Raymond's Newbie Thoughts

[Wiimeiser 444]

So that probably meant that weather was right out.

[catty-cb 4,392]

1 hour ago, Wiimeiser said:

So that probably meant that weather was right out.

Not quite I think it was snow mod I volunteered to test for xannepan .... you plopped a snowman in your city and you got snow, but it didn't settle on the ground so to get the right effect you also had to install a snow terrain mod, plus one that had snow covered houses .... it looked great unfortunately I could never find the snowman again to stop the snow .... it wasn't proper weather but it was quite cool looking especially after years of not having any kind of weather in sc4

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Hiya my friends, what do you think about this Underwater Subway station? (Just thought it's a bit big after plopped in game.)

@Terring Does the sign look familiar?

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

I've spent the day studying and I now fully understand the data format of Section 12. Over in Section 13 the stream effect is the one we've made into an effect prop and placed on a ploppable lot. The section 13 entry for that points to entry 1088 in Section 12.

Here's the original of that:

 

With some simple hex editing, I've married up some other effects to take place with it simultaneously:

 

Now, back in Reader it looks like this:

 

Ofc, I'm going to have to then edit the offset, shift, push, and velocity of each of the X, Y, and Z variables, but just making anything new happen is cool. Those red dots are part of the water_stream_dark which I changed to red so I could be sure my added effects were effective. In the long run, I'll need to create completely new effects so what I'm tweaking here doesn't affect other ones in the game.

The general idea is with multiple effects, I believe I can add little white cap waves or ripples on the surface and have a blend of more than one color for the base water which will mingle together.

Here it is now in the game:

 

Once changing the sizes, velocity, and gravity influence, that should allow them to all follow the same path. Ofc, I'll want the speeds of them to be slightly different to create a more realistic looking randomized flowing water texture.

[Terring 6,473]

Emm... Ray, why your subway station looks more like a canister that contain dangerous stuff? Why its interior glows green? And why it has the Umbrella Corporation logo? Oh no! Ray, don't unleash a zombie apocalypse! Just don't do it!

But seriously, that's a very nice BAT and I didn't know that you could build subways on water. Keep it up

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Dear Cori, @CorinaMarie I hope you don't mind if i take a lesson here instead of PM.

Yeah, your picture reminds me some memories which i learnt from school. so i'm just basing my guess:

1, You need to use reader to export effdir as a dat file.

2, Since every files in our computer they are just binary code (1.0), so in theory, we could open every file with a hex Editor.

3, That Hxd, i used to open simcity4.exe with it to figure out what Version of directx (ddraw)do i need. With my understanding, The Editor has transformed binary to hex so that we could see hex text, some knowledge from school: 1 hex = 4 binary, 2 hex = 1 byte. and the very left column and the top line, i guess that they assemble to the address, if so, For instance, the address 00FE4A08 in your picture which represents 's' and then '74' = t……stream.

That's all i could understand by now, but i don't know what's the meaning of those '.' and '?' etc, and also, if i insert some info into this file and save, would it corrupt the file? i just have heard that somebody failed due to modify the head part of exe file. however i don't know how to recognize which part is we shouldn't modify.

You could understand that how I should like to be in you and CB with effdir research, however it's pity that i couldn't stop if start modeling. i'm quite sure that your works definitely will shock the world.

Sincerely Student,

-- Raymond

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

1 hour ago, Terring said:

Emm... Ray, why your subway station looks more like a canister that contain dangerous stuff? Why its interior glows green? And why it has the Umbrella Corporation logo? Oh no! Ray, don't unleash a zombie apocalypse! Just don't do it!

But seriously, that's a very nice BAT and I didn't know that you could build subways on water. Keep it up

Haha, Terring, Yes i thought you must know it, That movie is a nightmare when i was in college, I just thought funny when i saw this one in Pinterest, since it reminds me that when milla jovovich succeed in escaping and the scene she comes back to the ground, Then i made it with this weird inspiration.

If you like it i will tidy it up a bit and release it for your city. Ofc, you could use this prop in anywhere you prefer to.

BTW, your gif, Is that also a apocalypse movie?, i forget the name, however i felt sad with his dog at then.

-- Edit --

@TerringI thought a while then i decide to send it to you, i don't want to release it since i don't know how to use it. You can make it to whatsoever it will be. Or releasing, Anyway, it's all up to you.

