maxis
Latest
SimCity 'Amusement Park Pack' rides in May 28
SimCity's "Amusement Park Pack," which leaked like oil out of a tea cup ride a tad early, has been confirmed to arrive in two weeks by developer Maxis. "Some of you may have seen thrilling new SimCity content that arrived too early at the gate. It's coming May 28th. We think you'll be amused," the official SimCity Facebook page now notes. The pack will allow mayors to lay out the park how they wish, featuring several different rides and customizable entrances. The park will also generate cash by bringing in shoppers, tourists and boosting the local commercial economy. No price was listed for the expansion.
SimCity 3.0 update out this week, attempts to fix traffic again
SimCity will receive the 3.0 update this week, which will hopefully go down smoother than 2.0 released in late April. The 3.0 update (listed after the break) tweaks traffic routing, phantom air pollution, stuck school buses and university students crossing roads. Apparently SimCity grammar schools didn't implement the "buddy system" as a road-crossing teaching tool. The SimCity update is another piece on the pyre of good news EA blasted out yesterday in preparation for today's financial call, where the company is expected to deliver bad news (harsh enough to make a CEO stand down). Yesterday's news included a Plants vs. Zombies 2 release window, the announcement of The Sims 4 and EA's Star Wars exclusivity.
The Sims 4 announced for 2014 on PC, Mac
Maxis announced The Sims 4 this morning, coming to PC and Mac in 2014. More details are due later today, EA said. "The Sims franchise is fueled by the passion and creativity of its millions of fans around the world," reads EA's announcement. "Their continued devotion to the franchise ignites the fire of creativity of the team at The Sims Studio, driving them to continually improve and innovate on one of the world's most successful simulation game that has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide." [Image source: @CurtisParadis]
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition is $5 today on Steam
Today is a good day for a deal on Steam: SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition is $5 now through 10 a.m. PT tomorrow, April 29. That's 75 percent off, for those into contextual sales.SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition includes EA's 2003 game SimCity 4 and its sole expansion pack, SimCity 4 Rush Hour. In more recent news, the Deluxe Edition of Sim City 4 was part of the free-game offer that EA handed out to everyone who purchased 2013's SimCity during its launch window.
EA retiring Playfish Facebook games [update]
SimCity Social, The Sims Social, and Pet Society are going offline on June 14, EA announced this morning. The three Playfish Facebook games are being retired after player counts and activity fell off, EA said. Today's news means all of Playfish's Facebook games, according to the EA subsidiary's website, have either shut down or are scheduled to - with the exception of Madden Social 13, which an EA press release notes as developed by EA Tiburon.EA bought Playfish for $300 million in 2009 before signing a "strategic" five year deal with Facebook in 2010. However, a number of executives have since left the EA brand, including co-founders Sebastian de Halleux, Sam Lababidi, and Kristian Stregerstale.The announcement follows EA layoffs last week, with over 160 employees let go from EA Mobile Montreal. In addition, there are reports of closures of a studio in London, where Playfish is based, along with closures at EA Mobile Brazil and BioWare Social. We also have information of support staff being let go in London and then there's a question about the extent of the EA Galway support center layoffs.We've reached out to EA for comment.Update: An EA spokesperson informs Joystiq the company "won't be commenting on the status of Playfish."
SimCity Cheetah Speed returns, Mac version in June
After several "non-critical" SimCity features were disabled over a month ago to improve server stability, one of the most significant is finally back online. SimCity players can now enable Cheetah Speed once again, invigorating their tiny Sims to work harder and faster than ever. Maxis is also working on "Update 2.0," though no date was offered regarding its expected release.In other virtual city planning news, the Mac version of SimCity will be released on June 11. The Mac release will be available exclusively via Origin, with no plans for a retail version. As a nice bonus, those who own the PC version will automatically have access to the Mac version. Likewise, Mac players will be able to download the PC version at no extra cost. Cross-platform play between each version will be supported.
