CAM - General Discussions

[Rayden]

that is exactly what I did! but NOTHING happened. I still see same brief info on LOT when just hovering over (like with out holding down CTRL+ALT+SHIFT) and if i click on the lot/building I get standard query window, nothing of the sort shown in the shortcut thread. I tried it with  or without all/any plug-ins. Could it be so that it is some sort of side effect of some plug-in installed?

Now that you mentioned, there is something that could make the difference, but I'm not able to test right now (at work). There is somewhere, released a while ago, a dll file called extra cheats or something, that activates some extra functions on the game. It might be it.

That file is refered on this post - http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2461.msg74319#msg74319

[SimFox]

Hooraaay!!!

that did the trick!

PS
Yes it works...
unfortunately the info it provides is anything but the standard LOT stats one expects to see. The numbers are all over the board. Two identical lots next to each other may show air pollution of 240 and 0!!! and same goes to all other numbers...

[Rayden]

Well, that's as far as I can have helped you. Further from that, maybe Ripplejet could give some extra info.

[RippleJet]

I was suspecting this since SimGoober the other day said he didn't get the Ctrl-Shift-Alt query to function!

Great that we have it confirmed that it is part of Buggi's Cheat DLL!

Here are some explanations to the properties shown:

1.  Capacity is the maximum capacity (as given in Capacity Satisfied)
2.  Power Consumed is as given in the building exemplar
3.  Water Consumed is as given in the building exemplar
4.  The Demand figures are probably the desirability of the tract(s) (4x4 tiles), which can be anything between 0 and 255
5.  Zoned should be obvious (# = low density, ## = medium density, ### = high density)
6.  Land Value is the number to the right of the colon, can be between 0 and 255.
7.  Alt is the altitude (250 m is normally sea level)
8.  Flam is the Flammability as given in the building exemplar.
9.  Pollution is not as given in the building exemplar.
     They are the actual pollution values in the tract(s) (4x4 tiles) that the building is standing on.
10. Trip Length might be interesting to check for residential buildings...
11. Jobs are the actual jobs (not capacity) this building currently offers.
     The order is §/§§/§§§, and a route query should show this amount of people commuting to it

I have not yet fully understood the percentages, nor the value in front of the colon for Land Value.

Regarding the air pollution, check the pollution map and see if there's a relevance to those differences in values.
A tract next to a busy road can have considerably higher air pollution values than a tract further away from the same road.

[TheTeaCat]

I was suspecting this since SimGoober the other day said he didn't get the Ctrl-Shift-Alt query to function!

Great that we have it confirmed that it is part of Buggi's Cheat DLL!

I have no problem using Buggi's Cheat DLL and the Ctrl-Shift-Alt query to work together.
I always select the query first and check a building then use the cheat and I have no problem whatsoever 
(with an empty plugin folder or one filled to the gills  )


TTC

[RippleJet]

But around the time CAM is about to kick in, just before that Blue Platter really messes up the picture. Worse than Brussel Sprouts!

Here's a blocker for that Blue Platter Limited.
Just place it in your plugins folder to block it from growing.
It won't block those already there from functioning or upgrading.

[cody426]

Being my first post I must say thank you to the members here who contribute to the game and the site.  Thank You!   

I always enjoy a good day of lurking and have not had any problems finding answers/solutions to any of my issues as of yet.  I have been curious about something though;  I am running the CAM with no problems since August and it makes blending cities from rural to suburbs to skyscrapers amazingly more realistic.  But, I have a few (well, more than a few) buildings that are not considered "CAMpatible" and of course when installed they grow up out of place.  I know I can just plop them in areas they fit into but I would rather grow the entire city when it comes to RCI. 

So my question:  Is there an easy way to change the stage at which they grow?  It looks as though the X-tool would accomplish this but it seems it's not available yet.  I feel that I missed something in my hours of digging and am hoping someone could point me in the right direction on this.

Thanks All
-Cody

[xxdita]

To do it properly would require the XTool, which isn't quite ready for release yet.
But, as long as you understand that the other stats of the building aren't quite right either, and can live with that as you're playing, you can easily change the stage that any building grows in with iLive's Reader, which is available on the LEX.
With Reader, open up the growable lot you want to change, click on the Exemplar for the lot (there may be 2 exemplars, the other being the desc). Then simply change the Growth Stage to the appropriate hex (0x01 to 0x0F).
How do you determine the appropriate Growth Stage? Well, since the modding isn't quite right, it probably doesn't have the correct number of jobs, but look at the jobs that it does have (you'll need to open up the desc file for this), how big the lot is, and then make it the same Stage as a CAMified building with a similar number of jobs. To have it count as a CAMeLot for tracking purposes, you'll need to also add in the appropriate Occupant Group (again in the building desc).
From there, it will be trial and error. If it grows too fast, try bumping up the Stage. If it doesn't grow at all, take it down one.
To help me stay organized, I've created a folder in my Plugins specifically for such lots, appropriately named "Waiting For XTool".

