SimCity: Regions

[nhgriffith 179]

But this thread isn't about tile size. Tile size is what it is, and either you're fine with it, or you have a problem with it. But I'm trying to figure out what's so wrong with the REGION play that everyone is complaining about.

The question is "What's wrong with regional play?" and the only response is a non sequitur "City tile size is too small."

[Sunfighter 186]

If they're not connected on the map, then they're isolated in the sense that they can't share utilities, civics, commuters, etc.

However, being in the same region, any regional unlock one city gets will apply to the entire region, regardless of connections.

What I noticed looking at a lot of the screen shots of the 16-city regions was that they were in groups of 4 cities. That is, one highway would connect up four cities, and this was repeated 4 times. Each of these groups of four cities also had one great works site. The train lines, on the other hand, were not limited to these groups of four. They would connect perhaps 2 cities from one group to 2 cities of another group.

However, according to the developers, City A being connected to City B and City B being connecting to City C doesn't also mean that City A is connected to City C. (Imagine road connecting A to B, and train connecting B to C.) So commuters, utilities, civics, etc., could only be shared between A and B or between B and C.

However, I imagine that if B were developed as a trade city with the warehouses and such, that B could use its warehouses to say import resources from City C by train then export them over to City A by road. Similarly, City C could sort of help out with a Great Works site it's not actually connected to by shipping resources to City B, then City B putting those resources toward the great work.

 

That bums me out a great deal really as it limits commute traffic and general interaction across an entire region unless a specific map develops in a specific way, though simcity 4 had the same problem I believe as one end of a region couldnt share commute with the other end...(i believe).

 

So a 16 map region set basically is actually 4 isolated cities of 4 maps each (given all equal). The only sharing they can do is with unlocks and resources and total regional population. But its still going to be 4 isolated pockets within a region....curious that theyd do something like that.

 

Right?

[Zpike 79]

I think the bottlenecks in connectivity between the cities is going to add some interesting strategy for city building.    I really do hope all cities won't have access to every other cities citizens and resources within a region as that would remove that aspect of strategy.

[Zpike 79]

• Regions are not editable.
• City tiles are not contiguous so the region does not have a realistic look.

 

These points are understandable. However I’m will to wait for these features in a future release. Maxis is already talking about city tile size being increased. I’m sure they will attack the region view and edibility too.

 

Let’s enjoy this new release and look forward to how great the game is going to be as they improve this new engine.

 

Note:  The new reagions also have the following strong points...

• Global market for resource trading
• More realistic inner city trade
• More realistic job & citizen flow between cities
• Interesting city build strategies involving inner region flow designed around city placement and resources within the region.

[dysonraf 37]

There was a recent tweet that said in 16 city regions they are made of 4 'quads'.  Each city within a quad has road networks and share resources/passengers.  Each quad is connected by sea air or rail only.  So that probably ensures resources are difficult to spread beyond each quad.

[Zpike 79]

There was a recent tweet that said in 16 city regions they are made of 4 'quads'.  Each city within a quad has road networks and share resources/passengers.  Each quad is connected by sea air or rail only.  So that probably ensures resources are difficult to spread beyond each quad.

 

Interesting... If they limit each city within a quad to only a cetrtain type of connection with outer quads that could add quite a bit of strategy to how you design your cities within any specific quad.

 

This just keeps getting better and better.

However, according to the developers, City A being connected to City B and City B being connecting to City C doesn't also mean that City A is connected to City C. (Imagine road connecting A to B, and train connecting B to C.) So commuters, utilities, civics, etc., could only be shared between A and B or between B and C..

 

 

This sounds great to me.  Think of all the strategy this adds to how you will build your cities based on what connectivity options you have!

 

I can imagine a region editor in the future where you not only design the landscape but also city borders and connectivity options.  Think of the possibilities for the mod community!

[bergerrunner 41]

How ridiculous is it that every city has only one entrance/ exit ramp? no wonder every city will have traffic problems. Unless regional travel isnt used as much as I think it will be

[cirugo 1,889]

But this thread isn't about tile size. Tile size is what it is, and either you're fine with it, or you have a problem with it. But I'm trying to figure out what's so wrong with the REGION play that everyone is complaining about.

The question is "What's wrong with regional play?" and the only response is a non sequitur "City tile size is too small."

Many people have stated this before and I'll say it again:  the tile size is not as big of an issue as the fact that the tiles are not contiguous and that you can't place your own regional transportation.  This locks you into the small maps and removes the regional flexibility to at least PRETEND you'd  made a city larger that existed in SimCity 4.  That's what's wrong with regional play.

