SimCity is back, gaming is dead, RIP gaming.

[Teleku]

Wait, didn't EA stop putting all its new stuff on steam in a huff over how to handle DLC (and to get people to use Origin)?  Or are they only doing that with major titles like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and not catastrophically fucked up games?

That was a picture of SimCity 4, which is not the catastrofucked version. SimCity V is the one that is awful, and that is Origin exclusive. :P

I believe the only new shit getting on Steam from them these days are Sims 3 expansions.

Woops!  Yeah, just saw the Sim City logo in the new Sim City thread, and my brain just assumed it was the game we're talking about.  That makes more sense!

And yeah, EA kept almost all the stuff they originally put on Steam in place, but stopped putting anything else on.

[Lantyssa]

The fight was over in-app/external DLC purchases, because it stops Valve getting their cut. They played chicken over it and both sides lost.

I doubt they knew at the time, but I'm now thinking the Steam-only users won.

[HaemishM]

The fight was over in-app/external DLC purchases, because it stops Valve getting their cut. They played chicken over it and both sides lost.

I doubt they knew at the time, but I'm now thinking the Steam-only users won.

This. Based on my dissatisfaction with the new Battlefield (and fuck BF4 in the ass), how badly SimCity V screwed the pooch and the reception to ME3 (which I still haven't bought because fuck $30 for a game most people seem disappointed with), I'm not feeling too hard done by having to go to Origin for EA games. ME3 needs to drop to $5 before I will touch it, $10 if it's on payday.

[Malakili]

The fight was over in-app/external DLC purchases, because it stops Valve getting their cut. They played chicken over it and both sides lost.

I doubt they knew at the time, but I'm now thinking the Steam-only users won.

Yep.  I've missed all these EA games on principle. They look more like bullets dodged than anything.

[Mithas]

I guess 2.1 is live today. Saw it tweeted out followed by more hilarious replies:

"@simcity Will this update allow me to actually play this game for the first time in 20 days? That would be amazing since I paid you."

"Please for the love of Christ fix that bug with disappearing service vahicles!"

"Thats it?"

[jakonovski]

2.1 seems to have fixed the construction sites, but nothing else. I actually had a kaiju attack on my city, he rampaged for a while and the damage was dwarfed by the amount of buildings abandoned for mundane reasons in the same space of time.

I don't know if I've said this before, but one of the root causes why nothing works in this game is because there's one four lane road leading out of the city, or two if you're lucky. Eventually everything gets tangled in a permanent state of gridlock and there's nothing the player can do.

[Mithas]

2.1 seems to have fixed the construction sites, but nothing else. I actually had a kaiju attack on my city, he rampaged through the city and the damage was dwarfed by the amount of buildings abandoned for mundane reasons in the same space of time.

I don't know if I've said this before, but one of the root causes why nothing works in this game is because there's one four lane road leading out of the city, or two if you're lucky. Eventually everything gets tangled in a permanent state of gridlock and there's nothing the player can do.

I'd tell you to quit playing, but this is entertaining for me.

[HaemishM]

He should be live-streaming this, or at least a BIIF.

[jakonovski]

I was actually planning on trying out a multiplayer region so I can say I did it, maybe I'll spam the screenshot button and write something a bit more coherent. May Day is great for that kind of stuff.

[Soulflame]

You did play more and document it for our amusement!

You really shouldn't have.  If you keep this up, we're going to have an intervention.

[Morat20]

This. Based on my dissatisfaction with the new Battlefield (and fuck BF4 in the ass), how badly SimCity V screwed the pooch and the reception to ME3 (which I still haven't bought because fuck $30 for a game most people seem disappointed with), I'm not feeling too hard done by having to go to Origin for EA games. ME3 needs to drop to $5 before I will touch it, $10 if it's on payday.

It was worth it until the last part of the game, so...still pretty good. The DLC's are all pretty solid, with the Citadel one being just fun as hell. So, really -- worth thirty bucks. Especially if you wait a bit longer and pick up a mega-pack with all the DLC's for 30.

Hell, the multiplayer is worth 10 bucks or so hands down. :)

[luckton]

AIN'T NO PARTY LIKE THE SIMCITY TRAIN WRECK PARTY, CAUSE THE SIMCITY TRAIN WRECK PARTY DON'T STOP!



 

[Mithas]

This game is the gift that keeps on giving as long as you didn't buy it.

[Paelos]

I'm all for piling on, but the amount of bitter nitpicking is always more annoying to me than funny. I like it when people stick to the facts instead of just attacking random points with tired cliches. There's a wealth of reasons to hate the game.

[Mithas]

If you put out a game in this kind of state you leave yourself open for this sort of thing. I think the funnier thing is not the nitpicking comment, but the image itself.

[Trouble]

Update 3.0 is live:

http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9492563.page
• New: Added more Hotel models to increase hotel variety.
• Traffic: Updated routing system to improve traffic. Routing system now understands more information about u-turns, required vehicle stops, and vehicle behavior on certain road types. This should make traffic smarter.
• Traffic: Commercial and industrial buildings stagger their work shifts to start throughout commute hours instead of at the top of the hour. This should reduce traffic.
• Traffic: Fixes one issue where a car won't move causing traffic to back up behind it.
• Traffic: Vehicles can now make right turns on Red. This should improve some cases of traffic.
• Traffic: Trading polish that will improve regional traffic when one city has a lot of jobs and its neighboring city has a lot of workers.
• Air Pollution: Fixed more issues where cities that placed air polluting buildings received large amounts of air pollution from unknown sources.
• Service Vehicles: Fix for disappearing service vehicles on cities that whose vehicles had disappeared before update 2.
• School Buses: Fix for issue where school buses were getting stuck at neighbor's city or arcology.
• Audio: Tuned audio on French Police Station.
• Trading: Fixed issue where fire services were not trading consistently between Brakeman's Folly and Twain in Whitewater Valley.
• Trading: Sewage trading: Sewage will now take a more direct route to regional sewage plant instead of throughout the city.
• Trading: Made gifting more reliable.
• Ferry Terminal: Ferry Terminal can now send its sewage to the output pipe and treatment plant.
• RCI Tuning: Fixed issue where sims going to a park via transit would sometimes lose their money or happiness on the way home.
• RCI Tuning: Bulldozing abandoned or rubble buildings will now prevent new developments for 6-12 hours.
• RCI Tuning: Less Happiness is taken from wealth 2 and 3 buildings when rent is due when no money is present.
• RCI Tuning: Fix for issue some users experienced where buildings would stay abandoned because moving trucks would not be able to move in.
• Trees: Trees now last longer, but also do not eliminate as much ground pollution.
• Radiation: Radiation causes less ground pollution than previously.
• Transit: Changed thought bubble suggestion to add more trains to deal with crowded passenger trains to suggest that you add more train stations.
• Transit: Improvements to lights to make rail look better at night.
• Transit: Streetcar stops can now be placed directly on standalone streetcar tracks, and passengers can walk along the tracks to them.
• Transit: Tuned the chance buses or streetcars will go to high-traffic stops first as a minor traffic improvement.
• Roads: University pedestrian paths can now cross streets.
• Manufacturing Trucks: Fixed issue some users experienced where manufacturing trucks left the city and were lost permanently.
• Delivery Trucks: Fixed issue where some users would experience a loss of resources is their delivery trucks returned to garages without proper storage.
• Sports Parks: Tuned the amount of skateboarders and neighborhood athletes at the sports parks.
• Data Layers: Zones are now visible in heavy data layers.
• Edit Mode: Added more valid snap points in edit mode. This improvement is most noticeable on Parks.
• Buildings: Addressed some cases where buildings would stack on one another.

[Mithas]

Most important question - does it fix the broken stuff?

[Yegolev]

Looks more like a .1 increment than a 1. increment.  Hell, maybe just a letter at the end.

[Mithas]

Update 3.0 is live:

• Traffic: Vehicles can now make right turns on Red. This should improve some cases of traffic.

 

[Ingmar]

Why does that get a  ? Right on red is legal in a lot of places.

[luckton]

Why does that get a  ? Right on red is legal in a lot of places.

So why not have it at launch instead of getting patched in months later?   

[Teleku]

Yeah, its  to me because of the fact they didn't have that in place already. 

Only the most backward vile places in the world have 'no right turn on red' laws!

[luckton]

SimCity godfather Will Wright weighs in on the matter, amongst other stuffs...

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-05-04-will-wright-games-falling-way-short-as-a-medium

When the discussion turned to the launch of Sim City Online, Wright was quick to declare his first thought. "I feel bad for the team," Wright said. Beyond that, Wright had some definite opinions about the launch. "I could have predicted - I kind of did predict there'd be a big backlash about the DRM stuff. It's a good game; I enjoy playing it a lot." Still, Wright understands the audience response. "It was kind of like, 'EA is the evil empire, there was a lot of 'Let's bash EA over it,'" Wright said. "That was basically inexcusable, that you charge somebody $60 for a game and they can't play it. I can understand the outrage. If I was a consumer buying the game and that happened to me, I'd feel the same."

[Ingmar]

Yeah, its  to me because of the fact they didn't have that in place already. 

Only the most backward vile places in the world have 'no right turn on red' laws!

NYC, so vile.

[Merusk]

yes.

now discuss left turn on red, one way to one way

[Sophismata]

Only the most backward vile places in the world have 'no right turn on red' laws!

[calapine]

What is right turn on red anyway? Can someone explain?

[luckton]

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/22208012/good-question-turning-right-on-red

[calapine]

Thanks!

Legally driving over a red light! Crazy stuff! 

[Mithas]

Here you can always turn right on red unless otherwise posted. If it is a red arrow, left or right, you cannot make said turn.

[calapine]

I think I understand the situation. Traffic that goes straight (or left) must stop, but cars that turn right may drive?

Seen that, but in that situation there is either two traffic lights or a traffic light with an extra green arrow that lights up during the red-phase.

Like this:

[Mithas]

What that means is you don't even have to stop. In a situation where you come to a light where there is no green or red arrow, only red lights you can still turn right on that red light as long as you come to a complete stop.

*Disclaimer - traffic laws do vary state to state

edit: Also states set up their stop lights differently so they can vary in their configuration

[Phred]

I think I understand the situation. Traffic that goes straight (or left) must stop, but cars that turn right may drive?

Seen that, but in that situation there is either two traffic lights or a traffic light with an extra green arrow that lights up during the red-phase.

Like this:

I believe most places with right on red require a full stop before turning still.

[KallDrexx]

I think I understand the situation. Traffic that goes straight (or left) must stop, but cars that turn right may drive?

Seen that, but in that situation there is either two traffic lights or a traffic light with an extra green arrow that lights up during the red-phase.

Like this:

That's not considered a right on red, because you are explicitly given a green light for right turns. 

A right on red means that you are going to be turning right at a non-arrow (normal) red light.  However, legally you must stop at the red light first and verify that there are no cars coming before taking the right turn.  You also have to be in the right-most lane (in most states I believe) in order to do this (e.g. the 2nd to right hand lane might be a right turn only lane, but you aren't allowed to turn on red and must wait for green).

[Merusk]

But people in those lanes turn anyway, because traffic laws are really more "suggestions" than anything else.   Probably because we see it as a right not a privilege.

But that's another rant.