On SimCity Offline Regional Play

[Mar 16, 2013, 5:44 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

A story on Rock, Paper, Shotgun talks with Azzer, who has more to say on the topic of playing SimCity offline after his a video from this week showing the urban planning sequel playing offline after a bit of hacking to satisfy its reliance on contacting EA's servers to run. He speaks of the "absolute ease" with which the game could be made to simulate the behavior of entire regions on a local machine, which meshes with their previous report quoting an anonymous alleged Maxis engineer making similar comments. Thanks Joao.

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30.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 20:56

Rattlehead

Texas Jake wrote on Mar 17, 2013, 19:59: It's funny how those things didn't seem to bother me at all. Well some people enjoy being shafted, others just sit back and take it.

29.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 19:59

Texas Jake

It's funny how those things didn't seem to bother me at all.

28.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 18:53

Kajetan

J wrote on Mar 17, 2013, 15:56: Kajetan wrote on Mar 17, 2013, 13:58: J wrote on Mar 17, 2013, 13:19: Hey guys, has anybody raised the potential future issue yet of EA closing the server after a while? What servers? Isn't this a soon-to-be 100% offline game? Officially? Who cares what EA thinks and wants?

27.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 15:56

Kajetan wrote on Mar 17, 2013, 13:58: J wrote on Mar 17, 2013, 13:19: Hey guys, has anybody raised the potential future issue yet of EA closing the server after a while? What servers? Isn't this a soon-to-be 100% offline game? Officially?

26.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 13:58

Kajetan

J wrote on Mar 17, 2013, 13:19: Hey guys, has anybody raised the potential future issue yet of EA closing the server after a while? What servers? Isn't this a soon-to-be 100% offline game?

25.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 13:19

Hey guys, has anybody raised the potential future issue yet of EA closing the server after a while? You know, cus they do that, and if they did that with Sims City then you couldn't play it and stuff. I've still got plenty of popcorn to get through so I figured I'd chip in

24.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 13:18

eRe4s3r

Mhhh that's Interesting to know Never really followed where the magic happens but I knew at least it wasn't the western scene groups. Anyway, I hope that in some months Sim City will become completely offline playable... doesn't really matter who does it

23.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 13:10

NewMaxx

eRe4s3r wrote on Mar 17, 2013, 09:20: All the real offline hacks which run emulation of actual servers (ie, that CNC game) are done by individuals who share it online out of goodwill, who reverse engineer server calls and respond routines, who code a small server that handles it locally, not groups or pirates. Actually, much of the sophisticated and cutting-edge cracking of online DRM is done by P2P groups. An example would be Assassin's Creed 2, or Starcraft 2. You probably don't realize this unless you visit Russian and Chinese group forums because by far and large that's where much of the discussion and sharing goes on. Server emulation even for apps, such as Office 2013, has gotten more sophisticated as time has gone on, too. If you check the credits on that QEMU you will clearly see that it is a group effort. Much of the effort of these initial groups then trickles down to the European crews who fashion it into a more usable, palatable form for Western "audiences." These are further usually publicly aired by individuals who repack and put their name on it for fame, and it is one of these last two groups who you are thinking of when you say "individuals."

22.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 13:01

Flak

Texas Jake wrote on Mar 17, 2013, 12:50: Gameplay wise, I really love it. Yes, I wish cities were a little bit bigger. Yes, the AI for the agents is a bit 1990ish, but all in all it's a really fun game. Wow, when you have to qualify it like that...it's just sad. 1) The CITY IS 2km x 2km, it's more like a neighbourhood of 4 blocks 2) The PEOPLE are brain-dead, the AI is broken, the services don't work like they should, the traffic logic is hilarious So let me get this straight, you paid $60 for a CITY simulation game about PEOPLE and the two main components are either largely overstated or just-flat our broken? Sounds like a great formula for a 'fun' game. Oh, what I would do to be a casual gamer ;). They should rename this game to 'empty neighborhood planner 2013'. /puts on master race armor

21.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 12:50

Texas Jake

Got the game yesterday and played for a good 10 hours. Not a single issue. Wife played too and I liked the multiplayer aspect. Not saying there weren't a lot of issue before, but it looks like they've fixed them as far as connectivity. Gameplay wise, I really love it. Yes, I wish cities were a little bit bigger. Yes, the AI for the agents is a bit 1990ish, but all in all it's a really fun game.

