SimCity 4 Revisited: Does it Hold Up 20 years Later?

SimCity 4 was one of my absolutely favorite city builders back in the day, right up until Cities Skylines came out. Today we'll revisit the game and see how it holds up nearly 20 years after it was released by building a couple of small towns... all while appreciating the differences between the games.
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CHAPTERS

[@Unmannedperson]

I think something SimCity 4 did well that has remained unmatched to this day is separating wealth and density. Most city builders (C:S included) lump both on one spectrum, so you see your city grow from poor single-family housing to luxury condo towers. But in SimCity 4, you could have towering tenements and sprawling mansions.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

[@RevanRA]

Exactly! You could keep your rural style builds and keep the high-rises and condo towers separated by not only zoning, but you could separate them by tiles. Thankfully we have mods, but sometimes people don't want a million mods. I mean, I love modded games, but not everyone does - most people want these features out of the box.

[@dijikstra8]

Yeah the social spectrum is definitely missing from CS (not that SC4 was great for that either). You can't help but wonder where all the people making the city actually work live. I mean I would love for them to be able to live in the same kind of housing as the upper middle-class, but unfortuantely I don't think I did anything in-game to overturn capitalism.

[@RevanRA]

@@dijikstra8 I enjoy both games for their own features, but sadly I think regardless of which game you are playing you're going to be missing a feature that you want and of course there's going to be the problem of both games missing a feature that you'd want that neither one of them has. I mean, oh well, but one can dream, right? You're not wrong, though.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

That sounds awesome, I always wish more games had stuff like that. Sometimes I want to make a polluted and overly dense sprawl of cramped tenements like Kowloon or something.

[@TransDelek]

If you turn on the day/night cycles and check the graveyard at night, you'll see zombies burst up and stroll around. I do miss those fun little touches. I wish Sim City hadn't ended the way it did.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

I've never done that - so I'll have to! I completely agree about the fun touches! Maxis wasn't a studio that took itself too seriously and that made the game fun. I agree - I wish things hadn't ended the way they did. I would like to live in a world where CS and SimCity were pushing each other to be better and better games!

[@eriklakeland3857]

And Santa Claus soaring across your city on Christmas Day!

[@asasnat342]

@@eriklakeland3857 i don't remember ever seeing that, but i do know that on christmas day, snow would appear on high terrain in your city (although it looks very plasticy and smooth)

[@Robbedem]

Yeah, there are some funny named industries.

[@achtsekundenfurz7876]

Another one: In SC2k (mid-1990s DOS game) they had lots of sound effects already. The sound for power was a "kzZzZzz" -- but spoken by one of the devs. Background seems to be that the sound library they were using (not the programming, but for the actual sound effects) was missing a sound for electricity, and they didn't want to buy another for ONE sound effect. Still funny af to hear somebody go "kzZZzz" when you're building power lines...

[@tuxxx526]

The way this game handles poverty and wealth levels is still unmatched

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Completely agree! It not only allows different wealth levels to exist - it requires it, which is really forward thinking!

[@felipefrango]

@@CityPlannerPlays Are you aware of any mods for Cities Skylines that changes gameplay in this direction in any way?

[@aussiejinjo]

nah, the problem is that there's not enough segregation by wealth levels. you'll get luxury mansions popping up in ghettos without rhyme or reason, meaning you have to constantly use the "make historical" tool to give your city a realistic look.

[@VB-zx1yk]

@@aussiejinjo so thats what making historical does LOL sheesh

[@ZeraSeraphim]

Explains why I failed at it. I always tried to have everyone be as wealthy as possible with as much education as I could afford.

[@PalmelaHanderson]

Why you gotta remind me this game came out 20 years ago... It's way too early in the day to feel this old.

[@MadMullet81]

Why you gotta mention feeling old when I remember playing SimCity 2000 (aka SimCity 2), 10 years prior... You're still far to young to complain about feeling old.

[@DronesClubMember13]

Or when you remember the very original....

[@Skaadi89]

@@DronesClubMember13 I second that I remember playing Sim city on the nes

[@dougm4160]

@@MadMullet81 amen. I remember playing the original sim city.

[@al-dorifto1631]

haha yep I was a teenager when it came out lol now I'm mid 30s

[@DOCTORKpuffy]

In my opinion, the greatest strength of Sim City 4 was the city management aspect of the game. It was difficult to maintain a healthy budget, the policies you chose had a noticable impact, and the game demanded a certain amount of low income people and workplaces, which is often against how many people want to see their cities flourish. It is very easy to have a profitable city in Cities Skylines and the policies are rarely game changing. The city building is infinitely better, but the city management pales in comparison.

