IGN preview+video!

[AdrianWerner]

video (http://media.pc.ign.com/media/925/925931/vids_1.html)


You've gor Rachel Bernstein as your producer from EA side? :eek: Cool :D

preview (http://pc.ign.com/articles/797/797131p1.html)

When the first details and pictures crept out from Electronic Arts that SimCity would be heading in a new direction and that it would be developed by Tilted Mill and not Maxis, the community's collective head exploded and the Tilted Mill forums were splattered with the angry brain matter.

:D :D :D

[Romaq]

Ugh! It crashed in the middle. It would be a good idea if Ms. Bernstein or someone else in marketing could give much the same content in a studio where the noise from E3 isn't percolating through the video, and where a 'zoom' of the screen could show us how it appears on her monitor, as if we were there with the person giving the talk. Exactly what we are trying to see in the video is exactly what we want to know, and the video has a great deal of distraction simply because of the venue of the demo.

I'll comment more in an appropriate thread on the video content, once I've seen it without a crash in the middle. Once E3 is over, if that demo can be 'done over' in a studio, I would appreciate it.

MSIE crashes for some reason in the middle, still, but FireFox does just fine. Having seen the whole thing, I do have comments and suggestions, but I'll put those in an appropriate thread. I must highly recommend, however, that the same 'content' Ms. Bernstein gave be put into a 'studio version' where she can be heard, and where the on-screen demo is directly recorded where appropriate.

--Romaq

[Deever]

Do'h! My bad. I guess this thread should be closed then.

[MarkDuffy]

Thank you so much, AdrianWerner! A bunch of new screenshots too !!!

SimCity Societies is gonna be GREAT!

:D :D :D

[SC COMMUNITY IS POWER]

http://media.pc.ign.com/media/925/925931/img_4630590.html

this one is nice

[Romaq]

The response by my wife to this video:

(giggles) Make money off the criminal activity? That’s funny! Sounds like a really neat game! That sounds like something I would enjoy playing. The graphics are clear from what I saw, and it starts at a low enough level that I can learn as I go along.
Yup, she's the target audience, at least a good part of it. Who also has two monitors (TM: HINT HINT!).

So let's have some feedback on competitive/ cooperative gameplay for SC5. I'm ready to have the Ferndale Mayor beat up her Bellingham mimes!

--Romaq

[John-SJ]

You can also view the same video on YouTube (I believe) here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L8ZxGwl_O8

I see from this video that societal energies are not global, they can be varied by neighborhood, so you could have a college town neighborhood next door to a big brother neighborhood, for example.

Awesome! This keeps getting better each time they release some new details about the game! :D

edit: Romaq, competitive gamepley, eh? With the ability to have neighborhoods with entirely different foci the idea of competition in the same city might have some merit. Interesting!

[Azeem]

One thing that would be interesting for online play is to be able to have two neighboring cities that are so different from each other that they both cause problems for each other. For example, one city takes advantage of criminal elements (corrupt cops :D )and those elements spill over into the other city while the other city has strict order and occasionally the cops from the orderly city show up and interfere in the corrupt city's affairs. :D

[Aushun]

it would be great to have an online world a little similar to the one used by Civilization IV, in that even when you go offline, your city remains, to be controlled by AI, or another player (or you can password protect it to stop this) The cities affecting nearby cities idea by Azeem above is a great one, if you have several like-minded players building cities close to each other (ie. by using similar 'social energies') then the entire region will be an epitome of the energies being used, or there could be chaos when non-compatible energies are used all around.

[Romaq]

And then there's the problem of city growth limited to geographical barriers such as terrain. Bellingham can't creep much more south than what it is because the Chuckanut Mountains form an effective barrier against growth in that direction. Meanwhile, Bellingham and Ferndale are in a slow competition to see which one can swallow the other.

More video, more demos... a long wait until the 'October Surprise'.

--Romaq

[Hamburg]

This game looks like a game for children. The gameplay is also for underminded people. I*m sorry to say, but that is my impression.

