Colossus Addon Mod 2.5 - Release Candidate 1

[Ulisse Wolf 4,399]

Colossus Addon Mod 2.5 - Release Candidate 1

Finally I am pleased to announce the release of Colossus Addon Mod (CAM) 2.5 Release Candidate (RC) 1

This release is for testing the introduced features and fixes. Due to new content and patches included and future changes that will be implemented based on your feedback it is highly recommended to play on a new region only to test CAM 2.5 RC 1

If you want to play with an already active region then you have to be careful that the previous CAM 2.1.1 controller is the Extended version.

CHANGELOG

The following are the features and patches that have been added

CAM CORE

• Inserted all corrective patches of CAM 2.1.1a
• Introduced CAM Essential that adds new SFX Querry Sound (Not Working)
• Introduced crime correction (Crime Doesn't Pay)
• Introduced all patches of ModPack Zero (Missing in this version)
• New CAM installation procedure

MAXIS BUILDING

• Introduced the Opera House Fix
• All Maxis buildings have been overhauled by eliminating possible bugs. All Maxis buildings now have PIM-X statistics.
• Extended lifespan of Maxis utilities. They now last twice as long as the vanilla version (Paeng's Age Degradation Mod)
• Introduced the corrective version with PIM-X statistics of All 3 City Halls Fixes + 1 for ModPacc Zero
• Coverage radius of civic buildings has been revised 

SUBMENU

• CAM is compatible with SubMenus 

EDUCATION SIMULATOR

• Revised the entire education system by making changes based on new findings by xBlaze89x (https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/762537-on-education-in-sc4-a-detailed-deep-dive-with-simulation-data-and-recommended-modification/)

ADVANCED WATER MANAGEMENT

• Introduced AWM support by enabling freshwater and saltwater
• Introduced a range limiter to take advantage of Fresh Water (Within 8 tiles from sea/river/lake) and for Salt Water (Within 10 tiles from sea/river/lake)
• Introduced two new buildings to take advantage of Water production from Fresh Water and Salt Water
• Recalculated Maxis Water building
• Introduced an alert system to indicate the presence of a freshwater and saltwater pump that are far from the limiting range
• Multi-language support (Only available for the final version)

ADVANCED ENERGY MANAGEMENT

• Recalculated Maxis Energy building statistics
• Introduced a health malus for fossil power plants (Also includes the Nuclear Healt Bugfixes)
• Introduced a new energy management system taking inspiration from AMPS (Not yet implemented as it requires the creation of a Mod DLL)

DOCUMENTATION

• Introduced a Cleanitol to perform a clean installation of CAM 2.5 (Partially implemented)
• New CAM 2.5 documentation with technical specifications for modders (Only available for the final version)

 

DOWNLOAD

Please note that CAM 2.5 is only available only for SC4 version 1.1.641 (Microsoft Windows and Linux).  All other versions of SC4 are no longer supported. If you play the unsupported versions you may have technical problems.

To download CAM 2.5 RC 1 you can do so on this link

https://www.sc4evermore.com/index.php/downloads/download/26-gameplay-mods/276-colossus-addon-mod-2-5-release-candidate-1

Below you can comment giving your feedback, if you identify bugs that are not already known and if you want more general patches for SC4. I am waiting for your feedback so I can release a better CAM for everyone

[Anthracite 37]

Very much appreciated. I revisit SC4 every three or four years and every time has a new, better surprise. The bad thing is that I always have to remember how to install the mods and figure things out, in general

[kontorotsui 4]

it is incredible how I just got back playing this game just in time to see the CAM 2.5. Great job, really, thank you so much.

[pikachu_SQ 914]

Below mods/features are or will be included?

• Area 51 Air Force Base No Exclusion
• Automata Fix Pack Vol1 (armybase_jumpjacksX3.dat only)
• Fixed Underfunded Notices mod
• HippoTank Demand Fix
• IH missing $$$ jobs fix (update!)
• Ir placement mod (or kind of zone size mods)
• Private Schools with Sliders
• Space Port Fix Mod
• Texture Fix of Jenkins Consulting (Maxis)

Anyway, thank you so much!

