If you wonder about a control or graphic in Micropolis, you can point at it with the cursor, hold down shift and click the left button, to bring up a helpwindow describing it.
In Micropolis, you will primarily use the left mouse button to edit the city. The main function of the right mouse button is to select from pie menus. The middle button is used to scroll the view in the Edit Window.
Clicking a mouse button means to press and release it without moving. Dragging means to press and hold the button, move the mouse, then release the button.
Pie menus are designed to be very fast and efficient to use. You can pop up a pie menu by pressing and holding the right button, then select from it by moving in the direction of the item you want, then releasing the button.
Once you are familiar with the directions, you can use pie menus very quickly by smoothly pressing the right button down, moving in the direction you want, and releasing. If you do this without stopping, the pie menu will not even display on the screen -- you will just hear the name of the item spoken, to remind you of the selection. The more you use pie menus, the easier they are to use. See how fast you can get!
This window lets you select which city to simulate. You can see what the selected city looks like in the map window. Give your city a name by typing it into the Name text field.
Click on "New City" to generate a random map to start a city from scratch. Click on "Load City" to load a saved city from disk.
You can go back and forth between your previously selected cities with the "Previous Map" and "Next Map" buttons.
Click on any of the Scenario buttons to play any of the eight scenarios. When you click on any of those buttons, the city is displayed in the Micropolis Map Window.
The Scenarios provide both real and hypothetical problems for you to deal with in seven famous (and one not-so-famous) cities. 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 just might run you out of town.
- Dullsville, USA 1900 -- Boredom
Things haven't changed much around here in the last hundred years 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.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Time Limit: 30 years
- Win Condition: Metropolis
- 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.
- Difficulty: Very difficult
- Time Limit: 5 years
- Win Condition: Metropolis
- Hamburg, Germany 1944 -- Fire
Allied fire-bombing of German cities in WWII caused tremendous damage
and loss of life. People living in the inner cities were at greatest
risk. You must control the firestorms during the bombing and then
rebuild the city after the war.
- Difficulty: Very difficult
- Time Limit: 5 years
- Win Condition: Metropolis
- Bern, Switzerland 1965 -- Traffic
The roads here are becoming more congested 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 would
require major rezoning in the downtown area.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Time Limit: 10 years
- Win Condition: Low Average Traffic Density
- Tokyo, Japan 1957 -- Monster Attack
A large reptilian creature has been spotted heading for Tokyo bay. It
seems to be attracted to the heavy levels of industrial pollution
there. Try to control the fires, then rebuild the industrial center.
- Difficulty: Moderately difficult
- Time Limit: 5 years
- Win Condition: City Score above 500
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2047 -- Flood
In the mid-21st century, the greenhouse effect raised global
temperatures 6 degrees F. Polar ice caps 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 coast.
- Difficulty: Moderately difficult
- Time Limit: 10 years
- Win Condition: City Score above 500
- Boston, MA 2010 -- Nuclear Meltdown
A major meltdown is about to occur at one of the new downtown nuclear
reactors. The area in the vicinity of the reactor will be severely
contaminated by radiation, forcing you to restructure the city around
it.
- Difficulty: Very difficult
- Time Limit: 5 years
- Win Condition: City Score above 500
- Detroit, MI 1972 -- Crime
By 1970, competition from overseas and other economic factors pushed
the once "automobile capital of the world" into recession. Plummeting
land values and unemployment then increased crime in the inner-city to
chronic levels. You have just been elected after promising to reduce
crime and rebuild the industrial base of the city.
- Difficulty: Moderately difficult
- Time Limit: 10 years
- Win Condition: Low Average Crime Density
You can select the Game Level from the radio buttons (Easy / Medium / Hard).
Once a city is started, you cannot change the Game Level;
it remains at your initial setting for the life of the city.
The current Game Level 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.
Once you have decided which city you want to play, press "Use This Map" and Micropolis will come to life!
This window contains the main controls to Micropolis, status displays, and a scrolling text message log.
At the top is a row of menus that are enabled when the game is playing.
Beneath that is a status display panel showing the date and the current funds on the left.
In the middle is a graph and bar display of the Residential, Commercial and Industrial rates and demands.
On the right is an icon of the Micropolis simulation machine,
with a red screen when paused and green screen when running.
The bottom half of the window is occupied by a scrolling text window,
that Micropolis uses to display important messages.
