Sim City 4 Comments by Martin Taylor

You beauty! However, when are we going to been given the chance to build true curved roads? Simcity 20000? The US block system gets tiresome.

What is the official EG advice on spec requirements? Also, is there a building editor, as in SC3000?

Well I was playing the game on an Athlon XP 1.47ghz, 512mb SDRAM and a GeForce 4 Ti4200, and it was occasionally struggling with the city you see in these shots. You'll need a monster PC to have it running smooth all the time. It mostly slows down when you switch magnification or rotation, then goes back to being playable again.

There's no building editor, and as for curved roads, the closest you can get is diagonal :) I don't think the zoning system is condusive to curved roads personally, and am quite happy to keep the block system.

Definitely looking forward to this one...

Sounds like I will have to get an upgrade for my PC hardware though, pah...

Peej

I will order it from the EG shop tonight ! :D

mouse - What res. are those shots in ?

One's in 800x600 and the others are in 1024x768.

32bit colour ?

Yes, all except the first one.

cool.

Anyone know if it'll run on WinXP Pro?

I've got xp pro. Everything runs on it , surely ?

Nice SIMS style GUI. A vast improvement over Sim City 3000 - the icons were all over the place...!

Anyone know if they've sorted out the Bridging bug from SC3000 - no matter WHAT I did I could never get the thing to build a bridge over a stretch of water.


Peej

WinXPPro - Except Black and White

Somehow I thought those system specs looked a tad low. I don't think I've run SimCity 3000 on my current PC - I kicked the habit years ago - but I remember it chugging on an 'above minimum spec' PC. I fully expect the same for this.

Another reason to go upgrade, I guess... *sigh*

BTW Mouse: is it true the old three-bar demand system has gone? The residents used to demand commercial / industrial / residential zones, with three little bars reflecting the level of demand.. I'm sure I read somewhere it had disappeared.

ps Am I the only one who never uses disasters on his SimCities? I just get too attached to them, can't bear to see them decimated. :)

WriterUK,

Me to, the only time i ever used them was either when i was bored or it was all going horribly wrong :o)

"BTW Mouse: is it true the old three-bar demand system has gone? The residents used to demand commercial / industrial / residential zones, with three little bars reflecting the level of demand.. I'm sure I read somewhere it had disappeared."

I sincerely hope so. That used to bug the PISS out of me on previous incarnations of SC...They'd clamour for residential units, you'd build them and the bloody things would just sit there and stagnate - resulting in huge waste of cash.

Me, I just built odd little grid patterned cities...always seemed to work OK. This looks a lot more free-form though, thank god...

Peej

There's no building editor,

Arhh, Maxis you cunning bastards. Releasing it in stages again, just like SC3000. First there's this, then they'll be SC4 w/ editor, followed by SC4 w/ editor and world buildings, finished off with SC4 w/editor, world buildings and specific UK landmarks. Fat chance of seeing the stuff downloadable.

and as for curved roads, the closest you can get is diagonal :) I don't think the zoning system is condusive to curved roads personally, and am quite happy to keep the block system.

I know its not that bad, but until we see proper curved roads there's no chance of creating a real European city (excluding Paris). I assume there's no pedestrianisation feature either? Its not something they've heard of in the US. At least tell me we can install congestion charges. :)

There are time periods, right? Is there a 1939 Berlin? :)

ps Am I the only one who never uses disasters on his SimCities? I just get too attached to them, can't bear to see them decimated. :)

I'm right there with you. I'd have random disasters on though. It can be fun fighting them, but actually creating one myself... oh no, no way. I love my city too much. I'm looking forward to the sim aspect to. I'm like a parent at heart. I want to cradle my little citizens and watch how their lives grow. Being able to follow individually is right up my street.

I wonder if we'll ever see racial and gender divisions in the game. I know the US likes to pretend that their society is equal, but none is. I'd like to have ago at creating *gasp* multi-racial neighbourhoods.

"is it true the old three-bar demand system has gone?"

Nope, still there. You also have more detailed graphs telling you which denisities are are demand, too. I think the system works quite well personally, just don't build too much of one zone in one go and you should be alright.

Blimey, build South Central and watch the tension simmer into a riot? Naaah, far too socially realistic for Maxis - much better to have a giant robot stomp the city. (Bloody good idea tho'.)

Thanks for the answer Mouse. I was hoping that hadn't completely gone - SC was always complicated enough for me as is.

I assume the big-nosed advisors have gone too in this new era of austerity. ;)

"I assume there's no pedestrianisation feature either?"

Not unless you count building large parks and plazas as pedestrianisation. Building pedestrian-friendly areas tends to encourage wealthy commercial areas to flourish as well, which are typically the hardest type of zone to get working well, so at least there's a reason for doing something for the peds.

"I assume the big-nosed advisors have gone too"

No, they're still there as well, in glorious Sim-ish 3D as well!

Blimey, build South Central and watch the tension simmer into a riot?

Ohh it'd be great. Manage the population, encourage the growth of socialism, facism or capitalism, declaring independence from the country, build an army, invade, create your own utopia. Muwahahaha.

One thing I noticed regarding SC4 is it's a lot harder that SC3000/Unltd. City Revenues can get out of balance real quick like the reviewer mentioned. SC3000 seemed to be easier to get a City up and running. This not a complaint actually I find it a welcome edition. 'Follow the Money.'

