Leaderboard

A quick sneak peek of the new Turbo Roundabouts for the NAM , fresh from the presses. Here's a proof of concept in-game. Video preview made by NAM Team member Mandelsoft.

Simtropolis has grown by over 100k members in the last 10 months! Is a lot of this growth due to SimCity (2013), or perhaps due to a SimCity 4 resurgence post-SimCity (2013)? Perhaps both! I wonder if we'll ever reach a million...

For the first time ever, the NAM Team has decided to surprise people . . . by not surprising them. The 31st Network Addon Mod release will be made available to the public on March 1st, 2013. Mark your calendars, as this will be one you don't want to miss.

Banished is a city-building strategy game that charges you with the task of starting a small town, growing population, managing crops. Place buildings to harvest resources and convert them into goods. There is no mass transit, or any kind of transportation network, but the small rural town simulator might appeal to some looking for a change of pace. The game is very near release with a 2013 ship date. More details at the site, and support the developer if you like it. More videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/ShiningRockSoftware?feature=watch Welcome to the world of Banished! In this city-building strategy game, you control a group of exiled travelers who decide to restart their lives in a new land. They have only the clothes on their backs and a cart filled with supplies from their homeland. The objective of the game is to keep the population alive and grow it into a successful culture. Options for feeding the people include hunting and gathering, agriculture, trade, and fishing. However, sustainable practices must be considered to survive in the long term.

I can't really see a comparison here... If you're thinking SC4 has the same features SC13 has you're going to be disappointed. -On the contrary, if you're thinking SC13 has the same features SC4 has you're going to be disappointed. They're two different games. SC13 is a reboot, not a successor to SC4. Also remember 10 years have passed...

NAM 31.1 is a full package, which improves upon the initial "open beta" that was NAM 31. It fixes about 100 issues that had been reported since the NAM 31 release in March 2013, improving overall stability and performance. Crash-to-desktop (CTD) on save and related performance issues from NAM 31 are largely solved: A number of users, particularly those with newer Intel Core Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs (e.g. i7, etc.) had experienced issues with the game crashing to desktop (CTDing) when trying to save, with NAM 31 in their plugins. This was tied to the much larger NAM Controller build that was contained in NAM 31, which also caused the game to use considerably more memory. The increase in size was largely due an attempt to "ultra-stabilize" some NAM override networks, including some RealHighway widths/heights and the Street Addon Mod variants (SAM ultra-stability had been in place in NAM 30). The code on these override networks has been whittled down for this release, eliminating stability for situations that users were much less likely to build. In order to address a wide variety of scenarios, the NAM Team is now providing two different controller packages--the smaller "standard" (or "s-series") package, and the larger "extreme" (or "e-series"). The difference between the s-series and e-series is that the s-series disables SAM ultra-stability, and the higher elevated RealHighway networks (Level 3/22.5m and Level 4/30m). The s-series is installed by default. Users who desire the larger e-series controller can select the option from the installer, using the Custom Installation option. It is recommended that if you are using the e-series controller on one of the crash-prone processors, such as a Sandy Bridge Core i7, and especially if you have a large plugins folder (at least 3GB), that you should patch your SimCity 4.exe file to be Large Address Aware. A suitable Large Access Aware patch can be found here. You should have more than 4GB of RAM if using Large Access Aware modde. Road Turning Lanes: As with NAM 31, the Road Turning Lanes are no longer automatically generated when a Road x Road intersection is built. The auto-build functionality was causing considerable complications with the functionality of the Network Widening Mod and new Draggable Fractional Angle Roads, and as the NWM and Draggable FAR have a greater impact on game functionality (adding capacity and new build angles, as opposed to mere eyecandy), the Road Turning Lanes Plugin has been redesigned to function in an "optional" manner, which doesn't interfere with other features and allows the user more freedom in turn lane placement, without resorting to Turn Lane Extension Pieces (TuLEPs). To add turn lanes to a Road x Road intersection, simply click the intersection with the Rail tool. As with all previous releases, the Road Turning Lanes only apply to Road x Road intersections. If you desire turning lanes on Road x Avenue intersections, you will need to use Turn Lane Extension Pieces (TuLEPs). New Street network functionality: Some new draggable wide-radius curves, and intersections along wide-radius curves, are now possible with the Street network. Credit for this new feature goes to Swordmaster from the NAM Team. Transit stations: After the first release of transit stations in NAM 31, a number of bug reports were received about these stations. As a result, all of the stations included with the NAM have gone through extensive retesting, and have been modified when necessary. Many of the modifications fix major bugs, while some of them simply improve the performance of the station. For PC users, any stations plopped in your cities from NAM 31 will automatically be upgraded when you install NAM 31.1.For Mac users, the replacement set of basic Maxis stations had to be modified, along with the Modern El Train Station by Brenda Xne. These fixes were necessary due to a bug in the Mac version of SC4. If you're a Mac user and you plopped any of these stations from the NAM using version 31, you will have to bulldoze them and replop them once you have installed NAM 31.1.NAM 31.1 also includes a number of new stations, which have gone through the same extensive testing as the stations listed above. Most of the new stations are optional, meaning that they are not automatically installed with the Complete Standard Installation; instead, you must select the Custom Installation and select these new stations on the Components page. RealHighway Filler Pieces: The RHW Fillers have been, at long last, restored and expanded for NAM 31.1. They were previously in such a broken state, that they had been disabled for NAM 31. Mac users: The separate NAM for Mac OS package has been discontinued as of NAM 31. It is recommended that you access a Windows machine or Windows installation (or use WINE), run the installer, and transfer the two installation directories (Plugins\Network Addon Mod and Plugins\z___NAM) to your Mac system. Alternatively, use Keka (http://www.kekaosx.com) to open the executable like a .zip file. If you are planning on using cosmetic additions, like the Euro Textures or the Maxis Highway Override (AKA "Project Symphony"), they are contained in the "$[65]" folder, which you should rename to "z____NAM" upon extraction. Please also note that the NAM--and most other Plugins--have compatibility issues with OS 10.7 (Lion) and later, due to the removal of Rosetta and the requirement to use the Aspyr Universal Binary patch to play SimCity 4 Deluxe in those OSes, which make the game prone to crashing. Installing over previous versions: NAM 31.1 may be installed directly over top of any previous NAM releases. It is a full release, not a patch or a hotfix. All future updates are planned to be in full package form, and there are no plans to issue patches or hotfixes in the future. Please also note that the NAM Team only provides technical support for the most recent version, which, as of this document, is NAM 31.1. We cannot assist users of the original NAM 31 release, or NAM 30 (or earlier). Special Thanks: The NAM Team would like to thank the following members of the community, who have tested the penultimate build of the NAM 31.1 controller and given their feedback on its stability, and/or assisted with other controller-related tests after the NAM 31 release, in an effort to nail down the game stability issues: A Nonny Moose, dyoungyn, Joe 90, mgarcia, mneonnew, shanghai kid, spot, and txrailcat74. Also, special thanks are in order to Haljackey and the Dirktator, for their efforts on getting this file onto the STEX. The file is also mirrored at SimCity 4 Devotion's LEX and ModDB.

The Maxis Highway get a great overhaul with Project Symphony! The NAM Team officialy reveals this piece of technology for the upcoming NAM 31 release and shows what it can do. Part 1 of 2 is a presentation of the basic functionality of Project Symphony. For more information about the NAM, check SimTropolis or SC4Devotion,com and stay tuned for more NAM developments! Stay tuned for Part 2, where we going to build some basic interchanges! NAM 31: Coming to you on March 1st! (NAM Team is the best pony ) Best, Maarten/MandelSoft

Lets kick off this adventure with a rail-ish oriented update. Chapter 1 - Hangover "Ugh... what the hell happened last night?" ... "Too many shots of tequila, that's what". A comforting voice hit Leon's ears, for her words paradoxically shrilly struck his aching head. "What time is it?" he groaned in response. "Time for me to get up and go to work." Millie wandered across the room to the blinds and pulled on the draw, much to the dismay of Leon whose bloodshot eyes were stung by the rays. Leon begged "Can't you stay a little longer?" "No, silly." responded Millie with a slight giggle. "You know this internship is important to me and I can't be late again. Now, I'm off to the station. I love you, dearest." Leon watched her walk out the apartment door. Like every noise, the closing of the door also discomforted his ears. At least he got to sleep in. Millie checked her watch. 11 minutes to the next train. She knew if she got this one, she would definitely be at the hospital by noon. Man, she missed Sunday afternoons off. The promenade was beautiful this time of year. Although there was a slight nip in the air as the bay breeze brushed her cheek, she took her time to enjoy the atmosphere before descending to the underground station below. A few minutes later, the train arrived at the Cremorne underground terminus. At least this line was frequent, unlike her home line which featured frequent unreliability. The train stopped at several stations, both underground and surface, to let passengers board and alight... ...but it was once the station reached Central that the most activity happened. People rushed off the train, only to be equaled with a sizable hustle of commuters eager to get the train to Kensington. Millie smirked to herself, "they have a ten minute frequency, why the hurry?" Such was the mentality of the person these days. The announcement read "STOPPING AT ST. LUCIA". A few people got off, presumably to grab lunch at one of the cafes that skirted the water's edge. The line also serves South Wharf, the hub of the city's ferry service. The train stopped off at a few more underground stops in Kensington, serving all parts of the inner city. Millie looked up. The all too familiar anouncement read through the speakers: "STOPPING AT WELLINGTON STREET. CHANGE HERE FOR SOUTH CITY AND ARIZONA BAY SERVICES. THIS TRAIN WILL TERMINATE". Millie checked her watch. 11:42. She had made it with 8 minutes to spare. "I guess no time for coffee, but oh well", she thought to herself. Her mind was now focused on what potential excitement would come barging through the doors of the ER this afternoon. "There's always something." Don't forget to comment or +1 if you enjoyed this update!

A sneak preview of new features in development for the upcoming Version 32 release of the Network Addon Mod (NAM) reveals a number of new features for the NAM's RealHighway (RHW) plugin, including the new QuickChange system.

Plopping Fractional Angled curves and roads is now a thing of the past with the new DragFAR! The NAM Team officialy reveals this piece of technology for the upcoming NAM 31 release and shows what it can do! On behalf of the NAM Team, Maarten (NOTE: the plopable curves will still remain available in the next NAM, so don't worry if you can't get used to the new FAR construction method)

The long awaited version of SC4Mapper have been released It now works in XP, Vista, win7 and even in win8 It features a config.bmp editor so you can now tweak a SC4M to your liking

Update 50: Mosaic Mania Hello again, everyone! Welcome back for update 50. Last week we reclimbed Mt. Fuji. Since my main page submission seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle and the view count was rather low, you might want to go back and look at last week's update before this one if you missed it, since this week is the mosaics to last week. So this week, mosaics to last week. This is one of my most ambitious mosaic attempts: it stretches across parts of 4 tiles. (~reminder: Please Click For Full Resolution) 01. Going up Mt. Fuji. 02. And coming back down. Since this is update 50 (*cough* and i didn't have anything special planned *cough*) I figured I'd keep with the mosaic theme and showcase some mosaics of the pasts. 03. Pine Hill harbor and seaplane port from Crater Lake. 04. From the waaaayback machine we dig into Rip City, Powell cinder cone and hot springs. 05. The Zanarkand - East Crossing Industrial Area. 06. From the far north, the Tundraport Oil Terminals. 07. The slopes of Mt. Rainier. 08. And finally, lovely Cannon Beach. And that's update 50. I don't have any plans for the future, so we're still on a sporadic update schedule and i don't know when the next will be, so i'll respond in the comments below in a week or so. Until next time happy gaming and enjoy the spring sun! @Schulmanator: Thank you sir! Always good to see you around here, too. @Forthwall: Thanks! Aye, that little japanese bus stop in the middle adds so much for such a small lot. @grstudios: Thanks.....then get back to it! @vivapanda: Nature, nature everywhere. @PhatHead: Thanks, hope you get a chance to look around. @terring, ggamus, gugu3: Thanks for all your comments guys .

