EA SimCity Societies Community Day

[MarkDuffy]

EA SimCity Societies Community Day

We are desperately & anxiously awaiting reports from Zen at HeavenGames & Dirk/Ry at Simtropolis. Both sites received a set of 8 "exclusive new images". While not entirely new (one is an exact duplicate of a previous image [windmills]), and many others are different angles of previously released images (older builds), some ARE new. I believe the small city surrounded by dirt with the pitiful nude river edge is also from an older build.

Both sites have already released some in-game images.

ManagerJosh (http://forums.worldsims.org/gallery/browseimages.php?c=71) has opened a New Gallery on his site that has all of them rounded up so far. Especially check out the in-game images with Interface at the end. They absolutely ROCK! Lots of new beanz there.

Enjoy! :)

EDIT: It looks like http://www.flashofsteel.com/ has a bad case of jetlag & airport hell & is still exhausted.

The other supposid attendee is http://simcityplaza.de/ (Andreas), so perhaps our German-speaking members

*cough* BeanSpiller Dorn *cough*

Tobing, et al... can keep us informed.

[Corinthian]

Love the screenshots, especially the new ones.

Anyone spot some TM humor?

"Ghosts, poltergeists, and zombies blamed for SimNation's hauntings."

"Motorists complain about each other's driving skills."

"Peep sheep comes home, tail not far behind."

And an incomplete one from that shot, "Four of every nineteen Sim Lanka residents agree: W" (I wonder how that sentence ends, yes I do.)

And I see several diagonally placed buildings here (http://forums.worldsims.org/gallery/showimage.php?i=3646&c=71). What's up with them?

Thanks for the link, MarkDuffy. :)

[MarkDuffy]

Absolutely, Corinthian! That Industrial section image is HOT !!!

So is the earlier build of the excellent meandering river. TM just forgot to place some trees, rocks, etc. (or left it for us to do). The zoomout is most excellent & gives us a taste of the camera zoom!

The in-game images with buildings placed on unlevel terrain (and all the terrain :eek: ).

We also get a glimpse of the paintbrush on a building (Decoration) that gives us a another clue to that button on the interface.

Still wondering about that "W..." :eek:

Is that a Dalmation in front of the Fire Station?

[nexusdog]

Is that a Dalmation in front of the Fire Station?

I thought it was a dead cow...

[Rnett]

http://bestsmileys.com/lol/1.gif Kinda looks like one or at least a sleeping cow.

[David Beebe]

that's horses... and a different thread...

[King Faticus]

if they had no problems beating a horse to within a millimeter of it's life.. then going the extra ten thousand Kilometers, then they also have no problems repeating the crime on a poor cow-dalmatian-thing o_0

[tobing]

Tobing, et al... can keep us informed.
Unfortunately I haven't been in SF, but I'll be in Leipzig next week...

[MarkDuffy]

Unfortunately I haven't been in SF, but I'll be in Leipzig next week...

Thank you, Tobing, but that wasn't the request. The request was help with translating anything that turned up on the German 4th site I posted.

It is excellent that you will be going to Leipzig! I hope you have fun & bring back a lot of beanz! THAT is our next big event, unless TM/EA pulls more surprizes like Community Day.

We anxiously await your report! :)

[nexusdog]

if they had no problems beating a horse to within a millimeter of it's life.. then going the extra ten thousand Kilometers, then they also have no problems repeating the crime on a poor cow-dalmatian-thing o_0

Are you telling me they've killed the only cowmation in existence?

[Azeem]

Those new screenshots look fantastic. The riverside view of the city is absolutely gorgeous. :D

But what's with the 4-lane roads??? :confused: :o

By the way, is that an INSULA I spot in one of the screenshots? :D :p

[Aushun]

Google translation (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.simcityplaza.de/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://simcityplaza.de/%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG)

[Corinthian]

Did you read rybolton's review (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=368&threadid=92117&enterthread=y)?

