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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

Update: Aoki Area - Saitama Prefecture Today I am happy to share with you an update about the beautiful town of Aoki. With a population of around 60,000 people, Aoki is a small, old residential area that is part of the Saitama metropolitan area. Aoki is located very close to Cape Futtsu, a place we visited in previous updates. It is a quiet, mostly residential area populated mainly by elderly people. As always, the most common way to reach these towns is either by train or by road. In the case of Aoki, we have a line that ends here, as well as a regional road that crosses the area. The train line crosses the town of Aoki from north to south, dividing it into two areas. The space between the mountains and the sea is limited. But the inhabitants live normally despite the constant sound of the train. Aoki is a quiet place, a residential area away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Due to its location, several train lines end in this area. One of them can be seen in the following images. It is an old train workshop that is still in operation today. These train workshops can be seen throughout the country. Given the large number of trains and rail tracks built across the country, it is absolutely necessary and vital to have these workshops where trains can be properly maintained. Another train line ends in the southern part of Aoki. This area was built to “park” trains whenever necessary. In addition, right at the end of the line, we can find a small freight station that provides this area with any necessary resource. Aoki is mainly a fairly old residential area. It is a typical area built after the war when the prefecture experienced its greatest growth but lacked habitable areas near the city center. Here you can see the typical residential blocks that were quick and easy to build. Aoki is divided into two different areas. One area is located within Saitama Bay, and the other is located just behind the mountain that divides the city. In this image, we can see the least populated area of Aoki, where the density of houses is lower. This is because this part of Aoki is directly “exposed” to the sea and is therefore not as densely populated. To protect residents from potential natural disasters originating from the sea. Barriers have been erected and vegetation planted to prevent sea level rise from affecting the population. This is one of the least modern areas in the prefecture. In addition, its inhabitants are mostly elderly and retired. People who have lived most of their lives away from the central areas of the prefecture. Aoki is a fantastic place to live peacefully, far from the noise and fast pace of everyday life in urban centers. Futtsu Cape and all its war-related monuments, as well as Yasaka Island Shrine, are located nearby. Therefore, Aoki is a good area to stay for a couple of nights to visit the area and its monuments. Once again, thank you for your visit, comments, and reactions. I hope you like Aoki and enjoy your stay ############################################################################## Greetings / Saludos / Groeten

NAM DLL version 1.3.0 is now available. Installation: The best way to install the DLL is to use sc4pac to install the NAM, selecting nam50-beta: enabled during the install process. While it is possible to install the DLL manually for use with NAM 49, you need NAM 50-beta.1 (or later) to take full advantage of the new features. The beta version of the NAM is currently only available with sc4pac, as it makes it easier for us to ensure correct installation of the files and to address any potential issues faster. The final release of NAM 50 will of course be made available with a stand-alone installer, as always. Please report any issues you find, but please be kind and reasonable and don't repeat what has already been reported before. (As this is a beta version, a few things are still being worked on. Currently, this includes some issues related to diagonal intersections of Streets, SAM, Roads and One-Way Roads. Other than that, this release should be fairly stable. If necessary, you can always set nam50-beta: disabled to downgrade to 49.) New features: Added a custom RUL2 engine: This is the single most important new feature of the DLL, as it makes override networks much more stable allows for tighter footprints (e.g. crossings of override networks that previously had to be placed one tile apart may now be placed directly adjacent to each other) reduces the size of the NAM codebase by almost 90% and by more than 10 million lines, making it easier to maintain and reducing the chance of bugs. A lot of work has gone into this by the entire team, and it is why, starting with NAM 50-beta.1, the NAM cannot be used without the DLL anymore. improves performance: The initial city load time is reduced by a huge amount if a NAM 50 controller is installed. The 4GB patch is not strictly required anymore, as a result. Added slope-tolerance improvements for various network elements: 45 degree curves of single-tile networks are slope-conforming now. All starter pieces and many FLEX pieces are slope-tolerant now. The FLEX On-slope pieces have been improved: Their footprint has been minimized. The sinkhole bug associated with them is fixed. Networks can be dragged through the On-slope transition piece. The invisible cursor tile has been removed from all FLEX pieces. It now does not interfere with any lots or networks anymore. Added a fix for the Eternal Commuter Loop bug: Neighbor-to-neighbor routes that connect the city to the North and the city to the West are blocked by the path finder, so loops cannot form anymore. The ferry clearance height of bridges has been reduced from 30 to 20 meters (by @Null 45). Added an option to disable each individual patch for debugging purposes, by installing the optional NAM.ini file. Other changes: The previously included tunnel and slope mod files have been removed from the supplemental files. To use the Street tunnels, install a compatible slope mod instead, such as NAM Tunnel & Slope Mod. Images: Eternal Commuter Loop fix: Slope-tolerant starter pieces: Slope-tolerant curves: New On-Slope transition pieces with minimized footprint and better stability in tight situations: @minos55 The slope mod files have been removed from the supplemental files, as the current version of the NAM Tunnel and Slope mod is compatible with the Street tunnel functionality.

