Boston done in Sim City 4!

[kz1000ps]

Exactly what the title says, I've started creating Boston in this most wonderful of games.


Overview, the airport is just offscreen to the right, the convention center is the round-roofed building at the lower right on "east" Boston, and "south" boston is more or less the industrial zone. Obviously I have yet to get to much of the Hub (right now MIT is represented by the city zoo, heh) and I have to take some liberties since everything must be at 45 degree angles
.
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/6452/beantownsep61041153958890fb3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Beacon Hill, Louisburg Square, Charles Street Jail and the West End
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/9813/beantownsep61041153958944lh6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Gov't Center, Central Artery and the North End, a troubled neighborhood in the sim reality
http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/4666/beantownsep61041153958972ql6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Financial District
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4171/beantownsep61041153959003ns8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

South End. Apparently a bunch of yuppies moved in during the 80s and built "modern" condos
http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/8287/beantownsep61041153959048jt1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The Back Bay and High Spine. The "Prudential" tower naturally came about, the "Hancock" is a landmark building
http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/2518/beantownsep61041153959071rj2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The Fenway neighborhoods, very abbreviated. NEU and the MFA to the west, Berklee and the highway underpass (represented by the open plaza) in the center.
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/2907/beantownsep61041153959110tk6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Mission (Parker) Hill
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/8672/beantownsep61041153959153uf2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Copley Square
http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/1619/beantownoct201041153959653jg6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Government Center and Fanieul Hall
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8960/beantownoct201041153959449sf8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Post Office Square (looking south)
http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/8646/beantownoct201041153959498bj3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

My neighborhood (poorly represented, looking south) - Mass Ave from Boylston to Huntington
http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/6171/beantownoct201041153959857um3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Comm Ave Mall leading into the Public Garden
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/4903/beantownoct201041153959702ll2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/7762/beantownoct201041153959759ka1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

MFA and NEU, and the Guggenheim makes an appearance too
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/861/beantownoct201041153959822rv0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/5813/beantownoct201041153959781dv9.jpg


And the last one. Hope you enjoyed and assuming I get some responses, I'll update it as things progress

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6065/beantownnov61041153959992ev9.jpg

[lexicon506]

Wow, good job creating Boston. It's not an easy feat in that game. I tried doing that once but it crashed and burned. What is the population of "Beantown"

And I thought Mesaville, my city situated on a series of towering mesas, was booming...

[kz1000ps]

Lexicon, I believe the population is somewhere around 160,000 right now. But don't feel bad -- this is using some of the "mods" from simtropolis. I got tired of creating cities that wouldn't grow any further than 60k, and so I downloaded some of the "increase commercial/industrial demand" mods that more or less directly boost residential population. And most helpful of all is the "Godfather Project" which gives me $10,000 a month from my fairy mafia godfather and allows me to have a virtually uninhibited budget. I don't do this all the time, but with this city, I'm going for realism to the real Boston over what is realistically possible otherwise in the game. I have 10 other cities in my region already that were mostly done without mods, to be fair, but with this one I say money is not an issue -- I want my own virtual Boston!

And what fun it is trying to straighten out all of Beantown's roads to 90 degree angles. It requires a lot of imagination and reckless abandon towards many landmark places to make things work.

[Merper]

not bad at all!

[BigRock]

Awesome! Do you have an underground view of the T? :)

[kz1000ps]

Not right now, but I could take one. But the subway system looks NOTHING like the T. The fake one is just a big sloppy grid that covers the whole city. If I were to stick to the dinky T system (no disrespect meant), my city wouldn't be able to grow to its current size.

[Merper]

... you know, you could have put the highway underground, although that would only give you onramps on the above ground parts...

... i've been wanting to do this for the longest time...

[kz1000ps]

But I can't Merper. I have a Mac, and EA Games doesn't sell the SC4-Rush Hour combo for this platform, meaning I'd have to pay $100 for them individually whereas a PC user gets it for only $50 -- no thank you scumbags. And thus I'm stuck with the rudimentary transit choices only.

~Crossing my fingers hoping things different with SC5~

[Merper]

you know what i'm talking about then?

its not an option to build an underground tunnel.

[kz1000ps]

Well technically it is possible to create tunnels in the basic SC4, but the option will only appear when going through mountains or other terrain features with a fairly steep slope. I believe I possibly could have done so IF I created Boston on a plateau long before I created anything else (impossible now) and started a highway at one end of the land mass and ran it to the other, but then that wouldn't allow for turns, cloverleafs, or on/off ramps which thus defeats the purpose of the highways altogether.

Trust me, I've gone over what I could do to make things as realistic as possible given what tools I have. My friend has Rush Hour (he of course owns a PC) and he shows me what he's done, and all I can do is salivate. But IMO it isn't worth it, 3 years after the game was introduced, to now go ahead and get all the add-ons. SC5 will be out before we know it.

[Hutchison]

So apparently this was on reddit a couple of days ago and now NPR ran this across my facebook page:

"Man Builds Boston In Video Game, Internet Finally Discovers It Six Years Later"

http://www.wbur.org/2012/09/13/man-recreates-boston-sim-city?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=FBWBUR14

Should note that archBoston is mentioned throughout the article.

Oh the interwebs...

[briv]

^Very cool!

[BostonUrbEx]

Wow, that's awesome, ahahaha. Gratz, kz! LOL

[datadyne007]

Congrats on internet stardom Phil!

[kz1000ps]

Haha yeah whodathunkit? I have no clue how this started but all the sudden I have an email from NPR asking to interview me.....???? Oh internet!

[Matthew]

My favorite part is that Cambridge is a vast empty wilderness.

