Celebrating 20 years of no competitors to SimCity 4

[Kruno]

https://community.simtropolis.com/news/celebrating-20-years-of-simcity-4-r862/

It is a huge disappointment that nothing else has come out to challenge SC4. Games like Cities Skylines are city painters, and while they do have a simulation aspect it isn't anywhere near as complex as SC4, and they can easily be "beaten". Even after careful play in SC4, after managing several neighbouring cities, the challenge isn't done. I have had to go back and forth balancing budgets and trying to figure out what went wrong and where.

My one wish before I die would be to see a game that surpasses SC4.

I would even take a Nightdive Studios remaster. :D

 

[luj1]

Most of the Renaissance era stuff (1996-2004) will never be surpassed. It was not only RPGs that blossomed during this time.

 

[Ladonna]

I haven't played any newer Total War games since Medieval II, have any of those managed to outdo the earlier games?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Most of the Renaissance era stuff (1996-2004) will never be surpassed. It was not only RPGs that blossomed during this time.

ok millennial

 

[luj1]

Most of the Renaissance era stuff (1996-2004) will never be surpassed. It was not only RPGs that blossomed during this time.

ok millennial

ok 50 year old consoletard and graphics whore

 

[catfood]

I haven't played any newer Total War games since Medieval II, have any of those managed to outdo the earlier games?

I played Shogun 2 and I liked the improvements that they did to the strategic map. The diplomacy system especially is a lot more indepth than the older titles. The reason why I still prefer the old games though is that I could never get into the combat engine that they use with the newer titles. It just feels wrong somehow. The combat speed is way too fast and the graphics are so muddled that I can't even tell what's going on half the time.

 

[Raghar]

I haven't played any newer Total War games since Medieval II, have any of those managed to outdo the earlier games?

WTF how could you miss these ninja animations in Shogun 2? C'mon they were awesome.

 

[Ladonna]

I mostly played the original, then 3000.

 

[fork]

I would even take a Nightdive Studios remaster. :D

Lost your brofist with this last sentence.

Is SimCity 4 the best SimCity game?

By far.
But it needs a couple of mods to fix a few things. It's been too long though to tell you which ones.
I should continue playing my old region from back then with 1mio+ population.
But then again I'm burned out, so what for?

 

[Raghar]

Can't you get easy money in that game by simply shooting city by a tank? No budget problems, no unsolvable problems.

 

[Kathlyn Kitty Kat]

I haven't played any newer Total War games since Medieval II, have any of those managed to outdo the earlier games?

Rome 2 and Atilla are nice for modern total wars, but the prime of the series is with shogun 2.

 

[Volrath]

Most of the Renaissance era stuff (1996-2004) will never be surpassed. It was not only RPGs that blossomed during this time.

Depressing, isn't it?

 

[Denim Destroyer]

What I consider to be saddest about SimCity 4 lacking competitors is how in two decades no one manage to take everything that made the game good while simultaneously adding quality of life features such as better performance and improved asset selection menu. No city builder released since SimCity 4 has had a comparable level of simulation, artistic detail, mod support, and difficulty. Truly legendary game and a prime example of how a genre managed to perfect itself.

 

[fork]

Most of the Renaissance era stuff (1996-2004) will never be surpassed. It was not only RPGs that blossomed during this time.

Depressing, isn't it?

Compared to everything else going down the shitter as well? Not really, no.

 

[JarlFrank]

I haven't played any newer Total War games since Medieval II, have any of those managed to outdo the earlier games?

No.

Some of the newer titles are decent (Shogun 2 is good, Attila is also good) but the new engine they're using for post-Medieval 2 games has several issues.
Rome 1 and Medieval 2 both had a shitload of total conversion mods. In fact, new mods are still being made for these games on the regular. Massive mods that strive for historical correctness, unit diversity, campaign scripts etc.

The new engine makes it much harder to edit the world map (currently it's still impossible but some modders are working on a tool for Attila) so there are no massive mods of the same scale.

The one thing they improved in the new engine though is that there is no generic "rebels" faction anymore, instead minor factions are their own diplomatic entities you can interact with individually.

The worst part of the new Total War games, however, is that they are moving away from simulationism and towards abstract systems with every new game. Units now have HP pools instead of attacks merely checking against combat skill and armor value to determine whether they're lethal. And a lot of shit in the newest games (Three Kingdoms, Warhammer, Troy) is abstract modifiers, like a shield wall formation giving +100% resistance to arrows regardless of where the arrows come from, so you can shoot them in the back and still do zero damage... whereas in the original Rome a testudo formation merely had the soldiers arrange their shields in a way that makes arrows hard to go through, and then it was a simulation of projectiles hitting the hitboxes of the shields.

