Simcity 4 Released?!!

[vovan]

So has the game been released officially now? I remember with warcraft3, and civ3, gamespot and ign got reviews up on the same day as the games were released. Now, it is about time, and they don't even have the news that the game hit the shelves...

And where is that new web-site Maxis promised to open on the 14th?

[Jonny]

I got it today.

I've only played it a little while, but I am very impressed with the graphics so far. It didn't take me long to get used to the new UI.

Now all I have to do is balance the city budget.

[Adagio]

Originally posted by vovansim
And where is that new web-site Maxis promised to open on the 14th?

It's online now

There's a tips and tricks section, and a few new articles, a new video (Haven't seen it though, since it's easier to just start the game )

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by ZargonX
However, the manual sucks. The old SC3000 manual was a nice hefty 200 pages of in-depth explanation. The Simcity 4 manual is about 20 tiny pages of actual content, none of which is particularly useful. I guess this is EA's way of trying to get us to plunk down another $20 for a strategy guide (which looked quite detailed when I purused it at the store.) Screw you, EA.

That's very interesting and good to know. I felt the same way for EA's MOHAA's manual. Very skimpy. Screw all the software companies that are looking to squeeze all the money out of us. Evil greedy captalists!

[vovan]

Originally posted by Haupt. Dietrich
That's very interesting and good to know. I felt the same way for EA's MOHAA's manual. Very skimpy. Screw all the software companies that are looking to squeeze all the money out of us. Evil greedy captalists!

I think that would be the case for most games nowadays. I remember over on the Sierra forums, about three-four months ago, when they released Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, everybody was complaining about the fact that the printed manual was just 20 pages long, and the extensive manual - over 100 pages, I think, was in the PDF format. There was this one Sierra guy, who said that the stores requested that they put their games in small boxes, so it's not their fault that a normal manual doesn't fit in... Don't know if that's true or he just said that to divert attention, but either way that's just wrong.

[Kc7mxo]

so, has anyone had any luck attracting high tech industries? I've got my sims education in the 130s, and my city is getting kinda big. Demand for the HT industry has skyrocketeed, and I can't figure out what they want! Stupid manual is like a flip folder, I can't find anything in it.

Any ideas?

EDIT: Never mind. A friend helped me figure it out. Apparently you just use industry zoning in areas which are appealing to High Tech industries.

[Adagio]

You mean people actually reads the manual? The last time I read a manual, was the one included with Civ2... I only read it because I was bored...

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by ADG
You mean people actually reads the manual? The last time I read a manual, was the one included with Civ2... I only read it because I was bored...

Oh yeah, there's nothing like a good manual to a good game.

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by vovansim


I think that would be the case for most games nowadays. I remember over on the Sierra forums, about three-four months ago, when they released Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, everybody was complaining about the fact that the printed manual was just 20 pages long, and the extensive manual - over 100 pages, I think, was in the PDF format. There was this one Sierra guy, who said that the stores requested that they put their games in small boxes, so it's not their fault that a normal manual doesn't fit in... Don't know if that's true or he just said that to divert attention, but either way that's just wrong.

Yeah that's part of the reason but the other part is that software companies are trying to maximize their profits as much as possible at the consumers expense. That is wrong as well.

[alva]

Originally posted by Haupt. Dietrich


Yeah that's part of the reason but the other part is that software companies are trying to maximize their profits as much as possible at the consumers expense. That is wrong as well.

At least short term..., stupid 'cause IMO this is the single weapon against piracy...

[vovan]

Originally posted by alva
At least short term..., stupid 'cause IMO this is the single weapon against piracy...

Yes, I have to agree: adding goodies to the box with the CD is the only thing that can really be done against the pirated versions. And they are cutting it short themselves...

[ZargonX]

Originally posted by vovansim


I think that would be the case for most games nowadays. I remember over on the Sierra forums, about three-four months ago, when they released Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, everybody was complaining about the fact that the printed manual was just 20 pages long, and the extensive manual - over 100 pages, I think, was in the PDF format. There was this one Sierra guy, who said that the stores requested that they put their games in small boxes, so it's not their fault that a normal manual doesn't fit in... Don't know if that's true or he just said that to divert attention, but either way that's just wrong.

That sounds like a plausible explanation, except for the fact that Neverwinter Nights, which came in one of those tiny boxes, had a nice thick manual of 200 pages. Sounds like people making excuses, to me.

[Grumbold]

The new box size is principally down to the retail trade. Standardised DvD cases are easy to stack and you can fit far more games in a given shelf/storage space. Games companies that want to find a way round the manual difficulties have all found ways to do so. Either by producing boxes the size of double-thickness DvD's or by compressing the manual. Only including 20 pages and blaming it on the retailers is laziness.

[Imran Siddiqui]

However, the manual sucks. The old SC3000 manual was a nice hefty 200 pages of in-depth explanation. The Simcity 4 manual is about 20 tiny pages of actual content, none of which is particularly useful. I guess this is EA's way of trying to get us to plunk down another $20 for a strategy guide (which looked quite detailed when I purused it at the store.) Screw you, EA.

Blame the small boxes. It is hard to place big manuals in them.

At the same time, they probably just beefed up the tutorial and decided they really didn't need a manual.

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
[q]
At the same time, they probably just beefed up the tutorial and decided they really didn't need a manual.

That's probably ok with action games, however with strategy games a detailed manual beats out any tutorial in terms of learning all the nuances of a game.