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Hints by jcoiner@stanford.edu
Overlapping zones:
Overlapping zones is a technique which lets you put two zones in the same
space. Each zone has as much population as normal, but since you can pack
more zones in the same space, much larger populations are possible.
* Start by building a residential zone.
* Pause the game. Bulldoze some parts of the zone. Don't bulldoze the
'R' in the center.
* Build some other zone in the space you bulldozed. Connect them to
power and roads (or rails) and unpause the game. Let it run for a while.
* People will move into both zones, and each zone will hold as many
people as it would normally, but the two zones don't take up as much
space.
To fix a residential that isn't developing beyond the houses stage:
* Pause the game and bulldoze the offending residential.
* Build a new residential zone there, and take the game off pause.
When an overlapped residential zone isn't developing beyond houses, it is
because a residential needs all eight houses around the 'R' to become a
bigger building, and sometimes an overlapped residential will be missing a
couple houses. Bulldozing and rebuilding will give it enough space to get
all eight houses and turn into a large building.
You can overlap any sort of zone. Start with a residential zone with some
other kind of zone over it, then pause the game, bulldoze the residential,
and replace it with a commercial, industrial, or whatever. When you
unpause the game, you have two non-residential zones overlapped. With a
few modifications, this technique lets you overlap as many zones of any
kind as you want. Once you get the hang of it, zone overlapping can be
used to pack more people than you ever thought possible into a tiny space!
Money hint:
There are several ways to get more money in SimCity without taxing the
general population. There is the well-known trick of holding down the
shift key and typing the word 'fund' to get $10,000. If this is repeated
too many times, an earthquake results. Don't want an earthquake? Try
pausing the game and FUNDing to your heart's content. Then, before
unpausing the game, save it. When you unpause you'll get the earthquake.
When you reload your saved game, you won't.
Transit tip:
In order to be connected to transportation, a zone need only touch a
single block of road or rail. This road does not need to be connected to
other roads, nor do there need to be other roads. The sims will get around
just fine and have no traffic jams if you only put in one little chunk of
road touching each zone. The message bar will say they need more roads or
rails, but it's not true.
Fixing pollution:
The most difficult problem to eradicate is pollution. You need industrial
zones, but they pollute. A lot. Try overlapping industrial zones with
Stadiums. Stadiums continually refresh their display, wiping out portions
of the industrial zones. An industrial zone pollutes less when it is
covered by a stadium, but it is not affected otherwise. It still has the
same amount of employment positions for your sims.
Beating built-in scenarios:
Boston:
Pause the game. Place a nuclear reactor at the top of the island at the
top of the map. Unpause. That reactor will melt down instead of one
downtown. Let the game run, and you'll win.
Bern:
Put the transportation funding to zero. Let the game run, and you'll win.
This works on a combination of the transportation trick, and the fact that
roads crossed by power lines won't decay.
Hamburg:
Turn frequent animation off. When you see an explosion starting, pause
before the explosion animation ends. Bulldoze the area underneath the
explosion to create a firewall before the fire starts. When the bombing
ends, the city won't be burning, and should be rebuildable.
Dullsville:
Using the transport trick, it shouldn't be hard to reach 100,000 in thirty
years.
Detroit:
Do the same thing as for Bern, and use the money you save to build police
stations. Build parks where roads have decayed.
Rio de Janeiro:
Bulldoze the coastline immediately, and the flooding will be greatly
reduced. This city needs major surgery: get rid of excess roads and rails,
and you should be okay.
Tokyo:
Bulldoze ahead of Mr. Monster to prevent him from exploding zones. After
he leaves, rebuilding shouldn't be hard without fires to contend with.
San Francisco:
There is no way to avoid the earthquake. Just pause immediately afterwards
and use the map to find fires. Some fires can be put out using a spinoff
of the overlapping trick: If a fire is over a part of a zone or other
structure (PD, FD, Stadium, Seaport, Airport, Power Plant), then
bulldozing that zone or structure will sometimes put out the fire. After
the fires are out, get rid of extra roads when you rebuild.
