Games PC SIMCITY 4-DELUXE EDITION User Manual
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 3
GETTING STARTED: TIPS FOR NEW MAYORS..................... 5
NEW IN TOW N? .....................................................................5
WHERE C AN YOU LE ARN M ORE? ...........................................7
REFERENCE GUIDE
REGIONS .......................................................................... 8
REGION B ASIC S.......................................................................8
REGION V IEW OPTIO NS PANEL ..............................................9
CONNECT TO SIMCIT Y.COM.................................................. 11
QUIT ..................................................................................... 11
CIT Y PANEL ........................................................................... 11
PLAYING A CITY ............................................................. 14
UNIV ERSA L CONTRO L PANEL ............................................... 14
PRE - INCORPO RATED CIT Y TOOLS .........................................20
INCORPOR ATING A CIT Y .......................................................28
POST INCORPOR ATED CIT Y TOOL S .......................................29
MAYOR MODE ................................................................ 31
L ANDSC A PE TOOLS ..............................................................31
ZONE TOOLS ........................................................................34
TR ANSPORTATION TOOL S..................................................... 37
UTIL ITIES TOOLS ................................................................... 45
CONNECTING CITIES ............................................................48
CIVIC TOOLS .........................................................................49
MAYOR PANEL ...................................................................... 53
SIMCIT Y 4 DELUXE EDITION
............... 8
2
3
MY SIM MODE................................................................. 76
MICROPHONE TOOL............................................................. 76
U - DRI VE - IT ........................................................................... 76
MISSION CHART .................................................................... 80
MY SIMS ................................................................................83
OPTIONS ........................................................................ 87
CA MER A MOD E .................................................................... 87
PHOTO ALB UM ..................................................................... 87
GRAPHIC OPTI ONS ...............................................................88
AUDIO OP TIONS................................................................... 90
PL AY OPTIONS ......................................................................90
ADDI TION AL CI TY V IE W OPTIONS ........................................ 91
INDEX............................................................................. 92
NOTE TO BUYERS OF SIMCITY 4 RUSH HOUR EXPANSION PACK
Already own SimCity 4? When you install the SimCity 4 Rush Hour Expansion Pack, the process
will automatically recongure and update your version of SimCity 4 so that it offers the same
gameplay as SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition. For those of you who are mathematically minded...
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition = SimCity 4 + SimCity 4 Rush Hour Expansion Pack
So don’t rush out and buy Rush Hour if you have SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition, and if you’ve
already bought SimCity4 Rush Hour, don’t buy the Deluxe Edition—you already have it! This
manual is included with BOTH products. Features new to SimCity4 Rush Hour are designated in
the manual. Have fun!
INTRODUCTION
Is it time—to be Mayor?
Do you have the empire-building skills to develop a metropolis of soaring skyscrapers or the
aesthetic sensibilities to create a city that delights the eye? Do you enjoy tinkering with an
entire world—widening a river bed there, increasing a tax rate here—to see the effects on the
inhabitants under your sway? Or do you want to get down and dirty with The Sims in your streets,
taking on missions that have you hurtling down highways in a tank? Whether you tend to the godlike or mortal, SimCity™4 Deluxe Edition offers innite opportunities for you to create (or destroy)
the metropolis of your dreams!
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition gives you power that extends from the god-like creation of
mountainscapes to the adjustment of funding levels at a local elementary school. You’d like a
certain Sim to commute to work on a pogo stick? Thy will be done. You may create a mountain
aerie of high-tech industry, or a bustling urban manufacturing center. With SimCity 4 Deluxe
Edition, you can even interconnect the two cities to trade jobs, goods, and services. Whether you
use your creativity to develop independent cities, or prefer to offer your Sims a larger view on life
through interdependent communities, you must make your world a prosperous and desirable place
for your citizens to live. It can be quite a challenge, but don’t worry. If you get too frustrated with
events, you can always unleash meteor showers upon your land.