[Sunfighter 186]

But this thread isn't about tile size. Tile size is what it is, and either you're fine with it, or you have a problem with it. But I'm trying to figure out what's so wrong with the REGION play that everyone is complaining about.

The question is "What's wrong with regional play?" and the only response is a non sequitur "City tile size is too small."

Many people have stated this before and I'll say it again:  the tile size is not as big of an issue as the fact that the tiles are not contiguous and that you can't place your own regional transportation.  This locks you into the small maps and removes the regional flexibility to at least PRETEND you'd  made a city larger that existed in SimCity 4.  That's what's wrong with regional play.

 

I have another petpeeve that the 16 map regions are actually 4 cities of 4 maps each that cannot share commuters. So you basically have 4 isolated city pockets that can share only basic resources if set up correctly, and nothing else. So a commuter cant go from one area of the region to another to work, he must stay within that contained pocket. Severely neutering the point of a 16 map region. As resources are the only thing to be shared, and again ONLY if the certain connector maps between the isolated pockets decide to make the connection to the next isolated pocket city.

 

Thats if I understand things correctly, i could be wrong. But the larger maps, and from what ive read from others, this seems to be the case.

[Zpike 79]

But this thread isn't about tile size. Tile size is what it is, and either you're fine with it, or you have a problem with it. But I'm trying to figure out what's so wrong with the REGION play that everyone is complaining about.

The question is "What's wrong with regional play?" and the only response is a non sequitur "City tile size is too small."

Many people have stated this before and I'll say it again:  the tile size is not as big of an issue as the fact that the tiles are not contiguous and that you can't place your own regional transportation.  This locks you into the small maps and removes the regional flexibility to at least PRETEND you'd  made a city larger that existed in SimCity 4.  That's what's wrong with regional play.

 

And adds a whole new set of strategies to the game.  Can we please move on now?

[Hellken 1,658]

But this thread isn't about tile size. Tile size is what it is, and either you're fine with it, or you have a problem with it. But I'm trying to figure out what's so wrong with the REGION play that everyone is complaining about.

The question is "What's wrong with regional play?" and the only response is a non sequitur "City tile size is too small."

 

No, no, no. We have already said this thousands of times around this forum and (I do not want to repeat this again):

It is not so much the "city size" per se. The tiles are not contiguous.

 

I even play 1x1 and 2x2 size cities in SimCity 4 to keep things simple. I like that you could at least create a "Metropolis Illusion" since the cities were all stuck together in a "chain" regardless of size. If you have seen the "Show us your Region" threads here on sc4devotion or simtropolis, some people have been able to create regions that look like real life regions since the tiles are stuck together. 

 

Puerto Joya by waway625:

 

full size: https://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g261/waway625/PuertoJoya.jpg

 

 

 SimCity (2013): 

[nhgriffith 179]

Hellken, you can keep stating it all you want, but it doesn't answer my question.

My question is about regional gameplay. Not regional visuals. I'm not saying the complaint about how the region looks isn't valid.

But personally, I don't care how this specific aspect of the game looks so much, because this is one area where I care far more ridiculously about functionality. So, my question still then stands, is there a GAMEPLAY issue at the regional level? So far, no one has come up with much of anything.

 

I'm asking about what's wrong with regional gameplay and the answers I'm being given are issues that are either regarding city gameplay (tile size, an issue we all know about) or regional visuals (non-contiguous cities, another issue we all know about, but again, it's not a gameplay issue).


EDIT: And by the way, I imagine regional editor allowing custom user-made regions, is something that will happen ridiculously quickly.

 

But this thread isn't about tile size. Tile size is what it is, and either you're fine with it, or you have a problem with it. But I'm trying to figure out what's so wrong with the REGION play that everyone is complaining about.

The question is "What's wrong with regional play?" and the only response is a non sequitur "City tile size is too small."

Many people have stated this before and I'll say it again:  the tile size is not as big of an issue as the fact that the tiles are not contiguous and that you can't place your own regional transportation.  This locks you into the small maps and removes the regional flexibility to at least PRETEND you'd  made a city larger that existed in SimCity 4.  That's what's wrong with regional play.

 

 
I have another petpeeve that the 16 map regions are actually 4 cities of 4 maps each that cannot share commuters. So you basically have 4 isolated city pockets that can share only basic resources if set up correctly, and nothing else. So a commuter cant go from one area of the region to another to work, he must stay within that contained pocket. Severely neutering the point of a 16 map region. As resources are the only thing to be shared, and again ONLY if the certain connector maps between the isolated pockets decide to make the connection to the next isolated pocket city.
 
