In the BSC we have a thing that we select a map and then a lot of us plays that map. The main aim is not to merely build a good region but to specifiaclly test for certain performance issues we see and hear about.
Currently we have the problem that once you change over to NO MAXIS stuff and only plays custom lots we can no longer grow big cities.
What is also great is to see how differnet players handles the same basic terrain. We have learned a lot about how players apply custom content by this way of playing and many excellent lot collections usually emerges from such a game experiment.
During the Miramba experiment we established that 4 city regions is a problem for the game and that the 4 city maps have lots of crashes that we cannot explain ... what is true is that when the map was sectioned to be more cities most of the crashes disappeared. The Miramba experiment also gave birth to a lot of lots especially the MEGA Lots.
Now we have a new experiment going ... the Shosaloza Project.
This is a very difficult mountain terrain and the aim is to see how many sims we can get in without trashing the environment.
Up to now the postings of the experiment was done on the BSC Board ... I think it may be more fruitful to do it here and also see if we cannot get more people to play that map.
There are issues around many custom lots and it is only by actually playing the game with the custom content that we can learn more about it.
So ... Barby wil post the link to the Terrain and I look forward to see more players in the Shosaloza experiment. The major issue for us is the question around city sims numbers.
The MAP is here ... (http://sc4devotion.com/index.php?option=com_facileforms&Itemid=34)
The map we are using is a very mountainous one by beskhu3epnm - Mount Robson. The original of this seems to have disappeared from the STEX so I will ask NHP if the version modified by Colyn can be uploaded here.
We have each done some individual terraforming so the end results are not identical. No doubt the others will be along to show their final region maps. I have done some terraforming in SC4TM and am doing some as I start each city. Here is my version:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy171%2Fbarbyw%2FShosaloza.jpg&hash=78b6161ca8c3072e5fdf6196c956bf0d0df8078e)
As you will be able to see from the original I have flattened out some areas as I detest mountains :latigo:
Hi, interesting map indeed, even without the mountains :D !!! It is a real challenge :P
I have to admit that I dont exactly understand this " and the aim is to see how many sims we can get in without trashing the environment", specially this "without trashing the environment" . What do you mean with this ?¿
wouanagaine, excellent layout mon ami :thumbsup:
Ok guys .... I think we must do as we do on the BSC Board ... every player must open his or her own thread for their Shosaloza Experiment ... that way we can clearly see the difference in styles and not deal with threads that are miles long.
JR ... what we want to try and do is to develop without really loosing the character of the map ... so no godmode huge leveler and BAM there is room :)
I understand, but I see this rule is flexible :D !!!
I think I will give this map a try :thumbsup:
Oh, wait, my plugins folder is full of "cheats" ....Radical ordinance mod, no dilapidation mod, etc... Can such mods be used as well ?¿
Yes ... the only thing is that you try and preserve the natural look ... work on it as if you a very strong Green Lobby that wants to give you problems all the time :D ... so when you do terraform think of how you will justify that to the council and how you will keep your Sims so happy that the Greens cannot win ... &idea
Also can we make it clear that ANYONE who is a member of SC4Devotion can join in. :thumbsup: It is not just for BSC members, so come and join in with the fun.
Good point Barby ... the more people that plays the more ideas we can get ... we are especially interested in players that are not serious BATTERS or MODDERS ... in other words ... we are looking for people that depends on us to provide them with custom content ... the serious players.
We are playing mostly to show how we use the stuff that we make and we play to see if the stuff that others make works with the stuff we make ... so in the end it all comes back to the basics ... What is the use of all these nice things that are being made if we never get to play with them.
I think this is a great project, and for a number of reasons:
1. It encourages the new SC4D community to join in
2. Instead of opening up a city where you can build to the max, there are guidelines that have been set as to not infringe on the nature of the map, making it suitable for advanced players.
3. Of course, different building styles, especially given the somewhat difficult terrain.
4. The map is substantial enough in size as to not be able to develop it using only one person - this way, it can actually be played to completion.
So with that, at some point, I may join in, however I am having hardware problems and am using a POS computer not even worthy enough to open SC4...... (middle of the week, I'll be back).
hmmm i have been doing this on my own for a while, so i can you give you all some tips I use.
Try to limit which size lots you use for each building, that way when you zone for a certain combination of size, wealth (use taxes to controll) and density, you will know exactly what building will grow- really works great for seeing all your growables when you want them. This looks like a great thread i will be watching.
Alek
&dance &dance
I love that thing ^
Why not join in with us, Alek King of SC4? I have posted the modified map to the File Exchange here with beskhu3epnm's permission.
May I suggest you to use the starting post in this topic as the Shosaloza Experiment Basic Rules List post ?¿. So, any person accessing this thread could inmediately know what is going on and how to participate without having to read the whole thread ;)
I plan to create a section to link some of the most interesting "living" projects directly from the left site's menu, and I would like to use this topic to link this experiment.
Also a link to the downloadable map in the initial post would be welcome ;D
Great region, beskhu3epnm
and great work, wouanagaine
Great idea. I am also very glad that the BSC team joined here &dance I will not join and play this map as I am too busy with my own supersize region project that someday I hope to be able to show to you all if I only learn how to post images :newbie:
This is a great idea. I won't join in at present but shall keep a close eye on this.
