Topic: SimCity

[ren]

[ Invalid YouTube link ]

I want this so badly that I might even buy a computer to play it. This video looks super-promising, hopefully nothing changes between now and February.

[MysterD]

And, nobody is surprised....

[iPPi]

I'm interested, but will wait for the initial rush to taper off before trying it.

[scottws]

I was excited but am going to hold off on this.  Apparently there are major complaints about the size of the city you can build.  And there were serious bugs.

[K-man]

When the game was first announced I got very excited.  Unfortunately it appears they've made a series of design decisions that pretty much kill any desire I have to play it.

I'll stick with my copies of 2000, 3000, and 4

[Cools!]

Yup, lost interest.

[scottws]

Oh yeah, and always-on Internet connection required.  No thanks.

[gpw11]

You know, I wasn't the biggest fan of 4 for some reason

[MysterD]

You know, I wasn't the biggest fan of 4 for some reason

I still got my untouched retail box copy of SimCity 4: Deluxe.
Looks quite attractive, compared to SimCity (2013).

[scottws]

You know, I wasn't the biggest fan of 4 for some reason

SimCity 3000 was my favorite.  I found SC4 to be frustrating compared to SC3000.  I remember I had a city with a decent population, but it was uneducated and crime was running rampant.  The problem was that I couldn't afford to add schools or police stations.

[iPPi]

I think 3000 is the only SimCity that I've sunk a good number of hours into.  It is also probably my favourite. 

[K-man]

2000 is probably my favorite, although that's likely nostalgia talking.

I loved the soundtrack to Sim City 3000 so much that I actually purchased it from Maxis.

[Cools!]

I played one on a PS1, probably SimCity 2000.

[MysterD]

GiantBomb -> Amazon Download Store stops digital sales of SimCity (2013) b/c EA's server issues, for now...

[K-man]

In what has to be the most incredible display of PR spin seen in a videogame crisis, an Electronic Arts spokesperson has claimed SimCity's notoriously awful DRM setbacks are a result of the game being just too gosh-darn enjoyable to quit! No, this isn't an Onion article.

"What we saw was that players were having such a good time they didn't want to leave the game, which kept our servers packed and made it difficult for new players to join," explained senior producer Kip Katsarelis on EA's forums.

The remark has already led to SimCity being renamed to SpinCity (thanks to Hollander Cooper!) in celebration of an almost impressive bit of damage control. SimCity is now the game too fun to work, and it's all your fault for wanting to play it so badly.

[Quemaqua]

Haha, wow.

[K-man]

and it gets better

[Quemaqua]

Hahaha

[idolminds]

Just to be fair to EA, SimCity UK FB page states it is not an official EA page.

[Cobra951]

This is too good.  I don't have to rail against EA, or always-online DRM.  They're doing all that work better than I ever could.  I can just sit back, watch, and smile.

[MysterD]

This is too good.  I don't have to rail against EA, or always-online DRM.  They're doing all that work better than I ever could.  I can just sit back, watch, and smile.

{offers to share my bag of popcorn w/ Cobra}

[MysterD]

On March 18th, those who already activated SimCity (2013) will get a FREE EA game...
We don't know what EA games will be able to be picked from; or if it will be any EA game; or if they will just give you a certain game; or what...

Something Special for Your Trouble

The good news is that SimCity is a solid hit in all major markets.  The consensus among critics and players is that this is fundamentally a great game.  But this SimCity is made to be played online, and if you can’t get a stable connection, you’re NOT having a good experience. So we’re not going to rest until we’ve fixed the remaining server issues.

And to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio.  On March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game.

I know that’s a little contrived – kind of like buying a present for a friend after you did something crummy.  But we feel bad about what happened.  We’re hoping you won’t stay mad and that we’ll be friends again when SimCity is running at 100 percent.

SimCity is a GREAT game and the people who made it are incredibly proud.  Hang in there – we’ll be providing more updates throughout the weekend.

[scottws]

Of course it will be an EA game to further tie you to Origin.

