Sim City (4) Succession Session!

[Peck of Arabia]

Sorry for the delay- I had to fix all my broken Photobucket links (Quintillus, yours need looking at, too) before I started playing. Anyway I've played 2 cities and I'm just writing up the reports.

 

[Quintillus]

Sorry for the delay- I had to fix all my broken Photobucket links (Quintillus, yours need looking at, too) before I started playing. Anyway I've played 2 cities and I'm just writing up the reports.

Yeah, the very next time I checked my e-mail after mentioning that back in the Civ3 stories days I'd occasionally run out of bandwidth, I had an e-mail informing me that I was low on bandwidth. A day or two later it ran out. Since I'd have to replace all the links, and that's a bit too much to do, the only other option at this point is really to wait until it resets on the 2nd, or go Photobucket Premium. Which I might end up doing for a month; kind of on the fence about it. It's cheap, but cheap seems expensive compared to free.

 

[calad]

What are the photobucket limits anyway? I would like to avoid it.

 

[Honkoid]

Since I'd have to replace all the links, and that's a bit too much to do, the only other option at this point is really to wait until it resets on the 2nd, or go Photobucket Premium. Which I might end up doing for a month; kind of on the fence about it. It's cheap, but cheap seems expensive compared to free.

You could post your images or your whole report into spoiler tags, so they don't load every time someone opens the thread. Makes it also more comfortable for us lurkers to view new posts without the thread permanently scrolling up because every time a new image is transfered it resizes

 

[Quintillus]

You could post your images or your whole report into spoiler tags, so they don't load every time someone opens the thread. Makes it also more comfortable for us lurkers to view new posts without the thread permanently scrolling up because every time a new image is transfered it resizes

That's a good idea. I'll probably do the "whole post in spoiler tags" option since I've found in the past that un-spoilering 20 times can disrupt the flow of a story.

In the short term, I did upgrade my Photobucket account for one month (without auto-renew), so the images are once more visible. This is the earliest in the renewal cycle I can remember hitting the limit.

What are the photobucket limits anyway? I would like to avoid it.

Currently, the free limit on storage is 2 GB. Somehow I have a bonus 400 MB, maybe because I've had an account since 2007. That's up from the 1 GB in 2007, and the 500 MB they had reduced it to for awhile circa 2010/2011.

Bandwidth is 10 GB/month, which is the same as in 2007. So if you have lots of images, it's not that difficult to hit the bandwidth limit. I have a bit under 500 MB of images, which means on average they've been viewed 20 times this month. The times I've hit that limit have only been months when I've been posting significant updates to Civ3 (and now Sim City 4) stories.

Upgrading was $3 for a month, which isn't bad, and gives unlimited bandwidth and an extra 20 GB of storage. I have no need for the extra storage, though.

 

[Quintillus]

So, I got Sim City 3000 Unlimited today. I used to have the non-unlimited version, but lost my disc awhile back and it never has resurfaced. It's a blast from the past. There's some obvious improvements in SC4, like being able to fund schools/hospitals/police stations individually and naming them. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure the maximum city size was bigger in SC3K - although I never actually filled up an entire city when I was playing a lot in the early 2000s. And the technological progression in SC3K was kinda cool - at the beginning of the game, only coal and oil power were available, for example.

The East Asian city style from Unlimited is pretty cool. Haven't actually played a game (beyond loading up old ones and trying out the new disasters) yet, though.

 

[calad]

I wonder if anybody have made opencode simcity4 clone? There is an opensource version of civ2 after all.

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Erm, I'm in a spot of bother; I got coffee all over my laptop this morning, nice sugary coffee. Needless to say my laptop's in a bit of a state (I'm typing this on the cronky, old family PC) though I thought I'd be alright as I'd already uploaded all the pics for my part of the story, however I haven't uploaded the city files themselves.

It'll take a while for me to see what's recoverable and if the laptop is still alive, in the meantime, I suggest we skip into the next person (mythmonster, I believe) and I'll join back in when my turn comes around again

It's a shame as I'd managed to fix a lot of New Eden and give Spudsville a Farmer's market, still, never-mind

Also, I'd managed this rather nifty rail bridge in New Eden

 

[i_imperator]

try opening up the laptop and cleaning it out with an hairdryer, milk is the worst thing to get in your system, i remember when it happened to me I had to get an IT guy to look at it, managed to keep the system going for at least 6 months....it was a bad system i had though, the milk was just the nail in the coffen tbh hehe

 

[Quintillus]

Uh-oh! Coffee and computers don't tend to mix very well! That's one area I've been fortunate in - I haven't had a computer-liquid interaction, although my phone did meet what may end up being its watery demise in the kitchen a few weeks back. If you have an external hard drive enclosure, you may be able to put the hard drive in that and recover the files from there, particularly if the hard drive wasn't in the area of the laptop that got wet. If it was, that could be a bit more complicated.

'Gratz on the Spudsville farmers market nonetheless. I figured that would be happening, but the population was way too low while I was managing the city.

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Thanks, I'm leaving it to dry out and hoping that it'll magically spark back into life tomorrow, or that I'll wake up and today will have all been a dream...

