The New 2013 SimCity [Merged]

[mostro900]

Kickstarter Alternative

After reading of all the problems with the EA servers and the fact that you can't play offline, I am reluctant to buy the new SimCity.

Found a project on Kickstarter called Civitas. They're looking to build an alternative SimCity with no DRM. Might be a good alternative if you can wait - they are looking at a November 2013 release.

There will be a native Mac version and it will include subways!

 

[n8mac]

Nah. I have an iMac G5 that I plan on starting to rebuild this week and I'll run it on that probably.

So my earlier statement that SimCity 4 will not run on Intel-based Mac's still stands, albeit with a caveat. If you're running Mountain Lion, and maybe Lion, it won't install. IIRC, I bought this game while I was still running Snow Leopard and it installed but wouldn't play well, even with the Intel patch installed.

I have Lion on a different Mac still and will test to see if the install will work on it.

I'm wondering how the mac version of SC4 runs on any mac. I have DP 1.8 G5 powermac I could run it on with tiger but I read many having problems with it so I never got it. I do have an itch for some Sim City though. Is it playable without a lot of crashing on PPC?

 

[S.B.G]

After reading of all the problems with the EA servers and the fact that you can't play offline, I am reluctant to buy the new SimCity.

Found a project on Kickstarter called Civitas. They're looking to build an alternative SimCity with no DRM. Might be a good alternative if you can wait - they are looking at a November 2013 release.

There will be a native Mac version and it will include subways!

Linky?

I'm wondering how the mac version of SC4 runs on any mac. I have DP 1.8 G5 powermac I could run it on with tiger but I read many having problems with it so I never got it. I do have an itch for some Sim City though. Is it playable without a lot of crashing on PPC?

I don't know yet. The G5 I have, I've never turned on. I just got it last week and need to rebuild it first.

 

[MRU]

Linky?
.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1584821767/civitas-plan-develop-and-manage-the-city-of-your-d

 

[n8mac]

Well I looked up prices on ebay for SC4 deluxe and it is going for $75+ LOL. Might as well buy the new one once they get these servers ironed out. More land would be nice too. But it is a nice looking game from watching youtube.

Looks like i'll be firing up Simcity 2000 this week.

 

[vmachiel]

On the system requirements page that list a nvidea 7800 is the minimum. Comparing benchmarks from the 7800 and the 330m, the 330m outperforms the 7800 by about twice as fast. And yes, I did compare the 330 mobile with the 7800 GT (card, so not the mobile chip). So your mac should be able to run the game fine.

You either have 4 or 8 GB or memory, which is more than the 2 required and you have an i7, where a 2 GHz core 2 duo is required. So you are fine on that front as well.

Just make sure the nivdea drivers are up to date when running windows. I'm not familiar with how to check for that (mac user), so you'll have to figure that out, sorry.

Hope this helps

 

[Flaskekork]

Origin

I just bought Sim City on Origin... does anyone know if Origin does the same as Steam? When you buy a game on steam that is compatible with Windows and OSX you only need to pay for it once and download to both platforms. Is it the same with Origin?

i really don't want to pay a second time for a mac-version

 

[braddicted2mac]

I just bought Sim City on Origin... does anyone know if Origin does the same as Steam? When you buy a game on steam that is compatible with Windows and OSX you only need to pay for it once and download to both platforms. Is it the same with Origin?

i really don't want to pay a second time for a mac-version

From what I know no is the answer. May have to pay for the mac version when it is released. I am waiting as I don't use a PC

 

[Cougarcat]

You're fine. The game has very low requirements. You should upgrade to windows 7 though--xp can only access 3 GB ram.

 

[LePigeonBleu]

From what I know no is the answer. May have to pay for the mac version when it is released. I am waiting as I don't use a PC

I have heard both answers, all from EA/Orgin staff.

m

 

[theuserjohnny]

I've been trying to figure out if similar to Steam if you buy the PC version you will have access to the Mac version. I'm currently been trying to get the answer and right now I've been pointed to the "specialist" via the phone so hopefully I can get an answer (I'm on hold).

I have a PC that can play it but I would like to just primarily play it on this machine but I seriously can't wait for it! I want to play it now! The PC should be able to hold me over until the Mac release.

 

[LePigeonBleu]

and the specialist said...?

 

[50548]

Always online to play? Absolutely no go.

 

[theuserjohnny]

and the specialist said...?

Sadly they had no official word of it so he couldn't really give me an answer. It's a shame because I bet there are a bunch of people in my situation. He said that Maxis is the only one who can really answer that question. So if anyone can tell me how to contact them I'll be glad to give em a try.

I mean based upon their past two major releases Spore and The Sims 3 you would assume that once it comes out you should have access to both versions. But the guy on the phone said he didn't want to like tell me that it'll happen considering that it's happened in the past so he told me to play it safe and wait.

 

[hovscorpion12]

Not having SimCity 2013 on the Mac yet is beneficial as it gives EA Maxis plenty of time to iron out all the bugs in the PC version, ship out a patch, release the Mac version..... everyone's happy

 

[SlickShoes]

When I can play the game it is great!

