Traffic pulling over for a patrol car.
U-Drive It mode is a tool for My Sim mode available in SimCity 4: Rush Hour expansion pack. U-Drive It allows the player to manually drive vehicles in the game along the city's roadways, pilot small vessels over waterways, or pilot aircraft. Although this tool can be used for roaming in the player's city, the player may also accomplish missions, which may unlock certain structures, cash bonus, or affect mayor rating positively or negatively depending on the mission the player chose to complete.
Introduction to UDI[]
A fire truck in U-Drive It mode
The main controls are the arrow keys and the WASD keys, which allow for basic accelerating and braking, as well as turning. The space bar varies, depending on the vehicle; for example, it activates the horn on the fire engine, but on a news van, it only makes a reporter speak in Simlish. The Shift key allows the player to snap onto the roads, a very useful feature when driving. This key is specific to road vehicles only. The keys E and C are specific to aircraft, and it allows for vertical movement during flight. The last key used is the Enter key, which is only used on emergency vehicles, activating the lights and sirens when pressed.
Vehicles[]
See also: List of vehicles in U-Drive It
When it comes to the actual vehicles, there are plenty to choose from. On the ground, the player has a variety of vehicles to choose from. Civic vehicles such as ambulances, school buses, city buses, police cruisers, among many more can be driven once unlocked. The player can also choose to control passenger trains, freight trains and even steam engines, but unlike automobiles, conducting a train requires manually changing the direction at a rail intersection when the player does not wish to proceed with the default route. Flying planes and helicopters give the player the ability to freely navigate through the city, without the problems of traffic and being restricted to roads. Unlike in real life, Refueling is unnecessary for all types of transport.
Additionally, the player can also drive a vehicle owned by one of his Sims, should they decide to move in a My Sim. Regular traffic and unlockable vehicles can also be rode without My Sim mode, but this requires external modifications found in fansites.
Trivia[]
- Cars will be unable to drive into water, but conversely, boats will sink if they reach the coastline, or anywhere too close to it.
- Planes and helicopters are unable to land anywhere except for the actual landing strips and helipads.
- Aircraft do not take damage no matter how many times you collide with structures. So, you cannot re-enact 9/11 at all, since the game was made 2 years after the tragic 9/11 disaster of 2001.