Future of SimCity Official Discussion Thread

[Horus_Kol 118]

hmm... as always - reading someone else's suggestions prods me to think of some more of my own...

river spawn points - you just point and click, and the terrain engine calculates direction of flow, pooling, etc... until the water gets to the edge of the map (and continues) or it reaches the coast.

buildings - they don't stay clean and pastel colored for life... the SC4 decay model is bit too drastic, though... there needs to be an interim where it just shows that a building has been around a while - especially if you have lots of car pollution

[smstevenms 7]

Coldwontrise, actually that is what I was going to mention (roads in any direction). I was thinking it would be great if SC gave you the option to size the grid layout. Right now everything is based on "a square", a road zot is one square,  In order to do this, the "square" would have to be divided.

Before I get into that....

*One thing I would truly like to see is more options on bridges. As of now you can't take a street, road, or highway across a bridge that is on land. You can't go under it (as see in real life, two, & four lane roads go under bridges all the time ( I not talking about tunnels). How about small bridges crossing a small creek (as of now you will just form a dip in the road unless create a dip that exposes water), (try creating a bridge on a mountain with a steep valley without water, then create water, build bridge and try dragging a road under that bridge, its a no go). This of course prevents building a realist mountain habitat.

*Other thing is diagonal highway entrances. All of the length of a diagonal highway is wasted, plus the sections that are curved. If my idea below is implemented it could make cities look more realistic and functional. I also think that all of the other diagonal intersections need reworking, again if the idea below was used this would definitely happen.

Now if you want more options for roads or just more realistic play......

The choice would be:

"Standard" (as is): 

                 Same game, same memory requirements (new game might be better, and may require faster computer)

"Pro" (requiring abit of experience): 

                  This setting would require more memory, faster ram (not recommended for computers with minimal space), and a good graphics/sound card.

                 This would be a grid layout that takes the "square" and divides it into 4. Extra tools for roads, parks, trees, even lots would be opened up (due to the small size). You would need to create small road connections to lots (if you wanted to create a more realistic properties, imagine a true small dirt road that winded up a mountain, or through the woods).

"Expert" (intended for veteran SC players):

                    Same requirements as Pro, but would be recommended that if you intend to build big, dedicate a drive (this will likely consume alot of memory)

                   Nearly the same as Pro, instead the the "X4" square is now divided into 16 (wow). This setting opens the same options as Pro but gives the user more control over detail. 

We will never get what we want when we want it, when we have it, we still don't have what want cause we're waiting for what we don't have.quote>

[LivingInThePast 364]

Will Wright said that SimCity needs to be more accessible. Now, how to make easy for newbies without driving away the veterans. Hmmm...

[7hj64 0]

I would like to see custom menus. I believe this could be implemented as in the way the program loads things. Under the plugins folder, their could be folders for each type of building, then sub folders in these, customized by the user. Also if the menus were similar to that of the Sims 2, with the ability to expand them, then I believe it would be good to have your most used as the first 8 (or however many) icons. Then if you wanted full access to the things available under that folder, then they hit some small arrow that expands the menu, and allow vertical and horizontal scrolling. This would save me and many other users from constantly scrolling up and down to get the building you want.

Another useful item would be some sort of control panel to control the amount a building grows (%) within 1 city. I think this would help create more diverse and realistic cities.

I have other ideas, but alot have probably been covered and I have not got much time

Just my 2 cents.

[callagrafx 3]

I've just seen a preview of Simcity 5...Click HERE

[Erwin Rommel 0]

More rail options.

Have the ability to biuld anything from trollies/light rail, heavy rail (subways, el-trains, and on the ground), commuter rail (such as Chicago's METRA system) and high-speed intercity trains. They can keep monorails I guess, but I think they're kind of goofy.

Multiple main tracks with morning/afternoon fleeting. You could have 4 or more main tracks that would flow into the city for morning rush hour, and flow out for evening rush.

Have single tracks with sidings for lesser used lines and branch lines.

Have the ability to specify lines as being freight only, passenger only, or mixed use.

More station options!

[LivingInThePast 364]

Originally posted by: Erwin Rommel Have single tracks with sidings for lesser used lines and branch lines.quote>

Lesser used lines????? In my place, there are tons of single tracks! Bah!

