(Mod) AMPS Development Thread

[Simmer2 23,785]

@RobertaME if they are rewards then they should be there but any lot that outputs power should be under the power menu to avoid confusion.

Speaking of which I think SM2 Sim Gideon Power Plant is finally done. Includes a custom base texture for the lot.

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

Here's another set of substations. I hope no one is getting tired of them. 

 

[RobertaME 1,376]

8 hours ago, chfzdn said:

It definitely should be in the Rewards section. But, there's a quirk within the menu: always scroll to the top every time you reopen the menu.

It will have an advisor message with a quick hyperlink to build them as they unlock. Since there's more than one of each type, I'll include links to all of them, but the advisor message will close as soon as you select one... much like most reward lots... so you shouldn't have to hunt them in the Rewards menu most of the time.

8 hours ago, Kloudkicker said:

I would try and keep all of then in the same menu if it could be helped.

I would like to, but the Power Menu under AMPS is getting very crowded and they'd have to go at the bottom or the top... and having them at the top seems silly for lots you only get once.

Eventually I'll release "AMPS Certified" procedures so people can make AMPS versions of their lots (sort of like how you can DL a Dark Night or Maxis Night version of some lots) without needing my direct "approval" and integration. Follow the process and you can say your lot is AMPS Certified... that sort of thing. Once people can make AMPS Certified buildings on their own, I expect there could be a lot of them and I don't want the Power Menu cluttering up. (because that was part of the point of AMPS... cleaning up the chaos of the Power Menu)

8 hours ago, Kloudkicker said:

The query looks good. The close button is broken though.

Which query has the broken close link? I hadn't noticed one...

7 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

The only thing that comes to mind, is about the logo, but, this is completely up to everyone involved in it's creation process.

@Cyclone Boom was kind enough to gift me with the logo, which is FAR above my laughable artistic abilities. :^) Any changes to it would have to either be done by him or someone else artistically inclined... i.e. NOT me! You should SEE the laughable job I did trying to make smaller versions for the queries... which CB helped THERE as well. (The 100x100 one in my preview is also from CB)

7 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

Quit overwhelming with info, but, something I shall get used to as the development of this mod progresses.

That's why I'm hoping the Power Co. building's query will make things easier... consolidate the info into one place so it's easier to manage. Is the query preview OK, do you think? I want more input on it before I start coding it, so I'm not wasting my time on info people don't want or need. :^)

Quote

 @RobertaME if they are rewards then they should be there but any lot that outputs power should be under the power menu to avoid confusion.

@Simmer2

The Power Co. lots won't provide any power... just other effects like CAP relief, Business Deals, Landmark/Park Effect, Mayor Rating, etc.

I think I'm going to put them tentatively in the Rewards menu for those that are Rewards (the Maintenance Facilities, Main Offices, and Corp. HQ) and the Landmark Menu for the Front Offices. (they can be built from day 1... no unlock... but you can only have 1 per city, so they work more like Landmarks than Rewards or Power buildings)

Thoughts welcome!

Quote

Speaking of which I think SM2 Sim Gideon Power Plant is finally done. Includes a custom base texture for the lot.

Looks FABU! <3

<begging>

And PLEASE everyone, I need more input on the Power Co query before I start committing these things to code. :^)

</begging>

 

[RobertaME 1,376]

3 hours ago, Kloudkicker said:

Here's another set of substations. I hope no one is getting tired of them. 

Oh yes... just SO sick and tired of having awesome lots to add to the game! How dare you add even MORE! ;^)

[dylansan 65]

This is a really cool idea for a mod and I look forward to seeing how it develops. Total realism is a difficult goal, but anything that creates interesting strategy as far as building choices and placement sounds like fun for me.

I wanted to ask if you were aware of the SPAM irrigation canal mod, which includes a water wheel as a small power supplier (as well as a windmill-based water pump, and a small water treatment tile). I'm curious whether you think those could be made to fit with AMPS with some overrides to change the behavior if necessary. I'd like to try using AMPS at some point in the future, but I'd like to be able to continue using the irrigation canals even if the three included utilities are changed to match.

[RobertaME 1,376]

10 hours ago, dylansan said:

I'm curious whether you think those could be made to fit with AMPS with some overrides to change the behavior if necessary. I'd like to try using AMPS at some point in the future, but I'd like to be able to continue using the irrigation canals even if the three included utilities are changed to match.

