New Screenshots Released

[Reed]

http://simcity.ea.com/screenshots.php

http://simcity.ea.com/images/sc_societies/screens/screenshot_5_big.jpg

http://simcity.ea.com/images/sc_societies/screens/screenshot_4_big.jpg

http://simcity.ea.com/images/sc_societies/screens/screenshot_3_big.jpg

http://simcity.ea.com/images/sc_societies/screens/screenshot_2_big.jpg

http://simcity.ea.com/images/sc_societies/screens/screenshot_1_big.jpg

http://simcity.ea.com/images/sc_societies/screens/screenshot_6_big.jpg

http://simcity.ea.com/images/sc_societies/screens/screenshot_7_big.jpg

http://simcity.ea.com/images/sc_societies/screens/screenshot_8_big.jpg

[Rnett]

Is that a treehouse I see?

[NappySick]

Oh look its that hovel again :p jk sry david

Cool screens , wish id seen these before the others , i can relate to these ones
Super cant wait to play this .:D

[callagrafx]

Is that a treehouse I see?

bagsie first on the tyre swing :D

[Almir]

It does look interesting. Two things which i think can be improved is the density in the city (some wall to wall developement) and also the sharpness of the textures (especially the brickwalls).

It seems to have potential. Still no diagonal roads or curves though, makes me worried about the transit.

And for the "societies" concept there will have to actually be some sims living there, but i guess that will come...

[MarkDuffy]

SWEET !!!

Thank you, Reed! :)

It also looks like we might have an Official SimCity™ Societies (http://simcity.ea.com/home.php) website real soon!

Good Job, EA! :)

[dorn]

Looks really good to me! Great job TM is doing with this series so far!:D

[Kiya]

The new pics are looking good, considering they are not from the finished game. Many new things are on the way I'm sure.
I'm not a big fan of building modern cities but you never know, perhaps after trying a demo first. ;) :)

[EmperorJay]

I've got to agree with the need for wall-to-wall buildings :)

[thomil]

Now those screenshots look really interesting.

One of the most important things about EVERY game is atmosphere, and those screens exude plenty of that!

I do have to agree with Almir and several others though:

Work on the Roads!

Seriously, leaving out diagonal roads, avenues, one-way roads and highways as well as public transport is a step back to SimCity Classic (1989). If that is changed, you might have a best seller on your hands.


regards

Thomas

[Urbanist]

Screens are starting too look very nice.


If theres one thing that strikes me as needing some improvement its the terrain.

I'd like to see a little more of a dynamic landscape. Perhaps some foliage or flora. The Trees seem to need some improvement as well. I'm guessing that at this point you guys are not stressing those components of the game yet, but I'd be a bit disappointed if any development on that aspect of the game were to already be completed.

Roads/transportation networks is still an area of some concern. I really haven't seen any thing resembling a non straight narrow 4 lane road. My gut tells me this is yet another aspect of the game under wraps, at least I'm frantically hoping. The car skins in soem picks are less than to be desireed as well. Would like to see some non baby blue sedans :)

I my only other concern is the lack of any contemporary,modern housing. I see treehouses and thatches( a little too much WOW spore feel), but not some even 50's style red brick houses or regular ole bungalows. Worse comes to worse this can potentially be batted, but I'd like to hope something of this nature will be included.

Other than my nitpickings I'm liking the look and feel of the game. In a perfect world I'd like to see a hint more realism in the over all feel, but if all these other things I mentioned are improved upon I think i'd be one happy camper overall.

Keep up the good work.

[DonMikimax]

Nothing special, still not interested.
SC4 graphics are still better.

[AdrianWerner]

:eek: ..preety :D

[MarkDuffy]

Reed's last posted image in this thread has become my new desktop (Desperately need screenies with more resolution). It is what I have been waiting for outta SCS. Space, not just downtown! :D

Meanwhile, Google News is on fire! I haven't seen too much yet outta the usual suspects (IGN just has stubs so far).

The Guardian (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2007/06/12/sim_city_gets_social.html) has an interesting blurb...

Well, it's an interesting addition to the Sim City recipe, clearly flavoured by the social micro-management of The Sims. In the past, areas have been shaped only on economic terms - areas would be financially rich and therefore 'good' or run-down and poor and therefore 'bad'. Societies is a move to a new model of urban management that recognises transitory fads and cultures - in short, a very 21st century answer to the eighties 'greed is good' underpinning of the original Sim City title.

Lastly, anyone else noticed the face-lift on the TM Home World (http://www.tiltedmill.com/)? :cool:

[NappySick]

I read a very sincere post from someone regarding 3d art development and effects on gameplay.And you know, I almost felt sorry for you guys , i think its safe , you can come out now .:eek: :mad: :confused: :( :confused: :rolleyes: :) :D :o ;)

Not that it would mean the end of the world , but are any tools included to make our own stuff , i want the ruins of Tarsus hippodrome in my city and maybe a triumph arch, a Liquorice factory , some guys would buy this just to make content . i wont stamp my feet and paddy if we cant , can someone let us know ..

[Azeem]

Looks pretty. But you really really need to do something about those roads. :o

[King Faticus]

yes they look abit blockish still:(

[NappySick]

yes they look abit blockish still:(

Not pushing the isssue but , with the correct set of tools , like lot editor , bat similar , you could ship it as it is we will take care of the roads , we could even do yellow brick , possibly even curves and stuff maybe , i know you guys got schedules , maybe one of you guru s knock us something up one lunchtime and then double the cost of the game , thats cool too ..

[MarkDuffy]

Snooty at Simtropolis (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=367&threadid=89569&enterthread=y&STARTPAGE=9) has found FIVE new & two older screenshots at HUGE resolutions of 1600x1200 to 1920x1440. Simtropolis appears to only allow the smaller one so you will probably need his link & then search (see Snooty's post 06/12/2007 08:04 AM & follow his directions reposted below in italics).

