CAM Workforce Bug Fix

[plaaggeest 0]

Today I used https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=26 to datpack the SimCity_1.dat and z_ColossusAddonMod_1.0.dat files as is described in the CAM Workforce Bug Fix https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=14574.0.

 

After I combined the two files the game is slower then ever. Loading a menu item or processing any gameplay action freezes the game for a moment. I started in a region where no buildings were grown yet. Only some infrastructure is in place. I completed all the steps and deleted the duplicated files from my plugins folder.

 

Should I Datpack more files in my pluginfolder? Or are there other steps i should take to complete my CAM installation?

 

 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Depends on your plugin folder.  If it is large, then you can use datPacker to consolidate more of it, which will speed up loading.  Just remember to not pack stuff that is often updated like the NAM.  NAM is already pretty much optimized.  Converting something like a 4GB plugins suite to four or five packed .dat files will improve things no end.  You should probably pack any and all CAMpatible items.

[z1 566]

Or you can just put back your original SimCity_1.dat file, reinstall the original CAM, and replace the main file in the a_CAM folder with this fixed one.  I found that in addition to eliminating the demand bug, this file actually made CAM run 35% faster than it did with the original CAM.

[Bundy_77 8]

Or you can just put back your original SimCity_1.dat file, reinstall the original CAM, and replace the main file in the a_CAM folder with this fixed one.  I found that in addition to eliminating the demand bug, this file actually made CAM run 35% faster than it did with the original CAM.

 

I uninstalled the CAM for this reason.... so before I put it back in... can you tell me how this file is different please... other than making it faster...

 

Thanks...

[z1 566]

It doesn't double the residential population count the way the original CAM does; as a result, the demand for C & I is not doubled.

[plaaggeest 0]

Thank you for the link, I wil test it tommorrow. I hope it will improve my gameplay experience.

[Bundy_77 8]

It doesn't double the residential population count the way the original CAM does; as a result, the demand for C & I is not doubled.

 

Thanks Z1...  I will try it

[Shadowstrike 21]

With apologies for the thread necromancy, I'm trying to understand why the doubling problem happens a little better (and whether I can avoid DatPacking to fix the I-HT bug).

 

In some threads, I'm reading that the problem arises because there are multiple RCI examplars, which is given as an explanation for why DatPacking the CAM.dat file and the I-HT fix .dat file into simcity1.dat is necessary. However, z's fix in this thread, and RippleJet's comments here (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=8269.60) about not having to DatPack the CAM 5% R$$ working in CS$/ID/IR .dat files suggest that it is possible to have RCI examplars in the plugins folder, without causing the workforce doubling bug. If that's the case, then shouldn't it be possible to make an I-HT fix that doesn't have the same problem, or am I missing something?

 

As a corollary to that, is it something about having the plugin RCI examplars a certain way that causes this bug? I'm planning on fiddling with the default CAM lots in the CAM.dat file, and I don't want to accidentally cause this bug to reappear.

[z1 566]

If that's the case, then shouldn't it be possible to make an I-HT fix that doesn't have the same problem?

Yes, it should.

 

As a corollary to that, is it something about having the plugin RCI examplars a certain way that causes this bug?

 

No.

 

I'm planning on fiddling with the default CAM lots in the CAM.dat file, and I don't want to accidentally cause this bug to reappear.

 

Fiddle away; it's OK.

[Shadowstrike 21]

I apologize for my naiveity in asking, but could I trouble you to explain why some RCI examplars cause this doubling bug, but others do not? I'm afraid the distinction escapes me.

[z1 566]

I apologize for my naiveity in asking, but could I trouble you to explain why some RCI examplars cause this doubling bug, but others do not? I'm afraid the distinction escapes me.

 

No one really knows why (the answer is hidden in the executable) - we just know which ones do and which ones don't.  Looking briefly at the file ColossusAddonMod_1.0.dat, where all the doubling exemplars occur, for all the exemplars that have either the "Satisfies" or the "Contributes" properties (or both), the doubling occurs.  (Actually, it's summing, as you'll see in a moment.)  For these properties, the first value is the IID of another exemplar, and the second value is a percentage value of the current exemplar that is used.  It's normally 0x64 (i.e., 100%), so if you load two of these exemplars, you get 200%.  If the file ColossusAddonMod_1.0.dat uses 0x32 in the second value (i.e., 50%), then 50% is used twice - equaling the 100% that you want.  All the other values are replaced from the second exemplar (the one in ColossusAddonMod_1.0.dat), so you don't have a mixing of the various values.

 

When you look into this, you see that there's a tree of these exemplars, each feeding into ones above them that cover larger categories.  (Actually, there are three parallel trees, and you only modify two of them.)  You'll also notice that some of these exemplars have a "Sums" property, which specifies what other exemplars add up to this one; to make the patch work, the "Sums" property had to be added to additional exemplars.  Some variations of the above procedure were used for certain exemplars; you can find them in the patch.

 

If you want to find all of the affected exemplars in one place, fortunately that's very easy.  Go into the Reader, open up the Simcity DAT section on the left, and select simcity_1.dat.  After this file loads, click the "Analyzer" button at the top, and when the new window appears, click the Search button in the upper left.  When the display appears, click the Tree button two buttons to the right.  Now go down to the General category, and under that, open up RCI.  I believe that all the doubling exemplars are here.  From what I recall, you need to modify the Commercial, Industrial, and Residential versions of these, along with the Workforce exemplars and all the Total exemplars.  I'm fairly sure it's the Regional ones that don't need to be modified for the CAM patch.  By looking at the patch, you can be sure.

 

So with this information, someone could write an I-HT patch.  But it's tricky work, and it takes an awful lot of testing to make sure that you've got all the right exemplars fixed, and in the right way.  However, the I-HT patch would be a lot less work than the total CAM patch was.

[Shadowstrike 21]

Thanks for the detailed explanation, z1! I think I'm understanding this a little bit better now (especially after using your post to inform looking at the differences between your CAM patch and the original CAM file), but it's something I need to poke around in a bit more detail to understand more fully. But at least I get a little bit about what I'm looking at.