CityVille no roads
Ever visited a friend's city in CityVille and notice something odd. It doesn't look like a city at all. There are rows upon rows of sushi bars on one end of the town while there is a slew of expensive chateaus on the other. (If everyone is living in $1 million homes and eating sushi all day, who is working at the banks and post offices much less the sushi bars?) But continue to suspend your disbelief for a moment and look between these fine, unrealistically placed establishments surrounded by elaborate bushes. Where did all the roads go?
They're gone, because they are worthless in CityVille. Roads cost 10 coins per square and serve no other purpose than to give pedestrians a place to walk between Businesses. However, Sidewalks cost double that, but take up less space and are much, much longer. So, what reason would an illustrious mayor have to place roads in their city rather than sidewalks. That's valuable space wasted that could be used by more homes and businesses. This is a fundamental flaw to CityVille and one of several reasons why players have reached such astronomical levels so quickly.
Cityville roads
It's also why cities in CityVille are so far disconnected from what actual cities look like. Sure, it'd be near impossible with today's technology to transform the intricacies and neuroses of a real city into a videogame much less a social game. But it's oversights like this that make that distinction so glaringly obvious. Cities in CityVille are flawed cities because they fail to take into account even basic concepts like location and redundancy when placing homes and businesses. Surely most of you high-level players had a thought like this cross your mind as you were playing: "What Business makes the most money? That one? OK, let's build a ton of them and surround them with bushes."
This isn't to say that Zynga's Business mechanic is anything short of brilliant. It gets players to think critically and apply concepts, something more gamers, traditional and social alike, need to exercise. But it's oversights (or intentional design) like rendering basic infrastructure tools entirely worthless that make CityVille appear terribly flawed through one lens and clever in others. On one hand, CityVille's lack of functional roads is an insult to gamers' intelligence everywhere. Yet on the other, it's complete genius for helping turn one of the most complex professions, urban planning, into a game that over 95 million players enjoy. Would I like to see more realistic, organic cities? Absolutely. In that case, does the game need anymore complexity? Probably not.
What do you think of the look of cities in CityVille? Would you like to see this part of the game's design change? Do you use roads anyway for aesthetics's sake?
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Friday, January 6, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
FarmVille: English Countryside rollout "on hold" due to bugs
Update: It appears as though the rollout has begun once again, as Lexi has commented that a new bug fix has been implemented. Keep checking your farm to see if the update has rolled out to your game.
As with all major FarmVille updates, Zynga chooses to roll them out to a few players to ensure the stability of the game. That is the case with the English Countryside as well, with this being one the slowest rollouts we've seen yet.
The wait for farmers to travel to England has gotten longer this afternoon, as Community Manager Lexilicious confirms that Zynga has stopped rolling out the feature for the time being, due to the appearance of some apparently unforeseen bugs (these seem to mostly be out of sync errors or invisible quests, although there are likely others) that need to be addressed. Here's the official word:
We have found some bugs that need to be addressed before we continue to roll the feature out. (This is why we do slow releases!) These could take a little while to fix, so I would take a break from refreshing the game.
Luckily, Lexi also goes on to say that this "most likely means a few hours" before the team can look at continuing to release to more people. Ever at the ready to answer questions, Lexi's latest post (posted around 30 minutes ago) confirms that the rollout is still on hold.
We'll make sure to update this space when officially starts rolling the feature back out to users. If you weren't one of the lucky users to receive the update, why not take a look at our complete guide to Duke's Airship goals / the Bon Voyage Party so you can be better prepared for what you'll need to do when you are finally introduced to England.
[Image Credit: Marieti84]
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Were you one of the lucky players to receive the English Countryside before the pause in the rollout? What do you think of the hotly anticipated expansion?
As with all major FarmVille updates, Zynga chooses to roll them out to a few players to ensure the stability of the game. That is the case with the English Countryside as well, with this being one the slowest rollouts we've seen yet.
