SimCity: Terraforming

[Nevets13 27]

One article states there is no terraforming (http://kotaku.com/5915191/sim-city-preview), but I have to believe this is was a misunderstanding.

Anyone else have information one way or another?

[Ocram's Razr 964]

I hope that is a misunderstanding but we have not seen much information. The people doing the preview barely saw anything either.

[Bipin 3,402]

The way it's phrased makes it appear somewhat like a misunderstanding.

[spa 970]

Wonder if they're working on standing water. In all of the demo vids that I've seen, I have yet to see a lake or river or ocean. Hopefully that's not the case as that would be a real buzz kill.

[meowza 230]

Agreed. Nothing official said yet about terraforming. Though there's a hint about it being included here:

0:55 (Resources as Map Layers). But really, we can only speculate for now.

And by the looks of it, with the amount of simulation detail in the game, it seems like water particle physics won't be able to make it... But who knows?

[Supertask 29]

I really hope this is some sort of misunderstanding. I would hate to be saddled with a handful of cookie cutter landscapes. Though even if that is the case, we can always hope that later some modding tool will be developed to allow you to create your own landscapes and then import them into the game. If there really is no terraforming I may wait for that to come out before buying, creating a landscape for my city is pretty fundamental to me. However, Simcity has had some sort of pre-city terraforming since as far back as SC2K, so hopefully this is just a mistake.

Edit: Actually, watching the video meowza posted above has made me a bit more hopeful, that sure looks a lot like terraforming.

  Edited June 9, 2012 by Supertask  

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

If no water and no terraforming, then no purchase from me.

It just wouldn't be SimCity anymore.

[Urban Cartographer 601]

One of the most fun parts of SimCity 4 is terraforming. I want to be able to create waterfalls, water features, mountains, valleys, and so on and so forth. I wish that the terraforming tool can go across the region, instead of having to reconcile edges every time. If terraforming is removed, along with many other things, I will not purchase SimCity 5, since it would not be a true SimCity game.

  Edited June 9, 2012 by Urban Cartographer  

[Ocram's Razr 964]

I would assume that God Mode could happen in single player before any cities are established and mayor mode terraforming would be left out.

[meowza 230]

Kotaku's wrap-up on SC2013's presence at E3 made it perfectly clear that there was no Terraforming shown and there will be no Terraforming in the Retail release.

http://kotaku.com/59...im-city-preview

"They did not terraform (there's no re-shaping of land in this game)"

from:

Out of all the articles I've read about the game, that's the only one that said there is "no re-shaping of land". And it's not even a direct quote from any of the developers. It was just the writer's impression of the early hands-off demo build that he saw (the one with the arsonist).

And that article is not a wrap up of E3 2012 either. It was dated June 4, when E3 was just beginning.

As evidenced from the same article: "At E3 its developers will show multiplayer"

I haven't seen any llama in the game. Then there must be no llamas at all...

Really, please stop spreading misinformation. I'm starting to think you're just out for a smear campaign.

  Edited June 10, 2012 by meowza  

[jdenm8 362]

Look to the left. See those two trixies? It's in my best interest for this to be a good game. I want it to be a good game. I like a lot of things about it, but there is an equal number of things I don't like about it.

If you really can terraform, the devs are doing a terrible job of clearing this up. Aside from that, all we have is the Kotaku article the writer of which, unlike you, has actually talked to the reps at E3.

  Edited June 10, 2012 by jdenm8  

[meowza 230]

Trixies... Alright. Anyway...

Wonder if they're working on standing water. In all of the demo vids that I've seen, I have yet to see a lake or river or ocean. Hopefully that's not the case as that would be a real buzz kill.

Here's a hint on visible water

The graphics have cool features: clouds, smoke, sunlight glinting off glass windows, waves and boat wakes in the water, and the flashing lights of sirens.

http://venturebeat.com/2012/03/28/an-in-depth-preview-of-simcity-reveals-a-crafted-intricate-experience/

And an old concept art showing water (Looks similar to ingame shots. Early ingame pre-render?):

[Azurespecter 506]

However, Simcity has had some sort of pre-city terraforming since as far back as SC2K, so hopefully this is just a mistake.

I think historic trends from Maxis developed SimCity games are a better indicator than unofficial commentary from a "first-look" demo.

