PC PowerPlay 11

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ PC PowerPlay 11 / PCPP11.iso / faqs / sc2kfaq.doc < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-08-05 | 64.3 KB | 1,495 lines

SimCity2000 Technical Info v1.8 rev. 7/2/94 Maintained by: Kevin Endo Please send corrections, additions, questions, etc. to me at: thx@netcom.com Current versions of this file are stored at: ftp.netcom.com /pub/thx/SC2KINFO1.8.txt This directory also has SC2K cities and utilities. New items to this version have a plus to the left. Some sections have been remove and placed in stand-alone files. MacProblems.txt, DOSProblems.txt, and Suggestions.txt are available at ftp.netcom.com in /pub/thx/info. INDEX 0.0 DESCRIPTION 1.0 GENERAL (General questions about the game) 2.0 TOOLS (Zoning, transportation, water, city services) 3.0 BUDGET + OTHER WINDOWS (Taxes, ordinances, etc.) A-1 Appendix 1 (Solving City Problems) A-2 Appendix 2 (Adjusting Difficulty/Handicapping) A-3 Appendix 3 (Making Your Own Scenarios-MAC) 0.0 DESCRIPTION SIMCITY 2000, THE ULTIMATE CITY SIMULATOR Product Name: SimCity 2000, The Ultimate City Simulator. Price: $69.95 SRP. Availability: Now for IBM/DOS and Macintosh versions. Company: Maxis 2 Theatre Square Orinda, CA 94563 Main: 510/254-9700 Fax: 510/253-3736 Customer Service: 800/33-MAXIS Tech Support: 510/253-3755 Preliminary IBM/DOS: 386 or above; MS-DOS 3.3 or Requirements: above; 4MB RAM; hard disk; mouse; extended VGA mode, 640 x 480 (256 colors). Supports AdLib, Ad Lib Gold, Sound Blaster, Roland MT-32, Roland MPU 401, Pro Audio Spectrum and 100% compatibles. Macintosh: LC, Performa, II, Centris and Quadra series; Color Classic; PowerBook (160, 165c, 180, 180c, Duo 210, (230); System 7.0; 4MB RAM (2.5MB RAM free); mouse; hard disk; 256 color monitor. Disk Size: IBM/DOS: 3 1/2" high-density with 5 1/4" high-density disks available from Maxis. Macintosh: 3 1/2" high-density. WHAT IS SIMCITY 2000? Incorporating four years of customer suggestions, SimCity 2000 combines dozens of new features and stunning three-dimensional graphics with the intuitive interface and engrossing gameplay that made the original SimCity (which has been re-christened "SimCity Classic-The Original City Simulator",) so successful. Current SimCity Classic players will be able to start playing SimCity 2000 immediately, using just the features that are familiar from the original game. As players learn the new features of SimCity 2000, they will become more proficient mayors. Here's a sample of what SimCity 2000 lets players do: -Modify terrain with mountains, forests, rivers, streams, waterfalls, and bays. -Zoom into the city at three levels of magnification, and rotate the three-dimensional model of the city 360 degrees for more realistic perspectives. -Place new structures-schools, universities, libraries, museums, zoos, hospitals, prisons, marinas, freeways, bridges-as well as the original SimCity services, with updated graphics. -Dig underground tunnels and subways and lay pipe for transporting water. -Import cities from SimCity Classic into SimCity 2000. Target Audience: SimCity 2000 is targeted to current owners of SimCity Classic and other Maxis "Sim" games, as well as high-end computer owners who may not already own a Maxis game, but are interested in sophisticated, open-ended entertainment software. SimCity Classic, which has been a consistent best-seller since its introduction four years ago, now includes a terrain editor and support for popular sound cards. SimCity Classic's simplicity makes it a natural for customers who are new to the computer game category, and want an easy and fun introduction to gaming before advancing to more intricate simulations. Design philosophy: Like all "Sim" games, SimCity 2000 enables players to challenge themselves to meet their own goals, rather than goals artificially imposed by the game's design. Our purpose in designing SimCity 2000 was to make it as easy to use as the original SimCity was, but at the same time to incorporate user suggestions and many of the things we had to leave out of the original SimCity because of hardware constraints. For example, we added underground infrastructure (subways, water pipes, tunnels) and a much more detailed economic model. In essence, we tried to bring SimCity 2000 a lot closer to reality, with 3-D graphics that enhance the feeling that the city is real when you're working with it. 1.0 GENERAL 1.1 Misc. ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.1.1 (MAC) Will SC2K run on a PowerPC Macintosh? What about a native mode release? Chris Weiss writes: "I dont remember if SC2k works in emulation mode on the Power PC, I think it does. I do know that we have a compiled working version that does run in native mode (and rockin' fast, I must say), but I do not know what our plans for releasing it are." From the June 1994 issue of MacUser: "Here are a few recently announced Power Mac Programs: Fun. In it's native mode, Maxis' SimCity 2000 city simulator will have a snappier user interface, and you won't have to leave a city running overnight to see the effects of your planning." +I believe that they are trying to get it out around late July 1994. 1.1.2 Where can I get the v1.1 updater? (MAC) The updater is available at the following ftp sites: spider.navsses.navy.mil in /Joe 240/pub/game/sc2k ftp.netcom.com in /pub/maxis sumex-aim.stanford.edu in /info-mac/game/Commercial (DOS) There is no v1.1 update for the DOS version of SimCity2000 at this time. +Chriss Weiss writes: "The SimCity 2000 DOS Patch is in the works. The original SimCity 2000 DOS programmer left Maxis, which has been a major setback. In addition, one of the major "bugs" is an incompatiblity in the DOS extender, which is licensed code, and they're still working on a fix for it. When the patch becomes available, an announcement will be made on this list and the various PC games forums." 1.1.3 (MAC) I've installed the updater, but my old cities still have the same bugs. Cities that already have bugs can't be fixed by the update. Only new cities that are created with the updated version of SC2K will be bug-free (more or less.) 1.1.4 Where's the SimCity 2000 ftp site? There are two, spider.navsses.navy.mil in /game/sc2k and ftp.netcom.com in /pub/thx. 1.1.5 How do I get on the Sim mailing list? There is a digest and non-digest version of the mailing list. For the digest, send mail to: majordomo@cisco.com with the following line in the body of the message: subscribe simlist-digest For the non-digest, use the following line subscribe simlist 1.1.6 Can I get back issues of the Sim mailing list? These are available at ftp.cisco.com in /abochann. 1.1.7 Does Maxis have an E-Mail address? You can reach e-mail technical support at support@maxis.com or maxis@aol.com 1.1.8 Where can I get a demo of SimCity2000? Anonymous ftp to ftp.netcom.com in /pub/maxis SC2KDEMO.ZIP is a slide show for DOS. SC2KDEMO.SEA is a slide show for Mac. 1.1.9 How do I log on to the Maxis BBS? The phone number is (510) 254-3869. (8-N-1) 1.1.10 Can I upgrade from the old Sim City? No, I don't think so. SC2K is, pretty much, a totally different product. 