How to: Ilives Reader, Beginners Guide

Tropod · July 10, 2003

The main intent of this Reader Guide aims to help get you started on your way and to help you familiarise yourself with the various items in Ilive's Reader Program, nothing more. There is also a number of pictures to help with the explanations of the various functions in the Reader Program. This Reader Guide mainly gives an overview of the many items and functions in the Reader Program to the many newbies that maybe knee on doing some of their own modding, but have no idea where to get started; have no idea how to open a SC4 file; and/or have no idea what the many functions in the Reader Program may do.

The following link below is the ReaderGuide Zip file itself, and is approximately 671KB in file size:

Once you've finished downloading the file, unzipp it and open the ReaderGuideV3 file, preferably with InternetExplorer or other form of browser. Any comments/feedback is more than welcomed.

funforfree99 · July 11, 2003

Just asking for permision to use some of your pictures in my manual, I've been working on it for a while and I just need pictures to finish it off.

thanks in advance.

Tropod · July 11, 2003

Well I can't see why you wouldn't be able to use them, but as it's Ilive's program, you "may" have to ask him (for those ones of the Reader). As for the other pictures, I don't see why not, so knock yourself out

.

ilive · July 11, 2003

Sorry, funforfree99, I have forgotten to take some screenshots of the Reader ; I have a lot of work at my office

And about pictures of the Reader, you can use any of them freely

wisfull · August 9, 2003

new to the iste. it's a great site. one question where do you download the reader program to. desk top or in the sc4 file folder? thanks for the time.

Tropod · August 9, 2003

Genreally, you can put it anywhere really (not litterally though), just put it somewhere that is handy for you, though I would suggest not putting it in the SC4 folder as there's already a number of files in there.

wisfull · August 9, 2003

thanks for the info. you have been a great help. would like to ask one more question and having a hard time finding it any where on here. do all the lot downloads go into your my documents folder plugins and the prop ones you down load from the sc4 site go into the sc4/maxis plugin folder? do they self extract or do you have to unzip them before you do it? any help would be appreciated. again a great site you guys have here.

Tropod · August 9, 2003

Any lots and/or modds that you download from Simtropolis will be in a zip folder, so you have to unzipp them first. Then once you've unzipped them you just place the file in the Plugins folder (its best to place them in "......C\Programs\Maxis\SC4\Plugins"). Some lots though you may need certain plugins, from the Maxis site, for some lots to show the buildings properly (these plugins also go in the Plugins folder).

Tropod · September 3, 2003

Just so anyone/everyone knows, I've updated and re-vamped my Reader Guide, and posted a new link in the first post here at the top of the thread. It replaces the previous beginners guide that use to be available. Hopefully I can (gradually) add more with what's already been done.

pmvg · September 3, 2003

Most helpful. Many thanks!

Stooge · October 5, 2003

How to Mod something with the Ilive Reader

I decided to write this because the reader is not 100% user friendly. It's not that bad, but it takes some figuring out, and can be frustrating at times. Once you learn it, you can appreciate how powerful it is. Of course with any complex program, it has a learning curve. I couldn't find any tutorial on the reader regarding actually changing something or makeing a dat mod, so I decided to start my own.

I will try and make the information "prettier" later. I just wanted to get something out there for right now.

=================================================================

This is a quick down and dirty howto for the ilive reader. This article will assume that the user has some familiarity with hex values, as well as some basic computer knowledge, and can install the program on your own. This article will NOT explain how to figure out what unknown values are, or anything else of that nature. This article will focus solely on how to use the reader to change values. I posted this here, because I felt it was an extension of Tropod's work .. and his thread was stickied

I will continue to expand on this thread as I learn more. If anyone finds that I have done something wrong, then PLEASE correct me.

The first thing you will need to do is download the reader. You can find the latest version here:

You can also find the latest properties.xml file at that location as well. You will need to download both.

Install the program.

Unzip the properties.xml file to the same location you installed the reader too.

Now start the reader by double clicking on the reader.exe program.

