city building block

[adam12hockey 0]

I recently started playing sim city 4 again, and I stumbled on this great site. But it made me want to build a realistic, prosperous, and good looking region. My problem is that after viewing many cities on this site I realize that my older ones were just slapped together, and npt that great. I need help with knowing what mods, and things I should get to start and what I should do to start a city/region. Should I plan it out on paper first? Just start building?

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Welcome aboard.

I think if you check the join up date on some of the CJ's few, if any of them are this year. You need some serious experience to make one of those monsters.

First, you have to get some real feel for the game as it stands. Try playing a couple of weeks with no mods (plugins). This will give you the feel of the underlying game before you start modifying it. Just be sure that you have the EA standard patches (your game version will be 640 or higher).

Then, you need some of the essential fixes. You for sure need the opera house fix, and you will need the transportation fix from the landmarks tab at EA. You might want to pull in the other landmark stuff as well and the two props files from the Lot Editor tab at the EA site. You will (eventually) want the new lot editor that is on the BAT page at the EA site.

After that, start selecting plugins, one at a time, testing each one as you go. For openers, get the Network Addon Mod (NAM v29), and spend a few days studying it. It is a very large add on to the game. After that, it is a matter of developing a style that you want for your cities. You may want to pick up, for example, the SPAM if you like rural things.

The main thing here is that none of the really nice cities spring to life without practice. You can think of this program as a canvas on which you express your art. Mud pies at first, but you can get better and better. The STEX, LEX, and PLEX make it easy to expand your palette, but don't get carried away, you will regret it later.

There is lots of good advice in the Omnibus (link at the top of the page). Have fun.

[adam12hockey 0]

Thanks a lot for the help. I'll have try out some of those tips and keep reading stuff on this site. Thanks again!

[Mikeaut1 261]

A Nonny Moose's post was very comprehensive, offering a lot of advice!

A lot of what he mentioned about the city journals is definitely true. I've been playing this game since 2003, and I've had 3 city journals over the span of 6 years. But now that I have some more time on my hands, I've been able to practice and perfect my cities. It's only now, after 8 years of serious playing, that I've mastered the game and have my own niche for creating regions with ease. I'm attempting to get another city journal up and running again! The NAM is quite essential as well; reading the readme associated with the NAM helped me really understand all the modifications to the transportation network. It also really contributes to that realistic, sprawling region that you want to create. Good luck!!

[pokeboy21 7]

welcome to simtropolis. practice practice practice. practice is one of the most essential things in simcity. also check the omnibus for more advice

[adam12hockey 0]

Thanks for the good tips! Sorry it took me so long to reply. Haha. I have a couple more questions, can anyone suggest a good mod for mountain regions? Like for the look of them and some mod for getting water above sea level? Also can someone suggest a mod for better forests? I don't really like what's in the game currently. Thanks!

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Thanks for the good tips! Sorry it took me so long to reply. Haha. I have a couple more questions, can anyone suggest a good mod for mountain regions? Like for the look of them and some mod for getting water above sea level? Also can someone suggest a mod for better forests? I don't really like what's in the game currently. Thanks!

Mountain-scapes, try Pegasus Productions. Peg has several sets of decor mods.

For trees, you could look for mods by Cycledog. Be careful with these, because they are not easy to remove if you change your mind.