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Hi there, My name is FerryV and i just came back from GamesCom 2012! The first thing I did was running to hall 6 were half of the hall was build up by EA. And wow what a amazing stands. My favorite: SimCity off course. So I went in line and waited 2 hours. This was the longest I waited for a game at GamesCom. I was amazed how popular SimCity is. In line I watched all the trailers and studied the whole stand with the amazing art. Finely it was my change to experience SimCity and I can tell you the following: Guys and girls. Its going to be a great game!!! We played the alpha version (not beta) with a basic prebuild city. Off course there was a lot wrong with the city (no power, no water, no fire stations, not enough housing etc.) so I had 20min to rebuild the whole city and watched it got destroyed in the end by an meteor shower Because it was an alpha version a lot of building/mass transit etc wasn’t available. This is more than logic but still Maxis gave me a real good feeling were the game is going to. This is what I discovered/experienced in that 20 minutes: - building road (and bus stations) The first thing I had to do is connect my city with the regional highway. I had 2 options to build my connections: Straight road or Curvy road. There was also an 3th option showing but not available. That looked like an zone function. I think it’s going to be the same function as SC4 automatic roads when zoning. I have to be honest that the curvy road system wasn’t flawless. But giving it’s a Alpha version completely logical. But the roads worked pretty good and looked pretty fine. I also build 3 bus stations and upgraded the bus stations with extra capacity. Because I build this more in the end I didn’t had enough time to really explore all the possibility’s (sorry for that one) - Zoning Yes zoning! No plopables! (only government buildings) And I was amazed by it. Here the glassbox revealed itself. If you build a plain road and then go to the option zoning you will get automatic zoning on the road. So even when your roads are curvy and makes no sence the zoning will figure it out. The best part about this was that I didn’t had to figure out exactly how the zoning will fit within the curvy road and I didn’t had any empty space! (like Cities XL) It was such a joy seeing the housing, commercials and smelly industry growing. My residential neighborhood was with a lot of gardens and green. But the houses closer to the commercial zone were more dense and were as my commercial area more of concrete. It was beautiful. Not like you see on the trailer with high skyscrapers and a grass garden around it. Now I must say I didn’t had really skyscrapers yet because the city wasn’t big enough yet. And for the people that want to control their own zoning completely. I could bulldoze everything pretty easy. And not all the zoning possibilities where available. - Popable (with upgrades) This is the best part I think. You can transform all your plopable building and transform them as you dement them to. I build the following: Coal Plant, Windmill Farm, Fire station, Bus station. All of the building had unique add-ons. Some of them you could plant around your building (see also trailer were they build a school and putt dorms around it) In my case I build a fire station, put a bell tower on it. Build an extra garage on the other side of the street and put a nice flag pole next to it J With the windmill I made 2 classic windmills (not the hypermodern you’ve seen on some screenshot from Maxis) and I build a nice sign that it was a windmill park in front of the building. Next I made dirt road from the office to the windmills for the maintenance truck. At this point I realized the game is going to be deep enough for SimCity builders. - Water tower (and groundwater) When I build my water tower I got the water table of the map. I build it on a splash of dark blue water instead of light blue water. This off course the get a higher output of the tower. Right away I seen the water run down the city. Finely not wasting my time on water pipes anymore! J At this stage I got also involved in the next item: - Graphs In the older SimCity I used my graphs a lot in combinations with the famous minimap. In this version Maxis does it different. The whole map interact in what you want to see. So I click on fire risk and seen that one house was burned down and was now rubbish and that there were some warnings at some local factories. Next I switched to density and the whole city went white (buildings) and circle towers in different colors where shooting out of my city. I could see right away were all the people work, sleep, shop etc. It was very clear and much better than before. Than by accident I clicked on a car that was driving over the street. Guess what happened: - Cars, citizens, agents and routes etc. When you click a car it give you information about that car. Who is driving it. Were that person lives and were he is going to! It was so cool to see that the agent system from glassbox really is there. This gives an extra deep dimension to control your city and its transport system (if you want to micromanagement) But luckily the agents found their way also by themselves. So one of the cars that I followed didn’t took the shortest route (through my nice green residential zone) but was driving a bit around it on my bigger avenue. Soon my avenue got some bad traffic jam at the big intersection with the commercial zone. Suddenly I seen some care (not all) sneak around it through my nice neighborhood. I don’t want that off course, so I build even an even bigger avenue (the one with the light rail in the middle) now the traffic was getting this as preferred road.I didn’t figure out a way to upgrade the road, but then again I didn’t put much effort in it (had nice empty space) and I could not work with the light rail because at this point my time was up. I also think that the light rail didn’t work yet in this version. - Graphics OMG it was already beautiful. And I cant wait till the final result. For the first time in SimCity I really love the night time. I build my power plant by accident in the evening and blink blink blink.. all the lights in the city were turned on. It was amazing to see. And because not all are burning and some go off or on it really looks realistic. Well maybe realistic isn’t the right word because as you know SimCity works wilt tilt-shift. My brother found it looks like a bit cartoony because of the tilt-shirt. That its looked a bit more like sims and not like SC4. But still disagree with him. I feld like I could really see every detail in my city and still see everything that’s going on. But then again I love good tilt-shift movies. How suddenly a real life big environment still keeps all its details but looks like you can play with it like Lego. - Disasters (meteor shower) I’m not a big fan of disasters. Why would I destroy a perfect city?! But I guess it’s a part of SimCity and a lot of people like it. Well the meteor shower was a nice ending and it looked pretty amazing. Maxis/Dr Vu destroyed all recently build cities in one click. Maybe it was better this way because I really wanted to take the city home with me. Now it was destroyed it was easier to go outside of the stand. - 20minutes and feedback Because I only had 20 minutes I tried as many things as possible in that period of time. But every SimCity player knows how fast time goes away with that game. The thing I regret the most is also the time shortage I had. I really hope the beta comes out soon and hopefully (fingers crossed, wink to Maxis) I will be selected as a beta user. In this story I described my experience as accurate as possible. If you still have questions for me about my experience please ask. I will try to answer them as good and quick as I can. But remember I only played 20 minutes (way to short Maxis!!) So I only experienced a tip of the iceberg. As last: The computers were SimCity was running on was behind closed doors. Cameras were not allowed and they were made sure nobody was filming anything. I think they did that just to tease everybody that was not there. So im sorry I dont have any nice vids/screens. Also I didn’t talk to anybody from Maxis. So I had no change to ask my questions / give my feedback to them. If maxis still want my feedback they know how to contact me. But for now: Thanks Maxis, you did a really great job. Thanks everybody for reading my story and please give me feedback. Greetings, FerryV (origin/simtropolis accountname) Ps. My native language is not English as you can see and I am dyslectic. So sorry for the mistakes and please read over them. If you don’t understand a part please also leave feedback, Pss. Just reminds me: I did no terraforming / nor did i seen the option Psss. I build one beautiful park out of 4 options i had. I didnt check if that was upgradable