[Ulisse Wolf 4,399]

On 27/5/2024 at 9:07 PM, pikachu_SQ said:

Below mods/features are or will be included?

• Area 51 Air Force Base No Exclusion
• Automata Fix Pack Vol1 (armybase_jumpjacksX3.dat only)
• Fixed Underfunded Notices mod
• HippoTank Demand Fix
• IH missing $$$ jobs fix (update!)
• Ir placement mod (or kind of zone size mods)
• Private Schools with Sliders
• Space Port Fix Mod
• Texture Fix of Jenkins Consulting (Maxis)

Anyway, thank you so much!

Critical mods such as IH missing $$$ jobs fix (update!) and HippoTank Demand Fix have been included with a general Maxis building update (This patch was already present with CAM 1.0 and CAM 2.1.1)

Regarding port space its update is planned as I was considering whether to include it in CAM or Airport Controller but am opting to include it in RC 2 of CAM 2.5

Fixed Underfunded Notices mod is planned in RC 2 of CAM 2.5.

Automata Fix Pack Vol1 is out of the remit of CAM. I can have a discussion with NAM colleagues about this but I cannot assure anything.

Texture Fix of Jenkins Consulting (Maxis) is out of the remit of CAM and I don't know if I should include it or not. If there is a high demand to include this patch then I can do it but for the time being I will take it out 

Private Schools with Sliders is tricky as a mod in that it goes to change some aspects of the UI and thus makes any UI Mod incompatible with CAM. I will make the appropriate evaluations as to whether or not to include

I currently have no idea whether to also include Area 51 Air Force Base No Exclusion but if there is high demand for this I may explore adding the patch

[Madz_Dragonz 1]

When playing on Steam macOS the mayor rating plummets HARD for no reason and almost immediately. Within a single month im at -100 mayor ratings. I ran the clean up included with the installer. It said these 2 files were outdated (but included with installer anyways?):

z_CAM_Civ_Patch_2.dat

CAM_2.5.0_Extended_Simulator.dat

 

When those 2 files were removed the Mayor rating bug stopped, but every single school, police station, power plant ect...all have their fundings dropped to 0. when I move the budget sliders back up they are dropped again.

 

[Null 45 3,020]

1 hour ago, Madz_Dragonz said:

Steam macOS

As stated in the first post, that is not a supported configuration:

Quote

Please note that CAM 2.5 is only available only for SC4 version 1.1.641 (Microsoft Windows and Linux).  All other versions of SC4 are no longer supported. If you play the unsupported versions you may have technical problems.

[Madz_Dragonz 1]

Just letting them know so hopefully they can fix it. I've narrowed down the files for them.

[rsc204 21,806]

16 hours ago, Madz_Dragonz said:

Just letting them know so hopefully they can fix it. I've narrowed down the files for them.

I don’t think this is a bug with the files, sounds like you’ve got the phantom sliders bug.

Anything that modifies properties pertaining to sliders can not simply be swapped in and out of Plugins. You must ensure none of the altered items are present in your save file BEFORE installing modifications to them. Likewise, you must delete all the modified ones from your cities before reverting back (removing) such mods. If you fail to do this, the values in the save file won’t match those of the files and the sliders always eventually go back to zero as a consequence.

To fix this you need to revert the files in Plugins back to the same ones as were used for each such building when they were placed. Then you can safely bulldoze or keep using them, depending on which modifications you want to keep. 

[Ulisse Wolf 4,399]

On 01/06/2024 at 10:41 PM, Madz_Dragonz said:

Just letting them know so hopefully they can fix it. I've narrowed down the files for them.

First, you are running CAM 2.5 in an unsupported configuration (Steam macOS) so these technical problems can occur more easily than with Windows & Linux versions. Also, the problem you described is phantom sliders bug which can occur if you decide to use CAM 2.5 in an already developed region or there are mods that are conflicting with CAM 2.5 which cause phantom sliders bug. 

