SC4Terraformer Support

[wouanagaine 83]

hi everyone

this thread is for you to comment on the version of SC4Terraformer that has been uploaded to the Modds&downloads section of Simtropolis

Any suggestions for future version or enhancement should be made on the dev thread

I want to thanks:

Dirk for hosting the final version and running ST !

Greyveil for helping me preparing the final hosting

ynterboy for hosting all the beta versions

Jplumbley, prince_of_sims, SC4Boy, ynterboy, CDB for testing the beta versions and providing me great feedback and suggestions

Karybdis for providing me insight information about the SC4 savegame file format

truplaya8892 for the icons

and finally everyone who has posted in the dev thread

This can't have been this far without you !

---

To all of the valued readers of this thread, I can no longer respond to repeated questions concerning issues with DirectX.  It is EXTERMELY IMPORTANT that you completely read through the ReadMe file included with the SC4Terraformer application.  The ReadMe file has detailed instructions as to what DirectX version is required as well as links on where to find it.

It is very possible that by using the below self-help methods, you may be able to get an answer to your question.  Please ensure you have used the below methods for getting self-help: 

1)  Ensure you havedownloaded and installed the latest version of SC4Terraformer.  As of this post, the latest version is 1.1.

2)  Ensure you have the correct version of DirectX.

3)  Ensure you have COMPLETELY read through the ReadMe file that is part of the SC4Terraformer download package.

4)  Search through the posts in this thread for answers to your questions.  There is a wealth of valuable information contained within this support thread and many answers to your questions can be gotten by search through the posts in the thread.

When, and only when, you have completely exhausted all avenues of self-help concerning a problem you are experiencing, post a detailed explanation of the problem.  I, or someone I designate, will attempt to research your reported problem and reply back to you when time permits.

I want it to be very clear that support for the SC4Terraformer application is NOT being abandoned.  Valid problems will continue to be researched and, if possible, solutions will be provided.

In closing, I wish to reiterate the importance of reading the ReadMe file.  It contains valuable information that, in many cases, will answer your questions concerning SC4Terraformer, DirectX and using the application.

Take care!

[rwtd_barbie 0]

First, thanks for making SC4Terraformer!

I saw on the some of the pics you posted nice, straight,trenhes for sunken highways. Is there anyway to make canals? I would like to make them both 1 and 2 squares wide (same width as either road or avenue).

[wouanagaine 83]

rwtd_barbie

Wow joined on 2003 and first post !

Anyway I think you're talking about the image from the Dev Thread ? the one in wireframe ? It was made inside SC4

But you can do them in SC4TF, providing that you have a flat area.

1 ) Check the height of the flat area ( on the right of the statusbar )

2 ) Use the draw tool editbox - located in zone tools - and specify the desired height ( maybe 16m less than the height )

3 ) press enter <------- very important

4 ) Click on draw tool, the status bar will reflect the tool name and the height to draw at.

5 ) Choose a strength of 20, a radius of 1 or 2, use a rounded shape

6 ) Draw the canals

I hope it make sense ?

Take care!

[rwtd_barbie 0]

That worked very well. I used the draw tool with the grids turned on to help keep it straight. Thanks! One problem, the banks of the canals are sloped. Is there any way to make those flat? I tried using the flatten tool on the edges of the canals, but that didn't work.

2 posts in one year!

[Hirdy05 5]

Hi there, Part time lurker,  4th time poster.

I cant load it because it tells me something is already using DirectX, how do i find out what it is, and what should I do.

Cause this is one program i desperately wanna use

[wouanagaine 83]

rwtd_barbie

You can try to use a wider radius, with a smaller strength for the draw tool

Exact number will depends on yuor need, just try and experiment

Hidry05

Wow I made 2 long lurkers to awake lol

The message is displayed either if something is already using DirectX or if you don't have the correct DirectX version

In the readme.html you will find two links for downloading the latest DirectX version

To make sure you have or not the correct directx version, go in your c:\windows\system32 folder and check if you have d3dx9_30.dll. ( make sure that explorer is configured to display all files and extensions )

-If you can't find the dll, then use one of the links in the readme.html. Download the file, then install it. You should run a DXSetup.exe, then check if the dll is here. If not, you have missed something

-if you have the dll, then check all programs running, try to close them to identify the one which use DirectX

Take care!

[Hirdy05 5]

I knew about the needing update for directX but was careless and thought I had already done so.

So after finally re-checking and installing its up and going.

Thank You.

[wouanagaine 83]

Hirdy05

So I made you posts 2 times in one day , for something you knew

[Ramona Brie 121]

Could you modify it so that I can make large city tiles using this? My City Journal is running into the wall.

