Sim City 5 Discussion

OK, well since SimCity is such a blazing disappointment, is something like Cities XL my only alternative? Has anyone else played it? Is it more like the old SimCity games?

SimCity update: I've had SimCity for 2 days and have not been able to play it yet. I was "allowed" to do the tutorial finally, but that's as far as I can get. The servers say "AVAILABLE" and yet they are not actually available. EVER.

And by all accounts, if I do a credit card charge back for SimCity my entire EA/Origins account will be banned, meaning I lose ALL the EA games I've ever bought. So ya, guess that solves that whole getting your money back dilemma. Say goodbye to any future dollars from me, EA!!!! Never again!!!!! Never never never!!!!

 

I did see on another forum - the ban thing appears to have been a miscommunication; EA has stated you won't get banned just for asking for a refund. (Note: I don't know personally that this is true, just saw it in passing on another site)

Of course, if you have personal experience that says otherwise - then, yeah, that's not good!

 

I'm in the exact same predicament as you are. I had it downloaded since launch date, and have yet been able to get into a server. No access issue when playing the beta, but the retail game = no go. I am curious about Cities XL, and may bite the bullet just to have something to do.

 

All you can do is BBB and send letters to company and harass the crap out of them and protest like no other....thats what i would do ^^

He is talking about doing a credit card dispute.

 

I guess this was what I was referring to...

anyway, sounds like there are avenues for getting your money back through EA (at least, that's what the article leads you to believe)

 

Trying to get hold of anyone at EA is impossible. Just to talk to an online help person using the chat box was a wait of about 2 days, IF you didn't go offline... in which case you lose your spot in the ever growing lineup of dissatisfied customers.

And, yes, I realize they won't ban for asking for a refund, but they have STATED they will give no refunds on digital downloads. They will ban you if you do a CC chargeback. Since I've already invested a lot into all the Sims games as well as a few others, I really don't want to throw those down the toilet just to get my cash back on one game.

Complaining to the BBB is actually a good idea. Thanks!

 

really blows. At least they have online chat....Steam sucks when it comes to customer support...email/forum system...?

 

A credit card chargeback is a very extreme measure. You should absolutely use it when appropriate, but it is not appropriate to use a chargeback before attempting to get a refund from the merchant in the case that your product was not delivered as described.

 

Nixes it for killing time on long international flights so it's a no go for me.

 

My mistake - could have sworn I had found a guy saying he got a refund, and an article that seemed to imply they were changing their policy in the face of all the outrage and allowing refunds, but I can't find it now - so that's why I mentioned the above. (The article actually says the opposite of what I thought - it says they said at first they'd allow refunds, but then backpedalled...).

Yeah, seems like EA really screwed the pooch on this one, though - I fell bad for the OP (and all the other irate folks out there!)

edit: you could always try this: http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/19v64k/refunds_call_ea_at_18665435435_dont_bother_with/?sort=new

Word is some folks have successfully got refunds by calling directly to the company at the phone number listed. (1-866-543-5435, if you don't feel like checking the link) Might be worth a shot, at least. They also mentioned that the path to success seemed to be NOT mentioning the current server issues, but politely citing other issues as the reason for refund, as well as offering other hints to lead to success.

 

if it works maybe OP can update front page

 

I definitely won't bother getting a refund as I know once server issues are sorted I will actually want to play the game, and if I'd demanded a refund I'd only have to buy it again. Just needs a little patience (well a lot actually). It's unacceptable, and I think anyone should be entitled to a refund if they want one, but I'm nowhere near at that stage of anger yet. I can wait.

I can easily see issues lasting all weekend with the servers. The real question is; will the servers be stable from Monday next week? They'll be in serious trouble if these issues roll into the second week after launch! Well, obviously the longer it carries on the worse it gets for EA. Only benefit is that they're probably gonna think twice about always-online DRM in the future - or maybe not, this is EA after all

 

Yeah yeah, I know, I enjoy reading about this train wreck and it doesn't seem to be getting better, but getting worse

My suggestion, take the free game, like Dead Space 3 hopefully, and then demand a refund so you can buy a City building game that doesn't have constant online DRM.
Maxis knows SimCity online DRM sucks so much, they are offering you another game that doesn't suck as much.

 

Yes I saw that this morning. I am wondering if they will give you a specific game or if you can choose any game, or any game within a price range.

For me, the game is finally working. I got onto a server last night, and my husband logged on this morning with no issues. Looks ok so far. Definitely more like the old style, but the lack of space to build is an issue, IMO. You get about 1/10 of the area to build that you used to get. Maybe it will just mean you have to play smarter.

