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DLL Plugin for SimCity 4 that extends the game's data views. This plugin includes a modified data view UI that adds dedicated radio buttons for Moisture, Park Aura and Landmark Aura data views. The modified UI is otherwise identical to the standard Maxis UI, so it will work with existing mods that re-purpose the Maxis data view radio buttons. The DLL also supports a Transient Aura data view, this data view is provided as an optional DAT file that replaces the Garbage Pollution data view. Download: https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/36632-data-view-extensions-dll/ Source Code: https://github.com/0xC0000054/sc4-data-view-extensions Differences from Cori's Park Aura Mod This mod adds a new radio button instead of replacing the Garbage Pollution data view. The highlighted items on the Park Aura (and Landmark Aura) views are Parks/Landmarks instead of Garbage facilities. References See That Unused Moisture Data View for a description of how the moisture data view works. See Cori's Park Aura mod page for a description of how the park aura data view works. New Features for Data View Modders Data View Sources The DLL adds the following new data sources. The Data Source Property Value item corresponds to the numeric value of the game's "DataView: Data source" property (0x4A0B47E5). Name Data Source Property Value Description Landmark Aura 13 A data source using the game's landmark aura data. Transient Aura 14 A data source using the game's transient aura data. New Data View Highlight Modes The DLL adds the following new highlight modes. The Highlight Mode Property Value item corresponds to the numeric value of the game's "DataView: Highlight mode" property (0x4A0B47E9). Name Highlight Mode Property Value Description Park 10 Buildings that have a Park Effect exemplar property are highlighted. Landmark 11 Buildings that have a Landmark Effect exemplar property are highlighted. System Requirements SimCity 4 version 641 Windows 10 or later The plugin may work on Windows 7 or later, but I do not have the ability to test that. Installation Close SimCity 4. Copy SC4DataViewExtensions.dll and ExtendedDataViewUI.dat into the top-level of the Plugins folder in the SimCity 4 installation directory or Documents/SimCity 4 directory. Optionally copy z_DataView - TransientAura.dat into the Plugins folder in the SimCity 4 installation directory or Documents/SimCity 4 directory. Start SimCity 4. Troubleshooting The plugin should write a SC4DataViewExtensions.log file in the same folder as the plugin. The log contains status information for the most recent run of the plugin. If you would like to make voluntary contributions to support me in continuing to create more content for SimCity 4, I accept donations via PayPal: https://paypal.me/0xC0000054 Thanks to the few people who have donated to me. Special Thanks To @CorinaMarie for beta testing the mod and providing the Park Aura and Landmark Aura screenshots.
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Version 1.0.1
410 Downloads
A DLL Plugin for SimCity 4 that extends the game's data views. This plugin includes a modified data view UI that adds dedicated radio buttons for Moisture, Park Aura and Landmark Aura data views. The modified UI is otherwise identical to the standard Maxis UI, so it will work with existing mods that re-purpose the Maxis data view radio buttons. The DLL also supports a Transient Aura data view, this data view is provided as an optional DAT file that replaces the Garbage Pollution data view. Differences from Cori's Park Aura Mod This mod adds a new radio button instead of replacing the Garbage Pollution data view. The highlighted items on the Park Aura (and Landmark Aura) views are Parks/Landmarks instead of Garbage facilities. References See That Unused Moisture Data View for a description of how the moisture data view works. See Cori's Park Aura mod page for a description of how the park aura data view works. New Features for Data View Modders Data View Sources The DLL adds the following new data sources. The Data Source Property Value item corresponds to the numeric value of the game's "DataView: Data source" property (0x4A0B47E5). Name Data Source Property Value Description Landmark Aura 13 A data source using the game's landmark aura data. Transient Aura 14 A data source using the game's transient aura data. New Data View Highlight Modes The DLL adds the following new highlight modes. The Highlight Mode Property Value item corresponds to the numeric value of the game's "DataView: Highlight mode" property (0x4A0B47E9). Name Highlight Mode Property Value Description Park 10 Buildings that have a Park Effect exemplar property are highlighted. Landmark 11 Buildings that have a Landmark Effect exemplar property are highlighted. System Requirements SimCity 4 version 641 Windows 10 or later The plugin may work on Windows 7 or later, but I do not have the ability to test that. Installation Close SimCity 4. Copy SC4DataViewExtensions.dll and ExtendedDataViewUI.dat into the top-level of the Plugins folder in the SimCity 4 installation directory or