Question about regions

[VT2TAMU 0]

I've perused through some of the CJ's posted here and I've wondered if those crazy-awesome cities are built in only one region or if the builders use and connect multiple regions.  if it is possible to connect adjacent regions, do they work in concert with each other?  for example, will/can sims who live in one region move about to other regions? 

sorry if my question is basic but i made the leap from SC2K to SC4 and have only done so recently so it's a bit new to me.

thanks.

[jacqulina 162]

as far as i know one region but connect many cities my friend

[VT2TAMU 0]

i've seen your CJ so i know you're a veteran at building these things. so you would build cities in multiple regions and then connect these regions? do i understand you correctly?

[jacqulina 162]

no my friend one region with many seperate cities when you load the region in the game you open one citie up out of say 20 for example and after you have started that citie you will need to sooner or later open another one to join to the first one so they can work together as such for industry ect you join them with roads and rail

[homeandaway 1]

^^what she said!^^ lol

[jacqulina 162]

alex surely you have something usefull to add instead of that comment my friend you build big cities bigger than mine

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Regions are independent entities and do not communicate with each other.

[VT2TAMU 0]

I think I have a problem with nomenclature. I understood regions to be the little boxes that one can highlight on the global map, but apparently the region is the global map. Sorry, I was confused. I think the segmented areas within the regions can communicate with each other. Apologies again.

[Romaq 18]

Yes. 'Regions' are distinct and separate 'global maps'. When you move around on that 'region' map that first comes up, you can select among cities that appear there. Each city has its own 'clock', so you can have one city showing the year 2010 while the neighbor right next to it is still in the year 2001. But on those cities that directly adjoin side by side, you may have 'connection points' such as roads, water pipes, power and Ferry lanes.

Suppose you have City A and City B that are right next to one another, and you make a connection to go from City A to City B. Until you 'do something' with City B, City A will pretend that traffic travels between cites up to a certain point. If you want more of a certain type of traffic, such as industrial jobs or residents, you have to go to City B and *build* those things. City B will then look at that connection to City A and decide how much *more* traffic can go through that connection point 'as if' City A were running. This lets you have City A with residential and commercial who may travel to City B for Industrial jobs. As City A has enough people in it, City B will pull residents from City A 'up to a point'. All the polution and problems from City B's industry stays *there*. When you load and run City A, your Sims will cross into City B for the jobs, but wind and water polution from City B won't affect your City A. City B can also supply power to City A in 'neighbor deals'. If you have power in City B and a power line crosses the border, City A can buy all the extra power City B is willing to sell.

But keep in mind, things only happen in City A *or* City B while you are playing that one City. What matters about other cities to the one you are in is what that connection point provides since the last time you *saved* that other city. Some people build an industrial hell-hole supplying power and dirty industry jobs, then save the city and do their best building in the neighboring city unaffected by industrial polution problems. Others build everything in one huge city and don't worry so much about trying to use one city's neighbor connections to solve those sorts of problems. And, of course, there are outright cheats you can download from here that simply suck away all the problems in a whole city with a 1x1 tile park with a tree on it. You get to pick.

FYI, in 'normal' SimCity 4 gameplay, you download plugins from places like Simtropolis, and what you put in the "/SimCity 4/Plugins" folder appears to *all* regions. http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=311 has a 'Sim City Startup Manager' that lets you have different regions with different plug-ins. In a new version that's in Beta, you *could* even have different plug-ins for different cities, but *THAT* gets a bit scary, and it could absolutely prevent that region from being playable if something screwy happens with plugins or you don't keep track of what you are doing. But 'in theory' it could let you have desert looking cities surrounding a lush green paradise Oasis like Las Vegas, all in the same region.

The tutorials here on Simtropolis are great. You'll want to look through them closely, you'll find lots of interesting things to try with your cities. Some of the plug-ins make SimCity 4 play almost like a whole new game!

Good luck and enjoy. ;-)