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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...

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

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.

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.

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.

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)

Maxis originally told us that SC2013's tile size would be 2 km by 2 km, or about the same size as the 'medium' tile from SC4. I originally found this to be mildly acceptable, as SC4's medium tile is respectable in size. However, I now realize that while the tile may indeed be 4 km^2 in area according to whatever standards of measuring they use, the implications of this are highly misleading. This is because the scale of plopables in SC2013 are FAR bigger than those in SC4. Really, the amount of space you have to play with is closer to the 1 km by 1 km or 'small' tile from SC4. I noticed this while watching a few Let's Play videos of the game. For example, check out this shot of one of the recent videos I watched (from Haljackey - thank you to him). Those roads are equivalent to SC4's avenues. They are spaced apart in a standard way; not at all too widely. SC4 medium tile size: SC4 small tile: Shame. Thoughts?

SimCity 4 lives forever... Edit 5 years later: image link died so I replaced it for posterity.

I need some help. This happened a long time ago when i first installed the RHW, and now its happening again. I installed Project Symphony, and the Original Maxis Highway components, and their NAM counterparts have started an uprising. They are angry about being replaced by RHW, and are now destorying my city. What do i do to stop this?

What is the reputation point system for, and how does it work? I'm really curious, because I have over 560 posts now, but only 60 rep points. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not whining and I'm not jealous or anything like that. But I've noticed there are some members who joined the site after me, who have fewer posts than I do, but they have a lot more rep points than me. At first I was thinking to myself "Well, just post more helpful comments and people will start repping me more". But I do post what I consider to be helpful comments, and yet my rep points remain relatively low. So I checked the profiles of some members who haven't been here long, and looked at all the posts they've made, and the number of rep points they've actually received are not matching up to the total that shows under their avatars. And today, I looked up the profile of someone who has only made 6 posts the entire time they've been here, yet they have 60 rep points! However, when I looked up those 6 posts they've made, they've only received a total of 2 rep points. So how come there is such a huge discrepancy there?

So, I notice there are a few misconceptions about SimCity 4 and SimCity 2013: SimCity 4 is too much civil engineering: some people say that there's too much civil engineering involved in SimCity 4, making the game hard. Well guess what: civil engineering and urban planning can hardly be taken apart and therefore it's logical that SimCity 4 has founded itself on these two engineering aspects. SimCity 4 is in that respect challenging. You have to deal with restrictions real engineers have to face with too (especially when you use slope mods) and solutions aren't always simple. Besides, you can easily making mistakes of your own. One urban planner once said "rocket science is easy", because urban planning is, unlike rocket science, unpredictable due to human factors... There's too much micromanaging in SimCity 4: I don't understand this one. How often do you need to micromanage in SimCity 4? I rarely do. In fact, I felt that I was more micromanaging in the SimCity 2013 Beta than in SimCity 4. with all these module placements and such. SimCity 4 is too hard: I thought that at first too about the game, but it's easy to make mistakes. Why? Because I wanted too much too soon, and that drains your city budget. You have to be smart for this game, see what strategies work and what fails. Soon you find a way to make profitable cities, and I managed to find such ways too. With SimCity 2013, I had the feeling that it was too easy at some fronts. SimCity 4 gets boring because you just fill up all the tiles and finish them and never come back to them again: This is also a misconception. You should return to your old cities, see what can be done better with the new knowledge you've learned. I improved quite some of my cities multiple times with either new mods or the knowledge I've gathered. And saying that you do this quickly? Hell no! I can spend hours on one city tile just to improve it, while I think I'm done with a SC2013 tile in two hours (based upon my beta experience... and it was getting boring after just one hour. SimCity 2013 is a successor of SimCity 4: No one says it like this explicitly, but quite some people think this implicitly. But it's a reboot, as also quite a few of us know. This means that it's a new start of the series and that the game will have different features (not more, not less, just different). You can argue about the design choices they made, but remember that we are dealing with a different game. SimCity 2013 is a better simulator: Quite some people say that SimCity 2013 is a better simulator than SimCity 4 due to a better engine. However, what's a good simulation engine worth if the boundary conditions are not realistic? Would you use an advanced physics simulation within a My Little Pony adventure game? Would you use a V12 engine in a Fiat 500? I guess not. SimCity 4 offered you freedom to connect to every city in its surroundings. You could determine where you want your city connection with what network and what capacity and how many connection you would like to make. This is all restricted in SimCity 2013, making it's single-connection city approach hugely unrealistic. There is a difference between the two city building games: SimCity 4 is a city simulator. Its basic goal was to simulate a city, to deal with urban planning problems like real engineers do. Entertainment was not the top priority, but it did play a role. SimCity 2013 is a strategy game. Its basic goal is to entertain people, have fun.a city. Simulation is just a part that makes the game run. SimCity 4 has "bad" graphics/peformance: Well, what do you expect from a game from 2003? Computers were still running on Windows XP or lower (all 32-bits systems), they all had single-core processors (like Pentium III), less advanced video cards. What do you expect from a game designed for the average computer back then? Yes, I know it has some bug, and yes, it can be slow at times, but hey, the engine has not been changed for TEN YEARS, and honestly, the modding community can't change it due to legal issues... if we actually could figure out how the coding works. If you look in retrospective, then SimCity 4 actually has excellent graphics for their time. They did go for a 2.5D isometric approach so that they could show details on buildings, something that would've take up a huge amount of graphic memory back then if it was full 3D. Heck even nowadays you see that this is lacking in 3D city simulators (like Cities XL). Even in SimCity 2013 I still see "blocky" objects, like the streetlights and traffic light props. Sometimes an old technology can do things better than a new one (Windows 8 is a hideous example of this). Also, some people don't really care about good graphics if the gameplay is right. Look at the large fandom for Minecraft and OpenTTD! Both don't have the best graphics, but lots of fun and addictive gameplay. So people, take this in mind when looking at both games Best, Maarten

Well, apparently the development from "stage 1" (original SimCity, which started out as a by-product and was not result of a market research / targeted design) to "stage 4" (SimCity 4" was pretty much along the lines of the fans' expectations. Nobody had asked or cried for the original SimCity because nobody could possibly have any notion of such a game even being released - let alone of its particular shape, design, and properties. The game was a success, though, so it was only logical for Maxis to develop it further. Throughout the years, the internet came up, got really established and led to a level of fan communication and direct feedback that - together with increased professionalism and competition on the gaming market - makes it important for companies to interact with their fans. While there had been great and visible support for SC4 as well as equally great and visible hope for a new SimCity, I don't recall anyone calling for a complete reboot. If EA decided to do precisely that nonetheless, it is their calculated risk, and if the plan doesn't work out, it is their bloody job to bear the consequences. "The fans" (there is no homogeneous mass) are not required or obliged to buy or like anything if they don't like it. The entire idea you are posting here seems somewhat absurd to me. Imagine you enjoyed riding motorcycles. Once there was that motorbike you stumbled upon, and it rocked. My company had built that motorcycle, and since you liked it, my company had developed successor models - along the lines of what you apparently liked. All of a sudden, my company presents you with an electro trike - something nice and shiny, but nothing you ever asked for. Now imagine I told you: "Hey, you need to buy it so that I might eventually make a new motorcycle you'd like (or maybe not)". Yeah, seems legit. And if you said "with all due respect, but this is not what I had in mind or what I like, so I'll pass", I'd start accusing you of being unfair? Now who's whining, I wonder?

