Are you excited / disappointed about SimCity? (2013)

[7238320 77]

In the latest interview there were some definite deal breakers for me... and it kinda left me thinking that Ocean and the other Maxis remnants have kinda left us 'holding the bouquet', so to speak.

Small cities, no terraforming, saved to a 'cloud'... it seems to me this new SimCity is more about learning / conformity, than it is about being able to simulate a player's 'dream'.

We're now 6 months out... are you excited? Holding your breath? Maybe your in my boat... Disappointed.

[dabadon5 295]

Im a bit disappointed as well. I was hoping for a realist looking game, but from what I see, it wont be. Hopefully its fun for those who purchase the game, however I think ill still will be playing SC4 for years to come.

[Ombedor 23]

I play the SimCity games primarily for the simulation and emergent behavior aspects. I am very excited about the simulation depth that the GlassBox engine will provide, but I have a feeling that the smaller size of the city tiles may disappoint.

I am also concerned that I may really like the game only to be very disappointed when the servers are taken down before I'm done with the game.

[helGn 1]

I bet someone will be able to mod that small tile into a larger tile! and perhaps they will allow, for example, simtropolis to host its own server so to speak, where the stupidness is taken down abit, if something like that happends ill be a happy man. But since that aint gonna happend, well, i was happy when i first heard of socities too.

[Ltw 401]

Couldn't really say anything about it. Listening to the rumors I would be disappointed, but that doesn't really say anything. Maybe it is awesome, maybe not. We'll see.

[hunkske 53]

On one hand I'm kinda dissappointed, and on the other, it is still 6 months to go.. the fact about the medium sized tiles, mmm, got serious concerns about that... It is waaaay too small, especially since now we found out the tiles won't even be adjacent to eachother.. Empty green spaces between the cities??? No chance to build a nice downtown, expanded with its different neighbourhoods, and further on the suburbs, and further on the farm fields, etc etc So in short, no real region??? (because face it, that's what we all like to create most isn't it? big sprawling regions... not just a little town here and a little town there.. and nothing in between that we cannot control ourselves)

No terraforming? mmm, while I always enjoy this very much in SC4 , I could live without it but not with great joy though.. I really hope they change their minds (or most likely it will be an expansion to the game later on, costing again several almighty dollars) and include, even if they're minor, tools for terraforming.

So far, we really have seen too little I find about actual gameplay, sure the glassbox engine with its simulations look nice, but at the moment it does not look to me like you can build that city of your dreams.. rather a town, and even then.. It would have been nice if they just would have stuck to the SC4 concept with its regional play, added with Glassbox and 3d.. thrown in a decent traffic (and public transport) simulator - basically, the things on which SC4 needed 'upgrading'..

But as said, we're still 6 months off, and we don't know the whole picture yet..

So I'll be keeping just a little bit of hope and excitement, hoping for the best... Who knows, we might all be pleasantly surprised.. or not...

[nukeu123 307]

i will form my opinion once its on my hard drive and i played it otherwise i am neither exited nor disappointed for we have until late February of 2013

EDIT also can we end the hopless thinking.... and the pointless forums discussing about opinions of a game no one has played yet. seriusly im sick of typing the same thing over and over. honestly i like the idea of constent internet activity and cloud based data management.

HOLD YOUR OPINIONS UNTIL YOU PLAY THE GAME PLEASE!!!!!!

____________________________and_________________________________

QUIT JUDGING A GAME BASED ON CONCEPT ART AND ENGINE DEMONSTRATIONS!!!!!!!!

thank you

  Edited July 27, 2012 by nukeu123  

[alex macnamara 139]

i will form my opinion once its on my hard drive and i played it otherwise i am neither exited nor disappointed for we have until late February of 2013

EDIT also can we end the hopless thinking.... and the pointless forums discussing about opinions of a game no one has played yet. seriusly im sick of typing the same thing over and over. honestly i like the idea of constent internet activity and cloud based data management.

