SC4 Startup Manager - manage your plugins!

[Andreas Roth 607]

Well, thanks for the compliments, but most of the honor should go to JeanLucPicard2 who programmed this thing. I've merely worked as a beta tester, created the readme and the installer, and published the program.

[DJGspinNhitz 7]

Any word on a version to manager sub folders yet? This would be the ultimate in gifts for organization freaks like me, also would make BETA testing lots easier too! I love this program by the way and I can not thank you enough for it.

[Andreas Roth 607]

It's still under development. Due to the large size of some plugins folders, we have to create an approach that is easy to use, versatile and not too slow. There are several possibilities to realise it, but it's a tough decision, since there are always advantages and disadvantages. Remember, the Startup Manager may need to remove an entire folder structure, but keep a single sub-sub folder, and put it back later in the same order. And when you add or remove something manually, the program needs to keep track of these changes as well.

[DJGspinNhitz 7]

I guess it is quite a big task, I am glad someone has the knowledge and determination to to this for us. I look at it this way, you really only have to do it once for each city and then jusy update when you add something new. I look forward to its release

thanks

GQ

[Christo26 5]

Wow! Something new to SC4 and I missed it! I can't wait to give it a drive and see how it works. I'm glad to see that the game still has people will to take the time to give this wonderful game more power!

Christian

[choco1 4]

I just downloaded this tool, and it is VERY useful! Its amazing how easy it makes it to use simcity with multipul regions.

Thanks so much for creating this! It has just made the whole simcity experience alot more streamlined!

[getdown11 0]

Im still a little confused.  Does this thing manage plugins for a region or can it manage plugins for different cities inside a region.  Im a little dense so if somebody could explain it to me that would be great. 

[Andreas Roth 607]

@getdown11: You can use the program for both purposes. If you have two cities in the same region that use completely different plugins, simply create another profile for the same region (with a different name) and select the desired plugins. When you start the game, just make sure to load the city that corresponds with the loaded plugins.

[getdown11 0]

Oh wow.  Sweet this should come in really handy.  I have to admit the stuff this community does for this game is absolutely amazing Thanks for your help.

[zzelp 0]

hi, i must have done something wrong. when i start up anew region, the new region folder is put in the plugins folder.  also i cannont see any of my old regions in the startup manager menu.

[Andreas Roth 607]

Date: 2/1/2006 10:13:43 AM Author: zzelp hi, i must have done something wrong. when i start up anew region, the new region folder is put in the plugins folder.  also i cannont see any of my old regions in the startup manager menu.

quote>

Apparently, you didn't read the included readme file properly. You have to create region profiles for your existing regions first, since the Startup Manager doesn't know which plugins you want to use in each region. The new region button does exactly what the label says: creating a new region in the game.

[Mr food11 6]

The link didn't work.

[Andreas Roth 607]

Yeah, the server seems to be down at the moment. Try again later!

[zzelp 0]

Apparently, you didn't read the included readme file properly. You have to create region profiles for your existing regions first, since the Startup Manager doesn't know which plugins you want to use in each region. The 'new region' button does exactly what the label says: creating a new region in the game.

quote>

Many thanks for your quick reply. and i am sorry for troubling you, but OK, mabe i am so thick i dont know how thick i am but this is how i am approaching the problem...  i have read and reread the readme. i have read and reread the posts.

 

As far as i can see, i need to be able to see my old regions in the S.U.M. before i can create region profiles. [unless region profiles means something different to the specific plugins which are wanted tto be selected when each region is loaded - in otherwords the plugin profile for each region] this i cant do. 

 

my regions are stored in C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Documents\SimCity 4\Regions, my plugins are in C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins. my program is in D:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4\. 

 

As i said, my regions are in C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Documents\SimCity 4\Regions and i cant see them in S.U.M. but the new regions that are created by S.U.M. go to D:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4\Plugins, these i can see in  S.U.M. and can create profiles for, but i cannot see when i choose load region in SC4.  now, if i move my old regions to D:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4\Plugins, i still cant see them in  S.U.M. but if i move the regions that i created in  S.U.M. from D:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4\Plugins, to C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Documents\SimCity 4\Regions, i can load them in SC4.

