Sim City (4) Succession Session!

[calad]

Well congratulations Quintillus

 

[Quintillus]

How about in future we set a deadline when next update should be posted? If not we ask first what is situation and then decide to move on next player. Im tired of waiting weeks a small update.

I agree - there needs to be an "if it's not posted within x amount of time, it becomes the next player's turn" rule. Either a week or a fortnight seems reasonable.

I'll give newcomers a chance to claim a week's time to come up with a turn, but if no one has posted indicating they are doing so by 18:00 GMT on Saturday, I'll go ahead and do a session within 7 days of that time. After one more term (whether there's a newcomer in the interim or not), I plan to retire from mayorship, or at least go on a long vacation, and allow others to shape the city and region how they wish.

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Mythmonster next then.

How about in future we set a deadline when next update should be posted? If not we ask first what is situation and then decide to move on next player. Im tired of waiting weeks a small update.

Deadline? No. This is a bit of fun, not a work assignment. I've already apologised for my tardiness, as has everyone else who has been late. This "honour system" has got us through 100+ years and sure it's a little slow at times, but that's generally the nature of a succession game, right? Everyone wants to play, but everyone is under different commitments and time restraints. Sometimes there's spurts of activity, sometimes there are lulls. If you can't wait a few weeks, might I suggest you do something else in the interim period to keep yourself amused? Either way; chill out, it's just a game.

Also, while I'm in rant mode, can I ask you to drop this "legacy" idea? It kind of goes against one of the, possibly the main reasons why I wanted a succession game in the first place:

One person controls the city for 5 years, and has absolute control for that period; nothing is sacred.

I wanted a city that was buffeted about by different mayors' visions of what the city should be like (to contrast it with the long, steady, continuous administration of single player mode)

It's a shame we're all too nice for the real adversarial Mayoral terms I was hoping for, or any truly cataclysmic terms (we're all good mayors and cared for the city first) but I liked working around Mythmonster's erm, eccentric build style- or having my shiny fusion power plant turned off every damn time or building a rail network like I being lobbied half hoping that the next mayor would tear it up on the grounds that railway belongs in the 20th century.

If anything, we need less inter-term cooperation not more.

 

[calad]

I dont really want to start this but...

There are always people who want to play this and visit here daily. Simply if you dont have time then say it. Or if you want to play but you dont have time you can ask if next person can do it before you. All other actions, like not saying anything, is really unfair to everybody else.

And about my legacy. Whole point was that if previous player starts some major reform and barely finish it he could atleast mention it clearly. Well ofcourse I should have seen it from previous game and from statistics but I wasnt so happy to use more than half of playtime to fix broken economy.
Because I moved airport it can have strong effects on commercial economy so now next player should be aware where to start fixing it. I dont mind if White House gets demolished but I would be happier if not. I put also other info there to have some direction, soft landing to office, it wasnt an order. You have right always to ignore it but there might be some consequences.

 

[Quintillus]

or having my shiny fusion power plant turned off every damn time

That's usually been my fault! What can I say, it's an expensive power choice. At least I didn't demolish it.

I think there's a certain amount of balance necessary in terms of legacies (which means I do think they matter some). The various contributions we make become part of the history and the fabric of the city, and if they all get demolished right away, that's almost as unconstructive as the U.S. Congress.

I think Thorgalaeg's beaches are a legacy, and while it's changed some over the years, it's been remarkably steady. Germanicus12 stadium is also a legacy, that, while the surrounding neighborhood has changed, remained an anchor. The South Town, MoreEpicThanYouMemorialWater, the Army Base - although it may be convenient to destroy some one of those (does the Army Base really pay for itself anymore?) they've stood the test of time.