Terring_building-0x5ad0e817_0xc6b804f_0x30000.SC4Model

I have made it to prop and within an Exemplar, its Occupant size = 1,1,1

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

52 minutes ago, Raymond7cn said:

1, You need to use reader to export effdir as a dat file.

Yes. This is using the Save decoded file option in Reader. For the Effect Dir, that gives us a hex file with a .eff extension. I've told Windoze to associate that with HxD so double clicking it has the file ready for me to edit. Once edited and saved then back in Reader I use the Insert & compress file option that @Cyclone Boom taught me yesterday. (And delete the old copy of it in Reader.)

 

52 minutes ago, Raymond7cn said:

1 hex = 4 binary, 2 hex = 1 byte.

Yes. One hex digit is the same as 4 bits in binary. Two hex digits represent 1 byte. Two bytes are called a Word and can store Uint16 or Sint16 variables. Then 4 bytes are a Double Word (DWord). A DWord is needed to store a Float32, but can also store Uint32 and Sint32.

 

52 minutes ago, Raymond7cn said:

For instance, the address 00FE4A08 in your picture which represents 's' and then '74' = t……stream.

Yep, that is the correlation. The only tiny error is that the left side 000FE4A0 is the beginning address of that hex line. Then the column number is added to it as a single digit even tho the program shows them as two digits. Ergo, the hex location of the "s" is 0x000F4A8 and the next letter "t" is 0x000F4A9.

 

52 minutes ago, Raymond7cn said:

i don't know what's the meaning of those '.' and '?' etc,

The right hand column is the text equivalent of the hex values. Most of the time it'll be gibberish and when there's no ASCII symbol for the hex value, it just displays a dot.

 

52 minutes ago, Raymond7cn said:

also, if i insert some info into this file and save, would it corrupt the file?

For this particular file, the insert will have to be at a specific place and then the bytes which indicate the number of entries or the number of reps need updated as well. In my pic, that lonely red 06 at 0x000FE4A0 was 01 before. Since I added info for 5 more effects, I updated that as well.

 

52 minutes ago, Raymond7cn said:

You could understand that how I should like to be in you and CB with effdir research, however it's pity that i couldn't stop if start modeling.

We do fully understand.

This a case where we should each do what we are best at. You create absolutely stunningly beautiful models for us to use in our game. That's your talent and all of the SC4 community is a happier place because you make and release those. So, do keep doing what you're doing.

Me? I couldn't even BAT a square box.   But, I'm fairly decent at poking around in the data, learning the inter-connections of same, and sometimes discovering things no one else has found before. Like that in game lot editor. (Which is really cool, but the code to save the creation is missing so the IGLE is just a fun find and nothing more.)

Since you are the one who prodded me (yet again) to look into something and since it turns out to not be nearly as complicated as I once thought, I'll just post my findings here cause once I get more of it figured out you and others can make suggestions.

Then, eventually, I could post a bit of a tutorial to explain how I'm doing what I've done. There's still way more I need to figure out tho before that would be even remotely useful.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

4 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

that lonely red 06 at 0x000FE4A0 was 01 before. Since I added info for 5 more effects, I updated that as well.

 

Thank you Madame, I have fully understood them. it's enough, Frankly, without you and CB kept teaching me in this year, I probably even couldn't understand your words (English), Thank you sooo much! CoriBoom™

And i understand you as well, we have a virtuous circle here in our community, Those Coders, BATters, Lotters, CJers and administrators we build it up together, we all could find out the meaning of our own life, what a wonderful world!

[catty-cb 4,392]

10 hours ago, catty-cb said:

 .... it wasn't proper weather but it was quite cool looking especially after years of not having any kind of weather in sc4

to have a winter-looking city along with "frosty the snowman" for the snowing effect I also needed to have these files in their own winter folder