And another thing is, I hate to admit it, but SimCity is dead. In February 2004, EA absorbed Maxis into them. With that, a little conversation might of taken place...

EA Dude: SimCity: Another Expansion Pack?

Maxis Dude: Yes, this has many new features. Better than Rush Hour. Weather, new interface, just to name a few. We're also working on a new download that...

EA: Do you know how much SimCity is dead? It sells poorly. The Sims is the future.

Maxis: Yes, but there are new...

EA: Forget it! Sims or pink slip. Your choice.

Maxis: (a lone tear comes down)

Will: Hey guys! I'm gonna make "SimEverything" in another studio. Wanna come?

Maxis: (downtrodden) I suppose.

Unfortunatly, SimCity 5 is just a vaporwaric dream and SC3K will be done by another of EA's cronies...free of actual Maxis TLC.

[Erwin Rommel 0]

How exactly did SC4 sell poorly

[LivingInThePast 364]

Well, it did make a profit, but it was not a cash cow like a certain people simulator Maxis also makes...

[Erwin Rommel 0]

Yeah I'm sure they'll never make another game in a very popular brand at all!!

[Nerd_Guy 4]

You know what I say about that? Petition! We have nearly 150,000 registered users here, we could try and get some of the Japenese guys to help, and anyone at SCC that isn't registered here. We flood EA with email after email after email and letters and everything we need. They should at least give us all the technical stuff for the game so we could make a sequel ourselves...

[LivingInThePast 364]

That's right! We could also swamp their servers with illegally ripped Micheal Jackson MP3s until they do our bidding!

Just kidding. We could still petition peacefully, that's in the US Bill of Rights!

[st louis dude 6]

Perhaps we should go back to the real world terrain option as in simcity 3000.Snow,rain and other weather effects would also be nice.

[Nerd_Guy 4]

Well I say we do something, but I'm not organized enough to do much. Who thinks we should petition for SC5 to put all of these suggestions to use? 

[dadyrghluv 8]

i wouldnt be suprised if someone from EA doesn't or hasn't read some of these posts. the forums for games are some of the biggest places for idea's in which games are made from. player input is a huge way of making money. keep the sims happy and they will keep coming for more!

[roadracerf430 0]

what simcity 5 needs is the capabilty to view your city or landscape from the viewpoint of a sim, like in citylife. be able to walk around and stuff

also, with this type of viewpoint, udi missions could be much more realistic.

another thing- each simcity game disc should include the bat- i cant download it since the website doesnt recognize my username and password associated with the serial number

[Exsun 0]

Many good ideas in here. I would like a reginal zoom function and the custom sized citys. I would like to have a way to freeform draw the city boundries. Another idea would be to have growing boundries of some sort. Annex neighboring areas into the city to give it the free form feel. This way you can start out small and go to a bigger map if you want.

[Prodius 0]

Simcity 5 must have an option of privatisation.

To be able to franchise out individual or whole networks of public Hospitals, Railways, schools, power and other public utilities. It could be done by having private companies building infrastructure on public demand with approval by you the mayor. The mayor should also pay a higher subsidy for "added" infrastructure and services.

However, franchising out public services should be considerably cheaper and easier and than paying and building yourself.

 

[beachfrontproperty 0]

I remember the good old days where you could follow the traffic to there destination, i miss that, please fix that

[redarc27 0]

Hi

Unless Maxis has given up on its city simulation game, we should be getting the next version of Sim City sometime in the not too distant future, and when the next Sim City hits the shelves (I suppose it will be called Sim City 5, but who knows), I'm really, really hoping that there's going to be much more of a handshake between Maxis's city simulator and The Sims 2 (3, or whatever).

 

Actually, thinking about it, I'd rather be able to take individual house plots from TS2 and plop them into Sim City rather than a whole neighbourhood, then make each plot historic in Sim City so that it doesn't get developed over. Then, every time you play TS2 the same plot could be updated in Sim City.

 

It would be great to go shopping in the commercial districts in Sim City and buy all the different items you can currently get for your sims in the Buy Mode and Build Mode in TS2 - tables, chairs, ornaments, groceries, DIY stuff, art work, etc, etc. All these items would be available at all the different shops in Sim City. That way you'd get a real feel for 'shopping for your sims'. As in real life, each shop would have a limited range of items for sale, and the more upmarket the shop the better the quality of items that could be purchased. Knowing where to shop for your sims could become a real challenge in itself.