That is why I wrote in red that it is absolutely recommended to play CAM 2.5 in a new region to avoid these problems. Considering the experimental status it is also recommended to use a new Plugins folder with CAM 2.5 to do testing of the new CAM version.

[Ulisse Wolf 4,399]

UPDATE: The new version of the Submenu DLL (1.1.3) is compatible with CAM 2.5.  As a result, the incompatibility warning has been deleted

[Max4k 721]

Will RC2 or final version have the Agriculture Farm version or is this all based from the Extended version that you currently have that fades out farms after a while?

[Ulisse Wolf 4,399]

1 hour ago, Max4k said:

Will RC2 or final version have the Agriculture Farm version or is this all based from the Extended version that you currently have that fades out farms after a while?

Unfortunately, there will not be a farm version of CAM 2.5 and also of the other Midrise - Skyscraper and Standard styles as they lack the tables to be able to make the appropriate corrections in the distribution of jobs and houses on PIM-X. The Extended version is the one closest to CAM 1.0 and consequently with PIM-X stats while all other styles have different stastics that can compelly unbalance RCI demand. This problem occurs not only with RCI buildings but also with Civic and Utility buildings as they need sims to work.

A full explanation of the problem can be found here

 

 

 

[Max4k 721]

Ok, all this time I thought PIM-X was good with CAM

[Turnstyled 485]

It's been a while since I've been here. I'm excited to try this Release Candidate!

What is SimCity_1.dat for in the Release Candidate's files? I was under the impression that modifying SimCity_1.dat was no longer necessary.

Will the final version be compatible with AMPS? I take it that this release candidate is compatible with AMPS because the energy management system is not implemented in it.

Thank you!

[Ulisse Wolf 4,399]

4 minutes ago, Turnstyled said:

What is SimCity_1.dat for in the Release Candidate's files? I was under the impression that modifying SimCity_1.dat was no longer necessary.

That SimCity_1.dat is the modified version to fix critical RCI bugs. This file will always be included in CAM even if a Mod DLL has been implemented that fixes the problem

 

6 minutes ago, Turnstyled said:

Will the final version be compatible with AMPS? I take it that this release candidate is compatible with AMPS because the energy management system is not implemented in it.

Original AMPS will never be compatible with CAM because of the extensive utility changes in addition to correcting any bugs. In addition, CAM 2.5 has revisited power generation taking into consideration the disproportionate consumption of large cities in addition to extending the life of power plants.

So Original AMPS will be considered a NO CAM mod and consequently its installation is prohibited to avoid technical problems with CAM. 

 

[Turnstyled 485]

@Ulisse Wolf I understand. Thank you so much for answering my questions!

[Turnstyled 485]

I apologize for the double post.

For this Release Candidate, should I remove MZ City Hall Package (Beta v1.1).dat, MZ Crime and Police Station Fixes (Beta v1.3).dat, and ModPacc Zero - Opera House Fixes - Override Vanilla (Beta v1).dat from my plugins folder? These files are all from ModPacc Zero and the first post of this thread leads me to believe that the fixes from all three of these files are in this Release Candidate. Thank you again.

Edit: Is Park Pays incompatible with CAM 2.5? It looks to me that z_CAM_Civ_Patch_2.dat affects all Maxis parks. Thus, it seems to me that they are incompatible. Thank you once again!

Edit 2: I take it that anything that affects Maxis buildings is incompatible with this mod. Is that correct? I have Maxis Parks to Bottom, Maxis Mansion Overhaul, Area 51 Air Force Base No Exclusion, and Maxis Seasonal - Residential&Commercial Lots (modified to exclude Maxis mansions) in my plugins directory. Are all of these incompatible with CAM 2.5? Additionally, is IRM - CAM Edition by Shadowstrike compatible with CAM 2.5? I have a Maxis buildings blocker for farms to use all levels of Fantozzi's Colossus Farming. Is Colossus Farming compatible with CAM 2.5? Finally, is AC-JENX AIRPORT SC4_Functional_Airports_V2.3.dat compatible with CAM 2.5? This is all that I have that affects Maxis buildings. I got rid of Functional Landmarks because it did not seem to be compatible with CAM 2.5. Thank you so much.

