Cities: Skylines Announced (Release date 10th March)

[basty_goofy 24]

The game should have its own separate section on the forums and STEX (evenutally).

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

If it is found worthy.  Let us not put the cart before the horse.  Right now, the feature on the home page is sufficient, surely.  No point in having a dead section on the forums.

[brynhyfryd 222]

For a game that is still in ALPHA.

 

WOW. Cannot wait to get my hands on this game. Just watched the 2nd dev video on policies.

[CapTon 592]

If it is found worthy.  Let us not put the cart before the horse.  Right now, the feature on the home page is sufficient, surely.  No point in having a dead section on the forums.

Boards were created for the most recent iteration of SimCity in 2012 (game was released on March 5, 2013). Surely one board will be suitable for Cities: Skylines considering the hype surrounding the game.

[oldnavy 11]

The game should have its own separate section on the forums and STEX (evenutally).

well that's what I was asking for

 

 

 

Sounds interesting. What is it?

 

 

It is the first "SimCity" that ENCOURAGES modding with EXTREME level of detail, more than Simcity 2013, and, afaik, does not limit a city's age by how much water your water table has. I mean, this was stupid of maxis to:

1) Limit a city's age by the water table when you build a city next to a river to have "unlimited" water

2) Limit the size of a city to 2KM

3) NOT have UDoN in it by default (one-way streets and freeways)

4) Not have subways in it

THe ONLY thing I will miss from Simcity is Megatowers BUT Paradox Games ENCOURAGES modding, like I said. A lot of devs that make mods on here have told me they will be in Cities: Skylines modding. So, let me be the first to ask for a mod for Cities: Skylines of "Megatowers". I will even try to contact Paradox Interactive and ask them to put it in the game; although, they will have to call them something other than megatowers, for copyright reasons.

Hey, Maxis, I tried telling you how to better simcity in another thread but you were ignorant to, as I put it there, "let a youngturk like EA bully you around with YOUR ORIGINAL work".

[lew1984 231]

Pretty hopeful for this one :-)

[deimo5 52]

I think it's awesome that the developers are ENCOURAGING modding in Cities and that the map will be equivalent of 38km. I can finally build ALL of New York City, including all of the boroughs. New York is one slab of concrete that is 30 miles² and 10 stories deep; I can't wait to build FDR Drive and Harlem River Expressways, to encapsulate this 30 mile slab of skyscrapers! Come on, Paradox, and release Cities: Skylines already!

 

I hate to break it to you, but I will try and break down the math here (as best as possible):

 

Each tile is 2km x 2km, that's about 1.24mi x 1.24mi.

Your city can be up to 9 tiles; that's 3 tiles x 3 tiles or 3.72mi x 3.72mi.

They said something about uncoupling the restriction, which means you may be able to build on the WHOLE map, which is 25 tiles; that's 5 tiles x 5 tiles or 6.2mi x 6.2mi.

 

So at MOST, your city can be 6.2mi x 6.2mi, which in my opinion is not HUGE. I want to create a huge metropolitan region with a city maybe the size of their whole map, with surrounding areas up to 3 times larger than that (something I can put a beltway around). Given the processing requirements for this, regional play is essential... so I will have to wait for that.

[oldnavy 11]

 

I think it's awesome that the developers are ENCOURAGING modding in Cities and that the map will be equivalent of 38km. I can finally build ALL of New York City, including all of the boroughs. New York is one slab of concrete that is 30 miles² and 10 stories deep; I can't wait to build FDR Drive and Harlem River Expressways, to encapsulate this 30 mile slab of skyscrapers! Come on, Paradox, and release Cities: Skylines already!

 

I hate to break it to you, but I will try and break down the math here (as best as possible):

 

Each tile is 2km x 2km, that's about 1.24mi x 1.24mi.

Your city can be up to 9 tiles; that's 3 tiles x 3 tiles or 3.72mi x 3.72mi.

They said something about uncoupling the restriction, which means you may be able to build on the WHOLE map, which is 25 tiles; that's 5 tiles x 5 tiles or 6.2mi x 6.2mi.