[@Housestationlive]

i know that cities skylines if more a traffic management game than a city builder, but it makes more sense to me for traffic having a such impact, cause it's the trickiest part about designing a city. a residential zone will always be a residential zone, but the number of roads, the quality of public transports, the amount of time people will spend to go to point a to point b will change everything. and in conclusion, this is a very hard brainstorming to found the great traffic management strategy for your city, cause you're just a player and you actually don't hvae a city planner knowledge or skills. not everyone can build a good city and there are many players asking to expert to "fix" their cities for that particular reason.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

I completely agree with that assessment! Meaningful policies, difficulty in balancing a budget, intercity policies and management... all such fun! Very light on traffic simulation though - which is a clear strength of CS!

[@helldronez]

@@CityPlannerPlays you need mod for difficulty in simcity4 traffic, like NAM mod

[@LucasCunhaRocha]

budget becomes no problem when you learn that you really don't need most things. like water for example, you don't need water until ~10k pop, also things like police and high schools can come later, same for garbage. You also don't need a bunch of parks everywhere, especially for low wealth residents. I haven't had budget problems in years of playing SC4.

[@hutima]

@@CityPlannerPlays definitely more an issue of technology at the time. Classic sim city games are basically spreadsheets more than the are an agent based simulation like sim city 2013 or cities skylines

[@BrassStagg]

Dude, you should play the sound track too. The tunes in SimCity 4 was one of the best in the business. It was definitely a part as to why this was the best city building game.

[@ramio1983]

YES! The soundtrack was a masterpiece! I used to play it at work when i worked in a cafe at the Airport haha.

[@wet-read]

Indeed. An absolutely phenomenal soundtrack! You can also play the tracks on a CD player.

[@redryan20000]

Jerry Martin was a genius. He was behind the music for the original The Sims games.

[@SierraSierraFoxtrot]

That's funny, I used to play the music of SC 3000 at work!

[@jobw]

Soundtracks are available on Spotify!

[@mpkp2011]

the small details really blow me away. I really love the effects the game has like the roads actually needing time to be built instead of just magically appearing. It adds a small layer of realism that I appreciate

[@DBT1007]

Also the wildlife in the terrain. It's just soooo good. The terrain is not just plants with a few animals. There are like.. Birds, horse, bear, moose, and more in simcity4. Oh and also we can drive some vehicles

[@SilkyLew]

Sometimes it's just too much realism lol. It's still a video game

[@CityPlannerPlays]

[@amypeggs9606]

I feel like this was Maxis games all over. And actually a lot of games from that period.

[@juliet4093]

@@SilkyLew are you seriously Implying visuals are “too realistic” in sim city 4 lol what

[@alsornet]

Just FYI: you can hold "Alt" button while zoning to change the direction of the tiles. Sometimes you need to hold "Shift" + "Alt" simultaneously. The "Alt" button is more generally can be described as "suggest alternative layout".

[@Novastar900]

Interestingly he did exactly that already while zoning, but forgot about it again. :D

[@highstreetkillers4377]

sometimes it depends on whici direction you drag the zone also

[@sirusmaj]

@15:58 Sim City 4 did have zoning direction in mind. You remembered Shift to get rid of roads. Holding Alt would have helped with zone facing. I had so much fun with this game back in its heyday and this was a lot of fun to watch. I like when content creators go back to older games in retrospect. Shift: Temporarily disables automatic street placement Alt: Rotates zone to face perpendicular road Ctrl: Forces a specific plot size

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Oh yes! Thanks for clearing this up. Now I want to go play again!

[@achtsekundenfurz7876]

Yeah, placing streets automatically was one of the scummiest things in SC4. Not only did it build them, it took $50 for each hi-density square even if it placed a street, which should cost $5 per tile. Shift, Ctrl, and Alt each had their modifier effect and could be combined. Not all combinations were useful, tho.

[@Bluetangg]

I used to put the zones in by hand. I liked to make the areas too large with green space and or water in the middle. It was a lot slower process.

[@sirusmaj]

@@Bluetangg Ayup, I did the same. Made growing the city more organic too.

[@achtsekundenfurz7876]

I did the same. Enough space for 3-deep zoning, 2 spaces for parks, 3 for zoning from the other side, space for double wide avenues. 10 spaces grid width. Grid height was 14: avenue, 3zones, 6 for parks (so 6x2 usually), 3zones, again avenues. 3x3 of these blocks were 30x42, so I could pack 6x8 of those 3x3 blocks into a big city plot, with a neat tiling, space to spare for civics, and short commute.

