Re:EA Admits SimCity Could Have Run Offline
by manicdee on Sunday March 17, 2013 @09:48PM
(#5391930)
Maxis, not EA. And this isn't "admits it could have run offline" but "tells us they changed conceptual direction from single player to multiplayer at the design stage".
Re:EA Admits SimCity Could Have Run Offline
by samstave on Monday March 18, 2013 @01:07AM
(#5392575)
>Why is this on HN?
Because it is in our industry - and people on HN often follow all aspects of issues and stories related to our industry.
(Our industry being high-tech and computers in general - get the fark off your "only-hacker"-related-news-that-exactly-matches-my-ego-should-actually-be-posted-here horse)
Re:EA Admits SimCity Could Have Run Offline
by samstave on Monday March 18, 2013 @04:24PM
(#5396879)
How is stating that one is on a high-horse nasty?
Too often, people say "why is this on HN" without actually thinking about how some of the stories and information may actually be of interest to people of this community.
Further, it appears that such statements are more often coming from a sense of superiority and its really annoying.
Re:EA Admits SimCity Could Have Run Offline
by batiudrami on Sunday March 17, 2013 @10:35PM
(#5392068)
It doesn't, because in order to min/max your city (and when it gets down to it, this is essentially the point of the game), you need to trade with neighboring cities, otherwise you're limited by what your (arbitrarily small) city can provide.
It's a broken game design in single player because it is based around a multiplayer requirement. In terms of being able to play offline, you would need something to simulate cities from other players.
Not that it isn't easily fixable if EA wanted to, but it's not exactly playable as designed when offline.
Re:EA Admits SimCity Could Have Run Offline
by drivebyacct2 on Sunday March 17, 2013 @10:37PM
(#5392074)
I was merely speaking from the "we perform special calculations on the server" excuse. As you note, that's a design limitation, and also something that could be (and I thought was in progress of being) modded.
Why is this on HN?
Because it is in our industry - and people on HN often follow all aspects of issues and stories related to our industry.
(Our industry being high-tech and computers in general - get the fark off your "only-hacker"-related-news-that-exactly-matches-my-ego-should-actually-be-posted-here horse)
Too often, people say "why is this on HN" without actually thinking about how some of the stories and information may actually be of interest to people of this community.
Further, it appears that such statements are more often coming from a sense of superiority and its really annoying.
It's a broken game design in single player because it is based around a multiplayer requirement. In terms of being able to play offline, you would need something to simulate cities from other players.
Not that it isn't easily fixable if EA wanted to, but it's not exactly playable as designed when offline.
http://www.ea.com/news/simcity-update-straight-answers-from-...