SimCity V

[Chimeray]

So for those of you that played, what did you think of it?

I didn't like that you don't have to draw power lines, nor water pipes :/ I don't see the drawback of putting those facilities very far from the residential areas then to save them of pollution (that used to be expensive as fuck early game). Now you can just place them god knows where and drag a tiny road over there and done...

The zones aren't split up in low density, medium density and high density anymore. Guess it doesn't make much difference except for cost...

Edited January 28, 2013 by Chimeray

[Puddy]

Well, I enjoyed a lot of the the streamlining they've done. But in some areas it's a bit too simplistic and the overall balance of the game makes it WAY too easy. Your town grows really fast without much effort and approval ratings are really easy to manage.

With the features that are missing in the beta and some added difficulty it could be really fun. I'll wait for reviews before my purchase though.

[SamCom]

I'm still figuring out the density thing - it seems the more demand for something, or the better a business is doing, then it upgrades to the next density? It's a little unclear. But not any less clear than when a building would decide to upgrade densities in SimCity 4, which was based on region populations or something along those lines. I don't really miss pipes or power lines - you're still paying maintenance on that faraway road, if that's your choice.

I love the level of simulation they introduced. Something that always bothered me from the old games was how things felt faked - after hours of play, you recognize that those cars driving around aren't going anywhere. But in this one, it's feels alive - it's fun to just cruise around the city and see what's happening - see a trash truck, and know that it's actually going to pick up those trash cans on the side of the road. You can follow an ambulance to its destination, see the medics walk the injured sim out. If you see it, it has a purpose. That's something I've always missed from the other games, and it adds so much. I wanted more time just to explore the city I created, I feel like I could just watch it go.

There are certainly some kinks to work out - road placements and intersections can be wonky, but that's because of the huge amount of flexibility they've added to it. Also, the city size they start you with is pretty small, I'm hoping it's much larger in the final game. But I think smaller cities is a fair trade off for the amount of detail and simulation they're adding.

The Origin connection isn't too bad, I'm already used to it for BF3. I do worry it won't have the same longevity as SimCity 4 - hell, SC4 came out almost exactly ten years ago, and I can still boot it up, mod it, whatever. I'm afraid that won't be the case for this one.

[syver]

There is beta now lasting until tomorrow. Anyone else playing it?

[syver]

i'm not able to create any city because the servers are barely working. can't wait for this to happen at release day. thanks obama

[SamCom]

Finally got in after a few hours of off and on trying. Pretty much exactly the same as the last beta - no new content unlocked, and only very small changes. I do think the server issues are going to bite them in the ass. I don't mind having to connect, the problem is when it doesn't let me connect. But they already have my money, so the joke's on me, I guess.

[Puddy]

Is the game still retardedly easy?

[Beck]

FFS. I checked yesterday to see if I had a key and there was nothing. Checking my emails again today and there's a key sitting there which had arrived after I checked. God damn I wanted to play and the beta has already ended

[SamCom]

Is the game still retardedly easy?

Dunno - it does seem that random disasters are back, which might add a little challenge - I got a tornado, and I heard of a zombie invasion. I think filling out a city with low density buildings is pretty easy, but that's always been pretty easy in the series. That's kind of been the secret - expand while completely neglecting social services until you have a large enough tax base to do whatever the hell you want. I remember my cities always ran out of money when I started playing SimCity 4, but then I realized that people would keep moving in as long as there were jobs, no matter what a hell hole it was. Public services are more of an option. And in the game!

I think the fun will be more roaming around the city and just watching the little sims live their lives, something that's never really been there in the previous installments, and the challenge from specializing the city.

[Skjalg]

Public services are more of an option.

sounds like 'murica alright

[Zyn]

EA holding a SimCity stream for a week now, and the internet votes what to do next : http://letsallbemayor.com/en/event/disaster-city

Still not sure about this, and the area you got to build on feels small as hell compared to Sim City 4.

[Mazy]

Bah, wont be out until Friday in Europe.

Not that it matters, since EA's servers will likely be completely fucked once they unlock it.

Oh and http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/simcity/critic-reviews ~:G~~

[dux]

Is this gonna be Origin only?

[Puddy]

Yep! Probably gonna get it anyway. Want to build my shitty!

[Mazy]

If only it was just Origin, you also have to log into the SimCity servers to actually play. Those are totally gonna able to take the pressure when it launches