kellyboywonder79

This is so amazing! Gorgeous!

I can't agree with this post more, but I would like to point out the best parts. Thanks for putting into words what I could not!

Just finished the tutorial and first hour of game play, and my immediate impression is "underwhelmed". When time is up, they direct you to the order page with $60/$80. My response? No way is this game worth $60/$80. I wasn't left wanting more time. I felt like I had figured out the whole game in that one hour. Overall there is something missing here. Is it a sandbox option? Better/More transit options? Love: Upgradeable buildings Dislike: Overall look - from screenshots, I didn't think it looked too bad. On my computer with high graphics settings, it looked terrible. Cartoonish and childlike, not like a miniature model city I was promised. It looks nothing like tilt-shift photography/video. Zoning - It's too difficult to tell where buildings will be built and in what orientation. I much prefer seeing the borders of my zones laid out for me, instead of being lost in the green nothingness that is your city site. I want my grid back! aka: "the non-grid hasn't been implemented well". Multi-player - it wasn't even in the beta and it's the major selling point to the game? This proves to me that it's not necessary. (Conversely, this may prove that it is necessary since I found the solo play to be so boring.) Navigation - needs improvement. It's not bad, but it's not good either. Complexity - lacking. I agree with others who have said this game has more in common with Societies than SC4... it also felt a lot like the Cities XL Beta game play without the trading system fiasco. FWIW: after playing that beta, I chose not to buy Cities XL. After playing this beta, I have decided not to purchase Sim City - at least not until MAJOR expansions are included.

Hands-on game review: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/08/15/simcity-hands-on-exclusive_n_1778324.html

I like the music sample, and the descriptions of changing sound effects. I agree with others who say the UI is not so great. The missing mini-map could be because they don't plan to give us data maps anymore. Since what you see is what you sim, you don't need it. I would prefer to have a mini-map, and data maps and all the statistics that go along with it... but I don't see a button to access that information. Overall, not a terrible looking interface, but not cool, innovative, intuitive, or special in any way. I hate the city mood icon, it's too simple and not informative. While I'm at it, I hate the happy/sad face pop-ups that follow sims around. That was the most infuriating UI choice in Societies, and I've seen it in the demo videos for SimCity. Now that's "cartoonish".

I agree with 1. and 2. Both are pretty obvious... I'm sure every employee at Maxis signs a non-disclosure agreement. I completely disagree with 3. We already have annoying, repetitive, unnecessary, and hateful comments and questions. The advantage to hiring a 'community manager' is to avoid this kind of thing. They can clarify any specific questions brought up through media interviews, and even state "we are not ready to respond to these questions yet", "more details to come", or "we haven't thought about that, but I'll bring it up in the next meeting". This kind of interaction shows the 'core base' that they are respected and listened to.

Reading this topic makes me sad. I consider myself a member of the "Core Base", having played since the very first version. However, I feel that Maxis/EA are not listening to the "Core Base". The reason is very simple: They do not interact with their community forums. On the SimCity/EA and Simtropolis forums, there is zero interaction and a lot of negative feedback. On Facebook and much more recently on Twitter, they have a lot more interaction. Most of the feedback there is positive (moderated?), no wonder they feel like they are pleasing their "Core Base". I'm no expert on this sort of thing, but it seems like we need to get organized if we want to make a difference in the finished product. What are ways that a web community can organize to exert change in products? How do we mobilize our community so that Maxis knows we mean business? I don't mean "sign the petition" kinds of crap, I mean a real actual difference beyond just "voting with your wallet". I will be voting with my wallet, but I would rather buy a game I really wanted than not buy a game I'm disappointed in.

One of the things that bothered me most about Cities XL (I only played the beta) was the trading/buying/selling of resources. This 'real world economy' only seemed to work when if you played all day every day. When I stopped playing the game for three days, and I came back all my trades had expired, prices had changed, and I was left without resources. I didn't stick around to see if they resolved those issues but I assume that since Cities XL is single-player and off-line that has been resolved somehow. My question is with Sim City's new 'connected economy resource system'. What happens when I stop playing my city for two months? When I come back, the price of coal may have tripled. How am I going to be able to pay for that? My city will die from lack of power before I can come up with the capitol to purchase coal again! All my citizens who were previously working the neighboring city might be without jobs and I suddenly have high unemployment! I may have destroyed my neighbor's city inadvertently by not supplying enough power or jobs to him/her. All this potential guilt is weighing on me. Has Maxis addressed this somehow and I missed it?

One of the better interviews where they stray from the standard talking points a little bit:

Yeah, and a few cars driving right through people crossing the street! No Terra-forming is pretty sad news.

from http://www.facebook.com/SimCity clock: http://www.timeandda...city.html?n=137 Here's the direct link for the video: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2012-simcity/731180

The answer to the OP question was presented at the announcement. http://fr.twitch.tv/ignlive/b/310865251 Context starts at about 30:00. "These are all viable states in this new SimCity. It's not just one destination..." Your city does not need to be politically correct. Your decisions have consequences that have to be dealt with.