(Mod) AMPS Development Thread

[Skyroguen 67]

49 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

@Skyroguen hello. Nice to meet you. Glad you can join.

You might not want to look at my recent project, overhauling some substations. Probably will make you cringe. But it looks more "alive" now, I think.

Thanks for the warm welcome. You all do awesome work, I am looking forward to downloading your mods and renovating my SC4D to the max.

As for the first hand knowledge that  @RobertaME was referring to, I work at the Tesla Gigafactory in NV.

[RobertaME 1,376]

Very cool method of managing multiple files in a set! That is, of course, what the Parent Cohort was made to do... make inherited properties for an entire set of lots.

I'm in the process of grouping up @Kloudkicker's awesome Transformer lots into DATs that will allow random plop of one of several lot options each time you place one of the transformers, while still only taking up one spot on the build menu. (similar things have been done many times) Using the Parent Cohort feature, I make each lot have the same basic properties... cost, park effect, bulldoze cost, etc.) without having to put those properties in every single Exemplar. Then if I need to adjust a value, (typos happen!) it's one fix and all are done!

It's an underused, but very useful aspect of SC3 coding.

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

6 minutes ago, Skyroguen said:

I work at the Tesla Gigafactory in NV.

NICE. That is super cool. This ONE 

  Edited February 14, 2021 by Kloudkicker  
Light bulb turn on

[RobertaME 1,376]

21 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

NICE. That is super cool. This ONE

That's the one. @Skyroguen is my brother, BTW.

<---- proud sister (not that it shows)

[Skyroguen 67]

<----- Proud Brother!!!...yes with caps and all.

[Skyroguen 67]

43 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

NICE. That is super cool. This ONE 

 

Actually Starman is approaching Earth right now.

https://www.whereisroadster.com/

[Skyroguen 67]

I was thinking of the problem mention about getting inundated with reports when placing the first Transmission Station. I was wondering if there were more perquisites needed to build the large power plants this might help spread them out. The Idea I had was that the large Coal, Oil and Natural Gas power plants may need a certain level of Industrial population, either local or regional, to represent the infrastructure to supply them with needed resources. maybe they could also provide an industrial demand.

My thought is that the advisors wouldn't tell you about the power plants that you can build unless all prerequisites were met.

[Simmer2 23,785]

6 hours ago, Skyroguen said:

232 kWh per power pack, it looks like there is 4 Powerpacks for each inverter. let's see.....4pack x 10 inverters per section x 4 section = 160 Powerpack.......x232 kWh = 37.12 MWh....

each inverter can support up to 10 Powerpacks, just fyi. don't know what the green boxes are, they are not a part of the Powerpack.

 

for reference: https://www.tesla.com/powerpack

and this: https://www.tesla.com/megapack

Hi

As far as I can tell, in the scenario I replicated, those "green" boxes are power inverters. Perhaps first generation? They are clearly shown in the pictures below.

Since you work for Tesla I would love to know exactly what they are. Could you dig a bit and find out please?

For reference, the mega battery shown in these pics is fed by wind turbines.

Simmer2

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

Not sure if there is something I need to do to get the sidewalks to change with a sidewalk mod? Is there a way? Maybe just the correct base texture? I need to find a good reference for the maxis ID's, anyone know of one? Or is this a case where if I had run the GoFSH already, it would be done ?

  Edited February 14, 2021 by Kloudkicker  
more thoughts

[RobertaME 1,376]

11 hours ago, Skyroguen said:

I was thinking of the problem mention about getting inundated with reports when placing the first Transmission Station. I was wondering if there were more perquisites needed to build the large power plants this might help spread them out. The Idea I had was that the large Coal, Oil and Natural Gas power plants may need a certain level of Industrial population, either local or regional, to represent the infrastructure to supply them with needed resources. maybe they could also provide an industrial demand.

My thought is that the advisors wouldn't tell you about the power plants that you can build unless all prerequisites were met.

From a few pages back...

On 2/11/2021 at 11:46 PM, RobertaME said:

The issue is that most of the small plants, the ones that SHOULD be easy to build and buildable right form the start of the game, are the ones that all inundate the player when the first transmission substation is built. Nine plants hit you all at once.

