Some help for an Ultra Newbie! :)

[mattias333 3]

Hi, at the tender age of 28 I finally decided to do something i'd been wanting/meaning to do for years & years. Purchase simcity4. Now while I suspect you can likely obtain the sim from certain unofficial avenues, I was bored waiting for the wife to do yet more shopping and saw it only £4.99 and thought....why not!

 

I've found many many many helpful walkthroughs, tutorials etc....on this site & others. So im slowly getting there with the basics etc...so I will try not to bore you with likely asked before questions on those subjects.

 

My question (or 2 questions really) is more to do with patching of the game.

 

I read that obviously EA stopped supporting SC4 a while back and there for its hard to obtain the latest patch for the game. The copy I purchased was the Simcity 4 + rush hour deluxe edition. Was there anymore patches beyond that release. If so where is the best place to find said update or further more will the enjoyment of the game be stopped without that latest patch (as in game breaking problems).

 

Talking of enjoyment of the game it leads me to my 2nd question. Now I wont pretend to be any kind of computer whizz or expert but i've noticed looking around the various forums and sites that virtually everyone talks of modding. Is the game still enjoyable without modding. I mean I assume you can still create beautiful cities without the need to mod, just the modding makes it look even more amazing (I assume...please correct me if im wrong). Im not anti modding, im just such a novice an literally struggle to find time to play the game as much as I want as it is, without spending time modding etc. If modding the game is straight forward and simple im sure ill give it a whirl in time.

 

(Side note) - I noticed on a site (possibly this one, I cant remember) someone mentioned that there is bugs with introducing a train network where (correct me if im wrong) the people in the game should take the train if its quicker than driving etc... but fail to do so and just take the shortest route still. They mentioned that through modding on this site it can be fixed. Obviously I am nowhere near introducing a train network etc....heck ive only just done my agriculture based small city and moved onto my next door bigger city. Just wondered if there is other issues like this brought about by NOT modding.

 

Im really enjoying the game and cant believe I didnt take a gamble an get it sooner. Still learning the ropes & have a long way to go before i'd even consider myself fluent in the game. Not gone bust yet and taking the advice I keep seeing which is dont rush.  Any help or tips are hugely appreciated guys.

[GeometryMath Algebra 614]

Hi, at the tender age of 28 I finally decided to do something i'd been wanting/meaning to do for years & years. Purchase simcity4. Now while I suspect you can likely obtain the sim from certain unofficial avenues, I was bored waiting for the wife to do yet more shopping and saw it only £4.99 and thought....why not!

 

I've found many many many helpful walkthroughs, tutorials etc....on this site & others. So im slowly getting there with the basics etc...so I will try not to bore you with likely asked before questions on those subjects.

 

My question (or 2 questions really) is more to do with patching of the game.

 

I read that obviously EA stopped supporting SC4 a while back and there for its hard to obtain the latest patch for the game. The copy I purchased was the Simcity 4 + rush hour deluxe edition. Was there anymore patches beyond that release. If so where is the best place to find said update or further more will the enjoyment of the game be stopped without that latest patch (as in game breaking problems).

 

Talking of enjoyment of the game it leads me to my 2nd question. Now I wont pretend to be any kind of computer whizz or expert but i've noticed looking around the various forums and sites that virtually everyone talks of modding. Is the game still enjoyable without modding. I mean I assume you can still create beautiful cities without the need to mod, just the modding makes it look even more amazing (I assume...please correct me if im wrong). Im not anti modding, im just such a novice an literally struggle to find time to play the game as much as I want as it is, without spending time modding etc. If modding the game is straight forward and simple im sure ill give it a whirl in time.

 

(Side note) - I noticed on a site (possibly this one, I cant remember) someone mentioned that there is bugs with introducing a train network where (correct me if im wrong) the people in the game should take the train if its quicker than driving etc... but fail to do so and just take the shortest route still. They mentioned that through modding on this site it can be fixed. Obviously I am nowhere near introducing a train network etc....heck ive only just done my agriculture based small city and moved onto my next door bigger city. Just wondered if there is other issues like this brought about by NOT modding.

