All you can Modify in SimCity 4 (Poll inside)

[Cougar2004 128]

SimCity 4 Deluxe is a fun game with so many different things to try within it. I play a little each year. The game is full of enough features to keep the average person entertained for a long time. In fact, many self-proclaimed GURUs of the game admit that they haven't tried absolutely everything possible within the game yet either. Have you?

Thanks to SimTropolis, at times I've installed random custom content to switch things up. I'd put in something cool and keep it, or not so cool then get rid of it. Everyone has their own opinion of what is cool to add or modify to play the game the way they want.

But with so many options, at times I've felt somewhat overwhelmed. (Ever felt that way?) To help with that, this is a list of all the different TYPES of things that can be changed (modified, altered, switched, modded, replaced, abused, hacked, improved, etc) in the game, whether it be Settings (Resolution, Clouds/Fog, City Detail), additional Content (New Music, Adding Sims, more Landmarks), Fixes (Night Lights, Opera House fix, Better Pathfinding), Informational UI & Tool Enhancements (expanded Dataview and Graph detail, God Mode Tools), Visual replacements (Train Sets, Water color, snow), or GamePlay Modifications (Transportation network, Ordinance overhauls, Cheats). This thread is dedicated to this purpose. I therefore open a general discussion on this.

What are all the main different types of things you can change with (or without) custom content in Sim City 4 Deluxe/Rush Hour? (As answers come in from experienced users here, I'll update the master list below.)


Settings
- Visual Effects Low/Med/High
- # of Cars / Sims Low/Med/High
- Shadows Low/Med/High
- Building Draw Speed Low/Med/High
- Texture Quality Low/Med/High
- City Detail Low/Med/High
- Clouds/Fog On/Off
- Waves On/Off
- UI Translucency On/Off
- Color Cursor On/Off
- Variable Speed Automata On/Off
- Color Depth 16bit/32bit
- Resolution Setting
- Music On/Off [+ Volume]
- Sound Effects On/Off [+ Volume]
- Custom Tunes (Music) On/Off [Add Music: SimCity 4 Music Collection - Complete]
- Building Sets (Chicago/Houston/NewYork/EuroContemporary)
- Day / Night Setting [+ Alternating]
- Screen Capture Features

Fixes
- EP1 Official Update [Download: SC4 Devotion/EA Support]
- Night Lights Update [Download: SC4 Devotion/EA Support]
- Opera House Fix [Download:
- City Hall (all 3) Fix [Download: City Hall (all 3) Fix]

- Police Coverage Fix [Download:
- Private School Fix [Download:
- Medical Clinic Fix [Download:
- Improved Pathfinding (IE NAM) [Download:
- Area 5.1 & Air Force Base No Exclusion Fix [Download: (Allows both bases to be in same city at once)
- IH $$$ Missing Jobs [Download: ] [
- Space Port Fix [Download:
- Utilties Construct Fix [Download:
- Civic Buildings Construct Fix [Download:

User Interface (Informational)
- Expanded Dataview options
- Extended Graph detail and parameters
- Extra Data in Transportation Satelite Map view
- Expanded RCI Building Query info
- Improved Traffic Volume View [Download: [Note: This mod has been included in NAM since the June 2009 version.]
- Ticker changes or removal
- Additional Cheats Interface [see cheats below for more information]

Creation Tools
- Additional God Mode Tools []
- Additional God Mode Tool w/Rain Tool []
- God Mode Tools Menu in Mayor Mode [Download: ]
- Hole Digging Lots (to assist in development)

Content Additions
- Downloaded New Landmarks [Download]
- Transportation (Bonus) CD
- New Music (for Mayor or Region play) [Add Music: SimCity 4 Music Collection - Complete]
- Importing Sims (Limit 5 - From the Sims Game)
- Custom-made Civic Buildings - Plopable (STEX or make your own)
- Custom-made RCI buildings - Growable (STEX or make your own)
- Additional Bridges (STEX)
- Additional Flora (Trees, Rocks, Reef, Windmills, etc)

Visual Gameplay Component Replacements
- Water Color
- Snow
- Train Sets (and skins of all vehicles - see U-Drive-It Vehicles list below)
- Roads, Streets and Sidewalk appearance (transportation textures)
- Terrain Parameters (colors, textures, slopes)
- Cars and Sims visible 24hours a day (instead of just rush hours)
- Remove Arrows from One Way Streets
- Remove Arrows from Neighbor Connections
- Remove Pause Border from around outside edges
- Change Background Grid Color
- New Themes (IE SimMars)
- Increase or Decrease Automata (IE cars, people)

Gameplay Modifications
- Transportation Network options (adjust speed, capacity, looks) (IE NAM)
- Ordinance changes / replacements
- Stage Limits (when big buildings show up) (IE CAM)
- Attributes of Buildings (modified with Lot Editor, BAT, iLive's Reader, SC4Tool.)
- Functionality (Jobs) added to Landmarks, Civic, Reward, and Park structures
- Quantity of Jobs per building (IE Industrial, Farming)
- Nighttime Changes (night gets darker, night lights last longer, brighter streetlights)
- Change amount of Simoleans a city has (cheat - see below)
- Change Mayor's Name or City Name at any time (cheat - see below)
- Stronger UDI Vehicles modification
- Copy existing cities to other regions
- Removing menus, original Maxis buildings, trucks
- Removing polution, garbage, abandonment, or power & water requirements (see cheats below).