Yes, I'm aware of the SPAM power utilities. Integrating them into AMPS wouldn't be difficult, but categorizing their power might be. Waterwheels are Clean Base power, much like Geothermal and Fission, but I don't currently have a hydroelectric sub-category, so they would just go under Other Base power. (they're base power because they don't generally change output based on demand, they just output 100% most of the time)

Even if they aren't integrated, you can STILL use the SPAM power plants though. They would just be classed as "Independent" power plants under the Beta. (under the current Alpha-2 they would just be ignored by AMPS, but still count towards power production)

Idea:

@Skyroguen had an idea yesterday that he told me about. (he's been too busy with work to comment lately) PV Panels on people's houses. If we come up with a number of growable residences and/or businesses that include PV Panels on their roof, then add Power Production to their Exemplars and put them in Occupant Group BB350157, they would be classed by AMPS as Small Solar plants... but the player wouldn't have any control over their construction... much like RL where individual homeowners can add PV panels to their home and there's usually not much the power company can do about it... so they end up with a lot of Intermediate power they might not even be able to use... and this can cause issues.

Is it possible to have PV panels show up as a Prop dynamically on existing homes? Maybe a mod that could be developed?

Thoughts anyone?

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

1 hour ago, RobertaME said:

Is it possible to have PV panels show up as a Prop dynamically on existing homes? Maybe a mod that could be developed?

Thoughts anyone?

Would you explain what you mean by "dynamically" to a rockie please.

Also, would plopables be excluded? I know of many really good ones, Mattb325 buildings come to mind. He has many beautiful plopable buildings with solar panels on top.

[Propfam 2,286]

29 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

Would you explain what you mean by "dynamically" to a rockie please.

Also, would plopables be excluded? I know of many really good ones, Mattb325 buildings come to mind. He has many beautiful plopable buildings with solar panels on top.

That's because it's a bit challenging. See, most grids are designed to be one-way. Probably that's how @RobertaME designed. But, by adding ploppables to the list, it makes the grid two-ways. This is a serious problem in real life too. Why? Because it's easier & faster to adopt renewables individually instead of central located facilities and this requires new system, which isn't easy to implement because the grid is already gridded (pun intended) to the society. So, a major breakthrough will be needed.

I do support your idea, though. 

[Simizen 1,088]

18 hours ago, RobertaME said:

Is the query preview OK, do you think?

After taking a good look at it, it does seem like it's pretty good actually. It just seemed overwhelming, cause, I'm also seeing the code for it, and not necessarily, the actual data the window will be showing in the game.

 

2 hours ago, RobertaME said:

Is it possible to have PV panels show up as a Prop dynamically on existing homes? Maybe a mod that could be developed?

Thoughts anyone?

I'm sure something can be done to add these to the game, but, maybe not give you the effect you're looking for. The thing is, if the buildings come with their own PV panels, you're likely to have those structures just spam the entire map, before you end up building the power plants. Which, can be a good thing if you're cool with everyone being off the grid the whole time you're playing.

Doubt it would add to the grid though, as they'd simply eat away at the power demand to show that they're self-sufficient. Which, I imagine isn't necessarily a bad thing in some scenarios. Would be great for many people making CJ's and not wanting to really care too much about the power grid. Simply put, if I were to set those up, I'd set their power requirements to 0 to allow them to grow. Other buildings would still need them, especially if you're looking at high-rises. But, you'd have the same effect with smaller homes/businesses popping up everywhere the same way they would if you built without water. You just can't get the high density without external power. I don't think we've perfected renewables just yet to allow for the likes of Empire State to be self-sufficient as of yet.

Would be cool to have, just in general. Especially if it's applied to things like mansions, cause I'm sure quite a few would exist after a while. Would be much like the buildings with their own generators. You wouldn't need to connect to the grid, but, certainly doesn't hurt to do so.

Which, honestly, I think that's how solar panels on buildings should be.

Minus the fact that I gave it a quick thing to make it look like it came from the game (hope you like the preview for it), I'm curious as to whether or not the secondary highlights are possible? In theory this could help keep everything organized well. And I feel like a mod did something like that, but, icr which one.

Also, the line with the LOAD DETAILS, and NET POWER seem to have a weird thing going on at the end. I'm sure it's supposed to be some other kind of label? But, I'm not sure as to what it would be. Unless, it's supposed to be where the NET POWER label is supposed to be.