As a result the newer games feel a lot more arcadey.

 

[Ladonna]

Rome 1 and Medieval 2 both had a shitload of total conversion mods. In fact, new mods are still being made for these games on the regular. Massive mods that strive for historical correctness, unit diversity, campaign scripts etc.

Yeah, this is one reason I haven't bothered getting any newer games in the series; there are so many total conversion mods of these games, and they are far superior to the stuff CA actually put out.

 

[JarlFrank]

Rome 1 and Medieval 2 both had a shitload of total conversion mods. In fact, new mods are still being made for these games on the regular. Massive mods that strive for historical correctness, unit diversity, campaign scripts etc.

Yeah, this is one reason I haven't bothered getting any newer games in the series; there are so many total conversion mods of these games, and they are far superior to the stuff CA actually put out.

Rome Remastered is worth it for the mods. It had a bit of a wonky launch and apparently still some bugs, though I didn't encounter any. It's based on the mobile port of the original Rome.

On its own, it's just a serviceable port of the original game to modern systems. But the real treasure is the modding capability: the devs have removed most of the original game's hardcoded limitations, so modders can now include much bigger maps, more units, more complex scripts, etc etc.

The remaster was made by Feral Interactive, not CA themselves. They're a third party dev who usually do mobile ports, but the PC version was obviously a passion project to some degree, despite its flaws. The initial release was underwhelming but then they talked to modders and listened to their requests, and now we have the most thoroughly moddable Total War game ever, using a modernized version of the original Rome engine.

There is a major mod currently in development, made by people who worked on Rome Total Realism and Roma Surrectum: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2487698001

It's worth it just for that tbh. Largest map in a Total War game ever, with tons of minor factions, huge unit variety, a culture system, and much much more. It's still in development but already playable.

Then there's Chivalry Total War Remastered; Chivalry was a medieval mod for the original Rome, this started as a straight port of it to the Remastered engine, but has since grown beyond that, adding more factions and a bigger map: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2672689065

 

[index.php]

https://www.moddb.com/mods/network-...od-nam-version-47-for-simcity-4-now-available

Network Addon Mod (NAM) Version 47 for SimCity 4 Now Available

In the 20th year since SimCity 4's release, the team behind its longest-running and most-downloaded modding project continues onward. The NAM Team is pleased to announce the release of the 47th (yes, forty-seventh!) edition of its flagship Network Addon Mod, NAM 47, which features a number of groundbreaking features, from opposite sides of the transportation spectrum.

The RealHighway Mod (RHW) has been a very visible and actively-developed part of the NAM ecosystem for over 15 years, under the auspices of NAM Team lead developer Tarkus. The RHW has provided users the ability to construct a dizzyingly complex highway systems--including those by popular SC4 YouTuber Haljackey. However, its widest network has topped out at 10 lanes (5 per direction) since 2009, when RHW Version 3.0 debuted as part of the NAM 24 release cycle. NAM 47 finally ups this limit, with addition of the long-awaited RHW-12S network, featuring 12 lanes (6 per direction), at ground level and two levels of elevation (Level 1/7.5 meters, and Level 2/15 meters).

Not only does this new feature provide wider highways, but it also brings with it the prospect of wider ramps. NAM 47 also marks the debut of two new types of ramp interfaces, Type A3 and Type D3, which add support for higher-capacity 3-lane ramps to branch off three of the widest highways in the RHW: the RHW-8S, RHW-10S, and the new RHW-12S. NAM Team member Ulisse Wolf's first "secret weapon" video for NAM 47 showcases all the features of these new wider highways and ramps:



On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, NAM 47 brings substantial new gameplay options for active transportation to the table. The NAM has included the Pedestrian Malls feature--PedMalls, for short--since NAM 6 was released, way back in July 2004, which provide the ability to build completely pedestrianized streets. However, aside from some minor additions in the early days, and the vastly improved ability to connect PedMalls to the sidewalks along one's surface streets in NAM 33, and the more recent addition of the Midblock Crossings in NAM 45, the pedestrian side of the NAM's transportation toolkit has not seen much development until recently. This was in part due to the game's long-running (and hardcoded) issues with being able to properly support RCI (Residential, Commercial, Industrial) zoning along completely pedestrian-based networks.

