Gamasutra - News - Report: Maxis developing SimCity 5, featuring new Glassbox engine
Yay!
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I heard about this! Hux went and looked it up on one of the SimCity 4 sperg forums and found a very roughly translated (from German) article as well as a lot of concept art.
First Image of SimCity 5, from German magazine GameStar
Let's just hope it doesn't turn into a Societies/Spore.
Yay! I used to watch my grandpa play Sim City when I was super tiny.
I just came a little.
Well, here comes another waste of time. SC4 was so amazing... ugh. I'm going to need to build such a perfect city. Hopefully, they fix traffic problems so I don't need mods to manage traffic.
I am a wait and see on this. I loved Sim City 3000 but I loathed 4. I didn't like the way they handled road building and zoning at all. This wasn't a problem for most people but I disliked it that much. I also felt a lot of what they added didn't really add that much.
I have CitiesXL and that takes to a SimCity sort of thing that I like.
I also had no problem with Sim Societies. It was a fun experiment in a different way than what people were use to. I had fun corrupting sections of my society and watch things clash.
Been a while since I played, maybe I should pick it up when it drops and build a city just to ravage it with disasters.
http://i.imgur.com/sjmcb.png
Launch arcologies confirmed :hyper:
It looks amazing, I can't wait!
The trailer was launched. I'm too lazy to link. Note, it is NOT in game graphics. It's just a trailer.
Attachment 39741
It looks like something from a Disney movie, but never fear. This is in fact a screenshot of the latest in the Sim City franchise, after a pretty incredible ten year absence. To be honest, I forgot all about Sim City, but the news have sparked new interest in me, and if you are a fan of any of "The Sim" series, so will you.
But first, some of you may be wondering what the hell I am on about. Well, the Sim City series or game began way back in 1989 on the PC, and boy was it different.
Attachment 39742My, that's quite the gridlock thereNaturally, the series has progressed from there, and as of the future release of this new game, there will be a full six games. But what has remained constant throughout the entire series is that the game is up to you. There's no real "story" to it; play it how you want. If your a fan of nurturing your sims with managing your environment, transportation and education, then credit to you. If you prefer a "Jenga" style game where you build your city then destroy it by invoking God's wrath, then by all means!
This latest game, slated for release in March of this year, continues with the tradition of it's predecessors, but enhances it with a fresh modern facelift.
Perhaps the most striking difference is Maxis's new GlassBox game engine, and it allows you to visualise data in a very professional way. Do you remember those graphics that News programmes sometimes use to illustrate statistical data about how badly your country of origin is doing? Well the GlassBox engine does just that! Things like energy, wealth and even sewage can be tracked.
Attachment 39743
It certainly looks slick, and will help aid more "visual" players who may find it harder to truly grasp numbers. SimCity also helps new players with the new neighboured city approach. Basically, your city will exist alongside two others, and you can trade resources, purchase electricity and the like. If your city is struggling, a friendly neighbour may very well save your hide.
Another new feature is specialisation. Whereas before, your city was just a generic creation, now you can focus your city on focusing on specialising it as a tourist hotspot, or as a thriving business city.
The latest SimCity game also expands upon the online gameplay. While SimCity 4 touched on it, this one first begins by allowing you to collaborate with other users with resources and other stuff. Negotiating an exchange of fuel for example becomes more interesting when it's between two humans, not an A.I. There are other benefits too: the whole "cloud" business is utilised once again; your city is stored in the cloud when your offline but continues to trade with other cities while your gone traversing in your own. Neat idea.
However, one thing about this multi-player aspect that I am concerned about is that you have to be online at all times, even to play single-player. Fans of Diablo III (which is mainly single-player with some multi-player to it) were less than impressed whenever the servers went down, even if they were playing single-player.
One potential problem I could see is me working nicely on my city, only for the server to go all wonky, and me consequently losing my progress. It's only a small concern, and I am sure that Maxis have thought up of contingencies, but I do admit "always-on DRM" does sound slightly annoying. Still, with the benefits of staying online in SimCity I guess it's worth having.
To conclude then, this latest SimCity game certainly appeals to me. I love tinkering with my own creations and letting my happy Sims travel around the city. Some may call it escapism, I call it letting my creativity flow. Questions still abound of course which is to be expected with a game yet to release, but the details that have flooded so far have certainly reignited my love for all things simulation.
But don't just take my word for it. Below, a video by the creative director of the game. It definitely does more than my simple text can.
Main source: SimCity preview: Hands-on with EA's fascinating city-building sandbox
I've been watching this for a while. Might get it, though I've never played SimCity before. But I love the Sims, especially 3 :D
I loved the SimCity series for the strategy, and the Sims series for the sheer pleasure of making my Sims happy. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by The White Wizard of Fynn
In case your wondering why this piece was so damn long, I actually wrote this for the frontsite, completely forgetting it has nothing to do with Final Fantasy or Square-Enix XD
That makes two such articles today, the first being the Mt. Coronet one.Quote:
Originally Posted by FormalhautI loved the SimCity series for the strategy, and the Sims series for the sheer pleasure of making my Sims happy. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by The White Wizard of Fynn
In case your wondering why this piece was so damn long, I actually wrote this for the frontsite, completely forgetting it has nothing to do with Final Fantasy or Square-Enix XD
Is the site growing past Square-Enix and Final Fantasy..?