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CAM - Welcome and Manual + Download

Started by RippleJet, July 31, 2007, 03:22:00 AM

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ozdaniel

Hi just registered, but I haven't recieved an email to confirm my registration so I can't continue. How long will it take for the email to arrive?

RippleJet

I'll ask Barby to activate your account manually and revert to you! :thumbsup:

BarbyW

ozdaniel: I cannot see that username in the datatbase. If you have registered in a different username can you let me know what it is please?
Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened. TP



Barbypedia: More alive than the original

fillylau

#43
Hello.

I have sign in the BSC LEX but I haven't receive any email for activation. So no download.

Could somebody help me? My user id is fillylau

Thanks a lot.

Edited: Thanks BarbyW for the help. Sorry for the posting here.

BarbyW

This is the wropng place to post this but nevertheless I have activated your account, fillylau.
Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened. TP



Barbypedia: More alive than the original

SC4BOY

#45
I have installed the CAM over the past few days and played a region with it.. (just moved all my plugins out and started with new plugin and new region). I started from the docs and built it up.. took a long time.. I'm sure I probably did WAY more than I needed to, but was not really confident as to what I was doing and what the effects were.

I wonder if there is an "install CAM for dummies" kind of like this old Greyveil thread on installing SC4? I realize it is pushing 4 years old now and is somewhat out of date, but it was the definitive "SC4 startup thread" for many years. Or maybe I'm just slow? :) Its too late for me, but some newer players might really benefit from somethiing like that.


RippleJet

Quote from: SC4BOY on November 28, 2007, 01:57:17 PM
I wonder if there is an "install CAM for dummies" kind of like this old Greyveil thread on installing SC4? I realize it is pushing 4 years old now and is somewhat out of date, but it was the definitive "SC4 startup thread" for many years. Or maybe I'm just slow? :) Its too late for me, but some newer players might really benefit from somethiing like that.

Sorry for a late reply. I've been gone travelling for the past 24 hours.

At the moment there is no "CAM for dummies".
If someone wants to compile one, I would be grateful.
Otherwise, I have been thinking about adding something like that in the manual for the next release and/or in a thread here. ;)

BigSlark

Hmm, you have a point, SC4BOY. After I finish my current technical writing project of decoding what NVIDIA's Ubuntu drivers actually DO I'll take a crack at a CAM "cheat sheet."

Cheers,
Kevin

SC4BOY

Well, I think I need somethiing. I have put literally hundreds of hours (SC4 related and "exploring" methods and items.. not just "put in CAM".. but very related) and dl'd several gigabytes of material and tried to religiously follow the threads and tools. And I am far from a computer illiterate.. yet I think I'm actually going backwards. There is a serious hole between the basic install (and where it would be a good idea to stop and play safely for a while) and where you start trying to follow the myriad threads on it. Cleanitol has been a MIRACLE in many ways, but it also is a serious CURSE.. everyone puts a cleanitol text out, but using it without CLEARLY UNDERSTANDING how out of date, or how it fits into the big picture is critical. I had things pretty good until I started (after having put all the base material in and dl's all things marked "CAM" pretty much. Then I went back to the CAM thread and started DL'ing links from the updates and using the cleanitol file. What actually happened is that I was overlaying and distroying in many ways the work I had already done. I dont know what the "magic answer" is but there has to be some kind of overview and revision control or I think we may be back into a very messy situation.. Sure things can usually be recovered in some form, but the work is HUGE and very frustrating when you start UNDOING things, yet thinking you are following the thread.

I love the idea.. probably the best idea since NAM but it is fraught with danger because its tentacles spread through and cascade across so many things..

RippleJet

Just the fact that there are now hundreds of CAMeLots available for download, doesn't mean you have to download them all! $%Grinno$%
Nobody playing RH would download all buildings available for RH either... ::)

Every CAMeLot being created is quite as optional as any custom content.
Actually, you don't need to download a single CAMeLot to start playing with the CAM.
There are quite a few CAMeLots included in the CAM mod itself, based on Maxis stage 8 buildings and landmarks. ;)

Once you had downloaded a few CAMeLots you love, you could have started to play.
Then you can continue to add more CAMeLots whenever you find an attractive one. :thumbsup:

SC4BOY

Quote from: RippleJet on December 07, 2007, 01:09:15 PM
Actually, you don't need to download a single CAMeLot to start playing with the CAM.
There are quite a few CAMeLots included in the CAM mod itself, based on Maxis stage 8 buildings and landmarks. ;)

While true (and I even point that out in my post) .. that's not the point at all.. :)

Quote from: SC4BOY on December 07, 2007, 12:52:38 PM
... between the basic install (and where it would be a good idea to stop and play safely for a while)...

