new "real" Sim City in 2013

[vortext]

So it's official huh? 

Mixed feeling about this, on the one hand it's great there will be a new SimCity at all. On the other hand, if the reason for doing so is only the 'social enviromental thingy' with multi-player regions and improve on graphics (3-d tilt-shift perspective? yuk) Maxis is seriously missing the point imo. For example, I would love it if one was able to start in a certain historic age (say medieval period) and slowly advance  to a modern day metropole. By the looks of it however, the player seems to start out in modern age immediately.

As for regional play, I hope city tiles are abandoned all together in favour of a more flexible system, e.g. one selects a certain part of the city in 'regional view' which is loaded in 'city mode' to work on or something. That said, I'm looking forward to actual gameplay footage. And needles to say I hope Maxis again does a shoddy job (as they did with sc4) so there's plenty to explore, tweak, mod and improve upon once it is out. 

[RickD]

In this "Insider's Look" Video you can see a few tiny little sneak peaks of some models when they walk through the office:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T70evBJE93s&feature=related
Look at the monitors and the drawings on the walls. 

[WC_EEND]

Limited edition is priced at €59.99 (still overpriced for a PC game) here.

[Kergelen]

I really don't get the multiplayer aspect. For me simcity is the ultimate game that allows me to create MY OWN world... Created to my imagination, believes, esthaetics etc.

I totally agree with you. This is the kind of experience that I want when I play SC4.

Unlike most of you, I'm not too optimistic after watching this trailer. If this trailer is supposed to present us SC5, then MDs like AntigOne have already surpassed SC5...

For those who also likes natural and rural landscaping I think unfortunately SC5 will be far from regions like Corsica or Antigone. At least initially. Basically because the game is called SimCity

The real and most important question is: Will the new game offer (at least) the same possibilities for improvement?

If the answer is yes, then I do not care what the game offers when it comes out.

This is the main aspect that will determine if the game will be a worthy successor of SC4 or not.

[Tarkus]

And I am not sure if I like the "the city shapes to your playing style" (tourist city, education city, ...). This sounds very much like Societies. However, I have said this when Societies came out, if it is implemented in a good way, then it could actually be really great.

Honestly, I don't see how that is really too far off of SC4.  When you build a bunch of I-D in a city, R$$$ generally wants to stay far away.  It sounds to me like the concept of "demand", just couched in SC:S-style terminology.  And rather than ending up with a gimmicky-looking SC:S city, you'll just get a city full of blue-collar sims--just as you would in SC4.

Which is not bad to be honest. I was expecting at least a quad core and something like a GTX260 as minimum.
Price was less interesting though: €80 (well, €79.99) it'd better be good if they charge that much for it.

I was surprised at the (relatively low) system requirements as well--of course, these are bare minimum requirements.  Remember what it was like trying to run SC4 on a 533MHz Pentium III with 256MB of RAM . . . and that was above the minimum specs.  These guys at EA/Maxis also aren't completely incompetent like Monte Cristo.

The US price is $59.99 for the base game, $79.99 for Digital Deluxe, which is indeed a bit higher than your average major-market PC game (usually around $40-50 average upon release).  In some ways, though, it might be a blessing in disguise, and honestly, I kind of anticipated they might do this.  It seems to indicate they're trying to shift the cost upfront rather than on the back side.  That is to say, it may indicate that they may not be going the multiple EP route of The Sims.  Especially given how Lucy Bradshaw apparently talked about her fondness of SC4 custom content, it may mean they're looking at treating SimCity not as just a game, but as a customizable "platform", a notion which they can use as part of their marketing strategy.  How many times have people said "I'd pay $X for the NAM"?  How long has SC4 remained profitable? 

Keep in mind, although most don't have accounts (or at least, readily recognizable accounts--I can understand them wanting to keep a low profile), EA/Maxis folks follow SC4D and ST.

-Alex

Edit: Rest assured, folks--we're in good hands.  From the "Inside the GlassBox" presentation that wrapped up about an hour ago:

"We're huge fans of our modding community," creative director Ocean Quigley told the audience. "We've designed all this stuff to be moddable."

[Glazert]

I am really quite puzzled about just what is implied by the multiplayer aspect. In some of the remarks in the official trailer and website by implication it would include (only?) the interaction of different cities in a region. If the "multiplayers" were the different mayors of the cities  without necessarily implying that each mayor had to be played by a different real person/player then it could be seen as a positive development for improving region-wide interaction on everything from energy transfers, a more realistic modelling of pollution and waste disposal, education, to airport planning. But as with so much of what has been hinted at, we should wait to see what is actually delivered.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to continuing to play SC4. And if I do decide to get the new Sim City when it comes out, I certainly won't be throwing away my SC4 disks, and the several disks worth of mods and custom lots I have accumulated.

[toxicpiano]

Mod support confirmed:
http://www.shacknews.com/article/72768/simcity-designed-to-support-mods

More details here:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/164870/GDC_2012_Breaking_down_SimCitys_Glassbox_engine.php

[Stray Cat]

These videos are worth sharing:

http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/qms3w/first_demonstration_videos_of_the_engine_that/

Scott

[Haljackey]

The SimCity development team has set up an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit and will be answering questions March 8.

