The final release of Cities XL is only a few weeks away. There's been a lot of buzz in our Forum lately surrounding the game, so I thought I'd take a few of your burning questions directly to Monte Cristo and try to get some official comments as well, I was curious to see how the game has evolved during its development and to try to get a sense as to where Monte Cristo thinks the game can go from here. Big thanks to Monte Cristo for taking the time to answer these!
Dirk: How long was the development for Cities XL? How much has the vision of Cities XL/Cities Unlimited evolved from beginning to now?
Monte Cristo: Development for Cities XL started a little more than two years ago. Though the name did change over the course of the project from “Cities Unlimited” to “Cities XL”, it had more to do with copyright and other similar considerations than a change in our vision for the game, which is still pretty much the same as when we first started communicating on the project.
Of course, things always evolve a bit over the course of a game’s development, but we never lost sight of our initial project: bringing something fresh to the genre with a new-generation City Builder that can be played either Solo or within the online Planet Offer.
Dirk: Overall how did the beta program go? What kind of feedback were you looking to get during the beta?
MC: We are pleased with the way beta went, as it provided us with a lot of very valuable information.
Of course, beta test is always a bit of a reality check for any game, and this has been a reality check. When we first launched beta for Cities XL a couple of months ago, we quickly became aware of a lot of technical and performance issues, which made it difficult for some beta testers to play the game and did not give a very good first impression. But that is what beta is about: a lot of different players with different configurations and gaming experience providing feedback on all aspects of the game and we have worked hard to fix so that everyone could enjoy a polished game upon release. We have been challenged on the trading system, on game instability, on interface lack of logic and presentation...
Though a beta is never a walk in the park, as you are basically asking users to bring on all the issues they have, we also received a good share of positive feedback from players enjoying the game for long hours of play and showing strong belief in its potential for the future.
Dirk: How did the beta feedback affect your development? Were you able to take any of the community suggestions into consideration?
MC: We have considered in details a lot of the suggestions sent by testers and have taken them into account where we could to improve the overall gameplay experience, for example by reducing the cost of some buildings that were deemed too expensive, balancing the effect of Oil in the economy or adding a Marketplace to further ease token contracts between players.
But, no matter how good they are, not all suggestions can lead to an immediate change in game, especially when it comes to new game features ideas. We have been gathering all the interesting ones that are compatible with the vision we have and will consider them for the future upgrades of the game after release.
Right now, we are putting all our efforts in delivering a performing and balanced game for day one ;)
Dirk: Some of the impressions from those who have played the Cities XL demo are mixed, and many are repeating the same kinds of criticism surrounding the user interface. Is the interface in the demo indicative of what we can expect for the final game? Is the demo considered "polished"?
MC: First of all, please remember that the demo only shows the beginning of the game. This is unfortunately the part where players have to learn a lot in one go about new mechanics and with only limited rewards, as they miss some of the content that comes later on in the game, such as cooperative building of megastructures or more complex resources balancing and trading. City builders are not the kind of game where you can jump right into the action in the short time provided by a demo.
We are well aware of the criticism surrounding the user interface and it is still being worked on as we speak. The general consensus in beta regarding the evolution of the interface is that it is going in the right direction but still needs polishing and clearer messages.
We have noticed from the demo that the entrance in the game was too difficult and that we need to provide more help to the average players. Between the demo and the release version of the game, you’ll already notice many changes and improvement in game panels, such as population, budget or taxes, and this polishing will be an ongoing effort that we’ll pursue after release.
Dirk: It appears that mass transit options would largely be available only to Planet Offer subscribers. Some devoted fans of the city building genre consider this a rather egregious "missing feature" for single player.
MC: Presence of mass transportation in the solo game is clearly a hot topic at the moment and, to be fair, we understand that we have our share of responsibilities in the discussions as our communication as been unclear and rather confusing at times on the subject. We sincerely want to apologize about that.
Traffic management is key to a city builder and it is with this in mind that we have created a second to none road system that is delivered to all within the box and proves its worth in cities with multiple millions of inhabitants, where a carefully planned traffic is needed to keep things running.
Some players will truly appreciate these new tools at their disposal to create efficient cities, while other players might put the emphasis on other features they deem missing, such as mass transit. Different players have different expectations and this is part of the joys and difficulties of game development :)
Mass transit options are clearly the next step for us in the overall transportation system. Unfortunately it’s not something that we have been able to squeeze in the game for release despite our upmost effort. We thought until not long ago that the bus system could be ready for release but we were not happy with the results and decided to postpone it.
Mass Transport features still need further development before they can be effectively implemented into the game and make a real impact at city and trading level.
Dirk: It might appear to some that Monte Cristo is being a bit heavy-handed with the requirement to subscribe in order to benefit from all the city-building options. Can you elaborate on the reasons for the limits imposed on the single player option vs. Planet Offer subscribers?
MC: As you know we have committed ourselves, against a reasonable monthly fee, to bring new features, additional content (first packs will be Medieval England Pack, Chinatown Pack, country specific roads, etc.) as well as community support and multiplayer functionalities to players around the globe.
Mass transportation (including buses) will be part of the future features and, as such, will only be part of the Planet Offer. We intend to deliver the bus system this side of Christmas and will confirm as soon as we can.
This might not be the model all city builder players are accustomed to, but it’s something we are very comfortable with. It seems logical that players supporting the game through the Planet Offer subscriptions are to benefit from further developments. We also consider the pricing of the original game reasonable in regards to content and functionalities.
Though we understand that players always want the most for their money we must keep in mind that a lot of city builder fans have, for many years, complained about the lack of support from the developers once the game was released and for having to wait 2 to 4 years between sequels. This is what we are trying to change.
Dirk: What kind of GEMs can we expect to see right away? Do you have a tentative GEM release calendar? can you give us any hints?
MC: The Ski GEM, that allows you to build and manage your very own ski station in your cities, will be the first GEM that we’ll be releasing and we do have a task force working on it at the moment to polish it. We read a lot of suggestions on the forums regarding which GEM players would like to see coming. For now, we can only tell the Ski GEM will be followed by a Beach GEM and we are looking at some other ideas too. As usual, as soon as we have something we can show off, you’ll be the first ones to know ;)
Dirk: What can you tell about the extent of custom content support that will be available at launch?
MC: We really wish to build a strong collaboration with community members who are into custom content creation and offer them in the future the opportunity to see their work make its way officially into the game. At the moment we can’t commit to make this a “policy” and open the gate because we wouldn’t be able to handle the number of submission.
Cities XL is a really complex application with tons of internal features ready to host the future expansions (GEMs) and other features we want to add later on. For that reason custom content will have to be approved integrated within the game by our team so that it fits well in the global experience. The first step for us will be to educate and help a small amount of volunteers to create their first buildings and to get there we’ll start by sharing some documents about the technical specifications and process with creative communities such as Simtropolis. Then we will see how it goes and decide the best way forward.
Dirk: With the recent release of the Cities XL demo, and the approaching shipping date, you guys relaunched the Cities XL community website. There have been some questions raised about the very apparent lack of an "official" discussion forum for Cities XL, which could be perceived as an attempt to dodge critical or negative feedback, can you give us a comment on that?
MC: Trying to dodge critical or negative feedback on the Internet would sound a bit naive, wouldn’t it? And that would be hugely underestimating the impact of feedback, whether positive or negative, on general gaming sites or specialized sites. So, no, that’s definitively not the reason behind the decision.
Throughout the course of development, we have been communicating with the community through many channels, including our own official and beta forums, our website, community fan sites forums in many languages, online and printed press and, at one point, the information ended up a bit difficult to find for players interested in the game. This is why we have decided to focus our website on providing clear and concise information to the players about what’s going on in and around Cities XL, through web pages, news, dev blogs, community highlights.
But this by no means implies we are moving away from more direct contact with the community, as we know community fan sites forums already provide players with a place where they can express their opinion and discuss freely about the game and we want to encourage this by being present on these sites ourselves too ;)
So there you have it. Again, thanks to Monte Cristo for graciously taking the time to answer these questions. We all want something a little different out of the game, and as Monte Cristo said, it may be worth considering that, to date, we have only seen a small part of the game itself. I'm looking forward to seeing what the final shipping game will bring, and it will be interesting to see how the game will be shaped by the community after release.
Feel free to share your comments below, perhaps we can nudge Monte Cristo to come on here and answer a few more questions. Or continue other discussions in our forum
Sep 23, 2009 at 5:38 AM We must subscribe to Planet Offer to use basic public transportation like buses. Well, that's something I will not do. I always defended the idea of MC providing additional quality content (like that Chinatown pack) for a fee, that's reasonable. But basic content like buses? no way.
Sep 23, 2009 at 5:47 AM This interview clear some things up, but I might want to add this question:
How about releasing expansion packs beside the Planet Offer? In this way, Solo Players have access to MC's content without being online and still pay for it, but in another way (it's an option many Solo Players would like). How about a pack for Mass-Transit for example? Or a building style set? A lot of options here!
Seems like a good question to me!
Best,
Maarten
Sep 23, 2009 at 7:13 AM "This might not be the model all city builder players are accustomed to, but it’s something we are very comfortable with."
Wow, I think MC have forgotten about the community.:/ It's the customers that will decide the success of the game, not the company. Unfortunately, MC have gone with something lots and lots of people hate and MC thinks it's ok. I fear.
Also, yeah mrtnrln, I really hope they do that. They brought out expansions to City Life, and they should do so with CXL. They also should do the same thing with other big features too.
One question to MC: What happened to the forever promised Multiple Lanes tool and the tag system to the Mass Placement Tool?
Sep 23, 2009 at 8:09 AM All I have to say -- is good interview Dirk. You know I am gonna get booohed for saying but I am sick and tired of all the gripping and winny about Cities XL before anyone has even played the gold version of the game. People complaining think its easy writing code and building something this large?? It's not and take tremendous resources. All I see is trolling and negativty towards a product you only have experienced in Beta form or Demo. Get a life people -- if you dont like the game as is -- dont buy it -- its very simple and called FREE MARKET!
Sep 23, 2009 at 8:21 AM I would have to agree with derwilly on this one. I mean, these things should already be integrated in the game. It's not as if all of us are willing to spend for the planet offer every month for a game which we may not play that very often. If you look at what EA did with the SC4, they probably game the game away. They allowed you to create you own buildings, edit lots, and so many more things. All for the price of the game itself an nothing more. I was looking forward to CXL but then I'm kind of disappointed with what ST is doing. Hopefully, this won't turn into the Sims series with all of its expansion packs and what not. Still, this is an interesting game worth looking at.
Sep 23, 2009 at 8:42 AM good, so this means let's see what 2010 will bring. In any case no mass transit in single player mode means no buy for me. But I will check mid 2010 again if there will be any improvements
Sep 23, 2009 at 9:24 AM So they are going to have to "approve" any community created custom content? Along with all the other issues, this is another turnoff for me. One of the many things that made Simcity great was the ease in which pretty much anyone could create and integrate modifications and content into them. I think MC initially understood the importance of community support, but it seems that lesson has long since been forgotten.
Sep 23, 2009 at 10:47 AM CWLGamer:
You've got a good point. While I *do* wish that there were public transport in the game in the first place, at least they did ask for what we wanted in their community forum, which I haven't witnessed EA Games did, to the best of my knowledge.
And rendering/programming stuff would most likely to be easier said than done. I'm not a huge expert for programming, but at least I can say that architectural model rendering does take up a lot of time/effort.
Also, if you don't like the game, how about just simply not buy it? It's not as if Joe Stalin's physically right next to you, forcing you to buy a copy. Criticism is no doubt necessary, and no game would please absolutely everyone. But bashing other Simtropolis members for liking/looking forward to the game? Flaming them for supporting MC just because the majority don't? I find that so uncool, I might as well forgive the lack of public transport.
Sep 23, 2009 at 11:34 AM Perhaps they could go down the DLC route as well as the planet offer: People without the planet offer could make smaller, one-off payments for various packs and addons, like mass transport. It's easy to see why people would object to paying a monthly fee just to get buses or trains, but if it was just a flat payment they might not mind so much.
Sep 23, 2009 at 12:42 PM Wow, good questions Dirk.
To bad the answers aren't quite right.
Example, how the Beta went. What MC haven't told you is that towards the end of the Beta (the Beta site hasn't been updated for quite a while) the forums were literally stuffed with complaints, critism and posts saying good bye to CXL.
Another thing, for at least the last month, there have been over 5000 cities created on the planet, but you never see more than 100 people online at one time.
Now there are only 20 players in cities out of 6000 created cities. I also like how the amount of players online is not part of the new website :)
Sep 23, 2009 at 1:02 PM Some of the answers do clear up some questions I had. I was really looking forward to CXL when I first heard of the development. Once I saw the monthly fee, I was unsure. I am still unsure as to whether or not I will buy the game. I personally do not use too much mass transit in my cities so that does not bother me that much. Just the fact that you have to pay for it monthly does not make much sense. I agree with the others that a set one time fee would entice more people to pay for it. I see the monthly fee as another "bill" that needs paid.
I haven't experienced the demo very much but will start again tonight. The monthly fee will cause mixed feelings for me and many other gamers out there. I guess I will need to wait and see the reactions to the release. But for now, I might stick with SimCity 4.
Sep 23, 2009 at 1:27 PM It was a mediocre interview and did not address a key issue such as lot/zone sizes which are unrealistically large square lots. The lots are 3 times the size of an average city lot. The lot/zones needs much work before I'd consider purchasing the game in addition to no rail.
Sep 23, 2009 at 1:41 PM The interview was very well done, Dirk. Kudos to you for the insightful questions.
David
Sep 23, 2009 at 1:55 PM Thanks, all. Do keep in mind that a list of questions was submitted to Monte Cristo, and it was at Monte Cristo's discretion to choose what they could or were willing to answer. Cheers.
