Jedimarine

Hello all! I have been looking off and on for months for beach "stuff" mmp's. I have long relied on nbvc's surfer mmp's to give some life to my beach front. But I would really like a little more. Beach towels Umbrellas Sandcastles Firepits kite fliers lifeguards Nothing that I haven't seen in multiple beach, park, and pool lots/bats over the years. I just really would like the versatility of those objects as mmp's. Heck, I'd settle for a lot with a transparent ground texture. And that seems to be the catch...I will think I've found something, but the lot will be from 2004 with vanilla game beach sand, and I am not going back to trying to make plop beaches work! So, if anyone has any ideas of where to look or what to try, I'd appreciate it. Thanks everybody!

One last city profile for this region. South Ridge was immediately south of The Approaches (the ridge that is south of the of river...on the nose?) Also due west of Jamestown, it was originally a rural area full of transit junctions. But as with most places where ease of travel is offered, the people flocked there and the city grew. Final population, just shy of 400,000 Sims. Poor fair grounds, surrounded by urban sprawl. By I am too stubborn to move them.

So this is the beating heart of the region. 1.1 million sims. Packed in. Skyscrapers, Big civic buildings, schools, museums, etc. If this were SC2000, this is where the Arcologies would be. The city has a small harbor, a vanilla international airport, and a couple golf courses. But mostly, this city is about unchecked urban sprawl. 2024: Jamestown topped out at 1.3 million Sims, so the growth has been minimal over the years. However, it has come a long way in terms of how it looks. Love the new commercial core.

Just up the coast from Jamestown, is the twin city of Theodore. Population hovering around a million sims, it has most of the bells and whistles of it's rival burg to the South. But where Jamestown is the commercial core of the region, Theodore dedicates more space to culture and lifestyle. The "look" of this city plays a bigger part then maxing out the space. As such, more parks and playgrounds, more museums. More higher ed opportunities, rather then just serving the need. This city has a LOT of plops. Far less organically grown. I don't know if that is a good thing or bad. Somehow, once you cross a certain population...they seem to get messy, whether you did tile by tile, or the game engine spawns you a mess of 500 of the SAME STUPID BUILDING. I spend a lot of time weeding. -------------------- 2024 Update: Well, I kept weeding. Population topped out at 1.13 million. It got prettier.

Thank you for the stroll down memory lane. I have loved each of the first 4 SC games, but 2000 holds a special place in my heart. It was the first I actually owned, and thus was the first to truly become an obsession. While newer games have provided many unique and improved tools and graphics...this one provided some precision tools, particularly for terraforming, that we have not had since. Add in multi-level water (I miss it so much) and Arcologies... So so good. Thank you.

Ah yes. Another swing at the plate of a genre that peaked 20 years ago. Ever since, we've been over promised, over priced, over hassled, and underwhelmed. ----- I get the idea of making the game muscular and people's hardware will grow into it, as @Terring mentioned above. I myself had to wait a few years for a PC that could play SC4. Heck, even now, I can't use some of more impressive mods for SC4. If the developers could provide satisfactory tiers of functional play, that would be good start toward quieting the critics. Kind of like the good old days of Minimum and Recommended specs. You just prayed you were somewhere in between. ----- But if the game is not even humming for people with the hardware for it....eesh. What setup did they put before the company board and they said "that is good, let's release that." But I suppose that is the sin tradeoff these days...release the game too early to have income and get roasted for it...or hold it in development forever until the company goes broke. The ambitions of games are outstripping the most important resource when it comes to programming...time. ----- One personal opinion on the game is just how bland the color pallet seems. I wonder if this is a measure of stress reduction on the GPU if you can simplify the shades and gradients. So while the renders look pristine and shiny...they are also drab and grey. This then will fall back to the community to try to inject life and splendor into what the developers leave. Will CS2 have a community with the time, capability, and sheer numbers to offer those needed inclusions? Only time will tell. Time, Time, Time.

