What causes Prop Pox (and how to avoid it)

[Kuewr665]

There's a reference to modded Maxis props in the file PEG_CDK--IND_205.dat of an early post. Which are the modded props?

[z]

The beach umbrella.  It may show up in many places besides the beach, such as on lawn tables.

[bap]

To be on the safe side, it is better to assume that the suspicious props are:

R1x1x2_BeachChair_29B2,
R1x1x3_PatioChair_290D,
R1x2x2_Recliner_2911, and
R2x3x2_$$Beachumbrella_2900

[Kuewr665]

I did not find them in PEG_CDK--IND_205.dat.

This is the post I am referencing that mentions modded Maxis props in the file.

[bap]

Kuewr665, the modded versions of these props are not in PEG_CDK--IND_205.dat,
but in PEG-OWW2_BDK_RESOURCE.DAT file.

[CahosRahneVeloza]

Can someone confirm or debunk what Haljackey said on his "Building a City from Scratch" series on Youtube that there is also an item (or several items) within PEG's Mountain Theme Pack (MTP) series that causes Prop Pox?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4i4UudLzcQ

[jdenm8]

There is an item in a very old version of an MTP resource pack that is confirmed to cause Prop Pox. That prop is not used in modern (The ones you can download) versions of the MTP and is no longer available for download. At the time of diagnosis, the only way to obtain it was to obtain a discontinued donation CD from Pegasus that contains the original versions of the MTP and CDK.

So I would say no, there is no evidence to support the notion that the Modern version of the MTP causes Prop Pox. However, the Coastal Development Kit's Beach Development Kit module on the other hand has a publicly downloadable prop that does cause Prop Pox.

[CahosRahneVeloza]

@jdenm8: Thanks for the clarification 

So I guess Haljackey just had a lot of really old stuff in his stash then eh?

[Stargazer2893]

Hello Guys,

first of all a big "Thank You" for this Thread an the whole Community.
But i'm not (exclusively ) here for Praise.
To clarify...i have PropPox in my biggest and most beautiful City (large City Tile, 750.000 Residents, over 4 gigs of plugins...i know too much but i can't help it).

I started the City some Months ago and have been adding mods ever since including the mentioned Beach Kit from Pegasus.
As i was occupied with building other stuff, i got around testing the beach last week (and realized my City was infected with PropPox on Sunday).
So now i have a save with the infected City and a save without Infection (2 Weeks old, SC4Save says so) but both had that Beach Kit installed (deleted the Props yesterday).
If i use the older Save, will my City get PropPox again (Beach Kit was installed but never plopped)?

Sorry if this question was answered before. I read the whole Thread but it is still unclear to me (and SC4Save says my City is fine)!

[Floydian]

I've got a weird case of what I thought was PropPox. In many of my cities, the trees and lot details disappear no matter the zoom level, and the city appears all but pox'd entirely. However, on inspection with the SC4Save utility, there are no missing props, and none of my cities are infected. I'm wondering if these might be corrupt save files or a graphics card issue (I don't have it installed on a second computer to test)?

[bap]

I started the City some Months ago and have been adding mods ever since including the mentioned Beach Kit from Pegasus.
As i was occupied with building other stuff, i got around testing the beach last week (and realized my City was infected with PropPox on Sunday).
So now i have a save with the infected City and a save without Infection (2 Weeks old, SC4Save says so) but both had that Beach Kit installed (deleted the Props yesterday).
If i use the older Save, will my City get PropPox again (Beach Kit was installed but never plopped)?

Sorry if this question was answered before. I read the whole Thread but it is still unclear to me (and SC4Save says my City is fine)!

Stargazer2893, please have a look here http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=7066.msg353628#msg353628 for an answer to part of your question. Prop pox is not produced directly by any BDK beach ploppable lots, but by a modified prop included in that file, the beach umbrela, that appear frequently in the backyard of several Maxis low-density R$ grow lots. When one of these lots grow with that modified prop, you are in your way to Prop Pox. Your city will be "infected" if/when one of these lots gets destroyed/replaced by another lot; at that point the offending prop becomes 'disabled'. Several disabled props mess us the savegame file when the 'props' subfile goes beyond the (compressed) 16 Mby limit. Therefore, even if a city is not marked as "Prop Poxed" in SC4Save, it might already be infected. I suggest you load your 2 weeks old saved city in SC4Save and look for disabled props. If there are some, it means your city is already infected although not yet "poxed". It there are no disabled props, there is a reasonable chance that this saved version is indeed free from Prop Pox, meaning that no Maxis low-density R$ lots with the offendind prop (beach umbrela) had time to grow in your city before you saved it.

I've got a weird case of what I thought was PropPox. In many of my cities, the trees and lot details disappear no matter the zoom level, and the city appears all but pox'd entirely. However, on inspection with the SC4Save utility, there are no missing props, and none of my cities are infected. I'm wondering if these might be corrupt save files or a graphics card issue (I don't have it installed on a second computer to test)?