[kz1000ps]

^ As I recall I never got around to doing Cambridge on account of a hard drive crash happening not too long after I got Boston proper built. It almost makes me want to fire up the old laptop (the game's too old to run on the new one) and start a new Boston from scratch--with a more imaginative name that "Beantown"--but I probably won't, heh.

PS I love the snarky, Onion-like tone of the title....."Man With Too Much Time On Hands Builds Fake Boston, Internet Suddenly Gives a Shit Half a Decade Later."

[commuter guy]

KZ,

Your found fame first through your band and now this. Isn't this like lightning striking twice in the same spot or something like that... And I consider myself lucky if my mother remembers to call me on my birthday.

[Commuting Boston Student]

Does SimCity 4 still have the advisors, and can you change their photos?

[BostonUrbEx]

Does SimCity 4 still have the advisors, and can you change their photos?

Yes, but I don't think you can change the photos (maybe if you use addons?).

I always ignore them. Such pains in the ass.

I have to say this thread inspires me to try my hand at Boston. I've always considered it, even searched for downloadable maps, but never went through with it. Just seeing Kz's good work tempts me.

[davem]

As if my procrastination problem isn't bad enough I now went and downloaded SC4.

Haven't really slept in a few days...

THANKS GUYS!

[Corey]

That's pretty cool that this got some attention so many years later, KZ. congrats! I wasted/enjoyed a lot of time with Sim City 4 when I was in high school. Even though Sim City 5 will be too graphically advanced to run on my macbook I look forward to seeing what other people create with it.

[datadyne007]

BostInno picked up the story today. No one cares about or reads public radio stuff, but BostInno is where it's at.

[BostonUrbEx]

BostInno picked up the story today. No one cares about or reads public radio stuff, but BostInno is where it's at.

I hate BostonInno, the only writer who isn't a moron is Steve Annear.

[kz1000ps]

Hahaha it's still alive?? I played three shows this past weekend and EVERYONE who knew me couldn't wait to say, "I saw your story! Neato!" This whole thing is hilarious.

But hey, this'll make a great story for my kids down the road..."you know, back in 2012 your old man went viral? Yep, I was kind of a big deal for 3 days!"

[Nexis4jersey]

Not Boston in SC4 , but here are my recent creations...
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2778/4362467860_8803d5ffb9_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4362467860/)
Sumner-Dec. 30, 001266323249 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4362467860/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4141/4921500347_15e40a4639_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4921500347/)
Happy Valley West-Mar. 7, 011282607054 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4921500347/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4095/4921495251_6d4413b8cb_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4921495251/)
Gray River-Apr. 18, 011282609999 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4921495251/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4073/4921495387_526a53c5f8_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4921495387/)
Gray River-Apr. 29, 011282610061 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4921495387/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8297/7933831972_dcc45dd5a1_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/7933831972/)
Sussex-5 Dec., 061346800936 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/7933831972/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2574/3927521631_e6f88a0b2b_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/3927521631/)
South Newark - Hunterden Neighborhood (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/3927521631/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4026/4455482308_329aafe7a2_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4455482308/)
Harrisburg Plains-Apr. 13, 131269279256 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4455482308/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2570/4041899796_940fa379d7_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4041899796/)
Panda Plains-Oct. 16, 001256435878 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4041899796/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4066/4454703739_d714a6b452_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4454703739/)
Harrisburg Plains-Apr. 16, 131269279282 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4454703739/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2563/3985184082_d1da3e50ee_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/3985184082/)
Northvale-Dec. 24, 001254764135 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/3985184082/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4031/4462560695_3c5be31c4f_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4462560695/)
Reading Hills-Mar. 22, 021269478648 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4462560695/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2436/3984425309_4c42f528b2_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/3984425309/)
Northvale-Feb. 28, 011254764556 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/3984425309/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2729/4463339062_b17c6460a6_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4463339062/)
Reading Hills-Jul. 18, 021269479308 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4463339062/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4068/4362467790_86cc6be665_o.png (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4362467790/)
Sumner-Dec. 30, 001266323205 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/4362467790/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2427/3927521781_0d28b225c1_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/3927521781/)
South Newark NMR Communter Line crossing (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/3927521781/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

[Nexis4jersey]

We do have Big Dig Ramps...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/hoffmannj/NCMA%20Update%205v1/BDEveningRush.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/hoffmannj/NCMA%20Update%205v1/BigDigTraffic.jpg?t=1172460252

[BostonUrbEx]

STOP IT. YOU'RE MAKING ME WANT TO INSTALL IT AGAIN.


:)


PS: Nice mods/add-ons.

[KentXie]

Are you going to pick up SC5 in February? I know I am. I can't wait!

[KentXie]

Oh my god, this game...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWLClUwAHGc&feature=g-all-xit

[Matthew]

All this work and yet they still have the awful, overly simplistic Euclidean zoning basis that tainted the original game.

Residential, Commercial, Industrial.

[KentXie]

Yeah I'm surprised that they don't have mixed use choices but we have to remember that this game is for all players, not just people like us.

[datadyne007]

Looks epic. I'm in love. I love the way zoning is handled along roads with the automatic lots. It feels really natural and is not based off a ridiculous grid. I think it is very strange about the lack of mixed use, seeing how SC5 is designed based off our modern sustainable world. Perhaps we should submit feedback to them at least suggesting it.

