I'm really confused by all the possible downloads. I've downloaded mostly the packs of stuff, and mostly only the highly popular stuff, like NAM and CAM stuff. However, I am getting big present boxes where buildings are supposed to be, and I know that means I'm missing something, however I have no idea how to find where the files are for those specific buildings. There are so many texture/prop/essentials packs that I don't know which has what I need.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need any specific info. thanks!
Hey, Mbolism!
The dependencies you're looking for are usually listed in the read-me of any BAT you download. If you know which building is missing things, just find that download in your plugins folder and read its read-me, and it'll tell you what you need.
To help you out, you can use [this dependency list] (http://www.sc4devotion.com/dependencies.html) found here on SC4D (at the very bottom of the page). Just look it up and it'll tell you where you can find it. If there are any that you can't find on that list, just ask and folks'll try and help you out.
Whenever you download something, always check to see if you need any dependencies and download them right away to avoid any conflicts.
Anyways...welcome to SC4D!
Ah. Thanks for the welcome!
Yeah, I read everything (I thought) and followed all instructions, but I'm sure I easily missed something.
However, my d*** mouse went on the fritz when I was arranging/deleting some of the zip files (after they were extracted) and ended up deleting pretty much all the readme's, which was just awesome, and made me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Anyway, the 2 buildings that are not showing right now are:
R$$$ Stage9 Towerresidencev2 and R$$ Stage9 Europa. Hopefully this will get us on the right track. :)
Oh, and do you guys use IRC?
IRC? LOL...I guess that's a no for me ;).
Hmm...I don't see those on the LEX. Do you know the link where you downloaded it from?
My first guess is that those are a few files that only come with modifications to make the buildings "CAMpatible" as opposed to the actual buildings themselves. I could be wrong, but if I'm right then you'll have to find the actual buildings before you can use them in CAM. As I said, though, that's just a guess.
I'm not sure what IRC is, but in regard to your question about the two buildings, it seems that, since they are stage 9 they are part of the CAM (I hope someone corrects me on the stage thing if I am wrong I actually haven't started using the CAM yet).
I looked through the CAM threads briefly. I think I found what you might need. In the CAM board, under CAMeLots - Linking all available lots and bats (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2039.0) in the first post you will find a table of contents at the bottom. This will take you to the R$$ and R$$$ posts that should provide links to the files you need.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the BSC (and anyone else who falls under this description, NAM, etc) for their archiving and great attention to keeping things orderly.
The stage 8 Europa is likely: 4x3 Cobb Europa 8 and the stage 9 is likely: 4x3 Tower Residence 2 9 (this one is greyed out, and I'm not sure why but it still appears to provide a link).
Hope this helps, and welcome to the site. If you get a chance, visit the Introduce yourself to SC4 Devotion community (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=83.0) thread and the Place Yourself In The World (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=436.0) thread. We're an interesting, fun bunch, and I hope to see you around the other threads.
While it might be hard to navigate the pages, it's actually pretty neatly organised when you figure it out who's who around here. For the CAM, it's a BSC creation which remods already existing buildings. All brown boxes you get should be solved by the CAMeLots - Linking all available lots and bats (http://http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2039.0) thread. Good luck.
EDIT: threestoges has already answered that, but the CAM enables growth stages above the game's limit of eight. It may look boring for a while, but if you're into region play, you'll appreciate it pretty quickly :thumbsup:
Excellent. I'm there now downloading the dependencies. The great thing about the SC4D site is that it shows you if you have downloaded something or not, which, IMO, is a genius idea, as I can quickly see if I have something already. Kudo's to whoever did that, and the site with all the CAM dependencies is supurb as well! I love it. Nice and neat. At this rate I'll resemble someone who knows what they are doing in no time!
Thanks again guys. I'll let you know how it goes.....
Quote from: Mbolism on June 17, 2008, 02:46:12 PM
At this rate I'll resemble someone who knows what they are doing in no time!
And it's a great joy seeing help being given and then,
those moments of satisfaction, when one's been able to help someone else as well! :)
Oooh. The great one himself gracing my thread! I must look like someone important....
Thanks for all the loot RJ. Hopefully my slow-to-learn and quick-to-break-stuff-in-frustration brain will be able to make this work....
Ah, there is a cleanitol file that shows, when run, all that I'm missing. Is this a common file for stuff like this? Seems REALLY helpful as it shows exactly whats missing, though not all of it is in the CAM dependencies thread.
