ST City & CJ school

[TowerDude 2,187]

This is quite useful, I'll test it out

[Liberater444 11]

Does the LE work with Mac OS X?

[Evillions 552]

Does the LE work with Mac OS X?

I'm not sure about that, you would have to go on the official Simcity4 website and check there.

[dudkis 108]

No, the LE only works on PC. I've checked everywhere, and there's no place where you can get a Mac version, sorry.

[deactivated-0111 6]

Hi everyone, Im rather new at CJ'ing. I want to show you some pics of my newest CJ of Pasipalm. Its only a quick, month long CJ that I probably wont be working on by August, then I'll resume my work on my other CJ. Anyways, Pasipalm is supposed to be a resort town settled on a Polynesian island. Here's some pics.

Here are my questions:

-Since Ive got a suitable water and terrain mod, where can I get good tropical or jungle-y tree textures? I looked at that Mayor Flora mod listed on the previous page, but does anyone have one that will replace current tree textures?

- I've already downloaded a small hospital which I've yet to place, but does anyone have any good small town houses, factories, farms, and commercial buildings?

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

Cycledogg has a mod that replaces God Mode trees, but his trees aren't suited to to tropical styles.

As painstaking as it may be, manually Mayor Mode plopping trees is the way to go. It achieves more accurate results than randomly spraying the God Tree tool.

[deactivated-0111 6]

Cycledogg has a mod that replaces God Mode trees, but his trees aren't suited to to tropical styles.

As painstaking as it may be, manually Mayor Mode plopping trees is the way to go. It achieves more accurate results than randomly spraying the God Tree tool.

Ok, I'll look into it. Thanks for replying

[Pipcard 20]

Let me ask you this:

Is it possible to make a good CJ with just Maxis buildings?

[TekindusT 3,809]

@Pipcard

The short answer is Yes.

The long answer is Yes, BUT. To be honest, it is difficult to make a good, a great CJ with only Maxis stuff because there's the problem that the viewer has already seen what you are offering. This way you have to surprise with "something else", it can be an appealing storyline (Benedict's Port Sin and Mayors of Ellis Valley come to my mind), a so-called Natural Growth CJ or you can put all your efforts on a thinking very carefully your planning and discussing it... My answer is that, only using Maxis buildings, you'll probably get a little attention if you don't give the viewer something else that goes further than city pictures. But you can try...

  Edited July 3, 2011 by TekindusT  

[deactivated-0111 6]

@Pipcard

The short answer is Yes.

The long answer is Yes, BUT. To be honest, it is difficult to make a good, a great CJ with only Maxis stuff because there's the problem that the viewer has already seen what you are offering. This way you have to surprise with "something else", it can be an appealing storyline (Benedict's Port Sin and Mayors of Ellis Valley come to my mind), a so-called Natural Growth CJ or you can put all your efforts on a thinking very carefully your planning and discussing it... My answer is that, only using Maxis buildings, you'll probably get a little attention if you don't give the viewer something else that goes further than city pictures. But you can try...

I agree, thats why Im downloading tropical and tourist-y buildings to cater to my audience, and not just have the same old SHINGLE HOUSE and BOB'S GREASE PIT.

[MandelSoft 2,774]

Fillers and street patterns can do a lot. For example, take a look at these images from my CJ (open spoiler to see them):

You see it's quite Maxis-ruled, but the fillers finishes the scene, and the creative street layout (instead of the grid-layout) make the city look less dull, even if it is Maxis-ruled. Even better: the last picture here actually got a place in SC4Devotions Picture Competition Hall Of Fame. Although custom buildings still are a nice addition to your cityscape, you can still make Maxis-ruled cities look nice...

Best,

Maarten

  Edited July 4, 2011 by mrtnrln  

[escilnavia 780]

Hey everyone, could somebody do a tutorial of how to photoshop a Sim City 4 pic to make it looks like a building exploded, I would really appreciate it, it will come in really handy for my C.J

[MN121MN 11]

Hey everyone, could somebody do a tutorial of how to photoshop a Sim City 4 pic to make it looks like a building exploded, I would really appreciate it, it will come in really handy for my C.J

You can find it in video sites like YOutube all over the 'net, but in my opinion I think it's like this

-Get a picture of the building

-Try and get a picture of an explosion that fits the building to your taste (I know that a nuclear bomb mod can be used to generate a good explosion and at the right moment you can get a snapshot of it)

-Combine the two pictures, reduce or adjust the transparency of the explosion to make the building a bit visible, add broken glass, flying glass, shrapnels, and so on.