Metareview: SimCity
Well, it's been two weeks since the calamitous launch of the SimCity reboot and the game currently has a Metacritic score lower than the abysmal Resident Evil 6. A small blessing for developer Maxis? SimCity dodges being the highest profile stinker of this still burgeoning year thanks to the dishonor of the utterly broken Aliens: Colonial Marines. GameTrailers (80/100): "Aside from some issues with its online requirements, bugs, and restrictions on city size, it's still a satisfying and addicting simulator that will grant dozens of hours of entertainment with one well-designed city alone." GiantBomb (60/100): "And while I expect many will fall head-over-heels in love with this SimCity's cooperative design, at its best, the game feels more like a really thoughtfully designed multiplayer mode for a larger, single-player capable game that, sadly, doesn't exist." Gamespot (50/100): "The bugs will probably be fixed, the wrinkles smoothed, and the online problems sorted out. What hurts most, though, is that it didn't have to be this way. SimCity's makers looked to MMOGs for ideas on how to bring players together, but didn't absorb the lessons MMOG developers learned long ago on how to implement practical online play." Eurogamer (40/100): "There was a time, perhaps eight or nine hours in, when I wondered why SimCity was so easy. Nobody ever complained about the air pollution, while using my depot to sell my recycling netted me endless profits. I kept playing because, back then, I kept having fun, I kept trying new things and I kept convincing myself that I was a good Mayor. Now I know that it was never really down to me." Destructoid (40/100): "I wanted to like this game, I really did. At first I started to enjoy it, but soon all I found was frustration. I can't recommend this game to anyone, and I don't want to play it anymore myself because I am afraid of seeing all my efforts lost due to server issues."
EA offers choice of Mass Effect 3, SimCity 4, more for SimCity players
As part of its efforts to re-endear customers to the new SimCity, EA is handing out one free Origin game to all players, from a choice of Battlefield 3, Bejeweled 3, Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 3, Medal of Honor Warfighter, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Plants vs. Zombies and SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition. To be eligible for a free game, players must register their copies of SimCity before March 25 at 11:59 p.m. PDT, and must claim a free game before March 30 at 11:59 PDT.Underage players will automatically receive a copy of Bejeweled 3 and SimCity 4.Many players worldwide were unable to connect to Maxis servers following SimCity's launch in early March, locking the game completely since it requires an always-on connection. In the weeks after its release, EA and Maxis dropped "non-critical" features from the game and added servers to allow players to connect, and are now in the process of re-adding these lost features. This fiasco frustrated many players, as did the game itself.
SimCity GM: 'In many ways, we built an MMO'
SimCity has not had the smoothest of launches. Players were (understandably) frustrated by connection woes, most of which seemed to be due to the always-online component of the game. In an interview with Polygon, developers framed the always-online component as an integral part of the game structure, saying that "it wouldn't be possible to make the game offline without a significant amount of engineering work by our team." This statement was later thrown into question as a Maxis insider claimed that servers were "not handling any of the computation" of city simulation. Now Lucy Bradshaw, General Manager of Maxis, is stepping up to re-frame the situation. In a "straight answers" update today, she pointed out the gameplay reasons for building SimCity to be always connected. These include features like collaboration between cities in a region, social perks like world events and leaderboards, player gifts, and the global market. Additionally, cloud-based saves make for easy access anywhere. "In many ways," she concludes, "we built an MMO." Somehow, we don't think MMO gamers would agree
Maxis: SimCity's internet requirement not a 'clandestine' DRM strategy
Following claims yesterday that SimCity had been modified to run offline in a limited capacity, Maxis/EA general manager Lucy Bradshaw has since updated EA's official blog with a bulleted reiteration of Maxis' always-on design philosophy for the game.In the missive, Bradshaw dismisses claims that SimCity's internet connectivity requirements are in reality "a clandestine strategy to control players" while listing a few of the ways in which server connectivity is essential to the design of the game, though she does not directly address whether the game can be played completely offline in its current form."So, could we have built a subset offline mode? Yes," Bradshaw added. "But we rejected that idea because it didn't fit with our vision. We did not focus on the 'single city in isolation' that we have delivered in past SimCities. We recognize that there are fans – people who love the original SimCity – who want that."
