SimCity 4 > Basics > Modes

Modes

There are three modes for a city in SimCity 4: God Mode, Mayor Mode and Sim Mode. While this site deals only with Mayor Mode stuff, it is a good idea to know what the modes are and what they do.

God Mode

A new region and its cities start off flat, blank and featureless. When you enter a city for the first time, you enter in God Mode. This allows you to shape the city's landscape. In God Mode you can:

And in God Mode the terraforming is free. You can leave your city (by pressing F8) and come back to it in God Mode at a later time.

Mayor Mode

Once you are finished terraforming, charter your city by pressing F2 to enter Mayor Mode. When you enter Mayor Mode for the first time, you choose names for your city and your mayor. Once inside you start the task of building your city.

It is a good idea to get any landshaping done in God Mode. Once you enter Mayor Mode, you can't return to God Mode. (Actually, you could, but it involves destroying your city.) There are tools for shaping land in Mayor Mode, but they are very simple, work on a small scale, and cost money to use.

Sim Mode

In Sim Mode you get to pick an individual sim, give them a face, put them in a house, and watch their daily life to learn how your city is doing. Sim Mode is available only from Mayor Mode.


Written by Andy West on 14 October 2003, and updated 7 February 2010.