Olympia - the 4th edition...(Celebrating the 10th anniversary in 2008)

[SAC]

Once upon a time...that's how Badsim started his tribute to Olympia here at SC4Dev.  And he couldn't be more right!  While most of you may remember "Olympia - a source of inspiration" from the CJ's at ST and SCC, it's a fact that Olympia celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2008.  The first edition of Olympia saw the light of the day during the SC2K-era in 1998, shortly to be followed by a 2nd edition when SC3KU/W, (SimCity 3000 Unlimited/World Edition), took over our lifes.  And then, during 2003-2004, the 3rd edition was developed using Maxis last and final sequel to its amazing SC-series, SC4.

With the celebration 2008 in mind I have decided to develop a 4th edition of the Olympia CJ.  Not only due to its 10th anniversary, but also due to the fact that a lot of things have happened as far as custom content regards.  While projects such as the NAM wasn't even proposed when the first bulldozer entered what was to become the Olympia County region, it is today a natural part of SC4 just as the game discs themselves.  And with even more B.A.T's available to choose from, only a fool would restrain from continuing playing SC4, despite other city building games available outthere! 

So, what to expect?

Well, in opposite to the 3rd edition, this new Olympia CJ will focus even more on a European stylished development.  This is of course possible with all new B.A.T's delivered the last couple of years - and still continuing - something that was a bit more tricky earlier to say the least.  A lot was accomplished using the Lot Editor, but nothing of that is even close to the possibilities surrounding us today.

Olympia is basically known for its hidious terrain with large mountains, hills here and there, cliffs and valleys in between.  This 4th edition is no exception.  On the contrary to be honest. Expect a mountainious landscape with lakes, rivers, and impossible terrain areas to work with.  Or so it may seem!  A challenge isn't a challenge, if there's nothing there to challenge you.  More focus will also be put into the entire region.  Even though Olympia the 3rd had a somewhat developed region, it wasn't actually developed up to standards.  This will change. A lot!  Everything to create an even more realistic metropolis area!

How to develop the city?

The 3rd edition was mostly developed using growables with a big addition of custom lots.  One of the biggest issues with SC4, (imho), is the lack of involvment when it comes to which buildings should be built where.  In most European countries it's often required that a constructor gets permission from a local authority before any bulldozers can start working.  And new buildings often needs to conform to the surrounding buildings, the landscape, and such.  And basically it would have been a huge step forward if the SC4 mayor had been offered the ability to choose between a number of buildings to be built on an pre-zoned area.  The lack of this feature forces most of us with clear ambitions to wait, and wait...and wait...for the "appropriate" building to show up.  If developing a housing area, typical European style, this means a lot of waiting.

With this 4th edition of Olympia I will focus on both growables and ploppables, assuming it works to zone an area and wait for the first building to show up, then quickly place my own choice on top of it.  I will not, however, go with the CAM feature at this point.  From reading so far I understand it brings even more growth stages, thus resulting in an even more realistic development.  While I'm not sure if it's possible to use buildings, (B.A.T's), that are made for the CAM-feature along with ones not adapted yet, I believe I'm better of not introducing CAM at all.  Correct me if I'm wrong though!

I will use the NAM - obviously, and I will use lots and lots of B.A.T's, just as I'm probably going to use the Lot Editor to make use of some of Maxis original buildings that may work in an European CJ - or to improve others and make new ones.  I'm not sure if it's possible to use the SC4Tool to "update" my previous custom lots.  Anyone with information?

Finally;

Again, don't expect a quickly developed Olympia County Region.  Real life is still an issue, and as mentioned, I'm pretty sure a lot of my spare time will go into working with the Lot Editor tool as well!    I'd appreciate inputs of all kind, positive as well as negative ones!  If you don't like what you see, than please say so! I have always encouraged honesty, and have no intentions whatsoever to change that!    And before anyone asks;  why here at SC4Dev?  Well, finding the much appreciated "Tribute" is a reason as good as any, but since I already have been at both ST and SCC with my previous CJ's, I figured it's only fair to chose another site for this 4th edition.  It will be up and running here until the final move to the new and upcoming SimuScape site!    

