Point is that the game can run without the servers, while EA and Maxis are trying to excuse the always-on bull by saying the game is completely dependent on being connected.
Also, do you realize that most games used to do this thing where they saved on your computer? You know, that thing that actually does the work when you play a game?
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But IT IS dependent on being connected if the save feature can only be done on the server side of things.
Also, you do realize that this game saves on the servers right? So, I don't get what you were trying to say with your last comment...
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I think what he's getting to is if you can run it offline, the question of a local savegame, is a walk in the park.
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I'll repeat what i just said below:
As long as the save function is done on the server, adding the save feature is impossible. The only way to do it, as a modder, would be to program a server that pretends to be the EA server that you connect to locally. So yeah, it's impossible. Or you would need to have access to the game's source code and implement offline save, done on the player's computer instead of on EA's server.
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No, you said "The only way to do it, as a modder, would be to program a server that pretends to be the EA server that you connect to locally. So yeah, it's impossible."
"To do it, you have to emulate the EA server. So, local saving is impossible." Hence, you're implying that emulating the server is impossible.
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Yes, this game saves on the servers. What I was saying with that last comment is that games didn't always save on the server. Therefore it must be possible not to save on the server, yes?
There is absolutely no reason why a save feature "can only be done on the server side of things". A save is just a static representation of the current game data, and since it has been proven that the calculations required to run the game are done locally, that means the data actually has to be represented in order to be sent to the server. Which means you could make a horribly inefficient local save system just by intercepting all of these packets and reconstructing that particular city from the bottom up - and I'm sure there are plenty of better suited ways to do it if the company in charge didn't insist on preventing its customers from playing offline
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Adding this functionality wouldn't be a "great amount of Engineering" as EA claimed previously.
the point here being, that EA has exceeded in lying to their customers, in a way, the company never has done before.
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"..never has done before"? Umm, this is EA we're talking about.
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The Mod itself should be considered a proof of concept, since it was released quite shortly after the Maxis revelation that the actual computing is done on your computer, adding the save feature, might be a piece of cake.
Also, it's not the whole point of the simcity debacle. i find it much worse, that EA repeatedly and knowingly lied to paying customers in, as i pointed out before, a manner, that requires quite a bit of criminal energy.
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As long as the save function is done on the server, adding the save feature not only is not a piece of cake but is impossible. The only way to do it, as a modder, would be to program a server that pretends to be the EA server that you connect to locally. So yeah, it's impossible.
Of course, having access to the game's source code would be a very easy way to do it as you'd implement an offline save feature, not dependent on the server. However, I don't see this mod as being very useful and I don't think it proves anything since the saving is done on the server. But there may be people who enjoy playing without saving so good for them.
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As it was pointed out along this thread already, emulating a server, as we have seen with games like Diablo 3, or other always on DRM isn't that impossible, also, saving a memory dump to a harddrive comes to mind.
There are certain possibilities, that are easy enough to implement for skilled people.
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It just me that can't see the "unless" on your post? even reading carefully? Or it's just you that can't be wrong no matter what?
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"As long as the save function is done on the server, adding the save feature not only is not a piece of cake but is impossible. The only way to do it, as a modder, would be to program a server that pretends to be the EA server that you connect to locally. So yeah, it's impossible." Sorry but i can't find it here
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How do you think the server gets the data it saves? Saving locally is very doable.
And you have yet again completely missed the point. This is not a mod in the traditional sense - it isn't supposed to add to the game. What it does is show beyond a doubt that the powers that be have been directly lying about the feasibility of an offline mode to save their own skin. If I'm at your house and am hungry and you tell me I can't have any food because you only eat out and then I see a loaf of bread on your counter, you've been lying. That's what this is about, not the actual usefulness of the mod
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Saving locally is doable? Really? I never thought a game could save data on your computer.
Joking aside, I never said saving locally is not doable and frankly I have no idea how you understood that. To make the game save locally would probably take only a few hours of programming in the engine's source code.
What I said was that given the current implementation of the Glassbox engine, there is no way to save locally for SImCity (isn't SimCity the game in question?) unless you emulate EA's server. But yes, Maxis programmers could probably add a local save feature in about a day's work if they wanted to.
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I said it's impossible in the current context - of a mod. To be possible to save SimCity while playing it offline, you'd need to program a server that pretends to be the EA server that you connect to locally. And that takes resources; i'm sure eventually people will do it (as they did with Diablo 3) but it will take a lot more than just a mod like this one.
