What frustrates you about sim city 4

[Hyronymus 56]

New frustation: why o why are there no trees on roads? I've got streets almost everywhere in my city because they look good. Sadly congestion forces me to lay roads.

[Strategist01 0]

Originally posted by: SlashFan2000

Cleared out my plugins and just finished re-installing everything I originally downloaded. Still getting the red pointer when trying to use NAM pieces. What could be missing? Is there any special order these need to be installed? NAM/RHW/NWM?quote>

Yes, as a general rule always install the NAM first, as it is the foundation mod upon which almost all networks modds are built. The RHW goes next, then the NWM, however I am not too sure, so a NAM expert will proabably correct me on this.

As for the red pointer problem, there is a section in the NAM readme nad FAQ about that, so read that. I think they give links to posts where you can find out more info.

[joshriddle 29]

lag lag lag lag lag lag. it is very slow, CTD, and stuff. 6 min loading time.

[This is my name 13]

I also hate SC4 because of the flawed simulation. For example, when a city has high EQ, all schools starts to dwindle in terms of number of students. I guess students in the city are too smart for school

[Conmonster VI 1]

I just can't stand the constantly and magically appearing and disappearing VEHICLES!!! If there was any realism at all here, each vehicle would actually have a home and a destination and actually look and act like a normal car!!

Then again, that would require a positively enormous bank of random trip settings and probably chew up heaps of CPU...

I also can't stand the default steam locomotive. As a huge rail buff (not to pat myself on the back), it aggravates me to no end whenever I see or drive one that the Maxis folks had the nerve (or stupidity) to stick a positively Civil War-era 4-4-0 steam locomotive in front of a string of modern freight cars. The least they could do to help is make it something from the 40's or 50's. They even compounded the problem by sticking an equally outdated caboose behind freight rolling stock from the days of the EOTD. (In case you don't know what an EOTD/FRED is, it's that little flashing red box on the end of a freight train, used 1990's-present.)

[joshriddle 29]

I think the newest NAM settles that situation, and there is some mod out there that fixes it, but I hate it cause it makes all workers pedestrians  

Anyhoo, mamaged to releive one of my frustrations, by getting a new hard drive, 6 min loading time settled down to 1 minute loading time, deleting the buildup of the compressed folders in my plugins folder, the ones that I exracted from, made the loading time quicker yet. So that makes me happy.  I can play longer without so much lag and slow loading times! Yall should try it.

[funnykid 0]

Originally posted by: CptStrategy

^{Tyson,  you have to look at the context of SimCity and The Sims.  SimCity is a city simulator complete with complex algorithms.  At the heart of SimCity is the BAT and Lot creator.  This allows you to expand the buildings available to the map by creating your own.  SimCity has created several fan communities which contribute to the continued development.  The Network Add-on Module is one example followed by the Rural Highway Module, Network Widening Module, the BSC, the CSX, etc.  So, when you state that Maxis didn't expand SimCity, they didn't need to; the environment created itself and is perpetual.}

As for The Sims, you are now in an MMMOOORRPG or whatever acronym you want to use.  Basically, you are online and bound to a server somewhere in the world.  The expansion packs not only add new avatars, props, etc, they also have to add in the physics and interaction algorithm.  I seriously doubt that Maxis will give rights to the server for you to upload that yourself, thus the numerous expansion packs. 

Its also a marketing and revenue issue: SimCity is a single player game that has developed into a massive multiplayer community without the need for a dedicated server.  Even IEEE Computer Society had a contest on building a city, then writing a report on the algorithms used and how the city developed.  I'm not sure if they are continuing that contest, but SimCity is a good tool to learn computer science as well as city planning and development. 

Cptquote>

What game are you even talking about? The Sims? Physics? Server? Online? Are you talking about The Sims Online, or The Sims main series? All 3 generations of the main series are offline games with communities that perpetually create user addons/mods much like the SC4 communities do. I think EA was planning to release N number of EPs for SC4, but decided to stop upon realizing that its sales has not reached their targeted numbers. They did something similar for SCS. The reason why RH and Destinations were released respectively for the two games was because development for the first EP usually begins before the main game ships.

I too hoped EA/Maxis would pick up SC4 again and release EP's, but I have realized a few years ago that that is not going to happen.

[punkrockgoth1988 1]

Originally posted by: Tysons4

probably my biggest gripe is they didnt make tons of expansion packs for it like they did for the sims... all of the sims addon packs could have been put into simcity 4 and it would have been great... pets, open for business, nightlife, makin magic, university, seasons, bon voyage, free time, apartment life, holidays, family fun stuff, glamour, happy holiday, celebration, fashion, teen style, mansion and garden, and all the others... but no they leave it at deluxe and kill simcity by starving it to death..quote>

And then the game would have many more bugs than it already does... It would be beyond broken by the time EAxis got done with the last pack for it and then it would have been abandoned just as badly as TS2 was.