Okey, so being away for a couple of years due to real life issues and also focusing on other games, there are lots of things I need to get familiar with.  Apart from getting "warm" with the game itself, the terraforming tools, I also need to learn about all the new stuff available, how to make use of "projects" like the NAM, and so on. But currently though I'm searching all downloads available ever since I left, and will go through a sorting progress mixing both new and old stuff from my SC4 folders.  With this said, please be patient with updates from this point!

Olympia City Council
Mayor SAC

[Krio]

Horrible teasing! We DEMAND pictures  you legends always tease us mortals..

[bat]

Also looking forward to pictures!!! And nice start. Welcome, too.

[Serkanner]

Welcome back to the community SAC. It is with more then just interest that I will be following this tenth anniversary of Olympia. I remember one of the main inspirations of making custom content myself was watching the Olympia website. Its great to have Olympia back 

[Badsim]

The aléa of life wanted I opened LotEditor while you were "disappearing" . You have found right words about AntigOne , a gallery among many talented galleries of what's today possible , thanks to what the SC4 communities here and everywhere else have accomplished so far ; maybe just a begining ...

November the 24th 2007 ; SAC is back .

A warm welcome .

[Ennedi]

Hello SAC,

It's very nice you decided to start the new Olympia here!
Some of us knew your work earlier, and some others konw about it from a great Badsim's presentation.

Personally I'm in this second group. Looking at your old city pictures - these tunnels, bridges, your buildings choice - I must say I like your kind of imagination!
What you say about city building (in the "how to develop a city" section) is very similar to my own point of view, I am trying to make something similar. So I think I will learn a lot from you

This site is full of kind and helpful people, if you are not familiar with anything or if you will look for anything, simply ask for it, you will not wait too long
My personal knowledge is very limited, but if you will see something in my work which you are interested in, ask for it in my MD or via PM and I will try to explain everything.

And at the end - don't hurry! collecting new stuff, learning and using it needs a lot of time, we all understand it. Your work should be a pleasure firstly for you, and then for your viewers! 

[SAC]

Thanks for the warm welcoming everyone!     I'm very pleased to be here, and to be part of this community.  I recognize quite a few names from when I myself was active, and it's always a pleasure to find others still dedicated to the game. 

Do excuse the lack of images at this point.  I've spent the last couple of days searching through the internet database of custom content for SC4, and still have quite a few pages to look over before I can even start my CJ - not to mention my previous in-game folders.  I assume I have a bit of a headache ahead of me before all those folders are sorted out, but once there....

Anyways, the reason for starting this CJ already at this point is due to the fact that I, which I already mentioned, have been away for a long time, and might be in need of assistance to get the whole grip of everything -especially with all the new stuff available.  I do hope you don't mind finding mostly text within this particular thread for a time ahead until I'm ready to start the actual CJ?   

[CabraBuitre]

I can't wait to see what you'll have in store for us SAC...  I know what an inspiration you were to me and to so many others with lot-building and showing what SC4 could be.  The community is glad to have you back!!! 

[SAC]

Thank you!  I'm actually happy to be here, but mostly of course eager to start playing again!  It'll take awhile for me to get familiar with everything, but once there...

[jeronij]

Hello and welcome to the MD's section SAC ¡¡¡. It is a pleasure and a honour to have you aboard  ¡¡¡¡

Take your time to warm your mouse, and to find some interesting content.... we have around 3GB of it here  ¡¡¡

I hope to see some pictures soon. I felt in love with your first pictures, and every single one shows so many ideas¡¡¡. I specially liked the city pictures. The lots are also nice of course, but not so challenging for me like a good difficult terrain 

EDIT: Feel free to PM if you need help about something that I have done and may be useful for you 
btw, I have some models which you may find interesting, since they are intended to be european, but perhaps too mediterranean for your taste ?¿ 
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=1773.0

[SAC]

Thanks for the welcoming Jeronij!     I'm happy to be here!  It seems like a place of my taste! 

