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[KKRT00]

Oh, well that's not final design. People need to stop treating GDC as a press release and more of a design theory show and tell.

Its paper from lead engine engineer about philosophy behind glassbox, i think thats the most honest 'press release' You can get nowadays

===

But is there any proof? Like, couldn't someone just check their upload/download information while moving around between the different cities?

Anyhow, since the game has a single player component, I assume the game has some form of A.I in place to deal with regional stuff in those types of games. Couldn't that component simply be transferred to the client instead of being hosted on the server, if that's the case?

Here is proof: http://www.andrewwillmott.com/talks/inside-glassbox/GlassBox GDC 2012 Slides.pdf
Its been also reported by players that it sending and downloading about 30mb of data per hour from EA servers. You cant change city or switch to region when You lost Your connection to EA servers either, it will boot You from the game automatically, but if You stay in city view, You can play for up to 15 minutes still.

If You asking about possibility to make it completely offline, yeah it can be done. They could emulate region server locally for example, its not switch on/off thing though, they would need to reprogram current implementation.

===
@Jac_Solar
Yep, fudged population is definitely because of low system requirements. It could be done normally if they would require 4 cores processor as a base though.

===

Bad example. In that screenshot that city is in sandbox mode with everything disabled: pollution, crime, sickness, etc. And taxes at 0%.

THIS is a much better example of optimizing traffic by exploiting the shortest path routing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV6PrEjaH8Q

It's a very interesting video and the results are not like that snaking image.

Thats great video. Thanks for posting it.

He made video just about managing traffic - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuSiYxfSI-U&list=UUlRib6ZoLLCcO0uV3uOMr8w&index=2

 

[Rentahamster]

Recycling question:

Is there only a certain amount of recoverable resources per unit of recyclable waste? Like, is there only 1 ton of alloy recoverable per 3 tons of recycling materials? Or, if I have 3 alloy extensions, will I get 3 tons of alloy per 3 tons of recycling materials? Or does it just stay 1 ton alloy/1 ton recycling mats ratio, and the only benefit I see is materials -> alloy conversion speed?

In other words, what is the specific benefit from adding more extensions to the recycling center? Efficiency? Rate? Both?

 

[Rentahamster]

Seems like all previous SimCity games have "fudged" the population count.

Well, by it's nature, all the population numbers have to be 'fudged'. They are all relatively arbitrary and the numbers are whatever the developer or the modder assigned to that particular building lot.

 

[Rentahamster]

lol

I just saw this monstrosity strolling through town.

Video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3zgrzU_dew&list=UU4EAQraV2i7cF6pNNVI8e1Q&index=1

 

[CAW]

One of my cities in a region has been "processing, check back later" for about three days now. Is it just gone? I tried running the recovery tool but that didn't work.

edit found this thread: http://answers.ea.com/t5/Miscellane...ot-process-this-city-at-this-time/td-p/731232

 

[Deleted member 30609]

is there any way to mass-upgrade roads?

 

[dinosaur_hunter2]

Well, after reading that PDF, I believe the problem with pathing lies here:

• Virtual Distance Field
• D*-Lite based algorithm - wavefront updates
• Calculates cost-to-nearest-sink at vertices
• Steer towards vertex with least cost
• No per-agent routing info

 

[KKRT00]

Well, after reading that PDF, I believe the problem with pathing lies here:

• Virtual Distance Field
• D*-Lite based algorithm - wavefront updates
• Calculates cost-to-nearest-sink at vertices
• Steer towards vertex with least cost
• No per-agent routing info

It should be:
• Virtual Distance Field
• D*-Lite based algorithm - wavefront updates
• Calculates cost-to-nearest-sink at vertices
• Check specific agent type condition and bind it to vertex with least cost
• Steer towards vertex with least cost
• No per-agent routing info

 

[rangersfan414]

Sorry to the people in GAF Shumperata, but my city keeps processing incorrectly, so I have to roll back and then I'm in that never ending loop, so I can't play in the region anymore.

 

[B-Dex]

Also the way the AI works would explain why Education level and tech level go down even when your population doesn't fluctuate.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Too good not to quote here as well:

 

[Ophiuchus]

For those of you that want to play in windowed mode full screen Im using http://grismar.net/shiftwindow/

 

[drizzle]

yes

you can do stuff like this in SC4 with mods

Can I mod it so it doesn't run like shit or crash every 15 minutes on any modern computer?

