Reach level 15 to unlock the beach advisor. Find the anchor icon on your beach and select it to access your beach advisor. Select the anchor again to list how many special beach-themed items you must collect to be able to place beach buildings. The number of Lifesavers, Scuba Masks, and Ships Wheels required is different each time. There are three ways the items can be collected. Purchase the items with SimCash, the game's premium currency. Your citizens will randomly give the items through their thought bubbles. Purchase the items from other players on the Global Trading HQ after reaching 10,000 population.
Beach buildings
The following buildings will become available once you meet the listed requirements after reaching level fifteen.
Building
Requirement
Effect
Aquarium
25 Golden Keys
20% population boost.
Astro-Twirl Rocket Ride
32 Golden Keys
30% population boost.
Bluebeard's Pirate Ship
13 Golden Keys
20% population boost.
Carousel
7 Golden Keys
10% population boost.
Crescent Shopping Mall
16 Golden Keys
20% population boost.
Lifeguard Tower
10 Golden Keys
10% population boost.
Lighthouse
15 Golden Keys
20% population boost.
Luxury Boat Marina
50 Golden Keys
30% population boost.
Merman Statue
20 Golden Keys
20% population boost.
Relaxing Beach
12 Golden Keys
20% population boost.
Sailorman's Pier
22 Golden Keys
30% population boost.
Surfer Beach
20,000 Simoleons
10% population boost.
Volleyball Courts
5 Golden Keys
10% population boost.
Water Park
18 Golden Keys
20% population boost.
Golden Keys
Some beach buildings can only be unlocked in order, while others require Golden Keys. Golden Keys can be obtained by through Shipment or Disaster Challenges. Shipment Challenges become available when your population reaches 20,000 Sims and you have the Cargo Ship Dock. You must fill specific orders for Sims and produce goods for them, which earns you a Golden Key per filled set. Disaster Challenges require Dr. Vu's tower, which becomes available when your population reaches 90,000 Sims and you have 60,000 Simoleons. Bring Dr. Vu certain items so that he can unleash disasters. You must then repair the damage he causes. You will earn two or three Golden Keys for each building repaired.
Industry Behavior
When you build factories, make sure to set them so that important jobs are completed and the supplies you need are produced. Build any factories a safe distance from residential areas, as well, because citizens don't like all of that smoke. The same holds true for any waste facilities.
Layout
Each time you position a residential zone make sure it is covered by the required city services. Otherwise, the building will eventually be abandoned and will not generate any taxes. When placing fire stations, police stations, and other services, take note of their range. Try to get the most coverage by not having any of it extending into areas that cannot use their services, such as corners. Factories and service buildings do not need to be covered by firefighter or police protection. Keep smelly buildings such as factories or sewage plants as far away from residential areas as possible. As long as they are attached to a road of any length, they will still service your city.
Paving and relocation
You do not have to spend anything to take a residential area and set it back down at another location. The same thing can be done with factories and city service locations such as government buildings and power plants. Paving roads is also free. Because of the free aspect of those action, you can use them to fix areas that were poorly planned. Extend a road and loop it around or drag it into a dead-end. Next, move the buildings that must be taken out of the way to the freshly-paved road, then rotate the buildings in and out as desired. When done, you can remove the new road if desired.
Pick Your Buildings
A lot of times, you'll have multiple options that provide solutions to a given problem. Not all options are created equal, though, so carefully weigh the pros and cons before you choose your method. When it comes to power, coal is cheap and effective, but it can lead to upset residents down the line. You're better of paying for an expensive power source up front. And fires are very much a concern in your bustling city, so make sure you place a Large Firehouse in a central location. It can cover a lot more area than a smaller one, and that's critical.
Population Matters
The more people you have living in your city, the more tax revenue you'll have at your disposal in turn. Make sure to build plenty of residential buildings to go with any beautification efforts, and upgrade those buildings whenever possible so you get the most out of them and can plan for the most residents.
Resources
Keep your factories working all the time. Line up some of the resources with faster turn-around times when actively playing. Before leaving the game, you leave the game to go do something else, queue resources that require longer amounts of time to create. When thought bubbles appear with a gold coin in them, pop them to be offered a deal to sell your resources for coins. Unless the deal is poor, always sell your lower-tier resources because they are easily replaceable.
Sim Cash investments
Purchase an extra spot for the Building Supplies Store for 4 Sim Cash. Do not spend Sim Cash to quicken production. Store capacity is more important, because the items produced there take the longest amount of time to make and are very valuable.
Simoleons
Each time you build a new residence or upgrade it, you receive a Simoleons. This will be a main part of your earning strategy early in the game, when you can build a lot of structures cheaply. Build City Hall when you reach level 5. You can now collect tax from your Sims. The amount of money that can be collected depends on the happiness of your population. Keep your Sims happy by building parks and other recreational locations, as well making sure that services cover all the residential areas. This will eventually become your main source of money. When your population reaches 8,000, you begin selling your items to other players. Set a price and wait for a deal to be made. The rarer the materials, the more money you can get for them. For example, materials needed for Storage upgrades can be sold at a premium price.
Storage Is King
You need plenty of storage, because otherwise you won't have anywhere to put the materials required to assemble buildings. Even before you worry about maximizing the output of your factories and such, make sure you have a building that can house it. Otherwise, you're wasting time and resources.
