Because the valuable land is close to the water, most of the housing will be built there with the monuments being built towards the desert. You can build housing to support the monument but they will likely be low-level since they are away from the Nile. It can be advantageous to build other non-housing buildings away from the Nile but the walking paths must provide accessibility to the rest of the city.

The graphics engine is the same as that used in C3 and the walking system is the same as well. The importance of limiting intersections will continue to play a large role. However, the AI of the walkers has been improved. For example, a fire marshal will not walk right by a fire because he was pre-determined to go somewhere else. Also, walkers will be allowed to cross open land to respond to emergencies more quickly. The maintenance walkers include fire marshals, the engineers and constables.

Crime is handled differently than C3. Unhappy people generate criminals who walk the street just like other walkers. If the criminal crosses paths with a gold miner, a royal, or another money carrying citizen, he will rob or kill them. Constables and gods help control crime.