Before you do any editing you are going to have to setup the options correctly. At the top of the reader window click on the ' OPTIONS ' text. In the drop down box select the ' OPTIONS ' text. This will open the options window. You will need to fill out the following fields:

SimCityLocalte.dat file : \English\SimCityLocate.dat (Where SimCity Install Directory = the location you installed to)

SimCity Folder:

XML Properties file: properties.xml

Properties Folder : Should be set to the directory you installed the ilive reader too.

Once you have all of these setup, Click ok and restart the reader.

Now you will have a functional reader. Congratulations! For more information see Tropod's guide above

Now how do you edit a lot file, mod file, or one of the simcity dat files. Let's look at how to view the stats on one of the original dat files

On the left hand side of the reader you should have a quick launch area. It should have 4 different fields called

Loaded DAT

Simcity DAT

Lot Editor DAT

Plugins DAT

Click on the SimCity DAT one. If you have followed the instructions so far you should see several DAT files in this window. (ie simcity_1.dat simcity_2.dat simcity_3.dat, etc) Selec the simcity_1.dat file by left clicking on it one time. The title bar of your reader should have changed to read "simcity_1.dat - Reader". This means the reader is now ready to view that dat file.

Next click on the Tools option at the top of the window and select Navigator. The reader will then begin building all of the lists it needs by reading the dat file. This may take a few seconds depending on your machine.

Once it finishes loading, it will launch a new window that has "\simcity_1.dat - Navigator" as the Title. You will see several dozen options in the left side of the screen, and the right side should be blank. Let's look at changing the properties on the Coal power plant.

Click on the PLUS sign next to the Power option on the left side nav window. Next click on the Up4x4 CoalPowerPlant option. Now, right click on this option and select "ADD TO PATCH". Next click on the Building Exemplar (Up64x64_CoalPowerPlant_14FD. Right Click on this and select "ADD TO PATCH" Once you have done this, close the navigation window.

Now on the main reader window select the PATCH toolbar at the top. This should bring up a new window that has the Up4x4_CoalPowerPlant AND the "Building Exemplar (Up64x64_CoalPowerPlant_14FD" listed. Hightlight both (Shift + CLICK on each) and select Create DAT opton on right side of window. This will bring up a Windows SAVE AS box that SHOULD be pointing to your plugins directory. If it is not, then you will need to browse to that directory. Next give your new DAT file a name such as Cheap_Coal_Power_Plop.dat

Ok, once that has saved, let's open up the dat file. Select OPEN from the toolbar and browse to the plugin directory. Find the Cheap_Coal_Power_Plop.dat file and click open. Now in the left side of the reader window click the loaded dat bar. Select the dat we just loaded and the title for the reader window should change to Cheap_Coal_Power_Plop.dat - Reader.

Ok, now let's click on the Tools option and then select Navigator. This will open a new navigator window. You will notice that the only option with a PLUS sign is now the Power tree. Click on that PLUS sign. Under that header, click on the Up4x4_CoalPowerPlant. This should expand the tree for this option even further. On the right hand window you should now see a whole bunch of information. It should have the following fields:

Name

Name Value

Data Type

Rep

Value

If you want to know what all of these values do, then you need to start searching the forums. I don't have the ability to put all that information into this article, and frankly I don't know it all yet myself.

Now on the left side, under the Up4x4 CoalPowerPlant tree you should see Building Exemplar(Up64x64_CoalPowerPlant_1F4D) option, click on this.

Ok, now here is a whole bunch of stuff you can do. On the right hand side you should have a new list of options to edit. One of these is plop cost. It is a Sint64 data type and is set to 0x0000000000002710. Now what the hell does tha mena? Open the Windows calculator, and click on View and change it to Scientific. Now you have options for Hex Dec Oct Bin. Click on Hex and enter 2710 (you dont' need all the preceding zeros, they are just there because it is a 64bit value so it has to take that whole space up) once you have entered 2710 click on the DEC option and it will convert 2710 to Decimal which means the plop cost is 10,000$! Now, let's say you think that is too much. You think 1,000 is a much better number so you need to figure out the hex on 1,000. Enter 1,000 in the calculator while the DEC option is checked. Then click on hex and you find that the hex Value is 3E8.

