SimCity announced, 2013 release.

[.Taffy 10]

EA have announced at GDC that Maxis will return to 'reboot' the SimCity franchise. A new engine has been created for the game called "GlassBox", the first details of which are beginning to emerge. It is promised to be a true succsor to the previous SimCity games, particularly SimCity 4 and at this time seems to be exclusively for PC and Mac (yes really!). Time will tell if this is the true, long awaited sequel, personally at this stage I have a good feeling about it.

In the mean time, what are your thoughts? How many of you hardcore tactical mil-simers are also hard core urban planners at heart?

[gammadust 12]

I used to be, back in the day... there are musics from the 90s that flash me back some cities i was building. Nostalgia.

For now i am "cautiously optimistc" (sounds so good to say this :)

The potential is enormous, then again I had the exact same feelings about Cities XL, having participated in the Beta, i was aware of limitations but with a positive overall evaluation.

Then so called "Planet Offer" was introduced (MMO features) and many of those expected features were only available in that multiplayer mode. Three iterations have gone by and i haven't touched it.

The released trailer shows some pretty stuff, but i care much more about the actual city facilities simulation (RCI, transportation, etc), hopefully these will at minimum be up to par with SC4.

What worries me is that, apparently the single player will be online only (1-16 Players multiplayer), and this turns me off a bit, there is no conclusive info yet though. As a consumer i fear for whatever EA lays its hands on, we'll see.

BTW, the action is all at simtropolis.com. I made a poll about this concern "Fully Featured Solo Offline Play Mode".

[krycek 349]

Simcity Societies was pure crap,I don't have high hopes regarding this one.When EA gets something right it's usually the exception to the rule.

[Tonci87 163]

EA? I doubt that this will be as good as the old ones.

[.Taffy 10]

The fact that Maxis and some of the orginal team are working on it is good news, though I guess that didn't stop Spore failing to live up to it's potential. One positive is that developers have confirmed it will be moddable, hopefully indicating that they won't try and prevent mods and might even release tools to help create them.

My main worry at the moment is that 1-16 player thing. Hopefully it means that gameplay will be exactly the same regardless of how many players there are, so entire regions and the promised resources even in singleplayer. If it is purposely crippled like Cities XL was that will be very dissapointing. However, 16 players isn't exactly MMO territory like Cities XL was meant to be and actually makes a fully modded game pheasible even online.

Another thing that reassures me at this time is that SimCity 4 (as far as I can tell) has consistently outsold Societies, which may be all the convincing EA needs to sit back and give Maxis free reign.

Finally, have look at this. It's a sample of the coding used in the GlassBox engine. I barely know a thing about code but even I can see how simple this is and build a picture of how the game mechanics will work. If modders were to get their hands on that God knows what would be possible!

Gamasutra Article

Simtropolis Forum Analysis

EDIT: One more thing; the price. It's an eye watering £65! As shocking as that may be, it's worth bearing in mind you don't charge that kind of price for a game aimed at the casual players.

Edited March 8, 2012 by .Taffy

[Tonci87 163]

You charge that kind of price exactly for games aimed at casual players!

[gammadust 12]

^^ pretty much Tonci, though i paid more in previous hardcore sims (FS comes to mind), i am ok as long as the game lives up to actual simulation expectations and it is not dumbed down.

Regarding the looks so far of the engine are very promising indeed, and allows for solving one of my main gripes with SC4 (vanishing cars), this non statistical approach is exacly what i would hope for.

From that same thread .Taffy linked, just some direct links (videos):

Sim City 5 Inside the GlassBox-Engine (gfx not final!) 1of4

Sim City 5 Inside the GlassBox-Engine (gfx not final!) 2of4

Sim City 5 Inside the GlassBox-Engine (gfx not final!) 3of4

Sim City 5 Inside the GlassBox-Engine (gfx not final!) 4of4

and the slides

[4 IN 1 0]

The only problem for me: origin

[STALKERGB 6]

Simcity Societies was pure crap,I don't have high hopes regarding this one.When EA gets something right it's usually the exception to the rule.

Societies wasn't made by Maxis though was it? Apparently Societies is one of the games EA don't like mentioning because it wasn't all that good.

Anyway, so far 5 looks like a good return to the better days of 3000/4 (at least, they are MY favourites)!

@.Taffy, where did you find that info on the price? Does sound a lot but if it's worth it... :)

EDIT: Oh and although I love the "everything you see is actually happening" approach, I hope they still have some good old graphs for me to stare at :)

Edited March 12, 2012 by STALKERGB

[.Taffy 10]

I got the price from some early assesments at Simtropolis, however Amazon.com now puts the price at £40 for the limited edition; Amazon.com.

And yes the Agents system does sound promising. Seems like a massively expanded version of the system used in Tropico, if you're familiar with the game.

[Flash Thunder 10]

Great the only thing is origin will be shoved down our throats....

[4 IN 1 0]

As if Origin isn't enough

Really, there is many ways for those goons to go, they choose the worse of it, just fuck off EA. FPDR

[Tonci87 163]

Good news: If you want to download SimCity somewhere other than Origin, you'll have the option to do so. An EA representative confirmed with Joystiq that the title would be available for purchase on other digital distribution platforms, though a list of stores has yet to be finalized. SimCity is arriving sometime in 2013.

