simtropolis Site Updates & Announcements

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

This read-only thread will be used by site staff for posting updates relating to Simtropolis, such as new features or notable changes.

Please post any requests or ideas in the Suggestions Box.

Or if you'd like to report a bug or other issue, please use the Bugs Thread.

Thanks all!

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

New option to hide your content from public view

Recently there's been a number of members wondering how to remove something they've posted.
So due to popular demand, an option has been added to your accounts.

For example on posts:

This allows you to hide the selected post from public view, should you wish anything to no longer be shown.
After clicking this option, you can also provide a reason if you'd like.

It also applies to other items, such as STEX files, Gallery images and City Journals.

Any hidden content / reasons will only be viewable to site staff. This means you yourself will not be able to see it.
If you hide something by mistake, please PM one of the site staff and we can unhide it for you.

Hope this is useful!

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

New Profile Field

In your profile settings (Edit Profile), there's now an option to display the city-building games you play...

For now, this will only be shown in your profile, below "Interests".

 

Forum Layout Changes

In an effort to make the forums more accessible, there have been a few adjustments to the forum display:
 

Spoiler

 

• Architecture & Urban Planning has been moved into a main parent forum, and is now shown directly below "SC4 Modding - Open Discussion".
  If there's demand in future, we're considering moving this to a more general architecture forum, as a way of providing inspiration, and discussing real aspects of city planning.
   
• SC4 Bugs & Technical Issues is now shown at the bottom of the "SimCity 4 Players Forum", in line with the technical forums for the other games (e.g. CS, SC13).
   
• Keeping the technical forums together, SC4 Mac Users has been moved below "SC4 City Journals".
   
• For greater visibility, Current Events has been moved up into the main forum, now shown below "General Off-Topic" (previously it was a sub-forum).
   
• Indie Projects has been moved inside the "Gamer Topics" category, since the projects relate to city-building games rather than Simtropolis or social discussion. The forums in here have been reordered accordingly.
   
• "SC4 - Simtropolis Exchange" has been renamed to SC4 - Custom Content. This describes the topics more accurately, since it's developed into discussing plugins in general, rather than just items limited to the STEX.
   
• "SC4 Modding - Transit Networks" renamed to NAM & Transit Networks. This is more descriptive, since the included topics are mainly related to the NAM.
   
• Due to reduced activity (only 5 topics replied to this year), the Cities XXL forums have been moved as a sub-forum of City-Building Games.
   
• Also because of a decline in activity, SC13 City Journals has been moved into a sub-forum of SimCity (2013) Concepts.
   
• For better containment, the team forums have been moved inside SC4 BAT - Team Projects.
   
• The BATting School has been moved as a read-only sub of SC4 BAT - Open Discussion.
   
• Descriptions have been updated for some forums.
   
• Increased spacing has been added below visible sub-forums to match individual forums.

 

 

Navigation Menu

There have also been a few changes to the navigation menu:

• Links to the advanced search for the main site areas have been added. This will open the form and automatically select that area to be searched.
• The Maxis Files page has been restored and a link added below the STEX tab.
• Icons are now shown for a few common links, next to dropdown menus, and also for actions (e.g. posting a topic or uploading content). For the Calendar dropdown, this is now colour-coded to match the challenge types.

Hope this makes browsing the site a bit easier.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

A few misc changes

Here's a few minor-ish modifications you may or may not have recently noticed:

• Homepage news listings have been added as a block. This gives them a place in the meantime, until the full functionality can be restored.
• Feature guidelines are now more visible on the submissions and index page. This also includes recommended specifications.
• Forum listings now show 30 topics (instead of 25), matching the number of posts on a page.
• Icons added to various "view more" links, to make them more accessible.
   
• Simtropolis Twitter feed restored on the homepage sidebar, showing up to 3 tweets.
• Gallery ratings are now only shown when voting is enabled for an album.
• The Challenge Uploads category now allows reviews (currently not affecting results).
• Several activity feeds have been reset, to include all items inside a category.
   
• The term "SC4" has been removed from the acronym database. This intends to reduce clutter on posts, since it is very commonly used.
• New text align "Justify" function added to the editor.
• New high-definition emoticons shown for HD compatible devices (thanks Hamish! )
• Editor emoticon list rearranged in a (hopefully) more logical order.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

We've a few exciting new features to tell you about:
 

Community Leaderboard

https://community.simtropolis.com/leaderboard/

This is a new system intended to showcase prominent contributions around the site. Not to be confused with the Challenge Leaderboards, rather than a competition, consider it a powerful tool for content discovery. Each day, any likes you receive are counted and shown in the "Popular Content" section below the overall leaders.

 

On the top right side, there are several range filtering options, including:

This allows you to find the most liked users and content for a specified time period. There is also an option at the bottom, which allows a custom range to be used. Want to find items from this week last year? Go right ahead!

There is also a menu to filter by specific sections of the site (e.g. STEX), instead of the default all areas.

At the moment, there is a link to the leaderboard in the "Activity" tab. Handy links to common filters will be added over time, either in the navigation or another common accessible location.

 

Every day, those with the most likes are ranked, and the leader wins that day. On your profile, an award badge will then be visible, showing the most recent time you achieved this feat:

And the number of times you've received the most likes for a day is listed on your profile stats bar:

 

Past Leaders

https://community.simtropolis.com/pastleaders/

This tab reveals who were the leaders and runner-ups for previous days, which have been calculated retrospectively.

Click on a date to view the popular items for that individual day, or go back in time...

 

Top Members

https://community.simtropolis.com/topmembers/

This page lists the top 100 users for various categories.

 

The default view shows users with the most reputation, but this can be toggled via the dropdown menu at the top right:

Especially for the STEX, this is a handy way to find the authors who've shared over 35% of all files.