How will you know if you are succeeding as Mayor? You have a myriad of information at your
ngertips. Your city statisticians work tirelessly to provide you with data, graphs, and reports that
keep your nger on your city’s pulse. You know in which corner of your city crime is at its worst,
where the best-educated Sims live, and which roads are most congested. But that’s not all. With
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition, your Sims can contact you directly with their thoughts and feelings about
your administration. If you are a really outgoing Mayor, you can interview passing Sims on the
streets to get their views. Not content with just passersby? Want even more impact on your Sims’
lives? Import your favorite Sims from The Sims™ to live in your city! If you haven’t created your
own Sims, we’ve provided some individuals for you to direct and follow as they go about their
lives. Choose what they drive, which routes they use to get to work, and where they live. Your Sims
complain if you raise taxes. If they live near a source of unchecked pollution, they get sick. If they
can’t get a job, they move out of the city altogether! In the ideal city, your Sims work hard, die
peacefully at a ripe old age, and pass the torch to the next generation.
Ah, so you want even more direct contact with the lifeblood of your city? You are hard to please,
Mayor, but the answer is here. You now have the ability to build increasingly complex and varied
transportation networks—providing your city with arteries of commerce and productivity. Allow
congestion to get out of hand, and watch the car wrecks pile up! And, Mayor, you may be causing
some of those crashes. With SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition’s all new
missions for the betterment of your citizens, or cause mayhem in your city as you drive the streets,
ply the waters, or y through the clouds in vehicles you pilot. Will you get Jenny to the hospital in
time for her heart transplant, or are you aiding the evil Dr. Vu in his plot to spill toxic green ooze in
U-Drive-It
feature, you can accept
4
5
the middle of downtown? Complete your mission successfully, Mayor, and you will be rewarded.
Be a hardworking saint of a Mayor, a corrupt Mayor, or a Mayor who inicts all the evils of the
world on your poor, unsuspecting Sims. Regardless of your priorities, every decision you make
has lasting implications for the society you create. Learn the intricacies of Mayoring through new
tutorials provided in the game, and select from among three levels of play difculty. In no time at
all, you will master the art of city building. From there, the only limit is your imagination. You’ve
been elected, Mayor! Get to it!
GETTING STARTED:
TIPS FOR NEW MAYORS
NEW IN TOWN?
This section provides you with a quick introduction to the art of Mayoring. If you’re new to the city’s
top post, this information can help you get on your mayoral feet. If you’re an incumbent, review
this information for a refresher course on leading your incipient city into a prosperous future.
WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW FROM THE GET-GO?
These detailed steps will help you get your city up and running.
SELECT AN AREA FOR YOUR CITY.
Double click on an undeveloped square in the region that strikes your fancy.
INCORPORATE YOUR CITY.
Raise mountains and call forth the waters by terraforming your landscape, or just dive into your
city. Click the Mayor Mode button when you’re ready to incorporate your city. Enter your City and
Mayor names and choose the EASY difculty level. Then, click ESTABLISH CITY.
PLUG IN.
Select the Coal Power Plant from the Build Power Systems menu. Place it near the edge of your city
so less pollution blows into town. The Coal Plant is a cost-effective but polluting power source.
ADD INDUSTRY.
Select Medium Density Industrial from the Zone Industrial menu. Drag out an industrial zone so it
touches the power plant. Industrial buildings provide your Sims with jobs.
BE A HOMEMAKER.
Select Low Density Residential from the Zone Residential menu. Low density is less expensive than
medium or high density, and higher density structures don’t develop until your population can
support them anyway. Drag out a residential zone a short distance away from the power plant
and the industrial zone. It’s smart to position houses away from the power plant and industries to
minimize the effects of pollution.
PUT YOUR SIMS ON THE ROAD.
Select Roads from the Build Roads menu and drag a road from your R zone to your I zone so Sims
have a way to get to and from work. Roads have a higher capacity and speed limit than the streets
that are created automatically when you zone.
6
7
ADD COMMERCE.
Select Low Density Commercial from the Commercial Zone menu. Drag out a C zone between the
I and R zones so that all the zones are connected. Power ows through zones, so all of your zones
should now have power. Always remember to only zone what you need. Monitor your RCI Demand
to gauge when it’s time to zone more C.
WATCH YOUR BUDGET.
Your main source of revenue is taxes. You need to increase your city’s population and start making
more Simoleons than you’re spending within a few years of your city’s “birth.” You can play with
tax rates, but raise them too much and you’ll lower demand as folks are scared off by your moneygouging ways.
MONITOR RCI DEMAND.
The Residential, Commercial, and Industrial (RCI) meters indicate which type of zones to add to
continue to grow your city. Click on the meters for more details about demand in your city.
REVIEW THE DESIRABILITY DATA VIEW.
This view helps you gure out which zones to place where. If you create a zone in an undesirable
location, don’t expect to see any structures spring up there.
IMPROVE COMMUTE TIMES.
EDUCATE AND VACCINATE.
Add an Elementary School and Health Clinic in or near your residential zones, and make sure
they’re funded appropriately for the population they serve.
FIGHT FIRE WITH...
Quickly add a Fire Station when your rst re breaks out.
MAKE A CLEAN SWEEP.
Placing a landll (away from your R and C zones, of course) keeps your city streets tidy and your
neatnik Sims smiling.
POLICE YOUR STREETS.
Add a Police Station when your Public Safety Advisor complains about crime.
NETWORK WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS.
Make neighbor connections by dragging roads from your Industrial zones to the edge of the map.
This stimulates industrial growth.
REACH FOR THE SKIES.
When you have a nice positive cash ow and a sizeable population (denitely more than 1,000),
add higher density zones (R, C, and I) and a water system (pipes and pumps) to encourage the
construction of larger, wealthier structures.
WHERE CAN YOU LEARN MORE?
This should get you started. You’ll also nd strategy hints scattered throughout this manual.
Remember though, every Mayor has his or her own style. As you become more familiar with
building cities, you will develop your own strategies. The possibilities for experimentation are
endless.
As you rene your Mayoral skills, use these resources for further assistance:
City Advisors
Tutorials
SimCity.com
These devoted minions give you plenty of feedback as you build your
city. Heed their advice, but be careful! Advisors often have their own
needs in mind and may fail to see the big picture.
Try the Getting Started, Terraforming, Making Money, Big City, and
Rush Hour Tutorials to familiarize yourself with the basics and beyond
of SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition.
Always just a click away. Find helpful hints and tips and share your
conundrums and discoveries with other Mayors.
If you’re seeing car crashes, your Trafc Advisor is harping on gridlock, or your My Sims are
griping about their miserable commutes, it’s time to think about upgrading your trafc systems.
Upgrade your streets to roads, roads to avenues, and avenues to highways. You might also want to
consider building some mass transit options such as buses, subways, ferries, or rail.
8
9
REFERENCE GUIDE
SIMCITY 4 DELUXE EDITION
Some of you newly-elected Mayors may want to jump right in and grab the reins of your
administration cold. Others might appreciate an introduction to the staff and resources that will
support your tenure as Mayor. Read on for a complete rundown of the powers at your ngertips.
Experienced Mayors may want to check out new features, or refresh themselves about certain
aspects of the position.
REGIONS
SAVING GAMES
Before you begin to build a city, you need to decide upon a region for your new metropolis, as
well as its location within that
city, you save its latest incarnation. If you play a city but choose not to save it, it reverts to the last
saved version. Remember, since your cities can be interconnected, the location of a city relative
to its neighbors is very important. You can move your city to a new location by using the
Tool
, but this can have a dramatic effect on the city’s development—for better or worse.
region
. Once you’ve made this decision, whenever you save your
Import
REGION VIEW OPTIONS PANEL
The
Region View Options Panel
change the way a region appears.
allows you to load, create, and delete regions. You may also
REGION BASICS
A
Region
is a collection of cities that can be interconnected and interdependent. Your Sims can live
in one city and work in another provided the two cities are adjacent and connected by road, rail, or
highway. Also, cities can buy or sell
as long as you have built the appropriate connections.
A
Region
can be comprised of both incorporated and unincorporated cities. Incorporated cities are
those that have been developed and saved. Unincorporated city tiles are waiting for you to bring
them to life. You can choose to play a
isolated communities.
Take over as Mayor in one of the existing cities, or begin building the community of your dreams
from the ground up. Do you aim for a mountain eco-city that is a center of high-tech industry, or
are you thinking more manufacturing megalopolis? Will your Sims be archipelagoans or citizens
of the land-bound plains? Ah...decisions, decisions. What you do now will affect how your city can
develop in the future.
resources
from one another (power, water, or landll space)
Region
as a conglomerate of interconnected cities, or as
Create New Region
Load Region
Delete Region
Show City Names
Show City Boundaries
This function turns the display of City Names OFF and ON.
