Revolutionary Grid Mod!!!

[flubby 0]

Hi everyone,

I haven't been in Simtropolis for a long time...

I'm really impressed by all the work that has been done!!

 

Once I created a thread where I imagined the next Sim City, the fith one. I had this idea which I had thought it would be too hard to mod, but after seeing all the work that has been done, I wonder if it is possible for us to do!!!!

 

 

The Grand Grid Mod

The idea was a revolutionary grid-rotating mod. the idea is to enable the user to rotate the grid while having the map fixed in the background. That way, we will be able to build everything in every single possible angle!

 

How many people here think that it is irritating that the buildings and roads have fixed angles? Currently, the roads can be rotated every 90degrees and the buildings every 90degrees. With this mod, I hope to not have any limitations at all!

 

How it works

So here is how the mod would work.

 

First we need to create two layers:

1. the map layer

2. the grid layer

 

1. The map layer works just like it works right now. You can rotate the map in 2 directions and the grid goes with it. The grid mod is not going to change that.

 

2. The grid layer, in the other hand will completely change. Instead of having a fixed grid, it can be rotated in two ways: either manually or fixed.

 

The manual rotation will be accomplished by a wheel that can be rotated in every direction.

The fixed rotation would work with eight fixed positions which never change (north, south, east, west, etc)

 

 

More precisely, the map layer will be fixed while you rotate the grid. You rotate the grid whichever way you want and fix it again against the map. Then, you build whatever you want while the grid is in that position. Once you finish building with that position you can change it to another one. The buildings that you built in that position will not change when you rotate the grid again (and that might be the greatest challenge of this mod!!). Then if you want to build something in a new position right next to what you just built, the lots might need to be reconciled (in other words. they should also be flexible).

 

So, that's basically it. If anyone has any questions, please let me know!

 

I'm sorry but I can't do this myself. All that I have is just an introductory course in Java!

So I can't really help on the actual implementation, but I can help designing how it would work. I hope someone or some people here can do it. I would be more then happy in directing its construction.

 

Anyone interest?

 

 

PS: I hope we can make curved roads with this.

But maybe we will need something to facilitate this?

[Buggi 684]

It's not possible with the _rendering engine_ that the game uses.

The camera must be at set angles and altitudes or else the renders people do for the BAT would be useless. What you want is a fully 3d engine which SC4 is not. And never will be.

 

Want 3D? Go to the other project I'm helping with... here: http://spring.clan-sy.com/

 

[Goldfish4209 9]

Yeah, but won't the existing buildings be destroyed?

[jackel.22 3]

but if you 'rotate the grid' to place 1 building, wont all the other buildings be rotated by the same ammount too?

[flubby 0]

Date: 2/6/2006 5:49:47 PM Author: Buggi

It's not possible with the _rendering engine_ that the game uses.

The camera must be at set angles and altitudes or else the renders people do for the BAT would be useless. What you want is a fully 3d engine which SC4 is not. And never will be.

Want 3D? Go to the other project I'm helping with... here: http://spring.clan-sy.com/

quote>

Huum... the idea would be to lock the angles and the altitude while you are editing the position of the grid. As I explained, the map layer would be fixed while you are editing the grid layer...

 

Why would we need a full 3d engine? Shooting games often need 3d engines because the angle of the vertical plane changes. You don't need to do that with the grid mod. The point here is that the grid mod would do exactly what the rotation buttons do to the map- it wsill rotate it the exact same way. But instead of rotating the actual map, it would only change the grid... 

[flubby 0]

Date: 2/6/2006 6:10:58 PM Author: Goldfish4209 Yeah, but won't the existing buildings be destroyed?

quote>

Why would they be? What is your logic?

[flubby 0]

Date: 2/6/2006 6:19:50 PM Author: jackel.22 but if you 'rotate the grid' to place 1 building, wont all the other buildings be rotated by the same ammount too?

quote>

To avoid that, I create two layers: the map layer and the grid layer. When you are changing one, the other always stays fixed.

[DuskTrooper 314]

Won't work. Buildings and such are NOT 3d but, actually, rendered boxes of sorts. Thus, this would not work.

[flubby 0]

Date: 2/6/2006 7:01:29 PM Author: DuskTrooper Won't work.  Buildings and such are NOT 3d but, actually, rendered boxes of sorts.  Thus, this would not work.

quote>

Just for that I will quote your own quote!

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds
-Albert Einstein

 

Damn! That's sad....

 

[choco1 4]

You cannot actually render buildings in simcity diagonally. Plus if you rotated the grid and tried to place stuff, they wouldn't fit in. From what I know of modding, all this is in the simcity source code, which you cannot change sorry.

Its a brilliant idea in theory, but I think Maxis are the only people with the means to do this.

Cheers, choco.

[meowza 230]

the BATs are locked in 2D (it is already rendered/exported that way).  There is absolutely no way to convert them to 3D just by coding, unless you rerender every BAT (w/c are in the thousands) to 3D, which would take a really long time.  Id rather wait for fifth installment of SC (w/c hopefully is in gorgeous 3d), or maybe try CityLife when it's out.  Besides, SC4 was made to suit 2D BATs, probably because of the pc requirement issues.  If all the buildings in SC4 were converted to 3D, it would make the game crash more frequently, more frequently than it is now.

[GDDan 4]

aww i got excited. i thought by the name of this thread that somebody had actually made the mod.

but yeah... its impossible

[SamFlash 0]

Date: 2/7/2006 5:23:02 AM Author: GDDan

aww i got excited. i thought by the name of this thread that somebody had actually made the mod.

but yeah... its impossible

quote>

Me too!!!  Nice concept but as in many theoretical ideas the reality is far away. 

[JayStimson 211]

flubby:
I hate to burst your bubble. It's a great idea and it's always refreshing to see people trying to think out of the box, but it just can't be done in SC4.
Here's why ... in a nutshell.
The game's display engine assumes 4 viewing angles (POV, points of view) from 5 different altitudes (zoom levels). If you look at the information in an .SC4model file using ILive Reader or DatGen you'll see what I'm talking about by looking at the S3D files. These files provide the game's rendering engine the images it needs for the defined POV's and zooms. There is no other information for how to display objects from any other altitude (zoom level) or viewing angle (POV). You're fixed rotation idea is exactly what SC4 has now but it's limited to 4 POVs and 5 zooms ... and full 3D imaging is a completely different ball of wax. To add more views would mean additional datastructures to hold the image data needed for them, and additonal code to use these new data structures, and of course ... a modifcation to the BAT to generate the new data for these structures.
In summary, modding involves using the game's existing data structures and modifying the values contained therein. It does not involve modifying or adding data structures which, even if we could, would require modifications to the code to utilize these data structure changes and would surely be illegal anyway.
Sorry. Life is hard, then you die.

[flubby 0]

Date: 2/7/2006 1:18:58 AM Author: chocolatemax285 You cannot actually render buildings in simcity diagonally.  Plus if you rotated the grid and tried to place stuff, they wouldn't fit in.  From what I know of modding, all this is in the simcity source code, which you cannot change sorry. Its a brilliant idea in theory, but I think Maxis are the only people with the means to do this. Cheers, choco.

Well... I'm flattered you think it is a brilliant idea...

I love your regions...

[flubby 0]

Well, thanks everyone for your replies...

 

I think I understand why it is not possible...

But I still wonder if it could be done with roads.....

 

 

No...?

[storms991 0]

save it for SCX or whatever maybe 5