1.1.11 What Usenet newsgroups talk about SimCity2000? comp.sys.mac.games, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.misc, and comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic. 1.1.12 Is there an upper limit on population? (MAC v1.0 and DOS) Yes. Only arcologies that have are represented by a microsimulator contribute to population - so, the theoretical maximum is somewhere around 9.1 million. (MAC v1.1) Well, if launch arcos didn't launch, you'd be able to fill a map with 961 launch arcos, which equals about 62.5 million. However, since launch arcos DO launch in this version (at about 340), this route will only get you to about 22.1 million. Now, if you fill the map with Plymouth Arcos, you should be able to get up to about 52.9 million. 1.1.13 Are there any books out about SimCity2000? I know of four, so far: * Daniel A. Tauber and Brenda Kienan have written "SimCity 2000 Stategies and Secrets" (Sybex, 300 pages,ISBN 0-7821-1518-7, $14.99.) * Nick Dargahi and Michael Bremer (who wrote the SC2K manual) have written "SimCity Power, Politics, and Planning. (Prima, 421 pages, ISBN 1-55958-192-1, $19.95) * Johnny L. Wilson and Peter Spear have written "The Official Sim City 2000 Planning Commision Handbook" (Osborne McGraw-Hill, 218 pages, ISBN 0-07-881950-4, $19.95) * Jason R. Rich has written "Sim City 2000 City Design" (Compute Books, 152 pages, ISBN 0-87455-300-8, $21.95.) Comes with a disk of sample cities for the DOS version and you can send the disk back to the publisher to exchange it for the Mac version. 1.1.14 What is this SimCity CD-ROM I've heard of? Well, it's an expanded version of the old game, NOT SimCity2000. And its put out by Interplay, not Maxis. The DOS version is currently in stores - I am not certain what the plans are for Mac release. Courtesy of Dave A. Lartigue: SIMCITY ENHANCED (a/k/a SimCity on CD-ROM) "You'll watch dramatic city news unfold through live broadcasts in a full-motion video window. News that will challenge you to make choices that could make your metropolis thrive...or perish!" - Incredible video and sound - Hollywood's finest talent captured the intensity of natural disasters, human drama, triumph, and tragedy in 30 minutes of action-packed video footage - See how your citizens react to your decisions in pop-up video windows - Included on same disk - extra sets and terrain editor 1.1.15 How is the Australian version of SC2K different? Chris Weiss writes: "The Australian version has a few bug fixes in it that are more or less transparent. I think the only external way to tell is that instead of getting a Braun Llama Dome at 60,000 people, you get the Sydney Opera House. A patch for the Australian version will be available shortly." +1.1.16 Are there special versions for other countries? No, not as far as I know. +1.1.17 Can I edit buildings, or add new ones? No, not now, but Maxis does have plans to introduce an add-on that will make that possible. +1.1.18 Can I expect any other new things from Maxis? Chris Weiss writes: "SimCity 2000 Windows is coming along slowly, expect it to hit the shelves in October/November (hopefully). SimCity 2000 Amiga will be available in August or so, but only in Europe. SimTown looks WAY cool, it'll be a fall release on Mac CD-ROM with a PC version (haven't decided if it'll be DOS or Windows) on CD-ROM a few months behind. Also keep an eye out for SimCity 2000 Scenarios Volume II - Cities Of The World later this year - it'll be pretty groovy with 10 or so real-world cities and (hopefully) a few custom buildings in each." 1.2 Cheats, Bonuses, and other Secrets ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.2.1 How do I get more money? (MAC v1.0) Well, the easiest way is to type porntipsguzzardo. This will give you $500,000 and allow all technologies and rewards to become available. It will also prevent the military from building a base. Once you've typed porntipsguzzardo, you can type ardo by itself to get additional $500,000s. (MAC v1.1) Open the map window and type pirn. Click on the status window (next to the weather) and then type topsguzzardo. Subsequently typing ardo will give additional money. (DOS) Neither of the above mac cheats work on the DOS version. There is a cheat, but it has not, as of yet, been discovered. 1.2.2 (MAC v1.1) Where did the new cheat come from? Anne Peck (from Compuserve) writes: "All credit goes to my husband, Darryl. He was attending an SPA dinner in San Francisco a few days ago, and he called me from the dinner to say "goodnight" (my time.) He mentioned that he'd been talking to Will Wright, and so _naturally_ I asked him to pester Will about the cheat. Will didn't seem to think it was a big deal and sent Darryl e-mail the next day!" 1.2.3 Why aren't all of the cheats the same? Apparantly, the programmers have decided that users enjoy looking for the cheat, thus they intend to change it with each version. 1.2.4 Are there any other secret words? fund, cass, joke, vers. Typing cass, will give you $250 at the end of the month. If you type more than once during a month, you will incite a fire storm. (DOS) In addition to the above Mac codes heck, darn, damn, test, and memy work on the DOS version. porn does something, too. 1.2.5 Is there any other way to get lots of money? +On a new city, type fund and get a 25% bond. Do it again. Then take out a regular bond at .% interest. This will roll over some internal counters and give you interest instead of taking it away. 1.2.6 What is the Launch Arco secret? (MAC v1.0/DOS) Apparently, there is no secret. You can build as many launch arcos as you want, and nothing will happen. Reports are that it was nothing more than a bad joke. (MAC v1.1) Well, now they launch. You've got to build about 50 of them though. It really isn't as exciting as you might think... 1.2.7 What are the city bonuses, and when do I get them? Mayor's House 2,000 City Hall 10,000 Statue 30,000 Military Base 60,000 Braun Llama Dome 90,000 Arcologies 120,000 1.2.8 There's something flying around my city, and it's not a helicopter or an airplane. That's Captain Hero! He/She/It appears to take care of disasters (sometimes) if you don't have an other capacity for dealing with it. 1.2.9 There's something swimming around in my ocean! Well, that's a Nessie. Nessie appears when you build marinas. Apparently Nessie likes to eat sailboats. 1.2.10 How do I shoot down the traffic helicopter? Click on it with the centering tool. 1.2.11 Why does Maxis have to be obsessed with llamas? Maxis is obsessed with many things. Llamas don't have copyright lawyers. 1.2.12 Why are the number of bungee jumps and weddings the same at the Braun Llama Dome? Chriss Weiss writes: "Uhm, sure. See, the chapel at the Llama Dome is owned by the brother-in-law of the guy who runs the Bungee jump center. Newlyweds get a cupon for a free jump as a special gift from the chapel. In addition, those who Bungee get a coupon for a free wedding! (I seem to remember the top of the coupon reading 'You've taken the plunge, now take the plunge!' :)" 1.2.13 It seems like my statue is always made of bronze. Am I doing something wrong? No, the statue is always made of bronze. 1.3 Arcologies ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.3.1 The newspaper just reported that some other city has built an arcology. Why can't I? Once arcologies have been invented, you must have a population of 120,000 in order to build them. 1.3.2 What do I need to do to improve the conditions of my arcologies? Place some parks nearby to increase property value, build a police station, add water and power. This ought to give you an A+ rating. 1.3.3 Do I need to add water and power to launch arcos too? Well, the online help says that they are self-contained, however, this does not seem to be the case. I think it may still work, but conditions will be D+ at best. 1.3.4 What do conditions have to do with anything, anyway? I would assume that arcos that have a higher grade will grow faster. 