Stuck on a few things
I'm at level 17, had 60k population until a health care crisis (I gave them a clinic and they all hated it and my pop dropped to 47k / happiness from 94% to 64%, almost overnight!), constantly strugg...
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Thank you so much for all this great advice. And for being so polite as to point out that not having discovered Global trading was very dumb of me!
This is what I did (in case anyone else has similar concerns):
a) Demolished the parts of the city that had cost me a minimal amount to build and then built nothing new for a few days. Moved and consolidated fire and police so that all remaining buildings were covered. Spread the skyscrapers out a bit to reduce traffic snarls. This stopped the rot and very slowly (over about 24 hours real time) the happiness level returned to 90 and then to 99/100 once I added health clinics everywhere.
b) Enlarged storage and expanded land as fast as possible, using freebies and/or buying only discounted items to do so, as much as possible.
c) Used the Global trading for hours on end, shopping for bargains and re-selling them at full price -- I had not investigated that at all when I started the game or when I asked my original questions. I didn't see the answer about earning 1,000,000 or about the higher levels getting stingier with the expansion/storage parts. And I did not realize why people were complaining about the Global trading -- now I get it, because as you go up the levels, there are more items to buy, which means that useful parts like storage/expansion don't turn up as often and there is fiercer competition. Wish I had known that!!
WARNING TO OTHERS:
Not knowing those things, I did keep spending and eventually (unfortunately) I started building residences again - mostly low-density at the outskirts of the city, but it's been enough to raise my level to 20, and therefore cause major headaches. So, for those just starting, please heed this advice: DO NOT GO TO LEVEL 18. As soon as you do, the number of useful freebies you receive dilutes and you are flooded with donuts and the pickings in the Global trading center get very much less useful because for the longest time about 50% of it is just donuts!!!
Anyway, in between foolishly increasing my level, I also did expand the land and storage as much as possible. Then I built the transport/education depots (40,000 each) and then added schools and buses and, just now, a library. Also added the entertainment depot last night because the Sims started to comment on boredom.
I do have a couple more questions:
a) should I build the donut, fashion, etc stores? I haven't because I find my furniture and garden stores are idle half the time waiting for nails, hammers, shovels and planks, so I figured it would slow them down even more if I had more stores to service. But do they actually use different ingredients and therefore help me make stuff faster (presumably the donuts need flour bags, though, which is a major source of income for me, sold as-is). So, in short, does having these higher stores actually help me make money faster?
b) I have the factories that make 4 at a time - haven't upgraded because again the hardware and building stores seem to create a bottleneck and my storage fills (I. Is it worth the 27k per factory to enlarge to make 5 at a time?
c) I haven't enlarged the production lines much, inside the stores (using Simcash). Is it worth spending the Simcash on these so that presumably I can make more stuff during sleeping hours? If so, how many units can I pre-order and is it worth it to max out on them?
d) If not for c) -- then what should I use Simcash for? I don't waste it to speed up my ships or my production -- is it worth getting the Llama or whatever? Should I hoard it for later?
e) Other than my personal amusement, is there any advantage to beautifying and improving the city - extra parks, a HS / university etc?
Thanks again.
@Trinilliana wrote:I do have a couple more questions:
a) should I build the donut, fashion, etc stores? I haven't because I find my furniture and garden stores are idle half the time waiting for nails, hammers, shovels and planks, so I figured it would slow them down even more if I had more stores to service. But do they actually use different ingredients and therefore help me make stuff faster (presumably the donuts need flour bags, though, which is a major source of income for me, sold as-is). So, in short, does having these higher stores actually help me make money faster?
b) I have the factories that make 4 at a time - haven't upgraded because again the hardware and building stores seem to create a bottleneck and my storage fills (I. Is it worth the 27k per factory to enlarge to make 5 at a time?
c) I haven't enlarged the production lines much, inside the stores (using Simcash). Is it worth spending the Simcash on these so that presumably I can make more stuff during sleeping hours? If so, how many units can I pre-order and is it worth it to max out on them?
d) If not for c) -- then what should I use Simcash for? I don't waste it to speed up my ships or my production -- is it worth getting the Llama or whatever? Should I hoard it for later?
e) Other than my personal amusement, is there any advantage to beautifying and improving the city - extra parks, a HS / university etc?
Thanks again.
a) Eventually you will need the other stores but don't buy them until you can afford them. If the cost of the store will leave you with only a nominal number of Simoleons, then you should wait. If you built up a bunch of cash (as suggested above) then go ahead and get the stores now. (Remember to place them outside the coverage of police/fire/medical/etc., as the stores don't need the coverage.) They will use a mix of ingredients -- some of the same and some new ones. They will also use some of the manufactured items that your other stores make.
b) Personally I have the factories that make five items at a time, but you will be fine with the slightly smaller ones until the cost isn't an issue. When the game gives you the chance to build more factories, be sure to add the largest factories you can afford. Regarding full storage, remember that you don't have to collect the items from your factories until you need them -- free storage for those items!
c) I am much more careful about SimCash purchases and have not maxed out any of my production queues in the stores. The most any store has right now is six slots; three or four is most common. Don't add slots until you find you need them to keep the game from consuming all of your time. The first slot is always cheapest, and then they get more and more expensive as you add them. I also added slots to my Trade Depot so I have a total of ten slots there. I'm not saying you need to do this as well since it's quite possible to play with fewer slots, but it is convenient when I want to sell lots of different items at once.
d) If you see something you like, that costs SimCash, and you can afford it, then by all means spend it. The whole idea of a game is to have fun, and in a game like this, the choices you make are what makes it yours.
e) As others have mentioned, items like the schools, parks, etc. will help increase your population. Place them so that their coverage area touches as many residential zones as possible, without wasting the coverage areas of other buildings. One caveat regarding educational buildings: In order to buy each one, you need the one before. Until you get to the University, only buy one of each of the prior educational buildings as the benefit from the University is so much greater than the lower buildings that you don't want to use more keys then required. Regarding Entertainment and Gambling buildings (other than their HQs) WAIT until everything else is stable before you start buying these, no matter how many times they tell you they are bored!
If you feel that the answer provided here resolves your concern, please feel free to click accept solution as this may help others with similar issues obtain resolution. XP is greatly appreciated but not required.
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