Simoleans to USD Exchange Rate

[patriots_1228 51]

I decided to do this because i thought it may help out some CJers, also cause i was bored
so anyway heres what i did.

i checked the ingame cost of Bank of China Tower.

180,000 simoleans.

i checked the RL cost of building the tower.

150,000,000 USD(US Dollars)

so 
150,000,000 USD is equal to 180,000 simoleans.
then i simplified.

so, the exchange rate is

2500 USD=3 simoleans.

now this could be off, because maxis probably messed up making the prices realistic, considering the empire state building costed 240,000 simoleans. but it is what it is, and hopefully it will help some CJers out.

how to use.

say you spent 20,000,000 simoleans building your city(like i did today!)

divide that by three.
20,000,000 divided by three is 6666666.6 repeating
so then multiply that by 2500
i spent 16,666,666,666 USD today 

hope someone finds this useless info useful

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

[The boy formerly known as Evil Muzz 27]

Sim money is worth LOADS! You could be dirt poor in SimCity and move to practically anwhere else in the world and be rich.

[patriots_1228 51]

GBP= somthing british pound?

[S1acker 0]

Great, think of it as a reminder of what our country is .

[AIX 270]

can you not simplify that equation?

2500 = 3

833.33 = 1

so you simply multiply your simoleons by 833.33 to get dollars.

[ekralx 0]

GBP stands for Great British Pound and i bet if you used different landmarks you'd get loads of different results

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

GBP Great British Pound

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

To do this right, you would have to compare a building that was priced when the game came out with a building in RL that was built/completed in the same year.

I have always felt that 1§ = 1,000 Cdn $

[patriots_1228 51]

like i said, maxis's landmarks arent well priced, this is just a small little fun thing that gives you an okay estimate. to find an exact we'd have to contact the maxis guys.

[Zelgadis 638]

I can understand why Maxis did what they did. Frankly, I don't want to have to deal with ultra-huge numbers when I'm managing my cities. They make my head hurt.

Remember SC1? I remember the $1,000,000 cheat code and that was practically infinity. I lowered all my taxes to zero with no problem. Yet my sims still always managed to find something to complain about...

ISF

[Adnoxaei 0]

I remember going from SC3000 Unlimited to SC4 and thinking "wow this stuff is expensive." I like the higher prices and wish they would go even higher, but on a more balanced scale. It gives more realism to see astronomical looking budget income and expenditures on cities with millions of sims, but all the prices don't relate evenly to reality. Oh well, all that research would cost a lot and force the game price higher, and it is not in USD or set in "reality" so concrete and steel might be alot cheaper in Sim City.

I think that the exchange rate would kind of like trying to figure out the scale of the buildings in SC4, there are limits but it is just mostly a mix in my opinion.

[david1314 44]

Originally posted by: N_O_Body To do this right, you would have to compare a building that was priced when the game came out with a building in RL that was built/completed in the same year.

I have always felt that 1§ = 1,000 Cdn $quote>

I've always used the add 3 zeros method for USD.  It's not far off what others have calculated, although you don't have to spend all the time figureing out how it actually works....you just add zeros.

I calculated that some years ago using cost of roads, actual budget of a town of similar population vs. sc4 taxes, and the cost per pupil of schools.  All were +/- 30% for using a factor of $1,000 per simmoleon.

[Tarkus 6,931]

I too, like N_O_Body and david1314 have figured on the "adding three zeros" method.  Likewise, I also figured out that the traffic counts shown with the Traffic Query were based on vehicles-per-hour.

And zel, as far as ultra-large numbers go, if they were in scientific notation, like §6.022 x 10²³, etc. it wouldn't be quite so bad. 

-Tarkus

[patriots_1228 51]

wut i meant was the landmark prices arent balanced. some objects are more expensive then others, even though in real life they are cheaper.

Adnoxaei- the research would be cheap, just go to google and type in, cost to build *building name*.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Well, if it is like any other simulation I have had anything to do with, the prices were pulled out of thin air.  Don't explect to find a rational reason.

[ilikehotdogsalot 307]

man patriots, where were you when i was doing my algebra homework

[patriots_1228 51]

lol im awful in math i just talk and sing and disrupt class because thats about how bored i get.

[david1314 44]

Originally posted by: Tarkus I too, like N_O_Body and david1314 have figured on the "adding three zeros" method.  Likewise, I also figured out that the traffic counts shown with the Traffic Query were based on vehicles-per-hour.quote>

It's based on peak vehicles-per-hour.  Much like a real city (LA, NY, London, et al excluded), no consideration is given to it's usage at 2am.  Roads are designed solely with the two rush hours' traffic patterns.

SC4 doesn't count things like Soccer moms and lunch-commuters...'incidental commuters' if you will.  While they exist in real life, the game doesn't simulate them because it's a huge amount of processing capacity required, and in real life they rarely affect the peak traffic patterns.

The only place this fails us in in the airport traffic category.  But, the fact that airport rush-hours are determined by factors outside of the city, it would be impossible to simulate with any accuracy in SC4.

Anyway...now that we're totally off topic....

The 3 zeros method seems to be confirmed by mass transit and toll prices.  Also, looking back on having modded a tile-set, the values of buildings tend to follow this too.  I get the feeling it was the guideline employed by maxis to ensure price compatability.

[nerdly_dood 26]

1000 dollars=one Somoleon, but that is unrealistic with some cheaper parks--five grand for a little patch of grass?!?! outrageous!

[coolotter88 2]

you've been fluctuated out of 4995 dollars.

[patriots_1228 51]

lol see this is wut i mean by maxis's prices werent to scale.

personally i use the NAM pedestrian mall grass tiles, they're free, look good, and they come with ppl!

for some reason we keep getting off topic