 

Of course, the leaderboard wouldn't be at all useful without likes. So each time you find something interesting, helpful, informative, funny, awesome, or whatever, we encourage you to hit that little  button!

All in all, we hope you find these things useful. There are plenty of options, giving a unique perspective on what's happening around the site. I'm sure it will also be expanded on in the future. While not intended to replace the Trixie award medals which we still plan to return, this should add more meaning to the reputation system.

 

---

Display Name History

Here's a feature which was included on the old site software, and has now finally returned!

Click the icon next to the display name on a user's profile page. This will bring up a list all recorded changes, along with the date.

For example:

 

Note: The icon will not show if the user doesn't have any recorded changes.

Currently, there isn't a public list of changes for all users. So if you've changed your name recently, feel free to let me know in the index.

 

---

Share your feedback! 

Comments on site features or new ideas/requests are welcomed in the:

P.S. The homepage is currently having a design layout revamp, which explains why some things may appear different or missing.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

New Color Palette

Following the release of CKEditor 4.6.2, the editor's color palette has had a refresh:

Old:

New:

 

More Colors Option

Understandably, the new "modern" colors may not be to your liking. Or perhaps they simply don't match the styles you wish to use in your posts or CJs.

Not to worry!

A new More Colors option has been added to the palette selection (as seen above).

Clicking this then opens the following dialog:

Here you can choose from 234 colors, including many of the shades in the old palette.

There's also an option to enter a Custom Hex code in the box provided, allowing for any other color to be used of your choice.
Just remember to add the # before the 6 values, which provides the correct format for it to display.

For example:

This is a custom blue.  (#1A5ABA)

A quick way to find a hex code is via a photo editor's own color tools (e.g. Photoshop,  GIMP,  Paint.NET).

There are also quite a few online tools available (search: Color Hex).

Please Note: You may need to refresh your browser's cache to notice these revisions to the editor.

Hope this is useful!

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

New SimCity 3000 Forum & STEX Category

You may have noticed we now have a brand new forum & STEX category dedicated for SC3K.

Likely attributed to the GOG release and recent sale in March, there's been an increase in activity for the game here at Simtropolis. Consequently, it seems logical to supply the demand with these sections. We hope this may lead to generating even more renewed interest in an entry to the SimCity series which is not forgotten, but nowadays often overshadowed. Whether you've got some questions about the game, would like to share your progress for old times' sake, or even upload some custom content, it's now much easier to do so.
 

View the Forum   

View the Files Category   

 

Please see this thread for more info on the forum:

If you've any comments, suggestions or know of other threads/files to be moved, feel free to post away in there and they'll be taken care of.

 

---

Minor Forum Reshuffle

There's been 2 very small changes to the forum layout:

• Architecture & Urban Planning has been moved into the Social Forum below "Current Events".
  Since it relates to building styles rather than SC4, we think it makes more sense for this to be in a general category.
   
• Indie Projects is now located below "Strategy Games".
  This reflects the reduced activity, and intends to make the other Gamer Topics forums more prominent.

 

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

Some More Minor Forum Changes

There's been 3 small, but noticeable changes to the forums:

The "Concepts" Forums Renamed

Cities: Skylines Concepts & Experiments
SimCity (2013) Concepts & Experiments
SC4 City-Building Concepts

They are now each named respectively:

Cities: Skylines Showcase
SimCity (2013) Showcase
SC4 Showcase

 

The idea here is really a semantics change to better represent what these forums have become focussed around. Since especially in the case of SC4 and C:S, they've specifically become a way of sharing picture progress of your cities inside the multitude of "Show us…" threads. Anyone can post in here, as little or as frequent as you'd like. Whether you have a City Journal or not, it's completely up to you.

 

Forum Consolidation

Due to low activity relative to the other Gamer Topics, Strategy Games has been moved into a sub-forum of Gaming Talk.

 

---

SimCity 3000 Forum on the move

According to Clause 32.1/5-2b of Dirktatorship Law, an existing sub-forum is eligible to be moved to the main listing after reaching the 1k posts milestone.

After proven activity in the first month since our new SC3K forum was established, it has now been promoted to a dedicated sub-forum above "City-Building Games".

This intends to make it more visible and accessible directly from the forum index, and allow discussions with other city-builders (e.g. Banished) to stand out more clearly in their own section.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

Omnibus & News Redesign

In a much needed update as part of the ongoing site renovation, we've given the Omnibus and News sections a facelift.

Thus far, the notable changes reside on the index page which was previously a dull list of categories and clutter. Submissions are now clearly and more prominently displayed. Images making each stand out whereas previously only the titles and author were shown on the article listings. This approach has also been extended to the category pages.

In addition, all categories now show the correct page title and those for SC13, CXL and SCS have been consolidated into "Other Games".

There are still a few things to adjust with the design, and this includes the 'hero' images. Making them the correct proportion (some of them are stretched) or adding new ones. Another effort planned is an overhaul of the articles themselves. Understandably as many images were hosted on 3rd party sites, these are no longer available. Since numerous articles are based around the pictures to explain a concept, they are essential to the usefulness.

For this reason, we'll be removing these broken images and trying to find replacements to salvage such articles. The same also goes for URLs that may no longer be in the correct format. Either converting or redirecting them to the intended location.

Stay tuned for other refinements to the site's design, notably with the homepage over the coming weeks...

[CorinaMarie 29,568]

Two Little Additions

We've added a Highlight Topic Author so you'll see this in individual topics:

Or rather, the # Original Poster part. (They won't all be by Cyclone Boom. )

 

And we've added Spoiler Titles for the spoiler button.

 

You will now get a pop up like this:

Which allows the spoiler to have a label.

Spoiler

And inside you just type or paste whatever you want to be hidden.

While in the editor you can double click on the gray spoiler title bar to re-pop up the spoiler edit window in case you want to change the label text.