Screw the game, SimCity has become a cynically brilliant advertising platform So the good news is that Cheetah Speed has returned to SimCity, and some new content in the form of the “Attractions Set” has been released. Who doesn't love new buildings to add into their cities? So this is something that's free right? Or will we have to pay? Son of a $%&^!. So there's no way to buy the content, and it certainly isn't free. It's just a way to get people who like SimCity to buy toothpaste. This isn't a cosmetic addition to the game, as these additions - and I think a giant ball of twine is seriously an awesome addition - will give you an advantage during play. “The Attractions Set adds happiness to low wealth Sims,” the official post stated. “They will also bring in all three wealth classes of tourists into your city.” This is why I have such a deep loathing for EA at the moment. It's not that you get neat stuff for buying a certain brand of toothpaste, it's that the game seems designed around these sponsorship deals and monetization strategies. It doesn't feel like EA and Maxis sat down and tried to create the very best version of SimCity possible, it feels like they designed the game that would be the easiest to control, monetize, and sell to advertisers. Source: http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/simcity-as-advertising-platform-how-ea-rewards-you-for-buying-real-world-pr

Well, let me explain the situation about this new game. When the new SimCity, often referenced as SC2013, was announced back in March 2012, a large portion of the community were excited about the new game. After waiting ten years and numerous, Maxis finally decided to pick up the franchise and develop a new game. Many of us hoped for a new sequel to SimCity 4, a true successor that will to continue what SimCity 4 started. Better, more beautiful, more versatile, and even more challenging... However, a few of us were skeptical, and most of the skeptical people, including myself, have witnessed the failure of CitiesXL (I don't fall for the Curvy Roads marketing trick again). CitiesXL was developed four years prior to SC2013. Many city builders had high hopes for this game, but in the last months of the development cycle, the developer Monte Cristo announced that quite a few of the original ideas (like an advanced road tool) were scratched and an online mode, the Planet Offer, would be available with all new content included... with a price tag of €7/month. In combination with little communication to the community (even shutting down their own forums!), this made quite some people upset and after the release this didn't get any better; the Planet Offer flopped in making enough revenue and Monte Cristo went bankrupt. The big complaint from the community was that they didn't listen to their customers. CitiesXL was then picked up by Focus Home Interactive to finish up the things Monte Cristo had planned, but not much has been developed since then and even most major bugs (like memory leaks) haven't been fixed to this day... Now, back to SimCity 2013. Some people had hopes that Maxis would make a better game than Monte Cristo did. After all, it's Maxis we're talking about, the original developers of SimCity! Not some unknown company. However, skepticism still remained and unfortunately, it looks like the skeptics turned out to be true after all; this turned out to be a reboot, not a sequel. The more things they announced about the game, the more eyebrows where raised about this game... The Glass Box engine: a really advanced game engine for the new game, as we have heard. Now, during the development, there were not much comments on that at the start, but as more features got in our eyes odd limits, we began to wonder if those limits were the price of the Glass Box. After the release of the game, the engine itself showed huge problems by design, like people switching jobs and houses on a daily basis, dumb mass transit and city services (five fire engines trying to put out a fire on a small house while a huge building is ablaze with no fire engines), a borked traffic engine and numerous of other design bugs, of which some are inexcusable.Map size and region coherence: when they first announce the map size to be "as large as a medium sized SimCity 4 city" (or 2x2 km), there were two groups: one that was OK with it and one that was disappointed that they couldn't get larger maps, something that was already kind of a limitation in SimCity 4. Most people from the first group were OK with it as long as they could build coherent regions like in SimCity 4 (ergo: you can build cities side by side with connections you can manage yourself, so you can create the illusion of a larger metropolis). The region play in SimCity 4 is a key factor of the game and it kept me playing this game for seven years. If SimCity 2013 had that feature too, we would be much happier...However, then came the news how regions were set up: all cities were separate with set connections and each city has to specialize. For a large number of fans, this combination was a huge game breaker! This means you have a set city size of only 2x2km (4km2). To give you a figure of how small that is: Basel (CH) has 170,000 inhabitants and a surface area of 22.75km2. If you would continue that figure you could only build a city of 30,000 inhabitants on that plot of land. But Maxis expects us to build cities ten times that figure. Furthermore, the footprint of all components seem to be increased, making the cities look even smaller. Besides with this restricted map size, you can't recreate existing cities in Real Life because the tiles are way to small for that (and it's not helped by the fact that you can only build on preset maps). The massiveness of SimCity 3000 and 4 is gone in this version... Art style: the first in-game screenshots showed us the tilt-shift style of the game, as well as the model work. People complained about the graphics to be "too cartoony" and colourfull. Now, the latter aspect has been dealt with with colour filters (a clever addition, by the way), but the first one is a deeper problem. Quite some models lack texture details making them look too clean. Little weathering and noise effects makes them look like cardboard to some people, and that breaks the deal for people hoping to create a realistic city.The Always Online issue: probably one of the most discussed issues about this game: you HAVE to be always online to play it. Saves are stored upon the cloud and you have interaction with the world all the time. Let me just sum up some of the consequences of this discussed on long and winding on other threads on this website:People with no or a bat internet connection are screwed; they just can't play the game because it can't connect to the server. This will also exclude quite a part of the market. Also, this game is ideal to play in lost hours on the road or in the train, but having no internet connection there often, this excludes another potential portion of the market. And then there's the issue that even in Single Player mode you have to be online, which doesn't make sense since you use none of the online features.Cloud controlled saves means no control over your saved files. What if you just want to experiment? What if you just want to use a disaster in your city and then want to roll back? What if you made a huge error and want to go back to where things go right? Or even raised a lot more: what if EA shuts it servers down? People will end up with lost work, and this happened quite a few times during the first week of the release.The game is ONLY available by Origin, EA's own online platform. Steam users were not happy about this, because some people didn't trust this new platform and it was another program bloating on your PC.And then there's modding. There are mixed messages about that: Maxis encourages everyone to mod the game while EA says they will ban you for cheating when doing so. This mixed message confused a lot of players. Is modding allowed or not? It could be a competitor to their own DLC addons. Furthermore, modding could potentially dis-balance the entire game online, making is way less fun for everyone. A solution to that is to allow modding in closed servers and single player games, but soe far, nothing has been said about it. Even worse: information about modding is still scarce and vague today...Why did EA come up with this Always Online DRM? To prevent piracy. Quite some people raised that this is not going to help anyway and instead they punish us all for what a select group of people do to this game (and DRM is not going to stop them anyway).The Price Tag: when the pre-orders gave up a price of $80, a lot of people found it expensive for this game. To compare: regular AAA titles cost only about $50-60 and SimCity 4 Deluxe costs only $5-15 nowadays. Because it's so expensive (and because the new game didn't turn out as we expected), a lot of people keeping their hands on their wallets and don't buy the game.The game seemed to be dumbed down. Instead of an advanced simulator for mature gamers, we have the feeling that this is a simplistic game for kids. Also, it looks like a lot more micromanagement is involved in this game than in SimCity 4, while this neglects macromanagement.Now, to make things clear, with all these things summed up, in general, old fans are not too fond about the new game. Heck, I've heard stories about people picking up this game, got frustrated about it, look up what its predecessor was and what it can do, got pissed about what SC2013 can't do what SC4 can and play SC4 instead without touching SC2013 ever again. Biggest complain of the community? The developers didn't listen to them. This is Cities XL all over again... I did play one of the closed Betas, but it did by far not convince me to buy the new game. The experience was as far as I can tell quickly boring and frustrating. I didn't want the game to fail, but in the current form it looks like a slowly moving train wreck and I've practically gave up hopes on this new game. Another game, Cities in Motion 2, seems to quite some people more like the new SimCity than the SimCity itself, even though the scope of that game is completely different. It looks like Maxis lost their grip on making a good city builder... A lot of these points have been raised a thousand times, but this is for me the most civilized way I can put it. Best, Maarten (MandelSoft) NAM Team and SimTropolis Staff Member

The Network Addon Mod (NAM) combines all transportation network-related fixes, additions and new creations that have been released so far. It will add countless new features to the existing network tools, such as new overpasses, highway onramps, intersections, ped-malls, a ground light rail network, roundabouts and turning lanes. VERSION 31 FOR WINDOWS FILESIZE: 206 MB New features in Version 31 (March 2, 2013)--Includes NAM Controller r169 New "Monolithic" package--all previous separate download plugins now included in the main package, including RealHighway Mod (RHW) Network Widening Mod (NWM) Railway Addon Mod (RAM) High Speed Rail Project (HSRP) Street Addon Mod (SAM) Rural Roads Plugin NAM Retexture and Cosmetic Mods (North American and Euro) Virtually all previously released bridges RealHighway Mod now updated to "Project 57" specs, with Multi-Height networking, and Wider RHW Bridges. New Draggable Fractional Angle Road system. Maxis Highway Override ("Project Symphony") by MandelSoft and jdenm8. For the first time ever, transit stations and hole-digger/raiser lots are included. Disappearing construction lots, making the use of starter pieces vastly simpler and less cumbersome. A few odds and ends for the Network Widening Mod. Two new styles of SAM Streets: Klinker Streets by squidi and jplumbley (Set 6) and Moonlight Japanese Streets (Set 10) Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool (TSCT) updated. Please note that some documentation is still forthcoming as of this writing.

