All my questions while trying to build a new region !

[vetram 221]

here comes the next question ....

is  Colossus Addon Mod (CAM)   2.1.0a   playable for now till the release of CAM 2.5 , as it is not in the Ultimate Guide list of CAM Main Mod ?

Thanx always 

Antonis 

[Propfam 2,315]

3 hours ago, vetram said:

here comes the next question ....

is  Colossus Addon Mod (CAM)   2.1.0a   playable for now till the release of CAM 2.5 , as it is not in the Ultimate Guide list of CAM Main Mod ?

Thanx always 

Antonis 

Yes, you can. I'm using CAM 2.1 too. I'm sorry but Ulisse isn't that great in terms of the explanations, since he's Italian and English is a bit hard for him. I agree it's just a lil bit confusing. So in essence, you can play with CAM 2.1 even to the end of day. When CAM 2.5 will be made available, you can upgrade to that version. But if you decide that, "Well I don't need integrated water system or better hospitals, etc," you can always run 2.1, again even virtually forever.

Afaik, there's not that much change in terms of building capacity, staging, demand, things that are associated with CAM today, compared to 2.1. Sure there will be some tweaks here and there. Again, it's not that significant, especially fundamentally. So you can always play existing lots + newer-CAM ones, tho with some adjustments. But, you will get better water system, better adjusted civic services, and possibly more depending on Ulisse's wants.

[Ulisse Wolf 4,477]

44 minutes ago, Jidan said:

Yes, you can. I'm using CAM 2.1 too. I'm sorry but Ulisse isn't that great in terms of the explanations, since he's Italian and English is a bit hard for him. I agree it's just a lil bit confusing. So in essence, you can play with CAM 2.1 even to the end of day. When CAM 2.5 will be made available, you can upgrade to that version. But if you decide that, "Well I don't need integrated water system or better hospitals, etc," you can always run 2.1, again even virtually forever.

I prefer to remain cryptic in that announcing A but then you have to do B is not good for people.

So this is the current situation

You can play CAM 2.1.1 and upgrade to CAM 2.5 but you have to watch out for these problems

1. Phantom Slider Bug
2. Incompatibility of many mods with CAM 2.5.
3. Inconsistency with simulation (This is solved by running the time)
4. Incompatibility with other CAM controllers 2.1.1 (Excluding Extended)

So depending on the choices you make you can have an easier upgrade or an upgrade that breaks your region.

 

[vetram 221]

Good morning to all friends! 

@Jidan Thanx indeed for all the information and support ! 

 

8 hours ago, Jidan said:

So in essence, you can play with CAM 2.1 even to the end of day. When CAM 2.5 will be made available, you can upgrade to that version. But if you decide that, "Well I don't need integrated water system or better hospitals, etc," you can always run 2.1, again even virtually forever.

 

so , in that case i will continue playing my new project with CAM 2.1 all the way till i finish it , and when i will see the new CAM 2.5 ready i will use it in my next new project , in order to avoid any of those problems @Ulisse Wolf mentioned !.. Except if it will be necessary to have CAM 2.1 as a dependency for CAM 2.5 upgrade.. As i wrote lately i have started a new fresh plugin folder trying to be very careful this time , on the content that i add to it..so , i will also install CAM 2.1 again , but as i know there are some problems with it's installation perhaps i will ask for help .....hope always for your support !  

 

@Ulisse Wolf Thanx also so much for your support!

7 hours ago, Ulisse Wolf said:

You can play CAM 2.1.1 and upgrade to CAM 2.5 but you have to watch out for these problems

1. Phantom Slider Bug
2. Incompatibility of many mods with CAM 2.5.
3. Inconsistency with simulation (This is solved by running the time)
4. Incompatibility with other CAM controllers 2.1.1 (Excluding Extended)

So depending on the choices you make you can have an easier upgrade or an upgrade that breaks your region.

