Offline Mode Coming Soon

[hellmunkey 30]

18 March 2014:

Update 10 has now been released. Please continue discussion

 

 

Havent seen this posted yet, saw it on another forum and thought I would share.  I might actually get this game now since it will be offline and mods could/should fix the bigger issues.
 
http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/simcity-offline-is-coming
 

SIMCITY OFFLINE IS COMING!
I’ve wanted to say those words for quite some time, so my apologies that I didn’t take the time to say Happy New Year first.

 

Yes, Offline is coming as a free download with Update 10 to all SimCity players. When we launch it, all of your previously downloaded content will be available to you anytime, anywhere, without the need for an internet connection. We are in the late phases of wrapping up its development and while we want to get it into your hands as soon as possible, our priority is to make sure that it’s as polished as possible before we release it. So, until then… testing, testing and more testing. As one of the final steps, we’re putting Offline into the hands of some of our most hardcore players, the DevTesters. This group of volunteers is going to put Offline through its paces before we release it.

 

In Update 10, you can still play solo in Regions on your own, or in Multiplayer with people from around the world. What’s new is the Single Player Mode, which allows you to play the game Offline by yourself. And because your saved games in this mode are stored locally, you can save and load to your heart’s content. Our team will be delivering a follow-up blog that will outline the full details in the near future so stay tuned.

 

So what does this mean for the Online game? All of the benefits of being connected will remain including access to Multiplayer, the Global Market and Leaderboards. And all of your pre-existing saved cities and regions will still be accessible should you log-in to the Online game.

 

Bringing the game Offline means big things for our wonderful community of Modders. They can now make modifications to the game and its components without compromising the integrity of the Online game. Modding is a big part of our studio’s legacy and we’re excited to see what you guys create. Check out to learn about Oppie85’s Central Train Station, which you can put into your game right now, and if you’re interested in making your own content take a look at the Modding Policy. To get you started, we will be rolling out a series of tutorials from the studio that surfaces how we’ve created some of the content that you’ve seen so far in hopes of inspiring your creativity.

 

So that’s it from me for the time being. Keep an eye out for more information on Offline shortly. We’ll be releasing more information on how it all works. And as always, get in touch with me on Twitter @EAGamer, I’m always eager to read your feedback.

 

From me, and everyone at the studio, thank you again for staying with us. We look forward to getting Offline for SimCity into your hands as soon as possible.

  Edited March 18, 2014 by Cyclone Boom  
Reason: Update now released.

[Hoipus 292]

Welp. I said some things along the lines of "I won't touch this game any further until it gets an offline mode" last year. I guess I'll be buying it sometime.

[jaredh 195]

Welp. I said some things along the lines of "I won't touch this game any further until it gets an offline mode" last year. I guess I'll be buying it sometime.

 

I wouldn't jump there blindly.  It is still not a very good game for the price point...even if it has an offline mode.

[Hoipus 292]

I am a fellow of my word. I'll at least prod the box.

[Darth Apple 54]

Maybe if the offline mode is coming, I'll have to consider giving it a spin once I can afford the price tag. Now they just need to make the city tiles more reasonable in size.

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

Having abandoned Simcity (2013) after a year or so of playing, this is nothing but good news. If there is an offline mode and Maxis will be giving modders the secrets of the engine, then 2014 could see some very interesting developments regarding Simcity. Maybe there will be contiguous tiles, terraforming, custom buildings (new ones which don't replace existing buildings) and perhaps larger map sizes.

 

Finally, perhaps the modders -- when they get their hands on the Glassbox engine -- can streamline the simulation and make it more efficient. Thus allowing for larger city tiles. Perhaps a couple of years or so from now we could have a proper SC game which hasn't been neutered by Maxis/EA.

[Hoipus 292]

SimCity 2013 equivalent of NAM?

[USA_Pride 49]

They are one step closer to me buying it.  Once they address the city size I'll take a long hard look at buying it.

[Darth Apple 54]

They are one step closer to me buying it.  Once they address the city size I'll take a long hard look at buying it.

 

Same here. I don't really mean to be picky about the new game, but something about building an entire city in what's equivalent to one square mile of space just doesn't sound all that appealing.

[perafilozof 143]

I had a lot to say about it, but I condensed it to 2 minutes and 30 seconds:

 

[Architechnid 186]

I for one am delighted by the news.  The new management at EA, which in part is really the original management that built the company to be something we've all heard of in the first place, seems to be leaning things in a positive direction. 

 

Make no mistake about it, however:  This is a result of low sales, and them wising up in order to change that.

[Xenocity 343]

Well this does increase the chances of larger cities expansion pack.

 

On the other hand, does this mean the game will now be pirateable and playable?

