Just Played Beta

[HighDensity 8]

I despise the new zoning system and its dependence on roads, you won't be building a car free city anytime soon. The lack of subways is very dissapointing too. I liked being able to choose my zoning type in SC4 because it gave you much more control. I really would have liked to see an option for mixed zoning with residential and commercial(a modern real life trend) to create walkable towns. They should rename the game Suburban Sprawl 5 because that is mostly what you're going to create.

The maps are much too small but that should be an easy addition for them.

There is a lot of potential here but in many ways it is a step back. EA has continued their trend of dumbing down games in order to reach the lowest common denominator.

[Cob92 360]

Mixed use zoning would have been really nice to have. What I try to do to make my city less car-dependent is I zone R and C on alternating blocks, or sometimes even on the same block. Industry has to be some distance away because of the pollution factor but otherwise it's possible to build something fairly compact. It bugs me, though, that the only medium density structures in the game are massive Sunbelt-style apartment complexes. Where are my rowhomes??

[Evillions 552]

After playing my first hour of the beta, I have to say its pretty fun! I was skeptical of this game at first, but it rather engaging after the first twenty minutes. Here is my rundown of the game:

The Good:

1. I actually wanted to play more. In other words, its pretty addicting.

2. The attention to detail at street view

3. Glassbox Engine

4. Modular civic buildings

5. Freeform roads

6. The density of the buildings correlates to the traffic of the roads and the surrounding environment

7. The game somehow brings out that vanilla SC4 feeling

The Bad:

1. Restrictive city size

2. Relatively easy to make money

3. Needs more transportation options. Even though some of the features were locked during the beta, I saw nothing for harbors. It would be nice if we can build seaports.

4. I'm getting more of a small city feeling rather than a bustling metropolis.

5. Parks have to connected to roads in order to function.

6. No option to make buildings historical

What can be done:

1. Make the city sizes irregular and larger, players can enlarge their cities through the parcel system.

2. Making money should be more challenging

3. Not everything should be connected to a road

4. Mixed zoning in higher density buildings

In conclusion, I would give this game a 7.5/10 as of now. Assuming that those negative qualities are improved on after release, I will then give this game around a 9.5/10.

[anandus 15]

3. Needs more transportation options. Even though some of the features were locked during the beta, I saw nothing for harbors. It would be nice if we can build seaports.

There's a seaport under city specialization->trading, but it's disabled in the beta.

2. Making money should be more challenging

I did notice that it became a lot harder when the city is bigger, when I was hitting 50k pop I had quite a harder time getting my funds right.

[Master Hofkens 1]

I like the small City size because I see it as part of the gameplay. You want a city with a lot of population? Fine but you will need all the space for residential and the people will need to work in a different city. That's just gameplay. I'm not looking to create a copy of a real city, if I want that I will look at Google Earth. I want to have fune and built something that is working. Or that looks nice.

The beta is giving me that. You have a lot of information, a lot of 'demands' you need to look after and ou always need to think about space. I like that, and the different modules are great. Never liked the idea of having more than three schools or three police buildngs in SC4, in this game you have one big school. I really like that, I think that's realisme.

I really liked it. Ad I think a bigger tile would be nice but more something like 4x4 max. And I would love to see regionplay

[Spatzimaus 77]

It bugs me, though, that the only medium density structures in the game are massive Sunbelt-style apartment complexes. Where are my rowhomes??

They're in there. In my first game I had nothing but rowhouses spawn once the upgrades started, but in my second more than half of the apartments were those big type you saw. From my limited experience, it seemed to be a function of wealth; rowhouses are mostly low-wealth high-density buildings, whereas in my second game I'd built enough parks and such that by the time my buildings started upgrading to high-density designs, everything was medium-wealth or higher. My guess, then, is that if you'd given it a little more time (to where even your low-wealth areas want to upgrade to higher densities) you'd have seen a lot more of them.

[anandus 15]

I noticed that the buildings you get are dependent on the type of city.

When I was building casinos I noticed a lot of hotels, for instance.

[Spatzimaus 77]

I did notice that it became a lot harder when the city is bigger, when I was hitting 50k pop I had quite a harder time getting my funds right.

Exactly. Most of us didn't really progress very far (I only had ~5k people), and most of the buildings were disabled for beta, so it's understandable we were running big profits. Consider education; all we had in this test was the basic grade school, and for small towns that's fine, but in the long term you'll need to have grade schools, high schools, colleges, libraries, museums... all of which will have maintenance costs. Your profit margins will disappear fast once you have to cover all of the bases for a large city, because if you don't, upgrade education, you'll never get the high tech industries (which give you more money from taxes AND pollute less). Or consider health care; even though the clinic has the full medical functionality, it just doesn't have much capacity (even with all the upgrades). For a few thousand people in low-density buildings it's fine, but what happens once most of your city is medium- or high-density? More people, which means you'd need more hospitals to cover the same area. The same goes for police; you won't be able to get away with a single small station for very long.

And then there's a fewtough choices that we just didn't have to make at all. When your town is small you could get away with having a polluting power plant, dumping sewage out of a pipe, and dumping your trash in a landfill. But when the city grows, what happens? Wind farms just take up too much land for he power they produce, trash burners pollute a ton, and recycling centers are expensive. So, do you let your town pollute a lot, do you pay a lot of money to go clean, or do you let one of the other towns in the region handle the messy bits? Any way you cut it, you're losing money.

[Master Hofkens 1]

I did notice that it became a lot harder when the city is bigger, when I was hitting 50k pop I had quite a harder time getting my funds right.

Exactly. Most of us didn't really progress very far (I only had ~5k people), and most of the buildings were disabled for beta, so it's understandable we were running big profits. Consider education; all we had in this test was the basic grade school, and for small towns that's fine, but in the long term you'll need to have grade schools, high schools, colleges, libraries, museums... all of which will have maintenance costs. Your profit margins will disappear fast once you have to cover all of the bases for a large city, because if you don't, upgrade education, you'll never get the high tech industries (which give you more money from taxes AND pollute less). Or consider health care; even though the clinic has the full medical functionality, it just doesn't have much capacity (even with all the upgrades). For a few thousand people in low-density buildings it's fine, but what happens once most of your city is medium- or high-density? More people, which means you'd need more hospitals to cover the same area. The same goes for police; you won't be able to get away with a single small station for very long.

And then there's a fewtough choices that we just didn't have to make at all. When your town is small you could get away with having a polluting power plant, dumping sewage out of a pipe, and dumping your trash in a landfill. But when the city grows, what happens? Wind farms just take up too much land for he power they produce, trash burners pollute a ton, and recycling centers are expensive. So, do you let your town pollute a lot, do you pay a lot of money to go clean, or do you let one of the other towns in the region handle the messy bits? Any way you cut it, you're losing money.

