As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
We're funding a new Acquisitions Incorporated series on Kickstarter right now! Check it out at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pennyarcade/acquisitions-incorporated-the-series-2

[SimCity] Offline mode is here, just gotta connect online to get the patch first.

1525355575873

Posts

  • mastertheheromasterthehero Professional Video Editor & Book Author Registered User regular
    Smrtnik wrote: »
    pay to win? You don't say...

    Not necessarily, you still have to contend with traffic as Sims will need to drive to the airship hangar. It's just an additional layer to the commuter system.

    hk52krrtzsf6.gif
  • OakeyOakey UKRegistered User regular
    They're taking the utter fucking piss with the DLC pricing considering the game still isn't working properly. Last time I checked in on our region no one else had been online for 3 weeks and I don't blame them.

    Dhalphir
  • ShogunShogun Hair long; money long; me and broke wizards we don't get along Registered User regular
    I claimed my city and never actually played it so I apologize about that. 8.99 for a building? I really don't know what the mindset is for the people at EA/Maxis concerning this game.

    The ship is on fire, but we're making excellent time I guess...

  • That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    Shogun wrote: »
    I claimed my city and never actually played it so I apologize about that. 8.99 for a building? I really don't know what the mindset is for the people at EA/Maxis concerning this game.

    The ship is on fire, but we're making excellent time I guess...

    The ship totally isn't sinking. My side is 25 feet in the air.

    steam_sig.png
    GutterkisserBobble
  • BobbleBobble Registered User regular
    I don't think I'm alone when I say that I'm only subbed to this thread to keep tabs on this ship and see if she manages to keep from capsizing (or watch her do so in spectacular fashion).

    Turkeyminor incidentElvenshae
  • SatsumomoSatsumomo Rated PG! Registered User regular
    Nope, you're not.

    Kinda waiting to see if anything comes up that will make me want to reinstall the game. So far it seems they still haven't fixed a ton of shit, but DLC still keeps coming out.

  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    Satsumomo wrote: »
    Nope, you're not.

    Kinda waiting to see if anything comes up that will make me want to reinstall the game. So far it seems they still haven't fixed a ton of shit, but DLC still keeps coming out.

    Expensive DLC that in no way adds to gameplay, just adds small number of buildings with slightly adjusted pluses and minuses.

    What is this I don't even.
  • PoketpixiePoketpixie Siege Registered User regular
    edited July 2013
    I'm thinking the airship building should be like $1.49 or something. I wouldn't pay $10 unless it was for something more....substantial.

    Also, if they can make the airship bring in droves of tourists and commuters why can't they do the same for the airport and the ferry.

    Poketpixie on
    webguy20
  • OakeyOakey UKRegistered User regular
    $10, isn't that the cost of each BF3 DLC?

  • SatsumomoSatsumomo Rated PG! Registered User regular
    No, the expansions themselves cost $15, but if you bought Premium, then they cost $10 each.

  • mastertheheromasterthehero Professional Video Editor & Book Author Registered User regular
    All right, sneak peek for Patch 6.

    http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9543476.page

    Update 6 Changes Currently in Testing

    We are testing changes to how RCI works in the game in response to feedback directly from our players. The main goals are to make Industrial matter more and make sure the demand bars inform players what they should zone.

    • New: RCI Tuning - Tuning to make Industrial needed more. Commercial buildings lose profit if they don’t have enough freight. The demand bars should feel like they inform the player what they should zone.
    • New: RCI height variations for Density 3 Buildings. This will add more variety to the look of your cities.
    • New: Borderless windowed mode setting.
    • Fixes for some issues of the “out of money” problem or unexplained abandonment.
    • Clarity around unfilled jobs and workers to make sure players are messaged that there may be an issue where workers cannot get to unfilled jobs.
    • Residential and Commercial buildings are now more consistently in the same wealth in an area of a particular land value. Improves visually consistency.
    • Help Wanted, no Shoppers, and No Jobs alerts have been added to the Zoning info panel as alerts.
    • Data Layer: Greater map accuracy on the land value map. Residential and Commercial wealth colors added. Abandoned buildings show up red.
    • Data Layer: Land Value map shows when placing parks.
    • Fixed issue where RCI sometimes builds on roads.
    • Fix performance slowdown in cities with more than one million tourists.
    • UI Clarity: Show which city hall modules are already placed in the region on the palette UI.
    • Garbage UI: fixed issue where garbage UI sometimes showed bins that had already been picked up.
    • Gifting: Cash gifts will send to another city even if a player leaves the gifting city before seeing gift confirmation.

