Raymond's Newbie Thoughts

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

Hiya Everybody,

The main purpose of this thread is just that i need a place to organize my thoughts or new ideas, Actually I used to do that with PM, but that's really sometimes it's not that appropriate to bother others with personal purpose, So I write down those newbie's thoughts here, Maybe some of them has been given correct solutions somewhere, so Please forgive me about it since as a newbie, so much useful information buried around somewhere.  Likewise, I do look forward and appreciate you could give me more and more advices or tips if you're also interested in them, Thank you!

List :

① The Signs & Label Tools

② ANT-AM Mod(ANTigravity Addon Mod)

③ Terrain Mod (processing)

④ Multiple train mod

⑤ Castles

⑥ Real road surface

⑦The Simtropolis (processing)

⑧ Draggable MMP

⑨ UP

⑩ Floating Airport (finished)

①① Commute time query

①② Yellowstone (designing)

①③ Optional Historical UI:

①④ Colorful UI (finished)

①⑤ Forrest Gump

①⑥ Old Trafford

①⑦ Tractor Automata

①⑧ Tree House

①⑨ Globe (finished)

②① Batman Light etc

②② T21 Mod (learning)

②③ Winston Churchill statue (finished)

②④ TE Building

②⑤ Automata (processing)

②⑥ The Wedding

②⑦ All Creatures Great and Small

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

Hi Raymond,

This is a nice idea for a new topic.

With ST being a learning community, anyone else can follow along also. This way it'll be like a diary of your SC4 learning to inspire others.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

①, The Signs & Label Tools: This is the first thought i could think of in my limited brain. I had this thought about 1 year ago and spent hours to find out what exactly this mystery stuff is, simply put, I want to reskin the signs and labels with other styles, Additionally, I thought the Signs is very interesting to me, I thought it's unique since it seems could be plopped to anywhere even the sea and sky without take over one tile, I have had some clues from SC4.exe and tons exemplars of SimCity_1.dat at that time, I will upload more details later.

@Cyclone Boom Thank you CB for your support, I just saw your reply whilst writing,  I will ask some of them which is too complicated with a new thread, and then update links into here, If you and Cori @CorinaMarie thought it's not a right place, Please do tell me, I will move it to off-topic.

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

[CorinaMarie 29,895]

@Raymond7cn

Tis a perfectly good place for this. Many other peeps have done the same to keep things which interest them all in one thread.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

②, ANT-AM Mod(ANTigravity Addon Mod) : This mod named by Terring, ( @Terring Correct me if it's wrong spelling), Actually, I just want to make a mod same as CAN-AM, and when i saw Terring's beautiful futurist CJ, I had this thought, I have learnt many from MoonLight's splendid mod(before that Cori and CB and Robin had taught me a lot), and after then made two pieces network Lot and 3 True3d flying cars, (someone has seen them before and named them Teletubbies or iPod) I will continue that project when i got inspiration about how to make corner Lot etc. And Cori have taught me a trick about how to make one generator to spawn various flying cars, Honestly, Really need some time to understand it.

 

-- I don't intend to write every thoughts with a separate post, It's just because of not very convenient with cellphone now, and wanna make room for pictures and links when with computer.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

③, Terrain Mod : I know it kind of sounds like a daydream, Especially, when i delve deeper into .ini file, I knew why those great Terrain masters(Lowkee33, Ennd, etc) even spend years to make a Mod, But Cori's sidewater and my Cutaway mod has given a bit confidence to me.

First, I want to make a sea Cutaway mod which has more details of seabed(corals,treasure,etc), I want to do that with sidewater, but it seems impossible now, the difficult problem to solve is that how to deal with stretch when seabed is not flat, Speaking here, I had same problem when i want to use HD cliff textures as well, it looks awful when rasing the mountain.

Besides, now i focus on the ripple and wave exemplars of Terrain, I have understand the ripple's effect, but still dunno what's the effect of the wave's parameters.

