Future of SimCity Official Discussion Thread

[webmaster76 1]

there're many things on my wishlist for sc5 but the most important is, i wish to see my subway lines at the region view!!

[Aamir. 0]

I expect 2008 computers to be more enhanced, so some of my ideas might sound a bit radical.

Menu

Okay, I'm tired of having to look through god knows how much downloaded lots, to find that originally-in-game CN Tower. Maybe there should be one seperate menu for downloaded lots.

Diversity

Looks like the educational board's signature colour is red. The schools are red, the high schools are red, the college is red, the university is in some... screwed red. The health society's signature colour can be white, and so on. Maybe have 10-20 different types of each building, and you should be able to pick which colour, few windows or a lot of windows and be able to choose the amount of pavement and the size of the parking lot around the infrastructure. Kinda like the Sims 2, except you're not building a house.

Maybe be able to a Chinatown, a Little Italy. The world isn't always "one". I mean... I'm trying to building those Arabian cities with buildings made of sand, mosques and palaces. I'm sure everybody in the whole world doesn't go to one place called "the house of worship" to worship. Maybe there should be city issues relating to it too, like "Religous Christians unimpressed by the lack of churches" and the financial advisor saying " 'Money is the route of all evil' Religous extremists burning money, reduce spending on religion!". I don't think we should make reference to real religions though, probably "Simianity" and "Aerosim". Wouldn't it be cool if cities could have their own demographics?! Maybe we should put sims with different languages as well.

Culture

There're more sports than just American Football and soccer. There should be basketball halls, major cricket grounds and... ICE RINKS!

Also, why not let the city have its own franchise restaurant? That'd be neat.

Transportation

I'm all up for diagonality, I mean, it kills these days just to make a cul-de-sac. The world isn' cubed! I also hate how the road doesn't compromise with buildings, on a hill, the building is just flat, and the road starts flying all over the place. It would also be neat to decide if trees go on the sidewalk or not, instead of the game doing it's randomization business. I hope they've heard of "roundabouts" (I know I could just download NAM, but that's bigamy).

Economy

I hope Maxis realizes that most theatres, swimming pools and (some) hotels/motels are actually run by the mayor/government. Also, which city/country/region puts 96% of its reliability on taxes? It'd be neat if the city can have tourism, and VAT (I'm a hypocrite, that's taxes!).

Wow... Tourism, that'd be fun! They should come to the ciy because, beauty (parks and stuff), landmarks, countryside and city life. That'd be a big economic powerhouse there. Then you should be able to construct hotels for them, which would then generate revenue.

Others

The climate and terrain thingy. And be able to build huge parks, maybe even national parks and theme parks. Yatch clubs, more of the same rewards (10 different types of city halls to select from, I mean the three which're there right now, they're atrocious). etc. etc.

[Patroklos 0]

I want larger cities, with the largest city square being four to five times larger than it is now, and the region being expanded corespondingly.

[SirChick 184]

Well its hard to say what i want in the game because I do not know. How ever, some small tweaks I would like to see, just as eye candy as its known..... perhaps say you build a european city... the buildings (specially the houses) look more european.... cos sim city every time i build them they are very american looking...bit of diversity with that would be nice. but this i wouldnt want priority, im happy with how the game looks but if they got time they could think about diversity in that sense but id rather they focus on gameplay than graphics.

Now one thing about the airport..... its slightly stupid in 2 ways. Firstly planes land and disappear... ? Secondly if you build a road off the airport about 10 cars come from it every say... couple of minets... why is there not hundreads of cars !! Airports carry millions of people everyday...

But mainly with the airport I would like to see options with it. So you can open a menu which has picture of the world..... with countries that have or have not got airports... (more places have airports as the years go by) which you can pay a sum of money to have a flight path to them, and you have to balance how many planes you need from the demand of tourism wanting to come to your city from theirs.

Though the downside is you have to balance how many planes are happening, if you have too many planes firstly "pollution + noise" is more of a problem. Secondly longer flight distances will mean bigger planes flying in so you have to expand the runway, and if you have loads of planes coming in then you may need more than one runway or just not meet the demands which could reduce tourism capabilities!

And i do agree with it being one in a region not city.

Second one:

Some one mentioned seasons and i agree, though i would like it be more than just something to see i would like it to effect you in some way.