Business Deals [More Details]
- Area 5.1 [Top Secret] (Benefits: $380/mo, R§ Jobs, Manufacturing Industry Demand)
(Bad Effects: Mayor Rating, Air & Water Pollution, Power & Water Consumption, Crime, Radiation, Fire Risk, Residential & Commercial Desirability)
- Army Base (Benefits: $350/mo, R§ Jobs, Commercial Desirability, Manufacturing Industry Demand)
(Bad Effects: Mayor Rating, Crime, Residential & High Tech Industry Desirability, Radiation)
- Casino (Benefits: $300/mo, Commercial Demand & Commercial Desirability)
(Bad Effects: Mayor Rating, Power & Water Consumption, Crime, Residential & High Tech Industry Desirability)
- Federal Prison (Benefits: $250/mo, R§ Jobs)
(Bad Effects: Mayor Rating, Crime, Desirability for ALL 3 - Res Com Ind)
- Missle Range (Benefits: $450/mo)
(Bad Effects: Mayor Rating, Air & Water Pollution, Missle Misfire Disasters, Desirability for ALL 3 - Res Com Ind)
- Toxic Waste Dump (Benefits: $400/mo)
(Bad Effects: Mayor Rating, Serious Air & Water Pollution, Radiation, Fire Risk, Desirability for ALL 3 - Res Com Ind).

Reward Buildings [More Details]
- Advanced Research Center (Cost: $50,000 + $0/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, High Tech Industry Demand, Provides Jobs
Bad For: Residential Desirability, Mayor Rating, Radiation [can be removed with Fix / Mod]
- Air Force Base [with official Download] (Cost: $0 + $0/mo)
Good for: Desirability for ALL 3 - Res Com Ind, Manufacturing Industry Demand, Provides Jobs
Bad for: Crime
- Bureau of Bureaucracy, The (Cost: $36,000 + $320/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Provides Jobs
Bad for: Residential Desirability
- Cemetery [3] (Cost: $0 + $0/mo)
Good for: Residential Desiriability, Air Pollution, Mayor Rating
Bad for: None
- City Hall [3 with Fix] (Cost: $17,000-$62,000-$67,000 + $280-$360-$470/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Commercial & Industrial Demand, Provides Jobs
Bad for: None
- City Zoo (Cost: $37,000 + $260/mo)
Good for: Residential & Commercial, Desiriability, Air Pollution, Mayor Rating
Bad for: None
- Colossal Mayor's Statue [M/F] (Cost: $59,000 + $300/mo)
Good for: Residential & Commercial, Desiriability, Mayor Rating
Bad for: None
- Convention Center (Cost: $42,000 + $220/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Serious Commercial Demand, Provides Jobs
Bad for: Residential Desirability, Crime
- Country Club (Cost: $0 + $0/mo)
Good for: Residential Desirability, Residential Demand, Air Pollution
Bad for: Mayor Rating
- Courthouse (Cost: $21,000 + $300/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Residential & Commercial Demand
Bad for: None
- Cruise Ship Port (Cost: $28,000 + $180/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Provides Jobs
Bad for: Water Consumed, Water Pollution
- Disease Research Lab (Cost: $26,000 + Variable $0-216/mo Health Building)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Residential Demand, HQ (Health), Mayor Rating, Provides Jobs
Bad for: Radiation [can be removed with Fix / Mod]
- Farmer's Market (Cost: $4,900 + $30/mo Health Building)
Good for: Residential & Commercial Desirability, EQ (Health), Serious Residential Demand
Bad for: None
- House of Worship [4] (Cost: $0 + $0/mo)
Good for: Residential Desirability, Mayor Rating
Bad for: None
- Impressive Mayor's Statue (Cost: $6,400 + $80/mo)
Good for: Residential & Commercial Desirabililty, Mayor Rating
Bad for: None
- Lighthouse (Cost: $6,500 + $100/mo each [unlimited amount])
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Industrial Demand, Mayor Rating, Provides a Job
Bad for: Residential Desirability, Power Consumption
- Magnificant Mayor's Status (Cost: $2,200 + $150/mo)
Good for: Residential & Commercial Desirabililty, Mayor Rating
Bad for: None
- Main Library (Cost: $36,000 + Variable $0-252/mo Education Building)
Good for: Residential & Commercial Desirability
Bad for: None
- Major Art Museum (Cost: $13,000 + Variable $0-300/mo Education Building)
Good for: Residential & Commercial Desirability, Residential Demand, Major Rating
Bad for: None
- Major League Stadium (Cost $78,000 + $340/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Extremely Serious Residential Demand, Air Pollution, Mayor Rating
Bad for: Residential Desirability
- Marina (Cost: $4,000 + $90/mo each [unlimited amount])
Good for: Residential & Commercial Desirability, Serious High-Tech Industry Demand, Mayor Rating, Provides Jobs
Bad for: None
- Mayor's House (Cost: $1,800 + $30/mo)
Good for: Residential & Commercial Desirability, Mayor Rating
Bad for: None
- Mayor's Statue (Cost: $3,700 + $30/mo)
Good for: Residential & Commercial Desirabililty, Mayor Rating
Bad for: None
- Minor League Stadium (Cost $17,000 + $120/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Extremely Serious Residential Demand, Air Pollution, Mayor Rating
Bad for: Residential Desirability
- Movie Studio (Cost: $0 + $0/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Provides Jobs
Bad for: None
- Opera House [with Fix] (Cost: $68,000 + Variable $0-8,250/mo Education Building)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Residential Demand
Bad for: None
- Private School [3 with Fix] (Cost: $0 + Variable $0-650/mo Educational Building)
Good for: Residential Desirability, Residential Demand, Provides Jobs
Bad for: None
- Radio Station (Cost: $0 + $0/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Residential and Manufacturing Industrial Demand, Mayor Rating
Bad for: None
- Resort Hotel (Cost: $0 + $0/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Residential Demand, Mayor Rating, Provides Jobs
Bad for: None
- Space Port (Cost: $96,000 + $400/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, High Tech Industry Demand (unverified), Provides Jobs
Bad for: Residential Desirability, Power & Water Consumption
- State Fair (Cost: $14,000 + $0/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Mayor Rating
Bad for: Residential Desirability
- Stock Exchange (Cost: $0 + $0/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Serious Residential Demand, Provides Jobs
Bad for: None
- Television Studio (Cost: $0 + $0/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Residential and Commercial Demand
Bad for: Residential Desirability
- Tourist Trap (Cost: $0 + $0/mo)
Good for: Commercial Desirability, Serious Residential Demand
Bad for: Residential Desirability
- University (Cost: $82,000 + $1,500/mo Educational Building)
Good for: Residential & Commercial Desirability, Residential Demand, Serious High Tech Industrial Demand, Provides Jobs
Bad for: None

