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Firstly, welcome back! As many of y'all know, ST went down on 16 April, 2026 due to a billing error 2 days prior to that. The pathetic host decided to not only suspend the server, but to immediately delete it entirely, including the live site and both daily backups. There was no forewarning or communication about this sent to Dirk. From initial correspondence with the old host, they claimed the server was merely suspended and data was kept for 6 months. It seemed like the billing issue only needed correcting. However, once Dirk heard back from a higher level support, to our complete shock and dismay it was confirmed the server had been wiped. They offered to restore it if we had backups. But what use were those when they were on the server?! Everything was gone. A full offline backup was about 187 GB last time CB downloaded it and he had to do it in pieces (due to a very slow internet connection in his teeny, tiny town) and it took several days. This contains all the objects (which are all the files and pictures anywhere on the site including attachments and within the STEX) as well as the board software and the forums. There was also a separate full account backup from 2020, but we didn't need that in the end. Now, separately, the database is all of the posts in the forums, STEX, omnibus, and so forth. That comes in around 6 GB and is backed up and downloaded more often. However, the offline download was just a fallback which should never be needed since we always had full backups run online every single day. (We never anticipated the host would fucking delete everything on the server!) Ofc, in hindsight we'd've kept separate online daily synced backups too, even if those come at a cost. Without any local backup, Simtropolis as we know it would be lost forever to the infinite voids of cyberspace. Thankfully this isn't the case, so it could've been much, much worse. Anyhow, what this means for us now is we have the forums and text of the STEX restored as it was on 28 February, 2026, but all files and pictures (both as forum attachments and in the STEX) are missing from 17 June, 2024 and after. We can recover! (But, we'll need a lot of help.) CB and Dirk have rebuilt the site on a new host. There are some nice positives as a result: Already an outpouring of support from people on Discord and Reddit. We appreciate the encouragement and support. Thank you! We've moved fully away from our old host. They will get nary a nickel from ST anymore ever again (from now till the end of the universe). The hardware is at least 10x more capable, and is no more expensive than our old host. (Depending on your internet connection, the site should be more responsive.) We've got a much more economical and cleaner home (way less server side clutter). We're in more control over the server to manage all aspects of it from the ground up. CB has separately purchased a 1 TB storage cloud for online, but offsite daily backups going forwards. Future potential to upgrade the IPS board software to a newer version, but we're not in a rush to do this. However, a few bad things will be immediately apparent when y'all start looking around: Any pictures or attached files after 17 June, 2024 are missing. Any STEX files added after 17 June, 2024 are gone. All avatar updates or changes after 17 June, 2024 are lost. --------------- All topics have lost any replies after 28 Feb, 2026. Any STEX entries added or updated after 28 Feb, 2026 are gone. Any STEX downloads history since 28 Feb, 2026 is lost. Any new sc4pac tokens since 28 Feb, 2026 are lost (and will need regenerating). Any PMs after 28 Feb, 2026 are missing. Any members who joined after 28 Feb, 2026 will need to re-join Simtropolis. Initial Recovery Efforts: Topic Divider Messages We've added a Topic Divider message to all forum threads which were active as of the last database backup. That's so when reading along now and in the future it'll explain why any given subject might seem disjointed and incoherent if the same peeps aren't able to re-reply. I know one topic in which I'm now the last to reply and my answer was only partially right. I remember at the time someone replied soon later with the real answer. That's lost, but they might re-state it when they have time. Or it could stay missing. (For that particular topic, I'll reply with what I remember of it.) So the divider message serves to explain why many topics might seem choppy for a little while. An example can be seen here. Original Image and File Names for Attachments Since the database info is way more recent than the objects (files and images), we'll often know the name and size of images and files because of their pointer entries in the database, but we won't have the item that points to. So, CB has worked his magic such that a missing pic will show the ST Logo as a placeholder while also showing the original file name for the image or attachment. This will make it easier for peeps to identify and re-upload them. Note: If your image name originally contained spaces, those will be stripped out in the file name which appears as the Original Pic Name. Sample for an image: ^ Original Pic Name: Cori'sWidget.jpg Sample for a file: Attachment Missing (Cori's Exemplar Viewer Output - 2026.02.17.09.37.zip) Additionally, you can go to your own list of attachments and find anything missing. CB plans to add a feature for clicking and re-uploading files directly from that page. STEX Files and Pics (Needs figured out...) We have a separate method for recovering STEX files. That'll be a new forum (or topic) or something where anyone can post a linky to the STEX entry and then also attach the missing files and/or pics. We want to be careful here to not duplicate each other's efforts so searching in there first is a good idea. Then staff (and other peeps recruited to help) will patch up the STEX entries and then move the topic for that item to a Done forum. Or such. We'll reveal more details once we've figured out a battle plan. Also we'll be opening a topic where anyone interested to assist can register as a volunteer to help. Your Own Files and Pics Ofc, any missing STEX entry that you created can be fixed (re-adding files and pics) or recreated (if totally missing) anytime you get a chance. Same for any missing attachments in your posts or elsewhere on the site. When you repair your own STEX entry there is one additional step needed and that is to delete the message banner. (There's some fancy code in it which hides the download button and displays the File Unavailable message.) See this topic to have staff remove the file message banner after you've restored the missing content. Other Notes: Restoration Priority (From CB in Chat) 1) STEX Files 2) STEX Screenshots 3) Attached Files 4) Attached Images 5) Gallery Images 6) Homepage Feature Images 7) Member Avatars 8) Anything Else This order we believe makes a suitable priority for what we'll look to restore first. STEX Screenshots are likely going to need uploading from in-game pics, but for some we might be able to salvage using the Internet Archive (but that depends on which files have been saved to there). Closing Words (for now) We're very glad to be back. We're also pleased to see y'all back. The past month (and a bit) have seemed like many months, and we've missed ST too. While this has been a setback for the community, the key thing is Simtropolis Has Returned. We're determined to rebuild our city stronger than ever before. Oh! One final thing: We might have to put the site in offline maintenance mode for brief periods as some of the tweaks CB is working on cannot be implemented while the site is live. -Cori & CB & Dirk

