Essentials vs Props

[Sorengaard]

Hi,  What is the difference between essentials, props, and mods?  Should some be put into the maxis program plugin and others in the my documents plugin? Some prop files seem to be just a list of houses which might better be put under a residential file for example as to where some files should be placed. Some mods seem to be more like a list of props.

Thanks Steve

[jmyers2043]

Hello Sorengaard

Essentials are usually produced by the various teams. One small thing in the BSC essentials are the queries. If you click on a building you'll need the 'bsc essentials' to see the buildings statistics such as jobs, pollution, etc. These should usually be installed in the C:\My Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins

Props are visual things such as a tree, bush, mailbox, or playground equipment. On an industrial lot a prop can be a pile of boxes, rusty drum, etc. Most things on the LEX have installers which put them in a folder. Such as C:\My Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BSC\Props ... so every prop a BSC team member does will end up in the same place. You do not necessarily 'have' to download props but your lots may look sparse without them.

A mod changes the game visually or actively. A visual mod may be a terrain controller that changes how green your grass is or how a rock looks on a hill. An active mod may be something that puts extra money in your bank account on January 1 of every year - changes how much pollution automobile traffic causes along a street, that sort of thing. A mod that acts like a list of props may be something like a tree controller. In that case the 'mod' part is a visual mod that grows certain trees at certain altitudes, slopes, ravines, etc. But the list of props you mention will most likely the trees as there are many available ... some change with the seasons. The NAM is both a visual mod and an active mod because it provides many different road styles (visual) but also affects how traffic flows (active).

I don't know what your organization skills are but it sounds like you wish to put certain things in certain spots. That's fine but it will make updating later a bit of a chore. Especially if you have 2G of downloaded material like I have. The only thing I advise for sure is to keep the essentials in the MyDocs\Maxis\Plugins\root.

Hope this helps


- Jim

[Sorengaard]

Hi,  Sure does.  Thanks for the help.  The reason I asked about where to put things is that sometimes I read that certain items should open before others and it is important therefore where they are located. Again thanks for the help.  Steve

[jmyers2043]

Hey Steve

Usually the creator of the mod or lot, if it's important, will emphasise that you put things in the folder C:\My Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\Z_xxxxx

the Z folder will load last. 

- Jim

[Sorengaard]

Ah makes sense.  In an unrelated subject I have come across Texture Packs that only have jpg files in them.  Are they to be left as picture files or is there something else that needs to be done? Steve

[Andreas]

Texture packs should consist of the usual *.dat files that contain FSH textures. Any JPG files are usually associated to a readme file, they won't have any effect to the game, though.

[Sorengaard]

Thanks   That's what I suspected but was just being cautiously sure.  Thanks again to all for the info.  Steve