What should I start with first?

[AlexA123 0]

All this SC4 modding stuff looks cool and all, but what should I absolutely install first? I have the patches but I'm not sure what you guys think is the "essential mod".

[Cottoncandy Cyanide 145]

These mods are great for really most of us. But, if you're talking about building and recreation wise, I'd try looking around the STEX for small civics and stuff!

Sorry if I didn't help.

[Cefien 361]

Maybe you should start reading this thread, before deciding to download stuff on the STEX:

[AlexA123 0]

These mods are great for really most of us. But, if you're talking about building and recreation wise, I'd try looking around the STEX for small civics and stuff!

Sorry if I didn't help.

I'll try those in a second. Thanks.

Cefien: I read that a bit. Thanks for that also.

[SilverCyric 130]

Dude everyone keeps saying go read, but really, the NAM is where you start. But with it comes others as well you'll need, but bear in mind of course these are all suggustions...

But the NAM, Network Addon Modification, is what ties everything together. Without it, might as well, just play SC4 vanilla, In My Not Always So Humble Opinion... : )

Ok, so here's the skinny... SC4 with the UGC is like an art canvas, you need to choose what you want to make. If you look at the CJ's, you'll see you can build anything from an ancient tribal scence, to and mid 1800's pioneer colony, to a modern day concrete jungle, or even a colony on Mars. You gotta have an internal vision to bring to life and get the "paints" for your canvas. That's when you hit thread specific topics, about railway networks, or suburbs, or downtown districts, even medieval themes, you should find good links and ideas for lots to download, but you're also going to have to download a bunch of lots and try them out, but do be careful, for example you load 2 or more new items into your game, and you have a conflict, or a crash, you won't know which one it is, and not all conflict arise immediately, some take a certain situation or a certain piece placed next to another certain piece...

But if you want to build a realistic city, I would first suggest this thread by smileymk, it's pretty epic!!

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=12096.0

It'll give you plenty of ideas to start downloading and by the time you complete the tutorial, you'll have a really good grasp of both the civil engineering aspects of the game, as well as how the regions are configured, plugin management, even a little bit of modding. Chris is doing an absolute fantastic job over there and I very strongly suggest all newcomers head there first, if only just to absorb the knowledge and move on...

Luck dude

[Haljackey 17,259]

The STEX hall of fame is also a great place to check out:

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

After you have played for a while with nothing, add the NAM. Read the documentation carefully. There are two links to look at:

for the current NAM; and

for the late breaking fixes.

This package is like a gigantic Expansion Pack, and it needs some careful study to get a handle on all the fixes and extensions it adds to the networking, including the TSCT. You can sort of ignore the documentation and play at your own risk. But a little reading will put you in the picture with better results. Sloppy use of some parts of the NAM can crash your game to the desktop.

Sorry, there is no quick way to get on with this. It needs some work and thought.

Now, about managing your plugins:

Keep two directories: One for downloads and, of course, your Plugin directory (folder) within the user space provided by the game in Documents.

The reason for keeping separate lists is simply that you will always have a backup for your plugins if anything goes wrong. The Downloads folder is also a good place to keep non-plugin files that come with most packages. Usually documentation. Note I am not discussing the Downloads folder within the SimCity 4 user structure. That has a different purpose and is used for copying cities between regions.

When you start acquiring new plugins, add them to your plugin suite one at a time (or a few, very carefully) and test your new suite in a sandbox region (one you don't care about). If there are any incompatibilities or other problems, it is fairly simple to isolate the offender at that time. Later, you may be in a fix that takes days to find the offender.