Cyclone Boom

@CaptCity Good catch, I've added it back onto the homepage. Turns out I disabled it intentionally the other day as only 3 files were being listed from a few months ago. You weren't seeing things when noticing it there! Now we've had more of the club files restored thanks to your efforts, the feed is displaying files fully again. There was an issue with IP addresses changing between IPv4 and IPv6 format while signing in, which upset the login security system. Apparently on Linux it favours IPv6 and that may have been causing the issue more often than on Windows. We've implemented a potential fix for this now, so let us know if it works.

I know toss me a bone is a figure of speech, but for fun I took it literally... Here's a zip containing the grayscale .jpg, along with the config.bmp, region.ini (and the above preview image): Boneland (Greyscale Map).zip The key part is to see if you can edit, or use it how you intend to.

Yeah, good news is I've made notable progress on the live Restoration Tracker, and hope to have something to present within the next day or two. The goal is to present what still needs restoring, and what's already been restored. The idea is it'll update in real-time, with a refresh every few minutes or so. Initially it'll be for the STEX only, but then it can be expanded to other site areas like attachments. Then too, it can be developed specifically aimed at recovering previous versions of files (and I know a number of people are concerned about those). What the tracker won't cover is for anything we have no record of whatsoever. As @simmering found, the Internet Archive hadn't saved much if anything from March and April, so it's a bit like the ST Dark Age with missing info. For items in that time period, we can aim to manually restore as possible, but it does seem especially challenging without any record of those. Thankfully the "void" period is only about 6 weeks, so it could've been way worse. Thanks all those who have continued to express interest in volunteering. Once the tracker is live, you'll be invited to take part however you wish to help.

Confirmed completed now. Here's a post with the details (inside the new info topic):

Selected Images Restored from the Internet Archive A little bit of good news. Thankfully the Internet Archive saved 6,607 images which were originally uploaded to ST between June 2024 and March 2026. So I developed a script which slowly downloaded these in batches, then copied them to the monthly subfolders. A preview of one STEX upload as its images were restored: (I created this GIF as a simulation which showed what actually happened in real time. The file is Allianz Arena.) And the terminal output confirming it... And here's a monthly summary of the files which have been restored per month, for each type: .stats-table { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; max-width: 800px; margin: 20px 0; border: 1px solid #e0e0e0; } .stats-table th { background-color: #1f4e78; color: #ffffff; font-weight: 600; padding: 12px 15px; border: 1px solid #173a5a; text-align: right; } .stats-table th:first-child { text-align: left; } .stats-table td { padding: 10px 15px; border: 1px solid #e0e0e0; color: #2c3e50; text-align: right; } .stats-table td:first-child { text-align: left; color: #333333; font-weight: 500; } .stats-table tbody tr:nth-child(even) { background-color: #f8f9fa; } .stats-table tbody tr:nth-child(odd) { background-color: #ffffff; } .stats-table tbody tr:hover { background-color: #f1f4f6; } .stats-table .total-row { background-color: #eaeded !important; font-weight: bold; border-top: 2px solid #bdc3c7; } .stats-table .total-row td { border: 1px solid #bdc3c7; } .stats-table tr[data-year-end="true"] td { border-bottom: 1.5px solid #5a6b7c; } Month Attachments Profile Pics Screens Storage Jun 2024 31 4 23 30 Jul 2024 195 21 62 27 Aug 2024 114 20 551 85 Sep 2024 66 11 127 15 Oct 2024 128 21 93 60 Nov 2024 133 12 89 11 Dec 2024 140 8 75 13 Jan 2025 221 25 86 38 Feb 2025 173 12 155 34 Mar 2025 91 31 105 39 Apr 2025 169 15 155 12 May 2025 140 11 168 8 Jun 2025 155 22 129 29 Jul 2025 96 17 228 15 Aug 2025 275 34 165 14 Sep 2025 107 9 64 24 Oct 2025 109 15 8 51 Nov 2025 132 8 109 9 Dec 2025 132 8 136 7 Jan 2026 229 9 216 12 Feb 2026 87 19 33 3 Mar 2026 7 4 0 28 Apr 2026 0 0 0 0 Total 2,930 336 2,777 564 I'd estimate this is perhaps 10-20% of the images uploaded per month. It's very much a partial restoration than anything close to complete, so it only represents a fraction of what's missing. Of course, we'd certainly much prefer to have these than not. It's worth mentioning, since the Internet Archive cannot physically see stored paths of STEX downloads, none have been added via this method. However, that doesn't mean none are archived. We'll need to use a different method for obtaining any, since it'll be based on the ?do=download URLs as used on STEX file entries. It's quite possible the Wayback Machine can help out in additional ways, so we'll have to see. Homepage features did quite well interestingly (from images in the /storage paths). I'd imagine because the Wayback regularly indexed them from the carousel slider. Thanks to the Internet Archive, plus anyone who ran manual Save Page Now requests during these months. I'm sure that made a big difference here.

