Exemplar Editing

[Tubthumper 499]

On 12/18/2021 at 2:21 AM, Ryuu Tenno said:

Offices: this one pulls from C:S, where they've got an office zone. And, personally, I think this should be something implemented in the game. While it's not necessary, as it can utilize the standard commercial zones, it becomes problematic when people want to have smaller sections of commerce in a neighborhood, and then you've got a dozen different offices and no grocery or general stores. Sure, I can walk to the corner to my local dentist, but, that means I've still gotta drive 10-15 minutes out of my way to get food. Dedicated office zones would be helpful, as we can implement low density office zones in these areas, alongside low density commercial zones.

Would it not be possible to do something similar to @T Wrecks IRM for commercial? Basically mod commercial that low density is used for CS$ CS$, CS$$$, medium density for CO$$, and high density for CO$$$?

i know IRM has I-D and I-M in medium density and I-M and I-HT in high density...so I would think something like that would be possible, but I don't know 

[CorinaMarie 29,621]

15 minutes ago, Tubthumper said:

Would it not be possible to do something similar to @T Wrecks IRM for commercial?

Yes. The very same concept would work for commercial. It'd just be a (tedious) matter of editing all the exemplars.

[Tubthumper 499]

9 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

Yes. The very same concept would work for commercial. It'd just be a (tedious) matter of editing all the exemplars.

Hmm....

How much of a glutton for pain am I....

Tedious I can do...and I do well...how to, that is a different ball game...

[Tubthumper 499]

Per a conversation on another thread...

I want to try and do a major overhaul on Commercial zoning.  I would like to do something similar to IRM, where:

low density is reserved for CS$, CS$$

medium density is reserved for CS$$$

high density is reserved for CO$$, CO$$$

Nothing else really, just a way to control where each type of Commercial zone is grown, so you can have a shopping district separate from an office district. @CorinaMarie said it would be a tedious process of messing with exemplars, but doable.

So, can someone help me out on explaining exemplars and how to alter them to do what I want to try?  I found this link that explains each part (I think) but I don't know what to do with it...

https://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=Exemplar_properties#Lot_Configuration

[rsc204 21,817]

5 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

Yes. The very same concept would work for commercial. It'd just be a (tedious) matter of editing all the exemplars.

Actually, there is a very efficient method to do this with Reader.

So to start with you'd need to open the SimCity_1.DAT file, then find an Exemplar in the list and double click it, to bring up the Exemplar Analyser window:

Here you can sort everything by Exemplar Type, we only need the LotConfigurations files, specifically all the CS and CO ones. From this view you can select multiple entries in one go, right click one of them and select Add to patch. Moving back to the main Reader window, click the Patch button in the toolbar and it will open another window, listing all the 'files to be patched'. Here you can save all the previously included entries into a new DAT file. If you just make a file containing all the Commercial LotConfigurations for now, it'll make like simpler.

Step two is to open your new file and split it into three separate files, each one containing all the lots that you want for Low, Medium and High density growth. You can simply open two instances of Reader, then copy/paste entries between them.

Now you open each file and you can change every LotConfigurations ZoneTypes property in a single operation, setting them to the following values:

0x04 - Low Density
0x05 - Med Density
0x06 - High Density

The instructions from this tutorial show how to do that, albeit for a different purpose but the instructions are otherwise the same.

Essentially once more you are using the Exemplar Analyser, search for a Property instead of the example look for LotConfigPropertyZoneTypes. You can set each of the files to Low, Medium or High Density in one operation this way. All in all that shouldn't be too taxing a way to create such a mod, although this example only covers the base content of the game. Any custom content would need to be edited similarly to work with this system too and if that's a bunch of separate files, the somewhat automated method I've outlined won't help you much.

Another consideration is how altering the zoning in this way may affect the way the game works, at the very least it may hamper growth if as a player you fail to allow things to grow because the right zoning doesn't exist. I think provided you do allow for sufficient CS development, COs would take care of themselves, but CS is a vital part of a balanced city. The other thing you are doing is bundling all Low/Med/High density development together for each zone type, so you loose control of density as a byproduct. This too may not prove to be a major headache, but is essentially the trade off for control over commercial types.

[rsc204 21,817]

Just as I am posting (above), I realised this was so super easy, it took me about 10 minutes.

Com Mod.7z

In the attached file are three DAT's containing every CS, CO$$ or CO$$$ LotConfig, modified to fit your zoning preferences. These three files would essentially be IRM for Comercial.

A fourth DAT, All Com Lots is a copy of the unmodified complete set of Commercial LotConfiguration Exemplars from SimCity_1.DAT. It's more a reference, be sure not to use this file, it could cancel out the intended changes.