The wait for farmers to travel to England has gotten longer this afternoon, as Community Manager Lexilicious confirms that Zynga has stopped rolling out the feature for the time being, due to the appearance of some apparently unforeseen bugs (these seem to mostly be out of sync errors or invisible quests, although there are likely others) that need to be addressed. Here's the official word:
We have found some bugs that need to be addressed before we continue to roll the feature out. (This is why we do slow releases!) These could take a little while to fix, so I would take a break from refreshing the game.
Luckily, Lexi also goes on to say that this "most likely means a few hours" before the team can look at continuing to release to more people. Ever at the ready to answer questions, Lexi's latest post (posted around 30 minutes ago) confirms that the rollout is still on hold.
We'll make sure to update this space when officially starts rolling the feature back out to users. If you weren't one of the lucky users to receive the update, why not take a look at our complete guide to Duke's Airship goals / the Bon Voyage Party so you can be better prepared for what you'll need to do when you are finally introduced to England.
[Image Credit: Marieti84]
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Were you one of the lucky players to receive the English Countryside before the pause in the rollout? What do you think of the hotly anticipated expansion?
FarmVille English Countryside: First market Animals revealed
Thanks to the helpful users over on the official FarmVille forums, we've found that as of right now, if you're one of the lucky players that has access to the English Countryside, you will be able to purchase five different animals from the English Countryside-specific Marketplace.
User SammyJames posted this screen-shot of the in-game store, and we can see the following animals for sale (and look, some even cost coins!). Note: There are conflicting reports from players as to the prices of the Ewes and Rams. Some report that Ewes cost 10 Farm Cash, while Rams cost 25 Farm Cash, but as this is a picture from a working farm, we'll go with that for now.
Ewe (Navy) - 25 Farm Cash
Ewe (Pastel Pink) - 25 Farm Cash
Ram (Purple Dots) - 30 Farm Cash
Pub Cat - 5,000 coins
English Spot Rabbit - 1,200 coins There is also a 5-Pack of Love Potions available to purchase for 10 Farm Cash, with both these love potions, and the Ewes and Rams being released as part of the Sheep Pen / Breeding feature in the English Countryside itself. You can learn more about Sheep Breeding in our guide.
All told, it's great (at least in my opinion) to already see animals being released in the new expansion for coins. With the option to use a lot of Farm Cash to just get to England in the first place (check out our guide to Duke's Airship Goals / Bon Voyage Party for more), at least you'll have the ability to decorate your farm with two cute animals right out of the gate.
[Image Credit: Sammy James]
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Have you been lucky enough to travel to England in the game? Will you purchase any of these animals once you get there, or are you saving your coins / Farm Cash for something else?
User SammyJames posted this screen-shot of the in-game store, and we can see the following animals for sale (and look, some even cost coins!). Note: There are conflicting reports from players as to the prices of the Ewes and Rams. Some report that Ewes cost 10 Farm Cash, while Rams cost 25 Farm Cash, but as this is a picture from a working farm, we'll go with that for now.
Ewe (Navy) - 25 Farm Cash
Ewe (Pastel Pink) - 25 Farm Cash
Ram (Purple Dots) - 30 Farm Cash
Pub Cat - 5,000 coins
English Spot Rabbit - 1,200 coins There is also a 5-Pack of Love Potions available to purchase for 10 Farm Cash, with both these love potions, and the Ewes and Rams being released as part of the Sheep Pen / Breeding feature in the English Countryside itself. You can learn more about Sheep Breeding in our guide.
All told, it's great (at least in my opinion) to already see animals being released in the new expansion for coins. With the option to use a lot of Farm Cash to just get to England in the first place (check out our guide to Duke's Airship Goals / Bon Voyage Party for more), at least you'll have the ability to decorate your farm with two cute animals right out of the gate.
[Image Credit: Sammy James]
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
Have you been lucky enough to travel to England in the game? Will you purchase any of these animals once you get there, or are you saving your coins / Farm Cash for something else?
