SimCity returns in 2013

The reports have proven correct: SimCity will return to the PC in 2013. At a Game Developers Conference event tonight, Electronic Arts confirmed that its Maxis studio is at work on a new installment in the city-building franchise for release next year.

According to EA, Maxis is building the new SimCity on its new GlassBox game engine. Among other features, this engine will allow the studio to introduce curved roads to the franchise. The game will also be fully 3D, a first for the series.

EA also noted that the game will emphasize a dynamic struggle for limited resources as a player's city develops. The company said that this feature will play into the game's cooperative and competitive online component.

EA's Origin online storefront is already offering preorders for downloads of SimCity in a $60 limited edition and $80 "digital deluxe" package. The limited edition will introduce superheroes and villains to the game, as well as unspecified "mystery items." The digital deluxe version will have all of that, as well as new British, French, and German-themed city sets.

The first trailer for the new SimCity can be seen below. EA has more information on the game through its official website.

[source gamespot.com ]

New Details on the Next SimCity

Earlier this week we reported that German magazine GameStar revealed SimCity. While there hasn't been an official world-wide announcement, IGN has translated the GameStar pages and gleaned the following details.

Simply called SimCity, a host of changes are coming to the series. For starters roads can now be curved, making for more organic city layouts than the grid framework the series was known for. The fixed viewpoint is also gone, allowing players to zoom in on specific buildings or move the camera around. Zooming in close to the ground also changes the audio, with close ups providing the cacophony of the city, and zoomed out views providing a much quieter atmosphere.

Visually, there's an increased level of detail (note: the currently leaked screenshots are concept only, not representative of the actual game). Buildings will have tiny pieces of signage, individual citizens will roam around and go about their daily lives, sometimes doing benign things like going to dinner, other times becoming proactive and protesting if jobs get low. The attention to detail actually has gameplay importance too, as you can see if a factory is working effeciently based on how it looks, how it animates.

Buildings also change over time in SimCity. Buildings progress overtime, unlocking new abilities, such as the power to put out fires faster for an upgraded firestation.

And you don't have to worry about trying to decipher the progress of your city via a number of graphs and charts, as these are being replaced with modernized infographics.

Multiplayer has been expanded for SimCity. You and your regional friends can trade resources via land, sea and air, hopefully resulting in collaboration between partners to build more effeciently. Online play also means there leaderboards, where you can see how you rank in fields like finance or production.

What's currently unclear is how the price of raw materials are determined. The article in GameStar alludes that prices in single-player are affected by what goes on in the online world. However, they don't get too specific about whether it's affected by a player-based economy or by actual, real-world events.

We should be seeing SimCity ourselves in the near future.

[source ign.com ]

SimCity 5 due in 2013

Gamers will have a new SimCity title to play from series creator Maxis in 2013, if a new report proves accurate.

German gaming magazine GameStar (via Spanish games site Jimdo) spoke with Maxis developer Lucy Bradshaw, who confirmed SimCity 5 is in development at Maxis. She also noted that work on the Spore and Sims franchises kept the developer from revealing SimCity 5 sooner.

The magazine suggests that the new entry will run on an all-new game engine called Glassbox and will feature multiplayer support, updatable buildings, and nonlinear road patterns.

As of press time, EA had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment on the matter.

EA and Maxis are holding an event at the 2012 Game Developers Conference next week, with the companies calling it "huge." The event's website was recently updated with word that Academy Award-winner Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Deadwood) and Charity Water founder and CEO Scott Harrison will speak during the proceedings.

[source gamespot.com]