

You can finally play SimCity offline - taylorbuley
http://thenextweb.com/media/2014/03/18/can-finally-play-simcity-offline/

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bluetidepro
They need to post an update that gives you the ability for larger land plots
for cities, then I'll play the game again. I haven't even touched it since
last spring because the massive amounts of bugs in the core game still.

Also, side note, there is nothing more frustrating then watching a game come
out with DLC's over and over again when they still have major bugs in the core
game. It seems so ridiculous to me.

~~~
jon-wood
While I don't disagree that SimCity was an utter mess, and haven't played it
since shortly after release either, the complaint about DLC is one I hear all
over the place from gamers.

The team working on DLC is going to be different to the team working on bugs
in the core game. I'm not really sure what you expect a content artist to do
in the effort to decouple SimCity from the online play it was connected to,
and since they can't do much there they may as well work on flooding cities
with Nissan Leafs instead and keep their job.

~~~
bluetidepro
While I see your point, based on what you are saying, it would still take a
developer's resources to implement those DLC's when they could be working on
critical bugs (because you are saying the people working on DLC's are just
designers, not developers also). If they were also developers, then that voids
your argument, because then they should be working on the bugs.

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pkteison
Too little, way too late.

~~~
taylorbuley
What do you mean? It's 2014 and offline play is a hot new feature!

More toward my interest in submitting this article, I wonder what this means
for us webapp developers. Should offline mode be taken more seriously? Or is
this a game-only lesson?

~~~
vidarh
I first played Sim City on the Amiga when the original was released, and I've
played various versions since.

The problem is that they messed majorly with gameplay in a way that
effectively created an entirely different type of game. For my part, I enjoyed
Sim City as a way to tinker on my own, and have no desire whatsoever to play
with others, and it seems that's the case for a lot of others too. When that's
the case, I also don't want to be forced to be online when playing.

It means nothing for webapp developers in general, other than that you should
be aware of how your users use your app and not suddenly release a version
that turns everything upside down and expect not to upset a lot of users.

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rdudek
Honestly, I don't mind the whole offline thing. It means nothing. My gaming
machine is online 24/7\. Internet outage? I'll just go outside and play stuff.
Computer games don't rule my life.

My biggest gripe is how small cities are in simcity. Add the whole traffic
situation.

Not sure how many of the issues they resolved, I have not played the game
since launch, but the small towns are kind of annoying.

~~~
Aardwolf
> My gaming machine is online 24/7\. Internet outage? I'll just go outside and
> play stuff.

What if it rains?

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JimmaDaRustla
Surprised no one is looking at it this way. Correct me if I'm wrong:

Online only is a form of DRM, offline mode comes out over a year after the
initial release. This "DRM" was super effective preventing piracy during the
hype and popularity of the game.

Offline is inevitable for when they decide to take their servers down.

~~~
adamio
I'm guessing it was even more effective at preventing sales too

~~~
timje1
Considering some of the atrocious numbers I've heard thrown around regarding
piracy on the PC, DRM that scares off some customers may be the result of some
execs doing some hard number crunching. Something like:

At current estimates, we sell 1m copies, and we'll get 5m pirates. If we put
in really restrictive DRM, 100k of those original 1m sales will be put off,
but we'll pick up one tenth of the pirates, putting us on 1.4m sales. Worth
it!

The problem with this calculation is that the pirates are often based in 2nd
world countries that don't have a culture of paying for media (e.g. Russia) so
preventing piracy won't boost sales from these countries. But have you folks
ever tried to convince anyone with money on the line that piracy numbers !=
lost sales?

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tibbon
I'm curious to hear at some point an insider's view on WTF happened here. I
know EA was looking to make money faster, but they shot themselves in the foot
by putting out such a terrible title that was so broken- whereas if they had
waited 6 months and done it right they very well may have had something
fantastic that would have sold 4x as much (or more).

Didn't they see that coming?

~~~
wmf
It's not clear that it would have sold more; a lot of us suckers bought it
anyway. And as Zynga has taught us, forced social = microtransactions =
profit.

~~~
tibbon
Maybe I'm atypical these days. I don't preorder. I only play the 'top' games
that are rated and reviewed exceedingly well unless I have a specific reason
to do otherwise (specific niche that I want to play). I waited until after
launch and then heard it was terrible- so I didn't buy.

But I don't have time to play most games. 90% of the games I've bought on
Steam I've put less than 5 hours into.

~~~
6d0debc071
This suggests around 30% of purchases are pre-orders:

[http://venturebeat.com/2014/02/28/how-to-maximize-your-
onlin...](http://venturebeat.com/2014/02/28/how-to-maximize-your-online-game-
launch/)

At least among whoever they got their data from

Most games I buy on steam I put in 40+ hours. I also follow the don't pre-
order model. The last game I pre-ordered was Sword of The Stars 2 - and that
was a 'never again' moment.

These days I wait until the lets plays and the like are out on YouTube.

The reward of saving yourself a few hours download time when it comes out, and
a few £££, just doesn't line up with the risk of getting an awful game and
feeling like a sucker for me.

~~~
tibbon
I personally just don't see the point of preorders. There is no scarcity of
games. There is no downside in waiting another week if your local Gamestop (or
Amazon) are sold out to get it later.

In fact, I kinda like waiting months... or even year to check out a game. It
gets past any hype about the game, and then all bugs/patches are done. And
cheaper.

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AznHisoka
What? I've been playing SimCity2K offline for the past 18 years. Is this like
a headline from 1996?

~~~
laxatives
I don't know if you're being facetious, but EA claimed the game was such an
intensive simulation that calculations had to be run from their servers, so
you had to be connected to the internet to paly.

~~~
Ricapar
Which if I recall correctly, turned out to be untrue. Shortly after it came
out there were hacks that would let you spoof EA's servers or remove the need
all together and play locally with only minor features disabled.

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steven2012
Remember the good ol'days when they said that was impossible? (Hint: almost
nothing is impossible in software.)

~~~
logfromblammo
Zombo-dot-com is software.

You can do anything at Zombo-dot-com . The only limit is your imagination.

Therefore, nothing is impossible in software. That's logic!

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techsupporter
Welp, time to buy the new SimCity. I've been eagerly awaiting this moment,
even if it does have other bugs.

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core1024
When I read the title I thought about this game
[http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/393/SimCity+Classic.html](http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/393/SimCity+Classic.html)
This confused me a bit as it's 100% offline :)

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skrowl
After all these years that SimCity franchise has existed, it seems like there
would be a good FOSS alternative, but there's still nothing great out there.

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wnevets
but is the game any good? Atleast compared to simcity4

~~~
bane
No, it's terrible. The first 8-bit simcity is a better city simulation. Once
you get past the 3d gloss, the game is fundamentally broken and unfun. There
are so many basic problems with the simulation that it's not even worth
listing the issues.

It's, at best, an advanced proof of concept of a 3d simcity in presentation,
that escaped the lab and mutated into the mess that ended up being released.

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jebblue
Does it run on Linux? I'm guessing no since they're owned by EA. I really hope
Steam and Valve, steam roll over EA.

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abjorn
Too late, and besides I'd rather play SimCity 2000.