Completely untested, I just made it because I could do so pretty easily and had some time to kill between frequent trips to the kitchen to stir the stew that's cooking. Feel free to do whatever you like with the files, including modification and redistribution.

[Simizen 1,099]

It's incredible that you managed to get it done so fast, lol.

Course, the fun part is figuring out the preference for what goes where.

Looking at the files, I take it all CS lots are on the lower density Commercial?

My thought was, though I didn't voice it earlier, and probably should've, was to sort out each density into it's own wealth class. This would leave CS$ to be the only one on low density commercial, whereas it would still share it with the offices on medium and high densities.

Though, I do wonder if maybe CS and CO blockers might not be a better solution? I know with the IRM, @T Wrecks has blockers for the W2W add-on, so that you can return to normal building, whenever you like, so, I imagine a similar thing could be done for CS and CO. But, given your posts, I take it, it wouldn't work for any custom content, unless explicitly added?

That said, I think the one you did is a very interesting take on it, and would love to see how well that works out. Though, I'll need to figure out what setup to use it with (my folder is a horrible mess of the major mods right now XD)

[Tubthumper 499]

6 hours ago, rsc204 said:

Just as I am posting (above), I realised this way so super easy, it took me about 10 minutes so i just did it.

Com Mod.7z

In the attached file are three DAT's containing every CS, CO$$ or CO$$$ LotConfig, modified to fit your zoning preferences. These three files would essentially be IRM for Comercial.

A fourth DAT, All Com Lots is a copy of the unmodified complete set of Commercial LotConfiguration Exemplars from SimCity_1.DAT. It's more a reference, be sure not to use this file, it could cancel out the intended changes.

Completely untested, I just made it because I could do so pretty easily and had some time to kill between frequent trips to the kitchen to stir the stew that's cooking.

I just started up a new region as a playground, I will download this and test it out.

Quick question-I have a few of @mattb325 custom lots. How do I go about editing those so they only show up in their respective areas?

[twalsh102 1,601]

There are many different types of Exemplars. For a Lot to work properly, you need a Model (.SC4Model file), a Lot Exemplar (usually an .SC4Lot file), and a Building Exemplar (usually an .SC4Desc file). Usually, for growables, the Lot Exemplar and the Building Exemplar are separate files. But this is NOT a hard-fast rule. Sometimes you may find them both combined in the .SC4Lot file. Sometimes you might find both the Exemplars and the Model combined in a .dat file. An .SC4Desc file may also be a Prop Exemplar.

So what do all these Exemplars do for you?

Simply, the Lot Exemplar contains all the attributes/properties specific to the Lot (i.e. how large the lot is, when it will grow, what density of zoning the lot will grow in,  IID for the Building Exemplar used and its location on the Lot, IIDs for all the Prop Exemplars and the location of each Prop on the Lot, IDs for all textures, and the location of each texture on the Lot, and other properties specific to the Lot.

The Building Exemplar contains a property specifying the IID for the .SC4Model file that provides the visual representation of the Building used, as well as specifying all the stats for the Building.

The .SC4Model file contains all the model sub-files and textures used to create that visual representation. There may not be a .SC4Model file included with each Lot download. If the Model was created by someone else, it will be considered a dependency.

So, as to the tedious part, you will need to modify the Lot Exemplar for each and every Lot you want to fit into your CRM (??Commercial Revolution Mod??) scheme. The only property you would really need to change would be the LotConfigPropertyZoneTypes Property based on the configured LotConfigPropertyWealthTypes and LotConfigPropertyPurposeTypes Properties to conform to your desired scheme.

When @T Wrecks created IRM, he modified the above mentioned Property of all the Maxis Industrial Lots (ID, IM, IHT) to conform to his scheme. In addition, he relotted many of them. Later he released many of the most popular custom Industrial Lots, both relotted, and modified as above. If you intend to publish a relot for public use(especially if you change the Lot size, the best way is to just create a new Lot so that it will have different IIDs that will not interfere with any existing instances of the original Lot.

NOTE: The term "relot" normally means taking a previously created lot, and changing things like building location, props, textures, etc. But it can also mean taking a model created by Maxis or someone else, and creating a new Lot  (meaning new Lot and Building Exemplars) with it.

If you just modify the Maxis commercial Lots, you are looking at potentially hundreds of lots to modify. If you modify custom commercial Lots, you could be looking at potentially a thousand or more additional Lots to modify. If you also use CAM, because CAM also modifies the Lot Exemplars you would be modifying, you would need to incorporate any property changes CAM makes into the changes you make to each Maxis Lot Exemplar. Otherwise CAM may override any changes you make, or your changes may override any changes CAM makes.

