Need help with uploading in map section

[TheEstGuy 720]

So I want to upload a map but I cannot, says that my upload limit is reach or attachment limit, but it is not. So all I wan't is to upload my map, also it is in .zip and it is 130Mb

[Cyclone Boom 16,829]

Hi @TheEstGuy

We can help with this. The error is likely due to a server issue uploading, which tends to happen quite often.

So let's try this...

1. Post to the STEX Maps category, and only upload a small placeholder file. (Like a Map.txt file which says "coming soon" or something inside.)
2. Upload your actual 130 MB zip file to the temporary hosting WeTransfer site.
3. Paste the link to it here in reply.
4. I'll then upload it directly to the ST server (via admin tools), and then link it into your STEX upload.
5. Your map can then be downloaded properly.

 

[SIM-ple Jack 17,444]

11 minutes ago, TheEstGuy said:

So I want to upload a map but I cannot, says that my upload limit is reach or attachment limit, but it is not. So all I wan't is to upload my map, also it is in .zip and it is 130Mb

That is a really huge raw map. You may have to break it down into smaller files, and the user reassembles it themself. I think there's a limit of 20mb on STEX uploads. Check with the bosses.

[TheEstGuy 720]

42 minutes ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

That is a really huge raw map. You may have to break it down into smaller files, and the user reassembles it themself. I think there's a limit of 20mb on STEX uploads. Check with the bosses.

Ok so to clarify this is not a big map, I checked a recent map download and it was 80Mb so it should not be a problem

[BartonThinks 3,416]

17 minutes ago, TheEstGuy said:

Ok so to clarify this is not a big map, I checked a recent map download and it was 80Mb so it should not be a problem

Are you uploading it as a pre-made region, or are you uploading it as an SC4M file?

[TheEstGuy 720]

2 minutes ago, BartonThinks said:

Are you uploading it as a pre-made region, or are you uploading it as an SC4M file?

What do you mean exactly by pre made region? And this is a .zip folder also what's a SC4M file?

[TheEstGuy 720]

1 hour ago, Cyclone Boom said:

Hi @TheEstGuy

We can help with this. The error is likely due to a server issue uploading, which tends to happen quite often.

So let's try this...

1. Post to the STEX Maps category, and only upload a small placeholder file. (Like a Map.txt file which says "coming soon" or something inside.)
2. Upload your actual 130 MB zip file to the temporary hosting WeTransfer site.
3. Paste the link to it here in reply.
4. I'll then upload it directly to the ST server (via admin tools), and then link it into your STEX upload.
5. Your map can then be downloaded properly.

 

Once I make the Upload, How much time would it take for you to set it up? (set up, by that I mean upload it to that again).

[Cyclone Boom 16,829]

4 minutes ago, TheEstGuy said:

Once I make the Upload, How much time would it take for you to set it up? (set up, by that I mean upload it to that again).

About 30 mins or so I estimate via the back end server method. Add any pics and the description of your upload as normal, and the placeholder file is what I'll replace with the real one. I can confirm there is no STEX file limit, so the error is just caused by intermittent reliability with uploading especially large files.

[TheEstGuy 720]

9 minutes ago, Cyclone Boom said:

About 30 mins or so I estimate via the back end server method. Add any pics and the description of your upload as normal, and the placeholder file is what I'll replace with the real one. I can confirm there is no STEX file limit, so the error is just caused by intermittent reliability with uploading especially large files.

Also I cannot use WeTransfer it requires emailing and Gmail does not support such big files.

[Cyclone Boom 16,829]

9 minutes ago, TheEstGuy said:

Also I cannot use WeTransfer it requires emailing and Gmail does not support such big files.

I should've mentioned how there is a link option which is the one to use.

Firstly from here:

 

And next:

 

Click the Get a link button to begin uploading.

[TheEstGuy 720]

24 minutes ago, Cyclone Boom said:

I should've mentioned how there is a link option which is the one to use.

Firstly from here:

 

And next:

 

Click the Get a link button to begin uploading.

https://we.tl/t-gYRyzxP811 link to it, I'll finish the upload soon, then put it there ASAP, good? 

[BartonThinks 3,416]

1 hour ago, TheEstGuy said:

What do you mean exactly by pre made region? And this is a .zip folder also what's a SC4M file?

A pre-made region is one where you are uploading an entire region, including all of the city files. This type of region just needs to be unzipped into the "Regions" folder.

A SC4M file contains all of the terraforming and city size data for a region in a single file. It requires SC4 Mapper to turn the file into an in-game region.

The main advantage of SC4M files is that they are less than 10% the size of a ZIP region. For example, a 30 MB region can be reduced to a 2.5 MB file. That makes SC4M files much easier to  share, and it reduces the strain on the STEX and LEX servers. Because of this, most map makers use SC4M files instead of Region Zips.

The other thing to keep in mind with your region is that you're adding trees to the city tiles, which can dramatically increase the size of region files. A large city tile without any trees will usually be around 500 or 600 KB. If you add a lot of trees, it will be closer to 2,000 or 3,000 KB. So you're effectively increasing the size of your upload by 400% to 500% by including trees.

In the future, I might recommend trying the SC4M method instead. You won't be able to include trees, but the size of your maps will be much, much smaller.

[TheEstGuy 720]

1 minute ago, BartonThinks said:

A pre-made region is one where you are uploading an entire region, including all of the city files. This type of region just needs to be unzipped into the "Regions" folder.

A SC4M file contains all of the data for a region in a single file. It requires SC4 Mapper to turn the file into an in-game region.

The main advantage of SC4M files is that they are usually less than 10% the size of a ZIP region. For example, a 30 MB region can be reduced to a 2.5 MB file. That makes SC4M files much easier to  share, and it reduces the strain on the STEX and LEX servers. Because of this, most map makers use SC4M files instead of Region Zips.

The other thing to keep in mind with your region is that you're adding trees to the city tiles, which can dramatically increase the size of region files. A large city tile without any trees will usually be around 500 or 600 KB. If you add a lot of trees, it will be closer to 2,000 or 3,000 KB. So you're effectively increasing the size of your upload by 400% to 500% by including trees.

In the future, I might recommend trying the SC4M method instead. You won't be able to include trees, but the size of your maps will be much, much smaller.

Can I handmake a map and then make it a SCM file, because I handmake maps, also one solution could be to to compress it alot, so the download size is small but it later compresses it back to it's real size.

[CorinaMarie 29,558]

20 minutes ago, TheEstGuy said:

Can I handmake a map and then make it a SCM file

Yes. This can be done with Mapper.

[BartonThinks 3,416]

22 minutes ago, TheEstGuy said:

Can I handmake a map and then make it a SCM file, because I handmake maps, also one solution could be to to compress it alot, so the download size is small but it later compresses it back to it's real size.

Yep. It's pretty simple too:

• Open SC4M
• Click "Load Region"
• Select the region that you've created and load it into SC4M
• Click "Export Region"

I just created an SC4M file for the Region you just shared via WeTransfer. It took me about 20 seconds to make, and it's 5.9 MB, which is less than 5% the size of your original file.

It's still too large for me to share on the forum (which has a 2MB filesize limit), so here's another WeTransfer link:

https://we.tl/t-F4h2dOCmTh

Note that the file doesn't include trees (since SC4M only includes terraforming). Also, the region will look a little weird in Region View when it's loaded into the game the first time. This is an unavoidable features of SC4M. The cities will all look correct if you open them, and as soon as you save each city, the city will look normal in Region View.

[TheEstGuy 720]

@Cyclone Boom Okay I have uploaded it, now upload the real file there (the one I sent), do it as fast as you can. Customers are waiting. Reply to me when it's done!

[TheEstGuy 720]

13 minutes ago, BartonThinks said:

Yep. It's pretty simple too:

• Open SC4M
• Click "Load Region"
• Select the region that you've created and load it into SC4M
• Click "Export Region"

I just created an SC4M file for the Region you just shared via WeTransfer. It took me about 20 seconds to make, and it's 5.9 MB, which is less than 5% the size of your original file.

It's still too large for me to share on the forum (which has a 2MB filesize limit), so here's another WeTransfer link:

https://we.tl/t-F4h2dOCmTh

Note that the file doesn't include trees (since SC4M only includes terraforming). Also, the region will look a little weird in Region View when it's loaded into the game the first time. This is an unavoidable features of SC4M. The cities will all look correct if you open them, and as soon as you save each city, the city will look normal in Region View.

Ah no I'd stick with releasing them as single original .zip package, also it looks weird in the region menu (I dont know what it actually looks like but i know..) also Without SC4M you can view your regions as they should be not that ugly looking one... Next time I have to find a way to compress them into less than 100Mb file.

[Cyclone Boom 16,829]

11 minutes ago, TheEstGuy said:

Reply to me when it's done!

All done!
 

 

[BartonThinks 3,416]

23 minutes ago, TheEstGuy said:

Ah no I'd stick with releasing them as single original .zip package, also it looks weird in the region menu (I dont know what it actually looks like but i know..) also Without SC4M you can view your regions as they should be not that ugly looking one... Next time I have to find a way to compress them into less than 100Mb file.

Just to be clear, the way it looks in Region View is temporary. It can be fixed by opening each city and clicking "save." As soon as you do that, the Region view will look exactly the same as it normally would.

To my mind, that's a small tradeoff for something that reduces the file size by more than 95%. That said, I'm sure some people prefer the convenience of having the region look right from the outset, even if it means a much bigger download.