_MostlyHarmless

I said exactly this in another thread (didn't get nearly the praise you did ). Agree 100%. Some people are so clueless/ignorant as to how game development happens. Seeing more than a handful of games go on a downward spiral even before release, I'm fairly certain any customer feedback will be minimally considered. We can argue all we want, we can provide better solutions. Point is, this game is getting made in its current state. At this moment I've lost 99.9% attention for this game. I'm more excited for Watch Dogs or indie games like Gunpoint.

This. And this alone. Period. End of story. Sadly, it's just the trend of gaming nowadays. I'd be fine if it was truly a multiplayer game. Seems to me they decided to make everything cloud-based to control the software, then decided "hey, let's make this multiplayer". I know not a whole lot has been released yet, but it just seems like an afterthought. Just like how CXL multiplayer was.

Reboot, sequel, prequel, whatever.... It's the next game to be released. Why shouldn't we have high expectations? This is 2012, they have had plenty of time to pool ideas and craft a game that will blow us all away. From what I've seen so far, it hasn't. That's a bit unfair. I should be able to change my opinion whenever I please based on new information. And you are pretty loose with the term "whining" (which, by the way, you are whining a awful lot about people whining). Some people are, but the vast majority of what I've seen on these forums has simply been criticism. Is criticism not an effective feedback tool?

The press releases are out there. Yea, it's a little slim at the moment, but some MAJOR aspects of the game are known. It's these major aspects that are a big turnoff to many people, myself included. Sorry, it's just been my experience that games don't change all that much from initial views. We can only base our opinions off of what's been released and confirmed, not what we hope to be released and confirmed (remember, a lot of the development cycle is simply beta testing, bug fixing, and polishing...not shoehorning in major aspects of a game). I've been disappointed far too many times and it'd be naive to think they'll do a complete 180 and give us what we want. As I keep saying though, I hope I'm proven wrong. Sure, people are being critical, as they should after so many years...that doesn't mean they're being "uncivil". If anybody is saying that it's because EA has disappointed people time after time after time. Whether or not Maxis will is up for debate, but EA's track record doesn't sit well with many people.

There's been numerous press releases and details about how the core game will function, if you bothered to read them. We aren't basing opinions strictly on screenshots (which, I'll add, I've seen relatively few of). There's not too much to misinterpret. It's replay value, for me, ended long ago. With the move to 3d, true transit networks, nonlinear zoning and roads, bridges, etc that CXL delivered (however halfassedly), the bar was set way too high for me to go back to SC4. It's just a shame they couldn't fix the memory leak and/or perfect the game. Games can be great and still be way outdated. Don't get me wrong, it's great that there's still interest and mod development for SC4. But the core game doesn't change. It's still box zoning, straight roads (no matter how you zigzag to create the appearance of curves), absurd bus routing, etc.

I disagree; I don't think it's that simple. I agree that SimCity should be open and nonrestrictive, allowing the player to creat their city, how they want it, but I don't think the game should be a sandbox. Look at all the previous games; they had restrictions, mainly the budget. Other restrictions such as the ones seen in SC4 should be included as well. I think many people want a challenge, as there are challenges and restrictions in real-life urban design and civil engineering. For such a high-profile game, I doubt they can release it as a pure sandbox. There has to be a point. An objective. Money/budget I guess can be one of them, but don't make it something dumb like region restrictions, transportation, etc. Looking back at simcity games, budget was really the only restriction (besides software/programming limitations). Have scenarios, have objectives, have Steam-esque unlocks for doing certain things, but don't restrict it arbitrarily because that's the way they decided to take the game. It will fail, I guarantee it.

It doesn't have to satisfy everyone (that's impossible anyways), it just has to be a step FORWARD in gaming. Judging by all the news, it's at best 1 step forward and 2 steps back. As far as giving them time?...well, they've had nearly a decade since SC4, coupled with the failure of SCS, to figure out how to make a better game. There are a lot of dealbreakers in the game already for so many people. And I don't mean outlandish dealbreakers that can never happen. I mean simple, logical dealbreakers that SHOULD be in the game (large city tiles, offline play, etc). Do you honestly think in the 8 months they roll this out and some of the glaring problems (dealbreakers) with the game now will be fixed? lol. Maybe I'm cynical, or I've been around the block too many times, but I seriously doubt these major issues will be resolved. Sure, they'll polish it up a bit, throw in some stuff we never asked for. At the end of the day though, this game will not be what people asked for. I really hope I'm proven wrong.

We are being patient. It's just that from what we've seen NOW, it's hard to be optimistic. I'd be fine with them taking another 2 years to get this game out, IF (and that's a BIG if) it was made properly.

I pre-ordered, albeit not with my own money . I'm still having regret. The more I read, the more it seems this is the same old song and dance these days with terrible development. At this stage, I expect a full letdown.

For me, it's quite simple: Open Sandbox. Do what you want, how you want, when you want. Any restrictions would simply be absurd in this day and age, there's literally no reason for it. If Minecraft has better ability to allow the player to do what he wants, this game will fail miserably. It's that simple.

Seriously! What in hell is wrong with developers these days? Have they completely forgotten what makes a good game? I feel like the games I've played over the last 3 or 4 years have just been cobbled together with absurd compromises. This is 2012, games should be getting better, not worse! Pretty graphics should not be crutch. No offense, but SC4 is hella old. Even with all the mods it's such a dated game. I mean, great for everybody here who still plays and enjoys it...but jesus, it's almost 10 years old! (which is an eternity in the gaming world)

I feel like there is still too much dead space. Cool update though, love the trams

I hear that so often from fans of games, but I'd say 99% of them sooner or later break down and get it. But whatever, I'd say they aren't concerned a few hardcore fans here and there won't buy it.