Documents/SimCity 4 directory. Optionally copy z_DataView - TransientAura.dat into the Plugins folder in the SimCity 4 installation directory or Documents/SimCity 4 directory. Start SimCity 4. Troubleshooting The plugin should write a SC4DataViewExtensions.log file in the same folder as the plugin. The log contains status information for the most recent run of the plugin. Source Code and Support Plugin thread: https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/763502-data-view-extensions-dll/ The plugin's source code and issue tracker are located on GitHub: https://github.com/0xC0000054/sc4-data-view-extensions If you would like to make voluntary contributions to support me in continuing to create more content for SimCity 4, I accept donations via PayPal: https://paypal.me/0xC0000054 Thanks to the few people who have donated to me. Special Thanks To @CorinaMarie for beta testing the mod and providing the Park Aura and Landmark Aura screenshots. -
Episode 4 - First fire department in 50000 years
TheMurderousCricket posted a City Journal entry in Saving Magnasanti...
So if a building were to ignite the entire city would burn... - TheNobleGoon Episode 4 Christmas season was still alive while this part of the Magnasanti diary was written and this is perhaps why things got a little lazy in New Magnasanti. Everyone, me included, was just relaxing. One thing I know for sure (and happily share with you) is that New Magnasanti Sims have got a taste of white, carefree Christmas, despite all the wrong and scary that surrounds them. (Also, this is the only cheat I intend to use - two "Winter Wonderland" parks, which normally does not happen in-game) We can slowly resume our work on the city. Bit by bit. One of the things I haven't examined yet is the petitioner queue. I guess it has to be long... Ok, let's get the red tape flowing again, I open up the petitioner window and this is what I get: Hm, at least some of the advisors are smiling... Quite a lot of remarks/suggestions/death threats. Some are really valid, while others are not. Worthy of note is the fact that, coincidentally, the most important issues have been listed first - lack of hospitals, schools, parks and an overwhelming feeling of senselessness. These are the most burning petitioner issues, conveniently placed on top of the list. Looks like me and my Sims are generally on the same page. In case you're wondering, I'd like to show you at least some of the messages that I have received. For instance, I haven't seen this one in a long while: I'm not even sure if it's English anymore... Hmmm... This makes me wonder of what use all these libraries actually are. I'm afraid the word "cat" is spelled with eleven orthographic mistakes around here... Don't even mention grammar... I may not be a native speaker, but man...! Looks like comrade Mao was right when he said that "To read too many books is harmful", because all these libraries seem not to be doing much! Oh. At least one woman around here seems to be literate and has a perfectly good point. Luckily, we have our firefighter stations to help us out. More parks will also do the job, so this issue is already being taken care of! Ummm. What can I say... I burst with laughter (plus a classic "coffee spray") upon reading this. Sometimes, I just can't help the feeling that the "Society for the Excessively Cultured" son de verdad las paletas. A marina. In a city without a drop of surface water. Way to go ma'am. Way to go. What is it that you say? "Our waterways?" "Renowned guests arriving in splendid seacraft?" I bet these are "splendid spacecraft" that you have actually seen... I guess the (mental) health in New Magnasanti is even worse than I thought at first... I'll have to take a closer look at this issue. And fast! Whew. Hearing out the petitioners might be helpful in a mayor's work but it is an exhausting chore as well. Especially when you are up against silly constituents. With that in mind, let's put the paperwork aside for a while and take care of more pressing issues. There is a very important matter we should see into. Something that you might be keenly interested in... Shall we take a look at the crime charts? Hmm? Hmm? Here's how the situation looks like in this episode: Let's compare it to how the things were last time: This, ladies and gentleman, means that the crime has been cut almost by half. And all this by "just" establishing an effective correctional system. Needless to say, it proves the theory that prisons indeed do play a vital role in maintaining the order in a city. I think this is actually comparable to how recycling centers reduce the amount of garbage, or how railways relieve the traffic burden. The "miracle" which has just happened proves, again, how all the relatively small things are only noticed on a grand scale. Probably, you wouldn't get quite as much of an effect in a 15k resident city as you get when doing the same thing in the 5.7mln New Magnasanti. This city is an interesting testing grounds for various buildings, theories and mechanisms and it doesn't take that much time to get to the results, whether good or bad. I'm really happy that