Metropolismania F.A.Q. v 1.31 by CityBuilderAK47 "By the way, tonight's dinner is curry" "The rain gives me arthritis, lately" "Is it your birthday or something today?" 2002...Mankind is searching for a new hero. People no longer talk to each other. Everything is done by electronic technology. Talking has no meaning, only electronic communication is important. People who cannot communicate are increasing. Superheroes can no longer save the world. Time for mankind is running out. Index A. Basic Gameplay 1. Version History 2. Background 3. Controls 4. How Can You Help? 5. Good To Know : Basic Game Mechanics B. The Levels 0. Before We Start - Some Basics City-Building 101 Complaints Similar Industries Some Terms I Use ===The Canon Game=== 1. Level 1 2. Level 2 3. Level 3 4. Level 4 5. Level 5 ====Extra Levels==== 6. Level 6 7. Level 7 8. Level 8 9. Level 9 10. Other Events (Spoilers!!!) "Help Me"-Type Events Disasters\Mass-Complaints Special Level Events (Level 2-5,8) C. General Strategies And Tips 1. Befriending People 2. Understanding types of people 3. Understanding your day D. Appendices 1. Gossip \ Conversation Topics 2. Gifts and Shopping 3. Stores and Restaurants 4. Town Decor + Soundtrack Exclusives 5. This-or-That 6. Riddles E. End Matter 1. Thank Yous! 2. Random Questions 3. Copyright and Bla bla bla 4. What's Next? A AAA. SECTION A - FAQ STUFF & BASIC GAMEPLAY A A ======================= = A1. Version History = ======================= 1.00 (7/31/2014) After much hard work and dusting off this old project, finally finished level 5 and worked on the first final copy of this...only to have life get in the way for a few months 1.10 (11/30/2014) Added and consolidated some more material that was lying around in bits. Re- did the intro blurb to each level for some continuity. Added in Level 6 notes. 1.25 (6/10/2015) With a bit of free time on my hand, I dusted this off again, and made the guide current up to level 9. Polished and edited, and Hello GameFAQs! 1.27 (6/12/2015) Some very minor formatting and updates that didn't show until FAQ was posted. In addition, I have granted permission for this guide to appear on NeoSeeker. Hello, NeoSeeker! 1.30 (7/8/2015) More grammar edits, and I'm en route to Level 10. 1.31 (8/21/2015) Added some reader-contributed tips! I would also like to thank all my readers, as this FAQ has surpassed 600 views in just two months, very cool considering the game's age! ============================== = A2. Background/Mini-Review = ============================== Welcome to Metropolismania, a quirky Japanese SimCity-esque game where the main thing you do is use stereotypes to harass your neighbors into liking you enough to help build a city people want to flock to. This is a game complete with gossipy neighbors and the occasional Engrish. Honestly though, once you get into it, especially if you're a tycoon or city-building fan, you WILL get sucked in. A bit about the game history, it is known as the Machiing Maker series in Japan. While in the US, we've only seen Metropolismania (1) and Metropolis- mania 2, Japan has seen three more releases: a 2008 DS version (Machiing Maker DS), a 2010 PSP version (Machiing Maker 3), and a Xbox 360/PS4 version (Machiing Maker 4) which bombed horribly, partially because it sold out for DLC. Indi Software has since gone under and been bought up by Japanese mobile game publisher Axelmark, which most likely means no more Metropolismania titles in our future. Don't worry, the ones we have are the better versions anyway. If you're so interested, Metropolismania 2 is the same basic game in a better looking sequel. The key differences are an improved cel-shaded graphic system, a renovated contact system which continually brings new people in regardless of your networking, and plenty of new buildings, like Lottery Shops, Train Stations, and Sumo Wrestling rings. If you enjoy this game,I highly recommend that you play Metropolismania 2 as well. As far as a story goes, your tasked by a mysterious boss for the government's Future Improvement Agency to get people away from technology and out into a town where they turn back the clock and get out more, you know, actually interact face-to-face. So, you build a town that has everything people need. It's building/people focused unlike SimCity, so you start out with some basic families, then grow out your industries and shops, and before too long the cool places like the Baseball Stadium and Amusement Parks! You do this by networking (read:harassing) your residents to like you enough to introduce you to their contacts who have what you need. If stalking them isn't enough, you can buy them one of the dozens of items that you can purchase with your bi-annual salary. You just build the cute little town, you don't worry about its day-to-day bureaucracy. The actual "game" consists of Levels 1-5. The first few can be won in a few hours to a day, but Level 5 in particular will likely take a few sessions/real-life days to beat. The game has cute little FMVs to match the cute ideas for each level 5. Once you've beaten Level 5, you get a nice little ending, and the ability to continue on into extra levels. The novelty runs out quickly after Level 5, the point at which you've unlocked just about everything and your residents begin to anger more quickly. The game can get very tedious, however, this FAQ goes to Level 9 so you know what options are out there. It's a fun game to pick up for a few days, and having a guide like this helps you get the buildings you want faster, but in terms of long-term play, it just doesn't hold up. There are only so many buildings to build, and almost all players reach a point a few hundred people in where it's just not fun any more. Once you reach Level 5, you've just about done it all. You do feel like you're grinding an awful lot, and the fact that you have to manually meet each new tenant is the definition of grinding. But, that is the city-building genre. There's no doubt that this game is dated and quirky. It's not one you'll play every day, but one you might pick up on a sick day and still enjoy all the same. So, if you like building cities, enjoy the occasional Engrish, and have a few days to spare, build away! However, if city-building isn't your cup of tea, there are plenty more fast-paced games out for PS2. ================ = A3. Controls = ================ The controls admittedly take a bit to get used to. Essentially, up and down will move your character regardless of which button you press to go up or down; though pushing left and right will do different things. LEFT ANALOG (left/right): Pan camera left or right D-PAD (left/right): Pan camera left or right LEFT & RIGHT ANALOG/D-PAD (up/down): Move character up or down RIGHT ANALOG (left/right): Move character left or right. LEFT/RIGHT ANALOG (pushed down/L3/R3): Make character jump L1/R1 Zoom out L2/R2 Zoom in SELECT- Brings up laptop menu Circle- Brings up the "Quick Menu" Square- Brings up the "Full menu" Triangle- Jump Cross\X- Action button/Confirm ========================== = A4. How Can You Help? = ========================== This is a rather large undertaking, so I'm not saying that my guide is flawless. You may find different routes to people, or I might have something wrong. Anyway, if there's something I didn't cover, something you think is wrong, or any insight you'd like to share with hundreds of fellow Metropolismakers. You will be credited. Remember, the more people that pitch in, the more people helped out! E-mail me here: citybuilderak47@yahoo.com =========================================== = A5. Good To Know : Basic Game Mechanics = =========================================== MAGIC CHALK - A magic piece of chalk that carves out the roads. What's worth pointing out is that each segment of road takes up 2x2 tiles. Every house must be connected by road somewhere, otherwise the residents will complain. While there is no bulldoze tool, you can effectively bulldoze by placing a new building over the road you wish to delete, and then moving it. APPLICANT LIST- A total of 32 new applicants can move in to your town at any given time, and this list keeps track of them as well as the phase of construction (Applied, Process, Building, Finish). It takes roughly 7-8 ingame hours for an application to clear, and they only progress during construction hours (7 AM-7 PM). You have until the Building phase to change your mind and move a building before the spot is finalized. If you do not allocate residents within 3-4 hours (during construction hours), they may pick a spot themselves. Remember that you don't have to pay any money to get people to move in, you just need someone to introduce you. AFFECTION RATE (AR)- This is a gauge of the feeling of people towards you in the town. When it's high (80%+), complaints are low and residents are generally happy. When it's mid-range, (50-79%), you've either got issues or you don'tknow your residents very well. Below that, you've got a serious problem on your hand, and you better remedy it fast, the game becomes a pain below 50%. And yes, it can even dip negative and cue sad music to play instead of your normal more cheery tunes. The bottom line of this is the level of affection you need to meet those all important contacts. An Affection Rating around 115-120% will trigger "Famous Mode", a brief period of time where your phone will be blown up by new contacts who all want to move in. It lasts short, and takes no notice of how full your applications list is, so be careful with your timing! 0% and Below - Only your best friends will introduce you to people, sad music 1-50% - Only friends and best friends will introduce you to people 50%-119% - Acquaintances,friends,and best friends will all introduce 120%+ - "Famous Mode" - Automatically meet new connections There are many ways to increase AR, and they're all pretty much done by talking to the person involved. But, you only have two chances to do so when talking to a person before they're tired of you, after which you'll have to wait 30 in-game minutes for them to reset. You have to experiment and find out what works. This is covered much more extensively in Section C1, in the Strategies section of the guide. MONEY\SALARY- You are paid a salary twice a year. Money only figures in to improving the looks of the town or bribing people with gifts. You can patronize many of the businesses you build. There are basically four things that you spend your salary on: food (see the section below), gifts, town decor,and your personal home (when you get the Real Estate office) Every six months, your boss crunches the numbers and decides if you've met a score of 100. So long as you add a decent number of buildings, solve complaints, and don't scare off too many people, you'll get a raise. FOOD\STRENGTH- You have an strength bar which affects how fast you walk, accessed on the Square button menu. Since you have to actually walk to businesses to interact with them (unless you use the Town Pages to call them) instead of simply using a mouse like on PC games, this becomes more important. If you let your energy lag for a few days, you'll be very slow in moving. You're kindly reminded that you're "a bit hungry" when you starve your Metropolis maker. You can either buy snacks from grocers, convenience stores, or hamburger shops to buy as much food as you can hold, or you can gorge yourself silly on twenty pizzas or 50 Japanese meals at a restaurant. Most players love to binge eat at restaurants and then go. Don't ask me how the Metropolismana guy can eat so much food and stay so thin either. TOWN'S PAGES- You'll want to buy this soon from your Book Shop, as they will give you a place to keep phone numbers. Phone numbers are important because they are a quick way to get into contact with people and are saved through the entire game, not through level. So, you can use the phone to call someone across town instead of walking all the way over there, and then once you reach the "Friend" status with them, you will always have their number and can even call them from future levels when you need someone of their type to move in. You will be using your town's pages throughout the game. SHOPPING BAG- This is your inventory. At first, you can only hold four items at a time, which is painfully not much. When you eventually get the Super- market, you can buy a better one that can hold ten (still not that much), and then when you get to the Department Store in Level 4 or Level 5, you can hold up to twenty with the High-Quality Purse....I mean bag. MEMO PAD- You can buy this from the stationery store. Whenever you get a complaint, it is automatically copied over to this, so that you never forget the who and what of a complaint. This seems trivial at first, but will come in handy later the game, especially between saves and when your tows start getting big and you're running through several districts to solve multiple complaints. GPS - You can buy this from an Electronic store. It provides a mini-map at the bottom-right of your screen. This comes in handy as it quickly shows you not only where you are, but also flashes complaints on the map so you know they are there. Complaints flash gently at first, but blink urgently when a resident is angry enough to move out if immediate action isn't taken. Not necessary at first, but you'll want this as soon as you can build an Electrician. TOWN DECOR - These items are usually $1,000+ upwards and sold by certain stores. Section D3 covers all that you could ever want to know. Keep in mind that when you use that Resignation Letter to advance after you've cleared the level, you'll never see that town again unless you keep a copy of it saved. Consider saving your mega decorating for Level 5 (or Level 8, should you decide to keep playing), as these are the big maps with the big population goals. WEEK DAYS\WEEKENDS - Pay attention to the WD (Weekday) WE (Weekend) indicator. I believe the game loops in three work days, one week end day. What does this matter? Well, on week days your residents are at work and school, and on week ends, they're less sociable and out and about entertaining themselves. Week days are great for building relationships, while weekends don't seem to have any particular advantage, they're just there to let your people rest. YOUR HOUSE - You never sleep nor do you have your own place. Once you are introduced to a Real Estate (Realtor) in Level 2, you can buy your own house for a sizeable chunk of change (cheapest is $80,000; the mansion will set you back a cool million). All this does is give you a nice view and little place to walk around in, there's no real benefit to other than making your town feel a bit more quaint. I'd recommend saving before you place it, and experimenting with your view. As with town decor, know that your house doesn't move with you to new maps, so you'll want to save for your final level. BBBB B B BBBBB SECTION B - THE LEVELS B B BBBB ===================================== = B0. BEFORE WE START - SOME BASICS = ===================================== ===================== = CITY-BUILDING 101 = ===================== When it comes to building your city, there are some basic things to know. - More or less, buildings are typically related to one of four types of residents RESIDENTS - Typical homes. You have families who want places for their kids and stores to shop at, and of course, somewhere to work. You also have the "college-age" crowd, your young adults who like to shop and enjoy night-life. WORKPLACES - Consists of factories and offices of all types found throughout the game. These are the bread and butter of your city, and without them, your people will never be able to work, and your town will never go far. They require gas stations, playgrounds (I assume for a park setting and to be "green"), and a decent population of working-age adults to draw from. FARMING (Highlighted in Level 4) - These are early to bed and early to rise workers, typically older, who will create some nice landscapes for you.Their farms slowly expand outward,and they require a farming machines , pest control, and water well; typically which is solved from within their own community of farms, but sometimes through offices. FISHING (Highlighted in Level 6) - Like farmers, these people are older and wake up very early. Their buildings typically have to be built along a coastline. The fisheries that form the backbone of the industry will require in time a fish market, fishing co-op (union), bait shop, and they'll also request fisherman's home, a specific kind of residence. They'll also want the usual playground, superstores, and entertainment to boot! Like farming, introductions typically come from within the community. As you can see, each type has its own needs. Your residents, and the related buildings, make up the majority of the buildings in-game. They're content with nothing for a little bit, but will soon enough "complain" by having their house flash a certain color. You need to speak with a resident (not a child) and find out what they want, and do your best to make the connection within a certain amount of time, by bribing and grilling who is already in town, as someone likely has the connection you need. As time drags on, your residents will become less patient, and may flash their house more quickly, signalling that they're running out of patience. If you can't make the connection by a certain point after they reach this point(4-5 in-game hours or so), they'll leave town and leave behind a rubble pile, with your AR rating taking a hit, and you being slightly penalized on your next salary review. Obviously, nobody wants to do that if it can be helped. This is where smart planning comes in. Since you're basically planting new districts all the time, make sure as each one is developing, that you actively seek out what it will need, and know if you forget, the residents will quickly remind you. Here is what each type of resident needs: ALL DISTRICTS - All of your residents, no matter what the type, will need a police station and hospital. STAFF FAMILIES - These are adult families who are ready to work. They may or may not have children, who also need to be planned for. Families of 3 will need a preschool, Families of 4 will need an elementary, Jr. High, or High School. Also make sure to find a grocer, superstore, restaurant for families, playground, and place for families. Of course, Dad (and maybe