Spinmaster

I am disappointed again. Not angry, just... well it seems clear SC4 will remain the dominant simulation. They've missed the point entirely. Micromanagement = many many many many options that affect your cities, to the point that it's impossible to build the same city twice, even if you do the exact same things... or so you thought. Why go backwards to make it simpler for the simple crowds? I can understand the need to make it easier for players who don't enjoy so many options. But why not satisfy them with "do it for me options" ... like advisors that recommend new transit networks (not just say you need one, actually propose a fully-built network, complete with stations), automatically determine budget needs and adjust them, propose new zones so all I have to decide is "yes or no". ADD ... not subtract. Don't take away the things the core fan base enjoys. Leave that complexity there, or the veterans won't bat an eye at it, and your "new players" will get bored quickly. Add some "societies" feel to the game? Ok, but again... keyword: add. Not sacrifice the fundamental purpose of the game since its inception and turn it into something...else. Make it more like The Sims? No thank you. I've had no interest in that game. Nothing against it, just not my bag, never was. Integration with The Sims? So, my Sims character can be used in either game, and experiences gathered in one affect his/her character in the other? Hmm... maybe I would try The Sims and SCS. Oh wait, they're taking away options and adding "Sims with Attitudes." Uhhh... no thanks. If I want The Sims, I'll buy The Sims. I want Sim City. Well nuts to me, I guess. Will I buy it? I dunno. The graphics look tempting, yes... it might be a lot of fun .... IF I didn't already have SimCity 4 and SimTroplis to enjoy. Offer me something more than what I have - not less - if you want my $.

If I was a sorcerer... I want: 1) 100% true-to-life graphics 2) A truly 3D experience 3) A completely realistic simulation 4) Lots of busy busy people and objects to see it all spring to life ... ... 285) A massive supercomputer ... all for under $50. But alas, I am no sorcerer. So, methinks and understands some sacrifices must be made... it is, after all, a game. A sophisticated urban simulation, realistic enough that even people who plan and build cities for a real-world living actually enjoy spending hours doing the same thing for fun, sure... but still a game, nonetheless. It's interesting RCT3 has been called in for comparison by a few folks. And just how well did a massive dream park with even just a dozen or so wild rides run on even the latest and greatest greased-lightning PC?

1. The screenshot is old. Very old. Possible a pre-alpha screenshot. This comes direct from Chris, the leading DEV.quote> I never complained about the game based on the picture. I did say the picture itself was unimpressive, to say the least, but I didn't apply it to my opinion of the nowhere-near-finished game. I do think it's unfortunate though, that so many people did pre-judge based solely on what was (even without Chris saying it) quite clearly a very very early screenshot. 2. The title Sim City Societies is a working title.quote> I hope so. If it's a sequel to Sim City 4, then call it Sim City 5. Or 5000. Or V... or ... well not Sim City Societies. That really does sound like a spin-off, intentional or not. Just my 2 cents. Maybe others like it. To each their own, I suppose. I don't really care what it ends up being called, in the end it'll either be Sim City, or it won't be (I'm truly hopeful it will). 3. It is a city simulation game.quote> This was 80% of the outcry. 100% from me. The original, admittedly misunderstood quote was ... well I won't repeat it. I'm over that now. Thank you so so much, Chris!!! 4. The Tilted Mill team is going to be working with the fans, that is us, closely.quote> Thank you so so much, Chris!!! (there is no "bow in humility" smiley ) 5. Tilted Mill is working closely with Maxis on Sim City Societies.quote> I posed a hypothesis to this effect in another thread, but to summarize... I thought so. I don't mean "thank God Maxis is in it" ... I trust TM - EA wouldn't have chosen a bunch of hacks to work on one of their flagship products. I just mean, the second guy to successfully climb Mt Everest didn't do it without at least studying how the hell first guy did it.

