Suggestions on possible grid layout for my city.

[RedImperator 16]

I use a 4x6 grid with closely spaced transit stops. The result is lots of pedestrian traffic.

I grew up in the Philadelphia area. A large city without a rigid grid just doesn't look right to me.

[atomius 0]

In my downtown areas i generally use a four by five grid. In subs i use a six by six grid. I have one by two tile houses and fill the square in the middle with parks.

p=park

h-house

r=road

 

r r r r r r

r hhhhhr

r hhphhr

r hhphhr

r hhhhhr

r r r r r r

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Okay, although I feel ignored when I say this; I will say it just one last and definite last time.

 

Keep in mind, this is the way to maximize efficiency and population and I do agree; it ain't pretty, but it is pretty boring.

 

6x6 is the SC standard, since SC2k came out and still is in SC4. This is necessary, as it allows all objects in game to be placed evenly and perfectly, from one end to the other.

 

Here is my link to the Grid tutorial CJ. More will be added as I max this largest city out.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=68200

 

[BlakeMW 84]

7x4 is the ideal Grid IMO. A great many things fit inside it. It's also extremely flexible and modular, easily layered, like bricks.


The Hospital+Large School+Large High School fit very nicely, and the odd road can easily be left out to fit in larger buildings or more zoning. Note the bus stop density (no lot further than 3 tiles walk from a bus stop), this is to get 75%+ of the Sims onto busses, a worthy goal IMO as it effectively quaddruples the capacity of roads.


I always use zero bus/ambulance funding and fit lots of 4x7 blocks into the health coverage radius, it's very easy to expand too ofcourse.

Theres no need to layer the blocks, they can be stacked as a true grid just fine, I just like the look of layering.

[pheonix123 0]

Hello.

I usually make my downtowns gridded using long rectangular blocks (4x12 (that's of zoned area mind you)) I use one-way roads rather than avenues or two-way roads because that allows for me to put parks and mass transit between the two of them. Here, I'll make a diagram, its easier to see it than explain it.

OOOOOOOOOO
OSOPPPPOSO
OOOOOOOOOO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OPOZZZZOPO
OOOOOOOOOO
OSOOOOOOSO
OOOOOOOOOO

O= one-way road
S= subway stop(occasionally I'll use a bus stop)
P= park
Z= zone

Remember, this is only for my downtown area. Since the block is 12 tiles long that'll fit 3 4x4 buildings (ie. Ong Condos, Peredria Pharmecuticals, etc.) And the zones are only residential or commercial (I keep my industry further out). My downtowns usually have either a sunken freeway running through the middle or a partially underground freeway (one that only comes up for exits). The latter allows for further zoning or civic buildings. There is also usually a main highway that it is up against that goes out to the suburbs, industry and airport. But my downtown grids usually work out well, they tend to have very few traffic problems but sometimes i remove some of the parks between the one-way roads to add in more MT stations if the ones on the corners get overused (it's strange but sometimes the sims decide to walk from one end of the block to the other to reach the subway stop) Also, the oneway roads run opposite each other so that its like an avenue with a wider median with room for MT. This also might be kind of stupid to use because at every station there are four intersections because there are four roads that interesct one another. But for the most part, traffic is handled fine. I rarely ever use the el-rail because it takes up and extra tile and I use an insane amount of mods (that are pretty cheaty, but hey I have fun with it) so I never really have to worry about money problems, so unless you've got a massive city checkbook I wouldn't suggest adding the subway stops at every block, you may want to try every other, or use two way roads instead of one-way. Another downside to zoning this way is that you lose 3 tiles to transit. I always zone High-density in my downtown areas so it ends up being pretty dense, it also helps that I plop most of my commercial lots and even some residential because I use the superdemand mod I can plop one or two Ong condos and still have a little highwealth demand left, but this is my personal choice, that some would consider cheating and maybe it is, but you know, such is life. So, in the end (finally),if you're looking for a cheap grid that uses up less space, you probably wouldn't want to use this, but if you've got the cash and want to have a highdensity and population city, then try it out.

[soldyne 111]

I use a grid system mainly because of the way i live my life:  ordered, planned, and efficient.  I have a hard time even trying to make a random city with roads every which way.  I will spends days with graph paper, ruler, pencil and just sit and draw out grid patterns trying to calculate just the right number of squares, where different civic builds will go and how the transport system will work.  I love to think and plan.  it's kind of like a hobby of mine.

I am trying out an experiment though.  I have just recently figured out how to create my own city layout in the region view.  With this i plan to build a region from the ground up starting with farms, then working up to industry and finally into a huge megalopolis.  I would like to make it a city journal but i need more planning!!!

 

I plan to make the magalopolis out of 9 connected large city tiles.  these large cities will be my ultimate grid design.

 

I am actually experimenting with what i like to call metagrids.  grids within grids.  the metagrid design is still in its planning phases but essentially i am trying to take future transit expansion into account as well commercial and residential commute times and what not.