[@Diashi]

Would you consider a series of this to build a region up? Would be cool to watch. I personally had a massive issue with spanning several regions in a city and would love to see it done right. I think a lot of people would enjoy seeing you take it seriously (within the limits of the game).

[@vmaxlegends549]

Why not!

[@adamrich443]

I agree with this man 100% a series would be fantastic

[@RhineAviation]

Yes a series on this would Be amazing!

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Maybe a short one!

[@adamrich443]

@@CityPlannerPlays pleeeeaaasseeee

[@mallowthecloud]

My favorite aspect of this game is how you could play on a whole region, gradually fill it out, build a full‐scale metropolitan area from scratch. Something that has yet to be recreated in any city builder before or since. I was a big mapper (I made tons of maps for SC4) back in the day.

[@mallowthecloud]

Also, you can change the direction of the zones with, I believe, the Alt key. You definitely can, though.

[@mallowthecloud]

You can also hold shift (if I remember correctly) to force zones into larger blocks

[@mallowthecloud]

For the tallest high rise buildings, especially the commercial offices, you really have to build up your regional population quite high to get any demand for them. There are quite high bars to get those buildings, and I love it!

[@roflomaozedong]

@@mallowthecloud thanks for the map ! I just downloaded one on simtropolis, dude like you are amazing !

[@mallowthecloud]

@@roflomaozedong Haha, well thank you! I'm hoping C:S2 allows for custom map creation from elevation files!

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

Ah memories, that was great! :-)

[@AMV12S]

what about a sc4 series biffa

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Yes! Without SimCity, I'm not sure I'd be as big of a fan of the genre as I am! Heck, SimCity 2000 educational edition was required at my school to get an understanding of city management, and left me very curious about planning (even if I didn't know what it was at the time)

[@LeonardoLima-wi6yz]

Bruh, basically I live this memory almost every weekend. Fortunately or not it's the only Citybuilder game my toaster runs

[@joebaxter6895]

The terrain and tree textures/models/shadows actually weren't terrible for 2003. I underestimated how well this game would hold up in 2022. I started my creativity driven gaming with Sim City 2000. This was a great upgrade. I would go on road trips with my parents paying attention to everything I saw along the way to incorporate that into my cities in this game. Listening to my favorite jazz and electronic music while I built them. Nostalgia.

[@karlanthonymargate7362]

Should have released a simcopter for simcity 4000. 3d technology was already ok at that point. Would have been nice exploring the city that you built

[@SineN0mine3]

​@@karlanthonymargate7362you could explore your Sim City 4 cities with the Rush Hour expansion, you could drive police cars and fly helicopters among other things. There were little mini games for each vehicle so you could actually put out fires or dust crops. It was fairly basic compared to "Streets of Sim City" which actually let you drive around your Sim City 2000 cities in (admittedly incredibly dated) full 3D graphics.

[@PlayingGilly]

I view SC4 as a macro city builder, you can get absurd population heights with the region play. It still really holds up today in particular with NAM (network addon mod).

[@hrani]

I really enjoyed building up huge regions with diverse cities. And I fondly remember adding NAM one day. Pour one out for Garbagetown, a mainstay of every region that I eventually always gentrified...

[@olivierrodriguesneto5995]

I also really recommend using the CAM (Colossus Addon Mod) mod too, it makes the whole density and wealth part of the game way more realistic, making your city grow in a much more organic way.

[@s4098429]

You forgot to mention the ‘routes’ mechanic. Clicking on the ‘?’ With arrow tool will allow you to view the routes commuters take to get to work. It’s not an agent system like CS, but it’s pretty close; each house has a route calculated to their place of work.

[@realtombergeron5229]

thank you

[@wellnotme9354]

SimCity 4 is an absolute masterpiece of a game! It's absolutely amazing, and way ahead of it's time. You can create completely walkable cities and you have a more integrated policy system, way better than C:S's. Although, I still love C:S more, it's just more modern, but, I do think a possible C:S sequel or DLC should take much more inspiration from SC4.

[@automation7295]

But unlike Cities: Skylines, building roads are more limited. Roads can only be built on a straight line or diagonal, but street can only be built on straight line for some reason. SimCity 4 has more limitations since it's made for older systems like Windows XP and came out in 2003. Only 4-way and T-junction are possible, unlike the crazy junctions in Cities: Skylines. SimCity 4 and Cities: Skylines are both good in their own rights.

