Welcome!

[Chris Beatrice]

All,
I'd like to welcome you to the SimCity Societies general discussion forum. This venue is for people interested in SimCity Societies and who want us, the developer, to hear what they have to say about the game.

As more information about SimCity Societies is made available, we hope you will share your thoughts with us and with the rest of the community here.

Our fans have always been an integral part of who we are, and what we do, so please don’t let us down!

-Chris

[sc4ever]

Thanks Chris, we will try our best!

[EVIL_SoMEoNE]

all right, cant wait for some more info:P

[Poetic]

Well... third reply is better than nothing :cool: Thank you for making the section Chris. It's greatly appreciated.

[Pixelrage]

Hi Chris & TM team- Thanks for starting these forums.

A question for the dev team: how long have you been playing the Sim City series (outside of work), especially Sim City 4? Did you all get together to try it out before planning the next installment?

[the Monkeys Uncle]

Tilted Mill team members:

I'm impressed with the level of communication you maintain with your users! Top notch. Thanks for the welcome!

[NTomCz]

I am also impressed how you keep in touch with your users. Can't wait to see more from this game!! :)

[King Faticus]

that is one of the reasons I and many others are so loyal to TM;)
Infact I remember some SC fans (Im sorry I cannot remember the names) asking for a quick reply option and suddenly I see one after I log in... now I just need to figure out how it works...:o

[callagrafx]

King Faticus: click the paper/quill icon to the right of the quote button :)

[King Faticus]

ohh... :o

[Agamemnus]

Wow!

Where is the OMGWTFBBQ NEW GAME!!!!!1111ONE!11ELEVEN thread?

[ded]

Hey there Chris, its a pleasure to be here.

Like many of the community, i'm a little disappointed in certain aspects of the game, as I currently understand it, but I can also see many elements of fun to be had (The humor surrounding the obedience "energy" is oh so fun, its 1984!). Also, I love the rural picture i've seen so far, i thought the sky looked stunning, and the atmosphere was exactly how i feel about small towns, so that excites me too.

I, for one, look really forward to being part of a community that works with the Tilted Mill development team, to create a refreshing, challenging, stimulating city simulation game.

Good luck, and thanks for all the hard work so far, as I'm sure you all are perhaps feeling a little unappreciated right now,
ded.

[UnzippedSim77]

I know, rare, huh? Well, anyway, I did get a little worried with the first screenshot, but after reading a bit about what direction this game was heading in, I started to feel better about it all, and having seen the subsequent screenshots, I have become more positive about many aspects of the game, though, understandably, would like to know more about it - so phase one a success on me at least, I'd like to know more. Always a good starting point for any advertising :D The negativity that's been bandied out, while I can understand a lot of people's feelings on the issue, I am quite surprised to see how heated it has become, and humbly apologise for fellow SimTrop members' downright rudeness in many cases. I am intrigued in the new game, and would like to take up the opportunity to help you guys at Tilted Mill to discuss issues with the community as you etch out a future path for the game which can, hopefully, bring together the ideals of both company and fan - that is, a game worthy of multi-sales which can still deliver for its fans. What I've seen in the shots has proven that you are listening, and that you have been doing your homework on this game, and I take my hat off to you all for bravely facing the outcry from the SC4 fan community. While I will be reluctantly giving up my mayoral powers of water and power etc, I am quite excited about the societies scenarios in the hopes that they are the 'cultural' differences as well as architecture (a passion of mine - seeing different architecture alongside the different cultures is part of my travel bug). Hopefully, what may be deemed as 'lacking' in the initial release can be worked into future expansion packs and through a community dedicated to adding content to the game. Simtropolis has been a fantastic place for SC4 custom content, and I would love to see it embrace the new 3D direction the game is taking with TM.

Ed ;)

[Almir]

Hi!

I registered at this community becouse, as you are now developing the sequel to one of my if not my favorite gameseries, im bound to want to post something sooner or later.

First i want to say thank you for giving us the community this oppurtinity and despite some bashing hope you'l keep it open.

Well i have lots of ideas and will post them when im in a mood for it. Until that i can recommend you to check out the "future of simcity discussion" thread on simtropolis as well as some of the new ones in the SCS forum on the same website. Obviously not all ideas are doable or maybe even wanted by most but i believe you can find many requests for developement, new features and reminders of some of the major issues/limitations in the current version which many would like done.

And please think about the moddingcommunity will you (one example is customisable menus, having hundreds or even thousands of custom objects in the SC4RH menus takes enormous amounts of time to scroll through, im really dissapointed that Maxis havnt released a patch to imptove the menus/interface availability. For example by having two-three columns for each category isntead of one... anyhow thats another issue that you should not worry about...).

And lastly, for now, good luck and i hope you'l hear from me again and that time with more concrete substance as far as simcityissues go. And please do be ambitious, i presume you may have some kind of deadline set by EA but i think the best thing would be if you developed it until you felt it was complete for a release simply, take your time. The gamers want as many options/possibilities to create as versatile various cities as possible with a good simulation of what is happening in the city (and outside to some extent) at all levels.
______________________________________

PS

I have a question. How do you collaborate with Maxis on this developement, will they participate even more closely when they are finished with Spore?

