[2008] Lot Editor and Plug-in Manager - Forum Archive

[mrbisonm 1,622]

So you mean that I have to make a 1x3 tile, water on one end and land on the other to be able to plop on the coastline. Sounds like a beach to me.

About the "Pedestrian Malls" tiles......You mean the ones in NAM? And what do you mean by diagonal tile?

Thanks

mrb

[tungston 19]

Originally posted by: mrbisonm So you mean that I have to make a 1x3 tile, water on one end and land on the other to be able to plop on the coastline. Sounds like a beach to me.

About the "Pedestrian Malls" tiles......You mean the ones in NAM? And what do you mean by diagonal tile?

Thanks

mrbquote>

 

That was only if you use both land, and water tiles on the lot.  You don't need both, or either of them.

The NAM Ped Mall Tiles won't show on diagonal tiles, when the coast line is on a diagonal.

[mrbisonm 1,622]

Originally posted by: tungston

That was only if you use both land, and water tiles on the lot.  You don't need both, or either of them.

quote>

 

Aren't you contradicting yourself. If I want to plop a tile on the yellow square which is the *coastline tile*, what do I need?

You said I needed a space between two tiles to be able to plop on the *coastlinetile* with the empty middle lot, so I said ok, it's a 3 tiled lot that I need then, one for land, one for water and one middle with nothing.......and now you say *You don't need both, or either of them.*

Sorry, I don't get it, it just doesn't make sense.

All that I want to know IS IT OR IS IT NOT possible to plop something on these yellow tiles (see picture above) without having to build an overhanging prop? Diagonal or not doesn't matter for the moment.

Thanks

mrb

[NetPCDoc 1]

Hello mrbisonm,

Short Answer - with 2 or more tiles - it is possible.

Longer Answer -

You don't have to put both land and water constraints on the same lot - although most lots with 3 or more tiles (that are made for beach placement) do put both constraints on a single lot.

What was said above was - if one tile (of a two tile lot) is constrained to either land or water and the other tile doesn't have a land/water constraint on it - that the unconstrained tile will go where you are wanting to put a tile.

For clarity - it is easier to check/test/etc on a non-diagonal area than on the diagonal area, as diagonals tend to inject their own pecularairities into the equations in question.

And, if one knows what one is looking for, one can also use the SC4Tool for removing textures from lot tiles.

-NetPCDoc

No detail is too small to be micromanaged.

[mrbisonm 1,622]

NetPCDoc, thanks for clearing that up, I think I got it now. Sorry about the picture with the diagonals, that wasn't intented nor asked for, it just happened to be there to take the picture. I think that it was the pictures that got us confused.

Here is what i was planning to do, on a straight beachline. Well maybe not.....lol......I don't want to reveil it yet.....lol.

Anyways I hope I understand it now and I will try it later this weekend and if it doesn't, well I will be back here,,,

Thanks everyone for giving me headaches helping me out. (just kidding)

mrbisonm

[eduardohsc 0]

Helpme Pleeeeeaaseeee!!!!!

How can I transform a growable building in a propable building? There are a lot of buildings that grows in your city, but whitout control,I want that grows european buildings in my city only (downloaded here), but I can't.What can I do?I downloaded a lot of buildings here, but this buildings are growable and just grow in certain places, without occupying the places that I want entirely.Help-me to create a european city with the growable buildings of this site, please.

[krbe 193]

You got the right forum this time; why not update the title too?

[diamonddog_74 32]

Which tool to use?

Basically, I'd like to make some lots into diagonal lots. Especially rail stations. Which tool do I use for this?

[tungston 19]

I think you need to make models in gMax BAT that are offset. But the best person to ask is not on this site, or SC4D anymore, you would have to go to Simpeg.com to contact him. Check the Puistokyla topic in "The B.A.T./GMAX" board there.

[diamonddog_74 32]

OK, thanks! I'll try Simpeg.com.

[123Rambo321 1]

Big avenue

I want to make an avenue of 3 cells without the flower in centre, with 2x traffic capacity nad new texture.

How can i do?

is it too difficult?

(Sorry if i have a bad english)

[TEG24601 32]

There is already project in the NAM group that is working on that. Likely it will be available in the next version of the NAM. There is a progress thread over at sc4devotion.com. In the meantime, I'd suggest either using extra one-way roads or add some transit.

TEG

[Morlow 23]

Q? Building Capacities

Ok this is a totally newb question, but I have never done any building editing ever.  How can I change a building's capacity? Meaning the number of people a residential building houses or how many jobs commercial and industrial supply. 