Otherwise, everything's perfectly fine in info delivered, even in it's weird Lua state currently.

 

FYI: i absolutely despise jpg format for pix online. PNG's are literally designed for the internet. But, I'm sure the file type requirements for the forum are from way back in the day.

[CorinaMarie 29,574]

4 minutes ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

FYI: i absolutely despise jpg format for pix online. PNG's are literally designed for the internet. But, I'm sure the file type requirements for the forum are from way back in the day.

PNG format is indeed ideal when needing to show text in an image and should be used.

Messages you will have seen about using JPGs are when peeps are showing regular graphical pictures using multi-megabyte PNGs when a compressed JPG can show the same thing while being significantly smaller.

[Simizen 1,088]

Oh, okay then. Yeah, that makes sense. City images can get pretty big I'm sure.

And to append my previous post for Roberta: turns out it's the Census Repository that does the colored labels, and, apparently it just spawns like 4 windows for the different colors, so, no idea if something like that will work for what you've got. However, I'm now curious, as to whether these could be condensed into links for people to click on and open a new window as needed? But, if it's cause you'd rather have the info in a single window/image, or if it's too much, or too complicated (which, honestly, I'm sure that's the case regardless), I get not condensing it.

Of course, if it is condensed, some information can be left up, but, as for what would be considered important in that instance, is certainly up for debate. At a minimum, I would say the city-wide info, and the independent plants, but, no idea what else would be required for the condensed version.

[RobertaME 1,376]

6 hours ago, Kloudkicker said:

Would you explain what you mean by "dynamically" to a rockie please.

By Dynamically I mean "Pops up on houses without the player being involved". Just an idea for making roof solar panels show up on properties without the player having to do anything to cause it to happen. That sort of thing. :^)

6 hours ago, Kloudkicker said:

Also, would plopables be excluded? I know of many really good ones, Mattb325 buildings come to mind. He has many beautiful plopable buildings with solar panels on top.

Plopables with PV panels on the roof COULD be made to interact with AMPS by use of the Power Generated, Power Plant Type, and Occupant Group properties in their Building Exemplar.

5 hours ago, chfzdn said:

See, most grids are designed to be one-way. Probably that's how @RobertaME designed.

Actually, adding AMPS compatible plopables to the support system is easier than dynamically growing ones because we control the Building Exemplar of any plopable added to the game and overrides can make these entirely viable. I think given time and a little examination of the in-game growable lots I could figure a method for overriding them to include power, but doing so dynamically is actually a lot harder. We'd need a way to count instances of a certain prop across the city, and ATM I'm not sure how to do that. (I think there'a a way to, but I can't remember right now)

4 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

After taking a good look at it, it does seem like it's pretty good actually. It just seemed overwhelming, cause, I'm also seeing the code for it, and not necessarily, the actual data the window will be showing in the game.

Sorry about that. I'm using Excel to hold the in-progress LUA code for determining each displayed value before I start committing code to LTEXT files and the UI file. I wanted to sort everything out first so I would know how many new variables I would need. (just be thankful I didn't show a screncap of my working version that is color-coded based on completion state... it looks like a bad psychedelic painting! :^Þ )

4 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

The thing is, if the buildings come with their own PV panels, you're likely to have those structures just spam the entire map, before you end up building the power plants. Which, can be a good thing if you're cool with everyone being off the grid the whole time you're playing.

Doubt it would add to the grid though, as they'd simply eat away at the power demand to show that they're self-sufficient.

...

Simply put, if I were to set those up, I'd set their power requirements to 0 to allow them to grow.

Actually no. I personally have PV panels on my own roof, a nice 7.62 kW system with a CF of 0.18. In SC4 terms, that would be about 1 MWh per month... which is a hair over our actual usage... and we are NOT self-sufficient. The panels create more power than we can use much of the time, so it has to be sent out onto the grid. Then later, when the sun is down or it's cloudy, we get that power back. It's called "net metering", meaning you only pay for your net usage over a given month, not your instant usage. This is the way many private PV systems are handled. So while we theoretically are "self sufficient", we actually are dependent on the grid to act as a sort of "battery" for our power when we have extra and to give it back when we need more.

