SimCity 5 update 1.7 released to ease traffic congestion

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SimCity

Bertan Budak,
News,
Mar 20, 2013.

EA releases SimCity 5 update 1.7 to fix intersection traffic issues…

EA has finally released a patch to fix the intersection traffic issues reported by players last week.

Emergency vehicles such as fire engines and ambulances are now able to dodge traffic by navigating through unoccupied roads, while delivery and emergency vehicles now have priority over regular traffic when leaving a garage.

The full update also includes a bulldoze tool which players can use to demolish buildings and units, as well as a new Asia 2 server which went live yesterday afternoon. It is hoped that 1.7 will finally put an end to the frustrations players have experienced with the game since it was released about two weeks ago.

Last week, SimCity 5 lead designer, Stone Librande, responded to wide-spread criticism over the bugs by pledging to release a fix as soon as possible.

In a blog post on the game’s official website, he wrote: “When bugs are discovered we will address them as quickly as possible, with updates such as the ones we’ve been rolling out over the past week. Our main focus right now is updating the pathing system that the Agents use to get to their Sinks.

“Running a successful city means keeping the traffic flowing and we are actively working to make this system better.”

And yesterday, EA announced it would be offering SimCity 5 players a choice of free games as compensation for the server issues, which players experienced shortly after the game launched. The selection includes Battlefield 3, Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 3, Bejeweled 3, Medal of Honor Warfighter and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, amongst others.

A post on the firm’s site read: “As a token of our appreciation for all the support we’ve received from SimCity fans over the past week EA is offering a free EA PC digital download game to anyone who purchases and authenticates SimCity by March 25, 2013 at 11:59pm PDT.”

EA claims it has shifted 1.1m copies of SimCity 5 in two weeks.

[Den Of Geek]

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