So for snow you have to pay to have gritters to grit the roads early in the morning before rush hours.....Some times you can have snow which is so extreme that the whole city is out for the count for the day/week/month what ever depending on a realistic time scale on the speed of the games clock.

For rain, you could have drains overflowing, so you have to manage good drainage system, which drains lead to rivers making pollution, which you could add a few buildings to use the pollution for energy.. or for recycling (human number 2's to be used on farms for growing etc)

Autumn time, leaves block the drains meaning more likely to have flooding on roads causing problems, so therefore have a good road maintenance to keep the roads clean and well.

Summer time, beaches are more popular, airports are more popular, traffic is increased because of holidays! Tourism is UP business for commericial is also up. Industry is slightly down because people are away on holidays..

Bad things for summer. its too hot! Water usage is highest at this time! So increase funding turn on an extra pump in the summer which u can turn off in the other seasons on the query icon, which saves u money but its still built so u dont have to keep rebuilding every summer.

Winter, water pipes freeze up causing problems... you could just wait it out or eventually get a new pipe style which keeps the could out like the thermostat material on the pipes, which you get with education about X amount.

Autumn, hurricanes! Windows etc get boarded up and people migrate out of the city, and watch mostly old and tall buildings get damaged! Some get completely wiped and others just have smashed windows, which will be rebuilt on its own accord.

Spring, not much ever bad happens in spring, so just have trees and flowers appear for first time in this season which last till autumn and then die.

The degree of sunlight and length of the sun being out can be effected by seasons (effecting solar plants) so winter usually dark by 4.30pm here in the Uk though it varies depending on how close to the equator you live.

Also for weather, perhaps fog for which ever season..... maybe spring...... thus effecting airports/trains/traffic.....ports... upgrading aiports for air traffic control...radar by researching and lighthouses for ports.... not much can be done for trains....but  will help you will reducing the inconvieniece.. though it can never be completely solved so it will cause tourism problems as will all the other weather types.

On making a new region you can choose what continent first. So that firstly, say you choose africa it will be desert like you may get sandstorms and mostly hot weather and water problems all year round but advantages you have diamond mines which make good industry and good cash with selling to neighbours.

America have everything you need, though have hurricanes/earthquakes that happen according to random events for earthquakes and hurricanes by seasons and tornados also by seasons.

Europe, earthquakes/volcanos possible.. but have everything you need....

Asia similar sorta ideas etc

Also depending on how sensitive people are (meaning this doesnt have to be in the game) if an earthquake happens under water a big wave could cause problems but given the events of the tsunami over a year ago this could be a bit of a bad move!

With this you would have a window (top right of screen for example) giving you the weather predictions.. which become more accurate when you get a reward for a good weather station, the better the weather station you unlock (from education) the more likely your sims will prepare well for what ever the weather!

Maybe a new zone also! We have:

Commercial

Residential

Industrial

How about

Tourism - $ = fairs/cinema's/clubs ( tax on alchahol + clubs increase crime) small attraction

$$ - big theme parks (like florida have)  (take up LOADS of room! but attract more tourism than any other) (attracts basically any one and everyone) (you could tax the land they use and they could ask if they can expand their parks if their making money etc by asking you )

$$$ - a big avenue of casinos (must legalise gambling first) - like Las Vegas + people can pick up gambling habits and end up doing crime!  + medium attraction ( only for adults)

all 3 have lots of jobs on offer specially $$$

With regards to crime, it be nice to set prison lengths of each type of crime, and decide what types of crimes really are a crime in your city... so flashing could be legal if you chose to .. and pie throwing could be legal! thus making the entire city having a food fight! Plus if your scrict with high jail sentences people may be put off with crime.

You could be rehab buildings to reduce crime for gambling/drink habits.. maybe drugs but this game is for all more than adults so drugs may not be good idea and maybe not alchahol aswell but gambling rehab should be ok

Next one :

Bus stops! These just annoy me!!!

