Add light to Lighthouse (and other lot questions)

[Daeris 1,116]

Does anyone know if it's easy to add the lighthouse effect to other buildings? How would one go about doing this?

[SIM-ple Jack 17,450]

16 minutes ago, Daeris said:

Does anyone know if it's easy to add the lighthouse effect to other buildings? How would one go about doing this?

Load your lot into LotEditor, go to Props, and there will be a list of Efx(pretty sure it starts with E) and you'll find all the lighting effects(fireworks, spotlights, fountains,  etc.) Pick the one you want(will be a floating green diamond) and plop it on your lot. Save.

[Daeris 1,116]

58 minutes ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

Load your lot into LotEditor, go to Props, and there will be a list of Efx(pretty sure it starts with E) and you'll find all the lighting effects(fireworks, spotlights, fountains,  etc.) Pick the one you want(will be a floating green diamond) and plop it on your lot. Save.

Hiya Jack, this is working, but seems I can't seem to figure out how to elevate the prop I add.

Here is a lot it's working on. You can see the prop says 47 next to it. I'm guessing this must be an elevation of some kind. When I add the lightbeam to other lots, it seems to want to add it to the ground. I need to figure out how to elevate it to like 47 or maybe even higher now.

[Daeris 1,116]

Oh, wait I found this thread: 

I think this will help me!

[Daeris 1,116]

Mission success... I think. Time to load it in game. =p

[Daeris 1,116]

Well, I'm close, but unfortunately I'm still running into a small issue.

This lot is "BSC_Park_5x5_CeruleanTower02" however, when I Save or Save As from the LotEditor, it just seems to create a new file in my plugins. When I plop the building in-game, it does not contain the edit I made, so I'm a little confused as to what I'm doing wrong. I located another folder in my BSC Parks folder in my plugins, called "BSC_Park_CeruleanTowers_models.dat"

[nos.17 5,215]

1 hour ago, Daeris said:

Well, I'm close, but unfortunately I'm still running into a small issue.

This lot is "BSC_Park_5x5_CeruleanTower02" however, when I Save or Save As from the LotEditor, it just seems to create a new file in my plugins. When I plop the building in-game, it does not contain the edit I made, so I'm a little confused as to what I'm doing wrong. I located another folder in my BSC Parks folder in my plugins, called "BSC_Park_CeruleanTowers_models.dat"

It's been awhile since I've used LotEditor, but I believe this is a quirk of the program. "Save" will only act like you would expect a save action should if the file you are saving is directly in plugins root. If the file you are modifying is anywhere in a subfolder (or possibly even inside a *.dat instead of a raw *.SC4Lot), "Save" will act as a save as action, and create a new copy of the lot.

The reason you are not seeing your changes is (likely) a load order issue. When loading, SC4 will take everything in root plugins first, then scan subfolders. LE dumps new lots in the root plugins folder. If you have your modified file in plugins root and the original lot in a subfolder, the lot in the subfolder is loading second and overriding your new lot.

My guess is the dat file you refer to contains the model files for the tower.

[Daeris 1,116]

@nos.17 Hiya, thanks for your reply... you know what? I think you're right. My edited lot is getting dumped in the root plugins folder, and I think the original lot is loading afterwards somehow. Tricky thing is... I can't seem to find that original CeruleanTower02 lot in a subfolder anywhere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing I need to find that original CeruleanTower02 lot, and I need to have my modified lot load after that somehow (can I just change the name perhaps?). Can the original CeruleanTower02 lot be hidden somewhere I wonder?

[nos.17 5,215]

6 minutes ago, Daeris said:

@nos.17 Hiya, thanks for your reply... you know what? I think you're right. My edited lot is getting dumped in the root plugins folder, and I think the original lot is loading afterwards somehow. Tricky thing is... I can't seem to find that original CeruleanTower02 lot in a subfolder anywhere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing I need to find that original CeruleanTower02 lot, and I need to have my modified lot load after that somehow (can I just change the name perhaps?). Can the original CeruleanTower02 lot be hidden somewhere I wonder?

Yep! On the right track. I'd recommend just finding and deleting the old lot if you no longer want it so you don't have to even bother worrying about load order.

If you cant find the lot link the file and I can take a look.

[Daeris 1,116]

1 hour ago, nos.17 said:

Yep! On the right track. I'd recommend just finding and deleting the old lot if you no longer want it so you don't have to even bother worrying about load order.

If you cant find the lot link the file and I can take a look.

Hmmm, yeah unfortunately I can not seem to find the original file. It's the CeruleanTower02 lot, and I'm fairly sure it's in BSC Parks v2.

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=437

[SIM-ple Jack 17,450]

12 hours ago, Daeris said:

Hmmm, yeah unfortunately I can not seem to find the original file. It's the CeruleanTower02 lot, and I'm fairly sure it's in BSC Parks v2.

