Got a quick SC4 question?... Ask here!

[rsc204 21,808]

Considering the prop in question is currently a True3D model, there is only one FSH file in use. The quality of that texture is the discerning factor in all likelihood. You could try using an uncompressed FSH with GoFSH or another tool that can create them.

[atsf189 460]

I could not get reader to import the blender 3ds file so I ran it through sc4 bat. The textures look great in blender. I can not get bat for blender to export the correct file type. It does png and another type for the 3ds

I probably do not have something set right

 

[memo 1,444]

18 hours ago, atsf189 said:

Why dose my plane look pixelized compared to the fedex plane.

If both of them are BATs:

• One of them may have been rendered as HD prop.
• The rescaling in Model Tweaker does not rescale the FSH files. Since BATs are rendered with a pixel-perfect scale, rescaling in Model Tweaker unavoidably leads to a loss of display quality, regardless of whether you scale up or down. It's always preferable to scale before rendering if you have that option.

If both of them are True 3D models:

• The magnification/minification filter settings of the S3D materials may be different. For BATs this should be "Nearest", but for 3D models you'd usually want "Bilinear" interpolation.

Also check whether the FSH files themselves are pixelated if you open them in Reader to figure out if it's a problem with the model or the textures.

[atsf189 460]

On 8/20/2024 at 11:23 AM, memo said:

Why dose m

I think i figured out the pixelization. this is the same .3ds but using memos bat4blender

the upper plane is with SC4 bat gmax

[Girafe 1,729]

Is there a fix for the mis coloring issue under PIM X?

[Barroco Hispano 26,695]

@Girafe You exported it with @Null 45 uncompressed command, right? 

In PIM-X uncompressed fhs look blue and orange unfortunately. Btw, I personally only use uncompressed fsh on vehicles and sims.

[Girafe 1,729]

2 hours ago, Barroco Hispano said:

@Girafe You exported it with @Null 45 uncompressed command, right? 

In PIM-X uncompressed fhs look blue and orange unfortunately. Btw, I personally only use uncompressed fsh on vehicles and sims.

Thanks for the guidance.

Indeed, it's the files from Null 45. For me it's no go to continue using them. Under PIMX, all colors are messed up, it's impossible to right pick the models you want. 

Maybe a fix will be developed for that.  

[Mytzenka 106]

Hope someone can answer the following two questions.

 

Question 1: Is it normal that my farms look like this? Bottom left in the corner and the two brown fields up top.

 

Question 2: I have this "Small Factory" which also seems to have the main building missing. Does anyone know what is going on?
I have a bunch of custom content that have dependencies. I also removed some dependencies that Cleanitol said I could remove. But since this is just a default Maxis building this should not be the reason for the missing content, right?

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

2 hours ago, Mytzenka said:

Question 1: Is it normal that my farms look like this? Bottom left in the corner and the two brown fields up top.

All the fields look completely normal for Maxis vanilla. There are indeed two versions of brown fields (which I personally don't care for).

When I was first learning to mod the game I made one for No Maxis Dirt Farms. I did it with my limited knowledge of using Reader and I figured out how to remove those fields from each farm's selection list. (It would've been better to alter the textures, but I didn't know how then.) Now, there's nothing dangerous about how I did it and should you wish to use my old first version of the mod, it's in this post and down where the listed Post 04 is (within that first post of that topic). The whole thing is a recap of topics @Naomi57 liked one day and so CB and put them together as a single presentation.

If you do grab my mod, it only applies to farms grown after installing it. You can bulldoze your existing dirt farms to have them regrow with the new parameters.

Now for the Orange Grove, it looks like you might have heavy traffic along that street adjacent and that is causing the closest 4 rows to turn black. Maxis went overboard on the traffic pollution threshold for farms. The Farm Desirability MOD will help.

 

2 hours ago, Mytzenka said:

Question 2:

I'll leave this for the experts.

[Mytzenka 106]

@CorinaMarie Your mod is perfect, thank you!

[Samu64d 335]

Help me remember a sc4 website: it was like a sort of wikipedia with immaginary sc4 nations extremely well made. I dont remember the name...

[Ulisse Wolf 4,412]

46 minutes ago, Samu64d said:

Help me remember a sc4 website: it was like a sort of wikipedia with immaginary sc4 nations extremely well made. I dont remember the name...

https://forums.aoinations.com/

https://aoin.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

[atsf189 460]

@memo

@rsc204

@Eggman121

or anyone else that can help

I have spent several days trying to import several true3d models into reader as a props.

The cube from blender, van model from blender and exported SM2s true3d prop

then imported back into reader using the 3ds function import 3ds

they all show up in the reader s3d preview correctly with the textures but in the lot editor it is just a empty blue box.

