I guess this is it, then. Once you’re done downloading Update 10 for SimCity, you’ll be able to turn the internet off once and for all. You’ll retreat into the personal middling town-building simulation you’ve always wanted, and never grace our front page again.
Thanks for reading. You’ll see us again in the PCGamesN Post-Apocalyptic Pamphlet, shoved hastily through your postbox by a member of the Rebel Alliance against Skynet in 2018. Until then, enjoy life in offline mode, courtesy of Maxis.
Offline play is the main feature of SimCity’s update 10, which rolls out across all regions today.
Speaking of those: region maps are still available in single player mode, so there’s scope for building several mutually supportive cities by yourself. But naturally enough, cutting the cords to EA’s servers means sacrificing leaderboards, the citylog, achievements, the friends list, player profiles, the region wall and region invites.
The global market, funnily enough, will remain in single player: but its prices will be fixed.
Multiplayer saves and regions can’t be transferred to single player – but single player saves can be moved between PC and Mac, which is something. You’ll find them under \Documents\SimCity\Games~ID NUMBER~\.
What’s more, Maxis have pointed out an intriguing new option.
“If Autosave is disabled, you can save your region at a certain point and then experiment with your region,” they write. “If you wish to go back to a previous save point, you can choose not to save your region when exiting the game.”
Ah: the possibilities of a life lived locally. Is this what you’ve all been waiting for, or is it too little, lots late?