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SIM CITY VERSION 1.0 FULL DOCUMENTATION SCANNED BY PONYBOY
REMEMBER ONE OF THE FASTEST AMIGA BOARDS IN THE WORLD
TOGETHER WITH THE RADDEST CODE SUB EVER
SPREADPOINT HQ (714) 626-8365
Greets And Hellos At The End Of The Manual
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*Note: The documentation was originally for the Macintosh, but
after checking through it, it appears little or almost no
changes has been made for the AMIGA version. Since I can't
type as fast and as accurate as the guys at Southern Star,
this entire text was scanned.
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Enter SimCity and take control. Become the undisputed ruler of a
sophisticated real-time City Simulation.
Take control of San Francisco 1906, just before the great quake
or Tokyo 1957, just before a monster attack.
Show your pioneering spirit. Start with virgin territory and
create a living, growing city.
The quality of life in your city depends on you. Zone land,
balance budgets, install utilities, manipulate economic
markets, control crime, traffic and pollution, and overcome
natural disasters.
Your city is populated by Sims-simulated citizens.
Like their human counterparts, They build houses, condos,
churches, stores and factories. And, also like humans, they
complain about things like taxes, mayors, taxes, city planners,
and taxes. They let you know if they need more housing, better
transportation, an airport or a sports stadium. If they get too
unhappy, they move out; you collect excess taxes,
the city deteriorates.
A WALK THROUGH YOUR CITY
Boot your Macintosh, then insert your SimCity disk and double-
click the SimCity icon. After a few seconds, a screen with the
options to start a new city, load a city, or select a scenario
appears. Click START NEW CITY.
A map of undeveloped land will be generated and displayed. You
will be given a choice: GENERATE A NEW TERRAIN or USE THIS MAP.
Click USE THIS MAP
You are now given a choice of GAME PLAY LEVEL. Click EASY, then
click OK.
You will now be asked to name your city. Go ahead and name it, or
accept the default name SOMEWHERE. Click the OK box.
You are now in the MAPS WINDOW, looking down on an overall view
of your entire terrain, approximately 10 miles by 10 miles in
area. The icons along the left side of the MAPS WINDOW can be
used to display different demographic views of your city. We'll
play with them later.
The small flashing box located somewhere on the map indicates the
portion of your terrain that will be visible in your EDIT WINDOW,
your main work area. Click and drag the box around the map,
choosing the area you wish to work on, then double-click in the
box to go the EDIT WINDOW.
NOTE:The BUDGET WlNDOW will pop up once a year in city time. When
it does, just click the GO WITH THESE FIGURES box at the bottom.
You are now in the EDIT WINDOW, looking at a close-up view of the
area box in the MAPS WINDOW. Note the icons on the left. They
work just like icons in various draw and paint programs on the
market.
You can use the scroll boxes along the right side and bottom of
the window to the window quickly around the terrain. To scroll
over the terrain, use the arrows on each end of the scroll bars
or the joystick box in the upper right-hand corner EDIT WINDOW.
If you have cursor keys, they can be used to scroll.
The EDIT WINDOW may be resized by clicking and dragging the
bottom right corner or by using the zoom box to the left of the
joystick box.
The EDIT WINDOW may be moved around on the screen by clicking and
dragging the title bar across the top of the window.
Your available land is made of three types of territory. The
light areas are clear the grey areas are forests and shrubs, and
the dark areas are water. You can build on clear land. You can
clear forest and extend coastlines with your bulldozer. You can
run roads, rails and power lines across water.
To clear the terrain, click the bulldozer icon in the upper-left
corner of the EDIT WINDOW. The "pointer" is a small square,
outlining the area will be bulldozed every time you click the
mouse. Move your bulldozer pointer over some forest land and
click. The forest section under your pointer is now clear land.
Now, hold the button down and move slowly across the forest.
Clear a large a land to prepare for building.
Click the house icon, then mouse back to your terrain. Your
pointer is now a large square outline. This outline indicates how
much clear space you will need to create a residential zone.
Clicking the mouse button in clear terrain "zones" the land. The
"R" in the center of the zone indicates that it is a residential
zone. The flashing lightening symbol indicates that the zone has
no power. Place a few more residential zones adjacent to the
first one.
Now decide where to position a power plant in your city. Point to
the power plant icon and hold down the mouse button. A small menu
will appear, giving you the option of choosing a coal or nuclear
plant. For now, choose the coal power plant. Then place it in
some open space near your residential zones. If your power plant
is not directly adjacent to a zone, you will have to run a power
line from your power plant to the residential zone. To do this,
click the power line icon. Using your mouse pointer and button,
lay power lines from your power plant to your residential zones.