[MysterD]

From EA's Twitter account for SimCity

‏We have no intention of offlining SimCity any time soon but we'll look into that as part of our earning back your trust efforts.
12:10 PM - Mar 9, 2013

[scottws]

EA also said that it was designed from the ground-up as a multiplayer game so that making it offline isn't possible.  Source:  http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/03/ea-simcity-server-response-time-has-increased-40-fold-since-launch/.

There are too many problems with this game:  online-only, poor server support given the load, small city size, no terraforming, no state saves, no disabling disasters, Origin-only, it is published by EA, etc.  I think it's best just to ignore this game and move on.  If you need a SimCity fix, just play 3000 or 4.

[Cobra951]

Right.  The lockout is perfect, making my interest in it nil.  Same story as Diablo 3.  Part of the game doesn't exist at all on your system, so you've only bought an incomplete product.  You need to rely on a constant offsite service to be able to use it.  No thanks, ever.

[K-man]

I always meant to see if Cities XL was a good replacement for Sim City.  Now might be the time.

Or, I could just go back to an earlier iteration of SC.  Those still play well even today.

[MysterD]

EA also said that it was designed from the ground-up as a multiplayer game so that making it offline isn't possible.  Source:  http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/03/ea-simcity-server-response-time-has-increased-40-fold-since-launch/.

There are too many problems with this game:  online-only, poor server support given the load, small city size, no terraforming, no state saves, no disabling disasters, Origin-only, it is published by EA, etc.  I think it's best just to ignore this game and move on.  

Yeah, I might be interested in this....when it's damn cheap - i.e. like how I bought Darkspore ($2.99).

If you need a SimCity fix, just play 3000 or 4.

That's what I've been doing - running SC4 Deluxe.
I got SimCity 4 Deluxe PC running fine, after making a few tweaks to my modern system (i7 950 @ 3.06 Ghz Quad Core; 1 GB GTX 560 Ti;  8 GB RAM; Win 64-bit).
It can be a pain to get running well, so here's some advice I read online - and it cleared-up all my problems.

Here's what I did:

[SIDE NOTE - These next 3 steps can normally help fix MANY other old games, if you can't get them running right on modern systems...for whatever reason. So, always keep these in mind...]
Right click on game's shortcut EXE; go to Properties; switch to Compatibility Mode tab.
Check boxes for - Disable Desktop Themes; Disable Desktop Composition; Run as Admin.
Select for an OS something this game worked on - I picked Windows XP SP3.
[END of these SIDE NOTES]

Right click on SC4 shortcut EXE; click Properties; switch to Shortcut Tab; and add these settings to the BACK of the Target line/command line (after where it lists game's shortcut location in quotes):
-CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080 -intro:off -EH:off -CPUCount:1

Some notes on this Target-line / command-line stuff....
-CustomResolution:enabled = allows you to do custom res's game don't officially support naturally; please see next line for how to res' to what you want.
 -r####x#### = change #'s to your resolution to set whatever res' you want
intro:off = blows by EA's logos
CPUCount:1 = changes number of cores this game will use - which is 1 here. This game wasn't built for multiple-cores. Otherwise, expect stutters & framerate drops.
EH:off = Exception Handling. Turning if off, it'll stop the CTD problem. We don't need this.

On NVidia Settings - turn off most of the graphical stuff - your framerate is all over the place, until you turn it all off. I did this one-by-one...had problems, unless it was all off, pretty much.
Oh, and turn off VSync - this just screws your framerate, if it's on.

Want more settings/command lines to use/experiment with for SC4?
Look here: http://www.citybuildergames.com/index.php?topic=2639.0;wap2

[idolminds]

Man we're going to need some popcorn refills.

Our source, who we have verified worked directly on the project but obviously wishes to remain anonymous, has first-hand knowledge of how the game works. He has made it absolutely clear to us that this repeated claim of server-side calculations is at odds with the reality of the project he worked on. Our source explains:

“The servers are not handling any of the computation done to simulate the city you are playing. They are still acting as servers, doing some amount of computation to route messages of various types between both players and cities. As well, they’re doing cloud storage of save games, interfacing with Origin, and all of that. But for the game itself? No, they’re not doing anything. I have no idea why they’re claiming otherwise. It’s possible that Bradshaw misunderstood or was misinformed, but otherwise I’m clueless.”

