Introduce Yourself Here!

[matias93 7,535]

6 hours ago, adsii1970 said:

One of the projects I have thought about doing is on basics and history behind basic American city design... I just have to figure out where in this forum it would best fit and if it would be a project that would interest others...

This sounds really interesting!!! I would say that, depending on the character of your project, it could be either a City Journal (if you use a game city of your own to give examples), an Omnibus series of articles (if you do it as a guide to build american cities) or as a thread on the Architecture and Urban Planning section.

[adsii1970 85]

13 minutes ago, matias93 said:

This sounds really interesting!!! I would say that, depending on the character of your project, it could be either a City Journal (if you use a game city of your own to give examples), an Omnibus series of articles (if you do it as a guide to build american cities) or as a thread on the Architecture and Urban Planning section.

Well, It would probably be best done as a series. But here's the thing, I would be hesitant to do it specifically as a "SC4" article because the information would apply to anyone interested in doing an American style city even in Cities: Skylines or any other city builder game. Would it then be best to put it in the Omnibus?

[matias93 7,535]

Definitely yes, the Omnibus isn't exclusive to SC4 at all

[adsii1970 85]

15 minutes ago, matias93 said:

Definitely yes, the Omnibus isn't exclusive to SC4 at all

Would it be best to work on this as an article in the Simtropolis article area? It will probably be a long, ongoing project as I also am  hoping to incorporate real world images and examples to help make it more informational and educational...

[Cyclone Boom 16,854]

49 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Would it be best to work on this as an article in the Simtropolis article area?

Sure, that's completely fine.

Or on the other hand, if you'd think it'd be more suitable as a forum topic such as in the Urban Planning forum as @matias93 mentioned, it could always later be moved over as a new Omnibus article. There have been a range of topic-based tutorials, and maybe there it'd be more visible initially in the forums for everyone to see? The board software includes a function for this which works for initial posts, along with any replies which can be migrated over as comments. Through a bit of juggling around and pulling a few levers here and there, it's also possible to move any of your replies into individual articles should you wish at any stage. Just let us know if so.

Another option could be to use the Gallery and collate your images in dedicated albums. Then either embed these into your posts (via the "Insert Image / Other Media" function in the editor). Also in terms of a thread, don't worry about making consecutive posts. Consider it your own scrapbook to use however you'd like.

It sounds like a great idea, and really it's whatever would be easier. Feel free to give either or a trial run if that'd be useful.

[adsii1970 85]

42 minutes ago, Cyclone Boom said:

Sure, that's completely fine.

Or on the other hand, if you'd think it'd be more suitable as a forum topic such as in the Urban Planning forum as @matias93 mentioned, it could always later be moved over as a new Omnibus article. There have been a range of topic-based tutorials, and maybe there it'd be more visible initially in the forums for everyone to see? The board software includes a function for this which works for initial posts, along with any replies which can be migrated over as comments. Through a bit of juggling around and pulling a few levers here and there, it's also possible to move any of your replies into individual articles should you wish at any stage. Just let us know if so.

I know this may be considered as a minor deal, but I don't want to create too much extra work on the moderation team. At one time, I was approached with being a moderator but had to graciously bow out because of 1) graduate school requirements 2) divorce 3) lost interest because of depression. With that said, I respect your time and efforts. And it is my heartfelt desire to try and put it where it needs to go the first time and work on it there. With the OP concept, I can simply put links to the chapters or sections once completed to ease navigation. And as those entries are completed, link them back to the index located on the OP. That way, if a forum user didn't want to scroll through 40 posts to get to the next installment, they can use the OP as a springboard. All I need is some sort of preference from the moderation team as to where it needs to go... and it may take me a couple of days to do it, but I will get the OP roughed in and go from there...

In reality, once I have the OP roughed in, I will probably only be able to do a section every four weeks because of other commitments I have. As I mentioned earllier, it will be a work in progress. Once it is finished, it will (hopefully) be a valuable resource for those who are looking for inspiration on where and how to start their metropolis masterpiece...

