Future of SimCity Official Discussion Thread

[amdinside 2]

My wishlist for SimCity5 would include:

1) An option to turn off the gameplay aspect. I have wanted this from the original game. Let me have the option of building my city how I want and have it grow instead of having to build slow within a budget and put the industry close enough to residential but not too close as residential hates pollution.

2) a regional terraformer including ground water. I don't understand why SC4 gets rid of some very useful features from previous versions.

3) Weather. I want to be able to call up a snowstorm or rain. Sewers can be added to the utility menu. If you don't plan your drainage correctly, your city is flooded when it rains. A blizzard hits in the winter, you better have a budget for snow removal or your city is stranded.

4) Better regional features like a city grid that varies in shape like a real city and the ability to see the edges of the other grids to help with connections.

5) Improve the graphics. 3D modeling.

This would be my top 5 requests.

[kenkoo1987 0]

only thing i want: FREEFORM! What's with the grids anyway? most computers now can surely handle full-on 3d city-building and camera views. my 2p

[thekingofc 0]

<p>Sim city is a great game. I have the rush hour expansion pack. This forum is old though</p>

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

How do you mean, this forum is old?  It is very active, and I don't understand what you are getting at.

[jay_allen1978 0]

I believe like everyone else does, there will probably be a SC5 but i wouldn't hold my breath for the release anytime soon. Meanwhile, I'm grateful that there is a place where SC 4 still reigns supreme. Now if i can only figure out how to bat...lol

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Jay_Allen1978:  How to BAT?  Have you tried Phillipbo's tutorial?  It is here.

[jay_allen1978 0]

i'm architectually challenged, i have the tutorial for it. but thank you very much.

[patriots_1228 51]

i would also like the game to automatically delete all zots , menus, and icons, when u take a picture

[topcliff 1]

Here's my plan for SC, be it expansion or new game all together: instead of zones going by mere densities, they should go like this:

Inner Area

Residential

low density homes

low density rowhouses

med density homes

med density rowhouses

high density homes

high density rowhouses

Commercial

low density shops

low density offices

low density shopping plaza's

med density shops

med density offices

med density shopping plaza's

high density offices

high density shopping plaza's

Outer Area

Industry

low density agriculture

low density forestry

low density warehouses

med density agriculture

med density forestry

med density warehouses

high density forestry

high density warehouses

TopCliff

[pepsi38 46]

Originally posted by: amdinside My wishlist for SimCity5 would include:

1) An option to turn off the gameplay aspect. I have wanted this from the original game. Let me have the option of building my city how I want and have it grow instead of having to build slow within a budget and put the industry close enough to residential but not too close as residential hates pollution.

2) a regional terraformer including ground water. I don't understand why SC4 gets rid of some very useful features from previous versions.

3) Weather. I want to be able to call up a snowstorm or rain. Sewers can be added to the utility menu. If you don't plan your drainage correctly, your city is flooded when it rains. A blizzard hits in the winter, you better have a budget for snow removal or your city is stranded.

4) Better regional features like a city grid that varies in shape like a real city and the ability to see the edges of the other grids to help with connections.

5) Improve the graphics. 3D modeling.

This would be my 

top 5 requests.

quote>

 

I AGREE ON EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!! the snow removal and sewers i have been wanting so badly.  that would be cool.  that youd have to have budget for a roads or highway department.  and the swers would also incorperate sim waste.

[Nightshiver00 1]

What I'd like to see is that the style of buildings actually changes with the time. Sure, the RH expansion let you choose your building style, but do you really think that 1990s looking buildings are still going to be built in 2060? I think not!

[owenluby 1]

Originally posted by: pepsi38

Originally posted by: amdinside My wishlist for SimCity5 would include:

1) An option to turn off the gameplay aspect. I have wanted this from the original game. Let me have the option of building my city how I want and have it grow instead of having to build slow within a budget and put the industry close enough to residential but not too close as residential hates pollution.