the crime has been cut down and that my instincts were correct. The rest of the crime probably stems from a myriad of other problems this city has and I hope that all of them can effectively be solved in time. But in order to perform other miracles like that, I need to have a free mind. I can't be bothered by all those petitioners. Some help in brainstorming and targeting for better, more effective solutions, could be helpful. I heard there are private companies who are willing to offer help and advice to mayors in distress. Since New Magnasanti's charter allows to hire commercial contractors for advisory roles, I happily invited one of them to set up the shop in my city. I even gave them a nice parcel and helped them build their new headquarters. Bah, I even took 'em a picture: Just a step away from the subway station! On our first discussion, the VC experts provided me with a very concise and brief advice... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?" I have to admit this is true on many levels in New Magnasanti. One of the things I won't even bother with is the water system. You've seen it. An outstanding grid that needs no improvements. Another such item is the subway system, which covers the entire city. It could perhaps use a few tweaks and connections. It only runs in looong, continuous "V"s that don't intersect with each other. Of course, it doesn't mean the system deserves to be bulldozed or something - on the contrary. Just through-connected a bit. Just to let you know, I am colorblind. Green, yellow - all the same. And one more thing... the commercial demand. I think I may actually cave in and let the commerce grow as it pleases... I specifically mention this, because I've been trying to nudge the developers to rebuild and renovate some of the residential areas. However, due to a zero R demand, there is hardly any will for that. Bulldozing already existing buildings cannot help, because there is not enough "momentum" for any new buildings to rise. Therefore, there are only two ways in which this can be achieved. One of them is the "same old, same old" type of thing - granting commercial developers enough land to construct the buildings and businesses the city needs. Theoretically, this could kickstart a search for new employees which, in turn, will need new homes. This way, some of the existing buildings will probably be replaced by nicer, more elegant homes. Another way is to stimulate the "urban renewal" through the taxes. Raising the residential taxes to some outrageous levels, causing new abandonments. This could give me a chance to remove some of the dilapidated buildings. And once the taxes return to normal and Simtizens move back in, nicer apartments are sure to shoot up into the sky. Hard to tell which one's it gonna be... Maybe a combination of both? I should probably mention that this is only an aesthetic change. There won't be any bad or good things coming from the fact that a grey high-rise is transformed into a proud, marble-white tower (except for the tax income of course). This will not solve New Magnasanti's problems. But, I feel this is a right thing to do... Art and aura-wise. I guess this means... welcome back commerce? I'll wait a few weeks or months for the new development to take root... aaaand, I will also increase the residential taxes a bit... I promised you a screenshot of the current budget anyway. In the meantime, I plan to close down all the unneeded prisons that are scattered around the city. Yep, I was not entirely honest with you - I actually placed more than the initial 25 in order to speed up the reeducation process. Believe it or not, most of these prisons are currently completely empty, just few months after experiencing a massive influx of thieves, crooks and other cutthroats. Not to worry - in the other cities I've built, I actually noticed that once a prison "recycles" all outstanding criminals, there just won't be another "wave" of them coming... unless you really ignore the problem. This is why it is perfectly safe to close down any empty prisons one may have if the city is no longer expanding. In fact, the things in New Magnasanti look so good that I can even close some of the jails which belong to the "penal colony"! More will follow. Well, I must say I am pretty satisfied with the crime reduction, which was (is?) the key point of our today's "meeting". Other elements might be much harder to improve, but not impossible to do. Health and education will be a real challenge... Who knows... I might even be forced to create "hospital villages" or "educational camps" in much the same way I did with jails. Could be a lot of trouble but should be fun too. I look forward to this work. I hope you had fun reading today's episode and I also hope you'll stick around for the upcoming ones. Have another look at New Magnasanti. Not to many changes in the urban landscape this time, I admit.- 3 Comments
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- fire department
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Episode 3 - Aura and the crime
TheMurderousCricket posted a City Journal entry in Saving Magnasanti...
