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SimCity for Mac Plagued by Various Teething Issues [Update: Resolved]

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Despite being delayed by six months in order to ensure "a great experience for players", it seems that the Mac version of SimCity is still experiencing a number of serious issues which prevent users from playing the game. Frustrated gamers have taken to EA's official forums and our own discussion thread to vent their annoyances, which range from installation issues to the game only running in windowed mode on certain Macs. While SimCity is running with no problems for some users, it certainly appears that a significant fraction of users are having issues with the game.

simcity-meteor-strike.jpg
The issues range from problems starting the software to lagging on even the most high-end Macs. Some users have also discovered after purchasing that SimCity for Mac will not run on machines with OS X 10.7.4 or earlier, despite a still-available FAQ entry stating that users running a minimum of Snow Leopard would be able to play the game.

Users are also finding that the game does not support the higher resolution on the 27-inch iMac or MacBook Pro, with some users forced to run the game in 1440 x 900 resolution rather than the full 2560 x 1440 that the large iMac supports. TUAW also reported that one user had to reinstall Origin three times in order to just download the game, let alone install it.

A Maxis spokesperson has commented on the issues since the game's launch:
There are a small number of players who have encountered issues with SimCity for Mac. Our live team is working individually with our players to resolve their issues and get them into the game as quickly as possible.
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Any SimCity gamers who are experiencing trouble can turn to the official FAQ page on EA's forums, which lists a few possible remedies. It is also worth noting that the game is covered by Origin's "Great Game Guarantee", which was launched a couple of weeks ago and allows players to return games free of charge within 24 hours of purchasing.

Update: A Maxis spokesperson issued MacRumors this statement:
We are pleased to advise that the installation-related issues some players experienced with SimCity on Mac have been resolved.
Click to expand...

Article Link: SimCity for Mac Plagued by Various Teething Issues [Update: Resolved]
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/30/simcity-for-mac-plagued-by-various-teething-issues/
jfx94

jfx94

macrumors regular
May 22, 2013
134
17
where ever I am at.
As a dentist I find the title of this article quite amusing, particularly since teething doesn't occur until several months after birth (launch?).
 
nfl46

nfl46

macrumors G3
Oct 5, 2008
8,349
8,704
Downloading it now. Almost finished. So far, installation is going fine.

Edit: Working fine on my MacBook Pro! Great job, EA!
 
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heutusops

macrumors regular
Aug 6, 2013
119
0
windows users were facing problem with this, i don't know why are MB users taking chance. never getting this junk game.
 
bbeagle

bbeagle

macrumors 68040
Oct 19, 2010
3,541
2,981
Buffalo, NY
rmwebs said:
Because it's EA. They pump out crap.
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Totally agree.

If it works well only on some macs, and not in retina higher resolutions, and issues are wide-spread, it smells like the developers who created this weren't very motivated to make SURE it worked, just grunt-work to listen to their bosses and use what development machines that EA bought.

Sounds like a poor culture at EA.
 
E

everything-i

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2012
827
2
London, UK
EA have reached a new low with this, I mean you have a fairly small number of machines to aim for, unlike with PCs, and they obviously haven't even tested it with the current range of Macs on sale as it doesn't even support 27" screens native resolution and doesn't work with all the versions of OSX that they advertised.

I was so excited when this new version was first announced because I love the franchise but EA have totally disappointed in every respect and all the easily avoidable problems with the Mac version are the final insult.
 
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C

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
jfx94 said:
As a dentist I find the title of this article quite amusing, particularly since teething doesn't occur until several months after birth (launch?).
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It's a colloquial phrase meaning problems at the beginning of something. Perhaps "birthing pains" would be more accurate.

Anyway, EA aside, I'm not surprised in the least. It's thre first native game they've ported internally. The launch is buttery smooth compared to the PC--could be worse!
 
R

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
everything-i said:
EA have reached a new low with this, I mean you have a fairly small number of machines to aim for, unlike with PCs, and they obviously haven't even tested it with the current range of Macs on sale as it doesn't even support 27" screens native resolution and doesn't work with all the versions of OSX that they advertised.

I was so excited when this new version was first announced because I love the franchise but EA have totally disappointed in every respect and all the easily avoidable problems with the Mac version are the final insult.
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I'd hazard an (uneducated) guess that its to do with GlassBox (the rendering and calculation engine) not being able to do it. This is the reason the cities are more like villages - the engine cant handle anything bigger even on the most powerful of machines.

The game is a farce - beautiful graphics but terrible gameplay and even worse hardware support.

That said, it works fine in 1440x900 windowed mode on my 15" rMBP (on a second screen). I played it for half an hour last night and filled a city - game complete.
 
F

FoxHoundADAM

macrumors regular
Sep 9, 2008
211
14
Oklahoma
Early 2009 iMac user hear, I started the game up last night, no problems thus far for me. Having a pretty good time really.

Sorry if you are having problems.
 
Scyanide

Scyanide

macrumors member
Apr 9, 2013
91
7
Melbourne, FL
It is actually easy to fix the issues.

Step 1: Don't buy from EA.
Step 2: Enjoy life so much better.

If you did already purchase from EA take advantage of their new return policy or return the game where you purchased it. Then see Step 2.
 
C

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
rmwebs said:
I'd hazard an (uneducated) guess that its to do with GlassBox (the rendering and calculation engine) not being able to do it. This is the reason the cities are more like villages - the engine cant handle anything bigger even on the most powerful of machines.
.
Click to expand...

This is why the city size is small, yes, but this has nothing to do with the resolution--city sizes are the same no matter what resolution you use, obviously.

Sounds like they couldn't get acceptible graphical performance above certain resolutions. To be fair, this is not entirely EA's fault given the state of Apple's drivers. Hopefully they will renable it once 10.8.5 and Mavericks are released, as Aspyr is planning to do with Infinite.

BRLawyer said:
And that's the kind of RUBBISH that gets Page 1 coverage on MacRumors...as we said elsewhere, the original article should at most have been on Page 2...it's just another crappy EA game after all.
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It's bad publicity for them--if you hate EA so much, you should appreciate the prime coverage. As I see it, the more Mac gamers who are aware of what a crappy game SimCity is, the better.

Anyway, nobody is requiring you to read the article. If you don't like it, ignore it.
 
braddicted2mac

braddicted2mac

macrumors member
Dec 5, 2012
88
0
Canada
I played it for an hour last night. I really enjoyed my experience I didn't have any issues with bugs or anything else. Ease to get on a server at 9pm eastern time was no problem. Gameplay was good.
 
A

auero

macrumors 65816
Sep 15, 2006
1,386
114
Played all day yesterday without any issues. My 17" Macbook Pro is even 2.5 years old and handled it fine on high settings. Surprised.
 
Battlefield Fan

Battlefield Fan

macrumors 65816
Mar 9, 2008
1,063
0
What a bunch of dummys. We PC players told you it was utter crap. Why didn't you listen to us. Biggest waste of $70
 
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