Sep 23, 2009 at 1:57 PM I think that basic content like mass transportation should be free for all gamers rather than just getting them for free with the planet offer. It's not fair that gamers like me should have to pay money for extra game content. We already paid for the game itself. I can understand paying for the GEM's, but for basic content, thats insane! It's just a cheap way to make more money. I got excited when I saw the new features in the videos like ariports and seaports, but if those are provided only in the planet offer, than I still might buy it. But this is insane. Paying money for more content that gamers and me love? No way!
Sep 23, 2009 at 4:12 PM Awesome interview, dirk! Thanks for sharing. ^_^
Sep 23, 2009 at 4:22 PM A good interview with good questions. I'm inclined to dismiss the answers as Corporate spin, however. The beta question, for instance - MC appears to have taken every oppertunity to wave around the good beta reaction (all the interviews i've read) and yet, it seems this is not the case. I suppose negative users are more likely to be more vocal about the issue than supporters, but the amount of negatitivy of the old site forums (not even the beta site, the actual site) suprised me, and I've been around for quite a few game launches
The fact MC choose the questions is obvious, as all the questions one might expect to be hard have a perfect answer by them.
I don't think I'm going to buy it. No mass transit on release (say what you will, mass transit is a fundamental and much asked for feature that should have been included in the inital release of the game, even vanilla SC4 had better transit than just roads) MC "approve" custom content only and subscription required for updates? No thanks, I'm sticking with SC4
Sep 23, 2009 at 5:36 PM Good interview, but I'm glad I recently got back into SC4 to satisfy my city-building rather than waiting for CXL.
I think MC will have to change their business model pretty soon as they won't be making much money. Lets face it, city-building isn't then most popular genre out there and if some of the heavier users of city-building games (like on here) are saying no to it then its either going to have to get cheaper or become free, which might help them if they do it while there is still plenty of interest in CXL.
Sep 23, 2009 at 5:53 PM I already got a refund for my pre-order, I'm not going to pay 40$ for an incomplete game. This interview made me confident with my choice to do so. sc4 4ever i guess :)
Sep 23, 2009 at 6:13 PM I feel they should have changed the name from Cities Unlimited to Cities Limited. Maybe the XL stands for eXtra Limited.
Sep 23, 2009 at 6:55 PM Lackluster, unexciting interview addressing things we already knew... The game sucks. No mass transport for single offline use is just ridiculous... Sim City 4ever
Sep 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM Yeah...I'm checking out on this. With all the hype and anticipation and hope the community had built up for this...and VOICED promises that this would be the game we wanted and not another Simcity Societies game, where the developers knew better then the players.
Monte Cristo got greedy...they thought they cornered the market on the community and we'd all come flocking to them, pay their monthly fee like the WoW addicts, and be merry.
They got it so wrong, it's hard to believe. I hope there is a new fanbase out there waiting for boring gameplay behind chat windows...it's going to be closer to Second Life then Simcity by the end.
Another pretender falls before SC4...I guess I'll squeeze another half-decade of joy out of that game...even with my video card crashes!
Sep 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM This interview confirms my plans: I'm not going to buy Cities XL.
A city-building game without a complete single-player mode is unacceptable: I play SimCity because I hate the rigidity of multiplayer games and I love to be completely free: cheats, custom contents, my own options and no time restrictions.
Can't Monte Cristo understand the simple fact that every player is different?
For the sake of city-building gaming, stand strong and cling to SimCity!
Sep 23, 2009 at 8:50 PM Well, thanks Simtropolis for this interview.now I know I will NOT be getting this game. MMO pay-to-play games have basically killed PC gaming in the last few years. When I pay 50+ dollars on a game, I expect a fully working, fully featured game, for which I don't need to pay for new features and updates unless they are presented in a solid expansion pack.
Monte Cristo have been hypocrites with us, the SimCIty gamers. They surfed on the wave of our deception towards Electronic Arts and Maxis to stir our interest in a game which they made us believe would be the true SimCity 5. As an independant developer, and considering the promising concept which was CityLife, they seemed to really have interest in creating a game that appealed to what we wanted in a city builder. However, instead of gaining our respect by making the game we really wanted, they opted for the despicable option of just cashing in on us gamers, by charging us monthly to get the very features we all wanted to see in that game. That's a cold and extremely disrespectful behaviour for which I will not stand.
I strongly suggest that you show your disapproval of these twisted methods by not buying this cash-cow lackluster product. Nor that you ever encourage MonteCristo again by buying any other of their products. They may be the ones who make the games, but we're still the ones who got played.
Additionally, I know this might fall into deaf ears considering the amount of publicity CitiesXL has been getting on this site, but I have this to say to Dirk: If you consider that, as the owner of this site, you represent the best interests of the SimCity community, you should immediately stop giving CitiesXL the amount of exposure it has been getting lately. CitiesXL is NOT a real city-building game. It is a MMO subscription game, which is a genre aimed strictly at exploiting gamers by draining their bank accounts and bandwidth. Do not fall for this trap. My opinion is that CitiesXL deserves the same treatment on this site as EA's SimCity Societies: As little exposure as possible, with a single section about it deep at the bottom of the messageboards.
Sincerely, and hoping that EA or an honest game developer will someday make a game worthy of being called a true city simulator,
Nick Orichefsky
Montreal
Proud SimCity player
Sep 23, 2009 at 9:17 PM wow epic fail monte cristo your so much like EA i will not be buying this game it sucks to much
Sep 24, 2009 at 12:20 AM My sadness has been confirmed. Big boo. I don't understand why MC is taking this approach. I completely understand their business mindset that they need to pay their investors and developers, but I am strongly convicted that this isn't the way to do it.
Not very good logistics and poor marketing. On that point, open the MC forums again. MC suggested that closing them deliberately sounded "naive" yet they claim they wanted to use the MC site for interested gamers to see what they got. What company wants to advertise their game and all of it's goodies (with an asterix stating "only with Planet Offer) and then have those same interested customers click on Forums to find a lot of negative comments.
Lastly, I have a question, kind of important and therefore may have been asked (and answered ~ I doubt it) already: Let's say we buy this feature/content-less vanilla game but later want the new features and packages, can we pay for one month of subscriptions (and mingle/trade with the other 24 or so gamers playing online), get the upgrades/patches, then go back to single player and still keep that content? I doubt it also; just thought I'd ask though.
Sep 24, 2009 at 12:42 AM Yeah this game will suck. All this anticipation for half a product. Seriously, no mass transit among other thing...SC4 is still the best simulator and this decade ie near its end. Oh well, Monte Cristo blew it.
Sep 24, 2009 at 1:02 AM Mmm let me see if I understood this: basically we wil have to pay (besides the aprox 40 box for the game itself) X box for the traffic system, X $ for new building, X $ for the GEMS... what else? are they gonna charge us for civic buildings or for the power plants or what about a pack of trees? I don't know, I really what this game but I did not liked this news...
