My city looks very monotonous

[Michonder 4]

The idea I'm having is to build a dense, rather dire industrial city that also looks natural. So I always zone low-density first, and then rezone to medium and finally high (though I haven't gotten to that). However the problem I'm having is that as I rezone, I'm mostly getting the same 1x2 apartments buildings of each architectural style, which makes the city look very monotonous. I'm not having nearly as many of the bigger tenements and other 2x2 as I'd like.

 

Examples:

 

 

 

It seems that when I demolish the buildings when I rezone I'm getting more 2x2 buildings, but that's contrary the idea of letting the city develop in a natural manner. Plus I the rezoned area can remain unbuilt for quite a while.

 

Any suggestions to get more variation?

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

You can hold down the CTRL button while zoning to force lots to be a certain size (2x2 for example).  That would make it much more likely that 2x2 building would grow.

 

But even then things might still seem a bit boring.  You can download new buildings off the STEX to greatly increase your variety.  There are quite a few low-wealth apartment type buildings; it's just a matter of finding them (it can be tricky; the STEX search isn't all that great.  You would have better luck using Google to search the STEX).

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

If you haven't you can add a lot of custom content to break up this monotony.  I recommend buildings by JMeyers, Matt3B325, SimCoug, GutterClub, I. Lostalim, JasonCW, MadHatter106, Paeng, and others on the STEX, LEX and PLEX.

 

Also, quit using default zoning.  Draw your lots by hand and you'll have a lot more control.

[Turjan 1,048]

My low wealth cities looked like yours before I started using plugins. Here are two examples of what you can do with plugins, and everything just grew with normal standard zoning. This is all medium density low wealth buildings, except two medium wealth buildings on the upper left edge and left of the water tower:

 

 

The plugin buildings are by JBSimio, MattB325 (the higher ones) and spa. If you like it colorful, you can also look at spa's Halifax Boxes, here a few "survivors" that I made historical in an otherwise high density neighborhood:

 

 

They come in dozens of configurations (he put lots of effort into these).

 

There's also stuff by the NYBT here on the STEX, and those look grimier than my examples, if you want to go into that direction.

[Michonder 4]

I'm actually happy with the in-game buildings, I haven't played this game all that often and I haven't gotten tired of seeing the buildings yet. It's just that I get way too few 2x2 buildings to my liking.

 

You can hold down the CTRL button while zoning to force lots to be a certain size (2x2 for example).  That would make it much more likely that 2x2 building would grow.

 

Remember I always zone low density first. The problem is that the lots typically get split up with buildings 1 wide.

[Gurning_Chimp 398]

goofyguytpa is really good for slummy buildings.

[Turjan 1,048]

I'm actually happy with the in-game buildings, I haven't played this game all that often and I haven't gotten tired of seeing the buildings yet. It's just that I get way too few 2x2 buildings to my liking.

 

Well, you don't really have any influence on how the game converts low density to medium density. If you don't want to dezone and rezone, and if you don't want to use plugin buildings, you probably have to eat the dish the game serves you.

 

On the plus side, the area in you pictures looks quite realistic for a working class neighborhood. I guess it would already help with the looks if you just plopped a church or something like that in that area. Or a football field. Or just a few corner shops.

[Prophet42 1,500]

What do you have your tile sets set to?  Make sure you have all 4 tile sets selected .  Also, selecting 'Build all buildings at once" may help in giving more variety right away.

[Mr Saturn64 742]

As stated earlier, fixing the zoning to make larger plots is probably your best idea.

 

By the way, have you considered posting in "show us your ghettos"

[CocoJones 7]

What do you have your tile sets set to?  Make sure you have all 4 tile sets selected .  Also, selecting 'Build all buildings at once" may help in giving more variety right away.

Yup that's the problem I always have. I only picked sc4 back up a few months ago after not having played it since launch. As I'm still exploring ways of growing cities, I always run on normal speed and keep forgetting to change the tile settings. So in the beginning I get a lot of similar buildings (despite an already sizeable collection of extra buildings) until my penny drops. I'm guessing the extra buildings are all on 1 or 2 particular tile sets and the game never seems to be on those sets when I start building my city centre.

 

Btw zoning particular sizes doesn't really help me either as most of them get split up. What I do now is limit the amount of zoning I do to a small area (like one small block or even one side of a block) and slowly build it out which seems to help a bit.

But I am curious, after a while when the city (or town at that point) has grown quite a bit, the plots do get recombined again to make larger buildings. Is this the game just looking at demand and what's possible within the zoning area, or does it keep track of the zoning plot sizes when they were made and keep to that as a max until you upgrade the zone?

[Prophet42 1,500]

For your zoning question, I believe the simulator is mostly looking at demand and will create large lots if the demand is high enough.  The game will never downgrade a lot or make a lot smaller unless the building is destroyed.