[prince_of_sims 0]

here's a tip to make a new region with large city tiles. create a new region in SC4TF. remember that 4 small cities make up 1 large city. since SC4TF only creates small cities, just multiply however many large cities you want by 4 and input that while creating a new region. once the region's created you may terraform as you wish, but after you're done, remember to export the region from SC4TF as an SC4M file. then, go to your My Documents folder and find the SimCity folder. Open it, and navigate into the folder Regions. open the folder that has the same name as the region you created. now, open the file config.bmp in MSPAINT (or any other such application). make everything a shade of blue (pure blue is RGB 0,0,255). next, reopen the region in SC4TF and import the SC4M file to get all your terraforming back. simple!

as a side note, it doesnt matter which one you do first, change the config.bmp or terraform the region. but if you terraform the region first, remember to export the SC4M file, otherwise any terraforming will be lost when you change the config.bmp

EDIT:

if that doesn't suit your fancy, you're going to have to manually edit the config.bmp file to your needs. it doesnt have to be all blue, you can have medium and small cities in it (RGB 0,255,0 for medium and RGB 255,0,0 for small) just as long as you don't resize the config.bmp. otherwise SC4TF won't be able to import the terrain.

[wynney 0]

Firstly i would like to say congrats on SC4Terraformer.Im having alot of fun creating unusual maps . I just cant get the grasp of importing maps rite from the start even when i follow the instructions maybe i need it more simplified

[wouanagaine 83]

Tracker

I will plan to do a ConfigMaker soon. But in the meantimes, you should follow the advices of prince_of_sims

wynney

Do you have an already created region you want to change ?

Anyway here is the simplest way I can explain

1 ) Create a new region, ie go in mydocs\simcity4\regions and create new folder ( MyRegion for example )

2 ) Create or copy a config.bmp in this folder (mydocs\simcity4\regions\MyRegion) that suits your needs ( in term of layout of small/medium/huge cities , and in term of size ), if you don't know how to do this, refer to some pinned threads in the 'Map' forum

3 ) Run SC4Terraformer and select the 'MyRegion' folder

4 ) it should display a flat terran

5 ) Check the 'Show border' to see the layout of the cities to be sure

6 ) Now click on the 'import' button

7 ) You will be prompt for a image file, a scale factor and a minHeight value.

the image file, can be either a 8bit image ( png, bmp or jpg ) or a 16 bit png or a SC4M file

the scale factor and minHeight are only used when 8bit image is entered

the scale factor dictate how much meters represent a variation of 1 grey scale unit

the minHeight represent at which height the pure black value is set.

The default values provided are thoses used by SC4 when you do a CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-R

8 ) click on 'ok'

9 ) if the image does not match the region size, you will be prompted for fitting or aborting the process

10) you should see the map correctly

11 ) save ( CTRL-S ) and you can also export to sc4m ( this will be a kind of backup )

12 ) quit SC4Terraformer

13 ) launch SC4

14 ) open the MyRegion

15 ) you should get your region in SC4 ( with the color of SC4Terraformer )

16 ) you can play any city

Hope it helps and it is 'simple' enougth and clear despite my poor english skill

Take care

[Fred_Ginger 1]

Hi, I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I can't seem to down load this tool. I've 'repaired' all the .dlls d/l and installed direct x (a few days ago), yet when I go to d/l load the tool I don't get the dialogue box, just nothing then it says 'done' in the corner of my browser (IE) but no sign of the tool on my desktop or anywhere else that I'm aware of, I'm not very computer smart so what did I do wrong? Any help would be appreciated as I would really like to use this tool. Thanks...

[prince_of_sims 0]

odd. it's probably a browser problem. do you problems with the other things on the STEX as well?

[wouanagaine 83]

Fred_Ginger

you should have a file called SetupSC4Terraformer09cPatched.exe somewhere after download from the Modds&Downloads section

You should then run it to install SC4Terraformer, and then you should find SC4Terraformer in your start menu, program files, sc4Terraformer

I can't help you with IE, so maybe as prince_of_sims said, try to download something else from the Modds&Downloads to see if it works.

Take care!

[Fred_Ginger 1]

I've not had a problem with d/ling anything else from the mod section. Click on the d/l get the box that asks what do you want to do, click on save, etc. Only the Terraform tool. Buy I'll try again...

Edit:  Well, that's interesting, just tried to d/l load a couple of other things from the mod section and the same thing, click on the d/l, little green stripe appearers in browser frame, then says 'done' but nothing d/led .  D/led something from the STEX and that worked right, the box ask what...etc. and I clicked on save etc. I am soooo confused....

[Kstill93 1]

Yeah, something is wrong with mine, it says that there are errors, and that I have to check something first. And it's gettin' pretty gay.

[wouanagaine 83]

first, Welcome to simtropolis Kstill93

second, you should post what it said so I can help you. you're a little vague on the problem

third, you should also check the readme ( find in the start emnu, program files, sc4terraformer ) as your problem may have already been identified. but as you do not tell us what is the problem I can't be sure

fourth, thanks for using SC4Terraformer

Take care!