[Ulisse Wolf 4,399]

7 hours ago, Turnstyled said:

For this Release Candidate, should I remove MZ City Hall Package (Beta v1.1).dat, MZ Crime and Police Station Fixes (Beta v1.3).dat, and ModPacc Zero - Opera House Fixes - Override Vanilla (Beta v1).dat from my plugins folder? These files are all from ModPacc Zero and the first post of this thread leads me to believe that the fixes from all three of these files are in this Release Candidate. Thank you again.

Exactly. Modified versions of MZ have been included in CAM, and consequently the original versions of MZ should be removed to avoid conflicts

 

7 hours ago, Turnstyled said:

Edit: Is Park Pays incompatible with CAM 2.5? It looks to me that z_CAM_Civ_Patch_2.dat affects all Maxis parks. Thus, it seems to me that they are incompatible. Thank you once again!

Yes. ParksPay is incompatible with CAM and I don't add it because of the cheat. In this case you use the extra cheats you add the amount you want with the Moolah cheat

7 hours ago, Turnstyled said:

Edit 2: I take it that anything that affects Maxis buildings is incompatible with this mod. Is that correct? I have Maxis Parks to Bottom, Maxis Mansion Overhaul, Area 51 Air Force Base No Exclusion, and Maxis Seasonal - Residential&Commercial Lots (modified to exclude Maxis mansions) in my plugins directory. Are all of these incompatible with CAM 2.5? Additionally, is IRM - CAM Edition by Shadowstrike compatible with CAM 2.5? I have a Maxis buildings blocker for farms to use all levels of Fantozzi's Colossus Farming. Is Colossus Farming compatible with CAM 2.5? Finally, is AC-JENX AIRPORT SC4_Functional_Airports_V2.3.dat compatible with CAM 2.5? This is all that I have that affects Maxis buildings. I got rid of Functional Landmarks because it did not seem to be compatible with CAM 2.5. Thank you so much.

IRM (CAM Patch) and Colossus Farming are compatible and are the new development standard for future CAM 2.5 content (It will all be written in the final documentation).

AC-JENX Airport SC4 Functional Airport is compatible with CAM 2.5 although those files require extraordinary maintenance. 

All mods that modify the aesthetics of maxis lots are compatible with CAM if they do not have the Exemplar that modifies the various paramenters that are modified by CAM. In this case you have to remove the offending exemplar from the mod and install the modified version 

 

[GeeGee 6]

Good morning / good evening! I'm checking in for the first time with a couple of bug reports and one suggestion...

But first, I would like to preface my comment by saying that I have just decided to return to SC4 after a yearslong hiatus because of this project. That being said, I am quite unseasoned with the in-depth mechanics behind modding the game, and I may not have the most discerning eye, although I am very much trying to learn as I go. Big, big thank-yous and I-love-yous to everyone in the wide, wide world who cherish this game enough to continue improving it well into the 21st century. 

― ― ― ― ― ― ―

I have found two minor bugs (while annoying, are not simulation-breaking) that only occur with CAM 2.5 rc1 installed, with an otherwise empty Documents/Plugins folder:

Spoiler

Bugged model on the Maxis gazebo ― the only Maxis graphical issue I've found while CAM 2.5 rc1 is in my plugins. Pretty freaky.

Spoiler

(1/2) The Maxis city college has disappeared entirely from the Education menu with CAM 2.5 rc1 installed.

(2/2) To confirm, I plopped a city college without mods, saved, and reloaded the game with just CAM 2.5 rc1 ― the building has disappeared, left some props behind, and does not return any info while hovering over with the query. The Maxis city college has truly gone M.I.A. !! Now why is that ??

