# The New SimCity : yea or nay?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [March 11, 2013, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617 "2013-03-11T05:29:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/61 "2013-03-13T17:22:47Z")
> [@Skammer](#):
>
> Hmm, now I want to plant a city in a populated region, give it a bus terminal, ferry, and train station (so the sims can commute to other cities), and just zone everything residential. I wonder how that would work.
I’m sure it’s been done, with one city residential, one city industrial and the third commercial. I tried to do this in my first attempt at a region, but failed because, well, I didn’t know what I was doing. I may try this again, but it’s really more fun playing with other people. (Yeah, I’ve drunk the EA Kool-Aid; I’ve drunk gallons and gallons of it.)
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/62 "2013-03-13T19:29:59Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#):
>
> If some part of the simulation were handled on their system, it wouldn’t have to have more computing power than was available on that system - it could just add to the work already being done by the PC.
IIRC, that’s exactly what they laid out in initial press releases: have the user’s computer do as much as it can and the server take up the rest.
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### Author:  [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/63 "2013-03-13T19:48:53Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#):
>
> IIRC, that’s exactly what they laid out in initial press releases: have the user’s computer do as much as it can and the server take up the rest.
Except that they _don’t_ do this. The server does jack squat outside of moving resources between cities… which you don’t even really need it to do with a well-devised P2P connection.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/64 "2013-03-13T20:15:40Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#):
>
> I may try this again, but it’s really more fun playing with other people. (Yeah, I’ve drunk the EA Kool-Aid; I’ve drunk gallons and gallons of it.)
Every time I see something about another Doper city putting out my fires or providing sewage treatment, I grin. There’s something very cool about the whole thing.
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### Author:  [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/65 "2013-03-14T06:40:37Z")
I’ll pass on this game, I think. There’s this feeling that I got that late in the development cycle some suits were demanding more social game features for the new SimCity.
Apparently having a SimCity social wasn’t enough.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/66 "2013-03-14T14:24:02Z")
I know this thread isn’t really for help with the game but since I brought up above I thought I would ask here: could someone tell me like I am a baby how you can buy Oil or Coal etc. from the Global Market? I looked and I can only find options to buy power from other cities in my region. Do you need a specific building in order to do it?
I finally gave up on oil since I was about to run out, floated a bond and bought a Nuclear Plant so I wouldn’t run out of power.
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/67 "2013-03-14T14:30:05Z")
> [@Quimby](#):
>
> I know this thread isn’t really for help with the game but since I brought up above I thought I would ask here: could someone tell me like I am a baby how you can buy Oil or Coal etc. from the Global Market? I looked and I can only find options to buy power from other cities in my region. Do you need a specific building in order to do it?
>
> I finally gave up on oil since I was about to run out, floated a bond and bought a Nuclear Plant so I wouldn’t run out of power.
There are two ways:
On your power plant, if you click on Edit, you have checkboxes to accept local deliveries and/or accept deliveries directly from the global market. Make sure the global market box is checked unless you are producing enough of the resource in your city with a mine or well or whatever.
If that’s not providing you with the supply you need, you can build a Trade Depot and add a yard for oil or coal, and then click on “manage resources” and set that resource to “Import”. Then your trade depot will import that resource from the Global Market and it will be delivered to your power plant, if you have “accept local deliveries” checked.
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### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/68 "2013-03-14T15:19:54Z")
> [@Skammer](#):
>
> On your power plant, if you click on Edit, you have checkboxes to accept local deliveries and/or accept deliveries directly from the global market. Make sure the global market box is checked unless you are producing enough of the resource in your city with a mine or well or whatever.
You don’t even need to click on the Edit button. Just click on the plant and the callout will have options where you can accept local and/or global deliveries. It also gives details on status of the plant as well as access to the Edit button.
Pics: [Oil plant - Album on Imgur](http://imgur.com/a/EQ796#0)
Note that the Edit button gives you access to modules that generate more power. So you don’t have to plop a whole new power plant, just plop more modules. The same is true for almost any ploppable in the game. Need to accomodate more students? Don’t build another school, just add another classroom to the existing one.
ETA: Yeah, I popped into the game for a few minutes just to get the pics. Server problems are more or less a thing of the past. Wish they’d re-enable the global market, though. And cheetah speed.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/69 "2013-03-14T15:44:12Z")
[Modder takes sim city offline, plays outside borders](http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/12/simcity-server-not-necessary/)
What do you know, there’s probably a good game under there after all. Maybe one day EA will allow you to buy the right DLC to play it.
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/70 "2013-03-14T16:01:32Z")
Thanks for the correction , **TE**. I was trying to go from memory.
Becuase my current city is mining coal, I have my plant accepting local deliveries. But I’m trying to maximize mining profits to qualify for a Metals HQ, so I’m thinking about only buying coal on the global market so that every hunk of coal I dig from the ground will be sold for export. I think this will increase both my expenses and my revenue, which will be a net wash, but help me hit the daily revenue reqirement to plop the HQ.
