SimCity update to fix pathing issues

SimCity is starting to show signs of recovery, and Maxis has outlined its current moves to turn on non-essential features and plans for an upcoming patch.

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SimCity has been the subject of plenty of criticism and scrutiny since its launch, due mostly to the little problem that many players couldn't access the game. As the servers start to catch up to player load, or vice-versa, Maxis is turning its attention towards what to patch next.

The bulk of the studio's focus is on alleviating pathing issues among the Sims and their vehicles, according to a blog post from lead designer Stone Librande. Maxis is currently tuning the values to make traffic flow easier, with a new weighted system that will reroute cars to alternate paths as roads hit fuller capacity. Emergency vehicles will also be smarter, moving into empty lanes to get around traffic jams.

Librande also mentioned that the game will be re-enabling some non-essential features that were turned off during launch week. Those include Regional Achievements on select servers, and Leaderboards on the test server. "We need your help testing the Leaderboards so I encourage you to go to the Test server so that we can expedite the timeframe in which this feature is brought back to the rest of our servers," he said.

Clearly missing was mention of an offline mode, which has been a major point of player feedback. Librande assured players that the studio is listening to all feedback, but didn't address that piece specifically. "We'll continue to provide you with updates on the game as we make these changes," he said. "We appreciate all of the feedback that you've been giving us and I want to assure you that we're listening. It's fascinating for us to see all of the different ways that players are testing our systems and we're excited about making SimCity better with your help."

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 15, 2013 8:00 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, SimCity update to fix pathing issues.

    SimCity is starting to show signs of recovery, and Maxis has outlined its current moves to turn on non-essential features and plans for an upcoming patch.

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 8:04 AM

      I've shit on SimCity a lot the past 2 weeks, but I hope they can turn it around. I'd love to pick it up a year or two down the road after they fix it up and add some necessities (subways!).

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        March 15, 2013 8:13 AM

        "a lot" is an understatement

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          March 15, 2013 8:27 AM

          Mostly it was because everyone was like "server issues, server issues" with the implicit understanding that once the server issues were ironed out it would be a good game. I think there are fundamental problems with SC5 that extend way beyond server issues or multiplayer regions, but I think a lot of that was glossed over.

          Basically, I think people should know that even after the servers are working 100% there will be a lot of problems with the game.

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            March 15, 2013 8:54 AM

            agree, hell even traffic is very low on my problem list

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            March 15, 2013 8:59 AM

            Like all games it requires you to suspend your disbelief. You are obviously hung up on what the game is not, and not even giving what it is a shot. You have been in every SC5 thread trolling and shiting on a game that you have not played. I understand you have this idealistic thought of what you wanted it to be, and it has let you down (even though you have not played for more then the 1 hour stress test).

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              March 15, 2013 11:17 AM

              There are serious faults when compared to prior games in the series (not that I've played it, just what I've heard/read).

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              March 15, 2013 11:20 AM

              None of that has anything to do with suspending disbelief.

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              March 15, 2013 7:35 PM

              kinda hard to suspend belief when you have a functioning city with nothing but residential zones.

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            March 15, 2013 7:20 PM

            It's highlighted how inflated and shady the pre-release reviews really were.

            Eurogamer nailed it, the game seems like its doing a good job and is fun for the first few hours, but pretty soon after you begin running into all sorts of stupid problems that let you see the simulation for what it really is.

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        March 15, 2013 8:55 AM

        Its a game! It is fun!

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        March 15, 2013 12:27 PM

        subways were the worst in SC4

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          March 15, 2013 12:49 PM

          Yeah, this is sort of like an old crappy girlfriend that you don't have anymore. All you remember is that you had one, not that she was bad in bed and spent all your money.

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            March 15, 2013 7:34 PM

            BUT with mods like NAM her skin cleared up and her tits got a little bigger and she discovered a love for blowjobs and she's on Steam for a lot less than the new SimCity

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          March 15, 2013 1:03 PM

          honestly I think the fact that the game is now fully 3d might help alleviate like 90% of the annoyances with laying things like subways, assuming they do it right. you're no longer saddled with an ambiguous 2d projection.

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        March 15, 2013 1:15 PM

        Eh, once I was able to actually connect and play I've enjoyed it. Sure it has some issues but it's still pretty darn fun.

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        March 15, 2013 2:59 PM

        I want them to make it awesome. I love city building games.

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      March 15, 2013 8:05 AM

      Thank god... yah the path finding is fucking horrible currently! I don't know how that slipped out past testers.