Mom) will need a place to work too. COLLEGE CROWD - These are your single ladies and gents,who live in apartments. Some of them may still go to high school, others may be workers. They'll want places and restaurants for adult, making them ideal to go closer to your business districts, which will basically want the same things. OFFICES AND FACTORIES - These three form a basic triangle, they will always need a combination of offices, factories, and gas stations. In addition, they'll request restaurants for adults (to go grab power lunches at), as well as places for adults like Slot Machines or stores to go blow off some steam and some money. And for some reason, you'll need playgrounds too. So basically, you'll need to intermingle these three districts. Considering that families and factories don't mix well, the basic way to achieve this is to put your office buildings (the ones that everyone can put up with) in the middle, and plan around accordingly. It's probably best for me to draw up a sample area and tell you what works about it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | == | | | SC | == | | | | == | | | 4x4 | == | | ====================================== | |------------------====================================== | | Legend | | H | H |==| G | O | O |==__________ | | = Road | |_2x2_|_2x2_|==|_2x2_|_2x2_|_2x2_|==| GS | | | H House | | H | R |==| O | P | + |==| 3x3 | | | S Super Store | |_2x2_|_2x2_|==| 2x2 | 2x2 | 2x2 |==| | | | G Grocer |=================================================== | | O Office |=================================================== | | F Factory || H | S |==| E | O |==| R | E | | | P Police || 3x3 | 3x3 |==| 3x3 | 3x3 |==|_2x2_|_2x2_| | | M Medical ||______|______|==|________|________|==| | | | % Playground || H | H |==| % | O ==| F | | | E Entertainment || 3x3 | 3x3 |==| 3x3 | 3x3 ==| | | | SC School ||______|______|==|________|_______| ==| 4x4 | | | + Hospital | ==================================== | | GS Gas Station | ==================================== | ------------------- | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The things worth pointing out: - The offices act as a center. Every building won't mind being near an office. - The factory is a good distance from the family areas, which saves us from a "the factory is loud" complaint. A gap of 5-6 tiles should be enough. to keep them both happy. - The buildings are grouped in evenly-spaced blocks to maximize efficiency. The 2x2s and 4x4 buildings pair up nicely, and in groups of 6, they match up evenly with 3x3 buildings on the other side of the road. Notice how my middle blocks (to scale in the above map) match up to make nice grids. - Residential areas have access to a restaurant,super store, police,hospital, grocer,entertainment place, playground, and school. These residents should be happy for a while. - Offices have access to their workers, the factory, a gas station, a restaurant and another kind of entertainment. Plus, with so many residents nearby, there will be enough workers for all! - While not pictured here, you could probably put your college-age kids to the north-east of the gas station. As long as there is say, a 5-6 tile buffer between the factory and a resident, they'll be OK. The college kids will love the access to the night-life and adult restaurants, so typically, they do better closer to the office/downtown areas, with no kids to worry about. - Likewise, a suburban setting is best for your families, and usually features a main street lined with shops that feeds off into smaller neighborhoods. - Everyone benefits from a centralized police station and hospital. ============== = COMPLAINTS = ============== Your residents will have many complaints. You can tell what the complaint is by simply looking at the building's flashing color, but you may also need to actually get someone to tell you what they need, because without doing so, you won't unlock the "Introduce/Solve Complaint" menu option without doing so, which can, on occasion, hamper your progress. There are four levels of anger your residents have when their complaints are not addressed. You can tell which place you're at by the building and by how they respond to you. 1) Minor annoyance - The house will gently flash a lighter tone, and the resident will complaint about it. Communication is otherwise not hampered. Typically, you'll have a day or so before it progresses. 2) Annoying problem - The house will flash more intensely, and when you go to talk, the residents will literally be red with anger. They'll say "It's very annoying without a this-or-that", but you can still communicate with them. Note that you'll have to talk to them twice normally to get them to say "Are you going to build a this-or-that?", otherwise you won't "lock in" the complaint and you're wasting time, which is becoming much more valuable. 3) JUST FIX IT! - When your residents say things to the effect of "Just fix the complaint already!", this means you have a ticking time bomb. You lose your ability to communicate with this resident too! You'll have just a few hours to get a building in place and stat, or they're gone pecans. And know that this time has to include the 2 or so hours it take for the building to process enough for them to be satisfied. If you ever see this level, you better have a solution, and very quickly too, otherwise you might as well forget they existed, because their next course of action is to move out! And by the way, even if they're your best friend, they won't move back until the next level! 4) MOVED OUT - Your resident got so angry, so they outright destroyed their house in anger, leaving you to pick up the mess and deal with the AR hit, AND move-out penalty at your next performance review. You may have even had the building they wanted right there, it just may not have cleared in time. Oh well, count your losses and move on. Oh yeah, do yourself a favor: next time you get a building of that size, go ahead and place it over the ruins. If you let too many building remains stay around, you'll end up with a nasty insect problem. See [INSECT PLAGUE] for details should it happen to you. This can be especially problematic if it's a farm, as you have to clean up both the farm building AND all the plots they've grown. Yikes! PROTIP: When dealing with placing buildings after a complaint, make sure to go into the application list and place the building from there as soon as possible rather than go to your desired and then place the building. Time freezes while you are placing a building on the list, it does not when you are moving about the town. This can and will make a difference when dealing with angry residents. By a few levels in, you'll more or less know what they need just by looking at the house. Here is a quick list of what each color means: ~ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ | WHITE - Resident has no road connecting it to the town. | | LIGHT GREEN - Related to residents (i.e. building needs more employees) | | DARK GREEN - Resident wants a playground | | RED - Resident wants a hospital | | DARK RED - Resident wants an employment agency or pest control(Lvl 3+)| | LIGHT BLUE - Resident wants an office or factory | | MEDIUM BLUE - Resident wants a gas station | | DARK BLUE - Resident wants a police station | | FAINT YELLOW - Resident wants a grocer | | YELLOW - Resident wants a super store | | MEDIUM PINK - Resident wants a restaurant | | DARKER PINK - Resident wants a pest control or fish market (later levels)| | MEDIUM ORANGE - Resident wants a family-oriented "place for families" | | YELLOW/ORANGE - Resident wants a place for adults | | DARKER ORANGE - Resident wants a "place for seniors" | | CREAM-COLORED - Resident wants a preschool | | LIGHT BROWN - Resident wants an elementary school | | DARKER BROWN - Resident wants a Jr. High or HighSchool | ~ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ There are also some somewhat ambiguous complaints you'll run into. - "Residence and office" (light green) is typically requested by business or offices that were just placed into a new area without many customers. To solve this complaint, quickly construct 4-5 buildings that are a combination of both staff families or offices. This will infuse the business with a base of customers to use it every day. - "Office worker household" (light green) means that the business needs 3-4 new workers to be satisfied. One alone frequently won't solve it. Staff families and Staff Accom. apartments will solve this. ====================== = SIMILAR INDUSTRIES = ====================== The key to solving your complaints, and to be honest, the key to the game, is relying on stereotypes! This game is built around them. To your complaint's angle, this means that in general, your businesses stick to their industry in terms of their contacts. So, your families know more families. Your restaurants know other restaurateurs. Your offices know more offices, and so on and so forth. So, in general, if you're missing one type of complaint, start in similar places. Now, three groups of buildings are worth mentioning: civic buildings, farm buildings, and fishing buildings. - Civic Buildings include school, police stations, hospitals, and playgrounds. They are all lumped together, so school staff will have connections in hospitals, and playgrounds will know schools, etc. If you have a choice, start with a school to address complaints. You have the highest chance of meeting someone there. Then,try the hospital. If that doesn't work, try the police, and save the playgrounds for last. - Farm and fishing buildings typically require introductions from within their communities. Farms need water wells, farming machines, and pest controllers. Fishermen need fish markets, fishing coops, bait shops, and special fisherman's homes (a unique residence which needs both fish industries and the normal things for families). However, sometimes you'll hit a dead end. In that case, for farms, seek out your families, and for your fishers, try your luck at your local offices. - In Level 5, you'll meet the "Employment Agency" (not to be confused with the "Employment Companies").The former is a stand-alone building that comes with a red application, the latter is another office type with the usual blue application. This Employment Agency is used for a certain level event which occurs randomly on some levels, and is introduced via you civic buildings, not your offices. Of course, people know others outside of their usual industries, so you'll get the occasional surprise too. If you're at a dead-end for a certain complaint, here's a good strategy to get the building you need quick. - If your resident is complaining so hard that they say "Just solve the complaint", you're in danger of losing them. Don't waste precious time wandering around town, just use your Town's Pages and call, call, call! - If you're really stuck and don't have a clue, start asking around with your housewives. The kind women in particular have a very strong sense of networking and can usually pinpoint who you need to go to. You'll figure out who they are very quickly because they'll always have an answer whereas other women just don't know. - In general, men only know other men in their industries. Women are much more versatile. If you have a choice, go with the women. Sexist or not, it's how the game was programmed. - Need a boost to your AR to meet the right people? On weekdays, you'll get the best results at your local office blocks, school, and eateries. People are much more sociable outside of their homes, plus on weekdays they are clustered together to maek for rapid-fire complaint solving. On the weekend, head instead for your local eateries and entertainment, people don't like being bothered at home on the weekends. If you're totally lost, you have another option too.... ~ ------------------------------- ~ | Shameless Self Promotion | ~ --------------------------------- ~ ------------------------------- ~ | Do you just want to know who will lead you to theme park already? | | It's in Level 5 a good chunk into the level, by the way. Do you | | have a complaint you just can't solve? If so, check out the guide | | I wrote to compliment this one, the "Introductions" FAQ. It lists | | out all the possible introductions for Levels 1-5 that will get | | you to clear the level. For this guide, I'll tell you who is very | | helpful, but I don't spell out everything. Refer to it when you're | | stuck on that one impossible complaint! | ~ --------------------------------- ~ ------------------------------- ~ ================== =SOME TERMS I USE= ================== Let me clarify a few terms you'll see in this FAQ. SELF-SUFFICIENT: When you've met enough people to be able to handle the majority of the complainants for the level, I say you're self- sufficient. I'll tell you which of the initial residents land you where, so I'll tell you who gets you started on the civic complaints, for example, but I won't tell you who gets who to introduce you to the Pasta Restaurant halfway in, you can surmise in from who you know by the self-sufficient Point. I do provide this service though, in the "Introductions FAQ", separate from this one. NEW BUILDINGS - These are buildings that will eventually pop up in the level in a very basic way. Because of how dynamic the game is in how you get to the target population, you may encounter this building earlier in other levels, but it is guaranteed to show up in this level. PLACES - This refers to the "places for all" or "places for adult", which are typically entertainment buildings. TIME - Typically, when I say hours or days, I mean in-game hours or days. Where ambiguous, I'll clarify, but in general, the only real- life time I'll be referring to is the hours or days it will take to clear a level. RECYCLING RESIDENTS - From Level 3 onwards, you'll begin to notice that certain residents recycle, meaning you've already met them before and their relationship is saved intact, making for one less person to have to get to know over again. This is notable in certain buildings you start with in later levels, begins to become apparent in "Famous Mode" from Level 5 onwards. SPRINGBOARD - I'll use this term in the Key Resident section. It means that while the resident themselves may not know somebody that you need, they will have the connections to lead you there. Typically, from a "springboard" resident, meet their acquaintances, and then meet the acquaintances of those acquaintances and you'll be very close to someone who can help. "CANON GAME" - Levels 1-5 were fully designed and considered the actual game. When you clear Level 5, you'll get a very resounding ending. However, not wanting to deprive you of building, you can go on a bit more, you just won't have special buildings or special residents that Levels 2-5 provide, Level 6 a bit excepted. You may get the occasional event and a new building though, it's just a matter of how much grit you have to do it over and over again. As such, I basically refer to Level 5's ending as the game's canon ending, and consider the game beat after that, what follows are essentially bonus levels. ==================== = THE CANON GAME = =================== ============== = B1.Level 1 = ============== ~--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ |TARGET: Build a town of 200 people. | |BLURB: This is just your tutorial town and introduces you to | |the game. People are very easy to please, and you'll be done | |before you know it. I assume you read the planning basics | |above. You'll get to name yourself and the town when you | |talk to your first resident. | | | |NEW BUILDINGS: | | | |HOMES: Staff Family, Senior Citizen, Studio Apartment, Home Office | |PLACES: Book Shop, Spa, Used Book Shop | |GROCER: Fruit & Veg. Shop, Liquor Store | |SUPER STORE: Stationery, Hardware | |RESTAURANT :Chinese Noodle Bar, Coffee Shop, Family Restaurant, Noodle Bar, | |HOSPITAL: Dental Dept., Internal Medicine | |CIVIC: Jr. High School, Playground, Police Station, Daycare Center, Primary | | School | |OFFICE: Publishing Firm, Printing Office, Travel Agency, Advertising Company| | Cleaners, Tiling Company, Software Company | |FACTORY:Steel Mill, Metal Workshop | |OTHER: Gas Station | | | |LEVEL EVENT: None | ~--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ TIPS: You'll get a bigger-than-normal boost to your relationship with your citizens on your first day, so harass as many residents as you can to Friend status on your first day. After the first day, your relationship meter will only progress to "Know the Face" upon first meeting someone. Halfway or so into the level, your boss will introduce you to a set of six buildings (Internal Medicine, Police Station, Playground, Printing Office, Daycare Center, and Primary School). You can get them through introductions the normal way, but consider these as an easy second set you should befriend for future levels. Be sure to purchase Town's Pages! Remember that simply reaching the Friend Status does not grant you that all-important phone number, you'll have to talk to them at least one more time and you'll get a resounding bit of text. Whenever you solve a complaint that affects multiple families at once, be sure to go back and say hi in the area again, you'll receive a boost to all of the family members and other families who you solved the complaint for in addition to the person who asked. KEY RESIDENTS: * VIDA CLOONEY (Clooney Book Shop) - Introduces you to Sloan Jr. High School. This is your first civic building, so you will need it to address further school, hospital, and police complaints. ARDEN SLOAN, from this school, will get you your first police station, for example. * LOPEZ FAMILY (Lopez Fruit & Veg.) can introduce you to two hardware stores (super stores) * CAMPBELL FAMILY (Campbell Stationery) can introduce a spa (place for all) and seafood shop (grocer) * MONTAGUE WANG (Wang Chinese Noodle) will get you a coffee bar, and KATHLEEN WANG will give you your first factory (a need of your residences). =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ ============== = B2.Level 2 = ============== ~--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ |TARGET: Build a business center with more than 500 people. 