SimCity Offline Is Coming

January 13th, 2014, 21:50

In a new blog post we get news that Sim-City will finally have a new offline mode. It seems all the bull crap about how it was not possible, and how the game was designed to play that way was a lie.

Link - http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/ar…line-is-coming

SIMCITY OFFLINE IS COMING!

I’ve wanted to say those words for quite some time, so my apologies that I didn’t take the time to say Happy New Year first.
Yes, Offline is coming as a free download with Update 10 to all SimCity players. When we launch it, all of your previously downloaded content will be available to you anytime, anywhere, without the need for an internet connection. We are in the late phases of wrapping up its development and while we want to get it into your hands as soon as possible, our priority is to make sure that it’s as polished as possible before we release it. So, until then… testing, testing and more testing. As one of the final steps, we’re putting Offline into the hands of some of our most hardcore players, the DevTesters. This group of volunteers is going to put Offline through its paces before we release it.

In Update 10, you can still play solo in Regions on your own, or in Multiplayer with people from around the world. What’s new is the Single Player Mode, which allows you to play the game Offline by yourself. And because your saved games in this mode are stored locally, you can save and load to your heart’s content. Our team will be delivering a follow-up blog that will outline the full details in the near future so stay tuned.

So what does this mean for the Online game? All of the benefits of being connected will remain including access to Multiplayer, the Global Market and Leaderboards. And all of your pre-existing saved cities and regions will still be accessible should you log-in to the Online game.

Bringing the game Offline means big things for our wonderful community of Modders. They can now make modifications to the game and its components without compromising the integrity of the Online game. Modding is a big part of our studio’s legacy and we’re excited to see what you guys create. Check out this thread to learn about Oppie85’s Central Train Station, which you can put into your game right now, and if you’re interested in making your own content take a look at the Modding Policy. To get you started, we will be rolling out a series of tutorials from the studio that surfaces how we’ve created some of the content that you’ve seen so far in hopes of inspiring your creativity.

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“Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks.”

Last edited by Couchpotato; January 13th, 2014 at 23:04.

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#1

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January 13th, 2014, 22:12

They sure took their time to implement it, the game was released last March.

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#2

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January 13th, 2014, 22:16

EA lied.
Took them a year to figure out we're not buying it. Not the game, but the lie.
Any word on sacking the CEO yet?

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#3

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January 15th, 2014, 23:12

I stopped playing probably around June last year. I don't think they could do anything to it to bring me back - offline wasn't even a priority for me anyway.

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#4

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January 16th, 2014, 20:09

I bet it has Steam now instead.

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Alrik Fassbauer

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#5

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January 16th, 2014, 23:57

Well EA claims it took them six months to remove the internet connection.

Link- http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2…pipe_stuff.php

I wonder if anyone here remembers Lucy who started the whole internet rage and claimed offline would never work.

Link- http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article…online-simcity

It's a good thing EA is good at deception and lies. It makes them perfect to publish all future Star War games.

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“Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks.”

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Couchpotato

Jaded Old-Timer

#6

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January 17th, 2014, 09:18

Heh. So does this mean they are preparing to shut down the servers already?

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Arhu

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#7

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January 17th, 2014, 13:06

EA game? still not buying.

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GothicGothicness

SasqWatch

#8

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January 20th, 2014, 07:21

For SimCity, in all likelihood, EA took the blame for the developpment. The developpment team wanted SimCity to come with a permanent online feature. EA saw nothing wrong in that or even encouraged the move.

In all cases, the harm is done. Resources were allocated to try to degenerate a genre that is mostly a SP gaming genre.
Adding offline mode now is an even bigger waste of resources. It wont undo the fact that developpers tried to make that city builder a MU game.
It cant unweave the fact that those resources are lost now while they should have been allocated to make Sim City a better SP game.

Too late by now.

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ChienAboyeur

SasqWatch

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January 24th, 2014, 01:58

I'm just glad it's going offline.

Personally I don't want to buy the games that are permanently online if they are SP. I HATED that when it first debuted.

I understand that they need to keep people from stealing their work but COME ON. If I don't have internet your game is worthless to me.

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Magix1reaper

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March 18th, 2014, 23:55

Well it's official as stated by this new press release. You can now play SimCity off-line. So is anyone going to buy it now, and share their impression of the game?

Spoiler – Press release

SIMCITY NOW PLAYABLE OFFLINE

Offline Play Comes to SimCity in New Single-Player Mode, Available for All Owners

LONDON, UK – March 4, 2014 – Planes, trains or automobiles; play SimCity™ anytime, anywhere. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced that SimCity is now playable without a persistent online connection. Available as a downloadable game Update at no additional cost to past and future owners of SimCity on PC and Mac, the new Single-Player Mode lets players unplug, build, and destroy their cities from anywhere in the world.

“We’ve listened to our players and today we are delivering against their most direct feedback with the release of the new Single-Player Mode,” said Patrick Buechner, GM of Maxis Emeryville. “Player feedback has helped us deliver 10 major gameplay Updates that have improved the experience with better tuning, new features and free content. This is the most definitive SimCity experience whether you choose to play Online or Offline.”

Originally designed from the ground-up as an always-connected experience, Maxis reengineered the game in order to move the calculations locally to the player’s PC or Mac. Gains in optimization to the GlassBox Engine allow players to have a similar gameplay experience, whether they choose to play Online or Offline.

Players will automatically receive the Update the next time they log-in to SimCity. From there they will have the option to play either way; the new Single-Player Mode, which enables Offline Play, or continue to play in the Multiplayer Mode. The Single-Player Mode retains the same expansive feel of the core SimCity gameplay while adding more control over when and how their progress is saved. Multiplayer Mode continues to deliver the SimCity experience that includes SimCity World, Leaderboards, Achievements, dynamic pricing of resources in the Global Market and Cloud Saves.

SimCity is available worldwide for PC and Mac and is rated PEGI 7. For more information please visit www.SimCity.com. For the latest assets please visit: www.info.ea.com.

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“Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks.”

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Couchpotato

Jaded Old-Timer

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March 19th, 2014, 03:21

With Tropico 5 not too far away? Errrrmm….

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Zloth

I smell a… wumpus!?

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March 19th, 2014, 05:55

I'd get it myself, but I've read that the city zone size is kind of limiting, as in each zone you can build in is about as big as a medium zone (or maybe even smaller) from SimCity 4. I've heard talk of modability. I'm not sure if zone size is modable, but I'd buy the game if it were. As it is, though, my backlog is immense on such varied systems as PS2, 360, PS3 and the PC (one of the reasons I have yet to hop on the newest gen bandwagon).

Props to them for FINALLY doing the right thing…I guess. *shrugs* It's kind of sad really, because SimCity used to be one of my favorite franchises. I haven't been this disappointed by a game franchise since…I guess Master of Orion.

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fuzzicalFighter

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SimCity Offline Is Coming

Couchpotato

#1

azarhal

#2

joxer

#3

Scrav