Help making profit!

[Dharmok 0]

This is really embarassing. I LOVE games like this where you can build and take care of a city. But I must be doing something wrong, maybe I'm over-analyzing everything, or maybe it's my OCD acting up, but every city I make my +$$$ from taxes just keeps shrinking and I can never seem to get to 100,000 population and then I start getting a deficit. I do not know how to make a lot of profit in this game so I can sustain the city. <<< That's the point I'm trying to make.

 

I am really stupid so please keep it very, very plain and simple.

 

Thanks,

 

- Nate

  Edited April 17, 2013 by Cyclone Boom  
Changed thread title to something more suitible.

[tnobles 38]

I usually start using Low Density streets. This way I have better control of buildings density. In the screen shot below, I started with only the top part using the "Square roads tool" and just the top six squares. I try to leave close to 30,000 in treasury so I can plop water, sewer and electric (usually a coal plant). The city tile used will dictate this. I started this city at the city entrance so, this logic worked well and the workers/shoppers usually walk. Almost no traffic (yet). With only 500 or less population the income is almost 1,000/hr which will give me enough to build a garbage dump before it becomes an issue.

 

The ratio of RCI is approx. 6/2/1 or for every six houses there should be two commercial and one industry. May not be correct but it works for me.

 

With a city tile that has coal, ore or oil (at least 7 industry buildings required), you can export the resource and make lots of income. Notice the second screen shot. I'm in the red (upgraded Clinic & Police) but it isn't a problem (yet). I just started upgrading roads so that all (RCI) will upgrade there and put my income back in the green. Keep an eye on the "Population Panel", Detail tab to see where you stand with workers and shoppers. I find that upgrading any of the buildings too quick will cause unbalance in this area.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Budget Panel

[5uper_Mania 6]

If you manage to establish an electronics industry, the revenue generated from finished e-products should more than offset the cost of running a city...you can literally turn off all taxes and still make a profit. As far as I've noticed, approval ratings rocket and the civilian's issues with the economy diminishes.

[Dashafrash. 34]

But to set up an electronics industry town, you must already have a university, which isn't the cheapest, nor fastest, thing in SimCity.

I find oil much more profitable, not just money-wise. It sells for massive amounts of simoleons on the Global Market, and one power plant can provide power to other cities in the oil town's region. 

[morriswalters 16]

The games balanced to push you.  Taxes will be hard to keep at a rate that will support you.  A lot of people make processors.  You can run a negative in taxes and still make money that way.  You can even sell things you recycle on the market.  Education is a key metric.  I have a city on the test server at 90k, give or take.  I took my time, started schools as soon as I could afford them.  Once I got the University it was all over.  A little high tech industry, recycling and a processor factory. I have about 23 million and nothing to spend it on, so I tinker, compress and generally play with the setup.  No oil, no coal, no ore.  By 60 k population I had plenty of cash, had unlocked all the clean energy sources, most of the great works.  I use the high efficiency solar concentrators.  Wind is unreliable after you get larger.  I don't worry about law or medicine.  If I need them I have a second city, that I'm fooling with.

 

I start out with a mix of industry and commercial and bring it up slowly.  Plop utilities first, wind, a dump and a water tower. Push up to about 15k population, setting schools police and fire department.  Save some money, you should be able to get 3000 and hour at that point, and set the water treatment and sewage plants.  Once you have done that just keep going,  University next..  Tourism is a bore and I never gamble.  I personally find high population cities a waste of time.  With these maps they look like a chess board filled with pieces.  I like to mix it up.  The neat thing if it tickles your funny bone, is that you can unlock everything with 100k population by using multiple cities

[mr_sim 7]

Build slow. You have to give your city time to adjust to any changes you make. Simcity has always been a game of patience and planning. If you try to do too much too soon, you'll fail.

[DVDGuy 16]

The games balanced to push you.  Taxes will be hard to keep at a rate that will support you.  A lot of people make processors.  You can run a negative in taxes and still make money that way.  You can even sell things you recycle on the market.  Education is a key metric.  I have a city on the test server at 90k, give or take.  I took my time, started schools as soon as I could afford them.  Once I got the University it was all over.  A little high tech industry, recycling and a processor factory. I have about 23 million and nothing to spend it on, so I tinker, compress and generally play with the setup.  No oil, no coal, no ore.  By 60 k population I had plenty of cash, had unlocked all the clean energy sources, most of the great works.  I use the high efficiency solar concentrators.  Wind is unreliable after you get larger.  I don't worry about law or medicine.  If I need them I have a second city, that I'm fooling with.

