docj101

There are many threads across several sites that discuss this same information. However I've looked around and I can't find a good beginners guide for modding that still has active links to pictures or much depth. So I have created this to help fill the void in 2013. I'm sure that people are still (re)discovering the game all the time. This is my small attempt to help them/you get started customizing their cities and experience. Modding Made Easy by -Docj The process for creating 'certain' game modifying plugins is actually very simple. The steps I am going to illustrate in this guide can be applied to anything contained in the simcity_1.dat. From bus stops to the traffic simulator, after reading this you will be able to customize many things in the game to your liking. You can also use the process to adjust the values of downloaded plugins more to your liking. The only tool(s) required for this is "iLives Reader" v1.4. Getting this program installed and working properly is covered here, and here, among other places. You can also use "iLives Reader" 0.9.3 to do the exact same thing however you have to do manual 'hexadecimal' to 'decimal' conversion for everything (hex - decimal converter). It is always safe and very functional to open and view file properties in v1.4, the automatic unit conversion can save time. Sometimes v0.9.3 is preferred for editing because of potential file corruption upon saving with v1.4. I run both readers; trying v1.4 first, then after checking for problems revert to using v0.9.3. Assuming you have "iLives Reader" installed and configured, then you can continue with this guide.*1 The goal of this example: In my example below I am going to modify a city hospital so that 1 actually serves the same function as having 2 side-by-side. I am going to double some values so that it serves and employs more sims. Accordingly I'll raise power/water consumption, costs to plop, as well as increase the pollution this hospital creates. Without some extreme measures being taken I can't successfully increase monthly operating costs of the hospital. I have found altering those values creates a bug causing all hospitals to reset themselves to MAX funding each new month. I bring this up as a good example of things that can go wrong, and the sort of thing to watch for.*3 I will be modifying 7 properties to achieve my desired effect. I chose to make a basic mod with multiple changes to illustrate a few points that would've be hard to explain by making a simple, single value change. Please keep in mind, this is an example, and may not be practical for your personal use. The results of this hospital mod will cause ALL of your region's hospitals to adopt it's effects, but only if the .dat is in your plugins folder. These hospitals can still be funded with sliders according to demand in game. 100% funded is now 6000 patient capacity + 200 doctors, likewise, 25% funded is now 1500 patient capacity + 50 doctors. Cost per patient in this hospital mod will be cut in half, this is the only attribute where original game balance is somewhat lost. The process for creating a basic game modifying .dat file. 1. Launch "iLives Reader", open simcity_1.dat, 2. Bring up the 'navigator' view window. 3. Within the left side directory tree: navigate to "Civic Buildings" > "Buildings" > "CV44x44_LargeMedicalCenter_0313" 4. Within the right side properties window: recognize those highlighted are the 7 properties I will be adjusting for the hospital. Double-clicking any property opens it for editing. From here I am going to begin with 'demand created'. 5. (This only applies to "Reader v1.4") After opening a property to edit you'll see the editor. In the editor window change the values from 'default' to "Display as" 'Int' (integer). Now you see the property's value in a form that is easily altered. In this example below, the associated property ID is also shown, and this will not be changed. *2 6. In the appropriate field of the editor window you can change the 'value' to any number you want. In this example I am using 'demand created' and multiplying jobs x2. For a building where you find 'demand created' for jobs and amenities together: the values should be increased together equally. What this is doing is creating the extra jobs and ensuring residential demand for the appropriate sims needed to work there. These 3 numbers are the distribution between $, $$, and $$$. Notice most workers are $$. 7. Click "set" then "apply". The property window will close at this point and the changes are temporarily saved. 8. Now, I am going to move right down the list, adjusting the remaining 6 properties one at a time. To keep the balance of the original hospital I am going to double the values. Most properties are straightforward and easy to recognize and modify. However, 'Sint64' 'data type' doesn't convert 'int' correctly for me. If I type 2200 for "plop cost" and hit 'set', the number turns into 8704. I had to enter the number in as 'hexadecimal' aka 'base 16' instead of 'decimal' aka 'base 10'. If I convert 2200 from decimal to hexadecimal I find that 898 entered as 'int' will give my desired 2200 cost to plop in game; double maxis default. *2 9. These last 2 properties are best thought of as a pair that you should increase together equally. The term "catalog capacity" is refering to the number the game uses to properly display the capacity in the menus. The corresponding "hospital patient capacity" is refering to the number the game actually uses and shows you upon building query. Keeping these values the same ensures 'displayed capacity' and 'actual capacity' are the same everywhere. I will change these values to 6000 now. 10. Now that all 7 values have been adjusted I want to make a small .dat file that will override the default values in the game by being in the plugins folder. I don't want to just try and 'save' these changes directly to "simcity_1.dat"; that would be permanent and it doesn't work that way. So on the left side directory tree 'right-click' "CV44x44_LargeMedicalCenter_0313", then click "add to patch", then open the "patch manager" by clicking on it's button up top in the 'tools' panel. 