For the Eager, Yet Overwhelmed Newcomer New to SimCity, Simtropolis, or been out of touch for a few years? Wondering what the heck a NAM or a BAT is? And just what the heck is up with those brown boxes?! This article will take you through the basics of registering your game, whether from a hard copy of the disc or from Steam, the essentials of Simtropolis, and a jumpstart into the world of Custom Content, to bring your game to a level beyond what you could imagine is possible. I would like to thank A Nonny Moose for his contributions and influences on the creation of this article. Rush Hours, Deluxe Editions, SimCity Boxes, Oh my! Before starting on registration information, we should make a clarification on just what the differences in these versions are. The short answer is nothing. When Maxis released Rush Hour, the expansion pack to the original SimCity 4 game, they released two versions: one simply the expansion (SimCity 4: Rush Hour); the other, a version that included both the original game and the expansion pack (SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition). It makes absolutely no difference to the game whether you own the Deluxe Edition, or Rush Hour. Now, just what is the SimCity Box? After the release of SimCity Societies in 2008, EA released this version which contains SimCity 4, SimCity 4: Rush Hour, SimCity Societies, SimCity Societies: Destinations, and The Sims Carnival: SnapCity. The story here is the same with Rush Hour and the Deluxe Edition: it makes absolutely no difference. In the event that you happen to be a long time player who does not own Rush Hour or the Deluxe Edition, it should be noted that the expansion pack is required to make use of 99% of the custom content available on this site. I will explain that further later on. Registering and Updating the Game Before playing, you need to pick up the two (2) necessary EA-released patches to your game for it to work correctly. In recent months, it has been noted that the official EA SimCity 4 Deluxe site has been taken down. So as not to leave these players hanging, some mirrors have been set up containing the assorted official updates. Important note: If you purchased your game from an authorized download source, you may not need any further updates. Check the properties of the game's .exe file. If it indicates you have version 1.1.641.0 or if you already have version 1.1.640.0, you will not need further updates. For the standard, PC version updates, check out here: SC4Devotion Own the Mac edition and can't open .exe's? Check out this thread: Bought your copy off Steam? Steam comes pre-patched! Yay! You should apply the two updates to the game in this order: EP1 to fix bugs, and the BATupdate to allow nightlights. When you are finished, you should check to see that the version number of the .exe file for the game in Program files/Maxis/Apps has been updated to 1,1,640,0. This is proof that your updates worked. Optional Upgrades and Tools You may notice on the mirror sites, a number of other downloads available. Among these are new landmarks, new rewards, the Lot Editor, and Building Architect Tool (BAT). These are all optional, and are not necessary for the games function or the addition of but do add content, and functionality. So, just what do these BAT and Lot Editor things do? The Lot Editor allows you to construct new lots, using the buildings, textures, and assorted prop pieces included within the game. The Building Architect Tool (BAT) allows you to construct new 3D models, and is what is used to create new buildings, trees, seawalls, spaceships, and everything inbetween. Using the Lot Editor and the BAT in tandem, the world is yours to create. It should be noted that both these tools have a sizeable learning curve. We do have a number of tutorials here to get you started, the most notable of these being the BAT Essentials Tutorial in the Omnibus. Unleashing the Game At this point, your game is ready to go! The appropriate patches are in place, and the game is as optimized as Maxis and EA could make it. So where to now? Many players are happy to play the game without any custom content, relying simply on what Maxis has provided. It is indeed very possible to create beautiful cities using only what content Maxis provided. But, many would also point out that the game can be so much more. In the 8 years since the release of the game, the amount of custom content available brings the game to an entirely new level. Players can recreate their hometowns with stunning accuracy, watching roads twist and curve, with even the correct corner market in place. Players can build in the desert, in futuristic settings, or on Mars. The custom content community has taken a finite game and given it infinite possibilities. And the question I'm sure you're asking by this point is, where do I begin? There are a number of exchanges available for you to browse. Here on Simtropolis, the STEX is perhaps the largest, and one of the oldest exchanges devoted to SimCity 4. The other primary English exchanges are SC4Devotion LEX and the PLEX (now on the STEX). You could say that SC4Devotiion is the high-tech site, and that Pegasus is the theme site, and you wouldn't be far wrong. Most community exchanges both require free registration in order to download, as Simtropolis does. The SimCity community expands far beyond English speakers, however - other communities include German and Japanese sites. Growable? Ploppable? What? As you browse the exchanges, you'll notice these phrases on assorted files throughout. The answer to this could not be simpler. A growable lot means that it will grow on its own with the appropriate zoning, as if it were any building created by Maxis. Ploppable lots allow you to plop the building as if it were a landmark. Some ploppables retain their commercial/industrial nature and provide jobs as though they were grown. It should be noted that at early points in the exchange, you may run across residential ploppables. These do not work, and will abandon some time after plopping. So, I've Downloaded Some Stuff. Now what? Installation of downloads really is simple. This article by our fearless Dirktator outlines the process of installation. Some downloads now come with .exe installers, which simplifies the process even more - the installer does all the work for you. The next question you may have is where the heck do I find my ploppable items in the game? Some items will be pretty intuitive as to where they are located - Educational facilities are located in the Schools menu, policing facilities in the Police menu, etc. But what about that great skyscraper advertised as a ploppable? Those will generally be located in the Landmarks menu. Nearly everything else (parks, churches, etc.) will be located in either Parks or Rewards. And if you just can't find it anywhere, consult the ReadMe that should have been included with the download. It should state where it is located in the menu system in game. Brown Boxes, Everywhere! Uh oh! This may look tragic, but it doesn't mean your game is wrecked. You just missed downloading some dependencies. Wait, what? Dependewho? Dependencies are separate files that a lot uses to complete itself. If Download A cannot find the appropriate dependency, it reverts to the lovely boxes you can see in the picture above. It may not look like it, but each lot is actually filled with bits and pieces of other files to make the bigger picture. The trees, the benches, the garbage cans, the swimming pools you see on assorted lots are all individual pieces, that come together to create a house, a park, or a shopping complex. All downloads on the SimTropolis EXchange are required to list all dependencies needed to work properly. If you've looked everywhere and just can't find that dependency, or if the dependency package is locked, please make a post here, and one of our friendly members will help you out. You may have further questions in regards to dependencies. As with installation, I would like to refer you to another article that goes into much further detail. The Dependency Debate by north_country_dude goes into great detail about the pros and cons of dependencies, and answers a few of the common questions you may have about them. So what should I download? Building tastes vary from person to person. Personally, I prefer the drab, 1970's concrete buildings, while many prefer the sleek, glass modern skyscrapers. Because of this, I'm not going to recommend any particular buildings - but I can recommend some mods that are considered the best and the greatest. Network Addon Mod, or the NAM. This mod was first conceived with the discovery of an unfinished road network Maxis left in the game. The talented modding community has taken this and turned it into entirely new road networks, gave us roundabouts, and allows us to create true metropolitan cities with roads to match. This can be found here on the STEX, or at SC4Devotion. If you're interested, here is the "official" NAM FAQ Thread with links to the different parts used with NAM & answers to common queries. If any issues come up while using NAM, there's also a support thread here. Various NAM Team members including Tarkus frequent the thread and gladly help out. A terrain and water mod. When you first launch the game, the grass and water seems realistic enough. A bit off perhaps, but hey nothing can be perfect. Not true - modders have been able to create new textures for the terrain and the water, which makes the Maxis textures look like off-coloured drawings. Cycledogg has made a number of varying terrain mods, and there are assorted water textures on the STEX, each varying for the kind of water your city needs. SimMars. Certainly this mod is not for everyone, but this article would be deficient if it weren't mentioned. SimMars transforms SimCity to Mars, complete with textures, buildings, road networks and music to match. The work done on this is exceptional, and it sits with the NAM as the greatest projects to improve the game that SimCity has seen. Everything else listed here. Livin in Sim has created this top ten list of great mod's that should be essential. A few other members have listed their contributions as well, and I would highly recommend them all! From there you could look through the CJ section to get ideas or run through the STEX and other exchanges to see if anything "jumps" out at you. As I mentioned before, if you can't seem to find something, make a post here and someone is bound to help you out. How do I win? SimCity is different from most games, as there is no set end point. Your success is based on goals you set. For many, a balanced budget and proper governance of a successful city without "godly" intervention (ie. cheats) makes a successful game. For many, the accurate recreation of a real life city is the goal, generally with the assistance of assorted budget cheats. For others still, it's simply to create the best city they can. Set your own goals and adjust as you achieve them. For all flavours of player, however, we do have an assortment of tutorials here on Simtropolis to help you on the Omnibus. The sections that will interest you most are SimCity 4 Reference and SimCity 4 Tutorials. Check back from time to time, as we do continue to add articles! Hopefully, this article has helped you get started. If you have any further questions that this article didn't answer, the folk in the forums and the chatroom are always eager to help, and any member of the Simtropolis Help Squad would be more than happy to give you some tips to the right direction.

So, I played the beta all weekend then came here to see what the community thought. And yes, this is yet another critical post from a disgruntled long-time fan (I think it's important, however repetitive, that everyone express their opinions). Most of us seem to be complaining about the city size, however I agree that the far more henious crime is edge connections - or entire lack thereof! The region take is terrible; that you can't spread your networks beyond the boundaries and into other cities is simply atrocious! EA games, us SimCity folk are what you might like to call hardcore sandbox gamers. As such there is no greater crime then railroading us, I mean literally, there is a railway line and one single highway connection into my city that I didn't create, nor can I remove, nor, as aforementioned, can I create my own 'in's' and 'out's'. Such a thing is not simulating any city in the real world. Yes, there are many nice new features and in time more will be added but I fear this isolated boundary is hard coded and is something that we will be stuck with. I'm sorry, I know there have been a million similar posts, but I'm just another fan adding my two cents. I won't be buying this game on release, as I thought I would, but I might wait until it's half price or less.

What is SimCityPak? Simply put, it's a work-in-progress tool that will hopefully eventually be the iLive Reader equivalent for SimCity 2013. It will eventually allow you to view and edit the game assets contained in .package files. What does the tool allow us to modify? While there are still some file formats that need to be reverse-engineered, property files and text files (javascript, json) can already be modified and saved back into the game. What will we eventually be able to modify? Nobody knows - the only way we'll be able to find out is through experimentation. People have expressed concern that because the game partially runs on Maxis' servers, we won't be able to modify anything at all - although experiments have revealed that the city simulation runs only on local machines and that Maxis has no systems in place that verify wether a file is modded or not. Will I be banned for modding? This is a hot topic that I've seen come up in almost every discussion about modding so far. Despite being asked repeatedly, Maxis hasn't given any straight answer yet. On the other hand, they've said in the past that they appreciate the modding community and (probably the biggest sign that they're tacitly allowing mods) so far, nobody has been banned for modding yet. So, the best answer we can give so far is; use mods at your own risk, even though that risk is very small. How can I contribute? There's still many things to do, so every contribution is more than welcome. If you think you've got what it takes, take a look at the Issue Tracker (http://simcitypak.codeplex.com/workitem/list/basic). Also, experiment! There are already many possibilities for mods - all it takes is dedication and a lot of digging into package files. However - remember to make backups often and to always test in a non-public, disposable region. ---- First of all, this tool was born when I realized that SimCity uses the same DBPF version as Spore, and that there were already a few Spore Modding tools out there that I could base my research on. I was lucky to come across SporeMaster (https://code.google.com/p/sporemaster/), an open-source .NET based tool. While this tool was made specifically for Spore (and there are quite some differences between the .RW4 model files for example) I managed to reuse a lot of the underlying object model to build my own tool from the ground up (I've been in contact with the creator of SporeMaster and have permission to use his work). From there, I've been trial-and-error'ing my way through the files to see what I can open and how. For those of you who want to help building the tool (which is in C#/.NET/WPF with a dash of Xna thrown in), I've uploaded the source code over at https://simcitypak.codeplex.com/ . I'm not sure if anyone can just download the source code using TFS, but if you need access, give me your codeplex account and I'll make it so. I've also uploaded an executable version of the tool. Let me know if it doesn't run or if anything goes wrong when opening a package. There will undoubtedly still be hundreds of bugs but most of them will be caused by unexpected data in the package files. LINK TO THE LATEST VERSION: https://simcitypak.codeplex.com/releases/view/107793]https://simcitypak.codeplex.com/releases/view/107793 BASIC MODDING TUTORIAL: https://simcitypak.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Modding Tutorial&referringTitle=Documentation Changelog: 0.003 Added Hex view to all file types (even the already identified ones)Added Hex view to subsections of a RW4 file to identify the unknown onesAdded 3D preview for RW4 Mesh sections (warning, meshes aren't read correctly yet, so it still looks like crap)Fixed most bugs when loading properties. Only 'Transform' type properties still have some issuesAdded a context menu to Key Properties so that you can open the file it links to in a new window (right click the value and select "open in new window..."Ability to export textures. From the RW4 Texure view, you can select a file and save it to the .dds format.0.004Added 3D view for RW4 meshes0.005Added first attempt as a viewer for RASTER files (which are surprisingly not building textures... wondering where those are hidden)Added instance regisrty (Add custom names and comments to specific instances by right-clicking on the instance number in the main grid to make identification easier)Modified properties view to be easier on the eyesNOTE: While the properties files are being read a lot better than in previous versions, it still has a few bugs that I hope to be able to iron out soon.0.006Export to package - export one single TGI index to its own seperate package fileProperties files will now be read correctly - all properties will be readAdded relevant information to RASTER and PNG file displays (should be expanded)Started refactoring of back-end object model code0.1.0.0Added textures in 3D viewer for vehicle modelsAdded Loading of Locale files from Settings screen (will load localized strings for PROP files)Added About window0.1.0.1Added search for specific values in property filesAdded first attempt at saving modified data to a property file (warning, still buggy)0.1.0.2Ability to edit Text files (JSON, Javascript etc...)Ability to edit property files (still preliminary)Advanced Search for property filesAbility to export multiple assets at onceAbility to save packages to a new file0.1.0.3Allows opening multiple package files at onceIncludes editors for most propertiesImproved user interfaceViewers for 8-bit mapsImport function for PNG's0.1.0.4Added Lighting Editor (first version)Added possibility to add/remove propertiesIdentified many more properties/instancesNew Viewer for 3d filesMany general UI tweaksMany general bugfixes0.1.0.5Lighting editor expanded to simple Lot Editor that allows editing of lights,props and decals (note; work in progress)Fix for searching property filesAdded Copy Key, and Delete to context in main listAdded fuction to delete indicesMore identified properties/instancesMany general bugfixes and UI tweaks0.1.0.6Export/Import TexturesExport meshes to .obj format (no import yet, though)0.1.0.7Import .OBJ format 3d models. When importing, make sure that the model file contains normals and texture coordinates. Materials are not needed. Tangent and binormal for normal maps are exported.Save button in hex editor0.1.0.8Import BMP color palettes for vehiclesImport RASTER file (uncompressed 8.8.8.8 DDS files)View different channels of RASTER files or preview of all layers combinedFind text in javascriptsTGA viewerGround textures added to lot editorMany additional identified instances and properties

