Restoring the vanilla game "Getting Started" tutorial [Solved]

[Simizen 1,098]

I hope posting here's okay, if it needs to be it's own topic, feel free to split it off. But, I was wondering, is there a way to get the original (vanilla) Getting Started tutorial to take the place of the Rush Hour/Deluxe version? While I love going through the tutorials sometimes, I do still like the older one, and would like to play that occasionally. Really, if there's a file that I can drop in/remove at will, that would be wonderful. But, I was curious if there was anything for this.

I was reminded of this when I found out there was an update to Cori's work on Timbuktu. And, while having the city tile itself is fine, I'm interested in having the original version of the tutorial to go with it.

[City_Slider 2,716]

18 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

I was reminded of this when I found out there was an update to Cori's work on Timbuktu. And, while having the city tile itself is fine, I'm interested in having the original version of the tutorial to go with it.

Hmmm, i cant follow you. Explain it agin plz. There are 3 Versions of this Map right now, thats not enough for you?

Only asking, Oliver

[rsc204 21,808]

Well the tutorials are as far as I can tell made up in LUA code, which is in SimCity_1.dat. It should therefore be possible to take these files from the base game, create a patch file with them, then stick that in Plugins so it will override the newer ones. However I can foresee some potential issues there, it may very well not be so simple.

For starters the IDs would need to remain the same. Do the old tutorials cover the same cities and the same number of them? Then the harder to predict possibility that other changes to the games code or content from the Rush Hour update cause problems using the old tutorials with a new game. In other words, it’s hard to know what will happen until you try and could take some trial and error or a lot of cross referencing files before it becomes clear if it’s even possible. 

[matias93 7,535]

This makes me consider that it would be possible, even if absurdly tedious, to create new tutorials, for example, for complex mods like NAM, CAM or SPAM.

[rsc204 21,808]

Indeed it seems possible, I believe it was considered for the NAM at one point or another, but it didn't go anywhere mostly because no one with the required skills could commit the time needed. Ultimately it requires someone who's good with LUA, so basically @CorinaMarie LOL.

Aside from knowing of their existence as LUA files and poking around them briefly, I've never actually tried to do anything to them. Scanning through them again today, it does seem like aside from any code, it shouldn't need much more than some UI/LText elements, depending on what you want to happen. I think I've tracked all the most relevant files down, if anyone want to similarly glance at the code, I've attached a DAT file of them:

Tutorials_LUA.dat

Having never used/owned any non-rush hour version of SC4, for the purposes of making a similar patch for vanilla SC4, sadly I'm not able to help.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

Just a quick note in response to...
 

On 1/10/2022 at 11:40 PM, Ryuu Tenno said:

I hope posting here's okay, if it needs to be it's own topic, feel free to split it off.

It was perfectly fine asking in the Quick Question thread as you did, but yeah I've just moved the posts to a new topic right here for consolidation.

Mentioning all those involved (in posting order), should you wish to re-follow for notification of subsequent replies:

@Ryuu Tenno  @City_Slider  @rsc204  @matias93

Since then I've been chatting with @CorinaMarie and can confirm she's been investigating the possibilities with restoring the original vanilla tutorial. From the Lua side she's swiftly figured it out, but it's proving a bit more difficult from the file structure. Since there are tutorial entries saved within, which is what marries up with the Lua to provide the tutorial functionality. So in a while Cori will reply either way, although there's not quite a certainty at this point, even with prospects of it being doable.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

I did investigate this to the best of my ability and I can do two things (but not both simultaneously).

1. Load the old Mayor Tutorial city tile and have the arrow bounce on it at the region view.
2. Enable the tutorial on the existing empty Getting Started Tutorial city tile.

However, there are multiple edits needed in the save city entries and while I did successfully hex edit two of them to get this far, the rest of the data structure updates it requires are more than I know how to do.

Steps I did (presumably) successfully:

1. Hex edit TGI aa3836fb-299b2d1b-00000000 of the original city tile to reference the Tutorial IID.
2. Hex edit TGI ca027edb-ca027ee1-00000000 the same way. (This is what enables the bouncing arrow in region view.)
3. Copy in the old tutorial steps in place of the RH Getting Started ones.
    
4. Change step 25 from:  a.task_action = tutorial_check_button_clicked_no_arrow(tutorial_buttons.kButtonPlaceRoad)
   1. To:  a.task_action = tutorial_check_button_clicked_no_arrow(tutorial_buttons.kButtonPlaceRoadItem)
   2. The slight change is so it can make the button blink with the UI difference between pure vanilla and RH. Otherwise it cannot be clicked.