The Civic Heart of the Dornelles... Rotten to the core... Situated between the 4 major commerical centers (Addiesburg, The Approaches, Theodore, and Jamestown), the city was planned as a compromise to centralize the government. In truth, Capital Centre is a mess. So many transit systems pass traffic straight through the city, there is hardly space for the development which is needed. And yet, even so, when the Dornelles bid for international sporting spectacles, they dug out some precious space to place an Olympic Park within walking distance of the Congress Hall. Despite a decent population of 250,000, the business and culture of Capital Centre is rather sterile and manufactured. Most "citizens" of the capital merely sleep here, while they work and play elsewhere. In the far northeast corner of the city limits is a small harbor, providing a limited industrial output from a city which pretends at many things. ---------------- I hate this city. I have reset it twice, and it never comes out that way I want. I blame the massive number of transit systems that criss cross it between the much larger cities in every direction. I buried some of the rails and freeways in tunnels in an effort to clean it up, but it turned into a choking maze of highrises, when I would prefer something more pristine and park-like. The Olympic park was a nice inclusion, and far nicer to look at then the senator mansions it replaced. The biggest problem is the city is medium size city. If it was a large one, I think I could space it out to my desired intent. But alas, everyone wants to be around all the nice civic structures, and in result, they muddled the beauty of the capital. UPDATE November 2022: I took a lawnmower to the skyscrappers and restored a great deal of parkland around the government building. I did it slowly enough, I didn't see major penalties to population levels. So much cleaner.

Forest Hills, Population: 15,000 West of the big city, the roofs get shorter, the yards get wider, and fences turn from chainlink to white picket...and you reach the town of Forest Hill. So far, all the other neighbors of Jamestown have felt the knock on effects of expansive growth. Why not Forest Hills? The Hills made rail routes challenging, and limited population did not necessitate complex bus services. The Elevated Rail... Bah...the rich people like it this way! That's why! Mansions. Mansions. Couple more mansions. Even the non-mansions are quite nice. There is a cost of living, and then there is Forest Hills living. The popular narrative for the town's foundations is an old school on main street which attracted scholarly conscientious parents to enroll their little geniuses and scout for residences nearby. Except the private school , Academia Excelsior, was founded in Jamestown decades ago, and took over a former reform school building in Forest Hills when the parents of their students complained about commuting back into the city. But that is not to say Forest Hills is without charms. The Tower doubles both as the city aqua source and a beautiful overlook of the main village. Higher in the Hills, where it would take even more crazy money to develop, much of the land has been conferred to reserves and a growing network of hiking trails meander high above any number of sleepy chateau. --------------- Sigh. I let the game win this one. High Ed, High Medical, High Safety...what does that spell. $$$ Res until you can't stands it no mores! But after some weeding, it's not a terrible town for rich folk. The mainstreet has some mom and pop stores next to the luxury car dealership. The biggest issue here is the traffic that cuts across from Dawnside to Jamestown. Have gone to elaborate ends to extend routes to stop the run over. I hesitate to put tollbooths in...that would really make this a gated community.

Dawnside Population: 200,000ish Away to the south, Wedged between the hills and sea, Lies the village of Dawnside, or what is used to be... Originally a small village nestled into a small, round valley, Dawnside was the happy recipient of ease of reach for mass transit systems into Jamestown. The result? suburban sprawl across miles of once open fields. The original village was fenced in by a new downtown, and the old neighborhoods glamorized into a posh community with a special gimmick. The ring road around the valley has become the annual venue for the Dornelles Grand Prix. There is quite a tumult in Dawnside about the city's future. All of the elements are in place for Dawnside to blossom into another major city in the region. But many residents moved to Dawnside to escape that very thing. Who knows what the Dawn will bring. --------------------- Dawnside was originally nothing but farms. Lots and Lots of them. The tiny village sat on the edge of the flat farm lands and the wooded hills. Well, the trains came, then bus routes, then a monorail line, then the Elevated Rail Network out of Jamestown made a loop, and most recently, I added 3 subway lines between Dawnside and Jamestown. To say the cities are joined at the hip would be to pretend there was more then one hip. I'd call it a bedroom community, but so many sims need way more services then a sleepy suburb. This city and North Shore are the likely contestants to go big (over 500,000 sims) as the population growth continues. I'd wager on Dawnside, mostly because Dawnside has lots of elbow room.