A minor bug (IMO) is that you will not see the label while typing, editing, or previewing your post. The labels only show up once you submit the post. (This plugin was free so it's definitely worth the price paid.)

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

A Minor and a Major Fix

We're pleased to announce 2 useful improvements to the STEX:

Review Stars Now Editable

Written a file review? Want to modify the number of stars you've given? No problem.

On the STEX it's now possible to edit your reviews and set a new rating value (1-5). After opening the editor, all you need to do is choose another star and hit the Save button. Bingo! That's it! Your review will then be saved, and after an auto-refresh the file's rating is updated.
 

Preliminary Feedback

"Oh, this is great cause I change my mind every few minutes!"  –EiramAniroc
     

"1 Star. Not needed. I know what I mean and I mean what I click."  –Someone Else
     

"Nice, but where's the edit button?"  –Anonymous
     

"A technological advancement beyond rational comprehension. A conquering ground-breaking revolution."  –iptech
     

"No comment. All you made me do is test it."  –CloneBoom
     

Possible uses may include if a new version of the file is released, and you wish to re-evaluate your original rating based on the changes made. Seeing as previously the ratings were inconveniently locked down, only the review text could be edited. Not any more... not any more!

 

STEX Old Links Now Redirect

Here's a fix that will likely affect everyone who uses the exchange. Over the years Simtropolis has used a range of software platforms. Starting out when Dirk built the original STEX from the ground up. Inevitably as software has changed, so has the format and structure. Part of this includes the links for files on the STEX. These were fixed a while ago, but a site upgrade altered the format which meant the existing translation (URL rewrite rules) no longer worked. Until now...

Yes, finally those old links on file descriptions will once more redirect correctly. Dependencies will now be reachable without having to manually append the file ID to the URL, or if not aware this was possible, embark on a painstaking search for the files. Just click and you're there.

Format Examples:

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=26793

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=26793

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/26793-network-addon-mod-for-windows-installer/

 

It also works with or without the 'www', and providing the ID is correct for the file, each will redirect to the correct location:

As a result, reference lists such as this one will be useful once more.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

SC4 Maxis Files Page Updated

After much anticipation, I've now finally renovated the page to include the full collection of official SimCity 4 content.

These files were originally freely available on the official SC4 website (simcity.ea.com), of which has long since gone offline. Each is now hosted locally on the ST server. Included are the additional buildings, game patches and the custom content tools: BAT, PIM and Lot Editor. The buildings are available individually, and also for the sake of convenience they've been combined into a zipped 57MB archive.
 

The New Page

https://community.simtropolis.com/sc4-maxis-files/ 

(The old URL will automatically redirect to the above.)

For everyone searching for them, hopefully this will assist with the effort of making the Maxis files more accessible.

Also a special mention to catty-cb and CorinaMarie for helping source the files.

[CorinaMarie 29,568]

NAM Moves Up in the Forum List Hierarchy

Since NAM is so popular, I've decided to move its forum up in the hierarchy of the category index so it's no longer a sub-forum of the SC4 Modding - Open Discussion. I hope y'all like your new home.
 

The New Location

https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/forum/30-nam-transit-networks/

[Jasoncw 11,840]

BAT, Lot, and Team Forums Reorganized

The SC4 BAT - Open Discussion, and Lot Editor and Plug-In Manager forums have been merged together, and the pinned topics of each forum have been consolidated. The team subforums have been closed and their contents have been moved to other forums across the site.

 

BAT - Open Discussion and Lot Editor and Plug-In Manager Forums Merger

The BAT and lot forums have been merged into a single new forum named the SC4 BAT & Lot Workshop. We believe this will have several benefits:

• In the last few years, there has been a great growth in lotting and lot development threads. Yet those development threads are tucked away into a subforum. This will bring more visibility to lot development threads, and it will make it easier for people to visit their favorite development threads, whether they're BATing or lotting threads.
• BATing and lotting exist in the same custom content continuum. Every BATer also has to do lotting tasks. Many lotters BAT their own props. Some people make substantial BATs with elaborate lots, which blur the line of whether it's a lotting project or a BATing project. Having everyone together might even inspire more collaboration!
• The forums are slower nowadays, and combining the two forums would make one single more vibrant forum.

The two forums have been merged for about a month, and so far the merger has worked well.

 

New BAT and Lot Pinned Topics

As part of the reorganization, new pinned topics have been created. If you have any additions or corrections to these new threads, please send a PM to @Jasoncw or any other BAT & Lot Workshop forum moderator.

 

The previous BAT - Open Discussion stickies have been condensed into one new thread, BAT - Getting Started Guide / FAQ / Resources / Help.

"Getting Started Guide" is a new guide which gives step-by-step instructions for installing all of the programs you need in order to BAT. If you've wanted to BAT, but found installing the programs to be confusing and daunting, this is the guide for you!

"FAQ / Resources" is the contents of the old BAT Mega FAQ thread, which have been updated. "FAQ" is the most frequently asked BAT-related questions. If you're having trouble with something, check there first. "Resources" is simply a list of useful links.

"Help" combines all of the troubleshooting/help/quick question functions of the three previous BAT troubleshooting threads (BAT - Troubleshooting & General Discussion, 3ds Max - Troubleshooting & General Discussion, and BAT4Max V.5). No matter what program you're using and what kind of problem you have, you can post any BAT questions in this thread, and someone will try to help you.

 

To replace the pinned topics of the Lot Editor and Plug-In Manager forum, a new thread has been created, Lot - Resources / Help. Right now it is quite sparse, but over time, it will hopefully grow into a lotting version of the BAT sticky.

 

Team Forums

The HKABAT, NYBT, SimMars, and SimPeg Night Owl, subforums have been retired, due to inactivity. Development threads, and other substantial threads from these subforums, have been moved to their appropriate forums across the site. This will help tidy up the BAT & Lot Workshop forum, while still keeping the team threads accessible.