HOLD YOUR OPINIONS UNTIL YOU PLAY THE GAME PLEASE!!!!!!

____________________________and_________________________________

QUIT JUDGING A GAME BASED ON CONCEPT ART AND ENGINE DEMONSTRATIONS!!!!!!!!

thank you

Concept art? Your about 4 months late for that! There was 2 interview article posted by the developers themselves that told us the exact features they were pulling. You may be living under a rock and not up to speed. THINGS ARE CONFIRMED! We dont need to play the game to find out there isnt terraforming and any other feature missing because the devs themselves TOLD US.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

EA has released information.

=> Users receive this information.

=> Users think about this information.

=> Users will have an opinion about this information.

=> Users will want to exchange their opinion with others via communication channels such as this very forum. That's what a forum is for, by the way

Yell "HOLD YOUR OPINION" all you want, it's no use. (It's also funny how you voice an opinion yourself directly before screaming at others not to do so.)

Imagine you had booked a beachside holiday resort with sports facilities, and now you get told that the resort is actually far away from the sea and doesn't have any sports facilities, but a spa/sauna. Yes, once you start your holidays there. it might be ok - different, but ok. But you don't need to travel there first to know that it's not what you wanted and what you expressly indicated beforehand.

IMO, what's pointless talk is that constant "Oh, it's still 6 months".

What exactly do you think will they do in the remaining months? Does anybody here really, sincerely, reckon they will turn the game concept inside out? Make terraforming possible after all? Introduce a full-blown single player mode? Totally change the region concept and the game engine?

That would boil down to throwing out the entire game so far and starting from scratch. I guess the community has sensed rather well that we're beyond some points of no return already.

The concept stands, the game engine stands, the game mechanics are standing, next steps will probably be general programming to put the concept into practice, artwork, fixing glitches, UI programming and design, testing and balancing, documentation. Don't forget the server back-end, which will require a huge portion of the entire effort, because it's basically a client/server game with heavy bias on the server.

I seriously doubt that in 6 months we will be any more able to make a metropolis region out of seamlessly connected city tiles than based on what we know now. The same applies to terraforming, realistic-scale stations, railyards... heck, I don't even want to think about airports! Or sea ports, for that matter. Or even just the possibility to say "I want a highway connection to the neighbour city right here and right this way."

If the concept so far is to your liking, then these points of no return don't matter, and the following 6 months can be full of excitement and more interesting details. If it is not to your liking, then... well... I have scarce hope that anything to happen in the following 6 months will make that fundamental change it would take to get you on board.

______________________

Back to topic, I was more skeptical than excited from the get-go, and for the third time now I find myself not really caring at all. If this continues, I guess my reaction to the next so-called SimCity game (or SimCity-style game) will be reduced to shrugging, turning around and forgetting about it immediately.

Personally, I feel pretty relaxed. I mean, the cards had been lying on the table for 10 years now, and they were speaking a rather clear language - in this context it's almost amusing to see how one contestant after the other fails to acknowledge what's in plain sight and goofs it up. I must confess that this entertains me to some degree - the usual hullabaloo in the forums explicitly included.

EDIT

Whoa, I'm slow. Guess you shouldn't interrupt posting for other things. I was picking up the thread from nukeu's post, of course.

[Ion_Cannon 677]

I'll just give T Wrecks a massive +1 for a start.

In response to nukeu, maybe in the past that was the only way to find out if a game was good, purchase it, but in the digital/information age you don't need to actually buy a game to know if its good. Review sites, youtube lets play footage ect are all a great way to judge if a game is your thing or not without having to actually buy it.

As for the topic at hand I am massively disappointed, though not that suprised. It's just such a shame seeing something as great as glassbox boxed into such limitations purely because of multi-sodding player. Thats what makes this worse, it had potential and that potential was dashed. If it had looked terrible from the get go, I just wouldn't have given a monkeys either way.