Indeed, the gameplay looks very promising and this is why we have small tilles because you need to make choices. I'm looking foreward for it

[desworks 0]

Just played beta again for the second time and indeed the city size is a bit disappointing, you can easily fill it within an hour and run into space issues, even when you can outsource a lot of stuff to other cities in the region I can imagine on a map like this even a dedicated casino city will run out of space easily.

Another downside in the beta was that many buildings and options were not available and industry per example complaints quite quickly about not enough opportunities to sell goods.

On the other hand I'm very happy that SimCity depsite all the extra rendering of unique sims etc the game runs without problems on my old Windows XP machine, only GFX don't look that great but for me gameplay has always been more important than looks, so its more important it runs smooth than anything else.

The building expansion options are a great way to specialize and enlengthen gameplay on a micro level. As a transport fan I miss some options regarding road improvements (there is no traffic map as far as I could tell) and no option to make streets one way traffic or setup special bus routes. For all transport / road fans out there these options would add a whole new dimension to the gameplay which with the glassbox engine should be easily and realistically possible (missed chance maxis!).

Making money is fairly easy, making Sims happy and getting higher density buildings is a bit vague but I'm sure when the came comes out we will soon get the hang of it.

[bunky 6]

I love it.

Is that bad?

After playing twice now, I can say that I am really excited for the full game. Like others, I am still lightly concerned over the online/server issues but I agree with a lot of what what said already (remember diablo 3).

I have absolutely zero intention on playing in a multiplayer region.

I like the new way of delivering services, it is slightly more realistic in my opinion. It would have been nice to have some more transportation options though. I do think that getting to high density will create a bit of challenge with the budget while trying to balance all the services/taxes.

The way glassbox displays data is really neat and an improvement over earlier sim cities. I also think this game doesn't have the same goal as what sim city 4 has evolved into. Over time there will no doubt be expansions/dlc with piles of new buildings and I really hope its opened up to modding as well.

In terms of performance:

I maxed out the settings with AA on and it ran smooth as butter and looked great. The texture settings were on medium when I started and it looked a bit funny until I maxed it. My cpu wasn't even breaking a sweat.

I'm pretty sure that even with higher density it could handle a much larger map.

F.y.i specs are Windows 8, ivy bridge i5, 8gb 1600mhz DDR3, and sapphire 7870 OC running at 2048x1152.

[Twyla 40]

BACKGROUND:

For the majority of us who were born in the 20th century, Sim City (in one form or another) was our 'gateway drug' to the world of PC gaming. Countless notable architects, engineers, and city planners cite Sim City as being what sparked thier interests in their chosen professions. Not to mention the fact that the franchise has won nearly half of all educational awards ever given to computer games. Whereas most computer labs would actively remove any games, many labs would actually install Sim City.

That's one hell of a legagy for any game franchise, and even moreso for one that started in one man's living room.

It rather goes without saying that this legacy is the driving force in the decision to ressurect the Sim City name - but this is a double-edged sword. You're counting on the name alone being a major factor in people buying it, but it also carries the obligation to live up to the franchise's legacy.

With console ports and Societies constituting strikes one and two, this incarnation will invariably be the make-or-break for the franchise as a whole. Despite leaving out the number and calling the game a reboot, few will be able to view this game as anything other than Sim City 5 - and it will inevitably be judged by that identity.

SCOPE:

City Size:

While a fair number of buildings in previous games had unrealsitic footprints (skyscrapers comparable to the Sears Tower residing in the same space as a handful of bus stops), it was an inherent necessity owing to the grid-based system utilized by those games. Breaking free of the grid has allowed the designers to keep the various buildings far more to relative scale.

In doing so, however, city layouts are far more subject to sprawl. Despite using overall dimensions comparable to a Medium Tile (in prior games), they feel marginally smaller than a Small Tile. Whereas one could normally squeeze in somewhere around 2500 lots/buildings, the new system only permits around 250 in the same dimensional space.

Although this game utilizes the same dimensions as a Medium Tile, the net result is a tremendous reduction to how much can be implemented within this space.

Regional Play:

There are two primary schools of thought in this matter, depending on whether the person is a fan of the most recent incarnation - Sim City 4 - or an earlier one.

Fans of Sim City 2000 and Sim City 3000 are accustomed to playing single cities so, in their case, the regional interconnectivity of the Beta is a step up. Such connectivity was purely theoretical in these two games, and it remains largely the same in this one.

For Sim City 4 fans, the regional system of the Beta is a HUGE step backwards - and one of the major factors for the many negative comments concerning it. You've shown us a huge, glorious canvas - yet restrict us to dabbling on just one tiny portion thereof.

While those unfamiliar (or relatively so) with previous Sim City titles won't have many preconceptions concerning regional connectivity, most are still liable to have this uncanny feeling that "something is missing".

Summary:

The scales used in previous Sim City games allowed a player to build a complete and fully-functional city within the limits of a Small Tile. Those desiring larger cities could easily do so using Medium and Large city tiles - or, in the case of Sim City 4, by expanding into additional tiles. This provided players two differing options - each with their own characteristics - in determining how large or small a city they wanted to build.

Removing not just one but both of these options has resulted in a tremendous reduction of scope for the player. Even when someone is unable to explain exactly why, this is the main issue which leads to so many refering to this game as SimTown, SimSuburb, or something similar.

DEPTH and CONTROL:

City Management:

In all previous incarnations of Sim City (again, knock-offs like Societies don't count) the player took a proactive approach towards city management - the player decided when and where certain events happened and the city either developed or didn't in response.

This game, however, has taken the diametrically opposite approach and made the game entirely reactionary. Despite giving the illusion of player control, the overwhelming majority (seemingly all) of it is restricted to a never-ending sequence of responding in one manner or another to their 'trusted advisor' calling the shots.

Although previous titles required certain milestones to unlock particular buildings, it feels that this particular aspect comes far too early in this game. We certainly never before had to unlock the ability to tailor tax rates or other fundamental and long-standing capabilities of basic city management.

Perhaps this eventually shifts towards true player control later in the game - somewhere shortly beyond the one-hour limitation to gameplay. Perhaps this is something done strictly for the Beta in order to push players into experiencing as much as possible within that time limit. Perhaps something else lies in store - something which hasn't occured to me as I write this.

As it presently stands, however, the game completely lacks the immersion of legacy Sim City titles. Even the original Sim City (as well as, heaven forbid, Societies) offered more control over city management than this game. Newcomers and veterans alike are in agreement that what little challenge remains feels tawdry and superficial.

