SC Societies Gameplay Video on Gamespot

[John-SJ]

So, from a 4 minute video that focuses in on one part of one of 6 energies and doesn't even touch on 90% of the game you come to the conclusion that the game is all about simplified corporate dynamics?

Nice!

[Wiglaf]

What's with the attitude?

I've played Tilted Mill's Caesar IV. It was terrible.

I have seen a ton of screen shots of SC:S. It looks awful and has a terrible interface that seems to be targeted at retards or 5th graders.

I have listened to this producers' explanation of corporate dynamics in the game, and I am insulted she thinks anyone would be stupid enough to consider them anything but arbitrary and nonsensical.

More importantly, I have placed Simcity 2000, 3000, and 4, and I do not like this developer coming in and screwing off a classic with such simplistic and poorly thought out additions.

Could it turn out well? I guess, I haven't played it. At this point I definitely think this looks like crap.

[snoopy369]

I think SC4 has already shot the boat for screwing up sim city adequately to make me seriously considering not buying this no matter how good it is claimed to be

John-SJ, I think the main issue most of us have (and while Wiggie can be a bit odd sometimes, in this he's in the majority) is that this does not look like the gameplay of SimCity. It looks like a very different style of gameplay, and there are a lot of us who like the general concept of normal SimCity gameplay.

Sure it's possible the gameplay is not being fully shown here, but developers who show game video that does not represent the full gameplay are idiots who deserve what they get. From these videos this game is more of a Sims game than SimCity, and that's not a game I want to play... not that it couldn't be a great game for some, but not for the majority of the traditional SimCity audience.

[Adagio]

Originally posted by John-SJ
So, from a 4 minute video that focuses in on one part of one of 6 energies and doesn't even touch on 90% of the game you come to the conclusion that the game is all about simplified corporate dynamics?

Nice!

You do know that this video is not the only video available about this game, right? I've seen plenty videos and lots of screenshots, and each time they show something new I get more skeptical about this game
It seems like they have removed everything I liked about SimCity, while adding stuff I never wanted to see in a SimCity game

And based on the history of Tilted Mill there wasn't really any hope to begin with, as they have yet to make a good game

[Wiglaf]

Just look at these screenshots

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/simcitysocieties/images.html

The second one has a particularly amusing message:
"Your city lacks the spirituality for this building to operate."

Wow.

[Wiglaf]

But surely this takes the cake:

"A Clown School would be the jewel in the crown of our fledgling Fun City. Its special Action, "Mimeaggedon," will unleash a torrent of Mimes to entertain your citizens!"

Tilted Mill = retards

[Adagio]

Calling this a SimCity game is an insult to SimCity fans IMHO

[Wiglaf]

But..don't you get how clever they are. They replaced the first three letters of Armageddon to make "Mimeaggedon." They are clearly on top of things.

[Adagio]

Yeah, Mimeaggedon.... just too funny, can't stop laughing... how do they come up with something that clever

[Colonâ„¢]

Originally posted by Wiglaf


I'd have more confidence in this game if the interface wasn't terrible and if Tilted Mill didn't have a history of sucking.

Don't misunderstand me, SC Societies is repulsive, but I don't think that comment is entirely fair. Tilted Mills was founded by the guys from Impressions and that company released solid and good fun strategy games.

[Wiglaf]

Impressions made one city building game and then duplicated it many times over (Zeus, Caesar, Pharaoh). Their most recent effort, Caesar IV, was not compelling in any way.

[Colonâ„¢]

Caesar was Impression's most well-known game (series), but Lords of The Realms, Ultimate Soccer Manager and Detroit were also good. They didn't stood out, but a history of sucking isn't a correct description.

[Wiglaf]

Yes it is. A) not everyone who worked on those games went to Tilted mill; in fact, only 5 did ; B) Detroit? WTF? Google tells me it came out in 1994.

[Sirotnikov]

Originally posted by Sn00py
Hate to be sexist, but if a woman designed a SimCity game, it would look a lot like this.

[...]
The game does have hopes, but I am skeptical about the seriousness of the game, I prefer Simcity to have a serious attitude. Simcity was never meant to be like Sims.

This sounds so very true.

And you do have that fat chick as the Lead Producer of this gay looking retarded game.

Concepts mentioned through out the review such as "prosperity", "spirituality", "societal energy" and hawaian shirt days(!!!) are so obviously a female's idea!!


Why does every building has in addition to its tons of positive effects, some positive special ability to boost spirituality / societal energy / prosperty? This sounds like more like a d&d adventure Do buildings also have healing spells and mana potions?

Societies seems to be about a really colorful sandbox for dumb children.

I bet that every possible way to loose this game has been gutted, in favor of win-win scenarios, where there is no way to get in a deficit budget.


SimCity was about a serious grand-strategy simulation. The player has changed from a position of designated areas and controlling city-wide grand-economy, to placing hotdog carts around the city, to "maximize societal prosperity and workers energy regeneration". And I bet each hotdog cart has a magical special ability to make one sim extra prosperous for a day!!

So you spend your game buildings tons of hotdog carts and assigning a sim to each one, to boost everyone's productivity! YAY!!!

But wait, too much hotdog carts can degenerate societal energy because they make people fat. We can utilize a requirement that all buildings have staircases, but that would make our little fat sims unhappy and short of breath (thereby reducing our societal jollity factor! OH NOES!).

So instead let's build a pharmaceutical company that has a special ability of producing dieting pills for workers in all the city!! And it generates tax profits too!!! YAY! Problem solved!!


BLECH.
What utter crap!

[Wiglaf]