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        March 15, 2013 8:48 AM

        what testers?
        I don't think anyone played this before release.

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        March 15, 2013 9:33 AM

        Testers? Management probably told them to ship it as soon as it compiled correctly.

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        March 15, 2013 10:17 AM

        QA doesn't miss stuff like that. QA is overruled, or ignored on stuff like that.

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          March 15, 2013 10:19 AM

          This was all about a set release date. Its a trade off, you either get "its done when its done" or you get this. We are the beta testers. I'm fine with it if they make it better. As of right now they are doing the right thing. A nice side effect of the online component is that they can see what is not working.

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            March 15, 2013 10:21 AM

            Yeah, they do seem to be working towards fixing the issues, and I really really hope they do. It's a shame they didn't let it cook in development for another 6 months or so though. :-/

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      March 15, 2013 8:14 AM

      Cheetah speed motherfuckers, where is it.

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        March 15, 2013 8:51 AM

        "The servers, Cap'n! They canna take any more!"

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        March 15, 2013 8:54 AM

        ^ this.

        I can care less about Leaderboards, give me Cheetah speed back.

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        March 15, 2013 8:56 AM

        I have a dedicated chrome tab for "Google: simcity 2013 cheetah ETA" that I refresh non stop.

        This is by far my main issue with the game.

      • reply
        March 15, 2013 11:14 AM

        it seems to work for me?

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      March 15, 2013 8:15 AM

      Here's the thing....shouldn't they have solved the pathing problem years ago? It's just basic graph theory, and they've been putting out variants of the game for a while now, haven't they? Did they just throw their history into the crapper?

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        March 15, 2013 8:19 AM

        as someone who can't yet play the game but has read almost every review and thread on the subject even I can tell they spent the least amount of time on actual gameplay. Their priorities were more like:
        1) DRM
        2) Cutesy Graphics
        3) 'Sims'-ification
        4) Ease of Use

        It sounds so broken at the true simulation core, I hope they sort all that shit out and eventually release it on OSX.

        • reply
          March 15, 2013 8:48 PM

          The 50 instagram filters and Facebouf connectivity are core gameplay. What, you think people actually want anything more than pretty pictures to share with their 20,000 internet-friends?

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          March 15, 2013 8:53 PM

          Yuuup. I'll wait for the fully patched OSX version and save myself the heartache now.

      • reply
        March 15, 2013 8:28 AM

        i think the difference is that 5 actually simulates the vehicles themselves rather than coming up with flow / congestion values

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        March 15, 2013 8:50 AM

        One of the most frustrating things to me about this most recent wave of game remakes (Diablo, XCOM, Simcity) is how much effort the developers seem to be spend reinventing the wheel (or, more accurately, they are trying to reverse-engineer the wheel). I realize that in most cases these are not the same people who worked on games that came out 10 years ago but isn't the code available for them to review?

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        March 15, 2013 9:03 AM

        [deleted]

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        March 15, 2013 9:04 AM

        I bet they had a number of different algorithms that each had some issues like high cpu use, infinite loops or other buggy behavior. This game was obviously rushed out the door to meet the fiscal quarter end so I'm sure they just went with whatever worked well enough.

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        March 15, 2013 10:18 AM

        Actual traffic flow of real cars was never modeled in previous Sim City games. It was just an abstract.

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 8:32 AM

      [deleted]

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        March 15, 2013 8:52 AM

        God I hope they fix this. Half my city was burning down and I had about 12 fire trucks all lined up that would go to one fire and block traffic while that fire was put out, then proceed to the next fire, etc.

        I think I'm going to take a break from this game until they fix some of this stuff. It's just so annoying.

        • reply
          March 15, 2013 3:04 PM

          I've heard people say this buy mine don't do this, I've seen them putting out multiple fires many times.

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 8:52 AM

      [deleted]

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        March 15, 2013 8:57 AM

        Its the same type of game. the same type of fun. Your problem solving, and using the tools they give you to build a simulated city. Both games have and had issues. I don't get all the pissing and moaning other then the server issues at the start.

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          March 15, 2013 9:01 AM

          Have you played the game? Pathfinding is seriously broken. "Both games have issues" is a false equivalency.

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            March 15, 2013 9:07 AM

            I have been playing the game. Yes I'm aware of the path finding issue. For the most part it has not been effecting me all that much. Not to the point where I rage quit. Sure some times my industry cant get its freight out, or a fire truck does not get to a fire it should. I'm just not getting all worked up over it. I'm thinking they will sort that out soon.

