(Mod) AMPS Development Thread

[RobertaME 1,376]

So, I was going to wait until I had more done before starting a development thread, but I decided I couldn't wait. (and discussing it on other people's threads is rude, even if it's a related topic)

Back in 2019, I developed a series of mods that built on one another that modified certain power plants in the game. First, it was just a way to make Simmer2's Modular Solar Panels make better use of those gorgeous Inverters and Step-up Transformers that come packed with it. I wrote an LUA script that required you to first build the Step-up Transformer before it would let you build any Inverters, then it wouldn't let you build the PV panels until you built an Inverter. I eventually got it working so that you had to have 1 Step-up transformer for every 16 Inverters and 1 Inverter for every 16 PV panel, so a field of panels with 1 Transformer could have up to 16 Inverters and up to 256 panels.

But I didn't stop there...

As my understanding of LUA scripting and Exemplars got better, I started working on fixing issues of game balance with the Maxis power plants and a number of power plants that I had downloaded from the STEX and LEX. Many looked great, but didn't balance well when compared to the others and the Maxis default plants. So I started tweaking their Properties to fix them... then writing LUA scripts to more fully integrate them into the game... (advisor comments, technology development chains, building requirements, etc.) and before I knew it I had set things up so that not only were over 40 different power plants available, but they were well balanced compared to one another and were all fully integrated into a (semi) realistic power grid!

Then my Hard Drive crashed...

...then I found out that the last six months of backups being done on another PC in the network were corrupted...

...then i found out that SSD drives can't usually get the same sort of data recovery process that platter Hard Drives can get...

...then I threw up my hands and walked away from the game for 2 years.

So on January 18th I finally had let go of the frustration and decided to start rebuilding what I had lost. After 10 days re-downloading all my mods, I set to work rebuilding. (thank God for SC4D's Download History that got me all the content I had downloaded from there... the rest of the time I spent trawling the STEX and wracking my brain to remember what I had before)

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GOAL: To completely re-define the Utilities portion of SimCity 4 the same way the NAM team redefined roads. (no pressure!)

Note: Having already done this once before, I don't need much help in actually getting it done. Programing and logic paths come easy to me. (I first started programming in 8502 machine language on my old Commodore 128 back in the day... 2 MHZ of fun crammed into 128k of memory!) I'm also a Statistical Data Analyst by trade, (now a stay-at-home Mom) so organizing large data sets is in my wheelhouse, too!

The purpose of this thread is that this time I intend to distribute my mod onto the STEX. That means that I'm not just trying to please myself this time, I want this to be something everyone can enjoy.

Comments and (constructive) criticism are welcome! If you see somewhere that I could develop further, please let me know! (not a guarantee that I'll implement it, but it never hurts to ask!)

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The Core of the Power Grid mod is Power_Lot_Balance.DAT; a DAT file I made in iLive Reader that replaces a number of LTEXT, EXEMPLAR, and LUA files native to Simcity1.DAT and 33 Power Plant Lots here on the STEX and on the LEX. (full list below) Then I have my custom LUA script that handles lot build allowances based on the criteria I set. Originally I used the BSC Essentials ability to add building counts to be tracked, but this time around I wrote my own, so the BSC Essentials ISN'T a Dependency. (though it should play nice with it)

The first step was to rebuild my spreadsheet to compare power plants against one another. In this I am kind of hard-nosed against changes. I made 33 power plants put out by people over the last 15 years plus the 8 default Maxis plants all work together without any one of them being the "obvious choice", making all others obsolete. You have give and take with EVERY plant. Here are the general guidelines I used:

1. Modify the Maxis plants as little as possible - This is more a function of the fact that Maxis balanced them the way they did for a REASON, game balance. I DO make a few fixes as a nod toward reality, but I limit changes to the core 8 plants to things that are NECESSARY.

2. Everything has a downside - Those Wind Turbines are great, aren't they? Yeah... TOO great. So now they have 1/5th the longevity that they used to and require a Wind Farm Maintenance Facility to be built first. They're still "Squeaky clean", and can be placed where there is no road access, but they're expensive and short-lived.

3. Everything has an upside - Coal plants suck. They choke up the air like a chain smoker locked in a Datsun. But per megawatt-hour, they're the cheapest electricity you can build... by half or less. They can't provide ALL your power, (more on that in point 5) but they can sure reduce your average cost per MWh!

4. Everything has a use - Every power plant in my list has a niche. Coal and Wood are cheap. Wind and solar are low-impact. Oil and Natural Gas are adaptable. Diesel is compact and doesn't require a grid in place to use. Every plant is priced, balanced, and assigned stats based on the idea of filling a purpose. If a plant can't fill a niche that no other plant can, it's useless and won't be supported. If you think X plant produces too much (or not enough) pollution, or should be cheaper, there's probably a reason why it is the way it is... to fill a niche. If a particular plant or feature would make another plant completely obsolete, it will NOT be supported by this mod.

5. No power Grid can survive on ONE kind of power source - Carrots are great! I love them! I could eat them all day! But humans need a variety in their diet. So too does a power grid. Nuclear, Coal, Waste to Energy, and Geothermal are all what is referred to a "Base Load" plants. They're great for producing LOTS of power and running 24/7, but power grids are delicate creatures. Every watt produced has to be used within a fraction of a second of when it's generated. Base Load plants SUCK at "load following", that is adjusting their output rapidly based on demand. They can sometimes take HOURS to adjust their output to meet demand. Thus, they usually spend all their time running full-out; that's what makes them relatively cheap to operate. They're predictable. Oil and Natural Gas are "Peak Load" plants that are very good at load following, but expensive. Wind and solar are "Intermediate Load" plants; that is they don't load follow, but their output is variable and unpredictable. So if you want to run your city on nothing but wind and solar, get used to seeing "no power" zots. An ideal grid would have no more than 60% of its power coming from Base Load plants, no more than 40% coming from intermediate load plants, and at LEAST 20% from Peak load plants. You NEED Peak plants to fill in the high-demand times.

6. It's called 'Power Grid' for a reason - Power Grid implies more to it than just building power plants, right? You won't be able to plop down a Coal plant as your first building... because first you need a Transmission Substation... one powerful enough to handle 12.5 mega volt-amps. (MVA or kVA, kilo volt-amps... the unit for grid tolerance) Don't have one that large at the start of your game? You could build two 10 MVA Transmission Substations to handle the load... but you still need Distribution Substations in your neighborhoods to distribute the power... and you can't build Distribution Substations until you have Transformers placed to step down the voltage to household levels. Get the idea?