Originally posted by: zzsim I did actually think the same thing originaly, that this may just be a spin off. If you remember a while ago, Will Wright made some comments about the direction of the next Sim City, which hinted that he and Maxis where in atleast the planning stages of a new game. Plus an old chat transcript with a Maxis dev from 2004 on the SC Central website, hinted about a new direction for the game and that it was in developement. However, I don't think it is actually two games, but instead what probaly happened was that the old Maxis started planning and the early developement of the next Sim City, but once their attention got diverted to their new game Spore, EA likely had the developement transferred to Tilted Mills, which has claimed to have been working on SCSocieties for some two years (which would coincide with when the game got handed over to them late 2004 early 2005). Here's a link to the SC Central chat transcript. I don't honestly know if the guy was a Maxis dev but it is still interesting to look at: http://www.simcitycentral.net/simcity5/ quote> This brings up an interesting point, actually. It's not at all uncommon for one group to design a project, and another to actually implement it. Sometimes it's technical reasons - the project managers couldn't write a lick of code to save their lives. Sometimes, it's creative reasons - the design team knows how the core product must function, the "business rules" (or "simulation game rules" in this case), and how the rest should fit together. Is it possible, just possible... that even though TM is officially "developing" (aka "implementing the code") the game, some of the Maxis team were at least involved in the design and planning phases? After all, the announcement of TM developing it was surprisingly close to even the now-pushed release date. No way they can redesign and implement such a massive project in so little time. Food for thought. This isn't a "thank God Maxis was involved (if they were)" comment, mind you. I have no allegiance to Maxis or any other development company. I thank Maxis for all the titles thus far, but I'm sure Twisted Mills is very capable of this project or else EA wouldn't have chosen them. But there is something to be said for passing the baton vs. simply tossing it across the room. I seriously doubt EA did the latter. I don't imagine TM would've even accepted without at least documented specifications and some creative input from the prior gurus. Developers love to learn "how did the other guy do that?" Then they like to do it even better.

Originally posted by: Ntq$310 hmm, i glad chris said that, but how could he make [such] a big mistake like that!?!quote> I don't blame him entirely for it. Maybe not at all. Worse mistakes have fallen with a thud from the mouths of the most benevolent people in history. Did the speaker speak wrong? Or did the listeners listen wrong? Frankly, I don't care who's to "blame." It was a misunderstanding, clearly. And an understandable misunderstanding at that. Yet still, he's offering to personally shoulder the blame - whether it's his to take or not - that shows a lot of class, in my opinion. Hopefully enough folks will recognize that alone. It would be pretty cool to have a close partnering relationship with the artists of our favorite past-time. It can only serve to make the future brighter for all SimCity fans, old and new.

In any case, I do look forward to the next true urban simulation game. I hope it's called SimCity.quote> It will be. Long live SimCity <whatever> and long live Simtropolis!! (p.s. shouldn't "Simtropolis" be recognized as a correctly-spelled word in the Simtropolis forum's Reply dialog?)

Anyone have a hat I can borrow? So I must make it crystal clear that, like all SimCity games, this game is a city-building game. It is a city-building simulation. It is a city simulation. It is an urban simulation game. It is a game in which you build cities. Its focus is not on realism and detail (but that's not to say it lacks those things either).quote> Thank you, Chris... thank you. As for those who suggested developers don't care... you may not realize it, but that is a very hurtful insult to a developer. Kinda like telling Da Vinci he sucks before he even finishes a painting. Will SCS rule? Whether or not it does, for sure the people doing the work will care, and telling them they suck or they don't care in advance certainly isn't gonna inspire them. Developers love to hear "wow, this is amazing" from a passionate audience, to whom their work is magic. They're equally hurt by "your work is crap" before they've finished. Note that most of the civilized complaints have been focused on the misunderstanding that the focus of the game had taken a terrible turn for the worse - not direct attacks at the development staff or their concern for a quality product. Maybe this whole board will quiet down a bit now - I will. Anyway, I have a hat to consume now. Again, thank you, Chris. This is what I've been dying to hear (read).