[Tysons4 68]

what i think im saying is bring it closer to a simcity 5

the sims got so much attention and they developed new traits lifetime wants... at the other end it was zone zones, plop plops, and adjust sliders. when really the sims came out of simcity

if every sim was given more attention as in the sims then populations could be more varied and region maps could have more data views (not only transport) ... instead they gave it to the community with only the buildings and networks to change,,, they should have licenced it to us open like civ 4 so they could see what way the community wanted to go with it while they develop the next installment

[184072_1434460402 0]

The music. Compared to the older SimCity games, SC4's soundtrack is nothing but mediocre.

Then there's obviousely the way the game deals with slopes.

[erbush 8]

Originally posted by: Überschall

The music. Compared to the older SimCity games, SC4's soundtrack is nothing but mediocre.

Then there's obviousely the way the game deals with slopes.quote>

So get the SC3k soundtrack and play it.. 

[Brianga26 7]

my game crashing.. I hate that.. and I can't pull out which Plugin it is causing it.. I might have to blow it up and restart.. (NOT FUN)

[kabal223 0]

The lack of diagonal buildings...

[184072_1434460402 0]

Originally posted by: erbush

Originally posted by: Überschall

The music. Compared to the older SimCity games, SC4's soundtrack is nothing but mediocre.

Then there's obviousely the way the game deals with slopes.quote>

So get the SC3k soundtrack and play it.. 

quote>

Did, long ago, but that's not the point. The point is that I would have loved to hear such a splendid soundtrack again, but didn't.

[marshman0 0]

why every time i download a texture mod it blokes it with a box around it and says simcity4.com

[tonyr 926]

I wish there were more my sims to choose from . I hate limited selection of the "my sims". Is there a way to obtain more "my sims" for the game? Help please!

[Silur 3,308]

Hi,Tonyr ...

You can copy "sims" from another MAXIS's game "THE SIMS - House Party Expansion + Living' Large" ...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

What I am finding frustrating at the moment is the very large learning curve to use GLR/Tram in all its glory.  I am  beginning to feel it is more trouble than it is worth.  With the mess that NAM and RTMT have made of the Misc. Transportation menu, I am almost completely overwhelmed.  I suggest that this stuff be better organized, and, perhaps placed in some auxilliary menu setup.  Playing fast and loose with the existing game menus can only go on for so long.  It has become unwieldy  The documentation is very poor on this.  The developers don't seem overly concerned with the users, especially new users.  They are too busy adding new goodies, and not stopping to explain very well. 

Also, the tool tip boxes are far too close to the items and often obscure the image of the puzzle piece you are trying to plop.  I have to operate at magnification level 5 in order to work with this stuff at all. 

The tutorial on SC4D is very nice, but that is a lot of slugging looking for one reference.

As I say, this is getting too much for the casual player like me.  I don't intend to have realistic cities, nor make a CJ.  I want to play, and explore new things as they become available, but I don't plan to get my old programming hat out.

[edman2012 33]

I hate it when the game crashes for no reason. It makes sense to me if it crashes when I zoom out and move the screen in a large city and the game has a lot o load but I get realy mad when it happens when doing something as simple as plopping a subway....

[tonyr 926]

Thanks for the info Silur !

[chocolate_city 93]

I'm sorry to say this because .... it adds so much to road system.... but I don't like how fragile the RHW is... I've been working on a diagonal hwy over a another diagonal hwy for days and i just can't seem to make it fit... I end up wiping out the bridge and have almost all of the hwy leading to the bridge being wiped out... its frustrating to be doing same thing over and over and over again.... But that's small in the long run .. I still wouldn't play with out it

[joshriddle 29]

What frustrates me is I can't plop the RHW or NWM puzzle pieces anywhere, or at least the greatest part of them. I have tried everything and nothing is working.

[BirdofPrey 0]

I don't hate the SC4 interface per se, but I think I liked the one in SC3k better, the new ticker escpecially.  Also is there a Mod that will let me drop my advisors off a very tall building when they interrupt me to tell me to fix something while I am trying to fix that very issue?  I also preferred airport and seaport ZONES.

The only other thing that bugs me is how much regularity the grid brings to sim city. While commercial districts of large cities and new developments are often laid out on a grid, not being able to have streets that meander makes suburbs and rural areas look artificial.