Many downloads to tend to come with cleanitol files (though not all). They seem to be most commonly found in mega prop packs or files that merge/replace prior versions (for obvious reasons).
well, I dled all the dependancy files, but it still didn't resolve those buildings. I'll try to do them individually next.
BSC Mega Props - JES Vol05
This is what I need for one of the buildings. Cant find it anywhere.
If it's still the CAMeLots you're having trouble with, you'll have to remember to download both the CAMeLot and the BAT model.
E.g. if you want the Geoffhaws Texture Studio1, you'll have to download the pack called CARCH Lots BSC (where the CAMeLot is) and the BSC MEGA Props - CARCH Vol02 (where the BAT is located).
JES is as far as I know shorthand for Jestarr (there is a Jestarr vol. 8, and then JES vol. 9 in the Dependency Help (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_depend00.html)). Three letter abbrivations are common, and due to the organisation here you'll sometimes have to guess your way through.
1 Geoffhaws Texture Studio, a 4x4 or 5x4 Industry HT lot (http://http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2039.msg59868#msg59868).
ah I think Diggis will need to update his dependancy list :)
I think BSC Mega Props - JES Vol05 was released after the last update
you can find it here http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1263
Once you get some accustomed to various author name you can try the 'power search' in the LEX with some filters
For this one, I use Jestarr ( for JES ) and Dependancy in the Broad category, this way there is a good chance to find the correct file
but don't hesitate to post here
Ah! Bloody brilliant! Thanks so much!
Still, it seems as if one has to download a TON of stuff for all these additional things. :) Very time consuming to download the CAMelot, and the BAT stuff too, just for the one building. I guess I just don't understand what the point of downloading the other files was then....
Partly it's because the prop packs (like the one from Jestarr you just downloaded) are commonly used on many lots that people tend to accumulate. It has been my experience that, no matter how small it starts, plugin folders tend to grow. There are a few packs out there that are commonly held by the majority of the community and therefor, when people are making their lots, there isn't usually a problem putting only one or two props from a pack on a lot.
As far as keeping separate files, it seems (at least in my opinion) easier to update a basic, central file than to either make a single massive file (where changing one small thing would eat bandwidth rapidly when redistributed) or to decentralize and spread the change over numerous files. It may take time to download some of these things, but it is usually well worth it in the end.
This a common agreement that you just link to the original model file instead of including it in your own creation
- it save bandwith as the size of the file is less
- the original author may want to produce an update to fix a bug, enhance a model etc.. By just linking to his model, instead of including it, you'll be able to get the fixed one
So as most of CAMelot are remodding of original stuffs not made by BSC members, we haven't include the original model, and you'll have to download it separatly.
Try downloading Safari, I've learned that that browser saves a lot of time when on a download spree. Press the "Download Now" button once (and once only), and it automatically saves the file to the desktop. No wait for page loads, "grace periods" before you press downloads, etc. Unzip, and happy installing! You'll have to do the installers individually, but this don't take much time.
ah, that makes sense. I wasn't thinking about bandwidth or other limitations, like updating later, etc.
Well, off to the above link you gave me to dl all the buildings and their models. :)
Whew, Ok, after about 10 hrs of downloading and learning how this works, I'm gonna call it a night. :) Hopefully I'll have everything else downloaded tomarro, and then maybe the day after that I'll install it all, one...bloody...file...at...a...time.
Rofl. Like the man said though, looks like it will be WELL worth the time.
Hi Mbolism.
For the Tower Residence 2, you'll need ks_jpn Mega Props Vol06, found here (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=714).
For the Europa, you'll need BSC Mega Props COBB Vol03, found here (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=691).
These and most others can be found at the link given by Threestooges. The one by krba has a typo. Cheers!
Couple of questions. I got most of the stuff working now, thanks to everyone's help. :) Missing just a few things so far which I'm sure I'll find. However, after going into one of my cites, watching the new stuff sprout up and stuff, I went to zoom in, and the game crashed. Same thing second time around. It's a medium size city, and I didn't seem to have this problem with my small cities. Have not tried on my larger or huge cities yet.
Any idea's on where to start?
And the 2 small building problems I have in my small cites (so far) are:
-Glenni-Knudsen Sko Factory - Dirty Ind. No query
-Windmill Willys Tulip Farm - Ag. Brown box on main building.
