Newbie - Need Tips ffor raising Demand

[masi_23 2]

Hi everyone. I've only been playing the game for at least a week or so. I've made several small cities. I recently started with the large tile, my population is now at 140,000 Sims. I didn't make my city too pretty, solely for gaining experience running a bigger place. Its a grid system much like NYC. Every means of transport i have so i don't deal with any traffic at all. My fire/police stations, hospitals, and schools are more than enough to cover the city so far. I have legalized gambling and the only Ordinances that i have enabled are for educational purposes.

On to my problem. My Hi-Tech Industry Demand is maxed. As so with Low and Mid Residential. High ($$$) Residential is near 0. Meanwhile my Commercial Office ($$ and $$$) are both rock bottom. So the only high-rises i see as of now are Residential. What am i doing wrong? My city is connected to three small cities. All have a decent amount of high wealth sim populations.

Tax:

Residential

$ - 8.0%

$$ - 7.5%

$$$ - 2.0%

Office

$ - 8.0%

$$ - 7.5%

$$$ - 2.0%

$$ - 7.5% - Demand is rock bottom here

$$$ - 2.0% - So as this guy!

Hmmm...

[Shlarin 0]

Early in your region and especially if you're new, building what's in high demand seems to be the best bet. Once the demand for that zone is satisfied, something else usually will be in high demand again.

[masi_23 2]

I'm sorry but i didn't quite understood your reply, could you elaborate a little more?

[TitanSteel 0]

For 140k population, I'd say that your commercial taxes are a bit high. I drop them to 5% and less long before I hit 100k

I still get decent income since the increased demand makes them create more taxable jobs.

[edman2012 33]

maybe you reached the demand caps and if that's the case, add more parks and reward buildings so you have more room for development. You should even make neighbor connections. also make sure that you have high education

[autumnsolace 0]

it would help to know what your city looks like - what kind of citizens live in your city? where do they work?

[SC4BOY 21]

Put the Census Repository in (on the STEX) and show us the report for the city in question.. It's only a report (thought it has a small lot to allow you to trigger the report)

[masi_23 2]

Ok guys, thanks for the replies. My population has doubled now and just reached 300k. Also, after raising taxes for CO ($$), CO ($$$) on the 3 neighboring small cities, my CO ($$) demand went up, but CO ($$$) is still negative. I'll post screen shots of my city in a few minutes. I'll also show the Census Repository Report as you suggested.

Update:

Census Repository

                               CAP                 POP

R$ -                        20 -               143,988

R$$ -                     14 -               110,229

R$$$ -                   11 -              78,353

CO$$ -                    0 -               1,863

CO$$$ -                17 -              170,799

Cs$ -                           -              982

Cs$$ -                        -              20,301

Cs$$$ -                      -              17,981

IR                                -               0

ID  -                         3 -               7,043                

IM -                          0 -               1,989

IH -                          2 -               10,503

Residential              -               361,371

Commercial            -               211,928

Industrial                 -                19,536

Total RCI                 -                592,836

[masi_23 2]

My Favorite Building so far

Also, is there anyway to stop buildings from repeating?

[autumnsolace 0]

the best way to stop buildings from repeating is to get more buildings from STEX and hope they grow! if a plugin building is growing too much, delete some of the lots. also make sure you have the architecture style rotation on - i think it's somewhere in mayor mode

i'm not familiar with census repository, but i look forward to hearing from an expert

[Shlarin 0]

Originally posted by: masi_23

I'm sorry but i didn't quite understood your reply, could you elaborate a little more?quote>

An example:

1) Right now industrial demand is high, so build more industrial zones.

2) Now, industrial demand is low but residential demand is high, so build residential.

Very simple idea: If demand for X is high, build more zones for X.

If demand for Y is low, don't bother wasting money building zones of Y.

[masi_23 2]

Originally posted by: Shlarin

Originally posted by: masi_23

I'm sorry but i didn't quite understood your reply, could you elaborate a little more?quote>

An example:

1) Right now industrial demand is high, so build more industrial zones.

