How do you remember where you are?

[kkffoo 259]

My memory is foggy, but I'm guessing back in the early days of SC4 I was oblivious to tutorials and my only research led to cheat codes for morrrre money, so I could sandbox away in a careless fashion, and watch the ships sail up and down.
Now, on my revisit,  I find myself fascinated with the actual mechanics of the game and I'm finding that my (ageing?) brain is struggling to store the information needed to set up a regional network.
So far as I understand, it is not possible to flip back and forth quickly to the larger map view and I'm not keeping a good track of who my neighbours are, what I did there yesterday (last week), what my plans were etc etc.
I would really like to set up some district specialisations, and also be able to visually recognise individual districts more easily (and which way up they are when I am looking at them!).
Ideally I would like districts to work in clusters, and then join these together with other clusters.
Are there any simple ways to feel more organised? 
Are there any types of geography that are more helpful in terms of keeping each district more individual looking?
I could really do with an extra monitor to display notes, maps etc, but space doesn't allow, and my experience is that things get a bit scribbly and hard to find on paper.
Any ideas gratefully received.

[kkffoo 259]

I'm not sure if I confused others as much as myself with this topic!

A quick update, I realised that my minimal landscaping, and symmetrical road designs were not helping me distinguish between various districts, so adding a little bit more terrain editing and mixing up the road maps has helped. My son also suggested taking a regularly updated screencap of the 'big map' as an ongoing reference point.

I am still fascinated to discover what kind of communication happens between regions beyond the utility / garbage deals, freight transport and commuting to work.
For instance, can sims access a school, hospital, other facility in a neighbouring tile if it that facility were close to the edge?
Can you rely on well educated sims from neighbouring districts to commute to appropriate work places if there aren't enough sims of this level in the current tile?

[twalsh102 1,601]

On 9/5/2022 at 1:25 AM, kkffoo said:

Ideally I would like districts to work in clusters, and then join these together with other clusters.

The primary thing to remember when playing regionally is that a particular city tile an only directly "interact" with those other city tiles that are touching each of its four sides and are connected by neighbor connections using one of the transportation networks.

On 9/5/2022 at 1:25 AM, kkffoo said:

Are there any simple ways to feel more organized?

Feeling organized is a very subjective phrase. What do you mean be this?

On 9/5/2022 at 1:25 AM, kkffoo said:

Are there any types of geography that are more helpful in terms of keeping each district more individual looking?

By geography, I'm assuming you're actually talking about topography (i.e. terrain). I'm not sure how you would make each city tile unique enough to recognize solely by the terrain of the tile. Remember that even the largest city tile is only 4km by 4 km. Not sure where you live, but try going on a walk-about where you live and try to discern what makes the 4km square where you live unique (terrain-wise) from any adjacent 1, 2, or 4 km square of land. Also keep in mind that each city tile in SC4 must match up terrain-wise with each of its neighbors (i.e. the city edges must match).

On 9/5/2022 at 1:25 AM, kkffoo said:

I could really do with an extra monitor to display notes, maps etc, but space doesn't allow, and my experience is that things get a bit scribbly and hard to find on paper.

Try playing in windowed mode (vs. full-screen). Then you can minimize the game and access any other files (such as the screen shot of your region map) you have on your computer.

29 minutes ago, kkffoo said:

I am still fascinated to discover what kind of communication happens between regions beyond the utility / garbage deals, freight transport and commuting to work.

All demand is shared regionally between connected cities. This means that Sims can commute to other connected cities if they can't find jobs in their own. No type of transportation crosses a city boundary; it simply disappears. Pollution does not cross city boundaries. Taxes apply only to each city. When setting up neighbor connections / road networks, one must be careful. Do a search on "eternal commuter" to research this phenomenon. Coverage from schools, hospitals, and fire / police stations only extend to a city's boundary.

29 minutes ago, kkffoo said:

For instance, can sims access a school, hospital, other facility in a neighboring tile if it that facility were close to the edge?

Simple answer, No.

A suggestion: If you don't already have it, I would recommend downloading a copy of the Prima Strategy Guide for SimCity 4 Deluxe available (for FREE) at https://archive.org/details/SimCity_4_Rush_Hour_Prima_Official_eGuide

[kkffoo 259]

Thank you @twalsh102 for your patience with all my queries!