2) a regional terraformer including ground water. I don't understand why SC4 gets rid of some very useful features from previous versions.

3) Weather. I want to be able to call up a snowstorm or rain. Sewers can be added to the utility menu. If you don't plan your drainage correctly, your city is flooded when it rains. A blizzard hits in the winter, you better have a budget for snow removal or your city is stranded.

4) Better regional features like a city grid that varies in shape like a real city and the ability to see the edges of the other grids to help with connections.

5) Improve the graphics. 3D modeling.

This would be my 

top 5 requests.

quote>

I AGREE ON EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!! the snow removal and sewers i have been wanting so badly.  that would be cool.  that youd have to have budget for a roads or highway department.  and the swers would also incorperate sim waste.quote>

I definetley agree!

[Zegai 0]

One thing only a few of you touched on is the fact that the game in itself has gotten rather complex, and by extension confusing to new users. So, with that in mind, I propose my three cents on the future of Sim City, or rather, Sim Civilization.

First, I think the year you live in should be the most intergal part of the game. This will create hundred of scenarios, and should branch the game out into more directions then anyone has thought of. It could also be a better approach to difficulty levels aswell. For example, say you live in the Sim World Dark Ages. Your power source would be some manner of Water Wheel and your water would be various canals. As you move forward in time, those same Canals become waterways for trade and travel, and even further on, decoration for your city. Everything would wax around the year in which you live, much like the Sims 2, and the style of buildings would be sculpted through the choices you make each century. Afterall, Seoul looks in large part today because of what happened yesterday.

Second, we need to have war. No, not an RTS, but simply an intangible idea that causes a drastic increase in technology and a decrease in revenue. Further, the very presence, upkeep and training of any armed service alters the attitude and style of people. In one court you could have meat eating, flag waving, gas guzzeling war mongers... and then a rampant hoarde of bicycling vegans who refuse to wear underwear. Again, this also alters many aspects of gameplay, as RCI will have to conform to some standard. Are we building bombers and tanks, or are we toiling on some soy farm? I mentioned technology, which might need further comment. The airplane was more or less invented in WW1, and has been left unchanged since WW2. Think about that for a moment.

Third, we should start out smaller, and build out. I think it would be cooler to start with building a few homes and jobs at a time, and then go from there. Why do we need to be mayor first? And why end there? What about a Sim Nation? How about interstate police and transcontinental commerce? Maybe immigration problems and foreign policy? You may choose that Philistine has a ban on smoking, but Prussia wants to charter flight plans. How does snow and sand effect the environment, and what are the long term effects of pollution? What about that volcano you thought made a good center peicie and those faults that realign your cities? Do you build a culture controlling, homophobic and with more laws then Singapore, or are you a crazy vodka crazed everything goes Sweden?

Fourth, we need better resources. Gold, oil, steel, food, hand crafts and lumber would all be a great start. Sure, you have enough water and power, but what about rice and ham? Again, these simple objects alter what your people do, and where they live. Does your resource depleted slum have cabbage diners and leaky one room shacks, or does your glittering nuclear grade plutonium rich utopia live beyond the clouds?

Well, just some gentle museings. I hope you like this.

[EdMan#1 1]

That last paragraph says a lot. Resources should become a part of SC, whether in an expansion pack (it would have to be a very radical one though), a new game, or a totally new line of Sim games...lol. It would make the game more interesting with making structures such as coal mines & oil derricks actually functional. A whole new dimension of SC play...

wheeeeeeeeeeeee. 

Some interesting ideas here. Personally I am content with SC4 & RH, flaws & all. But improvement is always welcome...at a price of buying a new game, or God forbid a new computer.

Just my comment. Or 2 cents anyway.

