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[CorinaMarie 29,562]

46 minutes ago, TiepiNL said:

But all properties are "!Unknown!". What am I missing here?

Hmm. I'm not sure. Mine has been working for a long time, but I'm prolly way behind for any updated XMLs.  

Here's mine:

And looking in that folder, the files are:

• submenu_properties_Panda.xml
• tropod_Properties.xml

[Kel9509 1,357]

1 hour ago, TiepiNL said:

I have downloaded reader v0.9.3 now. added the new_properties.xml v3 file on the right, and pointed SimCityLocale.dat to the actual file:

According to the documentation of New_Properties.xml, it is only to be used for PIM-X and Reader 1.5.4.  If you're using Reader 0.9.3 (which is better), you need to use an updated  tropod_Properties.xml file, which is also contained in the download of new properties.  Once you do that, everything will show properly in Reader 0.9.3.  See the documentation here: 

 

[TiepiNL 182]

10 minutes ago, Kel9509 said:

According to the documentation of New_Properties.xml, it is only to be used for PIM-X and Reader 1.5.4.  If you're using Reader 0.9.3 (which is better), you need to use an updated  tropod_Properties.xml file, which is also contained in the download of new properties.  Once you do that, everything will show properly in Reader 0.9.3.  See the documentation here: 

 

Thanks, that does the job!

Am I right that I need to copy this value:

My result looks like this:

Does that look right? No other entries besides "Cohort file" needed? Add more lots, "Save as...", and that's all?

[TiepiNL 182]

Because I had quite some difficulties to find entry-level-ish instructions for exemplar patching, I decided to write one myself. The aim is to help others with similar struggles. 

Only one problem: my blocker still doesn't work. Attached wanna-be manual describes the steps I thought would be the correct ones...

[edit: manual removed]

It should block Mattb325's Hampton Inn NY from growing, but this is how my new city looks like 

I would appreciate it if someone could have a look and tell me what I overlook/misunderstand. Thanks!

  Edited September 2, 2025 by TiepiNL  
Removed the attached manual (pdf) to avoid confusion for future readers. My next post contains a working instruction.

[CorinaMarie 29,562]

1 hour ago, TiepiNL said:

I would appreciate it if someone could have a look and tell me what I overlook/misunderstand.

I've read all of your guide and it appears nicely thorough.  

I don't, however, understand the concept you're teaching so I'll wait to read what others say so maybe I can catch up.  

[memo 1,435]

22 hours ago, TiepiNL said:

Because I had quite some difficulties to find entry-level-ish instructions for exemplar patching, I decided to write one myself. The aim is to help others with similar struggles. 

Nice tutorial. Thanks for writing it up.

A few remarks:

- I'd use a minimum slope angle of 89.0°, not 255.

- There are no load order constraints for Exemplar Patches. You don't need to put it in a z-folder.

- It looks like you didn't assign the correct IDs in the TGI editor. You probably need to remove the leading "0x" from the IDs, as the last two digits got truncated. If I recall correctly, the 0.9.3 Reader version is also picky with capitalization in the TGI editor.

- A note on Directory files: Directory files list exactly those entries that are compressed (Compressed: Y or N). Your Cohort file is not compressed, so the lack of Directory file is fine. If you copy the Cohort from somewhere else though, chances are that it is compressed. In that case, you'd need to create a Directory file as a last step before saving (right click -> re-index, right click -> rebuild Directory file, save).

[TiepiNL 182]

4 hours ago, memo said:

Nice tutorial. Thanks for writing it up.

A few remarks:

- I'd use a minimum slope angle of 89.0°, not 255.

- There are no load order constraints for Exemplar Patches. You don't need to put it in a z-folder.

- It looks like you didn't assign the correct IDs in the TGI editor. You probably need to remove the leading "0x" from the IDs, as the last two digits got truncated. If I recall correctly, the 0.9.3 Reader version is also picky with capitalization in the TGI editor.

- A note on Directory files: Directory files list exactly those entries that are compressed (Compressed: Y or N). Your Cohort file is not compressed, so the lack of Directory file is fine. If you copy the Cohort from somewhere else though, chances are that it is compressed. In that case, you'd need to create a Directory file as a last step before saving (right click -> re-index, right click -> rebuild Directory file, save).

Thanks a lot. The "0x" prefix was the issue indeed. After that the game didn't load at all; I had to remove the Exemplar Name property from the cohort. Now it works like a charm!

Attached the updated version of my manual. Hopefully it could be helpful for others.

