SC4Terraformer Support

[wouanagaine 83]

It seems to be a corrupted download from what I see. Try redownload SC4TF from the modds&downloads section.

I really can't see why the exe can't open library.zip ( that is what the error tells me ) but a corrupted zip.

As always uninstall first, delete the folder and reinstall. ( you should be able to open the library.zip with winrar, not with windows )

Hope it helps

[SC4BOY 20]

Originally posted by: Lemonades I had this copy on my Old pc so, yeah.Im sure i read everytime you upgrade your mother board you have to buy a new copy of windows. Thanks though.quote>

 

This is nonsense.. I've reused a copy of XP several times... AND I registered it every time.

[Lemonades 0]

Originally posted by: wouanagaine It seems to be a corrupted download from what I see. Try redownload SC4TF from the modds&downloads section.

I really can't see why the exe can't open library.zip ( that is what the error tells me ) but a corrupted zip.

As always uninstall first, delete the folder and reinstall. ( you should be able to open the library.zip with winrar, not with windows )

Hope it helps

quote>

Ok i'll try that in a second.

Originally posted by: SC4BOY

Originally posted by: Lemonades I had this copy on my Old pc so, yeah.Im sure i read everytime you upgrade your mother board you have to buy a new copy of windows. Thanks though.quote>

 

This is nonsense.. I've reused a copy of XP several times... AND I registered it every time.quote>

Have you used it across different motherboards? I have not had a problem untill today, sometime within the last 6 months they made you download a file that scans your windows dirictory, everytime I try its says my windows in counterfit.

[prince_of_sims 0]

different motherboards does cause XP to "lose itself". but generally if you can convince the customer service person on the other end of the line that you only have it on one computer, he or she will give you an activation key. i've had to do this several times, and it's worked every time.

EDIT:

 1000^th Post!  

[Lemonades 0]

Re-downlading dident work.

Originally posted by: prince_of_sims different motherboards does cause XP to "lose itself". but generally if you can convince the customer service person on the other end of the line that you only have it on one computer, he or she will give you an activation key. i've had to do this several times, and it's worked every time.quote>

This seems to be my only option. I'll try this tommorow.

(Congrats! 100th post )

[greyveil 37]

ok this is just a quick and dirty explaination of XP authentication, every piece of hardware in your computer has a "hardware ID" (its a unique # for that piece of hardware) what XP does is take some of these numbers and create a unique machine id and ties it to your windows install, now, 1 hardware change does not cause the install to be "invalid" but multiple changes do, and you have to reauthenticate with MS (the computations and which hardware changes are more likely to cause the issues is a complicated mess but suffice it to say if you change "major components all at once or the motherboard since it has multiple machine ids, you will need to reauth, whereas if you only get a new soundcard, its not going to be an issue)

Being in "the business" I have had to call MS to get a machine reauthed more times than I care to remember, and everytime they were good about it, just tell them the situation and they will give you the number and directions to reauth the machine.

[moganite 4]

Thats the reason i would get the pro version of win XP i really dont like having to re authenticate my machine when iupgrade

[SC4BOY 20]

Originally posted by: Lemonades

Originally posted by: SC4BOY

Originally posted by: Lemonades I had this copy on my Old pc so, yeah.Im sure i read everytime you upgrade your mother board you have to buy a new copy of windows. Thanks though.quote>

 

This is nonsense.. I've reused a copy of XP several times... AND I registered it every time.quote>

Have you used it across different motherboards? I have not had a problem untill today, sometime within the last 6 months they made you download a file that scans your windows dirictory, everytime I try its says my windows in counterfit.quote>

I make all my own computers, so yes.. diff mb's and even diff cases.. in fact I have the two PC's side by side right now.. The old one, which I put ME back on when I had a hard drive failure, and the new AMD unit which is running the XP Pro.. It was already suggested that you contact MS about your problem, but you seem not to want to do that. Fact is that as long as you follow the procedure and that you do not use the copy on two machines simultaneously, there is no problem.. MS software is not "non-portable" .. In fact one load that I have used was on an old machine which someone else bought, and I got it from him.. The only restriction is that you may not have it on two machines simultaneously. What you are doing wrong, I don't know. But when I see a statement like you made above which is blatently FALSE, I simply state the facts. 

Oh, and I also downloaded the "special software" to allow MS verification too.. (on all machines)

Good luck on your problem.

[prince_of_sims 0]

Originally posted by: moganite Thats the reason i would get the pro version of win XP i really dont like having to re authenticate my machine when iupgrade

quote>

 

i have XP Pro with a OEM license, and i have to reauthenticate everytime i reinstall. anyways, we're getting really off topic.