South Sound Population: 150,000 If the big city is a mouth, begging to be fed, then South Sound is the spoon. The City of South Sound derives it's name from the South Sound itself, an ocean inlet entering the area from Tailfin Harbor. A narrow but deep channel, the sound was always ideal for shipping. What it lacked was enough area for true shipping at scale. So for many years, South Sound was an "also ran", trailing well behind the ports of Addiesburg and The Approaches, who have miles of waterfront space to put a dock on. Then came containerization. Quick to capitalize on the next technology, and partnering it with tremendous rail network access to Jamestown and Theodore, South Sound became the major international shipping hub for the Dornelles Region very quickly. A determined commercial interest has sprouted above the waterfront, determined to squeeze more profit from the boxes moving hither and yon. Ultimately, South Sound works so long as the ships keep coming. But good times always last forever. ------------- Another ugly city that has clean itself a bit. The sound used to be polluted black and almost no one lived here. It was an industrial satellite of the bigger city. Well that didn't last, and repetitive industrial blight just wasn't that interesting for long. Originally, I thought this could be a vacation spot with the Cruise Ship dock located here. But that ultimately ended up closer to the ocean, and this became a modest, but muscular port of trade. I taxed the crud out of $$ and $$$ Commercial, and it still wanted to set up here. So things must be ok. I like that it's not pretty, but also not ugly. This is a living, working, town.

Welcome to the Beach! Tailfin Harbor Population: Approaching 200,000 Tailfin Harbor is a unique, shallow harbor on the south side of the Dornelles Region. Most of it is too shallow for major shipping. So for much of it's existence, the city was a haven for fishing concerns. As time went on, and the big city to the north, Jamestown, grew into a massive business center; Tailfin started to see an increase in visitors, and them commuters. It began with the rail bridge. For a long time, a traveler from Jamestown had to journey around the South Sound, a significant ocean inlet and shipping lane to supply Jamestown. When a bridge was finally authorized to cross the sound, the immediate traffic was a shock to the system of little Tailfin. An expressway bridge recently mirrored the crossing, in an effort to reduce the rail congestion. So far, the trains are still packed like sardines. Where small shops used to line the main roads, now towering skyscrappers were their neighbors, buying up all the surrounding land for parking. Tailfin is interesting in how small the "big" part of the city is, and how fast you can escape it. At least, so long as you aren't headed to the bigger city next door. The city proper is a bustle of clubs, hotels, and highrise apartments with harbor views. The city is very clean, very new, and very plastic. What most Sims think of, when they dream of vacations in Tailfin Harbor, are the barrier islands. A small finger of a peninsula and a few islands help separate the shallow harbor from the open sea. By City Charter, most of the ocean shore is undeveloped and public access, which provides both a rustic and yet manicured uniformity to the area. If one looks out to sea, they can feel solitude and quiet...if they turn toward the harbor, they can feel energy and excitement. ------------ This is a good city. Mostly because I don't mess with it much. Particularly the barrier islands. I don't think I've changed a thing out there since I laid it down. The downtown seems crazy oversized for the population, but with trainloads of commuters from Jamestown heading south, skyscrapers next to cornfields are going to happen. My vision for this city is to one day have a picturesque parkway run along the waterfront. It would end up costing me a lot in terms of real estate...many of those towers would have to come down...but I think a pretty drive would be nicer then yet another city of sky needles.

The Dornelles just surpassed 7 million residents! In honor of this achievement, a new entry showcasing the latest update. Capital Service Distict Pop: 2500 lucky sims This postage stamp crammed between the major cities of the coastal area is barely a burg. Truthfully, it is a no-cities' land where the services are generated and provided to the millions on the other side of the boundary lines. Until recently this small city was a grid of smaller power plants, stacked to provide electricity to approx 2.5 million sims in nearby Theodore and Jamestown. However, a recent reinvestment in the metro's power concerns lead to a new mega nuclear power station removing 27 older power plants. At the same time, the water services were also upgraded to provide more volume over fewer facilities as well. The hoped for savings in replacement costs remain to be seen, but the operating costs have fallen rather significantly. Will this lead to a price decrease for toaster and fax machine operations in the Dornelles? Or will this merely facilitate further growth to a congested part of the region? Time will tell the tale. _________ Been staring down this modular power station for years, and finally got the gumption to put it in. This city was intended to bare the burdens for the "nicer" cities around it, but that doesn't mean it need be ugly or brutally repetitive. Another city choking on road congestion at every corner. But they are making $ on toll booths in every corner. This little city PRINTS money.

