CAM Questions

[Dreamcat]

I was going o download CAM, but I need some questions answered.

1. I have tons of custom content from the STEX, none of it is CAM'd.  So I was going to convert them all to CAM-e-lots.  I'll use the CAM list, but what tools will I need to increase the growth stages?

2. I have all my files DATpacked, is there any way to un-DATpack things?  If not that would be very bad.  Any ideas?

3. How long would converting this take?  I have a couple hundred files in there.  I'll check the pinned "CAM-patible lists, but just give me an estimate.

4. I already have a region started, but all that's there is a suburb and an industrial sector.  Woukld CAM affect anything?

Thank you.

[RippleJet]

1. I have tons of custom content from the STEX, none of it is CAM'd.  So I was going to convert them all to CAM-e-lots.  I'll use the CAM list, but what tools will I need to increase the growth stages?

It's not only the Growth Stage that needs fixing...
In several cases the capacities may be pretty bad,
as well as a number of other properties, e.g. garbage pollution and water consumption.

I would strongly advice against trying to fix all STEX files yourself...
It's a lot easier to download those CAMeLots that are already available and discard the old ones you've got.
There are Cleanitol files available to help you with that as well.

2. I have all my files DATpacked, is there any way to un-DATpack things?  If not that would be very bad.  Any ideas?

Yes, assuming you did move all files into a backup folder called Plugins_uncompressed,
all in accordance with the SC4DatPacker User Guide.

3. How long would converting this take?  I have a couple hundred files in there.  I'll check the pinned "CAM-patible lists, but just give me an estimate.

Too long... downloading is faster...

4. I already have a region started, but all that's there is a suburb and an industrial sector.  Woukld CAM affect anything?

If it hasn't developed too far into stage 8 residentials and commercials,
then you should be able to continue with the region after installing CAM.

[Rady]

Dreamcat, I downloaded the CAM some months ago. After that I went for anything CAMpatible at the LEX. Downloading the stuff, getting the dependencies and installing the whole stuff took me appr. a weekend (given that I tend to have breaks between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.   ) ). So nothing too bad at all. Just to give yu a clue ..

[Dreamcat]

Thank you, my dear RippleJet.

Hmm, I wanted to save a few of my favorite buildings.  And I don't care TOO much about the occupancy, etc.  Not a perfectionist.  I just want the buildings.  A few of them.  Five.

Also what about small houses/small shops (stage 1-3) and small apartment buildings/offices (stage 4-5-6?)?  Are they CAM-patible?  Do they need special treatment to be applicable with CAM?

And how do the densities work...is high-density now stages 7-15?
Also I am not sure which dependencies I have and do not have.  Is it possible to grow boxes, or without dependencies do growables not grow?

[RippleJet]

Hmm, I wanted to save a few of my favorite buildings.  And I don't care TOO much about the occupancy, etc.  Not a perfectionist.  I just want the buildings.  A few of them.  Five.

Send them to me and I'll run them through the "X Tool" for you.

Also what about small houses/small shops (stage 1-3) and small apartment buildings/offices (stage 4-5-6?)?  Are they CAM-patible?  Do they need special treatment to be applicable with CAM?

They will work just fine with CAM!

And how do the densities work...is high-density now stages 7-15?

It's depending on the height of the building.
If the building íf over 100 m tall, then it should grow only on high-density zones.
If the building is under 25 m, then it should grow on low, medium and high density.

Also I am not sure which dependencies I have and do not have.  Is it possible to grow boxes, or without dependencies do growables not grow?

Certainly, brown boxes can grow!
If you get one growing, query it, and check CAMeLots - Linking all available lots and bats to see what model you're missing.
Download and install that missing model, and the brown box will be gone the next time you open up that city.

[blitzer]

I also have a question..
My region already has a population of 11m with around 10 large cities at the time I installed CAM. Now some of my 1m+ cities are experiencing population losses around %5-%10 and then they just stay there with zero growth. I think my cities are already at the highest stage rush hour allows (stage 8) and after i installed CAM highest stage become 15 and i think that caused these losses. How can I prevent this without starting all over. Any help would be much appreciated.

[Korot]

It is advised to only use CAM in new regions, not in old ones, though I've got some tips:
First: make sure that you have only CAM-patible buildings in your cities. Then, open all your cities, run them for at least a game month, though a year might be needed and then save, this should 'set' all cities to the CAM demand simulator. Last, big cities in CAM need to be spread out, thus build more cities around your existing ones, this will cause your old cities to start growing again.

Regards,
Korot

[muck308]

I have been using the CAM for my region for months. Everything runs fine but I was curious about something. Is it advisable to uninstall and reinstall? I had originally set it up one way, but would like to try it another way. Will this have any negative affects on the region? ...Provided I don't alter things too drastically I assume.

[RippleJet]

It shouldn't matter if you uninstall and reinstall, no...

I had originally set it up one way, but would like to try it another way.

...however, you might want to explain somewhat more in detail what the difference would be...

[muck308]

Sure, I can elaborate. Although I think my brain might have cut the cheese... I was thinking that the CAM was the program I used to coerce my sims into walking to work. Now that I think about it, maybe that was the last update of the NAM that allowed you to do that. I recall being able to choose whether sims would be more likely to walk, drive, or take mass transit. Am I wrong about that being a CAM option? Was it the NAM instead? I only just thought of that as I began to write this post. Now the question I'm about to ask will be completely off topic, but is it safe to uninstall and reinstall the NAM? Sorry about my absent mindedness, which is well documented over at ST by the way. 

[RippleJet]

Am I wrong about that being a CAM option? Was it the NAM instead?

CAM includes three traffic plugins, which (if you opted to install one of them) would replace whatever you've had installed with NAM.
That plugin would have been installed in the folder z_CAM.

However, since NAM has been updated with a lot more traffic plugins since the release of CAM,
the recommendation today is not to install any of the optional traffic plugins that came with CAM.

Instead, you should pic whatever traffic plugin you prefer when installing NAM.
If you still have a folder called z_CAM, I'd recommend that you simply delete that folder.

You might also want to read the thread called NAM + CAM.

[muck308]

Thanks!