SimBurger

I run into this all the time and it drives me batty. I don't understand it. And I dont get how you guys can upgrade your roads half the time, because its a miserably difficult experience. 1) I wanted to upgrade the main road. In order to expand it, I had to delete the minor, connecting roads. 2) I expanded the main road. 3) I then attempted to re-connect the minor road. Same exact one that was there 10 seconds earlier (see attached photo2.jpg). I am unable to put back the original roads in their identical location. It tells me there isn't enough room for it! 4) However, if I go 90% of the way, it says all is well (blue line). See attached photo21.jpg. So its the connection that apparently "Needs more room" even though the only increased room is on the outside road, which already has enough room to exist. 5) So I deleted the outside road, and instead re-placed the original connecting road. Basically doing it in reverse order. After the original minor road was back in place, I put the outside road. And voila - both roads fit just fine. See attached photo7.jpg. Here's the problem - the end result is IDENTICAL in both situations. But if you do it one way - it refuses to let you proceed. If you simply reverse the order, it allows you to finish. This doesn't make sense. And I don't have time to have my roads bulldozed and unavailable to businesses and homes, while I wrestle with the game - to try and figure out what order it wants to let me do things in. Confused. PS... it would be great of "ScrnCap" key would work to screen capture whats on the screen. The photo capture tool can't be clicked if the mouse is in the middle of laying a road. And many times, it doesn't capture whats going on dynamically on the screen anyways. Only what's static. So I had to use my iPhone and email and upload these photos.

So I heard someone recently say that the biggest planning phase when you start a new city is before you lay your first road. I would like those of you with huge cities that look amazingly well structured - how do you lay your road grid? What techniques do you use to ensure that when your city has grown, you aren't bulldozing every single road, along with buildings and zoned areas, just to fit in a highway? Some of the largest cities I've looked at on here have an amazingly structured, beautiful, symmetrical grid of expressways, lined with "Simple roads". It looks seamless in some of them - especially your city - DarkWater or whatever your username is. I think his city name is SEIKO or something. Its incredible looking. You should all see it. But what do you start with, so that you aren't spending hours bulldozing existing roads and buildings and zoned areas later on? There must be a trick, or a technique that allows for seamless growth and simple expansion of roads. The largest cities I've seen seem to have Expressways intermingled with zoned areas. Some even use an amazing trick of putting one square Residential next to one square Business - to reduce commute time and improve traffic. I have always zoned residential in separate quadrants. Any help, tips, tricks, or rules would be appreciated. SB

As my city gets bigger and bigger, I find myself wishing I could really start to fine-tune its appearance. Really make it absolutely beautiful. I long for buttons that would enable me to place a pond, or a stream. Or a small Lake. To build plazas that are unique and beautiful looking. To really make the city like a work of art. This game is amazing in the visual department. I sometimes feel like its missing some really neat extras though. They've got the zoning down, and all related structures. There is a ballpark or soccer field or ... whatever that is. That's cool. But I'd really love to have control over all kinds of things. Statues. Walkways. Ornamentation of areas. City centers, little creeks with arched walkway bridges, windmills, etc etc etc. Honestly I can't even think of what I would want .. lol ... i just know that there are all kinds of things they could do to make it more than just grids of buildings. I know MC is working on ski resorts and extras like this (those mountain city maps are useless without them) so I wont rush them on it. They've gotta get some more basics cranked out. But I'm really looking forward to when they start kicking out some of these things. The cobblestone street was neat. -SB-

