rommelgain

The Glassbox engine is one of those things that sounds really cool but in practice becomes prohibitive, expensive and ultimately unnecessary. 95%+ of what Glassbox does can be more than adequately simulated without having huge processing overhead, cloud servers and and all the costs associated therein. It would be like taking your favorite MMO or FPS character design system and adding in parameters for the number, size and color of eyelashes, pubic hairs and moles and then adding in a complete psychological profile that goes all the way back to your avatar's birth and childhood. Though it might be 'neat' it would be totally unnecessary and waste a huge amount of developer resources. Now imagine your newly 'more complete' avatar only being allowed to run around in an area the size of a one bedroom apartment, even if it was nicely appointed and of a pleasant temperature. The 'gain' doesn't justify the cost or the restrictions required. Furthermore, marrying one's self to a game in the form of server infrastructure for years to come is fraught with danger both financially and with regards to company reputation because at some point the former consideration comes into direct conflict with the latter and an unfortunate sacrifice must be made.

Anytime one decides to rollover, give up, give in and move on and keep their mouth shut, the door is closed on the hope of ever having change. It is probably too late for SimCity2013 but this whole debacle can still be a cautionary tale for the industry as a whole. Secondly, seeing the level of outcry as the legions of fans come out of the woodwork lets potential 'good' developers know, "hey, there really is a demand for this type of game and people are passionate about it!". Imagine if from all of this came an announcement that FHI was going to fully fund and develop the CitiesXL franchise into what effectively would be much more in line with the fans of SC4. At the very least, perhaps we can put a few nails in the coffin of 'always online' and shoe-horned multi-player features that aren't required for what has always been a fine single player experience. Let your voices be heard! Beat the dead horse if you are so inclined then go on your way, rest, and if you feel up to it again come back for a few more whacks. EA/Maxis have been pinned down, tied up and are about to be virtually water-boarded. I think for once they may be hearing you ;-)

I think some of you are missing a very important point regarding suburbia- human psychology. There are lots of folks, especially in NA, that do not wish to live on top of one another or ride a crowded bus/train everywhere they go. It's a matter of what one's priorities are- walking to shops/stores/work or having more privacy and space. Due to land prices, most cannot afford to have this in the urban core so they move as far out as the have to to achieve their ideals, weighing that with how far they have to commute and what that will cost them. Even with gasoline at $6 per gallon, it will still be remarkably cheaper per square foot/acre to live further out and commute. The reason there was a percieved 'flight' back into the city is that lots of folks based their dwellings on a budget that did not include super high fuel cost. Locally many complained but very few packed up and moved in to the city, however many newcomers opted for dense urban areas over the suburbs to a greater extent than before. Mass transit is great in New York, London, Tokyo and other huge, dense areas. For 95%+ NA cities, it is nothing more than subsidized transportation for those who can't afford a car. Buses take entirely too long to get you where you are going and are unreliable. Trains are limited to certain hub areas. For anyone that can afford it, there is no reason why you would subject yourself to the torture of mass transit. Most of our cities are simply not designed for mass transit. The density does not exist over the entire span of the city to make it efficient. Not to mention many americans find that their vehicle during a commute is the only time they get away from everything and have some alone time. Sad, I know, but true for many. At any rate, from a fuel cost standpoint that will be moot in a handful of years as our personal vehicles become several times over more efficient. The real question is whether our new social rennaissance (ironically brought on by isolation at home with a computer chatting away with everyone...) will continue to help spur denser development. I think it may as people broaden their horizons/interests and find socializing on and off the net to be a larger interest. People want to work less and spend less time with the rigors of getting to and from work and everything else. Other priorities are changing as well, families are getting smaller and i think there may be a trend toward 'downsizing' in general, some of it due to recession and some due to a new consciousness of excess and a greater focus on individual needs/wants/desires. We can call it new urban selfishness lol.

The main problem with road construction (it's just as idiotic in the US btw) is that when you set up a bidding system where by the lowest bidder always wins, you create two problems: 1. Cost overruns. Inevitable when you have people clamoring for the bottom dollar. 2. Substandard design. It is true that governmental agencies have the final say, but usually it is a design by commitee situation. They have to balance how much money they have, versus how much of that money they will waste on the project along the way. That said...the costs of building a highway are completely ridiculous, even the lowest bidder quotes. It also takes an inordinately long time. Have you ever noticed how many people are working on any given project at a time? The job sites seem extraordinarily under populated to me. Compare this to a private commercial development and its like night and day. Here in Texas we sometimes have developers build a certain amount of infrastructure if it is a large project and will negatively impact local traffic. It is quite amazing to see how much faster things get done. Kinda makes you think... Of course this is what happens when the government does something. A day late and a dollar short.