Web Button Improvement Mod 1.0

This is a really good idea that I can't believe nobody else thought of.

On 5/2/2020 at 6:18 AM, biff said:

This is a really good idea that I can't believe nobody else thought of.

Agreed - and the turnaround from conception to delivery was, as I am discovering, typically brisk - thanks @Cyclone Boom

Which leads me to something else I've been meaning to get around to saying (and now's as god a time and place as any), but you and @CorinaMarie have been doing some great work here. You guys weren't around back when I was playing previously, and I'll admit to being a little wary initially, when I came back to find you both seemingly (well, literally) having taken over!

But it didn't take long, starting with Cori's excellent content guides, to recognise you both as a breath of fresh air. I'm starting to feel like this game has been entering a golden period (where the average level of dedication and sophistication of players towards the game and custom content is higher; combined with the rich history of modifications/additions/info/fixes/discoveries made over the years, and is resulting in  a "mature playscape" (if you will) of incredible complexity, beauty and of infinite custom-ability).

Sure, it can all get a bit complicated at times - but let's face it, doesn't half the fun from this game at times come from solving technical issues and making things work and grow... /

Anyway, rant over, and thanks again (the dead button did annoy me mildly, reinforcing the age of the (underlying) game!)

@thingfishs

Thank you for the kind heartfelt words about Cori and me. We do try our best around here, and is also an absolute joy to be involved in this community. You're very welcome, and it's also always a delight in creating these little projects and seeing how they can be useful to others. To see SC4 still thriving all these years later and how it's become more of a hobby for most of us, that's the brilliant thing.

Here's to many more years.

This is really cool! Great job with the mod, I really love the idea and I'm glad someone had such an attention to detail and the skills to pull off such a thing. If possible, could you please make a version that links to the Internet Archive backup of the SimCity 4 website? This would pretty much restore the original functionality of the button and it would be great for nostalgia.

https://web.archive.org/web/20061019070117/http://SimCity.ea.com/

@Admiral Moo

Thanks for the kind words, and glad you think so.

I've whipped up a version for Option D which links to the archived SimCity.ea.com page instead. Good idea there!

Here's the zip with the file for full screen or windowed (choose one):

Web Button Improvement Mod_v1.0 - EA Archived Link for Option D.zip

This mod is very useful could you please make a version that links to the Internet Archive backup of the SimCity 4 website?

https://cities-mods.com/xlex/categories/SimCity-4.73/

16 hours ago, NICK97 said:

This mod is very useful could you please make a version that links to the Internet Archive backup of the SimCity 4 website?

I'm glad to hear it's useful.

However I'm a little confused, since the link you posted to your own site is inconsistent with your request. In the message above (and linked here for your convenience) is the version (Option D) which does point to the Internet Archive index of the old SC4 EA site.

Of course, you can modify your own copy of my mod for your own personal use, by editing the LTEXT in the following file entries:

2026960B-6A231EAA-0A5128F3
2026960B-6A231EAA-4A779D9D
 

Can we use both windowed and full-screen modes at the same time? What if I want the button to disappear whether it's windowed or not?

18 hours ago, Sniffeh said:

Can we use both windowed and full-screen modes at the same time? What if I want the button to disappear whether it's windowed or not?

Hi Sniffeh, and thanks for asking.

Testing this just now, I've confirmed how it's possible to use either the windowed or full screen options (from both folders). In terms of functionality they'll work fine in altering or removing the Web Button, and the only difference between windowed or full screen is with the bottom left lower UI panel. If choosing the Windowed option, that part of the UI will be raised up slightly on screen. When loading a city though it'll be just as it normally is, since my mod only controls the region view UI panels.

Using the Raise UI mod allows raising up the panel when inside a loaded city.

I did investigate whether it's possible to not include the lower left part of the UI panel, but that caused the game to crash from my testing. This might still be solvable, but I haven't looked into investigating this further.

So in summary, if you wish to switch between running SC4 full screen or windowed, to use the windowed version of my mod might be the best trade-off for now. Otherwise if you fancy a more intricate solution, applying an automated screen switching method may well come in useful. This is a bit technical though and involves creating a batch file to start the game and move files in/out of Plugins.

Just in case you're curious to pursue this, I'll post the link...