Adjacent power line sections will automatically connect
themselves to one another. Roadways and transit lines connect in
the same manner. In a moment, the flashing symbols will
disappear, indicating that your zones have been powered. Any
zones that are adjacent to a powered zone do not need separate
power lines run to them. Soon you will see small houses start to
appear. The Sims have started to move in.
When you zone land, you designate where building is allowed. It
is the Sims who actually build.
Now that you have a few residential zones, you're ready for
commercial and industrial areas. Select the commercial icon and
place a few commercial zones near your residential ones. Then
select the industrial icon and map out some industrial zones.
Connect all necessary power lines.
Note that when you select different icons, the icon description
and its associated cost will be displayed in the lower left-hand
corner of the EDIT WINDOW. The message bar across the top of the
EDIT WINDOW displays your total funds available. If you do not
have enough money in your treasury to pay for a certain function,
that icon will be "ghosted" on your screen and is unavailable for
use.
Now click the road icon and add roads from your residential
housing to the commercial and industrial areas to allow the Sims
to commute to work. Once you have roads, traffic will be
generated.
Now select the BUDGET WlNDOW from the WlNDOWS MENU. This is where
you set the level of funding for your fire police and
transportation departments. Click the up or down arrows to change
the funding Ievel. You can also adjust the current property tax
rate. If you have no police or fire departments they don't need
funds. Click thc GO WITH THESE FIGURES box when you are done.
Now select MAPS from the WINDOWS MENU. By clicking on the icons
along the left you can see different demographic views of your
city. You will need this information to build and adjust
conditions in your city. For example you can pinpoint the areas
with the highest crime to determine locations for new police
stations.
Additional information can be gained through the GRAPHS selection
from the WINDOWS MENU. Unlike the maps which only show the
current state of your city, the graphs give you a record of the
past so you can gauge trends and cycles.
This is all the basic information you need to run SimCity but we
suggest reading on. The User Reference explains in detail how to
use each program function. Inside SimCity explains the inner
workings of the simulator and gives some hints and tips for using
it. There is also an essay on The History of Cities and City
Planning and a Bibliography for serious City Planners.
USER REFERENCE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MENU BAR
SimCity Menus follow the standard Amiga/Macintosh interface.
FILE MENU
LOAD SCENARIO provides you with a menu of available scenarios.
Click a city to load it.
START NEW CITY generates a new, empty terrain. You will he given
the option to accept it or generate another terrain.
LOAD CITY lets you load a previously saved city.
SAVE CITY saves any scenario or city-in-progress for later use.
Once you have loaded a scenario, It can be saved and re-loaded,
like any city, without the impending disaster
PRINT CITY prints your city in either of two sizes; all on one
page or on a three-page by two-page poster. Requires an
ImageWriter printer. Laser Printer is not supported.
QUIT ends SimCity
OPTIONS MENU A checkmark to the left of an item indicates that
the option is active.
AUTO-BULLDOZER allows you to place zones, roadways, etc.,
directly on top of trees and shoreline without manually
bulldozing first. You will be charged the same as for manual
bulldozing.
AUTO-BUDGET keeps your budget at the same percentage settings
without asking for approval every year.
AUTO-GOTO automatically transports you to the scene of a disaster
or major event.
SOUND ON toggles the various city sounds on and off. Defaults to
the "on" position. The simulation runs slightly faster with the
sound off. Make sure that the volume is up on the control panel.
GAME SPEED MENU
FAST sets city time to maximum speed.
MEDIUM is the default setting, about three times slower than
FAST.
SLOW sets the speed about seven times slower than FAST.
PAUSE stops time. Zoning and building are possible in paused
time.
DISASTERS MENU
FIRE starts a fire somewhere within the city limits
FLOOD causes a flood to occur near the water.
AIRCRASH causes a plane to crash. If there are no planes in the
air, one will be generated
TORNADO causes a tornado to appear within the city limits.
EARTHQUAKE causes a MAJOR earthquake.
MONSTER ATTACK sets a monster loose in your city.
WINDOWS MENU
MAPS brings the MAPS WINDOW up on the screen.
GRAPHS brings up the GRAPHS WINDOW.
BUDGET brings up the BUDGET WINDOW.
EDIT brings up the EDIT WINDOW.
EVALUATION brings up the EVALUATION WINDOW.
EDIT WINDOW GADGETS
TITLE BAR displays city name. Clicking and dragging the Title Bar
allows you lo relocate the EDIT WINDOW.
MESSAGE BOX displays treasury information, current date, and
messages. Status messages tell you about events - if a disaster
occurs, the message box will indicate the nature of the disaster,
and supply a GOTO button to take you to the scene. Help messages
are about the Sims' needs and wants, such as more housing.
DEMAND INDICATORS in the lower left-hand corner of the EDIT
WINDOW give a constant reading of the residents' need for
residential, commercial and industrial zoning. Above the center
line indicates a positive demand. Below the line is negative
demand.