These cities resemble microprocessors viewed through a microscope - many identical components packed to reach maximum efficiency - John Johnson Episode 3 I’ll be frank with you. I really wanted to make another „Streets turning red” joke, but I think I can hear crickets chirping outside my window... Anyway, I’d like to open this episode by making a reference to the people who actually do sport red color on their vehicles. Behold, the first two fire stations in New Magnasanti (upper left and lower right corner)! Not much for a city this size, but a much-needed support nonetheless. I just think that a single squad of firefighters, embattled by flames erupting from every possible direction, is a very tough and sad thing to witness. Luckily, this will soon be a thing of the past and the number of these life-saving professionals will increase. Considering I have inherited six billion simoleons from the previous mayor, building a fire protection network should not be a problem. In this situation, placing even a hundred fire stations is an expense comparable to the cost required to plant a tree… But let’s put these considerations aside for a while. This time, I’d like to focus on something that is probably the single, most time-consuming and burdensome task on my “to do” list – un-ticking the “Make historical” boxes. Not all of them at once of course - just the buildings in the immediate vicinity of Camp Freedom. I’d like to be as systematic as possible about it, so all abandoned projects will be the first to go. These areas will be “de-historized”, dezoned and repurposed. The existing, fully functional buildings will be dehistorized as well. This may give the developers a chance to build something new there. The former mayor Imperar, has forced his Simtizens to live in identical structures which are just plain depressing. However, judging by the land value of some of the residential areas, there is a potential to rebuild them into something which is actually attractive and pleasant to look at. Hopefully, they will eventually turn into more handsome buildings. You know, some elegant white and brown-shaded bricks instead of the “henhouse high-rise” style that repeats over and over. (See? I invented a building name for all of you BAT-dwellers. You’re welcome.) Of course, I do not intend to document the entire process of un-ticking, so forgive me - no pictures from this action will be shown. In any case, I can assure you that, even for a part of the city, this was a looooooooooooooong process… Maybe this is why I feel like I worked out on my elbow. Once un-ticked, all abandoned areas have been bulldozed and dezoned, to uncover a lot of land and possibility for a new growth: Wow! At last – some space to breathe. But now is the time to decide what should be done with it. Like I said, I am reluctant to let the commercial developers in. It is a very complicated decision though – remember the 11% unemployment? Exactly… This is why I plunge back into the city depths and continue with the demolition of close to 1000 neighbor connections that New Magnasanti “enjoys”. This, actually, is not a made up number – there are roughly that many subway connections here. I’d like to have a better control over commercial demand and these tunnels are like “pumps”. Except it’s demand instead of water they’re pumping in. Oh! Speaking of water, I also wanted to show you how the water system in this city looks like. This is one of the few things in New Magnasanti, which I do not plan to change: A perfect, well-watered grid. The only disadvantage is that New Magnasanti actually buys all water from neighboring cities. But this is a different topic for a different day. The most important part is that the water system is in an excellent shape. I just have to rebuild the two missing water treatment plants that were probably destroyed on the revolution day. Rrrright… yadda-yadda-yadda. I just realized I do all this storytelling to procrastinate a more serious issue, which I referred to by the end of the previous episode… Fighting crime. As it (surprisingly) turned out, all of these police precincts cannot handle the crime in the city at a normal 100% funding level. Something I thought is perfectly possible. The inflated police funding is just necessary to keep the crime in check. Such high police funding, however, significantly decreases aura throughout the city. In case you are wondering how the current aura situation looks like, here it is: Pretty bad, eh? From my experience, keeping the police accountable for their deeds can really lift city spirits up. Currently, this sounds like a luxury though - better sad but safe rather than happy and stabbed to death by a random cutthroat. However, as a handsome, smart, educated and virtuous young man [redacted by 'globaladministrators' – @TheMurderousCricket - Keep it down, it’s not a dating site. This is your first and only warning.] I do have two theories on how to solve the