new "real" Sim City in 2013

[catty]

...Note that catty's price was for a New Zealand store (where she lives), and also that the New Zealand dollar is currently worth about USD$0.79...

Yes, on top of which the price for buying software in New Zealand is quite high, if you complain to the companies the reason they give is we are a small market and in some cases we are also locked out of buying something from overseas because of it.



So from my point of view its not a bad price and as I'm going to cancel the pre-order for SimCity 2013 it works out quite well.

-catty

Went ahead and bought the SC4D game, it turns out they are importing them from the UK, so its a left-hand version of the game ... which is great   

Was still     about whether to cancel my pre-order for SimCity 2013, but EA latest Q&A  here

http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/Community-Interviews-Maxis-Part-1

Mkareha: How will solo region play work? From the trailers, it looks like the regions are composed of a bunch of isolated cities, separated by an automatic flat expressway that connects the cities. The way it looks in the trailers is not realistic at all. Will we have full control in the creation of highways, neighbor connects, modular road systems, etc.?

Lead Designer Stone Librande: Each city is connected to other cities in the region through a combination of roads and railroad tracks. Some centrally located cities may have access to many different connections, while cities located on the fringes of the region may have only one. Players do not have control of placing roads and rail in the region, but they have complete control over the road and rail networks within their city boundary.

finally made the decision for me, the store wanted to know why I was cancelling the pre-order ... so I told them why and that I preferred to buy SC4D instead.

-catty

[Grneyes]

...Note that catty's price was for a New Zealand store (where she lives), and also that the New Zealand dollar is currently worth about USD$0.79...

Yes, on top of which the price for buying software in New Zealand is quite high, if you complain to the companies the reason they give is we are a small market and in some cases we are also locked out of buying something from overseas because of it.



So from my point of view its not a bad price and as I'm going to cancel the pre-order for SimCity 2013 it works out quite well.

-catty

Went ahead and bought the SC4D game, it turns out they are importing them from the UK, so its a left-hand version of the game ... which is great   

Was still     about whether to cancel my pre-order for SimCity 2013, but EA latest Q&A  here

http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/Community-Interviews-Maxis-Part-1

Mkareha: How will solo region play work? From the trailers, it looks like the regions are composed of a bunch of isolated cities, separated by an automatic flat expressway that connects the cities. The way it looks in the trailers is not realistic at all. Will we have full control in the creation of highways, neighbor connects, modular road systems, etc.?

Lead Designer Stone Librande: Each city is connected to other cities in the region through a combination of roads and railroad tracks. Some centrally located cities may have access to many different connections, while cities located on the fringes of the region may have only one. Players do not have control of placing roads and rail in the region, but they have complete control over the road and rail networks within their city boundary.

finally made the decision for me, the store wanted to know why I was cancelling the pre-order ... so I told them why and that I preferred to buy SC4D instead.

-catty

Well, that's dumb. We don't get a whole region to ourselves? We just get a city? What's the point?

[mike3775]

I knew this game would end up sucking more and more as more gets out.

[catty]

The next "Community Interviews Maxis: Part 2" is now out

http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/Community-Interviews-Maxis-Part-2

and its confirmed ... no terraforming

Mkareha: Will there be terraforming in the sense of a "god mode" like there was in SimCity 4?

Creative Director Ocean Quigley: No, all of the terraforming in this SimCity is going to be at the civil engineering scale, and will be the natural consequences of laying out roads, developing zones, and plopping buildings.

[NCGAIO]

   Not single-player independent
  Not terraforming
  Not views regions
  Not control intercity transport
  Not freedom to create the city as want

  Anyway ... No No No. ..
To sum it all is not Simcity, is something like CXL+societies maybe ...

  Good for those who like the genre!

[WC_EEND]

Well, there goes my preorder...

Xander

[mike3775]

The only kid that was actually excited about this game, just told me to cancel his pre-order since he doesn't like it after reading that.

This is turning into kid version of Simcity more and more.  All they need to allow now is for people to paint the buildings any color they want

[Reform]

All they need to allow now is for people to paint the buildings any color they want

That might actually be pretty cool feature. 

It does not fit in my head why they would intentionally restrict the game, when freedom to build and invent was the force behind it's predecessors success? I am actually quite sure that EA don't even expect "traditional" SC4 players to play this product. They are more likely after new players, with different kinds of preferences. It still isn't a smart move, but unfortunately it seems to be the move they are making.

Anyway, I made my decision: no SC-13 orders from me. I will (sadly) expect it to fail badly. Maybe there are lot of peoples who wish to play that type of game, but I am not one of those.

[Kitsune]

And this too...

German Community: How large can maps get and how many people can live in one city? Are there any performance issues?

SL: We are still experimenting with the size of the cities, but our maps are comparable to a medium-sized map in SimCity 4. Also keep in mind that cities are connected together in a region, and the Sims will travel back and forth between cities throughout the day.

There actually downsizing the game too...

[WC_EEND]

this seems appropriate:


(yes, I just made this)

Xander

[noahclem]

Not overly disappointing as I've kept my expectations as low as I thought possible without seeming overly pessimistic. I understand that they were never going to get rich off of us buying the game but they would have plenty of money to make off of communities like ours keeping the new game relevant and exciting for the long term if they had decided to go that route. Perhaps they're planning on us keeping SC4 selling until it enters the public domain in 2123 

I hope the new game at least gets a name that reflects what they're making and not a deceptive "SC5"

[Twyla]

It's becoming more and more apparent that EA is only interested in catering to the FarceBook crowd, and doesn't give a crap about the hundreds of thousands of loyal Sim City fans who have waited semi-patiently through a decade of abandonment for a worth heir to the "World's Greatest City Simulator" crown.

Their blogs and forums are loaded with complaints from loyal fans, and EA continually turns a deaf ear to them all.  What's worse is their "You spoke, we listened!" spiel - providing multiple 'answers' for a few favored sheep while completely ignoring the wailing masses.

All hail the almighty god Dollar!!

[NCGAIO]

I think we should try something a little stronger ..

[Shark7]

It's becoming more and more apparent that EA is only interested in catering to the FarceBook crowd, and doesn't give a crap about the hundreds of thousands of loyal Sim City fans who have waited semi-patiently through a decade of abandonment for a worth heir to the "World's Greatest City Simulator" crown.

Their blogs and forums are loaded with complaints from loyal fans, and EA continually turns a deaf ear to them all.  What's worse is their "You spoke, we listened!" spiel - providing multiple 'answers' for a few favored sheep while completely ignoring the wailing masses.

All hail the almighty god Dollar!!

And now you know why I've all but given up hope on this, and will stick with SC4.  I was looking forward to a new SC game, now...not so much.

[pyanodon]

One of the things that more annoying me is the lack of wall-to-wall buildings... Look, if you find ONE that not surrounded by large green area or park, you will get a coin.

[j-dub]

G's! What's with all the memes?

If the new SC4 can allow freeform road and highway options though, then I'll be all over it.

[NCGAIO]

Within the own  city maybe , but what links the various cities will always be established through the game, I see no way around it in the way of conceptualizing the new Simcity since it is essential to adapt to multiplayer and realistic simulation.

[RickD]

Earlier in this thread I said that I am cautiously optimistic about the new game. I still try being open minded but it is getting harder and harder.

[WC_EEND]

EA announced a bunch of stuff about the new SimCity at Gamescom a few minutes ago, one of which is that it it will come to Mac as well (not really surprising to be honest).
I'll edit this post further as more info about it comes online.

Xander

[vortext]

Is there any video footage available yet? Wether from the press conference or, better yet, from actual gameplay?

Nevermind, here's the press conference; linkie. Simcity starts at 19:06

Just gotta love how they manage to contradict themselves.

Our fans demand a deep, single-player experience and that's what we delivering. But that experience is set within the context of a wider, connected world.

So yeah, they're basically not delivering a deep, single-player experience than, are they?! 

Also an additional pic I've found.


Don't know what they were thinking with this city lay-out but at least it appears there'll be some w2w action going on. For which you'll have to pay extra, of course. 
Also, did I already mention I really, really don't like the tilt-shift focus?! Seriously wonder if I'll ever get used to it. .