Posted 9 months, 2 weeks ago at 2:07 pm. 0 comments
Well its safe to say that the most highly anticipated simulated city game has to be Cities Unlimited. Simcity Societies is expected to be released sometime soon and as far as I can say, I’m not really that interested in buying it. So a new challenger appears from the game developer studio, Monte Christo. They are most notable for the creation of the 2nd ranked simulation game: CityLife.
With staff all across the globe, their job is to create the most realistic and lifelike simulation where Simcity4 left off. Although personally they won’t admit to having competition between the two games, (but we know whats going on anyway…) Monte Christo has released some new screenshots of what to expect. They revealed a few new details about the game. You have the ability to use different types of landscapes, like the beaches in Rio, or the snow covered mountains in Aspen. These locales will add to the variety of the different types of locations you can make, instead of the usual generic city.
Map Selection Screen
Lets Ski in Aspen!
Cities Unlimited website will launch sometime in October, and will be featuring developers blogs, webcasts, and a forum. So join in once the website launches to be further closer to the action. The Official Cities Unlimited site is now at http://www.cuplanet.com.
Wow after a few weeks of reviews and previews we’ve come to the million dollar question. Is this the next Simcity5 or not? Well it appears we’ve come to the point where now half of us are saying its just a spinoff. The rest of us are convinced its the next game. The answer might be found in the title. Its not Simcity5: Societies, its just Simcity Societies. However interviews and news sites have stated it is the 5th iteration of Simcity. Dr. Statistics believes 80% of gamers are against Simcity Societies in its current form, 18% are in a wait and see mode, 2% are fans of Tilted Mill and will definitely buy.
Whats wrong with Simcity Societies so far!
What I think: The major complaint is the art direction. The road system looks overly simplified, the buildings look too cuddly and compact, and everything fits pretty much in its square. We were pretty much expecting more realistic graphics and some crazy intersections but that doesn’t seem to be happening. The roads are far too square like. There aren’t any curves seen so far, and everything is grid like. Even Simcity4 had a slight curve with their streets, but Simcity Societies is just thick grids with sidewalks. One of the major eyesores for me is the constant flat texture on the ground. Only around the shore does the game breaks this monotony.
What the Fans think: We’ve had comments ranging from "Simcity 4 looks better than this game" to "I like fresh games and I like to see a new direction take place." I think for the most part, fans do want an easier game but easier in the sense of not having to put power lines, not having to put tedious zones, and easier tools for streets. But this is where it stops. Everything else should be brought back from Simcity4 but with better graphics. xSpartan039x says, "This game is obviously an attempt by maxis [actually tilted mill] to draw in young consumers who cant handle the difficultly of sim city. Basically a nullified sim city where everything is easy, cool and doesnt require much brain-busting to make something".
Come to the Magical Land of Legos!
Whats Right with Simcity Societies!
What I think: The game’s focus is different, and I think this was pretty much well thought out. What happens with Simcity Societies is that your more of the role of a dictator. How is this different from Simcity4? Well In Simcity4, your population directs your actions. You try to appease the population in balancing jobs, residents, and your money. If they can’t get to work, or if they are uneducated, or if they aren’t living long lives, they will move out or devolve. In Simcity Societies, the gameplay changed towards you forcing who will live in your city. By building certain types of buildings you can attract a certain society. Its more like Black & White, creating a society where your citizens are controlled with force, makes the city darker and stricter. Your citizens might be unhappy but you will see less crime and more money. However placing buildings for artistic and happier people changes your populace into a brighter colorful society.
What the Fans think: Its hard to find a positive comment about this game. Most positive comments stems from Tilted Mill’s work in the past. "The only reason why I’m interested in Societies is Tilted Mill’s involment and the fact that it apears to be much more of an Impressions-style city builder than Maxis-type one," and eedoon says, "At first, I thought SCS concept is a little bit weird. But then again, I think it is good for anyone to try something new and therefore I am eager to give this new SC a try." But this comment pretty much summed up the rest of the situation, "Will I buy it? Yeah, probably, if only in hopes the money will go to producing a REAL sequel" Well, there you have it, we aren’t satisfied until Simcity "5" comes out and until then we have Cities: Unlimited to look forward to. More on that later..
