simmars-forum-threads Rewards And Parks Workshop

[Ledah2445 6]

Does these BAT is a landmark or a reward ?

[Ledah2445 6]

I have some suggestions,can we use SC4BAB for the animation of elevator

[Shoji_sim 9]

Well, the type of building (purpose) is still being thought of. And I'm not even sure how to download something from the LEX. But I guess the SC4BAB animation idea is fine.

[timcravey 169]

You wont be able to animate the whole elevator column - you might animate the doors opening on one of the carriages but the car itself will have to be modded with RUL pathing like the coming and going of the ferries. The Space Elevator is actually a vertical train track to an orbital Port - we should talk to someone on the NAM team about the possibility of such a mod.

[TimeMaster 4]

On the observatory, of the 20 or so pics of observatories I've seen, there isn't a single one with a large sign saying

Observatory

Maybe you could remove that? Also Tim you're right, even though I'm kinda thinking this still isn't a landmark workshop. But good job on adding a chinese sign XD

Overall great job on those two rewards.

[Shoji_sim 9]

I don't think we will have any sort of an animation anywhere on the building, because the structure where you board the elevator is underground.

[renemone 15]

is great.

[Shoji_sim 9]

Here's a simple one to replace the open grass area. There is actually a -1 over 5 tile air pollution effect with it, so let's just say there is some microscopic plant growth in it, okay?

There's also the preview icon that needs fixing up.

http://www.box.net/shared/bk8ebua25h

I've got another one, a community garden. I've also a chosen a screenshot for the preview picture in the parks menu.

http://www.box.net/shared/lcd03t8kj2

[AndisArt 2,068]

quick question: is renedisu foundation supposed to be functional Landmark only or also growable?

Also: should we make the two existing two Landmark towers also functional instead without any values?

[Shoji_sim 9]

I've been working on this Convention Center.

The blue colour represents Earth, the grey represents the Moon, the red is Mars and the blackness of the building represents space. Kinda brings the thought of the entire population of French people cheering, though.

[bdswim 14]

Here's a tutorial on how to make conditional buildings (rewards as well as buildings that can be built more than once).

Requirements: My reward package and iLive Reader
http://www.mediafire.com/?o2ryttjntz1

Warning: Whenever you edit a file in iLive Reader, ALWAYS apply the changes before switching to a different file. Otherwise you'll lose ALL of the changes.

Fire up iLive Reader (after you have unzipped the zip file, and make sure the TGI files are there) and insert the LUA & LNG files into your SC4LOT/DAT file. For simplicity's sake, add them to the end.

Select the LUA file, click File Info, and then click Edit. Change Instance [00000001] to the instance ID of the building examplar. Copy this number to the clipboard. Click OK on Header - Edit, and then close File Info. Make sure that the LUA file is still selected, and then click the Edit button.

At the top you should see this line.
--#-package:00000001# -- package signature

Highlight 00000001 and right-click and select Paste (CTRL+V doesn't seem to work for me for some odd reason). Change the first digit of the new hexadecimal number to 0. Eg. if the Instance ID of the script is 1234ABCD, change the '1' to '0'. (sorry for the rant, but some folks don't know this, and I don't want them to have to be embarrased)

You should see this line somewhere near the top.
building_tool_types.YOUR_BUILDING_NAME = hex2dec('00000000')

Change YOUR_BUILDING_NAME to the name of your building, replacing invalid name characters (Spaces and symbols) with either underscores or text. Remember: Script names cannot start with a number, are usually uppercase, and usually don't contain consecutive underscores (__ is usually replaced with just _).

EG. If your building is 15 Building, change YOUR_BUILDING_NAME to _15_BUILDING, BUILDING_15, or FIFTEEN_BUILDING. If your building is Jim & Joes then this would be JIM_AND_JOES or JIM_JOES.
Larry's Building would be LARRYS_BUILDING or LARRY_S_BUILDING.

Remember the instance ID of your building (should still be in the clipboard)? Paste this in the place of 00000000 on the same line that used to have YOUR_BUILDING_NAME.

Two lines below that, you might want to change (Your Building Name) to the name of your building. This will be the actual name of your building.

On the line below that, there is another number 00000000. Do the same thing you did for the last number.