Cities XL was representative of what could be for a city simulation game. For that it should be respected. Curved Roads. Road/bridge heights. Much more controls with parks and plazas. Transit routes. 3D map. Etc... However, it's bugs and lack of modding (until recently) pretty much stunted it's growth in the hard core city sim fanbase. I myself feel the game has/had more potential than SC4 simply because of it's non linear design. A vanilla Cities XL map could potentially blow away SC4 + mods map simply because it's not gridded. (There's a lot of effort to hide the fact that SC4 is a grid-based game, but it's fairly obvious. But I digress.). The memory leak bug pretty much killed Cities XL before it could even become something. But the ideas where there, and it showed what could be possible. It's like the Duke Nukem of city sims. All the right ideas, but really just didn't catch wind; whereas games like Quake and Half Life really take those ideas and run with them.

Think about this from a developer perspective. People like us (the hardcore fan) will most likely buy this no matter what. It's not in their interest to please us at release (if at all). They need to reel in new users because they know we'll most likely buy the game anyways. They'll release an SDK or modding tools (most likely) after they've gotten the money from new players.

Transportation. Complex junctions. Elevated and subway lines. Bus routes. Trams. Road customization. Really, there's no reason out of the box this game can't at least deliver what Cities XL does in terms of vanilla transportation features.

Way too early for me to tell. However, if the current trend in gaming prevails: it will over-estimate and under-deliver give us random stuff that nobody asked for release the game early, unfinished, and buggy have terrible/slow support, one step forward, two steps back I've gotten excited over a few games recently, only to be completely underwhelmed. I really hope that I'm proven wrong, but it's going to take a lot to impress this group of people (myself included) and they definitely have their work cut out for them. From initial screens and videos, for me it's way too cartoony. I haven't seen enough about the transportation (especially subways, bus routes, etc). At the moment I'd give it probably a 2, definitely not worth my money in its current state. As I said though, there's a lot of time to get this done. I hope they do it right and not rush an unfinished product out the door as the trend seems these days. Really the only glimmer of hope is the explicit inclusion of custom user content and modding.

1. I play SC the way it is, and I don't worry about the mods etc. Online. I just play it the way it is. Can you do this on XL or is there alot of things you need to download to play the game? Nope, you can play straight from install if you choose. 2. Can you just play the game, or do you need to go online to trade etc. I've read this somewhere on here. You'll need to trade, but there is no online. 3. I've read there are no buses or mass transit, but this may have been fixed. Is there buses, and do they work/ do the job. There are buses and subways, and the bus system is pretty neat: you can make individual bus routes where your citizens need it. 4. Is the unemployment just as annoying as SC 4. I could have someone living in a house right across the street from where they worked, and still would have the "too long of a commute." This was really annoying. I haven't had many problems, mostly because of the trading system. You can "import" jobs or "export" workers. 5. From what I've read, you can't customze maps or anything. You just select a preset map, and start building. You can't make your own mountains etc. Is that accurate? The maps are all preset, but you can download custom ones to REPLACE the ones in the game. 6. I've read that the game is buggy. I don't want to pay 50 dollars for a game that doens't work most of the time. It has a memory leak which causes the game to lag over time. Other than that I haven't seen any deal-breaking bugs. Streets could be done better. 7. Is there anything you have to login into to play the game, or can you just play it like SC. You had to register with SC, so I'm guessing it's the same for this? No login.

How do you guys get Asian style buildings? Some from my first city with CXL...I finished the downtown and some of the outer high density areas...just filling in medium density now.

I used linux exclusively for a couple years but recently went back to Windows. The cons of linux for me far outweigh any minimal benefit it may bring. Awesome if you can get this game to work, and props for using linux...as far as I'm concerned, gaming and linux don't mix.

I'm a SimCity player since the first one and SC4 Deluxe is the Half-Life of city building games. It's classic, it's timeless, it's customizable. I feel people will still be playing this for many years to come. However, in order to fully enjoy it you need to download endless mods and BATs (custom content) for it to even be worth it. My biggest problem with SC4 is the crashing. Endless crashes. If you forget to save often... CLX 2011 is the future of city building games. It's a bit harder than SC I must say, and the trading is confusing at first. But it's 3D which means you don't have to build grids all the time. I'm loving the transit in CXL, as you can make individual bus lines, subway lines, much MUCH more road options... However, there' aren't really rail options outside of subways. There isn't much custom content, though is is some. I think this game will only improve with time. It is demanding on your computer, but it's still playable. I have a modest computer rig and it runs well at a city of over 200K.

Hockey is my sport.

I like it. It takes time to get used to but it's fun. I'm still disappointed in lack of rail options, but the transit routes are a great addition. The game is a resource hog unfortunately. As soon as you get more than 5,000 people you system will lag big time!

How is it possible to add on to an existing subway line? Do you have to build the entire line first, because I cannot figure out how to add to the line after I have completed it. I don't mean adding another line, but rather extending the existing one.

Thanks for the replies. I tried out the in-game tutorial and confirmed that you cannot edit a line once it's built. You have to demolish the entire line and begin again, so careful planning is needed!