[greyveil 37]

not going to go into "alot" of details but the home and pro version of windowsXP uses authentication, the only version that does not is the corporate pro version

[checoloma 8]

HI GUYS, I HAVE A PROBLEM, I DOWNLOADED THE DIRECT X AN D FIX ONE PROBLEM, BUT EVERY TIME I TRY TO START THE PROGRAM (SC4 TERRAFORMER) I CANT USE IT OR EVEN OPEN IT BECAUSE A FILE NAME WXMSW26UH_VC.DLL IT SAYS IT WAS NOT FOUND, RE INSTALLING THE APPLICATION MAY FIX THIS, BUT I ALREADY REINSTALLED LIKE TEN TIMES AND NOTHING, THERE IS A ZIP FILE CALLED LIBRARY WITHIN THE ALL COMPONENTS IN THE TERRAFORMER FILE I DOWNLOADED FROM THIS SITE, WHERE DO I PUT THAT FILE, IT IS THERE BUT I DONT KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS.

THANKS, PLEASE HELP

[prince_of_sims 0]

wouanagaine is busy with RL at the moment. wait for him to get back.

[checoloma 8]

OK, BUT IS IT ME, OR MY COMPUTER, I DONT KNOW IF ANYONE HAS THIS PROBLEM,

THANKS , HOPE CAN USE THE TERRAFORMER SOMEDAY

[prince_of_sims 0]

don't use ALL CAPS in your post, reading ALL CAPS is the equivalent of listening to someone yelling in your ear. forum ettiquette guidelines state that yelling is bad.

wouanagaine will most likely be able to sort out your problem. as for me, i plan on taking a break from all manner of SimCity to concentrate on school for a while, so i really can't offer you the help i would be able to otherwise.

[checoloma 8]

im sorry for using ALL CAPS, i forgot, but thanks for reminding me

[SC4BOY 20]

I have a question that is obliquely related to SC4TF but expect a LOT of expertise is in the readers here. How do the city maps control the "CLOCK" in sc4? I open cities and the clock is always RUNNING .. Is there a way to have a SC4TF export of a .SC4M file RESET AND SET ALL CLOCKS to 01/01/00 and in PAUSE mode?

I expect Karybdis knows if he happens to read this.. 

[Romaq 18]

wouanagaine: Now if there are a lot of people who use WM, then I'll release a patch so SC4TF can read .R16 from WM.quote>

Actually, a better format to use would be the Terragen format (*.ter) because of the 'lost pixel column' issue. .R16 output would only be, for example, 512 x 512 pixels. If you choose Terragen format from World Machine, the output is 513 x 513 pixels, which is suitable for SC4TF. Using Terragen format saves any image stretching to make up that last pixel column, making World Machine do the 'stretching' on export.

I'll see if *.TER format is open.

Edit: http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/dev/tgterrain.html explains the file format, and this format would include the 'odd pixel column'. It would be best to avoid image stretching, if possible.

[Buggi 684]

I need something exactly like this for the Spring map editor I'm working on. Though I don't have the patience to do it all.

Please check us out at http://taspring.clan-sy.com/

It's what I do when I'm not playing SC4 It's a free, opensource, RTS engine based on Total Annihilation.

[Romaq 18]

SC4Boy: I really like your idea of having a 'save' with an option to freeze and zero out the time/date stamp for cities. I wait at each city to freeze them, but I normally only stop at Jan 2nd by the time I recognize it's ready.

Buggi It may be useful to use one of the existing formats such as *.TER or 16 bpc PNG image formats, which gives you the advantage of so many editors already in existance. Good luck with the project!

[Abc987 3]

I have a problem with SC4Terraformer. See, my version of directx is up to date, but you can only place it in one folder. How do I fix this problem?

[thatsarap 25]

Hey there....

I have the same problem as a few of you...I've read the readme file repeatedly, and I've re-downloaded, uninstalled and reinstalled the software multiple times, but I'm still getting the same error:

I have the correct version of DirectX on my system.

I saw that wouanagaine mentioned that the issue is the library.zip archive can't be opened by the program.  I checked and saw Winrar wasn't installed on my system (though I had a functioning copy of it on my system), so I re-installed it and had the same problem again.

prince_of_sims: I know you mentioned you were going back to RL for awhile, but if you check back in could you mention again what you meant by the .net updates for Windows?  I too have had to reinstall the OS recently (not for a virus), and I have received all the updates I'm supposed to have (even have it set to automatically update windows),  and would like to check to see if I have the ones you mentioned.  My Windows XP Home Edition OS is running version 2002 Service Pack 2. 

If I wanted to install the library.zip file using Winrar (because that seems to be the problem), where is the correct place to put it?  Just in the program files/sc4terraformer directory, or in an additional sub?

Thanx for the time you take to help us out! 