 

Im really enjoying the game and cant believe I didnt take a gamble an get it sooner. Still learning the ropes & have a long way to go before i'd even consider myself fluent in the game. Not gone bust yet and taking the advice I keep seeing which is dont rush.  Any help or tips are hugely appreciated guys.

Hi, mattias333, welcome to Simtropolis!

To answer your first question, the patches are found here. But if you bought the game digitally, then it's fully updated; you don't need to download the patches.

 

Second, well, modding does not mean hacking the game to make it easier. Sure, there are a lot of mods there that make you cheat (e.g. demand increasers, radius doublers, etc.), but most are actually for making the game FAAR more realistic and to a greater extent, fixing some of the games bugs. Just look at the top City Journals out there, see how detailed and realism-packed their creations are? Those are all achieved by mods. And you don't need to cheat to achieve them either. You don't need to mod actually to get the desired cities you want, there are numerous, quality addons out there in the STEX, LEX, and all the other SimCity sites out there.

 

And to answer your question on the trains, that's the effect of the botched-up traffic simulator. The Network Addon Mod (NAM), which is the most essential mod of SC4, greatly improves mass-transit usage, pathfinding, and commute time issues. Not only that, you have numerous additional infrastructure freebies, such as viaducts, light rail, roundabouts, turning lanes, roads with additional widths, and a completely modular highway system that pwns the in-game highways.

[mattias333 3]

Superb, just the sort of help I was after.

 

I guess im going to become a bit of a question whore here so apologies for that. Ill look into getting the latest patch when I get home from work. When patching the game & potentially getting NAM now you've explained it to me, will I have to start a new game for it to take effect? Or is it save game friendly? Is NAM fairly straightward to install etc or is it a good idea to keep playing before doing this and get familar with the game before looking into things like NAM. Ill be honest I doubt i'd go much further than getting NAM as had a quick look at brilliant add on's but looked alot of work etc for the amount of time I have spare to play.

 

Im being flat out lazy now, but im at work so times short but whats LEX & STEX in a nutshell?

 

Really loving the game. Got a big football match this evening but certainly going to get a few hours in on SC4 while the missus watches the awful selection of TV she watches. lol

[GeometryMath Algebra 614]

Superb, just the sort of help I was after.

 

I guess im going to become a bit of a question whore here so apologies for that. Ill look into getting the latest patch when I get home from work. When patching the game & potentially getting NAM now you've explained it to me, will I have to start a new game for it to take effect? Or is it save game friendly? Is NAM fairly straightward to install etc or is it a good idea to keep playing before doing this and get familar with the game before looking into things like NAM. Ill be honest I doubt i'd go much further than getting NAM as had a quick look at brilliant add on's but looked alot of work etc for the amount of time I have spare to play.

 

Im being flat out lazy now, but im at work so times short but whats LEX & STEX in a nutshell?

 

Really loving the game. Got a big football match this evening but certainly going to get a few hours in on SC4 while the missus watches the awful selection of TV she watches. lol

The NAM is 100% save friendly, so that means you can use it in existing cities. The NAM features a custom installation, so you can pick what to and what not to install...

The LEX is the exchange of another prominent SimCity 4 site, SC4Devotion.

[cmdp123789 710]

Superb, just the sort of help I was after.

 

I guess im going to become a bit of a question whore here so apologies for that. Ill look into getting the latest patch when I get home from work. When patching the game & potentially getting NAM now you've explained it to me, will I have to start a new game for it to take effect? Or is it save game friendly? Is NAM fairly straightward to install etc or is it a good idea to keep playing before doing this and get familar with the game before looking into things like NAM. Ill be honest I doubt i'd go much further than getting NAM as had a quick look at brilliant add on's but looked alot of work etc for the amount of time I have spare to play.

 

Im being flat out lazy now, but im at work so times short but whats LEX & STEX in a nutshell?

