SimCity

Hearthly · **Joined:** 11th May, 2008 **Posts:** 13385

Grim... wrote:

Twelve gig?

It's an entire city, on your computer!

Every sim has their own name and stuff, that must account for at least ten gig of it.

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

Grim... wrote:

It thinks it's ready to play.

I'm not convinced it's downloaded in that time. I'd need an 819Mb/s connection.

It'll do something it calls upgrading large file, or something similar. Which seems to be the actual download.

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:30

"Processing large file", indeed. Still, it's 25% of the way through.

Funny how Origin itself is holding up under the strain, isn't it?

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

I've really enjoyed it so far, but I'm a little concerned over the longevity. The towns aren't big enough to do much in the way of variation, and I'll need to start another town to see if they progress the same each time.

I'm going to see if a town with no industrial will work

ApplePieOfDestiny · **Joined:** 17th Dec, 2008 **Posts:** 8293

Aye, it's truly amazing that they found the way to keep the BIG MONEY TAKING MACHINE running

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:35

55% of the way to waiting some more!

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:35

ApplePieOfDestiny wrote:

Aye, it's truly amazing that they found the way to keep the BIG MONEY TAKING MACHINE running

I NO RITE

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:37

75%! 76%!

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:37

82% WTF

ApplePieOfDestiny · **Joined:** 17th Dec, 2008 **Posts:** 8293

Stop updating me on download speeds. I'm holding off to buy a DVD copy as I'm away from 9am tomorrow until Wednesday. I may put the boy in nursery on thursday though.

Hearthly · **Joined:** 11th May, 2008 **Posts:** 13385

Trooper wrote:

I've really enjoyed it so far, but I'm a little concerned over the longevity. The towns aren't big enough to do much in the way of variation, and I'll need to start another town to see if they progress the same each time.

I'm going to see if a town with no industrial will work

As far as I can tell it really is designed around symbiosis with several towns in the same region, yes you can get a workable self-contained city on a single plot, but to really stretch out and get all the mega-cool stuff, you need to have two (as a minimum) cities helping each other out.

The option is there to create a private region and do all the cities in it yourself, and at that level I think you'd probably be managing about the same overall amount of space as was the case back in Sim City 3000 and Sim City 4.

My current thinking is I still think they should have put a basic 'big city offline mode' in there (not least because you don't need to log into their servers to play the bastard thing), but I can appreciate what they're trying to do with the new model.

If you think about it, there's so much criticism about sequels just rehashing previous games in a series and simply adding on fancier graphics, whereas Maxis do genuinely appear to have tried something different here.

Malc · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:38

My god, this sounds shit!

I loved sim city and sim city 2000, and would consider buying the latest version, but this thread has put me right off.

Malc

Malc · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:38

FFS 5 attempts to post that message, is it affecting this board too?

Malc

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:39

ApplePieOfDestiny wrote:

Stop updating me on download speeds.

91%!

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:41

Done!

18 minutes - none too shabby.

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:45

It's working fine.
I don't know what you girls are moaning about.

Hearthly · **Joined:** 11th May, 2008 **Posts:** 13385

Grim... wrote:

It's working fine.
I don't know what you girls are moaning about.

/makes mental note to send Grim... all the crackheads from my city.

We getting a BEEX region on the go or what then?

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

AtrocityExhibition wrote:

Grim... wrote:

It's working fine.
I don't know what you girls are moaning about.

/makes mental note to send Grim... all the crackheads from my city.

We getting a BEEX region on the go or what then?

Nobody else signed up for Pete's Beexville...

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:56

'splain me how and I will.

Kern · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 23:59

Grim... wrote:

'splain me how and I will.

You don't just walk into Beexville...

Hearthly · **Joined:** 11th May, 2008 **Posts:** 13385

Grim... wrote:

'splain me how and I will.

Didn't realise there was a Beexville.

ApplePieOfDestiny · **Joined:** 17th Dec, 2008 **Posts:** 8293

I'll be in on it when I'm good and ready.