11. In this window you will see "CV44x44_LargeMedicalCenter_0313" as the only entry. Highligh it, Click "Create DAT". A dialog asking for a filename and location will appear. You can name it anything you want as to easily identify it (i.e. My_Hospital_Mod). 12. Navigate to where you saved the .dat file and drag or copy it into your '....username\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins' folder. 13. Next time you enter the game you will see your new capacity at all maxis hospitals, without rebuilding. That's it, that's all there is to it! This mod works applied directly to my game with no problems. "IF" you encounter problems with the 'budget slider' after editing civic buildings, you may need to bulldoze all existing civics of that type before using the mod you created. Bulldozing all civics of a type first also allows for 'budget cost' adjustments to work. I realize I made this explanation rather long. I wanted it to be easily understood by even the most novice of modder. Using the steps I provided you can start using your imagination. For example: maybe you decide your Sims found a way to make burning coal cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient. Now implementing such a change yourself is possible. You can lower pollution amount and radius, lower the plop and operating costs, and increase power capacity... maybe name it "Infamous_Clean_Coal_ Tech". You can now open anything you want to look at and adjust it's values. Start making some .dat files for yourself! A few tips: You can copy and paste properties and values to speed things up. You can open multiple .dat files side by side for comparison or to find properties you may want to copy. You can add multiple adjusted files to a .dat by repeating steps 1 - 10 clicking "add to patch" each time. After you have added multiple files go to step 11 and you can create a .dat that combines those changes into one mod file. You can open any other previously created .dat or lot files to edit and save, or create a .dat of your own from them. Try to avoid creating conflicts by having 2 mods of the same type installed simultaneously. Always test in game for effects, allowing an in-game year or more to pass before you are convinced everything works as you intended. Some properties can be added in places they previously didn't exist, the best way to know what works is testing (i.e. can you add jobs to a water pump? hmm). For 'Float32' "data type" enter your value with "display as" 'default' selected in the editor window. You can open .sc4lot .sc4desc and other files inside of reader. Reading other threads after following this guide should make more sense now. Explore the wealth of information on this site and others. Never use the 'save' option on SimCity_1.dat, always 'create DAT' in patch manager. Sometimes v1.4 will corrupt properties of a file upon saving. If you notice this happen modify the file with v0.9.3 which uses hexadecimal only. You should always test your results of mods in test cities to ensure everything works correctly, in case you create a bug such as the 'phantom slider bug'. Sometimes a bug like 'phantom slider bug' will require you to obliterate city to make it go away! I recommend toying with things yourself as much as possible; discovery is half of the fun! The more you explore and experiment, the more you will learn, have fun with it! I hope this helps someone who has wished to modify their game, or encourages others to do so! And don't forget, removing the file from the plugins folder will undo the changes, so don't be afraid to experiment. *1 Notes: *1: Remember to always make back-up copies of any file you intend to modify, or using to make modifications from. This is just good practice in case you ever have a problem. Especially have a copy of SimCity_1.dat sitting somewhere because if your game ever corrupted; you can usually fix it by just overwriting the bad .dat with the good one. In general make back-ups a part of your life. Never click 'save' on your SimCity_1.dat. *2: My installation of Reader v1.4 doesn't convert integer for 'Sint64' data type properly, this may just be a problem specific to me. Usually integer is the best way to enter the value, but if you click 'set' and see the numbers change from what you just entered, you have the same issue. In this case just use a 'Base-10' to 'Base-16' online calculator to convert the 'decimal' number you want to use into the appropriate 'hex' value. Then use that number and hit 'set'. This is the same process for all value changes made in Reader v0.9.3. *3: The 'budget cost' can be adjusted, but it requires that all hospitals (or w/e adjustable budget building you are working with) are bulldozed before putting the mod in your plugins folder. Once this bug is triggered cities can require obliteration (or restore from back-up) to make it go away. Test budget changes to the default civic buildings in test cities, or leave budget alone. It is safe to adjust budget of all custom buildings in y experience. You can read more about this so-called "phantom slider bug" in the replies below. Thanks for reading! - If you found this helpful or interesting for other reasons please let everyone know by voting this post +1 in the corner below! Please don't quote the whole post for replies, scroll wheels would overheat.