20% of buildings | | must be offices. | |BLURB: Good job on your first town. Now you'll get to do it | | all over again, twice and then some, in fact! Assuming that | |you made lots of friends in the last town, this one will go | |by slightly faster, and as you refine how you build, you'll | |start avoiding future problems by building smarter. There is | |a special event hinted at here, but it's hidden past the spoilers section | | | |NEW BUILDINGS: | | | |HOMES: (No New homes) | |PLACES: Exam Tuition, Computer School, Fishing Pond, Cooking Class, | | Piano School, Karaoke, Private School, Toy Shop, Volunteer Group, | | Drama School, Aerobics, Sushi Bar, Music Shop | |GROCER: Bakery, Supermarket, Butcher | |SUPER STORE: Electrician, Kids Clothing | |RESTAURANT: Savory Pancakes, Drink Bar, Hamburger Shop, Pizza Bar, Curry | | House | |HOSPITAL: Local Hospital, Maternity Ward | |CIVIC: (No New Civic Buildings) | |OFFICE: Planning Company, Realtor, Solicitors Firm, Handyman Firm, | | Translators, Bank, Finance Company, Employment Company, | | Newspaper Company, Trading Company, T.V. Station, Architect Company,| | Security Firm, Insurance Company, Stocks & Shares, Advertising | | Company, Tourism Office, Surveying Company, Publishing Firm, | | Building Company, Accounting Firm, Planning Company,Taxation Office,| | Security Firm | |FACTORY: Car Mechanic, Garbage Dump, Spring factory, Brewery, Processed | | Foods, Spirit Distillery, Sheet Metal, Fabric Factory | |OTHER: Gas Station | | | |LEVEL EVENT: [THE INVESTIGATION] | ~--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ TIPS: You'll start off in a huge imbalance, way more offices than residents. This will become a problem soon, each office needs 1-2 homes to leech workers from. For the level event, you'll also want any kind of restaurant as well as an elementary school. To get your AR up faster, don't bother people at their homes. Wait for the work day (8 AM-5 PM), and hit up your office blocks instead. People are more sociable at their offices during business hours on weekdays. You'll need to hit 50% AR to get introductions at the Acquaintance level Be sure to keep your car factory a decent distance from your homes, and use your offices as a buffer zone. Be sure to plan ahead and leave space. Remember that you can stack a total of three offices on 2x2 buildings and four offices on a 3x3 building! Befriend older ladies in your offices! They may not know the people themselves, but they'll always be able to tell you who does when you get stuck. Whatever happens, don't lose Betty Durham in the Gee Realtor! She is simply *AWESOME* for introductions. Your offices will introduce you to mostly other offices, but some restaurants and stores too. Many buildings in this game apply with one name, and then show up with another name in your town. A classic example is the "Solicitors Firm", which is British English on the application, and comes over as "Lawyers (Firm)" when you go to find it in game. Another case of this will apply with your initial software companies from KOZY NOTSU, MINORU YOKOSUKA, and their contact HISATO HAMADA. Instead of the usual "So-and-So Soft House", these will come out as INDISOFTWARE A, INDISOFTWARE B, and GROOVE CAFE respectively. You should run into a supermarket in this level. You should buy the big shopping bag, which will upgrade your inventory to hold ten items. Also, you can buy a Car Navigation System (GPS) from the electrician in this level, which shows a map of your town and any complaints. Make sure to befriend many staff families, and the "places" as well. The next town will be even bigger than this, and those two kinds of buildings will come in handy, THE STAFF FAMILIES ESPECIALLY SO... (get the hint, make sure you have some!) Be sure to befriend Curtis Book Shop and Mauro Karaoke, they will also come in handy for the next level. KEY RESIDENTS: * SHEPHERD FAMILY- They will introduce you to at least three families to help you get started on your office worker complaint. * HALL FAMILY (Hank U./Jill)- Introduced from Jeffrey Shepherd.Jill Hall will be extremely useful when you need some more residences. In fact, she was able to pop out four entire families for me within five or six conversations. Her husband will also provide a few. Very important to help your residential population. * JENNY P. MCDONELL-Introduced from Lourdes Shepherd. Will introduce you to a hardware shop and bakery to solve super store/grocer complaints; as well as a preschool later down the line; in addition to a bar to help with your restaurant for adult complaints. Helpful! * KYLEIGH THOMAS (Thomas Family)- Can introduce you to a Savory Pancakes (Crepes) to solve the restaurant for adult complaint; as well as a Computer School to solve a place for adults complaint, and even a liquor store, which is strangely enough...a grocery store! * MAYES BURNS (Burns Computer School)- Introduced by Kyleigh Thomas, starts the ball rolling on your "places for", and will lead you to one of the most useful "places for" residents. * ELENA KENNEDY (Kennedy Book Shop)- From Mayes Burns in the Burns Computer school, you will get the Kennedy Book Shop in which Elena lives. She was probably one of the most useful residents in this whole level. She could introduce me to almost limitless places for (seniors/adults/all) * LATISHA SHIELDS (Powers Advertising Company)- Can introduce you to two parks, the second of which can introduce you to an elementary school. One which will become very important to your civic buildings. * GINTARO SLOWEY (Slowey Playground)- Another important guy for civic buildings. * LASSIE TAN (Tan family)- Introduced by Loughlin Cooper in the Klein Elementary School,which Gintaro also introduces. She is very helpful in for finding new families. * GREG MCVEY- Can introduce you directly to a hospital, which is another great center hub for civic buildings. * BLAKE THOMAS- He can introduce you to a family restaurant, to help solve later restaurant complaints. * BETTY DURHAM (Gee Real Estate)- My go-to girl for this level and one of my favorites for the game. While she herself doesn't introduce much, she seemingly always knew who did, and not in the roundabout way. * HISATO HAMADA (Groove Cafe)- Introduced from Kozy Notsu of Indisoftware A. Don't be fooled by the software companies, even though most have a proprietor, some companies with Japanese-looking names actually correspond to real-life companies, not the usual (Last name) Soft House. This is one of those cases. Anyway, he's useful because he can introduce you to more gas stations, as surprisingly, your starting gas station is useless for that. * MIKHALI CAGE (Carter Newspaper Company)- Introduced by Moses Schott of the Schott Cleaners. Will also assist you with place for adult complaints. * RINA DAMON (Wagner Solicitor's Firm) - Introduces you to the Brewer Exam Tuition which will lead you to a building that will appear at the start of the next level, so you might as well cement the friendship now. * MOSS BREWER (Brewer Exam Tuition) - Introduces you to the Curtis Book Shop. This buildings will appear as one of your starting buildings for the next level, so you might as well meet them and befriend them now. *MIKIO MILLER (Miller Translators) - Introduces you to a few buildings which will lead you to another building that shows up at the start of the next level, so befriend them sooner rather than later to make Level 3 that much easier. * DUSTY KENNEDY (Kennedy Book Shop) - Introduces you to the Ali Volunteer Group, getting you closer to the above next-level repeat. * FRASIER ALI (Ali Volunteer Group) - Introduces you to the Mauro Karaoke, the above-mentioned Level 3 repeat building. LEVEL EVENT: THE INVESTIGATION ============================== Since some people don't like spoilers I've saved them for a special section. To find out what happens search for [THE INVESTIGATION]. =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =============== = B3. LEVEL 3 = =============== ~--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ |TARGET: Build a leisure town with more than 1000 people.15% of the buildings| | must be amusement facilities. | |BLURB: This is a fun level with plenty of new buildings to keep it fun | | but families are a bit hard to come by at first. Be sure to spread your | | initial buildings, and know that getting to 1000 is tedious, and will | | likely take up most of your real-life day if you try it all in one go. | | You're also given the power to evict residents in this level, but if you | | plan well, you'll never need it. You'll be solving plenty of "residents | | and office" complaints, so be sure you have plenty of staff families and | | office buildings on hand and ready to go. | |NEW BULDINGS: | |HOMES: Student Accom, Inventor's Home, Piano Tuner's Home | |PLACES: Choir (Culture School For Aged), Learn Accounting, Slot Machines | | (Place for adults), Mah-jong Room, Flute Tutor, Aerobics, Jewelers, | | Baseball Park, Driving Range, Movie Theater, Fortune Teller, | | Speech Therapist | |GROCER: (no new grocers) | |SUPER STORE: Laundrette, Florist, Cemetery | |RESTAURANT: Cake Shop, Sushi Bar, Thai Restaurant, Bar, Take Away Lunch | |HOSPITAL: Local Hospital, Maternity Ward | |CIVIC: High School, Post Office | |OFFICE: Cleaning Company | |FARM: Melon Farm, Peach Orchard, Farm Machines, Rice Paddy, Water Well, | | Pest Controllers | |INN: Japanese Inn | | | |LEVEL EVENT: [THE NEW GROUP OF CITIZENS] | ~--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ TIPS: You start out with NO staff families, so your first order of business should be getting some and quickly. The residents will speed you to these most quickly. Keep in mind that you're wasting great buildings if you cluster these all together. I'd recommend spacing them out into two or three districts and building each one up. You will start to see residents recycle more frequently starting in this level. Curtis Book Shop and Mauro Karaoke are both Level 2 repeats, as I mentioned above. You CAN pass this level with a hypothetical 0 friends from before. To quickly build up your residents, pay attention to the Clooney Computer School and their subsequent introductions. You'd also do well to meet JJ Foster via the Liang Toy Shop, because he can introduce you to the Tiffany Burger Shop, who will be able to introduce you to people who know Families. Paul from the Liang Toy Shop can also introduce you to the Hill family, who will also be of assistance in introducing people who can introduce families. The other families will not lead you to residents as quickly, and some can't even introduce families at all. See my Introductions guide for a much more detailed analysis. Remember to bug residents outside their homes during work hours, spam conversation topics, and by now, you'll have a decent salary, so go out and buy people's love with gifts. Once you reach 50% AR, the first time, you'll be coasting more easily. Your pages will start becoming a decent size by now. Wondering why you may start seeing pins on your residents or being introduced to random people? It's this level's event, which is covered in the Event section. You will begin to see Farm buildings later into this level. Remember that Natsume (Harvest Moon) was involved in this game, and know that the next level features the farm industry as its central theme. As such, don't totally ignore them. KEY RESIDENTS: KRYSTYN CLOONEY (Clooney Computer School) - She and co-worker Merton, and their subsequent introductions will help establish your residence base. Of particular note is the Welch Insurance Company, from which... *NOBORU WELCH (Welch Insurance Company) can introduce you to Staff families. He also introduces you to not one, but two important residents. *MASSIMO THOMAS (Thomas Family) - Will set you up with some more families, and offices, and also lead you to another important contact, Kele Pierce. His wife Mina is also loaded with introductions, making them a power couple. *KELE PIERCE (Pierce Family)- A power family if ever there were one. He can introduce you to a hamburger shop as well as some more residences. *GIORGIO GEE (Gee Real Estate) - A cross-over from the last level, by the way, This guy and his partner Betty will help with getting your offices off the ground, not to mention Betty seemingly always knows someone! REID KELLY (Private School) - He is where your factories and gas stations will come from. It's not that he knows a lot, but he knows a lot of people who will introduce you to people. PAUL LIANG (Liang Toy Shop) - Definitely your go-to guy to start your civic buildings and even some more residences. Here's who he knows: * JJ FOSTER (Foster Primary School) - A springboard for civic complaints, especially police stations. * LEV TIFFANY (Tiffany Burger Shop) - Will help you get started on your restaurants and families, and his partner Krysta can offer you some residents too. DAN GABRIEL (Gabriel Karaoke Box) - Will lead you to some grocers, and another important resident that will lead you to the Baseball Park, one of this level's cool buildings. * BILL MCCOMB (Mccomb Computer School) - Is able to introduce you to two seafood shops for those grocery complaints, and also leads you to... * BERN HANSEN (Hansen Music Shop) - Introduced from Dan's partner, Rachel. Will add pretty cool buildings into your level, but most notably, Bern's partner Vivia will introduce you to the Sanders Baseball Park! WILL S. MAURO (Mauro Karaoke Box) - The other springboard for civic complaints, plus a recycled guy from Level 2! Woohoo! His partner LORING can also introduce you to the driving range, one of this level's cool buildings almost instantly. *JORGE BARBER (Driving Range) - Not only is this cool, but it's also the hidden springboard for the super stores. Subsequent introductions from here will help your yellow complaints vanish. * ART TURNER (Turner Electrician) - A few introductions down from Jorge (have Gerik introduce the Hansen family, who introduce the Perez family, who introduce Art), this guy will help you get to some grocery stores. WILTON HOGAN (Hogan Fishing Pond) - His partner will introduce you to the Pineda Fortune Teller. The Fortune Teller is one of the rarest buildings the game. LEVEL EVENT: THE NEW GROUP OF CITIZENS ====================================== Since some people don't like spoilers I've saved them for a special section. To find out what happens search for [THE NEW GROUP OF CITIZENS]. =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =============== = B4. LEVEL 4 = =============== Build an agricultural town, maximizing agricultural land and minimizing space. There will be more older people, and not as much of a need for entertainment. WE.MUST.NOT.FAIL! ~--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ |TARGET: Build a farming town with more than 300 people. 25% of the buildings| | must be dependant on the farming industry. | |BLURB: Hah! What a joke this level is, considering it's sandwiched between | | two levels with lofty goals. Consider this a nice and leisurely break from | | the last level, and a breather before the really challenging Level 5. You | | likely met some farmers in the previous level, but their main focus in this| | level means that you're going to have to change how you play a bit to work | | with their early work schedules. Assuming you've got the basics down, you | | will most likely finish this in two or three real-life hours. Keep in mind | | as you're buildings that the farms expand and build more plots near their | | farm every day,though they won't be offended if you build over their plots.| | | |NEW BUILDINGS: | | | |CIVIC: University | |FACTORY: Molding Factory, Semiconductor | |FARM: Sweet Mandarin Farm, Vineyard, Green Tea Farm, Ranch, Lemon Orchard, | | Sour Orange Farm, Mushroom Farm, Orange Orchard, Mandarin Orchard, | | Grapefruit Farm, | | | |LEVEL EVENT: [WHAT IS THAT THING?] | ~--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ TIPS: You AR starts off around 35%. You've done this before, but remember that your farmers are up at the crack of dawn, and in bed at the crack of dusk.Try to catch them walking between fields during the work day or out and about at a grocer, restaurant, or entertainment place. You can occasionally luck out and get a slight boost to your relationship if you talk while they're farming, but not always. Remember that pest control and farm machinery are indeed offices, so this means they also want the gas station and eventual factory. Plan accordingly. Because of the small amount of land and ample water, I'd recommend concentrating the farms on the main island and building an urbanized area to the south. You can always build bridges over water, and then build next to the bridges for some instant land if space starts getting tight. Remember that farms start at 2x2, but quickly expand outward with farm plots. And remember, if you build farms too far apart, then you almost need a set of buildings for each farm, which are ample, but not infinite. Be sure to stop and gawk at your residents pick fruit from trees. It's easily the most hilarious animation in-game. Farms are not extremely important for the next level per se, but you will have the chance to be introduced to more farms in Level 5 too. However, beyond this level, depending on how your future towns play out, you may run into a problem that will necessitate a LOT of Pest Controllers. I won't spoil why here (it's in the Other Events section), but suffice it to say that you will save yourself a lot of frustration in the future if you befriend as many Pest Controllers as possible now, and make sure at minimum that 5-6 of them are at the "Best friend" level. Otherwise, mark my words, you will be kicking yourself later. KEY RESIDENTS: * LENORE HARRIS (Sweet Mandarin Farm) will serve as one of your power people, because she knows the all-important Tea Jr. High School. Again, it isn't so much that she knows a lot, but she has the connection that will get you to a lot of places you'll need. Her husband Ryo know a Water Well too, which you will also need. * Will S.