Now let's change the cost of that power plant. In the reader double click on the Plop Cost. This brings up a property window. You will notice it has a value of 0x0000000000002710. We want to change that, so we need to replace the 2710 with 3E8. However, remember that we have to keep the same number of characters or it might cause problems. So change 2710 to 03E8. If you leave the 2 in there you will make it cost 9192 bucks instead of 1,000. Now click on apply and the window should go away. In the right hand side you should now see the value for the Plop Cost = to x00000000000003E8. Close down the navigator window. Now click on the save button in the toolbar, and it will ask you if you wish to overwrite the \plugins\Cheap_Coal_Power_Plop.dat file. Select YES.

Exit out of the reader, load up SC4 and enjoy your $1,000 Coal Power plants.

ilive · October 5, 2003

thanks a lot for this tutorial...

I really wish to write one but as english is not my language, it will be too hard

and osrry, if this program is not friendly, but it's not easy to combine tools for advanced users and beginners (no offense at all in these words)

Stooge · October 5, 2003

----------------

On 10/5/2003 4:12:32 PM ilive wrote:

thanks a lot for this tutorial...

I really wish to write one but as english is not my language, it will be too hard

and osrry, if this program is not friendly, but it's not easy to combine tools for advanced users and beginners (no offense at all in these words)

----------------

You're welcome, I just hope it helps people.

And no reason to apologize. You wrote a complex piece of software that is, by design, supposed to do complex work. It's not going to be picked up by just anybody and completely understood. I just hope I can help someone get over the initial learning curve and start making mods

crazy_thursday · October 12, 2003

what do i need to edit to get negative monthly cost, so it makes me money?

Tropod · October 14, 2003

----------------

On 10/12/2003 4:01:34 PM crazy_thursday wrote:what do i need to edit to get negative monthly cost, so it makes me money?

----------------

Negative hex values is not really something I get into, for a very good reason. It's not really a good idea to be using negative (hex) values as they can sometimes play havoke with the game (depending on what you're doing/changing).

If you want to change monthly revenue, or change the amount of money you start with, I'd suggest changing the Budget: New City Amount property which will change the amount of funds a city starts with, or preferably better yet, change the All RCI revenue multiplier property (just change the first value only, increasing it) which will change the amount of revenue received from the RCI. Both of these are in the Budget Tuning Parameters exemplar.

crazy_thursday · October 14, 2003

thanks, but ive given up on modding now

Pegasus · November 2, 2003

You were not specific as to which Plugins folder to save it to. I tried placing the saved .dat file in both (but not at the same time).. but it won't appear in the game. (checked under power and landmarks) Only the original coal plant displays in the power menu... with the original $10k plop cost.

iMacWin95 · November 2, 2003

Even with my limited modding ability, I can answer this - My Documents/SC4/Plugins. (excuse the french) C'est tres super facile!

Tropod · November 2, 2003

----------------

On 11/2/2003 3:50:42 PM Pegasus wrote:You were not specific as to which Plugins folder to save it to. I tried placing the saved .dat file in both (but not at the same time).. but it won't appear in the game. (checked under power and landmarks) Only the original coal plant displays in the power menu... with the original $10k plop cost.

----------------

You need to be a bit more specific than just this [i.e. what you have done etc]. If you're having trouble getting a Lot to show up in the game, then chances are whatever has been done to it [the lot/dat itself] has not been done properly [or something has not been done & should be], either that or there is another dat file that conflicts with this one [which I highly doubt, but it's still possible depending on what you have/haven't done]. As for which Plugin folder it should go into, well ideally it should go into the "....MyDocuments/SC4/Plugins" folder.

funforfree99 · November 8, 2003

normally it should be placed in \mydocuments\simcity4\plugins However if you have a lot file that edits the coal power plant then as this will most likely pre-date your new modd.

Simcity4 loads up the dats in the order they were installed, so the problem would in this case be your lot file.