Sure this mod is nice, but the point stands that SimCity's CURRENT IMPLEMENTATION (this is the keyword) does not allow offline play (with saving, of course). Not allow does not mean it's impossible - as I sadi, if Maxis wanted to, they could easily implement a local save feature in a day. Even I could do it, and I'm not the best programmer in the world :)
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No it's not, marketing always lies.
I find the extent of the lies in this cast extremely troubling, especially since customers are trending toward accepting things like this as legit business practice lately. but that's another story.
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I'm kinda reading your (PE99)'s comment as sarcastic.
But, this isn't anything official, its a debug mode, not meant for consumers.
I'm curious though, is the game fully playable in the debug mode? (anyone here with Sim City who's tried it?)
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that was about the anonymous dude from maxis who said it was possible, this one's about the dude who unlocked the debug mode.
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slightly different I think. that(say i think cause may have missed what you're talking about) was about maxis informant leaking that their line about calculations being server side was bull. this is about somebody making the game function offline despite ea and maxis claiming it was impossible without rewriting the entire thing
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Other than the server issues on release it's a good game. I don't agree with the DRM but I won't boycott it just because some pirates want it for free.
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I don't agree with the DRM either, which is why I didn't buy the game. If it didn't have the DRM, I'd probably go buy it in a heartbeat. SimCity shouldn't be REQUIRED to be a multiplayer game. If I want to play it when my internet connection goes down (which is a lot more often than my last place since I'm in a desert city in the middle of nowhere), I should be able to do just that.
Also, if you look into the worst cases of DRM from EA, you'll see that those particular games have some of the highest rates of piracy. Why? Probably because of the ridiculous DRM. I got to try Spore and loved it back when it came out, but never bought it because of the DRM - and it had the highest piracy rate for games released that year. I don't think that's a coincidence. EA, for some reason, thinks it's a good idea to punish the people who actually WANT to pay for their games. While everyone else who doesn't want to be punished waits until the problem is fixed, pirates the game, or just moves on. /Some/ people are willing to take it up the backside and fork over a ton of money for a screwup, but I think the majority of people who have any sense at all when it comes to the video game market, won't be so easily swindled.
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Sims 3 has the highest amount of piracy out of all of EAs games. It's the one of the 6th most pirated games in history. It also has the least amount of DRM out of EAs most recent games and is the easiest to pirate, coincidence?
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I think that's more or less because people don't wanna spend over $400 (Steam price is my reference, I'm sure there's cheaper ways and of course - sales) on what is essentially one game when it comes to expansions. I don't mind expansions/DLCs on the whole. I've paid for quite a few across various games and platforms, but something about Sims 3 expansions just don't feel expansive enough to the base game to warrant another huge chunk of change. Not that I have it one way or the other. I get that Sims 3's many expansions and DLCs can be considered more than worth their money, but in the end, it's still just one game.
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For some people thats the only game they ever really pirated for that fact alone.
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You missed the point. The DRM has nothing to do with pirates, it won't affect them once the game gets fully cracked a few days/weeks from now. It hurts you, as a paying customer. And by being a paying customer you're telling EA that it's OK to screw you as much as they want, so long as they use piracy as an excuse. Really, you're quite gullible.
Do you really think it's a good game? Are you aware of this?
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Modders always have to clean up after EA's screwups. The same was with Shift 2 Unleashed where the devs moved the center of weight of the car far back to make it swing around so horribly that it's undriveable. I see no other reason why a dev team experienced in car simulations would do such an obvious error other than obeying their publisher that for some reason wants the cars to be undriveable on higher difficulties. It took some time before independent modders could fix problems like these that shouldn't even exist.
SimCity is similar. In order for it to become worthy of it's name, the modders first have to give it offline mode, then areas actually large enough for a city, and a complete rebalance. Still, while watching the video where a dude builds a 200k solitary city without any industry or business and makes it ultra desireable for people just by filling it with parks, one could ask himself if it's even worth it.
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Shhh.......
It might cut down on the bitching, which no one wants!
Cool though, surprising they wouldn't have pointed this out before.
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I know all about the traffic problems and stupid AI. Besides that the game is still addictive and fun to play, there may not be as much micro as the old games, or as big. But it is still cool to see your creations come to life in front of you.
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Yes i am ^^ just had some rough times, couldn't cope with somethings as easy as i thought, so i took myself a little time out from everything ^^
But anyway, i returned :D
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http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/14/modder-runs-simcity-offline-maxis-remains-silent/
WHat do you think?
EDIT:
So according to kotaku the "Mod" isn't actually a modification of the game, but the devs own debug-mode.
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