or.... 0.063 Acres

exactly. historical buildings can change to an abandoned building but nothing else. using the building query tool you can look at the building stats, the historical checkbox is there.

If you want to play a city building game, SC4 still pretty much the best there is. SC2013 feels like a browser based, social media site's, stripped down idea of a city builder. You might suspect that as a descendant of the previous SimCity games it would reflect them; however they were ALL better then SC2013. Toss in all the community content and you can't find more depth in a game.

You can get rid of the old blue colored UI and you couldn't 2 years ago. Check the link in my sig ^^!

As Joe mentions maybe it isn't loading last. Perhaps a failed version of the mod hasn't been deleted from your plugins folder and is loading last still? Check for hospital/clinic mods residing in your plugins folder and remove them temporarily to the desktop if your not sure if you want to delete them. Prefix your mod like Joe says and it would load last even if a conflicting mod exists. Also, have you verified that your mod (.dat) is in your C:\Users\{username}\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins folder? As I mention above: It sounds to me as though you have successfully created the mod, so again I am led to wonder if it is in the proper location. Sorry if this question is patronizing.

I have posted this poll in an attempt to understand the lowest common resolution that players use. I need this info in order to make certain modifications to my future custom UIs (user interfaces). For instance: I could use the entire length of a 1920 screen to place UI elements, allowing me to get rid of the sidebars and have everything emerge from the bottom of the screen. Of course if I do use a width of 1920 that would not work on a more narrow resolution (it would simply disappear off screen). This is why I am after the lowest common resolution; so I can have max compatibility for my modded UIs. Eventually there will be some UIs made that will only work on 1920x1080 since that is my particular resolution. Thanks for your vote!

I have been doing some work putting together a new GUI (re-skinning, not changing functions). At first I thought this would be easy, but it's been harder then I thought. Piecing together several PNGs in layers to make things appear as one piece is required for all areas of the interface, it was a pain. I am not finished refining anything yet, but I do have a preliminary example of how it can look. Now that I have all of the pieces needed found and organized (out of ~2500 files) it will be much easier for me to go back and overhaul the visuals as much as I want. I plan to eventually make some GUI uploads to the STEX of various themes/colors. I'll share what I currently have with you to see what you guys think about the idea of changing the GUI, but keep in mind this is a sample. I have to refine the whole design yet; adjust text colors, feather edges, antialias, add borders, adjust fades, etc, etc, before I would call this ready for primetime. The theme of my first new GUI will be greyscale. Note: this is an in-game screenshot; not a photo-shopped screenshot. This GUI will be ready for download in a few more days! I include the 'before' and 'after' pictures for side-by-side. What do you think? Does the old blue UI need an overhaul? -Docj