 

the basic idea is to start with a 6x6 block (standard block), then make a larger grid of 9 of those blocks connected with roads (road block, no pun intended).  surround this road block with an avenue, this creates a new Avenue Block .  take four of these avenue grids and make a space between them big enough for the largest rewards (about 12 squares, the country club) and in the center of the four will be a 12x12 square.  this is where the civic buildings are placed and it just so happens to be just the right size for nearly full coverage of the four avenue blocks (hospital and education).  this is what i call a civic block.

 

finally, i plop four of the civic blocks with enough space between them for a highway and the center square is big enough for a cloverleaf interchange (can't remembe the size of an interchange).  This is about how far my design has gotten, not sure if I'll create any larger blocks than that (i might not have enough room to!).  if not than that will be my pattern for the whole town.  I would only like to have at most two highways per large city (a N-S and an E-W intersecting in the middle.  this is what i still need to plan out.

 

Im not at my home computer right now so i cant take a screen shot to show you what the blocks look like.  I will try to get a shot later today and post it.  I like the design so far but I am not sure how viable it is.

 

anyway, great discussion so far and just remember what Tony the Tiger might say about grids...

 

They're Grrrrrrrrreat!

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Soldyne: Avenues must divide the neighborhoods, nine 6x6 tile blocks is too far. Countryclub is 12, plus 2 for the service strip.This allows the services, to continue through the parallel grid. 14 is the answer as this amount also allows clover leafs(14x14), to fit between four city blocks squared. 6x6 plus 2 for avenue is 8, divided into 256 total tiles(large city size), equals 32 city blocks of 6x6. 4 city blocks plus 4 avenues equals 32 tiles. see the numerical pattern I am making as I write? That is the answer to all things SC4.

Grids are GRrrrrreat!!! for me too! Excellent post and comments!

[atomius 0]

Yes. I am most amused by these wonderful grids. I am just starting a new city called Krillik in which the grids are 4 by 4. Strange, i hear you say? Well consider this.

 

r r  r  r  r  rr

r  commer  r

r                r

r                r

r   cial        r

r  r  r  r  r   r

 

Thus there is a nice square lot of commerce. Whereas for residential (nice euro contemporary is my fave tileset for res) i have mainly rectangular inbuilt grids.

[____----____ 37]

a picture is worth a thousand words or two thousand letters, get my point

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Yes, i agree there AleKing. I find typing all those little letters, too time consuming and images can be hosted of site, taking up very little bandwidth.

I however, have a CJ full of tutorials, so I will not post them twice, as that would be a waste, IMO.

[_MostlyHarmless 17]

how come people are so against grids in the game, SC4 practically forces you to use them, making everyhting a square and straight.

[sendarrow 3]

TO: garfiedude

always use streets for the industrial areas since I see that I dont have to upgrade them very often. Why should I use roads instead?

[yuhhaur 0]

grid... it remembers me the first time I saw SC2K's detroit city map. check this out - a grided city layout.

the OMNIBUS offers a comprehensive guide on newbie cities with gridded layout, but after I master the simolean earning techniques I found that the grid layout is not always the way I want, especially with the invention of NAM and puzzle pieces...

personally I don't really like grid layout in SC4 but some of the time I just have to make use of it. For city downtown CBD, I usually grid them as this would looks nicer and most modern cities are grided. but for suburbs, I prefer to have a mixtures of them as what JaxCoJazz mentioned, diagonal path makes your city looks good.

sometimes it also depends on my mood, as I might just grid down the whole 30X30 residential area with a single drag (crazy!) and just let the game do the auto-road.

anyway just play what you think it is. grid or no grid is not a matter...

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Yuhhaur: You are right! I tend to push the grids a bit much myself. It is this community that has made all of it great.

 

NorthSider1983: you are right also! The reason I addressed Yuhhaur first, is because this can be great and fun either way. I personally love my grids and two years of it, hasn't bored me yet.

 

 

 

In all fairness, to every style of city/region building; It all is wonderful and fun to be a part off.

I actually love, the newer concepts that, Simtropolis has originated and the CJ's contend to this fact.

 I also enjoyed creating a science fiction based CJ, but sadly, it died off. Still the idea off following the harsh landscapes was quite enjoyable.

[sharkbait16 0]

I think the best advice is to look at some CJs and see what they do, then take what you like from each.

Also, someone was having problems with zoning, so here's a few shortcut keys to know while zoning:
Ctrl -> makes whatever you zone one huge block, not very helpful for bigger than 4x4 cause nothing will grow bigger than that
Alt -> rotates to corner section to the other side
Shift -> removes all streets that like to appear when you zone.

Other good keys are Home and End which rotate any item that can be plopped.

Hope that was helpful!

[RedImperator 16]

Date: 9/23/2005 11:51:24 AM
Author: sharkbait16
I think the best advice is to look at some CJs and see what they do, then take what you like from each.


