Olympia - the 4th edition...(Celebrating the 10th anniversary in 2008)

[SAC]

Good to know that it isn't dead.  Plus, post-Christmas updates are always a hit!

Yeah!     Thought I at least should have the courtesy to let you know that I didn't start a CJ, (still not becoming one yet    ), only to abandon it shortly afterwards!

OK, I am sitting here and lurking on SC4D while waiting for some backups to finish when I suddenly spot something very interesting. I had to read it twice to believe it .

A big welcome back SAC . I enjoyed your bats from SC3K and the 3rd edition of Olympia was a great source of inspiration to me so I am really looking forward to see your work with the 4th edition when I get back home to Gothenburg after spending Christmas and New Years Eve in Malmö.

Thanks Sandrasim!  I remember you too!    Myself I'm leaving Gothenburg for Christmas and New Year holidays, but will return to Gothenburg early next year.  Even so, I have access to computers at both ends and have great use of my external harddrive!   

Anyways, as mentioned earlier I'm still in the process of downloading and sorting new stuff.  Haven't gotten around  yet to check which of my "older" files should be included in the 4th edition, if any - but the 4th edition is only a result of all the new stuff available, and so it could be nice to see what is possible to achieve with all that around! 

I remember Sim Gothia and Olympia quite well.  I was always amazed, looking at your LE and terraforming skills, wishing I had but a tenth of it.  Anyway, it's good to see you back.  Cheers!

Yet another name I recognize!  Thanks for the welcoming - all of you!

[Shadow Assassin]

Still no pictures, and it's already in Ones to Watch?

That's a testament to how well-known Olympia is.

[Pat]

Hey SAC I totaly agree with what Shadow said... Its a great testament that so many peoples lives you have touched with Olympia are here and supportive and of course eagerly awaiting the start....

I agree with an earlier statement that was said about a good way to reallly tease us masses is by showing from old to new lol... Real Life is allways a first too, and i understand that soo well... I too have to admit if it wasnt for you I would have never touched the Lot Editor and for that I thank you sir!!!

[SAC]

Still no pictures, and it's already in Ones to Watch?

That's a testament to how well-known Olympia is.

And I am soo sorry about that SA!    It should of course have at least started to become a CJ at this point. Well, at least a map anyway!    But have faith.  It'll come! 

Hey SAC I totaly agree with what Shadow said... Its a great testament that so many peoples lives you have touched with Olympia are here and supportive and of course eagerly awaiting the start....

I agree with an earlier statement that was said about a good way to reallly tease us masses is by showing from old to new lol... Real Life is allways a first too, and i understand that soo well... I too have to admit if it wasnt for you I would have never touched the Lot Editor and for that I thank you sir!!!

I'm always pleased to hear that my work, although not much compared to many others, have had an influence.  That, if anything, is worth a lot to me! 

As for real life, yes, christmas and all but I'm at least free from work for the next couple of weeks.  And that means more time to spend with SC4...yay...   I'm reaching the end of the downloading process and have started sorting my stuff, (that I will use in this 4th edition).  Still, being away from a game for some time does reveal how confusing things can get.  I must say that there are some difficult choices involved, trying to decide which mods to use and which ones to skip.   Not to mention all the dependencies.  There are dependencies here, there are dependencies there, there are dependencies everywhere!    These prop packs everywhere could have been sorted a bit better I believe, but that's my personal opionion. 

A question though; I remember getting very annoyed with all the .dat's that came with some B.A.T's and Lots some years agom - especially since it somewhat prevented me from getting rid of stuff that I didn't want to include in my game.  These self installers, just to mention another annoyance - although I see the purpose with them, only gives me more work as I prefer my own way of sorting - especially since I try to keep the same sorting tree in game as for my storage folders externally. Anyways, does anyone know if there's a tool available that can be used to "extract" files from custom .sc-dat's?   

Sometimes this holiday I will try to start up the CJ by using the first post as a historical document, describing the birth of Olympia from SC2K up to SC4, using images I might have stored!  This to make the waiting time less "horrible" while waiting for the actual 4th edition CJ!  I'll keep you posted! 

[Andreas]

Since you're basically rebuilding your plugins folder from scratch, I suggest to sort the downloads and decide what you want to use, and then install everything to the default folders first. Have a good look at the folder structure, and make sure to browse through the readme files, in order to see if certain files need a special loading order (usually the more advanced mods, such as the NAM, CAM etc. rely on a specific loading order). This is also the time to look for dependencies, which should be conventiently linked in the readme files, at least in case of the files that were released here at the LEX.

Once you have installed everything, you might want to use BSC Cleanitol, in order to remove outdated files, and then you can reorganize everything to the folder structure of your liking. If you're satisified with the contents, you can DAT-pack everything, if you like, and/or use the SC4 Startup Manager afterwards if you want to have even more control over the content that is loaded for a specific region and/or city that you're going to work on.