[Zegai 0]

Yes. New avenues of play are vital. Plus, why not go the full 360 route? How about undersea projects, mountaintop retreats and interstellar satellites? While it could be something as simple as a radio tower on a mountain gaining better reviews to a Mars rover pluming the depths of space or even something a bit more radical... like undersea farming. The very basic idea of wrapping the game around a time line makes all this and so much more easy to produce. Imagine ushering the microwave generation into the digital age... and then maybe on into the gravity epoch. There is so much potential in the sims games that remains untapped. I can't wait to see whats next.

[Pixelrage 34]

I'd rather have another expansion to SC4. Unfortunately, developers don't bother to add on to old games to satisfy the fans, like they did in the 90s (Duke Nukem, etc).

[pickled_pig 7]

All interesting ideas... but my two cents:

Simcity is a game about urban planning.

Resources would be a great implementation - as that would add a layer of realism to industry and jobs - but a lot of people here seem to be going the RTS route. If a city has oil reserves, the city should be able to tap them for profit.

Again, Simcity is a game of urban planning. If I want to fight war, I'll go out and buy Civilization or another RTS. Same with politics. Although I would like to see a stronger emphasis on local issues (e.g. water quality, schools) national politics would just make the game more difficult.

The best thing would be a menu of adjustable difficulty sliders so those who want to plat a RTS can do such and those who want to build a city can do such.

My needs in SC5 or a future expansion pack involve the transportation network and region play:

I think that city tile boundaries do not need to be square.

I think that bridges should be able to cross tile boundaries.

I think there is no need for a grid and the grid should be removed.

I think that there should be in-game support for designing your own interchanges. Using the NAM puzzle pieces is a start, but Maxis should expand this concept further.

I think there should be more types of transportation networks. Although the avenue and the ground highway are a start, a lot more still can be done.

Groundwater and weather, as mentioned at the top of the page, are great ideas. Yes, you can plop a PEG pond, but it's not the same as it was in SC2 and SC3.

Anyway, my two cents on the issue.

[Charles Rodulfo 0]

I love SC4, I don't want to move on yet, EA bites in creating EP's! what's wrong with expanding a great game than starting all over again with new flaws and bugs. Maybe after 6 years, go on, release SC5 but 3 years, com'on. The SPORE would be a great game in itself but it does not concentrate on city building. It is concentrated on a character that could build a city. Oh well, If SC5 would be created, it should entertain most of the good ideas of us gamers. I hope EA/Maxis is reading this =)

[Zegai 0]

I'm just not that happy with modding every aspect of my game so that it works right. I mean, whats the point in building C next to R when they commute half across the map for another job? Or when you build a bus system or a sub system and no one uses it, despite placement. So much of the game is bugged that its a hassel to play, and after a few real time months, you've seen it all and done everything. I want a game I can explore.

[Zegai 0]

I would like to make a correction to that post. Today I built a hotel, two story mind you, on the edge of the map, when I noticed it had almost 18 floors below ground. *****?

So, who wants E24?

[kyoto 0]

I agree that another expansion pack is a bit unlikely, however I do see SC 5 coming out within the next 4 years or so......(wishful thinking) What I hope though is that they do not dumb down the game to the point of it being overly simplistic, but not so complicated that it cannot attract new players, who had never before played Simcity......it would be interesting to actually create actual bus routes, and to see light rail incorporated into the game by Maxis (I use it in most of my larger cities ever since it was released here on Simtropolis, excellent job to all those who contributed! =D) It will be quite interesting to see the Simcity's future

[HuskerDude 12]