7. Game Balance > Realism > Opinion - See point 4. Also, I am VERY well researched on this subject. I've spent HUNDREDS of hours pouring over government websites, trolling for statistics on power plant efficiency, cleanliness, Capacity Factors, costs, etc. I also have a considerable knowledge base when it comes to physics. Thus, why the Hydrogen Plant is renamed to the Fusion plant... because that's what it is and likely uses deuterium or tritium as fuel shipped from the Moon where it's plentiful. (and why the Fusion plant may require the Space Port as a prerequisite... still up in the air on that one) In contrast, the Solar Thermal Power Plant (the Maxis Solar Plant) should be 100 times bigger to produce that much power... so says math and physics. Either that or it should only produce 50 MWh/month. I compromised and made it cost one tenth as much to build, but produce 1/10th the power. (i.e. $3,000 to build, $100/month to operate, but only makes 500 MWh/month... so ten of them equal the original stats, just using more space)

8. NO POLITICS - I have my opinions, you have yours. Let's keep it that way. The issue of green energy vs. cheap energy is, despite best intentions, a political football. Since this mod is all about power utilities, it's inevitable that someone might try to push their political opinion regarding energy policy on others. Opinions, pro or con, about "Clean Coal", "carbonless societies", "the green mafia", etc. are therefor verboten and will be ignored and/or reported. TAKE IT ELSEWHERE. This thread is open to ANY ideas... but no idea is more "correct" or virtuous than any other. This is a FICTIONAL GAME... it's meant to have FUN. Using nothing but high polluting 28 MW Coal Power Plants in your cities will never cause SimGlobalWarming... and no one is forcing or coercing anyone else to use solar, wind, or geothermal plants if they don't want to. Let's keep it sane, people.

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So here is a list of features once development is completed:

- Require transformers, substations, and other ancillary buildings to build most power plants (except generators that are MEANT to operate independently)

- Require balancing your power plant types (Base Load, Intermediate Load, Peak Load) in realistic terms

- Build a chain of developing technology, such that you can't build more advanced plants (clean coal, solar, geothermal, fusion, etc.) until you meet certain criteria

- Add to the existing lots to broaden options (e.g. add some kind of power storage lot to mitigate the limitations of Intermediate Load plants, etc.)

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Dependencies: Ideally, none... or rather just one... a lot set that provides transformers, substations, etc. to create the grid with. (I personally prefer Simmer2's SM2 Power Pack) Since I STINK at any form of art, my ability to create actual unique buildings and props is somewhat on the order of a blind woman with severe spastic seizures. Stick figures are high art for me. I can push bits around... that's all. (luckily, I'm REALLY good at pushing them around and making them obey me!)

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List of supported Power Plants:

Creator        Original Name                            New Name
Generators (Diesel and Natural Gas)

Pegasus        Diesel Generator                         1.8 MW Container Diesel Generator
Colyn          CSX Mini Power Plant RH                  945 KW Diesel Generator
Colyn          CSX Mini Generator                       240 KW Diesel Generator
Andreas Roth   Power Generator                          180 KW Natural Gas Generator
Simmer2        SM2 Mobile Power Generator L             120 KW Mobile Diesel Generator
kaos78414      Generator                                50 KW Diesel Generator

 

Wind

Maxis          Wind Power Plant                         1 MW Wind Power Plant
deadwoods      Power-producing Windmill                 5 KW Wooden Wind Generator
 

Natural Gas
Maxis          Natural Gas Power Plant                  6.5 MW Natural Gas Power Plant
dk1            Methane Power Plant                      3.5 MW Natural Gas Power Plant
dk1            Methane Power Plant                      2.4 MW Natural Gas Power Plant
dk1            Power Plant                              2 MW Natural Gas Power Plant
dk1            Power Plant                              1.3 MW Natural Gas Power Plant
 

Waste to Energy
Colyn          CSX LSU WasteTech RH                     45 MW Waste to Energy Plant
Maxis          Waste to Energy Plant                    9 MW Waste to Energy Plant
mrbisonm       Waste to Energy Plant                    4.5 MW Clean Waste to Energy Plant
 

Geothermal
Pegasus        GeoThermal Power Plant                   10 MW Geothermal Power Plant
Simmer2        SM2 Geothermal Power Plant               8 MW Geothermal Power Plant
Pegasus        Geothermal Power Plant                   4 MW Geothermal Power Plant
Mathe Man      Geothermical power station               2 MW Geothermal Power Plant
 

Solar
Maxis          Solar Power Plant                        2.5 MW Solar Thermal Plant
Simmer2        SM2 GE Solar Power Plant                 533 KW PV Power Plant
1dera3         Solar Station                            50 KW Remote PV Station
Simmer2        SM2 Modular Solar Panels 1X1             36 KW PV Panel Set
 

Coal/Wood
Cat fan        Coal Power Plant                         28 MW Coal Power Plant
Maxis          Coal Power Plant                         10 MW Coal Power Plant
shoRt-mAn123   S.M. Power Plant                         6.5 MW Coal Power Plant
Shy Dude       Chicago Union Station Power Plant        2 MW Coal Power Plant
carrot1984     Medium Clean Coal Power Plant            25 MW Clean Coal Power Plant
fukuda         Lignite-fired power plant                20 MW Clean Coal Power Plant
SimGoober      Hardun Coal Power Plant                  10 MW Clean Coal Power Plant
shoRt-mAn123   Small Steam Power Plant                  3 MW Wood Pulp Power Plant
onlyplace4     Wild West Power House                    1 MW Wood Power Plant
 

Oil
BIWDC          SC2k Oil Power Plant                     30 MW Oil Power Plant
Maxis          Oil Power Plant                          15 MW Oil Power Plant
mrbisonm       Nexis Emergency Diesel Power             4.5 MW Oil Power Plant
 

Fission
BurroDiablo    Nuclear Plant                            1.2 GW Fission Power Plant
JPouX          Close-to-water EDF Nuclear Power Plant   112 MW Coastal Fission Plant
JPouX          Mainland EDF Nuclear Power Plant         112 MW Inland Fission Plant
Maxis          Nuclear Power Plant                      25 MW Fission Power Plant
 

Fusion
Maxis          Hydrogen Power Plant                     75 MW Fusion Power Plant

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Details:

All power plants are divided up into one of four main types any one of four categories.

Types: Base Load, Intermediate Load, Peak Load, & Generators (Generators are technically Peak power plants, but don't require Support Equipment to build or use)

Categories: Clean Power Plants, Petroleum Power Plants, Carbon Power Plants, & Other Power Plants (Other is anything that doesn't fit in the first 3)

Support equipment is broken down into one of three categories.

