Bug in Coastal Modd

[Moses Zal 46]

Hey guys,

 

We all know how ugly maxis beaches are due to their color difference from the sand and not fading into the water. So, I searched for a mod to fix the problem and I found Coastal Mod. 

This mod has a feature of making beaches transparent. However, when I thought that the problem was finally fixed, I notice that beaches are becoming from time to time transparent in a way that you can see the background as shown in the attachment below.

Any way to fix this?

I tried picking the same color for the sand and beaches in the mod, but beaches still have the same initial problem of color difference and unfading.

 

[rivit 3,391]

A couple of questions for you:

  Why are you certain that the bug is in this mod and not something else?

 Why do you think the (MAXIS) beaches do not fade into the water (as you put it). There is a simple explanation.

[Moses Zal 46]

On 3/5/2017 at 1:12 PM, rivit said:

A couple of questions for you:

  Why are you certain that the bug is in this mod and not something else?

 Why do you think the (MAXIS) beaches do not fade into the water (as you put it). There is a simple explanation.

I believe the bug is in the mod because I tried disabling all the mods through city launcher and only enable Coastal modd, the same problem occurred. And yes I know why Maxis beaches do not fade into the water, I didn't say that I don't know the reason.

[rivit 3,391]

The "bug" is a bug in SC4 that is invoked from time to time with lots that show transparent textures or have no base texture. It can also occur when memory is all scrambled up and it can't get the texture it needs. I'm sure that others can explain it better and what to do with it.

The bug does not show all the time - this mod (and I made it long before I was aware of this bug) uses the transparent texture to avoid the usual problem of mismatching colors. I thought it a solution at the time - however its just a band aid. The mod itself is not bugged - its a texture mod - it makes no changes to functionality. Please get your facts right before shouting "this is bugged" to the world. Asking rather than Asserting will always get you further. 

==

For the benefit of others, the reason why Maxis (or other beach lots) have difficulty matching the underlying terrain is because they are rendered by different processes in SC4 - lots are laid on top of the terrain, the terrain has clever overlay methods to get smooth color gradients, lots do not - and trying to make a lot to exactly fit the underlying terrain would require some genius.

The only sure way to get good beaches is to use a good texture for the coastal area (hence this mod), then use Mayor Mode Ploppables (MMPs) to put everything you want onto the beach. There are several sets for this - ranging from natural items to parasols, kayaks and bathers to make a much more realistic scene - requires a bit more dedication but looks great.

[rsc204 21,814]

The basic problem is that the game cannot render transparency on lots, this is an age old problem, but there are solutions. Rather than switch the texture to a transparent one, simply remove them altogether from the beach lot. This can be done reasonably swiftly if you have PIM-X (LE won't allow this), or if you know what you are doing with iLives reader.

Many lotters/modders have preferred the option for transparency, so regardless of the game bug (Water Bug), release such items anyway. In essence when you first load a city, the bug will not be there, it will be transparent as intended. But, when you switch to one of the Data views, save the game or use an item from the water menu, the game tries to re-draw the lot, can't find the texture and part of the background scenery gets displayed instead. To fix it, simply toggle the Zones view on and off. Of course, it will keep coming back however.

So in short you can either accept the limitations of such mods and use them. Or if that doesn't work for you, remove the mod and find another way to get transparent beaches:

 

[matias93 7,535]

Another, better option is to use a beach texture that matches the sand texture of your terrain mod. If isn't any adequate colour available, GoFSH can be used to create one, something relatively simple.

[rsc204 21,814]

1 hour ago, matias93 said:

Another, better option is to use a beach texture that matches the sand texture of your terrain mod. If isn't any adequate colour available, GoFSH can be used to create one, something relatively simple.

It's certainly one solution, though it never seems to match perfectly, just too much variation of the underlying textures to take account of. But nothing beats proper transparency, hence all the attempts over the years at it. I seem to recall there was a Maxis beach with the textures removed on the STEX, but I couldn't find that.

The other way is as Rivit suggests, simply use a really nice beach mod and work with the bare terrain/beach. Or use some MMP sand to cover the beach, or even use the beach from Xannepann's Poseidon mod. I'm not a fan of the water bug and don't have a single lot that causes it installed.

[Moses Zal 46]

On 3/10/2017 at 0:29 AM, rivit said:

The "bug" is a bug in SC4 that is invoked from time to time with lots that show transparent textures or have no base texture. It can also occur when memory is all scrambled up and it can't get the texture it needs. I'm sure that others can explain it better and what to do with it.

The bug does not show all the time - this mod (and I made it long before I was aware of this bug) uses the transparent texture to avoid the usual problem of mismatching colors. I thought it a solution at the time - however its just a band aid. The mod itself is not bugged - its a texture mod - it makes no changes to functionality. Please get your facts right before shouting "this is bugged" to the world. Asking rather than Asserting will always get you further. 

==

For the benefit of others, the reason why Maxis (or other beach lots) have difficulty matching the underlying terrain is because they are rendered by different processes in SC4 - lots are laid on top of the terrain, the terrain has clever overlay methods to get smooth color gradients, lots do not - and trying to make a lot to exactly fit the underlying terrain would require some genius.

The only sure way to get good beaches is to use a good texture for the coastal area (hence this mod), then use Mayor Mode Ploppables (MMPs) to put everything you want onto the beach. There are several sets for this - ranging from natural items to parasols, kayaks and bathers to make a much more realistic scene - requires a bit more dedication but looks great.

Yup, I jumped into a conclusion there. But I think you overreacted a bit in your reaction. Anyway, thanks for the great info mate and other suggestions. And especially thanks for the mod. The beach looks great, with the white sand,  Emerald inshore, and dark cyan offshore, it literally looks like Maldives islands xD 

[Moses Zal 46]

On 3/10/2017 at 2:52 AM, rsc204 said:

The basic problem is that the game cannot render transparency on lots, this is an age old problem, but there are solutions. Rather than switch the texture to a transparent one, simply remove them altogether from the beach lot. This can be done reasonably swiftly if you have PIM-X (LE won't allow this), or if you know what you are doing with iLives reader.

Many lotters/modders have preferred the option for transparency, so regardless of the game bug (Water Bug), release such items anyway. In essence when you first load a city, the bug will not be there, it will be transparent as intended. But, when you switch to one of the Data views, save the game or use an item from the water menu, the game tries to re-draw the lot, can't find the texture and part of the background scenery gets displayed instead. To fix it, simply toggle the Zones view on and off. Of course, it will keep coming back however.

So in short you can either accept the limitations of such mods and use them. Or if that doesn't work for you, remove the mod and find another way to get transparent beaches:

 

Yup, I noticed that it does occur after a save. But I didn't know that toggling the zones view on and off fixes it. Thanks mate