Ah well, at least we still have SC4, which is still fun to play even 9 years on. I don't expect that to change either, I think most of the SC4 community will stick with SC4 after the release of the new simcity anyway.

[hunkske 53]

T Wrecks, amen to your post!!! ;-)

[cirugo 1,889]

i will form my opinion once its on my hard drive and i played it otherwise i am neither exited nor disappointed for we have until late February of 2013

EDIT also can we end the hopless thinking.... and the pointless forums discussing about opinions of a game no one has played yet. seriusly im sick of typing the same thing over and over. honestly i like the idea of constent internet activity and cloud based data management.

HOLD YOUR OPINIONS UNTIL YOU PLAY THE GAME PLEASE!!!!!!

____________________________and_________________________________

QUIT JUDGING A GAME BASED ON CONCEPT ART AND ENGINE DEMONSTRATIONS!!!!!!!!

thank you

It's not going to be on your hard drive...it's going to be in the cloud...

[aparrot7 82]

I'm still rather optimistic to see a new SimCity. Sure there are a few drawbacks, but I'm still very excited. And, they still have alot of time to modify the game.

Pros:

-Glassbox

-The way the game shows information

-Specialization

-Multiplayer capabilities

-3D enviroment

-Resources, Disasters, and other Obstacles

-Transportation networks

-Transfer of things from cities [pollution and waste]

Cons:

-Regional Play & Intercity transport don't look so great

-Graphics a little strange

-No God mode [Although basic terraforming in the mayor mode may still be included]

-If you get stuck with a troll

Undecided:

-Online Only

-Saves through the cloud [its good, and bad]

  Edited July 27, 2012 by aparrot7  

[The_City_Builder 299]

I think the game looks like the game for me, but others might not say the same about themselves. They've still got 6 months until release, and we haven't seen any gameplay footage yet. I also believe there are many features we have yet to be shown.

It's not going to be on your hard drive...it's going to be in the cloud...

The game installs to your harddrive. Saves are in the cloud. And I honestly don't see the fuss about it.

  Edited July 27, 2012 by The_City_Builder  

[William Gates 84]

100% disappointed.

I was actually going to buy the parts to build my first desktop computer in order to run this game, since I'm not usually a gamer and all I currently have is a netbook.

But since the latest news, the game is NOWHERE near worth it to spend the 1k to do that. All this game sounds like is some 'meh' game that you play for a couple weeks, get some lukewarm enjoyment out of and then stash away in your closet, never to play or think about again. To me, that's not really even worth the $60 to buy the game itself.

So I guess my plan is out the window... shame, really, because it's really fun and interesting learning how to build your own computer.

  Edited July 27, 2012 by William Gates  

[Jokurr 175]

I went with the "they've still got 6 months before release..." option even though I'm doubtful something good will come of that. For the reasons T Wrecks stated, the chances of EA/Maxis turning the current game into what we want in 6 months is almost nil. Though I guess i just don't want to abandon all hope... I'm still praying Maxis will listen to the feedback they've received and put in at least some of the things we want... It may be too late to fundamentally change the game, but would adding in terraforming be too difficult? Or change the size of maps, even if the game requires a beast of a computer if a large map is near full?

[JayStimson 212]

@TWrecks: I couldn't have said it better myself.

[Don Bananos 28]

Copy-paste of my cry-out to M(E)Axis on Facebook. Just some of my thoughts regarding this game which seems to become a BIG disappointment:

This game will be a complete failure.

You're claiming to listen to your fan-base, but still the SC13 is so long from what the fan-base wants. Look at FB, Look at Simtropolis, even take a look at your own forum. All the post are negative.

You (EA/Maxis) really made me happy when going public with the new SC, but every time you publish a new article or video, you take away that happiness.

No terraforming, forced online, 2x2 km tiles (just small boxes of big cities in the middle of nowhere), no decision regarding transportation in between cities, cartoonish textures, and although you say there will be modding (which was the only thing that kept SC4 alive) I have a hard time imagining how it will work with multiplayer (but with this i will give you the benefit of the doubt), and loads of other crappy features (or lacking of the same) which just ruins the game for everybody. Maxis/EA, seriously grow a pair and admit you made a mistake, postpone the release and do this all over!

