How to play SC4 Deluxe again?

[CorinaMarie 29,894]

3 minutes ago, djash1000 said:

I'm off work, so will look at how to organise this plugins file, ...

For this, take a gander at the Show us how you manage your plugin folder thread.

[djash1000 37]

Just now, CorinaMarie said:

For this, take a gander at the Show us how you manage your plugin folder thread.

thanks, that was I was just looking for from the earlier guide.

[djash1000 37]

16 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

For this, take a gander at the Show us how you manage your plugin folder thread.

How's this look for starters Corina?

 

I'll slowly have to work out what all the codes are NAMs, MODS etc. as I go I think

[CorinaMarie 29,894]

5 minutes ago, djash1000 said:

How's this look for starters Corina?

I like it. It shows forethought to prevent everything getting jumbled together. I presume New things to try will get sub-folders as you download new toys.

 

6 minutes ago, djash1000 said:

I'll slowly have to work out what all the codes are NAMs, MODS etc.

Have you seen these?

• NAM: Glossary (Terms and Acronyms)
• SC4-related Acronyms made Clear
• SC4 Glossary (over on Devotion's Wiki)
   

[djash1000 37]

55 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

I like it. It shows forethought to prevent everything getting jumbled together. I presume New things to try will get sub-folders as you download new toys.

 

Have you seen these?

• NAM: Glossary (Terms and Acronyms)
• SC4-related Acronyms made Clear
• SC4 Glossary (over on Devotion's Wiki)
   

Yep, new things I'll put what I download in there, then if ok, will move to another folder. I assume can delete all the ones that just say 'documentation' etc... it's just the dat files or sc4 files I keep?

 

Yep second acronyms exactly what looking for. I'm still working my way around this site too! All forums are slightly different, and this obviously has so much info, that takes while

[T Wrecks 10,210]

3 hours ago, djash1000 said:

Yep, new things I'll put what I download in there, then if ok, will move to another folder. I assume can delete all the ones that just say 'documentation' etc... it's just the dat files or sc4 files I keep?

First things first, I urgently recommend configuring your Windows Explorer such that it does NOT hide extensions for known file types. You can't really know what you're doing if you don't see all file extensions.

As for what to keep and what to delete, SimCity will not benefit from leaving the following files in your Plugins folder(s):

• loose screenshots in .PNG, .JPG, or other image formats
• readme files in .TXT, .HTML, or .PDF or other document formats

The other files (.dat, .sc4lot, .sc4model, .sc4desc) should be game-related files that need to be kept in order for stuff to work properly.

However, I do not recommend adding stuff to your plugins and simply deleting all documentation and screenshots. Instead, you could keep a download archive where you store all the extracted downloads complete with readme, screenshots, and whatnot. This archive can become your resource library from which you take items and copy them over to your plugins - this time only the game-relevant files.

Should you ever discover that, for example, "Blue House #7" seems to lack something because it doesn't show properly, you can go back to your archive and check the readme in order to make sure you got everything you need.

This method is also useful when you messed up a plugins folder and want to start from scratch - instead of downloading everything again, you simply reassemble your plugins suite from your locally stored archive.

[djash1000 37]

21 minutes ago, T Wrecks said:

First things first, I urgently recommend configuring your Windows Explorer such that it does NOT hide extensions for known file types. You can't really know what you're doing if you don't see all file extensions.

As for what to keep and what to delete, SimCity will not benefit from leaving the following files in your Plugins folder(s):

• loose screenshots in .PNG, .JPG, or other image formats
• readme files in .TXT, .HTML, or .PDF or other document formats

The other files (.dat, .sc4lot, .sc4model, .sc4desc) should be game-related files that need to be kept in order for stuff to work properly.

However, I do not recommend adding stuff to your plugins and simply deleting all documentation and screenshots. Instead, you could keep a download archive where you store all the extracted downloads complete with readme, screenshots, and whatnot. This archive can become your resource library from which you take items and copy them over to your plugins - this time only the game-relevant files.

Should you ever discover that, for example, "Blue House #7" seems to lack something because it doesn't show properly, you can go back to your archive and check the readme in order to make sure you got everything you need.

This method is also useful when you messed up a plugins folder and want to start from scratch - instead of downloading everything again, you simply reassemble your plugins suite from your locally stored archive.

Thank you T Wex... I understood everything apart from the bold.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

23 minutes ago, djash1000 said:

Thank you T Wex... I understood everything apart from the bold.

No wonder, I didn't really explain it, after all... Here, i think these guys have done a better job than I ever could.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

28 minutes ago, djash1000 said:

I understood everything apart from the bold.

I think what @T Wrecks refers to here is this setting in the "Folder Options" in Windows Explorer:
 

(Shown from Windows 7, and it may look slightly different on Win 10 as per this article.)

By unchecking this, it prevents your system trying to do a favour which actually can do the exact opposite. This isn't so much an issue for SC4 files, but for file management in general on any computer. The thing is, there are some bad people out there who create malware ending in a legitimate file extension.

E.g.

For a file with a full name of:

document1.txt.exe

Would otherwise be shown as:

document1.txt

But the format would not change which Windows recognises. It'd still be an executable file and be loaded with all sorts of nasties. By always showing the extension, it allows the full name to be shown at all times and prevent being mislead by such trickery.

And I see T has already posted the confirmation above with the exact same article I found.

[djash1000 37]

10 minutes ago, T Wrecks said:

No wonder, I didn't really explain it, after all... Here, i think these guys have done a better job than I ever could.

 

4 minutes ago, Cyclone Boom said:

I think what @T Wrecks refers to here is this setting in the "Folder Options" in Windows Explorer:
 

(Shown from Windows 7, and it may look slightly different on Win 10 as per this article.)

By unchecking this, it prevents your system trying to do a favour which actually can do the exact opposite. This isn't so much an issue for SC4 files, but for file management in general on any computer. The thing is, there are some bad people out there who create malware ending in a legitimate file extension.

E.g.

For a file with a full name of:

document1.txt.exe

Would otherwise be shown as:

document1.txt

But the format would not change which Windows recognises. It'd still be an executable file and be loaded with all sorts of nasties. By always showing the extension, it allows the full name to be shown at all times and prevent being mislead by such trickery.

And I see T has already posted the confirmation above with the exact same article I found.

i shall read these posts further tomorrow. Looks a bit too technical for now.

The second quote reminds me of win updates, when I can't open any of my document files, as they all change format.

 

had enough of computers for today.

I thank you all for your continued help.