Sep 24, 2009 at 1:19 AM I had hopes that this might be the next step in the evolution of city builders. After having played the demo, I think the game does have a lot of potential, particularly in the areas of graphics and manipulation of the roads. I didn't expect that the game would be just like SC4. But I don't think it is a better game. The gameplay is not as straightforward and intuitive. In fact, it feels a bit stale, and lacking in player control. There are no sliders for adjusting the cost of services. There are not even anything like ordinances. And now they want to charge a subscription for extra content? I guess that makes the tax system pretty realistic. Still, the optimist in me wants to see MC rethink their plan and make this into a game with great graphics, great gameplay and reasonable content. Or maybe it's not too late to hope for Maxis to produce SC5.
Sep 24, 2009 at 7:13 AM While I understand the need for Monte Cristo to finance further developpement of the game, the absence of any mass transit whatsoever upon release is dissapointment for me. The reasons Monte Cristo gves for that particular problem just say to me that the release date was just to early. Sadly it's something I got used to with other games... but never to that point. My conclusion is that if I ever buy this game it will only be when a complete mass transit is available. If most people do as I will there will surely be a better offer at that time. For once I will not be an early adopter if I ever adopt the game.
Sep 24, 2009 at 7:46 AM As a long time sc4 player i have been following the news about cxl since i first heard of it. What first sounded like a great game has now turned into a no buy for me. City building games for me is a personal experience, i want to build/develop the citys of my dreams MY way, not restricted by how someone else thinks it should be. I have no interest what so ever of playing a city building game online, and with that in mind cxl is not an option. Im not going to pay a monthly fee just to have features like masstransit that should be in there from the beginning. How is cxl going to challenge sc4 by demanding monthly payment for less content?
Sep 24, 2009 at 12:23 PM Well I've been foolish enough t pre-order this game and they have take my money already (nice). How I wish I hadn't. This has just confirmed how stupid I was to fall for all the hype. They won't be getting another penny from me I simply refuse to be sucked into a pay,pay,pay culture.
Sep 24, 2009 at 1:19 PM Every since finding out about the mass transit issue this game is not even a lil bit worth buying in my opinion there is nothing more fun in terms of city building to me. then being able to route the people around the city based on my layouts. I have already tried to cancel my transaction with monte cristo who indeed seems to be giving me a hard time with that as well so i need to taker it to my credit card comapany. I cant tell you how disappointed I am in having to cancel this game but without mass transit in its release there is no way i will purchase this game.
Sep 24, 2009 at 2:40 PM What a disappointment and to think i was arguing for the game earlier. Even an ant hill has buses how can a game like this, thats supposed to be revolutionary not have mass transit built in! C**p and I pre-ordered the game, I'm going to try and refute the charge for lack of delivery of a finished product.
Sep 24, 2009 at 3:36 PM This is a very sad day for me.
After the release of cities societies it was also a sad day.
No mass transit.......very sad
Very sad about the Multiple Lanes tool and the the Mass Placement Tool, I liked that.
I must say that the options in CXL to build bridges en tunnels are nice done.
I would say:
Please Will Wright will you make Simcity 5 for us?
We know you like creatures, but I'm sure you want to build another Simcity!
Take care, West
Sep 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM I just can't pay for the planet offer to get mass-transit.
I have the demo, but it seems like it wasn't what we expected it to be.(I am aware of the 10% thing.) it just seems kinda hard to use.
I just have a couple suggestions:
First, it doesn't have to be all about the online system. I think that that's not helping the general public view on the game.
second: I think that you should focus on the basics, before moving on to the details, it just seems like MONTE CRISTO tried to run before they walked in the game, trying to catch up. they just need to clean up some things.
other than that, the game is fine in the demo for me. I think it has potential if they can clean things up a little. NICE JOB MC. I undersatnd that these things are terrible hard to create, and that you did your best with what you had. :)
-blakesterville.
Sep 24, 2009 at 5:32 PM "Mass transit options are clearly the next step for us in the overall transportation system. Unfortunately it’s not something that we have been able to squeeze in the game for release despite our upmost effort"
Lol sounds to be like he is saying "well we couldn't do it, so we decided to reales a unfinished game"
Its a good thing Bungie had time to put guns into halo!......my point it....if you can't do it by the release date THEN PUSH THE DATE BACK.. man
Actually, you know what they could do, release Simcity2000 and say "subscribe! and in 2 months we will have updated graphics, 7 months we will have mass transit, 12 months we might even have more buildings!!!"
I mean serously.... from what i've seen its a simcity 2000 with better graphics.
Sep 24, 2009 at 7:20 PM Its a shame there's so many negative comments and very little discussion around the huge leap forward this game takes the city building genre. Progression doesn't come for free. People seem to be failing to recognise the positives brought here. I only wish people would reserve judgement and be prepared to give this title a chance
At the end of the day this is a commercial venture with the primary goal to "make money" (as with any game). MC cannot be expected to provide all this content for free - they will ruin themselves - why is no-one asking the question "why did Maxis stop supporting SC4?"
I have not read anywhere that they will 100% definitely not offer any of this options. eg. Mass transit as a non-subscription upgrade. I for one hope that MC do succeed and are given the opportunity to prove themselves and are given time to adjust the model and ensure they can make it work.
Too many people seem to want to have their cake and eat it!
Sep 24, 2009 at 10:46 PM Guess it's time to reinstall SimCity 4....
Sep 25, 2009 at 3:10 AM I only hope that it isnt another failure like sim city 5 or city life mainly because they said they have not done any mass transport (will want to realese an expansion pack to get more of our money).
Sep 25, 2009 at 5:45 AM actually dave your wrong- simcity 200 had more transit options than cxl. in fact- even the original simcity had railroad tracks, a seaport, and an airport.
slickster- how is asking for a finished product too much to ask?
Sep 25, 2009 at 9:14 AM Thanks for the interview dirk.
Really disappointing answers. First they said no mass transit in SP, now not even buses.
That's it for me, won't buy for sure.
Sep 25, 2009 at 9:30 AM Hello fellow Simtropolians,
I've just read the article, and this is what I think:
I think that Cities XL is a great game. I love the graphics and the flexiblilty I can see in the game. I t makes my imagination run wild with ideas of future gems. However, I was very dissappointed when I heard about the mass transit feature. I am not upset that the mass transit feature is not in the final game just yet. I am upset that I would have to pay a fee for even seeing them in the game. I think it is unfair. Until that is changed, no go on Cities XL.
Sep 25, 2009 at 3:08 PM Mass transit is not the only game killer here for me. While I agree that it's not fair to directly compare game play style of a new city-builder to SC4, I simply can't get over what passes for "zoning" in this game. For all of the off-the-grid freedoms the road system can provide, the "zoning" is so rigid with its one size fits all that it acts as more of a constraint than SC4's grid system does, in my oh-so humble opinion. At least with the grid, I knew exactly what compromises would have to be made. If I widened a road to an avenue, I knew I'd have to sacrifice an entire tile width. Even though that means possibly demolishing existing buildings, the flexibility of the zoning lets me fill that in with development afterward anyway.
