SC4 Devotion Forum Archives

I wrote this for fun...

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhomepages.vub.ac.be%2F%7Ejjborms%2FSC4%2FpathCreator3.jpg&hash=f354ceb140d05ad1761dfd48f6ac7097d0059bd8)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhomepages.vub.ac.be%2F%7Ejjborms%2FSC4%2FpathCreator7.jpg&hash=1b29a24a1c6053e96cadfd5fbb204848fa890aff)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhomepages.vub.ac.be%2F%7Ejjborms%2FSC4%2FpathCreator9.jpg&hash=349beaafa32cadcaf2fec893a2424b123302c815)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhomepages.vub.ac.be%2F%7Ejjborms%2FSC4%2FpathCreator6.jpg&hash=ddd33f895c8b273a3abf23906a0b5bb86d296146)

this tool allows you to view multiple paths at the same time, so you can see if they align well. Paths can be easily created from scrath by clicking the rectangular views (single or grid), as clicking there will add points to the "active" path.
As you can see from the screenshots, you can set a background picture to the views (at this moments only picture formats are supported, so you'll have to convert the textures to jpg or png first).
You can also use text view to import existing paths (paste it in with ctrl-C (copy) ctrl-V (paste)) and whenever you do any edits to text view (for example to fine-tune the coordinates or edit path names) just click the update button and other views will be reset.

this tool was written in Java and you probably need the JRE 1.5 or higher to run it (but most people should already have that I hope)

<< beta link removed, please get the latest version from the LEX >>

edit: just realised maybe I should've put this in one of the tools forums... we'll see ^^

whoa! nice one!

Hello Daeley, this is a really clean tool, and I can see many uses for that one  ;D
I have a quick question. Do you plan to add the z dimension representation in the perspective view ?¿. I think it would make the tool even more useful  ;)

Brw, if you want the topic moved to the tools board, just let me know  ;)

Hi Daeley-

I must say, as a transit modder, this is an extremely useful tool.  I can't put into words how great this is.  It's amazing to actually be able to visually see what you're doing with the paths.  It cuts down on a lot of excruciating trial-and-error.  In fact, I just messed around with it some, and finally got around to updating the paths on the 7-lane version of the "Turning Lane Avenues" (TLA) project I've been working on.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg139.imageshack.us%2Fimg139%2F9708%2Ftla7repathedxf5.jpg&hash=f9c7776044f29fd3802730e709a2708a1bfbb4ab)

Again, many, many thanks for creating this tool!   :thumbsup:  It's one of the best things that have happened in transit modding for quite some time.

-Tarkus

so are suicide lanes now functional  ?????

QuoteI wrote this for fun...

Dont get me wrong here... because anything that can make pathing easy (er ;) ) and therefore new Transit lots/mod and the like more readily available is much appreciated...


But us folks here seriously need to take ya out on the town a bit...   :)

Quote from: The former Mrs BourneID on February 22, 2007, 08:03:00 PM

Dont get me wrong here... because anything that can make pathing easy (er ;) ) and therefore new Transit lots/mod and the like more readily available is much appreciated...


But us folks here seriously need to take ya out on the town a bit...   :)

:D :D

hehe, I was just bored with gaming :p wasn't that much work really...

And about a z-dimension in isometric view... I've tried it a little bit already, but it isn't easy to show in a "clean" way... I'll probably have to enable rotating the isometric view to get it done (argg algebra nightmare) so you'll have to hold your breath a little long ;)

This is a wonderful and useful tool! :thumbsup:

Quote from: daeley on February 23, 2007, 12:31:44 AM
And about a z-dimension in isometric view... I've tried it a little bit already, but it isn't easy to show in a "clean" way... I'll probably have to enable rotating the isometric view to get it done (argg algebra nightmare) so you'll have to hold your breath a little long ;)

Holding breathe......holding..........holding.........hhhoolding.......hhhhool........ ( how long ?¿  &hlp)

I have read this now three times and have no clue at all what this does...  ()what()

Would it be something I should do in my game or do only modders use this?

sebes: it's only needed for transit modding :)

Quote from: daeley on February 23, 2007, 07:29:11 AM
sebes: it's only needed for transit modding :)

That explains it... lol. I opened this thread three times yesterday, stared at it for a while, and couldn't make out what all the fuss was about. LOL! Sorry...  $%Grinno$%

I still think it's a great tool though, judging from the others' reaction.  :thumbsup:

I am sure this will be quite useful.

