Sim City 5 Incoming?

cherryghost

Some leaked pictures today seem to indicate Sim City 5 is in the works. God help me if its true, Sims City 4 was excellent and so so addictive.

A set of seven leaked images assumed to be concept art for SimCity 5 have surfaced today, along with rumors indicating that the game is 30% of the way through development, and will be released in 2013.
Users at NeoGAF have posted the images as well as a translation from a print edition of German magazine Gamestar, the full text of which, along with the images, appears on a Spanish-language site.
Loosely and imperfectly translated, the details seem to indicate players can look for an increasing level of complexity, detail, and personalization from the next entry in the franchise, as well as more connection to the online, multiplayer sphere. Regions built from multiple players' cities can be susceptible to, for example, fluctuations in the cost of necessary commodities like coal.
Beyond the classic interactions with graphs, metrics, and city councilors, they appear to be introducing a more human element. If unemployment in a Sim City is too high, public parks might fill with homeless. When building infrastructure, construction workers actually appear to do the building. Citizens go shopping, to school, or to work.
Fans have been speculating for a few days now that the "Game Changers" announcement EA is teasing for next week, during GDC, will end up being SimCity 5.
We are reaching out to EA for comment and will update the story with any response.

More info here.

RacoonQueen

Awesome. Must dig out sim city 4, haven't played it in a few years - could never get the nack of it the way I could the earlier games (sim city 2 I think)

jc84

hope this is true and not another hoax like the one a few years back, sim city 4 is the only pc game i still play to this day

cherryghost

2013.

jc84

cherryghost wrote: »

2013.

OMFG :eek::D, shame it's 2013, i want it NOW

TheChrisD

This is making me want to go back to SC4 again... Which I totally shouldn't because last time I was playing it I completely binge gamed...

AnimalCracker

I always loved Sim City 4, Hopefully this one will be as good

cherryghost

New trailer boasting its multiplayer features.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc2DpltrH7k

humanji

They're also accepting beta signups, but it's not working for me (won't let me upload my dxdiag file).

cherryghost

Strange, worked for me no problem

kilograms

about time

cherryghost

Awesome gameplay video. Really excited now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88OHcL-JouQ

Soby

Looks AWESOME

Soby

http://www.simcity.com/en_US/beta/info

cherryghost

I got my beta email today. Signed up back in August.

gugsy

Sim city 5 is gonna be released on the 5th march 2013. cant wait.
I have had every sim city game since they began on the commodor 64 in the early 90's to now. And every one was better then the last. Untill the dreadful societies came out and it was like they went a million steps backwards it was the biggest come down in the world. After getting the game and playing for a couple of hours i was sick to the teeth an threw it back in the box never to open it again. Now after 10 years of playing the magnificient sim city 4 its back sim city 5 and after looking on some vid on u tube it looks like it will be a proper sequal to sim city 4 unlike societies. Hope justice is done by rewarding faithful sim city fans with the sequal they deserve.

MooShop

I'm really looking forward to this. I have watched lots of videos on YouTube, just want to play it now.

Was anybody lucky enough to get to play the Beta version, if so thoughts please? Is there anywhere I could look at more commentary videos of the Beta, other than YouTube?

cherryghost

MooShop wrote: »

I'm really looking forward to this. I have watched lots of videos on YouTube, just want to play it now.

Was anybody lucky enough to get to play the Beta version, if so thoughts please? Is there anywhere I could look at more commentary videos of the Beta, other than YouTube?

It was good thought there was limited features.

Anywho, there's another closed beta next weekend.

http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/simcity-closed-beta-2-faq

dazftw

Hopefully I get into this second one! I wasn't a fan at first but after watching the beta videos I can't wait.

the_syco

cherryghost wrote: »

Anywho, there's another closed beta next weekend.

Why do I always see these things the day after? Thank feck I've other things lined up for the weekend :P

humanji

If it's any consolation, it's only a 24 hour long beta for some reason..

MooShop

humanji wrote: »

If it's any consolation, it's only a 24 hour long beta for some reason..

I read that it's only 24 hour because they are trying to test the servers. Their aim is to reduce the playing window so they can get as many people on-line at the same time!

humanji

DAMN THEM AND THEIR LOGIC!!!!

Hopefully a couple of disasters will be unlocked for this. I doubt it, but in the last beta my sims weren't worshiping me like the god I was, so I need to smite something.

TPMP

Is it the 7th or the 8th that it will be released in Ireland? It says the 7th for Europe but the 8th for the UK. I assume they havent included Ireland as part of the UK as sometimes is the case?

humanji

The 8th is Friday, so I'd assume then.

TPMP

Balls.:(

Mc Love

cherryghost wrote: »

Awesome gameplay video. Really excited now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88OHcL-JouQ

How good is this?? No laying pipes of electricity lines anymore? Fantastic!

TPMP

Just a heads up, I ordered my limited edition copy of Sim City 5 from Zavvi for 42.55. No need to fork out 60-80 quid on Origin.

Eoin247

Pre ordered off amazon on Sunday. I am a bit worried though. Critic reviews are amazing and averaging at 91% on meta critic. However the user reviews on the same site are abysmal at 2.7/10. Most people complaining about the drm.

Hopefully it's going to be worth it when it arrives next week.

humanji

Ignore user reviews for the most part. That's people who haven't played the game and are complaining about the DRM. It's no different to fanboys giving games 100% in reviews before the game is released.

I'd say in general the drm won't be a problem. The first few days of play may be problematic as there will be so many people trying to log in at the same time (the same thing happens with all games that need server activation to play), then will calm down and you'll be easily able to log in.

It's only then that we'll be able to see how the servers react. I'd say they'll be fine and it'll be mostly users connections which will be the problem. It'll probably be for the best if it's a total train wreck though, as that might force them to sort out some sort of offline mode. Though I doubt that'll ever happen.

youreadthat

humanji wrote: »

Ignore user reviews for the most part. That's people who haven't played the game and are complaining about the DRM. It's no different to fanboys giving games 100% in reviews before the game is released.

I'd say in general the drm won't be a problem. The first few days of play may be problematic as there will be so many people trying to log in at the same time (the same thing happens with all games that need server activation to play), then will calm down and you'll be easily able to log in.

It's only then that we'll be able to see how the servers react. I'd say they'll be fine and it'll be mostly users connections which will be the problem. It'll probably be for the best if it's a total train wreck though, as that might force them to sort out some sort of offline mode. Though I doubt that'll ever happen.

People are moaning about DRM (a genuine concern) but there are also many other gameplay concerns that have been raised.

humanji

Take a look at metacritic user scores and the quotes with them:

The game has a lot of problems. Only one of them actually matters. Never support always online DRM for a single player game.

t may be looked down upon to use this as a megaphone to shout through but the fact is that people need to see this, that NO-ONE should EVER support always online DRM for a single player game,

Server reached maximum capacity and so I was placed in a queue and was not allowed to play a SINGLE PLAYER GAME because it forces me to constantly be online.

They're scores from people who are either protesting drm or complaining that the expected server failures happened as expected. As I said, they're about as valuable as fanboys who give their favourite games 10 out of 10 before they even get to play them. Right now there's very little of substance in any user reviews compared to the huge amount of hissy fits going on.

Right now we can't get a good picture of how the game plays because it's just launched. We'll know better at the start of next week, when it's been running in the US for a week and here for a weekend.

TPMP

Just got an email a while ago from Zavvi saying that the game has been dispatched and that its estimated delivery time is on or before the 15th of March!!! Couldnt believe what I was reading! If it arrives any later then Friday, it completely defeated the purpose of pre ordering!

cherryghost

TPMP wrote: »

Just got an email a while ago from Zavvi saying that the game has been dispatched and that its estimated delivery time is on or before the 15th of March!!! Couldnt believe what I was reading! If it arrives any later then Friday, it completely defeated the purpose of pre ordering!