I know it might sound like a silly quibble, but I also can't get over the fact that a "low density" office property can sprout a 10 story tower. So much for being able to fashion small-town outlying districts, etc.
There are many beautiful things in this game, but it's very frustrating for me to play for these reasons & others...
Sep 25, 2009 at 5:46 PM We need maxis at this point...
Monte-cristo:
I seriously suggest that you wait at least a couple more months and tighten things up a little before the release of the game, it wont do too well for profits if there is so much negative commentary on the game before its actual release.
GUYS: why not just get the planet offer.
-blakesterville.
Sep 25, 2009 at 9:12 PM I am confused. Doesn't MC realize that most of the people that are geared towards their product are SimCity fans? They are doing a terrible job marketing this game to the city building core of fans. If we don't buy it, will the Madden/Halo/MarioKart fan want to pick it up?
I like the flexibility of SC4. I like cheating, DLC, easy zoning, pausing, and not paying for it monthly.
I don't want to spend most time balancing a budget (with a poor interface). I do that in real life; I don't have fun doing it.
I want a sandbox where I can make the city I want with very little restriction. I have that in SC4. Cities XL sounds like I have to work to hard to get a city I would not be happy with.
Sep 25, 2009 at 11:35 PM Too much Glitter... not enough substance. Did anyone ask for a second simcity societies to come out?
...didn't think so.
Monthly payments? ... get bent. I'd rather pay 100 bucks for a good game once, then pay monthly for a sub-par game.
No buy. back to SC4.
Sep 26, 2009 at 7:33 AM this game is going to be huge failure. all we want is sim city 5.nothing else is good enough.i'm not gonna buy it for sure.
Sep 26, 2009 at 3:58 PM So wait..... let me get this straight. Two weeks ago, when the demo came out, we were told that apon release, mass transit would only be available to those that were willing to pay for the planet offer. Ok..... kinda sucks, but I'm willing to pay for that, but I was under the impression that MT was ready to go once your credit card was approved. After reading this, I get the impression that MT is not ready to go..... even if you do subscribe to the Planet Offer..... If this true, then I must say....."what the hell is going on over there at MC." The game is not complete nor ready for release..... A city builder without subways, busses, etc..... is uncomplete in my opinion. I have been suckered already by pre-ordering this...... If this is true about the MT not being ready yet, I will probably through my copy up on Amazon without even taking the shrink wrap off....... Very Disappointing.
Sep 26, 2009 at 4:29 PM A lot of interesting comments, and I'd like to add a few of my own:
Couldn't play the demo and the technical support team were so unhelpful with fixing this (emailed them 4 times with extremely detailed information about the problem and got a, useless, single-line "try this" response each time) I've emailed MC a formal complaint.
Sounds like I wasn't missing much though...
From the trailers, the game LOOKS great.
I wasn't aware of no mass-transport until I read the interview and this blog. No buses? - Annoying. No trains? -Ridiculous! I can't believe they didn't at least make trains available in the basic first-release product.
Again, I was one of those suckers who pre-ordered the game and is now regretting that. I guess, like one of the above comments, I felt a bit swept up in the hype - possibly because of all the advertising the game is getting on this site. The guy I emailed the complaint to still hasn't replied (unprofessional), but depending on his response, I'll probably try and get a refund too.
I guess I WOULD still be interested in trying the game - but really only as a diversion from SC4. Like Societies - it's a fun-ish game if all you really want is a little diversion. But if you want a proper detailed and mature city-building game, it seems like you're going to have to stick with SC4 for now.
Bring on a proper SC5 please Will Wright/Maxis! I'll pay 80 Euros for it if I don't have to pay a monthly fee and it's a stable well-developed product.
Sep 26, 2009 at 4:32 PM I remember reading about Cities XL earlier this year and getting excited for it. It recently popped up in an advertisement on Steam as releasing soon. I immediately went to check out Cities XL again. To my dismay, my excitement was completely stomped on by the fact this game is so geared towards being an MMO with a monthly subscription fee. Sorry, I don't do monthly subscription fees. Being expected to buy the box and cd then pay monthly to get the full game experience is not acceptable. I was really hoping for a Sim City 5, but it seems Monte Cristo didn't even implement all the things that were present in Sim City 2000.
I was really hoping for a game where I had a random planet and could build on many different city sites while an AI ran neighboring cities. That way I could network with the AI and myself in some cases. I was reminded of the old Bullfrog Theme Park game where you had a national map and competed against other parks and chains for dominance. Sure, having other players on the planet would be alright too, but I've always thought city building was best a single player experience. I don't like it when the single player experience is watered down or deliberately handicapped in order to promote the MMO aspects.
I'm very disappointed. I was really hopeful Cities XL would be a Sim City 5 and not an MMO. Looks like we either have to wait for the next company to try to get things right or form some sort of community project to make our own game.
Sep 26, 2009 at 7:53 PM Mrnnh - The exact thing happened to me with the beta.. but try 10 to 15 times trying to get help from their non-existent customer service
Dirk - Thank you for shedding light on Cities XL ... but from the responses I have to say its done more damage than good...
Sep 26, 2009 at 11:12 PM $40 For Box
More for the Limited Edition
$80/Year Subscription
+$ for GEM content
First Year Cost: ~$165 to $200
Second Year: more
That's a very expensive city building game.
With online, less opportunity to MOD as well.
Sounds like they're trying to build a revenue stream, not a game.
Sep 26, 2009 at 11:21 PM One more thing: there's like a HUGE base of city-building fans who use SC4, many of whom use Simtropolis, and many of whom have made awesome suggestions for concepts for a SC5 game. My impression so far is that MC don't appear to have taken on board a tenth of the advice and suggestions from avid city-building fans. (Why?)
Although, like many city-buidling gamers I too really enjoy the build-my-own-cities-in-my-own-space-and-time aspect of SC4, I actually think, if they did it well, the idea of gamers from around the real world building cities on imaginary worlds to build up imaginary planets with some cooperation and trade between players' cities on the same imaginary world, is quite a cool one. I think I'd enjoy playing that too - but I have to agree with other comments on this blog that you shouldn't be forced to do the expensive MMO thing to be able to use all the functions of the game (MT etc).
Thanks for the tip by the way Chocolate City. (Chocolate City?! Mmmm, chocolate city! ahhhh -daydream drools in Homer Simpson-like way). I don't know if I can be bothered persisting with contacting them 10-15 times. They did offer me the beta version, but (especially after what you said about that) I don't know that THAT would work either, and I've kind of gone sour on the whole thing now (cutting my nose off to spite my face as the expression goes, but I'm still immature enough to do that...).
Sep 27, 2009 at 3:58 AM Just thought I'd something about customer supports. If end with your real name, then when they reply if they say Hi{REALNAME} then you know at least they've read it, whereas if they reply Hi{USERNAME} then you know they've just hit the autoreply. Also if it's a long post then put something like (my real name is xxxx) randomly in the middle of a sentence.