One of my friends who is playing SimCity 4 again asked me for a favour... I got to open 3dsmax after almost 10 years... WIP: First time doing this type of buildings, I hope you like it.

Took longer than the rebuilding of the real thing. But I've finished my new version of Notre Dame de Paris

Update: Yasaka Island Shrine - Saitama Prefecture Welcome, everyone. My name is Akiko, and I will be your guide today. I hope you enjoy this short tour of the beautiful Yasaka island Shrine. Today we find ourselves in the beautiful and peaceful village of Jokoji. Located in the southeastern part of Saitama Prefecture, very close to Cape Futtsu. We are now at the meeting point, next to the tourist information booth in the complex's parking lot. Our tour will begin as soon as we pass through the small red Torii gate. Here is a general view where you can see the starting point (the Torii gate), the bridge, and the island where the Yasaka Shrine or Castle is located. As you can see, the shrine is located on a small island in the middle of a small natural lake next to the Seto Inland Sea. It is not known exactly when it was built, but we can say, based on its style, that it was between the 15th and 17th centuries, coinciding with the feudal period and the era of the samurai. It is possible to walk around the entire lake. There are trails available for visitors, and on calm days, you can see the Yasaka Shrine perfectly. It is important to mention that the trails may be closed if the sea and waves are dangerous for visitors. Please remember that we are in a natural area protected by the authorities. Several species of fish and birds, among others, live here, and we must all take care of this wonderful place. The footbridge we are crossing is not the original one. This bridge was built in recent years to prepare the area for visitors. There was an old stone bridge. Only a few remains of this stone bridge were left. It is believed that when the castle was built, small boats were used to cross from one bank to the other. Was it always a Shrine? The answer is no. Its construction is of the castle/fortress type, and that was its main function during the period in which it was built. Later, the place was designated a sacred site, and the castle was converted into a sanctuary. At that time, the already mentioned torii gate was also erected. At night, it is a magical place, where the reflections of the lights on the lake create a special scene for everyone. The lights are usually either red or white. However, on certain special dates, the decorations may change. To finish, We leave you all with a beautiful postcard of the place. Where you can see the lake, the island with the Shrine, and the small and picturesque Jokoji Village. ############################################################################## Greetings / Saludos / Groeten

- Update: Futtsu Cape & Motosu battery 4 - Saitama Prefecture Introduction: Welcome everyone to the first update for version 2.0 of Saitama Prefecture. I can't believe it, but I'm very happy to be able to publish a new update in the year 2025. It's incredible how much this game continues to offer. Thank you all for taking the time to read this update and I really hope you like it. In today's update, we will focus on visiting Cape Futtsu with its World War II monument and its surroundings, where we can find one of the batteries that protect Sakai Bay. Futtsu Cape could be described as the gateway to Sakai Bay. It is a sandy spit created by nature over several centuries. Over the years, it has witnessed the history of Saitama Prefecture, from its discovery and founding to becoming the gateway to one of Japan's largest ports. At the end of the cape, there is now a small monument to those who died during World War II. Due to its port and its location close to other Japanese cities, the metropolitan area of Sakai was bombed on several occasions. This small monument symbolizes and commemorates the victims of those sad and difficult years. In this area, we can also find another building of interest, the Motosu 4, It is a fort or battery that forms part of a line of forts located on both sides of Sakai Bay. There are six forts in total. All of them are in good condition today and can be visited by tourists or anyone interested in learning a little more about the modern history of the city. Generally, they are all composed of military guns to protect the entrance and waters of Sakai Bay. It is important to note that one of the country's naval bases is located in the port of Sakai. Beyond its historical and military interest, it is a wonderful place to enjoy views of the southern part of the bay. This area is sparsely populated because we are in a region where the forces of nature can strike with great force. Here are a few houses taking advantage of the last few meters offered by the natural barrier of Sakai Bay itself. On the other side is the Seto Sea, an area where hardly anyone lives due to various natural hazards. A weather station has been built in this area, which is the southernmost part of the region. There are several stations throughout the prefecture. These stations are very important for the region's interests, as the Port of Saitama and its airport, both located in the bay itself, are indispensable engines for the functioning and success of the Prefecture. To conclude, here is a current view of the area, where rain and generally cloudy skies are reported. ############################################################################## Greetings / Saludos / Groeten

Hey everyone, my first post in a long time I've been working on a new DLL mod that makes finding and plopping lots a lot easier. Here's what it does: Features: In-game UI window with searchable lot browser Filter by zone type (R/C/I/Ag/Plopped/Other), wealth level, lot size and if necessary Occupant Group as well Search by building name or description Shows building icons and details before you plop (if they exist) Should works with all custom content and growable buildings Hotkey to toggle the window (customizable, currently uses O which is not mapped to anything else in the base game) Why: Instead of scrolling through endless menus (though the Submenu DLL has already improved this a lot, thanks memo :D) or trying to navigate the awful builtin LotPlop or BuildingPlop dialogs, you can just search "police" or filter for "2x3 commercial $$" and see everything that matches. The tool interfaces directly with the game's placement system, so plopping works exactly like using the normal (sub)menus to plop something. Video of the advanced lot plop tool in action here (on Streamable) Note: The mod uses Dear ImGui for the interface and hooks into the game's DirectX renderer. It does need DirectX11, which means it will only work for people running SC4 in DX11 mode via dgVoodoo (or potentially other DirectX wrappers). First release: A first release is now available on GitHub: https://github.com/caspervg/sc4-imgui-advanced-lotplop/releases/tag/v0.1.1 This is very much a "works on my machine" kind of release. My machine in this case means Windows 11 25H2, SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition (Digital from GOG) and dgVoodoo3 set to DX11 mode. But you might be lucky with some other configurations too, definitely let me know! Some screenshots are attached Suggestions and comments appreciated!