That was the "Hollywood" explosion, for a real explosion

-Follow step 1 & 2

-Just combine the picture without adjusting the transparency, because people can't see what's in the fireball.

[escilnavia 780]

How do you become a teacher?

[MandelSoft 2,774]

You actually don't really become a teacher. If you have any good tips and tricks, just post them

  Edited August 4, 2011 by mrtnrln  

[Treka 28]

Hi...everybody i was thinking of starting a CJ and was just wondering is this good enough ?

  Edited August 5, 2011 by Treka  

[escilnavia 780]

stay tuned, I'm later going to post a tutorial of how to do a ploppable river like this:

signed,

Escilnavia

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________To see more of my work click: here

[ACAdkins52 0]

Lot of interesting discussion in this thread, unfortunately, most of it is going right over my head.

Hi everyone, I'm AC and as you may have guessed, I'm pretty new at SC4 and all. I've downloaded NAM as well as SAM, RHW and NWM. I guess I'll experiment with everything and try to get things looking better.

Here's a quick look at what I have done so far, most of it prior to dl'ing those things, so keep that in mind when hammering me.

overview of the entire Hillsborough region

The ag portion of the region

mostly residential, some commercial

[TekindusT 3,809]

When I downloaded the NAM and its addons; I realized that I wasn't able to keep playing the same way I had been doing. Don't know if this happens to many people, but don't be afraid of obliterating your city or just starting a "new era" in your gameplay after these radical changes. Everything you do from then, will look better than before.

As for the current status of your city, I think it looks nice enough, the farms are placed in a quite realistic place and your layout is far of being boring (you know, it's griddy but not too much griddy). I'd just recommend you to stay away of those awful steep shores that make your streets too bumpy.

  Edited August 7, 2011 by TekindusT  

[Evillions 552]

WOW! Its been awhile since anyone posted here. Well, its time to post a few experiences.

-----------

After seeing excellent usages of Maxis in some CJs, I decided to try them for myself.

The buildings themselves are not that bad, but the default lots are trash. If you have the lot editor installed, you can save new instances of these Maxis buildings and create a much more realistic lot. For example, I used some of the recent VIP props such as the cars and flora.

Another thing, the terrain is not that horrible too. If you use MMP flora / grass to cover partially or all of the terrain, then it would look a lot better.

[ee99 150]

Hi guys

I'd just like to ask what do u think of my cj eeshire?

It seems to have a bit of attention but i'd still like to know how to improve.

Thanks ee

  Edited October 26, 2011 by ee99  

[MandelSoft 2,774]

1. Use more rail smooth curves. Trains really, REALLY don't like sharp curves.

2. Use a slope mod. Some roads are very steep there...

[ee99 150]

1. Use more rail smooth curves. Trains really, REALLY don't like sharp curves.

2. Use a slope mod. Some roads are very steep there...

Thanks! Which slope mod do u suggest?

[Terring 6,476]

There are plenty of them, as you can see. I'll recommend you the NHP Ennedi Slope Mod in mountain version, so you can build smooth slopes without taking too much space.

[ee99 150]

Thank you guys! I've +1 both your posts

[jigsaw 227]

i've got some hot tip for CJ's students:

1. dont live in the one zoom. i've probably read 100's of CJ's over the years, and as a reader im getting sick and tired of seeing nothing but closeups of buildings... i can download the building myself and stare at it all day in my own game. a whole page of dribble just to show the world a church on a street intersection doesnt give us much to be honest.

2. with a CJ, it is hoped that you will show the entire region when you start it, and keep show the community updates of the entire regions.

3. we would also like to see entire city tile shots now and then as well. it allows all of us to see how the entire city you are talking about is progressing and growing.

