meowza

Optional motion blur, please...

Maxis simply made their glassbox engine presentation at GDC more public, nothing really new. Except for the high def video. 720p HD: There's also a new blog entry over at simcity.com by Quigley More at: http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/GlassBox-Insiders-Look-Part-1

^ This really worries me though.. I think you will find that the advantage of having a server-based system will outweigh the fact that you are connected. By the time this game hits the street most people will have broadband connections in North America and hopefully world wide. I expect people expecting to run with WiFi may be at a disadvantage because of the additional overheads. That's an important note to consider. But what I'm really concerned about is having limits with ingame moddability. If we want to revamp the economic mechanics for example, how are we supposed to do it if the prices of comodities are dictated by the game's global economy? I haven't heard Maxis specifically mention anything yet about true single player offline sandbox mode.

I hope the article is accurate, atleast to some degree. Cause if it is... It is beautiful! ^ This really worries me though.. By the way, thanks for the article JanH! Shouldn't this be put on the ST homepage?

True, that should always be considered. The graphic's level of detail should be freely modifiable by the player on ship. But other than the gfx that have already been mentioned, the aspects that I deem compulsory in the simulation of the people (a slight reiteration of what I've said) is that each individual should act autonomously, yet behave dynamically, reactive to player stimulus, reflective of the city's state, and are visually persistent. It should feel as if they are the reason why we're building magnificent cities, and not make the concept of building a city an end in itself. I'd rather watch a video of fishes in a tank, rather than watch a tank without any fish.

The italicized sentence was just a crude and fun example on how I think the sim models should behave in various situations, not just during a nuclear explosion (or the concept of an initial shockwave). It could be anything from how a dead sim should move if it's being washed up by a flash flood, if a pedestrian gets hit by a car, or if an unconscious sim is picked up by a giant sim-eating lizard... If the devs can make individual animations for specific "rag-doll" events without making the models look out of place, then that would be fine - but it would be a daunting task for them. So I think the use of the physics engine would be best at this. Quick search sample: OT: Experimentation and creativity. Maxis must give the player the freedom to place specific buildings anywhere, as long as it fits the terrain. Even a nuclear power plant in the middle of high density residential area, no matter how absurd that sounds.

In terms of people (inc animals) as agents, I'm fine with having the Sims 2 or 3 look and scale.. As long as they are pleasing to the eye, and that they don't look like abominations when zoomed in. If they can include the following, then much better: 1. unique faces and skin tone for each person 2. sex 3. body types that define their health 4. clothes that represent their social status or profession 5. age differences And I think this should be a must: Each limb can be individually affected by the physics engine. I don't want a sim to look like a solid rock when it gets thrown back by a nuclear explosion.

SC4 had many bugs. Knowing that the new SC will be way more complex than previous titles, the game could possibly have a larger number of bugs upon release. Also, giving players the ability to mod might only open up avenues for online hackers and exploiters. And to think that this will be the first multiplayer simcity... Really, I have serious worries for Maxis on this one... I just hope this doesn't end up as a disaster.

The game should have a landmark to land area ratio limit. A city with excessive landmarks is too ridiculous, and possibly unfair in multiplayer mode.