CLOSE BOX closes the EDIT WINDOW.
GROW BOX resizes the window.
JOYSTICK BOX moves you around your city. The city scrolls in the
direction you point as long as you are holding the mouse button
down.
SCROLL ARROWS scroll your city horizontally and vertically.
SCROLL BOXES quickly move you to distant portions of your city.
ZOOM BOX sizes the window to cover the entire screen.
SELECTED ITEM & COST BOX displays active item and related cost.
EDIT WINDOW KEYBOARD COMMANDS
(Some key commands are not available on older keyboards.)
Q - (Query) - Hold down the "Q" key while clicking on parts of
your city to bring up a status box identifying the spot (zone,
road, terrain, etc.), and giving information on Population
Density, Land Value, Crime Rate, Pollution and Growth.
Z and X - Cycle active icons in opposite directions.
B, R, T and P are shortcut keys. No matter which icon is
selected, if you Push and hold down the "B" key, you will be in
active Bulldozer mode. Release the "B" key to return control to
the selected icon. The "R" key activates Roadbuilding mode in the
same way. Thc "T" key activates Transit line building, and the
"P" key puts you in Power line mode.
CURSOR KEYS scroll the terrain around under the EDIT WINDOW.
EDIT WINDOW ICONS
Active icons are highlighted. Ghosted icons are unavailable due
to lack of funds. Clicking on a ghosted icon shows the item's
cost.
BULLDOZER clears trees and shrubbery, creates landfill along the
water, levels developed, existing zones and clears rubble caused
by disasters. Bulldozing the center of a zone demolishes the
entire zone. The Auto-Bulldozer option only works on natural
terrain, not developed land. It costs $1 to bulldoze a section
of land.
ROADWAYS connect developed areas. Intersections and turns are
automatically created. Lay continuous roads by clicking and
dragging your pointer. Be careful - if you accidentally lay a
road in the wrong place you will have to pay for bulldozing and
rebuilding. Roads may not be placed over trees, shrubbery, or
zoned areas. They can cross over power lines and transit lines
only at right angles. Laying roads across water creates a bridge.
Bridges can only be built in a straight line - no curves, turns
or intersections. Shorelines must be bulldozed prior to building
a bridge (unless the auto-bulldoze feature is on).
Roadways are maintained by the transit budget, and wear out if
there is a lack of funding. It costs $10 to lay one section of
road and $50 to lay one section of bridge.
POWER LINES carry power from power plants to zoned land and
between zones. All developed land needs power to function.
Power lines cannot cross trees, shrubbery, or zoned land. Power
is conducted through adjacent zones. Unpowered zones display the
flashing power symbol. There is a delay between the line you
power up a zone and when the flashing light disappears. The
delay grows longer as the city grows larger. Junctions and
corners are automatically created. Lay continuous power lines by
clicking and dragging your pointer. Power lines across a river
must be horizontal or vertical - no turns, curves or
intersections. Power lines consume some power due to
transmission inefficiencies. It costs $5 to lay one piece of
power line on land, $25 on water.
TRANSIT LINES create a railway system for intra-city mass
transit. Place tracks in heavily trafficked areas to help
alleviate congestion. Intersections and turns are created
automatically. Lay continuous transit lines by clicking and
dragging your pointer. Tracks laid under rivers will appear as
dashed lines. These underwater tunnels must be vertical or
horizontal - no turns curves or intersections. Transit lines are
maintained by transportation department funds. The level of
funding affects the efficiency of the system. It costs $20 per
section of track on land $100 per section under water.
PARKS can be placed on clear land. Parks forests and water raise
the land value of surrounding zones. Parks can be bulldozed as
fire breaks or reserve space for later mass transit expansion.
It costs $10 to lay one segment of park.
RESIDENTIAL ZONES are where the Sims build houses apartments and
community facilities such as schools and churches. Residential
zones develop into one of four values: slums, lower middle class,
upper middle class, and upper class. They can range in population
density from single-family homes to high-rise apartments and
condominiums. Factors influencing residential value and growth
are crime rate, pollution, traffic density, population density,
surrounding terrain, roadway access, parks and utilities. It
costs $100 to zone one plot of land as residential.
COMMERCIAL ZONES are used for many things, including retail
stores, office buildings, parking garages, and gas stations.
There are four values for commercial property and five levels of
growth from the small general store to tall skyscrapers. Factors
influencing the value and growth of commercial areas include
internal markets, pollution, traffic density, residential access,
labor supply, airports, crime rates, transit access, and
utilities. It costs $100 to zone one plot of land as commercial.
INDUSTRIAL ZONES are for heavy manufacturing and industrial
services. There are four levels of industrial growth from small
pumping stations and warehouses to large factories. Factors
influencing the growth of industrial areas are external markets,
seaports, transit access, residential access, labor supply, and
utilities. It costs $100 to zone one plot of land as industrial.