1.3.5 What do people do in these arcologies? Well, look at the population of the arco. Half that goes towards residential, 1/4 towards commercial, and 1/4 towards industrial. This is true for all arcos. 1.3.6 Is there any way to fill up arcos fast? Let the arco sit without power until the next January. When January comes around, the bad conditions should cause the arco population to go down - but, since it's already at 0, it rolls around to 65k. When another January comes around, the population should go down to the proper max level for the arco. 1.4 Weather ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.4.1 Why should I care about the weather? Weather affects the output of water pumps, solar plants, wind power, and influences the likelihood of riots and fires. 1.4.2 The weather icon shows a tornado. Should I be worried? The tornado shown on the weather icon is different than the tornado on the disaster menu. When the icon is showing a tornado, you can pretty much ignore it. 1.5 Terrain Editor ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.5.1 How do I get rid of trees? With the tree or forest tool selected, press shift. +1.5.2 How do I make floating tiles? Floating tiles are created by making slope tiles disappear. First place drops of water on each slope tile you want to get rid of (make them into waterfalls.) Then, click on the raise water level button until the all of the waterfalls are under water. Then, lower the water level. Presto. This technique can be used to create floating roadways and sunken highways. 1.6 Military Bases ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.6.1 When should I get a military base? When your population reaches 60,000 1.6.2 My population is more than 60,000, why haven't I been asked for a military base? (MAC) You won't be asked for a base if you use the ptga cheat. 1.6.3 Why should I have a military base? It provides customers and jobs. Certain bases may deter the monster. You may be able to deploy troops during an emergency. Military bases will increase crime and traffic, though. 1.6.4 How big is a military base? Air force and army bases are 8 X 8 tiles. (I don't know what the exact size of navy bases are.) 1.6.5 Why does the military say they can't find a suitable site for a base? Probably because there isn't an empty piece of land that is large enough. There may be some randomness in this, however. Try saving your game before you get to 60,000, and then restart from your save point if they don't find a suitable site. 1.6.6 Will the military ever ask me to grant land for a base again? No. Only once. 1.6.7 How do I get rid of a military base? You'll either have to use the raise terrain or lower terrain tool. 1.6.8 Why does the air force dispatch tanks to disasters? There's only one icon (a tank) for all military. 1.6.9 How do I get missile silos? I have no idea. I've been actively trying for a while and have had no luck. 1.7 Disasters ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.7.1 How do I put out fires? Use dispatch firefighters tool to place a firefighter icon next to a patch of fire. If there's a lot of fire, you can also build a fire station on top of it to put it out (you'll have to experiment with this.) +Also, you can pause the game and bulldoze structures that are next to fires. 1.7.2 How do I make the monster go away? +I don't think you can. Just follow it around and try to put out any fires it makes as soon as it does it. 1.7.3 What other disasters are there? Meltdown, Microwave Oops, Pollution, Fire Storm, Mass Riots, Major Floods, Toxic Spill, Volcano. 1.7.4 Hey, why is the monster making wind generators? Chris Weiss writes: "The Monster is not neccisarily bad. He's an elemental kind of guy. 50% of the time, he'll place something bad (fire). The other 50%, he'll place something good. If it's something good, there's a 33% chance of it being Windmills, Water, or Trees." 1.7.5 What do I do about floods? A: Besides dispatching emergency units, you can prepare ahead be building dikes on your coastlines - use the raise terrain tool to increase the land on the coast one level. 1.8 Bugs ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.8.1 Why do some of my police stations tell me how many arrests have been made, while others don't? Well, this is the microsimulation limit. Certain zones, like police stations, power plants, schools, etc., are called microsimulations, and each one has it's own data. There is a limit to these of 150. 1.8.2 (DOS) Help - my city is being overrun by churches. Graham Crk writes: "I can tell you that when I spoke with SC2k's lead IBM programmer, Jon Ross, he told me that he programmed this easter egg to occur whenever you type the word "damn." After that all residential zones will develop as churches. You should be able to defeat this bug-like easter egg by quiting and restoring the game." +1.8.3 (MAC v1.0/DOS) Why can't I ever get my population over about 9 million? In the above versions, arcologies that aren't represented by microsimulators do not count towards population. +1.8.4 (MAC) When I try to look at a newspaper, the game says that the newspapers are on strike. I believe this has to do with memory limitations. Try saving your game, quitting, and starting over. 1.9 Scenarios ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.9.1 How do I beat the scenarios that come with SC2K? From the March 94 issue of Electronic Entertainment: "Charleston - Pause the game. Build water pumps in the swamps then rebuild the connections to other cities and put more onramps on the freeway system. Then let the simulation run, keeping taxes low while you create dense zoning in areas damaged by the hurricane. Dullsville - Pause the game. Lower taxes to zero until the population is big enough to make you money. Then build dense using 13-by-6-tile zoning. Take out a bond if you have to. Flint - Click on the book for property taxes and set industrial taxes to zero. Find a good hangout and wait. Hollywood - Control the fires the monster sets and after he leaves, lower the property taxes to zero. The go see a movie. Oakland - Control the fire using bulldozers to clear a fire break and just ignore the Sims' complaints. Then set taxes as low as you can and build dense in the empty area by Lake Temescal." 1.9.2 How do I get more scenarios? The first scenario pack should be in stores now. courtesy of Dave A. Lartigue: SIM CITY 2000 SCENARIOS VOLUME 1: GREAT DISASTERS "...wrestle with 10 different cities on the brink of destruction and tackle everything from an alien invasion in Atlanta to a misplaced microwave beam in the Silicon Valley." - 10 challenging scenarios with explosions, fires, volcanoes, and other good stuff - Easy to install - Loads right into the SimCity 2000 Scenario menu, complete with pictures, descriptions, and objectives. The SRP on this puppy is $19.95. The cities and the associated disasters are as follows: San Francisco Earthquakes/Fires Atlanta Monster Portland Volcano Silicon Valley Microwave Oops Washington D.C. Riots Manhattan Meltdown Davenport Flooding Chicago Pollution Malibu Firestorms Homestead Hurricane 1.9.3 How do I make my own scenarios? (DOS) There doesn't seem to be any easy way to create scenarios for the DOS version. I believe Nick Dargahi's book may explain how. (MAC) See Appendix 3 below. 