Sep 27, 2009 at 7:47 AM I agree if the new features (mass transit, GEMs) is paid through expansion pack (s) but at least give us something in return. We have ski resort in the game, then add additional bus/ trains mass transit for all. The rest can be paid through expansion. I really don't like to play online just to get features due to limited time and connection. Not everyone lives in Europe/US/ Japan where internet access is very good and reliable....!
Sep 27, 2009 at 1:30 PM Umm a big disappointment that we'll have to pay for basic public transportation... Please make this very important feature free MC otherwise I have a feeling that several players will avoid to buy it...
Sep 27, 2009 at 5:53 PM I can't believe a lot of the people here.
We have a game, with:
1) Curved roads of multiple sizes - dirt, large dirt, small street, two lane, small avenue, large avenue, freeway (with interchanges), with the ability to make the smaller roads one way
2) Resources - divided into dirty industry, manufacturing goods, hi tech, oil/fuel, water, power, >office<, *people* and so on - so you can really build a certain type of city.
3) Beautiful scenery, great graphics
4) Division of population into understandable types - unqualified, qualified, professional etc, which makes *sense* and doesn't seem to lead to the mass burnings in City Life
And that's just the start.
This is going to be an *epic* city builder - with the add-ons to come and so on - it could really be the future of the city builders....
(yes I'm an ex-WoW player, but that was a game that shows what an MMO *can* do if done right. Bugs are fixed, and new content added, and you have a great product - and unlike WoW this one shouldn't get old and can be updated with new technology, something SC4 is lacking)
I think in this day and age, with the increased costs of making games, employing graphics designers etc, it IS impossible to build the perfect city builder that some people are dreaming of - I think this is the best chance of getting the city builder that might never (?) get old.
Sep 27, 2009 at 6:24 PM Dirk:
Are you gonna buy this game? If you do I will that is all I can say.
MC:
I'll pay 199.99$ on a very good game that I know will be awesome.
I won't pay 19.99$ with subscription for a game that isn't what I expected.
Sep 27, 2009 at 7:02 PM @Gale: I do plan to buy the game, yes.
Sep 27, 2009 at 7:27 PM Dirk:
<3 E=MC^2
I must say tho, The only thing I ever wanted implemented in SC4 was curved roads, everything else could stay the same. I even had this idea that instead of using a square zoning system, we could have hexagonal and octoganal to compensate. But, In all honesty, I congratulate MC for making Roads finally Curve.
Sep 27, 2009 at 8:46 PM I don't really understand the objections for a monthly payment system. Simcity4 wouldn't have been the same without sites such as Simtropolis, a site that requires money and/or time to maintain. Costs that have to be covered somehow by someone. If you would have to pay for this site, would you be willing to pay?
The MMO aspect of this CitiesXL comes with costs as well. However you get a whole bunch of things back. You can finally ' share' your cities with your friends and start playing more or less together. Also you are assured the game gets regulary updated and keeps running properly on modern systems. I assume new buildings/plans are added, and all in an easy streamlined way without having to look after updates yourself and the necessary quality control of extra content. Recently after a long time not playing SC4 anymore and on a new system I found out that the game doesn't run smooth at all and actually runs worse than my older system. Also since I lost all my downloaded content it's very time consuming to make it ' complete' again. Something that won't be an issue with the MMO aspect of CitiesXL and it will be a lot more accessible to me and may other (new) players.
I've played MMO's in the past (mainly WoW) and I was very sceptic about a monthly payment first. But in the end I actually saved so much money because it kept me in the house playing instead of spending money outdoors. I've met good friends as well and had a great time with them.I don't play it anymore because I found it to be a too demanding game but I enjoyed it alot and found it worth every penny.
It's a pitty that mass transit isn't in the game. And I can understand that it can be a huge dealbreaker for alot of people. I see alot of potential in this game and while it's in it's current state a bit too buggy/unpolished for me to buy but I most likely buy this game and subscribe later after the launch. A game that keeps me playing for many hours a month is definitely worth some money each month.
Sep 28, 2009 at 11:26 AM After playing the Beta I have decided this game is not worth my money.
Online play is not an MMO - there is not any real city to city interaction as I hoped for. You're still playing by yourself with a chat window. The trading system is a joke because you don't even need it to play online because you can trade with a dummy corporation.
When a Demo version of a game has bugs and a memory leak no way am I buying the release game at release.
Why in the world would I want to build my 5 million citizen city and then Mass Transit comes out and have to figure out where to put it. Oh I want a train system but I no longer have any land for it. What's the point? Show me one city in the world that has more than 100 thousand people without a lick of mass transit.
They have a lot to do to fix this game. The roads don't square up even when doing the perpendicular options, the same buildings pop up next to each other all to often with no variety in color, memory leaks, the UI though changed many times is very weak, and the fact their is no mass transit at release is a show stopper.
They shutdown the forum on the main site because complaints spilled from the beta forums onto the main forum because people felt they were not being heard. How dumb do they think we are? We all know they are trying to save their sinking game.
It's rare that I pre-order games but with the trend these days going to pre-order to get into a beta, this game has convinced me to never pre-order a game again.
I have followed this game since the cities unlimted site opened and all I have to say is I am very very very disappointed. I was dying for this to be my next gaming addiction but it is not meant to be. I wish MC the best in their experiment but I have decided not buy the game.
Sep 28, 2009 at 12:11 PM This whole stuff sounds so EA. Really! That is bad!
But they are kind and answer very formal, so. That is better.
To bad there will be no mass transit at all, really gigantic bad.
Makes me sad actually to hear that and see people getting so mad about it.
But yeah! As beta tester. I can say the music sounds nice, the details are good. But that is all!
Sep 28, 2009 at 2:13 PM Warrior - Are you implying that I "trick" customer support into answering my e-mail... Give me a break... but to answer in the 10 to 15 times that I tried to get help from them ... i tried several different ways... and the only one who answered with NO HELP was Matthew..
Sep 28, 2009 at 3:02 PM I don't mean the first time you contact them, if you contact them normally for a while and you just don't get anywhere, then try it. As long as your not rude then they'll have no problem, because I bet they have the same problems in their life.
Sep 29, 2009 at 2:49 AM Haha OMG really no mass transit for single player. So Monte Cristo will come out with some transit patch soon after release right? Thats a big problem. I just think its funny how where talking about a city building game hear and there no mass transit. Isn't the whole point to make some realistic city. Thats really lame. I'm really disapointed. But still looks like a great game. Ill still buy it. Love what you can do with all the curved roads and what not.
Sep 29, 2009 at 3:12 AM By the way I love Franks comment #39. "Guess its time to reinstall Sim City 4..." I feel the same way. Ya ill still get this game but like others have said I am going to be purchasing an unfinished game. Ill just have to wait for the Cities XL expansion pack with all newly included Mass transit. Honestly it would be like playing Call Of Duty without any guns because Activision left them out. THERES NO POINT!!!!!!!
