RisKFactoR

Oh, that is sooo, cool! Gives me so many options to work with now. I'll have to get that SAM. And knowing that I can create signs in photoshop and import them onto my buildings is also very good to know. So with SC-4, the otpions are a t more limitles than I have ever known. Been playing this game off and on since 2003 or 04... good 4 or 5 years, and have missed all of these things this entire time? lol thats kind of sad.... Wow, I m actually getting pretty excited in starting on this project.

So, what are the system spec so far. Would you have an idea of what they should be in the future? Just curious, because, I, for one, would love to play his game ASAP, but I don;t know if I would have the proper hardware. to do so.

Thanks for the advice! I already have 1 question I am going to ask in that new thread you had mentioned to create: I'll actually ask it here before I forget. In the second pic of the first building, the "Shamrock" sign can be seen. Is there a way to create a unique sign like that? I know I have seen IKEA, Burger King, Nissan, and other such real signs in other building designs. Is that put in there using a combination of photoshop and BAT? Or can those signs be created right in BAT itself. I have often wondered this. I am beginning to collect potentially useful guides for these projects by copying and pasting them into Word, and saving them in a directory on my PC. I will also be looking for a way to create red-brick roads and streets as well. As you can see in the far-away photo of the second building, the street just in front of it has the old red brick style road. They have since paved over it IRL though.... :'( Just something else that could add more character. And thanks for the feedback, and all the early support! I'll try to pick this thing up as quickly as possible building small homes first, so that I can then begin construction on the the REAL buildings.

Camlon, I did notice you were being attacked quite a bit, which is the reason why I kind of took your side, but with a different approach. Since there is a representative from Monte Cristo here, there is one thing I would like to emphasize: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try not to over-use the whole "cliffs" thing in CXL!! I am not one to use caps, but if there is one HUGE thing that would be a dissapointment with the new game, is if the game did not take care of this problem in SC4. Dunno how difficult or how far you take the programming and still make buildings on hills look natural, but I would REALLY appreciate it if those cliffs did not appear, except maybe in the most extreme circumstances. This was never that much of an issue with me, until one time, when I tried to make this one peice of land the centerpiece of my favorite city I have ever created. I had a VERY well-planned symmetrical park system, with a City Hallas the backdrop. I also used the Washington Monument a fair distance away. But the city had this perfect symmetry to is, with 2 main roads that crisscrossed eachother at the very center. Well, it WOULD have been perfectly symmetrical if not for the small little inconsistant "mini-cliffs" along the main avenue. What I mean is that I had this long, narrow park thing, with a bunch of internatioanl flags, on both sides of the avenue (was VERY cool looking). At the beginning of the avenue, on the northern side, instead of having a nice gentle little slope, or just automaticall match the terrain when I ploppped it, the plaza was slightly higher, with a harsh looking wall, then along the avenue, the park "sank" below the park, with the same harsh looking wall, only with the wall being street-side. The other plaza-strip was exactly opposite of the alternating too-high, to too-low. I tried everything short of completely demoloshing the growable skyscrapers near-by to get it to work. I even turned cheat mode on to replace the incredible fortune in landscaping I was attempting. I ultimately failed at the whole landscaping thing, and instead, just kept getting worse. I now have to put up with it. Now, I still like having a huge concrete foundation for houses built on the side of an extreme hill, where, on the lower side of the house, theres this large wall, and on the higher side of the house is just a normal foundation. THAT is actually VERY realistic. I would also hate to see sim-kids falling off these really huge cliffs at the local playground, they may fall and bust their heads open like a watermelon at a Gallagher show.... So, in short, I would like to see the terrain automatically adjust itself with the placement of ploppables on slight rise and falls of the landscape. Maybe even make it a bit more expensive toplace that ploppable in certain locations, since IRL, they have to have a contruction crew to "smooth" out the land before building anything, from ballfields to skyscrapers.

You mean like houses or something? I'll take a look at the ting come monday or tuesday, and if it is too overwhelming, I will start out with a normal house.