Occasionally, legacies do fade away - the farms, the original airport and now the second airport, the original housing development - but I think generally we've been respecting them (at least once they're established - I know I'm guilty of moving the Country Club in favor of Central Park). But I do see how a legacy being trashed can be discouraging - had the Hollywood Hills been industrialized one more time, I likely would have called it quits earlier. I see the point about this having almost been too smooth - what was the largest crisis, the water pipe that was busted and resulted in a shortage for a year or two? If someone had set off 7 earthquakes and 5 volcanoes and made a mess of the whole city, however, I wouldn't have bothered even trying to come back and contribute to rebuilding it, and I wouldn't blame anyone else who didn't try, either.

I am surprised there haven't been any loans. Although maybe I'll change that given the negative financial trajectory of the past decade... we can always just borrow to fund our debts, right?

Of course, I don't plan to play quite how calad may have envisioned. Toll roads, for instance, are quite unlikely. But I appreciate the warnings that healthcare/education may be unsustainable. And I mostly regard legacies as areas that have been developed in this game.

Still have 36 hours for someone to snag the city...

 

[Quintillus]

Note: I've played a bit over half the session so far, but decided to go ahead and upload what I have - Fort Consternation is still alive and kicking! The other half appears in post 308.

Quintillus's final term began with dire warnings about teacher and medical worker strikes. This was usual, as there was almost always someone on strike. Nothing unusual about that in Fort Consternation.

Spoiler Load story and images :

So the next thing that Mayor did was study expenses. He found that over the past 30 years, expenses had increased by approximately 12.5%. Transportation expenses were up 23% (though transportation revenue was up much more, by 78%, and transportation was closer to profitability than 30 years ago), public safety expenses were up 9%, healthcare/education costs were up 12%, utility costs were up 7%, ordinance costs were down 26%, beautification costs were up 89%, and government costs were up 34%. Nevertheless, healthcare/education and utilites still made up over 2/3 of expenses.

Income was up drastically from 30 years ago, but that wasn't a fair comparison, since 30 years ago was when the city was losing over $15,000 per month due to plummeting revenue after the water crisis. Over the past 20 years, despite some rises and falls, income was overall near-constant, resulting in the current meager profit of 4000 simoleons per month.

One thing the Mayor did notice is that water efficiency appeared to be falling significantly:



The Mayor suspected that aging infrastucture was to blame, and sure enough, found the original Large Water Pump that he had added decades ago still standing, receiving funding, and totally useless.



So the first restructuring project was to be decommissioning inefficient water pumps in favor of new ones. Water pumps were costing $19,000 per month of the $99,000 budget, and that was a lot of money! Within a couple months, both the useless pump and one other had been decommissioned, and expenses fell by over $6000 with no water shortage.

Another problem was that, while Fort Consternation had been prosperous earlier, the city was becoming less and less wealthy of late.



This, of course, reduced the tax base, and was likely the reason that revenues had stagnated. This was despite education, health, and mayoral approval all increasing over the same time span. The Mayor wasn't able to identify the exact cause of this issue.

One of the problems the Mayor noticed was that no one was actually flying out of the new airport. So, the Mayor decided to try to encourage people to do so, and built a bridge to the airport. Destruction of the casino was necessary for the initial construction, and the mayor decided that rather than rebuild it, an industrial zone would be added near the airport.



The next question was that of taxes. Fort Consternation had largely followed a policy of low taxes for the wealthy, with the idea that their higher incomes would make up for the lower tax rate.



While this seemed to have worked for awhile, lately the average income was not great. Two lines of thought were proposed:

- Reverse policies. Raise taxes for the wealthy, and lower them for the poor/middle class. The idea being, this will help the poor/middle class gradually increase their wealth, and help the city in the long term.
- Double down, or, the snob strategy. Raise taxes on the poor, and use the revenue to pay them to move to other cities. The newly-empty land will be filled by middle-class or upper-class citizens moving in. Do similarly with businesses.