There are a variety of issues that may cause a CTD (Crash To Desktop). I'm not sure if there are any known issues with CAM (though I don't recall hearing any). It would be good to know what you were doing prior to zooming in. Another thing it could be is a conflicting plugin (this tends to happen with outdated files or incompatible things) or duplicated files. If it is possible, post a pic/list of your plugins. That will enable a quicker check for such files.
One last thing I've heard suggested is a bit of a long process, but it will work. Divide your plugins folder in half (keep half in) and start the game and try to replicate the crash situation. If it crashes you know the file is in that group somewhere. Divide that in half and keep going until you narrow it down. With this method, keep the CAM stuff together. I don't know much about the system, but I think it should all be kept together (buildings and all).
I hope you get this taken care of soon. I know what a pain these issues can be, but we're here for any questions you happen to have.
Ok, Just now, I clicked on the CAM statue (large) that tells you how many CAMlots you have in your city. I did this when I first got the reward, and it worked fine. This last time, it crashed when I clicked on it.
Prior to that time, I had just been watching my city grow with the new stuff poping in, and it simply crashed when I went to zoom in closer.
The one thing I'm concerned about is that I accidentally replaced a BSC essentials file, the OG one, with a smaller one when copying over stuff. Also, a lot of my stuff in the plugins folder is out on it's own, not in folders. Don't think this should cause a problem, but it's possible I suppose. I"ll run some cleanitol stuff and see if I missed something.
Ok, pretty sure I've got most of it figured out. I needed some stuff from STEX, which was down when I was downloading and I missed a few things. Also, for some the Oneil stuff (models) it says I need this file in my plugins folder without subdirs:
bsc_Essentials_OG.dat
I do NOT have this file, and have had no success finding it. :( I'm guessing that this is the main problem with the CTD problem I've been having.
Well, I ran the Cleanitols as told to by the readme's, and started looking through my plugins folder and found that pretty much EVERYTHING was gone. The folders are still there, and some of the dat files I re-downloaded as told to by the cleanitol program.
I went into the folders to try to undo all I had done, but found they aren't win32 compatible programs, so basically, unless I missed something, I just wasted about 15hrs of downloading stuff and would have to pretty much start over now. There was over a gig of stuff in that plugins folder, and now it's just gone. I went into my cities and all the stuff under each menu is gone, and some of the cities I was using with the new stuff now aren't functioning properly of course.
I'm just dumbfounded, as I don't see how a couple of cleanitol's erased EVERYTHING in my plugins folder.
Whew. Ok, I found all the stuff in one of the backup folders in the BSC_Cleanitol (backups) folder, with a few other things in some of the other folders. The undo.bat programs are working for those.
However, this still puts me back as square one (unless I DL'd some of the files needed to fix the problem), but I'm still confused how one cleanitol run erased everything and put it into one backup folder?
Well it is a hard time and may depress you, but I hope we can bring some light here to you
First and we should have told you that first, deeply sorry, but when you go on massive downloads/install, you should install them in chronological order, and run their included cleanitol files in same order. Sometimes there are cleanitol meant to be used before installing, and it usually state in the readme
The cleanitol/Readme are only valid at the time of uploading
Because some files are updated, merged etc.. and the description/readme/cleanitol of older lots that use them as dependancies are not updated, it would take too much time to rebuild installer, reupload etc..
This what happen to you with some O'Neil stuff, which at the time of releasing needed bsc_Essentials_OG.dat, however now bsc_Essentials_OG.dat is included in bsc_Essentials.dat
I know it is a pain for new comers, but it is worth it, and as soon as you'll be ok, you'll easily tackle the download of a few stuff on week basis
Don't depress, I've rebuild my entire plugins and it took me 15 days ( well not on a 24/24 basis :) ) , and useally run the game in between to really see if I'm missing or not something
As for erasing everything from Cleanitol, the only thing I see is that there is a bad cleanitol file that specify *.*, and it should be reported if you find it
Yeah, I'm better now that it's a new day. :)
So yeah, I have everything re-loaded from the backup in the BSC_Cleanital folder. I've removed the _OG.dat file manually, since it's in the essentials one now. However, it seems you are right about all that. I should have taken things a bit slower. So now the question is, do I erase everthing in my plugins folder and start from scratch? Or do we try to go through it and fix it as it is now?
