New Screenshots

[Wildcat67 12]

I think thats just a strange glitch on the Arena picture, the parking lot also disappears. Im sure this game (like all others) will come with a Day 1 patch for most of this stuff, thats fine by me. 

 

Well see that stuff is what concerns me, yes its minor polish fix, but its an obvious one. Especially when you consider the size of the maps, its hard to overlook that. So yes, they knew that bug was there, theyve seen it but theyve never had the time to fix it. And this game is already being shipped out. Yes it could very well get a day 1 polish patch (if the networking goes as planned). But the idea this game entered the shipping date before polish just worries the heck out of me, because theyve must of had some serious engine issues to deal with makes me wonder if thats the whole reason for the map sizes. That there is some major flaw with the glassbox engine.

 

The amount some people will read into stuff makes me laugh.  It's a beta.  You do know that a beta is actually an older version of the game, most likely from months ago right?  You're told at the start "this is a beta is does not represent the final version" yet here you are drawing conclusions off it.

  Edited February 14, 2013 by CaptCity  
Just keeping the peace. Let's take care how things are said.

[SirChick 184]

 

I think thats just a strange glitch on the Arena picture, the parking lot also disappears. Im sure this game (like all others) will come with a Day 1 patch for most of this stuff, thats fine by me. 

 

Well see that stuff is what concerns me, yes its minor polish fix, but its an obvious one. Especially when you consider the size of the maps, its hard to overlook that. So yes, they knew that bug was there, theyve seen it but theyve never had the time to fix it. And this game is already being shipped out. Yes it could very well get a day 1 polish patch (if the networking goes as planned). But the idea this game entered the shipping date before polish just worries the heck out of me, because theyve must of had some serious engine issues to deal with makes me wonder if thats the whole reason for the map sizes. That there is some major flaw with the glassbox engine.

 

The amount some people will read into stuff makes me laugh.  It's a beta.  You do know that a beta is actually an older version of the game, most likely from months ago right?  You're told at the start "this is a beta is does not represent the final version" yet here you are drawing conclusions off it.

 

You people are so in love with your precious SC4 that you are nitpicking the crap out of this game, even though the exact bug you are referring to here is basically everywhere in SC4.

 

Regarding the part i put in bold:

The game is not out yet =/ BETA is not the game. Its a test to look for major bugs... graphical mistakes are easy to fix and are obviously low priority.

[Wildcat67 12]

 

 

I think thats just a strange glitch on the Arena picture, the parking lot also disappears. Im sure this game (like all others) will come with a Day 1 patch for most of this stuff, thats fine by me. 

 

Well see that stuff is what concerns me, yes its minor polish fix, but its an obvious one. Especially when you consider the size of the maps, its hard to overlook that. So yes, they knew that bug was there, theyve seen it but theyve never had the time to fix it. And this game is already being shipped out. Yes it could very well get a day 1 polish patch (if the networking goes as planned). But the idea this game entered the shipping date before polish just worries the heck out of me, because theyve must of had some serious engine issues to deal with makes me wonder if thats the whole reason for the map sizes. That there is some major flaw with the glassbox engine.

 

The amount some people will read into stuff makes me laugh.  It's a beta.  You do know that a beta is actually an older version of the game, most likely from months ago right?  You're told at the start "this is a beta is does not represent the final version" yet here you are drawing conclusions off it.

 

Regarding the part i put in bold:

The game is not out yet =/ BETA is not the game. Its a test to look for major bugs... graphical mistakes are easy to fix and are obviously low priority.

And again I say, betas are older versions of the game.  How do you know they didn't fix that before the beta even started?

[mrbisonm 1,620]

...even though the exact bug you are referring to here is basically everywhere in SC4.

 

 

Partially true, but how come that they (Maxis) still haven't figured out how to fix these bugs 10 years later??? Geeez, we (SC4 Fans) have achieved all kind of things with SC4 that they are still not able to make in SC2013......that is one reason why we expect so much from the new game, 10 years later. Just look at how much the iphone developped in 10 years.

 

mrb

[Towel 76]

It's also possible for a release product to be "worse" than the beta/demo --- Just look at the new Aliens: Colonial Marines.

 

The FAQ from this second beta indicates they have made "changes" since the first one. They do not specify where, and it may only be changes to their server side infrastructure or software. However, given the nature of when a game goes gold, I think it is fair to say that the product being played this weekend will be a pretty recent build of the game (as no older than a two weeks ago, if not as recent as this week).

 

For me personally, having some knowledge of how QA periods run for developers, I imagine there will still be bugs but they will more than likely already fixed or be logged to be fixed on an internal build. Any bugs that need to be fixed in the next three weeks will more than likely be done on a day one patch, as I imagine the studio has either already sent it's release disc, or will do so shortly after this second beta.