What have I done wrong?

It looks like my problem was not assigning the texture in Anim Tab in reader

[JeffSalisbury 59]

Quick question about using DarkNight lots without a dark night mod installed - will the lots function normally regardless, and if you do switch to night mode in the game, will DarkNight lots cause any issues, or will they simply not have any night lighting?

There are a couple growables I'd like to dl but they are DarkNight versions only, and I just play with the vanilla Maxis Night without a dark night mod.

[CaptCity 4,752]

52 minutes ago, JeffSalisbury said:

Quick question about using DarkNight lots without a dark night mod installed - will the lots function normally regardless...

Either should 'function' in the game normally with either 'night' mode provided they have been created correctly. The issue is how they would 'appear' if being used in a night mode they weren't made for. If you search the forums for something like 'DarkNight vs. MaxixNight, there are several topics related to this if you're interested (example).

[Girafarig 1,379]

6 hours ago, JeffSalisbury said:

Quick question about using DarkNight lots without a dark night mod installed - will the lots function normally regardless, and if you do switch to night mode in the game, will DarkNight lots cause any issues, or will they simply not have any night lighting?

There are a couple growables I'd like to dl but they are DarkNight versions only, and I just play with the vanilla Maxis Night without a dark night mod.

Playing on a Mac, DarkNight lots cause me a CTD.

[rsc204 21,808]

22 hours ago, atsf189 said:

It looks like my problem was not assigning the texture in Anim Tab in reader

Yeah this makes sense, because Reader is not able to import that data from an S3D file since any texture would have been an image file and it now needs to link to an SC4 FSH instead.

3 hours ago, Girafarig said:

Playing on a Mac, DarkNight lots cause me a CTD.

I've never noticed that behaviour under Windows, there isn't really any reason why they should be any different to MaxisNite models, since the only thing that changes is how dark the base textures are. Otherwise either would be functionally identical. I wonder if perhaps there is some problem with a specific model or mod you have, rather than a larger issue. I'll try and test out a few DN models using the Mac later.

Notwithstanding of course that the nite lighting textures won't ever appear when playing on a Mac to begin with.

[SneakyDeaky 1,128]

Hi guys! Not sure if this is the right thread, but I think it's a "quick" question lol. 

How can I do what @justforfun is doing here with his bridge skins? The road over the rail? 

 

I start with this:

And of course dragging road over the rail ends up with this, which I suspected:

 

So is there a special NAM piece I need to use or some special terrain skills I need? Many thanks!

[simmering 2,637]

15 minutes ago, SneakyDeaky said:

So is there a special NAM piece I need to use or some special terrain skills I need?

I haven't used this yet, but I assume that you still need to build an overpass with on-slope pieces and then dress that up. Here is a link to a how-to:

 

[justforfun 7,802]

1 hour ago, SneakyDeaky said:

Hi guys! Not sure if this is the right thread, but I think it's a "quick" question lol. 

How can I do what @justforfun is doing here with his bridge skins? The road over the rail? 

 

I start with this:

And of course dragging road over the rail ends up with this, which I suspected:

 

So is there a special NAM piece I need to use or some special terrain skills I need? Many thanks!

Hi, from the road puzzle pieces you need to use the road-on-slope T intersection for the ends and the road-on-rail for the central tiles. However I'm not using a recent NAM so haven't tried this with draggable viaducts. P.S. it's "her" but don't worry I wouldn't expect you guys to check out my profile info  

[SneakyDeaky 1,128]

58 minutes ago, simmering said:

I haven't used this yet, but I assume that you still need to build an overpass with on-slope pieces and then dress that up. Here is a link to a how-to:

 

Hi many thanks for the replies! That guide, @simmering helped me find the right pieces. 

7 minutes ago, justforfun said:

Hi, from the road puzzle pieces you need to use the road-on-slope T intersection for the ends and the road-on-rail for the central tiles. However I'm not using a recent NAM so haven't tried this with draggable viaducts. 

Hi, it seems like I'm not using the right heights, I built a 7.5 trench with the hole digger, at least I was sure I did, but this is the result right now. 

Looking at the pictures you uploaded is it possible your viaducts don't have the railing and streetlights by default like mine?

[atsf189 460]

4 hours ago, rsc204 said:

Yeah this makes sense

Another issue with exporting  S3D from blender I discovered was if the model is split up so you have textures from different 

.png files and the LODs and textures are not joined into one .png file for the textures this will cause a file read error in reader.

the LODs can be imported unjointed with one texture applied but as soon as you add another texture to a different LOD the

reader will have a file error on inport

[simmering 2,637]

44 minutes ago, SneakyDeaky said:

Looking at the pictures you uploaded is it possible your viaducts don't have the railing and streetlights by default like mine?