Yea, I forgot to mention pitching the original file, as LE replaces it when you save. BTW, I think there are several versions of the searchlight, a 360 degree, a stagnant and a back and forth. And you can  plop several at a time if you want shipwrecks. I never use the effects and timed props, as they mess up pics.

[gwada971 1,891]

@Daeris Hi, for the Cerulean Tower see her

 

[Daeris 1,116]

11 minutes ago, gwada971 said:

@Daeris Hi, for the Cerulean Tower see her

 

Oh thanks! Yep that looks like the Cerulean Towers.... now I just gotta find out where that original lot is. =p

[gwada971 1,891]

@Daeris the lot is inside

[Daeris 1,116]

10 minutes ago, gwada971 said:

@Daeris the lot is inside

That's odd, I'm definitely not seeing that folder in my plugins. I have scoured my plugins and I'm just really not seeing any "BSC_Park_5x5_CeruleanTower02" version, like anywhere. I'm really confused how that doesn't seem to be in my plugins folder, yet I can plop the park in-game, without any brown box or any issues at all.

[gwada971 1,891]

@Daeris  the lot is inside the file BSC_Park_ BaseSet_lots.dat. All lots are in the same file.

[Kloudkicker 4,563]

@Daeris another option you can do is place the new lot file in a folder named something like "z_Load Last". The "z_" is what's needed to help get it to load last,  after the original lot.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

Calling everyone in this topic...

@Daeris @SIM-ple Jack @nos.17 @gwada971 @Kloudkicker

Just to let you know I've moved the posts from the Quick Question thread to here. It's funny as often quick questions usually always end up being more detailed, so by moving them to a new topic it keeps things consolidated (and also easier to find for people searching for similar questions in future).

You might all wish to re-follow this topic to be beeped of new replies.

-CB

[Daeris 1,116]

6 hours ago, gwada971 said:

@Daeris  the lot is inside the file BSC_Park_ BaseSet_lots.dat. All lots are in the same file.

Ohhh thank you! That explains why I couldn't locate.

 

6 hours ago, Kloudkicker said:

@Daeris another option you can do is place the new lot file in a folder named something like "z_Load Last". The "z_" is what's needed to help get it to load last,  after the original lot.

Oh great idea! I was wondering if I could do that actually; that makes sense!

 

37 minutes ago, Cyclone Boom said:

Calling everyone in this topic...

@Daeris @SIM-ple Jack @nos.17 @gwada971 @Kloudkicker

Just to let you know I've moved the posts from the Quick Question thread to here. It's funny as often quick questions usually always end up being more detailed, so by moving them to a new topic it keeps things consolidated (and also easier to find for people searching for similar questions in future).

You might all wish to re-follow this topic to be beeped of new replies.

-CB

Oh that makes sense, thank you @Cyclone Boom. Thank you all for your help and I'm sorry I turned this into a bigger question.

[Daeris 1,116]

9 hours ago, Kloudkicker said:

@Daeris another option you can do is place the new lot file in a folder named something like "z_Load Last". The "z_" is what's needed to help get it to load last,  after the original lot.

Hi Kloudkicker, so I tried this but I'm still not seeing the proper lot plop in game (with my new lightbeam added). I added my saved lot into a folder with z_ at the start, and when that didn't work I also tried zzz_ just to make sure it was the absolute last folder.

I pulled open the "BSC_Park_BaseSet_lots.dat" file into my Reader, and I found the Exemplar file for the original CeruleanTower02 LotConfiguration in there.

 

I have a feeling maybe I need to edit something in here to ensure it's pointing to the new lot maybe. Perhaps the Instance or the Group?

Sorry I'm turning this into an ordeal, I never knew it was this complicated just to add an effect to one lot. I feel perhaps this is a little unusual since several lots appear to be combined into one.

[gwada971 1,891]

Hi, I made a lot to test with the LE, which I put in the folder BSC Parks - Base Set with the 4 original files. In the game I have both sets (the original and the one with the light).

I attach it with this post to test in your game if you want.

G971_BSC_Park_5x5_CeruleanTower02-with nightlight_b010d00f.SC4Lot

[Daeris 1,116]

@gwada971 Wow thank you! I will test this when I'm done with work later. However, I want to better understand what I was doing wrong. Do you think it's working in your case because you included your edited lot directly in the folder with the other files? Also, is your new version showing up as another selection within your Parks menu (in addition to your regular non-lightbeam version?). Or is your new version within another menu?

[gwada971 1,891]

No, both versions are in the PARK menu.

[Daeris 1,116]

@gwada971 I did it! After editing my own file and plopping it in the same folder, it worked! That's kinda strange, but maybe having the lot in the same folder somehow helped in this instance?

Anyways, thank you again for your help!

[Daeris 1,116]

After learning a few more things, I couldn't help but create my own take on the entire lot!