Opinions on update 7

[MarcusOrilius 7]

Made a casino city this morning.  Wow.  Traffic is rather reasonable, actually. 

 

Only issue I noticed was a garbage truck stopping at every house.... and a fire truck stuck behind it, stopping at every house with the garbage truck, lights and siren a-blaring.

 

Well that is disapointing... I was hoping the emergency vehicles would get the right-of-way in this patch... I hate watching the city burn and the looters come out while the dead lay in the road as the first responders sit in traffic and watch...

[MarcusOrilius 7]

So let me get this straight... the fix to the traffic problems is to build underground roads that run from one side of the city to the other so that areas/zones can be isolated routes for more efficient traffic flow? Does anyone else think that this “solution” ruins the idea of building a simulated city? Maybe we should do this in the cities we live in?

 

How about they just fix the traffic routing issues… do vehicles now take the fastest route, or still the shortest? Do emergency vehicles now have the right-of-way?

 

Who here lives in a 2x2 mile “city” of 200K population with fire, police and ambulances getting stuck in traffic while the city self-destructs?

 

Not much of a simulated city… but at least we can now plop a GIANT church on the tiny map!?!

 

*sigh* now waiting for a patch for this patch and then patch 8...

[hickerydickerydock 12]

So let me get this straight... the fix to the traffic problems is to build underground roads that run from one side of the city to the other so that areas/zones can be isolated routes for more efficient traffic flow? Does anyone else think that this “solution” ruins the idea of building a simulated city? Maybe we should do this in the cities we live in?

 

 

 

How about they just fix the traffic routing issues… do vehicles now take the fastest route, or still the shortest? Do emergency vehicles now have the right-of-way?

 

 

Who here lives in a 2x2 mile “city” of 200K population with fire, police and ambulances getting stuck in traffic while the city self-destructs?

 

 

 

Not much of a simulated city… but at least we can now plop a GIANT church on the tiny map!?!

 

*sigh* now waiting for a patch for this patch and then patch 8...

 

I think we'll have to wait a little longer than patch 8 to get a decent game yet....  I hate to say it but I think this game will only become fun/playable when a major expansion comes out.

 

Patch 7 helped but there is still A LONG WAY to go.

[CosmicSpeed 28]

So let me get this straight... the fix to the traffic problems is to build underground roads that run from one side of the city to the other so that areas/zones can be isolated routes for more efficient traffic flow? Does anyone else think that this “solution” ruins the idea of building a simulated city? Maybe we should do this in the cities we live in?

 

 

 

How about they just fix the traffic routing issues… do vehicles now take the fastest route, or still the shortest? Do emergency vehicles now have the right-of-way?

 

 

Who here lives in a 2x2 mile “city” of 200K population with fire, police and ambulances getting stuck in traffic while the city self-destructs?

 

 

 

Not much of a simulated city… but at least we can now plop a GIANT church on the tiny map!?!

 

*sigh* now waiting for a patch for this patch and then patch 8...

Let me get mad at "The Game of Life" because the game uses a spinner rather than having make moral choices about which direction to head in life.

 

I get your frustration but sometimes people want this game to be SO realistic they should just go into a City Planning career.

 

I hope you see my sarcasm here and I hate that you are disappointed with the update, but this GAME can only go so far, and I personally think they are doing a good job of helping the game function without too many errors.

[MarcusOrilius 7]

 

So let me get this straight... the fix to the traffic problems is to build underground roads that run from one side of the city to the other so that areas/zones can be isolated routes for more efficient traffic flow? Does anyone else think that this “solution” ruins the idea of building a simulated city? Maybe we should do this in the cities we live in?

 

 

 

How about they just fix the traffic routing issues… do vehicles now take the fastest route, or still the shortest? Do emergency vehicles now have the right-of-way?

 

 

Who here lives in a 2x2 mile “city” of 200K population with fire, police and ambulances getting stuck in traffic while the city self-destructs?

 

 

 

Not much of a simulated city… but at least we can now plop a GIANT church on the tiny map!?!

 

*sigh* now waiting for a patch for this patch and then patch 8...

Let me get mad at "The Game of Life" because the game uses a spinner rather than having make moral choices about which direction to head in life.

 

I get your frustration but sometimes people want this game to be SO realistic they should just go into a City Planning career.