            I'm not trying to defend that they released the game to soon, and did not test it well. They had a hard date and they went with it. That being said I have been playing it and it is fun. The question was is it the same type of fun. I gave my opinion of it.

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            March 15, 2013 9:09 AM

            ok well good luck tracking a car in sc4

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              March 15, 2013 9:15 AM

              This point is moot.

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                March 15, 2013 9:27 AM

                you think? In sc4 you have no hard proof of how traffic works, cars appear out of thin air and vanish 2sec after. They can cheat the fuck out of traffic and nobody can argue that the pathing is shit or not.

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                  March 15, 2013 9:37 AM

                  [deleted]

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                  March 15, 2013 11:23 AM

                  The traffic in 4 isn't determined by actual little cars driving around, it's determined by an algorithm that considers your transportation system as a whole. The little car driving around is just a visual representation of that.

                  Also, people can and have indeed argued that the pathfinding in sc4 is broken and then they went and fixed it.

      • reply
        March 15, 2013 9:12 AM

        its and this what most people dont understand, DIFFERENT

        You actually have to understand the mechanics to be successful.

        If you like solving problems its imo better, if you like to just plop stuff all over the place and watch it grow than stick to sc4.

      • reply
        March 15, 2013 9:27 AM

        ... i've never thought of 4 as fun. you get sucked into it, sure, but i don't think i've ever had fun with it

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 9:00 AM

      i'm waiting for them to fix it up a bit before i buy in

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 9:13 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 9:25 AM

      Eurogamer's review is up and points out a lot of problems with the game that some other reviews didn't consider: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-15-simcity-review

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        March 15, 2013 9:25 AM

        Oh yeah, 4/10 for those who care only about the score.

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          March 15, 2013 9:37 AM

          I care more about why it got that score.

          Good review, very informative.

          I want the game to be fun, but like a lot of people said, the always online thing and other issues have really turned me off from even considering getting it.

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            March 15, 2013 9:44 AM

            Yeah, same for me. The online thing was super annoying. I was glad that Eurogamer pointed out that many of the game's systems are completely busted and simply not working as promised - like many shackers here did, like ajvitaly.

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        March 15, 2013 9:47 AM

        It's one of those rare games where reviewers feel comfortable giving it sub 70 scores. Ouch.

        On the other hand, Eurogamer Sweden and Italy loved it (100% and 90% scores respectively)... lol.

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          March 15, 2013 9:56 AM

          Poor Swedes have no market to survive without publisher money :(

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          March 15, 2013 3:15 PM

          Sweden is probably trolling and Italy is the Europe's Brazil - we can't take them seriously!

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        March 15, 2013 9:47 AM

        The rage players have expressed over the always-online requirement, important as it is, fogs the far more serious fact that many of the systems that underlie the game are broken.

        sums it all up in one sentence.

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        March 15, 2013 10:41 AM

        The first 6 review scores, out at launch, summed up to a 91 metascore. They couldn't possibly have properly played this little Shitty broken game. It reeks of Doritos.

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        March 15, 2013 11:26 AM

        Nearby, buses bought to alleviate traffic congestion can also be spotted driving up and down the same strip of road over and over again. Their 40 passengers have never been known to disembark and I wonder if all on board have long since perished, leaving the ghostly carriage to haunt the streets forever.

        I've wondered the same thing!

      • reply
        March 15, 2013 3:11 PM

        Sounds like this guys had a really bad time with bugs but that's far from everyone's experience. I don't find his claim of things being imbalanced to be well supported by the review or my own experience.

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 9:42 AM

      Oh man. At this rate the game will be out of beta by the end of the month!

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 9:49 AM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        March 15, 2013 10:27 AM

        yah I kept having to bulldoze stuff to make room for other buildings. I can't seem to get my city much above about 130,000-140,000.

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          March 15, 2013 10:29 AM

          I made it to 300k, really depend on the map

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            March 15, 2013 10:34 AM

            and now we know those numbers are completely wrong.

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              March 15, 2013 10:45 AM

              Its not that they are wrong, its that its simulated. The notion that you would have 300k unique sims running around your city when you think about it is a little absurd.

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                March 15, 2013 10:52 AM

                Yah there is no way they could simulate 300,000 individual sims and keep the game running at any decent speed. Anyone that thinks otherwise is delusional.

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                March 15, 2013 10:55 AM

                Not exactly, it's simulating 36,364 agents in that scenario. The extra 263,636 is literally nothing (no jobs, no taxes, etc...).