2.0 TOOLS 2.1 Bulldozer ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.1.1 Should I buldoze abandoned buildings? You can, but it's not necessary. Sims will build over abandoned buildings, although, abandoned buildings lower property values. +I also believe that the level of unemployement is directly related to the number of abandoned buildings. Look at a city with high unemployemnt. See what happens to the unemployment level if you bulldoze all of the abandoned buildings. 2.1.2 Do I have to buldoze rubble? No. Sims will build over rubble. 2.1.3 Is there any way to bulldoze large areas at a time? No. Although you can destroy a few buildings at a time using raise terrain tool. 2.1.4 Is there a way to get rid of lots of rubble? You can either build power lines over rubble, or you could use the de-zone tool to get rid of the zoning and the rubble. 2.1.5 The sims complain when I try to bulldoze some forest. Should I pay any attention to them? I don't think it'll do you any harm to ignore them. 2.2 Landscape ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.2.1 How do I make waterfalls? Place water on a slope. 2.2.2.What's the magic eraser? Select the tree tool. Press the mouse button with the cursor on a blank tile. Keep holding down the button and press the shift key. The cursor will now erase any type of development. The effect is rather odd - when you query the tile that's been erased, the old structure appears to still be there. 2.2.3 Can I make a deep river at higher elevations? No, the only way to add water at elevations above sea level is to use the water tool - and this only makes water that is 50 feet deep. 2.2.4 Does the water tool make fresh water or salt water? (MAC) Fresh water. (DOS) The water tool seems to make fresh water half the time and salt water the other half. 2.3 Power ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.3.1 Do undeveloped zones conduct power? No. Only tiles that have immediate contact to power (either next to another building or next to a power line) will be powered. 2.3.2 What type of power plant should I use? If you aren't concerned with money, fusion plants are the most efficient, and don't pollute or cause disasters - like nuclear and microwave. If you are concerned about money, then hydro is best. Hydro plants don't pollute and don't need to be replaced every 50 years. Output Pollut. Eff. (16 tiles) Level Comments Fusion $16/MW 2500 80 Micro $17.5/MW 1600 0 Possible disaster Hydro $20/MW 240 0 Doesn't need replacing Coal $20/MW 200 3400 Wind $25/MW 64 0 Doesn't need replacing Solar $26/MW 50 0 Weather dependent Nuclear $30/MW 500 80 Possible disaster Oil $30/MW 220 1680 Gas $40/MW 50 610 2.3.3 Isn't it kind of like cheating to use hydro power? Well, first off, it's just a game, and you can do whatever you want with it. The most efficient use of hydro would be to use the raise terrain tool to make a little bump. Line the bump with waterfalls and then place hydro plants on the waterfalls. You could even surround the hydro pants with water pumps. This is the best, and most unrealistic use of hydro plants. A more realistic approach would be to make a map with a river, then raise the land on one end of the river, and draw the river back in, having it flow down the raised land. You could then build large dams on the slopes. 2.3.4 My power plants seem to last forever. If you have disasters off, your power plants will automatically be replaced when they are 50 years old. Their cost will also be deducted from your coffers. 2.3.5 Why don't hydro plants and wind power have to be replaced every 50 years? Well, you could say that this is bias on the part of Maxis to encourage the use of clean power. The real reason has to do with programming limitations - they'd have to keep track of the age of each plant. 2.3.6 Why should I use wind power? I don't know - appearance, maybe? If you have extra space on the top of a mountain, you could put windmills there. You could use a couple of wind power plants to sustain a small village in the middle of nowhere. 2.3.7 Do I have to use raised wires to run power across water? No, there's a cheat you can use to get around this. Chris Weiss writes: "There's a little trick you can do to run power across water without needing lines. First, you need 3 tiles of water between where you'd run the line from and where you'd run it to. Build a power line bridge across that 3 tile space and bulldoze the power line between the two "on-ramps" for the power bridge. Replace the flat land tiles with water again and Voila! The power flows across the no-longer-existent power bridge." 2.4 Water ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.4.1 How effective is a water pump? A water pump (not next to water) will service approximately 24 to 36 tiles, depending on the weather. An additional 12 tiles (approx.) will be serviced for every water tile that the pump is adjacent to. For example: W W W L P L L L L where W = water, L = land, P = pump The above pump is next to 3 water tiles, therefore, it will provide 60 to 72 tiles with water. I think that each tile requires 600 gallons of water. 2.4.2 Should I build water towers? Each water tower will hold up to 40,000 gallons of water. They will only fill up when you have a surplus. It's probably easier to just build four more pumps in the space that a tower would take. 2.4.3 Why aren't the pipes under my towers filled with water? The pipes turn blue when the tower fills with water. For every 10,000 gallons, one pipe will turn blue. 2.4.4 What good is a water treatment plant? The manual says that water treatment plants will help you prevent droughts by cleaning and recycling your water. However, the online help says that water treatment plants will reduce the overall pollution level of your city. Experimentation has revealed that water treatment plants do not really have anything to do with the water supply. Adding one treatment plant (anywhere on the map) will reduce the pollution level of your city quite a bit. Additonal treatment plants have no effect, though. So, build one, and only one 2.4.5 How effective is a desalination plant? Desalination plants seem to have an effective radius, so there effectiveness is rather complicated. They can provide water to 200 - 500 tiles each, depending on how many seawater tiles are adjacent to the plant. I suggest that you place a few along the ocean, away from the edges. 2.4.6 What types of water will help a water pump? Natural water and artificial water will improve the performance of a water pump, while salt water will not. Use the query tool to find out whether water is salty or fresh. Water pump performance will even be improved by a waterfall, or a waterfall with a hydro plant on it. 2.4.7 I've built several pumps on the edge of my city, but all the water seems to be going to the center. Well, SC2K figures out how much water you have, then it distributes it from the center of your city. The only way to keep the water at the edge would be to cut it off from the water system. 2.4.8 Where do I need to build pipes? Sims will automatically build pipes underneath buildings, so, all you need to do, is build pipes underneath roads. I like to place pipes underneath my power lines. +Some people feel that a structured system of water mains helps the performance of a water system. 