It isn't my taste, and i wont buy it.

This game have nothing to do with the true Sim City game. Its not worthy for the true Fan base. I hope another Company make a good and worth sucessor of Sim City, because this game is created for new players, which are not soooo interested in bulding a city and see them growing.

There so many fans worldwide, so that there will be someone who makes a better game like this.

And i don't need to play this game to have a opionion about :D

[Romaq]

This was a post of my rant at Hamburg for being simply who and what he/ she is: A troll. Attempting to communicate with such a creature is simply feeding the trolls, and I know better than to descend to that level. I saved a personal copy of the prior message and removed it from the board on reflection that when arguing with an idiot, one can only descend to the level where nobody can tell which one is the greater fool. I apologize to anyone who may have been upset at the vitriol in my message. I do not take kindly to what Hamburg posted, and my greatest satisfaction remains that, in the end, a Troll is *still* a Troll.

--Romaq

[Hamburg]

Maybe my english is not the best, but with underminded i meant, that it is not a complex City simulation gameplay what sim city gamers want.

People who support this are not true sim city gamers so they wish another gameplay which is easier. But it is awfull to see that they (TM) will change that gameplay in a way which is not interesting for Sim City gamers, however there are some who support this new new game.

And Romaq just because your are predominant in expressing your englishskills it dont mean your a interlectual.
You are right that it is not nice to write only negative opinions. But there are so many sites in the net, where are true Sim City gamers are nearly more angry than here. I only want to express my angryness here about this gameconcept. I prefer societies but i dont prefer the OPTION that this wont be a City simulation game. This is something what shouldn't be changed because it is the heart of the Sim City gameplay for wich it is loved all over the world.

And you can be happy that you are so literate in english to show where our weaknesses in english are. But i wondering that you cant understand what we are trying to say even if it is simple english. I think the statement is more importnant, than to oversimplify your reading. I think you can understand what i am trying to say. And underminded connoted for me that it is a gameplay which are for people who are not interested in a complex gameplay and that they are playing it from time to time. For this people they could make a simplified game.

[Azeem]

People who support this are not true sim city gamers so they wish another gameplay which is easier. But it is awfull to see that they will chage that gameplay in a way which is not interesting for Sim City gamers.

Interesting assertion.

I've been with the SimCity series since the very first. I have played the original SimCity on PC, SimCity on SNES, SimCity 2000 (I bought four, and I seriously mean FOUR, copies of SimCity 2000), SimCity 3000 (bought the original AND the Unlimited edition), and SimCity 4 (I have the original, the Rush Hour expansion, and the Deluxe edition). Since I first got my hands on SimCity, the very FIRST one, it occupied much of my childhood freetime. However, I am strongly supportive of SimCity: Societies. Basically, what you're saying is that simply because I happen to be interested in SCS, that makes me "not" a "true" SimCity gamer despite how much time I've practically devoted to it for the past dozen years? :rolleyes:

With all this talk of "what" is the "true" SimCity, it seems that this by default apparently often refers to SimCity 4. All the while the original SimCity is forgotten. :rolleyes: The original SimCity had no water utilities, fixed-size ploppable zones, only four modes of transportation, and a simple game engine. Back in the day, it wasn't hailed as a "realistic city simulator;" I recall it being referred to as an "electronic toy."

[DJAvenger]

This game looks like a game for children. The gameplay is also for underminded people. I*m sorry to say, but that is my impression.

It isn't my taste, and i wont buy it.

This game have nothing to do with the true Sim City game. Its not worthy for the true Fan base. I hope another Company make a good and worth sucessor of Sim City, because this game is created for new players, which are not soooo interested in bulding a city and see them growing.

There so many fans worldwide, so that there will be someone who makes a better game like this.

