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That footage is from SimCity: Societies. The apparent new game has had nothing but concept art (no in-game screenshots) released at this point. I'm increasingly led to believe that the notion of this leading to a proper sequel to SC4 is legitimate. I'm usually one of the biggest skeptics, but I'm pretty well convinced. -Tarkus

If I had paid around $2000 to attend that conference, then I would not be pleased if it turned out to be a hoax... ...unless of course the food was really delicious.

Zhanggiang Castle Zhang Yang Castle, also known as Zhanggian Palace, is a royal palace located in northern Zhang Yang, Okatabawashi. First constructed in 1394 and reconstructed in 1767, it was the main and largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Okata Dynasty. The name of the palace, Zhang Yang is named after the first emperor of the Yeu Dynasty, Yeu Zhang Emperor Yeu, During his reign Okatabawashi became was at the height of it's power and Yeu Wang was known as the "dragon conquerer" Nearly destroyed by the Japanese government in the early 20th century, the walled palace complex is slowly being restored to its original form prior to destruction.

Unlimited territory (region play)

I restarted working on the city hall a couple weeks ago, it's actually been done for several months, I just never got around to rendering it . I'm glad I waited, because taking a look at it recently, I spotted things I wanted to change or add. I know I've said it a hundred times before, but you can expect it within the month.

Replies: @MamaLuigi945: Thank you my friend @TekindusT: Lol, don't worry, we're just getting started... @NMUSpidey: Thanks, so far, it is working out great! @Fox: Thank you Fox, you are very kind @Evillions: Thanks for commenting! As for the tanks, if you look closely you can see the grey base texture, it blends in rather well with the shadow (giving the transparent feel). Sorry for tricking you @escilnavia: Lol! I hope we can remain good friends though @elavery: Thank you, it means alot to hear that from a great guy like yourself @Zirbs: They are found here : Somy's Port Set (2nd Download) Quick Note: Atlantsia wouldn't be habitable if it wasn't for the few days of rain each year. The rainy season is usually during June and July here, however it also rains a bit in the other months as well. The rain is a very special occasion, many fishers head out to the Arabian Sea, hoping that the raising sea levels will inscrease the chance of a large catch. In rural villages, the water is collected in a barrel, which is then stored underground in small damp rooms to prevent evaporation as much as possible. In the cities, the rain has little effect on day to day procedures, but heavy rain often causes car crashes and limited visability. At the airport, there are always several delayed and canceled flights. As a CJer: I don't want to seem like a complete fool, but the past week has been very busy for me. I have also spent much of my freetime experimenting with the ilive reader, one of my new favorite SC4 related tools, almost ahead of the L.E. This means that I spent less time working on the next city tile (which is coming along fine, but isn't complete),and more time experimenting with desert terrain mods (I created my own using some of Marsh's textures, but I am not using it because it still looks a bit like a grid from the region view and I don't want to re-render all the city tiles over again. Anyways, with that said, this entry is sort of a review of the past updates, no description really, just pics, I hope you enjoy! Thank you very much for viewing. Comments and ratings are well appreciated. Thanks!

Ooooh, I really love the first picture. All nature-like and such - great effect! @Sim_Link: Thanks! I have a lot of nature in my region. I’ll do an update about it soon The islands are awesome! Perhaps Katje Eiland will host some sort of Schulmania-themed feline festival someday... that'd be fun! @Schulmanator: I’m glad you like the islands! The festival is a great idea! We’ll work that out one day! Your newsfeed is done very well - totally convincing. @Benedict: Thank you, I think I’ll show the news more often! I really enjoyed your work. It's awesome! You said you did all this womderfull things with your old and orginal Sim City 4? After all I've seen... who wants the SC Rush hour??? I really loved it! @Simplemente: Thanks a lot! I indeed work with the basic Simcity 4. Good luck on the application @Schulmanator: Thank you! But everebody will automaticly be accepted, so I’m in! Cool, I like the photo effect on the flag. The Stronghold is interesting as well. @Lasttruechamp: Thank you! You should take a look at earlier updates, where I showed the stronghold already. I’m currently rebuilding Bijsterveld completely (yes, again ) The Alexander Park is one of the first finished areas. Alexander Park was opened in 1908 on an old dumping ground. The Park has the only hills in the flat city Bijsterveld, on sunny afternoons it can be quite hard to find a place in the grass to have a picknick or enjoy the good weather. Alexandertoren (Alexander Tower) Is dedicated tot King Alexander II who passed away inm 1907, just before the park was finished. From the top of the tower you can have beautiful views of the canals and the city center. A tunnel goes unde the old port area, which borders Alexander Park. Just west of the Park you can find the first suburban subdivision in Heimen, after more then a hundred years it is still (or even more) a popular place to live. At the end of Kings’ Avenue you can find the Royal Memorial A mosaic overview of the park I hope you enjoyed this update, though it was shorter then usual, please leave a comment! <a href="http://s07.flagcounter.com/more/0n9"><img src="http://s07.flagcounter.com/count/0n9/bg_FFFFFF/txt_000000/border_CCCCCC/columns_8/maxflags_72/viewers_Heimen+Visitors/labels_1/pageviews_1/flags_1/" alt="free counters" border="0"></a>

