The SimCity Thread of Offline Play

[Stacy]

There's an 'easy' mode.

Er, I know its still a difficult game even with the tutorial.

[Stritix]

Er, I know its still a difficult game even with the tutorial.

A game being difficult for you doesn't determine who buys it.

[Stacy]

A game being difficult for you doesn't determine who buys it.

Agh, I didn't say that, stop putting words in my mouth, thank you.

I admit I find the series challenging especially Sim City 4 which I found could be really tedious at times to the point I rather watch paint dry.

You don't get it, to some average gamers Sim City might be not as appealing as other titles due to older games in being know for being quite challenging that was why Sim City Societies was made to attract people who were put off by the series complexity. Even Will Wright said that previous games in the were described as too complex.

Ironically Sim City Societies wasn't popular with fans with the series due to its inaccessibly and the average didn't give as much a second glance.

Who knows maybe this reboot will balance so that long time fans will enjoy its complexity but still leaving room for new gamers to get into the title.

[Emmett L. Brown]

So it is going the MMO route, what is the big deal?

Are we going to whine about not being able to play World of Warcraft offline too?

Ohohoho, I see what you did there.

Now that you mention it, I think I'll play some Warcraft III.

[Tornado]

Most likely, a lot of them would. Me and my friends have been into the SimCity series since we were 7-8 years old.

That's nice, but it doesn't really prove anything.

[Stritix]

That's nice, but it doesn't really prove anything.

Neither does your post actually.

[Tornado]

Neither does your post actually.

What, you mean the post that said that the average CoD-playing, vaguely racist and homophobic ten year old probably wouldn't be one to buy a SimCity game in the first place so you are far less likely to have to deal with them online?

Because that's kind of common sense.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Tornado

[Stacy]

Neither does your post actually.

That's you and your friends hardly the counts as every gamer on the planet.

Sim City is like the C&C franchise it is a niche game with a niche audience.

Edited May 13, 2012 by BW199148

[TheGerkuman]

I think people are missing the forest for the trees.

Yes, there has been some games that weren't as good as they could've been, due to multiplayer focus. But, others have been enhanced. I saw a tech-demo for this game a few months ago that sold me on the game; it's got some pretty amazing new tech under the bonnet that should make the game much more fun to play and quicker to run.

Just thought I should point that out.

[Stacy]

I think people are missing the forest for the trees.

Yes, there has been some games that weren't as good as they could've been, due to multiplayer focus. But, others have been enhanced. I saw a tech-demo for this game a few months ago that sold me on the game; it's got some pretty amazing new tech under the bonnet that should make the game much more fun to play and quicker to run.

Just thought I should point that out.

Also isn't Maxis and at the helm again?

[Patticus]

EA has been attempting to break into the social networking scene for ages, with its latest effort being the new Sims 3 expansion. I just hope that there won't be any "post this city to facebook" bullshit, as it's simply not needed.

You'll never beat Zynga, EA. Get over it.

[Tornado]

Also isn't Maxis and at the helm again?

Yes. Unlike SimCity Societies and SimCity Creator (the latter of which actually was pretty decent), this game isn't being farmed out to someone else. This is a Maxis game through and through.

[Stacy]

Yes. Unlike SimCity Societies and SimCity Creator (the latter of which actually was pretty decent), this game isn't being farmed out to someone else. This is a Maxis game through and through.

Its a shame they won't do the Sims series again. Tried the 3rd series didn't like to be honest.

[Octarine]

Man, I haven't played a SimCity game since 2000. I was always really terrible at that, but it still managed to be a lot of fun, and maybe I'd be a little better now that I've matured somewhat as a gamer. I've been sort of meaning to get back into the series for a while now; this might be a good jumping-on point.

The words "constant internet connection" always send a shiver down my spine because I spent an unreasonably long time in my mid-teens with a terrible internet connection, but it wouldn't really affect me nowadays. The idea of a multiplayer-capable SimCity game seems interesting enough to justify any oddities in that regard anyway, I think.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Octarine

[Stritix]

What, you mean the post that said that the average CoD-playing, vaguely racist and homophobic ten year old probably wouldn't be one to buy a SimCity game in the first place so you are far less likely to have to deal with them online?

Because that's kind of common sense.

That's only roughly 10% of gamers (Probably less) under 13. That's also a pretty dumb way of generalising too. I'd hardly call that 'common sense'. What's your point?

[Tornado]

That's only roughly 10% of gamers (Probably less) under 13. That's also a pretty dumb way of generalising too.

