Sim City 4 is a great game but it can also be frustrating. If you regret having spent around 30 euros to buy a game that fails to entertain you, follow my tips to find a remedy.
Steps
Step 1. Create a new region
I chose the plains. In the beginning you will have the chance to be "God" and create valleys, mountains, lakes, animals and many other such things. I suggest you create a plain in the center and cover the land with plants. Don't create animals because you will end up destroying their habitat anyway. After creating a mostly flat region, activate the game's main mode and give your city a name of your choice.
Step 2. Choose what you want to build and develop first
The key to building a successful city is the order in which you construct the buildings. Another critically important ingredient is patience. All the successful cities I've built have required hours of painstaking work and some risky decisions but, in the long run, it paid off. The first thing you should do is build a gas-fired power plant in a corner of your city.
Step 3. Build a road and connect it to the lower part of your city
Here you will build a residential area for the middle class and a park that is also of medium size. Drag a power line from the power plant to this residential neighborhood.
Step 4. Stop and pause the simulation
Unlike Sim City 1, 2 and 3 you don't have to create every single building and rely on exchanges. Sim City 4 will tear you apart if you attempt this technique. Instead, what you need to do is rely on taxes. While neighboring exchanges can be useful, you will need to create a city to trade with. There will be no pre-established cities for you to trade with so you will have to open the tax menu and raise the residential taxes for the lower, middle and upper classes to at least 8.5% and the taxes for industry to 9%.. Set your business taxes to 7.5% and then restart the simulation.
Step 5. Earn money
Go to the administrative decisions menu of the city. First click on "Legalize gambling". Selecting this option will add $ 100 to your takings. Then click on "Smoking Ordinance". I will explain this option to you in a little while.
Step 6. Go back to the power plant and lower its funding to an efficiency light bulb
This will help you a lot.
Step 7. Create a small, dense industrial area away from the residential neighborhood and close to the power plant - Make sure it is connected by roads or else it won't create jobs and it will just be a waste of money
At this point, create rural areas above the power plant and connect them with other roads. I know what you are thinking but you won't see skyscrapers and big cities for a while yet. All the successful cities I've built started out as industrial cities or rural villages.
Step 8. Expand your residential area a little - Remember not to build administrative buildings or a sewer system just yet as they are not needed at this time
Step 9. Wait a while and let things take their course
The population of your city should reach at least 350 before moving on to the next step.
Step 10. At one end of your residential area, away from pollution and the power plant, create a low-density commercial area
Don't make it too big! The size and positioning of the commercial areas are crucial: if the area is too large it will crush the residents and be ignored, it will never grow and it will never have medium-high level offices.
Step 11. Wait until your population reaches 500 to move on to the next step
- By now you should have built the town hall in the residential district. This will attract some wealthy residents to the area. The difference between income and expenses should be around 500 units by now and you should have some cash on hand. Build some public buildings! You can only afford one at the moment so as not to exceed your budget. On one side of the residential area, build an elementary school. Check the number of students, it shouldn't reach the maximum occupancy. Lower the funding to 20 units on the actual number of students you have. Now on the other side of the residential neighborhood, build a library. Its funding should be the same as the school's, leave it that way. Now expand your residential area a little bit more and build a new farm and let the game play on its own for a while.
- At this point you should have a population between 850 and 1,450. Hopefully, you have a population of at least 1,000. You should also have a House of Prayer near the residential neighborhood. Expand the commercial area and do the same with the residential area.
Step 12. Build a water tower or two
Build them near the commercial area. If you build them near the power plant or factories you will have to invest in expensive water treatment plants so only build them in commercial or residential areas. Once this is done expand the industrial area a bit and advance the game.
Step 13. Smoke detectors
They will help your budget a lot. At this point it is time to build a new public building and this is the fire station. Because? Because by now your industrial area should be at its peak and in full working order. Let me explain. Public buildings are very expensive investments. My opinion on police and fire stations is the same: why invest when they are not yet needed? At least one fire should have broken out in your industrial area by now. Create a nearby fire station and lower its funding. Even if the red circle does not cover the whole city (and it will not cover it) the firefighters will still go to respond to fires in the residential area. Back to the smoke detectors. Without this ordinance you would have had to invest in the fire department even before water and education which are much more significant. The smoking control ordinance allows you to keep it under control, at least up to this point in the game. By the way, you should have a population of between 1,600 and 2,500 by now.
Step 14. Continue to slowly expand and perhaps consider turning the commercial low density zone into a medium density zone
Remember to ignore Neil Fairbanks and Monique Diamond and all their buddies because, as mayor, you know better than them where you want to go and what people need.
Step 15. Be patient
You should create the cemetery and some high-tech industries. Hospitals and the police station can wait a little longer. You will be able to think of one of the two when your population is around 5,500. Build the hospital first, then the landfill, then the police station and then, with a population of 17,000, a recycling center and an incinerator.
Step 16. Build some cities nearby, start lowering taxes and slowly expand
Eventually you'll end up with zero farms and a huge demand for raises. At this point you will have high density zones and full power energy and water systems at your disposal. You can start building airports and private schools. Never accept corporate agreements unless it is a casino. And make sure the casino has a police station nearby. Soon you will have skyscrapers, places to visit and 2% taxes. Build your perfect city by making the decisions yourself from now on. Feel free to ask if you are unsure, and review the ordinances I have suggested.
Advice
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When you have enough money to build a site to visit you should also consider other options besides the smoke detector and casinos. These are just a few ordinances I suggest you try:
- Tire recycling
- Non-nuclear zone
- Act for air control
- Commuter service
- Sports for kids
- Campaign for literacy
- City Guard
- Free clinic
- In particular, the Tourism Promotion Program