Hi Michael Donahoe (Maxis) Thanks for your compliment. What great to see Maxis on the forum of simtropolis. So maybe they see more than we think? Anyway, just keep the SimCity blog alive and fill the insider part with cool stuff and im happy. Can you also give us a small hint when you think the beta is gonna be released? (and make sure me and the others from this post are between the lucky onces?) Good luck on the rest of GamesCom Greetings, FerryV Yep, a lot of Maxis folk frequent Simtropolis! And don't you worry about keeping the blog/Insider alive -- lots of stuff in the pipeline. Regarding the Beta, I don't have any specifics right now, but I can say we'll be revealing more info soon. And when we do, I'll let y'all know.

It is rumoured that EA Games has been put up for sale. While it's still the second largest games publisher in the world, EA has seen a 37% drop in market value this year. Private equity firms KKR and Providence Equity Partners are said to be interested.

Exactly. Of course people have a right to say what they don't like, but this forum is ALL about complaining! They don't see ANYTHING good (or at least they don't talk about it) only the bad sides. I mean, there are things I don't like either, but I also see a lot of good things in new SimCity as well. GlassBox, multiplayer, SCWorld ect. it sounds great! Before, there was even a fan projects where people was trying to make SC4 multiplayer to play together and everyone was so exited, and now, when they got it in new SC, they complain... And the most important thing is, 99% of the people here didn't play or even seen some gameplay videos, and yet they judge the game and repeat the same things over and over again, in every post... It's really getting boring.

Really great write-up! The reception at the show so far has been awesome.

I can sum it up like this: "Ummm...you have to make the game the way I want it, otherwise I'll complain." *complains, complains* *complains, complains* *complains, complains* "Oh yeah, and the game must be just like SC4, just with 3D graphics and curvy roads, anything else is not welcome" *complains, complains* "Why is this game not like SC4?! It's not like I can just go and play SC4, you have to make the same game again!" *complains*

Well... it's not 1 x 1 km, but it's almost as bad: https://twitter.com/...594511831236611 And it is the only size available... But he does say you can get much much higher populations in that tile. As I said in the Gamescon thread, this confirmation of a detail most of us suspected (and was indeed confirmed by Maxis early on, but due to certain definite statements that the "maps would certainly be larger" I was, along with others I'm sure, sucked into a pocket of false hope) is a deal breaker for me. Sure, it's better than 1 x 1 km, but not by much. That and all of that no-man's land surrounding each city will make this game completely unrealistic. At best, it'll offer you some interest with its flashy Glassbox simulation and its "wonderful Simcity World" trading feature, but that's pretty much it. The seamless region play/large cities so many potential fans wanted will never happen. Realistic recreation of real life cities is also off the table. Heck, we won't even be able to build highways for God's sake. Yeah, I think I'm done waiting for the train to crash. For all of those who want to stay on the burning wreck, all I have to say is good luck to you.

Like ferryv pointed out in his awesome write-up (), we showed off the meteor shower in our Gamescom demo. Speaking of, it's really fascinating to watch the reactions when the meteor shower hits as we don't actually tell players it happens (though we do hint at it in the tutorial text!). The attachment that some people get to their city after only 15 or so minutes of playtime is pretty amazing! And as far as other disasters go, we'll be revealing some more soon, so stay tuned.