Quote from: daeley on February 23, 2007, 07:29:11 AM
sebes: it's only needed for transit modding :)

Thank heavens!  And I agree with Marius: from the other reactions I understand this will be a great addition to the in-game traffic. So, I will look forward to using the final transit mods that this enables  :thumbsup:

I updated the perspective view to support z-scaling and rotation (file at the original link is updated).

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhomepages.vub.ac.be%2F%7Ejjborms%2FpathCreator11.jpg&hash=9b58316c177d838e105bb60b4fb441850d241523)

note that picture quality is slightly worse in perspective view because I ditched the Java Graphics2D affine transforms, but they were giving me too much of a headache when rotating the view.

Nice job daeley, specially because you were bored, but looks like in the end it came out great. You must get bored more often $%Grinno$% :thumbsup:

Quote from: Rayden on February 24, 2007, 05:58:58 AM
You must get bored more often $%Grinno$% :thumbsup:

Agreed.


This is so useful. Thank you very much  ;D

Quote from: Rayden on February 24, 2007, 05:58:58 AM
You must get bored more often $%Grinno$% :thumbsup:

:satisfied: don't worry, it happens a lot... especially since I stoppped playing World of Warcraft

Quote from: daeley on February 24, 2007, 07:06:24 AM
:satisfied: don't worry, it happens a lot... especially since I stoppped playing World of Warcraft

Please don't start playing that again.  ;)  :D

made a few minor updates and bugfixes. From now on, the latest version will be available on LEX.

I'm with M and Sebes on this one but can't wait to see the results from our 'traffic' guys....

Thanks  :thumbsup:

Wow this looks very usefull!   &apls To bad I wouldnt know where to start!  &ops
Do you know of any modding tutorials to get me started?

cameron, you can start with Redlotus Tutorial. Ignore what you dont need and go to the paths pages  ;)

A link is found in this message:

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=714.msg19146#msg19146

looks good, but, how it works?  ()what()

Daeley, hey- great tool, and it works perfectly.

Except, as best I can tell, under Windows 64-bit Vista.  I used it all the time with 32-bit Vista, but when I replaced my worn out laptop, I didn't have the option to stay with it.

I've tried everything I can think of.  The latest Java runtime appears to be installed and working.  I get just a flash of the Command Line Screen when I click on either single or multi-path, but then there's nothing.  I'm presuming it's just one more in the long list of incompatible stuff (my Palm T|X, for instance- what the heck?), but hoped you might have some insight.

Thanks.


David

strange, there shouldn't be any platform-specific code in there.

Can you open a command line windows, go to the folder where it's installed and run one of the batch files? If it doesn't work, you should get some sort of (textual) error report.

Thanks, my friend, for the tip.  It led me to the issue- I had to manually set up the PATH to include the Java runtime executable.  I added "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.6.0_05\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin" to the end of that environment variable string and PathCreator now works just fine.

Thanks again for developing this great tool.


David

strange, normally that should be done automatically when you install java. Well, I'm glad it's working now :)

a birdy whispered some feature requests in my ear...

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhomepages.vub.ac.be%2F%7Ejjborms%2FpathCreator20.jpg&hash=f29b62c26e94c70a89a5936a41e7f60048774481)

Yes, yes, yes!  Copy, mirror and reverse buttons--those will save so much time.  daeley, you are the man!

-Alex (Tarkus)

I don't do paths, but such buttons would be incredible useful for creating T21 exemplar files configurations...  :satisfied:

As someone who has just begun the joys of trying , (and I say that loosely) , any addition to this tool that would help some of us (who have no idea what they are doing  ::) ) would be appreciated! And if what Andreas says is true , I'm in heaven!!!


Jayson

Quote from: sithlrd98 on December 11, 2008, 03:05:16 PM
And if what Andreas says is true , I'm in heaven!!!

Unfortunately, it's only wishful thinking at the moment. But I'll try to plant that idea into the head of as many programmers as I know.  ;D

Quote from: Andreas on December 11, 2008, 03:12:05 PM
Unfortunately, it's only wishful thinking at the moment. But I'll try to plant that idea into the head of as many programmers as I know.  ;D

Bummer...Plant*Anyone who can program , Please , oh pretty please help us out!  ;D  Ok I did my part. Seriously , it would be nice! :)

Jayson

Looks like an early Christmas to me.  Daeley, my friend- you are the Man of the Hour!  Those improvements would just be fantastic, and I'm only just starting to get a handle on using the tool.  It's another great day for SC4.

A karma point on behalf of all of us.   &apls


David

someone order arrows?