[matias93 7,535]

I guess the option that means less work for us and the most flexibility for you and the end users is a forum thread with links. Even if it becomes too long, it wouldn't be really more than trivial to re-format it to match the style of an omnibus article, if that is needed or prefered on the future.

Oh, and about the topic of the project, I'm sure that @Odainsaker will be happy to contribute with an always interesting historical insight.

[Jackspital 391]

Hi, i'd like to introduce myself, even though im not new by a long shot, I recently got back into SC3000 and 4, after being on a little hiatus for about 6 or more months,(and still have the same cluttered plugins folder, which i recently started to clean up, but gave up after 2 hours ). It's nice to see that this site is still bringing in brand new players, which gives me hope for sc4's future. I hope when i get some spare time , I can contribute more to the site. Hopefully i can try my hand at a CJ, as I have been working on a nice region, and a few city tiles too.

[CorinaMarie 29,578]

Hiya, @Jackspital. Welcome back from your hiatus from the games.

 

3 hours ago, Jackspital said:

I recently got back into SC3000 ...

As you've prolly noticed we gave SC3000 it's own top level forum and it's own category on the STEX.

• SimCity 3000 Forum
• SimCity 3000 Files
  • SC3K Maxis Files
  • Cities & Maps

And I personally recovered all extant custom building files (a little over 10k of them) from the old Building Exchange which I make available for peeps to download upon request. The zip file weighs in at 650 MB so I just toss it on a temporary hosting site when anyone wants a copy.

 

3 hours ago, Jackspital said:

... and 4

I know you've found the forums for 4 so no new comment.

[salesvow 4]

-

[CorinaMarie 29,578]

Hiya, Oscar. Welcome Simtropolis!

As you know it's super easy to sign up for a Simtropolis account and we are happy to have you aboard. You've made a good purchase by getting the GOG version of SC4 as that's the best digital version available. We have oodles of topics for the game and lots of friendly peeps to answer questions you might have. Feel free to jump right in replying to topics or create your own.

As a shameless plug, you can check out my About Me page for linkys to some cool stuff. Most new peeps love the various picture shoppes I created for terrain related mods.

[Cyclone Boom 16,854]

@Jackspital  @xechid

Hi and welcome back to the site / welcome to the site.

The good news is nowadays with hardware advances (especially processor power and the availability of RAM), it's possible to enjoy building cities of many types and styles to a greater extent. Also the knowledge in the community and all the amazing BATs, lots, and mods which can add so many new possibilities. In terms of custom content, my #1 top tip going forward would be to start small. It can be all too easy to get overwhelmed since there's so much to choose from.

And of course, if you've ever any questions about the games or Simtropolis, feel free to ask away.

[Californio 3]

Hey all!
I'm a very long time player, having started with what I believe was the original game back in 1992 while I was stationed in Antarctica. I've been playing off and on ever since. I'm eager to learn more about downloading new buildings to vary my cities even more. Professionally, I'm a chef living in San Francisco although I've lived throughout much of the US and in a few different countries. I'm looking forward to learning more!

[CorinaMarie 29,578]

Hiya, @Californio. Welcome to Simtropolis!

Jump right in and get your feet wet. Feel free to ask questions by adding a new post to a topic or create your own topic if you don't find what you need.

[BobertMcBob 12]

Hi all,

My first SimCity game was SC2k for DOS, which we got on a CD that came with a CDROM drive and souncard that my parents bought to go in the family computer. Needless to say, I was hooked and spent many hours gaming. I played SC3k and SC4, but I never found they scratched the same itch as SC2k did for me.

I've been working on reverse engineering SC2k, and at this point have nearly completely reverse engineered the .sc2 city file format, as well as the sprite format and at least the raw data from the newspapers. I have no way of verifying this, but at this point I suspect I know more about the game than anyone who didn't work at Maxis.

My initial goal when I started the project was to re-implement SC2k so that it'd run properly on modern computers, but also allow much larger map sizes, etc. Unfortunately, while I've got a lot of experience programming and reverse engineering, I've never found it easy to get into game programming.

[CorinaMarie 29,578]

Hiya, @BobertMcBob. Welcome to Simtropolis!

