Help Matching Lot Texture Grasses

[Brian J. B. 134]

Good evening, I was hoping someone could assist me with a few issues I've run into when attempting to replace the base texture for a couple educational buildings. For example, I attempted to replace the base texture of WolfZe's Paris Observatory with the generic grass texture, provided in the parks menu, (ID 0x25273000 I believe) so I could place it in a larger green area, but for some reason, the grass does not match that specific texture in the game. I have also run into this problem in an attempt to change the base texture on Mattb325's Monticello, once again to the same grass texture. Does this have something to do with the fact they're education lots? Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

[BartonThinks 3,416]

16 minutes ago, Lord Branham said:

Good evening, I was hoping someone could assist me with a few issues I've run into when attempting to replace the base texture for a couple educational buildings. For example, I attempted to replace the base texture of WolfZe's Paris Observatory with the generic grass texture (ID 0x25273000) so I could place it in a larger green area, but for some reason, the grass does not match that specific texture in the game. I have also run into this problem in an attempt to change the base texture on Mattb325's Monticello, once again to the same grass texture. Does this have something to do with the fact they're education lots? Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

I think this might be in the wrong thread, but I believe the problem is that the game contains a number of different grass textures, and the textures used on the lots don't necessarily match the game's terrain textures.

I don't use Maxis textures myself, so I'm not sure if an exact match exists. However, you might try either 261a0000 or 25D60000. I believe those are both closer to the default terrain.

[Brian J. B. 134]

1 minute ago, BartonThinks said:

I think this might be in the wrong thread, but I believe the problem is that the game contains a number of different grass textures, and the textures used on the lots don't necessarily match the game's terrain textures.

I don't use Maxis textures myself, so I'm not sure if an exact match exists. However, you might try either 261a0000 or 25D60000. I believe those are both closer to the default terrain.

Thank you for your advice, but I have successfully matched it before. I usually go to a lot that I know matches the generic grass and copy the texture address to ensure a match. For some reason, only educational buildings seem to give me trouble. 

[BartonThinks 3,416]

23 minutes ago, Brian J. B. said:

Thank you for your advice, but I have successfully matched it before. I usually go to a lot that I know matches the generic grass and copy the texture address to ensure a match. For some reason, only educational buildings seem to give me trouble. 

Well the texture you're grabbing (25273000) is a wealth-dependent texture. This means the the color of the grass will change depending on the wealth of the building/lot.

Here's a quick look at the three wealth variations. On low-wealth lots, the grass will appear yellowish, as in the top row. On mid-wealth lots, it will be a medium green, as in the middle row. On high-wealth lots, it will be the rich green you see in the third row.

One easy solution would be to install BSC Textures Vol 01, which contains non-wealth-dependent versions of these textures. This way, you can lot the building using the color of grass you prefer, and you won't need to worry about the color changing because of the lot's wealth level.

 

Edit: I just realized I misread your request -- I thought you were trying to match the Maxis terrain, not the grass used for the parks. In either case, I think the solution is the same. The color of the grass is changing because the texture is wealth-dependent. If you switch to a non-wealth dependent texture, that should solve the problem. BSC Textures Vol 01 contains non-wealth-dependent copies of all Maxis textures, so you should be able to find the right texture in that set.

[Brian J. B. 134]

7 minutes ago, BartonThinks said:

Well the texture you're grabbing (25273000) is a wealth-dependent texture. This means the the color of the grass will change depending on the wealth of the building/lot.

Here's a quick look at the three wealth variations. On low-wealth lots, the grass will appear yellowish, as in the top row. On mid-wealth lots, it will be a medium green, as in the middle row. On high-wealth lots, it will be the rich green you see in the third row.

One easy solution would be to install BSC Textures Vol 01, which contains non-wealth-dependent versions of these textures. This way, you can lot the building using the low-wealth grass and you won't need to worry about the color of the grass changing because of the building's wealth level.

 

Edit: I just realized I misread your request -- I thought you were trying to match the Maxis terrain, not the grass used for the parks. In either case, I think the solution is the same. The color of the grass is changing because the texture is wealth-dependent. If you switch to a non-wealth dependent texture, that should solve the problem. BSC Textures Vol 01 contains non-wealth-dependent copies of all Maxis textures, so you should be able to find the right texture in that set.