However, thanks to the efforts of Pedestrian Revolution Mod developers Lucario Boricua and Ulisse Wolf, this restriction has finally been lifted. NAM 47 marks the debut of the Draggable Classic PedMalls feature, which features 8 different styles of PedMalls, all getting arond the game's hardcoded limitations and providing proper pedestrianized RCI zone access--even for Residential zones. Ulisse Wolf's second "secret weapon" video for NAM 47 showcases this groundbreaking development.



As these development show, the NAM Team remains committed to providing a wide range of new options for SimCity 4 transportation, whether you want to add "one more lane, bro", seek to build the ultimate walkable city--or perhaps even both. In addition, the NAM Team has also added a number of other features and fixes for the game's transportation system. Here's the complete feature list from the NAM 47 release notes:

• Pedestrian Revolution Mod Features:
  • The NAM Team is pleased to present the Classic Draggable Pedmalls, courtesy of Ulisse Wolf and Lucario Boricua. These come in 8 styles, 6 of which are equivalents to the Pedmall Puzzle Pieces, and introducing 2 new designs: the Retrowave Red Brick, inspired in the old brick texture used for the U-Rail in earlier NAM versions, and the Industrial Style, using the concrete surface typical of industrial lots. The initially supported features of these pedmalls include:
    • Multidirectional draggable starter pieces using the Street network, supporting all orthogonal, diagonal, intersection and roundabout configurations, with the exception of wide radius curves.
    • Intersection support (OXO T and 4-way) in the form of mid-block crosswalks. These support Road, Avenue, and all two-way Network Widening Mod override networks (TLA-3, AVE-2, ARD-3, NRD-4, TLA-5, RD-4, RD-6, TLA-7 and AVE-6). These draggable pedmalls are also compatible with the FLEX mid-block crosswalk pieces.
    • Special underground paths enable residential zone development, while crossings discourage car traffic through restricted car paths.
  • In addition, some enhancements to existing functionality have been implemented:
    • The override code for the size 3 mid-block crosswalks for TLA-7 and AVE-6 have been overhauled, enabling these to be overridden from one side.
• RealHighway (RHW) Features:
  • RHW-12SA new, 12-lane quadruple-tile RHW network (separable into two dual-tile halves, carrying 6 lanes in each direction) has been added, with the following features:
    • Three height levels are supported: L0/Ground, L1/7.5-meter elevation, and L2/15-meter elevation. Transitioning between these height levels is supported by the ramp-style FLEX Height Transitions (FLEX-HT), as well as the FLEX OnSlope Transitions (FLEX-OSTs), by connecting them to the RHW-12S networks.
    • The RHW-12S features the same network crossings presently available to the other S-Type RHW networks, including crossings in all orientations for all Maxis base networks, all other RHW networks, Draggable Ground Light Rail, and Draggable Road Viaducts (L0-under-Viaduct-only), plus Orthogonal x Orthogonal (OxO)-only support for Network Widening Mod networks, Elevated RealRailway (ERRW) Viaducts, Tram-on-Street, Tram-in-Road, and Tram-in-Avenue. Limited Hybrid Railway (HRW) support also exists.
    • Extensive ramp interface support: supported ramps using FLEXRamps and Draggable Ramp Interfaces (when applicable) include Orthogonal Type A1 (all levels), Type B1 (all levels), Type D1 (all levels), Type E1 (all levels), Type A2 (all levels), Type B2 (L0 only), Type D2 (all levels), Type E2 (L0 only), Type A1-Inside (all levels), Type B1-Inside (all levels), Type D1-Inside (L0 only), Type E1-Inside (L0 only), the new Type A3 (L0 only) and Type D3 (L0 only), plus Diagonal Type A1 (L0 only), Type B1 (L0 only), Type D1 (L0 only), and Type E1 (L0 only).
    • FLEX Width Transition (FLEX-WT) has been added, to support width transitions between RHW-12S and RHW-10S at all applicable height levels.
    • FLEXFly over and undercrossings are supported with the RHW-12S (orthogonal-only, as diagonal undercrossings for FLEXFly do not presently exist for any network).
    • Several bridges have been added (see Bridge section).
    • Support for FlexSPUI is presently limited, and Three-Level Crossings are not yet supported.
  • RHW X3 Ramps: The first two FLEX 3-lane ramps, in A3 and D3 configurations, have been provided for RHW-8S, 10S and 12S. At present, only L0 support is available.
  • General Improvements:
    • Some enhancements, courtesy of memo, have been made to facilitate FLEXFly-over-FLEXFly functionality.
    • Some enhancements, courtesy of Flann, to elevated RHW network models have been added.
    • Various adjacencies involving RHW x RHW crossings next to the base orth-diag curve on the smaller networks (RHW-6S and smaller) have been addressed.
• Bridges: A multitude of new bridges have been added, courtesy of IDS2 and Kitsune:
  • New viaduct bridges for L0 RHW-8S, L0 RHW-10S and L0-L2 RHW-12S.
  • A pair of new Steel Arch bridges for RHW-10S and RHW-12S.
• Base Network Features: A new 5x5 90° Wide Radius Curve FLEX piece has been added to the Avenue network.
• Miscellaneous: A huge number of bugfixes have been done for this release, including:
  • Various RHW situations involving "tile drops", such as the RHW-8S-to-6S FLEX Width Transitions, the RHW-8S Type D1, E1, and B2 ramps, and the RHW-10S Type D2 and E2 ramps, have received considerable stability upgrades.
  • The orientation of the Road end-T on OWR-1 intersection has been corrected.
  • The orientations of certain NWM intersections involving the OWR-1 network with Euro textures have been corrected.
  • Stability improvements have been made to the Ground Light Rail crossings with various wider RHW networks.
  • The Dual Type 230 QCXs with L1 Dual Type 230-over-RHW-8C/6C and RHW-10S/8S have been improved.
  • Issues in which lane drop arrows appeared in the wrong places on the S-to-C FLEX Width Transitions have been corrected.
  • The ramp textures for the RHW-10S Type D2 and E2 ramps, as well as for the RHW-8S Type A2-Wide and B2 ramps have been improved.
  • Orientation and stability issues have been fixed with the Avenue-based AVE-6 and its Thru-T-intersections with Street, Road, and One-Way Road (both Short-T and Long-T).
  • Orthogonal x Diagonal slip lanes involving Road and One-way Road (OWR) have been re-implemented.
  • Several hundred path files across all areas of the NAM have been fixed by memo and Tarkus.
  • More SAM Street crossings with the Rail network have received crossing gates.
  • Euro wealth textures have been added to the Avenue-based AVE-6 network.

