Sim City

Dcully

Blisterman wrote: »

I got 193k people using the whole map, with mines, trading depots, mining HQ etc so it can't be that far off.

Trust me, out of that 25% of map used only about 25% of that is residential.

Azza

Slutmonkey57b wrote:

As Kirby said, people need to be far more cynical about what large corporations tell them.

No people need to balanced and fair as do the developers/publishers.
On this occasion I feel the general gaming public is right on this topic and EA deserve everything coming to them for this debacle. But when it comes to other issues like DLC, Microtransactions, game/franchise direction I feel a lot of developers/publishers get very unfair treatment.

I feel people need to be far more cyncial to the general sentiments on topics like DLC etc that many gamers have and research and challenge these claims just as much as when a publisher/developer does it and not just recycle often dedunked theories and perceptions like sheep. You might say well the average gamer isn't trying to make money out of games so he has no vested interested to be biased, but they do, they simply want the most amount of content (be it graphics, ai, length of play) for as little money as possible. I underrstand and accept that completely but I also understand that games are made to make money.

ShadowHearth

Lol, just got a message from O2.

"Your city, your way!" The new sim city game is out! Check out trailers bla bla bla...

When did EA started paying mobile operators for that advertisemt ****?

Maximilian

I can't say I'm surprised on reading this. All of EA's B/S is unraveling.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-14-simcity-modded-so-it-can-be-played-offline-indefinitely

_Puma_

Azza wrote: »

No people need to balanced and fair as do the developers/publishers.
On this occasion I feel the general gaming public is right on this topic and EA deserve everything coming to them for this debacle. But when it comes to other issues like DLC, Microtransactions, game/franchise direction I feel a lot of developers/publishers get very unfair treatment.

I feel people need to be far more cyncial to the general sentiments on topics like DLC etc that many gamers have and research and challenge these claims just as much as when a publisher/developer does it and not just recycle often dedunked theories and perceptions like sheep. You might say well the average gamer isn't trying to make money out of games so he has no vested interested to be biased, but they do, they simply want the most amount of content (be it graphics, ai, length of play) for as little money as possible. I underrstand and accept that completely but I also understand that games are made to make money.

In fairness most people have no problem supporting Developers by purchasing a full price copy, purchasing DLC and paying for certain micro transactions. Many companies have done this successfully with the backing of Publishers that are not overbearing on the development of a game. Guild wars 2 and NCSoft, Valve and the Steam publishing platform, to a certain extent Blizzard and Activision etc.. Now in the recent past EA have changed their Corporate Philosophy to provide an Online service for all their games, including Single player games, and the result is SimCity since Maxis is so intwined with EA. Is this what people want for the future of all EA published games. Will the next FIFA have no offline mode??

The Good:
-Game Expansions that introduce new content(Diablo 2 and the LoD expansion, Guild Wars 1, essentially how most Expansions worked up to now)
-DLC like Map packs etc.. that enhance the game (Battlefield 3 and its DLC)
-Micro Transaction that are not pay to win ie)Vanity Items (Guild Wars 2)
-Publishers not enforcing a strict Release date and pushing a game out before it is ready
-Acceptable DRM like one time only that does not unduely punish legitimate paying customers (Steam after all its problems were Ironed out)

The Bad:
-Poor Expansions like the recently released Dead Space Awakened that basically nullifys the plot of DS3 and just reskins the same resources(The reason it is getting slated)
-Day one DLC that can be argued has been stripped out of the original game as a cash grab exercise(Mass Effect and From Ashes)
-Overbearing Alway online DRM for Single player games that are not MMO's(Assasins Creed 2)
-pay to win microtransactions if the game is not free to play(Although I do hate f2p games)

Now the franchise direction you talk about is an interesting point. Franchises have been successfully changed to take a different direction before. When WoW was announced it was very clear that this will not be Warcraft 4, most people who played Warcraft 3 knew that this will not be the next iteration in the franchise but a new game built from the ground up.

As for SimCity maybe this was their intention but it is now clear that this is not what happened despite all the PR spin. The game is the same core gameplay as Sim City 4 with an arguably worse player experience.

What it all comes down to is do people still thing they are getting the same value for their money as they have in the past. Do gamers feel that their rights are being eroded by publishers when they purchase the next iteration of their favourite franchise, that is implementing new hoops for you to jump through just to play a game that you legitimately purchased, in the vein hope that it will stem Piracy?

Slutmonkey57b

Azza wrote: »

No people need to balanced and fair as do the developers/publishers.
On this occasion I feel the general gaming public is right on this topic and EA deserve everything coming to them for this debacle. But when it comes to other issues like DLC, Microtransactions, game/franchise direction I feel a lot of developers/publishers get very unfair treatment.

I feel people need to be far more cyncial to the general sentiments on topics like DLC etc that many gamers have and research and challenge these claims just as much as when a publisher/developer does it and not just recycle often dedunked theories and perceptions like sheep. You might say well the average gamer isn't trying to make money out of games so he has no vested interested to be biased, but they do, they simply want the most amount of content (be it graphics, ai, length of play) for as little money as possible. I underrstand and accept that completely but I also understand that games are made to make money.

Huge content companies are also unreliable when it comes to reporting financial results. As more than one creative person has said "I've lost more money to creative accounting in companies than I ever have to piracy." That's not to suggest that piracy doesn't have an effect, but you shouldn't assume that it's as bad as they claim.

In a world where a big publisher like THQ can go belly up there's no benefit in being complacent, but I wouldn't assume that just because a publisher says "we need microtransactions to make a profit" they don't actually mean "we want money for old rope". Proof of that is the transparent price disparity on this title.

Ea aren't selling sim city at a loss in the Indian market, you can be sure of that. If the publisher can massage westerners into paying 3 times the price with suitably weak arguments then you can certainly be sure they'll do it. If we fall for it, I pity us.

A big publisher is never going to say "we went bust because we made mediocre games and didn't look after our cost base". Their business model is never going to be at fault, even when it is.

Azza

I'd respond to those posts above but I think we are going off topic here.
Maybe if the last few posts got moved to the microtransactions thread or whats going on with EA thread.

Slutmonkey57b

Azza wrote: »

I'd respond to those posts above but I think we are going off topic here.
Maybe if the last few posts got moved to the microtransactions thread or whats going on with EA thread.

Good point. Back on topic, sim city is ****, and Ea are a bunch of ****. :-)

Tried sc4 again last night, and I'm amazed how laggy it is. Performs like a dog for a 10 year old game, and only the large city maps are worth playing. I always remember that I was disappointed at this game, but had forgotten why.

Going to scrap it and try 3k again.

youreadthat

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Good point. Back on topic, sim city is ****, and Ea are a bunch of ****. :-)

Tried sc4 again last night, and I'm amazed how laggy it is. Performs like a dog for a 10 year old game, and only the large city maps are worth playing. I always remember that I was disappointed at this game, but had forgotten why.

Going to scrap it and try 3k again.

Why are you so down on the tiles in SC4? It's the only Sim City game ever made that allows you to build a realistically sized urban area. Plus having the best transport options and modding options.

Occono

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Good point. Back on topic, sim city is ****, and Ea are a bunch of ****. :-)

Tried sc4 again last night, and I'm amazed how laggy it is. Performs like a dog for a 10 year old game, and only the large city maps are worth playing. I always remember that I was disappointed at this game, but had forgotten why.

Going to scrap it and try 3k again.

SC4 lags because DX10 and DX11 dropped some features from DX9. But I found the following made the game fly:

• Change rendering from hardware to software
• Play in windowed mode
• Set compatibility (duh) for XP

That made it fine. It's more of a windowed game anyway IMO......


Also, get the Network Addon Mod.

Slutmonkey57b

youreadthat wrote: »

Why are you so down on the tiles in SC4? It's the only Sim City game ever made that allows you to build a realistically sized urban area. Plus having the best transport options and modding options.

Dunno. Small and medium tiles feel too small. Large tiles run like a dog. The mechanics of laying out a zone are messy and imprecise with their automatic streets and "face this way" requirements. No grid means planning out spacing is less obvious. Terraforming is less interesting.

The whole experience just feels less precise and well thought out. It feels like it would benefit from modding whereas its predecessors felt perfect.

nesf

Anno 2070 has gone on sale on Steam for over 60% off. Has SolidShield but I think Ubisoft have caved on that and just give you codes to unlock it past the 3 machine limit now after all the backlash.

Good game, fun, not Sim City but interesting as a simulation game.

Laviski

be warned about ubisoft DRM absolute nightmare customer service when trying to play a legit purchased copy of anno 2070. and i will never give ubitsoft money again.

Kirby

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Good point. Back on topic, sim city is ****, and Ea are a bunch of ****. :-)

Tried sc4 again last night, and I'm amazed how laggy it is. Performs like a dog for a 10 year old game, and only the large city maps are worth playing. I always remember that I was disappointed at this game, but had forgotten why.

Going to scrap it and try 3k again.

A quick google search will tell you two or three buttons to click which will make it run smooth as butter. Occono mentioned changing from Hardware to Software mode in the Sim City 4 menu. That makes a huge difference all on its own.

You can also change the resolution to your own. I play it on 1920x1200 even though that resolution didn't exist back then.

Sim City 4 is a great game, don't be put off.