Also, someone was having problems with zoning, so here's a few shortcut keys to know while zoning:

Ctrl -> makes whatever you zone one huge block, not very helpful for bigger than 4x4 cause nothing will grow bigger than that

Alt -> rotates to corner section to the other side

Shift -> removes all streets that like to appear when you zone.


Other good keys are Home and End which rotate any item that can be plopped.


Hope that was helpful!

quote>

Hey, neat. I didn't know about two of those features. If only there were some kind of book included with the game which listed all the in-game features and how to use them. Some kind of user's manual, maybe. Maybe EA could include one in the next version.

[_MostlyHarmless 17]

frndofyaweh: you are also correct, build however you like, its not like there is a wrong way to make your city. i just feel that until SC5 (god bless it) or a modder finds a way to make curves practically, that is buildings not having to line up in a straight line with the road and allowing building to curve with the road, non-grid cities are frustrating to me. not that i would change my style (i love my grids) but it would offer some variation to my cities...blah blah blah, im just babbling now, read on...

[Sgt_Strider 0]

Originally posted by: Mexicanboy13r

Grids are very cool in simcity. If you know how to use them.

 

Larger--> http://img270.echo.cx/img270/7365/april162dh.jpg

 

More info on my CJ.

 

quote>

 

Can you give me some information on your layout?

[TinySim 4]

Please do not revive these old threads.

[Sgt_Strider 0]

Originally posted by: TinySim Please do not revive these old threads.quote>

 

I need help :rolleyes:.

[greyveil 37]

Mexicanboy13r has "retired" if I am not mistaken, so not sure you will get an answer

[TigerXtrm 0]

I use grids all the time. Never did it any other way as far as I can remember. I do keep experimenting with grids, keep making diffrent kinds of blocks and stuff.

Even though planning every inch of your region ahead can be interesting, it's also a lot of work and in my opinion it takes the fun out of the game. I like to see where I end up when I do this, and how I will solve that when I do this.

For instance I started a city a few days ago where I thought I had a great grid plan. As I layed down the first few grids though, I suddenly realized I didn't plan in any room for highways and trainrails. So I started over with that calculated in it. It's those kind of small problems that make the game interesting.

[roguetech 0]

I tend to use grids and "supergrids", and they work great. I've got 0 traffic above green, commute time under 45 minutes (often under 40 minutes), with 300,000 population, using relatively little space (I'm at ~half a large region block). I feel I could easily reach 1-1.5 million if I finished it out (I haven't used any reward buildings except the university and private schools, or landmarks). The key most definitly planning, with future needs in mind. To make sure a plan is going to work is very simple. Build it. If it doesn't work, slowly remodel it. Just don't place any reward buildings until you know the infrastructure can handle the maximum population load (or use a cheat, and rebuild any dozed rewards). Usually, I'll get at least 2x, or even 3x grid of supergrids built before any rewards go in. All that said, I plan on starting over soon, and allow for more organics in the layout, and see how the other half of the world (i.e. Simtropolis) lives.

I can post a screen shot later if anyone is interested; I've only been trolling here for a couple days, but I haven't seen anyone else doing anything quite like this. It's based on the 6x concept everyone else has mentioned, but provides more room for civic buildings and transportation buildings, without disrupting the pattern (i.e. this is a super-anal grid pattern):

supergrid

HHHAHHAHHH

HH AAAAA HH

A AZSZSZA A

H ASSSSSA H

H AZS SZA H

H ASSSSSA H

A AZSZSZA A

HH AAAAA HH

HHHAHHAHHH *

H = Highway

HH = cloverleaf

A = Avenue

Z = Zone

S = street (One-way Roads)

grid ("Zone")

. . . AAAAAAAAAA

. .AAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAACCCCCCMSC

AAAMCCCCCCCSC

AACCCCCCCCCSC

AACCC . . . .RRRSR

AACCC . . . .RRRSR

AACCC . . . .RRRSR

AACCCR R RRRRSR

AACCCR R RRRRSR

AACCCR R RRRRSR

AASSSSSSSSSSSS

AAMCCR R RRRMSR *

AA = Avenue (two lanes, not two avenues)

S = street (again, One-Way Road)

C = Commercial

R = Residential

M = Mass transit (though I've switched to the cheating RTMT)

. = empty

This would be the NW quandrant (what would that be with nine pieces??), and the C goes around the superzone, with R in the middle. The center zone of the superzone goes to civic buildings, and the center 3x block in each zone goes to parks. The corner of the zone is angled to show where the cloverleaf cuts in. Industrial superzones are done the same, except the center zone of the superzone is used for zoning instead of civic, with only police (fire and/or parking garages might be wise, though). Again, screenshot posted on request.

* Not to scale. Dramatization. Closed course with professional drivers. Try this at home. etc.

[c2004 0]

I like using 9x9 grids and then plunk a park in the middle of the residential

and a plaza in the commercial blocks. I leave it natural in the industrial blocks.

I am trying to do less grids though. Trying something different I guess.