That sounds like an amazing amount of work you've done to figure out the .sc2 city file format. An ideal tool would be one that would allow peeps to open a city file and view the data as a human readable display. While we don't have a dedicated section for SC2k, we do have the occasional topic pop up in the City-Building Games forum. If you'd want to create a topic or two about the game that'd be the place to create them. To be fair I should mention that even SimCity 3000 with its own designated forum sees minimal activity.

[Xenoshed 2]

Hello! I've recently been fascinated with city building games! I've been playing OpenTTD for some time, but now I want to focus more on the city-building aspect of the game. I first found Cities:Skylines to be a game more suitable for me, unfortunately I don't think my laptop can handle the game, so I decided to settle with SimCity 4 instead It looks like a good game to me, and I guess I can do whatever I want there...

I actually haven't started playing SC4 yet, because I think I would need a wiki/tutorial in order to really understand playing it, which is why I decided to join this place A friendly community for city-building games not only limited to SC4, but also other SC/C:S games! I guess I wouldn't need to hop on over to another community if I'll be playing those :3

That's about it I hope to learn and have fun while I'm here

[Cyclone Boom 16,854]

Hi @Xenoshed, welcome to Simtropolis!

As a SC4 player myself, I think you've made a most excellent choice. You'll find there is lots to explore in the game, and that's if it's even fair to call it just a game. It's really like a toolbox with there being so many ways to build and manage your cities.

Whether more into the gameplay or the artistic side, the options are endless. There's the whole custom content scene which can open up new possibilities. Starting out I suggest the best strategy is just to dive in and explore. Try not to be too distracted by all the many BATs and mods, and instead learn the basics of the simulation through trial and error. Since there's no end goal, the neat thing is as mayor you set your own objectives. Create a test sandbox region and play around with different techniques. Then indeed, at any time on your city-building journey, there's tons of useful resources posted. And of course, the whole community here to help you along the way.

[CorinaMarie 29,578]

36 minutes ago, Xenoshed said:

I guess I wouldn't need to hop on over to another community if I'll be playing those :3

Welcome aboard! And you can find all kinds of goodies here at Simtropolis, but it's ok too if you join other sites as well. Many members here are also members of  SC4Devotion.

Along with just diving in and exploring, the game has a tutorial region and that's a good place to start too.

[Erik_Riel 29]

I Know It's Late But... I'm Finally On Simtropolis! So It's So Far Been Fun Playing Around With Cities And How I Can Simulate Cities! The First SimCity Game I Played Was SimCity 2013 And Then I Started Playing SimCity 4 And That Took Me Years To Master. And Then I Started Going Even Further In The Past And Started Doing SimCity 3000. So Far I Have Been Playing Around With SimCity 4 And How To Build Good Cities And How To Make Citizens Happy. That's About Where It Is Today.

[CorinaMarie 29,578]

Hiya, @Erik_Riel. Welcome too to Simtropolis!

Feel free to jump into the topics and reply to them or create your own.

[Erik_Riel 29]

3 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

Hiya, @Erik_Riel. Welcome too to Simtropolis!

Feel free to jump into the topics and reply to them or create your own.

I Sure Will!

[edwd 8]

Hello! I'm edward. But you already have one of those, so you can call me edwd. I am a fan of SimCity 3k, and SimCity 4. I love those games, and always go back to them.

I don't like any of the newer city builders. City builders IMHO have gone backwards.

I'd like to make my own city builder game. I have some different ideas for how it should work, so hopefully I get around to it.

[Cyclone Boom 16,854]

Hi Edward, welcome to Simtropolis and back to SC4!

Although it's something down to personal taste, I must agree personally that SimCity 4 is no comparison to the newer games. Both in depth, longevity, and also the options with an accumulated 15 years worth of custom BATs, mods, and maps.

It seems many city builders nowadays almost always use a fully 3D perspective. The problem then is while it allows one to zoom around a city tile with more freedom, there's the taxing requirement on system resources. I tried my hand at CSL for a short while and it seemed promising initially, but I soon ran into the issue of lag when getting beyond a small town. It's hard to say what, but there was also something missing. I'm familiar with SC4 being an intricate simulation, and being statistically (rather than agent based) means it scales up better through population growth. Then not to forget all the little details and humour Maxis packed in.