Originally posted by: Camlon RisKFactoR: You probably missed the picture of NYC, which showed streets twice as small, not larger than Cities XL. That really shows how baseless your arguments is. quote> uummm...have you ever been to NYC? They have streets that are wider than football fields. I can dig up aerial photographs, and photoshop measurements compared to near-by buildings, and do the same with CXL to prove the point. But anyway, I have no desire to argue anyway. I merely thought this thread was quite interesting. Of course Sim City has to move beyond 2d, and into 3d. It is how we push our technology to greater and greater heights. We would never have been able to land a man on the moon in the 60s, or invent computers to begin with, if not for the push of newer and better technologies. But I digress. I was merely stating the main reason why I think SC4 is unrealistic, which is the prolific use of cliffs at the base of buildings built on hills. Even if there is slight rise in elevation....like a normal hill along a road, all the buildings have these weird....I dunno what you would call them. Only time I have seen these things, is over in South Willimsport, where houses are built directly onto the side of the mountian, they have, on the steeper side, the foundation made of this huge concrete wall, and the higher side is just built like a regular house. That is to keep the house level. I can understand the game implementing that on the most extreme hilla. But not on the slightest little rise in elevation for every single building. So my point was missed. And the word "contingent" in that context: He was asking if your life is "dependant" on seeking the next 2d city simulator. In this context, the word "contingent," and "dependant" are interchangeable. He was implying that your too obsessed with details in a video game, and rather than trying out new things, your only willing to stick with the old, and with what you know. MY concerns for CXL are: The lack of computing power in my PC to be able to run the thing. The ONLY reason why they should have created another 2d simulator, instead of heading in the 3d environment, is: If they plan on mass-marketing a new city game, not everyone is going to go out and buy CXL right away, simply because the hardware they have would not be able to support, such as myself. I am trying to squeeze another 2 - 3 years out of my PC before I upgrade even a single piece of my hardware. I may buy an extra SDDRAM stick, but that's about it. When I DO go out to upgrade, I may buy the thing then. But only if the majority of the reviews give the game a VERY high score. Like a 9 out of 10. But for now, I am satisfied with SC 4, like I have previously said. But not for the reasons that you have proposed.

I thought this topic was kind of interesting. Here are my two cents that noone seemed to say anything about: 1. In SC4, one thing that has eternally vexed me is when your zoning on a hill, plop a park in the middle of the block on that hill (like a playground), and you have a road right next to the playground, the game produces this "cliff" right at the edge of the playground. Actually, you don;t even need a road to see these "cliffs" and they happen everywhere on a city built on a hill. My opinion is that SC4 cannot handle hilly cities very well, which is a shame, since my hometown is nesteled right in between 2 3,500 foot mountains in the Appelatians. Those cliffs bother the hell out of me! They are HARDLY realistic, IMHO. I keep thinking about who is watching those kids from falling over that cliff. LOL I should provide a screeny of a basketball court, where the one hoop is RIGHT UP to the EXACT edge of a cliff that is a good 50 stories high! With no fence of anything! LOL. I should dig that city up, and show the "UN-realistic) graphics of SC4 2. The roads. Again, my hometown has roads that are even WIDER than what is shown in the CXL sreenies. 3rd, 4th, and 5th sts. all are 6 lane roads. NYC is even "worse." They have 6 lanes streets, that add an extra 3 lanes in either direction at certain intersections. The damned things widen out to be TWELVE lanes across. 3 straight lanes in both directions, plus 2 left-hand turning lanes in both direction, and 1 right-hand turning lane in both directions. That would make a good 20+ foot "street" from sidewalk to sidewalk. I just did not find that pic to look odd at all. Now, my concerns for CXL are thus: With the new 3d graphics engine, it will bog computer systems ddown quite a bit. I mean, it would put my computer completely out of commission as it is right now if I tried running the thing. It already struggles with rendering the 2d engine on the largest city I have ever created. And when I first bought SC4 RH, I wanted nothing to do with the game at all. I had to build a brand new computer around thins game in order to play it (my PC came in handy anyway at that level.) I would like to get at least another 2 - 3 years out of my machine before i have to upgrade again (it is currently 4 years old....The motherboard is, my memory sticks, and vid card I have upgraded 2 years ago). The point is, I would be afraid the specs would be so far out of my league. I would never be able to afford buying a $600 video card, and possibly the newest motherboard on the market. That would put me up over 2 grand! Even though I would build my own PC, I would be afraid the parts would be THAT expensive. I am guessing the average American (assuming the majority of people are American I suppose) would never be willing to front that kind of money just for a game with the economy performing the way it has for the past 8 years. Of course, the whole specs thing, I am only speculating on whether this is true or not. I know a lot of brand new games REALLY push the "current" technology to the edge, and all the PC manufacturers are then pressured to come out with EVEN BETTER hardware. Anyone can correct me if I am wrong, or way off base on that. My gut feeling just tells me I'll never get my hands on this game simply because of having to pretty much buy a brand new machine in order to run it. Just looking at the graphics, combined with the amount of data....from traffic, to pedestrians, to trains....the moving of people, from commercial, to industrial. In addition to plotting the power/water usage, the taxes from the various levels of wealthy-ness per zone-type....Jeez, I just do not see how they can create a game like that that will NOT be a huge pig! My verdict: I am sticking with SC4 RH, and take the idiotic/annoying "cliffs" over the piggishness that I see CXL having. Besides, I am still satisfied enough with SC 4 anyway. I am just now thinking of using the BAT features, and want to go through with my projects.