[Nexis4jersey]

More of my Sc4 creations mostly older work...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8172/8056241601_9162dd561f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056241601/)
yoshibeachmay1501123317bn0 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056241601/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8176/8056241529_8c28852f77_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056241529/)
yoshibeachmay1801123317fl3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056241529/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/8056243736_e34de2e92a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056243736/)
upperelktownshipjun3005 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056243736/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8173/8056243814_0ed20ff942_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056243814/)
upperelktownshipjun1601 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056243814/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8311/8056242485_783ba645a9_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056242485/)
southernpointjan5001240 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056242485/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8298/8056244542_1a2a971d99_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056244542/)
southernpointjan5001240 (4) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056244542/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8320/8056245148_58005e729a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056245148/)
southchrismountainsmay8 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056245148/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8031/8056245462_fe59e3f648_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056245462/)
southchrismountainsapr1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056245462/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8039/8056243727_3ebd65350f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056243727/)
portmikeymar90212349270 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056243727/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8461/8056249822_1a964cb1bc_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056249822/)
keansburgsep14011245009 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056249822/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8310/8056250405_56d6b6e041_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056250405/)
cocabeachsep16001236658 (1) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056250405/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8313/8056247931_20a1ab067d_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056247931/)
hydroaug29051232919959nf8 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42178139@N06/8056247931/) by Nexis4Jersey09 (http://www.flickr.com/people/42178139@N06/), on Flickr

[deh74]

in the first post why the h*** is the kremlin on mass. ave?

[datadyne007]

in the first post why the h*** is the kremlin on mass. ave?

It represents the Mother Church of the Christian Science Center.

[czsz]

Holy shit. Someone please tell me why I shouldn't buy SC5. I do not have the time for it but don't know if I can restrain myself....

p.s. I heard mixed-use zoning would definitely be included...

[kz1000ps]

You know, I never got the Rush Hour expansion pack because it was another $50 on top of the normal game (I have a Mac). But seeing nexis' pictures almost makes me reconsider...

Anyway here's a few shots of the only city I've done this year:

http://imageshack.us/a/img7/4611/close05civicnite.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img109/4678/close12civicnorth.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img228/1955/close17westside.jpg

[Matthew]

One of the things that soured me on Cities XL was (besides the usual zoning crap) the utter impossibility of either (a) laying out streets in a regular grid or (b) quickly and easily making parcels to fit irregular street patterns. You always ended up spending too much time trying to solve the bin-packing problem. It looks like SC5 will have a much better solution to this, from the video.

[vanshnookenraggen]

I couldn't play that game without Rush Hour.

[datadyne007]

MAXIS LIVE BROADCAST TODAY AT 1 EST (10 PST)

https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-snc6/276528_359725977445590_1867536434_n.jpg

RSVP Here: https://www.facebook.com/events/359725977445590/

There's speculation that broadcast attendees might get access to a public beta.

[BostonUrbEx]

I like how they finally addressed the issue of utilizing corner lots. YES!

Looks like there's a lot to be worked on though. I'm afraid they can never top SC4.

[Nexis4jersey]

No Terraforming
No Subways
No Highways
No Regions

NO BUY!

[datadyne007]

I agree with their exclusion of terraforming. It makes it too easy to remove obstacles and does not align with the focus of SC(5). They are trying to give SimCity a story-line feel like they did with the Sims 3. I'd much rather them focus on other areas, than throw all kinds of resources and staff in to code extremely complex terraforming controls. Roads and lots interact beautifully with the terraforms that they give you.

The game just isn't supposed to be a wet dream for urban planners and enthusiasts. They are trying to broaden the demographic, as they did extremely successfully with The Sims series. There's still the possibility of expansion packs as well.

[czsz]

No Terraforming
No Subways
No Highways
No Regions

Seriously? No terraforming is one thing (I assume you can still at least make minor landscape alterations?), but no subways or highways? WTF?

The game just isn't supposed to be a wet dream for urban planners and enthusiasts. They are trying to broaden the demographic, as they did extremely successfully with The Sims series.

"It's not supposed to be amazing, don't you get their aim is to make a bigger profit?" has somehow never placated me.

[datadyne007]

They do have streetcars/light rail. They've also reduced the max size of a city. It's now 2k x 2k, the size of a "medium" city in SC4.

[kz1000ps]

My computer always HATED the "big" size cities in SC4...didn't matter how much RAM I put in it, it always got so bogged down by those.

[czsz]

But you could barely do anything planningwise with the smaller ones. And now, with no region view?

Surface transit only? That is bullshit.

They should call this SimTown.

[datadyne007]

Not sure what you mean by "no region view." There is an overview of all the "cities" where you can see how they are situated with each other and how they are all connected. Cities can also share utilities and infrastructure, so regions seem to be very much a reality in the new game.

[czsz]

Was going off what Nexis4jersey said...

[kz1000ps]

But you could barely do anything planningwise with the smaller ones.

Huh, I never had a problem with the medium-sized plots. The small ones were never much fun, but the mediums? I was always able to get plenty of planning-sense into those, assuming I'm interpreting your words correctly. For instance, this city I did recently has plenty of zones and planning going on, and it's just a medium-sized city:

http://imageshack.us/a/img228/1955/close17westside.jpg

[Nexis4jersey]

My computer always HATED the "big" size cities in SC4...didn't matter how much RAM I put in it, it always got so bogged down by those.

turn off or reduce shadows that will fix the ram issue or any lagging...

[KentXie]

Either the expansion pack is going to fix that, or the fan-made/3rd party mods are going to.

[LordStanleyCup2011]

Looking forward to SC5, only issue I have is that I'm not sure whether I should pre-order the game on Origin, or if I should try to find it in a retailer. I am also wondering if I should get a CD of SC5 or if I should get a downloadable copy.

Any suggestions?

[BostonUrbEx]

Looking forward to SC5, only issue I have is that I'm not sure whether I should pre-order the game on Origin, or if I should try to find it in a retailer. I am also wondering if I should get a CD of SC5 or if I should get a downloadable copy.