Welcome to the NYBT Art Deco Month November 2013 Over at the NYBT, we are starting a new tradition this year - Art Deco Month. We will try to focus our attention during this month on recreating, completing and/or releasing Art Deco BATs from New York. This year four of us - Darknono35, Aaron Graham, PBGV103 and Vlasky - will try to keep you interested with our Art Deco projects. This is our plan for this year's Art Deco Month: Aaron Graham Aaron Graham will be finishing Beekman Tower Hotel (Panhellenic Tower) Visit his thread for updates. Darknono35 will be finishing ad releasing his American International Building (70 Pine street) He will be working on completing 40 Wall street as well: For updates on these two buildings, visit his thread Vlasky Vlasky will be finishing Maritime Exchange building (80 Broad street) and will be working on Squibb Building (745 Fifth Avenue) For his progress, visit his thread And our surprise comeback by PBGV103 To find out what PBGV103 will be working on, keep a close look on

Shown this one before, but now the surroundings are fully developed... SimCity 2013 may have no grid, but we have no limits to our imagination and creativity with SimCity 4.

Some videos demonstrating that the path finding is at best disappointingly primitive. Really surprised and dismayed.

One of the biggest arguments they had for always-online DRM was the whole aspect of being competitive with your friends and pitting up your score with everyone else in the world. Yet the Leaderboards and Achievements were the first features disabled and labeled as "non-critical". Food for thought.

Hey everyone! First, I would like to thank everyone for their interest in our post-event impressions, and for their patience while we worked to get everything together. Second, I want to thank the people at Maxis for their awesome hospitality and for putting this event together. It was a blast to get to talk with the developers, especially since everyone was so excited to have us there for the day. Finally, this is my first time doing a write up like this, so I'm just going to go for it and see where it takes us. However, before we jump head first into the write up, let's take a moment to discuss the format of the event. Our day was split between play testing the latest version of the game, interviews, and opportunities for general chit-chat. That said, I'm going to jump between talking about play testing, interviews, and the like. The first impression upon starting up the game is that Maxis has been busy since the time that the beta was launched. Stuff has been tweaked as a result of feedback from the beta, and the game actually plays differently as a result (I think the end result is better balanced). Just to throw out a single example, road costs have been tweaked, which means that strategies that worked in the beta will now drive you bankrupt in a hurry. For those who think that the new SimCity has no difficulty levels, the taxes act as your primary difficulty levels. (This may not seem like much, but at the same time, the difficulty levels in SC4 really just altered the amount of cash you started with.) As we all know, one of the big new features of the game is city specializations. Some die hard SimCity fans are likely to regard this move as heresy, but I don't see it that way. If you want to play the new SimCity using the classic RCI model, you are totally free to do so, and you will find that the game responds in much the same way that you would expect it to. However, for those of us who might be bored of the classic RCI model, or want to try something new and different, city specialization is a great way to mix up the franchise. Some people will say that the "formula for success" with the city specializations is somewhat flat, but that is a superficial analysis as it takes some degree of skill and planning to capture the benefits of city specializaton while mitigating the negatives that go along with that specialization. There has been concern that the specializations are tilted to favor the resource-based specialization, which would logically mean that the city spaces rich in coal, oil, and ore would be the first to be claimed. However, this concern misses the unique challenge the resource-based specializations face: resource scarcity. These resources are finite, and it's only a matter of time before you have to address your sustainability problems. (During the beta, I built a city based on oil and drove it for everything it was worth. However, the oil fields couldn't sustain that forever, and they started to fail to meet the demands of my refineries. I had to start importing oil to sustain the refinery output, which took a big chunk out of my profits.) If you decide that you want to re-specialize the city, you face potentially even bigger challenges. For the Community Day event, I landed with a city laden with ore, so I specialized in ore production. However, I got tired of the ground pollution hurting my residential development, so I decided to "turn the city around." Except that it didn't turn around. It was like watching the decline of the American Rust Belt as my city slid into a financial death spiral. I had built a city with millions that was the third most economically powerful city in the region, and it all fell apart because I failed to plan far enough forward to ensure a successful transition away from an ore-based city economy. So if you're thinking that pumping oil is a cheap way to amassing millions, just remember that you're going to burn through millions trying to carry your city through the post oil boom days. So at this point, let's take an intermission from the play testing and talk about one of the group interviews that we did. We had the opportunity to do a small group interview with the design team concerning Glassbox and the depth of the simulation. We got to see under the hood and see the game through the eyes of one of the developer debug tools that is used to tune the simulation. With the drag of a slider, the dev shut down a coal plant and with another drag of the coal supply slider, the plant started up again. (Meanwhile, the coal supply animation responded to reflect the state of the coal supply.) Then with a few more clicks, we got to see the pollution simulation while Ocean Quigley explained how the simulation rules wrote air pollution to the map. A couple of clicks later, and we could watch one of the sims driving around the city and what his most pressing interests were. At 6AM, the little sims started getting up for work and we could see traffic picking up while watching how the sims were altering their most pressing needs in response to the events they were encountering. While I admit that I'm not a modder, I feel like if we can get even a fraction of this kind of capability in modding the game, we will eclipse anything SC4 was capable of supporting. Let's jump back to the play testing and talk about something that we all care about: region play. However, before we do that, let's talk about me for a second. I am a lone wolf gamer. My big interests are campaigns (like Halo or any other FPS game) and PvE (like Guild Wars 2 or World of Warcraft). I don't generally enjoy PvP or cooperative play with people I don't know well. That said, let's jump back to SimCity. It took me a few minutes to warm up to the vibe of the room and the people in it, but once that happened, it was magic. I decided that my city was going to be one of the trash dumps of the region, where the mayor didn't care about you and your troubles, and thus, Double Shift was born. And the place lived up to it's name. Double Shift dominated the crime leader board, and I was immensely proud with I became aware that my criminals were setting up franchises in neighboring cities. Fire services weren't set up until half the city was engulfed in flames, and with no health services at all, my sims lived hard and died young. Soon enough, my sims began clamoring for assistance from their neighbors, and Tosca Cliffs came to their aid with police and health services. But Tosca Cliffs had troubles too; trash was overflowing with no method for managing it. Except that Double Shift had just completed expanding its waste management services. A deal was struck and soon the residents of Double Shift began breathing the pollution of Tosca Cliffs's trash. While all of the above is important, it misses another important part of SimCity's region play: the social interaction. Admittedly, the bunch of us were in the same room and this enables conversation to flow in ways that isn't normally possible over the internet, but I'm fairly confident that none of us have had a string of random conversations like this in SC4: -"Oil is where it's at, man. Already making $750,000 a month." -"I want to build a green city. Who's going to take my sewage?" -"We don't want your *bleep*. No one's going to take your *bleep*." -"But I want to build a green city!" -"Send it to Double Shift. I hear he's building a trash dump of a city. He doesn't care." -"Sure, send it over. The ground in that part of the city is already dead anyway." -"JOIN MY CAPITALIST EMPIRE AND TOGETHER WE SHALL RULE THIS REGION!!! MWAHAHAHAH!!" Random amusing stuff like this is possible with the new SimCity. If you want to experience it, you can. If this doesn't interest you, you're under no pressure to engage in this stuff. Now do you want to voice chat with some random dude you don't know who is playing in your region? Probably not. Does it have the potential to be a lot of fun among friends, family, and whatnot? I think so. Another area that deserves mention is the visual filter capabilities. For some individuals, the default visual style is awesome, and for others, not so much. Filters offer an easy way to find a visual style more suited to your tastes. However, filters have so much more potential than that. As cheesy as it sounds, filters offer a new way to experience your city. A single filter change can fundamentally alter how a street feels. I didn't think to ask about this question during the event, but I hope that we get the ability to add in new filters to the game. If we do, I suspect we will the experience the growth of some truly wild and unique City Journals. If you're wanting to tell a story about your city, filters just offer too much potential to ignore them. Before we wrap this thing up, let's head back to the group interviews one more time to hopefully shed some light on what the devs were hoping to achieve with the new SimCity. One thing that was made very clear was that, in designing the new SimCity, the developers were hoping to capture the elements from the previous SimCity titles that made them so much fun to play. However, as even Will Wright admitted, the series was getting too complicated, so they felt that it was necessary to find a way to give the player the core essentials of the SimCity series without burdening the player with micromanagement and extraneous details. Additionally, Maxis is well aware of past efforts to reboot the SimCity series, and the dev team has made the effort to learn from those mistakes. You may think of it as "getting back to basics," or "the prodigal son returns home," or any other number of things, but the dev team has tried to keep the core fundamentals of the SimCity series in place while re-imagining how those core essentials can come together in a game. If you had asked me a while back if I would buy the new SimCity game, the answer would have been a definite no. As far as I was concerned, it was basically another Societies or Cities XL clone and I wasn't interested. I got the opportunity to participate in the beta, so I decided to try it out, and it had a very definite "this is a reboot" feel. It didn't feel like it warranted the title "SimCity 5," but as a reboot of the series, it was decent. However, after playing the version we did for the community event, it is evident that this isn't a reboot where the producer throws out all the old material simply because he didn't like it. This is Maxis positioning the SimCity series for a future it could have never achieved under the previous design paradigm. It may look like Maxis is taking steps backwards with the technology, but that is incorrect. Rather, Maxis is basing the series on a new technological underpinning that will be capable of carrying our favorite franchise into the future. We are witnessing a new stage in SimCity's evolution, and while SC4 hands the new game enormous shoes to fill, I feel it is up to the task. Bottom Line: I intend to buy the game.

