SimCity reboot announced at Game Developers Conference

Shawn Knight

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EA has announced a new SimCity game at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The title will be developed by Maxis using their new GlassBox game engine, a new physics engine and will be fully 3D.

Along with the announcement, Maxis released a CGI-based trailer and a few concept art screenshots. The trailer looks impressive but of course it isn’t really indicative of actual gameplay.

Detailed features include curvy roads, amazing landscapes, new buildings, dust clouds and natural disasters. There are also a finite amount of resources at your disposal and your sims will face everyday challenges such as losing a job or finding a new one. A robust multiplayer mode will allow players to "change the world together."

One aspect that was highlighted during the press conference was the introduction of pollution. As with real people, not everyone cares about the environment and won’t think twice about tossing a piece of litter on the ground or consider the impact of air pollution. Sims that maintain a messy lifestyle could become social outcasts among their friends, notes Geek Sailor.

The game will simply be called SimCity, not SimCity V, as it’s a total reboot of the franchise. The last true city-building simulator in the series was SimCity 4 in 2003. Two other titles were released four years later as spinoffs of the original franchise; SimCity DS and SimCity Societies. The two companies behind the latest title feel it’s the perfect time to release it as advancements in technology allow for more power PCs with better graphics and monitors that feature larger displays with more vibrant colors.

SimCity will be released for the PC sometime in 2013. Eager fans that place a pre-order now through Origin will received a bonus known as Heroes & Villains. There was no mention of a console version during the announcement.

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I never understood the point of CGI videos. Especially for Sim City, we already understand the concept of the game. Show us gameplay or go away. If the gameplay graphics are close to that CGI video, well that'd be pretty awesome.
 
I hope this lives up to previous titles in the series. I would like to see:
A greater variety in buildings
A soundtrack like the one from Simcity 2000
A traditional Simcity mode but also a more complex mode to make it challenging.
Larger maps so that the city is not defined by square boundaries.
Get rid of separate maps for each city. All city's will be on one large map and the game will only load whatever city you're currently over.
 
Hey, you know what would be cool? If the comment system on this site could actually thread. You know, like if I replied to someone it would actually be indented below their comment and all that?
 
psycros said:
Hey, you know what would be cool? If the comment system on this site could actually thread. You know, like if I replied to someone it would actually be indented below their comment and all that?

Simply hit the "quote" button, then type whatever you want.
 
Is that a Launch Arco in the upper right corner at around 1:07? ohmans I want this game.

Honestly I liked the Sim City 3000 soundtrack a lot, 2000's was good too.
 
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