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I know that feeling, I keep forgetting to check my email. Executive dysfunction is a nightmare, I rambled about it to myself last night as I was lying in bed.   I think most of the teams have disappeared, actually. Not sure who is and isn't left, beyond the NAM and CAM still being active. Which is a shame, as we have a lot more tools now than we did before...

Confirmed completed now. Here's a post with the details (inside the new info topic):  

You're definitely right about that "rabbit hole", and I'm well aware that it's a daunting task, esp. since there are so many lots that needs some work. An updated version of PIM-X that is being able to handle all this sounds very exciting, maybe this could ease some of the work that needs to be done along with the SC4 Command Line tool that also allows batch-editing for submenues and stuff. I'm glad that there are some people with programming experience which are able to create such invaluable tools for the community, otherwise, all that custom content wouldn't have been possible.  As for reviving the good old SimForum BAT Team, I doubt that's possible, since most members have gone MIA ages ago. But at least @N1_2888 is still holding the flag up, presenting one or another Christmas present from his personal collection.

Wow, Happy Birthday, Andreas! 
Coincidentally, my best friend, who lives in Austria (close to the Hungarian border), is also celebrating his birthday (43 - he caught up to me finally) today!   I went into a rabbit hole with this regarding most of the LEX/BSC stuff, so I would say, doing that kind of deep cleaning that I am doing not necessarily a worthy thing - takes up a shit loads of time, often demotivating.
I updated some of the SFBT transportation stuff (I need to reupload them now - wednesday or thursday I'll have the time to do so) with current standards and with submenus, but I think there's just a few thing that I would consider kind of necessary to update in general: transportation stuff to current NAM standards ( @CasperVg is working on a 2026 version of the SC4PIM-X bringing it into our timeline, which will include complete and easy to use transit enabling, preset transit switches for most type of now "standard" station types and many other features - good old SC4Tool after 20 years of hard working can finally retire after the release of this), submenus for larger sets (parks or modular stuff) and the most headache considering that the SFBT made a tons of them, adding the w2w OG and w2w building style marker properties for the w2w growable contents... This can be a kind of copy/paste, but I know that there are a lot of w2w buildings in the SFBT collection... 

Great to see you, @Andreas Roth! Do you think you can bring some SFBT BATter back into business?  At the very least, they should make some nice building to celebrate your birthday!

Seeing Simtropolis disappearing and then reading the news about the server being wiped surely was a blow, so I'm very happy to see it back online. I'm pretty amazed about this community still going strong after so many years, and while I've been out of the loop for so long, SC4 still has a place in my heart, and I will return every now and then and check out what's new. Hopefully, most of the stuff that was lost will be recovered, and while I sent all SFBT content to @Tyberius06 recently, I wonder how feasible it is to update everything to the current standards (such as the Submenu DLL feature etc.) and release it properly at the STEX. I just checked my profile, and it says that I signed up here almost 23 years ago, which means this is basically about one half of my entire life, since I happen to celebrate my 50th birthday today, so seeing it up and running is a nice birthday present alright.  I'd like to thank everyone who is supporting the community and helping to restore this place. There have been way too many losses over the past few years due to unexpected errors, deprecated software and even tragic losses like the unexpected and way too early death of our good friend Matthias "Spocky" Ludwig about three years ago, who ran the German SimCityKurier. Also, thanks for Dirk for an in-depth explanation about the recent ST billing issue. Sometimes you're just out of luck and miss a deadline by one day, and according to Murphy's Law, things are bound to get messed up the worst possible way. But it's not the end of the world, and I'm positive that most things can be recovered one or another way. Only time will tell if this place will celebrate a 50th birthday some day, too, but I'd say it's not impossible.

You are the best !!!

Where we've been, what happened, and what's next Hey everyone, I owe you all an explanation, and a big thank you first. The patience and the kind messages over the last few weeks have meant a lot to me and the rest of the team. A bunch of you have been asking what actually happened, and who our old host was, so I'm just going to lay it all out. For 15+ years we ran Simtropolis on a dedicated server over at WHC.ca. They were good to us for a long time. What happened recently is that we missed a renewal payment, and then I missed the warning emails that came after it. By the time I caught it, we were already a day past their cutoff and the server had been pulled offline. We got in touch right away, paid the invoice, and were told the server would be brought back online. Then came the gut-punch. Instead of restoring it, they wiped the machine and handed it back to us completely blank. Everything was gone. I won't pretend I wasn't upset. But I also need to be straight with you about our end of it. We didn't have proper off-site backups, and we absolutely should have. That one is on us, and trust me, it's a lesson learned. Thankfully, CB and Cori have been much more diligent with some periodic backups so we weren't completely left in the lurch. Just mostly. But the better news is where we are now. We've rebuilt everything on a new host, Hetzner, and I have to say we're really happy with them so far. The hardware has been rock solid and their support has been genuinely excellent. The forum, your accounts, your posts, and the huge majority of our history are all back and running. We've also got automated off-site backups going already, with a more complete system on the way, so we are never doing this dance again. We've been through rough patches before and come out the other side just fine, and we'll do it again, only a lot better protected this time around. Thanks for sticking with us, thanks for caring, and thanks for your patience while we got the lights back on. Anyway. Back to building cities!  