Both games are the same thing. You just have to pay to "unlock" things that ship with the original version of the game. If the game is anything like the beta, then the Digital Deluxe edition and the Limited Edition are the exact same download, its just that in the limited edition, the extra content is "locked" This was the case in the beta, if you looked in the landmarks section all the digital deluxe content was there. You just couldnt use it (it had the NOT IN BETA thing over it) Personally I dont like that game companies do this nowadays. It would be like selling you a car that already has a power sunroof and heated seats. But those wont work unless you pay extra for them to turn them on.

BACKGROUND: For the majority of us who were born in the 20th century, Sim City (in one form or another) was our 'gateway drug' to the world of PC gaming. Countless notable architects, engineers, and city planners cite Sim City as being what sparked thier interests in their chosen professions. Not to mention the fact that the franchise has won nearly half of all educational awards ever given to computer games. Whereas most computer labs would actively remove any games, many labs would actually install Sim City. That's one hell of a legagy for any game franchise, and even moreso for one that started in one man's living room. It rather goes without saying that this legacy is the driving force in the decision to ressurect the Sim City name - but this is a double-edged sword. You're counting on the name alone being a major factor in people buying it, but it also carries the obligation to live up to the franchise's legacy. With console ports and Societies constituting strikes one and two, this incarnation will invariably be the make-or-break for the franchise as a whole. Despite leaving out the number and calling the game a reboot, few will be able to view this game as anything other than Sim City 5 - and it will inevitably be judged by that identity. SCOPE: City Size: While a fair number of buildings in previous games had unrealsitic footprints (skyscrapers comparable to the Sears Tower residing in the same space as a handful of bus stops), it was an inherent necessity owing to the grid-based system utilized by those games. Breaking free of the grid has allowed the designers to keep the various buildings far more to relative scale. In doing so, however, city layouts are far more subject to sprawl. Despite using overall dimensions comparable to a Medium Tile (in prior games), they feel marginally smaller than a Small Tile. Whereas one could normally squeeze in somewhere around 2500 lots/buildings, the new system only permits around 250 in the same dimensional space. Although this game utilizes the same dimensions as a Medium Tile, the net result is a tremendous reduction to how much can be implemented within this space. Regional Play: There are two primary schools of thought in this matter, depending on whether the person is a fan of the most recent incarnation - Sim City 4 - or an earlier one. Fans of Sim City 2000 and Sim City 3000 are accustomed to playing single cities so, in their case, the regional interconnectivity of the Beta is a step up. Such connectivity was purely theoretical in these two games, and it remains largely the same in this one. For Sim City 4 fans, the regional system of the Beta is a HUGE step backwards - and one of the major factors for the many negative comments concerning it. You've shown us a huge, glorious canvas - yet restrict us to dabbling on just one tiny portion thereof. While those unfamiliar (or relatively so) with previous Sim City titles won't have many preconceptions concerning regional connectivity, most are still liable to have this uncanny feeling that "something is missing". Summary: The scales used in previous Sim City games allowed a player to build a complete and fully-functional city within the limits of a Small Tile. Those desiring larger cities could easily do so using Medium and Large city tiles - or, in the case of Sim City 4, by expanding into additional tiles. This provided players two differing options - each with their own characteristics - in determining how large or small a city they wanted to build. Removing not just one but both of these options has resulted in a tremendous reduction of scope for the player. Even when someone is unable to explain exactly why, this is the main issue which leads to so many refering to this game as SimTown, SimSuburb, or something similar. DEPTH and CONTROL: City Management: In all previous incarnations of Sim City (again, knock-offs like Societies don't count) the player took a proactive approach towards city management - the player decided when and where certain events happened and the city either developed or didn't in response. This game, however, has taken the diametrically opposite approach and made the game entirely reactionary. Despite giving the illusion of player control, the overwhelming majority (seemingly all) of it is restricted to a never-ending sequence of responding in one manner or another to their 'trusted advisor' calling the shots. Although previous titles required certain milestones to unlock particular buildings, it feels that this particular aspect comes far too early in this game. We certainly never before had to unlock the ability to tailor tax rates or other fundamental and long-standing capabilities of basic city management. Perhaps this eventually shifts towards true player control later in the game - somewhere shortly beyond the one-hour limitation to gameplay. Perhaps this is something done strictly for the Beta in order to push players into experiencing as much as possible within that time limit. Perhaps something else lies in store - something which hasn't occured to me as I write this. As it presently stands, however, the game completely lacks the immersion of legacy Sim City titles. Even the original Sim City (as well as, heaven forbid, Societies) offered more control over city management than this game. Newcomers and veterans alike are in agreement that what little challenge remains feels tawdry and superficial. Zoning: I am very much of mixed opinions concerning the Zoning system as it is presently implemented, as it seems to offer both too much freedom yet not enough. Despite 'breaking the grid', zoning simply resulted in x number of fixed-width lots with no control whatsoever over their dimensioning. Perhaps some use of Shift, Alt, and/or Ctrl would adjust the lot sizing, or even just some means by which the game just evenly divides the dragged area into lots of an appropriate size-range. Furthermore, there is an entire lack of any means by which the game indicates just how deep the lots are meant to be. This makes it extremely difficult to determine how far one needs to offset subsequent roadways to allow room for development without leaving wasted space (owing to the lack of space due to the overall scale being used). I very much missed the 'field painting' system used by the previous titles, and feel that an adaptation of this would be a viable solution. Ordinances and Finances: As I mentioned earlier, not being able to manage Taxation right out the gate is a massive thorn to me - and I suspect the majority of veteran players feel likewise. Sure, you can futz about with a 'general' tax rate, but this limitation completely breaks one's immersion into the game. Worse yet is that there appear to be no Ordinances available in the game. Perhaps I just haven't 'reached that stage yet', or perhaps it simply wasn't included in the Beta. Either way, the absence of Ordinances is painfully apparent and greatly disheartening for a long-time player such as myself. Utility Connections: Incorporating power, water, and sewage into the roadways themselves is a bold move. However, this is one departure I can actually agree with. Not only are most utilities generally integrated into the roadways in real life, but this is also an acceptable compromise as part of the obvious intention to make the Sim City franchise more approachable to newcomers. Transportation Networks: Oddly, I found myself almost wishing for LESS versatility in placing roadways. At the very least, I expected to be able to hold down the Shift, Alt, and/or Ctrl key as a means to 'snap' the roadway to be placed either perpendicular to an intersecting roadway or to a relatively fixed angle. While the latter would ideally snap in 15-degree increments, even 45-degree increments (targeting the eight cardinal directions) would have been a blessing. This was further complicated when attempting to add a roadway alongside existing development. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to situate a road so that it would be immediately adjacent to an existing residential lot - neither destroying the development nor leaving a gap of wasted space inbetween. When encountering other roadways, the opposite seemed to be true. Despite efforts to form a grid-like block (again, owing to the lack of space due to the overall scale being used), the roadway refused to allow straight placement - stubbornly insisting that it snap to the end of the existing roadway (which I intended to extend just enough to end in a T-intersection). While I managed to finally manage the desired configuration by over-extending the stub enough to place the intersection then demolish the excess afterwards, such would have been disastrous had there been existing development in the way. Being a Beta, I can overlook the absence of trams, subways, and other rail-based network systems - though I cannot overlook the fact that many fundamental transportation components require unlocking. I can only hope this aspect improves greatly by the time the game is actually released. Regional Connectivity: This is another major point of contention with arguments going in both directions. Some of it can be forgiven based upon the always-online multiplayer element, but other aspects can neither be forgiven nor ignored. First and foremost is how this has been entirely isolated from the city (a term I use loosely) rather than being any element of the city itself. Where most cities develop on both sides of a highway, incorporating it into the overall transportation network, development is pushed all to one side and the only connection offered is an enigmatic single-point junction. Similarly, one can only hope that the actual release will incorporate some means of branching off rail spurs and loops for passenger and freight purposes. Terraforming: Regardless of when someone first started playing Sim City, they invariably wound up settling on one of the numbered titles - Sim City 2000, Sim City 3000, or Sim City 4. As soon as the game broke away from the top-down 2D perspective, players have been able to contour the city tile to their individual liking. Even with the always-online forced-multiplayer aspect, the more theoretical nature of regional connectivity being used isn't sufficient reasoning for eliminating terraforming from the game entirely. Micro-Management: For the majority of Sim City veterans, the degree of micro-management available has long been a huge draw. Sure some people left a fair number of the settings at their defaults, but doing so seldom produced any truly detrimental effects. The query information of developed areas is but one aspect among many where this game feels exceptionally 'dumbed down' compared to its predecessors. Many of us loved the ability to flag a development as historical, and many of us just liked to see the actual numbers of how many miserable wretches we could cram into a high-rise tenement. In addition to Taxation control having to be unlocked, control over funding levels for various Civics is entirely absent. While there's at least an On/Off option in most cases, this falls pathetically short of offering any real form of budgeting authority within the game. Granted, there is some minor semblance of this created through the use of modular upgrades available for most civic buildings. Though somewhat unexpected by Sim City fans, most have embraced this modularity as part of the future benchmark for all city-builders. But, as positive as this is, it remains an inaedquate substitution for actual financial control. Game Saves: The absence of the ability to save and load the game completely removes one of the 'undocumented' great joys of Sim City - the ability to unleash all manner of catastrophe on your poor Sims, then go back to business as usual. It also fails to offer players the opportunity to experiment without putting everything they've worked for in jepoardy. Sim City has been commended numerous times for its educational value and praised for how far players can go in their experimentation. The lack of game saves eliminates all the safety (and most of the incentive) to experiment with new ideas. Summary: The decades-long legacy of Sim City was founded on the principle of "Your City, Your Way" - a slogan which EA and Maxis have used to considerable success in marketing the franchise. By contrast, this game has severely limited how much control the player has over most every aspect of the game. This was much the same issue as with Societies and other knock-offs, and a significant contribution towards their failure. AESTHETICS: Interface: Every incarnation of Sim City has had its own distinct interface, all of them well developed and thoroughly consistent with their respective games. In this regard, the new game lives up to the precedents of its ancestry. Owing to the extreme variations in screen resolutions being used, however, many are finding the menus and other items either overlapping (when using lower resolutions) or too small to readily identify (when using higher resolutions). This should be simple enough to address by adding a scaling factor based upon the game's screen resolution. Headlines / News Tickers: One of Sim City's most endearing features has been the use of ficticious (and often hilarious) 'up-to-the-minute news commentary' to keep players apprised of how their city is faring - simultaneously entertaining and informative. This feature is conspicuously absent from the Beta, though I have high hopes for its inclusion in the eventual release. Design: Another point of contention, the visual design of the buildings used within the game seem to be divided by the general performance of their computers. Those with computers on the lower end of the spectrum find the designs fairly (or highly) attractive, while those with computers on the higher end of the spectum find them woefully simplistic and cartoony. There's simply no pleasing everyone, granted, but it is extremely disappointing that the visual appearance of the game assets doesn't even meet the quality of those in Sim City 3000 - some would even argue that the buildings in Sim City 2000 look better. Considering how far computer technology has advanced in the ten years since Sim City 4 (let alone fifteen years since Sim City 3000 and twenty since Sim City 2000), the developers really should have paid more heed to those criticising the design since the first images were available. Tilt-Shift: As much as people have been clammoring for Sim City to finally make the transition from isometric 2.5D to perspective 3D, such a change also bears the potential to alienate the feel of the game. Due to this, the decision to use Tilt-Shift is very much a good one. Furthermore, the developers also included the ability for the individual player to adjust the influence strength of Tilt-Shift to their own liking. Those who dislike it can turn it down (though not disable it entirely) while those who do like it can crank it to the max. Not only a well-considered concept but a masterful implementation thereof. Music: As delightful as the musical element has been throughout most of Sim City's history, it does tend to grate after weeks, months, or years of gameplay. Fortunately, Sim City 4 added the capacity for users to add their own tracks to the game. It is difficult to truly assess the new game's musical element due to the time limitation, but everything points towards offering all the positives of its predecessors - and then some! Simlish: No. For the love of whatever deity you profess to worship, no! There should be no need to elaborate. Summary: The Sims is The Sims and Sim City is Sim City. As much as I understand EA's desire to use the popularity of one to reinforce the other, the two are immensely different concepts and should remain as such. A large portion of Sim City fans detested The Sims' encroachment into Sim City 4, though most grudgingly tolerated it as its presence could generally be ignored. With this game, however, EA and Maxis have simply pushed the envelope too far. The overall aesthetic is less "adding The Sims to Sim City" and more "adding city-building elements to The Sims". TECHNICAL: Graphics: From a technical standpoint, the graphics are astounding. Although some have voiced concerns about vertical sync and screen tearing, these matters will almost certainly be addressed before the formal release. One issue in doubt concerns the mandantory dedicated fullscreen presentation. Despite this being my preferred method, there really should be options available to support windowed mode - particularly as many people use multiple monitors. Always-Online: Quit trying to diguise the matter - this is purely an excuse to force an invasive DRM with poor security on everyone. This requirement puts considerable limitations on when, where, and how much an individual has even the option of playing the game. This, in turn, places a tremendous stranglehold on how many will be willing to purchase the game at all. We are also well aware of the fact that Origin will drop the game from its servers before long. While this is supposedly due to anticipated fall-off in demand, the true reasons are obvious - either to force people to buy new games by preventing them from playing older ones, or to force people to buy 'upgrades' in order to enable offline play which should have been part of the game to begin with. Multiplayer: Sim City has never been a multiplayer game. It has been tried before and failed so spectacularly that few people even know about it. Some people truly are interested in playing with friends, granted, but they are too small a minority among Sim City fans to be considered a 'driving factor'. The overwhelming majority of complaints that have been voiced about the game have concerned popular and classic game elements which have been sacrificed upon the altar of the Grand Social Experiment. Customization: Yet another limitation imposed by the online-only model is completely elimination the possibility for user-created content. Were it not for this capability, the Sim City franchise may well have died altogether when EA abandoned it a decade ago. Of course, this won't prevent EA from pushing game-imbalancing DLC - additional content with considerable advantages over standard assets. Coupled with the forced competitive multiplayer (no point in pretending that the multiplayer aspect is meant for anything but competitive), the game will essentially be turned into a pay-to-win scheme. OVERALL SUMMARY: This is a FaceBook game, not a PC game and certainly not Sim City. If anything, it is a city-building expansion to The Sims. The simplistic building designs and invasion of 'Simlish' is both consistent with The Sims and completely foreign to Sim City. The visual design and system of operation is fully consistent with any game meant to be played via a web browser or mobile device, rather than a PC (or even a console). I won't deny that this game could prove to be very popular. It will certainly find an audience among fans of Sim City FaceBook and The Sims, but few Sim City fans will find this game to be much worthwhile - particularly not at the exorbitant price point. They, as well as I, will simply have to bide our time until someone finally decides to make a worthy successor to the King of City-Builders crown. That, or make it ourselves.