The glassbox engine is the only good thing yet! (that is pretty amazing non-the-less!)

  Edited July 27, 2012 by Don Bananos  

[Jim14409 448]

I just came from the EA.com site and looked at their list of games under "Simulation." Clearly EA is NOT the one to make a true sequel to SC4. Everything they have there looks like it was created for ten year old girls to me as everything looks like plastic or candy. (please...I mean no offense if you are older and enjoy).

Instead of doing the hard work of creating something great, it seems to me that EA (and many other companies) are relying on eye candy and the initial response of viewing such candy brings to the impressionable. There is no substance, no real challenge, much like a Hallmark movie that is sappy, and relies on the emotions of the viewer instead of a good script. Whether movie or game I find them all to be predictable if one reflects a moment.

After my visit to EA.com I understand the problems with the upcoming game they are calling Sim City. What they are creating is not, and cannot become what the majority of us SC4 fans were hoping for and continue to look for. Their whole foundation is wrong.

Some are saying we are forming opinions and making decisions prematurely but I think not. When one encounters a dead skunk in the road, no amount of wishing or hoping will make it rise up and stop stinking and be the cute functioning critter it once was. Neither will taking it home and patching it up later help but will only prolong the grief and stink up the house. The skunk is dead folks, bury it, leave it for the vultures or the elements, but it is too late and you can't do anything about the fact that it will never be as it was or could be.

I lost money on Societies and don't intend to lose any on a game called Sim City that is not even in the same class as SC4.

These comments are strictly my opinion and not intended to offend anyone. Frankly I am offended by EA.com and their insults to my intelligence as should every player be. If you enjoy much of what EA puts out then by all means continue to do so, but please don't berate those of us who see in SC5 something totally different than what SC4 was when it came out or is now.

Thank you.

  Edited July 27, 2012 by Jim14409  

[QuadBaconatorWithHamAndEgg 31]

Im a bit disappointed as well. I was hoping for a realist looking game, but from what I see, it wont be. Hopefully its fun for those who purchase the game, however I think ill still will be playing SC4 for years to come.

Aye. 'Tis SimCity Societies 2.

[MINIggy03 227]

Did any of you actually play societies or is it just fun and easy to spit out "Doh dis jus Societies!"

[Don Bananos 28]

Did any of you actually play societies or is it just fun and easy to spit out "Doh dis jus Societies!"

I bought it, played it, tossed it. waste of time and money!

And it seems like SC13 will be too

[cirugo 1,889]

Did any of you actually play societies or is it just fun and easy to spit out "Doh dis jus Societies!"

yes.

It was fun in it's own way for a little while

edit: but I never, ever would have bought it if I had to be online to play it

  Edited July 27, 2012 by cirugo  

[MINIggy03 227]

So many games require online to play these days, it's just where the future is going we unfortunately can't stop it. Don't be that guy sitting on the porch as an old man rockin' to "Back in my day..."

  Edited July 28, 2012 by MINIggy03  

[Buggi 685]

The fact it's still months out is a non-issue. Once a game is out of alpha it is near impossible to introduce new features. Beta is meant as a bug squish and tuning stage. Introducing a new feature in beta stage means re-testing the software completely over again.

In my opinion, as someone who wanted to help design the next SimCity, the game they are making is a game with cookie-cutter features demanded by the bigwigs at EA. Just look at how many modern buzzwords the game conforms to. "Cloud", "Social", etc. Sad really, all those people working all those hours for something that may sell 50k copies. Heck, it may hit 100k, but that's still not enough to make it profitable.

{edit}

And another thing, how many other games have come out where the first thing you hear about is the name they gave to the engine? Its like they're more proud of a hip name like Glassbox than they are any game they can make with it.