Spoiler

Frosty-0x5ad0e817_0x3c1a1345_0x30000.SC4Model
Frosty-0x6534284a-0x1a7eb8a1-0xdc96006d.SC4Desc
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_203.dat
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_DiagNetwork-Fix_203.dat
PEG_SM_SNOWMOD_MayorFlora-Patch_203.dat
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_MTP_203.dat
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_MTP-Avenues_203.dat
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_MTP-NewPines_203.dat
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_MTP-OldPines_203.dat
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_MTP-Plazas_203.dat
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_MTP_Roads_203.dat
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_MTP_Streets_203.dat
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_OWW2_203.dat
PEG-SM_SNOWMOD_Seasonal-Tree-Patch_203.dat
PLOP_1x1_Snow\ Me_ac960094.SC4Lot
Rayden_Snow_Prop_big.dat
Rayden_Snow_Prop_dirt.dat
Rayden_Snow_Prop_small.dat
SantaSleigh-0x5ad0e817_0x1a128aae_0x30000.SC4Model
SantaSleigh-0x6534284a-0x38ad4d8e-0x1a168826.SC4Desc
SantaSleighFlying-0x5ad0e817_0x3a139d94_0x30000.SC4Model
SantaSleighFlying-0x6534284a-0x38ad4d8e-0xfa179318.SC4Desc
Santa\ Sleigh\ Flying_da1793b5.SC4Lot
Santas\ Sleigh_7a178a8a.SC4Lot
SnowEffect.dat
SnowPlowArmyTruckLHD.dat
SnowPlow_Controllers.dat
SnowPlowDumpTruckLHD.dat
SnowPlowGarbageTruckLHD.dat
SnowPlowPickupsLHD.dat
SnowPlowRecycleTruckLHD.dat
snow_prototype_003_dirt-0x5ad0e817_0xf2fb6663_0x1e0000.SC4Model
snow_prototype_004_small-0x5ad0e817_0xf2fb6663_0x1f0000.SC4Model
snow_prototype_005_big-0x5ad0e817_0xf2fb6663_0x200000.SC4Model
z_GLRHUBS_ModernGLR_TrackTextures.dat
z_SGLR_ModernGLR_SplitTrackTextures.dat
zz_CP_SwampyMaple_S3D_Mod.dat
zzzPEG_SnowMod_Pine-Tree-Patch_205.Dat
ZZZ_Snow_Airport\ Grass.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BarbyPondandBog.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_CARCH_FSLPTextures_Set1_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_CARCH_FSLPTextures_Set2_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_CARCH_FSLPTextures_Set3_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_CARCH_FSLPTextures_Set4_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_CARCH_FSLPTextures_Set5_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_CARCH_FSLPTextures_Set6_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_CARCH_FSLPTextures_Set7_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_CARCH_FSLPTextures_Set8_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_CurvedEdgePaths_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_DAE_DirtTrackTextures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_Jestarr_Textures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_JMyers_Textures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_MiscellaneousTextures_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_NICM_Textures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_NPTransitions_Brown_FixedWealth_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_NPTransitions_Brown_VariableWealth_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_NPTransitions_Green_VariableWealth_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_NPTransitions_Grey_FixedWealth_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_NPTransitions_Grey_VariableWealth_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_NPTransitions_Slab_VariableWealth_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_ReversePathOverlays_Earth_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_ReversePathOverlays_Grass_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_ReversePathOverlays_Sand_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_ReversePathOverlays_VariableWealth_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_TexturePack_Cycledogg_V\ 01.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC\ Textures\ CNut\ Vol\ 01.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC\ Textures\ CNut\ Vol\ 02.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC\ Textures\ -\ MBEAR\ -\ VillaBettinaModerato.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC\ Textures\ Misc\ Vol\ 01.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC\ Textures\ SG\ Vol\ 01.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC\ Textures\ SG\ Vol\ 03.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC\ Textures\ SG\ Vol\ 04.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC\ Textures\ SG\ Vol\ 05.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC\ Textures\ SG\ Vol\ 06.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_Textures_VDK.dat
ZZZ_Snow_BSC_Wide-NarrowPathTransition_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_CAL_Churchtextures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_CSX_Mayors_Office_textures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_csx_Wetlands.dat
ZZZ_Snow_diagonals.dat
ZZZ_Snow_DiggerTextures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_FarmTextures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_JeronijTextures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_Nikos.dat
ZZZ_Snow_PavedEdgeOverlays_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_PEG_Base-Textures_Vol-1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_RJM_Textures_Vol_1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_RT_Textures_Vol01.dat
ZZZ_Snow_SFBT_Textures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_UniTextures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_WidePaths_FixedWealth_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_WidePaths_VariableWealth_v1.dat
ZZZ_Snow_WTC_Textures.dat
ZZZ_Snow_ZMaxis_Overlays.dat

