Downloading mods from outside of Steam?

[chocolate_city 93]

Is there any website that you can download decent mods from outside of Steam... any help would be appreciated

[aable 63]

Well... you can download mods on simtropolis but I think most of the ones on here are also on steam. I doubt any other website has much unique original content considering the game just recently came out and the steam workshop is the default place for mods. I agree that 90% of the stuff on steam is crap but there are hundreds of really great mods and buildings on there too. I recommend sorting by "most popular" and once you find some authors you like, follow those people so that you can also get a "followed authors" feed of only stuff that you're interested in. 

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

The open-ended nature of the workshop means it encourages all kinds of content. In a way it's similar to how the old SC4 exchange worked -- there will be some gems, but not all content is of a consistent standard or checked for quality. Although in general, I'd say some of the items created already (especially mods) are quite remarkable considering the game's only 1 month old. There's certainly great potential and this can only continue in a positive direction.

 

Here at Simtropolis or any community fansite, the sheer number of items will never compare with the vast scale of the workshop. However in time, we hope the STEX provides a platform to focus more on quality rather than quantity (although all creative endeavours are still welcomed, ).

 

To find recommended content, as well as search filtering, an assured way is to seek the community's opinions.

 

If it'd be useful, I was thinking about setting up a "content spotlight" type thread, where people can suggest their favourite items and we can build up a list. Would something like this be beneficial at all?

[aable 63]

 

If it'd be useful, I was thinking about setting up a "content spotlight" type thread, where people can suggest their favourite items and we can build up a list. Would something like this be beneficial at all?

 

I would enjoy this. I've been checking the workshop every single day since the games release and every day I find 4 or 5 if not more really exciting new assets or mods that improve the game. It would be nice to have a place to share the best of those finds here.

[Balthoraz 178]

You can look collections. I can show you my collection used for myself. I try to choose only the best mods on Steam Workshop (I look everyday).

 

Those are the links:

 

Mods and new features: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=417937588
Unique buildings: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=419463771

Public services: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=417939023

Parks and monuments: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=417939674

RCI, or growable buildings: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=417938385

Miscelanea (decorative plops mainly): http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=417939967

 

 

Hope it will help you. Usually all those collections are up-to-date. Any new mod on Workshop that I see usable in general (not $%&^! or something very specific for use it 1 day only) will be on the collection.

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

I would like to see teams of modders that work by certain standards within their members like NAM, NYCBat, RTMT, PEG, etc. It's like looking for a brand with a consistent reputation. Then when we go on STEX or the workshop we can be assured that certain items are well made because of the recognized brand associated with them. For individual artists, there could be a monthly or bi-monthly article showcasing their work. There have to be a way to find the stars.

[Linoa06 1,374]

It will happen, in time. The NAM team didn't form the day SC4 was released. Brands will establish themselves over time, and there already are a few people that are known for their great mods - thinking of Timboh's road infrastructure, for instance.

[mutton noir 170]

i have to agree. Folks just can't resist sharing their ridiculous roundabouts, insane interchanges and piddly little parks. These add nothing to the game and do nothing but clog up the workshop making it a real chore to search for the 10% of gold. Many mods are also difficult to use in game due to their being no visual reference. Someone needs to apply some quality assurance and strike the rubbish from the workshop.

[Mymyjp 1,052]

I don't think it is just that they just can't resist sharing...There are some people who do lack some creativity when it comes to parks or plazas, or are not able to created decent interchanges...for them, this workshop is gold and enables them to create cities they could be proud of.

 

Yes, some are a bit "interesting", and maybe with time, some rules may be applied such as

- Picture of work

- stats

etc...

 

In the meantime, I like Cyclone's idea of a content's spotlight type of thread. It would definitely be useful for those who do not enjoy searching through the Steam's Workshop.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

I completely agree on creating a topic about good stuff in the workshop. At the moment I'm too afraid to add things to the game because I don't know if they'll end up looking like crap and I might be wasting my time with them.

[lucidus 69]

Remember Sturgeon's law, 90% of everything is crap. The 10% that is good for this games is awesome. I just can't believe some of the fantastic mods that are already available.

[AkemiAzula 280]

There definitely needs to be some place where quality is collected sorted and presented with assurance of stability. Categorisation by both mod type and popularity.

[amdinside 2]

 Well to each his own in regards to the value of content on the workshop. Just because I don't care for it does not mean nobody will so I agree it should be open for anyone to submit to. That being said, I also agree it is hard to scroll through so much content that I don't care for to find what I am looking for. Maybe having required tags for better searches would help. I do like Cyclone's idea of having a content spotlight. Something where the items could be voted on and sorted by the number of users who "liked" the entry. 

[Terring 6,476]

Don't forget, though, that even the greatest moders have made a couple of crappy mods. Sometimes, you have to make something nasty before you make something awesome.

