Sim City 4

[Shadowhawk]

Well, I just started a new city. 6 years into the game, and I'm actually profitable (about $100) without an Army Base to mooch off of.
This time around, I built a block of Ind-M, then a similar-sized block of R-L, with a small block of C-L on the main road between them.
I've discovered it's much cheaper to simply re-locate clinics, schools, police, and firestations to get better coverage than to build new ones; I replaced & moved my small police station with a larger station when it became clear I couldn't get better coverage.

I'm at about 3500 pop now, and I'm making about $1600 a month with 10% taxes on most zones. I have no Ind-L, negating my farm problem of before.

Still, the amount of expenses is obscene. I won't be able to afford any more services (or another clinic, or a high school, or another fire station...) for a long time.

[BrYaN19kc]

I just started exploring SimCity 4 last night and today. It's okay, but it's not as great as I thought it was going to be. I was a little dissapointed with the variety of buildings, and I thought my Sims from "The Sims" would have a more active role.

Maybe I'm complaining too soon. I'll definitely give it a good round of play before retiring the CD to the rack with all of my other SimCity and Sims stuff.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

I got it this morning, but I still have to get used to the feeling, which will take a while, because a lot of stuff has been changed. I started one city, which is at about 3,000 people, but early on, I had trouble making a profit, and it's quite tough to make one. The missile testing range only gives you about 400 a month, while a high school costs 750 a month.

[phongn]

Well, I just started a new city. 6 years into the game, and I'm actually profitable (about $100) without an Army Base to mooch off of.
This time around, I built a block of Ind-M, then a similar-sized block of R-L, with a small block of C-L on the main road between them.
I've discovered it's much cheaper to simply re-locate clinics, schools, police, and firestations to get better coverage than to build new ones; I replaced & moved my small police station with a larger station when it became clear I couldn't get better coverage.

I'm at about 3500 pop now, and I'm making about $1600 a month with 10% taxes on most zones. I have no Ind-L, negating my farm problem of before.

Still, the amount of expenses is obscene. I won't be able to afford any more services (or another clinic, or a high school, or another fire station...) for a long time.

Okay, don''t invest in police and education unless you really, really need to. It's not worth the $$$.

And yes, don't bother with the Small Police/Fire Station or Clinic - the other ones are more cost-effective after trimming their budgets.

[phongn]

I just started exploring SimCity 4 last night and today. It's okay, but it's not as great as I thought it was going to be. I was a little dissapointed with the variety of buildings, and I thought my Sims from "The Sims" would have a more active role.

Maybe I'm complaining too soon. I'll definitely give it a good round of play before retiring the CD to the rack with all of my other SimCity and Sims stuff.

They tried to get variety by customizing each lot with miscellanous things. This requires that you set the city quality level to high, and then you'll see a much more diverse city.

[Shadowhawk]

And yes, don't bother with the Small Police/Fire Station or Clinic - the other ones are more cost-effective after trimming their budgets.

Well, I can't afford the medical center--it's a $1200/month base cost, and I imagine it's still got doctor & ambulence expenses as well.

At what point should I actually start considering police & schools? It's just so...wrong to have a city of 3500 people without a school or any police presence.

[TrailerParkJawa]

So I would assume from what you all are saying, you can get a military base without the 60,000 population requirement of SimCity 2000?

One think I think Im gonna like about this game, is that buildings are more permament than in the previous titles.

[The Dark]

At what point should I actually start considering police & schools? It's just so...wrong to have a city of 3500 people without a school or any police presence.

My real life hometown has 7000 people, no high school, and 2 police officers. Your town doesn't seem too unrealistic.

[phongn]

And yes, don't bother with the Small Police/Fire Station or Clinic - the other ones are more cost-effective after trimming their budgets.

Well, I can't afford the medical center--it's a $1200/month base cost, and I imagine it's still got doctor & ambulence expenses as well.