Project Updates 02 June 2026: Selected Images Restored from the Internet Archive Further updates will be added here.

A read-only topic to view FAQs, latest information, and key progress updates for the Simtropolis Recovery Project. Quick Links Simtropolis Returns! Initial topic commemorating the return of our beloved home. Calling All Volunteers! Interested in helping out with the project? If so, we invite you to post and join the SRT! Delete My File Message Banner! Have you updated a file and need the banner removing. Post here and we'll take care of it. Project Updates A list of posts noting important milestones about ST's road to recovery. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Q: What measures are you taking to ensure such data loss never happens again? A: This is of utmost importance. Dirk has already setup a full daily SQL database dump which is copied externally. We will be implementing full backups of all site content, which is synced to an offsite cloud location I've purchased. Additionally, Cori and I will be making regular local copies of this, which we'll keep updated. We can assure you there are harsh lessons learned from this ordeal. We will not let this happen again. Q: So what data is missing, and what do we have preserved? A: To understand what's safe and what needs recovering, there are three time periods: All Lost: After 28 February 2026 to 26 May 2026: Unfortunately, because 28 Feb corresponds to our most recent database backup, any new member accounts, posts, or files created during these final three months are lost entirely. At best we'll be able to re-post files, and possibly some other site content. Text Only: 17 June 2024 to 28 February 2026: The text-based details of the site are safe. This means all forum posts, member accounts, and the actual STEX description pages are intact. However, the physical download files (e.g. zip) along with image attachments were lost, meaning we will need to restore them manually or programmatically. All Safe: Before 17 June 2024: Everything is completely intact. This includes all forum posts, member accounts, PMs, images, and STEX files. Q: How are we going to rebuild all the missing files? A: This is already in progress, but there's much more to do. Some authors have been diligently working to re-upload their own files, and we estimate ~20% of the files lost have been restored. Then for additional missing files, I'm currently working on a dynamic list known as the Restoration Tracker, which will help us view what still needs doing. This will be revealed soon, and we'll have a dedicated discussion topic where you can ask questions and post feedback. Q: If I see one of my own uploads missing from the STEX, should I just re-upload it myself? A: You're most welcome to re-upload your own content yourself, but please feel under no obligation to. The Recovery Team will be working to go through files and restore as much as we can. Other harder to find items we might need to make a community appeal for. If you do restore your own content, that all helps as part of the process. If you'd like any assistance or unsure what to do, please let us know! Q: I have backups of files but I'm not the original author. Can I still share them? A: Given these unprecedented times, yes. But best hold off for right now, as the Restoration Tracker will have a way to notify us of any files you have. Then as the volunteers begin the restoration, they will contact you if they need your copy. (We have big zips already offered which may or may not cover everything.) Q: Can you tell me about the new host? A: We've since acquired a new server from Hetzner (in Germany), which is at least 10 times more capable than our old one, with twice the RAM and a much more powerful processor. All this too for no more than our old host cost per month, which makes it excellent value for money. Additionally, Hetzner's tech support have been outstanding. When Dirk reported the instability issues, they presented a range of options. When we asked for the hardware replacement, the technicians completed the process within mere minutes (and free of charge). This gives us confidence we're on a much more robust platform. Q: How can we support Simtropolis financially to help cover costs of the new server? A: We want to emphasise how this isn't a crisis, but if you wish to help Dirk fund the hosting, there are 2 options: Donate via Gumroad which gives you access to download the STEX Collections. Donate via PayPal either as a one-off or recurring monthly amount. All donations are appreciated! They each help keep Simtropolis open and freely available.

