Questions - Screenshots/City Journal

[JKRMC 8]

Okay, so I've had SimCity 4 for about five, six years, and it wasn't until about a month ago I found out about Modding, City Journals, Cheat Codes, and all that other good stuff. I've been really active in downloading, installing, and using Modds, Textures, and I love reading City Journals, but I want to be a part of the Community and post some of my own stuff rather than just look and take. I thought the best way to start is a simple City Journal, I've attempted it once and I encountered a few issues, now that I'm done with this pretty much useless story let me get on to the good part, questions!

1) Okay, this one isn't much of a question, do you guys have any tips on having a City Journal, absolutely anything would be helpful, whether is good mods to use for City Journals or just a tip on how to get people to notice it.

2) When I upload screenshos I only get these little tiny pictures, do I need to use a Image Host or use different image program, or maybe even just change what size I'm taking the screenshot in? Right now I either take the screenshot in either the largest (full screen) or second largest capture radius.

3) Is there anything I should stray away from while playing Sim City 4? Absolutely anything that could cause me trouble?

4) What is the difference between running Software and Hardware rendering settings? I'm a little fuzzy on this and I'm really wondering if one would cause better performance than the other.

If you guys can answer any of these I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

  Edited January 4, 2012 by JKRMC  

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

Okay, I'll try to answer some.

1.) I like a wide variety of city journals. There are scenic ones, stories I like, big urban centers. So I would advise you to do what you think is interesting. This is a game after all, so you should just have fun with it. besides, chances are good that if you think it's fun and/or interesting, a couple of other people probably will also. Also, don't post an announcement telling us about the wonderful things you're going to show us. Just show us! We want to see it!

2.) You really need to use a photo hosting website and direct link into your post. I don't click on each individually uploaded thumbnail, and really with how easy it is to host them and then post them, we shouldn't have to. Any photo hosting website will do, pretty much.

3.) Hm. I'm not entirely sure what you're imaging, trouble-wise. Watch your funding, I suppose?

4.) Software means it's coming off of your cd. Hardware means your computer itself is doing it. I'm not sure what the difference is in render speeds, but I suppose that if you have a REALLY fast DVD drive that would be better. I just use the hardware render option. If someone else can explain that with more detail, I'd actually like to know more, too!

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

4.) Software means it's coming off of your cd. Hardware means your computer itself is doing it. I'm not sure what the difference is in render speeds, but I suppose that if you have a REALLY fast DVD drive that would be better. I just use the hardware render option. If someone else can explain that with more detail, I'd actually like to know more, too!

Sorry, but this is incorrect.

Hardware rendering uses the capabilities of your Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) to render scenes from a generated command script, freeing the main program to do other things while this happens. Software rendering means that the GPU is essentially reduced to being just a frame buffer and the full render is done in main memory by the program. Usually using the GPU is faster, but on my machine there are some driver issues so I must use software rendering. Fortunately there is a fix in the pipe for my problem but it is currently beta and I don't run it.

Since this game is distributed on CD, I fail to see what the drive has to do with it. It is only checked by the security daemon before the game is decrypted into memory. The actual game is loaded into memory by the system after decryption then the plugins. After that the only storage reference is to the paging system if the game cannot get enough memory to run without paging. This paging is a function of the operating system as the game was not written for a paging system. This, among other reasons is the reason that the game can use only one core of a multi-core processor.

[CaptCity 4,695]

3) Is there anything I should stray away from while playing Sim City 4? Absolutely anything that could cause me trouble?

While there could be downloaded items that have issues with how they were made, they are probably few and far between. The key thing to remember is to test each item in a test city to be sure it works as expected. Also, there might be things that don't "play well" with each other, so it is important to read all instructions and documentation and try things out before placing items in those "keeper" cities (also helps to be sure that all dependencies have been acquired). It is for this reason that keeping backup copies of important regions is recommended.

There are a few game phenomena that I can think of to be aware of:

Growing Empty Lots

Eternal Commuters

Phantom Sliders

While these, for the most part, are not common occurrences, they are things to be aware of.

[JKRMC 8]

Okay, I'll try to answer some.

