2.0 - Initial Observations

[LGMizzell 15]

Also observed just now ... I don't know the exact amount of time, but I left the house to walk the dogs. When I returned, the game was in pause. I've confirmed this with a few others as well.

 

I've had several successful cities that were stable enough that you could just go to lunch and let them run. Not now. It "auto-pauses" after a certain amount of time....

[tnobles 38]

Also observed just now ... I don't know the exact amount of time, but I left the house to walk the dogs. When I returned, the game was in pause. I've confirmed this with a few others as well.

 

I've had several successful cities that were stable enough that you could just go to lunch and let them run. Not now. It "auto-pauses" after a certain amount of time....

Just noticed that an hour ago. Went to the liquor store down the street and left it running and it was paused when I got back. They probably put a timer in.

[fpdlskf 5]

 

Also observed just now ... I don't know the exact amount of time, but I left the house to walk the dogs. When I returned, the game was in pause. I've confirmed this with a few others as well.

 

I've had several successful cities that were stable enough that you could just go to lunch and let them run. Not now. It "auto-pauses" after a certain amount of time....

Just noticed that an hour ago. Went to the liquor store down the street and left it running and it was paused when I got back. They probably put a timer in.

 

 

 

 

But why would anyone do such a thing?

[smadaluap 4]

 

 

Also observed just now ... I don't know the exact amount of time, but I left the house to walk the dogs. When I returned, the game was in pause. I've confirmed this with a few others as well.

 

I've had several successful cities that were stable enough that you could just go to lunch and let them run. Not now. It "auto-pauses" after a certain amount of time....

Just noticed that an hour ago. Went to the liquor store down the street and left it running and it was paused when I got back. They probably put a timer in.

 

 

 

 

But why would anyone do such a thing?

 

Do what? Go to the liquor store? Leave it running for a few game hours just to build your cash reserves back up (like we all haven't done that in ANY of the SC games)? Or why would Maxis put a timer in to put it on pause after a period of inactivity?

[gmart530 6]

My one city (230K) has seen improvements in garbage collection.  Strangely the overlay says that about 3500/3700 bins are picked up yet it's showing no sites holding garbage.

 

I have noticed a better collection of recycling however.  Sadly recycling seems to cap out at around 6,000 bins for some reason.  The trucks can only carry so much, and there's no way I'm building a second recycling center, it takes up too much space for the sizes of these cities, especially ones with undulating terrain.

 

I have noticed small pockets of air pollution though not to the degrees that others do.

 

My city never really has any traffic issues to begin with aside from standard rush hour.  I think the biggest issue, as others have pointed out, lies in traffic lights.  Lights in an actual urban environment are on timers to coincide with each other, that way corridors/arterials are actually flowing.  From what I can tell, driving in these SimCity's would be like a personal hell, constantly getting hit with every light.  It leads me to believe that the lights themselves are all completely independent from one another creating a whole host of issues in our cities.  To fix this though, I can't even begin to imagine how maxis would handle this.

 

Edit:  As for the rest of the fixes, I've still got empty desks and uneducated sims for some reason, so I'm not sure if the University is working correctly or if the out-of-town students are taking spots of students in the city.

[TuPhat 27]

Just to further update things after a few days of playing.

 

- All my cities that were unplayable to due to unable to process or just hanging on load, are still broken.  Unfortunately I have a bunch.

- I can't say if tourism has changed much, but it seems like I'm getting decent numbers.

- I like that I can add additional modules to my casinos!

- I'm still burning through cash like crazy to make casinos profitable, but I'm working on it.

- I've seen the school bus bug before, but haven't seen it yet since the patch.

- I somewhat saw the pollution bug everyone is complaining about, but so far it hasn't affected my cities much.  I'm obsessive at planting trees, so maybe that is helping me.

- I haven't had a single disaster since the patch.  Yay!   Perhaps I've been lucky.

- Lights on medium density streets is killing some of my cities with traffic.

[szieker 9]

I had a city of 140k Sims prepatch.  I was collecting about 50k/70k recycling bins, with Max trucks.  Now, post patch, the same city with the same population and same recycling center is collecting 7k out of 106k bins.

 

fantastic.