Any suggestions?

Given the failure of SC4 follow ups like Cities XL and whatever that other thing was (one or both was made by Maxis, which made SC4 and I think is still behind SC5), I would be hesitant.

[davem]

Looking forward to SC5, only issue I have is that I'm not sure whether I should pre-order the game on Origin, or if I should try to find it in a retailer. I am also wondering if I should get a CD of SC5 or if I should get a downloadable copy.

Any suggestions?

Wow, and here I am weighing the decision of spending the 10 mins to search out and download a torrent or not. Feel like an asshole now...

[Nexis4jersey]

Toyish Graohics
Forced Online Gameplay
Forced Cloud Saving
Forced Internet Connection required to play
Micro Manging
No Sandbox Mode or Single Player Mode
No Terraforming
No Subways
No Highways
No Customizable Regions

NO BUY!

[BostonUrbEx]

Toyish Graohics
Forced Online Gameplay
Forced Cloud Saving
Forced Internet Connection required to play
Micro Manging
No Sandbox Mode or Single Player Mode
No Terraforming
No Subways
No Highways
No Customizable Regions

NO BUY!

Hmm. Sounds like a piece of shit.

I wish I could find Disc 2 of my Sim City 4 Deluxe... I want to play again pretty bad.

[kz1000ps]

Hmm, if this turns out to be a dud then I think I may finally give in and get Rush Hour for my Mac. (I've held off because they charge double what it is for the PC version).

[BarbaricManchurian]

I would recommend getting Cities XL instead. SimCity 4 is horribly outdated at this point and while Cities XL isn't perfect, it adds a lot over SC4. Free-form road building, first person view, 3D graphics, and a lot more freedom to build your city however you like. It has a quirky French perspective on urban design, focusing more on citizens' happiness than demand.

[LordStanleyCup2011]

Im debating whether getting Sim City 5 or Cities XL 2012..

[KentXie]

Im debating whether getting Sim City 5 or Cities XL 2012..

After reading online about Sim City 5, despite the awesome graphic and despite my inner self saying, buy it, it won't be as bad as they say, I've decided to not purchase Sim City 5 until they find someways to fix notable flaws in the game.

For example:
1) Regardless of whether or not you play multi-player or single-player, you must be online. Normally that isn't a problem but if your internet suddenly goes down and you haven't saved in a while, bye bye progress.

2) You're not able to save your city on your harddrive. All saves must be done online.

3) Already said before, the largest city tile is the size of the medium tile in Simcity 4.

4) There is no terraforming.

5) City tiles are not placed next to each other. Each city tile is separated by a gap of forest that is not editable. This is mainly an aesthetic problem when viewing from the over world but it doesn't look realistic if a large city is separated from the metropolis by forests.

6) I also read somewhere that connections to other cities are predetermined, i.e. the highways are already placed before you start.

7) Every map you create can be affected by changes made by other users online on their cities.

I'll wait until Simcity 6 or some expansion that can fix it. Otherwise, this looks like a dud and detracts from the original designs that many of us have come to love. Personally, I feel that Simcity 5 is going to kill the franchise as I predict the developers will believe that the cause of low sales is due to the lack of interest, not because of the flaws they created.

[Lrfox]

I'm probably going to get it, but I'm going to wait a little bit. I think there's enough interest out there to make initial sales pretty solid. Enough to warrant an expansion pack a year or so down the road. With all of the talk of custom content and modability (let's face it, those two factors were what made SC4 such a smashing success) being a focal point for SC5, I'm hopeful that there will be enough wiggle room to fix some of the shortcomings (offline single player, larger cities, customized terrain, real, functional subways, etc). I also think that user created content could potentially take a mediocre game and make it a good one even if EA doesn't modify any of the shortcomings.

The biggest disappointment for me is the lack of a Sandbox mode. I liked to make my cities look good and function like real cities/regions (dense urban core tapering into suburbs and rural outer areas). In order to do that in SC4, I cheated (mostly by plopping a "Billion Dollar Casino" right at the onset of gameplay and letting it run a few months) and used tons of plugin buildings. My cities ran at deficits but it didn't matter because they looked and functioned like real cities (well, as real as they could).

[kz1000ps]

So one thing led to another after my recent spate of Sim City publicity and now I'm contracted to make my hometown (complete coincidence!) of Albany, NY in the game. Here's how it's looking so far:

http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/1899/albanynov14901358740773.jpg

Versus the real deal:

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3200/screenshot20130121at530.jpg

Who ever knew this shit would be a money maker??

[vanshnookenraggen]

Already better than the real thing.

[datadyne007]

Hey look, Storrow Drive has a cousin.

[kz1000ps]

Except that's an interstate highway that has proven to be way overbuilt for the load it handles. There's chatter going on about how to convert it to something less overbearing but change happens sloooooowwwly in Albany, and I'd bet on it disintegrating before any real plan gets funding.

[datadyne007]

Ok, a steroid-using cousin. It's a highway on a river, same diff.

[kz1000ps]

Err I didn't mean to sound like I was correcting you...just adding context to what you were seeing!

[datadyne007]

Meh, my response wasn't really a cheeky response to yours. The internet is weird for communication like that. I appreciated the info.

I have a question for you about your process because I find this concept of digital creation very interesting. How do you translate these real maps into buildable SimCity cities? Do you super-impose a grid on the actual geography and then orthagonize as much as possible or do you just wing it? The results are incredible, both for Albany and Boston.

[czsz]

Interesting stab at Empire State Plaza. Did you have to play the game straight and only use the occasional landmark? Otherwise I would've plopped more modernist landmarks in there.

