I don't mean to sound negative on this, but it seems like they are continuing to cut our gameplay options (city size, AI, etc) for graphical ones (make it look pretty).
does the RCI meters reflect this? if there is a ton of industry in one city but none in the one i'm currently controlling, will it still show demand being high?
I haven't played with this yet but from what I understand the RCI bars are driven by the needs of the people/industry/businesses in your city. Since connected cities extensively interact in this manner the RCI bars should reflect the actual needs of the people. (If there are plenty of jobs at city X down the highway, the citizens of city Y will commute to X and will not have demand for jobs in Y.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaramonLS
I don't mean to sound negative on this, but it seems like they are continuing to cut our gameplay options (city size, AI, etc) for graphical ones (make it look pretty).
Kind of worries me.
I couldn't disagree more!
Gameplay options for this game are VASTLY improved compared to previous SimCity games.
You can build cities any way you want and specialize them to do many different things, and in many different combinations.
As Ocean said on twitter a few days ago, 'Graphics have to be in service to the simulation.' (paraphrasing)
The whole focus by Maxis has been making a game that has a deep, rich simulation that goes much further in actually simulating the game than any SimCity has before. Sims go to work, factories produce goods which are delivered to stores for the Sims to buy. Sims go to school and get educated and the more educated they become the happier they are; educated Sims push the technology of Industry to higher levels and become more responsible (use less water and power and recycle more, also place solar panels on their houses to generate their own power during the day). High tech industry provides more in taxes and pollutes less, provides more high paying jobs.
At the same time if Sims are unemployed and running out of money they may turn to crime to try and solve their problems. Crimes actually occur and there are actual Sims living in your town or city who are the criminals.
Additionally, Sims can get sick or be injured at work and need medical care. If they don't get it they can die.
Then you have specializations. This is like a side game almost. You have a variety of options here (trade, oil, coal, ore, casino, electronics), each one has a lot of benefits and gameplay involved. For example with oil you start with rigs harvesting oil, you export it to the global market via a trade depot and get a profit. Once you do that for awhile you can build an Oil HQ which will allow you to branch out and organize your empire. You can move on to upgrading the HQ allowing you to build refineries which will in turn allow you to produce fuel and plastic (which fetch higher prices on the market). At the same time you have to manage your transport network to ensure that your products are getting to market. You can upgrade your trade depot to allow you to ship out goods to the market via rail or ship instead of using trucks.
Another aspect I feel is a big improvement is that you don't need services in every city. Hospitals, high schools, universities, water treatment plants, power, water, police, fire, garbage, etc can be handled regionally such that a city can provide services for all or a large part of the region.
On top of all that you have multiplayer. I know some people don't care at all about this but I personally am really looking forward to playing SimCity with my friends, family, and strangers. I think it will be a lot of fun. You can play with anyone, anywhere in the world, cross-platform too if you want.
All in all, they made the simulation amazing and in doing so they had to make a few short term sacrifices (city placement and size). I think it is a good trade-off, there will be some (or many) who don't. That said, Ocean says they are very likely going to be increasing city sizes in the future.
Wow. That was way too long. Sorry guys, but I hope it clears some things up.
__________________
Huge thanks to Dion for the signature!
Last edited by Nehkara; 02-09-2013 at 02:35 AM.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Nehkara For This Useful Post:
So you must be able to create roads outside of your city then? Because some of those roads Quigley has made are way to big to fit inside the city, unless he is using his Maxis powers.
Found a cool video of beta gameplay. If you check youtube there are a ton of them. Watching this made me want the game 100 times more.
So you must be able to create roads outside of your city then? Because some of those roads Quigley has made are way to big to fit inside the city, unless he is using his Maxis powers.
Found a cool video of beta gameplay. If you check youtube there are a ton of them. Watching this made me want the game 100 times more.
No.
There are pre-existing highways and rails that 'connect' the regions though.
__________________
"Wake up, Luigi! The only time plumbers sleep on the job is when we're working by the hour."