The 5 MW Step-up Transformer, (for modular solar panels) Wind Farm Maintenance Facility, 4.5 MW Oil Power Plant, 1.3 MW Natural Gas Power Plant, 2 MW Natural Gas Power Plant, 1 MW Wood Power Plant, 3 MW Wood Pulp Power Plant, 2 MW Coal Power Plant, & 6.5 MW Coal Power Plant all need less than 10 MVA to build, and all shouldn't have prerequisites other than the presence of a grid.

Thus, the decision that they are small enough that they shouldn't need Transmission Substations to build... thus my current headache. Things are borked at the moment. I'll get it sorted, but it's set me back a bit. I don't think I'm going to make my Alpha Release this weekend. :^/

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

After my last try at finding the textures needed for the SAM streets, I am starting to feel clueless. 

[RobertaME 1,376]

46 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

After my last try at finding the textures needed for the SAM streets, I am starting to feel clueless. 

Don't worry about it for the moment. The 25 kVA and 50 kVA TE Transformers can wait until we get a stable version.

[CorinaMarie 29,577]

1 hour ago, Kloudkicker said:

After my last try at finding the textures needed for the SAM streets, I am starting to feel clueless.

This is from notes I made long ago which might help:

                                    Texture      Texture      Texture      Texture   
SAM   Description                   No Wealth    $ Wealth     $$ Wealth    $$$ Wealth
---   ---------------------------   ----------   ----------   ----------   ----------
 2 - Herringbone Brick Streets      0x5E54B204   0x5E54B214   0x5E54B224   0x5E54B234
 3 - Peg Dirt Roads                 0x5E54B304   0x5E54B314   0x5E54B324   0x5E54B334
 4 - Peg Gravel Roads               0x5E54B404   0x5E54B414   0x5E54B424   0x5E54B434
 5 - Trolca's Dirt Streets          0x5E54B504   0x5E54B514   0x5E54B524   0x5E54B534
 6 - Klinker Streets                0x5E54B604   None?        None?        None?     
 7 - Hableurg's Asphalt Streets     0x5E54B704   0x5E54B714   0x5E54B724   0x5E54B734
 8 - Cobblestone Streets            0x5E54B804   0x5E54B814   0x5E54B824   0x5E54B834
 9 - Brisk Red Brick Streets        0x5E54B904   0x5E54B914   0x5E54B924   0x5E54B934
10 - Moonlight's Japanese Streets   0x5E54BA04   0x5E54BA14   0x5E54BA24   0x5E54BA34
11 - MGB IndustrieSAM               0x5E54BB04   0x5E54BB14   0x5E54BB24   0x5E54BB34
xx - Maxis Streets                  0x05004B04   0x05004B14   0x05004B24   0x05004B34

And then there's a version where the last two digits of each are 0E which then assumes whatever sidewalk texture mod is in place if I understand it right.

Ofc, if you are trying to access the SAM textures via the Lot Editor, it's not going to let you do that because they are in a different Group than Terrain textures.

[Skyroguen 67]

16 hours ago, Simmer2 said:

As far as I can tell, in the scenario I replicated, those "green" boxes are power inverters. Perhaps first generation? They are clearly shown in the pictures below.

Since you work for Tesla I would love to know exactly what they are. Could you dig a bit and find out please?

For reference, the mega battery shown in these pics is fed by wind turbines.

The narrow white box is the Inverter. Thus one Inverter for each of 4 Powerpacks. Each inverter can handle up to 10 Powerpacks for a total of 700kVA at 480V.

here are the Dimensions for reference.

• Powerpack Unit
• Length: 1,317 mm (50.9 in)
• Width: 968 mm (38.1 in)
• Height: 2,187 mm (86.1 in)
• Weight: 2,199 kg (4,847 lbs)

• Powerpack Inverter
• Length: 1,044 mm (41.1 in)
• Width: 1,394 mm (54.9 in)
• Height: 2,191 mm (86.2 in)
• Weight (max): 1,120 kg (2,470 lbs)

 

I think you are right that the green box is related to the Wind Farm. perhaps some kind of Transformer to deal with power spikes from wind gusts or some such. I don't see them on a solar setup.