I played this game called "Traffic Giant" which showed a good way to doing bus systems. Firstly you put bus stops, secondly you set an exact route the bus takes, then you let it go. Once its going above the bus stops has like where you have "such and such sim lives here" on sim mode,

You have a window showing "number of people waiting" & "waiting time" if waiting time is say bad or long or what ever... more funding or more busses may be needed, (or reduce commute times) if the number of people waiting is huge then perhaps up the price of bus fares, plus set out bus zones so people pay more to travel further according to bus zones, we have them in the Uk, costs more to go to the main centre of my city than to the outskirts etc

I dont know if that already exists in Rush hour i have not bought it so sorry if i kinda mentioned something already got.

Last one cos my fingers are hurting !!!!!

With the people walking around the city, perhaps you should be able to click on the people! You can then see things like medical record/education/job type/wealth/house type.

Like you can with your sim but with any civilian in your city.

Oh another idea lol!!!

Maybe have the world be more alive ........so say you have an ocean, at cliff areas it erodes away, you can prevent it by paying for water breaks and other methods to reduce ocean erosion...google scientific names of them i really cant be bothered to be too detailed on it(piers could help), and with rivers the same applies, you could build features to stop the river slowly eroding towards your buildings by building man made river banks, and you could build damns to help with water supply.

Argh one last one, make buildings become "unlocked" as time goes, or by building a scientific research centre which you unlock after the university reward......the more funding the more you unlock or the quicker you unlock either one... and education level is a good factor! also with this smart code, depending on things like "crime levels" "health" "wealth" "pollution" "tourism" "commercial demand" "industry demand" "mayor popularity" "population" "accuracy of weather predictions" "commute times" means every time you research a diffrent thing may be given to you after time which will help with what ever one of the factors.. but some may disadvantage factors, so choosing carefully is important!

fingers hurt and im sure your eyes are too after this ! and im pleased to have read a report that sim city 5 is deffinatly going to be released. Also jsut to add we should seriously change the name of this post to "Maxis....read this now!!!!!!!" lol

[Yedidyah 0]

I think Sim City 5 should be capable blending "the sims" so you can experience the city you build in Sim City from their point of view. And maybe a profile option where you can choose to be a mayor or an entrepreneur where you could buy and build buildings (similar to monopoly tycoon with or without the monopoly game).

[phlegmatist 0]

I really really hope that they don't change the graphics too much. Two games that I used to really love (and still do, in there earlier forms) were Pharaoh and Rollercoaster Tycoon - I think they totally screwed both of them up in their most recent versions when the graphics went from pixel-based to 3D vector based wotsits (whatever the technical term). As much as they try and claim this looks more realistic it just totally doesn't to my eyes - all those strange angles and people with peculiar dodechahedron(sp?) shaped heads.

As has already been mentioned, one small thing I would like is some sort of splitting down further of the commercial zoning catergory into something along the lines of office, retail, leisure etc so you could be more specific about where you wanted shops, hotels, pubs . . . etc

Simon

[rctshack 182]

I agree phlegmatist, Roller Coaster Tycoon was my favorite game until the 3rd one, though I still liked it and played it for a while, it just became too hard to build and control the game. And the 3D view didn't add realism as much as it added just another view. I would MUCH RATHER have a game that looked photo realistic from 4 sides, then a game that had to decrease graphics to be able to view it from any side. Being 3D just isn't something that should be needed for Sim City, and if someone feels it is, i would like to hear a good reason why we should go back to Sim City 2 graphics just to revolve a camera easily?

Another thing i think should be added to the game, other than the 4 angle views, would be an overhead view. It would be nice to have sort of a full screen map view that could have different things be turned on and off, but still be the same size as the other views, and be able to scroll around in. Such as just a normal view straight down, but then a switch to highlight each different transportation, or to highlight all the different things like air polution and so on. But it would be nice to see it in full resolution on a real overhead map. It has been one of the frustrating things about the game. It would definitely solve the problem of skyrises blocking the view of certain structures and help in demolition and needing to align objects and so on. The map view could also be changed to look like an actual road map, and it would be an easy way to name raods and hover the mouse over buildings to see info about them, and many other useful things that we have to click the question mark and click each building. It would make research faster, and bring a much needed element to the game.