 

I also started a new city in a new region.  By the time I had 2500 people, i had to plop a clinic WITH an expansion, to take care of 19 people, AND i had to plop a police station to take care of 9 criminals already.

 

Fan...damn...tastic.

[spoetnikstraat 0]

has maxis or ea responded to the above patch 2.0 problems yet?

[CornishSC 1]

so irate about this i had to sign up and voice my 2 pennies worth

 

has maxis or ea responded to the above patch 2.0 problems yet?

 all i have seen is a tweet from an employee saying that they are working on it

 

 

im seriously amazed at this debacle, when patch 2.0 was announced i along with many of you stopped or at least scaled down on playing it until the patch came as it was SURE to IMPROVE the game,  W T L F happened to make it now worse?

 

I have had the pollution stream in from the sea in a brand new region

32 garbage trucks bumper to bumper on 1 street, similar with the po po

oil plant fire never stopped burning

massive zombie outbreak in a new city/region from clinic (is this normal? never happened in my previous 6 cities)

my recycling plant still says stopped working when it shouldnt

my trash is bad then good then full blown conga but they always miss 1 skyscapers trash and knock off early (lazy binmen inc in patch?)

still get rollbacks as frequently as before as well as unable to load etc

BUT the worst of all, a new 1 which just suddenly kicks me to menu screen without warning, and has -  resume "city other than 1 i was just playing" WTF this happened 5 times in the space of 2 hours this afternoon and was the final straw

 

Im done with it now i got 120 fun hours vs prob about 120 hours of frustration, am boycotting ALL future EA titles without exception, who is most to blame im not sure but shame on maxis studio for this shambles

[tnobles 38]

 

 

Just noticed that an hour ago. Went to the liquor store down the street and left it running and it was paused when I got back. They probably put a timer in.

 

Do what? Go to the liquor store? Leave it running for a few game hours just to build your cash reserves back up (like we all haven't done that in ANY of the SC games)? Or why would Maxis put a timer in to put it on pause after a period of inactivity?

 

I have no idea.

[szieker 9]

I had a zombie attack in my 2500 person city too.  They attacked my Town Hall, Fire Department, and School. 

 

after the attack was over, all 3 buildings were closed because they couldnt' fine workers.  I had to destroy all 3 of them and rebuild in order for them to reopen.

 

is that intended?

[simmarine 7]

 

 

 

Also observed just now ... I don't know the exact amount of time, but I left the house to walk the dogs. When I returned, the game was in pause. I've confirmed this with a few others as well.

 

I've had several successful cities that were stable enough that you could just go to lunch and let them run. Not now. It "auto-pauses" after a certain amount of time....

Just noticed that an hour ago. Went to the liquor store down the street and left it running and it was paused when I got back. They probably put a timer in.

 

 

 

 

But why would anyone do such a thing?

 

Do what? Go to the liquor store? Leave it running for a few game hours just to build your cash reserves back up (like we all haven't done that in ANY of the SC games)? Or why would Maxis put a timer in to put it on pause after a period of inactivity?

 

Man I know the games has bugs but now it's causing people to drink, damn

[szieker 9]

It's not a REASON to drink.  it's an EXCUSE. 

 

[morriswalters 16]

I don't need a reason or excuse.  Beer is Nectar.

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

If the game is set to pause automatically to keep people from just letting it run, it's a gross negligence that they didn't realize how the community plays.  Even back to the original Simcity in the 1989, the guide books said the best way to get some money was to build a tiny city making a bit of profit, then let your computer run all night.
 

I still think early game expenses are askew.  Clinics, Fire departments, Police departments and schools are too expensive for as early in the game as they are demanded.  Your education adviser doesn't even suggest you get a school until after your potential student population exceeds the capacity of a non-upgraded school.  Same with a clinic - the game waits until the number of sick would exceed a normal clinic's capacity, then pesters you about it.  These need to be made cheaper, or a smaller, inexpensive version be given to use.

[tnobles 38]

I don't need a reason or excuse.  Beer is Nectar.