heheh... .. "whilst" .... -SB-

Bridgesquote> You're not retarded regarding bridges. They are impossible to lay. They're impossible because of the immense flexibility MC gave to them (a plus), but it becomes an impossibility to effectively lay a simple bridge because of that flexibility (a minus). Detail of Visualsquote> One phrase: Video Card. They're trying to make things good enough to be amazing, but not too hardware demanding for the average user. The more detail, the more muscle you need in a computer. I purchased a top of the line system and this game still sometimes hesitates on it. So its a big ... big game. I completely love the red trees on one of the maps, but get a little bummed when I zoom in and realize its just a blob of red/orange. I've always assumed it was just because of hardware limitations. Boring Buildingsquote> Buildings are gray - in my opinion - because of the european influence of this game. My first impression of the game was that all the buildings were what I called "fart brown" Its no big deal. As you build the Elite residences you start to get the more snazzy colors and its noticeable on the skyline. They will expand the building options im sure. European Looking Roadsquote> Roads don't seem european to me. I often see similar roads here in San Diego and always have a little chuckle at how well they pulled it off. Silly Animationsquote> I have to agree on some level. Try to think like MC. Their goal was to make the game a little more "fun". So again, no bad intentions im sure. Had they released the game with NO such animations people would correctly say the game completely lacks personality. So this is why they spent time on it. Although I wonder if they think that's what people do in the lower income housing areas - standing on the cars and porches and dancing like monkeys ... Road Symmetryquote> Agreed that its very hard to make thing symmetrical. This may be our skillset though, as I see many cities with beautiful road systems. Filler areas in Zoningquote> This only happens when the six squares wont fit properly. However, this begs the question - why wont they fit? But nothing you can do manually will change that. Even if you delete those filler boxes, you can't manually place one, most of the time. I call this game a "Paid Public Beta"quote> I have to agree. MC has stated that the game is being tested by the best testers out there - real life people Pay $9.25 a monthquote> The game doesn't have to cost $9.25 a month. Just to clear that up. The price dips to $6.18 or so if you do it in 3 month batches. -SB-

Originally posted by: rockalien Just spent a couple of hours downloading and installing the game without any apparent problems only to be kicked in the head at the validation stage. Having read through other posts I know this has been a problem from the the very start for other people which says something about MC's attitude toward their customers. The fact that they have not resolved this issue seems to suggest that they are quite happy to take your money without giving you the goods. Imagine buying a TV then having to wait around for some guy to activate it before you can use it, then he doesn't turn up. You would quite rightly be pissed off. It's about time MC got their act together and started to show some respect for their customers.quote> I don't think this has anything to do with not respecting customers, nor "kicking them in the head", nor do I have any idea what "give us your money" has to do with your post .... but the need to be activated and any delays tied to it would strike me more as a poor planning / disorganization related issue. The fact that they have not resolved this issue seems to suggest that they are quite happy to take your money without giving you the goods.quote> Uhhhh.... no it doesn't. Aren't you kinda freaked out you are "that guy" ? I would be. -SB-

Originally posted by: soltangris when you place the cursor next to the building, it resolves part of the problem. However, when you try to connect the road you started in the middle of nowhere to an existing road system that ends at the edge of the same building, it won't .It says 'not enough space'.quote> This problem is accurate. The original poster is not incorrect Sainty. I actually did some screen caps of this and posted them in the Technical forum. Also - many times if you place a larger main road, you must delete the "simple roads" that cross over it. That is fine. However you will find many times that you can not place the original "simple road" right back in the exact location it was in the first place. Even though there is absolutely nothing different about it, visually. It will say "Not enough room". Don't even get me started on the illogical logic of placing bridges. The same mousestroke does one thing one time and something completely different the next time. Successfully completing the last step of a bridge has yet to take me less than 5 solid minutes. -SB-

The problem here isn't the debate on whether Trees eat pollution or not Sainty is right that they don't. MC is right when they establish that parks do nothing but improve morale despite pollution. All of the above is correct. The only incorrect thing I see here, is that the game implies that all life is being choked to death by the pollution. Actually it doesn't imply it. It straight out says it. In real life, even in heavily polluted cities, you don't walk around coughing and dying. In real life, even in heavily polluted cities, "high tech" buildings don't suffer from lack of productivity because of "Air Pollution". In this game they do. As far as I know, the problem therefore is the accuracy of pollution's effect on the city. Maybe I am wrong. But my High Tech buildings shouldn't be sitting at 50% productivity because of air pollution. Pollution just isn't that prevalent in my opinion. -SB-

Cities XL is mountains above and beyond SimCity. I don't know what game some of you guys are playing. -SB-