2) Now, industrial demand is low but residential demand is high, so build residential.

Very simple idea: If demand for X is high, build more zones for X.

If demand for Y is low, don't bother wasting money building zones of Y.

quote>

As simple as it is, it makes tons of sense. I will take your advice. Thank you.

[SC4BOY 21]

I meant post a pic of the Repository Report, not the city..

And look up the report made by RippleJet.. I think he calls it "version 3" for his most recent.. it gives a LOT more data than the raphaelninja version (which is quite old) You may have to look over on the LEX  You will have to register there and be approved. I don't know if he put the  version on the STEX or not.. do a search on his name

[The Baptist 1]

Hi masi_23.

This is off-topic. Please forgive me.

I fell in love with a building from your screenshots.

It will fit perfect into one of my downtowns.

Could you or someone else tell me the name of it. Maybe you could provide me with a link?

[TekindusT 3,809]

It is Ong Building, an stage 8 R$$$, and comes default with the Houston tileset. It can take a long time to grow, so if you want to plop it, just download the Extra Cheats Mod, use the BuildingPlop cheat and look for it.

[masi_23 2]

@SC4Boy - my bad, but hey, no harm done with posting pics. I'll do a search and see if i can find the right one.

@Baptist - As TekindusT said, it comes as a default building in the game. I'm not aware if its in STEX since im pretty new with the game myself. Anyway, love the building too! It's a mix modern and art decco classic =D

[The Baptist 1]

Thank you both TekindusT & masi_23.

That will explain why I`ve never seen it.

I play the Euro style only.

And if it would appear in the Euro style I guess I haven`t developed my cities enough yet.

[SC4BOY 21]

Originally posted by: masi_23

@SC4Boy - my bad, but hey, no harm done with posting pics. I'll do a search and see if i can find the right one.

quote>

Hmmm.. took a quick look.. the latest version is not on STEX. Heres the link to the Repository DL and this is the Support Thread for it. You will have to be registered at both locations (CSXLEX and SC4Devotion) in order to access that info

[DCMetro34 577]

I have one solution, super demand mod!!! It under the category general mods in the STEX.

[masi_23 2]

Thanks for the links SC4BOY, i just have one last question, how do you take a screenshot in-game

without the menus on the screen? Again, thank you for the all the help so far, i appreciate it.

And i think ill pass on that DCMetro. Maybe ill check on it when i do my fantasy city. Thanks though.

[SC4BOY 21]

Click the little button on the bottom (kind of a little arrow) left just under the "rotate" area.. it minimizes the menues.. However what you've probably seen from me is simple.. I take the screenshot, paste it into GIMP (a free simple photo editor) outline the stuff I want to be on the screen, hit "cntrl-y" to auto trim to it, save it under whatever name as jpg, load it on photobucket (or whatever host) and link it into the message.. Is that what you mean or did I misunderstand what you're asking?

btw, I never use any demand mods and I've been playing for 7 years or so.. they just aren't needed imho

Good luck on your stuff

[masi_23 2]

Well, i know how to minimize it and all, i just dont know how to take a photo without the menu - what i mean is that, you need the menu tabs with the 'camera icon' to be able to take a shot by pressing ENTER. When everything else is minimized (no menus), i can't do that. Or is there a way to do it? ...like a shortcut.

[SC4BOY 21]

Oh I see.. I just use the printscreen funtion.. I don't bother with the SC4 photo function. For me I can just hit the printscreen to capture to scratchpad, open a photo editor (I use Gimp) and paste the pic there.. then do whatever editing or resizing I feel is needed then save to jpg format. If I need to do any editing by arrows or labels or whatever I just use Paint.. very crude but adequate for my needs

[tungston 19]

Originally posted by: masi_23

Well, i know how to minimize it and all, i just dont know how to take a photo without the menu - what i mean is that, you need the menu tabs with the 'camera icon' to be able to take a shot by pressing ENTER. When everything else is minimized (no menus), i can't do that. Or is there a way to do it? ...like a shortcut.quote>

You can use the hotkey to bring up the camera snapshot mode.  [Ctrl] [shift]

[masi_23 2]

Wait, i should rephrase my question (again lol). Actually, how can i take a screen shot while the Census Repository is on display? Print Screen?