View Album What else is there to say? Updated Update Since the general public did not share the Mayor's enthusiasm, the brandnew fleet of hovercraft had to be retired... back to the ordinary water fleet <sniff>... To save the day, more firefighting equipment was purchased ;-) And finally - a more complete overview of the area - * Click pics for fullsize... :-)

Replies: Fox: Thank you!!! Hazani Pratama: Thank you!! Schulmanator: Thank you!! I try to keep improving it ggamgus: I try to show a realistic Spanish-style city, so you'll find something like this TekindusT: Thank you!!! Jacob Guajardo: Thank you!!! grstudios: Thank you!!! I hope there won't be many accidents too SimCoug: Thank you!!! 111222333444:Thank you!!! hackinosa: Gracias!!! panthersimcity4: Thank you!!! I remember your CJ San Pedro, one of the first Spanish-styled cities in ST a while ago! KonstantinII: Parking in streets is normal in Spain mystic_destiny: A roundabout made with LE CRAZYRUSSIANGUY: In STEX and LEX mainly, but you need LotEditor to put that cars on streets, etc Pampa_uy: Gracias!!! superjjcarvalho: Only props and then using Lot Editor, textures from NAM. alerules: Gracias!!! Mastof: Thank you! spursrule14: Thank you! It's an honour to be in the Best of the Best section. And now we start today's update. We go up the Vía Imperial again (the longest street, remind that) and we reach the Churruca district, where the city's first CBD was constructed. This area began its development in the '70s and it reached its highest point in the mid '80s. Still a bustling area, it has been partly offset by the new CBD in the 2000s, but you can still find restaurants, shops and nightclubs in this area. So let's get started. We'll see firstly the most important buildings one by one. BCV tower: Built in 1986, it was the last tower of the district, but with 179 m of height, it has been the second tallest skyscraper in Vistalegre since it was built until the 2000s. It hosts the BCV (Banco Central de Vistalegre) headquarters. Windsor Tower: (the same as the one in Madrid, duh) Built in 1976, it was the first tower in the area. It has a height of 106m. In the lower stories, it has a shopping centre and a nightclub. Garconsa tower: Built by García Construcciones, S.A. (Garconsa) in 1980, it's the smallest skyscraper, with 72m high. Plaza de la Libertad: (Liberty Square) It host an underground shopping centre and subway station. It's surrounded by the Mérida towers I and II, both from 1979, and a height of 88m both. Then, in front of it the City Tower, sometimes called "Mérida III", built in 1983, and a height of 107 metres. Berlín, Viena and Mutua Aseguradora buildings: Berlín (on the left) and Viena (on the right) towers were built both in 1984, and they top 89 and 78 metres respectively. The Mutua Aseguradora building was built in 1980 to host an insurance company's HQ, and it's 124 metres tall. (the one in the back) Torre Cuzco: Built in 1979, it has a height of 80m, and it has now the largest advert in the city. Now we ended showing the buildings, let's see the Rodríguez Millán Football Stadium, with 87.000 seats it's the largest in the city (before the new Ciudad del Fútbol stadium will be ended, in 2013) It's the home stadium of the Imperial de Vistalegre, the most laureate team in the whole country. Team logo: A view of the residential districts near it... Stadium and part of CBD overview BONUS PICS: A helicopter trip near Vía Imperial Road works ahead. Expect delays. This update was brought by: Hope you liked it!!

Is this the most stupid driver ever? Why not just drive stright up the avenue, round the roundabout, up the avenue and they would be home?????

No one would be complaining about the multiplayer if it was optional. period. (and by that I mean the option of being to play by yourself OFFLINE).

Very nice - I already see you've quite a collection. As others have said, texturing is the most important aspect. I spend at least 2/3rds - 4/5ths of the total time taken to make a BAT on textures alone. GMAX can be relatively forgiving when cutting corners on some of the modelling techniques, but if I cut corners on the texturing component, someone will always notice

Thanks for the great review! As a professional Architect I find myself playing simcity 4 a lot at the office during down time. I can not wait for the new simcity to come out. One thing that concerned me was the images that are released with open grass between large office buildings and multi level residential buildings. I would think that the space would be filled with concrete/sidewalks/parks etc. I believe your post touched on that subject saying that it is indeed filled with concrete? Can you confirm this. Thanks!

I don't mind the smaller size for cities. Though as computing power increases, they can more than likely increase the size of cities. Putting the cities far apart with nothing in between is not a big deal folks, it's still in Alpha, what we've seen isn't going to be what ships in the live version. Look at "Artoo-na" (The R2-shaped city). It was pitiful and I caught myself going "omgwtfbbq are they saying this is what SC will look like? It looks pathetic!" Then I remembered "oh wait, they're just showing the road network's capability to do different angles and curves." Folks, calm down, remember, this is only an Alpha, they'll probably work on Agriculture for Beta when there's a wider base of testers. If they don't release agriculture on release day, they may do an expansion pack. They probably saw how people loved Rush Hour and said "Okay, we'll put transport options at the top of the development list." If I'm understanding the engine right it can easily handle an agriculture component of the simulation. If they don't do agriculture, maybe we need a NAM-like group of modders to develop an agriculture mod. Even the world's most beautiful diamond started as an ugly lump of carbon once.

I think your BATing skills are improving! I really like the last ball field you did, it reminds me of the old Durham Bulls field (as seen in the movie). I am not a BATer so I can't offer much technical advice, but I will be following your thread. Looking forward to your future creations, and I think Fenway would be an awesome BAT.

BOMB THEM!

Well, as long as you describe your experience well, it shouldn't matter to which conclusion you come - it will be an interesting and informative read in any case. Whatever you describe as an aspect that turned you off might be no big deal for others, and vice versa. So go ahead and share your experience if you like! I've seen two reviews so far, and both were very enthusiastic. So why not a more critical review?

