20yearsSC4 SC4: 2023 (20th Anniversary)

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

As most of us know, next year is the big year. What would you like to see happen, to celebrate the anniversary of the greatest city builder of all time? Forum events, special new features, etc. Tell us about your personal goals to achieve with the game, before or after, the date. Suggestions? Your thoughts about the previous 20 years? Top 10 lists? As they say, discuss!

 

Thanks to Barroco Hispano for making that moon he thought was useless. I plan to use it a lot. And thanks to Stanley Kubrick.

If anyone wants to copy the image for their blog, website etc. be my guest. If you need re-sizing, pm me. Any Youtubers, this will transfer easily to avi./mp4 format. If you want a music dub, may I suggest Thus spake Zarathustra...or whatever you want.

[Dreamcitybuilder 161]

We should certainly celebrate that event!

 

Maybe one or several screenshot exhibitions .... Like showing the best screenshots and mods of each year?

Maybe some new mods to celebrate the event? (Like a grand in-game museum or a monumental in-game statue?)

Maybe a city-building competition?

 

Or a cooperative city-journal showing the celebrations of the anniversary in multiple different places and towns from different players?

We need a logo for the 20 anniversary (like using the SimCity 4 Logo, and adding "20 years of city-building" in a cool font below)

Maybe informing other newer city-building games communities about the anniversary? (for example the cities skylines or the workers & resources communities)

Maybe trying to try to build SimCity 4 in other city-builders (for example "build a stereotypical SimCity 4 city in cities skylines ...." )

[Pauluk614 71]

Wow,20 years.....

I remember being a kid and seeing my brother playing SC4 in our computer,aahhhh good times

[CaptCity 4,672]

7 hours ago, Dreamcitybuilder said:

We need a logo for the 20 anniversary (like using the SimCity 4 Logo, and adding "20 years of city-building" in a cool font below)

That would be great. There's been a few alterations done to the game's startup screen made over the years. I'm no expert, but maybe something could be done with that..? Experts...?

[franyer 305]

Well, many ideas already mentioned and some future ones that may occur to me would make the commemoration of the 20 years of SimCity4KING more epic.
although first I can mention that I would like an update of the intro screen mod, I don't remember its name, I currently have this intro

[hugues aroux 3,779]

7 hours ago, franyer said:

the intro screen

This intro image is quite easy to change. It is a 768x600 pixels PNG with the TGI : 856ddbac,46a006b0,ea7f0eae. A simple .dat file containing a new PNG with this TGI, in your plugin directory, and that's it. (This PNG is itself called by the interface panel with this TGI : 00000000,96A006B0,8AA9AA14).
All that's left to do is to come up with some nice 20th anniversary ... artists..., to your mouse !

[Terring 6,473]

My story goes back in 2002, when I was a university student in Kavala, one of the biggest cities in Greece. One day I was visiting an (now closed) Internet café, and it was there when I saw the first trailers of SimCity 4, with better graphics, day/night circles, beaches, terraforming, regional play, lots of details and so many other things. It was awesome. I was watching those trailers and I couldn't wait to get the game. My first time was some years later, again in an Internet café. I couldn't afford to buy the game and yet I couldn't wait to buy it one day. I finally bought it in 2008, and since then I can't put it down. Today I'm pretty sure that back in 2003 I couldn't even imagine myself being an active member of SC4 community 20 years later, let alone being a Simtropolis moderator and having some projects behind me, such as Memories of the Colonists and Eden: The New Frontier.
As about a personal goal in 2023, we'll see

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

How about an exclusive co-op image gallery...like this one-

 

[hugues aroux 3,779]

No no, I still had to work this afternoon, but between two jobs, some quick work for fun ... ;-) ... waiting for the big celebrations. Drop this file in your ..plugins\

z_happy_almost_20_years.dat

[Zeratai 83]

It is enough for me that this game and communites can continue forever. To this day, I haven't found a game that make me want to build a city

[TheEstGuy 720]

I am very surprised that a 20 year old game like SimCity 4 still holds up visually and the core gameplay as well. The game's core and some features or the lack of features may make it obsolete in many people's eyes. But the amazing community here has elevated it beyond it's supposed limits and kept it alive and well, mods are still being developed most notably the Network Addon Mod, which is the most used mod in the community and vast majority can not play without it because it was the expansion pack we needed but did not get with the Rush Hour. Also the game is so old that in 20 years more than 1 billion people have born in the world who are younger than this game, we have gone though financial crisis, we have gone through SC2013 and C:S and a global pandemic and other stuff, but SC4 still stands and the community with it. Also we still today have many BAT'ers modders coming up with new incredible stuff, which is quite unbelievable that it's still being done. Also the fact than Network Addon Mod is still being developed and just got it's 44th version, shows how active and great this community is! The best part is the game is good but the community here on SimTropolis is still here, which is very important because we all can share mods, maps, pictures and still find fun in the game, without this incredible community here and in other sites this game would not be as good as it is today.  So it has been 20 years of SC4 and the community and to 20 years more! 