A Guide to Blocking Growable Buildings via Exemplar Patching.pdf

[Kel9509 1,357]

35 minutes ago, TiepiNL said:

Attached the updated version of my manual. Hopefully it could be helpful for others.

I took a quick read and it looks great.  Love the images!

Now, for advanced mode: do it with native Maxis buildings.  I find those to be more difficult since they've got family and parent cohorts, especially when they use the same lot.  So block the Euro version of the building, but not the NY Tileset version.  I find that to be difficult.

[simmering 2,595]

I know this is somewhat off-topic but the capitalised "ATTENTION:" in this thread's title is very distracting on the ST homepage. I keep reading the posts thinking there is some kind of bug or attack as with the NAM download a few months back. Since the original poster is no longer active, could a moderator be so kind and remove it?

[Ulisse Wolf 4,398]

12 hours ago, TiepiNL said:

Thanks a lot. The "0x" prefix was the issue indeed. After that the game didn't load at all; I had to remove the Exemplar Name property from the cohort. Now it works like a charm!

Attached the updated version of my manual. Hopefully it could be helpful for others.

A Guide to Blocking Growable Buildings via Exemplar Patching.pdf

Excellent guide. If you're interested, I can include it in the CAM Manual, which is becoming a kind of universal resource for SC4 modding.

[CorinaMarie 29,562]

2 hours ago, simmering said:

I know this is somewhat off-topic but the capitalised "ATTENTION:" in this thread's title is very distracting on the ST homepage.

I concur. I hadn't really given it any thought before, but I suspect in ye olden dayes, peeps were posting modding requests everywhichwhere and it needed an eye-catching title. 

I've removed that part now.  

[Simizen 1,086]

if possible, can we get an update to the charts in the game to let us view stuff at like 20-25 years, and 75 years, etc

the windows for stuff in the game is a bit weird imo

unless you're able to get it so we can just kinda scroll through the years and select better increments to run with, that'd be cool too

[Null 45 3,018]

1 hour ago, Simizen said:

if possible, can we get an update to the charts in the game to let us view stuff at like 20-25 years, and 75 years, etc

Unfortunately, Maxis hard coded the graphs view to only have 6 steps. I can only guess that they did that to make it easier to use or for localization purposes.

Here are the values from the internal lookup table the game uses. I'm not entirely sure what format point1 and point2 represent. Point1 could be the number of graph points, maybe someone here will have a better idea.

cSC4GraphsViewWinProc_TimeScaleArrayEntry[0] // 1 year ago                                 
   0x0000000C               point1      
   0x0000001E               point2      
   0x2A5D4165               labelTextIID
cSC4GraphsViewWinProc_TimeScaleArrayEntry[1] // 5 years ago
   0x0000003C               point1
   0x0000001E               point2
   0xCA5D417F               labelTextIID
cSC4GraphsViewWinProc_TimeScaleArrayEntry[2] // 10 years ago
   0x00000078               point1
   0x0000001E               point2
   0xCA5D4184               labelTextIID
cSC4GraphsViewWinProc_TimeScaleArrayEntry[3] // 50 years ago
   0x00000064               point1
   0x000000B6               point2
   0x8A5D4189               labelTextIID
cSC4GraphsViewWinProc_TimeScaleArrayEntry[4] // 100 years ago
   0x00000064               point1
   0x0000016D               point2
   0x8A5D418E               labelTextIID
cSC4GraphsViewWinProc_TimeScaleArrayEntry[5] // 500 years ago
   0x00000064               point1
   0x00000721               point2
   0x2A5D4194               labelTextIID

[Simizen 1,086]

oof, that sucks

had a feeling it was hard coded but was hoping it wasn't

[TiepiNL 182]

On 03/09/2025 at 1:50 AM, Kel9509 said:

I took a quick read and it looks great.  Love the images!

Now, for advanced mode: do it with native Maxis buildings.  I find those to be more difficult since they've got family and parent cohorts, especially when they use the same lot.  So block the Euro version of the building, but not the NY Tileset version.  I find that to be difficult.

I made the exemplar patch to block the Maxis RCIs. Not by copying the TGIs but by extracting them from SimCity_1.dat. That wasn't easy (understatement). I have no desire the distinguish between the tilesets myself, but if I ever feel like I need a new challenge I'll keep you posted lol.

 

[TiepiNL 182]

On 03/09/2025 at 1:55 PM, Ulisse Wolf said:

Excellent guide. If you're interested, I can include it in the CAM Manual, which is becoming a kind of universal resource for SC4 modding.

