Grayscale Map Imports on a Mac

[rcc31 4]

Hey guys,

I have been trying for months to import some of the cool maps on here and the ones that are grayscale don't work for me. Is this because I have a Mac? Is there a specific process for me to upload a grayscale map on a Mac? Thanks!

[CorinaMarie 29,574]

They'll work fine for you on the Mac. The only trouble is the folder clicking to navigate to the file doesn't work. You have to type out the exact full path and file name so the thinger can find it and load it for processing.

[rcc31 4]

Awesome, thanks! Which box do I type the whole path out in, and what does the path start with? I've tried a few different ways to type it but none have worked

 

[Cyclone Boom 16,852]

9 hours ago, rcc31 said:

Awesome, thanks! Which box do I type the whole path out in, and what does the path start with?

At least testing here on Windows, that would be in the "File name" box.

As I've highlighted green like so:

 

I found how pasting in the path works for this (Cmd+V on Mac). Then click the OK button to proceed with the render.

Testing this now, I found how it doesn't need the path enclosing in quotes, nor for adding the drive letter either. With being on a Mac system, my research finds how this might require forward slashes (/) instead of back slashes. Then add the file extension onto the end (here it's a .bmp file, but some maps will be in .jpg form).

Once run, this will open up a new screen as it does when loading a city tile. To ensure everything is completed properly, it's important to leave the rendering uninterrupted while this completes, and it can take upwards of 20 minutes for some maps (also depending on your processor speed). Switching to another program can cause it to fail otherwise, so just something to keep in mind. Of course, I'm only basing this from what I know of the Windows version, but that still might be a precautionary consideration.

If you receive a message about the region size being incorrect, make sure to first copy the config.bmp into the region's folder. These are usually provided with maps, and as this guide explains, they're needed for the allocation of small, medium, and large city tiles for RGB colour channels.

Hope this works for you, and let us know if you'd like anything else clarifying.

[CorinaMarie 29,574]

9 hours ago, rcc31 said:

what does the path start with?

That will depend on where you saved the grayscale file. It does not need to be in the SimCity 4 folder nor in Regions (tho the config.bmp does need to be in the folder for the region you are wanting to render as CB mentioned).

When I was initially learning grayscale importing using Windoze, I made a folder off the root of drive C so it was C:\x, then saved the grayscale image there, and then the grayscale would be accessed as C:\x\grayscale-map-name.bmp. Providing your game is installed on drive C then it would be fine leaving off the drive letter part using x\grayscale-map-name.bmp as the full path and name which is what CB is showing. In his example he has a folder C:\01-Maps where he put the grayscale.

In the above grayscale-map-name.bmp is the actual name of the grayscale file you have.

[Lucario Boricua 7,027]

Let us know how it goes!