Hey I found some more screenshots. Sorry if they're already posted. I don't have a direct link but click the below link and search for simcity:
http://www.pridepr.nl/persbericht/engpersberichten_nieuw.php

Definitely take a look, they are MOST excellent!

Thank you so much to all involved! :)

[NappySick]

I just knew one day sims wouldnt need wheels , nice one tm and mark for sharing ..
I mean this in a nice way, this game will kind of pick up for me where dos sc started off ,SC4 went realistic ,or more realistic , but still superb , but true simcity goes into the future i always felt that was missing from SC4 ,i like it.

[MarkDuffy]

Sneaky, sneaky, EA... :D

Looks like we also have to keep an eyeball on the Official SCS Site link (top of the forum page new link added recently.).

Within the last two hours, EA has added three more screenshots for a total of eight there (so far).

I'm almost up to thirty now. :cool:

[Romaq]

I forwarded the Yahoo! newslink to my wife, and she's thrilled and happy with what she read. I still have a mental block on Gingerbread Houses?

[Need_Help]

Now I know why it looks cartoonish -- scale of the buildings. All of them looks too 'short'. The design isn't suitable for 'short buildings', TM should make the buildings taller. I also hope to see busy street and diagonal roads. The screenshots are quite good but still lack of some 'special effect', perhaps bloom or some other special effect. The street still don't have enough car and people, I hope there will be more in the final release.


Thanks :)

[deathtopumpkins]

these screens are looking better, i am worried about the roads though.
And what i'm wondering is why the game companies always release really bad screens as the first ones, then people get all mad, and so they release new ones, which make us all change our minds and start to like it.

I might buy it, but I'm still going to be playing SC4 for the better graphics, and different gameplay.

[prof786]

i can't wait for the next round of developed screenshots. that is when they would have had major goodies on there. plus, all the performance features will be turned on to show the SCS shots in their true glory.

[Cirugo]

Not enough variety in building types. Where are the other transportation options besides the same roads I've seen in every screenshot? The description of the game in the press release and the lack of anything to address the issues I have in any of the subsequent screenshots are NOT encouraging at all.

[prof786]

so the contours need more work and not necessarily having to be so sharp. perhaps some of them--like those of sidewalks--can be blurred and rounded so that it doesn't look too clean.

[Kenta]

It looks better than beforce. But I think it seems resemble Caesar IV.

[willy88]

Those screenshots look quite a bit better. I especially love the clouds in the fifth pic!

[TheYeti]

Well the one thing that worries me from all these screenshots is that most of the city blocks seem to be only 2 buildings wide and 2 buildings long, this is a problem i've found with most city builder games, lots of roads with only a few buidings between any of them. I mean even on the small street i live on there are 20-30 houses between 1 intersection and the next. The whole thing looks too representational, i.e this one house represents 10 houses, these 4 skyscrapers represnt a whole downtown...sorry, don't like the look so far...at least not as a simcity title.

[offspring_dude]

OMG it looks amazing!! Did you guys see the treehouse!??! COol!!! And the clouds look amazing aswell!!! Look how cool the roads are!! Theyre all exactly the same!! So much variety, and also, they dont actually 'turn', they just stop and do right angles!! A blind ten year old could figure this game out. Jesus

[Aushun]

They look a whole lot better. I agree however that there's too much space between buildings; some wall to wall congested buildings would be nice.

[UnzippedSim77]

Awesome shots, I was getting a little concerned about the landscaping features and how prominent they would be in the game, especially when building around a mountain or something. They leave a much more positive image for me. And, I believe, they will hit on that crucial target for economic success - it incorporates the younger audiences. i am intrigued by a lot of what's going into this game, and the choice of realistic or fantasy is something a lot of SC gamers from SimTropolis should find exciting. Of course, we'll still get the negative mopey maws in here and on the SimTrop forums, but overall, I can ignore them for the time-being while I focus on those screen shots!!!
Ed

[Sim Nation]

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/2539/actoryy4.jpgThis city isnt too bad .


http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/3924/10acv2.jpg
________
BLONDE BABE (http://www.****tube.com/categories/309/babe/videos/1)

[Azeem]

In one of the close-up pics on GamersHell, I've noticed that the individual graphics for citizens are highly detailed. However, something still needs to be done about the roads texturing... :o

By the way, was that a Shaolin Monk I saw??? :eek:

[ded]

Sorry to be a drag, but they're pretty awful. Why in gods name do you want tree houses in your city?

[xiblack]

http://simcity.ea.com/images/sc_societies/screens/screenshot_8_big.jpg

I think you guys might want to turn down the bump map a little for the texture of the buildings.

Plus the scale of the masonry might be a tad off. They seems a little to big.

I had seen couple other screen shoot from the game with same issue. So just want to point it out.

Other than that the models looks good. Any chance you can do something with them low poly trees? :p

[dreamsoftwilight]

haha. thems some big blocks! I bet those cars are awfully shakey running down those roads... o.O;

Also, why is there mud huts near that plantation-like house with the tree-house? O.O Slavery desu! xD

[xiblack]

Also now I'm looking at this...put a fence up around the soccer field. Don't make the poor kids but a new soccer ball every other day. :D

[arcan]

One hutte reminds me of a certain CotN game... :rolleyes:
Nice shots. I'd like to see some transportation systems on one and one diagonal street though.

But they give an idea of the diversity that will be possible. I wonder if it will be possible to put a tree-house in the middle of the buildings... :rolleyes:
... or what a building in a tree will look like:eek:

[Pat D.]

I have to say all this news is exciting! I had purchased SC3000 years ago and HATED it so much I sold it back almost immediately...I bought SC4 Deluxe a while back but never played or installed it...it was only $15 at Walmart, so I jumpbed....well, it's installed and I'm playing it a bit right now ONLY because of TMs involvement in the next version! I figure I'd better be familiar with it in order to 'get' what TM has added to the franchise when it comes out in '08! All good news! You can NEVER have enough City Builders and I'm hopeful that TM will add the depth and humour to SC that we all have come to expect from TMs games!

