Can anyone recommend a game until SimCity Release?

[Captain_Juice 7]

Hey everyone!  I would like to find a simulation game until SimCity is released on March 5th.  I'm having a hard time finding something and I do not want to waste my money.  Does anyone have any ideas?  I'm tired of FPS's at the moment.  I am considering Cities XL Platinum. Just to get my fix in. Also are any of these Roller Coaster Ty games good?

[Indiana Joe 1,751]

[jeremyp1223 8]

Your best bet is to play sc4. It's only two weeks away.

[Captain_Juice 7]

Yea I thought of that too.  I'm sorry to the die hard SimCity 4 fans, but graphically it looks really old   .  I also seen that people were experiencing problems with Windows 7.  

[jeremyp1223 8]

You could give City Life a try.

[newyorkrunaway1 110]

graphically, its still the best simulation game made thus far. and with a few mods, it looks even better.

[Indiana Joe 1,751]

If you're after graphics, the Simulation genre is a bit lacking recently.  You'll want an MMO or FPS for great graphics.

 

The reason SC4 is a great game is because of the massive amounts of custom content and the gameplay.  And it has no problems on Windows 7 or 8 if you have it fully patched.

[Captain_Juice 7]

okay sounds good.  very cheap download on Amazon right now.  I guess SC4 it is! I will also check out City Life... Thanks Everyone for your advice !  Does everyone really hate Cities XL Platinum that much?

[Indiana Joe 1,751]

No, but this website is just really biased towards SC4.  

[Captain_Juice 7]

Yo City Life doesnt look that terrible actually.  Oh just curious why everyone hates SC Societies?

No, but this website is just really biased towards SC4.  

I have noticed that.  I've been on here for a couple weeks.  This site should be called the SimCity 4 forums.

[PeterLloyd 11]

I downloaded SC4 just to fulfill my needs until March. Though I have got back into FPS's so my playstation is getting used more.

[I. Lostalim 589]

Here is a list of some great simulation games I play…

 

 

 

OpenTTD

OpenTTD is an open source simulation game based upon the popular
Microprose game “Transport Tycoon Deluxe”, written by Chris Sawyer.

 

Also, it’s FREE!

http://www.openttd.org/en/

 

Rollercoaster Tycoon
1,2, & 3

These are perfect builder/sim games. Played these all the
time back when there were most popular. All of them are available on GOG.com

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/rollercoaster_tycoon_deluxe

Comes with all the expansions for $3.99!

 

 

SimCity 2000

Is also available on GOG.com too!

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/simcity_2000_special_edition

 

 

 

Chris Sawyer’s
Locomotion

Very similar to OpenTTD. You build networks to transport goods.

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/chris_sawyers_locomotion

 

Capitalism

A business simulation

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/capitalism_plus

All games on GOG.com are downloads only. I know, some of these games are outdated, but that is the time when these were popular.

 

[Captain_Juice 7]

Thanks for the list I. Lost.  I will be doing some research.

[Msprintz 25]

You could purchase Cities in Motion, It's a transportation management game similar to that of transport tycoon and railroad tycoon.  The main difference is that Cities in Motion focuses strictly on mass transportation ( passenger transportation ) on a city/regional scale.  It's available digitally over Steam and a few other digital mediums, and there's a wealth of affordable DLC content to keep the game fresh.  I'd highly recommend it, and I'm sure many here would as well. 

[Captain_Juice 7]

Thanks Msprintz.  Its funny you just mentioned that.  I was just watching a video on that game and I clicked back over here and you were talking about it. Nice! Looks pretty cool

[Zukunftstraume 220]

Interested in an RPG that takes place in the Ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese world? Which is also highly mythologically accurate?

Well look no further than the greatest RPG game ever created... Titan Quest

The game itself has the same format as Diablo, except it's much better. It's incredibly in depth, detailed, and has a brilliant physics engine. It's a beautiful game with a darker overall feel. The music is among the best music I've ever heard in any game and adds to the feel of the game.