So you must be able to create roads outside of your city then? Because some of those roads Quigley has made are way to big to fit inside the city, unless he is using his Maxis powers.
Found a cool video of beta gameplay. If you check youtube there are a ton of them. Watching this made me want the game 100 times more.
He confirmed that everything in his rail video was inside one city and everything in the switchbacks video was inside one city.
__________________
Huge thanks to Dion for the signature!
The Following User Says Thank You to Nehkara For This Useful Post:
I think zoning is always free, roads are determine what kind of stuff can be built I believe (i.e. $ on a dirt road, $$ on better roads, $$$ on the best roads), and better roads cost more.
__________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
The Following User Says Thank You to photon For This Useful Post:
And does anyone know yet what the best way to zone is? Obviously you want industrial away from everything, but can you build it in one corner of the map and residential in another corner or is that to far off a commute?
And is it best to mix residential and commercial or keep them seperate but have them next to reach other?
Might have to wait for the game to come out first I guess.
And does anyone know yet what the best way to zone is? Obviously you want industrial away from everything, but can you build it in one corner of the map and residential in another corner or is that to far off a commute?
And is it best to mix residential and commercial or keep them seperate but have them next to reach other?
Might have to wait for the game to come out first I guess.
Sign up for the 2nd beta, you might get to test it out much sooner than you think!
You can put industrial in one corner of the map and residential in the other. It is not too far to commute (keep in mind that Sims will commute to other cities).
Being very general, the best layout is industrial on one side, residential on the other, and commercial in between. The reasoning behind this is that it separate the residential from pollution and also the Sims can shop on their way to work and on their way home.
I hope that helped!
__________________
Huge thanks to Dion for the signature!
The Following User Says Thank You to Nehkara For This Useful Post:
An example of one of my best cities (in terms of population) in the beta. I am going to put the screenshots behind tags because they are big. You will see that my residential is on the right, my commercial is in the middle, and my industrial is on the left.
are there bigger plot sizes than that in the full version, or is what we see in the beta the only size available? if that's it, then i agree that it's just too damn small
are there bigger plot sizes than that in the full version, or is what we see in the beta the only size available? if that's it, then i agree that it's just too damn small
That is it for now. Probably bigger later.
__________________
Huge thanks to Dion for the signature!
Nehkara, were you able to find an optimal plot size for your zones? I watched a lot of youtube videos over the weekend and it seems like a lot of people are making really tiny boxes for zones and then when they go to upgrade buildings, there is no room. I am also thinking this will affect medium and high density buildings. If there is not enough room for these buildings, they're not going to be able to be built.
It seems to be kind of hard to judge. You want to use all the land available, but it's hard to tell how much land you need.
Last edited by worth; 02-11-2013 at 09:53 AM.
Reason: their/they're/there
The Following User Says Thank You to worth For This Useful Post:
Nehkara, were you able to find an optimal plot size for your zones? I watched a lot of youtube videos over the weekend and it seems like a lot of people are making really tiny boxes for zones and then when they go to upgrade buildings, there is no room. I am also thinking this will affect medium and high density buildings. If there is not enough room for these buildings, their not going to be able to be built.
It seems to be kind of hard to judge. You want to use all the land available, but it's hard to tell how much land you need.
Yeah, the road guides are the key. So, let's say you have a main medium density avenue in your town, and a medium density cross street you are using to create rectangular or square road sections for zoning. If you hold the mouse over the existing intersection (before you have built out), it will show you what you need in terms of zoning for medium density buildings to be allowed to grow.
Now, if those roads are high density roads they will show you zone sizes needed for high density, etc.
This needs to be tutorialized better in the full game and I believe Ocean mentioned they are working on that.
Also, since Beta 1 they have improved zoning and the road guides so that should help.
It is a little hard because if you zone enough room for high density (or even medium density), then things look sparse when everything is still low density.
Patience is the key there.
Here is an example right from Mr. Quigley himself:
__________________
Huge thanks to Dion for the signature!
Last edited by Nehkara; 02-11-2013 at 09:38 AM.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Nehkara For This Useful Post:
