Tour of Simtropolis...

[The Avatar 1,089]

Okay, so this idea just sprang into my head today. At first I really didn't consider doing it, but I figured I'd give it a try. The concept of this thread is to provide information to new members to Simtropolis, and to help them become familiar with the site and the forums. If you're new to the whole concept of forums, or to this particular website and it's forums, it can be really confusing. When I first got into forums, I had no idea what a thread even was. So hopefully this topic will help our new members get acquainted. Without further ado, let's begin the tour!

If you're a new member to Simtropolis, you probably have a lot of questions. I hope I can answer some of those questions in this tour. When I say tour, I literally mean tour. To enhance the purpose of this, I will post links to the parts of the website I'm referring to. When you're done checking out the page, just hit the "back" button in your browser, and you'll be returned to this tour.

To begin, Simtropolis, or ST, or Simtrop, is a city building game community where people can discuss, learn, and share things about SimCity4, and Cities XL. To get to the homepage, just click on the big "Simtropolis" logo in the upper left-hand corner, or click this link. At the homepage, you can find "What's New" at Simtropolis. The first thing you'll probably notice is the large section with changing photos. This section is for showing new or popular City Journals. (To be explained later) If you click on a picture, it will bring you to the specific entry of that particular City Journal. Next to this you will find helpful links to other sites, and to nominate the Member of the Month (MOTM) or Employee of the Month (EOTM) Under these, you will find the relatively new "STEX Feature" section. This is for featuring awesome new STEX, or Simtroplis Exchange, uploads. (The STEX will be explained later, as well) Under this, you will find the four latest STEX uploads. Under this, you will find the newest news articles made by members of the ST community. Anyone can make an article, but please make sure the news is relevant to SC4, Cities XL or other city building games, or Simtropolis. And finally, next to this, you will find more recent news articles.

At the top of the homepage, you will find links to the other sections of the site. These include:

• The forums

• A list of members

• The chat box

• The STEX

• City Journals

• The Omnibus

• A link to download CXL (Not free )

You will also find a search box to search these different sections of ST.

Another important thing to do when you first register is to check out the General Rules. Make sure to take a look at these.

Now, on to explaining the different sections of the site I mentioned earlier. First off, the forums. Simtropolis's forum section is where you can find lots of helpful information, tips, news, help, and fun. Here is a link to the forum section. In the forums, you can find many sub-forums that each cover a topic. There's the SimCity4 Players Forum, the SimCity4 Builders Forum, the Cities XL Forum, the Simtropolis Social Forum, and the Gamer Topics. These each contain their own sub-forums and topics. These can be very helpful, and the Simtropolis Social Forum's Forum Games is where you can find some fun games like the "Change a Letter Game" and "The Word Football." Go ahead and explore the forums. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in a topic and they will be adressed and hopefully answered. Some especially helpful threads are the Bugs and Technical Issues Thread and the New Members Information Thread.

In the "Members" section, you will find a list of the members of ST. It's as simple as that. Here's a link if you want to check it out: Members.

When you click on the "Live Chat" link, a new window will open, and you will enter ST's chat box. Here you can chat with other members, and have a good discussion. I can't really provide a link, but I think you know what to do anyway.

The STEX, or Simtropolis Exchange, is probably the most important part of Simtropolis. Here, you can find a vast array of mods, BATs, Lots, and other custom content for your SC4 or CXL game. When you click on the link at the top of the page or the one I posted, you'll be brought to the main STEX page. The main STEX page is the category for SC4 custom content because SC4 is the main game ST focuses on, but there is a category for CXL, as well. Anyone can upload a file to the STEX. All you have to do is click the "Upload File" button in the top right-hand corner of the STEX page. There are also different ways of listing the STEX uploads - By Most Recent, by Most Popular, by Highest Rated, or by Most Reviewed. If you have any questions or troubles with the STEX, there is a thread in the forums that's got you covered. To download a file, simply click the big, green "Download" button.

Here is a list created by ST user Livin In Sim of the Top Ten Mod Suggestions. I totally agree with it, and so do many other people. But when downloading mods and custom content, it really all comes down to personal preference.

The City Journals section of Simtropolis is a very cool section of the site where you can see the progression and growth of other member's cities through a City Journal. A City Journal can show certain elements of a city, recreations of real-life cities, or just about anything you can imagine. City Journals, or CJ's, can give you inspiration for your own cities, and can help you get new ideas. Some of my personal favorite (and active) CJ's are:

• The Laughing Moose Showcase by bluemoose

• New Chandler III by k50Dude

• Okatabawashi a Sc4 Comicbook by TowerDude

• Onubis Federation by Evillions

• Sabdalwood County by _marsh_

• Auburn Metropolitan Area by GreekMan

• The Sultanate of Kalu Sabah by Sky Guy

• The Spire by Ion_Cannon

• Montpellier by Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ

The Omnibus, or Omnibus of Knowledge, is the section of ST where you can find articles that have very important information on anything SC4/CXL/CBG related. Once again, anyone can make an article, but remember the Rules. Here are some helpful articles for new SC4 players, or people new to downloading and using custom content:

• For the Eager, Yet Overwhelmed Newcomer

• Installing a Region Downloaded from the STEX

Well, that's about it. I hope you enjoyed the tour, and feel free to post a reply if you have any questions, or just send me a PM. However, remember to contact a moderator or administrator for any serious issues or concerns. Thank you for reading, and I hope this helps some of our new members. Cheers!

~ Charles

  Edited February 17, 2012 by MamaLuigi945  

[IDS2 3,346]

Fantastic job on this I wish I had had this when I first joined. It's very well written (as an up-and-coming grammar Nazi, I like to see this), with plenty of detail, yet it's still concise enough to get to the point effectively.

[The Avatar 1,089]

Fantastic job on this I wish I had had this when I first joined. It's very well written (as an up-and-coming grammar Nazi, I like to see this), with plenty of detail, yet it's still concise enough to get to the point effectively.

Why thank you! I'm quite the grammar Nazi myself.

[Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ 273]

Fantastic job! This is a great guide which also links all of the stickies. I think a lot of new members may get quite confused as to where to start on the forums with the numerous amount of information so this is an excellent guide in terms of its simplicity, great information and friendly introduction of course!

What I think hasn't been done so far is a guide to our forums and community in general which is exactly what you have done. If there is a way to vote for this to be stickied, I definitely support that decision.

[The Avatar 1,089]

Fantastic job! This is a great guide which also links all of the stickies. I think a lot of new members may get quite confused as to where to start on the forums with the numerous amount of information so this is an excellent guide in terms of its simplicity, great information and friendly introduction of course!

What I think hasn't been done so far is a guide to our forums and community in general which is exactly what you have done. If there is a way to vote for this to be stickied, I definitely support that decision.

Thanks, Element! I'm glad you like it.

[MrCinatit 30]

Excellent job, Mama.

[The Avatar 1,089]

Excellent job, Mama.

Thank you, and you can call me Charles. Or Charlie, or Evan. It doesn't metter to me.

[x493x 446]

Just what all new-comers need. At times this site can get a bit confusing.

[The Avatar 1,089]

Just what all new-comers need. At times this site can get a bit confusing.

Thanks! That confusion is just what I was trying to clear up.

[Jack³ 291]

I liked how you showed the different forums. New members often don't know which forum to post there new topic. It took me some time to figure that out

Thanks for this I'm sure new members will appreciate this!

[The Avatar 1,089]

Thanks! I hope this will help some of our new members.