crime problem in New Magnasanti. The first theory has legalized gambling at its core. A very profitable but also a very problematic ordinance if not carried out correctly. I guess this is what must have happened here! I open up the books and… Sssssugar… It’s been disabled all this time! Pity. Onwards to the second theory then. Theory #2 suggests that the crime at 100% funding stems not from the ineffective police or the sheer criminal power but from... the lack of jails. I can’t see any of them here in New Magnasanti… Oh wait, there it is. Can you spot “Wally” in the following picture? To be honest I never, like, believed the “revolving door” argument, stipulating that the lack of jails accounts for a high crime rating. Sure, I did plop a jail in each of my cities, but only at my own pace and whim. Still considering them fairly useless. But… desperate times require a reconsideration of our beliefs. I doubt if it helps… But let’s give it a try anyway. The only question is how many jails a crime-ridden, 5.7 million city needs…? Hmmm, let’s make it 25 for now, k? I shall put them in the empty spaces that I gained after dezoning. Oh the irony… A huge jail complex just two blocks away from Camp Freedom… If you are in the mood for a “trivia time”, I can tell you that the area covered by the penal colony is larger from Camp Freedom by roughly 0.3 square kilometers… In any case, the prisons are up and running, though ridiculously overcrowded (you don’t wanna know by how much...) Currently, this is one of the most important municipal services, tasked with the job of reeducating the Simian (wow, it’s a homophone people!) detritus that has infested New Magnasanti. Unfortunately, the influence of all prisons combined is strong enough to trigger some new abandonments and even the rock-solid “henhouse high-rises” fail in its vicinity. Sadly, this cannot be fixed just yet. Everybody has to clench their teeth and simply wait it out until the wave of convicted criminals clears. Perhaps then, the number of prisons may be reduced to a reasonable quantity and the aura will improve. Currently, the situation in this corner of the city looks rather depressing… But there are some good news as well. I did not make a separate shot of the RCI demand meter, but if you take a look at the picture below, you will find that the residential demand has climbed back to normal (despite some abandonments near the prisons). This has happened automatically, apparently without any action on my part… It looks like the mass exodus has simply been caused by the shock the city has sustained, but it looks like everything has fallen back into its place. I’m now going to let the time fly and let the prison officers do their job. So now we wait a bit… But it doesn’t mean a day off for the Mayor. In the meantime, I’d like to do some more work on the city infrastructure. I think I’ll run a few more streets through the free spaces I still have. For your convenience, I have briefly turned off all the ugly buildings that obscure the view: I think I will fill the remaining spaces up with parks just to lift the Simtizen’s spirits a bit. Yep, a fire station can find a good home here as well. As far as fire stations go, I wanted to show you something… Remember the aura map from one of the previous pictures? Here’s how it looks like after a few more fire stations have been built. See anything interesting? I was happy as a kid in a candy store when I discovered how powerful the fire stations are. Not only do they protect Sims from fire, they also bring a noticeable boost to the aura in the region! What I did, was to randomly put a few more fire stations in areas that were no longer used (read: abandoned). As you can see, the aura in these areas have visibly improved, which proves just how much SC3000 Sims cherish safety. The safer it is, the better the general well-being. I would say that this is one of the things that we as players sometimes don’t even notice and frequently scoff at - “How on Earth can a single ‘X’ improve ‘Y’? Rubbish…”. Apparently, this is a logical dead-end and it is only on an extreme "-santi" magnitude that things like that are properly noticed and appreciated. I wonder if this will also prove true in the case of the crime problem… I believe we are drawing to the end of the third episode. However, before I wish you all a pleasant day, I think it might be a good idea to take a note of the current crime stats for later comparison and record-keeping. This is my #1 concern these days. Then we’ll compare if there is any difference between the current state and the future. Here is the crime situation by the end of the third Episode: Naturally, I also offer a glance at the entire city by the end of Episode 3: Thank you for your visit and have a nice day! Feel free to share your comments and thoughts below.- 3 Comments
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What would be involved to make a Landmarks Aura mod?
