Got a quick SC4 question?... Ask here!

[TheMurderousCricket 5,055]

Thank you @Ryuu Tenno. Just the answer I needed. Aaaand it wasn't 5 pages long! 

Yes, I've been noticing this zig-zag, bitcoin exchange rate patterns the more I play the game and was wondering if slope mods are what alleviates the problem.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

Just wondering if anybody might know if there's a maximum size for a region folder. A region I'm currently working on is approaching 200MB and I'm only about a quarter way into it. I notice a lot of folks have dead space in their regions. Is that to keep size manageable, or just laziness? Anybody here ever max a region out, and what happens? A crash?

[Odainsaker 2,134]

On 5/27/2023 at 2:24 PM, SIM-ple Jack said:

Just wondering if anybody might know if there's a maximum size for a region folder. A region I'm currently working on is approaching 200MB and I'm only about a quarter way into it. I notice a lot of folks have dead space in their regions. Is that to keep size manageable, or just laziness? Anybody here ever max a region out, and what happens? A crash?

I wonder too!  I don't know if there is a maximum size, but I have partially landscaped regions at least up to 930MB that load and play.  However, these are not yet truly developed cities plopped full of custom content, but are just terraforming and god mode tree spamming, so their individual city filesizes are relatively small---I really do need to go back and build stress-test cities.  Still, I would hazard a guess that there are some 32-bit memory limits somewhere, which could perhaps be encountered as a crash in the transitions between loading a large region view and loading a large developed city with heavy plugins, or vice-versa, and these factors should vary.

 

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

16 hours ago, Odainsaker said:

Still, I would hazard a guess that there are some 32-bit memory limits somewhere, which could perhaps be encountered as a crash in the transitions between loading a large region view and loading a large developed city with heavy plugins, or vice-versa, and these factors should vary.

I'm usually light on plug-ins, using only what I need for a particular area or tile. Such as airports, once built, I throw out of the folder.

[Simizen 1,098]

Region (folder) size likely is limited to your hard drive size. However; there's a distinct possibility that it caps out at 65,536. Now, The thing about this is, I saw somewhere (icr now) that a region stops at that size, but, couple things to consider:

-A: it could be that the number is the square, meaning that the region caps out at 256x256 (i feel bad for your CPU, RAM, and PSU), or

-B: it's somehow capped at 65536, per side, which makes those numbers even worse (setting the absolute upper limit to being: 4,294,967,296; or ~4.3 billion)

in which case I honestly don't think there's really a singular computer system out there capable enough to even handle that, so, logic dictates that the cap's at 256x256

The problem with this is, idk if the limit is at 256 large, or 256 small city tiles. If small, then we're looking at something like 1/16th the size of the large. It's possible it's just capped at 256 regardless of city size, so, you may be better off running at max size at that point. Given that it was originally set to a 32 bit system, there's likely an inherent issue somewhere that you're going to hit the upper limit that's possible before it just auto-crashes on you. Another thing to consider is that we're talking over a Terabyte's worth of data, meaning that the system will stall out the closer you are to 1TB by default as, given the era, Windows XP had some weird hard drive limitations set to around a TB. You can potential go higher via RAID, and even be lucky enough to have 2-3TB drives, but, ultimately, it comes down to the way the system was built, and the terabyte limit is very likely. I forget how it works out, but, there's some weird bit sector grouping that ends up changing when you get into TB drives, mostly due to the switch between 32 to 64bit CPU's but, it's likely there's an internal limitation of sorts as well.

If the modern setups for things managed to create an interesting work around, then we're looking at the possibility of it being "unlimited" as a result. Just, at that point, it's entirely limited to what your CPU, GPU, and RAM can all do, and my suggestion, if you're going to try that, is to aim for the 128 or 256gb RAM sticks, and get a system that can run 4 RAM slots at once for maximum effect, lol.

Or you could just get the AMD Threadripper, and matching board which can house like 8 of those sticks, and max out their sizes (which i think caps out at 512 currently?) giving you the wonderful chance to quite possibly open *3* beautiful tabs in chrome, lol.

