Hi all,

i've just re-acquainted myself with SC4 (and ordered rush hour) but while i wait i have a few questions...

Schools: do you need to have the small school to educate the youngsters or can you just put in a high school and leave it at that (until you're ready for a University)

Industry only cities - can these be made with NO residential? And is that the same for Commercial zones or is it better to mix residential with these?

i understand that transport routes are important for these specialised cities and i've seen mention of the trick of having highways underground, is this just for aesthetics or can you actually zone the land above them also, like in real life?

i've not got a big region just yet - 100,000 with 4 mixed cities. One of 70,000 which is looking good, and one with industry on one side of a river, and a small residential/commercial on the less poluted side.

I've noticed the elementry and high schools are for the seperate age ranges. Sometimes I'll put in an elementry and get very little use out of it, and have lots in a high school, sometimes the opposite, and sometimes a mix of both.

Yes you can absolutely make a full industrial city, just makes sure u have good transportation connections between the cities. I like to run mixed commercial and residential in my cities because commercial likes a lot of customers and low commute times, and the only way to really accomplish that well is to have residential near by.

I've noticed the elementry and high schools are for the seperate age ranges. Sometimes I'll put in an elementry and get very little use out of it, and have lots in a high school, sometimes the opposite, and sometimes a mix of both.

Yes you can absolutely make a full industrial city, just makes sure u have good transportation connections between the cities. I like to run mixed commercial and residential in my cities because commercial likes a lot of customers and low commute times, and the only way to really accomplish that well is to have residential near by.


thanks for the info. the reason i asked about the school was that i put a new elementary into a dense residential area and it filled up to capacity really quickly and i though of replacing it with a high school straight away - maybe i'll put a high school next door also...

cool about industrial, i think i'll create an industrial city to the north of my biggest city, then stick so roads and a highway in. i might take your advise from another of your posts and get the garbage and power in this city.

You can zone the land above a tunnel, just like in real life.

Can you make an entire highway go underground without having to go through a hill?

And can you cange the size of the cities. I'm hating how they're so small

Can you make an entire highway go underground without having to go through a hill?

And can you cange the size of the cities. I'm hating how they're so small

The connection with the neighbouring cities should be above ground.
Search for config.bmp for that size changing ;)

you can download some real underground highways in the official website of sc4 after you register. Or you can download a lot editor and make it yourself.

you can download some real underground highways in the official website of sc4 after you register.

Huh, underground highways? where...

underground highways in the highway is underground expect for exits, intercahnges and turns.

Note that replacing the elementary school with a high school won't give you the full benefit. Your elem. school is filled up, because that satisfies the right age group. Check the residential average age data for that local area. As the green turns more bluish, you will need "higher levels of education" such as colleges and museums. But since you're getting Rush Hour, I would just wait so you can place the large elementary school there instead of plopping down a high school. The large schools have about 10x more capacity.

Note that replacing the elementary school with a high school won't give you the full benefit. Your elem. school is filled up, because that satisfies the right age group. Check the residential average age data for that local area. As the green turns more bluish, you will need "higher levels of education" such as colleges and museums. But since you're getting Rush Hour, I would just wait so you can place the large elementary school there instead of plopping down a high school. The large schools have about 10x more capacity.

Cheers for the info. i have been getting on well with this city, i've got it to 160,000 people and still have lots of room to expand (it's on a big 4 block part of the region) i can't wait for the big elementary school, it's really annoying to have load of elementary schools and having to micro-manage every one of them to keep in profit!!!