Mark: Love the new screenies you linked to at Simtropolis...question...what is up w/ some of the folks there complaining about the graphics???? Are they serious? Compared to WHAT? I get confused when folks get proprietary about stuff like that...seriously, did they PLAY C4 or CotN? Well, regardless, it's all pretty exciting!

later,
pat!

[Wilfried]

LOL

What's that soccer field like, is it part of a nearby kindergarten, or what? :D

It's also funny (well, not really) seeing the road markings become extremely blurred only some 30 ft further...

From what I've seen so far, City Life 2 promises to become way more in every aspect than SCS.

[MarkDuffy]

20 screenshots from Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=77694), a bunch of them new. Enjoy! :)

EDIT: These 20 are at a bit lower resolution 1024x768 CVG (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=165831).

[Kiya]

Thanks Mark.
I like the pic with the eerie blue fog kinda light. :D Kinda creepy too.

[Corinthian]

I noticed two things in those shots at Eurogamer.
1. There were some "left-turn only" lanes at an intersection. I wonder if we will be able to place that?
2. There appears to be a 45 degree angled road in another shot. Is that our first look at angled road, however brief?

[bosiydid]

How anyone can think these last set of shots look good is beyond me. The general look is again like Rollercoster Tycoon. I'm not getting any closer to accepting this as the next SimCity. I mean....graveyards? Flying cars....give me a freaking break.

It's painful to watch a great series come unraveled. :mad:

Gingerbread houses and chocolate factories.......that sound you hear is the death knoll of the SimCity series! I'm extremely disappointed, unfortunately the only thing I can do is not buy it. This makes me sick!

[MarkDuffy]

2. There appears to be a 45 degree angled road in another shot. Is that our first look at angled road, however brief?

Suspicious indeed... ;)

[ManagerJosh]

20 screenshots from Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=77694), a bunch of them new. Enjoy! :)

EDIT: These 20 are at a bit lower resolution 1024x768 CVG (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=165831).
I have the original, high resolution ones available at my site's gallery.

[Azeem]

@bosiydid: I personally will NOT be planting one of those things in my city (nor would I even want them), but compared to what's been in the previous SimCity installments, it's not so absurd. In Los Angeles county and about a half-hour drive from my hometown, there's a theme bar and restaurant that looks almost like a gingerbread house. Not only that, there's also a "Santa's Village" near Los Angeles area. In the place where I'm at right now (Namhae, Korea) there's a museum in the shape of a giant garlic and a theme restaurant that looks like a toy boat. Whether you like it or not, it's not at all unusual that cities have such bizarre-looking or goofy eyesores, er, structures. And don't get me started on Las Vegas! ;) That SimCity 4 didn't feature them is ironically unrealistic.

The SimCity series has its own share of absurdities.

For example:
-SimCity classic had Godzilla (the SNES version had Bowser and a Super Mario statue).
-Demolishing a church in the original SimCity (not the re-released SimCity Classic) caused tornadoes.
-SimCity 2000 had futuristic bizarre-shaped Arcologies.
-SimCity 2000 had futuristic Microwave power and Fusion power plants.
-SimCity 2000 featured a flying caped superhero in pink spandex; the said superhero would occasionally appear to fight the UFO.
-SimCity 2000 frequently had the Loch Ness Monster pop up after you have at least one Marina in your city.
-SimCity 3000 news ticker alerts frequently featured pointless things with childish humor such as "Magna Carta found written on piece of broccoli" ; the absurd "news" alerts carried over into SimCity 4
-SimCity 3000 had UFOs that made crop circles.
-SimCity 3000 had horribly cartoony advisor and petitioner portraits.
-SimCity 3000's political factions (the groups that would petition you every now and then in the game) are all caricatured stereotypes of certain demographic groups (artists' and college-educated community as the comittee of the "Excessively Cultured," the environmentalists as the stoned hippie-looking "Green Gaians," the low-income community as the "Below-Average Bowler's League," the youth as "Mrs.[forgot the name...]'s 10th Grade Class")
-SimCity 3000 Unlimited had haunted houses, a "SimMars" factory, and a goofy rocket ship port featuring a rocket that looks like something straight out of a 1960s sci-fi B movie.
-SimCity 4 has giant robots.

[David Beebe]

I have the original, high resolution ones available at my site's gallery.

link your gallery man!

[simcity5_orbust]

You know, since I'm a staunch simcity fan, and did not like the idea of a whole franchise being handed over to another company, I was horrified at the idea of this game. But now that I have heard from some people who have played Beta versions, and have seen some screenshots, I feel this isn' tlike a traditional Simcity game. HOWEVER this game introduces a whole new aspect to the game that I feel that I would THOROUGHLY enjoy! The fact that your society will completely change depending on how you treat, tax, and manage your sims and your city. In the old sim city games, the most you could do to be a dictator or a benevolent leader is your taxes. Now, by the sound of a BETA tester, you can work your citizens into putting flags with your face ALL over your city, reminding them who they TRULY work for!
I love the idea of being able to change your world with things other than what you charge your sims, or what buildings you place, you can create YOUR own city, on YOUR opinions and feelings.

I don;t know how close I am to the producer's ideas, but the way testers made it sound, I'm ready for this thing.

[Anya]

It all looks exciting, but I'm still waiting for screenshots of mass transit pretty please!
I have to have bus stops and trains, we need to keep traffic congestion down. Which is why my SC4 cities never made money. Airports and space ports and marina's would be good too.

[ManagerJosh]

link your gallery man!

SimCity 5 / SimCity Societies Official Screenshots (http://forums.worldsims.org/gallery/browseimages.php?c=59)

[MarkDuffy]

Nice job, ManagerJosh! :)

[Meghan]

Those are some good looking hi-rez shots! I really love the style of the treehouses. I think I'm going to love seeing how the different cities develop different atmospheres.