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhomepages.vub.ac.be%2F%7Ejjborms%2FpathCreator21.jpg&hash=6adf39ae31f464a562c23d08ce25b751b599f013)

Yes please Daeley, that's amazing.
One more suggestion? Could you make it so that when x and y values are clicked (not typed, so you can override) and the value is -/+7.5 and below/above it automatically changes it to -/+8?

Other wise thanks very much for adding to this already great Tool.

Another K-point just for the arrows.  This is like Christmas morning.


David

Quote from: Warrior on December 12, 2008, 08:50:53 AM
Yes please Daeley, that's amazing.
One more suggestion? Could you make it so that when x and y values are clicked (not typed, so you can override) and the value is -/+7.5 and below/above it automatically changes it to -/+8?

Other wise thanks very much for adding to this already great Tool.

From my own (limited, I must admit) experience, it seems the game will treat endpoints of paths that are close to the edge as if they were on the edge. But I can change it if you like, it's only one or two line of code extra.

edit: ok, it was a bit more than 2 lines code, but it wasn't much work and the effect is quite nice. When you click or drag near the edge, the point will "clip" to ±8.

I'updated the the file to version 1.5

available here: http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=546

I've packed it into two runnable .jar files, so no more messing around with .bat files :) Just double-click either of the .jar files and it should open.

Even though I will never use it, that app looks rather awesome :) thanks for updating it.

oh and as the crusader for free and openness, is there any chance of releasing the source code? no worries if there isnt, just thought I better ask :D

Joe

Sure, I can release it if people want it. Some parts are a bit quick&dirty though ;)

anyway,  I only tried the windows look and didn't really test if everything looks ok in Mac OS or linux, so if you have any comments (or just want to show it) feel free to post screenshots :)

I tried starting it in linux, didnt seem to get any further than a blank window

what's your version of java?

try the following: open a command shell and run it from there, that should give an error report

I was running it from cmd actually using "java -jar [filename]" and all I get is a a blank window with the crosshair cursor and no error outputs in the shell window.

Joe

I've been using it most of yesterday in 64-bit Windows Vista and it works like a charm (thanks again, Daeley, for the fantastic new features- I did several "mirror image" puzzle pieces, and it made them a snap!).  My heart goes out to you, Joe- the day or so it took to sort out the problems I was having seemed like a lifetime.  I bet you'll get it working, though- you Linux folks start out about ten times brighter than the rest of us.  I tried seriously hard to go to a Linux-based office environment about five years ago- used a consultant, the whole nine yards.  It just didn't happen.

Good luck!


David

I enhanced the perspective view a bit...

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhomepages.vub.ac.be%2F%7Ejjborms%2FpathCreator22.jpg&hash=de8c44c1a493674804b2aedf888f9de7e67459c5)

the texture rendering is much improved (I finally managed to do it with Java AffineTransform) so you should see no more strange pixellated artefacts on iso view. I enlarged it a bit, added arrows and angle scaling. You should also notice less lag when scrolling the rotation. Soon on LEX...

edit: now on LEX :)

These additions are great! I am wondering if you have a tutorial on how to use this as I have tried the older version , and the updated version but must be an idiot because I can't seem to get paths right. I have read the tutorial by Redlotus , but I had an easier time trying to learn basic German than understanding the tutorial!  :D

Jayson

I have a question, would it be possible to make it so that the textures accept fsh s? That way you don't need to convert them to normal images. I'm guessing this probably isn't possible or very hard?

Also the new perspective looks much better, now off to download it :)

Jonathan

Quote from: Warrior on December 16, 2008, 08:58:25 AM
I have a question, would it be possible to make it so that the textures accept fsh s? That way you don't need to convert them to normal images. I'm guessing this probably isn't possible or very hard?

Also the new perspective looks much better, now off to download it :)

Jonathan

I would have to create anfsh reader to do that. With a good FSH spec that probably wouldn't be too hard, just take a lot of time. An additional problem is that I've looked up the FSH spec on the sims2 modding wiki and it seems to be a bit "damaged" by the transfer between several wiki's.

Just asking on the off chance ;)
btw, is this a correct FSH spec ? here (http://old_wiki.modthesims2.com/FSH)

Jonathan

ahh that one looks much better :) amazing what proper alignment can do :)

woohoo! I managed to create an FSH input filter (admittedly, I got a bit of help from wouanagaine) :) and as I expected, it took quite a bit of time - but that's a bit my own fault for putting it in pure Java instead of using existing algorithms in C.