 

[perafilozof 143]

 

I still think early game expenses are askew.  Clinics, Fire departments, Police departments and schools are too expensive for as early in the game as they are demanded.  Your education adviser doesn't even suggest you get a school until after your potential student population exceeds the capacity of a non-upgraded school.  Same with a clinic - the game waits until the number of sick would exceed a normal clinic's capacity, then pesters you about it.  These need to be made cheaper, or a smaller, inexpensive version be given to use.

 

I agree that they are expensive. Especially the large version of the service buildings.

 

But they are also balanced. I have had no problems starting a city, building the utilities, zoning RCI, building the services when they become necessary or even from the start, and create cities that have 4-10k positive balance per hour. I believe that people who see themas too expensive zone only small areas and then play until those hit high density before they zone more. That is the problem, because it doesn't match the game's setup.

 

The large versions of the service buildings are not meant to be built until you have a profitable specialization going because of their high upkeep costs.

 

The best way of building in SimCity I have come across when starting with 50,000 is : roads>utilities>large zone of R+C>small zone of I>services-school>clinic(first sick sim)>fire(first fire)>police(first criminal)>more zone of R+C>Specialization>medium density of R+C>medium density of I>new city in the region with another specialization and repeat. Only once you have several cities working in unison at medium density should you even think about high density.

[fpdlskf 5]

 

 

 

Also observed just now ... I don't know the exact amount of time, but I left the house to walk the dogs. When I returned, the game was in pause. I've confirmed this with a few others as well.

 

I've had several successful cities that were stable enough that you could just go to lunch and let them run. Not now. It "auto-pauses" after a certain amount of time....

Just noticed that an hour ago. Went to the liquor store down the street and left it running and it was paused when I got back. They probably put a timer in.

 

 

 

 

But why would anyone do such a thing?

 

Do what? Go to the liquor store? Leave it running for a few game hours just to build your cash reserves back up (like we all haven't done that in ANY of the SC games)? Or why would Maxis put a timer in to put it on pause after a period of inactivity?

 

 

 

"Or why would Maxis put a timer in to put it on pause after a period of inactivity?"  <----------  This.

 

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

"Or why would Maxis put a timer in to put it on pause after a period of inactivity?"  <----------  This.

 

 

 

Oh, that's easy.  Server load.  Not sure if that's the official reason, but it's probable.  As you're running the game you're online.  As you're online you're using the server somehow.  Pausing the game for someone who has left the computer entirely may be cutting back on the amount of tasks the server is keeping track of.  Maxis doesn't want to run servers for a bunch of people not actually sitting at their keyboards, when less server load could reduce rollbacks, etc for people who are actively playing.

[TuPhat 27]

• Disasters: Cooldown for random disasters: Some players were getting hit too frequently with random disasters, this introduces a cooldown where no random disasters will occur.

 

So last night, in about 3 hours of playing a single city, I had a lizard attack, tornado and zombie attack.   So much for cooldowns!

 

• Tourism: Fixes for unexplained fluctuation of tourists. Tourists more smartly counted on transit.

- Cruise ships are now more effective at bringing medium and high wealth tourists in coastal cities.

- New tourists will now decide to come into a city once leaving tourists reach train stations, bus depots, or cruise ship docs instead of waiting for those tourists to go out to the region first.

- This change will reduce the downtime of tourist buildings.

• Casinos: Casinos tuned so that Gambling will be a more profitable specialty. Players can bulldoze and replace existing casinos to see effects of tuning.

- The larger casinos now invite more tourists into the city which helps keep them full.

- Note that existing casinos will need to be replaced to take advantage of this change.

• More Casinos: Raised module limit on Sci-Fi and Sleek Casinos to 6 modules.

 

 

Tourism seems decent at the moment.   Finally was able to turn the page on the tourism/casino city last night so that I'm making ok profits.   Quite a challenge.   I'm pulling anywhere from 12k-17k tourists per day now depending on which events I'm running and satellite launches.    One of my fully upgraded Sleek casinos is pulling in 140K per day!  Yay!  The two others are averaging 80k-100k per day right now.   Adding a fourth casino tonight to see what happens.   Lots of tweaking.   Keeping traffic moving is tough especially with all the taxi's.

 

* Saw my tourism numbers drop drastically and thought, here we go again.   Well, three trains got jammed up at the station effectively shutting down all my tourism traffic.  Quick fix and the numbers came back.  Whew!