 

(i have tried to keep this simple but when dealing with file locations, it is not easy).

 

this is the part of the  read me i am working with... 

From the README

[Andreas Roth 607]

Ok, first of all, I suggest to remove the files the SUM has created so far, since they might be confusing. Then start the SUM, click on Edit and on the Regions button (the left one of the two or three that are displayed in the box with the screenshot watermark). Now, click on New..., and enter a name for your region profile (i. e. the name you gave your region). Then select the plugins as desired. When you're done, click on the New Region button. If you click on Edit/Regions again, you will see the region profile has been added to the list in the upper left corner, where you can select and rename it, and where you can select or deselect the plugins. When you click on Load Region, you'll also see a button with the region profile name that is used to start the game.

[zzelp 0]

thanks, so i did what you suggested, infact i uninstalled SUM, removed the files and folders (plugginsDisabled) created by SUM.  i then reinstalled SUM.  there must be a residual file for SUM to refer to, because it loaded with the preference for no intro selected, as in the previous installation.  but this time it seems that i cant find any new region folder creaated by SUM at all.  it does show the new names in the SUM windows and starts SC4 but only with the old list of regions. can i get one thing clear -  is it possible to create SUM region profiles for old regions?  where does SUM put the new region files which are created in SUM?

 

 

[Andreas Roth 607]

The preferences (profiles, current region, no intro settings etc.) are stored in the SimCity 4 StartupManager.cfg, which is located in \My Documents\SimCity 4. It's a copy of SimCity's original config file with additions for the SUM. You can create region profiles for existing regions exactly with the method I described above; I don't know how to explain it even more clear - sorry.

[zzelp 0]

so i create a new region in the SUM which has the same name as my old region, is that what you're saying? - i did try that and it didnt seem to work.

could the problem be that i installed SC4 on drive D?

[Andreas Roth 607]

Sorry, but I'm still under the impression that you don't read properly what I'm writing... Do NOT create a new region in SUM, but click on Edit and create a region profile that is named like your region in the game! Of course, you can name it what you want, but I guess when your existing region is named New York for instance, you want to put that name onto the button for starting this region as well. Please do not use the New Region button, since it is only intended for creating a new region! What you want is a profile for an existing region, and this can only be created by clicking on Edit and then Regions. The SUM will read the installation path from the registry, and it is no problem when the game is installed on D:\.

[zzelp 0]

Date: 2/3/2006 3:40:28 PM Author: Andreas Roth

Sorry, but I'm still under the impression that you don't read properly what I'm writing... Do NOT create a new region in SUM, but click on 'Edit' and create a region profile that is named like your region in the game! Of course, you can name it what you want, but I guess when your existing region is named 'New York' for instance, you want to put that name onto the button for starting this region as well. Please do not use the 'New Region' button, since it is only intended for creating a new region! What you want is a profile for an existing region, and this can only be created by clicking on 'Edit' and then 'Regions'. The SUM will read the installation path from the registry, and it is no problem when the game is installed on D:.

quote>

i was doing what you were saying, the step which you missed out was that when i started the old region with SUM for the first time i needed to manually load the old region.  once i had done that it was fine, the next time loading the reegion direct from the SUM load page.  i saw the note about not loading the region in SUM but it only said EMPTY regions.  when i applied this to my OLD FULL regions it worked.  i know it has been trying for you because i couldnt understand what was needed but you see it wasnt that i was just not reading properley, there was a vital step missing.  anyway thank you for sticking with me until it was sorted.

 

there is one other thing i dont understand - what does this mean...?

 

[Note: (New Plugin Folder) will additionally create a new, empty plugin folder]

 

what is this for?

[Andreas Roth 607]

Date: 2/4/2006 2:43:23 AM Author: zzelp

i was doing what you were saying, the step which you missed out was that when i started the old region with SUM for the first time i needed to manually load the old region.  once i had done that it was fine, the next time loading the reegion direct from the SUM load page.