It won't be CB's or my place to do this, but we'll beep @Dirktator. 

Thx to everybody involved!!!

Please release the name of the organization/company so others will know to avoid using them.  Very unprofessional.  Sorry you guys had to go through this.

Thank you for all your efforts getting the site back online! 

F that host 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Could you let us know once the process is completed? Thanks!

A warm welcome back for all of you. I hope, i can help you to restore some missing files, when needed.  Tanti saluti (Happy greetz)    

Thank you all for your effort to save Simtropolis. 

And now we wait for everyone to realise that the site if back online

I did the Delete My File Message Banner! for you.  

Updated the missing SimCity 3000 Pier 39. 

:D 

Thanks for all your efforts. I greatly missed this place while it was down. 

Wonderful to see Simtropolis back again. Thanks to the Team behind for the hard work. As usual, you recognize how worthful something is, when it is not there. Great effort even there is more to do. 

Yes it will do. Alternatively, Cori or I could manually upload files to the server, or automate the importing of files using a server side script. In that case it wouldn't add a new version, as we'd be simply adding files in place. That method has succeeded with Wayback Machine restorations for some screenshots and attachments. For versioning, I believe I can run a cleanup on duplicates, while preserving unique older versions (which we can hopefully restore).   Yes, using the Edit Details page (from File Actions), where I added ability to edit/add pics there (without needing a new version). Ironically, that was something I was going to announce just before we lost the old server.   Attachments must be re-edited to posts, unless restored server side. That is unless I develop a way to swap them in via another interface. I've got ideas to add a way to edit back attachments from the index page, but I'll need to develop it. Might be something which can come after we get the STEX file restorations in full swing.

rare_guava's Club Sega appears to be missing.  I have it and if need be can send it to an admin after I get off work 

    For now, just hang tight. CB is working on a live feed similar to the All SC4 Files feed he created, but which will only show borked files. Then the peeps who've said they can help with Restoring will pick one at a time and do so and/or peeps can simply reply saying they have it and attach it to a post. Or such. We're kind of making this up as we go. CB figured the first major step was to create a self updating list of the damage. (He's been working under the hood for the past 22 hours and I'm going to have to send him to bed.) After that we'll figure out the logistics of fixing them.

So happy to see Simtropolis back!! I can only imagine how bad it must have been to the point of having Corina cussing lol Hope the road to recovery is as painless as possible and if there is anything we could help please let us know. Personally, I have kept every single .zip file I have ever downloaded since I started playing SimCity 4 but I'm not sure how useful that can be. Anyway welcome back!!   Serpe

I've got a question about reuploading my files.  I've held off a bit just to make sure that back-end stuff is ok.  1. Will a reupload automatically create a new version?  I'd like to avoid that if possible.  I understand older versions will need to be restored on the back-end. 2. Is it possible to fix pictures in the uploads without uploading a new version? 3. For forum attachments, can those also be reuploaded without editing a post or does that need to be edited also?

I'm glad our city is back online!  Thank you to Cori, CB and Dirk and all the staff for their hard work in bringing back the site I love to life again! Been here since almost the beginning of this site and I'll be here for the rest of my days! Love this community and the files are great as well (lol) Keep up the good work ya'll! Sending love from Texas!   MAY IT STAND FOREVER, OUR SIMTROPOLIS!!!!

Ah, missed this announcement the first time around. Does explain a few things - thought I saw images changing right in front of my eyes while trying to manipulate some things on the homepage.  Definitely making things easier... Thanks. 

@AndisArt Just a quick FYI... For now I've restored the original versions of your 4 affected files, which makes them available again (under the main Download button). They were still in the changelog, but not many would check down there. I think you were just a bit surprised what needed updating, but I hope with Tibi's clarification there can be a way forward which works best.