Link: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/qmi0w/iama_maxis_development_team_on_simcity_amaa/

Feel free to ask them anything you'd like. If you're not signed up on Reddit yet, it's pretty much the easiest site on the net to get set up at. (an email address isn't even needed!)


May as well share what I asked them:



Hi there, guys! First of all I have to say I'm very excited knowing you are making a new SimCity! Thank you for taking the time to do a AMA!

I've been playing SimCity ever since the SNES version. SimCity 4 has been absolutely addicting for me. I've been playing it for 9+ years since 2003. The immense release of custom content (moding) not only made the game better but kept it going all these years! I enjoyed it so much that I have become involved in creating content as well.

I'm a huge transport nut both while playing SimCity and in my real life (studying urban planning). My question to you is what transportation features are you going to include in the game and how will they work?

For example, how easy will it be to add additional lanes to roadways? In SimCity 4 an additional tile had to be demolished and you couldn't go beyond 2 lanes each way (3 for highways) without additional downloads.

Will we be able to indefinitely add lanes to our roads? If I wanted say a 20 lane highway (yes they do exist in real life!) would I be able to make such a creation in the game?

Regarding airports and seaports, will they be ploppable like in SimCity 4 or zoned as in previous titles?

In terms of transit, will we be able to place stations/stops as well as plan routes? (For example, can one create a bus route or subway transfers?)

I recall seeing a potential for high speed rail. That really excites me. Will we see a functional standard rail network as well? For freight and passengers?

Lastly, will we be able to drive on our roads like the "U-Drive-It" (UDI) mode in SimCity 4? Will we be able to take the bus, subway, etc. as well?

Anyways my thanks in advance. Thanks again for taking the time to reach out to us! Community involvement is always a plus in my eyes.


You can upvote my post HERE. Posts with lots of upvotes are more likely to be responded to.



EA has also set up a public forum on Maxis' website: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/categories/show/232.page



In addition, check out 'an insider's look' at the SimCity trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/v/T70evBJE93s

Anyways that's what I've got for ya for now.

-Ryan (Haljackey)

[Crazy_Ivan80]

These videos are worth sharing:

http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/qms3w/first_demonstration_videos_of_the_engine_that/

Scott

some very good material in there. Pleased to see zoning in action.
there's potential for a real simcity and not a Societies debacle

[girlfromverona]

Well, the graphics look pretty damn amazing, but I'm still unconvinced about the gameplay aspect. I don't make gimmicky cities - I much prefer realistic ones, with a bit of everything thrown in. Also, is it only going to be multi-player? Not sure I'd been keen on that. Anywho, guess I'll just have to wait till they release more info!

[RickD]

This is a pretty nifty simulation engine. Some of those features were even on my wishlist. Economics in SC4 were just an obstacle for me. In SC5 this could actually be a challenging and fun gameplay element. I just hope that it does not hinder creative freedom too much. I am especially worried that I won't be able to do certain things I want because I do not have the ressources.
Maybe they could do a sandbox mode where the player does not have to care about it.

What I always enjoyed most about any Sim City game is that there are no goals to be met and no challenges to win, except the ones I set for myself. I would hate it if I could not progress with my city before I meet goals that are forced down on me by the game.

My imagination of how multiplayer could work (and this is really pure speculation) is, that there is a region just like in SC4. But every city tile can be played by a different player and everything is synced over the internet.
In fact, we had an SC4 multiplayer like this going on several years ago in a german sc4 forum. We had an FTP server were every player would upload his city tile after a session and the other downloaded it to their region folders. This was great fun.

[WC_EEND]

These videos are worth sharing:

http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/qms3w/first_demonstration_videos_of_the_engine_that/

Scott

link not working here.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

These videos are worth sharing:

http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/qms3w/first_demonstration_videos_of_the_engine_that/

Scott

link not working here.

http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/qms3w/first_demonstration_videos_of_the_engine_that/

[vortext]

Vids work fine for me; the new simulator engine looks really promising and custom content support has been confirmed so I'm pretty excited now. The only thing I would like to see clarified asap is the online & multi-player aspect; though I can see how it could be fun to develop a region together, I also want to have regions all for myself without other folks milling around and play offline.

[RickD]

The only thing I would like to see clarified asap is the online & multi-player aspect; though I can see how it could be fun to develop a region together, I also want to have regions all for myself without other folks milling around and play offline.

On the preorder page it says "Multiplayer 1-16". I am sure that "1" stands for Singleplayer. 

[vortext]

The only thing I would like to see clarified asap is the online & multi-player aspect; though I can see how it could be fun to develop a region together, I also want to have regions all for myself without other folks milling around and play offline.

On the preorder page it says "Multiplayer 1-16". I am sure that "1" stands for Singleplayer. 

Yes I know. It also says however that 'each region will contain different players' which could imply that, while you can play by yourself, other folks will still be around in the region. . Also not clear if you have to be online all the time. That said, it would be quite ridiculous if you couldn't have a region for yourself, so. . . have to wait and see I guess.

[mike3775]

I wont play a game if I have to be always online to play. 

[WC_EEND]

I wont play a game if I have to be always online to play. 

You should be alright, since it's not a Ubisoft game

[mike3775]

I wont play a game if I have to be always online to play. 

You should be alright, since it's not a Ubisoft game

HA HA

I will get this game to play around with, but its features are going to determine whether it gets played by me or I sits and collects dust with alot of other games I have bought over the years