[Lemonhead]

Rumours are already flying that Sim City 5 is starting to be planned/made, and this brings me to asking, what do I wanna see in the new game?

Personally, I want a more broad system of buildings and styles, as well as having them build quicker and easier. I also share a desire to see diagonal bridges and buildings facing angled roads like many people want to see. I also want a few more bridge designs... I know they can be more creative than what they have now.

So, what do you wanna see?

[Lucky 24]

I would eventually like to see my city from a 1 person perspective. I don't know if our desktop computers would be able to map out a huge city like that as of yet...but I think that would be awesome to see.

I also want to see weather...like snow and rain, and leaves falling off trees in autumn.

Streetcars!!!

Definitely more building variety.

More stadiums and arenas.

[Suburban Lou]

I would like streetcars and to be able to see the city from a one person perspective.

I would like to have a differance from suburban and urban buildings.

[Eigenwelt]

1) Slighty more varied zoning. For example, either the ability to zone specifically rowhomes, or removing single family dwellings from medium or dense residential. The ability to zone or influence zone developement. Like zone with height restricts/favoring. You might designate high density commercial or residential to be skyscraper preferred. This might work, or might backfire and not build anything if theres no market.

2) More varied LARGE parks/plazas, with multiple graphics for 2x2, 3x3, and at least 4x4. Possibly 5x5 and 6x6. Also, the ability to zone parks. In large areas, they would work much like agricultural industrial. The entire area would develop (and cost much like individula parks) with a semi random patten of grass/trees/water/paths.

3) Even more bridges, I love the new pickable bridge system, but in reality I would like even more choices. Mainly a few different graphics for each base type. Like stone arch would have 3 different looks. Steel arch might have a few different looks/colors.

4) Diagonal bridges. Possibly diagonal ports and ferry terminals.

5) Diagonal plots. For example if you were to zone a corner with a 3x1,a 2x1, and a 1x1 next to each other, they could combine into a trangle 3x3x3, and develop a building such as a Flatiron clone.

6) Maybe a system where the roads are a bit wider, and incorporate a built in sidewalk that can be built on. Subway stations, bus stops, trees, benches, public art, etc. could be added onto the road tile itself, showing up on that sidewalk. I know current streets have a sidewalk, but its not the same. (example- A subway stop would be under the roadtile. Above ground, stairs would show on both sides of the street. If placed in a road crossing square, the station may have stops on all four corners.)

7) Even more transit systems. (I love Rush hour!) These would include Streetcars/cablecars. 2tile wide roads (like avenues) which include trolley tracks down the center (looping at the end if not connected). The streetcars would travel these tracks, increasing their capacity. This however would be at a limited car capacity. Overall, they would be like avenues, but with instread of the larger car capacity, they would retain the normal roads capacity, and the extra passengers would take the trolley. If the car traffic can't find other routes, and becomes to great, both services would suffer. I would also like to see elevated rail thats over the street as well. But I can live with out it.

8) Modifications to the subway system. If you upgrade your normal subway line to double wide (or high capacity) you can then designate or upgrade subway stops to be express stops. This would increase(maybe double) the capacity of the stop, and remove alot of congestion. Express stops couldn't be placed on basic lines.

9) Aerial trams over water, or up/across steep terrain.

10) Rewards with multiple graphics. Like City Hall. When placed, you would be prompted to pick one of a few graphics, allowing you to customize your city a bit more. This would include things like Arenas/stadiums, etc. as well.

11) The ability to "zone" historical, dragging it over sections, or at least entire blocks. I would like to see the no-bulldozer option to historical buildings returned. I don't know why they removed it, but I would like it back. (maybe a second checkbox under historical)

12) Larger(numbers wise) building sets. I know they increase the system requirements, so maybe you could have the option when building a region. You could choose normal building set, large, and huge. Huge building set would be very demanding, but give your city a much more realistic look, with 2 or 3 times the building types of normal.

13) More varied terrain. Like SC3, colored terrain denoting different climates. And trees. I do not like palm trees, and it bugs the hell out of me every city I build is filled with them. I can understand the Houston set...but Chicago and NY? WTF?

14) The ability (probally is a add on or stand alone companion program) to walk/fly/drive through my cities. The city wouldn't be playabe in this form, but you could see skyline views, street views etc.


I got more, but I need some lunch. Heh.

[Lemonhead]

Wonderful suggestions... I can't believe I didn't think about streetcars... I would LOVE those! Keep 'em coming! ;)

[LSyd]

1. MOST IMPORTANT - return the feature to where you can see the public buildings when everything else is simply viewed as colored zones...It's so damned hard to handle mass transit stops and stuff when you can't tell where they are, and can't get a bulldozer on them.