And also this shoreline:

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

④, Multiple train mod : Recently, Thanks to CoriBoom™ I became a train lover, I downloaded VDK's splendid trains, but I'm not satisfied that could only have one of them in the game, so I asked in this thread:

 

Then i found out Swamper77's generator and tweaked it a bit and have successfully generated trains with it, But have to think about more deeper about how to generate other groups, since I have forgotten most of knowledge which Cori has taught me before. BTW, Also want to make a train by myself, have finished the engine modeling and need some time to transform it to True3d automata.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

⑤ Castles : Actually, it's not a mod, it's just some Lots, Inspired by Cori's castle (have forgotten those ancient names she taught me) and suggested by my friend Steve @thecitiescenter, Likewise, my favorite movie the Lord of rings, I plan to make 1), Minas Tirith(somebody called it big cake),

2), Kremlin walls

3), A mediaeval castle for corinthians (maybe wrong again),  by now I stuck on the huge size of Minas Tirith and how to deal with the wall's connection of Kremlin walls, The upside is that I have learnt more during recent modeling, I believe those could be accomplished someday.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

⑥ Real road surface : This maybe a T21 mod, a rough thought, I want to add some details into road, such as muddy, manhole, leaves, etc, Robin taught me how to modify T21 mods when the beginning of my simtropolis life, and I have successfully modified JRJ's Sidewalks mod with replacing the props to HD props, It spent inconceivable tedious works at that time, But i thought that it's more easier now. My newbie's plan is that make some hanging subtransparent props to see if it could add details upon the road.

Enough today, let the others keep laying on my notebook, It's time to go to bed now!  zzZ…

[Terring 6,476]

That's a lot of great projects you're working on here. I'm really curious and excited about ANT-AM (ANTigravity Addon Mod), Minas Tirith and the real road surface mod and I can't wait to use them. Obviously I can wait. Take your time and make them as awesome as you want them

22 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

I want to make a sea Cutaway mod which has more details of seabed(corals,treasure,etc)

Now that sounds awesome

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

2 hours ago, Terring said:

That's a lot of great projects you're working on here. I'm really curious and excited about ANT-AM (ANTigravity Addon Mod), Minas Tirith and the real road surface mod and I can't wait to use them. Obviously I can wait. Take your time and make them as awesome as you want them

Now that sounds awesome

Thank you Terring, My brain is just full of these stuffs, Concerning the thoughts, Actually there were still more of them, Especially inspired by your futurist style, You must remember that very high futurist highway with pretty nice curve around the buildings,

and of course the Cortana,

 Ray will never give up anything, as you said, I just need time.

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

[hugues aroux 3,867]

Hello Raymond!

All these points are really very interesting and I will follow this thread carefully. But there's one that catches my attention, it's the first one, "Signs..." If I could learn more about a new panel skin, to complete my Mod "UI blue skin", I'm interested because I didn't find out how to do it at the time.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

1 hour ago, hugues aroux said:

Hello Raymond!

All these points are really very interesting and I will follow this thread carefully. But there's one that catches my attention, it's the first one, "Signs..." If I could learn more about a new panel skin, to complete my Mod "UI blue skin", I'm interested because I didn't find out how to do it at the time.

Dear hugues, You are always so kind, Thanks, Guess what? one hour ago, I just Installed you splendid blue UI mod for a test,  Is that so called 'meant to be'! Anyways, by the help of your mod, I have precluded many png files, I have looked through the entire pngs in SimCity_1 and 2, I plan to use Photoshop's batch function to modify the pngs which i thought maybe relevant to signpost to see what happen there, Of course i will tell you if i could make some progress on this or through PM, Thank you friend!

BTW, Along with this i got some nice progress on Keycfg as well.

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

[hugues aroux 3,867]

Super ... I hope you're luckier and more persistent than I am. Thanks a lot. See you soon, then.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

Hiya My Dear Friends, @CorinaMarie @Cyclone Boom @hugues aroux @Terring

After hours awkward and tedious works, when i almost gave up, my favorite music (I can only imagine) playing, Suddenly…

I got it!! It maybe not a big discovery and i need to delve more deeper into it, Anyway, I found the entry, I'm sooo happy!

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

[Terring 6,476]

Excellent. Way to go, Ray

[hugues aroux 3,867]

Waaaa ! Super ! One step closer to mastering the interface!

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

⑦The Simtropolis : Frankly, I was planning to keep this secret gift until simtropolis's birthday, And this one:

I'm not very satisfied with some parts of it, but never mind, I could post this thought here, in case anyone could give me more better suggestion. Hello! Simtropolis! 

