SimCity 4 > Basics > Measures Of A Sim
The behavior of a sim can be determined by two qualities: wealth, health and education.
There are three levels of wealth a sim can fall into: R§ (prole), R§§ (bourgeois), and R§§§ (wealthy). Your city starts out with proles alone, shown by the clothelines and pickup trucks in their yards.
It is your job as mayor to lift your sims out of their poverty, ignorance and disease: to make their lives better. You can improve your sims' lot with good public services, utilities and transit. You can do it with parks and other amenities. But the best way to do it is by education and health.
Each sim has assigned an education quotient (EQ). The EQ ranges from zero to 200, with these starting levels for each sim:
| Wealth | EQ |
|---|---|
| R§ | 20 |
| R§§ | 40 |
| R§§§ | 60 |
Left unattended an EQ drops by one fifth of a point each month. That means in eight years after the start of your city the locals will be Homer Simpsons! Save yourself, Mayor Quimby, and set up schools and libraries as soon as it becomes feasible.
Each sim also gets a health quotient (HQ). Like an EQ this ranges from zero to 200 with equivalent starting levels (R§ = 20, R§§ = 40 and R§§§ = 60). Also like the EQ, an unattended HQ drops by one fifth a point each month, with a prole reaching zero in eight years. And while Cousin Earl won't die or turn into a zombie when he hits zero (this isn't DOOM!, you know) his sickliness will make managing your city a lot more difficult.
When the news ticker tells you your sims are short on lifespan
, it's time to set up a clinic. Also, pollution hastens the decay of HQ, which is another reason to keep the factories and farms away from residental areas.