urbanlife

I am actually liking this game so far, the idea of bringing in a "market" for the cities to run on will add a new layer to city building. Currently CS4, you build a city and when you finish with a part of your city it is done. I hate that when I am working on a city and I have basically built out my downtown that it becomes boring and just something to look at that doesn't do anything. I like the idea of being able to create a living, breathing city that is effected by outside markets, that can produce goods or tourism. I would like to see subways and highways added to the game, but I will say when I use a medium size map in CS4, the highway plays a small part in it as well as the subway, which is something the streetcar/light rail could easily replace for me. Also with subways, it is looking like this is a very visual game and with subways being underground there is no visual, I would love to see them use Glassbox to create a visual underground so that we could have full control over subways and subway lines to best build routes and stations, even having something where you could have a station connect to multiple points in an area so that several points along a street or several streets could have access to one station. I do wish they went with the large maps at least, but I think the amount of activity that can happen in this game is enough to keep a medium size map active long after it is fully built out. Plus I like the idea that we have the option to create solo maps and still be able to enjoy the global market of the game.

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo. %26hl=en%26fs=1%26rel=0%26ap=%2526fmt=18" wmode="opaque"> If only we could have a city builder game look this good. (sure this is real life, but it is amazing.)

Originally posted by: Mastaflex Originally posted by: mr cars Monte Cristo have said they are considering releasing content to solo players for a small price. MC have to make money too you know. They spent alot of money developing the game, and they need it back!quote> They will get it back, the GEMs look very promising and seem to have no end in sight with the right imagination but the main issue here is leaving out something which should have been basic for this genre, almost as basic as waste disposal. Not even including taxis services or bus stops to the solo option is a bit annoying and again irrelevant issues such as they need money gets brought up to annoy even more.quote> That would be like buying a shooter video game, only to find out that you only have three weapons to pick from and that they will slowly be releasing more weapons at a small fee over the course of the next several years. Would you guys buy that game too?

Originally posted by: Ilikeseattle Seeing as mass transit was added for SimCity 4 rush hour, years after the release of the original game and CitiesXL has only been around for 2 months, it would seem reasonable that mass transit (which is very complex) will take a little bit of time. Let the naysayers say whatever floats their boats. But because this game is French, they get... quote> Which is why I did not buy SC4 until SC4 Deluxe came out...I am pretty sure it will be the same for me when it comes to CXL...then they decide to finish the game and release it to solo players in a full package, then I will probably buy the game...I dont mind buying the plugins that they talk about (the mini games) if I like them, but I will not buy an incomplete game hoping they will one day finish it...for me, that too is a bad business plan on my part. If they cannot give me a complete game, why should I give them money?

So is this game even selling good for them? And is Planet Mode even holding up well? I wonder this because the more research I do on the game, the more I get disappointed (which I am one of the many that were excited about this game when MC came to us and asked us what we wanted.) So far we have been handed excuses about why this is an unfinished game...who buys unfinished products? And why should we pay extra for standard items for a city builder game...that is like buying a car, then being informed that it will be extra for the windshield that is not ready yet, so you will just have to drive the car around for a while as is and we will get you that windshield as soon as we can...provided you pay for it, of course. If MC was trying to build a really good looking game that disappointed core city builders, then this game is a success.

Originally posted by: mrtnrln Cities XL and SimCity 4 both have their weak points and strong points. THE GOOD SimCity 4: Region Play: make a whole region by your own hand. Terraforming: create your region's landscape, excactly as you want it. Development on demand. Your city doesn't generate more builings of a specific kind when there's no demand. Quite a lot transportation options: streets, road, one-way road, avenues, ground & elevated highways, heavy rail, elevated light rail, subway, ferries, airports and a (pathetic) harbour. A vast range of custom content by the third party: NAM, various modds, a huge number of props, buildings and textures and modding programs. Various lot sizes A large number of parks, monuments and rewards are included in the basic game. A lot can be changed, replaced or added to the game.Graphics are looking fine to good, even in this age. Pretty advanced gameplay: micromanagement, a lot of statistics and a lot of clear news messages. Different ways and tactics can be used when you play the game. Cities XL: No grid, a lot of freedom when laying out roads and placing zones. Graphics look good (but not great). Resources make the game challenging. Multi-player aspect in Planet Mode: Trading, visiting other players their cities (but there is a downside, see 'The Bad'). Support from the developer (Monte Cristo) available. Monte Cristo is still adding features to the game (but there is a downside, see 'The Bad'). THE BAD SimCity 4: The grid is quite annoying. It limits your freedom. "Fake 3D". The camera has only 6 diffenent zooms and 4 angles. No support from the developer (EA and Maxis) today. Game is over 6 years old. Some simulators are not so very realistic.like the traffic simulator. The capacity of a network is based per tile, not per lane, or the range of public services. Cities XL: The Planet Offer: pay to play. I'm not someone from the MMORPG culture, who pay a monthly fee to play the game. I'm someone who only buys what he can get in a shop, and not from the internet. I would rather buy expansion packs than subscribing to the Planet Offer. No Mass Transit: every good city has mass transit: Amsterdam (subway, trams, busses, trains), London (subway, busses, trains), New York (subway, busses, trains), Paris (subway, busses, (high speed) trains), and so on. Lack of parks (the Avatar Meeting Park is the only thing you can build from the parks menu), landmarks and rewards. Lack of support for Solo Mode. Lack of precise statistics: how much electricity, oil, water am I generating. "Some"? "Lots of"? No, I want numbers, something like 5 000 kWh, or 20 000 L/h, not "some" or "lots of". And how much is a token electricity, water, waste recycling, oil or holidays worth? Some models are not quite realistic (people, interchanges, the streetlights from the Simple Road & Large Avenue). Streetlights don't work. Streets are just dark. Over expensive buildings: Leisure sucks money out of your budget, while it has not so much effect. Highway city links cost C1 000 000 to build and a C100 000 per turn (to me it's more fair if this price is reduced to 10% of the current value). OmniCorp ripps you off with a 4/1 trading rate. 3/1, 2/1 or a demand/offer-controlled rate would be more fair. In Solo Mode, you cannot trade between your own cities in any way. Trading between your cities with a demand/offer-controlled price would be fair. Final conclusion: I like SimCity 4 more than Cities XL, but Cities XL could be a great game if some issues are solved. It has potential, but it can be a lot better. SimCity 4: 8,5 / 10 Cities XL: 7 / 10 Best, Maarten quote> And the list of bad are the reasons why I do not wish to spend money on an incomplete game that they are slowly trying to complete month by month. Until MC addresses these issues and can offer a complete game, then I will think about buying the game...personally I could care less if they make it as a company or not...it isnt my company, but if they wish for people to buy their product, then they should understand what the core system that is needed to make that game. They did a great job putting together a game core that is very impressive visually...they just need to follow it up with the things that make real cities run...I suggest MC should take a field trip to Paris and take in that city...when they can build a city in their game that functions just like Paris, then they know that have a complete game...this isnt rocket science.

Many great points have been made and it is a shame that MC went to the extent to have an outlet to communicate with its fanbase, then didnt listen to us in the end. How do they expect us to buy the game if they produced something we didnt like? Seriously, did they not try and check any of this first? Releasing a half finished game, I wont buy it...not having transit options, I wont buy it....not having a number of things that are essential to a city builder, I wont buy it. I am curious with the increase in technology over the years and the amount of effort that has been put in to the developing of mods, why has there not been a open source city builder game yet? It is clear there is enough talent out there to create an amazing customizable game. I know there are a number of programs out there that are great open source programs, I just dont know how well that translates to the game idea. But if it did have a strong engine and was easy to mold, it would have a really strong fanbase making it even better....hell, just thinking of this makes me curious of what could be done.

I refuse to play an unfinished game, no transit options? count me out, I thought the french made this game, it looks like something a Detroit car company would support...oh wait they do, nice Ford Dealership....the idea of renting features that should of been standard with the original game is also a turn off. I feel like we have really been let down by MC with this game after two years of having an open forum and listening to our ideas...I thought they were actually listening, but I guess we were wrong about that. So until someone can pull their head out of their ass and build a good city builder game, I guess we are stuck with an aging SC4.

This whole "renting" thing is a joke...so is releasing an unfinished game...I want a city builder game I can own, not rent. I would be into playing the online version for the connection activity and the trading and negotiating for goods and such, but they are really driving this game in the wrong direction and seem to be very desperate to have the online version work that they are willing to sacrifice the quality of the game for it. I will not buy an unfinished game and I will not pay to "rent" features that should be apart of the game...so how long before the hackers of the world crack this game and make it better and fix the mistakes that Monte Cristo is making so that we can have a great city builder game.

It is a bug and it sounds like the recent patch takes care of this issue.

big download hasnt been working for me either, I can get to the main screen that you sign in at, but then the program crashes and I cant get past that. There are only the two parts that are needed to download the demo? Anyone that is having more success, any tips of what one should do or any better download sites for this?