 

This is stated in the readme file: After the first start, it might be necessary to manually select the correct region in SimCity once, but subsequent startups should load the correct region automatically.

 

there is one other thing i dont understand - what does this mean...?

[Note: '(New Plugin Folder)' will additionally create a new, empty plugin folder]

what is this for?

 

I guess this is a residue from a previous version of the program (not officially released). There once was a feature that created several different plugin folders, each for one region profile. Maybe JeanLucPicard2, the programmer, can clear up the issue, but unfortunately, he has problems to visit Simtropolis at the moment.

[bfairin 1]

This is stated in the readme file: 'After the first start, it might be necessary to manually select the correct region in SimCity once, but subsequent startups should load the correct region automatically.'

quote>

 

I saw that in the readme and I wanted to load a region I just started and only had a few cities in it. I thought it would be easier to just start a blank region and import the couple of cities that were in it. So instead of using the Load Region feature I used the New Region feature and when it prompted me for the name of the region I used the name of that region and it loaded it that way just fine. To make a long story short, if you want to load regions you already have treat it as a new region and when asked, type in the name of that region and the startup manager will search your files and automatically install it in the startup manager.

[zzelp 0]

Date: 2/4/2006 8:58:39 AM Author: Andreas Roth

This is stated in the readme file:

quote>

i alreadyh stated that i read the readme. [several times]. i cant help it if i didnt understand. we're not all so inteligent as you. anyway thanks for your help i've got it working aright now.

[ooobf1942 0]

That site is offline.
Is there somewhere else I can download SimCity 4 Startup manager please?
As I think the file size is only 500k

 

Or host it at one of these free servers and share the link.....

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=74143

 

I downloaded the large railway and other railway stuff last night.
And they are great, but the 'dependencies' including highway walls put a lot of other stuff in my SimCity selections, so I now have to scroll down past tons of tiles just to get to a road car park or something.

 

 

 

 

[Andreas Roth 607]

We had some server problems this night. The site just went online again, so you can download the program from there.

[djkronik57 0]

Love the program, but just a quick question. In one of my regions, when I go to the Edit Region view right under the Edit, Delete, and Rename buttons, it says Corrupt data present. What does this mean?



It says nothing in the readme about this. I'll try to get a screenshot next time, but as soon as I unchecked and checked a plugin in the region the message disappeared.

[Andreas Roth 607]

Date: 2/19/2006 8:15:44 PM Author: djkronik57 Love the program, but just a quick question. In one of my regions, when I go to the Edit Region view right under the Edit, Delete, and Rename buttons, it says 'Corrupt data present.' What does this mean? It says nothing in the readme about this. I'll try to get a screenshot next time, but as soon as I unchecked and checked a plugin in the region the message disappeared.

quote>

This message always appears when you remove/rename/add something manually to your plugins folder - the content doesn't match with the stored information in the profile anymore. As you already discovered, selecting/deselecting a plugin will remove the message and update the profile again.

[Daddy-O 1]

I started using this last week.  This is a great tool.  Let me tell you how I am using it.  Sorry if I am repeating a suggestion.

I have a home PC that many people are using.  SimCity4 needs copies of your desired plugins in each user's "My Documents" folder - a huge waste of space.  I have created a Windows SimCityMayor user.  So when anyone wants to play SC4 they log in as that user.  This is where the Startup Manager tool come in.  I use the Startup Manager's regions as profiles for the different users that will be playing.  It works great.  Now I don't have 4 copies of our plugins on my home PC and I save hard disc space.

[JeanLucPicard2 2]

I'm very happy that you like the tool and found a way to use it suggestively .

I spent much time programming the tool and I'm always glad to hear the users uses it.

[DARKO 3]

Jean any update on a subfolder version?

Like others I have my plugin entrnched in sub-sub folders. I've tried using the tool but I really can't unless I want to reorganize everything, which I don't

The only thing I really use it for is to have the start up video disabled at the moment. Also when I check on development what exactly does that entail?