All this if you only make changes for your own use. If you wanted to publish "CRM" for public use, in addition to the property changes you make, to be proper, you should change the IID for any Lot Exemplars you would need to come up with a dependency list for each custom commercial Lot modified. At the very least you would need to reference each of the original Lot downloads, and mention that all dependencies needed for the original Lots are also needed. If you decided to relot anything, and used any non-Maxis models, props or textures, you would need to come up with a detailed dependency list for each Lot so modified.

I know this is probably a lot of information, some or all of which you may not already be familiar with. I probably forgot some important information that applies.I possibly gave you more information than absolutely necessary to accomplish what you're asking, but wanted to impart the vast expanse of the "tedious work" @CorinaMarie mentioned.

The most likely tool to be used that can make all the potentially necessary changes is Reader by @ilive. Version 0.9.3 is available here on the STEX. The latest version is 1.5.4, and is available over at SC4D on the LEX. Either version will work to make the changes mentioned above, although both versions have potential flaws in them. If you intend to do any relots, I would recommend SC4PIM (commonly known as PIM-X) by wouanagaine. It is available over at SC4D as well.

If anything (or everything) needs further explanation, please don't hesitate to ask.

[rsc204 21,817]

12 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

It's incredible that you managed to get it done so fast, lol.

Course, the fun part is figuring out the preference for what goes where.

Looking at the files, I take it all CS lots are on the lower density Commercial?

My thought was, though I didn't voice it earlier, and probably should've, was to sort out each density into it's own wealth class. This would leave CS$ to be the only one on low density commercial, whereas it would still share it with the offices on medium and high densities.

How to use some of the more advanced features of Reader is not particularly well known, I only discovered them myself in the last couple years, but it's a huge time-saver. I deliberately left the original file containing all the unmodified commercial LotConfigurations in the download, so anyone could make use of it, following the previous instructions you can make a customised version. In essence, you just need to split this file into three DATs, each containing those Lots you wanted for the three different zoning types. That way you can change every entry in each file in one operation, but doing this yourself, you could split them up in whichever way you wanted.

Indeed right now all CS wealths are bundled into the Low Density zoning type, simply because that was the request.

11 hours ago, Tubthumper said:

...custom lots. How do I go about editing those so they only show up in their respective areas?

Find the Property LotConfigPropertyZoneTypes in the LotConfiguration Exemplar and edit its value based on the Zoning Type you want it to grow in, as noted before:

18 hours ago, rsc204 said:

0x04 - Low Density
0x05 - Med Density
0x06 - High Density

[Tubthumper 499]

So, I played around with the original process (CS$, CS$$, & CS$$$ in Low Density, CO$$ in Medium Density, and CO$$$ in high density).  Though what I asked, doesn't really work well with my thought process (controlling what type of shop opens in what area of the city.  Seems weird to have Bob's Grease Pit right next to a high-end spa).  So...working on re-doing it.  Going for CS$ in Low, CS$$ & CS$$$ in Medium, and both CO in High.  This is because medium and high wealth really don't look bad together, and is fairly common in most US cities.  This way I can also control where offices are versus where shops are.  Again, kind of similar to US cities...you would have stores and shops and services right on the main strips, near highways, and by the edge of residential areas.  Offices are in down town areas.  This will also allow me to get a well-defined downtown area and not having to worry about the CS$ high density "flea market" built right next to my awesome skyscrapers. Once I play with the new layout, and if it works the way I like, I may upload it as v0.5 (I have plans...big plans...plans like removing the parking lot textures from default Commercial buildings, because those are dumb...but that will take some time I feel).

[Tubthumper 499]

Yes, definitely like that layout better.  Here is the file if anyone wants to play around with it.  It is set up that Low Density Commercial works for CS$, Medium Density Commercial is for CS$$ and CS$$$; High Density Commercial is good for CO$$ and CO$$$.  This is only for the vanilla commercial services at this point.  I am working on editing some of @mattb325 and @RRetail commercial lots to plug into this system as well.  Please feel free to test this out in your cities, let me know what you think.  I like the control it gives the mayor on how his/her city develops.  Works perfectly with @CorinaMarie no kick-out mod.  I would almost say that it is a strong recommended file, as it would be weird to have a bunch of low wealth CS in the middle of a bunch of McMansions.

Thanks @rsc204 for the quick way of dealing with all the exemplars, definitely a time saver

Commercial Regulation Mod.zip

 

I tested this out, and it works well for me...but I would like another playtester or two to try it out before I even think about loading it onto the STEX

[Tubthumper 499]

Well, I have Mattb325's content done - but too large to upload here.  If anyone wants to check those out, let me know and I can get them to you.