So glad to have ST back! Thank you to Cori, CB, and Dirk for all that they've done and are still doing. 

I am a bit lost @CaptCity, @CorinaMarie and @Cyclone Boom. Is there thread where we note what has been restored?

I'm a senior IT QA analyst at my day job, and I'd love to help verify! I'd volunteer to process as well, but the internet at our new basement is slow. I work a regular 9-5 (Eastern Time), so this would mostly be an evening commitment. If my help's needed, please let me know!

I checked the STEX subcategory pages like Residential on the Internet Archive. Unfortunately, there weren’t any copies from after March 9, so we didn’t get any extra info about the blind spot between February 28 and April 16.

I've fixed some of my files. It will take a bit though, so be patient.

I can also assist in any of the roles.  
I have a few GB of downloaded mods, most with both night light modes.  
I also have some unpacked from the time when they were .exe, although I think they would already be outside the affected period. By the way, I have already updated my few lost files.

If I remember correctly, I believe it was something he coded to separate the Club uploads from the non-Club files since they Club files were overwhelming the STEX listing (it's probably up the thread a ways...). It was done a little bit before the site went down, so I was wondeing if somehow the restoration had eliminated it. However, I thought I had seen it a couple days ago, so I'm not sure where it stands.

That sounds vaguely familiar as a previous bug which CB fixed. (And now it's unfixed again.)  

I think it has been a few days, but I noticed that the 'Clubs' listings section on the homepage is no longer displaying. Just checking to see if it was 'turned off' while waiting for restoration, or if it an actual 'issue'. Thanks

My fault.  Thanks for the heads-up... I've been restoring PEG's files and forgot to hit the 'Delete Banner' button on that one which activates the download. It's the last step in the process, and I've caught myself forgetting it once in while. It should be cleared now.

I'm not sure if this is still up or what, it was updated 5 minutes ago, but it still says the file is missing?

If we're aggregating everything together, I'll throw mine in as well. A few of these have already been restored. nos17 sc4pac cache.html

Selected Images Restored from the Internet Archive
A little bit of good news. Thankfully the Internet Archive saved 6,607 images which were originally uploaded to ST between June 2024 and March 2026. So I developed a script which slowly downloaded these in batches, then copied them to the monthly subfolders.
A preview of one STEX upload as its images were restored: (I created this GIF as a simulation which showed what actually happened in real time. The file is Allianz Arena.)
And the terminal output confirming it...   And here's a monthly summary of the files which have been restored per month, for each type: .stats-table { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; max-width: 800px; margin: 20px 0; border: 1px solid #e0e0e0; } .stats-table th { background-color: #1f4e78; color: #ffffff; font-weight: 600; padding: 12px 15px; border: 1px solid #173a5a; text-align: right; } .stats-table th:first-child { text-align: left; } .stats-table td { padding: 10px 15px; border: 1px solid #e0e0e0; color: #2c3e50; text-align: right; } .stats-table td:first-child { text-align: left; color: #333333; font-weight: 500; } .stats-table tbody tr:nth-child(even) { background-color: #f8f9fa; } .stats-table tbody tr:nth-child(odd) { background-color: #ffffff; } .stats-table tbody tr:hover { background-color: #f1f4f6; } .stats-table .total-row { background-color: #eaeded !important; font-weight: bold; border-top: 2px solid #bdc3c7; } .stats-table .total-row td { border: 1px solid #bdc3c7; } .stats-table tr[data-year-end="true"] td { border-bottom: 1.5px solid #5a6b7c; } Month Attachments Profile Pics Screens Storage Jun 2024 31 4 23 30 Jul 2024 195 21 62 27 Aug 2024 114 20 551 85 Sep 2024 66 11 127 15 Oct 2024 128 21 93 60 Nov 2024 133 12 89 11 Dec 2024 140 8 75 13 Jan 2025 221 25 86 38 Feb 2025 173 12 155 34 Mar 2025 91 31 105 39 Apr 2025 169 15 155 12 May 2025 140 11 168 8 Jun 2025 155 22 129 29 Jul 2025 96 17 228 15 Aug 2025 275 34 165 14 Sep 2025 107 9 64 24 Oct 2025 109 15 8 51 Nov 2025 132 8 109 9 Dec 2025 132 8 136 7 Jan 2026 229 9 216 12 Feb 2026 87 19 33 3 Mar 2026 7 4 0 28 Apr 2026 0 0 0 0 Total 2,930 336 2,777 564   I'd estimate this is perhaps 10-20% of the images uploaded per month. It's very much a partial restoration than anything close to complete, so it only represents a fraction of what's missing. Of course, we'd certainly much prefer to have these than not. It's worth mentioning, since the Internet Archive cannot physically see stored paths of STEX downloads, none have been added via this method. However, that doesn't mean none are archived. We'll need to use a different method for obtaining any, since it'll be based on the ?do=download URLs as used on STEX file entries. It's quite possible the Wayback Machine can help out in additional ways, so we'll have to see. Homepage features did quite well interestingly (from images in the /storage paths). I'd imagine because the Wayback regularly indexed them from the carousel slider.
Thanks to the Internet Archive, plus anyone who ran manual Save Page Now requests during these months. I'm sure that made a big difference here.

Thanks!   I've saved that in File List - TogaMasterJohn.txt in my ST Recovery folder. Once we get further along, we might beep you.  

Not sure where the problem is with this, but since coming back on line I've had a problem logging in with linux. The distro doesn't matter nor the browser as I have three of each and it's the same for all. This is what I get: Simtropolis Security System Invalid Access Please return and click the Login button directly. Time ID: 1780423179 The only thing that changes is the Time ID. Windows doesn't have the problem so it has to do with linux [at least on my systems].

I have all three tile sets that G.F. Jay Cosis has posted here on Simtropolis so far. However, the only one that is missing its file at this time appears to be "Oceanic Metropolis," and I do have the file for it! I'm not sure what happened to the SC3K maps and BATs that I had. I can't seem to find them. They may have accidentally been deleted at one point while moving files around.   I have gathered a list of all of my cached STEX files from SC4Pac. However, I don't know how much of what I have was uploaded or updated after June 28, 2024. I figured it could possibly be useful for when the time comes around!
   

Project Updates 02 June 2026: Selected Images Restored from the Internet Archive Further updates will be added here.

A read-only topic to view FAQs, latest information, and key progress updates for the Simtropolis Recovery Project.
Quick Links Simtropolis Returns!
Initial topic commemorating the return of our beloved home. Calling All Volunteers!
Interested in helping out with the project? If so, we invite you to post and join the SRT! Delete My File Message Banner!
Have you updated a file and need the banner removing. Post here and we'll take care of it. Project Updates
A list of posts noting important milestones about ST's road to recovery.   Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What measures are you taking to ensure such data loss never happens again? A: This is of utmost importance. Dirk has already setup a full daily SQL database dump which is copied externally. We will be implementing full backups of all site content, which is synced to an offsite cloud location I've purchased. Additionally, Cori and I will be making regular local copies of this, which we'll keep updated. We can assure you there are harsh lessons learned from this ordeal. We will not let this happen again.   Q: So what data is missing, and what do we have preserved? A: To understand what's safe and what needs recovering, there are three time periods:   All Lost:  After 28 February 2026 to 26 May 2026:
Unfortunately, because 28 Feb corresponds to our most recent database backup, any new member accounts, posts, or files created during these final three months are lost entirely. At best we'll be able to re-post files, and possibly some other site content.   Text Only:  17 June 2024 to 28 February 2026:
The text-based details of the site are safe. This means all forum posts, member accounts, and the actual STEX description pages are intact. However, the physical download files (e.g. zip) along with image attachments were lost, meaning we will need to restore them manually or programmatically.   All Safe:  Before 17 June 2024:
Everything is completely intact. This includes all forum posts, member accounts, PMs, images, and STEX files.   Q: How are we going to rebuild all the missing files? A: This is already in progress, but there's much more to do. Some authors have been diligently working to re-upload their own files, and we estimate ~20% of the files lost have been restored. Then for additional missing files, I'm currently working on a dynamic list known as the Restoration Tracker, which will help us view what still needs doing. This will be revealed soon, and we'll have a dedicated discussion topic where you can ask questions and post feedback.   Q: If I see one of my own uploads missing from the STEX, should I just re-upload it myself? A: You're most welcome to re-upload your own content yourself, but please feel under no obligation to. The Recovery Team will be working to go through files and restore as much as we can. Other harder to find items we might need to make a community appeal for. If you do restore your own content, that all helps as part of the process. If you'd like any assistance or unsure what to do, please let us know!   Q: I have backups of files but I'm not the original author. Can I still share them? A: Given these unprecedented times, yes. But best hold off for right now, as the Restoration Tracker will have a way to notify us of any files you have. Then as the volunteers begin the restoration, they will contact you if they need your copy. (We have big zips already offered which may or may not cover everything.)   Q: Can you tell me about the new host? A: We've since acquired a new server from Hetzner (in Germany), which is at least 10 times more capable than our old one, with twice the RAM and a much more powerful processor. All this too for no more than our old host cost per month, which makes it excellent value for money. Additionally, Hetzner's tech support have been outstanding. When Dirk reported the instability issues, they presented a range of options. When we asked for the hardware replacement, the technicians completed the process within mere minutes (and free of charge). This gives us confidence we're on a much more robust platform.   Q: How can we support Simtropolis financially to help cover costs of the new server? A: We want to emphasise how this isn't a crisis, but if you wish to help Dirk fund the hosting, there are 2 options: Donate via Gumroad which gives you access to download the STEX Collections. Donate via PayPal either as a one-off or recurring monthly amount. All donations are appreciated! They each help keep Simtropolis open and freely available.

