CAM - General Discussions

[tamorr]

   All the NAM MAC version simply is the files in there respective directories in a zip. The windows one is an installer that would install as you know, those files into their respective directories. So basically it is a non-installer version of the MOD.

   This would mean of course that it should work with windows...

[z]

Well I do want some challenge (it doesn't have to be too easy) Will my mass transit still be used when I install Simulator Z high (in a +200k city)? If not, then I prefer Simulator Z Low because it sounds more realistic..

Mass transit usage will be either identical or almost so with the different capacity levels of Simulator Z, and with traffic simulators in general.  You might get some additional mass transit usage from the Low version if you have a lot of congested roads and some Sims decide to switch from cars to mass transit as a result, but as in the real world, that won't be a large number; as a percentage of total commuters, it's generally barely noticeable at best.

hi there - i use simulator z high and installed on or around November 12-24 2009; do i need to download and install the file you have linked here?  also, does the nam mac version work on a pc?! 

I would recommend doing so (although it's not absolutely necessary) - there were two major releases of Simulator Z last month.  (No more are planned in the foreseeable future.)  This is especially true if you installed Simulator Z from the NAM, since the NAM was released in June, and several other important releases of Simulator Z were made in the interim.  To see what some of the more recent changes were, you can start reading the development thread here.

[shlarin]

Only my 3rd day using CAM so this may be a basic question but..

I've started a completely new region under CAM..  For some reason, I'm getting absolutely NO CO$$$ development..  I'm getting tons of CO$$ development, with skyscrapers up to stage 11 or 12 at this point (I have a region population of about 300,000 so far.)  But when I query the Census Repository, it says my CO$$$ population is 0..  and my CO$$$ demand is sky-high.

Some things I've tried:

- Good education?  ~180ish.  Check!
- Police, fire, hospital, etc. coverage?  Check!
- Good transit?  I've got busses, subways, and monorails.  Check!
- Plenty of plazas nearby?  Check!
- Airport service?  Small international airport..  Check!
- Good CO$$$ desirability?  Check!

The only thing that seems to be missing is high Customers in my commercial zones..

[xxdita]

Check to make sure you have the CO$$$ sets installed. Aside from that, make sure you've got the desirability for it.

[shlarin]

Hmm..  for some reason, my ploppable CO$$$'s do create jobs and don't get abandoned..  guess this is an acceptable "bandaid" to stabilize my city's economy while providing the R$$$ folks with jobs (my actual CO$$$ drive isn't very high to begin with..  the lack of it and the inability to develop caused its demand to skyrocket.)

[spring_onions]

I've started a completely new region under CAM..  For some reason, I'm getting absolutely NO CO$$$ development..  I'm getting tons of CO$$ development, with skyscrapers up to stage 11 or 12 at this point. But when I query the Census Repository, it says my CO$$$ population is 0..  and my CO$$$ demand is sky-high.

Some things I've tried:

- Good education?  ~180ish.  Check!
- Police, fire, hospital, etc. coverage?  Check!
- Good transit?  I've got busses, subways, and monorails.  Check!
- Plenty of plazas nearby?  Check!
- Airport service?  Small international airport..  Check!
- Good CO$$$ desirability?  Check!

The only thing that seems to be missing is high Customers in my commercial zones..

I have the same problem.
I also have CO$$$ lots installed on my plugins.

What could be wrong?
Or, what could be done?

[Indisguise]

not withstanding what said above. having proper land value, some of the larger building requireparks (plaza for CO mainly or a landmark, or a CO boosing reward, closeby to raise property value high enough  for it to grow.


I say not enough population to sustain CO$$$ at above stage 11, you need very high population with very high EQ. Ussually I don't start getting the high end CO$$$ til at least  300K in a city and  500K- 1 mil population region wide.

Also do you have to have some lower level CO$$$ ??, stage 5-8  ?? are you using the Maixs blocking mod  ??

Are you playing just one city or do you have multi-cities ??

