Games PC SIMCITY 3000 UNLIMITED User Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page 2 www.simcity.com

HAIL TO THE MAYOR ......................................................................... 6

IMPORTANT: READ BEFORE YOUR INAUGURATION

(OR HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

TUTORIAL......................................................................................... 9

STEP 1: LAUNCH AND LOAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

STEP 2: SELECTING AN AREA TO BUILD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

STEP 3: BUILDING ROADS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

STEP 4: ZONING RCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

STEP 5: POWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

STEP 6: BRINGING YOUR CITY TO LIFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

STEP 7: WATER AND GARBAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

STEP 8: PROTECTING YOUR CITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

STEP 9: FINANCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

STEP 10: DATA MAPS, CHARTS, AND GRAPHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

STEP 11: DISASTER AND DESTRUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

SCENARIO TUTORIALS........................................................................ 24

THE JOY OF MAYORING: A REFERENCE GUIDE...................................... 27

OPENING MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

INFORMATION BAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

NAVIGATION PANEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

MAIN TOOLBAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

CUSTOMIZE YOUR CITY: REPLACING BUILDINGS IN SIMNATION............. 72

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 3

CITY CUSTOMIZATION CONTROLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

REPLACING INDIVIDUAL BUILDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

REPLACING MULTIPLE BUILDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

EDITING YOUR BUILDING LIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

CITY DEPARTMENTS: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER................................... 85

FINANCIAL/BUDGET DEPARTMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

CITY PLANNING DEPARTMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

ENVIRONMENTAL DEPARTMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND AURA DEPARTMENT (HEA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

UTILITIES DEPARTMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

ADVISOR Q&A: CLUES ON SOME BASIC SIMCITY STRATEGIES................. 121

SIMCITY 3000 BUILDING ARCHITECT PLUS: BUILDING BASICS .............. 127

SIMCITY 3000 BUILDING ARCHITECT TUTORIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

SIMCITY 3000 BUILDING ARCHITECT REFERENCE GUIDE....................... 139

OPENING MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

THE BUILDING ARCHITECT WORKSPACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page 4 www.simcity.com

SIMCITY 3000 SCENARIO CREATOR .................................................... 155

SCENARIO CREATOR TUTORIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

BECOMING A SCENARIO MASTER:

A REFERENCE GUIDE TO CREATING SCENARIOS ................................... 170

OPENING MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

NEW SCENARIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

SCENARIO CREATOR COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

PREPARING YOUR SCENARIO FOR LOADING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: EVEN MORE CLUES TO USING

THE SCENARIO CREATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

SHARE YOUR WARES: SIMCITY EXCHANGE .......................................... 198

SIMLANGUAGE: A GLOSSARY FOR SIMNATION..................................... 201

INDEX ............................................................................................. 212

CREDITS .......................................................................................... 216

WARRANTY...................................................................................... 219

This product has been rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. For information about the ESRB rating, or to comment about the appropriateness of the rating, please contact the ESRB at 1-800-771-3772.

HAIL TO THE MAYOR

Page 6 www.simcity.com

HAIL TO THE MAYOR!

Welcome to SimCity 3000™Unlimited! Congratulations on your entry into the elite mayoral force of this growing SimNation. Whether you’ve cut your political teeth as mayor in other SimNations, or this is your first elected office, there are a few things you need to know before you begin making executive decisions.

As Mayor, your power may seem unlimited. You can build roads, or decide to create a city where no one needs a car. You may want to try your hand at building an industrial powerhouse, or an island paradise. Perhaps you’d like to have both the Eiffel Tower and

the Empire State Building in your city. Or maybe you are one of those artistic mayors who prefers to design their own buildings. You have the power to create cities, buildings, strategies, even city goals that other mayors must try to fulfill. And your cities are not limited to your own imagination; you can share your creations and gain insights in global meetings with other mayors all over the world.

Did we say your power was unlimited? Not entirely correct. See those little beings walking about in your city? They are Sims, the inhabitants of any SimNation. Remember, you are holding an elected office. Those little beings can unelect you if they are unhappy with your mayoral decisions. There’s a lot of leeway here, as Sims come with all sorts of needs and desires. Some Sims want to live where captains of industry roam the streets and skyscrapers abound. Others harbor dreams of operating a farm on the edge of town, or of living in an eco-friendly mountain community. As mayor, you will need to balance your visions of city growth with providing your Sims an attractive place to live. Every decision you make ripples from one end of SimCity™to the other. If your Sims move to other communities, you are out of a job. If they are happy, your city will prosper. Of course, one never knows when disaster may hit. Unless, as mayor, you planned it all along.

So get creative and unlock that shady Machiavellian side of yourself that rarely gets to let loose. If you read this guide, give ear to your advisors, and learn from your fellow mayors; you will be orchestrating the operations of a megalopolis sooner than you think. After that, who knows where your political aspirations might lead?

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 7

IMPORTANT: READ BEFORE YOUR INAUGURATION (OR HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL)

SimCity 3000 Unlimited is a game of strategy. If you follow the

Tutorials

and read the

Resource Sections

of this guide, you will become familiar with many of the tools and strategies needed to become a successful mayor. But there are endless ways to play SimCity–as many as there are individuals who try out their mayoral robes. The following suggestions will help you get the most out of this guide, as well as out of your experience as mayor of SimCity 3000 Unlimited:

Already been a mayor? There is a good deal of new information in this manual. Look for flagged new features, and use the index to look up references to aspects of the game you would like to know more about.

◆ Start by going through the

Tutorial

, especially if you are new to the world of

SimCity. The

Tutorial

will give you hands-on experience with the basic tools

you’ll need to begin creating your own cities.

◆ Use the

Scenario Tutorials

provided. These scenarios will introduce you to

some more advanced building tools, and will help you become even more familiar with various aspects of SimCity 3000 Unlimited.

◆ Read this manual. There is a ton of information in here, both pragmatic and strategic. The

Reference Guide

tells you about the functions and menus on the screen. It’s a good idea to take a look at this so you don’t miss out on some neat application you may not have known existed. The

City Departments

section is full of good information on how cities in SimNation work. A good manual-reading strategy is to read it once as a beginner, play a bunch, then read it again. Already been playing for a while? Read the manual anyway. You may find out something you didn’t know before. Whoever you are, you’ll be a better player if you read these instructions! We promise.

◆ SimLanguage got you confused? There’s a

glossary

of terms in the appendices

of this guide.

◆ Play. Experiment. Fail. The best way to hone your mayoring skills is to

practice them. As you play SimCity 3000 Unlimited, you’ll create your own strategies to accomplish your goals.

HAIL TO THE MAYOR

Page 8 www.simcity.com

◆ In the middle of a game and forgot how to build a highway ramp? Use the

index

help pinpoint the information you seek.

◆ Want to know more? Use the SimCity website (www.simcity.com). There are all sorts of

hints, how-to’s, and notes on strategies from the folks who created SimCity 3000 Unlimited; and from players like you. Also regularly check out the

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

on various aspects of the game. These are updated as new queries arise.

◆ Share your skills. Use

SimCity Exchange

to expand your horizons. Talk to friends who have also been elected. There’s a whole community of politicos out there who may have developed a new twist for handling high pollution levels, or who think your architectural creations are worthy of Frank Lloyd Wright status. You’ll never know until you begin comparing notes!

◆ Have fun! It’s a game!

TUTORIAL

Page 10 www.simcity.com

TUTORIAL

This Tutorial walks you through the beginning stages of building a city and familiarizes you with some of the basic tools of SimCity 3000 Unlimited. There are many types of cities you can build with SimCity 3000 Unlimited and many ways to begin construction. Here’s one way to go about it.

STEP 1: LAUNCH AND LOAD

This tutorial calls for the use of a specific saved game.

1. The first thing you need to do is launch SimCity 3000 Unlimited. If you need any help, please see the

Reference Card

2. When the

Opening Menu

appears, select

Load City

, then open the city named

Tutorial.

Each time you start a new city or load a city, the simulation speed is set to

Pause

. Keep it that way for now so you can build in peace, without the demands of your incoming Sims. You’ll be ready for them soon.

STEP 2: SELECTING AN AREA TO BUILD

Well, here it is! This is where the magic happens. Over on the right, you have all of the tools you’ll need to build any kind of city you can dream of. This is called the

Main Toolbar

. Across the bottom of the screen, you have at a glance all the information you’ll need to make sure every gear is spinning just the way you like it. This is your

Information Bar

Your first step is to find a large open area to build your future metropolis–the bigger the area, the better. When you start a new city, the city view is set to the furthest zoom level.

