tSlater

Snowstorms in winter, thunderstorms elsewhen. It warned about being resource-heavy, but on this 5 year old laptop with about a thousand mods/buildings already installed, I actually didn't notice any change in performance. The same goes with the jenx aurora borealis mod. The only problem with this mod is when combined with SimFox Day'n'Night mod, it gets REALLY dark when storm clouds roll in at night.. to the point of the game being unplayable because all that's on the screen is black and blacker black.

My Translation: Hi, it feels like it is impossible to get a beta key. Dan tweets [one] and 2 seconds later the code is already used, so I have no choice but to get beta [or: play the game] until the game is out. I was wondering why beta isn't for people who have pre-ordered it?

I wonder what's in the llama room.

I'm not sure, but I would guess that it has to do with texture images and texture colours. It looks to me that the only textures which made it through are ones that aren't a solid colour. I'd say try changing that and see what happens.

The approach companies take to "beta" has changed over the years. It's not so much for testing any more as it is for promotion. I've a feeling the most actual testing they'll do with a beta is checking server load on the online end. Thus, they could really end up waiting until late February to do any beta.

How can I possibly get those street-side christmas trees for my cities? =O

Oh my god the Tribune Building YES. A millin internets to you for being the one to finally take this project on. I also have a place in my heart for the Wrigley, the Carbon & Carbide (Hard Rock Hotel), and some of the Michigan Ave. buildings like the Chicago Athletic Association building. They're such gorgeous buildings. But definitely all of the spired buildings around Michigan+ChicagoRiver have been sorely needed for far too long now. Oh, here's a long-term future project for y'all: NAM bridges of the river crossings, some of the EL stations (there's a couple on the STEX but iirc they're glitchy and/or don't work) and the river walls. =3

Hmm, a fellow Michiganian who does House music work? I'm gonna have to poke around and find your soundcloud methinks. Edit: I can't find a soundcloud or a facebook, just a website. I has a sad.

It seems to me, that at least in SC4 mechanics/terms, cell phone towers would increase either approval rating or desirability within a radius corresponding to its range, but decrease land values or desirability by a greater amount within close range. I don't think such a multi-effect is possible in SC4 without giving it radiation but perhaps such could be achieved in the future in SC5.

^ And the above is why I am not concerned with their simulation approach. The simulation will be fine.

Asking this for a friend who does not have a Simtropolis account: Will the game run in VMWare?

I don't have a source but I believe it was reported that yes, you can focus on multiple facets at the same time.

Will we see flowing rivers, streams, waterfalls, rapids, or other bodies of water that are above sea level?

Will there be a way to randomly generate the map of a region, perhaps using a few parameters, as there was in Sim City 2000?

Will transit networks be able to cut into terrain and/or have retaining walls to avoid the "Cannot flatten terrain" errors frequent with laying complicated networks on slopes in SC4?