Zoning:

I am very much of mixed opinions concerning the Zoning system as it is presently implemented, as it seems to offer both too much freedom yet not enough. Despite 'breaking the grid', zoning simply resulted in x number of fixed-width lots with no control whatsoever over their dimensioning. Perhaps some use of Shift, Alt, and/or Ctrl would adjust the lot sizing, or even just some means by which the game just evenly divides the dragged area into lots of an appropriate size-range.

Furthermore, there is an entire lack of any means by which the game indicates just how deep the lots are meant to be. This makes it extremely difficult to determine how far one needs to offset subsequent roadways to allow room for development without leaving wasted space (owing to the lack of space due to the overall scale being used). I very much missed the 'field painting' system used by the previous titles, and feel that an adaptation of this would be a viable solution.

Ordinances and Finances:

As I mentioned earlier, not being able to manage Taxation right out the gate is a massive thorn to me - and I suspect the majority of veteran players feel likewise. Sure, you can futz about with a 'general' tax rate, but this limitation completely breaks one's immersion into the game.

Worse yet is that there appear to be no Ordinances available in the game. Perhaps I just haven't 'reached that stage yet', or perhaps it simply wasn't included in the Beta. Either way, the absence of Ordinances is painfully apparent and greatly disheartening for a long-time player such as myself.

Utility Connections:

Incorporating power, water, and sewage into the roadways themselves is a bold move. However, this is one departure I can actually agree with.

Not only are most utilities generally integrated into the roadways in real life, but this is also an acceptable compromise as part of the obvious intention to make the Sim City franchise more approachable to newcomers.

Transportation Networks:

Oddly, I found myself almost wishing for LESS versatility in placing roadways. At the very least, I expected to be able to hold down the Shift, Alt, and/or Ctrl key as a means to 'snap' the roadway to be placed either perpendicular to an intersecting roadway or to a relatively fixed angle. While the latter would ideally snap in 15-degree increments, even 45-degree increments (targeting the eight cardinal directions) would have been a blessing.

This was further complicated when attempting to add a roadway alongside existing development. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to situate a road so that it would be immediately adjacent to an existing residential lot - neither destroying the development nor leaving a gap of wasted space inbetween.

When encountering other roadways, the opposite seemed to be true. Despite efforts to form a grid-like block (again, owing to the lack of space due to the overall scale being used), the roadway refused to allow straight placement - stubbornly insisting that it snap to the end of the existing roadway (which I intended to extend just enough to end in a T-intersection). While I managed to finally manage the desired configuration by over-extending the stub enough to place the intersection then demolish the excess afterwards, such would have been disastrous had there been existing development in the way.

Being a Beta, I can overlook the absence of trams, subways, and other rail-based network systems - though I cannot overlook the fact that many fundamental transportation components require unlocking. I can only hope this aspect improves greatly by the time the game is actually released.

Regional Connectivity:

This is another major point of contention with arguments going in both directions. Some of it can be forgiven based upon the always-online multiplayer element, but other aspects can neither be forgiven nor ignored.

First and foremost is how this has been entirely isolated from the city (a term I use loosely) rather than being any element of the city itself. Where most cities develop on both sides of a highway, incorporating it into the overall transportation network, development is pushed all to one side and the only connection offered is an enigmatic single-point junction.

Similarly, one can only hope that the actual release will incorporate some means of branching off rail spurs and loops for passenger and freight purposes.

Terraforming:

Regardless of when someone first started playing Sim City, they invariably wound up settling on one of the numbered titles - Sim City 2000, Sim City 3000, or Sim City 4. As soon as the game broke away from the top-down 2D perspective, players have been able to contour the city tile to their individual liking.

Even with the always-online forced-multiplayer aspect, the more theoretical nature of regional connectivity being used isn't sufficient reasoning for eliminating terraforming from the game entirely.

Micro-Management:

For the majority of Sim City veterans, the degree of micro-management available has long been a huge draw. Sure some people left a fair number of the settings at their defaults, but doing so seldom produced any truly detrimental effects.

The query information of developed areas is but one aspect among many where this game feels exceptionally 'dumbed down' compared to its predecessors. Many of us loved the ability to flag a development as historical, and many of us just liked to see the actual numbers of how many miserable wretches we could cram into a high-rise tenement.

In addition to Taxation control having to be unlocked, control over funding levels for various Civics is entirely absent. While there's at least an On/Off option in most cases, this falls pathetically short of offering any real form of budgeting authority within the game.

Granted, there is some minor semblance of this created through the use of modular upgrades available for most civic buildings. Though somewhat unexpected by Sim City fans, most have embraced this modularity as part of the future benchmark for all city-builders. But, as positive as this is, it remains an inaedquate substitution for actual financial control.

Game Saves:

The absence of the ability to save and load the game completely removes one of the 'undocumented' great joys of Sim City - the ability to unleash all manner of catastrophe on your poor Sims, then go back to business as usual.

It also fails to offer players the opportunity to experiment without putting everything they've worked for in jepoardy. Sim City has been commended numerous times for its educational value and praised for how far players can go in their experimentation. The lack of game saves eliminates all the safety (and most of the incentive) to experiment with new ideas.

Summary:

The decades-long legacy of Sim City was founded on the principle of "Your City, Your Way" - a slogan which EA and Maxis have used to considerable success in marketing the franchise.

By contrast, this game has severely limited how much control the player has over most every aspect of the game. This was much the same issue as with Societies and other knock-offs, and a significant contribution towards their failure.

AESTHETICS:

Interface:

Every incarnation of Sim City has had its own distinct interface, all of them well developed and thoroughly consistent with their respective games. In this regard, the new game lives up to the precedents of its ancestry.

Owing to the extreme variations in screen resolutions being used, however, many are finding the menus and other items either overlapping (when using lower resolutions) or too small to readily identify (when using higher resolutions).

This should be simple enough to address by adding a scaling factor based upon the game's screen resolution.

Headlines / News Tickers:

One of Sim City's most endearing features has been the use of ficticious (and often hilarious) 'up-to-the-minute news commentary' to keep players apprised of how their city is faring - simultaneously entertaining and informative.

This feature is conspicuously absent from the Beta, though I have high hopes for its inclusion in the eventual release.

Design:

Another point of contention, the visual design of the buildings used within the game seem to be divided by the general performance of their computers. Those with computers on the lower end of the spectrum find the designs fairly (or highly) attractive, while those with computers on the higher end of the spectum find them woefully simplistic and cartoony.

There's simply no pleasing everyone, granted, but it is extremely disappointing that the visual appearance of the game assets doesn't even meet the quality of those in Sim City 3000 - some would even argue that the buildings in Sim City 2000 look better.