FarmVille LE English Countryside Trees: Dogwood, Hazelnut, Chestnut & More
In what could be a bit of a confusing update, Zynga has released an entire set of limited edition items in the original FarmVille store in a new English Countryside theme. To be clear, these items are part of an entirely separate theme, not relating only to the actual English Countryside expansion, which started rolling out to users today. These items are available to place on your original farm, and function as you would expect.
That clarification out of the way, there are four new trees available to purchase in the store, with one being a re-release, and another already being available as a Mystery Seedling for a few days now. The trees are the Dogwood Tree, Pink Dogwood Tree, Chestnut Tree and Hazelnut Tree.
For those that were playing the game back during the Winter Wonderland event, you'll recognize the Chestnut & Hazelnut Trees as ones that was available to purchase from the market for 6 and 14 Farm Cash, respectively, and those prices are retained in this re-release. Remember, if you don't have a Hazelnut Tree, you can just purchase the Chestnut Tree and then hope to get a Hazelnut Tree as a Mystery Seedling from it when placed in an Orchard. Meanwhile, the Dogwood and Pink Dogwood Trees are another pair, with the Dogwood Tree being available for 5 Farm Cash, and the Pink Dogwood Tree being available for 10 Farm Cash. If you didn't receive a Pink Dogwood Tree as a Mystery Seedling while it was randomly available, you should be able to receive one by placing a regular Dogwood Tree into your Orchard.
Whatever the case may be concerning your desire for (or previous ownership of) these trees, you'll have the next month (yes, a full month) to purchase all that you'd like. Zynga has said that they won't be updating the game as frequently until they are sure that the actual English Countryside expansion has released in full, but we'll be sure to let you know (as always) when new items in this theme, or any other theme are released in the store.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
What do you think of these four trees? Are they all new to your farm, or do you already have Chestnut and Hazelnut Trees?
That clarification out of the way, there are four new trees available to purchase in the store, with one being a re-release, and another already being available as a Mystery Seedling for a few days now. The trees are the Dogwood Tree, Pink Dogwood Tree, Chestnut Tree and Hazelnut Tree.
For those that were playing the game back during the Winter Wonderland event, you'll recognize the Chestnut & Hazelnut Trees as ones that was available to purchase from the market for 6 and 14 Farm Cash, respectively, and those prices are retained in this re-release. Remember, if you don't have a Hazelnut Tree, you can just purchase the Chestnut Tree and then hope to get a Hazelnut Tree as a Mystery Seedling from it when placed in an Orchard. Meanwhile, the Dogwood and Pink Dogwood Trees are another pair, with the Dogwood Tree being available for 5 Farm Cash, and the Pink Dogwood Tree being available for 10 Farm Cash. If you didn't receive a Pink Dogwood Tree as a Mystery Seedling while it was randomly available, you should be able to receive one by placing a regular Dogwood Tree into your Orchard.
Whatever the case may be concerning your desire for (or previous ownership of) these trees, you'll have the next month (yes, a full month) to purchase all that you'd like. Zynga has said that they won't be updating the game as frequently until they are sure that the actual English Countryside expansion has released in full, but we'll be sure to let you know (as always) when new items in this theme, or any other theme are released in the store.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
What do you think of these four trees? Are they all new to your farm, or do you already have Chestnut and Hazelnut Trees?
FarmVille LE English Countryside Animals: Clydesdale Stallion, Morgan Horse, English Cow & More
A whopping nine animals have been released in the FarmVille marketplace in the new limited edition English Countryside theme. Again, this theme is a bit separate from the English Countryside expansion, and these items are available in your store whether you have received the English Countryside as an update to your farm or not (it is still on a slow rollout). That is, they can be placed on your Home Farm, but are not transferable to your English farm (meaning you'll need to buy two to have them on both farms).
