Is there anyone on this Earth that still cares about this game?
Increasingly, that agent-based model looks to be the single biggest mistake Maxis made when designing SimCity--yes, even more than online mode. It was something that people didn't really ask for, but it looked impressive when Maxis first unveiled their new tech. We just didn't realize (or assumed Maxis figured out) the high processing cost of modelling every agent individually instead of the statistical model used in previous games. And in the end, that agent model didn't actually make the game feel much more realistic anyways.
Meanwhile features I feel were asked for more, like mixed-use development, pedestrian paths, better transit integration, etc. didn't really happen. Even if Maxis had ignored all that stuff and just updated SimCity 4 Deluxe to run better on current computers with updated graphics, that would've been decent if somewhat uninspired. But this? Disappointment.
Is there anyone on this Earth that still cares about this game?
I remember The Settlers on the Amiga had a map size selector. If you added more RAM or had a faster CPU, it allowed you to select bigger maps. Why not do the same here? Unless their engine scales exponentially, and no-one has a fast enough PC! In which case.. it's a bad engine!
Your legal speculation doesn't hold water, I think.
Taking risks is laudible only if you're willing to pay the cost of having the thing you're trying not work out.
Don't find something doesn't work, results in a horrible game, and ship it as is anyway. In that case, you're not actually taking any risks at all, only the customers who buy your game are.
Haha, come on. If that were possible the people who bought the PS3 version of Skyrim would have already seen their day in court.
I would love something like this, but You're saying like its normal for other companies. Is there even a game that does something like this? Have different gameplay, on different machines?
I think, they could be sued for making gamers not equal.
They've got enough hate for SimCity release, which is understandable. But now people are hating engine, which only fault is that average person CPU is not good enough. Its not an issue with an engine, its issue with average consumer.
I would rather work for the Detroit city planning & budgeting
I'm sorry, but You dont understand what i'm saying. Its not about graphics, its about simulation computations.
The simulation is half fake. Things like AI in the traffic and even water, power, and sewage distribution were HORRIFIC. Game breakingly bad. The population numbers were proven to be falsely raised and most of the sims just went from random house to random business and some just stumbled around the sidewalks doing nothing. There was no detailed simulation going on.
It runs much more computation than Sim City 4. Sim City 4 isnt even multithreaded, this one is and i had like 50% CPU utilization on 4 cores on my i5 2500k. Its because Sim City 2013's agents are moving real-times.
I figured that low end dual core requirement for this game will hurt it and thats why they wont patch bigger cities ;\, what a bummer.
For a love of god.
Its not an engine fault! Its fault of low PC requirement. Big cities would require 4 cores, but most of their player base play on low end PCs and laptops.
The main sim + game loop is on a single thread, so extra cores don't help. We do make use of extra CPU for audio/rendering
So, congrats internet, I guess?
Yeah, because agents are expensive on CPUs, thats why they decreased their numbers.
But its not an Engine fault, engine is fine and ambitious and should be praised, not bashed.
There is so much talk about companies playing safe, tech and gameplay being stagnant and so on, but when someone tries to innovate, its bashed to death, because he failed, mostly due to new tech and too low specs of average player ...
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I'm sorry, but You dont understand what i'm saying. Its not about graphics, its about simulation computations.
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If You're smart, tell me whats the reason why its inefficient, partly smoke and mirrors and prone to not working?
Do You even understand the tech behind this game? I think not, because You talk about graphics.
Wow so the game is basically running on a single thread, what a piece of shit. Even phones nowadays have more than one core. They seem to have hobbled together something that looks pretty but doesnt scale or function properly.
Repurposed Facebook game confirmed. What a disaster.
Does anyone know of a respectable Sim City-like? I want to try a modern take on the genre but won't touch this POS.
Ah, so there is a main page thread on this. Sad news indeed.
But, look on the brightside, at least Lucy Bradshaw got promoted to EA senior vice president 2 days ago!
D:
well in the end didn't this piece of junk sold quite well?
If I can't make huge ass city that does everything, what's the damn point
well in the end didn't this piece of junk sold quite well?
Yes, but I suspect that like Diablo III, it mostly sold on name recognition and developer trust. The next test will see how the expansions do.
Personally, I think I'll give the DIII expansion a chance. I think the devs might be turning it around. On the other hand, I'm planning on skipping the SimCity expansion for now.
D3 is removing the biggest hurdle many had, the Auction House and in general fixing a TON of things that people had with the game. I haven't followed SC as close, are they doing that?
Just make the game scale area size depending what specs you have. Shouldn't be hard for EA/Maxis to do... Oh wait we forgot that EA is the worst company in the US 2 years in a row:/
For a love of god.
Its not an engine fault! Its fault of low PC requirement. Big cities would require 4 cores, but most of their player base play on low end PCs and laptops.
can't say enough: DO NOT BUY THIS GAME