Is there anyone who DOESN'T use mods? :p

[pizzaz 1]

I'm awe-inspired by the beauty I see in the community's city journals.

Personally, I do not use mods - firstly because I am still new to the game and I'm getting the swing of things, and secondly because I'm really hesitant to sacrifice game speed and computer space on my laptop (I'm a video editor & college student -I have a lot of stuff on my laptop )

I was wondering..

1. Is there anyone here who doesn't use mods, or uses very few?

2. Are there any inspiring mod-free city journal recommendations?

3. Would everyone be bored if I made a mod-free city journal?

Keep up and amazingness, SimTropolis!

[Meg 368]

I never used mods. I wouldn't call my CJs "inspiring". They were more of the hey-can-I-make-it-do-this kind. Just me against the game engine for my own amusement.

Go with your own playing style. If you want to play vanilla, play vanilla. Don't push your laptop past its limits.

Get comfortable with the basics, then you can see how your laptop is doing and decide where you want to go from there.

Glad to have you aboard!

[mrbisonm 1,620]

I'm awe-inspired by the beauty I see in the community's city journals.

Personally, I do not use mods - firstly because I am still new to the game and I'm getting the swing of things, and secondly because I'm really hesitant to sacrifice game speed and computer space on my laptop (I'm a video editor & college student -I have a lot of stuff on my laptop )

I was wondering..

1. Is there anyone here who doesn't use mods, or uses very few?

2. Are there any inspiring mod-free city journal recommendations?

3. Would everyone be bored if I made a mod-free city journal?

Keep up and amazingness, SimTropolis!

Let's get this straight, a mod is an added file that either adds or modifies the game's behavior or graphics. terrains, water, traffic, taxes, etc, all these files being modified become a mod.

1. There surely is, not many, but there are still some that use little or no mods, just like you (must be boring.....).

2. Hm....I wonder myself also..............lol

3. To be honest, I myself would be, I don't visit CJ's that are not using some sort of mods more than once....sorry.

The game is limited without mods, only half a game if I may say so. The graphics are pale and not really appealing, the traffic is somewhat incomplete and does not even function properly and many things were added or modified with mods that make the game worthwhile playing for many years to come.

If it wouldn't have been for mods, I would have probably stopped playing it in 2004. I usually do not play PC games for more than 6 months if they cannot be modified....I usually don't buy them neither.

mrb

[BlackVenomSC 0]

I've been playing SC4 off and on for a long time and 2/3000 before that. I have never used mods though... wasn't aware there were until last year or so. I've stayed away for simplicity sake - the last few installs (luckily not this one) would crash randomly and that killed gameplay for me. I've been lurking here for a bit but never noticed the journals, but it wouldn't bore me - I'd be more interested. The only mod I want is for a better traffic algorithm - the stock one is

EDIT: Oh look.. first post.

  Edited June 28, 2012 by BlackVenomSC  

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

Well the way I see it is that a lot of us have played the game enough that the vanilla version is indeed boring. I see the custom content as added flavor. In my opinion, most of the people who don't use the wonderful custom content available here and on the other SC4 sites just haven't tried it. It's like those Crystal Light flavor packets--once you start using them, you never drink plain water again.

Not to mention the some mods do great things. The legendary NAM fixes a ton of transit bugs and allows you to build much more realistically laid-out cities.

  Edited June 28, 2012 by Indiana Joe  

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

All I can say is SC4 modding has been SC4's lifeline for many years; Without it, there'd be no Simtropolis. I've only seen two people who have ever opposed it, but it's rare to find people not wanting to use mods out of reluctance.

The most basic and the most essential mod there is is the +20MB Network Addon Mod (of which I'm one of the developers). If you ever change your mind, you can just download it for its traffic fixes; You don't even have to install anything else. (That is, unless you really want to...)

[Haljackey 17,302]

If you're not going to use any mods, I would still recommend downloading the Network Addon Mod (NAM). It's pretty much a whole expansion pack in itself.

If you want to use minimal mods, try searching the Simtropolis Exchange (STEX) for the highest rated and most downloaded content. Some real gems in there.

-The STEX hall of fame is also home to some amazing creations.

Most users on this site have at least a few mods installed (nearly all have the NAM). I would get bored of a mod-free City Journal unless something in it was done exceptionally well. Find what you like most about the game... that's the best place to start.

