A New Golden Age for SC4?

[citycowboy 183]

I spent about a year figuring out how I wanted to arrange my new city, and then Hotel Pennsylvania came out, and I reconfigured everything, and when I was just about satisfied, the new Chicago Train Station came out, there was the Tribune Building; I love it, this puzzle will never be complete. 

[LivingInThePast 364]

The fact that mods and new buildings are being produced for a game 13 years old, frankly, astounds me. Did anyone care about SimCity 3000 in the year 2012? Or SimCity 2000 in the year 2006? Or even the original SimCity in the year 2002? Before SimCity dropped off the map, we would be looking forward to an expansion pack for SimCity 7.

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

I think the SimCity 4, as we use to speak here, was a needle found in a haystack, was an exception among the thousands of games. The game has attracted an extremely targeted audience. We know it's not a very large audience, but it is satisfactory. Even though several other old games are also currently played, I know of none with such a large content which is still being done as the SimCity 4 and the quality and dedication that remains.

[elavery 1,013]

14 hours ago, JP Schriefer said:

I think the SimCity 4, as we use to speak here, was a needle found in a haystack, was an exception among the thousands of games. The game has attracted an extremely targeted audience. We know it's not a very large audience, but it is satisfactory. Even though several other old games are also currently played, I know of none with such a large content which is still being done as the SimCity 4 and the quality and dedication that remains.

 

This is certainly true and may be a reason why this game is still going strong in ten years. I have not played Cities: Skylines so I can't comment of if it is a worthy successor. For players like me, I am in so deep with SC4, particularly with expertise at Lotting and CJs, I can't imagine ever having the time to get up to a similar knowledge level with another game.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

@Jasoncw more power to you, my friend.  I currently have 29 directories containing your work.  I don't take everything, but I do use a lot of them.

[SimCoug 5,976]

22 hours ago, Jasoncw said:

On my end, this year I'll be releasing one super awesome BAT which I anticipate will be the best BAT I have/will ever make, along with a handful of more ordinary BATs. 

...But your ordinary is always extraordinary to us mere mortals 

[hbn 244]

I've played Cities Skylines and although it is a worthy contender, for all the datedness SimCity 4 still seems to pop up, it remains the kind of city sims. It is a testament to the modding community that this game has remained top, alive and going strong.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Wow this thread just turned in a meme hotpot - who knows - maybe even a blue alien with dental problems and a dancing Odd person will return ...

[Indiana Joe 1,752]

It would be awesome if some seldom-seen community legends pop up in this thread, emerging from a long slumber of inactivity.  Then I think it would definitely be fair to use the term "golden age".

 

^{Lookin' at you, famous lurkers}

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

^ Imagine a Darknono appearing from nowhere releasing BATs.

Oh and we had one some days ago, on001222 released a BAT after a looooong time!

[mrsmartman 200]

On 2016/2/18 at 8:20 AM, LivingInThePast said:

The fact that mods and new buildings are being produced for a game 13 years old, frankly, astounds me. Did anyone care about SimCity 3000 in the year 2012? Or SimCity 2000 in the year 2006? Or even the original SimCity in the year 2002? Before SimCity dropped off the map, we would be looking forward to an expansion pack for SimCity 7.

SimCity 4 engine is definitely the apex of commercial isometric simulation technology.

[Bipin 3,403]

I feel like SC4 won't die, it'll just reinvent itself from time to time; there is always something new to explore with this game! Furthermore, that reinvention is often generated in the meta-game realm. Recent advancements in 3dsMax have given us BATers a fresh set of tools to work with (the pedestrian function in Max comes to mind). Likewise, recent exploration of .dll's and the game's core files looks promising. What's nice about all of this is that we don't need MAXIS or EA to develop new resources. We can do it ourselves - even without full .exe access and incomplete/rushed game development. That's good, in the sense that it forces us to take modding slowly but steadily. Sim City 4 will be around so long as there's an interest in the game. With new mods, hidden features being uncovered, and a healthy assortment of BATers, I feel like that interest will be sustained indefinitely.

For my part in all of this, I plan to release a large number of contemporary suburban houses this year. I'm almost ready to release the first batch, and there are at least three more sets to go (each set includes slope-friendly orthogonal, diagonal and wide radius curve lots). Between now and then, expect to see some run-down strip malls and retaining walls on the STEX/LEX.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

@BipinSuggest you remove the link to simpeg from your sig.  It now takes one to some weird site.

[Bipin 3,403]

Thanks for the tip Nonny!

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

2 hours ago, Bipin said:

Thanks for the tip Nonny!

I just happened to notice it.  Really too bad about simpeg.