Thats if I understand things correctly, i could be wrong. But the larger maps, and from what ive read from others, this seems to be the case.

This is an example of someone highlighting a regional level gameplay issue.

Now then, this issue is partly accurate, but it doesn't necessarily represent a complete understanding of the maps.

The 16-city regions are sectored into semi-isolated quads. Let's call the quads A,B,C,D. Now, all four cities in Quad A will be connected to each other (and a great works site) by road, and they won't be connected to any other city in the region by road. The same will be true for all four quads.

But, the quads are not completely separate from each other.

First off, pollution can travel to any city close enough--it doesn't require a road connection.
Second off, there can be train connections between two quads. Now, if the train goes to city A1, B1, and B2, then these three cities are only connected to each other. A1 being connected by rail to B1 (which is connected by road to B3 and B4) doesn't give A1 a connection to B3 or B4, but nonetheless, the two cities are connected. I don't know whether the two cities can share civics that must travel by road (doubt it), nor do I know if they can share power, water, or sewage (none of us have been able to play around with rails to see if they carry agents the same way roads do). HOWEVER, they can share commuters. They can share any of the resources in the ground. They can share freight from industry to commercial also.

And that's just by train.

Cities can also be connected by ferry (again, not sure exactly what these connections allow). AND, cities can probably also be connected via municipal airports (which can also probably connect any city to the quad with international airport).




But ultimately, this certainly isn't worse than SimCity 4. In SimCity 4, you can only share with neighbors you touch (so at most, 20 cities if you were very creative around the edges of a large tile), and even then, the regional level simulation in SimCity 4 is ridiculously limited compared to what the new game brings. In fact, compared to the new game, SimCity 4's regional level play is essentially non-existent. It only exists for two reasons. Creating feeder cities and creating the illusion of a metropolis.

[Hellken 1,658]

Hellken, you can keep stating it all you want, but it doesn't answer my question.

My question is about regional gameplay. Not regional visuals. I'm not saying the complaint about how the region looks isn't valid.

But personally, I don't care how this specific aspect of the game looks so much, because this is one area where I care far more ridiculously about functionality. So, my question still then stands, is there a GAMEPLAY issue at the regional level? So far, no one has come up with much of anything.

Just to clarify, I am not angry or anything.

However, we did not give this alleged response to your question:

The question is "What's wrong with regional play?" and the only response is a non sequitur "City tile size is too small."

-----

Don't get me wrong. I understand what you wrote but it has big implications elsewhere. Pre - set region connections, Proximity problems due to not being able to edit the areas outside the scope of the town,. etc. These are not just visual problems but influence how you can ultimately layout your regions - which in turn influences gameplay.

EDIT:

For instance, will travel times be longer given the fact that expressways between towns in this game are pre - set? Will I have to consider the length of the uneditable expressways between cities when thinking about how much time it will take for an agent to travel between towns? Or do the agents simply "teleport" to the connection at the next town (like nerves in the body). Since towns in the region do not touch will that make travel time longer or shorter?. Those are some things someone has to consider.

Of course, there have been a few new good upgrades. Particularly being able to have civic dept's cover other cities is a nice touch.

[AnyNameWillDo 6]

I'm going to imagine the city tiles and roads are spaced and limited because the region is part of a larger national park. So it allows for green corridors and limits urban sprawl and alike... Maybe been imposed by the feds, or native land owners, or even for religious reasons or something. You know, for the suspension of disbelief and all : p

I think we need to remember that we wouldn't have the game at all if they hadn't decided to make it (pretty simple really) a bit like complaining if someone gifted you $100 that you didn't get $150. Don't like it, don't buy it, if you can do better then find a way to build one from scratch yourself, that'd be easy right??? Their job is to appeal to the broadest market and make as much profit as possible - yes, at the expense of some quality. Hard core fans are not the prize here, millions of casual gamers are... We're lucky the numbers add up and we're along for the ride. 

And I think the game looks awesome. Props to Ocean and the gang.

PS: Not that I can call myself hard core.

[AkemiAzula 280]

If I wanted a national park, then I would zone a national park...

 

I'd have to agree though with the general consensus that this isn't about tile size but tiles not being contiguous, leading to both aesthetic and gameplay restrictions. Hopefully Maxis will improve the game in future. If it's online maybe they can update it post-release (hopefully charge-free)

[AnyNameWillDo 6]

If I wanted a national park, then I would zone a national park...