Transformers, Distribution Substations, Transmission Substations, & Electrical Features. (Features are anything that don't fit the first 3 categories, like Inverters, power banks, etc.)

The mod goes in the My Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins folder in a sub-folder titled "ZZZZZ AMPS". This ensures it runs last after all other mods. This is important because it replaces certain Exemplar and LTEXT files from Maxis and all of the above lots. This allows full integration into the game, allowing new advisor comments to be made to include hyperlinks, etc. It also uses new custom queries to advise you on load balancing, etc.

One Maxis LUA file currently overridden (this will probably change to a new kind of override before release so it doesn't replace a Maxis core file) is ID: CA63E2A3-4A5E8F3F-FFB0A8D0 that is used to define certain constants. It's also used by BSC Essentials to add more building counts for use with automata managers using the "track_buildings =" function. Rather than take a chunk of their IDs, I created my own. I am using the Occupant Group 0xBB350000-0xBB35020F since it's not used anywhere that I can tell. This lets us use the Rewards features to limit construction to lots you have ability to build. (I also included the BSC code, which is harmless if you don't need it and vital that it be included if you do) The new Occupant Groups are broken down as follows:

0xBB350000-0xBB35000F = Individual Generator Lots (eg. Pegasus's MTP Diesel Generator is 0xBB350003)

0xBB350010-0xBB35001F = Individual Transformer Lots (eg. KloudKicker's custom 250 kVA residential transformer lot is 0xBB350012)

0xBB350020-0xBB35002F = Individual Distribution Substation Lots (eg. Simmer2's SM2 HV Transformer lot is 0xBB350020)

0xBB350030-0xBB35003F = Individual Transmission Substation Lots (eg. Takingyouthere's Transformer lot is 0xBB350030)

0xBB350040-0xBB35004F = Individual Electrical Feature Lots (eg. Simmer2's Solar Inverters from his Modular Solar Panels set is 0xBB35004F)

0xBB350050-0xBB35005F = Individual Clean Intermediate Load Plant Lots (eg. the Wind Power Plant is 0xBB350059)

 

0xBB350060-0xBB35006F = Individual Clean Base Load Plant Lots (eg. Pegasus's GeoThermal Power Plant is 0xBB350063)

0xBB350070-0xBB35007F = Individual Clean Peak Load Plant Lots (eg. the Hydrogen Power Plant is 0XBB350070)

0xBB350080-0xBB35008F = Individual Petroleum Intermediate Load Plant Lots (reserved for potential use; no plants currently qualify)

0xBB350090-0xBB35009F = Individual Petroleum Base Load Plant Lots (reserved for potential use; no plants currently qualify)

0xBB3500A0-0xBB3500AF = Individual Petroleum Peak Load Lots (eg. the Oil Power Plant is 0xBB3500A1)

 

0xBB3500B0-0xBB3500BF = Individual Carbon Intermediate Load Plant Lots (reserved for potential use; no plants currently qualify)

0xBB3500C0-0xBB3500CF = Individual Carbon Base Load (eg. the Coal Power Plant is 0xBB3500C9)

0xBB3500D0-0xBB3500DF = Individual Carbon Peak Load Plant Lots (reserved for potential use; no plants currently qualify)

0xBB3500E0-0xBB3500E4 = Individual Other Intermediate Load Plant Lots (reserved for potential use; no plants currently qualify)

0xBB3500E5-0xBB3500E9 = Individual Other Base Load Plant Lots (reserved for potential use; no plants currently qualify)

0xBB3500EA-0xBB3500EE = Individual Other Peak Load Plant Lots (reserved for potential use; no plants currently qualify)

0xBB3500F0 = Used on all Generator lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500F1 = Used on all Transformer lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500F2 = Used on all Distribution Substation lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500F3 = Used on all Transmission Substation lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500F4 = Used on all Electric Feature lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500F5 = Used on all Clean Intermediate Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500F6 = Used on all Clean Base Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500F7 = Used on all Clean Peak Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500F8 = Used on all Petroleum Intermediate Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500F9 = Used on all Petroleum Base Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500FA = Used on all Petroleum Peak Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500FB = Used on all Carbon Intermediate Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500FC = Used on all Carbon Base Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500FD = Used on all Carbon Peak Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500FE = Used on all Other Intermediate Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500FF = Used on all Other Base Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB3500EF = Used on all Other Peak Load Plant lots to return the sum total of all of them; used in custom queries and for grid validity checks

0xBB350100-0xBB3501FF Same as above, reserved for Small Power Plants that do not require a Transmission Substation, only Distribution Substations and Transformers

0xBB350200-0xBB35020F Used for special building tracking, such as for tracking the number of Front Offices on the map to prevent having more than one

All original files are also using the Instance ID series "BB35xxxx", which is also to the best of my knowledge unused by anyone.

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In order to simulate grid imbalance when you don't have enough Peak load-following power sources, LUA code will increase power consumption grid-wide until brown-outs occur, proportional to the imbalance, in much the same way the the Power Conservation Ordinance works, only in reverse. This is perhaps one of the most difficult goals to implement and may take some time to work out. The other parts of the mod are relatively easy and I had working flawlessly 2 years ago. :^/

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Comments welcome!

  Edited May 10, 2024 by RobertaME  
Beta Release

[rivit 3,391]

24 minutes ago, RobertaME said:

They choke up the air like a chain smoker locked in a Datsun.

Now there's an image to take you back to the 1970s.

I like the sound of your project a lot and it will add a very new but useful "managers curse" to the game we love, giving the city evolution a new dimension - making energy supply something more than plonk down x of these and fix them every 50 years before they explode/expire.

Other utilities too may eventually benefit from such an approach - water, pollution control come to mind.

Also we are very short of LUA experts so welcome. 

[matias93 7,535]

Well, this is basically a whole expansion for the game, adding a full set of objectives to match when managing a city. It's really interesting and no doubt impressive to be developed by a single person (OTOH, the NAM team is currently 3 to 5 people, so we have precedents on this).

Sadly, I believe I'm too mediocre at utilities managing to be capable to use this without wreaking havoc on my existing cities. Maybe in a future region, where I could plan electric distribution seriously, instead of using power lines as emergency solutions for distant developments.

[RobertaME 1,376]

8 hours ago, rivit said:

Now there's an image to take you back to the 1970s.

A lady never tells her age...

...but that doesn't stop anyone from drawing obvious conclusions.

