Sorry if I may be putting this in the wrong place but here goes ..... Since there is a tremendous wealth of information on this site, is it possible to have one main category listed just for Tutorials & Troubleshooters with sub-categories listing the different tools? Then we don't have to search through all the foum stuff to find the one we need. It would not need any "reply areas" just tutorials from the basic information to run the game to the ultimate tweaks and an orderly design of information or a flow chart of what to look for if something goes haywire. It would also help if there was a tutorial showing where the files and programs need to be located in relation to our computer's directories - i.e. Gmax, BAT, LE, Modds, etc. For example: The Gmax link at Maxis is all wrong, I finally found it here (thank you). I have learned that Gmax insists on being located on my "C:/" directory (hard drive) as a "stand alone program", not in my normal "C:/ProgramFiles" folder. Which caused a mess when I loaded it in the wrong place and it scattered files throughout my directory. This type of program behavior can cause many peeps to have game issues. If you could simply add basic instruction of the directives where we are supposed to load the "Programs, Modds, etc" it would be very helpful. Remember, a lot of us are newbies to this stuff and we tend to wander our way through this stuff ... I catch myself going way over someone's head when explaining engine problems that are basic to me but mumbo jumbo to them! They just want to put the key in it and drive just like some of us want to load the good SC stuff and play. Right now I am in a state of mass confusion over what to load? I know some of the tutorials list the "links" but that still doesn't explain exactly where it goes in my program file directory and in what order am I supposed to load these items? Maxis crapsite is not exactly the most explanatory place to visit, it certainly has some issues. And you can forget about getting a reply if you have techy issues. Been there, done that, got a t-shirt that reads "ignored" - LOL! What basic stuff do I need to make the Gmax work correctly? Do I need the Data Gen or the Reader stuff? Do I need both? NAM what? Update and plug into what? When? Where do they go? I apparently put them in the wrong directory and it was a small disaster. Even put some of the zip files in a sub file of My Documents and it still unzipped and loaded some stuff in them, not in the Files where it should have - some of these tweaks don't give any options, they just unzip and "viola!" show up in the strangest of places .... like the "exe" of the NAM stayed in My Documents sub file and the rest went to the secondary Sims City 4 file that was automatically put in My Documents Folder when I loaded the game. Why? Now do you understand the newbie confusion over downloading all this neat stuff? If we can check to make sure items loaded where they were supposed to go and all the correct items are in the correct places, we might be able to play without so many crashes or lost information. Thanks!