    hk52krrtzsf6.gif
  • ShogunShogun Hair long; money long; me and broke wizards we don't get along Registered User regular
    edited July 2013
    I just cannot fathom the mindset of,
    "Ok so we totally launched a game that was not ready. Also the launch was an abysmal failure and we're super-duper sorry. The entire internet also called us out on our bullshit and we backpedaled and lied and we're sorry about that too. Now that that is all out of the way we've got two guys working on patches while everyone else works on linking up The Sims 4 and SimCity. So, we made some of these buildings months and months ago for the original game and then just cut them out. That will be $9 each thank you."

    Who is the guy that sits there and says, "Yeah sure they'll totally pay that! Do it!" not once, but several times. You assholes got me for $60 and then gave me another $50 game to apologize. What on earth makes you think that DLC structured in this way is a good idea?

    Shogun on
    spool32Elvenshae
  • QuetzatcoatlQuetzatcoatl Registered User regular
    So... Is Simcity 5 worth getting now? I'm a huge fan of the series but when I played the beta it never really grabbed me, just felt too narrow compared to the amount of options in Simcity 4 and on release all the bugs turned me off it.

    Is it pretty stable now? And I guess most of the server issues got worked out?

  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    So... Is Simcity 5 worth getting now? I'm a huge fan of the series but when I played the beta it never really grabbed me, just felt too narrow compared to the amount of options in Simcity 4 and on release all the bugs turned me off it.

    Is it pretty stable now? And I guess most of the server issues got worked out?

    No.

    It still sucks donkey balls because the game part is not fixed.

    What is this I don't even.
    Zombie HeroPanda4You
  • SatsumomoSatsumomo Rated PG! Registered User regular
    If you like Simcity because of the simulation aspects, then you will not like this one.

    It's fun to play around with, but it isn't engrossing at all, and you'll be tired/bored of your first city in the first 2 or 3 days, compared to working on a same city for weeks on SC4.

  • mastertheheromasterthehero Professional Video Editor & Book Author Registered User regular
    So... Is Simcity 5 worth getting now? I'm a huge fan of the series but when I played the beta it never really grabbed me, just felt too narrow compared to the amount of options in Simcity 4 and on release all the bugs turned me off it.

    Is it pretty stable now? And I guess most of the server issues got worked out?

    The cities have a short shelf life in this one. In the previous Sim Cities, you could spend weeks building your perfect city, slowly expanding and developing the land as you saw fit. In this Sim City, you can have a fully formed city in a few hours if you play on Cheetah speed. I personally play it on turtle speed so that I could extend my playtime with the city, but once I start hitting max density, I move on to the next region.

    I still have fun playing it, but the limited city size is a huge problem. You're going to find yourself saying, "If only I could build just a little bit further."

    The small city size makes it difficult to justify having a subway in the game, a highway overpass to cut through your city, and even an airport has to be taken with careful consideration. Do you lose a huge chunk of land to build an airport? Or do you instead refocus that area into buildings your residents can use.

    The servers are definitely stable now and most of the features generally seem to be working. The AI still does stupid crap, but what AI doesn't? If you didn't like the beta, you're not going to like the game now.

    hk52krrtzsf6.gif
  • BolthornBolthorn Registered User regular
    Satsumomo wrote: »
    Nope, you're not.

    Kinda waiting to see if anything comes up that will make me want to reinstall the game. So far it seems they still haven't fixed a ton of shit, but DLC still keeps coming out.