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

Grim... wrote:

'splain me how and I will.

Choose a server. Euro East 3 seems to be the place where most of us are congealing.
Start a game, choose Whitewater Valley as the region, make it a private game, invite beexers.
I've bagsied Riverbend as my town location, so don't pick that

I'm trooperlooper on Origin, AE is ChopleyTurnip, Pete is Nervouspete. I think.

Grim... · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 0:28

I would if you accepted my friend request.

Grim... · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 0:29

Fuck's sake - I changed servers and now it's trying to make me do the tutorial again.

I better be able to quit it.

Grim... · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 0:31

I have made a place called GRIMLAND. Come and play on it, or something.

Hearthly · **Joined:** 11th May, 2008 **Posts:** 13385

My first pass at a city is fucking embarrassing, I need to bulldoze the lot and start again.

The individual city plots of land are small, it seems to be more geared towards upgrading and working within what you have, rather than just moving out endlessly into extra space, which is what I did in 4 and 3000 (and 2000 and even the original, come to think about it). Change of approach, for sure.

Far too soon to call it yet in terms of GOOD GAME or BAD GAME - certainly I've very much enjoyed it up to now, really want to see how the region thing works out.

Also, apart from that blip earlier on in the evening with the 20 minute queue, it's worked perfectly all day.

Current vibe is that it's damn good to be playing a new Sim City game after all this time.

NervousPete · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 2:59

Dune boardgame was confusing if ace. Managed to play a traitor card which meant that Stilgar betrayed the Fremen, unlocking spice fields for my Atreides warriors. Game went on for approximately 67 years.

So, tried SimCity again. Managed to show a mate about 5 minutes of it just before he headed off, he was impressed. Then I exited, went upstairs and decided to play a smidgeon before finally going to bed. Got into a server, set up a new region and clicked 'Claim City'...

'Unable to claim City, please try again.'

Click.

'Unable to claim City, please try again.'

Grrr. Oooh, Friend requests.

'Unable to accept friend requests.'

Gngh. Let's try again...

'Unable to create region, servers down.'

So, if their servers cannot handle the load at TWO IN THE MORNING then they truly have monumentally fucked up this launch beyond all recognition. If things become stable by Bank Holiday Monday, all shall be forgiven. If, a week from now, this game is still beshitted with server access and city instability, I'll never buy an EA game again...

... unless it is a critcially acclaimed and community lauded RPG simulation based on the world of the Master and Commander novels by Patrick O'Brien, I'll buy that...

... but all other EA games, all other Origin purchases, njet!

Since I only buy three non-indie games a year, I confidently feel I can live up to future boycots.

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

Grim... wrote:

I have made a place called GRIMLAND. Come and play on it, or something.

If you said which server it was on, we might

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

Pete's plan for beexville is a 5 player region. Yet I can't see an reason for not going for a bigger region and just not using some of the plots? Am I missing something?
That way we have room for more people if they want to play, or to build a second town each.

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

AtrocityExhibition wrote:

My first pass at a city is fucking embarrassing, I need to bulldoze the lot and start again.

I'm up to about 150000 residents, and everything is all over the place, plus i've had a perpetual protest about germs which I have no idea how to fix? I've put down clinics and a hospital, i've sent out a wellness van, but still they complain.

The main issue I had is that I had no idea how big anything was when I started, so didn't know where to place my streets, and it all went downhill from there!

Hearthly · **Joined:** 11th May, 2008 **Posts:** 13385

Trooper wrote:

Pete's plan for beexville is a 5 player region. Yet I can't see an reason for not going for a bigger region and just not using some of the plots? Am I missing something?
That way we have room for more people if they want to play, or to build a second town each.

I'm not sure what the implications are (if any) for having unused plots in a region, i.e. it's harder to achieve the great works or something.

Certainly I think it is worth having some unused plots in case anyone else wants to join us.

