Restarting SC4

[amerone]

Well, the situation is simple... i have just lost my former PC and buy a new one. I have also lost all my original plugin folder and just reinstalled SC4.

First step, i have updated my game, dl the latest NAM, some terrains mods, and all work finely.

Second step, I now need to reinstall all the plugins i want, and after a entire week working on it, i feel totally frustrated and hopeless because it just seem impossible to me as i am totally lost about dependencies & prop issues....

I am 28yo, IRL urban planner and SC4 is the game of my life. I start feeling i will never be able to play again the game of my dreams... or just with a very limited plugin folder.

I have read a lot of topics on SC4d (that i have discovered only few days ago), or on simtropolis about people who have difficulties for finding dependencies and so on..., ok. Personnally, i want to download several thousand of files and i totally dunno how i can do. Reading each readme-file and find the correct dependencies for each one, and avoid conflicts would take me more than the free-time i have still to live....

i dont want anyone to help me step by step, this would be impossible as i have too many problems. I just wanted to know how you would act in my situation in order to have the more "complete" game possible by the easier way.

My last thought was just to dl all the dependencies possibles and then use the cleanitol tool to remove the redundant ones, do u think that's a good way or not ?

i am sorry for this desesperate topic, and also sorry for my english (if anyone can answer me in french, it would be even more helpful).... i just hope anyone can tell me how he would do if he had to restart game from 0.

Thanks in advance for any reply.... !

[jestarr]

I did this exact thing, not too long ago.  On the face of it, it appears rather daunting, I'll admit, but the trick is to not install too much at once.  It's way too confusing!  I'd go for the obvious essentials first; CAM, NAM and its associated files, any Terrain Mod you want, and DatPacker, plus the prop and texture packs.  Then start with the farming stuff that you want, making sure you get all the farm fields.  At this point, you can start adding a selection of industrial, commercial, etc.  The point I'm trying to get at is, that there's a veritable cornucopia of game assets out there, but it'd be virtually impossible to install and use them all.  Pick and choose the ones you know you'll use, based on your style of game play, and the region you're trying to create.  Adding additional, individual stuff from this point, as you play the game, is relatively easy and painless.   If you're really stuck, finding a particular game asset, asking in the forums will get you an answer rather quickly.  Also, there's a link at the bottom of each page, for finding dependencies, that works well.  Cheers!

[amerone]

Thanks a lot for taking time to answer me !

I have started like u advice me : i am not interested yet for the CAM, but i have installed NAM, the terrain mod i wanted and as i say that's ok. But as i started to dl farming stuff, problems have started (but it was before discovering SC4d and the very useful dependency list)

I gonna try to do like u tell me, going slowly...  and carrefully. And sorry my first post was bad-written, i dont want the most complete game possible, just the most complete regarding my style of play !


Just two "noob question" :

-do u think the 2 CD's "essentials" avaible on ST would help me ?

-do i need to dl basic stuff from the official SC4 EA website (i just think about it). perhaps there are there files i do not have that could explain why some lots don't work even if i think have all the dependencies required ?


Thanks again for your reply !

[dragonshardz]

Answers to your questions:

1) Yes, as long as you don't mind looking through 100's of files to weed out the ones you don't want.

2) Since the buildingsasprops.dat file located there, I would recommend downloading ONLY the official files and POSSIBLY some of the user-created files located on the official site. However, if you are going to downlod any of the user-created content on the official site, be prepared to wade through many pages of eerily similar files and files that are just junk. Plagarism is and was rampant there, so watch what you DL from there.

And amerone, I have had to do the same thing you are, reinstalling SC4 and plugins. It took me a while (two months) so don't give up because it's taking a while. Beleive me, once you finish, it is worth all the problems.

And never be afraid to ask for help. We (meaning SC4D members) will answer as best we can and won't insult you because you ask what we view as a very obvious question.

~~Dragonshardz~~

[amerone]

Thanks a lot for your quick answers.

I feel bad because i now realize that i was -with my first SC4- just downloading hundreds of files, without understanding how it was really working...

Be sure i will only dl official stuff on the official site.

If people like you need two months to reinstall all their plugins, i prefer don't imagine how much time it will take to me... but i won't, i can't give up !
I am not afraid to ask help, i just dont want to pollute the forum with my problems... but that's really nice to see how you and jetstarr have considered and answered me.

thanks again !

[dragonshardz]

Hey, don't worry about "polluting" the forum with your problems, that's what the forum is there for: to solve problems using the combined knowledge of the SC4 community.

[threestooges]

I can only echo what has been said so far. Rebuilding your plugin folder can be a pain, but it is worth it in the end. Just be methodical about what you download. The only thing you really need to dl from the official site are those buildings as props files. Simtropolis, simpeg.com and of course the LEX here at SC4D are great resources for custom content. I hope you will show us some of your pics when you get your game going, and if you have any other questions, please ask.

[BarbyW]

He doesn't even need to go to the official site for the buildings as props files as they are available here. Use the Support files button on the Home Page for Maxis files or follow this link: http://www.sc4devotion.com/SC4D_Maxis_files_EULA.html
I wouldn't suggest getting the 2 disks from Simtropolis as they are very out of date and you will have more confusion.
As has been said, go slowly and don't try to install too much at one time.

[dragonshardz]

He doesn't even need to go to the official site for the buildings as props files as they are available here. Use the Support files button on the Home Page for Maxis files or follow this link: http://www.sc4devotion.com/SC4D_Maxis_files_EULA.html
<!--SNIP--!>

That's news to me!

[amerone]

Thanks a lot for your answer BarbyW.

i think i gonna delete all what i have reinstalled and restart following the advices i have received here.