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

Hiya Cori, @CorinaMarie

 Sorry to beep you suddenly, I just thought you may could help me, I want to export all material id of s3d from simcity_1.dat, then i found iLive's scripts:

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=10488.0

one of exemple is : 

example 2
   function reader.main (this)   
      pos = reader:entries_GetHeadPosition()     
      while pos~=0 do
      entry,pos = reader:entries_GetNext(pos)
      flag = reader:entry_GetFlag(entry)     
      if (flag == 2) then      
         s3d = reader:s3d_Decode(entry)   
         count = reader:s3d_Count(s3d, 4)
         io.write("count :",count )
         block = reader:s3d_GetBlock(s3d, 4, 0)
         pos = reader:s3dtext_GetHeadPosition(block)
         while pos ~=0 do
            s3dtext, pos = reader:s3dtext_GetNext(block,pos)
            id, wrapModeS, wrapModeT,magFilter, minFilter,name = reader:s3dtext_GetInfo(s3dtext)
            if (id==0x00030403) then
               io.write("id:",name)
               id = 0x00000001
               name="test_lua"
               reader:s3dtext_SetInfo(s3dtext, id, wrapModeS, wrapModeT,magFilter, minFilter,name)
            end
         end   
         reader:s3d_SetBlock(s3d, 4, 0, block)
         reader:s3d_Encode(entry,s3d)
      end
      end
      reader:refresh()
   end
   
   This example parse all entries of a Dat file.
   If an entry is a S3D, it reads material block (4) then parses all textures.
   If id of one of them is 0x00030403, it changes to 0x00000001 and changes its name.   
   Once done, it encodes the data to save modifications.

Can i use it with a bit tweaking to export all material id to somewhere with a format could be read by text tools? I guess this is LUA language, but i don't know too much about programing, I guess at least you could tell me if it's possible. Thank you!

Besides, Though i haven't made too much progress on signpost, however, I found that by tweaking some fsh (dunno know which one yet), I got this one :

it's so funny, never think of which cutaway texture shows up is controlled by a fsh map.

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

BTW, I actually just want to find a material ID from all s3d's mat tab, at the beginning i did that manually, but when i moving between the S3D filetype, then i cannot move with the arrow keys anymore, have to click on the list again. it is very frustrating when clicking in tons of s3d files, then i Installed the Version 1.54, I found that i could use arrow keys to move up and down in S3D files, but there was another problem, once changing to another S3D file, have to click the MAT tab again. Does everyone have the same problem as me? 

[CorinaMarie 29,895]

1 hour ago, Raymond7cn said:

i found iLive's scripts:

That looks extremely useful.

However, I'm confuzzled right from the start. that post says: " Don't forget to define the script directory in the Option screen. " and mine doesn't seem to have a script directory option:

 

Then I see " To use script, open a DAT file and use the following ribbon ". What ribbon? Where?

 

1 hour ago, Raymond7cn said:

Can i use it with a bit tweaking to export all material id to somewhere with a format could be read by text tools?

That certainly looks like it should be possible if we can find out how to access it.

 

1 hour ago, Raymond7cn said:

I guess this is LUA language, ...

Yep, the post does say " Scripts under Reader can be done using LUA language (v5.1) " and that happens to be a newer version than the embedded Lua interpreter in the game itself.

 

Have you found how to access any scripts or assign the script directory? I have a feeling I'm overlooking something obvious, but for the life of me I'm don't know where it might be.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

Ah, Thank you Cori, I noticed that ribbon as well and planning to ask that, however i found that function in the Version 1.54, Frankly, I never been through this Version before, and it seemed not quite stable in my comp, I'm still finding how to execute a script in 0.93, and will tell you as long as find out that. Thanks!!

Version 1.54 right here:

Yours,

-- Raymond

[CorinaMarie 29,895]

4 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

i found that function in the Version 1.54

Ah. I do see Script options ribbon in 1.5.4.

And then I presume the LUA Folder might be the Scripts Directory?

 

4 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

Frankly, I never been through this Version before, and it seemed not quite stable in my comp, ...

That isn't just your comp.

Mine, CB's, and multiple peeps who've mentioned it have found 1.5.4 has a nasty habit of corrupting files. This is so unfortunate cause it has some nice features which 0.9.3 doesn't have. I only use 1.5.4 if I need to edit a property that 0.9.3 doesn't recognize like the one for NKO. A not completely successful work around if you are in 1.5.4 is to make all changes to things and save only once. (Many of us are in the habit of changing a thing or two and saving before then tweaking other things and saving again.) The most noticeable corruption seems to be the data in LTEXT entries, but there may be others.
 

So, back to the scripting idea. I found this thread in which the OP is having difficulties and a following reply from Alex confirming the issues with scripting. As you've likely figured out, I've never even looked into this option.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

On 7/2/2020 at 3:47 PM, CorinaMarie said:

That looks extremely useful.

However, I'm confuzzled right from the start. that post says: " Don't forget to define the script directory in the Option screen. " and mine doesn't seem to have a script directory option:

 

Then I see " To use script, open a DAT file and use the following ribbon ". What ribbon? Where?

 

That certainly looks like it should be possible if we can find out how to access it.

 

Yep, the post does say " Scripts under Reader can be done using LUA language (v5.1) " and that happens to be a newer version than the embedded Lua interpreter in the game itself.

 

Have you found how to access any scripts or assign the script directory? I have a feeling I'm overlooking something obvious, but for the life of me I'm don't know where it might be.

Hiya Cori, I found that in 1.54's readme file where says the Reader add script support from V1.1, so i guess we probably couldn't have that function with 0.93.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

4 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

So, back to the scripting idea. I found this thread in which the OP is having difficulties and a following reply from Alex confirming the issues with scripting. As you've likely figured out, I've never even looked into this option.

Thanks for sharing Cori, I have looked through this thread entirely, I'm sorry that haven't found out something relevant to my issue, But it's really a good experience of reading, I got some clues which maybe useful to my other projects, such as Z-fighting.

Cori I remember that you have a Cori report somewhere, are you using LUA script to export information to somewhere, i couldn't memories it clearly, i just conjecture that maybe mix both of them could achieve my goal, Thank you, I will go to think about it.

Yours,

-- Raymond

[CorinaMarie 29,895]

22 minutes ago, Raymond7cn said:

Cori report

It's a bunch of game variables in a printable page like this:

Spoiler

-------------------------------------------
--  * * * The C.O.R.I. City Report * * * --
-------------------------------------------
 
 - Beta version 0.2a - RAW numbers from game memory variables.


---------------
-- GEOGRAPHY --
---------------

  Location and Sim Date
  ---------------------
  REGION..: Corillion
  CITY:...: E1
  SIM DATE: 0255/12/02 (yyyy/mm/dd)


  City Tile Characteristics
  -------------------------
  City tile size: Large (65,536 cells)
  City has sea = 1 (Yes)
  Number of cities adjacent = 3
  Number of cities connected = 3
  Number of cities connected indirectly = 60


  Sim Opinion Poll
  ----------------
  Mayor rating Lowest = 3
  Mayor rating Highest = 69
  Mayor rating overall = 41


----------------
-- POPULATION --
----------------

  Total
  -----
  Population = 29,436 (as of last month update)
  Workforce population = 15,712
  RCI Capacity = 47,764


  Residential
  -----------
  Low wealth residential population = 28,172
  Medium wealth residential population = 1,178
  High wealth residential population = 57

  Total residential capacity = 30,144


  Commercial
  ----------
  Low wealth commercial service population = 7,854
  Medium wealth commercial service population = 72
  High wealth commercial service population = 0

  Medium wealth commercial office population = 312
  High wealth commercial office population = 92

  Total commercial population = 8,332


  Industrial
  ----------
  Farm population = 1,611

  Dirty industrial population = 9,115
  Manufacturing population = 147
  High tech population = 23

  Total industrial population = 9,288


  Regional
  --------
  Region residential capacity = 350,707
  Region commercial population = 65,691
  Region industrial population = 68,834
  Region RCI capacity = 485,232

  Region workforce population = 178,544


------------------------------
-- ZONE and BUILDING COUNTS --
------------------------------

  Residential
  -----------
  Low density residential zones = 1,885
  Medium density residential zones = 47
  High density residential zones = 235


  Commercial
  ----------
  Low density commercial zones = 128
  Medium density commercial zones = 35
  High density commercial zones = 179


  Industrial
  ----------
  Farm zones = 13,069
  Medium density industrial zones = 188
  High density industrial zones = 1,137


  Buildings Dynamics
  ------------------
  Number of buildings = 14,157
  Unpowered buildings = 1
  Unwatered buildings = 1,123
  Watered buildings = 813

  Car zots count = 7


-------------------
-- ACTIVE DEMAND --
-------------------
   
  Workforce active demand = 18,000


  Residential
  -----------
  Low wealth residential active demand = 4,979
  Medium wealth residential active demand = 1,342
  High wealth residential active demand = 1,649


  Commercial
  ----------
  Medium wealth commercial office active demand = 3,756
  High wealth commercial office active demand = 1,527


  Industrial
  ----------
  Dirty industrial active demand = 1,846
  Manufacturing active demand = 55
  High tech active demand = 63


-------------------------
-- EXTRAPOLATED DEMAND --
-------------------------

  Residential
  -----------
  Low wealth residential extrapolated demand = 2,888
  Medium wealth residential extrapolated demand = 119
  High wealth residential extrapolated demand = 943
  Total residential extrapolated demand = 3,950


  Commercial
  ----------
  Low wealth commercial services extrapolated demand = 785
  Medium wealth commercial services extrapolated demand = 935
  High wealth commercial services extrapolated demand = 0

  Medium commercial office extrapolated demand = 660
  High wealth commercial office extrapolated demand = 939
  Total commercial extrapolated demand = 3,319


  Industrial
  ----------
  Farm extrapolated demand = 1,251

  Dirty industrial extrapolated demand = 984
  Manufacturing extrapolated demand = 834
  High tech extrapolated demand = 70
  Total industrial extrapolated demand = 3,139


---------------------------------
-- ? ? ? REGIONAL DEMAND ? ? ? --
---------------------------------
   
  Workforce demand = 190,632


  Residential
  -----------
  Low wealth residential demand = 356,455
  Medium wealth residential demand = 16,201
  High wealth residential demand = 8,627


  Commercial
  ----------
  Medium wealth commercial office demand = 7,281
  High wealth commercial office demand = 1,944


----------
-- CAPS --
----------

  Residential
  -----------
  Low wealth residential current cap = 12.51
  Medium residential current cap = 0.83
  High wealth residential current cap = 0.17


  Commercial
  ----------
  Medium wealth commercial office current cap = 0.33
  High wealth commercial office current cap = 0.1


  Industrial
  ----------
  For Farm Cap, see RippleJet's Census Repository Facility
    https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1831

  Dirty industrial current cap = 10.39
  Manufacturing current cap = 0.18
  High tech current cap = 0.03


-----------------------------
-- TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS --
-----------------------------

  Network Tile Counts
  -------------------
  Street tile count = 3,992
  Road tile count = 1,447
  Avenue tile count = 513
  Ground highway count = 66
  Elevated highway count = 22
  Dirt road count = 0
  Pothole count = 187
  Bridge tile count = 0
  Rail tile count = 1,147
  Subway tile count = 258
  Elevated rail tile count = 32
  Monorail tile count = 116


  Neighbor Connection Counts
  --------------------------
  Number of road neighbors = 1
  Number of avenue neighbors = 2
  Number of rail neighbors = 5
  Rail neighbor connection count = 5


  Congestion Tile Counts
  ----------------------
  Street congestion tile count = 155
  Street congestion H = 495.71
  Street congestion = 19.29

  Road congestion tile count = 2
  Road congestion H = 119.43
  Road congestion = 5.79
  Road connection congestion H = 1

  Avenue congestion tile count = 0
  Avenue congestion H = 9.83
  Avenue congestion = 0.35
  Avenue connection congestion H = 1

  Bridge congestion tile count = 0
  Bridge congestion H = 2.54
  Bridge congestion = 2.5

  Rail congestion tile count = 27
  Rail congestion H = 116.67
  Rail congestion = 12.23

  Subway congestion tile count = 39
  Subway congestion H = 338.67
  Subway congestion = 64.08

  Elevated rail congestion tile count = 0
  Elevated rail congestion H = 25.53
  Elevated rail congestion = 25.53

  Monorail congestion tile count = 93
  Monorail congestion H = 307.8
  Monorail congestion = 245.98

  Freight trip length = 13


  Trips Completed or Failed
  -------------------------
  Passenger ferry trip completed = 0
  Passenger ferry trip failed = 0
  Car ferry trip completed = 0
  Car ferry trip failed = 0
  Ferry no road access = 0
  Shuttle no road access = 0

  Return trip failed count = 0
  Transit strike = 0
  Transit strike chance = 0


  Network Building Counts
  -----------------------
  Bus station count = 195
  Subway station count = 22
  Elevated rail station count = 6
  Monorail station count = 9
  Passenger ferry count = 0
  Car ferry count = 0
  Freight train station count = 0
  Train station count = 60
  Number of tollbooths = 0


  Network Building Usage Counts
  -----------------------------
  Bus station utilization P = 12.05
  Bus station utilization PL = 0
  Subway station utilization P = 20
  Subway station utilization PL = 0
  Elevated rail station utilization P = 19.15
  Elevated rail station utilization PL = 19
  Monorail station utilization P = 92.72
  Monorail station utilization PL = 78
  Train station utilization P = 18.75
  Train station utilization PL = 0

  Rapid transit transactions = 6


  Airports
  --------
  Airport count = 1
  Airport efficiency = 0
  Airport no road access G = 0
  Airport no road access L = 0

  Small airport s1 count = 1
  Small airport s2 count = 0
  Small airport s3 count = 0
  Small airport count = 1

  Medium airport s1 count = 0
  Medium airport s2 count = 0
  Medium airport s3 count = 0
  Medium airport count = 0

  Large airport s1 count = 0
  Large airport s2 count = 0
  Large airport s3 count = 0
  Large airport count = 0


  Seaports
  --------
  Seaport count = 1
  Seaport s1 count = 1
  Seaport s2 count = 0
  Seaport s3 count = 0
  Seaport volume = 136
  Seaport efficiency = 0
  Seaport water no edge access = 0
  Seaport no road access G = 0
  Seaport no road access L = 0


------------
-- CIVICS --
------------

  Power
  -----
  Power pole count = 22
  Wind power plant count = 2
  Gas power plant count = 29
  Coal power plant = 0
  Oil power plant count = 0
  Solar power plant count = 0
  Nuclear power plant count = 0
  Fusion power plant count = 0
  Waste power plant count = 0

  Total power plant count = 31

  Aged power plant count = 0
  Overworked power plant count = 0
  Power plant age H = 3

  Power production capacity = 14,898
  Power consumed = 13,000
  Power strike = 0
  Power strike chance = 0


  Water
  -----
  Water source count = 21
  Water production capacity = 50,302
  Water pipe count = 739
  Water tile count = 5,907
  Water consumed = 34,865

  Water treatment plant count = 0
  Water building age H = 3

  Water pollution pump shutdown count = 0
  Water distressed pipe count = 0
  Water burst pipe count = 0


  Education
  ---------
  Education = 78.23
  Tract EQ L = 0.06
  Tract EQ H = 200
  School grade L = 100
  School grade = 100
  School strike = 0
  School strike chance = 0
  Education coverage = 0.19

  Number of elementary schools = 4
  Number of high schools = 1
  Number of schools = 5
  Number of colleges = 0

  Number of educational buildings = 5

  Number of libraries = 2
  Library served = 417
  Library grade L = 100
  Library grade = 100

  Number of museums = 1
  Museum served = 284
  Museum grade L = 100
  Museum grade = 100


  Health
  ------
  Health = 136.25
  Tract HQ L = 0
  Tract HQ H = 200
  Health grade = 98.91
  Health strike = 0
  Health strike chance = 0
  Health Coverage = 7.9

  Number of clinics = 0
  Clinic grade L = 0
  Number of hospitals = 59
  Hospital grade L = 82.86
  Health capacity = 0

  Number of treated patients = 1,410,005
   ^Bugged. Patients variable matches landfill capacity after a game month is run.

  Tract life expectancy L = 0
  Tract life expectancy H = 200
  Life expectancy = 84


  Parks
  -----
  Number of parks = 418
  Number of recreation = 418


  Crime
  -----
  Crime = 3
  Crime H = 108
  Crime committed count = 36
  Criminal count = 10

  Police station count = 1
  Police coverage = 4.73
  Police coverage GA = 3.47
  Police repath attempts = 0
  Police strike = 0
  Police strike chance = 0
  Police no roads = 0
  Arrest count = 0

  Jail count = 1
  Jail capacity = 25
  Jailbreak = 0
  Inmate count = 10


  Fire
  ----
  Flammability = 18
  Flammability H = 0

  Fire station count = 20
  Fire coverage = 114.33
  Fire coverage P = 96.17
  Fire repath attempts = 0
  Fire strike = 0
  Fire strike chance = 0
  Fire station no roads = 1