Click here to create a new Region from scratch. You can
choose to begin with an ocean or land terrain.
Click here to access any of the pre-built (and sometimes
familiar) Regions supplied with SimCity 4 Deluxe. The
regions you create and save are also stored here.
This option deletes the entire Region, along with every
city in it. Bye-bye greater Bay Area.
Click to display or hide the grid showing the Boundaries
of your cities.
10
11
Satellite View
Transportation Map
Satellite View gives you a bird’s eye view of your entire
This new feature makes it easy. Select the Transportation
region, with both incorporated and unincorporated
cities. The Satellite View is your default view. In previous
versions of the game, this was your only region view.
You can now toggle between the Satellite View and
Transportation Map to survey your domain.
Any savvy Mayor needs to know where ALL roads lead.
Map view of your
transportation infrastructure that connects your cities. A
map legend is provided.
region
, and you see the entire
CONNECT TO SIMCITY.COM
Did you think Mayors work in a vacuum? Not for a minute. For all the latest information, updates,
news, downloads, and customization tools related to SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition visit SimCity.com.
Click this button, and you are there. You don’t even need to close out of your city! Communicate
with SimCity experts and other Mayors by posting and reading messages on our bulletin board
service, or download free additions to SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition such as landmarks, wallpapers,
and, yes, customization tools. Never fear, the latest news and information related to SimCity is
always only a click away.
QUIT
Click here to quit SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition and return to your desktop.
CITY PANEL
Want to explore the cities in your
appears. This panel looks different depending on whether a city is incorporated (named and saved)
or unincorporated (a blank slate).
UNINCORPORATED CITY PANEL VIEW
Region
? When you click on one of the city tiles, the
City Panel
NOTE :
The transportation map only works for
and
SimCity 4 Deluxe
them to view them with the new map.
cities. For older cities, load and save
SimCity 4 Rush Hour
Your region includes some
Mayor
, a
Name
zero. When you click on an unincorporated city, this
Unincorporated Cities
, or any
Residents
or
Businesses
. This means that the city does not yet have a
. In other words, you are starting from ground
City Panel View
appears.
12
13
INCORPORATED CITY PANEL VIEW
IMPORT CITY
If you want to replace an existing city tile with an already created and saved city from this or
another region, or from the downloads folder, click the
Import City Dialog
This lists all of the regions currently available, as well as any city that can be imported to your
chosen location. Cities come in three sizes—small, medium, and large. You can only replace cities
with other cities of equal size. As much as you’d like to try it, you can’t see what happens when you
try to plop Los Angeles into an area the size of Pecanville, Arkansas (population 78). Sorry.
Click
DOWNLOADED CITIES
So you’ve downloaded a bunch of cities from the
automatically placed in a special folder called
You must rst
.
to expand the
to contract the folder and hide the
Import
Region
folder to check out its available cities for
a downloaded city into a
Import City
Region’s
contents.
SimCity.com
Downloads
Region
—any region—before it can be played.
button. This brings up the
web site? Clever Mayor. These are
found in the
Region Import Dialog
Import
. Click
.
DELETE CITY
Click here to delete a city le. Deleted cities are permanently removed, so use caution.
City Name
Difficulty Level
Mayor Rating
Funds
Ah, now you have something to work with.
Mayor’s eye, they’ve become living, breathing entities—created and saved by you or someone
else. The
Incorporated City Panel View
name to the number of jobs in Industry it supports.
The
Difficulty Level
Name
. One star represents a beginner city, two stars indicates intermediate play, and a city with
three stars is for Mayors who enjoy living lives full of complexity.
of the city is indicated by the number of stars displayed below the
Incorporated Cities
displays valuable information about your city, from its
Mayor Name
Residential Population
Commercial Jobs
Industrial Jobs
are no longer just a glint in some
Mayor
REGION INFO
The
Region Info Panel
name and the combined population of ALL the cities in the region.
can be found at the bottom of the
Region View
. It displays the region’s
PLAY THIS CITY
You’re ready to break ground on your new city? Click on the
adventure begin.