 

I hope you see my sarcasm here and I hate that you are disappointed with the update, but this GAME can only go so far, and I personally think they are doing a good job of helping the game function without too many errors.

 

 

Sure... my point is that SC4 didn't have these traffic problems, so we have gone BACKWARDS - that's a first for this franchise.  It’s called "SIM" city for a reason you know, as in “simulation”? I have played SimCity for almost 24 years, and this latest version has us doing some very weird things just to get the traffic to function? Come on… no excuses for game developers that have a 24 YEAR HISTORY!

 

I guess I expected the GAME to be fun, not frustrating? My mistake!

[Xenocity 343]

 

 

So let me get this straight... the fix to the traffic problems is to build underground roads that run from one side of the city to the other so that areas/zones can be isolated routes for more efficient traffic flow? Does anyone else think that this “solution” ruins the idea of building a simulated city? Maybe we should do this in the cities we live in?

 

 

 

How about they just fix the traffic routing issues… do vehicles now take the fastest route, or still the shortest? Do emergency vehicles now have the right-of-way?

 

 

Who here lives in a 2x2 mile “city” of 200K population with fire, police and ambulances getting stuck in traffic while the city self-destructs?

 

 

 

Not much of a simulated city… but at least we can now plop a GIANT church on the tiny map!?!

 

*sigh* now waiting for a patch for this patch and then patch 8...

Let me get mad at "The Game of Life" because the game uses a spinner rather than having make moral choices about which direction to head in life.

 

I get your frustration but sometimes people want this game to be SO realistic they should just go into a City Planning career.

 

I hope you see my sarcasm here and I hate that you are disappointed with the update, but this GAME can only go so far, and I personally think they are doing a good job of helping the game function without too many errors.

 

 

Sure... my point is that SC4 didn't have these traffic problems, so we have gone BACKWARDS - that's a first for this franchise.  It’s called "SIM" city for a reason you know, as in “simulation”? I have played SimCity for almost 24 years, and this latest version has us doing some very weird things just to get the traffic to function? Come on… no excuses for game developers that have a 24 YEAR HISTORY!

 

I guess I expected the GAME to be fun, not frustrating? My mistake!

 

SC4 had its own near gamebreaking traffic bugs that Maxis never patched.

It took modders almost 4 years later to fix it via NAM.

 

Only those aware of modding and NAM are able to play the game without mass abadonment of residential zones.

 

We didn't go backwards with traffic, we went left then forward.

 

Update 7 fixed nearly all of my traffic issues and gave me tunnels.

[Catchin22 299]

If you think Update 7 fixed traffic issues your city / region hasn't grown very large yet. You'll still have a ton of traffic issues with large cities in your region. The problem mostly comes down to no one ways. That means no on ramps or off ramps. That causes a massive traffic backup. The tunnels and bridges can help but it's not a solution to everything. Incoming traffic through one inlet is still going to be an issue no matter what until they provide one way roads or off / on ramps.

 

I'm happy for this update but it only amplifies the need for larger maps. It shows what potential this game CAN have, it's getting to be more fun but at the same time the city sizes are becoming even more restrictive with the addition of bridges and more complex and fun roadway.

 

Additionally the game is still broke in many other ways. Great works don't work great, or at all often. Sending and receiving resources is unreliable as well as the online cloud system, there's still a chance of losing your entire city ruining your entire region.

 

Simcity is still a Jet Fighter with a Prop engine. Until they make these maps at least 4 times as large and remove mandatory online, that's how it will remain.

[Orbdweller 0]

I also like the changes in 7.0! I find the only downside to raise and lowering of roads is you lose more zoning area. I guess its a small price to pay for better traffic flow!

[Districtopia 23]

I also like the changes in 7.0! I find the only downside to raise and lowering of roads is you lose more zoning area. I guess its a small price to pay for better traffic flow!

 

 

Sometimes when you use tunnels you can still zone fully sized lots on top of it depending on what kind of layout you use.

[ebalosus 19]

If you think Update 7 fixed traffic issues your city / region hasn't grown very large yet. You'll still have a ton of traffic issues with large cities in your region. The problem mostly comes down to no one ways. That means no on ramps or off ramps. That causes a massive traffic backup. The tunnels and bridges can help but it's not a solution to everything. Incoming traffic through one inlet is still going to be an issue no matter what until they provide one way roads or off / on ramps.

