Big Vine

Wow, excellent update! I really like that new hill development and the way you've got the streets laid-out up there in the residential section. BV

Yup, sure thing---thanks for the heads-up, CaptCity! BV

Ah, excellent idea, hamish...thank you! BV

thesimbug, Just out of curiosity, what are your system specs? I'm definitely seeing an improvement after those steps you took to fix the graphics, but I still see a lot of pixellating which I'm hoping can be eliminated. Then again, it could simply be a matter of insufficient/outdated hardware, as mentioned above... Still, if you could list CPU/speed, RAM, along with your specific type (make & model) of video card, it might provide more insights into perhaps resolving things even further. You know...maybe make things a little easier on the eyes... BV

Somehow I missed that in the Omnibus, so thanks for posting that for us, jjune. Just to clarify---doing this with an existing region will only affect those specific cities which are being changed in the Paint program, correct? In other words, if I have only the right side of my region developed, then alter the region (using Paint program) by changing city sizes on the left side of the region, none of my existing (developed) cities will be affected? Is that correct? BV

This might be just what the doctor ordered: https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=4527 Courtesy of PEG. BV

Thanks for providing the link, Bumdark. Originally posted by: BumdarkBig Vine: "ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION" is the common name for what's known as an Illegal opcode, or Undocumented Instruction. I've hears the basics of this, but can't really understand even the gist of it, so the best I can do is refer you to dear ol' Wikipedia, right here.quote> I can now see why you didn't try to summarize it for me, lol. It will be interesting to see what the extra 2 gigs of RAM (which I just ordered) will do for my sims! Granted, I've only had 5 of these exception error-related CTD's over my entire history of playing SC4 (according to the text logs), so hopefully the added RAM won't screw anything up in that regard. If anything, I would think there oughta be a notable improvement in terms of game performance, since right now I've only got 512 MB of RAM. In any event, thanks for this article, Bumdark---very helpful and informative! BV

Hmm...does anyone know what it means when the exceptions error report says "ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION" on a given event? Of the 5 exception reports I have for Simcity4, 3 are "ACCESS_VIOLATION," and the other 2 are "ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION." BV

I've got a couple other questions, but I'll start with these... When you add a bunch of custom content (I'm thinking mainly growable lots), does it "grow" in the game in addition to any Maxis content, or does it actually replace some of the Maxis content? Say I put a bunch of fastfood-type custom lots into the game's plugin folder... Does this mean that the one's that are the same size/type as "Bob's Grease Pit" will end up replacing most of the "Bob's Grease Pits," or would they simply be added to the mix along with the rest of the original Maxis content? Hope that makes sense. BV

Wow, it's after 2:30 AM and I'm still going through the custom content... I'm not gonna be done anytime soon, so I better stop now and get some sleep. There is a TON of fine work available here which goes well beyond the folks I mentioned in my previous post. What I'm trying to get at is that I may have jumped the gun on asking for feedback a bit prematurely. It's taking some time, but I'm gradually familiarizing myself with what's out there and who I should focus on as far as getting my custom content goes. In a nutshell, I think I've got a pretty good handle on things. It was just a matter of really immersing myself in the STEX and taking a good hard look at what's available. Shame on me for (possibly?) giving the impression that I expected others to do my 'homework' for me---I guess I just found it all a bit overwhelming at first...still do, to be completely honest, lol. For anyone out there who may actually be reading my long-winded reply to myself: Any advice/recommendations on the subject of acquiring custom content is always welcome, but other than that, I don't plan on continuing this thread. Thanks for bearing with me! BV

Wow, great work! I like the comparison between the real-life photos and what you've recreated in the in-game shots. BV