Better late than never, as they say. My original intention was to write up my own thoughts on the visit without reading Dirk’s write up. Well, I read it anyway, which was probably for the best. Bottom line, this wasn’t Dirk’s first rodeo and he had a better idea of what to expect and a better sense of how to communicate in this context than I did. He’s the one who asked the toughest questions and he pretty much covered everything I had in mind anyway. I, of course, asked questions too, so don’t think that I just stood there acting like a lump. Still, Dirk covered most things already and there’s really no need for me to rehash everything he said. It’s not that I have less to say, but more that Dirk has already said most of it. This write-up will be shorter and will focus mostly on my own impressions. The visit opened up with a tour of the studio. We briefly visited the various departments, the largest of which appeared to be transit. This turned out to be unsurprising as it was impressed upon us on multiple occasions that it is the transit networks that are, by far, the most difficult parts of the game to program. One long-time employee said that when she was in her first week on the job, Will Wright, who was sitting at another desk, leaned back and simply said to her, “Roads are hard.” During this tour, we also saw posters hanging everywhere with reference photos of buildings (not all of which we were permitted to take pictures of). Rounding out the list of things we couldn’t take pictures of were posters of the various types of zones and the formulas used to calculate what grows where. Music Our next visit was to the sound room, where the music for the game was being made. The depth and breadth of the music in this game is surprisingly vast. This is definitely not a case where someone has written a couple of little tunes and set them on a loop. There are different layers of the music depending on what you’re working with, what zoom level you are on, and what menus you are browsing. Roads Next was a chat with Ocean Quigley, a man who I can certainly say has the most epic mustache I’ve ever seen in real life. Dirk has written at length about the transit and I see no need to duplicate entirely what he said. I will say that road geeks will have lots to play with. The grid, as you know, is gone and free-form roads will be the norm. The extent to which you can create a unique, interesting road system is mind-bendingly insane. Ocean loaded up his personal test region for us and it looked like everyone’s first custom Excitebike level. Oh, don’t look at me like that. You know what you did the first time you created your first custom level. You went into the editor and crammed in as many jumps and lumps as the level editor would allow. This is what his custom region looked like. We watched as Ocean effortlessly drew a road network on this craggy mass of steep cliffs. His roads twisted and turned generating curved bridges as he went and the game gave no complaint as he did so. Unlike SC4, where getting roads to do what you want can lead to fits of insanity, this was a simple draw and done situation. One of the highlights of the visit, for me, was viewing one of the developer’s test regions. As he panned around, I noticed one of the bridges he had built over a river. This bridge curved very elegantly across the water in a graceful S-bend. Even though the pylons of the bridge were still bugging a little, it was a sight that got my attention for sure. Speaking of roads leads me to the issue of terraforming. My personal impression is that omitting terraforming from player tools removes an essential gameplay element. This is, after all, a city simulator, and in real life, construction crews and city planners remake the landscape in order to accomplish what is necessary. I can live without macro-terraforming, but micro-terraforming seems that it should be an essential part of a city simulator. Gameplay There’s not much that can be said about this part. We had a chance to play a demo that they had set up for us. It was, essentially, a tutorial, but I often deviated from the tutorial’s instructions in order to look around and familiarize myself with the controls. The control layout is very intuitive and veteran SimCity players should have no trouble with them at all. For a pre-alpha, most things ran quite smoothly. Zones placed well and I didn’t find anything particularly cartoony, which is a concern I’ve heard before. Zones Zones are easy to draw and place, though, from what we experienced, it seems as though there is little in the player’s control over the size of the zones themselves. As we move into the next SimCity era, I was hoping for more variation on zone sizes and it seems to have moved backwards a bit. There’s no mixed zoning (residential/commercial combinations) and density is now dependent on the size of the roads. I can understand where Maxis is coming from on this decision, but I’m not really convinced that this is a good direction. Living in Toronto, one of the top five largest urban areas of North America, I see a lot of very tall skyscrapers on all sorts of road sizes. Our city is even in the midst of a debate right now as to whether or not it’s a good idea to put more high rise condominiums on our major avenues and instead leave those roads for low and mid-rise commercial. Other Transit No subways. We know that. We also asked about that. The response was that they had actually worked on subways a little, but backed off when it turned out their complexity was far too great to meet deadlines. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say that this may be something to expect in a future expansion pack. So, for now, that leaves us with heavy rail, light rail, and buses. There’s not much that I could say that hasn’t been written about these ad nauseum. What is interesting to note, however, is that the developers cited the NAM specifically as a major influence on their decision to include light rail and streetcars. SimCity on Mac The best news for the forthcoming Mac version is that Maxis is doing the porting this time. After the disaster that was the SC4 port for Mac, I think all Mac users can rejoice at this. Another issue I brought up is Apple’s Magic Mouse. Personally, I like this mouse, though I know not everyone does. I admit, however, that it can be wildly over-sensitive in certain contexts. Seriously, try using it with Bing or Google Maps or something. It’s impossible. When I pointed this out, the developers admitted they hadn’t considered that, but that they will look into it. User-designed content The developers could give us no promises on what tools we would receive or when we would receive them. There are, of course, balance issues to figure out and it’s not something they are prioritizing for the moment. After all, we didn’t get the tools for SC4 until well after the release date either. The developers were clear that they’d like to release as many tools as possible. Lot editing, if it becomes available, seemed to be a fairly intuitive affair. Building models can be made with snap points, which basically turns parts of the buildings into invisible Lego studs. These studs can be placed anywhere at any time and make adding to buildings quick and easy. We also saw a little bit about the making of a building in general. There’s no question that it will require at least as much skill as current software requires. Assuming it’s released, of course. Live webcast As Dirk has said in his own write-up, one of our goals was to balance asking the questions we wanted to ask while remaining respectful to the developers. I believe we achieved that. For the live broadcast, I do want to note that the questions selected were really actual questions submitted by the community and also reflected the sorts of questions that we were hoping would be asked. Final Thoughts It’s important to remember that what we’re going to ultimately receive is a vanilla. If you wish to be reminded of what this is like, install SC4 into your computer without the Deluxe package if you can. We are all spoiled by expansion packs, downloads, and ten years worth of custom content. So, now we’re starting at the beginning again. I believe there is much to be, at least, cautiously optimistic about what’s to come. Do I agree with every decision that has been made? Well, no, of course not. I don’t expect to be 100% pleased and it would be foolish of anyone to try. As a teacher, I know that trying to please everyone leads to a watered-down, ineffective classroom experience, and I’m sure the same is true with video games. A side story On the day of the broadcast, there was a dress rehearsal, a short break, and then the live broadcast. During the break, we were able to go out of the auditorium and partake in refreshments and snacks. Very shortly before the broadcast was to begin, I decided that I needed to go to the little boy's room. Dirk and Michael, one of our guides during our stay, said that they'd wait for me. While I was in the bathroom, I heard the door open. Another person walked in who I could see out of the corner of my eye. Naturally, focusing on my aim, I didn't get a good look at the person, but he was about the same height, build, hair color, etc. as Dirk. I figured it was him. He went into one of the stalls. I finished and washed my hands. When I went back out to the lobby where the refreshments were, Michael was there, but Dirk was not. I asked where he was, but Michael didn't know. I said I saw him in the bathroom and we decided to wait for him. A few moments later, I got a text stating, "Get in here!" "Oh my god," I thought, "Dirk is having a heart attack on the crapper!" All at once, I had these visions of Dirk on the throne, clutching his chest in agony. I went into the bathroom and called out his name a few times. No answer; he wasn't there. I went back out to Michael and stated as such. We decided to go back into the auditorium. Inside was Dirk, seated in one of the auditorium chairs, and he was just fine, naturally. Obviously, whomever I saw entering the bathroom while I was in there was not him. Sometimes, I wonder if the mystery man in the stall thought that there was a crazy man in the bathroom with him that day. More pictures. Entrance to the building where Maxis is located: Entrance to Maxis itself: Dat and I in the Maxis lobby: Me in front of EA's giant Dragon Age statue: I was surprised to discover that EA worked on Final Fantasy IX: Maxis has a small meeting room where they have the game boxes of every SimCity game: Yes, they have a Llama Room: A block away from the Maxis studio is the Pixar studio. It's a very non-descript building and you wouldn't know what it was, save for the seagull statue on the top of it. This was our hotel. Hey, had to get the dolls in somewhere, even if I didn't take them to Maxis or EA with me.