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### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/71 "2013-03-14T16:16:31Z")
Does that work, **Skammer**? The callout says you need a certain amount of daily profit. With the global market disabled, buying and selling coal for the same price won’t get you what you want. (Or maybe it’s my turn to misremember.)
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/72 "2013-03-14T16:48:47Z")
I’m not sure it will. But I’m exporting all the coal I dig up from two maxed-out mines _except_ the little bit that the power plant uses. I was wondering if I turned off local deliveries to the plant and exported _all_ of it, if that would put me over the top.
The missing piece is, does coal purchased by the power plan count against my daily profits? Probably, I guess.
Maybe I could fill up the plant reserves, then turn off _all_ incoming coal for a while until it starts to run out. The problem there of course is that when you turn it back on, you don’t get the coal instantaneously - it has to fight through traffic to get to your plant which could take several hours.
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### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/73 "2013-03-14T17:10:59Z")
What I’ve taken to doing to get the HQ upgrades is to turn off exporting the stockpile the material. I’ll also build 2-3 trade depots to store more of it, as well as being able to attract more export trucks into the city. (Don’t forget to turn off exporting in all the trade depots as well.) It should take about a day or so to get all the depots full. At 12:01 am, pause the game and turn on exporting on all the depots. This should do the trick for the first couple of upgrades. I’ve never been able to move sufficient volume to get the highest level, though.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/74 "2013-03-14T17:29:17Z")
Thank you. I did see that check box and checked it but thought that just enabled it to accept the stuff but then there was somewhere else on the Region screen to actually start buying it. Thanks again.
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/75 "2013-03-14T17:54:57Z")
If you have a lot of traffic, especially on the highway offramp to your city, it can take a long time for the coal deliveries to arrive.
TE: Thanks for that tip. I only have two depots full of coal right now; maybe I’ll plop a third one and stockpile and then let 'em all loose at once.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/76 "2013-03-14T20:53:28Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#):
>
> IIRC, Maxis sees this as a reboot to the series.
Why is it a “reboot”? It’s not like the games tell some sequential origin story of The Sims and their City. It’s got all the characteristics of the series - the cartoonish graphics, the gibberish language the Sims make, the same shitty simulation that breaks down on careful analysis.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/77 "2013-03-14T23:36:09Z")
I don’t know about everybody else, but now that the launch hiccups are mostly worked out, I’ve been having a grand time building cities, watching them grow, and being delighted by the sense of discovery that SimCity has always evoked.
The launch issues were pretty bad. The DRM is obnoxious. The gameplay is neither exactly the same as previous version, nor entirely revolutionary.
But if you want to play SimCity, it’s pretty good for that.
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### Author:  [@gunnergoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunnergoz)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/78 "2013-03-15T02:17:14Z")
FWIW I was in the SC beta and bought the game on the day of release. I was able to play a few hours, only being able to log in about half the times I tried. I was in the process of building up a city, got it to about 10K people, and then it…just disappeared. When I logged in to play one day, the SC game acted like I’d never played before and wanted me to do the tutorial all over. I went back to the main menu and looked for my city and was told I had no ongoing cities. So I went to their help forum and found out there were hundreds of players reporting the same disappearing cities problem.
I’d spend my hard earned pension money on this sort of crappy service? I was about to pull the plug when I heard they were going to give a free game for the trouble. OK, so I told myself I’d wait.
Log in after a few days and my city is still gone. Quit in disgust. Tried logging in today and find the servers are down on purpose…“try again later.”
Sorry, that is not what I spent $59.99 for…to be told when I can relax with the game I bought (if ever).
So I called my credit card company and filed a dispute. They issued a provisional refund, commenting that my complaint about SC and EA was happening a lot these days and they were issuing a lot of refunds.
Sorry, but this is no way to run a business. EA is not some new kid on the block. They have apparently screwed consumers before over other games which I don’t buy, but heard about. So screw them right back. They can close or block my account but I could care less now.
If this is the Brave New World of gaming, count me out.
For those wondering what the SC experience was like when it was online, all I can say is this: it was as if it was designed by a marketing team that had once seen a Youtube video of a SimCity game. It was a ghost of a shadow from the past, is all.
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### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/79 "2013-03-15T02:24:30Z")
For those looking to scratch the city-building itch, but would rather not have to deal with the current SimCity digital bruhaha, I made a list of [alternative city builders](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685194).
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-simcity-yea-or-nay/652617/80 "2013-03-15T13:54:50Z")
Maybe I don’t take my video games seriously enough, but after playing it for over a week now I’m still enjoying it. They’re starting to turn on some of the features that they had to disable at launch, and will be patching in other upgrades soon. (Yes, these should have all been ready for launch). But I don’t care too much about the problems from the first few days for a game I hope to be playing for a long time going forward. I didn’t pay $60 to play for a week.
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