August 20, 2023 - Current Status of SC4 Devotion

[Tarkus]

For those still wondering what is happening with SC4 Devotion . . . in effect, it is in an archived state, and succeeded by SC4Evermore (SC4E).

The LEX:

• The contents of the LEX are being reassembled and made available for download at our new site, SC4Evermore (SC4E).  SC4E is being managed by existing active SC4D staff (myself and art128), plus some familiar faces from the NAM Team: Ulisse Wolf, Tyberius06, and Shadow Assassin.
• Restoration of the content from the former LEX is the top (and really only) priority right now.
• To date, we've restored access to nearly 1200 LEX files in some form at SC4E, including the popular LEX Legacy packages, and we continue to add more in chunks every couple days.  We've made over 160 popular dependency packages available in a convenient single download, with the BSC Common Dependencies pack, and we've made the majority of the files by the LEX's top uploader, Mattb325, available again via LEX Legacy Packs.
• We've also been setting up redirects from old LEX links to their new SC4E equivalents, thereby minimizing the potential for link rot.
• SC4Evermore does not have user accounts, nor do we plan to add any sort of login/registration system.  Files on SC4E are available to everyone to download, without an account/registration.  While some may lament the loss of download history and the like from the LEX accounts, the repackaging we've done on SC4E should generally minimize the need for such things.  The advent of BSC Common Dependencies and similar packages means dependency lists are vastly shorter and simpler.

The Forums:

• The forums remain in "semi-archived" operations, and are read-only to guests and regular members, who, at present, cannot post or send private messages (PMs).  New account registration also remain closed.
• Staff members and members of custom content teams who have used the forums' private boards to organize their developmental activities (i.e., NAM and RTMT) can still post and send PMs.
• We have upgraded our Discord Server (now rebranded to the SC4Evermore name) to Community Server status, and we have added Discord's Forum Channel functionality as a result.  You can find the SC4Evermore Forum Channel under the General (Text) Channels on the channel list.
• Again, while the decision to have the forums in this "semi-archived" state is not final, it is presently likely to continue indefinitely.  The forums were lucky to receive a single post per day prior to the closure, and low-activity forums are a spambot magnet.  The last thing we want is for SC4D's forums--still a valuable resource, even locked down as they presently are--to become a spam-infested zombie, like SimCityCentral became in its last few years of operation.

The Wiki:

• The Wiki remains operational and editable, though be aware that it suffers from a number of bizarre quirks, which render some pages uneditable or even inaccessible.
• There are a lot of issues with the Wiki on the backend, and the only way to fix them is to completely reinstall and rebuild the whole thing, so any bugs with uneditable/inaccessible articles are not going to be fixed while the Wiki continues in its current operational form.
• The currently empty "Guides" section at SC4Evermore (which will remain empty until we're farther along with restoring LEX files) is not intended to be a replacement for the Wiki.  Rather, it is modeled after the old "Tipps&Tricks" section of the former SimCityPlaza, and older iterations of the Omnibus at Simtropolis.  The plan is to feature high-quality curated guides about the game and custom content, written and/or curated by SC4E staff. 

SC4 Devotion vs. SC4Evermore - Why the new site, and what's the difference?

• The main reason the SC4 Devotion name was retained after the ownership transition in 2019 was to preserve the old LEX links.  With the LEX going down, and other factors working against keeping the name (including SC4 Devotion's issues with Google), there were more reasons in favor of going for something new at that point.
• SC4Evermore is ultimately modeled after the German sites SimCityPlaza and SimCityKurier (which also went offline in June, due to the loss of the sites' owner, long-time SFBT member and community stalwart Spocky).
• Anything branded with the sc4evermore.com domain is effectively "new" and active.

-Alex

[bowater]

Hey,

Is it possible to add the solution to this thread

I for one spent a lot of time searching for an answer and now I finally found one, I can't post it. XD

Here it is:

I finally found a solution that works, virtual desktop software from Parallels
Using the free trial, I then downloaded and installed Steam, then SimCity 4 and finally the version of the Lot Editor found here