yay!!!!! I get out of my cage soon!

Oh, wow! Buddy, you are really, really amazing! The photo-editing, as well as the terrain and buildings are all great. I always look forward to another Atlantsia update. 5/5 and +1

emperordaniel Luckily he was found and it appears he was brainwashed and not a traitor. Hester Ya gotta look real real carefully! Gn_leugim He could of course be hiding behind the llama! emperordaniel Sounds like another spy in our midst! Dumanios Sound advice! Hester agreed Lyhoko Leaci Waldo is definitely hard to track. Benedict And she would, too! Lyhoko Leaci My sentiments exactly! 111222333444 Hear, hear! sim_link Be careful what you click on! vivapanda True. And more footage is yet to come! emperordaniel They’re dug in along a defensive front near Monkey Power Mountain ATM… Gn_leugim Down with Queensferry! Hester Agreed! Lyhoko Leaci We would love to pay them back, but our current military strategy is to liberate only. vivapanda Nope… Hank is a real candidate feline. See his website: www.hankdforsenate.com Hester I give him 9 votes, one for each life. Gn_leugim Hank FTW! Benedict It is sound advice though, wouldn’t you agree? Hester Hopefully not like this: hee hee hee! sim_link Me neither! Lyhoko Leaci More? A clue awaits on the Blog for the next release!

AWESOME!!!

There is a very interesting discussion here... http://www.squidoo.com/simcity5 It makes some good points about why would EA, after all these years do several things in quick succession to keep SC4 alive and talked about? For example... Let's hope so.

Never mind that... the next few days are going to be even worse while we wait to see if the big announcement at the GDC Conference is what we think it is... or if they are just going to bring out a new Sims 4... which of course we have all been clamouring for, for years... not.

very nice! i loved the pictures, the nature.

Well, like Tarkus, I am interested in facts, rather than speculation.... The fact that it was Dirk, who made the decision to open this new forum should not be overlooked. Dirk is a smart guy, and no he would not create a whole new forum on just wild rumours and speculation or because he wants to yank everyone's chain... (OK well he does occasionally, but that is not the point I am making... ) It is also true that Dirk has had close links to Maxis, and has personally met Will Wright in the past.

-12c... Hah the lowest where I live was like -7... God it wasn't winter this year! Can I have the snow your city will get?

I'll say this. Dirk, the site owner, has some very close ties with Maxis and such, why all of a sudden would he open a Sim City 5 forum? Think about it, he wouldn't open it for rumours or anything else. So by that we will definitely see something on March the 6th, and that concept art is genuine. If I'm wrong you can laugh at me, but I'm confident that we will hear something about Sim City 5. However, whether it will be what we want or not is another matter entirely...

Id rather wait for a great game than settle for a Good game. One thing i really liked was the idea that there was going to be more SC4 expansion packs, I hope they have plenty of expansions in SC5.

[color="#FF00FF"]Nice layout of the parks .. I personally think the maxis trees look so bland and fake compared to all those beautiful custom ones available. Nice job on the tunnel surrounds as well.[/color]

To answer at least one of your quetsions, in order to modify your copy of SC4, regardless of what the mod is, (e.g.: Network Addon Mod, custom buildings, etc.) you need to have either the SC4 Rush Hour or Deluxe version. Deluxe is pretty much the same thing as Rush Hour. EDIT: Here's a link to an article on the Omnibus that can give you some more information. Also, I see you're new to Simtropolis, so why not take a tour... *shameless advertising*

You should have more comments with people complimenting you. So, here I am. Good job. Also, let's visit Tangdutt Sadam.

that awkvard moment if u know words on that map tere tulemast tagasi

Nice building, I am totally going to use it as a tallest in one of my smaller cities. Looking forward to your next move.