POLICE DEPARTMENTS lower the crime rate in the surrounding area.
This in turn raises property values. Place these in high-density
crime areas as defined by your Crime Rate map. Thc efficiency of
a station depends on the level of police department funding. It
costs $500 to build a police station.
FIRE DEPARTMENTS make surrounding areas less susceptible lo
fires. When fires do occur, they are put out sooner and do less
damage if a station is near. The effectiveness of fire
containment depends on the level of fire department funding. It
costs $500 to build a fire station.
STADIUMS encourage residential growth. The message window will
indicate when the city wants a stadium. You may build a stadium
in your city prior to this request without negative effect.
Stadiums indirectly generate a lot of revenue, but create a lot
of traffic. Properly maintaining a stadium requires a good road
and transit network. It costs $3000 to build a stadium.
POWER PLANTS can be coal or nuclear, chosen from a sub-menu
provided when you click and hold on the icon. Thc nuclear plant
is more powerful but carries a slight risk of meltdown. The coal
plant is less expensive, but less powerful and it pollutes.
Connecting too many zones to a Power Plant causes brownouts. You
will get a message saying "You need to build another power plant.
Coal power plants cost $3000 to build, and supply enough
electricity for about 50 zones. Nuclear power plants cost $5000
and supply electricity for about 150 zones.
SEAPORTS increase the potential for industrial growth. They have
little effect in a small city, but contribute a lot to
industrialization in a large city. Seaports should be placed on
a shoreline. The shoreline must be bulldozed prior to zoning a
seaport. Once the port is operational, you may see ships in the
water. It costs $5000 to zone land for use as a seaport.
AIRPORTS increase the growth potential of your commercial
markets. Once a city starts getting large, commercial growth will
level off without an airport. Airports are large and expensive
and should not be built unless your city can afford one. Position
airports to keep flight paths over water whenever possible
lessening the impact of air disasters. Once you build an airport
you will see airplanes flying above your city to and from the
airport. There is also a traffic helicopter which alerts you to
heavy traffic jams. It costs $10,000 to zone land for use as an
airport.
BUDGET WINDOW
When your first taxes are collected in a new city, and each year
after, the BUDGET WINDOW will appear (unless you select the Auto-
Budget function). You will be asked to set the funding levels
for the fire, police, and transportation departments, and to set
the property tax rate.
You can raise and lower budget levels by clicking on the little
arrows that correspond to each category. A percentage indicator
will display the level of funding that will be maintained if you
turn on the Auto-Budget function. You may adjust your tax rate by
clicking on the arrows next to the tax rate indicator. Click on
"GO WITH THESE FIGURES" to exit the BUDGET WINDOW.
The level of budgeting requested by each department is based on
the number of fire departments, police stations, and the amount
of roadways and transit lines in your city. These figures
increase as your city grows - it costs money to maintain your
city infrastructure.
WAITING... An hourglass icon is displayed at the top left of the
budget window. It indicates the time remaining to enter the
budget information. When the hourglass empties, the budget that
is set is accepted. If you need more time, click in the budget
window to reset the hourglass.
MAPS WINDOW
The MAPS WINDOW gives you various overviews of your city. The
portion of your city currently visible in the EDIT WINDOW is
represented by a flashing box on your map. You can click and drag
this box to the area you wish to edit. Double-click in the
flashing box to go to the EDIT WINDOW. You cannot resize the
MAPS WINDOW but you can move it on your screen by clicking and
dragging the drag bar at the top of the window. Clicking on
the close box in the upper left-hand corner of the window closes
the window. By clicking on the icons along the left side of the
MAPS WINDOW you can view the following maps and cartograms.
The CITY MAPS icon brings up a sub-menu allowing you to choose
between views of developed sections of your city. You may
individually display the residential commercial or industrial
areas or all three.
POWER GRID shows you the network of the power lines in grey and
powered zones as black dots.
TRANSPORTATION is a road map of your city displaying all roads
and rail lines in black. Use this view to examine your city's
access to specific areas and to plan future expansion of the
network.
The POPULATION MAPS icon brings up a sub-menu offering two views.
The Population Density view uses degrees of shading to show the
average number of people occupying an area each day. The Rate of
Growth shows the most recent growth (positive or negative) of
your city and where it is occurring.
TRAFFIC DENSITY shows the amount of traffic on your roads. Spot
traffic problems and determine where new roadways and transit
lines are needed.
The POLLUTION map shows levels of pollution throughout your city.
Pollution is generated by industry and traffic.
The CRIME RATE map shows the level and location of crime in your
city. Crime is calculated from population density land value and
proximity of police stations.
The LAND VALUE map shows the relative value of land within the
city limits. Land values are used to establish the amount of
revenue generated in taxes.