Good find. I hadn't noticed that before, but you are right it won't scroll down for me if me my mouse is in the corner panels area. I can still scroll left. I must have done something that causes this because the default UI doesn't have this behavior. I'll check into it, should be something fairly obvious. I'm guessing I made the corner a pixel too tall, making it's transparent bottom drop off screen. If that was the case you couldn't actually push the 'edge' because the edge is out of your range. Some photo effects used resize the png if you don't stop it from happening. I probably let that happen. Thanks for the heads up! p.s. I have a bangin cheery blossom camo pattern already sitting in my toolbox waiting to get used. edit: (couple minutes later) The corner is the right size. I'm not sure why it does this. I'll try to fix it, just gonna have to use right-click and drag to scroll diagonally in that direction for now. edit: (10:10pm EDT) OK, so I figured it out. I had to add color to the transparent fill areas and make the fill invisible. Now I can scroll down at the corner. I'll wait a few days before I update version in case any other fixes come up.

In the case of these UI files they don't require # for comments they just begin with the tag. The legacy tags also aren't started and terminated like typical, simply starts <LEGACY =cslid ..... and terminates with a >. As far as code or script goes.. I'm not a programmer so I don't know for sure how to define one or the other. I can say that these files are different from LUA. LUA files contain instructions (scripts) that say things like "when this equals that do this". The UI files more or less act as a database that the .exe refers to when it needs to know where and how to place elements. They only say "this equals that". The .exe says "hey UI file.... I want to put the -whatever- on screen (cslid=xyz); which PNG, and LTEXT files do I display and where, what color is the text, and other things?" The UI file contains all of the information for text colors, resource locations, coordinates, etc for the cslids the .exe asks about.

Yep, the whole UI is like that. The moveable flag isn't always present but can be added. Certain flags are required and others are optional depending on the type of element. Each separate element has it's own ID with a legacy tag. There is a <legacy> tag denoting the parent at the root level and then their is children <legacy> tags underneath. The children wouldn't need the flag if they inherit it from their parent. Sometimes (usually) there is more then one parent in a UI file. Below is the entire structure for the smallest UI file containing only one parent (the start new city panel for region view). <LEGACY> <CHILDREN> <LEGACY> <CHILDREN> <LEGACY> <CHILDREN> <LEGACY> <LEGACY> </CHILDREN> </CHILDREN> <LEGACY> <LEGACY> <LEGACY> <LEGACY> </CHILDREN> Something I am still trying to figure out is why the moveable flag doesn't make windows moveable. The moveable flag is set to yes for the budget window, for example.

No, I mean by using a direct link. I always use a direct link, but if I have it set on photobucket's end to deliver original image size the direct link causes the error. The direct link looks like this https://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t7/docj101/banner01_zps7ed66520.jpg~original. It works when I insert image using the link, but when I hit 'post' I get the error. So I always just insert the link without the ~original setting. edit: (8:50pm EDT) I had never really looked much into it, but I went to my host website and realized it has confusing settings. The max resolution it allows me to upload might be 1024x768, since that is the max resolution it will display on their own site. I don't really understand the original option now that I read it. Originally I thought it was saying even though the max displayed resolution on the site is 1024x768 it could link out my picture in it's original dimensions. Perhaps it means the already degraded 'original' of 1024x768 that's on their site. Either way, with that option selected, my links trigger the site error msg when I press post. I also noticed that screenshots I upload directly onto ST for the STEX will display in any resolution I upload. So I think for the most part lack of resolution in screenshots is due to hosting limits.

