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Edit: Available again, after getting the correct controller in place. Thank you for your patience. In honor of the 11th anniversary of SimCity 4's release, the NAM Team is pleased to announce the arrival of the full release of the 32nd edition of the NAM, NAM 32. New features in Version 32--January 14, 2014 NAM 32 is a full package, which improves upon the earlier NAM 31.2 release and NAM 32 Pre-Release. Note that the NAM requires a retail copy (disc or digital) of SimCity 4 Deluxe to run. The NAM Elevated Viaducts for Roads, One-Way Roads, and Avenues are now available in a draggable form, at both Level 1 (7.5 meter) and Level 2 (15 meter) heights, complete with FLEX Height and On-Slope transitions. Overpass situations involving one or more diagonal networks are not yet supported, and will not be available until a future NAM release after Version 32. Elevated Rail-over-Avenue and Elevated Rail-over-NWM Road-4 dual-networking support has been added, complete with a new station supporting both networks. The initial phases of the RealRailway (RRW) system have been added. This feature must be selected as part of a custom install. The RealHighway (RHW) system has been expanded to include the QuickChange interchange system, which blends the RHW's modularity with the ease of Maxis Highway construction techniques for certain situations, which will be expanded in future NAM releases. Additionally, several new types of FLEXRamps are available--please read the instructions in the description text. FLEX Transitions have also been given stability improvements for certain situations. Coupled with the RHW system, the NAM now offers Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) functionality, including stations. Transit station functionality has been further improved, including the beginning of the implementation of the SLURP, which will gradually raise all transit stations to NAM standards. The NAM Controller Compiler has been included with the installer, with which it now communicates, ensuring that only the installed features are incorporated into the NAM Controller, reducing file size and load times. About 50 bugs reported since the start of the NAM 32 Pre-Release have also been squished, including some that had been present since earlier versions of the NAM. It is highly recommended that users update to the latest NAM in order to enjoy a more stable experience. Installing over previous versions: NAM 32 may be installed directly over top of any previous NAM releases. It is a full release, not a patch or a hotfix. All future updates are planned to be in full package form, and there are no plans to issue patches or hotfixes in the future. Please also note that the NAM Team only provides technical support for the most recent version, which, as of this document, is NAM 32. We cannot assist users of the NAM 32 Pre-Release, NAM 31.x-series release, or earlier. Special Thanks: The NAM Team would like to extend its sincere thanks to all the members of the community who helped test the NAM 32 Pre-Release, offering feedback and helping us locate and solve bugs.

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

It will be very familiar to those who love the genre, but it will also do new things and set its own priorities and focus areas: It will be a single-player game that works completely offline. The goal is to simulate one whole, huge region at once - no need for tiny city lots or artificial city interaction dynamics. It will be affordable and will not rely on DLC. Alpha and Beta versions will be available for a reduced price. Moddability will be a priority, not an afterthought. Read more about Citybound and the technology: http://blog.cityboundsim.com/the-beginning/

The Sky is no limit! Inhabit a world where you define the rules. Cities: Skylines invites you to create the city of your dreams in a sprawling landscape dominated by cloud hugging structures and jaw dropping architectural marvels. Developed by Colossal Order, Cities: Skylines offers sprawling landscapes and maps with endless sandbox gameplay and new ways to expand your city. Key to progression is the ability to influence your city’s policy by incorporating taxation into districts. All this including the ability to mod the game to suit your play style makes this the definitive city building simulation. You’re only limited by your imagination, so take control and reach for the sky! Main features: City policies: Set policies to guide how the city and districts develop over the course of your playthrough. City districts: Personalize city districts with names of your choice for variety and personality. Road building and zoning Unlock buildings and services Taxation: Fine-tuning the city budget and services and setting tax rates to different residential, commercial and industrial levels and controlling what kind of areas are more likely to spawn in the zoned areas Public transportation: Build transport networks throughout the city with buses and metros Outside connections: Make industry and commercial districts flourish with new customers in the neighboring cities Wonders: the ultimate end-game content that the players strive towards Huge maps: Unlock new map tiles with unique possibilities to expand the city Water flow simulation: Add new challenges to water services. Polished visual style and core gameplay Modding tools: Built in feature designed to encourage creative pursuits.