Sep 29, 2009 at 4:49 AM Hmmm.. not public transport without planet option? If we try out the planet option, can we keep the mass transit in the solo edition when we decide to stop paying for it? I've already pre-paid, haha. But, seriously, a lot of guys on here are big into mass transit, that's just cutting them off. Anyway, overall, the demo makes it seem really cool.
Sep 29, 2009 at 5:22 AM Now that I've read a little more about the game, I kind of have buyers remorse... hmmm... I'm going to give it a shot, but I've got a feeling SC4 is going to hold onto me for my city building addiction. Seriously, I play SC4 maybe once a week. Then if I bought the planet option, Id be paying to play once a week. I'll play the game without mass trans on the single player. They can have forty bucks for what they're giving me now. But it seems they've pissed off alot of people in this niche.
Sep 29, 2009 at 8:32 PM No mass transit was the nail in the coffin for this game. The whole idea of paying for a barebones product and seperately for add-ons is an absolutely terrible one.
What MC doesn't understand is that as said before City Building is a relatively niche market. And those in the niche don't want this barebones approach. They want the product to be extensive and well equipped, and they don't mind paying a little extra for that. Cities XL, Soscieties, etc, etc, don't provide that. They are aimed more toward the "mainstream", but that mainstream market just doesn't exist.
SC4 will live on, at least until the dawn of a true SC5. And XL is not SC5. It's just another pretender that chases a market that doesn't exist, and alienates the city- building base.
P.S. give us back Will Wright!
Sep 30, 2009 at 1:40 AM Well, as many others have said, it's sad they are not going to provide at least within an expansion pack the mass transportation features.
In NO way, would I be paying 5 dolars per month for going online just to build a city with mass transport. Besides it just doesn't makes sense, it enforces the gamer to play the game (with mass transport) only when internet access is available.
I will NOT buy this game. Sorry, but I live in Mexico City, and if it wasn't by the 11 subway lines that exists today within the city area, it would just be impossible to live in this city, SO this game is not a simulator if it doesn't includes mass transport without the restrictions almost everyone have written.
Sep 30, 2009 at 8:31 PM I certainly won't be getting this until proper mass transport is included. I can wait.
I played the beta and its not good enough for me to pay a monthly fee for at least until i get mass transportation options.
Oct 1, 2009 at 1:19 PM Seriously disappointing interview.
Oct 1, 2009 at 1:20 PM I mean the answers. The questions were great and hard hitting. But the answers were disappointing.
Oct 1, 2009 at 2:55 PM Mmmm. Nop, not the game for us!
Guys, I have a suggestion: lets write a letter to maxis-Will Wright asking for Simcity 5 Everybody here at simtropolis will sign (name, nick-name and country). We were waiting for title mill and Monte Cristo to fill the hole but they were not even close! Dirk: you may want to try this idea. I'm sure everybody will agree to do something like this.
Oct 1, 2009 at 7:38 PM Demo was disappointing. Felt like a early beta...interface issues, some graphics problems. The lack of public transportation was surprising but the lack of a decent, intuitive interface is more irritating to me.
This game needs to be delayed until it is ready for a proper release.
@Someone: A letter to Will Wright would be cute but I doubt it would help. He seems pretty set on exploring new game ideas....SC5 sure would be nice though...
Oct 2, 2009 at 2:05 AM Its simple. I am sticking to SimCity4 until MonteCristo releases the mass transit feature for single-player mode. I completely agree with Anarcho-X in Comment# 23.
I will weigh both the games once the features have been released and then consider the option of buying it. Don't know how long I'll have to wait until they release the basic features that they should release with the initial launch.
Even though they will try to release only the bus system before Christmas. It won't be enough.
I still say that SC4 is the ultimate city building game in existence.
Also, like most people said, no way I am paying monthly fee for something that should be included in the game at the time of purchase.
Thanks Dirk for the interview. It cleared some things that I wanted to know before I could consider CitiesXL. I was going to pre-order the game this weekend but this interview and the comments posted here have helped me to decide against ordering the game at the moment.
Oct 2, 2009 at 7:40 PM Mostly all the comments here are negative obviously. I also will no be buying this game,due to the lack of features that you have to pay for. MC dissapointed us all,they showed us all these great videos,pictures,and we thought they were going to give us Simcity 5,but no they did not. They failed us,and never promised any of the stuff they said. I say we should stay, and continue to play simcity 4 for another half decade. Paying for something like a little bus system is just simply ridicoulous.I won't buy the game, unless they make huge improvements,and listen to the community.I just hope someday,someone will create the next biggest city simulator, which we will enjoy. For now just stick with Simcity 4! ;)
Oct 2, 2009 at 10:46 PM DIDN'T MONTE CRISTO HAVE US, THE CUSTOMERS DEVELOP THIS GAME??? For nearly two years now, it was our input that they were SUPPOSED TO BE using this entire time! Mass transit was one of the biggest issues we all complained about from previous city building games! They had an opportunity to make an empire out of this game. Nobody has been able to do so since Simcity 4 almost a decade ago!
We are in a recession, be thankful people would be willing to spend their hard earned money on something they might enjoy. So charging monthly fees for extra content is not going to sell your product, not in this economy.
I was also foolish to preorder. The invoice says "Due to the fact that we offer a 7 day trial on our website, Cities XL is non-refundable and returns will not be accepted."
Oct 3, 2009 at 5:35 PM I haven't read all the comments on this post so far and in all honesty don't intend to. What has become very clear both here and on the various forums around Cities XL is that a particular brand of game player is rather cheesed off, namely the old hat city building fans. I think what people need to remember is this, although the game is centred on a city building platform it is still an MMO, the first of its kind. I suppose you could call it an MMOCB (city builder). Either way this is a game which is different both in genre, style and future outlook and people need to accept that if they want to be a part of it you either adjust or simply don't play it.
An MMO requires a subscription - non debatable. Anyone here who calls Guild Wars and MMO should perhaps not to avoid the pointing and laughing. An MMO needs an incentive for customers to pay a subscription to play - the HAS to be extra or no one will pay anything. On that basis, many here have said it seems that previous games had some issue with buses and mass transit and they hoped that this would resolve that, which it has, but begrudge the fee. In the words of the heavy of Team Fortress 2
Cry some more
The mass transit is your extra - your reason to play the MMO, don't like it, don't pay it. Griping about it will get you nowhere. Gaming has evolved and those who have not peeped their head out of their previous city build for some years are clearly in a state of shock.
Oct 3, 2009 at 6:20 PM ......
Yeah c'mon guys! learn to accept and pay out the ears for the mediocre! It's the future!
seriously? ....
Oct 3, 2009 at 7:47 PM The point I consistently make is this Sid - you clearly do not like the game, so why the hell are you even here? Also, if on the basis of 3 months a time you see £4.00 per month as paying through the ear - I suggest a job with better pay perhaps may be in order?