Overall the main feature lacking from the game is just plain REALISM... commute time, subways, airports, downtowns, park, raods, everything just doesn't make sense. It's not a real world situation, and while yes, it worked temporarily in the games of the past, we have the power and graphics to have a full fledged SIM CITY... not a "sim game" like right now. Little things like commercial and residencial being in the same building, having other cities still interact completely with yours, an actual mega sized airport that can be added onto and grow overtime, sewage, underground parking garages in skyscrapers, entertainment zoning, recreation zoning, independant companies building things like amusement parks and rail lines, even roads if one is willing, subdevelopments, Federal Structures that the "Country" builds and you don't have much control over, being able to upgrade raods and parks yourself (not the game choosing so because the building nextdoor is now nicer, it's the other way around, real cities upgrade roads and park to entice richer people to move in), real mass transit with REAL TRANSIT LINES, and along with the transit lines how about continuing the mass transit lines to the other cities around you, so they all just don't have a seperate subway system (connecting to neighbors barely works, face it), I could go on for hours, but this is all real stuff that annoys me.

I love this game, but to make the real sim city (it's easily possible), they need to step it up a notch. And lets not make this game wildly hard, but just more real. i really hope the designers read this cause it is very much needed.

[j3shafer 0]

I hope that if there ever is a 5th edition, that some of the features could be optionally installed and/or turned on. I mean some people like the drive-it features and the Sims mode but I would trade that for many more comprehensive and complex zoning layers, development styles, and over all creative control.

[Cliff794 0]

The idea of mixed zoning makes too much sence to me.

[rctshack 182]

I also wish there was a way of approving buildings being built or not built. Mayors or City Councils always get told about structures that are being planned, and they have the power to approve or reject buildings. It all deals with the type of people and financial situation the city is in, n what exactly is being brought to the mayor to be approved. It would be very micro managing, but i think it could add a new depth to the game.

[aking88 7]

About the mixed zoning, it could be customisable in the way that u have different options, for example if you want 30% residential and 70% Commcercial, 50/50, or 30 % commercial and 30% residential.

I also believe that all or most mixed use buildings in the game could have settings set for all the different options so that they could be built with different amounts of residential/commcercial space, or even that being changed later after its been built. The only problem is that it might get unrealistic, becouse commercial floors are generally higher than residential, so an residential level cant neccesarily be used as an commercial or vice versa.

With that in mind maybe there should be locked amounts of commercial/residential space for each building, and it should be modelled/designed to suit that.

[Targon 0]

Finally some news on Sim City 5...

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6160951.html?sid=6160951

[Targon 0]

There are several ideas I have had for what I would like to see in Sim City 5, 6, 7, or whatever.   Obviously not all of these would be desired by everyone, so there would be options to turn them on or off.

One feature that I enjoyed in the previous Sim City games was the way new advances in technology would unlock different things.    So you can't build an airport until the invention of the airplane and such.   Some people like it, some people don't.

Now, I am also a big fan of the Civilization series, so one idea that I would find enjoyable would be to have Sim City be "within" the context of a Civilization style game.   So, you as the player would develop technologies, but at the same time, you are responsible for how well each city evolves.   The landscape of the city would be based on where the city is in the world, so if you are right on a river in the "Civ" map, that's where your city is in the game.   You have the time of a Civ game turn(and of course you can pause in City mode) to plan out your city and such.   An interesting side effect is that you could really see how technology advances would provide advances for the city.   Even things like roads wouldn't be available, so you would be forced to lay things out as best you can with your given resources.   Buildings with a stone foundation would be built faster with masonry, and so on.   You could even end up with different style buildings based on the Civ you end up playing, with a mix of styles if there are multiple cultures in the city.

Even without those two ideas(which wouldn't be simple), the next thing I would like to see added are neighborhoods.   If you live in a residential area, you will have certain businesses you want/need.   A supermarket/grocery store is a big one, with things like a movie theater, convenience store, pizza and other food types(with a possible need for delivery based on city size).   Remember that pizza delivery may be common for many of us, but it's not always available.   So, not only do you need a good mix of residential, commercial, and industrial, but the way buildings develop should be based on the needs of the people.   So, if you have no supermarket, commercial space will generate a supermarket, or other place for your sims to buy food at.   And obviously, it will be based on demand how things play out.   Each neighborhood SHOULD have it's own wants on this sort of scale so you don't end up with 10 pizza places but no other services.