For extracting stuff from a DAT file, there is no automatic way, but you'll have to do it manually with the Reader. It's a tedious process, but if you only need a very limited amount of props from a big package, it might be worth the effort. SC4Tool's Analyzer/Importer gives you the ability to see exactly what prop and texture IDs have been used on a lot, so you could cut the dependency packs down to what you really need - it's really only a matter of time (and probably only worth if the size of a pack can be shrinked down by a few megabytes, I'd say).

[Mulefisk]

Really looking forward to this! It's great to see that you're getting back into playing Sim City. Olympia was a huge source of inspiration for me.

[Krio]

Remember to download my proppack, if you want to make Super-Great-Awesome cities

[Shadow Assassin]

These self installers, just to mention another annoyance - although I see the purpose with them, only gives me more work as I prefer my own way of sorting - especially since I try to keep the same sorting tree in game as for my storage folders externally.

That's why I give them a custom folder structure every time I use them. Frankly, I think they're inconsistent.

For example, I use .../Plugins/BSC/XXX/YYY where XXX is the name of the creator, YYY is the name of the type of lot it is. For dependencies, I just do: .../Plugins/BSC/Dependencies/XXX, where XXX is the type of dependency it is. (BSC's just an example... I do the same with each of the BAT teams - HKABT, NDEX, whatever) For individual users, I have: .../Plugins/username/XXX OR .../Plugins/Misc/username_XXX

Of course, I go through those folders systematically deleting any extra crap that may have been dumped in there (like readmes and promotional images... jeez).

Does that help?

[SAC]

Since you're basically rebuilding your plugins folder from scratch, I suggest to sort the downloads and decide what you want to use, and then install everything to the default folders first. Have a good look at the folder structure, and make sure to browse through the readme files, in order to see if certain files need a special loading order (usually the more advanced mods, such as the NAM, CAM etc. rely on a specific loading order). This is also the time to look for dependencies, which should be conventiently linked in the readme files, at least in case of the files that were released here at the LEX.

That's pretty much the way I do it!   

For extracting stuff from a DAT file, there is no automatic way, but you'll have to do it manually with the Reader. It's a tedious process, but if you only need a very limited amount of props from a big package, it might be worth the effort. SC4Tool's Analyzer/Importer gives you the ability to see exactly what prop and texture IDs have been used on a lot, so you could cut the dependency packs down to what you really need - it's really only a matter of time (and probably only worth if the size of a pack can be shrinked down by a few megabytes, I'd say).

Well, this sounds a bit like waay too much work so I guess I'll have to continue getting annoyed from time to time...

Really looking forward to this! It's great to see that you're getting back into playing Sim City. Olympia was a huge source of inspiration for me.

Thank you! 

Remember to download my proppack, if you want to make Super-Great-Awesome cities

I'm sure I already have! 

That's why I give them a custom folder structure every time I use them. Frankly, I think they're inconsistent.

For example, I use .../Plugins/BSC/XXX/YYY where XXX is the name of the creator, YYY is the name of the type of lot it is. For dependencies, I just do: .../Plugins/BSC/Dependencies/XXX, where XXX is the type of dependency it is. (BSC's just an example... I do the same with each of the BAT teams - HKABT, NDEX, whatever) For individual users, I have: .../Plugins/username/XXX OR .../Plugins/Misc/username_XXX

Of course, I go through those folders systematically deleting any extra crap that may have been dumped in there (like readmes and promotional images... jeez).

Does that help?

I use a similar system - although I sort everything according to the building type as a starter. Each file has the creators name attached, but I don't sort files using any creator groups name, (i.e. BSC, NDEX...)

[thundercrack83]

I apologize for taking such a long time to post and welcome you here, my friend! I am also looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us here! Good luck with the organization!

Dustin

[Glenni]

i know this might be seen as a bump,but the truth is, i  missed out on this MD start, i haven't seen this until now. Anyway
SAC, your cj was the best there ever was, the bus mods you released were perfect, and i must say that i am very glad you decided to go back to us.
It might not be as obvious that my MD Vandals Fjella was inspired by Olympia,as for example Badsim's Anitgone. But  lot of my MD is indeed based of your ideas, with a lot of creativity and innovation. As well as a lot of custom lotting.

I am really looking forward to a new masterpiece by you now that several years and months has passed, and there's literally thousands of more stuff for you to re-lot and play around with.

And take a look at all the new stuff on the LEX and STEX by me, i don't know if you're just going to make a european city, or better yet a Scandinavian one, but if you're looking for something around here, i have a lot of it released. Vester, and even Simgoober has released some as well

[Swesim]

Sorry I didn´t notice this MD earlier, I bow before our master who has returned and will wait patiently for this 4th generation of Olympians...

I would once again like to suggest that You PM Vester about Your SC3K trams to see if they can somehow be converted for use here in SC4.

With Your wonderful SC3K creations in good remembrance I look forward to seeing what You will bring us this time!

[SAC]

I apologize for taking such a long time to post and welcome you here, my friend! I am also looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us here! Good luck with the organization!