2.5 Road + Rail ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.5.1 How much road do I need? A zone (residential, commercial, or industrial) must be within 3 tiles (not counting diagonally) of a road in order to start growing. If you're really strapped for cash (say you start on the hard level) then you can get away with discontinuous roads. Just drop down 1 tile sections of road and build different zones around it: For example: R R R R R R R R R R - I I C C I I I C I I where - = road R = residential, C = commercial, I = industrial Actually you don't really need any roads at all. If you want, you can rely totally on mass transit. You won't have any traffic, but growth will be less and larger(3X3) buildings won't develop. For example, sims will build given the following setup: R I R R R I I I R R R R R I I I I I R R R s R R R I I I s I I I R R R R R I I I I I R R R I I I R I where R = residential, I =industrial, s = sub stations - connected underground by subway 2.5.2 Why should I use rail instead of a subway? Rail is cheaper, and, supposedly, has a greater positive impact on heavy industry. 2.5.3 How do bus stations work? Place bus stations at busy intersections to reduce traffic at that intersection. Bus stations also seem to stimulate growth (without adjacent roads) to some extent. 2.5.4 How do you build a reinforced girder bridge? You will be asked if you want to build a reinforced bridge if you place a highway tile halfway over water: before: L L L W W W after: L L L W W W L L L W W W L L H H W W L L L W W W L L H H W W L L L W W W L L L W W W where L = land, W = water, H = highway tile Also, be sure that the other side of the river is clear and flat. 2.5.5 What's the difference between a highway bridge and a reinforced bridge? Highway bridges don't allow ships to pass, but are cheaper. 2.5.6 What's the difference between causeways, raising bridges, and suspension bridges? Causeways do not allow ships to pass. Raising bridges and suspension bridges both allow ships to pass. Raising bridges are cheaper than suspension bridges, but can only be a maximum of eleven tiles long. 2.5.7 How does my transportation system affect growth? Residential zones must be properly connected to a commercial or industrial zone in order to start growing. Industrial or commercial zones must be connected to a residential zone in order to start growing. This connection can either be made by road rail, or subway, however, growth will be best with roads. 2.5.8 Is there an annual charge for bus depots? Yes, in fact, there are transportation charges for lots of things. The chart below shows the various things that have maintenance charges. The first column shows the building cost. The other columns show how much is charged, per year for each item in each category. (Some items, like Sub/Rail, have split charges.) Build Road Hwy Brid Rail Sub Tun Road $10 0.10 -- -- -- -- -- Causeway $25 -- -- 0.22 -- -- -- Raising Bridge $50 -- -- 0.22 -- -- -- Suspension Bridge $75 -- -- 0.22 -- -- -- Highway $100 -- 0.80 -- -- -- -- Highway Bridge $200 -- 0.80 -- -- -- -- Reinforced Bridge $300 -- 0.80 1.00 -- -- -- Tunnel $150 -- -- -- -- -- 0.10 Tunnel Entrance $150 0.10 -- -- -- -- -- Onramp $25 0.10 -- -- -- -- -- Bus Depot $250 25.00 -- -- -- -- -- Rail $25 -- -- -- 0.40 -- -- Rail Bridge $75 -- -- 0.22 -- -- -- Subway $100 -- -- -- -- 0.40 -- Rail Depot $500 -- -- -- 1.60 -- -- Sub Station $250 -- -- -- -- 0.76 -- Sub/Rail $250 -- -- -- 0.40 0.40 -- Power Lines $2 -- -- -- -- -- -- Raised Wires $10 -- -- 0.20 -- -- -- 2.5.9 Will sims walk to a road, then drive to a sub station, take the subway, drive from the sub station, and walk from the road to work? Well, actually, work has to be next to the road. (See next question.) 2.5.10 Why do some zones develop away from a road, and others don't? terry@laue.biochem.ubc.ca writes: "I recently posted my theory about the trip generator by proposing four schemes. The question came up because I was trying to explain how you can have properties develop which are not connected to the road. The schemes are as follows: A. R - I B. R -I C. R- I D. R-I After powering up, I found that neither property in (A) developed and both properties in (D) did. This is expected as the sims in (A) cannot seem to find the road. However, The R in (B) and the I in (C), the squares which DO NOT touch the road, DO develop! And, the I in (B) and the R in (C), the squares which DO touch the road, DO NOT develop! Therefore, for roads, the trip generator works as follows: -assume you have a starting building X -assume you need to reach a zone Y which is a zone type different than that of X (ie: if X is an R zone, Y will be an I or C zone) -the trip generator starts from X and looks for the nearest road segment Z within 3 squares of X -the generator travels along the road searching for Y -if Y is touching the road and is within 25 squares of the originating road segment Z, the trip is a success -otherwise, the trip is a failure and X will not develop, or will be abandoned in short order if it is already developed Obviously, this does not take into account traffic volumes. As stated in the manual, the trip generator will try to avoid areas of high traffic. It is also important to note that X is a whole building, whether 1x1, 2x2 or 3x3, whereas Y is a single square of a zone, developed or undeveloped. 2.5.10 Do I need 2 or 4 onramps at each road-highway intersection? Well, really, you only need one. The only reason to have more would be for realism, or to shorten some trip distances. 2.5.11 Why can't I build onramps? You must build onramps in the following fashion: H H o H H o - - - - H H - - - - o H H o H H H H where H = highway, - = road, o = onramp 2.5.12 Why can't I put highways where I want them? I assume that they only allow highways to placed on every other tile, just so that there won't ever by a time when highways mismatch: H H H H H H H H 2.5.13 Do sub/rails do any good? Apparently not. They seem to be only for show. Zones connected in the following fashion do not seem to develop: R R R R I I I I R R D D = = = = + ~ ~ ~ ~ s I I I R R D D I I I I R R R R I I I I where R = res, I = ind, D = rail depot, s = sub depot, = = rail, + = sub/rail, ~ = subway 2.6 Ports + Connections ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.6.1 I've zoned a port - why do they keep complaining? They won't stop complaining until either a runway or pier has been built. 2.6.2 What is the smallest size of zone for an airport? An airport must be at least 1 X 5 tiles, in order for a runway to be built. Since runways are 5 tiles long, you can keep force them to only go in one direction by zoning a 4 X 10, 4 X 15, 4 X 20 etc. area for the airport. 2.6.3 Why won't my airport grow? I don't know. Results seem to vary from person to person. Just keep trying to zone more airport tiles. Sometimes Sims have difficulty building over airport tiles that have power lines on them. +There might be a problem if there's no place to put a runway without planes being blocked. 2.6.4 Does my airport need to be connected to water pipes or transportation in order to grow? No. An airport only needs connection to power. 2.6.5 Does my city have to be a certain size before an airport can be built? No. You could build a successful airport, even before anybody moves into your city (of course, you won't have any money left, but...) 2.6.6 Why do I keep having air crashes? You'll have air crashes if you have tall buildings in the immediate flight path. Generally, it's best to put your airport out of the way - perhaps on an island or plateau. 