- Menu Bar
- Micropolis Menu
- About...
Display fascinating and vital information about Micropolis.
- Save City
Write the city to a file.
- Save City As...
Save the city with a new file name.
- Choose City!
Generate a new city, select a scenario or load a pre-existing city.
- Quit Playing!
Exit Micropolis and go back to the real world.
- Options Menu
- Auto Budget
Keeps your budget at the same level (or fully funded)
without asking for approval every year.
If there isn't enough money to meet the budget,
then funds will be allocated first to the Transit system,
then to the Fire Department, then to the Police.
If your city runs out of money,
the budget window comes up at the end of
the year anyway, and Auto Budget is turned off.
- Auto Bulldozer
Allows you to place zones, roadways, etc.,
directly on top of trees, shoreline, power lines, and rubble,
without manually bulldozing first.
You will be charged the same amount as for manual bulldozing.
- Disasters
Enables or disables random disasters.
If disasters are disabled, you can still select them manually
from the Disasters Menu.
- Sound
Toggles the city sounds on and off.
Preserves the sanity and good will of those who have to work in the same room.
- Animation
Toggles tile animations on and off.
- Disasters Menu
The Disasters Menu allows you to set natural (and unnatural) disasters
loose on your city. Use these disasters to test your ability to deal
with emergencies in your city or just to release some aggression. More
information on disasters, their causes, and dealing with them is
presented later.
Disasters will randomly occur as you play Micropolis. At higher game
levels the disasters will happen more often. Most disasters can be
activated from the Disasters Menu. Random disasters can be eliminated
by turing off the Disasters setting of the Options Menu.
- Shipwreck:
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.
- Monster
Sets a monster loose on your city.
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.
- Fire
Starts a fire somewhere on the map.
Fires can start anywhere in the city. Fires spread fairly
rapidly through forests and buildings, somewhat slower over roadways.
Fire will not cross water or clear land.
The effectiveness of the fire department (which can be viewed in the
Map Window) is based on how close it is to the fire, its funding
level, and its transit access. 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 fire
breaks with the bulldozer. Just surround the fire with clear areas and
it will stop spreading and eventually burn itself out. You cannot
directly bulldoze a fire.
- Flood
Causes a flood to occur near the water.
Floods gradually spread and
destroy buildings and utilities. After a while the flood waters
recede, leaving behind cleared terrain.
- Meltdown
If there's a nuclear power plant, this spills Irn-Bru
in the control room, causing a meltdown.
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.
- Tornado
Causes a tornado to appear somewhere on the map.
Tornados can occur anywhere on the map at any time. Very
fast and unpredictable, they can appear and disappear at a moment's
notice. Tornados destroy everything in their path, and can cause
planes, helicopters, trains, and ships to crash.
- Earthquake
Causes a MAJOR earthquake.
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, the Edit Window will 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.
- Clipper
The Clipper disaster violates the privacy of your simulated citizens,
and encrypts the city so only the NSA can decode it.
Do not use this unless you work for the National Security Agency,
and routinely subvert the Constitution of the United States
by spying on American citizens with the Echelon Surveillance System.
- Time Menu
- Pause
Stops the passage of time entirely.
- Slow
Months pass by slowly.
- Medium
Months pass by normally.
- Fast
Months pass by fast.
- Priority Menu
- Flat Out!
Micropolis runs really fast, hogging the CPU.
- Zoom Zoom
Micropolis runs pretty fast, but leaves some time for other programs.
- Buzz Buzz
Micropolis runs fairly quickly.
- Putter Putter
Micropolis runs slower.
- Snore Snore
Micropolis runs very slowly.
- Windows Menu
- Budget
Open the Budget Window.
The simulation is paused as long as the budget window is open.
- Evaluation
Open the Evaluation Window.
- Graph
Open the Graph Window.
- Map
Open the Map Window.
- Editor
Open the Editor Window.
- Frob
Open the Frob-O-Matic Window.
- Map Copy
Open another copy of the Map Window.
- Editor Copy
Open another copy of the Editor Window.
- Status Panel
- License Owner Name
- Date
- Funds
- Residential, Commercial, Industrial History Graph
- Residential, Commercial, Industrial Demand Chart
The Demand Indicator shows the demand levels for Residential (green),
Commercial (blue), and Industrial zones (yellow), and can be helpful
in planning your city.