 

I'm happy for this update but it only amplifies the need for larger maps. It shows what potential this game CAN have, it's getting to be more fun but at the same time the city sizes are becoming even more restrictive with the addition of bridges and more complex and fun roadway.

 

Additionally the game is still broke in many other ways. Great works don't work great, or at all often. Sending and receiving resources is unreliable as well as the online cloud system, there's still a chance of losing your entire city ruining your entire region.

 

Simcity is still a Jet Fighter with a Prop engine. Until they make these maps at least 4 times as large and remove mandatory online, that's how it will remain.

 

Pretty much this.

 

The game is however limping to become a decent Simcity game, at least IMHO

[ForensicCRAFT 9]

If you think Update 7 fixed traffic issues your city / region hasn't grown very large yet. You'll still have a ton of traffic issues with large cities in your region. The problem mostly comes down to no one ways. That means no on ramps or off ramps. That causes a massive traffic backup. The tunnels and bridges can help but it's not a solution to everything. Incoming traffic through one inlet is still going to be an issue no matter what until they provide one way roads or off / on ramps.

I'm happy for this update but it only amplifies the need for larger maps. It shows what potential this game CAN have, it's getting to be more fun but at the same time the city sizes are becoming even more restrictive with the addition of bridges and more complex and fun roadway.

Additionally the game is still broke in many other ways. Great works don't work great, or at all often. Sending and receiving resources is unreliable as well as the online cloud system, there's still a chance of losing your entire city ruining your entire region.

Simcity is still a Jet Fighter with a Prop engine. Until they make these maps at least 4 times as large and remove mandatory online, that's how it will remain.

Ok, is the problem one ways or the tile size??! Dude, there'd be traffic problems in any game or any real life city that allowed some one the ability to put 100,000 + peeps in a 2x2 city! So, yes, if the map was bigger, the traffic might seem better to you, but you'll just put 1million sims in your city. I think the game does pretty good for a game, which is what it is. A game that is pretty realistic to what most of us try and do with it. I'm not certain how one ways fix anything. I certainly don't see a ton of them in real life solving problems.

I think the map size is a beaten, bloodied dead horse. They know we'd like a bigger map and have been working on it. Just chill, it's probably a bit more difficult to implement that just give us bigger maps.

So, if all you have is bigger maps and one ways, I respectfully disagree with your opinion that that's what will fix the game. Again, it's a game, enjoy it, which I'm guessing if I asked how many hours you've logged it's quite high and accomplishing what Maxis intended.

  Edited September 4, 2013 by CaptCity  

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

The game is however limping to become a decent Simcity game, at least IMHO

 

 

I agree.  We're finally seeing their vision.  Yes: It's still broken.  Yes: they dropped the ball at launch.  Yes: endgame needs work.  Yes: Multiplayer is pointless.  However the game is indeed becoming playable.

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

If you think Update 7 fixed traffic issues your city / region hasn't grown very large yet. You'll still have a ton of traffic issues with large cities in your region.

 

Running headlong into that now.  Things are great to a point then they come crashing down.  No amount of building mass transit, bulldozing and sorting can get traffic sorted out.  Freight can't get shipped, emergency services can't get around and the city dies (or at least you get to a point where you're tired of micromanaging in the game you bought to enjoy). 

 

This isn't helped by the lack of a save feature.  You can't get a city to a good point and then try different things, reloading when things don't work out.  It's hard to try different things when you only have the one shot.

[Yaffle 29]

A slight diversion - how do I get the Places of Worship?

 

I have been through every building menu, not found them. Loaded the Origin store, not listed. If it helps I am in Europe, UK, using Europe Server 3.

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

A slight diversion - how do I get the Places of Worship?

 

I have been through every building menu, not found them. Loaded the Origin store, not listed. If it helps I am in Europe, UK, using Europe Server 3.

 

Tourism/Landmarks, along with stadiums, etc.

[Cob92 360]

 

 

So let me get this straight... the fix to the traffic problems is to build underground roads that run from one side of the city to the other so that areas/zones can be isolated routes for more efficient traffic flow? Does anyone else think that this “solution” ruins the idea of building a simulated city? Maybe we should do this in the cities we live in?

