Could SimCity 2013 Ever be Fixed?

[gburn1984 0]

It's getting to be pretty unanimous out there. EA's absolutely baffling decision to require a constant internet connection and a force fed multiplayer for SimCity 2013 has completely hamstrung what could be a halfway decent single player experience. I don't know much about the code of SimCity 2013 or anything detailed about the actual design of the game, but in the future would it even be possible to create a Cities XL type fix for SimCity? Cities XL has already been down this road before and paid for it dearly. I thought it was long extinct but now I see it's recently experienced a resurgence. They have axed all the online multiplayer crap and really opened up Cities XL to the modders. I have no idea how ingrained the "always on Origin" is to the game design, but if the outrage continues over the DRM, can an expansion correct all that is wrong with 2013?  

[Shadely 63]

According to Lucy Bradshaw, they have no intention of offlining it any time soon, so what does that tell you? It tells me they're just trying to do damage control so EA can go on business as usual.

[mastorofpuppetz 199]

Hoe about fixing the villiage size maps and zero control over our regions?? I am sick of filling up a map in a few hours and spending the rest of the game demolishing things just to get good buildings and upgrades.

[gburn1984 0]

Yes there isn't much to say about simcity that hasn't already been said. It needs a lot of work. If EA wants my money, I'd be more than happy to give it to them. For that to happen ,though, they are going to need to allow me to play offline and save my cities onto my own computer, first and foremost. Any other flaws with the actual game play can easily be fixed with an expansion or even a patch. If I'm going to hold out hope for EA offering the game I've been longing for for almost 10 years, I'd really like to know if the "always online" could removed or at least become an option. I can't budge on this. Simcity is my canvas. I almost consider the cities I build to be works of art. I want to own my design. Yes EA owns the rights to the game. I believe I own the rights to my city design.

[YilmasRegin 7]

lol, the game is build on the principle of constant online play...

So many people keep asking for an offline mode, and for some wierd reason everybody seems to think that they can just whip with an imaginary wand and make it in a day ... Be realistic people, you do after all want to play a realistic game...

 

Such a feature would most likely take weeks to make. And so, you want them to completely ignore the current issue, no patches or anything, just for a freaking offline mode... Which btw, will leave you with a game that is still broken, just offline now...

[mastorofpuppetz 199]

lol, the game is build on the principle of constant online play...

So many people keep asking for an offline mode, and for some wierd reason everybody seems to think that they can just whip with an imaginary wand and make it in a day ... Be realistic people, you do after all want to play a realistic game...

 

Such a feature would most likely take weeks to make. And so, you want them to completely ignore the current issue, no patches or anything, just for a freaking offline mode... Which btw, will leave you with a game that is still broken, just offline now...

The game is already broken so doesnt make much difference at this point.

[simmerboy 19]

lol, the game is build on the principle of constant online play...

So many people keep asking for an offline mode, and for some wierd reason everybody seems to think that they can just whip with an imaginary wand and make it in a day ... Be realistic people, you do after all want to play a realistic game...

 

Such a feature would most likely take weeks to make. And so, you want them to completely ignore the current issue, no patches or anything, just for a freaking offline mode... Which btw, will leave you with a game that is still broken, just offline now...

The game is already broken so doesnt make much difference at this point.

If it was broken it would be unplayable, which clearly Simcity is NOT broken.

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

lol, the game is build on the principle of constant online play...

So many people keep asking for an offline mode, and for some wierd reason everybody seems to think that they can just whip with an imaginary wand and make it in a day ... Be realistic people, you do after all want to play a realistic game...

 

Such a feature would most likely take weeks to make. And so, you want them to completely ignore the current issue, no patches or anything, just for a freaking offline mode... Which btw, will leave you with a game that is still broken, just offline now...

 

Yep broken game! But at least you could save your cities with peace of mind! Instead of fretting over whether the servers haven't crashed and wiped out your cities!

 

Offline means SC 2013 goes from brokener to broken!