[prince_of_sims 0]

SC4TF not being able to open library.zip is not due to you not having WinRAR or WinZip. it's quite possibly a corrupt file error. so reinstalling WinRAR or WinZip won't help you. library.zip needs to stay in the zip format (can't be extracted) because SC4TF reads info from the zip. i seriously doubt it will check for extracted versions of the file, but if you can manage to open it, extract it into a folder called library in your SC4TF install folder and then try.

the .NET updates are High Priority Windows updates that make it easier for program developers to develop their programs. the details arent needed, so i won't go into them. what you could do is navagiate to the Microsoft Update site at http://update.microsoft.com (you may have to install the update package) and check for any updates. install any and all High Priority updates as well any Optional updates you deem fit. sometimes the automatic updates don't download these files (i know mine didn't download the .NET 2.0 update), so it's best to update manually once after the 18th of each month.

additionally, the latest version of DirectX 9 is the July (or is it June) version. if you don't have this version, SC4TF will probably not work. navigate to http://www.microsoft.com and look for the latest DirectX download. download and install even if you think you have the latest, just to make sure.

that's all the advice i can offer you. not having coded SC4TF and not having much knowledge with computer programming, i can't identify this problem as well as others may be able to.

EDIT;

@thatsarap

i saw that your library.zip issue has been covered before above. i suggest you read through this topic.

[beskhu3epnm 8]

On a side note I would like to point out a peculiarity.

I use SC4Terraformer quite frequently. Lately I have been successfully importing greyscale images and modifiying them (some terrain smoothing, flattening, water erosion, etc.).

When I export the greyscale image to .png to possibly upload, I have a problem.

The greyscale comes in about 8 shades darker than the original, even though there are many areas that I did not modify. This makes it difficult to render the map the old fashoined way (ie. if I converted to .jpg and uploaded it) because the elevation scale is much lower.

So the elevation gets crushed a few notches, and the height above sea level drops dramatically. If I raise the bottom of the map so the two greys match (from the original greyscale to the SC4T greyscale), the higher elevations are no longer high elevations, and elevation gains of around 500m or more become 50m or less.

I could export to .png, and re-import on SC4T and there would be a difference. For a map that is near sea level (250m), the map would then be under sea level after exporting and re-importing.

So it kinda ruins greyscale images. I think I'm doing everything right. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know!

[beskhu3epnm 8]

On a side note I would like to point out a peculiarity.

I use SC4Terraformer quite frequently. Lately I have been successfully importing greyscale images and modifiying them (some terrain smoothing, flattening, water erosion, etc.).

When I export the greyscale image to .png to possibly upload, I have a problem.

The greyscale comes in about 8 shades darker than the original, even though there are many areas that I did not modify. This makes it difficult to render the map the old fashoined way (ie. if I converted to .jpg and uploaded it) because the elevation scale is much lower.

So the elevation gets crushed a few notches, and the height above sea level drops dramatically. If I raise the bottom of the map so the two greys match (from the original greyscale to the SC4T greyscale), the higher elevations are no longer high elevations, and elevation gains of around 500m or more become 50m or less.

I could export to .png, and re-import on SC4T and there would be a difference. For a map that is near sea level (250m), the map would then be under sea level after exporting and re-importing.

So it kinda ruins greyscale images. I think I'm doing everything right. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know!

[beskhu3epnm 8]

On a side note I would like to point out a peculiarity.

I use SC4Terraformer quite frequently. Lately I have been successfully importing greyscale images and modifiying them (some terrain smoothing, flattening, water erosion, etc.).

When I export the greyscale image to .png to possibly upload, I have a problem.

The greyscale comes in about 8 shades darker than the original, even though there are many areas that I did not modify. This makes it difficult to render the map the old fashoined way (ie. if I converted to .jpg and uploaded it) because the elevation scale is much lower.

So the elevation gets crushed a few notches, and the height above sea level drops dramatically. If I raise the bottom of the map so the two greys match (from the original greyscale to the SC4T greyscale), the higher elevations are no longer high elevations, and elevation gains of around 500m or more become 50m or less.

I could export to .png, and re-import on SC4T and there would be a difference. For a map that is near sea level (250m), the map would then be under sea level after exporting and re-importing.

So it kinda ruins greyscale images. I think I'm doing everything right. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know!

[prince_of_sims 0]

i think it's mentioned somewhere in the readme that if you convert JPG map to PNG, it comes out darker by default. i'm 95% sure that you need to lighten the grayscale JPG before converting it to PNG.

[prince_of_sims 0]

i think it's mentioned somewhere in the readme that if you convert JPG map to PNG, it comes out darker by default. i'm 95% sure that you need to lighten the grayscale JPG before converting it to PNG.

[prince_of_sims 0]

i think it's mentioned somewhere in the readme that if you convert JPG map to PNG, it comes out darker by default. i'm 95% sure that you need to lighten the grayscale JPG before converting it to PNG.

