Rakeesh

Actually, it's for the other way around, the second reason you mentioned. So that people on planet offer don't leave their games running all night building insane amounts of wealth. It's quite common for mmos to have such an afk feature. Here it just pauses you, while generally being afk ends up with you being booted from the server in other mmos.

The lack of mass transit does not make the game unplayable. Nor does not having the tools for custom content. SimCity did not have it's custom content tools out on release but it seems it did well enough without them until they were introduced. And I'd beg to differ, a lot of people are directly comparing Cities to SimCity and I agree with fan42. They both have their positives, they both have their negatives, and they both accomplish things well that the other does not.

There's a trick to have huge open tiling parks. Just divide the larger area with cheap roads, fill in the smaller portions, then delete one road at a time. You can fill in the gaps left by the roads without problem as long as they're not too long as the system recognizes the other parks are boundaries.

A little bit of everything. At least until I find a style I like that also looks good. I'm still trying to get the hang of making roads that actually stay straight for great lengths...parallel roads tend to tweak a bit to the left or right and cause it some discrepancies in lot placement.

From what I understand, they're giving out randomly as part of a lottery every so many day, unsure how many off the top of my head. The people who receive the blueprints can use them or give them away. If they don't use them by the time the next lotto comes around, they lose them (it prevents blueprint hoarding). Also, from what I understand, you can make a request (different wording) to get a particular blueprint, which increases your odds that if you do get one it'll be the one you want/need. Correct me if I'm wrong.

F2 does work! Thanks Tyson, much appreciated.

I'm actually having the same problem. Even with window mode selected it's still full-screen maximized and I'd really like it window mode so I can start multi-tasking again. X3

So I've encountered a rather strange problem. The game crashes when trying to load a map. Any map. The handshake-icon on the screen fills to halfway then the game crashes, windows stating that the program has stopped, no error code given. Be it tutorial, single player, or attempting to view someone else's city on planet offer, it just....dies. I meet and exceed all system requirements, running on vista 64. I've read through and not seen anyone mention a matching problem.

Problem solved - or rather, gone. I uninstalled and installed it fresh and all seems to be back in order now. Still unsure of what the problem was, what caused it, or why it started up so suddenly.

I think it's just a bit of bad coding. Instead of giving you the cities with the least, it's giving you the most. Just a bit backwards really.

Got to love all those little touches. Are there any others anyone is aware of that we interested should be on the lookout for?

Yes, it's a fantastic video and I do love it. There's a huge amount of detail in it and it just flows so naturally. Especially the first part where they're showcasing the industries. I kinda wish they'd have stayed with the rail-view throughout the video or switched to different sorts of transportation to show off different aspects. The fly-by cam was a bit...overdone. It just didn't have the same impact as the train. And don't worry. Thought there are some features within it that aren't present now, the blurb released with the video points that this is also what their vision entails for the future of the game, not just the present. To celebrate the release of the game and share with you the vision we have for Cities XL, we are releasing today a cinematic trailer that will take you on a nice journey in the present and upcoming Cities XL universe.quote> Besides, it's not like every other game has never embellished their cinematics at all.

You will enjoy it as long as you remember that this isn't Sim City and shouldn't be thought of as a sequel to the series. There are still lots of bugs and glitches as is normal with all new pc releases, and there are still some grey areas as to future content. Overall, I recommend it.

25? Isn't the limit of allowed cities online 5? Kinda curious where you got 25 from. > . >

I haven't tried it, but I'm assuming it would take about an hour when the current update system takes place. Once it registers there's no longer a city there, it might go up then. Again, no guarantee of accuracy, just a theory that needs testing.

Ah, but remember, the city doesn't build buildings unless they're government structures. They just sell land once, and tax the private owners for the amount of land they own, and the structures on said land. They also tax land transfer when private owners sell homes to another private owner. So if the city wants to take back the property they'd need to pay the private owners fair market value for the land to take it back. Which means each time you'd want to expand that road, you'd have to pay out big time before you can even start working on the roads. There are just some rl concepts that wouldn't translate well into a fun game.

I agree with Androv. You can still build a great city without mass transit, and when they do add them in it'll just your cities all the more fantastic. And it's most likely that they did push the game out without mass transit because of their timeline. Logically speaking, it just doesn't make sense to withhold the release of a product based on a single gameplay element that is not gamebreaking if it isn't included on launch.

The online aspect. As much as a lot of people are complaining about it and it's associated fee, I think it's a step in the right direction. Still needs some tweaking of course.

To your first question, I wouldn't think so. Limited edition content tends to be a touchy subject as those who paid extra for it often become really pissed if said content gets offered out for less. To the second, probably more iffy. Actual business names tend to be more protected then a world wide known structure like the Eiffel Tower. But there is some hope. For example, we know they're including a Ford Dealership and Ford vehicles in a future content pack because they made a deal with the company, who is now listed under their partners.