UI files are just code. Looks like this: (This is about half the code that controls the opened news window.) It isn't formatted quite right because of a copy/paste (lost indentations), but you get the idea. <LEGACY clsid=0x89e1567c iid=IGZWinGen id=0xca2aedc0 area=(270,783,1027,826) fillcolor=(0,0,0) winflag_visible=yes winflag_enabled=yes winflag_moveable=no winflag_sizeable=no winflag_sortable=no winflag_pbuff=no winflag_pbufftrans=yes winflag_pbufferase=yes winflag_pbuffvid=no winflag_alphablend=no winflag_acceptfocus=yes winflag_mousetrans=yes winflag_ignoremouse=no blttype=tiled userdata=0 moveable=no sizeable=no defaultkeys=no closevisible=no gobackvisible=no minmaxvisible=no closedisabled=no gobackdisabled=no minmaxdisabled=no titlebar=no fill=no outline=no paint=yes sidebar=no gutters=(64,64) > <CHILDREN> <LEGACY clsid=GZWinCustom iid=IGZWinCustom id=0x0000aaaa area=(320,1,354,35) fillcolor=(119,119,119) caption="0xaa6767aa" winflag_visible=no winflag_enabled=yes winflag_moveable=no winflag_sizeable=no winflag_sortable=no winflag_pbuff=yes winflag_pbufftrans=yes winflag_pbufferase=yes winflag_pbuffvid=no winflag_alphablend=no winflag_acceptfocus=yes winflag_mousetrans=no winflag_ignoremouse=no winflag_enable=no > <LEGACY clsid=GZWinBMP iid=IGZWinBMP id=0x6a2aedca area=(0,0,757,43) fillcolor=(0,0,0) winflag_visible=yes winflag_enabled=yes winflag_moveable=yes winflag_sizeable=no winflag_sortable=no winflag_pbuff=yes winflag_pbufftrans=yes winflag_pbufferase=yes winflag_pbuffvid=no winflag_alphablend=yes winflag_acceptfocus=yes winflag_mousetrans=no winflag_ignoremouse=no image={46a006b0,144161f0} imagerect=(0,0,757,43) notify=no transparentbkg=yes edgeimage=no caption="" winflag_enable=no > <LEGACY clsid=GZWinFlatRect iid=IGZWinFlatRect id=0xca2aeec0 area=(35,5,711,38) fillcolor=(221,238,238) winflag_visible=yes winflag_enabled=yes winflag_moveable=yes winflag_sizeable=no winflag_sortable=no winflag_pbuff=yes winflag_pbufftrans=yes winflag_pbufferase=yes winflag_pbuffvid=no winflag_alphablend=no winflag_acceptfocus=yes winflag_mousetrans=no winflag_ignoremouse=yes colorleft=(0,0,0) colortop=(0,0,0) colorright=(0,0,0) colorbottom=(0,0,0) caption="" winflag_enable=no > <CHILDREN> <LEGACY clsid=0xca1492ac iid=IGZWinCustom id=0xaa12f33c area=(0,0,676,54) fillcolor=(255,0,0) winflag_visible=yes winflag_enabled=yes winflag_moveable=yes winflag_sizeable=no winflag_sortable=no winflag_pbuff=yes winflag_pbufftrans=yes winflag_pbufferase=yes winflag_pbuffvid=no winflag_alphablend=no winflag_acceptfocus=yes winflag_mousetrans=no winflag_ignoremouse=yes caption="" winflag_enable=no > </CHILDREN> <LEGACY clsid=GZWinBtn iid=IGZWinBtn id=0xca2aedcd area=(28,3,718,40) fillcolor=(192,192,192) winflag_visible=yes winflag_enabled=yes winflag_moveable=yes winflag_sizeable=no winflag_sortable=no winflag_pbuff=yes winflag_pbufftrans=no winflag_pbufferase=no winflag_pbuffvid=no winflag_alphablend=yes winflag_acceptfocus=yes winflag_mousetrans=no winflag_ignoremouse=no image={46a006b0,14416241} colorfontnormal=(0,0,0) colorfontdisabled=(0,0,0) colorfonthilited=(0,0,0) colorfontnormalbkg=(0,0,0) colorfontdisabledbkg=(0,0,0) colorfonthilitedbkg=(0,0,0) toggle=off triggerondown=off showcaption=no fill=yes autosize=no wrapcaption=no shiftcaption=yes tips=no tipsdelay=no tipstimeout=no style=standard gutters=(0,0,0,0) tiptext="" tipoffsets=(0,0) tipflag=0x01000000 align=center btnclicksnd={ca4d1943,8a5c321b} caption="" winflag_enable=no > <LEGACY clsid=GZWinBtn iid=IGZWinBtn id=0xca2aedcc area=(721,6,753,38) fillcolor=(204,204,204) winflag_visible=yes winflag_enabled=yes winflag_moveable=yes winflag_sizeable=no winflag_sortable=no winflag_pbuff=yes winflag_pbufftrans=yes winflag_pbufferase=yes winflag_pbuffvid=no winflag_alphablend=no winflag_acceptfocus=yes winflag_mousetrans=no winflag_ignoremouse=no image={46a006b0,144161f7} colorfontnormal=(0,0,0) colorfontdisabled=(0,0,0) colorfonthilited=(0,0,0) colorfontnormalbkg=(0,0,0) colorfontdisabledbkg=(0,0,0) colorfonthilitedbkg=(0,0,0) toggle=off triggerondown=off showcaption=no fill=yes autosize=no wrapcaption=no shiftcaption=yes tips=no tipsdelay=no tipstimeout=no style=standard tipflag=0x01000000 align=center btnclicksnd={ca4d1943,8a5ec047} caption="" winflag_enable=no alphablend=no > </CHILDREN> <LEGACY clsid=GZWinGen iid=IGZWinGen id=0xaa231508 area=(130,174,570,402) fillcolor=(0,0,0) winflag_visible=yes winflag_enabled=yes winflag_moveable=yes winflag_sizeable=no winflag_sortable=no winflag_pbuff=no winflag_pbufftrans=no winflag_pbufferase=yes winflag_pbuffvid=no winflag_alphablend=yes winflag_acceptfocus=yes winflag_mousetrans=yes winflag_ignoremouse=no image={46a006b0,144161f8} blttype=normal userdata=0 moveable=yes sizeable=no defaultkeys=no closevisible=no gobackvisible=no minmaxvisible=no closedisabled=no gobackdisabled=no minmaxdisabled=no titlebar=no fill=yes outline=no paint=yes sidebar=no gutters=(64,64) > <CHILDREN>