Where we've been, what happened, and what's next Hey everyone, I owe you all an explanation, and a big thank you first. The patience and the kind messages over the last few weeks have meant a lot to me and the rest of the team. A bunch of you have been asking what actually happened, and who our old host was, so I'm just going to lay it all out. For 15+ years we ran Simtropolis on a dedicated server over at WHC.ca. They were good to us for a long time. What happened recently is that we missed a renewal payment, and then I missed the warning emails that came after it. By the time I caught it, we were already a day past their cutoff and the server had been pulled offline. We got in touch right away, paid the invoice, and were told the server would be brought back online. Then came the gut-punch. Instead of restoring it, they wiped the machine and handed it back to us completely blank. Everything was gone. I won't pretend I wasn't upset. But I also need to be straight with you about our end of it. We didn't have proper off-site backups, and we absolutely should have. That one is on us, and trust me, it's a lesson learned. Thankfully, CB and Cori have been much more diligent with some periodic backups so we weren't completely left in the lurch. Just mostly. But the better news is where we are now. We've rebuilt everything on a new host, Hetzner, and I have to say we're really happy with them so far. The hardware has been rock solid and their support has been genuinely excellent. The forum, your accounts, your posts, and the huge majority of our history are all back and running. We've also got automated off-site backups going already, with a more complete system on the way, so we are never doing this dance again. We've been through rough patches before and come out the other side just fine, and we'll do it again, only a lot better protected this time around. Thanks for sticking with us, thanks for caring, and thanks for your patience while we got the lights back on. Anyway. Back to building cities!

Looking for inspiration for my next farm lots while experimenting with new textures...

@Honolulu It looks pretty good WIP

Thank you guys for all your support through this! Big shout out to CB and Cori who worked tirelessly to get things patched together in the back end.

I'm trying to bring to life a project that's been on my mind for quite some time: creating BATs for my walled city. I still have a lot to learn about, but you've got to start somewhere, right?

I finished this park that I had started quite a while ago. I'm finding that parks are one of the things that help you preserve a view corridor in a dense city to an area you particularly want to be able to see.