Rl is a bit hectic and am presently building a region. Its something to keep in mind though for the future.
:satisfied:
EDIT:
@Sebes
Jeroni has a thread on how to post pictures that was very useful for me. I didn't have a clue how to do it before but now I can ;D
http://sc4devotion.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=27&topic=33.0
is the link to this.
Also Wouangaine has a very useful little tool to take the pics which save them as jpegs so no need to convert anything. It's called Clip2pic and it's available with all the other wikked little tools he's made at ST
http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=83832
is the link for this
Hope this helps you.
satisfied
I can see this is open to non-BSC members, but where shall we open our threads, in here or at the MD area?
Right here ... just put your name in the topic and let rip ... &dance ... I just had to use that thing ... &smrt
OK, thx. I'll give it a try. So, no maxis content, no spoiling natural terrain, and lots of imagination, isn't it?
There is no limit on the Maxis content ... but the rest of what you said is true ;)
I will be in but over the christmas period probably wont be able to do much actual playing due to christmas I should be back in about 2 weeks. I also am getting hold of an nforce board as a sidegrade to make my new videocard (Geforce 7600 GS AGP)work properly
All of my cities will be Maxis heavy but I do have custom content for growables and a few plopables. I have about 250 meg of custom content now and am adding more steadily.
Also I dont use cheats though I may need to mod some of the garbage values for some lots.
I can see a few uses for tiny power generators and might test a mod I am working on for "gardening" : self planting god mode trees.
no spoilng natural terrain will make things interesting :)
you would be supprised at what you can get away with esp if you re design an area several times over its history
How long will this experiment run?
Before I start the map I want to make some testing...
My question is: Are these beauties compatible with : "no spoiling natural terrain" :D :D :D ?¿
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg119.imageshack.us%2Fimg119%2F7811%2Fbeauties1ja8.jpg&hash=38a379c4a8fe2aeac878e34e8e3177bb8744ab5c)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg246.imageshack.us%2Fimg246%2F356%2Fbeauties2bk8.jpg&hash=457de9b68548b1ab7a76fd7de7ecd439de9a457b)
I hope so.... ::)
For sure you can use it ... obviously some severe terraforming will be needed at some places to make something work .... I love these ... are they available in public ?
Those look great Jeronij :thumbsup:
I think those heavy metal machine are somy bats
I am thinking about joining in this as it looks like some fun, question, cheats such as super demand, money, ect can we use? Anyways i might download this map and show you all some of my wacky ideas.
Hi Alek, I think its fine to use "cheats" if you want (but cheats is such a relative term anyway). Its mainly about how you play the game, and the more playing styles the better. So feel free to play it however you like, and have fun.
I'd love to see what you make out of this map.
Cheats and whatever is not an issue ... most important in these Experiments is just to get more people to play seriously and show what they do with what is out there.
For me and a few others we are looking for specific technical things that we are concerned about but in general everybody uses some form of a cheat.
The game money system is just as broken as the garbage system and the advent of custom lots screwed the money even further. So the money issue is not important to me ... so is the garbage issue.
What I care about are the demands and satisfaction of the demands, occupant numbers and growth frequency.
Hi to all,
Yes, those are SOMY's BATs and I am still waiting for a nice place to use them... the pics above were made just for fun ;D
SOMY'S site (http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/somy000/index.htm)
Scroll down to find the pages list and enjoy :thumbsup: !!!
Btw, the models are based in RL Krupp excavators in Germany ??? . I just cant imagine how big such a machine is !!!!
HELP! I hope I didn't break it. &cry2
I want to join this project but when I click on the link to get the map I get a new window that says I'm not authorized and that I need to log on.
Log on to what? I thought I was already logged on.
What's up doc?
Keith
We do have rights issues with the exchange and we are working on it ... Click on the File Downloads link at the top of the screen and get the map from that exchange ... hopefully we will get most of the tiny bugs resolved in the coming days.
Fantastic Shots everyone.
Cant wait to see more. really I can't
:satisfied:
EDIT:
P.S. It's an Honour to become a Governor in this thread.
PPS You can buy a used bucket wheel excavator for $20,000,000 second hand
Check this used excavator advertisment http://www.jmc-machinery-sales.com/Used_Krupp_Bucket_Wheel_Excavat.html (http://www.jmc-machinery-sales.com/Used_Krupp_Bucket_Wheel_Excavat.html)
plus they got some wikked pics of it too
@Jeronij - using somy's excavators looks awsome....but what landscape modd are you using? someting from cycledogg? it almost looks like you married two different ones...
I am definitely going to work on this along with Elephant Bay. I like the challenge. Great idea this was.
Quote from: Yoder7652 on December 21, 2006, 08:43:12 PM
@Jeronij - using somy's excavators looks awsome....but what landscape modd are you using? someting from cycledogg? it almost looks like you married two different ones...
I used Cycledogg's Painted Desert terrain mod for that map. You can see more from this city's textures in the Game Experiments board ;D
I've been thinking about it for a while, I think im going to try and get in on this.