I must admit when i posted the topic, i had the secret hope that there were a trick, something easy to rebuild quickly my plugin folder... but listening to your advices, i realize there are none...

To be fully honnest, i feel more and more dumb and frustrated about all of that, i really doubt i will be able to install what i want. it just really seem impossible to me to check, at each download if the dependencies asked are or not not in my plugins folder, as some old files ask for dependencies that have been merged in mega pack and so on. Then, i will try and retry, because i do love SC4 ! But i lack of time.... !!!

I give you a single example of my problems :
Starting by farms, i have seen an interesting file on ST, called "Plopable Farms Fields Pack", the dependencies required are these one :
BSC Farm Fields SG Vol 01
BSC Farm Fields SG Vol 02
BSC Farms BLS Vol 01
BSC Field Pack BLS GA Vol02
BSC Farm Fields CSX Vol 01

I have downloaded the two first one, ok. But the three others have unactive links on ST, and i can't see these files in the dependency list on SC4d.... i just wonder where can i find these files.....   

Thanks again and in advance for any help....

[BarbyW]

amerone: I would not recommend using the ploppable farm field pack but if you really want to then you need the farms fields packs from the LEX. The two SG packs have been updated as have all the other farm fields.
The packs are:
BSC Farm Fields - SG Revised
BSC Farm Fields - CSX Vol01
BSC Farm Fields - BLS Vol01

All of the above have dependencies so you will need to collect them from the LEX too. All the above packs are for the growable farms which are also on the LEX. You might like these as they are Mediterranean style and also have a set of fields: BMD Mediterranean Style Farms

The LEX has an Agriculture category that you can use from the drop down menu on the Power Search button on the top menu bar.

[amerone]

oh!  Thanks a lot for these links ! That's wonderfull to be helped by whom i consider as a "legend of SC4" !

I gonna try to do my best to find what i need/want and not posting too much for asking help. 
(french as i see u wear a french flag : je ne sais pas comment te remercier, c'est vraiment gentil de ta part surtout que j'ai longtemps galeré sur d'autres forums où personne ne me prêtait attention. Un grand merci, et félicitations pour tout ce merveilleux travail que vous nous offrez en partage)

[Unassigned]

An article on why it's not a good idea to plop too many RCI buildings is here.. However, I seem to recall many of the would-be urban planners I knew at uni were more into plopping than growing 

It went very well for me to download all BSC farms off the LEX and go agricultural with those only (use the No Maxis buildings mod for agriculture). There are many good farming hints @ Simtropolis' "Show us your tutorials" thread.

But there is no trick apart from maintaining a backup.

[dragonshardz]

Oh and amerone, the BSC Cleanitol helps a lot when you are searching for dependancies. It DOES require going into each and every readme, but assembling a "master list" of your specific dependencies helps a lot when you have 100's of files.

[wouanagaine]

Amerone, if you want to talk in French you can go to the French subsection

[Unassigned]

The Simtropolis thread i was thinking of in the thread above is called Post Your Tutorials. My bad, sorry. It's been reorganised since I visited it btw.

[amerone]

Thanks unassigned, Dragonshardz and Wouanagaine !

ok, i won't speak french here any more. The french subsection is a nice idea, i will probably post there soon.

I've seen the Cleanitol Tool, i haven't look how it works yet but i am sure i will have to use it in a soon future.

I've downloaded the MED farms taht BarbyW adviced me, after two hours for searching the different dependencies, and also the dependencies required for the dependencies (hehe), it works. I still have very few lots with the "brown gifts" but i hope i will be able to solve that myself ! Thanks again, i do love these farms, they are really nice and realistic !

Thanks again for your help, that's much appreciated, u all have probably avoid me to stop SC4 !

[dragonshardz]

btw, amerone, getting the OPPS mod is a good idea.

NO MORE BROWN BOXES !! This is a quick & dirty little mod that replaces those big ugly brown packages... with little ugly multi-colored "smudges". The advantage here is that Multi-Color Smudge is quite small... and does not cover the entire lot.

The disadvantage to the default ugly brown packages, besides being brown... and ugly... is that it covers up the entire friggin' lot. This prevents you from being able to see which item on the lot is causing the problem... and often from even being able to see which lot has the issue. 

Technically, this mod simply overrides those brown package models (there are of 5 in total, all different sizes) and forces the game to display the default multi-color smudge it normally displays when it can't find a model's graphic files. The mod is a minimal 36k in size so there is almost no game resource usage. And although the Multi-Color Smudges are small, they are still quite easy to see... which makes spotting a problem almost as easy as noticing a big, honking, brown ugly box in the middle of downtown.

It is available at Simtropolis as an .EXE installer, and at SimPeg.com as a .ZIP archive.

PEG OPPS Mod @ SimPeg [LINK]
PEG OPPS Mod @ Simtropolis [LINK]

Note that if you don't have a membership at either site you will have to sign up to get this mod.

~~Dragonshardz~~

[amerone]

Thanks again Dragonshardz. I've downloaded the PEG OPPS modd and it's a cool stuff, even if i still try to totally avoid those brown boxes.

After some research, it appears the two files that lack are the "buildings as prop" 1 and 2. I've seen several links to download it, but the links are to the official EA SC website. However, when i go on the site, everything on is related to SimCity Societies (that i still wonder why i have buy it), and i cant find anything related to SC4 and moreover to the building as prop files... ?

It seems those two files aren't avaible on the STEX, neither on the LEX or the PLEX.... So where could i find it please ?

thanks in advance !

[BarbyW]

Go here: http://www.sc4devotion.com/SC4D_Maxis_files_EULA.html and accept the EULA then go to the Lot Editor section where you can find those two files.