We have no business trying to wag the dog.quote> Umm, I know what you're trying to say, but I'm not attached to EA's behind. If they want me to buy a product, they have to produce a product I'm willing to pay for. The customers, in the end (pun intended), will make the final decision about whether or not the big-dog EA will see major profits from this. This is retail. It is all about wagging the dog. Whenever a business loses sight of this fact, they learn something the hard way. Will SCS make a profit even if it stinks? Probably. Will it make as much as it could? Not even close. But I do agree, SCS won't kill SC4. Even if it really was (is... could be, I pray) the latest and greatest in our beloved series, plenty of folks - myself included - will still enjoy SC4 for a very very long time to come, thanks to the infinite and ongoing contributions of everyone at SimTropolis, not to mention many other sites (SC4Devotion, SimPegasus, etc...). I'm not just talking about custom content, but the forums, opinions, experiments, advice, tutorials, CJ's, and a strong overall sense of comradery, even when we sometimes vehemently disagree about something. Few fan-based sites last half as long and continue to grow as much as this one has, and I see no sign of it waning here any time soon, SCS or not. The worst thing that could happen, is that SCS actually does try to be the true next evolution of SimCity, and fails. My guess is, half the SC4 faithful will go to it hoping for things to get better "give it a chance," half will not. Will SC4 stand? Yes, but not as strong as it does today. If SCS rocks our worlds, then we'll all go to it. If it bombs, then we'll all stick with SC4. If they change their strategy and push it as a spin-off, not intended to be the "real deal" then SC4 will stay strong and SCS will likely get its own good following, whether it's good or not, while we all wait patiently for the next true SimCity. In any case, I do look forward to the next true urban simulation game. I hope it's called SimCity. Until then, whether SCS becomes what we hope or not, long live SC4. And in any case, long live SimTropolis!!!

That's the dilemma. I'd so like to believe that they don't honestly see this as the next sequel in an acclaimed series, merely a branch. I hope and pray that's all this is. Most of SC fan base agrees that it IS a realistic urban simulation. There's plenty of debate over the "realistic" part of that phrase, naturally, but most would say that is the fundamental goal of it at least. I for one did not buy SimCity 4 thinking it was a golf game. If ID Software came out and said "we're making Doom 4, but it won't be about killing bad guys" you can bet there'd be 100x more fire thrown at them than what TM is fielding now. If the statements had said "it will be a simulation game, and it will evolve significantly, but don't expect true-to-life realism" ... ok, I can buy that. It is a game after all. And it must run on the average user's computer, be fun, and be a complete change from the last version. But "it's not an urban simulation" is flat-out unacceptable. I'm still hoping they'll explain that statement in some logical fashion. "It's actually intended to just be another branch in the series, not a true sequel" would get a big "WHEW" from a lot of people, and TM and EA can both save face in the process. And personally, I would even be interested to see (i.e. willing to plunk down $$ for) this "spinoff" if indeed they'll state it as such, and let me at least continue to hope for a true "next evolution" of my beloved urban simulation. This I think is the key. If they keep saying this IS the next full evolution of SimCity, they will continue to get serious heat with the "it's not an urban simulation" bit. A true sequel should effectively replace SimCity 4, save for reminiscing. By what I've seen so far, a) that's what they intend SCS to be, and b) so far, they're very very wrong. I look forward to being proven wrong on this, because I would LOVE SCS to be amazing in any case. And if it's a "spinoff" there's a good chance I'll check it out at least. But I don't want a false illusion that it will replace SimCity 4 when in fact from the very start it just throws out the main reason I love SimCity (all versions) in the first place - it's an urban simulation. I don't buy illusions (sorry, Mr Hopkins).