[xiblack]

Those are some big a$$ crack on the road. Plus can use some bump or something. The road just look too flat.

[Azeem]

Don't know if this has been posted yet, but there are more screenshots on the EA site: http://simcity.ea.com/screenshots.php

The road textures look a whole lot better. :D

[ManagerJosh]

Don't know if this has been posted yet, but there are more screenshots on the EA site: http://simcity.ea.com/screenshots.php

The road textures look a whole lot better. D
Already in my gallery. :)

[bosiydid]

I gotta be honest, I'm a little more encouraged by the first two screens (the others are old). They show a little more traffic and a few folks walking around. Some observations....

- Still the same type of roads, and every intersection is a right angle, nothing even at 45 degrees.

- A person walking in the middle of an intersections, WHATS UP? I'm sure it will be corrected in the final version.

- I'm ALARMED at the large amount of building repetition. I mean, two cathedral type churches across the stream from each other, it's not very realistic. The building with the dome is in every screen shot, usually at least 2 or 3 in every shot. I don't know if 350 building is enough to make a city look even some what believable. Ever block can't have that domed building.

- Cars might need a little more polish. This isn't that high on my list of important things to fix.

- This point might belong in another thread, but it would be nice to have a decent zoom out option where I can get a birds eye view of my city, perhaps through clouds or something.

Just some observations.

[Gil]

Why did TM put in flying cars that DON'T use the big ADVANTAGE of flying cars: FLYING! :confused: :confused: :confused:


The SimCity series has its own share of absurdities.

For example:
-SimCity classic had Godzilla (the SNES version had Bowser and a Super Mario statue).
-Demolishing a church in the original SimCity (not the re-released SimCity Classic) caused tornadoes.
-SimCity 2000 had futuristic bizarre-shaped Arcologies.
-SimCity 2000 had futuristic Microwave power and Fusion power plants.
-SimCity 2000 featured a flying caped superhero in pink spandex; the said superhero would occasionally appear to fight the UFO.
-SimCity 2000 frequently had the Loch Ness Monster pop up after you have at least one Marina in your city.
-SimCity 3000 news ticker alerts frequently featured pointless things with childish humor such as "Magna Carta found written on piece of broccoli" ; the absurd "news" alerts carried over into SimCity 4
-SimCity 3000 had UFOs that made crop circles.
-SimCity 3000 had horribly cartoony advisor and petitioner portraits.
-SimCity 3000's political factions (the groups that would petition you every now and then in the game) are all caricatured stereotypes of certain demographic groups (artists' and college-educated community as the comittee of the "Excessively Cultured," the environmentalists as the stoned hippie-looking "Green Gaians," the low-income community as the "Below-Average Bowler's League," the youth as "Mrs.[forgot the name...]'s 10th Grade Class")
-SimCity 3000 Unlimited had haunted houses, a "SimMars" factory, and a goofy rocket ship port featuring a rocket that looks like something straight out of a 1960s sci-fi B movie.
-SimCity 4 has giant robots.


Those are more like easter egg kind of things, in SCS it looks like the gingerbread and tree houses are a main part of the "society feeling"..

[Azeem]

The Arcologies, futuristic power plants, tornoadoes showing up after demolishing a church, and giant robots weren't easter eggs. They were part of the main game. ;)

[UnzippedSim77]

I agree, Azeem, they were part of the incorporated 'fun' of Sim City which added to the apeal of the game. Everyone who is making negative comments about this game are using the gingerbread houses etc as a main argument against the game, but come on! Use some intelligence please people! The game has always been about fun building a city. Who didn't like to destroy their city with a tornado every now and again (albeit without saving the game so that you could still play the city in its glory)? Or even unleashed the Sims' Servo robot onto their ugly self-grow buildings? (Brown Hi-Rise residents beware!) Most of the arguments being made are fruitless, and they are nit-picking with the screenshots. I am concerned about transportation, but I'll complain if the game comes out and I see that it isn't adequately catered for. For the time being, this game sounds exciting from a very Sim City gamer point of view, and from new players' point of view.

[Romaq]

GameDaily - "Sim City Societies" Pre E3 Producer Interview at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L8ZxGwl_O8 was posted yesterday, 807 views so far. Detail wasn't really shown, but that wasn't the point.


I noticed they used a Wide Screen flatscreen to demo. The *ability* to do widescreen is good. The movement within the game was also very smooth, but I'm quite sure they had some big iron under the desk to ensure everything did in fact flow smoothly. They also revealed multiple 'city/ societies' within the same general region. I noticed only roads for transit thus far. I note the demo was 'flat', though elevation changes are present in screenshots. I note simple bridges over water, but no waterfalls or changes in water elevation. The landmass size appeared to be rather large.


I’m confident the details will be totally picked apart and analyzed over the next few days.




http://www.mik-maq.com/sc4tf/db_bellingham_wa_vert__aerial1.jpg

That’s what I’ve created in SC4, at least the terrain. The above sea level water is going to take lots of work, but I can do it. The terrain texture is already there. That’s the picture in my mind of the Bellingham region, and that’s the view that best represents what I’m looking to see within SC5 or CL2. The screenshot that comes the most close to providing a view like that is the one I’m planning to purchase.

SC5 … might. Depending. Still too many unanswered questions concerning terrain and ‘above sea level’ water. And the hard limits of how big a region within the game can be. The YouTube demo clearly revealed several ‘unique’ cities within a ‘region’.

So we shall see.

--Romaq

[Amenirdis]

I don't know if these screenshots have already been posted or not. I saw them just now on Gamestar (http://www.gamestar.de/news/pc/spiele/strategie/wirtschaftssimulation/sim_city_societies/1471134/sim_city_societies.html).

[eobet]

Hah, those screenshots in the first post have full anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering and bump mapping. How many systems are able to do that, unless they run at 640x480 or something?

And Sim City 4 still looks better.

[Freeminder]

Hah, those screenshots in the first post have full anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering and bump mapping. How many systems are able to do that, unless they run at 640x480 or something?