 

- As i wrote above i will play with CAM2.1 for the present project , and i will not risk it for upgrading to CAM 2.5 in case it will be released soon . so i am going to use CAM 2.5 in my next project ..Of course i wil wait for your instructions about the problems you mentioned ,and maybe a video - tutorial again for CAM 2.5 correct installation in your channel ! 

Thanx always  Antonis 

[vetram 221]

Hello to all friends ! 

-Always following the Ultimate Guide by @Ulisse Wolf ...i reached reading about Index of transport mods compatible with the NAM , but before that i wanted to see if there was anything that i make wrong during NAM installation , as i had some problems that i have already mentioned in previous post of mine (brown boxes when trying to build a bridge)..

-While searching i noticed about DATPacking , and i found and read a nice article about DATpacking the Network Addon Mod, the Official Way! by @Lucario Boricua ....

I followed every step carefully and i managed to DatPack the installation of NAM 48 , where in my surprise i noticed that the new Datpack NAM 48 folder install was 1,13 GB , and the unpacked NAM 48 install was 1,10 GB !!.......notice that i didnt packed 9.Traffic Simulator (as suggested in the article) and two more files.. 0.NAM Controller_RHD_4GB_Full , and  z_Rail (RealRailway)  ..(was not sure if those 2 files could be datpacked) 

so, what do you think?   should we leave NAM installation unpacked?  (as you can see the installation file is a little smaller than the datpacked one ! ) 

what do you say?  have you also datpacked NAM? and if yes did you find any difference? 

Thanx a lot always

Antonis

[Propfam 2,315]

2 hours ago, vetram said:

should we leave NAM installation unpacked?

have you also datpacked NAM? and if yes did you find any difference? 

1. Up to you as long as it doesn't make you have problems.

2. Yes and that works fine. Nope, not that significant. Even @Null 45's DBPF mod doesn't really help. It all depends on your drive speed and these days, CPU. And even then, it still takes a couple seconds before loads to the city tile.

[vetram 221]

3 hours ago, Jidan said:

2. Yes and that works fine. Nope, not that significant. Even @Null 45's DBPF mod doesn't really help. It all depends on your drive speed and these days, CPU. And even then, it still takes a couple seconds before loads to the city tile.

- i wanted to mean that except loading time , if there is difference in files volume ?

..at the meantime , i went into CAM installation , and followed the instructions named 'Overcoming CAM Installation Problems (Windows 10)' , which i finally done , but it doesnt say anything about the second file that is downloadable which is CAM_2.1.0_Main_Controller.dat.......what about that? should i move it also into plugins folder ? 

In the above guide for overcoming problems says that installation is finished without mentioning anything about the controller file i mentioned ?...finally reading the readme from the author file describes a different approach for CAM installation....May be use this way because it is more updated??  just wondering ...help

Thanx always Antonis 

[Propfam 2,315]

50 minutes ago, vetram said:

- i wanted to mean that except loading time , if there is difference in files volume ?

..at the meantime , i went into CAM installation , and followed the instructions named 'Overcoming CAM Installation Problems (Windows 10)' , which i finally done , but it doesnt say anything about the second file that is downloadable which is CAM_2.1.0_Main_Controller.dat.......what about that? should i move it also into plugins folder ? 

1. Not that significant, it's like 10%-ish. Except if you're on Mac or you want, for some reason, collections of very big .dats on your Plugins folder, well it's literally up to you.
2. The file is (or should be) included after every CAM installation. It's in SimCity_1 folder in the Plugins folder, which also contains SimCity_1.dat from C:\GOG Games\SimCity 4 (or whatever folder you installed into). Since SC4DatPacker 2009 is problematic these days, you can use JDatPacker instead. Note you need Java to be installed. You can use any Java. Oracle's, OpenJDK, AdoptJDK; all works the same. If there's indeed no file to be found, then you can download that file from the CAM's STEX listing and start the merging process.

