New SimCity update addresses traffic issues

March 19, 2013 2:17PM PDT

Update 1.7 for city-building game includes range of fixes for traffic features, other game elements.

A new update for SimCity released today fixes a range of traffic issues related to congestion and emergency vehicle driving tendencies, among other problems.

Update 1.7 for the record-setting city-building game applies the following:

• Traffic Improvements: Tuned traffic congestion and fixed some intersection traffic issues.
• Traffic improvements: Emergency Vehicles will drive in empty lanes to get around traffic at intersections.
• Traffic improvements: Emergency and Delivery vehicles get priority over regular traffic when leaving garage.
• All units and buildings can now be demolished using the bulldoze tool.
• Performance improvements for low spec systems.
• New Server: Asia 2 will be released Tuesday afternoon (PDT)

Last week, SimCity lead designer Stone Librande posted a blog pledging to fix the game's traffic issues.

SimCity launched March 5 in the United States and was beset with server woes that left the game unplayable for many. Many of the game's issues have since been remedied and the title has gone on to sell 1.1 million copies in its first two weeks.

By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

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148 comments

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IrrationalBeast

If you have traffic issues it is because your layout is bad. Here is a 400k self-sufficient city with no public transit and no traffic issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qV6PrEjaH8Q

vackillers

@IrrationalBeast I could post plenty of videos outlineing how the traffic wasn't using all 3 lanes of the max density avenues.. and the traffic was only using 1 single lane instead of all 3.... its neither here or there really... theres plenty of out cry for the traffic issue, very very well doccumented as to "why" there is a traffic issue.... just because this particular city wasn't experiencing traffic issues, does not mean there is no traffic issue in the game.....

masterdrat

1 Like

@IrrationalBeast Being force to use a certain fixed road design to achieve that means there is a big traffic issue.

IrrationalBeast

@masterdrat @IrrationalBeast nobody is forcing you to use an efficient layout but the fact of the matter is that the AI takes the shortest path so if you don't plan for your avenues to be the shortest route then traffic should be expected to be a problem.

There are also little things that people probably miss when they are building, e.g. if you use med/high density avenues with medium density roads then the road motorists will yield to the avenue but if you upgrade the avenues to streetcars it puts stoplights at every intersection. Ideally it would be nice if you could control which intersections get stop signs vs. lights but I can see them saving that for some kind of DLC (along with religion) or expansion.

IrrationalBeast

@masterdrat @IrrationalBeast and to be fair the city in the video is not in a region and the big traffic issues I've read about are things like 10,000 workers/shoppers/students from the next town pouring in and gridlocking and there is a bug that if the workers don't find work and get home before the day is up more will spawn.

IrrationalBeast

@masterdrat @IrrationalBeast the avenues and roads still work the same way as far as yielding but I won't disagree that the AI is pretty simple and forces you to build the city the AI wants/needs rather than your own.

masterdrat

@IrrationalBeast @masterdrat Well all that isn't true anymore since the latest patch... But still, what's really broken is the sims AI.

pwc2

A very good alternate is CitiesXL12. with great graphics.

bschroth

This game is pretty damn fun. I got it on the friday after it came out. Only ever had one very small issue where I lost a few minutes of play. Otherwise I guess I've been lucky. Maybe Canada is a good place to be for this game? Who knows?

james_324

@bschroth Well, I'm in Canada and the server issues have been just awful!

bschroth

@james_324 @bschroth I guess I've been really lucky. I literally lost only a few minutes of play once. I'm pretty happy about getting NFS Most Wanted as an extra bonus out of this.

Gravity_Slave

lol another PC Sim City problem. Big surprise. Goes back to stable consoles...

SplitShift

6 Like

@Gravity_Slave this could quite possibly be the most ignorant statement I've read on this website.

Gravity_Slave

@SplitShift

then you don't get out much...tell me where I'm wrong. You can't

petez34

@SplitShift lmao. keep reading GS. There are lots of dumb comments that will make you scratch your head.

96augment

@SplitShift @Gravity_Slave I agree with you and I'm a console owner.

pwc2

1 Like

@SplitShift He must be a teenager or something.

gatsbythepig

I'll wait for update 5.4, In about six months, when most of the bugs are fixed, I'll pick this up.

This comment has been deleted

MegaPhilX2

@HADES2001
Testers actually find the bugs. It's just that management sometimes (often) ignores them and releases the game anyway.

Scritty

Patched to 1.7. Traffic still ignores free highways in favour of slightly shorter single lane routes resulting in total gridlock. Not really sure what this patch that took so long actually fixes? Nothing that I can see.

IrrationalBeast

@Scritty then you're not planning your roads properly.

xFishBowlx

Don't let everyone's whine sway you away from this game! It is truely an awesome game at it's core, other than the week one server issues, it's been awesome and I was waiting so long for this. I'm hoping there wont be those irritating micro transactions and they will maybe release an update the provides a bigger city size, custom regions, or free regions.