It actually depends on how bad it is. :P I, like Wouanagaine, redid my plugins folder some months ago. It took about a week and a half. The way I did it was to install items by date created (oldest first), running any applicable cleanitol files, prior to installing the file it was included in. Then all you need to do is go in and remove any empty folders left over and it's done.
Edit: Forgot to mention something I think is important. I had a test city, that I used to check for oddly modded items, backing it up each time I opened it. That way if it crashed I had a fairly immediate inkling of what caused it.
Ok, looks like the easiest thing for me to do might be to just start from scratch, by deleting everything, and then re-downloading what I need and doing it all chronologically. The only problem is, what if, after I'm done with a bunch of new stuff, find something older that I want in my game? Seems like installing older files into the plugins folder is what causes most of the issues.
Alternatively, I could list what .dat files I have in my plugins folders, and maybe we can find out where some conflicts are, or where I might be missing something? I'm guessing the lot, model and desc files aren't going to cause many problems, unless I don't have the .dat files for them, right?
Will having the growable AND plopable models in in my plugins dir (and subdirs) cause crashes/problems?
Well, actually, the lot and/or any loose desc files can be a problem. Badly modded lots are the cause of all sorts of mischief, including CTD's. Props, models and textures don't generally cause problems. Having a growable and plopable in your plugins won't cause a problem, unless one or both have the above condition.
Oh, btw always keep the zip, this way you won't have to redownload it
Last time I redone my plugins I have the following folder
SC4Stuff
downloaded
installed
dependencies
team folders
plopables
growables
removed
When I download something, the zip goes in dowloads folder
When I install a download, if it shows good in SC4, then the zip from downloads goes to one of the subfolder of installed, if not, it goes to removed
It helps keep tracks of what I have installed ( especially in regards to dependancies and updated/outdated files )
As for what is the best to you, it may depend of how much brown boxes you have and how much crash you may encounter in a sandbox region
Yeah, I got rid of everything once it was done installing, which I though about afterwards as a really stupid thing to do. :) I will setup a better subdir system of folders like you suggest.
as far as brown boxes go, I don't have any (that I have seen). Most of my CTD's have occured from trying to zoom in/out, trying to save, etc. Very rarely, if at all, have they just happened with me sitting there.
So, I went in and got rid of all the images/useless files from the plugins folders, leaving only the essentials stuff. Should I maybe copy all that, back it up somewhere, and then start from scratch? Or should I go through and try to find the badly modded lots and loose desc files and weed them out?
well, that quite good news IMO
1) crash from in/out can be evicted by using datpacker which as a side effect can relieve you of deleting non sc4 file ( ie jpg etc.. )
2) you don't have brown boxes so far :)
3) loose desc won't produce any harm besides making the loading longer
4) badly modded, unfortunatly there is no easy way to remove them nor identifying them until you get into modding, however you can go to that thread (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=907.0) and look at the info provided, this will however only help you to find and remove some kind of bad modded files ( but really bad one if you like growables )
As for other badly modded files which provides unbalanced values to the game, well you'll have to run the game and see when something goes wrong in the city, what can cause it - And ask here :)
Ok. Well, I've been pretty careful with my files that I've downloaded. Most are the popular, updated ones from the most reputable modders, as well as the files to support them. But yeah, I see no real way to figure out which one it might be (if that's the problem)
Ok, I browsed through my files, after playing one of my cities for a bit with no CTD (a small one) and it crashed right after I put in the big school. It says 'High School' Cost is 1050, monthy cost is 750, and student pop of 3500. It covers almost all of a medium size map. Says "educates young sims". Can't find the files though in my plugins folder, thinking I might be able to delete that and see what happens. However, went into one of my other cites (medium city) and ran it for a while without doing anything but basic maintainance and watching things grow. Did fine for some time, then crashed on a zoom out. I didn't add the school or anything else new that was plopable.
Also, I found a folder called Tahvontorni, with a sub folder of the same name, and 2 files in it WITHOUT extentions.
Tahvontorni-Lot
Tahvontorni-Model
kinda odd they don't have extentions, and I'm wondering if this is a problem.
Also, I have these files that I'm thinking might have something to do with it, since my traffic isn't one until scrolled in one level from default.
ms family high wealth eurocar props.dat
and the medium and low welth ones of that too.
