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Why the new SimCity is the first true sim city

redbull.co.uk

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Re: Why the new SimCity is the first true sim city

#11

Post by jmsduran »

elliot__b wrote: post #6

I can't believe this kind of promotional guff has made it onto the front page of Hacker News. The new SimCity looks pretty cool, but any decent publication would at least raise the issue of the game's draconian DRM. Though what should we expect from a site run by an energy drink brand?

The game's online-only DRM is definitely a downside. I hope the new SimCity doesn't go the route of Ubisoft's original Assassin's Creed, where players who bought the game legitimately were denied playtime cause authentication servers were down, yet those in possession of a cracked copy could still play without a problem.

Re: Why the new SimCity is the first true sim city

#12

Post by bluetidepro »

I can't wait for the new SimCity! However, my biggest complaint is that you have to have online access to be able to play. There is no offline gameplay single player mode, which I simply do not understand why they made that decision. That just seems ridiculous to me.

Re: Why the new SimCity is the first true sim city

#13

Post by hcarvalhoalves »

SimCity has a place in my heart. The original DOS version is a great game even by today's standards.

> You can swoop in and see it all play out if you like - look carefully and you can even catch a burglar breaking into another sim's house.

Maxis always put a good dose of humor on their games, we can expect a lot of LULZ.

Re: Why the new SimCity is the first true sim city

#15

Post by TheAnimus »

But I can't play it offline :(

Something like this would be great for me if I'm away, killing hours whereever I find myself.

However reliable internet just isn't there.

Their desire to kill piracy has cost them a customer. I don't mind having online only in say NS2. But SimCity?! Pfft.

Re: Why the new SimCity is the first true sim city

#16

Post by AdFraser »

e1ven wrote: post #7
andys627 wrote: post #2

It would be interesting to see a Sim City type game where "winning" looks more like what Jane Jacobs thinks is good for a city, rather than "typical development co's" of the last 50 years. One idea: +1 for each person that passes by another while walking on the sidewalk.

Maybe I'm missing something. Sim City has always seemed like choose-your-own objectives.. Why can't you make a quiet sidewalk city? I've made several nice farm towns, and it's part of what makes SimCity fun for me.

I've made many a farm town in the past. But you're right, it's either farm town, or mega city.

Re: Why the new SimCity is the first true sim city

#17

Post by amurmann »

andys627 wrote: post #8
e1ven wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm missing something. Sim City has always seemed like choose-your-own objectives.. Why can't you make a quiet sidewalk city? I've made several nice farm towns, and it's part of what makes SimCity fun for me.

Small town usa is sort of doable. Small town rest-of-the-world is not. I think the main issue is no mixed use buildings.

I live in the US since five years and I never understood that zoning obsession. Can anyone explain why that's so different than it is in Europe for example? I really don't understand what the issue with mixed use is from an American perspective.

Re: Why the new SimCity is the first true sim city

#18

Post by FredFredrickson »

bluetidepro wrote: post #12

I can't wait for the new SimCity! However, my biggest complaint is that you have to have online access to be able to play. There is no offline gameplay single player mode, which I simply do not understand why they made that decision. That just seems ridiculous to me.

I keep arguing with people about this. I just don't understand the hang-up.

I was one of those people who, many years ago and despite my own machine always having an online connection, would complain about these sorts of things. I would imagine all sorts of scenarios where my machine would lose a connection and I'd be unable to play for an hour or two, and I'd be upset.

Then WoW came along. And Guild Wars. And Diablo 3. And games like Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2 which didn't necessarily require a persistent online connection to play, but in the absence of a massive LAN, were virtually useless without it. I still enjoy single player games, but increasingly (and almost without my even noticing it), lots of the games I play depend on there being an online connection, and a pool of other people to play with.

So while I understand that SimCity is traditionally thought of as an offline game (and always really has been, with few exceptions), I don't understand the problem here. You're probably always online. It's awesome to have your city saves in a place where they won't be wiped out if you re-format or your hard drive gets corrupted. And if you lose your connection for a while, then do something else.

I think as long as customers are aware of this requirement at the outset, there's no harm in it. It's like any MMO, and when you think of it in that context, it's not weird or awful at all.

Re: Why the new SimCity is the first true sim city

#19

Post by nswanberg »

andys627 wrote: post #2

It would be interesting to see a Sim City type game where "winning" looks more like what Jane Jacobs thinks is good for a city, rather than "typical development co's" of the last 50 years. One idea: +1 for each person that passes by another while walking on the sidewalk.

Great idea. Perhaps in the next version of SimCity points can be awarded to those who design cities in accordance with the ideas in A Pattern Language.

But some of a city's inhabitants would prefer, for various reason, to live in a typical development, so an even more interesting model would be to create some citizen archetypes, which would feel differently about meeting people in the street versus shopping at a familiar chain, or living in a condo versus commuting to a large house they own. Then the scoring would be based on citizen happiness versus other attributes.

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