Don't worry about the conditions now, we'll save that for last. Look through the LTEXT files (don't forget to click Apply!) and find the one that says

(Your Building Name) is not available.

Requirements:
    - Nothing

Change the instance ID to be the the same as the LUA script.
Change (Your Building Name) to the actual name of your building.
Change Nothing to the first requiremement. Press Apply and let's find another that says

Your News Item Title

Change the instance ID to be the instance of your LUA script + 1. (0x9 + 1 = 0xA, 0xF + 1 = 0x10. Use Calculator in Hex mode if you need any more help)

Select all the text and press Delete on your keyboard (some say just DEL) and then enter the title that will appear on the top of the popup. Press apply and keep moving:

Replace this with the text you want when the item pops up.

Initial base cost: #building_initial_cost#
Monthly cost: #building_monthly_cost#

Accept        Decline

Change the instance ID of this to the instance of your LUA script + 2.
We'll edit this one just before we do the conditions.
Anyway, go back to the LUA file.

function a.condition()
 -- If the expression within the parentheses is true (!= 0) than the reward is unlocked.
 if (1) then
  return reward_state.AVAILABLE
 else
  -- Instance ID of the description when the item is locked.
  return [[text@00000001]]
 end
end

Paste the instance ID of the LUA script (it's the same as the locked reward instance ID) in the place of 00000001.

-- Instance ID of the title of the news item.
a.title   = [[text@00000002]]
-- Instance ID of the body of the news item.
a.message   = [[text@00000003]]

Replace 00000002 with what's in your clipboard + 1, and for 00000003, just paste again and add 2. Apply your changes.

Remember replacing YOUR_BUILDING_NAME? Copy the new name you put. (Click beside it, drag, right-click, and press Copy.) Go to the message LTEXT file and select YOUR_BUILDING_NAME, delete it, paste, and don't forget Apply! (Sorry to be a nag)

Skip this paragraph if you only have one requirement
Go back to the locked building LTEXT, select from the return char (should look like a bold |) to the end and copy. With the caret at the end, paste, type the requirement, do this for each requirement, and press Apply.

Might interest you to know that you can place constants defined in LUA scripts in LTEXT by placing it within sharps (#city#, #name# [mayor], etc)

Now, go to the message LTEXT. See the first

? Single-click on it, and move the caret (flashing text cursor) to the left of the < and then press SHIFT+HOME, DEL. Type in the message you want. Don't mess with the HTML after the

unless you know what you're doing!
Apply your changes, and go to the LUA file.

if (1) then

Time to do the conditions. You can use any LUA variable you want, and compare it against the value you want. Use and to do more than one requirement. Use or to specify a choice of requirements. Use parentheses to group various items. Eg. if ((a and b) or (c and d)) then -- Evaluates if either both a and b or else both c and d are true.
if ((a or b) and (c or d)) then -- Evaluates if a or b is true, and either c or d is also true.
Remember that for booleans (true/false) 0 means false and everything else means true!

Here are the most commonly used (Question marks indicate something I guessed):

game.g_funds - Money
game.g_income_monthly - Monthly Income
game.g_expense_monthly - Monthly Expense

game.g_population - R$ Pop + R$$ Pop + R$$$ Pop ?
game.g_city_rci_population - R Pop + C Jobs + I Jobs
game.g_city_r_population - R$ Pop ?
game.g_city_r2_population - R$$ Pop
game.g_city_r3_population - R$$$ Pop
game.g_city_c_population - C Jobs
game.g_city_i_population ? - I Jobs
game.g_city_iht_population - I-HT Jobs
game.ga_mayor_rating - Mayor rating
game.ga_school_grade - School Grade

game.g_num_parks - Number of parks

game.difficulty_level() - Returns the difficulty level. Compare the return value against game_difficulty_level.EASY, game_difficulty_level.MEDIUM, or game_difficulty_level.HARD.

missions_completed({[Comma-Separated Array of Mission IDs In Single Quotes]}) - Returns true if the missions are completed.

game.reward_instance_count('[building Instance ID]') - See if other buildings exist. Don't use this to make the building so that you can only plop it once. You need to use the City Exclusion Group property for your building's examplar. Try to override all of the default Maxis ones before creating your own. Make sure that you let everybody know what your City Exclusion Group is so that they don't use it.

Then you want to fire up the game and make sure the reward works, and if not fix anything you missed.