I do have an external hard drive enclosure so hopefully all is not lost, but if it is it might be a while before I'm able to pitch in again

 

[calad]

Same happend to me once as well. After I opened it and dryed it always had a smell of coffee but worked very well next few years...

However if computer does not start up look some quides online (lol) how to open laptop and take out hard disc. You should be able to acces it with normal portable USB-disc if gates are same, like this one:

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Several times i forgot my USB stick in my trousers pockets so it ended in the washer and went through the whole process including spinning and drying, and after such experiences it continued working like a charm. So probably your computer will be mostly OK if you clean and dry it carefully.

 

[Quintillus]

Several times i forgot my USB stick in my trousers pockets so it ended in the washer and went through the whole process including spinning and drying, and after such experiences it continued working like a charm. So probably your computer will be mostly OK if you clean and dry it carefully.

Yeah, I had that happen once, too. And surprisingly, it still worked, even though it was a cheap drive. But I'm suspicious that USB flash drives might be more durable with regards to water than most electric equipment. Or maybe they just tend to have unusually water-tight enclosures so the fragile electronics inside don't actually get wet, even in a washing machine.

 

[calad]

Well as an electronic engineer I can tell you that suprizingly even cheapest electronics endure water. Most likely during process they are protected from dust and so on so they resist liquids a bit as well. Just a theory man. Microchips are the weakest part, they have many legs so even small extra current can damage them.

 

[Peck of Arabia]

My laptop's working again! It creaks and cracks a lot, and reeks of coffee- but it works! I'll have my report posted up before something else happens...


Chairman-Farmer Peck brings a Farmer's Market to a Farmer's town

Spoiler :

Something inspired Mayor Peck to spend his term in office exploring the other towns that had popped up after Fort Consternation's centenary celebrations. It might have been the crops swaying gently in the breeze within his country retreat, or the angry mob that had gathered outside when they heard it was his time to govern again... who knows?

Anyway...

Chairman-Farmer Peck arrived at Spudsville after an uneventful voyage across the sea, even if the landing was a bit rougher than expected, what with there being no place to disembark from the ship.

The first order of business after brushing himself off after a rather inelegant was to find a place to live. Finding none available- the town was a tiny village of a thousand or so souls- he preceded to build his own house atop an impressive cliff on the outskirts of town




Farming's a fairly dangerous job, but the farmers themselves were a tough lot, many had lost fingers and some had lost limbs without even seeming to notice, or care too much.

To a suburbanite like Peck this seemed just a bit too laid back a stance to take and even if the farmers themselves were fine with shaking off a broken arm, maybe their families would be more receptive to medical care.

So he invited a doctor in from the big city to attend to the farmers occasional mishaps, and their families needs and despite his rather unfortunate name, his clinic proved so popular he had to hire an extra doctor within the month



There was something rather relaxing about managing a small farming community; no transport problems, no budget crises, no complaints if the water failed and the Chairman-Farmer spent his time carefully growing the community, an extra farm here, a small housing development there- and within no time the community was large enough to support a Church, but still small enough to be rather ecumenical with it



Remembering his rather rough arrival, the next order of business was to set up a ferry link with the rest of SimNation, though there was a concern both of the town being flooded with city-slickers, and of the town's youths being corrupted by easier weekend trips to the big city. Fortunately both fears were unfounded: the people of Fort Consternation were not particularly interested in Spudsville, and the youth of Spudsville were disdainful of Fort Consternation. The ferry was little used to everyone's relief except Chairman-Farmer Peck, who was mildly irritated.




Somebody must have used the Ferry, however, as the population of Spudsville continued to climb, so much so that Dr Hackem had to form a partnership to expand the clinic again.



The next few years proceeded quietly enough; the budget, which had been been plagued with a constant, if small deficit, but careful expansion had provided a small surplus which allowed for a few ordinances to make life in Spudsville even more pleasant (though Doctors Hackem, Burke and Rash refused point blank to offer a free clinic) along with health and primary education needs- proving that farming based economy was perfectly viable, even in this current century.



With his term coming to an end- Chairman-Farmer Peck thought of what could be his legacy when it dawned on him that Spudsville, a farming community had no farmers market! When he enquired as to how the system currently worked he was astoundedto discover that the harvests were sold to neighbours and the big city, and the inhabitants of the town then bought them back later in the year!

This was crazy, so a new goal for the rest of his term was to grow Spudsville to a size that could support it's own farming community



A few more housing plots, a few more farms- including this rather impressive feat:



When asked, the prospective farmer simply replied "I don't do hills"

And within no time Bob's Grease Pit was demolished to make way for Spudsville's new Farmer's market:



His legacy achieved, Chairman-Farmer Peck was content to spend the rest of his time mingling with the locals, aksing about the potatoes, almost immediately regretting it, and offering a helping hand wherever it was needed.



Too soon, it seemed, his time was up, and it was time to depart- there were other challenges to face, but he'd be back. He just knew it.



