SimCity 4 Popularity

[Star21Sim 5]

Why is SimCity 4 more popular than part 5?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

12+ years of community development and improvement.  Also, it is not DRM.

 

If you've only played SimCity (2013) imagine having a city consisting of an entire region with a large number of burroughs, each with its own budget, but all interconnected by your own road network system (and/or rail and water ferries/taxis).  Now, on the STEX for SC4 there are 18,857 files that have been downloaded over 100,000,000 times which contain user created maps, models, lots, and modifications/fixes.

 

SC (2013) if really for new players with no city building experience.  Anyone who has played any of the predecessors will find it too small and the on-line aspect too restrictive. 

 

In SC4 you can have as many regions as you like, and you can play every bit of ground in each of them.  The largest city tile is 4 x 4 Km, but a player can view that as only a part of a larger structure.

 

However, the fact remains that the user community has made this into an unique game in which everyone can develop his own playing style without restriction.  It is a canvas to develop your artistic view of what a city could or should be.  And the tools are there to create your own buildings, lots, maps, etc.

[Star21Sim 5]

Yes good answers about regions.

[iviaarten 533]

for me it's basically; Size DOES matter

[gviper 922]

The mentioning of it being like an artists canvas...absolutely! That's why I started my city journal and the gracious creations by others in the community have absolutely launched my experience of the game out of this world.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

Depending on your definition of 'popular,' SimCity 2013 is far, far more popular than SimCity 4.

--Ocram

[Prophet42 1,501]

Depending on your definition of 'popular,' SimCity 2013 is far, far more popular than SimCity 4.

--Ocram

I guess first, please do give us your definition of popular.

 

Second, even if SC2013 is more 'popular' now, it won't be in a couple of years.  SC2013 does not and will not have the staying power that SC4 has had.  I have played both games.  After 12 years of playing SC4, I will almost certainly be playing into the foreseeable furture.  After playing SC2013 for 6 months now, in another year or so, I doubt I will still be playing it.

 

The only city simulator I see having the potential of displacing SC4 is Cities: Skyline.  SC2013 doesn't even come close.  Hopefully Maxis has learned their lesson and SC6 will be better.

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

SC2013 is a mainstream title game.  Maxis and EA knew they would make more money by breaking it out of the SimCity series niche.  But because it has no niche, it has no staying power.

 

It's like movies.  Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) barely made $5 million USD at the Box Office.  40 years later it's a cult classic, and probably won't be forgotten.  The Fast and the Furious (2001) made over $200 million and has spawned 6 sequels.  In 40 years?  No one will care about it.

 

It's the nature of "popular."  For something to be popular, it has to be recent.  But it's also short-lived.  Only the most legendary things can be popular and timeless.  Like The Beatles, or Star Wars, or Coca-Cola or something.

[MandelSoft 2,769]

It's like movies.  Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) barely made $5 million USD at the Box Office.  40 years later it's a cult classic, and probably won't be forgotten.  The Fast and the Furious (2001) made over $200 million and has spawned 6 sequels.  In 40 years?  No one will care about it.

Don't forget:

- 40 years of inflation, making that $5 million a bit more worth back in the 1970s. In today's money, this is two to five times as much.

- Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a pretty low-budget film. It costed less than £300K to make that film. See how creatively they dealt with that tight budget!

[Turjan 1,048]

Funny that "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" is mentioned. Just this morning, someone linked to the clip with the French castle, on a different forum with completely different topic. Talk about staying power.

 

Regarding SimCity, I'm afraid, there isn't much to learn from the 2013 iteration for EA. Despite all the negative press, I guess it made loads of money for them. Staying power is probably even a hindrance to a big success in this regard. EA wants you to drop your €60-120 on the next shiny title, not dwell for a decade on some title you bought for €2.49 in a sale.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Funny that "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" is mentioned. Just this morning, someone linked to the clip with the French castle, on a different forum with completely different topic. Talk about staying power.

 

Regarding SimCity, I'm afraid, there isn't much to learn from the 2013 iteration for EA. Despite all the negative press, I guess it made loads of money for them. Staying power is probably even a hindrance to a big success in this regard. EA wants you to drop your €60-120 on the next shiny title, not dwell for a decade on some title you bought for €2.49 in a sale.

Its a point.  However, the hard code of SC4 fans with the predecessor games remain.  EA is interesting in raking in the cash, and will continue to do so.  I think they've probably decided to put the SimCity franchise out to pasture for a while.  There is every indication that Windows 10 may be the death of SimCity 4.

[Abrams 1,744]

Because in SC4 You have limitless possibilities which you can build.You can unleash your creativity and when you finish it its an awesome feeling!

[Ocram's Razr 963]

Depending on your definition of 'popular,' SimCity 2013 is far, far more popular than SimCity 4.

--Ocram

I guess first, please do give us your definition of popular.

 

Second, even if SC2013 is more 'popular' now, it won't be in a couple of years.  SC2013 does not and will not have the staying power that SC4 has had.  I have played both games.  After 12 years of playing SC4, I will almost certainly be playing into the foreseeable furture.  After playing SC2013 for 6 months now, in another year or so, I doubt I will still be playing it.