I spent some time looking at posts concerning the eternal commuter issue, it wasn't something I was aware of before.  This needs some thought.

'Feeling organised', I realised reading back my initial post that this was somewhat vague. I think what I feel I need is some sort of key concept for each tile, something that I want to achieve in that area, a kind of 'local plan' which fits into managing the region as a whole.
For instance, tile 'Greenacres' could be a specialist in converting waste to energy, tile 'Happyvale' could be, or aim to be a high wealth residential zone, 'Pasture Park' farming etc etc.

It seems like the parameters of the game mean I would need to have additional facilities and zones within each tile but I'm not quite sure how much, or what the limitations are. I realise that each tile needs to balance its budget as well, and this could include income from 'deals'.

I may be looking at the game in the wrong way, and this is what is kicking up much of my confusion.

I did manage to get windowed mode working, and it makes a huge difference.

Geography, I maybe made a mistake starting with a flat map and trying to adapt it as I start new cities, thinking flat would be easy. I'm sure it is easier, but it also adds to the muddle and getting mixed up between tiles!!

Once I have a better grasp of things I will start again with a region with more features, but which is suitable for inexperienced players.
(I realise now that whatever I did last time I played the game was a very shallow dip into sc4!!)
 

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

On 9/5/2022 at 3:25 AM, kkffoo said:

As I understand, it is not possible to flip back and forth quickly to the larger map view and I'm not keeping a good track of who my neighbours are, what I did there yesterday (last week), what my plans were etc etc.
I would really like to set up some district specialisations, and also be able to visually recognise individual districts more easily (and which way up they are when I am looking at them!).
Ideally I would like districts to work in clusters, and then join these together with other clusters.
Are there any simple ways to feel more organised? 
Are there any types of geography that are more helpful in terms of keeping each district more individual looking?

I finished a mega-region last year, that contained 360+ cities. Here's what I did to avoid confusion. First off, I make my own maps, usually from real world locations, so I do this when making them, but the theory still applies. I make little raise bumps which can easily be leveled. You can do this on whatever map you choose. It will give you a visual indication that something goes there, on that spot. You should be able to see them in your regional view, fairly easily. Another trick I use is plopping a cement plot(with $0 cost to plop or demo). When you click on it you can re-name it by city, district, number, etc. It's very visible in region. Of course, nothing is written in stone, so if you decide not to build there, just delete it.

On 9/6/2022 at 11:02 AM, kkffoo said:

Geography, I maybe made a mistake starting with a flat map and trying to adapt it as I start new cities, thinking flat would be easy. I'm sure it is easier, but it also adds to the muddle and getting mixed up between tiles!!

They are easier. Keep your border lines ON in Region until you get some things marked out.

 

[kkffoo 259]

@SIM-ple Jack Thank you, you mean using the signs system so you can make notes, on the cement block? That's a really good idea (and the terrain humps).
I looked up megaregions, just to peep in and amaze myself

I have come to a surprising conclusion. I haven't played SimCity 4 before, this is a new game to me!!!!
This explains the weird experience of both increasing understanding and at the same time utter confusion as I learn more about the software.
The disc copy we have in our house belongs to my son, and I realise that I bought the steam version simply to create terrain files for sims 2.
The game I actually played and remember enjoying was SimCity 3000.
Consider me a very late bloomer.
 

The good news is, I have a new game to play, woo hoo! (also I am not going totally doolally, just very slightly doolally as per normal)
Thank you forum folks for assisting me back onto the path of things making sense again.

 

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

3 hours ago, kkffoo said:

@SIM-ple Jack Thank you, you mean using the signs system so you can make notes, on the cement block? That's a really good idea (and the terrain humps).

No. I mean, if you click on that concrete slab, a box will open with info on the lot. It will have a header bar(that particular lot is a Park with dark green header bar) you can use to re-name that lot. Everything in game has a header, so, say, you have Peapicker Stadium, you can re-name it Arrowhead Stadium or whatever, if you want. I don't use those signs or street labels, as they have a habit of vanishing from the game.

[kkffoo 259]

You have probably saved me some trouble there @SIM-ple Jack as I was thinking of using those labels.
I also managed to get a 'city' tile running and solvent with just heavy industrial, freight rail and power plants, by exporting power, and having workers come in from nearby tiles, so this is exciting!