Resources for creating realistic cities?

[armpit43 172]

I've got back into SimCity about a year ago and have been playing simple vanilla with basic game mechanics, i.e growing skyscrapers. However, I found all my cities look the same and somewhat lifeless and I want to start making the cities look more fluid and realistic. What are the techniques people use to make more realistic cities like those in the "show us your x" threads?

[BartonThinks 3,416]

On 7/23/2020 at 4:13 PM, armpit43 said:

I've got back into SimCity about a year ago and have been playing simple vanilla with basic game mechanics, i.e growing skyscrapers. However, I found all my cities look the same and somewhat lifeless and I want to start making the cities look more fluid and realistic. What are the techniques people use to make more realistic cities like those in the "show us your x" threads?

The short answer is that you have two basic options. One is to download custom resources from other players (like custom lots and ploppable items) and try to create a collection that works well together. The other option is to take custom buildings, props, and textures made by other players and then create your own series of lots, which takes more work but makes it easier to keep things consistent.

That said, a lot of the photos you'll see in the showcase threads have been carefully crafted. There's often a lot of landscaping using mayor-mode ploppable items, and a lot of players will carefully control which buildings grow in different sections of their cities by changing what's in their plugins folder.

If you're looking to get into custom lots for the first time, I'd suggest sharing what kind of features you'd like in your city. Based on your answers, other members on the forum can probably suggest a collection of starter items that are up your alley and fairly beginner-friendly.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Hiya @armpit43, Just as @BartonThinks's suggestion, Yes, I could only think of that two options as well, I thought the first option is more easily to do so, Right? If so,

I have some Mods or BATs for you:

          1. Terrain Mod: With building a realistic city, how can we miss Cori's Shoppes? Dear @CorinaMarie has built many Shops for us: 

My personal choice is Columbus Terrain Mod, Besides, I made some cutsom combinations (rivit's water and beach) after i got used to the terrain and Slope mod a while.

          2. NAM: You shouldn't miss NAM too, Our great NAM team just brings the newest version to us:

          3. Sidewalk Mod: As an aside, There are many T21 mods could add full of variety to sidewalks:

JRJ Sidewalks Mod (v1.0)

There are still more about it, I use JRJ's version and replace the props with HD.

          4. Maxis Tree HD Replacement Mod & Urban Tarsealed Street Modd: The sidewalk mod that just reminds me @T Wrecks's great HD Tree mod and @rivit 's splendid street mod

--------

Sorry that not very convenient due to outside right now, I will suggest more beautiful MODs when i get home.

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Still outside yet think about some more :

In terms of NAM, There are valuable tutorials by Robin @rsc204, I have learned everything about NAM form his video tutorials:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCBZqF2_LiJeBb3PRm6PFPGg

Likewise, Naomi's thorough tutorials:

Concerning MMPs, They are beyond counting, However, I learnt and began with these tutorials by @Scribosilyn, You could find out creat a river and pond and road's video tutorials from his project, I thought those MMPs which have been included in his tutorials maybe enough for beautifying :

By using MMPs, this tool maybe pretty useful for you:

 

To be continued…

 

 

Regarding of Lots of building: Countless again, At first, if you have been tired of vanilla buildings, There is a Blocker could do this, Sorry that i couldn't find out it now, Hoping Dear @Cyclone Boom could help me, Furthermore, I have a personal tip to find beautiful buildings:

 

Yes, That's it, Why don't we start from the best finding thread of the world, there are many helpful and motivated Sherlocks, Not to mention what others wanted may just what you need.