(Tea Jr. High School) will introduce you to the Spring Gas station which you will not only need eventually, but it is also very useful because of who it leads to. Not to mention, this is a great place to start for the civic buildings (if not them directly, their introductions will know the people at right civic buildings) *Art Spring (Spring Gas Station) will introduce you to the Bruce Brewery to solve your factory complaint, but the Brewery also serves as a vital point of contact to pump Staff families into your town. * BURKE JOHNSON (Sour Orange Farm) will be your main guy to talk to about getting grocers and shops in your town. Again, if he doesn't know, who he introduces you to will know. * HANLEY SAWYER (Sour Orange Farms) should be your starting person for places of entertainment as well as a few more civic buildings. He knows the people at the Garner Elementary School too, which can serve as another civic building go-to place. * STANLEY DANIELS (Orange Orchard) can introduce you directly to a police station. * RYLIE ZENO (Rice Raddy) can introduce you to a sushi bar, which will be wanted by your office area sooner or later. LEVEL EVENT: WHAT IS THAT THING? ============================== Since some people don't like spoilers I've saved them for a special section. To find out what happens search for [WHAT IS THAT THING?]. =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =============== = B5. LEVEL 5 = =============== Are you ready to show this world what you've got? Level 5 is the mother of all levels. Your boss actually doesn't know what you have to do next, though he hints at this level's special resident ============================================================================== ~--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ |TARGET: Build a town with more than 2000 people. | | | |BLURB: Oh dear, that's not a typo above. Level 5 is the "final level" of the| | canon game and boy is it a doozie. Just so you know off-hand, unless you | | just spam your town pages, this level will likely take you a weekend of | | your time to complete. It's just so many people and so many complaints. | | Since this is the "final level", you may wish to make this your grand town | | and go all out. A problem that you may run into is that the level is so | | big that you may forget where your vital connection lives. I'd recommend | | you get acquainted with your town's pages, or come up for some names for | | areas of your town and keep a small list going of the important contacts | | in each area. You can check the Introductions guide to see who leads you | | to who. But to be totally honest,this level grinds very much and it's hard | | just to keep a handle on everything. You'll pretty much have everything at | | the end of this level,there's not much more content beyond it. While the | | levels do continue post "canon-game", there's no more special events,and | | eventually you'll run out of new contacts and they'll just repeat.While | | it took me until Level 6 to run into buildings like the Mexican Bistro and | | more fisheries (Level 6 is a fishing town), I do believe you can run into | | them by exploring your Level 5 connections deeper. So, knowing that there | | is no more to the canon game beyond this,that decision to go on to further | | levels or make this your big finale town is totally up to you. This level | | has an amusement park for you as a crown achievement, you'll likely not | | run into it until close to the end. | | | |NEW BUILDINGS | |HOMES: Script Writer's Home, Journalist's Home, Gardener's Home, | | Calligrapher's Home | |PLACES: Flower Arrange (Culture School for adults), Amusement Park | |GROCER: (no new grocers) | |SUPER STORE: Tailor, Department Store | |RESTAURANT: Pasta Restaurant, Korean Restaurant, French Bistro | |HOSPITAL: Mental Ward | |CIVIC: Park, Fire Brigade | |OFFICE: Babysitting Company, Investigator Company, Marine Surveyor, | | Ocean Liners | |FACTORY: Flour Mill, Concrete Maker, Welders, China Factory | |FARM: Tomato Farm, Grapefruit Farm, Pig Farm, Pear Orchard, Strawberry Farm,| | Tangerine Orchard | |FISHING: Abalone Culture, Fish Market, Fisherman's Home, Tiger Prawn Port, | | Fishing Coop, Bait Shop, Trevally Port, Herring Port, Prawn Port, | | Pearl Culture, Slatefish Port, Sardine Port, Oyster Culture, Salmon | | Port, White Bait port, Snapper Port | | | |INN: Hotel | | | |LEVEL EVENT: [YOU DON'T SEE THOSE EVERY DAY!] | ~--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ TIPS: This is the time to decide between ending with the game's ending, in which case you'll just want to spam yourself to 2,000 people as quick as possible; or if you want to keep playing beyond this level, where you'll see goals this high over again, in which case you may want to take it a bit slower, befriend more people, and keep working hard, knowing that there are more levels ahead, though they do diminish in new content greatly past Level 6 and then people even get less patient. The post canon-game levels are a definite challenge, but most people will get tired of it by this point. Seriously, keep track of your residents. I made a mock-up of my town in Paint and as I created blocks and districts, named them and kept the names of important people there, so I remembered who was in each one, especially the civic buildings and offices with helpful ladies who knew everyone. If you do this in combination with my Introductions FAQ, you'll never be lost for a complaint with an angry resident on the verge of moving out. Your metropolis will really come alive by the end of this level. You may wish to plop down your house in the heart of it all, just remember that if you do buy one from one of your Realtors, it doesn't travel with you to future levels. Consider leaving a spot that overlooks one of your office areas or your amusement park, it honestly makes for a great view when you finally finish. Also, save before you plop your house down, in case you don't like it or how it ends up positioned. Why are you encountering fishers? They're like farmers in that they need certain buildings (fish markets, fishing co-ops, and bait shops) ,but they are the star attraction to the first post-game level,Level 6. So, if you wish to continue to Level 6, it will do you good to befriend many of them now. Also know that the Fisherman's houses that you will be asked to build and introduced to are typical staff families but with the added demands of fishing buildings nearby and they work for the various fisheries, in addition to the usual schools and places for families. Make sure to build them or even cluster them near your fisheries. When you hear a crashing sound one night, you'll know the event for the level has started. See the [You Don't See Those Every Day!] section for details. KEY RESIDENTS: * MORAL CARSON (Carson Planning Company) is an office springboard. There is one more contact he has that may be of use. His partner, Ken Peter, will set you up to meet some grocers and super stores by way of a um...water well? *JIRO RILEY (Riley Finance Company) - Introduced by Ken Peter, his partner Gaetane will introduce the guy who get you there. * SCOT G. LANDRY (Abalone Culture) - Introduced from Gaetane, he will be the one who gets you the water well that will more or less take care of groceries and super stores. Lena Nas here will also be the springboard to ramp up your fishing industry. * EDDY NELSON (Babysitting Company) has a partner Lara that will bring you to a Family Restaurant. * MITCHEL PIERCE (Printing Company) - He'll bring you to some great offices and civic buildings. His partner Helia Cage also has an important contact for factories. * MARK Z. EVANS (Evans Cleaning Company) - Will help get the civic industry going with some police connections. He also introduces you to the King family, who can serve as a springboard for entertainment places like Music Shops and Movie Theaters. *DON ROBERTS (Roberts Advertising Company) - Will be a vital connection to get your factories and gas station started. Introduced from Helia. * MORAL KEITH (Keith Publishing Company) - Will introduce you to people who will lead you to some hospitals. * ARNOLD DEMARCO (Demarco Local Hospital) - By way of Moral's contact Kentaro Harrison. THis will be another important civic building springboard. * REGAN RUSSEL - Leads you to some grocers and offices. *FLEMING BOND (Bond T.V. Station) Katalin Davidson here will introduce you to the Corona T.V. Station, which will lead you to a Butcher Shop to start your grocers. * BLAKE KENDALL - Leads you to entertainment for families, and his partner Maree Blak can help you with some "restaurant for adults" contacts. They're very spread out, but he can also lead you to some farm buildings. * ROCCO ANDREWS (Andrews Tomato Farm) - A bit of a complicated introduction sequence, so try to stay with me. Blake leads you to the Edwards Computer School. From there, you'll meet the Craig Music Shop, and from there, Janet F will introduce you to the Moss Exam Tuition. There, Electra Yates will introduce you to the Grant Printing Company, where you will meet Kawena Walker, leading you to Rocco, who will start the farming industry up well. *KENNEDY CASTLE - Staff families and restaurants of all kinds, nobody in particular stands out really, just a solid source of those connections. * BILLY CRANE - A great contact to get your preschools and other civic buildings started. Can even lead you to a rare Fire Brigade. * MAIREL CHARLES (Charles Daycare Center) - Preschool introduced by Billy. Leads you to three more, so this should be your first person when you're in need of more. *EARL J. MCCOY (Mccoy Primary School) - An important person for civic complaints. He'll also lead you to the fire brigade *MIKE COMBS (Combs Fire Brigade) - OK, this is another complex introduction tree. Here goes. From the Mccoy Primary School, you'll be introduced to Rob Cook in the Mental Ward (Psychiatrist). From there, Marena will introduce you to the Stevens Maternity Ward, at which Renee Edwards will serve as your magic connection to Mike and the shiny Fire Brigade. * HEIKICHI CAMPBELL - Great for grocers and super stores. He will also bring you to the hotel, a new level exclusive. *MASSIMO MCKEEL - A connection you'll get from Heikichi, an average family guy who will be the springboard your grocers\super stores. Hearing also has the distinction of introducing you to Locke Knight, who runs a hotel. You may wish to save it until your town is a bit more built up. * Alright, here's the one everyone cares about. This will lead you to an Amusement Park. The key resident is Vinny Dixon, but the park is hidden well in many connections. Let's see if we can get this right. Vinny Dixon --> Morthon Shepard (Primary School) --> His workmate, Tim T. Campagna --> Reeves Moon (Toy Shop) --> Goro Robinson (Book Shop) --> Goro's partner Kylene --> Howell Craig (Karaoke) --> His partner Lona Torres is your magic connection. She will introduce Kennan Klein, who runs a flippin' AMUSEMENT PARK! Remember, this guide only scratches the surface. A full listing of everyone and their introductions can be found in the Introductions FAQ. Since Level 5 is basically the "magnum opus" level, pretty much every building can be accessed through connections. You just have to find out why, and in Level 5, it's taxingbut still fun at the same time, there's enough variety to keep you going. LEVEL EVENT: YOU DON'T SEE THOSE EVERY DAY! ============================================ Since some people don't like spoilers I've saved them for a special section. To find out what happens search for [YOU DON'T SEE THOSE EVERY DAY!] If you can actually make it to the end of this level, there's even more in store; though I'm sure by this point, since you will have technically won the game, you might be ready to call it quits. =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ ================ = EXTRA LEVELS = ================ The difficulty gets raised a good deal in the Post Level-5 levels. Level 6 is still acceptably challenging, but Level 7+, the residents become much less patient, because in theory, you now have a much bigger Town's Pages. Level 8 will likely have you wanting to pull hair out with how quickly complaints can come and go, and I can only imagine how much worse it gets beyond that when numbers start climbing above 2,000. You'll have the same goals in different patterns and themes, and there are scripted events which will grant you a few more buildings (Level 8, for example, features an event themed around a Ramen Noodle Shop, which is different from the Chinese Noodle Bar and Noodle Bars). But, for the most part, you'll have met all the buildings, and you'll meet plenty of new residents to fill out your town's pages into the thousands. These are just there to keep the game fresh. As such, make sure that you plan these levels VERY well to prevent problems before they happen, because the increasing impatience and addition of random events on a much larger scale add to the challenge so much more! =============== = B6. LEVEL 6 = =============== ~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ Target:Build a town dependant on fishing with more than 500 people. 25% of the buildings must be dependent on fishing industry. New Buildings Introduced: RESTAURANT - Mexican Bistro FISHING - Scallop Culture, Sea Urchin Port, Bonito Culture, Yellowtail Port, Tuna Port ~-------------------------------------------------------------------------~ Beyond level 6, you no longer begin new towns with new residents. From this point on in the game, you'll need to rely on your town's pages to get started. You will assuredly have a decent number of contacts by this point in the game, and as you progress further, while there are still new people to meet, you'll see an increasing number of recycled residents. As I noted above, it is possible (though I personally haven't confirmed how) that you will run into a Mexican Bistro before this level. I just listed it here because I personally didn't run into it before I passed 2,000 on Level 5. I don't believe this is a Level 6 exclusive, but you will run into it via "Famous Mode" or through introductions for sure here. Same goes for the new fisheries, if you expand your fishing contacts in Level 5 you'll likely run into them just the same. KEY RESIDENTS: * HELAINE ALBERT (Alford Local Hosptial) is probably the most useful woman in the whole level! It seemed like every civic complaint, and even some non-civic ones, all came right back to her. You MUST have her in your town! The hospital is introduced via RUSSEL KEENAN (Keenan Fisherman's Home) * ARDEN COSTA (Costa Fisherman's Home) is introduced by Leah (Santana Scallop Culture). He's an important springboard for "place for..."/entertainment complaints. * KIM BUTTON (Button Trevally Port) is a helpful springboard to additional residents as well as restaurants. * BRANDON BURNS (Burns White Bait) or ALEX HAMPTON (Hampton Tiger Prawn Culture) will both basically lead you to offices, factories, and gas stations. * KC ROSS's partner Keir (Ross Fish Market) will introduce you to the Rowland Seafood Shop, a great place to find other grocers from. =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =============== = B7. LEVEL 7 = =============== ~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ Target: Build a town with more than 1000 people. Well, this is just a build-it-up town. You've got a fair amount of water to work with. Quite interestingly, you start with absolutely nobody in your list. At this point in the game, I didn't run into any new buildings. ~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ I don't have any commentary on this level. It's a plain-and-simple sandbox. Build up a nice town, no additional stresses. Level 8 will be a doozie, so make this an enjoyable experience. So, on that note, from this level on... SAVE OFTEN! =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =============== = B8. LEVEL 8 = =============== ~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ Target: Build a business center with more than 2000 people. 20% of the buildings must be offices. NEW BUIDLINGS: RESTAURANT - Noodle Bar (Ramen Noodle Shop) ~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ Remember Level 5? Because you're doing this 2,000 people thing all over again, but this time in the business center theme. As always, it won't be that difficult to stay in that limit, 20% is pretty generous. However, that being said, I do believe this has the distinction of being "That One Level" for the game. It's frustrating in terms of number of people, double as frustrating because your residents can start a complaint at an already angry-level, and triple frustrating because in this level, I had a 1-2 disaster punch. What? DISASTERS? Oh dear! Well, not like a tornado or hurricane, but rather, two distinct giant mass complaints, one of which is caused by residents with a very short fuse. See the [UNEMPLOYMENT SLAM] and [INSECT PLAGUE] for details. And then, if that wasn't enough, there's actually ANOTHER (non-disaster) event involving a Ramen Noodle Shop, a new building for this level. See [NOODLES] for the dirty deets. TIPS: Despite the fact that this a business center and there's a lot of water (perhaps leading you to think that you shouldn't waste land for farms), farmers actually play an important role, especially if you encounter the [INSECT PLAGUE] event. Most importantly, befriend all your farmers and farming to best-friend status while you still can, it will make the event that much more tolerable. Land will be tight, but there's enough to make it to 2,000; especially if you build some roads over water and build next to them. The [UNEMPLOYMENT SLAM] event requires more than a few "Employment Agencies". I talked about these briefly in the complaints section, but they're stand-alone buildings with a red application, distinct from "Employment Company" office buildings. To expedite this event, make sure you're on good terms with several schools and civic buildings. =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ B9. LEVEL 9 ~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ Target: Build a leisure town with more than 1000 people. 