[BartonThinks 3,416]

11 hours ago, catty-cb said:

Not quite I think it was snow mod I volunteered to test for xannepan .... you plopped a snowman in your city and you got snow, but it didn't settle on the ground so to get the right effect you also had to install a snow terrain mod, plus one that had snow covered houses .... it looked great unfortunately I could never find the snowman again to stop the snow .... it wasn't proper weather but it was quite cool looking especially after years of not having any kind of weather in sc4

For what it's worth, a version of this effect -- along with other weather effects like rain storms and lightning strikes -- was included in JENX Jupiter, which is available on the LEX as a beta release.

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2883

The LEX entry and the Readme are both pretty light on details, so it's a bit hard to tell what the mod actually does on first glance. However, Xannepan released a video showing off the effects in actions, which you can watch here (snow effects appear around the 2:00 mark).

Edit: I hadn't tried playing with Jupiter before, so I just gave it a whirl, and... the snow does actually settle on the ground. That said, it tends to miss certain areas, so the effect is kind of patchy/streaky. Shame Xannepan stopped modding shortly after the beta release.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Hiya @dmn, The prop of AF is more simple to me, since i needn't to worry about how complicated its polygons will going to be, Can you tell me the dimension about it? I could send the prop to you first, whereas you may need to wait for a while with the Automata(True3d) Version.

[Terring 6,473]

I used the canister prop to make a small set of grow-able fillers for my cyberpunk industrial zones.

So when I let my dirty industries build freely, there will always be a possibility for them to build those canisters too.

Oh my goodness! Zombies! I knew no good would come from the Umbrella Corporation and their experiments!

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Hiya @Terring, I thought it maybe a bit big, whenever you want to resize this model, Please tell me, Anyway, i'm very glad it's not so bad, You may could make a trash disposal Lot or something like that.

BTW, This pic you shared:

If you want those command and conquer Buildings, i could make them someday, I used to play this game as well long ago (95,98 and 2).

[Terring 6,473]

I don't have iLive Reader or any other relevant program to change the parameters of the model and make it a waste disposal facility or something similar, but I fully agree that the model can indeed be very useful for many reasons and ways.

1 hour ago, Raymond7cn said:

If you want those command and conquer Buildings, i could make them someday,

Only if you want it too, my friend

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Ah, I see, @Terring It won't stop you from being a great CJer and an idea Maker,  Just tell me your thoughts and i'm in charge of achieving them. (with my best)

If i begin to make C&C theme's BAT, i will consult you again, it's been a long time since played this game. i don't know its Building has became to so realistic now. And you understand that i have never paid attention to their details while playing. Furthermore, i need you to help me with figuring out which type (RCI, Civic) shall we bring them in SC4's world.

[Terring 6,473]

With my pleasure. I'm a big fun of Command and Conquer and I already have some ideas about which building would be perfect for SimCity at which functionality, so I think I can help you a lot here

[Wiimeiser 444]

Okay, I really want those futuristic-looking buildings. I think I need more RCI stuff TBH.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Hiya Barton, @BartonThinks Can you show me an appropriate dimension (fits to your lot) in game, This one i made is according to some info from google, now its length is about 5.1m, however i thought you may need 5.1x133%= 6.783m with SC4's dimension.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

----- T21 Learning 2 -----

Ok, As idiom of CoriBoom™ :  it's easier said than done, I choose to make my first T21, i know you my friends won't laugh at such a simple T21 by a Newbie.

At the beginning, i made a simple 1x1 lot with my favorite playground, there are just three props (sign and two barriers)

Then went to find a vanilla T21 with the trick learned from CoriBoom™. (mistake of shot, There should be check all on the left)

Confirmed that it's a street. 0X05004B00

Added that vanilla T21 to patch and exported, Modified it as above, save.(This time i didn't forget to Reindex)

Ta-da! Welcome to Raymond's Newbie Land! Not so bad, Next i will delve into the theory of Randomness. Again, This is not a T21 tutorial but a personal learning diary.