There should be alternatives to the current set of transportation systems in the game.   From bike paths, to light rail, to normal rail.   Bus stops should be a seperate layer on top of your transit system, but at the same time, a stopped bus WILL slow down traffic.   Mono-rail, and even a skyway(for the future if you have a passage of time).   Think stuff like the city in "The 5th element", where rail can go up and down buildings as well as along/under/above the ground.

Having high-tech be a selectable way to zone would also help since it is within the power of a town planning board to decide what types of businesses are allowed into a given area.

If the Civ idea doesn't work for people, then having access to different style buildings would also be good.

And finally, I would like to see different types of religious structures for different religions.

[willvette 2]

how about a 5 layered system

1st---> city level

2ed---> utildy level (water mains)

3ed---> subway, underground bus routs, underground hevy rail, underground highway w/ on-ramps and off-ramps to serface roads

4th---> subway, underground bus routs, underground highway but no ramps, +25% incress of cost

5th---> suway, underground bus routs, +50% incress of cost

sub-level stations may be placed differntly,

1st> place serface level 1X1 lot,

2ed> you'll see a highlighted space in layers 3-5 and the station selector has become a menu with small to large underground stations (subway, bus), and underground hevy rail stations can be found under the rail menu.

also different underground lines cannot intersect each other on the same layer and must move to a different layer to cross (ex. subway must go under underground hevy rail).

if thay were smart, thay whould create emty transit networks for user created networks (in other words, more ANT's)

i say thay should also make a better BAT, by making a plugin for google sketchup and put it all in 1 program + a building menu manger.

[tSlater 134]

I know I've mentioned some things before, but I must drive in:

Mixed-Use Zoning!

I think it was somebody else's idea, but establishing neighbourhood districts! Within each district, architectural styles could be changed for that district only, same with ordinances.. heck, even service funding.

How about a funding map? By default everything could be 100%, but let's say there's a section of road nobody uses.. you don't want to continue to maintain it, but don't want to spend money to demolish it either. Currently we cannot abandon sections of road, so why not add a way to select an area like we would normally zone an area, and modify the funding for that area. If not this, then at least broaden funding options. I hate having a failing rail system that I have to remove rather then abandon, because all transit is controlled by one funding bar.

As thousand of people have said.. get rid of the grid, or at least improve it so you can have more angles for both buildings and infrastructure.

Expand traffic. Only in-game traffic is Home<->Work, and Industry<->Out-of-city. Include Home<->Entertainment, Home<->Shopping, General Tourism, and Industry<->Local Business/Other Industry. Obviously different types of commutes can call for different commute times, as well. I just hate having a stadium with no traffic on the road leading to it.

Another idea.. if there is still a grid, split the grid to be twice as small. One lane of a road takes 1 tile. This can allow for small one-way streets, alleyways, single-wide railroad tracks, and allow more control in general. Have sidewalks be a separate feature from the roads, allowing you to optionally place the sidewalks, if you want.. what kind of sidewalks, and ultimately, choose how wide you may want your sidewalk to be.. allowing one to easilly expand a road in a downtown district by eating up more sidewalk space, rather than demolishing a line of buildings. With this, one could also drag out street-side parking if needed.

Allow for alternative taxes aside from property. Allow sales tax, gas tax (encourage a more 1900s trolley/pedestrian environment by sending gas taxes through the roof, although may slow development some)

And please, PLEASE find a way to ensure that most if not all current BATs can be used in Sim City 5, or at least be easilly convertable. There's just too many good quality buildings to lose from STEX.

[LivingInThePast 364]

I would like SimCity 5 to not get online to check for new "in-game advertisements".

I'd like the interface to be like Google Earth. You could use the top-down view for building and planning roads, and go 3D for terrains and seeing buildings.

You could import SimCity 4 cities, but they are no longer on special grids. No longer will special tools be needed.

The menus of course, will be drop down, displaying one picture with the price and so on as you go down.

You no longer zone for Commercial, and you can sell out Residential zones to developers.

Sometimes Residential grows on its own.

In addition, you can choose what time to start your city. 1700-present day.

When you "destroy" a road or railroad, it leaves behind bulldozer tracks or a right of way that will survive for years to come.

There are universities.

Train cars, sometimes with graffiti, can stop.

That's all I can think of....

[smokr 0]

I'd like the year on the city data popup in the region view.