You can use/include it if you want. I managed to create patches with a Python script. I only used it to block Maxis RCI, but my next iteration will be a workflow that accepts a folder or zip as input and crates an exemplar patch blocker for the LotConfigurations in it. (Maybe it can eventually be ported the the sc4 cli tool.) That would make the manual obsolete.

[Null 45 3,018]

5 hours ago, TiepiNL said:

I managed to create patches with a Python script.

Always nice to have more languages for SC4 tools. @CasperVg was experimenting with a DLL that allows Python scripts to add cheats to SC4.

Nice job on the documentation, it is way more detailed than what I usually write. A couple of notes:

The EQZB property format varies depending on the item type.

Offset | Size | Field      | Endianness | Description
-------|------|------------|------------|------------------
0      | 4    | PropertyID | LE         | Property identifier
4      | 2    | Type       | LE         | Data type (0x0100, 0x0200, etc.)
6      | 2    | w8         | LE         | Property type. Non-zero if the item is an array.
8      | 1    | Unused     | -          | Unknown.
9      | 4    | Rep        | LE         | Repeat count if the item is an array. For single values this is the start of the data.

When writing my own exemplar parser I was cross referencing several implementations, including SC4 itself. Thank you Aspyr for shipping debug symbols with the Mac binaries, plus most Windows DLL mods wouldn't exist without the C++ interface information that debug info provides.

6 hours ago, TiepiNL said:

Maybe it can eventually be ported the the sc4 cli tool.

Same with my Assign Building Styles tool.

[TiepiNL 182]

On 10/09/2025 at 6:12 PM, Null 45 said:

Nice job on the documentation, it is way more detailed than what I usually write.

Thanks. Credits go to Claude Sonnet. My job was mainly limited to persistently insist to update and detail the docs, and to prevent Claude from digging its own rabbit hole, and point it to wiki and reference code instead.

I added an option now to provide a zip with random lots as input, and then the script will produce patches for all lots it can find in that zip (recursively). I also added a datpack option. With that, I've completed my own use case - easily create blockers for a diverse set of growables.

I have some more ideas with exemplar patches that require some more digging in the DBPF, like extracting Demand Caps, Mayor Rating, Landmark, and Park Effects, and do some math to decide if these properties are balanced with lot size and monthly budget. If I can put that in some kind of formula, I could create easy-normal-hard flavors and apply it to all lots. Same for library/school/museum capacity, etc.

But that's for later. I first want to dig into some more elementary stuff now, like creating a residential growable out of a commercial one, and to create growable Cs instead of functional LMs. And maybe, maybe, find a way to script such a LM2GrowableCO action...

[Ulisse Wolf 4,398]

33 minutes ago, TiepiNL said:

Demand Caps

A universal demand cap patch created by the NAM Team is currently being studied to solve the RHW problem without interfering with CAM. There is an internal alpha version that is being tested on the SC4E Discord server.

34 minutes ago, TiepiNL said:

I have some more ideas with exemplar patches that require some more digging in the DBPF, like extracting Demand Caps, Mayor Rating, Landmark, and Park Effects, and do some math to decide if these properties are balanced with lot size and monthly budget. If I can put that in some kind of formula, I could create easy-normal-hard flavors and apply it to all lots. Same for library/school/museum capacity, etc.

Many of these properties depend on the algorithms contained in New_Properties.xml, which in turn depend on fictitious parameters calculated by a main algorithm that depends on the type of buildings, lot sizes, and Filling Degree, which is a fictitious property created by the BSC Team. Filling Degree refers to how much space a building occupies in its LOD box. The more the empty space decreases, the more the Filling Degree increases. 

Consider that version 1.0 of New_Properties.xml created by the BSC Team had civic service algorithms that generated properties with values halved by Maxis, so I had to quadruple some constants to get twice the Maxis properties and the increased radius, which is one of the features most requested by the community. 

53 minutes ago, TiepiNL said:

But that's for later. I first want to dig into some more elementary stuff now, like creating a residential growable out of a commercial one, and to create growable Cs instead of functional LMs. And maybe, maybe, find a way to script such a LM2GrowableCO action...

New_Properties.xml contains the algorithms that calculate the properties relating to industrial, commercial, and residential buildings. The calculated values are then entered in the Capacity Satisfied property together with the IID code of the property that must be satisfied.

In addition to these algorithms, there are internal algorithms in PIM-X that are hardcoded, but if you are good with Python, you can reverse engineer PIM-X to discover additional secret algorithms.