Hey All, I'm pretty new here, but here it goes anyway. So I recently got back into playing Simcity 4, but had been experiencing some technical difficulties due to the age of the game, I did a little research and found out that it was not my hardware at fault (which I knew as I had only just upgraded it) but was in fact the settings within the game. One of the big issues I was having was Trees & Scenery disappearing when scrolling in game - this was due to the fact that I was using an AMD card (HD 7870 OC) and for some reason this registered with Simcity as a low-end ATI card (which it is most certainly not). I did a little tinkering and found that EA/Maxis actually enabled an additional option within the 'Graphic Rules' file for ATI Cards, I changed the options around and voila! solved. But this left me wandering just how many people have had this problem and just lived with it because they didn't want to go messing with the over-complicated Simcity files, and this then spurred me on to create something I called 'SC4Launcher'. SC4Launcher allows certain settings and stability issues to be set/solved before the game is launched. I decided to register and release it here as this seems like a place in which a large amount of people may benefit from it. The features are as follows: - Fullscreen Borderless/Seamless mode. - Auto-Update Feature to negate the need to constantly check the STEX. - Quick Launch (Launch instantly with the latest settings). - Auto-Save Feature with Interval selection. - Resolution Selection. (Auto-Detected). - Color Depth Selection. - Ability to change the number of Logical Cores used. (Auto-Detected). - Loading & Saving of last used Configuration. - Ability to set the CPU Priority. - Render Mode Selection (DirectX, OpenGL or Software). - Ability to turn audio On or Off. - Intro Screen/Movie Disable/Enable; and - The all important Force Draw On Scroll Fix. - A simple mod-manager to allow you to quickly enable & disable mods. I am aware that many of the tech savvy among you will have no use for this, as many of the features are easily enabled through command line switches, but, some of the community might benefit from this, at-least, I hope they will. Screen-Shots: I have packaged the software into an installer that should automatically detect your Simcity Installation folder, but if it doesn't, please give it a nudge in the right direction. A virus scan is also attached below, for those of you who wish to have peace of mind. Change Log: Hope you enjoy the software! And I hope this is in the correct section! Regards, Logic_

.BOC 0.98o (Thanks DamienMB)-

jwsteele: I promise I will not forget it and will go back to it as soon as I can. Bipin: Thank you Bipino! Aaron Graham: Thank you buddy! Darknono35: Thanks Nono! edwardjeria: Thanks. What directions? On November 13th 1930. the exterior of the Empire State Building was finished. To mark this date, I am revealing that I am working on the ESB. I am slowly progressing. First 'study' is done and I feel that I understand the building much better now: I have started working on the details as well. and there are many of them, but I think I've conquered some basics: Please do note that I will need quite some time before I finish this model, so I advise you to be extra patient but I promise it will be worth it. Hope you like the idea and my progress so far.

Hi, I'm new to Simtropolis, I came here to see what other people were saying they liked and disliked and have decided to chip in myself with my thoughts. Like most of you I have played every previous version of SimCity (except Societies) and thought SimCity 4 with the rush hour expansion pack was a very difficult act to follow. On the first day, I played through the tutorial, but that was as far as I got, server issues kept me off the game for the rest of the day, I returned yesterday and managed to get enough time for about 2 hours of gaming, in which I built two cities. I won't dwell on server issues here though, i'll just get a couple of concerns about the always-online DRM concept out of the way at the start. Firstly that this game cost a lot more than most other new releases this year and I'm sure that most of that is becuase we're paying for them to run the servers. In no other industry could the manufactuers of the product get away with adding a feature which limits customer's use of it in order to benefit the manufacturer and then ramp up the price to cover the costs of the feature. Secondly it signifies that EA no longer think they are designing a game like previous SimCitys were, which people will continue to play for many years after they stop supporting the game. As soon as they require the servers for a new game, everyone's copies of SimCity 2013 will become worthless. So initially the game impressed me, the graphics were beautiful (though I found the camera movement a bit limited) and the look and feel of the interface were very nice. I had also been looking forward to drawing curved roads (living in the UK where roads generally aren't straight it's nice to be able to build cities with a similar layout to real cities I know), and the system for drawing roads I found works very well, allowing me to draw curved or straight roads, specific shapes (should I decide I want a perfectly circular road), and better till helping me if I want to draw parallel curved roads. These are mainly cosmetic features, but it brings me to another couple of things I liked about the game. I like the way that roads dictacte land use, you assign zones to frontages rather than parcels of land, and assigning zones is free (with roads being more costly to make up). This caught me out a couple of times, you can quickly run out of cash drawing a road because you're used to being able to scatter streets here and there at very little cost in earlier SimCitys. The type of road also dictates the density of the zone, which is in keeping with what I've already said about roads but I haven't decided whether or not I prefer this to having control of density myself. There are a few other things I liked as well before I get to my criticisms of the game. I really do like the new data views, more beautiful, clearer and more useful than in any previous versions of the game, and I also like the interactions with the citizens of your city, the little thought bubbles above houses and little symbols that pop up to give you instant feedback on things such as adding a park in a residential area makes the people who live there happier. The idea of being able to extend buildings is really good as well. It's nice to know that eventually each school in your city will have its own unique appearance, and if you need extra capacity it is more realistic to extend what you have first, before demolishing a small building to build a bigger one. The first issue is the thing I noticed right from the outset. I went to start a new game and had a look at all the regions available to me to build in. None of them really took my fancy, I like a city on the mouth of a river which I can build a port around and bridges across. Never mind, I'll create my own using the terrain editor... except I can't becuase there isn't one. Suddently it seemed like there were very few options for where I could start my city, big disappointment before I'd even started a game, never mind, let's get started. The biggest criticism I have, which many other people on here are also complaining about is the size of the cities you can build. The trailers gave the impression this game would continue in the fine tradition of SimCity of building on an epic scale and I was looking forward to getting started on my own metropolis. Unfortunately the first city I selected was very small. 'Is that it?' I thought, 'I must have selected a beginner city, I'll go back to the regions and find a bigger city'. Unfortunately as most of you now know. This is your lot.... literally! This is SimCity not SimNeighbourhood, the biggest complaint is hinted at in my very first paragraph 'the first two hours of gaming, in which I built two cities'. When I say I built two cities, I mean I filled the city area and ran out of space, this isn't something which should happen after two hours in SimCity, this is something that you work at for days and feel very proud when you achieve. Although as someone on this forum has already pointed out that the objective of the game isn't to create a square city that fills your whole area, wth SimCity 4, you could then start building seamlessly into the neighbouring area, but as areas don't neighbour each other any more, that is no longer an option. Another thing I like with my cities is the ability to customise them, renaming buildings and streets and plopping neighbourhood signs was all part of the in-depth SimCity experience. You didn't just have a collection of roads and buildings like some kind of engineering project, you had a living breathing city. I feel that SimNeighbourhood has pared back seriously on the customisabilty, starting with the removal of the ability to name things but I also notice that gone are the options for which kind of bridge you want when you cross water. I know that the ability to name streets wasn't included in SC4 until the Rush Hour expansion pack, but from the general feel of this game, I doubt will see any expansions like that for SimNeighbourhood. There is also a lot of paring back of the micromanagement aspects of SimCity 2013, I won't bother to list everything I've seen here, but I think most of us will agree when I say this iteration of the game seems a lot more 'dumbed down' than before. EA are seeing the success of simpler games like *shudder* Farmville, and going for the mass market, are there not enough people who like an in-depth game with many layers of complexity to drill down into, to keep EA in business? It doesn't seem so here, but maybe I'm wrong, the game has been a big seller so far and maybe it will become a huge smash, breaking into markets which SimCity previously didn't reach. Maybe the marketing guys in the EA boardroom are high-fiving each other as I speak. Overall I think the game is a lot easier, they throw mini-challenges at you, but in the original games, the real challenge was simply to build a functioning city, and this no longer feels like a challenge. This is another thing inherited from the 'Appmageddon', games that are really just cute diversions, no challenges because people who play apps don't like losing, they want to create (but don't want to customise really) and then share, and perform the odd little challenge. So in conclusion, I have compared the game with apps and browser games like Farmville, and I think that is pretty much what we have here, a new SimCity for the appmageddon, SimCity Lite, SimNeighbourhood, Townville. At most a pretty diversion. The biggest disappointment is that already I'm getting a little bored of the game, I've only been playing for a few hours and it already seems repetitive. I didn't wake up this morning exciting to play the game, I didn't play it until late last night. I really don't know how long this game will keep my imagination for. Which is a shame, because in my view the things it does badly are the things which SimCity always stood out for doing well.