To scroll freely around the

City View

, click and hold the right mouse

button then move the mouse in the direction you wish to scroll.

To center the view on your cursor, single-click the left mouse button.

Zoom In one level using the

Zoom In

button in the

View Panel

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 11

View Panel

Landscape Zone Build Transportation Build Utilities Place Civic/Special Buildings

Emergency

Meet Adjust & Review Change Settings & Exit

Main Toolbar

Information Bar

News Ticker

City Name

Simulation Speed Control

Population

Funds

Date

Demand Indicator

Query

Layer Views

Navigation Map

Zoom In

Zoom Out

Rotate

City View

Hide Toolbars button

TUTORIAL

Page 12 www.simcity.com

STEP 3: BUILDING ROADS

Transportation is critical to the growth of your city. Let’s build a few roads.

Click the

Road

button from within the

Build Transportation

button menu.

Move the cursor over to the

City View

You’ll notice that as you move the cursor into the

City View

window, the cursor will change appearance to indicate the selected tool. In this case, the cursor represents a transportation tool–roads, to be exact.

Click and drag the mouse where you wish to place your first road. Create a road that is ten tiles in length.

The line you’ve drawn represents where the road you’re creating will be placed; it is called the

Drop Shadow

. Upon releasing the mouse button, the

Drop Shadow

turns into a road. If

you cannot place an item, the

Drop Shadow

will turn red indicating you need to select a different location. If you start to place any item and change your mind about placement, you can cancel the action by making sure the

Shift key

is pressed before you release the

mouse button.

Build a series of straight roads along the grid to end up with a square that is 10 tiles by 10 tiles.

5. Continue drawing roads until your map looks like the following picture.

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 13

STEP 4: ZONING RCI

There are three zone types that Sims need in order to have a functioning city: Residential, Commercial and Industrial. Residential zones are where your Sims live. Commercial zones contain shops and offices. The Industrial zones contain various factories, industries and warehouses. Sims need a lot of room to live, so let’s zone the middle area you’ve created with your roads as residential.

The

Residential

icon contains a submenu of options. The active item from each

submenu is designated by a

Checkmark

. In the case of the

Residential

zone button,

the default is for

Light Residential

. Once a different zone density has been selected

in this submenu, it will become the new default.

Residential areas can be zoned in 3 different densities: Light, Medium, and Dense. This allows you precise control over what your Sims can build.

Move the cursor to highlight

Medium Residential

and release the

mouse button.

Move the cursor to the

City View

and click on one of the corners of the

8x8 enclosed area, but do not release the mouse button.

Drag the zoning

Drop Shadow

until it covers the tiles within the 8x8

enclosed area.

Release the mouse button; the

Drop Shadow

will become a medium density residential zone. Don’t worry if you don’t fill in the square in one swipe. You can designate zoning by clicking on individual tiles if you need or wish to. For this tutorial, zone as many tiles as you need to fill in the square.

In the two remaining rectangles created by your roads, you want to provide an area where Sims will be able to work and shop.

Select

Light Commercial

from the

Zone

menu and fill one of the

smaller enclosed rectangles.

Select

Medium Industrial

from the

Zone

menu and fill the remaining

enclosed rectangle.

Click on the Zone button on the Main Toolbar. A menu of icons will pop up. Click and hold the Residential button.

TUTORIAL

Page 14 www.simcity.com

You should now have a layout that looks like the following image:

As you become more familiar with aspects of city zoning, you will find that you need plenty of residential areas to support the commercial and industrial districts of your city. Don’t be skimpy with providing your Sims with areas to live.

STEP 5: POWER

Sims need power, yet typically do not like living next to power plants. Usually, the more distance between power plants and residential zones the better. However, for the sake of this tutorial, pick a location just a short distance from your zoned area.

This brings up a window containing a selection of power plants. Because this city started in the year 1950, you have a very limited selection of power plants.

Select the coal plant and click the

Checkmark

to signal your choice and close

the window. Then move the cursor to the

City View

over the area you have

chosen to locate your power plant. Notice that the

Drop Shadow

for the coal

plant is 4x4.