So I am enticed by the announcements of NAM updates, but the numerous postings of CTD have long given me pause to step up my version. As such, I am not even sure what version of NAM I am running. I "think" I am on NAM 29, but I am guessing based on a readme in a zip folder that was on a backup drive collecting dust. I have read all of the "compatible" notes: I am playing a SC4 retail disc (old school ) patched to 640, but I am playing on a 32 bit machine, so the full muscled NAM is out of the question. All I really want is to be able to use a few transit bats I have downloaded that call out for NAM 32 or newer. Can you even download older versions of NAM? I have seen comments that legacy machines should use NAM 36 of older, while NAM 37 is where things got taxing. True? I have read contradicting messages about deleting older NAM folder, or absolutely do not remove NAM folders, which I assume means "it depends on your installation". The last thing I want to do is break what is working, which is why I have stayed still for so long. Are there more "stable" versions of NAM then others? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thank you @ulisse & @Lucario Boricua That is mostly in line with what I was thinking, but it helps to get confirmation. To help with clarity, as part of my investigation into doing a NAM update today, a simple google search pointed me to this forum posting: Clearly it is quite old, and now with confirmation, it is partially out of date. I don't know if there is way to tag the posting as such, but I wanted someone to know google will send people to that post. Perhaps I can message @Tarkus directly. But this is what made me think twice considering the extreme age of my version of NAM. ----------------------- And there again, as to removal of the old NAM...is it as simple as taking the NAM folder out of plugins, or must I run the uninstall exes inside (there are 2). I wonder if one of them is a relic of long forgotten NAM update. --------- Thank you again.

I was considering posting this to the "feeling overwhelmed" thread, but that seemed more technical then what I'm after. I have loaded 8-10 regions in the game. They are ready to go. A couple of them I have gone into a few cities, gotten them to mayor mode...maybe laid a rail line from one side to the other. But I just don't feel it. I cannot find the inspiration to put in the grunt work to build the whole region up. I actually kind of miss the days when a new pc or new install meant starting the game over. I lost so many regions that way, but it forced me to begin again, and again. Now, backups are easy. I have 3 really well developed regions...perhaps too well developed...cross that threshold of over-analyzing and over-populating and making a mess of things that were better left alone. I need to start a new region, but I just look at all the empty cities and I exit the game. I know what to do...I just can't get myself to put in the time to get there. I am sure if I got 3 or 4 cities rolling, it all starts to hum...probably take a couple days, maybe a week. But I don't know. How do some of you find inspiration to start a new region? What gets you through those early stages of grunt work getting a regional network going?

That's it right there. They are just too big. Here are the big ones: Of those, I am the furthest on the Katalla...have 3 small fishing villages and a cross-region rail route laid down. Just a lot there to do. But even so, I have downloaded some smaller regions, but meeting much of the same block. ------------- I also think it may be some unease with my style. I have 3 regions built up, which I love, but they really all look the same when you get down to the street level. I use roads/rails about the same, zone in the same patterns, feel the need to place parks in the same variety. So perhaps the biggest hang up is seeing a new canvas, and not wanting it to come out like a copy of my previous efforts.

Thanks for the ideas @Daeris, I definitely want to play. I just want to do the fun bit...the fixing zones or redirecting elevated rails or building a park for the sprawling city. But I need the city first to get to that part. But I struggle getting that new region/city started. It is the macro vs. micro focus...when I am thinking macro...I am looking at the regions and how I want highways and rails to run. When I am thinking micro...it's about street corners and how many blocks to an elementary school, etc. Getting from the region to the street corner is the arduous part. At least for how I play. So what I usually end up doing is going back into my old regions and start changing bits. Sadly, I can often be disappointed by the changes, because ultimately, I didn't really want to make the changes...I did it because it is just easier then building a new city from the ground up to experiment on. I may have to try the CJ about the process, rather then just finished cities. Have to chew on that. Thanks!

