calvinhsv

In my opinion, you are looking at the difficulty issue from a SC4 perspective. As anyone who has had to struggle to find a thread that is not a "I hate Societies" thread, this game is very different from SC4. In my thread on the TM boards : http://www.tiltedmill.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14622 , I think I have tackled the difficulty from a societies perspective. Instead of focusing on money, which without the maintenance mod is a complete non-issue, we move the focus to the hidden costs of the buildings which is the heart of societies such as the botanical gardens for venue or the pawn shop for workplace, or the sleeping tubes for a home. It will assuredly be the case that the amount of money you make will only determine how quickly you can build your town, not indicate how sucessful a town builder you have become without extensive game redesign through modding. Honestly I would encourage both methods, your's and mine, because a combination would probably make the most challenging game.

Nice knee-jerk response to illustrate your ability to be hypocritical. Try reading the line right AFTER your quote. I am not interested in arguing that point at all. I am sure theres a variety of flamefests on these forums to suit your needs, but I am not interested in that level of negativity. If you feel as if my designating the however-many active users on this site as "small fries" then you must live in a world substantially smaller than the 6 billion plus world market I live in. Once AGAIN I am not criticising the people that contribute to this community. While it seems easy to be able to try to make my point an attack on you, so that you can refute the attack instead of the point, its really not getting anywhere. Allow me to remake my point for the fourth time, so perhaps you will read and understand. If you don't want to mod, fine. If you don't like societies, fine. If you don't want to play societies, fine. The fact of the matter is there IS a community that will do all of these things, and I think its HELPFUL to direct people to them. I am not criticising anyone's decision to not buy the game, or play it, or mod it. Personally, I am disappointed because I was expecting it to occur, but you make your own choices and I personally don't have any right to tell you what to do (and I haven't). And to quote "I don't appreciate the derail of an arguement you don't like to one that you do." Theres other communities out there than can be supportive of a game. If its not this one, that's actually OK.

Originally posted by: Fader calvinhsv, the reason this site appears to be so much more negative about SCS is that this site contains the fanbase of SC4, who love SC4 because it is probably the most accurate city building simulator available. The people here played that game, made mods, designed buildings, and generally brought the SC4 experience even closer to what it is to actually create a city, from that first little farming village to a thriving, pulsing metropolis that works because of the hundreds of intricate balancing acts going on throughtout it. Then we get a 'sequel' that firstly, is so simplified that it is insulting to those people who expected so much more, and secondly, bears no relation to how real cities work. The forums at TM have a much higher percentage of people new to the SC franchise. They have nothing to compare the game to, and so their expectations are that much lower. Also, can you really believe that the forums of the game developers would be completely impartial, and that at least some of the more negative posts don't somehow just 'disappear?'quote> Well, this isn't exactly tilted mill's first game. There are MANY games to compare societies to, SC4 is not one of them. As for game developers deleting negative posts, you can go to the official EA forums to see that is clearly not the case. I think its absurdly illogical to think that just because theres so few negative posts there that the forum administrators are deleting them all. There are negative posts on the TM boards, and they are handled well by the positive retorts of the community. Thats basically the crux of the issue you want to bring up. TM boards are comming from ceasar and other city building games. SC4 has a big community here, but lets face it, on the whole for video game market, you guys are small fries. Sure, you are still important, and you shouldn't think I am belitting your site, efforts, or creations, its just that theres not enough of you to make a SC5 the way you want it profittably. While we could argue that issue all day, its NOT what I am concerned about in the slightest and I don't appreciate the derail of the conversation from an arguement you don't like, to one that you do. My arguement is simply there will be little to no modding for societies here because the fanbase of SC4 is not interested. TM has a fanbase that is interested and is currently working on and producing mods on a regular basis. If you want mods for the game, go there. If you have any questions or comments concerning this PARTICULAR point, feel free. Otherwise, take it to another thread or continue on your tirad and leave me out of it.

Originally posted by: xxbydesign You have two options: a) you can whine and complain that we arn't nice enough and then take your ball and go home. b) you can be constructive and make a list of what it is about the game that you like, why it benefits the sim- line of products, and how we, as avid SC4 fans, can still find levels of complexity that we apprecaite in a simulation game. Its that simple. Go to the Tilted Mill forums and discuss SCS with those users if you'd prefer, but you seem to think that the game is worthwhile, and I at least would like to know why, because maybe you might persuade a few of us to see the game in a new light. As of right now, most of us are just getting ticked off at your posts.quote> I assume this is aimed at me, and if you want to see me make my constructive and positive thoughts as you state, feel free to visit my TWO threads started before I posted here. You will find plenty of the comments you have requested there.