[kz1000ps]

Yeah I don't have the Rush Hour expansion pack which means I don't have access to any of the user-created buildings or transit systems...I'm stuck with regular old Sim City 4**. So what you see for buildings are my best approximations using some of the 30 or so in-game landmarks and then crossing my fingers that the market, guided by heavy spot zoning, will fill in the other 95% of the picture.

Also, in regards to the Empire State Plaza, the office towers there are spec and I'm hoping they'll keep growing so that they take on at least the proper scale, if not the proper style. But if after a while I don't naturally get a Corning Tower then I'll have to find a landmark that can work, because without that the people of Albany (or at least snarky commenters) would jump all over it. And I have no idea how I'm going to get four matching Agency towers.


**the Rush Hour expansion pack costs another $60ish for Mac versus being essentially free for PC due to its being bundled with the standard program. And seeing how I can't get it to run on my new computer, I'm stuck playing it on my rickety 9 year old Powerbook which hates running the game as it is. But now, I may have to get it!

[kz1000ps]

Meh, my response wasn't really a cheeky response to yours. The internet is weird for communication like that. I appreciated the info.

I have a question for you about your process because I find this concept of digital creation very interesting. How do you translate these real maps into buildable SimCity cities? Do you super-impose a grid on the actual geography and then orthagonize as much as possible or do you just wing it? The results are incredible, both for Albany and Boston.

Ah ok, no worries :) As far as applying the grid goes, I guess you could say I'm winging it. First thing I do is lay down the main roads and make sure I get their proportions right, and once those are set I then fill in the various grids from there, all the while constantly eyeballing Google Maps to make sure I'm not straying.

[Hutchison]

You're being too kind to Rensselaer leaving it as wilderness

[Nexis4jersey]

pulled these from some very creative builders on SC4D.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6531/capture0082201201300104.jpg
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb419/swm666/rail%20spiral/9.jpg
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9476/capture0112201201300183.jpg
http://www.ld-host.de/uploads/images/1c82144f8b976c22b0271b2114c968c4.jpg
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/9223/railtraffic.jpg
http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh577/felano/05.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b99/JetWarrior/SimCity%204%20Pics/NewRegionwithtrees.jpg
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/7647/mosaics8.jpg
http://hostthenpost.com/uploads/c1e8f64d2afec974d4f38fe7e34daadb.jpg
http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/9252/img0000.jpg

[Shepard]

What I find truly frustrating about SC4 - and I've played it far too much for my own good, sadly - is that 90% of your thought and effort goes towards trying to work around the game's severe terraforming, building, and transportation limitations (even with the transportation expansion) and 10% thinking about urban form, planning, etc.

Why can I zone airports, but a university or convention center needs to be a specific sized square? Because. What if I want buildings to actually face a diagonal or curved street? You can't - because. What if I want a building to contain a MIX of residential and commercial uses? Out of the question.

You can waste eons of nonproductive time trying to goad the simulation to recognize your city as a city instead of a rural exurb. And yes, you can cheat and plop, but if you're going to cheat then why even play Simcity? Why not just build fantasy maps in Illustrator or Sketchup?

And then, after all the hassle and wait, there's no real upside: after finishing a city it's going to look 95% like any other city you've ever made! What the hell is the point?

[Lrfox]

**the Rush Hour expansion pack costs another $60ish for Mac versus being essentially free for PC due to its being bundled with the standard program. And seeing how I can't get it to run on my new computer, I'm stuck playing it on my rickety 9 year old Powerbook which hates running the game as it is. But now, I may have to get it!

Have you tried bittorrents and Pirate Bay? I know they have the Deluxe Edition for Mac over there. Of course, it's illegal and the mere suggestion of it could get me booted from a bunch of other forums. However, there's tie information, do with it what you please. I only suggest it because the Rush Hour portion of the game really brings so much to the table. I couldn't play SC4 without the custom buildings and mods. They

What I find truly frustrating about SC4 - and I've played it far too much for my own good, sadly - is that 90% of your thought and effort goes towards trying to work around the game's severe terraforming, building, and transportation limitations (even with the transportation expansion) and 10% thinking about urban form, planning, etc.

Why can I zone airports, but a university or convention center needs to be a specific sized square? Because. What if I want buildings to actually face a diagonal or curved street? You can't - because. What if I want a building to contain a MIX of residential and commercial uses? Out of the question.

You can waste eons of nonproductive time trying to goad the simulation to recognize your city as a city instead of a rural exurb. And yes, you can cheat and plop, but if you're going to cheat then why even play Simcity? Why not just build fantasy maps in Illustrator or Sketchup?

And then, after all the hassle and wait, there's no real upside: after finishing a city it's going to look 95% like any other city you've ever made! What the hell is the point?

Yeah, that's pretty much why I stopped playing. Of course, I also have no time. I used to waste so much time in college playing that and that was 6-7 years after the game's release.

It was infuriating. I actually gave up on the game play aspect of it and just used cheats (one, really... the billion dollar casino for 2 months and then deleted it so I had about $999,999,999,999,999.99 to spend) trying to build the coolest looking cities and regions I could build. I liked to have mountains, valleys and a great port. I'd develop a major city on the port, have it taper into suburbs and build smaller satellite cities on the outskirts of the region. I just wanted nice looking downtown areas (wall to wall with some nice skyscrapers), good rail network (custom content was great for intermodal central train stations and bus/train platforms), and realistic looking suburbs.

I usually got about 1/2 way done with the suburbs before I realized it looked like every other city I had built. And as you said, I spent about 90% of the time trying to work around the game's limitations rather than focusing on actual urban planning.