That's why I was thinking that under AMPS buildings would still have their existing Power Consumed property, but also have a Power Generated property, the Power Plant Type property value of 7 for Solar, and the Occupant Group property value of 0xBB350157 that AMPS would recognize as a small solar power plant and class its power as Intermediate. All of them would be limited to 1 MWh each, but a few hundred across a big city could make a big difference. They would also be restricted to High Wealth Residential at early growth stages, only dipping into Medium Wealth Residential when you are higher up the growth stages, (or maybe with the use of an Ordinance, sacrificing one of the existing ones, like maybe the Power Conservation Act, to become the new Solar Incentive ordinance... or something) so they wouldn't "spam" the map, especially early on.

I haven't mapped it all out yet, it's just a vague idea @Skyroguen came up with at this point and I was wondering what interest there would be in further exploration of the concept. :^) Apparently, there IS interest!

4 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

I'm curious as to whether or not the secondary highlights are possible? In theory this could help keep everything organized well.

That is entirely doable! I may not be much of an artist, but I do manage to be able to create plain color PNGs without much difficulty. ;^) I would simply make sure that the background for the query had highlights in the right places.

4 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

Also, the line with the LOAD DETAILS, and NET POWER seem to have a weird thing going on at the end. I'm sure it's supposed to be some other kind of label? But, I'm not sure as to what it would be.

That line has the Net Power value on the far right. I was tying to get that last data point in without bumping all the other lines down and making the query even larger. As it is, the query is about 850 pixels tall and 980 wide, which for my estimation is too big already. I'm going to try and shrink it down so it's no more than 720x900 pixels max, but I'm not sure HOW at the moment! :^)

For reference, the largest query I know of is the one for the Census Repository by @RippleJet at 596 x 760. I run the game at 1920x1080 so a 850x980 query isn't an issue for me personally, but I know a lot of people don't run their resolution so high, so I'm working on trying to get it smaller without sacrificing detail.

4 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

Otherwise, everything's perfectly fine in info delivered, even in it's weird Lua state currently.

Thanks for the input! <3

4 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

FYI: i absolutely despise jpg format for pix online.

4 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

PNG format is indeed ideal when needing to show text in an image and should be used.

Oh... I was going to extra lengths to use JPG in all uploaded pics as directed in the notes at the bottom of the reply window, trying to minimize file size as much as possible (maximizing compression to the point just before horrible pixilation on every upload prior to saving it) before upload.

Should I just use PNG for pics that are not in-game screencaps? I don't want to use too much bandwidth because I know bandwidth costs money. I'll be happy to go whatever way you advise. :^)

4 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

However, I'm now curious, as to whether these could be condensed into links for people to click on and open a new window as needed?

I suppose I could do that, but then you're just getting the same info you can get by querying different lots around the city, so what would be the difference? The point of the Power Company query is to provide all the data the player could need at a glance. If there's too much, I would greatly appreciate suggestions on what to cut out before I start implementing these variables into code. It's time consuming and I don't want to do a single one more than necessary. :^)

4 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

At a minimum, I would say the city-wide info, and the independent plants, but, no idea what else would be required for the condensed version.

The way i see it, the absolute MINIMUM data would be the Load Balance block, the Load Details block, The "Plants Operational", "Generator Power", "Maximum/Minimum Load", and "Unusable/Shortage" stats for each power type block, the Power Storage block, all fields below and including "Total" in the Transformer, Substation, and Transmission blocks, the Number and and Capacity stats for the Plant Types block, and the Independent Power Plants block. That would allow moving the Plant Types block to the bottom of the 2nd column and push the Independent Plants block to the top of the 3rd, putting its text underneath the block instead of to the right of it, shortening the entire query by 162 pixels to 692 tall and narrowing the width by 163 pixels to 818 pixels wide. Something like this: (just threw this together quickly using your image as a starting point)

You lose all the details on the Transformers, Substations, and Transmission Stations, as well as some important data on the power types and plant types, but most of those data points are available from the lots themselves. This would be my idea of "bare-bones" data.

Thoughts welcome! :^)

[Simizen 1,088]

Yeah, I had a feeling that the links to windows thing was gonna be pointless. It was just a weird thought is all. As for the condensing of important info, I figured it was all important given that you had it all on the same window to begin with.

And the thing with the panels on buildings making them self-sufficient, I was thinking ironically, more in developer terms. Essentially, what's the least amount of work needed to get it to function in game quickly; but, I did that on autopilot, not even realizing that the night-time part is where it would shift around. So, thanks for the clarification there, completely forgot that there's a night time mode to the game.