There were some threads that didn't seem substantial enough to move over, and they are hidden but not deleted, and can be retrieved upon request.

The threads were given unique tags before being moved. If you click on one of these unique tags, all content across the site that shares that tag will be displayed. Because only the old team forum threads have these unique tags, clicking on the tag will essentially recreate the old team subforum. The tags are simmars-forum-threads, hkabat-forum-threads, nybt-team-threads, and simpeg-forum-threads. You can either follow those links, or find an existing thread with one of the tags, to recreate the team subforum.

 

Removing the team forums doesn't mean that the teams have been disbanded, it only means that they don't have enough activity to justify dedicated subforums. The teams are responsible for deciding their own status.

If you're a member of one of the teams, you can continue posting in your old threads, or you can make new team threads, as you see fit. If you'd like the tag in front of the title of your thread to be your main team tag instead of this unique tag (for example, if you have a NYBT thread, and you want the title prefix tag to be "nybt" instead of "nybt-forum-threads"), you can change it. But if you do, please keep the forum-threads tag as a normal tag, so that your thread will still come up when people try to recreate the old team subforum.

 

The Simtropolis BAT School archive was also kept in this area. Teachers have been contacted, and have access to their lessons, and are encouraged to repost their lessons as traditional tutorial threads.

 

Item Prefix Tag (Turning a Tag into a Title Prefix)

In the olden days of Simtropolis, teams would often put team tags in front of the titles of STEX uploads and threads. The current version of Simtropolis has a feature which turns one of the item's tags into a title prefix, as seen below. This works for both forum threads and also STEX uploads, so everything a team makes can have the same tag prefix.

It turns out that this feature was only available to staff. It has now been enabled for everyone. You can set the Item Prefix in the same area that you add tags to a thread. Note the new "Item Prefix" option in the screenshot below.

Please only use this feature for team tags. The idea is that a clickable team prefix would make it easier to find content made under the same team but by different users.

Please do not use the prefix for individual/personal prefixes (for example, if I used "JCW" as a prefix for all my content), because if someone wants to find all of your content they can click on "Find their other files" in the STEX, or go to your profile. Please do not use this feature to attract more attention to your thread (for example, making "help!!!!!!!!!" your title prefix), and please do not make random tags your prefix. The tags themselves function the same as always, and most tags belong in the normal tag area. Using this feature essentially allows you to convert a nonfunctional tag in a title into a functional one. There may be other contexts or uses where using this tag is appropriate, and if you're unsure you can ask a moderator.

It's hoped that in the near future the tag's alarming red color will be changed to the standard pleasant blue color.

[CorinaMarie 29,568]

New Addition to our STEX Maintenance Team

We are happy to announce @Tyberius06 has graciously accepted a position to tidy up portions of the STEX. He has been working with @catty-cb in this thread of her club: Paeng's Forum Attachments (Ye Olde Scrabble Box).

His efforts are not limited to just Paeng's files, but those are his current focus. He has shared his vision with us which involves repackaging the files into a more user friendly format with updated documentation along with uploading files never before seen on the STEX. The original legacy files will remain available while also offering his reorganized versions to help with our ongoing effort to improve content accessibility.

Welcome aboard, Tyberius!

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

Friendlier Site Maintenance Page

Over the past few months or so, you may have noticed the following "Forbidden" error on occasions:
 

Spoiler

   Quite menacing isn't it?  

This generic error didn't exactly sound very reassuring in the slightest. We suspect some of you may have supposed the denial of access happened on an individual basis, and not knowing it was applied globally for all users (even site staff). The cause was frequently prevalent during the recent site issues as @CorinaMarie posted and documented. How when the server was getting locked up, it left us no choice but to prevent any inbound requests and give it chance to recover for 30 minutes or so.

To take the site offline this way was rather rudimentary, but it was a necessary step at the time.

Since then I've been investigating ways to implement a custom error message. The aim to still provide the same functionality in preventing access, yet being much more informative and hopefully creating much less panic. After trial and error followed by fine-tuning to the wording and formatting, we've come up with something suitable.

As follows:

 

This will not be planned as a common occurrence. But the times it's required, the new message intends to clarify how we're working on something. Each time it does need to be triggered manually, and so will only appear in these cases we've done something deliberately for maintenance reasons (instead of timeout errors). On other occasions you may see a slightly different offline message still featuring the ST logo at the top.

So you'll now know what to expect, with the knowledge that Simtropolis will be the toast of the town when we return.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

Goodbye, AdFly!

Download button adverts zapped from the STEX

For a while Simtropolis has relied on the pay-per-click advertisement service AdFly for files on our exchange. You'll have noticed this when attempting to download something on the STEX when browsing as a guest. Over the past few years this has been a valuable source of funding for site maintenance.

However, we've now fully removed this for 3 main reasons:
 

1. Serving of unsuitable adverts
   There have been numerous reports of adverts being misleading and causing panic to people who experience them. Examples include those which popup and craftily make themselves known as a "Download Now" panel which is easily mistaken as being related to the STEX file itself. Whereas the Skip Ad function is hidden away in the corner and can easily be overlooked. Also some have reported adverts involving click-bait scams requesting a user action. This is completely and utterly unacceptable, and it's been going on for far too long now. To anyone including @jjeffrey who've experienced such adverts, we're really sorry for this happening.
    
2. Inconvenience to the downloader
   For those downloading from the STEX for the first time, needing to navigate through a maze of adverts becomes a tedious extra hassle. Initial impressions count, and we want people to feel most welcome when they visit Simtropolis for the first time. Being presented with adverts, especially iffy ones, isn't what anyone wants.
    