it's so tough to get creative when you have to watch your budget like a hawk.quote> I completely agree with this. But I wouldn't want them to make the game too easy. I think difficulty settings for each city might be a solution. Right now they allow you to pick your difficulty by picking which map you want. Maps with fewer resources and poor topography are harder to succeed on. But I would still enjoy being able to pick a difficulty level for each individual map. This however might mess up that other guys idea of a Hall of Fame planet where the best of the best are placed. If one guy has a gorgeous city and does it on "SUPER EASY" settings, it wont mean as much as someone who did it on "NORMAL" settings. I do completely agree though, that you don't have much freedom to get creative. As I mentioned in another thread, if you do a more appealing suburb layout, you'll end up with extremely poor cashflow. If you do a mindless "grid" layout, with everything in close proximity, you'll have awesome cashflow. Mostly because this game bases the need for city funded schools, police, fire etc based on proximity. Not based on population. So whereas you may have 1,000 people in a very "spread out" area who need 3 schools, you may also have 10,000 people in 3 very dense blocks who need only one school. In that sense, this game could be improved. Remember, the goal is to be as close to "reality" as possible. SimCity had this issue nailed as they based the need for schools both on Proximity and on Population. Simply put, if the school is full at 350 students, you need to build another one. Then again, with SimCity, you spent *all* of your time checking how many patients were in the hospital. How many kids in each school. Etc.... Getting creative means not going the "grid" route and therefore you're right - cashflow becomes impossible to maintain. So creativity is reduced. Sorry for hijacking the thread.

Okay so basically if you build up enough INDUSTRY or MANUFACTURE or OIL or anything else, which enables you to have "Special buildings" unlocked (buildings which produce 35% INDUSTRY, Oil, Manufacture, etc WITHOUT pollution) .... do NOT (i repeat) do NOT go around bulldozing your industry. If you DO bulldoze your industry to reduce pollution then just know that you can not ever move that special building by bulldozing it and pulling it off the Menu again. It wont be there because you no longer have the quantity of industry to justify it. Your other option is to keep all that pollution and sell the extra tokens. That special building will give you +8 or so on whatever it is. You can sell those tokens. But honestly Id rather downsize my city, kill 30% of the polluters, and have a cleaner more efficient city. However that also means you will have to bulldoze residents (unqualified) or there will be high unemployment. Some might say reducing Polluters and Unqualified workers are both plusses for a mature city. So its a tradeoff. But this thread is to notify you that if you DO bulldoze your industry, do not delete that special building thinking you can just grab it off the menu again and put it somewhere else. I made that mistake.

CITIESXL responded and advised me that when the game was released it would have extensive tools for park creation other than the fill toolquote> Great. Then that pretty much confirms that it's still in the pipeline, and just needs to be arrived at on the "to do" list. Good news, thanks for the feedback. -SB-

Bangaloo waprus kindo tigger sum. Gon trappa de dooley. Ding a ling lang, an shamma lama ding dong. -SB-

Interesting idea. Seems fun. Some things to think about: 1) This would require a ton of resources on MC's part, that they don't have. Maybe a group of volunteers could work with MC to coordinate this however. 2) I would strongly suggest a more smooth navigability be implemented for maneuvering around the city and viewing it. Postcard mode is most beautiful, but still difficult with a mouse. 3) I agree that after the city reaches a certain point, you find yourself staring at it, not sure what to do next. -SB-

Do you get the feeling that When you play CXL you can't go back to SC4? quote> Yes. This is why every time I hear someone saying SC4 rules and CitiesXL just doesn't cut it, I laugh. Out Loud. Like to the point of guffawing. Sometimes I choke on my own plegm in the process too. Its like going back to crayons in a coloring book after using oil paints on leonardo's canvas. -SB-

That's not the intention at all. The point of those buildings is to specialize your city to produce more.quote> Hmm... I don't think creating a specialized city is the "norm" nor the goal of this game. Not everyone is trying to create an Office city, or an Industry city, or a Fuel city. They're here to create a realistic city with numerous industries, numerous and varied trades, a cross section of classes in the residential population, and a "real" layout. So I really do see these buildings as a way to reduce pollution by making your dirty industry production more intelligent. But I could be wrong. I usually am -SB-

Just an update. I logged off after being faced with the dilemma above, last night. This morning I logged back in ..... and there was the "Materials Storage" for Industry, special building again. Monte Cristo did you just give me a big huge gift or is this how the game works? Thank you - either way. Thank you! -SB-

Originally posted by: EAGCE You should've sold the extra tokens. It doesn't reduce the need it produces more. If you don't have enough industry you won't get that building. That's why you can't get it again. You have to build up your industry again for it to unlock. quote> I chose not to sell the extra tokens because I wanted to reduce pollution in the city instead. I mentioned that in my post above. I believe these special buildings are INTENDED to reduce pollution by providing 35% industry without any pollution production. That's the entire point. As long as people know because of this thread - that they should never innocently delete a special building, then Im happy. Yes, if I had sold the tokens I'd still have the building available to me, but I was excited to reduce my pollution by 35%. -SB-