Also, a few more newbie questions for everyone out there.

Does NAM (latest version) make the game crash? I was 1 hour in on a session and was building railways over roads

when the game suddenly crashes! Progress lost...

What can i do with those brown boxes? And why do they appear?

Why do custom buildings don't light up at night?

Thanks in Advance!

[Fee_Nicks 7]

1: Not that I know of. It may be other stuff conflicting with each other and causing the crash, though.

2: The brown boxes are due to you missing a dependency or a model. Look through your plugins folder and download the requisite dependencies (or look here: www.sc4devotion.com/index.php )

3: You need a patch (either on the main site or here: www.sc4devotion.com/index.php ).

Hope these help.

[The Baptist 1]

Originally posted by: masi_23

Does NAM (latest version) make the game crash? I was 1 hour in on a session and was building railways over roads

when the game suddenly crashes! Progress lost...

quote>

I have also experienced the game crashes when placing rail/road/ over road/street and so on.

This occurs when hovering the mouse (to long) over these overpasses.

Somewhere I read that this was a common problem. So I`ve learned to save the game before placing these.

Terrible to loose hours of work...

[SC4BOY 21]

Originally posted by: masi_23

Wait, i should rephrase my question (again lol). Actually, how can i take a screen shot while the Census Repository is on display? Print Screen? quote>

Yes

Also, a few more newbie questions for everyone out there.

Does NAM (latest version) make the game crash? I was 1 hour in on a session and was building railways over roads

when the game suddenly crashes! Progress lost... quote>

Once you get it properly installed, it is quite stable though hovering transit enabled (TE) lots over a network can cause CTD's  These things are rather well explained in the docs

What can i do with those brown boxes? And why do they appear?quote>

You are missing dependencies. You will have to FOR EACH SPECIAL LOT look at the doc's and /or the download page and track down and install the dependencies specified for it

Why do custom buildings don't light up at night? quote>

Because you don't have the final patches from maxis installed from the EA support site. Do a searh on the forum for "nightlignt" and I'm sure you'll find many threads giving more details. Also the Greyveil thread specifies some of these.. you might take a look at it. It is a very old thread, but it should give you a good idea.

[masi_23 2]

Again, Thanks for the Replies!

This game is just full of small things that you need to know...

This is like my own personal question box lol... what a newb... *sigh*

Well, i guess ill drop in another question xD

After installing a few more plugins, i noticed that whenever i buy and build parks, there's no animations like the water fountains.

Other examples: 'small park' and 'medium park' is missing its trees and benches (props)

What's wrong?

Anyway, i obliterated the big city and ive been building a new one. Same size.

This is the one where it crashed on me! About 2-3 hours of infrastructure work was lost!

It's still a bit scattered. The reward building are all in the middle there (Will be relocated)

Same problem with demand again, CO$$ and CO$$$ both negative.

Here's my progress so far:

[The Baptist 1]

Hi masi_23.

Have you read the Omnibus?

You might find some answeres there.

Originally posted by: masi_23

After installing a few more plugins, i noticed that whenever i buy and build parks, there's no animations like the water fountains.

Other examples: 'small park' and 'medium park' is missing its trees and benches (props)

What's wrong?

quote>

As SC4BOY says in the post above, its most likely you miss some dependencies.

Search the file you`ve downloaded again on the STEX. Read the description, most likely the dependencies are listed here.

If not, hopefully the creator/uploader have included a "readme file" in the .zip-file that tells you wich dependencies you need for this to work/show up properly.

A dependencies list and where to find them:  www.sc4devotion.com/dependencies.html

Other sites to download stuff from:

SimPeg:           simpeg.com/forum/index.php

sc4devotion:    www.sc4devotion.com/

LEX:                  sc4devotion.com/csxlex/

You have to register an account on every one of these sites.

Definitely worth it!

Best regards

The Baptist (Mayor)