[Skyroguen 67]

10 hours ago, RobertaME said:

From a few pages back...

The issue is that most of the small plants, the ones that SHOULD be easy to build and buildable right form the start of the game, are the ones that all inundate the player when the first transmission substation is built. Nine plants hit you all at once.

The 5 MW Step-up Transformer, (for modular solar panels) Wind Farm Maintenance Facility, 4.5 MW Oil Power Plant, 1.3 MW Natural Gas Power Plant, 2 MW Natural Gas Power Plant, 1 MW Wood Power Plant, 3 MW Wood Pulp Power Plant, 2 MW Coal Power Plant, & 6.5 MW Coal Power Plant all need less than 10 MVA to build, and all shouldn't have prerequisites other than the presence of a grid.

Thus, the decision that they are small enough that they shouldn't need Transmission Substations to build... thus my current headache. Things are borked at the moment. I'll get it sorted, but it's set me back a bit. I don't think I'm going to make my Alpha Release this weekend. :^/

So on one hand I was thinking that some level of Industry would represent the basic infrastructure to supply even these plants with fuel. Since SC4D doesn't model resources, this was my best idea.

however I realized that by the time you would plant even your first Transmission Substation you would most likely have that little bit of industry already. Or the level on industry needed would be soo small that you would still get the spam either when you build the transmission station or when you built your first industry.  so net result...extra complication for no real gain.

 

I think your on the right track with your solution.

[RobertaME 1,376]

4 minutes ago, Skyroguen said:

So on one hand I was thinking that some level of Industry would represent the basic infrastructure to supply even these plants with fuel. Since SC4D doesn't model resources, this was my best idea.

however I realized that by the time you would plant even your first Transmission Substation you would most likely have that little bit of industry already. Or the level on industry needed would be soo small that you would still get the spam either when you build the transmission station or when you built your first industry.  so net result...extra complication for no real gain.

 

I think your on the right track with your solution.

Thanks for the vote of confidence that it'll work. Right now the whole thing is a broken mess. None of my reward LUAs are working now... and I was STUPID and didn't make a backup of the semi-working version that just spammed me with advisor messages. (I didn't think making this change would mess everything up... because it SHOULDN'T...)

I won't give up... I've come too far... but it's VERY frustrating. (grrrrrr!)

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

After-Before

@RobertaME, Maybe this will ease your frustration? 

[Skyroguen 67]

3 hours ago, RobertaME said:

Thanks for the vote of confidence that it'll work. Right now the whole thing is a broken mess. None of my reward LUAs are working now... and I was STUPID and didn't make a backup of the semi-working version that just spammed me with advisor messages. (I didn't think making this change would mess everything up... because it SHOULDN'T...)

I won't give up... I've come too far... but it's VERY frustrating. (grrrrrr!)

Your not stupid. your the smartest person I know, and that anyone I know knows. I know you will fix this. I'll help you out in any way I can. See you tomorrow.

[Skyroguen 67]

1 hour ago, Kloudkicker said:

After-Before

@RobertaME, Maybe this will ease your frustration? 

That is SO beautiful.

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

I put this reference lot together for myself and thought others might like to use it. I got tired of looking for all of them. This has all the SM2 electrical props I have found. The JPG is labeled and there is a matching 12x12 lot with the props on it for visual reference, found in the landmark menu. The lot has neutral settings.  Only the cell towers are not marked. 

KK_SM2_Transformer_Electrical_Reference_ Lot_12x12_ad35ed83.SC4Lot

O ya, it uses Simmer2's wonderful prop packs found here:

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/32980-sm2-mega-prop-pack-vol1/

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/32981-sm2-mega-prop-pack-vol2/

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/32982-sm2-mega-prop-pack-vol3/

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/34129-sm2-tesla-power-storage-pack/

Reading from left to right, starting in lower left, going up the rows, they are in order from LE with all 4 prop pack installed. FYI

This is one powerful lot.

 

  Edited February 17, 2021 by Kloudkicker  
Added prop pack links and usage info at bottom

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

Huston, we had a problem. A major electrical fire was just extinguished. Through all the smoke and charred mess, only one thing was left. 