There's something of a size mismatch happening here. Colossal Order tells me it can give its players 36 square kilometres of space to build their cities in, 36 square kilometres in which they can expand and enlarge, spread and sprawl. That's enough space for suburbs, commuter towns and even arable land. In contrast, last year's SimCity only provided a couple of square kilometres and, in spite of the efforts of all the pages of team members listed in its credits (a number possibly higher if you consider that credits often only list staff present when a title ships), what happened within those city limits didn't always make sense. Colossal Order is confident it can make a larger, more coherent and more customisable city-building game with, well... nine people. Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-09-04-cities-skyline-is-out-to-satisfy-where-simcity-couldnt

Banished, a city-building strategy game by Shining Rock Software is released today. What is Banished? Welcome to the world of Banished! In this city-building strategy game, you control a group of exiled travelers who decide to restart their lives in a new land. They have only the clothes on their backs and a cart filled with supplies from their homeland. The objective of the game is to keep the population alive and grow it into a successful culture. Options for feeding the people include hunting and gathering, agriculture, trade, and fishing. However, sustainable practices must be considered to survive in the long term. Gameplay The townspeople of Banished are your primary resource. They are born, grow older, work, have children of their own, and eventually die. Keeping them healthy, happy, and well-fed are essential to making your town grow. Building new homes is not enough—there must be enough people to move in and have families of their own. Banished has no skill trees. Any structure can be built at any time, provided that your people have collected the resources to do so. There is no money. Instead, your hard-earned resources can be bartered away with the arrival of trade vessels. These merchants are the key to adding livestock and annual crops to the townspeople’s diet; however, their lengthy trade route comes with the risk of bringing illnesses from abroad. There are twenty different occupations that the people in the city can perform from farming, hunting, and blacksmithing, to mining, teaching, and healing. No single strategy will succeed for every town. Some resources may be more scarce from one map to the next. The player can choose to replant forests, mine for iron, and quarry for rock, but all these choices require setting aside space into which you cannot expand. The success or failure of a town depends on the appropriate management of risks and resources. Survival Surviving the winters will be among your greatest challenges. Your tailors can make clothing, your people can build houses and burn firewood. But necessities have a price—Cutting down forests reduces the deer population you can hunt. Although your foresters can plant new trees, the cures for many diseases can only be found in forests that have existed for decades. Farming for many seasons in one place will ruin the soil. Taking fish and game faster than they reproduce will lead to extinction, and your starvation. Wandering nomads can join your town to grow the population quickly, but allowing them in increases the chance of illnesses from far off lands!

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

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

Half a million, what a milestone! Big congrats to the site staff who keep this site so stable despite the numbers. I wonder how many of that 500k are active?

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

So we have been invited to Maxis' studios at the main EA campus to get some first-hand impressions of the game and to interact with the developers. Up for this trip will be Zelgadis and myself to represent the Simtropolis community. We will be getting some hands-on time with the game itself, and some time to speak with the developers. We will also be attending the Maxis live broadcast the following day, where SimCity will also be a topic of discussion! This is super exciting and we're looking forward to seeing the new game in person and will be getting some chat-time with the development team. I'd love to bring down some of your burning questions to ask in person, so please use this topic to let us know what you want us to try to cover. I can't promise we can get answers for everything, but you know we'll try our best! Both Zelgadis and I will be visiting with Maxis Oct 8 and attending the live broadcast event Oct 9. We'll post frequent updates via the website and twitter, so let us know what you want us to say or keep an eye out for. We'll also give you a full debriefing when we get back, as well as our honest to goodness first-hand feedback of this new version of the greatest city simulation game. EDIT: Thanks for the feedback everyone, we'll take the top most voted questions down with us and try to dig up some answers as best we can!

