SimCity (2013 video game)

  • Operating system: Windows XP, Vista, 7 Mac OS X 10.7.5
  • CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000 Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz
  • RAM: 2 GB
  • Hard disk: 12 GB
  • Graphics Card: Windows: ATI Radeon HD 2x00 Nvidia 7800 Mac OS X: Nvidia 9400M Intel HD3000
  • Internet connection: Download: 256 kbps Upload: 64 kbps

SimCity is a city-building simulation of the development studio Maxis. The publisher is Electronic Arts. It is the fifth major version of the SimCity series. The title was released on March 7, 2013 for Windows and on 29 August for OS X.

  • 2.1 Closed Beta
  • 2.2 editions
  • 3.1 Changes to the predecessors
  • 3.2 Multiplayer
  • 3.3 Visualization of the data
  • 3.4 modules
  • 4.1 sales
  • 4.2 Award
  • 4.3 criticism 4.3.1 General review
  • 4.3.2 Criticism of the publication

Development

The game was officially announced on 6 March 2012 at the Game Developers Conference. The game is available for Windows and will be available for OS X.

According to developers, Maxis, the game is a remake of the series and is called so only SimCity.

Engine

SimCity uses the new GLASSBOX engine. This uses the tilt-shift effect, making such cities look like miniature landscapes.

GLASSBOX differs from other engines because it uses simulation units called agents who represent objects such as water, electricity, and employees. For example, traffic jams are dynamically simulated by masses of traveling agent rather than a simple display of a jam animation. On YouTube, a four -part video series has been published on this topic.

Audio

Compared to its predecessors the entire audio system has been revised. In various zones of the sound of different characteristics is dominated ( in residential zones of cars, industrial zones of trucks ). The sound will change to match the game speed.

The music in the game is composed by Chris Tilton. This will change to match current events in the game.

Publication

In Germany the game is officially released on March 7, 2013 for Windows and was originally issued in June 2013 for Mac OS X - the date was, however, short shifted to August 2013. In the U.S., the Windows version has been available since 5 March 2013. It was originally announced for February 2013, but was postponed.

Closed Beta

Players were able to register for a closed beta. This took between 25 and 28 January, 2013 with the aim to detect any errors. Between 16 and 17 February 2013, a second beta event took place, which should among other things test the server capacity. A third beta test was also used to test the server capacity.

Editions

Pre-orders will receive the limited edition of SimCity, which contains some bonus content. There is also a Deluxe Edition, which includes three cities Sets addition to the contents of the Limited Edition.

Gameplay

In SimCity, the development of several cities is simulated, taking into account various factors such as crime, the environment, congestion and education. The player can build on an undeveloped landscape at the start by using different buildings and zones. In the game there are three different types of zones, including residential, commercial and industrial zones.

Changes to its predecessors

  • SimCity can be played in single player and multiplayer mode with up to 15 friends.
  • Two other new features are the multiplayer component and finite resources.
  • Cities in a region are connected to each other via pre-defined regional networks such as highways, railways and waterways. Elements such as traffic and air pollution affect all nearby cities.
  • EA's Origin is deeply integrated into the game and therefore is to play a permanent Internet connection is required. However, a short interruption of the Internet connection is not a problem for the activation of SimCity an Origin account is required.
  • On January 13, 2014 it was announced on the official website of SimCity that the game with the update 10 future also can be played offline (without internet connection ).

Multiplayer

SimCity is the first part of the series since 2000, which has a multiplayer mode. In a region up to 16 players can play together and build together or alone several cities. With the help of friends can be built as " large structures ".

Alternatively, regions can be marked as private and played in single player mode.

Data visualization

Be inspired by Google Maps and GIS applications data, such as air pollution or water supply, rendered on a particular in color -changing cards. For example, if a water tower is selected, a card will be immediately displayed on the density of water resources is visible.

Modules

Buildings can be extended by different modules. Thus, it is possible to expand a police station by a helipad and thus to reduce the crime in the city, without having to build a second police station.

Reception

Sales

EA has announced that SimCity was sold within the first two weeks 1.1 million times. Of these, 54% were digital versions.

Award

At E3 2012, the game for 24 E3 awards was nominated, of which it won 8. In addition, it won the gamescom award in 2012.

Criticism

General criticism

The game keeps on Metacritic Metascore one of 64 based on 74 ratings from trade magazines and a player rating of 2.0 based on 3500 user reviews. Praise it was for new comfort features and beautiful graphics. Criticized the absence of detailed functions of the predecessor and in comparison to these greatly reduced building site as well as a lack of long -term motivation for players. It has been criticized that it is contrary to the spirit of the game for the first time is malicious players are able to harm neighboring cities.

Furthermore, the marked discrepancy between the announced by Maxis performance of Glassbox engine and the implementation was criticized. So wrote about the PC Games: " In the run- Maxis has the Glassbox engine of Sim City made ​​strongly to the fore, since this series was supposed to bring a never before unknown level of realism. In the test, but the simulation proves foundation in places as incomprehensible and illogical. " Similarly, Gamestar expresses: " Contrary to the statement made by Maxis boss Lucy Bradshaw, there are no individual Sims in SimCity. Instead, the inhabitants are constantly regenerated. " In the long-term test the game from the Game Star was subsequently devalued because of major weaknesses with the AI. The poor pathfinding of vehicles leads to massive traffic problems through to no longer repairable gridlock. In addition, modders were able to show that only a fraction of the residents is included in the simulation.

Criticism of the publication

For U.S. release date provided by the required game and previously criticized permanent Internet connection problems. Thus, the activation of the game was impossible at first, later took it up to three hours. Players that the activation was successful, had to then wait up to 30 minutes to enter the actual game.

Also, the sales start in Germany was accompanied by massive server failures that attracted negative customer reviews by themselves, because the game for some customers over longer periods was not playable. In response to the negative feedback through the botched launch of Electronic Arts SimCity offered the opportunity to receive from a selection of games, a game for free. This action was only for players who SimCity had activated until March 25, 2013, her Origin account.

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