Slopes. They're beautiful, make for interesting cityscapes and planning. I loved building cities up the hills in Sim City 2000, or in valleys. But SC4 made me hate them. For one, slopes in Sim City 4 were even more beautiful due to their much more natural approach. They weren't terraces like in SC2k, but actual slopes. However, the rest of the game's features felt like they weren't designed for slopes at all. Sure, there were some buildings that had slope-conforming lots.. with awkward 40-ft-on-one-corner stilted buildings sitting in the middle. Then there were the non-slope-conforming lots, from which a parking lot entrance would open right onto a 60ft retaining wall to the sidewalk. To be honest, I'm not sure such can truly ever be fixed considering the nature of pre-designed buildings, but it certainly can be avoided to a great degree by reducing the emphasis of the slopes. And with the game in full 3d, slopes won't need to be as exaggerated as they were in SC4. But that wasn't my biggest frustration. Small, gradual hills still worked relatively nicely, and made for nice small towns. The biggest frustration in the game was when that small town on that very slight, gradual slope grew into a big city and needed large upgrades to transit infrastructure. Or even when I used the levelling tool to force an area to be flat, and accidentally made a section of the city some non-visible half a metre lower than the rest: "CANNOT LEVEL TERRAIN TO BUILD NETWORK." Hnnnng. This is my most hated message to see in any game. It makes me burn with a seething hatred and frustration as I then spend hours trying to figure out how to make the ground level in that one spot without obliterating entire city blocks simply because that railroad track 4 feet away is a mere centimetre lower the the road 15 feet away. If computers had emotion detection, mine would surely shut itself off to slink away from my cussing it out as I try to make my transit networks actually connect over some 1° slope. Even as much as I love the idea of curvy roads, if I had to choose between the absolute removal of this annoyance and curvy roads, I'd forego the curvy roads and take the peace and solitude of being able to build networks at varying elevations right next to each other. That is how much this element of Sim City 4 annoyed me. So how can Sim City 5 / Sim City 2013 / Sim City Whatever-the-Llama be different? I see multiple ways. For one, it does not appear to be tile based anymore. Hopefully, roads and networks can become relatively slope-conforming in terms of cross-ways, for very minor slopes. And a small distance of what would have been less than a tile -- the distance between that road and that train track -- can perhaps slope as needed for whatever network is beside it. The other option, for more dramatic slopes, is to bring back the retaining wall we saw in SC2k for transit networks. Yes, I went on a short diatribe about retaining walls for lots and buildings. Those were awkward. But for transportation networks, retaining walls work. So please, whichever Maxis employee might possibly read this if ever, let it be known this incredible frustration and the hope for a better tomorrow in landscaped slopes. And please, fellow Simtropians, let us vent our frustrations and explore other possible solutions and hopes for slopes in the next Sim City.

I'm an electronica guy but have a deep appreciation for classical and jazz. I could see myself enjoying the game music for a while, and then eventually switching to musical silence -- so as not to spoil myself when I actually go out to enjoy a music performance. If I did opt to overlay some music at any point, it would depend on the city I'm creating.. usually deep house and prog house with jazz influence, or the default soundtrack. How do I feel about the artist in question? I'll know when I hear the pieces.

Yes, yes, and a million times yes on the ROW idea. I don't really expect them to implement a full in-depth road customisation tool, after all it needs to be approachable by more casual players too. I expect that's something the mod community would take care of with time. But the ability to create ROWs with roads in them with the ROWs not necessarily linked to the current road size is extremely powerful for very little complication.

Like I said, retailers invent their own release dates all the time for the purpose of filling in required fields or to generate hype / improve sales. Don't ever believe any release date until Maxis or EA themselves provide one directly to you.

I still hope/dream for the day I see a Grand Rapids building done, despite the lot size issues cited in the past. A little creative license to make them fit on SC4 lots wouldn't bother me any ;D

I'd imagine it's still possible, but you might not want to as back in SC4. Whereas in SC4 you build build your city to a profitable point, set it on cheetah, make a sandwich, and come back richer than an emirate with little to no consequence, in SC5 you'll have depleted some resources and sped up your progression to having to find a way around resource poverty.

It could end up being much like Sim Tower which simulated workers and residents actually going to and from each place like glassbox does. 2 workdays and a weekend constituted a month, and 4 months equalled a season.

souce Note the release year of some of these titles. Why put the gamers against this wall? If the reason behind a online service shutdown is totally understandable, due to resources allocation, what ceases to be within reason is not to allow an offline alternative to players which stay with the game for longer than what EA considers profitable. Who deems a product obsolete or not is the consumer. Totally this, and this is the only worrying part (that could make or break my interest in the game). Considering the community, I'd wager there's a good chance this will not be a concern for a very, very long time. But heck, I still like to load up Sim City 2000 once in a while. When we've moved on to Sim City 6 or 7 in a decade or two, I don't want a $60 paperweight on my cd shelf (or a $60 digital paperweight in my lifetime income-vs-expenses). There -must- be a way to play the game without needing to connect to a server somewhere.