3. Revenue generated is negligible nowadays
   Although the AdFly adverts were still generating a marginal monthly revenue, there has to be a line drawn here. As such we've now added a new info panel to the downloads sidebar per file, encouraging guests to donate and receive the STEX Collections as a gift with a minimum donation. We feel this is a less intrusive method to help with site funding. Additionally the info box describing about daily guest limits now includes dialog links to the Sign Up or Login forms for convenience.
   
   As follows:
   
   

 

We hope AdFly finally being told to fly away is of great benefit to those who experienced this persistently perilous needless noxious nonsense.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

City Journal Usability Improvements

After some internal changes to the structure of dedicated City Journals section, we're pleased to announce some small yet significant improvements.

Faster Page Loading   

For far too long now, those who check this area of the site may have noticed lengthy loading times for the main index, along with the listings of individual CJs per author.

Through investigating this, it became clear how all latest entries were being fetched in full. This meant every image on 25 entries (per page) were being downloaded entirely! Often this could be well in excess of 100 MB total, which I'm sure you'll all agree is beyond acceptable as an intuitive design. For those on bandwidth caps, it really isn't thoughtful and must also discourage even those with fast internet connections. To see the pages being unresponsive, and there's no need for this to happen.

Again it's long been overdue, but finally this has now been resolved. On the main index page it means there's only raw text shown in the preview spaces. The individual header images are still shown, and these do cumulatively contribute to a few megabytes of data. However, this is nowhere near how it was before, and keeping the headers seems a vital element of how each CJ stands out. For that reason it seems only right to keep these in place.

On the listings of individual CJs, the previews have been removed completely. This means now there's only the titles and info shown, which can be clicked to view the entry on its own page. The same also for clicking the "Read More" link which is now larger and includes an icon beside it.

Expanded About Panel   

The summary info text area shown atop individual City Journal indexes has now been fully expanded. Previously it only showed 4 lines by default, unless clicking the option to reveal the hidden contents. The idea here now is to give authors a place to showcase the latest and greatest entries they wish to promote, or add anything to explain or surmise the main important details about their CJ. Consider it a canvas like the front cover of a book. Of course this is totally optional, and perhaps if wanting to hide this as it used to be, it's worth adding text inside a Spoiler by using the button as available in the editor. The title text of this section is larger now also.

Additionally CJ authors may wish to make use of the custom sidebar feature which was introduced last year. This can be a way to have a Wiki style summary panel shown on the right side of the index page, and also individual entries. Be creative and use it however you wish.

Entry Ratings Disabled   

Yes, they're just stars.

However, without the quantity of community members around to vote representing quality, any rating less than 5 has irreversible implications.

It means the overall average for a City Journal entry will be shown as below the perfect score from the total represented. It can never recover without a massive quantity of additional ratings, and that seems unfair on any author to have their entries branded in this fashion. Clearly there's potential how this makes people feel their works are inferior. This isn't right, and creating works for the community isn't a contest, but done freely to express creativity so others can enjoy them.

As such, the ratings for CJ entries have henceforth been disabled. The sorting option for the main index is still available for legacy purposes, since this considers those CJs which have received a high quantity of ratings over the years. It seems only right for this to be there in the "Sort By" dropdown menu.

Feedback can be given on entries in the form of reactions. Also commenting in reply is a good way to post encouraging words.

 

On another note...

Popular STEX Files Highlighted

Matching how it works for forum posts, all files on the STEX receiving 10 or more positive reactions will now automatically show a "Popular" Big Heart icon. The idea here is it's a positive addition which is awarded based on community appreciation. It's something worth aspiring to receive, and is also very achievable. It can make known to downloaders how the item is valued by many people as a measure of feedback.

This will be shown atop descriptions, along with a subtle highlighted border around the edge.

For example on the NAM:

(The popup tooltip shows when hovering over the icon.)

 

We hope these changes will collectively be of benefit to everyone.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

Option for City Journal Authors

Wish to Restore the Old Index View?

This follows on from the above announced improvements to the City Journals section of the site.

In response to this after feedback, we're now offering authors the option to switch their CJ index list back to display the original previews. It isn't technically feasible to add an actual setting for this, though I've found a way to achieve the same result via a conditional in the template code. This means anyone who wishes to use the original format on their CJ index page can have it displayed again. It's based on your member ID, meaning each page of all your CJs would show this once more to everyone.

If you'd like this applied back to your City Journals...

Please send me a PM and I'll gladly fix it up for you.

[CorinaMarie 29,568]

Guideline (rules) Revisions

Three Clarifications in line with our Revised Policy making Simtropolis more Friendly.

As many of you know over the past year or so, we have unofficially revised our stance on how we define staff, how we feel about forum bumping, and about posting new topics. The following Guidelines have now been amended to finally implement these changes in written form:

 

 

Spoiler

4. Simtropolis Staff
Administrators, and Moderators are responsible for the smooth and efficient running of the site.

If you would like clarification on these rules, or help with anything site related, please contact an Administrator or Moderator. A full list of the staff team can be found here.

The staff reserves the right to take whatever action is deemed appropriate in any given situation, regardless of whether there is a specific rule covering that situation or not. If there is a misunderstanding or dispute, then please bring the issue up politely with that staff member in private.

In all matters, the decision of the administration is final.

Revised:

4. Simtropolis Staff
Administrators and Moderators (staff) are generally knowledgeable in one or more fields of game and site related content. As such their primary roles are helping other members by answering questions or providing links to relevant information, as well as creating tutorials or other posts explaining aspects of various city building games. Additionally, staff are responsible for the smooth and efficient running of the site.

More specifically, the staff should not be viewed as a police force looking for tiny infractions. However, when necessary, staff may moderate content and will take whatever action is deemed appropriate in any given situation, regardless of whether there is a specific rule covering that situation or not. If there is a misunderstanding or dispute with any staff action taken, please bring the issue up politely with that staff member in private. In the rare event something cannot be resolved to your satisfaction in a private conversation with a Moderator, you are welcome to add one or more Administrators to the PM.