OK this is definately a real conference that is happening in just a few days.... with three very big wig EA people presenting the session... How many EA games need a simulation engine? Speaker/s: Ocean Quigley (EA), Andrew Willmott (EA) and Dan Moskowitz (EA) Day / Time / Location: Wednesday 11:00-12:00 Room 3007, West Hall, 3rd Fl Track / Duration / Format / Audience Level: Programming / 60-Minute / Sponsored GDC Vault Recording: No Vault Recording Description: Join EA and one of their world class development studios as they give you a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the GlassBox Simulation Engine, the next-generation technology that is built from the ground up to power the next entry in one of their most beloved franchises. Eligible Passes: All Access Pass, Main Conference Pass Ocean Quigley (EA) Creative Director EA Andrew Willmott (EA) Chief Architect EA Dan Moskowitz (EA) Lead Gameplay Engineer EA Rats... I missed the earlybird registration for the conference... anyone got a spare $2100? Oh and I will need another $3000 or so for airfares up to San Fransisco from New Zealand, hotels, slushies...

This must have taken a lot of dedication and skill to create a city so beautiful.

Nice pic

I was quite skeptical at first. The "we want SC5" crowd has been very prone to fabrication before. However, I'm increasingly convinced there is some veracity to these claims. The Quigley/Willmott/Moskowitz presentation on GlassBox at the GDC seems a pretty legitimate sign. Both Quigley and Willmott were very much involved in SC4 . . . Moskowitz has been there awhile, too. The timing is also right in terms of the feasibility of a true-3D next-generation city-simulator. The hardware will be able to support it in 2013. Additionally, from a business perspective, EA is probably looking at how Focus Home has slowly improved Monte Cristo's "zombieware", CXL, and likely wants to ensure that the SimCity franchise stays at the top of the city-simulator heap. It makes sense. I won't be 100% convinced until there's an announcement from EA/Maxis directly (likely at the GDC) but yes, I think there's some veracity here. -Tarkus

Wow! I haven't been around in... a long while... but I stumbled across this while looking at the SimCity 5 posts. This is incredible. Nice to see so many Toronto BATs still under production!

Congratulations on the upload to the STEX, Sgt! It's a very neat structure.

Well when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much... (Nice to see you Your Hairiness)

Why are we so quick to label things "Official"... For me the "official announcement" will not be official until it is actually EA/Maxis doing the announcing. Until then any 'announcements' are at best just speculation.

At least the depth of Simcity 2000 for classic Simcity gameplay. There must be freeways, water and power utilities, buses, and it MUST have some form of rail transportation. Disasters should really be part of the game, and emergency services to actively fight them should be available. Ideally the art direction/design of buildings and structures in the game will reflect a generic present-day cityscape so that with a little imagination a global audience of gamers can connect with the cities they build. Keeping with the tradition of the Simcity series, gameplay should remain open ended. Cities XL had way too many locked reward items and technology chains/trees. Obviously you shouldn't be able to build a Launch Arco or the Empire State building landmark at the start of the game. Having to place a city hall on the only type of street available was a bit too much.. Terrain should be easily sculpt-able like in 2000. I miss the terrain editor that could generate random landscapes with a river or an ocean at the end. Other than that, I'm game for new things. The article mentioned homeless sims and causes of crime, as well as sims that don't just commute to work but also go shopping and make other trips. That would add a huge new layer of depth. I want to be wowed by new simulated things and my inner sociologist or economist to run wild. The game shouldn't just be a sequel to 4. Honestly what made 4 was the BAT, custom content, and this site...honestly I've always felt the gameplay to be frustrating and aesthetics not my thing. Finally for a wished-for thing, It would be cool if it was like Minecraft and the map was generated as chunks with procedurally generated terrain. The only limit on the size of your region or city and its shape would be your PC. Oh yeah, "Reticulating Splines" and Llamas must appear somewhere in the game or its not Simcity.