[jdenm8 362]

And an old concept art showing water (Looks similar to ingame shots. Early ingame pre-render?):

That's concept art. That has no bearing on the game and was not produced by the game (You'll also notice it has a grid there), though it would really surprise me if there was no visible water. Even the original had that.

Also, I was not pointing out the trixies themselves, but their Alt Tag.

[KeanoManu 42]

It could be one of many features that has to be taken out from the game so that the unwanted MMO crap can work as they want it. If we can terraform we can just create cities with endless resources and therefore flood their global market. The same goes for cheats/sandbox (which is the mode i prefer).

One of the biggest turn-offs from Cities XL, apart from the now canceled Planet Offer, was the small predefined maps. I want huge maps, doesn't care for the 2x2km limit as far as there's a region with unlimited 2x2km cities in it, and i want to create the map myself.

[the_new_simman 5]

I really would like terra-forming in this rendition of Simcity. I spent hours in Simcity 4 terra-forming regions with mountains, cliffs, gullies and other crazy formations that were near impossible to build on; it would truely be missed if it was not added into this game. I have a feeling they are just holding back details on how the terra-forming will work as the game is still a year off from release. Fingers crossed for terra-forming though.

[squidgeny 2]

^^^ agreed! The terrain editor in Simcity 4 blew me away when that game came out... I had as much fun in that as I did actually building a city

And by the looks of it, with the amount of simulation detail in the game, it seems like water particle physics won't be able to make it... But who knows?

I'd rather see those processing resources go towards simulating the sims/vehicles/what-have-you, than dynamic water physics. If this is the first game where they're simulating everything in the city, there's probably not a lot of room left over for dynamic water.

Standing water will be good enough for me, and I think it's a bit silly for some (eg. spa, not you) to speculate that even that won't be available - nothing defines the shape of a city more than a coastline or a river! The concept art has it, the big-shot trailer even opens with a cargo ship pulling into port.

  Edited June 20, 2012 by squidgeny  

[kwetzel345 101]

update, just found some more info relating to terraforming. Read this quote from one of the developers,

Is there any definition to the space between the cities? Is the region something with landmarks you can see?

It’s a map, and we create the maps. Every city is placed. You’ll have an area, a playspace, that you’ll be able to build up, but you won’t be able to build into the region. The region is visualized; you can pop out to the region view, and you’ll see your city alive, and highways connecting the cities, and traffic flowing back and forth, so the region feels like an extension of your city. You’re going to look out from your city into the region and see other cities off in the distance. You’ll be able to see a great work if it’s close to your city. You’ll see your sims traveling to work. You’ll see airplanes landing at the airport.

know I now a lot of this is not important to this thread, but read the first couple words. The "we create the maps" and "every city is placed" confirms to me that terrforming is a no go. However, I could be wrong, so lets hope I am, because I would hate to be right on this issue. I want terraforming REALLY bad as well!

[Azurespecter 506]

Is there any definition to the space between the cities? Is the region something with landmarks you can see?

It’s a map, and we create the maps. Every city is placed. You’ll have an area, a playspace, that you’ll be able to build up, but you won’t be able to build into the region.

"We" could also be referring to "the players" ... or is that just wishful optimism? haha. I need terraforming or my grand vision falls to pieces.

[Rokugatsu 126]

Wishful optimism. After "We" he says "YOU'll have an area...". If he would be talking about players, he would use "We" all the time. I guess

[citiesxlfan42 27]

Well, I know its a game, but think about it this way. When the Pilgrims came over from Europe, they didn't land at Plymouth and say "Oh, wait, I don't like this hill here, lets get rid of it and add a lake!". Maybe that's the kind of approach they're going for.

[KeanoManu 42]

update, just found some more info relating to terraforming. Read this quote from one of the developers,

Is there any definition to the space between the cities? Is the region something with landmarks you can see?

It’s a map, and we create the maps. Every city is placed. You’ll have an area, a playspace, that you’ll be able to build up, but you won’t be able to build into the region. The region is visualized; you can pop out to the region view, and you’ll see your city alive, and highways connecting the cities, and traffic flowing back and forth, so the region feels like an extension of your city. You’re going to look out from your city into the region and see other cities off in the distance. You’ll be able to see a great work if it’s close to your city. You’ll see your sims traveling to work. You’ll see airplanes landing at the airport.

know I now a lot of this is not important to this thread, but read the first couple words. The "we create the maps" and "every city is placed" confirms to me that terrforming is a no go. However, I could be wrong, so lets hope I am, because I would hate to be right on this issue. I want terraforming REALLY bad as well!