Play City
button and let the
14
15
PLAYING A CITY
OVERHEAD MAP
Ready to don your Mayor duds and even take on god-like powers? How will you juggle the often
conicting needs of your developing city? Will your Sims think you are doing a super job, or is
everyone packing up for parts unknown? This is it—where the Mayoring really begins. This section
gives you a breakdown of all the tools you can use as you build and demolish your dream cities
when playing.
UNIVERSAL CONTROL PANEL
The
Universal Control Panel (UCP)
Date, Query Tool, Route Query Tool, Simulation Speed Controls,
so you know where you are). You also have the
away from control panel clutter.
includes the ever-useful
Hide Toolbars
Overhead Map, Camera Controls,
and your
City Name
(just
button here, if you want to get
Navigation is a snap with your
center your
City View
Overhead Map
on that location.
. Click anywhere on this aerial view of your city to
DATE
This displays the current date experienced by the Sims in your city. Each city starts in the year “00”
(it was a mighty good year), but regions can be comprised of cities from many different eras. Cities
may have begun years ago, and may develop far into the future. The faster the
is set, the faster time passes. If you’d like to take a breather while you assess a certain situation, or
ponder a weighty decision, just pause the simulation. Time stands still while you ruminate.
By holding your cursor over the date, you can check what time it is for your Sims.
The time of day is independent from
rises and sets in accordance with the 24 hour clock, and morning and evening rush hours really do
happen at rush hour.
Simulation Speed
Simulation Speed
and always runs at the same rate. The sun
QUERY TOOL
This unassuming little tool can be one of the best ways for a Mayor to gather needed information
about conditions around town. The
within your city. There are two types of query:
Query Tool
can be used to obtain information on any structure
Hover Query
and
Dialog Query
.
16
17
HOVER QUERY
Click on the
important information appears about each structure the cursor touches.
For
of occupant, and the top three conditions that currently have the most dramatic impact on the
desirability of the area.
Query Tool
Residential, Commercial
and move your cursor over the structures in your city. As you scroll along,
, and
Industrial
buildings you see the building name, the type
DIALOG QUERY
If you seek more detailed information on a certain building, the
Select the
Query Tool
gives you customized information according to the type of building queried.
HINT:
The
Dialog Query
people living there, whether it is hooked up to your power and water systems, as well as details on
the desirability factors of its neighborhood. What else would a Mayor need to know?
, then click on the building that interests you. The
If you don’t want to see a certain building fall prey to new
development, click the Make Historical selection. If conditions
warrant, the building may be abandoned and become distressed,
but it won’t be lost in redevelopment. This designation works only
for zoned RCI buildings, not for civic structures.
for a house gives you information about its current occupancy, the wealth of the
Query Tool
Dialog Query
is up to the task.
window
When you query other types of buildings, you see the name of the structure along with information
about its functional capacity. The ve icons that are displayed in these
whether the building is under-funded or over-capacity (in a word, is it efcient?). If you have
fewer than ve full icons, then you may want to revisit your mayoral strategy. If conditions really
deteriorate (your teachers are being asked to re-constitute chalk dust as a money-saving measure),
you may be facing a strike.
Whenever you wonder “What is that?” do a quick
city can be queried.
Hover Query
. Even the smallest items in your
Hover Queries
indicate
Query a power station and you receive information about its maximum capacity and current
usage. The
Dialog Query
Levels
. If you nd the power plant is over-funded given current capacity, save a few bucks and
ratchet the funding level down.
for schools, hospitals, police, and re stations.
HINT:
When you build schools and hospitals make sure to adjust
the funding to match the number of attendees. In the query
window for each school and hospital, lower the local funding
until the capacity is slightly higher than the number of
people using the facility. If the workers strike, don’t worry.
Just increase the local funding until they stop striking.
includes another extremely useful function-adjustment of
Local Funding Levels
can also be set in the
Dialog Query
Local Funding
window
18
19
ROUTE QUERY
The
Route Query
the
Query
buildings and roads.
Hold the cursor over a building—see the number of trips to and from that building, as well as
the way Sims are getting there.
Click on the building—see the routes taken to and from the building.
Hold the cursor over a transportation network—see the number of Sims that are passing
through that network and their means of transport. You also see the routes for all of The Sims
passing through that network.