 

The only city simulator I see having the potential of displacing SC4 is Cities: Skyline.  SC2013 doesn't even come close.  Hopefully Maxis has learned their lesson and SC6 will be better.

SC2013 is a mainstream title game.  Maxis and EA knew they would make more money by breaking it out of the SimCity series niche.  But because it has no niche, it has no staying power.

 

It's like movies.  Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) barely made $5 million USD at the Box Office.  40 years later it's a cult classic, and probably won't be forgotten.  The Fast and the Furious (2001) made over $200 million and has spawned 6 sequels.  In 40 years?  No one will care about it.

 

It's the nature of "popular."  For something to be popular, it has to be recent.  But it's also short-lived.  Only the most legendary things can be popular and timeless.  Like The Beatles, or Star Wars, or Coca-Cola or something.

1. Indiana Joe has a good definition of popular. Something that a ton of people buy/watch/play/use for a relatively short time. Popular is profitable. Popular does not mean that it has staying power. A majority of the best selling songs and most played top hits (my definition of pop, which can also include hip-hop and rock) get stuck in my head for a couple days after I listen to them but most people pay almost no attention to them after a couple years.

2. Staying power with a small group of fans is almost the exact definition of a 'cult classic.' Cult classics are not profitable (except maybe as a once or twice yearly event for small cinemas) and most corporations are after a profit. EA's previous CEO was a gamer. EA's new CEO and board of directors don't care about games or gamers as much as they care about money.

I am hedging my bets on Cities: Skylines. C:S has the most potential and already has most features that SimCity 4 with Rush Hour and a handful of mods has. C:S also has many other features that were used in other games and has its own new, distinct features.

--Ocram

[Prophet42 1,501]

 

I am hedging my bets on Cities: Skylines. C:S has the most potential and already has most features that SimCity 4 with Rush Hour and a handful of mods has. C:S also has many other features that were used in other games and has its own new, distinct features.

--Ocram

 

 

I agree with you on C:S.  From what I have seen and read about, I think that C:S has great potential to be the premier 3D city simulator.  I hope it lives up to it's potential.  I am genuinely looking forward to playing it.

 

There is every indication that Windows 10 may be the death of SimCity 4.

 

I hope you are wrong (but I doubt it).  I am actually looking forward to the release of Windows 10, but will probably keep the computer I play SC4 on a Windows 7 platform.

[EG0611 57]

The answer is simple:

 

LIMITLESSNESS

 

There are only 2 limits on SC4; Your imagination and game's potential.

[Huston 5,798]

Yep, pretty much what a lot of people have been saying here: the potential on SC4 is nearly limitless. The fact that it's like working on a blank canvas makes it for a really appealing way to play, and will satisfy the likes of eye-candy artists and city building simulating types

 

I couldn't do what I do on SC4 with SC2013, which makes it hard for me to accept the game. SIMCITY4ALLTHEWAYTOPKEK.

[xonedl 341]

I certainly don't know how popular is SC4 vs SC5... world too big for me to judge.

But still, SC4 doesn't really age as much as other games do. Thanks to the pre-rendered 2D-sprite method.

The only real problem is that we can't change the core menu system which... break our scroll wheel 

[MandelSoft 2,769]

There is every indication that Windows 10 may be the death of SimCity 4.

Maybe it's time for "WINE for Windows" 

[iviaarten 533]

Hope there's a way to keep playing SC4 in Windows 10. Hate to have to set up a seperate pc just for SC4

[Turjan 1,048]

There is every indication that Windows 10 may be the death of SimCity 4.

Maybe it's time for "WINE for Windows" 

 

http://wiki.winehq.org/WineOnWindows

 

It doesn't run yet, but it is being worked on.

[jmsepe 2,038]

On a lighter side of things, I want a SimCity 5, a better SimCity 4 and not just another reboot that promises broken and dry words. To be honest though I have met several fans in my local uni that loves SimCity 2013, I guess it is all a matter of taste. Vanilla wise, the newest installment is better but modded, the difference is like hell and heaven.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

 

There is every indication that Windows 10 may be the death of SimCity 4.

Maybe it's time for "WINE for Windows" 

 

Probably won't do what you think.  What wine does is take a foreign O/S coded program and JIT it into native mode.  Windows 10 won't have the necessary calls, perhaps.

 

Hope there's a way to keep playing SC4 in Windows 10. Hate to have to set up a seperate pc just for SC4

The solution is to dual boot for legacy games.  One could have a Windows 10 (or current) partition and a Windows 7 partition or a Ubuntu Partition or both.  GRUB doesn't limit the number of O/S partitions you have.

 

And you don't have to be script-happy to use any Linux distro.  I like Ubuntu because it is very similar in use to XP and, perhaps, W7.  The best thing about most Linux distros is that they are free and have free support for individuals.

 

Because I am an old O/S guru, I tend to use scripts rather than think about using the GUI.  It an old timer's default behaviour.  CPM forever.