I'd have to agree though with the general consensus that this isn't about tile size but tiles not being contiguous, leading to both aesthetic and gameplay restrictions. Hopefully Maxis will improve the game in future. If it's online maybe they can update it post-release (hopefully charge-free)

Yeah, fair enough, i can't say it wouldn't be better if there weren't spaces btwn tiles and if a lot of the other commercial compromises weren't there. Guess i was reacting a bit to some of the anger i've seen here aimed at the folks who made the game and made the game possible. As if they're bad people and they owed us something.

Guess i'm way off topic though now, will leave my  2 cents there.

[nhgriffith 179]

First off, THIS post is the post in which I replied about the quote you keep talking about with my comment about city size.

I think most want to play SimCITY not SimTOWN.

If anything, that's a tile-size issue, and has nothing to do with the region. My question is what is wrong with the REGION play and your answer is that the city tiles aren't large enough?

So if everything else were the same, but the tiles were 8x8 instead of 2x2, you'd be fine?

that would definitely be an improvement

"Most want to play SimCITY not SimTOWN." to me sounds like a tile size complaint (it certainly can't be a region complaint, because once you're at the region level, you're talking about cities (plural), towns (plural), or region...

Then when I ask if tile size is really what the complaint is about, I get that response.

I know it's not the only complaint, but you can't say no one has made it. People have. Go back a page. Look at it. See it's there. And stop telling me no one is making that complaint.

FURTHERMORE, if your complaint is really about regional gameplay, which you actually make some valid point about here:

Don't get me wrong. I understand what you wrote but it has big implications elsewhere. Pre - set region connections, Proximity problems due to not being able to edit the areas outside the scope of the town,. etc. These are not just visual problems but influence how you can ultimately layout your regions - which in turn influences gameplay.

EDIT:

For instance, will travel times be longer given the fact that expressways between towns in this game are pre - set? Will I have to consider the length of the uneditable expressways between cities when thinking about how much time it will take for an agent to travel between towns? Or do the agents simply "teleport" to the connection at the next town (like nerves in the body). Since towns in the region do not touch will that make travel time longer or shorter?. Those are some things someone has to consider.

Of course, there have been a few new good upgrades. Particularly being able to have civic dept's cover other cities is a nice touch.

Then why have you continuously been posting pictures and say "the problem with regional gameplay is evident in this screenshot--it just doesn't look as cool." And you don't get into the meat of any game play comments until your most recent post...

This thread in general is about SimCity regions, so complaints simply about the looks are completely valid and on topic. But in the line of conversation within this thread that I'm involved, the visuals need not be brought up. They're irrelevant to me. I'm asking about the gameplay.

Now, no one outside of Maxis really knows the answer to some of the questions you ask... but when you ask these questions and think about what you want the answer to these questions to be is... I highly suggest you also think about what the answer to these questions is if you ask the same questions about SimCity 4.

I came to this thread because I saw lots of people bringing up complaints about regional-level gameplay. So I thought there must be something I'm missing. As long as nothing is WORSE than how it was in SimCity 4, I'll be okay. Fact of the matter is, it's a whole new game engine. I don't think some of you quite grasp how big of a thing that is to tackle. The simulation that SimCity 4 runs on is nothing more than an improved version of what ran the original SimCity... 15 years of improvement on that engine.

So, I've looked at it all myself, and from the information I've been able to gather, plus what I know about SimCity 4, there's simply no aspect of regional play that I can see in which the new game performs worse than SimCity 4.

As for the predefined connections and prebuilt highway, my only real disappointment here is the number of connections. Fact of the matter is, if you have a lot of commuters by road, your single connection is going to cause traffic problems in your city absolutely no matter what you do. But this isn't even really a regional-level complaint. It's a complaint about something at the regional level that causes a city-level problem. The train connections appear to be significantly better as I can build rail off the main line to anywhere I want in my city and presumably place multiple stations. I just think it'd be nice if my cities could have 2 or 3 connections to the highway.

[cirugo 1,889]

Hellken, you can keep stating it all you want, but it doesn't answer my question.

My question is about regional gameplay. Not regional visuals. I'm not saying the complaint about how the region looks isn't valid.

But personally, I don't care how this specific aspect of the game looks so much, because this is one area where I care far more ridiculously about functionality. So, my question still then stands, is there a GAMEPLAY issue at the regional level? So far, no one has come up with much of anything.