My perspective is thus. SimCity has always been, for 20 years, "an (increasingly) realistic urban simulation." The apparent spokesman for TM's development of the next SimCity seems to disagree. Not just with the self-defining title, but with those of us who most enjoy the "realistic urban simulation" aspect of the game. And now I see: I do want to say, though (with no insult intended to die hard SC fans) that we are absolutely thrilled to be a part of this venerable series, are extremely proud of what we have put together, and make no apologies about what we have managed to create. And while our past experiences (including contributions from many of you) certainly inform all our ongoing efforts, this SC is its own unique creation.quote> I'd so love to be wrong... but this sounds like a nice, cordial, diplomatic form of "it's ours now, it won't be what you expect, and if you don't like it, you can go ____." My perspective now? I love SC4, the ST, its members, and all the symbiotic boutique sites as well. And I'm happy. My greatest fear was not actually that they'd drop the focus on the"realistic urban simulation" heart of the game. My greatest fear was they'd truly try to extend the legacy, and fall short. Just enough improvement to draw a large part of the SC4 faithful to it, but be irritatingly mediocre, thus killing both SC4 and 5. But that doesn't appear to be the case. No, a complete bomb is far better - the SC4 crowd will hopefully stick around until the next next SC ... if EA pulls its head out of its ass by then.

Originally posted by: beebs Originally posted by: MarcosMX Aren't they saying that picture of SCS is a very old one?quote>Yes. It's probably a bad idea to completely bash the game to death on a screenshot from early in the production of the game. quote> While the picture does suck, I want so badly to agree with your statement. I've seen horrible first-pics of games and other products that later melted my eyes out, they were so gorgeous. Based on a single, early picture alone, complaints at this stage would seem to be merely whining, and I'd admit to it myself. It could be a preliminary idea, not an intended "finished product"... a decent start but the rendering engine is still far from complete, any number of explanations why that picture is so "infantilish" (don't try that word in Scrabble, btw). The graphics could be amazing, mind-blowing, blah blah, when the final product is released. Provided SCS stays true to its legacy as a city simulation, a new direction is fine, I agree it's necessary for business and aesthetics, and you'll find me waiting in line for it the day it's released. For just the picture, there'd be a lot less shock and disgust, and a lot more "I hope it gets better" in here. Unfortunately, the picture is not what's causing this uproar. A quote from a TM (developer? staff anyway) apparently states, quite clearly, that TM views Sim City as "not a city simulation." Now say it with the rest of us.... WHAT??????? What the hell has it been for the past 20 years, if not a city simulator? And I don't care if it's their own deluded vision or if EA gave it to them. Did the cow poison the milk, or did the farmer poison the cow? I cannot voice my theory, for I am dead now. This is the bulk of the outrage here. Even if the graphics do suck in the end, I might feel ripped off, but not flat-out offended as I am now. Note that folks with 10000+ posts and newcomers whose first post was here, all are up-in-arms about this. I'm praying it's not too late for all these opinions to be heard, and for TM (and EA) to wake up and realize they're effectively destroying a cash-cow (what is it with me and *&%@in' cows today?) beloved by millions world-wide. We all smell what EA and TM are cookin' ... and so far, it don't smell like sugar.

6underground... if you build this, we will ... umm.... erm... whoa, that can be taken two ways, I suppose. Well both may be quite fitting, actually!! Weather? HY ("hell yes!"). Tourism? HY... I hate building lovely parks, beaches, resorts, MAPPs, etc..., and everyone "appreciates" them - but nobody USES them (perhaps commercial patronage could be included, to see sims actually behaving like customers et al; the overall idea: sims don't simply travel to/from work and that's all, they actually GO to the other things you build, too). A separate world rating (akin to a "region rating" I presume)? HY. True 3D? HY. Time-periods & locales? HY. Auto-disasters? HY (well sort of .. imo it should be configurable, on/off, user-configurable probabilities, and still provide the options to trigger them manually - sometimes it's useful to test your readiness by actually having an intended disaster on-cue; also, the disasters could have varied probabilities based on locale and other factors... just brainstorming a bit). you certainly have my vote to make your own game (I wouldn't be surprised if you could find some current and/or former Maxis lurkers interested in assisting, for that matter). If your vision of what SimCity could become is any indication, consider my $40+ pledged already... to you if you build it... and EA can eat their hearts out. Yes, I know they're just pictures. Can you program? I dunno, and I don't care... if you can't, for sure you can find some developers who can. The hardest part is having a strong and viable vision for the game. That you clearly have. And that, clearly, EA and TM are currently lacking.