[BartonThinks 3,416]

10 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

Hiya Barton, @BartonThinks Can you show me an appropriate dimension (fits to your lot) in game, This one i made is according to some info from google, now its length is about 5.1m, however i thought you may need 5.1x133%= 6.783m with SC4's dimension.

Looking good! I'll need to double-check the LOD dimensions of other vehicle props. I'll pull up a few of these in the reader when I have a spare moment and let you know what I find.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Thank you @BartonThinks, Just take your time, it won't slow down my progress of modeling.

Trial and error on T21, 

It seems we couldn't have a nightlighting of normal model, they don't change to night model on T21. If i want to achieve this, i should use True3d's light just as vanilla's light cones. Another approach occurs to me is those seasonal Girafe trees i modified for JRJ mod, Don't know if i could change seasonal to day/night.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

Nothing to see in the spoiler box. Nothing at all.

Spoiler

^ And the nothing I'm doing is taking awhile. (Still have sections 3 to 15 to define and then I still have to import and parse the data.)

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

@CorinaMarie Have you ever seen this movie? You just remind me this part:

You will shock the world!!

-- Edit --

Hiya @BartonThinks, I just want to make my posts more efficient, so May i ask you here about this:

Actually, There are many defects somewhere around the model, but i thought it doesn't matter since they will be seamless with SC4's perspective.

[BartonThinks 3,416]

3 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

Hiya @BartonThinks, I just want to make my posts more efficient, so May i ask you here about this:

Actually, There are many defects somewhere around the model, but i thought it doesn't matter since they will be seamless with SC4's perspective.

Ah, that's the horn!

 

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Thank you Barton, @BartonThinks I thought it's a lamp due to couldn't see it clearly.

----- Graphic Errors analysing -----

I solved these two issues about abnormal UVmaps and LODs, 

 

But after that i thought a while, Why i didn't have this issue in my works before? At the beginning i thought it's since this time my model is too big and the first time i divide then assemble LODs together. But it's apparently not the same case with the later one.

So i checked my models again with comparison. I thought the issue maybe caused by:

1, In my vertiport model, i didn't care to assign UVmap to all objects, especially some simple polygons.

2, When divided the Lods to pieces and rendering, I didn't cap the holes of LOD, since i thought it doesn't matter i have to assemble them after that.

Anyway, These are all occured to me, I just leave a note here for further tests.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

After seeing @korver's amazing CJs, i got an inspiration for water, Then i made one:

I was failed before since i just edited some pictures from Pinterest with Photoshop, but it's hard to deal with seamless and hue, so this time i made it from scratch, Actually it's not so difficult as i thought before, Just used some tricks (filters and shades according to Korver's picture)i learned from Youtube. I will make it more better when i make my Terrain Mod. Sorry @korver, Hope you don't mind i stealed ideas from your great CJs.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

 

----- T21 Learning 3 -----

I couldn't get a very detailed tutorial about T21 which suits to a Newbie, @Cyclone Boom,  So i'm trying my best to write down as more details as i can. Too many Pics, Sorry.

Today i want to make the pattern parameters more clear, so i made tests according to this:

Now i believe i have understood some general theory of patterns, With reader we could see kPropertyID_NetworkPlacementPattern in every T21 Exemplar. it has 4 reps, every rep represents 4 tiles in game, so we could specify out props appears in which tile by combining these values in 16 tiles. And you could have more patterns by combining four reps as the Bottom part of pattern instruction picture. 

Along with testing above, I found that SC4 will only use one T21 if they have same IID, so i have to overwrite the 2 vanilla T21 Exemplars with LotConfigPropertyZoneTypes = 0x00 for street, Or they will ruin my tests.

So what if we have two T21s with different IIDs but their props we set (pattern) to appear in same tile? According to my tests:

Yes you can tell, They won't overlap or overwrite, they will appear Randomly in each tile, So i got more ideas for the Next tests about randomize, To be continued.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

T21 Learning 3 complement:

And we could use those Tags as T21 props, I haven't known yet if it might be useful for other things, but it's funny! @Terring Don't do that, My computer became very slow when just dragging two streets.

When i want to see if watercraft Tags will appear in a street bridge (didn't appear there) , And i don't know if it's relevant to transparent surface of the sea, i just saw some blue area like effects were shining under each pier. Interesting.

[Terring 6,473]

I'm not sure what exactly is this, but it looks like the most busy runaway in the world