Hi all, it's great to be back! Indeed, alas, there's been a continued bumpy road today... (Speaking of such, I experienced many potholes on the joyous British roads today, although I'm back earlier than we originally thought.) The good news is Dirk identified the new server had components which weren't functioning properly, which were brought to light when we went live. As @CorinaMarie confirmed, the host promptly helped by swapping the RAM, and we've also found a couple of CPU cores are faulty. They will be addressed by our new host, who are actively engaged in helping. For now @Dirktator has disabled the faulty CPU cores we believe to be responsible for the database lockup crashes. Due to higher traffic levels, these problems weren't apparent until we fully reopened the site. So our main priority is solving the current instability. Then in terms of restoring content, we'll be able to fully focus on that once things settle down server side. We'll open a topic for those who'd like to be actively involved with the recovery efforts. Thanks everyone!

A fully-functional stucco crescent with garden centrepiece: An oval garden square will be included too. On the STEX later today! UPDATE:

Mulan Akihabara - 1x1. Probably going to do a few different billboard variations.

Thanks everyone for the warm words! It means a lot to us. It is truly wonderful to see the life returned to the community we call home, as a website is an empty shell without the people. ST is a haven and our special place on the internet (which are rare to find nowadays). A place where we can share a creative common interest of city building. For the old host to do what they did was a repulsive and selfish act, born out of cold corporate greed. They treated us like an ID number out of thousands, showing no remorse or grace. Crucially though, they forgot that a community is built on its people, not its hosting provider! But enough about them, as this is about us now. As a community we will prevail and recover from this. It's great to see all the restored STEX files already from a range of authors. Additionally, a few members have shared local backups of downloads with us, which will help immensely as part of the rebuilding efforts. More info will be posted soon in a new topic. Also I'm hoping to develop a dedicated "Restoration Tracker" page, where we can all view what's been recovered, and what still needs to be. As an aside, I'm pleased to report the defective hardware has been replaced, and Dirk reports: "Site’s been running for ~7 hours and none of the prior issues that would have appeared by now have appeared." So it's now safe to say... Simtropolis Is Back!

Back to 2024!? I'm 38 again. Thanks guys! But please

Hi everyone! Initial progress has been productive in restoring content, but we really need your help. We're seeking volunteers who are able to assist our recovery efforts in any capacity (big or small). We extend this invite to all active Simtropolis members. The Simtropolis Recovery Team (SRT) will be spearheaded by site staff (and led by Cori and me), but this will understandably be a task of mammoth proportions. At first it might seem like progress is slow, but then again we might surprise ourselves? There is absolutely no limit to the number of places on the team at any stage. Every little helps, and we'd be thankful for whatever you can assist with. What can volunteering involve? The main task will be to restore everything missing from after 17 June 2024 to March 01, 2026. That's 622 days of missing content. Logically, the primary focus will cover STEX content for SC4 and the other city-building games. SC3000 files won't be forgotten about here either, as there were a number of new uploads since the cut-off period (June 2024). There are also more niche files from Clubs, including for Banished. Depending on your comfort level and ability, you may request to help with any/all of the following: A) Sharing: Uploading content you have downloaded between the aforementioned time period. There are no worries about sharing files someone else might've already uploaded. It might be your copy is an older version which can later be restored. Having more files gives us a stronger baseline to work from. There might be clutter and chaos initially, but in time order will become more orchestrated. B) Processing: This will be the bulk of the work, spearheaded by staff. We'll be coordinating with volunteers to help physically upload files, ideally as the author originally had them. Instructions will be provided for anyone unfamiliar with the board software tools. C) Verifying: Making sure updates are valid, or if there's anything else which needs fixing or amending. Verifiers will have access to a "Verify" button added to the File Actions menu, which then marks a file as completely restored. I'll be developing a "Restoration Tracker" page to serve as a real-time index of progress. This way we can identify files which need finding, editing, and checking. Additionally, recovery efforts will extend to the forums, CJs, Gallery, and other areas. There will be a number of attachments (images, zip files, etc) which we'll be hoping to restore, many of which will require manual intervention. Every file is a small piece of the jigsaw puzzle. It's important to remember this will be a marathon not a sprint. For this reason, it'll be more important we restore files correctly and accurately as possible. Also we won't frown upon mistakes. This is a shared united effort, so we'll work as a team to ensure everything is done the best it can be. Please reply below, briefly explaining how you'd be able to help (as a Sharer, Processor, or Verifier), or even in other ways not listed. And it goes without saying, there are no rewards for volunteering, other than the humble moral satisfaction of helping rebuild our community. -CB & Cori

Getting this cool, curved underbridging to work is the first step in what is going to be a great riverwalk.