I grew up with SimCity, and have been playing the games since the early 90s. Every single one of them got better and better until Simcity Societies when either I got to old for a Sim City game, or EA and Maxis decided they needed a new target audience. I played SimCity in order to create my dream cities, the problem is my dream has always been one a bit more grounded in reality. If I play Minecraft for example I build structures that might be able to realistically stand on their own rather than floating lava towers made of diamond. Every bit of who I am as a gamer today was shaped by those initial years of playing SC2K, 3K and 4. I remember calling in sick from school the day SC4 came out and from that point forward I devoted hours of my life to playing it, modding it, making BATs, and playing it some more. All of that love for the series came from the concept of achieving a realistic dream, a dream which could actually exist in the real world, one in which I could base my ideas on reality. Why is it that Maxis is so very afraid of realism? Everything from the costs of buildings and taxes, to the scale and populations are so far gone from reality. I know there is an entire thread dedicated to map size limitations, but seriously maxis don't you freaking understand anything about the idea of a city? My home town of 48,383 people would barely fit onto a 10x10km map..... ok so lets say scale isn't perfect and players tend to add less buffer area between zones and stuff than in reality so maybe we could squeeze that same city into a 5x5km map if we really tried.... NO, Maxis expects me to put 200k people on a freaking 2x2km area! just no. I understand that maybe processing power became a limiting factor because you are forced to calculate the dietary habits of a million sims in a freaking city building game.... I can understand that, but make it a population limit then not a city size limit. Heck I would be fine with a 10x10km area with a max pop of 500k people. Theoretically it shouldn't take anymore processing power to calculate the eating habits of 500k sims on a 100km2 map than a 4km2 map. If its an issue of graphical power then I am going to just laugh and say Maxis needed to rethink its graphics engine of choice then. There are tons of games out there rendering much larger areas with significantly more detail than what SC2013 seems to posses. Heck I wanted bigger cities in SC4, but I was never going to win that argument, at least not with the sloppy coding that made the game such a resource hog (ran nearly the same on my old old althon 1.4ghz with 1Gb of ram as it does on my six core I7 with 16Gbs of ram). Alteast there are regions though right? so that you can choose your own connections between cities and zoom out to region view and see your awesome creation from a single fixed perpective? Nope, seriously why in the world did you guys make connections preset and then add a 10 mile wide buffer between your city and its neighbor city? The question of scale bothers me even further. In SC4 they were moving in the right direction with the addition of suspension bridges that actually looked like they didn't belong in a cartoon caricature of a city. They still had some work to do though, airports for example were so small that even a real life aircraft carrier would have dwarfed them. Now in SC2013 they decided that the bridges needed to go back to looking like cartoon caricatures of the real things, and that airports needed to consume an entire city tile.... Seriously guys? Why can't you get them both right at the same time? its not like this is a guessing game, we have these things called measurements. On the subject of population, I have seen many screenshots showing cities with populations of around 200k, but some even showing 700k. Lets say that most well developed cities in the game would achieve a population of around 240k. That puts the density at 60,000 sims per kilometer. The densest city in the world is Manila, at 40k people per Km... New York city, still a fairly dense city even by european standards has a density of around 14,000 people per square km making it about 1/4 as dense as an average well developed SC 2013 city. Seems like easy math to me. Was the design decision basically that people like big numbers so we should lie a bit and say that 25 sims live in a house? Speaking of numbers, why can't things cost a realistic amount? Sure Ill take 30 schools at $5,000 each Bob! I just don't get it... a school costs a couple million to build. Cities rake in millions in revenue quarterly. We also calculate that revenue quarterly and even yearly in many cases, so why does maxis insist on hourly revenue? Are our attention spans that short that the thought of waiting for more than an hour of game time to balance our budget just makes us loose it? I know this is negative, and I am of a minority that wants extreme realism. However, I would love to see some middle ground here, maybe cities slightly larger with a population cap and the ability to only simulate traffic patterns, job needs, and income levels with 1 in 10 sims simulating everything and then extrapolating that data to the other 9 sims similar to them? That would dramatically simplify the processor load and give us bigger maps. If it is graphics limited then for crying out loud just give us simple lods again at longer view distances, and use that awesome tiltshift shader tech for something useful and just don't render those out of focus elements. Making data values like population and costs realistic is as simple as changing a couple numbers around, and you could even have a realism mode in the game! As for scale, there is just no excuse, if maps were the size they needed to be then you wouldn't be forced to make a suspension bridge 1/10th its normal size and still leave buildings their proper size. If you read this far then sorry for this massive rant, I just miss the game I grew up with, and the idea of being able to do things even somewhat realistically. That is what a SIMulation game is supposed to do right, realistically simulate things?

Since I just finished playing 2 games via the Beta (more like demo) and thought I would share my thoughts. I've been a pretty big critic of the game here on the forums. If you've read my posts you would have seen I made comments about how this game feels more catered to younger kids, soccer moms, FB game players and the like. I've also been vocal about city size and other features being lacking. I had a fairly negative outlook on the game to say the least going in. I've been playing Sims games since the 80s, I'm in my 30s now. I played all of the sim games from Sim Ant to Sim City and have purchased and played every single version of SC ever made like a lot of us here. When Societys came out I got the feeling that the people who were a core part of Sim City in the old days were long gone and the game was dead. Like many of us I still hoped for a revival of Sim City. Perhaps something where SC4 left off, a newer cleaner version of SC4 with more options than the last and an upgraded visual experience. We've come a long way in technology in the last 10 years, surely a new version of Sim City 4 could be quite an experience on todays hardware. I was fairly excited to get into the "Beta". Though I might have been a pretty hard critic I really hoped for the best, I hoped this "beta" would change my mind and I could pre order the game post haste. Upon booting up the game the first thing I noticed was that the GUI or Graphical User Interface looked fairly good (intiail view), but not polished. As a Professional Graphic designer I feel it could have been much much better looking. It's not terrble but it's not great. I'm not sure if I would call it good but I wouldn't call it bad, more like acceptable. While running through the initial tutorial I had a few thoughts like "When will this tutorial end already?" not that it was long and not that I was so eager to play but because I found it slightly annoying. I also thought "these graphics look pretty mundane" I couldn't wait to get into the graphics and up everything to the max which is exactly what I did before starting on my new map. My intial worry was this game was going to be like Sims 3 and during the tutorial all I heard was sims "babble" which did not set well with me. Once the graphics were upped I thought things were looking better. I still thought the lighting looked pretty bad but I had yet to start building a town. You only get 1 hour which is hardly time to build a town let alone a city. First, the city size is small. It's as small as I suspected even though many on these forums argued with me. I can plop a main avenue from one side of the city to the next without even remotely scrolling for about $10,000. The map size is small even for a town let alone a city. To be clear, there is absolutely NO possible way to build a city and have it look like a real city in ANY respect of your imagination. It will look silly to have a map size too small for a town with high rise buildings. To be honest at this point writing this review I feel like I am wasting my time so I am going to shorten this up without going into a ton of detail with this: 1. The graphics are bad, in some most cases terrible. You should NOT expect them to get better on final release. I guarantee you they wont be upped by much. 2. The town sizes are WAY too small. 3. This is a town simulator not a city simulator first. 4. No terraforming and bad / ugly pre terraformed land. 5. Not so great lighting 6. Lack of detail in modeling 7. Sims 3 babble 8. Graphical slow downs even on a high end system at random times for no apparent reason even though the game looks like it could be ran on a P4 machine from 10 years ago. 9. Jagged edges everywhere, generally bad AA. 10. Crappy enviromental effects (pratically none) For instance you wont see dust floating in the air or anything done to give you a sense of actually being there. 11. Unpolished in so many respects that it would be impossible to fix by release. 12. Feels strange laying out zoning and roads. Often leads to problems getting the right fix without destroying something. 13. So awkward to play. 14. Depressing to play, yes depressing! Mostly because how bad the models and lighting looks. Bad models under what feels like some sort of winter artificial light... 15. Mutiple little things that are annoying, such as the screen shaking when planting trees.. completely not needed! 16. Laying zones out is total guess work. No idea on how large zones should be between roads results in dead space, something you dont want in a lot this small! This is VERY annoying. 17. Business signage throughout the game looks bland and very uninspired. Hire a better graphics designer NOW and put them on full time fixing up graphics and making LOGOS! Make the city POP! 18. Lawns look bad, not just on low income homes but middle class homes as well. 19. Dirt roads have sharp cut off edges like paved / concrete roads. Playing this game no matter how hard I tried was not a joy. Not once did it bring a smile to my face. The only people who will enjoy this game are kids aged 8-15. People who grew up not experiencing SC4 who have nothing good to compare it with and lack the maturity or perfectionism you get with age. That's not to say that I feel many in that age range would even enjoy it, it's flat out bad. I had no desire to keep playing past the 1 hour mark. I'm glad it stopped. I hate to say it, I really do, I wanted nothing more than to be totally wrong, to be surprised, to pre order the game. The game looks bad, the game play is bad, the graphics are bad... bad bad bad. If I were forced to say anything good about this game I would say that their ideas with having sims go to work / home and being able to follow them was a good one but their focus on that aspect of the game ruined everything else. It is "okay" (not terribly exciting) to watch cars go back and forth. This is not a new Sim City to me, this more like... Sims 3 City, and done poorly at that. If you are a Designer, an Architect, an Engineer, a lover of all previous Sim City games and over the age of 15 you will very unlikely enjoy this game. If I had to pick a price point at which I would purchase this game it would ABSOLUTELY NOT BE $60! I would pay $7-$10. I'm not kidding and I would have reservations about paying that much. I highly recommend you do NOT pre order this game, if you have, get a refund!. On top of all these issues and the game being bad you are paying $60 and being treated like a pirate. Terrible. These guys should be ashamed of what they have made and how bad they have taken for granted the community that supported them for so long. As much as I disliked what I saw before playing the Beta I feel duped, the game is much worse than I expected in every aspect. I feel they took the best they could in screen shots and video and enhanced them to fool the customer.

The Simtropolis Wiki is an open, collaborative project with the aim to be the definitive resource for the new SimCity (2013) game, as well as a general resource for the SimCity franchise and its communities. Creating an account with the Simtropolis Wiki takes only a few seconds. Don't be shy -- dive in and start editing!

