Mayor Mode Object Wont Show Up

[brtim2 11]

...ask for help here

Don't mind if I do.

I am trying to create more Mayor Mode Objects similar to the ones on the STEX by Goldiva, Jeronij, et al. More specifically I am trying to add more water props. I have tried Andreas Roth's tutorial posted in this thread and requested help which can be seen in this thread. Even with the help I have not had luck in getting the water props in game. I figured if I were to be able to get my problem to more modders I can find a solution.

These are the steps I take (not necessarily in detail):
I. Make prop in BAT. Export and use the PIM to make the object a prop.
II. Take another MOD that works in game. In this case DT WATER MOD BY DUSKTROOPER AND JERONIJ.
III. Follow the tutorrial by Andreas Roth and copy said properties and change said properties (see example at bottom of page). I grab these properties from the DESC file as opposed to the MODEL file. Does that matter?
IV. Save as new file after REINDEX and REBUILD in the READER.
V. Start SIMCITY 4 and get mad as the original MOD is there and mine is not. And I have tested the original MOD's to see if my water prop has overwritten it. No dice.

So if anyone has any information as to why my MOD does not show up, please speak up. I would greatly appreciate it.


Click for what my MOD looks like in the Reader after changing all properties

[Tropod 144]

It mostly looks in order. The only thing that may be causing it not to appear maybe the lack of FloraFamily (0xA8F149C5) property, though there are still other possible reasons why it may not be appearing. I'd suggest adding this property appropriately, & if that doesn't work then I would suggest uploading it so someone is able to take a look at it.

[brtim2 11]

Tropod, thank you for responding. I did get it to work, although I didn't try that parameter. Not long after posting this I got it to work. The only thing I did differently was use a different starting mod. I don't know why it suddenly worked, but it did.

But thanks again. I wish I could explain why it didn't work because it is baffling me right now.

[brtim2 11]

Alright, I don't know what I did, what happened, or what I should do. But I was feeling pretty good about getting my prop in Mayor Mode, but that euphoria is replaced with something the opposite of euphoria. Because right now I can't get anything in. I tried putting in a prop, that made it in the menu but it crashed my game when placing. (I think I know why that happened). Then I tried putting in at least three other props and they don't want to go in the menu. I used a couple of different starting props, nothing works even though the originals do. So, I have uploaded the prop to the post in an attempt for others to let me know what I have done wrong. Any assistance would be great.

Also, if I could get some pointers on being able to put trees into the menus that change with each click, that would be extremely awesome as well.

Thanks.

grrrr for gloating.

[Andreas Roth 639]

After looking at the file, the only difference is the kSC4FloraFamilyProperty in your DAT. Usually, this is a Uint32 property with only one REP, but yours is Sint32 with two REPs. Try deleting the property from your DAT and paste one from a mod that is working (Goldiva's, jeronij's or mine) into your file.

[brtim2 11]

Hmmm, thanks Andreas, still no dice. I changed the property (0xA8F149C5) from 2 reps of (0x00000000,0x00000000) to one rep of (0xE8F02107). I took that from the MAXIS SCRUB ROCK MEDIUM by Jeronij. I took a look at one of the underwater flora by Goldiva and it had the same rep so I did not bother to change it. (Is that error number one or can it be the same?) That is the only thing I changed, saved and then entered into my test region (which, by the way, is much, much easier to get into because of the STARTUP MANAGER you just released. I'm gonna say it there and here, awesome. That program does wonders for those working with the LE and multiple regions) and I couldn't get it to place. I checked all the different menus and I could not find it. I have attached my modified version, but it is only those changes. To get the models one is going to have to download the first file from the post above.

Did I mention I'm new at modding files?

[Andreas Roth 639]

I'll have a second look later, maybe I'll catch the error...

[brtim2 11]

Said with Japanese accent while bowing head and clasping hands
Ah, why thank you, sah.

But thank you. I don't know why but I've always had problems with trying to put Mayor Mode Objects into the game. I finally got my water thing to work, but it won't work a second time. And I don't know what some of the properties are, I just know they were in the one I copied so they are there in this one.

Again, thank you for taking a look at this. I really appreciate it.

[brtim2 11]

Consider this a request of another sort. Could someone (perhaps multiple people?) take the model file from the first zip i uploaded in this thread with the data file found in the second file and tell me if it shows up in the Mayor Mode Tree button? After testing could you report back to me? I need to see if it is only a problem on my machine or if I am doing something wrong.

Thank you.

[Andreas Roth 639]

Sorry for not answering earlier, I was quite busy over the last few days... I looked at your files again, but didn't spot any glaring error, so I re-created the prop SC4Desc, copied another set of exemplar files etc. from my files and started over. Maybe your file was screwed somehow, since I finally got it working. Attached is a ZIP with both the mod file and your original tree model (nice model, BTW, maybe a tad too orange for my taste).

[brtim2 11]

Hey, don't worry about it, I thank you for taking a look at this, although it only dumbfounds me more. I really want to know what is making things like this not work for me. Would it be better for me to create a new dat and manually enter in all the files as opposed to copying and changing ids? Would that matter?I have more models to try, so we shall see where this takes me.

But before I begin all this work, (and anyone, not just Andreas can answer this if they know the information) is there a list of Exemplar IDs I can look at to know which ones to avoid in the same way the Prop Families are listed? Like is there a set that the game has reserved and then a set players have reserved and such? Or is it a free for all with the hopes there are no conflicts?

And I wish I could take credit for the model, alas it is one of Cycledog's trees that I have altered. Now that I see it in game I agree that it is quite bright. I shall use that sparingly. Thank you again, very much appreciated.


Edit: Haha, just noticed the title of this topic has a ' instead of a ' in 'won't' but the reply message on the home page shows '. That's just a little wierd, no?

[Andreas Roth 639]

As I said, I don't know what went wrong - everything looked ok, but the icon didn't show up, as you said. My only guess is that your exemplar file (or something else) got damaged somehow, that's why I used a copy of files from my own mod and edited the IDs again. Basically, you can use any ID you want, but obviously there's always the risk that the ID is already used by the game or someone else. For the SFBT, I chose some IDs beginning with FF5F, but that's not better or worse than the IDs you used. Of course, it will be quite helpful if you write down every ID you used, so you have a reference both for yourself and others.

 

BTW, I fixed the title for you.

[brtim2 11]

Aha! So you have! I understand that the multiple ' show up when you 'preview' a post. For each preview another ' shows up (if there is a ' already in the title). So when you see titles with '' the person really wanted to see what each word looked like individually, or something like that. I wasn't complaining, I just thought it was funny there was an extra ' on the homepage ticker.

You're just an all around helper man in these parts. You can mod the game and mod Simtropolis (thread titles at least). You just one talented man.