Quote

I like the sound of your project a lot and it will add a very new but useful "managers curse" to the game we love, giving the city evolution a new dimension - making energy supply something more than plonk down x of these and fix them every 50 years before they explode/expire.

The whole idea is to add that extra dimension to city management, so this tells me I'm not alone in seeing the situations it can create can be a whole lot of fun!

Quote

Other utilities too may eventually benefit from such an approach - water, pollution control come to mind.

I don't know about other utilities, though. There's not much to water other than how big of a plant you want to build. Maybe add some of the desalinization plants I've seen around the STEX, but even then it's just eye candy for a big water pump. Other than that it's new graphics on the same old Water Tower and Water Pump Exemplars.

Same with garbage, save that you have the added wrinkle of recycling. Waste to Energy is already handled in the Power Grid mod, giving a huge W2E plant (that pollutes more than any single building in the game) and the Clean W2E plant that isn't TOO bad, but you don't get as much energy out of it. I mean, what else can you do with garbage other than a) bury it, b) burn it, c) recycle it, or d) ship it off to be someone else's problem? Maybe if there was a Resource system where buildings and such required building materials, then you could find different ways of using garbage for that, (fertilizer to grow into food for a larger population, raw materials for industry to smelt down again and reduce imports, etc) but I wouldn't even know where to begin to implement a resource system. I'm good with LUA, but not THAT good!

Quote

Also we are very short of LUA experts so welcome.

::blush:: I'm hardly an expert. My oldest son probably knows more LUA than I do from playing Roblox... but a lady knows when to take a compliment. Thank you!

7 hours ago, matias93 said:

Well, this is basically a whole expansion for the game, adding a full set of objectives to match when managing a city. It's really interesting and no doubt impressive to be developed by a single person (OTOH, the NAM team is currently 3 to 5 people, so we have precedents on this).

It's not THAT much work. A host of BATers over the years provided the raw material... I'm just getting it organized. The only real work will be implementing the "brown outs" you'll get when you can't meet Peak Load demands. Other than that it's fine-tuning Exemplars, adding some LUA scripts to handle lot availability, and a few more to add Advisor reactions. This is where I can really use the community's help... finding situations where the Advisors say or do something not in line with the new power grid system because I missed an LTEXT file patch.

Quote

Sadly, I believe I'm too mediocre at utilities managing to be capable to use this without wreaking havoc on my existing cities. Maybe in a future region, where I could plan electric distribution seriously, instead of using power lines as emergency solutions for distant developments.

To be sure, trying to impose this on an already existing city would lead to rapid chaos. You almost NEED to use it on a new city, otherwise you'll have a host of issues.

Thanks for the interest! Hopefully I'll have an Alpha release by the end of next week. :^)

[City_Slider 2,716]

Wow,

im out of Word´s. Good Luck with it Mam. I´ll have an Eye on it ;-).

Greetings, Oliver

 

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

8 hours ago, RobertaME said:

You almost NEED to use it on a new city, otherwise you'll have a host of issues.

Issues can be addressed, so after you get the alpha version working in the new-city scenario, maybe we can look at what happens in an existing city and see if the effects can be reported / managed before any damage is done.

Questions:

Where will neighbor connections/deals fit into your grid with its substations and transformers?

How will imported/exported power affect "Base Load, Intermediate Load, Peak Load" balance?

[RobertaME 1,376]

44 minutes ago, jeffryfisher said:

Issues can be addressed, so after you get the alpha version working in the new-city scenario, maybe we can look at what happens in an existing city and see if the effects can be reported / managed before any damage is done.

Questions:

Where will neighbor connections/deals fit into your grid with its substations and transformers?

Using neighbor deals is unfortunately one of the ways you can bypass the requirement to make a power grid. There's no way (that I know of) to restrict neighbor deals via LUA scripts. AFAIK, that's handled entirely within the game's executable. :^/ If anyone knows of a way to "shut off" a neighbor deal using a LUA script, I'd love to hear it!

Quote

How will imported/exported power affect "Base Load, Intermediate Load, Peak Load" balance?

Imported power would have to be considered Peak power. The reason is that first of all, there is no way for the power mix of one city (Base, Intermediate, Peak) to be known in another city. LUA scripts can't pass information along like that. The only way it MIGHT be possible would be for the mix ratio to be stored in an external file, then read by a LUA script in the new city... but I'm not even sure which version of LUA SC4 uses (probably 3.2 or 4... I'd have to see an example of a FOR statement in an existing LUA script to know) and that's not really what LUA was designed for. The other thing is that usually when cities import power, it's specifically to cover "shortfalls" in peak usage... letting their own plants cover base load and the imported power cover peak.

Because base and peak are abstracted here, assigning imported power to base or intermediate would REQUIRE you to build peak plants, even if your imported power is many times what you need. By making it Peak power, this allows a city to survive completely on neighbor power and have no plants of their own... or to have ONLY base plants (fission, geothermal, etc.) and let the neighbor deal cover the peak demand... as real cities do all the time.

This means that any power exported will always be peak power, reducing a city's peak power percentage accordingly.

For example:

City 1 has a 6.5 MW Natural Gas Power Plant producing 3000 MWh Peak power and a 10 MW Geothermal Power Plant producing 6000 MWh Base power.

City 1's power demand is 4000 MWh; therefore they require a minimum of 40% of that (1600 MWh) to be from peak or intermediate plants, of which 800 HAS to come from peak. Since the city HAS no intermediate power generation, they need 1600 of the city's 3000 MWhs for themselves. The remaining 2400 MWh can come from Base power. That leaves 5,000 MWh unused.

City 1 sets up a Neighbor Deal to export 2200 MWh. Since this comes from Peak plants first, that reduces the power available from the Nat. Gas plant from 3000 to 800 MWh... 800 short of the city's peak demand. Shortly thereafter, they would start to see No Power zots from a lack of 800 MWh of Peak power, even though they have 3600 power unused from the Geothermal plant. They get informed of this from the Utilities advisor.

City 1 builds four 1 MW Wind Power Plants. (after building the Wind Farm Maintenance Facility... a new lot that will need to be made that stands as a perquisite to building wind turbines) Now the city has 800 MWh from Intermediate, 6000 from Base, and 3000 from Peak with 2200 being exported, leaving 800. The city's power demand of 4000 hasn't changed, so they still need 800 from the peak plant, 800 of their peak demand can come from the intermediate plants, and 2400 from the base plant. They HAVE that, so the No Power zots go away.