My personal choice is these great BATer's works: @mattb325 @Jasoncw @T Wrecks @WolfZe

https://community.simtropolis.com/profile/91964-mattb325/content/?type=downloads_file

https://community.simtropolis.com/profile/85340-jasoncw/content/?type=downloads_file

https://community.simtropolis.com/profile/760649-wolfze/content/?type=downloads_file

https://community.simtropolis.com/profile/48496-t-wrecks/content/?type=downloads_file

To be continued…

 

About more details of your city, The first one I could think of is Shoreline:

And many seawalls:

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3051

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1519

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=114

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=532

Robin's fix of JRJ Breakwater:

 

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=112

 

To be continued…

 

And the Slope:

At the very beginning, I highly recommend to read through these tutorials (slope mod within):

 

Regarding of some addons to NAM, @rsc204 had taught me with this tutorial:

Robin has thoroughly elaborated, not very easy, But to have a more beautiful road, it's worth having.

To be continued…

[Propfam 2,286]

Speaking of slope, I personally use Ennedi Slope Mod as it doesn't need another slope mod to, for lack of better words, function completely.

Additionally, you can follow my tutorial: 

There are some mods that @Raymond7cn doesn't mention, like

1. Terrain Grass NAM: https://community.simtropolis.com/search/?&q=tgn&type=downloads_file&author=rsc204&nodes=9&search_in=titles&sortby=newest or Sidewalk NAM https://community.simtropolis.com/search/?&q=swn&type=downloads_file&author=rsc204&nodes=9&search_in=titles&sortby=newest (currently only available for PSS).
2. CAM, if you wish: 
3. Coastal Development Mod. Download the CDK main files here: https://community.simtropolis.com/files/category/32-plex-main-files/, then head over to https://community.simtropolis.com/files/category/34-cdk-coastal-development-kit/. Beware, you may need lots of mods there to build a "perfect" port. So, you may have to have a lot of time to download the mods.
4. AC Functional Airports: https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1664. Words of warning: you have to have lots of time to download the dependencies.
5. SPAM, if you wish:
6. @Simmer2 mods. You can try finding his mods by clicking the username on the left side.
7. PEG Utopian mods if you're futuristic lover: https://community.simtropolis.com/files/category/37-peg-utopian-series/
8. RezonePlus, personally I hate the Maxis restriction on zoning: 
   From now on, these are the tools you might need to have.
9. SC4Mapper: https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2880

Why I marked CAM and SPAM "if you wish"? Because neither of them are compatible with each other. You have to choose CAM or SPAM, but not both, at least officially. There are some workaround on Simtropolis. And aside from compatibility issue, this depends on your gameplay style. If you don't need CAM, then that's your choice. If you just need SPAM without CAM, that's your choice too. I hope this helps you. Thanks.

[BartonThinks 3,416]

A few quick notes about some of the resources shared by @Raymond7cn, which are all really helpful.

Choosing a terrain mods can be a little tricky given the range of choices, and because they can be a little tricky to install if you're new to using plugins. Also, certain terrain mods require additional dependencies... some more than others. Tree mods, in particular, require a lot of dependencies. If you'd like to get into terrain mods but you're having trouble choosing from all the options available, let us know, and we can point you to some of the most popular options and/or give tips on how to combine different mods to create the look you'd like to achieve.

If you've only played vanilla up to this point, I'd recommend starting with one of three things: terrain mods, the NAM, or new buildings for your city. Trying to install all three at once may feel really overwhelming. If you learn. How each works one at a time, I think that's generally a much easier way to start modding your game. It also tends to be faster, since you'll learn how the mods work much more quickly.

One final thought: If there are certain pictures from the showcase threads that you really, really like, feel free to share them here and we can try to figure out which mods and plugins were used to create the city, or suggest similar options that will allow you to create scenes with the same look and feel. The "Show Us What You're Working On" thread has a similar function, but usually people use that thread to hunt down one or two specific items. If you share stuff here, we can try and pull together something closer to a "starter set" of plugins to help you find the right mix.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

Hi Raymond, and it is a wonderful compilation you've made there above. Thank you for taking the time to do that for people, and it is very thoughtful. I made it a featured post at the top so people can find it more easily, with all those useful suggestions.

 

15 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

There is a Blocker could do this, Sorry that i couldn't find out it now, Hoping Dear @Cyclone Boom could help me

I do know of this, and it's a Maxis blocker for preventing the standard RCI buildings from growing.

There are more than one of these I recall, but one I've tried before is this:
 

 

One key point about using a blocker mod is how they're meant for use with having custom content lots which fill up the RCI stages. This is important because the blocking mod prevents any of the standard Maxis lots from growing, and they need filling up with custom ones so the simulation is still balanced. Otherwise there can be gaps in what is possible to grow, and development might stagnate and stall unless having these evenly in place. It would be a time-consuming task, but for realism of a particular style (like in the past or future), and it does allow SC4 to be played as an entirely new style really. Then using tilesets for a way to control sub-variations too.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Thank you CB, @Cyclone Boom 

It also helps myself to tidy those information i got recently up a bit. and actually most of them come from CoriBoom™'s effort before, There maybe more, I just thought it may up to how much @armpit43 wish to achieve, so as you have observed, I wrote a 'To be continued' there.

May i ask that since i never been through CAM, I often personally use their models to beautify my city,  however i seem to remember that CAM will conflict with the Maxis blocker, Is that true? Thank you!

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

26 minutes ago, Raymond7cn said:

May i ask that since i never been through CAM, I often personally use their models to beautify my city,  however i seem to remember that CAM will conflict with the Maxis blocker, Is that true? Thank you!

Although I'm not a CAM user personally, I found a resource which has the answer to this and other incompatible mods.

As follows:
CAM - inCAMpatible Mods

This confirms how the blocker mod (and others) aren't compatible with the CAM due to how they conflict with what they similarly modify. This list was made before CAM 2.1 was released, and so there might be a few changes since then, although I suspect it's mostly (or all) still applicable.

Quoting here for the reason:

Quote

This mod blocks Maxis in-game lots from growing by removing all TileSet Occupant Groups and setting the Industrial Occupant Groups to 0xFFFFFFFF.
Since all in-game buildings are included, this mod would override all changes that are included in the CAM, most notably industrial occupancies.

The BSC No Maxis mod changes the Growth Stage of all lots to 255, and should be used instead, if you want to block Maxis buildings from growing.

So the mod to use is this one if wanting to block Maxis buildings alongside using the CAM too.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Ah, I got it, Thank you CB, Sorry about my English so I just follow @BartonThinks 's basic theory to spread out some details, I have to say his main point is very important, The key is to not get too ambitious at all steps, I used to install Terrain and NAM etc all once together, then ran into conflicts and many problems, so sincerely suggest that know well each of them one by one.

There are more about beautifying our cities i just think of, such as fillers and canal and farm etc, I will continue in this thread one by one.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

         5. Canal : I like canal, who doesn't? NAM has brought functional CAN-AM, AKA the Canal Add On mod. It adds pathing lots for Simgoober's canals, however we also need quite a few canal mods to built a beautiful canal.

Simgoober's BSC Brick Canal sets

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2110

callagrafx 's CAL SG canal

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=979

This is a base set, there are still lots of add-ons available on the LEX.

Eyecandy Boats

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=918

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1012

Diggis CAN-AM Multiple Canals Mod (a smart can-am mod which Robin shared to me)

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2213

Robin's great SG CAL Canal - Diagonal Addons

PEG CSK and CSK2

 

 

ARS CANAL(Artificial River System), You could find more addons about his canal in his content page and his project:

https://community.simtropolis.com/profile/68757-rebalynnts/content/?type=downloads_file&sortby=file_comments&sortdirection=desc&page=0

oppie canal

 

This is my favorite canal due to its blue color of water  ML (MoonLight's beautiful canal)

http://blog.livedoor.jp/moonlinght/archives/1351714.html

jeronij's urban canal

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=636

zero7's Sunken Canal

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1064

My favorite again, MAS71 JPR

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2073

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1674

There should be more of canals, BTW, I don't know if it still works on NAM37, but when i wanted to see the canal boats, @CorinaMarie @Cyclone Boom @rsc204 helped me in this thread, you could found out Cori's solution there:

I couldn't find out a great tutorial about how to build a beautiful canal now (too many links in my favorite bookmark), I will add it here when i got it.

To be continued…

[armpit43 172]

Wow, thanks for your responses, especially you @Raymond7cn. I'll need to digest it all and respond in a bit.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

14 hours ago, Cyclone Boom said:

One key point about using a blocker mod is how they're meant for use with having custom content lots which fill up the RCI stages. This is important because the blocking mod prevents any of the standard Maxis lots from growing, and they need filling up with custom ones so the simulation is still balanced

Hiya CB, @Cyclone Boom Forgive me for asking a further question, I thought about your words a while, can i understand the Blocker as this:  Let's say that the vanilla SC4 has 8 grow stages, the RCI building's exemplars also has property which is according to every stages, along with the increasing of population, The buildings which correspond to this stage will spawn, the grow stages they should grow step by step (stepped), If so, i could understand that before using the Blocker, I should have enough Lots which are evenly distributed among every stages, If i don't have the building for say stage 6, then even when my population comes to stage 6, the growing will stop at stage 5 due to without stage 6's buildings, Am i correct here? Thank you!

Hiya @armpit43 please forgive me pause a bit for collecting more useful info from my notebook, And also hope you don't mind if there are mistakes or missed some valuable resources, I'm really not specialist of this, I just try my best.

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

7 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

If i don't have the building for say stage 6, then even when my population comes to stage 6, the growing will stop at stage 5 due to without stage 6's buildings, Am i correct here? Thank you!

Yes, I believe this is correct.  (Although disclaimer in that this isn't my particular area of expertise.)

Each stage is like a selection pool in how there are all the RCI buildings within. So if not having buildings in a particular stage, then the game would still reach that as per the criteria as met. However with no buildings inside a stage to be chosen from, then logically it would have none which can grow. It might be how the simulation would revert back and still grow from the previous stage with no other option (like stage 5 instead of 6), although that would need some testing to be certain.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

          6. Farm : As Dear @chfzdn has suggested, we have well known SPAM Mod:

Besides, I like canals in farm fields:

CAM farm:

I also prefer to @mrbisonm's Nexis farm set,

The JPN rice field is also my favorite:

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1451

And we have more choices

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1146

 

 

 

SFBT's swiss farm 

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1796

And maybe you want these wonderful horses appear around your farm as well:

 

There are still more great works by @justforfun

There are so many farm Lots from those great BATters, I couldn't bring all of them here, However, Allow me to introduce our @CorinaMarie I, by the grace of God, Queen of castle (sorry i forgot the name of her kingdom) , She could use magic tricks to built impressive farms just with simple and vanilla Lots, 

 

You could learn that trick from her tutorial in this thread above, And some addons from her castle map,

Well, That's something which is a last resort option, I made some rural depots and stops, since i'm also a fram lover.

 

To be continued…

[armpit43 172]

Okay, I've mastered the Maxis buildings blocker-as a start...

Here is my attempt in creating a uniformed suburb-set somewhere in suburban England. Clearly the palm tree is a bit out of place.

 

Even getting the hang of making British style "high streets" with quaint corner shops

 

Next, I need to try and master breaking the grid, the SC4 streets are far too rigid for any European country, particularly England. Stay tuned!

[CorinaMarie 29,571]

6 minutes ago, armpit43 said:

Here is my attempt in creating a uniformed suburb-set somewhere in suburban England.

Looking good!

 

6 minutes ago, armpit43 said:

Clearly the palm tree is a bit out of place.

No Palm Mods

[armpit43 172]

1 hour ago, CorinaMarie said:

Looking good!

 

No Palm Mods

Thanks Cori!

[Mytzenka 106]

I have been looking for more small low-wealth commercial services (Cs$) growable lots and buildings.

These are probably the least exciting type of lot to make since I have only found so few, but this is the first area where I'd really like to see more variety in my cities. I am tired of always seeing the same Gustav's Knick kacks (or whatever it's called) repeat over and over again and I also don't like how most of the Cs$ lots are mostly just pavement and parking spaces.

I don't want pretty Cs$ buildings. It doesn't make sense for them to look pretty. But I really DO want more variety in this category.

Preferably 1 and 2 tile wide and growable. Anyone know any?

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

23 minutes ago, Mytzenka said:

I have been looking for more small low-wealth commercial services (Cs$) growable lots and buildings.

These are probably the least exciting type of lot to make since I have only found so few, but this is the first area where I'd really like to see more variety in my cities. I am tired of always seeing the same Gustav's Knick kacks (or whatever it's called) repeat over and over again and I also don't like how most of the Cs$ lots are mostly just pavement and parking spaces.

I don't want pretty Cs$ buildings. It doesn't make sense for them to look pretty. But I really DO want more variety in this category.

Preferably 1 and 2 tile wide and growable. Anyone know any?

Just about anything with "W2W" "Smalltown" or "Slum" will come up with Google results your looking for. I've got just about everything that works in RCI$ from assorted STEX safaris. I'm a slumdog millionaire.

[BartonThinks 3,416]

3 hours ago, Mytzenka said:

I have been looking for more small low-wealth commercial services (Cs$) growable lots and buildings.

These are probably the least exciting type of lot to make since I have only found so few, but this is the first area where I'd really like to see more variety in my cities. I am tired of always seeing the same Gustav's Knick kacks (or whatever it's called) repeat over and over again and I also don't like how most of the Cs$ lots are mostly just pavement and parking spaces.

I don't want pretty Cs$ buildings. It doesn't make sense for them to look pretty. But I really DO want more variety in this category.

Preferably 1 and 2 tile wide and growable. Anyone know any?

What style of city do you typically build? Is there a particular historic period or regional style (e.g., American) that you prefer?

The first set I'd suggest would be JBSimio's Smalltown USA series. I'd suggest downloading them off of the LEX, since not all of the buildings have made it onto the STEX, and you can download the base set all in one go.

The base collection can be found at the link below. It contains four CS$ lots (Emma's Coffee Shop, Fire Sticks, Herters Music Store, Pit and Balcony Theater), plus a mix of other commercial lots.

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=642

JBSimio also released a few additional buildings on the LEX that you would need to download separately:

Rasco's Dime Store - CS$: https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1565

Kitty's Klothes - CS$$: https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1540

Weatherwax Pharmacy - CO$$ & CS$$: https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1274

Tiffany's Tea Shop - CS$$: https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1273

These should be pretty close to what you're looking for -- though they might be a little too "pretty."

---

Edit: If you only want the CS$ lots or if you don't have an account on the LEX, you can download the four CS$ lots from the base set on the STEX using the links below:

 

 

 

 

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

You can also take steps to grow all styles. Since the radio button by that name doesn't work, the closest you can manage is to minimize the style rotation period (set it to one year). Then grow your village / town / city slowly so the developers have more chances to pick differently from year to year instead of repeating the same building over and over.

[Mytzenka 106]

Thank you @BartonThinks Those are indeed the kinds of buildings I was looking for!

[BartonThinks 3,416]

1 hour ago, Mytzenka said:

Thank you @BartonThinks Those are indeed the kinds of buildings I was looking for!

Glad I could help.

If the JBSimio lots are up your alley, here are a few other suggestions in a similar(ish) vein...

UK Cornershops by Gascooker - These are somewhat similar to the JBSimio set (older, wall-to-wall buildings), but with a UK look instead of an American one. A couple small notes: These lots only grow on mid-density zones, so you'll need to mod them if you want them to show up in low-density areas. Also, they're meant specifically for corner lots, so they won't give you a ton of coverage. (Link)

19th Century Small Shops by CT14 - These ones are American, but have a slightly more historic feel than JBSimio's collection. Tehy were designed to match up with the Smalltown USA buildings, so you can use both sets together. The good news is they're all low-wealth. (Link)

Small Shops by Jmyers - This series is filled with smaller, modern-day low-density shops -- things like laundromats, diners, convenience stores, etc. Vol 01, Vol 02, (and  maybe Vol 06?) contain low-wealth buildings. One small note is that these buildings are scaled a little bit larger than Maxis buildings and some  of the other custom content floating around. I find they stick out a bit as a result, so I don't use them a ton in my own cities. That said, they're pretty popular with other players, so they're worth checking out.

• Vol 01
• Vol 02
• Vol 03
• Vol 04
• Vol 05
• Vol 06

Low-Wealth Commercial Shops by Mad Hatter - These are pretty similar to the Jmyers collection, but with a slightly different look and feel. There are four volumes of mixed shops, some specialized collections of specific businesses, plus some one-off buildings. If you like his stuff, I'd suggest browsing his page for other content -- he's got a series of mid-density office buildings that are really popular, plus some other smaller shops that you might be interested in.

• Vol 01
• Vol 02
• Vol 03
• Vol 04
• Coffee Shops & Greasy Spoons
• Laundromats & Drycleaners
• Liquor Stores
• Grindhouse Theatres
• Andy's Gun Works
• Minnie's Maxi Mart
• Maxie's Mini Mart

Finally, it's always worth checking out SimGoober's content. I know he has some smaller commercial buildings that are in a similar vein to the Jmyers and Mad Hatter stuff listed above.

[CorinaMarie 29,571]

3 hours ago, jeffryfisher said:

Since the radio button by that name doesn't work, the closest you can manage is to minimize the style rotation period (set it to one year).

Err, uhm, what?

Since when did toggling the building styles quit working?

[mattb325 28,880]

3 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

Err, uhm, what?

Since when did toggling the building styles quit working?

The radio button still works as does toggling between styles.

The ' build all styles at once' option does not work: you should use the ' change style every 1 year'  option to emulate the ' build all styles at once' function

[CorinaMarie 29,571]

6 minutes ago, mattb325 said:

The radio button still works as does toggling between styles.

The ' build all styles at once' option does not work: you should use the ' change style every 1 year'  option to emulate the ' build all styles at once' function

Ah. But, the 'Build All Styles' does work, but only the same as having all 4 styles toggled on and then it acts the same as 'change style every 1 year'. Someone did a thorough test of that a couple or three years ago. With CB's help, we could prolly find the linky to that thread.

[Cyclone Boom 16,851]

5 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

Someone did a thorough test of that a couple or three years ago. With CB's help, we could prolly find the linky to that thread.

I've had a search and perhaps this might be the one which @11241036 posted?
 

 

[Mytzenka 106]

On 7/25/2020 at 6:55 AM, BartonThinks said:

That said, a lot of the photos you'll see in the showcase threads have been carefully crafted. There's often a lot of landscaping using mayor-mode ploppable items, and a lot of players will carefully control which buildings grow in different sections of their cities by changing what's in their plugins folder.

Based on this and what else I've seen on these forums + what I know about the game, it seems pretty much impossible to get a realistic looking city by playing the game in the "natural" way; e.g. the way it was intended by the developers.

Or am I wrong?

By "natural" I don't mean you can't mod the game and have to play vanilla. Adding new buildings and changing visuals is still "natural" for me as the game will then  simply use them.
By "natural" I mean things like: not plopping RCI or other buildings not funded by the municipality, not using "blockers" and other "tricks" to prevent certain growables to appear at certain places and not using cheats.

Please note: there is nothing wrong with doing all these things. It's all great and I may even start doing them myself one day.

But what I would like to know is if it's even possible to create an at least somewhat good and realistic looking city by adding extra content or changing visuals but NOT doing any of the aforementioned "tricks" to circumvent what the game would otherwise do naturally.

 

[BartonThinks 3,416]

1 hour ago, Mytzenka said:

Based on this and what else I've seen on these forums + what I know about the game, it seems pretty much impossible to get a realistic looking city by playing the game in the "natural" way; e.g. the way it was intended by the developers.

Or am I wrong?

By "natural" I don't mean you can't mod the game and have to play vanilla. Adding new buildings and changing visuals is still "natural" for me as the game will then  simply use them.
By "natural" I mean things like: not plopping RCI or other buildings not funded by the municipality, not using "blockers" and other "tricks" to prevent certain growables to appear at certain places and not using cheats.

Please note: there is nothing wrong with doing all these things. It's all great and I may even start doing them myself one day.

But what I would like to know is if it's even possible to create an at least somewhat good and realistic looking city by adding extra content or changing visuals but NOT doing any of the aforementioned "tricks" to circumvent what the game would otherwise do naturally.

 

I think the answer depends on two things:

1. What level of realism you want to achieve -- If you play the game "naturally," you can achieve some pretty realistic results in certain areas or with specific styles of cities, but you'll inevitably run into limitations. An obvious example is diagonal RCI areas. There's no good way to "grow" these areas without using some of the tricks that you've described, and that means cities end up with a very grid-like appearance. One workaround is to use diagonal civic buildings or parks to break up the grid (@mattb325 has released a ton of great options). Another option is to add some subtle curves to RCI areas, so the street grid isn't just straight lines. That said, it's pretty hard to play naturally and avoid the grid effect.
2. How strict you want to be about what's "natural" -- I think there's a fair bit of gray area in terms of what's "natural," and if you give yourself a tiny bit of leeway, you can create some pretty beautiful results. Going back to the diagonal RCI example, a lot of players like to use diagonal "filler" lots, which they can use to fill in awkward corners when they're making diagonal areas (here's a great example). Some of these filler lots contain jobs, which makes them ploppable RCI lots. Others are simply eye candy. In either case, using these lots isen't really "natural." But they can make a world of difference to the look of the city while allowing you to play the game 99% "naturally." 

For what it's worth, I prefer playing the game "naturally." I give myself a bit of leeway, but I try to do whatever I can to avoid the tricks that you're talking about. I'm still pretty new to the game, so I think my cities still have room for improvement, but I'm really happy with some of the results that I've achieved. That said, those results took a fair bit of work...

• I use the PIM-X lot editor extensively to create my own lots. This allows me to design my lots with a realistic and cohesive appearance. It also allows me to choose the lot size, growth stage, and tileset of each lot. This gives me a lot of control over how certain neighborhoods and areas will "naturally" grow when I play the game. For example, I can make sure that all of the mid-density R$$ lots on the New York tileset are designed to grow Brooklyn-style townhouses. If I do this, I can play the game naturally and all of my mid-density R$$ neighborhoods will have a consistent look/feel if I grow them while playing on the New York tileset. (Note: I do use blockers, but I don't think I use them the way you're describing. For example, I block all Maxis content, but that's just because most Maxis buildings don't fit the look of my cities.)
• I've spent a fair bit of time learning how the game works, so that I have a decent idea of what conditions I need to grow buildings naturally. For example, if I want to grow a low-wealth neighborhood, I know that I need to keep amenities to a minimum. Alternatively, if I'm hoping to create a manufacturing district, I know that I need to wait until my city's industrial demand and education levels encourage that kind of neighborhood, and I have a good idea of how to achieve those levels.

I don't have a ton of pictures of my cities, mostly because I tend to spend a lot more time experimenting these days, but here's a screenshot of a smaller town I developed several months ago, that's supposed to be from the late 19th century. It doesn't contain a ton of variety -- it's almost entirely low-density, low-wealth lots -- and there are definitely some warts. But I think it gives a decent idea of what kind of results you can get while still playing the game "naturally" (or close to it).

(I'm 100% sure there are better examples out there of what can be accomplished in a "natural" city, but I'm bad at keeping track of who builds their cities naturally vs. who doesn't.)