 

I'm asking about what's wrong with regional gameplay and the answers I'm being given are issues that are either regarding city gameplay (tile size, an issue we all know about) or regional visuals (non-contiguous cities, another issue we all know about, but again, it's not a gameplay issue).

EDIT: And by the way, I imagine regional editor allowing custom user-made regions, is something that will happen ridiculously quickly.

 

 

But this thread isn't about tile size. Tile size is what it is, and either you're fine with it, or you have a problem with it. But I'm trying to figure out what's so wrong with the REGION play that everyone is complaining about.

The question is "What's wrong with regional play?" and the only response is a non sequitur "City tile size is too small."

Many people have stated this before and I'll say it again:  the tile size is not as big of an issue as the fact that the tiles are not contiguous and that you can't place your own regional transportation.  This locks you into the small maps and removes the regional flexibility to at least PRETEND you'd  made a city larger that existed in SimCity 4.  That's what's wrong with regional play.

 

 

I have another petpeeve that the 16 map regions are actually 4 cities of 4 maps each that cannot share commuters. So you basically have 4 isolated city pockets that can share only basic resources if set up correctly, and nothing else. So a commuter cant go from one area of the region to another to work, he must stay within that contained pocket. Severely neutering the point of a 16 map region. As resources are the only thing to be shared, and again ONLY if the certain connector maps between the isolated pockets decide to make the connection to the next isolated pocket city.

 

Thats if I understand things correctly, i could be wrong. But the larger maps, and from what ive read from others, this seems to be the case.

This is an example of someone highlighting a regional level gameplay issue.

Now then, this issue is partly accurate, but it doesn't necessarily represent a complete understanding of the maps.

The 16-city regions are sectored into semi-isolated quads. Let's call the quads A,B,C,D. Now, all four cities in Quad A will be connected to each other (and a great works site) by road, and they won't be connected to any other city in the region by road. The same will be true for all four quads.

But, the quads are not completely separate from each other.

First off, pollution can travel to any city close enough--it doesn't require a road connection.

Second off, there can be train connections between two quads. Now, if the train goes to city A1, B1, and B2, then these three cities are only connected to each other. A1 being connected by rail to B1 (which is connected by road to B3 and B4) doesn't give A1 a connection to B3 or B4, but nonetheless, the two cities are connected. I don't know whether the two cities can share civics that must travel by road (doubt it), nor do I know if they can share power, water, or sewage (none of us have been able to play around with rails to see if they carry agents the same way roads do). HOWEVER, they can share commuters. They can share any of the resources in the ground. They can share freight from industry to commercial also.

And that's just by train.

Cities can also be connected by ferry (again, not sure exactly what these connections allow). AND, cities can probably also be connected via municipal airports (which can also probably connect any city to the quad with international airport).

But ultimately, this certainly isn't worse than SimCity 4. In SimCity 4, you can only share with neighbors you touch (so at most, 20 cities if you were very creative around the edges of a large tile), and even then, the regional level simulation in SimCity 4 is ridiculously limited compared to what the new game brings. In fact, compared to the new game, SimCity 4's regional level play is essentially non-existent. It only exists for two reasons. Creating feeder cities and creating the illusion of a metropolis.

Visuals are a big part of the gameplay for many fans of games like this.  It's why I just can't get into Minecraft even though it's so completely open-ended.  No one has a problem with them adding depth of gameplay.  In fact many, including myself, welcome it.  However the problem is this depth of gameplay is coming at the expense of what many have enjoyed so much about SimCity in the past.  You are being completely dismissive of that.

[Zpike 79]

As for the predefined connections and prebuilt highway, my only real disappointment here is the number of connections. Fact of the matter is, if you have a lot of commuters by road, your single connection is going to cause traffic problems in your city absolutely no matter what you do.

.

I have a feeling they would have spotted problems like that in testing. My guess is there are ways to level out the flow with the various commuter options. Bus, street cars, etc... Or it could be that the flow is restricted for a reason. They may only want one connection so as to restrict the number of cars that enter from other cities. Who knows, I'm looking forward to the 5th so I can find out the answer.

.

.

.

... The train connections appear to be significantly better as I can build rail off the main line to anywhere I want in my city and presumably place multiple stations. I just think it'd be nice if my cities could have 2 or 3 connections to the highway.

.

I agree, maybe they will allow us to extend or increase the number of highway connectors in a future release. I'm going to play and see how the existing system works before I make up my mind on it though.

[London-b 90]

There was a recent tweet that said in 16 city regions they are made of 4 'quads'.  Each city within a quad has road networks and share resources/passengers.  Each quad is connected by sea air or rail only.  So that probably ensures resources are difficult to spread beyond each quad.

