Road first? or the RCI?

[clistalfowl 0]

    i was wondering what you guys would build first when you start a new city. Would you plan your avenues and highways first, or create it little by little as you zone. I always had problems with the Commute time, whenever i put my Industry a little far away from my Resident, they would abandone the house due to commute time. How can i fix that problem. I tried highways and bus stations, but it seems that its n0t the traffic thats causeing the time. its the distance that they are complaining about, but you can't have industry right next to Resident, so i put some Commercial. still, they do not want to built in the Commercial zone.

[Tolomar 5]

well, there are several theories on how to do this...some wing it...other use strict grids....try looking at some of the CJ's or some of the tutorials in the omnibus section for some help...thy's guide was a good help to me. I recomend it

 

as for sims complaining about comute times a: they complain about everything, they are never happy no matter what you do. ( actually had sims complain their comute was too far...it was less than 5 spaces away around the corner) sims are stupid and whinny, get use to it...if you do everything they ask...you will go broke

 

to lower comute times i do suggest putting in MT of some sort...buses and rail lines are the most common at the start (others are better, but you need high population and they can be expensive to set up)

 

remeber to set a network up....and to put the MT in the path of the sims comute or they won't use it

 

(had a house, bus stop to the left...but the sim in the house turned right out of the driveway and never used the bus stop even though it would have been quicker)....it was out of the sims way...  like i said,,, sims can be stupid

 

also suggest the NAM...good transit mod that helps out a lot...i personelly wouldn't play the game without it (takes bit of reading to set up...but well worth the effort, if you have trouble there are many that will help you out with it too)

http://ndex.simvision.net/files/signature.html

 

found at the top of the page

[fightcancer 0]

If you care about pleasing the masses then plan your entire city before you build anything.

 

After the plan is done zone a few squares to help you count the grid (not that your city has to be a consistent grid, rather I'm referring to the SC4 built-in grid that appears once you press the letter 'G).  Zoning helps make for accurate execution of the blueprint.  Then make a road or 2.  Then more zones to help you count out the distance to your next zone.

 

That's the method to my madness. 

[Fee_Nicks 7]

Zone as you go!

[Klemvast 0]

I build my major highways and avenues first, although I cheat with the money. I use this method to accurately scale my city and to have some orientation points in my city before I start zoning and building.

You do have to get a population of a few thousands pretty quick though, because otherwise the maintenance cost for highways will drive you bankrupt (but even if that happens, I must admit, I cheat with the money hehe.) Eventually, even my smaller cities do turn out to be more or less break-even when it comes to budget.

 

I usually build mid-density towns and I use the NAM, so commute times is now seldom an issue with me. I'm gonna start on some bigger cities in the future though, I'm wondering how that will turn out, since I don't really like grids.

 

But if it is the distance Sims are actually having trouble with, I would suggest the NAM, really.

It helps a lot with commute times.

[Joe 90 358]

I generally mark out my main through-roads first, usually north-south & east-west, depending on topography. If this is a money concern, mark the route with trees

Once I've done that, it's pretty much pick the town centre and go from there. I find you can't get a decent sprawl going with planned cities.

And don't be too worried about having large gaps between Industrial and Residential areas. I've put low-density R-zones next to ID before, and they've built up quite fast. Seems they like the low commute more than they hate the pollution!

[kefka 3]

When I make the terrain I ussualy have an idea of what I'm going to do.  I have several meathods of ensuring good transportation, and as I come to an area I choose the one that works best in the space provided.  Since I have several different meathods, it keeps everything looking a little more random.

I use avenues as main streets, and I drag those out a far distance and build up along them.

 

One of the systems I use which works very well is...

 

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

RRSRRPRRSRRPRRSRRPRRSJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

==MMMMMM====MMMMMM===========

RRSRRPRRSRRPRRSRRPRRSJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

 

A= avenue

R= residential

S= street or road

== railroad

M= marrasts 1x6 train station

P=park

J=jobs

 

as you can see, arranging it this way allows two blocks to use the same railstation.  Also, the trainstation blocks the road going across preventing through traffic.  Putting jobs down the line makes the rail the most direct route to get to them, so the sims will be more likely to use it.  This can also be done with monorails, subways, or el rails, but regular railroads are the most convienient for me.  putting bustops on the ends by the avenues is also an option, and since the bustop is directly along the way (if they still choose not to use the railroad) they will be very likely to use it.

 

This isn't exactly a game experiment, so I think this should probalby be moved to the city building concepts forum (if it hasn't been moved while i was typing this).

[Compromise 1]

I vary. If I am making a planned area I usualley do roads first then zone. If not I zone and add roads as I go along.

[Deepstrike 0]

I lay out my roads, avenue, ect. first. I find it helps me to build [More] realisticly. After everything is layed out, then I fill it in with RCI.

[Duke87 1,070]

I've always put down roads first and zoned within them....

And It's always roads and higher (avenues, oneways, etc.). I only use streets for dead ends.

[+Guest]

I always put my avenus and highway in first. If you put roads and highways down after zoneing you might want to put highway in right where an important buliding is.

[Lupulin 0]

My suggestion is only this: YOU MUST HAVE NAM

link to NAM: https://www.simtropolis.com/modding/index.cfm?mode=details&show=380

 

Than from every folder you should instal this files:

 

NetworkAddonMod  -  Main mooding file

 

NetworkAddonMod_ANT_Beta  -  Additional roads

 

NetworkAddonMod_Automata_Plugin_Radical_Automata24  -   Automata options 

 

NetworkAddonMod_Custom_Highway_Menu_Plugin_Optional  -  Additional interchanges. You can select them in Your road menu (custom interchanges) and then by pressing TAB you can change them.

 

NetworkAddonMod_Traffic_Plugin_Radical_Custom_Special  -  With THIS file you will never have problem with comute time even if you have industry in one city and residentials in another.

 

All these files  instal into C:\Documents\Simcity4\plugins\NAM

 

Then run your cities for a while so it may take efect.[:0]

 

Enjoy.