Leo -- posted a topic in SC4 Modding - Open Discussion
I never tried to make an exemplar mod before but I always wanted to make a Landmarks Aura mod after I read about it in the SC4D wiki so I read up some ilive's Reader tutorials however they were mostly related to building properties. So I don't know what I'm doing can someone give me a tutorial to modding data views it will be much appreciated. -
Hello, Park aura is important to stimulate the growth of the city. The question is, how to produce park aura with lots? Thanks.
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Hello everyone, I recently started playing SimCity 4 again and I am loving it. I was always under the impression that all the city parks (skatepark, flower garden, community garden, tennis court, etc) have the same effect and just increase the desirability a bit or something. However, today I saw a video about getting the most people in a small plot and they said something about the different effects of those things. Is there a place somewhere that has all the effects listed (and also other info about similar things)?
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Version 1.0
2,057 Downloads
CoriBoom™ Productions Proudly Presents... Cori's Parks Aura. It's time to explore Park Effect in Data View form. In our 4th official CoriBoom™ release to the STEX, @CorinaMarie and I are delighted to present a mod which represents the effects of Parks Aura as a Data View. SimCity 4 is an intricate and creative city building simulation, featuring extensive information for how interactions are connected with various wide-ranging gameplay variables. Much of this happens under the hood, and so it's not always plainly evident exactly what's going on. There are ways to observe and determine the desirable and more unsavory parts of town. In terms of a visual representation though of aura effects, this isn't directly defined as displayed data. As such it might not be apparent just how far the negative aura spreads from the local landfill, or the positiveness generated from plopped parks. By knowing this information, it's possible to make design decisions based on what it means. As we've all become familiar with the standard offering of mayoral tools, Cori's Parks Aura is a mod you may not have realized might ever be useful. However, we believe it is very much so. What this allows is a completely new perspective into the diverse interactions of the simulation, and to determine more distinctly the reasons for residential development in different locations. Background Info Parks Aura is a primary YIMBY factor in SC4 which allows residential development to thrive. However in the game, this data is hidden away in the simulation and cannot visibly be seen. The standard Desirability view can help to a limited extent. This represents several variables including "Transient Aura" effects, but it doesn't directly depict the Park Effect as many ploppable lots provide. That's where you may find our mod useful, giving a new perspective to see how this important data is formed within a city. It can be used to make strategical city planning decisions for where zoning should take place, and also to identify the sources for where either the positive or negative Park Effect is emitted from. Note that this mod is a visual representation of the Parks Aura within each city tile. It doesn't modify or alter the strength of aura effects, or any aspect of the gameplay whatsoever. Main Design Features Extreme cogitation has been devoted into all modding aspects: Proven verified accuracy in the data representation. Distinct breakpoints allow the data to be seen clearly and precisely. Blending between the green and neutral allows for a gradual transition of the aura magnitude. Updated legend scale with distinguishable colors (and value ranges represented). Neutral aura is shown as an opaque and contrasting white shade. Subtle transparency which lets the terrain show through. Landfills and other trash processing facilities are highlighted yellow in the panel map so they're visible. RCI zones appear when the view is active. Overrides the standard Garbage view. The Data Distribution As mentioned, extensive testing has been conducted to identify the breakpoint thresholds forming the scale. This was done through a methodical and progressional testing approach, incrementally narrowing down the possibilities until identifying where each range is distributed. This is important because it means the distributions of how colors are arranged is fully accurate to their true values. For representing the data, a Color Ramp scale is used. As follows: This forms how the Data View panel appears with the 9 breakpoints: Sample Pics In addition to the above previews, here's a few samples from how the Parks Aura view appears in game: (Click to enlarge, and the arrow keys can be used to