My first impression was, "Citylife looks better than this"I want Maxis to do this; wait for them to finish Spore so they can work on the real 'Sim City 5'. I don't mind waiting. Or I will never play computer games again...quote> You took the words right outta my mouth (fingers). I would add, at-a-glance based on that one screen shot (which in all fairness isn't ... umm... fair, but...), it appears EA is basically saying "screw the existing fan base, we want new blood." I agree they need new blood, SC4 has lasted so long solely on the backs of veteran addicts like us. If the franchise is to thrive, it needs a new generation of "I never played it before" addicts. But I hope I'm wrong about EA sacrificing us for it. My knee-jerk reaction: I'll stick to SimCity 4.quote> The best thing that could happen: SC5 surprises us all, and gives us everything we ever dreamed of and then some, and SC4 will fast become just another fond SimCity memory. So far, I severely doubt this. Next best thing: SC5 sucks so bad that enough people stick to SC4 as to keep it alive, as well as Simtropilis and various other almost-symbiotic sites. So far, this looks very likely. Maybe there'll be hope for SC6....

Maybe I'm wrong, I'm on my 3rd martini tonight already, but I thought the different regional releases have left- vs right-handed driving hardcoded in the main exe, no? Thus, the option in NAM is purely for compatibility with that aspect, not to actually change it. i.e. if you have a UK-release of SC4 there's nothing you can do, but be sure to use the left-handed option with NAM so NAM's features match it (e.g. turning lanes, pathfinding - particularly with avenues and highways, etc...). Since ya seem gung-ho to drive on the right side, hopefully I'm dead wrong but...

Several options for your lakes: As rcash stated, you can get the god-mode terraforming tools back with CTRL-SHIFT-ALT and click the god/sun button. While using those tools, in addition to CTRL & SHIFT to made the effect radius small/large, you can also use SHIFT + 1 ~ 9 to granularly control it; 1 is tiny. The same SHIFT+1~9 works with mayor-mode tools too. And SHIFT+F1 ~ F9 can effect the tools' strength i.e. how fast it moves the land up/down. There are also various pond and stream kits. Personally I like pegasus' ones, but there are others and they're all nice. Basically they allow you to build a pond/lake/stream/canal by plopping pieces. Then there's a "ploppable water" mod, which I've yet to try. Not sure if that one's on the STEX or not, but for sure on SC4Devotion. Unfortunately STEX search seems to hate me at the moment, so I can't look and/or put links to it in here. As for the skyscrapers question... Fact: the largest in-game growable building is 4x4; some custom ones are larger (I don't know if there's a max-possible limit, but 6x6 seems to be the max most people make them anyway... larger than that and it'll be well-highlighted in the readme). Fact: a building can and will "take over" neighboring parcels to make a larger consolidated lot if necessary. (p.s. the parcels are the little 1x? strips that appear normally when you zone; sometimes they are larger depending on demand; hold CTRL while you zone to suppress the auto-parcel behavior). Subject of debate: how/why that happens. The broad answer is "based on demand" i.e. if the game decides the best way to satisfy current demand is to rebuild one larger building in place of two (or more) existing buildings. But how it decides that.... let the debates begin. I recall reading the detailed process somewhere, in the Prima guide I think, but alas mine is in hiding somewhere.