Then again, are we likely to get more than five people involved?

throughsilver · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 6197

NervousPete wrote:

So, if their servers cannot handle the load at TWO IN THE MORNING then they truly have monumentally fucked up this launch beyond all recognition.

Are the servers national or international? It may not be 2am for everyone.

chinnyhill10 · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 15695

Tempted by BEEX gaming action.

Not tempted by EA being idiots + always having to be online.

Hmmmm.

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

throughsilver wrote:

NervousPete wrote:

So, if their servers cannot handle the load at TWO IN THE MORNING then they truly have monumentally fucked up this launch beyond all recognition.

Are the servers national or international? It may not be 2am for everyone.

International, but named for different regions. Nothing to stop you sing any server you want though.

When I had the "can't claim" messages, I restarted and it worked fine. I don't think that is a load thing, I think that is just a bug.

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

One thing that is quite lovely about a region, is that I have started a new town as my last one was such a fuck up, but I have left the old town still standing. New town I have started in the region has loads of stuff unlocked from the start due to me having a university etc... in my other town

Plus I can buy in power from my nuclear plant in the first town.

Hearthly · **Joined:** 11th May, 2008 **Posts:** 13385

Trooper wrote:

One thing that is quite lovely about a region, is that I have started a new town as my last one was such a fuck up, but I have left the old town still standing. New town I have started in the region has loads of stuff unlocked from the start due to me having a university etc... in my other town

Plus I can buy in power from my nuclear plant in the first town.

Yeah I think I'll create a new city in my region too, my first one would probably be improved if a few disasters hit it, since it's such a messy clusterfuck of a thing.

It's full of poor people who won't piss off, I've ended up getting residential and industrial too close together despite knowing full well I shouldn't be zoning them in that way, and whilst I've upgraded a lot of the road network to medium density only little pockets of zones are taking advantage of it.

I also very much like the idea of a new city in the region being able to work with my existing city, in fact, you could perhaps make a case for creating one city as a dirty hellhole full of power plants and garbage dumps with fuck all police and all the rest of it, and then create another city in the region that basically just leeches on the shit one, sending all its garbage there, buying in power - and so on.

In fact, that's just sent my evil side tingling, I'm going to try that, see if it works.

GazChap · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 13:05

So, what happens in a few years time when EA inevitably turn the servers off for good?

LewieP · **Joined:** 29th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 7600

GazChap wrote:

So, what happens in a few years time when EA inevitably turn the servers off for good?

You buy the sequel.

Hearthly · **Joined:** 11th May, 2008 **Posts:** 13385

GazChap wrote:

So, what happens in a few years time when EA inevitably turn the servers off for good?

Well with it being EA I suspect they'll just leave everyone high and dry and having, as Lewie notes, to buy the sequel.

With my more optimistic hat on it'd be nice if they'd patch in an offline mode before they turn the servers off, or farm a version out to GOG, or something like that - but I'm certainly not banking on it.

Either way it's just one of those things that I can't get too hot and bothered about, I appreciate that for some people always-on DRM and a potentially finite life is an absolute deal-breaker, and that's fine, just don't buy it

If enough people feel the same way the business model will fail and publishers will change their ways. But for me personally I don't see it as any biggy hence I've bought the game.

Also, as Trooper already mentioned, current or previous MMO players are already well used to games running on a subscription model, needing a games client to launch them, and only lasting as long as the backend servers do (and not being playable if the servers are down), so it's not a seismic shift for us.

Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather the new Sim City game have a proper offline mode built into it from the start, but that's not what Maxis and EA have chosen to do, and we just have to make our minds up as customers if we want to buy into their chosen model or not.

NervousPete · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 14:24

Okay, Beexville fans! I'll be setting this one up now as a private server. All you have to do is announce which city you'd like and PM your Origin name so that I can invite you in. If you send me a message to me via Origin (my name being nervouspete in that, too) then please add a little note saying who you are in Beex and what city site you want. I'll repost the original summary so you can get an idea of what you want to go for:

Quote:

Title: Beexville
Region: Whitewater Valley

Server: EU West 6

Brakeman's Folly - This wooded hilltop site has a rail tunnel running under it that exits riverside. For those willing to clear the forest, Brakeman's Folly has an overabundance of metal deposits; both coal and ore.