[Swordmaster 50]

I think two major points have ensured SC4's continuing appeal. 1/ our ability to control the game's content, and 2/ the visual quality of said content. Matching either of these would be a great achievement for any potential successor. Matching both, I feel, won't happen again any time soon, if ever.

For this, SC4 will be an interesting object of research for future video game historians. The content creating community it spawned is unique and I'm proud to be a part of it.

 

Cheers 

Willy 

[Bipin 3,403]

59 minutes ago, A Nonny Moose said:

I just happened to notice it.  Really too bad about simpeg.

Indeed, it is. That place was unique, in that much of the custom content designed and distributed over there was for a quainter, more rural approach to Sim City. The userbase certainly reflected that.

[johndoh4 13]

At this point, I don't believe any more that any one thing is going to "kill" SC4, it will most likely just taper off gradually over the years; only time will tell. I started playing this game when I was a 17yr old Junior in High School, and I'm now in my 30's...so I feel I can say that with confidence. No other game has remained so constant in my life for such a sustained amount of time, and none likely ever will again.

By the way, I mean to check out "Skylines" soon, it looks rather promising.

[Edvarz 1,985]

As someone who only last year became (semi)active in the forums and in content creation, I hope this game doesn't fade away soon, I don't think it will but if and when it eventually happens we'll end up with a great and unprecedented legacy for a videogame. The way I see it, this game can become a hobby, the same as modelling rails, planes, airports, etc. only you don't need a whole basement to create and recreate kilometers of urban, rural or natural zones, and with the insane amount of custom content you can have almost any theme you want for your city (almost). That is what I really love about this game, at it's essence, it just gives you an empty canvas, filling it is entirely up to you.

SC4 was not a roaring commercial succes, in fact it was kinda broken before Rush Hour and the NAM, but it has people willing to dedicate their spare time to fix and circunvent it's limitations and add to it's scope, and that scope has never been broader I think. Maybe there aren't daily uploads to the STEX or LEX, but the quality of them is so high that it's sometimes intimidating to venture into custom content creation, thankfully, there are information resources and helpful members of the community around that make it less daunting.

I can't comment on Cities:Skylines, as I can't play it on my laptop and I will have to wait at least two years to get a computer that can run it (renting a place while studying a career doesn't leave much spare money), I just hope my 4.5 years old laptop doesn't die on me whilst. I can only speak about what I think drives people to play and expand this game after 13 years, it is certainly what drives me.

So, in a nutshell, we can do a lot of things that weren't possible before, and the game looks more beautiful than ever, so I do think that at least members who weren't around in the old years are seeing a new SC4 Golden Age.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

For people who acquire this game recently, it must be quite a blow in a way.  There is no instant gratification, which is a good thing.  After you've paid your license fee, nobody hounds you to purchase this or that, or says you can't have some plugin without payment of some outrageous fee.  Instead, there is a rather long learning curve as new people pass through the frustrations of learning to handle the small number of variables to stay in the black.  I wonder how many go broke a few times then give up?

SC4 is a classic game from the days when the horror of DRM did not exist.  A couple of outfits, Steam and Origin, are playing "let's pretend" with it, which messes up the standard structure used for years and makes some of the after market stuff hard to connect.  This game was built at a time when the game makers supported their product instead of exploiting it.  I am sure EA, one of the greatest offenders in the current market would like it to go away, but they still milk the poor old cow, and will until it dies.

This program was released in a bit of a rush caused by marketing pressure.  As such it is rather buggy.  No program is ever completely free of bugs, and this one is typical for its times.  Fortunately the user community has stepped in and fixed many of the problems that would otherwise have killed the game long ago.  And this is after the fixes from Maxis.  I think all the fixes are on the STEX now, and of course the major one, the Network Addon Mod not only contains a fix for the broken transportation controller, but has become a kind of third (free) expansion pack allowing the construction of all kinds of concrete spaghetti for highway enthusiasts and has also expanded other fields to allow trams, a common thing in Europe but not much in America.  Now it is also extending a new rail package (RRW) and continues to develop.  The NAM team, which seems to change from time to time, is a powerful force keeping this going.

I don't think the game is in much danger of disappearing.  Microsoft did try to get rid of a number of legacy games with the release of Windows 10 killing off the safedisk library, but it was too late for SC4 which has a digital edition without the old safety feature.

I've been playing this game since it came out shortly after I retired.  I guess that's around 13 years now.  It sure fills in a lot of otherwise empty hours since I am partially disabled and more or less house bound.

The interesting thing about SC4 Deluxe is that it is programmed to be a constantly changing problem solving exercise.  Helps keep the little grey cells active indeed.

