Patch 3.0 released

[josue 0]

It's coming, right now all servers are undergoing maintenance

[CosmicSpeed 28]

^ Any word on the downtime?

[josue 0]

Nothing:

 

http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9492563.page

[Izzywizz 0]

Its going to be a while.

[Cob92 360]

 

More like making the simulation more realistic. There is no city where everyone leaves home to go to work at exactly the same time, then comes home at exactly the same time. This is one of the main things that was screwing up the traffic simulation before.

 

Some people have decided that SimCity is an inherently evil game and that nothing can possibly be an improvement.

 

 

This is not about making the simulation more realistic, it's about addressing a symptom (poor traffic management) rather than the illness (poor AI).

 

And if you think there is no city where you find people of all different jobs on the roads at the same time, then please, come visit Texas - Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio.  Trust me, you will find people from all walks of life and from all types of jobs on the road at the same time.   You'll also find some of the worst traffic, especially in the Austin area.

 

btw, I don't think it's an inherently evil game.  I think it was a game that needed about 6 more months of Q&A and polish.    That's not the game's fault, and it's probably not even Maxis' fault - EA seems to have a problem with announcing release dates for specific quarters and then forcing its studios to push them out the door, whether they needed more time or not.

 

I also think it can be fixed, starting with the AI, larger areas to work with, modding, and offline play.

 

 

 

I live in Houston and I've visited all of those cities multiple times, so don't talk to me about big cities. Yes, people get onto the roads at the same time, but I have never seen every Houstonian pull out of their driveway simultaneously to go to work. If I had, I would have put it on Youtube. On the street where I live, people will be leaving for work all throughout the morning, from as early as 5:00 AM to as late as 7:00 AM. Some work close to home, others work on the other side of the city. Some take Metro to work, others drive the whole distance. Some work until the sun goes down, while others can leave work as soon as the clock strikes 5. The number of people on the road is simply a result of 6 million people living in the metro area.

[tnobles 38]

Glad I picked Albuquerque when looking for a new place to live, you have three times the population of this state. The metro and Rail Runner take care of most traffic here but, as mentioned above there are still a lot of 9 to 5 workers.

[pcwhiz24 1,187]

Wonder when they'll address the city tile size issue...

 

Metropolis expansion pack

City sizes expanded by 0.25 Km for only $29.99

[Cyclone Boom 16,982]

Update 3.0 is now live.

 

Most servers should now be back to normal service, but some are still under maintenance and will return later today.

[CosmicSpeed 28]

Perfect, on my way home now.

[macscfan 117]

 

 

More like making the simulation more realistic. There is no city where everyone leaves home to go to work at exactly the same time, then comes home at exactly the same time. This is one of the main things that was screwing up the traffic simulation before.

 

Some people have decided that SimCity is an inherently evil game and that nothing can possibly be an improvement.

 

 

This is not about making the simulation more realistic, it's about addressing a symptom (poor traffic management) rather than the illness (poor AI).

 

 

 

I live in Houston and I've visited all of those cities multiple times, so don't talk to me about big cities. Yes, people get onto the roads at the same time, but I have never seen every Houstonian pull out of their driveway simultaneously to go to work. If I had, I would have put it on Youtube. On the street where I live, people will be leaving for work all throughout the morning, from as early as 5:00 AM to as late as 7:00 AM. Some work close to home, others work on the other side of the city. Some take Metro to work, others drive the whole distance. Some work until the sun goes down, while others can leave work as soon as the clock strikes 5. The number of people on the road is simply a result of 6 million people living in the metro area.

 

 

You get on to me and claim that this is about making SC more realistic, then you turn around and prove my point! 

 

You illustrate a realistic scenario - people using different modes of transportation, people who are far from work, people who are close to work, people who work off hours, people who can work strictly 8-5, etc.  Where a person lives and what transportation options they have are major factors on when they leave for work.

 

It's not realistic for every single Sim who has an industrial job leaving at say 7am, and every single Sim in a commercial job leaving at say 8am.  Especially in light of the issues with how Sims were/are picking their houses and jobs and how they are/aren't using mass transit.

 

If they would beef up the AI, the AI would have them traveling based on where they live, what transportation options are available, where they work, etc.

 

That's why I said that this is treating the symptoms (traffic) and not the illness (the AI).

[macscfan 117]

 

Wonder when they'll address the city tile size issue...

 

Metropolis expansion pack

City sizes expanded by 0.25 Km for only $29.99

 

 

For all of the gaffes that EA has been making, I don't think they would be that stupid.  

 

Not that an EA executive hasn't thought about it though, but I think this is a line they wouldn't cross.  They are learning - look at how much emphasis they put on the core of Sims 4 being offline/single-player.  They wanted everybody to know that it would not be forced online requirements.

 

What concerns me is that city size and modding has been pushed way out, especially in light of EA laying off 10% of their employees.   They obviously need to get the game straightened out first, but what happens if that takes several more months, and they have already committed people to another SC or other project?   

 

I would like to think that since they consider SimCity to now be a service of sorts, that they will bring in everything they have promised.

