SimCity modders already playing offline, building beyond city limits

The latest developments in the ongoing SimCity drama come from a community impatient with Maxis and their response (or lack thereof) to fan outcry. Today's development is that modders in the SimCity community have created a workaround that allows players to play offline, but limiting them to a single small city plot. Luckily modders are breaking ground there too, building highways beyond their own city plots. 

If you're unaware, SimCity implements always-online DRM that will boot players after 20 minutes of disconnect from EA servers. Their justification for this is an ingrained multiplayer functionality that ties multiple city plots into one region, where cities can be controlled by different players and share various resources. This functionality has led to extremely significant server woes during the game's launch period, including the removal of in-game features like the "Cheetah" speed and achievement.

Maxis has insisted that offline play for their title is impossible, considering the always-online functionality is an inherent part of the design. However, modders are claiming that simply isn't the truth. They say that offline save handling is built into the game's code, but that it was hastily or at least awkwardly removed prior to release. There are also references to terraforming tools and "Big Maps", though whether these were cut features or are simply planned as DLC is yet to be seen.

SimCity is currently available via Electronic Arts' Origin platform.