SimCity's servers will be going offline later tonight in anticipation of the update 2.0 patch. The game will be unavailable for about two hours at around 9 PM GMT later today, April 22.
"Choosing a time to issue a major Update is never easy, but after looking our peak player time, we've concluded 9pm GMT is the best window for us to make these improvements," said EA Community Manager Michael Donahoe. "The wait will be worth it."
The update will bring a laundry list of changes to the game, hopefully ironing out a lot of the issues that players have been struggling with.
General fixes will handle cities that are not processing, region invitation problems, issues with the region filter, and a better HUD for colorblind gamers.
Additionally, the tourism industry is undergoing some changes, making it easier and simpler to manage. Casinos in particular are getting a big overhaul, with Maxis stating that they'll be a much more viable income source for your city. Players will be able to bulldoze and replace their existing casinos with the new ones to see the changes.
On the academic side, school buses should no longer get stuck at high schools, regional student populations will be accurately tracked, and University wings offering educational bonuses will be functional.
The much maligned transit system is one of the biggest update areas, with public transportation that previously got stuck in a pick-up or drop-off loop now correctly returning to a garage. Neighbor's buses should also work better, arriving in lower numbers and effectively picking up passengers.
Lastly, recycling centers are getting re-worked, air pollution sources should be easier to spot, and fire trucks should no longer get stuck by the previous "traffic clumping" issue.
A full list of updates and patch notes are available on the SimCity blog.
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