WhisperPntr

I've lurked on and off these forums and have played Simcity 4 on and off but decided, what the hey, might as well say something in regards to the gorgeous art and obviously rushed and whacked game design. I can say that if EA wants to do well, if they want to make a masterpiece, they take it like an artist and when $%&^! is $%&^!, they admit it, redo it and get it right. If not, own up to the failure and apologize. On that note the artistry and graphics in the game beat SC4 by a legion. Just like Diablo 3 and most other games today, artists are doing their job while getting $%&^! for pay because artistry IS their PASSION. They as a whole continue to crank out amazing work because they LIVE on constructive criticism, something you would never hear execs, certain developers and designers admit to. As an artist and former programmer myself I find it so .. weak when developers, some (obviously not all) programmers, and managers get all discouraged, emo and upset when they don't get asspats. When I see they get flamed and they whine and holler back you know what I say to that? Good they deserve it because they didn't listen the first 100 times we said "hey it's not working" politely. Constructively. As an artist that magical 1% is when you do something RIGHT. The other 99% is working your ass off to fixing what isn't. It can be torture but with hard work, with OPEN minds (and on that note the GAMERS don't need to be open minded it's the developers) we create masterpieces. So let me be the one to say that Simcity 2013s fundamental programming and groundwork is crap because very little of the original algorithm, or new Sim City 4 community modded algorithm was reused. The art is beautiful, nearly flawless in a way but the game AI, the bugs, the business politics, the attitude all STINKS. And while I know Jeff is probably a very hopeful individual who really wants to try, the attitude of a toughened, hard working, perfectionist who gets things done is what is ultimately needed. In the game, I have yet to see that minus in the artistry. So the next time I hear a game developer swooning over their own work while thousands of players suffer from the absolutely grating bugs, I will quit playing these pretty shiny empty games and fall back on the gems like AOE 2, Sims 2, Simcity 4, Warcraft, and so on. Because when something explodes it's not time to "admire" your hard work to get people to "understand", get defensive or say haters want to hate. It's time to step back, take a breather, take constructive criticism for what its worth and GET IT RIGHT. It's how artists have done it for a millenium, and it's high time for programmers, game designers, and the head honchos to follow suit. And most of all anyone from EA coming here hoping for asspats from the community, well tough luck. You have to do this alone without us cheering for you because success starts from personal desire and listening and doing what actually works. It's definitely not through coddling or hand holding or whatever. On that note, many of the overworked programmers and artists who toil without much rest ARE indeed underpaid. If EA wants to succeed, FEED the ones who really make the game sellable or they will leave. Many have already made their own companies and the gamers, fed up with the political bs, have gone and went with them. Example? torchlight 2 vs diablo 3. So how do you "fix" simcity? HOw do you FIX ea? Look at the past and build from it. I play World of Warcraft, which is an expensive, much maligned game to some, even from their own community due to the political bungling by the now ripped up blizzard team. However the foundation of the game built by blizzard north still makes for SOLID AND excellent gameplay. It was crafted from devs who worked their butts off, who used to LOVE the challenge of coding and designing, and who most of all aimed to please. Now, though the game is not as inventive and fresh as before it is NOT a total train wreck. This is because the new developers were smart enough not to totally reinvent the wheel and just built addons upon addons. It worked and as much as the company and new devs piss me off with their attitudes, I still get suckered into paying $15 a month because the foundation is STILL there. I am not a blizzard fangirl, but I have to admit, the core is what draws me back and that's what EA needs to learn. You had your michelangelo, Will Wright. USE his work and his ideas. Sims 3 could have benefited from the groundwork of Sims 2. And Simcity 2013 could have been amazing if based more on SimCity 4. But instead the team CHOSE not to follow the algorithm closely and despite the mixed reception from Sims 3 they still failed to listen and made Simcity 5 following the footsteps of Sims 3. They could have added a new pretty graphical shell, (like rollercoaster tycoon 3) and you pretty much got a winner. However, being a Simmer I realized NO ONE at EA is really listening. SO yes you may be proud of your glass box engine but frankly WHY are you not realizing the flaws? Why are you NOT using OLD CODE AND ALGORITHMS that WORKED? EA, if you want to make money and force DRM it starts first with manning up and being responsible for what' s wrong, what sucks and frankly what isn't worth paying for. Putting your giganticego aside, apologizing to the gamers and listening is a step in the right direction. So if EA is butthurt about the hate, they will receive NO sympathy from me because that just proves to me they don't deserve a single penny from my underpaid pocket. A legion of us are through with the waiting and the attitude. We want the developer of old. We want the guy, the girl who knows when they screwed up and not only fix it asap but make it even better. And all WITHOUT the attitude devs today are showing. When you screw up the onus is not on us to be patient but for you to fix it. Be an artist rather than a lowly, leeching money grubbing executive and feel responsible for what you advertised.

Simtropolis' please let your no ads banner open in a new page or display it's full hot spot area. I've had many posts (including this one) eaten by accidentally clicking on it. Thanks. Purpose: Modded vs. Regular (along with non-mod anomalies) I saw a recent post about people saying modding was not needed and that all one needed to do was to get rid of all the mods and play RH the way it is. While it has already been established that RH handles the pathfinding in the same manner as prepatch, I just wanted to nail the door shut with these tests. Also I am aiming to conduct a few tests about how RH handles pathfinding compared to modded RH as well as performance. I may also combine a few others to see how it works. Setup: Nothing fancy. Here is a residence (1x2 plot) connected to a road, that is connected to an avenue then a highway. On the other side is the industrial zone. Test One: Pre- Dark MOD Pathfinding Patch First I check out the commute. As you can see, no highway is being used. I brought out the commute time graph but then eek! Abandonment! So I brought back bob...note how he goes back home... ??? Now I continue with the experiment...wiping out the road. Test Two: Post Dark MOD Pathfinding (TBC at a later date) First I disconnected the highway. Then I noted that the times for road commute prepatch is still the same Then I hook the highway back up and after a few days the commute switches back over. Now I note the figures once again. If people are interested in seeing further tests please tell me. I may conduct a subway and highway test later on. Also I realize people know these facts but in picture it catches more attention... (That and it was fun to see bob drive on the highway back home but then decide to take the road on his way back to work...) Try it by telling your sim to go to that location!