Ok, found and removed the file for the school, as well as the Tahvontorni folders. I was able to navigate the game just fine for quite some time, zooming in and out, turning night on and off, and watching things grow. Then, when I destroyed and replaced the powerplant (Hydrogen) and upped my Transportation funding, then tried to zoom out, it crashed. Those are the only 2 things that I did.
When destroying the power plant, the game bogs down for a few seconds, and the same when building the new one. It also bogs down just a bit after the funding increase for the airport (stock airport, not a new one). Not sure if this helps, but figured it couldn't hurt to post. :)
The Tahvontorni is a building by Krio on the STEX. It's a plopable CO$$ Diagonal that's considerably larger that the lot it's on. The footprint has been reduced, so it'll fit on a 1x2 lot, instead of a 5x5, and though the stats seem a little screwy for a building of that size, I didn't see anything that would cause a CTD. The ms car prop files change the default Maxis vehicles to those more common in Europe. That's all they do and I've never heard of them causing any problems, as they're props that have been used for years.
Hmmm. well, I got rid of that stuff just the same (except the cars). I'll probably try a few more things then just start over from scratch. :)
BTW, one thing I was wanting to ask, unrelated to this, is the game itself, and how slow it seems to run with large cities. My system is FAR above what is reccommended, and things always go slow, even with graphics turned down a bit and with automata stuff off except for closer zooms. I remember talking to someone at some point about the game and that it's just plain too big for it's britches, and the game engine just isn't good enough to handle everything. Is this correct, or is there something that can be done to improve game performance. (needless to say, all this extra stuff slows things down even more).
My system basics:
P4 2.6ghz (all HT tech)
1gb Ram
ATI Radeon 9800 pro
277 GB HD (Western Digital I think)
Game options:
Visual Effects: med
# of Cars/sims: low
Shadows: low
BD Speed: med
Textures: med
Detail: Med
16 bit color
no clouds
no waves
no UI translucency
no color cursor
no variable speed automata
1024x768
Graphics card is set at default settings (middle of the scale)
Based on that, my system shouldn't have a bit of trouble, especially without any add-ons.
I have Oblivion, which is a very big resource hog, and I run that NO problem (not with max graphics of course, but with higher than average)
Your specs look fine, except for possibly the video card. I've read about some very weird things happening with the Radeon 9xxx series. Apparently, some pc configurations, using ATI cards, don't play nice with SimCity. I can't verify this, as I've never owned one. Another thing I've read is that turning all sound off can stop the CTDs. Again, this isn't something I'm able to verify, as I've never had the problem.
Sorry I have been away from here for a bit, but it looks like your questions have been getting answered by some of the best in the community. I cannot confirm Jestarr's statements just above, but I have an old ATI Radeon 7500C. I know there are potential issues (but nothing I have encountered) and as far as the CTD sound thing goes, I can't think of a correlation between the two, but I play without sound and I haven't had a CTD outside of the GLR hovering thing. I will try to do some research into the ATI thing (I remember reading something around here or ST I think) and will let you know if I find anything. I'm sure this will work out soon enough.
Crashing while zooming in/out rapidly is quite common, experience with DatPacker tends to prove that the amount of files or how SC4 have to read tons of files when display change can highly be the cause. As Datpacker will pack files, SC4 will get less files to go thru and this alleviate the problem
If you crash while plopping the item, the best guess is that item is badly modded or you miss a vital file for it
No, no crashes while plopping. This datapacker thing seems to be my best bet right now, based off your answers to my questions. I'll go look this up and try it.
edit: didn't really know where to get the datapacker. tried a search for it but no luck. :(
You can get it here (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=26).
One thing that I recall hearing about the Datpacker, is that you should not dat pack the folder tthat contains the NAM if you have it. I don't remember why, but I believe I recall that causing some issues.
You can read that thread about DatPacker (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=4051.0) even if it was made with not the same version as yours
Excellent. I'll give this a try and see where we get. :) Thanks again guys! Just wanted to say again how great it is to have such speedy and friendly support!
It's not a problem at all. I think we've all been there at some point or another. I hope you'll take advantage of the other things our site has to offer (and to share some pics when you get everything working right).
I think that datapacker did the trick! I played both the cities I had previously had problems with, and did everything I could to bog them down trying to get them to CTD, but they never did (yet). Anyway, all I have now are just a couple of models/lots to find to take care of a couple of brown boxes, but that should be a snap now. :)
BTW, where is the best place to host a picture for free? I've got small city up and going and was going to post that. It's nothing compared to a lot of your guy's stuff, but it definitely looks nice.