*Sigh* No, the REAL way to fix the problem with EA is to actually take some responsibility in what you buy and not purchase things that further encourage negative business practice.

The rep system should be added to the STEX. People who make amazing custom content and mods deserve a lot of praise. I notice some trolls target and bully newer uploaders and give them a 1 star even if it is excellent work. Where would this community be without them?

Now SimCity has come a really long way from those simple images with Maxis towers and houses sprouting every which way on a city tile. But some people take it farther than that, rendering SimCity into more of an art form and an expression. I'm certainly one of those people who don't generally play the conventional way anymore, but I'd love to see some of everyone's more artistic masterpieces. Whether its a photoshopped picture or pure SimCity aesthetics. Post images here that are more outside of the general use for SimCity that aim primarily for aesthetic quality rather than functionality (or in any case, merge art and SC4 together) I've got some from my city journal to start it off Post away!

Hi everyone. Thanks for your post about the Comcast. I haven't post something here since a long time . Here an update of the First Bank of Hollywood. Textures aren't finished, and now I'm working on the copper roof

By the pricking of my thumbs, something Gothic this way comes! Well, neo-Gothic, but you get the idea. As the days grow shorter and the weather colder, I return to BAT. Hope everyone is well, and didn't miss me too much!

Lol Here's the first row of terraces in the series finished (well the modeling is finished, still need to add the textures obviously). This section is 162-186 Collins Street, and spans the retail section between the Melbourne Town Hall and Scots Church. The lot (represented by the grey box) is 5x4, and will be commercial services. Simcoug - at some stage we need to talk about our modding project I've added a HD version as well because a lot of the detail is lost at SD I'm building up a nice library of architectural bits now

Thanks.. I think Here's a zoom 4 with the tower

Hello to all; This is my first post here, so I hope you enjoy with the CBD of my Dutch city, Bassen !! # Coming soon you will see the full update on my CJ

***************************************************July 26, 2013 Crest DLC Code Update, Contest Has been Closed************************************* I have been in touch with Crest Rep who advised that all the promo Rep Codes have all been distributed and there are no more left. I would like to congratulate the winners who participated and walked away with DLC codes who may not had the opportunity to get the codes otherwise. This contest in therefore considered closed and completed. I would also like to thank the admins & mods at Simtropolis for their cooperation and help in providing a forum space for the contest itself.. *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Hello Simtropolis Members, (This is an exclusive Simtropolis Free giveaway for Simtropolis members) I have a friend who is a Rep for Crest. He has agreed to work with me to provide free Crest DLC Park codes for Simtropolis members to have a chance to grab a free code for those who live outside US or for those in US where code in not available. Round Instructions To offer everybody a fair opportunity for a grab, 6 (six) codes will be given away every couple of days at varying times of the day (morning, noon, and night) to allow for those on different time zones to respond or have a chance to get a grab. When the round giveaway for that day begins, Code 'UFG' (Up For Grabs) will be listed under the current round being played. When you see the Code 'UFG' under the current round playing, be one of the first of six people to PM me and you will win the free code. If the round is not currently playing with Code 'UFG' listed, please do not PM asking for a code. Codes are only issued during active rounds. The rounds are listed below along with the Winners Circle. Happy Parking and good luck to all those interested! ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** http://crest.ea.com -------------------------------------------------------------14th Round Closed------------------------------------------------------------------------------ June 26, 2013 Codes UFG Today's contest was delayed due to internet going out on Comcast end, but since there are members waiting patiently, the contest will go forward and is now open. My apologizes to those who were here at noon, but again beyond my control. Winners listed below -------------------------------------------------------------14h Round Closed--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I play games to have fun, not to be competitive. Outside of the sandbox mode, SimCity (2013) would be too competitive for my liking. Leaderboards are mainly for ego-boosting, and players are rewarded for competitiveness, not necessarily creativity. Regarding leaderboards, to be effective, balance is the main priority, not variety. It means that many complex features have to be removed, as well as varied city sizes.

I have a rant of my own, but its quite different than most other ones here. I am just as excited as the next guy to get my hands on the new Simcity, and certainly there are things in the new version that I wish were different, expanded on, or better thought out. Even more so, I wish the developers would concentrate more on the city-builder aspect than the micro-management and economic aspects. I understand that most gamers and enthusiasts have little understanding or care about the economics of running a business. Their focus is on the final product and rightly so. We all want a great, next generation, city builder. However; failing to understand the dynamics and process which the game developers must work (MUST) is hurtful to true objective criticism and suggestion. EA and Maxis have dumped MILLIONS of dollars into the development of this game. A complete risk, just like every other game development. Its a reboot, meaning they didn't simply take the core of Simcity 4, continue to add features, and relaunch. Instead, they started from scratch, so that future generations of the game are better. Remember that concept. Lets look at the very first Simcity: Remember that doosey of a game. It was GREAT. It was something completely new and orginal, and the support that it got from the community eventually led to this. Look at the difference. The level of advancement of the final game, in relation to the first is extraordinary, It was possible because there was a base of fans behind it that encouraged (with their wallet) the developers to continue to make the game (excuse me, simulation). The first image is stage 1, while the second image is something like stage 4. Do you know how many millions of dollars it cost to take the game from stage 1 (very risky) to stage 4? Those millions were invested because the support from the community led the business aspect of Maxis to believe that it was worth the development. Now, lets consider where stage 1 is for THIS GAME. Sure, it has some limitations, it has some design considerations. It is a starting point. But just like the first Simcity, the expectation that the game START at level 4 is an unreasonable expectation. They expectation that Maxis and EA invest 4 times the amount of millions they already have into the game, because of your expectations of the relaunch is unreasonable. I played the beta, sure the maps are small. I have voiced concern about this, but I am SURE it is something EA will fix in Simcity 2015 or later. The point is, and in conclusion.... please be reasonable in your expectations. Throwing a fit because there is no subways in the game? There was no subways in the first Simcity, nor terraforming, nor really anything. Its a starting point. Lets all be objective in our expectations, but do so in a reasonable way which will encourage the franchise to continue to develop. Can you imagine what Simcity 2025 would look like?

So, here we are. I'm sorry this is going to be a rant. I played Simcity for a couple of times now and to be honest. I feel abandoned. Not by the game but by the Maxis Studio. The past years have been a waste of time. What happened to the smart people in the 80s and 90s? Ok, lets talk about the game; One should think, in 2013 it should be possible to program a better 'bordering' system that grows with city (land purchase or annexation). Nah, its just a square again and this time without bordering cities. One of the things that annoys me the most is the waste of space between lots in the already ridiculous tiny piece of land you get. There is no way you can fill them up with trees or other stuff. If you want trees, ploppable parks are the way to go. The only problem with parks is; yes they need to connect to roads too. And this is a problem. Not only with parks... Water and power goes by road now. How unrealistic is this? Very... This forces parks to be connected to the road because otherwise the lamp posts wont work right? Consequences are: waste of land between buildings. Maxis has put themselves in a corner. Why? Well the decision to go 'agent based' was terrible. In the 2000s they stated that the technology didn't allow full 3d graphics so they created a 2.5D game which looked awesome. Now, in the '10s we have enough graphical power to power full 3d cities. And what did Maxis do? Yes they 'created' a new limitation: Glassbox engine. Praised by it's high level of detail it produces; they forget one thing: It needs calculation power. A LOT of calculation power. So here we are, with a new excuse: The computers today can't handle bigger cities because it would need more processing power. Whaaaaaat? Why do you invent another limitation then? I did not feel any improvement in terms of simulation in comparison with Simcity 4. Let's make a list: I can not decide how big my (zoning) lot's will be. I can not plant trees I can not dig a river (to create a harbor maybe??) I can not fill spaces between roads I can not create unique looking parks (Boomtown lesson: place loose park props anywhere in the woods, do not make park 'lots') Where are the power lines? What about the water and sewerage pipes? This was a great opportunity to improve this system from SC4 Subway? Oh wait, a 10.000 city doesn't need subway Tunnels? Specialization??? WHyyyy? Why always dumb things out.. a city can have more specializations... Tilted what? Why put so many time in developing graphical trash like tilted shift blur. Nature gave me eyes that can focus on parts of the game without the 'help' of a tilted shift blur. What a waste of time. City Ordinances? Where are they? Have you seen that highway intersection? Whahahahahahaha Let;s say the devs made their life very difficult and way to complicated for the future. I mean, all these 'up-gradable buildings' with slots etc. this will take lot's of time to model it the right way. Was this the best solution Maxis could came up with? Just stick with growables and also; combine 'residential' models with custom props/texture sets so you can use the same building for a police/fire station maybe? Upgrading? Why a new 'sub building' slot that eats land? In a big city it is not possible to 'eat' land. Why not make a more efficient version of the model with 2 garage doors instead of one... In short; Making Simcity 4 full 3d and extend and improve the 'bad' things that came with it would give Maxis the jackpot with record sells. we must game look like disneyland. we must not listen to hardcore fans of early version we ignore critics and bend their question into propaganda for new glassbox engine I feel sorry for the hard working programmers in the team because while the game got kicked by people like me.. i know it is a lot of work to make. It's the decisions of the project leaders that ruins the game. No, i won't buy this game. In stead i would like to help Buggi with his Boomtown project.