 

Really loving the game. Got a big football match this evening but certainly going to get a few hours in on SC4 while the missus watches the awful selection of TV she watches. lol

 

Alright! Hmmmm welcome! sooooooo... LEX and STEX are basically where you download your stuff. When people talk about LEX and STEX, they are referring to 2 different websites, STEX being simtropolis and LEX being sc4devotion. Both websites share some content, but some other are exclusive to one or the other.

 

To be honest, the NAM is pretty forward and user friendly. It comes with an installer, in which you select what things you would like to see available for playing with. It is important, that you know some key thins from your game. By the first post you made, you sound british, so that means that you probably have the LHD version, so make sure you select that one in the NAM installer.

 

It sounds all difficult right now, but, the more you play, the more you want to achieve, and to be honest, in less than 2 months, you will be all crazy about mods and lots... specially if you are trying to have a certain building style... 

[Prophet42 1,503]

Just a side note.  The NAM is IMO essential to make the game function effeciently.  You will need to go to the LEX at SC4Devotion (you will need to register and be signed in) to download the NAM.  It is not available on Simtropolis, mainly because of it's size.

 

Also, you will notice as you are playing SC4 that you will get a lot of building repetition.  To combat that I would suggest downloading some BATs from the ST/Exchange. When you download a BAT it does not replace any Maxis building but adds to the building set.  I would suggest you start looking for BATs from nofunk, Madhatter, Aaron Graham, Jasoncw, NDEX, Don Miguel (and the list goes on).  Once you find a building that you like you can click on the 'view other files from this member' to see what other buildings are available.  You can start out slow and then build up your database. 

 

Welcome, and have fun.

[GeometryMath Algebra 614]

Just a side note.  The NAM is IMO essential to make the game function effeciently.  You will need to go to the LEX at SC4Devotion (you will need to register and be signed in) to download the NAM.  It is not available on Simtropolis, mainly because of it's size.

Actually, the NAM is now available at the STEX, but I'd always prefer SC4D or ModDB because downloading here may cause server issues... D:

[Prophet42 1,503]

 

Actually, the NAM is now available at the STEX, but I'd always prefer SC4D or ModDB because downloading here may cause server issues... D:

 

 

Thanks GeometryMath, I did not realize that.  I agree with you, I usually download NAM from ModDB.  ModDB seems to have less limitations that the STEX or the LEX.

[mattias333 3]

superb! Much appreciated everyone! Nice to meet an easy going, friendly, helpful community. Thats rare these days it seems!

 

Im certain over time i'll be as hooked on the mods as all you guys, I've just got to get use & learn the sim first. Im following one of the many youtube help guides at the minute just to build through the basics (its one of the 'Lets play' walkthroughs or something). Theres alot of confusing things which im sure are dead simple to an experienced Vet im still getting my head round at the moment. It will come though im sure. Gotta admit some of the cities you guys have made are truly amazing. I do feel alot of the abbreviations in game could be a bit more user friendly, especially to complete newbies like myself. Did the tutorials but didnt feel they were set up very well to actually help you learn something which to me was totally new. You guys and your help pages and videos helped me no end.

[feeroz123 461]

Hi mattias333... Welcome to the club !

 

Like everyone, I will strongly suggest you to install NAM. Go through the tutorials within the game to understand the functionality. Yes, the 'Let's play..' series on youtube are very helpful. Reading your first post I remembered my initial days in this game (thats just few months back ). I am very sure you will like the awesome buildings, mods and other custom content produced by marvelous modders here.

You won't be able to stick long to the Vanilla (means Default or unmodded version) of SC4 and soon start downloading the mods. I would suggest you to read, understand and follow the installation steps mentioned everywhere very carefully. Make sure you install dependencies more carefully.

Also, start planning on a systemized folder structure in your plugins folder for all the custom mods. Else you too will end up lost in an ocean of mods in your plugins folder.  

Have Fun !

[mattias333 3]

See thats the thing that scares me off slightly as my poor brains fried as it is with life outside SC4! Lol.