My next project is to get stuff to make the terrain and water, etc. more realistic like I've seen in your guy's cities. I'm amazed at the realism of that stuff!
BTW, some of the night lighting on those building you guys have made are absolutely astounding! Very impressive work. You put the game creators to shame. :)
There are two image hosting sites that come to mind: imageshack and photobucket. I have personally seen fewer issues with imageshack files and it is what I use (I don't have an account, I just upload as a guest).
There are a few water mods out there. I use one by Pegasus (aka PEG). He has a fine selection of them on his site (simpeg.com) but there are others that have been in recent development. One thing that I think I should mention here is that, for terrain mods and the like, order of them in your plugins folder is important. Since they all tend to modify one aspect or another of the terrain file, the last one loaded (the last one listed in your plugins) will affect that property.
This community has some fine creative talent. I've just gotten into the BATting side of things myself, and I hope I can meet the bar they have set (that will come with time and practice though). Plenty of stuff out there too, on other sites, as well as here on the LEX.
Ok, lets see if this works, if it does, more pictures will follow. :)
edit: Cool. I'm not as dumb as I look! Ok, this is my city fully zoned before things started taking off. You can see a few of your guys buildings there, and obviously I've found my new favorite trees. :) Birch and Poplars really add so much to the city like the stock trees never could!
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg524.imageshack.us%2Fimg524%2F9800%2Fbeforeel0.jpg&hash=aa67e1a5858cd415496fbd41292ec37de4c25c62) (http://imageshack.us)
I love playing on small maps because of the challenge of getting tall buildings. At some point, things just click, and then everything takes off. I honestly have no idea what does it....
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg385.imageshack.us%2Fimg385%2F1155%2Fafterfl2.jpg&hash=00b9f05697022dd160e65c3455959bb2a268456c) (http://imageshack.us)
And of course, I always find enjoyment in the little things...
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg514.imageshack.us%2Fimg514%2F4594%2Fmorbidyp9.jpg&hash=b6a6009ca9875fb047695297a7c610babf46eb39) (http://imageshack.us)
Nothing says more about my feelings for our healthcare system here in the US. :)
Traffic is getting to be a problem, and I have no forms of mass transit as yet. My new city next door is even worse as far as traffic goes. What do you think is the best route to go for relieving this? I'm in favor of subways, as they don't take up much real-estate (a key part of small/medium maps). :) Anyway, just picking your brains. What thread should questions like this REALLY be posted in? :)
Very nice city, a bit to griddy for my taste, but you keep the green in it
As for traffic, I think you may find answers in the NAM Board (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=90.0), or here (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=174.0) or here (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=176.0)
I'll personaly go for buses, then subway if buses can't handle traffic
Yeah, I kept it a bit griddy mostly because I was just testing out the new content, and wanted to be able to pack it in and zone for the buildings I wanted to see. Also, since I haven't played SC4 that much really (mostly when I just got it and on and off since then), I never really got into being too creative, as it was frankly difficult to do so. Very time consuming to terraform, and difficult to work within the limits of the game to get the look I wanted, so I just oped for a grid like playing style, with some minimal variations just so that I could play with ease in the little spare time I had.
I still don't have a lot of spare time, but with all this stuff I never knew existed, it's a whole new game, worth spending some extra time on. :)
Anyway, I started a new city next-door to that one, using the high commercial/industrial demand from the above city to spark quick growth in this one. I'm still relatively inept at using neighboring cites to work together, via neighbor deals and RCI demand, but I'm slowly learning how to do it. I just learned last week how to do exclusive cities! (residential, indust., etc) &ops
Ok, so this one I'm trying out zoning bigger for some of the bigger/better stuff, and trying to work with the roundabouts, etc., as well as using this city to power the previous one, mostly to get to 25k for energy demand so I could get nuclear plants, and partly of course to save space in the previous city (small).
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg440.imageshack.us%2Fimg440%2F2572%2Felshia1yg5.jpg&hash=c82d5af11b50e5512e4748329fbf73eb53f9e4a7) (http://imageshack.us)
I'm going to build around the shoreline, between it and the high ground, then turn my attention to developing the hill, which I would like to do correctly, instead of just plopping and growing and it looking very unnatural. I read some of the terraforming stuff, but to be honest it kinda scared me away as being pretty complicated, in that it seemed to require a lot of extra things like different programs and lots of other mods.
