All these screenshots lead me to a couple of questions that I don't know if anyone knows... First, with the transportation, I've heard there are only dirt roads and normal streets, but in the pictures, there are normal roads that look like cobblestone and some other kind of surface other than blacktop and there is even one with pictures that show an Avenue.... Did anyone else see that?? http://uoem.com/gallery/files/1/screenshot_16_big.jpg Second, do we know if the game will still have any public transit systems... or can our Sims only travel by car....??? I'm excited on one hand, because it is new and some pictures look cool while others look, sort of cartoony... but graphics aside, some aspects of the game look like a real step up that will attract so many new players... good for Maxis and ultimately good for the consumer, because then they will keep improving the game, since they will have a stronger market for it. But I'm disappointed that they haven't kept, if they don't, some of the really basic and fun aspects of the game.... such as watching your city grow or change before your eyes... monitoring traffic patterns in order to design more efficient transportation networks... balancing public transit with regular roads, etc... I can however do without some of the tedious micromanagement task aspects though, so that is really good that some of them seem to have been removed or automated... but to have the choice would be nice... plus, I'd like to see changes that happen in the game... not like in Sims 2... but real changes to the landscape, buildings that age or change with the needs of the game... I do like being able to place pre-built buildings, but I think there should be a marriage of the two, to diversify the fun in the game..... I'm disappointed with the Regions going away... that was the problem in the early SimCity Games, pre SC4... there was no way to outsource certain tasks to your neighbors... outsourcing is reality... we don't have cities in a bottle!! Dealing in the larger world will have to be added at some point or the game is destined for failure...... What I'm most concerned with is what is the overall concept or challenge of the game... can you lose?? Or piss your sims off enough to get kicked out as mayor......or have some of your systems fail so bad that everyone leaves...or is it just new age and goes on and on in pointless eternal bliss... forever and ever....??? I guess time will tell, I just hope I know before I put any money down on the game.... Justin AKA SpeakingBadger