[CocoJones 7]

Ah k thanks I'll have to keep a closer eye on the details of demand when I start zoning the centre then as it could be the answer to why they (mostly) get split up at the beginning.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

When I do a business district at the beginning, I zone low density C lots 2 x 1 in back to back layouts.  Later on this can be come 2 x 2 and the game can convert some of it to 4 x 2 for some bigger buildings.  When I am ready for taller buildings, I rezone with bigger lots as needed, usually on busy corners.

[docj101 99]

I often run the game on cheetah speed while repeatedly bulldozing a section of zone until a different (or specific) lot develops.

 

I also make heavy use of the "make historical" check box in a building query to lock neighborhoods into a specific look I have attained.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

That can get expensive.  Good thing for the moolah command, eh?

[docj101 99]

That can get expensive.  Good thing for the moolah command, eh?

Probably is expensive, but I don't notice.  I cheat so bad money is never an issue by the time I'm fine tuning. 

 

Of the ways I cheat, moolah is actually a cheat I never use.   My networks are all jacked up to ridiculous capacities and speeds.  A lot of my commercial and industrial buildings are modified for higher capacities and altered job distributions.  My civic buildings are all double capacity.  I made the vehicle emissions ordinance reduce air pollution by 75% (but I made it cost me a fortune too).  I use transit stations with up to 50,000 passenger capacity (these cost accordingly too).  The list goes on. 

 

I cheat in many ways.  but you kno... cheating is playing too!

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

There is no cheating.  Just playing with whatever knowledge you have gleaned.  Everyone uses this program as a naked canvas for their creativity.

[Ltw 401]

That can get expensive.  Good thing for the moolah command, eh?

Probably is expensive, but I don't notice.  I cheat so bad money is never an issue by the time I'm fine tuning. 

 

Of the ways I cheat, moolah is actually a cheat I never use.   My networks are all jacked up to ridiculous capacities and speeds.  A lot of my commercial and industrial buildings are modified for higher capacities and altered job distributions.  My civic buildings are all double capacity.  I made the vehicle emissions ordinance reduce air pollution by 75% (but I made it cost me a fortune too).  I use transit stations with up to 50,000 passenger capacity (these cost accordingly too).  The list goes on. 

 

I cheat in many ways.  but you kno... cheating is playing too!

 

A lot sounds like real-life. If we couldn't build hybrid cars and high capacity transit stations it would be quite difficult to solve problems. Cheats like that make it more realistic in my opinion since a lot is happening in real-life too.

 

Ah k thanks I'll have to keep a closer eye on the details of demand when I start zoning the centre then as it could be the answer to why they (mostly) get split up at the beginning.

 

If the travel-time is short, and you have a good eduction (a little bit less good if you want to zone R$) and good healthcare highrise buildings should rise very quick. Like A Nonny Moose said before, the lots convert automatically. If the desirability for highrise is high enough that should be just fine. When you want to build certain custom buildings it is important to look at the lot-size in the read-me of that file. Lots of 2 tiles or 3 tiles deep are very common, but it could also be that certain lots are 5 tiles deep. These buildings won't be built if your street-pattern doesn't fit.

[TotalCasual 1]

Another option you have is to add filler lots, with bare concrete, parking lots, alleys, unkempt parks, and so on.
 
Be warned, these kinds of lots look best on flat terrain, but your city looks pretty hilly.  You could try adopting a terracing scheme where you flatten a couple blocks' area into a terrace then have sloped roads up to another flattened terrace level.
 
I've been looking for this kind of filler recently for my own gritty industrial areas and poor rural towns in the region I'm working on.  Here's some examples:

Pegasus probably has more of this kind of stuff at his site.  Also it'll be worth your time to look at Paeng's work, he's created massive amounts of scenery filler.

[lhrob 213]

Looking at the OP's screenshots, I'm reminded of how you could only look down on the zones from above in the original SimCity.... the very first version of the game I played on Super Nintendo years ago. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&q=nintendo+simcity&spell=1&sa=X&ei=iaKFUbL9I5KB0QGY9IGoBA&ved=0CFEQBSgA&biw=1596&bih=773

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

If you'd like the old game, Google for Micropolis.

[lhrob 213]

Interesting.  I never knew that existed.  But I don't know...I'm afraid I might get bored with it.  I wasn't really waxing nostalgic...I was just reminded of the blocky look of certain residential zones in the original game.

[yayaya1 22]

here. you can use this awesome cheat addition with even a cheat to plop EVERY building from the game. industrial, commercial, residential, landmarks, parks, school, e.t.c. You can even plop BAT's you've downloaded, and this is only one cheat from the 30 or so.

 

 

don't use the link above. I find the original file. i've heard it has less bugs and glitches.