City Skylines, a new city simulator.

[JCitron]

I just got this the other day. It is truly amazing and far better than SimCity 2013 ever was. Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order created a nice program that was built with community feedback. (Sound familiar). They sold 225,000 copies since the release on March 10th.

http://invisioncommunity.co.uk/2015...city-builders-shatters-paradox-sales-records/

I recommend trying it out if you haven't already. There are already mods and add-ons being created by the community. It's available through Steam for $29.99 USD for the standard version and $39.99 for the deluxe version which comes with some extra buildings and stuff.

The graphics are really, really great, and the landscape which starts with a 2km x 2km square is expandable. The landscape is expandable to nine 2km squares, however, a mod has been released to open all 25 squares which are available. That's 25, 2km x 2km squares which is a huge area. This is not supported by the developer so install at your own risk.

Hopefully N3V will have the success this small team of 13 people at CO had with their product release.

 

[amigacooke]

Hi John,

I bought this too and you're right it's everything SimCity should have been.

 

[oknotsen]

Edit:
Nevermind.... I thought the one via Simulator Central was without having the trouble of Steam but I overlooked it still is.

33AU$ there btw.

 

[RRSignal]

Yeah I was looking closely too but saw that they're kind of misleading with respect to the fact that Steam is required and also that the Minimum System Requirements also require an internet connection for the game to even function (due to Steam), but the minimum requirements listed do not disclose either of these facts.

That these important facts are not disclosed upfront says a lot about the company behind it.

 

[shaneturner12]

Actually, if you look on the product page for Cities: Skylines (https://www.paradoxplaza.com/cities-skylines) it does mention a Steam key will be issued.

Shane

 

[RRSignal]

Actually, if you look on the product page for Cities: Skylines (https://www.paradoxplaza.com/cities-skylines) it does mention a Steam key will be issued.

Shane

That still doesn't explain much; you're assuming everyone knows how Steam and Steam resellers work. From a plain-text reading, a Steam key might be delivered in addition to the software itself.

That aside, neither Steam nor the internet connection/Steam's own requirements are listed in either the minimum or recommended system requirements.

 

[shaneturner12]

That's one of the reasons why research is important before buying a game (like anything else). The system requirements are normally on the hardware side (apart from the operating system) and this is the case for most games, even those exclusively on Steam.

Shane

 

[RRSignal]

Not really true; software usually specifies additional software required as well as hardware. The point of minimum system requirements (again it's in the term itself) would include software as well as hardware. At any rate, an internet connection mandates certain hardware requirements as well as the requirement of an external service.

 

[nicky9499]

That these important facts are not disclosed upfront says a lot about the company behind it.

Holy jesus christ, again?

I could care less about the company. I have Steam, I have the game, and it worked right off the bat. Would you like to tell me how EA's first few months of SimCity went? You should stop before you make a fool of yourself again embarking on another anti-Steam crusade.

If anything, Cities Skyline is a stellar example of what a game developer should be doing.

 

[RRSignal]

Holy jesus christ, again?

I could care less about the company. I have Steam, I have the game, and it worked right off the bat. Would you like to tell me how EA's first few months of SimCity went? You should stop before you make a fool of yourself again embarking on another anti-Steam crusade.

If anything, Cities Skyline is a stellar example of what a game developer should be doing.

Ah, there's Nicky, always ready to stir the pot.

Ok, we get it, in your book, it's okay to lie/mislead/not fully disclose about a product as long as it's good enough. We get your logic. Video game companies should be able to get away with things that nobody else is supposed to. Too bad for you most people and even the law don't agree: In fact, there are quite a few laws - and not just here, but Europe and other places - in place to protect consumers from that sort of thing, so it's pretty safe to say that you're in the minority, not me.

Oh, and since credit card companies and Paypal tend to reverse disputed charges for improperly-advertised products, it's safe to say that even they have a concern with their customers purchasing one thing and getting something else.

Oh, and notice something? This (and it's distributors) aren't the only ones being, well, er, a little less-than-upfront about the fact they they only sell a key and not the product itself. Notice it's becoming a theme here?

BTW, this probably would have faded out, but, as usual you have to make a mountain out of a molehill.

 

[Roy3b3]

I've used Steam in the past for other games without any problems, so I saw nothing wrong when I downloaded Cities Skyline a couple of days ago, as well. It happens to be a fine game and tests your ability to perform.
It's all about choices and we have the right to choose whatever we like. If the game happened to be no good, I'd soon delete it. Anyway, comparing it with Trainz,... I'd still rather play Trainz, but that's still my choice.
I don't know why people whinge about trivial things.
Roy3b3

 

[RRSignal]

I've used Steam in the past for other games without any problems, so I saw nothing wrong when I downloaded Cities Skyline a couple of days ago, as well. It happens to be a fine game and tests your ability to perform.
It's all about choices and we have the right to choose whatever we like. If the game happened to be no good, I'd soon delete it. Anyway, comparing it with Trainz,... I'd still rather play Trainz, but that's still my choice.
I don't know why people whinge about trivial things.
Roy3b3

There are a lot of reasons why people don't like Steam, just as there are a lot of reasons why people like it.

