SimCity 4

So how is the actual game? Is it that much better than Simcity 3000 Unlimited?
 
Originally posted by ApocalypseKurtz
So how is the actual game? Is it that much better than Simcity 3000 Unlimited?
Click to expand...
Really the main differences are the much better graphics, especially with terrain, a much better terrain editor, and region play, along with some other things, but I don't think it's as different as 2000 to 3000. I think for me it was worth $50, since I'm a big fan of the series and I had gotten bored with 3000.

And I've finally discovered how to make money in this game, in case ya'll wanna know:

First, select one of the smallest blocks of land to have as your city (this probably doesn't matter, but I've heard of some people saying that they have better luck with the small land plots, and it worked for me), and keep it flat; don't bother making any terrain features. I guess you could if you wanted to, but I didn't. Then build a coal power plant near the edge of the city, and build low-density residential and commercial zones, along with medium-density industrial zones near the edge of the map. Have a little buffer between the res. and ind. zones. Lower residential $ taxes to about 6%, $$ to 6.4%, commercial $ to 5%, industrial $ to 6%, and industrial $$ to 6.4%. Also, queue the power plant and keep its funding to as low as it can go and still provide enough power (along with a bit of extra capacity for growth, maybe about 100, and always check on it and increase the funding as necessary). After a short while build a school and a small fire station, and always keep them funded as low as they can go and still provide enough coverage/bussing, and teachers for the schools. Don't bother building water towers, pipes, pumps, etc. AT ALL. Demand should be pretty high, and keep on gradually building zones, zones, and more zones, always checking on service funding. Soon you should be making money, just a little per month at first, and eventually you'll be making more and more money. I've just now begun doing this myself, so I haven't found out how far I can go, but I imagine I'll soon be making a couple of thousand dollars per month. Once you get to that point, you can just let the simulation run by itself and go do something else, then come back after awhile and you'll be a millionaire! (Any fires will probably be taken care of by the fire dept. before they get too bad.)
 
Just FYI, I returned my copy today for Europa 1400: The Guild (I love EB).

After playing it parts of the weekend, I found myself getting bored very quickly. When I wasn't bored, I was confused or frustrated... very disapointing game.
 
I've heard that the strategy guide does a superb job of making the game understandable and fun, and exlpains all the extra levels of detail that make the game seem so difficult.

Of course, that should have been in the game manual, not strategy guide. With NBA Live 2003 and now SimCity 4, EA Games is getting a really bad rep from me.
 
All the game companies are taking out what should be in the game manual and putting it into the "strategy guide". Save yourself some money and look for it on Kazaa. ;)
 
Well, I'll be getting it once I've upgraded my CPU - I can't see my PII350 being too happy with it.

It's my birthday in April so one of you kind souls could purchase it for me then. :p
 
Hmm can someone help me with this custom music "feature"? Ofcourse is isnt in the manuel, reademe, or tech guide. :rolleyes: I put it in the radio/mayor/music whatever it's in there and I was able to tick the box and it will play, but it's a m3u and I want to be able to choose which songs I want to hear. I think I should be able to skip song and go back and choose track and whatever... did they leave this out or am I just missing it?
 
Okay, thanks for the info WillJ and all.
 
This game is AWESOME. I think I finally know how to make money in the game too. It's kinda tricky but it does involve low density zoning, only small police stations and fire stations, no water system and high taxing dirty industry to start off with. Hopefully I'll have the guts to try a big city map sooner or later.

And the effects are just AWESOME. Expecially the animals.
 
Very fun game but runs poorly on my Duron-750. Definately time to upgrade as my wife wants to play the game also....now I can justify the upgrade cost. ;)
 
Originally posted by munzy
Very fun game but runs poorly on my Duron-750. Definately time to upgrade as my wife wants to play the game also....now I can justify the upgrade cost. ;)
Click to expand...

Runs poorly on a Duron 750? It runs well on my Duron 700! Maybe you need more RAM or a better graphics card.
 
I hope to get this game soon as I am a big fan of the series. I was a beta tester for the Simcity 3k and thought it was the best of the series so far. In sim city 4 do you still have to pay for zoning? Cities are able to zone for free, (pass an ordinance, draw a pretty color on a map, or tell their planning/engineering/publicworks dept to do it) i always thought the simulation experience would be much greater if zoning was free but the capital cost and variety of infrastructure was drastically increased.
 
Thinking of getting this game this weekend, because I have $97 to burn (thats alot for me ;)). I have PIII, 384 RAM. I'm not sure about my video card (its whatever came with my computer) but my comp runs AoM, so it should be fine.

How much is the strategy guide? I think I'll pick that up too. :)

high expectations
 
Originally posted by leonel



Runs poorly on a Duron 750? It runs well on my Duron 700! Maybe you need more RAM or a better graphics card.
Click to expand...
Well, my system has been acting up lately...maybe it is timeto reload XP :_).

BTW, I have 512MB of PC-133 RAM and a GeForce 4MX 420 so those aren't too shabby. I am guessing if it runs fine for you it is either XP (who woulda guessed ;)) or my perception of how the game runs versus yours. :D
 
Or most likely the city size. When you are playing with some 100,000 inhabitants munzy and leonal has only 10,000 then it runs very differently of course. :mischief:

Map size, detail level and resolution also say whether you need an 2GHz+ CPU with 512MB+ DDR RAM or only 1GHz with 256MB SDR RAM.
:D
 
Originally posted by cgannon64
Thinking of getting this game this weekend, because I have $97 to burn (thats alot for me ;)). I have PIII, 384 RAM. I'm not sure about my video card (its whatever came with my computer) but my comp runs AoM, so it should be fine.

How much is the strategy guide? I think I'll pick that up too. :)

high expectations
Click to expand...

I think around $19.99 USD. ANd belive me, if you dont get the S-Guide you'll hate the game. I dont have it but the learning curve was awful and I've been playing Sim City games for 12 years. :rolleyes:
 
It is a bit difficult to play....but is interesting. I think I will try again after I reload my system.
 
Argh, this game is hard. Making money is VERY hard. I remember I really didn't have trouble with this in SC3K. I would lose money for a while, obviously, but pretty soon I would be making money fast.

Do you think its better to tax high first (10% or so) or low at first (6% or so)? I've been taxing high early, but its not working. I guess I'll have to go back and tax low.

Stupid me. I didn't get the strategy guide. :wallbash:

very very very hard
 
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