 

Career paths for your sims would be really great fun to recreate in Sim City. A lot of your manual/unskilled sims could start work in the light industrial districts of Sim City or perhaps you could get them a job as a bus driver and follow them around as they drive their buses around town, or maybe they could work as prison officers, as city refuse collectors, or as cleaners in any of the shops and offices in town. All jobs available in TS2 could be linked to different buildings in Sim City: dock workers could work in Sim City docks or marinas, waiters and waitresses could work in restaurants, hotels, casinos, snack bars, pubs/bars, pizza delivery companies, or catering companies. 

 

Sims with high political acumen could give you a run for your money in challenging you for your job as mayor in Sim City. Politics doesn't really exist in the current version of Sim City, but it is an attribute of your sim’s character in TS2. I would be really interesting to see a sim progress up the political ladder in Sim City - so pressure groups, political parties and city elections would be fun additions to the game.

 

I’d really like sims that set up businesses in the Open for Business expansion in TS2 have those businesses fully operational in Sim City, so that whatever their business is in TS2 would be the same business in Sim City.

 

Sims with good engineering skills could work in the heavy industrial areas of Sim City. They could also work in research labs, power plants, utility companies, and any of the armed forces. They could possibly be the plumbers, electricians, or inventors in Sim City.

 

Sporty sims could hone their skills in the baseball parks, tennis courts, football pitches, etc. in Sim City, and if your City has a suitable sporting arena, they could compete in tournaments watched by thousands of sim spectators.

 

Sims with strong extravert or confident characters could become entertainers and could also work in TV or the media. They could become actors, magicians, performers or comedians - jobs for these sims would be available in the theatres, casinos and circuses of Sim City.

 

Virtually every business or organisation in Sim City could provide its own job opportunities for your sims in TS2.

 

The key word for the next Sim City is INTEGRATION – I want A LOT more handshake between Sim City and The Sims 2 or 3 (or whatever) – even if that means developing The Sims and Sim City into one completely new game that incorporates the two different games into one complete package. What that game would be called, I have no idea, but I’d like to propose: ‘The Sims’ City’.

[antipat 0]

Come on guys! Sombody set up a petition for SC5!

[Superchan 23]

i predict that simcity 5 will come out next year, near july or august or september, i did a caculation by adding up the 3 diffrent numbers of years before the release of each game and divided it by 3 and got 4.6, meaning the game will come out 4.6 years after january 2003, so lets hope this is true, expect so se sc5 sometime next year.

[Constantina 5]

I can't guarnatee the return of the SimCity series yet. Currently, the focus is on one of the related games, the Sims 2 series. In fact, I must admit that SimCity 4 is the most advanced and customisable city building game so far.

[Nerd_Guy 4]

Check out my new thread/poll/survey thingy in this forum. Please vote!

[LivingInThePast 364]

We haven't heard of SC5 for a long time.

What if SimCity 5 turned into...

(ominous music)

SPORE! Why can't SimCity 4's source code by owned by Simtropolis. Frankly, why can't Simtropolis buy the whole series? That'd be AWESOME!

[amdinside 2]

Redar27: that sounds a lot more like a wish list for the next Sim's update and not SimCity. I don't think the focus should shift away from building cities.

[Jersey_17011 0]

constantina: it is! in fact, a version of sim city 4 was realeased for urban planners in the UK...wish i could get that.

[BigSlark 0]

Jersey_17001: Do you have any more info than that? I have close relatives in the UK...

[radiodude 0]

Well, I have to say that while I like the concept and functionality Spore is working with, I am not impressed by the game.

I love the IDEA behind it, but the graphics and some of the creatures in it just look too cartoonish for me. There's just something about it that isn't realistic enough.

I would be overjoyed if Wright takes the Spore concept and applies it to SC5 with better, realistic graphics.

I'm just not that excited about Spore. I'd rather see a new SimCity come out.

[ferk60 0]

I want to see elections. I think that would be fun. Every four year the major would be up for re-election and you could even change your staff. That would be fun. For example like the people could want crime lowered, better transportation, better school, lower taxes hospitals stuff like that and you would have the two years to fix it and then you could have an election.