The real point is in the last of the post.. :)

BarbyW

You say the real point is:
QuoteI love the idea.. probably the best idea since NAM but it is fraught with danger because its tentacles spread through and cascade across so many things..

I am not sure just what you mean by this. Do you mean the way the lots were made and distributed? Unless we are given permission to make packs of the models the only way to produce the original lots was to link to the original models wherever they might be. Unfortunately that also meant that the original lots should be removed and only the models kept so Remove Lists needed to be supplied.
If you don't mean that, perhaps you could be a little more explicit in exactly what you do mean.
Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened. TP



Barbypedia: More alive than the original

SC4BOY

Quote from: BarbyW on December 08, 2007, 01:12:09 AM
I am not sure just what you mean by this. Do you mean the way the lots were made and distributed? Unless we are given permission to make packs of the models the only way to produce the original lots was to link to the original models wherever they might be. Unfortunately that also meant that the original lots should be removed and only the models kept so Remove Lists needed to be supplied.
If you don't mean that, perhaps you could be a little more explicit in exactly what you do mean.

I am completely aware of WHY it is as it is.. this doesn't make it any less convoluted.. not much you can do about it.

But this interlinking and intertwining of links means that the ORDER in which things are done is critical in order to not mess up. There is nothing to prevent older items from overlaying and undoing or even messing up things that are already correct. Also "revision control" becomes a similar problem.. if you get a download and it is older than a more recent one and inadvertantly run it in the wrong order, it undoes and overlays what should not be changed or extracted.

I wish I had a suggestion as to how to control this and make it clear to the end user when to do what and how to avoid running something again later, thinking it is "right" but instead undoing what you had already made correct. If I had some clever idea, I'd offer it.. even offer to help if I could..

Only thought I had was to date updates so one could check. RippleJet said he'd try to do that.. at least that may prevent someone who's done the "CAM Install" process from going back and thinking that a change was new, only to mess up something he had already done.

I don't know how to handle the cleanitol sequence problem.

Don't know how clear I've been.. feel free to ask questions. Until you mess it up, you don't see this trap.. hehe.. at least I didn't. If I had a better memory maybe that would help.. they say that is the second thing that goes when you get old.. :)

You guys are working hard to make this work... don't take it personally.

RippleJet

Quote from: SC4BOY on December 08, 2007, 02:26:05 PM
I don't know how to handle the cleanitol sequence problem.

Normally there isn't really a problem.

The most common Cleanitol sequencing problem occurs in this way:

1. Batter A makes a bat and a Prop P, and uploads it, maybe as part of a lot.
2. Lotter B makes a lot and uses Prop P from the upload by A, which will be a dependency.
3. Batter A notices (s)he has made several props that are now scattered among several uploads.
4. Batter A decides to merge all his props into one big megapack and creates a Cleanitol file for it.
5. User C notices the recent megapack by Batter A and downloads it. He also runs the Cleanitol to remove outdated prop files.
6. User C finds and downloads the lot made by lotter B, and gets directed to the first upload by A for depencendy Prop P.
7. User C downloads Prop P in the first upload and installs it.

At this stage User C has Prop P in his plugins folder twice; the original one and included in the megapack.
This will, very marginally, slow down startup time when all exemplar files (e.g. props) are checked for links.
Once Prop P is appearing in the game, only one instance of the model file is loaded though, and won't make any difference.

If user C is an ordinary user, he won't even notice anything. ::)

If user C is a perfectionist, he saves the Cleanitol files that come with all megapacks and runs them every now and then, just to be sure he hasn't reinstalled any of the outdated prop files. He might also occasionally re-run Cleanitol with the BSC Cleanitol MEGA files that capo made, to make sure he's always up-to-date.

To start demanding that all lotters, B1, B2, B3, ... would correct their uploads and point to the correct megapack for dependencies is futile. $%Grinno$%

The most critical problem the end user might encounter is the dreadful brown box. ()lurker()
At that stage, nothing is simpler than querying the lot with the brown box to get its name.
Then, post a question here, with a picture, asking what dependency is missing, and usually within an hour the problem is solved. :thumbsup:

SC4BOY

Quote from: RippleJet on December 08, 2007, 04:05:32 PM
....
To start demanding that all lotters, B1, B2, B3, ... would correct their uploads and point to the correct megapack for dependencies is futile. $%Grinno$%

Lol.. of course!

