Did Maxis ever start making a SimCity 5?

[armpit43 172]

I'm always interested in those stories about games that were planned but never made or released. So it got me thinking did Maxis ever consider or start work on a sequel to SC4 in the 2000s? I remember being 11back in '06 and thinking SimCity 5 was just around the corner. And even earlier just after my dad getting SC4 for us in 2003 thinking SC5 would be the greatest thing ever. What on earth happened to the development of SC4 after Rush Hour?

[SecretMbr_735754 2,158]

I think that many of us are still fixed on SimCity 4 as it is the mid-point in the development of the game.  Versions 1 thru 4 are easy to see as the same game re-worked, and yes, there is what some call version 5 also-known-as SimCity 2013, but it could also be referred to as SC6 if one considers SimCity Societies as the version in between SC4 and SC 2013.

A Brief History of SimCity:

1. SimCity (Classic) -- 1989
     -- Released as Open Source, 2008 (Micropolis)
2. SimCity 2000/ Streets of SimCity -- 1994/1997
3. SimCity 3000 (SC3K) -- 1999 
4. SimCity 4 (Rush Hour Expansion)  -- 2003
5. SimCity Societies (Destinations Expansion) -- 2007
6. SimCity 2013 (Cities of Tomorrow Expansion) -- 2013

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity

So actually, we are waiting for SC7 at this point, but after version 4 the game took several different directions as its creator pursued 'The Sims' games and the vision became spread across different attempts to pull together the series.   SimCity is yet to achieve its complete 'Great Work' or true 'Masterpiece', 'Billion-dollar Blockbuster' level as its still being pulled in various directions.   For the time-being SC4 still rules...

S I M C I T Y VII

Its gonna be 'HUGE'...

[airman15 4,113]

Quick tidbit about the Societies games- they were not developed by Maxis. I realized this was the case when it turned out you needed to build up almost everything manually rather than coaxing certain buildings to develop. It's an entirely different style of gameplay but I did not care for it mostly because it was slower than a snail on ether whenever I tried running it.

Spiritually, SC2013 is the successor to SC4 as it was developed by Maxis. They didn't do the Societies as they were more focused on developing Spore. But with complaints on mandatory server connectivity and maps being too small you would have to try it to decide. The web connection alone was a major turnoff.

[CorinaMarie 29,896]

I would say SC4 with RH (or SC4D) plus NAM 35 and all the other mods now available is SC5.

[SecretMbr_735754 2,158]

20 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

I would say SC4 with RH (or SC4D) plus NAM 35 and all the other mods now available is SC5.

 Yeah the user-created Network Addon Module for SC4 is somewhat like an expansion of the Rush Hour expansion and does indicate that many users are interested in the traffic networking and transportation construction aspect of SC4.   As well, the general consensus seems to be we want the game to be primarily stand-alone, not having a 'mandatory' or 'third-party' internet connected (DRM) as @airman15 points out.    I've started playing SC2013 a bit again lately, and although Origin/EA have at least fixed/updated the internet interface recently, its still a bit sluggish and may overheat low-end integrated GPUs.       

[airman15 4,113]

5 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

I would say SC4 with RH (or SC4D) plus NAM 35 and all the other mods now available is SC5.

While mods have helped to help keep it relevant; I believe the way it operates will keep it from becoming what would be closer to a SC5, which implies another leap ahead in the mechanics of it. All you get in SC4 are four locked orientations at rigid zoom levels and if you open a SC4Model file in the ilive reader you'd see the way buildings are rendered mean it was made specifically for that rigid setup. 

The type of gameplay that you see in Cities Skylines would be the target metric with total 3D viewing and construction that isn't bound by a grid if they thought to bring on a true SC"5". I'm still dedicated to SC4 because it's a simple game that you want to keep building on until you forget you've already been on it for half a day!

[CorinaMarie 29,896]

3 minutes ago, airman15 said:

All you get in SC4 are four locked orientations at rigid zoom levels and if you open a SC4Model file in the ilive reader you'd see the way buildings are rendered mean it was made specifically for that rigid setup.

You say that as if it were a bad thing. It's what allows much higher detail than that other game.

I could add that SC5 would have all the other unfinished stuff that's in the .exe finished. And have multicore support.

[airman15 4,113]

1 minute ago, CorinaMarie said:

You say that as if it were a bad thing. It's what allows much higher detail than that other game.