And Sim City 4 still looks better.

Do you really think that game producers are going to run their games at minimum requirments?? Plus all game producers have a snazed version of the game to create good screen shots to make it sell beter.

And no simcity 4 dosent look beter, stop trying to say it does.

[bosiydid]

I was just looking through pics available (to find something that would look appealing to me) and was wondering why there are no pedestrians anywhere. I mean for a game that supposedly focuses more on the social/people aspect of city life there are no people!

I thought this would be a fundamental part of this game. :confused: A couple of cars here and there but otherwise a complete ghost town. If this is what the final product looks like how are you guys gonna feel about the city being virtually a ghost town?

EDIT: I stand corrected a think I saw a few living souls in one of the pics.

[mouse]

Oh please TM is famous for it's people in their games and even with them having something to say when you click on them:D Why would they bring out a game without people when they have been doing people since their very first city builder:rolleyes:

[Kiya]

We had the same situation with Caesar4. Very few people on streets in the pre-demo pics, but once we had the demo or the full game our citizens were running along city streets to work, markets, theater....

[MarkDuffy]

I was just looking through pics available (to find something that would look appealing to me) and was wondering why there are no pedestrians anywhere.

Post #65 just above. Amenirdis' last image ~ looks like 40 pedestrians ;)

[Azeem]

The Thai temples look fabulous. :D All those little Buddha scenes must've been nightmarish to texture. :eek: And was that a Tibetan monastery in the background?

[UnzippedSim77]

Is that a TARDIS I see in the first posting of pics??? Next to the domed white building in the middle of the pic, there is a distinct blue police call box... Could be a phone box, but methinks the Doctor may pay a little visit... Wonder if K9 is around???? :P

[Aushun]

The second column of screens from Amenirdis looks kinda new, though it's hard to tell because it looks as if the same cities are being recycled around on all the screenshots. Liking the skyscrapers and 'cultural' buildings, but not the heavy building repetition though.

[nafadx]

Now those screenshots look really interesting.

One of the most important things about EVERY game is atmosphere, and those screens exude plenty of that!

I do have to agree with Almir and several others though:

Work on the Roads!

Seriously, leaving out diagonal roads, avenues, one-way roads and highways as well as public transport is a step back to SimCity Classic (1989). If that is changed, you might have a best seller on your hands.


regards

Thomas


I agree. if the went the step ahead, they would have a best seller on their hands. and thats a good thing:D

Ill give TM a chance with SCS because I seem to like what they have for the newer screenshots. by the way, there is like 6 months for them to make changes with the transportation, weather, above sea-level water and everything else until it is shiped and released.

-Johnny

[Romaq]

(gasp) Water... fresh -- water, please... so thirsty. Must go freshwater fishing... mountain streams... Nooksack river, Lake Whatcom, must have fresh water!

--Romaq

[offspring_dude]

The Arcologies, futuristic power plants, tornoadoes showing up after demolishing a church, and giant robots weren't easter eggs. They were part of the main game. ;)
They weren't the whole goddamn game... ;) stop trying to compare parts of a game to an entire game concept.

[Azeem]

They weren't the whole goddamn game... ;) stop trying to compare parts of a game to an entire game concept.

That's exactly what you're doing with the ranting about gingerbread houses. And SCS is not even out yet. :rolleyes:

[frndofyaweh]

Well you all know me, I am looking at the texturing foremost and I like the details. I see plenty of variety and the scaling is actually pretty decent. Comparing the graphic elements in SCS' screenshots to the graphics of SC4 shows attention to details and improvements in scale. Camera angles, autos, people and common city fixtures, as well as uncommon, are all vastly improved in SCS.

I see what appear to be a firehydrant, Newspaper box, trashcan, man pushing a shopping cart, mailbox, rust spots on an old Maverick type auto, etc. All I can say is,....SWEET work TM!

[Aushun]

Funny how focusing on one thing tends to block out everything else. :D

[Hoplite]

Is that a TARDIS I see in the first posting of pics??? Next to the domed white building in the middle of the pic, there is a distinct blue police call box... Could be a phone box, but methinks the Doctor may pay a little visit... Wonder if K9 is around???? :PWhen the Doctor is around things tend to happen. Wouldn't a Dalek invasion (or cybermen) be an awesome disaster!

[King Faticus]

Destroy The Doctor!!!!

[Hoplite]

EXTERMINATE

[UnzippedSim77]

That certainly would be an awesome disaster... I'd love to see the TARDIS fade in and out every so often just like on the show!!! Oh, and daleks are a MUST!!! LOL At least it would give ME something fun to play with - daleks to destroy those horrible clown buildings... I've ALWAYS hated clowns... *shudder*

[Insomnia]

To have the TARDIS in SimCity Societies, the developers may need to ask permission from the BBC before using it. Doctor Who and the TARDIS is actually the property of the BBC.

The absurd newstickers feature, however, may not satisfy all the players. Perhaps adding the capability to connect to the BBC, CNN, Sky or S4C sites for up to the minute real-life news items and the option to switch off the absurd newstickers may put off less people from buying.

Changeable currencies and the ability to set exchange, interest and inflation rates, even in a third-party editor would allow players to experience the carzy hyperinflations of Yugoslavia, Hungary and recently, Zimbabwe.

Allowing players to choose a scale like OO (1:76) would satisfy Hornby train owners. Perhaps a partnership with Auran, a very popular train simulator company, with a capability to integrate Trainz layouts with SCS could make the game attract markets connected with the popular Trainz game. In fact, I have TRS2006.

Think about it. It won't hurt to have partnership with another best-selling market. Just like EA Sport's Football Fusion: Total Club Manager 2005 with FIFA 2005.

[frndofyaweh]

Funny how focusing on one thing tends to block out everything else. :D

Yes, I was focusing on the graphics. They are nicely done and honesty is best.

