I want to add realism

[xcodyx 0]

I recently got Simcity 4 to work again after months of grief. I know how to play the game, and can reach a city size of about 200,000 with relative ease.

The problem is that these cities all end up looking a sprawl of random zoning. The only mods I have at the moment are the NAM and industry x4. I would like to know if anyone can suggest some mods or item packs that improve the realism of the city. My aim is to make my cities as real as possible, this could include new textures, or even new buildings.

I have tried installing item packs before, but they never seem to work. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the correct way to install these mods and packs as well.

I would be extremely greatful for any help given. Many thanks.

[bigthing 35]

Well you can make realistic airports using the RMIP packs, also RMIP 3 should be out some time in the next month or so.

[xcodyx 0]

Thats a good pack, I'll look into it, thank you. Any other suggestions?

[Fee_Nicks 7]

The best way to make cities not appear like a mass of random zoning is... to try and avoid that. The best thing to do in order to avoid such messes is to just build road systems prior to zoning, and not rely on the auto-streets as much. Also, try to make roads follow the contours of the landscape, and stick mostly to a grid for open flat spaces.

Finally, if you're using significant amounts of MT (trains, etc.) build the spurs first and then build around them - this seems to mimic real-life development to a point.

Really, the best ways to extract more realism out of the game is just through decisions you make yourself.

[Sense 0]

I tend to disagree with the post before me. Laying out a transportation plan before starting to build is not going to help by itself. I did that in my last city, but then started building on the go and found that I build too many buildings in a relatively small area, which created huge commute time and a very randomly looking city.

As for downloads you need to have... I'll give some very basic advise but still hope it helps. The STEX has so much stuff, that you can find anything really. Go and build your city. Then, when you think "hey, I need a better looking plaza than this Maxis stuff' go to the STEX and search for plaza. Do this continually and you'll find yourself with a lot of downloadable content and a better looking city. Pay also attention to dependencies. Most of the downloads on the STEX come with certain dependencies, in other words, other downloadable content that you need to have in order to make the thing work. Usually, the type and link to the dependencies are given in the file's details or readme's.

[xcodyx 0]

Thank you very much for all your help. I sometimes try and build the road links to begin with, but this does seem to come with alot of guess work. Certain areas will grow differently to others, which sometimes causes my road networks to become useless, or random.

I've recently started looking into the STEX, and the amount of stuff is amazing. I just don't know where to begin. But I'll keep looking

[andhow 0]

Your placement of zones, parks, etc will affect the rate and type of development which can lead to what you expected to be a low volume street being overcrowded and roads/avenues virtually unused etc. But... that's what the game is about, redeveloping and evolving your city to meet the various demands etc. It's what makes SC fun and so damn addictive...there's always something to improve! However, a cities evolution doesn't have to lead to lack of realism, just redevelop and rezone accordingly.

I highly recommend surfing the stex to see what's available as custom stuff is one good way to improve realism, if only by the variety of buildings it provides.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

The LEX over at www.sc4devotion.com/csxles has a lot of good stuff, and you can browse in a multitude of categories of custom content. You need to register to access it, but this is relatively easy to do. Remember to register at the LEX and not at the main site, because they are separate systems.

Hope this helps.

[xcodyx 0]

Thank you for all your help. There's so much stuff on offer, any suggestions on worth-while content?

[Sense 0]

The Hong Kong bats are some of the nicest buildings I've seen in the game. Moreover, many of them don't even require dependencies which make them a good first download.

[xcodyx 0]

Thank you, the Hong Kong team have some amazing Lots, I'll look into them

[SC4BOY 21]

You should be able to get to what you're after with NO SPECIAL STUFF.. add a mod or whatever as you like.. special reports, NAM, maybe a few other things.. but specials don't make your cities real, IMHO.. instead TECHNIQUE and PLANNING do..

After you have the method down, then cruise the web and find things that you think support what you want to do.. all they do is add content.. not really change the gameplay

[3dpuzzlemaster 20]

Just download buildings in the commercial/ residential/ industrial sections that you like: if you want to make only suburbs, check the res and comm section of the stex and download low dense buildings, or if you want true realism, check the Omnimbus forum, and you could download skyscrapers and all of that stuff. I would suggest Cycledogg's tree mod because it is just amazing to see what trees can do for realism, hope this helps.

[Spinmaster 75]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is a slope mod. It helps you draw much smoother networks, not the sawtooth stuff you're probably seeing now without one (unless you happen to be playing on a very flat region).

Also, joerg's Bridge Height Mod, for me is a must. Without this the game tries to draw its own approach ramps for bridges. And it usually either refuses because the terrain is too rough for it to terraform, or it succeeds - which is usually worse, with very ugly results. With this mod you'll have to build your own terraformed ramps, so it is more tedious, but you'll be proud of your efforts.

Buggi's Extra Cheats - you'll probably want this eventually. Yes, its name implies cheating and certainly you can use it for that. But it has plenty of other valuable functions, and I should point out, one player's "cheat" is another's "workaround" for game limitations. All depends on how you use it. If you simply increase the money in one city, you've cheated. If you also take it away from a neighboring city, you've transferred that money. Maybe you saw the cities as part of the same municipality, or maybe it's a deal - City A pays for something built in City B.

Beware of mods that alter civic buildings you've already built (fire/police, schools, hospitals). Adding a new one isn't a threat, but mods that change the funding or radius of such buildings (usually the default, non-custom ones)... well they're perfectly safe, IF you haven't built one of those buildings in any city yet. If you have, and you change its stats, you'll get to experience first-hand the famed "phantom slider bug."

Beyond that, Sense actually makes the most... well, sense. Download when you realize you're missing something and can use it right away. Don't get carried away downloading everything that looks good. Between STEX, LEX, PLEX, and a dozen other EX's, there is a whole LOTTA stuff that looks good - your plugins will be overwhelmed in no time, chock full of stuff you can't even remember what it is by the time you need it. Don't worry - as you build, you'll realize what would make your city look better, in terms of content. And chances are pretty good someone has already made whatever it is you're looking for.

[xcodyx 0]

Thank you for all your help. I see now that I need to work on my city building rather than throwing in mods and hoping it sorts itself out. I will look for certain additions, but first I'll figure out just what my city needs.

Many thanks

[expectingrain5 0]

I've been using the STEX to d/l "branded" businesses-- McDonalds, Chik-Fil-A,Applebees, Starbucks, etc.  IMO that adds to the realism seeing the branded logos.