These nine animals consist of those we saw previewed on the Model Farm just this week, and come in the form of cows, chickens, horses, and even a duck and pig. To be fair, not all of these items are new to the game, but if you missed your chance at them the first time around, it's nice to see them back again. To see a complete look at the new animals, meet us behind the break. The nine animals are as follows, including their costs:
Clydesdale Stallion - 40 Farm Cash
Morgan Horse (re-release) - 24 Farm Cash
Old English Hen - 20 Farm Cash
Silkie Chicken (re-release) - 20 Farm Cash
Blue Cow (re-release) - 22 Farm Cash
English Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Red Cow (re-release) - 100,000 coins
Crested Duck - 16 Farm Cash
Tamworth Pig - 16 Farm Cash
As you can see, four of these nine animals have once been available in the game in another way. For reference, the Morgan Horse was released last July as part of the New England theme. The Silkie Chicken was released during the Thanksgiving event in 2010. The Blue Cow was released as part of the Megamind film promotional event back in November, and finally, the Red Cow was a prize in the zLotto event. The former three animals all retain their same prices from their initial release, while the Red Cow of course is new to the store.
Remember, if you purchase the Morgan Horse or any of the cows, you'll have a chance of breeding that animal in its respective animal building to receive a Calf or Foal, where applicable.
You'll have a full month to find enough Farm Cash (or coins) to purchase these animals, as they have been given a very lengthy expiration date in the store. We'll make sure to let you know if more items in this English Countryside theme release in the future, so keep checking back with us.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
In the meantime, let us know what you think of this release - do you appreciate having English themed items that you can decorate your home farm with? Which ones will you purchase?
These nine animals consist of those we saw previewed on the Model Farm just this week, and come in the form of cows, chickens, horses, and even a duck and pig. To be fair, not all of these items are new to the game, but if you missed your chance at them the first time around, it's nice to see them back again. To see a complete look at the new animals, meet us behind the break. The nine animals are as follows, including their costs:
Clydesdale Stallion - 40 Farm Cash
Morgan Horse (re-release) - 24 Farm Cash
Old English Hen - 20 Farm Cash
Silkie Chicken (re-release) - 20 Farm Cash
Blue Cow (re-release) - 22 Farm Cash
English Cow - 22 Farm Cash
Red Cow (re-release) - 100,000 coins
Crested Duck - 16 Farm Cash
Tamworth Pig - 16 Farm Cash
As you can see, four of these nine animals have once been available in the game in another way. For reference, the Morgan Horse was released last July as part of the New England theme. The Silkie Chicken was released during the Thanksgiving event in 2010. The Blue Cow was released as part of the Megamind film promotional event back in November, and finally, the Red Cow was a prize in the zLotto event. The former three animals all retain their same prices from their initial release, while the Red Cow of course is new to the store.
Remember, if you purchase the Morgan Horse or any of the cows, you'll have a chance of breeding that animal in its respective animal building to receive a Calf or Foal, where applicable.
You'll have a full month to find enough Farm Cash (or coins) to purchase these animals, as they have been given a very lengthy expiration date in the store. We'll make sure to let you know if more items in this English Countryside theme release in the future, so keep checking back with us.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
In the meantime, let us know what you think of this release - do you appreciate having English themed items that you can decorate your home farm with? Which ones will you purchase?
FarmVille LE English Countryside Items: English Rose Arch, English Barn & More
Tonight's FarmVille update brought with it one new decoration, two new buildings, and a new vehicle in the new English Countryside limited edition theme. To clarify, this theme of items can be purchased for your original farm, and are available to purchase as normal from the store, whether you've decided to travel to the English Countryside expansion or not.
These two buildings are functional, and come in the form of the English Barn and English Tool Shed. The Tool Shed is the cheaper of the two items, costing 100,000 coins, while the English Barn costs 30 Farm Cash. Both of these buildings are in the same dark brown and gray theme that we've seen of the actual English Countryside's buildings, so they really fit the theme well. Remember, the overall storage limit in-game is still 500 items, so even if you purchase these items for your Home Farm, if you already have 500 slots of storage unlocked, you won't receive more. Meanwhile, the new decorative item is the English Rose Arch. It is available to purchase for 100,000 coins, and you'll receive 1000 experience points for purchasing it. We admit that it's odd for Zynga to release just a single decorative item in any theme, but with so many animals and trees being released already, I guess that's enough to keep most farmers busy.