flick between them.) Deuteranopia Version (For color blindness) To help in consideration for people with Deuteranopia color blindness, we've created a version specially with an optimized color scale. This allows the full extent of the ranges to be seen in shades from dark yellow to dark blue, meaning they contrast distinctly to equally represent the Parks Aura data accurately. Here's the file to install in the same way (place in your Plugins folder instead of the main file): zz_Deuteranopia DataView - Cori's Parks Aura v1.0.dat Open the spoiler below for a sample: Note on Maxis Parks An observation from testing is how the Maxis Parks generate a high amount of aura. This is cumulative which means it builds up as more are located within a close vicinity. As such it means they're prone to producing the maximum extent of Park Effect that is shown as the top end Lovely side of the scale. For reference, here's a list of the data values: With these strengths of effects and it's very easy to build a few Small, Medium, or Large classed parks and see how the coverage soon mounts up. Additional Notes Aura Thresholds The highest aura the game tracks is 166 and above, which is represented by the Lovely shade. Once the 100 threshold is attained, this is significant because it's the maximum usefulness for positive aura. As per what @xxdita posted here, it's the most that RCI see as an aura growth cap (YIMBY factor). Quoting for reference: Color Layering Due to the color ramp having a light opacity which depicts the data in a more elegant fashion, occasionally the Yuck color at the negative end will appear somewhat purple shaded when over water. This happens because the shades mix up with the added blue hues. Additionally the same applies for different terrain mods also. Any given terrain mod will alter the color on the playing area. The scale has been optimally designed for regular green and brownish terrain, however the layering may appear differently depending on each individual type of terrain. Game Glitch Discovered: Phantom Aura You may occasionally find how some Park Effect still persists from an unknown source. As per what @Naomi57 posted here, and @xxdita also did here, it can be seen how the data is still shown even with nothing plopped to generate the effect. When bulldozing some lots which produce aura, we believe our mod is revealing how the game doesn't always fully tidy up the underlying data. In our own tests, it doesn't appear tied to any particular lot. Also any given lot may or may not produce the leftover incorrect Park Effect data. As a potential remedy, we suggest to run at least a full month of game time prior to bulldozing any park, especially on ones larger than 1 x 1 in size. Then save the game, bulldoze the lot, and run a few more days while watching our Parks Aura data view. Should the glitch appear, now exit without saving and come back to try again. Or better still, avoid bulldozing any parks! This really is an area where it was never known about until having a tool to show it. Quite possibly this view might explain why sometimes there can be stalled development if the phantom aura is causing it to be. Making regular backups of one's cities is thoroughly recommended in any case. Again, just to emphasize how our mod doesn't alter any data, and only displays what the game already has calculated. This is all internally stored and presented from within the internal saved file. Location of Garbage Since we expect most people already effectively manage their garbage well, only the location of the trash facilities is displayed (highlighted yellow). Additionally, the Garbage Graph is more useful if needing to know how close to capacity one is, over the trends of time. Installation This mod uses the standard process of installing SC4 content. Copy the z_DataView - Cori's Parks Aura v1.0.dat file into the root of your Plugins. The file is prefixed with a "z_" to ensure it loads last. This is important because otherwise the replacement view wouldn't override others which alter the Garbage Data View. So, just to be clear... *** Replaces the default Garbage Data View *** (And let's face it, that is pretty rubbish for usefulness! ) Note: This v1.0 version is functionally the same as the final v0.15 beta release. The exception is a small change that rearranges the legend scale text, making them sequentially ordered from the low to high range values (which seems more logical). Special Thanks To everyone who helped with testing and posting feedback from the inherited development thread, the scope and direction wouldn't have been achievable without your valuable input to assist. In particular, the meticulous testing carefully conducted by @Naomi57 with each posted beta version inspired this release to be possible. Thank you! // CoriBoom™ Productions Release \\ Cori's Parks Aura v1.0 — (26 Jan 2020)