    You reminded me, I forgot to uninstall this. SimCity was my first Origin game and the only game there now is SimCity and the free game we got from the "our bad" promotion. I should free up that hard drive space. I was so disappointed with how the game functions (or if you want to argue it doesn't function that's fine too) that unless they burn it down and start over I probably will never bother.

  • AthenorAthenor Battle Hardened Optimist The Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
    The main goals are to make Industrial matter more and make sure the demand bars inform players what they should zone.

    *stares*


    ...


    *stares harder*
    MAKE SURE THE DEMAND BARS INFORM PLAYERS WHAT THEY SHOULD ZONE.

    WHAT. THE. FUCK.


    This is like the bedrock of the game! This is the core idea! The interplay between RCI, as informed by the motherfucking bars, is how you know if you are doing well, as well as directing how to build your city!

    THIS IS THE SIXTH PATCH! HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE THIS RIGHT YET?!

    He/Him | "A boat is always safest in the harbor, but that’s not why we build boats." | "If you run, you gain one. If you move forward, you gain two." - Suletta Mercury, G-Witch
    Zombie HeroBobbleDarkewolfeNightslyrjdarksunMr RayDusdaTurkeySmrtnikecho 78MegaMekspool32minor incidentPoketpixieStormwatcherElvenshae
  • Toxic PickleToxic Pickle Thash grape! Registered User regular
    The city size is pretty much what kills this game for me as well. While it's absolutely infuriating what EA/Maxis have done with releasing a completely unfinished (3 months later!) game and then trying to sell DLC for their still-unfinished game, the tiny plots they give you to build on guarantee that I am never going to spend any significant time with Sim City.

    Several of us on this board have come together to build up regions, but the problem is that even once you get everyone together and building cities, they wander off within 1-2 days because they max out their city and there's really nothing left to do except to gift massive amounts of cash to anyone that hasn't yet maxed theirs out, or who picked one of the broken city specializations that doesn't rake in cash. The region is 100% dead in 3-4 days and we repeated this process several times until everyone realized it was never going to get any better.

    SatsumomoSynthesis
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    The game having no actual city game to it other than "abuse the homeless agent system" thing is what killed it for me.

    What is this I don't even.
  • SarksusSarksus ATTACK AND DETHRONE GODRegistered User regular
    Athenor wrote: »
    The main goals are to make Industrial matter more and make sure the demand bars inform players what they should zone.

    *stares*


    ...


    *stares harder*
    MAKE SURE THE DEMAND BARS INFORM PLAYERS WHAT THEY SHOULD ZONE.

    WHAT. THE. FUCK.


    This is like the bedrock of the game! This is the core idea! The interplay between RCI, as informed by the motherfucking bars, is how you know if you are doing well, as well as directing how to build your city!

    THIS IS THE SIXTH PATCH! HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE THIS RIGHT YET?!

    The RCI graph wasn't exactly infallible in past SimCity games. At least in my experience following the graph too closely would cause you to over-commit to industry and especially commercial. Building conservatively was one of the most important lessons I learned playing the franchise.

    Synthesis
  • OakeyOakey UKRegistered User regular
    Athenor wrote: »
    The main goals are to make Industrial matter more and make sure the demand bars inform players what they should zone.

    *stares*


    ...


    *stares harder*
    MAKE SURE THE DEMAND BARS INFORM PLAYERS WHAT THEY SHOULD ZONE.

    WHAT. THE. FUCK.


    This is like the bedrock of the game! This is the core idea! The interplay between RCI, as informed by the motherfucking bars, is how you know if you are doing well, as well as directing how to build your city!

    THIS IS THE SIXTH PATCH! HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE THIS RIGHT YET?!

    What the hell have those bars been doing all these months?

    Turkey
  • DiannaoChongDiannaoChong Registered User regular
    edited July 2013
    So did they make it so the solar farm wont run out of electricity to send to your city at night, catch on fire and turn off, or run out of workers and not turn on?