Creator of the HD SimCity 4 Logo

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

20 hours ago, TheEstGuy said:

 

Is that a real human in that pic? Because if it is, he needs to go see a doctor!

 

My Top 10 Most Important Mods of the last 20 years-

1  NAM
2  SimCity 4 Extra Cheats Plugin
3  SimFox Day-n-Nite-Modd
4  Hole Digger(although the older set is obsolete)
5  JenX Poseiden
6  Extra Terrain Tools(#5 kinda made this obsolete, but it still is useful for a few tricks)
7  MMP in God Mode(I think this is Cori's, it's not on the STEX, but it should be)
8  Black Hole Waste Management(At one time, this got tons of recommendations, until smaller versions became available. I still see it now and then, but I still see zoned dumps too! )
9  Giraffe Trees(How cartoon-ish trees used to look till he came along!)
10 SPAM

Honorable Mentions: Terrain Mods, Water Mods, Rock Mods

[CorinaMarie 29,558]

5 minutes ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

MMP in God Mode(I think this is Cori's, it's not on the STEX, but it should be)

Yep. That's mine.

It's attached to this post. It makes the God Terraforming in Mayor Mode available in God Mode (which is what allows access to the Mayor Mode tools), but since that mod wasn't designed for this, it doesn't line up like it should and so my mod is a bit of a bodge. We really need to make a version with that in a proper position to be STEX worthy.

Another which goes well with it is my Flora Eraser Brush.

 

10 minutes ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

Honorable Mentions: Terrain Mods, Water Mods, Rock Mods

I see Cori's Side Water Shoppe didn't make the cut.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

14 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

Another which goes well with it is my Flora Eraser Brush.

 

14 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

I see Cori's Side Water Shoppe didn't make the cut.

They're nice too, but not quite as earth-shattering for me as #7. I will definitely dl the official version though,when it arrives. 

[Odainsaker 2,133]

On 4/3/2022 at 9:03 AM, Dreamcitybuilder said:

Or a cooperative city-journal showing the celebrations of the anniversary in multiple different places and towns from different players?

I like this idea as everyone participating can show off their own cities in their own way with minimal overhead, perhaps in their own page entry in a broad city journal with a moderator or team coordinating the submissions.

 

__________

 

Perhaps one fun activity to do over the course of the anniversary year is an open, community-wide city mosaic.

A big, rich map is created and made available.  Community members can reserve to themselves on a first-come/first-serve basis a contiguous piece of the map, preferably perhaps one large map tile and definitely no more than a 4x4 block of large city tiles, and then either download and render their reserved piece of the map following some specified guideline, or have it sent to them.  They then develop their map using whatever mods they like, and when done send back or upload a screenshot at some set zoom of their completed city tile.  The many submitted screenshots are then compiled by a community champion or team into a giant mosaic and revealed.

This deliberately would not be a full-fledged multiplayer city with functioning neighborhood deals, shared plugins, and asymmetrically saved and uploaded cities, as that is all too much work for whoever hosts this and creates too many barriers to participation.  This is more basic--download and render a designated map piece to start, and upload a city screenshot when finished that can be stitched into the mosaic.

The only design restriction on players might be to not overly alter their map pieces' terrain edges such that they no longer reconcile.  Perhaps everyone participating can also be encouraged to install the same water or landscape mod.   Participants can post their work or current maps in some dedicated thread where others can see their progress and perhaps coordinate their work into designs spanning across players tiles.  SC4 Mapper might be the most convenient way to parcel out the map pieces, and the SimCity4 Startup Manager might be the most convenient way for participants to grab city-wide screenshots to submit back for the mosaic.

Admittedly, this is much more overhead as someone has to do the stitching, and the result will be a messy patchwork of a city mosaic, but it could be fun to see everyone's disparate city building styles side-by-side in one large region.

 

[franyer 305]

On 7/4/2022 at 2:13 PM, SIM-ple Jack said:

Is that a real human in that pic? Because if it is, he needs to go see a doctor!