I'd love to help in any way I can and give back to this site I love so much.  I'll be much more available after Thursday as I'm trying to get thru the last week of school and grad nite.

I think I uploaded them, as they are in a project back-up folder that I use for fixed or uploaded stuff for STEX. I think there are around 50-55-ish uploads on my end, which was updated/uploaded in the past 2 years. Plus another 45, which meant to be replacing old STEX contents as their updated version got released on Evermore (not including the SimGoober stuff, which gonna be a completely different story eventually). Wednesday and Thursday I am gonna start uploading these (that's when I have off from work). 

Yes indeed.  But also, I had helped @Tyberius06 with some updates to NYBT items: the 599 Lexington Station subway, and the NYBT Subways.  Those were not uploaded by me though.

Whew! That was a load of work you did getting them all restored.   (I believe I've got all the banners removed now.)

Hmm, interesting. For the bot to be logged as downloading, it must record a successful initial request. So it seems like for a 404 or 403 error, that's returned in response for the files themselves. It sure is weird, unless that suggests it's on the GitHub end? I'll have more of a look, but I'm currently at odds as to why it's doing this. On Cloudflare it shows they aren't being mitigated at all.

The bot attempts to download each new STEX file and, if it fails, apparently tries again an hour later or so. You can see the failed attempts here. Until a few hours ago, the failures it reported were https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/36889-esa-malmberget-10-18/?do=download&r=213451 not found Even though this STEX entry has been updated very recently, this subfile still seems to be missing. The API also reports "size": null for it. I think @smf_16 might be in the best position to fix this. Since about one or two hours, the bot reports a different failure though: Simtropolis returned 403 for https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/37395-pc-office-park-13-18/?do=download&r=214508 so now the bot actually seems to be blocked.

...  ! 
...And thank you for the diagnosis... and I will wait...
(but I'm keeping my lightbulb hammer handy).

That's possible. And the STEX Bot is used with sc4pac and likely having an existential crisis while the underlying files structure is in disarray. In all seriousness, checking out the context @CaptCity found from previously, I might've found the trouble... My theory is @STEX Bot was being blocked by the checkpoint security system, since it was doing this on multiple files. We've added the checkpoint back yesterday after we got a big bad bot swarm (nasty little things). Not sure why it's being tripped up by this when it was fine before, but I've added a whitelist rule so it can (hopefully) get in. Now we wait to see whether it works. It might try another download until it succeeds, but then should go and have a laydown. It better do or it'll fast turn into a Shattermore® Bot.   Hmm. That's odd, but we do have broad security rules it might have accidentally applied to your network. If you can send me a PM and tell me the IP address(es) you've tried to use which are blocked, I'll check what's happening on Cloudflare, etc.

Hello all. Usually I do not post much myself but if I can help somehow I'd like to do that. I have 54+ GB of zipped plugins saved to my computer from long long time ago up until recently. If needed I can upload them to OneDrive or something and it'll be for you to choose whatever you need.

  This is some of the files from that gap. I have since reuploaded all my stuff from that gap. I did not upload the Paradox Museum until the other day.

The LA Shops pack is by @WannGLondon I think and the Sanankoku Growable Japanese lots were a relot by @Kel9509.

All my files are ready, now just need to get the message banners removed.

.. Or perhaps this bot has short-term memory problems!  Is it serious, doctor? Seriously (  ) ... This applies to all (my and not only..) uploads updated since Saturday!  And it comes back every +-4 hours!

Yes, it was a while back. I don’t remember what was tried to remedy the problem or if it just stopped on it’s own. It looks like it has affected everything since early Saturday morning ( my time, PDT). Edit: Happened here... May have worked itself out back then.