A request to someone buying the game

[Buggi 685]

While I won't be buying the game I want  to ask a favor to someone who is.

 

Do some pathfinder experiments. I'm sure someone on the NAM team or whatever would be able to do this. I'd like to know how smart the pathing system is.

 

Also, a video of a single lot being developed from low density, to mid, to high. I'd like to see how they merge lots.

 

I did this sort of stuff when I cracked SC4's backend. Little experiments to see how the back-end stuff worked.

 

My computer is DOA at the moment and I have to be content with my Xbox, so please, don't embed videos here as it doesn't work. For some reason any time there's a video embeded in a thread my xbox pukes by trying to redirect me to the video. I can go to youtube directly and view, but on here for some reason it dies.

[beatle 24]

It will be interesting to see how smart the pathing system is.  Remember when SC4 was first released how bad the pathing was?  They eventually fixed some of it with a patch or two, and an expansion pack.  I don't think they ever got it right if I remember...

 

Will you eventually be buying the game Buggi?  Is your DOA computer stopping you, or you not buying because you don't like the way the new SC works?

[Buggi 685]

Getting my computer working is my top priority right now. Video card's are not cheap. x.x

[SirChick 184]

From the BETA three it seemed pretty decent but it was not without some issues. The cars don't move out of the way for emergency vehicles, which has always bugged me..& they don't re route if they are stuck in traffic they just sit there.

[beatle 24]

From the BETA three it seemed pretty decent but it was not without some issues. The cars don't move out of the way for emergency vehicles, which has always bugged me..& they don't re route if they are stuck in traffic they just sit there.

 

Cars don't want to move for emergency vehicles in real life either sometimes lol...   If you want that much detail, go outside! hehe

[City Planner 121]

Yeah but they really should re-route when stuck in traffic at least a small percentage of the time to make it look like it's happening anyway. I read on this forum by a post from somebody else that they do reroute if you disrupt the road but I haven't been back to that topic to get the details on it.

I guess we'll find out in a few more day.

[SirChick 184]

From the BETA three it seemed pretty decent but it was not without some issues. The cars don't move out of the way for emergency vehicles, which has always bugged me..& they don't re route if they are stuck in traffic they just sit there.

 

Cars don't want to move for emergency vehicles in real life either sometimes lol...   If you want that much detail, go outside! hehe

 

 What country is that in ? You legally have to here or you get slammed If you park and block a fire engine, they can legally smash their way through (providing no one is in the car) and you can't claim insurance on it.

[nhgriffith 179]

Cars also have to have somewhere to get out of the way to. Also, it's only law to yield to emergency vehicles traveling in the same direction as you. You're only required to pull-over if the emergency vehicle is approaching from behind you.

But, the fact of the matter is, if there's a traffic jam, sometimes there's just no room to move to.

Part of the problem is that with the GlassBox engine, the Sims won't pull off the road onto the shoulder (though IRL, there are roads where even this is impossible), and the other part of the problem is that the emergency vehicles won't pull into the wrong lane and drive into oncoming traffic, which is how emergency vehicles deal with dense traffic IRL. Also, I believe the emergency vehicles stop at red lights... and wait for them to turn green.

[SirChick 184]

They sound room in SC4 did you ever do the drive missions - turn police car siren on and they either change lane or partially go on the curb.

 

LOL you have to be joking about the red lights surely ! 

[nhgriffith 179]

The traffic in SC4 isn't real. Sometimes when you do the UDriveIt missions, cars in front of you simply disappear. Nothing about SimCity 4's traffic simulation, NAM or not, is better than the new game.

[SirChick 184]

If they were able to move out of the way temporarily even using automata or not its still achievable as proved in SC4.

[simcity4deluxe 95]

You can't really reroute out of traffic when you're in the middle of traffic until the traffic moves to the next intersection and besides I rather think the traffic is to low anyways.

[Micah 16]

I think the whole point for the emergency vehicles being stuck in traffic was to prove that you need to take care of your traffic problem or the rest of your city that needs assistance is going to suffer. I really don't see Maxis changing this.

[juliebug 5]

I think the whole point for the emergency vehicles being stuck in traffic was to prove that you need to take care of your traffic problem or the rest of your city that needs assistance is going to suffer. I really don't see Maxis changing this.

 

I completely agree. Given the way that streets vs. avenues work and given the cost of avenues vs. streets, I think traffic management will be a key part of having a successful city. In Beta 3, I had a crime problem (and thus an arsonist was running around) and my fire trucks couldn't make it to the fires in time due to traffic congestion.

 

I think we're really going to have to manage traffic well from the first roads we put down in order to have a chance at building an efficient traffic network without bulldozing later on.

 

Then again, is bulldozing later on such a terrible thing? I know I've always been hesitant to bulldoze stuff in the past, but is that an outdated habit?

[baertooth 330]

I love experimenting!

 

However...   according to the EULA, if one "exploits" the game, such as making experimental cities, one might risk of running afoul with EA's perception of breaking the EULA.  On a small scale it's probably not a problem but if one takes it to a level to draw attention it might mean issues could come up.  Just something anyone whose into that kind of play should keep in mind.

 

One of my favorite SC4 experiments was making a fairly complicated 4 large tile region with one continuous road though the whole region that eventually looped.  Traffic got to be interesting.

[SirChick 184]

I love experimenting!

 

However...   according to the EULA, if one "exploits" the game, such as making experimental cities

How is experimental cities considered an exploit ? Exploits is taking advantages of bugs/glitches that may affect the leaderboards instead of reporting them to be fixed.

[flyer2359 92]

If there's an open lane the emergency vehicles will move to that open lane, but if there is none, they're stuck.  So they will move around traffic as much as they can.

[nhgriffith 179]

If there's an open lane the emergency vehicles will move to that open lane, but if there is none, they're stuck.  So they will move around traffic as much as they can.

Also, if there is an open lane, traffic will try to get out of the way of the emergency vehicle.

I think we're really going to have to manage traffic well from the first roads we put down in order to have a chance at building an efficient traffic network without bulldozing later on.

 

Then again, is bulldozing later on such a terrible thing? I know I've always been hesitant to bulldoze stuff in the past, but is that an outdated habit?

It certainly makes things a bit more realistic. A lot of times when traffic issues arise in real cities, it's because an area developed farther than the original planners expected it to. Then, by the time they figure out they need a higher capacity road, it becomes difficult to put in because of the buildings that have cropped up on the very road they need to improve.

[juliebug 5]

It certainly makes things a bit more realistic. A lot of times when traffic issues arise in real cities, it's because an area developed farther than the original planners expected it to. Then, by the time they figure out they need a higher capacity road, it becomes difficult to put in because of the buildings that have cropped up on the very road they need to improve.

 

Oh, absolutely more realistic in that sense, to be sure, but is it such a terrible thing to bulldoze and rebuild? The downside is what, a temporary period of time where the citizens who lived or worked there aren't there, then they go back when it's rezoned and able to be rebuilt? Or is there another big downside I haven't experienced yet?