 

I did get that feeling with the mods it would get confusing with folders, and the steps to install. (Saw others with issues like millions of brown boxes instead of buildings and the mention of the word dependencies and I was lost! ha!) Is NAM relatively straight forward though. Download, install and away you go etc...compared to the other mods and downloads.

 

Thanx again by the way!

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Let me extend the welcome and let you know there is another popular exchange called the PLEX which is part of the Pegasus website.  Yet another free registration, but there are some specialized workers and works over there you might want to have a look at.

[z1 566]

Is NAM relatively straight forward though. Download, install and away you go etc...compared to the other mods and downloads.

Yes, exactly. Just choose the installer defaults, which means just clicking on "Next" until you're done. (Please read the information screen at the beginning, though. You don't have to understand all of it at this stage, but it will help answer some questions.)

 

Also, I didn't see where you stated this, but I assume that you bought the SC4 Deluxe Edition (which includes Rush Hour).  If you didn't, and bought the original game, neither the NAM nor almost any of the other mods will work with it, and patches won't help that.

[zombie615 9]

I feel like I started a trend..... "Lazy Newbie Question" thread. Ever since I've seen at least 3 threads with "Ultra Newbie" "Old Newbie" & "Mega Newbie" lmao

[infamousjbe 593]

I feel like I started a trend..... "Lazy Newbie Question" thread. Ever since I've seen at least 3 threads with "Ultra Newbie" "Old Newbie" & "Mega Newbie" lmao

My thoughts as well. It's only been this last week that the word Newbie started popping up again. It was actually a censored forum word the first time I tried using it last year. Must of been taken off the list just recently, or was lost during the latest ST site update. 

 

As far as SC4 vanilla goes, you can certainly play the game that way, but like everyone else you'll probably quickly get tired of how repetitive the default Maxis building become. 

 

It so easy to get modding crazy once you dive in so my words of advice, take small bites at a time. Do NOT gorge on custom content or you will most likely end up with a headache on your hands that could quickly turn you off to such a wonderful game. Trust, it happens to most of us at the beginning. Learn from our mistakes.

 

Another point you'd want to adhere to is, make sure you test all your new custom content in a "sandbox region" before adding it all to your active region. This will also help prevent those pesky brown boxes you've read about. And that's only cause those usually complaining about the brown boxes chose not to read the Read Me files that come with about 95% of modds. 

 

Like you, I was also impressed by how friendly & helpful this community is compared to most game forums. So don't ever be afraid to ask any question about SC4, even if you deem it to not be important enough. There are plenty of mayors around here that just LOVE to problem solve. Don't deny them that satisfaction.

[47ply 1,100]

First of all hello and welcome I am pretty new to the game as well.

My advise is get the 2 necessary patches install them then install NAM 32. play until you can make good size city's then start downloading and read as much as you can on this site I read or look at something here everyday have fun.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

General review of game needs:

 

Formats:

SimCity 4 original has one patch (not known where to get this).

SimCity 4 + Rush Hour expansion pack from CD needs two patches

SimCity 4 Deluxe from CD needs the same two patches

SimCity 4 Deluxe digital download needs no patches and runs without any disks in optical drives.  The other versions require a play disk.

 

Essentials:

Any item in the STEX that contains the word fix.  These are bug fixes that have been solved for a long time.

 

Recommended:

NAM 32.  This is a very large fix for the traffic system, but contains many extras.  For openers try a custom install.  You can run the installer for this package as often as you like.  Game must be at the Deluxe level to use this.

 

Optional:

All other custom content.  Go slowly and test after doing a few adds.  They don't all work together.

[mattias333 3]

Many thanx guys! Just checked back in as finally got some free time to look into getting these patches. all advice has been hugely appreciated so cant say thanx enough!

 

I've followed your advice regarding doing the official update first but im slightly confused. Followed the instructions and downloaded the small 15mb update "sku2" because im in the UK and it lists europe in the sku2 areas. Only problem is when I run the .exe file it instantly says "old file does not exist".

 

Bit confused? Even though the notes say it shouldn't matter ive even tried moving the .exe file into the sc4 folder but no luck. Any advice guys?

Side note: my current sc4 is the deluxe edition and the file says its currently version 1.1.613.0

 

Bit confused why the update hasnt worked.

[mattias333 3]

Im assuming I dont need to do the original update of the game first? I just went for the one bellow that said deluxe/rush hour version of the game.

[z1 566]

Im assuming I dont need to do the original update of the game first? I just went for the one bellow that said deluxe/rush hour version of the game.

 

Assuming you have the Deluxe edition, then that's correct.  The error message you're getting from the patch seems to imply that it's the wrong one.  Many times, we've seen versions sold that weren't the correct ones for the countries in which they were bought.  Try applying the SKU1 patch and see if that works.

[mattias333 3]

Sadly the sku1 patch hasnt worked either.

 

Really confused.

 

Was an official sealed copy of sc4 deluxe.

 

Ive done no mods of any sort. Just installed and played the boxed game. Any ideas guys?

 

Literally the minute I run the .exe it says "this program will apply EP1 Update 1 (build 638) to simcity 4 europe"

 

When I press ok it immediatley says "Patch Warning - Old file does not exist"....I click ok and it says the same message a few more times and then says update completed but when looking at the info for the file it still says File version 1.1.613,0 Hopefully someone can help. Assuming im pretty stuck when comes to using nam as well without the patch done.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

have you tried running the patch as an administrator ?

[mattias333 3]

yeah, tried as an administrator too. very frustrating. Really puzzling me.

[mattias333 3]

the patch log that comes up says

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   PATCH  Version 6.50 - RTPatch® Professional - Software Update System

                    DOS/16-bit Windows/32-bit Windows Edition

       © Copyright Pocket Soft, Inc., 1991-2002.  All Rights Reserved.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------





----- Processing Patch File -----



Applying MODIFY File Patch for 'DELUXE.exe'



Applying MODIFY File Patch for 'Graphics Rules.sgr'



warning wpt0015: Old File does not exist
 

[mattias333 3]

Ive even tried going on simcity.com and downloading the patch from there. But that only has one download and its sku1 to p2 and when you try run it, it says its trying to run patch 2 build 272. once again same message display about no file found. Really confused! Assuming NAM wont work without this either.

[z1 566]

Do you have the file "Graphics Rules.sgr" in your main SC4 directory?
 

Assuming NAM wont work without this either.

 

Yes, unfortunately, that is correct.

[mattias333 3]

yes buddy, just checked.

 

file in main folder saying ""Graphics Rules.sgr 20kb 25/08/03"

 

Trying so many things. Checked the disc and says EU.

 

Downloaded the european patch. Tried running the exe from a variety of places but makes no difference. Neither has running as a admin or running it without virus protection software. So odd.

really hope im not heading down the path to uninstallment an starting again

[GeometryMath Algebra 614]

yes buddy, just checked.

 

file in main folder saying ""Graphics Rules.sgr 20kb 25/08/03"

 

Trying so many things. Checked the disc and says EU.

 

Downloaded the european patch. Tried running the exe from a variety of places but makes no difference. Neither has running as a admin or running it without virus protection software. So odd.

really hope im not heading down the path to uninstallment an starting again

Welp for starters, try experimenting with the different SKUs right here, assuming you bought the game from somewhere other than North America or Europe. If nothing works, a reinstall doesn't hurt...

[mattias333 3]

Purchased from a popular UK game shop in store. Fully sealed and brand new.

 

Sadly tried every region patch and all do the exact same thing. just flash up saying old file does not exist. So confusing as it clearly does in the folder.

[mattias333 3]

One more thing before I try uninstalling and reinstalling

 

Will I have to submit my game serial code again. Reason being when I first installed I had problems which was the serial code on the manual didnt work. I contacted EA support and they helped me extremely quickly and supplied a different serial code to install the game.

 

no1 will it ask again for the serial code

 

no2 will the one they supplied work again or will that be a 1 time only thing