The above video is just the tip of the iceberg with what some users have managed to accomplish seemingly over night with SimCity. So far, they have removed the online requirement, gained access to debug tools, found multiple references to larger cities, discovered references to terraforming tools, discovered that population numbers are drastically faked, and have been able to build outside of the 2km2 city areas.
Fake population vs. real population numbers
In an unmodded game, attempts to play offline result in the player getting kicked after 20 minutes. In fact, "modding" this is as simple as downloading a file and placing it into your SimCityData folder. Those who had a look at the always online DRM for the game say it is apparently coded in Javascript, is all client side, and seems as though it was a last minute addition to the game.
Yes, given the nature of how the game saves your game to online servers, offline play is limited by the fact that you cannot save your city. Perhaps it's only a matter of time before modders figure out how to get around that limitation as well.
Neither EA nor Maxis have issued any statement on this.
Feel free to read more about this over at Reddit.
Comment