You've made a lot of amazing stadiums. But I wonder if you can add some nightlight to these BATs? Then the night scene will be more colorful

My own review would be slightly more negative, though there was a lot of people indeed.

I think the main point of the "have you played it yourself" argument is that playing something and reading about it is very different. For one thing, he may enjoy the engine more and all the tiny details so he may have glossed over items that you might have more interesting like certain building aspects or city management or Mayor mode terraforming. Next, why do you think it will get boring quickly just because he likes the engine? It just adds a new layer to the city building. New things to appreciate and new things to worry about. Because at the core, you still build a city. Why does the fact that data layers being done in CitiesXL already make it bad for this game? I never played the game so I'm asking, where the data layers a good addition? If so, why shouldn't SimCity incorporate it? If it was bad, why can't SimCity build on it and fix it? Over the shoulder shooters became big after RE4 released. That doesn't mean other games can't build off it without being bad? Your last point about getting bored because of small city size is a good argument for you but not everyone wants to build huge cities. Maybe other plays appreciate building smaller towns? My point is, some people can enjoy it. Lastly, just because it's a gameplay article doesn't mean you can truly experience the game by simply reading it. Have you ever liked a game that got unfavorable reviews? Or do you dislike a game that extremely favorable reviews? My point is, you can read as much as you want but actually playing a game ultimately determines your enjoyment of the game. Example. Everyone loves Demons Souls and Dark Souls and the games got very favorable reviews. I can't get into the game at all. But on paper, all the features of the game are features that I enjoy in other RPGs. I thoroughly enjoyed Magna Carta 2 but that game got many unfavorable reviews. What I'm trying to illustrate here is that you can form an opinion and gather information based on other people's experiences but sitting down and playing the game ultimately cements your feeling towards the game. The same goes for movies, books, TV shows, etc.

Alright, time to liven this thread up a bit. The great buildings released on the STEX recently got me inspired and in the mood for some batting, so I started a new project, 345 Seventh Avenue, a couple of days ago, and this is where I am today: http://binged.it/RYNX21 http://goo.gl/maps/v8zWb Mack The Finger, I'm working on those about as fast as I reply to your question. Hopefully I will finish up some older things and not let the work I have put down go to waste.

i yelled and screamed after I saw the new trailer... "millions of ways to play" more like millions of reasons not to purchase

There most certainly won't be a monthly fee. As far as modding goes, keep in mind, modding for SimCity 4 wasn't available on day one. It took some time before those were released. The team understands the importance of modding, though. I can tell you that.

Hey guys! I've been reading this thread (I'm the Maxis Studio Community Manager, btw) and I just want y'all to know I appreciate all the feedback (both positive and negative). I totally understand that a lot of you guys are a wee bit hesitant about the game we're making. I don't blame you -- it's been almost ten years since SimCity 4 (crazy, right?). But coming from someone who interacts with the team at Maxis on a daily basis and plays the game regularly, I can safely say the game we're making is worthy of the SimCity name (trust me -- this is NOT another Societies!). I understand it's a little hard to see that right now as we haven't released a ton of stuff to the public (that'll change next week at Gamescom, though!), but give the game a chance, and I think you'll really see what we're trying to accomplish. Speaking of Gamescom, if anyone here is attending the show, make sure to stop by our booth and play the game (really looking forward to hearing the feedback from those attending). I'll be there, too, so if you see me, say hey!

Welcome back to Borussia! We ended the previous update learning about the community of Walden, and today we'll learn a bit more before we go. Back in Walden we go by the farmer's market. The stalls are full of locally grown food after the harvest in the fall, but today the stalls are mostly empty as fall has yet to come here in Borussia. Many people still come though to relax with friends and play the popular games that are always set up and running around the market. As we leave the market we decide to head to our next destination. On our way to the rail station our driver is informed that our ride will not be coming in today due to repairs on the tracks east of Walden. Looks like we're back on the road again. On our way out of town we pass the Walden Country School, where many of the farm kids go to learn about farm stuff instead of that "non-sense" the town school teaches to its city folk, such as math, language and science. We make our way through the countryside towards our next stop, Branaugh Wood. Looks like someone harvested their crops early by the look of the land around this farmer's acreage. Further down we stop at a general store because one of you just had to go! Back behind the store is the old mill that used to use the pond water to turn its water wheel for years. Now that you're down in the bathroom back at the store we continue our drive. Just past the store are some old windmills and a ranch. As we take a look at the windmills the smell of the ocean fills the air around us; we're back on the coast. The highway then takes us by the limestone quarry on the side of Radio Hill. The quarry was used to build the castle in Stafford hundreds of years ago but hasn't been used in years. The path along the quarry takes us up to the top of Radio Hill and the namesake radio station on the top of the hill. The station, KBGB 91.9, has filled the local airways with everyone's favorite elevator music and news for years. Don't get to close to the edge though, its a long drop to the ocean below. After hiking up and down the path, our driver takes us into Branaugh Wood to grab us a bite to eat. There's bound to be food somewhere down there in the hamlet. Downtown has a market eerily similar to Walden's, yet doesn't have as food or games today. Luckily across the street there's a local pizza shop. To the west of the market is the center of all of your livestock feed needs, the Hay Market. The rest stop and an old warehouse reside near the hay market. Down the quiet dirt streets we reach the bed n breakfast near the station. Here we'll stop for the day. The Branaugh Wood area in whole. Following the main road to the right through the forest and farms will take you to back to Green Cape. Here's a preview of our next stop. It's not completely done yet but should be done by next week. The next updates may be somewhat short as I have school starting again now, but that shouldn't keep me from having at least one weekly update. I hope you enjoyed today's tour through rural Borussia!