I am leaning towards the Park Home myself, for a couple of reasons: 1. It would be THE most unique building that I have ever come across in SC 4...What I mean is, is that it is neither another brown walk-up, nor is it another skyscraper (skyscrapers are usually my favorite buildings to d/l though). 2. I think it might be a bit easier of a building to start out on. The reasons why I would start on the Shamrock first: 1. There seems to be quite a bit of demand for this style archetexture in the community. I also personally have a great interest in this style building myself. 2. I am quite good at figuring out how to use new programs I haven;t really sued before. Couple of years ago, I used to be completely lost at anything I got my hands on. But have gotten a lot more experience since then. THIS would be a challenge, and I have come to LOVE challenges. I think I will start a "Williamsport, PA" collection on this site, if these first two are successful, and popular. I'm thinking of tackling making a map of my hometown as well. I will DEFINITLY need help/guidance/advice when I begin on this project. After I gain experience, and familiarity, I will then go on my own, and try to come up with something all by myself. And possibly begin taking requests. So, what's everyone think?

Originally posted by: mrbisonm Originally posted by: RisKFactoR . .....I would be more than willing to try my hand in BAT once again. But if nobody would be interested in seeing this building come to light, then I probably will not waste my time in making it. quote> Not wasting your time? What do you mean......I thought a BATter BATs for his own pleasure......lol I am pretty sure that this building, once well textured and detailed , should easily find a * Buyer* (Downloader) on the STEX. Give it a try and maybe you will be BATting for your own pleasure....... mrbisonm quote> Heh, sorry, that had kind of a negative connotation to it when I said "waste my time." I did not intend for it to sound like that at all. I just meant I have had a pretty busy schedule for years now. Ya see, I have been in college since 2002, right before I purchased this game - (working on my Master's degree now). I would LOVE to learn to use the BAT (I am usually quite good at figuring out different programs and such) but for some reason, I have had trouble trying to figure out where to START with this. I am sure it would be a great hobby for myself. Especially now that 4 people have given me a positive response! I'll look into the omnibus. looks like there have been TONS of new contents added to this site since the last time I visited here. And the omnibus has certainly grown, and there are much better guides there as well. Ok, you people have convinced me! I will use Phillipbo's BAT essentials tutorial to get my started! Will begin work on this on Monday! But before I do start, I'll put up a poll about which one people would like to see first: That Park Hotel (not the Park Home, it was a hotel...my bad) or the Shamrock...eerrr Weightman (The Shamrock is a restaruant/bar occupying the bottom floor, so locals call it the Shamrock.)

Originally posted by: dudyconstructor Los Angeles is kinda moderate... sometimes tooo much sun sometimes too cold! hot in the summer like 87 to 94 degrees and in the winter 60 to 75 degrees quote> lol sorry, didnt read any of the other posts, had to stop at this one. 60 - 75 degrees is too cold?? lol you obviously have never been in the mid-atlantic or farther north in the winter. it gets COLD. also summers HOT. it only middle of may and it has already been close to 90. humiditiy isnt here yet, but it will come. im from pennsylvania, so im sure SOEMONE here already descirbed the climate for maryland up to maine. all those states are pretty much the same climate. like i said, i havent yet read thru the rest of the thread

Inability to spell is, at least in some cases, related to the above. As for dyslexia or dysgraphia, similar searches for helpful resources will turn up plenty of results - not to mention success stories from such people as Whoopi Goldberg. Though I have never looked into the matter myself, I wouldn't be surprised if most of these resources were free, eliminating any possible counter-argument based on wealth. quote> i myself have severe dyslexia. (in case ya havent noticed, i dont capitalize, that just plain laziness i know, but at least i do use punctuation correctly) the way i overcome my dyslexia is...reading Reading and READING. the more i read the better it seems to be. if i dont read a book for say 3 months then it gets pretty damn bad. my twin brother on the other hand is completely color blind, se he has trouble just seeing the text. but yeah the only thing is, i dont see the point in capitalizing on a public forum. if your a ***** to a game and you go to a forum to ask for help, then you should have the courtesy to at least spell properly and use the right puncuation.