[Linoa06 1,374]

Brokener. 

 

I find this word interesting because it's really broken grammar. Broken basic rules. And it's applied to a game that broke the basic rules of its own genre, and that of marketing in general too. 

 

I should use this word more. It reflects Simcity's wrecked status in its very own construction.

[The Legacy 0]

First time in a very long time posting here, mainly because I just heard that Simcity (2013) was released, and that I wanted to find out information.

 

However, after hearing all the uproar on Simcity's abysmal failures, I'm actually questioning whether to ever get this game.

 

I'm posting in this thread, because I wanted to weigh in on this huge issue. To answer the OP's question, yes, it can be fixed. However, I understand that re-coding the game would take a herculean effort to allow offline play. Why they didn't do this in the first place makes no sense to me. Though I can fully understand and support online features, having everything run server side not only makes for extremely high server requirements, but to also dramatically increase internet usage, which will only make it a money-losing feature.

 

If Maxis is to save Simcity, I hope they do the following:

 

1) Recode the game so that all the main processing is done client side.

2) Have city saves save on the player's computer rather than the server's.

3) Offer the ability to 'connect' a city to the 'world', ie. give it a connection to the outside world, and have it influenced by player actions. That way, if the server goes down, only one of your cities (or whatever cities you've 'connected') will be affected by a server outage.

 

This would dramatically fix a lot of the issues, and would also open it up to modding far more than the server-side design they have now. As it stands, until I start hearing good about the game, I'm not touching it, which is sad because Simcity 4 is still one of my favorite games of all time.

 

I'm also disappointed by the alleged city size maximums; I liked my ultra-sized regions.

[Charizard 284]

First time in a very long time posting here, mainly because I just heard that Simcity (2013) was released, and that I wanted to find out information.

 

However, after hearing all the uproar on Simcity's abysmal failures, I'm actually questioning whether to ever get this game.

 

I'm posting in this thread, because I wanted to weigh in on this huge issue. To answer the OP's question, yes, it can be fixed. However, I understand that re-coding the game would take a herculean effort to allow offline play. Why they didn't do this in the first place makes no sense to me. Though I can fully understand and support online features, having everything run server side not only makes for extremely high server requirements, but to also dramatically increase internet usage, which will only make it a money-losing feature.

 

If Maxis is to save Simcity, I hope they do the following:

 

1) Recode the game so that all the main processing is done client side.

2) Have city saves save on the player's computer rather than the server's.

3) Offer the ability to 'connect' a city to the 'world', ie. give it a connection to the outside world, and have it influenced by player actions. That way, if the server goes down, only one of your cities (or whatever cities you've 'connected') will be affected by a server outage.

 

This would dramatically fix a lot of the issues, and would also open it up to modding far more than the server-side design they have now. As it stands, until I start hearing good about the game, I'm not touching it, which is sad because Simcity 4 is still one of my favorite games of all time.

 

I'm also disappointed by the alleged city size maximums; I liked my ultra-sized regions.

 

To be honest I believe that most of the simulation is already done on your computer. People have been able to keep playing the game for 20-30 minutes even after their Internet connection was severed. I think the reason why they have an always online DRM even for singleplayer is so you're dragged into the social aspect of the game such as achievements, leaderboards, etc. Because that's how EA wants to take this franchise into the future unfortunately. They can also dictate when you can play the game because guess what.... in 10 years this game won't be playable because EA would have shut its servers down and expects you to move on to the next SimCity game. But I don't think it requires a large effort to make the game's singleplayer have an offline mode. It's just EA being stubborn as usual.

[ETK 14]

I'm actually having a really good time with the game and I've grown to like the online aspect quite a bit. The issue that's keeping me from playing right now is though that

 

1) My great work is Arcology got stuck when I tried to initiate it .. it's just initializing the project forever

2) Gifts from one city to another don't seem to work

 

Both issues are essentially problems with online features, I'm hoping they get sorted out so I can go back on playing.