Hope this helps,
        -BD

[timcravey 169]

Shoji - cool convention center building - would look better in High Quality.

bd - I appreciate what you're trying to do but your presentation is very difficult to follow. You should break this tutorial up into Steps and include screencaptures to illustrate your process. This is an area of modding that lacks a good tutorial and it will be much consulted.  Maybe you should move it into a thread by itself until you've had a chance to edit it into a more presentable format.

[Shoji_sim 9]

tim: It is in HQ.

bd: I agree with tim, try making a tutorial with screenshots and things like that.

[AndisArt 2,068]

bdswim, awesome thanks!! I'll dive into it right away when i'm home

[Ledah2445 6]

How can i create a reward that it needs a plopped building

Example

Space Port

Requirements

1.Advance research Center

2 I-HT Jobs

[Shoji_sim 9]

Here's a flower garden. Okay, maybe it just looks like a greenhouse...

http://www.box.net/shared/gj7opu6td9

And if there was a little black tile thing next to the open areas, I've fixed it.

http://www.box.net/shared/ju64fbvuyf

[Evillions 552]

nitelites?

[Shoji_sim 9]

In one of the threads I posted to timcravy that inserting the game disk will not make the nightlight update work.

[AndisArt 2,068]

shoji, nice BAT, maybe put some flowers in the beds or bushes and some benches to sit down? Also I'd say u need to add some braces supporting the glas to make it more realistic. and try making the glas texture shiny so it gets a reflecting effect, at teh moment it's just flat. let me know if you need help

[Ledah2445 6]

Also you must add some shadows and nitelites.

I can't see your Open Area,Shoji 

Pls. can you encircle it

[Shoji_sim 9]

andisart: OK. There are flowers in the beds, but are hard to see 'cause they're textures. You can see them best at night, but I'll increase the size of the bed textures.

ledah: Shadows are added automatically, and there are nightlights. Download the file! And as for the Open Area...

UPDATE:

Small atmosphere revitalizer. It cleans up air pollution. This file is vital for your city. Makes everything look a little too cloudy, does it?

http://www.box.net/shared/o21obiavlo

This is based on the "Eco-impact station" in SC3K.

And my edited Medium FG (click to download):

[Ledah2445 6]

Here is My LARGE FLOWER GARDEN 

 

It size is same as the Medium Flower Garden of Shoji  but the box was wider than Medium at the top of the cylinger dome

I used a pine tree and Flower beds with different flowers I also use tim's textures and add some GroBots props

[Shoji_sim 9]

Shoot! You beat me to it...

What do you think about a having it be rectangular, and also double-storey?

[Ledah2445 6]

So I will change the dome instead of replacing the dome into rectangular then I remove the wide box

[AndisArt 2,068]

Shoji, that looks better. What I meant for the beds was to have some models in them, it will look more interesting than having just flat textures.

Ledah, nice to see you BATing too

nice larger version of the park. Not sure if the texture used for the arches is the best choice. if you wanna keep it increase the tiling more. the stones on the lot I would remove since it doesnt make much sense to have them on pavement (meaning someone placed them there)

and guys, dont forget nitelites

[Evillions 552]

I know I remembered making parks as airports using SOMY's shuttle parts and Tim Cravey's military BATs. I know that I clicked "Save As" and when I loaded up SM, guess what?! It's not there for some reason.

[Ledah2445 6]

Andi: I already add a nitelite for my large flower garden and I change the texture of an arches 

So I will upload this park on SMEX 

[Shoji_sim 9]

Well, modeling flowers is out of the question. I hate texturing every single one, but the players will still be satisfied

Oh yeah, here's the night render:

My atmosphere revitalizer and this flower garden are uploaded to the SMEX.

[AndisArt 2,068]

you dont have to model the plants yourself, take free models from the web, search for "low poly" and plants / flowers etc.

Ledah, the glass structure needs more braces supporting the glas to make it more realistic. and try making the glas texture shiny so it gets a reflecting effect. u know how to do that? I'd also decrease the nitelite intesity a bit, it looks good but a bit too intense. the lotting has too many props on it, try less

[Ledah2445 6]

Andi:I can't change this because I forgot to save it but the lot can change because I already uploaded it on SMEX

The original file also removed due of an error