Spudsville

Population: 3204 (+1997)
Of which Farmers: 853 (+298)
Cash: §71,362 (-§35,075, Sorry...)
Surplus §182 pcm (+ §204)
Mayor Rating 8/12

Up Next: New Eden

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Mayor Peck milks New Eden's heavy industry like it was a prize Frisian

Spoiler :

Mayor Peck departed from Spudsville with a song in his heart and potatoes in his pocket. He looked forward to more of the same from New Eden, the place where high society types in Fort Consternation escaped to. He'd heard there'd been some upheaval since it's founding but nothing could quite prepare him for the town he found.



Smog blighted the landscape from the heavy, dirty industry that escaped loopholes in Fort Consternation ordinances through easy access provided by the, admittedly impressive, system of highways cultivating in a masterful cloverleaf junction.

While the engineer in him was impressed with the motorways, the rest was pretty unappetising, and the budget was as dismal as the skyline:



It had all been spent! There was a surplus, but it would take years for it to amount to any significant sum. Time, he thought, for a budgetary review.

The large water pump was replaced by 3 small ones, the landfill that ruined a perfectly picturesque hillside was decommissioned, and all wind turbines were pulled down.

The fire and police were withdrawn from the industial sector (they were big enough, and certainly ugly enough to fend for themselves) and a rather useless medical centre was demolished, too.

A loan was then taken out to build an extra coal power plant after it was discovered there was a power shortage after the gleeful destruction of the wind turbines...



Yes, I know, coal in New Eden but a look at the air pollution chart showed something interesting- the pollution created in the industrial crater stayed in the industrial crater. Anything dirty could be built there and not affect the rest of the map. SO an incinerator was built there to replace the landfill.


Along with cuts to expenditure, there were a few changes to the tax codes as well which took effect fairly quickly:



It was tax hikes for everyone but commerce and high tech industry( I wanted some cash to play around with) ... At least commerce was doing well!


With a now steady income, it was time to do a bit of building- the connection I had made on the Fort Consternation side now actually led somewhere, and naturally I was pleased with how popular the railways were:



Yep, my tax policy was certainly having an effect (I think I levied an extra tax on Manufacturing just to make sure):



At least there was a demand for agriculture; thinking back to happier times in Spudsville, I actually managed to increase the farming population despite the industrial build up.

The incinerator had done it's work as the landfill was made redundant, but would not fully decompose until after my term was done.




The plan was to scare industry off with the high taxes and demolish the abandoned buildings at a knock-down price, but they were being remarkably tenacious so a new plan was devised: leave the northern ridge to it's industrial fate and use the money it provided to create the paradise in the south that the city's name suggested.

Education was found lacking:



So industrial taxes funded a new high school, 2 libraries, a museum and college to provide the finest education for young and old in the country. (I got the name wrong on the college, as you can see ) Also, look how classy commerce is looking, when heavy industry is finally chased out, I'm hoping this kind of commerce can sustain the paradise I'm trying to create.




a rejigging of the taxes brought residential taxes down in a kind of "no riff-raff" policy, further increased industrial taxes to the maximum, and any and all ordinances that would make Sims happy and healthy were enacted.

Part 2 below

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Part 2

Spoiler :

The tax code meant commerce flourished; classy commerce and the new downtown area, complete with plaza (ooh) was soon developed into a hive of finance and boutiques.




Despite years of a punishing tax rate, the old industries were hanging on, when the time came, the mayor would have to forcibly remove them, at considerable expense.



The previous mayor had gone on his industrial rampage, the rumours said, because of a lack of beaches, to prevent this happening again a seaside community was set up to the south, as far from the heavy industry as possible.




The new area needed water, but while I was down there I noticee the pipes were a bit of a mess, and, well, I couldn't help myself:



Along with commerce, Hi-Tech industry was beginning to take off in New Eden. New, clean, industry parks were set up to take advantage of the wild demand for hi-tech, and to provide a buffer between paradise and paradise lost. Manufacturing also complained about taxes, too and some were even threatening to leave. Good. That's the point.



Now here's a familiar image: to facilitate commuters from the big city, infrastructure was improve where it could, and despite their rather ugly nature, the moterways remained, with a few less junctions and the toll removed since nobody was using it. This railway bridge took longer to place than I care to admit



So I was rather pleased when people actually used it



The landfill was a shadow of itself, the hill almost restored to pristine condition while the industrial sector was chipped away at (though not wiped out, I didn't want to kill the golden goose just yet). That Casino's on the hit list next time I'm here, too




And here it is, life's a whole lot more pleasant for the citizens of New Eden, unless you're an industrialist, the exchequer is full, an the farming community vibrant. There was still work to be done, but Mayor Peck was pleased that he'd left the city in a better state than when he found it



New Eden

Population: 4536 (+1049)
Cash: §292,681 (+§292185 )
Surplus: §8659 (+ §7900)
Mayor Rating: 8/12

I'll skip Fort Consternation this time to keep things moving along

Here's the download link for the region

 

[calad]

Is anybody using Spudsvilles ferry?

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Nope, but it has created some ferry links on the region map:

Spoiler :

I think it needs a couple more cities to 'carry' the ferry link before they actually connect to anything. Interesting though