  Edited June 28, 2012 by Haljackey  

[steelersfan95 6]

heres a person

[BlackVenomSC 0]

So I'm installing NAM.... take me off the list of people who don't.

heres a person

That was me & I've already posted here... and you didn't even say hi!

[Benedict 3,119]

No mods or custom content in my cjs.

[Supertask 29]

I still don't use any mods, I've downloaded quite a lot of BATs but still no mods. I've always been slightly apprehensive that they will somehow unbalance the game or make it easier. I may get the NAM though, maybe a bit OT but could someone please fill me in on how the basic transit changes/fixes effect gameplay? I've read about it elsewhere but I've never seen this specified much.

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

I still don't use any mods, I've downloaded quite a lot of BATs but still no mods. I've always been slightly apprehensive that they will somehow unbalance the game or make it easier. I may get the NAM though, maybe a bit OT but could someone please fill me in on how the basic transit changes/fixes effect gameplay? I've read about it elsewhere but I've never seen this specified much.

First of all, by mods I believe we're talking about ANY custom content. No BATs, parks, landmarks, any custom content of any kind. Pizzaz is running true vanilla (except, I guess, Rush Hour Expansion).

And the NAM gets rid of many of the pesky commute problems that lead to buildings being abandoned due to commute time. Your citizens can work much farther from home, so your cities can be more realistically laid out. You can adjust the capacities of your road networks so that you can have more streets in you big cities and your highways don't get overcrowded. It also adds tons of new network options including (some of these separate downloads) a whole new highway system (RHW), up to five lane one way roads, six lane avenues, other wider roads (NWM), underground and viaduct rail, underpasses, overpasses, new Maxis highway interchanges, Light Rail (the ground level equivalent of subway/elevated rail), and tons of other cool stuff.

[7238320 77]

Play the game as is... if you find yourself wishing for more, well, you know where to come for help!

[z1 566]

...could someone please fill me in on how the basic transit changes/fixes effect gameplay? I've read about it elsewhere but I've never seen this specified much.

A detailed answer to this question can be found in the first post of the

[I. Lostalim 588]

I don't use mods... Just BATs

Some BATs don't take very much hard drive space; it also adds more buildings to the game without losing process speed.

Here are some really good BATs...

  Edited June 28, 2012 by I. Lostalim  

[andre8 0]

Besides having Rush Hour, my game is purely vanilla. I plan on downloading NAM, though.

[mrbisonm 1,620]

I see that there are more than I thought that do not use any mods....wow....I just can't imagine playing the game with that plastic looking Maxis water, those dumb looking trees and those artificial looking pasture and grasslands. I don't even want to mention the traffic mess without NAM and those brown chocolatty rocks....Arggggh.

It's like having no TV, no phone, no windows nor doors on your home and no seatbelts in your car. Is that possible? Well, I guess it is, but not for me......life is too short to go by without tasting it at the fullest.

mrb

[Cob92 360]

I would just get NAM. I don't consider most of the cosmetic mods to be really necessary to enjoy the game.

[Silur 3,304]

Simple question - simple answer ...

See at 3RR CJ by Mr. Dedgren ( David ) - more than 1 000 000 !!! views on Simtropolis and SC4 Devotion ...

Original SC4 is a poor food without any salt ...

  Edited June 28, 2012 by Silur  

[nosferatu247 20]

I had gotten SC4 Deluxe when it first came out, playing for awhile until I got bored with it. It didn't have the appeal to me that SC3K Unlimited had. I had disregarded the game for many years until I discovered a City-Building thread on /v/ (don't hate), which linked to Oldshoes' mod collection and this site.

Needless to say, without mods I would have forgotten about this game altogether. Vanilla is interesting to toy with on occasion, just to see the constrasts and revisit the "old days" of SC4... but at this point I really can't play the game without at least NAM installed.

[Silur 3,304]

SC4 - is a game for our brains ...

We can creep thru Original SC4 De Lux by MAXIS with a fresh ideas - "400 000 000 inhabitants in my city", "100 schools in my city", " See at my ugly R$ camps with some terrible streets" ... etc. ...

But it's very tiresome ...

Try work with BAT's and MOD's - this is a real way to Your Glory !!!

Good Luck ...

  Edited June 28, 2012 by Silur  

[Nielsen 10]

I use a few but I try to stick with mods which address known issues in the game such as R$$$ not having industrial high tech jobs etc.

[Silur 3,304]

I use a few but I try to stick with mods which address known issues in the game such as R$$$ not having industrial high tech jobs etc.

Oh. You're a lucky - You have R$$$ buildings and HT Industrials ...

Never see it in my Region ...

Only poor R$ and Dirty Ind - no more ... I'm crying ...

  Edited June 28, 2012 by Silur  

[Nielsen 10]

Oh. You're a lucky - You have R$$$ buildings and HT Industrials ...

Never see it in my Region ...

Only poor R$ and Dirty Ind - no more ... I'm crying ...

I wouldn't consider that as luck, it depends on how the game is being played.

[mrbisonm 1,620]

I use a few but I try to stick with mods which address known issues in the game such as R$$$ not having industrial high tech jobs etc.

Oh. You're a lucky - You have R$$$ buildings and HT Industrials ...

Never see it in my Region ...

Only poor R$ and Dirty Ind - no more ... I'm crying ...

Consider supplying your Sims with sufficient water, fireprotection and a good education (schools) along with some parks and woohoo......R§§§ will move in within no time. It's actually quite easy, don't forget to "overzone" with §§§.

mrb

[Silur 3,304]

Thanks, Mr. Mrbisonm and Mr. Nielsen ...

This is my poor joke about only R$ and Dirty Ind ...

I want play my SC4 game from ZERO on my tremendous SANTANA Island ... I like work with rural buildings, roads and STR ... I can do everything with Ilive Reader and SC4 Tool in my Region everytime ... You know - I can create all objects without any water and power - we can do it with super SC4 tools ...

Yes?

Excuse me my poor joke and ...

Thank's NEXIS and Nielsen once more ...

  Edited June 28, 2012 by Silur  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

To those who are first posters on this thread: Welcome to the Great Conversation.

You can play SC4 without mods or custom lots for only a time before utter boredom and the effects of the unfixed bugs sets in and you either stop playing or look around for additional material.

A year or so ago, I tried playing with and empty plugin folder, and found the game so disabled that I needed to add the NAM. Indeed, I went back, in the end, to my full plugin suite.

I can't stand sky-blue "ocean" water. Unless you are in an area that is built on a coral reef this never happens. The ocean is dark. I use a dark water mod.

I don't care for Maxis' idea of forests. I live in Canada, so I also use a terrain mod that gives me pine trees everywhere.

I use some other things, but I can say that, while I have 1720 files in my plugin suite currently, it takes only 531.2 MB of space which could be less with a little more clean up. Some of the lot/BAT files could be compressed into .dat but my round tuit has a coffee cup sitting on it.

Do your own thing. The exchanges are not going away any time soon.

My recommendation is to start with the NAM, then the SPAM (without the SPAM controller, it interferes with the NAM). This will give you two big expansion packs that need to be used a while before going any further. The SPAM gets rid of the lifeless Maxis farms even if you only take the main module.

The NAM is like a full expansion pack and it requires some thinking and playing before you will really understand it. The documentation is voluminous and very good. It has many plugins which at the moment have to be downloaded and installed separately. (Coming soon, NAM V31. The comprehensive, all plugins available in one swoul foop installer, version)

[Silur 3,304]

Excellent speech by A Nonny Moose

Every word in our knowledge box

[pizzaz 1]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone!

Go with your own playing style. If you want to play vanilla, play vanilla. Don't push your laptop past its limits.

Get comfortable with the basics, then you can see how your laptop is doing and decide where you want to go from there.

I think this is what I'm going to do I need to explore the game more before I feel the need to add more.

For those with a lot of custom content / mods - how does this affect your loading times?

[I. Lostalim 588]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone!

Go with your own playing style. If you want to play vanilla, play vanilla. Don't push your laptop past its limits.

Get comfortable with the basics, then you can see how your laptop is doing and decide where you want to go from there.

I think this is what I'm going to do I need to explore the game more before I feel the need to add more.

For those with a lot of custom content / mods - how does this affect your loading times?

Small cities with lots of content load very fast.

Large cities with no custom content take a bit of time to load.

I think it's not how much content, but how large your city is...