It has some bugs, yes. But the bugs are the kind you expect from a new game that are on an extremely acceptable level like the used to. None of these bugs are at all close to game breaking.

Scritty

@xFishBowlx Yeah - summed up are "the game looks good but doesn't work" Yes you can make a decent city - if you do counter intuitive things and don't see it as a city sim but as a puzzle wher you try and guess how to make things move/trade and work that are (and no exaggeration) in many cases 100% the opposite of what would work in real life.

Great that you don't want micro transactions - but you hope bigger city size/custom regions... Errm hate to tinkle on your parade - but you expect EA to unlock (unlock - not develop - the ability to do all this is already in the game and already revealed by people like AzzarUK) this for free? Dream on!

thrice00

1 Like

Man....... Are you dreaming........ You hope no micro transactions while EA state since 2 years this is their way to go. Free regions from EA. HAHAHAHA. They will try to milk their customers like they do with the SIMS.

xFishBowlx

@thrice00

Dreams keep hope, hope keeps possibilities. If they don't deliver, I don't support. It's simple not to give in.

kb8618

i think traffic might actually be worse during rush hours

berserker66666

Hey at least traffic is an accurate representation of New York.

NoDzombie

1 Like

traffic is still terrible even after the patch, didnt fix much at all really from what i can see

Falru

*traffic issues pun*

InSayNine

1 Like

Still have traffic issues here

peteyboi29

1 Like

MY MY reading through this forum is like a who's who's of every kinda bug and glitch there has ever been on game lol at firs i wanted to buy this game and was hoping it would be fixed, but now i think i will stick to reading a good book :) lol

Triton

Glad to see they are fixing it, but a lot of damage already been done.

twiglet015

1 Like

I haven't noticed any bugs in the game, nothing major at least. I have just stopped playing because I'm bored of playing with myself (lol) I want region filters! Every game I try to join is full!

geitenvla

2 Like

I haven't bought the game (yet), but judging from all the player feedback I'm not really tempted.

frylock616

4 Like

Funny, I just released my own update. Patch 2.78 It fixes all the fucks I had for this and deletes them, along with this game.

berserker66666

1 Like

I just bought Cities XL 2012. It's a lot better than SimShitty.

GetafixOz

@berserker66666 I didnt mind Cities, but the population thing where they like wont get along with each other was annoying.

Saidrex

@berserker66666 bah, same crap as SimCity, full of bugs and greedy developers don't fix anything, just keeps re-releasing same game year after year with few new useless buildings added, have fun with Shitties XL 2012

JoiLambell

@Saidrex @berserker66666 Yeah, last time i heard about Cities XL there was no patch to fix the biggest flaw yet, that is not optimize for multi-core, no matter how good your rig is and no matter how much graphics you lower, when you reach about 100k population the lag beggins and at some point the game becomes unplayable.

Toysoldier34

1 Like

The logic system on how traffic and other entities were handled were flawed from design. To save on processing and effort each entity is a package that fills a generic role. So each person can leave for work and return to a different home and different job the next day in order to fill the system.

Saidrex

1 Like

I remember how harsh people were about that WarZ thing - broken alpha version product, no refunds, ban and blacklisting threats, EA done the same thing and so many people are happy with that... beeeee beeeee, have fun sheeps. I will have fun when EA cuts off your precious wool

96augment

@Saidrex Have you read the SimCity articles on Gamespot? Hardly anyone is happy about the crap that's been happening with SimCity.

frylock616

@Saidrex It was announced Sim City would have DRM and forced multiplayer MONTHS before War Z was even finished.

SirNormanislost

@Saidrex no its not the same it was well known that simcity had DRM and forced multiplayer

WarZ practically got changed into an MMO and ripped a lot of people of with no warning and was sold in its alpha form which is different from being very buggy

Saidrex

@SirNormanislost i didn't say anything about DRM. I said about broken alpha version game full of bugs and features that don't work properly or don't work at all. At launch day even game itself didn't work at all!

SirNormanislost

@Saidrex @SirNormanislost ....but that's not why people wanted their money back for WarZ and simcitys features did work they just had to be turned off because EAs servers couldn't handle the load

WarZ was sold as one type of game then changed when it went on sale on steam screwing over everyone that bought

Also big difference between an alpha build of a game and one that crippled due to EAs own stupid server management

Dante3k

1 Like

Recycling bug, please fix this next!!

Saidrex

11 Like

@Dante3k Recycling is working fine, search for SimCity folder, right click, delete, then go to recycling bin, right click, empty recycling bin. Problem solved! Next!

SirNormanislost

1 Like

@Saidrex @Dante3k I love the thought of someone taking you seriously and trying this

Patohua1

7 Like

Sim City: Playable Version coming Holiday 2015!

peteyboi29

@Patohua1 only $9.99 for the update fixes :D

Saidrex

@Patohua1 Seems legit. Closed Alpha version ends january 2014, closed beta ends january 2015, so playable version should come out somwhere in holidays of 2015.

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