First couple of days servers are full and I can't get on, then I do get on and make a mess of my first two cities.

Third city and I have put in 10 hours to it now, logged off at 2am last night, up at 7 this morning and tried to play but EA have lost or corrupted my save file so I can no longer load my city, 10 hours completely wasted.

All the hassle of this game is just brutal, it's a great game under all the crap but all the crap makes it not worth while. If you don't already own it, don't buy it any time soon.

 

[S.B.G]

Third city and I have put in 10 hours to it now, logged off at 2am last night, up at 7 this morning and tried to play but EA have lost or corrupted my save file so I can no longer load my city, 10 hours completely wasted.

It's experiences like this that make me not want to spend my time & money on it, even though I have a strong desire to play it. I guess my saving grace is that I am rebuilding an iMac G5 which I can load SimCity 4 onto it. Once that's done, and I can play it, I hope my desire for the new game wanes a bit.

 

[Apple Pie 2.0]

What kind of performance are you guys getting on the 15" rMBP?

I'm playing it at 1440x900 and medium settings, and its just not that great at around 30 FPS.

I was hoping it would do a lot better, at leas 60 FPS or so..

 

[mrbigglessworth]

What kind of performance are you guys getting on the 15" rMBP?

I'm playing it at 1440x900 and medium settings, and its just not that great at around 30 FPS.

I was hoping it would do a lot better, at leas 60 FPS or so..

Was gonna be my question, or better yet, how do you ensure that the Nvidia card is doing the work and not the Intel HD 4,000....

Ive only been in a few minutes but what I have no is far less on performance than what I saw during the beta.

 

[runebinder]

Was gonna be my question, or better yet, how do you ensure that the Nvidia card is doing the work and not the Intel HD 4,000....

Ive only been in a few minutes but what I have no is far less on performance than what I saw during the beta.

To force the nVidia GPU download and install gfxCardstatus, lets you choose between dynamic switching, integrated and discrete only

 

[MRU]

I've been trying to figure out if similar to Steam if you buy the PC version you will have access to the Mac version. I'm currently been trying to get the answer and right now I've been pointed to the "specialist" via the phone so hopefully I can get an answer (I'm on hold).

I have a PC that can play it but I would like to just primarily play it on this machine but I seriously can't wait for it! I want to play it now! The PC should be able to hold me over until the Mac release.

Normally on Origin if the gme is avilabke on both mac and pc then yes.... However this is still questionable in regards to SC.

However the fact the game supports cross platform play in multiplayer gives us reason to be hopeful.

----------

I hope EA will allow us to play SC offline when the Mac-version is released and that the maps will be larger.
According to the reviews I read these are, imo, the two major drawbacks with the new SC.
But can't wait for it to be released on Mac anyway.

Not a chance.

However I was plying the other day and lost connection to server for just under 10 minutes and was able to play fine until I got a warning/error message... I suspect the importance of always on by EA & Maxis is not for cloud computing other than saving your city and for DRM.

Hopefully someone out there cracks it to support offline support by fooling the game into thinking its talking to a server...

 

[S.B.G]

Looks like EA got national headlines again in a week for their nightmare of a game release.

SimCity PR nightmare escalates

The SimCity saga is evolving into a mesmerizing example of mismanaging a highly ambitious project in several ways. Forcing consumers to opt for an always-on Internet connection; underestimating server loads; insisting on the unnecessary and destructive goal of having “real people” populating the simulation; capping the size of the cities at a level that obviously alienates long-time fans; and deciding to go ahead with the game launch even with clearly inadequate pathfinding algorithms.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/03/13/simcity-pr-nightmare-escalates/?intcmp=features#ixzz2NRpy3MXf

 

[champ01]

I was looking out for this game but 2 things are ridiculous.

- Always online: One of the best ways to **** up the experience.

- Based purely on making financial profits: If you wanted to build a green and automated city you can't. This game is developed with old thinking making it impossible to build a sustainable city so for me this game no fun at all.

 

[Cougarcat]

I was looking out for this game but 2 things are ridiculous.

- Always online: One of the best ways to **** up the experience.

- Based purely on making financial profits: If you wanted to build a green and automated city you can't. This game is developed with old thinking making it impossible to build a sustainable city so for me this game no fun at all.

You can make a green city if you want. You can specialize in culture (tourism) or gambling, for example. You don't have to build any industry.

That said, this game is plagued with other problems, which the above article does a good job at outlining. The server issues are the least of its problems.

 

[rcp27]

I see geek.com is carrying a story about how a hacker has been able to get the game working without its always online requirement. Once more we have a DRM scheme that is so intrusive that a cracked illegal product provides a distinctly superior user experience compared with the legal one, and manages to protect the product from piracy for a whole week. I really like the idea of a new Sim City game, and was looking forward to an update of the line, but for so many reasons, this ain't it (and it's not just the always online, server issue, the reviews seem to highlight a lot of features I would expect are also missing, like really big maps, subways and highways).