To CAM or not to CAM? A few noob questions

[kaiserf]

Hi all,

I'm getting back into some SC4 after about a 3 year hiatus and just ran across the CaMelot system and had a few questions I was hoping someone could help me with.

Basically spent the last couple of days getting caught up and trying to set up my plugins so far I have:

NAM w/ Simulator Z 'ultra capacity'
Radius Doubler

1. From reading about the CAM I see it makes some adjustments to occupancy levels so I was wondering if I'd be hurting my cities by skipping the CAMs traffic controllers in favor of plug in Z from the NAM?

2. How widely are lot makers supporting CAM? I saw in some threads there is some discussion of CAM 2.0 at some point in the future but most of the downloads I saw on the LEX are relatively old. Am I going to be really restricting my lot choices by going with the CAM?

3. Initially I was attracted to the CAM because it has nice lot packs that would allow me add many different lots w/ out doing the individual legwork of adding hundreds of custom lots. Are there similar packs of non-CAM lots that I somehow missed?

4. I read a forum thread on simtropolis regarding a mod that altered R$$$ high wealth desirability threshold so R$$$ would build only at 40% desirability rather than 20% in order to avoid abandonment issues - anything similar on the LEX?

5. Any other general things (essential  MODs maybe) I should know so that I don't screw up the region I want to start?

Finally, many thanks to all the wonderful contributors in the community. I have to say everyone's contributions have got me really excited to get back to SC4.

Thanks,
Kaiserf

[RippleJet]

1. From reading about the CAM I see it makes some adjustments to occupancy levels so I was wondering if I'd be hurting my cities by skipping the CAMs traffic controllers in favor of plug in Z from the NAM?

Yes, you should skip the old traffic controllers that come with CAM, and keep the one you installed with NAM instead.

2. How widely are lot makers supporting CAM? I saw in some threads there is some discussion of CAM 2.0 at some point in the future but most of the downloads I saw on the LEX are relatively old. Am I going to be really restricting my lot choices by going with the CAM?

Everything on the LEX today is "CAMpatible", both with CAM 1.0 and with the upcoming CAM 2.0.

3. Initially I was attracted to the CAM because it has nice lot packs that would allow me add many different lots w/ out doing the individual legwork of adding hundreds of custom lots. Are there similar packs of non-CAM lots that I somehow missed?

If you refer to the CAMeLot starter packs, then no... nothing similar exists for Vanilla/Rush Hour.

4. I read a forum thread on simtropolis regarding a mod that altered R$$$ high wealth desirability threshold so R$$$ would build only at 40% desirability rather than 20% in order to avoid abandonment issues - anything similar on the LEX?

It is essentially the same as the Less Abandonment mod by bones1.

5. Any other general things (essential  MODs maybe) I should know so that I don't screw up the region I want to start?

Nothing that's required...
Personally I would recommend the Opera House Fix by Toroca though.

[cubby420]

Greetings Kaiserf!

I'm sure you will get a far more satisfactory answer from someone else, but I'll try and help you out some. I as well still haven't made the CAM jump, but everyday I see other people's fantastic CAM creations I get closer and closer to dumping my plugins and starting fresh. I would encourage you to check out the threads on this board to get more info on the CAM:

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=185.0

Again, don't take anything here as gospel, but I think most of what I'm about to say is right.    

You are probably in a good position to install CAM, being that your install is pretty fresh. I know that the CAM packs available on the LEX only contain CAM lots, and you would still have to do a fair amount of searching for model files from various creators. It certainly is useful though to have the CAMelots centralized in packs though. As far as compatibility of most lots, as I understand it just about everything you find on the LEX is CAM ready. Also, most stage 1-7 lots on the STEX or other sites should work with CAM as well. Some stage 8 lots may conflict with the aforementioned CAMelot versions however, so you should be mindful of that reality.

Regarding the mod you mentioned that toyed with desirability and thresholds...I do not believe mods like this work well at all with the CAM and may produce very undesirable results.

In terms of other MODs you may want to check out...there are really so many out there that do great things for the game. I would highly recommend checking out cp's terrain mods, located here:

http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/fr_main.htm ...scroll down and check the various pages, as there are plenty to choose from.

There are also other terrain mods elsewhere, so explore some. There are also various water mods around, that alter the look of Maxis radioactive blue water. I am personally fond of the customization and flexibility afforded by this mod pack by rivet on Simtropolis:

http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=22358

Also, slope mods and diagonal jagged edge mods...and rock mods and day-night mods and bears oh my! Really the best way to find what works for you is to explore this and other sites and feel out which fit your playing style. Good luck!  


EDIT: Oh and listen to RippleJet...he's much more knowledgeable than a mere plebeian like myself! 

[kaiserf]

Thanks so much, you two did a great job of answering my questions! 

[xxdita]

You are probably in a good position to install CAM, being that your install is pretty fresh. I know that the CAM packs available on the LEX only contain CAM lots, and you would still have to do a fair amount of searching for model files from various creators. It certainly is useful though to have the CAMelots centralized in packs though. As far as compatibility of most lots, as I understand it just about everything you find on the LEX is CAM ready. Also, most stage 1-7 lots on the STEX or other sites should work with CAM as well. Some stage 8 lots may conflict with the aforementioned CAMelot versions however, so you should be mindful of that reality.

Firstly, the searching has already been done. Just follow the link in my signature to the Cleanitols For Free thread, and you will find every model file you need for the CAMelot Starter Packs. Secondly, it is important to be careful about mixing custom content. If the original modding is screwy, then it still will be. Your best bet is to run all of the non-CAMified lots through SC4PIM (aka PIMX, aka XTool), to update them for the correct stats.

Regarding the mod you mentioned that toyed with desirability and thresholds...I do not believe mods like this work well at all with the CAM and may produce very undesirable results.

Actually, CAM includes a tweaked version of the less abandonment mod, so it would be redundant. There is a running list of all non-CAMpatible mods here, so take a look to see if any of the mods you're using are inCAMpatible or not.

Terrain mods, NAM-related mods... these are all perfectly CAMpatible, so no worries there.

Before you get started with CAM, you should probably read through this thread a bit, especially the last 20 or so pages. 

Have fun, and welcome to SC4D!

[kaiserf]

hey thanks much for the reply xxdita, the information about the abandonment issue is particularly helpful.