TLDR; think Minecraft, but, running on Win98, lol

[rsc204 21,808]

7 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

Just, at that point, it's entirely limited to what your CPU, GPU, and RAM can all do, and my suggestion, if you're going to try that, is to aim for the 128 or 256gb RAM sticks, and get a system that can run 4 RAM slots at once for maximum effect, lol.

Just bear in mind SC4 is a 32-bit app, under no circumstances could you ever use more than 4GB ram for SC4, the limit when utilising LAA on a 64-bit OS. If you need a crazy amount of RAM (more than 16/32GB), you would know, because it takes a very specific need before any normal user would even see the benefit of having such.

Likewise throwing all the hardware at SC4 you can, you aren’t going to see that translating to much better real world performance. It has not been coded to work the way machines now do, so in the CPU territory more cores = no performance gain. In this sense you are better off with a CPU that can offer more single-core raw performance over one with many cores that likely are slower individually. Even then, if a 2013 top of the line i7, barely outperforms a Core2Duo chip (which of SC4 is true), everything you might consider an investment comes with heavily diminishing returns.

If your overall needs dictate it, sure buy a powerful system. But if your desire is to play SC4, it would be a ridiculous waste of money. 

[City Boss 75]

Question: Recently I have been updating many of my plugins and related dependencies to improve my game aspect to assure completeness without pox or brown boxes. While playing the other day on a city tile that has a coastal terrain, some of the PEG lots and most of the CP 19th century lots are missing when they were showing before. 1) Does anyone have a suggestion for a file structure for PEGPROD files, i.e CDK3 & OWW2 or previous versions? 2) Why the mystery disappearance of lots from 2 separate game sessions after updating? Could the files in question become corrupted? If so, how to correct?

Thanks,

City Boss

[CaptCity 4,753]

33 minutes ago, City Boss said:

2) Why the mystery disappearance of lots from 2 separate game sessions after updating? Could the files in question become corrupted? If so, how to correct?

Do you mean the lots are missing as if they were never placed? Or are the lots present but details (texrues, props) are not being displayed? Any brown boxes?

If the first case, might you have acceidently loaded an earlier version of the city/region? If the second, perhaps you accidently removed some necessary plugins/dependencies during your upgrading. Are the expected plugins actually in the Plugins folder?

As for organizing Peg's material. I've probably re-did mine a dozen times over the years. He just has so much good material... My current structure focuses on packs based on 'themes' and then what I might consider sets belong to each 'theme'...

Here is one chain... MAIN - DOCKS - CDK3

[City Boss 75]

There are no brown boxes; these are lots that were placed with all textures, buildings, etc showing then later in a another session gone but traces of a lot remains. You can query over the lots that will identify the properties of that lot for example a PEG random shop or CP Bernsen Falls Fire Station.

BTW, most of my PEGPROD files were originally installed using their install program which gave created most folders with in a leading number sequence before the file name:

1229690946PEG-OWW2-SV_CornerShops_103.

[CaptCity 4,753]

45 minutes ago, City Boss said:

There are no brown boxes; these are lots that were placed with all textures, buildings, etc showing then later in a another session gone but traces of a lot remains. You can query over the lots that will identify the properties of that lot for example a PEG random shop or CP Bernsen Falls Fire Station.

That sounds like missing dependencies...(or prop pox if the city had advanced far enough for that to kick in) Had any changes to plugins been made between the two sessions? Maybe a picture would help.

45 minutes ago, City Boss said:

BTW, most of my PEGPROD files were originally installed using their install program which gave created most folders with in a leading number sequence before the file name:

1229690946PEG-OWW2-SV_CornerShops_103.

That does ring a bell but not sure if it was with Peg's installers. I just tried a few older ones but didn't notice the numerical string.

Hopefully, someone will come along with an answer... 

 

[JeffSalisbury 59]

I've yet to delve into adding custom lots etc... into my cities as I'm still a bit unsure how to properly set up all the things that need to be set up, specifically where lot and SC4M files need to go, where dependencies need to go, etc...

Hoping for guidance/reassurance, but does everything to do with ploppables and growables need to simply be placed in the Plugins folder in order to function properly in-game?

[Ulisse Wolf 4,412]

25 minutes ago, JeffSalisbury said:

I've yet to delve into adding custom lots etc... into my cities as I'm still a bit unsure how to properly set up all the things that need to be set up, specifically where lot and SC4M files need to go, where dependencies need to go, etc...

Hoping for guidance/reassurance, but does everything to do with ploppables and growables need to simply be placed in the Plugins folder in order to function properly in-game?

All mods except some must be installed in the plugins folder

Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins

There are some mods like NAM,CAM, DLL Mod that must be installed following their guide.

Maps must be installed using SC4Mapper 

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2880

The best method of installation is to copy the folder that contains the mods that allows you to have a better organization

For example:

Installation of BSC Textures Vol 01.

1 Perform zip file extraction
2 Move the BSC folder inside the Plugins folder

 

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

41 minutes ago, JeffSalisbury said:

I've yet to delve into adding custom lots etc... into my cities as I'm still a bit unsure how to properly set up all the things that need to be set up, specifically where lot and SC4M files need to go, where dependencies need to go, etc...

Hoping for guidance/reassurance, but does everything to do with ploppables and growables need to simply be placed in the Plugins folder in order to function properly in-game?

Be aware that you have 2 plugins folders, one in Documents and one in your Game(GOG, Steam, etc) folder which should be in your C:(x86) folder. Personally, I use the CPlugins for stuff that doesn't get moved much- NAM, dependencies, lrms, cheats and mods etc. The Doc's plugins usually have what I need for current projects, testing new things, mmp's etc. I keep it all backed up on an exterior drive and a few assorted thumbs.

[JeffSalisbury 59]

22 minutes ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

Be aware that you have 2 plugins folders, one in Documents and one in your Game(GOG, Steam, etc) folder which should be in your C:(x86) folder. Personally, I use the CPlugins for stuff that doesn't get moved much- NAM, dependencies, lrms, cheats and mods etc. The Doc's plugins usually have what I need for current projects, testing new things, mmp's etc. I keep it all backed up on an exterior drive and a few assorted thumbs.

So am I right in that all things to do with ploppables and growables just need to be placed into either of those plugin folders in order to work? Like I say, I've only downloaded mods so far (including NAM, boy that thing is fantastic!) and I'd like to start dl'ing things like the different R/C/I growables packs that have been made just to add more variety to the visuals in the game.

[Brad 343]

yes, the game will read everything in the pluggin folder. and you can make sub folders for  housing, comm's, industry,etc. game will still find and load the mods.

[atsf189 460]

On 6/7/2023 at 4:45 PM, JeffSalisbury said:

So am I right in that all things to do with ploppables and growables just need to be placed into either of those plugin folders in order to work?

Most people put all the mods like ploppables and growables in the plugin folder located in C:\Users\micro\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins.

I put all my game patches like SaveWarning_Disable_Exit_Quit in the other plugin folder located C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4\Plugins

[JeffSalisbury 59]

Thanks everyone!

[Nero55 313]

Hi，everyone，How to connect to the Morgan-Lake Elevated Rail Station？I think i failed like this. 

 

[Tyberius06 12,189]

1 hour ago, Nero55 said:

Hi，everyone，How to connect to the Morgan-Lake Elevated Rail Station？I think i failed like this. 

 

Hi!

It is not an elevated rail station per se. It is an elevated rail over RD-4 (which is a NWM - Network Widening Mod - feature in the NAM) station. You need use the ElRail-over-RD4 puzzle or flex pieces (can be found somewhere at the beginning of the Misc Transportstion Menu, after the GLR stuffs) before and after the center of the station. IIRC to activate the network paths on the station you need to use the OWR tool to each direction within the station (you won't be able draw it out of the station).

[TheMurderousCricket 5,055]

Is there any way to correct the so-called "overhanging buildings" either through iLives or Lot Editor?

[JeffSalisbury 59]

I see that SC4Devotion's LEX is no longer accessible. Does anyone happen to have any of these specific .dat files/packs they could send me somehow?

CP_Early19thCentury_Small$Houses.dat

Mattb325 Prop Pack Vol02

[Tarkus 6,932]

4 hours ago, JeffSalisbury said:

I see that SC4Devotion's LEX is no longer accessible. Does anyone happen to have any of these specific .dat files/packs they could send me somehow?

CP_Early19thCentury_Small$Houses.dat

Mattb325 Prop Pack Vol02

The latter should be in the SC4D LEX Legacy BSC Common Dependencies Pack.  I’ll see about making the former available tomorrow (on lunch at work right now).

-Tarkus

[matias93 7,535]

18 hours ago, TheMurderousCricket said:

Is there any way to correct the so-called "overhanging buildings" either through iLives or Lot Editor?

You would need to create a new, bigger lot with the same building model, and assign it the same properties as the original. It should be relatively easy using PIM-X, but you'll not be able to keep the lotting from the original.

[nos.17 5,120]

19 hours ago, TheMurderousCricket said:

Is there any way to correct the so-called "overhanging buildings" either through iLives or Lot Editor?

22 minutes ago, matias93 said:

You would need to create a new, bigger lot with the same building model, and assign it the same properties as the original. It should be relatively easy using PIM-X, but you'll not be able to keep the lotting from the original.

The alternative is to make the OccupantSize of the building smaller so you could keep the lot. Can do this in Reader or PIMX. This would not apply to any lots that already exist in a city - only new ones that grow/are plopped.

[JeffSalisbury 59]

On 6/23/2023 at 9:27 PM, Tarkus said:

The latter should be in the SC4D LEX Legacy BSC Common Dependencies Pack.  I’ll see about making the former available tomorrow (on lunch at work right now).

-Tarkus

Many thanks if you're able to provide that 19th century dat file. 

I did grab the BSC pack that's linked on SC4D's page. The mattb prop pack is included in that?

[thornp113 54]

I thought that the Cheat code keystroke was Cntrl X?  I used to get a list of the cheats but I don't anymore.  Is there another code to get that list?

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

2 hours ago, thornp113 said:

I thought that the Cheat code keystroke was Cntrl X?  I used to get a list of the cheats but I don't anymore.  Is there another code to get that list?

CTRL X. It still is. SimCity 4 Extra Cheats Plugin should be a stand alone file in either of your plugins, and not contained in a folder(it wont work if it is).

[JeffSalisbury 59]

There's another dependencies pack I'm hoping someone can share here that seems to only be available via SC4D's LEX:

JMyers Homes Vol 01

Would someone be able to share this here please? It appears to be essential for SimCoug's R$$ Homes growable lots collection.

[Tarkus 6,932]

2 hours ago, JeffSalisbury said:

There's another dependencies pack I'm hoping someone can share here that seems to only be available via SC4D's LEX:

JMyers Homes Vol 01

Would someone be able to share this here please? It appears to be essential for SimCoug's R$$ Homes growable lots collection.

I've just finished repackaging it and the CP Early 19th Century Residentials.  Both are up on the frontpage at SC4 Devotion now.

-Tarkus

[JeffSalisbury 59]

On 6/27/2023 at 11:48 PM, Tarkus said:

I've just finished repackaging it and the CP Early 19th Century Residentials.  Both are up on the frontpage at SC4 Devotion now.

-Tarkus

That's awesome, thanks a ton! I really like the growables that fit in decently with the original Maxis growables. There's been some stellar design work done by this community to expand what can pop up in your cities.

 

*Edit for more praise* Just wanted to again say thanks for getting those two growables sets up on SC4D. They've started to pop up in the latest city I've been building and it just adds so much more flavour to how the city looks.