QuoteThe most critical problem the end user might encounter is.....

It is a game after all....

rpadgett41

#55
I downloaded everything here and ran the removal program on each list; however, when I start it up, the startup screens do not come up and with a Ctrl+alt+del, I get a message that GDriver Window--direct X is not responding.

I reinstalled DirectX and uninstalled / reinstalled SC4...no dice.

Can you help me?

_________________________________________________________

As a follow up, the Cam Essentials Windows Pre-fetch is the culprit. I deleted it and SC4 came up as normal.

I assume this file is necessary for Cam to run properly. Any ideas why there is a conflict between this file and, I am guessing, Direct X? I'd like to fix this as I really like the idea behind this and would like to run it.

Thanks in advance.

rpadgett41

One additional item...ALL of my previous plug in installations are not recognized even though they remain in the plug in directory.
Is that supposed to happen, or do I have to reinstall everything...weeks of downloads.

RippleJet

Quote from: rpadgett41 on December 17, 2007, 11:35:37 AM
I downloaded everything here and ran the removal program on each list; however, when I start it up, the startup screens do not come up and with a Ctrl+alt+del, I get a message that GDriver Window--direct X is not responding.

I reinstalled DirectX and uninstalled / reinstalled SC4...no dice.

Can you help me?

_________________________________________________________

As a follow up, the Cam Essentials Windows Pre-fetch is the culprit. I deleted it and SC4 came up as normal.

I assume this file is necessary for Cam to run properly. Any ideas why there is a conflict between this file and, I am guessing, Direct X? I'd like to fix this as I really like the idea behind this and would like to run it.

Thanks in advance.


Neither the CAM nor the CAM Essentials (the query windows) has anything to do with the game's interaction with Direct X.
Actually none of the custom content for the game interferes with the game's internal graphics processor.

For diagnosing Direct X problems, Click <Start>, <Run> and enter dxdiag.
Check all tabs and see if everything appears to be working correctly.

If that looks ok, reinstalling the game might be the best option.
Back up your plugins folder and regions folder, since you should still be able to put them back after reinstalling.


Quote from: rpadgett41 on December 17, 2007, 12:22:16 PM
One additional item...ALL of my previous plug in installations are not recognized even though they remain in the plug in directory.
Is that supposed to happen, or do I have to reinstall everything...weeks of downloads.

Not sure what you mean with "not recognized", but it might be connected to your other (hardware?) problems...

rpadgett41

#58
Quote from: RippleJet on December 17, 2007, 12:35:54 PM

Neither the CAM nor the CAM Essentials (the query windows) has anything to do with the game's interaction with Direct X.
Actually none of the custom content for the game interferes with the game's internal graphics processor.

For diagnosing Direct X problems, Click <Start>, <Run> and enter dxdiag.
Check all tabs and see if everything appears to be working correctly.

If that looks ok, reinstalling the game might be the best option.
Back up your plugins folder and regions folder, since you should still be able to put them back after reinstalling.


Not sure what you mean with "not recognized", but it might be connected to your other (hardware?) problems...

DX is fine. Installed, re-installed, uninstalled, reinstalled...tried to remove all CAM components but clearly something remains and is screwing up my game.

Now, it will boot, but after choosing a part of a region, as the screen blacks after prepping, the game stops and goes right back to my desktop.

I don't mean to sound like a jerk; however, I did not have these problems until I installed all components of the CAM. At this point, I just want it back as it was.

Can you give me a listing of files to look for that should be removed? I am truly at a loss and a bit irritated by all of this.



Fixed your quote, RippleJet :thumbsup:

RippleJet

Quote from: rpadgett41 on December 17, 2007, 01:58:00 PM
I did not have these problems until I installed all components of the CAM. At this point, I just want it back as it was.

It is usually a very bad idea to install everything you've downloaded at once without testrunning the game in between.

The CAM itself is very small and won't use any of your RAM or Video memory.
However, if you've downloaded every available CAMeLot, maybe your computer resources simple are not adequate to handle them all...


Quote from: rpadgett41 on December 17, 2007, 01:58:00 PM
Can you give me a listing of files to look for that should be removed? I am truly at a loss and a bit irritated by all of this.

Try to run the game with an empty plugins folder to start with. Just Rush Hour, and no custom content at all.
If that won't help, then you would first have to reinstall the game itself.