Dcully

Kirby wrote: »

A quick google search will tell you two or three buttons to click which will make it run smooth as butter. Occono mentioned changing from Hardware to Software mode in the Sim City 4 menu. That makes a huge difference all on its own.

You can also change the resolution to your own. I play it on 1920x1200 even though that resolution didn't exist back then.

Sim City 4 is a great game, don't be put off.

Yep im playing at the same res,with intro turned off and set to tun on just a single core of my cpu as it makes the game more stable and its runs smooth as butter.

Heres what to add you your target in your shortcuts properties.


-CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1200 -intro:off -EH:off -CPUCount:1

Obviously change your desired res yourself.

TheChrisD

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

The mechanics of laying out a zone are messy and imprecise with their automatic streets and "face this way" requirements.

If you use Shift and/or Alt while zoning you can change the layout/direction/streets etc.

Turtwig

Sorry for dragging this thread further off topic. I'm very tempted by Anno 2070. Anyone got anything against it? Anyone got any love for it? Opinions greatly appreciated.

cherryghost

Jernal wrote: »

Sorry for dragging this thread further off topic. I'm very tempted by Anno 2070. Anyone got anything against it? Anyone got any love for it? Opinions greatly appreciated.

Great game. I'd recommend 2070 and Tropico 3/4 as great alternatives to SimCity. Cities XL is a decent alternative too but that's a tier 2 option :P

Slutmonkey57b

TheChrisD wrote: »

If you use Shift and/or Alt while zoning you can change the layout/direction/streets etc.

Just gives you an alternately **** street layout. And what is the justification for "faces onto" requirements? It just means that a perfectly valid zone suddenly breaks down if you put in a bus stop.

Kirby wrote: »

A quick google search will tell you two or three buttons to click which will make it run smooth as butter. Occono mentioned changing from Hardware to Software mode in the Sim City 4 menu. That makes a huge difference all on its own.

You can also change the resolution to your own. I play it on 1920x1200 even though that resolution didn't exist back then.

Sim City 4 is a great game, don't be put off.

Still poking at it. Windowing and switching to software renderer improved matters, but still laggy.

Sofiztikated

Quote=Slutmonkey57b;83668039]

Just gives you an alternately **** street layout. And what is the justification for "faces onto" requirements? It just means that a perfectly valid zone suddenly breaks down if you put in a bus stop.



Still poking at it. Windowing and switching to software renderer improved matters, but still laggy.[/Quote]

I never found it that bad at all.

Dcully

Anno 2070 is great and also on sale pretty cheap on steam right now.

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/Ubisoft_Publisher_Weekend_2013?snr=1_41_4__42

Branoic

Anno is good, but to be honest I really don't class it in the same genre as a city building game. Yes you place buildings and stuff, but its much more focused on supply chain management. Its more of an economics simulator than a city builder.

Sephiroth_dude

cherryghost wrote: »

Cities XL is a decent alternative too but that's a tier 2 option :P

How do you mean tier 2?was thinking of buying it off steam,sim city is just pissing me off.

Kirby

Fire helicopters don't work at all. They just sit there on the pad while fires burn. It's stupid. It's not like they are cheap either, 60k each and alot of upkeep. You would think they would fly about a bit. The fire AI is just shocking.

Lot's of work needed. I like the game but patches need to come and fix alot of this.

cherryghost

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

How do you mean tier 2?was thinking of buying it off steam,sim city is just pissing me off.

Anno and Tropico are tier 1

Cities XL are tier 2 :P

IE tier 1 games are better imo

Wonda-Boy

Any new regions available with boards members?

Fooked my city up by getting the Empire State Building with not alot of high Wealth tourists. Really stupid when you bulldoze a high price piece of kit you get nothing at all back. Or no roll back for the last item you placed.

Kirby

Yeah you should get like 25 or 33% of the cost back when you bulldoze something. Or 100% if you bulldoze withing 2 or 3 minutes because that obviously means you misclicked. Or an undo button. Or something.

Obvious tools that should be in a AAA title that aren't.

VinLieger

Anyone got a good 7 city region going with a free spot, they are deffinitely the prefferred choice due to everyone being able to interact

cherryghost

Kirby wrote: »

Yeah you should get like 25 or 33% of the cost back when you bulldoze something. Or 100% if you bulldoze withing 2 or 3 minutes because that obviously means you misclicked. Or an undo button. Or something.

Obvious tools that should be in a AAA title that aren't.

It would be awesome if they added a scrapyard in order to get back some of the cost.

Anywho, I still haven't bought the game since my pre-order cancellation, and have no intention of purchasing the game until the serious glaring issues have been addressed.

Newaglish

I have space in Now Ye're Simming, username Newaglish. 7-region with 4 spots free!