Redoing Yodobashi a tiny bit: -fixed lighting -new front entrance design -fixing the giant LOD hole in the north view of the building -adding jobs to the plop building

During the latest extended downtime of Simtropolis, to put it mildly, I fortunately had some time to work on my next CJ entry, this time dealing with the islands surrounding Birkenhang. Hope you like it.

Some things I have wanted to share since The Great Hosting Betrayal, a inner city medium tile called Khanistri Hills, overlooking the Brajonel metro centre Great to have Simtropolis back, only fellow mayors can truly appreciate this

@justforfun I included the chapel in my "Buildings RWS DLC" Soon:

Major infrastructure project building a rail and BTM across a rugged area of my region Taking inspiration from Chinese HSR viaducts and offshore roads like in Reunion Still more extension work to do in the mountains

Mulan Akiba will be uploaded tomorrow. Finally getting to these two non-Akiba buildings.

I experimented today with lightening up the very dark one and darkening the light one just to see if there was a middle ground but in the end I agree the original dark one is the best. But now I need to figure out new textures for above the tunnel, the new-build modern concrete I have been using almost ruins the look. I does look awesome with lots of trains plying the tracks though I think

Seeing Simtropolis disappearing and then reading the news about the server being wiped surely was a blow, so I'm very happy to see it back online. I'm pretty amazed about this community still going strong after so many years, and while I've been out of the loop for so long, SC4 still has a place in my heart, and I will return every now and then and check out what's new. Hopefully, most of the stuff that was lost will be recovered, and while I sent all SFBT content to @Tyberius06 recently, I wonder how feasible it is to update everything to the current standards (such as the Submenu DLL feature etc.) and release it properly at the STEX. I just checked my profile, and it says that I signed up here almost 23 years ago, which means this is basically about one half of my entire life, since I happen to celebrate my 50th birthday today, so seeing it up and running is a nice birthday present alright. I'd like to thank everyone who is supporting the community and helping to restore this place. There have been way too many losses over the past few years due to unexpected errors, deprecated software and even tragic losses like the unexpected and way too early death of our good friend Matthias "Spocky" Ludwig about three years ago, who ran the German SimCityKurier. Also, thanks for Dirk for an in-depth explanation about the recent ST billing issue. Sometimes you're just out of luck and miss a deadline by one day, and according to Murphy's Law, things are bound to get messed up the worst possible way. But it's not the end of the world, and I'm positive that most things can be recovered one or another way. Only time will tell if this place will celebrate a 50th birthday some day, too, but I'd say it's not impossible.

Welcome back, everyone! It is nice to have Simtropolis back after that unexpectedly long hiatus. The pictures from my posts to this thread are restored; my STEX uploads will soon follow. Despite the site's downtime, my BATting has not ceased. In fact, I would say it has accelerated. So, it is time for some updates. The work continues… Work continues apace on 1 S Wacker. The roof junk needs some refinement, as do the ground floor interiors. I finally figured out how to use the material offset setting in the solidify modifier. With it, I was able to create the effect of a metallic film on the glass enclosing the atria. I really like how it looks, especially at night. More progress updates Here are the latest previews of a number of my works in progress. Teasers Finally, I think it's time I share some projects that I have been keeping under wraps. Since I have posted too many previews already, I thought it might be fun to tease them instead. Some longtime followers of the BATting subforums might recognize three of these, which a BATter who has not been seen for many ages once attempted, but never completed, much to the chagrin of us Chicago architecture fans. Can anybody name them?

Alpen Shinjuku is slowly getting there

I'm making some new relots, the upcoming PIM-X makes everything easier.