Whitewater Crossing - Situated at the confluence of two great rivers, Whitewater Crossing has copious coal, oil and ore deposits ready to be extracted and shipped along the river.

Twain - What this sprawling site lacks in natural resources, it makes up for in ease of use. Extending into Río Fuerte, Twain connects to the regional rail line and is ideal for shipping to the Global Market via the river.

Elm Grove - Filled with a dense forest, Elm Grove has a modest oil reservoir and a light sprinkling of raw ore. The fresh mountain air is alluring to visitors of this wooded site.

Riverbend - Straddling the southernmost tributary of the Cascadia River, this site presents the challenge of developing a city that crosses both banks. The reward to such an industrious mayor is a deep reservoir of crude oil.

So you need to be thinking of what specialization you want, and based on that which city site:

Electronics: Refine other people's resources (ore and plastics) and create a Silicon Valley for export.

Education: Edumacate the region's sims with a university, dorms, etc.

Culture: Build huge landmarks and boost tourism.

Gambling: Be the next Howard Hughes with casinos, look out for crime though!

Mining: Poke Thatcher in the eye with this working class, honest son-o-toil profession. Valleys choral groups optional.

Oil: Party like your a stetson wearing cast member of Dallas.

Then work together to build the region's great work! Remember, natural resources do run out, so its best to have a second stage plan for when that happens.

So, if you're interested pop your name down here with the following bits filled out:

City Zone:
Specialisation:
Secondary Specialisation if any:

Communication to be done in this thread, and on the Region Wall/City Messaging. I will be Region Governer and Arbiter in case of disputes. FEAR MY POWER.

Meanwhile, here's some advice:

Don't start off with uber-roads. It's terribly expensive. You can start off with dirt or low density first and upgrade later when you need to. You also miss out on a lovely rural backwoods part of the game if you skip this stage.

Nuclear power seems very risky, you need super-educated Sims and even then it's not entirely guaranteed.

If something is destroyed or you find your city isn't working, don't despair and rage-quit. Half the fun is demolishing and resculpting.

Junctions will be your main traffic problem, don't spam them. Keep things elegant. Don't be in awe of the grid, it's actually not terribly efficient and takes up more space with road than you'd think. Though oblongs are the best density wise, they are pretty boring looking, and are top-trumped by cul-de-sacs for city space available for buildings.

Approach your city as a place you'd like to live rather than a maxing-out challenge and you'll have a lot more fun.

Okay, get PM'ing. I'm (hopefully server willing) playing this all afternoon.

NervousPete · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 14:31

Okay, the region is up!

Welcome to Beexville!

I'm claiming Whitewater Crossing, resource rich but with lots of hills minimising build space. I'm going low-wealth industrial, with the plan being to eventually convert to tourism when the ore and coal runs out. I'll also be posting a journal of my city. Start contacting me in game or PM'ing me. Remember, only four more slots are available for this one, first come first served - though Trousers is guaranteed one! :hug:

Here's some advice on taking nice screenshots from SimCity Hall:

Quote:

Basic tips to improve your screenshots
- In the game options you can hide the UI from screenshots. You will usually want that option enabled.
- In the game options you can also prevent the city border from showing. It will still show while in certain building menu's, but won't show during most gameplay and not in screenshots.
- Pause when making a screenshot, so you can easily move the camera without loosing that beautiful light or the nice traffic jam.
- If the lighting is just not right, use turtle speed to advance slowly.
- Make multiple screenshots and choose the best to post later.
- Toy with the different Filters, found in the options menu. There are plenty, and they really change the look of your city. Not just for the screenshot, but also while playing.
- Play with the different settings for Tilt-Shift, found in the options menu. Remember that the tilt-shift effect is visible most in zoomed in images.
- Try different camera angles, different zooming, different times of day for different lighting (night, early morning, sunset, etc.).
- After creating the screenshot, feel free to crop them to only show what you want to show. Even Paint can handle that fine.
- Look at other peoples screenshots here, and find out what makes some of them special to you. Then try a similar approach (without plain copycatting them).
- Consider planting trees in empty area's. You can find them in the Parks section, at the end of the Nature Parks.