2. different sized mass transit stops; better ways to make subways work out of one building (like having parallel lines without making 2 stops.)

3. subway and bus stops built into parks, or placed on sidewalks.

4. sidewalks/foot streets under the street option could be cool

5. UNDER AND OVERPASSES for roads, rail, avenues, etc., that are easier to do

6. better terrain management system; more like SC3

7. maybe options for some NIMBY/YIMBYisms

8. design approval for buildings and lots based on size; example: you get notice of propsals for 4x4 or bigger lot construction and you have to approve it; then they can also come up with a new proposal

9. bigger city zones

10. backwards compatible with SC4

11. more buildings per tile set; and where's the "Asian Tile Set?"

12. diagnol bridges

13. maybe some better separation of wealth; hence you get ghettos and gritty areas in some parts that are more functional than they otherwise would be if done now

14. maybe some one-off buildings; for example, you get notice so and so company wants to build their headquarters in your city

15. different tax structure; more detailed, more options than just property tax, like say, sales tax, car tax, etc...

-

[biguc]

/\ those are all excellent ideas. i especially like the ideas about approving large projects and the announcements about headquarters moving to your city. your first idea is the best though. that would be really nice.



i'll add a few.

- full 3d graphics. this game won't be out for 3 years. computers will be faster by then. they'll be able to handle it. besides, i have a feeling that a 3d engine would work better on any computer with a fast video card. rendering so many 2d sprites is hard on the processor, especially when so much power is required to calculate everything else in the game. a more video card intesive engine would remove strain from the cpu and definitely be good.

- free camera movement. with the 3d engine you would be able to fly the camera around anywhere. you could see your city from any angle or any location. that would be sweet.

- free hand road mapping. i'm tired of having roads based on 45 degree angles. i want to be able to draw out twisty roads, or roads at other angles.

- funny shaped lots. buildings on sharp corners are the best. i'd like to be able to have corners with buildings like that. this would also include agled zoning.

- bridges at any angle.

- less of the unsuitable grade for construction bullshit.

- pedestrian malls. i'd love to be able to build a city entirely without cars. just public transit and pedestrian only streets.

- seasons. i'm tired of having all of my cities be in california. i want there to be seasons.

i'll think of more later.

[Slim Pickens]

Diaganol Bridges.

Underwater Tunnels. (Not having to exploit a bug to do it.)

Undeground Power Lines.

The ability to export/import Garbage, Energy, Water to towns that don't necessarily border the specific town.

Light Rail (Seriously, I don't think Rush Hour needed both Elevated and Monorail) How about the ability to put LRT in the middle of avenues?

Get rid of the direction specific zones. (Just be able to zone an area without having to worry about the size and shape of the zone blocks. And as biguc said, funny shaped lots as well)

ROADS THAT CAN GO AT DIFFERENT ANGLES!! (i.e., being able to drag it to any angle you want.. Not just 45 degree increments)


Edit: Also.. How about the ability to put roads directly under, and following, elevated rail, and elevated highways? not just crossing..

[alejandro]

There's two thing only I want to see for Sim City5:

One...
The capability to be in your city, and when you make a conection with a neighbor, to be albe to see where to make the conecton in order to make all sim nation a better place to live.
And...
To be albe to see you city from the eyes of one of you sims, to see it as I look a building when I go next to a tall biulding.

:D :rock: :D

[LSyd]

I thought of two more this morning;

1. Ability to rezone buildings; like convert existing buildings from Residential to Commercial, make lofts out of industrial looking buildings, old houses into small offices, etc...

2. Ability to subdivide lots without destroying the buildings...like being able to build on the grass that's part of the 4x4 mansions, and leave the house standing.

-

[mr.x]

more landmark, stuff you guys said, and realistic costs - in the millions and billions. for example, paving a square of road should cost $1,000 and the city budget should for a city with 500,000 people should be like a billion.

also, sport teams, more ordinances, and cities can host world events by building venues and facilities....for example, the Summer and Winter olympics and Expo Worlds Fairs. Also, we can create realistic mountains and we can build ski resorts on top of mountains and down below, a metropolis......

[biguc]

those are excellent ideas lsyd.

i like your events idea x2.


i was just thinking today that it would be cool if your city could get windfalls, like somebody striking oil. it would make more money for your city and be a bit of a lucky stroke.

[LSyd]

some great ideas here.