 

4 hours ago, edwd said:

I'd like to make my own city builder game. I have some different ideas for how it should work, so hopefully I get around to it.

Cool. That sounds a neat idea as I've just read from your new topic.

It can be a bit quiet in the City-Building Games forum, so as progressing I recommend posting a few preview pics. Then you may wish to submit a feature every so often which would display on the homepage slider. That way people could see an image of your choice and be more likely to click through and notice. Even if it's just to showcase basic concept designs or a very early alpha build. It'll be interesting to see the developments and I wish you all the best with it.

[CorinaMarie 29,578]

6 hours ago, edwd said:

Hello! I'm edward. But you already have one of those, so you can call me edwd.

Hiya, edwd. Welcome to Simtropolis!

I've checked and the Edward we have joined way back in 2004 and it's been so long ago since they last visited we don't have a record of when it was. (The last visited variable wasn't originally a part of the forum software.) Some of us admins along with Dirk (the site owner) have discussed purging old, unseen members who have zero posted content. We haven't gotten around to actually doing that due to the logistics of it. However, on a singular basis we could rename someone (such as @Edward ) to free up the name so you could have it. The only caveat would be if they contact us from their registered email address and request their name back, I'd be obligated to do that tho I predict in this case that's extremely unlikely. Let me know if you'd like me to use my magic powers to give you that name and if so if you'd want edward or Edward.

 

6 hours ago, edwd said:

I'd like to make my own city builder game. I have some different ideas for how it should work, so hopefully I get around to it.

Sounds interesting. I'll reply to this part in your thread in the other forum.

[Jammin 2]

Hey everyone, name's Ben. I'm a long-time SimCity (classic) and SimCity4 (vanilla) player. Taking a swing at the NAM for the first time, we will see what happens!

[Cyclone Boom 16,854]

4 hours ago, Jammn said:

Hey everyone, name's Ben. I'm a long-time SimCity (classic) and SimCity4 (vanilla) player. Taking a swing at the NAM for the first time, we will see what happens!

Hi Ben, welcome to Simtropolis!

I see you've been a member here for couple of months, so may have had a chance to look around and see what goes on. Great to see that you've made your way to active posting here in the forums. Unlike some places on the internet, this really is a pleasant and friendly community. If you've any questions about SC4, there's still an active following with many helpful folk in the Players and Builders sections. Then there's the STEX which can be considered a vast workshop of 20,941 tools (and counting).

Starting out with the NAM is certainly a solid place to begin. It sounds like you've played SC4 for a while without custom content, and that should stand you in good stead having become familiar with the base game, learning the intricacies of the simulation.

If there's one quick tip to give about the NAM, it's something which can be applied when looking into any mods, buildings (BATs), and lots. That's to start small and try to test items before using them in your main regions. Then it's easier to get a feel for useful types of content depending on your play style, and also ensuring they all function correctly. In the NAM it's possible to select the "Custom" install from where selected components are listed. This can be run again at a later stage to add or remove certain features, and there sure are many parts included that each add something new to the game's transportation networks.

There's so much to explore, and we hope you enjoy the site.

[CorinaMarie 29,578]

@Jammn

Hiya, Ben. I'm Cori. Welcome to Simtropolis. It's nice to have you aboard and feel free to jump into the topics, post your progress with the game, and/or ask questions.

[Meph 9]

Hello everyone... I used to play SC4 back in the day but only offline and with no real direction.... now that I'm older and (hopefully) wiser, I have returned to giving this city building mallarky a proper go instead of destroying the pitiful tiny towns that I had somehow managed to fluke from humble beginnings... any advice would be welcome (especially in the area of turning a dirty city into a high-tech super-power)

Lucifer Morningstar (AKA Meph (someone had already bagged my favoured handle))

[CorinaMarie 29,578]

Hiya, @Meph. Welcome to Simtropolis!

A real good place to start is in the SimCity 4 General Discussion forum. Especially check out the pinned posts (not the music one, but the other) and that's a collection of useful information.