Please Help!

[Seabrook500k 0]

 Hi everyone, I'm new on this forum, if someone could help me it would be great.  Today I downloaded my first B.A.T. created buildings from the ST Exchange. I downloaded them onto a disk, then transferred the buildings from the disk to my Plugins folder. This is where I am having trouble. How do I get them from here to SC4? When I access the folder, there is a folder icon with a zipper followed by the name the ST Exchange gave the building. When I click on the zipped folder icon I get options to view the building and other icons that, when clicked, tell me that the file cannot be found or something to that effect. This is my first time doing this, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[bbfan02 23]

First of all, did you use a floppy disk to transfer the buildings?

[Mikeaut1 261]

Hey, welcome to Simtropolis!

Make sure all the files in the package you are downloading gets to your My Documents/SimCity4/Plugins folder. I'd recommend not putting them on a disk until you have put them in your plugins folder, and then you can back up them. Windows sometimes packages contents of files and doesn't allow you to open them after they are put on a disk or w/e, I've had similar problems.

Just put all the contents of the download into your plugins folder (make sure your plugins folder is very neat and organized!) And depending on what you downloaded, they should appear in the menus in your game. For example, a common commercial highrise will most likely appear in your landmarks menu if it is ploppable. A plugin for a park will be in your parks/recreation menus.

[JakeMD 107]

you need to unzip the zipped folder into your plugins folder, other wise sc4 will never beable to read it!!

[bbfan02 23]

Also, do not download a lot of things carelessly because that is when you have something called a "crash to desktop" caused by "conflicting plug-ins" It has happened to me a few times. Very painful...

[MayorTim 16]

Originally posted by: Mikeaut1 Hey, welcome to Simtropolis!

Just put all the contents of the download into your plugins folder (make sure your plugins folder is very neat and organized!) And depending on what you downloaded, they should appear in the menus in your game. For example, a common commercial highrise will most likely appear in your landmarks menu if it is ploppable. A plugin for a park will be in your parks/recreation menus.quote>

Listen to Mike. He's smart.

There should be no disks involved.

[jacqulina 162]

if you have put it on disk you must drag and drop what evers on your disk to a folder on your desktop or in my docs,caus to me what i have read here so far all your doing is creating a shortcut only it has to be on your pc to stay on your pc,not on the disk otherwise u will only be able to use them when u have the disk in my friend

[Seabrook500k 0]

Thanks everyone! I'll see if I can try these recomendations. When I downloaded these buildings and modds, I downloaded them onto a blank disk, not a floppy. Then after inserting the disk into my computer that has SC4 on it, I copied and pasted them from the disk to my plugins folder. The other thing I don't know how to do is "unzip" the folder. I assume that it's zipped because the zipper on the folder icon looks as though it is zipped. Last night I kept going into SC and there was nothing new in my landmarks menu or anything.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

And go to othe sticky in Bugs and Technical Issues named Plugin Mania, and give it a read.  That gives you the gen on plugins.

[tungston 19]

Originally posted by: Seabrook500k Thanks everyone! I'll see if I can try these recomendations. When I downloaded these buildings and modds, I downloaded them onto a blank disk, not a floppy. Then after inserting the disk into my computer that has SC4 on it, I copied and pasted them from the disk to my plugins folder. The other thing I don't know how to do is "unzip" the folder. I assume that it's zipped because the zipper on the folder icon looks as though it is zipped. Last night I kept going into SC and there was nothing new in my landmarks menu or anything.quote>

 

The zip, or compressed folder needs the files to be extracted before they are copied in the plugins folder.  You can do that with Windows XP, or Vista, by right clicking and selecting "extract all", or select the zipped file, and on the file menu select "extract all".

If you have a Mac, I can't help with the extraction.

[Seabrook500k 0]

Oh O.k. I think that extracting the files is the solution. I saw that, but didn't want to do that because I thought that that was another way of saying "delete" I'll give that a shot.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Watch out!  Not every file in an extracted download belongs in your Plugins folder.  Some are even mutually exclusive.  Be sure you read the documentation, including the download page, before you shotgun anything into your plugins.

[Seabrook500k 0]

 That was the problem! After unzipping the files, the buildings were available. The only problem now, is that I can't enjoy them because each time I try to go to the city I want to place them in, I get the "Crash to Desktop" B.S. Speaking of which, I know there is a topic about this, but is there a "cure" for this? It's really annoying and it does it EVERY time, where, in the past I only experienced it occasionally.

[tungston 19]

Originally posted by: Seabrook500k  That was the problem! After unzipping the files, the buildings were available. The only problem now, is that I can't enjoy them because each time I try to go to the city I want to place them in, I get the "Crash to Desktop" B.S. Speaking of which, I know there is a topic about this, but is there a "cure" for this? It's really annoying and it does it EVERY time, where, in the past I only experienced it occasionally.quote>

 

That would certainly indicate that you have conflicting plugins.  It's hard to find them, but there is a sticky in the Bugs & technical Issues forum, that describes one way to find faulty plugins.

[Seabrook500k 0]

Does this mean my downloaded buildings are the problem causing constant crash to desk top? When it comes to this stuff with the these things function, I'm stumped. I don't have much knowledge when it comes to computers and stuff.

[trolleyman515 0]

It means that there is a conflict with one or more of the plugins you downloaded as no body said " That would certainly indicate that you have conflicting plugins. It's hard to find them, but there is a sticky in the Bugs & technical Issues forum, that describes one way to find faulty plugins. " is the best way to find them i know you get in here and ya get download fever i did and still trying to find the way to get oraganized got tons of stuff and cant find them half the time but check the sticky no body mentioned and def read the bug's and tech stuff it helps alot good luck and happy downloading

[tungston 19]

Originally posted by: Seabrook500k Does this mean my downloaded buildings are the problem causing constant crash to desk top? When it comes to this stuff with the these things function, I'm stumped. I don't have much knowledge when it comes to computers and stuff.quote>

 

Crashes are a risk you take when you use custom content, but you can limit the risk by adding one or two lots, then play a couple of cities to make sure they are ok.

With your present situation, I would suggest moving the custom content you just loaded.  Start a new region, and a new city, then add the lots a couple at a time.  It's time consuming, but not as much as trying to repair the game.

[Seabrook500k 0]

The buildings I downloaded were: The Southern Bank building, the CACC Chrysalis Tower, the Ellsworth building and Lake View Towers. If these are whats causing the problem, is there a way for me to reverse the problem like taking them out of plugins? If that is a way to get back in my city, how do I reverse this?

[tungston 19]

I think removing those lots [plugins] was recommended already.

Once you removed them from the plugins folder, and loaded the city, then you will need to bulldoze any lots that where plopped, or grown.

[Seabrook500k 0]

Alright, I'll try that. I have a ton of buildings I am going to download at some point. This time, I'll try each one at a time to make sure they function properly.