This is just a new brand of SimCity. Like others have said they chose a different target gamer with SCS. Personally, I must admit it's got potential, looks good and with a lengthy playability time. Yes I am however not personally fond of it myself, just not my kind of game.

Well, I am off to play some ElderScrolls. Frendo Fetherlore has just found the Singing Sword and guess what is great about that, Frendo's race is Dwarf. I used the CK andmodded in my own race of Dwarves!

[Kinneas]

To have the TARDIS in SimCity Societies, the developers may need to ask permission from the BBC before using it. Doctor Who and the TARDIS is actually the property of the BBC.

The absurd newstickers feature, however, may not satisfy all the players. Perhaps adding the capability to connect to the BBC, CNN, Sky or S4C sites for up to the minute real-life news items and the option to switch off the absurd newstickers may put off less people from buying.

Changeable currencies and the ability to set exchange, interest and inflation rates, even in a third-party editor would allow players to experience the carzy hyperinflations of Yugoslavia, Hungary and recently, Zimbabwe.

Allowing players to choose a scale like OO (1:76) would satisfy Hornby train owners. Perhaps a partnership with Auran, a very popular train simulator company, with a capability to integrate Trainz layouts with SCS could make the game attract markets connected with the popular Trainz game. In fact, I have TRS2006.

Think about it. It won't hurt to have partnership with another best-selling market. Just like EA Sport's Football Fusion: Total Club Manager 2005 with FIFA 2005.

Wow. I love your thoughts. What a pleasure to have read them.

[Insomnia]

I am grateful to the response by Kinneas.

I draw your attention to the way road textures are used. for the game They look absolutely plain as if no vehicle had dared to use it. If you do decide to use motorways in your game, bear in mind that the texture for the hard shoulder is lighter than the lanes. Don't forget the cat's eyes for rural roads. A good simulator should look very realistic; don't be afraid to make the city so realistic that a newbie might mistaken a screenshot for a photo.

I am currently specialising in SimCity network models. I knocked up a rendering that you may want to look at. It is three tiles wide in a SimCity 4 environment. Excuse me for the crash barriers, I haven't finished it just yet.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/5154/highway111vz1.jpg

[Azeem]

A good simulator should look very realistic; don't be afraid to make the city so realistic that a newbie might mistaken a screenshot for a photo.

If the game is going to run at all on a wider range of computers, it's not likely that it's going to go that direction.

[Rnett]

Another preview in case you're interested.........

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/simcity-societies/800780p1.html

[Freeminder]

If the game is going to run at all on a wider range of computers, it's not likely that it's going to go that direction.

Then graphical options should be more varied then.

We guys with the quad processors are waiting around for people with pentium 1 processors and computers that are so clogged up that they have the speed of pentium 1 processors *cough*mark*cough*:D

[mouse]

Ahhh Freeminder TM's game engine requires a minimum of 1.6ghz processor;) But don't think it will stress your processor since most of us haven't moved that far just yet:D

[Rnett]

If your upgrading then dont get a dell either.:rolleyes:

[MarkDuffy]

We guys with the quad processors are waiting around for people with pentium 1 processors and computers that are so clogged up that they have the speed of pentium 1 processors *cough*mark*cough*:D

<flicks bogger @ Freeminder>

:D

[John-SJ]

If your upgrading then dont get a dell either.:rolleyes:

Why? Do Dell's have problems with TM titles generally?

[Kinneas]

Excuse me for the crash barriers, I haven't finished it just yet.

No excuse needed. :) That is beautiful.
---


---

Due to other issues I have not had a chance to mention the things I love so far about the images..

You folks do beautiful work and every image has been a feast for the eyes. I deeply respect the artists : bow :.

I love your level of detail down to signage.

I love the lighting. I love the blues in the shadows.


-- On Photo-real.

I am fond of photo-real...but I do not think photo-real is the best 'default' option.

I feel for the most overall appeal the direction they are going is the correct one. IMO there should be a similar look in the SIM line.

SIMS and SIMS2 being most popular...that is the look I would take.

As a big fan of options...I would like to have a 'photo-real' expansion though!

[mouse]

John-SJ only the low end Dell computers with cheap older video cards:D The additional problem is those same low end computers have very small weak power supplies so if you want to upgrade the video card you also have to upgrade the power supply;)

[aeval99]

I think the screen shots are coming along very well. The lighting is really starting to make one type of city stand out from the next. I hope to see some more examples of this in future shots.

I really love the buildings. I'm all for more brick and less metal. *chuckles* Not really surprising from someone who loves ancient CBs. Although I've spent hours playing SC 3000 and loved it.

One thing that I haven't been noticing are decorations. My pet peeve with all kinds of city builders is that there are never enough decorations in a variety of sizes. More decoratoins please TM ;)

John-SJ only the low end Dell computers with cheap older video cards The additional problem is those same low end computers have very small weak power supplies so if you want to upgrade the video card you also have to upgrade the power supply

I can attest to that. I have an older Dell model that's still churning along. I've updated the RAM but was really locked into a corner with a video card. You're pretty much stuck with a 128mb card unless you want to start messing about with a new power supply. And who want to do that with a 4 year old computer? Not my husband, so it would seem :(

All in all, it's been a good solid computer but I'll be building one next time.

[Kinneas]

I guess it is a mindset. If you have been upgrading regularly since the 8086, 286 and 386 days, four years seems like a long time.

When CPU power doubles every 18 months and graphics power doubles every six months now, four years is really a long time.

If you have not upgraded in four years, try loading the SIMS2 as a benchmark. If it runs without lagging at all you could be o.k.. It is a monster and if it does not run well, you should seriously consider getting all new hardware.

Societies looks W A Y more graphically intensive! A quantum leap.

PCIe motherboards and SLi graphics 'expansion slots' should seriously be considered when buying. Some motherboards allow quad Sli. Give yourself some room to grow graphically.

imo.

[Insomnia]

Hmmm, that's a good point being made.