The last item in the backlog is a second pack of townhouses. Here's some of them:

The new mod that allows you to place props directly on the network is just amazing. Satisfaction increaser. Fun amplifier. Force multiplier. I had been wanting to get the GLR crossing of passenger rail more aesthetically pleasing and in line with my other rails. I know at this time there is no way to make the EL cross true hybrid railway tracks but in this case these tracks carry only passenger rail although I try to create as close to a 100% hybrid network as is possible. Once I hunted down the offending track textures and got those in line, I was still left with something less than pleasing. Using the prop placement mod though, I was able to add the catenary wires as eye candy along with a looks-like-it-belongs-there center support - the one from the El-Rail over road plugin. What a difference this makes. The last part of this project is to try to figure out if it's possible to get rid of the mis-matched support on the right or at least change it use a different, more aesthetically matched prop. BTW, it is so good to have things up and running, I know multiple people had to work hard to make this happen and I don't know exactly who to name but definitely my thanks. I found that without the ability to show and talk about what I am working on and see what amazing things everyone else is creating and building, the fun of this is just a little diminished. Reminds us to take nothing for granted.

Pretty exciting to be the first one to revive this thread! So, I've just finished restoring my STEX files - if you notice any still unavailable for download, please let me know. Since I've made quite a few new models while Simtropolis was down, I'll update you a bit at a time as I take screenshots. For now two more diagonal semi-detached houses for the upcoming pack:

Looks like a second try has been successful... Great to see one of the communities ‘homes’ restored. Hopefully, things will stick. Thanks to @Dirktator, @Cyclone Boom, & @CorinaMarie for getting things back up.

What on earth was the host thinking. Absolute idiots. Thank you guys for your efforts in getting this site back up and running.

This topic is for file authors who are updating their STEX file entries by fixing missing files and/or missing file images. There is a separate step needed to restore the Download Button. The file message banner CB added needs to be deleted and that is a staff only option. (Once it's gone, the button will magically reappear.) For now, you can simply post a linky to one or more STEX entries where you've fixed them and I (or other staff) will go delete the banner. I'm thinking we'll also then delete your post in this thread so that way we don't get confuzzled about which ones need our attention. As such, don't start any convo or ask any questions here.

I'm changing how I upload Hide and Seek files. I'll upload all at once, by creators. The image above is the result. It was hard to find the exact font used on the logo (below). And thanks to @CaptCity for the nice images!

Relot Of Burj Al Arab from ks_jpn

Officially my very favorite newest most favorite wall texture. And newest. And very favorite. But then the hard decision comes. Whether to use the light colored or dark colored top edge to finish it off.

I was messing around with making the best HRW tunnel I could make using monorail. Then I was looking at old photos from my 2018 city and I had an idea to dig out the old Bullet Train mod and after a couple of hours of trying things out I figured out how to make a fully functioning AND aesthetically pleasing HRW tunnel. (Actually I am not sure it's HRW, possibly just HSR trains can pass through, have to test it out more). I was kind of amazed that this worked so well and although not necessarily workable for tight-space tunnels as it takes a bit of space to integrate L0 trackage, it would work if you had to tunnel under a mountain or half of Manhattan and the east river... And I also had not seen this particular HSR train in quite a while, I forgot how nice it was. The old picture that gave me the idea to try this out. I had always wanted to see a bullet train come screaming out of this tunnel but it never happened. I might get there now though.

Made this tonight Still working on finishing touches

One fewer file in the backlog!

These days dragged on endlessly. It was like a shipwreck. Thank you to everyone who leads us to a safe harbor ! Fate will punish those who are guilty of this.

Speaking of that, there are quite a few image.png being restored, so it's possible yours @simmering might be part of what the Wayback has. Thankfully they allow checking for any files saved within a directory path, so we can iterate through the monthly subfolders. Sneak peek from the terminal: I have to set it slowly to go easy on the Wayback's servers, so it's quite a long process. Getting there though...