So, for the first of two things, here's the region view where you can almost see the development of the old Mayor Tutorial:

 

Loading that:

^ But the tutorial steps do not start.

 

Then for the other thing I could do, this allows running the old tutorial, but on the empty RH Getting Started tile.

Up to this point it's ok:

 

But because the expected original development isn't there, the location where one must place the fire station is not adjacent to a street so when the fire starts you cannot dispatch the fire engine to it:

 

Tho leaving it burn for a while and it doesn't get destroyed.

 

So, I don't know how to have both at the same time to fully enable the old tutorial.

If you'd like the old tile with that minimal development I'll attach it. Just drop it in the Timbuktu region folder and delete the existing Getting Started Tutorial.sc4.

City - Mayor Tutorial.sc4

 

Going much further, it'd prolly be possible to add in a lot of steps before the main body of the old one starts and have you draw out those streets, plop the wind mill and water towers, zone the residential, commercial, farm, and industry, run time, and after that resume the existing steps. It would, ofc, be a lot of work to write all that Lua code.

Another option would be for me to make screenshots of each step while running the vanilla version which does work. Then you could follow along using the attached city tile above.

Edit: For a test, I inserted a step so one of the missing streets can be drawn out (as a road tho atm). This then allowed completing the tutorial:

^ Ofc, it would still need several preliminary steps added to recreate the missing original development, but this proves it could be done.

If added, one would start with the empty tile, follow new initial tutorial steps to create what should already be there, then pick up with the Maxis steps for the rest.

Edit too: I can do streets now! I just had to define an additional tutorial.button for it.

[Simizen 1,098]

On 1/11/2022 at 6:00 PM, City_Slider said:

Hmmm, i cant follow you. Explain it agin plz. There are 3 Versions of this Map right now, thats not enough for you?

Oh, these are absolutely wonderful, but, I was referring to the original vanilla tutorial. That is, pre-Rush Hour/Deluxe. I've got the original version on disc, but, didn't want to install it in place of deluxe just to access the tutorial. The original tutorial, while quite similar to the Getting Started tutorial (I believe it was called Mayor Mode tutorial), it started off a bit differently.

And, in all honesty, the 3 versions is more than enough for me, and I absolutely love @CorinaMarie for uploading each one.

 

On 1/11/2022 at 6:00 PM, City_Slider said:

Only asking, Oliver

You're fine, I had a feeling some players would be confused, since the only really accessible version of SC4, now, is Deluxe.

 

On 1/12/2022 at 10:17 AM, rsc204 said:

Well the tutorials are as far as I can tell made up in LUA code, which is in SimCity_1.dat. It should therefore be possible to take these files from the base game, create a patch file with them, then stick that in Plugins so it will override the newer ones. However I can foresee some potential issues there, it may very well not be so simple.

For starters the IDs would need to remain the same. Do the old tutorials cover the same cities and the same number of them? Then the harder to predict possibility that other changes to the games code or content from the Rush Hour update cause problems using the old tutorials with a new game. In other words, it’s hard to know what will happen until you try and could take some trial and error or a lot of cross referencing files before it becomes clear if it’s even possible. 

That sounds great actually. And, I completely understand that there can be issues, given that you'd be attempting to override the in-game tutorial. But, there were only 2 tutorials in the older version: Mayor Mode Tutorial (I believe, it may have also been called Getting Started), and the Terraforming Tutorial. Both were in the same place as the first 2 tutorials in Deluxe.

 

On 1/13/2022 at 12:20 AM, Cyclone Boom said:

Just a quick note in response to...
 

On 1/10/2022 at 11:40 PM, Ryuu Tenno said:

I hope posting here's okay, if it needs to be it's own topic, feel free to split it off.

It was perfectly fine asking in the Quick Question thread as you did, but yeah I've just moved the posts to a new topic right here for consolidation.

Thanks for the clarification! But, I wasn't actually expecting a complete topic and conversation on this, I figured it was likely going to be a simply yes/no reply, or a more extensive one, like yes, but...

I just wasn't sure how it was going to play out, and I didn't want to hijack another thread for my question.

 

On 1/13/2022 at 2:49 AM, CorinaMarie said:

If you'd like the old tile with that minimal development I'll attach it. Just drop it in the Timbuktu region folder and delete the existing Getting Started Tutorial.sc4.