Finally, the new vehicle is the English Plane, which functions just as the normal biplane in the game, meaning that you can use it to instantly grow your trees or crops to their harvest-ready state. If you've never purchased a plane before in FarmVille, you will receive one free application of Instant Grow with your purchase, but if you've already purchased any kind of plane for your land, you will not receive another free Instant Grow for purchasing this one as well. you can buy the English Plane for 30,000 coins.
All of these items will be available in the game's store for the next month. That's a heck of a long time for any theme to be available in FarmVille, which makes us think that this might be all the theme will contain, as Zynga looks to focus on the actual English Countryside expansion as it launches. Either way, if more items release in this or any other theme in FarmVille, we'll make sure you're the first to know, so keep checking back.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
What do you think of all of these English Countryside items? Will you purchase all of them for your Home Farm, or do you plan to spend all of your coins and Farm Cash on your new English farm?
These two buildings are functional, and come in the form of the English Barn and English Tool Shed. The Tool Shed is the cheaper of the two items, costing 100,000 coins, while the English Barn costs 30 Farm Cash. Both of these buildings are in the same dark brown and gray theme that we've seen of the actual English Countryside's buildings, so they really fit the theme well. Remember, the overall storage limit in-game is still 500 items, so even if you purchase these items for your Home Farm, if you already have 500 slots of storage unlocked, you won't receive more. Meanwhile, the new decorative item is the English Rose Arch. It is available to purchase for 100,000 coins, and you'll receive 1000 experience points for purchasing it. We admit that it's odd for Zynga to release just a single decorative item in any theme, but with so many animals and trees being released already, I guess that's enough to keep most farmers busy.
Finally, the new vehicle is the English Plane, which functions just as the normal biplane in the game, meaning that you can use it to instantly grow your trees or crops to their harvest-ready state. If you've never purchased a plane before in FarmVille, you will receive one free application of Instant Grow with your purchase, but if you've already purchased any kind of plane for your land, you will not receive another free Instant Grow for purchasing this one as well. you can buy the English Plane for 30,000 coins.
All of these items will be available in the game's store for the next month. That's a heck of a long time for any theme to be available in FarmVille, which makes us think that this might be all the theme will contain, as Zynga looks to focus on the actual English Countryside expansion as it launches. Either way, if more items release in this or any other theme in FarmVille, we'll make sure you're the first to know, so keep checking back.
Check out the rest of our English Countryside coverage right here.
What do you think of all of these English Countryside items? Will you purchase all of them for your Home Farm, or do you plan to spend all of your coins and Farm Cash on your new English farm?
Friday, December 30, 2011
The Island: Castaway 2 released, isometric gaming still not dead
Time travel! Mysteries! Penetration?! Awem studios has released The Island: Castaway 2 exclusively on their website…
Awem studio has today launched The Island: Castaway 2, in which players are challenged to ‘travel in time and penetrate into the mysteries of the island’ using a mix of simulation and adventure gaming to tell the prehistory of the original games locales.
“As usual, we tried to make our game not just good but perfect,” said Oleg Rogovenko, Awem studio´s CEO. “The game has original characters and mingles intrigue, mystery and humor together, thus creating a thick and absorbing storyline. We are happy to give the players the opportunity to learn something new about the island, immerse within the game world and have an absolutely gripping experience with The Island: Castaway 2.”
It’s available now for around about £7 ($9.95) from Awem’s website and you can learn more on the game’s homepage.
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Awem studio has today launched The Island: Castaway 2, in which players are challenged to ‘travel in time and penetrate into the mysteries of the island’ using a mix of simulation and adventure gaming to tell the prehistory of the original games locales.
“As usual, we tried to make our game not just good but perfect,” said Oleg Rogovenko, Awem studio´s CEO. “The game has original characters and mingles intrigue, mystery and humor together, thus creating a thick and absorbing storyline. We are happy to give the players the opportunity to learn something new about the island, immerse within the game world and have an absolutely gripping experience with The Island: Castaway 2.”
It’s available now for around about £7 ($9.95) from Awem’s website and you can learn more on the game’s homepage.
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