Update 10 Feedback Thread - http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/0/10023457.page Offline additional Questions - http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/0/10023459.page Q: How do I play SimCity offline? A: The new Single-Player Mode allows you to play SimCity anytime, anywhere, without the need of an active Internet connection. For the full details please read our blog post here. Q: How do I download the Single-Player Mode for SimCity? A: The Single-Player Mode will be included as part of Update 10 at no additional cost. This will be available to all current and future players on PC and Mac starting March 18, 2014. Q: Will I still require an Internet connection to play? A: An Internet connection is required to download Update 10 when it becomes available on March 18, 2014. You will not require an active Internet connection to play SimCity offline in the Single-Player Mode. Q: Can I still play the game Online? A: Yes, the Online game and all of its features are still intact. This includes Multiplayer, SimCity World and Online Save Games. Q: Will my previous Downloadable Content (DLC) be playable in the Single-Player Mode? A: Yes. All of your previous DLC is available for use in both the Single-Player Mode and Multiplayer Mode. Q: Do I need an Origin Account to play? A: Yes, you use Origin to download and launch SimCity. Once you’ve installed Update 10, you can put Origin into offline mode when you are playing Single-Player Mode. Q: How do I put Origin into Offline Mode? A: To put Origin in Offline mode, log in to the Origin client and select: Origin>Go Offline Q: Do I need to login to Origin online in order to play the Single-Player Mode? A: No. If you do not have an active internet connection, you can put Origin in the offline Mode and play SimCity offline in the Single-Player Mode. Q: What features are available in Single-Player Mode? A: Single-Player Mode allows for a multi-city Single-Player experience without requiring an internet connection. All region maps are available in Single-Player Mode. Since Single-Player Mode does not require a persistent internet connection, Leaderboards, Citylog, Achievements, Friends List, Player Profile, the Region Wall, and region invites are not available in Single-Player Mode. The Global Market will be available in Single-Player Mode, but prices will be fixed. Q: What are the requirements to play in Multiplayer mode? A: The requirements to play Multiplayer have not changed. An Internet connection is required to play Multiplayer mode, Origin must be running in online mode and SimCity must be updated to the latest version. Q: Can I transfer my regions between modes? A: No. Single-Player and Multiplayer are separate modes and regions cannot be transferred between modes. Q: Where are Single-Player regions saved? A: Single-Player regions are saved locally, not on the server. You can find your regions on PC here: \Documents\SimCity\Games\~ID NUMBER~\ You can find your regions on Mac here: Go->Documents->SimCity -> Games -> ~ID NUMBER~ Q: If I uninstall or change machines, can I transfer my Single-Player Mode regions to the new install or Machine? A: If you uninstall SimCity, your saved games will still be available. However if you change machines, you will need to manually move your game files to the games file location on your new machine. Q: Can I move my Single-Player Mode saved game from my PC to Mac and vice versa? A: Yes, you can transfer your Single-Player Mode saved games between PC and Mac. Q: How many regions can I have? A: There is no limit to the number of saved regions a player can have in Single-Player Mode. The file size of your regions will vary depending on density and population of your cities. Q: How do saves work in Single-Player Mode? A: Autosave is on by default and saves your region every ten minutes. Your region is also automatically saved if you quit your region or switch to another city in the region. To disable Autosave, go to the Options menu > Settings > Gameplay tab and uncheck “Enable Autosave in Single-Player Mode”. Disabling Autosave will allow you to save at points you want to save at. If Autosave is disabled, you will be asked if you would like to save your region when you quit or switch to another city in the region. You can manually save your region at any time by pressing “Save Game” from the options menu. Q: How do I rollback my regions? How do I make a copy of my region? A: If Autosave is disabled, you can save your region at a certain point and then experiment with your region. If you wish to go back to a previous save point, you can choose not to save your region when exiting the game. If you load that region from the main menu or resume page, it will load from the last saved point. If you would like to make a copy of your region, press “Save As…” from the options menu. You will be prompted to name the copy of your region. This gives you the control to come up with a naming convention that works for you for your copied version. Once you submit that name, you will load the copy of the region. The original region will remain at the last saved point. You can access the original or the copy from the Main Menu in the Play tab. Q: What cheats are available in Single-Player Mode? A: Existing live cheats are available in Sandbox regions while playing Single-Player Mode. The following cheats are available in Single-Player Mode in non-Sandbox games. Add §10,000 to City budget. Windows: CTRL + ALT + W OS X: CTRL + ALT + W Add §5,000 per hour to City budget. Windows: CTRL + ALT + S OS X: CTRL + ALT + S Add §100,000 per hour to City budget. Windows: ALT + W OS X: ALT + S Disasters are unlocked in Single-Player Mode.

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

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

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

I been watching this development for a while now. The game is finished and due to be released February 18th. I just thought this game release deserves some front page shine here as a new member of the city building genre made by one dedicated developer. Looks very interesting.