Each city tick along on it's own time, but you don't know what one is ahead without opening them all and looking at the year.

Is there any way to put the city year into the region view when you click the city?

That would be the most helpful thing I want right now.

[alsoalsoalsowik 0]

Ive allways really wanted the option to make an underwater tunnel instead of a bridge to cross rivers and such, speaking of that, more controll over how the roads form would be very nice! Perhaps even go so far as to have another level on a bridge for a subway line to connect to, power, even water pipes. I would like to see the whole game kind of cleaned up that way, intead of having a brigde for cars, a bridge for trains, and a series of power line towers go over the water, combine them all!

[Citizen Sim 0]

tunnels for all transit systems would be very nice (except ferries maybe

diagonal tunnels/bridges would be very nice too,

and my dream: diagonal streets in which the buildings line up as if they were on a horizontal street. And possibly more diagonals besides the 45 degrees, 22.5 degrees etc.

[rctshack 182]

Also mixed use bridges and tunnels. Ones that have area for rail, subway, road traffic, light rail, bus lines, high speed rail, monorail, and any other form of transportation added to the game. All by choice of course. Being able to tell how many lanes it will be and which lanes are what form. Also double decker highways.

[Ross Fox 0]

Some of my ideas, I may be repeating others but meh....

-Make lots more flexible, no more rectangles, they can be triangular, or polygonal.

-Tourism as a separate zone type, with its own demand and desirabilities, for example, a city established in a warm climate located on the coast could see huge Meditteranean style resort hotels built along the beach.

-When playing games such as rollercoaster tycoon, theme park, etc., the rollercoasters are tracks, laid on pillars, looping round, over and under each other, with adjustable heights. Perhaps something similar in SC5 can be done with highways, el rail, and so on, with buildings able to develop underneath, given enough height.

-Mixed use! I want the retail space underneath apartment buildings to be functional.

-Advanced planning controls. For example, controlling almost exactly what develops on a lot. It can still be low/med/high density, but with optional, more advanced options, like choosing the exact densities to build at (for large cities to bypass the brick walkups and go straight to the apaprtment towers)

-Oil fields, or mining deposits, to fuel rapid expansion for  "boom cities"

-Definitely the ability to define neighbourhoods, changing their names, planning and architectural style

-On that note, more architectural styles. For example, I would have;

Old North American

Modern North American

Old European

Modern European

Old Middle Eastern

Modern Middle Eastern

Old Far Eastern

Modern Far Eastern

with the ability to edit and create new architectural styles, and moving certain buildings into it, or creating an entire new setting for custom and downloaded buildings

Theres more than that going on in my head, but I'll leave it there :3

[nousername 0]

There are a lot of good ideas, about what people want to see, in SC5. I have a lot of things i'd like to see too, so please bare with me... and yes i might be repeating some ideas but oh well.

I like the idea, of not having the the grid. Because all the grid does is limit how you can build things, which is, to a square or rectangle. Without the grid, you can do a lot of things that you couldn't do with the grid. Like have lots  to be any size or shape you want.

We all know it can be a hassle to build and plan transit networks and highways. So what i would like to see... is that you can print out maps of the areas you'd like to develop and then after you print out a map of the area you'd like to develop, you can draw out were you'd like there, to be Ground Light Rail, EL, Subway ,monorail lines and Stations, Freeways and Bus lines. After that you just scan it using an ordinary scanner and using a program that comes with the game it shows you were you drew the lines, and it tells you if the line you drew for a new EL happens to go through a building, the program gives you a choice, do you want to demo it or do you want to go through it. After you are done editing it, you press a button and then it makes the Adjustments to the game.

 

As for zoning, the current zones are good, but... I think that there should also be other zones, like Tourism, Health, Education and Multi-use. Each zone has its own needs, demands and desirabilities. For example, Multi-use zones work like this: You can have Homes on top, retail/shops on the Ground and Malls or Walkways or Connections to Transit or Parking Underground. I would also like there to be Advanced planning controls. For example, controlling almost exactly what develops on a lot. It can still be low/med/high density, but with optional, more advanced options, like choosing the exact densities to build at (for large cities to bypass the brick walk ups and go straight to the apartment towers

 

I also like the idea of showing certain neighborhoods, like naming them, planing and what type of  architectural style to use.