 

My Top 10 Most Important Mods of the last 20 years-

1  NAM
2  SimCity 4 Extra Cheats Plugin
3  SimFox Day-n-Nite-Modd
4  Hole Digger(although the older set is obsolete)
5  JenX Poseiden
6  Extra Terrain Tools(#5 kinda made this obsolete, but it still is useful for a few tricks)
7  MMP in God Mode(I think this is Cori's, it's not on the STEX, but it should be)
8  Black Hole Waste Management(At one time, this got tons of recommendations, until smaller versions became available. I still see it now and then, but I still see zoned dumps too! )
9  Giraffe Trees(How cartoon-ish trees used to look till he came along!)
10 SPAM

Honorable Mentions: Terrain Mods, Water Mods, Rock Mods

my 10 mods that transform game like a remake by me will be those:
1. NAM
2. Extra Cheats
3. Sc4 Third Party Patch (to prevent that annoying crashes)
4. SimFox Day and Nite
5. LRM v4.0
6. Road Top Mass Transit
7. JENX Jupiter
8. Sayonara Maxis Trees
9. any HD terrain mod
10. any HD texture mod for beach, 

[ilikehotdogsalot 307]

20 years? Goodness me, we are getting so old!

[gutterclub 2,729]

I would like to see some old BATers come out of the wood work and release a celebratory 'unfinished' work, actually could apply to current BATers as well.

Possibly us BATers could release an anniversary BAT based on something from our home town? A group of us could get together and agree on some baseline things for each BAT like material and render settings etc etc.

 

[TheMurderousCricket 5,042]

20 years next year you say? Hmmm... 

I think it would be a nice idea to create a repository of videos or a prominently displayed guest book here on the Site to make a kind of a "monument" from this event. That's my first thought. Perhaps I'll come up with yet something different later on. 

As for the personal goals, I plan to establish another CJ. I guess it would be a nice element of the "festivities".  Too bad it involves a lot of writing but perhaps I'll make it on time. 

[sejr99999 8,333]

On 4/7/2022 at 11:26 AM, CorinaMarie said:

Yep. That's mine.

It's attached to this post. It makes the God Terraforming in Mayor Mode available in God Mode (which is what allows access to the Mayor Mode tools), but since that mod wasn't designed for this, it doesn't line up like it should and so my mod is a bit of a bodge. We really need to make a version with that in a proper position to be STEX worthy.

Another which goes well with it is my Flora Eraser Brush.

 

I see Cori's Side Water Shoppe didn't make the cut.

personally I love the side water mod

[Anthracite 37]

On 4/9/2022 at 1:36 AM, franyer said:

my 10 mods that transform game like a remake by me will be those:
1. NAM
2. Extra Cheats
3. Sc4 Third Party Patch (to prevent that annoying crashes)
4. SimFox Day and Nite
5. LRM v4.0
6. Road Top Mass Transit
7. JENX Jupiter
8. Sayonara Maxis Trees
9. any HD terrain mod
10. any HD texture mod for beach, 

11. I would add Yellow Pause Thingy Remover

[ellis896 20]

On 04/04/2022 at 2:55 PM, Terring said:

My story goes back in 2002, when I was a university student in Kavala, one of the biggest cities in Greece. One day I was visiting an (now closed) Internet café, and it was there when I saw the first trailers of SimCity 4, with better graphics, day/night circles, beaches, terraforming, regional play, lots of details and so many other things. It was awesome. I was watching those trailers and I couldn't wait to get the game. My first time was some years later, again in an Internet café. I couldn't afford to buy the game and yet I couldn't wait to buy it one day. I finally bought it in 2008, and since then I can't put it down. Today I'm pretty sure that back in 2003 I couldn't even imagine myself being an active member of SC4 community 20 years later, let alone being a Simtropolis moderator and having some projects behind me, such as Memories of the Colonists and Eden: The New Frontier.
As about a personal goal in 2023, we'll see

Filathlos net cafe?

[Terring 6,473]

2 hours ago, ellis896 said:

Filathlos net cafe?

Can't remember anymore

[MarkShot 631]

I remember buying MAXIS this and that for DOS and Windows 3.  It was a magical time.  Game developers were experimenting with a totally new concepts.  Yes, the graphics all looked like cartoons, but it was innovative.  Now, it is photo realistic, but totally lifeless release after lifeless release ... tasteless ... it doesn't sizzle.

Happy to celebrate the anniversary of SimCity and this site, because community was very much part of the video game experience.

By now, you know I don't mod, and I hardly ever write public use software, but I wanted to create an online billboard via a utility for Simtropolis, and so it is an idea that got hatched in discussion with Cori and CB.

Happy SC4 & Simptropolis, everyone!

[MarkShot 631]

Does anyone ever wonder how we managed to play games and save games with the MS/DOS 8.3 convention; for those who don't know ... a filename was limited to 8 characters?

But many games didn't even use names, but save slots.

Or how people modded games when the data files were not text but binary?  You had to know HEX and be able to breakdown packed byte formats.  But with the birth of the PC and writable storage, modding was born and took off.  How could you have mods before the Internet?  CompuServe, AOL, and local BBS services.  (again for those who don't know, these were the first idea of virtual communities until the WWW big bang in 1995 ... these became popular in the decade before).  See note below.

Why am I going through all this nostalgia?  I got reminded of 8.3 looking at one my amazing generated save game names.