[gburn1984 0]

While I find the release of a broken game infuriating and, quite frankly, inexcusable, it isn't exactly a deal breaker for me. I am confident whatever is broken with simcity can be or is already fixed. Bugs, broken code, and missing features can always be fixed with patches or expansions. I am worried "always on connections" not only won't be removed but can't.

As YilmasRegin said, "the game is built on the principle of online play." I also heard during development that the removal of online play would be impossible because the game is designed around the concept and that removing online play would require a complete redesign of simcity. I always took that explanation as EA spinning us a story, but I don't know for sure. Is it possible for simcity to work if the constant internet requirement were to be removed by a future update? Or would that truly require the game to be redesigned from the ground up?

[mastorofpuppetz 199]

 

lol, the game is build on the principle of constant online play...

So many people keep asking for an offline mode, and for some wierd reason everybody seems to think that they can just whip with an imaginary wand and make it in a day ... Be realistic people, you do after all want to play a realistic game...

 

Such a feature would most likely take weeks to make. And so, you want them to completely ignore the current issue, no patches or anything, just for a freaking offline mode... Which btw, will leave you with a game that is still broken, just offline now...

The game is already broken so doesnt make much difference at this point.

If it was broken it would be unplayable, which clearly Simcity is NOT broken.

It been unplayable for many for days you been living under a rock? I cannot play right now servers disconnected, it is literally unmplayable.

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

Brokener.

 

I find this word interesting because it's really broken grammar.

 

Nah, it was a joke, shamelessly ripped from the film Dumb and Dumberer!

[YilmasRegin 7]

 

 

lol, the game is build on the principle of constant online play...

So many people keep asking for an offline mode, and for some wierd reason everybody seems to think that they can just whip with an imaginary wand and make it in a day ... Be realistic people, you do after all want to play a realistic game...

 

Such a feature would most likely take weeks to make. And so, you want them to completely ignore the current issue, no patches or anything, just for a freaking offline mode... Which btw, will leave you with a game that is still broken, just offline now...

The game is already broken so doesnt make much difference at this point.

If it was broken it would be unplayable, which clearly Simcity is NOT broken.

It been unplayable for many for days you been living under a rock? I cannot play right now servers disconnected, it is literally unmplayable.

 

And so far I've had 12 hours of inaccessibility... Where about 6-7 of those was on EU release day...

[jacksunny 741]

 

 

lol, the game is build on the principle of constant online play...

So many people keep asking for an offline mode, and for some wierd reason everybody seems to think that they can just whip with an imaginary wand and make it in a day ... Be realistic people, you do after all want to play a realistic game...

 

Such a feature would most likely take weeks to make. And so, you want them to completely ignore the current issue, no patches or anything, just for a freaking offline mode... Which btw, will leave you with a game that is still broken, just offline now...

The game is already broken so doesnt make much difference at this point.

If it was broken it would be unplayable, which clearly Simcity is NOT broken.

It been unplayable for many for days you been living under a rock? I cannot play right now servers disconnected, it is literally unmplayable.

And I've yet to experience any server issues or inaccesibility. Perhaps the problem is at your end, maybe your firewall is blocking Origin or Simcity?

[YilmasRegin 7]

I dont defend EA, but I will defend Maxis...

Not being ignorant, but right now the issue lies at Maxis, not EA...

 

The people that are playing this game, usually dont have the time/forgets to say it... The people not being able to play will always yell about it... This is how it is has worked for years, and always will...

 

All I'm trying to do, is to create a positive atmosphere among all the complain...

[simmerboy 19]

I've been playing Simcity all weekend... Not sure what problems ya'll are having.

[YilmasRegin 7]

I've been playing Simcity all weekend... Not sure what problems ya'll are having.

Spread the word...

The problems with the servers is getting fixed, more and more people are starting to be able to play... Soon they can focus there attention on the actual problems, which at first was hidden by these servers... Like pathfinding and such...

 

Note: Not a hijacking attempt, just trying to get some positive feelings into the scene...

