Region stages

[Mcnamara 1]

I've read every now and then that the regions have "stages" and that is how the game develops either medium sized buildings or skyscrapers. But how can I know that in my region? How do I get that information? how many region stages are there?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Prophet42 1,500]

The region doesn't really have stages, only individual cities.  The biggest thing with regions is the fact that RCI demand is shared region wide.  This allows you to develop cities that satisfy one type of demand and then satisfy another RCI demand in a different city.  For example you could develop one city as residential only and then develop an adjacent city as commercial only for the sims to work in.  The other big advantage of regions are neighbor deals.  You can set up individual cities to supply your region with all the power, water or garbage needs.

[Mcnamara 1]

Excellent thanks, I really thought there were some kind of stages, I could swear I read it somewhere. Still thanks for the response.

[APSMS 1,892]

There are regional CAPs, which are related to stages, but because the region is static in SC4, these are more side-effects of the simulation than anything else.

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

"Stages" actually refer to the size of buildings.  It's sort of a hidden game mechanic; there's no mention of it in the actual game.  Behind the scenes, in the game files, all RCI growable buildings are assigned a stage, 1 through 8 (the CAM mod increases the number of building stages to 15).  The stages play a role in what develops in what zone densities, under what conditions, and how much demand is affected.

 

Basically, to get Stage 8 buildings (the tallest skyscrapers or the biggest factories) you need to have extremely desirable conditions (low pollution, short commute time, plenty of parks and landmarks around, lots of civic services) as well as high RCI demand for the type of building.

 

There's a lot of charts in the SC4 game manual that help with this info.  The manual is available as a PDF online if you don't have your own copy.

[Mcnamara 1]

"Stages" actually refer to the size of buildings.  It's sort of a hidden game mechanic; there's no mention of it in the actual game.  Behind the scenes, in the game files, all RCI growable buildings are assigned a stage, 1 through 8 (the CAM mod increases the number of building stages to 15).  The stages play a role in what develops in what zone densities, under what conditions, and how much demand is affected.

 

Basically, to get Stage 8 buildings (the tallest skyscrapers or the biggest factories) you need to have extremely desirable conditions (low pollution, short commute time, plenty of parks and landmarks around, lots of civic services) as well as high RCI demand for the type of building.

 

There's a lot of charts in the SC4 game manual that help with this info.  The manual is available as a PDF online if you don't have your own copy.

Exactly what I was looking for!!! thank you!!