As for what type of architectural style there would be, here is a list:

Old North American

Modern North American

Old European

Modern European

Old Middle Eastern

Modern Middle Eastern

Old Japan

Modern Japan, with the ability to edit and create new architectural styles, and moving certain buildings into it, or creating an entire new setting for custom and downloaded buildings There is more but... I'll post it tomorrow.

[Juan Rico 0]

According to Wikipedia EA has revealed the development of a new SimCity in November 2006

[outriderdriver 4]

From what I gather about the future, No more EP will be made since the players took it into their own hands to upgade the game. Really just due to maxis not finding any interest in adding maybe a futuristic expansion pack....and because they got all excited with the sims that they blew off simcity altogether. They say so on their site by not saying anything at all. But hey we are all doing well, creating new buildings, changing transportation routes, making the water look like water, the earth look like mars, and so many other things so were doing just fine. We want more, and they will give it to us....eventually. And after Spore they might give us a really *****ty simple cartoony version claimed to give people the option to create and design their own city entirely in their own way or is it just because they dont want to run into problems in SC4 where night lighting wouldnt work and this or that wouldnt be compatable and just take all the realism out of it and release simcity dreams thats a disk full of pictures of virtual cities...I would hope to get a truly awesome simcity 5 where they include 1 or 2 EP and then leave it. But since im 22 with a child and a knight rider replica in the works I dont think i will play any more simcities for long and wont worry to much on where it goes.

[SimCityFan452 0]

The only suggestions I will say right now because I'm going to lunch soon. Is that I would like services coverage area to be squares instead of circles. Not only would that make covering easier, it would be much more realistic too.

[KeanoManu 42]

Okay, where to start?

Well, i can start with that it should be really good with more activity around Sim City 5 here at Simtropolis. Why not make a sub-forum for it? I'm sure that if we really want, we can affect the developers. But then we must made ourself heard and i don't think this thread is enough.

I think Sim City 4 is too small, you don't have so much options that you should have.

I have one idea of develop the region thing a little more and make it more like Sim Nation. But i don't think everyone would like that idea. With a nation you could have much more options in the way the city runs, set up some laws and so.

One thing i've thought of and that i misses in SC4 is that i can't see the border of the next city. Hm, you know, when you build near the border of the city you're in now, you can't see how's it looking in the neightbour city so it's hard to get the roads and building structure to fit. It would be great if i can see (but not touch the, lets say, 10 squares of the neightbour city. Then it would be much easier to build nice connections between cities.

I don't think they should remove the grid system, they should just expand it a little and make so that we can build against the diagonal roads to. I like to have a grid in building-games. Just look at City Life, they didn't have a grid and you were able to put down your roads in any angle. How good was that?

Then i would want to draw the city borders by myself. How often are the borders squares? Not so often. And with that the grid may be important so we don't get big gaps between the different quarters in our city. Damn, i'm not sure if i describe this part right.

Maxis/EA should also borrow one big thing from City Life. The only thing i really liked with that game was that if i had a place in the city that was to small (or just shaped bad) for buildings, i could place down plazas and stuff that filled all the empty spaces. That would give us much more freedom in our downtown.

One thing that i've seen people talking about before and what would be a BIG improvment are tourism. Everything should have a tourism-factor (or something like that). Skyscrapes, amusementparks, skiing, beaches. Yeah, everything should be there. Churches are another thing that gives much tourism in real life. And they should really add an religious part of the game. Most cities (especially here in Europe) have a church as biggest landmark.

Much better co-operation between the cities and the region. One thing that bothers me is that if you build a (for example) hospital at the edge of a city, it won't cover in the next city. It would be cool if they can make it work. And Universitys, Airports and everything like that should also be regionwide. The university is useless now and how realistic is it that i need an airport in downtown?

They should give us an editor for the menu. An easy way to sort in the menu. Let us add and remove things and even change where we want a special building. We would also be able to add and remove categorys in the menu and there should also be an option for adding the growable buildings as plopable.