Edit : Oops, I have not seen your reply Fred_ginger, you may try to right click on the 'download' item, then use the save-as option, it may works, other than that, I can't help you. maybe a PM to some admins will help ?

[greyveil 37]

FanG, try clearing your cookies (tools/internet options/delete cookies) then restart the browser

[Fred_Ginger 1]

@Greyveil - tried that, it didn't work

@Wouanagaine - didn't get a box, tried to save anyway only got a blank browser screen

Thanks for trying guys, but I give, looks like the universe doesn't want me to have this tool right now.....

[Yogiya 1]

Hey all,

Nifty tool.

My kid and I are now groving out on World Machine trying to bring regions into the game. I have been able to create one map moving from Worl Machine BitMap, to the covert isoclines that turns it into a png. All later tries have failed. is there a nice map making tutorial for World Machine and the SC4T to Rush Hour

( I was RL for a while and lurking lately too. )

[wouanagaine 83]

Fred_Ginger[/b

I hope you get my PM

Yogiya

There is one in the SC4Terraformer dev thread, should be on the last page at the time of writing, look for posts from Romaq

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

[raul39 0]

Congrats on SC4 Terraformer! It's a cool tool.

One question. To upload a map made on SC4T to the stex, do you need to also need upload the grayscale because I can't find it in my files?

[prince_of_sims 0]

for now, yes. the STEX is being prepared for the new map-sharing format, SC4M.

you can export using the built-in Export function in SC4TF. a grayscale can be exported by saving the file as a PNG.

[wouanagaine 83]

I will be offline for the next 3 days. So just leaves any questions, and I'll try to reply on next monday

Take care

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Just a couple of comments that I have also made in another thread:

1. Congratulations.  It works fine on an existing region.  Impressive capability
2. I broke it!  I tried an extreme test, as I often do with new programs.  I created a new region having a config.bmp of 128 x 128 and only 6 city spaces in the upper left hand corner.  The program hung.  I will be happy to package this region as a zip and make it available if you wish.
3. A manual that was readable by new users, not necessarily old sweats like us would be helpful.  Each facet of the GUI needs full explanation.  Do you have a tutorial?
4. When you bring up the help file, it should be minimized during program initialization.

Will comment further if I have more to say.  Again, a job well done.  Now, nore to do.  Have you found a maintenance group to contiinue?

[PortlandPacNW 0]

I really hope that these questions haven't been addressed previously and I've missed them...

1) Is there a way to resize the SCTerraformer window to fit on my screen all at once?  Or do I have to adjust the display features on my computer (screen resolution or something like that)?  I could swear that I had seen a post on this issue somewhere before, but I cannot find it anywhere (yes, I've searched! )

2) I am missing two tools in the menu that seem as though they ought to be there, specifically the the max/min height slider and radius slider for the tools seems to be missing (unless it is simply at the bottom of the menu, which would mean that my only real issue is question 1).

Any help would be appreciated!

[prince_of_sims 0]

as of now the SC4TF window cannot be resized. this is a precautionary measure wouanagaine took because the drawing of the terrain is actually quite intensive. a window that is too large will cause the computer to hang or cause FPS so low that it's unusable. as for the max/min sliders, i dont remember if they're in this version or not. there should be a window at the bottom that contains some things, such as tool shape. if it's not there, this feature was either removed or replaced by something else. if that window is hidden, you need to change your screen resolution. the optimal for it is 1024x768, i think. 1280x1024 is the best, but it'll still work at the optimal resolution.

[wouanagaine 83]

Hi all

Wow, coming back from my little trip, and enjoying Simtropolis

I have a CL and a nice one ! Thanks to anyone involved in this ( I think anyone = Dirk ? )

N_O_Body

1) Thanks

2) Yes i'd be glad to get the file and rfor sure a 128x128 cofnig is quite extrem, not sure I can do anything about that but I'll sure get a look

3) Well, I'm not that good in english, but I'll try and will post a link here. I remember putting a very small and now quite obsolete little step by step tutorial. I think the link is one the first page of the SC4TF Dev thread

4) I don't understand what you mean here, if it is minimized during installation, how the users will see it ?

PortlandPacNW

As prince_of_sims said, there is no way to resize the main window, this is exactly to prevent the 3D to hang your CPU/GPU.

As for the missing tools, there are at the bottom of the main window, if you are in 800x600 or 1024x768 with the WindowsXP taskbar always on top, you may not see it, try using another screen resolution, as prince_of_sims said 1280x1024 is the best. I'll take this into account on future release.

prince_of_sims

Thanks for your help !

Take care

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Re: Minimizing the help window.  Generally the users don't need to see it.  If they do, they could click on the the Help menu, and you could bring it up then.

I don't really need it, because I printed it.