Update 40 Summer 1880 Stevens noticed the horses were a little agitated after the last bend in the river road. The group of census workers was visibly tired after months of traveling from one town to the next. Ben’s Bend lay behind them, as well as New SorGun and many of the comforts that sizable towns offered. The pine forests, small settlements, and the wild frontier were all that lay between Stevens crew and a successful completion of their task. Stevens’ horse gave another grunt, showing her displeasure as the group trotted along the dark and lonely path. Stevens knew this was the same path that the early settlers of Junction used to flee the impending onslaught of the native Indians over 25 years ago. Much had changed in a quarter century, but the eerie road still felt caught in the past. Perhaps this was how the early settlers felt as they fled for their lives that cold winter morning. Finally, flickers of light began to break apart the shadows and the trees gave way to open meadows and cleared land. “Welcome to Junction,” Stevens announced to his fellow travelers. New houses began to dot the road as the group moved closer to the town, but scars of the past were still clearly visible. Scorched rubble was slowly succumbing to nature’s incessant march, but 25 years was not long enough to hide the old wounds. The Indian uprising nearly a quarter century ago saw the town of Junction razed to the ground, and it would remain that way for over a decade. But in the early 1870’s, with the announcement of the railroad terminus and renewed faith in the security of the region, Junction began to slowly rise from the burnt ashes that littered the landscape. As Stevens rode into town, he couldn’t help but remember his experience with Junction 10 years earlier. The faint smell of burnt wood permeated the land, and the dark ashes of scorched earth contrasted violently with the surrounding cedar and evergreen trees. But despite the hidden reminders of the earlier destruction, today, Junction seemed to be reborn, in a sense. Over the next couple days the census workers made quick work tallying up the local residents. Stevens learned that Bufford Grills was one of the first pioneers to resettle the destroyed settlement. He now owns many of the prime town lots, including Bufford Stables, which is the largest employer in Junction. *1680x1050 - Click for full “I never knew my mother, God rest her soul,” Grills told Stevens, as the two men enjoyed a smoke after a filling meal. “And I wish I could say the same for my father, that drunken coot,” Grills continued. “The only thing he taught me was how to shoe a horse. The rest of the time he was getting corned at one doggery or the next.” “I’m sorry for your trying childhood,” Stevens interjected. “Don’t be. I wouldn’t be where I am today were it not for him. Growing up, I studied every rotten characteristic in that drafted man’s bones, and I’ve labored to do exactly the opposite. It has served me well,” Grills chuckled lightly. Stevens smiled. Grills rambled on, “The Kentucky backwoods provided me with a most excellent education for a life on the frontier, rotten father and all.” “And now, I can finally call a piece of this magnificent wilderness home,” Grills said, after a long drag of his pipe. After a few days of chatting up the locals, the Census workers were happy to check off one more town. Stevens glanced at his notebook as he packed his belonging for the next destination and was surprised to see how small his list had become. *1680x1050 - Click for full Stevens didn’t realize it at the moment, but he was falling in love with the wild Pacific Northwest. Ten years earlier, Fredric Stevens would have dreaded another horse ride through the forest trails. But as he and his crew trotted along yet another dirt path toward their next destination, Stevens felt enlivened by the smell of cedar, and the swish of the wind through the swaying evergreens. Stevens could sense the morale of the group rise as they rode into Arrow Ridge. The end of their journey was near, and for most of his co-workers it could not come soon enough. The crew set up at the Arrow Inn, right in the center of town. *1680x1050 - Click for full The owner, Mr. Paul Brittle, was excited to see new guests. Like Junction, Arrow Ridge grew from a simple crossroads on one of the old Indian trials that led north from the Portland territory to New SorGun. The road also split west, toward Materburg and a large swath of farmland. Brittle told Stevens that the Inn had done steady business since it was opened 4 years ago, and Stevens wasn’t surprised. From the looks of things, Arrow Ridge had grown steadily since Stevens’ last visit. After a few days, Stevens and his crew were about wrapped up. That afternoon a storm rolled in, and Stevens hurried to finish up the few remaining houses on his block. As he was walking along a fence housing a few pigs the sky finally opened up and a steady rain began soaking the earth. As Stevens began a mad dash for the next house he noticed the pigs going about their business as if nothing had changed. The sight stopped him in his tracks, and he walked closer to the pen while the rain spattered on his hat and face. Suddenly he let out a good laugh. “You’re right my friends… it’s just a little rain. It certainly feels nice,” he said to the grazing pigs. *1680x1050 - Click for full After sizeable towns like Steamer Bay or New SorGun, Arrow Ridge was like a walk in the park to Stevens and his crew. In a few days the town had been tallied and Stevens made one more check in his notebook. The work in Arrow Ridge passed quickly, almost too quickly for Stevens, and suddenly he found himself on the road once again. The census workers passed farm after farm on their way to Materburg, keeping tally as they went. Finally, the wagon train crossed over the final bridge and Materburg spread out before them. Farming continued to be the lifeblood of the town, and as more farmers moved to the region the town continued to grow up as well. As the federal workers made their way to the center of Materburg, Stevens marveled at how much excitement and energy the little town exhibited. *1680x1770 - Click for full Over the next few days, Stevens had never seen his crew work so hard. The finish line was in sight and the census crew began a mad dash to get there. But Stevens found himself at odds with their rush to finish. On one of the last few days of work, he walked along one of the dirt roads towards the outskirts of town attempting to finish up his canvasing for the day. He noticed the beautiful hills surrounding the town as he walked up to a particularly nice home that sat across the street from a cattle pasture. After knocking several times and receiving no answer, he peeked in one of the windows and noticed the home appeared to be empty. Stevens brought the matter up with one of the neighbors at his next stop. “That place has been empty for months now, the codfish aristocrats who lived there before were apparently too good for our town and moved to Steamer Bay,” said the woman who answered the door. “It’s for sale… I just hope the new owners aren’t as high-falutin as the last,” she continued. *1680x1050 - Click for full Stevens took the long road back to town and let his mind wander. As he walked along the old fence erected decades ago to protect from a possible Indian attack he stopped and looked toward town. Dusk was approaching, and he could already see light appearing from some of the windows. He turned his head and gazed across the cleared fields and forests beyond. “Well,” Stevens thought to himself, “I suppose that settles it…” *1680x1050 - Click for full A few days later, Stevens pulled out his notebook for the last time. The census of Materburg was complete and the wild journey over the past several months was now about to end. There was excited chatter among Stevens’ group as they began boarding the ship that would take them back to San Francisco and ‘civilization’, as some joked. Stevens and his close friend Jacob Brick were the last to board. “I’ve been dreaming of this day for weeks,” said Brick as he smiled up at the tall masts. “So have I,” said Stevens, and he handed his friend an envelope. “What’s this?” said Jacob, looking quizzically at Stevens. “My retirement announcement,” replied Stevens, smiling. “Tell the boss everything is in order… you are in charge of the official files,” he continued, as he handed over his leather satchel bag. Brick stood motionless with a confused look on his face. “Did you think I’d be counting forever?” Stevens laughed. “Now get up there, before you miss your boat.” Brick slowly walked up the gangplank, looking back at Stevens. His confused expression began to fade away, and was replaced with a slight smile. “Look me up next time you are in town,” Stevens said with a smile and a wave, as his friend finally stepped aboard. *1680x1050 - Click for full Replies to the last Teaser: Alex_1210, Schulmanator, Huston, NMUSpidey, dubaidude303, Hellken and spursrule14: Thank you all for taking time to comment, I always enjoy reading each one. Ace❤: Now that's how to reconstruct a town. Reminds me of the Great Chicago Fire. Awesome update SimCoug! Yes, city wide fires were quite common back then... jason leo: The city has changed so much, I wonder how it will look like in 1900. Stay tuned to find out... but it may be a while DUKE-OF-MAYHEM: Wow what a transformation! I can't wait to see how Junction, Arrow Ridge and Materburg are doing. Beautiful job as always SimCoug. Do you happen to know what the population of Middleton and Grill's Fork are? I've been marking down towns and their respected populations in order to do percentage increase (or decrease) charts similar to the ones you see on Wikipedia for cities and towns. New SorGun alone has increased in population by 120.96% from the last census! Wow, cool! I actually plan to make a region wide map for the next update that will include the populations of every town, (big and small), and it will include Middleton and Grill's Fork. Thanks for your interest!

Why has the SimCity story gone away? It’s a good question. And the answer for it reveals much about how both the games industry, and the games journalism industry, work. In March, shortly after SimCity’s disastrous launch (servers couldn’t cope, the game barely ran, features had to be removed, and the always-on DRM was seriously crippling the game), EA and Maxis’ PR went into damage protection mode. And one refrain we saw over and over was a line from Maxis’ studio head, Lucy Bradshaw, that the ‘single-player’ game had to “offload a significant amount of the calculations to our servers.” On 12th March, RPS revealed that this statement simply wasn’t true. Via a source from inside Maxis, we learned that the server was doing no such thing, and that the calculations were running on the player’s PC. Two days later these claims were confirmed by a modder who had the game running indefinitely offline. It was clear that the message coming from Maxis simply wasn’t true. (There’s no better round-up of the events than the one put together by Kotaku.) (One thing that’s important to note here: That the claims weren’t true does not provide room to conclude that Bradshaw was “lying”. Not knowing the circumstances within Maxis at all, there’s no way to know that Bradshaw did not believe what she was saying to be entirely accurate. Miscommunication, deliberate misinformation, we just don’t know, and as such accusations don’t help this discussion.) So what to do next? Via RPS, and much of the gaming press, the reality that the servers were not running offline calculations became widely understood. So how did EA or Maxis handle this situation? With silence. And if simply telling the truth isn’t considered an available option, silence is by far the most effective response in this industry. Full story: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/04/22/the-power-of-silence-why-the-simcity-story-went-away/

From Paradox Interactive, Cities in Motion 2 is a mass transit simulation game where you build transportation networks for cities. CIM2 brings new choices to building transportation networks. If you want to focus less on city-building, and more on transportation networks for cities, CIM2 might be worth your time to check out... Here's the marketing blurb: Cities in Motion 2 (CIM2) is the sequel to the popular mass transit simulation game Cities in Motion. Build, manage and lead your transportation network to provide cities with their ever changing needs. Cities in Motion 2 introduces new features including multiplayer game modes, day and night cycles, timetables and dynamic cities. Building the transportation network will directly affect how the city grows. Affordable transportation brings middle class housing and work places, while more expensive and exotic choices bring high end businesses. Take advantage of many different types of vehicles including buses, trams, ferries and more. Build alone or play cooperatively with a friend. Use the newly implemented bus lanes to build efficient traffic free roadways. Tackle rush hour by managing transportation timetables and meeting the needs of the citizens. Dynamic cities Player’s choices affect city growth Day and night cycle Manage the timetables Multiplayer, both co-operative and competitive modes Campaign and sandbox mode

This has cropped up on the forums one or twice recently, but anyone interested in transport type games should definitely take a look at the features list: Currently it is still looking for crowdfunding though the devs seem to think it will meet its target. I for one hope so, looks like it has great potential and greater depth than Cities in Motion.

Joerg! While it is a pleasant surprise to see one of the really old hands here again, the occasion could certainly be more pleasant... I read through your entire rant, and I can relate to it very much. The only point where I don't quite agree with you is the money amounts. It would be awfully cumbersome to handle 7-digit figures (and upwards!) all the time, and it wouldn't be that important whether your new college costs §25,867,750 or §25,499,628 - why not just leave rounded amounts and ditch the last few zeroes for the sake of readability? As long as the scale is realistic (tax income vs. plop costs), the particular figures don't matter that much. ----------- This makes me think of another factor that I haven't seen addressed so far in all the lengthy discussions about SC2013, but that IMO is relevant: It's been a while, and the game has been with us. We have matured alongside it, we have learnt new things on our own and in communities like this one. We have delved into the matter of city planning and building, of transport system layouts and building architecture. I remember when a BATter called lambsquirter showed his Central Plaza BAT. Back then, it was just another shiny skyscraper to me, and when another young BATter called paulvmontfort replied and said that the actual Central Plaza had a triangular and not a square footprint, I thought "Well, that may be, but is it that important? It's just a skyscraper for SimCity." And today? Today I know dozens of skyscrapers around the world by name, and not only that. Rail nuts taught me a lot about laying out rail lines, road nuts did the same for roads. Others have shown and explained how to lay out a realistic seaport, and not to forget the modular airport packs! Behind each of these mods, there is knowledge of the real-life counterpart that made the respective authors discontent with the default stuff and motivated them to offer something better. And with each of these mods, part of that background knowledge trickled into the community, slowly accumulating in the more eager custom content users and community followers - alongside their increasing age and general life experience. I think that all this results in higher expectations and a better eye for shortcomings. I don't like most of what I see of SC2013, either, but I sometimes wonder what I'd think if I were ten yours younger and didn't have any of the experience I have gathered through the custom content community... I guess I still wouldn't like several directions this game is heading towards, but other issues - realism being one of them - would probably not hit me as hard as they do now.

