Propfam

Hello, Yesterday, I've tried an internet cafe near me. Every PC has Steam client and the USB can be plugged. In my knowledge, Steam games can be made offline and their offline data is available. I'll leave that later. Which game should I buy up to around $20, Cities: Skylines or SimCity 4? I've missed the promo few days ago. Are there any another giveaways/promos on them? Also, if I made the game offline, can I copy the files to my USB drive? So, I don't have to download the game again, only the validation. No, I'm not supporting any kind of gray/black distribution of the game. It's only for personal use and for 1 PC (though is moving). Thanks.

OK, there's a sale on Steam. It applies to almost all games, except SC4. In my country, it easier to find Steam Wallet rather than GoG Wallet. What the game should I buy? Mine has 4 gigs, rather than 8 gigs of RAM.

Hello, My laptop has Intel HD 3000 and I have $8 on my school saving. I want to buy $5 Steam Wallet. There are discounts on Steam. Should I buy Cities: Skylines (around $5) or SC4 (almost same price)? Thanks.

Looks like a sandbox C:S predecessor. Both are 3D and allows flexible terraforming. They can build networks easily etc. Good job, @catty-cb. Thanks.

Hello, If you search "cities skylines" on YouTube, Twitch or similar, you'll get tons of new videos regarding to the game. In the other hand, "SimCity 4" only results a few new videos, mostly created by @Haljackey. Similarly, if search "cities skylines" on comments on videos about city simulators, you'll get tons of results. Otherwise, there are few people commenting about SC4. I agree that C:S is the best city builders yet, but C:S isn't perfect. First, C:S can only runs properly on computers with dedicated graphics. We can't deny that most people will choose ultrabooks (or similar) instead of bulky gaming laptops and unfortunately, they mostly only have an Intel HD/UHD or low-end Nvidia MX series (Vega not counted due to its new appearance). That's because ultrabooks gives the user portability, long battery live, good screen, good keyboard, fast storage (for higher end ones) and while this is overlooked, some people don't need gaming design and its related element (RGBs etc). While some ultrabooks have some sort of dedicated graphics, they usually can only be found on 15" or wider models. And we can't ignore laws of physics, slim & light laptops often suffer the so-called "thermal throttling", meaning the performance will drop to some level, even lower than the base performance. Yes, we could build a PC, but we also can't deny the fact that RAM & GPU prices ($1 roughly Rp14,000) only recently relieved due to the crypto craze. Second, C:S suffer some limitations, especially when the city size is too big to handle by the game. For example, some services don't work when the city size is about 300K due to the agent limitation. Third, with all DLCs bought, you will shell out more than $50 in normal circumstances. That's not cheap plus the PC build/laptop you need. So, we need to do something with the SimCity 4 ecosystem. There are lots of problems regarding the ecosystem. First, there are some modding limitations due to its old engine, for instance you can't add new menu structures (not items) by using .dat. You need to use (still not completely uncovered) .dlls and it requires some coding and of course, some legal issues. Second, its limitation making hard for mods to be user-friendly, including the NAM. For instance, in the ideal game you can make 6-lane avenue by just selecting that network and drag as you expect. But in reality, you need to place the "starter piece" of that "network" (technically pseudo-network) and drag it using roads. That's confuses new players who tried to make 6-lane avenue and even expert ones. Third, there are too many mods that again, confuses everyone. For instance, if you want a census building then you need to install RippleJet's (RJ) Census Repository and then you need to install 4 (as I know) dependencies and it's time consuming. And, this is the final example, the well-known CAM Starter Pack. "Experts" gives instructions that the Starter Pack should be installed by the new players, in reality that's not true. Then, the players needs to download dependencies that in total approximately over than 250 MB. And then, the players get punished due to the necessity to install all of the dependencies and configure them. Next, the players need to download other mods as well, according to most recommendations, its over 500 MB again (in reality, it's just needing 13 other mods at 380 MB including NAM and the RJ's Census Repo + deps) and the mods need to be installed and set up if any. And finally, the players will be get a working SimCity 4. This is giving us how broken the ecosystem. If you have opinions and responses for the problem, feel free to send replies below. Sorry for my bad grammar and spelling due to I'm not native English speaker. Thanks! -Zaydan Naufal

Hello, I want to buy laptops in the future. Why not desktops? That's because large power consumption, not too compact, not portable (I think mobility is a good thing) and the screen still need to purchase (I don't have modern PC parts yet). The maximum budget will be around IDR 20,000,000 or $1,500. What the best new or second-hand laptops in Indonesia with good display, good GPU (dedicated ones are must for video editing and gaming), supports external GPU (have Thunderbolt 2 or 3 ports), light (it can be thick though), not too loud (but not thermal throttling) reliable and durable? Is the 2014 15" MacBook Pro worth it? Or, should I buy the 2016 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar? Or, should I buy the Asus N56VB? Thanks.

