No density restrictions?

[cirugo 1,889]

And if you want higher density on lower capacity roads? like occurs in reality all over the world?

Presumably you would need good transit options, just like in reality.

Well of course...that's not an option with how they've designed the latest game though. High density development will only occur on higher capacity streets.

[The_City_Builder 299]

I could have sworn there was a Glassbox insider video that showed Low, Medium, and High density options on the right hand side.

[astondb9 7]

European cities don't have major/wide roads anywhere near the centre, they still have tall buildings there... yes, transport is very important for density but in most cities its access to public transport not wide roads.

If it was related to transportation as a whole ok, but just roads aren't right

[Essex 322]

Why not give you the option? Why not have an easy setting where the zones get defined for you and a hard (core) setting for us that understand SC4. I'm sick and tired of developers forcing dumbed down trash on us.

[jpjoe 29]

And if you want higher density on lower capacity roads? like occurs in reality all over the world?

Presumably you would need good transit options, just like in reality.

Well of course...that's not an option with how they've designed the latest game though. High density development will only occur on higher capacity streets.

Skyscrapers to grow along a single 2-lane street? Seriously?? Is that "Reality"? Maybe if Dubai had more money than they already have.

Why not give you the option? Why not have an easy setting where the zones get defined for you and a hard (core) setting for us that understand SC4. I'm sick and tired of developers forcing dumbed down trash on us.

Since when did setting zoning density became exclusively "hardcore"? How exactly the new zoning system will affect gameplay?

[Mod edit: Discuss the topic, not each other]

  Edited June 18, 2012 by Blue Lightning  

[SimCity4IE 203]

And if you want higher density on lower capacity roads? like occurs in reality all over the world?

Presumably you would need good transit options, just like in reality.

Well of course...that's not an option with how they've designed the latest game though. High density development will only occur on higher capacity streets.

You want skyscrapers to grow along a single 2-lane street? Seriously?? Then you go calling it... "Reality"? Maybe if Dubai had more money than they already have.

Why not give you the option? Why not have an easy setting where the zones get defined for you and a hard (core) setting for us that understand SC4. I'm sick and tired of developers forcing dumbed down trash on us.

Since when did setting zoning density became exclusively "hardcore"? Do you know how exactly the new zoning system will affect gameplay?

There's no need to be disrespectful.

[Essex 322]

I wasn't directly referring to Simcity, it's just hard to find decent games made for people that expect a challenge. I just hope Maxis is not going on the path of Societies again, that's all. Maxis definately has the talent to make this work blissfully.

[cirugo 1,889]

And if you want higher density on lower capacity roads? like occurs in reality all over the world?

Presumably you would need good transit options, just like in reality.

Well of course...that's not an option with how they've designed the latest game though. High density development will only occur on higher capacity streets.

Skyscrapers to grow along a single 2-lane street? Seriously?? Is that "Reality"? Maybe if Dubai had more money than they already have.

Why not give you the option? Why not have an easy setting where the zones get defined for you and a hard (core) setting for us that understand SC4. I'm sick and tired of developers forcing dumbed down trash on us.

Since when did setting zoning density became exclusively "hardcore"? How exactly the new zoning system will affect gameplay?

[Mod edit: Discuss the topic, not each other]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/frontpagephotography/4940760696/

[jpjoe 29]

http://www.flickr.co...phy/4940760696/

Surrounding roads ring any bell?

[Vahr 343]

A stronger reminder about discussing the topic.

Please refer to posting etiquette. I have edited and removed posts that do not follow this.

[squidgeny 2]

I could have sworn there was a Glassbox insider video that showed Low, Medium, and High density options on the right hand side.

I had a look at the three videos on the Simcity site, but there's no sign of varied densities. The only video that comes close is a brief moment where the user zones for residential in video #1. No menus are open and the zone is all the same density, so I can't tell.

[flowmotion 24]

And if you want higher density on lower capacity roads? like occurs in reality all over the world?

Presumably you would need good transit options, just like in reality.

Well of course...that's not an option with how they've designed the latest game though. High density development will only occur on higher capacity streets.