The CITY SERVICES icon brings up a sub-menu offering views of
police or fire services. The service map displays the effective
radius of each of your stations based on their location, power
and funding levels.
GRAPHS WINDOW
The GRAPHS WINDOW gives you time-based graphs of various city
data.
You cannot resize the GRAPHS WINDOW, but you can move it on your
screen by clicking and dragging the drag bar at the top of the
window. Use the close box in the upper left-hand corner of the
window to exit.
Clicking on the icons on the left side of the GRAPHS WINDOW will
toggle each graph on and off. You may have any combination of
graphs displayed at any time. Each graph is displayed as a
different line pattern.
Data may be displayed on 10-year or 120-year graphs.
The RESIDENTIAL POPULATION graph shows the total population in
residential zones.
The COMMERCIAL POPULATION graph shows the level of development in
commercial zones.
The INDUSTRIAL POPULATION graph shows the level of development in
industrial zones.
The CRIME RATE chart shows the overall crime rate of the entire
city.
The CASH FLOW graph shows your city's cash flow: money collected
in taxes last year minus money it took to maintain your city.
Note: Cash flow has little to do with your current funds, or how
much you spend in building (except that city expansion will
increase both taxes collected and maintenance costs).
The line in the center of the Cash Flow graph represents a cash
flow of zero. Do not build more infrastructure (roads, rail,
police departments, fire stations) than you can support with tax
revenues.
The POLLUTION graph shows the overall pollution reading of the
entire city.
EVALUATION WINDOW
The EVALUATION WINDOW gives you a performance rating. You can
access it through the WINDOWS MENU.
You can click and drag the title bar of the window to relocate it
on the screen. Click on the close box in the upper-left corner to
close the window.
PUBLIC OPINION data is presented in poll form, rating your
overall job as mayor and listing what the public regards as the
city's most pressing problems. You are advised to keep your
residents happy or they might migrate away, and you will be left
with a "ghost town."
Some example problem-solving strategies are:
Crime-Build more police departments, or try to raise land values.
Housing - Provide more residential zones.
Unemployment - Build more industrial and commercial zones.
Traffic - Possibly add more roads or mass transit.
STATISTICS on population, net migration, and assessed value are
displayed, along with the city game level and an overall city
score. This data is calculated once a year at budget time.
Population shows how many people live in your city now; net
migration shows how much the population changed over the last
year. Assessed value represents the net worth of all city-owned
property.
CATEGORY - Your city will be assigned to one of six categories -
Village, Town, City, Capital, Metropolis, and Megalopolis - based
on its size. The overall city score is a composite index of many
factors (including crime, pollution, employment, environment,
housing), calculated once a year based on a scale of 0 to 1000. A
higher score indicates a more efficient and successful city.
DISASTERS
Disasters will randomly occur as you play SimCity. At higher game
levels the disasters will happen more often. Most disasters can
be activated from the DISASTERS MENU.
FIRES can start anywhere in the city. Fire spreads fairly rapidly
through forests and buildings, somewhat slower over roadways and
transit lines. Fire will not cross water or clear terrain.
The effectiveness of the fire department (which can be viewed in
the MAPS WINDOW) is based on how close it is to the fire, and its
funding levels. Fires inside this effective radius will be
extinguished automatically. If you have no operational fire
departments in the area you can try to control the fire yourself.
Since fire will not spread across clear terrain, you can build
firebreaks with the bulldozer. Just surround the fire with clear
areas and it will stop spreading and eventually burn itself out.
Note: You cannot directly bulldoze a fire.
FLOODS occur near the water. They gradually spread and destroy
buildings and utilities. After a while the flood waters recede,
leaving behind cleared terrain.
AIR CRASHES can happen anywhere in the city if an airport is
operational. This happens whenever aircraft collide with things,
such as a tornadoes or another aircraft. When a crash occurs, a
fire will start, unless the crash is on water. A good strategy
is to locate the airport away from the central city to minimize
the fire damage.
TORNADOES can occur anywhere on the map at any time. Very fast
and unpredictable, they can appear and disappear at a moment's
notice. Tornadoes destroy everything in their path, and can
cause planes, helicopters, trains, and ships to crash.
EARTHQUAKES are the most devastating disaster. This is a MAJOR
earthquake between 8.0 and 9.0 on the Richter Scale. It will
destroy buildings and start fires. The initial damage will vary
with the severity of the earthquake, and the eventual fire damage
depends on your fire control efforts. When an earthquake occurs,
you will see the edit window shake for a while. When it stops,
you will have to take charge and control the scattered fires. Use
the bulldozer to contain the largest fires first and work your
way down to the smaller ones.
MONSTER ATTACKS are provoked by high levels of pollution. A
monster destroys everything in its path, starts fires, and causes
planes, helicopters, trains, and ships to crash.