Click on a transportation network to see the routes for all of the Sims passing through that
network.
This powerful tool can help you diagnose your transportation issues. If no one is using a bus stop,
you can
another bus stop near their destination you can encourage them to use mass transit. Cool.
Because there are so many ways for your Sims to get around, a legend for the route lines is
provided when you select the
tool provides information about your Sims’ commute and freight trips. As with
tool, choose the
Route Query
Route Query
tool, then hold the cursor over buildings and click on
the houses in the area to see how they are getting to work. By placing
Route Query
.
CAMERA CONTROLS
Want a change of scenery? Use these controls to change your
Rotate Camera Clockwise
Rotates your camera clockwise.
Rotate Camera Counterclockwise
Ummm.
Zoom In
Zooms your
Zoom Out
Zooms your
City View
click. There are six levels. Get a closer look
at what your Sims are up to. You might be
surprised.
click. You need the big picture to get a real
sense of your city’s progress.
SIMULATION SPEED CONTROLS
Control how quickly time passes in your city using the
Click on the single arrow to
play at turtle speed.
Click the pause button to
stop time in its tracks. Click it
a second time to restart the
simulation at the previously
set speed.
Simulation Speed Controls
CITY NAME
.
City View
City View
Click the double arrow to
play at rhino speed.
You want cheetah
speed? Click on (yikes!)
the triple arrow.
in one level each
out one level each
.
This is how you know whether you are dealing with Parisians or Grand Rapidians. Which might
have an impact on your approach to mayoring.
20
21
HIDE TOOLBARS
If you’d like an unobstructed view of your city, you can use the
Universal Control Panel
reference, see the back cover).
ON/OFF. You can still use the
Hide Toolbars
Hotkeys
to get things done (for Hotkey
button to toggle the
PLAY MODE
The buttons that encircle the
interact with your city. Each mode is described in detail below.
God Mode
Mayor Mode
My Sim Mode
Universal Control Panel
Terraform, destroy, play with day and night cycles, and
more. In an unincorporated city,
available play mode.
Administration central. You need to be in
to incorporate your city, build your city’s infrastructure,
adjust budgets, and make policy decisions.
Import Sims from The Sims, or create characters on
the spot. You also access the
My Sim Mode
Missions
mode to make decisions that have a more personal effect
on some of your citizens.
are your portals to different ways you can
God Mode
is the only
Mayor Mode
U-Drive-It
function from
, where you can drive special Mayoral
and meet your Sims on the streets. Use this
PRE-INCORPORATED CITY TOOLS
You want to work with a pristine landscape? The artist in you calls for a blank slate? Then come.
Enter the world of the unincorporated city—virgin territory. When you start from scratch in
your city-building endeavors, the tools at your disposal are different than those available for an
incorporated city. You can spend all the time you like making mountains or softening beaches—
molding the land that will serve as the foundation for the great metropolis to come. Best of all,
it’s free. Take advantage of your god-like powers to shape terrain now, because once your city is
incorporated, being god-like costs a LOT of money.
GOD MODE
In the beginning, there are no roads, Mayors, solar energy plants, or populous Sims. Hear that
wind blowing? It’s just you and the land. Until you have incorporated your city,
only mode you’ve got. This is not a bad thing. The pre-incorporated
it. A listing of your powers follows.
God Mode
TERRAFORM TOOLS
Your rst charge in the creation of a new city is to shape its terrain. This is called terraforming.
God Mode
provides you with all the tools you need to become an accomplished landscape artist.
Some Mayors may nd themselves spending more time terraforming than building roads. Although
each terraforming tool is unique, there are some universal functions.
Zoom Level
q
Ç
q
q
Use zoom levels to adjust size and strength of
The further out the zoom, the larger the area affected and the stronger
the tool. Working at a closer zoom gives the terraformist increased
precision to make subtle adjustments in the landscape.
Another way to boost the size and strength of a
effects is to hold the q key while using the tool. When you release
the q
key, the effects return to normal.
Hold the Ç key while using a tool to reduce the size and strength of
its effects. Release the Ç key, and the effects return to normal.