 

 

 

How about they just fix the traffic routing issues… do vehicles now take the fastest route, or still the shortest? Do emergency vehicles now have the right-of-way?

 

 

Who here lives in a 2x2 mile “city” of 200K population with fire, police and ambulances getting stuck in traffic while the city self-destructs?

 

 

 

Not much of a simulated city… but at least we can now plop a GIANT church on the tiny map!?!

 

*sigh* now waiting for a patch for this patch and then patch 8...

Let me get mad at "The Game of Life" because the game uses a spinner rather than having make moral choices about which direction to head in life.

 

I get your frustration but sometimes people want this game to be SO realistic they should just go into a City Planning career.

 

I hope you see my sarcasm here and I hate that you are disappointed with the update, but this GAME can only go so far, and I personally think they are doing a good job of helping the game function without too many errors.

 

 

Sure... my point is that SC4 didn't have these traffic problems, so we have gone BACKWARDS - that's a first for this franchise.  It’s called "SIM" city for a reason you know, as in “simulation”? I have played SimCity for almost 24 years, and this latest version has us doing some very weird things just to get the traffic to function? Come on… no excuses for game developers that have a 24 YEAR HISTORY!

 

I guess I expected the GAME to be fun, not frustrating? My mistake!

 

 

Cities do have roads that pass straight through without intersecting surface streets to connect different areas; they're called freeways. We don't have a true freeway in Simcity, but building a road that goes over or under city streets with few intersections effectively accomplishes the same thing. In fact, such roads exist in real cities (see Memorial Dr. and Allen Pkwy in Houston, Wacker Dr. in Chicago, and so on), If all you have are a bunch of narrow surface streets with at-grade intersections, your city will have traffic issues as it grows. You can't make that work by itself in anything larger than a small country town.

[MarcusOrilius 7]

 

 

 

So let me get this straight... the fix to the traffic problems is to build underground roads that run from one side of the city to the other so that areas/zones can be isolated routes for more efficient traffic flow? Does anyone else think that this “solution” ruins the idea of building a simulated city? Maybe we should do this in the cities we live in?

 

 

 

How about they just fix the traffic routing issues… do vehicles now take the fastest route, or still the shortest? Do emergency vehicles now have the right-of-way?

 

 

Who here lives in a 2x2 mile “city” of 200K population with fire, police and ambulances getting stuck in traffic while the city self-destructs?

 

 

 

Not much of a simulated city… but at least we can now plop a GIANT church on the tiny map!?!

 

*sigh* now waiting for a patch for this patch and then patch 8...

Let me get mad at "The Game of Life" because the game uses a spinner rather than having make moral choices about which direction to head in life.

 

I get your frustration but sometimes people want this game to be SO realistic they should just go into a City Planning career.

 

I hope you see my sarcasm here and I hate that you are disappointed with the update, but this GAME can only go so far, and I personally think they are doing a good job of helping the game function without too many errors.

 

 

Sure... my point is that SC4 didn't have these traffic problems, so we have gone BACKWARDS - that's a first for this franchise.  It’s called "SIM" city for a reason you know, as in “simulation”? I have played SimCity for almost 24 years, and this latest version has us doing some very weird things just to get the traffic to function? Come on… no excuses for game developers that have a 24 YEAR HISTORY!

 

I guess I expected the GAME to be fun, not frustrating? My mistake!

 

 

Cities do have roads that pass straight through without intersecting surface streets to connect different areas; they're called freeways. We don't have a true freeway in Simcity, but building a road that goes over or under city streets with few intersections effectively accomplishes the same thing. In fact, such roads exist in real cities (see Memorial Dr. and Allen Pkwy in Houston, Wacker Dr. in Chicago, and so on), If all you have are a bunch of narrow surface streets with at-grade intersections, your city will have traffic issues as it grows. You can't make that work by itself in anything larger than a small country town.

 

 

You just mentioned freeways (which we don't have) and the use of underground roads in the 3rd and 4th LARGEST cities in North America? Chicago is 2.7 MILLION people!!! Far from serving a population of around 200K...

 

Why not just make magic transporters that send sims all over the map? That would "effectively accomplish the same thing" too! No, I would prefer they FIX the obviously flawed traffic issues so that we can create cities that make sense - you know, like a SIMulated City?

 

Having customers that don’t hold the developers to the standard we have experienced in the past is just enabling bad behavior...