However as tropod said more information is needed for us to solve your problem.

Now to Tropod:

would you be interested in creating a colaborated document (a mix of my modd tutorials and your guide) which could be placed in the omnibus for easier viewing.

Hopefully this would prevent the horrible newbie questions that appear at least once a week titled, "How do I modd?!?

Pegasus · November 8, 2003

----------------

On 11/2/2003 4:09:41 PM Tropod wrote:

----------------

On 11/2/2003 3:50:42 PM Pegasus wrote:You were not specific as to which Plugins folder to save it to.... (yada, yada, yada...)

----------------

You need to be a bit more specific than just this [i.e. what you have done etc]. If you're having trouble getting a Lot to show up in the game, then chances are whatever has been done to it [the lot/dat itself] has not been done properly [or something has not been done & should be], either that or there is another dat file that conflicts with this one [which I highly doubt, but it's still possible depending on what you have/haven't done]. As for which Plugin folder it should go into, well ideally it should go into the '....MyDocuments/SC4/Plugins' folder.----------------

Thanks for responding, Tropod.

I followed the tutorial above as a means of getting familure with the Reader. I've since pretty much figured out most of it's capabilities (but still learning)

... and have moved beyond the 'getting Started' tutorial. I still don't know why that 'coal power' lot wouldn't appear in the game, but its no longer an issue.

The part in the tutorial that refered to the 'quick launch area' threw me as I don't/didn't see that in my version of the Reader (v 0.8.4a). I also noticed that with the newer version(s) of the Reader, when first loaded after installation, the left pane isn't visable because the right pane's 'Left Property' is set to zero... so the right pane takes up the entire form. Once the user locates the splitter control between the panes and moves it to the right, both panes are visible and program correctly saves that position on exit.

* I configered my system to have the Reader as the default program for .dat & .SC4Lot files so the Reader fires up and loads those files automatically just by double-clicking on them. I've had 4-5 instances of the Reader up at a time, which speeds up projects that involve multiple .dats & lots.

I do greatly appreciate the tutorial. It helped considerably. It was much faster the the "I wonder what this does... 'Click'!" method... although that too is part of the fun & adventure of getting involved in modding.

Thanks again!

Tropod · July 4, 2004

Ok, well.....it has taken me quite awhile, but I've updated the Reader Guide & my first post above. Quite a bit has been changed & improved, & quite a bit has also been added to the guide. It's still not completely comprehensive, but it does cover quite a fair bit of the Readers' various items & functions; and it also now covers the Plugin Analyser & how it works.

The Reader; Beginners Guide Version3

Any comments/feedback etc, are more than welcomed.

fixel · November 7, 2004

Hi there Tropod,
I have clicked your link but the file (reader guide)is not on your site.
thanks
fixel

eddiem · November 7, 2004

Date:11/7/2004 6:55:57 PM
Author:fixel

Hi there Tropod,
I have clicked your link but the file (reader guide)is not on your site.
thanks
fixel

quote>

It's here https://www.simtropolis.com/modding/index.cfm?mode=details&show=381

NFSPDF · November 7, 2004

I keep on getting no help from no one .I have been making the the lots for awile like the airport and so on.But now I need to figer out how to change the name.Can someone help me out .I need some kind of help .
Thanks
Chris

Tropod · November 8, 2004

I'd suggest taking a look here Make your own mods! in future, & make use of the tutorials & info found either here, in the mods section, &/or in the R&D forum.

As for your question; Try the Item Description Key (0xCA416AB5) property &/or User Visible Name Key (0x8A416A99) property.

maetoch · January 6, 2005

I keep getting a No Entry Selected error when I try to import .fsh files. Is there anything I can do to correct this?

Big_Baazzoo · March 4, 2005

The link is broken...no beginners guide

Komodo · June 14, 2005

Yes, my browser can not open the Link.

Andreas Roth · June 14, 2005

Try this one: https://www.simtropolis.com/modding/index.cfm?mode=details&show=381

How to: Ilives Reader, Beginners Guide

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