 

[Beautifully Shaped Monsters]

I bend over and build a 'one road' city last night because I couldn't deal with the traffic jams.

I feel kinda dirty, and the city looks decidedly odd, but it works, traffic is much less of an issue now.

Completely breaks immersion though.

 

[JoeBoy101]

Can I mod it so it doesn't run like shit or crash every 15 minutes on any modern computer?

Set Affinity to 1 and there's a tweak so that it doesn't crawl when scrolling. I forget it off the top of my head, but its a simple config file fix.

 

[drizzle]

Set Affinity to 1 and there's a tweak so that it doesn't crawl when scrolling. I forget it off the top of my head, but its a simple config file fix.

That doesn't really work. Game still crashes like a motherfucker.

The scroll thing is unbearable when your city is big enough. Game just moves too damn slow.

 

[Surfheart]

Can anyone recommend the Prima guide?

 

[Jac_Solar]

Well, by it's nature, all the population numbers have to be 'fudged'. They are all relatively arbitrary and the numbers are whatever the developer or the modder assigned to that particular building lot.

Yeah, but some people thought, or seemed to think that the population number equaled actual NPC's in the world I think.

That doesn't really work. Game still crashes like a motherfucker.

The scroll thing is unbearable when your city is big enough. Game just moves too damn slow.

Have you tried to patch it?

Here's a guide with links;

http://nikolairesokav.com/guides/sim-city-4-modding-and-customization/

Use this link for Ep1 update, as it seems like his does not work;

http://www.ea.com/simcity-4-deluxe

Alternative guide;

http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/_/simcity-4/tutorials/night-lighting-for-bats-r35

 

[sangreal]

lol

I just saw this monstrosity strolling through town.

Video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3zgrzU_dew&list=UU4EAQraV2i7cF6pNNVI8e1Q&index=1

this actually reminds me of what seems to be a pretty bad bug. You can't export sewage if you're using a sewage treatment plant because even if the region has a lot of capacity, it will max out the plant first which causes the pipes to back up and dump sewage instead of treating it

 

[flashburn2012]

FYI, for anyone using recycling centers. There is a bug where they stop producing materials. Ran into this in several cities so I finally started to investigate...
http://community.simtropolis.com/topic/55000-recycling-center-bug-cost-effective-workaround/

 

[YodaGoneMad]

People on the latest blog post are talking about a mod that turns cheetah speed back on. Anyone have any info on that mod? I haven't played in 5 days because I can't stand the game at the slow speed.

 

[RoKKeR]

IGN: 7.0/10

 

[golem]

Still have open slots on NA West 2 if anyone wants to play!

PM me or add me on Origin: golemite

 

[Veritas_]

New patch (1.5) is giving me the flickering/transparent bug on almost everything now. Gonna give this a rest until stuff gets sorted out.

 

[RoKKeR]

Still have open slots on NA West 2 if anyone wants to play!

PM me or add me on Origin: golemite

I'm in! Will send PM.

 

[Rentahamster]

FYI, for anyone using recycling centers. There is a bug where they stop producing materials. Ran into this in several cities so I finally started to investigate...
http://community.simtropolis.com/topic/55000-recycling-center-bug-cost-effective-workaround/

Yeah I figured that out too, hence my question earlier about rate of materials processing. I wish the trade depot could store recyclable materials too...

 

[Mobius 1]

Apparently someone on Reddit found a region editor in the debug mode of the game.

 

[Beautifully Shaped Monsters]

I feel this game is roughly 3 major patches away from being a truly enjoyable game.

I doubt they will increase the number of agents or anything like that, but if they fix the glaring bugs (recycling centers, tourism, etc), improve traffic and pathfinding the game would be great fun, if no where the same longevity as SC4.

 

[Czigga]

Hey anyone know if you buy the game now if you'll still get your free EA game? Might be willing to deal with the bullshit if they throw in Crysis 3 or something.

 

[Rentahamster]

Simcity 4 had shortest route pathfinding too, but unlike SC4's unlimited capacity roads, these ones can't take the load. Such is the fate of simulating every* car.

Thinking about it, perhaps one can do this:

To encourage sims to use the avenues more, the avenues would have to be more attractive to follow, so that would mean that the side streets would need to be "longer" than the avenue in order to get the sims to take the avenue instead. Thus, perhaps a side street that comes off of the avenue, then reconnects to it further down the line would "force" the sims to prioritize avenue travel first?

