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- 1. Tips
- 2. Hack
- 1. Tips:
- =======
- Work out an overall plan and then stick to it. At the start either take a
- chance and accept whatever terrain the PC throws at you or terraform the
- landscape to provide better city-building conditions. Flat land is ideal
- although distant hills provide sites for solar power stations later on.
- Always build near a river. As soon as your city reaches a decent size you'll
- need a port to increase trade with other sim cities. Don't worry about
- clearing any nearby forests though. This costs money and makes you unpopular.
- Your sims will cut them down as soon as they start running out of space
- anyway.
-
- Zoning:
- ------
- Don't build huge industrial sites next to residential areas and try not to
- build commercial centres miles away from your population centres. Sims would
- rather walk to work given the choice. Build small clusters of industrial
- commercial and residential zones - it's easier to keep abreast of exactly how
- your city is developing. Parks and sporting facilities can be added to
- enhance your neighbourhoods and increase the value of adjacent land.
-
- Martial law:
- -----------
- Policing is important if you want to attract big business and hordes of
- tourists but can you afford the stations? The neighbourhood watch scheme is a
- good way to cut down on crime and is cheaper than funding a police station.
- Plan an even distribution of police stations throughout your city - each has
- its own zone of influence and any land falling outside this area is liable to
- attract unsavoury characters.
-
- Financial bonds:
- ---------------
- Only use bonds when there's an emergency such as a major disaster or power
- faliure. Once your city's up and running you can usually afford to have three
- or four bonds on the go - but the amount of interest you pay will limit your
- ability for expansion.
-
- Transport:
- ---------
- The biggest problem is finding the space to lay the railway lines or build a
- depot. Bus stations are a cheap resource but they soon become under
- increasing pressure as your city expands. If you have enough cash go for a
- subway. Don't forget you need to set up sub-stations along the way otherwise
- nobody will use the system. If gridlock persists take some drastic action.
- Demolish parts of your city and build surface rail links.
-
- Taxes:
- -----
- Setting a realistic tax rate is probably the biggest challenge. Set it too
- high and no one will want to come and live in your city. Conversely set it
- too low and you'll quickly run out of funds. It's best to set an initial tax
- rate of 6% to stimulate growth then whack it up to 8% per annum to keep the
- readies rolling in.
-
- Planning ahead:
- --------------
- Electronics play an increasingly dominant role so encourage early growth. If
- you set a low overall tax rate for the electronics industry - around 1%
- you'll encourage electronics firms to move into the area. Once the industry
- shows signs of strong growth you can increase the tax rate to hive off some
- of the profits.
-
- Dealing with disasters:
- ----------------------
- FIRE: It might sound obvious but fires must be dealt with swiftly unless you
- want to see your city disappear in a raging inferno. If your fire stations
- are a bit thin on the ground and things are rapidly getting out of hand try
- demolishing a ring of buildings to create a natural fire-break. It'll save
- you a lot of money and rebuilding in the long run.
- FLOOD: If your city is in danger of being transformed into the Lost City of
- Atlantis use the 'Raise terrain' option to put some dirt between the flood
- waters and your precious sims.
- MONSTERS: There's not much you can do about a rampaging monster unless you've
- already established an army base. Even then the dumb critter might hand out
- in your downtown area setting fire to anything and everything.
- AIR CRASH: This is a minor disaster - unless you're one of the sims on the
- plane. If you have four or more fire-stations you should be able to cope with
- the carnage.
- RIOTS: Should the populace rise up in revolt send in the riot police to sort
- things out. Democracy? Never heard of it mate.
-
- Taking a breather:
- -----------------
- One of the most useful tools you have is the pause mode. As soon as you start
- a new city - pause the game and plan your first few zones. When there's a
- disaster you can still deploy your fire and police units with the game
- paused. This is useful for fire-related disasters and chemical spills which
- spread quickly if you don't control them properly.
-
- 2. Hack:
- =======
- Swell the city coffers by using this cheat. Over $2,138,000,000 will go an
- awful long way and it's easy when you know how. Create a city on easy level.
- Name it. Save it then quit the game. Now use a hex editor to change a value
- in the save game. At offset 39 (hex 27) change: 00 02 42 20 to: 7F 02 FF FF.
- Svae the file and run the game. Load up the saved game and start spending!
- *EOF*
-