it will be.

If it is I know it's the nail in the coffin and that Will Wright truly sold you guys out.

[Mark Waybill 242]

Will we have railyards, bus depots, and so forth, so that each 'agent' is housed properly when not in service, and all 'resources' are stored in an actual location? I.E will warehouses actually store resources in packets at a location, and will these data packets have a life from primary to tertiary industry? Will, for instance, food served at a diner originate from a farm? And in future will Sims be constant and have realistic lives, or is this regular regeneration of a Sim to be a permanent feature of the game? In short, is the level of realism (and I'm not saying you can't have too much, you can of course) to be included in the release version the level you are striving for, or is this release to be yet another step towards that goal, or the spine of the skeletal frame to come?

[MINIggy03 227]

Q Will disasters be random rather than controlled? If so, can a difficulty setting adjust how often disasters occur and how strong they are?

Q Before, having good police and fire coverage meant it was like having a cop and fireman in every home and on every corner. What are the chances that fires, crimes, etc will still happen to keep the city feeling more lively? Surely there must be Sims that are ready to take on a tough police force.

  Edited April 1, 2012 by MINIggy03  

[Paulobergonci 673]

It would be great if we could make our own signs, outdoors, etc. For example, we could make a store sign in photoshop or any other program and add to the game. If someone is making a japanese city or a brasilian city, i think it would be great to have signs in their respective languages, this would make the city more realistic and customized. What do you think?

[drdru7029 52]

Will we be able to build a single-city metropolis containing a large population, say, of over 1 million persons? If so, and if the city tiles are limited to 2x2km2, how will this be achieved?

[ziroi 14]

Looks like the reps got reset on these posts after the upgrade. Maybe we could vote anew?

[theBrad 25]

One thing missing from SC4, that I believe in SC3k was introduced - was being forced to handle conflict. Besides 'advisors' or community activists there were localized concerns - a residential area without a park, or too close to industries. Certainly a lot of games grew to hate the pop up windows asking for more parks, but completely ignoring them like in SC4 made the game more of a sandbox than a near-real life simulation of citizen interests.

I would like to know if this will be addressed - based on localized environmental factors (lack of schools, parks or near road traffic & industrial pollution), will there exist citizen complaints requirring resolution (or ignore & face the consequences)?

[Lantentine 4]

Exactly how many resources are there in this latest installment of Simcity? A recent article suggested we got things as complex as cars, but so far we have only been told about oil and coal pretty much.

  Edited April 6, 2012 by Lantentine  

[Lantentine 4]

To what extent can we view and manage people commuting from one city to another? In Simcity 4 it was very difficult to see how many sims were commuting, and thus it was difficult to create a city well integrated with other cities - you just had to guess...

Edit - Separated questions in order to make voting easier!

[jacksunny 741]

To what extent can we view and manage people commuting from one city to another? In Simcity 4 it was very difficult to see how many sims were commuting, and thus it was difficult to create a city well integrated with other cities - you just had to guess...

SC4 had the route query tool and the traffic data view. I think that was enough to determine what Sims are commuting where. IMHO, a similar tool in Simcity would be enough.

[GrayAnderson 6]

As far as the persistent connection goes, what do you feel is added to the game by using an online "trading" aspect with resources that could not adequately be handled instead by inserting a set of algorithms to emulate a market (i.e. longer-term fluctuations in prices being controlled by a semi-random formula)?

I ask the above because it seems to be the only vaguely compelling (at least gameplay-related) reason that EA got the stick up their rear about the persistent online connection.

[GrayAnderson 6]

What level of control is the game going to either give us or foist on us over our city economies?E

Explanation: In some early discussions about SC3K (back in the late 1990s...IIRC this was in 1999 or 2000) there was discussion about having an extremely detailed level of control (such as setting gas prices and placing supermarkets or gas stations in specific tiles; I remember seeing some early concept art around this time), which was as near as I can tell deemed impractical. However, at the same time, there are plenty of players out there who probably don't want that sort of control over their cities, as it distracts from the overall game. So while some things (such as ordinances, per SC2K) or tax incentives for industries might be a good idea, others might be poorly recieved.

[drdru7029 52]

Will natural terrain characteristics such as hills/mountains/lakes have an effect on the value of adjacent real estate?

[Mark Waybill 242]

Will we have reservoirs or dams as a way of storing water, and also will sand/rock be mined?