-

[fangorangutang]

I would like an option of developing a city in different time periods, with varying levels of technology. For an example, 18th Century France, Late 19th/Early 20th century US, 21st Century Tokyo, etc. etc. Also the ability to place more regulations/laws regarding transportation and growth. I want a car free city! and all of the things mentioned already.

[caw123]

- free camera movement. with the 3d engine you would be able to fly the camera around anywhere. you could see your city from any angle or any location. that would be sweet.



I've always wanted that, It would be great!


- At the very least you should be able to see your city's skyline from certain locations.

- I'd want far more style of building too.

- And the option to undo a demolition would be useful, on several occasions i've accidently highlighted a building for demolition and can't undo it. It sucks.

- Smarter sims, It's annoying when I spend loads building a subway and a highway between places but still get abandonment due to commute time because they don't use the mass transit!. Stupid sims don't go the fastest way!

[biguc]

yeah, and lots of the time they'll drive through a bunch of side streets, instead of a highway, because the distance is marginally shorter. fools.

your undo demolition idea is good. i'd also like to have a way that you could cancel your road construction once you've dragged it out, but not let go yet. that would be handy. it bothers me how it can waste money doing that shit.

[fangorangutang]

biguc, you can press esc before you let go and it will cancel any zoning/road building

[mr.x]

I would like an option of developing a city in different time periods, with varying levels of technology. For an example, 18th Century France, Late 19th/Early 20th century US, 21st Century Tokyo, etc. etc. Also the ability to place more regulations/laws regarding transportation and growth. I want a car free city! and all of the things mentioned already.


that would be cool!


.....and i'm not sure if anybody said this but a 360 degree ground view of your city anywhere in your city.....also, more transit, utilities, safety (hospitals, fire, police), parks and recreations, enginnering/construction and gov't created jobs. plus, less abandoned buildings because that's not realistic, more landmarks, and many more style of buildings to choose from.

also, real amusement parks, attractions, and many more.....

[biguc]

biguc, you can press esc before you let go and it will cancel any zoning/road building


ah... well then.

[TheNickChannel]

1. Separate bike trails with commuting functionality (i.e. allow Sims to make their "commutes" on bike trails)

2. Improve street labeling system -- right now, if you upgrade a street to a road, and there is a street label in that area, the label disappears. I'd also like to be able to designate regional highways and have them labeled/numbered on the region view.

3. More rewards. For example, extra radio/TV stations, a daily newspaper, various corporate HQs. Maybe allow one city per region to be a "capital city" and be the primary seat of government for that region. Stuff like that to keep it fresh.

4. Scalable public buildings. I like the sliding scale funding, but I'd also like to be able to build my schools and hospitals vertically when needed, instead of eating more horizontal space.

Other people's ideas that I agree with...

* Twisty roads
* Be able to partially demolish a zone (e.g., get rid of a parking lot or yard but keep the building)
* Put bus stops on the sidewalk, put subways under buildings, instead of hogging an entire tile
* Be able to toggle views to only see public buildings, only see libraries, only see elementary schools, etc.

[Lemonhead]

^ Aye, I have designated "Capitol Cities" of each reigon, in my reigon. Lmao. Basically I split my reigon into North, South, East and West, and have little capitol cities (and as a "capitol building" I put a landmark :laugh: ) for each area. Then I have a Capitol City fo the entire reigon, dominating all others, and you guessed it... I called it Washington, D.C. :laugh:

[Insane Alex]

I would like tunnels through the ground and through buildings!

[biguc]

yeah, it's pretty retarded that you can't build roads under bridges.

[Jasonhouse]

A fully immersive 3-D environment. The ISO/Axonometric thing can go now...

[fflint]

* Put bus stops on the sidewalk, put subways under buildings, instead of hogging an entire tile
* Be able to toggle views to only see public buildings, only see libraries, only see elementary schools, etc.

These two, along with the previously-mentioned streetcar system, would be my own suggestions.

It makes no sense to have house-sized bus stops taking up acres and acres of land on each street--what city is like that? Bus stops are a part of the sidewalk, as are subway stops usually (perhaps there could be an allowance for corner subway stops *inside* commercial buildings of a certain size?).

[Jasonhouse]

I think that all Stage 8 office structures should be able to be "upgraded" with an integral transit stop.