 

This is more of an attempt to make a Facebook game rather than a 2013 version of SC4.

[Cob92 360]

 

 

 

 

So let me get this straight... the fix to the traffic problems is to build underground roads that run from one side of the city to the other so that areas/zones can be isolated routes for more efficient traffic flow? Does anyone else think that this “solution” ruins the idea of building a simulated city? Maybe we should do this in the cities we live in?

 

 

 

How about they just fix the traffic routing issues… do vehicles now take the fastest route, or still the shortest? Do emergency vehicles now have the right-of-way?

 

 

Who here lives in a 2x2 mile “city” of 200K population with fire, police and ambulances getting stuck in traffic while the city self-destructs?

 

 

 

Not much of a simulated city… but at least we can now plop a GIANT church on the tiny map!?!

 

*sigh* now waiting for a patch for this patch and then patch 8...

Let me get mad at "The Game of Life" because the game uses a spinner rather than having make moral choices about which direction to head in life.

 

I get your frustration but sometimes people want this game to be SO realistic they should just go into a City Planning career.

 

I hope you see my sarcasm here and I hate that you are disappointed with the update, but this GAME can only go so far, and I personally think they are doing a good job of helping the game function without too many errors.

 

 

Sure... my point is that SC4 didn't have these traffic problems, so we have gone BACKWARDS - that's a first for this franchise.  It’s called "SIM" city for a reason you know, as in “simulation”? I have played SimCity for almost 24 years, and this latest version has us doing some very weird things just to get the traffic to function? Come on… no excuses for game developers that have a 24 YEAR HISTORY!

 

I guess I expected the GAME to be fun, not frustrating? My mistake!

 

 

Cities do have roads that pass straight through without intersecting surface streets to connect different areas; they're called freeways. We don't have a true freeway in Simcity, but building a road that goes over or under city streets with few intersections effectively accomplishes the same thing. In fact, such roads exist in real cities (see Memorial Dr. and Allen Pkwy in Houston, Wacker Dr. in Chicago, and so on), If all you have are a bunch of narrow surface streets with at-grade intersections, your city will have traffic issues as it grows. You can't make that work by itself in anything larger than a small country town.

 

 

You just mentioned freeways (which we don't have) and the use of underground roads in the 3rd and 4th LARGEST cities in North America? Chicago is 2.7 MILLION people!!! Far from serving a population of around 200K...

 

 

 

Why not just make magic transporters that send sims all over the map? That would "effectively accomplish the same thing" too! No, I would prefer they FIX the obviously flawed traffic issues so that we can create cities that make sense - you know, like a SIMulated City?

 

 

Having customers that don’t hold the developers to the standard we have experienced in the past is just enabling bad behavior...

 

 

 

This is more of an attempt to make a Facebook game rather than a 2013 version of SC4.

 

 

I'm not just talking about "underground roads", I'm talking about ANY road that avoids at-grade intersections along part or all of its length to speed up traffic flow. Want some smaller examples? We can look at Valley Mills Drive in  Waco, population 126,697. Or perhaps the overpasses on Lamar Blvd in central Austin (pop. 820,611). Or perhaps the Alvin Bypass (pop. 24,774). 

 

I prefer the implementation of traffic in this game to that of SC4. Never mind that the traffic simulator was completely and utterly BROKEN before the NAM; why don't we examine all the ways that SC4 fails to accurately simulate traffic flow? Lane counts don't matter in SC4, because the traffic is abstracted and flows as long as you don't exceed the capacity of the road. Gridlock (blocking the box) doesn't really matter; you can slap down pretty much anything you like as long as it's big enough and connects point A to point B. No need to manage the positioning of intersections or to limit the number of traffic lights on arterials. Bypasses are similarly pointless because the effect of traffic congestion on travel speed is relatively negligible in SC4 (once you have the NAM it doesn't really matter anyway because commute times can be infinite), and it's much easier to just build a bigger road on top of the old one than to go through the trouble of creating an alternate route that may or may not provide a better speed of travel. Overpasses don't work properly because the game can't hold two separate capacity values for one tile. Let's not forget the infinite commuter loop issue either, or the fact that no traffic outside of rush hour actually matters. You'd have had a working argument if you claimed that SC 2013 provided a limited set of networks to use, or that the maps are too small, or that the musical chairs implementation of traffic flow in the earlier version of the game was garbage (that is gone BTW, agents select destinations before they begin their trips). SC4's only advantage was that it provided an expansive area in which to build and a wider variety of networks. 

