Lots or buildings without dependencies?

[simbasc4 8]

Are there any buildings, lots, mods etc... that donot require dependancies as I have a slow pc and dont wont a large dependancies folder my last one was over 3 gig and took forever ive had my hd die and am starting from stratch or is there a full dependancies package ( I got fooled into downloading the april fool 1 ) but have the time to sift threw getting 100s of dependancies, I would donatand get a dvd but I need for xmas when im off so would not arrive in time.

[SimCoug 5,973]

I think all of madhatters sets are free of dependencies.

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

The world will be better when people realize that dependencies make your plugins folder be lighter than if they don't existed...

[RLS0812 11]

The world will be better when people realize that dependencies make your plugins folder be lighter than if they don't existed...

I have to disagree there.

 There are some mods that require you to install dozens of dependencies and sub-dependencies and sub-sub dependencies, clogging the game up with a ton of useless crap.

 

 There are lots of dependency free mods out there ...

SPAM

NAM 32

the pipeline mod + pipeline addon mod

2 different underground parking buildings

Several different sound walls

Realism Mod

Highway Sign props

 

All the mods in my bloated plugin folder are dependency free ( 28+ ) .

[simbasc4 8]

thanks guys, I agree with RLS0812 that some times you do have to install a dependencies of a dependencies and sometimes there are lots, 1 I needed to download 18 dependencies for 1 mod once, I will try madhatters and I believe from previous times if memory serves me rite " Asian team" ???? does not use dependencies.

[MushyMushy 3,618]

Lots of dependencies aren't all that bad. Many dependencies are fairly common, so it's likely you'll encounter overlap at some point. They're also not "useless." Having tons and tons of props can make the Lot Editor quite fun.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Dependencies are really libraries of props.  They can be of considerable saving on complex lots.  However, I simply avoid lots that have many dependencies I don't already have simply because I can't be bothered downloading them.  Quite often a large library is requested for a single small prop.  This has its drawbacks.

 

The important thing here is to keep control of your libraries.  I try to stick to a very few authors in this regard.  As a result, my lean and mean custom content is just slightly over 1 GB.  Unless you have a special purpose, the need is to control your impulse to have everything under the sun (and under the moon, too.)

[RLS0812 11]

Lots of dependencies aren't all that bad. Many dependencies are fairly common, so it's likely you'll encounter overlap at some point. They're also not "useless." Having tons and tons of props can make the Lot Editor quite fun.

 

My - poor - tortured - parks - menue !!!

[Compdude787 916]

 

Lots of dependencies aren't all that bad. Many dependencies are fairly common, so it's likely you'll encounter overlap at some point. They're also not "useless." Having tons and tons of props can make the Lot Editor quite fun.

 

My - poor - tortured - parks - menue !!!

 

Oh everyone's got an insanely long parks menu! It's almost like the "miscellaneous" menu for many lotters.

[Lost Realist 762]

 

Lots of dependencies aren't all that bad. Many dependencies are fairly common, so it's likely you'll encounter overlap at some point. They're also not "useless." Having tons and tons of props can make the Lot Editor quite fun.

 

My - poor - tortured - parks - menue !!!

 

 

If, one day, all dependencies vanished and every single Lot you downloaded came with all of it's needed files right in it, you'd wish back to the dependency-days harder than you have ever wished for anything else, my friend.

[Fantozzi 4,068]

Regarding things you put on lots the biggest dependencies (file size) are model files of buildings. No dependencies means no new buildings.

 

If you mean dependencies as textures or props - I can't understand the discussion. You can always relot the offered content and get yourself rid of the unwanted dependencies (except of the building model).

 

But if you wish to have all the little props on a lot - well, then you will need the files, where those little props are in.

 

Those people who complain about dependencies - I never understood what they want to have. There can't be sophisticated content without the necessary data. I don't think it's posible to generate content without data. Perhaps one should explain what they want, not what they don't want. If there are only negative statements it's diffult to come closer to a solution. It would be helpfull to know how the positive state should looks like. And I repeat again: you will need much data if you want much content. I don't know a workaround for this.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Well, if you had a plugins folder of 3 GB, then your problem was not so much dependencies but rather impulse control. Even with a good suite of pure and dedicated dependency (prop/texture) packs, you can easily stay below 300 MB. Easily. Everything on top of that is normal download content.

 

Dependencies themselves are neither good nor bad. The question is: How are they used? If you have 100 downloaded buildings, and all of them have a few of Cycledogg's trees on the lot, then packaging the required trees to each and every of these 100 buildings would result in duplicates and a massive data overhead. Using the dependency pack as a central resource from which all these 100 buildings take their respective trees will result in a much more streamlined plugins folder.

 

However, if you see one rather exotic lot (exotic = stuff you'd only use very rarely, if at all) which requires you to download 5 dependency packs which you don't use otherwise, then these dependency packs would constitute an avoidable data overhead because they are hardly being used.