[simmarine 7]

I dont think we have haters but more like high expectations that are not being addressed fast enough. I would have liked the game to be better but there are so many games that have had issues at launch that i expect it. I'm looking forward to making tourist and gambling cities and pretty much wasting 100 more hours of my life but thats my choice. I have more than got my money out of this game so im just sitting back and watching it get better. If you have ever beta tested you know how incomplete a game is even near its release so just run with it. Tonight I will make another city and test the new fixes just to see if they actually change anything and then start a brand new city from scratch and test my skils. Game on

[ForensicCRAFT 9]

Holy hell sick people!!  New bug?!  I went from treating 47 per day to 251 per day!!!!...  post 3.0.  I'll take care of it, but man....I guess I just don't get what does into patching a game.  You'd think they'd see some of this stuff when they test on their own...

[tnobles 38]

I haven't checked yet, but with the 2.0 patch, pollution started in march of the first year if you had industry or a power plant (coal or oil) and lasted for 3 to 4 years then disappeared. Supposed to be fixed (or un-fixed) with 3.0.

 

Before, I wouldn't upgrade the clinic because of it, until it quit.

 

I think it went; if your city was polluting, it went into the region. If you started another city, down wind even, it would receive the pollution of the first city. So they fixed it by - OK your pollution will come back to you, but apparently it went to a pollution breeding ground first and came back ten fold or more.

 

If by April first year you don't have sick sims filling your clinic up, then it may be fixed (again).

[r00n83 12]

Silly question but how to check the installed patch version?

[simmarine 7]

When you launch the game it will auto update, does that help?

[r00n83 12]

When you launch the game it will auto update, does that help?

Yeah I know that. Does the game run if it's not updated with the latest patch?

[tnobles 38]

There is no choice, as far as I know. If you try to play and a patch is available, it updates, so you can't play with a lower version.

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

Still down?  Well, on the bright side I've got my first Diablo 3 hardcore character I'm working on.

[Mxlppxl 2]

NA West 3 up...so far no changes to my city of death, except that 43 people a day dying instead of 100.

 

Crime still through the roof, people sick all over, kids dont wanna go to school.

[tnobles 38]

The pollution fix to the pollution fix works for me. No deaths, no crime, fires still burn buildings closest to fire station though. 

 

I just noticed there are no protesters at City Hall, never seen that before. Zooming in to see if I could find them, I noticed the clock on City Hall and it keeps correct time (I'm not very observant).

[LivingInThePast 364]

Can't say that I like the idea of staggered work times. I know a lot of people didn't like the idea of people going home to a different home every night than they came in, as based on where homes and businesses are located, that should have predictable traffic patterns. But when you stagger it AND have different homes, that "illusion" is lost. The "right hand turn on red" is also a good idea, but isn't that an American thing?

[oldbrokenlink 43]

garbage dump, not producing ground polution

garbage incinerator not producing air polution

im constantly having to demolish businesses because there are not enough workers, but there are and they are constantly out of money because somehow they are not getting employed

same with shoppers im constnatly being told not enough shoppers, but there are

same with homeless im constanty being told there are too many homeless, but there should not be because there are enough homes, locations for new homes and jobs for them so they can afford them

its worse i think than 1.0 with the above regard.

[SockoJr53 51]

My observations on Patch 3.0 so far:

Pollution is indeed fixed in my cities, that was the biggest thing I noticed right off the bat. It behaves as it should, meaning if your industries are downwind, the rest of your city will be OK. I actually closed the hospital room extension wings to save money, I didn't need that many rooms anymore after the pollution petered out.

Fire Trucks are still as retarded as ever, school buses aren't much better, that's a big disappointment, although I don't think the patch notes indicated they were working on this. I hope they don't think 2.0 fixed this... it didn't.

I haven't really noticed the right-on-red turns that much, but I don't have a problem with it, it's standard practice here in the US, and if it helps game traffic, so be it.

The staggered start times aren't as bad as everyone here is making them out to be. They are only staggered within the commute windows, so instead of everyone dumping out into the streets at 6am, they wander out between 6am and maybe 8am I think, not sure on the exact window. It's OK if not everyone leaves at exactly the same time.

[fpdlskf 5]

I just wish that they would stop putting duct tape on the giant cracks on load bearing columns...

[r00n83 12]

Please somebody tell me the file version of the "Simcity.exe". You can check that by placing the cursor above the file's icon.

[tnobles 38]

Right click SimCity.exe, choose Properties and open Details tab;

 

File version:      3.0.0.0

 

Date modified:  5/8/2013  8:14PM

That's for my system. Yours should say the same except for time. You can not play a previous version. The server will update your game if needed. It don't ask, it just updates it.

The "right hand turn on red" is also a good idea, but isn't that an American thing?

Probably. Started in California, I think, and worked so well that most states have it now.

[CosmicSpeed 28]

I think there is still a problem with Fire Trucks, and ALL busses. But overall, traffic is highly improved esp with RoR.

[perafilozof 143]

Street cars will just go between two stations if they are not spaced more than 3 blocks(3 high density buildings +3 streets)

[MoridinUK 0]

Sigh, I just watched my recycling trucks drive around the same piece of avenue for hours, each time it got to an intersection I guess it decided a different route was faster than waiting for the lights, however, when it got to the other intersection, the lights had change....  I'm pretty sure this isn't smarter traffic!