GTA Online is getting all the attention right now, but it wasn’t long ago another pseudo-online game had tongues wagging. We all remember SimCity, a game for which the most demanded feature was an offline mode. Once rejected, it appears as though this option is back on the table.
Patrick Buechner, the general manager for Maxis’ Emeryville studio, recently wrote a “State of SimCity” post for the game’s website. In it, Buechner goes over the updates the game has received since launch, as well as DLC plans. He also iterates the developer is looking into user-generated content and establishing what constitutes a “‘good’ or safe mod”.
An offline mode could also be on the cards, but Buechner doesn’t say it’s a definite in, just that Maxis is “exploring” the option:
Right now we have a team specifically focused on exploring the possibility of an offline mode. I can’t make any promises on when we will have more information, but we know this is something that many of our players have been asking for. While the server connectivity issues are behind us, we would like to give our players the ability to play even if they choose not to connect. An offline mode would have the additional benefit of providing room to the modding community to experiment without interfering or breaking the multiplayer experience.
While it’s welcoming to hear, I think the horse had bolted on this one, as Buechner himself admits. An offline mode would be appreciated by current players, sure, but it would have been even better when the servers where going up and down faster than a red cordial-fuelled kangaroo on a trampoline.
Still, it’s a good point about modders, who will appreciate trialling their stuff in a disconnected sandbox.
State of SimCity [SimCity]
Comments
19 responses to “Maxis Is ‘Exploring The Possibility’ Of An Offline Mode For SimCity”
Desperate for sales and players now?
Should have listened in the first place.
^^^^^how do I like this more than once….
Make another account.
But that would be wrong… fraudelent… so EA…
Xbox One and now Sim City, how many over online products “that cannot be offline, ever” will actually be able to be offline.
DLC
if they increase the scope for modders then it might be tempting As it is, my interest in this flew away months ago
An offline mode should have been implemented ages ago, clearly DRM. Now the other problem is the small maps, Maxis should really listen to their fans and make bigger maps.
edit: After months of testing, I confirm that we will not be providing bigger city sizes. The system performance challenges we encountered would mean that the vast majority of our players wouldn’t be able to load, much less play with bigger cities.
There is hardly anyone playing nowadays, why not implement bigger maps, just make it available to those who wants it.
Wouldn’t be able to load? Does Maxis test SimCity on a netbook?
Once a REAL offline mode goes in I will buy the game
6 months too late.
Of course they can do it now. After they’ve made bank and don’t think pirates matter this much later.
its a rubbish game from a rubbish publisher, move away and never look back.
I can see it now:
Play SimCity offline!! Download the newest DLC pack and enjoy your game the way it should be played! Only $9.99.
But how can they make it offline? Weren’t the servers handling such HUGE calculations in ‘the cloud’ that couldn’t possibly be handled on people’s personal computers? /sarcasm. Seriously though, I vomit a little in my mouth every time I hear this crap about the power of the cloud, especially when it comes to Xbox One and how Microsoft are touting that it’s going make their consoles run like super computers. I think I prefer raw horsepower of hardware over some vague notion of things being handled over the internet, with no possibility of performing calculations on a frame by frame basis. Stop with the BS marketing gimmicks and used car salesman-like PR.
The cloud is bound to fail. I hope it does anyway. No matter how much they try to get me to use it, I refuse. It may be fine for people in the rest of the world that have unmetered download, but not here in Australia.
eh, just play cities XL platinum instead. HUGE cities, no online DRM bullshit, its a MUCH better experience, and I say that as somebody with more than 300 hours logged in simcity 4 on steam, and MANY more before that too!
I got a free key for simcity with my AMD FM2 cpu i use for my loungeroom media box. its still unused. i’m too much of a steam fanboy to use anything else for anything. if its not on steam it gets pirated.
Want to swap for a bioshock infinite steam key?
POSSIBILITY?! Really? What a joke.
Offline play doesn’t mean shit when they still aren’t willing to address the small build areas or traffic control or road connectors/ bridges for example.
There’s even more wrong with the game under the hood such as traffic and congestion. The list goes on.
Having all of that offline is no better than needing to be signed into origin as it is…