 

So at MOST, your city can be 6.2mi x 6.2mi, which in my opinion is not HUGE. I want to create a huge metropolitan region with a city maybe the size of their whole map, with surrounding areas up to 3 times larger than that (something I can put a beltway around). Given the processing requirements for this, regional play is essential... so I will have to wait for that.

 

that is not what they say on their site. They say 38 square km; well, 3X square kilometers (can't remember second digit). I think you're half right. I think, due to resource needs of a PC/Mac to do a full 38km, they divide a city up into ACTIVE tiles of 2km or something, so as to not overload a mid-level gpu. However, I'm sure you can make ONE city 38km or so instead of, like Simcity, having a bunch of cities to support one dense one. currently, In simcity, I make a bunch of small "towns" provide resources for the 3 main closely-neighboring cities, a couple for residential and one for commercial/industrial; at least maxis allowed this through trade, buying water, and etc from my "towns" while having people commute to shop and work.

 

If you look at this actual ALPHA gameplay trailer:

 

You will notice that is a LOT of space to build compared to SimCity. I also bet they don't require a lot of space for services (hospital, fire, water etc). You notice they put the water pumps ON the water instead of a pumping station taking up usable land to build, just ONE example of space-saving.

Yes, I know the graphics look LATE directx 9 but they are good and it is in ALPHA. I'm sure they will update with dx 10/11 after they release it, if not before; they have been working on this game and putting out money for a long time and need some revenue first. Compared to Simcity, they are on the right track! They have already put "UDoN" by xoxide in it

[deimo5 52]

that is not what they say on their site. They say 38 square km; well, 3X square kilometers (can't remember second digit). I think you're half right. I think, due to resource needs of a PC/Mac to do a full 38km, they divide a city up into ACTIVE tiles of 2km or something, so as to not overload a mid-level gpu. However, I'm sure you can make ONE city 38km or so instead of, like Simcity, having a bunch of cities to support one dense one. currently, In simcity, I make a bunch of small "towns" provide resources for the 3 main closely-neighboring cities, a couple for residential and one for commercial/industrial; at least maxis allowed this through trade, buying water, and etc from my "towns" while having people commute to shop and work.

 

It's 36 square km --- 9 squares x (2km x 2km / square) = 36km^2 which is 3.72mi x 3.72mi.

 

The game will restrict you to expand up to 9 squares only, but in one of the videos, the CEO does say that there will be an option to turn that restriction off and use the whole map, basically go as high as your CPU can handle.

[oldnavy 11]

It's 36 square km --- 9 squares x (2km x 2km / square) = 36km^2 which is 3.72mi x 3.72mi.

 

The game will restrict you to expand up to 9 squares only, but in one of the videos, the CEO does say that there will be an option to turn that restriction off and use the whole map, basically go as high as your CPU can handle.

 

With crossfire of ati 7990's (x 2), core 2 quad extreme that outdoes any core i7 still, and 16 GB 1600 mhz ddr3 ram fed from 4 raid 5 western  digital velociraptors, I think I will be turning it off . Damn forgot to mention the 80+ gold 1100 watt PSU

[deimo5 52]

Haha I'm prepped and ready to go too. :-) I'm pretty excited about this despite my better judgment. After the original Cities XL fiasco, then SimCity Societies, then SimCity 2013 (none of which I bought due to the direction the games took while I was following their development) I'm pretty numb to disappointment.

[MTYland 35]

new Cities: Skylines – Dev Diary 6: Map Editor

[Hanno 16]

I highly recommend watching these videos. After watching them, I was suddenly disillusioned by the fact that I wasn't really playing the game, I was just watching a video

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My experience of Simcity can be summed up as follows:

 

Simcity Classic: Awesome!

Simcity 2000: Awesomer!

Simcity 3000: Why didn't I ever buy this game?!?

Simcity 4: Rocky disappointing start, but eventually, the awesomest of them all (except for those annoying streets that are automatically placed)

 

Then came the decline:

 

Simcity Societies: WTF ?!?

