Sim City 3k

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
Build slow?
Thats generally the best advice.

The SimCity series has been around for a long time and the basic strategies havent changed much. The most important thing is to go slow. Its not Starcraft, you cant make mighty empires as quickly as your resources come in.

#1 tip for all versions of Simcity:
Build one cheap power plant and make as much city as it will let you. When you finally figure out how to balance your town and make a profit, add another plant. Those things are the single most expensive item and normally the single most important. Make one and stretch it to its limits.

When you get really good at the game you can start with 2 and make big cities right away, but that takes a lot of experience and most veterans know its better to keep things small and manageable and make it bigger when you have the tax flow to do it.

#2 tip:
Dont try to build a paradise, and ignore most of the complaints.
This is also standard for most versions. Ignore most of the pissing and whining you hear, people dont leave until it gets really bad. Dont kill yourself trying to please every single person and dont get caught up in the futility of a utopian society.
Just make it turn a profit, and then grow slowly.
 

irishScott

Lifer
Oct 10, 2006
21,568
3
0
Never build Oil or Natural gas plants. They blow ($$ per watt + pollution). Also, don't be tempted by fusion plants until you have the $$ to build a redundant supply. I had 1 fusion plant supplying 90% of my city's power, then I got attacked by UFOs (who specifically target your power plants) and I lacked the money to replace it.

Don't zone large commercial districts. They typically grow slower than any other zone, so you don't need that much.

This goes in line with the "don't build a utopia" tip. Buy the nuclear waste disposal plant. You'll be grateful for the money. After you've stabilized your income, then you can focus on Simtopia.
 

erwin1978

Golden Member
Jun 22, 2001
1,637
3
81
I was disappointed with SimCity4. It had bugs and Maxis never released a single patch for it because they were busy fancying Sims. After a while it felt monotonous and scripted.
 

Cheesetogo

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2005
3,815
3
81
Originally posted by: erwin1978
I was disappointed with SimCity4. It had bugs and EA never released a single patch for it because they have terrible support for games. After a while it felt monotonous and scripted.

Fixed.
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,603
9
81
Originally posted by: erwin1978
I was disappointed with SimCity4. It had bugs and Maxis never released a single patch for it because they were busy fancying Sims. After a while it felt monotonous and scripted.

Yeah and the way the sims used mass transit was stupid, who the hell takes the nearest route over the quickest?? I could get a bus to the other side of town from my current location but it would take ages to get around all the stops in town etc, or i could get the subway which is a 2 minute walk away from the bus stop and drops me off almost exactly where i want to go. Hmm think ill take the bus.... Thats how it is in simcity 4, totally backwards and it ends up half of your classy buildings are downgraded to medium class due to "commute time" making them look all dirty and crappy.
 

toughwimp11

Senior member
May 8, 2005
415
0
76
one thing i generally found to be true is to increase taxes beyond what your advisors say is "high". population will still increase and you'll be making alot of money. just make sure everything is in tip top shape and people will be happy. my takes were like 10% if i remeber correctly (i havnet played this game in like 4 years) and people were happy because funding for everything was at maximum and i was still having a surplus every year