54 minutes ago, vetram said:

In the above guide for overcoming problems says that installation is finished without mentioning anything about the controller file i mentioned ?...finally reading the readme from the author file describes a different approach for CAM installation....May be use this way because it is more updated??  just wondering ...help

1. Yup, again is because CAM_2.1.0_Main_Controller.dat should be available after installation. So, InvisiChem didn't mention it in his manual. Not to mention, it's a retroactive addition, afaik, by @CorinaMarie, to prevent new players from missing file. And she didn't update the manual and instead put out a "warning" at top of the page.
2. The readme in the downloaded file, which is made by InvisiChem, is a bit outdated compared to Cori's. So, it's a bit better to follow Cori instructions, if you really want to use SC4DatPacker. If you want to use JDatPacker, follow my guide
   1. Make a new subfolder in the SimCity 4 folder. Let's called it Uncompressed.
   2. (Recommended) Make also a new subfolder in the same place called Compressed.
   3. Put SimCity_1 folder into Uncompressed.
   4. Fire up JDatPacker.
   5. Fill the Source with the path to the Uncompressed folder.
   6. Fill the Destination with the path to either the Compressed or Plugins or even the game folder directly (if you have permission that is).
   7. Hit Start and wait till it ends.
   8. You should see SimCity_1.dat in the destination folder you choose.

[vetram 221]

I am determined to use sc4 cleanitol 0.9.0 by @nos.17  and i am looking for a tutorial to help me install it correctly and run it without problems ...i dont find any more support than the user manual which do not help people like me with limmited tech knowledge to understand it ...much needed more simple instructions of installing it and running it pls ..i have already posted a similar post in the dedicated thread , and i am looking forward for solutions to the problems i am facing..

Thanx always 

[vetram 221]

Hello to all ! 

question about CAM installation ......i have used both ways to install it  by @CorinaMarie and  by @Ulisse Wolf and i am not sure if the installation is ok...as there are some differents folder results  after installation of both of these 2 ways.. may i ask for some help?

Thanx

[CorinaMarie 29,934]

1 hour ago, vetram said:

question about CAM installation ......i have used both ways to install it  by @CorinaMarie 

I have a vague memory of posting about someone's guide to installing CAM, but not of actually being an author of that. Do you have a linky to what looks like might be my instructions?

[vetram 221]

 Thanx for replying  @CorinaMarie 

well let me explain ..Using your step by step instructions i finally ended up with 2 folders inside my plugins folder which contain two .dat files the first and one .dat file the second folder , like below..

1) Plugins  > a__CAM > a__Core > CAM_2.1.0 Main_Controller.dat  and also

                       a__CAM > a__Core > CAM_2.1.0_PlayStyle_Extended.dat

2)  Plugins  > Core Buildings > CAM_2.1.0_Buildings.dat     

nothing else's......

..now using @Ulisse Wolf i followed the step by step instructions downloading CAM Legacy Controller and ended up with just only one folder that is ....

Plugins  > a__CAM > 0 Core Controller > 0 Standard Controller > CAM_2.1.0_Main_Controller.dat

                                                                                                                  CAM_2.5.0_PlayStyle_Standard.dat

and a SimCity_1.dat file into my root directory ..........

 

you can see the differences !.....i am not sure that i have installed CAM 2.1.0 the right way , although i can see the message of CAM installed when i begin the game ...

Thanx again

 

egacy Controller 

                   

[CorinaMarie 29,934]

44 minutes ago, vetram said:

Using your step by step instructions

This is the part I'm hoping you can point to where you found the instructions.

If I did write it, I could read it now and it might make sense to me. Otherwise, the only part I sort of recall is posting (or endorsing?) someone else's work which was a guide to installing CAM. It might be that I posted a message banner on the CAM STEX entry pointing out the guide?

A key part is I don't want to inadvertently get credit for something that wasn't my creation.

As for your specific questions on which method is better, I simply don't know at this point. It's been way too long ago since I dipped my toes in those waters.

