ordio

Originally posted by: Forty-Seven Actually the first time i tried this, I used MSPaint to edit the config file, and nothing happened at all. Furthermore i got the proper color by copy-pasting parts of config files that already existed... so it was not a color issue. Losing the terrain on just the part of the map i am editing would not be a horrible loss... but as i said... when i tried with MS paint, it did nothing at all... so even if it does mean erasing a portion of the map, how do i get it to recognize an edited config file? The issue with seeing the background appear and the entire region gone occurred when i used this program - http://members.shaw.ca/scracc/quote> Hi there, Thanks for sending me an email about this.. i haven't done anything with scracc in many years... as i'm sure you can tell So my memory is going to be rusty too.. If i understand the problem, you want to use an existing region, but have a new city layout? Am i correct about this? From what i can see, you changed the config file but not the region... the region is set up to use the config file as before... if you change the config file, then the city layouts are lost... and from what i remember, you can't just change the city layout... you have to import the region as a new region with the new config file set up... Hope this helps! I will watch this topic to see if i can be of further assistance

Wow, been a while since i've been here, but i did notice your request for your own map making program.. I wrote one, link is below... called SCRACC (simcity 4 region and config creator).. http://members.shaw.ca/scracc/ I made it self explanitory on the website for it... You are also welcome to contact me if you have any questions... I haven't looked at the program in over 2 1/2 years, and there have not been any upgrades to it since the version on the website... Enjoy!

Hmm, just so i get this right... 1. Did you want to separate the RH menu (highways) into say, separate menu's? Transportation -> Roads ----------------> Highways -> Ground Level Highway Menu ------------------------------> Elevated Highway Menu This way, all gr lvl and el highway are in their own menus... 2. A new menu in the highways menu, which separates the new interchange options (the ones you are creating). Or am i missing something else? Thanks.

Lol... Well, i don't know if it is possible... That's why i'm going to experiment when i get home later today and see if i can do that... But it's only 8am, and i still gotta get my coffee! haha..

Well, I haven't had time in the past few weeks to try and see if adding additional submenus was possible (like an additional option submenu in highways). I wasn't sure either how to add menu items to a menu, but after reading through (and the "rain" thread helped me understand how to add an item to a menu). I'm off a little earlier today, so i'll do some experimentation with this later today.

Awesome job!! Look forward to seeing where you all go with this new find!

Great! Thank you. This will help me in my quest for the UI modifications in general. Now I understand where you got it from! Thanks again.

Tropod, Yes, I understand what you said... I looked over the "graph window types". 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, 11, 12 and 13 are the values I see. Then I looked at the UI file, and saw these values 0x000040 + (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, a, b, c, d, e, 11, 12, 13). Plus, with the addition of the RCI Totals (400f), and RCI Extrapolated (4021), ... I don't see where you got the 400f or 4021. That is what i am asking. How'd you find 400f and 4021? Or was it just trial and error? Thanks for the find again btw...

Tropod, One thing i'm not sure about with the UI files is the "ID" field. I looked at your AdditionalGraphButtonModd1 file, but I fail to see the correlation between your new id "400f" and "4021" and how you created these, or found these. Any chance you could explain how this is done? Thanks!

Neat! Thanks for this Modd. I looked at it in two of my biggest cities, with extrapolation, and i noticed the highest # that could ever show is 6000. The only thing i can think of with extrapolation is that it corresponds with the demand (RCI bar), but that theory is shot to hell because in one of my cities, as you can see... <br> But according to the extrapolation, I see this. This city is straight Industrial as you can see. So i dont' know what it means, but it sure is an interesting fine. What I'd like to know is, if there is a way to give us the ACTUAL # (pop & jobs), instead of the graph. I know the #'s already exist, as they do exist as the pop & jobs, but to actually see the physical #, it would be great.

Nice find Tropod! Looking at the LUA files, in the location you specified, there are a lot of hex values there. I wonder if the rest of the values could be added to the existing graphs. For example, "Garbage_Incinerated" doesn't show up the "Garbage" Graph. I'd be curious if that can be added? Or a separate Graph that shows all the possible "Garbage" solutions (or existing one modified). I do recall you had modified another graph, but i forget which one... something to do with Water I think? Anyway, is adding all the garbage values to the graph possible?

Your welcome. I've always appreciated what you guys have done with the editor, fixing problems and so forth with sc4 + rh. I thought i'd give a bit of my time to help you guys with the UI. Don't worry, i'm going to continue with it. There's a few things that I want to try out with the UI.

Ok... For those that want to read the first part, this is where i'll explain the UI files itself (if you don't agree, or think i have something incorrect, then please let me know). For those that already know, go onto step 2. Step 1. UI Files. Format for UI Files. I'll just list the ones that some are not sure about... some of the properties are obvious (Based on the title). EDIT: See this thread for a better explanation of the cells in the UI area. - ROOT -- LEGACY: Clsid: Determines whether it is a window, button, text editor, option, bmp, slider, etc. Possible options are, GZWinGen: I think this is to define the entire Popup Window. GZWinTextEdit: Allows us to edit the text within that box. GZWinText: Just a label with information. GZWinBMP: This is a graphic file GZWinSlider: A slider (left to right) which determines local stuff. GZWinBtn: An actual button (like a href=image) feature. GZWinCustom: Custom feature, not sure how to interpret this yet. GZWinFlatRect: Just a rectangle (used to highlight around a label, box, etc) IID: Same thing, except if the clsid is an address (which i don't know what it is), then this will explain what that is doing?? ID: The address of what action (or where) to take it. area: Location on screen of where the text/etc will show up. 0,0 being top left, and i guess 1024x768 or 800x600 for bottom right. fillcolor: color of the fill for the box (0,0,0), in RGB. caption: whatever text you'd like to show up (with a WinTextEdit, the possible choice (ie: (Please enter description here)). transparent: text/image is transparent windows application features. Just like it sounds. image: the Group/Instance of the image. tiptext: the text for the popup tip tipres: the Group/Instance in the ltext file. btnclicksnd: The Group/Instance of what command to run when the command is clicked. (This is where i'm lost!) ---CHILDREN ---LEGACY (All same as above). It will go back and forth in this part to handle all the different UI configurations. So, now that this part has been explained, i'll go onto step 2. Step 2: Creating a new menu. Example: Let's do the example above, where i copied the seaport into the utilities menu. (I'm going to assume you have an understanding of the reader...) 1. First, lets locate TGI (00000000/96a006b0/4992f764). This references the Utility menu. 2. Right click the UI file, and click Copy File. 3. Go to the "loaded dat", right click on the empty space, and click paste. 4. Next, let's locate TGI (00000000/96a006b0/e99237ff). This references the Transporation Menu. 5. Right click the UI file, and click text view. 6. Go to the bottom part on the right, and locate Legacy clsid=GZWinBtn, where the ID is 0xa99234a6. You'll know it is the right one because of the description just below this line. 7. Highlight and copy the line. Besure to copy from at the end of it. (This one is 3 lines itself). 8. Go back to your blank.dat file, right click the UI file, and select "text view". 9. Now, we want to place this new menu option at the end, so we will need to add this new legacy text after the "build sanitary" option. Now paste the entire string into the UI File (assuming you clicked on Edit, made the change, and then clicked apply). 10. Once that is done, we'll need to make it fall in the right location on the menu. Back to the "Area" field, change the values to (68,158,115,195). (I made this these values because if you look at the first 3, they show this combination. 68,8,115,45 - 68,58,115,95 - 68,108,115,145. As you can see, they increment by 50 on each one (second and fourth value).) 11. Everything else can remain the same. 12. Right click where the files are listed, and "reindex", then do it again and "Rebuild directory file". 13. Save your dat in your plugins folder, load a city, and viola! The menu utilities should show you your new menu button. The key here is what your button will do once it is clicked. 0xa99234a6 is linked to somewhere that does this action (which i cannot find?). I know i was asked above to increase the size of the yellow bar so that it fit correctly. All I did was locate the TGI (856ddbac/46a006b0/14215e2a) & (856ddbac/1abe787d/14215e2a), exported it, modified it so that it was extended and imported it into the blank dat). Be sure to use the SAME TGI #'s, else youll have to change the reference id of 0xe992f720 to the new TGI location. You also have to extend the area of 0xe992f720. I extended it from (0,0,110,251) to (0,0,110,351). That'll give the illusion of the longer line). I also decided to add that new tool from above (landscaping), and will explain what i did. 1. Locate TGI (00000000/96a006b0/2bc90671). This references the MAIN menu. Go down until you find id 0x8991ee08. Same as above, copy the text into your blank.dat file. 2. Because the size of the icon is BIGGER than the regular icons, i had to customize the icon. So, i located another menu item of the same size (GI: 46a006b0, 14215e44), and exported it. Made the changes that i wanted to, and imported it back in. But, because that GI is already in use, i changed the instance to 14215e87 (which is the last menu instance used). You will need to make two copies of the same png file. The Type and Instance #'s are the same, but the group # is 1abe787d. 3. After pasting the landscape menu in, modify the image to the new GI code (46a006b0,14215e87). 4. Same as above, change the location of this menu item to fall after the last one. (68,208,115,245). Reindex, rebuild directory and save. You should now have a new landscaping menu button in your utilities! This is as far as i got with my research today. I wasn't able to figure out how to make the landscape menu come up to the right of its new location, but the selection acts as if you clicked it above. I hope this clears up some of the UI and menu options on how it is done. If any of this is confusing, please don't hesitate to ask! I'm planning on seeing if i can change any other UI locations. Wish me luck! EDIT: I added the menutest1.dat file that i used in testing this. This way you can see what I had done to make this work.

Tropod, I couldn't agree with you more. Everytime i tried to update a cell in the UI files, it'd change, but it wasn't actually updated. I had to go the text view to do all the changes. Anyway, i agree we need some more changes to the UI if possible so that we can do more updates to it. This includes the hidden "onclickbtn" cell. ...Ordio

Oh i'm going to... i'm just at work right now and don't have the reader in front of me to post what i did. My plan is to post it when I get home later today.

---------------- On 10/23/2003 11:57:49 AM salamanda wrote: I'm going to have to plead ignorance here, but why would we need to add extra buttons? I think that SC4 already has all bases covered, and can't really think of any new categories that are particularly needed. Also, would we be able to import our own graphics into the game in the form of buttons, and if so, they would look out of place next to the original buttons, as the artwork would be different. I'm sorry if I sound really negative, but it just seems a little futile.---------------- No, don't worry about it. I'm doing this because I wanted to see whether or not we CAN add new menus. As it stands, i agree... We have enough menu buttons. But if we can move a few things around, and make it look better, or fuller, including adding new items like the RH Plop Modd, or a special menu button called "Sim Modds". This way they can be easier to organize. I find putting all the new LOTS and MODDS in the same parks&rec menu/landmarks menu really clutters it all up. I'm also doing this so that I can learn how the UI works. I'm planning on changing the way a lot of the civic buildings work. What I mean is that i'd like to TYPE in the amount for the local funding (like school). Instead of doing that sliding bar all the time, i can just type in the value. I'd also like to see if i can modd the UI to add and change a few things so that everyone gets the UI they all want. (EG: Time and Date where the DATE currently sits). I haven't gotten that far yet, but this is just the foundation of creating new menus. Somehow Yes, we would be able to import our own graphics into the menu buttons. I figured out how to do it... Lots of manual work, but that's the way it is when something new starts out. When creating the graphics though, always use a template (a button that is similar to the original that you wish to copy, then make your changes, and save it as a new instance). ---------------- On 10/23/2003 12:48:51 PM otla1 wrote: Ok, now I have a question..... If you can move items from one menu to another, would it be possible to move items from god mode into the mayor menu? possibly the plant trees or animals button added somewhere?---------------- I don't see why not. It looks simple enough...

Alright! I added a new menu icon (based on the landscape one). This menu icon has its own TGI. And there are two of them, based on the PNG TGI's. Now... All i need to figure out is how to link to its OWN menu structure (right now, when you click on the button, it'll take you to the landscape menu up top).

---------------- On 10/23/2003 10:40:44 AM Ninto wrote: This isn't that on topic but I think it's quite funny. Anyone else notice that the safety bar is going down as the fireworks are in the air? ---------------- Lol.... I found testing the menu structure on my LARGE 500K cities took forever just to load. So i loaded up timbuktu (rh default region), and just started a city in there. Much quicker to load an empty city.

---------------- On 10/23/2003 10:36:35 AM the7trumpets wrote: okay, this is great. But how are you doing it? And can you create entirely new menus underneath the utilities menu, instead of just moving the water structures menu there?---------------- That's the thing, I don't know where it links "0xa99234a6" for the submenu seaports, and the actual seaport items. I'm trying to see if i can create a completely new menu off either the main, or one of the submenus so that say, the RCI Plopables would be in its own menu. I just tried to add the landscape menu into the utilities, and it shows up ok. Except because the icon for "landscape" is bigger than the other icons in "utilities", it is cut in half (looks quite funny in fact). But at least I know what I would need to do to make this work right. Anyway, when I go to click on the landscape, it opens up the landscape menu off the main one. So somewhere there's a link which allows an opening from the main menu, but i haven't had a chance to dive into it more this morning. I will try some more this evening when i'm home from work. I will attempt at making a completely new menu off one of the submenus (say a "simtropolis menu" from the LEX or something. Doing it is quite easy, but i'll try and explain it when i'm home from work. It has to do with UI files and all the legacy/children locations within. I may create a quick excel file to explain what each location means in the UI, but they all seem quite explanitory.

Tell ya what... I'll do two things. I'll do what you suggested (extend it down), AND make the icons closer together. How does that look?

Hi, This is why i'm still up at 2am and i have to be up at 5:30.. ugh! Too be honest.. No clue.... at least for me anyway. Took me about an hour to look at the UI files, and know what I needed to do to make a new menu option (well, at least a copy)... I haven't tried adding (or inserting) a new menu item on the MAIN menu. But only on that submenu. After looking through the UI files, i do understand it more. But i don't know how to link a submenu to a selectable option (that seems to have done it itself when i copied the seaport into the utilities menu). Adding new submenu's is something i do want to tackle... but likely tommorrow after work, which is when i'll try.

Hi, First off, I wanted to thank all the modd squad's with all the modding they have been doing. I've been watching everything being done, and i'm happy to see what they have accomplished. Second, I think i may have figured out the menus!! Forgive me if someone else knew this, but i don't recall seeing anything about menus. Wait a sec! Is the Seaport in the Utilities menu?? Now, as you can see in the first one, i decided i wanted to see the seaport in the Utilities menu... Hmph... In the second pic, there it is! Of course the original colors are there (for seaport), but they are there. And it is functional! Please let me know what you think... I'm not withholding anything, and if anyone is interested, i'll do some more discoveries, as well as post how i figured it out.