How can I get this, the color part....quote> When you open that box, your cursor also changes. Hover it over a network and you'll see the tool-tip as you see in that picture (route type and statistics re: what type of traffic is using it). Click on the network and you'll see the color-coded routes, showing where everyone is coming from and going to, and how, that uses that route. As for your abandonment... Your sims can't find jobs they can do. "Abandoned due to commute time" could mean you have a horrible network, but in most cases - especially with a new city and no neighbors - it simply means there are no jobs for those sims. Think "infinite commute time" - this is what the game is really saying. It doesn't directly pair sims with jobs. It makes the poor bastards find jobs the really hard way - by commuting on every route they can as far as they're willing to go until a) they find a job they can do or b) they give up. And they will travel far i.e. even across multiple large cities, if the network is up-to-par. The briefcase atop many of your houses indicates b - those sims gave up, meaning probably there aren't enough jobs. If you don't satisfy their job need soon, you'll watch those houses abandon, then probably dilapidate to R$. Teddah hit on why, in your case. The sims need jobs in their wealth and education level. And R$$$ are notorious for developing too much, too soon, particularly if you like to make all your cities a paradise. They come in droves because you made a perfect little heaven ... but there aren't enough jobs for them. Even the richest jobs, for the max education, take only 15% R$$$ (CO$$$ with EQ 200). The rest of the jobs are middle- and lower-class R. You need A LOT of well-educated and healthy middle and lower-class sims before demand is high enough to build jobs that are rich enough to employ even a small R$$$ population. And since the lowest jobs, ID, IA, and CS$ are almost exclusively filled with R$, even the middle-class can be a problem in a young city; some are ok, but too many and they'll also have unemployment problems. PhantonOwl was correct to point out avenues though. Not likely the problem in this case, but it may become one later as your city grows. Make sure sims can turn around on those things, stick some U-Turn crossings in them if you have long stretches without intersections (you can use streets to avoid getting extra traffic lights, just watch you don't get too many people doing U-Turns on them or you'll have congestion). Also, check out the NAM (Network Addon Mod; new one just came out) if you don't already have it. It's an essential as far as most are concerned, if for nothing else at least the pathfinding fixes (it has a LOT of other nice goodies in it too). Without it, your sims take the shortest paths by raw # of tiles, even if it means super-slow seriously-congested streets the whole way. With NAM, actual travel time is computed for the routes instead, based on speed, capacity, and congestion - the sims will go a little out of the way to take faster routes, use mass transit if it's efficient, etc....

It's not a pathfinding issue, actually. NAM can help a little, only because it makes traffic choose the best route by time instead of raw # of tiles (the default, non-NAM behaviour). Unfortunately the main problem with freight traffic is its steadfast, unchangeable decision to go to the nearest map edge, period. Doesn't matter if they have to drive 50 miles around the city on streets. If your rails don't go to the nearest edge, then they'll stick to the roads and tell you what to go do with your rail stations. AFAIK nobody has found a way to override this behaviour. Well really, the whole point of freight traffic is indeed to get out of the city, so they have to have *some* destination in mind, just as the sims have their jobs as destinations. Maybe if there was a way to make freight stations (and seaports) *appear* to freight traffic as if they are pseudo map-edges.... hmm. But otherwise, you're pretty much stuck to either a) designing your industrial areas such that rail/seaports ARE the fastest way to the nearest map edge or b) use those truck-blockers to prevent trucks taking certain roads (either to keep them corralled in the industrial area with freight stations or on the off-edge connections, so at least they can't use the roads to get out of the city).

If you're not already using it... NAM (Network Addon Mod) with at least the Better Pathfinding option. Without this, the sims will stubbornly take the straightest, shortest path - by distance only, period. Oh, they have a nice super-fast monorail with a station just one block north? But they're going west - so they don't care. They'll all take 50 miles of streets and stop signs with 10000 other commuters, then crash and yell at you because the traffic sucks. With NAM's pathfinding fix, they'll take the fastest route by time, including going out of the way a little to hop on mass transit, taking a faster road/highway, even using multiple networks if appropriate. They're still subject to probabilities based on wealth (the rich don't care how close your el-rail station is, a Mercedes is a Mercedes), but at least they'll have a little more common sense about their route. Even the ones that stubbornly stick to cars will at least wisely go a little out of the way to use the higher speed & capacity roads/avenues/highways rather than bee-line it through the low-capacity, low-speed streets. Mind you, NAM does absolutely nothing to force the little buggers to use mass transit - it merely puts some brain cells in their heads. You still have to carefully plan and design your transit network and put the stops where they need to be (where the sims live and where they work). But at least you'll be rewarded with sims actually using it thanks to NAM. If you are already using NAM... re-read that last paragraph.