Ordinances [More Details]
Crime
Legalize Gambling (INCOME)
Junior Sports Programs
Neighborhood Watch
Youth Curfew Act
Demand
Clean Air Act
Nuclear Free Zone
Paper Waste Reduction Program
Power Conservation ACt
Tourism Promotion Program
Water Conservation Program
Education
Pro Reading Campaign
Fire (Flammability)
Smoke Detector Program
Garbage
Paper Waste Reduction Program
Tire Recycling Program
Trash Presort Requirement
Health
Community CPR Training Program
Free Clinic Program
Mayor Rating
Automobile Emission Reduction Act
Legalize Gambling (INCOME)
Nuclear Free Zone
Power Conservation Act
Youth Curfew Act
Pollution
Automobile Emission Reduction Act
Clean Air Act
Commuter Shuttle Service
Landfill Gas Recovery Program
Power
Landfill Gas Recovery Program
Power Conservation Act
Traffic
Carpool Incentive Program
Commuter Shuttle Service
Water
Water Conservation Program

U-Drive-It Vehicles (and Structure to Unlock) [More Details] [UDI Missions]
Cars
Hearse [Requires: Cemetery]
Mayor's Limo [Requires: Mayor's House]
Police Car [Requires: Any Police Station (Small/Large/Deluxe)]
Taxi Cab: [Requires: Any Airport (Landing Strip/Municipal/International)]
Vintage Cars [Requires: ? (Bonus CD)]
Vans
Ambulance [Requires: Medical Clinic -or- Large Medical Center]
Getaway Van [Requires: Any Commercial]
News Van [Requires: TV Station]
Police Van [Requires: Large Police Station -or- Deluxe Police Station]
Trucks
Army Truck [Requires: Army Base]
Fire Engine [Requires: Any Fire Station (Small/Large/Deluxe/Landing Strip)]
Garbage Truck [Requires: Landfill]
Ice Cream Truck [Requires: Any Residential]
Toxic Waste Truck [Requires: Toxic Waste Dump]
Busses
City Bus [Requires: Bus Stop]
School Bus [Requires: Any Elementary School -or- Any High SChool]
Trains
Elevated Rail Train [Requires: Elevated Rail Train Station]
Freight Train [Requires: Freight Train Station]
Monorail Train [Requires: Monorail Station]
Passenger Train [Requires: Passenger Train Station]
Steam Engine Train [Requires: Freight Train Station]
Boats
Cigar Boat [Requires: Marina]
Fishing Boat [Requires: Marina]
Ferry boat [Requires: Car & Passenger Ferry Terminal]
Motor Boat [Requires: Marina]
Paddle-Wheel Steamer [Requires: ? (Bonus CD)]
Passenger Ferry Boat [Requires: Passenger Ferry Terminal]
Speed Boat [Requires: Marina]
Tug Boat [Requires: Marina]
Yacht [Requires: Marina]
Helicopters
Medical Helicopter [Requires: Large Medical Center]
Military Helicopter [Requires: Army Base]
News Helicopter [Requires: TV Station]
Police Helicopter [Requires: Deluxe Police Station]
Planes
Air Force Fighter Jets [Requires: Air Force Base (Bonus CD)]
Bi-Plane [Requires: ? (Bonus CD)]
Crop Duster Plane: [Requires: Landing Strip]
Fire Plane [Requires: Fire Department Landing Strip]
Jet Fighter [Requires: Area 5.1]
Sky Diver Plane: [Requires: Landing Strip]
Sky Writer Plane: [Requires: Landing Strip]
Other
Metal Whale [Requires: Area 5.1 & Marina]
Tank [Requires: Army Base]
UFO [Requires: Area 5.1]

Cheat Codes (Press [Ctrl] + X during game play to display the console window.) - The ONLY Complete List of Cheats
[Note: Extra Cheats DLL (Download: ) - A mod to install giving an in game cheat sheet, unlocking all of these below.]
barstuck - Stop news bar movement.
buildingplop - Plop any building
dollyllama - Turns all your advisors into llamas. Enter code again to turn them back to normal.
drawpaths - Draws Colored Transportation Paths
effect - Unknown Effect.
fightthepower - Allows you to operate your city without any electricity requirements.
flora - Improve the environment.
flora off - Removes all trees from empty terrain. This process is not reversible.
fps [rate] - Sets the game's frame rate per second (it will get as close as it can)
gol - Begins the Game Of Life. Try clicking around on the green objects that cover your city map.
hellomynameis <name> - Resets the name of the mayor to the given value.
hidepaths - Hides the Colored Transportation Paths
howdryiam - Allows you to operate your city without any water requirements.
lotplop - Plop any lot
lovemoney - Gives unlimited cash. (I couldn't make this work, but others claim it works.)
moolah <amount> - Changes your city bank account to the exact amount you enter. Max = 9223372036854775807.
recorder - Opens up the Animation Recorder Menu.
renderprop - Propellers will not rotate but still work.
riskymoney - Gives $10,000 but puts city at risk of random earthquake!
rp - Unknown Effect (might be same as renderprop above.)
showtime - Shows Real Computer Time (within Game)
simdate xx xx xxxx - Sets the game's date, xx's are in this format [mo da year].
sizeof <zoom> - Changes the game magnification to the given value. (0-64) 0 the smallest.
snow - puts snow on mountains for day (if your computer's date is dec 25th)
stopwatch - Pauses the 24 hour clock cycle. Enter the code again to resume the timer.
tastyzots - Toggle Cell Warnings, such as a lack of power or access to transportation.
terrainquery [on/off] - Display terrain values when query button is on (x,y).
watchmemove - More pedestrians run when you look at them.
weaknesspays - Increases your funds by §1000.
whattimeizit <1-24> - Sets the game's time of day (in military time).
whererufrom <name> - Resets the name of your city to the given value.
you don't deserve it - Unlock All Rewards in game.
zoneria - Hides the coloring of undeveloped zoned tiles. (repeat to undo)

Cheat Codes - Untested - (No one knows what these do yet - if you know, TELL US!~)
adv
casper
controllers
createexception
forceidle
gp
heapcheck
nocsi
plopallbuildings (Warning: could cause crash)
plopalllots (Warning: could cause crash)
tutorial
csitrigger
toll
udriveit

Special things to WATCH for in the Game
- Gnomes hiding around Landmarks
- Fireworks on New Years Dates
- Sims Gathering at the launch site to watch the Fireworks
- "Dead Man" chalk outlines in high crime areas where a murder recently occured
- Find a new crime icon appear in Crime Dataview, Zoom into that city location to watch the crime taking place!
- Watch for the Ghost of your MySim rise to Heaven, when your MySim dies of old age
- Seagulls flying around when you plop some Mayor Statues
- Seagulls flying around when you plop a Lighthouse
- Hangglider flying over the city when you plop a Marina
- Simcity 3000 Intro playing at the growable Drive-In Movie Theater
- Simcity 2000's theme song during U-Drive-It Missions with the Ice Cream Truck
- Sign says RSIM on the Radio Station Tower and Building
- Authentic EA Sign on the Major League Stadium Scoreboard
- Authentic EA Sign and Maxis Sign on the front of the Convention Center=

Hot Keys
F1 (God Mode)
F2 (Mayor Mode)
F3 (My Sim Mode)
F4(Options Panel)
Ctrl+`(Pause)
Ctrl+1(Turtle Speed)
Ctrl+2(Rhino Speed)
Ctrl+3(Cheetah Speed)
+ (Zoom in one level)
- (Zoom out one level)
Press numbers 1 to 5 (Zoom levels 1 - farthest from city to 5 - closest to city)
Page Up (Rotate counter-clockwise)
Page Down (Rotate Clockwise)
Home (Rotate Building Clockwise)
End (Rotate Building Counter-Clockwise
Left Arrow / Right Arrow (Scroll Left/Right)
Ctrl+ Left Arrow/Ctrl+ Right Arrow(Scroll Left/Right Once)
Ctrl+Up Arrow/Ctrl+Down Arrow (Scroll up/down once)
Up Arrow/Down Arrow (Scroll Up/Down)
Spacebar (Center on Cursor)
Esc (Close Open Window/Release Tool)
/ (Query Tool)
Q (Zone Low D. Residential)
W (Zone Medium D. Residential)
E (Zone High D. Residential)
A (Zone Low D. Commercial)
S (Zone Medium D. Commercial)
D (Zone High D. Commercial)
Z (Zone Agricultrue)
X (Zone Medium D. Industrial)
C (Zone Heavy D. Industrial)
Y (Zone Landfill)
V (De-Zone)
B (Demolish)
Ctrl+F (Dispatch Fire)
Ctrl+P (Dispatch Police)
R (Road Tool)
Alt+R (Street Tool)
Shift+R (Highway Tool)
Ctrl+Shift+R (Build Bus Stop)
T (Rail Tool)
Ctrl+Shift+T (Passenger Depot)
Ctrl+Alt+T (Freight Depot)
Shift+T (Subway Tool)
Shift+Alt+T (Subway Station)
L (Power Lines Tool)
I (Pipes Tool)
P (Build Small Police Station)
Alt+P (Build Large Police Station)
Shift+P (Build Jail)
F (Build Small Fire Station)
Alt+F (Build Large Fire Station)
H (Build Clinic)
Alt+H (Build Hospital)
K (Build Elementary School)
Alt+K (Build High School)
Shift+K (Build City College)
F5 (Day Only)
F6 (Night Only)
F7 (Night & Day)
F11 (Open Play Options Dialog)
F9 (Open Graphics Options Dialog)
F10 (Open Audio Options Dialog)
Ctrl+S (Save City)
F8 (Exit To Region)
F12 (Quit SimCity 4)
Num Lock (Hide/Show UI)
Ctrl+Shift+A (Open Photo Album)
Ctrl+Shift+S (Take Snapshots)
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F (Full Screen Refresh)
Ctrl+X (Open Cheat Code Dialog)
Ctrl+Shift+C (Toggle Display of Terrain Contours)
Ctrl+Shift+O (Open Obliterate City Dialog)

SC4 Shortcut Icon Path arguments (Complete List Here)
- Skip Intro
- Ru

  Edited May 30, 2013 by Cougar2004  
Links Updated.

[masochist 111]

You can also change how long the day-night cycle lasts, as well as how dark/light it gets. You can change the way the Transportation satellite view looks, just like you can change the way the terrain looks. You can add bridges (don't know if that would go under transport network options or BAT's, or if that's seperate from both), but you can't add function to the bridges (can't make them go diagonal, can't make them cross other transport options, etc).

You can change the lots of already existing buildings, as well as add functionality to previously static landmarks. You can change the manner in which buildings grow as your city grows, as well as add stage levels to buildings (both via the Colossus Addon Mod, or CAM). You can change how long automata appear. You can change the appearance of streets and sidewalks. You can add cities to an already established region, and you can create flora to sprinkle in the game like trees (though they can pretty much be anything, like windmills).

That's just off the top of my head...

[Cougar2004 128]

Masochist,

Thanks for the new additions... included most of them now above.  Great list.  However I have a few questions for you.

1.  "change how long the day-night cycle lasts"  

Is this by a Mod, or do you mean that we can simply change from night to day with the included Mayor Tool?

2.  "change lots of already existing buildings"

Do you mean such as the Police Station, and Schools?  And do you mean doing this with the BAT?

3.  "change manner in which buildings grow as your city grows"

Do you mean stage limits here or were you referring to something else that can control this?

4.  "change how long automata appear"

This must not be Automata Speed, which is a normal setting of SC4.  Is it a mod or where would you change this setting?

5.  "flora"

When you add flora, lets say a Cactus for instance, does it replace one of the existing trees in the Mayor mode Tool options?  or is it completely possible to add 20 new types of flora while keeping the original game ones?

[masochist 111]

1.) There's a mod that will make the nighttime colors last longer and become darker than the original game night (Gizmo's Day-Night Mod), and there's a mod that will make building nightlights last longer: [RippleJet's Longer Nightlights Mod].  Actually, RippleJet also made a mod that makes streetlights brighter.

2.) Yeah, you can change the lots of the existing civic buildings and landmarks (or any building, really) using the Lot Editor, which is seperate from the BAT.

3.) Indeed, stage limits.  The CAM adds more building stages for each zone type, and it also alters the limits for each stage to make room for the additional ones (if I'm not mistaken).

4.) This is a mod...it's actually part of NAM.  There's an option that allows you to see cars and sims for 24 hours of the day, instead of only at rush hour times.  There're also lots on the STEX that generate cars from thin air (purely aesthetic, though...there's no actual traffic added).

5.) You can have 20 different types of trees, I mean.  And the new flora does not get rid of the old flora, they simply add on.  I've got a nice list of pines, firs, and palm trees (among others), as well as reef flora, ploppable rocks and water, windmills, seasonal trees, etc.  And I've also still go the mayor mode trees.  There are plenty more that I don't have (including cacti).  It's nice !

<EDIT> - I've got a few more: you can change the look and function of pretty much any transportation network (road, railroad, monorail, highway, etc....in fact, I think every single one has had their appearance altered somehow, and the NAM has altered all of their speeds/capacities/etc., but you have that one).  There's also a mod to remove the pause border that appears around the screen when the game is paused, as well as one to remove the "Neighbor City Connection" arrows that appear where there's a connection to the next city. 

There are mods that deal with terrain slope, as well--I mean, the maximum slope a transportation network can have going up or down a hill.  A mod to change how cliffs appear also exists (diagonal jagged edges mod; they make cliffs appear on softer slopes than normal, so that you can lay out diagonal walls correctly)...but it might be better to simply say "Terrain Parameters" for those last two, because their are a few more things like that that can be altered (things that change how the terrain acts, I mean).  The look of building queries can be changed...and one more: you can add random things to the news ticker via mods.

I'll keep posting if I think of more.  In the meantime (if you haven't already), it might be a good idea to just run down the list of popular mods in the Modds and Downloads section to see some different mods in the game.

[Cougar2004 128]

Those are great additions.  I didn't know about many of those.  I'm probably not alone in that regard.  

I wonder if Maxis did the shorter night lights times because they figure people would be sleeping after 1am.  Just a thought.

A few followup questions for anyone who knows:

2.  You mentioned Civic Buildings edited with the Lot Editor, giving us changes to their properties and/or looks.  I assume you mean that this is how we got different power plants, police stations, and parks.  So does this mean that adding one of these will replace existing buildings in the game?  Or will it just give another option that we can plop from the related menus and use as desired?    

3.  Any idea how the CAM's stage limit options compare to the Stage Limits Mod V1.0 by toroca  which is found here in the ST Modds section? 

5.  Has anyone heard of any packs of such Flora?  Or is really only realistic to individually download and add the specific ones according to your preference?  

6.  There are many buildings to add (from the STEX), resturants, stores, houses, offices, appartments, etc.  Does adding one of these remove another building from the game?  Are these buildings growable and will magically appear if you have placed them in your plugins directory?  Or are they plopable and able to be found in some menu of the Game?

7.  Are there draw backs, such as slowing the game down by adding too much?  (For example, additional flora and civic buildings to the menus, as well as interesting looking buildings.)

Thanks again for all your answers. 

[masochist 111]

2.) Well, the Lot Editor only really changes the land on which the buildings sit.  If you want to change the look of the building itself, or the properties/attributes of the building, you have to use other programs (the BAT and iLive's "Reader"/the "SC4Tool", respectively).  You CAN, if you want, change the lots and have them replace the original buildings...or you can change them and have them in addition to the originals.

3.) I believe that fundamentally, they're the same, even if the exact values are different. (if the CAM actually changes the actual stage limits).  I'm not really an expert on CAM, however...someone from the BSC would probably be able to answer better than I could.  I do know that you cannot use the two mods in conjunction with each other--that is, you have to choose one or the other.

5.) (Odd numbers...) I'd add them according to your preference. You probably won't find any individual tree by itself, but you also probably won't find a pack with ploppable rocks, palm trees and transparent water, either .  Examples of Mayor Mode-type flora packs include [Goldiva's Palm Trees]/[Tropical Sea Pack], [sorchin's Flora Pack], [jeronij's Transparent Ploppable Water], [cycledogg's trees and rocks], etc.  Here's a picture that shows a few of them:

You can see Goldiva's Palm Trees and her beach flora (her version of the ploppable rocks and reef flora). All of these are found in the Mayor Mode Trees menu, and all are available on the STEX.

6.) No custom building so far as I know will replace a pre-existing building unless it is an update that is made to replace a building.  Some are growable only, and will appear from zones just like other buildings in the game once you put them into your plugins folder; some are ploppable only, and only show up in game menus (they won't grow if you zone them)...some ploppables have jobs, some are only for show.  Most BAT's, though, come with both versions--they are able to grow from zones in addition to appearing in game menus for plopping. 

The type of building also dictates whether it can be grown, plopped or both: residential buildings will almost never be ploppable, because they are prone to dilapidation; civic buildings, landmarks, and parks will always be ploppable (obviously), sometimes with jobs, sometimes without; commercial and industrial buildings can be either-or.  RCI buildings will usually be found in either the Landmark or Rewards menu, while other types of buildings will usually be placed in their corresponding menus (for example, you'll usually find custom museums in the Education menu).

7.)  A few drawbacks: the more custom content you have, the longer the game takes to load.  Also, since a lot of buildings are centered in either the Parks or Landmarks menu, it becomes tedious to have to search for something in either of those menus as you add more plugins.  Another thing: if something makes your game crash, it becomes harder to pinpoint the problem if you have a lot of plugins.

Hope that clears things up

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

All I can say is, all of your comments, in one place like this, truly puts this game in perspective for me.

It's absolutely virtual and never-ending!  I am currently thinking of new themes, you could add-on to SC4 even now, many years after it's launch! I think WW's Spore will be a grand new adventure, but it still will never replace the varacious possibilities, we have with SC4.

Thanks for this thread. I think it's pretty cool.

CrybKeeper

[masochist 111]

Originally posted by: frndofyaweh I am currently thinking of new themes, you could add-on to SC4 even now, many years after it's launch!quote>

Of course!  I totally forgot about those.  You can change the background of the game; instead of the gray grid that is usually standard, you can change it to a space theme, or a cloudy sky, or simply a single  solid color.  You can also change the look of the user interface.  If you install the SimMars modification, the game menus and toolbar take on a reddish color, and I think they change font (SimMars also comes with new game music and a new background...all together, a new theme ). 

In addition, there are many things you can do with the path of the shortcut icon on your desktop (or wherever) to change the way the game runs.  For example, you can make the game run in a custom resolution, skip the intro video, or play the game in a window.  Check [this thread on SC4D] to see all the known options you can do with this.

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Thanks for the cool link Masochist!

It just goes to show, why Simtrop community continues to thrive. Cool graphics of any type, can easily make a game feel like brand new.

Maybe I go a bit over-board with descriptions, but the general point is true of SimCity.

You could easily make a new line of plopable's, that are all Cat In Hat Building's. for example.

Yes, you could even make the people into Who's for Whoville

[NetPCDoc 1]

Hello Cougar2004,

Under Fixes - maybe buggi's extracheats.dll should be mentioned? Which, amoung other things, allows one to change the in-game date.

Stages are very well explained over on the SC4Devotion site - but basically - one can add more stages (allowing larger/denser buildings to grow), as opposed to assigning modded buildings to existing stages.

And, personally, I would not count the possibliity of getting transit under existing bridges to be totally out of the question - still needs additional research; under the right conditions you can get bridges (as opposed to interchanges) when crossing a highway with just about any other ground level transit (streets, roads, avenues, etc) that have functionality on both the overpassing and the underpassing transit. I believe the latest NAM has puzzle pieces that accomplish the ground level over-under passing too; just not yet able to make this work with "selective bridges" (bridges that you can select off of a pop-up bridge menu). Close up observation of bridge details would suggest that at some point EA/Maxis removed the over-land bridge functionality and went with an over-water only bridge plan, relegating over-land bridges to the sometimes-incomplete-interchange category; however some recent innovations incorporated into the latest NAM would suggest that this may just be a case of certain required pieces being removed/replaced - giving hope to the possiblity that if the proper pieces were to be re-insterted (via plugins) that these might still be made to work; still this would take a LOT of WORK, with no real guarantee of the desired results.

-NetPCDoc

No detail is too small to be micromanaged.

[Cougar2004 128]

Masochist, thanks for all the answers above.  You really settled some long-standing questions I've had.  The numbers that were 2 3 and 5 were continuations of the original questions further above.  6 and 7 were new questions.

A couple more questions for anyone are:

8.  About Train Packs.  Is it true that a Train Set pack will replace all the original trains with the new look at feel?  [so you can't use more than 1 train pack at the same time?] Or will it allow you to have both the old and new trains at the same time in the game?  And is that all these packs do, change the skins, colors, looks of the trains?  Or do they do other things, such as make the UDI stronger, speeds higher, add new controls, change audio sounds, etc?

9.  I know there are Flora Packs, and Train Set packs. But are there new Police car packs? Bus packs? Plane and Boat Packs?  Again, if there are, will they replace original vehicles in the game, or allow you to use old and new, if so how?

Note:  3 new sections have been added to the Master List of What you can do with SC4 (in the original post above): 
-  SC4 shortcut path options
-  Special things to watch for during gameplay
and because this thread is becoming popular, i figured someone would eventually ask...
-  Cheat Codes (the Extra Cheats DLL is listed there, no one knows what they all do since Buggi never gave us a list, so those arent itemized yet.)

10.  Does anyone know what ALL the Extra Cheats DLL codes actually do?  IF so, lets add them!

New suggestions for the list always welcome.  Oh I just realized there is a Stronger UDI mod - I'll add that to gameplay modifications right now (above). 

[Cougar2004 128]

Checking out the Poll at the top...

I'm a bit surprised!  It seems that nearly half of all voters are SimCity Experts.  That says alot about the quality of SimTropolis being able to keep them interested and active here.  I wonder if some users just didn't want to admit that they are less experienced, however its an anonymous poll, so no one will ever know! ~

Anyway, speaking of other things you can do with the game, how about Protecting your money with a autoprotectcoffers Mod, or improving visible city look with anti-abandonment mod?  Or how about that cheat where you type in 'thebirds' to see tons of seaguls flying around the city... oh wait, was that SimCity 3000?

Oh, and hopefully masochist or someone else who knows will take a shot at answering the topic-related questions in the post above this one.

[Cougar2004 128]

UPDATE:  The Settings section in the original post has been completely overhauled.  Now includes all the game settings, and is in order you will find in the game menus.

If someone has answers to the questions a few posts up, please take a shot at answering. 

Take a look at the first post, and take on your ideas if you have something to add.... "All you can modify / change in this game."   (Look forward to additional insights.)

[Haljackey 17,398]

Wow this is some great information!

Have you considered adding this stuff to the new SC4 Wiki? 

You can find the wiki here:

http://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php/Main_Page

Best,

-Haljackey

[Cougar2004 128]

Originally posted by: haljackey Wow this is some great information!

Have you considered adding this stuff to the new SC4 Wiki? 

You can find the wiki here:

http://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php/Main_Page

Best,

-Haljackeyquote>

Well, this is a work in progress right now.  I'm not really finished writing it.  In addition, as you can tell from masochist and the others who have participated in this thread, there is a lot of good information to organize, and im sure MORE to come! 

But I'll check out the SC4D Wiki and see what is about and if this type of information would be valuable there.  Would I have access to add data?  How about upkeep it?  Would others be able to modify it (might be risky, considering how different each person plays the game) when speaking of topics like this. 

Oh I just realized I hadn't really added anything regarding U Drive It yet!  Hmmmm.... perhaps a list of all the vehicles available to drive would be useful.   Perhaps listing all the structures required to get those vehicles could be helpful.  And perhaps a complete list of reward buildings could be intersting in this topic as well.  What does everyone else think? 

[timcravey 169]

You can also download a MySims folder from the STEX that adds about 4 more pages of Sims to your menu. Put it in your SimCity4 folder at the same level as the Plugins folder. Then resize any image to 36x41 and copy and paste into one of the .bmp files, overwriting the original. Wallah! Your own Sims! Paste yourself or anyone else into the game. Choose pictures carefully to be sure they resize well and clean them up with a sharpen and light smoothing.  Do not try to rename the files - rename the character when you place it in game.  And the files do have sound effects (voices, barking, attitudes) that you ought to consider when creating new Sims.

[Cougar2004 128]

Originally posted by: timcravey You can also download a MySims folder from the STEX that adds about 4 more pages of Sims to your menu. Put it in your SimCity4 folder at the same level as the Plugins folder. Then resize any image to 36x41 and copy and paste into one of the .bmp files, overwriting the original. Wallah! Your own Sims! Paste yourself or anyone else into the game. Choose pictures carefully to be sure they resize well and clean them up with a sharpen and light smoothing.  Do not try to rename the files - rename the character when you place it in game.  And the files do have sound effects (voices, barking, attitudes) that you ought to consider when creating new Sims.quote>

Wow, that sounds very cool, but complex.  Let me ask a few questions to you here.

A.  The current limit is 4 sims that can be added and placed within SC4D, does this mod that you found allow for unlimited? or how many total?

B.  Why are pictures even needed at all?  Are you saying these are pictures that become the picture of the Sim person on the list in the game? Or is it used otherwise?

C.  What is the official name of this download, or can you tell me where it is, or provide a link? 

D.  You mentioned I could past myself or anyone into the game... well I haven't played the Sims yet, so are you saying i I had the Sims game, i could important a Sim made to my likeness, or are you saying there is another way to create such sims to import and use in SC4D?

E.  What are all these other files, voices, barking, attitudes, etc?  Are they something that his download mod provides, or are these things that are supposed to come from the Sims game to important into SC4D to really make this work? 

Any other info is welcome!  Thanks.

EDIT:  Also To Everyone!  I've updated the initial post of this thread to NOW include U-Drive-It Vehicles (and the structures to unlock them).   Hope I didn't waste all that time creating that list - but someone will get value out having added that section.  The purpose of adding it, is to show that you can change the skins of all those vehicles (supposedly).  Enjoy~!

Can anyone answer for me this question?  CAN you add additional Vehicles or do such plugins simply just overwrite the existing default Maxis/EA vehicles?  Thanks!

[timcravey 169]

My Sims is not complicated at all - I just searched for MySims on STEX and put the folder in the SimCity4 folder. The person who posted the mod has included about 50 new Sims for the game - the sound files are part of your game not separate. You do not need The Sims game to use this mod.

And yes you can download vehicles for the game or reskin the the ones already in it. Downloadable vehicles do not usually overwrite any game files but read the ReadMe.

[Cougar2004 128]

Wow!  That is soo cool!  Finally a way to live with all my girlfriends at once!   [don't think on that too hard].  but yeah, its cool that you can put your own pictures into the game in this way.  And then place your friends or crushes anywhere in your cities. 

Thanks for the answers.  I'm going to have some fun with that.  Hope to to give it a shot soon.  And I'll add it to the list at the top, when i figure out a reasonable way to explain it in a few words for the Master List (if its not already represented there).

[NetPCDoc 1]

Hello Cougar2004,

Most mods - such as vehicle skins - can either replace the in-game items or be an add-on item (usually depending on the TGI value). Potential TGI conflicts was one reason the BSC set up a texture registration/reservation process; if I can find the link again - I'll edit it into this post.

EDIT:

As promised - link to - BSC Texture Index Thread.

At one time geoffhaw, had links on his posts to the file containing currently assigned ranges; it would appear that he has discontinued this practice.

END-EDIT.

I didn't see the SIMDATE cheat code mentioned - this sets the in game date - needs to be followed by a valid date (year of 2000 = in-game 00) - and will set the in-game date to the following day; example: "Simdate 12 31 1999" will set the in-game date to "1/1/00" (please note - don't enter quotes symbols in the cheat window).

Did you mention grayscale to region terrain rendering (on PC's, in region view, "ctrl + alt + shift + R" allows you to select a grayscale map - which the game will use to generate that regions terrain; requires the game to create/save unstarted cities based on that region's config.bmp - thus things like money mods, that are included in the first save of a city, need to be in the proper plugins folder at the time this is used).

Another thing to spot (i.e. to watch for) - in nearer zooms, at the location from which the fireworks are set off, you can see a gathering of sims that watch the fireworks display when a city is established (i.e. when the city is named and a mayor appointed/elected).

-NetPCDoc

No detail is too small to be micromanaged.

[Cougar2004 128]

Thanks NetPCDoc, I always like it when you post, because you have something very useful to say.