Seems pretty stupid alright. I cancelled my preorder anywho until there's some sort of resolution on the EA Servers issue.

peejay1986

Is there any option, apart from Origin, for those that don't have a DVD drive? Really don't want to have to pay the extortionate €80 to EA.

humanji

I don't think so. But if it's any consolation, it's only €60.

Eoin247

Been following this for a while. Seems like ea have overtaken diablos infamously horrible launch

peejay1986

humanji wrote: »

I don't think so. But if it's any consolation, it's only €60.

Yeah, but I was ideally looking to buy the Limited Edition version. Annoying that you have to pay €60 on Origin for the Standard version when for the same price you'd get the Limited Edition on DVD.

Amazon.com seem to do digital downloads (although temp suspended). Does anyone know if I could download from there?

Eoin247

Anybody got their copy of the game yet? Mine won't arrive till next week.

Amirani

Eoin247 wrote: »

Anybody got their copy of the game yet? Mine won't arrive till next week.

Not the worst thing ever, servers have been terrible so far.

Eoin247

NiallSparky wrote: »

Not the worst thing ever, servers have been terrible so far.

Have you gotten to play it yet? The main thing I'm worried about is the length of playability due to city size. The drm doesn't bother me too much although I realise that it was the cause of the awful launch and unrecoverable reviews on metacritic.

TPMP

Haven't got mine yet. Hopefully i'll have it next week. Did anyone else order from zavvi??

jonasvalent

i pre ordered my copy on the 6th from gamestop, got it ton friday had some patching but no problems overall been great fun so far honestly dont know what all the fuss is about, tbh i live in the west, on 3 internet with a now outdated laptop! great stuff, if anyone has a region or wants to join mine msg jonasvalent101

TPMP

jonasvalent wrote: »

i pre ordered my copy on the 6th from gamestop, got it ton friday had some patching but no problems overall been great fun so far honestly dont know what all the fuss is about, tbh i live in the west, on 3 internet with a now outdated laptop! great stuff, if anyone has a region or wants to join mine msg jonasvalent101

What sort of specs does your laptop have? It runs fine on it ya? No problems with frames?

kaerobe

jonasvalent wrote: »

i pre ordered my copy on the 6th from gamestop, got it ton friday had some patching but no problems overall been great fun so far honestly dont know what all the fuss is about, tbh i live in the west, on 3 internet with a now outdated laptop! great stuff, if anyone has a region or wants to join mine msg jonasvalent101

been eager to try out a shared region. cant add you, my username is kaerobe

TPMP

Zavvi is driving me mad. The last update I got was last Thursday..

Thu 07/03/2013 09:23: Your order has been scanned at the Origin Depot for export.
Thu 07/03/2013 11:00: Your order has arrived at the carrier's central hub.

Nothing since. Had I known it would take this long I wouldnt have ordered from them.

PeteK*

It's €32.79 (free shipping too) now in IE Wow HD but only until March 31st.

It seems the bad reviews are from their server problems.. but at least that's something they can easily sort!

kaerobe

what server are you all using?

I would like to join someones region, finding solo play boring and the big maps with free cities are usually in a mess!

my username is kaerobe!

RacoonQueen

For those who've played this, what's the verdict? Wasn't a fan of sim city 4 but would be interested in trying this one.

humanji

It's essentially an unfinished game. It's playable, but once you get deep into it, you'll realise a whole host of problems that simply shouldn't be there. It's only worth getting if it's dirt cheap, and even then you should feel bad about yourself for buying it.

Eoin247

RacoonQueen wrote: »

For those who've played this, what's the verdict? Wasn't a fan of sim city 4 but would be interested in trying this one.

It's worth a try, and if you pc is good enough (This game can be very taxing on your system, and it can be very picky on what kind of setup you've got) it can be very enjoyable.

They have fixed a lot (though not all) of the bugs at this stage. While it may not be as replayable as SC4 for some, I found it to be fun to play and far more accessible than earlier simcity games.

If you can get it for cheaper then all the better. But now that the servers are fine and a lot of the bugs are gone, it's definitely worth the 37 euros that it currently costs on amazon IMO.