[kz1000ps]

Meh, I don't consider the limitations of the game to be overwhelming. Yeah it's really limited in some ways, but I guess I've just accepted it for what it is. I still manage to have fun.

Have you tried bittorrents and Pirate Bay? I know they have the Deluxe Edition for Mac over there. Of course, it's illegal and the mere suggestion of it could get me booted from a bunch of other forums. However, there's tie information, do with it what you please. I only suggest it because the Rush Hour portion of the game really brings so much to the table. I couldn't play SC4 without the custom buildings and mods.

I haven't, but considering I'm not above using Pirate Bay I guess I should look into it!

[Nexis4jersey]

The Game is 10-15$ these days...

[kz1000ps]

But Rush Hour is still wicked expensive! (at least for Mac)

[Nexis4jersey]

Get the Deluxe Edition....

[vanshnookenraggen]

Dude, start a Kickstarter.

[kz1000ps]

Haha HAY U GUYZ I NEED $40 BUCKS TO MAKE FAKE-REAL CITIES!

But for realz, here's where it's at now. I can't get the Empire State Plaza to look how it should so I'll probably throw some landmarks in there tonight and call this one done.

http://imageshack.us/a/img13/5141/0112i.png

And datadyne, since you were asking about how I go about creating these monsters, here's what things looked like at the beginning:

http://imageshack.us/a/img585/5113/0100c.png

[BostonUrbEx]

You forced me to do it...

Just did the $14 for SC4 Deluxe download. (Pissed that I lost Disc 2 from the box set. Ugh.)

[vanshnookenraggen]

A guy I work with who also loves SC4 got it for his phone and for literally 3 days came in and did nothing but play it at his desk. He did no work, just that. He came up to me on the 4th day and said he had to delete it from his phone because it was all he did, even at home. That is precisely why I don't play it anymore.

[datadyne007]

BETA E-MAILS FOR SC5 HAVE GONE OUT! CHECK YOURS!

Come be the new Mayor in SimCity! The SimCity Beta has begun and will continue until 12:01am PST on Monday, January 28th. The SimCity beta offers fans the chance to play a one hour slice of the game and to deliver feedback that will help shape the final product. Beta players can play the one-hour slice of the game multiple times during the beta period.

[czsz]

A guy I work with who also loves SC4 got it for his phone and for literally 3 days came in and did nothing but play it at his desk. He did no work, just that. He came up to me on the 4th day and said he had to delete it from his phone because it was all he did, even at home. That is precisely why I don't play it anymore.

Where do you work that someone can do this and not get fired and are there any openings there?

On the other hand, playing a game like this by tiny phone sounds like a pain in the ass. I always wished I could have like 18 regular monitors so I could see as much of my city as possible.

[vanshnookenraggen]

I work as a real estate agent so technically we do what we want. Technically.

[davem]

A guy I work with who also loves SC4 got it for his phone and for literally 3 days came in and did nothing but play it at his desk. He did no work, just that. He came up to me on the 4th day and said he had to delete it from his phone because it was all he did, even at home. That is precisely why I don't play it anymore.

I can't play tycoon games anymore for the same reason. I almost failed a semester after I got the Soaked! pack for RCT3, and forget about railroad ones...

All I let myself have now is google earth.

[bosdevelopment]

I work as a real estate agent so technically we do what we want. Technically.

What type of property do you rent/sell primarily? Are you baller like those weirdos on sellingNY

[vanshnookenraggen]

In my head I am LOL. My last application was for an $11,000 a month place on the UWS but it fell through (don't count your chickens before the eggs hatch) but I usually do $3000-$6000 a month places.

I work rentals mostly though I do have a couple sales clients and I'm shifting into commercial soon. I work the west side of Manhattan; Upper West down to Tribeca.

[HalcyonEra]

After reading online about Sim City 5, despite the awesome graphic and despite my inner self saying, buy it, it won't be as bad as they say, I've decided to not purchase Sim City 5 until they find someways to fix notable flaws in the game.

For example:
1) Regardless of whether or not you play multi-player or single-player, you must be online. Normally that isn't a problem but if your internet suddenly goes down and you haven't saved in a while, bye bye progress.

2) You're not able to save your city on your harddrive. All saves must be done online.

3) Already said before, the largest city tile is the size of the medium tile in Simcity 4.

4) There is no terraforming.

5) City tiles are not placed next to each other. Each city tile is separated by a gap of forest that is not editable. This is mainly an aesthetic problem when viewing from the over world but it doesn't look realistic if a large city is separated from the metropolis by forests.

6) I also read somewhere that connections to other cities are predetermined, i.e. the highways are already placed before you start.

7) Every map you create can be affected by changes made by other users online on their cities.

I'll wait until Simcity 6 or some expansion that can fix it. Otherwise, this looks like a dud and detracts from the original designs that many of us have come to love. Personally, I feel that Simcity 5 is going to kill the franchise as I predict the developers will believe that the cause of low sales is due to the lack of interest, not because of the flaws they created.

Really, highways are already placed? Rail too? That is really going to limit what you can build and where, I think. not to mention the midsize tile.

I somewhat understand it though, you always had to have a high end pc to run the game properly going back to the beginning of the franchise.

[jass]

Really, highways are already placed? Rail too? That is really going to limit what you can build and where, I think. not to mention the midsize tile.

I somewhat understand it though, you always had to have a high end pc to run the game properly going back to the beginning of the franchise.

There are highways between cities, you can add more inside your tiny plot.

No subways.

Airports are shared between cities.

[datadyne007]

Apparently the SC5 team thinks this is a "successful city..."

Image submitted from the recent beta period:
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/819364_10151411530309866_1897650480_o.jpg

14 lanes of traffic.