Upcoming SimCity patch to resolve traffic jams, features returning
Server issues aside, SimCity players have noticed some other problems with Maxis' latest simulation game. One of the more obvious ones involves SimCity's traffic, as vehicles tend to take the shortest possible route between destinations. As a result, shorter roads wind up with traffic jams, even if there are wider roads available.Maxis is working on a patch to solve this problem, as detailed by lead designer Stone Librande on the SimCity blog. The patch will essentially force cars to choose different routes as other routes become more clogged, which should help cities to run more smoothly. Furthermore, multiple service vehicles (fire trucks, etc) will no longer crowd around a given event, addressing one of the complaints from our review.Finally, Librande noted that many SimCity features – recently disabled to lighten the server load – are "slowly" returning. Regional achievements have been reactivated on "a select number of servers," and leaderboards are now active on the Test server. Librande asks willing players to join the Test server in order to "expedite the timeframe in which [leaderboards are] brought back to the rest of our servers."
Rumor: SimCity modded to disable disconnection timer, open debug mode
Reddit user AzzerUK claims to have enabled SimCity's debug mode and to have disabled its disconnection timer, both of which imply that there is more to the game's inner workings than EA and Maxis originally stated.Currently, a user that loses their connection to the server during gameplay will be logged out of the game after 20 minutes. This is supposedly because the client must sync simulation data back to the server on a regular basis, in order to ease the computational load on the user's machine and to ensure the simulation as a whole runs smoothly.Though not demonstrated in the video above, AzzerUK claims to have disabled that disconnection timer, and that playing an offline city for extended periods of time resulted in no issues with the simulation itself. Since SimCity does not support local saves in any way, it is not possible for AzzerUK to actually save anything that happens in his offline city, but the important thing is that the simulation reportedly did not come to a screeching halt after being unable to sync with the server.The modder/hacker also claims to have enabled SimCity's debug mode, which allows for cities to be edited beyond their typically imposed borders. Though clipping and texture mapping issues are easily visible in the above clip, the traditionally impossible highways created at least appear to function properly. This supposes that, at least theoretically, the game is capable of supporting city sizes that are larger than what is currently available.
SimCity review: They built this city to shock and troll
I've written five different openings to this SimCity review over three days. Some felt ignorant of the game's disastrous launch, an element I openly wrestled with before writing this review. Others were too aggressive and awkwardly angry. I fired blindly with some fluffy paragraph about the fun of building, but that seemed disingenuous. I'm unlikely to go back to SimCity for some time. The game simply isn't fun.Like 2003's SimCity 4, this new SimCity uses a regional map divided into playable zones that interact with one another, transporting commuters and allowing for a level of specialization in particular zones. Unlike SimCity 4's sprawling megalopolis created from a massive grid of connected tiles, the new SimCity's region zones are separated by gaps (think of a subway map where you play the stations but not the lines between). The current region selection supports as little as two and up to 16 zones.SimCity is very user friendly and a hallmark of modern interface design and simulation transparency. I must stress that I'm speaking specifically about when players are in their particular zone, not when they are trying to discern anything from a regional perspective. Pipes and electricity now run along roads, removing two dull mayoral duties seen in previous games. Crime, pollution, education, and just about every other chart is no longer presented in some tiny pop-up window, but is instead delivered in full graphical glory as an overlay on the main game screen. It's also great that players can now expand on buildings, like giving the police more cars or adding classrooms to schools, but this also begins to highlight the cramped size of the zones.%Gallery-179241%
SimCity receives official server status page
Electronic Arts and Maxis have created an official SimCity server status page.The status page comes a week after the game's disastrous launch, which saw servers overwhelmed and players unable to access the game with any regularity up into the weekend, when developer Maxis added more servers.Maxis General Manager Lucy Bradshaw noted on Sunday that the core problems plaguing the game were "almost behind" them.