    Because solar farms needed more than "tuning". They were pretty non functional.

    DiannaoChong on
    steam_sig.png
  • That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    So did they make it so the solar farm wont run out of electricity to send to your city at night, catch on fire and turn off, or run out of workers and not turn on?

    Because solar farms needed more than "tuning". They were pretty non functional.

    Problem is, that is about 4 different issues and all seem to be design defects in the engine itself.

    steam_sig.png
  • OakeyOakey UKRegistered User regular
    Huh, I never had any issues with solar farms although I always tried to research the advanced array and used them as soon as possible.

  • Last SonLast Son Registered User regular
    Oakey wrote: »
    Huh, I never had any issues with solar farms although I always tried to research the advanced array and used them as soon as possible.

    I think he is talking about the great works project, which afaik still doesn't actually work correctly.

  • jothkijothki Registered User regular
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    The game having no actual city game to it other than "abuse the homeless agent system" thing is what killed it for me.

    How much of the game would be instantly fixed if individual agents had fixed homes and workplaces or schools? I wonder if the engine could have handled that if they had built it better.

  • Mr RayMr Ray Sarcasm sphereRegistered User regular
    jothki wrote: »
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    The game having no actual city game to it other than "abuse the homeless agent system" thing is what killed it for me.

    How much of the game would be instantly fixed if individual agents had fixed homes and workplaces or schools? I wonder if the engine could have handled that if they had built it better.

    I have a feeling modern computers would struggle, however well they coded it. And limiting the number of people who could play their game would be terrible, perish the thought!

  • DusdaDusda is ashamed of this post SLC, UTRegistered User regular
    So a SimCity survey has been circulating. I got an invite to it and just finished. Took some screenshots of interesting bits.

    Possible new features!
    JxkYVkY.png

    Expansion Packs! Why fix your base game when you can just staple on dozens of more game?
    XyBsaPt.png

    More new feature stuff
    XiSpVpZ.png

    Mountains of DLC
    uPO4MWw.png

    An interest in Virtual Goods (Steam envy, I'm guessing)
    AmolVSv.png

    More virtual goods stuff
    igUh68O.png

    and this sig. and this twitch stream.
  • davidsdurionsdavidsdurions Your Trusty Meatshield Panhandle NebraskaRegistered User regular
    Hmmm.

    So when do I get this survey? Because I'm one of those people who is not going to play again until that "if and when" situation of the game bring finished and me not having to pay a dime more than the deluxe cost I already forked over occurs.

    I kinda wish they did this survey before releasing the game so I would have had a better chance to have understood the things they were holding back/not finished with.

    PwH4Ipj.jpg
  • EuphoriacEuphoriac Registered User regular
    I nope'd out of this game the moment I heard of the city size restriction.

    I remember not being too interested in the game when it was first announced but videos and previews gradually drew me in. Then the Reddit ama happened and I went completely cold.

    No matter how polished and functioning they get the game, it'll still be a terrible game for reasons others have mentioned; it's over too quickly,

    And yes, I'm guilty of watching this thread and the subreddit for the train-wreck. What they've 'accomplished' here is staggering and my heart goes out to those caught up in it...but seeing it plumb to knew depths of suck is almost invigorating.

    As for that survey? Since they can barely get patches out at more than a glacial pace I have to assume they have a whole team just sitting in their offices just waiting to be told what to program for the first x-pac, and they'll be told what, based on the results. Seems kinda pathetic. If you have to ask this sort of stuff then the game will obviously fail because greed and opportunism rule over passion and forethought.

    BonepartSmrtnikDissociater
  • mastertheheromasterthehero Professional Video Editor & Book Author Registered User regular
    All right, new blog talks about the incoming patch and the changes to RCI.

    http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/making-industry-matter-rci-improvements

    hk52krrtzsf6.gif
  • DacDac Registered User regular
    At this point I've gotten more enjoyment out of thinking about the reasons behind this trainwreck than the game itself.

    Steam: catseye543
    PSN: ShogunGunshow
    Origin: ShogunGunshow
    BobbleMr RayEl GuacoElvenshae
  • RobesRobes Registered User regular
    edited July 2013
    Dusda wrote: »
    So a SimCity survey has been circulating. I got an invite to it and just finished. Took some screenshots of interesting bits.

    Possible new features!
    JxkYVkY.png

    Expansion Packs! Why fix your base game when you can just staple on dozens of more game?
    XyBsaPt.png

    More new feature stuff
    XiSpVpZ.png

    Mountains of DLC
    uPO4MWw.png

    An interest in Virtual Goods (Steam envy, I'm guessing)
    AmolVSv.png

    More virtual goods stuff
    igUh68O.png

    Virtual Goods:
    "Full PC Games Like StarCraft or The Sims NOT causal games like solitaire or Farmville"
    This statement has so many things wrong with it.

    Is there a section of this survey for "Additional Thoughts or Comments:" If so we need to make a twitter hashtag or something for what people write in it.

    Robes on
    "Wait" he says... do I look like a waiter?
    Broncbuster
  • That_GuyThat_Guy I don't wanna be that guy Registered User regular
    Commercial buildings have always received freight shipments, but now that need is greater. If they wait too long for deliveries, they may go abandoned.
    This would be fine if industry was capable of getting freight to commercial. Last game I played it only happened if they were right on top of each other and even that was inconsistent. This is going to cause even more issues. Agents simply can't get from one end of the city to the other.

    steam_sig.png
    HappylilElfwebguy20
  • Dignified PauperDignified Pauper Registered User regular
    This is by far the most disappointing game purchase I've ever had. The majority of what is wrong has nothing to do with small tweaks, but with, as someone mentioned before, the GlassBox engine is just poorly optimized. There's no way to fix it without committing to what SE did with FFXIV:ARR - to completely overhaul the look, the engine and code - basically creating a new game with direct fan feedback.

    PSN: DignifiedPauper
    3DSFF: 5026-4429-6577
    DarkewolfeToyD
  • HappylilElfHappylilElf Registered User regular
    Hah, and unintentionally you just bumped Simcity to the number two spot of my "Oh my god what the fuck were they thinking launching with this" list

    Because wow was FFXIV laughably bad when it launched.

    I mean at least Simcity has a a few enjoyable hours before it transforms into a useless piece of shit. FFXIV was, seemingly intentionally, terrible in every aspect at launch.

    No, wait. I take that back. It was terrible in every aspect except prettiness. It was (and still is) a gorgeous game. Also the crafting was kinda fun when the game wasn't actively attempting to kill any and all enjoyment you could possibly derive from playing it.

  • a5ehrena5ehren AtlantaRegistered User regular
    Dusda wrote: »
    So a SimCity survey has been circulating. I got an invite to it and just finished. Took some screenshots of interesting bits.

    Possible new features!
    JxkYVkY.png

    Expansion Packs! Why fix your base game when you can just staple on dozens of more game?
    XyBsaPt.png

    More new feature stuff
    XiSpVpZ.png

    Mountains of DLC
    uPO4MWw.png

    An interest in Virtual Goods (Steam envy, I'm guessing)
    AmolVSv.png

    More virtual goods stuff
    igUh68O.png

    I still think this would be a great engine for a new SimTower game. The SuperScraper stuff sounds interesting, but the other stuff in the xpac sounds dumb and I'd rather have everything from the first screenshot before the tower stuff.

  • SatsumomoSatsumomo Rated PG! Registered User regular
    edited July 2013
    Lead SimCity developers leave EA to form indie studio

    I doubt Simcity being this terrible is only EA's fault, these guys made a lot of these decisions, their whole "recovering ex-AAA game developer" title looks like a way for them to pass the blame onto Simcity being a victim of AAA development.

    Satsumomo on
  • ShogunShogun Hair long; money long; me and broke wizards we don't get along Registered User regular
    jesus christ ask me if I'm fucking surprised.

    Game is dead. Uninstalling.

Sign In or Register to comment.