Screenshot competition for Rock Paper Shotgun article, 24hrs only

[Andytizer 0]

I'm also an occasional contributor to Rock Paper Shotgun, where I write The Fixer column, and I admin PCGamingWiki, and I have a thread going about our SimCity 4 article (timely, given all the trouble with SimCity 2013's DRM and unmodability), which is about getting people new to SC4 to get the game running well on modern systems.

 

Anyway I am going to submit an article about introducing all the fixes and workarounds for SimCity 4 to be published this Sunday. I'd like to turn to the community for cool screenshots so that they can be displayed on Rock Paper Shotgun alongside the article.

 

Rules

- screenshots of SimCity 4 must be submitted to the thread by 15 March 2013 3pm GMT, maximum 10 per person, must be self-generated and not copied from another source

- I will credit submitters where possible, although final say on whether this is displayed is dependent on Rock Paper Shotgun

- modded, unmodded, zoomed in and zoomed out shots welcome (although be aware that they will be cropped to a 600x300 resolution), please mention any mods being highlighted by the screenshot

- there is a chance that RPS will hold or not publish the article, but I will still provide the prizes below:

 

Prizes

- Dungeonland (Steam)

- Rome: Total War (Steam)

- Super Hexagon (Steam)

- The Showdown Effect (Steam)

- Saints Row: The Third (Steam)

 

- Top 5 winners will be picked by myself, 1 prize per winner, first winner gets to choose game, and then remaining 4 games get passed on 2nd winner to choose 1 game, then remaining 3 games get passed onto 3rd winner to choose 1 game, etc.

- winners will be contacted via PM here by Sunday evening (17th March) which is when I will begin distributing the prizes.

[tanepiper 0]

Oh please!  I've got both the OSX version of Sim City 4 (which runs well, but is a pain to get working with mods like NAM) - and I've tried getting it working in VMWare Fusion, but it just crashes for me.  I've managed to get it working with the WineSkin, but again it's a bit buggy on the graphics.

 

So any help getting it work well in any of these situations would be much appreciated

[Andytizer 0]

Oh please!  I've got both the OSX version of Sim City 4 (which runs well, but is a pain to get working with mods like NAM) - and I've tried getting it working in VMWare Fusion, but it just crashes for me.  I've managed to get it working with the WineSkin, but again it's a bit buggy on the graphics.

 

So any help getting it work well in any of these situations would be much appreciated

 

Unfortunately I don't know much about the OSX version of SimCity 4, maybe you should post in the dedicated forum? https://community.simtropolis.com/forum/20-sc4-mac-users/

[CaptRobau 2]

I'll have a go. While all of the screenshots are modded cities, I only use mods that fix things or makes things more intuitive. Increased radius's for police stations, better pathfinding, bug fixes, etc. Graphically it's all the same though. I did however use run the game better and at a higher resolution than is possible in stock. I very much recommend it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andytizer 0]

Wow thanks these look great . Now if someone could do some zoomed in shots with some cool custom content that would be really interesting.

[SimCoug 5,973]

Here are a few to choose from - feel free to crop, re-size, etc.

I selected pics without any photo editing - all are in-game images.  

 

 

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/twi4guq5hdos71a/Update%2030%20-%206%20pub.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/e5o7sxcapd2u6kl/Update%2029%20-%205%20final%20spike.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/li0dud9z2a7q1xg/Update%2028%20-%2014%20New%20Illahee1.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/zlpxqwqkuqcdmtd/Update%2027%20-%20teaser%20no%20text.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/eyb1pi9s6wvhikg/rushing%20creek%20picture%20competition.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/ynpvgd7tor7wbtr/Thanksgiving%20Special.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/xcizrz8kulhmzc7/Update%2025%20-%201%20building%20RR.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/xaslspwd9x8wyz8/Update%2023%20-%2011%20ferry%20closeup.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/vq1cb92t2d484dm/Update%2020%20-%201%20Baltimore.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/ozvd27wrh70zvyy/Update%2019%20-%209%20Appomattox.jpg

 

I can PM you selected BATs/Mods if need be.  

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

You are welcome to any of the in-game shots on this page of my website.  Sorry, but I don't think there is any text.

[CaptRobau 2]

Here are a few to choose from - feel free to crop, re-size, etc.

I selected pics without any photo editing - all are in-game images.  

 

 

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/twi4guq5hdos71a/Update%2030%20-%206%20pub.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/e5o7sxcapd2u6kl/Update%2029%20-%205%20final%20spike.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/li0dud9z2a7q1xg/Update%2028%20-%2014%20New%20Illahee1.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/zlpxqwqkuqcdmtd/Update%2027%20-%20teaser%20no%20text.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/eyb1pi9s6wvhikg/rushing%20creek%20picture%20competition.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/ynpvgd7tor7wbtr/Thanksgiving%20Special.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/xcizrz8kulhmzc7/Update%2025%20-%201%20building%20RR.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/xaslspwd9x8wyz8/Update%2023%20-%2011%20ferry%20closeup.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/vq1cb92t2d484dm/Update%2020%20-%201%20Baltimore.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/ozvd27wrh70zvyy/Update%2019%20-%209%20Appomattox.jpg

 

I can PM you selected BATs/Mods if need be.  

 

Wow, those are amazing. At this point it has little to do with what the original game was designed for, but that's the beauty of SC4. Do you have a City Journal or something that goes into further detail about this?

[SimCoug 5,973]

Do you have a City Journal or something that goes into further detail about this?

 

Yep - the CJ is called New SorGun.  

You can find it in the CJ Section

or in the

[Vanasonic 49]

Here's my submission to the competition:

 

https://imgur.com/a/8k0LI

 

I have highlighted the most prominent mods used in each screenshot in the description. However the following mods are used extensively in all of them.

• NAM (Network Addon Mod)
• CAM (Colossus Addon Mod)
• CPT Olympic Terrain Mod (CycleDogg)
• Coastal Modd (rivit)

 

If you have any questions about the screenshots, feel free to PM me.

[Pobs 24]

Do you have a City Journal or something that goes into further detail about this?

 

Yep - the CJ is called New SorGun.  

You can find it in the CJ Section

or in the

 

One of my favourite CJs!

[Turjan 1,048]

Well, I usually just let my cities grow, so it's a bit random what appears. Sometimes, it looks nice enough, especially with some plopped anchor buildings. Here are my submissions (click thumbnails for larger images):

 

1. Highlighted lot: Amsterdam Central Station by Xannepan and the BSC team. Other buildings by Mattb325, Madhatter106, Aaron Graham, spa. Also, two Maxis buildings .

 

 

2. There are also great industrial buildings available: Fisher Body Plant 21 by SimHoTToDDy. On the left McCormick and Company by Marcszar. All random growables, btw.

 

3. The last one is something green: A small snippet from JBSimio's Clayhurst University and some nearby villas, mostly by Mattb325.

 

[xonedl 342]

Oh no am I too late to see this? =(

 

Heavily moded:

http://dlgaming.minus.com/mbbrWWw1RAaxNj

[Andytizer 0]

Not too late I'm still writing the article! I'll consider your images to include.

 

For everyone else, the competition is closed, prizes to be awarded later on the weekend.

[Andytizer 0]

Oh no am I too late to see this? =(

 

Heavily moded:

http://dlgaming.minus.com/mbbrWWw1RAaxNj

 

This looks great - how did you get the screenshots to look so good? Is it some kind of AA filter?

[xonedl 342]

Andytizer, on 16 Mar 2013 - 09:27, said:

xonedl, on 16 Mar 2013 - 09:03, said:

Oh no am I too late to see this? =(

Heavily moded:

http://dlgaming.minus.com/mbbrWWw1RAaxNj

This looks great - how did you get the screenshots to look so good? Is it some kind of AA filter?

All of them are post-processed in Photoshop- contrast, blurring. A usual step for the player that plays the game on the aesthetic style, instead of building a working city.

All those pictures are pretty aged (ignore all those watermarking), not sure if I can find the un-edited originals any more.

 

Edit: can't find any! >.> 

AA- no. I just took a lot of them then stick them together into a huge picture, then scale it down.

[Turjan 1,048]

My images are direct screenshots, unaltered at the 1920x1080 resolution, but I really have to try this one day. I'm not sure whether you can do this easily with anything else than Photoshop.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

@Turjan: Have a look at the GIMP.  The GNU project's answer to Photosuite.  If you pull in the whole thing, that is.  Lots of parts and plugins.  Be sure to get the help files and 'Grokking the GIMP' (tutorial), and GAP (animation package).  It is, of course, free and supported.

[Turjan 1,048]

@Turjan: Have a look at the GIMP.

 

I did, and the GIMP tutorials are excellent. Here is the the first quick and dirty attempt with one of the images from above (click the image for larger version):

 

 

I probably overdid it somewhat, but I didn't have much time to try many settings.

[Andytizer 0]

Hi guys I just wanted to update you. Due to some miscommunication with RPS staffers, I'll be retooling the article for a different publication. I'd like to wait a bit until I am certain which screenshots are included (as I'd like to award those which are actually used) and I'll update here once I know.

[xonedl 342]

No worry, at least I'm not here for competition at all