magicrobbie

Let's look at the positives: the first good decision by EA/Maxis in a long time. We finally got offline mode! Yay! Modders of this world: unite to keep this franchise alive! Improve this game and show EA how great it could have been from the start! Thank you in advance!

The core gameplay engine is flawed. So either EA fixes it (unlikely), modders fix it (they would if allowed to) or it doesn't get fixed at all. I just wish a big shot at EA would actually sit down to play and thus understand Sim City 4 and the importance of the modding community to the gameplay experience and brand value.

- offline singleplayer - "meaningful" AI (Sims behave like people, not like one-day nonsense resource agents) - full and free moddability - larger maps (at least 4x current size) - terraforming - zoning like in SC4 (lot size, density) - zoning density based on zoning, not on road size - adjacent city tiles so that we can create huge metropolitan areas - possibility to save and load games at any time - map creator - subways

EA please walk the talk and fix SimCity. It should be clear from the Forums what should be done.

"Sports Parks: Tuned the amount of skateboarders and neighborhood athletes at the sports parks." Maxis, don't try to fool us with big patch numbers (2.0, 3.0) - fix the real, core gameplay issues everybody is (still) talking about.

Guys, don't let them guide you into the wrong direction. Glassbox had and has major flaws (i.e. pathfinding, agent-based sims). Those issues are a result of bad game design, not of overstretching the simulation's level of detail. I am still waiting for an honest apology combined with the promise to fix the extensively discussed core gameplay issues.

In fact, EA might be well advised to publicly accept the help of the modding community to fix this game. With all due respect - after what we've seen - I am not sure whether the guys at Maxis/EA are capable of fixing this game. But I am sure that the modders out there would be able to fix SimCity within weeks right at its core: offline region play, large and adjacenity tiles, an INTELLIGENT simulation with meaningful AI, old-school zoning (low, medium, high density in control of player) with visible building lots, and terraforming. EA - please stop spending money on propaganda, invest in capable people and listen to your loyal and talented fans!

that's great info, thank you. would Azzer also be able to comment on whether it is possible to increase city size (processing requirements, inflated processing needs due to weak AI, graphics, etc)?

salami tactics - they only come out with the truth if they can't hold up their lies anymore. bit by bit. wondering what EA's reply to the outcry over massive flaws in game design/Glassbox will be.

Dear ETK, we are not talking about a few minor compromises due to limited available processing power. We are talking about MAJOR flaws in Glassbox. An agent-based simulation doesn't make any sense if agents fail to complete basic tasks in a meaningful manner.

With all due respect, I disagree. Not buying the game and complaining here is the only way for us to express our feelings and make our voices heard - in the hope to still eventually get a worthy successor of Sim City 4. And we might prevent others from buying a game they won't like - remember that there is a no refund-policy. Looking at the game - weren't our concerns justified? Please think about it in a bigger context - in any good and working democracy, being a critical and outspoken citizen helps raise the standards of public governance.

Thanks - clearly demonstrates that there are a lot more issues than just server problems/DRM. If pathfinding fails on such a basic level, the whole idea behind Glassbox (agent-based simulation) falls apart. Epic failure! What were they thinking and doing?

yes, of course!

It's not all about always online DRM. It is also about deleting user-friendly core features for the sake of higer control over the user-experienc and DLC (terraforming, modding, undo, reload old save, etc.). PR been horribly unhonest. Lastly, the game seems prematurely released as there are still various bugs within the game engine (weak traffic simulation, buggy agent simulation). An extended open beta and open and transparent communication with the loyal fan base could have prevented much of this disaster. EA really got it all wrong on this one!

It's not Sim City, it's Sim Village Societies.