MELTDOWNS are only possible if you are using a nuclear power
plant. If a meltdown occurs your nuclear plant will explode into
flames. The surrounding area will be unusable for the remainder
of the simulation due to radioactive contamination. Meltdowns are
not available on the DISASTERS MENU.
SHIPWRECKS can occur once you have an operating seaport. They can
cause fires where the ship crashes into a shore or bridge.
Shipwrecks are not available on the DISASTERS MENU.
SCENARIOS
Thc scenarios provide both real and hypothetical problems for you
to deal with in seven famous cities (and one not-so-famous). They
present various levels of difficulty. Some problems are in the
form of disasters which will occur some time after you start.
Other problems are more long-term such as crime. Your task is to
deal with the problem at hand as well as possible under the
circumstances. After a certain amount of time the city residents
will rate your performance in a special election. If you do very
well you may be given the key to the city. However if you do
poorly they might just run you out of town. To avoid the disaster
which is tied to a scenario save it to disk and reload the city
from the saved file.
DULLSVILLE, USA 1900 - BOREDOM
Things haven't changed much around here in the last hundred years
or so and the residents are beginning to get bored. They think
Dullsville could be the next great city with the right leader. It
is your job to attract new growth and development turning
Dullsville into a Metropolis by the 21st century. (Easy)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 1906 - 8.0 EARTHQUAKE
Damage from the earthquake was minor compared to that of the
ensuing fires, which took days to control. 1500 people died.
Controlling the fires should be your initial concern here.
Afterwards clearing the remaining rubble will allow the city to
start rebuilding. (Very difficult)
HAMBURG, GERMANY 1944 - FIRE
Allied fire-bombing of German cities in WWII caused tremendous
devastation and loss of life. People living in the inner cities
were at greatest risk. You must control the fire storms during
the bombing and then rebuild the city after the war. (Very
difficult).
BERN, SWITZERLAND 1965 - TRAFFIC
The roads here are becoming more congested with automobile
traffic every day, and the residents are upset. They demand that
you do something about it. Some have suggested a mass transit
system as the answer, but this may require major rezoning in the
downtown area. (Easy)
TOKYO, JAPAN 1957 - MONSTER ATTACK
A large reptilian creature rose from Tokyo Bay and rampaged
through the city, destroying much of the industry along the bay.
(Moderately difficult)
DETROIT, Ml 1972 - CRIME
By 1970, competition from overseas and other economic factors
pushed the once "automobilc capital of the world" into recession.
Plummeting land values and unemployment increased crime in the
inner-city to chronic levels. You have just been elected after
promising to reduce the crime and rebuild the industrial base of
the city. (Moderately difficult)
BOSTON, MA 2010 - NUCLEAR MELTDOWN
A major meltdown is about to occur at one of the new downtown
nuclear reactors. Thc area in the vicinity of the reactor will be
severely contaminated by radiation, forcing you to restructure
the city around it. (Very difficult)
RIO de JANEIRO, BRAZIL 2047 - FLOOD
In the mid 21 st century, the greenhouse effect raised globaI
temperatures 61F. Polar icecaps melted and raised sea levels
worldwide. Coastal areas were devastated by flood and erosion.
Unfortunately, some of the largest cities in the world are
located on the coasts. (Moderately difficult)
GAME PLAY LEVEL
When you first start a new city you must pick a difficulty level.
Once a city is started you cannot change the game level; it
remains at your initial setting for the life of the city. The
game level setting is displayed in the evaluation window. This
level - Easy, Medium, or Hard - adjusts the simulation to your
current abilities by altering several factors. A harder setting
will increase the chance of disasters, make residents more
intolerant of taxation, cause maintenance costs to grow, etc.
KEYBOARD REFERENCE CHART
GENERAL KEYBOARD COMMANDS
COMMAND A - Activates Auto-Bulldoze option
COMMAND B - Brings up BUDGET WINDOW
COMMAND E- Brings up EDIT WINDOW
COMMAND G - Brings up GRAPHS WINDOW
COMMAND L - Loads a City
COMMAND M - Brings up MAPS WINDOW
COMMAND N - Starts a New City
COMMAND Q - Quits SimCity
COMMAND S - Saves a City
COMMAND 0 - Stops City Time
COMMAND 1 - Sets City Time to Slow Speed
COMMAND 2 - Sets City Time to Medium Speed
COMMAND 3 - Sets City Time to High Speed
SPECIAL EDIT WINDOW KEYBOARD COMMANDS
d Z - Cycle through and activate icon functions
Q - ( Query) - Point to a zone or object in the EDIT WINDOW, hold
down "Q" while clicking the mouse to bring up information about
the zone or object.
B activates the Bulldozer while depressed, overriding active
icon.
R activates Road laying while depressed, overriding active icon.