[vetram 221]

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/30956-colossus-addon-mod-CAM/

[CorinaMarie 29,934]

21 minutes ago, vetram said:

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/30956-colossus-addon-mod-CAM/

Thanks! That refreshes my memory and the document was created by @JimC and isn't my work at all. It only looks that way since I (in my role as site staff) added it to the message banner.

As such I don't deserve any credit at all for the contents.

[vetram 221]

Hi! 

i would like to ask @Ulisse Wolf ..i followed the steps about  CAM Legacy Controller  described by you here...Colossus Addon Mod (CAM)  2.1.0a 

after following 1,2,3, steps the 4th step mention this....4) Start the installer and select the legacy controller you want ....i suggested that you mean the installer of the CAM Legacy Controller , which i did and choosing the Standard Controller which added a folder named a_CAM>0 Core Controller>0 Standard Controller> and finally these files that i post in the pic below...

nothing else ! ....so what? am i done?  have it finished to download CAM 2.1.0a ?  ...or do you mean that i ought to have proceed with the installation of CAM 2.1 using its installer exe  ?

in othe words which installation file should i install after the 1,2,3 steps ?   the CAM 2.1.0a or the Legacy Controller ? 

i tried to make you understand my question as simple as i could ...pls wait for an answer ! 

PS:  I tried to install CAM 2.1.0a after all mentioned above and i got this message ...but i do have the latest update 1,1,641.0 game version !

 

 

 

[Propfam 2,315]

1 hour ago, vetram said:

Hi! 

i would like to ask @Ulisse Wolf ..i followed the steps about  CAM Legacy Controller  described by you here...Colossus Addon Mod (CAM)  2.1.0a 

after following 1,2,3, steps the 4th step mention this....4) Start the installer and select the legacy controller you want ....i suggested that you mean the installer of the CAM Legacy Controller , which i did and choosing the Standard Controller which added a folder named a_CAM>0 Core Controller>0 Standard Controller> and finally these files that i post in the pic below...

nothing else ! ....so what? am i done?  have it finished to download CAM 2.1.0a ?  ...or do you mean that i ought to have proceed with the installation of CAM 2.1 using its installer exe  ?

in othe words which installation file should i install after the 1,2,3 steps ?   the CAM 2.1.0a or the Legacy Controller ? 

i tried to make you understand my question as simple as i could ...pls wait for an answer ! 

PS:  I tried to install CAM 2.1.0a after all mentioned above and i got this message ...but i do have the latest update 1,1,641.0 game version !

 

 

 

It's either the registry (does SC4 really use it?) that holds the language the game used (aka the driving side) and the version is corrupted or your game path is located in a non-ASCII way. Since I'm not using scripts other than Latin, I can't attest this. But one thing I'd help you is to move it to a more reachable, aka more ASCII-friendly, path. For instance, move it to say D drive directly (of course, you put the SimCity 4 folder there, not the content directly). For the former, you can fix it by manually creating the registry entry and adding that version number. Or just reinstall the whole game, with backups recommended of course.

If everything still fails, well, you can install 7-zip. Make sure that when you right click an exe (or an archive file), there's a group of context menus labeled 7-zip. If so, right click the CAM installer, hover over 7-zip context menu, and click Open archive. Copy both the SimCity_1 (if needed) and a_CAM to your Plugins folder and do everything stated in the manual.

[vetram 221]

Thanx Jidan for your support , but i would like to have an answer from the creator @Ulisse Wolf and then i will comment ..

[Ulisse Wolf 4,477]

7 hours ago, vetram said:

Hi! 

i would like to ask @Ulisse Wolf ..i followed the steps about  CAM Legacy Controller  described by you here...Colossus Addon Mod (CAM)  2.1.0a 

after following 1,2,3, steps the 4th step mention this....4) Start the installer and select the legacy controller you want ....i suggested that you mean the installer of the CAM Legacy Controller , which i did and choosing the Standard Controller which added a folder named a_CAM>0 Core Controller>0 Standard Controller> and finally these files that i post in the pic below...

nothing else ! ....so what? am i done?  have it finished to download CAM 2.1.0a ?  ...or do you mean that i ought to have proceed with the installation of CAM 2.1 using its installer exe  ?

in othe words which installation file should i install after the 1,2,3 steps ?   the CAM 2.1.0a or the Legacy Controller ? 

i tried to make you understand my question as simple as i could ...pls wait for an answer ! 