Hmm, interesting. For the bot to be logged as downloading, it must record a successful initial request. So it seems like for a 404 or 403 error, that's returned in response for the files themselves. It sure is weird, unless that suggests it's on the GitHub end? I'll have more of a look, but I'm currently at odds as to why it's doing this. On Cloudflare it shows they aren't being mitigated at all.

That's possible. And the STEX Bot is used with sc4pac and likely having an existential crisis while the underlying files structure is in disarray. In all seriousness, checking out the context @CaptCity found from previously, I might've found the trouble... My theory is @STEX Bot was being blocked by the checkpoint security system, since it was doing this on multiple files. We've added the checkpoint back yesterday after we got a big bad bot swarm (nasty little things). Not sure why it's being tripped up by this when it was fine before, but I've added a whitelist rule so it can (hopefully) get in. Now we wait to see whether it works. It might try another download until it succeeds, but then should go and have a laydown. It better do or it'll fast turn into a Shattermore® Bot. Hmm. That's odd, but we do have broad security rules it might have accidentally applied to your network. If you can send me a PM and tell me the IP address(es) you've tried to use which are blocked, I'll check what's happening on Cloudflare, etc.

@hugues aroux The bot must like that file so much it keeps coming back for another helping... Is there a particular upload where this is happening, or a common trend among several you've seen? I seem to recall @CaptCity noticed this before in the past too (a few months ago), so it might be related.

@simmering Fixed it! For some reason the checkpoint verification didn't accept the Save Now requests, while it still allowed the automatic Internet Archive crawlers. I've now edited the rule which specifically lets it proceed unhindered through the checkpoint security. Thanks for letting us know!

I agree, as far as I can see Cloudflare isn't interfering, and I've certainly not set anything to block you. The fact you can view images on your Windows system which also shares the same IP, suggests it's indeed something not quite working with the Linux environment. For this image: https://www.simtropolis.com/objects/screens/monthly_2016_11/Scr_1.jpg.d34b5066fa746c20427bb6e6fea90199.jpg In the past 7 days there have been 27 requests to it and only 1 was blocked by Cloudflare (Managed Challenge) due to specifying an old Firefox version: User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:72.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/72.0 Country: France ASN: 12876 - Scaleway SAS So I think this must be a random bot and completely unrelated. Hi, perhaps try the cross platform web app version? This lets you run sc4pac in a web browser instead. See the option under the Download button named: sc4pac-gui-webapp-crossplatform.zip @Allein maybe this is also an option worth trying?

There is a Cloudflare rule I added sometime a year or two ago which specifically allows Internet Archive crawlers to access ST. (cf.client.bot and cf.verified_bot_category eq "Archiver") or (ip.src.asnum eq 7941) This then skips other firewall rules and lets it browse the site freely. I can see from today alone, there has been 240 of these. However, from experience I've also found sometimes using the manual "Save Page Now" function doesn't always work. It makes me wonder whether this is separate, and perhaps I need to expand the rule slightly. Or maybe the Wayback is rate limiting manual archival requests and possibly something on their end. They must get numerous requests from many different sources at once.

The preliminary unverified count is 2,386 STEX files to be restored (including Club files). Right now we've already had 393 re-uploaded. I must say in only 4 days, just over 16% restored is superb progress. Once the Restoration Tracker page is up and running, the roadmap will become clear of what precisely there is still to do. Yes, we'll certainly be hoping to restore as many images from CJs as possible. Also to see if the Wayback Machine has entries saved, or if anyone made local copies. A key consideration will be the period of void between 1 March and 16 April. Content posted during that timeframe will be the most challenging to restore, given the short timeframe it was online means it had lower exposure. We'll try our best though, and at least most authors are likely still active around the site.

Yes it will do. Alternatively, Cori or I could manually upload files to the server, or automate the importing of files using a server side script. In that case it wouldn't add a new version, as we'd be simply adding files in place. That method has succeeded with Wayback Machine restorations for some screenshots and attachments. For versioning, I believe I can run a cleanup on duplicates, while preserving unique older versions (which we can hopefully restore). Yes, using the Edit Details page (from File Actions), where I added ability to edit/add pics there (without needing a new version). Ironically, that was something I was going to announce just before we lost the old server. Attachments must be re-edited to posts, unless restored server side. That is unless I develop a way to swap them in via another interface. I've got ideas to add a way to edit back attachments from the index page, but I'll need to develop it. Might be something which can come after we get the STEX file restorations in full swing.