[Cob92 360]

I played for 5 hours straight last night, with no issues, crashes, or disconnects of any type. Guess waiting until post-release weekend pays off.

[Sirius DeBord 0]

I've been playing Simcity all weekend... Not sure what problems ya'll are having.

Spread the word...

The problems with the servers is getting fixed, more and more people are starting to be able to play... Soon they can focus there attention on the actual problems, which at first was hidden by these servers... Like pathfinding and such...

 

Note: Not a hijacking attempt, just trying to get some positive feelings into the scene...

Hey Yilmas, sad to say that I have been playing this game for a bit now and even once you manage to get into a game there are some seriously fundamental aspects to the game that are broken. Knowing you, I know you would be just as upset as lots of people are if you had a chance to experience how badly this game was executed. 

[YilmasRegin 7]

 

I've been playing Simcity all weekend... Not sure what problems ya'll are having.

Spread the word...

The problems with the servers is getting fixed, more and more people are starting to be able to play... Soon they can focus there attention on the actual problems, which at first was hidden by these servers... Like pathfinding and such...

 

Note: Not a hijacking attempt, just trying to get some positive feelings into the scene...

Hey Yilmas, sad to say that I have been playing this game for a bit now and even once you manage to get into a game there are some seriously fundamental aspects to the game that are broken. Knowing you, I know you would be just as upset as lots of people are if you had a chance to experience how badly this game was executed. 

I have this wierd feeling that I know you

 

But as I mentioned in another thread, I do not know anything, however I choose to believe. Believe that Maxis, with their great legacy in making epic games, can overcome this challenge, just as they have proven before...

[Gurning_Chimp 398]

The question is not 'Could Sim City Societies 2 ever be be fixed?' rather it's 'Will Sim City Societies 2 ever be fixed?' and sadly I think that answer is no due to overwhelming stubbornness and stupidity from EA.

[gburn1984 0]

I originally posted this discussion to see if the DRM was capable of being removed while not altering the entire game, but it sounds like there are way more pressing matters to address at the moment. And overloaded servers are not even the worst of it. Since I have yet to play the game, I can not offer any input on the actual game being broken. Like I said before, as long as an internet connection is always required, and I am not able to save my cities to my computer, I will not be buying SimCity. I am very confident many of the problems and glitches with the actual game play will eventually be patched out. Back to the original discussion, I wanted to know if the online requirement and server save requirement can ever be patched out as easy as these bugs? 

First time in a very long time posting here, mainly because I just heard that Simcity (2013) was released, and that I wanted to find out information.

 

However, after hearing all the uproar on Simcity's abysmal failures, I'm actually questioning whether to ever get this game.

 

I'm posting in this thread, because I wanted to weigh in on this huge issue. To answer the OP's question, yes, it can be fixed. However, I understand that re-coding the game would take a herculean effort to allow offline play. Why they didn't do this in the first place makes no sense to me. Though I can fully understand and support online features, having everything run server side not only makes for extremely high server requirements, but to also dramatically increase internet usage, which will only make it a money-losing feature.

 

If Maxis is to save Simcity, I hope they do the following:

 

1) Recode the game so that all the main processing is done client side.

2) Have city saves save on the player's computer rather than the server's.

3) Offer the ability to 'connect' a city to the 'world', ie. give it a connection to the outside world, and have it influenced by player actions. That way, if the server goes down, only one of your cities (or whatever cities you've 'connected') will be affected by a server outage.

 

This would dramatically fix a lot of the issues, and would also open it up to modding far more than the server-side design they have now. As it stands, until I start hearing good about the game, I'm not touching it, which is sad because Simcity 4 is still one of my favorite games of all time.

 

I'm also disappointed by the alleged city size maximums; I liked my ultra-sized regions.