 

ROFL, servers can't handle bigger map. And I guess server can't handle being able to design your own map either.

And from my experience, It's not a EA game if it doesn't have terrible servers, unstable and unreliable. Have fun with always online with that reputation

I'll be giving this a try. SimCity 4 + Mods + NAM
http://oldshoes.ca/simcity-4

http://community.simtropolis.com/files/category/1-simcity-4/

 

'That Was Dumb': EA Says They'll Give A Free PC Game To Anyone Who Bought SimCity

Yay

 

Copied and pasted my question on Steam forums because the more places to post the better chance of finding an answer:

 

maybe throttling? Does your system have a max system power limit? Sorry picking at strings i honestly am clueless why with 70% and 70% load. can you get 100% 100% with prime and furmark?

 

I get 99% in practically every game that requires it like all 3 of the Crysis games, Tomb Raider, yep fur mark too etc

It's the lighting option. Minimum I get 80fps. Low I get 15fps. I mean, I can't think it's meant to over halve frame rate. It's far more demanding than the TressFX in Tomb Raider!!! :S

 

I'm having exactly the same problem although my system is an i7, 550M (1GB) and 8GB of RAM. I get around 20 FPS until I set lighting to minimum at which point it leaps up to 50-60. I'm hoping it's a bug that will be patched asap. Surely the game should be playable on our systems on at least medium settings.

 

Don't feel too annoyed, I have a 680m getting only 30FPS with everything ultra except AA is off. I have FXAA on though. My card is stuck at around 70% utilisation as well.

Anyone want to setup a decent region too?

 

Oh what I'd give to have the game running at 30fps on even just medium at 1366x768! Is the performance difference between 650M and 680M that much that you can play ultra at 1080p when I have to play minimum at 768p? Surely not. Should be capable of medium at 768p at least

But yes, NBR region sounds good to me. Question is: which server is best i.e most stable? Antarctica server is very stable from what I've played on it so far.

 

Sounds like driver issues tbh. But I had performance issues with the sims 3 as well. Hopefully you can find some settings which don't hinder your FPS. Shadows makes a big difference for me as well. Even with everything on minimum but on 1080p I got 70fps, will play around with it when I can, but tbh I don't mind playing at 30fps, nothing fast paced is going on anyways. I was more worried about buying a solar power plant, demolishing it within 2 minutes and having no money or power for the start of the game.

I played on US. East 4 which was pretty stable and Europe west 4 which did lose connectivity during gaming but it did reconnect during gaming. Havent tried any others yet.

PM me your steam/origin, and since we in the same time zone shouldn't be a big issue trying to play together haha.

 

Please add me guys: Marecki_CLF

I have nobody to play with... ;(

I play on Oceania 1 server (I live in Sydney, Australia).

 

This game's simulations are fraudulent. I played the game for a couple days, actually experienced very little server issues, but I'm really annoyed at how EA/Maxis takes us for chumps.

PROOF THAT THE GAME IS MISLEADING REGARDING POPULATION COUNT, AMONG OTHER THINGS... : SimCity

Most of the sims in your town do not actually exist, they are phantoms that artificially inflate your population count. Sims do not actually lead lives, they are just data points that move from place to place. Their jobs and housing change every day depending on what the closest available opening is, so there is little consistency. They advertised this as a game where each sim was actually leading a life of its own, but this simulation is actually worse than SC4's. It wouldn't be so bad if these technical faults actually simulated how real cities worked, but they don't. You get awful RCI/employment issues because of misleading sim counts. You will probably never solve them. Traffic is badly simulated because everyone moves as a single chunk to the nearest available slots. The gambling simulation never works because of how unintelligently these sims move around. If you delete a workplace, you actually delete all of its worker sims with it, but your population count never goes down. You can actually delete all the workers out of your city this way.

Server issues will get fixed one day, but I feel like the logical flaws in the game are too deeply ingrained and unlikely to be fixed.

To make matters worse: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/12/simcity-server-not-necessary/
Allegedly, the servers do not do much computing for you at all, which is a theory supported by the fact that you can play for up to 20 minutes without an internet connection. They don't do the logical heavy lifting. Instead, it seems they exist only for DRM and social features.

 

This is the least surprising thing I've read today. Regardless, it's a fun game.

 

And the fun is surely enhanced by always online DRM and upcoming DLC and microtransactions...for an inherently single player game. Hooray!