  Garbage
  -------
  Garbage produced = 31,736
  Uncollected garbage H = 0
  Uncollected garbage = 0
  Garbage pollution = 0

  Landfill capacity = 1,410,005
  Available landfill capacity = 385,039
  Garbage to landfill = 26,493

  Recycling center count = 1
  Recycling center effect P = 17
  Garbage recycled = 5,533

  Waste to energy building count = 0
  Waste to energy capacity = 0
  Garbage to energy = 0

  Incinerator count = 0
  Incinerator capacity = 0


  Pollution
  ---------
  Air pollution H = 905
  Air pollution = 99
  Water pollution H = 1,343
  Water pollution = 704


-------------
-- FINANCE --
-------------

  Budget
  ------
  Tax income = 11,573
  Neighbor deals income = 166
  Monthly income = 14,869
  Neighbor deals expense = 11
  Monthly expense = 12,104
  Funds = 1,669,477


  Loans
  -----
  Borrowing limit = 2,000,000
  Borrowed = 0
  Monthly bond payments = 0


---------------
-- Tax Rates --
---------------
   
  Neutral tax rate = 8.97


  Residential
  -----------
  Low wealth residential tax rate = 9.1
  Medium wealth residential tax rate = 8.9
  High wealth residential tax rate = 8.8


  Commercial
  ----------
  Low wealth commercial service tax rate = 9.1
  Medium wealth commercial service tax rate = 8.9
  High wealth commercial service tax rate = 8.7

  Medium wealth commercial office tax rate = 8.6
  High wealth commercial office tax rate = 8.5


  Industrial
  ----------
  Farm tax rate = 9.5
  Dirty industrial tax rate = 9.3
  Manufacturing tax rate = 8.9
  High tech tax rate = 8.8


-------------
-- Funding --
-------------
   
  Road funding = 60
  Mass transit funding = 100
  Fire funding PG = 100
  Fire funding PL = 100
  Police funding PG = 100
  Police funding PL = 100
  Clinic funding = 0
  Hospital funding = 2
  Health funding = 8.33
  School funding = 4
  Library funding = 1
  Museum funding = 33
  Education funding = 10.71
  Power funding = 100
  Power plant funding = 100
  Water funding = 100
  Water building funding = 100
  Parks funding = 100
  Landmarks funding = 100
  Pollution funding = 100


--------------------
-- Neighbor Deals --
--------------------
  Neighbor power connection present = 1
  Neighbor deal can buy power = 1
  Neighbor deal can sell power = 0
  Neighbor deal buy power count = 0
  Neighbor deal sell power count = 1
  Neighbor power imported = 0
  Neighbor power exported = 1,000

  Neighbor water connection present = 1
  Neighbor deal can buy water = 0
  Neighbor deal can sell water = 0
  Neighbor buy water count = 0
  Neighbor sell water count = 1
  Neighbor water imported = 0
  Neighbor water exported = 2,000

  Neighbor garbage connection present = 1
  Neighbor deal can export garbage = 0
  Neighbor deal can import garbage = 1
  Neighbor import garbage count = 0
  Neighbor deal export garbage count = 1
  Neighbor deal garbage imported = 0
  Neighbor deal garbage exported = 1,000


---------------
-- Disasters --
---------------
  Damage building count = 13
  Damage cost = 2,110
  Fire cause arson = 0
  Fire cause effects = 0
  Fire cause flammability = 1
  Fire dispatch effectiveness = 24.82
  Fire started = 0
  Fire ended = 1
  Disasters in progress = 1
  Police dispatch effectiveness = 1.37
  Riot started = 1
  Riot ended = 0


Data as found in the game variables. Information deemed reliable with no guarantee.
 If counts don't add up, blame Maxis. :P


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------EOF

 

I opened C:\Program Files (x86)\ILives\ILives Reader154\test_s3d.lua, copied and pasted the code in after clicking for a New Script, and I managed to get this far:

^ Then when running it, nothing at all exciting happened. After waiting a long time, nothing continued to happen.

I'm beginning to wonder if the full Lua 5.1 programming language needs to be installed. Then, perhaps, the script would run via the actual Lua interpreter and the code references we see in the sample script might be pointing to C Functions within Reader.exe.

Considering how bugged it's reported to be even if this could be actually run, I feel we might be barking up the wrong tree.

