Do you build utilities?

[hamsterTK 93]

With all the different ways to cheat, and since cheating can actually make the game more fun since it lets you be more creative and experimental with planning your city, do you still build utilities. with the howdryiam and fightthepower cheats, its not really necessary to build water or power networks. If you need to do a shot for cj and you need the buildings to light up and have cars in the parking lots(many visual effects only work if the building it plugged in & has running water), then you can always hook up a windmill and a water tower temporarily. Setting the game on Hard Mode shuts up the utilites advisor, so he wont even hassle you about it.

However, for the sake of realism and also the opportunity to have interesting puzzles to solve, i still like to build utilities(although i still use the fightthepower and howdryiam cheats to prevent any problems from happening if my grid fails). But sometimes it can be tedious(especially water systems which get crippled by pollution), and also can look strange(there is a major lack of realistic power plants available on the STEX). but then again its come a long way from simcity 2000 where you would need a large field full of water pumps to supply a very large city.

In my case, my favorite things to do when it comes to utilities is to take advantage of neighbor deals and have a whole regional water/trash/power system, although this setup can be a pain sometimes, its sort of worth it because it adds a whole new element of gameplay..

--

Anyways, what do you guys do when it comes to power and water and trash? I was just wondering since i rarely see cj's that feature any utilities.

[soldyne 111]

I actually play the game because it is a game and I dont like to cheat. so, yes, I always build power and water networks. I have designated areas of my region just for dump cities.

not everyone cheats.

and if you want to see a CJ feature utilities check out Newtopia Valley, I have a few updates which feature my dump cities. you may be very surprised, not all dump cities are the same dirty little holes everyone makes them out to be...

[hamsterTK 93]

I'll check newtopia out.

[Compromise 1]

I try not to cheat, I find it can take the challenge out of the game so I do still construct all the utilities I need. Of coarse people looking to recreate RL places sometimes need to miss out utilities and so have to cheat.

[newyorkstate 6]

I never even knew there were people who use such cheats! Man! How cheap! Well, I use Utilities, and Sanatation is a problem even with cheats! Well, I believe only a unreal city would have no Utilities. It's 100% Essentia

[DOXXP29 5]

I rarely use cheats, but I make an exception when it comes to power and water because they're so unrealistic. I got tired of having huge blocks of real estate taken up for power ( not to mention ridiculous pollution levels) cuz I wasn't eligible for the hydrogen or nuclear power plants. What I do is use a modified power plant or water pump that puts out much more than the ones that come with the game. Or, like HamsterTK, I use neighbor deals. Usually I have one small tile city that's all landfill/waste disposal, power and water to provide my region with these necessities.

[fate556 5]

i dont use cheats because howdryiam and fightthepower doesnt work on my game - maybe im doing it wrong but the cheat youdon'tdeserveit works anyay i dont use cheats as i like it to be realistic

[gquinn225 0]

I am so confused....looking on here for a while to get cool buildings, etc....download the NAM, which gave me some cool stuff...another file crashed my computer and I quickly deleted....but anyway....can anyone help me out on what is essential to a new player? I don't want to cheat extensively, but some "helper" building would be nice....this game is fun as can be, only been playing a week, but can't get past about 4 hours of play without the city going to the tubes....directions to good directions of just good direction would be very helpful...and by the way, thanks to all who contribute to this site, there is some amazingly creative stuff on here (that's my 3rd grade education, like that in all my cities thus far)...thanks in advance

[JBSimio 152]

I didn't even know there were cheats for power and water!  I cheat on money, but that's about it.  For power, water, and garbage... I usually set up a small dump city, as Soldyne said, to cover as much of the surrounding area as I can.  The only time this becomes an issue is when I don't plan far enough ahead on my power transfers... one city isn't allowed to buy more power and so doesn't have enough for the city it is selling to.

JB

[amdinside 2]

It would be great if SC4 had a feature to turn off the game and just let you build a city. I would like to have the option of both so you can play the game or just make a city the way you want to. Satisfying the game needs means you have to put things in your city you may not want to.

That being said, I don't use cheats. If I want a clean city from the start, I use a power/dump region and a neighborhood deal to keep it clean.

[AtkinsSJ_ 7]

I don't cheat with utilities. With sanitation, I usually build a waste-to-energy incinerator in an industrial area, set its funding at 0, and ship all the garbage there. Which is kind-of cheating, I suppose.

[MayorTim 16]

I cheat for water and power, but I usually put power plants in anyway. I do this because I try to create ultra realistic cities, and having 2 powerplants in each city is very unrealistic. So, I cheat for power, and put a coal or natural gas poweplant where it seems appropriate, and where it will fit in. I cheat for water simply because no one notices it (its all underground) and I think laying pipes is tedious and boring. I also cheat for garbage for the same reasons as power - Its not realisitc for every city to have its own dump. I also put them where appropriate, which is almost nowhere (I currently have no dumps in Astoria)

As for education, police/fire, and healthcare, I use a radius doubler modd, so I only need one or two of each in every city anyway.

[rooker1 4]

I only cheat with money, when necessary.  I like the utilities that some people have made.  I put them in approperiate areas.  I think it looks realistic...I also think my CJ looks pretty realistic and I have shown every power plant and dump I ever set up.  I wish I knew how to adjust the stats.  Than I may use less power plants.  Anyways......to each their own.

[DJGspinNhitz 7]

I also only cheat with money I use the cousin vinnie ordnance till the cities is breaking even then turn it off. I agree there is a need for more realistic water and power plants, but every city has some form of power plant in it or nearby. Hopefully someone will ake up the call and BAT some new one for us.

GQ

[Kippis05 2]

I'd build power and water networks. It saves the hassle of worrying about typing in the cheat code everytime you start the city.

[SC4BOY 20]

Also sorry but GARBAGE DISPOSAL is probably the most prevalent problem of cities today.. millions of cubic tons per year even for medium sized cities so I disagree that garbage is not realistic.. Heck I remember when every house in the country (rural that is) had its OWN garbage heap somewhere around the house... Garbage is just part of man and we get worse at it all the time.. Now whether it should be treated quite as it is in Sim I can't say, but knowing Will Wright (Sp?) who is a radical lib as far as cities go, I'm just greatful he made it relievable at some cost.. lol

[gquinn225 0]

For all the replied with me in mind....thank you....if that wasn't your intent....i don't know....but what I know is this: This game, when played, and played on one's own knowledge of planning, zoning, needs, wants, and human tendencies in general....IS HARD. Not sure why my affinity for ellipses is so great on here, but this much I will learn. How to be successful without tweaking too much with the settings of this game. If I had a computer when SC4 came out, I would have bought it, at full price. As it turns out, I bought the game for $20, and am having a ball challenging myself daily on getting this silly computer population to do well regardless of what their free thinking human planner has in mind for them. Again, thank you all for your help, and if you want to give me a dummies version of how to get started, without me having to work at finding out the answers, that's all good. And let me end on asking: What is a CJ? City Journal? not sure, but that is the level of my ignorance. Hey, I'm human, and not worried about not knowing most things.

[metasmurf 705]

Well, i cheat with money, demand, abanonment and whatever else you can think of I also have the radius mod with 512 titles. I think that's very usefull since i don't have to build powerlines or waterpipes at all. I just need to put in one powerplant, and then a watertower or such and drag a smal piece of pipe and then the entire city has access to water Why? Because I don't care about the purpose of the game. I just want thinks to look the way i like them to.

[SC4BOY 20]

I think you can do VERY WELL just playing with a standard EA level patched SIM4 Delux (or SC4 /RH) .. the base SC4 is just too droll... Anyways if u use Simcity on any but SMALLISH regions you will find the COMMUTE TIMES are just absurd.. in fact a pretty-clearly demonstrated ERROR on MAXIS' part.. SIMS travel at like 2 feet an hour to scale.. My point is this.. in order to make the cities even semi-tolerable get the NAM pack (just one download and install) which fixes a number of errors in the way SIMCITY handles traffic.. That is ALL I USE when I play.. install it at a simple level like 10x commute and either PERFECT or GOOD pathfinding depending on how fast your PC is.. The patch also makes life much simpler for just doing stuff like DRAWING THINGS across the screen .. its hardly what I'd call a cheat, but I also realize that "cheats" are just a way to make the game act more like you want it too.. I find no need for the various cheats etc since if u just start a city on easy and you get 500K simolians and you'd have to slap a BUNCH of stuff down to spend that much.. also make ur individual "cities" maps SMALL so you don't have to contend with what is a LOT of space.. it will make ur game faster and your city design NO HARDER and in many ways easier.. have fun and as you play with the game you'll learn many more things you can enjoy.. The hardest and most frustrating thing in my mind is controlling TRAFFIC on any but the lower populations.. WORK WORK WORK on trying to find out WHY commute times climb and try to CONTROL it.. if you do that you will have mastered 80% of the game.. hehe... Besides in my opinion until you get the BASICS of the game down the cheats are not useful anyways.. just IMO...

[ACEfanatic 7]

@SC4BOY: Paragraphs and punctuation will go a long way towards making text readable.

Anyway, I build utilities, because even if you provide power and water (or turn off the cheat), streetlights still do not work. It bugs me. Mind, usually I use custom-made lots for power, but the water utilities look cool, IMO.

And garbage isn't really a problem... just plop an incinerator in an industrial area. If you slide the funding all the way back, it will still burn garbage without any cost to you. (Though, powerlines will flicker and start fires if you have any in the city.)

-ACE

[Barook 0]

Yes, I always use cheats. Heck I don't think there was a time I didn't cheat, I think I lost count after 53 billion times of cheating. I cheat becasue it is a game and I want to have. Back to the question at hand, yes I do use the utilities. Why? Becasue a city doesn't like right without them.

P.S.

Am I the only person who thinks about Buffy the Vampire Slayer when ever placing the pipes, like she's underground hunting some bad guys?