Any pointers would help, and I'm eager to hear any and all criticisms and/or suggestions/ideas on how it looks so far and for what you think I should do as I develop it.
a couple more shots:
The roads - still a bit griddy yeah, but getting better yes?
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg45.imageshack.us%2Fimg45%2F9753%2Felshiaroadsdk2.jpg&hash=6b735131417424c48a9571489d8c9d7cc46162ba) (http://imageshack.us)
and something that gave me flashbacks of an old Sierra game... the first to guess it right is a true nerd. :)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg57.imageshack.us%2Fimg57%2F8776%2Felshiaceasar2gm4.jpg&hash=bcf316e6d1a64de2ac33ca39d1793c59ac20954d) (http://imageshack.us)
And btw, if anyone can tell me how to get said old Sierra game working on XP, and/or has a copy, PLEASE let me know. I got rid of mine because it didn't work no matter what I tried. I figured the only way was to piece together and old system and put Win95 on it, which didn't really interest me at the time.
It looks like you're getting things going pretty well. As far as terraforming goes, I recommend downloading smoncrie's hole digging lots. They help quite a bit for certain things (wall lots, sunken highways, making tunnel antrances, etc). Also, keep in mind that you can get back to the full 'God Mode' terraforming tools after having started your city by opening the nature menu (or whatever the one with the sun is called) while holding down crtl+alt+shift. It does take a bit of time to get the land looking just as you want it, but it can be well worth the effort. Also, the road-plop leveling trick is useful for smoothing out roads and areas in general.
As far as your development goes, I would highly recommend considering creating a MD. It's a great way to get feedback and it would let more people get a view of your works. Also, in regard to plebs and the game, it sounds like either Civilization (which I don't think was Sierra) or Caesar or something like that. Also, for XP did you try running it in compatability mode? Right click on the exe for the file, go to properties, compatability mode, and select windows 95, 98 or whatever you need.
I like your start, I hope to see more, and I hope you will consider a MD to share this stuff. Good work.
It's starting really good, less griddy, still lot of green open spaces which I like and nice selection of custom content
As for terraforming, follow ThreeStooges's advices, and also you may download some slope mods which will change how the terran react when you lay transits.
Ennedi made great experiments and release some of his mods in his MD (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2157.200) However I can't remember in which update. But you can find the slope mod on the Lex (http://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1512)
I will second what wouanagaine has added. Slope mods can be a bit difficult to work with at tiimes (particularly if you need to get up a rather steep hill) but it gives a challenge faced by real world engineers. I use Jeronij's, but the one mentioned above can be found in Ennedi's MD Shosaloza (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2157.msg101601;topicseen#msg101601) along with some great detail about what all went into its creation. He has also been experimenting with terrain mods and other such things. Definately a great place to visit if you want to find out what's on the cutting edge these days.
Best piece of advice I can give you about terraforming: don't worry about trying to get all elements mastered (or even downloaded) at once. There is quite a bit out there, and it will take time to get used to, but you will find it gets easier and there will be occasions to dl new options. You will see new techniques all the time to try on your own cities, some may work and others might not, but either way, it's a great thing to play with.
Ok, I got Ennedi's slop mod, and am using the mountain one, and I'm really liking it! Make for MUCH nicer looking transit. Challenging, yes, but as you said, very much more realistic, and well worth it.
On a side note, I've got everything compressed with the datapacker, and only have NAM untouched. My game crashes are few and far between, but still there, so that seemed to be the main problem. I'll probably just deal with it till I upgrade my system. A newer vid card and 2gb of ram should really fix most of it I think, as most of the crashed come under load it seems (though not all).
Hopefully I'll get into MDing soon, though it seems like quite a daunting task. I might have a lot project in the works too, but as I've never done any of this before, well, we'll just have to wait and see. :)
Good to hear things are working better now. Just make sure you save often and that will take the sting out of the crashes a bit. As far as the MD thing. It is a bit of work certainly, but I suggest reading through the Hall of Fame thread (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=4856.0) the three inductees offer their thoughts on the MD process and it's good reading. There are a few good LE tutorials in the (oddly enough) tutorials (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=48.0) section. I can tell you from experience that this is tough work at first and before I got good at it I picked up the BAT. I wish you luck with it if you get into it, and I'll be happy to help with any questions you might have on it.