If SimCity Societies is for gamers, how about an industry-standard SimCity for professionals and people who really dream of running a city. Call it SimCity: Ultimate, a industry-standard SimCity. Follwing the likes of Industry-standard 3D model program 3DS Max, industry-standard AutoCAD and industry standard Adobe Illustrator.

[Freeminder]

There is no comparison between dell and an Area-51 or any other Ailenware relics for that matter.

[aeval99]

Yikes, I hadn't even thought about how graphically intensive it might be. Those screenies do look a bit daunting.

If you have not upgraded in four years, try loading the SIMS2 as a benchmark. If it runs without lagging at all you could be o.k.. It is a monster and if it does not run well, you should seriously consider getting all new hardware.

My machine has been upgraded through the years. More RAM for the Sims 2 and a new card for Caesar IV. But it is very much time for a whole new PC. My husband built himself a gaming PC 2 years ago. Hopefully, I'll get the next one. And it will definitely be built with upgrading in mind.

I'm running Sims 2 with all 5 expansions, one stuff pack and 3 GB of custom content and the performance is adequate. I'm crossing my fingers that SCS will run OK. Do we have any word on minimum specs yet?

[Rnett]

Nothing yet... http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/konfus/a050.gif

[mouse]

Since it will very likely be built on the CIV game engine you should be ok:D

[Romaq]

Yeah, Mikaela and I decided to buy Civ IV when we get back from Vacation (presuming money holds) to play around with it, and see what Tilted Mill can do with that particular setting. I didn't see CoTN, though. Civ IV & Sim 4 were nearly on the same shelf, and both are $20.

--Romaq

[Azeem]

"Civ IV" as in "Civilization IV"? Or are you referring to "Caesar" IV? ;)

[Romaq]

"Civ IV" as in "Civilization IV"? Or are you referring to "Caesar" IV? ;)

Ugh... you are correct. I was distrated with getting ready for vacation and trying to swap my sleep from daylight sleep to nighttime.

Caesar IV, that's the one. I didn't see CoTN.

--Romaq

[frndofyaweh]

SWEET !!!

Thank you, Reed! :)

It also looks like we might have an Official SimCity™ Societies (http://simcity.ea.com/home.php) website real soon!

Good Job, EA! :)

I know this is late to be bringing this up, but I was reading the Learn More section again and tried to picture what city would I like to build and what would it actually look like when I accomplish it with SCS.

My Simizens will look very different from what was in the vids and screenies for SCS.

That's when it really sunk in....I.....am actually going to create my City!

Imagine the scope of possibilities envolved here everyone.

What if I make my City, Highly intellectual, happy, with plenty of Custom parks, universities, technologically driven.

My ideal Simizens and your ideal Simizens and their buildings, may end up looking much different, than what we saw in the teaser vids.

This could truly have some hidden potential, we are not seeing. What if the cars generallly seen in my SCS city, are more like Jaguars and Corvettes? Maybe Limos and Rolls Royces?

I am getting more curious as to, how complex could this society engine thing go? It may be somehwat simpler to get the hang of, but it could get fairly interesting as well.

Sorry if that sounds confusing. I am sleepy and rambling.

It does say anything you want right?

"....Make an artistic city, an industrial one, a police state ….or anything you want.

[ManagerJosh]

I just put up a mixture of 13 new and older screenshots (higher resolution versions) up.

http://forums.worldsims.org/gallery/browseimages.php?c=59

[MarkDuffy]

Promises made ~ Promises Kept !!! :D

Thank you, ManagerJosh! :)

EDIT: I wuz a bit late in my Googlying it appears. ManagerJosh beat me again! :cool:

New screenshots are here at WorthPlaying (http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=44498&mode=thread&order=0) and CVG (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=168487).

Enjoy!

[Poetic]

I just put up a mixture of 13 new and older screenshots (higher resolution versions) up.

http://forums.worldsims.org/gallery/browseimages.php?c=59

Nice pics ManagerJosh, thanks for posting :)

[MarkDuffy]

We also now have the new images at Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/gaming/gallery/overly-influenced-simcity-socities-screens-280140.php).

I am completely with Crecente, who in his impressions of SimyCity Societies at E3 mentioned having grown a bit bored with the SimCity formula over the years. Societal influences that change the way your city develops is just what the franchise doctor called for. Between the intriguing concept and this set of amazingly detailed city scenes highlighting the difference those influences make, I'm excited about a SimCity title for the first time in years.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

by Mike Fahey July 19, 2007

Kudos !!! :) :) :)

[Romaq]

It's nice enough, but GAH! Boxy looking streets! SC4 had diagonal streets PAINFULLY implimented. With a heavy dose of PAIN involved. It took the NAM to impliment curved roads, and even then I suspect it works wonky with buildings. I've not yet played with the new NAM yet. :(

Part of the pain involved is with forcing all rendering to be fixed isometric. Now the isometric pre-rendered view is totally out of the picture. We have full 3D. The gameplay may be great and all, but I'm wondering why building plop points and street INTERSECTIONS are not aligned on a fine grid (perhaps to the nearest meter) and tracked on a sparse array for data storage. By that, I mean that objects 'ploped', including transit intersections should be stored, but not 'empty spaces', or every tile of road to get from point A to point B. It looks like the city is a fixed grid array, which limits size AND limits roads to 'north-south' or 'east-west' paved tiles. AND you have to track EVERY FREAKIN' TILE, just like in SC4. With a sparse array, you could simply drop an end-point or street intersection, tug that puppy around where you like to within the nearest meter or even finer. It doesn't matter with sparse arrays, since all you are storing are two endpoints and the data of where those points go. Your road could be a dozen meters or a dozen kilometers, the data storage is the same.

THEN where the wonderful magic comes in, you can tell intersections to curve away, or you can set up 'spline points' to force an S curve in your roads 'just so'. If one is building upon hilly terrain, right-angle intersections are simply not going to fly. Bellingham has odd-angled intersections as one city grid on a north-south meridian collided with another city grid at 30 degrees to north. Most cities have diagonal roads, and older cities have some very irregular street patterns originally based upon ancient cow paths. So while the screen shots look interesting enough, all the right-angle streets look very out-of-place.

