peaco344

Glassbox all the way. As a developer, i can appreciate the difficulty in creating a scriptable yet complex simulation that works in real time. Previous incarnations of SC modelled snapshots of the city, only giving feedback at the end of each month. Glassbox allows instant feedback. Its pretty a revolutionary model, and not just a for games. I can think of dozens of business uses for that kind of simulation engine. A lof of people seem to want the game after this one (refinement and scaling up of the system to allow larger simulation spaces, or larger cities), it wouldn't the first game to suffer from this syndrome. Thing is, if Maxis were to implement the 'missing' features, we would still be waiting this time next year. The cloud hosting comes second for me, the ability to play wherever on whatever device is a real plus. Can see why some would dislike this though.

My 2 cents (ignoring mods for now as the state of modding in SC is unkown): Cities XL +Large cities -Simulation by spreadsheet (everything is simulated generically, automata are used ) +Can build city exactly as desired -Economic model seems unstable, cashflow can change dramatically for seemingly unknown reasons -Demolition/redevelopment is a major pain in the butt -No emergent gameplay (no zoning as such, once a building is there you have to remove it to build something else) -Utilities feel somewhat disconnected from the rest of the city +/-Transport options look good at first, but sometimes is executed badly (highway placement anyone?) +Bus transport is customisable (but it ends up feeling like a poor mans version of cities in motion) -No real connection to outside world other than trading (which has no visible effect other than economic effects) -Offline -Game seems unreliable, crashes and unreliable saves (I always seem to load a city and find the last save didnt work properly) -Cities seem to feel static and not lived in -No terraforming SC +Every sim and car is simulated, you can seem them move in real time (no more automata) -Cities smaller (though I personally used the medium city in SC4 mostly) +/-Transport options dont look a lot different to CXL (at least to me, not identical but a similar number of options) +Region play +/- Cloud based (emotive subject for some, but personally Ill be able to play on my pc and then tablet while im on the move) -Internet required at all times (sometimes mine drops out) +Emergent development (SC has a changing skyline over time that XL seems to lack) +Modular civic buildings +Region play, inter city travel (which is simulated properly as well) -No terraforming On balance SC seems the winner to me, but I can see why others would dislike some of the SC changes. Also, there are a lot of unknowns in SC, but these will hopefully clear up between now and release.

Bus Park and Rides On street bus stops Bus depot (with modular bus garages) Bus terminus (function unknown) Source: http://www.origin.com/maxis-live Buses demonstrated around 1:00 onwards Park and ride and terminus options shown around 1:01:20 (blink and you miss it!)

I don't really get why some think the transport options are fewer than SC4. Yes they arent an exact copy but: SC4 vanilla: 2 lane two-way road 2 lane street Highway (elevated) Buses (stops only, which also use space) Subway Heavy Rail (freight and passenger stops) Bridges and Tunnels Airports (international traffic only) Harbours (international freight only) SC2013 (so far confirmed or seen in in game footage): 2 lane road 4 lane road 6 lane ave 4 lane ave with tram (+off road tracks) Heavy rail (intra and inter-city, both confirmed in official blogs or video, possibly passenger only) Buses - inline stops, depots, terminus, park and ride (1:01:25 in the maxis live video, you see it pop up as an option) Planes (intl airport great works, nothing else confirmed yet, though given there is a dedicated option for it in the UI there must be more than just that) Boats (mentioned by Maxis devs and seen as an option in the UI but not seen yet) We have also heard overpasses and tunnels mentioned but not seen in video or blog Add in the fact that some of the buildings are modular as well. Now, to me that looks like SC2013 as many options as SC4 vanilla. Yes, they look rough round the edges which is to be expected in pre-beta code. Yes, they are not identical to SC4, but you still get low and high capacity roads, and a light and heavy rail option. The rush hour pack added a lot more, but this was an expansion which nearly cost the same as the original game (£25 for rush hour and £30 for SC4 in the UK).