T activates Transit line laying while depressed, overriding
active icon.
P activates Power line laying while depressed, overriding active
icon.
CURSOR KEYS scroll the terrain under the EDIT WINDOW.
INSIDE SimCity
HOW THE SIMULATOR WORKS AND STRATEGIES FOR USING IT
Many factors influence the chance of your city's prospering or
floundering: both internal factors (the structure and efficiency
of your city) and external factors (the regional economy,
disasters, etc.).
ZONES
Your city is divided into three primary zones: residential,
commercial and industrial. These zones symbolize the three basic
pillars upon which a city is based: population, industry, and
commerce. All three are necessary for your city to grow and
thrive.
RESIDENTIAL ZONES are where the Sims live. Here they build
houses, apartments and community facilities such as churches and
schools. Sims are the workforce for your city's commercial and
industrial zones.
INDUSTRIAL ZONES are used to site warehouses, factories, and
other unsightly and polluting structures which have a negative
impact on surrounding zones. One of the major goals of planning
is to separate these nuisances from the areas where people live.
In this simulation, industrial zones represent the "basic"
production of your city. Things produced here are sold outside
the city to an "external market," bringing money into the city
for future growth.
COMMERCIAL ZONES represent the retail stores and services in your
city, including gas stations, grocery stores, banks, and offices.
Commercial areas are mainly dedicated to producing goods and
services needed within your city. This is called "non-basic"
production or production for the "internal market".
POPULATION-RESIDENTIAL
The major factors controlling residential population are
birthrate, availability of jobs and housing, unemployment, and
quality of life within the city.
Birthrate as used here is actually a combination of the birthrate
(+) and the deathrate (-). Within SimCity there is always a
positive birthrate.
Availability of jobs (the employment rate) is a ratio of the
current commercial and industrial populations to the total
residential population. As a rule of thumb, the number of
commercial and industrial zones together should roughly equal the
number of residential zones.
If there are more jobs in your city than residents, new settlers
will be attracted. If the job market declines during a local
recession, your people will migrate away in search of jobs.
Housing for your residents is built in the residential zones.
These zones must be powered and connected to the places of
employment with a road and/or rail network. The structures built
in residential zones are influenced by land value and population
density.
Quality of life is a measure of relative "attractiveness"
assigned to different zone locations. It is affected by negative
factors such as pollution and crime, and positive factors such as
parks and accessibility.
EXTERNAL MARKET - INDUSTRIAL
There are thousands of variables that influence your city. All
these variables can be influenced by your actions with the
exception of one.
Thc external market (the economic conditions that exist outside
of your city) is controlled by the simulation-there is nothing
you can do to change it. In many ways, this external market is
the original source of all city growth. Towns frequently begin
as production centers (steel towns, refineries, etc.) that
service a demand in the surrounding region. As time passes, the
external market grows to reflect the regional growth going on
around your city.
The industry in your city will attempt to grow as the external
market grows. For this to happen there must be room for
expansion (more industrial zones) and an adequate labor supply
(more residential zones).
INTERNAL MARKET-COMMERCIAL
The internal market is completely influenced by the conditions
within your city. Internal production, created in the commercial
zones, represents all the things which are purchased and consumed
within the city. Food stores, gas stations, retail stores,
financial services, medical care, etc. - all depend on a nearby
population to service. Within SimCity, the size of the internal
market determines the rate at which commercial zones will
prosper. Commercial zones need enough zoned land to build on and
an existent, sufficient workforce to employ. The structures built
in commercial zones are mainly influenced by land value and
population density.
Commercial zones grow and develop to serve the expanding internal
market. Commercial growth will usually be slow at first, when
the population is small and needs very little. As your city
grows, commercial growth will accelerate and the internal market
will become a much larger consumer of your total city
production. This accelerating effect, when the external/
industrial production is overtaken by the accelerating
internal/commercial sector, can turn a sleepy little town of
50,000 into a thriving capital of 200,000 in a few short years.
TAX RATE
The tax rate you set controls the amount of income generated by
your city. As taxes are collected each year (city time), the
BUDGET WINDOW will appear, giving you the fiscal details of your
city and a chance to adjust rates. The simulation determines the
amount of revenue collected by assessing each zone an amount
based on its land value, current level of development and the
current tax rate.
The tax rate has a global effect on your city's growth rate. If
you set it low (0 - 4%), growth will be brisk but the city income
will be low. If you set it high (10 - 20%), you will collect a
lot in the short run but in the long run tax income will decrease
along with the population. You must keep tax income high enough
to meet city maintenance costs and invest in new development, but
low enough not to scare off residents and businesses. A high tax
rate is one way to control city growth, should you want to
experiment with growth control measures.
