How to Develop High Tech Industry in SC3 (MAXIS)

How to Develop High Tech Industry

Well, there are basically four factors that influence the development of high-tech industries: current date, Education Quotient (education level of your sims), ordinances and land value. The best strategy for developing high-tech is to leverage as many of these factors as you can afford to at the same time.

It Takes Time

As SimNation develops new and better technologies through the years, your city is better able to develop high-tech industries. There is a limit to how much industry in your city can be high-tech, based on the year. In 1900 there is only a 1% chance of high-tech industry developing in your city. In the year 2200, it is possible for 100% of your city's industry to develop as high-tech.

Between 1900 and 2200, the maximum chance of high-tech is scaled linearly between those two years; so, for example, in 2050 there is up to a 50% chance of high-tech development.

Hit the Books

Of course, working in high-tech requires a certain amount of smarts, so education level affects whether you can achieve that maximum percentage of clean industry for the current year. All other factors aside, the target percentage of high-tech industry developed in your city is equal to your current Education Quotient (EQ) divided by the maximum EQ (which is 150). So if you can get your EQ to 150 through consistently supporting and improving your cities schools, colleges, libraries and museums, you are guaranteed to have the maximum possible chance of high-tech development according to the current year.

Red Tape

You can also affect the percentage of high-tech by passing certain ordinances. The following ordinances increase the target percentage of high-tech:

• Tourist Promotion
• Conservation Corps
• Clean Industry Association
• Electronics Tax Incentive
• Aerospace Tax Incentive
• Electronics Job Fair
• BioTech Tax Incentives
• Public Access Cable

You can also discourage low-tech (polluting) industry from developing by passing the following ordinances:

• Clean Air
• Industrial Pollutant Impact Fee
• Clean Industry Association

Note that discouraging low-tech does not necessarily mean that high-tech will be developed instead. If you have not encouraged high-tech industries enough, you may end up with empty zones.

Land Value

Finally, land value has some effect on whether high-tech or low-tech will develop -- and how tall the buildings that do develop will be. Basically, low-tech will only develop in fairly low land value, although taller low-tech buildings will develop under slightly higher land value if there is enough demand and water supply.

High-tech can develop on more-valuable land than low-tech, but can't develop under extremely low land value. So, for example, if you have high land value industrial zones but don't meet the qualifications for high-tech industry, you may not have any industry develop at all. But once you qualify for high-tech, your city will hum with production from your techie factories.