By Adam Smith on December 11th, 2012.
How had it escaped my attention that best-named-developer Ocean Quigley is working on SimCity alongside challenging-for-the-title Stone Librande? You can hear the latter in the latest SimCity video, as he demonstrates multi-city play. I don’t think the feature was designed for the likes of me, who would rather operate a sort of mayoral dictatorship in a Dark City isolated from the rest of the world, but will you be convinced of the possibilities offered by this online mode?
By Jim Rossignol on November 27th, 2012.
Would you want to see SimCity‘s creative director showing you some of what the latest city-tinkering sandbox can do? No? Oh. Well, for you I’ve posted an alternative viewing material beneath the click. For me, though, with my keen interest in the ways of the simulated metropolis, there’s a video of best-named-developer, Ocean Quigley, doing his thing in the “ultimate construction set” of options that SimCity provides.
Clearly the ultimatest thing about it is the “clumph” noise on placing a building. Everything else in the game rests on that effect.
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Infographical
By Craig Pearson on October 25th, 2012.
I lived with John for four years, which makes me an expert on sexy. So when I say that there’s something damn sexy about SimCity‘s data layers, then you have to believe me. Maxis’s reworking of their city simulation is getting a lot of attention for the way they’re attempting to display the graphs and percentages of the working of a city as part of the living, breathing world. You want to see if there’s a traffic problem? Follow a car and see where it gets stuck, then build bypass routes to clear the clog. It’s an idea that creates a startling looking game, but it can’t do everything. At a recent EA event I was demonstrated that to really peek at the population or divine the water, you’ll need to switch on the data.
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By Craig Pearson on October 15th, 2012.
Electrical grids? Meh. Highways? Fleh. Civic infrastructure? Poo. If you’re a real SimCity fan, you know it’s all about the disasters that the apathetic world throws your way. You know that something will come, and that you’ll need to deal with it. It’s inevitable. If it’s a worry you’ve had to relate to your psychiatrist, then you need worry no more. This is what you’ve been waiting for: a faux ‘olde’ style trailer showing off the various ways that your Simulated City (5) could be destroyed, and the various avenues open to you to protect it.
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By John Walker on October 11th, 2012.
Maxis’ Lucy Bradshaw (senior VP and GM) invites you into her living room to watch some Sim City on her enormous telly. Originally broadcast live at some point during last night, it’s an hour and seventeen minutes of all things Sims and SimCity. It’s below, and I’ve highlighted the parts you’ll want to watch.
By Adam Smith on October 4th, 2012.
This is a treat. Ten minutes of SimCity, showing a city being simulated all the way from its humble beginnings as a field to its brash middle period as a nascent tourist trap. I’m unable to remove the frown that the social and online aspects of the game have stitched into my forehead, but I’m also unable to banish the smile that the multitude of systems at work brings to my face. Rather than being about plonking down zones and buildings, this SimCity tracks and models individual elements in great detail. That level of simulation fascinates me.
By Nathan Grayson on August 16th, 2012.
You may not have heard, but SimCity‘s making a big, connection-required-on-start-up play for online, er, play. That said, I doubt the decision was made entirely by a roundtable of cackling men in suits who meet in dark rooms and refer to themselves as “The Council.” There is, in other words, a method to the madness – almost as though it’s being guided by some omniscient presence that has a disturbing amount of trouble preventing tornadoes and wildfires from ravaging entire metroplexes. But what exactly are we getting for our trouble? Well, it’s called SimCity World, and EA’s dropped a video of the basics in action. Build a (curved!) road past the break to see for yourself.
By Jim Rossignol on June 13th, 2012.
The mind of Maxis is brimming over with simulated city, and they’re sharing slightly more of that than we’ve seen already in a new trailer, which I’ve conveniently erected beneath this introductory text. I’ve also posted the “gameplay” trailer so that you can compare that with the slightly silly CGI version of their cheery urban world that they’ve bookended their blatherings with.
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By Nathan Grayson on June 2nd, 2012.
The pre-E3 news volcano keeps on spewing molten infobits, as is its over-exuberant wont. EA, for whatever reason (perhaps, you know, E3) is saving its trailers until next week, but it’s seen fit to toss a rather important morsel in hungry fans’ direction to tide them over. Namely, via an email touting the publishing kingpin’s trade show lineup, it pegged SimCity‘s grand opening for February 2013. Previously, all we had to go on was a vague “2013.” Now then, here’s hoping that actually goes according to plan – given the precedent set by a certain other recently launched “always online” game.
Maxis, meanwhile, has promised a grand unveiling next week – far beyond rough-around-the-edges tech demos. Most crucially, multiplayer’s apparently a lock for the show, which means we’ll finally understand how EA’s admittedly less potent connected tech will improve our experiences. So then, chatter excitedly amongst yourselves. Preferably in Simlish.
By Nathan Grayson on May 2nd, 2012.
Fire! It’s nice to look at, pleasant to sit around during the harsh winter months, and – because Mother Nature likes a good laugh just as much as the rest of us – one of the most insanely destructive forces on this planet. And now, it’s coming to a SimCity near you. Well, OK, it’s only doing so if you’re a really miserable/sadistic city planner. Wondering how to avoid reducing all your hard work to ash? Hey, me too. We have so much in common. Near as I can tell, step one is to watch the following trailer and then do the exact opposite.
The city of tomorrow!
By Alec Meer on April 27th, 2012.
Shortly after seeing the new SimCity in its full bendy-road glory, I had a quick chat with one of its architects, EA Maxis’ producer Jason Haber. Tackled – its lengthy development, why we’ve waited so long for a sequel, why it’s a ‘real’ Sim City, difficulty, whether important content is being sectioned off for pre-order bonuses and DLC, and how a traffic jam could make your whole city burn down.
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