And though these lots are fine for personal use, as long as you know that there may be problems still, it's really not a good idea to try to upload them anywhere, as the unchanged stats can cause problems.

[cody426]

xxdita - Thank You for the quick response!

  I like your idea of having a separate folder for the "to be xtooled" and am going to go ahead and do that wile I await the avalability of the xtool.  I have the reader and was a little overwhelmed by it when I first opened it but it seems pretty clear to me now.  Again thanks for the clear explanation of how this works, I think I will be able to figure this out rather easily now. 

-Cody     

[High5Tower]

Thank you xxdita for your little tutorial. I have 56 buildings in my stage 8 folder (Com. & Res.) that are just waiting to get into the CAM. I opened up Reader again and this might be do-able for me. At least I'll have fun trying.

[jmyers2043]

use other CAM buildings as a guide. That has got to be the best idea since sliced bread. 

[mthdscrd]

but i am having trouble finding it. I've got the basics, but dont understand a lot of the things tlked about in this forum
i.e.-the 'traffic simulator' and the 'workforce doubler' phenom.  further-does running CAM/NAM have anything to do with the fact that my population avoids my highways like the plague?

[xxdita]

The traffic simulator controls speed limits, road capacities, and other similar things for the game. Deciding which one to use can be tricky, and it all depends on your individual playing style, and how large your city is, or how large you want it to be.
The traffic simulators that were packaged with CAM 1.0 are now outdated, as JPlumbley and Mott, as well as others on the NAM team have done more intense research on the subject, and have created new files that are far more better suited to the game, whether Vanilla or CAM. I highly recommend that you download the MAC version of the latest NAM, so that you can check out each of the new traffic simulators, and decide which one is best for you.

The "workforce doubler phenom" is actually a slight glitch with CAM 1.0, which we're working on getting fixed for future versions. In the CAM file, there is an exemplar that, though it in theory "should" replace the one found in simcity_1.dat, it instead is added to the existing one, which doubles the Regional Residential Population, and Regional Workforce, as far as the game is concerned. Since the Regional Residential Population is what determines which stage of Residential buildings will grow, you'll see the residential zones sprouting up faster than Comm or Ind, forcing you to zone more of those, to provide enough jobs.

And as far as your highways go, Sims will only use it if that is the shortest route to take to get to their destination (work). So you may need to actually rethink your entire playing style, as is the case with any new mod you install. Try setting up your zones a little differently, to put the highways to use. And make sure that the highway actually leads somewhere worth going to.

[SimFox]

xxdita:

You've answered my unasked question. When I installed Census repository I've imediatelly noticed all those extra people (illigal immigrants(?)) that are apparently living in the region. That was an easy task since I was building my first CAM city and ther couldn't possible be anybody outside of it.
I suppose that I guess the reason why CAM city grows so fast and so unhindered.

Speaking of traffic plug-ins, I though that there was something funny, cause my new CAM city just simply don't have any traffic problems at all! that is nice at first, but after a while (rather short one) gets boring. What would be great is to have a bit greater control of the mode of transportation that sims do actually use. - like for instance control over the mass transit ticket prices, or cost of car use( petrol prices(?)).

[RippleJet]

Speaking of traffic plug-ins, I though that there was something funny, cause my new CAM city just simply don't have any traffic problems at all! that is nice at first, but after a while (rather short one) gets boring.

Which traffic plugin did you select when installing NAM?
And do you have a folder named z_CAM, and is there something inside it?

[Rayden]

Strange, I've been doing test with the CAM and the new beta version, and on both, a "small" town of 250.000 people already have trafic problems. Some roads had to be upgraded to one way roads and I had to install subway to lighten the road trafic. All streets on the center of the town had to be upgraded to roads or one way roads. I have running through the middle of the town, a subway, train and bus lines. Some of the outskirts train stations are now at 190% capacity. That's from most of the comuters come from to work at the center. That's definately not boring, trying to solve some of those trafic problems.

[xxdita]

Rayden, which traffic sim are you using? The ones in the latest NAM can take some getting used to.

[Rayden]

I think it is the promote walking/parking. I like it because I tend to use a lot of parking lots on my cities and that works really well with that traffic plugin.

[xxdita]

You mean the new Park & Ride? That could very well explain why there is no traffic, since it is designed to make the most of mass tranit, by maing it impossible for Sims to reach theire destonatios by car.

[mthdscrd]

The "workforce doubler phenom" is actually a slight glitch with CAM 1.0, which we're working on getting fixed for future versions. In the CAM file, there is an exemplar that, though it in theory "should" replace the one found in simcity_1.dat, it instead is added to the existing one, which doubles the Regional Residential Population, and Regional Workforce, as far as the game is concerned. Since the Regional Residential Population is what determines which stage of Residential buildings will grow, you'll see the residential zones sprouting up faster than Comm or Ind, forcing you to zone more of those, to provide enough jobs.

the issue i am having the most trouble with seems to be exactly the opposite-i have one city with a pop of around 100k, but with almost 500k com. jobs.  Many of the office buildings show full or almost full employment but when i transportation query there will be no or very few commuters.