pete1061

Recently I was speaking with a friend who works for EA, and he hinted that there are plans for SC5. But that's all he could say about it. So there may actually be some hope for the future of Sim City. Let's just hope it's not another societies. That's all the info I have. I didn't want to pressure my friend for more. I don't think he knows much anyhow, he works on a different EA title.

My biggest was about 5.3 million, and the map was a little under 50% filled up.

Though I had no use for the PO myself, I paid for it so I could have access to the extra content. I think an online option would be good for those who want it. Many games have a function to host your own server with a smaller limited number of users. That's probably the best way to go. That way those who want multiplayer can have it, and those who prefer single player don't feel coerced into paying for something they don't want just to get extra buildings. On top of that the publisher/developer of the game doesn't have the extra overhead of running big central servers.

This is good news, I'm just hoping that current owners of CXL will get some kind of a discount. This isn't really a whole new version of the game, it's a more finished version of the same game. I get the impression that MC was running low on money and behind schedule, but released CXL anyhow, though it wasn't finished. Investors we're probably nagging them to put something out. But in the long run, it didn't save MC. And there are still going to be flaws in CXL2011. My expectations are not high, I'm just hoping for an improvement on the original.

There's a good chance that the primary reason is the Christmas season. a lot of games shoot for the October/November window so that it will be fresh in peoples minds for gift shopping. I'm sure also they want the time to tie up loose ends and get the bugs out. But I'm sure if you look at all the sales data in the game industry, it will show that fall is the best time for release.

Originally posted by: mentarman CTRL-SHIFT-F11 You can put it on night time and turn your traffic map on to get a pure map without terrain, buildings, etc.quote> Thanks, worked like a charm. It did take a miniute or two, it created a 23 megabyte 4096x4096 png file. The game hangs while it's doing that, that could give people the impression it's not working right.

Given the lack of subways/light rail in CXL, it's like a 2010 toyota without a radio. (the car works, but it's still incomplete) Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get SC4 stable enough in vista to try any of the add ons, so I can't make an educated choice.

Here's my biggest city. "City Five" pop: 5.3 million (edit:changed image to shot obtained from pressing CTRL-SHIFT-F11)

Originally posted by: Mr. Cortez What the hell? Anyway, sorry, MC. I hope the employees find other fulfilling jobs. I loved City Life, it had potential. I never bought CXL because of its planet offer. Was looking forward to the continuation of the game and CXL 2011, but now I know it may be abandoned altogether if the new company doesn't like the concept. Unless Will Wright surprises us with SC5, or we make our own, us city builders will have to stick with 7-year-old SC4 until Windows 8 or 9 or whatever can't support it anymore. Just my guess.quote> Until Windows 8 or 9 can't support SC4? I have Vista and I can't play SC4 for 30min without a crash to the desktop. .... As for MC closing up shop... Thats the game industry for ya. I'm not suprised in the least. It's really no fault of their own, most small developers go out of business. It's a tough industry to make it in. We gamers are a fickle bunch. I just hope the new owners of CXL release some modding tools.

Originally posted by: hansenawesome15 I'm actually considering buying this....glad I saw this before I did, otherwise I wouldn't buy 2011. I'd like to buy it, it looks so realistic, but what's the difference between CXL 2011 and Simcity Societies?quote> Compaied to Simcity Societies, CXL or CXL2011 is actually good. If it's a choice between CXL (as it is now) and SCS, get CXL. SCS should never have been released, it was a joke.

Originally posted by: Chiverito I hope a bigger game company picks Cities XL up. (Please not EA or Ubisoft) No doubt it is a good franchise to build on; just a shame that MC put all its eggs in one basket. I think it would be interesting if 2K's Firaxis studios takes on a City Sim.quote> Probably best if whoever the future new player in the city sim genre just started from scratch. Maybe some day Civilization 6, 7 or 8 will have more of a city sim style of doing the cities.

As I understand CXL 2011 is not a completely "new" game. It's just post-planet offer CXL with a few loose ends tied up, like trade between your own cities in single player, and the bonus PO content added : medieval buildings, north american & asian building packs, and blueprints. There are not likely to be many new features at all (if any). There may not even be trains in it. And it will either be free or have a minimal cost for previous PO subscribers. The beach GEM and the ski GEM are will be sold separately.

Originally posted by: Ilikeseattle Originally posted by: pete1061 I guess everyone has their own opinion. I find the building repetition in CXL just as bad as in SC4. This problem will plague city building games until someone makes a game that procedurally creates the buildings on the fly, instead of using pre-modeled structures.quote> The problem with using procedural generation is that it is very expensive. A city builder (without a simulator) that uses procedural generation (the buildings themselves are semi-procedural, mostly premade), named CityScape, costs $19,000. A static city simulator that procedurally generates buildings and roads with a premade map (or one you make yourself) and nothing else, named CityEngine, costs $3,450. Very basic procedural generation of buildings exist for free but it will take a decade for procedural generation of buildings to enter videogames. What is more likely in the short term is procedural population of buildings by other people using simple tools (like Spore did) that are downloaded as needed. quote> You are right. As things are now, it is very expensive. But it is technically feasable. Those applications are intended for businesses, which is the primary reason for the high prices. And as they are, they require a high end system. But in 5-10 years, we could see something like CityScape re-engineered into a game. That would be awesome. They could take this genre to a whole new level. The main issue really is waiting for the average home computer to get powerful enough to handle it. But it can be done, and it will be. 10 years really is not a very long time. Procedural really is the way to go. In order to get a city builder without repition, it would take too much manpower to manually model enough buildings. Either so many 3D artists would have to be hired that it would be financially impossible, or it would take so long for a small staff of 3D artists so long, that by the time they are done, average computers will be fast enough to run a procedural engine.

I guess everyone has their own opinion. I find the building repetition in CXL just as bad as in SC4. This problem will plague city building games until someone makes a game that procedurally creates the buildings on the fly, instead of using pre-modeled structures.

Alas, this is the sad truth about the game industry. Only a handful of developers survive. Most release 1 or 2 titles and go broke.