If you would like clarification on these rules, or help with anything site related, please contact an Administrator or Moderator. A full list of the staff team can be found here.

In all matters, the decision of the Administrators is final.

 

 

Spoiler

12. Bumping of Threads
Users may not post within their own thread simply for the sake of making that thread appear at the top of the forum. This is commonly referred to as "bumping". Instead, the edit function should be used to add to a previous post.

Please do not revive or bump old threads after they have dropped to the later pages, unless there is significant new topical information to add (which may be useful, or add to the discussion).

Revised:

12. Replying to Threads
Ideally you should quote the relevant parts of previous posts and reply accordingly to each of those all in one new post. If you are unfamiliar with the site's software, see the section Selective Quoting in the Introduction and Guide to Simtropolis.

There are a couple of instances when posting again in a thread where you were the last to previously post is allowed, providing there is something new or relevant to add:

• This is actually encouraged when the topic is of a troubleshooting nature and there are others actively replying to help. For instance, you may need to make a correction to something you stated, and it would likely be overlooked if you were to edit your last post. In this case it is better to add a new post (even if it has only been a very short time since the prior post) because those who are following the conversation may have already read the post and could be replying to the inadvertent misinformation. By adding a new post, this will send a new notification (beep) to the thread followers and alert them to see the new content.
   
• Should you have something new to add and it has been several minutes or hours since your last post, it is suggested to make a new post rather than an edit. Those who are following the thread may have already read the last post and would therefore not be notified by an edit to that post. This is intended for those legitimate oops moments when you think of something you forgot. Eventually staff may choose to merge posts at a later time for consolidation.
   

It is also acceptable to reply to (and therefore bump) an old topic regardless of when the last post was if you have new, relevant information or questions. Do keep in mind some older content may no longer be up to date due to changes in the game itself or the game content being discussed.

Note: In the site Forum Games there is a Forum Game Rules thread that contains more restrictive bumping rules which supersede the above with regard to posting in that area.

 

 

Spoiler

13. Find the right forum
Please make an effort to find the right forum to ask questions or post a new topic. Many common questions are answered in the Omnibus. Please attempt to find the answer there first, before posting a new thread. The Live Chat Room is also an excellent place to find help and answers to questions.

All threads should use an informative title and tags, that describe the topic or question accurately. “Help me!!!" or "Hey!!!” is unlikely to get many useful responses!

Revised:

13. Finding the Right Forum
Simtropolis has several main forums with most having a few sub-forums.

It is sometimes difficult to decide where a new topic should be posted and this is most especially true for newcomers to the site. Feel free to make your best guess for where to create a new topic. For instance, if the new topic is about SimCity 4 then the SimCity 4 General Discussion is a good place to post it. Or, you can simply place it in the New Members Information and we'll decide for you. A staff member will be happy to move it somewhere else if there is a better place for it.

All threads should use an informative title and tags that describe the topic or question accurately. Titles with Help me!!! or Hey!!! are unlikely to get many useful responses and will likely be edited by staff to make them more descriptive.

^ The above revisions will appear in the actual Guidelines in a day or so, but are fully in effect now.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

Forum Games: 1-Post Rule

The 2PR is the 1PR now.

As many of you'll be aware, we've since relaxed the old topic bumping rules and restrictions on consecutive posts in the main discussion forums. As such, the ease of restriction seems fitting also to cover the Forum Games section. For many years the 2-Post Rule was necessary to make the topics fun and fair for all participants, but times have changed. Now it seems only right with reduced forum game activity for needing only one other poster beforehand.

As such we can hereby officially announce going forward... 

Replacing the old 2-Post Rule (2PR) previously in effect, there is now a 1-Post Rule (1PR) which applies to all Forum Games topics. This means to reply again inside any given forum game, there must be ONE other poster who replies after your previous post.

We hope this change will be of benefit for those who take part in the Forum Games.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

New Upgraded Activity Feeds

Includes an Index Page for easy access links.

By now you're probably all accustomed to the SimTopical index, which was intended to be a way of showcasing prior past items from CJs and such. This hadn't really been much of a success due to the involvement needed from continually updating it by hand, and so it remained static with no updates for a few years now. As such we've decided to retire SimTopical, and replacing it on the navigation bar with a new series of activity feeds. It is still available to view directly, but it now doesn't appear up top as a link.

With the new activity feeds, the idea is to present frequently accessed parts of the site in a way which will be more useful to you all. They're all automated, which means the site software does the work in populating them with the latest items to be listed as things are posted.

Therefore we're pleased to present the new page and links...

•   Featured Topics   

    Popular Topics   

    New Topics   

•   Pinned Topics   

    New STEX Feedback   

    Staff Topics   

Available on the new dedicated index page:
https://community.simtropolis.com/feeds/index/

 

The lists are quite self-explanatory for what they're for. The list of Featured and Pinned topics are complete for all forums, so they range sitewide in their coverage. The other lists are limited in length to prevent there being endless rodent wheel scrolling.  (Animal welfare considerations and all.)

Primarily the main practical advantage of these feeds is to view the site from a new perspective. It allows the forum listings to be consolidated in a way which previously was only possible on an individual forum-by-forum basis.

Hope these are useful!

----------

In future we've got an idea to present "Hidden Gems" of the site in a new format, and this may well be what supersedes SimTopical as the format.

The concept would involve indexing posts around the site which may not always get deserved recognition, such as say a highly useful post in a Showcase thread which would otherwise get buried away and never to see the light of day. Then locating these in a format which forms a central index.

[CorinaMarie 29,568]

An Overdue Correction

Site Reputation Scandal Summary

My image (and to a lesser degree, CB's) has been tarnished here on Simtropolis for what we allowed to happen over the past few months.