 

Interesting... If they limit each city within a quad to only a cetrtain type of connection with outer quads that could add quite a bit of strategy to how you design your cities within any specific quad.

 

This just keeps getting better and better.

>However, according to the developers, City A being connected to City B and City B being connecting to City C doesn't also mean that City A is connected to City C. (Imagine road connecting A to B, and train connecting B to C.) So commuters, utilities, civics, etc., could only be shared between A and B or between B and C..

 

 

This sounds great to me.  Think of all the strategy this adds to how you will build your cities based on what connectivity options you have!

 

I can imagine a region editor in the future where you not only design the landscape but also city borders and connectivity options.  Think of the possibilities for the mod community!

 

 

The only way there will ever be a "mod community" is if this game does terrible and they don't sell much added content from the store. If it does well and they make a load on selling content that should have been there in the first place then they won't be giving the cash cow away to some enthusiastic geeks. 

[nhgriffith 179]

Visuals are a big part of the gameplay for many fans of games like this.  It's why I just can't get into Minecraft even though it's so completely open-ended.  No one has a problem with them adding depth of gameplay.  In fact many, including myself, welcome it.  However the problem is this depth of gameplay is coming at the expense of what many have enjoyed so much about SimCity in the past.  You are being completely dismissive of that.

Visuals may be an important factor in any individuals enjoyment level of a game (and better visuals are always better than worse visuals, in my opinion).

But for ME personally, visuals are pretty drastically low on what impacts my enjoyment level (I seem to be the opposite of you--I think Minecraft is absolutely stellar, and I play it without any of the numerous texture packs that slightly improve the graphics). If I'm being dismissive, it's because on a personal level, I don't care how the region looks nearly as much as I care about how it plays.

I'm not saying that's the only valid viewpoint on the game. Caring about the visuals is fine.

But I am concerned with the gameplay of the region. I've seen more people complaining about the region-play lately, so I came here to find out what the regional gameplay issue is. And the only responses I seem to get are complaints about the visuals.

Again, visuals are absolutely a part of enjoyment level for many players... but visuals absolutely are NOT gameplay (unless we're talking about a painting or drawing game... and I guess that's how some play SimCity, but that's not the primary way the designers intend SimCity to be played, particularly from a regional standpoint). SimCity is a simulation game. And for me, the simulation aspects of the game are more important then every single other aspect other than overall enjoyability (and how good the simulation runs is the largest factor in my enjoyability of the game).

I'm not telling YOU or anyone else to not care about the visuals because the rest runs so well. I'm stating that I don't care as much about the visuals, because I care about how the rest runs, and I'm ASKING if there's some major flaw with the gameplay aspect of region view that I'm overlooking.

So please... for the love of all things holy, if you're going to reply to my posts, can we please, please, PLEASE talk about REGIONAL GAMEPLAY aspects?

(And again, talking about visuals is perfectly valid in this thread... that's just not the conversation I'm trying to have... so if you want to have a conversation about the visuals, quit quoting my posts.)

[nhgriffith 179]

The only way there will ever be a "mod community" is if this game does terrible and they don't sell much added content from the store. If it does well and they make a load on selling content that should have been there in the first place then they won't be giving the cash cow away to some enthusiastic geeks.

"The Sims" says you're wrong.

[PeterLloyd 11]

In some ways I do like the way the new SimCity is being set up, though I would like the size to be increased by 50-75% from how they were on the Beta. Being from England I am accustomed to traveling through miles of green when going between cities so the current set up I feel emulates this quite well. On the subject of only 4 cities in close proximity being able to share more than resources, I feel that this also replicates what I know of the world as I only know of a couple of people who travel more than 2 hours by motorway to work. I think the developers would help themselves by giving us more space in the cities, but i suppose they need to sell us DLC at a later date.

[Sunfighter 186]

In some ways I do like the way the new SimCity is being set up, though I would like the size to be increased by 50-75% from how they were on the Beta. Being from England I am accustomed to traveling through miles of green when going between cities so the current set up I feel emulates this quite well. On the subject of only 4 cities in close proximity being able to share more than resources, I feel that this also replicates what I know of the world as I only know of a couple of people who travel more than 2 hours by motorway to work. I think the developers would help themselves by giving us more space in the cities, but i suppose they need to sell us DLC at a later date.