As for the models of yours, I'd be honored to give them a place in Olympia.  Fantastic work Jeronij!!!  All of them would fit greatly as a "close-to-downtown" residential area/block!  Superb if you ask me! 

[cameron1991]

Wow its great to see you back SAC! I loved your Olympia at SCC and ST. I cant wait to see the new Olympia!

You said you are downloading lots of new content, so I thought I would give you the link to wouanagaine's SC4 Datpacker if you don't already have it. Its an extremely useful tool that compresses your plugins into a single .dat file that vastly decreases SC4 load times and makes SC4 much more playable. Without the Datpacker, SC4 is  unplayable for me and I dont have that many plugins. With so many good BATs around today, you will most likely end with a large plugins folder and the datpacker will make SC4 so much more playable.

I hope you find the datpacker as useful as I do and once again I must say, I cannot wait to see Olympia again!

[SAC]

Thank you Cameron!  Interesting tool. Will look into it further once I'm done downloading.  It'll take awhile though as I'm working my way from one site to another right now...  

[Kitsune]

SAC, I cant wait to see this. Your a true artist with Sim City 4 (and 3K as well), beauty beyond words is the best way to describe it.

[figui]

Horrible teasing! We DEMAND pictures  you legends always tease us mortals..

take your time.
i'll patiently wait

mauricio.

[Shadow Assassin]

Hah, this'll be good to see. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the beginnings of Olympia 4.

And hopefully we'll see a true 'old-town' setting right in the middle of the city, especially with all those BATs...(old-town, for those who don't know, basically means meandering streets and buildings close together).

The legend continues.

[BigSlark]

SAC,

I'm very excited to see that Olympia is coming to SC4D! I love your work and I cannot wait to see what you come up with this time.

As for the CAM, I highly recommend you use it. While I'm the type who jump off the cliff with a Beta or Alpha version with no hesitation, I assure that CAM is the finished product. It adds another dimension to the game and fixes so many problems that its hard to describe. The best example that I am able to think of is suburbia. You can have sprawling single family homes and rows of big box commercial retailers along avenues that all grow, are all within the same general growth stage (read: size), and same wealth level. If you want to have an urban wasteland of low wealth, low rise apartments it is also very easy to grow, simply have the bare minimum of education and health care.

And the towers! I am finally getting stage 12 and 13 towers in a city of 650,000, they are amazing as they not only take a long to build, but grow together and you have watched the zone go from a local grocery store and a pet store up to a high wealth 50 story commercial tower. It gives me a true sense of accomplishment simply through the time and effort required to attract these big structures.

As for industrial areas, the new farms look great and the massive I-M and IH-T lots are impressive in ways that I didn't think was possible in SC4.

The three caveats I have about CAM:

Use the traffic plugin that was written for it. You'll need it.
Water everything, including farms. You won't get about stage 1 without it.
Build multiple-layered transit systems in what you plan to be your densest areas as the increased number of commuters will overwhelm buses or GLR or subways on their own.

I suggest you download the excellent CAM Manual and give it a read. If you have any questions, PM me or send a message via MSN.

I really do hope you adopt CAM, it will change the game for you.

Cheers,
Kevin

[SAC]

SAC, I cant wait to see this. Your a true artist with Sim City 4 (and 3K as well), beauty beyond words is the best way to describe it.

take your time.
i'll patiently wait

mauricio.

Yes, be patient.  It'll come eventually.    At the moment I'm simply amazed about the amount of new B.A.T's available outthere.  People have been busy to say the least!   

Hah, this'll be good to see. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the beginnings of Olympia 4.

And hopefully we'll see a true 'old-town' setting right in the middle of the city, especially with all those BATs...(old-town, for those who don't know, basically means meandering streets and buildings close together).

The legend continues.

