Lot Editor - Help

[SC4B 55]

Hello,

i made a model, a petrol station

And after i exported it as draft model, i went to the plugin manager and i saved it under landmark and CS$$

 

But then when i went to the lot editor and my building was not there

 

My previous models are there but not this one. i need help because im gonna upload that BAT to STEX

[rsc204 21,806]

How big are the buildings dimensions? Is the lot you are trying to use actually big enough to show the building, maybe try expanding the lot size before changing the building?

 

If that's not your problem, check that the Plugin Manager correctly created the SC4Desc file when creating the building exemplar, perhaps try this again in case something went wrong?

[tankmank 853]

Ok, i have an issue here, i have been lot editing some stuff i have downloaded, everything is fine in LE, but the problem arises when i try to plop or grow the building in game, it doesn't show in the appropriate menu or will not grow. And then when i try to open the lot again in LE, it crashes or i simply can't find it in the menu 

[Nevermore2797 112]

How can I change the direction of a prop that I added?

[Cyclone Boom 16,852]

How can I change the direction of a prop that I added?

 

This can be done by selecting the prop, then using the keys:

 

PgUp (anti-clockwise) / PgDn (clockwise).

 

A full list of the keyboard shortcuts are included in the Lot Editor's manual, usually located at:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Lot Editor Manual.htm"

[Nevermore2797 112]

 

How can I change the direction of a prop that I added?

 

This can be done by selecting the prop, then using the keys:

 

PgUp (anti-clockwise) / PgDn (clockwise).

 

A full list of the keyboard shortcuts are included in the Lot Editor's manual, usually located at:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Lot Editor Manual.htm"

 

Where does the save file goes? Oh, I see it.. It's in My Documents.

[rsc204 21,806]

Might be worth noting that the Plugin Manager only reads files from the root of the Plugins folder in My Documents, similarly the Lot Editor will only save files here, so for example if you load a lot from a subfolder in plugins and save it in the Lot Editor it will actually create a copy in the root of the folder, the original one will still remain unchanged. Since SC4 would load the old version in the subfolder after the files in the root of plugins only the old version would then be seen in-game.

[nos.17 5,112]

So I've come across something interesting. In the LE (and PIMX for that matter), when there are two overlay textures on the same tile, the overlay with the larger value IID will show up above the other one. This would answer a lot of questions (and solve a lot of frustration on my part).

Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[rsc204 21,806]

Possibly within the LE/PIM-X that's what you see but in game they flight for the same space (z-flighting) causing them to switch around as you change zooms usually. You can see this effect on the maxis large plaza or university buildings.

General rule is don't use multiple overlays unless no part of them affects the same pixel to avoid this. The best solution where they do is to combine the two overlays into a new texture.

[nos.17 5,112]

Possibly within the LE/PIM-X that's what you see but in game they flight for the same space (z-flighting) causing them to switch around as you change zooms usually. You can see this effect on the maxis large plaza or university buildings.

General rule is don't use multiple overlays unless no part of them affects the same pixel to avoid this. The best solution where they do is to combine the two overlays into a new texture.

So there really is no rhyme or reason as to which one appears on top? Interesting. I suppose I'll have to break out the old Photoshop then. Thanks rsc.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

I can definitely confirm what rsc204 stated above: In game, either texture will appear on top, and there's indeed no rhyme nor reason, only random selection.

You can sometimes sneak past the effect if the overlapping part is situated under a building or prop, or otherwise hidden from view by objects on the lot from all perspectives. Likewise, if the texture pattern on the overlapping part isn't too dissimilar, players may not even notice that the textures switch back and forth all the time. It remains a kludge, though.

[gviper 922]

Here's my prob: I'm trying to edit some avenue dividers. I take away the props I want and attempt to put some lights in. I see a road section (since is road enabled) in the view box on editor so when I attempt to place the lights they center on the road not the lot. I attempted to adjust lot width and depth but as soon as the road disappears, the ability to add props does as well. Would love some help with this. Thanks!

[T Wrecks 10,209]

I might have left my brain at the office entrance, but I'm really having trouble following your description, I'm afraid.

• What avenue dividers are you editing, what do you take away props from?
• What do you mean by "put some lights in" - lamppost props? Light cone props? Something else?
• Are you talking about a divider between roads, or about a lot to be plopped on the road? Why avenue divider, but transit enabled for road?
• What do you mean by "lights center on the road, not the lot"? Props appear where you place them, they don't "center" on anything. Or are we not talking about props? Are you even using the default Lot Editor, or the lot editing application of PIM-X?

I think a screenshot and a link to the lots you are trying to modify would be most helpful.

  Edited December 4, 2015 by T Wrecks  

[JP Schriefer 5,590]

juliok02912 is having a problem to run the Lot Editor but he's just too lazy to ask for help on the forums so I'm here to do it

The L.E. is looking very weird as you can see in the image. He tried to do as I did once when Cyclone Boom told me to add '-d:soft' in the target but it didn't work to him. Anybody has any idea about it? Thanks in advance.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

"Unauthenticated" - cannot see the picture, unfortunately.

[rsc204 21,806]

If you mean the lot editor is flickering and giving an inconsistent display, usually "-D:soft" will fix the problem. Check there is a space before the command switch and that the syntax (structure) of the command is correct.