Vehicles:  I'm a little scared to accidently overwrite (remove) the default cars/trains etc.  I guess I better study up on the TGI values and which software program allows me to view that value.  It sounds like the BSC set up a resolution for this for their offerings.  Look forward to that link if you find it.  

Cheat:  Simdate sounds very cool.  As soon as I test it out, I'll add that above to the main list in the first post here. Thanks for adding it here, and especially your explanation on how to use it.

Watch for:  Great Idea to watch for the sims to gather to watch the fireworks at the location that they are launched, except that usually when a city is established, its new, and there are NO houses yet, thus no sims.  So id be curious how you pulled that one off.    

Another Watch For: I just saw today, on the Convention Center that there is an authetic Maxis sign, and an authentic EA sign on the front of the building to look for. 

I'll add these 2 new ideas to the master list above now too.  Thanks!

[buckbeach 8]

1. Abandonment Mod
2. BRF-UL- TrafficControlPack
3. JCS Tunnel and Slope Mod
4. Cul-de-Sac Mod
5. No Maxis Buildings Mod
6. No Trucks Mod
7. old roads
8. Parks with Jobs
9. Hole digging lots
10. Peg terrain leveler lots
11. JS Rail-Trestle over road mod
12. Street RR gate replacement mod
13. Bond Mod
14. Columbus and Jerome Mods

I'm sure there are many more and I know that some here may be duplicates.

[The Arrowz 3]

Cool list!

Does the cheat thing work? I tried control x and typing in snow, but when i push enter, nothing happens and the cheat bar with the word snow is still on my screen?

also, for snow, if you set your computer's date to december 25, you don't need a cheat, it automatically shows up

[Cougar2004 128]

Originally posted by: The Arrowz Cool list!

Does the cheat thing work? I tried control x and typing in snow, but when i push enter, nothing happens and the cheat bar with the word snow is still on my screen?

also, for snow, if you set your computer's date to december 25, you don't need a cheat, it automatically shows up quote>

 

Thanks.  Its really turning into something useful.  I refer to it every day now.  And really appreciate when people suggest available options not currently in the list yet, like buckbeach did in the post above you.

Oh course I have a few questions about many of the the suggestions from buckbeach but I'll attempt to search the STEX For the names he gave so I can read the readme's, test them out, and verify that belong on the master list.  I did add the half of his list that I had time to research yesterday though, as well as half a dozen additional ones. [More to come.]

As for the snow cheat... I'll give it some more testing.  Typing 'snow' definitely is accepted by the Cntl-x in my game, in every city.  I'm not sure why you can't hit enter and have it accept it.  Check for spaces on either side, and capitalization.  If you learn anything more about it, please post and let us know.

[masochist 111]

8.) I'm almost certain that's the case: you can't use more than one train pack, and that train pack will override the Maxis skins.  I could always be wrong, but I haven't seen the Maxis trains since I put in my replacements.  And that's all they are--skins.  You need mods to make the UDI stronger and make the trains go faster, etc.  Whether the skins come with mods to do that I suppose is dependent on the skill of the creator, but I'd be willing to bet that most (if not all) train replacements only come with skins.

But...there's already a separate mod in the Modds & Downloads section that makes all the game's UDI vehicles stronger.  I don't know if that's in your list or not...

9.) There are police car packs that take the place of the in-game police cars.  Bus packs DO NOT replace the in-game busses, however (at least, I've seen both a Maxis bus and a custom bus in my town at the same time...I do not know whether this extends to UDI, though).  As for planes and boats...well, there are a million different add-on packs for these.  Most of these are just props, though--eye-candy that you plop to make your cities seem more realisitc.  Again, I'm not too sure whether there's UDI vehicles for these, and I'm not sure if they would replace any current vehicles.

10.) Well...here's a picture of the list of cheats that are added by the mod:

As for what they all do...heh heh, I suppose you'll have to experiment a bit (most of them are obvious, anyways).

[Flyboy1212 12]

What do you mean by bounes Cd and how do you get it?

[masochist 111]

Here's an addition to the list that I didn't know of until just now when I saw it on the STEX: you can [add loading texts] to the game; that is, the texts that appear onscreen while a city is loading (I linked to a mod that adds quite a few).  I did not know that before that...

[Cougar2004 128]

Lots of great new suggestions from people here.  I'll be updating the Master List over the next day or two to include them.  I try to test or at least verify reality of each addition so the list actually has some validity.  Additionally, I'm begining to add download links to each entry, so you can do more than read what you like, but immediately GET it!   

I'll keep updating this list as new mods come out, and as people realize new things that can be done in the game, as long as people continue to be interested in this thread topic and List.  

For instance, BUSINESS DEALS have been added to the Master List Above! I think you will like the info.  The Vehicles list seems complete, however it has been proposed that the Vintage cars are not UDI (drivable) but rather introduced in the Transportation (Bonus) CD download from Simcity.com as random vehicle automata.  If anyone can verify this either way, please do! 

Finally, the Ordinance List (Complete) has been finished!  (You may have seen that thread on here lately too).  Its wonderful data, but I think its too much to paste into the master list above.  We should come up with an abridged version to input into our list here.  Suggestions welcome, otherwise, I'll just figure it out and update on Sunday.  

Thanks to everyone for all the ideas!  Its great to see great minds and experience coming together here.  And once the list is "matured" a bit, I still intend to create a couple separate smaller themed complete lists, one of which being the ESSENTIALS Pack (List) which would be perfect for newbies, and there will be a few variations on that, which we can talk about later.  Send ideas if you have them.  Thanks. 

[Cougar2004 128]

News:  ORDINANCES List has been added to the Master List Above!

What should be added next?

[JayyzDNB4lyf 0]

thankyou for the link downloads they are very useful, 

you got any idea how you get the wall that goes by into the water in the top right of your picture

if you know what mean.. 

big help if you can help me out because i only got the game today :L 

thanks