The issue here (and it's a common theme when dealing with companies that sell through Steam) is that the nature of the way things work isn't fully disclosed. Most people wouldn't, for instance, expect to go to a car dealer and be given a coupon to get the car from someone else later on. Oh, and that the dealer didn't disclose that your new car runs on diesel, not regular gas or whatever you were told you were buying.

You're right, as you say, "It's all about choices and we have the right to choose whatever we like." That's true, provided the information to make that choice is accurate and truthful which, where Steam is concerned, it often isn't.

(And I'd rather play Trainz too! hehe)

 

[JCitron]

Holy jesus christ, again?

I could care less about the company. I have Steam, I have the game, and it worked right off the bat. Would you like to tell me how EA's first few months of SimCity went? You should stop before you make a fool of yourself again embarking on another anti-Steam crusade.

If anything, Cities Skyline is a stellar example of what a game developer should be doing.

I agree and I'm sorry I started this thread!

I enjoy this game as a way to unwind from route building. Yes, I can get a bit stressed as I fiddle around with maps, as I puzzle over where track is supposed to be versus what's been wiped out by buildings as I'm currently working on a semi-prototypical route, plus all the other things that annoy us with TS12 like popping up trees and disappearing objects. So just playing a game, without having to deal with the other crap is a pleasure.

And this is proof that if something is done the right way from the beginning, it should work well right out of the box. Shame on EA Games for failing on this one. I do feel bad for the Maxis developers though. I'm sure they put up with a lot of flack on the corporate side and never got to produce the simulator they wanted to release, but alas someone else did it for them.

John

 

[RRSignal]

To bring this topic into some relevance to Trainz, I've always felt Trainz could be the base of a good city simulator, at least the construction and infrastructure side of things. Wrapping of existing objects with certain values - Kwh of electricity required or produced, cubic feet of water consumed and waste generated, dollar value, depreciation, maximum foot/road/rail traffic capacity in and out of a particular asset, etc., - and you've got what you need to do the job. That's pretty much how Simcity worked under the hood, and Trainz already has the ability to dispense and consume commodities.

 

[amigacooke]

Just thought I'd confirm you don't need to be online to play Cities: Skylines.

 

[davesnow]

I don't understand the objectives and game play of the game.

 

[RRSignal]

Just thought I'd confirm you don't need to be online to play Cities: Skylines.

Do you need it to activate it, though? If so, then an internet connection is still a requirement.

It wouldn't be so bad (arguments about system requirements aside) if, once downloaded, you could install it and move it off wherever you like, with no further connection ever needed, even to move it to a new machine with no internet connection and no previous installation. Is this possible?

 

[ish6]

There are a lot of reasons why people don't like Steam, just as there are a lot of reasons why people like it.

Good Evening All --

I know it's a bit off-topic, but I do not like steam! And I guess it's only fair to say why! Steam and anti-virus software DO NOT get alone, and there are reasons why.... way to long to explain! I guess my issue is that Steam does a very poor job in detailing instructions how to fix these issues! Their forum, it's not trainz forum, obviously, and getting help from Steam Administrators is like searching for Noah's ark -- You can't find them!

Also, as for late, they're adding little things here and there in the background, etc ... for a game! I just want to play the game... Anyhow, I keep it short with this! It's not for me, as others are fine with it it seems!

All in all, I am old fashion, and I like to have that game box in my hands -- Sadly, many companies choose now digital download -- what gets me, why charge the same or more for a digital format when they're eliminating the middle man, the distributors! They should charge less money; But that's another topic for another day!

John, except my apologies since this your threads, but I wanted to express my thoughts here, in that RRSignal is right on point of his thoughts about Steam... he's not alone! However, like I have read through the thread, it's a matter of choice, and that's fine too!

BTW -- Checked out a few videos of the game, and I took me back to the old days of Sim City! --- Back them played the sins, and roller tycoon, and railroad tycoon too, etc :wave:

 

[RRSignal]

Hi Ishie! Hope your Marz community is thriving!





@all
FYI, all this talk of city building inspired me to check out Simcity 4 once more. Turns out that GoG.com has it on sale for the next few days (100%, truly DRM-free, none of that 'we consider anything short of 24/7 online to be DRM-free' bullstuff). It's $7.99, no internet connection required to run the game, not even just for ten seconds to activate the game. Runs smoothly. They're also selling the SC2000 Deluxe Pack for $2 and change.

 

[jonwray]

My copy of the newest SimCity (2013) refuses to play after I hit "Play" on the launcher. I spent $60 on the limited edition of that game when it came out, and now it doesn't work...