Sim Peanut Butter

Since I like to cheat at games frequently, I was reading a walkthrough for Simcity 4. Apparantly there's something the author calls the "peanut butter point" where things are going fine but there's no growth. The way to deal with such circumstances sounded eerily familiar:

A common phrase in comedy and the entertainment industry in general is "Leave your audience wanting more." Concentrate on what is RIGHT in your town... I hate saying this, but for the sims' own good, the best way to make your city get out of its sticky trap is to piss everyone off.



Before starting, make sure you have plenty of cash. This method can get a bit expensive.

Find the best part of town ... Call this place "Ground Zero."... Grab the keys to your trusty bulldozer, start that MF'er up, and give the kiddies a permanent vacation from school break open the jails too, while you're at it.

I know it sounds crazy, but trust me. Let the city be confused for awhile. They'll complain and yell about how crappy the town is, but believe it or not, that's what you want temporarily. Take some money (in your coffers, if you can, NOT a loan), and go to a new section of town. Start a "new city" over in that corner. Pretend you're starting a new game, just with an inflated bank account... Meanwhile, head back to Ground Zero and take out a few dozen parks or so...

After a few months, the city aura and value in Ground Zero will just absolutely plummet. However, your sims ... see that new little area you've got developing in the corner of the map, and they'll take interest. While they're thinking of the good ol' days, cut off their water.

Back at the new colony, start giving the basic services... just ignore that big mess of people on the other side of the river....

So, to fill the rest of that demand, you need to restore Ground Zero. Work backwards: give them back water, then parks, then their services. Do it slowly enough that the area doesn't get flooded, but work fast enough that everyone forgets the place exists. I find that restoring one part of Ground Zero every three to four months works the best…

Once Ground Zero is restored, start upgrading the colony to make it a full-fledged suburb, or maybe a large city of its own.


I suppose this may just be a case of life imitating art. But it's rather uplifting to think that maybe one day we'll wake up and find that someone has selected "undo."

But now to the point, choosy moms may choose Jif, but picky moms pick premaid pastrami on pumpernickel.