I don't think it's an issue with the leaf density. From what I understand it's simply SC4 thinking an area of the image should be shown when it really should be transparent, the solution I found, while still not perfect, was just to make the background dark green. Also, I exported the day scene of 345PA last night and it only took 8 hours and 20 minute, which is much less than the 12 hours it took last time. I think it's a combination of OCing and attaching about 2000 objects into one object. The night export is running now and seems to be taking much longer. By the way, this is THE LAST TIME I'm exporting this model. It's good enough to where I don't want to deal with another 24hr export when someone finds a single-pixel-mistake. lol Next on the list is updating 270PA to it's renovated condition and improving on the lights and plants. 2nd will be finishing 277PA because it's only about 1/3 complete. 3rd will be finishing 280PA cause I just barely started it, but when it's finished I'll have 4 neighbor buildings of Park Ave finished. After that I'll probably pick some other nearby building. If you're wondering why Citigroup and the Westin aren't on the list, the answer is Citigroup is too much for my computer to handle, specifically the fountain, and the Westin's dimensions are just all over the place. It's like something out of a crazy hallucination. Anyway, one day I'll be able to post some pics of the mentioned area of Park Ave which look like the real thing. Until then I have thousands of hours of work ahead of me...

I just hope they get inspired by the developments done by users in SC4.

Replies: 10000000000000 and Vivapanda: Thank you for the comments! Update 5: Criminal Man! Today's updates will be a different one, about a criminal... Recently, a car theft (from Genoa) on parole broke into a car in Genoa Heights. After a friend called and told him the police were waiting at his house, he fled the city. He drove for an hour down the highway and exited here. He drove down this road until he stopped at a bank in downtown Highland. Here, he made a new account under a different name and deposited all the cash he took out of his former bank. He also took a free cookie. As the sun was setting, he parked his in this garage. Later, he met up with a friend and moved into the apartment next to him. For now, it looks like he's home free. Highland is a big place, and the Genoa police don't even know he's gone yet! Go ahead and comment!

Look at the primary sources here . . . two European sites dedicated primarily to The Sims, likely with not too much of a direct connection to EA/Maxis. SimTimes does seem to be tangentially related to SimForum (the major German site), but that's about it. (And SimPlaza is the "official" Sims part of SimForum). I think a bit of skepticism is in order. They seem like implausible places to break the news. That said, EA has some smart folks on board who are well aware of the fact that computer specs could not do what the market was ultimately demanding--a full-3D next-generation city-simulator--until sometime in the mid-2010s. Paul Pedriana (lead programmer/engineer on SC4, Spore and most recent iterations of The Sims) said this back in 2003: As I've stated many times, including this post 2 years ago, in 2010, regarding the failure of CXL's "Planet Offer" and Monte Cristo's demise: Anyone who thought SC:S was going to be SC5, or that the original iteration of CXL would succeed was not remotely realistic in understanding just what is involved in making a game in this genre, and the technical leap necessary to go from fixed-angle orthographic projection to true 3D with a full-on simulation engine. We're just about there on the hardware now--Intel and AMD have had hex-core offerings since the end of 2010, which are gaining market penetration, and quad-cores are starting to be come standard, and laptops are now getting quad-core CPU. Graphics seem to be making a bigger leap forward, and 4GB of RAM is commonplace, with 8GB becoming a more frequent spec (especially now that we're in the era of 64-bit OSes that can use all of it). AMD is discussing octo-core and deca-core processors (albeit these are Opteron CPUs intended more for server/enterprise use). I think between this information and all the other recent activity (e.g. the scaled-down port of SC4 to iPad, the Herman Cain 9-9-9 promotion, the other recent rumblings), it would not surprise me if they are, at the very least, considering a new offering. That said, at this point, anything is simply speculation. We won't know anything for certain until there's some sort of announcement, and even then, it might create more questions than it'll answer. -Tarkus

Elavery, awesome work. Is it one large tile or even more? Seems immense! 9988, I like the choice of buildings a lot, but the picture has been sharpened too much in my honest opinion.. Here's an older mosaic from me from a region I have stopped playing about 6 months ago: I think it conveys some suburban 'flair', but it lacks details and there's too little traffic on the freeway unfortunately..

That region looks absolutely stunning, where can I get it?

