Sim City 4 tips

[Dell19]

Just started playing Sim City 4 again and wondered if anyone has any tips for getting skyscrapers to appear.

So far I've only built one city which has a population of around 30 000 with a large portion of the map taken up. Quite a lot of that is low density residential as a suggestion I read elsewhere was to build low density residential early on, presumably because thats all that will grow there for a long time.

I am now making a decent profit and haven't had to use any of the special profit buildings (toxic waste etc) but I'm not sure whether to start clearing out parts of the city and rezoning them to be high density residential or industrial? For the time being there are still quite a few areas left still to build on but that ground is hilly which leads to my final question of whether its worth zoning high density buildings on hills or whether there is a penalty?

 

[Chieftess]

For me, it seems to be a combination of:

Parks/Plazas (for residential/commercial)
Busstops every other block (4x8 tiles)
Subway stations
main roads/avenues
Links (connections) to other cities/towns

For some reason, I never seem to have trouble having skyscrapers appear. My cities seem to grow TOO fast! I always start off with high value plots. Water pipes (I use a line of pipe every 12-14 blocks) also help.

 

[Omega124]

My copy of Sim City 4 doesn't work anymore. The CD is physically broken

But I seemed to always had the same problem as the OP. I could never turn surburbia into a city, and thus my regions just looked like a huge community of houses. Didn't know what I was doing wrong.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Hills raise property value as I recall, as does waterfront property. So, best to keep those low density for the luxury estates, unless you have enough demand to get medium-wealth/high-wealth skyscrapers.

You will want the skyscrapers to be viable. Make sure you have avenues/highways/and such. Mass transit doesn't hurt - I like to put at least one subway station/bus station per block in a high-density residential area. You can fill the empty space with parks, which I've noticed make skyscrapers far more likely to appear. Of all income levels.

So, once you have the demand, create supply, and make sure that the people will be able to hold jobs. Before long, you'll have a powerful metropolitan empire!

 

[Dell19]

Thanks for the tips. Will probably try building a subway system to see if that helps.

 

[Chieftess]

The subway system should be simple (major residential intersection to commerce/industrial area). What I like to do is have a subway/bus stop combo. I've even had a few streets overloaded with pedestrians at times!

 

[Dell19]

How far do you space your stations away from each other as I'm never sure if I'm building them too close or far apart?

Spent this afternoon expanding over the remaining land and then gradually rezoning the inner city areas into high density zones with tube stations and a few parks and it seems to have worked as the population has now gone over 100k.

One thing that I have found a bit of a pain is that I've been using wind turbines which now need replacing one by one which involves individually checking each turbine to see which ones have actually expired. Would be nice if they disappeared or changed colour when they needed replacing.

 

[Chieftess]

How far do you space your stations away from each other as I'm never sure if I'm building them too close or far apart?

Spent this afternoon expanding over the remaining land and then gradually rezoning the inner city areas into high density zones with tube stations and a few parks and it seems to have worked as the population has now gone over 100k.

One thing that I have found a bit of a pain is that I've been using wind turbines which now need replacing one by one which involves individually checking each turbine to see which ones have actually expired. Would be nice if they disappeared or changed colour when they needed replacing.

I don't have any hard and fast rule for subway placement, but I try to place them where the traffic is the busiest. If I'm building a new neighborhood, I may try to space them out every 2 blocks (at least with bus-stops first).

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

How far do you space your stations away from each other as I'm never sure if I'm building them too close or far apart?

The latter is actually more of a concern than the former, as long as you can afford the subways. Sims will generally walk about 6 or 8 tiles to public transport. Keep this in mind for maximum coverage. I assume you have a bus network in place already to increase the effectiveness of the subway?

Another tip: build your subway stations one tile off the main line. This prevents the Sims from getting off and on at every station, so they only use the stations they will need and thus lowering congestion and commute times.

Legend: (=) - subway line, (S) - station:
XSXXXXXXSXXXXXXSX
=================

Also, have you downloaded the Network Add-on Mod? It makes Sims smarter in how they get around.

 

[Tani Coyote]

What I usually do is built 9 x 8 blocks. 8 squares on one side are left empty, the other 8x8 are filled with high-density residential. The 16 blocks per building fits most residential skyscrapers as I recall. I just keep repeating this pattern; the 8 squares are filled with mass transit (or parks if there's no need for mass transit). If you can't use the mass transit on your block, the citizen will just go across the street.

There's no firm rule for subway/bus placement. Just place them every block to be safe. You can demo them if they're not used extensively. In high-density areas, mass transit can get overcrowded. That's a sign to demo some nearby parks/small homes and build transit there, so as to relieve pressure. Add stops as needed. You may even need to one day demo one of the skyscrapers for space, but by then, most of the buildings are that way so no big loss...

In a high-density area, probably best that all roads are avenues at the minimum. A lot of people will still insist on using cars.

I've managed to run PROFIT on mass transit before, in high-density areas, a small profit, but profit nonetheless. The demand wasn't exceeding supply with the transit as well, so... it was win/win.

I never use railroads. Much more convenient to use buses and subways. Railways really, for me, are just a means of making a city look more "real." Industry doesn't need them provided you have a sea route they can use to leave the city.

 

[Dell19]

The latter is actually more of a concern than the former, as long as you can afford the subways. Sims will generally walk about 6 or 8 tiles to public transport. Keep this in mind for maximum coverage. I assume you have a bus network in place already to increase the effectiveness of the subway?

Another tip: build your subway stations one tile off the main line. This prevents the Sims from getting off and on at every station, so they only use the stations they will need and thus lowering congestion and commute times.