The music of a particular part of the world reaaaally makes you feel like you're actually there! From gentle farms, to scrubland, to Mediterranean woodlands, to caverns, beautiful shorelines, swamps, high deserts, ruins, high snowy mountains, ice caverns, deep bamboo forests, ancient huge forests, and so forth. And of course, what's a game in ancient times without some ancient landmarks? Like the city of Sparta (even Leonidas makes an appearance), Delphi with the Oracle, Athens, the Pantheon, The Labyrinth with the Minotaur inside, The Library of Alexandria, The Nile, the Pyramids, the Valley of Kings, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Himalayas, the Great Wall of China, the Terra Cotta Army, the Jade Palace, and Mount Olympus. The game is so well-crafted, even with amazing day and night cycles, which actually used to scare me so much while playing the game.

Highly recommended if you love in-depth games.

Here's a taste of the music:

youtube.com/watch?v=nurfc92tOkQ

youtube.com/watch?v=rWiRCgQyVfY&t=2m35s

youtube.com/watch?v=G0tcBuGCFQE

youtube.com/watch?v=L9UnD8_QdKA

youtube.com/watch?v=qNEKmGDz4DY&t=1m7s

youtube.com/watch?v=dzX7jqSOX0c

youtube.com/watch?v=qBfredExV0g

[Captain_Juice 7]

Interested in an RPG that takes place in the Ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese world? Which is also highly mythologically accurate?

 

Thanks for the recommendation Zuk, but I am not into RPG's that much.  I'm pretty much a shooter guy that is slowly working his way out of those games and getting more involved in simulation games.  

 

I'm still undecided on what game to get sooo..   I'll be doing more research today.  Anyone try that Anno 2070?

[AnathemaDevice 35]

 Anyone try that Anno 2070?

 

I looked at that but the dodgy DRM put me off so I ordered Cities XL 2012 instead.

[Captain_Juice 7]

 Anyone try that Anno 2070?

 

I looked at that but the dodgy DRM put me off so I ordered Cities XL 2012 instead.

O thanks for the reply...I'm sorry but what is DRM?  How you like that XL? Did you get the Platinum?

[AnathemaDevice 35]

 

 Anyone try that Anno 2070?

 

I looked at that but the dodgy DRM put me off so I ordered Cities XL 2012 instead.

O thanks for the reply...I'm sorry but what is DRM?  How you like that XL? Did you get the Platinum?

 

DRM is Digital Rights Management, which sounds ok in principle, I'm as anti piracy as the developers who are trying to protect their work and I never use pirated copies. The problem with some forms of DRM such as Securom & Tages is that they have a 3 or 5 times activation limit and, as even a Windows update can force reactivation, you can reach the limit very quickly, leaving you with a nice coaster but no game to play. It doesn't stop the piracy either, there are always cracked versions available to those who are happy to steal other people's hard work. The end result is that honest  paying customers suffer while the pirates continue to get away with the theft anyway.

 

I just got the 2012 because that's what Amazon had. I looked at the download at gamesplanet but a bit of research put me off them, a lot of people say they have had problems with being overcharged, corrupted files, not getting their product key and support being very slow to non-existent. I don't know how many of the claims are true but there were enough to make me decide to wait for a physical copy to be delivered from a reliable supplier.

[Captain_Juice 7]

 

 

 Anyone try that Anno 2070?

 

I looked at that but the dodgy DRM put me off so I ordered Cities XL 2012 instead.

O thanks for the reply...I'm sorry but what is DRM?  How you like that XL? Did you get the Platinum?

 

DRM is Digital Rights Management, which sounds ok in principle, I'm as anti piracy as the developers who are trying to protect their work and I never use pirated copies. The problem with some forms of DRM such as Securom & Tages is that they have a 3 or 5 times activation limit and, as even a Windows update can force reactivation, you can reach the limit very quickly, leaving you with a nice coaster but no game to play. It doesn't stop the piracy either, there are always cracked versions available to those who are happy to steal other people's hard work. The end result is that honest  paying customers suffer while the pirates continue to get away with the theft anyway.

 

I just got the 2012 because that's what Amazon had. I looked at the download at gamesplanet but a bit of research put me off them, a lot of people say they have had problems with being overcharged, corrupted files, not getting their product key and support being very slow to non-existent. I don't know how many of the claims are true but there were enough to make me decide to wait for a physical copy to be delivered from a reliable supplier.