And i don't need to play this game to have a opionion about :D

I'm sorry to say, but your argument just doesn't fly. It would be like me going down to the bookstore, picking up a book, looking at the cover without even reading any pages inside or the summary on the back and saying, "This book looks stupid! It sucks already! I won't buy it!" Sounds stupid already, doesn't it? We still know so little about this game that it's really hard to form an opinion about it right now. As I've said before, if we judged every single game by their very first screenshot, there probably wouldn't be much of a gaming world left. Who knows, this game could end up being a surprise hit. I even have to admit there are still a few question marks, but I'm liking what I'm seeing so far.

By the way, I'm in my twenties and I know a couple of people in their thirties that express great interest in this game. Does that make us underminded children, too?

People who support this are not true sim city gamers so they wish another gameplay which is easier. But it is awfull to see that they will chage that gameplay in a way which is not interesting for Sim City gamers.

As I've also said before, I used to be a huge SimCity fan. I've played every single one and my all time favorite is SC3000 Unlimited. SimCity 4 was the one that started putting me off. I still play Unlimited a few times even long after I got rid of SC4. To me, this change in direction is very refreshing.

With all this talk of "what" is the "true" SimCity, it seems that this by default apparently often refers to SimCity 4. All the while the original SimCity is forgotten. The original SimCity had no water utilities, fixed-size ploppable zones, only four modes of transportation, and a simple game engine. Back in the day, it wasn't hailed as a "realistic city simulator;" I recall it being referred to as an "electronic toy."

Exactly! Everyone seems to be referring to SC4 as if that was the very first SimCity game. There's hardly a mention of the original SimCity. I actually kind of think of this game as the original SimCity gone 3D. Maybe that's what they meant by going back to its roots.

[Romaq]

Yeah, I found that comment particularly annoying. My wife is interested in the game, and she isn't stupid. One *could* say she has more of a life than I do, and much less time to dink around with the heavy 'city management issues' surrounding SC4. If it's appropriate I chop content from or simply delete my rant towards Hamburg, I'll do that. Nobody should really have to see that sort of thing anyway. He either got the point or he didn't. He still has a 'Freshwater Fisherman Award' in my book.

EDIT: I removed the content and kept a personal copy. The Troll either got the point, or most likely didn't. Doesn't matter. The Troll Filter works just fine.

--Romaq

[Hamburg]

Orginally posted by DJAvenger

By the way, I'm in my twenties and I know a couple of people in their thirties that express great interest in this game. Does that make us underminded children, too?

And i also know people who dislike the new game concept.

So a question for you.

Why did you was interesting in playing the Sim City Series wether it was the 1, 2 ,3, or Sim City 4.

I think all of us wanted to built a city, to seem them growing and developing.
To have Opportuinities a true Major has and many other things, which you dont have in the Sim City socieites.

I do like the new features like societies and many other things. But where are all or the most of the old features? They are mising and that is awful.

So i cant understand, why a true fan of building a own city can support this game in a way you do!

My hope is that that they will change some features to make it more interesting for the old/true/first (however) Fans, to make them also buy the game.

Hopefully this is more understandable for you

originally posted my romaq
If it's appropriate I chop content from or simply delete my rant towards Hamburg, I'll do that.

You shouldn't be personal romaq. You dont know me and i dont know you.

My word choice is not the right you are right, but have a bit grasp that i am not a native speaker. I would like to see how you would express yourself in german or polsih :D So i am sorry for my word choice an i hope we can make a discussion on a better level :D

[MarkDuffy]

I finally got to see IGN's video this morning. It has more meat than the GameDaily YouTube video. My download timed out while I slept, so I didn't get the last part of it. Will need to redo.

Rachel Bernstein looked a bit tired here, probably from showing off the game a zillion times already that day. She has much more energy in the GameDaily YouTube video. Probably earlier in the day. ;) However, she did well!

Much better showing of the build interface in this video. Looking good, TM!

Best line was "This is the fifth version of the series". :D

[DJAvenger]

Orginally posted by DJAvenger

By the way, I'm in my twenties and I know a couple of people in their thirties that express great interest in this game. Does that make us underminded children, too?

And i also know people who dislike the new game concept.

So a question for you.