Both had their risks of economic implosion. The former might cause the wealthy to leave, and decrease wealth. The latter might fail spectacularly if no one moved in. After having statisticians present projections for both sides, it was decided that a policy reversal was the better option. Taxes were set to 9% for the wealthy (both residential and commercial, 8% for the middle class, and 7% for the least wealthy. Manufacturing also got a slight tax cut.

Of course, it didn't hurt that the tax changes would result in an extra $10,000 per month in revenue, largely from raising the very low commercial tax rates. Even if they didn't prove to be a resounding success, a few hundred thousand extra dollars by the end of the term would be nice.

In September of 2110, the airport had reached capacity, and was expanded. The bridge had worked!

In December, the airport needed expanded again! Quintillus was beginning to doubt that a metropolitan airport would really be big enough for Fort Consternation.

As time progressed, the Mayor's focus began to shift to optimizing certain areas of the city. The main target was reducing the amount of buildings abandoned due to commute time. Fort Consternation had a decent public transport system, but some pockets of the city were outside of its reach, and traffic could be bad in those areas. The Mayor decided to focus on improving subway transportation in a few areas, identified with red and blue in this map, which also shows some neighborhoods and landmarks in orange:



As another complicating factor, there were large swathes of areas that were highly residential, and even if there was good public transport there, the public transport could be quite congested. So, the city began buying up properties abandoned due to commute time, and converting them into primarily commercial areas. These were usually quickly developed, proving there was a market for shops in the middle of seas of apartments and high-rises.

After targeting a few areas in this fashion, and seeing them revitalized, the Mayor began increasing densities in a few areas as well - both residential and commercial. A few undeveloped areas were also zoned, usually for job creation.

With the new cash, the Mayor also realized some new ordinances could be afforded. Seeing that pollution was harming the development of certain areas, such as the Swagful Farms neighborhood, the Mayor re-enacted the Clean Air Act, and introduced vehicle emission testing. This reduced pollution by 20 - 25%, which was very significant in some areas, including Swagful Farms.

All four of the major changes - taxes, targeted job creation, better transportation, and cleaner air - were helping. Transportation was perhaps the most evident, with pedestrian traffic in particular increasing. Those close-to-home businesses were paying off.



By mid-2112, revenues were up to almost 120,000 per month, and despite the cost of the ordinances and increased education funding - some schools, including the University of CFC, were over capacity - the city's financial situation was great.

And in September 2112, the city's population passed 500,000! It kept growing, too!



It was true that most of the new residents were low-wealth. But there had been a considerable growth in the middle class, too, and even an increase in wealthy residents, despite the tax hike. The more vibrant city was making up for the higher taxes.

 

[calad]

Looks like my airport hit the gold

 

[Quintillus]

The second half of Quintillus's term would not be as high-flying as the first. In late 2112, the bubble burst, and growth slowed down and, in 2113, reversed.

Spoiler Load story and images :

Targeted development still happened, and subway lines were expanded, but newly-rezoned areas sat empty. One of the new focuses was interspersing residential and

commercial areas more, as the mayor had realized that, particularly in southern area of the city, south of the highway, there were not enough customers nearby for

the businesses. But things were slow.

Until a fire started. Nothing like a good old-fashioned fire to stir things up!



This prodded the mayor to check fire coverage, and realize that large swathes of the city were without it. One new station was added, along with a couple police

stations, a clinic, and the Original Off-Topic Memorial Hospital. These would help shore up city services that were increasingly described as "mediocre" or

"average", and hopefully increase land values and attractiveness of the city as well.

By mid-2114, there was widespread unemployment, particularly near the White House:



This was to be the low point, however. By that fall, new residential buildings were under construction right next to high-rises with rampant unemployment!

Fortunately, unemployment decreased soon thereafter, and the mayor's term ended with a modest increase in population. And for the five years, the city had a

significant, if no-longer-continuing, increase in population, a huge increase in city funds, and a substantially improved subway system, with over 80% more riders

than five years ago. A map of the improved subway system is seen below.