Spoiler

SM2 Mega Prop Pack Vol4.dat  ......... Yah, so I just found out that I never copied over this file. After getting simmer2's newest train depot is when I noticed the depends list. Good timing I guess. Since I messed up the substation relots by using "save as". Or was it fate? Time will tell. 

 

[Simmer2 23,785]

21 hours ago, Kloudkicker said:

I put this reference lot together for myself and thought others might like to use it. I got tired of looking for all of them. This has all the SM2 electrical props I have found. The JPG is labeled and there is a matching 12x12 lot with the props on it for visual reference, found in the landmark menu. The lot has neutral settings.  Only the cell towers are not marked. 

KKs_SM2_ElecPropLotRef_12x12_4d36ae27.SC4Lot

O ya, it uses Simmer2's wonderful prop packs found here:

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/32980-sm2-mega-prop-pack-vol1/

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/32981-sm2-mega-prop-pack-vol2/

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/32982-sm2-mega-prop-pack-vol3/

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/34129-sm2-tesla-power-storage-pack/

Reading from left to right, starting in lower left, going up the rows, they are in order from LE with all 4 prop pack installed. FYI

This is one powerful lot.

 

Great showcase!!

You missed a couple but yea that"s the gist of it.

FYI any prop that ends with "load" such as the "industrial load" and "Industrial load 2" are actually railcar loads. I made them along many others and they are designed to fit on my flat railcar included in SM2 Mega Prop Pack Vol1. That is why you see them "floating" when used without the railcar underneath.

The idea was to cut rendering time quite a bit by eliminating the railcar from the render. When you use them to make a lot just plop the flat rail cars and then align a "load" on top. They are also designed to eliminate the need to raise them in place.

Simmer2

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

27 minutes ago, Simmer2 said:

Great showcase!!

You missed a couple but yea that"s the gist of it.

FYI any prop that ends with "load" such as the "industrial load" and "Industrial load 2" are actually railcar loads.

Thank you. I plan on use these quite often. 

Glad you mention that, I did not notice it in the hast of searching. But is evident in the picture. One day I will get into the rail business, but you have that on lock down, so we're good for a long time.

[RobertaME 1,376]

Just FYI, work continues. I finally found the source of my headaches, but unfortunately it's spread out over a LOT of LUA code, code that I spent the better part of two weeks writing, then modifying, then screwing up! ::bang head::

Hopefully, I'll have something to show you all later this week after I clean up my mess. (I did a global replace that ended up altering code I wasn't intending to change... and I have to hunt it all down, line by line)

Sorry!

[rivit 3,391]

Roberta, there's no rush on you from the collective us so you really don't need to apologise.  When you get there you get there.  If we can help we will.

Many of us have been here and a project causing oneself grief for whatever reason is part of the "fun". Everything in life is a learning experience. Sometimes its humbling but then the successful end is so much sweeter.  So make haste slowly. We can wait.

[RobertaME 1,376]

5 hours ago, rivit said:

Roberta, there's no rush on you from the collective us so you really don't need to apologise.  When you get there you get there.  If we can help we will.

Many of us have been here and a project causing oneself grief for whatever reason is part of the "fun". Everything in life is a learning experience. Sometimes its humbling but then the successful end is so much sweeter.  So make haste slowly. We can wait.

I just feel bad that the whole project is delayed because of 2 stupid mistakes... first, I wasn't making backups of my work... and then doing a global find-replace without thinking of the other code that would get caught with it. Three mistakes... not realizing what I'd done until I'd made so many other changes that undoing it will take DAYS.

I know nobody blames me for it... but it still makes me feel like a novice... me... the woman who as a little girl wrote whole programs in 8502 machine language.

Getting older stinks! :^Þ

(p.s. Just kidding of course... I know it's fine and all)

[RobertaME 1,376]

I'm making good progress! I got one lot back to recognizing its build restrictions again, (it was semi-working earlier today... but it was not being re-opened for construction after becoming available once and then not available and locked) so now I can just start copy-pasting that code to the other lots to get them all back up to following proper construction rules.