However, I am curious as to your psychedelic color scheme

Oh, also, the colors for highlighting the sections don't have to be yellow, I just did that to keep in the utilities theme. Feel free to use whatever colors you'd like.

32 minutes ago, RobertaME said:

Oh... I was going to extra lengths to use JPG in all uploaded pics as directed...

...

Should I just use PNG for pics that are not in-game screencaps?

lol, same here

34 minutes ago, RobertaME said:

I'm going to try and shrink it down so it's no more than 720x900 pixels max, but I'm not sure HOW at the moment! :^)

Possible solution, at least, for the width anyway, if you're able to shorten the sentences for like Max Intermediate Generation, that could help. Unfortunately, I don't know the best way to go about this. Sure, maximum is easily shortened to max but, no idea how intermediate can be shortened. Maybe do it to key letters, like we do with government to govt? Only real thing I can think of for the moment, is to simply reduce anything that is obvious. After that idk. Unless there's some abbreviations for some words that I'm unaware of (and probably tbh).

[RobertaME 1,376]

1 hour ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

Essentially, what's the least amount of work needed to get it to function in game quickly; but, I did that on autopilot, not even realizing that the night-time part is where it would shift around. So, thanks for the clarification there, completely forgot that there's a night time mode to the game.

It's not the night mode that is the issue, but the fact that Solar power cannot make a property self sufficient, unless they also have a large amount of power storage on-site or an alternate means of load following like a generator. Theoretically, with PV Panels, a wind turbine, battery banks, and a backup generator, a property could be truly self-sufficient in nearly all conditions, so long as they had a regular supply of fuel for the generator. (some remote areas could use propane for this and have large propane tanks on-site for heating, cooking, and emergency power that got refilled on a regular schedule)

But within the game, the intermittent nature of Wind and Solar power is represented by the fact that they are classed as Intermediate Power, which can only fulfill 40% of demand at maximum. Anything more than that is wasted potential that can't fulfill the other 60%. (and in sufficiently large amounts can cause severe issues with power systems, as Australia discovered) Anyway, that's all I was trying to get at. Didn't mean to get on a whole sidetrack. ;^)

1 hour ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

However, I am curious as to your psychedelic color scheme

Oh, I just use different colored cells to represent where I'm at in implementation for each text or variable in the UI;

Yellow = Completed and tested correct

Green = Completed, LTEXT ID assigned and written to the file, but not yet tested

Tan = Completed and LTEXT ID assigned, but not yet written to the LTEXT file or tested

Purple = Formula complete, but needs LTEXT ID assignment, written to LTEXT File, and tested

Red = Formula still needs to be written (likely haven't figured out what formula or value to use yet)

Now... imagine those colors scattered around the query preview... very nearly at random. Aren't you glad I didn't show it now? ;^)

1 hour ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

Possible solution, at least, for the width anyway, if you're able to shorten the sentences for like Max Intermediate Generation, that could help.

I'm trying not to as much as possible as I also want this to be able to be translated to other languages, and I want to give as much room as possible for that, since I have no idea how much room will be needed for other languages to say the same thing. This is why I'm using LTEXT files in almost all instances as when it's complete they will all be compiled into one Language file that will be swappable for others.

I thought of a variant way to keep more of the data I wanted while still reducing things down a lot. Here's my basic idea:

 

I took a few to replace code sections with filler numbers, so it looks more like the real thing. This query is approximately 830w x 710h. Large, but manageable I think.

Feedback welcome!

  Edited March 18, 2021 by RobertaME  
Change pic to show more accurate font size

[CorinaMarie 29,574]

3 hours ago, RobertaME said:

Should I just use PNG for pics that are not in-game screencaps?

Yep. When clarity would be sacrificed by using JPG that's when it's fine to jump over to PNG.

The issue isn't in your thread, but elsewhere when some peeps post a dozen or more PNG images at 3, 4, and 5 MB each and the perceived quality is no different than compressed JPG  which could be 10 times smaller. That eats up storage when it's not necessary and it makes things lag for peeps will slower connections.

So, just use common sense. If the image will suck in one format, then please do use the better one.

