Predictions for updates and fixes

[Lukeonia1 0]

Hey, anyone remember me?

 

Anyway, I haven't played SC13* yet, but reading all the complaints so far I have a few cautiously, desperately optimistic thoughts. Basically, things WILL get better, slowly.

 

-The server problems will be resolved within a couple of weeks, as the flood of new users slackens off and traffic becomes more steady. Everyone who bought a copy, couldn't play right away, and swore they'd never buy another EA product again, will either sell/return their copy of the game or come trickling back.

 

-The bugs, glitches, and crashes will be mostly fixed by patches within a couple months. I don't blame EA for the bugs, no amount of beta testing can ferret out all the issues that will arise from playing a game like this for weeks on end.

 

-Sometime down the road EA might release a patch/expansion that allows for local saves, but the game will still require an always-on connection to the internet so it can phone home every now and then. Don't expect it any time soon though... if they do it at all, it'll be years from now when EA is looking to shutter their SimCity online systems. Maybe the patch will give you the option to play offline, or enter the address of a (third party) remote server to connect to. (Aside: I bet the code for this already exists, so as to make in-house testing possible during development. It was just removed or disabled prior to release.)

 

-I suspect the first major update we'll see, other than bug fixes, will be a set of content-creating tools for users to download. Region editor, BAT, Lot Editor, an "official" equivalent to the iLive Reader, and so on. At the same time, EA will launch their own Mod Exchange, where users can upload and download user-generated mods for free, and download "premium" mods for a price. $$$ for DLC is a nifty business model these days, even if users hate it. The most telling evidence for this is a screenshot I saw of an error that read something like, "You can not claim this city because you do not own some of the content used to create it." Wish I could find it now.

 

-The rumor mill says Maxis plans to add the abilty to make city tiles bigger, but that's a little ways away. Seems they fixed the city size small for performance reasons, and they still have to work out the scalability issues before offering bigger city tiles.

 

Recalling back to SimCity 4's release 13 years ago (has it really been that long??), there was a great deal of wailing and gnashing of teeth about how the online product registration didn't work, how you couldn't mod or customize anything, and how the game mechanics made building a successfull city next to impossible. Patches, the Rush Hour expansion, and the user-generated mods fixed pretty much all of those issues in due course, and it became Everyone's Favorite. This left SimCity 2013 with some awfully big shoes to fill, and it'll have to grow into them. SimCity 4 sucked right out of the box, but it got better and SimCity 2013 will too.

 

What do other folks think? Anyone else holding out hope?

 

*yes, I declare "SC13" to be the official abbreviation. Let it be so.

[AkemiAzula 280]

I had hope but meh. We'll see. What'll come'll come. One would like to give em the benefit of the doubt but... meh.

[GenXisT 127]

Right.... so even if SC4 sucked right out of the box (which I don't agree with, BTW), it was actually miles better than this one.

 

 

But first off, let me say that I've been playing Sim City since the first iteration back when I was in 8th grade in 1989.  I've followed every single iteration of this series.  It is by far my favorite game of all time.  Loads of wasted hours that I don't really care to have back.

 

So this new version... It appears that EA have made a fundamentally incorrect game in regards to Sim City as we all know it.  Let's run down a short list:

 

No agriculture/farming

No terraforming

No subway.

Cities are way small (yes, i know, has been mentioned repeatedly, but it's important)

Can we even put in trees aside from them being a "park?"

Regional highway/train?

 

With all of the focus on Glass Box basically doing everything for you, they seem to have forgotten that we actually want to play the game too!

Some of the stuff is ok, I guess. Like the zones on the roads.  At least it eliminates that error of a zone facing the wrong way.  But that's about it for that portion.

 

It's been just over 10 years since the release of SC4 (Jan 2003). That  means EA/Maxis have had 10 years to get this one right.  10 years!!! 

If you've worked on something for that long, chances are you're pretty good at it.  no matter what the topic.  But it's like they've gone in reverse.

They changed all that made SC4 great and took it away.  Opted for the eye candy (which I like), but sacrificed Sim City play.

 

Why?

 

So predictions?  

Here's an idea... how about implementing all the stuff this mod community on this very site did for the past 10 years to make SC4 even better?

How about putting all of that stuff in game?  Not just the curvy-roads (great, btw).
I mean, seriously?  We can't make our regions look custom at all, because we can't manipulate the turf... nor can we make it look pretty because there are no farms.

The region views and city diary things on this site is what made and continues to make SC4 great.

Where has it all gone for SC5?  You cannot ignore this community like that.  It's like they used all the stuff people here created and instead of implementing it in the game, they just laughed it all off,  came up with the Glass Box,  said "play on line or else" and then took your $60-$80.

 

I'm not going to sit here and bash the game.  I played last night for about 8 hours (lol).  But this is a fundamental departure from Sim City.  It's not Sim City at all.  Even the 1989 version had more control!!! (joking)

 

They really need to play thru SC4 again when they decide to patch  this one.

Fortunately this is obviously VERY early on.  It will get better later.  But I feel a bit  let down being such a fan of the franchise.