My quickie wishlist for SC5:<br />*Smaller grid (if one at all) that will allow for more winding and angled streets, as well at more buildings on odd angles, like along Market St here in SF.<br />*Metro lines: Not just subway and El trains, but lines than can run on roads and down the center of avenues.<br />*Regional Rail: Differentiate between "national" passenger and freight service, and local commuter rail (not subway, etc) than can bring folks in from far outlying suburbs (think the Long Island Railroad) and interface with subway, El, and Metro systems.<br />*Expandable Universities/university systems: Instead of a big box you can only have one of, once you earn the University (should be harder than it is) you can almost zone it. Make wide, sprawling, central campuses, or place smaller individual buildings thoughout your city, like NYU or UCSF.<br />*Multideck/multiuse bridges: Let trains, transit, etc run on bridges, and let us stack em!<br />*More realistic industry: The vast majority of "industrail" buildings you see in real cities are not smoke spewing factories with smokestacks and toxic goo being spit out. More options for industrial zoning without futzing with taxes. <br />*Dock and Airport "zoning" similar to 3k.<br />*Tunnels: Make this a tool instead of having to mess with diging goofy holes that inevitably level your dense urban area that necessitates the damn thing in the first place!<br />*Real 3d so I can rotate the camera and see my awesome skylines.<br /><br />*Maybe most important, MULTI-USE ZONES!:  I can't think of a major (At least American) city that isn't largely commercial on the 1st floor with apartments/condos above.  It drives my nuts that my sims have to wander all over just to get lunch or coffee. <br/><br />*Fix the airport crime bug!

[hdnine 0]

Is there any official word if SC5 ever will become a reality? I would hate it if this franchise would die out in favor for the less attractive The Sims-series which i do not find as fun to play.

[hdnine 0]

Is there any official word if SC5 ever will become a reality? I would hate it if this franchise would die out in favor for the less attractive The Sims-series which i do not find as fun to play.

[hdnine 0]

Is there any official word if SC5 ever will become a reality? I would hate it if this franchise would die out in favor for the less attractive The Sims-series which i do not find as fun to play.

[Pixelrage 34]

I'd be shocked if this were to be the final SC game. Even on simcity.com - they have to recognize all of those addons that people from Simtropolis have been making all of these years, since they've also been hosting them. I just hope that if they do go ahead with SC5, that it looks and feels very similar to SC4. I'd be really upset if it became "cartoony" like Spore will be, or like World of Warcraft. I just hope can be a very technical game, rather than one to appease people of ages 8-99.

Simulations have been the only type of game that I care about. FPS's, war games and RPG's have gotten really old and stale lately...and SC4 is the last simulation of its kind that I've seen in the past 5 or so years...(Civ IV isn't really my cup of tea)

[Pixelrage 34]

I'd be shocked if this were to be the final SC game. Even on simcity.com - they have to recognize all of those addons that people from Simtropolis have been making all of these years, since they've also been hosting them. I just hope that if they do go ahead with SC5, that it looks and feels very similar to SC4. I'd be really upset if it became "cartoony" like Spore will be, or like World of Warcraft. I just hope can be a very technical game, rather than one to appease people of ages 8-99.

Simulations have been the only type of game that I care about. FPS's, war games and RPG's have gotten really old and stale lately...and SC4 is the last simulation of its kind that I've seen in the past 5 or so years...(Civ IV isn't really my cup of tea)

[Pixelrage 34]

I'd be shocked if this were to be the final SC game. Even on simcity.com - they have to recognize all of those addons that people from Simtropolis have been making all of these years, since they've also been hosting them. I just hope that if they do go ahead with SC5, that it looks and feels very similar to SC4. I'd be really upset if it became "cartoony" like Spore will be, or like World of Warcraft. I just hope can be a very technical game, rather than one to appease people of ages 8-99.

Simulations have been the only type of game that I care about. FPS's, war games and RPG's have gotten really old and stale lately...and SC4 is the last simulation of its kind that I've seen in the past 5 or so years...(Civ IV isn't really my cup of tea)

[antipat 0]

I think that maxis should make online play possible. Having you and your friends designing the same city at the same time would be awsome. Also, make an international map, were people from all over get a part of a region and build it, and it will connect to the other regions by other people online.

[antipat 0]

I think that maxis should make online play possible. Having you and your friends designing the same city at the same time would be awsome. Also, make an international map, were people from all over get a part of a region and build it, and it will connect to the other regions by other people online.