[AP 3,587]

1 hour ago, RobertaME said:

It's not the night mode that is the issue, but the fact that Solar power cannot make a property self sufficient, unless they also have a large amount of power storage on-site or an alternate means of load following like a generator. Theoretically, with PV Panels, a wind turbine, battery banks, and a backup generator, a property could be truly self-sufficient in nearly all conditions, so long as they had a regular supply of fuel for the generator. (some remote areas could use propane for this and have large propane tanks on-site for heating, cooking, and emergency power that got refilled on a regular schedule)

But within the game, the intermittent nature of Wind and Solar power is represented by the fact that they are classed as Intermediate Power, which can only fulfill 40% of demand at maximum. Anything more than that is wasted potential that can't fulfill the other 60%. (and in sufficiently large amounts can cause severe issues with power systems, as Australia discovered) Anyway, that's all I was trying to get at. Didn't mean to get on a whole sidetrack. ;^)

Oh, I just use different colored cells to represent where I'm at in implementation for each text or variable in the UI;

Yellow = Completed and tested correct

Green = Completed, LTEXT ID assigned and written to the file, but not yet tested

Tan = Completed and LTEXT ID assigned, but not yet written to the LTEXT file or tested

Purple = Formula complete, but needs LTEXT ID assignment, written to LTEXT File, and tested

Red = Formula still needs to be written (likely haven't figured out what formula or value to use yet)

Now... imagine those colors scattered around the query preview... very nearly at random. Aren't you glad I didn't show it now? ;^)

I'm trying not to as much as possible as I also want this to be able to be translated to other languages, and I want to give as much room as possible for that, since I have no idea how much room will be needed for other languages to say the same thing. This is why I'm using LTEXT files in almost all instances as when it's complete they will all be compiled into one Language file that will be swappable for others.

I thought of a variant way to keep more of the data I wanted while still reducing things down a lot. Here's my basic idea:

 

I took a few to replace code sections with filler numbers, so it looks more like the real thing. This query is approximately 830w x 710h. Large, but manageable I think.

Feedback welcome!

Looks great, one comment though:

Shouldn't the capacity be stated in MWh per time period or in MW? Since the capacity of the transformers and substations is staded correcly in kW.

[RobertaME 1,376]

7 minutes ago, AP said:

Shouldn't the capacity be stated in MWh per time period or in MW? Since the capacity of the transformers and substations is staded correcly in kW.

Technically, yes. Anytime you refer to MWh it's over a given time period. MW could also be correct, but would also confuse most players, since to convert from MW to MWh/mo. you have to multiply by 730 and then by the plant's CF, which is variable anywhere from 0.18 to 0.91. So I went with the more useful MWh/mo. value.

However, since space is at a premium, (I've already cut out a lot of data trying to shrink this monster up) and the time period in-game is always "/month", if it would save space to drop that, I did. "MWh/mo." repeated over a dozen times adds clutter for not much benefit other than being technically correct.

Good catch, though! :^)

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

What if each group of power; base, inter. and peak and also other areas had their own color queries. And the main panel would match those colors making it color coded and easy to distinguish the groups by their color.

  Edited March 18, 2021 by Kloudkicker  
Just like below.

[RobertaME 1,376]

Here's the most recent version:

Not sure about the highlights, but wanted to get some feedback on different versions.

The size is a little larger than I wanted; approximately 830 x 742, but getting that extra data in there and clarifying the Load Details seems to make it worth the effort.

I went ahead and processed all these data points into their LTEXT files as I'm getting set to integrate them into the UI. Please let me know if there are issues with this version so I can get this finalized and built. Thanks! :^)

  Edited March 18, 2021 by RobertaME  
Improved Logo & fixed alignments

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

That's looks very good and distinguishable from each other. Not my choice of colors but...... I like it. 

 

Just a little sneak peak at my new lot in process. https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/50916-show-us-what-youre-working-on/?do=findComment&comment=1750541

 

  Edited March 18, 2021 by Kloudkicker  
Added more

[RobertaME 1,376]

The colors are just placeholders. I don't need to commit to them yet. If anyone has better suggestions, I'm open to suggestions. (these were just the easiest ones to use in Excel)

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

1 hour ago, Kloudkicker said:

What if each group of power; base, inter. and peak and also other areas had their own color queries. And the main panel would match those colors making it color coded and easy to distinguish the groups by their color.

Then I un-strikeout this from a few moments ago and will reinstate it.

[RobertaME 1,376]

34 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

Then I un-strikeout this from a few moments ago and will reinstate it.