Beyond that, all I can suggest is trying either to use a different graphics driver. Update them if possible, sometimes an earlier version may work too.

Should that also fail, I'd recommend switching to PIM-X instead, it shouldn't have such issues.

[JP Schriefer 5,590]

Sorry about that, it was a Skype link so I believe it was not public, but here it is:

I'll check if he's doing right. With PIM-X the Lot Editor is useless? Or it's a need anyway?

[rsc204 21,806]

Sorry - seems I missed your update. But yes, if you have PIM-X, the Lot Editor can be binned, since it replaces it and the PIM entirely.

I'm not sure what's going on there really, the flickering is hard to capture in a screenshot. But it things look like they are appearing/disappearing and the screen is "tearing", that's the typical LE bug. If switching the renderer doesn't work, that's very odd, since software rendering doesn't use the GPU, it should work with any x86 chip. Let me know if the problem is still and issue, but I think PIM-X might be the easiest solution here.

[VandyMan09 4]

Hi guys,

I'm having an issue (specifically with the University of Clayhurst lots, but also with several others) where I alter either the base or overlay textures and save as.  The new lot files appear in my plugins folder, and some appear in the landmarks menu as I would expect (the lots with no buildings such as the quads) but not all (specifically the actual academic buildings).  They are not located in any menu in game.  Am I missing something?  I'd really like to change the sidewalk textures on the lots to match my sidewalk texture for my roads.

[rsc204 21,806]

Are these reward lots that unlock per-chance? If so these have a property that prevents you from editing them in Lot Editor. Either use PIM-X which is better than the LE IMO and has no such restriction. Otherwise you can open the file in Reader and change the property "Conditional Building" to "0x00 (False)". Don't forget after editing the lot, you must change it back to "0x01 (True)", thus allowing you to modify it in the LE.

Otherwise, bear in mind LE has a number of restrictions on saving lots. In many cases it will create a new duplicate lot, in the root of the plugins folder. If the old file loads after it, then your changes are there, they are just being overridden. To fix this, place the new edited lots somewhere they load after the original. Again, PIM-X can freely edit lots which are in DATs or not in the root of plugins, without such duplicates. Really can't recommended it enough.

[adambailey39 86]

how do you move props up and down for putting props in the roof?

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Pushing [CTRL]+[UP]/[DOWN] will raise/lower the prop by 0.1m each. With [SHIFT]+ [CTRL]+[UP]/[DOWN], you can raise/lower props by 1.0 m with each step.

Just for future reference, the Lot Editor comes with a manual that can be found in your main Simcity 4 folder (Lot Editor Manual.htm). This contains the keyboard shortcuts, among other things.

[raynev1 1,886]

@T Wrecks Thanks for sharing that tid bit about the manual , I learn something new everyday .

[T Wrecks 10,209]

To be fair, EA is not very vocal about that manual. They smuggle it into that directory during the LE installation, never to tell you about it. It's no wonder that questions about LE keyboard shortcuts keep popping up every now and then. You should think they'd have a button to call up the manual from inside the LE or at least make you aware of that darned thing after installing the LE - basically anything a person in their right mind would do! -, but no...

[Xander Dax 310]

Can anyone tell me if the Lot Editor works in windows 10?

[Lost Realist 762]

Does this thread offer LE_X support as well? I'll hope so because I'm having the weirdest issue with it :

 

 

The base texture is overlaying the overlay texture. On top of that, whenever I use two overlay textures that do not actually overlap each other by pixels, only the upper one will show at all and will be untransparent so the other one will be hidden entirely.  I have no idea how this could have come to be.

Edit: Reinstalling PIM-X did not resolve it.

[rsc204 21,806]

On ‎23‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 10:53 PM, Lost Realist said:

The base texture is overlaying the overlay texture. On top of that, whenever I use two overlay textures that do not actually overlap each other by pixels, only the upper one will show at all and will be untransparent so the other one will be hidden entirely.  I have no idea how this could have come to be.

It should be just the preview, when you add a prop onto the lot, does the error disappear? (known/unfixed issue).

[kingofsimcity 5,739]

@Lost Realist: To add to what @rsc204 mentioned, this visual bug only happens if you open a lot file that does not contain any props on it AND the lot uses the "blank" model as the building.

[Lost Realist 762]

22 hours ago, rsc204 said:

It should be just the preview, when you add a prop onto the lot, does the error disappear? (known/unfixed issue).

 

19 hours ago, kingofsimcity said:

@Lost Realist: To add to what @rsc204 mentioned, this visual bug only happens if you open a lot file that does not contain any props on it AND the lot uses the "blank" model as the building.

 

Both of you hit the nail on the head, adding a prop fixed it. Thanks for the help!

[Lost Realist 762]

And right back at it again.

 

 

These are the LRM's props this is happening to, no others so this might be more of a case for their support thread come to think of it but anyway... this happens to every version of them I've tried, what am I doing wrong here now? They work fine ingame. Or is this NABIAF? They did show normally the last time I used them in LE_X.

Edit: Oh hold on, looks like it's all the seasonal/timed props, eh? Been looking around but I can't find a description of this issue anywhere.