― ― ― ― ― ― ―

I would also like to make suggestions regarding the coverage radii of the four main groups of the Maxis civic buildings, but I'd first like to know the rationale behind the revised coverages currently implemented in CAM 2.5 rc1 that were not to be found within the dev diary. My suggestions may merely amount to "bigger circle gooder" most of the time, since I'm probably not fully aware of how coverage interacts with the game's/mod's simulation ― I do, however, want my suggestions to be grounded in realism, aesthetics, and efficiency. While not playtesting CAM 2.5 rc1, I enjoy playing with BrianD90's More Realistic Radius mod, and below I've attached screenshots to assist in visually comparing the original SimCity 4 radii (O.G.), release candidate 1's radii (CAM), and BrianD90's modded radii (MRR) ― all with max funding on a large city tile:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

*(offmap) simply means coverage beyond a large city tile ― the radius extends off of the map.

**CAM 2.5 rc1 seemingly restricts the radii of certain Education buildings (e.g. university, museum, etc.) that once provided full city-wide coverage in the vanilla game. (this disturbed me!)

I'll hold off on my detailed rationale as to why bigger is better until I receive a reply, though I believe BrianD90 does a good job justifying the "Realistic" label in their mod's description. I'd like to know how a More Realistic Radii-type civics coverage could play with CAM 2.5's changes (i.e. education levels, crime, etc.), and how it might hopefully lead to a more lifelike city-building simulator. I follow the principle of less is more, especially when the unmodded game practically compels formulaic civics placement just to prevent the city from imploding. Perhaps there could be individual installer options in the future. Anyways...

Cheers!

[Ulisse Wolf 4,399]

1 hour ago, GeeGee said:

I have found two minor bugs (while annoying, are not simulation-breaking) that only occur with CAM 2.5 rc1 installed, with an otherwise empty Documents/Plugins folder:

Bugs have been found and are in a phase of resolution. It is necessary to wait for RC 2 for the bugs to be fixed

 

1 hour ago, GeeGee said:

I would also like to make suggestions regarding the coverage radii of the four main groups of the Maxis civic buildings, but I'd first like to know the rationale behind the revised coverages currently implemented in CAM 2.5 rc1 that were not to be found within the dev diary. My suggestions may merely amount to "bigger circle gooder" most of the time, since I'm probably not fully aware of how coverage interacts with the game's/mod's simulation ― I do, however, want my suggestions to be grounded in realism, aesthetics, and efficiency. While not playtesting CAM 2.5 rc1, I enjoy playing with BrianD90's More Realistic Radius mod, and below I've attached screenshots to assist in visually comparing the original SimCity 4 radii (O.G.), release candidate 1's radii (CAM), and BrianD90's modded radii (MRR) ― all with max funding on a large city tile:

PIM-X has formulas that calculate the radius based on some parameters below is the elementary school radius formula

8*int(12.5+3.*Students**0.4)

Based on this formula, the radius is obtained. Since updating CAM 2.5 also involves updating PIM-X in RC1 I did not go into the modification of the radius formulas and relied on the PIM-X calculations also because I wanted first to get your feedback on possible changes to be made. You also have to balance the radius with capacity because CAM cities are notorious for saturating civic buildings quickly. 

That's why that I don't consider More Realistic Radius as a reliable mod for CAM as it doesn't go not even to change the capacity that becomes critical in CAM cities especially large ones 

One possible solution is to modify the fomrula that gives you the number of students (capacity) by increasing its value up to twice as much but still requires appropriate calibration curves so that the changes do not turn into a cheat . 

 

[junjifan 0]

Hello. Amazing work. Is that for testing in a sense there maybe CTD / save corruption or more that there are imbalanced/not quite working buildings/components?

[Ulisse Wolf 4,399]

4 hours ago, junjifan said:

Hello. Amazing work. Is that for testing in a sense there maybe CTD / save corruption or more that there are imbalanced/not quite working buildings/components?

More to calibrate features than CTD and corruption saves. Also, CAM 2.5 RC 1 is a test version that its later version (RC2) may change again with new features