20% of the buildings must be amusement facilities. ~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ So basically, a repeat of Level 3. I just got started here, but for right now, am happy with where this FAQ is. If there's enough interest in the game, I'll try to release a next update to Level 10. TIPS: You'll have a new [FORTUNE TELLER CRAZE] event to contend with in this level, so be extra vigilant for any leads to fortune tellers. =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ B10. OTHER EVENTS /\ SPOILER WARNING - I know this is an FAQ, and you want to be spoiled, / \ but for those who don't want some of the events spoiled, the details / ! \ of many in-game events that you aren't expecting are below. Consider ------ yourself warned accordingly. =================== ="HELP ME!" EVENTS= ==================== These events can occur at any level, and at any time. They affect one resident at random, and if you choose to help them out, it will lead to a very nice boost to your relationship. You can sometimes know these events are coming by dialogue a character may say that will have you wondering "Well what does that mean?" LOST CHILD ---------- You start hearing: "I'm getting ready, talk to me later" Hearing a parent utter this sentence is code for "I'm about to lose my own kid". When the distressed parent talks to you, you have the option to help them find their toddler, which won't be hard considering that you just don't see them on the street. Be on the lookout for a little toddler going rogue and going wild painting the town red. Whether or not you can actually find them, after a few hours the parent will call and say they did, but thanks for your help. So I guess you could totally ignore it, but I imagine there's more of a boost if you do find them. HELP ME FIND ------------- You start hearing: "Can you help me find the Doe family This-or-That?" You need to help your resident find their location. They'll kind of awkwardly hop from building to building behind you, so don't walk too fast or they'll yell at you. Take too long and they'll get angry, but in general, it should only be a matter of finding the building somewhere in a nearby area. Just be sure to pay attention to where they ask you to, they won't remind you until they're angry! PROMOTE THE SHOP ----------------- You start hearing: "Can you promote this shop around town?" A new business owner was too cheap to hire a PR guy, but there's none better than you, oh mighty Metropolismaker. If you can be troubled to shamelessly hawk this reputable enterprise, he'll really appreciate it. All you have to do to do it is hunt people down on the street and tell them to go there. If you're not complaint jumping, I'd do it, but it can be annoying when you want to solve a complaint. Luckily you can decline it. Here's a pro-tip, be sure to head back to the business after, there will be 10-20 new people there ripe for harassing with the outside-the-home easier relationship build! MAKE THE DELIVERY ------------------ You start hearing: "Can you make a delivery? I'm under-staffed" The local pizza guy needs you to make a delivery. The key here is you have to find the place quickly, and with so many buildings, you may forget where this one person lives. Odds are they're in the area, but if you can't make it in like an hour, you'll get an angry call about how the pizza guy should never have bothered and will NEVER CALL YOU AGAIN! Wow, rude. Luckily you can opt out if you're not getting paid enough to deliver a Pepperonchino. DO THE SHOPPING FOR ME! ------------------------ You start hearing: "Remember this list" You have no choice in the matter, a busy housewife will make you run to 2 or 3 different stores to get her groceries for her. Wow, lazy. If you forget what goes where, section D3 lists everything possible. You don't even have a choice in this one. Just go do the shopping, it'll only take a bit and you'll get a boost with your shopkeepers. Take too long and she will get angry for imposing on YOU! Wow, rude again! I WANNA BET ------------ You start hearing: "Can I borrow $100?" Mr. Useless Riddle man likes going to the horse races, and has no shame in asking your for YOUR money to gamble. He more or less, double or half. If his horse wins, he returns you $200. If the horse loses, you're out $50. Personally, as a millionaire, $100 is like pennies and a small price for an instant best friend. Or maybe, my "bets friend", ha ha ha! ============================= =DISASTERS \ MASS-COMPLAINTS= ============================= Most notably in the post-game levels, but noted to have occurred earlier sometimes, are your "disasters". While you won't, say, see a tornado cut through your city (not that I'm aware of yet), you'll be having a good time and building up your city when for some odd reason, your AR starts crashing, down, down, and down. You'll notice, "Hey wait, your AR can really go below zero? What's going on?". Next thing you know, your GPS lights up like a Christmas tree and you're now dealing with complaints that literally affect HUNDREDS of your citizens. If you can't solve them, and fast...yes, you really will see all HUNDRED of them make a mass exodus out of your city at once. All that hard work, all those introductions, gone...and to make matters worse, your boss won't overlook it on your salary review! ---------------------------- - Can't I Just Build, Ugh! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Is there a way to bypass these, or are they mandatory? One of the readers, - - (credit), suggests that these events may be tied to certain conversation - - topics. For example, the unemployment slam may have something to do with - - talking to a resident about unemployment, and the fortune telling craze may - - have something to do with the "Fortune Telling Boom" conversation topic. - - As such, you may wish to negate these types of topics if you want to be - - free to build without these constraints, and it would seem that you can - - avoid the insect plague by staying on top of your debris count. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ However, there are some upsides: by the later levels, you're likely able to deal with them, when you solve the complaint, that AR rating shoots straight up to 120%, and...luckily, you're given some warnings. You probably know by now that when more than one residents starts prefacing their conversation with some comment about unemployment or something around town, that you're on the verge of an event, right? Well, take this as your sign to save yourself from a rage quit. SAVE YOUR GAME NOW BEFORE THE EVENT PROGRESSES EVEN MORE!!! So far, I've run across two events, both of which smacked me in Level 8. Undoubtedly, there are more in future levels, but this FAQ only goes up to the beginning of Level 9. [UNEMPLOYMENT SLAM] ~ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ | WHAT'S GOING ON? | |Your town has been slammed by unemployment. I would say not seen since the | |1930s, but the 2010s haven't been kind to recent graduates either. Anyway, | |people are getting laid off, fired, and let go. Every citizen you talk to | |has a resident effected. The slam will be so hard that all of your residents| |will become useless for a time. By the way, this has nothing to do with | |the "Depression" conversation topic you'll occasionally get with your | |businessmen. | | | |WHAT WILL I START HEARING? | | "My friend just lost his job" | | "We're in a really bad depression now" | | | |HOW DO I FIX IT? | |Two words: Employment Agency. The stand-alone variety that you start seeing | |in Level 5. Unless you were previously warned (you're welcome...), you might| |be at a loss for them. No worries, you undoubtedly know of many schools. | |As your civic buildings educate, protect, and heal your population,so too | |will they help you deal with unemployment. | | | | | | WHEN DID YOU SEE IT? | | Level 8 around 500 residents | ~ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ [INSECT PLAGUE] ~ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ | WHAT'S GOING ON? | | You're just minding your own business when your residents start talking | | about annoying insects. Hm, well, maybe it's summer so the insects hatched | | No big deal, right? Oh, my friend, if only you knew. Your town has a pest | | problem, and believe you me that EVERY LAST RESIDENT will make it known. | | Not sure what caused it, nor what to do, you may occasionally get a vague | | hint about changing the environment, but your citizens will turn to you,and | | since the insects are super-annoying, everyone will want a pest control,and | | fast too! Just to screw with you, they even programmed the people to tell | | you how disgusting the insects, each time using up one of those valuable | | two chances to score your AR hike and your vital introduction. This is | | hair-puller and rage-quit material here, and you'll likely not even realize | | that something is going wrong, adding the stealthiness to this player punch!| | | | WHAT WILL I START HEARING? | |"These insects sure are annoying!" | |"The insect plague is destroying the crops!" | | | | HOW DO I FIX IT? | | You probably have realized that residents get angrier faster now, but you | | probably don't realize that if you don't bulldoze the moved out residents' | | building ruins, that you're actually causing a whole new pest problem! | | Since the fuses of your residents get shorter and shorter with each level, | | you'll probably be able to deal until now, when it's really hard to stop | | some from moving with only a few hours to fix some complaints. And,despite | | the cryptic hint about farms, don't think they're the source of the insects!| | They help you, not hurt you on this disaster, so don't bulldoze them!Enlist | | all the farmers you can in your battle against these unspecified insects! | | To remedy the complaint, place Pest Controllers centrally in your affected | | districts. They each cover a wide radius, so go for 5-6 all over your map | | rather than 2-3 concentrated in one district. That will solve the complaint,| | but not the problem. To solve the problem, invite someone from a 2x2 | | building into your town, and use them to scan your entire map for any of | | the building ruins tiles left in your game. Then, place them over any tiles | | you see to bulldoze them so that the insects no longer have a place to | | re-populate, just like real pest control. Keep moving and moving this place | | so that you get every last one! Be thorough, you have to get them all! | | Double-check your coastlines and any bridges and every inch, because if you | | don't get them all, the insects will respawn and yes, they can even create a| | SECOND WAVE on your town that requires an ENTIRELY NEW SET of Pest Control! | | Unfortunately, when you get them all, they don't go away right away. You | | still have to "fight off the stragglers", I guess. But, assuming you do a | | great job, the insects will be extinguished and the game should return to | | normal later that night, and you should be fine by the next day. | | | | WHEN DID YOU SEE IT? | | Level 8 around 1000 residents | ~ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ [FORTUNE TELLERS CRAZE] ~ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ | WHAT'S GOING ON? | | Who hasn't wanted to peak into the world of fortune telling to discern a | | bit about the future. It would seem at this point, some of those gossip | | topics seems to turn into mass complaints if given the time. Your residents | | are dying to know their future, so either see the section below, or avoid | | saying "Yes" to a conversation topic about the Fortune Telling Boom | | | | HOW DO I FIX IT? | | Fortune tellers are known to be one of the hardest places to get. I will | | first point you to the Introductions FAQ, where you can already unearth 4 | | of them. As the building is an entertainment building, look at your "place | | for" type establishments. Movie Theaters, Fishing Ponds, | | | | WHEN DID YOU SEE IT? | | This will appear in Level 9, a leisure town. | | | | THANKS ALEX! | | This tip was provided by reader Alex G (alexg6@gmail.com). If you found | | this advice helpful or it saved you some trouble, be sure to send a quick | | thank-you note! | ~ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ ======================================== = SPECIAL LEVEL EVENTS, LEVELS 2-5, 8 = ======================================== The following section spoils and tells you all the dirty deets about how each of the level events for 2-5, and an additional one I encountered in Level 8 play out. These are most significant because they lead to new residents, and take probably almost a year to fully play out. I didn't list them above with the rest of the level blurbs for anyone who wanted to save the joy of the mystery of what will happen next. Each of these will tell you what happens and how you can fix it. ============================================================================== LEVEL 2 - LEVEL 2 - LEVEL 2 - LEVEL 2 - LEVEL 2 - LEVEL 2 - LEVEL 2 - LEVEL 2 ============================================================================== [THE INVESTIGATION] In Level 2, a police investigation begins over something not normally seen in an E-Rated game, a crime investigation! Here's the Cliff's Notes for what happens. Do you wonder why some of the names just seem off? There's a reason indeed! Residents with Japanese names that move in initially are all connected to the crime spree. You'll need a few police stations and decent sized population before this will start. - You'll be sitting pretty in your neat little town, when all of a sudden, one of your residents calls you to report a theft. But you aren't the police you say, and rightly so, they aren't doing their job! They aren't calling for your help, but to tell you that your town is useless, they're angry, and they're leaving. You'll lose a resident just like that. Ouch. Try to talk to the police involved, and they're "busy". - You can now ask around town about that thief. All you'll get is something about "there have been lots of burglaries". Wait until the next in-game day, and another resident will call to vent their anger about crime and then move out. - The angry resident bit happens yet again the following day/month. At least after the third time, you can find out that the police are dealing with a smuggling case. - You can now ask your residents about both the smuggling and theft. I think you have to do this X number of times before another theft will occur, but this time, the police recovered an earring at the crime scene, that must belong to the thief. - To save you a lot of time, you have a gal named Nekoda who lives in an apartment. Show it to her, and she'll want to go for a walk. Walk all over town with her, and she'll tell you about "that man", and then she will confess who it is, and will "call you later" - Two days/months after, she'll call you and show you a police memo pad, which implicated the police in the crime. You'll have to find a cop around town who is "legit". The only one who is available, is the Inuyama police, who you should talk to. You'll have to wait another day/month - The next day, you'll get a call about a stolen gun. One of the police stations will ask you to come by, so do so. They'll show you the other earring (allegedly Nekoda's). It doesn't matter how you respond, because something else is brewing. - Later that night, in your CHEERY GAME, when you're least expecting it, in the middle of the night, *BANG*. A GUNSHOT! It scared me pretty good, you'd never expect it in this otherwise cheery game. After you hear this, go back to the Inuyama police, and they'll want answers. Take them to Nekoda and see how it plays out... - So basically, the guy cop was crooked, and the girl cop is the honest one. They report to HQ, and the station is closed down. As for Nekoda, she's taken to a hospital in another town to recover for her safety, but she moves out to. - The event is over, and you can get back to town. Have fun repairing your AR rating after you just lost like six buildings and suffer the move outs penalty accordingly. Humorous side note: Nekoda can mean "It's a cat" in Japanese, and Inuyama can mean "Dog Mountain". So, this case involves a cat and dog getting into it. Stealth pun! ============================================================================== LEVEL 3 - LEVEL 3 - LEVEL 3 - LEVEL 3 - LEVEL 3 - LEVEL 3 - LEVEL 3 - LEVEL 3 ============================================================================== [THE NEW GROUP OF CITIZENS] In Level 3, you'll start noticing that some of your people are gradually beginning to wear strange pins on their clothes. What's up? Well, the first one you see with one will ask you to allow "Asuka", of the Crazy Cult to move in. As much as you don't like the idea of a crazy cult moving in, your residents are going to get swept up in the craze and you'll be powerless to stop it. Might as well concede and just get it over with. - When Asuka moves in, he'll ask you to invite his PR Rep, who will then invite three more cult members in over time. By the time you get to the last one, your entire town has been swallowed by Crazy Cult! Oh no! - This is very frustrating because instead of talking normally, they'll be all crazy about the cult and not be able to shut up about it, barring you from chatting and even trying to get introductions. What's not that great is that your people will still develop complaints. To cheat around this, call the family in the Town's Pages, this glitch will remove their Crazy Cult obsession long enough to see what's up. - At the very least, talking about the cult will grant an automatic boost to your relationships, so spam it up. You'll have new friends when this washes over. It does wash over, right? - Yes, when all five houses are built, sooner or later you'll get a call from a man with a humorous face who claims to be the OG. Let him move in, he has a tiny 1x1 house (smallest building in the entire game). Talk to him and he'll teach you about the cult and ask you to play "Mondo", a game where you can't contradict yourself. Then, you'll go play it with cult members. Here's how to answer for each person: - Asuka: YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/NO/NO/NO/NO/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES After talking about your daily chores, Asuka loses. Then go to Uru. - Uru: YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/NO/NO/NO/YES/YES/NO Then you defeat him, and go to Rouran. It starts getting longer... - Rouran:YES/YES/NO/YES/YES/YES/YES/NO/YES/NO/NO/YES/NO/NO/NO/NO/NO/YES/NO/NO Then you go on to, uh...Memphis? - Memphis:YES/NO/YES/YES/NO/NO/YES/NO/YES/NO/YES/YES Then he loses, and then you go to the leader, Dora Bieda...