 

To be honest I believe that most of the simulation is already done on your computer. People have been able to keep playing the game for 20-30 minutes even after their Internet connection was severed. I think the reason why they have an always online DRM even for singleplayer is so you're dragged into the social aspect of the game such as achievements, leaderboards, etc. Because that's how EA wants to take this franchise into the future unfortunately. They can also dictate when you can play the game because guess what.... in 10 years this game won't be playable because EA would have shut its servers down and expects you to move on to the next SimCity game. But I don't think it requires a large effort to make the game's singleplayer have an offline mode. It's just EA being stubborn as usual.

 

Thanks for your input The Legacy and Charzard. Your comments are both reassuring yet disheartening at the same time  From what you are saying Charzard, the DRM is practically tacked on. The game seems to stand alone well without the Origin connection. This tells me the fix should be fairly simple, but EA will not budge unless we speak their language, which is money. I suppose the only thing to do is keep the pressure on and let EA know we are more than willing to give them our money for their game, but only if they fix some key things first.

[dogma555 187]

I think its hilarious how many people are complaining about the online fiasco and the "buggy"-ness..

 

The REAL problem is, even if you ignore the issues plauging it, the game itself flat out SUCKS.. it sucks! its a horrible successor to the Sim City game series, has almost no depth and sophistication us sim city fanatics have come to know and love... it just comes accross as some half ass developers who are trying to cash in by milking the "sim city" name. Even the graphics seem like they could have been considerered "below average", LAST generation.

 

AND what it goes to show is that game giants like EA can release ANYTHING and people will still buy it..

[croxis 150]

There are two mostly-separate DRM systems here. One is Origin (where you must be connected to run the game period, like steam), the other is the serverside save which isn't connected to origin (other than maybe validating that you are using origin).

 

So there are two possible ways to crack the game: You can remove the client-side origin check, but the save server will probably kick you for not using origin. 

 

The other is modding/hacking in local saving. The game will still need origin to run, but the saving is done locally.

[Intrepid 20]

In my view, the fundamental problem with this game is the desire of EA to force city building into an unsuitable game genre. SimCity was primarily a single player experience in the past and I think it should remain so. Social and online aspects are fine if they are optional instead of fundamental to the game design.

 

In an ideal world, if I were able to make the changes I want, I would first issue an offline patch as quickly as possible removing the online aspects and modifying the game to allow traditional game saving directly to the users own computer (backup to the cloud can be an optional extra feature).

[bjl707 4]

I think that the game can be fixed, but not for awhile.  The problem is with the Glassbox.  While it's an interesting concept and an attempt at realism to make people actually come from someplace and go to someplace, but there is a lot that is left out.  Probably due to technical limitations.  I've read that due to the Glassbox and the way that it works, if the city sizes were increased, that the whole game would grind to a halt and collapse under its own weight once your city reaches a certain size.   Trying to simulate the nuances of the real world are probably just too much for the AI to handle. 

 

I think to truly fix the game the sims would have to have designated homes and jobs.  And traffic would need to find optimal paths instead of shortest paths.  There would also need to be road options like in the NAM.  And, the cities need to be made larger. But, that would probably require more computing power than the average person has available to them as of present.  Super computers do traffic modeling for the real world all the time.  But, an average desktop would catch on fire trying to do a simulation like that.  Maxis had to cater this game to the average computer user with an average or better than average system.  If their target audience was hardcore gamers with rigs that cost $5000 or more, then this game would have probably been a lot better out of the gates.  But, no one would have been able to play it.  I'm sure that the game will get better as time goes by and as technology improves, but we may be in for a long wait. 

[behedwin 3]

I think the community puts in way to much effort in complaining about online and offline mode of the game.

 

I think the community could do more good by rage and complain more about obvious bugs.

Issues with region play, traffic AI and other things that effect the real gameplay.

 

The game was hyped and EA fucked up on the servers at launch, but the storm will calm down and the servers will start working more stable in a week or so im sure.

 

I rather hope EA is really working on good patches and also extensions to buy. Because i like sim city and i want this version of the game to be fun and good. It have so much potential if we just would get the tools to terraform our own regions, change city sizes and have a better working AI so the designing of the citys could be more creative and less focused on optimal road networking.