Floydian, this may indeed be a graphical problem. When one runs one of Maxis updates (EP1 or BAT), the graphics settings are reset to low, making most of lots props to apparently disappear. Please check whether your graphics are set to 'low'. If this is the case, your props will came back if you set graphics to 'high' or if you choose hardware rendering mode.

[Stargazer2893]

Lucky me still has a backup save from 5th of March without any disabled props.
So now i have 3 Saves, one with no disabled props, one with 952 disabled props and one with Prop Pox.
Trying to comprehend your post i compared my 3 Saves and found something which doesn't quite match your post.
The PropRecordView from the Save/City with 952 dis. Props shows some Entries with Appearance Flag 0x04 but not the IID 0X29000000 but 0x00000000 instead (i didn't find any with 0x2900000). The Size of those Entries is 0x00000058.
As far as i understood your Post it should not look like this until the PPox visualizes. Right?
The City with PPox has nearly exactly those entries (looks like your Screenshot).
And the oldest one has of course none of those 0x04 Appearance Flag Entries.
In the neighbouring City i have 1 disabled Prop which fits your description to the letter.
I'll switch to a backup there as well but im curious why i can't find the Entries you mention, in my biggest City. Just want to make sure that i don't have another Mod installled which uses Maxis-Props the way Pegs BDK uses them...

Oh and just for information. I never zoned Low Density Res Zones.
The Query says i have 3419 High and 3 Medium Density Tiles in my City (don't ask why 3 Medium...i just can't find them).
And regarding Pegs way to handle this Situation...
I bet my Props-Subfile is this large because of Pegs Seasonal Woods (yes...i do plop them wherever it fits. I'm sick of plopping Trees in Mayor Mode...takes ages and looks ugly).
He arguments nobody will ever get this but releases Mods which bloat the Props-File like hell (if i'm right of course) and then ignores hints given to him by fellow users, who invested so much time finding the cause of PropPox.
Thinking about how many users will stumble upon his (truly beautiful) CDK and then eventually get PropPox-Infection, makes me angry.
Anyway...thanks for your help.

[compdude787]

I've got a weird case of what I thought was PropPox. In many of my cities, the trees and lot details disappear no matter the zoom level, and the city appears all but pox'd entirely. However, on inspection with the SC4Save utility, there are no missing props, and none of my cities are infected. I'm wondering if these might be corrupt save files or a graphics card issue (I don't have it installed on a second computer to test)?

Floydian, this may indeed be a graphical problem. When one runs one of Maxis updates (EP1 or BAT), the graphics settings are reset to low, making most of lots props to apparently disappear. Please check whether your graphics are set to 'low'. If this is the case, your props will came back if you set graphics to 'high' or if you choose hardware rendering mode.

Yeah, the same thing happened to me, too. You just have to have the "city detail" set on high. Even if you have it on medium (which I did before), not all your props show up, apparently. At least it doesn't really affect my game performance having this on high.

[CahosRahneVeloza]

Just to summarize, if you're like me who doesn't dabble in any form of modding, to avoid Prop Pox all one must keep in mind is/are to:

1. Avoid Custom Content which have been identified to cause Prop Pox like PEG's BDK.

And,

2. Avoid playing on large City Tiles.

Is that correct?

[vortext]

If I understand it correctly #1 is paramount, #2 is a precaution if you already have the pox inducing content in use so the savegame doesn't reach critical size as quickly.

[CahosRahneVeloza]

#2 is a precaution if you already have the pox inducing content in use so the savegame doesn't reach critical size as quickly.

So does that mean if you never had nor used the Custom content in question to begin with, say you're new to the game and just started growing your Plugins folder, you can play with large city tiles with no worries of ever getting Poxed?

[vortext]

Yes. If you're (re)building your plugins folder without the custom content in question and start in a new region, you have nothing to worry about regarding large tiles.

[CahosRahneVeloza]

Yes. If you're (re)building your plugins folder without the custom content in question and start in a new region, you have nothing to worry about regarding large tiles.

Thanks for the confirmation 

I haven't played on large city tiles since I started playing SC4 again this January after I bought it from steam, whilst rebuilding my Plugins folder & having read this thread some time ago.

I was so worried about playing on large city tiles even if I do not use any of the CC in question but now you've put my mind at ease 

[jmsepe]

So in the end, it was Pegasus' plugin that causes prop poxing. He quite defended himself well though.

[CahosRahneVeloza]

So in the end, it was Pegasus' plugin that causes prop poxing. He quite defended himself well though.

It's a real shame really as his BDK set was a good item to have. And to this day I have yet to find a newer Beach set CC that took the same path Pegasus took with his BDK, that is making the Beach lots have no base textures.