As far as the Editor, that's a good question. Didn't Maxis release an editor a Couple of months after the release of SC3000, I can't seem to remember?

I do remember being able to download Cities and Landmarks from the Maxis Website.

One thing that's sorely missed is a Manual. It's a 45 page booklet. If you've played SCity before you have NO problem. If you haven't it may be a bit daunting. And I'm sure Maxis is hoping you plunk down for Dollars, Quids, or Euros for the Primis Strategy guide ;)

But the game is just awesome and worthy of a purchse. Just a performance note. Running the game in 16bit Mode versus 32 bit mode gives a nice performance boost. The Color Palette is very Subtle and IMO you aren't missing much.

Just ordered from the EG shop !

Well, The game itself seems fine. Its the Fact it runs so bad on the latest hardware thats putting me off playing it. Im using an R9700 Pro card and 2.8Ghz Pentium 4 and Simcity 4 runs really bad. In both direct 3d(Hardware - Game doesnt even run in 3d so I don't know what hardware it uses if any) Opengl - Same as D3D.. And software mode - To my supprise software mode is the same as hardware and opengl meaning theres no hardware acceleration at all in this game. Might as well just give you cpu recommendations.

Also, They disabled scrolling with ATI cards which I have to manually enable in the options (I found no bugs while enabling normal scrolling - What where they thinking?)

Anyway, considering how poorly the game runs I can't enjoy playing it, So its gonna be spending most of its time in the box until they improve or tune it up a little.

You must have 'problems' with your machine or something. Other people are reporting that it runs fine on machines far lesser than yours.

Do you have anti-virus software running, or something ?

Shocky - You might find this forum useful:

sc3000.com - Sim city 4 Technical problems forum

Other people have been reporting problems with the Radeon 9700 etc.

And yes it is 3D. Otherwise how would you expect them to do the free-forming terrains?

I'm not sure about SC, I always prefer the Impressions stuff. Maybe some of you guys can post thoughts this Friday?

I will post a mini-review on friday/weekend.

Nice one, cheers Errol.

I'm off to have a nose over in the forums.

I always prefer the Impressions stuff.

Its always been the other way around for me. I find Maxis put more personality into their games.

Its good to hear that SC4 is so hard. I like a challenge.

No, Simcity 4 is NOT in 3D !! Your missing the point. It uses a different method of producing the 3D effect but its NOT a true 3D game. If thats the case why does it look and run the same in Hardware and software mode. Why? Because its NOT 3D and Its NOT hardware accelerated ! Well it has a hardware accelerated cursor but thats doesnt even work .. Ill be taking it back. Im not into 2D Dx7 games and run like shit.

Does it really matter whether it is 3d or not ffs ? If it is a good game, it is a good game. Period.

Im not saying its a bad game, It looks fine for its type of game. BUT, Im not going to put up with slow performance, It drops as low as 1 fps to 14 at time !! You can't enjoy games like that. I would prefer to wait for them to fix it than force myself though a badly programmed game.

I still say that there is something wrong with your PC, and more specifically your Radeon.

Theres nothing wrong with my R9700 Pro m8. Its running fine in real 3D games. Like UT2003 for example? I can run that at 1600*1200 and its perfect. And just to back up this, I have two R9700 Pro based systems, And simcity 4 runs like crap on both of them.

"...you tend to miss that there's nothing really new here." - 9/10

Wuh? Stick the same game in a new box and it merits 9 out of 10? Or is this just so you can keep the "We don't sell bad games" label on the shop?

Bizarre.

I never said it was the same game. When I said 'there's nothing really new here', I was talking more about the mechanics of the game. It's Sim City as you remember it at its core, but the overhaul Maxis have given it makes it worth playing, ESPECIALLY if you're a fan of the others in the series. It's just as addictive as the other Sim City's, but the new features really make it a worthwhile title despite not creating an entirely new experience.

Mouse, can you import MP3s into it?

I definitely saw options for custom audio tracks in the music settings window, but I never dabbled with it myself. Personally, I just played WinAmp in the background and turned their music off :)

Cheers, I've heard some of the music, and it is bloody awful.

Let me get this straight, The Sims works with SimCity 4. That's interesting.

Let me get this straight, The Sims works with SimCity 4. That's interesting.
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As I've been playing around with this feature it appears it's not much more than what's currently in the game. You have several Sims in the game and you can change their names if you like.

If you have a Sims game sure you can import your Sim but it gets you the same results as a stock Sim from SC4.

I've been reading on some Simcity websites that their have been problems importing Sims into SC4. I was thinking of purchasing The Sims but I think I will pass.

Please do.

Just found it only comes out the 29th here in Portugal...
Must be a hint for me to study for my finals...

Shame on you, Martin. :) Just checked out another review and you forget to talk about the multiplayer features. Might sound dull, but it certainly adds a boost to my expectations (if the thing works on my system, that is).

Got my copy this am. Will put a mini-review this evening.

"you forget to talk about the multiplayer features"

When I was reviewing it, the web-based portion of multiplayer wasn't up and running yet, so I thought instead of reviewing something I couldn't play, I decided to leave it out of the review. But for the benefit of others: there is a co-operative multiplayer feature, and that's all I know about it.