So, while the city ostensibly has 3600 unused power, they can't afford to export any more. If the export deal rises to 2400, or there's any increase in power demand, it will result in brownouts again... even with 3600 "unused" power. (in actuality, the Geothermal plant is only producing 2400 power, having spooled down to less than max capacity for lack of constant demand)

Is that clear as mud? ;^)

[matias93 7,535]

58 minutes ago, RobertaME said:

If anyone knows of a way to "shut off" a neighbor deal

I know that neighbour deals can be modified to make them more or less profitable, so maybe you can go to the extreme of making them completely useless as to restrict them. I don't remember how it's done, though, but I believe that @CorinaMarie does

[CorinaMarie 29,574]

@RobertaME

Find exemplar 6534284A-7A4A8458-6A469021 and set property 0xEA46932C (NDb_MinDealAmountPower) to 10,000,000.

You will want to make a note that yours will be incompatible with @cogeo's Neighbor Deal Mods since it'll need to modify the same exemplar.

[RobertaME 1,376]

@CorinaMarie

Yeah, I saw that. Only thing that it needs to be adjustable, so that once the Substation is placed it sets NDb_MinDealAmountPower back down to a lower value. I can make an LUA that will do a building count and once it reaches a certain value I'd need a way for the LUA to modify an exemplar... and I don't know that we can do that.

The way the LUA is designed to work is to prevent power plants from being buildable until your grid has a MWh rating as high or higher than the rating of the power plant. Using Rewards LUA instruction, this is easy to set up. I can even make it so that the count total includes imported power in the total, so if you are importing 1000 MWh and want to build a 200 MWh windmill, it won't release the building for construction until you have a 1200 MWh grid... but short of manipulating Instance 6A469021 from inside the LUA, I don't know that I can PREVENT neighbor deals conditionally. (when I made it before, I just self-enforced the rule that you can't import power until your grid can support it)

Ideas welcome!

[CorinaMarie 29,574]

5 hours ago, RobertaME said:

I'd need a way for the LUA to modify an exemplar... and I don't know that we can do that.

Nor do I.

There's so many things we could do if that were possible, but afaik, Lua won't let us see those even tho they are in game memory somewhere.

[Cyclone Boom 16,852]

@RobertaME

This sounds like a truly fascinating project to overhaul the "SimGrid" finally.

The great thing is it'll appeal to a wide range of mayors too. Ultimately whether creating rural or urban style cities, we all need power of some form. I like the idea for how there'd be an enhanced realism about the functionality, since in the real world there are multiple components of a national and regional power grid after all. The range of different power types too, since the energy mix from renewable and non-renewable sources differs greatly depending on location.

Also it's so great to hear how you recovered from your data loss. I can only imagine it must've been so frustrating at the time, but crucially you've regained the motivation to continue again with SC4 projects. Now you can build back bigger to bring what you envisioned to fruition, and all the while building on your existing expertise.

The Lua side of things intrigues me too, and trying to work with the framework which can be done on that front.

Looking forward to see how this progresses, and all the best with the development.

[RobertaME 1,376]

So, in going over the available DLs here on the STEX and on the LEX, I was hoping that sometime in the last year or so someone would have made a Lot with Distribution Transformers, the type you see in residential areas, like these...

  

In re-creating my grid, to best fill out the options for transformers, I find I need 5 lots I can't... find. (when I made it last time, I just settled for the two choices you see noted below and sucked it up... but I actually want this to be more user-friendly with better choices) A 25kva Transformer like those shown above, (pad or pole... or both!)  a 50kva transformer like these...

  

...a 250 kva transformer like these...

  

...a 1500 kva transformer like these...

  

...and a 6 mva transformer like this.

Here's my thinking: the 25 and 50 kva transformers would be transit-enabled Streets, (only streets, not Roads or any other roadway) just with a pad or pole transformer on the side, maybe even overhanging slightly into the adjacent lot, like this...

(I TOLD you I was a terrible artist!) The 250 and 1500 kva should be pad-mounted on a 1x1 lot of their own, set back about 3 meters from the street side with a full meter clearance on every other side. The rest of the lot can be trees, bushes, etc... stuff that would make it blend into a neighborhood or commercial district. The 6 mva should be on a 1x2 lot, with lots of clearance around it, maybe with an Industrial look to it.

Anyway, here's where I beg and plead with the folks here with any sort of artistic ability. You don't need to worry about dealing with cost, power, or any of that stuff. You can make it a Park for all it matters. I'll rip the Exemplars out of it and make my own anyway! The fact of the matter is, there never HAS been very many actual "Transformer" lots here or on the LEX. Oh sure, plenty of lots claim to be transformers, but the lot actually depicts a substation. (e.g. Simmer2's SM2 Main Transformers, SM2 Power Pack or Subgrav's Power Transformer) In fact, I can only find 2... the two I had before: Simmer2's SM2 HV Transformer (best guess is a 500 kva pad-mount) and DK1's Substation packaged with their DK1 Power Plant. (3 MVA Distribution Transformer, best guess)

So... any takers... or am I on my own with this? (I don't know... maybe I can mess around in LE for a few days and come up with something really eye-searing! ;^)  )

P.S. As a sneak-peak, here's what I've done to fill out the rest of the Power Grid components:

 

  Edited February 3, 2021 by RobertaME  
Typos

[matias93 7,535]

I guess you should post this on the

They look rather simple, unless you want them to be HD and very detailed

[rivit 3,391]

Transformer boxes (or something like them) may already exist in someone's big prop collections - I don't have enough plugins to be useful.

However I do have a substation/transformer corner by UKI (Japanese batter) in ortho and diagonal orientations - lotted as a park  I have no idea how I got this its oldish.

and Exemplar Ut7x6_SeaportOffice_1F4E   Plugin 0xEFBE0995 - which is a substation of sorts  power generated = x64 = 100units  Part of mod - UP2x2 Transformerstation

also

RoBo's Offshore Power Plants: PowerBuoys. - a readymade set of water buoys for a power distribution network

Maxlion's Modular Solar Farm - a PEG solar panel set for farms.

 

[RobertaME 1,376]

35 minutes ago, rivit said:

Transformer boxes (or something like them) may already exist in someone's big prop collections - I don't have enough plugins to be useful.

However I do have a substation/transformer corner by UKI (Japanese batter) in ortho and diagonal orientations - lotted as a park  I have no idea how I got this its oldish.

 

 

 

 

Interesting... can't see any detail though. If you can tell me where to DL it I'll go have a close look. Could fill a niche. (no pun intended!)