City - Mayor Tutorial.sc4

Edit too: I can do streets now! I just had to define an additional tutorial.button for it.

This is absolutely incredible!! And, definitely grabbed the city tile, cause, while I've got both versions of the game, I don't have a CD/DVD drive on my build, and can't access anything on a disc. And, while I've still got the original region, I've developed that tile a bunch, and developed over the original parts, so, I can't really undo it, to get a fresh start with it.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

Original SC4 Mayor Tutorial Revived for Rush Hour / Deluxe

CB and I were intrigued enough to really look into editing and tweaking the original tutorial Lua script and instructions.

While we still have no idea how to make it work with the pre-expansion Mayor Tutorial city save file, we did completely update it so it will run in Rush Hour / Deluxe by first walking you thru all the steps to re-create the original small town.

You'll see this:

 

And this:

 

Followed by several tutorial steps which have you the build streets, add zoning, do utility plopping, and so forth to restore the original layout.

To faithfully recreate the town, there are a few steps where you will need to follow the instructions exactly. Such as to get the original orientation for some of the lots, you'll need to hold down the SHIFT key while zoning. That will be stated in the instructions.

Here's one example:

 

And another example where it's the ALT key to hold while zoning:

 

(And before you ask, no, there is no way we can prevent having to re-select a tool such as the Street or Zoning for successive steps which use the same one. Maxis never intended to do back to back steps using the same tool so their coded functions must first check that you've selected the required tool before it'll allow the placement. It's not too onerous since there are only a few where we had to do that to allow making the layout exactly the same as the original town.)

One thing we cannot easily do without a lot of tedious steps is recreate the houses which do not have power, but for the purpose of the original tutorial we've simply changed the verbiage to refer to empty un-powered residential zones.

Once you've completed the town restoration steps, you'll be greeted with this:

 

Which then leads to the original beginning of the old tutorial:

 

To be honest, the original tutorial is somewhat lacking in overall useful training, but it is now available for nostalgic peeps to play.

 

How to Use the Updated Mod

To use this refurbished tutorial, it will replace the RH / Deluxe Getting Started Tutorial as an override and use the same name. Simply drop the attached file into your Plugins and in the game, reset the tutorials if it's not available when loading the Maxis Timbuktu region.

CAUTION: When resetting the tutorials, that will wipe out any development you may have created in all five of the tutorial city tiles. If you have any which you wish to preserve, make a backup of them before resetting. Also note that resetting the tutorials will completely delete the previously attached City - Mayor Tutorial.sc4 tile if you'd placed that in the Timbuktu region.

Peek in this spoiler box if you need instructions for resetting the tutorials:

Spoiler

WARNING FIRST:

Again, just keep in mind resetting the tutorials will remove any development in all 5 of the Timbuktu tutorial tiles.
If you have anything you wish to keep, be sure to make a backup of them before proceeding.

Step 1: At the region screen, click the Options button:

 

Step 2: Click the Play Options:

 

Step 3: Click the Reset Tutorials button:

 

Step 4: Click the Accept button:

 

Step 5: Now you have the bouncing arrows back:

 

Reverting to the Expansion Getting Started Tutorial

To restore the RH / Deluxe Getting Started Tutorial, simply remove our modified file from plugins.

 

Conclusion

Here's the file:

Original SC4 Mayor Tutorial - CoriBoom Refurbished for RH and Deluxe v1.0.dat

Feedback on our creation will be greatly appreciated.

-Cori & CB

[Simizen 1,098]

Wow, that's absolutely incredible!!

Definitely going to be checking this out now.

As for those 3 houses, for the longest time I had wondered how they worked, but, I remember seeing elsewhere on this site, that one of the solutions for some ploppable lots, that you'd zone the area first and then plop the buildings, and I feel that this was the case when they first did the tutorial, but, not entirely sure on it.

1 hour ago, CorinaMarie said:

To be honest, the original tutorial is somewhat lacking in overall useful training, but it is now available for nostalgic peeps to play.

lol, yeah, the vanilla game was a bit of a pain. Turns out they had the difficulty way up, and never really explained that you should reduce the funding to a lot of things, so, I always had to cheat (with the very tedious weaknesspays spammed) to get it sorted out.

And, I'll probably be testing this out a couple times, with and without mods, cause, it'll be interesting to see a bunch of new buildings pop up in place of the original set, lol

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

20 minutes ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

Turns out they had the difficulty way up, and never really explained that you should reduce the funding to a lot of things, ...