Additional:

I will be accepting any Beexer, board politics be damned. So let's keep it civil folks, after all, we are CIVIL ENGINEERS. HA HA HA!

Hearthly · **Joined:** 11th May, 2008 **Posts:** 13385

PM sent

Please note however I won't have much play time today, but should be able to put some proper time in tomorrow.

I don't really have a preference for the city site, it'll all be a learning experience anyway.

NervousPete · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 14:37

Trooper wrote:

Pete's plan for beexville is a 5 player region. Yet I can't see an reason for not going for a bigger region and just not using some of the plots? Am I missing something?
That way we have room for more people if they want to play, or to build a second town each.

That might make more sense I guess. *Scratches noggin', takes another look...*

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

NervousPete wrote:

Trooper wrote:

Pete's plan for beexville is a 5 player region. Yet I can't see an reason for not going for a bigger region and just not using some of the plots? Am I missing something?
That way we have room for more people if they want to play, or to build a second town each.

That might make more sense I guess. *Scratches noggin', takes another look...*

I'm in either way

can you invite trooperlooper.

I'm playing on a 16 plot region on my personal game, and can't see any downside so far :shrug:

Heh, origin won't let me chat to you in game

NervousPete · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 14:50

I'm meeting you half way on this and going for the seven cities region of Reflection Atol.

There is a reason not to go 16 cities, and that is because they are actually four clusters of four. So the trade links don't stretch all the way across the map and you only affect your neighbours. And I kind of want something to kick off with that is a tad smaller and that we can all take a step back and look at in a weeks time and high-five over. Then we can go bigger. Also, the map just looks too damn cool. So, here we go:

Reflection Atol
Location: EU West 6

Trader's Ridge - Don't let the bluff in the middle of this site get in your way, tunnel through it! This site has small coal, raw ore and crude oil deposits to take advantage of. The flat low-lying areas and shoreline provide perfect locations for Trade Ports.

Petrol Bay - With a massive crude oil reservoir, Petrol Bay is ready to become home to an oil Drilling city. The site's shoreline curves around a large bay to facilitate crude oil sales to the Global Market.

Cinder *NERVOUSPETE*- Set at the base of Mount Cinder, this site's large coal deposits will provide many years of profit. A rail connection and shoreline provide opportunities for mayors to sell their coal on the Global Market.

Grand Haven *ATROCITY EXHIBITION* - This site is surrounded by the Ring River, offering a nature wonderland with high land values. Mayors will find this an ideal site for a tourist or Education city.

Summit Vista *TROOPER* - This plain has a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains. High land values create an ideal location for an educated city or a resort. Railways and shorelines provide locations for transit options.

Ingot Landing *DIMRILL*- This hilly site at the base of Clipper Mountain is flush with raw ore. Rail tracks and a sandy bay provide mayors specialized in Mining with a means to export their resources.

Soirée Sands - This sundrenched site has white sands that tourists will flock to. High land values lend themselves to developing an educated city while the shoreline can support a ferry to transport tourists and workers.

Request away! My city of Cinder is going coal, then tourism!

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

Summit vista for me please

NervousPete · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 15:04

Done and done, now to get building.

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 22287

http://www.ea.com/news/a-simcity-update ... ur-trouble

Free game for us, it seems. I wonder what the list of choices will be...

TheCookie197 · **Joined:** 23rd Sep, 2010 **Posts:** 729

I will be getting this as soon as I can.
(Don't have the moneys just now

)

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