1.) I like a wide variety of city journals. There are scenic ones, stories I like, big urban centers. So I would advise you to do what you think is interesting. This is a game after all, so you should just have fun with it. besides, chances are good that if you think it's fun and/or interesting, a couple of other people probably will also. Also, don't post an announcement telling us about the wonderful things you're going to show us. Just show us! We want to see it!

2.) You really need to use a photo hosting website and direct link into your post. I don't click on each individually uploaded thumbnail, and really with how easy it is to host them and then post them, we shouldn't have to. Any photo hosting website will do, pretty much.

3.) Hm. I'm not entirely sure what you're imaging, trouble-wise. Watch your funding, I suppose?

4.) Software means it's coming off of your cd. Hardware means your computer itself is doing it. I'm not sure what the difference is in render speeds, but I suppose that if you have a REALLY fast DVD drive that would be better. I just use the hardware render option. If someone else can explain that with more detail, I'd actually like to know more, too!

I liked your answer to my first question, I'll have to take note of that one, photo hosting, are there any that you recommend?

I've done a little bit of research on the Hardware and Software, Software seems to work better on my system.

4.) Software means it's coming off of your cd. Hardware means your computer itself is doing it. I'm not sure what the difference is in render speeds, but I suppose that if you have a REALLY fast DVD drive that would be better. I just use the hardware render option. If someone else can explain that with more detail, I'd actually like to know more, too!

Sorry, but this is incorrect.

Hardware rendering uses the capabilities of your Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) to render scenes from a generated command script, freeing the main program to do other things while this happens. Software rendering means that the GPU is essentially reduced to being just a frame buffer and the full render is done in main memory by the program. Usually using the GPU is faster, but on my machine there are some driver issues so I must use software rendering. Fortunately there is a fix in the pipe for my problem but it is currently beta and I don't run it.

Since this game is distributed on CD, I fail to see what the drive has to do with it. It is only checked by the security daemon before the game is decrypted into memory. The actual game is loaded into memory by the system after decryption then the plugins. After that the only storage reference is to the paging system if the game cannot get enough memory to run without paging. This paging is a function of the operating system as the game was not written for a paging system. This, among other reasons is the reason that the game can use only one core of a multi-core processor.

Thanks, like I said, I did a bit of research, and along with your post they all told me one thing, TEST IT, Software seems to work better on my system.

3) Is there anything I should stray away from while playing Sim City 4? Absolutely anything that could cause me trouble?

While there could be downloaded items that have issues with how they were made, they are probably few and far between. The key thing to remember is to test each item in a test city to be sure it works as expected. Also, there might be things that don't "play well" with each other, so it is important to read all instructions and documentation and try things out before placing items in those "keeper" cities (also helps to be sure that all dependencies have been acquired). It is for this reason that keeping backup copies of important regions is recommended.

There are a few game phenomena that I can think of to be aware of:

Growing Empty Lots

Eternal Commuters

Phantom Sliders

While these, for the most part, are not common occurrences, they are things to be aware of.

Thanks! I really don't have much to say in response. I've already created a test city, and I backup my regions/cities every time I find a cool Plugin that I want to add. I'm also very careful when reading about what the Plugins do, how they do it, and if anything else extra is needed or if there is anything odd I would need to do to make it work correctly,

Gotta love the Sim City Community, right? So kind.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

Hehe, sorry for being so incorrect on the software vs hardware render question. I learned something, too! Thanks, A Nonny Moose!

I use photobucket.com. I have used flickr.com in the past, but prefer photobucket. There is also imageshack.com, imgur.com, and a whole lot of others. It would be interesting to see who other cjers here prefer.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Hehe, sorry for being so incorrect on the software vs hardware render question. I learned something, too! Thanks, A Nonny Moose!

I use photobucket.com. I have used flickr.com in the past, but prefer photobucket. There is also imageshack.com, imgur.com, and a whole lot of others. It would be interesting to see who other cjers here prefer.

You are welcome. You must have been thinking of something else.

For photos, I use my private web site. Every ISP I have ever used, including Bell Canada, provides a limited amount of space for each user to create a small web site. I use mine for pictures I post and a couple of tutorials and other stuff I want to make public. Here is the link if you are curious: http://www.ezlink.ca/~jwinterton/index.htm