 

I start out with a mix of industry and commercial and bring it up slowly.  Plop utilities first, wind, a dump and a water tower. Push up to about 15k population, setting schools police and fire department.  Save some money, you should be able to get 3000 and hour at that point, and set the water treatment and sewage plants.  Once you have done that just keep going,  University next..  Tourism is a bore and I never gamble.  I personally find high population cities a waste of time.  With these maps they look like a chess board filled with pieces.  I like to mix it up.  The neat thing if it tickles your funny bone, is that you can unlock everything with 100k population by using multiple cities

 

That's almost exactly how I did it, especially the part about solar concentrators - they're great, and has zero risk compared to nuclear power, and no need to import oil or coal like with those plants.

 

Basically just build services whenever they're needed, not before, so that your tax income is enough at the start to not make you go bankrupt. Then invest in education, and then recycling to produce plastic/alloys, which you can then export to make more cash. Then a university to up the tech of your industrial zone, which then unlocks the processor factory. Then it's all about adding more processor factories, trade depots to import and export plastic/alloys and processors, then an electronics HQ and enough processor production to unlock the consumer elec factory. By that time you'll be needing a trade port too. 

 

I have 2 processor plants, 2 consumer elec plants making TVs. I'm up to 40 million, making 2-3 million per day, and that kind of cash gives you the freedom to do whatever you want with the city, and for me, that's when the fun starts.

[TPMP 0]

Personally I think Ore is the best resource. You can export it for big profits, or build a smelting factory and either export alloy or turn them into processors, and thats where the money is! Not sure if theres the same amount of profitable options with oil.

[x_nemo 4]

You can pretty easy make a around 200k city with an income of about 10-15k/h with no specialization.

You just have to keep some small things in mind:

 

Overall Simcity is about keeping your roads free. To do that follow these points:

 

- Never built 4 way cros roads. Only T croses.

- Built avenues only for the most part of your city. Only built medium or lower roads in between to lower the amount of traffic lights.

- Built your maintenance(water, power, sewage) in the middle of your town. (Keep traffic away from the middle of the town)

- Built R/C under the maintenance part and I over. Built schools and fire,medical and police places at the right and left side of the city. This will do so the sims will go to and from work south to north and your fire,medical and police can travel freely west to east(or east to west)

- Place trading depots in your industrial area so they can easy get rid of there stuff.

 

Sorry for my bad english. Ask if you want me to explain something better

 

 

 

 

x_nemo

 

.

[DVDGuy 16]

You can pretty easy make a around 200k city with an income of about 10-15k/h with no specialization.

You just have to keep some small things in mind:

 

Overall Simcity is about keeping your roads free. To do that follow these points:

 

- Never built 4 way cros roads. Only T croses.

- Built avenues only for the most part of your city. Only built medium or lower roads in between to lower the amount of traffic lights.

- Built your maintenance(water, power, sewage) in the middle of your town. (Keep traffic away from the middle of the town)

- Built R/C under the maintenance part and I over. Built schools and fire,medical and police places at the right and left side of the city. This will do so the sims will go to and from work south to north and your fire,medical and police can travel freely west to east(or east to west)

- Place trading depots in your industrial area so they can easy get rid of there stuff.

 

Sorry for my bad english. Ask if you want me to explain something better

 

 

 

 

x_nemo

 

.

 

It's the strategy from this video, right?

 

 

I definitely want to try it for my next city, seems to make perfect sense (from a SC2013 logic point of view).

[x_nemo 4]

Yea its based on that one

[MayorQuimbie 13]

But to set up an electronics industry town, you must already have a university, which isn't the cheapest, nor fastest, thing in SimCity.

I find oil much more profitable, not just money-wise. It sells for massive amounts of simoleons on the Global Market, and one power plant can provide power to other cities in the oil town's region. 

A community college provides tech levels... and its fine for just getting the 5 tech industry buildings you require....

[Dashafrash. 34]

 

But to set up an electronics industry town, you must already have a university, which isn't the cheapest, nor fastest, thing in SimCity.

I find oil much more profitable, not just money-wise. It sells for massive amounts of simoleons on the Global Market, and one power plant can provide power to other cities in the oil town's region. 

A community college provides tech levels... and its fine for just getting the 5 tech industry buildings you require....