[Sam 163]

You need to use the capacity satisfied property in the building exemplar. The numbers are in sets of pairs and each pair consists of a type and an amount. There will normally be one pair for each wealth level. Eg an R$ will have one pair. An R$$ will have two pairs, one for the R$$ capacity and one for the delapidated R$ capacity. An R$$$ will have three pairs, one for the normal R$$$ capacity, one for the delapidated R$$ capacity and one for the delapidated R$ capacity.

You will need to use the Reader to modify these values. Be careful because modifying these too radically compared to the building and lot size may cause problems such as the lots failing to grow or growing as weeds, and may unbalance your city.

[Patriotfrosh15 0]

Lot Editor

I don't know exactly where this topic should go, but I'm gonna ask anyway. Well, does anyone know where I can download the lot editor, cause I'm missing it.

[psander5 198]

you can find it here

short and sweet.  Hope you enjoy it

[Xarune 0]

Lot Function

I have recently been messing around with some lot editor stuff and I was wondering how people change the function and capabilities of a lot?

Ex: increasing the amount of passengers a transportation lot can take

lot cost

RCI plopables

dual lot functions (subway/train/bus in the same lot)

etc...

[vetram 221]

help with PIM

a little help pls...

what is an xml file and how do we know if a .dat file contain an xml file?

and also...

where we can find the model files in PIM after downloading a custom lot where we see only lot files in plugins folder?

[Sam 163]

A model file will only show in PIM if it has an xml file. Some creators remove this xml file, as it is otherwise pretty useless. Below is a model file I made recently, as viewed in the Reader.

You can see in the middle pane that what is called a .sc4model file is actually a container for several other kinds of files, inlcuding .fsh, .s3d etc which are used in the game. The blue selected file in the middle pane is the xml file (you can see in the Entry column it is listed as an xml). This xml is created when you render the model in BAT.  You can also see the information that this xml contains in the right pane. This information is used by the PIM to set the stats and model pointers in the descriptor files that it creates when you drop the model file onto an option in the tree structure.

Often when many model files are grouped into a prop pack the creator removes the xml files. If the creator has left them in then you can use the drag and drop method in PIM to create new descriptor files from the existing models.

If you have downloaded a custom file and there is only a lot file then the model file could be anywhere but it will be a dependency. (This is why you get brown boxes in the game if its missing. If there's no brown box then you must have the model file somewhere so check the dependency listing for the file you downloaded. If it doesn't have one then use SC4 Tool to get the dependency listing.) Also check the creator didn't merge it into the lot file itself. The sc4lot file is just another container file that can contain other files (including the ones from the model if that's where the creator put them).

[vetram 221]

sam , as you were the one that replied , can you please tell me where did you find the models files in your example with jeronij's container ship in your tutorial "making boats that float in water?....i have download the file and i cannot see anything in PIM..

This is a good example for me , to finally understand where we find models files in PIM..if anyone knows pls help...

[Sam 163]

Hi Vetram. I think what is causing confusion here is that Jeronij has moved his model files from the Toyama red upload into a mega pack since I wrote the tutorial (and unfortunately it looks like the xml files have been removed in the process). The upload I used in the tutorial has been updated to now list a dependency BSC Mega Prop Pack jeronij Vol01. This is where the model files will be (I think when I wrote it, he had them in the upload itself, and when I used them they were in the folder with the lot files, and I just copied them to the root plugins folder.)

This is what prop packs are - collections of model files (and their descriptors).

So if I go to the LEX and download Jeronij's Ships Toyama (Red) I see this screen:

The line I've highlighted in blue (with red arrow) says this download has one dependency, BSC Mega Prop Pack jeronij Vol01. This gives me an idea of where to look for the model file if it is not in with the lot files.

To check it is not in the lot files, I open them both in the Reader. So this is what the files in my plugins folder look like in Windows Explorer:

First I should open both these lot files in the Reader just to check that the model files are not there. This is the first one:

I can tell the model files are not in here, because there is nothing like the file structure we saw in my previous post with the s3d and fsh files. In this lot file there are only an LD file (used by the Maxis Exchange for uploading stats), a lot Exemplar, a preview png (used by the Maxis Exchange), an icon png, a building exemplar, a DIR file (needed if any of the files are compressed), and n LText file (in this case for the lot name). So the model files are not here.

