simmars-forum-threads Sim Mars, a SC4 Conversion

[GouRou 2]

I am posting this as an opening to an idea that has probably been brewing in more heads than my own. Much is known about how simcity4 works. Its detals have been laid pretty bare overall, and it wouldnt be impossible for this idea to be considered. The idea is a near total, or total conversion of SimCity4, into SimMars. A directed, planned approach to a conversion of simcity4 into sim mars. the game is tweakable enough that such a conversion should be possible, even minimally, with what is currently known about the game, as time goes on, the conversion will grow. not to say that a conversion will be easy, it's first major hurdle is clearing out the old simcity, that means all vehicles, sims, buildings, roads, ground textures, etc will have to be recreated. however, this is not an impossible task. it is monumentous, no doubt, but I have a feeling that it can be done, and if done, would be a great monument to the abilities of this community. it's a direction that we can take to put the entire knowledge base of modding to work, to give direction to the aimless wanderings of some modders. it can be done, now a simple question. I ask not who supports this idea, I ask, of those with the abilities to work on it, who wishes to try? https://community.simtropolis.com/assets/emoticons/1.gif' border='0>

[Llama_Sim 0]

Great! I can say that I was one of the founding members in the chat room, LOL! I'm glad this is now on the forums. As far as recreating SC4, I won't even try to figure out all that mess. But I will bring up this question: Should water be eligible as a feature? Snow and red dirt will be there, but currently there is no water, but there could have been. Just a thought...

[GouRou 2]

that is something that will need to be debated thoroughly. at the outset, I feel like saying no, any map should have the water turned all the way down, but we may find a happy solution to using water.

[Dereko 0]

Make the water into MAG-MAH. Using this MAG-MAH you can give the landscape a dynamic look

[USA_Pride 49]

I have no modding talent to offer, but I must say, if the finish product was an available (HUGE!) modd I'd be very interested in downloading it.  There would be a few obstacles, but I agree that it is probably possible.  I think the two biggest obstacles are:

 

1.  The amount of talent and man hours it will take

2.  This would be a huge modd (with lots of textures, vehicles, buildings, etc. . .  being re-done) and I don't know if Simtropolis could host it.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but it would be measured in the megabytes.

 

However, once Mars is done the moon is the limit!

 

P.S.  Dereko's Mag-mah idea is as good as it is funny!

[GouRou 2]

there is very little aside from props perhaps that we could keep, I doubt there is much at all that would work in the conversion, but when I look at the Bex, and the modds, I cant help but think the talent is here, if only there were a place to apply it. I think on a well planned project, where each sub project is defined, a person could sign for a sub project and then submit it, given well defined boundaries of things to do, more will get done. I doubt there are more than a handful of people that understand fully the scope of what this project entails, but it's not unreasonable to attempt it. given proper planning, a modeler needs to know no more than a specific task that needs done, the entire scope doesnt have to be encompassed at once. one step, one piece at a time, and it will get done

[Dirktator 2,308]

I think this is a terrific project for all of Simtropolis! 

 

GouRou has a great point; we have this vast body of knowledge with the game, practically every aspect of the game that we can get our hands on can be modified.  Now it's time to put it all together and create something new - the very first SimCity 4 Conversion...

 

I know all of you are up to the challenge, and if we can stir up enough interested members, I will personally invest the time and energy to help coordinate and participate in this project, and help provide the necessary infrastructure to get this project into orbit...

 

If you've always wanted to get involved with the community but could never find a way in, this seems like a great chance to start from the ground up with everyone else on a project that will utilize the wide range of skills that we have in this community.  Even if all you've got to offer right now is your enthusiasm, bring it on...!  

 

Can Simtropolis reach SimMars...?  What do you think, community?

 

If you've got ideas, start shouting them out now...!

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[Smurfer2 7]

A very unique idea GouRou. I wonder how far this will go....

[superjaberwocky 1]

Speaking of Sim Mars, whatever happened to Maxis's idea for that game. I remember hearing something about it years ago, but nothing really since. Was it ever finished/released?

[GouRou 2]

I dont think this is just my idea either. I general feeling is that modding is great and all, but little can be done with it, which isnt true. single modds are nice, but why not more? I'm not the first to think of this, but lets see if I can be the first to kick it into gear. with dirk's support, I know this could be supported in the best of ways, the ultimate SC4 modd!!!!

 

this is goin all the way smurfer, it may take a long time, but there is no sense stopping once we start.

[Dereko 0]

Why stop at Mars? We could always do Ancient Egypt and/or Rome, Medieval Europe (already has some lots for these ), and many other time periods in history or futuristic stuff such as Mars. The Mars idea is a good project to start with but if there is not enough interest for it anyone up for a historical conversion of SimCity?

[Smurfer2 7]

No, there isn't reason to stop it. I need to think up a chant about GouRou...hmm... maybe Go GouRou, if she can make it happen... I don't know about the rest. This wll no doubt turn into Simtrops finest hour.

[joerg 278]

Sounds interesting enough but if there is one thing this community is lacking that is teams. Not much here is done in teams. I created probaly the largest true team effort the community is seen the SCR but even that was doomed to farilure due to the fact that out of the 10,000 users at the time only about 50 showeed interest. Of course though the pop has nearly tripled sense then and the skills of tons of people have increased so it is possible indeed.

 

First off i think that the acctual martian enviorment should be recreated. To do this we absolutely must have Teirusu if we can inlist his help then we could get custom ground textures. Creation of new textures to be used in lots. Also he could inlist the help of some batters to go though and create new items to replace trees im thinking bolders could be used as a substitute for trees. Water woudl be converted to an ice texture and maps would just have to be made that had elevations high enough to forget about water until you dig down far enough to unvail the layer of permifrost wich really exists on mars.

 

The next issue at hand is the transportaion system. For this The7Trumpets and DM are needed as well as a few others. But both are the premier experts on the way it works in the game. My idea for a useable transporation system woudl be to littleraly elevate all the path files in other words make cars travel above the roads. Im not sure if this is possible but if it is it woudl be the best way to go. Then custom bat lots woucl be created to replace current road lots these lots might be meerly floating buoys. Next all trains should be semi underground or mono rails And if path files can be edited then this isnt an issue and again bat can be used as well as simple custom textures.

 

Next is the most time consuming part of the conversion it would mean the creation of around 500 bat buildings and props for use in the game. This would clearly have to be going on while the other 2 big issues are being delt with. And then there is a matter of realism in these issues. Many people have different views of what space colonies will be like or even cities on other planets but in my opinion the movie total recall is probably our best referance. Most building woudl have to be designed to just barely go out of the ground under ground housing and other things would be needed and of course some skyscraper type structures woudl be nessecity.

 

But sense i really doubt this idea will fly im going to just leave these as simple ideas for a course of action.

[Dolfan348488 0]

This is one extremely ambitious plan.  But lets just think realistically.  There are no alien roads, or power and water plants.  There are no buildings on Mars.  I know what your saying about the Mars concept, but realistically, this is next to impossible.  Making everything, even with the people on this site, would take insurmountable coordination between members, and an ungodly amount of man hours. (Easily in the tens of thousands).  Some buildings take people about 20-30 hours to perfectly make.  Thats about 3 solid days of work from one person on one building.  I am all for the project, and i have no modding/BAT skills at all, but you must look down the road and also think about if it is even worth the time and effort.  Good luck https://community.simtropolis.com/assets/emoticons/24.gif>, i will be reading this thread often. 

[JoshuaC 8]

This Wont be a Mod it will be a Total Recreation of the game If all of the community Pulled together it could happen but it would take us atleast Half the time it took Maxis to make the game. Thats a hefty price to pay not all the members will pull together and to my knowlage there is atleast 50 or so People that have the skill to do it So If the community trys to do this there will have to be some recruiting and teaching.

[joerg 278]

Great point dolfman. This project woudl take a very long long long time. Probably a years tiem to perfect.

 

The bat building woudl be the hard part as far as time but here is just a realistic estimate.  Ok lets say 6 hours to make a building 3 hours on average to render a building notice this is average small houses and stuff are simple compared to skyscrapers and stadiums and such. Now lets say we get 20 good batters on this. Wiht 500 objects to make. And each puts in 3 hours a day. Thats 75 days. And realistically we are not going to get no 20 batters to do this and if we want to keep the quality on the near maxis level these batters are going to have to be darn good. Now like i said its possible but 2 months of batting the same type of things and each of the batters making 25 of the same style of building will get rather old.

 

Also the path files for the new transport systems could take easilly as long as the bat buildings.

[Aalox 0]

I'm very good at 3D modling but i have yet to use the BAT software. Haven't had time to download it or even play SimCity for that matter. i like the turning watter into ice idea.

[Dirktator 2,308]

I totally feel your concerns, joerg, it's sad that SCR had to go the way it did, I felt that part of the issue stemmed from lack of a proper infrastructure to coordinate all the information and get people together doing what they said they would do - there was no real accountability.

 

If we do start Project SimMars, we will have a timeline, with milestones that must be met, people will be held accountable for tasks they have agreed to do, there will be an entirely new dedicated area of Simtropolis to keep a running progress report and share with the community what has been developed and what needs to be done.

 

In other words, we treat this like a business operation: there will be those who must answer to other people and deliver their projects by certain dates.  Those who repeatedly cannot fulfill their roles must be replaced. 

 

I do see this project spanning several months, and I do foresee people starting it off, and then leaving, retiring and going their own way, and new people coming in to fill the ranks (this is a good thing, the way great monuments are built, one generation after another) - again, with a tactical structure in place, clear and cogent goals, we will all know what has been done, what's going to be done and by whom at all times.  I believe this will help us fill in the necessary roles to get the various jobs done. 

 

But again you are right, we do require a sufficient amount of challenge-takers who will dedicate to lifting this little rocketship off the ground! 

 

cheers!

 

[durcsaw 4]

Thats right superjaberwocky I even saw the trailer. It's going to be just as SC4. When I bought SC3000 I had heard there was or would be a Sim City 4, but there wasn't a soul who knew about it.

Now I can't remember where; maybe it was a trailer that came with SC3000 #1, but I do remember it. It gave little to no information on the game. They even gave a site address (simmars.com), but there is no match-up. If it ever comes out, and I'm sure it will, it may dwarf even Sim City 4 in all it's greatness.

If everyone wishes to pursue this I just hope that their efforts don't come to naught if the game is released durring the overhaul of sc4.

[durcsaw 4]

By-the-way I own Empire Earth. They have Mars Textures. If it's possible to hack into it we could have free ground and/or base lot textures. Message and massage me if anyone's interested.

[superjaberwocky 1]

I found some information, and development pics, of Maxis's SimMars. Maybe these can serve some use to the conversion effort. Below are links to two sites that had previews of the game. It was intended to be released in the fourth quarter of 1999 (guess they missed that launch window )

1. SimMars Preview
2. More Detailed (still sketchy) game info

[TheeLord 42]

Is there enough knowledge to actually make a complete conversion? I really dont think so. And even if there was, im sorry to say, but Ive been dissapointed in this communities ability to get together to work on a project.. It just doesnt happen.. Look at my Sim City recreation game I was trying to program, I got kinda far only to be cut down by lack of help after 3 weeks of hard coding. Id love to help in any way I can however. Email me at Stankiem@hotmail.com if you need any models done in GMax or any music written. Id love to do either of those.. Or if you need help with planning ideas.

[falcon5018 21]

i can volunteer some time to make a few buidings with the bat.

 

 

keep in mind, it doesn't have to be too complicated to be good.  it is possible to make a quality model in an hour or so.  what are the buildings on mars going to be like?  glass bubbles, some tent like structures.  after we get some general textures and patterns going, we could pop out models non-stop.  you could probably get away with changing the size of a building and going from there for another building.

[Yumaddar 0]

Alright, first things first. I think the topic starter should lead the development, because he/she rose up. Its only best. However, if this project is ever going to get off the ground, a website will be needed, both to communicate in game, and to give a sense of organization. In this thread, ideas are sort of chaotic, and it isn't all that easy to move them in a usable order within your mind.

I can volunteer to make the site, if I am allowed, but I can't afford to pay for any web-space, nor am I a 'professional. (We could use Angelfire, or something, unless someone has a better idea?) The reason I volunteer is that I DO know some html, and can make a clean-looking-but-basic website, and if the project does get started, most people participating will no doubt be to busy to update the site frequently. I don't know any script or any of that good stuff, but at least I can do 'something' to help...And really, a site with a whole bunch of scripts is unnecessary. It can slow load times, and really the site needs to be functional more than anything. That I can do.

That being said, I can't promise that I'll be in throughout the entire time, especially if it outlasts the summer. I start high-school next year, and no doubt that will take a lot of time off my hands.

I may not be quite qualified for the job in the eyes of anyone who is participating, but no one seems to be taking the appropriate steps, and I think this project is a good idea.

[The Great Chozo 34]

Great Idea.

 

I have been wanting a SimMars ever since playing that ancient SimEarth. That game was alright, but I never got it. To develop settlements that eventually turn into large cities on Mars would be every sci fi, and video game lovers dream. Especially if this is done well. I know that there is some serious talent here at Simtropolis. If this is to really happen it has to be organized, and as Dirk said, we will treat this like a business operation, it would have to be structured, because face it, a new game will be created. I am sure people at Maxis have wanted to make this game, but those people obviously have not been the decision makers. I think that if the Simtropolis community REALLY wanted to do this, we could. Who, knows maybe some outside people *cough (Maxis) cough* might even be willing to lend a small amount of time for some advice. We will never know that unless we decide to go through with this.

 

There are 24 posts in this thread, 25 including this one. In only 4 of these posts do I actually see someone saying they will help. Obviously Dirk will be in, he is after all, the person who keeps this website going. Joerg, I didn

[MrCinatit 30]

for what it is worth, i would love to help in any what which i can...mind you, i have not tried BATting yet, nor do i have any real mod skills. i guess i can lend my enthusiasm.