Cities XL: Terribly excited about the free camera angle and curved roads. It was a nice try, but in the end, a disappointment. Buildings shouldn't pop up simply because you zoned for them, but because there is demand for them. Wealthy areas should not be zoned, but earned. Providing enough gas and food is the business of private companies, not the mayor. Restrictive zone sizes, and snapping that was more often a hindrance than an advantage. Expansion packs are all cosmetic. No real improvements on gameplay.

Simcity 2013: O BOY! This looks great! I love the game concepts, graphics looks nice, and it's the real simcity. .... What? Always on DRM? Small city sizes? That's like making sushi, and then covering it with sewage! Forget it EA, I'm not buying this rubbish! Yes, they fixed the DRM afterwards, and I get to tell them "I told you so!!!", but the excitement is already gone, and EA already alienated me. (And after watching "Nerd³ 101 - SimCity" on Youtube, I'm glad I didn't waste my money!)

 

3 disappointments in a row. I guess the golden age of city builders is over. Modern gaming companies are more concerned about sucking as much money out of consumers as possible, than to make quality, enjoyable games. That's ok, I'm over it.

 

THEN!

 

Skyline Cities: Hubba hubba hubba. I'm not a big gamer, but for this game, I'll splash out on a new gaming machine!!

 

How great is it? 

Take everything that I liked about cities xl, and everything I liked about Simcity 2013, remove everything from these games that spoiled them, and then put them together into one game. THEN exponentially multiply its awesomeness by adding even more new and unexpected features that drools with awesomeness! (Like actual flowing water that can be dammed!!!) That is Skyline Cities!!! The Alpha version has already smashed through all my expectations to a level I didn't think is possible!!!

 

Watching the video's I kept being struck by the fact that.... they just don't get anything wrong. I kept waiting for that one thing that will spoil the game for me - like with Cities XL and Simcity, and it just never came. These people did something unheard of nowadays: They.....they....they actually *LISTENED* to the fans!!! 

 

Seriously, though, this is the first city builder, which I can confidently say is worthy of the title "True successor of Simcity 4".  And, like simcity 4, this game is DESIGNED for modding, so whatever is missing after the first launch, it will be fixed eventually. 

 

Thank you Paradox and Colossus, for restoring my faith in the gaming industry!     

[Ocram's Razr 964]

I really love the game so far but my only gripe (and it is a small one) is the limit on the size of the buildings. I think they should increase the amount of tiles a zone (and thus buildings) can stretch away from the road (and thus the size of the resulting buildings) from 4 to 6 or 8. Farms can be huge, tree plantations can be huge, malls can have huge parking lots, mansions can be huge, trailer parks can be huge (I think it should upgrade from trailer park at level 1 8x8 tiles to Mega-Mansion at level 5, with levels 2-4 being various mid-range housing developments), skyscrapers usually have huge foot prints. Heck, even some factories and midrise offices have huge footprints if you include parking and plazas. Of course, it would probably mean roughly doubling the needed art assets but some of this could probably be achieved by combining already existing assets together on a bigger lot and giving the lot more parking, a bigger yard, or a big plaza. I hope that modders can do this if the developers do not.

--Ocram

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

Looks great! Terraforming, large city areas, hydro power(!), resources, great road system... My only gripe would be the limited building diversity and not enough fillers.

[Akeem J Lenoir 9]

Looks great! Terraforming, large city areas, hydro power(!), resources, great road system... My only gripe would be the limited building diversity and not enough fillers.

The developers are likely hoping new buildings are created from the modding community, as the most unique creations have come from the players themselves, as seen with Simcity 4. I would rather see the developer focus on improving the game machanics, while the modding community focuses on brilliantly created buildings.

[crishy 57]

3 x 3 medium city tiles (in SC4 measurements) is still fairly small, if there is indeed the option to increase the city/region size hopefully it will not make the game lag too much as other than this caveat this game shows a lot of promise to me.