- Micropolis Simulator Icon
- Scrolling Text Message Window
- Text Input Field
This is where all actual zoning and building takes place.
There are three types of terrain in the Edit Window: Open Land, Trees,
and Water.
Open Land is where you can zone and build. It is shown as brown with
dark brown speckles.
Trees and Forests are shown as green, with dark green speckles. You
cannot zone or build on trees. You may bulldoze trees and forests to
turn them into clear land. While some bulldozing is necessary,
clearing away too much green area will result in lower property
values.
Water is shown as blue, with dark blue speckles. You cannot zone or
build on water. You must bulldoze coastlines to create landfills
before you can build or zone there.
The Edit Window is where you will do the actual building and zoning.
In the middle of the Edit Window is a detailed map showing part of the
terrain. Around the edges are controls and fields displaying
information about the city.
There is a row of Menu Buttons on the left below the title.
The Display menu lets you select how often the display is drawn.
The Options menu lets you turn on and off certain view specific features.
To the right of the menu buttons, important messages are displayed.
Below the menu bar is a tool pallet.
The palette displays the name and cost of the currently selected tool,
above an menu of colorful icons,
used for choosing the city editing mode.
Click the mouse over an icon to select an editing tool.
The currently selected tool is highlighted,
and its name and cost is displayed at the top of the panel,
and spoken.
You can use the selected tool by pressing the left mouse button over
the map in the middle of the Edit Window. Also, you can pop up a Pie
Menu to quickly switch between editing tools, by clicking the right
mouse button over the map.
You can easily scroll the map by pressing the middle mouse button down
over the map and dragging the view around.
You can select an icon from the Tool Icon pallet to use a city editing tool.
When an icon is selected, a rectangle will accompany the cursor
when it's over the map, to indicate the area the tool will effect.
- Query Tool (question mark)
Shows the Zone Status Window,
describing the population density, value, crime rate, pollution,
and growth rate of the zone under the cursor.
It doesn't cost anything to use.
- Bulldozer
Clears trees and forests, creates landfill along the water,
and levels developed, existing zones and clears rubble caused by disasters.
The Auto Bulldoze option works on natural terrain, power
lines and rubble, but not on zones, roads and rails.
It costs $1 for each square tile bulldozed. Knocking down a 3x3 zone
costs $9 since it's made up of nine tiles. You're automatically
charged $1 for each non-empty tile that you Auto Bulldoze.
- Road
Connect developed areas.
Intersections and turns are automatically created.
Lay continuous roads by pressing the left mouse button and dragging your cursor.
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 zoned areas. They may be placed over
trees, shrubbery, and shoreline only after bulldozing or activating
the Auto Bulldoze function from the Options Menu. Roads can cross over
power lines and rails only at right angles.
Holding down the Control key while laying roads will constrain them to
a straight line.
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
function from the Options Menu is active.
Roadways are maintained by the transit budget, and wear out if there
is a lack of funding. The amount of yearly funding requested by the
transportation department is $1 for each section of road, $4 for each
section of bridge.
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 is conducted
through adjacent zones. Unpowered zones display the flashing lightning
bolt symbol. There is a delay between the time you connect power to a
zone and when the flashing symbol disappears. The delay grows longer
as the city grows larger.
Power lines cannot cross zoned land. They can be built over trees,
shrubbery, and shoreline only after bulldozing, or activating the Auto
Bulldoze function from the Options Menu.
Junctions and corners are automatically created. Lay continuous power
lines by pressing the left mouse button down and dragging your cursor.
Power lines across water must be horizontal or vertical -- no turn,
curves or intersections. Power lines consume some power due to
transmission inefficiencies.
Holding down the Control key while laying power lines will constrain
them to a straight line.
It costs $5 to lay one section of power line on land, $25 on water.
- Transit Lines
Create a railway system for intra-city mass transit.
Place tracks in heavy traffic areas to help alleviate congestion.
Intersections and turns are created automatically. Lay continuous
transit lines by pressing the left mouse button down and dragging with
your cursor. Tracks laid under rivers will appear as dashed lines.
These are underwater tunnels, and must be vertical or horizontal -- no
turns, curves or intersections.
Holding down the Control key while laying tracks will constrain them
to a straight line.
Transit lines are maintained by the transit budget. The level of
funding affects the efficiency of the system. The amount of yearly
funding requested by the transportation department is $4 for each
section of rail, and $10 for each section of tunnel.
It costs $20 per section of track laid on land,
$100 per section under water.
- Parks
Can be placed on clear land. Parks, like 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.
Holding down the Control key while building parks will constrain them
to a straight line.
It costs $10 to zone one park.
- Residential Zones
Where the Sims live, build houses, apartments
and community facilitieslike hospitals and churches.
Most residential zones develop into one of four classes: lower,
middle, upper, and high. They can range in population density from
single-family homes to high-rise apartments and condominiums. Some
residential zones will automatically develop into churches and
hospitals.
Factors influencing residential value and growth are 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
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
For heavy manufacturing and industrial services.
There are four levels of industrial growth, from small pumping
stations and warehouses to large factories.
Factors influencing industrial growth 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. The efficiency of a station
depends on the level of police department funding and transit access.
It costs $500 to build a police station. Full yearly maintenance of
each Police Station is $100.
- Fire Departments
Make surrounding areas less susceptible to 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 and transit access.
It costs $500 to build a fire station. Full yearly maintenance of each
fire station is $100.
- Stadiums
Encourage residential growth, once a city has become fairly
large. You may build a stadium in a smaller city without negative (or
positive) 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.
The nuclear plant is more powerful but carries a slight risk of meltdown.
The coal plant is less expensive, but less powerful and it pollutes.
All zoned land needs power to develop and grow. When developed land
loses power, it will degenerate to an undeveloped zone unless power is
restored. Connecting too many zones to a power plant causes brownouts.
Coal power plants cost $3000 to build, and supply enough energy 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, unless Auto Bulldoze is active.
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 planes flying above your city
to and from the airport. There is also a traffic helicopter that
alerts you to heavy traffic areas.
It costs $10,000 to zone land for use as an airport.
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 option). You will be asked to set the funding levels for the
fire, police, and transportation departments, and to set the property
tax rate.
The Budget Window can be opened from the Windows Menu. When Auto
Budget is active, all the funding levels will remain at full funding,
or your last setting. If there is not enough money to completely fund
the budget, money will go first to the Transit Department, then the
Fire Department, then the Police Department.
You can raise and lower the tax rate and budget levels by
dragging the sliders corresponding to each category.
Press the button labeled "Continue With These Figures"
to make the Budget Window disappear.
When the Budget Window opens up,
a timer in the bottom button starts running.
When it runs out, the Budget Window automatically goes
with the currently selected figures and disappears.
You can click on the timer button to cancel it,
and the Budget Window will stay up for as long as you like.
The maximum tax rate you can set is 20%.
The minimum tax rate you can set is 0%.
The optimum tax rate for fast growth is between 5% and 7%.
To slow city growth without actually shrinking, set the tax rate to 8% or 9%.
The amount of yearly funding requested for the fire and police
departments is $100 per station that you have placed. Until you
actually build fire or police stations, you cannot fund them. You
cannot allocate more than 100% of the requested funding for fire and
police departments -- Micropolis police officers and fire inspectors are
honest and will not accept your bribes.
Allocating less than the requested amount will decrease the effective
coverage of the police or fire stations.
The amount of yearly funding requested for the transportation
department is $1 for each section of road, $4 for each section of
bridge (roads over water), $4 for each section of rail, and $10 for
each section of tunnel (underwater rails). You cannot allocate more
than 100% of the requested funds.
Transportation maintenance funding slightly below 100% will cause
slow, minor deterioration of the transit system -- an occasional
pothole or bad track section. Funding between 90% and 75% will cause
noticeable damage -- many sections of road and rail will be unusable.
Funding below 75% will cause rapid deterioration of your transit
system.
The cash flow is calculated as follows:
CashFlow = TaxesCllected - TotalAllocatedFunds
It will be a negative number if your yearly maintenance costs are
greater than your yearly tax intake.
A major difference between Micropolis and a real city is that Micropolis
does not allow budget deficits. If you don't have the money, you can't
spend it. Try not to let your city run with a negative cash flow.
The Map Window shows the entire area of your city. It has a pallet of
icons down the left edge, for selecting between different map types.
The maps show demographic information to help you comprehend the state
of your city.
You can select between various views by pressing the left mouse button
over any of the icons. Some of the icons have submenus, that pop up
when you hold the button down, so you can select different aspects of
the view.
One or more yellow rectangular outlines overlay the map, showing the
location of the Edit Window and Surveyor Window views of the city. You
can drag the rectangles around the map to pan the other views. You can
also "throw" the view, by dragging with the left mouse button, and
releasing the button while moving the mouse. The view keeps on panning
and bounces off the edges of the map! Click on a moving rectangle to
make it sit still, or on the map to stop all the bouncing rectangles.
Use the middle button to avoid such behavior.
The Map Window should be constantly referred to in all stages of city
planning, building and managing.
Before you build, use the map before beginning a new city to plan:
- Where you want your city center.
- Where you want the high-class waterfront residential areas.
- Where you will cross water with bridges, power lines and tunnels.
- Where to place power plants.
- Where to place large industrial sections away from the residential sections.
- The general layout of your city.
Printing the map and sketching in your plan with pencil or pen can
save a lot of bulldozing and re-zoning and rebuilding.
During city growth:
- Use the map to guide your city's growth around forest areas, to preserve the trees and improve property values.
- Use the Transportation Map along with the Traffic Density map to plan traffic control and expansion.
- Use the City Form Maps to make sure you have the proper ratio of residential to commercial to industrial zones.
- Use the Pollution Map to detect problem areas, and disperse the industrial zones and/or replace roads with rails.
- Printing out the map in various stages of development and doing some preliminary expansion planning with pencil can be useful. Printouts can also be used for city historical records.
During city maintenance:
- Use the Power Grid Map to locate zones that have lost power.
- Use the City Services Maps to evaluate the effective coverage of your police and fire departments.
- Use the Crime Rate Map to locate problem areas that need more police protection.
- Use the Pollution Map to locate problem areas.
- Use the Transportation and Traffic Density Maps to determine where to replace roads with rails.
- Use the Land Value Map to locate depressed areas for improvement or replacement.
- Use the City Form Maps to maintain the proper ratio of residential to commercial to industrial zones.
The Graph Window gives you time-based graphs of various city data. It
can be opened through 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.
You may view graphs for time periods of either the last 10 years or
the last 120 years by clicking on the "10 YRS." or "120 YRS." button.
- The Residential Population Graph shows the total population in residential zones.
- The Commercial Population Graph shows the total population in commercial zones.
- The Industrial Population Graph shows the total population in industrial zones.
- The Cash Flow Graph shows your city's cash flow: money collected in taxes minus money it took to maintain your city. The center of the Cash Flow Graph represents a cash flow of zero. Do not build more infrastructure (roads, rails, police departments, fire stations) than you can support with tax revenues.
- The Crime Rate Graph shows the overall crime rate of the entire city.
- The Pollution Graph shows the overall average pollution reading of the entire city.
The Graphs give information on many of the same factors as the maps,
but show the information over time. Graphs are for locating trends in
city life that won't be noticeable in a map. If you look at a map, for
example the Crime Rate Map, a very slight rise in the crime rate will
not be noticeable. But on the Crime Rate Graph, you would easily
locate the upward trend in crime because you will be viewing the
levels for a number of years at the same time.
Residential, commercial and industrial population growth and/or
decline can be tracked and displayed. If you notice a downward trend
in any of these, refer to the User Reference Card to locate potential
problems and solutions.
Use the Cash Flow Graph to track your city's efficiency as it grows.
If your maintenance costs are higher than your tax revenues, you will
have a negative cash flow.
The Crime Rate Graph can be displayed, revealing slight but consistent
upward or downward trends.
Use the Pollution Graph to catch rising levels of pollution before
they reach a problem level.
The Evaluation Window gives you a performance rating. You can access
it through the Windows Menu.
Public Opinion 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."
In general, if more than 55% of the populace thinks you are doing a
good job, then you can feel secure of keeping your job.
If 10% or less of the people think something is a problem, then it's
not too bad.
These are most of the problems that citizens complain about, and how
to correct them:
- Traffic -- Replace dense sections of roads with rails.
- Crime -- Add police stations and/or raise property values.
- Pollution -- Replace roads with rails, disperse industrial zones.
- Housing -- Zone more residences.
- Housing Costs -- Zone more residences in low property value areas.
- Fires -- Build more fire departments.