EDIT: And oh, i guess its obligatory for all games today to have native widescreensupport of course ;)

[A Nonny Moose]

I am a mod at Simtropolis and so am interested in any community that is related to SimCity.

I will be following the development and release of Societies with some interest. Good luck, and please don't let the marketing guys rush you out the door.

[Trixin]

Hi Chris,

I am an avid gamer of SimCity 4 Rush Hour and a registered user at several SimCity forums for over three years. I truely hope that you guys at Tilted Mill will listen to what SC4 fans want in the next game. If you guys insist on releasing an urban game based more on societies, that's fine but it isn't capturing the true essence of the SimCity series. Perhaps there could be another SimCity game after this one, geared more towards the hardcore fans, like myself. In any case, congrats on keeping such a high level of communication with us gamers, I will be following the development of SimCity Societies very closely. Thanks!

Trixin

[Chief of Staff]

Greetings,

I would like to know where the official website for this game will be located at. Just wanted to know the website address for future reference when it goes up, I guess, in next few weeks or so. Thanks.

-Surfer Surfing World Wide Web

[MrCinatit]

I am a mod at Simtropolis and so am interested in any community that is related to SimCity.

I will be following the development and release of Societies with some interest. Good luck, and please don't let the marketing guys rush you out the door.

Small world :p

I've been around Simtropolis for quite a while, myself. SimCity 4 was probably one of the last games I have bought that I have continually played.
I have very high hopes that the tradition will continue with Societies - and I honestly do like what I have seen here so far.

[prof786]

sounds like a challenge.

[stcammo2003]

First off, thanks for creating this section here...

Second, I commend all of the staff who have communicated directly with the existing SimCity Community, particularly for your ability to constrain yourselves when some of us... well, represented the community poorly.

And yes, I'm cammo2003 from SimTropolis (aka cammo2006 on SC4D).

[Gamma412]

Chris:

I am gravely disappointed that Will Wright wasn't involved in this game. However, i understand he was caught up with another game. But releasing a game that has little in common, if anything, with the Sim City franchise is a travesty. From reading the previews, i can see this will not be a realistic city simulation that i have come to expect from EA.

It seems to me you guys decided that the hardcore fan base won't bring in the profits EA is looking for. I would tend to disagree, and i feel you are not giving us a chance.

I am probably one of the "Sim City Purists" you guys hate, but i am nonetheless a consumer and, depending on the reviews, will probably NOT buy this game, and hope that next time, EA returns to the realistic urban development, if there will be a next game....

[Azeem]

Will Wright himself wasn't really involved in any of the SimCities following SC2k and it was mentioned that he did not want to be involved in making sequels.

Saying that the SC purists are "hated" is pretty much being melodramatic.

[King Faticus]

Chris:I am probably one of the "Sim City Purists" you guys hate, but i am nonetheless a consumer and, depending on the reviews, will probably NOT buy this game, and hope that next time, EA returns to the realistic urban development, if there will be a next game....
trust me we actually don't mind people who say they don't like the game
in fact I still encourage it as it could get a good conversation going and free exchange of ideas is a good thing
there were a few "simcity" trolls who posted just to incite conflict before
and that is what the negative responses came from
I think most everybody is over the worst of it though and things seemed to calm down

PS could you elaborate in your own words what you think is wrong with the game.
or do you feel they were all already covered by other posts?
every little bit helps I think and it seems like some of the things SC fans have.. "requested" made it into the game
in a recent article from IGN they said the game will be completely modable in any way from the buildings down to the rules and will ship with mod tools
in a recent video (I am assuming here) I saw buildings "sliding" twards the road (while being placed) instead of snapping to a grid so I think you might be able to disable the grid(again I'm assuming based on what I saw nothign was really mentioned about this that I saw)

[panikattak]

King Faticus:

That sliding looks to me to be a script put together for a demonstration and not part of the actual game mechanics. Especially how the camera follows the action as it does, it looks choreographed.

I would like to add that I hope I didn't come off as a "simcity" troll. I know I had the one thread I started about EA buying TM if Societies does well, but that's a real concern for me and still is.

So I apologize to everyone and especially to the TM devs if I was offensive.

I have hopes for Societies and it looks like it's shaping up to be a decent game.

[King Faticus]

no you never "trolled" Panikattak
so you don't need to apologize for it (trust me you cannot accidentally do what the three I am thinking about did)
the confusion and anger some posters had is understandable
and so I never had a problem with it
until three perticular posters started attacking people for saying they might like the game and slamming TM and their previous games despite not ever playing them
and wishing ill on TM (hoping they go under)
one of them kept sinking lower and lower insulting a member for speaking for his wife and correcting people's grammar :rolleyes:
In truth they were enjoying the game.. not SCS or SC4K.. they enjoyed inciting confrontation and controlling peoples emotions
unfortunately people like that appear when things like this happen because the opportunity is so ripe

after this I became very defensive even twards the non trolls and for that "I" should apologize:(
If we had all just ignored said posters it wouldn't have gotten so bad