Checking the second file we can see the models are not in there either:

This means the model files must be in the dependency, BSC Mega Prop Pack jeronij Vol01. So I find that file in my plugins and open it the Reader:

This dat file will have a lot of files inside it, for many different props. It can be a bit confusing when there are so many together, so its easier to use the Reader's Analyser feature:

Open the file in the reader and follow the numbers above.

1. Click the analyser button

2. Click the Search buttion

3. Click the Tree button (you can leave this step out this time since there are only a few props in the pack).

4. Select the descriptor of the prop you want and Right Click

5. on the pop-up menu click Sync. with file? (this will make the main Reader screen go to the file you pick). Then close the analyser

6. This is the prop descriptor file for the prop you selected (equivalent to the sc4desc file made by the PIM). It is not the model file.

Now if you look at the descriptor file in the main screen it looks like this (but without the colours, I've put highligher on the image):

The line in the middle pane highlighted in blue with a purple outline is the prop descriptor file. If you look in the right pane you will see a line called Resource Key Type 1 (I've put it in a red box). This is the Type, Group and Instance number (TGI) of the model file. In the values column, look at the number underlined in blue and the number underlined in green. In the middle pane, look at the numbers inside the blue rectangle and the green rectangle. These files are part of the model files.

So from this we have confirmed that the model file is in the prop pack BSC Mega Prop Pack jeronij Vol01.

Now we have to check if the XML files have been left in this pack. In the middle pane of the Reader, I click on the grey header called Entry. This will sort the files by Entry:

This may sound a long and complicated procedure just to find out if a model file is where you think it is, but once you've done it a few times its quite easy to check and doesn't take long.

But looking through the list it unfortunately looks like the XML files are no longer in this prop pack. (If they were, it would simply be a matter of putting the BSC Mega Prop Pack jeronij Vol01.dat file in your root plugins folder, and then using PIM to make a new descriptor file for it.)

If I was working through the tutorial, I'd need to make my building descriptor another way, other than directly using the PIM. This would mean constructing one in the Reader line by line, using a PIM building descriptor from another model of similar size as a base, or constructing a suitable XML for the PIM to use (this must be merged in with the prop pack - if you try this, do it on a copy of the pack and delete the modified pack afterwards).

[Sam 163]

Hi Xarune, the Lot Editor cannot do this kind of thing. You will need to use the Reader for this (available on the Modds and Downloads page). However be warned, there is not a one click button that will do these things for you. Its fairly intricate modding that is required in most cases.

You might want to try LEProp as this is simpler and more intuitive, but it can only do fairly simple things like change name, description, icon and a few basic values. It will not convert growable to ploppable or anything like that for you.

[vetram 221]

sam , thanks so much for your patience to write so many details ...thanks indeed...

I have nothing to comment as I must sit down and read carefully every word of your post , and that needs a little time...

thanks so much once again

[Sam 163]

Hi Vetram,

I think the short answer is that the xml files for the model I used in the tutorial are no longer available due to the repackaging of the original models into a prop pack. It looks like I'll have to rewrite the tutorial using another model that still has xml files available.

There are ways to get around this problem but they are not simple to achieve.

[pagenotfound 53]

How to interpret Hex code in Ilives reader

if I want a building to be CS$$ or CO$$$ what hex value would the occupant group be?

[tomdapom 79]

Plug-in Manager - Error

Hi all, 

I am having a problem with the PIM. Whenver I try to open it, nothing shows in the menus. I go to Refresh, however I then get this message: 

Why am I getting this message, and how do I get the PIM working?

Cheers, 

Tom

[spectrumtech 15]

You can use Lot Editor and LEprop to make it into a landmark. I am afraid that you cannot make a residential landmark, so you will have to just use one tileset. It should work.

[I-275westcoastflorida 1]

Lot name help

I need help finding the name of the growable 3x3 coit tower, I have too many growing and its annoying. I've tried searching my computer from the name to 3x3, unfortunately I have a huge plugins folder so if somebody knowledgable with the STEX could help me find the name of the growable coit tower I'd appreciate it big time!

[RippleJet 36]

The growable Coit Tower is included in the CAM, and it does seem to grow more than any other CAMified Maxis building.

The reason for this is its visual appearance. You do notice it a lot easier than any of the other in-game stage 6 CS§§§ buildings (although the Coit Tower actually adds more variety to the stage 6 CS§§§ buildings).

A blocker is attached to this post:

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=1177.msg144484#msg144484

[I-275westcoastflorida 1]

Thanks a lot man!