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                  March 15, 2013 11:12 AM

                  I am pretty certain those extra imaginary sims effect taxes. I've noticed big jumps in tax revenue any time my population increases.

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                    March 15, 2013 11:19 AM

                    The inflated population exists entirely on the UI level, just take whatever it shows and divide by 8.25 (after 500 population, roughly).

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                      March 15, 2013 11:43 AM

                      I saw that also, however we dont know this to be a fact. Yes the code that was shown is in the UI. However if that logic is applied to the backend calculations as well then its all the same.

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                      March 15, 2013 12:23 PM

                      Yeah, I get that the numbers they show are just a number (just like every other simcity), and not literally the number of agents walking/driving through the city. But I don't think that's all they are (an imaginary UI number). I think that number also plays into tax income, utility demand, etc.

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                March 15, 2013 11:24 AM

                That's why the agent-based design is a poor one for a large city management game.

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                  March 15, 2013 12:30 PM

                  I don't totally agree with this. There's no reason why you can't sim a percentage of the population as agent.

                  How is that worse than a simulation based on a pure statistics?

                  • reply
                    March 15, 2013 12:46 PM

                    Look at what it bought SimCity. You get tiny cities because there just isn't enough processing power to run that simulation on a population of millions.

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                      March 15, 2013 1:41 PM

                      You do realize that no SimCity before did this, rigtht?

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                        March 15, 2013 1:57 PM

                        Yes, in fact that's my point. The previous method was superior to the agent system.

            • reply
              March 15, 2013 10:53 AM

              wrong?

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 9:57 AM

      this is so amazing to watch unfold. one hour limited beta. learn nothing. well done.

      • DM7 legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        March 15, 2013 10:04 AM

        I'm convinced that one hour limited beta was just to build hype.

        • reply
          March 15, 2013 7:16 PM

          Pretty much ever EA beta ever.

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        March 15, 2013 10:11 AM

        While I have been enjoying the game, its hard to argue how terribly mismanaged this whole thing has been on a lot of levels. I would be surprised if this does not become a case study for business schools on how not to launch a new highly anticipated product for years to come.

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 10:07 AM

      Yeah, was just reading that blog post myself. It's encouraging stuff - sounds like they're really working to fix the biggest problems the game has at the moment. Hopefully that patch will hit soon.

    • reply
      March 15, 2013 10:07 AM

      Eurogamer reviewed it 4/10. Ouch. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-15-simcity-review

      • reply
        March 15, 2013 9:41 PM

        Read the thread again, Bamii. Hah.

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      March 15, 2013 10:10 AM

      The underlying concept that vehicles take the shortest route from point to point puts the depth of the whole simulation system in question. It defeats the point of trying to create any manner of sophisticated circulation system using roads to carry traffic to boulevards (that can handle more traffic). Of course, the game only offers two carrying capacities to begin with--road and boulevard. It's a grossly overlooked core element.

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        March 15, 2013 2:02 PM

        Shortest path isn't the only flaw. The fact the shortest path to point B, where point B is the nearest empty destination, for every agent that is spawned at that time, until that destination gets filled is the flaw.

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        March 15, 2013 3:04 PM

        To be fair, people due tend to take the easiest / shortest path, regardless of everything else.

        If you have people walking into a building that has multiple doors, all next to each other, 90% of everyone will walk past closed doors and try to cram through the single door that already has people going through it.

        It's really quite worrying.

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          March 15, 2013 3:07 PM

          Same with roads a lot of the time.

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          March 15, 2013 3:16 PM

          but easiest is often not the shortest when it comes to road. to get across town I would go the opposite way for a bit to get onto the freeway and then travel at high speed and low traffic until I get to an exit that is slightly past where I want to be, loop around and bam. the shortest path would lead me onto lots of residential roads and through dozens of intersections all at slow speeds. Thats basic navigation

          • reply
            March 15, 2013 6:34 PM

            BUT MOST PEOPLE ARE STUPID

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      March 15, 2013 11:05 AM

      "outlined its current moves to turn on non-essential features" AWESOME!

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      March 15, 2013 12:52 PM

      the game was better before I decided to "follow" one of my trucks and it just spent the entire time circling one block doing u-turns. now i find it's hard not to watch the traffic and be annoyed.

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        March 15, 2013 2:55 PM

        Lol.

      • reply
        March 15, 2013 9:40 PM

        Yeah, exactly lithe same happened to me. The magic was kinda gone. I'm waiting for the patches to be released.

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