[MINIggy03 227]

Are you guys aiming for PERFECT traffic?  I have over 300,000 sims and heavy traffic during commuting hours but the city is completely functional and most of the time I have it running in the background without too much hand holding.  

 

Here's the layout,

 

 

I do deal with bottle necking and they REALLY have to figure that one out.  But it's only an issue during commute times and those two tunnels really help flood the traffic elsewhere.  I used low capacity roads to keep street lights out of that intersection but I made the tunnels/exits high capacity so traffic clumps better.  It works out pretty well.  I also don't have any other transportation besides the highway entrance.  

 

Update

 

 

Doing just fine at 400,000 population & the money is stacking up high!  (and I'm a generous neighbor, little million here, little million there...)  Traffic is even better with new trams but bottle necking is still an issue for heavy commuter hours.  It's not having an impact on my city though.  Surplus took a hit after adding more services, tramcars(2 stations), another processor plant, trade depot and trade HQ.  After I get all the HQ upgrades I'm going to bulldoze/rezone all the RCI and re balance the population, it got a little out of hand!

 

My recommendation if you are dealing with high population and crippling traffic:

 

- Build up $5+ million in the bank and dezone/demolish all your RCI buildings.  Don't demolish your roads. 

- Restructure your roads and services.

- Go into your population panel and begin to zone residential/parks to fill the service jobs.  Shut down some services if you are bleeding too much and don't overdo the modules.

- Zone commercial to fullfill shopping and industrial to fullfill freight.  Don't zone too fast, you want to build a balance without throwing the numbers off any more than they already are.  

- Continue balancing the population panel as best as you can while working towards a surplus/specializations.  Keep in mind the commuter #'s coming in and out, it can fluctuate a lot.  

- It's best to get services going before they begin to complain.  That will begin to slow down your instant density growth and eventually it will take longer to grow them back up.  

- Never have unemployment.  Always have a surplus of jobs available (but minimal).  

 

Here's what I did, 

 

 

I retained recycling and the University.  I moved the water/sewage and I'm drawing power from a neighbor for the time being.  Higher density is sprouting up instantly allowing me to watch the population panel and balance it as best as I can.  I'll add more services/specializations slowly, watching the population panel to see what residential I need to zone (and then commercial/industrial...it's like a domino effect).  They're all the same density, so I don't have to worry about buildings upgrading and throwing off the numbers.

 

I personally find a well balanced population panel can really lead to a very thriving, highly populated city with typical commuter traffic as long as you don't rush everything.  You can do this starting from scratch but you have to regulate the zoning so the density upgrades don't throw off the balance.  It's better to just get to higher density and grow that money pot so you can restructure/rebuild rather than messing with dezoning/rezoning all the time.  You could regulate it easier through road density.  

[MarcusOrilius 7]

Yes, SC4 had its problems with traffic before NAM and the traffic isn't simulated the same way as in SimCity 2013. Now SimCity 2013 has its own traffic issues, so let's build a MOD to fix it! Oh wait, we can't... So we rely on the developers to fix the issues.
 
Now, after playing for a bit more in newly made cities since patch 7, I must admit the traffic is better (or I am getting used to the quirks and building accordingly). BUT - there are STILL some relatively simple fixes (to a non-programmers POV) that need to be done ASAP:
 
1) Emergency vehicles need to have the right of way, through traffic and traffic lights. I don’t even care if they magically pass through the other vehicles for now, just get them through! This would stop the cascade effect of fires destroying buildings leaving rubble which causes more fires, crime running rampant and sims dying from the common cold while all the first responders watch from traffic jams! Try building a 200K population gambling town with a ton of police and watch as the cops all sit in traffic observing the criminals run wild while the adviser tells you to add more cops!
 
2) Issues with traffic routing algorithm (I thought this was fixed, but still seems to be happening). Sims all pile down the “short-cut” roads while avoiding the EMPTY double land avenues the block over. We need a fastest route NOT a shortest route traffic algorithm please. I still see traffic stack up for miles down small lanes while the ring roads are seldom used.
 