Dustin

Thanks for the welcoming!   

i know this might be seen as a bump,but the truth is, i  missed out on this MD start, i haven't seen this until now. Anyway
SAC, your cj was the best there ever was, the bus mods you released were perfect, and i must say that i am very glad you decided to go back to us.
It might not be as obvious that my MD Vandals Fjella was inspired by Olympia,as for example Badsim's Anitgone. But  lot of my MD is indeed based of your ideas, with a lot of creativity and innovation. As well as a lot of custom lotting.

I am really looking forward to a new masterpiece by you now that several years and months has passed, and there's literally thousands of more stuff for you to re-lot and play around with.

And take a look at all the new stuff on the LEX and STEX by me, i don't know if you're just going to make a european city, or better yet a Scandinavian one, but if you're looking for something around here, i have a lot of it released. Vester, and even Simgoober has released some as well

Thank you Glenni!   Again I will have to apologize that this CJ hasn't even become a CJ yet.  The truth is that up til now I've spent a lot of my spare time to get a grip on all new downloads available everywhere online - something I'm still working on.  Along side I'm trying to sort all new files and will later on take a closer look at my previous game set up, (i.e. custom lots), to determine which ones to use, which ones to improve, and which ones to scrap.  I've said it before but it sure can be repeated all over again; stepping away from a game and returning months - or even years - later on is definately a confusing experience.  Apart from all new downloads one has to "learn" a lot of things all over again, trying to get a grip of how stuff was done and so on.  It takes a bit of a time to get there - regardless of game, as I've experienced this with almost every game I've ever played. 

As for other peoples CJ's I have to admit that I haven't had that much time looking through a lot of them yet.  I still have lots of RL issues that takes much time away, and the remaining part, my spare time, is currently dedicated to the above mentioned!  Christmas and New Year is taking a lot of time as well, and on top of that my home computer has broken down, probably something with the electrical devices, and since it's holidays I can't get it fixed until New Year has passed, somewhere around Januray 2nd! 

As for the upcoming Olympia, the idea is to create a European city with a significant downtown area along with common residential neighborhoods.  I'm also considering some themed areas such as an Asian neighborhood - or more likely a "China Town" as well, just to make use of all those wonderful BAT's made during the years!    I'm sure I'll be very creative once I'm getting to the actual city building part!    Needless to say I've dowloaded lots of typical European stuff, and your stuff, Glenni, is obviously going to be part of Olympia! 

Sorry I didn´t notice this MD earlier, I bow before our master who has returned and will wait patiently for this 4th generation of Olympians...

I would once again like to suggest that You PM Vester about Your SC3K trams to see if they can somehow be converted for use here in SC4.

With Your wonderful SC3K creations in good remembrance I look forward to seeing what You will bring us this time!

Thanks!    And I bow before all the masters and their masterpieces showcased everywhere around us, in this community and in many others! 

As for my automata; well, I already had a look at what I made back then and I believe that there are room for improvements.  I'm not sure I will spend any time making new custom buses for a public release. Most likely I will try to improve a model or two for use in Olympia. The same goes for local trains.  As for trams I'm not sure what to do yet.  I've seen some remarkably good models out there, and most likely I'll just make new skins for some of them - again for use in Olympia.  The tram I made myself was something I made for use with SC3KU/W.  It's not a 3D model at all, only graphics, and will therefor not fit the SC4 game.  But again, new skins on available models will certainly take me closer to that SC3KU/W tram! 

[SAC]

Sorry about the "bump" but I only want to inform those of you interested that I have had my computer repaired.  Unfortunately it decided to have its power system break down right after christmas, which of course made it impossible to have it repaired during the holidays.  But it's now fixed and I can slowly return to my preparation for a 4th edition of Olympia.  That is, between my work and other RL activities...    ...as usual in other words!

Thank you all for the patience!

[Pat]

SAC its alright we are awaiting patiently or at least I am that is...



my 3300 post here...

[bat]

Also waiting patiently to the real start of this...






btw, my 3800th post here...

[SAC]

I'd like to apologize for the delay of this particular CJ.  Unfortunately I've had some computer issues, which is now fixed, but apart from real life I've been having little time to spend with SC4.  On top of that I'm going to Egypt on vacation next week, and won't be back until mid february.

Despite all these issues I'd like to state that I'm determined to set up this 4th edition.  However, do expect a bit of a time frame here.  It'll come eventually!   

Thanks for your patience!

[mightygoose]

its quite funny really, whereas Badsim's antigone just appeared totally out the blue and blew us all away, this has gotta be the most hotly anticipated city journal since return of nexis of genesis, or maybe anduin valley revisited. i apologies for not spotting this thread sooner. unfortunately i was not around for the previous installment so some of the legends think of me as a lowly newb. either way i have seen your work and can totally appreciate what this city journal meant at the time of its publishing. it truly astounds me the capabilities you show, and looking back i can see just how many journals you have inspired/ influenced. i to will now look forward to some SAC magic....

[Pat]

As a great man said to me once SAC and I'll say it here "Patience comes to those who and the one who waits is rewarded with the best..."

[iamgoingtoeatyou]

I haven't been lucky enough to see your CJ, but by the sounds of it, it has to be very good!