Simcity 2000 FAQ PC Version By Ed the Moogle Final Revision Copyright 1999 Ed the Moogle Not official in any way. Don't copy or alter this FAQ without permission. If you wish to copy this FAQ, you may not change it from its original TXT format, and it must not appear within a frame or with a pop-up window or ad banner of any kind. I am not to be held responsible for any damages done with this file or it's contents. Latest version is at http://www.gamefaqs.com. Check the latest version before you e-mail me with questions or comments, or before telling me I'm an idiot because I made a mistake. Failure to do this will result in your e-mail being ignored. Domains that CAN use this FAQ http://www.gamefaqs.com (e-mail me at edmoogle@hotmail.com or brunerp@juno.com to be added to the list) Domains that can NEVER use this FAQ (I have had some bad run-ins with these domain/domains before. They have either somehow been making money off my FAQs by the use of ad banners or otherwise). http://faqs.simplenet.com http://www.gamesdomain.com http://vgstrategies.about.com http://www.gamewinners.com If you see this FAQ on any of these sites, or any other site that uses my files without complying to the conditions in the disclaimer, report it to me immediately and I will put an end to it (edmoogle@hotmail.com or brunerp@juno.com) ALL FUTURE E-MAIL ABOUT PLAYING THIS GAME WILL BE IGNORED. THIS IS THE FINAL VERSION OF THE FAQ, AND I HAVE INCLUDED AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE. DO NOT E-MAIL ME ABOUT THE GAME, AS I WILL SIMPLY TRASH IT. This was written using the Windows version. I have not played any version other than the Windows version, so I cannot answer any questions about Playstation, Saturn, DOS, Mac, or any other versions of the game that may exist. Please do not e-mail me about this. General info The Toolbar Getting your city started Keeping your sims happy Cheats Disasters Ordinances Secrets and Tricks Other Stuff General info When you first choose to start a city, the land is generated for you. There is most often hills, forests and rivers. You can choose to start with $20000, $10000, or a $10000 bond. You also have the choice to start the game in year 1900, 1950, 2000, or 2050. The later you start, the easier it will be. One square on the grid represents about 1 acre. If the terrain isn't to your liking, just go under file and choose "Edit New Map" to create one to your liking. Toolbar Press and hold the mouse button on a toolbar icon to get other options. Bulldozer Demolish/Clear: $1: You click on something and it blows up! Useful for getting rid of unwanted buildings or roads. Level Terrain: $25: Allows you to level out a part of terrain with another section of land. Each square costs $25, though, and that can add up quickly. Raise Terrain: $25: Raises a single square of terrain up 50 feet (1 square on the grid). Useful for creating roads or tunnels. It blows up any buildings in the way, though, so be careful where you use it. Lower Terrain: $25: The exact opposite of Raise Terrain. But it also destroys buildings. Use it carefully. De-Zone: $1: De-zones a "Zoned" square. I don't think it's very useful, because you can just put a new zone directly over the old one (and thus replace it and save a few bucks). Tree/River Trees: $3: Plants a single tree on the square you click. Sims like trees, and they slightly reduce pollution. Water: $100: Fills a single square with water. Sims like to build houses near water, but this feature is expensive. Build Residential Zones near natural rivers and lakes at first, then use this when you have some spare cash. Siren: This only is available when disasters strike. You can deploy the Military, Police Station or Fire Department, provided you have the right buildings. Police: Useful for stopping riots. Firemen: Good for stopping fires (obviously) and chemical spills. Military: Useful against monsters and riots. They're also fairly useful for fires. An all-purpose unit. I'll go more into details about the disasters later. Lightning Power Lines: $2 per square. Lets you connect powered areas with unpowered areas. Sims won't build without power. You can also raise the wires to make them go over water. The cost will vary depending on the length. Power Plant: You can build one of several types of power plants. Coal: $4000 The most basic Power Plant. It pollutes a lot but gives a good amount of power if you're just starting out. It's also relatively cheap compared to some other power plants. Hydro Electric: $400: It has the