Managing more stuff is better (as long as you can pause the game to not become crushed by a million things happening at the same time).
This is a city simulator after all....
SimCity Review Thread - the curse of reboots to strike again?
- Thread starter ekim
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Managing more stuff is better (as long as you can pause the game to not become crushed by a million things happening at the same time).
This is a city simulator after all....
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I played Sim City for last week sometime and it ran terrible on my 6 core SLI setup. I suspect there is absolutely no optimizations for even dual core but I would be wrong. Either way, this game not only looks better but seems much better optimized for modern rigs (thank you Cpt.Obvious moment
).Nobody ever liked the addition of water management. It was universally loathed.
I'm looking at their history right now. I guess you're right. It must have been selective perception on my part.
I'm increasingly less convinced
Why would you do that?
Member
I didn't realize there was no game saving and reloading. That's... really sucky...
(It also breaks the pattern... Sim City 2000 could load Sim City 1 cities, 3000 could load 2000 cities, and SC4 could load 3000 cities. Oh well.
)
(It also breaks the pattern... Sim City 2000 could load Sim City 1 cities, 3000 could load 2000 cities, and SC4 could load 3000 cities. Oh well.
)
Lactose_Intolerant
Member
32bit = 3gb of ram. That's why they are small.
+ you really need to look at the individual reviewer's reviews to get a sense of what the guy is like.
Dead Prince
Banned
i was referring to this.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=48566060&highlight=#post48566060
Mystic_Wanderer
Member
Yep, my Origin says 10:01 PM, which is 12:01 AM EST, since I am in AZ.
AppleSmack
Banned
The game itself looks fantastic but the always online part pisses me off. I probably won't get the game at launch as a result. I'll wait for a sale. I have had too much trouble with server instability to go through that bullshit again.
If your dealer is late, you might get bored waiting for the drop.
SlipperyFishes
Banned
I don't understand the difference between folks saying RPS are the only credible source and then take umbrage when say Joystiq, Eurogamer or Polygon get mentioned. I'd like to read as many different views (positive and negative) as humanly possible.
Or have a bot read me a digest.
It seems like it makes sense with the region persistence thing. It'd be weird if you're depending on your neighbor for power and then they suddenly reload a save where they don't have the nuclear plant you were depending on.
Ideally you'd be able to reload on a region level basis in a private region that only you are playing, but it sounds like this isn't the case.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
I played Sim City for last week sometime and it ran terrible on my 6 core SLI setup. I suspect there is absolutely no optimizations for even dual core but I would be wrong. Either way, this game not only looks better but seems much better optimized for modern rigs (thank you Cpt.Obvious moment
The main simulation engine runs on a single thread, and audio plus some rendering runs on another thread. That's about it.
I'll miss being able to create alternate saves where I go nuts and drive my city into the ground. That, and bringing destruction to the pre-made cities which I can assume are no longer a thing.
PC-centric, excellent writing, no scores and they usually don't hold back from calling shitty stuff out.
I can't say that about a lot of review outlets.
It doesn't seem to be more of a simulation than any of the previous titles. Everything is just smaller.
Bending_Unit_22
Member
I stil regularly play SC4 to this day but it doesn't look like I'll be getting this, that city size limit and no saving/reloading kills whatever interest I had.
I wouldn't, since that's what I've been wanting for over 5 years. SC4 is an almost perfect realization of the SimCity concept held back by bad optimization, poor algorithms for traffic especially, and useful features like curvy roads, bolt on buildings, road based coverage areas, etc.
I would have been over the moon if they had released SC5 as just a better optimized SC4, somewhat upgraded graphics, and those fixes noted above. Though I know with modern games, I bought SC4 + RH for $20 in 2004 or 5 (didn't have a PC that could run it when it came out), and have played it ever since. Even had I spent $80, which I would with SC5 + expansion, I have clearly received way too much entertainment for my dollar.
I loved it, I am building and managing a city and water is a core part of that.
I wouldn't, since that's what I've been wanting for over 5 years. SC4 is an almost perfect realization of the SimCity concept held back by bad optimization, poor algorithms for traffic especially, and useful features like curvy roads, bolt on buildings, road based coverage areas, etc.
I would have been over the moon if they had released SC5 as just a better optimized SC4, somewhat upgraded graphics, and those fixes noted above. Though I know with modern games, I bought SC4 + RH for $20 in 2004 or 5 (didn't have a PC that could run it when it came out), and have played it ever since. Even had I spent $80, which I would with SC5 + expansion, I have clearly received way too much entertainment for my dollar.
I loved it, I am building and managing a city and water is a core part of that.
AppleSmack
Banned
How is the performance in the game. What can I expect out of a GTX 460 1GB?
