Starting a New City is Hard compared to Simcity 4 and Cities XL

[wilmer007]

Had no problems starting a new city in those two games. but in this one it seems like it's even harder. low starting cash and i buy the coal power plant, water pumping station and water drain pipe i still stay at around -$650 in the red in expense to start the game with 145 residents and pretty quickly i have already gone into a negative bank roll as a result of this very high expense. i even dropped the electricity and water budget to 50%.

wtf how am i suppose to start my city if i can't even get out of the red right away. at least simcity 4 didn't require you to give your residents water at the start.


so far i've very dissapointed because i can't even get a city going.


wtf am i doing wrong. help please

 

[FireFlowerist]

Pro tip: when you get 340 people and unlock new buildings you get some (increasing?) amount of dough from unlocks. (20k first time)
Pro tip2: at start build 1 block of road and refund it back. (-$10 loss) to open more road options.
Pro tip3: In asset maker build your own quick zone builder of your choice.
Pro tip4: Wind power is good and set budget to 150% for more lulz (12MW!)
Pro tip5: Wind power has better wattage / upkeep cost ratio than coal plant
Pro tip6: Build residential --> Commercial --> Industry close to each other to save costs at start and modify these later (not big hassle).

 

[JerkyJerry]

Go to YouTube
There are many excellent video series where players start out from the beginning
Good Luck!

 

[Zed68]

Pro tip: when you get 340 people and unlock new buildings you get some (increasing?) amount of dough from unlocks. (20k first time)
Pro tip2: at start build 1 block of road and refund it back. (-$10 loss) to open more road options.
Pro tip3: In asset maker build your own quick zone builder of your choice.
Pro tip4: Wind power is good and set budget to 150% for more lulz (12MW!)
Pro tip5: Wind power has better wattage / upkeep cost ratio than coal plant
Pro tip6: Build residential --> Commercial --> Industry close to each other to save costs at start and modify these later (not big hassle).

Hey... N°1 is cheating

Yup in the beginning use wind power, it's the best you can do for small towns. You might have to build more when you expand and switch to something else later but it's the best at start.

Dn't build everything your citizens demand when it's available. Fire stations ARE necessary but police and education can wait a bit.

 

[ReginaRC]

Also, I believe that setting the budget down where the water's involved with lower output and cost then the budget can be raised as needed. I'm pretty sure the same can be done if using a coal plant, however I find wind turbines to be overall less expensive, then after they're unlocked if you have water the larger turbines won't take up space you might want to zone.

 

[wilmer007]

ah okay thanks for the help. i'm already +64 once i replaced the coal power plant for wind turbine.


thanks

 

[Klinn]

An additional tip: The first milestone unlock provides the ability to adjust taxes. I always immediately raise them from the default 9% to 11%.

Cims stay happy but it makes a noticeable difference in the early going.

 

[Zed68]

An additional tip: The first milestone unlock provides the ability to adjust taxes. I always immediately raise them from the default 9% to 11%.

Cims stay happy but it makes a noticeable difference in the early going.

Yep right !!!! At first you can tax a bit higher to help you build what you need.