Place the coal plant with a single-click of the left mouse button.

Now you need to run power lines from the power plant to the zones.

3. Draw a row of power lines that connects the coal plant to at least one point of any of your zones.

Ready to power your city? Click on the POWER PLANTS button located within the BUILD UTILITIES button menu on the MAIN TOOLBAR.

Select

POWER LINES

from within the

BUILD UTILITIES

button menu. Power lines are

built just like roads; you can click and drag the

DROP SHADOW

in a line.

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 15

For more information on what your Sims’ power needs are, please refer to your

Utilities Department.

STEP 6: BRINGING YOUR CITY TO LIFE

Are you ready to see your city come to life? It’s time to see the first fruits of your labor.

Let a few months tick by. Sims are starting to move into their new homes, and workplaces are being established. The types of buildings that are built reflect both the density and land value of that zone. For more information on the relationship between zones and land value, see the

City Planning Department

You can see time pass by looking at the

Date

next to the

Simulation Speed Control.

So what else is happening in your city?

Look at the

RCI Demand Indicator

in the

Information Bar

. This tool provides feedback regarding what zone types are in demand in your city. When the meter, or bar, for a zone type is up, that means the Sims could use more of that zone type. If the meter is down, then there is a surplus of that zone. It is possible to have the

RCI Demand Indicator

levels up even though you have a lot of that zone. See the

City

Planning Department

for more information.

Pause the game again by clicking on the

Pause Simulation button

the

Simulation Speed Control arrow

; it’s time for more additions to

your city.

Move the speed of the simulator from PAUSE

to full speed by clicking on the extreme right speed marker on the SIMULATION SPEED CONTROL

located

in the

INFORMATION BAR.

Then click

the Run

SIMULATION

arrow to turn the

simulation on.

TUTORIAL

Page 16 www.simcity.com

STEP 7: WATER AND GARBAGE

There are two more utilities that are absolutely essential to your Sims’ lives: Water and, yup, Garbage Disposal.

WATER

1. Click on the

Meet

button on the

Main Toolbar

. This is where you’ll go to

meet with an Advisor or Petitioner.

2. Select the

Utilities Advisor

and select

Briefings

from the drop-down menu.

Briefings

contain reference documents provided by SimNation.

3. Read through the briefing Getting Water To Your Sims.

4. When you’re done, close the

Advisor Window

and select

Water Structures

from within the

Build Utilities

button menu. This brings up a window

containing a selection of water supplying structures.

5. Select the

Pumping Station

from the list of available water structures.

6. Move the cursor to a site near your zones in the

City View

window and

place a

Pumping Station

by clicking the mouse button. Water pumping stations must be built near a fresh water source to operate. If the location you have selected for your water pumping station is not within two tiles of fresh water, the pump will have no pumping capacity. The easy solution is to create surface water (See the

Landscape

section of the

Reference

Section

7. You need power to pump water to all of your Sims! Select the

Power Lines

button from within the

Build Utilities

button menu.

8. Draw a row of power lines that connects the nearest powered zone or power plant to the pumping station (Again, learn about power in your

Utilities

Department

9. The pumping station holds and pumps water to the thirsty Sims, but we doubt they’ll come to the pumping station with buckets. You need to build a way for the water to travel to your Sims. You do this by connecting the water pumping station to the zones with pipes (but don’t forget that power!).

10. Select the

Water Pipes

button from within the

Build Utilities

button menu

on the Main Toolbar

. You’ll see this:

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 17

Whoa! Don’t worry! You are now looking at the

Underground View

of your city. This layer shows how your water pipes are laid out as well as all of the structures that are providing water. It also shows which tiles are watered by the pipes, and which ones are still out of reach. Notice the tiles change color from brown to blue within a few weeks of laying the water pipes. The tiles colored blue are watered. The only building you currently see is the

Underground View

of your water pumping station

11. Click and drag a line of water pipes that connects the water pumping station to your developing zones. Again, this is done just as if you are building a road.

12. All tiles within seven tiles of any part of the pipe will be watered as long as there is water running in the pipes.

13. Start the simulator by clicking on the fourth tick mark (African Swallow) and then the

Run Simulation

arrow on the

Simulation

Speed Control

in the

Information Bar

14. Let a little time pass and watch as water begins to radiate from the pipes to the zones. Watered areas will appear in blue in the

Underground View

for pipes.

