Bumdark

Don't worry, Duke, the day I touch drugs is the day I want to get a Machete through my skull. I've seen far too many lives, families, get destroyed and torn apart by these horrors to ever want to even "experiment" them. My brothers's up to his eyes yet he doesn't even see it yet, and my Uncle, who I dearly love, and who used to be a respectable man, is now only a shadow of his former self, always committing trivial criminal acts to get his High. (Though when he impersonated my father as he was under arrest, risking to get my Father fired, that was a helluva different story.. Dad wanted to tear him limb from limb... Quite literally.) If I want a high, I'll [insert random fun activity here]. Anyway, enough of that. Curiously enough, that sounds an awful lot like the kind of things you hear about coming from hallucinogenic drugs. quote> Only thiis one is implented in your very brain... Good luck doing that with the real crap on the streets. XD

EA, you fail. Epically. Again.quote> That pretty much summarizes the entire gaming populace's feeling about them, I think... pretty good! As a side-note, what does "put it on steam" mean? Sorry, not familiar with all expressions...

Namesysproblem just confirms what I said (I have reliable sources, I ain't just inventing this), that Airports do not serve Residential populations, but just Commercial. They act as Demand Cap boosters (rather large ones, actually) and allow Commercial to grow to full potential (according to the other available services). They do nothing whatsoever for Residents. This is kinda dumb, but it's how the game works. One of the few flaws, I guess. (And I mean FEW.) Actually, villagemayor's explanation is spot-on. With Airport, your city was able to develop more jobs for itself, thereby eliminating the need for commutes to neighboring cities. Of course, there may be underlying reasons, as I've never heard of a single Airport removing all commutes to other cities...

Building your city on an isolated island? Dude, you've basically just killed it from the get-go. No city in SC4 can fully develop and hope to remain prosperous without even a single connection to neighbors, it just won't work. Plus, if there isn't any land nearby you can build a bridge to, then Seaports and Airports don't work, as they're only for Industrial and Commercial respectively. None of them handle passengers (which is a bit wierd of the game... ah well). I guess your only hope is to try to get some Ferries up and running between your city and neighbors, or you're dead in the water. (No pun intended.) Sorry, that's how the game works.

This is disgusting. How the hell can players with no permanent Internet connection be expected to play this... legally? I presume, if the game itself (not the horrible anti-Piracy junk attached to it) is any good, then people will start pirating it and hacking it at blinding speeds... This only acts as to alienate any remaining EA fans in my opinion. Hell, back in SC4's launch day, EA were still loved and respected... Now they're just about at the bottom of ratings. What happened? I'm definately signing this petition. I can also guarantee, at 100%, that if they don't remove this damning stupidity, then the game will be an even bigger flop than Societies... Which in itself is hard to do. No-one will buy this (except those with superhuman patience), and hopefully this will teach those b@stards a lesson: don't work against your fans. They always win, one day or another.

For laughing at my death while making funny doodles on his clipboard.

You'd be surprised at how often simple questions can get spiralling out of control real fast... Indeed, there's no special trick to connecting Seaports with Roads, I wonder what you might be doing wrong. Just place a Seaport (I assume you're talking about the Seaport that comes with SC4, not any 3rd-Party stuff that I can't help you with) on the coast, and wrap a Road around it as far as it can reach on each side. Then, connect this road to the rest of your network. I don't think Rails or anything other than Roads will work, though, as the Seaport would have needed to have a Train Station for that to work... and it doesn't. Perhaps you could post a pic? Show us exactly what's going on, you know? Just so it's simple, here's a basic pic. L = Land W = Water S = Seaport R = Road LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLRRLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLRRLLLLLLLLLLLL TERRA LL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLRRLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRLLL FIRMA LL LLLLLLLLLLRRRRRR ROADS RRRRRRLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLRRSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSRRLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLRRSSSS THIS SSSSSRRLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLLLLLL WWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSS IS SSSSSSWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSWWWW THIS WWWW WWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSS THE SSSSSWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSWWWWW IS WWWWW WWWWWWWWWWWWSSS SEAPORT SSSWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSWWWWW THE WWWW WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WATER WWW WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW ... Looks confusing? I know, can't help it. Sorry... Hope this helps.

Welcome to ST, Aladdinhn! Very odd problem you have there. When your city seemed blank in Region View, have you since tried entering the city? You see, it often occurs that the "image" (or preview) in the Region View gets corrupt, yet the city itself is fine. This happened to me a few days ago, in fact, and the city was fine, and the image was recreated soon after. I hope you still keep a backup of your city's last save, before it got "wiped out", so you can restore it? Try to place the backup of your city again, see if it's still the same results. If it is, it might be glitches brought upon by Plugins, or Mods. A lot of bugs in this game, as you just found out. Also, if possible, could you place a pic or two? This would be greatly helpful. Hope this helps.

Yo Mamma's so fat, when her pager goes off people run away 'cause they think she's backing up! Classic.

