# The City Window

> ### Online Help Table of Contents

> The City window is your main work area for molding, shaping and growing your city and the land under it. It is always open while 2KNet is running.
> At the top-left of the window, below the main menu, you'll see your player name, the name of the currently selected tool, the simulation date, the name of the city and your current funds. The standard Windows Maximize and Minimize buttons are in the window's top-right.
> On the bottom-right of the window is the Resize box, which you can click and drag to swiftly resize the window to your particular needs.
> The three toolbars provide all the tools you'll need to zone, build and run your city. Open the City-Toolbars page for info on the use of all the tools.

> #### The View

> The view in the City window is an isometric, simulated 3-D landscape. It can be viewed in three different sizes, allowing you to see more or less of your city at once, at various levels of detail.

> ####

> ####
> Getting Around

> Jumping from locale to locale in your city is just a click away. Choose the Center button from the Map tools at the top of the screen and then click anywhere in your map to have the landscape centered in the clicked spot. You can also click anywhere with your right mouse button, and the map will center there.

> ####
> The Landscape

> Each time the host (server) computer starts a new city in 2KNet, the opportunity to create a new landscape is available by choosing the Edit New Map command. You can regenerate the landscape as many times as you like from the Generate City window, but once you settle on an acceptable city map, you and your collaborators are stuck with it, unless you begin a different game. Of course, you can modify your district landscape with the basic terrain tools included in the City window as much as you like. See the Tutorial manual for details on terrain editing on a more ambitious scale.
> When you are in terrain-editing mode, you can make drastic changes to the land at no cost to the city. You can raise or level mountains, dig streams, raise or lower the sea level, and place individual trees or forests.
> There are three basic elements to the landscape: land, water and trees.
> The land in 2KNet is divided into small squares, called tiles. Tiles can be raised or lowered to provide 32 levels of altitude. Land that is below sea level will be under water.
> Water in 2KNet flows downhill, as all good water should. When you generate a new landscape in terrain-editing mode, you can choose whether or not you want a river running through the landscape, and you can, if you want, have one edge of your city be a coastline. Your landscape can also have streams, ponds and lakes. And you can raise or lower sea level, to make your city either a desert or a chain of islands.
> Trees in 2KNet, as in the real world, are big plants that provide shade and homes for wildlife. They add an aesthetic touch to cities, and improve land value.

> #### Demand Indicator

> The Demand Indicator gives you a constant readout of what types of zones the Sims in your city need. Depending on the size of your city, the indicator can take up to a few minutes to respond to your changes, so be patient. The bars stick up to show demand and down to show oversupply for Residential (R), Commercial (C) and Industrial (I) zones. Remember that the RCI is citywide, and not merely for your district.

> #### Compass

> Near the top-right corner of your City window is the Compass, which lets you know what's up (or down) on your map. Use the Rotate Clockwise and Rotate Counter-clockwise buttons to test its knowledge.

> ### Back to Top of Page

(C)1996, Maxis, Inc.