[BostonUrbEx]

I don't understand???

The roads to the sides aren't even one way 'feeders'. They're two way roads. And then there's the two way highway in the middle.

THIS IS WORSE THAN THE RFK GREENWAY.

[Matthew]

It's got more people than the Greenway! All on one sidewalk though.

[vanshnookenraggen]

What made SC4 for me was the transportation addons that made the whole thing more realistic. I really hope they will allow a similar thing to be created for SC5.

[Nexis4jersey]

I don't understand???

The roads to the sides aren't even one way 'feeders'. They're two way roads. And then there's the two way highway in the middle.

THIS IS WORSE THAN THE RFK GREENWAY.

There are no one way roads they took them out along with the highways and subways claiming the new simulator couldn't handle it... BS...

[czsz]

I'm getting the impression that the smallest road width available in SC5 is four lanes? WTF?

The above screenshot looks like Karl-Marx Allee in Berlin or like Avenida 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires.

Looks like they maintained one SimCity tradition though: the default architecture could only ever place these cities in California.

[briv]

It's got more people than the Greenway! All on one sidewalk though.
Lol! Must be a protest. Or maybe there's a cart down there giving away free cupcakes.

[kz1000ps]

Eurotown Dubai?

[datadyne007]

The above screenshot looks like Karl-Marx Allee in Berlin

Hahahaha, I originally was going to post this, but ran out of time cause I had to leave for work. Great minds think alike.

[citylover94]

They do have 2 lane roads and there are even dirt roads available.

[datadyne007]

Radial roads...

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/843014_10151438645294866_1587646974_o.jpg

[czsz]

Cool feature. But I guess they've reverted back to annoying patches of grass between buildings and non-perpendicular roads?

[kz1000ps]

Looks like it. In which case they've only half solved the problem of breaking free from the grid.

[Nexis4jersey]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrDHqN9AXiU

Train Fail , stopping at crossings and no Maxis has even dumbed down the RRs no more RR crossing gates lol....

[datadyne007]

I know I've defended SC5 in the past in regards to it being for a "changing demographic," but my opinion has shifted after playing through the betas.

This should have been branded as the SimTown redux with some of the city elements removed and a focus on building the best damn suburbia you could ever build, complete with mega malls. The demographic this is geared to would eat it up. The name carries some mediocre baggage with it though, as SimTown really didn't deliver. SimCity should have remained an urban planning, zoning and infrastructure based franchise with less bells and whistles from a town standpoint.

[czsz]

What is up with the weird setbacks and open spaces and parking lots around every "urban" building? So much for building continuous streetwalls. This city is supposed to be "thriving" but in reality its street level would be as patchwork as downtown Buffalo or Detroit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfC4JOuUkI8

[Nexis4jersey]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERzDc-waUi0

[BostonUrbEx]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry....

I laughed when I saw the like/dislikes on the video. It's a pretty good 50/50 split.

This game SUCKS. Plain and simple. They completely trashed the Sim City name.

[HalcyonEra]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERzDc-waUi0

I never liked the cross over into the Sims franchise in 4. I could care less what they were doing or if they were happy. All I wanted to do was build cool cities and regions. Hell, I never liked the disaster feature either. It seems like they are pushing more of this crossover, and maybe that cross over has cuased them to ruin the transportation aspects. I'd like to know if they have internal data that suggests that this what the players want or if it was purely a management decision. I would think that the hard core players, the loyalists who go back to the original, were attracted to the Sim City franchise to build cities. The Sims are an entirely different genre in my opinion and have no place here. Hopefully you can shut them off.

[czsz]

The hardcore Sim City fans who were only interested in building cities either weren't enough for a profit or for enough profit for EA's liking.

I'm not so disturbed by the more game-like sets. Maxis always released tie-in games like this (see "Streets of Sim City").

[BostonUrbEx]

enough profit for EA's liking

It's likely this. EA is this most destructive piece-of-shit developer in the gaming industry. I'd suspect that behind the scenes, EA is beating Maxis over the head to conform to their liking.

[Nexis4jersey]

Heres a sorry excuse for an Airport...

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/563268_10151438250834866_622368290_n.jpg

[kz1000ps]

Alright fuggit, I'm giving in and getting Rush Hour....that should get me another 10 years out of SC4.

[Nexis4jersey]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyECUEa2Li4

[datadyne007]

For all of you SC4 worshippers, Maxis has you covered:

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of SimCity 4 by tuning into our retrospective live broadcast Thursday, February 21st at 10am PST (1800 GMT/1900 CET/0300 EAT). RSVP here: http://on.fb.me/14OJeW9

Click LIKE if you're planning to attend.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/531637_10151453690824866_910701816_n.png

[meddlepal]

I'm amazed that despite all the Sim City fans out there a viable free alternative has not appeared. I can't believe Transport Tycoon is more popular than Sim City, enough so that it has an incredible free implementation?

[Nexis4jersey]

I must admit the new SC has a nice soundtrack...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTuMqHCgEWQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLP4srxqEHo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEV9u4ktDtI

[datadyne007]

Maxis/EA always knew how to jam. Their Sims (1, 2, 3) music was bomb. I spent most of my time back then in buy/build mode (as the inner architect in me leaked out) and it never seemed to get old.

[GW2500]

Did anyone ever have troubles with commute times in Sim 4? I built highways, trains, subways, busses, everything. Some commercial in residential, and vis versa, and commute times were still an issue.

[Nexis4jersey]

Did anyone ever have troubles with commute times in Sim 4? I built highways, trains, subways, busses, everything. Some commercial in residential, and vis versa, and commute times were still an issue.

Do you have the latest NAM?