Considering how far computer technology has advanced in the ten years since Sim City 4 (let alone fifteen years since Sim City 3000 and twenty since Sim City 2000), the developers really should have paid more heed to those criticising the design since the first images were available.

Tilt-Shift:

As much as people have been clammoring for Sim City to finally make the transition from isometric 2.5D to perspective 3D, such a change also bears the potential to alienate the feel of the game. Due to this, the decision to use Tilt-Shift is very much a good one.

Furthermore, the developers also included the ability for the individual player to adjust the influence strength of Tilt-Shift to their own liking. Those who dislike it can turn it down (though not disable it entirely) while those who do like it can crank it to the max.

Not only a well-considered concept but a masterful implementation thereof.

Music:

As delightful as the musical element has been throughout most of Sim City's history, it does tend to grate after weeks, months, or years of gameplay. Fortunately, Sim City 4 added the capacity for users to add their own tracks to the game.

It is difficult to truly assess the new game's musical element due to the time limitation, but everything points towards offering all the positives of its predecessors - and then some!

Simlish:

No. For the love of whatever deity you profess to worship, no! There should be no need to elaborate.

Summary:

The Sims is The Sims and Sim City is Sim City. As much as I understand EA's desire to use the popularity of one to reinforce the other, the two are immensely different concepts and should remain as such. A large portion of Sim City fans detested The Sims' encroachment into Sim City 4, though most grudgingly tolerated it as its presence could generally be ignored.

With this game, however, EA and Maxis have simply pushed the envelope too far. The overall aesthetic is less "adding The Sims to Sim City" and more "adding city-building elements to The Sims".

TECHNICAL:

Graphics:

From a technical standpoint, the graphics are astounding. Although some have voiced concerns about vertical sync and screen tearing, these matters will almost certainly be addressed before the formal release.

One issue in doubt concerns the mandantory dedicated fullscreen presentation. Despite this being my preferred method, there really should be options available to support windowed mode - particularly as many people use multiple monitors.

Always-Online:

Quit trying to diguise the matter - this is purely an excuse to force an invasive DRM with poor security on everyone. This requirement puts considerable limitations on when, where, and how much an individual has even the option of playing the game. This, in turn, places a tremendous stranglehold on how many will be willing to purchase the game at all.

We are also well aware of the fact that Origin will drop the game from its servers before long. While this is supposedly due to anticipated fall-off in demand, the true reasons are obvious - either to force people to buy new games by preventing them from playing older ones, or to force people to buy 'upgrades' in order to enable offline play which should have been part of the game to begin with.

Multiplayer:

Sim City has never been a multiplayer game. It has been tried before and failed so spectacularly that few people even know about it. Some people truly are interested in playing with friends, granted, but they are too small a minority among Sim City fans to be considered a 'driving factor'.

The overwhelming majority of complaints that have been voiced about the game have concerned popular and classic game elements which have been sacrificed upon the altar of the Grand Social Experiment.

Customization:

Yet another limitation imposed by the online-only model is completely elimination the possibility for user-created content. Were it not for this capability, the Sim City franchise may well have died altogether when EA abandoned it a decade ago.

Of course, this won't prevent EA from pushing game-imbalancing DLC - additional content with considerable advantages over standard assets. Coupled with the forced competitive multiplayer (no point in pretending that the multiplayer aspect is meant for anything but competitive), the game will essentially be turned into a pay-to-win scheme.

OVERALL SUMMARY:

This is a FaceBook game, not a PC game and certainly not Sim City. If anything, it is a city-building expansion to The Sims. The simplistic building designs and invasion of 'Simlish' is both consistent with The Sims and completely foreign to Sim City. The visual design and system of operation is fully consistent with any game meant to be played via a web browser or mobile device, rather than a PC (or even a console).

I won't deny that this game could prove to be very popular. It will certainly find an audience among fans of Sim City FaceBook and The Sims, but few Sim City fans will find this game to be much worthwhile - particularly not at the exorbitant price point. They, as well as I, will simply have to bide our time until someone finally decides to make a worthy successor to the King of City-Builders crown.

That, or make it ourselves.

[brynhyfryd 222]

Having watched some vids on YouTube I am on the fence with the game but am happy to share some of my thoughts.

Biggest concern aside from origin and its DRM is the map size as in one video that I watched the player filled the map up completely within 30 mins. The game does not stand up to SC4 but it does look fun to play for a while but I wonder if I would soon become bored due the lack of game-play compared to SC4. Biggest question is would it be worth the huge price tag for the limited features and online restrictions.

Graphics don't look too bad but could be improved upon.

Animations were excellent and the city/town did come alive.

Did not like the zoning aspect of the game as its too difficult to zone without wasting space, Also service buildings such as schools don't allow space for expansion. This could be easily fixed though.

I was impressed with the data layers and the building modules.

I would like to try it out but I did not register for the BETA due to origin requirement however I would give it a try on a spare laptop if anyone got a spare key and if the BETA is still running.

Based on what I have seen so far I would rate this a 7 out of 10.

[ETK 14]

As you can see, Des had already a million in the bank with just one hour of gameplay. If the game is this easy to make money with, you only end up playing either to:

- play around making aesthetically pleasing cities, or

- trying to optimize your city, tweaking here and there but never really having to worry about anything as you're making gazillions of money anyway

I really do wish there would be more challenge than just optimizing for the sake of it. I want to feel like I'm playing a game, and winning, instead of being really good in it with no effort.

Other than that, I'm starting to like the new simulation system.

[BulMaster 3]

I will just throw a few cents in the conversation, might as well. Although Twyla has it pretty well covered. For me, same as others, the game was lacking in depth and complexity. Sure, the modules on buildings was a nice touch and the multi-player option has potential, but for me, as far as the positive goes, it kinda ends here.

Pipes and powerlines integrated automatically into roads, no roads maintenance, no ordinances, no budgetary controls, messed up zoning, it all just makes the game too simplistic. There is no challenge, no depth, no need to think where to place that police station or school. It all gets covered anyway, because the cities are small. The beta city is a medium size city. Can't wait to see the small version. One of the great things of SC4 budget wise,for example, was the complexity in balancing the budget. Maybe because I always play on normal speed, my cities revolved around getting slightly in the green and getting a loan to fund any major city project. It was more realistic.

And yes, we might be spoiled because of the sheer amount of mods available for SC4, but SC5 is not even modable and EA is not known for its mods friendly policy with regards to its game. Overall I am sincerely disappointed from the lacklustre performance of the game so far. The beta is 1h of gameplay and it seems that's how much you will need in the full game as well. It looked great on paper but terrible in its implementation. It seems the audience that made the previous incarnations of the game a success was not the target demographic with the latest iteration.