St. Cuthbert is the second city of Veronsly, located on a bay in the south of the island. Okay, maybe labels like "second city" are a little demeaning, but don't consider it a bad thing. What St. Cuthbert has going for it is the laid-back feeling of a cultural city and university town. Except without the university, but that's not the point. Albanel, the capital, (which you will see soon), is much more fast-paced and focused on financial and government stuff... and who really wants to do that on a hot summer day? Of course, the island of Veronsly does not get very many hot summer days - if any at all. Locals jokingly say that the gloom of nearby Britian is the reason for the island's bad weather. But anyways... Below you will see the historic center of the city, with the tall spire of the St. Cuthbert cathedral towering above the main square. The cathedral is located on the spot of the first Christian church on the island, constructed by a celtic monk named Cuthbert who is the island's patron saint. His tomb is located in the city of Bequelan, which is considered the center of Christianity on the island with its large cathedral. The large white building on the square is the city hall of St. Cuthbert. The main square is lined with old structures from different time periods... from medieval to renaissance and Georgian. Located here is Liberation Square, with the mausoleum of Kaiden Ruthfellow, who was the first leader of the country after independence from Britian. He was born and grew up in St. Cuthbert. In front of the mausoleum is the National History museum. There's also a train station nearby that connects the city with its western suburbs and the capital city of Albanel. Below is another museum, the Naval History museum, dedicated to the naval history of the island. The main train station of the city is located here, which unlike the other train station, provides express trains directly to the capital city and Bequelan. Farther east from the train station is the suburb of Sterenbury, which is pretty much just up the hill from the main train station. Here you will find the local university, (okay, there actually IS one) located in the brick building with the spire on the corner. There's also the historic church of St. Alban.... ....aaaand a video rental place, because apparently they haven't gone entirely out of business just yet. Around the area you'll also find victorian terraces, a product of the island's British rule. Thanks for reading!!

In this tour, we will take a look at some of the residential offerings in Roanoke, which has a very high quality of life, affordable housing, good schools and hospitals, and a very low crime rate. Here is the Roanoke State Hospital, constructed prior to the Civil War, it was used as an infirmary during the CW and treated Confederate and Union troops alike. Several miles away are some single family houses, which are very prevalent in the area. More suburban development: Housing in the south:

checked it out and i like the format.

i got 8gb somebody here has 16 or so...

I am also looking for the Newman Chem plant. Anyone have any idea where I can get it??? Don't know about the original lot of the chem plant, but if you just want to avoid brown box on TM Propellant; you can get the needed building in this pack Also; Paeng did a re-lot of the Newman Inc industrial series here Goes to show what I know Wasn't even avare the RHW had ret.walls only seen these walls as stand alones (probably some custom lotting) ...and yeah, a tutorial sounds good now after a few failed attempts Yeaah.. looking a bit closer I think I've seen something like that earlier too... *must dig* EDIT: yup, it reminds me of the lots from

Hmm, so you can't have different zones in one block? :/ I hope they change that, because it's odd having commercial on a main road and also on a little lane behind it which is meant to service residential...

Without skyscrapers as a specific goal, I just play and improve the city. When the demands are there for the big buildings, I simply zone for them, and they grow. Best sizes are 2 x 4, 3 x 4 and 4 x 4 high density. If you make a 6 x 6 medium or high density you can get a shopping centre or two. I usually have a population of happy Sims in the 100,000 range before these buildings show up. Don't forget water and municipal services as well as open areas such as parks and plazas in the downtown. The 4 x 4 tall commercial buildings like to be on a corner lot. A neat way to get large residential buildings is to make a block 8 x 4 consisting of 2 x 2 lots (make sure all the lots on each long side face that road). The result can be 4 x 4 or 4 x 2 buildings if the simulator is ready for them. Look for high density residential demand. There are also some 4 x 3 buildings.

Or, if you want to use the game mechanics to your advantage, simply avoid putting too many parks, hospitals, or schools. I've found the most effective way to keep things low-wealth is actually to have lots of trash pollution. Don't put any landfills and don't make any trash neighbor deals. Of course that would affect the whole city. It's very difficult to keep a nice part and a slum in one city tile.

Once a building you want grows, click on it and set it to historic. This will preserve it forever even if education goes up or you add parks in the area. If a non-R$ building grows that you don't want, simply bulldoze it until a building you want grows in its place. Then set it to historic. Simply, no ?

Hi Michael Donahoe (Maxis) Thanks for your compliment. What great to see Maxis on the forum of simtropolis. So maybe they see more than we think? Anyway, just keep the SimCity blog alive and fill the insider part with cool stuff and im happy. Can you also give us a small hint when you think the beta is gonna be released? (and make sure me and the others from this post are between the lucky onces?) Good luck on the rest of GamesCom Greetings, FerryV

Glad to see you back, love the stuff you've been making. Ps: What happened to Plaza Hotel, it looks amazing?