EA: Core problem preventing SimCity playtime 'is almost behind us'
SimCity developer Maxis says it has reduced game crashes by 92 percent since day one and players have connected and clocked more than 8 million hours in-game."I'm happy to report that the core problem with getting in and having a great SimCity experience is almost behind us," Maxis General Manager Lucy Bradshaw writes. Bradshaw says the improvements stem from adding new servers, tinkering with their network and issuing client updates, such as Thursday's removal of "non-critical" gameplay features."I had hoped to issue an 'All-Clear' tonight, but there are still some elements coming together," Bradshaw says. "Tonight and tomorrow we'll be monitoring each server and gameplay metrics to ensure that the service remains strong and game is playing great. We need a few more days of data before we can assure you that the problem is completely solved and the game is running at 100 percent."Bradshaw reports "tens of thousands of new players" join SimCity every day. We hope to be one of these players some day soon.
Maxis: SimCity offline mode is 'just not possible'
@azbiker72 The game was designed for MP, we sim the entire region on the server so this is just not possible - SimCity (@simcity) March 9, 2013The issues barraging SimCity stem from its requirement that players are always online and connected to EA's servers, even if a player wants to experience the game alone. Making the game available offline could solve many players' issues, but that's "just not possible," developer Maxis General Manager Lucy Bradshaw said during a Twitter Q&A session."The game was designed for MP, we sim the entire region on the server so this is just not possible," Bradshaw said, in response to a question about offline modes. Previously Bradshaw responded to another question about an offline patch: "We have no intention of offlining SimCity any time soon but we'll look into that as part of our earning back your trust efforts."Making SimCity offline would be a significant undertaking, if it were in the cards at all. Bradshaw further reiterated the sentiment of a leaked internal memo, noting that EA wasn't responsible for SimCity's issues; Maxis was."Hey, this is on Maxis," she wrote. "EA does not force design upon us. We own it, we are working 24/7 to fix it, and we are making progress."Recent progress included increasing SimCity's server capacity by 120 percent, disabling "non-critical" game features, and a report that EA asked SimCity affiliates to stop actively promoting the game.
EA: SimCity server capacity increased by 120%, company to offer free PC game for troubles
SimCity developer Maxis' senior vice president and general manager Lucy Bradshaw gave a brief update last night of the game's unstable condition, noting the company is "committed to fixing" the game. Would have been better if the game had been working in the five days since its North American launch, but what can you do at this point?How about a free game? Sure. As recompense, on March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an email (likely the one tied to their Origin account) explaining how to redeem the free game."In the last 48 hours we increased server capacity by 120 percent," wrote Bradshaw. "It's working – the number of people who have gotten in and built cities has improved dramatically. The number of disrupted experiences has dropped by roughly 80 percent."She went on to say, "So we're close to fixed, but not quite there. I'm hoping to post another update this weekend to let everyone know that the launch issues are behind us."As of this writing (8:46AM Eastern), we are still unable to access SimCity. We are told by the servers that it is either unable to load a city or we receive an endless loading screen – which is exactly what we stared at while writing up this post.
EA Maxis cops to 'dumb' SimCity launch, offers early adopters a free game
The botched launch of the new SimCity game has upset many this week, however there is a little good news. EA Maxis exec Lucy Bradshaw posted that the company is working on its server issues, with capacity reportedly up 120 percent in the last 48 hours and "disrupted experiences" down 80 percent. As a way of making up for a launch that was "dumb" for not anticipating far more players and activity than seen in its beta, EA will offer all those who've activated a copy by March 18th a free PC game download. There's no word on which game(s) from the EA portfolio will be available but users will be notified by email. The one thing they won't be getting however is what many are asking for: an offline option that avoids all the server mess and entanglements of always-on DRM.
'Non-critical' SimCity features disabled to improve server issues
Electronic Arts is sending out a hotfix to help improve the experience for beleaguered SimCity players. The fix includes some unspecified improvements and also disables a few "non-critical gameplay features," according to a community manager on the EA forums. These features include leaderboards, achievements and region filters, with EA promising their removal will "in no way affect your core gameplay experience."SimCity has suffered from server issues since it launched earlier this week, with many players (including our own Alexander Sliwinski) unable to connect to the "always-on" required game and, thus, unable to play. EA will be adding new servers over the next two days. The publisher recently expressed confidence in the international launch, saying it would not suffer the same problems.Update: Amazon has stopped selling digital copies of the game citing customer complaints.
