Help Planning Roads

[PurpleProdigy 0]

Hello everyone! First time poster, though I've lurked on and off for a long time. I recently got back into SimCity 4 and have started a few towns just to remember how to play the game and got a few mods loaded up. The question I have is one that's always sort of plagued me with this game... building roads that aren't just a gigantic mess. So how do you guys go about planning roads? Do you take the time to lay everything out before ever starting the game? Or build it a little at a time? I'm interested in trying to create a town that looks half-ass like a real place and not just random. Any tips are much appreciated! Thank you.

[rsc204 21,805]

It really depends on how far you want to take things. For example, you might use Google Maps in satellite view and use that as inspiration. Or maybe you just wing it and use trial and error until you get an effect you like. If you have the NAM, this video will show you how to bring more variety into your Roads and Streets with WRC/FAR pieces:

I tend to build my main transport routes first, i.e. rail, highways and the like. After that I put in the main roads/avenues. Then I fill neighbourhoods in one at a time with streets, just trying to get a nice semblance of randomness as I go.

Other than that, pretty much anything goes, there are no hard and fast rules. Just play around a little and see what you come up with. Even if you do keep mostly to the grid, that can also be visually appealing and realistic too. Just mix it up every now and again to keep things interesting.

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

Choosing between grid or anti-grid depends on whether you have NAM installed. You should install at least the bare-bones NAM so you get perfect pathing. Without that, your sims are so stupid that your roads must be laid out to herd them like cattle (or cats actually).