View Album Spend a day at our little wildlife preserve... :-) click images for full size Pandas Tigers and Lions Elephants, Giraffes and Zebras Crocodile House, Deer Run WaterWorld Bears Rhinos Monkey Rock Aviary, Playgrounds, Restaurant At night Bus Terminal Xtra large mosaic (1280x2356)

I started my City Journal a little bit more than two years ago on SC4 Devotion, many updates, and here are some pictures from them. 57 pictures, might take some time to load ! If you want to, please tell me which entry is your favorite ! I'll be back soon with a new project ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Amazraou Isla Cornisa Generone - - - Chiesa Nuova - - Random grow - Presuntuoso - - - El Paraiso - Encerrado - - - - Viaduc de l'Oglio Livestock Farming - - Piedra en Oglio - Commercial District Main train station - - Truck crash Saint Tropez - - - Farming 2.0 - - Daventry Town Coos Bay - Beacon Hill - - - - Kinbasket Lake Kinbasket Old Mine - - Montbard - - Le Tour de France -

You: SimCity… Network… Not this again! What are EA up to n– Wait. SimCity 4? Network Addon Mod? Me: The latest SimCity might have been hamstrung by infrastructural problems, but there’s no reason your love affair with Maxis’ fair city-builder need end there. SimCity 4 has enormous cities. SimCity 4 had no internet requirement. SimCity 4 had… all the same traffic problems as the more recent release. But! It also had a vibrant modding community that’s still working on fixing problems and making the game better today. This pre-release (i.e. alpha release) of version 32 of the Network Addon Mod is testament to that. NAM improves the game’s pathfinding, fixes bugs in the base game, and adds “a myriad of new transport network items, ranging from ground light rail, to fractional-angle roads, to roundabouts, and much more” Roundabouts! Here’s an expanded list of features from the ModDB site, because it’s the nerdy detail of it all that excites me so much. And so on. NAM isn’t the only SimCity 4 mod worth installing, nor the only mod still under development. The SimCity 4 Devotion website and forums reveal a community still humming away with activity, and there’s a lot that’s worth looking at. That includes downloadable saved games, new buildings to turn your city into Tokyo or some other real world hotspot, and expansive mods and total conversions. Despite its age, SimCity 4′s high-resolution sprites still look fantastic. Time has even been kind, as today’s faster computers have a better time rendering all those hundreds of sprites than my machine did when the game was first released. If you’re looking for a spot of management and city-building this Christmas, you could do worse than dig out your old copy. Because no matter how hard they try, there’s hardly a single game developer that can match the ouput and commitment of their community. The Network Addon Mod is available from ModDB, and the SC4D Lot Exchange contains plenty more to browse.

Update, again ? Well actually some of you might already know this one, for some reasons I forgot to upload it here... But I have a mosaic to go with the other 20 pictures ! So here is a second update for Beacon Hill. After the Canadian MMPs, back with some growing action ! I'm working on the next entry which is almost ready, so stay tuned ! All I can tell you is that I just discovered a new amazing prop pack ! And again, thanks a lot for the comments ! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Following last year’s surprise Worst Company In America victory by Electronic Arts, there was hope that the video game giant would get the message: Stop treating your customers like human piggy banks, and don’t put out so many incomplete and/or broken games with the intent of getting your customers to pay extra for what they should have received in the first place. And yet, here we are again, with EA becoming the first company to ever win a second Golden Poo from Consumerist readers. After an astounding number of votes, Consumerist readers once again chose EA over Bank of America, with the video game company taking nearly 78% of the vote. Full story: http://consumerist.com/2013/04/09/ea-makes-worst-company-in-america-history-wins-title-for-second-year-in-a-row/

View Album One of my seaside communities... ;-) (click for fullsize pics...)

Update 42 Spring 1882 When Lee Shao was just a little boy his uncle journeyed to America to earn a fortune in the midst of the California gold rush. Lee didn’t remember much, only that his family was very excited. Most of his family had never left the small rural town in China. It wasn't until years later that Lee even learned where America was. Periodically he would receive news of his Uncles whereabouts and adventures. After the gold rush waned, the building of the intercontinental railroad began in earnest, and thousands of Chinese workers, including Lee’s uncle, joined the endeavor. In 1878, At the age of 23, Lee made the trip across the largest ocean in the world and tried his hand on a railroad crew, just as his uncle had done years earlier. After landing in Portland, Oregon, Lee Shao made the trek up to Steamer Bay and joined hundreds of other Asian immigrants in search of work on the Northern Pacific Railroad. * Lee knew only a few English phrases, but he could wield a hammer and his hard work earned him a spot on one of the crews. The labor was demanding, but Lee was young and the pay was far greater than anything he could earn back home in China. By the spring of 1882, Lee had a handsome savings and his own small house in Steamer Bay. That same year, the Northern Pacific Railroad bosses embarked on a number of projects that would finally allow them to overtake New SorGun and wrest control of the regions riches for themselves once and for all. In an attempt to copy the success of New SorGun’s coal mining operation, the railroad began work on a spur line that would connect with a known coal deposit in the hills south of Steamer Bay. This was good news for Lee and the many other immigrant workers who were living in Steamer Bay, as it would guarantee steady work for many months to come. The mine was in its infancy, but the deposits that had been unearthed so far proved to be good quality coal. Railroad construction was a hard, dirty and dangerous job, but the Chinese immigrants proved more than capable. Their punctuality, diligence, and good behavior put them in excellent standing with the Railroad bosses and construction foremen, although fellow Caucasian workers were not as tolerant. Despite the tension between the different groups of workers, construction of the railroad was progressing and by the spring of 1882 it was quickly snaking its way into the hills above Steamer Bay. Lee spent his weekdays toiling on the new rail line, and on the weekend he would be back in Steamer Bay to rest and recuperate. At the end of each week, he would look out the window of his train arriving back into Steamer Bay and he would notice more and more commotion down by the water. The railroad was pushing full steam ahead on an ambitious project to make Steamer Bay the premier port in the area. Heavy construction equipment was arriving daily, and work had already begun dredging the harbor to make it accessible to all seafaring vessels. The ambitious plan would add acres of land to the waterfront and enable Steamer Bay to reach its full potential as the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway. *1390x1050 - Click for full None of this mattered much to Lee, except that he was living in the center of the fastest growing towns on the pacific coast. There were opportunities abound, and it seemed like each day a new fortune was made somewhere in Steamer Bay. *1680x1050 - Click for full But all of Lee Shao’s dreams crashed into reality on May 6, 1882, when President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act into law. Suddenly, federal law prohibited any Chinese laborers from entering the United States. Discrimination, which was always festering in the shadows, suddenly became the law of the land, further emboldening bigots and racist across the western United States. Technically, Lee was a legal immigrant, along with hundreds of other Steamer Bay inhabitants who were of Chinese decent. But how would the white citizens of SorGun react to the new law considering there was already considerable prejudice shown towards those of Asian descent? Meanwhile, half a world away, a man by the name of Gustave Eiffel was overseeing the final touches on a colossal statue that was destined for New York harbor. Stay tuned..

Update 51: The Return Hello Everyone! Now that I have your attention: (~reminder: Please Click For Full Resolution) Teasers? We Don't Need No Stinking Teasers!!! The Ring of Fire makes its fall return. Up next week: we take a closer look at the container terminal at Hood's Hook (above). But in all seriousness; i noticed that there's been something like 5k views since the last entry i posted almost 5 months ago. I'm rather humbled that my CJ has gotten so much traffic in absentia. I can remember the days when an average update got only 2-4 comments. So I hope I can live up to your expectations and make the wait worth it. We Shall See. Until next time, happy gaming. Stay dry out there.

A gamer no longer has to worry about his disability preventing him from terrorizing his own metropolis with an alien invasion. When redditor joey6957 became interested in SimCity, he quickly discovered that his physical disadvantages were keeping him from its full potential. He explained in a post on r/SimCity how his mouth-controlled device limits his ability to execute multiple commands: Redditor ProcsKalone immediately jumped to the rescue. With a passing knowledge of Autoit, an automation language program, he got to work on a code that "sends the 'n' or 'm' key every 1 second to SimCity," thus eliminating the need to do so manually. After programming several other keyboard functions, tweaking the command that switches the automation on and off, he submitted the link to joey6957. “[You’re] a genius it works perfectly!” he wrote. “I hope I didn't keep you up trying to get this working for me. Thanks a lot for the help buddy!” ProcsKalone's generosity touched fellow redditors as well. “I'm sure you're getting a heavy dose of PMs right now since this post of yours went on /r/bestof,” greenblaster wrote, “but I wanted to say that you're an awesome person for putting so much effort into helping a stranger while having nothing to gain.” "I love happy endings," CryoGuy added.

Wow. I am absolutely thrilled with the reception received by my last entry. Not only did it put me at No 1. in Ben's Top Ten, it received over 30 comments and the highest repped entry EVER. So I would like to take the time to thank all you, who motivate me into creating this work, as well as taking the time to reply to a few specifics. TekindusT, Sculmanator: Yeep, the tequila bit may or may not have been inspired by an event several weeks ago SimGuy23, XAVERIOS: Those lovely seawalls can be found here.You have to be registered and logged in to access the download. prens: I like prens Mithrik: I couldn't keep it hidden forever, could I? Anyhow, lets get stuck into this. "I'll have a flat white, please. You?" "Soy latte. Don't skimp on the strength, either." The waitress scribbled down their requests, then hopped back inside. The two girls were sitting on iron wrought furniture placed on the footpath, whilst the few cars that were around this afternoon buzzed by. "So when do you think you'll be back at school? They all miss you there," asked Lucy. Carla retorted, "Oh nonsense. The girls there are all shallow, and it's pretty clear that the guys there only have one thing on their minds. Not like they'd be interested in someone like me, however. Besides, I've been having to deal with other things." Lucy put her hand on Carla's. "You know you can tell me anything." Carla looked down, and bit her lip. "Yes... but..." "But?" "Everything's just happening so fast. I don't even know what the hell is going on half the time. I just need a bit of time, time it seems I don't have." Lucy reached into her pocket. "Smoke?" Carla hesistated. "Sure, if you got 'em. What's your poison these days?" "Crimsons." She placed the cigarette in her mouth, cupped the end and flicked open the silver lighter sitting on the table, revealing a flame rather comforting for this chilly day. She tilted her head back in the chair and drew. No sooner than had she done this, the waitress had arrived with their drinks. When she laid them upon the table, Carla picked up the cup and sipped. "It's a little burnt." Lucy laughed. "Oh Carla, you're so pretentious!" "No I'm not!" she exclaimed, instantly defending herself. "I just know that last time I was here, they made it much better." "Put some sugar in it and you won't even notice." "Ha! Please." They both laughed as they proceeded to discuss the usual issues, leaning back into the chairs. Carla looked at the time. "I'm so sorry, I have to go!" she said as she picked up her bag and hurried along the street, leaving her half-drunk, 'burnt' coffee resting there. Lucy yelled out. "Okay, but let me know what's even going on these days. I have a phone you know, call it!" Running down the road, she could feel the vibrations under the underpass of the train approaching ever nearer. Although trains ran every 15 minutes, she had no desire to be late, especially for this. Guildford station was located annoyingly distant from the town centre, as opposed to many stations on the line which lay in the heart of their suburbs. Of convenience though, was it's proximity to the local high school. She however had made it. Taking a seat on the nearly empty train, she gazed out the window, viewing the leafy roadside. She took a slight amusement in the traffic that was building up at the level crossing. "Victims of this incompetent government," she smirked. The traffic remains heavy at many hours. Two trains pass each other on the approach to Highbury station. At least this intersection was grade separated. The station sits tucked behind several apartment buildings. Four car lineups are common on this line, due to the short platform at Winchester station. Those coupled in 6 car trains usually bypass the station. It's here at Newmarket the largely isolated Eastleigh line joins the main network. One can transfer to metro services, regional trains or simply get off and attend their classes at the college. However, Carla was heading to Central. Her heart was beating, not knowing what to expect. Pulling her bag over her shoulder, she disembarked and headed down the platform. The concourse was teeming with patrons. Intercity services were lined up at the station, and she could see many with suitcases, heading off to far lands. But throughout this crowd of patrons, a tall, bold man suck out from the rest. She had never seen this man before, yet he looked so familiar. She hurried towards him. He noticed. It was at that point she started running, faster than she had ever thought yet the moment lasted a lifetime. Finally, when not a few feet separated the two, she threw her arms around the stranger. A tear formed in her eye. "It's me, daddy." As always, +1 or comment if you enjoyed this update!