Thanks @CaptCity, My "go to" has always been some visual trademark for the region. A big volcano with a city nestled in a valley, a huge bridge over a river, some kind of unique harbor...something I see being the focal point of the region. But I usually don't start there. I Usually start somewhere at the edge of the region and kind of wander the development toward where I want the major civic center to be. That way, by the time I get there, I have a healthy amount of sims, business and transit working to get the big city rolling quick. I think perhaps my issue may be in just how large the regions I am picking are. They are massive and instead of have one interesting focal point, they may have 3 or 5. This shouldn't be a big deal. I have other regions with multiple city centers. But those usually start with one planned center and the rest come about organically. It really is trivial. This afternoon after posting this, I forced myself to open a region and lay down the start of a basic road plan. Just didn't keep me there for long. Glad to know other people understand where I'm coming from.

I was about 10 or 11, and I was hanging out with a kid from scouts. We went to his Grandma/Uncle's house, and his uncle had the first in-home PC office I had ever seen. He had a number of PC games, but when he booted up the original SimCity...I was immediately hooked. Hospitals and trees and those bridges that lifted for the boats, and all the powerlines between blocks. About a year later, the junior high got a computer lab and SimCity was on all the computers as an educational software. Every excuse to get in there, I used. SimCity 2000 was the first I actually owned. Arcologies for miles. SimCity 3000 was my College years addiction. Also the first time I was able to download buildings. Skyscrappers for days. SimCity 4 just would not run well on my PC when it first came out, so I had to wait until about 2008-9 to get a new tower and really start rocking and rolling. Societies made me sad, SimCity 2013 made me mad, Cities XL was sleek and stylish, but just didn't have the sandbox potential I have grown accustom to. I love this game. The best entertainment property ever.

Request: Rural School Bus Stop (Acting as a School) Description: Even in small cities, sometimes the idea that there would be even a single small school is a stretch of realism today. What I am requesting would be a pretty basic 1x1 lot that would appear like a normal bus stop, perhaps with some extra shelters for bad weather. The sim-purpose would be a centralized place for the rural residence to drop their kids to catch the early morning bus ride to the schools in the next town over. Technically, the lot would serve as an education coverage for at least a small sized city, with a minimal student capacity (a school bus load or 2? 75-150 students?) Why it would be beneficial: The need to provide education coverage can be addressed while not overly taxing extremely small, or perhaps poor communities where even a small school is overkill in terms of size and cost. The small size would allow for the lot to be discretely planted almost anywhere and not seem out of place. Further Requests in this line of Thinking: While education is the most glaring service to supply to small cities in terms of cost/size, they are not the only ones that could be addressed in this manner. In many rural areas with limited medical capacity, ambulances are often strategically placed in purpose made lots or signed "parking" on public lots so they can respond quickly to remote areas. a 1x1 lot with an ambulance parked on it with health coverage could manage this. This could also be done with Police...call it a "speed trap" with a cop car sitting in a lot along a highway through the city. Ultimately, I could see why some would see these as a cheat...but when the goal is to not simulate a town growing to some size to require the full services of school buildings or police stations, or even a clinic, but having those services provided in some degree in a much smaller capacity, only makes sense. Either this, or someone can create the "Online Learning" Ordinance and we can get rid of education coverage needs that way.

Eastward of the Coast of North Shore is Explorer Island. While the island is relatively small, it was divided into 2 jurisdictions by some brilliant algorithm. But in the end, that worked out, as the government went looking for a place it could control completely. Islands can be nice for that. If someone says they come from Explorer Island, then mean "North Explorer Island". Originally a small fishing settlement, an Air Force station was built here decades ago. Further developments on the southside of the island reinforced the importance of the airbase and developed the population of the town. Perhaps the most distinctive element of the island, beyond it's all encompassing beaches, is the large parade field...once an auxilary landing strip, it was turned into a well manicured lawn for the entire island to enjoy. Also a perfect place to watch departures from South Explorer Island. South Explorer Island is a restricted zone, utilized primarily as a launch site for the space program. Rumor amongst the surfing community is that many of the shores on the southside, particularly facing the open ocean to the east, are the best waves in the region. Many a fool joined the military services in hopes of finding out if this were true.