Lead designer Stone Librande confirmed that SimCity would be an internet-dependent experience. Players will need to be online on Origin while playing, even if that wasn't the point of purchase. The always-on connection becomes necessary with the game's emphasis on multiplayer and regional impact, and the use of a global economy that all players can influence.

Edited March 29, 2012 by Tonci87

[[evo] dan 79]

its a trap?

[nodunit 397]

Hooray we don't have to buy it through origin but require it to play it, because I love being forced to have their software with no options or offline play mode, so if my internet goes down one day and I'm playing, I'd have to settle for connection lost or something...I fucking love you EA.

[krycek 349]

No matter how many petitions are or how much people will moan about this shit,the only way to fight this is with your wallet.They should get a hint with this retarded stuff "always on" or having 20 separate software on your pc just to fire a game.Steam is the only compromise I did.

So vote with your wallet people,it's not like they won't care and get big bucks from the MTV crowd because this game is too advanced for those.

[gammadust 12]

Hooray we don't have to buy it through origin but require it to play it, because I love being forced to have their software with no options or offline play mode, so if my internet goes down one day and I'm playing, I'd have to settle for connection lost or something...I fucking love you EA.

If that is your only gripe with the offline shenanigan, you won't have to worry:

(...) On that note, those of you who can't tolerate EA's Origin and online-only games should tap out early before you get excited about this: Yes, you will have to register an Origin account in order to play, and yes, you must be online at all times while playing in order to start playing. EA has confirmed that you will not be kicked out if your connection is interrupted. Moving on.

here

Anyways, i am surprised tough, they at least have come forward in confirming the need to be online even if playing solo. It requires some balls to that given the community being mostly solo players and, as grown ups, less prone to be talked into a useless online requirement.

Edited March 30, 2012 by gammadust

[dmarkwick 261]

Oof. Well, as usual I will expect the message to be completely misunderstood. Many people boycotting = non-interest in the genre and/or platform. Nothing to do with DRM :)

[nodunit 397]

If that is your only gripe with the offline shenanigan, you won't have to worry:

here

Anyways, i am surprised tough, they at least have come forward in confirming the need to be online even if playing solo. It requires some balls to that given the community being mostly solo players and, as grown ups, less prone to be talked into a useless online requirement.

But if you can play it play it offline, then why should Origin even be necessary to start the game...would a DISK CHECK not be enough? You see I saw some sense in origin, apparently how it is able to let you invite friends to the same game, create parties, track stats and browse servers quickly and with ease, at least that is what I saw in comparison to my experience with battlefield 2. So it's okay there, but why sim city of all things, are they planning on tracking player city population, funding records, catastrophes and other things?

Edited March 31, 2012 by NodUnit

[STALKERGB 6]

But if you can play it play it offline, then why should Origin even be necessary to start the game...would a DISK CHECK not be enough?

It's the same for stuff that uses steam but you can play offline though isn't it?

[Nicholas 5]

I am actually very excited about this. I remember in school, we were allowed to play SimCity 2000. Then, I ended up buying SimCity 3000 for home and later received SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition as a gift. I never did bother with SimCity Societies as I had heard it was horrible. Fast forward to 2011 and I heard about CitiesXL, although I did not like the subscription model so I never got it. Once CitiesXL 2011 came out, it satisfied my need for another city management game.

I don't mind if SimCity 5 uses Origin. It's not that bad of an application and I like how I can buy a physical game in a store and enter my key on Origin and download it. Don't tell me it's bloatware. If you plan on doing any gaming that requires Origin in the first place, I'm sure you have one hell of a PC with plenty of CPU power to handle background applications.

I'm also not worried about the internet connection requirement. These days, pretty much anyone with a PC should have a persistent internet connection. The only time my internet connection is down is when my router needs maintenance or when my ISP performs maintenance, which is not very often, and if they do perform maintenance it is most likely to happen at night when I'm sleeping or while I'm at work.

[.Taffy 10]

The first in-game screenshots.

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/7117/article/first-in-game-simcity-5-screenshots/

Quite cartoony in it's colours and textures, though farily sharp and detailed profiles for the buildings I think. If a mod were released that made them grittier and more realistic I would probably use it.

[Tonci87 163]

Well, that very catoonish...

[Nicholas 5]

Wow. I think it actually looks pretty awesome.

[McSpeed 1]

having had a look at the vids i have to say. NO THANKS.

i played SimCity4 on and of since it was released and when i play it i do it pretty extensively.

what i love about it is the chance to build huge Metroplises... metropli?... whatever the plural may be and just zoom out and look at the entire map (multiple parts of the map creating one massive city)

what i see in those vids reminds me of cities XL, which i did play for a while, this just doesnt grab me, sure it looks nice and the micro management is fine, but i for one dont get the feeling like i am managing a major city.

i dont think we will ever see a game like sim city 4 again, sadly.

just as well the modding community is still going strong :)