What I mean the so-called "experts" (in quotes) in the CAM Starter Pack case are players who aren't true expert at all on SC4. They just playing for few months/years and recommending the outdated mod at Reddit etc. Worst, some of them uploading some torrents containing badly-structured Plugins folder. True experts should know/have some desire to install mods carefully, not just throwing mods without reading readmes, researching the practicability etc. And, active true experts should be up-to-date with the current situations. Second, your opinions on the multi-tile setups is true, but I want to send my criticisms. Although dragging multi-tiles pieces isn't difficult, there are difficulties when to do some modifications, including bending. For example, when you curve the NAM-provided avenue, you need to do so with some videos provided by the NAM Team. If the networks can be made like the game-provided Avenue, it will be easier to curve the network etc. And, there's no easy-to-access tutorial regarding the NAM, especially on the new ones. The new NAM documentation is very lacking of content, compared to the deprecated PDF ones. For instance, you'll see "Coming soon" (or similar) pages on some of the links on the docs. Sorry for my words. Thanks.

Although I never been organized my plugin as tidy as possible, I don't like way plugins put .txt, .html, .jpg etc to the their main folder (e.g. Pegasus puts his "products" info to the same folder as the plugins). So, I use my custom Cleanitol files to clean up the Plugins folder from .txt, .html etc. I would like to organize exchanges starting with STEX and LEX but I need some works to my laptop hardware and software. In the end, the implementation of so-called "Modpacc" will be easier. Thanks.

Sorry for making duplicate topic. I've posted a reply on my previous topic but no responds I've get. Hello, In the future, I will probably switch to a new laptop. That's because my current laptop doesn't have enough performance to, for instance complex design works. While my laptop can be upgraded, I'll be using it for a while until I give it to others. This is the moment that's make me confused. After searching second-hand laptops online within $350-$1070 + tax and near with my location on Kaskus FJB (a local listing/classifieds site), I found gaming laptops (from HP ones to Asus ROGs; $500-$900) a touch-equipped HP ENVY Notebook 15 AE126tx ($650) a 2016 XPS 12 ($650) a Lenovo Ideapad 710S an old HP Pavilion an HP ProBook 440 an Acer E15 some ThinkPads ranging from T440ps some Dell Latitudes tons of MacBooks (even dominates the listing pages) other cheap laptops I want a laptop to be powerful for light to medium tasks, mobile (light and long battery live), good keyboard, good trackpad, good amount of IOs, good screen, reliable and durable. I want to mention my need: graphic design and light gaming. Some of laptops that qualify that criteria are old MacBook Pros (2015 and lower) and XPS 13 and 15. But for the latter, I can't find it (for now) on the listing site. So, my choice for now is the MBPs. But, I get some info that MBPs are prone to be broken (check out Louis Rossmann on YouTube), especially the new ones. Is buying MBPs worth it? What are MBPs should I choose? I also heard that the 15-inch 2012 MacBook Pro is the best-for-the-buck MacBook Pro due to its port varieties and comparable performance to the Retina ones. Thanks.

I would like to reorganize all SimCity 4 exchanges but now, it's not prime time. I need to do something with my laptop, both software and hardware. Also, we don't know what we're focusing on: open source SC4, C:S or refining the SC4 ecosystem. But, I have ideas to the reorganization: Plugins should be easier to install and easy to configure. NAM should be reorganized, reducing size and more simple. Plugins should not clutter the menu. This needs some techniques. Thanks.

OK, I want a setup that's enough for graphic design, non-triple-A gaming (SC4, C:S, Dota, Rocket League etc) and a room for heavier loads (e.g. 3D rendering, video editing etc). Here's my desktop criteria: Fast for heavy loads Reliable & durable Expandable (compatible with long graphics cards) Compact (mini-ITX sized) if possible Low power (around 100-200W) How about monitors? I will be using some kind of local PC streaming on my laptop. Here's my laptop criteria: Fast enough for light and medium loads Reliable & durable Expandable if possible Not over 15" and color accurate Light and not-too-loud noise (some noise is fine if they can prevent thermal throttling) Fast storage and long battery live So, after some searching on Google. I found tons of mid-2012 MacBook Pro in either 13" or 15". While gaming laptops are great, I need some color accuracy, compactness, long battery live and lightness. What should my PC looks like? Should I move on from my 2nd-gen Core i5, no dedicated GPU and 4 GB of RAM-laptop to better ones? Should I start building using non-powerful builtups? My budget is around Rp10,000,000 or $720. Thanks.

But, I don't like 17" and up, I want 13" or 15" screen. The sweet spot will be 15" because it can host powerful components while can be carried using normal bags. Thanks.

Hello, The 2018 Asian Games is a big sport event. Beside from traditional sports, eSports are available. The games including Arena of Valor, the latest version of PES, League of Legends etc. But, why there's no city sim (C:S and SC4) have been picked on any eSport events? It's cool to compete with other real-life nations, for instance, to create a beautiful yet functional imaginary cities or replicate real-world cities. I know that this question somewhat childish, but I'm still curious answering that. Thanks.

