SimCity Is Broken, And It's Not Just the Servers
- Thread starter Greg Tito
- Start date
Very well written article! After reading in depth of all the issues even if they fix the always-on-DRM issue I am going to wait until they fix all the core game issues as well.
I guess these problems slipped under the radar due to all the EA drama going on.
I guess these problems slipped under the radar due to all the EA drama going on.
Reading about the pathfinding in the new SimCity is always entertaining, but complaining about naming the highest speed "cheetah mode"? Aren't you, like... a couple decades late on that?
Thank you Greg. My wife is all about Simcity 4, and I've been telling her that we need to wait until the servers and all the bullshit calm down if we're going to pick this one up. It's good to know that the issues were covering up a mostly broken game at the core, as I wasn't all that excited about paying for this thing on an ethical level in the first place.
There is fun to be had in the other direction.
Make all roads dirt paths, hack up tax rates, put all your industry and sewage treatment plants up wind of your housing, bus stops on every corner, just enough police to encourage criminals to move over to other cities, only stop fires by destroying buildings.
See how much of a hell scape you can create and how far can you drag down the other cities in the region with you.
Make all roads dirt paths, hack up tax rates, put all your industry and sewage treatment plants up wind of your housing, bus stops on every corner, just enough police to encourage criminals to move over to other cities, only stop fires by destroying buildings.
See how much of a hell scape you can create and how far can you drag down the other cities in the region with you.
Wait! So you're saying the game works just like real-life cities? Buses that clog streets because you can't get people to ride them? Singular highway entrance ramps that cause traffic nightmares? Cities fighting with each other to be the best at one particular thing? It's the PERFECT city-building simulator!
Just a bit of cynical humor from a real-life urban planner. One who picked my field partially because of Sim City, and cries a little each time I hear how bad this iteration is.
Just a bit of cynical humor from a real-life urban planner. One who picked my field partially because of Sim City, and cries a little each time I hear how bad this iteration is.
The fact that they can let you "troll" other cities in your region shows me that this formula wont last long.Not G. Ivingname said:
From what Ive been able to tell, Sims are not rational humans. it seems more like some massive communist hive-mind. They share jobs and houses because no Sim has a set role, and like to follow others around in little groups, taking what looks to be the shortest route. But this is more of an issue I have with the series than the lastest SimCity itself.
The speed names are the same in every sim city with a speed function (iirc).Greg Tito said:
But other than that your criticisms are spot on.
Refreshing to see discussion of the live version of the game without being stuck on the server issues. I think this article echoes my thoughts on the game more than any other I've read.
Personally, I stopped playing a few days ago once I managed to get a couple decent sized cities and saw the issues described. I have no plans to fire it back up until that traffic patch is out and positively reviewed.
And yes, the speed setting names have been the same in every SimCity. In the first game, speed controls were just buttons with a turtle, llama and cheetah on them, and the names have stuck since.
Personally, I stopped playing a few days ago once I managed to get a couple decent sized cities and saw the issues described. I have no plans to fire it back up until that traffic patch is out and positively reviewed.
And yes, the speed setting names have been the same in every SimCity. In the first game, speed controls were just buttons with a turtle, llama and cheetah on them, and the names have stuck since.
I think you're being rather generous with your "I will only review it as Maxis intended"-attitude. Their game has been on sale for a week or so. They haven't stopped selling them or recalled them. That they pinky-swear that they'll make the game functional at some unspecified point in the future is nice and all, but it doesn't change what the product they're selling to customers right now is.
Or in other words, I don't like the 'sell a beta, promise patches later' buisness model, and I'd rather not see reviewers let them get away with it by holding of reviews. If they seriously patch the game later, add an update or a new post about the changes.
Or in other words, I don't like the 'sell a beta, promise patches later' buisness model, and I'd rather not see reviewers let them get away with it by holding of reviews. If they seriously patch the game later, add an update or a new post about the changes.
Let you?GAunderrated said:
They all but encourage you with buildings like the super villain tower and stuff, and encouraging crime is extremely easy (leave abandoned buildings, give citizens the education of Somalia, etc.) The worst that can happen is that people move away from your city. If you insure that their are a lot of jobs, it doesn't matter because people will come from other cities anyway.
What happened to, you review the game that exists on release? I mean, I don't remember if that was ever officially Escapist policy, but, it, at least, used to be, the standard on reviewing games. You review what gets released, not what they turn out two months later after three or four patches.
I suppose a review of the current state of the game makes sense for MMOs, particularly ones that have been in circulation for a while. The STO that exists today bares little resemblance to the one that launched three years ago. Still, as much as EA and Maxis would like to claim, this isn't an MMO.
Sorry, I guess it just comes down to the question: do you have faith that the developer/publisher will actually improve the product after launch? With SimCity, I'm really not sure they will, especially since it sold like gangbusters already.
I suppose a review of the current state of the game makes sense for MMOs, particularly ones that have been in circulation for a while. The STO that exists today bares little resemblance to the one that launched three years ago. Still, as much as EA and Maxis would like to claim, this isn't an MMO.
Sorry, I guess it just comes down to the question: do you have faith that the developer/publisher will actually improve the product after launch? With SimCity, I'm really not sure they will, especially since it sold like gangbusters already.
I borrowed it from DVS Bstrd, so go right ahead. I wouldn't mind if every avatar was this one. She got banned for posting a big picture of a crying toddler. This is gonna be a different place from now on, that's for sure.Desert Punk said:
On topic: Watched a let's play of Simcity, yeah it's definitely horrible. Getting Tropico 4 instead.
Oh, that's so twentieth century. Don't you know the new paradigm is that companies like EA tell people what they want to play and how they want to play it, and then they buy it...?
I'm genuinely baffled that this game warrants such a grace period. Maybe it shouldn't have been released nearly two weeks ago, but it was. The story is that the game was literally inaccessible for many of the people who had pre-bought it, and now that most of them can get to it, it's broken in fundamental ways. While the most glowing review of whatever could be considered the "final" product at this point won't erase from most people's minds what a hash the thing was (and that fact has certainly been all over the news), I'm not at all sure it deserves that much of a second chance. How stunningly good would the refinement of its current state have to be for it not to be a better bet for players to go play Cities XL or Tropico or any of a number of other games instead?