That sliding looks to me to be a script put together for a demonstration and not part of the actual game mechanics. Especially how the camera follows the action as it does, it looks choreographed.
the scenes were pretty quick.. maybe I can cut the scene out and slow it down, that will make it a little more clear
either way it was just an assumption :D

[zorkin]

Hello Chris
I have just joined your form and I am sure that you get alot of request regarding people interested in being a beta tester. Well I am going to be one of those people. I enjoy games a little too much and would really be interested in being a beta-tester. Please let me know if that could happen. Thanks

[Gamma412]

PS could you elaborate in your own words what you think is wrong with the game.
or do you feel they were all already covered by other posts?
every little bit helps I think and it seems like some of the things SC fans have.. "requested" made it into the game
in a recent article from IGN they said the game will be completely modable in any way from the buildings down to the rules and will ship with mod tools
in a recent video (I am assuming here) I saw buildings "sliding" twards the road (while being placed) instead of snapping to a grid so I think you might be able to disable the grid(again I'm assuming based on what I saw nothign was really mentioned about this that I saw)[/QUOTE]

King, what i feel is wrong with this rendition is this:

*Zoning was taken away (biggest complaint)- part of building a city is placing zones and getting the building you want through devleopment means - placing the right public services to enocouarge skyscraper development. Just "ploping" whatever building you want takes away challange and reward. Mayor's in real life dont just "plop" buidlings, they govern.

*Graphics are subpar (IMHO)

*I feel like this game is being targeted at the casual, mainstream gamer. (You know, the kind that plays "The Sims". TM and EA want this game to be easier and less complicated so they will "increase" profits. I disagree, and think this game will not only be better, but may actually make more, if it just expanded upon SC4.

I haven't seen the game, so i don't want to be too prejudemental. But i'm not liking what i'm seeing.

[Gamegirl]

This game looks amazing to me. I love city building games and I'm sure this one will not disappoint. I loved Children of the Nile and Caesar IV and I know Tilted Mill won't let its fans down. :D

[Pharaon-Kheops]

Well, back at this forum after some months off...
I have to say I made a great "hourra!!!" when I learned TM will develop the new SC. I am indeed a great fan of CotN wich is the only citybuilding game I know where you can let the game run while going to watch your evenning film on TV, and when you come back, you see the city has.... lived... yes in this game the city is alive, and that's what it was revolutionnary!
I understand that many SC4 great fans (from whose I am, being a simtropolis member and supporter) may dislike the way SC:S seems to take, but what? This is a new game, not a SC4 expansion kit!!! Though, i am pretty confident a vast majority of SC4 fans will finally adopt SC:S. The same occured to Parradox dev. with Europa Universalis 3. Fans of EU2 complained because the new game was 3D, not really moddable and totally un-historic... but at the end they now quite all play the two games alternatively, one for historical-accuracy (with a bunch of great mods) and the other for grapphics and unpredictability.
To end this post, I also want to talk about Citylife. I've read that the game shown in the preview seems a clone of CL. To this I answer: "great!". To my opinion, CL was a great game made by a company too weak to handle it (not enough variety, mean graphics, poor advertisement....), but the new ideas put by this game were really novative. So let's see what the geniousness of TM and the financial power of EA (oh, yes, video games are also a matter of money, fans! ;-) ) can do of this new kind of citybuilder... My heart tells me that the spirit of CotN, coupled with the legacy of SC and mixed with some of CL ideas has all what is needed to be a king of games!

Praying everyday to be allowed to join beta-test, I say a great "good luck and courage!" to the dev team. I am really confident about what you'll finally do.

PS: as before, and allways, I kindly apologizes to you, Westerners, about my bad english, but I am a poor Old-Worlder whose mother tongue is of Roman origin...

[Dragonforge]

Greetings 8)

2007? Wow, I only just discovered this title.
Excellent program you've made here, Tilted Mill.
SimCity Societies is FUN 8)
I can play for just a few minutes, or I can play for hours.
Either way, the time spent is fun, lively, and refreshing.
I am reminded of going from Railroad Tycoon 3 to Sid Meier's Railroads ...
... a bit of a shock to the system but well worth the change.
SimCity 4/Rush Hour was starting to feel like work and not play.
Thank you, for putting PLAY back into the game 8)

[Azeem]

Better late than never. :D Welcome to the forums. :)

[MidrealmDM70]

Greetings 8)

2007? Wow, I only just discovered this title.
Excellent program you've made here, Tilted Mill.
SimCity Societies is FUN 8)
I can play for just a few minutes, or I can play for hours.
Either way, the time spent is fun, lively, and refreshing.
I am reminded of going from Railroad Tycoon 3 to Sid Meier's Railroads ...
... a bit of a shock to the system but well worth the change.
SimCity 4/Rush Hour was starting to feel like work and not play.
Thank you, for putting PLAY back into the game 8)

I'm glad to hear you like it, Are you playing the basic version,
or with the Destinations expansion pack?

Either way is great, If you run into any problems or have questions,
there is quite a bit posted here, and I am sure someone will be willing
to offer advice.

Hope to continue to enjoy the game and become part of our community here.