Supported
About This File
It's time to explore Park Effect in Data View form.
In our 4th official CoriBoom™ release to the STEX, @CorinaMarie and I are delighted to present a mod which represents the effects of Parks Aura as a Data View.
SimCity 4 is an intricate and creative city building simulation, featuring extensive information for how interactions are connected with various wide-ranging gameplay variables.
Much of this happens under the hood, and so it's not always plainly evident exactly what's going on.
There are ways to observe and determine the desirable and more unsavory parts of town. In terms of a visual representation though of aura effects, this isn't directly defined as displayed data. As such it might not be apparent just how far the negative aura spreads from the local landfill, or the positiveness generated from plopped parks. By knowing this information, it's possible to make design decisions based on what it means.
As we've all become familiar with the standard offering of mayoral tools, Cori's Parks Aura is a mod you may not have realized might ever be useful. However, we believe it is very much so. 
What this allows is a completely new perspective into the diverse interactions of the simulation, and to determine more distinctly the reasons for residential development in different locations.
Background Info
Parks Aura is a primary YIMBY factor in SC4 which allows residential development to thrive. However in the game, this data is hidden away in the simulation and cannot visibly be seen.
The standard Desirability view can help to a limited extent. This represents several variables including "Transient Aura" effects, but it doesn't directly depict the Park Effect as many ploppable lots provide.
That's where you may find our mod useful, giving a new perspective to see how this important data is formed within a city. It can be used to make strategical city planning decisions for where zoning should take place, and also to identify the sources for where either the positive or negative Park Effect is emitted from.
Note that this mod is a visual representation of the Parks Aura within each city tile. It doesn't modify or alter the strength of aura effects, or any aspect of the gameplay whatsoever.
Main Design Features
Extreme cogitation has been devoted into all modding aspects:
- Proven verified accuracy in the data representation.
- Distinct breakpoints allow the data to be seen clearly and precisely.
- Blending between the green and neutral allows for a gradual transition of the aura magnitude.
- Updated legend scale with distinguishable colors (and value ranges represented).
- Neutral aura is shown as an opaque and contrasting white shade.
- Subtle transparency which lets the terrain show through.
- Landfills and other trash processing facilities are highlighted yellow in the panel map so they're visible.
- RCI zones appear when the view is active.
- Overrides the standard Garbage view.
The Data Distribution
As mentioned, extensive testing has been conducted to identify the breakpoint thresholds forming the scale.
This was done through a methodical and progressional testing approach, incrementally narrowing down the possibilities until identifying where each range is distributed. This is important because it means the distributions of how colors are arranged is fully accurate to their true values.
For representing the data, a Color Ramp scale is used.
As follows:
This forms how the Data View panel appears with the 9 breakpoints:
Sample Pics
In addition to the above previews, here's a few samples from how the Parks Aura view appears in game:
(Click to enlarge, and the arrow keys can be used to flick between them.)
Deuteranopia Version
(For color blindness)
To help in consideration for people with Deuteranopia color blindness, we've created a version specially with an optimized color scale. This allows the full extent of the ranges to be seen in shades from dark yellow to dark blue, meaning they contrast distinctly to equally represent the Parks Aura data accurately.
Here's the file to install in the same way (place in your Plugins folder instead of the main file):
zz_Deuteranopia DataView - Cori's Parks Aura v1.0.dat 
Open the spoiler below for a sample:
This is a simulated Deuteranopia preview using the Color Oracle tool:
And here's a preview for what it appears for those with trichromatic color vision:
(For those with Deuteranopia color blindness, these two images above should appear very similar, if not identical.)
On a related note, we previously created a Data Views mod for Deuteranopia:
As follows:
Note: The included Garbage view there would conflict with this Parks Aura mod since it replaces that, and so it'd be a case of installing one or the other (not both of them).
Note on Maxis Parks
An observation from testing is how the Maxis Parks generate a high amount of aura. This is cumulative which means it builds up as more are located within a close vicinity. As such it means they're prone to producing the maximum extent of Park Effect that is shown as the top end Lovely side of the scale.
