IonWind

Things that worry me so far: There's nothing mentioned about transportation networks, except "curvy roads" and "online only" probably means that there is a set of terrains you can play on, i.e. you can't terraform your own terrain. This really sounds bad.

Still being highly sceptical. See the first 20 seconds of SC4 trailer or the SC3k Unlimited intro. Both of the games are nothing like shown in the intros or trailers. Still waiting to see some actual gameplay pics.

A HTML/jQuery based tool for subway maps Bigger letters so you wouldn't miss this ; ) If there is anyone who's into programming/markup and subway maps, you might be interested in this: http://www.kalyani.c...-jquery-plugin/ Basically with HTML markup you can create a subway map that you can of course save and edit afterwards. Once I get my city to such level that it has subways I'll try doing something with this.

Here's my current region, still mostly undeveloped. My plans are to fully develop it though. It's 14x26 km. Clickety-click for a bigger pic.

A long time ago I made this map called Fjällport (also in STEX), based on real life location of Ålesund and Spjelkavik in Norway. After I uploading it to STEX I made some modifications, I raised the mountains and added one big lake in between etc. Then I abandoned it for several months. Recently I dug up the region and started playing on it. Here's a Google Maps styled map of what I've been able to complete so far in the region, or actually at the northern-mid edge of it. Here's also a satellite shot of the same area for comparison: And just for the fun, here's the whole region:

I play with hard, I don't think that the difficulty levels do much difference, though as Tysons4 said, there are less annoying popups and advisors, which is good. The biggest difference is the starting money though; less money means you'll have to plan more carefully. I think there should be also like very hard option which means you'll start on loan, like in SC2k.

My hands on impressions on single player? I haven't got any so far. I start from the beginning: I pre-ordered the game after I had lurked in the CU/CXL forums for a year and a half. I was really, really hyped at some point until PO raised its ugly head and overrun the single player concept. I became more and more worried that the game might finally end up somewhere really far from what I (and as it seems, many other hard-core city builder fanatics) had hoped for. The demo wasn't encouraging but I still preordered though I still wasn't sure if I wanted the game - I wanted to give this game a chance at least. I saw some hope when I read the manual, under the single-player features: "This content is not final. More will be added to during future updates and upgrades." I had time to read the manual since I got the game on Oct. 6th while MC launched the game as they had promised, around Oct. 8th and 9th for everybody - Also for those who had preordered. I somehow got the idea that pre-ordering means that you get the game before those who didn't preorder and you could also pre-play it. But no. So. I still haven't got anything except for the scent of a newly opened game box. When I try to launch the game there's the message from MC that I'll have to download an update. The launcher tries to download but it soon fails. I know the problem might be at my end too but I'd be happy if there would be some more information than just "Download failed." So far the pluses and minuses on the whole gaming experience: + The newly opened game case scent + One promising prhase on the manual - Pre-order didn't equal to pre-play - Download failed Sigh.

alicepleasance: you might have had installed wrong-hand NAM to your SC4. That happened to me once; I somehow managed to install left-hand SC without noticing it and then installed right-hand NAM. If I remember correctly that caused the problem with Sims not using roundabouts (as they would have to travel the roundabout to wrong direction), while everything else seems to work right. Originally posted by: bluemoose My city recently installed roundabouts along a busy stretch of road, and the idiots STOPPED TO LET PEOPLE INTO THE CIRCLEquote> What? People driving in the circle are not supposed to let people into the circle, you wait at the edge until there's a free spot for you in the roundabout. During this decade my hometown has changed at least one trafficlight intersection and almost a dozen of normal intersections to roundabouts and on my opinion the traffic goes so much smoother than with traffic lights or normal intersections. Edit: Okay, so there is difference between roundabout, rotary and traffic circle. In roundabouts all entering traffic yields the traffic in the circle. In some special traffic circles the circling traffic has to yield entering traffic. Thanks Wikipedia!

essential_rob, mind sharing your info on how to change the texture? I am also interested in creating customized pedestrian lots. Also, do you have any idea where the properties like price or bulldoze costs are stored? Also, it might be a bit stupid trick, but I managed to create a own menu for the Ped Malls simply by copying the NetworkAddonMod5.dat. Though I don't know what else I duplicated that way. Edit 01: I mean that might work on some levels, but be sure to backup your things. Edit: 02: Ok, it seems that just copying the .dat is just a bad idea. I gathered some more knowledge on whole modding aspect and now I can say that barely copying the .dat won't do anything good.