Before I go into the details, do note that no other member's name is mentioned here and they are not to be discussed anywhere on the public parts of Simtropolis even if you know who is who in the following.

Beginning back in October last year, a member started a spree of adding numerous Like reactions and positive reviews to a small group of peeps' older posts and files including mine (later in December). Now, this wasn't against any established site rule as it never before needed to be stated. However, what we didn't notice is how each day that has been pushing the legitimate info off of the sidebar (which many peeps use to keep up with what is current).

Worse yet, this completely skews the total reputation standings as well as the weekly, monthly, and yearly counts. It is also discouraging to other peeps who have not earned as many points in those time frames. In hindsight, we realize we should have been paying closer attention to what was occurring. Since we didn't, we are now doing our best to rectify our mistake as this sort of manipulation cannot be allowed.

I must admit I enjoyed getting all that rep at the time and really didn't consider how it would be perceived by other members. So, part of the resolution was removing the 1,761 rep which they gave me that was not properly earned. Ofc, the rep four other peeps gained from this illegitimate method was also removed too.

In the following graph you can see the extent of what happened. Only my name is listed here specifically.

We realize we've let y'all down by not taking action sooner. We apologize and hope you'll understand we are not perfect.

-Cori (& CB)

 

P. S.

Additionally, Rule 5 has been updated as follows with the new part being 5e and the explanation:

5. Prohibited Actions
It is strictly and expressly prohibited to post or upload:

a) Anything referring to CD keys or no CD cracks.
b) Any content malicious to computer hardware or software, such as viruses.
c) Any content that violates another person's privacy.
d) Anything relating to the pirating, or copying, of any software game title.

It is also strictly and expressly prohibited to:

e) Abuse of any site feature, including manipulating the site's reputation or review system to unfairly escalate any other member's ranking.

More specifically, there was a situation from October, 2020 to January, 2021 in which a particular member misused the system to elevate the reputation of several other members (and one admin) by doing something called deep liking. How this worked was they added a positive reaction to a large number of older posts over a period of time which then improperly skewed the leaderboard information for all time rep as well as for the weekly, monthly, and yearly totals.

This was then corrected by removing all of the ill-gained rep and this rule is to enforce the same should it ever occur again.

Invoking this rule will still fall under the common sense rule and will be our judgment call for whether or not it has occurred. In other words, it's not unusual in any given day for a member to discover someone's content and add a significant number of positive reactions or reviews on that particular day. This is still perfectly reasonable. Where the above will apply is when there is a sustained pattern such that it is obvious the reactions/reviews are intended to alter the overall standings in a significant way.

^ While this is a new rule addition, it only applies to a sustained effort to improperly alter the reputation counts on a large scale.

Adding reactions is still highly encouraged. That can be multiple to one person in one day or even over a few days as you discover their content. What this rule applies to is a longer duration.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

MAJOR Search Improvements

Long (long) overdue, but here at last! 

We're pleased to announce a significant upgrade to the ability to search the community, thanks to a new Google integration enabled on the homepage, the forums, and the STEX main page. There's no doubt the search function of the site has been lacking for a considerable amount of time now, but not any more!

Featuring...

  

Sample Search Result:

 

Enhanced Search Technology

• Full integration with Google search, which harnesses the power of their search algorithms to provide accurately relevant search results for Simtropolis.
• All 3 main site sections are each individually searchable via dedicated modules, along with a separate Image searching option.
• Custom implemented autocomplete terms relevant to our community, incorporating machine learning technology to become increasingly relevant.
• Simplification of results for clarity, by removing duplicates where suitable (e.g. on similar forum topic pages).
   
• Automatic synonym searching, which allows searched terms to match over 150 manually implemented word variations.
  Synonym terms include many technical acronyms (e.g. TGI, IID, FTL) to be searched in full, providing more directly relevant results.

 

Formatted Dynamic Results Pages

• Search term highlighting for clear visibility of result relevance. This also includes word synonyms.
• Search results display visited links in purple to make them known for items you've viewed before.  (Depends on your browser history.)
   
• The results page allows swift switching between either of the 3 site sections using the same query you've searched for.
• Popular recent search terms are listed at the bottom of the search selection area, and available to click and search.
• Image thumbnails from relevant items listed in the search results.
   
• Filtering by each of the 4 main city-building games of community interest:  SimCity 4,  Cities Skylines,  SimCity (2013),  SC3K
  This gives prioritised (algorithm based) results for each selected game, depending on what you're searching for.
   
• Sorting by Relevance (default) or Date for the results.

 

Further Fine Tuning

All these features (and potentially other enhancements) are possible to tweak. This means while the results from searched terms are way more relevant than the local site search, there's scope to add further definitions and refinements. This will allow the search algorithms to provide even more relevant results than they do currently. The local site search will still remain available, since there are sometimes specific benefits for a direct targeted search (e.g. in a topic or specific forum).

With this new enhanced Google search available for all users and visitors, we hope it'll become the go-to method to more easily find things.

Additionally we've made internal improvements with the sitemap generation within the board software. This should allow Google to more effectively crawl the site, and index content with greater thoroughness. As such this is another way the results from the custom search engines will become even more accurate over time.

 

Note on Results Filtering

When using the game filters (which can be useful to narrow down results), there is a bit of a caveat to consider...

Since some search terms will only be applicable for a particular game (like the NAM is for SC4), these filters aren't useful for everything. Sometimes they might provide false positives too, which means a result from another game might appear instead. From testing we've found searching for detailed and descriptive search terms gives the algorithm more to work with, by expanding on the range of accuracy it's able to provide.

So just bear in mind when using these, and they're intended as options to use if worthwhile. The default is to search generally for all the games.

 

We invite you to experiment with the new search.

Try It Yourself...