[mgomrjsurf 16]

The Workshop does have collections but Game needs it to like let's say we select Commercial button then Fast Food it would show all the Fast Food Mods installed for your Game. So if I select McDonalds I could put it where every I wanted it.

[Mystrelia 57]

I live by the adage that one man's junk is another's treasure so far be it from me to say what is "crap" or not (and I'll bet you anything I have a few assets in my game some would consider crap that I love) but yeah, I'd love a thread that acted as a showcase for people's favorite things.

[Linoa06 1,374]

The Workshop does have collections but Game needs it to like let's say we select Commercial button then Fast Food it would show all the Fast Food Mods installed for your Game. So if I select McDonalds I could put it where every I wanted it.

 

that's growable vs. placeable.

[xonedl 342]

The dev somehow need to find someone reliable to step in and take control over custom contents.

Not just in term of sorting the rubbish, but also in technical level of stuff to ensure they are working PROPERLY instead of crashing / clashing each other.

[Mystrelia 57]

The dev somehow need to find someone reliable to step in and take control over custom contents.

Not just in term of sorting the rubbish, but also in technical level of stuff to ensure they are working PROPERLY instead of crashing / clashing each other.

Let's see. What year is it now? 2015. Yeah, 2015. I've been playing games that use mods now for almost fifteen years and never, ever in all that time would I expect devs to do what you're asking. No matter what the game is, there are rubbish mods. No matter what the game is, there are mods that conflict. That is the nature of using modded content and frankly, if a person can't be bothered to learn just a wee bit about the type of things that can cause mod conflicts or go through a few pages of assets they don't like to find ones they do like, then perhaps they just shouldn't use mods.

 

The thing is, using mods is optional. Having the ability to create and use mods from the very start of a game is a privilege. Colossal Order gave us the tools. It's up to us to do the rest. And shoot, as far as that goes, it's easy enough to find most of the really good content in the workshop since most of it tends to be the most popular and there are multiple ways to sort content there.

 

Oh, here's a hint on ways to avoid most mod conflicts (however, conflicts are always possible). If multiple mods can affect the same part of a game more than likely they are going to conflict with each other. For example, if you use mods that change building capacity any other mods that would affect building capacity will conflict and it's worth considering that mods that affect other types of capacity could conflict. If you use a mod that somehow affects the way roads work another mod that affects roads could possibly conflict with that. It just takes a little bit of thinking about what a mod does to predict whether there's a likelihood of a conflict happening. Then it's up to you to put it in your game, try it out on a back-up of your save and see if it works or not.

 

Also, make sure you read any comments that have been posted. Most likely if there's a problem it will have been mentioned. If there are no comments decide whether or not you want to take on the role of guinea pig.

 

ETA: One thing that's going on right now with mods is because this game is so new. There will always be mods that aren't great put out but over time they'll become fewer and once more high-quality things are created they won't stand out as prominently as they do now.

[xonedl 342]

This time it's rather tough, as the game continue to receive official patch it will continue to break someone's else mod before you realize it.

It shouldn't be taken lightly.

[Mystrelia 57]

This time it's rather tough, as the game continue to receive official patch it will continue to break someone's else mod before you realize it.

It shouldn't be taken lightly.

I understand what you're saying but isn't there an option for turning off auto-updates? If there isn't, there should be.

[ghosty20 150]

i have to agree. Folks just can't resist sharing their ridiculous roundabouts, insane interchanges and piddly little parks. These add nothing to the game and do nothing but clog up the workshop making it a real chore to search for the 10% of gold. Many mods are also difficult to use in game due to their being no visual reference. Someone needs to apply some quality assurance and strike the rubbish from the workshop.

 

The thing is it shows that people are eager to share the creations they have made.. And shows that people love the game, start stiffling that and people will go why do I bother and then there will be nothing new being made for the game.. Yes there should be some control on the quality of the mod and whether or not it is a rip off of someone elses mod but should be done in a way that does not turn people away from making content for the game..

 

The dev somehow need to find someone reliable to step in and take control over custom contents.

Not just in term of sorting the rubbish, but also in technical level of stuff to ensure they are working PROPERLY instead of crashing / clashing each other.

 

Actually no it is not up to the dev to police the control of custom content that job is for the creators of the mods and the players of the game and I think also in a small way valve since they host the steam workshops..

 

All the dev had to do is supply the means on how to make mods which they did it is up to the community to do the rest.. Like here on Simtropolis the owners of the site police the quality of the content and not the devs, what content does get put on is then judged by the players on how good they like it.. And that is it the devs job is done in delivering the game, future expansions and other DLC, it is the communities job to police the content that is made by others in the community..

[RalphaelNinja 244]

The fact that cities skylines do have a way to mod is the key reason that I'm checking the game out.

 

Mystrelia sums it up nicely... even EA/Maxis servers were filled with crappy Sims buildings and I think they had a measly 30TB of hard disk so they had to cull the lots that were not downloaded or rated highly. That is just the way it is. People will upload a square box just to see if anyone would download their creations.

 

I am actually happy waddling through all the mods using quick searches to narrow things down but I have to resort back to Google in order to find the better ones.

 

Thank god for the existence of the Rightclick Scroll mod otherwise I would have written this game off; although I am still not too happy with the reverse pan and rotate  of the middle button so if you know of a mod for this, I will be thankful.

 

The Paradox of choice: people are most unhappy when they have too many choices. If you complain with no mods or too many mods, I think it is best to go back to just plain ol Simcity as I think the number of mods are just right. 

[iviaarten 534]

If you don't like wading through the workshop yourself, there are people who are making 'curated mod collections'. I think Totalymoo from Paradox has a few.

Then you'll only have to look for someone to do the digging for you with the same taste and quality standards as you have

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

I say let it be now that I think about it. If we only look at certain curated pages, we can miss a gem from an unknown individual. My taste would be different from many and vice verso. There are plenty of popular SC4 mods I never touched....doesn't mean they're bad, just not my taste. Probably the best thing they can do is keep the mods in order by date and maybe add more categories. We can always bookmark curated pages and the authors that impressed us for whatever reason but the workshop should remain open and fair. And we should be careful how we judge. Don't like it, keep moving. What you CAN count on is there are awesome mods out there so the title of this thread can be misleading to newcomers.

[TPB 563]

Make sure you do your part by always rating mods and fav'ing them if you think they are good. Thats the one tool we have at our disposition and I think many people forget or are too lazy to use the feature.

[Mystrelia 57]

Oh my goodness, don't even get me started on the galleries for The Sims. Even at its worst the Workshop is nowhere nearly as bad as that thing was. I used to occasionally upload TS2 clothes I made there and my stuff always had a following. No, it wasn't on par with the best ones but it was still desirable content that got a good amount of downloads. My creations were purged more times than I can count. My daughter had even better stuff than I did that got downloaded more and even it got purged. It all got purged then replaced with some really bad stuff (and yeah, even if I don't particularly like something I can objectively judge the quality) on a regular basis.

 

I actually made a raid on the Workshop today for some custom buildings and I have to say in all fairness there's no way that 90% of the stuff there is garbage. Some of it should be considered by just about anyone as less than desirable but a good portion of it is very fit to use in someone's game.

[wallacet 336]

Everyone has their own taste, but it's up to us to separate the wheat from the chaff. I've tried my hand at custom content before, with 2 released buildings for SC4. And I'll say... I thought they were good, but I could not fault someone for disagreeing. I'm going to try my hand at buildings for C:S as well, but I'm going to try my best to put quality over quantity (and not spam the Steam workshop like DP....)

[NCGAIO 562]

While it is necessary to recognize in part the criticism of the great amount of existing mods for a newly released game and certainly with many repetitions and incompatibilities also it's hard consider that the majority (90%) are garbage.

 

Maybe be useful  realize that this was actually not a CO effort. to provide the possibility of including mods for the game but just providing something that is inherent to the engine chosen to implement the game (3D UNITY) with respect of assets as well as the API.

 

As stated by Colossal Order the interest and finaly decision to produce the CS took off from the disappointment of the fans with the new SimCity and is much easily realize the intention to keep the game  as possible more near the SC4 philosophy.

 

And mods was certainly one of the issues most discussed by SC fans then it would be obvious that with this  the ease in hands they would encourage the acceptance of the game by the inclusion of features that lacked in it

 

By statements also is possible  noted that they as surprised as the recent CS community by the quantity and diversity of  the material in such a short time but I do not see how they could organize it in a better way even if they already expect it .( for  this  type of distribuition )

 

Although some correction mods seem longer that essential now if have to take into account what has been said here before ie: that mods are optional and therefore who has no patience to search may well continue playing without them until natural selection eventually  happen about  quote in threads or articles.

 

It seems unlikely that it has a motivation for  very large teams of mods that are driven by innovation and looking to do something that is not available to everyone, and get a bonus for recognition of the work since there is no remuneration for this. (Although someone maxis until he tried to achieve)

 

How Cool_Z  said above it's possible that  many good breeders end up giving up because they have to share their work and see it lost in the chaos of Steam and in this case external sites may be a better option for this recognition.

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

I have to agree with NCGAIO especially in the last paragraph. Think about it. In the beginning, we had EA's website to find custom content for SC4. But somehow a lot of us ended up here at Simtropolis, Simpeg, SC4Devotion, Etc and I personally never looked back at EA's site for my SC needs. I cannot say the official site hosted by EA had any significant impact on my SC4 experience besides the update files for nightlighting etc. Cities Skylines fansites is what will give the better options.