[Insane Alex]

^That's an good idea! :)

[Xing]

-The option of adding or subtracting freeway lanes.
-More realistic traffic. (SC4's traffic simulation disappointed me)
-city borders

[PrOfOuNd_ReTaRdAtIoN]

-i want to monorails, elevated rails that can go in the middle of avenues.
-winding streets and sidewalks
-irregularly shapped parks to accomodate an area.
-irregularly shaped plots
-different style cities eg. asian, european, american etc...
-streetcars

[Kirk]

- Building transit stops on sidewalks where they belong
- Zoning of parks
- Arbitrarily wide avenues
- Better simulation of transit usage
- Arbitrarily shaped lots and angled streets
- Roundabouts
- Neighbourhood definition
- Better labelling (ie: not having labels disappear all the time)
- Generic landmarks (I'd rather have something generic than have a collection of well-known landmarks dotting the city, which looks ridiculous)
- Elevated rail and highways taking the same path as waterways and roads

[npinguy]

if i'm not mistaken monorail is fast, but subway/elevated rail is relatively slow.


I want a middle ground. here in vancouver we have skytrain. It is EXACTLY like the elevated rail/subway option because it's MOSTLY above ground but it goes under ground when it gets to downtown and a few other places. So it goes up and down. But it's got an average speed of 90kph........which is pretty fast

[biguc]

- Building transit stops on sidewalks where they belong
- Zoning of parks
- Arbitrarily wide avenues
- Better simulation of transit usage
- Arbitrarily shaped lots and angled streets
- Roundabouts
- Neighbourhood definition
- Better labelling (ie: not having labels disappear all the time)
- Generic landmarks (I'd rather have something generic than have a collection of well-known landmarks dotting the city, which looks ridiculous)
- Elevated rail and highways taking the same path as waterways and roads

what do you mean by the last one? build them over waterways and roads?

you can make roundabouts. just make a circle with a one way road. they work pretty well.

[brinvion]

I am a Old school Bapper(sc3000unlim)

I would love to see a more complete way to build custom structures. This can be achieved if the developers were to.

1. make a program that lets you make props in a easier funtion instead of going thru Gmax.

2. i hear render large scale Building takes forever. they need to kill that problem

3. Bring back the Bap styled platform. it is a easy enviroment to work in....

there is my 3 cents.

[Kirk]

[QUOTE=Kirk ]

what do you mean by the last one? build them over waterways and roads?

you can make roundabouts. just make a circle with a one way road. they work pretty well.



What I mean is like the trains in Chicago or the freeways in Tokyo. Elevated rail or highways that go directly above a road and follow the same path.

I'll have to try that roundabout thing, but it'd be nice to have something more straightforward, that would allow you to take into account the traffic efficiencies of a roundabout.

[biguc]

ah, i see what you mean. that is a good idea. it's always bothered me that the game doesn't allow you do do things like that. not being able to have bridges cross or build a road under a bridge is also annoying.

[Doady]

Going full 3-D and using hexagons instead of squares would improve the game alot.

[grasscat]

^ Yeah, or at least triangles. Squares are just too rigid.

[npinguy]

^ Yeah, or at least triangles. Squares are just too rigid.

yeah what you could do is have it such that 4 triangles are arranged in such a way as to make a square. So usually - the large buildings, straight roads, etc would follow "squares" but smaller objects would also be available, and of course it would allow for more variety of connections and turns

[grasscat]

^ That's exactly the way I pictured it!

[themapman]

1) Height zones or districts, separate from zoning, minumum and maximum

2) Separation of office zoning from retail zoning

3) Mixed-use zoning as an option

4) Economic development - lure large companies or spurn them. Attract development; make payments, give tax breaks. Compete with neighbors and across SimNation.

5) Varying streetscapes - allow users to do streetscaping manually, and the better the streetscape the higher the land value

6) Arcos! Newspapers! Bring back SC2k!

7) Make open space more valuable!

8) I like the project approval requirement as buildings/lots get larger.

9) Separate out education - school districts are not run by cities generally; fight with the district to ensure that adequate services are provided, but do not build the schools yourself. Why not allow for volunteer fire depts as well?

10) Have developers approach you about (re)zoning empty areas, fighting blight, etc. Let them help or hurt you as you try to design a great city.

I also like:
Historic districts (with financial incentives?)
CBD districts (with unique zoning)
And of course, more of everything else.

P.S. In SC4 you can rezone existing buildings, simply drag the new zone over the building. The building, if redeveloped, will follow the new zone.

[grasscat]

Hey, nice ideas themapman.

Which reminds me...I'd love a mapping function that allows you to print out a street map of your city with the street names (based upon the labels that you always put on them and then they inexplicably disappear).

But then again I read maps like some others read Dickens.