This is bad from two points of view.

First it confirms that there's no terraforming, as already pointed out.

But if i understands it correctly he's also saying that the regional play aren't the same as in SC4. You have your 2x2 km city and then a mandatory open space until next city. The 2x2 km tiles are therefore seperate cities and not district in a larger metropolitan area. Disappointing. And everything because of some unwanted online crap.

EDIT: I see that this is talked about in another thread.

  Edited July 14, 2012 by KeanoManu  

[DmainEvent 195]

update, just found some more info relating to terraforming. Read this quote from one of the developers,

Is there any definition to the space between the cities? Is the region something with landmarks you can see?

It’s a map, and we create the maps. Every city is placed. You’ll have an area, a playspace, that you’ll be able to build up, but you won’t be able to build into the region. The region is visualized; you can pop out to the region view, and you’ll see your city alive, and highways connecting the cities, and traffic flowing back and forth, so the region feels like an extension of your city. You’re going to look out from your city into the region and see other cities off in the distance. You’ll be able to see a great work if it’s close to your city. You’ll see your sims traveling to work. You’ll see airplanes landing at the airport.

know I now a lot of this is not important to this thread, but read the first couple words. The "we create the maps" and "every city is placed" confirms to me that terrforming is a no go. However, I could be wrong, so lets hope I am, because I would hate to be right on this issue. I want terraforming REALLY bad as well!

This is bad from two points of view.

First it confirms that there's no terraforming, as already pointed out.

But if i understands it correctly he's also saying that the regional play aren't the same as in SC4. You have your 2x2 km city and then a mandatory open space until next city. The 2x2 km tiles are therefore seperate cities and not district in a larger metropolitan area. Disappointing. And everything because of some unwanted online crap.d

EDIT: I see that this is talked about in another thread.

This is hugely dissapointing. What exactly are they attempting to sell to us here? Unless I get word soon that none of these things are true, I will not be buying this game. just a 2x2km map AND NO TERRAFORMING?????

This game is going to absolutely suck, I don't care how realistictly they model a factory!

[ziroi 14]

know I now a lot of this is not important to this thread, but read the first couple words. The "we create the maps" and "every city is placed" confirms to me that terrforming is a no go. However, I could be wrong, so lets hope I am, because I would hate to be right on this issue. I want terraforming REALLY bad as well!

Mmmm...I don't think this confirms "no terraforming" just yet. The quoted part is in the context of discussing multiplayer aspects of the game, in which I doubt there will be options for individual mayors to terraform their own cities, separate from the region's overall topography. Think of the mess that could create. It would be nice if Maxis includes options for us to import custom terraformed regions into multiplay though. My guess is, for now, Maxis will provide pre-set maps for players in the multi scene to enjoy and will not allow sweeping terraform tools when playing with others.

Nothing here says that terraforming is out entirely, specifically for single player.

  Edited July 15, 2012 by ziroi  

[whizard 45]

The other factor is resources - they are mapped into the region as well (a video showed a layer of coal being created underground) - which could complicate the region creation process, especially depending on how many resources the game has.

[vig220 0]

It looks like there will be terraforming. I saw videos of the developers placing trees and adding coal in the bedrock. The engine looks like it can support terraforming because the bedrock would swell or shrink (much like the organic terraforming controls in SimCity 4) to accomodate for the coal.

[ziroi 14]

I saw videos of the developers placing trees and adding coal in the bedrock.

'Adding coal in the bedrock'? Can you provide a link to the video you saw? I've not seen this aspect yet.

[Jokurr 175]

No terraforming is confirmed in this article:

http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/Community-Interviews-Maxis-Part-2

From the article:

Mkareha: Will there be terraforming in the sense of a "god mode" like there was in SimCity 4?

Creative Director Ocean Quigley: No, all of the terraforming in this SimCity is going to be at the civil engineering scale, and will be the natural consequences of laying out roads, developing zones, and plopping buildings.

[William Gates 84]

NO TERRAFORMING CONFIRMED.

It's over.

[Urban Cartographer 601]

NO TERRAFORMING CONFIRMED.

It's over.

I am officially boycotting the game (along with a myriad other reasons). I will not buy the game until there is an expansion pack that would allow for terraforming and many other things. If there will be no such expansion packs, I will not buy the game.