advantage of never breaking down, which means that you don't have to replace them ever 50 years. But you DO need to build on waterfalls and have a LOT of these to power a city. Use the map editor and put water on hills to make waterfalls before you begin if you want to use Hydro Electric, as dropping down squares of water can get very expensive. Oil Power- $6600: It gives off slightly more power than Coal, and is also cleaner. A good choice once you gain some more money. Gas Power- $2000: It's cheap to build, but expensive to maintain. It also doesn't give off as much power or pollute as much as Oil or Coal. I've never found this one very useful. After I'm done with Oil, I skip straight to Microwave. Nuclear-$15000: This is a very efficient power source, but you run the risk of having a meltdown, which is pretty much a ton of fires and chemical spills everywhere- VERY dangerous. It also costs a lot of money to build. Be sure to have adequate fire support before you try to build one of these. Wind Power- $100: They're weak but inexpensive. Put them on top of tall hills to get maximum power from them. The other bad thing about them is that they are unreliable. During the less windy months, your sims will complain about not getting power. Solar Power combined with Wind is a pretty good choice, as one will usually be getting power when the other is not. Just be prepared to buy tons of power plants. Solar Power- $1300: This is a fairly cheap power plant, but don't rely on it to power an entire city. During the winter months, these will do you little good. Don't use them as your primary power plant. It's best used as a "backup" when your old power plants aren't giving off enough power. Microwave- $28,000: These are also a very good energy source, but very expensive. You may also have a Microwave disaster, which causes several fires, often in the vicinity of your plant. Needless to say, don't build a ton of important things next to your Microwave plant. Fusion- $40,000- The ultimate power plant. It will never start a disaster, is cheap to maintain, and a single one is powerful enough to run almost an entire city. But they break down every 50 years and are very expensive to build. Faucet Pipes: $3- Unlike the original Simcity, you have to supply water to your Sims. Connect Water Towers and Water Pumps with these. You can even make them go under lakes and mountains. Water Pump: $100- Build these next to water to increase the water they supply. I like to build them in straight rows, then put water down between the rows with the Water tool. If they touch water on two, three or even four sides, they'll get even more. They take up a single square. Water Tower: $250- These are best used during the Summer, when water shortages are prone to happen. Build two or three of these. They take up a 2x2 square. Water Treatment: $500- These reduce pollution in your city, making for happier sims. They take up a 2x2 square. I reccomend building two or three of these side by side your Water Pumps to maximize the effect. Desalinization: $1000- If you have salt water in your city, this building will filter out the salt. It's very expensive to maintain these, though. This one takes up a 3x3 square. Town Hall This is where you recieve Rewards. Rewards are free and will be rebuilt for free if they get destroyed (except Arcos). Mayor's House- This is where you live. Put it near your city to improve land value nearby. I recommend putting it between a Residential and Commercial zone. You'll get this when you gain 2,000 citizens. It takes up a 2x2 square. Town Hall- It's quite self explanatory. No city is complete without one. You need to have 1,0000 citizens first, though. This one takes up 3x3 square. Statue- A statue of...you! You'll have to have 30,000 citizens first, though. This one takes a single square. You can run power and water to it if you wish, but it won't do anything for you in return other than look nice. Military Base- You'll need 60,000 Sims to get one of these. They'll help defend your city against Monsters if you allow them to build in your city. I give them land, but they never seem to build anything (except maybe a runway and that's it, but they still provide support against Monsters and such). I supply them power and water and they never build. A glitch, perhaps? Or maybe those military guys are just lazy? Braun Llama Dome- A big building that provides a lot of entertainment for your sims. You need to have 80,000 citizens (I think). This one takes up a 4x4 square and is VERY tall. Arcologies- You