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

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

SimCity will finally get an offline mode. Maxis has announced, just two months short of the game's first birthday. The news comes after repeated problems with the launch of the most recent release of the city-building game, which required players to be online. Requiring connection to the internet was seen as an attempt to curb piracy, but some users struggled to log in. The new offline version will be available to all players as a free download once testing is completed. SimCity had been a stand-alone game up until March 2013, when a new online-only version was released. The launch was beset by problems, with many gamers reportedly waiting 30 minutes or more before they could start to construct a city. Others said the game was sluggish once they were playing, that it was slow to respond to changes, and it often crashed. 'Polished as possible' Electronics Arts (EA), which owns SimCity creator Maxis, apologised for the problems and said a lot more people had logged on than it had expected. It called the launch "dumb" and offered a free game to those who had been affected. At the time of the reported problems, Lucy Bradshaw, head of Maxis, said an offline, single-player mode did not fit with its "vision" for the urban-planning game and that many people preferred the online multi-player version. But in a blog post this weekend, Patrick Buechner, general manager of Maxis, said: "Let's get right to it. SimCity offline is coming! I've wanted to say those words for quite some time." "When we launch it, all of your previously downloaded content will be available to you anytime, anywhere, without the need for an internet connection." He also said that an offline version would allow users to make modifications to the game and its components without compromising the integrity of the online game. "Modding is a big part of our studio's legacy and we're excited to see what you guys create," he said. Graham Smith, writing on the gaming website Rock Paper Shotgun, said the announcement was good news. "The offline mode is a real boon to the community. If you've got no internet connection or just a shaky one, this is the difference between being able to play the game and not," he said. Mr Buechner said that Maxis was in the late stages of wrapping up development of the offline version and in a nod to the previous launch added that "while we want to get it into your hands as soon as possible, our priority is to make sure that it's as polished as possible before we release it". The offline game will come as a free download with update 10 and will be available to all SimCity players. Source: BBC News

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

AUSTIN, Texas—April 10, 2014—Aspyr Media announced today that fan-favorite and best-selling city simulator SimCity™ 4: Deluxe Edition is available now as a digital download. The game has been updated to support OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion (and above) and includes bug fixes, performance enhancements, and other updates such as native resolution support. Customers may purchase the game now exclusively through Apple’s Mac App Store, and the game will join Steam and other Mac digital outlets in coming weeks. “We’re so happy to give SimCity fans on the Mac a new chance to play this classic title,” said Aspyr Media’s Vice President of Publishing, Elizabeth Howard. “We took extra time updating the game to offer SimCity 4 players the best possible experience on the Mac, and we think both old and new players alike will come away impressed.” SimCity™ 4: Deluxe Edition includes the best-selling SimCity™ 4 and SimCity™ 4: Rush Hour Expansion Pack and tasks players with building out a city or region of cities while trying to meet the needs and demands of the cities’ residents. Game features include: Full control over the environment and the ability to unleash natural disasters to create (and destroy) a world all your own. Ability to deploy emergency vehicles and join in the action as they battle blazes, mobs, and more. New transportation options, including monorail and ferry system. Interconnectivity with The Sims, allowing players to import their sims into their city. And more!

Nominations are now CLOSED! Thanks to all who contributed, with a grand total of 530 nominations! Now it's time to start the counting and verifying, with the awards ceremony following soon! In the meantime, visit for the build-up and anticipation.

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

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

SimCity 4 Network Addon Mod maker warns against buying the game from Origin Andy Chalk at 16:30 on 25 August 2014 SimCity 4 is more than ten years old, but given the relative dearth of SimCity games since it came out, it remains a popular way for fans of the franchise to get their fix. But the maker of the Network Addon Mod says gamers should be careful about where they buy it: The version of the game being offered by Origin is the unpatched retail release, and because of changes to its copy protection it cannot be updated, nor can it take full advantage of custom content and mods. As explained on the SimCity 4 site SimTarkus, the Network Addon Mod (NAM) requires a minimum of SimCity 4 version 1.1.638, the version that results from applying the EP1 Update 1 to the retail version of the game. But the a href="https://www.origin.com/en-ca/store/buy/56334/pc-download/base-game/deluxe-edition">Origin is not capable of being updated because it modified the unpatched version of the game, 1.1.610, to replace the SafeDisc copy protection with Origin's online DRM. "This modification, however, changes the checksum of the executable, just as the NoCD hacks did, which not only causes it to be rejected by the NAM installer, it also prevents the EP1 Update 1 patch and the BAT Nightlight patch from being installed, as well as the official first-party content creation tools, like the Lot Editor and the Building Architect Tool (BAT). In effect, this forces the user to remain at Version 1.1.610, deprived not only of the full function of the wide array of custom content available for the game, but of basic fixes to the game that have been available for 10 years," NAM developer Tarkus wrote. "Origin’s digital version of SimCity 4 Deluxe is not just unpatched, it’s unpatchable." Tarkus also linked to a from earlier this month in which an EA support rep acknowledged the limitations of the Origin version of the game, but insisted that it's behaving as it's supposed to. "The game that you bought from us is working as intended and it is not broken," the rep explained. "The reason why mods are not working on your copy is because we do not support mods for the title. And we do not support the upgrades that you want to do in game." There is, of course, a world of difference between "we do not support" and "we do not allow," especially since virtually every other digital distributor offers a version of the game that does support mods. So while it may be working as EA intends, the bottom line is obvious: If you want to buy SimCity 4, you're probably better off buying it somewhere else. (Today, by the way, that "somewhere else" should probably be GOG: It's on sale for $8 until 11:59 pm on August 25.)

