Adding new development dimensions

[Kavaeric 50]

A few questions about SimCity 4's system. Is it possible to:

• Add extra dimensions to development, alongside the included wealth and density?
• Add new utilities alongside the power, water, and garbage utilities in the game?

If not, maybe I'll consider taking my idea to Skylines instead.

[rsc204 21,814]

I'd say in all likelihood the answer to both is no.

[APSMS 1,892]

If by dimensions, you mean height restrictions, then no. There are no parameters in the game files or the custom content that would allow for such distinction. It's unfortunately a tad primitive.

If you were really diligent and were willing to spend the time, you might figure out a way to enable the game's sewage simulation (the files, iirc, are present in the game but the code is disabled), but this would probably involve, among other things, working with DLL files to force the game to recognize your mod. Either way it's an uphill battle, and I think a lot of work has been done already and been mostly fruitless.

Still, you're welcome to try. I am interested in what kind of extra utility you'd be trying to add that would be meaningful to game play, given that natural gas utilities would be hard to model on a local scale.

[Wiimeiser 444]

Didn't SC2K have sewage, if only as part of the regular water system? On the subject of utilities, is it actually possible for a building to produce both power and water? IIRC there was a lot that theoretically worked for all three utilities, but never actually produced any power...

[simmaster07 1,220]

On 5/18/2016 at 11:41 AM, APSMS said:

If you were really diligent and were willing to spend the time, you might figure out a way to enable the game's sewage simulation (the files, iirc, are present in the game but the code is disabled), but this would probably involve, among other things, working with DLL files to force the game to recognize your mod. Either way it's an uphill battle, and I think a lot of work has been done already and been mostly fruitless.

Is there a source for this? There's nothing in the Mac files that indicates that a sewage simulator exists, and Google's not turning up anything.

[APSMS 1,892]

@simmaster07I think the source I read was on SC4D. You may have to wait for me to find it; my understanding was that the water pollution treatment plant was originally destined for Sewage treatment, rather than water pollution, but the devs ran out of time and simplified the whole system.

It was probably in something by wounagaine or Tropod or RaphaelNinja, but I could be completely wrong. At best, it's probably an unused flag in some INI tables, so I wouldn't expect there to be much to latch onto. The post I thought I read about it was probably from 2006 or 7, so very old, and my memory isn't always spot-on. I did a lot of reading before I actually started posting, but I understood a lot less then about the game, so it may be I got the wrong impression.