Why did you was interesting in playing the Sim City Series wether it was the 1, 2 ,3, or Sim City 4.

I think all of us wanted to built a city, to seem them growing and developing.
To have Opportuinities a true Major has and many other things, which you dont have in the Sim City socieites.

I do like the new features like societies and many other things. But where are all or the most of the old features? They are mising and that is awful.

So i cant understand, why a true fan of building a own city can support this game in a way you do!

My hope is that that they will change some features to make it more interesting for the old/true/first (however) Fans, to make them also buy the game.

Hopefully this is more understandable for you.

Probably what was so interesting about SimCity 1 through 3000 Unlimited was that each one was a big leap from the previous version, but SimCity 4 ended up to be kind of a 'meh' to me. Don't get me wrong, I liked the updated graphics, the day/night cycle was something that I felt was sorely needed in a SimCity game, and I loved that the disasters were totally under your control and you could place them wherever you wanted, but to me, it just wasn't that much of a big leap to me. I honestly wanted to love SimCity 4, I really did, but it ended up being a big disappointment. It quickly became too boring and tedious, and when that happened, my love for the entire series started going south. This was from someone who would spend hours and days trying to make the perfect city in the game, so I don't get bored easily and I usually have a ton of patience. I gave it a few more chances, downloaded a lot of stuff for it to try and make it better, but it only confirmed what I felt for SC4. It just wasn't that great of a game to me, average, good maybe, but not great. In fact, I could honestly say that if SimCity 5 followed the same pattern, I wouldn't know that I'd get it. I know how hypocritical that sounds compared to what I said above, but I still wouldn't reject it outright. I'd still keep an open mind about it, follow its development, download the demo, maybe even buy the game itself, but if I ended up being as disappointed as I was with SC4, then it only would've been a waste of time and money.

This just doesn't apply to SimCity, either. I've lost interest in a few other series because even though they added a few new features, the basics were still exactly the same. That might work for a few games and its hardcore fans, but keep it up too long and it stagnates to the point where casual gamers and even a few of the hardcores start to slip away. Sometimes, a series has to do a radical change to survive, sometimes so radical that it infuriates the hardcore fans (the Resident Evil 4 example that I posted in another thread for one), but it could end up being the life-giving shot the series truly needed.

This is exactly how I feel for SimCity Societies, bringing brand new ideas to the franchise. I know that it's not exactly what we've been expecting for the new SimCity game, including myself. I think that's where all the anger's coming from, you all set your realizations and hopes for SC5 so high that it really hurts to have it all crashing down like this, and that's understandable. However, what's really sad is that what many of you have done in response. Instead of making justified, intelligent criticisms, you come here to this forum tearing EA and Tilted Mill to shreds, making petitions for the cancellation of SCS and bringing the series back to Maxis, some of you already placing your hopes on City Life 2 even though we have only seen one shot, pre-rendered by the looks of it, and even wanting to create your own game from the ground up. You're already certain this game is doomed to failure and would bring the SimCity name down with it just because it wasn't done by Maxis. Many of you are pointing out the gingerbread houses and candy cane lightposts as if those are the ONLY type of structures in the game, even though there are supposed to be more than 400 types of buildings and you could make more than just a fun city. How do we know that Maxis wouldn't have done the same thing? We don't. Will Wright himself said that SimCity was getting too complex and wanted to take it back to its roots, although I have a feeling if he came out and said he loved the new game, many of you would accuse him of selling out to EA. I consider SCS to be like a 3D version of the original SimCity game, one which apparently many of you seem to have forgotten, as so far it seems so much like that game for reasons Azeem pointed out. But to make things clear, I'm not blindingly supporting this game as you would suggest, as there are still some questions that need to be answered and I could still end up being disappointed in the final game and eating my own words, but seeing the new info and screens of the game is making me more interested and curious. Unlike many of the more vocal fans, I'm very openminded and know that we've only just seen the tip of the iceberg of SCS. Also, it's not like TM just sprang up overnight and demanded the rights to SimCity. Before they were known as TM, many of them came from a now defunct company called Impressions Games, and they were pretty much strictly into making city building games, so it isn't like they don't know what they're doing. Remember, EA came to them to make SCS, not the other way around, and it's been reported that TM worked very closely with Maxis during development, so many of the ideas could've come from them. Now, that doesn't mean that I loved every single game that they made. Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kindgom definitely wasn't the best game they made. They do, though, deserve a chance to try and make this game great.