20.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 09:20

eRe4s3r

Oh please, the warez "scene" will never mod a game to make it work offline. NEVER. All the real offline hacks which run emulation of actual servers (ie, that CNC game) are done by individuals who share it online out of goodwill, who reverse engineer server calls and respond routines, who code a small server that handles it locally, not groups or pirates. This is even more specialized a skill-set than crackers need. These people need to create things from scratch, while crackers remove things or at best create bypasses. At this point nobody will ever bother anyway because 90% of the game systems are broken and need to be patched in the code ;p Wait a year, and I am sure Sim City will be moddable and playable offline in SP just fine. But not with help from Maxis, that's for sure...

19.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 07:58

ASeven

http://i.imgur.com/GzAWOlh.jpg

18.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 07:40

NKD

Deathbishop wrote on Mar 16, 2013, 21:43:
Anti-EA (DRM) people don't want to hear that because it weakens their argument that the game doesn't work because of DRM. But I think the reality says otherwise. The offline story is noise in my opinion, because at the end of the day if the game still has the same core issues (ai, pathing, etc), then it doesn't matter whether it's online or off, most wont play it anyway.

Yeah the online requirement is not really the big issue here. That was publicized well in advance and everyone had ample opportunity to cancel preorders or just avoid preordering in the first place.

But the problems with the game itself are pretty bad. Even if there were an offline mode, the game still wouldn't be worth buying.




If you don't like where gaming is heading, stop giving your money to the people who are taking it in that direction.

17.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 07:38

Asmodai

They say any press is good press but I think the games industry have broken that cliche well and truly...

16.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 17, 2013, 05:25

El Pit

Bones on SimCity 2013:
It's dEAd, Jim, dEAd.

Waiting for Star Trek: Into Darkness.




Consoles? I owned two: a Pong clone and an Atari 2600. And that's it.

15.

Re: More Big Picture Details

Mar 16, 2013, 23:24

HorrorScope

PHJF wrote on Mar 16, 2013, 20:14: I'm a little surprised the backlash has been what it is. Because it didn't work. If the game had launched without a hitch there would be no more than the usual vocal minority condemning EA for their (now standard) contemptible business practices. I agree.

14.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 16, 2013, 21:43

Deathbishop

PHJF wrote on Mar 16, 2013, 20:14: I'm a little surprised the backlash has been what it is. Because it didn't work. If the game had launched without a hitch there would be no more than the usual vocal minority condemning EA for their (now standard) contemptible business practices. 100% agree. The outcry has nothing to do with DRM on it's own, it's the fact that the game is broken in multiple ways. Naturally the scapegoat is going to be DRM but the reality is in the code, not DRM. I'm pretty sure if the game is working as intended a majority of gamers would give a damn that it was online only. Anti-EA (DRM) people don't want to hear that because it weakens their argument that the game doesn't work because of DRM. But I think the reality says otherwise. The offline story is noise in my opinion, because at the end of the day if the game still has the same core issues (ai, pathing, etc), then it doesn't matter whether it's online or off, most wont play it anyway.

13.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 16, 2013, 20:14

PHJF

I'm a little surprised the backlash has been what it is.

Because it didn't work. If the game had launched without a hitch there would be no more than the usual vocal minority condemning EA for their (now standard) contemptible business practices.




Steam + PSN: PHJF

12.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 16, 2013, 19:56

jacobvandy

ASeven wrote on Mar 16, 2013, 19:41: The sad thing is, when Spore was released gamers served EA with at least 3 classaction lawsuits and they all won against EA because of the DRM within Spore. Why can't gamers do the same now, where the case is even more clearcut than Spore? EA would have his ass handed by the courts. All the big corporations now put clauses in EULAs to prevent that. Or at least make it harder for you to win in court, because by playing the game you volunteered to waive your right to a class-action suit. Not saying it couldn't happen (it'd be a matter of whether EULAs are legally-binding), but it would probably weigh on the judge's decisions.

11.

Re: On SimCity Offline Regional Play

Mar 16, 2013, 19:42

Rattlehead

Hopefully Azzer shares his little secrets with Skidrow and ReLOADED, that way they can spread the love. Will pirate this with pride as soon as a working crack is released. Won't be long after all.

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