[tomfoolery_79 85]

I just finished beta:

1) I was glad I pre-ordered because it was fun/addictive.

2) City size is smaller than I even imagined. It's closer to a mix between small & mid in SC4. Can't imagine seeing a need for Hwys. I filled 1/4 of the map in on hour without even trying. Seriously it is SMALL.

3) Seemed SUPER easy, like you had to try and screw up. By the end of the hour I had $200,000 in unspent money.

4) User Interface was fantastic, good graphical information pertaining to data.

5) I never thought the graphics looked cartoony UNTIL I was actually in game. They are too cartoony, but not enough to turn me off.

6) Bus stops for the school!! Great idea...increases the reach of your schools.

7) Building design looks great. Great looking parks, plaza, civic building, etc. Just wish graphics were

a bit more mature (just mature not necessarily real or photorealism).

In closing, one hour isn't nearly enough time to dig into the game. I purposefully avoided items I know I would take much much more time on, like parks, civic buiding placement, etc. In fact, since I felt rushed I really haphazardly put stuff down (part of the reason I'm surprised I did so well). City size is shockingly small. Because it's so small region play isn't an optional thing, it's a mandatory feature that you will need in order to fill unrestricted.

[coolwiththecool2 827]

Just played beta again for the second time and indeed the city size is a bit disappointing, you can easily fill it within an hour and run into space issues, even when you can outsource a lot of stuff to other cities in the region I can imagine on a map like this even a dedicated casino city will run out of space easily.

Another downside in the beta was that many buildings and options were not available and industry per example complaints quite quickly about not enough opportunities to sell goods.

On the other hand I'm very happy that SimCity depsite all the extra rendering of unique sims etc the game runs without problems on my old Windows XP machine, only GFX don't look that great but for me gameplay has always been more important than looks, so its more important it runs smooth than anything else.

The building expansion options are a great way to specialize and enlengthen gameplay on a micro level. As a transport fan I miss some options regarding road improvements (there is no traffic map as far as I could tell) and no option to make streets one way traffic or setup special bus routes. For all transport / road fans out there these options would add a whole new dimension to the gameplay which with the glassbox engine should be easily and realistically possible (missed chance maxis!).

Making money is fairly easy, making Sims happy and getting higher density buildings is a bit vague but I'm sure when the came comes out we will soon get the hang of it.

How did you get to 16k and hour, my last city was around 22,000 pop but the profit was only around 8k per hour

[The Pennsylvania Turnpike 252]

The beta i liked alot, But there were some bugs. For Example, My citizens were protesting about germs when their was a fully upgraded clinic nearby.

But i looked past that and it was Fun. I'm gona pre-order soon and start recording to twitch.

[Yours Truly 0]

I havent played the beta, but I have been following the discussion so far.

I also miss the larger city tiles, but there is an interesting and cool option which I hope gets implemented. They should make it possible for cities to annex land next to the starter tile. For example, when you have completed certain objectives you get the possibility to purchase land for € xx per acre. Where and how much should be your own choice (though some limits might be required). With that option it will not only be possible to enlarge your city, but it will also promote interplay between different players in one region. Every player can expand until there is one huge metropolis, or they can organize it in a way so there will remain open land. This will make it resemble urban planning a lot more imo.

I was planning on buying a new pc for this game, but I guess I will wait and see how the game will evolve.

[dysonraf 37]

The filters make the graphics look a lot more gritty/realistic (I prefer 'warmer'). The graphics without filter look too cartoony for me.

[morningstar 5]

I like this post, so I am going to answer over it....

After playing my first hour of the beta, I have to say its pretty fun! I was skeptical of this game at first, but it rather engaging after the first twenty minutes. Here is my rundown of the game:

The Good:

1. I actually wanted to play more. In other words, its pretty addicting. ----Yes, I to wanted to play more, in hopes of discovery of more deep content.. after Beta I have hope..

2. The attention to detail at street view ----Street view was a nice view, except the blurring of buildings I was attempting to view.

3. Glassbox Engine -----I like the options this engine offers

4. Modular civic buildings ----Probably the best thing this game has going for it as far as i view it, for now.

5. Freeform roads ----I do enjoy the road building, able to upgrade roads ect. Not all is bad in this "Sims" City .

6. The density of the buildings correlates to the traffic of the roads and the surrounding environment ----Makes sense to some point. You need a higher capacity road to handle a higher capacity of sims... One change i can learn to live with.

7. The game somehow brings out that vanilla SC4 feeling -----For myslef, not rue. This brings out a feeling of the sims

The Bad:

1. Restrictive city size ---For sure, but final release will show actual city size...

2. Relatively easy to make money ----based on my Simcity experience, I had no problem with positive cash flow. I can see the 7-10 year old may still have to discover the path to great wealth.

3. Needs more transportation options. Even though some of the features were locked during the beta, I saw nothing for harbors. It would be nice if we can build seaports. ----there was discussion on some pre-release video stating you may want to build factories on land with ocean front, so I am assuming you will have the option of sea port.... but what is wrong with shipping by rail?

4. I'm getting more of a small city feeling rather than a bustling metropolis. ----same, what a shame.

5. Parks have to connected to roads in order to function. -----Yeah, what a shame. I had hoped the would had released some of the requirements to be right on a road. Sima have legs you know. they will walk...

6. No option to make buildings historical ----Post Beta, we'll see... something I used all the time.

What can be done:

1. Make the city sizes irregular and larger, players can enlarge their cities through the parcel system. ----After 10 years and the city's are still square??? I agree, and I had expectations of different city boundaries then square..

2. Making money should be more challenging ----An easy, moderate, or hard mode... why can we not choose our challenge? maybe post Beta

3. Not everything should be connected to a road --- stated prior with parks.... as long as the plot has access to parking, or mass transit and is within average walking distance, the plot should operate.

4. Mixed zoning in higher density buildings -----Yes the control taken away to have lower density controlled by the city designer is the wrong move to make. Something I did in many city's as although I have a higher capacity road does not give the building builder the ok to zone a higher capacity building. I did this all the time with commercial.

In conclusion, I would give this game a 7.5/10 as of now. Assuming that those negative qualities are improved on after release, I will then give this game around a 9.5/10. -----on my reply to the Beta, I placed an 8. Not sure if I am still at 8, but more like a 6 or 7.

[The_City_Builder 299]

Just played beta again for the second time and indeed the city size is a bit disappointing, you can easily fill it within an hour and run into space issues, even when you can outsource a lot of stuff to other cities in the region I can imagine on a map like this even a dedicated casino city will run out of space easily.

Another downside in the beta was that many buildings and options were not available and industry per example complaints quite quickly about not enough opportunities to sell goods.