 

Considering map sizes, and the fact that a person can commute ONLY to the town next door to work (if I understand correctly). That means the person effectively is only going to commute in a best case senario (aka one edge of the map in city A to the far edge of the other map in city B) 4KM. Thats only 2.4 miles. Thats an extremely short range for a max commute a sim can take.

 

At the very least I hope im wrong, and that a sim can commute to any area connected with a highway or train connection within his sectors connection. That is the best of a worst scenario at least, but from what I read and understand it seems like a sim can only go 1 map over for work..which sucks to be frank.

 

To be honest theyve pushed multiplayer aspects very hard in this game. Seems to me one area of the co-op should of involved city specialization. Where one guy focuses mostly on the housing, others on industry, others on commercial. And the sims and goods travel the whole region via highways and trains. Yea a guy traveling from map 1 to map 16 would be extreme, but the chances of that would be very low since the demand would probably be met by closer maps. But the glassbox engine cant handle that. fine...but it damages the possibilities for specialization greatly.....think of the following...

 

Lets use an example 16 map region, with 4 players. Each player will be forced to have 2 residential maps, 1 industry/connector map and 1 commercial map (assuming the basic idea that each map will be specialized, most wont, but this is an easier to understand hypothetical). Yes the commercial and industry specializations can and most likely will be different for the 4 players. But each players section will have a set demand of R,C, and I that will HAVE TO be met by player because he cant get it from the other sectors. So youll have the same very few cookie cutter options with very little chance for variation over a 16 map region due to this 1 map travel limitation. Its essentially the same ratio and limitation thats been around since simcity 2000. 2R-1I-IC. Each player's section will need to have it.

 

Unless im reading things wrong, this is the way things are going to be. Unless somebody can explain the regional system clearer.

[Towel 76]

Here is a post on another fansite about the community day at maxis: http://simcityhall.net/viewtopic.php?id=290

 

I link to it for one reason, this paragraph:

 

Having a large region with other players, sharing resources, gifting things (Midas gave me lots of money to fund my endeavors), and the mini-community that forms from that are awesome.  It really does feel like its own world.  I felt like I was a part of something unique.  We were connecting with other mayors whom we didn't even know really, and they were helpful and had tons of great ideas and city formats.  Regional play is...the...game.  That cannot be stated enough.  Playing just one isolated city without any neighbors is not the new SimCity.  It's a team effort, and everyone benefits from each others' work.  That's just the way it is, and when it doesn't work on your first try (we never did get through Phase 1 of the Arcology) then you try again with a new strategy.  That's SimCity.  If you can figure it out on the first try (you won't), then it's not SimCity.  That's what I've always loved about this series.

 

So according to someone who has played the release edition of the game, region play is the shiz! (Their highlighting, not mine)

[Towel 76]

@Sunfighter: Sims can commute to any city that is linked by Rail, Road, Sea. For example, in Viridian Woods, two quadrants are connected by rail. Should two rail connected cities build passenger train stations than sims and freight will commute between the two cities (or more if applicable). The same rules apply to the sea (ferries) but I am not sure about a municipal airport.

 

EDIT: More Info:

 

Roads/Rail/Rivers(sea) will share Sims: Workers, Shoppers, Students, Tourists.

Roads/Rail/Rivers(sea) will allow gifts of cash, resources, crafted items.

Only Roads will share water, power, trash, and sewage.

One Roads will share vehicles: police, fire, ambulance.

 

Every single city in the region is affected by pollution for any other city.

 

You only need 1 of something in a region. For example, you only need 1 city to have a city hall with a department of transport, and every city in that region gains the benefit.

 

-----------------

As for the 2R, 1C, 1I assumption ... That's a fairly limited view of the game. Anything in the region will affect everything else.

 

If you setup each quadrant correctly, you could diversify more industry in one than the other. Assuming you have connected the rail or sea (maybe air) options. 

 

For the sake of more info ... Here is a breakdown of the region and it's resources: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AjxiNeaKIskndFRybzhWaEJfeUw5RW1ySjZoMlh5emc&single=true&gid=0

[AkemiAzula 280]

I am also from England, Mr Lloyd, and those 'green spaces' are filled with farms, certainly here in the south. Maybe not as much in Dartmoor or North Yorkshire, but empty grassland savannahs... Not that common around here

[rawls 39]

In some ways I do like the way the new SimCity is being set up, though I would like the size to be increased by 50-75% from how they were on the Beta. Being from England I am accustomed to traveling through miles of green when going between cities so the current set up I feel emulates this quite well. On the subject of only 4 cities in close proximity being able to share more than resources, I feel that this also replicates what I know of the world as I only know of a couple of people who travel more than 2 hours by motorway to work. I think the developers would help themselves by giving us more space in the cities, but i suppose they need to sell us DLC at a later date.

