SimCity 4 Hints & Tips
Balancing your Budget
Written By: Rand HuckSunday, January 26, 2003
I've been to several forums, each with the same problem: Whenever I start the city, it goes into the red. I just can't earn a revenue.
I shared the problem, but after a lot of practice and discovering some ways to pinch pennies here and there, I've found that while the budget is much more difficult than it was in previous SimCity versions, it's definitely a manageable thing. Here's some tips to help you a lot:
- All educational facilities and health facilities should be budgeted in proportion to the amount of students you have
What I mean by that is, in SimCity 3000 and 2000, you had to keep the school and hospital budget at or around 100% no matter how many students you had, or else the 4 teachers per student would strike. In contrast, in SimCity 4 go to each educational and health facility and adjust the slider so that the capacity is only just above the amount of students you currently have. If it's still too much money, you can adjust the school bus or ambulance funding, which will shorten the radius effect of the school or hospital, and in turn give you less students or patients to deal with.
Keep in mind, however, that the same doesn't go for police, fire stations, and mass transit. To avoid a strike, keep the funding above 90%. - Don't have a heart: Raise taxes
Taxes can be a helpful tool in a lot of ways. You can lower them to attract a certain type of development, or raise them to do the opposite, and you get the reward in reaping in the benefits. At the start of many of my cities, I raise all my taxes to 8%. This usually gives me enough revenue in a couple years for a full educational system and fire/police protection. And sims don't usually complain at 8 or even 9 percent. As long as they feel they're getting what they paid for. - Wealth benefits both the sim and you
Knowing how much revenue you got from high paid sims in relation to low paid sims wasn't quite as easy to figure out in the previous SimCity versions. Now, you have it right in your budget window, and you can see how much the average middle class sim pays in taxes compared to the average lower class sim. Attracting middle class sims is easy at first: a good school and health system in their neighborhood are what a high wealth sim looks for most. The job is always important, too. I'll get into how to raise land values at a later article, however. - Save water systems for later
Since water systems cost a bundle to build and maintain, don't use them at the beginning. Sims can hack it without water, since they can have their own wells (although high wealth sims will not live or work without city water). If you start a water system, start in the industrial areas, where they're needed most.
That are the fundamentals of helping maintain your budget. The most important one, is the first point I gave. I hope this helps...