When I try to link a full resolution picture I get an error msg "You are not allowed to use that image extension in this community". I use photobucket, it might work linking to other hosts, but idk.

Minor correction: This works only if you have the query tool selected and hover over the building, but do not click on it. If you click on the building and then try this, nothing happens. Also, if you have this display on and then click on the building, the display goes away. lol, you are right. hover is what I meant to say. people would have realized that on their way to click anyway.

Good stuff to know. At least I wasn't entirely wrong; the first thing Jason mentions is to export the building again. It's nice to know that export isn't required as it isn't always possible. I always just discarded lots with anomalies like that, perhaps I'll try to fix them in the future.

This is said elsewhere, but relevant here: With the Extra Cheats Plugin DLL, you can use it as a debug tool for mods you have created. I call it advanced query. You can check on a building's power and water consumption even when it isn't normally reported. Or you can check on the number of jobs being supplied by a building: broken down by wealth type. Among other things. You do this by holding down ctrl+shift+alt while hovering on a building with the query tool selected (assuming the .dll is installed).

Interesting, I didn't know that. I also wouldn't have been able to discover that on my own since I have a smaller monitor that doesn't do x1200. The height isn't as much an issue as width is for what I have in mind. At the end of the day: I am really trying to get a feel for how wide can I go while not alienating the majority of people that may want to use it.

No problem, you brought up a very fair point. My assumption regarding desktops in this scenario, is because the demographic is "gamers"; most "gamers" tend to play on desktops. This is true because of a few reasons, but foremost is you get more performance per dollar spent. It is true that since this is an older game it is probably played much more commonly on laptops then anything newly released is. You make a good point about the site statistics having good aggregated data about screens that visit the site, however it doesn't necessarily mean that is the resolution people choose to run the game. People could like lower resolutions for larger text or better performance.