2.6.7 I've zoned a seaport, why won't piers develop? Well, I think that a pier needs to be able to extend out over water that's at least 150 feet deep. +Also, try zoning more seaport, away from the water. More piers seem to develop when non/pier structures are allowed to be built. 2.6.8 Exactly what effect do seaports and airports have, anyway? Unknown. They stop the sim's complaints. Airports promote commerce and seaports promote industry. Beyond that, who knows? It's a very hard factor to isolate. 2.6.9 What does it mean when connections are requested? You must build connections to your neighbors. Run a road, rail, or highway to the edge of the map, and you will be asked if you want to build a connection to your neighbor. 2.6.10 What does the number on the connection sign mean? That's the distance to your neighbor. 2.6.11 Why is it possible to build a connection to the ocean? I don't know. 2.6.12 I've built plenty of connections, but they keep asking for more. They may want you to build highway or rail connections. 2.6.13 Just how useful are connections, anyway? A connection acts as a stimulus point. Normally, residential zones are stimulated by being connected to job zones, and vice versa. A connection will act as a stimulus to both residential and commercial/industrial. 2.7 Residential Zones ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.7.1 What kinds of residential zones are there? Name size population Abandoned building 1 X 1 0 Construction 1 X 1 0 Lower Class Homes 1 X 1 10 Middle Class Homes 1 X 1 10 Luxury Homes 1 X 1 10 Abandoned building 2 X 2 0 Construction 2 X 2 0 Church 2 X 2 0 (dezones when built) Cheap Apartments 2 X 2 80 Apartments 2 X 2 80 Nice Apartments 2 X 2 80 Condominium 2 X 2 120 Abandoned building 3 X 3 0 Construction 3 X 3 0 Condominium 3 X 3 360 Large Apt. Bldg 3 X 3 450 2.7.2 What's the difference between light residential heavy residential? Light residential is cheaper and will only allow 1 X 1 buildings. 2.7.2 Why should I use light residential? Aesthetics? Not everyone can live in high rise apartment buildings. Light residential requires less police protection than heavy residential. If your zoning an oddly shaped piece of land that wouldn't be able to form into a 2X2 or 3X3 building, you might want to use light instead of heavy. 2.7.3 Why should I use heavy residential? You will need to use heavy if you want your city to have a large population. The blank map looks large at the beginning, but you will quickly run out of space if you rely on light zoning. The larger buildings use the same amount of power, therefore, you use less power per person. In addition, you will get more tax revenue, for the same amount of space. 2.7.4 How do I encourage my sims to build 3 X 3 buildings? First the property values have to be pretty good. Second, a 3 X 3 piece of land must be adjacent to an intersection: R R R | C C C I I I C C C | R R R | C C C I I I C C C | R R R | C C C I I I C C C | - - - - - - - - - - - - - - where R = heavy residential, C = heavy commercial, I = heavy industrial, | and - = road In the above example, the residential and commercial zones may become 3 X 3 buildings, however, the industrial zone will not. 2.7.6 Can I get rid of all these churches? Dave Chaloux <chaloux@mandolin.mitre.org> writes: "You can't really get rid of the churchs but it can be worthwhile moving them. Zone a 2x2 residential where you want the church. Blow up the church and do not rezone. The church will often move to the 2x2 you made for it. Then and only then rezone as residential where the church was. The reason this is worth it is because if you zoned for a 3x3, you are only getting 50 pop around the church (5 1x1s). The 3x3 will give you 360." Pat Traynor <traynor@bostech.com> writes: "Hmmm... I wonder if you could build an industry block 8x8, and leave the center 2x2 area empty. Demolish a church in the main residential section and then quickly zone the center of the industrial section for residential. Perhaps the church would pop up there." This will work, but you have to build a road out to the center: - - - - - - - - - - | I I I I | I I I | | I I I I | I I I | | I I I I | I I I | | I I I R R I I I | | I I I R R I I I | | I I I I I I I I | | I I I I I I I I | | I I I I I I I I | - - - - - - - - - - where R = heavy residential, I = industrial, | and - = road Then, once you coerce the church into the middle, you can bulldoze the road into the middle and replace it with industrial. 2.8 Commercial Zones ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.8.1 What kinds of commercial zones are there? Name size population Abandoned building 1 X 1 0 Construction 1 X 1 0 Cassidy's Toy Store 1 X 1 10 Bed & Breakfast Inn 1 X 1 10 Gas Station 1 X 1 10 Small Office Bldg 1 X 1 10 Convenience Store 1 X 1 10 Office Building 1 X 1 10 Warehouse 1 X 1 10 Abandoned building 2 X 2 0 Construction 2 X 2 0 Office Building 2 X 2 80 Resort Hotel 2 X 2 80 Grocery Store 2 X 2 80 Shopping Center 2 X 2 80 Office Building 2 X 2 120 Office/Retail 2 X 2 120 Abandoned building 3 X 3 0 Construction 3 X 3 0 Theatre Square 3 X 3 360 Corporate HQ 3 X 3 360 Parking Lot 3 X 3 360 Drive-In Theater 3 X 3 360 Office Park 3 X 3 360 Office Tower 3 X 3 360 Historic Office Bldg3 X 3 ?? Mini Mall 3 X 3 360 Office Tower 3 X 3 450 2.9 Industrial Zones ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.9.1 What kinds of industrial zones are there? Name size population Abandoned building 1 X 1 0 Construction 1 X 1 0 Chemical Storage 1 X 1 10 Ind. Substation 1 X 1 10 Warehouse 1 X 1 10 Abandoned building 2 X 2 0 Construction 2 X 2 0 Factory 2 X 2 80 Factory 2 X 2 120 Abandoned building 3 X 3 0 Construction 3 X 3 0 Chemical Processing 3 X 3 360 Factory 3 X 3 360 Large Factory 3 X 3 360 Warehouse 3 X 3 360 Large Warehouse 3 X 3 360 Ind. Thingamajig 3 X 3 360 2.10 Education Zones ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.10.1 What are the relative effects of education zones? The manual says that you need 1 school for every 15,000 people in order to increase EQ to 90. This does not seem correct, however. I don't think you can get EQ to 90 even if you have twice this many schools. Schools lose their A+ rating when student to teacher ratio goes above 12. In other words, a half-full school gets about an A and a full school gets an F. Colleges have a capacity of 50,000, but, as with schools, grade goes down as the number of students approaches capacity. Libraries and museums increase the EQ of all ages. Museums are more effective than libraries. 2.10.2 Does it matter where I put educational zones? No, educational zones do not need proper access to transportation to be effective. Educational zones do increase land value, though. 2.10.3 What EQ is average? The manual says that the SimNation EQ average is 100. Although, the average age of sims that move into your city is around 83. 2.10.4 My EQ doesn't seem to ever go above 100. High EQ seems to require more than top notch schools, colleges, libraries, and museums. I've built a small city with excessive amounts of all these items. Over a span of 400 years, EQ never got above 100. I think the other factor must be industry - there's probably some sort of feedback effect from the high EQ industries. (Petro, auto, aero, electronics, etc.) 2.10.5 I just put in a school but it still says 0 student, and 0 teachers. Why don't they use the school? There seems to be quite a long lag time (maybe a year) before students will shuffle around to new schools. Chris Weiss writes: "Micro-simulators do all their calculations in January (well, most of them anyway). So if you place one in June, then query on it in July, everything will be zeros (or incorrect, at any rate). Wait until after January, then things should look A-OK." 2.11 Health and Safety Zones ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.11.1 Do police stations and fire stations need to be placed next to roads? No, apparently, police and fire power is not effected by proximity to transportation. 2.11.2 Do I need prisons? Prisons increase police performance. If you still have crime, even though you've just built a police station, build a prison next to the police station to improve the effectiveness of the police station at close range. 2.11.3 Should I worry about the number of escapes from my prison? I believe that this is a symptom of overcrowding (high inmate to guard ratio.) I would suspect that crime might go up slightly around the prison. 2.11.4 How many policemen or firefighters should I be able to dispatch? You should be able to dispatch 1 police icon for every police station and 1 firefighter icon for every fire station. The maximum number of emergency units you may dispatch (including military) is 33. 2.11.5 Do hospitals need road access? I don't think they do. 2.11.6 How many hospitals do I need? The capacity of each hospital is 25,000, although, they will have a higher grade at half capacity. 2.11.7 Do I really need a high LE? Logically, LE should have an effect on the available work force. The lower your LE, the less people you have working at any given population level. Well, in theory, anyway. 2.12 Recreation Zones ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.12.1 What are all these things for? Small parks and Large parks increase land value. Zoos, stadiums, and marinas increase residential demand and improve tourism. 2.12.2 Can I build a marina in the middle of land? Sure, just place a drop of water, then build the marina on top of it. The boats'll have trouble leaving though... 2.12.3 Why do my sports teams always lose? Hmmm, bad coaching? 2.12.4 Is there any value in having empty space? Property that borders empty space seems to have a higher property value. 2.12.5 Who is Captain J. Scirica? He seems to be captain of all the yachts in the marinas. Chris Weiss writes: "Joe Scirica is the Vice President of Product Development at Maxis. First Light is the name of his boat that can be seen racing around San Fransisco Bay almost every weekend." 3.0 BUDGET + OTHER WINDOWS 3.1 Property Taxes ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.1.1 How much should I set property taxes at? Well, 7% is pretty much standard. If you lower it, that will stimulate growth. If you raise it, that will stifle growth. 3.1.2 How is property tax revenue figured? Use the following formula: Population * Propert tax rate * 1.29 = Tax Revenue or, if you are taxing zones at different rates: Rpop * Rtax * 1.29 + Cpop * Ctax * 1.29 + Ipop * Itax * 1.29 where Rpop = residential population Rtax = residential tax rate(in decimal, i.e. 0.07) Cpop, Ipop = commercial, industrial population Ctax, Itax = commercial, industrial tax rate 3.1.3 Does property value have anything to do with tax revenue? No, not directly. High property values encourage growth and higher densities. A piece of land will have more tax revenue if it is of a higher density. 3.2 City Ordinances ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.2.1 Why do ordinances get passed when I'm not looking? Ordinances will get passed at random if you do not have disasters turned off. Actually, the help says: "If you've been doing very well, the city counsellors sometimes take it into their heads to begin beneficial programs using public funds." 3.3 Bond Payments ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.3.1 I'm running out of money. Should I take out a bond? Not if you can help it. If you can afford to spend $300+/year for interest, you can probably do without a bond. The only exception I can see is if a disaster destroys your only power plant. 3.3.2 How many outstanding bonds can I have? There is a maximum of 50. 3.3.3 What determines the interest rate of the bond? The bond rate is determined by adding a percentage to the current fed rate. The percentages are as follows: Rating Added Percentage AAA +1% AA +2% A +3% B +4% C +5% D +6% F +7% 3.3.4 What determines my credit rating? I believe that it's a combination of city value and outstanding debt. 3.4 Map ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.5 Graphs ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.5.1 How is traffic measured? The number on the traffic graph is the average number of cars/minute on all roads, highways, bridges. This means that you can artificially lower your traffic level by building lots of roads out in the middle of nowhere. 3.5.2 How is pollution measured? In parts per million. Several different types of buildings, most notably industrial and power plants, give off a certain level of pollution. The pollution value is a sum of all the pollution levels divided by the amount of tiles occupied by development. Thus, adding zones that don't pollute, such as a zoo, will lower the value given in the pollution graph. Non-Polluters: trees/water hydro/wind/solar/micro power plants water towers/desalination plants Mayor's House/city hall/statue/Braun Llama Dome schools/colleges/libraries/museums police stations/fire stations/hospitals small parks/big parks/zoos/marinas airport-control tower/airport-radar Polluters: (approx. pollution level) coal plant - 3400/oil plant-1680/gas plant-610/ nuclear plant-80/fusion plant-80 Plymoth Arco-1630/Launch Arco-960/Darco-735/Forest Arco 610 prison-610/stadium-240 airport:runway-125/hangar-35/tarmac-30/ parking lot-10/building-1 seaport:crane/pier-110/cargo yard-84/ loading bay-10/warehouse-1 rail depot-15/bus depot-10/sub station-1 treatment plant-5/water pump-1 Industrial:(1X1-10)-3/(2X2-80)-150/(2X2-120)-250/ (3X3-360)-? traffic-? 3.5.3 What do the power% and water% numbers mean? This is an inverse percentage of usage - the amount of power or water that you have surplus. 3.5.4 How is unemployment figured? The level of unemployment seems to be directly related to declines in R, C, or I levels. Growth in these areas will lower unemployment. 3.6 Population ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.7 City Industry ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.7.1 Can I change all of the tax rates at once? In the city industry window, you can change all of the taxes rates at once by holding down the option key. 3.7.2 Which industries need high EQ? Very High EQ - Aerospace Electronics High EQ - Petrochemicals Automotive Good EQ - Finance Media 3.7.3 Which industries pollute? Heavy Pollution - Steel/Mining Textiles Petrochemicals Automotive Mild Pollution - Food Electronics Tourism 3.8 Neighbors ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.8.1 Can I change the names of my neighbors? (MAC) Not easily, if at all. You would probably have to alter your copy of SC2K with ResEdit. If you do this, be sure to not do it on the original. 3.8.2 What other names are possible? Oak Creek, Denmont, Fort Verdegris, Schwinton, Mill Valley, Petaluma, PortVille, Ashland, Eubanks, Aurac, Tent Pegs, Cherryton, Blake, Pioneers, Fortune, Phippsville, Jeromi, Harpersville, Washers Grove, Stars County, Villa, Serviland, Newton, Avon, Dexter, Sinistrel, Jenna, Yestonia, New Boots, Hoek Creek, Stimpleton, Little Rogue, Krighton, Cats Corner, Rimmer, Lister. 3.8.3 Where do these names come from? Well, Hoek Creek and Stimpleton are from the Nickelodeon animated series Ren and Stimpy. Krighton, Cats Corner, Rimmer, and Lister are from the British science-fiction comedy Red Dwarf. Graham Wills writes: "It appears that the designers liked a slightly obscure British TV series - Blake's Seven. Several of the town names are characters or places from the series: Aurac A planet of rather pathetic telepaths Blake A leader and hero. Villa A thief. A very good thief Serviland from "Servilan", a rather attractive villainess Avon A computer expert and anti-hero Jenna A smuggler and pilot." A-1 Appendix 1 (Solving Problems) ------------------------------------------------------------ Growth * Lower taxes * Improve roads/transportation system * Improve water system * Intersperse zones * Improve land values * Build airports (Commercial) * Build seaports (Industrial) * Build connections * Lower pollution/crime/traffic * Improve education/health * Pass Legalized Gambling ordinance (Commercial) * Pass Tourist Advertising ordinance (Commercial) * Pass Business Advertising ordinance (Industrial) * Pass City Beautification ordinance (Tourism) * Pass Annual Carnival ordinance (Tourism, Commercial) * Pass Nuclear Free Zone ordinance (Residential) * Remove Nuclear Free Zone ordinance (Industrial) * Remove Parking Fines ordinance (Residential) * Remove 1% Income Tax ordinance (Residential) * Remove 1% Sales Tax ordinance (Commercial) Land Value * Build parks, trees, water * Build recreational zones * Build educational zones * Build police, fire, hospitals * Pass Pass City Beautification ordinance * Pass Homeless Shelter ordinance Pollution * Pass Pollution Control ordinance * Increase tax rate on polluting industries * Build a water treatment plant * Lower traffic * Use light industrial instead of heavy industrial * Use solar, hydro, wind, microwave, fusion power * Move poluting buildings to edges of map * Destroy parts of airports that aren't runways * Destroy parts of seaports that aren't piers Traffic * Build more roads and highways * Build mass transit * Pass Parking Fines ordinance * Intersperse different zones (build R close to I, C) Crime * Build police stations * Pass Anti-Drug Campaign ordinance * Pass Neighborhood Watch Campaign * Use more light zoning * Build prisons * Bulldoze large industrial buildings Unemployment * Bulldoze abandoned buildings * Zone more industry and commercial zones * Remove Pollution Control ordinance, if in place * Lower industrial and commercial tax rates Education * Build Schools, Colleges * Build Libraries, Museums * Pass Pro-Reading Campaign ordinance * Give tax breaks to high-EQ industries Health * Build hospitals * Pass Public Smoking Ban ordinance * Pass Free Clinic ordinance * Pass Junior Sports ordinance * Pass CPR Training ordinance A-2 Appendix 2 (Adjusting Difficulty) ------------------------------------------------------------ Money cheats Using one of the previously mentioned methods for getting more money is the simplest way to make things easier. You don't have to worry about balancing the budget and you can lower taxes to zero. No disasters Disasters can be quite, well, disasterous, for a young city. It's not a good a to leave a city running overnight without turning the disasters off. For one thing, even if you had good fire coverage, you'd probably lose a lot of your city to fire. In addition, most power plants need to be replaced every 50 years, so, soon, everyone would be out of power. Starting Level Changing the starting difficulty level changes the amount of money you start with, the frequency of disasters, and the level of external demand for your manufactured products. Starting Time Later starting times are easier because of the increased availability of inventions and the increase in external demand. Terrain Editing It's much easier to build a city on flat ground - and you can do all the flattening you want, at no cost, in the terrain editor. You can also add waterfalls for use with hydro power. Riverless hyrdo plants This source of power is not very realistic, however, it does not pollute, is fairly efficient, and does not need to be replaced every 50 years. Just place a drop of water on any slope, and build a hydro plant there. Artifically watered pumps Water pump efficiency can be artificially improved by placing drops of water next to them. Disconnected roads - roadless city By not building full road systems, it is possible to keep traffic down, however, it's not very realisitic. Heavy/Light Density Zoning If you're interested in building a city with a large population, you need to use mostly heavy zoning. A more realistic city (N.Y. and Hong Kong excepted) would have heavy to light zoning in a ratio of from 25/75 to 50/50. Arcologies Don't use them. Or, limit yourself to one of each. A-3 Appendix 3 (Making Your Own Scenarios-MAC) ------------------------------------------------------------ Well, first, you'll need a copy of ResEdit. (which can be located at ftp.apple.com in /dts/mac/tools/resedit) Then, you'll have to learn how to use it. :) (not very hard) 1. Build a city to the point that you want the scenario to start at. 2. Make a copy of your city and use ResEdit to open it. 3. ResEdit will ask if you want to make a resource fork - say yes. 4. Use ResEdit to open one of the scenario files that came with SC2K. 5. Copy and paste each resource from the scenario file to your city. (There should be four - PICT, SCEN, TEXT, and TMPL) 6. Once you've got a copy of each resource in your city, you can edit them. PICT - This is the picture that goes with the Scenario selection screen. Delete the old picture and use a graphics program to make your own picture and paste it in. The PICT should have an ID=128. TMPL - You don't need to mess with this one. TEXT - There are two TEXT ID's 128 - This text describes the scenario on the Scenario selection screen. 129 - This text is used for the extended description that pops up just before the city begins. SCEN - This resource has all of the goal details. Disaster type - There are 16 different disasters. A 0 means no disasters. Disaster Xloc, ylox - these are the origin coordiantes - I'm not exactly sure how to make use of these. Time limit (months) - you must reach goal before this many months pass. City size, Ind, Res, Com Goal - build population to this size Cash Funds-Bonds - raise this much money. Land Value Goal - increase land value to this level. Pollution, Crime, Traffic limit - I haven't experimented with these yet. There are 4 more goals that I don't know what to do with. 7. Once you've edited the resources, you need to change the file type. Use Get Info to change the file type from CITY to SCEN. 8. Now just make sure that the city is in the same folder as SC2K and everything should work out. You might have to play with the PICT to make it fit right. and you will probably need to experiment with the goals to make your scenarios challenging, yet reachable. 9. The disasters are numbered as follows: 1 fire 9 meltdown 2 flood 10 microwave 3 riots 11 volcano 4 pollution 12 firestorm 5 air crash 13 mass riots 6 earthquake 14 major floods 7 tornado 15 chemical spill 8 monster 16 hurricane *DISCLAIMER* Under no circumstance including negligence, shall I (K.K.Endo) be liable for any incidental, special, or consequential damages that result from the use of the information contained with this file.