Next Sim City Game?

[Shishka 14]

So after the horrible launch and train wreck that was Sim City 2013, is there any chance we will get another Sim City game? Or is this the last nail in the coffin before its buried and forgotten?

I wanna believe we will get a true successor to Sim City 4 but my hopes are still pretty low. I know alot of the die hard fans wanted a true simulator (myself included) and really wanted it more complex, but a game that is aimed at one demograph really doesn't bring in the money like it would a wide demograph. 

So whats your opinions on this? Do you believe we will get another Sim City game or is this the end for Maxis and Sim City?

[QuantumChicken 82]

With the closure of Maxis, I have very high doubts that we will ever see another SimCity.

[matias93 7,535]

Considering the Maxis part that did SimCity was scrapped this year, I see as really improbable a continuation of the series. Although, we could consider Cities: Skylines as the logical sucessor (for the people with adequate hardware, of course).

Anyway, with the amazing modders that SC4 have, there's no need for a new edition, the game has 13 years of continuous evolution.

[QuantumChicken 82]

Considering the Maxis part that did SimCity was scrapped this year, I see as really improbable a continuation of the series. Although, we could consider Cities: Skylines as the logical sucessor (for the people with adequate hardware, of course).

Anyway, with the amazing modders that SC4 have, there's no need for a new edition, the game has 13 years of continuous evolution.

I agree there, SimCity 4 is a beast of a game and I love it more than C:SL in many ways.

[Shishka 14]

Considering the Maxis part that did SimCity was scrapped this year.

Was it the team that was scrapped or the entire Company. I just checked Wikipedia and it said

"Maxis' Emeryville studio was closed in March 2015, consolidating development of Maxis titles to EA's main studio locations, where development of The Sims and SimCity will continue. Employees of the Emeryville studio were offered other positions within Maxis and other EA studios."

I had no idea there was there multiple Maxis studios. This wasn't the main studio was it, or was it just another studio under the Maxis brand?  (Its confusing). 

[QuantumChicken 82]

Maxis Emeryville studio was pretty much the main studio and the heart of SimCity.

[Shishka 14]

Maxis Emeryville studio was pretty much the main studio and the heart of SimCity.

Yeah, I just found it. An article on Kotaku said the same thing but that the Maxis brand will carry on but that the "Maxis" people knew is no more. 

Who knows, maybe another company will buy the rights to Sim City and revive it (wishful thinking). I doubt it but there is always hope. Otherwise ill just continue to enjoy Sim City 4 with awesome sauce mods.

[QuantumChicken 82]

Maxis Emeryville studio was pretty much the main studio and the heart of SimCity.

Yeah, I just found it. An article on Kotaku said the same thing but that the Maxis brand will carry on but that the "Maxis" people knew is no more. 

Who knows, maybe another company will buy the rights to Sim City and revive it (wishful thinking). I doubt it but there is always hope. Otherwise ill just continue to enjoy Sim City 4 with awesome sauce mods.

I also have wishful thinking about SimCity's future.

[Shishka 14]

I'm not saying EA is the problem, but EA is the problem.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Courage, friends.  What SimCity 4 Deluxe needs now, after the release by EA of the digital version without the Safe Disk encryption, is a new version for modern hardware.  Maybe we'll live to see SimCity 4.5 and maybe not.  EA has been holding tenaciously to the source code, and has clearly resurrected it to make this new version (1,1,641) which includes the previously published patches made by Maxis.

SimCity 4 Deluxe 4.0 build 1,1,641 is a cash cow.  Corporations are not known for giving up cash flow.  What clearly is needed now is an update to support equipment currently in the market and, perhaps, with an outlook a little into the future.  The simplest thing would be a recompile into a 64-bit version with no other changes.  Liberating the code from Visual Studio and making it multi-platform would be a bonus, but unnecessary, to say nothing of a lot of work.  I think they could revivify the market simply by updating the decor to 64-bits with a simple recompile.  I doubt there are many 32-bit machines left.

Fixing some of the known errors would also be nice, but debugging is expensive when you don't have the original programmers and are able to motivate them.  Besides there is enough custom content, which should not be affected in any way because it is all data, to keep the community happy and some marketing could bring in some new users.

On the other hand, don't wish for things.  You might get them.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

The SimCity franchise is most likely dead and gone forever. The Glass Box engine will most likely never be used again (though it would be ideal for background simulations for things like SimEarth and even for main simulation for SimTower).

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The SimCity franchise is most likely dead and gone forever. The Glass Box engine will most likely never be used again (though it would be ideal for background simulations for things like SimEarth and even for main simulation for SimTower).

One should refrain from enumerating the progeny whilst the incubation time is incomplete.  The gestation period for most corporations remains a conundrum.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

The SimCity franchise is most likely dead and gone forever. The Glass Box engine will most likely never be used again (though it would be ideal for background simulations for things like SimEarth and even for main simulation for SimTower).

One should refrain from enumerating the progeny whilst the incubation time is incomplete.  The gestation period for most corporations remains a conundrum.

I should not count the number of children before the period of time for development is complete and that period for most businesses is still a confusing problem??? So, you are telling me that I should not jump to conclusions any time soon? I merely gave a rough estimate on the probability of more games being made with the SimCity name or GlassBox engine.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

There is no doubt that the glassbox engine is unsuitable for this type of stochastic simulation which the flower children should have known, but they were in love with it, and managed to make a public spectacle of themselves.  You'll notice that Ocean Quigley was one of the first over the side.  Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin, eh?

Developing a modern decor follow-on from the present code is simply a matter of a recompile and detected error clean up followed by a few weeks of testing.  I don't want anything new, just something that runs better with current hardware.  This is a minimum commitment for EA to keep their cash cow alive.  If they forget the DRM nonsense, they might even get a new set of users for this old box of tricks.  They could even have a 32-bit and a 64-bit version.

I really believe that if 128-bit x86 machines appear on the market, 32-bit support will be kaput.

128-bit hardware has been around for quite a while, it has just never been proposed for the x86 architecture because the present chip technology doesn't offer much if any gain.  One thing the architecture would offer would be effectively infinite addressing space.

  Edited September 23, 2015 by A Nonny Moose  
Added pointer to 128-bit wiki article

[MintberryCrunch 83]

I would love to see an updated Sim City 4, with newer graphics and buildings and everything, but with the same point of view. I get that the "grid" style is outdated, but this "on the ground" ultra-3D perspective of Cities Skylines and the newer games does nothing for me. I love the perspective of SC4 so much better--but I doubt they'd ever update something using a game format that is basically outdated now. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Forget the idea of newer graphics.  A free 3D camera would kill it dead.  There is enough trouble with the simulation eating processors now.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

I wanna believe we will get a true successor to Sim City 4 but my hopes are still pretty low.

But the successor is here, it's Cities: Skylines. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I wanna believe we will get a true successor to Sim City 4 but my hopes are still pretty low.

 

But the successor is here, it's Cities: Skylines. 

Perhaps, but I doubt it.  Is it as open ended as SC4?  I need a new machine to play it, and I am not amused by it being offered only by a DRM vendor (Steam).  I do not want to pay the overhead for an on-line connection when I am running a simulation that eats processors and GPUs.  I want all my resources to be available to the game.  3D and a free camera do not an SC4 successor make. 

What if Valve decides to fold Steam?  I don't like being dependent on an outside agency to run anything.  If I pay a license fee for something, I want the whole thing on my machine without having to let some other outfit snoop around.