Awesome!!!love the railroad trash center.also how did you get the flag for the post office all I have on mines is this box.

Yes it was a satisfying experience. Also i was skeptical till a couple of days before GamesCom (last trailer did me good as well) You still miss alot in my review because there is just to much to write. After this i will post an email i just sended to a other SimCity fan (he sended me some qestions for Maxis @ GamesCom) But for now your questions first: - My City tile was not that big. Forgot to write that in my review. But only prox 20% was build so i have more than enough space for 20minutes. I didnt fill it all up. If you compare it with SC4 it was between a small and medium map. But it still was clearly a alpha version. I didnt even had a region or something yet! But hopefully this anwser your question. The bad part was that i didnt talk to Maxis There were a couple of people walking arbound making sure you didnt took pictures and explained to the rookies how to build a road. Those guys couldnt anwser any serious questions. The tiles were kind of automatic in size. I build the roads, and said were i wanted zoning and what kind of zoning. The zoning its self was done by glassbox. The positive side is that you dont have any empty spaces (like Cities XL \ As also seen in trailer Maxis) negative side is that i dont know if and how much control of zoning i will lose with this system. Because i didnt play long enough en again its only an alpha version you cant really tell it yet. For my first City in the new engine it didnt bother me. It even surpriced me (because i didnt like the empty spaces in the trailer) If you have anymore qestions please aks. EMAIL FROM SIMFAN281 Read your comment box! http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/The-Curvy-Road-to-Gamescom Thanks for helping out Internet People for demo next week for FAQ. I have my below. I hope English Lang American is ok.... here is questions below 1. I want to know if there is Sewage/Waste Plants can reduce water ground pollution in SimCity kind of like in SimCity 4. 2. Are we able lay down City Substation Power Centers from Main Power Plants without dragging all those power lines? 3. Are we getting see Rain/Weather to recycle water in the ground so resources don’t dry up? 4. What kind stadiums are we having like Baseball Stadium, Soccer, I did see the new Arena Stadium with Monster Cars. 5. Are the Main Roads are easy to upgradable from Side Street, to Avenue Street and for Highways are they both Above Ground and Ground Highways with On/Off Ramps? 6. Are Metro Light Rails, Heavy Rails have Above Ground to Ground and Underground Tunnels? 7. Are we able to Turn Off Camera Effects? From, SimFan281 ANSWER TO HIS EMAIL: Hey SimFan281, I came back from GamesCom 2012 and i played the alpha version of SimCity 2013! Because i wanna share my experiance with other fans i posted my review on simtroplis and simcity.com (see links in end of the email) Unfortunately i didnt speak anyone from Maxis. So i coundnt ask any questions The only things i could anwser is based on own experiance. 1: There was a water cleaning plant but i couldnt build it (locked) so yes im almost for sure you can reduce water pollution 2: I didnt drag one powerline! The whole city got powerd by agents. Same was water. But ive also seen powerlines in the trailers. Maybe a funny detail for you: i build 2 powerplants in my city. A coal and a windmill farm. both were in other area's of the city. I even upgraded my windmill farm. Great experiance! 3: Didnt see any rain. Hope there is gonna be. dont want to run out of water. 4: I had a couple of parks at my desposal (only build one im sorry) but there was a basketball field and a soccer field if i remember well. 5: I coudnt figure out a way to upgrade. So dont get you hopes up to much. I also think its difficult because the roads / avenues had different sizes. 6: Wasnt included in this version yet. Only a (probably) still non functional lightrail on avenue. 7: Didnt see that anywere. But i have to say it works pretty nice (mouse + keyboard) Hopefully this anwser some of your questions. Again thanks for your questionair. I will also post this on Simtropolis so other can read it as well. Greetings, FerryV

Ack. That is not the good kind of tunnel. Would black hole leeches help in any way?

British cities, something I have yet to try. Thanks for the inspiration! I love the downtown area, that white maxis base texture flows so smoothly with everything.

It would take a while for you to get one of each building, both because the game repeats buildings that have already been built,and because of how long it takes for a city to expand. Unless of course you have demand mods or the extra cheat mod or just having B.A.T.s.

Haljackey's Partial Y is simple, but elegant. As for myself I've decided to go with the spur option for the connection: And a close-up of the intersection connection: On a side note, I discovered that for some bizarre reason I never downloaded Version 2.0 of the Network Widening Mod, which is the reason why some of the networks didn't work for me. I downloaded it yesterday and I have finally incorporated the wider networks into my cities, such as this six-lane avenue. These triple-tile surface networks are really something, and there is a huge demand in my region for such heavy-duty surface streets.

Last image is awesome, really love it!

I asked 5 qns during the conference and none were answered. They were not difficult qns 1) what happens when a player stops playing a particular city? Will growth be extrapolated for other cities like in simciy4? 2) can highways be build in individual cities? 3) will there be weather? 4) what type of rail options are there available? 5) what happens when finite resources in.a particular city runs out? I don't know - but really they aren't difficult qns to answer esp when they are lain hung betas for people to play. Curvy road - done to death..seriously?! How much more are they planning to milk curvy roads. Yes we all knew it curves and yes the buildings will conform to it. What more is there to say?!

I love the little downtown - did you lot that entire block (with the new bank HQ)? I like how you have the road leading to the parking garage - Everything fits together very well.

