Charizard

I already gave them my $25 and upped it to $55 once the lead designer and programmer introduced themselves in that video.

Two of the team members (the lead designer and a programmer) just introduced themselves in a video: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1584821767/civitas-plan-develop-and-manage-the-city-of-your-d/posts It's a "thank you" video really and they have more gameplay videos coming soon. This project is definitely legit. I have already put my $25. Let's just hope that they're able to reach the $250,000 by April 1st.

Actually if you look on their forums several of the team members have posted their bios. And the lead designer (Brandon) has linked his Facebook account. And I don't think you exactly understand what a kickstarter means. I think the lead designer stated it best: This game is in its very early stages which is why the models may look shabby or why they don't have much to show off yet. It is a true kickstarter in a sense that much of the game still has to be developed. And the great thing is is that the community will be part of its development. The page may look unprofessional because the lead designer didn't think this would even get off but it did so because of the SC2013 fiasco. The lead designer has apologized for this and said he is working on making the page look more professional and the team being more transparent because they honestly did not expect SC2013's launch to be that much of a disaster. Plus many of the project members are currently employed somewhere else but will switch over to working on this game once the fundraiser goal is met. I think it shows however how much people were disappointed with SC2013 that the kickstarter has already made $70,000 in a week. Just because you might not like to see someone else build a city builder (a better one imo from what the plans are), doesn't mean that anyone who contributes to their kickstarter is bat**** crazy or gullible. The terraforming looks great from the video (which isn't even present in SC2013) and I love the idea of building permits. I love having control of the land, being able to save my city on my machine and reload it, building large expansive cities, using custom content, and these are indeed features many people on this forum were expecting in SC2013 but didn't get. People were waiting for the true successor to SImCity 4 and they didn't get that, so now they are supporting these guys. If anything, the people who blindly pre-ordered SC2013 or bought it on day 1 are just as gullible since they ended up with a broken and faulty product that was in many cases unplayable. People in many cases are forking over their money to these 6 guys instead of EA, which I think is a great thing in the support of indie gaming.

So the Sims live and work at different places each day? That's extremely realistic.....

I think they're always there lol. Might be wrong though. Did you check to make sure everyone is happy?

That is just plain silly that they did not decide to include subways. Most metropolitan areas have a subway system in place. Maybe it's just me because I live near New York. But still it's not like this game makes it easy for you to get a population of 1 million plus anyway.

You know, I've even pledged my $ 25 on this, but they are so vague about pretty much everything (starting with who they are and what game development experience they have) that I've downgraded my pledge. I don't know whether they're just some high school kids that sincerely have no idea what it takes to create a full-fledged city building sim (time wise and money wise alike) or they are trying to make some quick buck on the massive disappointment with SC 2013 and then go off into the blue. They'd better to present something substantial in their updates. Yes, I think you're right about your concerns. Regarding Mr. Smith (the project manager), I can't find any references or any other information about earlier projects that he has been involved in. I think the future of such a project will depend on skilled people with good experience in the gaming industry, and whether he will be able to attract the "right" people. $250K is enough money for hiring 2 professional employees for a year. I'm afraid he's going to need more resources than this in order to create a really interesting game. If modding the game will be simple (and well documented), then a lot of work could be done by the players/users themselves, just like we've seen happening to Sim City 4 over the years. There's a lot to consider, and I think the most important factor is to create a solid fundation (an underlying game engine) that is both flexible and intuitive for users and modders that want to add extra content. A huge challenge, that's for sure... There are actually 6 people on the team. The project lead Mr. Smith linked his facebook. They are professional gaming developers who have recently been laid off or are going to start fully working on this game. The problem with Civitas is that it's truly a kickstarter in the sense that much has yet to be developed. But the community will be part of that development. Brandon said today that he will update the main page with the names, pictures, credentials, etc. of the project devs. Hopefully that'll get more people to pledge because it looks like this game is garnering a lot of interest from people who want an alternative to SC2013. It's basically the SC4 successor we've been looking for. But I agree they need to be more transparent if they have any chance of succeeding.