It would be cool if we can add as many road-types and mass-transit systems as we want too. It's a shame we can't add more types of road in the game. I would like 2-3-4 lanes of road (maybe even more for highway) and also different types of road, WITHOUT replacing the existing ones. Then they should add a feature where we can draw the bus-lines by our own. Of course a feature like that must be volunter, so those who wants can turn it off and it will work as it does now. I think the game should be VERY in detail and that we can change everything but that we should have options to choose what things we wants to do and what things we wants to be automatic. Tunnels under water and even tunnel under plain ground. Bridges over ground too. And they should completly take powerlines out of the game or at least make so that we can have underground lines.

I hope you understands my suggestions for a new Sim City. I'm not sure the language is so good.

Well, this is all for me now.. I'll proberly write more ideas tomorrow or during the weekend. And to the mods of Simtropolis, make a new sub-forum where we can discuss Sim City 5. Maxis/EA have comfirm that one will come and i think many people would want to talk about it.

[hawkpride147 1]

ok first....incorporate the additions to the game from the NAM and the RHW into sc5.

2. more forms of entertainment.

3. no more grid (as many have said)

4. expand transit to include Blvd. and Mega/double deck hwy. also allow for diagonal bridges and tunnels and bridges over land (i.e. valleys with a bridge over them)

5. Growable civic zones rather than plop only.

6. underground powerlines and bring back the water tool.

7 road top transit lots that don't interfere with the RCI lots

8. modular airport packs (with low cost per piece and actual usage like each gate would have a certain number of sims that it could handle like the current transit stops do)

9. upgradable transit facilities so that when they get over crowded they can be enlarged like in real life.

10. capacity uses for stadiums and landmarks. when stadiums get over crowded they can be expanded.

11. more things for tourists.

12 in addition to UDI have a mode where you can walk through your city as well.

[MPD01605 1]

I'd like to see borders. ...perhaps forms of governmet. We could make countries in any shape, then divide those countries into states, and within those states, make city areas with a defined city limit and the rest is just like a county-type space. We can make some laws in some way, with any government you choose. There are border crossings and you can close them. Between two countries you can have trade, and all that fun stuff.

Custom interchanges, custom roads and rail. Just things to make the game more realistic at least in the infrastructure department. Airports can serve more than one city. Also, being able to see like 10 tiles into the next city/county, so when you try to make connections, you're not off by 1 tile or trying to make a connection into a fire department or airport. Underground roads and highways and rail. Tunnels that go under a city, but you can have on- and off-ramps to the highway underground. Seasons, weather. Etc.

I would like lots more detail, and more control. Of course, like it's been said, I'd like it to be voluntary, so if we don't want to micromanage everything, we don't have to stress about it. That'll appeal to more novice users. Things come pre-made as well as modular, so we can have a quick-plop or a lengthy design and build process.

That is a lot, I know. Everything we're suggesting will require a superfast computer. But so be it. When SC5 comes out, it'll run slow, and we'll complain. But once we give it time, in a year or two after it comes out, we'll be able to enjoy all these features at lightning speed. Maxis perhaps should make two versions; a SC5 Lite and a Total version. The Lite version has less features and runs faster so those who don't want control can have the game, but those who want EVERYTHING can get it. Of course, it'll probably run on Vista and require a Quad-core processor, so all computers right now will be obsolete! Haha. Oh the dreams and raves I go on. I trust Maxis and Will to create a wonderful game; no doubt they read this and know what we want.

[MegaBITE 0]

Sorry if this has been posted here already...  According to Wikipedia, Will Wright has indicated that Maxis intends to take Sim City in a "new direction" after new versions had become "steadily more complex".

He was quoted as saying, "SimCity kind of worked itself into a corner, (because) we were still appealing to this core SimCity group. It had gotten a little complicated for people who had never played SimCity. We want to take it back to its roots where somebody who had never heard of SimCity can pick it up and enjoy playing it without thinking it was really, really hard."

The article can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim_city_4#Future_updates

Based on this, I think the next Sim City will be much more simplified and streamlined, and will probably have less options to control different things in the game.  Everyone's been talking about all kinds of new features they expect in SC5, but judging by Will Wright's comments above, I think we will all be very disappointed.

I was really crushed when I first saw those comments... I hope the people at Maxis have had a change of heart since these comments were made in May 2004.

[Mr. Beer 12]

Or simply to add the option to choose between an "expert edition" or a "newbie edition" that can appears when you install the game and to modify it when you have played a while and took some experience...