- Taxes -- Lower taxes (if you can). Or lie through your lips.
- Unemployment -- Zone more commercial and industrial areas.
Statistics on Population, Net Migration, and Assessed Value are
displayed, along with the city's Game Level and the Overall City
Score. This data is calculated once a year at budget time.
Population is the number of residents in your city.
The Net Migration statistic provides a rating of the desirability of
your city. If people are leaving in droves, then you know something is
rotten in Micropolis.
The Assessed Value is the combined value of all city-owned property:
roads, rails, power plants, police and fire stations, airports,
seaports, parks, etc. It does not include residential, commercial and
industrial zones.
The Categories are defined by population as follows:
- Village: 0 to 1,999
- Town: 2,000 to 9,999
- City: 10,000 to 49,999
- Capital: 50,000 to 99,999
- Metropolis: 100,000 to 499,999
- Megalopolis: 500,000 and above
Overall City Score is a composite score based on the following factors
(some positive, some negative):
- Major Factors: Crime, pollution, housing costs, taxes, traffic, unemployment, fire protection, unpowered zones, city growth rate.
- Minor Factors: Stadium needed (but not built), seaport needed (but not built), airport needed (but not built), road funding, police funding, fire department funding, and fires.
A large population is not necessarily a sign of a successful city.
Population size does not affect the overall city score, since low
population could indicate a new or growing city.
Since city growth rate does affect the overall city score, a city in
which growth has been intentionally stopped for environmental or
aesthetic reasons will have a slightly lower score.
The Notice Window is used to display important messages, and for
temporary control panels. When something important happens, it pops up
to the front.
Some times it displays a live view of events happening in the city,
that you can click on to scroll the editor window to the location of interest.
You can dismiss the Notice window by clicking the "Dismiss" button along the bottom edge.
While growing a city, refer often to the User Reference Card. It
provides a chart of City Dynamics; how all factors of city life and
growth are related.
The main points to keep in mind while growing a city are:
- Grow slowly. Watch your money.
- All zones must be powered to develop.
- Zones must be developed to generate tax money.
- Roads or rails must provide access to and from each zone for it to fully develop.
- There is a yearly maintenance cost for each section of road, rail, bridge and tunnel. This can add up. Don't build too many roads and rails and generate high maintenance costs before your city can generate enough tax revenues to support them.
- Extra power plants and redundant power lines are expensive, but can keep zones from losing power during a disaster or emergency and deteriorating.
- Rails can carry much more traffic than roads. While building and zoning an area that you predict will generate heavy traffic, install rails instead of roads in the early stages of development.
- If you get a lot of heavy traffic warnings, replace roads with rails. You can build an entirely roadless city, even if you're not a train spotter!
- Grouping zones together, four of five in a row touching each other, can eliminate a lot of power line segments.
- Airports, seaports and stadiums won't help a small city grow -- so save your money until the city gets larger. The Sims will tell you when they need these things.
- Place zones, roads, etc. carefully -- they cannot be moved, and you will have to pay to bulldoze them and rebuild.
- As a rule of thumb, the number of residential zones should be approximately equal to the sum of commercial and industrial zones. When your city is small, you will need more industrial zones than commercial, and when your city gets larger, you will need more commercial zones than industrial.
- Separate the residential areas from the industrial areas.
- Proximity to forests, parks, and water increases land value, which increases the taxes collected. Don't bulldoze any more forest than you must. Natural shoreline increases property values more than landfill shoreline.
- Keep in mind that proximity to downtown raises property values. The simulator defines the downtown areas as "the center of mass of the population density." It calculates the average geographical center of the population.
- A bigger, more populous city is not necessarily better. Having a self-supporting, profitable city with pleasant surroundings is better than a huge city that is always broke and has no forest or shoreline.
- Use the various maps and graphs to plan city growth, locate problems, and track your progress. Look for areas that need police and fire coverage as you go, so you don't have to go back and bulldoze developed zones to make room for police and fire stations.
- Save your city to disk before trying any major new policy so you can go back if your plan doesn't work.
- Print out your city in different stages of evolution to track and plan growth.
- Check the Evaluation Window often. The Sims will let you know how you are doing. Also the statistics can be useful; if your population is shrinking, don't go zoning new areas that may never develop. Look for problems in the existing zoned areas, and spend your time and money solving them.
- Save your city to disk often!!!