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[buckbeach 8]

Would like to buy and play but really confused.  Read the post of Do not by Origins game and the whole EULA issue leaves me spinning.  So,  does Steam allow for using LEX & STEX files/mods? How about GoG digital downloads or EA?  Will any allow NAM or other cool projects as the making of Plop RESs have functional residents?  I will not be serious player but would like to built small rural towns and ag communities with the aforementioned items as a fun outlet.

So need a little help here to get started again.

Buck

 

[rsc204 21,808]

Where you buy the game, doesn't really change what you get or how it works, any of the digital vendors sell exactly the same game. The only things that are different, is how these are packaged, in other words what DRM is built it. Here GoG excel, because their's is the only (to my knowledge), DRM-free version you can buy.

If you have some old disks or other proof of purchase, Origin will trade the Product Key for a digital copy, if you obtain SC4 this way, all should be fine. The problems come if you buy it with money from Origin, then you'll end up with the unpatched and unpatchable version that is just inferior and causes stupid problems. Maxis released two official patches, the essential EP1 patch and the optional NiteLighting patch, which only enables user-created models to show lights at night time in-game. You'll also run into troubles installing some modding tools, but that may not bother you if you've no intention of making content.

21 minutes ago, buckbeach said:

Will any allow NAM or other cool projects as the making of Plop RESs have functional residents? 

Any of the properly patched versions will function fine with NAM. Plop RES, doesn't really work, it's just how the game works. There are workarounds, in the form of a tool you can use to prevent them from abandoning after being plopped. But there isn't a whole lot of Plop RES to download, because until very recently, it simply did not work. See here for the breakthrough that makes it possible, by editing the save files after such items are placed in game, to make them function as if they were grown.