Mayor Mode plopable dead trees and flowers

[sorchin 18]

Hello everyone. I hope I'm in the right forum. I appologize if I'm not.

I would like to create plopable Mayor mode dead trees (like those you would perhaps see in a river or swamp) and perhaps maybe some flowers as well.. I would want them to perform the same funtion as Goldiva's mayor mode tropical sea set. I am familiar with the BAT and with the basics of the Reader. However this is something I have never done before and will probably need some help getting it to work in the game. I have 3 pics below of Goldiv's tropical sea set as it appears in the Reader.

The basics I understand (exempler type and name, plop cost, item order etc), however there is much I have never seen before. I know your able to copy and paste certain values ( I have done this with sound files before), but I'm not sure how far I can go with that.

Anyway if someone can specify exactly what I need to do I would be grateful.. Or.. perhaps there is a topic about this already that I missed (I did a search but couln't find anything specific enough). If you need more pics or info just let me know...

Thanks

[jacqulina 162]

hi steve now thats a great idea my friend i would be very interested

[prince_of_sims 0]

Well, the first two pictures are of the Terrain exemplars. Wonder what that's doing in the Water Flora Mod. This needs some detective work.

**Pink Panther Music**

The last picture is the actual Tree Exemplar. You will need to either play around with the values in it, or wait for someone more knowledgeable to help you out.

Incidentally, I remember a topic on how to create custom Mayor Mode Trees in the forums. Have you used search yet?

[sorchin 18]

prince of sims: I thought I have but Ill check again.. I think the Goldiva's waterflora's work on land as well as water.. I don't know if this makes a difference or not but it's from the same Dat file...
Thanks..
Hey Jacky thanks

[jeronij 13]

If you search a bit the forums, you will find all the information you are looking for.

[sorchin 18]

Hey jeronij. nice to see you. I have searched a fair amount, but have come up empty. I'll try again, if you (or anyone) have a link that would be great.

thanks again my friend...

[Andreas Roth 604]

I searched for "tree" and came up with jeronij's excellent thread, where he also explained the modding process in detail. Look here: https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=42&threadid=61052&STARTPAGE=7&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear (I did a similar tutorial once, but without screenshots)

[sorchin 18]

Thank you my friend. sometimes simpler is better. I searched mayor mode, tree mods, tutorials, plopable tree, but not tree by itself.. I'll take a look at this link. thanks again... 

EDIT: ok perhaps it's getting late and I am missing something I should be able to find but I'm assuming this is the tutorial Andreas you were linking me to:

MAKING A PLOPABLE TREE (OR WAHTEVER MODEL) MOD

1) Open an existing mod with Ilives Reades. I used the Yucca as example but you can use anyone that contains only one exemplar. There are mod with more than one exemplar, but they are out of the focus of this tutorial.

2) "Go to File --> Save as"  and save it with a new name and under a new folder if necessary.

3) Now study carefully this picture and pay attention to the colour´s relations.

it's a very good tutorial however I have been unable to find any tree file that has an exempler, two ltext, a png and a dir file> I can't find this yucca file of jeronij's. the closest I can find only has an xml, exempler and a dir file. Sorry for frustrating everyone but it would be nice finding a like tree mod file above to at least get myself started... perhaps when someone has the time they could link me to a proper file to use?

Thanks very much again everyone for your help. I appreciate it..

[Andreas Roth 604]

You don't have to look for that particular yucca tree, any Mayor Mode tree mod will be fine as a template. What jeronij meant is that you should open an existing tree mod, and copy one exemplar file, LTEXT files etc. to a blank DAT. Then change the IDs of those files to something unique, and now you can edit the exemplar file as described, linking it to the desired tree model via the Resource Key Type 1 property etc.

[sorchin 18]

Andreas thanks. After making a test flora model i used jeronij's tutorial, played around with it for a bit I got my desired result. It also works in water as well. Thanks very much for your help my friend.. Also thank you jeronij for the tutorial...Take care...

[jeronij 13]

Hi to all,

Andreas, thanks for taking the time to find the link to the tutorial, that is exactly what I meant in my last post

Sorchin, I am glad you got it to work, even using my tutorial   !!!


EDIT: Btw, the property kPropertyID_WaterFlora is the one that allows the models to be planted inside the water.

[szarkoz 8]

Ploppable dead trees would be a great addition to the game, I wish you luck in that project sorchin!

[jacqulina 162]

hi my friend great progress by the sound of it i knew you could do it

[jeronij 13]

There are some plopable dead trees and dead woods included in this download:

Jeronij Props Vol 03 Plopable Trees And Seasonal Woods

Just if you want to test them

[sorchin 18]

jeronij: Thanks buddy for your help. I appreciate it

jacky: Thanks my friend..

szarkoz: Thanks buddy..

Here is a pic (for those of you who don't have time to visit my journal) of thte results I have so far..

The very bottom one is goldiva's...

[prince_of_sims 0]

Oooooo, loving it. My only peeve is that the dead tree models look a little unrealistic. The trunks seem too thick to be a dead tree, and the branches branch out in a 2D pattern rather than the more common 3D hemispherical pattern. Other than that it looks real good! I especially like the modifications on Goldiva's plops. They look awesome!

[sorchin 18]

pince_of_sims: hey mate, thanks for your comments. This is really just beta stuff right now.. Concerning the trees. Many trees when they die, depending on where they are tend to shrivel up and almost have a tortured look to them. I'm assuming that's what you meant by a 2d look? anyway below is a pic of a real dead tree..

I can create other more 3d looking trees as well. I have a few in my files..

Take care

[prince_of_sims 0]

Well, what I meant with 2D look is that they look very... one dimensional. A tree, when alive, has a hemispherical branch-span. When it dies, it doesn't just disappear. I think one reason your models look a little odd is because the branches are too thick and too long. Remember, it's dead. The longer branches won't be able to support themselves, so only short and stubby ones will survive. You could try a model like that and see how it looks. And remember, the branches get thinner and thinner as they branch out.

[jacqulina 162]

looking real nice so far my friend,i cant wait to download

[sorchin 18]

Prince_of_sims: Hello my friend. Although I disagree on wheather it looks real or not I do agree it can look better. I am working on a couple of dead Oak trees at the moment that are much more detailedThanks for your candor mate..Check out my Bat thread in a day or two. I should have some more pics by then..

jaqulina: Thanks as always my friend

[jeronij 13]

Looking good so far !!!. Some photorealistic textures would help to improve the look of everything. I have some nice trunk textures if you need them ;-D !!!! Also for the reefs some nice textures would make them look more realistic.

The models are great anyway !!!. Some more reefs and dead trunks will come very handy.

[jacqulina 162]

the oak trees sound great my dear friend,and i am going to keep an eye out in your bat thread.

[sorchin 18]

jeronij: Hello my friend. Yes I would appreciate that. I'll PM you today

jaqulina: Thanks as always my good friend Jacky...