Okay I got what your saying now.  Thanks and I hope you enjoy Cities XL

[Zukunftstraume 220]

Interested in an RPG that takes place in the Ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese world? Which is also highly mythologically accurate?

 

Thanks for the recommendation Zuk, but I am not into RPG's that much.  I'm pretty much a shooter guy that is slowly working his way out of those games and getting more involved in simulation games.  

 

I'm still undecided on what game to get sooo..   I'll be doing more research today.  Anyone try that Anno 2070?

 

Gah, my apologies...

 

Well, out of the simulators (besides RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 & 2), there's 4 particular games that come to mind:

 

Zoo Tycoon (the original, including the two expansion packs):

Awesome game!!! A lot of realism, allows for a tremendous amount of creativity when creating your own park/zoo, interesting scenarios, and the expansion just add to the core game a lot more. Marine Mania allows you to create tanks to house marine animals, make live shows for certain animals, etc... And Dinosaur Digs, is like making your own Jurassic Park. Watch your animals be happy/angry, reproduce, win awards for breeding endangered animals. It's AMAZING!!! The whole game is like RCT, with the main attractions being exhibits instead of RollerCoasters.

 

 

 

 

 

Airport Tycoon:

If you're like me, and you're a sucker for airports and always wanted to build your own, I highly recommend this game. Some of the best features included choosing a real life location (complete with certain weather and terrain types, like desert or tropical), getting to build the inside of terminals how you saw fit, and making contracts for flights and services with real-life airlines, like Air Korea, United Airlines, etc... I never played the 2nd or 3rd editions of the game, but based on game clips from the 3rd, I'd say it doesn't look too shabby and is probably worth it.

 

Intro trailer and theme song for the 1st game (graphics are bit out-dated there):

 

 

 

 

 

SimCoaster:

It's not as in depth or realistic as RCT, but it's a cute game that was still a tremendous amount of fun. A predecessor to the game was Theme Park World (actually the names of these games depend on what part of the world you're in). SimCoaster allowed you to create three unique theme parks with all sorts of challenges along the way to unlock the other two parks, the starting zone is a gentle steampunk-themed area called "The Land of Invention", followed by "The Polar Zone", and finally "Arabian Nights". Theme Park World had 4 zones, with the first two already unlocked (Lost Kingdom and Halloween World), with the final two being (Wonderland and the Space Zone). There's plenty of youtube videos about gameplay for the two. But as a treat, here's one of 8 possible intro videos for the Theme Park World:

 

 

 

 

 

Hoyle Casino Empire:

A Casino simulation game. This little gem unfortunately didn't get anywhere near the amount of publicity it should've gotten. It was a tremendous amount of fun! There are 8 casino in-game and you work your way up the ladder to unlock higher level and much more difficult casinos. In this game you act as the manager of a certain casino working for the owner. The owner at first is your cousin Buddy who runs the small tutorial casino with a cliche them, after helping him out, you unlock the next casino, then the next, and so forth. The owners themselves have incredibly different and exciting personalities/back-stories, whether working for a mobster, pair of strange gothic magicians, or an oil-tycoon business magnet, the whole lot is awesome! Celebrities even have a tendency to enter your casino including Arnold, Mike Tyson, Bill Cosby (as one of the owners), Sylvester, and so forth... Very nice game

 

 

 

 

 

I guess overall, I'd recommend Zoo Tycoon the most (but you've probably played it already). I guess it's just the game I miss the most and would probably go back to it if I had the time.

[nicholas.post86 8]

I just bought Minecraft recently, plenty and I mean plenty of replay value.

[nats 99]

I would definitely second Minecraft. Its a great game, very creative, imaginative and at times quite scary! Definitely plenty of replay value. I keep going back to it all the time to have another potter around looking for caverns or whatever, and have just completely a rather grand house.

 

The creative mode also is great for the kids too - my kids have been really taken with it thay are building their own villages made of skyscrapers, even my 6 year old.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

Relatively inexpensive games that I like include:

Minecraft

SimCity 4

Cities XL

Towns

--Ocram

[nicholas.post86 8]

I would recommend X:COM as well, I had a lot of fun with it and the game can be extremely challenging.  Nothing hurts more than leveling up a squad member for 4 hours and then losing him in a firefight.  Once your members die, that's it.