I'll start day after christmas.
Curious about the rules, does all of the growable custom content need to be BSC, and are some plops(landmarks) allowed?
Hi Hamster, you can use whatever you wish. The main idea is to build in harmony with the terrain and the environment.
Welcome aboard, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
I downloaded the Mount Robson map from STEX and got it installed. It doesn't look like the same map everyone is currently using, especially the lack of a large body of water.
I look through the downloads and couldn't find it in there.
Am I just really confused?
BSC is using a modified version of that map, and it's available here at SC4D in the downloads section. You may have to scroll a page or two.
The map you have DL'd is the one I created, and is of accurate scale (including elevation). It is quite extreme....
There is a link to the map in the first post.
Hi,
This is probably not the place to post this question, but I couldn't anywhere else. I wanted to play along with this project. I have downloaded the map....making note that it is in sc4m and has a config file once extracted.
"Newbie ?" : how do I get the map to work in SC4? Noticed that the format is not the same as the other installed maps... :angrymore: Now I know I am not a dummy, but I have always made my own maps of whatever was in my head at the time. This is a little new to me, some assistance please? I have looked for information on getting it installed on here and ST....I guess I wasn't searching correctly, cause I know it is somewhere. %confuso
Electra, go at ST in the NHP Tools suits (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=83832) and download&install SC4Mapper. When done, you'll be able to load the SC4M with SC4Mapper and generate the region for SC4
here is the instructions taken from our NHP uploads
SC4Mapper
1. If you don't already have SC4Mapper, download it and follow the install instructions.
2. Unzip this file.
3. Run SC4Mapper, click on 'create region'
4. Choose SC4M
5. Browse to the unzipped folder and point the map file .SC4M
6. Click on 'Save Region' and name it, and Quit SC4Mapper
7. Run SC4 and load the new region. The colors of the region in SC4 will be the same colors as SC4Mapper until you enter and save each city tile. But you have the choice to do it as you go and not right away.
Thanks bunches wouanagaine,
Worked like a charm....I had already downloaded SC4Mapper and read the instructions..... :bomb: But I guess after working all night the light bulb just wouldn't come on &idea
Again, thanks for helping out a thick headed person.... $%Grinno$%
Seeing how i've kinda run out of ideas lately, i'd really like to give this a try.
I have one question though, are you not allowed to use any maxis content at all?
There are alot of very nice buildings that came with the game. I know my cities would be much nicer and more consistent if I was allowed to use maxis content.
You can use as much or as little Maxis content as you like. No restrictions on content, just try not to trash the environment too much and still get 1 million sims in the region ;D
Hello there, i'd love to try playing this map, it looks extremely challenging. The link in the first post is broken though.
Quote from: Frigid on February 04, 2007, 10:58:47 AM
Hello there, i'd love to try playing this map, it looks extremely challenging. The link in the first post is broken though.
Not here it isn't ... or try this one: Mount Robson (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=49)
Also ... make sure you are registered to the exchange.
Oh.. oops I wasn't logged in. Cookies weren't working. Sorry for bothering you guys
hello I cann't even get to the map for this thing please help
Aleksander
Aleksander, I have replied to your log in problems in the other thread.
Just looking for an update. Anyone got any good pictures to share?
Joel
Crap... I think that I'm having hardware issues, because for some strange reason, every time I try to play a region that has high-elevation terrains, my game crashes.
Of course, I am having issues with other things on my computer as well, but I haven't had the chance to get the kinks worked out...
:'( I wanted to join!
I don't have SC4Mapper and right now my PC is almost literally begging for an upgrade...
I have a 995 MHz AMD Athlon Processor, and a NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX/MX 400. :-[
I'll join after I get the 500+ dollars I'll need to get my uncle to gut and rebuild my PC. ()testing()
BTW: how do you gain Reputation? %confuso
dragonshardz: Reputation becomes available to give and take once you have made a fixed number of posts. I think it is 50.
ah...
The link is broken for me too.
Try the link to Mount Robson in Serkanner's post above.
This is actually very interesting. To bad I'm so late to see this thread. Is this still open for discussion, is it worth it that i start with this project or em i to late?
Greetings
KC
This project is now over but Ennedi has been playing the region in the MD section so if you want to start an MD using the map you will be more than welcome.
This is a beautiful map and very interesting project. There were some excellent regions built up on Shosaloza map, you can find most of them in the BSC Plays The Game (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=89.0) board. One of the best ones (in my opinion) was Rayden's Shosaloza (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=103.0), currently placed in MD Archives.
I am sure that every of these regions deserves to be recounted, there are a lot of beautiful pictures and interesting building concepts in them.
Personally I still remember about the original Shosaloza Project purpose. The amount of residents is not my main goal in my Shosaloza, but I'm also curious how many citizens will live in Shosaloza when I will finish it :)
I think comparing the same region developed by various players is fascinating by itself. If anybody will want to build something on Shosaloza map and will need any consultation/advice, I will help with pleasure.
Adam
Well, has the issue with the "No Maxis Buildings" mod preventing large cities (as mentioned in the OP) been fixed, then?