The Dutch Slayer
Member
problem with reviews now is that what if the game stops working tomorrow because servers can not handle the load?
I would like a review in about 2 weeks than we can really see how the game is doing.
And just like with Diablo last year this game will be fun for 3 weeks and die off very quickly because people attention span is at an all time low.
I would like a review in about 2 weeks than we can really see how the game is doing.
And just like with Diablo last year this game will be fun for 3 weeks and die off very quickly because people attention span is at an all time low.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Very interesting. They really optimized it for low end rigs which is a good and semi-bad thing. Looks nice enough to me.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
That was a pretty big issue for me at first, and I used to be very critical of that. I understand now, however, the technical sacrifices necessary since the simulation engine is now much much more complex. It's not just spreadsheets: the game anymore. It's an actual simulation.
Small city sizes don't bother me that much anymore, especially since a long term goal of theirs is to eventually make the entire region a potential city tile size.
The fact they don't play the metacritic game even though it would drive a lot more traffic to their site is really fantastic.
Maybe Paradox can come to the rescue again like they did after EA ruined Syndicate.
Then again we still haven't seen anything from Cartel and it's been a year soooo...
Laying down water pipes in SimCity 2000 was deeply satisfying.
It kills the ability to freely explore the game systems and experiment. It encourages "efficient" game play and falls into the trap of too many God games, turning it into a puzzle game to be solved. From a gameplay and enjoyment perspective, this is a way worse side effect of their always on DRM than anything else.
SneakyStephan
Banned
It's a city managment game, jesus christ.
If you want hold A to awesome then I suggest you buy dragon age 2.
If you want to play legos I suggest you buy a set of legos or play minecraft. Then again minecraft requires creativity so I guess that's out too.
A lot of sites are waiting for the retail servers to come up.
Polygon actually wasn't going to review it pre release at all due to stipulations on the review event, but they worked something out with EA: http://www.polygon.com/forums/simcity-2013/2013/3/4/4062146/about-the-polygon-review-of-simcity
suddenlyissoon
Member
I wouldn't say it's perfectly playable. It still performs like a steaming pile of shit
polygon said:
Anyone else find sentences like that confusing? Reads like PR.
Edit:
question answered, thanks. It is PR.
Maybe the other outlets are actually standing up for bullshit review requirements and don't do it before it isn't a review based on the product that the customer also receives.
Clearly!
Interrobang
Member
This is awesome. Exactly what this game, EA, Maxis and potential buyers needed to hear.
SneakyStephan
Banned
RPS sure is better than all the kotakus and IGNs out there.
But they too are often guilty of writing entire paragraphs or reviews/previews that don't actually say a single meaningful thing about the game.
Some of their writers will write 2 pages of puns/word play (at grade school level) and after dredging through all that you still don't know any details about the mechanics/features/red flags of the game.
That makes those pieces as useless as the PR drivel on kotaku.
I don't really see how them working with a publisher to do a review on terms that they feel is more fair and being transparent about that fact is somehow more suspicious than just going to the event, but whatever.
They aren't perfect, for sure. But they are less smelly.
dragonelite
Member
error 37 my body is ready.
VeryGooster
Banned
Happened to notice a Twitter chat between Jeff Gerstmann and Alex Navarro. Seems like they're enjoying it but regional restrictions are kind of a pain.
Bending_Unit_22
Member
Yeah, which combined with the small city sizes I can't imagine gameplay being anything other than do A, do B, do C, do D, city grows to limit, start new city, do A, do B, do C.... That is unless you want to bork your region with inefficient cities. If you're playing with others I'm sure that will make you popular, or on the flip side I bet it's fun to have a regions screwed up because others don't play SimCity "right".
Because these 'agreements' are never ever made public, so nobody knows what they are, so they are NOT transparent. All you get is some tweet or some statement, never the actual agreement.
Do you think Alex Navarro is an idiot for waiting until the game is live and his account is not specially marked to receive a private server to correctly assess the game?
Polygon weighed the risk of looking like scumbags to informed users vs. the amount of clicks they get for being one of the few reviews and decided for the clicks and against the customers.
No. I certainly don't fault any site for waiting.
But Polygon also explicitly noted that their experience is based on not live conditions, so that's fine to me as well.
Even though polygon gave the game a 9.5, they did mention in their review that they had server problems. If you read the SimCity backstory review they mention that they were using development servers at the time and that when the game is fully launched, they may alter the score pending on how well the servers hold up to full commercial release.
Nothing until you read the explanation:
Making it suspicious just for the sake of making it suspicious I guess. What could the particulars be that it needs to be kept secret?
depths20XX
Member
Are we sure you can't save? In that Ars Technica review they were playing in a region with each other. It would make sense that you wouldn't be able to save and load because that would screw shit up for other players. I wonder if you can save in single player regions.