While Canada doesn't have the long history of Greece, we've been around since the late 1500's in one form or another, with some 'native' peoples before that. An incursion of twelfth century Vikings did not survive, but once the French arrived we finally got onto the world map. England opened a colony at Halifax as a counter fo the French Louisbourg at about the time of the American revolution and as a back-up port for Boston. France was invited to go home in 1755 at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The Quebecois didn't believe this, and still don't. However, we honour the Sieur de Champlain as Canada's first governor general. Like all European colonists, the spread into the west was inevitable. We originally allied with the native people and in the War of 1812 they were valuable allies who helped us stave off the Americans who were set on taking over the continent. Tecumseh, the native leader, was later betrayed in the Treaty of Ghent, and never achieved the desired first nations country west of the colonies. Eventually we treated the native peoples very badly, and many of them now live in worse than third world conditions. Some effort is now being made to correct this. We are a people of a cultural mosaic. We encourage immigrants to keep their culture while becoming part of ours. We ask only that the disagreements and difficulties of the old countries be forgotten in this new opportunity. At the same time, we insist that immigrants abide by our laws and forget prejudices and inequalities of their culture developing, perhaps, a new outlook for a new country. Parochialism is not encouraged. Canada's culture is varied. This is a big country, the second largest land area in the world at the top of North America. There are, therefore cultural pools. An almost American culture, with important differences, lies along the long and mostly undefended U.S. border. This is the majority of the population of something over 30,000,000. Ethnic pools exist in the north, particularly in Nunavut, a territory given over to the Inuit and governed by them. Quebec is another example which can truly be called a cosmopolitan version of Metropolitan France somewhat stuck in the seventeenth century outside the big cities. Yet Montreal is the most modern, cosmopolitan city I have ever visited. Other smaller pools exist, but they tend to blend into the mosaic. The government is a constitutional monarchy, reigned over but not rules by Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen of Canada. We have a Governor General appointed by the Crown in council with our Parliament. Government is modelled after the Westminster Parliament, but with some important differences. The House of Lords is replaced by an appointed Senate, we have no 'nobility'. That feudal archaism has been discarded. The government is run by the Prime Minister who sits in the House of Commons (daily), and his cabinet selected from sitting members of the House and Senate. Federal elections take place five years after the government takes office or sooner if it is defeated in the House on a money bill (budget usually). Election campaigns are short as the election must take place soon after the writ of dissolution of Parliament is dropped by the Governor General. Canada's door is open to all, with few exceptions. Some countries have quotas and there are regulations that require some stringent checking and granting of permission by our embassies and consulates. You can't just walk in unless you can make a case for being a refugee. Refugee applications are scrutinized by the courts. After nearly two hundred years of 'official' existence, we have finally sorted out a constitution (the Brits don't have one) which includes our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. All on-line for anyone to see. Canada has three coast lines: Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic. Each of these gives rise to various maritime activities. Large ports at Vancouver, Halifax, and the now ice-free Churchill are busy places. We have heavy resource industries ranging from forestry to mining to petroleum. We are a diamond producing country among other things. Diamond mining is in the Arctic. Our petroleum sector includes both natural gas and oil. These efforts are scattered across the country. So, come to Canada. As a tourist, as an immigrant. A foreign country where you will feel at home.

I was also curious about this... I was able to find this chart created by RippleJet and it seems pretty comprehensive. According to RippleJet, capacity is the determining factor (not actual population).