I could add that SC5 would have all the other unfinished stuff that's in the .exe finished. And have multicore support.

I didn't mean it in a negative way; for what it's worth you can argue that it doesn't burden your CPU as much as it would with full 3D. If it wasn't working, we wouldn't have over 10,000 files to choose from that were made for it! 

I think with games that gained a huge modding base, it was because they released the tools or at least the know-how on making changes. Without those tools, SC4 would have stayed the same game aside from the content officially released by Maxis and their plugins would have stayed lost.

[BugeyedDragon 412]

6 hours ago, RandyE said:

I think that many of us are still fixed on SimCity 4 as it is the mid-point in the development of the game.  Versions 1 thru 4 are easy to see as the same game re-worked, and yes, there is what some call version 5 also-known-as SimCity 2013, but it could also be referred to as SC6 if one considers SimCity Societies as the version in between SC4 and SC 2013.

A Brief History of SimCity:

1. SimCity (Classic) -- 1989
     -- Released as Open Source, 2008 (Micropolis)
2. SimCity 2000/ Streets of SimCity -- 1994/1997
3. SimCity 3000 (SC3K) -- 1999 
4. SimCity 4 (Rush Hour Expansion)  -- 2003
5. SimCity Societies (Destinations Expansion) -- 2007
6. SimCity 2013 (Cities of Tomorrow Expansion) -- 2013

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity

So actually, we are waiting for SC7 at this point, but after version 4 the game took several different directions as its creator pursued 'The Sims' games and the vision became spread across different attempts to pull together the series.   SimCity is yet to achieve its complete 'Great Work' or true 'Masterpiece', 'Billion-dollar Blockbuster' level as its still being pulled in various directions.   For the time-being SC4 still rules...

S I M C I T Y VII

Its gonna be 'HUGE'...

Technically we also got the two Simcities on the nintendo DS (fantastic games may i add) and the one on the wii (bad one)

[SecretMbr_735754 2,158]

1 minute ago, BugeyedDragon said:

Technically we also got the two Simcities on the nintendo DS (fantastic games may i add) and the one on the wii (bad one)

Right, for the sake of 'technical' my list refers only to the PC versions.  I've never played any of the game console ones, but glad you mention them.  There's also the more recent SimCity BuildIt for Android.    But most of us fans here on ST I think are more PC-based users.   I still have a PlayStation 3, and tried SC2K on it, but it wasn't as good as it was on a PC in the mid 90's.

[Prophet42 1,503]

Don't hold your breath for a SimCity 5 (or SimCity anything). EA closed the Maxis studio that produced all the SimCity games and are only interested in producing more 'The Sims' games.

[LivingInThePast 364]

I vaguely remember that Luc Barthelet mentioned in 2004 that SimCity 5 was beginning development, and I also seem to remember that Societies files were ".sc5", though I was never able to confirm that. Whatever was developed for SC5 was either used as the framework for another game or discarded entirely.

[airman15 4,113]

23 hours ago, Prophet42 said:

Don't hold your breath for a SimCity 5 (or SimCity anything). EA closed the Maxis studio that produced all the SimCity games and are only interested in producing more 'The Sims' games.

I thought Maxis was still kept around but are now EA's arm for helping to make mobile apps? I could be wrong, some of the sources point to that being the case after the Emeryville studio was boarded up.

[armpit43 172]

Found an interesting old thread from 2004 off that forum Skyscrapercity. Apparently the OP has information SC5 was in development and another poster giving 2006 as a release date. Note the early 2000s computer problems some users complain of, a wish lists for SC5 which mirror most of the content on simtroplis for SC4 and a surprising disdain for SC4. I remember preferring SC3000 to SC4 when I first got it. http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=116474

[SecretMbr_735754 2,158]

That guy doesn't source his info and isn't very good at making things up either.   So I found the info that may help in your quest to discover the next level of SimCity...

Of course, I still believe there must be a 3D camera mod for SC4 and an all-inclusive dependency package, but better a fool than a fool that follows... So, start saving up for that state-of-the-art gaming computer...

And if you come across Raphael in your travels to find the real Simcity 6, ask him if he's got that degree in architectural engineering yet...

So here it is:

S I M C I T Y VI

Enjoy.

 

Source: http://gamesintrend.com/simcity-6/