Nobody here really knows how densities work in the new game ... we shouldn't leap to conclusions based on tiny scraps of possible misinformation.

My point is "in reality", if you want high densities or large developments, you need a way to move people there. A real-world mayor can't just zone skyscrapers or shopping malls on the end of 2-lane road, no developer would build them. Either you need good roads or a strong transit network, preferably both.

[Lynchbread 0]

Sounds like they are trying to simplify it which I don't want.

[sirdanilot 8]

I think it's reasonably realistic that transport requirements have to be met in order to build skyscrapers. First and foremost, SimCity is a game, secondly, it is a simulation. Many people on this forum just want the simulation aspect, and that's understandable, but you should also remember that Maxis is selling a game. Part of what defines a game are rules. Now maybe you want to be able to build an overly congested city with skyscrapers, no transit and no wide roads, as you could in sc4, but I find it pretty realistic to restrict such things.

My only problem here is if you have a major road through a suburb, that random skyscrapers will pop up there. As long as there's an option to 'halt new development' or something like that, I'll be fine. Once the game will have been released for a couple of years and we'll have added some custom mods and buildings, we'll need such a tool anyway. What if I built a nice historic centre with modded buildings, but suddenly they would be displaced by a maxis skyscraper? No, I certainly hope maxis will be smart enough to include a 'make historic' tool.

[Ohadi195 30]

So what do we have until now?

1. Area of only 4km²

2. Online only playing application.

3. Cartoonish graphics

and now I see this? are you kidding me??? tell me plz how am I gonna DECIDE how my skyline will look like?? wth is this?? is it too much to ask from maxis?

Sorry guys, but seems like this new "Sim City" is only a CASH machine for EA. the ideology has died with this ganre which have became no less capitalist than any other corporation today...

I keep with Cities XL, at least there the graphics are awesome and looks real, I have a 100km² area which is huge, I can control over my skyline and I have tons of new mods which can be downloaded from XL nation...

  Edited June 20, 2012 by Blue Lightning  
Deleted language

[Essex 322]

So what do we have until now?

1. Area of only 4km²

2. Online only playing application.

3. Cartoonish graphics

and now I see this? are you kidding me??? tell me plz how am I gonna DECIDE how my skyline will look like?? wth is this?? is it too much to ask from maxis?

Sorry guys, but seems like this new "Sim City" is only a CASH machine for EA. the ideology has died with this ganre which have became no less capitalist than any other corporation today...

I keep with Cities XL, at least there the graphics are awesome and looks real, I have a 100km² area which is huge, I can control over my skyline and I have tons of new mods which can be downloaded from XL nation...

I agreed with you untill the CXL slant. CXL is not even close to SC4 simulation wise. CXL feels like a big empty city full of big buildings with no actual people living in it, even though there are a few animations of people. It doesn't matter, I have no real hopes for SC2013 either, I still got SC4.

[DmainEvent 195]

-Snip-

All games are cash machines for the people (or groups of people) that make them. I know you write quality software for free, but some of us need to feed our families.

The question is whether the customer finds the game to be quality or not. I am guessing, from what you have seen and said so far, that you think the game is less than stellar. I recommend that you don't spend your hard earned money on this game.

I will be joining you in not purchasing. This game is not what I was expecting at all. I was hoping they would outdo cities XL and simcity 4. But from what I have seen, this game does not even come close to the old SimCity 3000.

[Nielsen 10]

This sounds like an irrational move by Maxis. I want the same amount of control as I had in SC4 and a bit more on top, not less. I also think the feeling of density is completely absent from what we have seen so far. Small family homes seem to take up far too much space and the amount of open ground between high rises looks wierd and it enhances the cartoon feeling.

  Edited June 20, 2012 by Nielsen  

[sirdanilot 8]

I like how everyone is so fast in saying they are not going to buy the game while it is at such an early state of development. I am certainly not going to decide whether to buy it or not until much more detail is known. As a matter of fact, I don't think I am going to buy it until the initial release hype is over, if at all.

[Azurespecter 506]

Interesting to note, I saw a recent study (no, i'm not going to cite it) that showed about 98% of people who visit a game forum pre-release end up buying the game within the first month of release.

