Jumping back in, please help if possible....

[archipup 1]

Hi everyone...I'm an old user of SimCity4, and used to be on these forums, but it has been so long even my email address I originally used is no longer valid.  Anyway, I am seriously considering downloading the Deluxe game again, now that machine tech has come far enough to run this game more effectively (I burned up my old computer years ago).

 

Anyhow, my only hesitation is that I long ago lost the hard drive where I had my plug-ins folder, and I recall how long it took me to put this together.  I'd like to play badly, but I don't want to spend the next two months re-building my plug-ins folder.

 

Can anyone point me to perhaps a "one-stop-shop" where I can load up a bunch of the buildings/mods at once, without having to go file by file through these forums?

 

I'm particularly interested in that small park that would give you unlimited cash (I'm a sandbox mode kinda guy), good quality high-rise buildings (ploppable and developed), and I particularly recall a monorail station (and perhaps it was a transport mod-pack) that upped the capacity of the monorail and other stations to a very high number (something like 16,000 vs the games' 2500) that allowed for very dense traffic patterns.

 

Can anyone help me out?

 

Thanks in advance, I look forward to getting back involved!

 

Cheers!

 

Archi-pup

 

(I am a real-life architect now too...go figure with my obsession with this game).

[Jorge_carrillo 140]

 

Hi everyone..... with this game).

 

 

I think the Easiest way is to request one of the Big Boys of the game to sell you a copy of their Plugin folder at least the cost of burning it to BlueRay or some DVD's so you can make a Copy-Paste to your own folder.

[CaptCity 4,694]

Asking to sell or buy copies of STEX (or other exchange) items is definitely a forum 'no-no'. The 'behind the scene' distribution of others' creations is discouraged as it usually goes against the wishes of those creators.

 

Archipup, you might think about donating to the site and receive the STEX DVDs that have been compiled with the permission of the contributors. They contain the same items that can be found on the exchange, so I'm not sure that would give you what you want. The only creator I can think of who has made compilations of his items is SimGoober (available on the SC4Devotion LEX). Other than that, you'll probably just need to do some specific searching on the exchanges.

 

For your higher capacity stations, you might try getting the NAM. It now comes with stations that have been modified to allow higher capacities to go along with the network capacities it incorporates into the game. It also 'fixes' some of the issues present in the default game related to transit 'bugs'.

 

Good luck on getting back into the game....

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Well, if you are starting over, you really should start over.  You don't want anyone else's stuff because a plugin suite involves the taste and desires of the individual.  However, as mentioned earlier, the NAM is recommended.  To use it, you should download the digital download from one of the stand-alone vendors such as Amazon, GamersGate, or GOG.com. 

 

Some vendor sites like to pretend that there is a DRM element to this game and use a non-standard structure that locks out some of the post-sale items such as the Building Architect Tool and related items.  The stand alone vendors will give you the same structure as if you had loaded off CDs except that it is fully patched and diskless.

 

Since the game has really evolved into an artist's canvas over the years, the only custom content I can recommend is those items that contain the word 'fix' in the title.  These really are bug fixes (including the NAM).  One more is 'crime doesnt pay' [sic] which fixes a police effectiveness bug.

 

After that, look around.  There is probably so much good new content since you've played last, you may not want the old stuff you had in the past.

 

You've mentioned modern machines, and you have to realize that this is a legacy program.  It requires TLC to get it to run well on a multi-core machine since it has some really bad bugs that are unfixable that turn up on fast gear.  I hope you are more than a little computer savvy because proper play with this old scout requires using some command line smarts to select a few options.  These options are placed in the target line of the shortcut that starts the game. 

 

Right click on the icon (on your desktop) and open the Properties page.  Find the Target box, which is the command line that starts the program.

 

This box contains the complete pathname of the executable program enclosed in quotes (because there are spaces in the names).  Position your cursor immediately after the final quote, hit the space bar once and add -cpucount:1

 

This restricts the program to use only one core of your machine.  It will multiprocess but it increases drastically the number of unexpected Crash To Desktop (CTD) events, so it is better to turn this off.  Don't forget to click on the apply button when you've finished editing to write out what you've added.

 

There are other options, and here is the list.  You will probably want to turn off the EA advertising movie, and if you have other than a 4:3 screen you will want the two options that set your screen ratio.  To give you a bit of a head-start here is my target string:

 

"C:/Program Files/Maxis/SimCity 4 Deluxe/Apps/SimCity 4.exe"  -intro:off -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 -d:directx -CPUCount:1 -f

 

All on one line, of course.  Do note that each hyphen indicating an option is preceded by a single space.  I am not on Windows so my complete pathname uses a different separator, but otherwise everything is the same.