Three League Island is the location of two nuclear power plants: The older reactor to the West and the newer one with four cooling towers to the East. Two bridges, one for trains, one for cars connect to the mainland which has a secured area with offices, support buildings and a small harbour. The power connection to the South is via high pylons and to the North via undersea cable. Overview Old Reactor New Reactor Cooling Towers Undersea Cable Bridges Mainland Facilities Details

Heya everyone! Just dropping by to leave some pics of my latest project (industrial ofc) Coming soon in IHT$$$ format. SM2 Ethylene Distiller

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!

Made a few pedestrian bridges and now I'm experimenting with some settings and scenarios. This one has night lights Simmer2

Riktor's Point is a small peninsula that reaches into Quonock River. It was deemed far enough from the city centre to build an airport: Riktor's Point Aulton, RPA. The airport attracted industry with buildings using all of the scarce space. The first passenger terminal quickly became too small and was refitted as a cargo terminal. Thus the control tower is placed next to the cargo terminal and not the passenger terminal which is newer. The passenger terminal is very busy and will soon be running out of space. Wedged between the runway and the industry on the riverbank, the passenger terminal can only be reached via tunnels Due to the proximity of the river, there is no option for more terminals or a second runway. Plans for a second airport are already being discussed. Aulton is never finished.

So, still working on some warehouses for my seaport lots. It's a little slow going, since I'm down to only my laptop, and it's difficult tying it up to render game assets. I should have enough funds to purchase the parts for a new system next month. We'll see.

@Girafarig Thanks, I'll check it out! Soon

Soon:

This is the latest iteration of the warehouses I'm making for my freight/port lots. I'm making 2x4 versions with warehouse doors on both sides, only one side, both ends and only one end. I'll also be making additional versions with different windows and textures. These may be slightly delayed as I'll only have one pc running windows 10 [not connected to the internet]. The other four will be running various linux distributions. My irritation with windows 11 necessitated this.

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I last posted — I’ve been busy, but I’ve gathered a lot of material. As I’ve mentioned before, my son and I are building a paper megacity inspired by the game SimCity 4. As expected, my son didn’t have the patience to keep making videos, but I still diligently document everything I do by hand — maybe it’ll come in handy someday. Overall, we’re very satisfied with how the industrial zones turned out. You could say we’ve had our fun with them We’ve even started creating cluster-style factories — not just single monolithic buildings, but modular parts that can be rearranged however you like. And honestly, that’s a pretty cool concept! As expected, my programmer friend didn’t have enough time to properly build a website, but he suggested listing some small sets on Etsy and selling them. Well... why not? We have a lot of them anyway. We created a couple of sets and listed them. There haven’t been many sales, but I’m not really upset — I don’t mind either way If it works — great. If not — so what? Is that going to stop my son and me from enjoying building houses and creating our city? No way... We’ll keep going. We have SO MANY IDEAS!!! Sorry, I got sidetracked... In the meantime, my son made some organizers for all the tiny parts — they used to be scattered everywhere and caused a mess. But enough talking — let me show you some photos of what we’ve made: Next up, we want to create houses in a green, eco-style — with green roofs, balconies, and such. We’re also planning to make some small one- or two-story houses with little green spaces and flowers, since everything looks a bit gloomy without them. Thanks for your attention! To be continued...

A new model has been cooked up. This time located in my own city. A Coruña.

Merry Christmas everyone. Today’s update is about general improvements that completed in many areas of the capital, Penthesili. The purpose of these interventions is to improve parts of the city that are quite underdeveloped, offering residents a better quality of life. The interventions include new parks, the restoration of historic buildings, upgrading of public transportation, and the creation of new jobs. Enjoy Before After Before After End of part I

Hello everyone, after quite some time I’m uploading new photos. Enjoy!!!

Some WIP University Teaching Hospital Central Train Station

@Dreadnought @hugues aroux @11241036 Thanks for the feedback guys, you're right, the sand looks very reddish and looks more like desert sand than beach sand . I'm going to improve the color ---------------------- I will probably release the buildings I have shown sometime between today and tomorrow.

@JulianMIA @justforfun -----------------------------------------

Circa 1910...chu chuuuu.

Working on my next project. Please, be aware that the top glassed roof is just a test.

The Chicago Hilton hotel is now available: I hope you like it guys.

WIP:

The final version will look much better.

Coming soon.. SM2 Agritech Research Lot size 4x2 A fictional high tech company that researches new food compounds for the food industry. Simmer2

Tomorrow: