A Look into SimCity 5: The Ups and Downs of the New City
After a month-long delay, after its announcement of a February release, SimCiy fans are looking forward to a new city adventure in the SimCity 5, and EA has confirmed the March release this time.
Before it hits the stores and you hit the street running for your copy, here are a few pre-release speculations, possibilities, and potentials at SimCity 2013, pegged to be the best version yet.
Multiplayer modes
Pegged to be strength of the new game as well as a feature worthy of buzz is the supposed always on massive multiplayer mode, reports iDigitalTimes.
This has been a long-awaited feature since its last appearance in 1996. This means interacting with different cities, specializing in different markets, and experiencing different events, the highs and lows common in a real city, in the game.
But it can be both the bane and the boon of the game since SimCity is dependent on your Internet connection. When you experience a crash, then, most probably, so will your city.
Super slow installation
According to GadgetUnit, a major letdown would be the installation time, especially for fans who are already twitching with excitement to start the gameplay. Even though the review is based on a beta sampling of the game, the actual download is slow even at 300MB of a file.
Which begs the question of the SimCity servers holding up for the official launch. Since it has been a while since its last release, the demand for SimCity may be quite a load, and as Kotaku reports, may be a repeat of what happened with Diablo III in terms of server problems.
GlassBox engine power
Back then, SimCity relied mostly on map-based simulations and statistics to run your city, which gives one lacking element: realism. With the invention the GlassBox, you now have distinct simulation for each aspect of your city.
This means that people in the city interact uniquely with each other as they are a unique "agent" all their own. So each one adds weight to how your city runs.
"It's a new simulation engine that was developed here at Maxis to support agent-based simulation," said Lead Producer Kip Katsarelis to Wired. "It lets you simulate very simple objects that, when composed together, can do very complex things."
Caring for your citizens
With SimCity, it's not just about pure building. This time, you have to care about the people who live in them.
"People matter in this game. Players who aren't used to that idea of having to physically connect things together and make flows between things-I think that's probably the biggest change to overcome," said Stone Librande, lead designer of SimCity 5 to Joystiq.
SimCity 5 is set for release on March 5 for the US, March 7 for Australia, and March 8 for New Zealand and Europe, reports Kotaku.