 

To give you guys an idea, when I worked in games we would go gold about a month from release, although I have heard of shorter times before.

[Wildcat67 12]

Lol, you guys will see whatever you want to see I guess and assume whatever you want to assume.

 

This whole forum is just a barrel of laughs.

[AnyNameWillDo 6]

Haven't seen this one...

 

 

All roads allowed...

 

 

From http://www.gamereactor.se/bild/?productid=14221&id=686541#    ...I don't read Swedish.

[AnyNameWillDo 6]

Streetcar avenues...

 

[memedoug85 36]

I'd love to post pics of my previous BETA session but I dont think I'm aloud to...???

[Sunfighter 186]

And again I say, betas are older versions of the game.  How do you know they didn't fix that before the beta even started?

 

 

 

 

I think thats just a strange glitch on the Arena picture, the parking lot also disappears. Im sure this game (like all others) will come with a Day 1 patch for most of this stuff, thats fine by me. 

 

Well see that stuff is what concerns me, yes its minor polish fix, but its an obvious one. Especially when you consider the size of the maps, its hard to overlook that. So yes, they knew that bug was there, theyve seen it but theyve never had the time to fix it. And this game is already being shipped out. Yes it could very well get a day 1 polish patch (if the networking goes as planned). But the idea this game entered the shipping date before polish just worries the heck out of me, because theyve must of had some serious engine issues to deal with makes me wonder if thats the whole reason for the map sizes. That there is some major flaw with the glassbox engine.

The amount some people will read into stuff makes me laugh.  It's a beta.  You do know that a beta is actually an older version of the game, most likely from months ago right?  You're told at the start "this is a beta is does not represent the final version" yet here you are drawing conclusions off it.

 

Regarding the part i put in bold:

The game is not out yet =/ BETA is not the game. Its a test to look for major bugs... graphical mistakes are easy to fix and are obviously low priority.

 

Follow their twitter and youll see them still working on the various engine problems still to this very minute. Ocean is still trying to work out how to get the trains and cars to react properly to each other, he made good progress last night. Btw id like to add to your previous comment (btw youre kinda rude). That the game is already in Gold state, I think some of you have been fooled by a cleaver marketing gimmick to increase pre-orders, you havent been beta testing anything. Youre playing a demo thats marketed as a closed beta.. when thats not the intention at all. Its intent is to increase pre-order sales. If they really wanted bug reports they would of given people an opportunity to fill out bug report forms, and they would of never limited gameplay to an hour. It was ment as a teaser, to leave you wanting more. To want to buy it. Nothing more. Once the CDs are being stamped, a game is past its beta stage. Since the CDs have been in the process of being stamped for a week now, its safe to assume the first shipments are already working their way to various outlets. Im sorry, but a game that only lets you play an hour is not a beta test. Its a demo.

[StoNe220022 159]

Guys...software development 101...

 

 

If this product will be on store shelves within 3 weeks time it has most definitely had the published version of the code locked down; and more than likely this was quite some time ago.  That Beta you all played, would have had Beta and QA already taken place and concluded, you all just played a demo.

 

Do I work for EA...?  No.  But I sure as anything have gone through enough IT projects to know development process.

 

I can not speak for Maxis, but I can very safely assume any glitch, bug, defect, remaining is 100% for future patching and release.  No way are they throwing DVD's in the bin because they still wish to close out 10 or 12 high priority defects and have these reprinted in to the final release.

 

Even if they manage to 'resolve' the road glitches and train behaviour bugs...they'll have to roll these patches in to their internal dev environments and complete testing on them prior to publishing them in to the production release.  So Ocean resolving a new defect today = might see it in the game in two months time.  It'd be far too risky to push any fix in to the final product without properly testing against it; it'd get bundled in to v1.03xblah scheduled for date mm/dd/yyyy.  Yes, Maxis would probably already have a couple release dates planned on the next couple of patches / enhancements

 

Now shush! ...and show us more screen shots! Preferably ones with no silly road joins or grass growing through the road like the two above

[efgrib 45]

I think thats just a strange glitch on the Arena picture, the parking lot also disappears. Im sure this game (like all others) will come with a Day 1 patch for most of this stuff, thats fine by me. 

 

Well see that stuff is what concerns me, yes its minor polish fix, but its an obvious one. Especially when you consider the size of the maps, its hard to overlook that. So yes, they knew that bug was there, theyve seen it but theyve never had the time to fix it. And this game is already being shipped out. Yes it could very well get a day 1 polish patch (if the networking goes as planned). But the idea this game entered the shipping date before polish just worries the heck out of me, because theyve must of had some serious engine issues to deal with makes me wonder if thats the whole reason for the map sizes. That there is some major flaw with the glassbox engine.

