A friend of mine gave me the SimCity 3000 Unlimited PC game, but he didn't give me the manual, so I'm having some problems building my city. Anybody have this game, or play it before?

Not sure about the unlimited edition, but I've had SimCity 3000 for sometime. As a matter of fact, reloaded it a couple of months ago and built a pretty big city. Then got tired of it again.

Any specific (or general) questions, I'd be happy to try to help.

Have you ever had problems with the powerlines? I placed a water pump outside of a zone, but ran power lines from the zone to right next to the pump and I can't get it any power. Have any suggestions?

Dumb question: have you run the water lines from the pump to your zones?

I had problems with some of my pumps. If you place them next to salt water they won't work. You can right click on the water square to make sure it's fresh and not salt. Also, if the water isn't deep enough then the water won't be sufficient to draw up into the pump. You can right click on any structure to bring up info about that structure. Also if the power line is only connected to a zone (without buildings) then there is nothing to charge up the power line.

Also, keep in mind, that your zones can only be a maximum of 3 squares away from a road, or they won't develop.

edited: oh, make sure the power line is connected either directly to your power plant or to a developed zone. Keep in mind, if the Sims move out of that area and the buildings again become vacant, then no power gets passed beyond that zone.

just don't call Uncle Vinnie...

Thanks for the tips Yoss - you rock! I have to go back and look, but it might have been because I was trying to get the water pump running before I had any buildings in the zone, and that's why the power wasn't generating.

Side question - I was checking out some of the starter cities, and I went to the checkerboard city. They had like 5 or 6 water pumps next to, what looked like, a small pond. They had power going to the pumps, but no water was flowing. So, based on your previous post, I'm thinking that there wasn't enough water in there to generate the amount of water needed for the city. Is there a way to add more water to a pond? Or do you have to do that in the beginning when you're adjusting your terrain?

You can use your landscape tool to lower the terrain directly below where the water is. That should make it deep enough to pump water out of. If memory serves, be careful when lowering terrain, you could either destroy already built structures, or it won't let you lower the terrain because of the buildings. When changing terrain, or rezoning, put the animation in suspend mode, that will let you demolish or do whatever.

You can adjust terrain (lower, raise, level) at anytime during the game, just be aware of the info in the above paragraph.

My previous post about right clicking - I don't think that works, you have to use the "query tool" which is the pointer with the question mark.

SimCity 3K's help site is here:

http://simcity3000unlimited.ea.com/us/guide/

Thanks Yoss! I was checking out that site last night, but didn't find what I was looking for.

I just started playing the game for the first time yesterday and could figure out most of it, but it was definitely challenging without the user guide. My biggest gripe about it is that, unlike the normal SIMS games, when you take away structures, roads, etc., you still lose money instead of gaining it. So if you mess up and extend your road a little too far, you have to pay to fix it.

It's a great game. I've played it for hours. It really teaches you the problems in running a city. Later on, you have to provide for trash disposal, the Sims will start yelling at you to give them parks and recreation, and eventually a stadium, zoo, etc. Then the military will offer you a deal to build a military base, for free... but with strings. Later in the game you get other incentives.

I won't give them all away, but it's definitely a game you can become addicted to very fast.

Yeah, I bankrupted my first city because I put in the zoo, college, fire dept., and police before I even started simulation. Needless to say, after several loans, I was bankrupt. But I agree, it really does teach you everything that needs to be considered in running a city. I know I wouldn't want that job!

Oh, I have another question. I have not been able to get my neighboring towns to initiate a deal. I've put water pumps and electric wires near the boarder, but then it always asks me if I want to pay the neighboring town $2000 for the water or electricity. I know I can't initiate a deal, but do you know how to get the neigboring town to initiate one?

That's going to take some time. Your city has to grow and your finances overall have to be in pretty good shape, basically where you're making a profit each year. Plus you have to have a major excess of the commodity that you can sell off without affecting your city.

Be wary of accepting offers to sell commodity to your neighbors. It goes really well at first.... then they become very demanding and you could find yourself in a position that your city suffers at the expense of your neighbor. You can cancel the deal, but it'll cost ya!

Do it anyhow, it gets very interesting.

Oh, another thing, your neighbors populations always grow almost exponentially, to your city. I never could figure that out.

:::raises hand:::
me, me!
I got is for Christmas last year and was totally addicted for the longest time! It looks like Yoss has got your questions covered!

feel free to chime in here with some tips for PHISH, feisty.

Last SimCity I've played is SimCity 4..it nearly swallowed my life away. I love these games.

oh man Yoss, I haven't played in a month or so now!
Reading all the tips you gave was like a refresher course for me!