Mystic_Destiny, Hellken, Schulmanator, Ggamgus, Kruness, TekindusT, ThomasSimpson, 111222333444, Boisemetro. THANKS FOR COMMENTING, IT'S GREATLY APRRECIATED Hellken, The bridge is from a BATer called Glenni, and its in a prop pack that he's released from a long while ago. Its on the STEX or LEX, or both! Being that I can put MMPs on it is cause the lot is only a 1x1 and that the prop bridge hangs out of the lot so you can add stuff on it Hey everyone! Yes, I felt like making a tutorial for anyone who wants to try out MMP scenes, but may not no exactly how. So this step by step tutorial consisting of 30 pictures should be able to get you well over to doing some highly detailed scenes such as this River Scene, and hopefully, help you make other scenes with the same level of detail! To do this, you'll need the following content, so you can try it out. These are a great selection of MMPs made by some really awesome BATers. The following is listed below: VIP MMP European Signage (Optional) VIP Rural Pack MMPs VIP Girafe's Confiers http://sc4devotion.c...php?lotGET=2698 VIP Girafe's Norwegian Maples http://sc4devotion.c...php?lotGET=2740 VIP Girafe's Cattails http://sc4devotion.c...php?lotGET=2687 VIP Girafe's Bushes http://sc4devotion.c...php?lotGET=2711 Rock'n'Stones Gray Rocks RFR Plopwater pack 1 Murimk MMP Rocks - Pack 1 V1.0 (Optional) Glenni's Eyecandy bridge set 1 RRP Pasture Flora ChrisAdamas3997 https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1886 HBS Tropical Flora Pack (Mayor Mode) This is generally all you need for this tutorial. But for more MMPs, check out Marsh's extensive list of MMPs, which touches on all kinds of Mayor Mode Ploppables. What your aiming to do is something similar to this: Now let's get started... Step 1: Now not to state the obvious, but let's start by picking out an empty block, preferably a medium sized block. Step 2: Begin with selecting one of the RFR Water ploppables and carefully laying it out in the form of a typical river. Step 3: Your river should turn out as something like this, or close. This will obviously be your river, which is central to your river scene. Step 4: Now that you have a beautifully set out river, close in on a section of the river and raise the terrain on the right side slightly higher, but not too high as to make it noticable. Raise the land on the right side and insure that it's subtle and untracable to the eye. Step 5: Once you've completed STEP 4, you can refill the areas of the river affected by heightening the land with the same water ploppable by RFR. LOOKS LIKE WE'RE READY TO ADD THE BRIDGE, ANOTHER IMPORTANT ELEMENT TO THE PICTURE. Step 6: Now add Glenni's metal suspension bridge on the site you of terrain that was heightened in the previous STEPS. Heightening the terrain will allow you to build the bridge higher above the plopped water rather than merging with the water and cause a texture glitch. Step 7: Ignore the fact that the highlighted item is the bike, that'll be added later. Instead, select the small pebble-like Rock'n'Stones that you see in this image and spread them on the edges/boundary of the river like so. Step 8: By completing STEP 7, the result you should get should be something like this. Ugly huh? Well not to worry, cause we aren't done yet! Step 9: Now with the highlighted Gray Rock from the Rock'n'Stones pack, use it and spread it around the same areas in which you plopped the small stone pebble rocks. They'll be an addition to make the edges of the river look more realistic to rivers you see in real-life, depending on what you're expecting. It also help to cover up the the base terrain on the area and fill empty space and better defining the river's edge. Step 10: By adding the gray rocks, you should come up with something like this...Still ugly you say? Well...your right. So let's keep going! Step 11: There are another set of gray rock that you can use. Use the rock ploppable highlighted in this image, to fill in more of the gaps you can see, preferably over exposed terrain to add more variety to the rocks on the river's edge. Also place them on the center part of the river to create the illusion of a small waterfall/current flowing. Step 12: Starting to look more interesting right? And when I mean interesting, I mean interesting - good! Right?...Right? Oh well, let's move on. Step 13: Now that we've got rocks covered, let's add some flora! The Cattails made by the VIP Team would be a perfect plant to add first. Use the Cattails, seasonal since we're making a more fall/autumn styled river scene and place them alongside the rocks, whether it's a little bit on the outside, or on and alongside the river and rocks. GO NUTS! (You won't see the Cattails in the following images cause it seems like I mixed the order of the images. They will be in the end images so don't worry, add the cattails first and refer to the top completed image to see how you can place them) Step 14: Now that you've place your cattails (I forgot to add them at this point, but you should've placed them unlike me ) We can add some more flora, larger trees in particular. More specifically, select the Seasonal Norway Maples by the Girafe and place them around the river scene. Step 15: The result should be something like this. Now it's starting to pick up! Step 16: Next, use another of Girafe's Conifer Trees and place them alongside the maples to cover some of the exposed terrain and add variety to the flora around the river. Step 17: After STEP 16, it should look similar to this. Now it's really looking more natural and realistic! If you're image looks similar, good, it's time for you to add the road! Be careful not to demolish anything you've added this far. If it does affect any MMP around it, just replace them. Step 18: Now search for the green rye grass included in the RRP Pasture flora pack and spread it around the river alongside the maples and conifers. This will just fill in exposed terrain and give it a more 3D feel, rather than looking plain and flat. Step 19: It should now look something a little like this. A lot less plain and empty than before. That's a good sign. Step 20: Like in STEP 18, instead you'll use the Green Grass ploppable and just place it with the green grass to diversify the look and eliminate the empty feel of the clearer spaces. Step 21: Now this time, search for the HBS Gray Sand! You can place this alongside the rocks on the river, alongside the road (continuing from the suspension bridge) and anywhere along the clear grass pastures and trees to create the illusion of empty patches of dirt and stone. Step 22: Look what we have here! This is really looking beautiful eh? I'm betting yours isn't so different, so if you made it this far, keep on going! Now we can get to the nitty gritty details in the image... Step 23: Start by adding and old broken rowboats alongside the river. You can place it just about anywhere. Preferably, you should add it on the edges of the river though, rather than in the middle. Step 23: Now look for the signposts and add them on the edge of the road to make the picture a little more alive. Step 24: Now look for the Kayaks by the VIP Team and place them on the river. They can also be place anywhere on the river. If you want them on land, be my guest! Step 25: Now adding cars are really more of an optional thing, but if you want, add them just about anywhere on land. You can create a scene of a picnic or Kayakers about to get onto the river. Add them at a place where there's a clear amount of grass pasture, so it makes sense that they're there. And there you have it! A finished River scene. Now if you'd like, add some photoshopping to make it a little more compelling! CONGRATULATIONS! You've just completed a Natural river scene! Now that you've completed it, you can try making more fascinatning scenes and blending other variaties of MMPs to create your own original river scene or another type of scene of your choice, like the one below! DOMINICA ~ Javais River ALVERONA ~ Illusit River ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Comment and Rate and +1 if this tutorial was helpful to you, and if you'd like, post the results of your work here! THANKS FOR VIEWING!

Six hours ago, an anonymous redditor posting under the name “DisappointedEA” made a thread containing an open letter expressing his disappointment in the company’s handling of SimCity. The twist? He reportedly works there: “To the executives at EA, from one of your employees I am deeply embarrassed by the troubled launch of Sim City and I hope you are too. When I walk around our campus and look at the kind of talent we’ve collected, the amenities we have access to and the opportunities working at such a big company affords us, I can’t imagine how for release after release, EA continues to make the same embarrassing, anti-consumer mistakes. We should be better than this. You should not be failing us so badly. Another thing I see when I walk around our campus are massive banners that display what are said to be our company values. They are on posters on every floor, included in company-wide emails and hanging above the cafeteria in bright colors. You even print them on our coffee mugs so we see them every day. But somehow when planning the launch of Sim City, you threw them all out the window. Most important of the values you are ignoring is Think Consumers First. What part of the Sim City DRM scheme, which has rendered the game unplayable for hundreds of thousands of fans across the globe, demonstrates that you are thinking about consumers before you are thinking about yourselves? Does “first” mean something different in boardrooms than it does to the rest of us? Does the meaning of that word change when you get the word “executive” in front of your title? You can’t even pretend that you didn’t know consumers would be angry about this. Common sense aside, consumers complained about this during your public betas. In fact, when one of them posted his criticisms on the forums, he was banned! You tried to silence your critics. The same thing is happening now as users write in to demand refunds. What part of this behavior aligns with our company value to Be Accountable? What you’ve demonstrated with this launch is that our corporate management does not believe in our core values. They are for the unwashed masses, not for the important people who forced this anti-consumer DRM onto the Sim City team. This DRM scheme is not about the consumers or even about piracy. It’s about covering your own asses. It allows you to hand-wave weak sales or bad reviews and blame outside factors like pirates or server failures in the event the game struggles. You are protecting your own jobs at the expense of consumers. I think this violates the Act With Integrity value I’m looking at on my own coffee mug right now. On behalf of your other employees, I’d like to ask you to fix this. Allow the Sim City team to patch the game to run offline. If Create Quality and Innovation is still a core value that you believe in, then this shouldn’t be a hard decision. Games that gamers can’t play because of server overload or ISP issues are NOT quality. Be Bold by giving the consumers what they want and take accountability for the mistake. Finally I’d like to ask you to follow the last company value on the list in the future: Learn and Grow. When you made this mistake with Spore, the company and all your employees suffered for it. You didn’t learn from that mistake and you are making it again with Sim City. So please, learn from this debacle. Don’t do this again. Grow into better leaders and actually apply our company values when you make decisions. Don’t just use them as tools to motivate your staff. With the money, talent and intellectual property available to EA, we should be leading the industry into a golden age of consumer-focused game publishing. Instead we’re the most reviled game publisher in the world. That’s your fault. Things can only change if you actually start following the company values and apply them to every title we launch. Sincerely, A Disappointed But Hopeful Artist at EARS”

Dear Electronic Arts, My mother always told me that it's petty to say "I told you so" when proven right. That's why I really hope she isn't reading this, because I have a message for you: I told you so. But it's not just me; a big chunk of the gaming community feels the same way. I don't want this to seem petty, but I genuinely want you to learn from your mistakes, so you don't repeat what's shaping up to be one of the most embarassing game launches in years. So far, Amazon has 1,091 one-star user reviews for SimCity out of 1,213 reviews total (and I'm pretty sure several of the five-star reviews are being sarcastic). A Change.org petition has raised over 35,000 signatures in two days demanding that you offer a single-player, offline mode in SimCity and eschew always-on online for games. Polygon has revised its score of SimCity increasingly downward from 9.5 to 4. At PCMag, we even came up with seven SimCity alternatives for players who don't want to deal with server problems. I don't want to gloat. I want you to understand why this happened, and how you can prevent it from happening in the future. When concerns are raised over "online features," listen to them. When people warn you months in advance that there will be server issues, listen to them. When gamers worry that they won't be able to play SimCity years from now (when every SimCity game from the Super Nintendo version to Simcity 4 remains playable and enjoyable), listen to them. Turn away from your paranoia regarding piracy and realize that there are tons of customers who want to give you money in exchange for being able to play a game. Appreciate the value of customer loyalty and developing a community instead of squeezing every last drop out of people and discarding them.