(hehe, the face on this guy.) - D.B: YES/NO/NO/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/YES/ YES - Yay, you win. Game over for the cult. The entire town goes back to normal the next day, with the entire town not knowing what just happened. They will be out of commission still on the day you defeat them, but come the next day, it's back to Metropolis-making. ============================================================================== LEVEL 4 - LEVEL 4 - LEVEL 4 - LEVEL 4 - LEVEL 4 - LEVEL 4 - LEVEL 4 ============================================================================== [WHAT IS THAT THING?] - Level 4 Forget #tbt, we're going way back in time here. Mankind has been farming for thousands of years, so all the more appropriate that CAVEMEN make an appearance in this level. No more murders or cults, no...you just have strange residents moving in. But how do you get them? - For me, around the 100 people mark, one of the residents will ask you to let Ijuin move in. Go ahead and allow it if you want cavemen. If nothing else, you should do this just to see how um....interesting...these people's faces are. I'm not spoiling what it is, but it's funny. - You'll eventually get requests for Morimoto, Yamazaki, and Shibata. The more the merrier, I always say. There's nothing stopping you if you don't want them, but c'mon, these are some of the best residents in the game! I'd highly recommend that you cluster them together. - One day, a naughty child will sneak some food from the fridge, and their parent wants you to investigate, because, uh...not my problem? This is the best level for cheesiness, the complaint gets logged in as "...wants me to check what the children are playing with". LOL. - Talk with all of these uh.."children" some more, and you'll find out that the alleged child thief extraordinaire is dropping food into a hole, from which he found a red stone. Then the little brats go from helpful to demanding ransoms to continue the plot. Great. - Hikaru wants the same robot as Yamazaki has. So, go to Yamazaki and tell him you'll do anything to get the robot. But, you have to deliver a letter for him. Um, OK? Weird. - You'll find out that Yamazaki dropped his doughnut in the park, and when looking for it, he stumbled upon a strange hole and a strange voice. So, he um, decided to...throw doughnuts down the hole? Then he heard a voice, but doesn't know what it is. So he grabs his friends, and they go to down throwing food at this thing. Busted! - But alas, you are a Metropolismaker of your word, so you must go deliver the letter. As much as you want to, now your town has become useless again over some new strange game all of the impressionable children are playing! - Wait another day, and a mom will call and ask you to find this hole. Go back to Yamazaki, and get his letter. You have to deliver his love letter to Morimoto, who will take the letter and give you the stone. - Take this new stone to Hikaru, and he'll tell you where this hole is, but only because Sakaya asked. Then, go talk to Mommy Shibata, and tell her about the stone. She'll say it could be a fossil, and as it turns out, she knows a university professor who is just the guy. You'll get introduced to a brand new UNIVERSITY (!!!). - When the University is built, talk to Mils Baldwin and show him the stone. This budding Sherlock Holmes will tell you it came from the Stone Age(...), and is about friendship by um...judging races? What? I don't know either. Anyway, there COULD BE ruins! - So, go back to Miyamoto, and tell her about the stone. She'll be disgusted by it, so take it back to Iyujin. With his precious snacks at stake, he'll take you to the park, and show you the hole. Follow him, and throw the stone back into the hole. IT will hit some poor thing who has likely been assaulted with hundreds of doughnuts. - This person will reveal that the children have fed him, and the hole connects to his house. Since the professor explains that they are lazy people who didn't get food, Okkun will want to move in so he can get food. Wow, lazy! Accept, and voilà, you now have your first cave resident. Say no, and you don't get your cave-citizens. Now, a bit of an anthropology moment here, you need to teach him a greeting.Put whatever you so desire, but just remember he's going to say it every time he sees you.EVERY TIME. - Once you invite him in, the town will become totally engaged and engorged on the news, and will make so many jokes about caveman clothes. When Okkun finally moves in, the town will get a hold of itself and get back to normal. Your level event is now over, and you get a cool caveman house and may even get to see the super high-tech caveman car if you're observant. Haha, best event of the game! Well, is it compared to the next one? You be the judge. - OK-Kun means "Mr. OK" in Japanese. He's OK. ============================================================================== LEVEL 5 - LEVEL 5 - LEVEL 5 - LEVEL 5 - LEVEL 5 - LEVEL 5 - LEVEL 5 ============================================================================== [YOU DON'T SEE THOSE EVERY DAY] - Level 5's Special Event What is with this game and its mellow soundtrack with the violent noises? When I was around 500 people or so, I was just strolling through my town when I was startled yet again by the sound of something crashing. What was it? A meteorite, but perhaps, a sign that my cute little town wasn't as alone as once thought, and so this level's event begins. You'll get back to normal wondering what's next, only to have one of your supermarkets call and say that food theft is becoming a real problem, and some er...delicious chili peppers were burgled. So, you get back to solving complaints and wondering who would steal chili peppers, then... - One or two days later, if you talk to a kid, they'll ask you to take you to a restaurant where they use lots of chili peppers, but to be honest, I think any old restaurant will do, the nearby Pasta Restaurant I went to must make some spicy stuff! So, take the kid there, and then... - You'll receive a call from that restaurant a couple of days later with yet another chili pepper theft! Ay caramba! The next day, the police will hatch a plan and capture the thief red-pepper-handed....only to find out that the masterminds are none other than elementary school children. Ay caramba indeed! - Being nosy about town will help you piece together that children are once again, tossing food to something at their school. Next thing you know, your residents become VERY excited about the "chili boom" - Find more children to ask about their wonderful games. Just head to your local school on a weekday until you find one who wants chili peppers. REMEMBER THE KID'S NAME! Go ahead and buy some peppers from the supermarket, and the owner will let you have some for free, so long as you promise to "tell the kids about my buns" (!!!). - Return to the kid, give them the chili peppers, and they'll reveal that they're taking them to school to feed "Uku", who is in the back shed. They'll take you to their local school, and just like that, you are introduced to.... - Uku, your first alien resident! Literally, an outer space alien! He will tell you in broken English that they want to live in the town. Accept or deny, it's your choice! if you accept, the new Spaceman's house will be available to build, and your residents all across town will become useless and only able to talk about the aliens! This completes the event for Level 5, and actually, is the last scripted new resident event in the game. However, other events will still occur in future levels, just none of them will have extra cool residents or anything. ============================================================================== LEVEL 8 - LEVEL 8 - LEVEL 8 - LEVEL 8 - LEVEL 8 - LEVEL 8 - LEVEL 8 ============================================================================== [NOODLES] - Level 8's Special Event ---------- You start hearing: "I don't like interviews" "You'll get more customers if we do an interview" Keep notice of the bars you're being introduced to. Amongst the various noodle bars that will populate you town, one will be the Ganko Ramen Noodle Shop. When you see this one, you'll start the Noodles event. The proprietor will be a unique "Stubborn noodle chef of noodle shop". When you talk to him, he'll tell you about how he wants "No interviews", with his son determined to do so to boost publicity. - Not too long after talking to them, you'll receive a call from a local office resident seeking an interview with the old man. He'll come and meet you where you are and want to be taken to the Ramen shop. Take him there, and watch him get denied his interview. - The next day/month, another office resident will call. Again, you'll be asked to meet with this person together to the Ramen shop. And like last time, they'll be denied. But, in an added the twist, the son gets so angry at his dad's stubborn nature that he'll quit and wander off into some part of your town. basically disappearing for the day. Even if you try and follow him (to make the future steps a bit easier), he'll walk into a random building and disappear. - Then, the next day, you'll receive a call from a Ms. Anzu Ayakawa, who wants to move in to interview the ramen shop. Go ahead and let her in, she's the one who advance the plot! She'll move in for the day, but like all events, it will take another day to advance the plot. Remember where you place it, you'll need to go back to it! - The next day, she'll ask you to meet her at her apartment, and then you'll head together to the ramen shop for her interview. This one goes slightly better, but still feels wrong without Jin, the son, being there. You see, Anzu is an old friend of his and it hurts her to see their family fight. You then get volunteered to find him. He's somewhere in your city wandering the streets. - Since Anzu never tires or gets angry, wait until 9-10 PM, when nobody else is otherwise on your streets. He'll stick out like a sore thumb. Bring Anzu within range of him and they'll chat, him agreeing to go back and talk to his father one more time. They return to the restaurant, but dad and son fall out again, and the son leaves again...but Anzu will take over his job. There's still one more plot twist, of course. - THe next day, around 11 AM or so, the son will call, mysteriously be at Anzu's apartment, and claim she fainted, and you should meet him at her apartment. When you get there, they'll both make up, he'll promise to go visit his father, and even...propose marriage to her! She'll accept and then you'll all go to the Ramen House to celebrate. The family makes up, and there's a happy ending to this level. You now have access to the Ramen Bar! Well, you do the following day via the son, that is. The father will continue to boast about his noodles even after the even is over. - Fun note: Gin will introduce you to the "Ittetsu Chinese Food" (what an interesting family name), which is another Noodle Shop. =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ CCC C C C SECTION C - GENERAL STRATEGIES AND TIPS C C CCC ========================= =C1. BEFRIENDING PEOPLE = ========================= Talking to your residents is the basis upon which all relationships are built and the basis upon which your AR rating is sky-rocketed and then lowered when you least want it, since SOMEONE has to have their NEW BUILDING NOW! You will often reach a point where there is one critical resident you need for an introduction, and the bar will take forever to increase. There are some simple strategies to make it rise and make things happen. 1) Solving a complaint will typically get you between one-half and a whole level up, so this is ideal. Make sure after each complaint you go back and visit the area, so all the people can give you their heartfelt thanks and you get free relationship points. If you don't revisit within a day, you'll lose your chance. Make sure to do this if your complainer was a senior citizen, nerdy character, or mom who likes to gossip in the park. These three are notoriously hard to win over. But, for those who don't complain, you still have other re-courses, of course! 2) Talk to people OUTSIDE of their homes. This is probably the easiest way to rack up all the points. If you're harassing them at home multiple times, especially in the morning or at late night, their bar will be less likely to go up. Also, gauge what category your resident fits into, figure out where they go (chances are it's within the neighborhood), and even if they're on the street, talk to them. Businessmen are at work and having power lunches. Housewives do shopping. Elders take strolls every day. Farmers have to move between plots of land. Fishers have to go to the fish market. You'll figure it out. Just stay outside of their home if you can help it! 3) People can even be more cheery at their place of work or a local restaurant. This also includes proprietors of businesses, they seem to be more sociable during business hours. From about 9:30 PM to 7:30 AM the next day, residents will be hard to socialize with, so I'd suggest you get most of your introductions during the day. 4)Keep in mind the differences between Week days and Week ends. In general, weekends are a little harder to get introductions during, as most people aren't at work. During the week days, it's quite easy to go to your nearest office block and blow up your towns pages within a few hours with the right conversation topics. As I mentioned, people are more sociable outside of their houses, so hit up your restaurants and entertainment venues on the weekends. 5)Presents are a good way to slightly budge a stalled meter when for whatever reason, your resident won't leave their home. A list that will get you started is found below. 6) Of all the residents, the "Mama's boy", "Nerdy" types, senior citizens and "mom who likes to gossip in park" are more difficult ones to befriend, because they have rare interests and conversation topics. Use gifts to bribe and buy their love when they won't leave their house. 7) Of all the residents, your restaurant/grocers and riddle men are the easiest to befriend. I know refilling your energy is tedious, but it does pay off in terms of saved time and high relationships with your food salespeople. You WILL need their friendship to really build up your towns. 8) You can only "Listen" to a resident two times before they get bored of you. It then takes about 30 in-game minutes for a resident to be "reset" to talk to you again. This is approximately equivalent to jumping on their roof twenty times? A but weird, but hey...it's a fitting quirk. Nothing screams a desperate mayor like jumping on a roof! 9)If you have a conversation topic that works for a resident, USE IT. They don't care if you talk to them about the same topic twice, or wait 30 minutes and say the same thing over again. In many cases, it only takes two or three conversation topics to jump from barely know the face to late acquaintanceship and sometimes even into your Town Pages. You'll typically get conversation topics from friends and above, and you only have a limit of five topics at once. As such, make sure to get a variety of topics, and try to only get one business/work-related one. Again, consider a nerdy friend or "mom who likes to gossip in park". 10)If you get the urge to mass-introduce residents from your towns pages as a quick population book, be aware that there is a maximum of 32 applications at one time; so if you fill it up, you will be unable to get new residents. 11)You'll only unlock the ability to have a resident move in to a new town via the "Introduce me!" command if they're at the Best friends level, otherwise they'll just introduce you to more people. ==================================== = C2. UNDERSTAING TYPES OF PEOPLE = ==================================== Certain types of residents have quirks that you don't really sit and think about, but when you do, it makes the process of befriending them better. Here are some notes on some of your residents if they're puzzling you. Nerdy residents - These guys are kind of hard to find outside their abodes, and furthermore don't really converse as smoothly as other characters. You should definitely go after one to solve a complaint, catch them at work, and save a conversation topic for one like "Anime Theme Songs". They're hard to befriend initially, but will be well worth it. Students (Student Accom)- One thing I often found is that my residents in certain apartments were always out for the most of the day. I would have never thought, being that they were 18, that they would actually still be in high school. Since Student Accoms and studio apartments look the same, it can be hard to remember which is which. However, one place to check for hard-to-get-to studio apartment people is in the nearest high or even junior high schools if they seem elusive. Not only will they likely be here for most of the weekdays, but conversing with the at school is a very quick boost to friendship. Farmers- As I've probably said ad naseum to this point, farmers are different from all other types of people. They need a different set of buildings,operate on a wake up early-go to bed early schedule, and are hard to find not tending their fields or making um...interesting poses picking fruit. It can take a while to befriend them, in between breaks of hearing them say "(Type of farm) I'm tilling the soil" ad naseum. They can be up as early as 3 AM.The key then, is to hunt them like prey.Sit there and watch them plow their fields or doing their task, and when they move for their next one,swoop on em and catch 'em! They'll be the most sociable they can be right at this moment. Fishers- Like farmers, they are a separate entity from your normal residents, and similarly, they wake up really early (2:30-3 AM). The main way to boost their relationship is solving complaints, but they're fairly sociable during the day. Senior Citizens - These ladies and gents have lived through a lot, and are generally kind, though their bars typically take a bit longer to fill. They have their own special set of buildings and also work on a slightly earlier schedule. Make sure they have groceries, parks, and a place to do their favorite activities. If you want their help, catch em during one of their morning or evening strolls or chat with them at the Fishing Pond. If you're nice enough, one of them might be able to introduce you to a Graveyard(!!!) ============================== = C3. Understanding your day = ============================== One thing that the game doesn't mention aside from a passing note in the instruction booklet is that you have weekdays and week ends. Certain buildings will not "function" on weekends (the background will be the same, but nobody's at work, so it's like your at someone's home); and the people (especially schools and offices) will be impossible to talk to. That is to say, that when you talk to them, it will be their day off and they won't be very sociable. You can tell by either the "WD" or "WE" on the top next to the population if it's a week day or a week end. Rain and snow will also make them more cautious about going outside the house and make residents harder to talk to. Here's a time table of what goes on when in your town to help you best plan your course of action ====================================================================== | | | Happens | Happens | | Time | Description | on | on | | | | Weekdays? | Weekends? | ====================================================================== | 12 AM | All "old" conversation | | | | | topics (2 days old) | YES | YES | | | disappear | | | | | | | | | | Police begin their | YES | YES | | | nightly patrol | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2:30 | Fishermen will start | YES | YES | | -3 AM | waking up en masse | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 AM | Most farmers will wake | YES | YES | | | up by now | | | | | | | | | 6 AM | Senior citizens will go| YES | YES | | | out for their morning | | | | | stroll | | | | | | | | | | "Early birds" will be | | | | | up at some of your | | | | | office and civic | YES | YES | | | buildings | | | | | | | | |6:30 AM| Children will be up for| | | | | school | YES | YES | | | | | | | | | | | | 7 AM | Construction from the | | | | | previous day will | YES | YES | | | resume | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Boss will call for your| | | | | bi-annual evaluation | N/A | N/A | | | during Month 6 and 12 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Most teens will be up | YES | NO | | | for school | | | | | | | | | 8 AM | Some teens and adults | | | | | will be awake by now, | YES | YES | | | not all. | | | | | | | | | 8:45 | Super stores will open | | | | AM | for the day | YES | YES | | | | | | | | | | | | 9 AM | Most adults will head | | | | | to work | YES | NO | | | | | | | | | | | | | Children and teens will| YES | NO | | | head to school. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10 AM | Workers will head to | | | |-12 PM | lunch | YES | NO | | | | | | | | Housewives will do | | | | | some shopping. | YES | YES | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 PM | Kids/Teens will be | | | | | dismissed from school | YES | NO | | | | | | | 5 PM | "End of the day" | | | | | tune plays at nearby | YES | YES | | | school | | | | | | | | | | Workers get off work | YES | NO | | | | | | | 7 PM | Construction halts for | | | | -7:30 | the night. | YES | YES | | PM | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8 PM | Elders may take a | | | | | night stroll | YES | YES | | | | | | | | Some adults may be | | | | | out at night-life | YES | YES | | | spots like bars. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8:30 | Super stores will | | | | PM | close for the day | YES | YES | | | | | | | | | | | | 11 | Most residents will | | | | PM | be asleep. | YES | YES | | | | | | ====================================================================== A Word on Building Construction ------------------------------- If you were wondering, construction of a building in total takes 7-8 hours, possibly more if it's a larger building. - The Application phase simply is the holding phase, and moves to processing as soon as you place a building, or within 2-3 hours with no response and an open segment of road. - The Process phase must be some paperwork. It takes 2-3 hours. - The Construction phase is made up several phase, each taking about 50 minutes, for a total of almost four hours. A) Tenting - A construction test goes up (45 minutes) B) Frame - The frame/construction zone goes up (50 minutes) C) Building Up -The rest of the building goes up behind a wall (50 minutes) D) Finished - The building is finished, but not move-in ready (30 minutes) E) DONE! - Residents move in after. If you're stacking an office or unit on top of a pre-existing ones, this shortens the length of time. - The Finish section entails the time between the building being completed, the residents moving in, the population being added to your current count, and the application being finished and off of your list. This takes 1 hour. DDD D D D D SECTION D - APPENDICES D D DDD =================================== = D1 GOSSIP \ CONVERSATION TOPICS = =================================== Once you reach the friend level with a resident of any type, you'll unlock the ability to get conversation topics from them. (e.g. "Kids Birthdays are important"), simply by Listening. You can only have a maximum of five at any time, and they have a "shelf life" of two days, clearing at midnight of the second day. If you say you agree, this will give you an option in the gossip category that will provide a guaranteed boost to your relationship with similar residents. If you disagree, nothing will come of it. Seeing as how you can only have a maximum of five topics, you should stay away from similar ones so that you have a broader reach: one for business, one for senior citizens, one for older women, another for your jocks, and another for party girls(!!!), and rotate them. They're the best thing ever to boost AR quickly! And the best part is, you can totally abuse it! People will love to say the same things over and over again. Is there a residents you like? Get their topic, find them, and spam it! You'll be best friends in no time! And most importantly, lean on your stereotypes of the people! The game sure does! Talk about wild things to people with play in their name, business topics to stiff suits, gossip to nosy neighbors, and the nerdy stuff that makes A/V club geeks gallop with glee to the nerds. Remember....Stereotypes! If you ever get a Work-related topic, shoot over to your local office block immediately and rake in those phone numbers! This lists all the topics discovered so far, and type of people that it will work with. When you get one, go to town and expand your list. They are listed alphabetically by what they are listed as under the Gossip column. In future updates, I will add in the actual in-game text for all of them. By the way, if you ever wondered why the game got smacked with a T rating, you should have a gander at some of these topics! AGING OF SOCIETY ================ ========================================================================== Middle-aged impatient woman AMATEUR RADIO ============= Knowledgeable nerdy guy who knows much about items Nerd who loves computers and video games. AN AFFAIR OF (SO-AND-SO) ======================== Middle-aged shameless woman ANIMATION (ANIME) THEME SONGS ============================= Knowledgeable nerdy guy who knows much about items. Nerdy girl who likes everything except her work, BAD COPS AND TEACHERS ===================== Guy who likes to give you advice Middle-aged shameless woman Playboy Workaholic middle-aged man BAD DEBTS ========= Ambitious Guy Workaholic middle-aged man COALITION GOVERNMENT ==================== Guy who likes to give you advice CHILD'S BIRTHDAY ================ Gossip queen housewife Middle-aged impatient woman Mom who likes gossiping in park CROQUET BOOM ============ Amiable Old Man Who Likes to Help Others Stubborn old man DRIVING DATE ============================================================ Athletic guy Gal who stalks her boyfriend Gal with heavy makeup Guy who likes to give you advice Hot Bartender with heavy makeup Ordinary Girl Playboy Playgirl EAGER ENTREPRENEUER ==================== Ambitious Guy Ambitious trendy guy ENTERTAINING CLIENTS ===================== Athletic Guy Middle-aged man who likes to tell jokes Middle-aged man with commercial smile Middle-aged man with commercial smile in pharmaceutical industry Middle-aged useless man EXAM PREP SCHOOL ================ Quiet boy FAIR-COMPLEXIONED GIRLS ======================= Gal with heavy make-up FUN TO DRINK (THIS IS SPORTS???) ================================ Guy who likes to give you advice Middle-aged man who likes to tell jokes Middle-aged man with commercial smile Playboy GIRLFRIEND OF (SO-AND-SO) ========================== Guy who likes to give you advice Playgirl GIRLS' SEXY SANDALS (!!!) ========================= Gal with heavy makeup Super model with heavy make-up Young lady with heavy make-up, GUITAR ====== Young man who thinks he's cool HOSTESS BARS\CLUBS ============================================== Athletic Guy Athletic Guy who likes to check out girls Middle-aged man who likes to tell jokes Middle-aged man with commercial smile Middle-aged man with commercial smile in pharmaceutical industry Middle-aged salesman with commercial smile Middle-aged useless man KARAOKE ======= Athletic Guy Gal who stalks her boyfriend Guy who likes to give you advice Guy who loves to eat and drink Hot bartender with heavy makeup Ordinary Girl Playboy Playgirl, Gal with heavy makeup LEARNING NEW THINGS =================== Mellow girl who can forecast weather Nice and Mellow Girl Ordinary Girl Ordinary middle-aged kind woman MAKE MONEY IN STOCKS ==================== Ambitious trendy guy Middle-aged commercial man Middle-aged man who likes to tell jokes MARATHONS (Run a Full Marathon) =============================== Athletic Guy who likes to check out girls PARTY GAME ========================================= Guy who likes to give you advice Ordinary Girl Playgirl Playboy PARTYING WITH GIRLS =================== Playgirl PICK UP A GIRL ======================================================== Athletic Guy Guy who likes to give you advice Ordinary Girl (!!!) Playgirl (!!!) POLITICAL COALITION ================================================================== Guy who likes to give you advice Playboy RECESSION ========== Ambitious Guy Middle-aged man who likes to tell jokes Middle-aged man with commercial smile Workaholic middle-aged man SEXY GIRLS (!!!) (!!!!!!) ================================================== Hot bartender with heavy makeup (!!!) Young lady with heavy makeup (!!!) SELF-MADE PC ============= Knowledgeable nerdy guy who knows much about items Nerd who loves computers and video games. SHOP AWAY STRESS ================================================= Gal who stalks her boyfriend Gossip queen housewife SHOPPING ======== Gal with heavy makeup Gossip queen housewife Mom who likes gossiping in park Ordinary Girl Playgirl SNOWBOARDING =========================================== Athletic Guy Guy who likes to give you advice Guy who loves to eat and drink Ordinary Girl Playboy Playgirl SOCCER BOOM =========== Athletic guy Guy who likes to give you advice Young man who thinks he's cool STRICT DISCIPLINE ===================================================== Middle-aged impatient woman Middle-aged man with commercial smile Middle-aged Shameless woman Workaholic middle-aged man SURFING ======= Young lady with heavy makeup VIDEO GAMES BOOM ================ Guy who likes to give you advice Knowledgeable nerdy guy who knows much about items Nerd who loves computers and video games WORKING ======= Middle-aged man with commercial smile Workaholic middle-aged man WORKING AWAY FROM HOME ============================================================= Workaholic middle-aged man Middle-aged man with commercial smile WORKING ON WEEKENDS ================================================= Middle-aged salesman with commercial smile Workaholic middle-aged grouchy man Workaholic middle-aged man Workaholic middle-aged man who loves noodles WORKING OVERTIME ================ Workaholic middle-aged man Middle-aged salesman with commercial smile Middle-aged salesman with commercial smile in pharmaceutical industry WORK OUT SQUATS =============== Athletic guy Athletic guy who likes to check out girls ========================== = D2. GIFTS AND SHOPPING = ========================== Giving gifts tends to be a bit more of a trend in Japan, and is thus reflected in this game. Certain shops will offer you items which you can hold and give to other people. Different people will react differently, sometimes a gift will only inch up a bar, sometimes it's shot a relationship up a level. I tend not to gift give until I'm rolling in dough. SAFE BETS ---------- (Will work for everyone, but not by much) Disposable Camera ($9) - Convenience Store GREAT GIFTS BY TYPE ------------------ GOSSIP QUEEN HOUSEWIFE Housewife's Magazine- Bookstore GUY WHO LIKES TO GIVE ADVICE DVD - Music Shop MIDDLE-AGED MAN WHO LIKES TO TELL JOKES Hamburger MIDDLE-AGED SHAMELESS WOMAN Rice - Grocery Store MOM WHO LIKES GOSSIPING IN PARK Housewife's Magazine- Bookstore NERD WHO LOVES COMPUTERS AND VIDEO GAMES Game - Music Shop ORDINARY MIDDLE-AGED KIND WOMAN Housewife's Magazine- Bookstore PLAYBOY Adult Magazine (!!!) - Used Book Shop QUIET BOY Book - Bookshop QUIET GIRL Book - Bookshop YOUNG LADY WITH HEAVY MAKEUP Book - Bookshop Silver Earrings - Jewelers ============================ = D3. STORES + RESTAURANTS = ============================ This section contains a list of all the various stores and restaurants which you can spend your hard-earned salary in. While most stores carry the same exact thing no matter who owns it, there are a few stores which sell things independently of each other. Typically, these are super stores, and each sells one or two exclusive items. These are addressed in the next section. Since the Music Store has a varying selection, it has its own section towards the end of the guide. PLACES BOOK SHOP BAR ============================ ====================== Town's Pages $20 Whiskey $10 Business Book $15 Brandy $12 Housewife's Magazine $10 Miked Nuts $6 Sports Newspaper $5 Assorted Cheese $10 JEWELERS USED BOOK SHOP ======================= ========================== Diamond Ring $49,950 Old Map $50 Pearl $1,000 Adult Magazine $50 Chronograph $3,000 Astrology Book $50 Glass Block $3,000 Bonsai Dictionary $50 GROCERS SEAFOOD SHOP LIQUOR STORE FRUIT & VEG. ==================== ================= ================ Bluefin Tuna $50 Juice $1 Radish $3 Horse Mackerel $10 Beer $2 Carrot $3 Saury Fish $10 Wine $9 Potato $3 Sardine $10 Sake $50 Cabbage $3 BAKERY BUTCHER SHOP ==================== ================== Hot Dog Buns $5 Chicken $10 Toasted Bread $5 Pork $10 Baguette $5 Beef $10 Sweet Bread $5 Mutton $10 SUPER STORES TAILOR SUPERMARKET ====================== ===================== Suit A $290 Shopping Bag $30 Suit B $290 Rice $50 Formal $290 Milk $3 Casual Clothes $29 Seasoning $3 DEPARTMENT STORE CONVENIENCE STORE =============================== ======================== High-Quality Beef $200 Riceball $1 Luxury Cosmetics $50 Sweets $2 Yellow Parasol $2,000 Evening Paper $1 High-quality Bag $2.200 Disposable Camera $9 STATIONERY STORE ELECTRICIAN ========================= =============================== Memo Pad $3 Car Navigation System $3,000 Ball-point Pen $2 Television $4,000 Money Envelope $1 Lamp $6,000 Pencil $1,000 Telephone Box $9,990 KIDS CLOTHING ======================= T-Shirt $39 Overalls $79 Toy set $50 Baby Stroller $480 RESTAURANTS HAMBURGER SHOP CHINESE NOODLE BAR FAMILY RESTAURANT ================= ========================== ======================= Hamburger $1 Pork flavored Ramen $7 Japanese Foods $9 Big Burger $3 Soy Sauce Ramen $5 French Meal $12 Apple Pie $1 Miso Ramen $6 Coffee $2 Milk Shake $2 Salt Ramen $5 Parfait $4 SAVORY PANCAKES (CREPES) COFFEE SHOP ============================ ========================== Savory Pancakes $8 American Coffee $4 Shrimp Tempura $6 Blue Mountain Coffee $6 Savory Tidbit Pancake $7 Kilimanjaro Coffee $5 Tako Yaki Griddle $5 Espresso $4 PASTA RESTAURANT NOODLE BAR =========================== ============================ Pepperonchino $10 Hot Noodle Soup $2 Calbonala Spaghetti $12 Hot Buckwheat Noodles $2 Malguerita $13 Wheat Noodles with Tofu $3 Caesar's Salad $7 Curry Noodles $3 CAKE SHOP TAKE AWAY LUNCH THAI RESTAURANT ===================== ===================== ===================== Shortcake $3 Seaweed Lunch $3 Tom Yam Soup $25 Brandy Cake $5 Stamina Lunch $6 Yam Un Sen $22 Gift Cookie $16 Curry Boxed Meal $4 Rice Paper Roll $8 Birthday Cake $28 Lunch Box Meal $5 Green Curry $18 FRENCH BISTRO CURRY HOUSE ========================== ========================== Wine $350 Veggie Curry $8 Roast Lamb $200 Chicken Curry $7 Shrimp and Mussels $200 Beef Curry and Rice $8 Fillet Steak $800 Pork Curry $7 KOREAN RESTAURANT PIZZA BAR ========================== ====================== Tongue (beef) $8 Cheese Pizza $10 Korean Barbecue $5 Seafood Pizza $22 Barbecue Sweetmeats $9 Curry Pizza $15 Liver $5 Deluxe Pizza $35 SUSHI BAR MEXICAN BISTRO =========================== =================== Toro $40 Tacos $8 Salmon Roe $16 Nachos $10 Conger Eel $8 Enchilada $12 Sushi Cucumber Roll $3 Tortilla $5 RAMEN NOODLE BAR (Level 8) ============================= Soy Sauce Ramen $6 Large Ramen $8 Diced Pork Ramen $10 Apricot Jelly $7 OFFICES REAL ESTATE OFFICE (Gee) ============================= Wooden House $29,970 Iron Frame House $299,970 Fashionable House $799,920 Mansion $999,990 FARM STORES FARMING MACHINES STORE ======================== Hoe $50 Sickle $30 Fertilizer $15 Nursery Tree $20 FISHING STORES FISH MARKET ===================== Angler Fish $100 King Crab $150 Abalone $100 Sea Urchin $100 ========================================== = D4. Town Decor + Soundtrack Exclusives = ========================================== -------------------------------------------- For the most part, all of the buildings in your town are a dime a dozen. That's to say, that a Fruit & Veg Shop from one family in Level 1 will sell the same things that a Fruit & Veg Shop from Level 5 from a totally different family will sell. But did you know roughly five of the business types actually sell unique/exclusive items? They fall into the category of town decor or, in the case of the Music Shop, soundtrack additions. Since they're more or less all exclusive, I lumped all the exclusives here. Essentially, from what I can gather, is that each of the town decor stores (Toy Store, Florist, Hardware Store, and Tiling Company) fall into four unique "sets", and each set of stores sells exclusive items you can use to decorate your town. In the case of the Music Store, the only exclusive item is the Soundtrack CD, and when you buy it, a new track is added in to the loop of MIDI