Anyway, what I'm saying is don't write off the game just yet. I'm not saying to love the game already, but just keep an open mind, wait for more previews and the demo, and it you still hate it after all then it's alright. Sorry about the very long post, but those are my feelings. Hopefully it was understandable for you. :)

[John-SJ]

I am a true sim city gamer. I have played every version from the first and have bought every expansion. I love sim city. It truly is an electronic toy.

I can also see that SC:S is an electronic toy, and the first innovation in the Sim City series since the original. Sure, many of the controls have been removed, only to be replaced by others.

I look forward to the change of direction and hope SC:S does really well.

Oh, by the way, I am a 54 year old gamer and a professional software engineer. I do not consider myself stupid or simple minded. As far as what some others may think, all I can say is that I pride myself on being open minded and eager for change, for new and different things. I'm sure many others on this site share those feelings.

[MarkDuffy]

Oh, by the way, I am a 54 year old gamer and a professional software engineer. I do not consider myself stupid or simple minded. As far as what some others may think, all I can say is that I pride myself on being open minded and eager for change, for new and different things. I'm sure many others on this site share those feelings.

You bet, John-SJ! Welcome to our family! :)

[JuliaSet]

Welcome John,

Here is a screen shot taken while the EA video interview was playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L8ZxGwl_O8

[mightygoose]

Rachel Burnstein, Assistant producer at EA of Simcity Societies - "i might not neccessarily want my people to be happy"

damn straight....

[prof786]

i will try to look to look into this as soon as possible. can't wait.

[oldbrownies]

it looks horrible to me, pretty much ruined everything MAXIS has done with simcity (especially simcity 4) and made it a game for preschoolers

[Rekondite]

Well heres my 2 cents:

Once I learned the fact that you keep people happy with 'venues,' my optimism for this game dropped dramatically. I also still see avenues everywhere, despite seeing screenshots with different sized roads and textures. The city blocks also seem very odd when they are divided by avenues...especially the small city blocks.

'Conditioning Theater,' wow thats kind of sad in my opinion. If this is going to be about managing people why not expand the game and make it "SimCountries."

I feel like they are bribing us with 3-D graphics and eye candy. That may work for some, but not me and surely not for most of the Simtropolis members. We wanted a city simulator and in my opinion, we got Sim Societies.

I still have optimism, but barely any...I keep hearing "Oh well the game isn't out yet so you can't say it won't be any good." Well, each time I see more and more previews I lose optimism.

Some may like it, but I don't...

[Techleo]

I'm leaning towards supporting this game. Its building system is rather fun looking. I think TM could appease alot of the diehard gamers if they added a tiny bit more meat. While trimming some of the statistical fat mite make it easier to pick up, leaving some mite make it more thought provoking.

The basic premise for demands is the same as TM's idea for venues. Instead of providing for the peoples needs your providing for the actual buildings. While having water, trash and various other features mite be overwhelming, not having electricity and traffic needs mite make the game hollow. Leaving traffic and electricity like the first simcity would appease many of the original gamers from the city. Without driving away the target market since such demands arent to hard to manage.

How hard is it to know when electricity is needed lol, Oh look the houses are blinking!:p The same applies to traffic. If the cars get to crammed between two spots add a train or wider roads. The only excess I mite add is bus stations and highways. Since that is more of a feeling thing. Whats Los Angeles without big roads lol. Bus Stations are just easy lol. Put them near houses and put them near venues.

:) Anyways thats my two cents! Good work though! Just needs a tiny bit more meat! Not saying you wont add it either! Its early:o