Sim City

[Gogan]

So Sim City launched today. The trailers looked pretty awesome, so I grabbed a copy. Here's how things have gone so far:

1) Launch game
2) Realize the game requires a constant internet connection to play. Sigh.
3) Select a US server to play on. Discover they're all (all 4 of them) are full. Sit in queue for 20 mins.
4) Realize that it's not an actual queue, but instead of timer in between "attempts" at logging on. The first 20 mins passes and you don't get in, so the game starts your timer over again at 20 mins.
5) Say "fuck that" and select a Euro server.
6) Start a new game by selecting a map to play on. Select a region of the map to "claim" (where you start a city).
7) Alert: "Unable to create your city at this time. Please claim a city again"
8) Repeat a dozen times in different maps and regions. All unsuccessful.
9) Say "fuck that" and play a different game.

So yeah, that's the new Sim City. Sad how they've ruined this once great game.

[Gronthor]

Why in the hell are they forcing people to log on their servers for traditionally single player games?

Why is this trend growing, i cannot stand that.

[Fusa]

I lol'd

[Nucholza]

Hmm good to know, because I was planning on grabbing this!

[Gogan]

Why in the hell are they forcing people to log on their servers for traditionally single player games?

Why is this trend growing, i cannot stand that.

Basically, it's DRM -- their way of controlling piracy.

There is a multiplayer facet of the game, but I have to believe most people that play Sim City are doing it solo. It's really stupid of them to force it online.

I read some related article where some VP at EA refuses to green light any project unless it has a multiplayer component to it. Just one more reason to hate EA, I guess.

[Gogan]

The game was actually playable last night, so I spent some time with it.

Overall, still disappointing. You can't create large, sprawling cities like you could in previous games. Now, each map is split into "regions", which are smaller chunks of the map, with 3-5 regions per map. Each city is independent of the others and confined to one region. You can share resources and services between each city/region, though. For example, you can buy power or water from a neighboring city, and your services like fire stations and trash collection can be shared as well. It's kinda neat in theory, but each city ends up looking rather small. To give some perspective, you only need about 2 police/fire stations to cover your entire city.

I miss building massive cities.

[Gronthor]

The game was actually playable last night, so I spent some time with it.

Overall, still disappointing. You can't create large, sprawling cities like you could in previous games. Now, each map is split into "regions", which are smaller chunks of the map, with 3-5 regions per map. Each city is independent of the others and confined to one region. You can share resources and services between each city/region, though. For example, you can buy power or water from a neighboring city, and your services like fire stations and trash collection can be shared as well. It's kinda neat in theory, but each city ends up looking rather small. To give some perspective, you only need about 2 police/fire stations to cover your entire city.

I miss building massive cities.

That is so dumb, what is it with companies wrecking proven franchises IE Diablo and Sim City.

[rursusferre]

sorry you got burned Asano. I have heard nothing but horrible things about SimCity, including everything you said. Which fucking sucks, because I was pretty excited for a new version of this. Like Gronthor said, how are these companies driving this once icon game franchises into the ground? SimCity could literally have been a larger, improved graphical version of Simcity 2000 and probably would have sold 400 million copies. Not saying I don't want games to improve and evolve, but some of these companies just don't "get" what made their games great in the first place. Hopefully Valve will always be reliable.

[Onion]

I thought this was funny:

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/19wqhb/sim_city_is_on_pace_to_be_the_worst_rated_product/

[Blake]

from massively

Everyone in the games industry and community has been watching in fascination as EA has bungled SimCity's release almost every way possible over this past week. From servers losing city information to always-on DRM practices requiring internet connections to massive user review backlash to lengthy server log-in times to Amazon even pulling the title from its digital sales department, EA is facing what we've often seen in the online world: a disastrous launch.

[rursusferre]

Apparently they claim the game sends massive amounts of data to cloud computer in order to able to run. They claimed it just wouldn't be able to run on people's computers very well due to the "massive amount of simulation data". Apparently people have been using traffic sniffers, and the data exchange is almost non-existent. You can disconnect your game from the internet after you log in, and the game runs fine, but closes due to "loss of connection" error after 10 mins. It's completely fabricated bullshit in order to attempt to control piracy. The problem is, just like with Diablo, its at a giant expense to the quality of the game. Some people have pointed out (and are right) that nothing will change if people continue to buy this shit. Look at Diablo, people knew about all the issues before it came out, still sold a shit ton. You can complain all you want, but if you still buy it, they don't give a shit. EA is a piece of shit and I'll probably avoid all future games from them.

[Physics]

I just DL Simcity, ill give it a run, seems cool

[Gogan]

Been playing this the last couple days now that things have stabilized. Gotta say... it's really good.

The whole "always online" thing sucks, but the gameplay is great.

[Physics]

Ya, I like it, I cant wait for DLC. I think they can do some really cool things.

[Quintilian]

My friend works at EA, so I got a copy for 10$. Which then, cause I activated it, got me a free Dead Space 3.

So, yay for server issues that never affected me!

[Blake]

little late but just saw this. seems just like asanos review


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[Gronthor]

How is this game? Is it worth the purchase?

[Gogan]

I was disappointed by it. I didn't like the way they forced you to create several small specialized cities instead of a single massive city. The footprint for each plot of land seemed really small compared to past versions of the game. That said, at least they finally let you play it offline now.

[Gogan]

If anyone likes city builders like Sim City, check out Cities Skylines. Was just released recently and it's everything I wished the latest Sim City was. Very well done, $30 on steam.

[rursusferre]

yeah asano, i've been seeing a lot about this game, and honestly, i've had to force myself NOT to buy it. It just looks TOO good, and I am just too busy to put some much time into a game. But it looks amazing, and it looks like the devs have thought of everything.

[Fusa]

Cities Skylines, is fucking amazing I already have a city 112k deep ( full tiles not modded )

but there is so much to add to the game because it come from steam it is honestly so ridiculous the amount of shit you can add to the game, make yourself and then share with others.


A+++

[Gogan]

Wow nice. I only played a couple sessions so my city is ~34K.

One of my favorite aspects (so far) is the mass transit. Figuring out how to configure bus and subway routes is a little confusing at first, but it's very satisfying once you get it setup and see it all running.

[Fusa]

One thing I found was the larger the city you get the more traffic you have to deal with and it is #1 in ratio of what needs to always be good.

Cities fall apart very fast once garbage is not picked up, so one thing I would advise is get rid of all your bus's and get metro-lines to connect area's, less traffic is a goodthing