files, which let's face it, you probably get tired of. So far, I've counted 10 different CDs, but there may be more. MUSIC STORE ====================== Book $10 Game $60 DVD $30 Soundtrack CD $30 Reggae- Ralph, Fraser, Biggs, Kellogg, Renn Will definite give your game a bit of a tropical feel. Japanese Country- Sawyer, Zhang I'd say it's more country than Japanese but it's a nice little fast-paced jig you could almost get up and dance to. Heavy Metal- Malone, Fisher, Shipley, Holmes I don't think this would truly count as heavy metal, but it's a fast paced and catchy tune with guitars. Jazz- Park, Mayan Beagle A soothing light jazz melody that evokes images of pleasant evening walks and a nice evening out on the town. R&B- Butler, Sawyer, Oliver, Dowson Add some "soul" into your game. UK Rock- Elton Robinson, Lefty Buckley A bit hard to describe, but it's got a prominent electronic guitar riff and a nice blues-style beat in the background. R&R - ??? (Contact lost, somewhre in Level 7 ) Stands for rock n' roll. Gives you a classic 1950's big-band type melody. Very energizing. House Music- Smith A kind of techno version of the typical soundtrack. Very uplifting and indeed reminiscent of the early 2000s mega dance hits. Think Spice Girls and raves. Bossa Nova- Santos, Burke An energizing Latino-style beat Folk Song - Clay, Hansen, Shepherd Another hard-to-describe one, but having Japanese elements to it. TOY STORE (Set A) TOY STORE (Set B) ============================= ============================= Miniature Car $50 Miniature Car $50 Stuffed Animal Toy $50 Maze Wall $3,000 Manhole $1,500 Pet Robot $1,500 Big Pyramid $99,990 Mushroom $2,500 TOY STORE (Set C) TOY STORE (Type D) ============================= ============================= Miniature Car $50 Unknown Stuffed Animal Toy $50 Figure $500 Shiny Mushroom $2,500 Set A Families: White, Set B Families: Flynn, Daniels Set C Families: Smart, Alden Set D Families: ???? FLORIST (Larson) FLORIST (Roberts) ========================== =========================== Expensive Orchid $300 Bouquet of Flowers $100 Flowerbed $5,000 Flowerbed $5,000 Tree $5,000 Pine $5,000 Chrysanthemum $3 Foliage Plaint $3 FLORIST (Sugarman, Butler) FLORIST (Childs) ========================== =========================== Expensive Orchid $300 Bouquet of Roses $100 Flowerbed $5,000 Flowerbed $5,000 Camphor $5,000 Palm Tree $5,000 Chrysanthemum $3 Foliage Plaint $3 Set A Families: Larson Set B Families: Roberts Set C Families: Sugarman, Butler Set D Families: Childs Tiling Company (Set A) Tiling Company (Set B) ================================== ========================== Honeycombed Tile $2,000 Orange Tile $2,000 Plaid Tile $2,000 Purple Tile $2,000 Red Check Tile $2,000 Ivory-Color Tile $2,000 Green Check Tile $2,000 Yellow Tile $2,000 Tiling Company (Set C) Tiling Company (Set D) ================================== ========================== Pavement Tiles $2,000 Obsidian Tile $2,000 Beige Tile $2,000 Green Tile $2,000 Marble Tile $2,000 Iron Tile $2,000 Asphalt Tile $2,000 Board Tile $2,000 Set A Companies: Spring Set B Companies: Mitchell Set C Companies: Maekawa Set D Companies: Floyd HARDWARE STORE (Gale) HARDWARE STORE (King) ========================= ========================== Moai Statue $14,995 Stonehenge $5,990 Garden Stone $2,500 Ancient Statue $14,985 Post $2,500 Cactus $2,800 Bench $2,000 Hydrant $2,000 Set A Stores: Gale Set B Stores: King, Boyd, Stock, Xavier ===================== = D5. THIS OR THAT = ==================== When meeting certain people, they'll ask you which of two things you prefer. Picking "their" favorite will grant you a bigger boost than simply picking your favorite. If you know anything about Japanese culture, pick the Japanese-sounding answer, usually. Whenever an option between something Japanese and something not presents, always pick the Japanese one (except for Chinese food.) as a rule of thumb. The list is alphabetized by the first of two options. Also, sometimes you may get some variation in answers depending on people. I'll try to note these in future updates. [Action Games] or Puzzle Games [Actors] or Singer [Achievement Salary] or Seniority System Advertisement or [Word-of-mouth] [Aerobics Class] or Swimming Classes [Aggressive Person] or Frog [Air Conditioner] or Electric Fan Alaska or [Florida] Alfalfa or [Radish Seed Sprouts] [America] or Europe American football or [Baseball] [American football] or Rugby American-Style Toilets or [Fancy Toilets] [Annual Payment System] or Monthly Pay Checks [Aspen] or Las Vegas Australia or [America] [Backpack] or Tote Bags Bali Island or [Phuket Island] Bank Deposit or [Credit Union Savings] [Barber] or Beauty Salon [Bargain] or Caramel Mochachino [Baskets] or Volleyball Bean-jam bun or [Cherry Pancakes] [Beautiful Women] or Cute Girls Bed or [Futon Bed] [Beef Tendon] or Chicken, eggs and rice bowl [Beef Tendon] or Cutlet on Rice [Beer] or Japanese Sake [Bicycles] or Motorbike [Bicycles] or Scooter Big Noodles or [Thin Noodles] [Blues] or Folk Song BMX or [Mountain Biking] Boxers or [Briefs] Boxing or [Professional Wrestling] [Brue Mountain Coffee] or Frosted Mocha Cabaret or [Bar] [Cabbage] or Lettuce [Camisole] or Knitted Shirts Carpet or [Tatami Mat] [Caviar] or Foie de Gras Chinese Fried Noodles or [Pasta] Chinese Pickles or [Japanese Pickles] [Clams] or Crabs [Credit Payment] or Cash Payment [Condos] or Single Family Home [Cool guys] or Hot Guy with no money [Curry] or Stewed Beef on Rice [Curtain] or Blind [Custom-Made Suits] or Ready-made Suits [Darjeeling Tea] or Ceylon Tea [Deep-Fried Pork] or Roasted Pork Disco or [Karaoke] [Dogs] or Cats Domestic Travel or [International Travel] Earpick or [Q-Tips] (Exception: Ordinary middle-aged woman, Ordinary middle-aged kind woman) Earring or [Pierced Earring] [Egg Noodles] or Buckwheat Noodles [Electric Shaver] or Razor Eyeglasses or [Contact Lenses] [Fish] or Meat [Flashy Chicks] or Quiet Person Floor Heating System or [Heater] Floor Heating System or [Heating System] [Foot Sal] or Half Court [Foreign Companies] or American Companies [Free Gift] or Sale Item Gamble or [Stock Investment] [Gangster Movie] or Classic Drama [Giants] or Hawks - (A reference to Japanese baseball) [Giants] or Tigers - (A reference to Japanese baseball) Girlfriends or [Bosses and Subordinates] [Glamour] or Slim Goldfish or [Carp] [Golf] or Mah-jong [Green Bean Rice] or Rice Boiled With Veg. [Group Date] or Picking Up [Hard Tofu] or Silken Tofu [Hawaii] or Australia [Heavy Make-up] or Light Make-up [Herb Gardening] or Gardening [Horror Movies] or Action movies [Horse Racing] or Bicycle Racing [Hot Sake] or Cold Sake Hot Sake or [Sake] Housewife or [Both Parents Working] [Ice Cream] or Sorbet Imported Cars or [Domestic Cars] [Investment] or Mutual Funds [Italian Cars] or German Cars Italian Wine or [French Wine] [Italian Cars] or German Cars Japanese Food or [Chinese Food] Japanese Style Bar or [Bars] Jelly Beans or [Strawberry Waffles] [Kalbi] or Tripe [Karate] or Judo Korean BBQ or [Sushi] [Long-distance Swimming] or Marathon Long skirts or [Mini-skirts] Magazine or [Newspaper] Mah-Jong or [Roulette] [Malibu] or Mississippi River Malls or [Designer Store] Mexican Food or [Japanese Food] Motels or [Business Hotels] Motor Boats or [Canoe] Mountains or [Ocean] Mousse or [Waxing Unwanted Hair] MP3 or [CD] Mystery Drama or [Soap Opera] Nurse's Uniform or [Sailorman's Outfit] Older Person or [Younger Person] [Outdoor] or Indoor Pajamas or [Sweat Pants] [Pickles] or Salad Pilaf or [Fried Rice] [Pinball] or Pinball Slot Machine [Pitcher] or Catcher [Poisonous Mushroom] or Shiitake Mushroom Popcorns or [Rice Cracker] [Pork] or Beef [Pork Buns] or Red Bean Buns [Potato Vodka] or Rice Vodka [Purple Eye Shadow] or Smoky Eye Shadow R&B or [Reggae] [Raddish] or Beef Tendon Red Wine or [White Wine] [Red Lipsticks] or Pink Lipsticks [Regular Mushrooms] or Truffles [Resort Hotels] or Japanese-style Inn Restored Juice or [Sports Drinks] [Rice] or Bread Rope Jumping or [Crouching Jump] Sandals or [Clogs] Sandwiches or [Riceball] Sea Urchin Eggs or [Salmon Roe] Sea Eel or [Eel] [Shark Fin] or Dried Abalone Shou A La Cream or [Cake] Shower or [Bath] Sit-Ups or [Push-Ups] Skate Board or [Roller Blade] Snowboard or [Ski] Spanish Rice or [Short Grain Rice] Spider Rolls or [California Rolls] [Sports Car] or Sedan [Sports Games] or Simulation Games Squat or [Bench Press] [Station Wagons] or Mini-vans [Steak] or Hamburger [Stockings] or Bare Feet [Student] or Office Lady Soup or [Miso Soup] Spider Rolls or [California Rolls] Sunny-side up or [Omelet] [Supermarket] or Malls [Surfing] or Body Boarding Sweat pants or [Knickerbockers] Sweets or [Spicy Food] Sweet Meat or [Mino] T-Shirt or [Tank Top] [Tahiti] or Maldives Taxi or [Bus] Tea or [Coffee] [Tempura] or Deep-Fried Chicken Tennis or [Soda] [Techno] or Hip-Hop Thai Rice or [Long Grain Rice] [Tofu Hamburgers] or Churros Tulip or [Roses] [Tuna] or Sardine Ulong Tea or [Green Tea] VHS or [DVD] Vodka or [Tequila] [Wheat Noodles] or Buckwheat Noodles [Whisky] or Brandy D6.Riddles ---------- There is a certain resident, the middle-aged man who loves riddles, who looks the same across the game and is the easiest of all residents to befriend, assuming you know a thing or two about riddles. He will ask you one, and sometimes they're harder than you'd think. The game then prompts you to enter your answer, and assuming you get it right, it provides a HUGE boost to your relationship, making this guy an easy friend. I listed these alphabetically using the answers, since it always gives you the first, sometimes two or three letters...or sometimes, even almost the whole thing. How many permanent teeth does an adult normally have? 32 What is the total number of bones in the human body? 206 What kind of dance do buns do? ABUNDANCE What dress does everyone have but no one wears? ADDRESS For what person do all men take off their hats? BARBER What fish has the lowest voice? BASS What animal is always at a baseball game? BAT What has a neck and a mouth, but does not have a head...BOTTLE What is lighter than a feather, but even the strongest man has a hard time holding it for one minute? BREATH Its job is to cross the river, but it keeps sitting day and night...BRIDGE What do you call a bull when it's sleeping? BULLDOZER How can you say rabbit without the letter R? BUNNY What has a head but no brain? CABBAGE What lives long if you keep it dead, but dies when you keep it alive...CANDLE The maker doesn't want it; the buyer doesn't use it; and the user doesn't see it. What is it? COFFIN What can you put in a glass but never take out of it? CRACK What bird can lift the most? CRANE The more you see of it, the less you see it. What is it? DARKNESS What kind of nut has no shell? DOUGHNUT What large instrument do you carry in your ears? DRUMS Which country make Panama hats? ECUADOR What is born, but not born yet, and not born yet, but is born...EGG What is the biggest ant? ELEPHANT What starts with 'e', ends with 'e' and only contains one letter? ENVELOPE What has a strong bone structure and moves quickly, but cannot stand up or walk? FISH Dogs have fleas. What do sheep have? FLEECE You've seen a map of Italy. In which direction does the boot face? FORWARD How many times can you subtract the number 5 from twenty-five? FOUR If there are 6 apples and you take away 4, how many do you have? FOUR What can't you see that is always before you? FUTURE What animal sticks its tongue out to show anger? GORILLA What has a head, can't think, but drives? HAMMER What can you add to a bucket of water that will make it weigh less? HOLES What cap is never removed? KNEECAP What comes to you even though it does not have legs, and it talks a lot even though it does not have a mouth? LETTER What goes around houses and looks into every window...LIGHT What burns without making smoke? LOVE What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in an hour? M What is the best month for a parade? MARCH What is the item that looks different depending on who looks at it? MIRROR What do people make that nobody can ever see? NOISE How much soil is there in a hole measuring one meter by one meter by one meter? NONE In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? NOVEMBER How many cookies can you eat on an empty stomach? ONE On which side of a chicken are the most feathers? OUTSIDE What trees do fortune tells look at? PALM What trees come in twos? PEAR What man is strong enough to stop a car with one hand? POLICEMAN What has eyes but can't see? POTATO What is a group of lions called? PRIDE What can you break without touching it? PROMISE What is a boxer's favorite drink? PUNCH What kind of bow can't be tied? RAINBOW Where do fish keep their money? RIVERBANKS What goes up and down the hill, but it cannot move? ROAD What is too much for one, enough for two, but nothing at all for 3?SECRET What driver does not have a license? SCREWDRIVER What breaks if you say anything...SILENCE What is the largest organ in the human body? SKIN The more you crack it, the more you like it. SMILE What goes up to the sky without wings or ladder...SMOKE What goes out everyday, but stay at home at the same time...SNAIL What is a camel's hair brush made of? SQUIRREL FUR A car dropped what when it turned the corner...? SPEED What goes around the world, but always sits at the corner...STAMP What five letter word can you subtract 2 and leaves 1? STONE What do you get between sunrise and sunset? SUNBURNED What never asks questions but must be answered? TELEPHONE What is coming but never arrives? TOMORROW What gets wet when drying? TOWEL What is easy to get into but hard to get out of? TROUBLE How many months have 28 days? TWELVE What kind of tables do people eat? VEGETABLES What runs but never walks? WATER What is your own, but other people use it more often? YOUR NAME ============================================================================== EEEEEE E EEEEE SECTION E - END MATTER E EEEEEE ================== = E1. Thank you! = ================== - I would like to thank Natsume and Indi Software for giving this series not one but TWO chances to make it here in the US. There are so many wonderful Japanese games that never see the light of day here. - I would like to thank CJayC for pioneering GameFAQS and providing a community to discuss wonderful city-building games, and a staple of growing up as a gamer in the 90s and 2000s. - I would like to thank CBS Interactive for its continued support of the GameFAQs site. - This guide would not have been possible without the hard work of Dark Laduke / Venom Vampire for posting their FAQ over a decade ago. It has helped provide not only continued interest in the game, but also helped me figure out what sections to expand. Thank you both! - Thank YOU! for reading this and providing the motivation to write this out. It was a very big undertaking for me over a few years when I had time! If you really liked this guide and it helped you, please vote "Yes" on the "Was this guide helpful?" button on GameFAQS at the top of the page. Hundreds of hours went into this baby, and the five seconds it takes to vote Yes validates it. - Could your tip be here next? Contribute a tidbit to this guide by e-mailing me with any new comments, suggestions, or politely-worded tips, on the game or the guide itself. You will be credited here. ======================== = E2. RANDOM QUESTIONS = ======================== These don't really fit in the guide, but are interesting questions and observations about the game, its music, and the Japanese culture that created it. Q: Why post the FAQ well over a decade after the game has come and gone? A: Why not? This game has classic replay value, and I had enough notes on it from over the years. The game is still sans a full FAQ, and I think this undertaking will give the Metropolismania community something new to rally around when that urge strikes. All my research has revealed a lot about how the game works, including figuring out that the residents you encounter, and the connection tree are the same across every single copy of Metropolismania Q: What's the name of that ditty the school bell plays at the beginning of the day? A: The Westminster Chimes, of course Q: What's the tune playing at the end of the day? A: It appears to be one of the closing bars of classic composer Dvorak's "From The New World" symphony No. 9 in E-Minor. This movement of the piece evokes an emotion of finishing a hard day's work without context in real life. The entire thing is definitely worth a listen once in your life. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions, and I can put this good ole degree in Asian Studies to good use! ==================== = E3. What's Next? = ==================== This guide was a project done in steps. I actually started it when PS2 games were still relevant back in the early 2000s, but didn't revisit it until the late 2000s when I finally got my hand on Metropolismania 2. School and work got in the way for a while, so I finally got around to finishing the published version with some free time on my hands, and here we are with a nearly complete guide a decade later. There are quite simply, dozens of levels. This is one of those games that's fun to pick up for a weekend or maybe week, but then gets old. As such, I have stopped for now just short of Level 9. To be honest, it will likely be a good while before I pick it up again, but if I see the interest is there, I'll keep writing. It's again, a matter of diminishing returns. As far as Metropolismania 2, it's sequel goes...I will likely get around to writing a general FAQ for it. I highly recommend Metropolismania 2 because it's still fundamentally the same game, but is updated in graphics, has many new buildings in addition to all the classics here, and has a new dynamic of how people are introduced which means your towns grow faster (and mitigates the need for an introductions guide tremendously). Plus, whereas in MM1 your house is a place you can walk around in, in MM2, you can actually furnish it, which is a nice touch. ================================= = E4. Copyright and Bla bla bla = ================================= The contents of this guide are copyrighted 2014-2015 by author CityBuilderAK47 (Aaron Richard). It is currently only authorized to be distributed at http://www.gamefaqs.com in addition to http://www. neoseeker.com. This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.