For reference, here's a list of the data values:
M = 10 R = 10 Open Paved Area
M = 20 R = 80 Ranger Station
M = 25 R = 15 Small Plaza
M = 25 R = 25 Medium Plaza
M = 30 R = 15 Open Grass Area
M = 30 R = 30 Basketball Court
M = 30 R = 30 Tennis Court
M = 30 R = 50 Soccer Field
M = 30 R = 50 Softball Field
M = 30 R = 60 Skateboard Park
M = 35 R = 30 Large Plaza
M = 40 R = 35 Community Garden (All 4)
M = 40 R = 40 Gazebo
M = 50 R = 15 Small Park Green
M = 60 R = 15 Small Flower Garden
M = 60 R = 15 Small Playground
M = 60 R = 30 Medium Park Green
M = 70 R = 30 Medium Flower Garden
M = 75 R = 25 Medium Playground
M = 75 R = 45 Large Park Green
M = 80 R = 10 Beach
M = 85 R = 45 Large Flower Garden
(M = Magnitude R = Radius)
With these strengths of effects and it's very easy to build a few Small, Medium, or Large classed parks and see how the coverage soon mounts up.
Additional Notes
Aura Thresholds
The highest aura the game tracks is 166 and above, which is represented by the Lovely shade.
Once the 100 threshold is attained, this is significant because it's the maximum usefulness for positive aura. As per what @xxdita posted here, it's the most that RCI see as an aura growth cap (YIMBY factor).
Quoting for reference:
On 09/01/2020 at 12:32 PM, xxdita said:This is the maximum amount of Park Effect that can influence any RCI type.
Color Layering
Due to the color ramp having a light opacity which depicts the data in a more elegant fashion, occasionally the Yuck color at the negative end will appear somewhat purple shaded when over water. This happens because the shades mix up with the added blue hues.
Additionally the same applies for different terrain mods also. Any given terrain mod will alter the color on the playing area. The scale has been optimally designed for regular green and brownish terrain, however the layering may appear differently depending on each individual type of terrain.
Game Glitch Discovered: Phantom Aura
You may occasionally find how some Park Effect still persists from an unknown source. As per what @Naomi57 posted here, and @xxdita also did here, it can be seen how the data is still shown even with nothing plopped to generate the effect.
When bulldozing some lots which produce aura, we believe our mod is revealing how the game doesn't always fully tidy up the underlying data. In our own tests, it doesn't appear tied to any particular lot. Also any given lot may or may not produce the leftover incorrect Park Effect data.
As a potential remedy, we suggest to run at least a full month of game time prior to bulldozing any park, especially on ones larger than 1 x 1 in size. Then save the game, bulldoze the lot, and run a few more days while watching our Parks Aura data view. Should the glitch appear, now exit without saving and come back to try again. Or better still, avoid bulldozing any parks! 
This really is an area where it was never known about until having a tool to show it. Quite possibly this view might explain why sometimes there can be stalled development if the phantom aura is causing it to be. Making regular backups of one's cities is thoroughly recommended in any case.
Again, just to emphasize how our mod doesn't alter any data, and only displays what the game already has calculated. This is all internally stored and presented from within the internal saved file.
Location of Garbage
Since we expect most people already effectively manage their garbage well, only the location of the trash facilities is displayed (highlighted yellow). Additionally, the Garbage Graph is more useful if needing to know how close to capacity one is, over the trends of time.
Installation
This mod uses the standard process of installing SC4 content.
Copy the z_DataView - Cori's Parks Aura v1.0.dat file into the root of your Plugins.
The file is prefixed with a "z_" to ensure it loads last. This is important because otherwise the replacement view wouldn't override others which alter the Garbage Data View.
So, just to be clear...
*** Replaces the default Garbage Data View ***
(And let's face it, that is pretty rubbish for usefulness! 
)
Note: This v1.0 version is functionally the same as the final v0.15 beta release.
The exception is a small change that rearranges the legend scale text, making them sequentially ordered from the low to high range values (which seems more logical).
Special Thanks
To everyone who helped with testing and posting feedback from the inherited development thread, the scope and direction wouldn't have been achievable without your valuable input to assist.
In particular, the meticulous testing carefully conducted by @Naomi57 with each posted beta version inspired this release to be possible.
Thank you! 
// CoriBoom™ Productions Release \\
Cori's Parks Aura v1.0 — (26 Jan 2020)
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