We did make an executive decision about that with the school. The original tutorial claims the bus coverage radius is too big. Actually, it looks perfect for the size of the green zones. So, we altered that part to explain the overall Local Funding is too high for the expected number of kids and state that is what should be adjusted.

[Simizen 1,098]

so, did some testing, first with mods added. Getting the city tile to work is wonderful, though, maybe some work is to be done for those who happen to have the IRM, lol

As you can see, it's best not to turn the simulation on, when you've got the IRM going, cause, I completely forgot that's what I was running for industry.

Uh, and currently having a little bit of trouble with the actual tutorial file, but, only cause, AMPS being installed, prevents you from selecting the necessary power plants. So, those who have AMPS should keep this in mind if they opt to follow the tutorials; and, I would imagine, either the Mayor Tutorial, or the Getting Started Tutorial, will have these issues (I think I ran into that before with the GST, )

Otherwise, it does seem to be working, I'll just need to run it in vanilla to have proper access to it.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

@Ryuu Tenno

We're glad it's working.

Yeah, what you've observed is something that we'd realised too. While the design of the city for the tutorial is functional, there are aspects for how it could have a more logical layout on the whole. How the industrial water tower is placed, that's why we described it as "silly" after all.

Of course, our objective for this was to replicate the original city layout how Maxis built it, prior to the Mayor Tutorial starting. That way when the tutorial begins, it would give an authentic experience as close as possible. Then just a few little things we'd fixed along the way in the code and the instruction panels.

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

14 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

Uh, and currently having a little bit of trouble with the actual tutorial file, but, only cause, AMPS being installed, prevents you from selecting the necessary power plants.

That's good advice.

Custom content and/or mods each have the potential to interfere with any of the Tutorials. For instance, I tried to complete the Rush Hour Tutorial and was prevented from drawing the avenue bridge across the water due to using a slope mod.

So yeah, anything that alters the way the game works from how Maxis created it originally is a potential problem with all of the Tutorials.

 

14 hours ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

Otherwise, it does seem to be working, I'll just need to run it in vanilla to have proper access to it.

That would be the safest way to know nothing will interfere.

For this particular tutorial, I'm able to complete it while having some custom mods such as NKO. Once finished, I then set about seeing if I could make the town viable without any new zoning and only plopping offered rewards.

The exception being I added water pipes:

 

And, ofc, adjusted the elementary school's funding to just above what is needed:

 

Then I underfunded both power and water to 70% to save a bit of money while also not going under the two-thirds funding threshold which would trigger significant extra degradation. I enabled the Gambling Ordinance and upped all the tax rates to 9.0%. The town now has a modest profit per month.

My idea for playing is that now there is a profit I can begin additional zoning and such.

[Simizen 1,098]

It works really well in vanilla. Well, mostly vanilla, lol. Had the NAM running in it, but, wasn't interested in turning it off, partly, cause I've been interested in seeing it with the NAM (which you wouldn't be able to under true vanilla).

On 1/18/2022 at 12:32 PM, Cyclone Boom said:

How the industrial water tower is placed, that's why we described it as "silly" after all.

lol, yeah, I saw that, and thought it was funny. So, I basically went through it slowly so I could see what all y'all added to it.

On 1/18/2022 at 2:01 PM, CorinaMarie said:

And, ofc, adjusted the elementary school's funding to just above what is needed:

I take it this is pure vanilla? Cause, I must've still had the services doubler mod or so, cause my school radius was quite large, so, I killed the funding for it to be brought down to that size. lol Not that it's a significant game changer in that regard, I think I just had that in play still when I went into vanilla mode.

It's been a lot of fun messing around in that city/tutorial. Super glad y'all were able to come up with something for it!! And, thank you so much for pulling it off, it's wonderful!

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

2 minutes ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

I take it this is pure vanilla?

Yes, pure vanilla for the school I plopped. (I, too, used NAM for this and some miscellaneous custom content, but only additions like similar occupancy low wealth residential and industrial.)

 

4 minutes ago, Ryuu Tenno said:

It's been a lot of fun messing around in that city/tutorial. Super glad y'all were able to come up with something for it!! And, thank you so much for pulling it off, it's wonderful!

Yay! We're glad you like it. We did enjoy figuring out how to code it all and CB spent several hours tweaking all of the updated tutorial messages and images for them.

Ofc, you might be the only person on the planet with an interest in this revived tutorial.