Download NAM 47 today from ModDB:

​

Additionally, for those seeking a lighter, more minimal NAM experience, the new NAM Lite package has been upgraded to Version 3, featuring a number of fixes over its predecessor, and also adding support for FLEX Road Overpasses, which allow users to easily cross over railways and other surface streets with their Roads, One-Way Roads, and Avenues.

We hope you enjoy this latest offering of the Network Addon Mod--and stay tuned, as we continue to add even more functionality on all fronts. More on the NAM, including documentation, feature guides, history, and general reference can be found at our new site, sc4nam.com. You can also interact with the NAM Team on the SC4 Devotion Discord Server.
Download NAM Lite 3 today from ModDB:

​

 

[flyingjohn]

Any actual decent indie competitors when it comes to city builders?

 

[Norfleet]

Did Shitty Skylines not qualify as a competitor?

 

[Zero Credibility]

Any actual decent indie competitors when it comes to city builders?

I am not really a huge fan of the genre, but I had a lot of fun recently with Workers & Resources. It's still in early access and can be quite clunky, but the atmosphere and the level of detail in what is needed to build a functioning city/state definitely hooked me.

 

[Raghar]

Any actual decent indie competitors when it comes to city builders?

No because original game was build by team who wanted to do simulation, and didn't want merely do a commercial product.
So original games were REAL PITA to play because it simulated increased running costs of old power plants and did a real simulation of pollution. Thus they were useful for more than just city building.

New attempts are just flashy 3D games that has no detailed underlaying simulation. Of course, I wonder how many players want play a game where a major is cheating state to get new power plant running before old falls appart.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Tell me you've never played Simcity without telling me you never played Simcity.

 

[Norfleet]

Reminds me how Sim City 4 was actually kinda garbo and insanely hard at release, the game really improved with the god-tier Rush Hour expansion.

That's because that expansion basically hands you free money for doing a silly quest.

 

[Norfleet]

My memory sucks, but I'm pretty sure it was pretty much impossible to run a decent positive balance in the vanilla game.

The most profitable thing in the vanilla game is the mass transit system. Sims love to ride the trains. They love to ride the trains so much that they will do nothing but ride the trains in circles around the world map if you give them the chance.