Also good news on the loadbalance.lua... I successfully tested the ability to dynamically increase power consumption based on variables using dummy ordinances, which the LUA code can turn on and off on demand. Chain together a bunch of dummy ordinances and the LUA can adjust power consumption to force brownouts and limit neighbor deal power sales to Peak load only. This is a REALLY big deal!

I'll see how it goes in 2nd run testing, but the results are VERY promising! ::happy dance::

Edit: I had a thought... (dangerous, I know...)

Right now I have just one style of each transformer lot in the build menu to prevent clutter. (with 40+ power plants, 16 substations, 5 transformers, and a few 'other' power items like power lines, etc. the power menu is starting to look like the Transport menu!) What would people think of me using Menu Management Lots style features with the transformers?

See, @Kloudkicker made not just one of each grade of transformer, but 6-8 each. I was going to do a "random plop" thing after I got my mod sorted, but I like the idea of picking your lot.

So here's how it would work. You plop one transformer down, the base transformer for that type. Then after a month the other 4-7 open up in the game menu like an MML. Then, instead of bulldozing the original lot like with an MML, the extra lots get greyed out (and are removed from your menu on the next load) when you plop a substation. (which you wouldn't do unless you were done placing transformers) Then, if you want the transformer lots back, you just build another #1 lot of that type. Since the number of #1 transformers now outnumbers the number of substations, the "reward" code releases the other transformer lots again.

It would have the downside of limiting the uses of the #1 transformer of each type to be equal to or less than the number of substations, but I figure it's a better alternative to full MML lots... and is sort of semi-intuitive.

It wouldn't be right away; it would be something I would add to the mod, maybe before I do my first official release, but I would like to know the consensus of other interested parties... i.e. the people here.

So please let me know what you think!

  Edited February 17, 2021 by RobertaME  
More stuff

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

7 hours ago, RobertaME said:

limiting the uses of the #1 transformer of each type to be equal to or less than the number of substations,

Can you further explain this further. With 16 substations and 5 transformers listed above, I don't know what to think. TY

[RobertaME 1,376]

1 hour ago, Kloudkicker said:

Can you further explain this further. With 16 substations and 5 transformers listed above, I don't know what to think. TY

OK, the MML pieces work by using the Maxis reward system. When the total number of MML key lots placed on the map is greater than zero, you meet the conditions for the reward and the other lots appear in the menu. When you bulldoze the MML key lot, you no longer meet the conditions and the lots get greyed out... and disappear completely the next time you load a city.

What I propose is a variation of that idea. Each Transformer rating (250 kVA, 1500 kVA, etc.) has multiple variations, right? We'll call the 1st in each set, "Transformer #1". These are the only ones you'd see in the menu at first; the Transformer #1 of each rating. When you're starting a city, there are no transformers or substations. So yo start by placing a Transformer #1 250 kVA lot. Wait a bit and now the menu has five more to pick from! Place as many of the other transformers (other than Transformer #1) around your city as you like. Repeat with each rating, building no more than 1 Transformer #1 of each rating. When you're done placing transformers, build ANY Distribution Substation. The number of Transformer #1s by rating in the city no longer exceeds the number of Distribution Substations, so you no longer "qualify" for the reward and the other transformers get greyed out... and disappear completely off the build menu the next time you re-load the city. To get them to come back, just build more Transformer #1s until there are more of those than Distribution Substations, at least 1 more, and the menu repopulates with all the extra Transformer options.

That has a few limitations:

1. You MUST have at least 1 Transformer #1 in each city before you can build the other variations of that rating. (though you could bulldoze that lot later if you don't like it)

2. You can only have as many Transformer #1s of each rating in a city as you have Distribution Transformers, so if you REALLY like the Transformer #1 style around your city, your build menu will NOT unload the other variations until you have an equal number (or greater) of Distribution Substations than Transformer #1s.

Does that make sense now?

Comments welcome!

Edit 2: As it stands, the Substations that you don't qualify for at the start of the game will not just be greyed out, but hidden off the menu until you earn them to prevent clutter. If people don't like that, (not being able to see the requirements to know what to "reach" for) let me know.

  Edited February 17, 2021 by RobertaME  
Clarification & note

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

Just about to finalize these up and pack them over to you @RobertaME. Any thoughts before I do.