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

Yes Cori, you're right there, Anyway, I have a thought, Please correct me if it's wrong, to do that, I need to write a do while loop, within i need to use if to find out what i want, such as mats tab block and its material id, and also a io.write (variable=search result, /n), You know that's all i could understand with my knowledge, if it's right in theory, I want to dig a bit of LUA, since it's too painful to look those S3Ds one by one.

[CorinaMarie 29,895]

Conceptually, yes.

A WHILE loop is something which will DO a set of instructions as long as the condition it checks is true. Sample:

x = 0
while x ~= 5 do
   x = x + 1
  print x
end

That would start with x equal to zero. Next it checks if the while condition is true that "x does not equal 5" and so it will do the next two lines and cycle back to the while line and test again. It'll keep looping until the while test becomes false. In this case, when x = 5 then it is false that x ~= 5. (In Lua ~ means "not".) Now, that is a simplified example. We'd really be better off to test if x was not equal to, or greater than, 5. Say someone changed the incrementing line to x = x + 2, you can see how a test of only "not = 5" would never occur.

For if statements, those are used to test for true or false situations. Sample:

if x == 3
  print "Three"
end

And there are times when you need to use a single = sign like for assignment, but == when testing equality. Ofc, other languages can have other rules about that.

io.write is used to output something to a device (typically a file on the hard drive).

I believe the sample script should run if we figure out what 1.5.4 expects (such as installing the full Lua 5.1 language). Once it can do something then the script code can be tweaked. Editing the code before getting the trusted sample code to run is putting the cart before the horse IMO.

 

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

3 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

io.write is used to output something to a device (typically a file on the hard drive).

Hiya Cori, @CorinaMarieDon't laugh at me, I was trying to write one:

function reader.main (this)   
	 local file = io.open("C:\1.txt","w")
   pos = reader:entries_GetHeadPosition()     
   while pos~=0 do
    entry,pos = reader:entries_GetNext(pos)
    flag = reader:entry_GetFlag(entry)     
    if (flag == 2) then		
		s3d = reader:s3d_Decode(entry)	
		count = reader:s3d_Count(s3d, 4)
		block = reader:s3d_GetBlock(s3d, 4, 0)
		pos = reader:s3dtext_GetHeadPosition(block)
		while pos ~=0 do
			s3dtext, pos = reader:s3dtext_GetNext(block,pos)
			id, wrapModeS, wrapModeT,magFilter, minFilter,name = reader:s3dtext_GetInfo(s3dtext)
			
			   file.write("count :",count,"id:",name,"\n" )		  
			   			   	   
		end   
			reader:s3d_Encode(entry,s3d) 
	end
   end
   reader:refresh()
end

i don't know if this loop could be ended, and is there necessary to encode the entry. I'm going to learn those a bit.

Yours,

-- Raymond

PS, Yes Madame, I will be waiting for your cart, Thank you Dear Cori!

Hiya Cori, @CorinaMarie,

Please ignore words above. 

I uploaded a new script (2.lua), you could open it and copy all the script and paste at the reader's script window as above, I try to run it and then got a writetest.txt in the iLiveReader's root directory. i got a result just only one line:

count :1id:1E010400_$$$planter-concrete3_Flora2x2x5_Z5S

Thank you!

 

2.lua

[CorinaMarie 29,895]

4 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

count :1id:1E010400_$$$planter-concrete3_Flora2x2x5_Z5S

I get the exact same thing. That is progress inasmuch as something happens now and it does seem to be getting info from somewhere.

The only difference is I made a folder called C:\raytest before starting and then I altered the 2nd line of code to be:

    local file = io.open("c:/raytest/writetest.txt", "w")

Just so I didn't have to go digging down for the output file.

I also tidied up the spacing in the code with proper indentation. You can see how this helps see which "end" terminates which structure when using Notepad++.

Same as yours, but with line 2 different and code re-positioned: 2a.lua

 

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

⑧ Draggable MMP : When i haven't known the modeling, I have at least 20 Draggable mmp's thoughts in my mind, such as cobblestone and grass and leaves etc,

I made some by tweaking the textures, then i have z-fighting issue,

I have asked Robin and Jason and CB how to deal with it, but had no luck by adjusting the mats tab's parameters of S3D. Along with learning more and the info shared by Cori, I thought maybe there are some solutions to solve it, Anyway, I want give it a try someday!