A new version of JUPITER is uploaded to the lex. This version contais the following bug fixes: -Fixed the bug that caused violent lightning at higher altitude maps. -Partial solution for nights that became too dark during rain/snowstorms. If this happens lightning can be reset by toggling between day and back to night mode again. In this case unfortunately it is necessary that the weather lot has power. -Minor tuning of the climate. -Tornados are now optional. -Removed all red circular markers that were left in for testing purposes -Now <10% of all lightning strikes are destructive (applies to destructive version only). -Minor bug fixes.

Check out the preview of the new Raise and Lower tool.

Update 35 Spring 1880 The train slowed around the last bend. Mr. Stevens was glued to his window, wondering if this was even the same town he visited 10 years ago. A decade can cloud the mind, but Stevens remembered his first trip to Porthaven like it was yesterday. The ferry crossing, Fort Sunset, Murphy’s Pub… Porthaven held a special place in Fredric Stevens’ heart. Most of all, Stevens was looking forward to catching up with the man behind Porthaven, Nicholas J. Delin. Over 25 years ago, Delin cut through the swampy lowlands looking for the perfect location to start his dream. All these years later, Porthaven was finally shaping up into the city that he had imagined. As the Census crew strolled down Main St, Stevens couldn’t help but notice how much the town had grown up. Shops and homes dotted the landscape, and the bustle and hustle of the townsfolk added to a very lively atmosphere. The stationmaster gave the group directions to Sunset Port House & Inn, one of the newest hotels in town. Stevens was surprised to see Mr. Delin standing out front waiting to welcome the new guests. “Mr. Stevens, it’s been far too long! Welcome back to Porthaven,” announced Delin. “Far too long indeed,” replied Stevens. “I’d like you to meet my fellow colleagues – they are all excited to begin their work tallying up this great town.” “Wonderful. These gentlemen are members of the town council and they will be happy to assist you and your party. I look forward to your stay, Mr. Stevens. We have much to talk about,” said Delin. The two groups exchanged greetings and introductions. As the informal gathering began to wind down, Stevens had one last word with Mr. Delin. “Thank you again for the warm welcome. Porthaven appears to be growing into quite the town, you must be proud,” remarked Stevens. Delin managed a smile. “Well… things are not always as they seem.” Stevens was puzzled by the response. Before Delin turned to walk away he gestured down the street. “If your schedule permits, I’d be honored to share a drink at Murphy’s this evening. A lot has happened in ten years.” Later that evening, Fredric Stevens made his way down the street to Murphy’s. As he strolled through the door, the memories of ten years past came rolling back. It was nice to know that an entire town could grow up, but some things don’t change. Stevens glanced around and noticed Mr. Delin sitting at a table in the corner. “If it weren’t for my aching old bones, I’d say this feels like the last ten years never happened,” laughed Stevens as he pulled up a chair. Delin looked up and smiled. At 61, the years were beginning to show their wear. To many, Delin was still the young buck who almost single handedly built Porthaven from the ground up, starting with that single cabin over 25 years ago. But the grey hair told a different story. As the two friends reminisced about old times and faraway places, the night wore on. After a lull in the conversation, Mr. Stevens took a sip of his beer and posed a question. “I was thrown off by your comment earlier today. Steamer Bay is shaping up into a splendid little town, but Porthaven has nothing to be ashamed of – from what I’ve seen both towns are equally grand. What did you mean by your quip?” Delin rested his mug on the table. “Fredric, my friend, the hour is far too late to begin that story now. The mornings come early here on the frontier, and Murphy’s beer can make you scorn the sunlight.” The two gentlemen walked out into the night, and as Fredric turned to walk towards the hotel, Delin cleared his throat. “I’m going to take an afternoon walk tomorrow. If you can make time between your census duties, I’d like to show you something. We can leave from my house.” Normally Stevens would find it hard to sleep with so many questions running through his head. What had put Mr. Delin in such a strange state? Fortunately, an evening at Murphy’s made the eyes heavy, and the comfortable beds at the Inn finished the job and whisked Stevens off to dreamland. The next morning, Stevens was a little rough around the edges, as Delin had warned. Stevens gathered the group and began assigning neighborhoods for the day. He got to work on his own block and after lunch he took a stroll over to Delin’s home. The house was still perched on a little hill, just a short walk from the mill and town center. “I hope you are up for a little hike, my friend,” blurted Delin as he marched down the main staircase. “You’ve just summed up about every day of my working career, sir,” shot back Stevens. The two men trooped along the dusty roads of Porthaven, enjoying the cool spring air. Soon, the well-trodden dirt roads gave way to smaller trails and the civilization quickly surrendered to nature. “These hikes take me back twenty years,” observed Delin. “Back then, I didn’t think we could ever fell enough trees to eke out a spot for a town. The forests were so thick you could saw for days on end and barely make a dent.” Stevens kept pace with his friend, listening to the rhythm of his footsteps. Delin continued, “It was hard. Grueling in fact. But God… I loved it. I look back now… They were good times. Hard, good times.” “All that hard work has birthed a town from nothing, it must be satisfying to be able to look back from where you stand now,” said Stevens. “Hmm,” sighed Delin, looking off into the trees. “Everything starts simply enough. It’s often hard to appreciate at the time, but as the world grows more complex we lose sight of the straightforward path. I did. And in the end, it cost me everything.” The trail emerged from the trees and off in the distance Stevens spotted a track of rail slicing through the brush. “I’m sorry, I don’t follow you Nicholas. Most folks would trade their right arm for the land under a township this size,” replied Stevens. Delin flashed a disheartened smile. “The honest man might make that trade. A lesser man would snatch it away without remorse.” Delin paused. “It’s just around this clump of trees, we’re almost there.” As the two men cleared the last tree, Stevens eyes grew wide. “About the time Northern Pacific came looking around for a terminus port, I offered to sell a huge swath of this waterfront property, thinking it would seal the deal and bring the railroad to Porthaven,” Delin continued. “I needed the cash to clear some debts and the lumber prices were hitting rock bottom, so the final negotiated price was akin to stealing. But in the back of my mind, I knew the announcement of a railroad terminus in Porthaven would boost my land holdings twenty fold.” Delin chuckled. “Unfortunately, that didn’t quite work out. After the Steamer Bay swindle, I had nothing. I was forced to sell nearly everything just to balance the books. Porthaven is now a Northern Pacific town…” “Nothing? It’s really all gone?” Stevens couldn’t quite wrap his head around what Delin had just said. Delin started down the path leading to the port. “I still have my health, loving friends and family and a home… it’s more than I can say about the vultures who took everything else.” Stevens was silent. He didn’t know what to say to console his friend. Delin continued, “It would be disingenuous to say that I wasn’t bitter at the railroad. I spent much of the past few years eaten by hatred, and it felt right to hate them. But at the end of each day, nothing had changed… my mood never improved.” The two hiked down near the waterfront. It was abuzz with activity – wagons, workers and horses moving in all directions at once. Stevens followed Delin across the railroad tracks and up a small hill near the port. The two travelers proceeded up a watch tower overlooking the sound and mouth of the Delin River. “This is my favorite spot,” announced Delin. “Little by little, I let the bitterness escape through my clenched fists. Eventually I rediscovered what drew me to this frontier in the first place.” The two men gazed out across the water. Gulls were calling down by the harbor, and the salt air permeated everything. “You are a stronger man than I,” admitted Stevens. “I don’t know how I could settle with losing everything.” The town founder sighed. “I have fewer years ahead than behind. Time is more valuable than any worldly wealth, and I intend to spend every last grain of sand in my hourglass.” “And besides,” Delin smiled, “it’s not all gone. I still have some swampland to the east of town… I’d probably have trouble giving it away.” “Hmm… Mr. Stevens,” Delin mentioned sarcastically, “you wouldn’t happen to be interested in buying a piece of Porthaven, would you?” Both friends had a good laugh. (click for full) Replies to the last Teaser: NMUSpidey, Gugu3, Forthwall, ggamgus: Thanks for the great comments! Hope you enjoyed the full update

After a decade of waiting, the next SimCity is finally here! From the perspective of a lifelong enthusiast, is it any good? Er, you may want to sit down for this one. The SimCity retrospective if you haven't seen it:

I've been a fan of Sim City since I first picked up that box at a Babbage's in a mall way back in 1991. Played that game for hours me, family, and friends would spend an entire Saturday afternoon taking turns playing with our cities. A simple, easy, game with nothing put simple tiled graphics and sprite animations. Heck, I still have the manual to that game because it was big, thick and utterly interesting manual to read. Sim City 2000 came out a few years later and I was blown away by the better graphics, the addition of water, highways and subways and invested so much time in that game it's no wonder I never got laid in high school. Building huge cities with millions of "sims" in them. Making up stories that happened over the course of the decades of the city's life time even at times leveling a city with an apocalyptic series of disasters and having the city rebuild. And, again, the manual for the game and the companion books that came out around it were great, great, reads. There's an old Prima book for SC2000 that's still fun and interesting to read. Sim City 3000 on indifferent towards. The look and mechanics of it just missed some "spark." Sim City 4 (with Rush Hour/Deluxe): If we liken the first Sim City to grade school, 2000 to fun times in high school and 3000 to struggling/awkward college years Sim City 4 brings us into the adult world. Time to get down to brasstacks and take things seriously. A fun game but for utterly different reasons. This was a serious game on running a city, add in some great transit additions with Rush Hour and then the 3rd-party creation of "NAM" which made the transit system more adapatable and adjustable you could really make something happen. Region play, cities more interacting with one another. It was something to behold. Ten years later and it's a game I can STILL play and enjoy even though I'm pretty adept at making a city successful and and some tweaks in NAM gives me a large influx of cash. (I charge my Sims a fraction of a cent to drive on the roads, considering it equivalent to car taxes/licensing fees.) It has it hardness but, darn if that game isn't great to play. Some quibbles with it (largely in no easy way to edit the entire region at once.) But utter fascinating. Now we're at Sim City "5" which, well, is sort of like going to a high school reunion and wondering why you're there. Especially when for an hour or two you try to get in and you can't even though the door is right in front of you. Once inside these people are shallow, not at all what you want them to be, the food buffet is filled with nothing but fillers and snack foods, and the bartender can barely make a simple rum and Coke and all of the other alcoholic beverages are watered down. Okay, I stretched that metaphor too far. Anyway, my point is I'm heart broken and disappointed. In the pre-release news I was sort of cautiously skeptical but still interested. The game comes out and I buy some upgrades for my computer and spend a good amount off time installing everything and get going. Only to find out it doesn't work, I can't get into a game to start a city because of this stupid cloud computing. Then I see all of my "fears" about the game from those who managed to play come true. This game is a shadow of the greatness of Sim City 4. Heck, all this game needed to be was Sim City 4 Deluxe (with some ideas taking from NAM) with some minor tweaks to the simulation with a modern GUI and massive graphical updates and full 3D motion and this thing would have been epic. A simple "Sandbox" mode or a trimmed down option could have been in place to attract new users. Instead... we get this. This which heavily relies on "cloud computing" requiring an always on connection to even play. This is just heart breaking. I'll keep giving this game a try but if I keep having the problems I've been having with it I'm going to give up and just suffer with the loss of $60 it cost me to buy it. Thanks for nothing, EA.