I assume you made the all-too-common mistake of heading to said folder, in My Documents? The Radio folder is in [C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4]. That's where you'll find both folders for the Mayor Mode, and Region Mode. Enjoy! (MP3's only, no WAV's.)

I've watched a Discovery Channel show that featured a woman with Synesthesia. She had a very heavy form of the disorder (though why do we call it "Disorder" if it really embelleshes life...?) where all, absolutely all, of her senses were completely fused together. To a point, where when she was a young girl, she could sometimes not differenciate sounds from tastes or colors. That ought to have been freaky... But now, she's able to do so like anyone else, and she says she's actually able to literally see music, as multicolored, flying ribbons in the air that change colors according to the notes and pitch and overall mood of the song played. I sure wish I had that... Life would sure as hell be less mundane around my place... You're lucky, Boggy... though, to restate a previous question, does Synesthesia actually have any real downsides or handicaps?

Hi, tristam. Unfortunately, though I've seen this precise problem arrise often in these Forums, I've never known the solution, or the cause, so maybe you could help us out. Check for one of those "white" areas in your cities, then enter the city itself and check out the zone that appears white in the Region View. Post a pic of it so we can see any anomalies or oddities that might cause it. Of course, if it's not that, than it could be just about anything... From faulty computer (tough luck) to compatibility issues with Plugins... etc. Hope this helps.

I'm really a bit of an impatient player, always wanting results quickly, so I always Pause the game whenever I build or modify my cities in any way (adding Services, Zoning, remoddeling the terrain, etc.). Then I let 'er rip on Top Speed (what's the animal equivalent already?).

Glad to have been able to help. (Though, of course, if you want your closest-zoom pics to be as clear as precise as the other zooms, then it is indeed your Graphics Card that's either too old or not good enough (though that's synonymous these days...). It does look a heck of a lot better with the "Texture Quality" fixed, though. Enjoy!

*Violently slaps northsider1983* NEVER say that! There's always hope... oh, who are we kidding...? I guess you're just part of the roughly 20% of CTD's that aren't caused by RAM-related stuff. Use the division method to see if it's any of your Plugins that are causing trouble (if you don't know what the "Division Method" is, reply so I can explain), check your settings, Rollback on your drivers... etc. Could be just about absolutely anything in that piece of complex crap we call a PC. Sorry...

First of all, good for you, becoming a fellow SimTropolian, TheMachine66! Blimey, people are joining at blinding speed these days... Unfortunately, I'm sorry, but I don't really understand exactly what you mean. Do you mean Residential zones that are 1x1? Or, a lone patch of Residential zones? Please provide a pic (use "Print Screen" on your keyboard, resize it to 800x600 or under, host it with ImageShack, blah blah blah...) so we can see better what you mean. However, there are many general guidelines as to why particular zones won't develop. Check this list: 1 - Is said zone powered? NOTHING whatsoever builds without electricity. This isn't Laura Ingalls' time... people don't really like living by the candle. 2 - Is there demand for the zone's type? Low demand, or negative demand, will ensure nothing ever builds until the demand rises again. Can't build houses if no-one wants to come, right? 3 - Is the zone connected to the rest of the city? It must have jobs, Road connections, etc. 4 - Is it desirable enough? Even with insane demand and all the services, if an area is undesirable, no-one will even think about building there. Check your Desirability Data View. The greener, the better / the redder, the badder. (Hey, it rhymes!) If after all this it still won't develop... Cry. I would. Means your game is damaged and not working properly... Hope this helps. Waiting for that pic!

Steal someone's SC4 play disc, and watch them moan and suck their thumb as they can't play the game.

I'm sorry, but the pic is really too small to be able to discern anything in particular. Instead, press "Print Screen" (button on keyboard), then use either Photobucket.com or Imageshack.us to host it on this forum, in 800x600 or less. This way, we'll be able to see more detail. It does look like you're in Navigation View, though. You're sure you're on Satellite View? (Region View Options > Satellite View / Transportation View). Just in case. Hope this helps.

Hiring Jack Thompson to counsel your kids on which games to play. Who else hates him with an intense passion like I do? He even tried to ban GTA IV, the slimy old scumbag... Right, right, not a hate thread... Back to cruel pranks!

Check on the "General Discussion" page, there's a Sticky at the top of the heap with just that information. I can guarantee it works well. Hope this helps.

Hmm... Difficult indeed... I guess in the end, there are two ways of looking at this. If I were to look at these results and this report in a humane, compassionate, moral way (in other words, as a HUMAN), I would disagree, and try to save averyone, possibly on a first-come first-served basis. Yet, if I were to look at this with cold, calculating eyes, shutting out emotion and caring, just looking at the rate of survival, then I would completely agree... It's sort of some strange, diabolical Natural Selection if you wish... leave out the sick and injured, and the fittest, strongest and youngest can grow and live later to try and repopulate the Earth. In the end, this dilemna is only moral... As any person just caring about facts and numbers would agree heartily with this list. I have to say, I do.

