Multiple files - Plop vs CS$$ Files

[Max4k 721]

Im cleaning up my Plug-in folder and extra clutter scrolling through items in game menus

For example I have a ton of hotels and 1 folder I have multiple files.  LBT_Hotel_HiltonGardenInn2_CS$$4_5x6_86baaf3f.SC4Lot and  LBT_Hotel_HiltonGardenInn2_PLOP_5x6_4694670a.SC4Lot

What is the difference, and which order is it ? I know 1 I can plop, and the other will grow automatically in the game sometime if zoned the right size ?   It's confusing because Ive seen some files like Starbucks or something where you zone the land first and then plop ?

Also the Jobs seem all messed up , probably due to plugin conflicts.  Like Walmart will say almost 2,000 jobs, but if I use the other query button to hover over Walmart, it says only 5 people working there, lol.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

17 minutes ago, Max4k said:

Also the Jobs seem all messed up , probably due to plugin conflicts.  Like Walmart will say almost 2,000 jobs, but if I use the other query button to hover over Walmart, it says only 5 people working there, lol.

That means the place is capable of employing 2000, but for some reason, it only has 5 working there. Like maybe a transportation issue or you plopped residential buildings and they can't leave their house.

20 minutes ago, Max4k said:

Im cleaning up my Plug-in folder and extra clutter scrolling through items in game menus

For example I have a ton of hotels and 1 folder I have multiple files.  LBT_Hotel_HiltonGardenInn2_CS$$4_5x6_86baaf3f.SC4Lot and  LBT_Hotel_HiltonGardenInn2_PLOP_5x6_4694670a.SC4Lot

What is the difference, and which order is it ? I know 1 I can plop, and the other will grow automatically in the game sometime if zoned the right size ?   It's confusing because Ive seen some files like Starbucks or something where you zone the land first and then plop ?

 

The difference is how you play. If you play strictly by the game rules and want to grow a functioning city from the ground up, use the growable lots. If you're making a city exclusively for looks and a sexy screen shot,  plop everything so you get the exact city you imagined. Nothing will really work in that kind of city.

[Max4k 721]

It's just a general example.  It is close to the max when the 1st query used to open dialog box. It says  Current Jobs 1550/1555 max. 

Im starting fresh so I have low population, but other items will say 23 jobs when I just use the 2nd query option and hover mouse ? over building.

What Im confused is what is the difference between the 2 files cs$$$ and Plop.

I want complete control over item. I mostly want it for jobs and for helping me structure the neighborhood design and layout of the streets

[Max4k 721]

It's going to take me a few months to sort though all these bookmarks I saved and organize them into folders.

Is there like a wiki page that explains more ?  That Simpeg site seems like the lost city of Atlantis with the Libary of Alexandra with tutorials of stuff.  Im going to mess with Wayback machine and see what I can explore

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

5 minutes ago, Max4k said:

What Im confused is what is the difference between the 2 files cs$$$ and Plop.

 

CS$$$, CO$$$ and IHT are what you get with a better educated, wealthier population. CS$$, CO$$ and IM are usually for middle class, less educated. CS$, CO$ and ID or Agriculture for poor Sims. All of it can be plopped, but most wont work if you plop them. At least, not for very long.

[Max4k 721]

I don't think I have many $$$ items to plop. I do have Mattb325 City Data Centre and I think that is IHT.

What is IM stand for ?  I need a chart to see what this means.

[Max4k 721]

Both items, I can plop and have duplicate items in my menu.

Which should I get rid of ?  Is CS$$$ grow-able ?  In which way is it grow-able ?  Does the max Jobs change over time ?

[Max4k 721]

This is soo much to absorb in for me to understand.  It's going to take me a long time.  I'm just trying to build this 1 map in region and have everything settled and then work on other maps in region as part time project.

I don't fully understand all this, lol, but I know some of the readme in the plugins have some charts, I'll look through when I sort.   I do know advanced technical stuff and how to subnet. It's weird, in my 20+ years in the IT Industry, there is a different logic barrier between software and hardware people.

[BartonThinks 3,416]

Hi Max,

I would strongly recommend reading the Prima Official Strategy Guide for SimCity 4, which you can find here: https://archive.org/details/SimCity_4_Rush_Hour_Prima_Official_eGuide/mode/2up

It contains a lot of information, but it's easy to follow and it explains how all of the game's core elements work in detail. If you can set aside a few hours to go through the guide, you will save yourself tons of time trying to understand how the game works. It will also be much more helpful than simply going through readme files or digging up old tutorials on SimPeg (which, I believe, tend to cover more niche topics).

To answer a few of your specific questions:

• There are two main differences between growable and ploppable lots:
  • The first difference, as you guessed, is how they appear in game. A growable lot will only appear in game if you zone for it and create the right conditions for that lot to appear. Note that these lots won't grow without the right conditions. The good news is that the Prima guide tells you everything you need to know about creating these conditions. Ploppable lots, on the other hand, can be plopped into your city whenever you want (usually for a certain price).
  • The second difference, as @SIM-ple Jack mentioned, is how the lots function in the game. The game is designed to reward cities with the right balance of residents vs. jobs. When you grow lots, the game is designed to maintain this balance. So by sticking with growable lots, it's much easier to build a functional city. If you use ploppable lots, it is easy to destroy the balance, adding too many jobs all at once. When that happens, your city will stop growing properly. As a basic rule, you should avoid ploppable versions of residential, commercial, and industrial lots if you want your city to function properly.
• For your Walmart lot, here's a quick guide to the numbers you've mentioned. Again, I would strongly recommend reading the Prima guide, which covers how these numbers work in more detail.
  • 1555 is the max number of jobs that this lot can offer at any time. If conditions are perfect, it will offer this number of jobs.
  • 1550 is the number of jobs that the lot is currently offering. This means that conditions for the lot are close to perfect right now. As a result, it's offering close to the max number of jobs.
  • 23 is the number of sims employed by this lot. This means that out of 1550 available jobs, only 23 of these jobs have been filled. You mentioned that your city has a low population, so my guess is that there's too many jobs available in your city and not enough people to fill them. If you plopped the Walmart lot instead of growing it, that might explain the problem.

[Max4k 721]

Perfect, thanks. I'm looking for info like that.  Currently have like 50+ bookmarks, but need to put them all into sub folders some time. I did come across a chart, but it was in a readme, and need to organize 300 zip files and another project.

I see with the Walmart. They seem to disrupt the nature of things just like in real life.  This game is weird and tricky to balance at times. I can zone a small patch of High Resident and in no short time it's a huge tower that occupies over 5,000 people, so that's why I have Walmart in strategic places for situations like that.   Im getting things figured out and know what to expect

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

I'd say about 95% of readme's say one thing- "put this in your plug-ins". Very rarely do they have any special instructions.

[Max4k 721]

lol, it's really bad.  I won't mention any names, but one of the main Mod is just called 3.zip   It's going to be really big project to sort things out.

Just toss it in your plugins, hhaha, I wish it was that easy like Unreal Tournament where you just toss all the .u files in system folder, .usx in Static Mesh folder,  .utx in Textures.   As easy as that setup is, I've seen issues with different Mods and Missmatch errors on dependency files.

[Max4k 721]

This has lot of great info, but need to translate

https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&pto=aue&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://seesaawiki.jp/w/masahiromirai/d/%A1%FA%A3%D2%A3%C3%A3%C9%A1%F0%A4%CE%B4%F0%CB%DC&usg=ALkJrhjkqN91Mt_6f0ZzoXAe9QIqOJLjtQ