[MysterD]

LMAO @ this.
Nice - get me some more popcorn and butter.

EDIT -> March 14, 2013:
PC Gamer -> "SimCity tested: offline play, phantom Sims, and other controversies verified or debunked."
Kotaku -> "SimCity Creators Say They’re Fixing The Game’s Road Traffic Weirdness."


EDIT -> March 15, 2013:
Tweets from Erik Reynolds of Maxis yesterday:
https://twitter.com/buzzspinner/status/312342876581416961

Erik Reynolds ‏@buzzspinner
Media, Conspiracy theorists and overall @SimCity fans - Being 1000% transparent. In next tweet so pay attention, okay?

https://twitter.com/buzzspinner/status/312343408754700288

Erik Reynolds
‏@buzzspinner
Due to our ToS we need to delete the thread about the hack/mod from our forums. Please move it to other places and continue the dialogue

https://twitter.com/buzzspinner/status/312344180099801088

Erik Reynolds
‏@buzzspinner
In the past we've supported the modding community and in the future we are committed to supporting. Hacks are not mods.

EDIT -> March 16, 2013:
Kotaku -> Lucy Bradshaw of Maxis on Always-Connected aspect of SimCity (2013).

[idolminds]

Oh my

Here's the list of games SimCity owners will get to choose from:

    Battlefield 3 (Standard Edition)

    Bejeweled 3

    Dead Space 3 (Standard Edition)

    Mass Effect 3 (Standard Edition)

    Medal of Honor Warfighter (Standard Edition)

    Need For Speed Most Wanted (Standard Edition)

    Plants vs. Zombies

    SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition

Man, thats just hilarious.

EA explains that you'll need to register SimCity on Origin before 11:59pm PST on Monday, March 25 to receive a freebie. It'll start rolling out gifts in North America at 5pm PST this Wednesday, March 20, not to everyone at once. Everyone should have the offer by 5pm PST on Friday, and will then have until March 30 at 11:59pm PST to redeem it through the Origin desktop client.

After that, you'll have missed your chance, and it'll be gone. Helpfully, it'll send a reminder every day when you load Origin or close SimCity.

And it seems like they want as many people as possible to miss this small window.

[Xessive]

So if I buy the game today and register it on Origin before March 25th I can get the gift too? Or is this only valid for people who purchased it before the announcement? Without registering the game on Origin how are they gonna, right? Ok, I may have answered my own question. My assumption is that anyone who buys the game before March 25th (and registers it on Origin before that date) will be entitled to a gift.

[idolminds]

Thats what it sounds like to me.

[MysterD]

Dead Space 3 is probably the most expensive of the list.
I've seen all of the other games $20 and below before on digital download sites.

LOL @ SimCity 4 Deluxe on the list.
NICE - REAL nice.

[scottws]

The CEO of EA stepped down.

Oh I see idol already made a thread.

[Quemaqua]

DS3 for free is pretty fantastic. Great game.

[gpw11]

Oh my

Man, thats just hilarious.
 And it seems like they want as many people as possible to miss this small window.

I can't say for sure, but I believe that they did the same thing when they offered Battlefield 3 with a preorder of Mass Effect 3 (BF3 was full price at the time).  There was a window to redeem and they didn't roll out the offers all at once (although they were within a 24 hour period). I seem to remember being a bit worried but it actually worked out in a pretty fool-proof manner.

I think for whatever reason, Origin just doesn't have the ability to directly offer you the free game (unlike Steam) and you have to redeem it through a link for some reason or other.  Well, that's kind of the only explanation I can come up with.  Aside from the obvious that they'd love for as many people to not redeem as possible.

[MysterD]

PC Gamer -> Will Wright speaks on SimCity 2013, Maxis, always online DRM, and that the industry is "falling short."

[scottws]

It's sad what journalism has come to.  That story could have been so much more than it was.  As it is, it is barely a blog entry.

[MysterD]

It's sad what journalism has come to.  That story could have been so much more than it was.  As it is, it is barely a blog entry.

Well, the full interview w/ Will Wright is here.