View Album Today we just tour around the new waterfront... Hope you didn't get sea-sick... ;-)

View Album This city is still growing in many parts, while some districts are mostly done. So our extended hike will take a few days... We start in the north-west corner with some remaining farms past the waste facility... Next time(s) we'll visit fancy eastern suburbs, small docking services, the district's huge freight truck station, dense downtown RES and COM, and some small nearby 'hamlets', all busy restaurating... and with some facilities still under construction...

Talking about why he quit EA, former SimCity creative director Ocean Quigley told Polygon he had been "dismayed" at the botched launch of SimCity, in which EA insisted gamers play always-online, while failing to provide enough server capacity. The botched launch closed many players out of the game and led to severe criticism of EA's processes. But Quigley added that he has been thinking of setting up a new project for some time anyway. "I was dismayed at the blundered launch of something that I had poured so much love and attention into, which made the leaving easier but it would have probably happened anyway," he said. "Honestly I think I would have left regardless of whether EA's launch of SimCity was smooth or rough. It was basically my third SimCity. I did SimCity 3000 and SimCity 4 and this new SimCity." Quigley announced on Twitter today that he, SimCity lead architect Andrew Willmott and lead gameplay engineer Dan Moskowitz are setting up a new developer called Jellygrade. They are working on an iPad simulation game that seeks to recreate the early formation of the Earth. Full article: http://www.polygon.com/2013/7/16/4529260/quigleys-dismay-at-simcitys-blundered-launch-and-why-he-quit-ea

mipro Since 2006, the Barry Sanders Project has brought a slice of the Motor City to SimCity 4. From One Woodward Avenue and Cadillac Tower, to smaller gems like the Music Hall and Scarab Club, the BSP has painstakingly re-created nearly 50 Detroit and other Michigan landmarks for the game. But times change. What started as a group of 10 or so eager Michiganders has thinned to just two: JasonCW and nofunk. And what originally made sense as a mascot -- former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders -- is now an obscure reference that fails to recognize the many other great cities in Michigan from which great BATs can originate (and have already). So it's time for a reboot! The Barry Sanders Project is now mipro -- The Michigan Project -- and all releases going forward will be under the mipro label. You can still expect the same high quality BATs that the Barry Sanders Project is known for, just under a more identifiable and more descriptive name. Jasoncw and I are excited to start a new chapter in Detroit BATs, and we hope you all come along for the ride! mipro Essesntials mipro Essentials contains queries, props, and textures for current and future mipro uploads, and will occasionally be updated. mipro Essentials can be downloaded here. Completed BATs All mipro uploads have the "mipro" tag prefix in the title and can be found here. Uploads from 2012 and earlier have "BSP" in the title and are best found by searching the STEX for "BSP". Click here to view all mipro uploads and works-in-progress in Google Maps. Building Name: -------------------------- City: ----------- Year: -- Creator: Guardian Building ----------------------- Detroit --------- 2019 --- Jasoncw Hotel Yorba ----------------------------- Detroit --------- 2019 --- nofunk Grand Haven Lighthouse ------------------ Grand Haven ----- 2015 --- Jasoncw Big Red Lighthouse ---------------------- Holland --------- 2015 --- Jasoncw 220 West Congress ----------------------- Detroit --------- 2015 --- Jasoncw Lane Bryant Building -------------------- Detroit --------- 2014 --- nofunk Motown Museum --------------------------- Detroit --------- 2014 --- Jasoncw Anchor Bar ------------------------------ Detroit --------- 2014 --- Jasoncw City Hub Cyclery ------------------------ Muskegon -------- 2014 --- nofunk Slow's To Go ---------------------------- Detroit --------- 2013 --- nofunk Charlotte Apartments -------------------- Detroit --------- 2013 --- Jasoncw Penobscot Building ---------------------- Detroit --------- 2013 --- Jasoncw One Detroit Center ---------------------- Detroit --------- 2013 --- nofunk Film Exchange (Updated) ----------------- Detroit --------- 2012 --- nofunk Hamilton Arms --------------------------- Detroit --------- 2012 --- nofunk Scarab Club ----------------------------- Detroit --------- 2011 --- Jasoncw Cadillac Tower -------------------------- Detroit --------- 2011 --- nofunk Davidson Block -------------------------- Bay City -------- 2011 --- nofunk Standard Forge Co. ---------------------- Detroit --------- 2010 --- SimHoTToDDy Fisher Body Plant #21 ------------------- Detroit --------- 2010 --- SimHoTToDDy One Woodward Avenue --------------------- Detroit --------- 2010 --- Jasoncw Music Hall ------------------------------ Detroit --------- 2010 --- Jasoncw & nofunk Hamilton Avenue Shops 2 ----------------- Highland Park --- 2010 --- nofunk Ford Building --------------------------- Detroit --------- 2010 --- nofunk Grosse Pointe Public Library ------------ Grosse Pointe --- 2010 --- Jasoncw Detroit Elevator Company ---------------- Detroit --------- 2010 --- SimHoTToDDy Gleaners Community Food Bank ------------ Detroit --------- 2010 --- SimHoTToDDy Aluminum Architectural Metals Company --- Detroit --------- 2010 --- SimHoTToDDy Film Exchange Building ------------------ Detroit --------- 2010 --- nofunk Park Shelton ---------------------------- Detroit --------- 2009 --- nofunk Miller Street Manufacturing ------------- Detroit --------- 2009 --- SimHoTToDDy 211 West Fort Street -------------------- Detroit --------- 2009 --- Jasoncw Hamilton Avenue Shops 1 ----------------- Highland Park --- 2009 --- nofunk Iodent Building ------------------------- Detroit --------- 2009 --- SimHoTToDDy Production Steel Products Inc. ---------- Detroit --------- 2009 --- SimHoTToDDy Kingsley Arms Apartments ---------------- Ann Arbor ------- 2009 --- nofunk Maccabees Building ---------------------- Detroit --------- 2009 --- nofunk Hofmann Building ------------------------ Detroit --------- 2008 --- nofunk The Pylon ------------------------------- Detroit --------- 2008 --- Jasoncw Hotel Wolverine ------------------------- Detroit --------- 2008 --- nofunk Joe Louis Arena ------------------------- Detroit --------- 2008 --- Bigskelding Chase Tower ----------------------------- Detroit --------- 2007 --- Jasoncw Happy's Pizza --------------------------- Detroit --------- 2007 --- nofunk McNamara Federal Building --------------- Detroit --------- 2007 --- nofunk Allmendinger Organ Co. ------------------ Ann Arbor ------- 2007 --- nofunk Olde Building --------------------------- Detroit --------- 2007 --- Jasoncw Ypsilanti Water Tower ------------------- Ypsilanti ------- 2007 --- nofunk Park Avenue & park Apartments ----------- Detroit --------- 2006 --- nofunk John King Books ------------------------- Detroit --------- 2006 --- nofunk Burton Memorial Tower ------------------- Ann Arbor ------- 2006 --- nofunk Vinton Building ------------------------- Detroit --------- 2006 --- Jasoncw Borders Books and Music ----------------- Ann Arbor ------- 2006 --- nofunk Detroit Free Press Building ------------- Detroit --------- 2006 --- Jasoncw

Grand Hyatt Melbourne (Includes around the base: Louis Vuitton, Paspaley, Emporio Armani, Bvlgari, Hermes of Paris, Fifteen (Jamie Oliver's restaurant, now closed), Italy 1 Restaurant, and the Russell Street Church of Scientology)

Well, I'm terribly sorry, but I got hit with sanctions for exceeding my bandwidth (the manner in which this has been done will be a matter for a rant at another place and time)... So here are the images, a bit hapazard because the upload module is not comfortable - but at least the pics are available... I'll fix everything up once I get these issues sorted. Thanks for visiting :-)

Update 33 Don't you just love it when a TV series throws a bunch of old clips together and calls it a new episode... I started this CJ on April 12th of last year so I thought it would be a good idea to take a quick look back. Also, I will be taking a short break from my regular weekly updates, so I thought this would be a nice way to leave things until I return early next month. Don't worry though, we will get right back into the swing of things with part 2 of the 1880 Census. I'd also like to take a second and thank everybody for their support. Playing SC4 in a vacuum can still be entertaining, but sharing New SorGun with you and hearing your feedback makes it even more enjoyable. So thank you! Replies to the last Teaser: Forthwall, dubaidude303, Hellken, nate1245, ggamgus, starmodem, eoin247, and Hieronymus: Thanks everyone for the great comments and support! Mithrik: That's a great shot! Those train wagons look pretty interesting, I don't think I've seen them before. Also, where did you get those rocks in the stream? I could find a use or two for them. Most of those rocks are by nbvc - just do a check for his content on the STEX... you will find more rocks than you can shake a stick at jason leo: The surrounding area is just perfect, nice job as always. And that train is 4-4-0 Eight Wheeler, right? I want to ask another question too, what will the mod does to the original train? Replace the original one or only as an additional train? I'll call it a 4-4-0 if you will And if you use the mod it will replace the original - you can only have one train mod in your plugins at a time. Benedict: Congratulations, you're number one on BTT this week. Wow, I wasn't expecting that this week, thanks! vinlabsc3k: I know that the MMPs aren't placeable on networks, but I've intended to make a TE Lot with wagons props. Anyway, I'm waiting for the 2nd part of Census!! Neat! I'm interested to see how they turn out. I hope you decide to share them on the STEX.

Electronic Arts is at it again. This time with an overzealous EULA. The company's resentment and bitterness towards their own customers manifests itself in treating beta players who fail to report bugs no differently than the bug abusers: "If you know about a Bug or have heard about a Bug and fail to report the Bug to EA, we reserve the right to treat you no differently from someone who abuses the Bug. You acknowledge that EA reserve the right to lock anyone caught abusing a Bug out of all EA products." Maybe EA hasn't come out with the best Sim City sequel, but there is no denying they've created the best oppressive regime simulator on the market.