I hope to see a screenshot soon of non-right-angle transit intersections.

--Romaq

[UnzippedSim77]

All well and good Romaq, but really that should be in the thread entitled: 'What would you like to see in SC:S'... It just clutters the threads, that's all.

[Romaq]

Sorry. I see various things I'm interested in with SC:S, but that one particular issue keeps coming to mind for me. This is a sticky thread about new screenshots, right? That's the new screenshot I wish to see SOON! ;-)

--Romaq

[UnzippedSim77]

LOL, nice save... Far-fetching, but nice none-the-less :) I agree about the streets in the screenshots, by the way. They truly are causing me pain to see them, and the right-angled corners that would send any passenger through their closest window...

[Romaq]

What can I say? I admire a nice set of curves.

--Romaq

[panikattak]

http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=367&threadid=91995&enterthread=y

They look good and one even has view of a sim who is walking in the forground that's interesting.

The second screenshot and kind of the fifth screenshot gives me hope. It's hard for me to relate it to you what it is I'm looking for, but as soon as I saw the second screenshot, I could feel my eyes scanning the city to see if what's going on makes sense, and if not, how it could be fixed and it really surprised me. It makes me wonder if we will be able to track the sims driving around? Will traffic play a factor? However, in the second screenshot, the shores look really unnatural and stand out.

My favorite one is seventh one, the over-the-water screenshot. Nice view.

[MarkDuffy]

Thank you, Panikattak! :)

Until I get a higher resolution one, this has become my new SCS Desktop Background (to replace the old SCS one).

[Aushun]

Until I get a higher resolution one, this has become my new SCS Desktop Background (to replace the old SCS one).
Wow, same! It's a beautiful shot, I especially like the towers looming in the distance, and the water of course. Wish it was higher res though.

[JuliaSet]

I found this interesting picture of a western town.
http://www.joystiq.com/gallery/sim-city-societies/352696/ http://www.citybuildingcontests.net/vbulletin/images/smilies/tumbleweed.gif

http://www.cheatscodesguides.com/pc-cheats/simcity/ and some comments about cheat codes.

[Rnett]

Cool, Vegas in the beginning...http://bestsmileys.com/cowboy1/9.gif

[Khanon]

Cool, Vegas in the beginning...http://bestsmileys.com/cowboy1/9.gif

Was thinkin' that very thing...

[deathtopumpkins]

That's cool. I've never seen any desert-themed towns.

[Khanon]

I'm hoping to do something akin to a revival of the 50's-60's Route 66 byway town feel.

That would be killer. I could play with that for days on end. ...especially if there's 50's-60's styled architecture like drive-ins (diners AND movies), roadside gas stations, strip malls and motels, and the occasional night club thing, KOA-like camp ground...

heh...my gods, the nostalgia is strangling me... lol

[elebit]

Wonder if there are graboids?

graboids and tornados! hee haw!

[Khanon]

Wonder if there are graboids?

graboids and tornados! hee haw!

I could take or leave most "natural disasters".

However...graboids and assblasters are a must!

[Azeem]

Looks a bit like Riverside back home in SoCal. :)

[Tinkerbell]

Excellent find, JuliaSet!

Ummm ... TM ... wanna explain this one from JuliaSet's Gallery link? :eek:

[JuliaSet]

Wondered how long it would take ya to find that one!! :D

[Tinkerbell]

Well, I guess once you've hidden monkeys & mummies, this is what we get next, JuliaSet! ;)

[Khanon]

I'm now having flashbacks of Hell Comes to Frogtown.

Thanks, JuliaSet!

Oh! Yeah, almost forgot...

/sarcasm

(hehehe)

[JuliaSet]

It is probably an "easter egg."

I like the old cars too.

Am waiting for llamas as easter eggs!

[elebit]

I still don't get what people's fascination with llamas are.... I think they are both cute in an ugly way and ugly in a cute way.... oh well. I had a friend who decorated one like an x-mas tree it was funny.

[JuliaSet]

Wonder if they have tumble weed animations too? http://www.citybuildingcontests.net/vbulletin/images/smilies/tumbleweed.gif

[simdude]

Excellent find, JuliaSet!

Ummm ... TM ... wanna explain this one from JuliaSet's Gallery link? :eek:
What the heck is this?? Is this from SCS?:confused: :confused: :confused:
You can zoom inside the buildings? And see freaking monsters?

[King Faticus]

I don't think so.. it was probably some kind of joke or easter egg

[elebit]

What the heck is this?? Is this from SCS?:confused: :confused: :confused:
You can zoom inside the buildings? And see freaking monsters?

You can see more then that...... ;)

[Tinkerbell]

I've heard rumor of people losing their shorts in a heavy game of poker at the saloon, but it looks like someone had a really bad day...

[elebit]

Yep and it dried up too. They were never the same again.....

[Tinkerbell]

Musta been dealt Aces & eights...

[arcan]

I love that one. Especially the "big brother" screen : :eek:
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/08/001.jpg

[Azeem]

Is that David Bebee there? :p

[Rnett]

Kinda looks like him.

[elebit]

Who the hell.....

[Tinkerbell]

Who the hell.....

Misspelled ~ David Beebe

It's not him, though.

[King Faticus]

I think this scene looks familiar from somewhere... I swear I have seen it before.. maybe it is my imagination.:eek:

[tobing]

There are some new screenshots available for Simcity Societies, see here: http://www.simcity-soc.de/. They look really great!

[Azeem]

The tropical terrain looks nice. :)

[simdude]

The tropical terrain looks nice. :)
I love that one too, kinda looks like a city in the jungle. Modern day "Tropico".

[Corinthian]

How about the moon in the second shot! TM creates beautiful skies...

[Tommy]

i want this game ,noooow