need to have over 120,000 Sims to get one. They're hella expensive, but they bring in the sims like nothing else. They tend to lower land value greatly and vastly increase crime though, so build Parks and Police Stations nearby, leaving an opening (for Power Lines and Water). Each one takes up a 4x4 square. Plymouth Arco: $100,000- This one holds up to 55,000 Sims, but creates a lot of pollution. Forest Arco: $130,000- This one holds up to 30,000 Sims and pollutes much less than the Plymouth Arco, but requires you to provide more entertainment (the description explains why) to keep your sims happy. Darco: $150,000- This Arco carries 45,000 Sims, but creates a good amount of pollution. Not as much as a Plymouth Arco, though. The joke about the mutated men living in the air shafts was funny. Launch Arco: $200,000- This is the most expensive Arco, but it barely pollutes and carries up to 65,000 Sims. If you build a LOT (like over 340), they'll launch. Don't believe me? Go to the pre-created city "349arco" and watch as every single one blasts off! I haven't had the patience to build 340+ Launch Arcos, though, so I can't really say I've made some that launch. Road Road: $10- Well, your Sims can get around much easier with these. Keep in mind that Sims never build more than three squares away from roads. If sims are complaining about traffic, just build some side-roads to reduce traffic. You can also connect to other nearby towns to keep your commerce happy. Highway: $100- It can carry much more traffic than a normal road, but costs more and it's useless without an Onramp. Create onramps on either end of the highway. These are also good for connecting to other cities when normal roads won't cut it. Each block is 3x3 square. Tunnel: $150- Instead of going over a mountain, you go through it. These are pretty expensive, and you may not be able to build them if the terrain is unstable at the exit. It's often cheaper to just go over the mountain. Onramp: $25- You build these to get onto highways. To build them, create a road leading up to the Highway (or under it), then click a space left or right of the road AND to the side of the Highway to create an Onramp. If it doesn't work, try extending the road one more square or building somewhere else. They take a single square each. I'll try to show it in ASCII art (I never was good at it, so bear with me) ============================== (Highway) / / (Onramp) | |*/ (Your road) *=Build here Bus Depot: $250- The Sims like these. they reduce traffic. I like to build them between two Onramps leading onto the highway. 2x2 squares. Railroad Rail: $25- This is a good way for Sims to get around when traffic is heavy. Just be sure you build a Rail depot at each end of the track, otherwise they'll be useless. Takes up a 2x2 square. I can't seem to convince my Sims to use them, but that's just me. Subway: $100- Yes, you can build Subway tunnels. You can even make them go underwater. This is useful when you have barely any room left in your city and you still need ways to get around (they also provide a cheap way to get between islands without messy raised roads or rails). Be sure you have a Subway tunnel at each end. Costly, but effective. Rail Depot: $500- This is where they send out trains. Put tracks leading into these. Takes up a 2x2 square. Sub Station: $250- This is where the subways make stops. Put subway tunnels leading into these. One square is needed for one of these. Sub<-->Rail: $250- You can connect Railroad to Subway with these. Put these around if you need to go under buildings or mountains (or water...hehe). Take up one square each. Boat/Plane This allows you to zone Air and Seaports. Airports cost $250 per square and Seaports cost $150 per square. Airports are good for increasing population and Seaports are good for industry. Be sure you build Airports a long way away from tall buildings or at least put them on top of a hill to reduce the likelihood of a crash. Also be sure that they are a good 6x6 squares each, as this is the only way Sims will build on them. Of course, you should zone Seaports near water. House This allows you to zone Residential areas. Light residential costs $5 per square and Heavy residential costs $10 per square. Build when Residential is in demand (the green bar on the RCI bar is above the RCI bar). Building This allows you to build Commercial zones. They too can be put in Light and Heavy zones at the cost of $5 per light square and $10 for each heavy square. Build this when the blue bar is above