Quote

and Exemplar Ut7x6_SeaportOffice_1F4E   Plugin 0xEFBE0995 - which is a substation of sorts  power generated = x64 = 100units  Part of mod - UP2x2 Transformerstation

 

That's 3rd down in my list of Distribution Substations, listed as "7 MVA Power Substation". (note the same GUID)

As for stats, in my mod all that is wiped out and the Exemplar is completely replaced with all new Properties. The only thing the remains the same is the Exemplar Name Property and their TGI so its traceable back to the original author. (and since no models will be in my Mod, to use it people would still have to DL the original lot)

Quote

also

RoBo's Offshore Power Plants: PowerBuoys. - a readymade set of water buoys for a power distribution network

My Power Grid can make use of any power distribution mods, such as Simmer2's SM2 Marine Wind Power set, which also includes buoys. No integration is required.

Quote

Maxlion's Modular Solar Farm - a PEG solar panel set for farms.

That's actually paeng's Maxlion's Modular Solar Farm, which is pretty good, but I adopted Simmer2's SM2 Modular Solar Panels 1X1 as that set included Inverters and a Step-up transformer. To each their own, I guess!

I suppose I could integrate paeng's as well, but it would be redundant as Simmer2's set does the exact same thing, but with sun-tracking. So I guess I may consider it as a cheaper alternative. First I want to get the LUA coding done before I start adding new supported lot sets. ;^)

1 hour ago, matias93 said:

I guess you should post this on the

They look rather simple, unless you want them to be HD and very detailed

TY! Will do!

I appreciate everyone's help and interest! Keep 'em coming!

[matias93 7,535]

This might be useful for the coal plants:

I'm looking for the polish power plant lots, but I cannot find them now, maybe @Tyberius06 knows where they are.

 

EDIT: don't mind, they are in a thread as attachments, in this post and the next:

Maybe we should be loading them on the STEX anyway (?)

[Simmer2 23,785]

Hello Roberta.

Regarding the green transformer boxes and the upright cylinder type ones as well, I have already made those models along others such as power inverters and substation assemblies and you will find them in this prop pack.

If you need something specific to be modeled, send me some detailed pics and I will see what I can do.

Simmer2

[Tyberius06 12,184]

1 hour ago, matias93 said:

I'm looking for the polish power plant lots, but I cannot find them now, maybe @Tyberius06 knows where they are.

EDIT: don't mind, they are in a thread as attachments, in this post and the next:

Maybe we should be loading them on the STEX anyway (?)

OR maybe you shouldn't... It will be handled, when they will be ready for upload (I mean the original ones)... Until then be patient or use the attachments or relots already can be created since I made the models available... Those lots/ZIPs/uploads whatever will be updated in a way, because for example most of those models are now in megapack(s) (for now they are in the Polish Mega Prop Pack vol. 01, but actually I already made a more userfriendly version and soon those models will be in a new Vol.02 Polish Mega Prop Pack) , so uploading them anyway would cause unnecessary duplications, not to mention that 99% of the plopable creations from the polska collection contains unnecessary files, plus the readmes (where there is readme) need some touch as well...

Keep calm  and relax!  

- Tyberius

[RobertaME 1,376]

1 hour ago, Simmer2 said:

Hello Roberta.

Regarding the green transformer boxes and the upright cylinder type ones as well, I have already made those models along others such as power inverters and substation assemblies and you will find them in this prop pack.

::snip::

If you need something specific to be modeled, send me some detailed pics and I will see what I can do.

Simmer2

Thanks @Simmer2! Yeah, I already have your mega prop pack, (all four, actually) as I use your lots extensively! The thing is, I STINK at BATing... I mean like BAD! Plus all my spare time right now is busy writing LUA code (something I'm actually good at) to make every power plant in the game, and 33 more I've downloaded, all behave as though Maxis put a Power Grid into the game that you have to build and maintain, as well as keeping loads balanced. Thus why I'm looking for someone who can create a few simple lots for this mod. Of course, I would be honored if you could help, but I understand that your time is limited and you have other requests.

I tried searching for various pad-mount and pole-mount transformers online, but my Duck-foo is failing me lately. All I could find were pics of old beat-up ones that people are trying to sell. :^/ The pics above are the general idea, though. In specific, this is what I had in mind: (you'd been warned!)

  

  

Suggestions welcome!

[Simmer2 23,785]

Everything you outlined can be made. There are many choices to make though regarding the base and overlay textures.

In this example I made, I will outline one issue. The street overlay texture I used matches @rivit RVT Tarsealed Streets because I like using his street mod  but there are many other options that players use therefore we will have to settle on 1. Also, the pole/transformer measurements you gave me was a tad too small for the game. Even though I increased the numbers a bit you can see that the model shows somewhat poor. I also rendered it in HD.

Here is the finished model in all its glory within Gmax before rendering. Keep in mind that I also put wires for visual effect however they can be removed.

And here is the result on a 3x1 lot which is transit enabled.

Let me know.

Simmer2

[RobertaME 1,376]

Wow... just... WOW! That is AMAZING! I couldn't do work that good if I took a year, let alone a few hours!

A few questions and comments... but first, a pic so I can specify which square I'm talking about:

Upper left: Blue lot / Middle: Yellow Street Lot / Lower Right: Red Lot

1. The pad-mount transformer in the Red Lot... is that on a separate lot from the Yellow street lot? The reason I ask is that it's too big to be a 25 or 50 kVA transformer, but it's the PERFECT size for the 1,500 kVA lot that should end up looking like a Plaza. So if the Red Lot is a separate lot from the yellow one, all I can say is, YOU NAILED IT! If they're both part of the Yellow street lot, then the pad-mount would have to be half as tall, wide, and deep. Also, the pole-mount or pad-mount street lot should be either-or, not both. (you hardly ever see both in the same neighborhood) That's my fault for being unclear. (Sorry! :^/ )

2. Yes, the lines on the pole-mount version will have to go. You're right though... the height is just about perfect to scale with the rest of the city. I don't know if it will still look OK without lines, but with them it just doesn't work. (and I really like the idea of a pole-mount version of the 25 and 50 kVA transformers... it'll look better when the lot you're placing it next to is busy with it's own props, raising the transformer up and clear of the ground clutter) We can just pretend the lines are too thin to see. ;^)

3. The street texture should ideally be the Maxis Standard (or NAM standard, if there's a difference) street, with maybe an installer option for other textures.