[@automation7295]

@R O I mean both games are good in their own rights. Roads can only be built on straight line or diagonally, while streets can only but places on straight line. Since SimCity 4 and the Deluxe version is a 2003 game, it's more limitations than Cities: Skylines. It's designed for older systems running on Windows 2000 and XP. Cites: Skylines was released in 2015 and is designed for newer systems running on Windows 7, 8/8.1 and 10. Unlike SimCity 4, Cites: Skylines has more freedom with any type of road tools. You can't just say nothing will outdo SimCity 4 because everyone has their own opinions and view. Again, both games are good in their own rights.

[@Praisethesunson]

@@automation7295 Cities is worse because despite being newer it has fewer functions and walkable cities are impossible. C:S lives for the car.

[@automation7295]

@@Praisethesunson Walkable cities might be possible in C:S2

[@jimbojj26]

I understand it's unlikely to happen, especially with multiple other series going on, but seeing you play SimCity 4 as a series and building up an entire region would be fantastic!

[@achtsekundenfurz7876]

YES. The first ~3 cities are sort of early game hell and din't want to grow a lot, due to lack of neighbors. Later on when your region is crawling with cities, it's much easier. Playing a different city every few hours is the way to go to help all cities grow.

[@ilregulator]

The fact that to this day there are still mods and plugins created is incredible. The community is really keeping the game alive. It's still an absolute pleasure to play and the limits (due to its age) are kinda nostalgic

[@husbeard]

I had similar memories with this game. I was part of a woodshop showcase thing when I was in 9th grade (1999). I used SimCity 2000 as a reference, and built a small downtown portion of my city (including one of those big arcology buildings) out of wood and foam (painted too). It was a lot of fun.

[@Leofwine]

If you still have it, it needs to be on display.

[@highstreetkillers4377]

haha I remember doing a project on SimCity 2000 also. Exact same thing, had to build a model of building

[@melprophet1936]

Anyone besides me remember Sim City 2000? I loved that game. Way too easy to play, but still very fun and visually beautiful for the time.

[@NateoArjaya]

Ah yes simcity 2000, the game that always frustrates me, yet i still play it on my ps1 when i was a child

[@_starfiend]

Still have it running on an ancient RiscPC.

[@Hubbubb22-citiesskylines]

I sent thousands of hours down the rabbit hole with that game.

[@ZEROs0000]

I was in fourth grade when I bought that game at a scholastic book fair. I never was able to understand what to do cause I didn't know I needed power/water...

[@drworm73]

That was my first city builder (back in 1998), and it didn't leave a huge positive impression on me. The next one I played was CS, and that wasn't until it hit XB1.

[@WilliamTehConqueror]

Playing the driving missions was so fun when you crash into every car and drive thru the wilderness

[@rohanhalle580]

Loved the missions where you get to drive a tank to blow stuff up

[@aderynator]

It's just unrealistically frustrating, using the key controls in that way doesn't feel natural lol

[@CaptPatrick01]

Until a semi or a cement truck spawns inside of your car, _which they _*_always do_* and you explode and cause a massive pile up that also somehow sends a pickup truck grinding against the side of a skyscraper 300 feet into the air.

[@PA-of6lr]

The thing I miss about sim city compared with SC is that it was easier to see where wealth was concentrated because the houses and plots were much nicer. You also could get to unlocking a private school if you had a concentration of wealth

[@CityPlannerPlays]

[@Camaraocompao]

Concentration of wealth and bad públic education

[@WestCoastSean]

What a nostalgia trip! SC 3000 & 4 are what got my city-planning game addiction started!

[@bertbertsonson]

I spent so many hours playing Sim City years ago. I remember when cities skylines came out i was totally overwhelmed by what you could do compared to this

[@charliedowling-jones6052]

Hey City Planner, you can rotate the direction your zones face by pressing alt and you can level 1x1 terrain tiles by placing roads one at a time. Love your videos!

[@iris4547]

"you can level 1x1 terrain tiles by placing roads one at a time" damn that takes me back. used to do so much terraforming with roads.

[@ZalymBiscayn]

Man, so many good memories--and libraries full of assets. I loved this game! The soundtrack was perfect and the color pallet they chose really suited me. :)

[@CityPlannerPlays]

I had an instant nostalgia hit as soon as I booted up and heard the music! It's so good!

[@gethplatform2392]

Hey Phil! It would be great if you made videos analyzing cities in non-city-builders! Like Night City in CP2077, cities in Mass Effect or Skyrim, etc. I think it would be fun to see you pointing at great ideas and shortcomings in various video games cities!