 

If so, I'm curious how many millions of people will pirate the game like they did with Simcity 4 (Simcity 4 was supposedly pirated more times than it was bought).

 

I hope someone can release a mod that fixes the students commutes.

[Vitoraju 675]

With an offline-mode and modding tool SimCity 2013 will have custom content and more options than SimCity 4, you can have the NAM, terrain mods, mods of water and thousands of possibilities that cool!

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

This is a major step in the right direction. Maybe it should have come sooner, or from the very outset. But it can only be good news from this point forward. The forced online was really the big obstacle for modding. Hopefully an offline mode will open the door for more advanced gameplay mods, giving the game a much needed boost. Looking at the number of guests online right now (800+), it's certainly attracting some interest.

 

The community managed to save SimCity 4, so maybe we'll see some major enhancements from this point forward. Only time will tell.

[Noobi-Wan 22]

Any word on when we will see this update? I need a deadline for fixing my PC!

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

Any word on when we will see this update? I need a deadline for fixing my PC!

I've added a clarification note on this.

The exact date, along with the other changes in Update 10 is yet to be announced.

[Noobi-Wan 22]

Any word on when we will see this update? I need a deadline for fixing my PC!

I've added a clarification note on this.

The exact date, along with the other changes in Update 10 is yet to be announced.

Seems I have some time then!

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

With modding I can only hope the agent-based simulator can somehow be tailored into a statistical one like that of SC4. Then Glassbox will be able to support larger city tiles and more features in general.

[SAGGG 47]

If we can get this now, larger city tiles or more continuous tiles together can't possibly be far behind...

[perafilozof 143]

With modding I can only hope the agent-based simulator can somehow be tailored into a statistical one like that of SC4. Then Glassbox will be able to support larger city tiles and more features in general.

 

In reality we don't even need more population. We just need to defuse the population that we have, the real agents anyway, to more buildings. Reduce the number of agents in every building by a factor of 5 and woala, you can have 5 times more buildings on 5 times more space with 5 times better traffic.

[Urban Cartographer 601]

The 100% offline Simcity petitions (including mine) are no longer futile.  Maxis is beginning to pay attention to them.

[fhreire 3]

@ perablenta

 

agree with your post, mate, but we already knew that from the beginning. no surprise at all.

now we gotta have some fun.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

SimCity 2013+Cities of tomorrow was offered for less than $20 last month. That was a very good deal. SimCity 2013 is worth $20-30 base game alone.

I am so glad that offline mode has been announced! Hopefully, modding tools will be released this year. Cities XL with mods is better than SimCity 2013 without mods. SimCity 4 with RH and mods is better than Cities XL without mods. Surprisingly (for some), SimCity 4 had an online component for a year or two.

--Ocram

Edit: I disagree, LN X. Agent based simulators have been around since the first Tropico. If you want a statistical simulation in 3D with services that go along curvy roads, use Cities XL. The main thing going for SimCity 2013 is the GlassBox.

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

 

With modding I can only hope the agent-based simulator can somehow be tailored into a statistical one like that of SC4. Then Glassbox will be able to support larger city tiles and more features in general.

 

In reality we don't even need more population. We just need to defuse the population that we have, the real agents anyway, to more buildings. Reduce the number of agents in every building by a factor of 5 and woala, you can have 5 times more buildings on 5 times more space with 5 times better traffic.

 

 

So less agents, but each agent has a larger unit of population? Or every building spawns only one agent and this agent has all the statistical information for the building to operate?

[spiritbw 111]

Well, this is back on my "possibly buy" list.  Think I will see what the modding community cooks up first.

[The_Balm 4]

If we can up the city sizes to at least 4 x 4 and get a NAM equivalent I will be so happy.

[nathanthemayor 1,263]

Well okay maybe this is something that is welcoming, but I think that Maxis/EA has to do more(Such as fixing a lot of the bugs) my opinion will still be about where it is right now....

[Ocram's Razr 964]

If we can up the city sizes to at least 4 x 4 and get a NAM equivalent I will be so happy.

What would be a NAM equivalent in SimCity 2013? It already has spline-based roads.

[Duke87 1,070]

So, they spend a year denying that it's possible, but anyone paying attention knew that was bunk. And sure enough, now, here we are.

 

The interesting thing to see will be if this rekindles interest in the game. If so, EA just might be brilliant to get away with success after so much shenanigans.

[The_Balm 4]

 

If we can up the city sizes to at least 4 x 4 and get a NAM equivalent I will be so happy.

What would be a NAM equivalent in SimCity 2013? It already has spline-based roads.

 

Maybe NAM wasn't the best way to put it. I meant a really good highway/interchange and more diverse road system.