Wait.. this game doesn't have any mass transit at all?? I thought it had buses and street cars.

To be honest I believe that most of the simulation is already done on your computer. People have been able to keep playing the game for 20-30 minutes even after their Internet connection was severed. I think the reason why they have an always online DRM even for singleplayer is so you're dragged into the social aspect of the game such as achievements, leaderboards, etc. Because that's how EA wants to take this franchise into the future unfortunately. They can also dictate when you can play the game because guess what.... in 10 years this game won't be playable because EA would have shut its servers down and expects you to move on to the next SimCity game. But I don't think it requires a large effort to make the game's singleplayer have an offline mode. It's just EA being stubborn as usual.

Wow... That's so sad. I am definitely not getting this game then unless it drops below $15. I thought that if you had a 16 player region then everyone could interact with eachother. But essentially the cities are just grouped into isolated groups of 4? What a pity.

Oh boy. Not this hardcore vs. casual argument again.

Is this true? So even if you have a 16 city region not all of them will be connected to eachother?

This isn't true. IGN, Gamespot and most gaming sites are geared to the "hardcore" gamer. "Casuals" are more apt to use a site like Simtropolis because of free downloads. LMAO @ Gamespot and IGN being hard core, not remotely close. Rock Paper shotgun, Bittech are hardcore sites, IGN is the main casual site there is. Please. That is true. The reason why Gamespot and IGN are the most popular gaming review sites is because most gamers (casual and hardcore alike) go to them for their reviews. Most people who aren't hardcore gamers use Gamespot and IGN and have never heard of sites like Bittech.

Tbh I don't think Maxis has been that great of a company after Will Wright left.

If they designed the game to be a online multiplayer game that gets it's information from the servers then even if they wanted to do that I imagine it wouldn't exactly be easy to do. I don't see how most of the simulation is done on EA's servers when people have been able to play the game for 20 minutes without being connected to the Internet. Plus this is 2013 we're talking about so any modern gaming rig should be able to handle all of the computations. I am pretty sure they could release and offline patch if they wanted to.

And why should you pay $60 to buy a paperweight that isn't even playable? This game never had to have the always online DRM singleplayer... but they chose to make that horrible design decision and they are getting the flak they deserve for it. With MMOs you expect people not to be able to connect or play the first day because the core experience and gameplay requires a constant online connection. But this is SimCity we are talking about which should have had an offline singleplayer mode just like the previous games did. It is not an MMO. Therefore all the complaints are completely valid. If you bought a car or book on Day 1 would you expect to have to wait until day 10 to be able to use it? No. This is a big problem with the video game industry because of big companies taking advantage of day 1 customers and using them as guinea pigs. But this is probably the worst launch ever. Even Diablo 3 wasn't this bad. At least with diablo 3 most of the problems were fixed after day 1 and once you actually got into the game you were pretty much set. With SimCity we have no idea when or even if these problems will ever be fixed because of EA's incompetence. And I haven't even mentioned the massive amount of bugs present in the game itself such as Sims not showing up to work in another city, the path finding issues, water connectivity issues, and a host of other problems that makes this a broken game. This game is defective and unplayable for many people in this state.

Yeah this game isn't that great even after the always online DRM and server connectivity issues are put aside. They really simplified the game in order to make this a grand social experiment for casual gamers with constant online connectivity. And while glassbox is nice, in the end this game leaves you frustrated with all of the bad design decisions and limitations they chose to impose on the player.

I am thinking it's because the reviewers didn't actually have enough time to test the game because of the server connectivity issues. But some reviews like Destructoid's did mention the glaring bugs. As soon as the server issues are fixed people will begin to realize just how unfinished this game is.

