Should I start playing this again?

[Hybr1d 20]

I've had SC4 since it came out. However, I quickly got burnt out on playing it... and as a result i've played the game sporadically over the years.. like once every 2 years or so. When I started playing it again, it would only last 2-3 weeks then I would give up on it. I would always have probelms with the no job and abandonment. Also, I didn't like how the regions looked... they were just too squarish ( if that's even a word ).

But... now I feel like giving this game another shot. I know about NAM, so I will definitly download that.

Could somebody give me something positive about the game so that I could have more fun with it?

Also... what mods should I download?

[jacksunny 741]

A lot of good mods are listed in the following threads:

As for square regions, there is nothing you can do as that aspect of the game is coded into the .exe. However, you can edit the config.bmp of the region to change the city tiles how you want.

[AIX 270]

Well, I just browsed thru this thread: It's a little dated, but some good discussion on essential mods. You said you know about the NAM - do you have the RHW (Real Highway Mod) and the SAM (Street Addon Mod)?

As for the square regions, there is little that can be done about that. Personally, I keep the "show city borders" ticked off so it isn't so apparent.

Every year or so, I completely "re-boot" my game by starting totally over with my plugins folder (save a few classics and "staple" items like NAM). When I do, I spend time (lots of) browsing over the LEX and STEX. I'll start with residential, then commercial, then industry, utilities, etc etc. I have always came out with a different set of plugins each time that keeps things fresh.

Another must-read is the City Building Concepts forum -> http://community.sim...lding-concepts/ - I can sometimes get trapped pouring over people's screenshots for over an hour. Great source of ideas and inspiration (I actually browse here more than city journals).

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Edit: @jacksunny: Great minds think alike!

  Edited April 7, 2012 by AIX  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I do not burn out on this game. It is a great pass time when I am doing nothing else, and I am retired.

As for Plugins, start with NAM. Do not be in a rush. Play in low gear (turtle mode) and don't feel glued to the screen. I often run the game while I am doing other things. Remember to use the in-game save (CTRL+s) when you leave the keyboard. On modern hardware you might get a crash while you are away and you want to have a restart point.

The reason you probably get bored is that you always build a big city. Try scattering a few towns around a large tile and keeping them in profit. If you run in cheetah mode you will run out of cash very quickly. I recommend the extra cheats dll download and using the moolah command to give yourself a good fiscal position.

You might find this example helpful.

[Moskva 75]

Well, if houses get abandoned, it is because there's no job like you said or too long commute times. There's only one fix, making more industrial/commercial areas, possibily well connected with the residential ones (for the industrial, commercial stays closer to residential). For the squarish thing, if you try to play realistically, it kinda disappears, using diagonal roads too and being creative of course. You should really take a look at the STEX, there's people with Gigabytes of plugins (i've some 700+ Mb but growing!) that are really needy and mods as well.

[x493x 446]

I usually got burned out when building a large city right from the start. Start with a small town then expand it and you'll be a lot more satisfied with the results. Also play with the game on pause, I like playing that way better because you don't have to deal with no jobs and such, but if you like traffic to motor around that might be a problem.

[Cob92 360]

If you just want to get back into the game, stay with just the NAM. While there are mods that add new highway, port, and street systems, they have a learning curve in and of themselves to use, and, with the exception of the RHW, only change the game on a cosmetic level. Once you get the basic gist of the game, I recommend downloading the CAM, as it extends and smooths out the growth aspect of the game.

[Moskva 75]

I thought the CAM is a cheaty modd to increase demand, isn't that? However i never got what exactly it does to the game so i preferred to stay out of it.

[blogs 0]

I thought the CAM is a cheaty modd to increase demand, isn't that? However i never got what exactly it does to the game so i preferred to stay out of it.

yes ,i agree with you .

[Tramwhet 53]

I thought the CAM is a cheaty modd to increase demand, isn't that? However i never got what exactly it does to the game so i preferred to stay out of it.

yes ,i agree with you .

i agree too

the CAM was made for making the game more "realistic", but it isn't, on the contrary, after weeks of testing, i realized that it is a very buggy and unrealistic mod, and i do not understand why too many people use it.

It kills all the game algorithm and it has major bugs. Some bugs are fixable but the mod on itself is unrealistic. One of the major problems are the CAMeLOTS, many of them have bad capacities for their stages

Yes the CAM is a cheat and in my opinion should be used only if you want to make very big (and unrealist) futuristic megalopolis for a CJ or for fun.

So don't install this, if you want some skyscrapers download some NDEX buildings ont the STEX.

(sorry for my english)

  Edited April 9, 2012 by Tramwhet  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I usually got burned out when building a large city right from the start. Start with a small town then expand it and you'll be a lot more satisfied with the results. Also play with the game on pause, I like playing that way better because you don't have to deal with no jobs and such, but if you like traffic to motor around that might be a problem.

If you "play" on pause, then you must use all ploppables. The simulation doesn't really stop, only the animation and some features like growing buildings. I only use pause when I know that some lot I have just placed must be serviced quickly.