Mark Waybill

Well despite not having any games downloaded as yet with it I've had Origin on my machine for a number of months now and it hasn't caused any noticeable issues yet.

I think multiple planets might be an idea for the future, but for now I'm happy with one SimEarth.

If as Maxis says the game is still pre alpha I don't see how they can't include something like that in the release version. It would just be the same game but with a fixed or simulated global economy like in previous versions. The issues arise when one decides for some reason one wishes to become part of the actual global economy, or one is already part of it and decides to become a lone ranger. This would unrealistically affect said economy. My idea is to begin with two modes, offline single player or at least single player, and multiplayer online. In the former you are playing the same game but just without the global ecnomy aspect. At some point in future, if the game becomes popular enough to support the maintenance costs, new 'worlds' are created online, and one can choose to add ones city to one of these. These would be like mega regions, that would branch off from the main stem. Cheats and mods would be an issue for world administration to decide about, and in the ideal situation we could create a SimWorld as easily as a region. However as the game is built around this world economy concept, I don't believe too much resources will be spent on single player experience as apart from the global economy. If all one wished to do was to create an ideal city of ones dreams without having to worry about economic factors, one could make a mode in which one was essentially using a sandbox system like in SCURK, but whether any priority would be given to such an idea remains to be seen. If enough opinion is towards having a sandbox then perhaps a poll should be created about that? Going back to the topic, I can't imagine saving and loading will remain their good old 90s selves. I think with real time simulation and the global economy that if a fire happens, it happens. If it gets out of control then that's too bad. What this means for sharing city files on exchanges and so forth I can't tell, I just have this vague idea that in future we will have multiple worlds to choose from.

100 mb eh. Is it just me or does that sound limiting?

If it wasn't for the obvious legal issues I'd reccomend a Dalek invasion.

Realistic disasters, on the other hand, are part and parcel of city growth, and without them the game would be fantastic and unreal.

I think ideally we could play on our own planets with their own economies and have our own networks for multiplayer. But for various reasons that isn't going to happen in the near future.

So with GB there would have to be internal resource generation and usage simulation. Interesting concept.

Transit interchanges would be nice if the modules/zones were smart and could wrap around each other organically without appearing too clunky and unrelated.

Yes it would be nice to have arcologies, and if they use resources realistically and aren't just statistical this time that would also be nice.

Mind you the whole concept of ownership of an item of software is a whole topic in itself, considering the nature of software compared to, say, a flower pot or a candle or a photograph frame etc. Electrical items like games imho have their future in a connected virtual environment, and the whole concept of ownership of a game becomes limited to the right/privilege of playing said game and certain access restrictions. The product ceases to become a hard copy CD you can throw in your backpack and take around with you like any other real life object, it becomes a set of codes of authorisation to enter a virtual environment and have a virtual experience. Virtualisation of video gaming is inevitable, and why stand in the way of progress? However the cities we build, the rights as a virtual land owner over our cities themselves, are another matter altogether. I believe that if we buy the right to found virtual cities this should act like any other real estate purchase, and we should not have to face the possibility to losing our regions/cities if a server is shut down, or if a company makes a policy change.

"We’re already listening to the community out there, we already look at what people say on the forums, not just our forums either, all forums out there." Definitely interesting. Hello Jason. Canals please. Thanks.

I imagine you could possibly have a inter city quarantine system, only allowing trade intra-regionally to the extent your cities wish?

Since when was 9.3 million a small figure? There's 4 million people in Sydney.

'Voting would prevent a governor figure' And if a stalemate arises? Who has veto power?

I think the economy will have to be a basic 'free market' for fairness and realism's sake. However one could simulate a different 'economic style' (trying to keep PC and avoid the p word) by the resources one harvests and the amount one puts into things such as healthcare, how one manages these things. Besides this is primarily a game for making 'Western' cities which are capitalist, and the game has always been very much biased in that economic and social direction since Will Wright first made Micropolis in 1980 whatever. Utopian societies, whether feasible or not, have little place in a business/economy simulation game. Or we can just build forest arcos?

Well they said it doesn't matter if you lose connection and your cities won't get destroyed, but I assume they will use a periodic save feature, unless every new data change is saved instantly?

Ah so the Germans think Origin is a spy application do they. I wondered where the solid basis for that theory arose from. Well if there is any legality issues then I daresay they should be attacked in the usual proper manner by the relevant authorities. Also I agree with the boss of Valve Mr Newell and that EA should just utilise available Steam infrastructure rather than bothering with this Origin nonsense.

A government style or economic style like socialism could be developed at a later date, or you could just build your economy like Stalin did on large collective farms and industry.

If you could build various road types and various road volume amounts were a separate control, that would be ok. But I agree with the concerns expressed because not many cities were designed from the ground up anyway, most evolve over time. So even if road based density is realistic in some areas and logical, I still want to be able to have a small family house on the Princes Highway like they do have a lot of, or a tall residential block on a side street like they do here in the Gong. Here in Australia our cities have large swathes of suburban land and development alongside say the Hume Highway or the Great Western Highway in Sydney can range from small houses to tall apartment blocks, likewise with a small side street. As a rule of thumb it could work, but ideally volume and road type would be separate. However I'd still like to be able to have a tall tower construction on a lane if I wished to, or a row of small houses that remain a row of small houses on a highway. That is perfectly realistic. If I wanted to build a logical city that worked like clockwork I'd construct an arcology.

I think if this game is good enough we will play it more in earnest and not be so happy go lucky about creating cities, but focus more on one or two anyway. I would agree saving would screw up the global economy. What would happen regarding sharing of cities at an exchange? Also modding would have to be pretty tightly controlled. If single player didn't affect the economy but was just affected by it, then this could be the aren a for saved cities, ideal cities, sandboxing etc.

I believe advertising revenue from realistic billboard etc style ads should be sufficient.

Griefing is not an issue if you plan. If you intend to build an ideal city, play solo or with trusted friends. If you intend to experiment or grow a city organically play with friends. If you wish to build a completely experimental venture play with randoms. It's a simple social algorithm really. If you like someone you won't grief them, so the chat feature will make Mayors into friends or enemies as the case would be IRL. Councils do compete. And purpose troll cities/Mayors could be reported and have a strike system, then booted from multiplayer. Easy. Game data could be used in a 'trial' if they wanted to push it one step further and be realistic and fair.

^ This.

Please don't bring back having to place every power line between every block... unless this game is truly amazing and has to be played in positive real time to be enjoyed... Having to lay every line... Distracts one from greater plans