 

Have fun.

[Compdude787 916]

I'm particularly interested in that small park that would give you unlimited cash (I'm a sandbox mode kinda guy),

Alternatively, you can download the use its Moolah cheat to give yourself lots of moolah. Just hit Ctrl-X, then type in something like this: Moolah 1000000. Now, your money will be set to $1,000,000. No need for any money trees with this cheat.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

That is one of the things I mean when I say things have changed.  Using up real estate to generate money is no longer needed.

[joeypep 3]

Start over, I just did a month ago. It's worth it, just download a few new things everyday.

[archipup 1]

Good responses, all thanks.

 

I think I just have to face the truth that I'm going to have to rebuild my custom files piece by piece.  Oh well, I guess if I still enjoy the game as much as I did before my old machine died, then it'll be worth it

[pieuponieu 70]

I've rebuilt my plugins folder three times in two years, so I feel for you.

 

Here are some resources that I found helpful this last time:

 

https://sites.google.com/site/sc4modds/

 

Of course you need the NAM and either the SPAM or the CAM.

 

You really can't go wrong starting at the LEX and downloading a ton of files from Simgoober, Gascooker, Mattb325, and anything BSC.  There are a lot of common dependencies among the downloads from these amazing content creators, which will mean you can get to playing faster.  No offense to the STEX, which I love, but for just getting started, the LEX is great because of the dependency tracker.

 

Once you have a decent foundation, you can just add a little bit more each week like joeypep recommended.

[Tommy_H 3]

Nonny Moose, extremely helpful information on the command line options. Thank you!  

[T Wrecks 10,209]

You really can't go wrong starting at the LEX and downloading a ton of files from Simgoober, Gascooker, Mattb325, and anything BSC.

Hm... I beg to differ. I think a lot can go wrong if you just go on a random download spree. The result will be a plugins folder jam-packed with stuff you might not even use or need for the playing style you prefer. It sound like a "yeah, dump that truck on my lawn, something is bound to be useful" approach. Next step: "I want to get rid of that building, but I don't know where it is" or "I seem to have a missing dependency, but I don't know what" or "Help, my game takes so long to load" or "My menus are so crowded".

 

I also don't know why people keep suggesting "deep" modifications like SPAM or CAM without even knowing whether the player in question is interested in agriculture (SPAM) or large cities with radically extended stages (CAM) at all. Sounds like recommending high heels just because many people seem to think they're awesome, when the person who asked for good shoes may have been looking for something to wear on a hike.

 

Personally, I have come to prefer the "pull" approach. Don't simply dump that truck on your own lawn. Instead, check out the game and see what you think is missing. Then go on a hunt for relevant stuff, download a small amount, check it, and make sure you got it right before you move on. It's up to you, of course, just saying.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

^ Allow me to add my voice.  As a matter of interest, perhaps, my Plugins folder just made it to 1GB, and I am going to prune it a little.  Only take what you need.  None of these exchanges are going away anytime soon.

[Compdude787 916]

Personally, I have come to prefer the "pull" approach. Don't simply dump that truck on your own lawn. Instead, check out the game and see what you think is missing. Then go on a hunt for relevant stuff, download a small amount, check it, and make sure you got it right before you move on. It's up to you, of course, just saying.

Yes, like you, I am definitely someone who only downloads stuff when I need it. I even kept playing vanilla for a few days after discovering all the mods for SC4, until I finally installed something into my plugins folder. I haven't gotten enough demand for tall skyscrapers in any of my cities so I really haven't downloaded a lot of custom skyscraper BATs yet. I don't have any custom airport stuff in my plugins folder, but that's because I haven't felt like I wanted to build an airport yet. Same with custom seaports, and even seawalls and retaining walls. Don't need those yet, either, but I know I will at some point.

At some point soon, I'm going to have to re-organize my plugins folder instead of just putting stuff in the default install locations. Probably a bunch of folders named for their creators isn't the most organized way to do things... (I might not always remember who made that building that's showing up as a brown box because I missed a dependency)

The only things that should be recommended for new users are all the gameplay bugfixes and the NAM. The CAM isn't really something that you should tell new players to download until they really understand the game's inner workings, like growth stages and demand. Perhaps, it would be best to ask players "What kind of cities do you want to create?" before throwing a bunch of acronyms at them.