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Maxis is currently testing fixes for big SimCity issues like progress loss and bringing back Cheetah speed, the developer says. It still has smaller patches in the works too, with patch 2.0 set to bring improvements to fire engines, street cars, casinos and more.
Maxis and Electronic Arts have rightly endured their share of slings and arrows for its botched launch of SimCity, but one developer giving a talk about the game at GDC is trying to make the best of a bad situation.
Given the incredibly volatile launch SimCity has experienced, you'd think that Electronic Arts would wait before issuing a press release about the game's sales figures. But, no. Here we go.
When SimCity's exploded at launch, leaving many unable to play thanks to its always-online requirement, EA promised one free game to every mayor as a peace offering. Today the publisher revealed the list of games, including Dead Space 3, Battlefield 3 and, ah, SimCity 4. Perhaps to spare its servers further stress, ho ho, EA will send the freebies out gradually.
Being the first SimCity game in over a decade, you'd think that EA would have known that demand for their city-planning game would be through the roof. But as SimCity's bungled launch proved, that was not the case. In fact, a new interview with Maxis' Lucy Bradshaw reveals exactly how much the company had grossly underestimated launch demand.
"Could we have built a subset offline mode" in SimCity, Maxis asked. "Yes. But we rejected that idea because it didn't fit with our vision."
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.
A modder has posted a video showing SimCity highways being built outside city boundaries, and a sort of "offline mode" in which the disconnect timer has been disabled.
SimCity has almost scrambled back to its feet following the disastrous launch that left players languishing in queues, thanks to a string of updates and new servers. Maxis claimed over the weekend that the "core problem" of being being unable to play is "almost behind us", and that it has "reduced game crashes by 92% from day one." It also dropped teasing, but slightly contradictory, hints that it may consider adding offline support.
EA is offering a free PC game to SimCity players as an apology for the game's bungled launch.