WEDDING DAY - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2012 - 11:00 AM Welcome, everyone, to the first Adonian Royal Wedding of the year! Today is the much-anticipated wedding between His Imperial and Royal Majesty Charles the First, King of Grand, Emperor of Belluterra, King of Malo, Prince of Tarskya, Grand Duke of Royale, Duke of Long Island, Count of Long Creek, Count of Skarr, and Count of Lake Tranquil, and Miss Jóhanna Anna Guðrúnsdóttir of the Republic of Gamat. 93 state guests are coming to the wedding, hailing from 23 different nations, 15 of which are members of the Union. In addition to these esteemed guests, who are staying at the Great Western Palace, situated on a narrow peninsula at Grand Island's northwest corner, thousands of others are also expected to attend, though for security's sake, they will be in a different part of the cathedral than the official guests. Besides the thousands who will see the event in person, millions, if not billions, are going to be watching this live on TV, the Internet, or what have you. Here is one of many gardens in the world-famous palace, which is one of the largest built in the modern era, construction beginning several years before the Great Adonian War (1947-1952). This particular area is a memorial to the devastation caused by the GAW and associated conflicts, such as the Trentanno-Belluterran invasion and occupation of Grand, which lasted from 1941 to 1951, when the nation was liberated by the Posilliponian Armed Forces. Emnity between Grand and Trentannia has already died down, though; an example of the very good relations between the two nations now is the fact that the Trentannian King, Richard IV, and his wife Queen Julia, have been invited to the wedding. As you can see, a few dozen people have already begun to gather for the wedding, which will begin quite soon. Here, en route to the Cathedral of Saint Francis (patron saint of the nation), we pass an area of the gardens dominated by tall, shady trees and beautiful decorative fountains in all shapes and sizes. This is one small part of the Fountain District of the palace, which covers nearly two square kilometers - larger than the Vateo, home of the Pope. Deeper into the Fountain District, the fountains designs become more varied, and the pathways start to take unusual twists and turns, frequently crisscrossing each other. This is one of the most popular parts of the palace for tours, and is also one of the newest sections; the last fountain was switched on for the first time in 1989. Getting back to the main path, we pass an outdoor hot tub, a miniature rose garden, and a statuary dedicated to famous figures from thorought history. As the time draws nearer, the crowd seems to be getting bigger... Finally, we arrive at the cathedral, which almost everybody has already entered. Discounting civillian residences that used to be located here, this was one of the first buildings begun on the site, before the palace was ever concieved of. It was heavily damaged during the occupation era, as it was the focal point of a stronghold for Royalist troops. From a combination of Trentannian bombing and Belluterran shelling, very little was left of the structure by the time the town, and the palace, was liberated by the Posilliponian Navy in March 1951; what was left was torn down soon after for salvageable building materials. Starting in 1957, reconstruction began on the cathedral, and by 1975, it had been rebuilt and rededicated. Everyone is now inside, and all that is missing is the bride and her father, who are due to arrive very soon. His Imperial and Royal Majesty, King-Emperor Charles I Miss Jóhanna Anna Guðrúnsdóttir The bride has arrived! All eyes are on her as she, accompanied by her father Guðrún Arnarssón, moves forward to take her place by the altar next to Charles. She is wearing a beautiful, yet simple in design, wedding dress made from Ruterian silk, and having designs taken from nature sewn into various parts of the dress in gold thread. She is also wearing a Gamic wedding crown made of branches, leaves and minerals of her сhoice, with traditional Gamic charms hanging from it, designed to make a musical tinkling sound as she walks down the aisle, to protect her from malicious spirits which, according to Gamic tradition, love to wreak havoc upon newlyweds. Jóhanna's Wedding Dress At the altar, the groom's brother, the Prince Imperial and the Louwahkutapaht (head of the Church of Grand) are stationed to officiate over the wedding. Charles is wearing his ceremonial uniform as Commmander-in-Chief of the united armed forces of Grand, Belluterra, and Malo; complete with the sword "Wansisart", a relatively ancient heirloom of the Kingdom of Grand, passed down from King to King since the 16th century, when it was in possession of King Francis Roberts I, who founded the Royal Kingdom of Grand in the mid-1500s. The only time it has ever been out of the country since it was made was during the GAW, when King Francis V took the sword with him when he was forced to evacuate in the face of the advancing Belluterran Army and Trentannian Navy. Wansisart They have now reached the altar, and the wedding ceremony has officially begun. The two of them are now bowing together before the Prince Imperial and the Louwahkutapaht, the Emperor handing his brother the ceremonial sword, and the famous Gamic singer handing the Louwahkutapaht her artistically-designed bouquet of Khwint roses, as is tradition at Grandian royal weddings. Now the sword and roses have been placed on the altar, the King-Emperor and soon-to-be Queen-Empress, who are still kneeling, holding each other's hand, while reaching out with their other hand to touch the bouquet and sword, respectively. They are now about to take their vows of fealty to the nation, and to each other.

Another mosaic from my CJ.

An old fort along the coast, abandoned long ago

A small town I'm buidling on a lake

Popping in to show a pic from my CJ, Cumberland Full Resolution

From Dillenburg, Nassau.