Income and finance

[Gmeister 3]

Hi there,

Don't post an awful lot but do play game from time to time!

Anyway.

What always got me was how come they never gave us more income revenue streams?

There's so much to spend but not alot of ways to get income?

Taxes being main one then sharing resources.

I like how they did the toll booths on rush hour.

Get income on transport but really alot of it is spending. But you can get enough people on it it pays for itself and maybe make a little profit but you don't make alot.

Shame you can't adjust prices for transport, toll booth and car parking like you do taxes.

Council make alot of money from buses, and car parks.

 

Then there's the $100 ordnance but why wasn't there more?

 

You can get income from some buildings but these make you look like bad mayor and decreases ratings but most are normal for most cities like casino's or army bases etc.

 

They should of definitely made more revenue streams.

 

Speeding fines?

Rather then free museums or paying for them people should pay for some of them and we make money on tickets etc.

And how come farming doesn't give much?

And then halfway in the game they all get abandoned?

Anyone think of anything else? Or any ideas?

Cheers

Graham

 

[CorinaMarie 29,881]

40 minutes ago, Gmeister said:

Shame you can't adjust prices for transport, toll booth and car parking like you do taxes.

If you have NAM installed, you can use its TSCT program to set those how you want. I personally add a fee for freight trucks like it's an extra tax because they are large and cause more wear and tear on the road system.

 

42 minutes ago, Gmeister said:

Then there's the $100 ordnance but why wasn't there more?

There are a few mods which do increase this. (We can find the linkys for you if you have trouble locating them on the STEX and/or LEX.)

 

43 minutes ago, Gmeister said:

And how come farming doesn't give much?

Maxis (wrongly IMO) intended farming to be only starter zones and later bulldozed to be replaced by a metropolis so they didn't care at all if they were financially viable. Should you want a mod, I made one I personally use call AgPay5x.dat (or something like that). We could find a linky to if if you want.

 

45 minutes ago, Gmeister said:

And then halfway in the game they all get abandoned?

Keep air pollution and heavy traffic away from them to prevent them abandoning. There's also a Farming Desirability mod which will remove a lot of the repercussions from nearby heavy traffic.

 

I've not spent the time to look up all the linkys for the mods I've suggested as I don't know if you'd want to use them or not. (Some peeps are opposed to altering the game from Maxis's original.)

[Gmeister 3]

Hi thanks for replying!

 

Will have a look at NAM never used it before, always played aa it was as even installing mods or buildings I thought was cheating lol!

Will it work with steam version?

 

When your talking about the mod for the ordnance? Not really bothered about how much income that peticular ordnance gives me, but just wondered how come there wasn't more ordnance that give income?

Also thanks for the insight about farming!

 

Its crazy to say am still learning about this game 20 years on! Remember I bought my first copy and was really rubbish at it got the game out on steam a few years ago as my cd didn't work properly on a newer system anyway, got really good at it not as good as people on here building a megalopolis tho haha

 

[CorinaMarie 29,881]

Re-hiya, @Gmeister.

Yes, NAM and all other mods will work fine with the Steam version of the game. If you've not used any mods before, then do take it slow and make backup copies of the plugins and regions folders for safety.

OTOH, if you are completely satisfied with how the game plays as it is now, then do continue that. I personally resisted mods for the first couple of years and then only added a wee little bit at a time.

[Naomi57 2,985]

Hi @Gmeister, bus fares can be a good revenue stream, if you place bus stops at strategic spots close to home and work.  Keep in mind that sims really do not like backtracking, and generally prefer a direct commute route.  The Route Query tool tells you where sims are travelling, so you can plan where best to plop the bus stops.

I totally agree with you on business deals, there's not enough of them in the base game.  Here's a couple more ploppable business deals I like the look of:

• https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=182
  CSXNature - PEG Hunters Cabin
  Hunters cabin will bring $ 250.00 per month
• https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=181
  CSX Nature - PEG Hotspring
  This one will give you $ 250.00 per month

 

[TheMurderousCricket 5,097]

24 minutes ago, Naomi57 said:

I totally agree with you on business deals, there's not enough of them in the base game.

I myself have even never, ever earned one.  No idea what requirements do I have to meet to even get an offer... Stand on head for half an hour...?

26 minutes ago, Naomi57 said:

best to plop

Speaking of which, you can make some ploppable lots with negative maintenance cost like I do now. 

[twalsh102 1,601]

Every Maxis default Business Deal has a different requirement, To read about those requirements, take a look at the Prima Official Strategy Guide for SimCity 4 Deluxe, Chapter 26.

For custom content, the requirements will be within a LUA script, usually included withing the .SC4Lot file, and like the default Maxis Business deals will be different for each lot.

[Naomi57 2,985]

7 hours ago, TheMurderousCricket said:

I myself have even never, ever earned one.  No idea what requirements do I have to meet to even get an offer... Stand on head for half an hour...?

4 hours ago, twalsh102 said:

Every Maxis default Business Deal has a different requirement, To read about those requirements, take a look at the Prima Official Strategy Guide for SimCity 4 Deluxe, Chapter 26.

I did used to earn every requirement for every reward and business deal.

• https://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=Tutorial:How_to_get_Maxis_Rewards#NIMBY_Rewards

The event that set me free was around the 10th time I deliberately brought my city to the brink of insolvency, just to get the Army Base and/or Federal Prison, then I saw the light.

Ctrl+X  you don't deserve it 

Of course I deserve it!  

I'd initially thought that cheat code was a cheat.  It's not a cheat, it just opens up the real game.  

To be fair, sometimes I still like to earn my rewards, and only use  Ctrl+X  you don't deserve it   to reserve tile real estate for them ahead of time.

[Naomi57 2,985]

On 05/11/2021 at 8:08 AM, Gmeister said:

Also thanks for the insight about farming!

@CorinaMarie is full of great insights about farming.  Here's her farming inspiration thread.

• https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/758654-acocfpalbn-its-farm-stuff/?tab=comments#comment-1721562

.. and here's a couple of the sweetest farming mods Cori ever made.  They're content blocker mods, I think.  They block the ugly Maxis farms, so that you only get the peaceful, idyllic, beautiful farms.  

• https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/31827-coris-friendly-pedrianas-plants-killer/?tab=comments
• No Dirt Farms:  https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/759969-how-do-you-define-a-developed-agriculture/?do=findComment&comment=1741606

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

@Naomi57

Very nice linkys there!

This reminds me how an additional, thorough guide to Cori's delightful farming methods can be found here and here.

 

Spoiler

The techniques how Cori goes about crafting farms I find truly inspiring too.

For many years of my mayoral tenure, I mostly desired for concrete jungles. About the only trees in sight from my mayoral office were those about 3 foot tall, sat miserably wilting on the balcony. Others were forests which were only small paintings on the office wall. Farming was dismissed for me in favour of a sprawling cold-hearted metropolis. While I still had fun, I never managed to succeed as I envisioned.

Then thanks to Cori, I had a bit of a revelation which changed my mindset. Inspired from how she farms her cities, I realised how agriculture in SC4 can be shaped by techniques including diverse zoning, and the placement of precision planted trees between fields. Combined with selected tweaks including blocking the dirt fields, it opened up the possibility to govern as a rural architect. Now I can create intricate warm-hearted small towns with a certain charm about them. Somehow to me, that seems much more rewarding, with mayoral success no longer measured solely by the attainment of a large sprawling metropolis.

Someday Cori and I plan to explore the SPAM and MTP as well, for adding selected custom content to provide even more options.

 

[lucafedeli 0]

Ciao ragazzi, ho iniziato di nuovo a giocarci e non ritrovo un casino speciale che messo nella città ti faceva guadagnare molti soldi ..... mi potete aiutare grazie

[Naomi57 2,985]

2 hours ago, lucafedeli said:

Ciao ragazzi, ho iniziato di nuovo a giocarci e non ritrovo un casino speciale che messo nella città ti faceva guadagnare molti soldi ..... mi potete aiutare grazie

Google Translate:
Hi guys, I started playing it again and I don't find a special casino that put in the city made you earn a lot of money ..... can you help me thanks

Ciao lucafedeli, you'll need to first turn on the "Legalize Gambling" in the green Monthly Income section of the Ordinances window.

[CorinaMarie 29,881]

@lucafedeli

I presume you are looking for this:

 

So in addition to @Naomi57's advice for turning on the Gambling Ordinance, there is an option to make the Casino available as she describes for the Army Base and Federal Prison. The same Ctrl+X  you don't deserve it  code will enable said Casino for plopping:

On 11/10/2021 at 7:45 PM, Naomi57 said:

I did used to earn every requirement for every reward and business deal.

• https://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=Tutorial:How_to_get_Maxis_Rewards#NIMBY_Rewards

The event that set me free was around the 10th time I deliberately brought my city to the brink of insolvency, just to get the Army Base and/or Federal Prison, then I saw the light.

Ctrl+X  you don't deserve it 

Of course I deserve it!  

I'd initially thought that cheat code was a cheat.  It's not a cheat, it just opens up the real game.  

To be fair, sometimes I still like to earn my rewards, and only use  Ctrl+X  you don't deserve it   to reserve tile real estate for them ahead of time.