 

[Pinzer]

MAXIS, ALL THE GAMES IN "JOIN GAME" ARE FULL. I CANNOT JOIN THEM

 

[FINALBOSS]

MAXIS, ALL THE GAMES IN "JOIN GAME" ARE FULL. I CANNOT JOIN THEM

Lol.


I musta tried for 30 minutes the other day to find an open plot of land in a game because I wanted to be in a populated region so badly for the first time.

 

[elty]

To be honest, I would rather have abstract modeling on a large city than detail agent modeling on a small sub division with crappy logic.

 

[Slacker]

Hey anyone know if you buy the game now if you'll still get your free EA game? Might be willing to deal with the bullshit if they throw in Crysis 3 or something.

Have we heard any details on that yet? I'm not counting on Crysis 3. I assume it'll be something like Farm Simulator 2011.

 

[panthapanda]

I still have some slots open in my region (US East 1), add me and i'll send an invite!

Edit: Forgot to mention my origin id: ArecP

 

[Kinky John]

Apparently someone on Reddit found a region editor in the debug mode of the game.

Editing freeways: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmce9oIxJag


More...

Other things I have modded out: Unlimited time to remain disconnected (won't get booted at 20 minutes, can now be disconnected "forever"). Population count now shows REAL figure, not the "artificially inflated" figure, makes more sense, though does highlight how few sims are in a city!

http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9364907.page

Forum mods deleted that thread ^^^ so here's a Reddit link.

 

[Rentahamster]

Hehe, another kink in the small city size and always online armor.

 

[Calidor]

FUCK THIS SHIT GAME!!

Now my city is corrupted and I'm being asked to rollback every 5 min or so, is there any way to fix that? I don't want to throw up my 10+ hours spent on my city by abandon it

 

[Dead Man]

this actually reminds me of what seems to be a pretty bad bug. You can't export sewage if you're using a sewage treatment plant because even if the region has a lot of capacity, it will max out the plant first which causes the pipes to back up and dump sewage instead of treating it

Really? That seems pretty bad.

 

[Lingitiz]

FUCK THIS SHIT GAME!!

Now my city is corrupted and I'm being asked to rollback every 5 min or so, is there any way to fix that? I don't want to throw up my 10+ hours spent on my city by abandon it

There doesn't seem to be a fix for the rollback loop. It eventually deleted one of my cities and frozen my entire region.

 

[LAUGHTREY]

Editing freeways: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmce9oIxJag


More...



http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9364907.page

Forum mods deleted that thread ^^^ so here's a Reddit link.

crack where pirates have it better off than paying customers in 3...2...1...

 

[B-Dex]

crack where pirates have it better off than paying customers in 3...2...1...

Not even a crack. Legit mod using their own tools. LOL.

 

[Septimius]

Not even a crack. Legit mod using their own tools. LOL.

Pretty sure altering game code isn't allowed. And I heard the files are read-only now.

 

[Bedlam]

More...

http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9364907.page

Forum mods deleted that thread ^^^ so here's a Reddit link.

But, but ... Arthur Gies said it's not possible. Someone should let him know via twitter.

https://twitter.com/aegies/status/310282795564015616

 

[Rentahamster]

Hmm, the large skate parks make some pretty useful spacers to help lay out roads.

 

[B-Dex]

Pretty sure altering game code isn't allowed. And I heard the files are read-only now.

Well they stated they are going to support mods. But not surprised they are backtracking already.

 

[TemplaerDude]

But, but ... Arthur Gies said it's not possible. Someone should let him know via twitter.

https://twitter.com/aegies/status/310282795564015616

The fuck is he fucking talking about? God, what a fucking tool.

 

[B-Dex]

The fuck is he fucking talking about? God, what a fucking tool.

Maxis is clearly "working with" Polygon.

 

[poppedcollar69]

Well they stated they are going to support mods. But not surprised they are backtracking already.

Did they say they were going to support mods? They must be planning on monetizing it some how.

 

[BannedEpisode]

I've been enjoying the game while playing with my roommates. Its fun to be able to yell at the guy next to you about sending fire trucks after you get whomped by meteors.

My biggest complaint is probably centered around how tourists work. If I have more than one casino they all flock to one and completely ignore the others even if I have enough entryways for the city and well planned transit.