Overlapping zones:
Overlapping zones is a technique which lets you put two zones in the same
space. Each zone has as much population as normal, but since you can pack
more zones in the same space, much larger populations are possible.
* Start by building a residential zone.
* Pause the game. Bulldoze some parts of the zone. Don't bulldoze the
'R' in the center.
* Build some other zone in the space you bulldozed. Connect them to
power and roads (or rails) and unpause the game. Let it run for a while.
* People will move into both zones, and each zone will hold as many
people as it would normally, but the two zones don't take up as much
space.
To fix a residential that isn't developing beyond the houses stage:
* Pause the game and bulldoze the offending residential.
* Build a new residential zone there, and take the game off pause.
When an overlapped residential zone isn't developing beyond houses, it is
because a residential needs all eight houses around the 'R' to become a
bigger building, and sometimes an overlapped residential will be missing a
couple houses. Bulldozing and rebuilding will give it enough space to get
all eight houses and turn into a large building.
You can overlap any sort of zone. Start with a residential zone with some
other kind of zone over it, then pause the game, bulldoze the residential,
and replace it with a commercial, industrial, or whatever. When you
unpause the game, you have two non-residential zones overlapped. With a
few modifications, this technique lets you overlap as many zones of any
kind as you want. Once you get the hang of it, zone overlapping can be
used to pack more people than you ever thought possible into a tiny space!
Money hint:
There are several ways to get more money in SimCity without taxing the
general population. There is the well-known trick of holding down the
shift key and typing the word 'fund' to get $10,000. If this is repeated
too many times, an earthquake results. Don't want an earthquake? Try
pausing the game and FUNDing to your heart's content. Then, before
unpausing the game, save it. When you unpause you'll get the earthquake.
When you reload your saved game, you won't.
Transit tip:
In order to be connected to transportation, a zone need only touch a
single block of road or rail. This road does not need to be connected to
other roads, nor do there need to be other roads. The sims will get around
just fine and have no traffic jams if you only put in one little chunk of
road touching each zone. The message bar will say they need more roads or
rails, but it's not true.
Fixing pollution:
The most difficult problem to eradicate is pollution. You need industrial
zones, but they pollute. A lot. Try overlapping industrial zones with
Stadiums. Stadiums continually refresh their display, wiping out portions
of the industrial zones. An industrial zone pollutes less when it is
covered by a stadium, but it is not affected otherwise. It still has the
same amount of employment positions for your sims.
Beating built-in scenarios:
Boston:
Pause the game. Place a nuclear reactor at the top of the island at the
top of the map. Unpause. That reactor will melt down instead of one
downtown. Let the game run, and you'll win.
Bern:
Put the transportation funding to zero. Let the game run, and you'll win.
This works on a combination of the transportation trick, and the fact that
roads crossed by power lines won't decay.
Hamburg:
Turn frequent animation off. When you see an explosion starting, pause
before the explosion animation ends. Bulldoze the area underneath the
explosion to create a firewall before the fire starts. When the bombing
ends, the city won't be burning, and should be rebuildable.
Dullsville:
Using the transport trick, it shouldn't be hard to reach 100,000 in thirty
years.
Detroit:
Do the same thing as for Bern, and use the money you save to build police
stations. Build parks where roads have decayed.
Rio de Janeiro:
Bulldoze the coastline immediately, and the flooding will be greatly
reduced. This city needs major surgery: get rid of excess roads and rails,
and you should be okay.
Tokyo:
Bulldoze ahead of Mr. Monster to prevent him from exploding zones. After
he leaves, rebuilding shouldn't be hard without fires to contend with.
San Francisco:
There is no way to avoid the earthquake. Just pause immediately afterwards
and use the map to find fires. Some fires can be put out using a spinoff
of the overlapping trick: If a fire is over a part of a zone or other
structure (PD, FD, Stadium, Seaport, Airport, Power Plant), then
bulldozing that zone or structure will sometimes put out the fire. After
the fires are out, get rid of extra roads when you rebuild.