In my knowledge, there are some restrictions related to plugin loading in the Mac version (specifically Asypr-built). For instance, the game loads .so files instead of .dlls and can't load plugin when the folders and files count reaches respective certain numbers (maybe around 10,000 files). The workaround for the loading problem is to Datpack all plugins using JDatPacker. However, it's making updates (especially NAM) difficult to install. So, the method isn't recommended for the Windows version which doesn't have problems with plugin loading. For the loading error in datpacked plugins, I'll leave it to the experts. I hope this can help you. Thanks.

Cities: Skylines Pros: flexible networking, lots of quality mods, good DLCs Cons: traffic issues (especially if the city is car-based, fortunately, I'll build mass-transit-based cities), high priced, doesn't support Intel HD (though, I can play it on my favorite internet cafe, as long as the offline files can be copied to flash drive). SimCity 4 Pros: reliable when the population is very high, nostalgia, lots of mods, low priced, support Intel HD Cons: hard to install mods (the idea of the future mod distribution is basically dead), few of game-changing mods, no DLCs Because my playing style is based on flexibility and completeness, I will choose C:S instead of SC4. But a problem remains, high priced. I can only buy the Starter Bundle right now, and my money is somewhat less than the bundle (around $18). I'm not talking about gray/black ways to get it. Thanks.

This is what I don't like about SimCity 4. It's difficult to install mods, especially those with dozen of dependencies. C:S in other hand uses subscription system to manage plugins. This is the system I like. You can just subscribe to a plugin to install it and the system updates the plugins automatically. The author sends small and frequent updates to the mod. The author also works on one project branch. However, the mod also have "Development" (dev) branch to bring new features and test them to contributors, test bots and testers before releasing them to the "Public" (stable) branch one by one (not collective). We might drop the version number in favor to recently updated date. This results features being delivered quickly to players, while keeping the features stable. Regardless of my approach, we should repack all mods wisely to be easy to install, easy to maintain and reliable from creators and players side. Thanks.

When there's sale again (ofc on Steam)? Other seasonal sale? Thanks.

I have not buying Steam games yet. So, advice is helpful. I like c:s because it's flexible, modern, fun and simple. Thanks for info.

I have been used the DAMN for a while, it's due to I'm installing the well-built but complex KOSC Superparking sets. The author is offering the DAMN files for them to manage their complex nature. Installing DAMN isn't difficult but the managing it is difficult. You need to download the DAMN and the Manager. After that, make sure your game shortcut's "Start in:" field is filled to your installation directory, default (assuming 64-bit OS) to C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4. Then, open DAMN Manager then add, modify or remove some directions and respective lots. After that, click on Apply changes (cmiiw) and click Extra>Reindex (cmiiw*). This process is quite complex if I have large amount of plugins. Make sure to organize as soon as possible but not too soon (for instance in the first day of gameplay). Thanks. *Correct me if I wrong.

Thanks. But for now, I will waiting another masters to give their opinions and solutions.

OK, let's talk about SC4. Where is the place I can learn to use the NAM, especially with their quirky behavior (IMHO)? Can the NAM match the flexibility of C:S network? Thanks.

Personally, I want C:S but my money doesn't allow that and some DLCs (I think C:S isn't fun without them). So, the cafe I chose is gaming-oriented, as you can see in the Review section of the place on Google Maps. Yesterday, I chose PC #14 and that PC is using GTX 1050. The internet is way faster than my internet, around 4 Mbps. It should be enough to download C:S for 2 or 3 hours and play it. While I didn't test the PC using a Blender demo due to the time limit, rendering the default cube along some adjustment with lighting with Blender Cycles is smoother than my PC. I hope this can clarify. Thanks.

Hello, The STEX Collections isn't updated since 2013 and ironically, the staff still giving 3 of them (Vol 5 to 3) for respective donators. So, I want to replace the old system to the new one. This will be a place on the site special for donators. Here, the donator can download the staff-picked files along with the extensive docs. Of course, the access will be still limited by the donation amount. In addition of that, the mod curation will be active again, so you can expect new files to be available on the place. How about the staff-picked Omnibus articles and CJs? Again, those stuff will be available on that place. For those who asking, "How I access the collection?", well it's easy. You can just hover/enter the respective section (ST Exchange, Omnibus or City Journals) and click Collections. How about old things? Sorry, but I can't give them just for the donators. Instead, the old things will be curated and can be easily again by accessing the Collections. And, you can just slide the timeline for old files. Critics and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Hello, I want to buy Cities: Skylines. So, I want to ask, which EP should I buy up to $16? Is the New Player bundle plus Mass Transit worther than that bundle plus Green Cities? Or, should I buy sc4? @Avanya @Terring, can you help me?