Huh. I wonder how that might have come up in this thread...

Oh wait. I remember.

I'd be fine with it if it was optional, but seeing as it's not, it's just awful. I don't want to be forced into online multiplayer with a bunch of 10 year old's. I'll just stick with SimCity 4 thanks.

I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning. You know, one time we had a thread bombed, for 21 hours. When it was all over, I lurked through. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' real rebuttal. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole thread. Smelled like...

Victory. One day this war's gonna end.

I'd hardly call that 'common sense'. What's your point?

Let me get this straight:

The "undesirable" online players. The ones that give online multiplayer the bad name it has. The ones that you brought up. And the ones who tend to stick to a specific set of mainstream games/genres (CoD, Battlefield, Red Dead, etc.). They are why this 5th game in a very closed-off series in a very specific genre with a high barrier to entry and an astronomical learning curve should not be designed around multiplayer.

Because, when hell freezes over and all those undesirable players go way out of their typical comfort zones and suddenly migrate over to playing Sim games (as you've implied to be the case, bizarely, because you and your friends "have been into the SimCity series since we were 7-8 years old"), then the online aspect of SimCity 5 will be ruined. But nope. None of that common sense.

Well, I'd certainly like to hear your definition of the phrase, then.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Tornado

[Patticus]

I must say that this is rather entertaining...

Big Gerk - I don't suppose there's any kind of footage or detailed descriptions of the tech demo available for me to have a look at, by any chance?

[pooshoes]

EA have been releasing a series of videos on Youtube detailing the depth of the simulation processes involved.

[media=]

That's the first one, and there are others detailing water pollution and how fires spread.

[PeanutButterDimond]

Well, now that I know it will have single player, I'm interested again.

These videos are pretty neat. It looks pretty good.

I've never played much SimCity(only played SimCity Creations which was alright) but the game looks pretty neat. I'm especially happy that it's maxis working on it because I love their games(Though I think EA, or whoever developed it) did a decent job with The Sims 3.

On a related note, I actually made a thread for this game a whole ago.

[Patticus]

Wow, those videos really are impressive, I'll have to be sure to locate my water towers away from sources of ground pollution! I'd like to see more of the game before I decide if I like the look of it though, it almost seems cartoony. If it's going down that route, it had better have hilarious newspaper stuff (or a more modern equivalent) like in SC2000. Loving the levels of close-up detail too, with all those little Sims going about their business and whatnot, but I want the opposite to remain from SC4 or get expanded; gigantic region views.

Ah, it's good to have you back Maxis.

From the article which started this topic:

As well as the MMO or social side of things, SimCity’s always-on Internet requirement encourages you to invest heavily in terms of time and effort.

SC4 is capable of sucking entire days from me. I start playing in the morning, and by the time I check the time it's gone sundown and I've done nothing else all day. And they want to amplify that effect?

Holy shit my life is doomed...

[PeanutButterDimond]

You have to remember that the videos all say that the videos are for demoing gameplay, not graphics, and that these do not represent the final graphics.

And yes it is good to have Maxis back. Although I saw someone saying that Maxis is barely like they were before which I honestly don;'t see. I've never been a huge Maxis enthusiast but they seem to have the same love and care for simulation in their games as before.

Edited May 15, 2012 by PeanutButterDimond

[Marcello]

So can someone answer my question about slow internet slowing the game down when playing single-player?

[Patticus]

We can't say for sure just yet, Marcello, as we don't know the extent to which the singleplayer game is connected to the internet. 'Singleplayer' ought to mean that you're not playing in a region with other people, as in it's all on your computer or in the cloud. I shouldn't imagine you'd get any slowdown at all unless you're saving your game to their servers, or loading therefrom. I can't imagine you'd notice much of that though.

[vgmaster]

http://www.arabicgam...iew-brett-barry

But does that compromise sales, does that compromise strategy for sales of the game if for example if people aren't able to connect online, is there an offline mode for example for people to be able to play, or do you need to have an internet connection to play and is it something the emerging markets would go for?

You do have to have an internet connection to play. So there is that, i guess that we do recognise that but it's so fundamental to multiplayer to actually be online that we have made that decision to go that route.

So can you play offline at all? Straight up?

There is no offline mode. You have to be online to play the game.

Well so much for being better than Societies and Cities XL.

[Patticus]

This online business had better be really worth it, because I am not comfortable with traditionally singleplayer experiences being sacrificed in favour of online 'social' shit.