Tips & Tricks - SC4 Regions (MAXIS)

You can connect cities together with roads, highways, power lines, subways, and pipes. To do so, simply choose the tool and drag the network to the edge of the city. If you do this correctly, a dialog will appear asking you to confirm that you would like to create a neighbor connection. Accept the dialog. If you save and exit this city, then open the adjacent city, you should see network stubs in the areas in which you made connections. You can then extend these stubs to connect to your adjacent city.

Once you have created road connections to two adjacent cities, they can share demand between each other. You can then control which type of resident or business shows up in each city through zoning and taxation. If you want only industry in one city, then zone only for industry in that city. If you want only wealthy residents in one city, then raise the taxes on other residents while lowering the taxes for the wealthy in that city.

Once you have established neighbor connections, you can create deals with neighboring cities to buy and sell power, garbage, and water. To create a deal, your city must have the correct type of connection. For a power deal, you must connect both cities with a power line. For a garbage deal, you must have a road connection. And for water deals, you must have a pipe connection. The city doing the buying must have a need for the resource and enough money to pay for the deal for an entire year. Also, the selling city must have enough capacity to support the deal. At any time during the deal if these criteria cannot be met, then the deal is cancelled. You cannot create a sell deal with the same city that you have a buy deal for the same resource. So you can't buy power and sell it back to the same city. You can, however, buy power and sell it to another city. In addition, you can buy power and sell water to the same city. You can also cancel a deal at any time without penalty.

Pick a city that you want to develop. Make sure the city has surrounding neighbors, especially around the sides of the city you are planning to work with. You can make it easy for yourself by pausing the simulation when you are planning out your city. Start by making single types of cities, i.e. either all residential, commercial, or industrial.

1. Begin with the residential city.
2. Plan out streets and leave open areas that you may want to develop later.
3. Connect the roads to the two neighbors in your corner.
4. In your residential city, place a natural gas power plant in the corner of your city.
5. Query the natural gas power plant and reduce its funding to approximately 20%.
6. Zone a small parcel of high density industry around the natural gas power plant to create some jobs.
7. Zone high density residential in any configuration you please.
8. Un-pause the game and watch your residential zones develop until demand tapers off and then pause the game again.
9. De-zone your industrial areas and replace them with residential.
10. Save the game and exit to region.
11. Open a new city that is adjacent to the city you have just built.
12. Create this new city as an industrial city.
13. Start by putting in a coal power plant.
14. Once again, query your power plant and reduce its funding to about 20%.
15. Zone high density industry and connect the roads to the residential city.
16. Un-pause and watch it develop. As development tapers off, pause it again.
17. Save the game and exit to region.
18. Go back into your residential city.
19. Zone more high density residential. Un-pause and watch it develop.

At this point you should see a pattern emerge. Keep going back and forth between your residential and industrial cities, zoning new areas as demand warrants, and raising the funding on your power plants as needed to fill demand.

In time, put in police, schools, hospitals, and other essential buildings, but not until absolutely necessary. It is possible to run a residential city for a very long time with no services other than fire and basic education. Your industrial city will require heavy fire coverage.

Your cities should be making money hand over fist at this point.

1. Once you are at a high enough population, exit to the region.
2. Choose a city that is adjacent and connected to your residential city.
3. Plop down a natural gas power plant.
4. Zone a small amount of high-density commercial.
5. Un-pause and watch it develop.
6. When demand tapers off, pause, save your commercial city and exit to region.

From this point on, it's up to you to decide where to take your cities. Keep jumping in and out of the three cities to un-pause, zone, pause, save and exit.

Using this method, you should be able to achieve beautiful residential and commercial cities that have minimal distress as well as industrial cities that are completely high tech.

Another bonus over time will be towering skyscrapers for your commercial zones.

Keep in mind that you do not need to make all residential, all commercial or all industrial cities. There is always room to be creative and mix things up a bit.