 

Considering map sizes, and the fact that a person can commute ONLY to the town next door to work (if I understand correctly). That means the person effectively is only going to commute in a best case senario (aka one edge of the map in city A to the far edge of the other map in city B) 4KM. Thats only 2.4 miles. Thats an extremely short range for a max commute a sim can take.

 

At the very least I hope im wrong, and that a sim can commute to any area connected with a highway or train connection within his sectors connection. That is the best of a worst scenario at least, but from what I read and understand it seems like a sim can only go 1 map over for work..which sucks to be frank.

 

To be honest theyve pushed multiplayer aspects very hard in this game. Seems to me one area of the co-op should of involved city specialization. Where one guy focuses mostly on the housing, others on industry, others on commercial. And the sims and goods travel the whole region via highways and trains. Yea a guy traveling from map 1 to map 16 would be extreme, but the chances of that would be very low since the demand would probably be met by closer maps. But the glassbox engine cant handle that. fine...but it damages the possibilities for specialization greatly.....think of the following...

 

Lets use an example 16 map region, with 4 players. Each player will be forced to have 2 residential maps, 1 industry/connector map and 1 commercial map (assuming the basic idea that each map will be specialized, most wont, but this is an easier to understand hypothetical). Yes the commercial and industry specializations can and most likely will be different for the 4 players. But each players section will have a set demand of R,C, and I that will HAVE TO be met by player because he cant get it from the other sectors. So youll have the same very few cookie cutter options with very little chance for variation over a 16 map region due to this 1 map travel limitation. Its essentially the same ratio and limitation thats been around since simcity 2000. 2R-1I-IC. Each player's section will need to have it.

 

Unless im reading things wrong, this is the way things are going to be. Unless somebody can explain the regional system clearer.

 

 

 

Have a look at this region (note: the names of the cities aren't official, someone guessed it based on available descriptions):

 

 

In order to "share" commuters, shoppers and services you need a direct connection to the other city, but the interdependency between cities isn't limited by its direct links. As you can see every great works site has only 4 connecting cities, they form a cluster around it. But every cluster is interconnected. The possible variation and complexity is higher than you assume. Let's have a look at Tudor Isle, Triviata Knoll and Giovanni Woods: they are connected by a highway, but also connect to the 3 other cities in their cluster, and in addition cities like Wessex Bend are connected to a city (Monet Plateau) in a third cluster, too.

 

For example Tudor Isle focuses on low tech industry and needs lots of uneducated workers. Commuters come from Triviata Knoll, Lancester Pointe and Wessex Bend to work there. Everything is fine till the player in Monet Plateu decides to expand his industry massively. People from Wessex Bend and Lancaster Pointe will start commuting to Monet Plateau, too. Thus it is possible that Tudor Isle doesn't get enough workers, some industries will go out of business. The player in Tudor Isle reacts by transforming his city into a popular tourist destination. Everything is fine, for Lancester Pointe and Wessex Bend till Gaugin Valley starts to provide higher education and Monet Plateau, moves towards high tech industry. Poorly educated citizens from Wessex and Lancaster will now be unemployed because they neither can work in Monet Plateau nor in Tudor Isle anymore.

 

I hope this makes clear, that decisions made in cities will affect unconnected cities, too. 

[PeterLloyd 11]

I am also from England, Mr Lloyd, and those 'green spaces' are filled with farms, certainly here in the south. Maybe not as much in Dartmoor or North Yorkshire, but empty grassland savannahs... Not that common around here

I get that, I would love for the regions green space to be filled with some sort of regional infrastructure be it farm land or something else that would help out all nearby cities. I like the fact there are these open areas, but I can't say on a realism factor I am happy with the way that they are being used. 

 

A thought that I had was they could be used as preexisting tourist attractions that would randomize upon the creation of the region. Their could be lets say a theme park that could give a slight increase to tourism but wouldn't offer anything more than that. It wouldn't be a massive surprise if in 6 months something like this was implemented into some form of DLC.

[AkemiAzula 280]

I'm just wondering where agriculture comes into the game. In all the screenshots I've seen there are these skyscraper strewn CBDs surrounded by savannah lands, and if this game is based on resource availability and distribution (i.e why else use GlassBox) then surely food is a important resource... Indeed it is this which was my main negative reaction to the limits on areas available to build on.