441 replies to this topic

[Ion Cannon!]

You can either use printscreen and paste it into an image, or you can use the games ingame camera. You can get to it ingame or at the region screen. I believe its one of the buttons on the menu, like save game ect.

[Admiral FCS]

Apparently I don't even need screenshots yet. The main problem I have is when to put what.

[Ion Cannon!]

Admiral FCS, on 2 Dec 2010, 0:30, said:

Apparently I don't even need screenshots yet. The main problem I have is when to put what.

You need to elaborate a bit. But don't start zoning high density.

I would also recommend installing the NAM. The default SC4 traffic simulator / route finder is a bit shit, so you can get situations were sims complain of having no job despite there being ample jobs RIGHT next door.

[Admiral FCS]

To elaborate:

When to start putting schools and hospitals, when to start providing water, etc.

[Wizard]

As soon as you can, you won't get growth without amenities.

Although Ion will probably be able to advise you when it is optimal, but I always start after the first 3 or so zones have been set up.

[Ion Cannon!]

Admiral FCS, on 2 Dec 2010, 7:03, said:

To elaborate:

When to start putting schools and hospitals, when to start providing water, etc.

Initially you don't have to put up any if you so wish, but you won't attract anything but R$ residents. If you want to attract R$$ you need education and health. Start with ONLY an elementary school, although its somewhat unrealistic you currently have no sims of the right age for high school / college ect. So they will give you NO benefit. You also need to pay close attention to the amount of spaces. A standard elementary school can accomodate 750 students I believe, but its most unlikely you will have that many to begin with, so reduce the funding till its a more reasonable level. Say you have 200 students, reduce the capicity to 250, this allows for future growth. It's also worth noting that librarys increase the education of ALL ages. I could go on to say how education and health effect the game in some pretty major ways. But thankfully someone has already done a series of excellent tutorials which explain the subject I strongly recommend you read all 3.

Part 1 : http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.c...asy_Way:_Part_I
Part 2 : http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.c...sy_Way:_Part_II
Part 3 : http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.c...y_Way:_Part_III

[Sgt. Rho]

After a while I decided to play some SimCity 4 again.

This is my, nicely working btw, humble little town.



What I wondered is: When should I start building Highways?

[Ion Cannon!]

Sgt. Rho, on 2 Dec 2010, 14:28, said:

After a while I decided to play some SimCity 4 again.

This is my, nicely working btw, humble little town.



What I wondered is: When should I start building Highways?

Use highways when a large amount of commuters want to get from one place to another. Large being 20k+. The NAM can up this to 40k+, and with further tweaks you can make it even higher. I can't remember the maxis capacitys for roads, 3600 maybe?

[Sgt. Rho]

where can I see the amount of commuters? Been a while since I last played SC4 before today >.>

[Ion Cannon!]

Sgt. Rho, on 2 Dec 2010, 17:04, said:

where can I see the amount of commuters? Been a while since I last played SC4 before today >.>

The best way is to use the traffic query, the button looks similar to the query tool. You can also get an overview of commute times in the graphs section, it also tells you volume of traffic, but on a citywide basis. Traffic query is best for working out which routes are being travelled and thus may need upgrading. You can also get an overview of traffic / congestion in the area view.

[PT2]

This should come in handy:

Census Repository Facility

Quote

A real unique Reward BAT building (reward menu) that is truly conditional on your city. The Census Repository Facility plays a key role in keeping track of your census data (Pop Stats) and your City CAPS; there is no other (hand crafted) Query like it. Use this facility to maximize your City demands. If you get one BAT building this year, you must get this one! as even Your sims will wait in line to be counted.

[Ion Cannon!]

PT2, on 2 Dec 2010, 17:44, said:

This should come in handy:

Census Repository Facility

Quote

A real unique Reward BAT building (reward menu) that is truly conditional on your city. The Census Repository Facility plays a key role in keeping track of your census data (Pop Stats) and your City CAPS; there is no other (hand crafted) Query like it. Use this facility to maximize your City demands. If you get one BAT building this year, you must get this one! as even Your sims will wait in line to be counted.

Indeed it does, not essential, but nothing really is except the NAM.

[Admiral FCS]

Ion Cannon!, on 2 Dec 2010, 5:36, said:

Admiral FCS, on 2 Dec 2010, 7:03, said:

To elaborate:

When to start putting schools and hospitals, when to start providing water, etc.

Initially you don't have to put up any if you so wish, but you won't attract anything but R$ residents. If you want to attract R$$ you need education and health. Start with ONLY an elementary school, although its somewhat unrealistic you currently have no sims of the right age for high school / college ect. So they will give you NO benefit. You also need to pay close attention to the amount of spaces. A standard elementary school can accomodate 750 students I believe, but its most unlikely you will have that many to begin with, so reduce the funding till its a more reasonable level. Say you have 200 students, reduce the capicity to 250, this allows for future growth. It's also worth noting that librarys increase the education of ALL ages. I could go on to say how education and health effect the game in some pretty major ways. But thankfully someone has already done a series of excellent tutorials which explain the subject I strongly recommend you read all 3.

Part 1 : http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.c...asy_Way:_Part_I
Part 2 : http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.c...sy_Way:_Part_II
Part 3 : http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.c...y_Way:_Part_III

Thanks a lot.

Another question: Do I really need to design my roads and leave that much empty spaces?