Any suggestions regarding colors then? I'm VERY open to suggestions! (unless it's Mauve, Chartreuse, and Purple... in which case I will feel free to ignore you! :^Þ )

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

(I'm only joking when I say this) What we can't pick and chose the colors on the fly. This sucks! LOL JJ

No color comes to mind. Kind of limited here for choice's. Is the main background color going to be the one showing?

Over all it looks good, I can't think of a way to improve.

  Edited March 18, 2021 by Kloudkicker  
Grammer

[RobertaME 1,376]

2 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

No color comes to mind. Kind of limited here for choice's. Will the main background color going to be the one showing?

The BG color is the basic BG color for queries. I used it because it's familiar. The Yellow will be the standard Power Facility yellow.

What would people think of these?

Also, I'm starting to put together some things for the difficulty settings. Here's what I have so far:

Let me know what you all think and what other things you'd like to see adjusted with game difficulty. (note that 40/60/20 is the most I will go on these as anything more/less is unrealistic)

[Simizen 1,088]

The color setup for your difficulty levels works well. So, if you want to use those on the charts, that's perfectly fine by me. The whole thing looks great honestly.

As for the PV panels stuff from before, I'm just dumb, and was trying to type while I had a headache, in the middle of the night, after work, so, I totally lost track of why my simplistic idea would be an issue. But, thank you for clearing that all up, cause, I'm just generally dumb sometimes. XD

If you're looking for specific colors, the only thing that comes to mind is trying to use colors that are in keeping with the theme (in this case electricity), so, yellow, and electric blue would be good. I went hunting around for my old notes for a website I wanted to build, as I had the themes set up to follow various things for electricity, and apparently, I've had bright green (electronics/circuit boards), orange (apparently electrons? idk what I was doing), and then just the basic electric blue and electric yellow.

Only other thing I can think of, is to use the colors that electricians use for wiring: red, black, and green are their primaries. Though, you could replace black with yellow in this instance.

Otherwise, everything's perfectly fine from what I can tell.

[RobertaME 1,376]

9 minutes ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

Only other thing I can think of, is to use the colors that electricians use for wiring: red, black, and green are their primaries. Though, you could replace black with yellow in this instance.

I don't want to use Yellow as it's the color for highlighting other areas of the query that aren't Intermediate, Base, or Peak. I also want to avoid "electric blue" as it's too close to the shade for SC4 Commercial areas, which is why I chose a different shade of green for Intermediate so it's not too close to Residential Green. (actually, I think I need to lighten it up even more to make sure it looks sufficiently different in-game)

Much better! :^)

Close as I can get before coding is done.

Any other suggestions? (I'm not totally sold on the light red, but I think the green and brown are solid)

[Kloudkicker 4,561]

29 minutes ago, RobertaME said:

I'm not totally sold on the light red, but I think the green and brown are solid

I agree with not "sold on" the 'pink",  but don't have a suggestion for a replacement. The green and 'orange' look spot on. 

'Yes, I see pink and orange' So sue me!

[RobertaME 1,376]

10 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

'Yes, I see pink and orange' So sue me!

The difference between orange and brown is saturation... and true brown looked too dark.

Call it "burnt orange'. ;^)

As for the "pink"...

...

OK, so it's PINK! I like pink! So sue me! :^Þ

Edit: And the 'green' is more of a 'lime' than green, anyway.

[Simizen 1,088]

lol, I see: yellow, pale (or pastel) yellow; teal-green (it's got a slight bluish tint to me), yellow green, an awful lot like the way grass looks down here in the summer; burnt orange, and a slightly de-saturated burnt orange; sand red, and a pale/pastel sand red. (lol, or salmon).

The 3 colors (or groups?) are fine. The red is great, but, about the only thing I'd do is grab a paler set of oranges, though, you were aiming for brown, so I get the reason for the darker colors. And the yellow-green is a little weird next to the other green.

And, so I did another concept piece, please note: completely up to you to go with this. I was just messing around with it:

lol, you'll also notice that I left the green in that I was complaining about, it just works well with this setup.

I think the reason why this works (for me at least), is because it's similar to how the budget works; where each line item is separated appropriately. And, I guess, with this much info, it would make sense to have some kind of highlight for everything.

Let me know your thoughts on it I guess. Otherwise the only real thing in mind is just changing out the orange to a slightly paler version.

Also, most of these colors I'm using have been pulled from the web safe color pallets; so, they're like super easy to replicate. It's only got 216 colors, so, makes things super easy.