About the R$/jobs battle, you may also have overlooked something. Transit stops have jobs, too. The in-game ones are well-balanced, but if you're like me and you like to pepper your city with lots of custom bus and sub stops, heed this. Many of the custom stops, unfortunately, were left with what appear to be default values for jobs. I say that to point out that it's 99% sure probably not the creators' faults, my guess is nobody knew about the values when they were made - many that I have were made long before SC4Tool existed (which is what I use to check and fix them). Anyway, many of them have 95 jobs for R$ (and 5 for R$$). That's right, a tiny 1x1 bus stop, with a capacity ranging from as little as 500 passengers, and it has 100 jobs in it. For some things like train stations, which you might have maybe a dozen or so at most, eh... 1200 jobs lost. But if you have that many train stations you probably have enough sims to not really notice the gap (plus true train stations could realistically have 100's of jobs if large enough). But think about 50 bus stops in a city with only 10,000 sims ... yip yip yip yip, half your sims working in bus stops (and thus not working in your tax-generating C and I zones). Query some of your custom bus stops in the residential areas - see if you notice 100 sims walk in, and 3 leave on buses. Those 3, of course, are merely taking the bus to go work in another bus stop. In another city. Two tiles away (I've seen this). Goofy little bastards. It could also be that the bus stop is consuming 61 MWh of power. For a bench. Maybe one constantly flickering light. No wonder you have high R demand, all your poor widdle sims are getting fried at the bus stops, which they all work in and thus don't need your stinkin' industrial jobs. Well don't ditch those bus stops completely, just take up the SC4Tool and tweak 'em (it's a pretty simple tool to figure out, if you haven't used it). I now do it as a rule whenever I download something that I might use with high frequency (park pieces come to mind now, too), just to be sure someone didn't inadvertently leave 100 jobs in a 1x1 parallel-universe plot of concrete with a high-voltage dandelion-of-death in it. Unfortunately you will have to bulldoze & re-plop the errant stops if you do tweak them, for the changes to take effect. This does not help with the other issues, mind you. But I suspect it's having some impact in your case (explains screaming R demand and tanked I demand).

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx In short... add the /3GB switch to your boot.ini. But this won't help SimCity because only applications designed to take advantage of that switch will do so, and very few "common" apps for XP do... nevermind games. It'll help those apps if you have any, but SimCity... I'd seriously doubt it.

You do need a slope mod to make a nice smooth gradient. But the other thing you need: Bridge Height Mod With that mod, the game does not draw the ramps for you. Well... if one end of the bridge is significantly lower than the other, then it still must, but it only does so at the lower end, not both. But if you build your own embankments/ramps using a combination of tools e.g. smoncrie's hole-diggers, a slope mod, and various other tools, the bridge height mod will reward you with a nice level bridge. You could do without the ramps completely but chances are good it won't be high enough for ferries, so the ramps are still essential (and anyway, most bridges have at least some ramp), but at least this mod allows you to build the ramps, instead of the game's default death-drops. I have found sometimes it is necessary to build the bridge, then destroy it to correct the embankment height at the lower end, then draw it again. On the second pass, the bridge is perfect because the embankments are exactly the same height on both ends. That's the trick with this mod - when you draw the bridge, the higher end does not move the terrain at all (except to flatten it, if it's not already flat). The terrain at the lower end gets "lifted" giving you a reference height for smoothing the rest of that end.