 

Likewise, the design of dependency packs can make them more or less efficient. Let's say you have huge prop pack full of military stuff - and a bus stop model. You don't plan to use any military-related lots, but you like the bus stop. So you'd download that huge pack just for that measly bus stop, slapping tons of military models into your plugins folder that you will never use. That's inefficient. However, if you do want to build military stuff (but are not interested in the bus stop), then the prop pack would be much more efficient because you effectively use 90% of it and not just 10%. Only the bus stop model would constitute an overhead, and a pretty small one at that. Of course, the best solution would be to package only related stuff together: Military stuff into a military prop pack, transport-related stuff into a transportation prop pack.

 

Another important aspect concerning the efficiency of prop packs is repetitiveness of the models inside. The more repetitive these models are (lamp posts, benches, objects that will probably pop up many, many times in your cities), the more efficient is a central prop pack. Stuff like a monumental cathedral that you will probably place only once (and only in one or two cities) is best left separate and no good choice for a prop pack.

 

As a downloader/user, you don't have that much control over many of these aspects. I'm merely mentioning them hoping that they will help some readers of this thread to understand prop packs a little better. There is much controversy and highly emotional debate concerning dependencies, but I often feel that especially the strongest opinions ("dependencies suck" / "dependencies are great") tend to be the ones least backed up by actual knowledge and understanding.

 

What you can do in any case is make priorities, download what you need to satisfy these priorities, and pass on stuff that looks nice, but would force you to download too much ballast.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

Some excellent points.

In terms of searching for other items, here's a few STEX searches to find BATs and lots without dependencies, ordered by recent submission:
 

[Search 1]  "no dependencies"

[Search 2]  "dependencies none"

[Search 3]  "no dependancies"

[Google]  site:community.simtropolis.com/files/file/ "no dependencies" OR "dependencies none" OR "no dependancies" OR "dependancies none"

(Search 3 is a common misspelling.)

Here's also one for the LEX:

[Custom Search]

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I just took a quick look at my plugins to see where the libraries stand with respect to the rest.  My largest library is the BSC sets of props and textures.  These occupy 255.3 MB of 1100 MB on my disk.  That's around 25%.  My BSC Plugins suit takes 330MB which means that the libraries take over 75% of the space to allow me to have 624 items minus the libraries 110 items is 514 items in my BSC section.  A minor number of these items are directories.  Overall, I think the props and textures have paid off by not being repeated in each of the lots that invoke them.

 

My next largest set of Plugins is the NAM, which occupies 291.5 MB (RHW, GLR, RRW not loaded so the controller is much smaller).

 

After that, the show position is SimPeg with 94.5 MB.

 

The rest are also rans.

 

I make no special claims except that I have always tried to keep my plugins under 1 GB, but lately have gone just over because of new content that fits in nicely with my play style.  I could, maybe, gain a little by compressing some folders using Files2DAT.  For maintenance reasons, I don't use the DATPacker, but I do convert large sets of model/desc/lot files into *.dat at a slight saving.  This provides a slight load speed advantage, but other than that, there is really no reason for me to do this other than ego. 

 

I have tons of empty disk space, but when I started in this business the disk space cost more than the rest of the machine put together and machines in those days cost in the low seven figures.  Old habits die hard.  Imagine, if you will, two Univac Fastrand drums with a full head crash and stripes in the substrate all the way around each one.  Totally unrecoverable.  Very expensive in 1966.  When we powered these drums up, both sets of heads fell on the recording surface.  Computer pioneers get covered with magnetic iron oxide dust.

[crishy 57]

Dependencies are a major inconvenience IMO but yea they are part of SC4 mods life so you could limit yourself to plops that have one or two dependencies at most.

 

Some builders like NDEX have extensive libraries whose majority of the work seem to require only one or maybe two dependencies so once you have it you can just limit your search to said builder if you want to. Though you still need to read the description because occasionally there will be more dependencies required.

 

I will agree that sometimes it gets ridiculous - like a dozen of them for a plop that by itself is just a few kb in size.

 

Sometimes you do not even know if you have the dependency in the first place (especially when stuff is data packed and unpacking will not work in your new PC...) so that makes things even more complicated. The worst ones are plops whose list of dependencies are in the README only with no mention in the actual item description on the download section...

[NortyByN8uRe 0]

there needs to be a more user friendly way of bundling them

it would be great if the dependencies were packaged with the content, and during installation, the user or installer handles the duplicated files

or at least a link to the download location of the dependency that's in a repository where the link wont change

im getting back into the game, just some thoughts.

maybe i'll have to build some of this framework lol

[CorinaMarie 29,875]

9 hours ago, NortyByN8uRe said:

im getting back into the game, just some thoughts.

Hiya and welcome to Simtropolis!

As you prolly noticed from the original posts there is actually logic behind how most of the dependencies are packaged. And any time you find custom content which has more deps than you want to download and install, just skip that one and look for something else. The bottom line is the way they are isn't going to change.