Thank you so much for explaining that to me. Do you know the ID for the high wealth grass? I have all the BSC Textures downloaded, I've actually been playing this game for well over a decade now and have a massive plugins folder, but I only dabble in the changing of base textures, overlay textures, and adding flora and props to lots. I know little when it comes to the intricacies of the construction of lots. When I first started playing I didn't even know there were cheats! I actually had to operate my cities on a balanced budget; thinking back on those days make me laugh now. 

[Raymond7cn 6,773]

1 hour ago, Lord Branham said:

Good evening, I was hoping someone could assist me with a few issues I've run into when attempting to replace the base texture for a couple educational buildings. For example, I attempted to replace the base texture of WolfZe's Paris Observatory with the generic grass texture (ID 0x25273000) so I could place it in a larger green area, but for some reason, the grass does not match that specific texture in the game. I have also run into this problem in an attempt to change the base texture on Mattb325's Monticello, once again to the same grass texture. Does this have something to do with the fact they're education lots? Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Hiya Lord Branham, Agree with @BartonThinks's advice there, in addition to this and if I understand you correctly, I thought you'd like to make these Lots's base texture identical to the Vanilla's grass texture, whereas ID 0x25273000 seems like a R$$$ texture and Vanilla's grass will change seasonal(IMO), You may could find some clues from @rsc204's splendid tutorial:

 

Furthermore, basing on my personal (newbie)view, i thought maybe you would like to give transparent base texture a try, if so, just let me know, i will show you how to make it. and also i have to consult specialists a bit if it's safe and decent.

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

-- Opps, sorry for interrupting @BartonThinks, i didn't notice coming posts while writing.

[rsc204 21,836]

5 hours ago, BartonThinks said:

One easy solution would be to install BSC Textures Vol 01, which contains non-wealth-dependent versions of these textures. This way, you can lot the building using the color of grass you prefer, and you won't need to worry about the color changing because of the lot's wealth level.

Whilst this will work, you can actually achieve the same thing much more simply, rather than mess around changing every texture, why not simply change the wealth of the lot instead? That way, you can be sure exactly which textures are going to appear, as the Lot's Wealth won't ever change. In fact this property doesn't really have any effect in the case of Ploppable buildings.

To do this, just open the Lot in Reader and change the property "Wealth" in the appropriate Buildings Exemplar to one of these:

• 0x00 - No Wealth
• 0x01 - $ Wealth
• 0x02 - $$ Wealth
• 0x03 - $$$ Wealth

As has been mentioned, certain Textures use "Wealth Families", where not only can you assign textures for $, $$ and $$$ wealths, but also encapsulates the distressed textures, used when buildings become abandoned. This is used for Lots/Buildings Maxis included, which can lead to the same lot upgrading in wealth. The texture families then change as these lots upgrade. Not only does this not apply to fixed (Plop) lots, but I've never seen one instance of using this system outside of what Maxis included with the game. It is a bit inflexible.

[BartonThinks 3,416]

8 hours ago, Brian J. B. said:

Thank you so much for explaining that to me. Do you know the ID for the high wealth grass? I have all the BSC Textures downloaded, I've actually been playing this game for well over a decade now and have a massive plugins folder, but I only dabble in the changing of base textures, overlay textures, and adding flora and props to lots. I know little when it comes to the intricacies of the construction of lots. When I first started playing I didn't even know there were cheats! I actually had to operate my cities on a balanced budget; thinking back on those days make me laugh now. 

Not sure, but it shouldn't be too hard to track down.

If you want to browse the textures outside of LotEditor or PIM-X (which I personally use), you can always check the Textures Catalog on SC4 Devotion. 

Looking at the catalog, it appears I made a mistake -- the Maxis grass textures are contained in BSC Textures 2. Shouldn't be an issue, since you already have that file.

At a glance, it looks like the high wealth grass textures are 35ea4500, 35ea4550, 35ea4b00, and 35ea4b50. However, you might want to try F0B06200 or F0B0630A.

Spoiler

You can also try what @rsc204 described and simply adjust the wealth of WolfZe's observatory to high-wealth. That might be an easier solution if you're comfortable using the Reader.