4. stories are good, but not essential. the photo/story ratio should be balanced as well... having an entire page of a story only to have a single shot of a common building on every page is a poor CJ. "photos speak louder than words"

5. highlight what makes your city unique. it's not the just buildings that make your city unique, it's the layout, planning, urban design that makes your city unique.

thank you

[TekindusT 3,809]

i've probably read 100's of CJ's over the years, and as a reader im getting sick and tired of seeing nothing but closeups of buildings...

i can download the building myself and stare at it all day in my own game. a whole page of dribble just to show the world a church on a street intersection doesnt give us much to be honest.

2. with a CJ, it is hoped that you will show the entire region when you start it, and keep show the community updates of the entire regions.

3. we would also like to see entire city tile shots now and then as well. it allows all of us to see how the entire city you are talking about is progressing and growing.

As a player and CJer who posts the style you tell above, I have to be in a strong disagree with you. After all, it all depends on the type of CJ you're making.

Your tips are OK if your CJ is a "regular CJ" I mean, the "from a village to a metropolis" kind, a played (not plopped) city, and with a steady growth. Fortunately, not all of us play SC4 like this.

In my CJ, I'm constantly decieving my viewers, there's nothing wrong in this, I know it, they know it. Most of stuff they see is plopped stuff, usually, beyond the edges of the pic there's just nothing, plain grass. My CJ style is incompatible with the regular gameplay just because I'd need to seriously unbalance the game's demand engine to do it. I take close ups because if I took an entire city pic, they'd see a district surrounded by grass.

In my humble opinion, it all goes about the sensations a CJ gives to you. If an SC4 pic and/or story is able to make you think, depress or make your day better, amaze or disgust you; it means you've done great your CJ, beyond the actual gameplay you've followed to obtain the results.

And sorry for the rant, I agree more or less with the rest of the items above.

  Edited October 28, 2011 by TekindusT  

[Ceraton 1,244]

@TekindusT: What you said makes perfect sense. CJs are like movies. Scenes include only certain places in studios. A movie might be about a small town in the 1800s, but outside the scenes, there are cars and buses and buildings...

@Jigsaw: CJs are favored so much because they're to entertain and to get outside the gameplay. Sure, you can stay in the gameplay, but they should never be necessarily about city-building. Imagine working or going to school the whole day and then coming home and watching TV. When watching TV, you expect something entertaining such as a sitcom or an action movie. That's what most people like to watch TV for... But people don't watch shows that are just about life. Life outside TV is, let's be honest, boring. On TV, you have some sort of plot line. CJs are like the TV, and regular gameplay on SC4 is like life outside TV, in this case. That's what people look at CJs for...

WOW, I think I've had an even longer rant...

  Edited October 29, 2011 by ggamgus  

[Terring 6,476]

As both viewer and writer, I can only tell about 3 "rules" for making a city journal

1) Let your imagination free. Be as creative as you wish and build anything you want. The same advice can be also used in Lot Editor, B.A.T. e.c.t.

2) Use the right tools. If you're going to build a specific type of a city, learn more about it and get the most suitable stuff. If for example you want to build a modern Japanese city, study about the architecture, the city skylines, the Japanese culture e.t.c., in order to make an interesting city.

3) Forget rules! Don't listen to those who throw creativity from the window. New ideas however are always welcomed. So rules like "get a slope mod, get N.A.M., get C.A.M., do this, don't do that, blah, blah, blah..." are only optional

[MandelSoft 2,774]

As both viewer and writer, I can only tell about 3 "rules" for making a city journal

3) Forget rules! Don't listen to those who throw creativity from the window. New ideas however are always welcomed. So rules like "get a slope mod, get N.A.M., get C.A.M., do this, don't do that, blah, blah, blah..." are only optional

Disagree! You can still be creative with slope mods (actually offers you a challenge and without them, it looks like crap). Moreover, the NAM actually OFFERS more creativity: more road and rail options, elevated networks, wider roads, new freeway options, etc. I can't imagine how the NAM can limit your creativity?

Actually, only tip 2 is kinda usefull. Most people want their cities to look like something, and yes, therefore you need rules. Otherwise you can't have a certain style. For instance, if you want to make a Dutch city, TLA's, really high sky scrapers and lots of level rail crossings are completely restricted. Rules are made not for nothing...

Best,

Maarten