4. The sidewalks look odd... not like the rest of your city's sidewalks. Is that sidewalk baked into the lot? If so, we should stick to the Maxis Standard Residential sidewalks for that lot, so it looks right in the places most people will put them and without requiring other mods to look right. (trying to keep Dependencies down to just what is absolutely necessary... the transformers and substations) The 25 and 50 kVA lots are meant for Residential areas anyway, the 1,500 kVA lot for Commercial areas, the 200 kVA lot for both Commercial and Residential, (with a very slight NIMBY for the 200 kVA) and the 6 MVA lot for Industrial zones... and will be tuned accordingly. (i.e. the residential transformers won't have a Residential NIMBY effect, but the Commercial and Industrial lots will drive down housing demand, as happens in real life when big thrumming transformers are installed behind your back yard)

5. In looking at the pad-mount transformer, I realize that center and set so far back from the street looks unnatural. While I can't draw, Paint.net can let even me push pixels around...

I digitally removed the transformer, shrank it by 50% in all dimensions, and moved it to the corner of the lot where it looks much more natural. I'm thinking the pole should move to the corner as well. That would mean we might want to make two versions available; one with the pole/pad on the "top" corner and the other with them on the "bottom" corner. (but then that's 8 lots; 1 each of 25 kVA pole or pad "top corner", (2) 1 each of 25 kVA pole or pad "bottom corner", (4) 1 each of 50 kVA pole or pad "top corner", (6) and 1 each of 50 kVA pole or pad "bottom corner". (8) That's before adding the three other lots, so a total of 11 lots. Is that too much? (I know the build bar can get pretty busy, and this isn't helping... even though it's on the in-often used Power menu) Maybe just make the pole lots 25 kVA and the pad lots 50? That cuts the number down to 7 total... thoughts?

I can't believe how awesome these turned out, though! And so fast! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you :^)

Edit: Here's a revised plan then for the 25-50 kVA Street lot:

  Edited February 4, 2021 by RobertaME  
Revised Lot plan; typos

[RobertaME 1,376]

Here's how the pole looks with the wires digitally removed:

I tried digitally removing the pole and moving it to the corner, but that's outside my abilities and gets dangerously close to "art"...  ;^)

I think it works... ::shrug::

Thoughts welcome!

[Simmer2 23,785]

Hi

Just a question.

Why the transit enabled street tile? It is not a good idea to have them all over the map they can cause bottlenecks due to the traffic allowance limit. The NAM traffic controller doesn't play nice with too many TE lots on a map. Usually TE street/roads/avenue tiles are used as a road top bus stop.

Also you cannot plop TE lots adjacent to each other.

In your scenario I cannot see the usage for them.

I can easily make the pole and transformer fit on one tile to the side of any street/road/avenue by making it overhanging and avoid the TE enabled lot. I will show you an example soon.

Let me know.

Simmer2

PS there is a mod made by Neko that uses the T21 method to create a wired pole grid. It is only for visual effect, the mod does not impact the power grid in any way. I may have an old pic somewhere from when I used it.

Edit. I found them. Note the wired poles on these pics.

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

8 hours ago, RobertaME said:

Here's how the pole looks with the wires digitally removed:

How important to you is it that all these power nodes appear on the surface and take up valuable real estate? Would it be okay (if its even possible) to hide the transformers (at least the most local level anyway) underground so that a player need only make the simoleon investment and connection without losing street frontage? Larger scale, higher voltage substations are the only sites I'd expect to occupy lot-sized space.

Alternatively, perhaps the mere presence of a street can imply that the power infrastructure has been installed. In that case, we could look toward a sidewalk or street texture mod that would sprinkle a few electric props along its length (e.g. at corners). It would be fun if streets all conducted residential-level power even without Cori's power-line trick.

[RobertaME 1,376]

3 hours ago, Simmer2 said:

Hi

Just a question.

Why the transit enabled street tile? It is not a good idea to have them all over the map they can cause bottlenecks due to the traffic allowance limit. The NAM traffic controller doesn't play nice with too many TE lots on a map. Usually TE street/roads/avenue tiles are used as a road top bus stop.

Also you cannot plop TE lots adjacent to each other.

In your scenario I cannot see the usage for them.

I can easily make the pole and transformer fit on one tile to the side of any street/road/avenue by making it overhanging and avoid the TE enabled lot. I will show you an example soon.

Let me know.

Simmer2

PS there is a mod made by Neko that uses the T21 method to create a wired pole grid. It is only for visual effect, the mod does not impact the power grid in any way. I may have an old pic somewhere from when I used it.

Edit. I found them. Note the wired poles on these pics.

 

1 hour ago, jeffryfisher said:

How important to you is it that all these power nodes appear on the surface and take up valuable real estate? Would itbe okay (if its even possible) to hide the transformers (at least the most local level anyway) underground so that a player need only make the simoleon investment and connection without losing street frontage? Larger scale, higher voltage substations are the only sites I'd expect to occupy lot-sized space.

Alternatively, perhaps the mere presence of a street can imply that the power infrastructure has been installed. In that case, we could look toward a sidewalk or street texture mod that would sprinkle a few electric props along its length (e.g. at corners). It would be fun if streets all conducted residential-level power even without Cori's power-line trick.

Understandable questions. The reason is that with my mod the player will need transformers, not just substations.

Here's the flow: First you have to build Distribution Transformers. This converts Distribution voltage to Household voltage that is usable. This is done by all the transformers we're talking about. Each one adds its kVA rating to an accumulator in a LUA script.

transformer_rating = 	(sc4game.automata.get_source_building_count(hex2dec("BB350010"))*kva_BB350010) +
			(sc4game.automata.get_source_building_count(hex2dec("BB350011"))*kva_BB350011) + 
			(sc4game.automata.get_source_building_count(hex2dec("BB350012"))*kva_BB350012) + 
			(sc4game.automata.get_source_building_count(hex2dec("BB350013"))*kva_BB350013) + 
			(sc4game.automata.get_source_building_count(hex2dec("BB350014"))*kva_BB350014) + 
			(sc4game.automata.get_source_building_count(hex2dec("BB350015"))*kva_BB350015) + 
			(sc4game.automata.get_source_building_count(hex2dec("BB350016"))*kva_BB350016)

The kva_BB35xxxx variables are a set of tuning constants equal to the kVA rating of each transformer and substation, defining its load-handling capability. Once transformer rating is known, that determines the total MVA rating of Distribution Substations you can build... the sum of which determines the MVA rating of Transmission Substations you can build... the sum of which determines the MVA rating of power plants you can build. Thus, you have to have a grid in place that can handle the extra load to build new plants... from the transmission substations (usually built next to the plant) putting out voltage to go over the high-voltage lines, to the Distribution Substations (usually built on the outskirts of the city) that step down to distribution voltage, to the various distribution transformers that step the voltage down to that which is usable in houses, businesses, etc. Each "Section" of the grid (Production, Transmission, Distribution, Transformers) has to be large enough to support the section above it.