230103-234624-Basileus_Konstantinos_X_of_the_Byzantine_Empire_1066_09_15.ck3

For those learning about the digital history ... AOL, CompuServe, and BBS were not truly online like we are today.  Today, there could be 10 or 1000 of us all using Simtropolis, but back 1990, there might be 2-30 phones lines for a BBS in NYC.  It was more like the forums where you would leave things that others would later see when they got an open phone line.  But the first communities were born with message boards (an area code wide service as phone service was local and long distance).  So, began your first discussions of gaming ... play techniques ... modding.  And like today, these often just a PC with add in serial port boards had hard drive where mods could be left for others to check out.

I worked in NYC's Wall Street area.  Two of my favorite walks during a long lunch were a physical bookstore to browse.  And the Mecca of software, J&R Computer World ... to just browse boxes and boxes of games on the second floor.  And games had wonderful manuals ... Sid Meiers, Maxis, Microprose ... they explained everything in a UI section and always had a concepts section about history or content information.  And there were strategy guides before the Internet where you could find out all the secrets to play well.  (Among my precious possessions which traveled from US East Coast to China were such books and manuals.)  And even back then, there was a big push on video subsystems as we went during the DOS days from CGA -> EGA -> VGA which was 320x240, 640x480, and 1024x768; I think.

Funny ... one thing which has not changed in practice is game UIs.  In the beginning, you had to learn each one, since but for a menu, there were no standards under DOS.  Windows introduced CUA and I would say the games from Win95 -> WinXP had the most standard UIs.  But as games left 2D or isometric and raced into the 3D world, UI were supposed to mimic the real world as such many became unintuitive and non-Windows standard; cryptic.  And today, we see that 50% of the learning curve on a title is the UI and accomplishing tasks.  But there was perhaps a few years where early Windows games shared UI standards with commercial applications ... just a fleeting few years.

Writing this post, I am curious if any of you kids still in school, John, TK?  Are they teaching digital history in high school or college or is this to be as lost as how to make stone axes from flint?

Thanks.

PS:  Okay, you can put the MicroSD with Mark's memories back in the drawer. 

[TogaMasterJohn 701]

1 hour ago, MarkShot said:

Writing this post, I am curious if any of you kids still in school, John, TK?  Are they teaching digital history in high school or college or is this to be as lost as how to make stone axes from flint?

Unlike the majority of my friends, I grew up with older games (most of which I still play today). Some of the old Maxis "Sim" titles are some of my favorite games of all time (like SimCity 2000, SimTower, SimFarm, and SimAnt to name some of them).

Anyways, in the computer science class that I took for fun during high school, only a brief (and not very technical) history of computers, software, and the internet was talked about and taught. Other than that, unless you were taking a class that was geared towards computers, such history was generally never taught. I would imagine that this is the case with most schools and colleges.

I wouldn't say that digital history as a whole is a dying subject. When it comes to teaching about it in general in schools, I am afraid that most people could care less about it. 

I occasionally played the role of teacher when it came to older computing technologies and software while I was in K-12 school (heck, even in college). Still to this day, I enjoy working with and talking about older computers and software. I was pretty much the only person I knew in school that really appreciated such things (with the exception of a couple of my friends and teachers). 

[MarkShot 631]

Thank you for your input.  Myself, I always tend to ask how did we get here?  So, it's not enough to know that a gate switches or a wing lifts.  I remember having a talk with Cori one day that we both liked to pull things apart to see how they worked.  Which growing up, pre-digital, it was very feasible to disassemble things and see CAM shafts and timing gears etc...  As a kid, I never remember a seal on anything saying, 'break this and you will void your warranty'.

Two of my favorites were Sim-Earth and Sim-Life.  Sim-Life ... who could imagine a game manual with equations in the back covering statistics?

PS:  I am not saying Cori is pre-digital, she got into computers quite a bit later ... as I was the last class of physics with slide rules.

  Edited January 4, 2023 by MarkShot  
possible offensive

[sejr99999 8,333]

On 04/04/2022 at 6:04 PM, hugues aroux said:

No no, I still had to work this afternoon, but between two jobs, some quick work for fun ... ;-) ... waiting for the big celebrations. Drop this file in your ..plugins\

z_happy_almost_20_years.dat

thank you for this  I enjoy seeing it every time I load the game

[QuantumChicken 82]

I remember getting the CD set on the first day launch for my windows 2000 PC. My poor Athlon XP could not handle it very well with 256Megs of ram. I wish windows 11 played nice with it as I never had lag issues on windows 10. I decided I like this game more than Cities Skylines as we can build at large-scale and it has a region. Oh yea, and it is not SimCity Societies or 2013. Evil Arts decided to invalidate my SC2013 license for no reason and their support was as helpful as warts.

[Vanasonic 49]

Today's the day! Happy 20th SimCity 4!