+ 1 — 0 The scope of each Terraforming Tool can be adjusted by using the
key in combination with the number keys (1 through 0).
q
Select a Terraforming Tool, press q-1 to make the tool’s scope
very small, or q-0 to make its scope very large. The q key
pressed with any number in between allows you to adjust the scope of
the tool to a variety of areas. Click on the Terraforming Tool again to
return it to normal.
+ ¡ — º The strength of each Terraforming Tool can be adjusted by using the
Shift key in combination with the F keys (¡ through º). Select a
Terraforming Tool, and press q-¡ to make the tool very weak,
or press q-º to make the tool very strong. Press the q key
with any F key in between to choose a variety of strengths. Click on
the tool again to return it to normal.
God Mode
is the
has a lot going for
Terraforming Tools
Terraforming Tool’s
.
22
23
MAKE MOUNTAINS
Select the
Make Mountains
everything from Andean peaks to what are referred to as hills in southern Illinois.
menu for the set of
Mountain
Raise huge peaks.
Hill
Raise soft rolling hills.
Mesa
Create at-topped mesas. Hold the mouse button in one
Steep Hill
Create hills with a steep slope.
Cliffs
Create cliffs with sharp ridges.
Terraforming Tools
location for best results.
that allow you to raise
GOUGE VALLEYS
This set of
Terraforming Tools
on the outskirts of town? If you want to see rivers, or create lakes, just use these tools to lower the
terrain to below sea level. You can then shape bodies of water as you see t.
allows you to lower terrain. Would you like to have Bryce Canyon
LEVEL TERRAIN
This menu of
Terraforming Tools
Crater
Create craters. Click and hold the crater tool in one
location for best results.
Shallow Canyon
Erosion
Plains
Quick Level
Brush
Soften
Plateau
Create shallow canyons with sloped edges.
allows you to level terrain for different effects.
Click and drag over an area to create craggy mountains,
coastlines, or plains.
Gently level and smooth the terrain.
Use this tool for a fast acting leveling effect. This tool
levels all the terrain within the cursor radius to the
elevation of the cursor point location.
Smooth and soften the terrain for nice soft beaches or
gentle rises.
Create level plateaus and smooth the terrain.
Valley
Create large valleys.
Steep Valley
Canyon
Shallow Valley
Create a valley with steep sides.
Create canyons lined with cliffs.
Create shallow valleys with gentle slopes.
SEED FORESTS
Be Johnny Appleseed. Click and drag this tool over to seed it with trees and watch forests grow!
CREATE FAUNA
Now how many Mayors do you know who can, with the ick of the wrist, cause rhinos to appear?
After you have seeded those forests, decide what sort of creatures you’d like your Sims to
encounter while they hike the hills. Select an animal type and drag your cursor over your chosen
habitat. Herds of your chosen fauna begin to gambol about. Drag your cursor over a wide area to
get lots of critters. If you hold the cursor in place, you spawn few or no animals.
Horses
Create herds of wild horses.
24
25
Woodland
Animals
Wild Animals
A doe, a deer, a female deer. And males. Create
ungulates, mostly deer and moose.
Create herds and ocks of wild animals. You want rhinos,
you’ll get rhinos.
TERRAIN EFFECTS
Create wind-blown plains or make an adjustment to sea level. If you’re in the market for a set of
one-click global effects that change your entire city’s terrain, we’ve got ‘em.
Click to set the winds of time loose across your entire
Erode
terrain. Click again until you reach the result you want.
Each click applies a smoothing effect across the entire
Smooth
landscape. Click until you reach the desired result.
Raise Terrain
Level
Lower Terrain
Level
Each click uniformly raises the terrain elevation across
the entire landscape.
Each click uniformly lowers the terrain elevation across
the entire landscape.
RECONCILE EDGES
When you edit the terrain of a city, you may have forgotten to make your borders a perfect
match with neighboring city landforms. Oops. Not to worry. The
elevation of the edges of the active city so that you can deal with that sudden three thousand foot
elevation gain. Might make that connecting highway a bit of an engineering problem. When you
click on the
Any development under the red highlight will be destroyed, so do be careful when using this tool
in an incorporated, populated city. If you decide that the reconciliation process is just too painful,
click
Accept
Reconcile Edges
in the conrmation dialog. If matching your neighbors’ terrains is worth it, click the
Cancel
button.
button, the areas that are affected are highlighted in red.