[z1 566]

Speaking of SC3K, the one thing I really liked about it that is completely missing in SC4 is the Layers view.  That view helped me out so much!  Why did Maxis remove it for SC4? 

Originally posted by: A Nonny Moose

What I am finding frustrating at the moment is the very large learning curve to use GLR/Tram in all its glory.  I am  beginning to feel it is more trouble than it is worth.  With the mess that NAM and RTMT have made of the Misc. Transportation menu, I am almost completely overwhelmed.  I suggest that this stuff be better organized, and, perhaps placed in some auxilliary menu setup.quote>

Well, the RTMT menu items are pretty much at the bottom of the Misc Transit menu, so they really shouldn't get in the way of anything else.  There's also an MML that you can use with them.  But the best option is, as you mentioned, an auxilliary menu setup, and for that we have the hierarchically structured DAMN Menus, which are much easier to use.  All of this is documented in the Readme files.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Originally posted by: z1

Well, the RTMT menu items are pretty much at the bottom of the Misc Transit menu, so they really shouldn't get in the way of anything else.  There's also an MML that you can use with them.  But the best option is, as you mentioned, an auxilliary menu setup, and for that we have the hierarchically structured DAMN Menus, which are much easier to use.  All of this is documented in the Readme files.

quote>

Yes, I know.  Remember this is a steam release thread.  I will get around to using the DAMN soon.  Right now, I am trying to catch up on the NAM.  I just built a successful avenue with tramway.  My machine is so old, and my GPU such a dub, that I lose definition on the puzzle pieces and have to force a redraw to see them properly.  Good thing we have the G key that causes the redraw.  I don't care if the grid is on or off.  I am running Linux/wine, so I am sure that opengl has a lot to do with this.

I am having a slight problem with the road top bus stops.  Seems they block the adjacent lots.  So they can't really be used in a residential area, so I see now why all the Simgoober bus stations.  The whole package is rather neat, but I have just scratched the surface.

Anyway, I like a nice Operating System + Application challenge, and this really is one.  I just got the Dat Packer running.  I am having a problem with the Landscape Designer which doesn't seem to like my version of the Jet engine.  It is usable, but only just.  I have ilive's reader working, so the Dat Packer isn't a bad problem.

[z1 566]

Originally posted by: A Nonny Moose

I am having a slight problem with the road top bus stops.  Seems they block the adjacent lots.  So they can't really be used in a residential area, so I see now why all the Simgoober bus stations.  The whole package is rather neat, but I have just scratched the surface.quote>

This unfortunately is a problem in all road top mass transit stations, and it's inherent in the way the game is designed.  However, it's fairly easy to work around, and I and many others have many RTMT stations of all descriptions in all RCI zones.  Please see RTMT FAQ #1 for some simple workarounds to this problem.

[joshriddle 29]

Originally posted by: BirdofPrey

 Also is there a Mod that will let me drop my advisors off a very tall building when they interrupt me to tell me to fix something while I am trying to fix that very issue?quote>

Where did you find that?

[samplane123 1]

It doesn't support multi-core processors

There's a lot of lag on my quad core system.

[hmm 17]

Originally posted by: samplane123

It doesn't support multi-core processors

There's a lot of lag on my quad core system.quote>

Same problem here too. I'm forced to play this on my older laptop, which has a 2.2 gHz single core proccesor. However for some dumb reason the proccesor only wants to run at 1gHZ, so I unlock (overclock) the CPU, and I will only have around 1 to 2 hours of playtime before the CPU overheats and shuts the computer down to save itself! I think I need to buy a new cooling fan or something or upgrade the chipset so it can use a faster CPU. While it is running, My Cities basicaly run fine up to around 400,000 sims + jobs, after that the game clock is ticking away at 3x  speed but it takes forever new 4 x 4 tiled stage 8 or 7 buildings to break ground on freshly zoned land.

My second major complaint is the way my sims completly ignore almost any RHW creation I make if placed in a city with a maxis highway as well. For example in my suburban areas, I usualy convert my maxis highways into the RHW. All the sims would ignore the RHW segment and not enter the highway untill they reach a maxis onramp! I'm guessing it has something to do with the amount of tiles it takes sims to reach the highway, but the RHW looks so real, its depressing that its always empty....

[Nlogax 0]

Oh boy a lot of things are frustrating for me.

Getting sims to use mass transit.

Diagonal roads. Lack of curved roads.

flea markets popping up in the middle of a dense urban downtown. 

the incessant, eternal, cursed crashing.

And hey, SC4's soundtrack is good. There are a few meh tracks but God mode and RH music is incredibly good.