Garbage, garbage!!! everywhere!

[SimFox 802]

Not sure where to place this thread... here in BATing section of in Modding one...

Browsing though BATs on STEX I've noticed that most give very limited stats. Taken a closer look to those, omitted stats in iLive reader I've noticed clear and very bad trend. People don't pay any attention to the stats other then capacity.

Particular problem is garbage pollution! Plug-in Manager by default generate out of this, or to be precise out of Sim World figures! If used just couple of these buildings will flood your city with garbage that would be impossible to control.

I think it is a time to demand full disclosure of stats as a standard step of uploading to STEX.

[ngeeves 5]

Good idea but I think you have gone about this in a bad way. Many people don't know what to put as the stats because they've never seen what the Maxis ones are like. Therefore when they see the stats generated by the plugin manager they assume that these are natural levels for water, power, etc. Perhaps you could provide a couple of guidelines so as to provide a hand for those unsure of stats to give their buildings?

ngeeves

[SimFox 802]

Not sure about "bad way" but it has been said many times about these issues with Plugin manager. Issue had been risen in Modding tutorials.

I just assume that people when they do something will research the subject. Or, at the very least, disclose all the stats.

All I want to do here is attract public attention to the subject.

The problem is evident, we should put our collective thinking caps and share experience and ideas to combat this evil.

Maxis is also responsible for the good part of it as it seems that internal simulation mechanics don't work with the numbers from properties as is. As an example of this I've provided figures in JaWood's mall thread. here is a brief recap:

1. mall is set to generate 400 of garbage.
2. however it takes full capacity of more than 2,5 waste to energy plants to absorb Mall's garbage. Intake capacity of waste to Energy plant is 50 000 of garbage...

[nofunk 1,933]

Unfortunately, I think the only real solution to this would be for all BATers to download the SC4Tool and use it to actively compare stats of Maxis buildings to theirs before they mod. Of course, you know that will never happen.

I've resigned myself to the fact that, with few exceptions, I will have to throw every BAT I download into iLive and tweak its stats.

I'm sorry -- I'm not trying to be defeatist, but I'm not sure that even requiring uploaders to provide all stats would solve this. Then again, it would let someone know up-front whether the stats need to be fixed or not.

[SimFox 802]

Yes if people would have take proactive approach would be good, on the other hand Maxis used very simplistic bracketing system to set those values.

Garbage, for instance, for office towers is set to be 6 for biggest skyscrapers, 4 for midsized ones and less for lowrise buildings. So basic principle could be derived from it - say building under 30 floors should have more then4 units of garbage generated. taller should be limited to 6 max 10. Special dispensations should be made for extra large structures like said mall, but still it should be kept proportionate, to say number of employees. I'd say that mall in total should have garbage set at 8-10, no more then that, to fit the game.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Yeah, a few weeks ago I was playing the game, starting a new city.  My city was exploding in population, but I was able to demolish a few power plants because the new buildings had replaced a bunch of poorly modded ones.

A few years ago T Wrecks released a pack that contained corrected stats for a bunch of downloads, and that was really good for the BATs it included.

[nofunk 1,933]

I wonder if we could create a set of guides for BATers to use, like SimFox detailed in his last post. Of course, it would still be up to the individual to adhere to them, but at least there would be a set of standards.

[patriots_1228 51]

This is exactly why I cheat for garbage, power, and water

[Jazzmaster 716]

Originally posted by: patriots_1228 This is exactly why I cheat for garbage, power, and water quote>

Amen to that!

I wonder if we could create a set of guides for BATers to use, like SimFox detailed in his last post. Of course, it would still be up to the individual to adhere to them, but at least there would be a set of standards.quote>

That's what I thought, we need a guide like the one on devotion [link] that outlines what makes the upload all the better...this one it seems may have to be more focused on stats.  I agree that modding is what makes or breaks a great BAT...it could be a perfect model of the Mall of the World, but it wouldn't make a difference if it kills your city.  That's why, people should open threads for help on BATing and modding, not to mention the very helpful people scattered about the community who love to mod/lot others' work for them.

[ngeeves 5]

What I meant by a 'bad' way was that a set of examples taken from Maxis buildings should be provided, be it in this thread or elsewhere, that allow batters to try and improve realism and make playing them game more enjoyable. It's easy to notice a problem but to actually solve it is harder. I think that a set of guidelines should be provided in this thread about comparable Maxis buildings and their stats. I know that I would find them useful and I'm sure many other people would also.

ngeeves