For some people, disasters are an annoyance; for others, they're the ultimate way to get revenge on a complaining population. For most, they're just another level of depth that challenges your management skills further.

I think that the main change that needs to be made in SC4000 is the way that disasters are dealt with. I can't see a way around those huge lollipop poles that tell you where you've sent your firemen/policemem to, but it would be nice to actually be able to see firetrucks or police cars at the bottom of them spraying water onto flaming buildings or trying to contain a riot. It'd also be nice for you to see fire trucks drive to the scene when you first place one of the 'poles'. They'd leave the nearest firestation and then make their way to the fire sirens blaring, forcing civilian cars that are in the road to move out of the way. It'd certainly be a good way to encourage you to keep your traffic levels low :-). This would also be a good idea as it'd encourage you to spread your fire stations out.

The other problem that need addressing is visibility. The 'poles' aren't very high when compared with some of the larger skyscrapers. In SC2000 this wasn't too much of a problem as in a few clicks you could remove all buildings from the display, but with SC3000 it takes a bit longer to do this as you have to go via the layers menu. In an ideal world you'd be able to make buildings that are obscuring your view invisible or transperent.

Air crash

Bring back air crashes, but don't make them as frequent as the were SC2000. The main cause of air crashes in 2k was having high density buildings next to your airport, but luckily in SC3000 the 'zoners' seem to be a little more intelligent than that, and they won't build huge skyscrapers in flight paths. Air crashes should still occur occassionally, perhaps due to mechanical faults or mid-air collisions (!).

Earthquakes

In SC3000 you get to see the fault line appear after earthquakes. This attention to detail is great to see, and there aren't many ways earthquakes could be improved further. The only thing I'd say is that the damage be more realistic. We've all seen pictures on the TV news of toppled buildings or fractured highways, well let's see that sort of detail on screen in the aftermarth of a quake. At the moment, damaged highways just disappear, and you just end up with huge holes in the roads. Earthquake damage to buildings should gradually decrease from the late 20th Century onwards, as it is reasonable to assume that earthquake proofing on buildings would improve as technology improves.

Floods

What ever happened to floods? In SC2000 they were a nice, small scale, easy-to-fix disaster that didn't do too much damage. In SC3000 there are no floods at all! I'd like to see floods come back 'with a vengence'. In any cities with a river running through them, the river levels should fluctuate, and every now and then bursts it's banks causing havoc to any nearby buildings. As in real life certain areas should be more prone to flooding than others, and there could be variety of flood prevention measures that you can fund beforehand (eg. the Thames Barrier in London, levees etc.). Perhaps in mountainous areas you could also build large dams which would regulate river flow (thus reducing the risk of flooding) as well as provide electricity.

Fires

SC3000's implementation of fires was, I suppose, more realistic than SC2000, but I don't think a little smoke coming out of the top of a building is easy to spot (even when you've got auto-goto switched on), and even when it turns into flames it isn't actually horrific is it? I'd like to see more explosions (gas explosions blowing out windows, that sort of thing).

Hurricanes

Hurricanes should definitely make a comeback. Hurricanes were probably the most devastating disaster in SC2000 - the idea behind them was that they cause a tidal wave, which basically meant you got lots of flooding near a coastal area. Hurricanes bring strong winds though, so they should also topple power lines and trees, as well as damage flimsy buildings. The tidal waves should only occur in cities with a coastline, but as hurricanes usually bring rain with them, there could be localised flooding in many areas.

Hurricanes are one disaster that you should have some sort of advanced warning about. I know Sim City 2000 had the weather warning message box thingy, but anyone who's played that game for any length of time knows that these weather warnings came up so often that you just ignored them.

Riots

Riots are the ultimate way for your sims to express their feelings. I think riots should always start from residential areas and end up outside your town hall (assuming you've got one, if not, the Mayor's house; if you haven't got one of them then, umm..., just the city centre). The people should move a little slower than they do in SC3000, but you should always get a few at a time or they'll be too easy to deal with. As far as the looting goes, don't change anything from SC3000 guys! I love the way the people throw objects in the air etc. some cars being toasted'd be nice too, if you have time... :).

Other disasters

• Jail break (you have to use police to catch the criminal)
• Zoo break (lots of animals running around the city...!)
• Lightning strike - This was suggested by John Saucier, and is an idea I really like. Lightning does strike after all, so in stormy weather this could be a problem. Obviously it's not going to be a major disaster, but it could certainly cause tall buildings and aircraft a few problems...
• Epidemic - this would be made much much worse if you have bad health coverage
• Car/train accidents
• Volcanic eruptions
• Meteor shower (this is quite a popular suggestion)
• Terrorist attacks
• Oil/chemical spill
• Land/mudslides
• Blizzards - bury the city under several feet of snow
• Dam burst
• Droughts
• Smog

Contributors: LonelyDEVIL, mitfam329, D Lewis (from forum), "Matthew" (from forum), "Matt" (from forum), "big guy" (from forum), Robb Garner, Brendan Madden, Tom, Justin Farlow, Entwhistle, Steve Alberto, Chad McNett, Migual Gallegos, John Saucier, Eleanor Fountain.