This city doesn't have a bus network so maybe thats something else I should build. Initially I didn't want to build anything that would cost too much so didn't set up a bus network although I think next time round I'll leave some empty space in each zone so that I can build bus stops and tube stops as they become necessary.

Thanks for the tip about tube stations as I would never ave expected that to be an issue particularly as the opposite design is true in real life.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Another tip: build your subway stations one tile off the main line. This prevents the Sims from getting off and on at every station, so they only use the stations they will need and thus lowering congestion and commute times.

...well.



I'll keep this in mind!

Also, have you downloaded the Network Add-on Mod? It makes Sims smarter in how they get around.

I installed that but for some reason everything I lay down gets a box around it, so I assume that means it's wrong somehow.

This city doesn't have a bus network so maybe thats something else I should build. Initially I didn't want to build anything that would cost too much so didn't set up a bus network although I think next time round I'll leave some empty space in each zone so that I can build bus stops and tube stops as they become necessary.

Indeed. I always leave two spots empty, even in low-res areas. That way, when I resize to medium density, I can just plop down one subway and one bus stop per block as needed.

 

[aronnax]

Build Roads. Screw the guy that keeps asking for streets. Build Roads.

Also Avenues are cheaper than Highways but more effective in term of connectivity and cost.

Build a lot of parks in your industrial area. And leave a 5x5 tile space blank every couple of neighbourhoods and spam it with trees to reduce pollution.

When industrialising, tolerate dirty industries first. But once you get enough Manufactoring industries, set the dirty industry tax extremely high so dirty industries stop getting built and than slowly clear out the dirty industry with a bulldozer zone by zone. Allow the area to slowly fill up with manufactoring industry.

This is a good way to both industrialise and then clean up the pollution. Repeat to switch from a manufactoring industry to high-tech. But don't destroy all your manufactoring industries. The provide too much jobs for your middle class.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Plus hi-tech coexists very well with manufacturing. Dirty industry, however, is a pistol in a sea of assault rifles - it's cheap and easy to get, but in the long-term is pretty much a loser in every field.

Kind of like the reward buildings. (Well, no, casino and prison are nice, but the rest are meh)

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

This city doesn't have a bus network so maybe thats something else I should build. Initially I didn't want to build anything that would cost too much so didn't set up a bus network although I think next time round I'll leave some empty space in each zone so that I can build bus stops and tube stops as they become necessary.

Bus stops are cheap, so they're an easy solution for the first signs of traffic woes.

Also Avenues are cheaper than Highways but more effective in term of connectivity and cost.

Seconded. Make plans to integrate Avenues into your road network from the very start.

But don't destroy all your manufactoring industries. The provide too much jobs for your middle class.

Shouldn't be too much of a problem if you have enough Commercial growth.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Seconded. Make plans to integrate Avenues into your road network from the very start.

Most of my big cities involve a few major Avenue thoroughfares, and areas planned to house high density residential are generally lined with avenues on all sides since for some reason, they insist on cars! I plan my transit first, my buildings later, usually.

Shouldn't be too much of a problem if you have enough Commercial growth.

Indeed. Manufacturing however, is a valuable backup sector for the economy if there's ever a shortfall in new jobs. They have enough wealth and low enough pollution to at least make up part of the economy.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Most of my big cities involve a few major Avenue thoroughfares, and areas planned to house high density residential are generally lined with avenues on all sides since for some reason, they insist on cars! I plan my transit first, my buildings later, usually.

In fact, most of the bridges in my cities are Avenues. As for insisting on cars, high-wealth and medium-wealth Sims will generally do that.

Indeed. Manufacturing however, is a valuable backup sector for the economy if there's ever a shortfall in new jobs. They have enough wealth and low enough pollution to at least make up part of the economy.

At the stage you get High-Tech Industry though you begin to get tons of Commercial demand, especially if there are many well-off Sims. I've never seen that demand crash.

 

[Tani Coyote]

In fact, most of the bridges in my cities are Avenues. As for insisting on cars, high-wealth and medium-wealth Sims will generally do that.

Do you consider ferries worthwhile at all, short of a "it's not important enough to build a bridge" option?

I mostly use them for the U-Drive-It Missions - and all the rewards/cash - they can unlock. An easy way to get the Marina without unlocking it the ordinary way.

At the stage you get High-Tech Industry though you begin to get tons of Commercial demand, especially if there are many well-off Sims. I've never seen that demand crash.

All fair points indeed.

Maybe I just think a city with manufacturing looks appealing aesthetically, without costing too much in terms of gameplay, as a dirty industry base would.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Do you consider ferries worthwhile at all, short of a "it's not important enough to build a bridge" option?

If you have other faraway cities in the region with ferries it can lead to some very long commute times...

I mostly use them for the U-Drive-It Missions - and all the rewards/cash - they can unlock. An easy way to get the Marina without unlocking it the ordinary way.

Though this a good reason to do it. Just don't know where to place them since they don't figure in my plans.

Maybe I just think a city with manufacturing looks appealing aesthetically, without costing too much in terms of gameplay, as a dirty industry base would.

Office towers > manufacturing plants

Manufacturing buildings look kind of nice, but I prefer the dishes and other electronic accoutrements of high-tech industry.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Though this a good reason to do it. Just don't know where to place them since they don't figure in my plans.

I usually put them near the center if possible, so the boats can reach anywhere quickly. Of course, the center in my experienc is idealised as one's skyscraper/government center.

Though, they're not too much of a space consumer in large cities. But if you can find an area where they'd help take pressure off other commute routes, they can work nicely.

Manufacturing buildings look kind of nice, but I prefer the dishes and other electronic accoutrements of high-tech industry.

Oh of course. I just mean a city looks a tad more realistic without too many downsides with manufacturing.