Spoiler :

And with that, Quintillus handed over the keys, and entered retirement from the mayorship of Fort Consternation.

Spoiler :

Population: 506,294 +12.4%
Cash: $602,604 +1783%

City download link here (P.S. Peck - can we put the login credentials of fort.consternation@gmail.com/civfanatics in the first post?).

 

[calad]

...and the mayor's term ended with a modest increase in population.

It is not modest...

If everybody manages to increase population by 5% just calculate how huge it would explode in 10 terms.

Anyway it is really nice to notice city needs more residents. With this economy growth dirty industry can be finaly erased and world saved!

 

[Quintillus]

It is not modest...

If everybody manages to increase population by 5% just calculate how huge it would explode in 10 terms.

Anyway it is really nice to notice city needs more residents. With this economy growth dirty industry can be finaly erased and world saved!

By modest I meant the growth in the last couple months. The population went from 500,000 to 506,000, which seemed modest since the high point was about 518,000. I realize now that it implies the 5-year growth is modest, which you're right... it is pretty significant in a city as developed as Fort Consternation. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to get growth in excess of 10% at this stage, and with very limited new zones, and most of the new ones being industrial. I did increase the zoning density of several medium or low density zones, but it was definitely a minority of the medium/low density zones in the city.

It looks like i_imperator is the next in line for mayor.

 

[i_imperator]

great job Quintillus, college is in full swing but ill be able to have my round up by next weekend at the very latest, i think ill work with New Eden for my term though, i don't want to mess up anything with Fort Consternation, i may play around with the other plots too by the way, ill post them up too

 

[calad]

Good luck imperator

About citizen income: what determines how wealthy they are? Taxes and class?

 

[i_imperator]

guys im really sory about the delay i promise i will have my round up by monday, if not at the very latest next Saturday, college has been hectic and we've been getting two assignments per week...Ive had to reformat my computer, and im reinstalling everything as I post this, i will have my round up and running by the end of the week, and I will focus on New Eden

 

[i_imperator]

Im very sorry to say this but its been nearly two weeks since my last post and i still haven't gone anywhere near the region, im just too busy with college at the moment, id say scratch my name from the mayor list for now, if i have time ill mess around with this region in my own time and ill post it here in spoilers ofc as not to spam the thread, if anyone is interested. Again sorry bout this

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Shame to hear about that, I think it's the time of year isn't it? Anyway I'll update the rota on the first page.

Play around with the region to your heart's content; I'd love to see what people make of it- maybe you put some city files up, too, I think that'd be a nice way of "filling out" the region - it seems a little barren at the moment with just Eden Prime and Fort Consternation

Edit: I've updated the front page, and the roster, but as it stands I think looks like this:

Peck of Arabia
Calad
Quintillus

*Your username here*

On hold:
Germanicus
Thogalaeg
MoreEpicThanYou
Mythmonster
i_imperitor
SouthernKing
Dell19

which is a bit of a concern...

 

[calad]

So it is your turn now?

 

[Peck of Arabia]

I imagine so, but I'm wondering if there's anybody I missed off the list, if anyone wants to step forward and say they're not on hold, or if anyone new wants to step in first.


If not, I'll have something fairly pronto

 

[i_imperator]

Thanks for understanding peak, Ive had two assignments every week this month and a ton of social stuff on top of college work, and when i am playing games im not playing sim city 4, but the holidays are approaching and i might get some time to play in this region and try and do my own ideas, ill post them up here too

 

[calad]

btw did you read your list correctly? Because now quintillus is before me and he was on power after me.

But I would like to have one or two persons before I reign again. I want to see different city, not same.

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Oh yeah! I've got the list in the wrong order! Pretty bad considering there's only three people on said list Fixed.

I think I'll I give it a week for somebody to step in- that should be OK, shouldn't it?

Don't forget; there's always Eden Prime if too little has changed in Fort Consternation