[jeffwhit]

basically, a lot of what's already been mentioned.


1. More options for funding (like arts and culture) which then opne up new buildings, like small theatres, art gallaries etc.

2. Control over sidewalks. This would mean that you could beautify them by adding decorative benches/trashcans/streetlamps etc decorative pavemtn, trees, and that the sidewalk is where you add bus stops and subway stations. Also, make the center median of avenues useful space, where tranist can either run down the middle, or at least it can be dsignated for passenger use.

Allowances for really small scale commercial, like hotdog stands, newspaper stands etc for certain streets.

Yet more transit options (streetcar, LRT, and when for the future rich cities of simnation, maglev), also crossrail would be nice.

[themapman]

grasscat - I've read Dickens, I'll take AAA anyday!! I like the street map idea.

[Jonovision]

I would like them to allow you to put rivers and lakes at different levels like you used to be ably to do. It makes the landscape for realistic. This would allow for more buildings like paddling clubs.

[biguc]

that is a good idea. it bothers me that you can't have mountain lakes. waterfalls would be cool too.

[mr.x]

as many lanes for a road you want...and turning lanes. and for rapid transit, you have a bunch of technologies and designs, including station designs, to choose from including rapid bus. you also have to buy trains and buses and hire workforce for city public transit and other services. you also paint your trains and buses (choose colors).


also, does anybody know the cheat for change city name and change mayor name?

[CGII]

What I'd like most is above street el tracks. That's how all el tracks started.

Diagonal bridges

3 dimensions

building variety

approval of large structures

[BuffCity]

no repeated buildings, and...a choice POP-UP for choosing what buildings you want and don't want.

better regional terrain graphics, bigger cities by size

[CGII]

I also would like Light Rail/Rubber wheel trams. That would be nice, seeing as MKE never got them.

[FlyersFan118]

I only have SC3KU, and I would love to see more space for building. All you have is roughly 100 sq. mi, and that is nothing. New York is over 400 sq. mi, and Philly is over 135 sq. mi. There is not enough space, and in most of my cities on there, I have over 1,000,000 people and no space to put them. And on top of that, the streets are always clogged, and I had to re-rout the whole Subway system to un-clog the streets.

That and more landmarks and a better BAP would rule.

BAP RULES ALL!!!!!!

And repeated buildings are retarded, because then you end up seeing the same building(s) all over your city. I keep getting that filthy ugly brown Arbor Plaza all over my cities and I hate it. I normally BAP new buildings to replace them, mostly hotels. :help:

[BuffCity]

I recommend if any of you have not yet done so to check out the Exchange for SC4, there are several cool downloads that will allow you to do new creative things.

I agree about not having such famous downloads.

Highways and angled streets need work, roundabouts are easy to make.

there is never a Post Office!

[caw123]

One thing that could be improved is the way that buildings are constructed.
It did improve alot from SC3K but the buildings frame should go up bottom to top(and not the top of the building rising out of the ground!)

And I think an approval system would be useful, it could get hectic, but if you had to approve buildings then you could reject duplicate buildings. A list would come up every week or so, and you have to approve or reject, or delay. You would be able to select a load of them to approve at once so you don't have to look at every little building in the list.

[BuffCity]

is it possible that our suggestions will get forwarded to EA Games for consideration into the next SC5?

I'm sure they would love the input, we are the ones who know the game and cities here...lol

[Rural King]

I would like to see time based buildings to correspond with the time setting.

I would like to see 1900 era buildings, 50s era, 2000 era, thus if you start in 1900 you could have a mixture of building types if you mark them historical overtime intermixed with newer towers, ie like a real city.

I hate in SC3000 having it bee 1910 and have modern towers.

More variety in buildings is key too, to much duplication.

[BuffCity]

I think the "no repeated buildings" is a good one.

I heard someplace that MAXIS and EA are gonna get back to basics with SC5, not advanced like we would all like to see...I guess they wanna lure more people onto the game instead of satisfying the more traditional players...:???:

[biguc]

how about autosave. a thunderstorm just knocked out my power after playing for a couple hours. FUCK

[Suburban Lou]

Damn that sucks!

[BuffCity]

yea...that might be a good one, many games have that now.

[drumguy8800]

the best things to add would be.. weather.. like.. snow, specifically, and flooding.

Also, I want the ability to name my roads. I know you can label things in SC4, but that's pointless. I want to be able to query a road and see what it's named.

Also, roundabouts.

and... trenched-highways

and of course, sim-level-view.