So is this Simcity5 or Not?
Well we do know that Simcity will continue if this game fails. Yep thats right! If this game doesn’t get good reviews and sales, Maxis will go back to basics and work on the next version of Simcity. You don’t need to kill yourselves or boycott this game. If this game is successful, Simcity Societies might be branched off in its own series while coexisting with Maxis creating Simcity 6.
Don’t ya Wish Your Simcity was HOT Like Me! Don’t ya!
The drama rollercoaster of Simcity Societies ended today as Chris Beatrice of Tilted Mill clarified information regarding the game. Simcity Societies will infact be the same Simcity building game as all previous versions of simcity. It will also head to a new aspect of the game to give each city a personality. The game focuses on Six Social energies that influences the outcome of the buildings’ and neighborhoods’ overall mood. 1up also revealed some aspects of the game. All buildings are now ploppable (meaning you place all buildings down as you would do with a fire or police station). The game will also have rewards that unlock as you meet the goals in your city.
Overall with looking at the screens. The art direction is what pretty much upsets me at the moment. It looks too bubbly and unrealistic like RCT3. I’m still looking for that high gloss ultra realistic simcity. I’m going to have to look elsewhere.
Tilted Mill Productions will be running the development of the newest game of Simcity5. Tilted Mill has stated that the game will not be a realistic simulation like previous Simcity versions before it. Tilted Mill understands that the new direction might anger some fans but they want them to atleast try it out. Some have said Tilted Mill has killed simcity.
The following are some User Reactions against Tilted Mill:
"The Community was waiting on a new and better SimCity5, where realism is nearly perfect. SimCity Societies isn’t that SimCity5 we where waiting for…"
"When you said that this SC is not a realistic urban simulation, then this city building game should not be called Simcity. The whole series of Simcity has been based around realistic building sims… you are turning the new Simcity into just another cartoonish simulator…that upsets alot of people"
"EA, knows **** when it comes to simcity. They want to water itdown and simplyfy it down as much as possible to make maximum sales, great from a greed point of view, utterly rubbish if developers want their game to be reknown "
"How can you try to convince us, loyal SimCity fans that a game, that isn’t an urban simulator will please us? It won’t. Stop fooling us, there’s no city simulation therefore the Simcity name on that game is an insult, and we don’t like being insulted"
"It appears that EA has taken the course that is all too often taken nowadays; they are appealing to a mass audience and killing their base, which, with any luck, will be suicide for them later to the point where they will have to let Will Wright develop it again. SimCity is, at its heart, a game with a goal to be as realistic as possible. What EA is doing is like removing rollercoaster design from RollerCoaster Tycoon…"
And I must admit I have to agree with them. I want to personally put all blame towards EA most of all. You took a game like SSX3 and created crap for kids with SSX Blur. We want our realism back. You might as well let Maxis continue directing this game and let Simcity Socities change its name to something else. More Updates Today
Its like Watching a "Cubix Robots for Everyone" Marathon.
Simcity Societies will now be the fifth installment of the popular Simcity games. We last left off with Simcity 4 Rush Hour which focused on traffic, highways, and commute time management. Simcity Societies hints towards being that SimsVille hybrid I’ve been waiting for. Will it steer towards City Life and its focus on keeping poor and rich communities happy together? Or will it focus on Families and their immediate neighborhoods. 1up states EA will take this game and gear it for a much larger audience. This may deter the fans of the series if this game turns out to be too childish and easy. Any new information on Simcity Societies will be added to this blog and this post.
For Now we have a new screenshot, which doesn’t impress me.
Bumped.org Is now keeping track of any breaking devolopments of Simcity Societies.