  Edited July 28, 2012 by Buggi  

[MINIggy03 227]

lol, the game will sell far more than 50-100,000 copies. And developers talk about their engines ALL the time. Source, Crytek, Unreal...Unreal 4 was just revealed a month ago and they didn't show off any games for it, just a tech demo. Oh the humanity! And considering the Glassbox Engine simulates the city(down to every single car, sim, resource, etc), that's a pretty important piece of a city simulator that would be very strange to not talk about.

I'm still incredibly excited but this community is becoming a little absurd with their outrage.

  Edited July 28, 2012 by MINIggy03  

[Selphy 69]

And another thing, how many other games have come out where the first thing you hear about is the name they gave to the engine? Its like they're more proud of a hip name like Glassbox than they are any game they can make with it.

Kojima and their FOX Engine is another. MINIggy03 mentioned a couple of the other big ones.

[Mark Waybill 242]

Imho every possible reasonable argument to defend their decisions regarding this game must be chucked out the window and onto the rubbish heap when one considers that Simcity Social already exists on Facebook. This means that they already have a casual gamer targeted Simcity. The gameplay argument is thus null and void. Two games, two aims.

The second argument relating to technical capability is equally invalid because if they can simulate 200,000 citizens simulatenously in full 3d, they can make hills and lakes and allow for regions with sc4 style grid based city expansion. There is no technical defense for limiting city size in a regional array, even if there is for the individual cities themselves. The textures we've seen simply don't justify not having terraforming and having prebaked maps. And I think I speak for most fans when I say we'd rather have terraforming than prebaked pretty maps with prebaked railways and highways.

Which also defends the gameplay argument, as how does it improve gameplay to restrict our control over such important universal aspects of our cities as terrain and transport?

So yeah, I'm pretty goshdarn dissapointed about this game. And to think I actually decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. I pre ordered to show enthusiasm, I commented favourably on their facebook page. I supported Maxis/EA and approved of GlassBox, which I still do btw. But these limitations to the game are just pointless and unreasonable considering what game we are discussing. This isn't a FPS, Maxis. Limitations and simplicity don't work in this genre, mate.

[_MostlyHarmless 17]

IMO, what's pointless talk is that constant "Oh, it's still 6 months".

What exactly do you think will they do in the remaining months? Does anybody here really, sincerely, reckon they will turn the game concept inside out? Make terraforming possible after all? Introduce a full-blown single player mode? Totally change the region concept and the game engine?

That would boil down to throwing out the entire game so far and starting from scratch. I guess the community has sensed rather well that we're beyond some points of no return already.

The concept stands, the game engine stands, the game mechanics are standing, next steps will probably be general programming to put the concept into practice, artwork, fixing glitches, UI programming and design, testing and balancing, documentation. Don't forget the server back-end, which will require a huge portion of the entire effort, because it's basically a client/server game with heavy bias on the server.

I said exactly this in another thread (didn't get nearly the praise you did ). Agree 100%. Some people are so clueless/ignorant as to how game development happens. Seeing more than a handful of games go on a downward spiral even before release, I'm fairly certain any customer feedback will be minimally considered. We can argue all we want, we can provide better solutions. Point is, this game is getting made in its current state.

At this moment I've lost 99.9% attention for this game. I'm more excited for Watch Dogs or indie games like Gunpoint.

[Jim14409 448]

Did any of you actually play societies or is it just fun and easy to spit out "Doh dis jus Societies!"

Yes, I played Societies and I have the disk right here. Slightly used..want a good deal cheap?

So no, I am NOT excited about the SC5 or SC13 but am very disappointed. I found Societies to be VERY different from SC4 and it did not hold my attention at all. In fact I was never eager to get back to a game of Societies like I STILL am excited about SC4 games/cities. The reason I am disappointed is that what has come out about the future game only points to being more Societies like than being SC4 like.

If you like and enjoy, or enjoyed Societies then I am happy for you.

Now I'll shut up for a while. (bows to applause)