The "Essential Mods / Plugins" needed?

[castun 1]

I'm a bit new to the forums, but I've been visiting Simtropolis for a while now.  Noticed the new layout and design, I like it.

I already have a handful of plugins I downloaded a while ago.  I've got NAM, as well as the traffic calculator fix, realistic water, HOV lanes, and a few other minor ones.

What I'm really looking for are mods that add prettier / more realistic scenery / pieces.  I see lots of screenshots that have customized embankments, parks, waterfronts, as well as scenery underneath bridges / highways.  Where can I find these?  Either my spelling sucks, or I'm just searching through the STEX for the wrong keywords...

Also, I take it there's still no fix for the phantom cars bug that was introduced by RH expansion?

[SC4BOY 20]

There is no quick, easy way to do this that I know because ONLY YOU can judge if its what you want or not. I don't know of a "shortcut".. I think ur just going to have to go to the STEX and start scanning it and marking those you want to get details on. .. it goes pretty quickly as u just add the ones "of interest" to flag them for "TRACKING" to your personal profile. Then go there and start going thru them and DL'ing those you want.. good luck.. and take your time.. it will take a while.. hehe

[DOXXP29 5]

Welcome, Castun. Go to the STEX and search Pegasus and jeronij. That should get you started for embankments, scenery pieces and such that it sounds like you're looking for. BSC is a good one to search as well with a lot of variety.

[Tolomar 5]

Sart your game off Correctly...use Greyviel's up and running thread to ready your game to use the STEX properly

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=110&threadid=58510&enterthread=y

I say skip all the other Transit option and get the NAM   and grab the SC4tool program...it's worth it's weight in gold just for it's ability to read custom lots...a must have if your going to use the STEX

https://www.simtropolis.com/modding/index.cfm?page=1&view=all

after that...go slow...choose the buildings and/lots your going to use....read the readmes....it's the instruction from the maker on how to install the download and get it working in your game and possible  files you may require to download seperatly for it to work correctly...AKA called a readme for a reason...

use the SC4tool to scan lots for stats and always test new stuff out in a sandbox region to make sure it is working corrctly before you use it in your favorite region

you have to becareful adding new terrian mods, specially from different makers... as they affect ussually the same thing at the same time in the game and may result in conflict...and all sorts of visual oddities...

when adding terrian mods...pick the ones you want use...and test them 1 by one to aviod conflicts...start with the one you consider most important and a work your way from there

"PEG" and "Cycledog" are amoung the best for realistic terrian mods...but there are many others and just about any type of scenery you could imagine...

welcome to ST...

[castun 1]

Wow, many thanks Tolomar. Quick question though reguarding that Hole Digging Lots Mod. The readme included was apparently written in MS Word and saved in a format not compatible with Notepad or Wordpad. (Well, .doc files are normally readable in Wordpad but it seems something specific to MS Word is included in there.) Is there anywhere I can find a .txt or .rtf version?

Or maybe just tell me how to install and use it.

[Tolomar 5]

actually I never got the readme working on this particular lot myself either...i just played around with it in a sandbox region til i figured them out, (with a little advice from others..ps thanks grey)...you might wanna check the threads for some help, they might contain some hints....wish I could help...I am not sure of the format the readme was saved under ???

if you do look at the readme in notepad you do get a little of the instructions...if you can weed through what looks to me like programing language...there are some instruction there

I say go with a thread search myself...

[castun 1]

I take it you only have to drop the files into your plugin folder like most other mods / plugins to get it working?

[Tolomar 5]

yes...I have seperate folders for the NAM...stuff on greyveil's thread and another for the offical  stuff...just to keep them straight...:not accidently delete them...:S

[DOXXP29 5]

Just a quick tip, Castun...when you put files into your plug-in folder (unzip them first), it's a very good idea to put them in their own seperate folder with a name you can identify them by, and then put THAT folder into your plug-in folder. Trust me, it will save you a lot of grief later on, especially as you add more and more plug ins. Also a good idea to not include the jpegs and read me files when you put them into the plug in folder...keep them outside of the SimCity files. They do nothing but take up space and slow down the game (as well as potentially cause errors or glitches) if you put them in with the plug ins.