3) Multiple entrances to cities. Come on, this one is a NO BRAINER… why for the love of all that is holy isn’t there multiple entrance/exit points around the map?
 
4) One-way roads, subways, intercity trains, etc. JUST LIKE SC4. No, I do not want to pay for these as DLC.
 
3) Bigger maps. I personally believe that the reason bigger maps are not available is simple (nothing to do with computing power or online bandwidth). Simply the fact that in a bigger map, the larger sim population would cause such traffic issues that the city would come to a grinding halt. FIX the above and viola, bigger maps would work.

[USA_Pride 49]

I'm glad to hear this update has improved a lot of things.  I still won't consider purchasing until they give us larger map sizes, and even then, the always-online non-local saves may still be too big of a con for me to buy.

[Cob92 360]

Yes, SC4 had its problems with traffic before NAM and the traffic isn't simulated the same way as in SimCity 2013. Now SimCity 2013 has its own traffic issues, so let's build a MOD to fix it! Oh wait, we can't... So we rely on the developers to fix the issues.

 

Now, after playing for a bit more in newly made cities since patch 7, I must admit the traffic is better (or I am getting used to the quirks and building accordingly). BUT - there are STILL some relatively simple fixes (to a non-programmers POV) that need to be done ASAP:

 

1) Emergency vehicles need to have the right of way, through traffic and traffic lights. I don’t even care if they magically pass through the other vehicles for now, just get them through! This would stop the cascade effect of fires destroying buildings leaving rubble which causes more fires, crime running rampant and sims dying from the common cold while all the first responders watch from traffic jams! Try building a 200K population gambling town with a ton of police and watch as the cops all sit in traffic observing the criminals run wild while the adviser tells you to add more cops!

 

2) Issues with traffic routing algorithm (I thought this was fixed, but still seems to be happening). Sims all pile down the “short-cut” roads while avoiding the EMPTY double land avenues the block over. We need a fastest route NOT a shortest route traffic algorithm please. I still see traffic stack up for miles down small lanes while the ring roads are seldom used.

 

3) Multiple entrances to cities. Come on, this one is a NO BRAINER… why for the love of all that is holy isn’t there multiple entrance/exit points around the map?

 

4) One-way roads, subways, intercity trains, etc. JUST LIKE SC4. No, I do not want to pay for these as DLC.

 

3) Bigger maps. I personally believe that the reason bigger maps are not available is simple (nothing to do with computing power or online bandwidth). Simply the fact that in a bigger map, the larger sim population would cause such traffic issues that the city would come to a grinding halt. FIX the above and viola, bigger maps would work.

 

Agreed on all points, especially the multiple entrances thing. There should have been an option in the game to upgrade your freeway entrance to a freeway loop going around your city, with a ramp on each side of the city. I'd also love to see a feature where you could expand your city by purchasing land in the region using city funds.

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

 

3) Bigger maps. I personally believe that the reason bigger maps are not available is simple (nothing to do with computing power or online bandwidth). Simply the fact that in a bigger map, the larger sim population would cause such traffic issues that the city would come to a grinding halt. FIX the above and viola, bigger maps would work.

 

There is a way around this without mods.  Use one of the maps with a throughway, where the road passes through the map and out another side.  You can bulldoze the existing road and rebuild it to your preference, just not the actuall entry points.  This gives you two entry points to your city.  (come to think of it, You may even be able to create two unconnected cities in one map, each using a different entry.  There's a fun experiment idea...)

[Yaffle 29]

After a fair time away waiting for update 7 I have been playing a bit more (actually over 100 hours in the past three days according to the Origin "hours" counter, a statistic I seriously doubt). Anyway, herewith my observations:

 