Hi @SneakyDeaky, this looks to me like you are using the Overpass option from the Japanese NAM Facelift Mod. As you can see in the image below, it adds lamp posts and the larger railing which is probably covering the one from the bridge, with bridge's lamp posts still sticking out.

My guess is, this can only be solved by removing the Overpass option. Below is the link to the Installation instructions of the Facelift Mod in case you want to revert it. The Overpass setup is handled in PART II.

 

[rsc204 21,808]

20 hours ago, simmering said:

Hi @SneakyDeaky, this looks to me like you are using the Overpass option from the Japanese NAM Facelift Mod. As you can see in the image below, it adds lamp posts and the larger railing which is probably covering the one from the bridge, with bridge's lamp posts still sticking out.

Indeed, but there is a simpler solution, since a draggable version of these overpasses exists already in NAM. If you use those instead, these bridges should work just fine and you can keep the Japanese style ones as an alternative.

From 5:50 in this video:

[Nick Kasazaki 132]

Hi, everyone! Quick questione: Is there anywhere a tutorial/guide on how to model a proper tree/flora item? I know there's a lot of great stuff out there, but i really need some specific flora that can't be found anywhere, so i decided to make it by myself. But i Just don't know where to start. Any suggestion?

[SneakyDeaky 1,128]

On 9/6/2024 at 7:37 PM, justforfun said:

P.S. it's "her" but don't worry I wouldn't expect you guys to check out my profile info  

I'm sorry, ma'am I don't read anything that is why I am in this thread begging for help because I don't read those pesky documents called "readme..."  

On 9/6/2024 at 8:43 PM, simmering said:

Hi @SneakyDeaky, this looks to me like you are using the Overpass option from the Japanese NAM Facelift Mod. As you can see in the image below, it adds lamp posts and the larger railing which is probably covering the one from the bridge, with bridge's lamp posts still sticking out.

My guess is, this can only be solved by removing the Overpass option. Below is the link to the Installation instructions of the Facelift Mod in case you want to revert it. The Overpass setup is handled in PART II.

 

Yes, that was exactly it! Good eye! Looks like I can configure it, too. Many thanks!

[rsc204 21,808]

On 08/09/2024 at 11:50 AM, Nick Kasazaki said:

Hi, everyone! Quick questione: Is there anywhere a tutorial/guide on how to model a proper tree/flora item? I know there's a lot of great stuff out there, but i really need some specific flora that can't be found anywhere, so i decided to make it by myself. But i Just don't know where to start. Any suggestion?

Well the short answer is that it's very complex, for a tree you'd start by making the trunk, then branches and leaves. With some rotating and adjustments you could clone a few templates until you have potentially many thousands of such objects. The more variation you create will generally dictate how good the final render will look in game, if it ends up feeling symmetrical or patterned, it won't look right.

There are Plugins for 3DS Max and no doubt other Applications which can generate trees, but these may not come cheap and you need to be sure it would cover the specific species you wanted to make. Otherwise, maybe you can find/download a pre-existing model someone else has created, sites exist for this purpose and some have free models to download. Although often you will need to do a lot of editing to make them work with SC4.

[Girafarig 1,379]

Quick question here, hopefully someone can give me a hand: some lots have names that can be changed for each instance of the lot you plop (for instance, the Maxis subway stations) and others have a universal name —if you change it, every lot you place and even the menu option will see its name changed. The former can also keep their custom names after saving and closing the game, while the latter reset to their standard name.

I know you can change that parameter, because I have the vague memory of doing so —but I can't remember how to go about it right now. Does anyone know? I just want to name my subway/El-rail stations.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

28 minutes ago, Girafarig said:

I know you can change that parameter, because I have the vague memory of doing so

The Item Description Key needs to point to the Hex ID of an LText. ( I'm guessing this'll be enough to trigger your memory. )

[Nick Kasazaki 132]

On 11/09/2024 at 12:13 PM, rsc204 said:

Well the short answer is that it's very complex, for a tree you'd start by making the trunk, then branches and leaves. With some rotating and adjustments you could clone a few templates until you have potentially many thousands of such objects. The more variation you create will generally dictate how good the final render will look in game, if it ends up feeling symmetrical or patterned, it won't look right.

There are Plugins for 3DS Max and no doubt other Applications which can generate trees, but these may not come cheap and you need to be sure it would cover the specific species you wanted to make. Otherwise, maybe you can find/download a pre-existing model someone else has created, sites exist for this purpose and some have free models to download. Although often you will need to do a lot of editing to make them work with SC4.

Thank you so much! I actually already modeled some trees in gmax, but was not happy with the result! Well, i'll keep trying and maybe give a try with 3ds instead.