[grasscat]

^ Word, about roads. I brought up earlier that I'd like to be able to print a map of my streets (remember "Place & Print" from earlier games?). And I hate how you lose your labels so damn easily.

[Pride]

Yeah the autosave and no repeated buildings are good ideas.

[ajfroggie]

Something I'd like to see: additional interchange options and variable-width highways...

[biguc]

it's easy to make trenched freeways. you just use the terrain tool to make trenches, then run freeways through them. you can also make tunnelled freeways. i do this all the time.

[harls]

^I do that with my rail lines (the trenches)

[biguc]

yeah, tunnelling is especially handy for rail lines, since they only need to be at the surface where the stations are.

[harls]

I would love it if I could actually build something like this, where I live.

http://photos.yafro.com/pics2/i/20040827/8/4/6/5/7/846573bc379a6867a94e2df4a3490aaf0_full.jpg

http://photos.yafro.com/pics2/i/20040827/a/f/7/0/9/af70982be5e55f250d99b128d46fa7ac0_full.jpg

http://photos.yafro.com/pics2/i/20040827/9/6/f/f/9/96ff997849f21631ed87e0b57863f2ed0_full.jpg

The trench is for dampening the sound repercussions..but it's difficult to build the single road bridges across.. any ideas? Just recently started playing this game again after a year or so being a drink coaster.

[biguc]

i'm not sure. if you want to build a bridge over land the drop has to be really steep, or the trench has to be incredibly deep.

but it really doesn't matter because you can't build anything under bridges. it's a pretty stupid oversight by the developers.

[harls]

True.. you have to put those big highway overpasses..ah well.

[ThrashATL]

Did anyone mention annexation? Besides the fact that building all cities/regions based on squares is what we're stuck with, could we loosen that up and have the ability to annex an adjoining square/region/city to another city? I'd also like to see airlines at the airports actually set up real routes between regional airports. I want water tiles to simulate water features like a large park or laked subdivision without having to dig down 5 levels or whatever to hit water. Lastly, if they're going to have the U Drive It (You Bore of It) in the game, kick it up a notch in 5 with first person POV a la "SimCopter". I reinstalled SC2K on my PC and threw in SimCopter for a nostalgic look back. You can't believe how fast SC2K runs on a P4 3.2ghz with 2G of RAM and 256MB video card! ;-)

[MolsonExport]

Underwater tunnels.
No memory crashes.
None of the bullshit of exploding waste-to-energy facilities (ditto for the goddamn exploding power plants).
And get rid of the f**king autostreets. I like to place my own, thank you very much.
Plus, real population statistics. Goddammit, when I build a city that would rival TOKYO, I want the population to be higher than a piddly 200,000!!!!!!! I wanna build mega-cities with mega populations and an extreme amount of super tall buildings. Just like Hong Kong.

And the default mayor should be Mayor McCheese!

[ThrashATL]

How about integration of Sims 2 neighborhoods into SC5? Wright hinted at a possibility of that happening in 4 many moons ago but the time never worked out right. With Sims2 out and SC5 on the way, it would be great to plop in an established 2 neighborhood into a 5 land area and move between the two and have one affect the other (jobs, opportunities, cultural events, civic events, etc).

[jmonkey]

Maybe I'm a big nerd, but what I really want back are city simulations--playing an already designed city through a disaster or great historical event, with an end-point in mind. In SC2000, my favorite to play was Flint, MI; I loved taking on the challenge of that economically depressed town.

[vegeta_skyline]

_

[vegeta_skyline]

-There should be an option available to amalgamate multiple cities into one, or to separate large cities into smaller ones.

-Roads/rails should be able to go under any bridges.

-There should be more highway connections/ramps available.

-Why not have underground highways and roads (i.e. Boston’s Big Dig) and be able to connect them to above ground transportation.

-How about a larger assortment of power plants, as in having several different coal power plants to chose from varying in capacity and more realistically sized.

-Also they could allow for water to flow on land. I don’t like having to lower the land to sea level just to simulate rivers.

just a couple of suggestions that would improve the game

[harls]

When you have lots side by side, and at different elevations, it creates retaining walls and the terrain looks like a stack of milk cartons. I'd like it to be more fluid from one neighboring tile to another.. sometimes you'll have one bungalow surrounded by walls on all sides!

[biguc]

on molson export's topic of not having things explode, how about they make watermain breaks so that they don't demolish everything for half a block around.

[Coffeeman]

I really want to be able to see other cities in acton, too. For example, the policies that I make will have an impact on the other cities.

[Jasonhouse]

^^^ That already happens via taxation and ordinances.