Introducing Simtropolis Groups! What are Groups? Groups are sub-communities within Simtropolis dedicated to specific interests,topics or goals. Anyone can start a Group. A Group can be formed for any purpose, and we have created some broad categories to start. Multiplayer Region Games: Organize your own multiplayer region games. Create the first multiplayer "Region Journal"! Special Interest: For groups with their own special interest goals and objectives. City Journals: Create a group dedicated to your own City Journal, or create a group for city journalers or city journal unions. Building Architects: BAT teams can create their own Groups to better update their fans on current projects, and provide a format for their own team to discuss and share ideas in private before releasing them to the public. Uncategorized: A general catch-all for groups that don't necessarily belong to any of the above. Group Home Page Each group will have its own customizable home page. Group owners can create layouts for their home pages and add additional pages. Customize your group with a custom header, logo and background. Group Theme options will also be available (in the future). Group Membership & Ranks Group owners can assign their own moderators to manage the group page and/or the group discussion forums. Groups can be open and allow any Simtropolis member to join, or groups can be invite-only and require the Group Owner to choose who can join. Group Discussion Forums Create your own Group discussion forums. Group discussion forums work just like the regular Simtropolis forums, and will appear under the Simtropolis Groups forum category. Group News Assign a discussion forum you created to be your "Group News Feed" and these will appear on your group home page as news items. So get out there and start or join a group today! Note: If you are starting a group and have a pre-existing thread you would like moved into your group discussion forum, contact me with the thread(s) in question and I'll move them for you. (Groups is an experimental feature. You are encouraged to use Simtropolis Groups in any way you like. While you are responsible for your own group discussion moderation, the standard rules of conduct of Simtropolis will still apply, and groups are still subject to administrative moderation. Bottom line, please keep things clean and friendly!)

Thanks everyone :kitty: Ok, JWS, you guilted me into finishing Freshwater Place... its the oldest unfinished BAT I have, the tower was modelled back on 24th January - technically my 4th BAT. I've now completed the base and some preliminary textures. (Don't pay too much attention to the rooftop garden or the rear wall, all still needs a lot of work) Expect a few releases in November Let me know what you think

Thanks all Systems Design was be exported ( online on the ) , and here, another picture of the Bank of Hollywood. I've just begun the texturing. Here, a new skyscraper originally from Philadelphia, the Comcast building . This building was completed in 2008 and high of 297 meters, I think it's the tallest of the city. I have start the model yesterday and it's already textured for the main part, and say me what do you think about the building ? Enjoyed guys !!

Edit: Use this awesome tool by trgs which allows you to change the values on the run: Again thanks a lot to develop this further. _______________________________________________________________________ Firstly, if you really want to use these options (i wouldnt call it a complete mod) you should read the whole post. Because you most certain need to adjust the files for your own needs. What this does: It allows you to build Embarkments for Rail or Roads, Overpasses, Underpasses and Tunnels everywhere. The file that is changed is actually 0xa2e2df52. These files are adjusted for the Region Viridian Woods specifically Matisse Plains. It works for every spot with the same ground height. If you want to use it on higher/lower terrain the values have to be adjustet. Ill explain you how at the end of the post. How to use: Place one (1)! File into your SimCity Data folder. (most likely C:\Origin Games\SimCity\SimCityData) Delete the file after you placed your Overpasse/Underpass to return to normal state. You need to quit the game, place the file, place the street, quit the game, delete the file and restart the game. not all directions and radiuses are always possible. You will figure it out quick. (ie all shift-drag directions, or if you drag straight and stop you cant drag straight in that direction again, you will need an angle. If you want to cross networks with curves it is advisable to build from top to bottom (highest overpass first). As its difficult to drag a curve over existing networks. Straight crossing is never a problem. If your camera is frozen on the start of the game, once press one of the arrow keys on the keyboard, the camera works normally then. 1 Overpass - Lower street must be deleted, then drag the overpass. (if you set the Overpass higher manually, you can drag it over streets directly, i wanted to have it as low as possible.)If you drag the overpass to or from a street on the ground level you get a very smooth transition. But you can also do it the other way around and drag a normal ground-level street to the elevated overpass and get a short steep ramp. 2 Overpass 2 - Same as overpass but lower street dont need to be deleted. Its adjustet to cross the other overpass on a higher level. 3 ElevatedStreet - A slightly higher street which levels the terrain below. You can place buildings on that street which level the ground as well. 4 Underpass - Drag the street from Low- to High-ground in two directions. You will be able to drag any street over it without creating an intersection. 5 Tunnel - Drag from A to B. If you drag curves the tunnel somehow elevates in the curve and comes over ground. So its highly recommended to only drag straight tunnels or change the values to a much deeper level so the curve dont gets over the ground. (cool thing, if you place a tunnel over ground like a bridge you can even have buildings grow below it.) 6 Tunnel 2 - Deeper version of the Tunnel which allows to cross. (not on the Screenshot) How to adjust the values: You need SimCity Pak https://simcitypak.codeplex.com/ The original file has the ID 0xa2e2df52. Create copies of each file i provided. Open the .package file you want to edit. You will find 2 Checkboxes (we dont care) and 3 Values. I refer them to A, B and C (top to bottom) The standard values for even networks are A -1024, B 2048 and C 1024 To cross another Network you need a difference of at least 96 at B. Overpasses: A needs to be < -1024, B needs to be < 2048. (iE -1120, 1950) C doesnt matter. Underpass: B > 2048, A = negative value of C. (iE -1024, 2176, 1024) Tunnels: A > -1024, B > 2048, C = 50% of B (iE -928, 2144, 1072) Elevated Street: B < 2048, C = 50% of B, A = the negative Value of C. (iE -1015, 2030, 1015) Im not exactly sure if we have 3 values for Upper Network level, lower Network level (bottom of pillars at bridges) and basic level. Or if we control the position/direction of the world geometry(terrain) in the world coordinates. But with overpasses i guess the geometry is askew in the world coordinates, thats why we have to adjust the values for higher terrains. Scissor effect. - May you can use this for the moment. But i guess we will have to find better ways. This cant be it. Maybe someone can push this further, but i think its the wrong anchorpoint. Use this awesome tool by trgs which allows you to change the values on the run: Again thanks a lot to develop this further. Download: Pygma_RoadMod.tar Alternate Download: https://mega.co.nz/#!e1h3nCYT!PAze5hNRLOiUdNSSo6q72UmwwEBCGwcKyqoPlNC1MWQ

This took me like 15 minutes to make so you better appreciate it.

41 out of 54 negative reviews, If more people leave reviews like this on big name websites, maybe someone at EA will realize what they did...... EDIT: March 6th 2013 10:03 PM CST : There are now 513 reviews on amazon, 447 1 star ratings!

No, sorry, you release a product it should work right out of the box. Sure, I can see bugs and issues cropping up that need to be fixed down the road but the person who just paid for your product should be able to sit down and use it right away. This is like saying you buy a new car and they tow it to you on a flat-bed truck, drop it off and leave. Wow! You have a new car! So you get it in it, try to start it and then it doesn't start. Turns out the company forgot to put a starter in the engine. Oh well, should have waited to buy the car until the company knew the problems they have with it. No. Sorry. I should have been able to buy this game, install it, and played it right away. Not have to wait to be able to play it because EA sucks at life.

Contrast between the rich and the poor in the city of Umbuzeiro

I just finished playing the beta (literally a few minutes ago) and I'd thought I would share my feelings for this game here. Just as a background, I love Simcity 4 and was super excited about a new SimCity game. Going into this Beta, I was cautiously optimistic, hoping that, while there would be plusses and minusses, the overall playability and experience would be better than the last release. The Good: First off, the game had no bugs that I noticed. The gameplay was smooth and the interface was complete. I had no trouble loading the game, playing, following the tutorials, zooming and rotating the camera, or anything else (much to my surprise). Second, I really enjoy the data layers and overlays implemented in the game. To be able to see 3D bar charts, rather than just plain color layers, was a great plus. I also enjoyed the GlassBox interface with the game: seeing your power, water, etc. go down a street and satisfy the need of a building. And lastly, I enjoyed the ability of residential, commercial, and industial plots to be upgraded in density and wealth independently without having to upgrade the plot manual (as in Simcity 4). The Bad: Lot's to talk about here. The main bad item, one that cannot be overlooked in my opinion, is city size. It's just too darn small. Maybe we have been spoiled by Simcity 4, but the size of the city is way too small to simulate (it is SIM-city after all). Next, the game is dumbed down so much that it is not a real simulation. While it's nice to have plots automatically upgrade in density, it is not always the desire of the mayor to have a large town, and I did not notice any interface to restrict the density of plots. Also, what is with having your power and water constantly interfaced with your roads? This means that there is no flexibility in your water and electical grids, again dumbing down the game significantly. Next, there was much ado about the interfaces between cities. You can see it in the videos Maxis has released, in a region you can have 2 huge cities and literally nothing in between. This is definitely noticable when you play the game. A region is not realistic. Next is mass transit: busses and trains, not much else. A huge part of the Simcity community is dedicated to mass transit. The limited nature of Simcity 2013's mass transity system will turn many of those players off. The Ugly: I was excited about Simcity 2013. Note the past tense. Simcity 2013 is not a replacement for Simcity 4. It is a glorified Sim Societies. Unles they can increase city size, add many more mass transity systems, add user mods, and add flexibity in city management so cities can be tailored to user desired layours, the game is not going to succeed. One last thing, I was unable to assess the multiplayer aspect of the game and therefore cannot comment on it. (and this is my first post)