Well, well, well...another name I recognize from the "past"!  Good to see you again!    And you took the words right out of my mouth.  Of course there'll be an "old town" setting.  While there were few, if any, B.A.T's available at the time of the 3rd Olympia edition, I can tell the situation is rather the opposite now.  I have even created an "old town" folder filled with B.A.T's that are suitable for this kind of project - just as I have created a folder filled with B.A.T's suitable for a typical "China Town" project within the Olympia Downtown Area as well.  I don't think it'll ruin the actual European feeling at the end. Mostly it's a matter of how it's done, and perhaps a bit of an improvement in some cases using the Lot Editor!  We'll see!  Most of those buildings are too good to be ignored either way! 

SAC,

I'm very excited to see that Olympia is coming to SC4D! I love your work and I cannot wait to see what you come up with this time.

As for the CAM, I highly recommend you use it. While I'm the type who jump off the cliff with a Beta or Alpha version with no hesitation, I assure that CAM is the finished product. It adds another dimension to the game and fixes so many problems that its hard to describe. The best example that I am able to think of is suburbia. You can have sprawling single family homes and rows of big box commercial retailers along avenues that all grow, are all within the same general growth stage (read: size), and same wealth level. If you want to have an urban wasteland of low wealth, low rise apartments it is also very easy to grow, simply have the bare minimum of education and health care.

In all honesty I haven't checked this new CAM-feature that much yet.  Currently I'm collecting B.A.T's in order to start the actual Olympia-project, but will have a closer look at the CAM once done collecting.

My point of view when it comes to city building is the control itself.  As is common in most European countries, I too want the ability to be part of the decision as to which building is built where on the map.  This is especially important when trying to develop a typical European residential area in the outskirts.  I remember from the 3rd edition of Olympia that I had to wait a tremendous amount of time for a particular building to show up, and to sort of "control" this I had to ensure that closeby zones stayed low-wealth, middle-wealth, and so on during the process using suitable industrial lots.  I'm not prepared to do this again as the process I'm using when building cities is time-consuming enough as it is, (terraforming and such).  That's why I intend to use a mixture of growables and ploppables with this 4th edition of Olympia.

If this intention is easier to reach with the use of CAM, I might consider it!  Another issue I may have right now, only by learning a little from what I've read so far, is that I might not be able to use every B.A.T I want outthere - unless they are CAMified.  If that's a correct assumption I'm not sure I'll bring CAM into Olympia.  However, if I can solve some of those needs myself by simply re-lot those B.A.T's using CAMified empty lots, (if available), it'll bring the CAM into another light for me!   
 

And the towers! I am finally getting stage 12 and 13 towers in a city of 650,000, they are amazing as they not only take a long to build, but grow together and you have watched the zone go from a local grocery store and a pet store up to a high wealth 50 story commercial tower. It gives me a true sense of accomplishment simply through the time and effort required to attract these big structures.

I'm happy to hear you've been able to achieve your goals using the CAM.  Olympia on the other hand is a European city, and the use of highrised towers will be sparse, very sparse.  I'd say that usage of "towers" in Olympia will basically include a few hotels or some very specific office areas at the most!  Not sure what effect the CAM will have on an European stylished city with a typical European downtown area though!

I suggest you download the excellent CAM Manual and give it a read. If you have any questions, PM me or send a message via MSN.

I really do hope you adopt CAM, it will change the game for you.

Cheers,
Kevin

I will most certainly download it and have a look.  And I'll be sure to post questions once there!  Thanks Kevin!   

[jeronij]

After reading about your project, I think this guide will be really useful for you 

Making growable lots larger than 6x6 - Megalots 

I hope this helps 

[callagrafx]

Welcome SAC, hope you enjoy your time here.  If you are just starting out on your downloading, I can suggest the following:

The marvel that is Wouanagaine made a tool for the LEX here, it's a downloader.      

http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=841

When you are browsing the LEX, look for a link that says "Add to Download List" and this will add, as it describes, the file into your download list.  Once you have selected all the files for download, launch the LEX Downloader and enter your LEX username and password.  The software will then get your download list from the site and start to download automatically all the files you've added.  This saves an incredible amount of time and can be left unattended.

Hope this helps

Lee