Reconcile Edges
tool adjusts the
CREATE DISASTERS
Had a bad day? You might do some yoga, or, heck...how about causing meteors to hail down upon
your hapless Sims? There now. Feel better? This is denitely where your Mayoral powers might
both in unincorporated and incorporated
go a little to your head. You are able to cause
cities. Perhaps you’d like a city built around ancient meteor scars and extinct volcanoes. Or maybe
your day isn’t really complete until you’ve had a little fun watching a giant robot stroll through
town, wreaking havoc and smashing buildings. To add to the fun, you can direct your chosen
devastation to any area in your city you desire. Joe Bob Sim been a little whiny lately? Aim a
lightning bolt at his garage. Who said civic leaders had to be polite?
Autosaurus Wrecks
anthropomorphized collection of vehicles into your city.
UFO
Click on the location in the
Volcano
Like to play with matches? Choose
Fire
Like your re to pack a little whollop? Try a meteor
Meteor
Click on a location in the City View to send a monstrous
Since SimCity 4, Mayors have made some otherworldly
Disasters
Autosaurus Wrecks
Once
direction by clicking and dragging your mouse in the
direction you want it to go. You’ll never look at monster
trucks the same way again.
connections. Your destructive urges now have space aliens
to do their bidding. Select the
City View
in the
ship. Once mama arrives, it spawns smaller UFOs. The
aliens will even let you drive. Click-drag the mouse to the
desired location and the spawned UFOs will follow. UFOs
are kind of complex machines, though, so earthlings
sometimes have some trouble steering. Even Mayors.
your volcano to form. Release the mouse button and let
the lava ow.
of destruction, and your cursor becomes a torch. Add a
little heat to your city with a click, hold, and drag. The
longer you hold down your mouse button, the larger the
conagration becomes.
shower! You can control the direction of the meteor in
ight by click-dragging the mouse in the direction you
want the meteor to go. Once the meteor has achieved
impact, you can load up another. Whee!
appears, you can control its
disaster and click
UFO
to select a destination for the mother
where you want
City View
as your mode
Fire
26
27
Robot Attack
Tornado
Lightning
Earthquake
REMEMBER!!!
ready to bear the consequences before you toss a few meteors into that burgeoning commercial
district, even if its crime rate is high.
HINT:
Disasters are hard on city budgets. Rebuilding doesn’t come cheap. Be sure you are
Want the satisfaction of creating a disaster without the
repercussions? It’s easy. Save your city before you launch
your desired form of mayhem. Watch as catastrophe occurs.
Now exit the game without resaving your city. When you
next visit this particular metropolis, it appears the disaster
never even occurred. Guilt-free disasters! Who’d a thought it?
Click on a location in the
metal monster on a devastating stroll through your city.
This darling guy jet-packs into town. Once he lands, you
can control his robotic direction by clicking and dragging
your mouse in the direction you want him to go.
Click on a spot in the
Once released you can control the direction of the tornado
by click-dragging the mouse in the direction you desire.
Tornados dissipate quickly over water, so click on land for
maximum devastation.
Let the sparks y. Click anywhere in your city to let loose
an electrifying jolt.
Check out whether or not your buildings are up to code.
Shake things up with an earthquake. Click and release
anywhere in the
you click is the epicenter of the quake. If you click and
hold the mouse button down, you increase the strength of
the earthquake upon release.
City View
City View
to unleash a tornado.
City View
for a tremor. The point where
to send a ten-story
CONTROL DAY AND NIGHT
If you leave this alone, the sun sets and the moon rises according to the hours of the day. But
you’re the Mayor. You can use these tools to make sure the sun never shines, if you’re a night owl.
Day Only
Want to try living in the land of eternal sun? Choose this
option, and it’s all sun, all the time. The 24 hour clock
continues to run, but the sun shines even at midnight.
Night Only
Day and Night Cycle
You are a vampire Mayor, and permanent night makes
ruling the city that much easier on your undead self.
Daytime functions can be so pesky when you run the risk
of being burned to cinders by a shaft of sunlight. The 24
hour clock continues to run, but the sun never shines.
You just can’t get up without a sunrise? Clicking this
button allows day and night to occur right on schedule.
Loading...