Little Asia - Guam City III ! Simtropolis gone for a whole month !?! Little Asia evolved no matter what. New areas in development in the north east ande south west Capuchia-Mekong-Laos and Bamtang City in the south ! Yesterday worked on the Baikok area some growth. Very urban and agricultural development but that for later ! Afther last Guam City growth I added seawalls to the canal and city river section ! Growth of the residential area´s from last time visible ! Last the parks around the area and the downtown filled in more ! Let´s take a cruise from the Cities Cruise Terminal ! Some old some new, happy theat Simtropolis is back ! Enjoy !

Last models for the pack: Soon on the STEX!

Having been through webhost-related issues, I know what a pain they can be, though my problematic host (which the SC4D Forums and Wiki are still on--SC4E has thankfully moved) merely forced PHP upgrades on basically no notice and broke our software. That seems positively delightful compared to getting completely wiped over a billing error, which is unfathomably atrocious. In any case, I'm very glad and relieved to see ST back to life after all that. As announced two days ago, the SC4D Forums are back long-term--the "interim" tag has been removed from the re-opening. -Tarkus

That gets fixed when the message banner is deleted. I've done that for that file and the Download button is back. I seem to recall that is an admin only option? Or did we tweak it so Mods can also delete file banners? Edit: I've updated the first post to add this now: When you repair your own STEX entry there is one additional step needed and that is to delete the message banner. (There's some fancy code in it which hides the download button and displays the File Unavailable message.) See this topic to have staff remove the file message banner after you've restored the missing content. We have a separate forum started (but still hidden right now) where we will try to figure out the best way to get everything patched up. The idea is that anyone with a mass of files can upload the whole shebang and then Mods and other peeps who volunteer to help can recreate the individual STEX entries. Or such. We'll be open to suggestions since this'll be a big project. For your own or for other peeps's files, but which you have interim versions? I believe for your own you would just do them in sequence as you might've done over days or weeks, but you can just do them one after another in the same day if you like. This'll be more CB's area of expertise and he's out of town with family today and prolly most of tomorrow. Grrr. Sounds like we might still have some permission settings that didn't carry over. I'll leave this for CB when he returns in a day or two. I've just edited this post and successfully re-added the pics. As such we know the board software itself is ok. Let us know what error you are getting and that'll help with troubleshooting. As for private messages to CB and me for site bugs, let's just keep them in this thread or a new topic in this forum unless it needs to contain confidential info. If you are having trouble with a function which used to work, I feel certain many others will be experiencing the same thing.

@CorinaMarie and @Cyclone Boom and @Dirktator Thank your for your efforts to bring the site back! Hm... I wanted to quickly re-upload those two files that I uploaded/updated since June 2024 under my own account (the other stuff comes later - I have all my 3rd party updates archived, I just need to find the time to re-upload them), and I managed to re-add the images, and I saw the files got uploaded, but on the download page the download button remained inactive saying that the file is unavailable. But I can see that the files were uploaded. Changing the file name is not helping. Ah, @CaptCity Good that I saw that you posted just before me. How up-to-date are your back-ups?

Everything is incomplete - two locomotive paint jobs not finished, the concrete wall is sized wrong, the wall lot on the upper portal is too short. Lots of work to do and old concrete is soooooooo very difficult to get just right . But still. I like it anyway...

I'm very glad to know ST is back and alive! Thank you. It's commendable the effort and speed you got the website back online considering the severity of what could have been. After SimPeg's and SC4D's catastrophic disappearance, Simtropolis remains the anchor to a beloved game and awesome community from another era. Makes me happy not having to say goodbye to this comfortable and familiar corner of the internet.

The Sandi Toksvig Estate, on a corner of Jazzanova

In the backlog there's also a 5th pack of orthogonal semis, here's a shot of the first 4 of them:

A w2w from Fitzrovia, central London: Will be on the STEX very very shortly! UPDATE Matter of fact it's already there:

I've added this as a 2nd announcement, but I'll post it here too. The site has been up and down like a yo-yo. Dirk has been troubleshooting it for hours today and indications pointed to potentially faulty RAM on the new server. Within 30 minutes of submitting a ticket, the new host swapped out the RAM. Diagnostics now are looking much better. Please note that the site might have to go on and offline without notice. Also, Dirk will turn off the indexing (which is resource intensive) for the short term. This might be for a day or two and means site-wide searching will be inactive, but all members can read and write posts and access all other functions