I haven't seen it posted elsewhere; sorry if those beans are already out of the bag. :)

[MarkDuffy]

FlashofSteel ( Troy S. Goodfellow ) has finally posted his Preview of SCS from EA SCS Community Day. The link is above. You will find there a blurb with a link to the 3-page Preview. It is here & I haven't read it yet either --> GameShark (http://www.gameshark.com/previews/3265/SimCity-Societies-Preview.htm)

Enjoy! :)

EDIT: From the Preview ~ To make this transition to a new type of SimCity as smooth as possible, they turned to the masters of agent based city-building, Tilted Mill, the developer behind the brilliant Children of the Nile and underappreciated Caesar IV, both which emphasized the dwellers as much as the dwellings.

HOOT !!! :D

[JuliaSet]

EA is committed to giving Societies a modding system as open as the gameplay. They are even considering a modding tutorial so that more people can create more content, so even this aspect of the game will be accessible. More code will be exposed for modification than in any other game yet seen in the Sim line-up. They hope that more easily constructed content will mean a wider range of skills and interests in the modding community, serving the needs of more people.


Wooo HOOOOOOOO! a Tute and code access for the geeks.. hope its not in pure geeklish!

[LisaMockingbird]

The screen shots really are making me want to play this game more and more. I would rather the interface was a tad less 'toon-ey (so may things are going that route :rolleyes: ) - but over all the cities look very good/interesting and I am filled high hopes. I am really interested in the modding system too! :D

[majortom1981]

If this game can be as heavily modded as what is being implied then the people who wanted a hardcore sim city can mod the game to be that way.

[Romaq]

There are limitations.

1) The game engine will have 'some' implied limitations on what it is capable of doing. Effort over time may overcome some limitations. NAM 2007 is ample evidence of what can be done with SC4. So are 'menu mods', so is the CAM. But no amount of modding has yet made SC4 'true 3d', and it isn't likely to ever do so. The game engine has no concept of 'true 3d', and all of the content... ALL of it that's .sc4desc or .sc4lot simply doesn't have the means or the data for 'true 3d'. SC:S may have limitations in scope. It may not support multi-level water. It may not support over a certain number of people with hard-coded limits. City size may have hard-coded limits. Some of the limits can be overcome with 'smoke and mirrors'. That comes at the expense of the time of the people doing the modding.

2) And that brings up another point. In order to get 'hardcore sim city' fans, presumably SC4 modders, you have to have enough people with the talent and personal motive force to get such things done. If you don't have enough people willing to invest the time to make the mods to SC:S, SC:S will simply remain at the level in which it is released in November 2007 while SC4 development may continue into 2010 and beyond. The Commodore 64 *STILL TO THIS DAY* still has software AND hardware development going on. I know someone personally involved with that, White Flame (http://fly.to/theflame). This is true of XCOM, and this may well prove true with SC4.

But to get that with SC:S, you are going to *HAVE* to get the same critical mass of devotees who will 'carry the torch' forward. And even then, what mods will happen will be dictated by the torch bearers who are doing the bearing: the ones doing the actual work. What needs to be in place to make certain that happens? I've not a clue on what draws people in on things like that. Some people continue to actually celebrate Elvis Presley. I've no idea why. Maybe SC:S can plug into that sort of user base. I couldn't say.

--Romaq

[nexusdog]

I quite like the idea of mass battles between clowns, men in black and elvis impersonators.

That would be quite fulfilling, somehow...

OH! OH! FPS perspective as a MIB - then we can have the Syndicate style sub game as a reward or easter egg!!! :D

[JuliaSet]

I quite like the idea of mass battles between clowns, men in black and elvis impersonators.



That sounds like Las Vegas!

[nexusdog]

Now THAT made me laugh.

Thankfully, I'd swallowed my drink prior to reading it, otherwise I'd have an orange flavoured monitor now.

[ManagerJosh]

Minor Revival.

Dirk from SimTropolis sent me 147 images to be uploaded onto the WorldSims Gallery from the fanday event. All now viewable at the gallery :)

http://forums.worldsims.org/gallery/browseimages.php?c=71


Now that's finished. Time to go back for weekend trip to La Jolla :D

[MarkDuffy]

Thank you, ManagerJosh !!!

Then gulps about possible HUGE resolutions

<runz off to check>

Thankx ManagerJosh again! :) :) :)

[Corinthian]

Oh, the beanz, the freakin' beanz...

Incredible...inconceivable...thank you...lots of new...[collapses under weight of beanz]