That means a LOT of transformers... which means having to squeeze them in wherever you can sometimes. One 8 MW Geothermal Plant needs a 10 MVA Distribution Substation, which needs two 5 MVA Power Substations, which needs a 3 MVA Industrial Transformer, 2x 1500 kVA Commercial Transformers, 8x 250 kVA Transformers, and 30-60 Residential 25-50 kVA transformers. (of course, you could just use four Industrial Transformers, but they have a NIMBY effect that drives away business and residents... no one likes to live/work around giant humming transformers)

The Street lots are both realistic and fill a need in the system I'm building; providing power handling without sacrificing space or driving away residents. Since they're built on Streets and not Roads or Avenues, that restricts their use to low-density residential, so traffic congestion shouldn't be an issue. You also wouldn't usually place them next to one another, but put them at the end of a residential block. It just gives you options. (incidentally, a city won't have 50 kVA pad transformers, or 3-6 MVA Industrial transformers, at the start of the game; they have to be unlocked later through Industrial Growth, so a small town will be stuck with 25 kVA power poles and 1500 kVA Commercial Transformers, while a big city can upgrade to larger and more advanced transformers... so long as they keep them away from the residential sections)

It's abstracted... you can always "game the system" by building nothing but huge industrial transformers in your Industrial areas, but I'm trying to work in a system where if residential lots DON'T have a residential transformer near them it'll lower desirability, (like Education, health, etc., same with Commercial desirability and Commercial transformers) but it's still a WIP. (that would give every transformer lot a radius and strength of effect... but there's a LOT involved and I don't know if it'll make the final cut of the mod... maybe a future expansion ;^)  )

Thoughts welcome!

[Simmer2 23,785]

Roberta

To be brutally honest the average player just wants to plop something to visually enhance the visual impact of the game and then go on to do something else.

Perhaps a few hardcore players may use this system.

Again though why the need to use TE'd street tiles. its really not necessary, you only need a single tile lot that can be plopped on the side of the street (actually in this manner it can be plopped besides other networks as well. The models can be made overhanging so that you can have the transformer on one tile and the pole across the street thus eliminating the need to have 3 lots for that scenario.

The single lot scenario can be made with a prop family so has to avoid an empty lot with a tiny green box on one side of it. It can be made in to a bus stop or a parkette or something similar.

Even if you plop a TE tiles only over every street cross you are still going to end up with dozens of them. Again not a good idea.

I will make a mock up to show what I mean

Simmer2

[RobertaME 1,376]

43 minutes ago, Simmer2 said:

Roberta

To be brutally honest the average player just wants to plop something to visually enhance the visual impact of the game and then go on to do something else.

Perhaps a few hardcore players may use this system.

Only someone who wants the added realism is even going to DL this mod anyway. That's the whole point of the thing... to add a new dimension to gameplay, not just the visuals. The visuals are just to support the added gameplay and this whole mod can be done without them... it'd just be nice to make the city look the way it functions with my mod.

Quote

Again though why the need to use TE'd street tiles. its really not necessary, you only need a single tile lot that can be plopped on the side of the street (actually in this manner it can be plopped besides other networks as well. The models can be made overhanging so that you can have the transformer on one tile and the pole across the street thus eliminating the need to have 3 lots for that scenario.

The single lot scenario can be made with a prop family so has to avoid an empty lot with a tiny green box on one side of it. It can be made in to a bus stop or a parkette or something similar.

There is no "need", it's more of a "it'd be nice". The situation you describe would be how a player would use the 250kVA lot; plopping it next to the street with a (reduced due to the presence of the transformer) park effect.

Quote

Even if you plop a TE tiles only over every street cross you are still going to end up with dozens of them. Again not a good idea.

I will make a mock up to show what I mean

Simmer2

I get that there will be quite a few of them, but since they're meant to go in low-density residential areas only, it shouldn't have much of an impact. Urbanized areas will use larger transformers (and have the manufacturing base to build them) and won't make much use of these. But when you're planning your suburbs, with nothing but rows of low-density housing, these will save space and are low-impact. (no NIMBY effect) I really don't see a large number of them in any given city once the other lots are available. They have a number of down-sides to them:

1. They restrict traffic, as you point out
2. They don't handle much power; 25-50 kVA is NOT a lot and would be an expensive alternative to larger transformers (10x the cost per kVA vs 250 kVA transformers)

Their main purpose is to fill that niche where you need transformers but don't have the space and don't want the NIMBY effect larger transformers bring.

I appreciate your argument, though. It's helped me nail down some details!

  Edited February 4, 2021 by RobertaME  
Clarifying details

[RobertaME 1,376]

Good progress today! I nailed down the last of the LUA code needed to manage grid construction!

gridbalance.lua

I didn't attach the tuning constants LUA as it's just a set of GUID definitions and values. THIS and the rewards.lua are the meat of what this mod will do, requiring you to have built up a grid of transformers, substations, and transmission stations before it lets you build any power plant of a megawatt or more.

Still a few bugs in the Reward code to nail down before it runs smoothly, but things are looking good! With this done, I can start serious work on the Reward code and hopefully get the first half of this mod done by tomorrow night, a full week ahead of when I thought it would be! (now that I've said that, the Reward code will turn into a real WITCH and next week will be a distant memory before I do an Alpha release!)

Anyway, thoughts and reviews welcome!

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

On 2/4/2021 at 11:50 AM, RobertaME said:

need... and 30-60 Residential 25-50 kVA transformers

I guess it's those 30-60 residential units that look tedious to me. I don't mind paying for them, and I don't mind seeing them in my neighborhoods, but I don't want to give up 30-60 residential lots to make room for them, and I'm not sure I even want to click 30-60 times to manually place them in my city. What I am hoping for is a way for the mere dragging of a road or street (or the zoning of a bunch of lots) to automatically create and pay for as many residential transformers as needed.

I guess I like SC4's way of having zones conduct power, though I can completely understand that zone power is qualitatively different from high-voltage, long distance power-line power. Could your mod involve plants, power lines, the high-level stations and maybe neighbor connections, but still let zones transform local power (i.e. subsume the 25-50 kVA transformers)? In other words, can you see in the zoning of a block of lots the necessary and automatic creation of some number of local transformers proportional to the number of lots?