In fact, if you are patient enough, you can basically get your suburbs to completely segregate themselves by wealth, simply by fudging the taxes.

I do the same thing to make my central city map heavily commercial office, with the outer "suburb" city tiles have more of the commercial service.

[Taylordaman]

Too bad I still haven't played 4.
Maybe they should make sim city 5 easier on computers. :(

[Jasonhouse]

^^^ Not likely...

Players consistently want more from the game than the typical PC can deliver.

[grasscat]

It would take some sort of NASA supercomputer to run the Sim City version I'd like to see....

[OctaviusIII]

perhaps a road-building system that is similar to the track-building system for games like Railroad Tycoon. Or maybe make it a full-transit system that functions like that.

That way, bridges aren't separate entities, so to speak, that simply connect to the main road. Instead, they are part of the single Transit System that the sims use.

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but freaking mountain lakes. I downloaded a Rhode Island map and all my lakes are at sea-level, making massive pits in my map. Not cool.

Although, word is the game will be broadened to a larger target audience, so we may see either a) some dumbing down, or b) layered, so it's easier to get into but there's a lot beneath the hood, so to speak.

[Jasonhouse]

I've been suggesting to them for years to make the game layered, or what I called "scalable".

[Rural King]

I just got Sim City 4 a few days ago. I love the graphics, but everything else is lacking. The game play is to complicated to be fun. Yes, its realistic, but I don't want to run a real city! I would like interaction to be a little more generalized, because I get tired of having to multi-task on this game. It seems like its constantly something, but maybe I have just not learned how to play this version as well as 3000. I just get really frustrated and bored with 4 already, something I never had an issue with with 3000.

So ideally to me it would play more like 3000 with the graphics of 4.

[grasscat]

I liked the "place & print" or whatever it was called on the old game where you could basically just build a city outside of the framework of the game. There was no money, etc.

I also get bored easily with the game, simply because it doesn't do all of the things I would like it to do. I wish roads could be more realistic, for one.

[Des Moineser]

4-lane roads, expandable freeways, the stated under/overpasses, MORE PLANNING, with the bugs and kinks it appears they rushed SC4 out the door before they were done (specifically the 40k residents issues) better weather, because right now you only see weather at the farthest zoom levels, snow on high summits year-round. Sidewalk transit stations, disaster switch like in SC3000. Part of a real city's challenge is disasters, but remember, tornadoes never form over skyscrapers (except in Oklahoma City) because of air pressure differences. I had downtowns wiped out in SC3000 by tornadoes. No more U-Drive It and Sims connections, loading the .dll's for it ruins performance. Mixed use zoning such as Court Ave. in Des Moines where offices and shops are on the ground floor, residents up top. 'Community Clock,' remember in SC3000 that it started in 1900, 1950, or 2000, I think it should go back to time-released things like power plants instead of on a need basis. The clock would be a master clock for the whole region. More bridge and highway options with better diagonal support. Real Annexation instead of square blocks. Even competeing with a computer-run neighbor city in a challenge. Bring back the situations challenges like Area-51 and stuff that was in SC3000 (If you haven't figured it out SC3000 was my favorite, but I can't find the case to get the serial to re-install it). Regional terraforming- do the whole at once and don't have to mess with the horrible 'reconcile' button that removes erosion, etc.

[Des Moineser]

It's retarded that airport only serve one city... On the transportation map, they should have a yellow circle or square to signify other served cities. And the area should depend on the size of the airport, includign if it's a small, medium, or large version of that airport. In Des Moines you go to Des Moines International from anywhere to fly commercial. If you live in the northern half of the metro, you fly small planes out of Ankeny Regional, and the southern area uses Des Moines International. A proposed Airport between Waukee and Adel will serve the north/southwestern quadrants of the city.

[grasscat]

^ Yeah, I agree that there should be better regionwide functionality.

[grasscat]

BTW...annexation. I think it would be cool if there was a way to annex land off of a regional map, which would cost your city simoleons. I'm not sure how that would work, though.

[Jasonhouse]

Yeah. Some sort of annexation process would be cool. I t woudl also be very cool if there were then other governmental entities (cities and townships and stuff) which were also growing on the regional map.

I also wish that there was some sort of preexisting imptetus for a city to exist. It's usually something geographical, like a natural harbor or a navigable river. But I think it would also be cool if a city started out, and already had an interstate running through the region (connecting theoretical existing cities off the map), which had traffic (and thus commerce) flowing on them. Or maybe there is some sort of natural resource, which will be exploited, thus fueling the growth of a city. I've always thought it's odd how a player just gets to start zoning in the middle of nowhere, and it grows no matter what.