There's no real solution to prevent piracy if you can have local game saves. This is by far the most secure way to prevent it. Even if somebody does find a way to bypass it, it wont be hugely popular. I don't think the server costs are going to outweigh the loss they would have had with piracy either. Yet again you state the same blatant lie that always online DRM even for singleplayer stops piracy even when I've proved you otherwise. Here, I'll even post the links again so you can take another look. One of them is a Cambridge university peer reviewed study that concludes that always online DRM does not prevent piracy but instead actually enhances it. http://news.softpedi...es-237641.shtml Quote http://www.techdirt....123165044.shtml You can keep making the same accusation over and over again but it won't matter because I've already shot your point down with valid studies and opinions from reputable figures in the video gaming industry. There is absolutely no reason for SimCity's singleplayer mode to have always online DRM especially since it does not prevent piracy. The only reason they forced this on us is so that the "social" and "online" options are put in our faces and so they can bombard us with micro DLC ads. And let's not forget that they can make the game unplayable in x amount of years so you're forced to buy the next product. Want to play this in 20 years for some nostalgia? Too bad. You can't. Buying this type of game only reinforces this practice which is why I and many others will not be buying it or will only buy it at a much cheaper price. I don't see how any gamer who cares about his fellow consumer can defend this practice since even gaming websites like IGN and gaming companies themselves have said it doesn't work. Look at Ubisoft for example which has stopped all always online DRM. Only good games and a supportive user interface like Steam (which has DRM btw but not always online) which sells games for cheap and allows you to play them offline will stop piracy. Piracy can never be completely eliminated. Diablo 3 and Assassin's Creed 2 (both games with an always online DRM singleplayer mode) have been cracked and pirated for a while now. This game will most likely be cracked and pirated sometime down the road as well. People who pirate weren't going to buy the game in the first place anyway. I know I'm not going to convince you but I had to disprove your lies in case your were successful in convincing people that this cancerous business practice works. It doesn't work according to me, university professors, gaming websites, gaming companies, and many others and it only hurts the legitimate customer while the game ends up being pirated anyway. This practice is extremely anti-consumerist and it baffles me that you fail to see that. But at least I've proved my point.

It's almost 4 days after release and I'm wondering if it has gotten significantly better or is it as bad as it was on launch day (or perhaps even worse)? I am not just talking about being able to connect to a server or not being disconnected from one but the multiplayer features like region play, resource sharing, etc.

We don't know how long it will be until the game is completely fixed and these server-related bugs stop happening. It could be a few days or a few weeks or a few months. Who knows. Maxis may be a group of hard working devs but it was their decision to be bought out buy EA. They fully knew what they were getting into once they signed the dotted line. If they can't handle the backlash they are getting because of EA's incompetence then that's too bad for them. EA and Maxis are completely interconnected now and you can't distinguish one company from the other just because it's convenient for your "In the defense of the devs" argument. People buy any other product such as car, toothbrush or a house expecting to be able to use it on day 1. Yet in the video game industry we have let the gaming companies dictate what THEY think is right for us so people take it like it is. But no more. After Diablo 3 and now this disaster people are getting fed up. Not being able to play multiplayer is one thing but not even singleplayer? That should be illegal. And no matter how many times you might want to say it, people might want to play this game as a singleplayer game or multiplayer game. You have no right to tell them that it has to be an online only experience, especially since SimCity has always been a singleplayer game. Sure the devs might have focused on multiplayer because this is a casual and social game now, but it still has a singleplayer component. There is absolutely no excuse for EA to make singleplayer online only. I've already disproven your accusation that always online DRM stops piracy with sources so I won't go any further. The only reason this game is getting so much flak is because of the always online DRM. You cannot deny that. You can continue to blindly defend the practice even after I've called out your false accusations but that doesn't mean customers won't stop dealing with companies that employ such cancerous business practices as the have demonstrated by asking for refunds or giving the game the review it deserves.

Ok... so it is basically still a trainwreck? Not surprised in the least.