the RCI bar. Factory Similar to the two above. These provide work for your sims, but they also pollute. $5 per Light square, $10 per Heavy square. Scholar's Hat School $250- This makes your young Sims smarter. Put them near Residential zones. These take up 3x3 squares. College $1000- These make your Sims smarter too. Put them near Commercial and Residental zones. These take up a 4x4 square. Library $500- Umm...same as above, except it takes a 2x2 square. Museum $1000- Ditto, except 3x3. Badge Police $500- Allows you to send out Police units. Plant them in the middle of high crime areas to drastically reduce crime. This takes up a 3x3 square. Fire Department $500- Allows you to send out Firefighter units. Keeps your Sims happy. 3x3 Square. Hospital $500- Increases health in the city. Another 3x3 square building. Prison $3000- Helps keep crime down. Build them next to a police station or on an island for best results. This one is a 4x4. Balloons Small Park $20- They improve land value a little. 1 square each. Big Park $150- They drastically improve land value. Put them near Residential or Arcos. 3x3 square. Zoo $3000- These provide entertainment for your sims, but may lower land value. Surround them with Small Parks to prevent this. 4x4 square. Stadium $5000- Provides entertainment for your Sims. You can even choose the team sport and name! 4x4 square again. Marina $1000- Yet another way of entertaining the Sims. 3x3 square, but at least one must be in water. Build as much of it in the water as possible to save space. Getting your city started First, pick a nice flat section of land (hopefully near water). First of all, build a power plant. If there's waterfalls nearby, build some Hydro Electric. If there isn't, just use Coal for now. Build a road and a good 6x3 square (remember, Sims don't build more than 3 squares away from roads) of Industrial zoning. Be sure to put it fairly close to your Residential, otherwise your sims will not build. Then wait until they build some buildings, then zone out a 3x3 of Commercial and a 8x3 of Residential (make your road longer if you need to). Be sure to provide power to the zones, and then build some Water pumps near the water (if there's no water nearby, they'll still work, but not as well). This is a good start. Expand the zones as you need to and build when the citizens request you build. Take bonds to get more money. Disasters- You can start these using the Disasters window. Fire- A small fire breaks out in your city. These blow up buildings and multiply as the fire spreads. Send out the Fire Department. If it gets out of control, surround it with rubble (knock buildings down) so that it has nowhere to go. Flood- Water floods your city and destroys your buildings. Build important buildings farther away from the coast line to prevent major disasters (or just build them on higher ground). Air Crash- A plane crash. Send in the Fire Department to stop the fires that it starts. Monster- A big monster. It may start buildings on fire, make small spots of water, or create Windmills (!). Send in the military to get the robotic freak out of your city. Riot- They randomly start fires and blow up buildings. Send in the Police to stop them. Tornado- It rips through town and blows up buildings. You can't do much about it except hope that it doesn't blow down anything expensive. Hurricane- It floods and blows up buildings. You can't do much to stop it, though. Earthquake- This is pretty bad. It starts fires and makes buildings blow apart. Send in the Fire department to stop the fires. REALLY bad disasters (luckily, they rarely happen) Nuclear Meltdown- The worst possible disaster. Tons of fires and toxic clouds appear, and toxic waste areas appear all over the place (and you can't build them or get rid of them). You'd better surround the fires as quickly as possible and send in the Fire Department. Toxic Spill- Big clouds of toxic gas destroy your buildings.This occurs if you have high pollution. Send in the Fire department to stop them. Microwave Beam- This occurs only when you have a Microwave power plant. A solar beam misses the collection dish and starts fires. Send in the Fire Department to clean it up. Fire Storm- This is similar to a fire, only MUCH bigger. Create a bunch of rubble around the fire if possible to keep it from spreading (knock down some buildings), and then send in the Fire Department. Volcano- The terrain raises greatly and knocks out a bunch of buildings, and then a bunch of toxic gas and fires start everywhere. Hope you