As to the topic, since this really isn't a thread about why you aren't going to buy the game...

It is not unreasonable to restrict the density of a building based upon the transportation to said building. Small streets just don't support huge residential complexes or offices.... Yes, I know there are a few exceptions, but even with those exceptions there are other reasons for why high density developed in that location.

What would be unacceptable is not allowing you to set density limits. As it has been mentioned before, many people don't want buildings to reach a certain density even if transportation would allow. Since Maxis has not yet said if players can enable this restriction, I'm not too worried.

[squidgeny 2]

I like how everyone is so fast in saying they are not going to buy the game while it is at such an early state of development.

Nobody's saying that, at least not in this thread. There have been a few people around the forum saying that, though (and it does strike me as a sort of idle "threat") - but I think in those cases, they're actually just stating what would be the deal-breakers for them. Which is reasonable.

Edit:

I want the same amount of control as I had in SC4 and a bit more on top, not less.

I think this is a bit of an unrealistic expectation, given the way they've approached this latest incarnation of SimCity. If it was going to use the same mechanic as previous titles (i.e. statistical data overlaid on a map), then I'd agree, but since they're planning to simulate each and every citizen, then there's going to be a lot of difficulty in integrating all the agents with features we've come to know and love.

Take buses for example: in SC4, it was as easy as sprinkling bus stops over your city and letting them absorb traffic. But in SC5, sims are going to actually have to physically walk to a bus stop, board a bus and then get off at the other end when they want to go from home to work. If the sim is going to arrive to work on time, then the bus will have to follow a sensible path (rather than roam the city randomly, stopping every time it encounters a bus stop) - and that path will have to be either manually determined by the user or automatically calculated from some "sense" of where the residential areas and the industrial/commercial areas are. This would have to be done, otherwise many sims might end up waiting at bus stops forever and that could have dire consequences for gameplay! Especially considering that factories won't function if nobody shows up to work.

I honestly can't think of a solution to this other than (a) leaving buses out entirely (b) letting sims teleport from bus stop to bus stop without an actual bus mediating the travel or ( c) going whole hog and letting the user place bus depots and bus stops, define bus routes, and populate each route with buses (this would be mind-bogglingly awesome, by the way, but probably quite a substantial effort on part of the programming team with little gain from the "casual gamer" audience)

This is but one of what I can imagine are a lot of difficulties to be overcome, all as a result of this glassbox system, and we're likely to see a lot of simplifications and abandoned features as a result. All I can hope for is that the game will be moddable, so the brainstorming (and programming effort) of the community can be harnessed to "recover" these lost features.

Now I know this doesn't apply to zone-density, which I can't see any reason for removing (glassbox or not), but I just wanted to share the above thought concerning your comment.

  Edited June 21, 2012 by squidgeny  

[fatbuster 44]

What I can see occurring as a way to control density would be to organize roads based on capacity. You would then have a menu consisting of low,medium & high capacity roads to choose from. this could work almost as well as before, even if it's not really realistic. You also have to remember that we don't know what other variables are at play in deciding what gets built. Remember, in SC4 you wouldn't get anything larger than small homes and businesses if you didn't supply water to the zones, no matter how you zoned the area.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

Cities XL 2011 allows players to place bus depots, place bus routes, and decide bus stops as well as 3 tiers of bus capacity. I think that this would be ideal for SimCity 2013 though some players might prefer to have SimCity Society type buses.

I also hope that one can have wide roads that have only 2 lanes but large sidewalks and/or parking strips (and maybe even street-side parking).

  Edited June 22, 2012 by OcramSeattle  

[DCMetro34 577]

Wow, yes, lines for buses, subways, etc. would be amazing!! That's one feature of CXL 2011 I absolutely love.

[squidgeny 2]

Cities XL 2011 allows players to place bus depots, place bus routes, and decide bus stops as well as 3 tiers of bus capacity.

Ooooh! I did not know this (never played it). That's good news though, because the devs will probably be wanting to "one-up" them by doing the same thing and then integrating it with their agent system. I mean, that's really the only way they can make buses work in the game at all, and I doubt they'll avoid the problem by leaving buses out entirely. I am super-excited about that prospect