For x dollars/month, the MedCenter will support more patients than the Clinic.

At what point should I actually start considering police & schools? It's just so...wrong to have a city of 3500 people without a school or any police presence.

Only when you can afford it. As I said, it takes time...thoguh IIRC, I had at least an elementary school (with as low funding as I could) by then. No cops, though - that was much later on.

[CmdrWilkens]

Well I just came home with it under arm so we shall see how it performs, though I'm on the low side of specs so I mihht have to wait for my new motherboard so I can get some better RAM and a MUCH faster processor.

[weemadando]

Republic is a game set in a fictional former Soviet Republic. You start off small in one of the shitty little towns, your objective being to become President by Any Means Necessary (TM). It looks like it's gonna be great.

I remember drooling over that game years ago... Does it still have the massive size and detail it was hyped up to have?

IIRC the developers were arguing over whether or not to model the individual pollen globes in a flower in a windowbox, so I'd say detail is covered.

[phongn]

Well I just came home with it under arm so we shall see how it performs, though I'm on the low side of specs so I mihht have to wait for my new motherboard so I can get some better RAM and a MUCH faster processor.

If you have an ATI video card, I would suggest holding off for the moment. There are some unresolved issues at the moment with them (which can be worked around, but not the best solution). nVidia users seem to be best off here.

DO NOT use the mySim mode. It is very, very buggy at the moment and will cause your computer to crash.

There are memory leaks in it. Be warned. 512MB of RAM was not enough to prevent it from hitting the swapfile. It is also a very computationally-intensive program - especially once it gets large.

[CmdrWilkens]

Well I just came home with it under arm so we shall see how it performs, though I'm on the low side of specs so I mihht have to wait for my new motherboard so I can get some better RAM and a MUCH faster processor.

If you have an ATI video card, I would suggest holding off for the moment. There are some unresolved issues at the moment with them (which can be worked around, but not the best solution). nVidia users seem to be best off here.

DO NOT use the mySim mode. It is very, very buggy at the moment and will cause your computer to crash.

There are memory leaks in it. Be warned. 512MB of RAM was not enough to prevent it from hitting the swapfile. It is also a very computationally-intensive program - especially once it gets large.

I'm holding off until I can get another 256MB of RAM and a card with more than 32MB of old school SDRAM.

[phongn]

The game doesn't have too many textures, so it is unlikely that you'll fill up much of the GPU's RAM. OTOH, you must have at least 0.5GB of RAM if you want anything resembling smooth gameplay.

As for the earlier question about the military base, no, you don't need 60000 people. Requirements are: Less than 7000 simoleons, funds less than 40% less than three previous years, expenditures greater than income and population greater than 2000. In return, you will get SM350/mo of cash. You will also get a -7 MR/tile, extending to a radius of 440. Crime will increase around it.

All business deals gave a Mayor Rating penalty ranging from -5 to -10 out to a radius of 440 tiles. In addition, the toxic waste dump emits radiation.

[TrailerParkJawa]

The game doesn't have too many textures, so it is unlikely that you'll fill up much of the GPU's RAM. OTOH, you must have at least 0.5GB of RAM if you want anything resembling smooth gameplay.

As for the earlier question about the military base, no, you don't need 60000 people. Requirements are: Less than 7000 simoleons, funds less than 40% less than three previous years, expenditures greater than income and population greater than 2000. In return, you will get SM350/mo of cash. You will also get a -7 MR/tile, extending to a radius of 440. Crime will increase around it.

All business deals gave a Mayor Rating penalty ranging from -5 to -10 out to a radius of 440 tiles. In addition, the toxic waste dump emits radiation.

Im thinking of picking up the game after my tax return. Id have to pick up some extra ram though. Im only running 256mb, but I still have two extra slots.

[phongn]

Shit, my main city is in super-decline for no apparent reason now.

Another city I started next door, however, has maxed out demand and was trivial to get going. It's super-wealthy right now for having virtually no land