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

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

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

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

At last, the new Real Highway (RHW) Interchange Guide board has been completed! All RHW interchange tutorials throughout the SimCity 4 community can be found there. Each guide has been indexed by type, and organized in a way that it is easily accessible from the table of contents. ----- For those who are new to the RHW Interchange Guide, or do now know what it is, here is a brief introduction: With the release of RHW 3.0 (and subsequent releases), there is virtually an infinite number of ways you can construct your highways and interchanges. However, this is not a simple task, and takes quite a bit of getting used to. Many folks have looked at several pictures of RHW interchanges and asked "whoa! How'd you do that?" and have tried to construct something similar themselves, sometimes with much difficulty that eventually causes them to give up. This guide will show examples of various interchange types and will describe how they were made. Feel free to ask questions after a guide has been posted if you are having difficulty. I will attempt to show how to construct these interchanges as simple as possible, using only the necessary downloads. If you'd like to submit your own guides to this thread, please post your guide in the submissions thread to have it reviewed. Also be sure to follow the format set up in previous guides. Thanks!

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

When game maker Will Wright began looking for a publisher for a project called Micropolis, there wasn't a lot of interest. The game, which was specifically designed so it couldn't be won (or lost), was so outside the box that virtually no one was willing to take a chance. That's when he found himself on the doorstep of a tiny publisher called Maxis. They decided to give it a shot. One name change and 25 years later, we are celebrating the birthday of the great SimCity. The city-building simulation caught the collective imagination of the gaming community when it was first released in October of 1989, ultimately giving birth to nearly 20 sequels and spin-off titles, including the biggest PC franchise ever, The Sims. Born from Wright's realization that he was having more fun creating levels for his previous game - Raid on Bungeling Bay - than playing the game itself, SimCity has been named as one of the ten most important games of all time by The New York Times and PC World. It had real-world implications, too. In 1993, Chevron commissioned Wright and Maxis to make a custom version of the game for them called SimRefinery, which helped new employees understand the ins and outs of the company's refineries and distribution system. The University of Southern California and the University of Arizona have even used the game in urban planning and political science classes. That is a testament to SimCity is depth as a simulation. As the mayor/overseer of a fictional city, gamers need to keep an eye on the city's infastructure, ensuring that power is adequate, crime levels are low and tax rates are just right, while still dealing with unexpected disasters. And what wonderful disasters the game offers! Floods and earthquakes were bad enough, but when Wright threw in giant monster attacks and tornadoes that could result in train crashes, the mayhem was too much to resist. Later games, like the beloved SimCity 2000, would build on this, adding extraterrestrial invasions and meteor strikes. The series has had its ups and downs through the years. While The Sims went on to become the best-selling PC franchise of all time, other attempted tie-ins, like SimCopter and SimAnt, were only moderate successes. Maxis went all out trying to spin the formula into more hits, but Streets of SimCity, SimEarth, SimHealth (which simulated President Bill Clinton's healthcare reform proposals) and others never really caught on. There's still a strong demand for the game, though. Even the 2013 version of SimCity, which earned an avalanche of bad reviews for its requirement that the game constantly be connected to the Internet, sold more than 2 million copies. ---- Read here: https://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/simcity-turns-25-232150981.html

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's that time again . . . the first top-secret feature reveal video for the upcoming NAM Version 31 release is now up. The RealHighway system, celebrating the 7th anniversary of its first release on Friday, now "flexes" some new muscle.

Developer Maxis has released three screenshots for the new SimCity, depicting the reboot's in-game environments. SimCity is the fifth main installment to the long-running series by EA Maxis.