I did a thorough test of this and have officially confirmed that the "Wooded Park Area" does not do anything, even slightly, to reduce levels of pollution. I had a large red cloud from Industry which was gaining on my city. Since my budget was 900 billion dollars (roughly) I placed enough parks to cover literally 1/4 of the entire map. Surrounded the red cloud of pollution - but twice as thick. Then I waited. It took me nearly a half hour of "turns" to place all the parks, and I've continued game play for at least another hour. Not even a tiny change. And the alerts keep coming that pollution is choking everything to death. Im going to assume this is a bug, or I am retarded. The latter often occurs, so any input is appreciated. SB

This error has happened periodically. I'd say roughly once a week ill get a full game crash that results in this popup box with "OK" button on it. Its a longer error message but says "Failed to Save Dump File" and a series of characters along with a "_report_Bug" somethingoranother. Just wanted to let Monte Cristo know - see if they're aware of it. -SB-

GAH!!!!!!!! I can't believe nobody mentioned this in this thread. So basically as your population increases, and new buildings are unlocked, in the "OFFICES" button you will see the STAR button. Inside there you'll start to see the SHELL building, and the ELECTRICITY plant, and the FUEL plant etc ... ALL OF THESE are buildings which contribute 35% or more to your FUEL, INDUSTRY, ELECTRICITY needs, and they don't produce pollution. In other words, as these buildings have become unlocked, I've been able to bulldoze my pollution producing electricity plants, my pollution producing oil fields, etc. This is notable as it has reduced pollution in my city to a noticeable extent. -SB-

Im amazed at the things folks complain about sometimes. 1) If you're on dialup, please join us in the 1990's for goodness sake. Don't say a game sucks and whine about a 45 minute download without mentioning that you're using 1989 internet technology. 2) People whine and moan about the bugs and lack of features, and then they whine and moan that you have to download the bug fixes and enhancements. Incredible. If this is the future of the city builder genre... I'll be so happy when the current 15 minutes are over.quote> You may be too close to the sim world to be retaining your perspective. (Forest for the Trees syndrome). I know there are always those hardcore enthusiasts who always think EVERYTHING sucks except the one, long distant classic of the past. Or those who think anything new, and popular, automatically sucks as well. Just because they want to be different, or seem brooding, or unique. But from someone who isn't a slave to going against the grain all the time, I can confidently say that Cities XL is where you should be putting your enthusiasm for the future. This game isn't going to last only 15 minutes. Trust me. -SB-

I'm too lazy, and its nearly 2am, and I have some macaroni and cheese cooking right now, so I can't be bothered to search for this. I run my city barely making any office hotels. Once in a blue moon, I see a flag above an office saying its suffering from lack of office hotel services. Then I build one. What's the protocol for these things though? 1) Are you supposed to have them scattered around everywhere, in numerous quantities for the health of the businesses? Or is it just one or two every blue moon? 2) Why would anyone bother to build a "Low Quality Motel" that clearly says on its label "A few Low Quality rooms". Or even a regular sized motel which says "Several Low Quality Rooms". Is there some value to building these versus those with higher quality rooms? Confusing... 3) As far as location - should they always be near office areas, or can they be anywhere? I guess im not clear on what they are in the first place. Never really considered hotels to be a major industry used by offices. But they are in this game. I know the other big need for offices in this game is heavy industry... Thanks. -SB-

I agree. It never occurred to me to make my own litlte "cheat" cities and trade to myself. Those of you who think its super easy to dominate this game - try playing like I do - make one city and deal with the market. Scrounge and beg and stress out like me -SB-

Every time I try to play this game, I get this overhwelming sensation of how insanely NOT creative I am. Its like someone handed me a bunch of professional paints, and slapped a completely blank canvas in front of me. I stare at the map for 15 minutes not sure where to begin. How to start. It drives me crazy. Its kind of depressing. I feel like you almost have to be an arteeste (say it like MonteCristo staff in Paris would) to play this game well. And I have no art skills at all. When someone hands me a blank paper, I don't envision the mona lisa pouring out from my pen. I see a blank piece of paper. Same sensation when I play this game. I became doubly aware of this when they released the new cobblestone street / old village buildings. Wow what amazingly cool things I could do with that - if I knew how to create! I placed a street and it looked stupid. So I deleted it. Then I placed another street, and went a little crazy - adding the curved street feature. It still looked stupid. I felt like a 2 year old with a crayon. LOL ..... Anyone else? Or are you all amazing draftsmen and designers .... -SB-