[Cob92 360]

 

"Or why would Maxis put a timer in to put it on pause after a period of inactivity?"  <----------  This.

 

 

 

Oh, that's easy.  Server load.  Not sure if that's the official reason, but it's probable.  As you're running the game you're online.  As you're online you're using the server somehow.  Pausing the game for someone who has left the computer entirely may be cutting back on the amount of tasks the server is keeping track of.  Maxis doesn't want to run servers for a bunch of people not actually sitting at their keyboards, when less server load could reduce rollbacks, etc for people who are actively playing.

 

 

I wouldn't leave this game running all night anyway though. With random disasters, you run the risk of waking up to a pile of rubble where your city used to be.

[SockoJr53 51]

OK, one huge issue I thought was going to be solved, as indicated by the patch notes, was that we would no longer be buried under hoards of other city's school buses and municipal buses. WRONG! After the patch, I still see just as many out-of-town buses clogging my roads, and not doing anything constructive while in my city. The school buses in particular bother me the most, because they kidnap my students and take them to schools in other cities. I work hard to make sure I have enough desks to support my entire city, but the schools only show 1/3 occupancy most of the time, because the other 2/3 of students are being abducted and dragged to other cities.

Two choices for a fix IMO:

1.) Handle buses like other civic vehicles, you must assign them to work in another city, just like offering a fire truck, garbage truck, etc. in the region screen.

2.) A giant flashing red "DO NOT ALLOW OTHER CITY BUSES TO INVADE MY CITY LIKE A GIANT SWARM OF CICADAS LOOKING TO MATE" button.

I prefer the 2nd option, based on how frustrated these invading buses make me.

[TuPhat 27]

1.) Handle buses like other civic vehicles, you must assign them to work in another city, just like offering a fire truck, garbage truck, etc. in the region screen.

 

 

I actually really like this idea.   It would give you enough control over the buses. 

 

Alternatively, municipal buses in neighboring cities would only pick-up/drop-off sims at the bus depot.

[perafilozof 143]

My 2 cities have a problem. When I first built the University I had students coming in by cars from the other city. After a while they stopped.

 

When I built a recycling center and sent trucks to pick up recyclables from the other city they did it, even brought back the recyclables for recycling and I got payed for the service. Then after that initial moment it will not happen again. Just like the university students.

 

Anyone had this? Anyone found a solution or at least an explanation of the problem?  

[simfanheatermayor 17]

This game is totally broken after 2.0 . I had a clinic with 50 capacity when i started the game, and it was overwhelmed with sick sims. In a city with population under 2000!!   Now reaching 30,000 sims and the game is unplayable. Hazmat fires all the time, no development too many germs etc. I have(had, cos' the servers booted me out) high education, MT, garbage&recycling, casino, 3 fire stations, police and so on. This "patch" is a step backwards.

[superfurry316 2]

2.0 summary:

 

Fixed - not much.

 

Broken - Air pollution will kill your city quickly.

 

Bravo

 

*slow clap*

  Edited April 27, 2013 by Cyclone Boom  
Merged topic with this one.

[Catchin22 299]

I get these new black screen boots now. I guess that's better than the city being lost totally. I also lose all my zoning every time I reload the city, and on reload seem to have major problems with fire and abandoned buildings.

[honam1021 1]

It seems that 2.0 fixed the sound glitch

 

Downside:You can no longer avoid air pollution by placing polluting buildings downwind, the pollution generated by your buildings will just come back on the another side of the city

[JamieRamsey2005 28]

I am really amazed by the comments here. People are having issues with cities below 100k. I can get reasonably stable profitable and happy cities between 400k-600k. I using mining specialization and 12% tax rates on low wealth sims. The hospital wellness centers take care of the germs and unhealthy sims. The real key is not to let any one problem get ahead of you in the early game and plan ahead extensively.

[Districtopia 23]

Tourism and gambling still doesn't seem to be fixed. I've also been having the same problem with pollution that I've seen some others talking about. Also (and perhaps the most frustrating because it's making me feel like I'm going crazy) sometimes I will notice that the game will plop some zones down sometimes in random spots, especially if I have a piece of road that isn't connected to anything. Anyone else seeing that?