simcity-2013
In the latest patch for SimCity 5, they added the tunnel and road bridge function. By pressing "N" or "M" you can lower or raise a road in your city.
There are 10 commodities in Simcity, and I will address them each in kind:
With the exception of Coal and Ore, all commodities listed are also required in the creation of certain great works.
All Raw Commodities are non-renewable resources.
Oil - You must drill for Oil where there are appropriate oil deposits. You must place an oil well directly above a source of oil to be able to pump any out. Oil can be sold or used in crude form, or refined into fuel and plastics which typically fetch a higher price. Crude oil can also be used in Oil power plants, providing a cheaper source of energy than buying from the world market.
Ore - You must mine Ore where there are appropriate ore deposits. You must place an Ore mine directly above a source of Ore to be able to extract it. Ore can be sold as a raw material, or refined into Alloy and Metal which typically fetch a higher price.
Coal - You must mine Coal where there are appropriate coal deposits. You must place a Coal mine directly above a source of Coal to be able to extract it. Coal can be sold as a raw material, or refined with Metal to create Alloy. Coal can also fuel Coal power plants, which can provide the city and region with a cheaper source of energy than buying Coal from the world market.
With the exception of Fuel, all processed Commodities are a renewable resource, as they can be produced through a Recycling Center.
Fuel - Created through the refining process of crude oil. Requires an Oil refinery with a Fuel Distillation Unit. Outside of great works, Fuel is only used to sell for profit.
Plastic - Created through the refining process of crude oil. Requires an Oil refinery with a Plastic Polymizer. Can be sold on the world market, or further used to assemble more advanced items.
Metal - Created through the refining process of ore. Requires a Smelting Factory with a Metal Furnace. Can be sold on the world market, or further used to assemble more advanced items.
All Finished Commodities are a renewable resources, as their components can be produced through a Recycling Center.
Processors - Processors are created inside a Processor Factory using the already refined materials plastic and alloy. These can either be produced locally via the manufacturing process, acquired as a byproduct of recycling centers, bought on the world market, or any combination of these. Processors can be sold for profit, traded, or further used to create consumer electronics such as TVs and Computers.
TV - TVs are created from manufactured processors inside a Consumer Electronics Factory containing a TV assembly line. Additionally, Plastic and Alloy are both required materials, however the player probably is already acquiring these in some way to create processors. TVs can either be sold for large profits, or put to use on great works.
Computer - Computers are created from manufactured processors inside a Consumer Electronics Factory containing a computer assembly line. Additionally, Plastic and Alloy are both required materials, however the player probably is already acquiring these in some way to create processors. Computers can either be sold for large profits, or put to use on great works.
Goods spawn at commercial buildings at 6 am and at 6 pm.
Residential shoppers buy the goods from commercial buildings. If there are no goods at a close commercial building, the shopper will search farther and farther for goods.
This is how it happens:
In the commercial view, dark blue bars represent goods, while dark blue cars and people represent shoppers. The building on the left has depleted its goods, and will not be visited by any more shoppers this cycle.
The green smiley (with an up arrow above) is a residential building gaining happiness that a satisfied shopper has returned.
Commercial buildings that don't successfully sell goods will abandon.
Freight is generated from industrial buildings while workers are present. Industrials ship freight to commercials and storage. Freight that is delivered to storage just "rots", allowing allowing more shipments to arrive.
Freight that is delivered to a commercial building is converted into money inside the building. Money in a commercial building allows the building to grow and keeps the building from abandoning. It is possible to keep a commercial building alive and growing through goods sales only, with no freight delivered.
This is how it happens:
In the Industrial View, there are four highlighted items:
The yellow bar indicates freight in the industrial building, while the teal bar indicates past successful shipments. Yellow trucks indicate freight headed to fill an order. Teal trucks indicate satisfied shipments returning to the industrial building.
The whole freight acceptance and decay concept appears to be in flux at this point. At launch, I observed trade depots filling with freight, which would just sit. Today, these same depots receive freight and vaporize it within the hour. I have observed trade depots, commercial buildings and coal mining plants accepting freight.
Industrial buildings that don't successfully ship freight will abandon.
Best Answer
Yes and no - the bridges and tunnel functional does not have a direct effect on traffic management in your city, however because of how traffic management works, they could have a passive effect in that you can use these tools situationally instead of roads traversing longer distances with multiple junctions.
While the tools themselves have no direct impact other than aesthetics, the way traffic travels when junctions and crossings are involved may result in an indirect effect to traffic from using tunnels and bridges to go through and over the landscape, rather than longer roads to go around the landscape.