D.E.

I would say maybe make a few temporary towns that are just full of Low Density commercial, residential areas and maybe a handful of farm towns. It can absorb some of the low density needs of the region and probably kick start your economy all over again... Also, don't forget airports. =)

Okay, I just signed up simply to reply to this thread. You guys have suggested a lot of great things but I have to throw in my own two cents. First off, I would really like to see a huge jump in Graphics. By the Time SC5 comes out, most people will be rockin' MS Vista and more than likely have a dedicated 3d graphics acceleration card. Maxis, you are very good about this, even games like Sims 2 can be scaled down to work even on the very low end of computers but I think it is time we ditched Sprites in favor for a better realized product. I'd really like to see reflective water textures, more randomized textures of the terrain and roads and other commonplace areas, and city buildings actually casting shadows onto each other. One thing that has always bothered me also in the game is that some of the Advisers really don't do anything unless you are either doing real good or real bad. Namely the Financial and Environmental lady advisers. But really, the advisers themselves really are very one sided as they only offer suggestions when they are needed. Instead, I'd like to actively persue my environmental adviser and ask her where I can place trees or what I can do to better help her field. I'd also like more help from them such as if I want to make a more successful highway, they should actively show me in my city where it should go for the best effectiveness or where not to put it or not to put it at all if it is unnecessary. I would also like more help in the game where it begins to really start to bite you. What I mean by this of course is the fact that your city seems to be stuck sometimes and will not grow or upgrade, where can I go from here? These are all things the city advisers should help you with and them making active suggestions would really help this part of the game play out because I'm sure that many players still have not even built a sky scraper to this day. I have only made a handful myself.... One thing I missed from SC3K was Objectives and Scenarios. This was very straight forward but fun approach to the game. I really think that they should make a comeback but be more a part of the game itself. What's the goal of SC4? Well, anything, there really isn't a set goal, just a set of possibilities, but for those of us who want a set goal, why not have them instead of make them up ourselves. I can see many possible Objectives and Scenarios added into SC5. These of course could be options that you can add to your city or region. Let's say I want every city in my region to have the "Global Warming" and "Rising Water" objectives. That would be, for example keeping pollution down in every city as well as planting more trees but also ensuring that those who live on the oceanside will not have to abandon their homes due to the rising waters from the ice caps melting. Probably a scary example, but there are countless others. Let's say you have a city, and then want to attempt to sponsor the Sim Olympics! Then you have 10 years to compete against 3 foreign cities and you have to A: Keep pollution down, B: Increase funds!, C: Prepare for the traffic overload, D: Build a stadium, etc. etc. and then say you do win this objective, you then have another scenario on your hands where for 3 months you must handle the whole Olympics Event and ensure that it does not go belly up in disaster. I have countless other ideas for this kind of game play. Suppose you are given $1B by sponsors and rich people to build them a resort/mini city on an active volcano that erupts every three years. Lots of money can be spent, but this sort of thing can easily fall apart. Scenarios and Objectives should really make a comeback, in my opinion. Perhaps maybe we can even make our own like with SC3K. But one thing I really dislike about Sim City is that it is very unimaginative. It doesn't even go into the Future. Build a city... yay! But what about, after the city is built? Build a region?! That will get boring as it will revolve around mostly the same game play. I want to see Sim City go into the future with Bigger skyscrapers, underground cities, underwater cities, Multi-layered cities, cities out at sea on platforms. This has some serious potential as you can invest in a concept, for instance, taller skyscrapers, and then once the technology becomes available, pitch it to businesses and have them sponsor them. Same can go for other future items like Flying cars, underwater cities, etc. etc. etc. And for a final project I would like to see, (seeing as this post is getting very long) I would really appreciate an Online Region. Oh yes yes, Online gaming has been explored before-- but why not make a few blank Regions, put them online, give a player $10,000 to do what he wants to a single parcel of land in the region for about 2 years or so, and then take it away and let someone else rent it out. This sounds kind of pointless but imagine it more like a rotation of mayors. Some Mayors will look at the industrial area and think the other guy was an idiot, and instead lay down some railroad tracks and a highway, but oops! Out of money, out of time... the next mayor comes in and tears down the train station and instead surrounds the area with trees to keep the environment score higher. I mean sure, you can't really get attached to the cities this way, but it involved a very creative, and almost group effort to get things done. Hell, maybe even have online 'guilds' like other games. We can have one political party, (represented by a llama, naturally) made by a close group of 10 friends work regularly on the same parcel of land, and then compare and compete it against other guilds or factions or parties or whatever you want to call them. This seems like a huuuuuge money maker and a fun and new way to really play the game with yourself by adopting someone else's online city and cleaning it up or with friends trying to compete against other people's cities to see which group has the cleaner city! Anyways, what do you guys think?