SimCity 4!

[Terran]

Anyone up for some discussion? I'm new at it, so I have a couple of questions, probably dumb ones. I've been playing Sim City since 1989, and I think this is by far the best version yet. The graphics are simply beautiful.

My primary city is up to about 16,000 healthy and well-educated people (yeah, not much, but I'm proud of it). It's doing beautifully so far, and I'm managing to stay in the black most of the time. But one question I have is: why don't I have access to a lot of the recreational stuff, like the basketball court, soccer field, etc.; or the small flower garden or playground? Or even any of the larger parks and plazas? Do I just need a higher population for those? That seems strange for the playground and the sports facilities--even very small towns have those things. None of these things are "Rewards," are they?

[amlouden]

1. it's ok

this is an ok version, i've gotten over 5 million in a couple of my cities

[Terran]

4. Wow, 5 million!

That's in one city, or within a region?

Just ok?? Maybe you didn't play the earlier versions. When I think about the first version and compare it to this, it's pretty astonishing.

So can you answer my question about recreational facilities? Do you remember if you get them later in the game?

[amlouden]

6. yes

i've played all versions, there were some things left to be desired

[Cheswick2.0]

2. you only have access when you can afford them

at least in the versions I have played. I have 2000 so I bet I would love 4!
Have fun!!!

[Terran]

3. SC2000 was great

but the graphics in 4 are lightyears ahead of 2000. I do miss SC2K, though, because there was huge artistic community that flowered around it, devoted to creating new buildings for the game. Cheswick, if you want, I have several graphics sets for SC2K that are really very beautiful--one of them is fantastic 1920's set that is just awesome!

When you decide to move up, I would skip SC3000 and go straight for SC4, if you can (the hardware requirements are fairly high). 3000 was pretty good but still had a lot of flaws that have been fixed, IMO, in this new game.

Dirk

[Philosophy]

5. Do you have a really slow computer?

I just got this game a couple of weeks ago, and you should have access to those from the very beginning of the game. I saw on a discussion site that I was checking for another problem somebody asked something like this and I think they found out it was because they had some detail option at the lowest possible level, so all the parks and stuff would just show up as plain green squares.

[Terran]

8. Uh, no.

The game is huge, and wouldn't run on a really slow computer, I imagine. I have quite a good hardware configuration--I haven't any problems running the game at all, unlike a lot of people I have seen online discussing lock ups and crashes.

I'll check the menus agin, maybe I'm just not noticing some tab that would give me more options in the recreation menu, but I have only seen the open grassy area, small park, four kinds of community garden, and the beach tile.

[SmileyBoy]

7. I'm going to give you some cheat codes:

If you're against using them, I understand. A lot of players are morally against them. I'm not one of them.

Press <ctrl>, <shift>, <alt> and <C> at the same time to open the cheat box.

Type in the following:

All recreational and civic rewards: "you don't deserve it"
All water facilities: "howdryiam"
No power requirements for buildings: "fightthepower"
Get 1,000 simoleons: "weaknesspays"
To keep constantly getting 1,000 simoleans, type in "weaknesspays",
press shift, the down arrow, and enter simultaneously. Keep repeating until you get the money you want.

I've got the Rush Hour expansion pack, and it kicks ass.

[Terran]

9. cool, thank you!

I knew about the "you don't deserve it" cheat, but not those others. I usually don't use cheats in Sim City, but they can be fun sometimes. Money hasn't been a problem so far (it seems a little easier to stay solvent in this version of the game than in previous versions), but it's nice to know you can get more if you need it.

Dirk