None of these comments change or invalidate my point. Its a simple matter of there being mods and people excited about the game at tilted mill forums and not here. Obviously some people think the game is worth the work, I was just disappointed to see that no one here does. By all means, just because you love SC4 and want to mod for SC4 doesn't mean you should be compelled to mod societies. Keep on modding the game you want to play. All I am telling the OP is that there is a supportive community somewhere else and directing him there. To be honest, these boards are an absurd waste of time for the societies enthusiast, and there are other places to get info and mods. The negativity is certainly not a direct reflection of the modding community, but its also unlikely to expect the support for societies that simtropolis provides for SC4.

This community is too absurdly critical and rude concerning this game. I would not expect there to be many mods for this game here. It is QUITE disappointing for me because I was really expecting this site in particular to try to make the best out of another product and was looking forward to interesting gameplay discussion and modding options. As it stands, however, your best bet is to go to the tilted mill forums where there are already new mods available. Theres also alot less negativity there. Avoid, however, the EA site since its populated by the same REPEATED posts of complaints (perhaps by the same people). It has been a sad realization to me that this will not be the community for this game that, while not what everyone expected, is still not a bad game.

Ok, hello everyone. I have never posted on these forums before but have been an avid reader of this site since SC4's release however long forever-ago it was. I am not the type to make posts on forums that are public, but the large amount of negativity here needs some devil's advocating. First off, the game is not one that can really be understood and reviewed after only a few hours of play. On the normal setting with no real understanding of the mechanics or specific directions to want to guide your city, you will cruise on through filling the whole map, having tons of money, and ending up with a strange inconsistent city. That is hardly the goal of any veteran of SC4 however. We, the people of simtropolis who have been modding, adding and manipulating SC4 for the past decade or so desire to create a VERY specific look to our city. We do this by putting our OWN restraints on our gameplay and our city building, not just doing what the game was designed to allow. If this is what you crave, then you will be partially disappointed, but also you will find some very ingenious and creative game aspects that will make you truely enjoy the game. In fact, in creating a specific look and feel to your city, this game will suceed in a way that SC4 COULD also, but would take a huge amount of effort. That being said, you might be disappointed with societies, but chances are you haven't given it a fair shake. Now, all of that was disclaimers, now to the meat and potatoes. There are multiple aspects to the game. Unfortunately transit is not one of them. Theres no variety of roads to speak of, and the "bus station" and "subway" are basically placeholders to lower traffic in a very unspecific and immesurable way, and lower pollution in a very specific and unmeasureable way. I was a HUGE fan of the transit options in SC4, so this was the pinnacle of disappointment for me. I only hope its addressed in future expansions. That being said, its the only thing I don't like about the game. The next aspect I will discuss are the buildings. I am not going to go over the general aspects of the game mechanics that are in the other threads. I assume that the community is well versed in them. The buildings are remarkable. There are litterally tons of them, and given the smaller "field of play" for a city, you can really make the repetition of these completely unnoticable or in fact, NOT REPEATED AT ALL. For me, this is HUGE. With extensive modding and addons here at simtropolis you can achieve that same thing in SC4, but even then it takes away from the organic "feel" of SC4 since plopping litterally has no downside or you have to dl a serious grocery shopping list of addons from the exchange for growable buildings and hope repetition doesn't make your city look copy/pasted. If you want variety in societies, you have to work for it creating balance (or intentionally imbalance) of the 6 values and building a building you want IS going to cost you something. Now sure, you can plop the cheap decorations en masse all over your city as some reviews have pointed out. This will let you do whatever you want assuming you have enough cash because theres no maintenece in the game to speak of. Of course that will significantly cheapen your city and take alot of the challenge out of the game. I suppose you can create the city of your dreams, and leave the huge sprawl of your 30 identical huge statues in the corner of the map out of your screenshot. You could also use cheats for unlimited money in SC4. Its basically the same thing. Additionally many of the buildings have special abilities. Its a VERY creative way to keep the game interesting. (When I refer to buildings I mean ANY construction from venues, to decorations.) <