Does the game have any depth? This reminds me of when I learned to swim. My, then, girl friend could swim, so I learned. Then, when I had learned, I found out that she couldn't swim anyway. I have tried (a bit - not too much) but I can't get a city over 7,500 or so people. I know people have made cities much much larger than that so I guess that I must be doing something wrong, but I can't think what. I think that the game needs detailed knowledge (or cheating, which I absolutely refuse to do!). The question is, is it worth the effort to obtain the knowledge required to play the game reasonably well? I am conscious of the fact that the knowledge will have to be hammered in (in my case at any rate) over a period of time and I have come to the conclusion that I can play only one game at one time. I would be very grateful indeed for to hear any views anyone may have on this subject. Moderators are particularly welcome to air their views, but I would be glad to hear from anyone. Everyone has more knowledge than I do about the game and I am not proud. I will listen to help from anyone. I believe that it is not possible to write off anyone in the world. Everyone has something to give.
I can't help you I'm afraid since I don't have any personal experience yet. But I recommend you to read the last chat transcript at Simcity 4 site. Ther's a long part with help from Doctor Vu at Maxis about how to create large cities. Also Anikan has created good ciries and is now working on a region play that sure looks promising. :classic: You can look at them under simcity4/generla and in the screenshotr threads.
Philip, when you say you cannot get a city over around 7,500 ppl, is the problem budget related or does growth grind to a halt?
I have worked out how to manage the budget, more or less, and I generally manage to keep ahead by a few hundred, but, at times, that is very difficult. Growth grinds to a halt. There are quite a number of buildings which are 'distressed' (an odd choice of a word) and when I demolish all the industrial ones that get themselves into that state my few hundred in hand have been severly wittled down. I don't trouble about residential ones that are also black. Commuting is a peculiar problem. If you bring industrial close enough to avoid any commuting problems then you are very badly troubled with pollution. It may be purely me, hence the question. It seems to me that a growing number of games at present seem to have 'depth' or a natural structure to them which requires intelligence to think it out and patience to play it through. I have in mind Space Empires IV, Master of Orion III, Hearts of Iron and its predecessor, Europa Universal. Reading the strategy guide is not unlike reading a book about local authorities in the U.K. (or, indeed, anywhere). It would be very useful to have the opinion of someone who knows whether or not Sim City 4 has this depth. I have started a couple of games and spent a good deal of time on them only to find that they are fundamentally flawed and could not carry the theme through to its logical, and hopeful, conclusion. I would be grateful of your views on this. I understand that you live in NewZealand. That looks to me like a wonderful country - is it?
Yes, New Zealand is a great place i wouldn't want to live anywhere else Concerning your problem with city growth probs, it may have something to do with encountering "caps". This is when you reach a "Population cap" which limits your pop to a certain level until you place a "reliever" that then allows you to grow beyond that level. There is a table that shows what relieves what and how much, but i dont have it right now. I'll try get it to you before long.
I would appreciate that very much. I have a feeling that Sim City 4 is one of those games where persistence and determination pays off. Whenever I have tried to do this (twice in my gaming life) it has worked and the game has had a great deal more in it than I thought possible. I was thinking about going to New Zealand at one time - to teach at a University in the South Island. I hesitated a great deal before deciding not to apply.
Ohhh thats interesting. Must have been Otago University. Anyway, i finally found that list i was talking about. Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. You can download it as a text document from http://www.simtropolis.com/downloads.cfm?Category=All It's the 4th file down titled "Building Reference Guide HTML Format"
The name Otago doesn't ring a bell. It is quite a few years ago when I looked into that possibility. I was teaching at the time and thought it might be interesting. I will download the list. I am grateful to you for troubling to look into it. England is not too bad, apart from the government and the people, except that the county I am living in is one of the best. Very pleasant people and they do not have a very high propensity to violence or theft, etc. Unlike some parts of the U.K.