[@ShawFujikawa]

Taking a look at the GTA cities would be super cool.

[@Josh-rf9qy]

This is probably my favorite city building game, with less options I tend to be more creative.

[@furankuchan]

Have you checked out the mods available for SimCity4?

[@DronesClubMember13]

One thing I would love in skylines that was in SC4 is the regions. I think it's more natural to have multiple hamlets and villages that eventually grow together over time. I wonder if you look at the evolution of any given city if it fits that pattern or more "city in the middle of nowhere" type thing that skylines models.

[@evilotis01]

the modding community around this game is still amazing

[@scumbuttle6987]

This is actually one of the best channel formats ive ever discoverd. The energy of an actual city planner playing these games is palpable.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

[@Wokisan]

So happy to see you play this! I've put untold hours into every SimCity (except for Societies), 3000 unlimited and 4 are my absolute favorites. I like City Skylines but SimCity just has a certain charm, whimsy, and polish that I adore. I hope one day EA/Maxis comes back and gives SimCity another go after the issues of SC2013 😟

[@deeejayeee]

I think 3000 was the best and had the largest map size. If they made it umlimited size and freeflow roads i would buy it.

[@Sweepout]

You can just soften the beach. It wasnt the button you were using though lol One of my favourite things is that you can drive around the city in so many vehicles, and even planes and trains.

[@ujer55]

Hell yes, been hoping you would do this. Looking forward to the rest of this series. I'd love to see you're take on some ancient era city builders, like Caesar IV or Children of the Nile.

[@AlanaNichole1989]

How about Zeus: Master of Olympus? I played the hell out of that game, and searching for something similar as an adult is how I found Cities: Skylines!

[@16Haverson]

I wish they would make a newer version of CotN or Egyptian based at least. I couldn't get into the modern city builders like SimCity 3000 or 4, but I enjoyed and was very successful with CotN.

[@robertcramer8707]

FYI - you can up-zone over the same type (just drag medium density residential over a low density and it will zone over the current buildings) without demolishing - it will build up when demand/conditions warrant - road typology, traffic, pollution all impact it! You can't go the opposite direction. I played this game a ton while I was in college to get my planning degree! Enjoyed the video - thanks! *EDIT* - just saw you figure it out on your own at 37:55 :-)

[@dietitianmama]

I started Sim city games with the original sim city game in junior high school. I purchased Sim City 4 when it came out in 2003, I was a college student. This is my all time favorite computer game. It is genuinely difficult to build a city that thrives, and it takes time. I love building an entire region and traveling from city to city and making them all interact with each other. Building up the entire region well is a challenge I never completed. This game was so far ahead of its time. I'm still learning new things it can do.

[@doomer37]

This game will FOREVER be my favorite city builder. The thing I only miss is making curved roads. I love the way you can connect citys it's still incredible. You do have to set the processor affinity in task manager to single core however or it tends to crash often. :)

[@helldronez]

you can make curved road with NAM mod, also diagonal building is available in mod

[@joeg451]

City Planner: Carefully plats small grid and uses agriculture industry Evil City Planner: Giant swaths of suburbs and dirty industry

[@ChrisKLewis]

Wonderful episode! I’m really not a gamer, but in college I did get hooked on SimCity 2000. The sense of achievement on being awarded my first Arcology was incredible! That was a long time ago, so you can imagine how blown away I was when I stumbled upon Cities:Skylines though the CPP and Biffa KZbin channels. I’m still learning how best to design cities in C:S, but seeing SimCity revisited was a thrill. Thanks for a great show.

[@grinningtaverngaming395]

Ahh the nostalgia... I remember trying to make a beach front in my teens. Such a headache trying to manipulate the terrain for the unforgiving beach footprint. Classic. Thanks for uploading - I’d love to see a series!

[@majamystic256]

Simcity 4 is the peak of City Building games even to this day

[@keira8466]

I'd personally love to see you do a city build with Sim City 4 with a new region and connecting all of the cities together and having a massive community

[@psychotacon9263]

This is the first video of yours that I've watched because I still end up getting confused by some elements of Sim City games despite how much I love them, and I just got back into Sim City 4, but regardless of the information I look for to relieve that confusion, just the way you speak and explain things and express opinions is so positive and easy and relaxing to listen to, I've subscribed whether I'm interested in certain videos you've posted or not. You're a fantastic KZbinr, please don't quit lol

[@ragingraichu219]

I still love and play this game to this day, it's one of my favorite city builders. Plus the music in it is just... *Chef's kiss*

[@Gamr4Life989]

CAN'T WAIT to buy this on steam!