[GW2500]

Possible not, I haven't played it in a about 3 or 4 years. Also what is NAM?

[Nexis4jersey]

Possible not, I haven't played it in a about 3 or 4 years. Also what is NAM?

Network Addon Mod , adds new road pathing , fixes original game mistakes , and allows you to then add Bridge Addons , Road Customization , Rail upgrades , Realistic highways etc....

[GW2500]

Cool, thanks

[Nexis4jersey]

Cool, thanks

It be found on here....

http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/fr_main.htm

Everything NAM is discussed here....

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=90.0

[kz1000ps]

Did anyone ever have troubles with commute times in Sim 4? I built highways, trains, subways, busses, everything. Some commercial in residential, and vis versa, and commute times were still an issue.

ALWAYS!

[Nexis4jersey]

Ewwwww

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/856866_10152569637250500_174647984_o.jpg

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/47777_10152569010820500_1523708631_n.jpg

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/856500_10102365026898953_1086010792_o.jpg

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/861229_10102365027717313_1307509737_o.jpg

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/857541_10102365095241993_1003542548_o.jpg

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/858057_10102365097237993_1508681329_o.jpg

http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/856154_10102365098500463_827089589_o.jpg

[BostonUrbEx]

It may be an upgrade to 3D, but the graphics are now worse.

[vanshnookenraggen]

Same thing happened with the Age of Empires series. Age II was beautiful and fun, Age III was all 3D and cartoony. Killed the fun for me.

That said I do like the cartoony 3D of the GTA III series (Vice, San Andreas) only because the violence is so cartoony to begin with. They got too realistic with GTA IV and the fun dropped.

[davem]

Whoever said it is going to be Sim Town 2 couldn't be more right.

[kz1000ps]

That said I do like the cartoony 3D of the GTA III series (Vice, San Andreas) only because the violence is so cartoony to begin with. They got too realistic with GTA IV and the fun dropped.

Agreed. It'll be interesting to see if they increase or pull back on the realism in GTA V, which is set in a city that lends itself to melodramatic characterizations more readily than does NYC.

[Nexis4jersey]

I have to wonder who are these game programmers at SC?

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/14072_10151470674334866_329976112_n.jpg

[datadyne007]

I saw that on Facebook this morning and face palmed.

The BEST part is that the caption reads: "Rails don't fail!"

Uhh... in this city they do... they fail HARDCORE.

[citylover94]

What I find funny is that the streetcars look like the Green Line light rail vehicles.

[czsz]

The fail is strong with this one.

[cozzyd]

So much green space.... is that Camden or Detroit?

[Nexis4jersey]

So much green space.... is that Camden or Detroit?

Hehe , Camden isn't that green its more of a concrete-depression...

[czsz]

The last few images posted by Nexis could almost be a perfect model of Bridgeport.

[Nexis4jersey]

Interesting a classic like these songs are in the game....

Xl29JDG7kss

[aaaaaa]

Using The New Sim City, 6 Urban Planners Battle For Bragging Rights, by John McDermott, Fast Co.

We brought together some of the most interesting urban thinkers to play the new version of the city planning game to see who would make the best fake metropolis. But building a sustainable city from the ground up is harder than it looks.

Link (http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681515/using-the-new-sim-city-6-urban-planners-battle-for-bragging-rights#1).

[kz1000ps]

Meanwhile, this article was linked to from the main page of Yahoo:

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/6029/screenshot20130308at733.png

The CNET editor went on to say, "I had planned on reviewing the game for launch -- and I'm not joking here -- I've yet to been able to even play the game. Once."

Link (http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/simcity-launch-complete-disaster-201105322.html)

[Lurker]

We brought together some of the most interesting urban thinkers to play the new version of the city planning game to see who would make the best fake metropolis. But building a sustainable city from the ground up is harder than it looks.

So I take it none of them were able to log into the game yet?

[Nexis4jersey]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCAz8hfTX-s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9VClRhU404

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2NTxSyb_uQ

[Nexis4jersey]

So I take it none of them were able to log into the game yet?

Very few have , and those that have , have had there cities erased or been booted off the server...

[datadyne007]

Using The New Sim City, 6 Urban Planners Battle For Bragging Rights, by John McDermott, Fast Co.



Link (http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681515/using-the-new-sim-city-6-urban-planners-battle-for-bragging-rights#1).

I wish they had shown better shots of Studio Gang's city. I really want to see how they approached the challenge.

[BostonUrbEx]

I did a lot of trolling on FaceBook about how EA was strangling the Sim City name and going to beat it to a pulp and drag it through the mud. So many people rushed to defend the new Sim City. And I just can't help but wonder how they would all feel now, wallowing in their tears, and they can't even get a refund. I'm betting that a lot of major problems from the Beta aren't even fixed.

EA is the worst thing to ever happen. I probably wouldn't even buy Sim City 5 if it truly were as good or better than Sim City 4. Other than my recent repurchase of Sim City 4, I'm never letting them get any of my money ever again. They're just terrible, evil people.

[Nexis4jersey]

Good Ole Days....before EA/Maxis greed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4bumXJwjf8

[Lurker]

SC4 + Rush Hour +Network Addon Mod = best city simulation ever.

That and Transport Tycoon Deluxe with the TTDPatch + addons or OpenTTD = best transportation game ever.

[Nexis4jersey]

New Highway mode that replaces the orignal Maxis Highways...

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp163/Patricius_Maximus/1-1516.jpg
http://www.majhost.com/gallery/mrtnrln/SimCity4-Stuff/Project57/symphony_tunnel_01.jpg

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/mrtnrln/SimCity4-Stuff/Project57/symphony_t-stacks_collection_01.jpg