 

[MissVanleider 1,851]

Didn't want to just lurk here reading the thread and nodding to myself, but I don't really have much to add other than my thanks.

To all the people that have over a number of years and continue to create content for this game; much of it to an excellent standard and some of it to a simply transcendent standard that we have no right to expect or even hope for.

Also to the people that run sites like this one, and ultimately to everyone that contributes, even in the smallest ways.

This next sentence is directly adressed to everyone reading this forum: The game won't die if we don't let it.

[InvisiChem 121]

SimCity 4 seems to be very resilient. I've been making personal content for many years, but recently I decided to start contributing to the greater community. I know I won't be the only one. There does seem to be a slowdown, which is to be expected. This should continue to dwindle and the game will fade eventually. For now though, it is alive and well. This is completely because of people like all of us - players, developers and supporters alike. Overall, we are all aging and hoping the new generations will continue playing this legacy of a game. 

I believe many will. The original SimCity was renamed, but eventually released for free to the next generation, quite successfully. Emulators are not as popular as they once were, but have a great following as well. Overall, as long as classic gaming survives, I believe SimCity 4 will be the same.

Miss Vanleider stated "The game won't die if we don't let it." True statement.

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

Even though I am playing Cities Skylines more these days, SC4 will always be my "City Builder Kingdom Foundation". I agree that SC4 is beyond the status of a game that will one day fade away but it is now a timeless masterpiece thanks to this community. I still have my original disks...and they still work. I keep them along with my OS and Motherboard Disks like it's that serious. Even though I haven't played it in a while, if my disks went missing, I would freak out.

What I like about this community is it's made up of thinking, patient and very creative players. It saddens me that for the love or perceived importance of profit over substance, that a community like this is not properly catered to but what I am impressed with is that even though EA has not updated SC4 in many many years, this community managed to bring it to legendary status...and without paid mods or dlc. It really says something I wish more of the world could recognize.

[BLANKBLANK 4,414]

I still have the original disks! They're only 13 years old! To this day I load the game from that Rush Hour disk

[SimCoug 5,976]

56 minutes ago, Ln X said:

I still have the original disks! They're only 13 years old! To this day I load the game from that Rush Hour disk

Ditto 

Although I did snag a digital copy from Amazon during a sale as a backup 

I really wish I had pictures of some of the early cities I built so I could see the progression in terms of playing style and mods.  

[Compdude787 916]

3 hours ago, SimCoug said:

Ditto 

Although I did snag a digital copy from Amazon during a sale as a backup 

I really wish I had pictures of some of the early cities I built so I could see the progression in terms of playing style and mods.  

Yeah, I still use my SC4 Deluxe Edition CD that I got for Christmas in 2005 (I think). And I also wish I had some of my original cities and that I took pictures of them. I still have cities from five years ago when I was still playing the vanilla version of this game.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I still have the four original disks plus a disk containing the Maxis patches.  Unfortunately the second disk of the original game has packed it in, so the set is unusable without some serious recovery work.  I have the digital version loaded.

Because of the recent antics of Microsoft, it is a good thing to have the digital version without Safe-disk, but this was inadvertent on my part, and besides I don't run Windows any more.  The latest updates to wine (Linux layer) have improved the playability of the game slightly because they now have a GTK option that improves graphics D3DX presentation.  I am sure these were made with other programs in mind, but I'll take anything that gives an advantage.

[OrSpeeder 72]

Doing my best to pull a new golden age from my side, lets see if I can pull off something \o/ (I only wanted to finish my mod, but now ended working in 4 or 5 SC4 projects, I even lost count)

[Sabretooth78 808]

I purchased the digital edition nearly 3 years ago, largely to end the annoying disc-in dependency.  Despite being redundant, I held onto my original discs (Pre-Order SC4 w/ the Bonus Transportation CD and Rush Hour from the day it was released) up until the neighborhood block sale last August.  Nobody bought them (or much of anything else for that matter), but it had been decided that everything that didn't sell was just going to go to the Goodwill.  Hopefully somebody else is getting some enjoyment out of the old girl now.

I've recently gotten re-hooked on another classic, MS Flight Simulator.  There's another game that's approaching 10 years old but has a seemingly endless amount of add-ons and a similar situation whereby you can make everything look and feel the way you want if you're willing to put in the effort.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

All this talk of rejuvenation caused me to do a restart.  I dumped all my regions and booted in a new default set by just starting the game.  Needless to say, I kept my laboriously constructed Plugins suite.

In the last couple of days I've started up a couple of tiles on the San Francisco Region: Azuza, and Bernadino Santo.  Neither are in profit, but there is a neighbour connection between them and three suspension bridges.  As the saying goes, we're off!