Park Hill Population: 100,000 ish It's a modest city with a big green hill in the middle. The hill originally was just a hill that kept the traffic from the Approaches to the north from meeting the freeway going to Jamestown in the south. As the road networks came together, an island of greenery was left behind. As the far eastern side of the city was a polluted mess, the citizenry demanded their mayor preserve the hill for environmental and ecological reasons. Ironically enough, as time went on, the industrial eastside declined, and the "ecological preserve" of the park developed into golf courses, playing fields, hiking trails, and other pursuits to bring people into the park and dirty it up. Though small, the central business district of Park Hill is buzzing with activity. Many of the high-rises overlooking the park boast some of the highest rents in the region. --------------- Less was more with this city. At one point, the population was about 50,000 and the hill was a green wilderness in the middle. I like it then. But, as happens in this game, I started picking at it. Adding soccer fields and playgrounds and golf and before I knew it, I had made a monster. *Sigh* I guess it's not too bad. This is another city I wish were large instead of medium sized. I really just need to play on regions with all large cities. Oh...this city was BRUTALIZED by corner traffic. Could not play this city without being forever advised of the nightmare interchanges, particularly in the northeast and northwest corners. I ended up bulldozing 6 connections to the large neighboring cities and adding many more avenues then I would like, but even the moddified traffic simulator couldn't stop the mess.

Getting back to this journal with a recent inclusion. This is Jacob's Point Population: 40,000 ish Jacob's Point is in the far Northeast corner of the region. Most of the northern edge is endless fields as travelers leave the Dornelles. Being on the sparse side of North Shore, there is not much demand for anything coming out of Jacob's Point. So for much of it's existence, it was a farming community with a simple downtown. But, when the navy went looking for space to place a deployment station, the south side of the mouth of the Frosted Creek was selected. Suddenly acres of fields turned into neighborhoods and quiet back roads became major thoroughfares. One benefit to the citizens of "The Point" was the construction of their first bridge across Frosted Creek. This provides access to the naval station on the southside, but also provides road access to North Shore further south. Hurray, now everyone can shop at Sam's Club in North Shore and the downtown shops of Jacob's Point can shutter. Progress! The coast north of the point is about what one would expect to find. People with means have pasted the shores with weekend houses and manors for those who need not grind away in Theodore and Addiesburg all week long. ------- This city is ok. I started it just before abandoning the game for several years, and I can see much of the basic grid and obedience to efficiency of game mechanics instead of trying to make something interesting to look at. At one point, this was absurdly affluent population surrounded by farms in all directions...boring as dirt. Been dumbing it down and diversifying it ever since.

Modular International Airports Modular Golf Courses Wilderness Parks Cultural Centers Theme Parks Campgrounds Suburban Subdivision Sprawl High Tech Industrial Campuses Freeway Adjacent Warehouses Multi-Modal Transit Hubs Naval Yards These are just a few of the unique additions made to my SC4 cities and regions. Most are largely due to the excellent content so graciously shared on this site. But I feel like I'm missing something important. There is some element of world simulation that I'm not adding in, and I cannot put my finger on it. I suppose it could be that I just grow bored of creating another neighborhood or routing another monorail line...but in the past I have always discovered something here that had me racing back to each city to find a way to squeeze in a new nightlife district or a new sports venue, etc. I almost miss the days long ago when i just went Skyscraper hunting...simpler times...simpler tastes. ------------ What am I forgetting? What have you done lately to enliven your cities? Thanks for your input...

I hate palm trees. I am sure they serve their purpose in the real world. But in my regions, which I always characterize as being located in more temperate zones, palm trees are just a bad fit. Is there a way to block the base game palm trees from growing? I tried using HD replacement trees completely once...my PC didn't like me that day. So a complete swap out of flora is not on the table. I just want the palm trees to go away. Any ideas?