How long more do you think it'll take before Smartphones can run SC4?

[CahosRahneVeloza]

There are already Octa-Core processor Smartphones around so in theory they could run SC4 fine. I bet even dual-Core phones can too, but I've yet to hear news of people playing SC4 on their Smartphones or Phablets.

[APSMS]

SC4 is a native Windows application (x86 chipset based).

Most mobile devices use ARM processors and run Android or some such variant. Until this changes (x86 processors and Windows OS), I highly doubt you'll see this ever.

Keep in mind clock speed is most important for SC4 (due to single-threadedness), and Windows 8 tablets with Intel processors can already run SC4 w/o a hitch.

[CahosRahneVeloza]

So I guess this'll be a shot in the dark then?

But it'd be a cool thought though seeing somebody busy playing a game on an Android phone and finding out that he/she is actually playing a worthwhile game in SC4

[compdude787]

Never going to happen unless the game is re-programmed to run on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone OS. Theoretically, there could be a point where it's possible to run the game on a smartphone or a tablet, but it won't actually happen until Maxis re-programs the game to run on those devices. And I'm afraid that that's something they might not ever do.

[MandelSoft]

One word: emulators. If someone can make a Windows emulator for Andriod, it could work... Or you install Ubuntu for your Smartphone (yes, it exists: Linux for smartphones and tablets) and install WINE. Maybe that will work...

[CasperVg]

One word: emulators. If someone can make a Windows emulator for Andriod, it could work... Or you install Ubuntu for your Smartphone (yes, it exists: Linux for smartphones and tablets) and install WINE. Maybe that will work...

WINE on Android is in the works, there a talk about that recently at FOSDEM in Brussels (slides of the talk). It's still very experimental but they have managed to get things like Solitaire working (but no DirectX/Direct3D yet).. so in the next few years running SC4 on Android through Wine should be feasible, but don't expect it tomorrow.

I do wonder how easy it will be to control vanilla SC4 with a touchscreen though; SC4s UI isn't exactly optimized for touch screens.

[compdude787]

I do wonder how easy it will be to control vanilla SC4 with a touchscreen though; SC4s UI isn't exactly optimized for touch screens.

Hmmm... that might be an issue that would ultimately prevent SC4 from being played on a smartphone anyway. All the buttons would be too small. I'd only see it working on a tablet, but even then, there would still be some functions that can only be accessed with a keyboard (i.e. God mode flora brush size) that wouldn't be possible to do on a tablet unless it has a physical keyboard linked to it.

[APSMS]

You would still need an emulator even with wine, because the phone is running an ARM processor. Also, you can use various apps with your rooted phone to send mouse & keyboard data from your computer to your phone. It works well, but all of the combined factors make me think that the game will be both slow and ugly looking if you were to try it. You'd probably not want to play it on a system without cpu cooling, particularly when you consider the overhead that an emulator requires in addition to the game simulation. You would quickly ruin the lifespan of your device.

[CahosRahneVeloza]

One word: emulators. If someone can make a Windows emulator for Andriod, it could work... Or you install Ubuntu for your Smartphone (yes, it exists: Linux for smartphones and tablets) and install WINE. Maybe that will work...

At least there is some hope

Having SC4 portable would be a good thing seeing as I've read posts from people on here as well as on the STEX where some Schools (Colleges) apparently have courses where a student is required to play SC4 as part of their Curriculum. Was it a Civil Engineering class or Urban planning class I wonder?

Also Urban planners & the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) from my country as well as the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) definitely need to play SC4 as they really have no clue as to how to improve the traffic & road conditions in our country 

Best example of their poor Urban planning skills is Commonwealth Avenue:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Avenue,_Quezon_City

I remember posting once on the NAM subsection about making an Avenue that wide as part of the NWM because like most people who play SC4 I want to recreate "home". But someone promptly responded that such a wide Avenue "would be" dangerous "in real life" and truth be told he was correct, the avenue does have its fair share of vehicular accidents on a daily basis.

[Varnado]

Also Urban planners & the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) from my country as well as the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) definitely need to play SC4 as they really have no clue as to how to improve the traffic & road conditions in our country 

Be careful what you wish for! Future developments could very well include expressways with 2.5m (8.75 ft) lane width and roads with a 75%+ grade, all lined by ridiculous numbers of skyscrapers, and with not a single turning lane or driveway in sight.

[Indiana Joe]

Nah, you'd be better off with a dumbed down mobile version (they already made at least one of these).  Full PC applications just aren't practical on smartphone screens.  It would take up way too much storage too.

[mgb204]

Full PC applications just aren't practical on smartphone screens.

From someone who owns SC2000 on a Windows Mobile device, even with a 800x640 screen and a pretty decent stylus it just doesn't work. Mainly because it's just too much work to constantly scroll because so little is displayed on screen at a time. Now take away your stylus and add the vastly more complicated menu system of SC4, tell me on a touchscreen how all those buttons would appear on screen? I guess you'd change the menus for a smartphone release, but honestly you are going to be battling against the screen size no matter what you do, doesn't matter how many pixels you've got, reduce an image from say a 21" monitor (that's pretty standard I think) to a 7" display and it will be three times smaller - I just don't think this kind of game works well on mobile.

As for the power to run it, sure I think modern smartphones are powerful enough to do it, I guess there must be something along the lines of a city builder somewhere in the various App Stores.