PS:  I tried to install CAM 2.1.0a after all mentioned above and i got this message ...but i do have the latest update 1,1,641.0 game version !

 

 

 

If you have performed the procedure then you have installed CAM corectly. Ignore the EXE installer which is very broken

[vetram 221]

14 minutes ago, Ulisse Wolf said:

If you have performed the procedure then you have installed CAM corectly. Ignore the EXE installer which is very broken

how can i be sure that i have installed CAM ?  is there a way?

[Ulisse Wolf 4,477]

5 minutes ago, vetram said:

how can i be sure that i have installed CAM ?  is there a way?

If you get the word CAM during the introduction of the game then you have CAM installed. For now, only this is available as a tool to check if CAM is installed

[vetram 221]

6 minutes ago, Ulisse Wolf said:

If you get the word CAM during the introduction of the game then you have CAM installed. For now, only this is available as a tool to check if CAM is installed

do you mean that? .....

 

[Ulisse Wolf 4,477]

5 minutes ago, vetram said:

do you mean that? .....

 

yes

[vetram 221]

Trying to find the long dependencies list of Colossus Farming to use it with CAM , i realised that there are some dependencies missing.......and i am wondering if without those dependencies can i still install and use Colossus Farming without any problem except perhaps "brown boxes" ?  ...also is there any other compatible farming mods that i can use with CAM perhaps with dependencies still alive ?

Thanx always 

[Propfam 2,315]

7 hours ago, vetram said:

can i still install and use Colossus Farming without any problem except perhaps "brown boxes" ? 

It should be fine as afaik, those dependencies are just prop and building packs. Well, there are some MMPs iirc. But it's an MMP, not tree replacement or anything like that. So, no CTD risk if the dependencies aren't met. I wish @Tyberius06 will fix this as I also got rid of my plugins long time ago.

7 hours ago, vetram said:

also is there any other compatible farming mods that i can use with CAM perhaps with dependencies still alive ?

Afaik, nope, except if you count individual lots. Well, Spam if you want to try. But it's not officially Campatible, so it doesn't really count.

[vetram 221]

Hello to all friends!..

-I return back to my post , after some time and i will try to continue but with a new region this time from northern Tuscany , which is Florence and its surrounding suburbs...

-Last time i was trying to represent Pisa as realistic as i could , but this time i decided to leave it for now , and try to represent Florence but with a different strategy in mind.... having some experience from Pisa , this time my strategy is to see if its possible to make a similar region but not be so accurate on representing exactly whatever i see in google map ... i just want to have a picture of what i am trying to do into my cities from the begining , and not trying to imagine a really fantasize region with its cities all by my imagination .... Of course , perhaps its not so difficult to imagine a region or a city that doesnt exist in real world , and for sure i have tried so in the past , but many times i found myself left from new ideas on what to do next , in order to stay as realistic as i could ....the result was so many unfinished projects ...

-So , my new strategy is to try to stay as realistic as i can , and this could help me a ready real world region with its cities that i see in google maps , and from the other hand i would like to combine realism with the freedom to choose whatever i would like to add or ignore , in order to finally finish a project for the first time in so may years playing this game..a finished project that could satisfy me, without using any cheat and following the rules of the game ...Anyway , i dont know for sure if this strategy will finish with sucess someday , as it surely need much patience and time , but i will try always hoping for your help and support always..

-Right now i have already trying my new region since the beging of April 2025 , and i will show you an idea of where i have come since now ...  feel free to write any comment if you want .. The following pics are from a suburb near Florence named Scandicci , and from there i started my building my region ...