[Romaq 18]

Yeah, I've been doing all my work between SC4TF <--> 16bpc PNG <--> 16bpc TIF <--> Terraform.TER <--> WorldMachine and altitude remains consistant IF I follow the chain stated above. I hope that with the link I gave to the *.TER format, wouanagaine will be able to shorten the chain to SC4TF <--> *.TER <--> WorldMachine saving two conversion steps without image scaling. But even with the conversion steps, I have no scaling issues on any axis. It sounds like beskhu3epnm is getting hit with Z-axis scaling on import.

EDIT: I've been thinking about the issue a little more, and perhaps I can explain what beskhu3epnm is hitting. Suppose I start with an 8 bpc greyscale image (0 is black, 255 is white). I import this image into SC4TF using a scale factor that works for me and gets me what I want. I edit the image in SC4TF, and then save it into 16 bpc greyscale PNG (0 is black, 65535 is white). I open the image in, for example, GIMP. GIMP will automatically convert my 16 bpc image to 8bpc. I notice the image has become very dark compared to my original image. Note that 16 bpc greyscale is known as a 'deep grey' image. It is often used in medical research because subtle changes in shading are critical for X-rays and medical diagnosis. Software can isolate the subtle difference in 'deep grey' shading. Movies also use 16 bpc full color for getting the best picture.

Anyway, the PNG export is noticably darker than the original 8 bpc source image. That's because your elevations are roughly between the values of 0 (250 meters below sea level) and maybe 10000 (750 meters above sea level) out of a maximum value of 65535 (pure white color). Your eye MIGHT see the difference between 0 and 1 on a scale of 0 to 255. Your eye won't likely see the difference between 0 and 1 on a scale of 0 to 65535, so your exported image will be VERY dark, with the peaks showing as a dark grey.

Anyway, if I took this exported 16 bpc image and load it into GIMP, the image is converted AND SAVED at 8 bpc. If I reimport the 8bpc PNG file, almost everything is now underwater, and it sounds like this is what beskhu3epnm is experiencing.

The solution is to be sure that you are using a 16 bpc image editor, and you ONLY use 16 bpc image formats for import and export. Recognize that the highest value editable in SC4 is about 61% (4000 / 65536) which works out to the same as 156 on a scale of 0 to 255 with your normal 8bpc image editor.

Anyway, I hope this extra stuff helps and points the way to a solution. Best of luck, beskhu3epnm!

[Romaq 18]

Yeah, I've been doing all my work between SC4TF <--> 16bpc PNG <--> 16bpc TIF <--> Terraform.TER <--> WorldMachine and altitude remains consistant IF I follow the chain stated above. I hope that with the link I gave to the *.TER format, wouanagaine will be able to shorten the chain to SC4TF <--> *.TER <--> WorldMachine saving two conversion steps without image scaling. But even with the conversion steps, I have no scaling issues on any axis. It sounds like beskhu3epnm is getting hit with Z-axis scaling on import.

EDIT: I've been thinking about the issue a little more, and perhaps I can explain what beskhu3epnm is hitting. Suppose I start with an 8 bpc greyscale image (0 is black, 255 is white). I import this image into SC4TF using a scale factor that works for me and gets me what I want. I edit the image in SC4TF, and then save it into 16 bpc greyscale PNG (0 is black, 65535 is white). I open the image in, for example, GIMP. GIMP will automatically convert my 16 bpc image to 8bpc. I notice the image has become very dark compared to my original image. Note that 16 bpc greyscale is known as a 'deep grey' image. It is often used in medical research because subtle changes in shading are critical for X-rays and medical diagnosis. Software can isolate the subtle difference in 'deep grey' shading. Movies also use 16 bpc full color for getting the best picture.

Anyway, the PNG export is noticably darker than the original 8 bpc source image. That's because your elevations are roughly between the values of 0 (250 meters below sea level) and maybe 10000 (750 meters above sea level) out of a maximum value of 65535 (pure white color). Your eye MIGHT see the difference between 0 and 1 on a scale of 0 to 255. Your eye won't likely see the difference between 0 and 1 on a scale of 0 to 65535, so your exported image will be VERY dark, with the peaks showing as a dark grey.

Anyway, if I took this exported 16 bpc image and load it into GIMP, the image is converted AND SAVED at 8 bpc. If I reimport the 8bpc PNG file, almost everything is now underwater, and it sounds like this is what beskhu3epnm is experiencing.

The solution is to be sure that you are using a 16 bpc image editor, and you ONLY use 16 bpc image formats for import and export. Recognize that the highest value editable in SC4 is about 61% (4000 / 65536) which works out to the same as 156 on a scale of 0 to 255 with your normal 8bpc image editor.

Anyway, I hope this extra stuff helps and points the way to a solution. Best of luck, beskhu3epnm!