From R$$$ to Landmark

[TekindusT 3,809]

Hi, guys. Not really familiar with this ST forum, but I have a question itching me...

 

I'm trying to mod Al Burj building [link] to become a landmark building for CJing purposes. I have the iLive's Reader installed, but it's kinda confusing to use... Tried several things but had no success. Which values should I tweak in order to make a landmark of it? How?

 

 

or

 

[Magneto 316]

Reader isn't the most suitable tool for such a task, besides there's no guarantee that it will work, even if all properties are changed accordingly.

 

PIM-X is what you need.

 

1. Before starting PIM-X, ensure that the file containing the model(s) is in your root plugins; in your example the file you put in the root is Al Burj Models and Props.dat

 

2. Launch PIM-X. The program will ask which files has to be loaded: choose only your plugins folder

 

 

3. In the top right pane, you have a list with all the models that are in the .dat. It is preferable to pick the one that was used as the main building by it's creator; in this example Part A was used (to find out, I had to look at the ResourceKeyType property that you can see in the building exemplar (your 2nd screenshot), then open the dat with reader and rearrange file by their group IDs). Usually it's much easier to find but here the building has 5 different parts.

 

 

4. Select the model used as building and drag it on the window on the left side where all different categories are; you want to drop it in the landmarks type (note that you have quite some to choose: eye-candy, CO jobs, CS jobs, etc). When dropped, the program will create a .desc file: that is the building exemplar.

 

5. Right-click anywhere in the list of properties below and choose "Recompute properties as...". This will bring a popup window asking you to give an estimate of the filling degree which translates to how much does the building fills the yellow (LOD) box (left bottom screen). By default it is at 0.5 (50%). If you change it, don't forget to hit save (bottom window).

In this example, I estimated the filling degree at 0.7; the higher the value is, the more you have jobs/residents/pollution etc. You can set it over 1 if needed: since this building comes in 5 different parts each part should theorically add to the filling degree so it reflects the job or resident capacity more accurately.

 

 

6. You can now create the lot. Right click again and choose "create ploppable lot". This will create the Lot Config exemplar (your first screenshot).

 

7. At this point you already have a functional landmark, but the lot generated by PIM-X is pretty basic: it's merely some base textures that covers the lot and the building. Now time to shut down PIM-X and fire Reader.

 

8. Open the file containing the lot exemplar (in your example, R$$$15_5x5_Al Burj_b7342cd3.SC4Lot) and copy all the LotConfigPropertyLotObject entries. Then open the newly created lot file, delete all the LotConfigPropertyLotObject of it and paste the properties from the R$$$ lot.

 

 

 

9. Highlight the LotConfigPropertyLotObject entry starting by 0x00000000, right click on it and choose edit property. A window with 13 values (reps) will pop. You need to modify the last rep so it matches the instance ID (IID) of the building exemplar (see below, red square). The last rep is a direct reference to the IID of the building exemplar, so they have to be identical.

Entries beginning with 0x00000000 are the main building (you can only have one, and it's mandatory)
Entries beginning with 0x00000001 are for props
Entries beginning with 0x00000002 are for textures (base and overlay)
Entries beginning with 0x00000004 are for flora
Entries beginning with 0x00000007 are for transit-enabled tiles

To modify the rep, you can either fiddle with the add/remove tabs or directly edit it in the Value as text box at the bottom. The reps must be separated by a comma, check the syntax. Once done click on Apply tab (1) then click on Apply tab (2).

 

 

10. Check that the lot size of the new lot is the same as the older lot (LotConfigPropertySize property). If not, change it accordingly.

 

11. Right click anywhere on the right pane and choose "Reindex Lot Config". This is necessary to make all lot changes effective.

 

11. Save, and you're done.

 

Although it might look like a long and tedious procedure, it isn't: with a bit of practice it takes less than 2 minutes to perform that task.

 

Don't hesitate if you have any problem with the steps described above, I'll do my best to explain better (tutorials are not my forte...)

 

Attached to the post there's the converted Burj as a Landmark with CO$$$ jobs to show you the final result. You can edit the Item description to something more suitable, same goes for Item order and OccupantGroups if you want to change its position in the menu.

[TekindusT 3,809]

Wooooow! Thank you Magneto!! Massive kudos for that post!

[MilitantRadical 2,844]

Where can I get PIM-X?

[MandelSoft 2,775]

You can get it from the SC4Devotion LEX