Cam run sort on a pyramid system, you need a some lower level CO$$$ before the larger ones start appearing,

Tax rates are a big factor, try dropping rates ( below 8 % sometimes as low as 5 or 6 %)

Other reason could be using a high capasity Nam setting to early in the cities development, no traffic, no higher stage buildings.


are you zoning correctly, most of the larger stage bulidings are large lots 5x5, 5x3, 6x4, 6x6, 4x8

Also check to see if your playing your game in all tilesets, sometimes some buldings are tied to 1 tileset group, and not all of them, Chicago, NY, European, if conditions are right and your not on the proper tile set for a particular building, it will fill the demand with the next best thing available.

you using any mods  ??

[spring_onions]

I say not enough population to sustain CO$$$ at above stage 11, you need very high population with very high EQ. Ussually I don't start getting the high end CO$$$ til at least  300K in a city and  500K- 1 mil population region wide.

That I missed.....OK, I'll note that.

Also do you have to have some lower level CO$$$ ??, stage 5-8  ?? are you using the Maixs blocking mod  ??

I do have lower level CO$$$ CAMeLOTS installed but there are absolutely NO lower level CO$$$ that grow/grew on any of my cities.
No, I'm not using that mod.

Are you playing just one city or do you have multi-cities ??

I have multiple cities, yes.

Tax rates are a big factor, try dropping rates ( below 8 % sometimes as low as 5 or 6 %)

are you zoning correctly, most of the larger stage bulidings are large lots 5x5, 5x3, 6x4, 6x6, 4x8

Also check to see if your playing your game in all tilesets, sometimes some buldings are tied to 1 tileset group, and not all of them, Chicago, NY, European, if conditions are right and your not on the proper tile set for a particular building, it will fill the demand with the next best thing available.

Yes to all.

Other reason could be using a high capasity Nam setting to early in the cities development, no traffic, no higher stage buildings.

errrr, what do you mean by this?

you using any mods  ??

Only CAM and NAM.

[xxdita]

Are you using the CAMelot Counters to track your progress? If not, search the LEX (power search for creator: RippleJet). The CAMelot Counters will show you at approximately what points you may begin to see each stage of development, based on regional capacity.

Also, HOW do you have CAM installed? As a plugin, or DatPacked into simcity_1.dat, per RippleJet's instructions on a previous page? This makes a huge difference as to how regional capacity is counted.

[z]

Other reason could be using a high capasity Nam setting to early in the cities development, no traffic, no higher stage buildings.

The capacity of the traffic simulator doesn't affect the number of customers; it's only the absolute traffic volume that has an effect, and this is not dependent on the simulator capacity you use.  If you're using a low capacity simulator and have a lot of congestion, though, your traffic may spread out more, which could have a beneficial effect on outlying businesses.

I have the same problem.
I also have CO$$$ lots installed on my plugins.

What could be wrong?
Or, what could be done?

If none of the other suggested methods work, one of the things you could is try is using the new Traffic Simulator Configuration Tool to raise the Customers/Traffic Noise Coefficient.  Its biggest gameplay effect just happens to be on CO$$$.  (This is different from its biggest desirability effect, which is on CS$$$.  But desirability for those is generally less of a problem than for CO$$$, which is why the effect of this constant is most visible for CO$$$).  This number tends to require fairly large changes to cause noticeable effects.

[45454]

Only my 3rd day using CAM so this may be a basic question but..

I've started a completely new region under CAM..  For some reason, I'm getting absolutely NO CO$$$ development..  I'm getting tons of CO$$ development, with skyscrapers up to stage 11 or 12 at this point (I have a region population of about 300,000 so far.)  But when I query the Census Repository, it says my CO$$$ population is 0..  and my CO$$$ demand is sky-high.

Some things I've tried:

- Good education?  ~180ish.  Check!
- Police, fire, hospital, etc. coverage?  Check!
- Good transit?  I've got busses, subways, and monorails.  Check!
- Plenty of plazas nearby?  Check!
- Airport service?  Small international airport..  Check!

- Good CO$$$ desirability?  Check!