 

Hopefully this is well received by members and visitors to Simtropolis alike.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

Temporary Login System Change

Use your Email Address instead of Username to Sign In

 

Spoiler

We've been getting a bombardment of spam the past few days.
The staff have swiftly dealt with this, and I've today added mitigation methods by banning the IP addresses involved.

Upon investigating, the spammers have been attempting to login and hijack old actual member accounts by guessing weak passwords.

As such, at least as a temporary measure, I've had to toggle over the login system to requiring an Email Address and NOT a username.

This way they cannot gain easy access, since it requires the unknown for an email address which isn't publicly known for each ST account.

----------

Everyone must sign in with their registered email address (even if no longer having access to such). This might only need to be done for a short time, but it's needed because otherwise there could be wider consequences in terms of account security breaches. We'll continue to monitor this situation.

Additionally this is a suitable reminder how passwords should be secure and randomly generated. A mix of uppercase and lowercase characters, with ideally symbols. Aim for at least 8 characters in this form, and please (please) avoid using password as one's password! That is just asking for trouble otherwise.

In fact, this can be extended to any of the most commonly used passwords.  (Safe to say, do not use any of these, EVER!)

I've added a message onto the login form which informs about this. Note that this will only affect those who log out and back into one's ST user account. As such if keeping the option for "Remember Me" enabled via the checkbox, you'll still be kept signed in as normal.

If not using this however, it'll be worth updating password managers otherwise and/or browser saved logins to specify your email instead of your username.

----------

Note: Please use the Contact Us form if you're signed out and require account recovery.

Thanks everyone for your understanding.

 

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

New Coloured Letter Avatars

Out with the old, and in with the new...

Some of you will have noticed a more colourful range of profile pictures lately. We're pleased to formally introduce a new set of letter avatars.

Previously back in 2017, we ran the board software's auto generation for letter photos. The trouble with this system is it created thousands upon thousands of individual .png images on the server. While functional in practice, it was a rather inefficient way of handling them. Finally this has been replaced with a custom new set of images.

Feature Summary

• Covers A-Z and 0-9
• Random colour from 18 different shades
• Applied to all new members by default
• Applied to existing members without an avatar
• Updated upon a username change (if not having an avatar set)
• Existing custom avatars are unchanged (including from the Discord sync)

For example, if having a username beginning with the letter "A", the letter is shown in the middle, then it can range from any of 18 shades.

Here's a sample showing the full range:

Overall, this equates to 648 possible variations for all letters and numbers.
(AutoHotKey sure came in handy to automate the image exporting task.)

Each image has a hue increment of +20 (trying to balance between vividness and visual harmony), with ST's skyscraper logo as the backdrop.

It took a bit of database magic to retrospectively apply these to existing members without a profile photo. Then I've developed a system which assigns one at random, depending on the 1st alphanumeric character of a username. The idea is if not having an avatar set, there are now enough styles to add a touch of default uniqueness to each user profile. As such it's easier to recognise who posts, when seeing replies in the index feeds and forum topics.

 

Option to Generate New Style

If you've been assigned a colour you're not pleased with, no fret!

Go to your profile page, then click this button:

(Shown here is the old mundane default photo which has been replaced.)

Next it'll open a popup with 4 choices:

Click the Generate New Default Photo at the bottom, and then click the Save button.

Upon saving the choice, you'll then be assigned a new coloured letter photo at random from the 18 possibilities. You can repeat this process as many times as you'd like until satisfied with the style you've been assigned. Also it's still possible to upload your own photo at any time, should you wish to change.

In fact, just to clarify...
We still very much encourage setting yourself a custom profile photo!

And if changing away from a letter photo, there's no fear about it being deleted.
(Each of the images are read only, so they still remain available to everyone.)

We hope this brightens up the forums a little, while making the default avatars more functional.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

A few STEX improvements
File info panel and category sort order

You may have noticed a few additions recently on STEX files.

Then @nos.17 had an excellent idea:

On 04/10/2024 at 11:04 PM, nos.17 said:

On a related note, would it be possible to not change the updated datetime when a file's description is changed? If someone is not adding a new file version and just editing the details of the STEX description to update dependency links, for example, IMO it makes sense to show that the file has not been updated.

With this change implemented, only new file versions update the timestamp on files. Now this was fine from the present point onwards. However, there were still thousands upon thousands of files which have been edited for description tweaks over the years, either by staff or authors themselves.

So it made me wonder...
What if these can be reset?

This then led me to exploring the database structure and devise a query...
Now an "Updated" timestamp only appears on STEX files if there's an older version. Files with description edits no longer have an "Updated" timestamp.

Then I've edited all the STEX categories to have a Recently Updated sort order by default.

As follows:

This allows new versions to be more easily accessible, as they'll not be lost among file updates for description changes. As staff we'll still fix up old dependency links and formatting (and we can leave notes to say so), but these won't alter the "Updated" time anymore.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

STEX Integration with sc4pac
Automated downloads at the click of a button

This has been a long time coming, but we now have official integration with sc4pac here on Simtropolis!

It will help notably with downloading and installing SC4 custom content in a structured manner. Downloading dependencies manually is now a thing of the past at long last, thanks to the way it organises plugins, and makes sure everything is installed as needed. We also highly recommend memo's magnificent Mod Manager tool.

Check out this topic for all the details and discussion:
 

Note About Accessibility

The button will only appear on selected files at the moment, but the number which are sc4pac supported continues to grow regularly. Also it's a feature exclusive to registered members, so if you're a guest and reading this, we encourage you to join the community to fully access this feature.

This was possible thanks to the superb developments from @memo and @smf_16, plus avid help from both @nos.17 and @Zasco. Along too with many other active helpers in the community, including @Tyberius06 who with his Project ZIP efforts has made SC4 content easier to use for us all.