Always read the readme files with the downloads. Having said that... as a rule (even in the rare case there is no readme) almost all plugins should go in your My Documents\...\Plugins folder (and possibly subfolders thereof), unless the readme says otherwise. It's very rare anything must go in the main folder. To give you an idea I have over 2000 files in My Documents\...Plugins, but only 7 in the game's main Plugins folder (in-game background pictures, plus 2 files which I know don't actually have to be there).

Neither, as far as the IHT goes. But you must realize that all jobs require a majority of low- and middle-class sims. Even CO$$$, which employs the most R$$$, is only 15% R$$$ ... the rest is all R$ and mostly R$$ (65%). IHT is only 10% R$$$, 80% R$$ and 10% R$. You should probably consider building a neighboring suburb (or 2... or 3... ), and tax the rich out of it, to build up a good supply of working-class meat. The R$$$ will enjoy living close to work so let them stay there (unless you're seriously overwhelmed - in which case, plow a few condos and put in some plazas & parks), the others merrily tolerate a longer commute.

This is a shot in the dark, and I cannot imagine how or why it could possibly work ... but if lying in front of a bulldozer stops it from demolishing your house, then anything's worth trying. Have you tried importing it into a new tile (in a new region)? If for some alternate-reality reason that works, you could then import it back to your existing region (back it up first, of course). Like I said, I cannot imagine why that would work, but I've seen stranger things, so I've learned to try even absurd solutions when I must.

I've actually started using a hybrid of these ideas, and it works wonders. I sort my downloads by function e.g. bus stop, farm, game-mod (e.g. NAM etc), and so on. The individual files, when I save them I prefix the filename itself with (<creatorname&gt - just in case the filename itself didn't include it. e.g. "(someone)amazing_new_thing.zip". This way, I can quickly find a new "thing" based on what I want, and know instantly who made it, if/when I need to know. And I might.... In the plugins folder itself, I pretty much follow N_O_Body's lead - everything is in subfolders named by creator (except any "only one" mods, which are combined in zzzz_ folders - so I can always be sure there's only one e.g. terrain & water mods, train skins, etc). It also helps to keep "my new thing requires my old thing" things together and make sure I have 'em all. "I want to add a new kind of farm"... ok, I go to my downloads and look in the farms folder (or download some new ones to it). At this point I'm not thinking "I want something from <this guy>" I just want a new farm. But when I figure out which one I want e.g. (somebodys)awesome_farm.zip, I also know who to thank for it. "Something is wrong with my new clinic"... I use my downloads folder to quickly figure who made the clinic (it's gotta be in one of those files in my "clinics" folder), and look in the original download file for the readme files that I probably didn't install or deleted. I always read them of course (always, as a rule), but why litter my hard drive with them? They're in the easy-to-find download file if I need them again. And I might, if I overlooked something. Also, when I install a new plugin, I actually use a separate _Untested subfolder for it first (unless it requires being installed in the same folder with something else). Once I'm sure it's a keeper, then I'll move it to a creator-named folder. Otherwise... I know exactly what to delete. Or possibly even tweak if necessary. As an aside, I would recommend at least peaking at transit station stats with SC4Tool - another good reason to keep your new plugins separate from the herd until you're sure about them. e.g. I've found many bus stops (mostly older, I'm guessing before certain exemplars had been "discovered") with wild stats - 100 jobs and consuming 61 units of power. One or the other explains why sims walk in, and only 4 leave on buses. Either they're all working in that very crowded bus stop, or ... electric chair? Phooey... I have self-service electric benches (maybe I need a new landfill too...). Anyway, I tend to pepper my city with bus stops, so.. imagine 50+ of them in a low-density suburb - that's 5000+ jobs sucked away from tax-paying C & I zones. Ouch. But ten seconds of peak & tweak, and it's perfect (p.s. I have zero modding skills - but the SC4Tool is that easy to use). Most other items which I use sparingly, I don't worry much about (for most things the stats are obvious in-game anyway), but as a rule I check every bus stop and subway station I download now because I use so many of them - one bad stat can quickly multiply into a serious imbalance.