[@anthonypalazzo8182]

This was one of my all time favorite video games. I spent an ungodly amount of hours building cities on this game.

[@MikMoen]

I can't believe the massive disparity in how the vanilla game looks compared to fully modded. I used to be a big user on SimTropolis playing this game, and the theme textures, mods, assets REALLY changes things. I'm even amazed you got it to run on current machines.

[@dandoron4823]

Just chiming in a year later to say: Yes, I love seeing these retro revisits. It's all too easy to forget what older games offered that can be neglected in newer titles.

[@neabby]

Best part of the game was definitely the music. The soundtrack of my childhood.

[@mgunter]

The way around the zoning is to zone on a single road, then build the other roads.

[@chris19fire]

Oh man. One of the very few games I looked forward to playing every day when coming home from school. Now at work, you got me thinking of this game and I know what I’m going to do when I get home tonight 😁

[@hopeedwards776]

thank you for reminding me of the sheer awesomeness of this game. gonna play it after work now. the first city building game i ever played at age 7 or 8…. and it came out when i wasn’t even a year old 😅

[@dylanevans7529]

This game was so well designed, I was more concerned about the data results at the end, than building the city

[@MarkGibbons]

I'd love to see a full series on this, just like your cities skylines builds.

[@KujaStar]

This was a fun video to watch, it's been years since I've played SimCity. I remember going down the rabbit hole with mods, custom content etc the works back in the day.

[@highstreetkillers4377]

i filled a tile with only those WTC buildings with 25000 jobs each. Then any city Id build beside would explode in population

[@alexc8461]

I've been playing Cities Skylines lately (inspired by Verde Beach) but can't help comparing it unfavorably to Simcity 4. I don't usually comment but want to say how excited I am to see you play this!

[@starwave8228]

Classic game, The Soundtrack is epic & i put it on when i play Cities Skylines. i like the idea of a large continent with multiple cities connected & i think there's opportunity for a Singleplayer or Multiplayer version on a Cities Skylines 2 , where the Player/Players choose a Continent and each mayor has their own city area & you have new policies & business opportunities with the neighbouring cities. then you could have a 5B 5C series all set in one Larger area

[@ash36230]

i find it tough to choose sometimes between SC4's ambient soundtrack and SC3K's jazzy soundtrack. both are great to play C:S to though

[@CityPlannerPlays]

Absolutely! I haven't tried this mod, but apparently it still works for anyone that is interested... it adds the SC4 music as a radio station! - steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=633993845

[@thelonelyrogue3727]

It holds up in all ways except graphically, in my opinion.

[@Josh-rf9qy]

Even then it's easy to set it up with some graphics mods

[@elippy7688]

Yes yes yes !!! Love this !! Originally found your channel while revisiting retro SimCity games like this and SC3K , wanna see you do a whole city here and then play SC3K too !!

[@chkris6889]

Been playing this game since I was a child, and this video was hugely refreshing to see. I still play SimCity 4 all the time, and it's really gotten me into city planning. This video taught me a lot! (By the way, as soon as I saw you putting pipes under the farmland, I instantly thought about the water pollution, it was interesting hearing you talk about how that's a problem in real life too because I never knew why that was a function in the game haha)

[@michielvandersijs6257]

I love this game, but it really needs the mods and custom assets to make it shine in 2022. But with those, I think the game actually looks better in a way than CS, simply because people can cram in way more details because the game is isometric and therefor only has to look good from 4 different angles.

[@automation7295]

It's guess easier to create assets for Cities: Skyline than SimCity 4 due to isometric view requires to create 4 different angles.

[@asasnat342]

@@automation7295 i think it's equally difficult (since you still start off with a 3d model), and maybe even easier in SC4 because some props and smaller details can be replaced with 2D sprites (if i'm correct the SC4 building creation utility collection thing takes care of the angles)

[@asasnat342]

@Zaydan Naufal i think it does use very simplistic and generalized models for some of the larger buildings, unless these are unused and just stay in the data files as a lost relic of early game development

[@MidnighttWolf]

Today is my 30th birthday

[@RevanRA]

I was LITERALLY thinking what a video on Sim City 4 would be like by you. Thanks. Yay!

