Service Quality

[PriorMember-q9r7x 0]

I recently discovered that the Service Quality for some of my Bus Stops are well over 100%. For example one Bus Stop in my small city, has 442% Capacity Used, and 4425 are actually using it when only 1000 sims can use it at a time.

I am in the midst of planning Subways.

But, is there anything at all that I need to worry when the Service Quality is zero?

[Mystrelia 57]

I've had similar situations and I never found it to be a lot of problem unless it's creating major traffic congestion in spots and it seems busses don't do that. Do you use downloaded lots? I've found there are higher capacity bus and train stations on the STEX and I've been using some of those lately. You may also consider putting in more bus stops. I remember in one of my cities I had to have at least two bus stops per block before I managed to get my subway system underway. I found that putting in even a little bit of subway, though, just in those most congested spots was well worth the money spent.

[DOXXP29 5]

I agree with Mystrelia. Busses are good for a start, but when you start getting a decent size population, it's time to go to other mass transit. I also prefer subways, as they'll pay for themselves and make a profit if done right. They cut down on congestion and commute time, which is a major factor in getting a city to grow. I like to use the road top combination subway station/bus stops that can be found on the STEX.

[Imperial Eagle 0]

Whenever I use mass transit, it never gets used.  I had 70,000 sims in a city and a really good mass transit system, only 10 people were using it!

[Goldfish4209 9]

Do you guys ever notice that whenever you replace a road or anything you get a bunch of commuters flying all over the place and not using the bus stops if you replace them?

[PriorMember-q9r7x 0]

Thank You, Mystrelia.

In the city that I am playing now, the city of Schieffelin, I never use the lots I find online at the Sim City 4 Official Site, or the Simtropolis Exchange. I thought the lots at the two sites were cheaply made and are mostly used for cheating in Sim City 4.

My current city layout is a car traffic disaster. The is not a tile of shore and not even a steep hill in my town. I just created a new region with a terrain type of plains, and I systemattically made avenues, roads and streets. There is a Bus Stop on every single city block, and all of the Bus Stops are being used the sims. The only thing I can say right now is that there is not a chance that I will be willing to move entire streets.

To solve the problem, I can try my best with using this Bus Stop, "Expanded Bus Stop by 1dera3" or I can try building my own, but this one will most likely work.

Thank You.

[Sim shady 12]

hey umm....about the STEX....you are saying that the lots are cheaply made and used for cheating??? trust me, there are all kinds of amazing buildings to DL off the STEX that have nothing to do with cheating. i highly recomend you do try some out.

[DOXXP29 5]

I'll agree, JRR, that the lots from the official site are mostly bogus. Many are rip-offs of lots made by BATters here at ST and not given credit. Many contain conflicts or have errors which can cause major headaches while playing. I've eliminated all of them from my folders.

The BATs, lots and mods found here on the STEX, in my experience, are checked and any issues that are found are immediately reported and addressed. Only a few of the BATs would be considered to be "cheats", and these are clearly labeled as such. Mostly, the BATters use their remarkable skills and talents to create new and interesting architectural additions to give our cities more variety. They put a lot of time, effort and research into their projects, and for the most part, the numbers are quite realistic and are consistant with the numbers used by Maxis for similar sized buildings. Some designs, obviously, are better than others and may appeals to different tastes, but if you read the comments made about the lots, you'll get a good idea of what people think of them and if there are any issues. For the most part, you'll find that they're just additional buildings to add to your inventory of available lots to be built in your city. Also, the moderators and powers that be at Simtropolis do a pretty good job of quality control and don't allow anything that could damage the game or cause issues. I dunno, maybe you found one crappy lot and thopught all lots here at ST were of the same standard. Trust me, that's NOT the case. There are buildings that are absolutely stunning in their design and function. If there were an abundance of problems that you think are there, there wouldn't be the amount of people downloading them and the number of "satisfied customers" making positive comments and highly rating the BATs. Please check them out a little more thoroughly and don't be turned off by one or two lots that may not be what you're looking for. Good Luck, JRR. There are MANY great lots here that aren't cheats. Give them a chance and you'll see for yourself. Also, many BATters have places or team rooms in the forums where you can ask them about the lots and they're very helpful and will respond truthfully and quickly to your inquiries.

[PriorMember-q9r7x 0]

To DOXXP29, the number one lot that is downloaded at the Sim City 4 Lot cheats and lets you get §4 billion, which I really can't spell it out for you anymore: cheat.

In my opinion, I like the custom buildings, the BATs. I like Goldiva's and RalphaelNinja's designs. But when I find Empire State Building with Jobs, I think those buildings are useless.

I dunno, maybe you found one crappy lot and thopught all lots here at ST were of the same standard. Trust me, that's NOT the case.quote>

That is not the case. It is just so hard to find a list of what you need to download. When you are in the Simtropolis Exchange, on the left hand side is a box called Categories, and in that box is a list, and that list doesn't contain "Transportation Lots", it would be found in Utilities.

To add to that, I have a small city (64 x 64 tiles), and 100% of the tiles are zoned. Also, 1/3 of my city is hight density residential, as a another 1/3 is high density commercial, and the final third is high density industrial.

And I bet that after telling you guys that information, I am going to get called all sort of names, and I really don't mind, and I know that I am new at this.

I guess I will have to make one myself.

[DOXXP29 5]

You won't find me calling you any names, Johnathan. I don't really use cheats myself. I play on hard and would rather have to work at getting my city to grow than having it played for me via cheats. That cheat may be the number one download, but I, for one, haven't dl'd it, nor do I intend to. I think you'll find that quite a few others on here, especially the ones who are serious about SC4 don't use it either. And I agree, searching on the STEX isn't the easiest task. I get frustrated also, even though it should be as simple as plugging in a keyword, more often than not, that's not the case when I try it. Everybody has their own playing styles and in-game needs. The serious people here at ST respect everyone else's playing styles and techniques. If anyone calls you names or denegrates you for how you play, well, what can I say but ignore them. My guess is that anyone that would do that is envious of YOUR playing style and that you DON'T use cheats, and I would take that as a compliment. Personally, I've been on this planet over a half century, and I learned long ago that respect is a universal language. The problem is, not verybody "speaks" it! Good Luck, and I hope you can find some things that do address your needs on the STEX. There IS a lot of good stuff on there. And any questions or issues you have, I think you'll find the majority of the people here will be glad to assist and offer meaningful advice.

[PriorMember-q9r7x 0]

I think I have this Service problem solved. I believe it would be best for my city to go higher to Subway Tunnels, but once those Service Qualities are over 100% we might just have a problem. What can I do then?

[DOXXP29 5]

I've found that if I use enough stations and place them where they are easily accessible to residents and workplaces, the capacity usually stays under 100%. If you follow the layout of normal cities in RL and place a station on a corner every block or two, chances are you're going to have a problem. SC4 ISN'T RL, and you may have to actually place several stations along the same block! I do this with road top stations to save space. Where I have large apartment buildings with thousands of residents in each, I literally have to put a station in front of just about every building, especially if I have large buildings on both sides of the street. True, this is not realistic in normal city structure, but it's the only way I've found when playing large and/or densely packed cities to keep the service capacity under 100%. Consider also that a station capacity of 2000 is artificially low. A decent sized club can hold 1000 patrons. I think the way the simulator calculates the usage is that it crunches the numbers like everybody is using the station AT ONCE, which is not how it works at all in RL. But to answer your question, a LOT of stations along the route is what you'll need to do. Also thrown into the mix is the fact that the lazy sims won't walk over six tiles to a station, and sometimes even less. Hope that helps you some.

[PriorMember-q9r7x 0]

That's really lame. I saw online at The Official Simcity 4 Website that they with only walk eight tiles to subways, bus stops, and work. But it makes no sense. I have a Bus Stop on Every Street corner, and I don't even know if that is enough. The good thing is that the Mass Transit is making money all in itself. Which is great. The only thing that I have to do now is to get rid of a lot of those streets.

Maybe I should start my own City Journal?

[paperboy15 4]

Originally posted by: Imperial Eagle Whenever I use mass transit, it never gets used.  I had 70,000 sims in a city and a really good mass transit system, only 10 people were using it!quote>

 

Only 70,000?? There's your reason right there! Assuming that is spread out over a large city tile, of course...densifying the zones around the mass transit corridor should increase usage.

[DOXXP29 5]

Yeah, it IS really lame! And they SAY eight tiles, but I have a city right now where they drive to work and the job is the ADJACENT LOT!!! NO tiles in between! What you may want to consider doing is replace your bus stops with subway stations or use combination bus stop/subway stations on your corners. Sadly, it probably ISN'T enough, but it may help reduce the congestion. I find it is always a good idea to use integrated forms of MT such as subway and bus in your network. And Paperboy has a good point: if you have an area that is too spread out, they tend to avoid using the mass transit and drive. Stupid, but that's what they do.