15. Now return to the above ground view by clicking on the

View City

Layers

button at the top right of your

Navigation Map

16. Click on the

Default View

17. Now click on the

Checkmark

. You should be back in the land of

clouds and sky.

18. Let’s pause the game again and deal with your city’s garbage.

TUTORIAL

Page 18 www.simcity.com

GARBAGE

Since Sims are moving in and happily going about their daily lives, you should start seeing messages in the News Ticker (the text scrolling along in the Information Bar) letting you know what is going on in your city. The Sims may not be complaining about waste management yet, but trust us–deal with garbage before you need to. An ounce of prevention here can save you from being overwhelmed by tons of trash later.

1. Click on the

Meet

button and then select the

Environmental Advisor

for a

little talk.

2. Read through the

Briefing

on Dealing with Garbage, and then close the

Advisor

window.

Pause the simulator again so you can do some more work while the Sims spend a little time in suspended animation. We’ve got to get to work on a landfill! Usually you’d want to keep a landfill as far from your city center as possible. For this tutorial, though, let’s put it relatively close in.

3. Find some land near your zoned area and then select

Landfill

from within the

Zone

button menu. Since landfills are a type of zone, you can place them in the

same way you placed the residential, commercial, and industrial zones.

4. Zone a landfill that is 4x4.

You don’t need to worry about powering a landfill, but you need to be sure there’s a way for the garbage trucks to get there.

5. Build a road from the zones to the landfill.

6. Unpause the simulator again.

7. Zoom in using the

Zoom

button (+) in the

View Panel

and watch as garbage

trucks start taking trash to the dump.

Over time the landfill will show signs of use. This is just one example of how SimCity 3000 Unlimited gives you visual feedback to let you know the status of your city. Always keep an

eye on various aspects of your city to see how well everything is doing. The query tool and the maps view will help you watch over your SimCity and your Sims. These tools are discussed later in the manual.

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 19

STEP 8: PROTECTING YOUR CITIES

Safety is very important in your city. Without police and fire protection, how do you expect your Sims to sleep at night? You need to place a police station and a fire station to satisfy the security needs of your Sims.

1. Click on the

Place Civic/Special Buildings

button menu. Here you

will find the

Police

and

Fire Station

buttons.

The submenu in the

Police

button contains the

Police Station

. The

Fire Station

has

its own button under the

Place Civic/Special Buildings

button.

2. Place one of each building along the road near your landfill. If you place the buildings more than five tiles away from the zoned area (which has power), you need to run power lines to them from any powered building or zone. Not sure if they have power?

3. Click the Query button at the right side of the Information Bar. You can click on anything in your city with this tool and a window containing information about that particular item will appear on the screen.

4. Armed with your query tool, click on your newly built police and fire station. If they are not powered, you will need to run power lines to them.

TUTORIAL

Page 20 www.simcity.com

Anytime you provide your Sims with a new water or power connection, make sure you are not in Pause mode when checking to see if the connection is working. Time needs to pass for the power to travel and water to flow. You might want to build in Pause mode, then run the simulation for up to a month before checking to see if buildings or zones are provided with water and power.

5. Got your information? To close the

Query Window

, click the

Checkmark

the lower, right corner.

Keep in mind that having a single police department and a single fire station is fine as long as your city remains small. As your city grows, and your population of Sims multiplies, you will need to build more police and fire stations to keep everyone safe and sound. For more information on maintaining proper safety coverage, see the

Public Safety Department

section in this manual.

STEP 9: FINANCES

Did you happen to notice that as you built your roads, power lines, and water pipes a number of increasing value followed your cursor about? Did you think water pipes were free? Ha! Practically anything you build in your city comes with a pricetag. The monetary unit of SimNation is the

Simoleon

1. Open the

Budget Window

by clicking

on the

Budget

button from within the

Adjust & Review

button menu. This is

where you monitor and control the way you spend your money.

2. Look at the

Police Budget

line item.

3. You can adjust each budget by moving the

Percent Sign Slider

that appears to the right of each department name. Each slider has a marker. The marker represents the percentage of your annual budget the Advisor for that department wants you to allocate (and, just as in real life, your advisors are somewhat biased). Leave the Police and Fire Budgets at the spending levels recommended by your Public Safety Advisor.

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 21

4. At the bottom of the window, you’re told whether you are projected to make or lose money at the end of the year. If projections show you will lose money, you can try raising taxes to increase your income.

5. Click on the

Income

button at the top of the

Budget Window

6. Adjust the tax rates for

Residential, Commercial

Industrial

categories by clicking on the

Up/Down Arrow

in the appropriate line

to increase or decrease the tax rate.

Raising and lowering taxes can have large consequences for your city. While taxes are key to your budget, tax rates are also a means by which you can attract or discourage certain kinds of development in your city. Low residential tax rates will attract Sims to move into your town. Decrease the industrial tax rates and watch new factories (and pollution) pour in. Other factors can have an effect here, but understanding tax rates will help you immensely as you plan your city’s future. Check with your Financial Advisor for more information.

7. Look through and familiarize yourself with your city’s

Income

and

Expenditures

8. Close the

Budget Window

by clicking the

Checkmark

in the lower

right corner.

STEP 10: DATA MAPS, CHARTS, AND GRAPHS

You are not limited to visual feedback for information about your city’s status quo. Your advisors provide you with up-to-date Data Maps, Charts, and Graphs to help you gain a better understanding of your city. You can get different overviews of the current state of your city, or you may choose to obtain historical data on various aspects of your city’s growth.

1. Click on the

View Data

button located within the

Adjust & Review

button menu on the

Main Toolbar

. Choose from a list of subject maps

on the left to see an overview of your city as it stands now.

2. Now click on the

Chart

and

Graph

s buttons to review all the kinds of information you can access and compare. You’ll get more information on these in the

Maps, Charts, and Graphs

section of this manual.

3. When you are finished looking at your city’s statistics, close any open windows by clicking on the X in the upper right corner.

TUTORIAL

Page 22 www.simcity.com

STEP 11: DISASTER AND DESTRUCTION

Disasters happen all the time in the real world and SimCities are no exception. In fact, it seems as if more and more disasters are occurring all the time. As mayor, you may have to deal with several unforeseen disastrous events. You might also decide that you want to see what happens when an earthquake rumbles through, or a plague of locusts descends. Before you unleash anything in your city, it’s a good idea to save the game.

1. Click on the

Save As

button found within the

Change Settings & Exit

button

menu; this opens the

Save City Window

2. Name the file anything other than Tutorial (otherwise you’ll save over this tutorial).

3. You can choose the location of the file in which you save your city, but let’s leave this one in the default directory.

4. Click the

Checkmark

to save.

Back to the game? Good. Time to destroy what you have created.

5. Press the Start Disaster button located within the Emergency button menu on the Main Toolbar and select Fire.

A fire will soon start in your city. The City View will automatically center on the location of the fire as it breaks out.

You can choose to turn off the Auto Go To Disasters feature in the Preferences Window from the Opening menu. You may also open the Preferences Window during game play under the Change Settings & Exit menu in the Main Toolbar.

During a disaster the Simulator runs at a very slow speed so you have time to deal with the effects. The Simulation Speed Control is disabled until the disaster runs its course. Once the devastating event is over, the simulation speed will return to the setting it was at prior to the disaster.

You have to hurry and get some firefighters out to the blaze before it reduces your city to rubble!

6. Click on the

Dispatch Firefighters

button, located within the

Emergency

button menu.

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 23

You have firefighters to dispatch because you built a fire station. If you had no fire coverage, your Sims would rally a volunteer group to dispatch at your command. Click on a tile near the fire.

This dispatches one of your two fire units–one of professional firefighters from the fire station and one of volunteers. Each subsequent fire station you build will give you one additional dispatch unit. After leaving the fire dispatch unit next to a fire for a long enough time, the fire will be put out.

7. Click on another tile near a fire to dispatch your second fire unit.

8. If you click on yet another tile, it will move the first of your two dispatch units to this new location.

9. Continue to dispatch your fire fighting units to surround the blaze until you manage to put it out.

Ready to move on?

10. Once you have either put out all of the fires, or your city is burnt to the ground, click on the

Load City

button from within the

Change

Settings & Exit

button menu in the

Main Toolbar

11. You will be asked if you want to save your current city. Select No, and then click on your saved game when the

Load City

window

comes up. Voila, good as new!

As you continue to explore what you can create as Mayor of a SimCity, Sims will continue to ask for more and more things (keep your eye on the

News Ticker!

). It’s up to you to make their dreams, as well as your own, a reality. Feel free to continue building this city, or start a brand new one. The choice is yours!

TUTORIAL

www.simcity.com

SCENARIO TUTORIALS

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 25

SCENARIO TUTORIALS

Want a little more experience before you dive in? Scenarios are cities which require you, as mayor, to perform certain tasks and achieve specific goals in an already existing city. Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of help along the way. Just remember to read your News Tickers and any Pop-up Messages that appear. These messages will tell you what you need to do and how to do it. To access these tutorials, you need to open the

Load Scenario

window.

If you are at the

Opening

menu:

1. Click on

Play Scenario

2. Select one of the

Tutorial Scenarios

from the browse menu.

3. You’ll see a

Thumbnail

of the scenario town and a description of what

you’ll learn on the left.

4. Found one that sounds interesting? Click on the

Checkmark

and

SimCity 3000 Unlimited will get the tutorial ready for you.

5. Don’t feel like doing a tutorial right now? Click the X at the top right and you’ll return to the

Opening menu.

SCENARIO TUTORIALS

Page 26 www.simcity.com

If you are playing a game:

1. Open the

Change Settings & Exit

menu on the

Main Toolbar

2. Click and hold the

Load

button, then select

Scenario

from the submenu.

3. You’ll see a window that asks if you want to save the current city. Make your selection.

4. After you’ve saved (or declined to save) your current city, the

Load Scenario

window will appear.

5. Follow the above procedures so that you can play one of the

Tutorial

Scenarios

THE JOY OF MAYORING: A REFERENCE GUIDE

Page 28 www.simcity.com

THE JOY OF MAYORING: A REFERENCE GUIDE

This section gives you a breakdown of the tools, buttons, and menus you’ll see in SimCity 3000 Unlimited.

OPENING MENU

After you launch SimCity 3000 Unlimited, the

Opening Menu

is the first place you’ll begin

making decisions. You have seven options in this menu:

Start New City, Load City, Starter

Town, Real City Terrain, Play Scenario, Preferences

, and

Exit

. Each option is detailed below.

START NEW CITY

NEW CITY OPTIONS WINDOW

When you click on

Start New City

, your first step is to determine your

New City Options.

You’ll need to fill in information or make selections in the following areas:

CITY NAME

Anything that suits your fancy, up to a maximum of 50 characters.

MAYOR NAME

This is how your Sims will address you. Select any name less than 50 characters. Those seeking your attention will address you as Mayor ‘MAYOR NAME’, so take this into consideration when choosing your name.

SimCity 3000 Unlimited Page 29

DIFFICULTY LEVEL

Choose an easy game, a hard game, or something in between. Easy games give you more money to start with.

START DATE

The year your city is established. The date you choose here has an impact on immediately available structures and utilities.

CITY SIZE

The number of tiles in your city. (Low end systems will have better game performance with smaller cities).

DISASTERS

This button allows you to enable or disable disasters during game play. Do you want to play it safe, or take your chances?

AUTO BUDGET

When this is checked, the financial advisor will maintain status quo on each budget item. The

Budget Window

will only appear at the end of the year if your city’s available funds are negative (you are in the red).

GRAPHICS

Your first major creative decision. SimCity 3000 Unlimited

PREFERENCE

allows you to choose the overall look of your city. By clicking on the different selections under each category, you can choose the type of

Landscape, Trees

, and

Buildings

for your city. The image at the right will show you how your selections will appear. You may change your city’s look anytime during the game under the

City

Options

window found in the

Change Settings & Exit

menu of the

Main Toolbar

. If you save your city, your

selections will be saved as well.

USER-MADE

This button will open the window for the

Building Replacement

BUILDINGS Manager

. From this window, you can choose to replace individual buildings or entire building groups in your city with available User-Made Buildings from your SimCity files. See the section on Building Replacement: Customize Your City for more information about this feature.

THE JOY OF MAYORING

+ 196 hidden pages

Games PC SIMCITY 3000 UNLIMITED User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual