Two Doubts - Railroads and connection to simnation

[estevesbk 4]

Hello guys! I'm new to Simtropolis and I don't play SC4 for a long time, but I wish to be back on it. I have 2 questions to ask you, and any help would be so much appreciated on ANY one of them:

Question1: Are railroads prefered over subways for inter-city industry transportation?

I remember that one of the reasons I left SC4 was because I had a city with a lot of residents, and I've made it mainly a mtf. and dirty industry one.  But then I wished to make

a high-tech only neighboring city and I've put subways stations in all over my residential areas (none of them was more than 13 tiles away from each other).  I thought, "why railroads if I can give something better?" So this subway system was linked to the high tech city.  No results.

They were pretty few used, and many buildings were abandoned due to commute time. And I was not using any mod. So, why did it happen? Because even being a neighboring city the commute time was very high even for subway? Or because they prefer rail over subway for long-time transportation for industrial areas? This makes a little no sense for me but MAYBE it's on game mechanics for some kind of reason.

Question2: Are connections to simnation worthy?

If so, should the first city of my region be at the edge of the map? So it make connections to the simnation where I could not put any other city because it's out of bounds?

Thanks so much for any help!

And I'm glad for finally being here! ^^

Edit - for question 1: what about rail x subway x monrail x elevated rail for inter-city transportation? Any one of them fits better? if so, any one of them fits better for industrial jobs than commercial jobs and vice-versa? Thanks again!

[Jazzmaster 716]

Hello, and welcome to Simtropolis!

Question 1: I don't know why, but Sims are real *you know whats* when it comes to commute. So yes, you could say the gameplay mechanics are a part of it. However, you shouldn't use passenger ground railroads in industrial parks if you're also using freight rail, because I've heard that'll slow down commute too. Have you ever heard of the Network Addon Mod (NAM)? It has several transportation options as well as commute plugins for these types of things. It's found in the modds/downloads section here.

Question 2: I would recommend connecting to neighbor cities and not just Sim Nation. You'll need several cities all connected to grow large cities; otherwise development will stagnate and Sim Nation doesn't help this matter as much as you might think.

Hope this helps, and enjoy your stay at ST!

-Yoshiisland

[estevesbk 4]

Hello! Thanks a lot for the fast reply!

Question1: Yes I've already downloaded it and I will use it for now. You mean I should use those light railway system? I would like to know, if possible, what are the best mass transportation alternatives for linking to inter-city industrial parks and inter-city commercial districts.

Question2: Yes I know it, but the first connections for SimNation will help, right?

Thanks so much for the reply and for the welcome!

[tungston 19]

There is no reason to limit the transits, each one will attract different groups. Although subway, and elevated rail are the same system.

I like the railroad, and ferry's [if you have water conections] for travel between cities, but I use all the rest.

[estevesbk 4]

tungston, you mean then that subway was not being used for this inter-city traveling because of commute time rather than sims prefering rails for getting into industrial jobs?

[tungston 19]

Sims don't choose a specific transit to get to a specific type job. They will choose the quickest route, regardless of the type. Which could be using two types before they get to the destination. One thing to remember, the game may take some time to compute the quickest route. That means that it takes time for the sims to start using a type of transit. Monorail, and subway are two prime examples. If you supply the transits, they may not get used right away, but as the population increases, and time passes, they will get used.

Your original post didn't note if you had stations in both of the zones [R to C&I]. I am sure you are aware that sims need a station to get on, and one to get off.

[estevesbk 4]

Hey tungston!

Which could be using two types before they get to the destination.quote>

You mean taking e.g. bus to get into a subway station then getting the subway, right?

Well, as far as I remember I had a straight subway route from the residential areas on my first city to the high tech areas on the second industrial city (not using e.g. bus + subway). All my stations were in at most 13 squares away one of each other in both the cities and none of them was overcrowded; I really don't know what was the reason for they to not taking this route; I've waited enough time.

UNLESS...it's a SC4 issue that's corrected by the NAM!

Thanks! ^^

[estevesbk 4]

Hey! Sorry for the *bump*, just to see if there are any new ideas about this issue! ^^

[saltandsauce 0]

i wish to correct you but sims will take the shortest route not the fastest i know this because if i place a highway i won't be used unles they go ast an onramp on happen to be turning left (right in USA) if there is a congested street going directly there they will take that then

[tungston 19]

Originally posted by: saltandsauce i wish to correct you but sims will take the shortest route not the fastest i know this because if i place a highway i won't be used unles they go ast an onramp on happen to be turning left (right in USA) if there is a congested street going directly there they will take that thenquote>

 

Your correction is denied.

Sims will only take the shortest route if it is also the quickest time wise.

[iamihop11 19]

It usually takes a long time for my sims to actually establish a route to industrial areas, for some reason. Sometimes they never do, even though jobs are being filled at the industries. For commercial areas, subways are more practical, because they save space. RRs are better for industries because they're cheaper, and also cargo can be transported on RRs, as opposed to subways.

[Cob92 360]

My sims usually are addicted to the bus. Also, they seem to be afraid to use the freeway. My freeways are built "Texas style" with continuous frontage roads along the freeway. Even if the frontage road has a 5000 car traffic jam on it, every single Sim will still opt for the frontage roads instead of just entering the main lanes of the freeway. And yes, there is an exit less than ten squares from their workplace.

[estevesbk 4]

Well I just don't know why my sims didn't take the subway in that game...and all the buildings being abandoned due to commute time, man this sucks...and I did everything right! Some people say it was a bug corrected by NAM...I just want to confirm that...

Edit: I mean, imagine a subway system connecting a residential area from one city to the industrial area of another...and all the stations are only 13 squares away from each other and none of them was overused...why the hell didn't they take it?