gizmo28

Ok my attempt at a weather mod is complete, this version only has rain at the moment because I don't want to waste a ton of time on this if to many people cant really use it due to the games cpu usage. It's available at my website in the miscellaneous mods section. Make sure you read the readme file. Screenshot: https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//rain.jpg align=baseline> The effect is random, make any comments about the mod here or at my website in the mods forum, no requests, because I'm not taking any for this mod. If you don't like the mod or can't use it because your computer is to old / slow, I'm sorry.

Originally posted by: s_olah I downloaded the weather from gizmo's site...but that doesn't really do the trick...but what the hell, it's certainly better than nothing...Thank you all for the replies, and thankx hamish for the link...quote> There was another version i was working on, but I just never finished it due to real life stuff, not sure when I'll get back to it, it had bug where it would crash the game and I never figured out what it was yet, so i never released it.

Congrats to all the people that won this year and thanks to those that nominated me. I wish I had more time to write some more here, but I got myself on a deadline for my next MOD.

Originally posted by: Duvad Haha, this is EXACTLY what I was trying to do when I made this thread not long ago: https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=41&threadid=92167&enterthread=y I guess Gizmo worked it out?quote> I actually had this worked out when i started the weather mod way back. The reason no one been able to do it is because it requires editing some stuff in the effect's directory, still needs some work, but it's almost done. There was a quite a few changes to make to some files, so some other mods might not work and that would have to dealt with later when i get issues reported, but I have to have two versions already due to the fact if you use my fog mod which also edited the main effect's directory. The movie more or less shows the entire day/night cycle, the days arent as long as they used to be.

I was working on a new version that had rain, snow, lightning, thunderstorms and better sound, was almost done with it but my cd got destroyed. I just picked a new copy a few days ago and plan on going back to working on it, but it will be a while as I'm a lil rusty from not modding in a while. I also had some othe mods I was working like darker nights and such.

As i wrote a few posts up, thats due to a bug or something. Try moving the lot somewhere else on the map, not having it touch road tiles also helps sometimes. Do you hear the sound get played at all? If not I believe the lot needs power for the effect to work, been a long time since I looked at the mod. I'm installing all my stuff back on my old pc and may look into modding some more, there was alot of stuff I figured out before I lost everything.

Originally posted by: IDS2 The thing is, there's few people on this site who are good with those things, and most are MIA.quote> A weather Mod is possible, because I have done it, it's not easy to to do either, I actually started a second version which I gave up on, because it was just to time consuming to keep testing, as I have to create the thing in hex code. IDS2 is almost correct about the few people comment. The truth is I think I'm the only one proficient enough to create a new effect ( by this I mean I can make anything as I a have understanding of the whole effects dir and all its sections, I actually became more proficient than RedLotus who decoded it), which is what is needed to make it work right, just adding effect to a lot is not enough, you HAVE to create a proper effect then attach it to a lot. This can be seen with that lot from my site, which was just a test run, which sometime doesn't work depending where the lot is placed on the map, that issue comes from the fact I'm making a screenwide effect starting from a lot which can be placed anywhere, and the effect is being drawn "out of bounds", this explains why people dont see rain/clouds, but hear the sound. The second version I had started clouds, rain, hail/sleet, snow, and lightning, it was almost done when I gave up, but I got tired of testing my code and entering game, then editing , then repeating the above actions over and over. My game cd actully became unusable from being used so much since I loaded the game like 60-70x a day when testing my code. That about sums up my comment on this. Oh and yes I do still lurk around here.

I was able to make some new prop effects using effects we dont normally have, heres just an example in this screenshot, you may recognize this one as the effect you see when obilerating a city. This test prop goes off at 12 pm and does the sparkling, flashes and the shaking of the screen. I'm going to see what others I can make before I release anything.

Coming soon to a MOD section near you! NOW available at my site in the misc mods section for downloading! All these new flora will be selectable from the mayor mode tree menu and dont replace any of the default trees, these do not grow. Heres some pictures of the flora and you can see the menu with the icons also.

After a long leave from this site and mine, I've finally updated my mods, all the prop mods have been updated to fix issues regarding BATS using the ID range that I used for the props, you dont need the new ones unless a BAT or lot asks for the new version, if any of the BATS or lots use the old ones and you don't feel like changing the props in the lot editor, the old versions are in my Mod Archive section on my site. The Stealth Bomber UDI was also changed to fix a little bug I never got around to fixing before, and the Water Flora Mod was also changed to make the water less transparent, it's only tranparent a bit out from the shore, if you like the old version then you can just keep on using that one. The next thing I plan on working on is the Weather Mod that I never quite got passed the first stage.

Originally posted by: Jerebannus XVI why isn't the site working?quote> Define not working, being vague doesn't help me know what the problem is, seems to be working fine for me. Maybe you didnt get your activation email to activate your account, which seems to be the case, If you read the annoucements you would see that some domains bounce them back, and I have to manually activate those accounts, which I do within 24 hours.

Originally posted by: Buggi What'd you do to the bomber?!? And why haven't I found it?quote> Just fixed a minor thing, not sure why you havent found it on my website.

I took a stab at trying to mod powerpoles, after 2 hours of trying to draw freehanded i got this so far( my drawing skills suck).

Just a update on this mod, I've been very busy, and havent had time to work on it, but I have some time off from work coming soon and hopefully I can finish it.

Had to put the mod on the backburner for a bit, having problems with my website and host provider which some of you may know as my site is locked. Have to work out the problems before I can allow it back online or work on the mod.

I agree with what your saying DM, but i don't think a viable editor can be created, a editor wont help you understand the directory if you can't follow the the index keys and redirects to other sections to get get all the necessary parts of the effect, also some effects must be edited or added in the core file for them to work properly, the fog mod was a example of this. I know I really sound negative about the editor but i just don't see how one could be made to do all the things needed to make and edit a effect. A editor would have to be able to follow the redirects and index keys in the appropiate sections, be able to add dwords in the where needed if you have to add reps to a certain function while shifting the code where you added the dwords, among the other numerous things that are required for a effect.

Date: 7/2/2005 10:27:48 AM Author: MrVegetable If you can do that and get it working then I shall download!!! A recommendation for the lightning: We already have a destructive version of lightning in the disasters area, so why not put some non-destructive 'sheet lightning' in that has something like a 1 in 100 chance of causing a temporary blackout for about 5 game hours or smething, if that's possible.quote> Its only destructive in areas with no fire coverage, not possible to cause a blackout with a effect, or least I havent found a way yet.

I have rain, lightning and snow almost done, but I've decided to remove the clouds all together, they just aren't worth the problems and slow down they cause in the game,the clouds are the biggest slowdown of the game in this mod and if removed, more people could use the mod on any tile size.

A editor isn't really needed at all, if you want to make new effects like I do. The way I see it is, it's good theres no simple way to edit the Effects Dir, otherwise everyone would start messing with the original one by maxis and it would start causing all kinds of trouble, would have to keep track who added what to it and etc, some effects will only work if they are modded and added in the original dir and this would start causing problems down the line. To make new effects as a stand alone dir the way I do, all you need is a good hex editor that you can paste into from a word document since you have to write the code out anyway. A editor would be useful to make simple changes afterwards though. Theres still a bunch of unknowns for the dir that actually affect the way your effects will work, and this alone makes a editor hard to make. This file isn't something that should be easy to edit by everyone due to the harm it can do a persons computer, you can really mess up someones game with this file without them knowing, for example I can make a effect that will crash and hard lock your computer while your playing the game and you have no choice but to power down and restart, and you wouldnt know why cause most people wouldn't know what that file is in a dat if I stuck in there with a bunch of other files used with the game and added it to a lot to go off on a certain time or even randomly,the way most people add multiple plugins to a game it would be hard for them to figure out which plugin it was that did it, I know this is possible cause in learning and making effects I've done this many times by accident. The original effects dir should never have to be edited or edited for any reason what so ever, there is no need to. This is my take on the subject, hope you see my point of view and why I agree with not be able to edit the dir in the reader.

Date: 6/23/2005 9:55:00 PM Author: Cjah I have that mod and it doesn't get that cloudy... Or at least it never was that cloudy when I showed it in my C.J. quote> That because you play on large city tiles, so the effect is more spread out, this is true of all effects, even the maxis clouds do the same thing as mine. I could make them bigger but the strain on anyones computer would make the game unplayable.(would have to make 2 versions for this cuase then the clouds would be to big on the small/med tiles, not worth the time IMO), I did my best with it, but You cant force a square peg into a round hole. The game is a simulator and there's to much already going on in the background, it wasn't made to have this added to it. Maxis knew this and thats why they never did it themselves or added half the other stuff there was talk about like that rain tool, the stream tool which actually would of created moving stream water.

Next part, Lightning coming soon! It will be random and appear in random spots, it can and will start fires in areas with no fire coverage, I might make a non destructive version some time down the line after I finish the next part I plan on adding. here's a little video link : http://www.gizmo.lunarpages.com/lightning.avi (requires DivX codec),showing the lightning briefly in game. This link will only be up for a few days.

Date: 6/17/2005 9:24:39 PM Author: scififan68 Date: 6/17/2005 6:40:44 PM Author: gizmo28 Date: 6/17/2005 1:40:19 AM Author: Jqoc this is a really great mod, but do you think you could make the rain effects denser? it looks way too sparse especially when you're zoomed inquote> The game will become unplayable on fully developed large city tiles and then the mod will have to be removed as the game will slow down severely if i make them more dense, the way i have them now it's balanced, Cant do anything about the zoom due to the fact your zoomed so you see less, the drops appear randomly on the screen and fall from where the game spawns thems. The game is cpu intensive, and a screenwide effect is very demanding for a simulator,if you think about it Maxis probably chose this reason to leave out weather and some of the other stuff they never fully implemented. quote> you did not tell us that:The game will become unplayable on fully developed large city tiles and then the mod will have to be removed as the game will slow down severely if i make them more dense:and I think it did that. quote> Umm first you might want to read why i wrote that, since your taking out of its context, that was in response to his request, secondly it clearly states in the readme that it will cause problems on large city tiles and it's said on first page of this thread quite a few times.

Date: 6/17/2005 1:40:19 AM Author: Jqoc this is a really great mod, but do you think you could make the rain effects denser? it looks way too sparse especially when you're zoomed inquote> The game will become unplayable on fully developed large city tiles and then the mod will have to be removed as the game will slow down severely if i make them more dense, the way i have them now it's balanced, Cant do anything about the zoom due to the fact your zoomed so you see less, the drops appear randomly on the screen and fall from where the game spawns thems. The game is cpu intensive, and a screenwide effect is very demanding for a simulator,if you think about it Maxis probably chose this reason to leave out weather and some of the other stuff they never fully implemented.

Date: 6/13/2005 1:24:40 PM Author: scififan68 Date: 6/12/2005 11:24:11 PM Author: gizmo28 Date: 6/12/2005 10:59:37 AM Author: scififan68 ok , do you need water lakes around in the area for the rain to work.quote> No you dont need any water on map for this to work, theres a little bug where if the lot is placed in a certain area of the city, it work at all , seems this happens with certain effect from maxis also, why i have no clue, only way to see if thats the problem is place the lot in a diffrent area of the city. No matter what I do i cant seem to fix it as the bug happens randomly, mostly on the large city tiles. quote> It there a 'lot' to make it rain. I noticed when I installed it,it sayed there was a 'lot' but I was wondering if there was. quote> Yes there is a lot to make it rain since the effect had to be placed on lot for it to be in the game, its in the utililties water menu with the name of Rainwater Collection Plant.