Except this isn't an MMO is it? People expect these types of things to happen when games like ToR or Guild Wars launch because the core gameplay involves being online. However, SimCIty has always been a singleplayer game and they they had the perfect chance to make it have an offline singleplayer mode. Sure the most fun part of the game may be multiplayer but that still gives them NO excuse to employ an always online DRM scheme even for singleplayer since as I have pointed out it does not prevent piracy and only hurts the customers. This is one of the reasons why Diablo 3's reputation is tarnished as well. If you were actually concerned about this game's reputation you would be against the always online DRM like the majority of reviewers but instead you are blindly defending it. The multiplayer may be fine and dandy but there is absolutely no reason to have an online only singleplayer mode. Sure the developers themselves may not deserve the negativity. But EA certainly does and customers won't stand for this anymore. It deserves all of the negative reviews because EA is forcing something on customers that'll only cause people frustration. If that means that another SimCity won't be made for 15 years, then so be it. Someone else will take their role or Maxis will be bought out buy a better publisher. And thanks for ignoring the fact that I completely disproved you on your accusations that the always online DRM will stop piracy. It doesn't work and in the end the practice only ends up hurting the legitimate customer since they would have payed for a game that they can't even play on launch day or 30 years from now. And if your Internet breaks down or you're traveling? Forget about even playing singleplayer mode.

The beta was a demo! It was treated as a demo by everyone at this community. In fact if it really was a beta and not a PR stunt then the server disconnections/crashes wouldn't have been as bad. And SimCity was always meant to be a singleplayer game. While it's nice to play with others I don't care about playing with other people at the end of the day. They totally had the chance to make the singleplayer game offline and leave the multiplayer intact, but they didn't and look at the disaster it caused. Polygon gave the game a 4.0. Gamespot gave it a 5.0. IGN's review isn't looking too good either. I don't see how you can say the DRM enhances the game when you can't even play the damn game most of the time and the majority of reviewers and users are severely upset. The game's launch was a disaster primarily because of always online DRM. And please do your research before you post. It's well known that always online DRM actually enhances piracy and only hurts the legitimate customer: http://news.softpedia.com/news/DRM-Doesn-t-Stop-Piracy-Game-Content-Does-Good-Old-Games-Believes-237641.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090528/1123165044.shtml Only good games and a supportive user interface like Steam (which has DRM btw but not always online) which sells games for cheap and allows you to play them offline will stop piracy. Piracy can never be completely eliminated. This game like Diablo 3 and WoW will most likely be pirated. People who pirate weren't going to buy the game in the first place anyway. Always online DRM is only there so that EA can bombard you with micro DLC and you're forced to play on their terms. Want to reinstall SimCity 2013 and show it to your kids 30 years later? Too bad. Sorry but I don't really feel like I'm losing when I can't even use something I bought 10-20 years down the road. How would you feel if you bought a book or a house but were only allowed to use it for x amount of years? Furthermore if you're traveling or having Internet problems then you can't play this game at ALL. This game's launch and its implementation of always online DRM was a disaster which is another reason why many customers including me are staying way or at least buying it for a cheaper price. I should not pay $60 for a game that I won't even be able to play 30 years from now (or in most cases even play it right now). EA has really put themselves in a debacle with this one. Yet again they take a once-respected IP and leave it to rot on a corpse pile because of their anti-consumer business practices. In fact, you should work for EA. You'd be great at promoting these cancerous business practices that only hurt the legitimate customer.

Thanks! You'll find the small maps are actually not that limiting. The limitations are around creativity in how your map looks because of the size. That doesn't mean you can't be creative with them, you just have to think it out more to make it your own. Besides that the game offers SO much more in challenges, so much more than SC4 ever did. You will find yourself immersed in the game play. I hope they do make the map sizes larger though, that would be great! I just feel like this game is hugely complex as is and engaging. I just don't agree here the small maps are really limiting to me, even when I purposely take my time I quickly run out of space to build not amount of creativity changes that. SC4 had a lot of challenges this one doesn't like joining to other cities in the region, more transit options like highways. This game is really good, but lacks the depth IMO. The problem is Simcity has been around for years and this one while great in many ways, took several steps back, from games that were much older... That's reality. Thanks! You'll find the small maps are actually not that limiting. The limitations are around creativity in how your map looks because of the size. That doesn't mean you can't be creative with them, you just have to think it out more to make it your own. Besides that the game offers SO much more in challenges, so much more than SC4 ever did. You will find yourself immersed in the game play. I hope they do make the map sizes larger though, that would be great! I just feel like this game is hugely complex as is and engaging. Like I said myself, I am 100% sure this game is fine on its own (always online DRM issues aside). Reboot or not however, people can't help but compare it to previous iterations in the franchise. Just look at the new Devil May Cry and the fiasco that caused. And I believe playing the beta should count as me playing the game because while most of the actual buildings were locked, I could still see how the core mechanics of the game worked. Honestly though they had 10 years to make this game so I don't understand why they couldn't have put in terraforming, big cities, connected cities, etc. at least for singleplayer. Granted modding could have come later (as it did with SC4) but they really should have implemented large cities and stuff like that for singleplayer...except they didn't. And it is sad that they will probably add things like terraforming and large cities as micro DLC which is exactly the reason people were pissed at Sims 3. Yes the actual simulation is more complex in this game than in SimCity 4, but the game as a whole is definitely not. Can you recreate New York, or perhaps Paris, or even a city on mars with this game? Can you make a sprawling metropolis consisting of connected cities next to eachother surrounded by farms/suburbs? In this game can you carve out your landscape terraforming mountains, river beds, perhaps even oceans? No you cannot. Which is why to me (and to me personally) this game is not worth $60 because it offers less of a creative experience than SimCity 4. I don't hate the game by any means. I really do like glassbox and all it offers which is why I will purchase the game in the end. Because like I said once the servers are stabilized and the game is ~$30 I will pick it up and play it as SimCity Social. The game would have been epic however if it was basically SimCity 4 + 3D graphics + curved roads + glassbox. The big problem here is you're asking "why" didn't they do this or that without having played the game. It becomes apparent why after some time playing. If you want to recreate NYC or Paris go play Cities XL and not have fun. This game is FUN, it is EPIC already and has SO much potential to be even better. It's a 5 star game, hands down and if you don't buy it now, too bad for you! Good luck waiting for it to go down in price because the people who purchased it and will be able to play are going to turn around and change all those reviews to 5 stars and you're still going to be sitting at your computer complaining and not playing. I just told you more than once I played the beta (two of the betas actually). That is more than enough gameplay time and experience for me to judge how the game works. Sure things were locked but the core mechanics were still there. Why do you think people play demos in the first place? So that they can try the game out. You can't expect someone to mindlessly throw $60 at a company and "hope" that the game is good. That's why demos exist and the beta was really a PR demo. And really I don't appreciate your condescending attitude. Just because I want to play Cities XL and recreate real-life cities, I'm not having fun? And mind you SimCity 4 can recreate New York too (or any real or fictional metropolis). It's just this game that can't because of all of it's limitations, even though it is an okay game on its own (just not worthy of the SimCity name imo). Just because I am waiting to get this game at an appropriate price because it is missing features doesn't mean I'm missing out. I have plenty of other games to play in the mean time including SimCity 4. The best part is that I can play them whenever I want because they don't have any of this always online DRM crap either. And I am certain this game will go down in price after the launch fiasco by the summer at least. Have you even seen how many 1 star reviews there are on Amazon? It's going to be REALLY hard to change that to 5 stars. You still haven't given me a clear justification as to why they have taken out so many features from the previous games even for singleplayer (when we all know it was to make this game for a different demographic and the fact that they've had 10 years to make it), but I give up at this point.