[spa 970]

It looks very, very promising so far. When the new Sim City was announced, the more I learned the less interested I became. Same for CitiesXL. With Cities Skyline though, it's the opposite. The only part that I hope they'll fix is the farms. Fields shouldn't be the same size as every other building. Ditto tree farms. These should take up a lot of space. Their tiny size just looks dinky. Other than that, everything else looks amazing. If they embrace custom content creation from the start when the interest is high, to get a community established creating all the stuff that has made SC4 so long lasting, they could have a real winner here.

[Frojoe2004 2]

. These people did something unheard of nowadays: They.....they....they actually *LISTENED* to the fans!!! 

 

 

 

Not only that, but if you log onto their Facebook Page, one of the Devs responds to almost every question comment and concern. I've had many of my questions answered directly from their dev team (of just 7 people mind you). This isn't just a job at a souless company for them. It's a labor of love, and they clearly love and support their fan base.

 

What excites me even more is that they are building the entire game around modding support, giving us the options to mod almost every part of the game. I can not wait until the modding community gets a crack at this. I have a feeling that every other city sim will be obsolete once skylines comes out. Like Sim City 4, why would you play anything else......? until now.

[Nesral Sredna 62]

Paradox is very community minded people. They even posted a comment in LGRs review of Europa Universalis a while back.

 

Anyway, there is a new video posted today on their Youtube channel, These are the outtakes from next weeks upcoming trailer. Outtakes?? They're beautiful...

 

Rumors is that you can recolor the buses in a line (default is blue) and have bus lines with different colors. I've always wanted that in SC..

[MTYland 35]

New screenshot:

 

 

 

more at: https://www.facebook.com/CitiesGame?fref=ts

[Sap59 3]

I am so looking forward to this city builder.
I'm hoping it's something that will be as great as SC4 and just as long lasting.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

So the release has just been confirmed for 10th March.

 

 

It looks really promising, especially how the focus is about improving on the areas where SC13 was let down. For me, what stands out is how everything seems to have a greater scale, with less restrictions on city building. This game looks like it's designed to openly encourage creativity.

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

It looks very promising, but still, I am going to wait a week or two after the release for patches to come. There are always patches to be distributed when a new game comes out and I will be looking over the reviews of people who have played the game before I buy it. I am still haunted by the experience of SC2013.

[Nesral Sredna 62]

And there will always be some features we might be missing, But who knows, they might appear in CSK2..

[Azurespecter 506]

It looks very promising, but still, I am going to wait a week or two after the release for patches to come. There are always patches to be distributed when a new game comes out and I will be looking over the reviews of people who have played the game before I buy it. I am still haunted by the experience of SC2013.

 

We understand your hesitation, but hope we can sway you to give us a chance! We have released an extensive amount of live gameplay footage, and we strive to be transparent and forthcoming in all information concerning the game.

[Nesral Sredna 62]

And while the previous minimimum system requirements included DirectX 9 and 10, the new one as stated on Steam is Direct X 11 only...

 

Wich explains their disgruntled reply when I asked about it yesterday....

 

Edit:Just noticed that SteamOS/Linux has the same old system requirements, not sure if that is a mistake though...

[fabioke 0]

And while the previous minimimum system requirements included DirectX 9 and 10, the new one as stated on Steam is Direct X 11 only...

 

Wich explains their disgruntled reply when I asked about it yesterday....

 

Edit:Just noticed that SteamOS/Linux has the same old system requirements, not sure if that is a mistake though...

 

 

That seems a good thing, it's the only way to make a better game. The 64-bit only requirements can only indicate that this game is going to be awesome!

[Ocram's Razr 964]

I think I will pre-order the Deluxe edition off of the official website instead of buying the normal version on Steam. That way, CO and Paradox get more.

--Ocram

[Nesral Sredna 62]

 

That seems a good thing, it's the only way to make a better game. The 64-bit only requirements can only indicate that this game is going to be awesome!

 

It's the only way to make sure the least people get to buy and play it. Oh and the quality of the food is not in the number of chefs...

 

Besides, 64 bit and Direct X are two completely different things...