What are dependencies?

[WendyPerez 6]

I see a lot of reference to dependencies when I look into different mods.  Can someone explain this to me as if I were a fourth grader?  Thanks!

[gwada971 1,891]

@WendyPerez Hi, In fact, these are files that are necessary to add in the plugins folder, in order to avoid brown boxes, or ground textures that do not appear in the game.
Each dependency mentioned with the file must be installed.  At first it's a little tedious, but then the most used ones will already be in your folder. But you should always check with a new download. I hope it's clearer!

Exemple:

[WendyPerez 6]

Well that was easy!  Thank you!!! Yes, I downloaded NAM and it had everything needed right there in the folder.  Which is a very good thing for people like me.  Thank you so much for responding!

 

[gwada971 1,891]

@WendyPerez  You're welcome. If we can help, it's always good!

[Cyclone Boom 16,961]

Dependencies are extra items needed to make content function properly. These come in the form of props and textures, and are commonly listed with links in the description and/or readme file of an upload. As @gwada971 explained, there will be big brown boxes in place otherwise which the game displays.

There's a SimCity.com on the side of this because it refers back to the original EA Lot Exchange which was the clue for where dependencies could be found.

As a dependencies example...

Say there's a 4x4 park lot which contains a park bench as a custom model, along with paving stones on the ground. The bench is a custom created prop, and the paving stones are a custom created base texture. In this case there are 2 dependencies needed. This means they need to be installed inside one's Plugins folder as with the park lot itself. Sometimes authors include their own models and textures inside an upload, and the same principle applies for those also.

Commonly any given dependency comes bundled with many other files too inside of MEGA prop or texture packs.

Most of these are on the SC4Devotion LEX which needs an account to download from there. There are a few on the STEX here at ST too as well. There's some thought which has been much debated on the subject, though that can get quite heavy reading. Basically it can become an additional task because many of them are rather big in size, and some content items need dozens of them too. Occasionally dependencies can require dependencies also, and those are known to be "chained" as one leads to another and to avoid conflicts. As this guide explains, that's what Cleanitol is designed to do with removing old files which were later merged into those MEGA packs.

For most dependencies (and virtually all on the LEX as things stand), they're contained within an installer which will copy the files into your Plugins folder in a predefined folder structure. Others which are in regular zip files need manually copying into your Plugins folder as usual for items of custom content. I remember @Tyberius06 mentioning how he's got a project planned for these to be updated and no longer use installers.

In terms of identifying any missing dependences, there's the OOPS Mod which shows a coloured flag instead of a box to more easily see what is at fault. The great thing though is if ever unsure of what might be needed, or why something isn't working, that's where as a community we can all help one another.

So feel free to ask for tracking down any deps or for any further clarification.

[CorinaMarie 29,632]

@WendyPerez

As you get more involved with custom content and the dependency adventures, you'll prolly want to become familiar with @rivit's SC4DataNode program.

[WendyPerez 6]

You guys are so helpful!!!