Interesting problem, Homer... Could you show a pic of your screen? Though, preferably using a camera or something, not "Print Screen", as that prints the screen displayed and not actually what's on the monitor... kinda sucks in that way. It might help us find what's wrong. It could be your monitor's settings. Check to see the alignment. (Don't LCD monitors have some sort of "Auto-Adjust" feature? Pretty damn handy...) Seeing as SC4 only supports some of the most general and basic resolutions, your Monitor's not covered, which could explain the disalignment. Try using this method to get it to run on a custom resolution: 1 - Head to your Desktop's shortcut (SimCity 4), Right-Click and head to Properties. 2 - In the window, find the "Target" field with the path leading to the original SC4 launch application (usually "C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" or similar). 3 - At the end of said field, add a space AFTER THE QUOTES (this is vital, or you'll cripple the application until the mistake is rectified), and add the following (this has been customized for your personal 1600x1050 resolution; anyone can use this and replace said Resolution with their own when SC4 doesn't support it): "C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" -CustomResolution:enabled -r1600x1050 What is in BOLD is what you must add, outside the quotes. Save the settings ("Apply", what else?) and then the game should run on your screen well. Lemme know if that fixed it, will you? See you soon!

WAIT! I hadn't realized you were talking about the closest zoom level... Stupid of me, sorry for the oversight. In this case, it's your Graphics Card that's not up to scratch for whatever reason, it's the only cause for this. I imagine all other zoom levels are fine? Then that confirms it. I have this too, which is why I don't use this zoom level at all. Now you've sent me another PM, so I'll read it now... *scarpers*

Holy heck, never had I dreamed to get this sort of recognition... it does feel good, I must add. To be able to spew my knowledge and help around... artoxb: Then either your Plugins are abnormally large, either your cities are monsters with more residents than normally possible, or something's really hogging up all your PC's resources. Check to see if any programs or background tasks are using more than their fair share of RAM and CPU. I know Antiviruses, while essential, are quite resource-hungry. Always best to kill your Internet connection and deactivate any Anitviruses while running the game, as they're known to cause many crashes for SC4, as said in the installation manual. Of course, it may be that you're in that 20% of CTD's that have yet to be explained... In which case I can't really help. Too bad... Hope it works out. doodlea21: Thanks! (Though, to be frank – honesty is one of my most important ethical rules – I actually pieced most of this article together from stuff and info in the Omnibus itself... Just to sort of summarize it all, and provide people who aren't willing or able for whatever reason, to peruse this and see the quick results, for themselves. Putting this in the Omnibus would be rather cheapskate, as it's just a collection of already-present articles, plus 20% original findings... eh.) Namesys: Glad to see it (you) fixed the problems you were experiencing... Though I've yet to experience that "6 times better than before" amelioration in my own game... *pouts* "The best"... hell, there are others who know a heck of a lot more than I do, I assure you. I guess they just keep to themselves... But definately thanks! Big Vine: Indeed, I've read it time and time again, yet somehow I still fail to wrap my head around the concept they're trying to explain... Though that's the problem with Wikipedia – it's written by experts, and sometimes, FOR experts... of which I am NOT! ... Wait, only 512 MB's of RAM? Dear God, how did you even manage to play the game at all!? With 2.5 GBs of RAM, be prepared for it playing like a dream... (Lucky bastard ) Keep those replies flooding in! Always more help to spread around...

Crap, iConstruct, that sounds like a doozy... Like several problems in one. Let's see... 1 - Are you referring to the "Industrial Quadrupler Mod"? If so, this doesn't modify demand or anything, it just increases the jobs-per-building four times. Demand stays the same, yet can easily get altered when more Residents than usual are finding work due to said Mod. This could potentially create inbalance... 2 - You have loads of R$$$ yet negative HT? Wow, that is odd... Perhaps you could try to let the game run a few Simyears, as that seems to "naturally" solve most problems around... if it doesn't, then check everything: Education charts (how high is your EQ?), Desirability citywide for HT (Demand can get tremendous negative effects for an occupant type if the entire city is undesirable), etc. I have no idea really how to tackle this... Were it my own city, I'd either try to see if it rides it out, and if not, Obliterate it. 3 - Having lots of R$$$ with that hated "No Job" zot is probably the most common problem for every single SC4 player. This just occurs when no jobs are available for their ranks (CEO's, etc.). Increase either Industrial or Commercial numbers to fix this. Also, there's a download (not really a mod, just a .dat file) here on the STEX that will limit the development of R$$$ structures and citizens. It's not bad at all as it sounds: it raises the required desirability criteria for R$$$, so it'll limit their numbers a bit, and you'll only get R$$$ when you have enough jobs. I have it and it works wonders. (Although now, it's my R$$ that are suffering... damn it all!) That's really all I can do to help... Hope it does, anyway.