BUDGETING
City budgeting effects the way your city grows. City
infrastructure cost is represented by three departments: police,
fire, and transportation. You may set the funding levels
separately for each. All three departments will request a
certain level of funding each year. You may supply all or part of
the requested funds, in the attempt to balance safety needs and
budgetary concerns.
POLICE DEPARTMENTS
Police stations lower the crime rate within a territory. The
effective radius of your police station is related to the amount
of funding allocated to the police department. There is a
positive correlation between the value of land and proximity to a
police station. Police Stations cost $100 per year to fund.
FIRE DEPARTMENTS
Fire departments prevent and extinguish fires. The level of
funding determines the effective radius of a fire department.
Fire departments put out fires within this radius much sooner
than outside it, and decrease the chance that they will start in
the first place. Fire Departments cost $100 per year to fund.
TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT
When you build roads and rail systems you are charged for
construction and yearly maintenance. The larger your
transportation network, the more it will cost for upkeep. If you
decide not to or are unable to pay this maintenance cost, roads
will slowly deteriorate and become unusable. The maintenance
cost for each piece is: Road - $1, Bridge - $4, Rail - $4, Rail
tunnel -$10.
POWER
Electrical power makes modern cities possible. Efficient and
reliable power transmission to all zones is the goal of good
"power management." Periodically in the simulation the entire
power grid of your city is checked for links to power. If a zone
is connected (by other zones or power lines) to a power plant,
the zone is considered powered (unless the power plant is
overloaded).
Zones must be powered for development to occur. Many things (such
as fires, floods monsters and bulldozers) can knock down power
lines and cause blackouts in parts of your city. Development will
stop in unpowered zones, and if power is not quickly restored,
the zone will decline back to its original state of emptiness.
Redundant power connections can make your power grid more
reliable, but running more line adds construction costs and
transmission line loss.
TRANSPORTATION - TRAFFIC
One of the most important elements of city structure is the
transportation network. It moves Sims and goods throughout your
city. Roads typically occupy as much as 25% - 40% of the land in
urban areas. Traffic along these roads indicates which sections
of your road system are used the most.
Traffic levels are simulated by a process known as "Trip
Generation." Over time, each populated zone in the city will
generate a number of trips, depending on the population. Each
generated trip starts at the origin zone, travels down the
road/rail network, and if a "proper destination" is reached, ends
at the destination zone - otherwise, the trip fails. Trip failure
indicates inaccessibility of a zone and limits its growth.
The majority of generated trips represent people commuting to and
from work. Additional traffic is generated by residents traveling
to shopping, recreation, etc.
Each road has a limited capacity for traffic. When this capacity
is exceeded traffic jams will form. Traffic jams drastically
lower the capacity of a road, compounding the problem and
frustrating drivers.
Traffic conditions fluctuate quickly, responding to things such
as open bridges, sporting events and port activity. Avoid
traffic problems by providing several routes for the traffic to
take, and building rail systems when you can afford to. The
traffic helicopter will spot traffic bottlenecks and report them.
POLLUTION
Pollution levels are tracked in all areas of your city. This is
a general "nuisance level" which includes air and water
pollution, noise pollution, toxic wastes, etc. Pollution has a
negative impact on the growth of residential areas. The primary
cause of pollution is industrialized zones. The level of
pollution created by an industrial zone increases with its level
of growth. Traffic is another cause of pollution. As your city
gets large you may notice periodic smog generated from automotive
commutes. Fires, Seaports, Airports, and Coal Power Plants also
pollute.
There are limited means of combating the pollution level.
Lowering traffic density, limiting industrial development, and
separating the pollution from the residential areas will help.
CRIME
Crime rates are influenced by population density, local law
enforcement and land values. As population density increases in
an area, the number of crimes committed increases. Crime will
also increase in areas of low land value. The most effective way
to deal with high crime rates is to introduce a police station
into the area. Based on its level of funding, the police station
will reduce the rate of crime in its sphere of influence. A
long-term approach to lowering crime is to raise the land value
of the area. One way to do this is to demolish and rezone (urban
renewal).
LAND VALUE
Land value is one of the most fundamental aspects of urban
structure. The land value of an area affects how that area is
used. In this simulation the land value of an area is based on
terrain, accessibility, crime, pollution, and distance to
downtown.
The farther the residents have to go to work, the lower the land
value where they live, due in part to transportation costs. The
value of commercial zones depends greatly on accessibility by the
populace.
Land value is also affected by surrounding terrain. If land is
closer to water, trees or parks, its value will rise. Creative
placement of zones within the terrain, with little bulldozing,
can make good use of this natural advantage
Land value and crime rate have a feedback effect on each other.
Lower land values cause crime rates to rise. Higher crime rates
cause land values to drop, and can cause "transition areas" near
your central city to rapidly decline in value.
**********************************
THATS ALL FOR THE DOCS -- HAVE FUN
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