have a lot of Fire Departments. Mass Riot- Like a Riot but much worse. Send in the Military and Police to stop those goons! Major Flood- It's like a flood but worse. You can't do much to stop it except to build your city higher up (or raise the terrain near the water). Graph Kludge- Your ratings start dropping drastically. If you're a really crappy mayor, you might get this. Only way to fix it is to clean up your act. Ordinances Finance 1% Sales Tax- You gain money from Commercial Zones, but the sims tend to complain. Use this when Commerce is in high demand, and cancel it when it's not. 1% Income Tax- You gain money from Residential Zones, but the sims won't be happy if Residential is in low demand. Turn it off when Residential is below the RCI bar. Legalized Gambling- A great source of income, but boosts crime. Build a Police Station or two in the high-crime areas to take care of this. Parking Fines- Issue this one the first chance you get. It's a good way to earn a few bucks, and the sims don't complain. Education Pro-reading campaign- Increases sim's education level. Anti-drug campaign- Reduces crime. CPR Training- Increases sim's health level. Neighborhood Watch- Reduces crime. Safety and health Volunteer Fire Dept.- Reduces crime (!). Public Smoking Ban- Increases health, but also increases crime. Free Clinics- Increases health. Very expensive. Only use it if you have a lot of cash or are desperate for popularity. Junior Sports- Provides entertainment for your sims. Promotional Tourist Advertising- Good for Residential zones. Business Advertising- Good for Commercial and Industrial zones. City Beautification- Reduces pollution. Annual carnival- Entertains your sims. Other Energy conservation- Makes your power plants more efficient. Price grows at a major rate as your city does. Nuclear Free Zone- This one is free, but it keeps your sims happy. Homeless Shelter- Not entirely sure what this one does. Pollution controls- Reduces pollution, but is very costly. Cheats (NOTE: I only have the Windows 95 Version, so I cannot confirm if the other codes work). Windows 95 Version Bond- A bond at 25% interest will be issued. Iamacheat-$500,000 and all Rewards and Buildings available. Priscilla- Debug menu that lets you set off the REALLY bad disasters or get more money or all Rewards/buildings. Noah- Starts a flood (of course, there's always the cheat menu, too). Gilmartin- Military offers to build in your city. DOS Version Darn- Sims build lots of Churches. Heck- Sims build lots of Churches. Memy- Memory Test. Vers- Version Number. Mac Version Ardo- $500,000. Porntipsguzzardo- ???? Vers- Shows version number. Windows 3.1 (or 3.11) Gomorrah- Nuclear meltdown. Buddamus- $500,000, all rewards and buildings. Gilmartin- Military Base. Noah- Starts flood. Moses- Stops flood. Secrets and Tricks Keep an eye on pollution, traffic and crime. Sims really hate those. Crime tends to appear in Industrial Zones. Knock down a few buildings and plant a Police Station in the middle of high-crime areas. That will drastically reduce crime. Sometimes you may see a blue creature in the water that looks like a dinosaur. It seems to be harmless and appears at random. Does anyone know a trick to getting it to appear? Sometimes a little Superman-looking guy flies around when you have heavy pollution or there are rioters running amok. He helps you out, though. Click on a helicopter with the Centering tool to make it crash (and start fires). This gets rid of the annoying "Simcopter reporting heavy traffic" guy for a while. Send in the Military to deal with riots and you'll become more popular with the sims. Keep Taxes at 7% unless you desperately need money. Any less and you'll lose money, any more and the sims will complain. Create a map with lots of waterfalls in the Map Editor, and then create lots of Hydro Power plants to power your city. Islands tend to be much more manageable than a huge city. If you're having trouble creating a huge metropolis, try for a managable-sized island. If you want to reduce pollution and you don't have enough money to use an Ordinance, then try increasing Industry taxes as a temporary fix. Be careful with Bonds. Don't spend too much after you issue one, or they'll bury you in debt. Try to pay them off as soon as you can. Don't bother with Light zones. Heavy zones may be more expensive, but they do twice the job of Light zones (including Crime and Pollution). Overall, Heavy Zones are better. Other stuff Read the newspapers. They're so incredibly random that it's funny.