Locating and Modifing Game Elements Help

[Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ 273]

Hey Guys!

I've been playing around with the iLives Reader for a couple hours but had an idea for a mod in mind. Because some pieces require multiple plops, I thought it would be great if I could create a mod that would remove the "plop shake" (screen shake) and "plop smoke" when placing an item. However, I have been looking and searching the game files for the "shake controller" and "plop smoke controllers" but I can't seem to find these files at all. Without these files it's impossible to remove these elements from the game. I also don't know what data values I would need to manipulate. I have taken a look at the "Pause Thingy Remover" mod for some reference but I still have no idea how to implement a mod that removes game elements by introducing a file to the plugins folder.

Any help with this would be much appreciated and I will give everyone that helps some credit if this gets released on the STEX.

Many thanks!

- Element

[DavidB_ 83]

Hey Guys!

I've been playing around with the iLives Reader for a couple hours but had an idea for a mod in mind. Because some pieces require multiple plops, I thought it would be great if I could create a mod that would remove the "plop shake" (screen shake) and "plop smoke" when placing an item. However, I have been looking and searching the game files for the "shake controller" and "plop smoke controllers" but I can't seem to find these files at all. Without these files it's impossible to remove these elements from the game. I also don't know what data values I would need to manipulate. I have taken a look at the "Pause Thingy Remover" mod for some reference but I still have no idea how to implement a mod that removes game elements by introducing a file to the plugins folder.

Any help with this would be much appreciated and I will give everyone that helps some credit if this gets released on the STEX.

Many thanks!

- Element

Agreed, I hate how the game has to do that... Now would it be possible to remove the bulldoze smoke as well? That's just as annoying!

[NCGAIO 562]

The file information is easy .... the name is the EffectDir within SimCity_1.DAT ... But his edition can only be done in the hex editor and many things are directly encoded in the Exe therefore can not be modified.

  Edited January 30, 2012 by NCGAIO  

[jdenm8 362]

The screen shake is probably EXE-Controlled, no real way to remove it.

As for the smoke, that's actually a texture applied to a bunch of 3D planes. Find the texture, override it with a blank one, no more smoke.

[Vahr 341]

There's an effect that's called in the effdir to shake the screen - one would simply need to redirect the entry to a null position.

The smoke I believe is a particle effect controlled by the effdir as well - its not called the Effects Directory for no reason

Although editing the effdir is a pain b/c there's currently no editor for it.

[Lowkee33 5]

Although editing the effdir is a pain b/c there's currently no editor for it.

It seems that Baldur's Gate (The Inifinity Engine) uses .eff files. Armor class and things like that are essentially effects. There is a program I looked at: Go Here and find "EFFMaker v1.5 by Maltanar". Unfortunately, SimCity effects don't use the same format and can't be opened with it.

[Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ 273]

Thanks guys! When I get back at my home computer I'll take a look and see what I can do for a new release. Definitely appreciate all of your input and help.

[goodyou 0]

Thanks guys..