Thanks, Bumdark. I hope it turns out to be as comfy and calm as it sounds! Another quick question for you about the custom lots... I'm just looking to 'spice up' the way cities look by adding a bit more variety to the buildings which appear withOUT altering gameplay. I don't want for this to turn into a huge wild goose-chase for dependency files either. And I certainly don't want for this to turn into a plugins organization/troubleshooting nightmare involving test cities and so forth. That said, do you have any recommendations on which folks' content might fall under my criteria? kevdan25 has a nice variety of beautiful lots which I certainly wouldn't mind seeing in my cities---and they don't seem to require dependencies either---can you confirm this? (I've actually downloaded a lot of his stuff already, and don't see any mention of dependency files...just double-checking here) simgoober's stuff also looks great, but unfortunately it appears that the vast majority of his stuff requires dependencies (please correct me if I'm wrong), and I don't wanna get into a wild goose-chase for things. (I've downloaded a few of his lots, and hopefully the ones I've chosen won't turn out to require dependencies either---I purposely tried to select only those in which no mention was made of any required dependencies) Thanks in advance for any feedback! I just wanna get going on playing/building, but I'd like to spice up the look of my cities a bit without too many headaches... BV

Me likes what me sees here, The closeups are nice I say build a casino... Let your sims roll the dice! A casino, you say, Is now really the time? Well how should I know, It's all I could think of for a rhyme... But do as you please, this is your journal, after all One time I sat down funny, and almost squished my poor ball! BV P.S. Sorry...that was totally unnecessary. By the way, I checked my undies the other day, and they were quite clean, but unfortunately an explosion blew out one of the seams!

I love the terraforming you've done and the way the region is laid out---mountains are great! BV

From what I can see, you are missing either an on-ramp or an off-ramp (in other words, you've got one of these already, but you're missing the other). BV

This is great---looking forward to see what adventures lay ahead! As for the dedication to the forum thing...I may be a newbie, but I understand completely. Heck, I purposely delayed pooping this morning just so I could check for responses to my questions---sure enough, you folks never let me down! BV P.S. My bathroom is stinky now.

SC4BOY...I appreciate your input as well! (I was typing my response at the time you replied, so I didn't catch what you wrote in time) In other words, assuming both buildings fit the same criteria you mentioned, I could replace a McDonald's with a Burger King by bulldozing the McD's and hoping a BK appeared in its place, right? (or alternatively smack down the ploppable version of BK in its place, which I'd really rather not do) Okay, think I got the gist of things. You'll have to forgive my OCD over these types of things---I'm the kind of person who'd rather iron out all the details before jumping in. Well, I had better get started! Thanks for all the help, and keep on the lookout for my first ever CJ, which I'll be starting shortly...it's a region called "Seabreeze"! BV

Okay, thanks very much, Bumdark. Let me know if this sounds right or not... To get the best variety in terms of what buildings show up in your cities (without using ploppables), you'd need to get a relatively similar amount of custom lots of a variety of sizes and/or resident/employee wealth levels (be it $, $$, or $$$). I don't mean to beat a dead horse or anything here, lol. Just wanna hear this from anyone besides myself...for some added peace of mind. BV

I always use the Start Menu instead of the desktop icon, and I've never had problems---I'd give that a shot. BV

Wow, I'm in love with your region and what you've done in each of its cities so far! Fantastic use of custom content, and I think the planning/layout involved in this is top-notch. That luxury hotel is really something, and it seems to fit in nicely with the other nearby elements (such as the Apple store, for instance, as shown in your pics). Your sense of humor seems to be right up my alley as well, which is another reason why I'm drawn to your journal and plan on sticking with it. Keep it up! BV

Wow, that tunnel project looks like it was quite the undertaking! Could there be more to that underground passage, I wonder...? This Presidential Palace looks great...I like the way you've designed the grounds/layout for it. quote> Looking forward to more updates. BV

Hey guys & gals, Been lurking for quite some time, and I must admit that I've held back from posting mainly because I find this site to be absolutely overwhelming (in a good way)! I'm not new to forums by any stretch. Matter of fact, one of the cichlid forums I moderate on is among the largest on the web... But it still doesn't even begin to come close to the sheer magnitude of Simtropolis! No matter how much 'lurking' I do here, I quite doubt that I'd ever feel 'truly ready' to start participating actively on the forum, so I might as well just jump right in and get going with it! I'm very happy this site exists, and I applaud everyone for their cooperative efforts in keeping it running smoothly. I'm also grateful to the generosity of folks who have shared their knowledge and made it available. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea... BV