On the other hand I'm very happy that SimCity depsite all the extra rendering of unique sims etc the game runs without problems on my old Windows XP machine, only GFX don't look that great but for me gameplay has always been more important than looks, so its more important it runs smooth than anything else.

The building expansion options are a great way to specialize and enlengthen gameplay on a micro level. As a transport fan I miss some options regarding road improvements (there is no traffic map as far as I could tell) and no option to make streets one way traffic or setup special bus routes. For all transport / road fans out there these options would add a whole new dimension to the gameplay which with the glassbox engine should be easily and realistically possible (missed chance maxis!).

Making money is fairly easy, making Sims happy and getting higher density buildings is a bit vague but I'm sure when the came comes out we will soon get the hang of it.

How did you get to 16k and hour, my last city was around 22,000 pop but the profit was only around 8k per hour

I've gotten 55,000 people in 40 minutes, and still retained a profit.

I have a picture, but I won't show it until I'm allowed too.

[GordonD1960 0]

Just played on a 2 year old "power" laptop. I got a warning my driver was old (but it was the latest). The game played fine and looked good, but all the animation setting were on low. I had fun, but it just made more questions. I pre-ordered so If the game is half as fun as I think, I will love this.

GordonD

[robowing 1]

Perhaps I have missed something completely, but surely all parks are connected to roads in someway. Sure some may be in the middle of know where and have no resemblance of a road near it but the entrance or perimeter will do. And this can be achieved with the new Sim City. Perhaps I have been lucky to see this but you can upgrade parks with additional park plopables. I connected loads of them together so only the entrance park was connected to the road

[Techleo 18]

Something to remember is, this demo has no resource restraints. There is no inflation, no trade, no transport cost to ship stuff around, no great projects to absorb massive amounts of money and no depletion. Generally speaking, the demo isn't really anything more then a basic mechanism test.

From what I can gather there is also a large number of misconceptions with how roads are laid, zones are plopped and generally a lack of understanding with how the game works. For example I have covered only 1/3rd my map and I have nearly 30,000 citizens. With vast sprawling subburbs and a urban core near the shoreline.

*shrugs* Honestly thats why I haven't wrote a review yet because as much as I like about the game and dislike, I dont understand enough about the full game to give a opinion.

[CoolColJ 42]

I went back to Simcity 4 for a quick look, and actually prefer Simcity 2013 now

The data layers are so nice.

But the small plots are bad, and the washed out Simcity 3000 look is terrible.

Could do with some HDR punch IMO

And the too smooth look of the buildings, and lack of closer road level zoom

Tropico 4 looks so much better...

Don't like the zoning - what was wrong with SC4's system?

All hit and miss trying to get the right size...

[coolwiththecool2 827]

Just played beta again for the second time and indeed the city size is a bit disappointing, you can easily fill it within an hour and run into space issues, even when you can outsource a lot of stuff to other cities in the region I can imagine on a map like this even a dedicated casino city will run out of space easily.

Another downside in the beta was that many buildings and options were not available and industry per example complaints quite quickly about not enough opportunities to sell goods.

On the other hand I'm very happy that SimCity depsite all the extra rendering of unique sims etc the game runs without problems on my old Windows XP machine, only GFX don't look that great but for me gameplay has always been more important than looks, so its more important it runs smooth than anything else.

The building expansion options are a great way to specialize and enlengthen gameplay on a micro level. As a transport fan I miss some options regarding road improvements (there is no traffic map as far as I could tell) and no option to make streets one way traffic or setup special bus routes. For all transport / road fans out there these options would add a whole new dimension to the gameplay which with the glassbox engine should be easily and realistically possible (missed chance maxis!).

Making money is fairly easy, making Sims happy and getting higher density buildings is a bit vague but I'm sure when the came comes out we will soon get the hang of it.

How did you get to 16k and hour, my last city was around 22,000 pop but the profit was only around 8k per hour

I've gotten 55,000 people in 40 minutes, and still retained a profit.

I have a picture, but I won't show it until I'm allowed too.

Are the people who played the beta allowed to share pics with each other, because I have a very wierd bug with the terrain on the clearwater map

[CaptCity 4,752]

Are the people who played the beta allowed to share pics with each other, because I have a very wierd bug with the terrain on the clearwater map.

While discussing beta experiences in the forums is acceptable, posting images and videos by the members trying the beta is not permitted here. Perhaps if you were to describe the issue you're experiencing, someone may offer a suggestion.

[desworks 0]

I didn't know you weren't allowed to share pics, if I was Maxis I would be happy if people shared pics because its free marketing for their game

Plus what are they going to do? Ban me? Than I don't spend 80$ on the game and not recommend it to my friends... its their loss not mine.

[macvirt 361]

BACKGROUND:

For the majority of us who were born in the 20th century, Sim City (in one form or another) was our 'gateway drug' to the world of PC gaming. Countless notable architects, engineers, and city planners cite Sim City as being what sparked thier interests in their chosen professions. Not to mention the fact that the franchise has won nearly half of all educational awards ever given to computer games. Whereas most computer labs would actively remove any games, many labs would actually install Sim City.

That's one hell of a legagy for any game franchise, and even moreso for one that started in one man's living room.

It rather goes without saying that this legacy is the driving force in the decision to ressurect the Sim City name - but this is a double-edged sword. You're counting on the name alone being a major factor in people buying it, but it also carries the obligation to live up to the franchise's legacy.

With console ports and Societies constituting strikes one and two, this incarnation will invariably be the make-or-break for the franchise as a whole. Despite leaving out the number and calling the game a reboot, few will be able to view this game as anything other than Sim City 5 - and it will inevitably be judged by that identity.

SCOPE:

City Size:

While a fair number of buildings in previous games had unrealsitic footprints (skyscrapers comparable to the Sears Tower residing in the same space as a handful of bus stops), it was an inherent necessity owing to the grid-based system utilized by those games. Breaking free of the grid has allowed the designers to keep the various buildings far more to relative scale.

In doing so, however, city layouts are far more subject to sprawl. Despite using overall dimensions comparable to a Medium Tile (in prior games), they feel marginally smaller than a Small Tile. Whereas one could normally squeeze in somewhere around 2500 lots/buildings, the new system only permits around 250 in the same dimensional space.

Although this game utilizes the same dimensions as a Medium Tile, the net result is a tremendous reduction to how much can be implemented within this space.

Regional Play:

There are two primary schools of thought in this matter, depending on whether the person is a fan of the most recent incarnation - Sim City 4 - or an earlier one.

Fans of Sim City 2000 and Sim City 3000 are accustomed to playing single cities so, in their case, the regional interconnectivity of the Beta is a step up. Such connectivity was purely theoretical in these two games, and it remains largely the same in this one.

For Sim City 4 fans, the regional system of the Beta is a HUGE step backwards - and one of the major factors for the many negative comments concerning it. You've shown us a huge, glorious canvas - yet restrict us to dabbling on just one tiny portion thereof.

While those unfamiliar (or relatively so) with previous Sim City titles won't have many preconceptions concerning regional connectivity, most are still liable to have this uncanny feeling that "something is missing".

Summary:

The scales used in previous Sim City games allowed a player to build a complete and fully-functional city within the limits of a Small Tile. Those desiring larger cities could easily do so using Medium and Large city tiles - or, in the case of Sim City 4, by expanding into additional tiles. This provided players two differing options - each with their own characteristics - in determining how large or small a city they wanted to build.

Removing not just one but both of these options has resulted in a tremendous reduction of scope for the player. Even when someone is unable to explain exactly why, this is the main issue which leads to so many refering to this game as SimTown, SimSuburb, or something similar.

DEPTH and CONTROL:

City Management:

In all previous incarnations of Sim City (again, knock-offs like Societies don't count) the player took a proactive approach towards city management - the player decided when and where certain events happened and the city either developed or didn't in response.

This game, however, has taken the diametrically opposite approach and made the game entirely reactionary. Despite giving the illusion of player control, the overwhelming majority (seemingly all) of it is restricted to a never-ending sequence of responding in one manner or another to their 'trusted advisor' calling the shots.

Although previous titles required certain milestones to unlock particular buildings, it feels that this particular aspect comes far too early in this game. We certainly never before had to unlock the ability to tailor tax rates or other fundamental and long-standing capabilities of basic city management.

Perhaps this eventually shifts towards true player control later in the game - somewhere shortly beyond the one-hour limitation to gameplay. Perhaps this is something done strictly for the Beta in order to push players into experiencing as much as possible within that time limit. Perhaps something else lies in store - something which hasn't occured to me as I write this.

As it presently stands, however, the game completely lacks the immersion of legacy Sim City titles. Even the original Sim City (as well as, heaven forbid, Societies) offered more control over city management than this game. Newcomers and veterans alike are in agreement that what little challenge remains feels tawdry and superficial.

Zoning:

I am very much of mixed opinions concerning the Zoning system as it is presently implemented, as it seems to offer both too much freedom yet not enough. Despite 'breaking the grid', zoning simply resulted in x number of fixed-width lots with no control whatsoever over their dimensioning. Perhaps some use of Shift, Alt, and/or Ctrl would adjust the lot sizing, or even just some means by which the game just evenly divides the dragged area into lots of an appropriate size-range.

Furthermore, there is an entire lack of any means by which the game indicates just how deep the lots are meant to be. This makes it extremely difficult to determine how far one needs to offset subsequent roadways to allow room for development without leaving wasted space (owing to the lack of space due to the overall scale being used). I very much missed the 'field painting' system used by the previous titles, and feel that an adaptation of this would be a viable solution.

Ordinances and Finances:

As I mentioned earlier, not being able to manage Taxation right out the gate is a massive thorn to me - and I suspect the majority of veteran players feel likewise. Sure, you can futz about with a 'general' tax rate, but this limitation completely breaks one's immersion into the game.

Worse yet is that there appear to be no Ordinances available in the game. Perhaps I just haven't 'reached that stage yet', or perhaps it simply wasn't included in the Beta. Either way, the absence of Ordinances is painfully apparent and greatly disheartening for a long-time player such as myself.

Utility Connections:

Incorporating power, water, and sewage into the roadways themselves is a bold move. However, this is one departure I can actually agree with.

Not only are most utilities generally integrated into the roadways in real life, but this is also an acceptable compromise as part of the obvious intention to make the Sim City franchise more approachable to newcomers.

Transportation Networks:

Oddly, I found myself almost wishing for LESS versatility in placing roadways. At the very least, I expected to be able to hold down the Shift, Alt, and/or Ctrl key as a means to 'snap' the roadway to be placed either perpendicular to an intersecting roadway or to a relatively fixed angle. While the latter would ideally snap in 15-degree increments, even 45-degree increments (targeting the eight cardinal directions) would have been a blessing.

This was further complicated when attempting to add a roadway alongside existing development. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to situate a road so that it would be immediately adjacent to an existing residential lot - neither destroying the development nor leaving a gap of wasted space inbetween.

When encountering other roadways, the opposite seemed to be true. Despite efforts to form a grid-like block (again, owing to the lack of space due to the overall scale being used), the roadway refused to allow straight placement - stubbornly insisting that it snap to the end of the existing roadway (which I intended to extend just enough to end in a T-intersection). While I managed to finally manage the desired configuration by over-extending the stub enough to place the intersection then demolish the excess afterwards, such would have been disastrous had there been existing development in the way.

Being a Beta, I can overlook the absence of trams, subways, and other rail-based network systems - though I cannot overlook the fact that many fundamental transportation components require unlocking. I can only hope this aspect improves greatly by the time the game is actually released.

Regional Connectivity:

This is another major point of contention with arguments going in both directions. Some of it can be forgiven based upon the always-online multiplayer element, but other aspects can neither be forgiven nor ignored.

First and foremost is how this has been entirely isolated from the city (a term I use loosely) rather than being any element of the city itself. Where most cities develop on both sides of a highway, incorporating it into the overall transportation network, development is pushed all to one side and the only connection offered is an enigmatic single-point junction.

Similarly, one can only hope that the actual release will incorporate some means of branching off rail spurs and loops for passenger and freight purposes.

Terraforming:

Regardless of when someone first started playing Sim City, they invariably wound up settling on one of the numbered titles - Sim City 2000, Sim City 3000, or Sim City 4. As soon as the game broke away from the top-down 2D perspective, players have been able to contour the city tile to their individual liking.

Even with the always-online forced-multiplayer aspect, the more theoretical nature of regional connectivity being used isn't sufficient reasoning for eliminating terraforming from the game entirely.

Micro-Management:

For the majority of Sim City veterans, the degree of micro-management available has long been a huge draw. Sure some people left a fair number of the settings at their defaults, but doing so seldom produced any truly detrimental effects.

The query information of developed areas is but one aspect among many where this game feels exceptionally 'dumbed down' compared to its predecessors. Many of us loved the ability to flag a development as historical, and many of us just liked to see the actual numbers of how many miserable wretches we could cram into a high-rise tenement.

In addition to Taxation control having to be unlocked, control over funding levels for various Civics is entirely absent. While there's at least an On/Off option in most cases, this falls pathetically short of offering any real form of budgeting authority within the game.

Granted, there is some minor semblance of this created through the use of modular upgrades available for most civic buildings. Though somewhat unexpected by Sim City fans, most have embraced this modularity as part of the future benchmark for all city-builders. But, as positive as this is, it remains an inaedquate substitution for actual financial control.

Game Saves:

The absence of the ability to save and load the game completely removes one of the 'undocumented' great joys of Sim City - the ability to unleash all manner of catastrophe on your poor Sims, then go back to business as usual.

It also fails to offer players the opportunity to experiment without putting everything they've worked for in jepoardy. Sim City has been commended numerous times for its educational value and praised for how far players can go in their experimentation. The lack of game saves eliminates all the safety (and most of the incentive) to experiment with new ideas.

Summary:

The decades-long legacy of Sim City was founded on the principle of "Your City, Your Way" - a slogan which EA and Maxis have used to considerable success in marketing the franchise.

By contrast, this game has severely limited how much control the player has over most every aspect of the game. This was much the same issue as with Societies and other knock-offs, and a significant contribution towards their failure.

AESTHETICS:

Interface:

Every incarnation of Sim City has had its own distinct interface, all of them well developed and thoroughly consistent with their respective games. In this regard, the new game lives up to the precedents of its ancestry.

Owing to the extreme variations in screen resolutions being used, however, many are finding the menus and other items either overlapping (when using lower resolutions) or too small to readily identify (when using higher resolutions).

This should be simple enough to address by adding a scaling factor based upon the game's screen resolution.

Headlines / News Tickers:

One of Sim City's most endearing features has been the use of ficticious (and often hilarious) 'up-to-the-minute news commentary' to keep players apprised of how their city is faring - simultaneously entertaining and informative.

This feature is conspicuously absent from the Beta, though I have high hopes for its inclusion in the eventual release.

Design:

Another point of contention, the visual design of the buildings used within the game seem to be divided by the general performance of their computers. Those with computers on the lower end of the spectrum find the designs fairly (or highly) attractive, while those with computers on the higher end of the spectum find them woefully simplistic and cartoony.

There's simply no pleasing everyone, granted, but it is extremely disappointing that the visual appearance of the game assets doesn't even meet the quality of those in Sim City 3000 - some would even argue that the buildings in Sim City 2000 look better.

Considering how far computer technology has advanced in the ten years since Sim City 4 (let alone fifteen years since Sim City 3000 and twenty since Sim City 2000), the developers really should have paid more heed to those criticising the design since the first images were available.

Tilt-Shift:

As much as people have been clammoring for Sim City to finally make the transition from isometric 2.5D to perspective 3D, such a change also bears the potential to alienate the feel of the game. Due to this, the decision to use Tilt-Shift is very much a good one.

Furthermore, the developers also included the ability for the individual player to adjust the influence strength of Tilt-Shift to their own liking. Those who dislike it can turn it down (though not disable it entirely) while those who do like it can crank it to the max.

Not only a well-considered concept but a masterful implementation thereof.

Music:

As delightful as the musical element has been throughout most of Sim City's history, it does tend to grate after weeks, months, or years of gameplay. Fortunately, Sim City 4 added the capacity for users to add their own tracks to the game.

It is difficult to truly assess the new game's musical element due to the time limitation, but everything points towards offering all the positives of its predecessors - and then some!

Simlish:

No. For the love of whatever deity you profess to worship, no! There should be no need to elaborate.

Summary:

The Sims is The Sims and Sim City is Sim City. As much as I understand EA's desire to use the popularity of one to reinforce the other, the two are immensely different concepts and should remain as such. A large portion of Sim City fans detested The Sims' encroachment into Sim City 4, though most grudgingly tolerated it as its presence could generally be ignored.

With this game, however, EA and Maxis have simply pushed the envelope too far. The overall aesthetic is less "adding The Sims to Sim City" and more "adding city-building elements to The Sims".

TECHNICAL:

Graphics:

From a technical standpoint, the graphics are astounding. Although some have voiced concerns about vertical sync and screen tearing, these matters will almost certainly be addressed before the formal release.

One issue in doubt concerns the mandantory dedicated fullscreen presentation. Despite this being my preferred method, there really should be options available to support windowed mode - particularly as many people use multiple monitors.

Always-Online:

Quit trying to diguise the matter - this is purely an excuse to force an invasive DRM with poor security on everyone. This requirement puts considerable limitations on when, where, and how much an individual has even the option of playing the game. This, in turn, places a tremendous stranglehold on how many will be willing to purchase the game at all.

We are also well aware of the fact that Origin will drop the game from its servers before long. While this is supposedly due to anticipated fall-off in demand, the true reasons are obvious - either to force people to buy new games by preventing them from playing older ones, or to force people to buy 'upgrades' in order to enable offline play which should have been part of the game to begin with.

Multiplayer:

Sim City has never been a multiplayer game. It has been tried before and failed so spectacularly that few people even know about it. Some people truly are interested in playing with friends, granted, but they are too small a minority among Sim City fans to be considered a 'driving factor'.

The overwhelming majority of complaints that have been voiced about the game have concerned popular and classic game elements which have been sacrificed upon the altar of the Grand Social Experiment.

Customization:

Yet another limitation imposed by the online-only model is completely elimination the possibility for user-created content. Were it not for this capability, the Sim City franchise may well have died altogether when EA abandoned it a decade ago.

Of course, this won't prevent EA from pushing game-imbalancing DLC - additional content with considerable advantages over standard assets. Coupled with the forced competitive multiplayer (no point in pretending that the multiplayer aspect is meant for anything but competitive), the game will essentially be turned into a pay-to-win scheme.

OVERALL SUMMARY:

This is a FaceBook game, not a PC game and certainly not Sim City. If anything, it is a city-building expansion to The Sims. The simplistic building designs and invasion of 'Simlish' is both consistent with The Sims and completely foreign to Sim City. The visual design and system of operation is fully consistent with any game meant to be played via a web browser or mobile device, rather than a PC (or even a console).

I won't deny that this game could prove to be very popular. It will certainly find an audience among fans of Sim City FaceBook and The Sims, but few Sim City fans will find this game to be much worthwhile - particularly not at the exorbitant price point. They, as well as I, will simply have to bide our time until someone finally decides to make a worthy successor to the King of City-Builders crown.

That, or make it ourselves.

That is the kind of message devs that frequent forums should pick up on for round table discussions between departments that include the marketing team.

By the way, on the note of customisation versus DLC as a topic. Is it not interesting how the concept of "rewards" was tied to the concept of "achievements"? Something extremely interesting, commercially, for implementations of further DLC tracks. Not so much pay to win, though often gamers seem to reach for that shout, but pay to enable / show off.