 

it would be cool if we were able to create an almost linear type game, as well. for instance, we land probes (as NASA is doing now), scout the landscape and such. then we land an initial landing party (like the first men on the moon). we build small bases, then larger bases, and larger and larger, until they turn into actual colonizations - maybe even eventually moving into terraforming. mind you, terraforming Mars in real life would take more than 1000 years, but this is a game, and we can suspend our beliefs a bit.

[Gregorfp 15]

Woah ! This Idea is from another planet !!!

 

I have no bat nor modding skills but I would like to help anyway. Maybe testing, playing, LOL, I dunno !

I sure would like to participate and give some ideas.

 

You there anything I could do, just PM me and I be ready.

 

Do you guys know what it remembers me ? THE ARCHEOLOGIES from SC1 !

Are we going to create something like this ? I deeply hope so !

 

Should we go on a total ficticious planet with sandstorms, red skies, two or three moons ? Or keep Mars original characteristics ? (maybe here I could help).

 

Its is smellin' like SIMCITY 4 CONVERTION PAK 1 - WELCOME TO MARS !!!

https://community.simtropolis.com/assets/emoticons/24.gif>https://community.simtropolis.com/assets/emoticons/24.gif>https://community.simtropolis.com/assets/emoticons/24.gif>https://community.simtropolis.com/assets/emoticons/21.gif>https://community.simtropolis.com/assets/emoticons/24.gif>https://community.simtropolis.com/assets/emoticons/24.gif>https://community.simtropolis.com/assets/emoticons/24.gif>

 

 

 

[GouRou 2]

the dynamic goings ons, like teraforming, and scouting, I think cant really be scripted in game, but I could be wrong! it just might be possible to do it with rewards, dont know yet.

I know there is a lot to be done, and we havent even technically started, but! we've already been here a year! Most of us will be here in another year, by then, our conversion should be done. I've thought about how to compensate, and I think dedicating buildings and whatnots in the game will probably be the best way. we will keep a running credits of who makes what, we will compile this, and try somehow to get it into the game. this has to be free, there is no way around that, I did not bring this idea to light to make money, although we may, depending on size, decide to press some cd's and ship them out for a small price so people dont have to download a huge mod. that would bring in some profit, but I think simtrop would be within it's rights to apply it to itself. this is our home, we are all together, we know what we do because of this community, and in a year it's gonna need some financial support, if only to offset the cost of these downloads of the conversion, hehe.

 

for major decisions that cant be decided by bickering and relenting, a system of voting might be in order, one a touch more reliable than currently used by polls, we dont need it cheated. I see little way to make everyone happy all at once, and I dont expect everyone to see eye to eye, we just have to get our own pieces done and make it work as a whole. there WILL be quality requirements, every piece will be put through peer review, same as in a business, they have to be, but it's not that hard to spruce up a building, and if you dont feel up to it, someone else can carry on with your project.

 

the way I envision it is simple, the smallest of buildings will be the most crude, domes, vacuum tents, as you work up the wealth, you.. work up the wealth, hehe. commercial will work the same way, but they will be where the manufactories and storehouses sell their wares. the manufactories and whatnots should probably look nothing like on earth, creativity is the key this time around, we are dealing with 1/3 gravity, and near vacuum atmosphere, albeit one that can get ugly, keep this in mind. the pictures I saw of SimMars is far from what I envision, dont make this a 'just landed' mars, but one in which people are here, and living, and trying to survive, they got some infrastructure, and they got some money, they have the tools to build more. I would advise that anything incredibly high tech, like force fields, and antimatter planets, etc, be put on hold until the end, we need the brunt of the work done before we spend time on single shot lots and buildings. we cant hope to get the same scope that maxis did, but maybe we can have more variety.

if you decide today to jump right out, keep the idea of cost in mind, what would a low r$ be capable of? not much, just a tent, so there is no need to 'hide' anything 'underground' we dont need minimalism in the lower wealths, because everything they have is above ground. what do our vehicles look like? I dont know, you tell me, I imagine huge 6 wheeled rovers that can carry 4 people, tons of water, tons of air, and lots of supplies, life is rough out there, but I also imagine open air carts, and scooters, and a lot of other stuff. if your a modeler, whip up your idea, doesnt have to be special, crude un textured will get your idea across. lets see what you guys think.

[GouRou 2]

I have 7 arcologies in the works, I think mars would be a spectacular place for them, a lot more logical than earth, a lot more feasible to in the low grav, I have started redesigning them for mars enviroment.

[Equinox 1,209]

Holy cow!

Are you going to be releasing those arcologies anytime soon?
And when you think about it, buildings on Mars will still be human, just way further in the future (high-tech). No coal power plants in the year 2322, I bet.

Personally, I like SC4 the way it is simply bcause of the tremendous variety we have buildingwise. If this project gets of the ground -- which I expect it will -- I would really like to see some of this implemented with my existing Earthly cities. I think that would be pretty neat.