Seriously
Oct 3, 2009 at 9:06 PM To Daniel, Well it seems that noone wants to buy this game is because it doesn't feel like simcity. People wanted the next simcity 5. Every city building game should have mass transit,without it whats the point of playing? The reason were all here is because we thought this was going to be the next huge city builder game,but instead it failed. Im also dissapointed how we have to pay monthly fees for just little features like buses,or even parks.Its just a scam for money obviously.Oh and im not they only one who has a negative impact on it, most of the comments are negative.I say don't buy this game till it improves,you will regret buying it.;)
Oct 4, 2009 at 4:20 AM Daniel, it's "only" £4 per month, but then there the actaul game, then the GEMs then there will likely be some major , expansion pack type of update youll then have to pay for again.
And online really isn't that great for £4 a month.
Oct 7, 2009 at 5:02 AM why can't EA just make Simcity 5 instead of us having to do with these half assed excuses for a proper city building game, I mean Simcity 4 was a huge success...so what's the problem? MAXIS ARE SELL OUTS!
Oct 7, 2009 at 11:05 PM I am so disappointed in Cities XL. When I first heard about the developement of Cities XL and that it was going to basiclly be targeted at Sim CIty fans I was thrilled. Especially considering Sim City Socities was a bust. However, I've since changed my mind. I'm not going to judge the game play itself, as I haven't played it, and I don't plan on it. Although, I did plan on buying it, but since they are going to charge me a monthly bill to have mass transportation which should be included in basic game play I have absolutely no interest in purchasing their game.
I can understand and support having to pay for online game play with multiple people, etc. However, for the most basic features as far as transportation which is a core and required feature for a city building game. That is ridiculous, and robbery. I think it is completely disrespectful toward myself as a gaming fan to suggest all the things that Cities XL has suggested and then turn around and charge for it. I will be sticking with Sim City 4. I'm very disappointed in how Cities XL has turned out. Hopefully, a better company will create a real city building game.
Sincerely,
Brandon Craft
Sim City Fan since Sim City Classic
Oct 8, 2009 at 9:44 PM I see something here... something we're very used to hearing about SC4. MC is working themselves into a corner. Let me tell you why I agree with that-
SC4 and many city titles under maxis® were in development for four years or more. 2 years for the games functions and one transit type (primarily roads) and 2 more years on the transit engine(s).
I commend MC for the amount of power and 3d control they've given all of us, but they have no idea how long it will be before the mass transit tools are added to the game. We have no idea how long it will be before mass transit tools are in the game. This is not only disappointing to SC4 mass transit junkies like myself, but as a game designer and story boarder I find it hard to believe that they expect to add features to a game that may indeed alter the infrastructure of the games engine itself... and may also make requirements for running the game much different than they are now... its a huge let down.
For the die-hards I would say, stick with it... you may be the reason(s) that MC changes things w/ the mass transit once it's released. For the new-comers, be patient... remember they can still give us what we wanted. For the commoners, if you get bored with it... tell MC. I encourage all people to tell MC.
The beta may be over but there's still refining to be done. Lets all hitch a ride on the SC4 bus over to MC and share our point of views, maybe we can get the ball rolling a little faster up their mountain!
Oct 9, 2009 at 4:40 AM No planet offer no mass transport, so ridiculous!
Oct 17, 2009 at 5:46 AM The absence of mass-transit is a huge detraction from all the fun & good work of the game. While the planet offer (& I am a subscriber) is good for new content & themes, the mass transit must be made available as a patch to everyone who has bought the game. I hope the peopel at Monte Cristo are serious about listening to their punters.
Nov 27, 2009 at 8:17 AM Good game i will say offering the transit system to only Planet Offer individuals is not good business management as a business you should always listen to your customers. We buy the games we are the ones who are keeping u in business without us the customer you don't have a business. For example if you own a lemonade stand would u sell lemonade without lemons, same thing you charge the single player too we are all willing to pay more to have the transit system to and myself im willing to pay. If all MC wants is the profit offer your only getting the half profit the people of MC wouldent know there ass from there face. The people who say im tired of people complaining about the game crying about little things and tell us to grow up well i got something to tell u if u don't like it don't read it. One last thing MC should know there not ok there not the business we are the customer we made u don't forget that so people instead of complaing we need to voice our opions and send letters to MC voicing our say. Complaining to others is know good, a voice stands higher.
Nov 27, 2009 at 10:54 PM What's weird is that some people have said that Monte Cristo originally announced Cities XL to have a "full" single-player game with the online-mode to "compliment" it. If this is true, Monte Cristo has been LYING to us all along. After 2 years of development and exciting videos of the upcoming game, then the long-awaited beta comes! And we finally realize the truth: MC announces mass transit is not in single-player nor will be in the final release for even Planet Offer, single-player basically advertisement place for MC to encourage players to join PO (rip-off OmniCorp, not even an option to buy Content Packs that PO has, tutorial always talks about advantages of PO, among other things), most promises under-delivered. MC made us expect so much from the game, yet in the end all we got was a slap in the face into reality, that most of the cool features would only be for the crazy hard-core city building fans who pay over $100 a year in subscription for even the most basic features. Let's get something straight MC, mass transit is a core part of the architecture of every single city on Earth! It's simply something you can't do without in cities besides infrastructure, services, and jobs for citizens. In this interview, you never even answered Dirk's question about how people would feel about mass transit not in the basic game!!! Ugh, I'm so upset, I really thought this could be the next gen. city building game! I've been following the developer forums starting in the summer, yet you decided that all the complaints in the forums would influence people's opinions about the game so you closed it?!? I already forgave you for doing something that horrid, but now this?!?! Ugh, I've had enough of all the lies, MC!!!! I just simply had enough!!!!!!!!! Now I'm going to move on with my life instead of mourning about a stupid 75% finished game. My next wishlist game: Sims 3. Have a good night thinking about the thousands of complaining consumers going back to EA/Maxis's SimCity 4...
P.S. Another unforgivable move too, you aren't selling your games in retailers, limiting it to online digital download in North America. That's not a smart move, especially when you consider the fact that NA has a HUGE market opportunity. But then again, I don't care anymore because I'm not going to buy this game after all.
P.S.S. To all of the people who play WoW and say we are too harsh to MC, please refrain from protecting pay-to-play games like Cities XL just because most of them have very few players and aren't popular. WoW has only about 15 million players worldwide, while most of the other companies who offer free MMORPGs with optional micro-transactions have more than thrice the players.
Dec 1, 2009 at 1:01 PM I bought the game... and i am really disapointed!
No buses, no trains or subways!?
Without it the game is really a bore, and i will not subscribe Planet Offer because i think it's unfare.
I'm quitting the game forever!
Dec 18, 2009 at 12:20 AM Wonder full writing skills you got mate.
Regards
Angela
Dec 23, 2009 at 9:06 AM i have pre-ordered the game and i think that the game is good but im not comfortable with the paying for something that isnt completed but one funny thing is that in the game said the key to succesful city is to listen cittizens and they should listen even customer :D
Jan 20, 2010 at 7:47 AM I needed this info thanks mate
Regards
Feb 2, 2010 at 5:45 AM I added your post to my college Report
Regards
Jeffrey