I'm sure some of you can't wait for this to start. But for those who haven't heard or known about this, Simtropolis Batting School (SBS) is about to start. We already got a couple of students and also several teachers. Btw, thanks for your commitment! We starting with matching students and teachers. This mean, as of now, registration is only possible for one more week! We need to set a deadline to finally get everything straight to make the idea true. So, here you got the official announcment by the Simtropolis Batting School Team (SBST). For all those who don't know what this is all about, check out the threads and let the posts tickle your brain! More news tba.

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

We're thrilled to announced the return of the world's largest city builder, filled to the brim with new features allowing you to expand the scope of the game further than any Cities XL game before it. Introducing: Cities XXL! Create and manage enormous cities on the latest version of the 'Cities' engine with multi-core support. With a smooth FPS no matter the size and complexity, there are no longer any limits on the richness and diversity of your sprawling metropolis. New features, buildings, and other details will be revealed over the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

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

Part 3, Scenario 2. - In this video, we talk about how the water system works, from the pumping of the precious liquid to its distribution to your thirsty Sims. This system uses almost all the tools that our simulation engine, GlassBox, has to offer: units, maps, agents, paths and resources. By Guillaume Pierre, SimCity Scripting Lead Read More: http://www.simcity.c...ater-everywhere Note: Tech demo video originally presented at the 2012 GDC.

At the end of last week Paradox held a live stream for Cities: Skylines and now there's this edited version. Last Friday Paradox and Colossal Order held an hour long live stream for Cities: Skylines, their city builder which is due for release next year. The Paradox video editing guys have decided to chop the hour long chat down to a 13 minute segment which they are calling "Gameplay Infrastructure - Highlights". ---- More videos here: http://www.incgamers.com/2014/09/cities-skylines-infrastructure-highlights-snipped-from-live-stream

"I feel bad for the team," Wright said when asked about the troubled launch by GamesIndustry.biz following a lecture at the University of California Santa Cruz. "I could have predicted—I kind of did predict there'd be a big backlash about the DRM stuff. It's a good game; I enjoy playing it a lot... [but] that was basically inexcusable, that you charge somebody $60 for a game and they can't play it. I can understand the outrage. If I was a consumer buying the game and that happened to me, I'd feel the same." ... His comments go against the official line from Electronic Arts that SimCity's online requirements had nothing to do with DRM and everything to do with providing a persistent connection to the worldwide trading markets and regional interactions in the game (never mind that hackers have opened up the potential for offline play without much issue). "It's not [DRM]," EA Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore said last month. "People still want to argue about it. We can't be any clearer—it's not." Full story: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-05-04-will-wright-games-falling-way-short-as-a-medium

You hate us because we're so good at what we do EA COO Peter Moore wrote a reaction to the poll, and his defense of the mighty publisher is both tone deaf and insulting. He blames homophobes who dislike EA’s push for allowing LGBT characters in games. He says that many dislike microtransactions, but you can’t argue with results! He once again says that the always-on require on SimCity isn’t DRM, as if the only thing keeping us from loving that game is a matter of semantics. His message is simple: EA doesn’t really care what you think about it, because it’s successful. Which is an argument that doesn’t hold up to the faintest of scrutiny. Your CEO doesn’t deploy his golden parachute due to lower than expected revenue because your games are doing well. EA is losing both the battle for gamers’ wallets as well as the battle for our hearts. They can say that they don’t mind being hated as long as we give them money, but fewer of us are giving them money. This is not the time for a victory lap. The Consumerist has a rather damning response to Moore’s arguments about why so many people hate the publisher, and the post dismantles Moore’s arguments one by one. “EA received hundreds of nominations from Consumerist readers this year, by far the most of any contender in the bracket, but not a single one mentioned anything about sexual orientation,” the post stated. “Consumerist does not condone homophobia or hate speech of any kind, and our readers understand the Worst Company contest and nominate businesses based on their merits.” ... EA has given us ample reasons to hate them SimCity not only requires an Internet connection, a decision that has led to no end of technical problems, but we can no longer create huge cities. We can’t save our game, experiment with the design, and then reload. It’s not a sandbox anymore, and the playful nature of past games in the series has been replaced by a game that forces us to play a certain way. ... “The tallest trees catch the most wind,” Moore wrote. “At EA we remain proud and unbowed.” I have bad news for Peter Moore: Activision is the tallest tree, and people are actually buying their games. EA is fast becoming kindling, and the company ignores its customers throwing matches at its peril. ... Full story: http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/ea-earned-hatred-with-poor-games-lack-of-vision-and-contempt-for-the-audien

An article looking at both sides of the argument about whether the new SimCity game is a downgrade from SimCity 4.