Hey guys,nothing urgent!

I used to play SimCity a long time ago... I don't even remember what version it was :lol: I was never very good at it but it was fun. One day I may get around to actually playing SC4 instead of just making terrains for TS2 :lol:

heres some tips & tricks for making terrains in SC4 that I have put together from other peoples info and from what I found out on my own. I posted them over at my friends site where all my terrains are (I only have a few of them uploaded here), link is in my sig.

First thing you need to know & remember - There is No Undo Button! Save often, specially after doing something you really like! otherwise you may have to re-do it if you screw up. At first I saved often and exited (to the Region) without saving, now I usually just re-do/fix whatever I screwed up.

ctrl + shift + c = yellow lines will show alongside the different terrain levels, making it much easier to straighten out beaches and see differences in levels.

you can re-access God Mode by holding down Ctrl + Alt + Shift and then clicking on the God Mode button.

you can rename a city!

first enter the city
then open the cheat window with Control + X
then type "whererufrom TheNewName"
then hit enter
then save

this cheat renames the city in SC4. you can just rename the file outside the game but in SC4 it will still have the old name, which means you can only have 1 version of that terrain in your Region.
I usually work off a previous terrain that already has flat beach lots so I don't have to waste time trying to get the terrain that low again. This is a very handy cheat for me!

If you work off already made terrains like I usually do =

You can minimize SC4 and then place a copy of whatever city/terrain in the
My Documents\SimCity 4\Regions\Downloads
you can then import that city/terrain into SC4. You do not have to exit and reload the game!

random Tips & Tricks:

If your starting a brand new terrain (City) then I suggest going into Mayor mode right away and naming it (and then save), then re-access God Mode. You can then place Roads or Bulldoze them in God Mode using the keyboard shortcuts.
R = Roads
B = Bulldoze
This way you don't have to keep switching between God Mode and Mayor Mode, big time saver!

Get used to changing the size of the God Mode tools
Shift + 1 = the smallest size. Zoom out and it will be bigger then if you zoom way in. I usually work with tools set at 1, 2 or 3 and adjust how far I am zoomed in (or out) so I have the best control for whatever I'm currently doing. For careful work I zoom in until the tool is the size I need for 'fine work'

The Level Terrain Tool is your best friend, use it well, it's found in the lowering terrain tools section. Seriously, I use the level terrain tool constantly!
If I want mountains, I will use the "raise a small hill" tool to raise one hill, then switch to the level tool (set to 1 or 2) to run that hill around my edges, if you do it quick your hills won't be all the same height - play with it, it's fun! I also use it to trim back mountains that are too close to the roads and stuff or to just fix uneven terrain.