[@MAXfutbol8338]

What a throwback! I always liked to play the little vehicle missions, I'm glad you showed off the driving a little bit but as your city grew and you placed more services, various vehicle types would spawn with markers above them (you could see one in the video) and you could play these simple driving missions with things like police cars or ambulances, so you could essentially PLAY AS your city services. They only amounted to "get to this place in a time limit" but the timing was strict enough to be a welcome challenge. You also had a health bar, so you couldn't plow through traffic too much or else you'd fail. The rewards were usually some unique buildings or small mayor rating increases; I remember one of the first ones you get is a large casino you get that allows you to legalize gambling, which has various effects. Even looking at some of the wiki now, there are even some more evil missions if you want to change aspects of your city at the cost of your approval. Lots of cool stuff!

[@simonbull2737]

Excellent video, great to see you tackle something different and retro. Would definitely enjoy seeing Tropico pop up on your channel 🙂

[@CeeJaylx]

Great video, I truly enjoyed watching, and you reminded me how SC4 is a timeless treasure. There's honestly nothing that competes with it; even 20yrs later. The game was clearly ahead of it's time. The beauty and personality in this game is unmatched. Also Anno 1800 is an amazing game. 10/10

[@robin419]

Fun video and an interesting new series! Tropico 3 and Anno 1404 were some of my first city building type games, strongly recommend both.

[@pnutqpublic]

i've never been able to make functioning cities in this game but have been considering playing it lately. thank you for this and it would be awesome to see you make more of these. thank you!

[@Brendelson]

What a blast from the past!! Loved this! This game was my first addiction in video games when I was in high school as well.

[@Dare8000]

I didn't realize I needed a playthrough of Phil building a region as City Planner Vs Evil City Planner…but now it's all I want

[@jpstranger5584]

Really excited about this. I've loved your channel and SimCity4 is one of my all time favorite games. If you do want to play around with it more I would recommend looking into the modding community as well. They've done a lot to keep it fresh and get over some of those limitations. Highly suggest the NAM for giving a ton more options with transit.

[@eduardobadra]

man ive only discovered your channel recently but goddammit do i have some memories of playing this when i was like 12 or something or like that. about to 30. how about a small sim city 4 series? just a few videos im sure people would love it. god the whole region thing and connecting your cities, that blew my child mind at the time lol

[@wabznasm9660]

What I love the most is how much control you have over the aesthetic, chiefly through the styles and the make historic function. The latter can be good for reoleplaying if you have the patience. Make whole developments historic and then manually demolish them if and when they become abandoned, for example.

[@TiTiTimmy]

Hey Phil To turn the zoning to another piece of road hit the "ALT" key. If you want to make a bigger zoning block 3x3, instead of 3 1x3 hit the "CTRL" key. If you want to turn which road a building like a power plant, police station or similar, hit either the "HOME" or "END" key. Loving your city building videos, keep it up.

[@Rengray2]

So many memories! You hit on two of my most prominent ones of this game: How much I disliked the way auto-fill worked when zoning and how much time I spent fussing with the terra-forming tools trying to have a nice beach. I loved that it gave so much control over individual service buildings and when you forgot to keep up with demand, it would remind you via colored "news" headlines. I remember missing the variety of maps when C:S came along. In '95 I had finally gotten a "real" job, and bought SimCity 2000 at CompUSA on the same day my new Gateway computer arrived (this is the most 90's sentence I have ever typed). SimCity4 - later with Rush Hour expansion pack - was such an amazing evolution because you had the regional economy and could create pollution-free residential cities connected to rural towns that were 99% agriculture or ones that were 99% industry. I had so many tired, coffee-guzzling mornings at work because of this game. Thanks for showing it some love!

[@the.urbanjay]

Oh, the nostalgia! Sim City 4 was also the main reason why I majored in architecture and urban design and now seeking a job in city planning field. ❤❤❤ I'm having the best time watching this video.

[@shawniam2000]

To this day SimCity 4 has been my favorite city builder game to date. It would be so cool to watch you build in this game. It brings backs so many fond memories.

[@alexholden8074]

The complete silliness of the old SimCity games is fantastic.

[@stereotype.6377]

The secret with terraforming is placing the black road 1 by, which creates a level plateau because it takes the height of the single unit black road next to it ;) It was the only way I was able to build sunken highways back in the day!

[@JoeFF85]

The little drive you took with your My Sim reminded me of being able to put SimCity 2000 cities into CimCopter as maps to fly around, or into Streets of SimCity to drive in.

[@clementinecook5140]

Loved this game as a kid! So nostalgic! Also city planner plays, if you see this the anno series is amazingggggg you'll love it!

[@RynRobitske]

Thank you for reminding me that I've been wanting to go back to play SimCity 4 again. The idea of interconnected towns in this version was excellent (and to a scale that [New] SimCity cannot touch)!