Let's not forget that SimCity will be having a physics engine. And that each sim would matter now. We should have a variety of disasters to choose from on sandbox mode, realistic or otherwise. I find it intriguing though how disasters will play out in multiplayer mode. So far I think the game will have... These are just My Assumptions: 1. Autosaurus Wrecks - from the trailer, not exactly a disaster though 2. Giant Lizard - hinted from the GDC intro and AMAA. Also seen on the early Gameplay trailer. 3. UFOs/Alien Invaders - it's not simcity without these. Also, it's on the promotional images at simcity.com. Hinted from gamespy. Also seen on the box cover. 4. Tornadoes - from promotional images at simcity.com. also hinted from gamespy. 5. Fires - GlassBox GDC presentation. Seen almost everywhere! 6. Crime Waves - from the simcity pre-order page 7. Droughts - since the game will be having a depletable water table 8. Floods - since the game will be having rain 9. Nuclear Meltdown - from the trailer's co-op power plant 10. Epidemics/Zombies - sims with "sickness" at the GDC presentation. 11. Economic Crisis - "If you've built up an entire city on the economic basis of extracting a certain resource, when that resource runs out your economy will collapse" Dan Moskowitz, Maxis 12. Earthquakes - according to gamespy 13. Giant Bowling Balls (same as generic spheres?) - according to venturebeat.com; seems like they'll be adding this as an easter egg. 13. Meteors - Shown on the box cover. Simulator Ideas: 1. Sims with Common Sense - Is there a Giant Lizard which is going to step on you, a zombie who is hungry to take a bite off of you, or maybe a skyscraper is going to fall on you? Then hide or run/drive away as far as you can! Not just stay in a corner or run in circles and wait until you get killed. Optionally, educate them so they know what specifically to do when an earthquake suddenly occurs - lessen the structure damage and casualties. 2. Early Warning - Do I have a Meteorology center? Then let the player know if there is a hurricane approaching. Forget about earthquakes though, those are hard to predict. Give the player various options on how to prepare - send your sims free first aid kits, food and water that can last until the storm subsides. 3. Cinematic Camera Movement (Action Cut Scenes) - I was laying out residential zones for a new suburb that I was making, then all of a sudden I hear the terrorized screams of my sims. In a very fast pace, the camera bullet-time panned to a sim-packed college dormitory in flames! 4. Dynamic Music - Confirmed added. 5. Moddable Disasters - I'd like my hurricane to create a rain of meteors, please. Or maybe a giant lizard that can let out bolts of lightning. I only want a tiny dust devil, not a gigantic tornado. 6. Join the Action - If there's a fire, aside from dispatching fire trucks, the player can alternatively gain control of the fire hose to put out a blaze. Or throw tear gas on specific areas to herd a group rioters. Maybe even aim a rocket launcher onto an invading army of aliens. 7. Evacuation - Optionally direct citizens where to go during an emergency. 8. Unlockable/Rare Disasters - Some disasters can act as rewards, or can only show up in the menu on rare occasions. Disaster Ideas 1. Buggy Traffic = Collision 2. Airborne Diseases (relative to wind direction) 3. Agriculture Infestations/Diseases - crops, animal, fish die-outs. May sicken sims when consumed, export/import or self-produced. 4. Heat/Cold waves 5. Crazy Easter Eggs . . - something that grows through consumption... (Katamari!) Which then explodes into hundreds of small ___?___ . . - Giant Lizard vs Maxis Man Robot . . - Advanced Research Center = tiny massive Blackhole anomaly . . - Innocent looking, yet deadly monster . . - Dr. Vu's Mind Control Satellite Beam . . - Giant foot, obliterate whole cities in one stomp. I'm just going to keep re-editing this post to avoid the spam, as I have ideas poppin' out of my head once in a while.

Menu for custom files: Just make it like the STEX. Search system based, categorized, recently added, most used, favorties, preferences, tags, and among other modern techniques. So we won't have to load everything all at once.

Unique/rare growables, landmark promotion and popularity level.. How I hope that the devs are taking notes right now. These are exciting suggestions that are too fun to pass!

I agree with CommodoreTech. I wish Maxis makes the landmarks feel more organic - a natural occurance, and not something you can plop anytime you want just because you have the funds to build and maintain it. It should gradually develop an important role in the simulation of the city overtime, not just for aesthetics or added tourist value.

Turning real life scenes into fake miniatures through tilt shift filtering. More Tilt Shift Videos from the author of this video.

Something along those lines had better be in the works! This will be a new headline for the health world.

Zombie Apocalypse!

This article made more sense now that Maxis had made the official announcement. Until now, I'm still blown away by these tiny details that they've added for the game. Imagining what other possible things they might have included, and how everything could work in unison... is just...

lol Baro But really, I bet Maxis had seen how flexible CXL roads can be. So I hope they take that as an inspiration and a challenge to further improve it for SC. I have my doubts on in though.

A manual would be nice as a side item. I've brushed through all the SC games without reading any of the available manuals though, and I want to do the same with the new SC. Learning should be an intrinsic and enjoyable part of the game. I could clearly see now though how some people would be selling guides on how to optimize the SC experience.

I can't help but laugh when I saw the hand. Cool vid! Though I personally prefer that Maxis doesn't emulate it for SC, or else it might look overly done and cheesy like the Japanese SC DS boxart. Still, really nice effect for use in real scenes.

Maxis already hinted that they will be bringing back UDI. From the Maxis AMAA: And as stated on the simcity.com FAQ: So considering both statements, I'm assuming that UDI will be merely an optional flavor to the game. Even if it's optional though, I would be interested if they made the UDI far more engaging than in SC4.

I agree to newp to some extent, too much realism is boring (CXL). As long Maxis does not over do it by making the game look stupid (hell to SCS!), and still keep the realistic feel very much intact, then I'm all for this.

The concert shots in Sam OHares's Coachelletta were really nice, can't wait to see what SimCity's take will be on that.