The only thing that seems to be missing is high Customers in my commercial zones..

I had the same problem, except mine also refused to make CS$ despite 24,000+ demand.

Do the following and watch your city flourish on the next load up. It will amaze you; no joke. My population went from 100k to 300k in a few years without adding more zones. I left it running 800 years beforehand to get CO$$$ development and nothing happened.. until the "patch".

-Go to C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe and select SimCity_1.dat. Copy this file to your plugins folder and make a special folder called SimCity_1.
-Go to a_Cam in your plugins folder and select.. oh, I forgot what its called. It'll be a dat, the largest one in the folder, and it'll say CAM in it. I no longer "have" this file, as it will be integrated into SimCity_1. Just move it into the same folder as the SimCity_1.dat file is in. Now rename it to have a z_ in front of the name. AKA, Cam.dat becomes z_Cam.dat
-Copy SimCity_1.dat and rename it to SimCity_1.bak. Put it somewhere safe; where you'll remember in case you need it. Do the same for the cam file if you don't want to re-install it later if necessary.
-Use DatPacker 2008 [ NOT ANNIVERSARY ] and datpack the SimCity_1 folder. Move this file into the -Go to C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe directory again and make sure its called SimCity_1.dat.
-Delete the folder SimCity_1.dat.

Wala! It's fixed.

[travismking]

yes this does indeed work, but remember when/if cam is updated to redo it with original, or maybe they will fix it who knows.  Also in cam they changed the CO$$$ and R$$$ building threshold, it needs to be 3 times more desirable than rush hour's standard value for it to grow, so you tend to need a lot of parks/landmarks

[io_bg]

Hello, Tage, I'd like to be a beta-tester of the new CAM 2 (if you don't mind of course)
I hope I'm posting in the correct thread

[RippleJet]

Hello, Tage, I'd like to be a beta-tester of the new CAM 2 (if you don't mind of course)

Granted, Ioan!

I hope I'm posting in the correct thread

Most certainly! And the advantage is that a post in this thread alerts me with an e-mail.

[TiFlo]

All right, I've been considering asking to join the v2 beta as well for a few days. I guess I'll make the jump. Would there be room for me Ripplejet?

Reason: A few days ago, I finally datpacked the CAM with SimCity_1.dat (you guys don't worry, I did it right, followed the instructions and all). I really like what I see so far, but as a downside now my demand that was previously well balanced and all equally way up is now strongly imbalanced, with some of it in the red. The R$$ especially I couldn't get back up without dumping their taxes to 2%, which with a region at only 450 000 residents seems a no go on the long run (I've read that, but I'm still not convinced). It's kind of heartbreaking as I've already put tens of hours in that one, but I'm ready to start over from the ground up.

Anyway, to make it short, can I join?

[RippleJet]

All right, I've been considering asking to join the v2 beta as well for a few days. I guess I'll make the jump. Would there be room for me Ripplejet?

I'll squeeze you in!   Welcome!

A few days ago, I finally datpacked the CAM with SimCity_1.dat (you guys don't worry, I did it right, followed the instructions and all).

As you will notice, that is a prerequisite for beta-testing!

It's kind of heartbreaking as I've already put tens of hours in that one, but I'm ready to start over from the ground up.

Looking forward to hear about your impression on CAM 2 compared to CAM 1.

[TiFlo]

Thanks a bunch! And don't worry, I'm not running away with the v2. I'll do reports. 

[Terring7]

Just a small question. If i want to use C.A.M., do i need also to download the CAMelots? What if, for example, i want to use C.A.M. only to fix some bugs?

[RippleJet]

Just a small question. If i want to use C.A.M., do i need also to download the CAMelots? What if, for example, i want to use C.A.M. only to fix some bugs?

There are a few ingame CAMeLots included in CAM...
But they don't cover all stages and certainly not all lot sizes.
Thus, in the long run, you would probably want to download some CAMeLots.

But, otherwise, yes, you can use CAM without downloading additional CAMeLots.

[Kitsune]

does the farm stages go by regional capacity or city capacity?