I finally stopped being concerned about money

[MarkShot 631]

Originally, I was concerned about staying in the black and building what I could afford.  But after watching YouTube videos, I see that the best players don't.  Mainly because trying to build right is a trial and error process, and it is not good economy.

Second I realized quite a bit earlier playing vanilla that it is very easy to build cash cow tiles.  I was transferring funds from one region to another.  So, money is inevitable, since there isn't an opponent or other factors constantly pushing towards your demise.

[twalsh102 1,601]

FWIW, This is my personal opinion on budget management in SC4, especially for someone just starting the game.  I'm sure there will be others that disagree.

Budget Management is an Economics 101 course in high school.  The concepts are fairly simple.  If you consistently spend more money than you have coming in, you're going to end up in a deep hole from which you might not recover.

If this game were only about budget management, that's one thing.  But budget management is just one part of it.  Trying to get one's head wrapped around the concepts of city design and city planning are difficult enough as it is.  Adding in the complexities of the mechanics of this particular game just increases the potential for frustration and ultimately lack of enjoyment of the game.  Once you get all the other concepts and mechanics figured out, your city will eventually reach the point where budget is no longer an issue anyway.

So, why not initially take budget management at least partially out of the mix?  Start with a healthier start-up budget.  That way you don't have to rely on building the "cash cow tiles" as you put it.  Using tiles such as this can lead to losing track of what is legitimate income, and what you are automatically receiving from these tiles.  Install Buggi's SimCity 4 Extra Cheats Plugin, and use the moolah "cheat" to change your startup budget.  You can still watch your budget numbers and see what effects different design/planning choices have on your budget.  But you would be doing so from a much healthier budget standpoint, so that you could concentrate on learning the other more important game mechanics, and have to worry less about dumping your city because you made some bad choices.

Later, once you have the game mechanics more or less figured out, you can start your new cities with the default starting budget and test your acquired city design expertise, with a much better idea of what works and what doesn't.  In this way you would know that if you "lose" the budget battle, it would be because you made some bad choices, and not because you lacked an understanding of basic game mechanics.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

3 hours ago, twalsh102 said:

Install Buggi's SimCity 4 Extra Cheats Plugin, and use the moolah "cheat" to change your startup budget.

^ I believe this is by far the most popular method. And not only can you change your startup budget in the beginning, but you can use it at anytime. Keep in mind the amount you type in is what your total cash on hand will be.

On the other hand, I originally found the Money Park 10.5 and I like them very much. I can plop whichever I want for a set amount of additional income per month. And I can plop as many of them as I need.  (Since then I've made my own mods where my farms pay 5 times as much as the tax rate generates and the open grass area pays one simoleon per month per tile.)

[rsc204 21,808]

4 hours ago, twalsh102 said:

Budget Management is an Economics 101 course in high school.  The concepts are fairly simple.  If you consistently spend more money than you have coming in, you're going to end up in a deep hole from which you might not recover.

Or you can take 21st century economic principles to heart... ignore monetary problems, just print more money, after all it's not real. If we can do this in the real world, it hardly seems cheating to do it in a videogame.

[MarkShot 631]

Ha ha ha ...

I thought my city was built on a virtual economy.

But no, it is built on "no doc" loans, diced into CMOs, made into derivatives filled with tranches, rated triple AAA by S&P, insured by AIG, with hedge funds shorting my region, betting on a crash in land value ...

Ha ha ha ... at least, when the glimmering towers of New Jerusalem turn brown, I will know why!!!

Thank you!

[APSMS 1,892]

1 hour ago, MarkShot said:

Ha ha ha ... at least, when the glimmering towers of New Jerusalem turn brown, I will know why!!!

I was under the impression these were of solid gold, which doesn't brown (though might look a little worse for wear after a few birds hit it). Then again, maintenance might not be so hot, but honestly the Projects, and even the tenements they replaced never looked dirty when they were run down. They did look broken though.

Fortunately SC4 does not simulate recession, although gentrification and aging populations do cause occasional business problems from time to time, as well as reduced demand that leads to abandonment.

6 hours ago, rsc204 said:

Or you can take 21st century economic principles to heart... ignore monetary problems, just print more money, after all it's not real. If we can do this in the real world, it hardly seems cheating to do it in a videogame.

I always wondered where that starting pile of cash came from. Now I know! Also, not to get too philosophical (or political), but I never understood how the confidence in a country's money can fail if it's not in danger of being overrun militarily, and everyone loses from the devaluation. This, I suppose, is another blessing of the global economy that would mean zilch if trade was limited to luxuries and not necessities.

Oops, it appears I've crushed my soapbox. Flimsy thing.

 

Also, props for making me laugh out loud when I read that.

  Edited March 17, 2017 by APSMS