Hi, I like the detoriated soviet look on your pictures. You've done some great work there. Is that comm mast a part of the airport or is it a separate lot and is it available anywhere? ; )

Yeah, I have not downloaded it because I have the original copy of the Special Edition that I bought like 13 years ago. I have misplaced the box though. I hope I can find it somewhere.. Maybe OP should have made a poll on this? ; )

Kryptowhite, I guess you're right on that. The buildings will look horrible if you just directly import them. I think it would be appropriate to do some re-working, like increasing complexity and improving textures before importing to SC4. What comes to my endeavour on importing my own models, I see myself at the first step on a stairway to a freaking high mountain top. The whole UI of gmax is so different from ordinary AutoCAD. I spend most of the time looking for the right tools and features that might not even exist. Google Sketchup and gmax shouldn't even be mentioned in same phrase as they are both from totally different universes : P

Hi everybody, I suppose that this is the thread where to ask these questions; How do I change the origin of an object in gmax? I'm totally new to gmax, but I decided to give it a try. I'd like to convert some of my Sketchup creations for SC4. I've been using AutoCAD and Sketchup before.. But first I'd like to get an answer to the above question, please.

Google has some special technique that allows them to create whole cities in 3D (maybe satellite data and street view combined somehow), but users can create structures with more accurate and detailed model. I have made some buildings for Google Earth with sketchup (see the link) and I am interested in converting them to SC4. I guess it wouldn't be too hard to do; I guess the only thing to do is to make the model more complex. I think I'll try this sooner or later, I'll post results here or, in better case, to STEX.

Originally posted by: tSlater To add to the person's earlier complaint with the buildings all being square: Taking into account addons and whatnot, Sim City 4 is more off-the-grid than CXL is. All SC4 buildings are still anchored to a grid, and the roads are limited to whatever FAR pieces are available in the NAM, while CXL offers any angle of roads with options for any angle. However, with all of the CXL buildings being the same shape, all one can really do is take a full grid system and rotate it. In the end, you still have a grid layout.. just not aligned N-S; E-W. Thanks to the NAM's FAR, diagonal overhanging buildings, and these new FAR-oriented buildings, SC4 can create a less-grided look than CXL can. Sure, this could change, but that would still be only one issue amongst many. quote> Amen! Maybe I should just install Simcity 4 once again. I would still be doing the same, no matter if it was CXL or SC4. I would be avoiding the elevated lots with retaining walls, but doing this is way easier in SC4. CXL doesn't give any guides that would be of use on terrain.

As a sidenote to ajee, the CXL consumes actually very little bandwidth. It isn't connected to all relevant players real-time like most of the mmorpg's, it just syncs once in a while with the rest of the world. Ok, so I have been playing the CXL demo for a couple of days and I can say that there there definitely is something missing, I just can't get the grip of it. Demo version isn't the final product but everyone can see the general features that this game will have. What makes me really disappointed is that the game is back at "square" one: if not counting some special buildings, all the buildings are on same-sized, square lots. Simcity 4 was more advanced on this area since the buildings' lots were squares and rectangles of different sizes, even on same-looking buildings. But the most disappointing thing is still the slope-building issue. In Simcity 4 some of the lots conformed to the rolling ground but there's no hope of that in CXL. In CXL the game tries to level the ground for the building, and if that doesn't work then it just adds the retaining walls. The city looks good when looked at the distance but as soon as you zoom closer you'll see all the retaining walls here and there. Also building the rural areas is an issue, at least on the demo. You can't control what kind of buildings will appear on which lot or area. If I want to make a rural area with randomly scattered houses I might get a couple of ruralish houses but then there will be a lots of buildings that look like they belong in the downtown area. If I plop low density I don't expect to have downtown apartment buildings. Speaking of rural areas, the concept of zoning farms also bothers me. I would more like to just zone the farm fields without drawing roads on each side. Having road just on one side should be enough. Those were the most negative things I had in mind for now. To mention something positive, I'll have to say that at least the road-building features are finally what they should be at this time. I just wonder what good is to have grid-free roads if all the buildings are still based on square lots. Also the terrains seem nice, but they are somehow too cartoonish. I also miss some kind of an accurate height map and guide lines. The contours that the game offers are rather useless. The retail version should better give more infrastructure variety and reasonable mass transit. Otherwise the plain plopping of buildings won't entertain for long. So far I have been unable to decide that should I move to CXL or just dig up my SC4/RH discs somewhere.