[CorinaMarie 29,934]

1 hour ago, vetram said:

The following pics are from a suburb near Florence named Scandicci

I like how you've created realistic settings. I see good use of forests in between areas of development. The irregular shape farms give a feeling of conforming to the land and/or boundaries as staked out by your Sims over time.

 

1 hour ago, vetram said:

without using any cheat and following the rules of the game

This can be interpreted many ways and however you have decided for yourself is perfectly fine. Does it allow you to use mods which fix broken parts of the game? Does it allow any extra income from rural areas or the use of extended radius fire stations? I played vanilla for a long time and I had to sacrifice a realistic layout in order to mitigate fires by placing fire stations much closer than would ever be seen in RL.

My point is, you are welcome to stretch and adjust the rules as you play to achieve both goals.

[vetram 221]

3 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

I like how you've created realistic settings. I see good use of forests in between areas of development. The irregular shape farms give a feeling of conforming to the land and/or boundaries as staked out by your Sims over time.

-I think this is the result from using google maps , in order not to get carried away from realism ...the map help you to see RL cities in a RL region !   So many other people have already design the shapes , the lines and boundaries of the city/region like architects , urban planners, mayors and so on ...and by the time you see a result that already has been done and its not easy to change easily...my thought is that we are just mayors of the game , we are not professionals like above...

-Realism is one of the most important parts of my strategy , in a way that it doesnt have to copy what i see in the map , but just have an idea of where to start and where to finish....after all the game itself has enough restrictions which make it impossible to copy whatever you see ...

3 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

Does it allow you to use mods which fix broken parts of the game?

-Here is the second most important part of my strategy!...of course and i would use mods which fix any broken parts of the game!...from the moment that it doesnt affect the smooth progress of the game ,  such mods are necessary as they correct the game, and dont change it !...what i mean cheat is, for example money ofcourse which i dont add in the bank whenever i need them ...ofcourse these make the progress of the whole project to delay or maybe become impossible ...this is what i want to verify , as i am still in the early stages and i have already apply a strictly economical policy...  for example i have in my first city about 11.500 sims and i still havent given them ..water !

4 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

Does it allow any extra income from rural areas or the use of extended radius fire stations?

- i dont know exactly what you mean if i allow extra income from rural areas , but as for extended radius fire stations , i will try to avoid them also...i am in the first stages yet , and i will surely have to decide if i may face such problems...we will see ..thats makes the game even more interesting .....

4 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

I played vanilla for a long time and I had to sacrifice a realistic layout in order to mitigate fires by placing fire stations much closer than would ever be seen in RL.

- in my opinion , you are not sacrificing realism when placing fire stations much closer than RL ... if you have the money to do so , why not?  after all , isnt that the same in RL rich cities?

Thanks so much for your comments ! 

Antonis (VeTram)

[CorinaMarie 29,934]

4 minutes ago, vetram said:

- i dont know exactly what you mean if i allow extra income from rural areas

For instance, I made a little mod for myself which increases the tax income from farms by 5 times and that lets me afford fire stations and medical clinics even with their tiny radii (as compared to how spread out my little towns and villages are). Then I mentioned the extended radius fire stations as an alternative to needing so many at the vanilla distances.

 

7 minutes ago, vetram said:

- in my opinion , you are not sacrificing realism when placing fire stations much closer than RL ... if you have the money to do so , why not?  after all , isnt that the same in RL rich cities?

Yep. That's entirely correct and if you have a method which works for generating enough money then my questions about it are moot.

Carry on as you are.

[vetram 221]

as for the fire stations , i just noticed that the protection area of a small fire station is much bigger , than the protection area i used to see in the past ...!   is that happens because i use now in my plugins the newest CAM version 2.5.0  ?  ...here is a pic in a past region with the old protection areas and a small fire station that i added now ( the one with the big red circle) ..you can see clearly the difference...! so are you using CAM @CorinaMarie ??