[@bruceh4180]

I started watching your vids about 2 weeks ago- but I only play SC4, rush hour edition. It's so interesting you did this last year. A couple things to note- you need to develop slowly and add services as they're requested / needed to make money. You don't even need water for a long time. (i guess they use wells). I play this game offline with no mods. No Internet is needed. Farms are zoned individually. A minimum is 16 squares, but after it develops you can take away land other than the barn and it still functions. Too many things to mention lol. With the rush hour version, its even more integrated with railroads, ferries, airports etc. Lastly if you leave 3 squares from all edges, you can use the tool to align your city to the next without destroying things. Helpful for roads entering in or landscaping changes such as a waterway.

[@omgnobrain]

I have very fond memories of me being very sick when I was a teen and my younger brother playing this to entertain me. I got the game on Steam yesterday, and your video really helps because I never actually played it myself. You cover more things than the tutorial did, so thank you! Edit: you mentioned Tropico at the end of the vid, Tropico 1 is one of my all-time favorite games and would love to see what you think of it!

[@TheCrazierz]

Simcity 4 was one of my favorites. City skylines finally dethroned it and I play it all the time but there's still things I miss, like having a whole region and cities next to each other. I would have small agricultural communities, heavy industrial towns, and nice high tech cities. Damn. I also miss being able to create the region, making interesting tiles...

[@R5cents]

as someone who was to yonge to play sim city, and was introduced to cities ckylines from your channel; this was reeeeaally interesting to me and showed me a bunch of things cities skylines could improve on in a sequel. please make episode two of retro review soon!

[@knockshinnoch1950]

Great nostalgic trip down memory lane. I loved this game! Amazing to see how there are still some appealing aspects that still have impact 20 years later. There are certain elements and functionality of the game that Cities Skylines never incorporated and would most certainly be improved by their inclusion.

[@potts995]

I loved the art direction for SimCity 4, every building felt iconic and the lots have different versions with plenty of pleasant little details. The beautiful buildings you'd get as the city grows and wealth increases feels like the designers rewarding you for good planning as you go along.

[@KymBB95]

Sim City 2000 was the first city builder I ever played. Loved the review!

[@johnkent7088]

This brings back memories. Spent WAY too much time playing this game and building up my region. it is hard to believe that it is 20 years since it was released. Now I do feel old.

[@noafro1991]

Great choice of music btw! I love Sarah the Instrumentalist! Great video too 😊

[@scamp5000]

Yes, it was good to go back and see this, and I wouldn't mind if you did a series on this as well. Anno also sounds good. Some other suggestions are: Foundation & Surviving Mars. It would be different, but of course don't give up on CS, you're doing a wonderful job on those series. I wish for a CS2, that starts off functioning as one game with all the content the DLCs of CS provide now. It should also include some of those good feature that are missing like: better tax function with a wide variety of things to effect tax rate and happiness, so that there's more variety of tax rates - not just 12%; more zoning capabilities and variety of builds, like you said, mid-rises, luxury and slum zones, different styles of buildings; seasons; better pick-up, distribution and player control mechanics of merchandise between industry, commercial and consumer for districts; and a better ability to make separate towns and cities that function alone but can also work together on certain platforms - although you're doing a great job of that with Clearwater County which is why I love that series so much. Just a little rant on some needed improvements for their next game.

[@JenniferinIllinois]

Thanks a lot for making me feel old (even though I already know I am). Loved SImCIty back in the day (the original, 2000 & 4).

[@patonb]

The minute details this game has is amazing. I remember having to check individual commute times and balance out work locations. Then theres the variety of high density buildings. Actual skyscrapers!

[@greyfoxindy]

Really interested in these type of videos! I want to see you play more simulators!

[@murillojovelli]

Another awesome video, CPP, and if you actually get to play Tropico or Anno, that'd be siiick!

[@giuseppegalante9269]

This was my absolute favorite Sim game!! It was nice to revisit.

[@chrisa7158]

I'd like to see more content with SimCity 4 :) Love the way you handle this game

[@GalmorGames]

The best city simulator ever to come out of Maxis. (We don't speak of the one that was after this but before Cities Skylines) the music was awesome. I still listen to it in the backgound when I play Cities Skylines. There are also tons of Cities Skylines mods that add the music and buidlings from SC4. My favorite part was driving through the city. You could do missions to raise money if you were running short. Love the idea of you branching out to other City Games. I have every one you mentioned in the outro would love to see how you handle some of those challenges.

[@danonck]

Great video, didn't expect this. Also made me realize I never played this game, only SimCity 3000.