[Ion Cannon!]

Admiral FCS, on 3 Dec 2010, 1:47, said:

Ion Cannon!, on 2 Dec 2010, 5:36, said:

Admiral FCS, on 2 Dec 2010, 7:03, said:

To elaborate:

When to start putting schools and hospitals, when to start providing water, etc.

Initially you don't have to put up any if you so wish, but you won't attract anything but R$ residents. If you want to attract R$$ you need education and health. Start with ONLY an elementary school, although its somewhat unrealistic you currently have no sims of the right age for high school / college ect. So they will give you NO benefit. You also need to pay close attention to the amount of spaces. A standard elementary school can accomodate 750 students I believe, but its most unlikely you will have that many to begin with, so reduce the funding till its a more reasonable level. Say you have 200 students, reduce the capicity to 250, this allows for future growth. It's also worth noting that librarys increase the education of ALL ages. I could go on to say how education and health effect the game in some pretty major ways. But thankfully someone has already done a series of excellent tutorials which explain the subject I strongly recommend you read all 3.

Part 1 : http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.c...asy_Way:_Part_I
Part 2 : http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.c...sy_Way:_Part_II
Part 3 : http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.c...y_Way:_Part_III

Thanks a lot.

Another question: Do I really need to design my roads and leave that much empty spaces?

You don't have to leave empty spaces, or design your roads, but it helps. Otherwise you will need to knock buildings down later to place transit stops ect.

[PT2]

W!, on 19 Apr 2010, 11:06, said:

I just can't seem to get skyscrapers. :(

Ion Cannon!, on 3 Dec 2010, 2:02, said:

PT2, on 2 Dec 2010, 17:44, said:

This should come in handy:

Census Repository Facility

Quote

A real unique Reward BAT building (reward menu) that is truly conditional on your city. The Census Repository Facility plays a key role in keeping track of your census data (Pop Stats) and your City CAPS; there is no other (hand crafted) Query like it. Use this facility to maximize your City demands. If you get one BAT building this year, you must get this one! as even Your sims will wait in line to be counted.

Indeed it does, not essential, but nothing really is except the NAM.

I agree, to some extend, because there are other non-traffic-related bugs that NAM does not address. For example, Opera House Fix.

On the subject of Census Repository Facility, I would like to elaborate more by providing an example on how to use to your advantage.

Example - Getting Skyscrapers in Commercial Zones
Have you ever wonder why you do not get level 8 commercial skyscrapers even though you have provided your commercial zones with all the basic needs (high desirability, low crime rate etc)? For those who have problems getting skyscrapers, there is one basic information that you need to know: one of the rules of getting commercial skyscrapers is that your cities (region-wide) must provides at least a total of 45000 commercial jobs of the wealth type CO§§ and CO§§§ combined. After that, your first skyscraper will start to develop. Above the threshold, the probability of getting the skyscrapers increases accordingly.

So, how do you know whether or not your region has reached the threshold? Just use the building query tool on the Census Repository Facility and you will obtain the necessary data. Then, work your way through to bridge the gap between your current CO§§ and CO§§§ combined population and the above-mentioned threshold.

Edited by PT2, 03 December 2010 - 10:25.

[Sgt. Rho]

Moar. This would be my main industrial city. Nicely polluted and stuff.

'It's an ugly city!'

[Ion Cannon!]

Thats a good point, I had forgotten about the Opera House fix. I see your getting the hang of things Sgt Rhino, looks like you need some more water though.

[Sgt. Rho]

already solved. by now that whole city is industrial zone, and about 1 5th of it is HT. Also it has now the Hydrogen powerplant, and 2 million on the budget

[Ion Cannon!]

Sgt. Rho, on 3 Dec 2010, 14:35, said:

already solved. by now that whole city is industrial zone, and about 1 5th of it is HT. Also it has now the Hydrogen powerplant, and 2 million on the budget

You should seperate HT and D/M Industrial zones. The high pollution from D/MD will cause the HT to abandon or have few jobs.

[Sgt. Rho]

Yeah, I noticed. I'll probably have the IHT in another separate city. But now I have a problem: On the north side of the 'main city' I get more and more 'No Job' and 'Abandoned due to long commute', even tho I have a highway right there, lots of Bus stops and a bunch of subways...

[Ion Cannon!]

Sgt. Rho, on 3 Dec 2010, 17:35, said:

Yeah, I noticed. I'll probably have the IHT in another separate city. But now I have a problem: On the north side of the 'main city' I get more and more 'No Job' and 'Abandoned due to long commute', even tho I have a highway right there, lots of Bus stops and a bunch of subways...

Have you installed the NAM? and I presume your subways are all linked up with the industry city. It may just be you have a lack of jobs. Use the route query to indentify the routes of the nearby residences - which aren't abandoning. Also check your subways and bus-stops are being utilised.

[Sgt. Rho]

No, I've not, and I can't seem to find a download of it anywhere either >.<

[Ion Cannon!]

Sgt. Rho, on 3 Dec 2010, 19:05, said:

No, I've not, and I can't seem to find a download of it anywhere either >.<

You need to register to download it, but its a fairly painless process. http://www.simtropol...ls.cfm?id=21355

[Sgt. Rho]

I got a relatively good working city now, thanks to Slye.

Bonus pic:

[Destiny]

Oh wow that's...bad