Sim City 2000 to Sim City 4

[laserbeahm]

I used to be really good at Sim City 2000. I think every Mac user that's been around for a while has stayed up late trying to cram more people into their city.

Anyway, I just got into Sim City 4. Does anyone have any good tips? Any ideas on how to change strategy, if at all, from Sim City 2000.

[Powerbook G5]

I don't like Sim City 4 quite as much, it just doesn't have the same feel to it as 2000 and all the classic versions had. I think one of its downfalls is its sudden need to be more of a mayoral simulator than an urban building simulator now. That said, I have made some really nice and successful metropolis centers, I think the key is to pause once you start a new map and build up a nice spot with a little of everything you need for quick expansion, then go into each of the utilities and lower them severely and only up them as your city grows so that you aren't bleeding cash right from the start.

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Yeah - I've got a strategy....



...Cheat.


Hey - if it works the same way as some crooked mayors who take backhanders, then what the hell?!?

:p

[laserbeahm]

I am cheating with the money code. Although I never used to use the old "porntipscuzardo" code in Sim City 2000.

[LoadRunner]

*use naboring city to improve growth
*manage utlitys
build power plants in one corner
build dumps in corner, or at least on a side
*Do not build city services in corners, or close to walls.
*Do not be a frade of rebuilding areas of the map. Some times moving a hospital two blocks over can increase growths.
*frivolous city services such as libraries will help grow, maintain, and attract high end jobs.
*changing tax brackets between cites can control where what will be be built.
*never take out a loan for an expense (hospital, freeway, police, super dome)
*take out a loan to build profit (housing)
*never take out a loan
*never build more expenses then income
*cheating will never work, because your incom exceed the rate of growth
*cheat to learn how to place freeways
*Do not build expenses until their an cost is easy, and only when they will not drain taxes
*with school micromanage, never let them get to the point their complaining to you about being over crowded.
*Utlity swaps between cities
*pre plan the location of freeways
* devded the city into 4 quadrants
*retail = income
*use cheap roads later you can put in black top.
*black top first on mane roads
*then high traffics
*then every where else later on
*when factory electricity remember to factor in cost, life span, price per watt, and pollution
*use coal
*green laws attract high tec
*keep school in each quadrants about the same distance apart. Other wise larger building will flood one school and not the other.
*taxes
level-----------low--med--high
residential---hig--med--low
bissness-------med--low--slow
commercial-----low--slow--sslow
sslow for bissness attracts high tec

[GovornorPhatt]

I find Sim City 4 harder than 3. No matter what I do, my city always loses money and goes bankrupt early in the game. LoadRunner's advice is great. Thanks for the tips.

[Thanatoast]

My advice is to have fun. Not that it'll help you "win" or anything. :cool:

I have a friend who always treats building games with borg-like efficiency. Now, in games like Stronghold, this can be to his advantage, since he can cram an entire economy into like, three square inches of real estate, but it looks like a really ****ty place to live.

My cities just kinda get built as the get built, with lots of green space and trees filling in the "wasted" space. My goal at this point is to develop a working mass transportation system so that sims can actually get where they want to go. Traffic is my sims' biggest gripe. :D

[Benjamin]

1. don't cheat, takes to much time.
2. build cities but make them module to the region, so like.. a city of res, a city of com, a city of industry. etc. imo i have had pretty good results splitting things up.
3. do not pause at all.

[applekid]

*use naboring city to improve growth
*manage utlitys
build power plants in one corner
build dumps in corner, or at least on a side
*Do not build city services in corners, or close to walls.
*Do not be a frade of rebuilding areas of the map. Some times moving a hospital two blocks over can increase growths.
*frivolous city services such as libraries will help grow, maintain, and attract high end jobs.
*changing tax brackets between cites can control where what will be be built.
*never take out a loan for an expense (hospital, freeway, police, super dome)
*take out a loan to build profit (housing)
*never take out a loan
*never build more expenses then income
*cheating will never work, because your incom exceed the rate of growth
*cheat to learn how to place freeways
*Do not build expenses until their an cost is easy, and only when they will not drain taxes
*with school micromanage, never let them get to the point their complaining to you about being over crowded.
*Utlity swaps between cities
*pre plan the location of freeways
* devded the city into 4 quadrants
*retail = income
*use cheap roads later you can put in black top.
*black top first on mane roads
*then high traffics
*then every where else later on
*when factory electricity remember to factor in cost, life span, price per watt, and pollution
*use coal
*green laws attract high tec
*keep school in each quadrants about the same distance apart. Other wise larger building will flood one school and not the other.
*taxes
level-----------low--med--high
residential---hig--med--low
bissness-------med--low--slow
commercial-----low--slow--sslow
sslow for bissness attracts high tec

Many tips I used to profit myself.

You really got to take advantage of using your neighbors this time around.

[GovornorPhatt]

1. don't cheat, takes to much time.

I hate cheating at games. I perfer to play the honest way. Take the Sims for example: sure, you could cheat and buy a couch, tv, computer, and suit of armor for every room of your mansion by cheating, but where's the fun in that? You just wind up with a house crammed so full of stuff that your sims cant even move! I agree with you that cheating ruins games.

[Benjamin]

I hate cheating at games. I perfer to play the honest way. Take the Sims for example: sure, you could cheat and buy a couch, tv, computer, and suit of armor for every room of your mansion by cheating, but where's the fun in that? You just wind up with a house crammed so full of stuff that your sims cant even move! I agree with you that cheating ruins games.

hahah no kidding, there wasn't much point if you have everything in a buildem up game. Cheats just waist time when you could be building.

[Powerbook G5]

What I do is build a few utopian cities that are perfect with a few "wasteland" kind of cities around that I dump all the garbage, power plants, and industry into and then link them together so that the beautiful cities with zero pollution, crime, or problems just buy the resources needed from the others.

[virividox]

What I do is build a few utopian cities that are perfect with a few "wasteland" kind of cities around that I dump all the garbage, power plants, and industry into and then link them together so that the beautiful cities with zero pollution, crime, or problems just buy the resources needed from the others.

i pray you never enter public office :D

that said, i do that too :D

[LoadRunner]

i pray you never enter public office :D

that said, i do that too :D

Vote for me, when I am in office all sim cities will have toxic waist dumps.

Oh that's another good tip, Use the optional building at the begging. With them you'll have anuff income to start with schools, police fire. later on you can bulldoze the toxic waist dump, super jail, ext.

Some of the guid out there will tell you what required at what level for every utility. When you first start a city, there isn't a need for fire, police, hospital, school, water. Personally I'll start with most for my realestate.

Another good thing to know is what the requirements for each bonus buildings, and their effects on your city. For instance I like the super hospital, and super library. Can really improve a city. Soon as I hit the required population, I'll make sure to have the number of libraries met. If i am building a city full low industrial I might shoot for a farmer market.

parks have a huge bonus, but the tennis courts have the best effect, and they take up less space. Usually i'll build two of them, and i'll make sure to pay attention to witch direction they face other wise sim may have to drive to get to them, or walk around a corner with will take a least 5 extra square to get to. Sims will only walk some thing silly like 8 spaces, but they really only like to walk 5, and they start on the side of the building the arrow points. I think they'll only walk on roads too. They can walk longer distance, but there more prone to driving. Highly educated people are less likely to use mass transit.