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SimCity2000 Technical Info v2.0 rev. 3/22/94

Maintained by: Dave Palsen
Please send corrections, additions, questions,
etc. to me at: dpalsen@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu
*DISCLAIMER*
Under no circumstance including negligence, shall I (D.M.Palsen)
be liable for any incidental, special, or consequential damages
that result from the use of the information contained with this
file. So there.:P
New items to this version have a plus to the left.
INDEX
1.0 MISC I (General questions about the game)
2.0 TOOLS (Zoning, transportation, water, city services)
3.0 BUDGET + OTHER WINDOWS (Taxes, ordinances, etc.)
4.0 MISC II (Bugs, rewards, cheats)
5.0 SCURK (SimCity 2000 Urban Renewal Kit)
A-1 Appendix 1 (Solving Problems)
A-2 Appendix 2 (Adjusting Difficulty)
A-3 Appendix 3 (Mac Technical Problems)
A-4 Appendix 4 (IBM Technical Problems)
A-5 Appendix 5 (How to Make a Boot Disk)
A-6 Appendix 6 (SC2K Suggestion List)
A-7 Appendix 7 (SC2K Description)
1.0 MISC I
1.1 Q: What's required to run SimCity2000?
1.1 A: (MAC) LC, Performa, II, Centris and Quadra series;
Color Classic, Powerbook 165c, 180c. Powerbook 160,
180, Duo 210, 230 with external 256-color monitor.
4MB RAM, hard disk, mouse, color monitor with 8-bit
(256 color) graphics, System 7.0 or higher.
1.1 A: (DOS) MS-DOS 3.3 or above, 4MB RAM, hard disk, mouse,
extended VGA (640x480 256 colors). A sound card is
optional.
1.2 Q: Will SC2K run on a PowerPC Macintosh? What about
a native mode release?
1.2 A: According to Chris Weiss, PowerMac versions are due out shortly.
Watch for an update on the mailing list.
1.3 Q: Where can I get the v1.1 updater?
1.3 A: (MAC) The updater is available at the following ftp sites:
spider.navsses.navy.mil in /Joe 240/pub/game/sc2k
netcom.com in /pub/maxis
sumex-aim.stanford.edu
mac.archive.umich.edu
If you are unable to ftp, drop me a line (dpalsen@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu)
and I will e-mail you a copy.
+1.3 A: (IBM) It's not currently available. Rumor has it that it will
become available late this year as version 1.2. 1.1 was out for awhile,
but was buggy, so Maxis recalled it until they have a chance to
fix it.
1.4 Q: (MAC) What does the updater do?
1.4 A: *The budget should work properly now, transit figures
should be correct (and stay that way.)
*The Bulldoze Tool should always default to Bulldoze
instead of whatever tool was last used. This should
prevent accidental mass destruction caused by
forgetting that the last bulldoze tool being used was
Raise/Lower/Level Terrain.
*Airports should build correctly now (the ratio of
towers to runways should be better.)
*Several problems that show up with more than 7
stadiums/teams should be gone.
*Figures in the Analysis window (from the City Hall
query window) should stay correct.
*Sometimes, destroying bridges would leave an
un-usable shoreline tile. This should be fixed.
*Querying on certain tiles of the Forest Arcology in
certain situations would report bare land, this
should not happen.
*Arcologies that do not have micro-simulators attached
should now affect population (populations far greater
than 9.1 million should be attainable.)
*There is a new button when using the query tool on a
library.
*Placing highway and re-enforced bridges now charges
the user correctly.
*Schools should work properly at population levels
above 60,000.
*The date should now properly display above 9,999
years.
*The power graph should be more accurate.
1.4 A: *The Microsim bug is still not fixed. It should be fixed by the
time version 1.2 comes out, at least according to Maxis. NOTE:
This is inconsistent with the README.TXT file.
*The budget should work properly now, transit figures should be
correct(and stay that way)
*The Bulldoze tool should always default to Bulldoze instead of
whatever tool was last used.
*Airports should build correctly now, with a better ratio of towers
to runways.
*Several problems that show up with more than 7 stadiums/teams
should be gone.
*Figures in the Analysis window(City Hall query)should stay correct)
*Sometimes, destroying bridges would leave an un-usable shoreline
tile. This should be fixed.
*A new button is now available with the library.
*Schools should work properly at population levels above 60,000.
*The date should now properly display above 9999 years.
*The power graph should be more accurate.
1.5 Q: (MAC) I've installed the updater, but my old cities still
have the same bugs.
1.5 A: Cities that already have bugs can't be fixed by the
update. Only new cities that are created with the updated
version of SC2K will be bug-free (more or less.)
1.6 Q: I'm having trouble installing SC2K.
1.6 A: (DOS) See Appendix 4 and 5 at the bottom of this file.
1.6 A: (MAC) see Appendix 3 at the bottom of this file.
1.7 Q: Where's the SimCity2000 ftp site?
1.7 A: (MAC) spider.navsses.navy.mil in /Joe 240/pub/game/sc2k
1.7 A: (DOS) andyspc.rh.uchicago.edu in /pub/sc2k
Logon as anonup with password upload in order to upload.
1.8 Q: Why can't I get onto the spider site?
1.8 A: The proprietor occasionally has things more important
than SimCity2000 to occupy his computer's time with.
I can't imagine what. :)
1.9 Q: How do I get on the Sim mailing list?
1.9 A: There is a digest and non-digest version of the mailing
list. For the digest, send mail to majordomo@cisco.com
with the following line in the body of the message:
subscribe simlist-digest
For the non-digest, use the following line
subscribe simlist
1.10 Q: Does Maxis have an E-Mail address?
1.10 A: You can reach e-mail technical support at
support@maxis.com
1.11 Q: Is there anybody from Maxis on the net?
1.11 A: Yes - Chris Weiss, cweiss@netcom.com
Also-support@maxis.com for help.
1.12 Q: Where can I get a demo of SimCity2000?
1.12 A: Anonymous ftp to netcom.com. Look in the /pub/maxis
directory.
SC2KDEMO.ZIP is a slide show for DOS.
SC2KDEMO.SEA is a slide show for Mac.
1.13 Q: How do I log on to the Maxis BBS?
1.13 A: The phone number is (510) 254-3869. (8-N-1)
1.14 Q: What's a good price for SimCity2000?
1.14 A: Well, I paid $38.88 (with CUE discount) at Egghead.
1.15 Q: Can I upgrade from the old Sim City?
1.15 A: No, I don't think so. SC2K is, pretty much, a totally
different product.
1.16 Q: (MAC) Can I run SC2K on my black and white Mac?
1.16 A: No. SC2K is specifically designed to run in 256-colors.
1.17 Q: What newsgroups talk about SimCity2000?
1.17 A: comp.sys.mac.games, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.misc,
and comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic.
1.18 Q: Is there an upper limit on population?
1.18 A: (MAC v1.0) Yes. Only arcologies that have are represented
by a microsimulator contribute to population - so, the
theoretical maximum is somewhere around 9.1 million.
1.18 A: (MAC v1.1) Well, if the arcos don't launch, you'd be
able to fill a map with 961 launch arcos, which equals
about 62.5 million. So that's just about the
theoretical maximum.
1.18 A: (IBM)There currently is still a limit. This
should be fixed in the next version.
1.19 Q: Are there any books out about SimCity2000?
1.19 A: I've heard of three books scheduled for upcoming
release:
* Daniel A. Tauber and Brenda Kienan are finishing up
SimCity 2000 Stategies and Secrets to be published
by Sybex (300 pages,ISBN 0-7821-1518-7, $14.99.)
which should be in bookstores in May.
Dan and Brenda write:
"...we think our book is clear and useful
-- it's full of strategies for zoning, budgeting,
and making the most of every part of your SimCity.
We include a complete how-to section and full info
on installation. We also cover -- in depth --
dealing with disasters and winning the model
scenarios, as well as all the known Easter eggs."
* Nick Dargahi writes:
"Here's the latest scoop. I am a coauthor of the
SimCity Power, Politics, and Planning book that
Prima Publishing is releasing [in March], the other
author is Michael Bremer who, as you know, wrote
the manual that comes with the software. Our book
includes information that isn't available anywhere
else, since we had direct access to the programmers
and staff at Maxis.
Our book also includes color pictures of
interesting cities, including a city which has the
world population record for a SimCity of 9.3
million people.
Other topics include:
-The most comprehensive information resource guide
for all tools, buildings and object types in
SimCity.
-The Making of SimCity 2000: Interviews with the
designers, and background information on how
SimCity 2000 came into being.
-Greater detail on how the simulation works.
-How to beat the scenarios: tested methods to win
each scenario.
-Tips & Tricks Chapter: Includes how to hex edit
your city files to add more money or create new
scenarios of your own design. All Easter Eggs are
mentioned.
-The Economic model. Managing your money, and
employing different economic strategies.
-Plus an appendix that teaches you how to install
the DOS version of SimCity 2000 so that it will
run under Windows 3.1 (as a DOS application) or
under OS/2."
* Johnny L. Wilson is working on The Sim City 2000
Planning Commisioners Handbook, probably to be
published by McGraw Hill.
1.20 Q: What is this SimCity CD-ROM I've heard of?
1.20 A: Well, it's an expanded version of the old game, not
SimCity2000. And its put out by Interplay, not Maxis.
It is expected to be out in April or May.
Courtesy of Dave A. Lartigue:
SIMCITY ENHANCED (a/k/a SimCity on CD-ROM)
"You'll watch dramatic city news unfold through live
broadcasts in a full-motion video window. News that
will challenge you to make choices that could make
your metropolis thrive...or perish!" Ye-ikes!
- Incredible video and sound
- Hollywood's finest talent captured the intensity
of natural disasters, human drama, triumph, and
tragedy in 30 minutes of action-packed video
footage
- See how your citizens react to your decisions in
pop-up video windows
- Included on same disk - extra sets and terrain editor
+1.20 A: There is a version of SC2K available on CD, but it really isn't
much different from the disk version. There are a couple of
differences, however, in that it has SCURK and the Scenarios
package added to it.
1.21 Q: How is the Australian version of SC2K different?
1.21 A: Chris Weiss writes:
"The Australian version has a few bug fixes in it
that are more or less transparent. I think the only
external way to tell is that instead of getting a
Braun Llama Dome at 90,000 people, you get the
Sydney Opera House. A patch for the Australian
version will be available shortly."
2.0 TOOLS
2.1 Bulldozer
2.1.0 Q: Is there a good way to aviod mass destruction?
2.1.0 A: Yes, the bulldoze tool in version 1.1 will default to
The bulldoze tool all the time, so some destruction caused
by using the wrong bulldoze tool can be avoided. Also,
Save Early, Save Often. (Note: V. 1.0 will NOT default to bulldoze)
2.1.1 Q: Should I bulldoze abandoned buildings?
2.1.1 A: You can, but it's not necessary. Sims will build over
abandoned buildings, although, abandoned buildings
lower property values.
2.1.2 Q: Do I have to bulldoze rubble?
2.1.2 A: No. Sims will build over rubble.
2.1.3 Q: Is there any way to bulldoze large areas at a time?