jsdratm: I agree wholeheartedly that even on easy mode it is very challenging to keep up with the computer. One thing that I did while getting the hang of things was utilize some *ahem* cheat codes to get rid of the incredibly annoying council missions and the complaints from tenants. To get rid of them and make things more enjoyable (IMO), type these in the new game settings screen (after clicking new game at the main menu):
complain840
missions824
After each of them press enter and you should hear a sound, then start the game. Press 'C' and then Alt+'C' and Alt+'I' to enable these two. You should see a + sign by the date afterward.
With these enabled, the game becomes a lot more manageable and you don't have to worry about the mandatory missions.
I'm glad you posted a cheat, but it seems like this forces you to give up
part of the game just in order to render the game at all playable.
Instead, wouldn't it be better to have a MOD in which it became possible to
pause the game, scroll around, consult menus, look at things, issue orders, then unpause, and the orders would then be carried out?
Frustration does not equal fun in my book. If I wanted a frantic click-fest, I'd go
play "Centipede"
