How to change the config file that came with a Sc4mapper file

[Serkanner]

Dear simcity4 friends,

With the creation by Wouanagaine of two great tools: SC4Terraformer and SC4Mapper the map making community received two very powerful instruments to create even better maps for the game then were already being made before.

Soon after the release of the SC4Mapper the new maps started to hit the different exchanges of the SC4 communities. There is one slight pity though; the SC4M files come with a pre-defined config file. In other words: the map creator decides how the map will be divided in-game.

Fortunately there is a way to change the configs afterall. A few months ago I experimented with some new maps ( Sc4M files ) and came across this problem. With the help of JPlumbley of NHP I learned how to alter the config file that comes with every SC4M file.

I also remembered that I once read a short tutorial how to easily change a config file. If my memory serves me right it was written by either Bigredfish or Tolomar, but anybody who does know please tell me so I can give proper credit. Now I have combined the info of these two "tricks" into one simple step-by-step tutorial for changing the config files of SC4M. Lets go!



Basic config changing:

1. Open the config.bmp in MSpaint.

2. Click View --> Zoom --> Custom and select 800%

3. Click View --> zoom --> show grid   

( every square you see in the grid is ONE small city tile )

4. Pick blue for BIG, Green for MEDIUM and red for SMALL city tiles.

5. Notice that:

A BIG city tile     = 16 grid squares,

a MEDIUM city tile     = 4 grid tiles

and a SMALL city tile     = 1 grid tile

6. Pick the "fill with" tool on the left of the screen and start creating the config to your liking.

7. Save (as) ... and remember that the name of the config file in the region folder must always be: config.bmp




Changing the config file for maps made with the SC4Terraformer program:


1. Place the sc4m file and the config that came with it in a temporary folder ( on your desktop for instance).

2. Make a new folder in the region folder of the game ( where all the regions are listed ( my documents/simcity4/regions/ ... )).

3. Copy or cut the config that came with the sc4m file ( and is now in the temporary folder ) to this new folder and alter it to your liking.

4. Open the SC4Terraformer program

5. Click file + open a region ... select the new region you have created in which the altered config is.

6. Click global tools  and select import image --> select the sc4m file you have put in the temp folder and press ok

7. The terraformer is now building the region ... when its done you click file + save and the region is saved to the correct folder with the altered config file.

8. Start up the game and admire your new region. Of course you will have to open all the city tiles once to see the real region and not the image that was "placed" there from SC4M.


I hope this was usefull for some.