Facts Capital City:Valperegas Major Cities: Santa Valencia,Puerto España, Santo Fidel, Bahia Nueva, La Puebla, Official Language: Spanish Population:6 036 632 Administrative Regions: Atlántico, La Capital, Playas del Sur,Montañas, Santa Maria, Fernando, Colonia, Norte, Isla Concepción. Highest Point: Monte Alvarez Religion: Catholic Independence Day (from the Spain ): January 20 1905 Major Exports:Bananas,Coffee,Gold,Wine,Tobacco,Coal,Seafood Major Imports:Cars,Electronics,Consumer Goods,Machinery National Anthem: Viva Martazuela(Long Live Martazuela) Currency:Martazuelan Peso FLAG MAP COAT OF ARMS Tourism Logo HISTORY Martazuela was first colonized by the Spanish in the late 1700s. The main explorer who led the exploration was a wealthy Spaniard named Martin Alvarez. The Spanish explorers landed at what is now Fuerte de las Americas on Isla Concepción. When they realized there was not much for them on the island they sailed onward and landed at Puerto España. They then developed Puerto España as the colony's capital and kept Fuerte de las Americas as their defensive fort. From this the Spanish began to develop the territory into a vital gateway to South America. As years progressed the colony began to prosper more and more and by 1812 13 thousand Spanish settlers were living in Martazuela. The prosperity only grew when gold was discovered in the Cortez Mountains in the Montañas region. When people heard of this miners and those seeking wealth flocked to the colony from places such as Europe and North America and other parts of South America. However, when this happened the Spain became angered at how foreigners were coming into their territory and taking what was supposed to be theirs and in 1819 the Gold War took place. The war lasted little more than 3 months as the mighty Spanish Army drew the foreigners out and retook the gold mines. Following this Martazuela became somewhat more isolated than Spain's other colony's primarily due to the abundance of resources in the colony. In 1824 Simon Bolivar's liberation of South America and the indepence of Spain's colonies left Spain with only Martazuela,Cuba and Puerto Rico. However, the Portuguese are now heavily pushing to take over Martazuela and make it part of Brazil but Spain keeps hold and by 1872 Martazuela was the last of Spain's North America's colonies. Spain's firm hold on Martazuela isolated it from other South American influences and the colony remained prosperous under Spanish control. Until 1900 Spain began modernizing Martazuela as the population reaches 1 million. They built additional towns and established a railway and road system. However, by 1904 Martazuela realized that it was their time to achieve independence and a group of representitives went to Spain and demanded a peaceful independence. At first Spain denied their request but then realized as the world began to decolonize more and more they would soon lose the colony anyways. So in exchange for their independence the Spanish requested a quarter of their gold. The Martazuelans eagerly agreed and on January 20 1905 Martazuela achieved independence without any bloodshed. Following the establishment of the country's first president, José Ramos the new nation continued to prosper. Following Ramos' death in 1913 the presidency was passed on to Javier Ramirez. Even more changes and growth occured under Ramirez, he established a number of coffee plantations, moved the capital city from Puerto España to the central town of Valperegas located on the Rio Azul. The prosperity grew and grew until the outbreak of World War 2. At this time although Martazuela did not fight in the war the economy fell drastically as world trade became less demanding. To add to the falling economy revolutionaries seized the oppurtunity to take power and overthrew the Martazuelan president. In his place the ruthluss dictator, Juan Martin Fernandez seized control and reformed the entire government into a totalitarian like regime. Fernandez's regime proved horrific for the country all industry and farms were controlled by the government, work camps were established for those who opposed him and he also isolated the nation from the world. As the years went on the dictator's regime resulted in Martazuela becoming an almost third world country. Fortunately change was on its way. Following the war, the nation remained under Fernandez's rule until his death in 1972. At this time before another dictator could be put in power freedom-fighter, José Martez gathered a group of supporters that totalled a thousand and stormed the parliament building and took power. Martez immediatly changed the constitution and established Martazuela as a free, democratic republic. Martez once again opened the country, established trading partners, privatized industries and agriculture and repaired the damage to the nation. By the first election the Martazuelan people loved him so much he was re-elected and died in office in 1989. His death affected everyone and his funeral attracted worldwide dignitaries and citizens from all over the nation. Following the elections the new president, Maria Hernandez was the first female president and for her entire rule followed Martez's principles. Today, the nation has become the once prosperous nation it once was and is one of the richest in South America. TRANSPORTATION AIR The national carrier is Aerolineas de Martazuela and operates flights internationally and domestically. Its two main hubs are Valperegas-José Martez International Airport and Santa Valencia-Atlántico International Airport. Aerolineas de Martazuela also operates a domestic hub from Puerto España. The country also has two other airlines, AeroAtlántico which operates flights along the Atlantic coast and to Isla Concepción and the other airline is Martavia Airlines and is a low cost airline. RAIL Possibly one of the most comprehensive in South America the national railway (Ferrocaril Nacional) connects basically every city and town in the country. Although there is currently no international connections there are plans in the near future to make connections to Argentina and Brazil. The hub of all rail travel is based out of Valperegas Central Station however, other large stations are located in Santa Valencia, Puerto España and León. ROAD Unlike many other South American roadways the Martazuelan road system is constantly maintained and in good condition. One of the most popular routes is the Atlántico Highway which runs from Santa Valencia to the Uruguayan border. This route is popular among tourists for its stunning views of the beaches,cliffs and the ocean. The other popular route runs from Puerto España to the Argentinian border and is also popular among tourists especially the stretch through the Montañas region where one can view the massive mountains. PEOPLE Although the majority of its citizens can trace their routes back to Spain there are also large numbers of other ethnic groups as well; 37%- Mestizo 30%-White 15%-Black 15%-Amerindian 3%-Asian MUSIC Martazuelan music is essentially as diverse as the people. Throughout the country one can hear music genres from flamenco to reggae. To celebrate this diversity an annual music festival known as the Festival de Canciones takes place in the cities of Puerto España,Valperegas and Paraquéz. The festival is one of the largest tourist draws to the country and attracts both locals and foreigners. In addition to the traditional and folk music of the country there is a large increase of Techno and hip-hop music in the country. FOOD Due to the country's Spanish influence many Martazuela's dishes reflect those of Spain. However, South American, Caribbean and even Asian influences can be seen in many of its dishes as well. One thing that Martazuelan cuisine is known for is its combination of sweet and spicy ingredients. For example, the dish Estofado de Carne(Meat Stew) combines meat such as beef with chili and jalapeño peppers(which adds spice) and typically pineapple(which adds sweetness). Martazuelan cuisine also varies depending on the region. For example, in the Atlantico and Playas del Sur regions seafood is the basis to most of its dishes while in the Montañas region meat such as beef and beans are the basis to their meals. Martazuela is also known for its coffee and wine. HOLIDAYS New Years Day-Jan.1 Independence Day-Jan. 20 Martyrs Day-Feb.10 Flag Day-Mar. 3 Good Friday-April 22 Labour Day-May 1 José Martez Day- Jun. 25 Festival de Canciones-Jul. 1-10 Harvest Day-Oct.1 Day of the Saints-Nov.12 Christmas Eve-Dec.24 Christmas Day-Dec.25