 

glassbox is NOT the graphic engine!!! 

[Zulnex 1]

Very nice images. Many thanks for sharing.

[nhgriffith 179]

Just because the disc is printed and shipped doesn't mean the coding is done. Played any game online recently? How about any brand new games? Ever play an Xbox live game? Know what happens the first time you try to play the game on day one? An update.

They'll keep fixing bugs and it will all be packaged in a day one update. Guaranteed.

[Zukunftstraume 220]

 

Worst airport ever.

Edit: Not even Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world doesn't even have three runways! And being sat next to each other looks absolutely ridiculous, and no runway for a proper airport (not an airstrip) in the world is 500-ish metres long. I honestly think they should scrap in-city airports and just have the regional one, until the city size is reasonable (even then, it would be a very small airport). This is absolutely atrocious, Maxis.

Ocean Quigley confirmed on Twitter that the runways are plopables, and you can place them however you want. I'm struggling to find the tweet right now.

 

Who in the right mind would place runways in an airport like this?

 

Well, then again... If we were able to make an ideal airport like in Airport Tycoon... It would definitely take up at least 4 times the amount of space offered by the city-tile size. This is a colossal disappointment...

 

Real airport simulators should look like this:

 

[Superbacon 380]

Quite honestly I'm getting tired of seeing pictures of single-family homes on 4-lane roads. Really doesn't look right at all. The fact that we can't zone ourselves simply means we'd all have avenues everywhere. 

[marksman1416 12]

From facebook

[SirChick 184]

 

 

Worst airport ever.

Edit: Not even Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world doesn't even have three runways! And being sat next to each other looks absolutely ridiculous, and no runway for a proper airport (not an airstrip) in the world is 500-ish metres long. I honestly think they should scrap in-city airports and just have the regional one, until the city size is reasonable (even then, it would be a very small airport). This is absolutely atrocious, Maxis.

Ocean Quigley confirmed on Twitter that the runways are plopables, and you can place them however you want. I'm struggling to find the tweet right now.

 

Who in the right mind would place runways in an airport like this?

 

Well, then again... If we were able to make an ideal airport like in Airport Tycoon... It would definitely take up at least 4 times the amount of space offered by the city-tile size. This is a colossal disappointment...

 

Real airport simulators should look like this:

 

 

Loved that game in its day so damn addictive!

[MandelSoft 2,769]

Why not have both: a bus terminus at the railway station? You see this combination a lot in large cities

[Cob92 360]

Why not have both: a bus terminus at the railway station? You see this combination a lot in large cities

 

I think they are referring to inter-city buses like Greyhound. Usually the bus terminal is in the ghetto and the train station is a junky little out of the way building (except if you are in the Northeast).

[Guibanez_ 177]

https://twitter.com/mikekreein/status/302207646184898561

[nervouspete 9]

Have to say I love that 1930's look right there. Which office tower do the Mad Men ad execs work in?

[Vorret 49]

Quite honestly I'm getting tired of seeing pictures of single-family homes on 4-lane roads. Really doesn't look right at all. The fact that we can't zone ourselves simply means we'd all have avenues everywhere. 

 

I agree.

Problem is, back in beta I tried to make a realistic suburb, result? Traffic was a complete mess.  I bet we won't have any other option than to put avenue everywhere.

[RyanMorgan95 144]

 

A bit dull but I guess it's more realistic that way.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

^ That's quite nice. But I'm not sure why the foreground is so blurred (the buildings). Also, as I've noticed from most of these screenshots, there does seem to be a real lack of Sims and cars. This is an inner-city recreational area, so you'd expect a lot more activity going on.

[nhgriffith 179]

https://twitter.com/mikekreein/status/302207646184898561

Does anyone know if this is very, very similar to the opening shot of "Psycho"? Is this the Alfred Hitchcock reference....? I think it is, but I don't know for sure, and it's been a bit since the last time I watched the movie.

[Guibanez_ 177]

[Wildcat67 12]

That's so cool that land with a view is higher value.  Plus that city looks really big.

[Mithrik 562]

That's so cool that land with a view is higher value.  Plus that city looks really big.

 

Wut.

 

That isn't a city.

 

...

 

It's a village with skyscrapers.

 

Because you can totally build 400 square km. Come on. Why can't people just accept that this is not the Simcity they are looking for and carry on?

[bokrif 18]

That's so cool that land with a view is higher value.  Plus that city looks really big.

 

Wut.

 

That isn't a city.

 

...

 

It's a village with skyscrapers.

I guess he means the map is huge. Though I am not sure if it bigger. The first beta map looked bigger from different angles.