Remember Kids, online DRM leads to drug addiction and homelessness.

Game Above ^ The Influence - Online DRM, not even once.

 

This broken record nonsense is tedious.

 

Well then you and I have different definitions of tedious. To me, tedious would be repeatedly attempting to log into a game that I pad money for, only to be unable to do so because of a requirement that is not integral to the game. But hey, some people enjoy watching grass grow, others must like not being able to play a game they paid for. To each their own.

 

No, that would be frustrating.

Tedious - tiresome or monotonous - "Ajfountains' continuous ranting against all forms of DLC, DRM, and microtransactions in every thread quickly became tedious."

 

To be fair, I do try to contain my ranting to threads where it is pertinent. And in this case, it is. We have a perfect example of a single player game (The Sims is different from Simcity) being ruined by DRM. There is no need for this situation to have occurred. Everyone (games, critics, and industry insiders) all predicted this would happen. RPS reported from a confirmed developer that the server side computations being done are minimal and not necessary. So the only reason for the online only requirement is DRM, which is only hurting those who paid money for the game.

And I will continue to rant and stand against these stupid tactics because it is my constitutionally protected right. 'Murica!

 

this is why i don't buy games until i hear about them first ^^ Also with only buying games when they are 2-5 bucks means i have 1-3 years to hear about them

 

The devs are completely flat out ignoring my polite requests for information regarding a serious performance/optimisation issue affecting me and many other users on multiple official EA forums. I may even have to resort to signing up to Twitter to even have a hope of getting any official answers. This is ridiculous, not what I'd call good customer support.

 

@cakefish well that sucks. What issues are you having?

 

Well I can't play the game at low settings on my GT 650M without horribly low fps (sub 20fps) even on my low native resolution 1366x768. When I can play Crysis 3, at high settings, I expect to be able to play this game on medium at least! My CPU is 50% utilised, my GPU 70% utilised. Definitely using NVIDIA GPU, not the Intel GPU. 314.14 beta drivers from NVIDIA. It just doesn't add up

 

@cakefish

CPU maybe? I know that EA/Maxis servers are supposed to handle most of the computing, but as rock paper shotgun pointed out, this isnt likely true. I imagine this would be a fairly cpu intensive game.

 

CPU is only 50% he said...could be only two threaded game?

 

Have you tried a clean driver install?

[edit: this thread makes me think about buying SimCity 4 Deluxe of Steam]

 

My CPU is only a dual core. 50% usage per core

Yep, multiple times with many different driver versions

 

i thought 3210 was quad my bad ^^

 

I've been tooling around and finally managed to build a good size town. The game is multi-threaded, but IMO not correctly. It seems the primary number crunching is set to run primarily on the first core, and audio rendering and other miscellaneous tidbits gets off-loaded to other cores. I noticed on a fresh start, the game runs consistently at 60+ FPS but once I got to where I am now, there is more frame rate drops although not too severe (Averaging 40 FPS). I turned my CPU's TurboBoost function back on so the CPU can dynamically scale up to 3.8 GHz instead of being locked at 3.4 GHz, and now I'm averaging in the high 50's FPS (CPU-z confirms the clock speed now practically locked at 3.8 GHz during gameplay). This game's load management is poorly distributed.

 

Is there an NBR region yet? I think it'd be really cool if we had one.

 

@Mize - I've been playing SC4 off of Steam a lot lately, it's fun! I'd recommend giving it a whirl, at least the next time it goes on sale. Apparently, a lot of other people have been, too... a couple days ago, Sim City 4 was the second-most-downloaded game on Amazon.

50% CPU usage on a dual core means that you have a thread that is hammering one CPU. In other words, you're CPU limited. Changing graphics settings won't help. Only solutions are smaller maps, faster CPU, or waiting for a patch that improves performance.

While I haven't bought or played SC5, I've seen this happen in many other strategy games, as well as some non-strategy ones.

 

Nope, unfortunately 50% PER CORE. It is not maxing any single one of the individual cores. The same applies whether Hyper-threading is enabled or not. Example:

Gameplay of SimCity:



Bad, I know, very badly optimised

 

i cant wait to get my hands on it!

 

Seems like the best use for SC5 would be to set up purposefully stupid cities.

 

What does a 'stupid' city look like?

 

Hackers open up offline play, modding tools for SimCity | Ars Technica

Good News everyone!

 

Heard news from here, too: SimCity modded so it can be played offline indefinitely • News • PC • Eurogamer.net

 

Detroit

....ttalk