Sim region/neighbors

[WRXpilot 1]

Hi all,

This is my first post here; I've played every SC game yet except for SC4.  Since discovering these forums, I've decided to pick SC4 up too.  Even though I don't even have the game yet, I've already downloaded ~200MB of stuff from the STEX; awesome community you guys have here.

I have a question about how the game works though; it seems that one of the major changes to SC4 over its predecessors is the "region" concept.  That is, in previous SC games, your city had neighbors, but they grew automatically under AI control.  In SC4, it seems the player is in control of an entire region, and therefore you must build not only your city, but all its neighbor cities as well.  This seems great for expanding the playability of any given city/region, but introduces a question since, obviously, you can only control one city at a time:

What happens to neighboring cities while you're playing another one?  Does the game run them on AI?  Are they frozen in time at the last point played, and if so, how does the game account for cross-border travel, commuting and economic deals?

Am I correct in assuming that the gameplay has fundamentally been changed such that you do not concentrate on any one city for very long?  Instead, it would seem that one must create many small new cities (dozens?) across a region, and constantly switch between them so that there is "symetrical" growth that allows useful cross-region devevlopment.

From my point of view, it seems like this game could eat up enormous ammounts of time in creating a "realistic" metropolitan area that includes the dense urban center, surrounding suburbs and agricultural areas.  I definitely think I'm going to pick this up over the weekend.

[winonanick 0]

Originally posted by: WRXpilot What happens to neighboring cities while you're playing another one? Does the game run them on AI? Are they frozen in time at the last point played, and if so, how does the game account for cross-border travel, commuting and economic deals?quote>

They are frozen in time. You can create neighbor deals with your cities. When you create a neighbor connection, the game accounts for movement across the border, but commute time comes into play. The route from a house to a job must not be too long basically.

Am I correct in assuming that the gameplay has fundamentally been changed such that you do not concentrate on any one city for very long? Instead, it would seem that one must create many small new cities (dozens?) across a region, and constantly switch between them so that there is "symetrical" growth that allows useful cross-region devevlopment.quote>

Yes and No, you can focus on a single city for as long as you wish, but there are advantages to playing other cities, so it is a balance. But you can grow dozens of cities or an autonomous one. It is up to you.

From my point of view, it seems like this game could eat up enormous ammounts of time in creating a "realistic" metropolitan area that includes the dense urban center, surrounding suburbs and agricultural areas. I definitely think I'm going to pick this up over the weekend.quote>

Enormous! Yes, have fun. Take breaks!

[DaMaster_architect 0]

Am I correct in assuming that the gameplay has fundamentally been changed such that you do not concentrate on any one city for very long? Instead, it would seem that one must create many small new cities (dozens?) across a region, and constantly switch between them so that there is "symetrical" growth that allows useful cross-region devevlopment.quote>

That depends on what player you are. If you want a big metropolitian area, you are constantly switching between the cities, until there comes a moment where every city is totally filled with high buildings, and skyscrapers and such.
The game doesn't stop there however. You can create a small farming community in city A, and a big residential city in city B. You can create an industrial district in city A, connect it with city B, and create residential buildings only in city B. The people of city B will then go to their work daily in city A. The big advantage is that you keep pollution out of your residential city.
But there are sooo many possibilities... Too many to think of.

Actually, the region play is just a Big Huge sandbox play mode. And it's addictive, I tell you

[vinnylv69 0]

hey threre WRXpilot,
thought id give afew hints/ideas to ya...
1st off about the bats and stuff u downloaded...when u buy the game get the deluxe edition because most of the bats require the full version to work...also when u add the bats into the pluggins folder id suggest adding one at a time and then playing the game(some bats dont play well with others).

and im guessing that u've been lookin around this site awhile but if u havnt there are alot of helpful stuff on here...if u start havin problems, your not alone...someone else has had it too and asked about it here b4...including tips about region building (and alot about the STEX stuff too)

and finally...this games takes up alot of comp resourses and yours...lol...if u have anything planned for this weekend-cancel it!!!  it will be hard to pry your-self away from sim4 once u start playing
anyway, have fun and welcome!!