[grasscat]

^ Good point on that last one. That's the part I hate most about SC4--the "blank slate".

[Ral]

I would like to see Mexican Buildings, such as Torre Mayor, World Trade Center, Palace of Fine Arts, Pemex Tower, Los Arcos Bosques and Latinoamericana Tower, Ancient Pyramids ( Mayan, Aztec... ), and the Ángel de la Independencia.

[FlyersFan118]

I think that the downtown area should be customized according to the mayor. All proposals for skyscrapers should go through you, and you can build whatever you want. Seeing the same frickin building all over your city is corny.

Need a more powerful land-designing program too. SC4 and SC3KU are hell to design your city's land.

I liked on SimCity 2000 where you could drive through your city in 1st-person view. That would be awesome to do on Sim City 5.

[MolsonExport]

Couldn't there be different patterns for Hospitals, Schools, Police stations, etc.? They all look the same. Plus, why the HELL do we need to build a Police Station (and firestation) for every 3-4 thousand inhabitants? Gets a bit retarded.

And I hate those damn exploding power plants, and self-destructing water stuctures and garbage processors.

GET RID OF AUTO ROADS!!!

Mixed Zoning...most skyscrapers today are mixed use.

[Jasonhouse]

I want to be able to designate various special overlay districts, which could be "categorized" into a few generic forms. Maybe historic, tax overlay, special architecture, master planned, etc... And then each district could have perhaps different parameters set by the player, to determine what sort of development occurs within the district.

historic district... maybe "rigid", where there is no change... "preserve density"... "preserve predominant style"...and so on...

tax overlay... the extra tax rate can be set, and what it pays for could be designated from a list..... special decoration and cleanup: like fancy lightpoles and fancy streets, cleanup crews keep nieghborhood attractive... transit: creates nieghborhood circulator, or maybe funds intermodal center... education: funds after school activities and improves nieghborhood IQ... etc, etc.

special architecture... to denote the designated style for an area of new development or redevelopment (and the the user could select from a list of themes, like art deco, victorian, neoclassical, etc)

master planned... to designate unified development type for a new or redeveloping nieghborhood... new urban town center... highrise town center... entertainment (like French Quarter)... residential subdivision... campus style office park....etc, etc

The districts could either be drawn with a cursor by the player at his whim, or perhaps more simply with click and drag boxes, which could merge when adjacent to one another during the drawing process.

This play heavily into what I see as the next logical progression in gameplay for the series... The game obviously has the basics down, and the graphics are solid... What's needed now is the ability for the player to scale the game's depth to his liking, to be able to make the game more for fun, or more for heavily detailed micromanagement of the city. (as it is now, there is little variety in the manner in which a player can engage the city as mayor. we all have to zone and lay roads and such... we can't choose if we want to really get in depth, or maybe stand off and macromanage taxing and economic conditions as the "political dealmaker", with the game instead building the city for us, according to conditions we establish through our policies.

[Jasonhouse]

Couldn

GET RID OF AUTO ROADS!!!


Umm, hold the shift key when you zone. This is in the game's instruction manual, if you had bothered to read it.

[Matty]

I'd like to be able to control transport routes (bus, train, etc) directly -- where the trains go and how many of them -- or I can optionally have the pc do it if I don't want to (but will be less effective in the long run.).

Also, I think superscrapers (some should be larger) should be harder to get. You need a regional population before they appear, high demand, and fantastic transport to the area. I'm sick of having them just pop up sometimes. This way you can tell if a city took a lot of work and thought.

[tuy]

Have there been any rumors about when SC5 will be released?

I would definitely like to see more control of what gets built. Have a planning commission that looks at all new construction, and then sends recommendations to the City council. You could either pick an automatic mode, or a full control mode.

Make the construction of transit systems more realistic. Plan out a light rail line, and then see it construct over the next several years. Same with skyscrapers. Make it take a couple years to build them.

[Des Moineser]

About the skyscrapers and regional demand... It's sort of like that in 4 with combined demand unless you're playing a large size city that can grow to 3 million people and what not. Playing medium cities only gets you skyscrapers once another city is on the map to help with demand and small cities have never gotten commerical skyscrapers for me because the medium density West and Co., Ajjanagadde Inc., and Brink Real Estate buildings add up and high-density refuse to tear them down so you end up with an ocean of Walton Plazas.

[Jasonhouse]

^I simply don't zone as much medium, tending to have either low or high.