Paved railroads & Tourist Trap

[SimEdman 0]

Hi there, I just wish to ask if anyone knows how to pave the railroads. I saw few screenshots where rails were as nice as R$$$ pavement but that is not happening in my city - never. I placed parks, plazas, railroads are connected to the stations and are used, they are running around high-wealth skyscrapers etc. City has about 75.000 people and everything is going pretty smooth but my railroads are all running on dirt. What should I do? I´m not using any modes, I'm playing like this for quite a long time and I don´t want to change it for now. And there is another. What I wish to change is the horrible looking Tourist Trap. Is it possible to have a replacement without installing mods that will change other things? Thanks for help

[Indisguise 0]

well for the paved railroad tracks, I'm unsure of it, most likely a mod...might have to serach the STEX as there are quiite a few mods that change the tracks (thinkit's the trainspotting crew)

as for changing the tourist trap, you could open it with the Lot Editor and change the look of it, this will keep the stats of the tourist trap

ps When saving a lot that pre-existing, if you use the "save" command, you will overwrite the original lot....if you use the "Save as" command and change the file name you will end up with a new secondary reward...I recomend the later as I myself don't like editing the original game building as they are great fall backs when testing new things...but it is after all your game you could choose the former

BSC have done quite a few new reward buildings (actually have their own reward chain system) might wana give the STEX a look to see if they have redone the tourist trap

[SC4Noobie 5]

I think the "Paved Railroads" you are talking about are actually GLR. GLR is included in the NAM (take a look at the mods and downloads section) and is actually a ground versoin of the EL rail. They are really nice.

[Barbarossa 51]

I noticed in your message that you are not using any mods. Whether this is to stay away from "cheating" or what, I do not know, but it doesn't really matter. I strongly suggest you download the NAM (Netword Add-on Mod). I feel that it enhances the game and only makes it better, due to the extra features. Once you have it, you will probably get what you are looking for. I don't consider it cheating becuase, in actuality, it is only correcting mistakes made by the game designers.

Just my 2 cents.

[SimEdman 0]

Thanks a lot to everyone. But this thing about "paved railroad" must somehow be in the original game. Even screenshot on the box (I have the Deluxe Edition that I brought with me from Australia) shows industrial area with nuclear powerplant and this nicely crafted railroad. It seems that no-one here is playing the original version without mods so I understand it must be hard to give the advice. I don´t know why, I just like the way SimCity4 is (except "Stupid-looking-llama Trap"). It was never a problem to play it - I´m scared that with NAM it will never be the same game I knew And that's all.

[BBGun06 0]

of course it won't be the same again... it will be better!

[RushHourFreak 1]

The problem of Tourist Trap is that is a Default Place, There is no solution for that if you don't want to download anything, The best way is STEX (Sim Tropolis EXchange) Check out in tourism  or recreation centers Good Luck

[Barbarossa 51]

Hey, look, I understand your concerns. However, I would STRONGLY advise you to get Rush Hour, then download the NAM. It can't be put into words how much it improves the game. For a long time I only played basic SC4, but once I got the expansion and the NAM, I realized just how interesting and complex this game can really be, and I realized just how screwed up the basic version really is.

On a side note, I could never stand the Sims, or Sims2, for that matter. But this game... oh, it is just plain kewl!

Barbarossa

[SimEdman 0]

I already have the Rush Hour - it is in the Deluxe Edition pack (Two CD version compiled with RH together). About NAM - will it destroy saves - and if installed can I remove it without reinstalling the whole game and what about the saves then if I don't like it?

[LP 1]

This topic seems to have gone from "What happened to the origonal rail textures" to "How will the NAM change my game?". I've noticed in CJs and such, that before Rush Hour, the rails had weath related base textures. Dirt in farm and nothing, rock in R$$ and the such, and pavement in high weath and high-tech areas. This, along with the ambient train horn and bells at the crossing seem to have been locked out when Rush Hour was introduced. There is another topic about this, but nobody really seems to care about it. Personally, the rail network seems far too hollow to me, and having those featuers back would just make the game that much better.

[Barbarossa 51]

LP is right that this conversation has digressed. However =), I do just want to say that the NAM does NOT destroy savegames. Where on Earth did you hear that?! If you don't like the NAM (which you will love, BTW), then simply delete it from your plugins folder. If you happened to use any NAM-specific features,. I believe they show up with a brown box in your city. To remedy, simply delete the brown boxes and create something new. It is as simple as that.

Best of luck to you.

Barbarossa

[SimEdman 0]

Thank you Barbarossa. I know it was little off-topic but I appreciate I don't have to search the jungle for this answer. To LP - as I never played original SC4 without RH I can not tell. One thing is sure - roads are still working fine, the glitch seems to be in rail network only. I was hoping to improve the city somehow. It is on the box - so I told myself - this should be still possible.

[LP 1]

I didn't play origonal much, had a really bad pc back then, but I remember it. And yes, it is on the box too. I would sugest opening up a topic in the modding area requesting the restoration of the rail network before Rush Hour came along. That would include the textures, ambient train wistle, and bells at the crossing which I belive a good deal of research has gone into. I'm sure there are people out there willing to give it a shot.

And, my comment on the NAM. Belive me... I can't play without it. Look through topics like the Show us your accomplishments and you'll see how great of an impact it can have in your game. So many more posibilities open up to you. It's, say, when they expanded Disney beyond Magic Kingdom. You can chose to just stay in the main park, but theres so much more for you to enjoy now. So, just give it a shot. It takes a bit to get used to, and even longer to experiment and see how you can exploit it. But I say go for it.

Best of luck with both endevours.

EDIT: So much for trying to put in a link... heres the page anyway...

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=23&threadid=60749&STARTPAGE=42&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linearlastunread

[SimEdman 0]

This new topic for reopening the lost possibilities sounds wise to me. I could give it a try. And about the NAM I think I will give it a try too, thanks for details. And about links... I just don't fully understand this system. I have problems with breaks, spaces and even with "search" which always end up with error message... so don' t worry about link. Thanks again...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Originally posted by: SimEdman Thank you Barbarossa. I know it was little off-topic but I appreciate I don't have to search the jungle for this answer. To LP - as I never played original SC4 without RH I can not tell. One thing is sure - roads are still working fine, the glitch seems to be in rail network only. I was hoping to improve the city somehow. It is on the box - so I told myself - this should be still possible.quote>

I am sorry to say that there is considerable difference between art work on the packaging and the way the game is in the computer.

[SimEdman 0]

That is correct... I know the difference between the artwork and the real game. We all do this (I made some games myself - you may know Hidden&Dangerous or Mafia). But this is screenshot - taken from the game - so I thought it would be there...

[tungston 19]

@SimEdman: You might find the railroad texture you want in the MODs and Downloads page, or on the STEX. 

As far as the Tourist Trap, it is a reward, you can modify some props, and textures in the Lot Editor, but you can't change the buildings on any of the rewards.

[LP 1]

There WAS a mod at one point to make the base texture for the rails change with wealth and zoning. After that hideously exicuted upgrade, it disapeared along with numerous other things never to reclaimed. And yes, I've seen plenty of screenshots where this was standard in the base game.

[PhilsCafe 8]

^ Before the GLR came out, I think I've seen something like this in the Japanese BATs thread ( a long time ago)... not sure if that is of any use now though.

About the screenshots on the box: Maybe Maxis has planned to change railroad with zoning and then decided to leave that... the screenshot might be from that time...? Just a thought, I've never seen the railroad change with the original game.

SimEdman: You worked on Mafia? I loved that game (see my profile ).

[Barbarossa 51]

Heh, Mafia was a great game... I credit it with developing my interest in the GTA Vice City and San Andreas games.

Barbarossa

[Swamper77 90]

Maxis' images for the box were pasted together from several images. During the install of Rush Hour, they show a picture of the Hydrogen Power Plant. It is sitting on top of a railroad line and a forest, if you look closely enough. In another picture, they show some elevated rail trains. In the same picture, the stoplights are mounted on bars over the road which is how they were done in the original SC4 without Rush Hour. You can find the images I am refering to in the AutoRun Folder on the RH disc.

A lot of things were changed during the install of Rush Hour, including some things some of us enjoyed:

- Trains blowing their horns at crossings

- Sidewalks under the railroad tracks in developed areas (urban areas)

The original SC4 had these but the coding for them was changed between SC4 original and Rush Hour. The sidewalks part was brought back by Smoncrie in an attachment in the forums, which as LP said, the attachments got deleted in the upgrade. Maxis should have heeded this advice with some of the content: If it ain't broke, don't fix it (or change it).

-Swamper77

[luigiguy 1]

i think your thinking of a mod

[LP 1]

So, now thats it been once again established that yes, these things were removed... is someone willing to once again make a mod to restore the function? I'd also like if someone would pick up the research on the horn/bell thing at the crossing which you stated was removed as well. I know theres a shortage of modders out there, but in my personal opinion, between the research and other things, this shouldn't be too hard. Heck, someone could even re-upload the mod that was lost too.

[Swamper77 90]

LP,

I have tried multiple times to get the trains to sound their horns as they approach the crossings. Given that Maxis removed the property from the train engine exemplars, I'm going to say that the property no longer works.

As for the track textures mod that was attached to the forums, I will see if I can locate a copy of it and get it back up. I think the mod was still in development when the site upgrade occurred.

I'm busy with a class project until sometime late this month, so I won't be working with it. I sort of over extended myself by getting into too many projects at once. I'm trying to learn to cut back and give myself some freetime. If I work or mod all the time, I get cranky. I also have a problem with saying "no" when I already have too much to do. Okay that's more than I should have said about myself......

-Swamper77

[SimEdman 0]

PhilsCafe & Barbarossa - Yes I'm one of the autors of this good old game but it

[LP 1]

Ah, take your time. I may just be a lurker, but I've seen you in every corner of the forums taking any request you get. Heck, you've near inspired me to try modding for myself just to help you and the few other mods that are out there. I have a pretty good background in pcs and coding, so I could probably take the plunge. But eh... BATing looks a lot more interesting, I already spend more time building houses in Sims 2 than I actually do playing with the sims.

But eh... I'm still considering, waiting for that one person to say just the right thing to convince me.

Hrm... maybe even a mod that replaced the base rail textures with one that has a gravel base under the rails, and then dirt on the edge. Now THAT would be something really cool... and realistic.