• I don't think the industry/commercial balance is right yet. Now it is too far the freight requirement route. I seem to need nearly equal amounts of industry and commercial, even then I am still short of keeping the "freight orders" line happy.
• There needs to be an "import freight" option to help with this. I think there should be no cost for importing freight, unless you can make a profit exporting it. If the latter is the case, make it equal. With this the player may require more trade depots to keep up with demand, but it feels more correct.
• Sticking with freight, the agent system fails yet again as there are dead spots where deliveries are never made even with near parity on the orders to deliveries. The problem seems to be the agent heading for the nearest sink, and each sink is reset at midnight.
• Camel-trains are still awful. Sitting watching the garbage collectors they all head off in a line, and wait behind each other blocking the road. I've had an interesting new bug too, being the blockade of the High School by school buses, preventing any more entering (both grade and high school buses seem to want to drop off at the High School), causing the next ones to wait trying to turn in, blocking the road until I close and reload.
• I still have vanishing utility vehicles, this time all my streetcars just left the map somehow. Game restart recovered them.
• Bad flickering and artifacts on ATi Radeon card, seems worse now
• I still wish there was some easy way to force new builds to use the zone space effectively. I seem to be plagued by little dead industrial areas which is aggregated would allow another factory.
• Many graphical oddities - grass in the road, streetlights/trees popping through bridges etc.
• The "raise/lower" tool is too simplistic, causing bizarre terrain issues which cannot be resolved. 
• Traffic still unrealistically high, why does every person want to drive a distance they could walk in under ten minutes?
• Poor economics of the specialties tends to make every city look the same.
• Maps still waaaaaaayyyy too small, especially given the concept that more industry is needed now
• It still takes over two hours for me to quit the game - it hangs at the "saving to servers" splash box. If I get bored and press "quit" then the save is corrupted. The solution is to lose the always on (especially as it adds nothing for the player) but I know that will never happen.
• There's still no way to circumvent the agent system. Power has dead spots at the end of roads, resolving that causes traffic problems. (same for water) this could be fixed with a "power lines" and similar option.

I have a feeling this is my last go at it. Six months, seven revisions and we still are just entering a late beta test. All the tweaks have done little other than break my old cities. Fundamentally the agent system is flawed, it needs pulling apart and redesigned for each element it is trying to simulate. My only amusement from it is watching Sims go home and fill up one residence after another as they pull off the road. It's funny because it's so unreal.

My basic problem is I feel as if I am playing chess with the developers rather than trying to simulate a city; I mean I have to think first about the agent system, then traffic, then play tetris to make the key buildings fit without dominating the map. It's no longer fun. To coin a phrase (from Soren Jonsen?) the game is having more fun than me.

 

I'm out until the next update.

[tnobles 38]

@Yaffle  :  I've had an interesting new bug too, being the blockade of the High School by school buses, preventing any more entering (both grade and high school buses seem to want to drop off at the High School), causing the next ones to wait trying to turn in, blocking the road until I close and reload.

 

Yes, any combination of grade & high schools. Bulldozing and replacing bus garages work too, however, a restart would be cheaper.

 

Forcing you to build more industry also increases sick sims. Apparently you get sick sims based on the amount of industry (mines, etc.).

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

All good observations Yaffle.  Those "dead spots" where freight is never shipped are a thorn in my side, perpetually bulldozing the same buildings for the same reason.

 

I think traffic is the deepest issue. Traffic, as you point out, is flat-out ridiculous for such a small city area.  Some things should be be being moved at night - garbage, freight, etc.  There is a point in the simulation where the game is hands down incapable of routing the traffic. 

 

We need service roads.  Heck, I drew a service road from my oil well over to my trade depot in hopes the trucks would drive directly there, but instead they always chose to take the traffic-clogged route.

[reReticulated Spline 69]

We need service roads.  Heck, I drew a service road from my oil well over to my trade depot in hopes the trucks would drive directly there, but instead they always chose to take the traffic-clogged route.

 

That's odd, because this trick has worked wonders for me in the past. Try to make sure it's the shortest route. The truck will make the decision which road to take when it leaves the Well, and if there is no traffic right at that moment, he's going for the shortest route. He can't predict traffic in the future.

[Rufus Honker IV 100]

 

We need service roads.  Heck, I drew a service road from my oil well over to my trade depot in hopes the trucks would drive directly there, but instead they always chose to take the traffic-clogged route.

 

That's odd, because this trick has worked wonders for me in the past. Try to make sure it's the shortest route. The truck will make the decision which road to take when it leaves the Well, and if there is no traffic right at that moment, he's going for the shortest route. He can't predict traffic in the future.

 

 

Actually, that's nice to know it may have been a glitch in that particular city.

[tnobles 38]

School bus supposedly fixed;   http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9706090.page

[Yaffle 29]

School bus supposedly fixed;   http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9706090.page

 

Good news! All of them. Thanks.