I'm guessing that you made it work? That's awesome and save time especially on Vista where conversion between FSH and bmp isn't eactly easy &apls &apls :thumbsup:

Jonathan

I think I spotted a small glitch?
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi200.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa230%2FwarriorST%2FPCglitch.jpg&hash=454d5f29fb8a3fcba17787e14845bdf42d4d6af8)

The path is in a different place on the persective than the birds eye view.

Jonathan

yes, I just noticed that too, the perspective view is mirrored around the y-axis. it's fixed in the next upload :)

That's good, when the next version being released? :P

Jonathan

uploaded! merry Christmas ;)

Quote from: daeley on December 11, 2008, 02:22:30 PM
a birdy whispered some feature requests in my ear...

Me, like every transit network modder, is glad that you heared the whispers  :)
And the result is, to say it simply: extremely useful and time-saving  &apls
Thank you!

Thank you so much Dealey, you need at least another Karma point :thumbsup:

The FSH import is just amazing &apls
Merry Christmas ;)
Jonathan

When eding some paths I noticed some bugs so I fixed them (was not too hard thankfully)
- fixed the bug that when copy/pasting paths and pressing "update" not all paths appear in the menus
- fixed a parsing bug with version 1.1 paths

If anyone found anything else, please post and I will see if I can fix it before a new version is uploaded

You mean you can edit 1.0 and 1.1 with you path tool?

I didn't know that, also one feature request, a upgrading 1.0 and 1.1. paths to 1.2 button?

Jonathan

Quote from: Warrior on February 25, 2009, 10:25:57 AM
I didn't know that, also one feature request, a upgrading 1.0 and 1.1. paths to 2.0 button?

There isn't a version 2.0 for the pathfiles, but there is a version 1.2 which is what I assume you are asking about. Version 1.2 is mainly needed for rail type networks where switches are involved.

-Jan

Yep sorry, I forgot what number it was and guessed at 2.0, thanks Jan  ;)

Jonathan

If you really need an upgrade button, I guess I could add that.
for now, I've made two more additions:
- when copying a path, the copied path also copies the traffic type, entry side and exit side from the original (previously they would all revert to default)
- added a "flipXY" which swaps x and y coordinates of a path.

I'll upload this version now.

Joris, would it be possible to add a function that would rotate the texture that the user inputs?  That would represent a huge savings of time in connection with symmetrical puzzle pieces.

PathCreator is one of those few tools that's not just marvelous at what it does; it's also fun to use.


David

Quote- when copying a path, the copied path also copies the traffic type, entry side and exit side from the original (previously they would all revert to default)

I forgot to say that bug, it was quite annoying, I'm glad its been changed :)

Also when you flip the path, could the entry/exit points be updated?
I feel bad making all these requests, please say no if you dont want to :)
Jonathan

Quote from: dedgren on February 26, 2009, 12:07:55 PM
Joris, would it be possible to add a function that would rotate the texture that the user inputs?  That would represent a huge savings of time in connection with symmetrical puzzle pieces.

PathCreator is one of those few tools that's not just marvelous at what it does; it's also fun to use.


David

shouldn't be too hard. And thanks for the compliment, you're welcome :)

Quote from: Warrior on February 26, 2009, 12:17:53 PM
I forgot to say that bug, it was quite annoying, I'm glad its been changed :)

Also when you flip the path, could the entry/exit points be updated?
I feel bad making all these requests, please say no if you dont want to :)
Jonathan

Don't feel bad making requests :) In fact, you can always make suggestions on how to make it better. I'll see what I can do on the flipping, it's a bit less straightforward but shouldn't be too hard to implement.

Also, I've been thinking about the color scheme, I could probably change that to Maxis colors (car = green, peds = pink, train = orange, etc.) What do you think?

here's a test version (may be some bugs since I changed a bit of code here and there) [Click me] (http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~jjborms/SC4/SC4%20Path%20Creator.zip)

- added texture rotation tools
- when rotating/flipping paths, the entry and exit side will change correspondingly
- added "upgrade to 1.2" button
- added path coloring in textview frame
- added some font selection options

fixed a bug that occured when copy/pasting in code, version at the link is updated at 17:50 my time (CET)

I've fixed some bugs in the version from last post, now it should be stable: [Click me] (http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~jjborms/SC4/SC4%20Path%20Creator.zip)

I'll might try to add a "File" menu before I release the next version on LEX. Any other requests/bugs?

One that will look at a texture and work out where to put the paths automatically  :D

Thanks for all your latest changes :thumbsup:

Detect the entry and exits automatically when you create the path?
And a RHD <> LHD conversion (I'm not sure what that will take though?)

Oh, and support for stop points, if that's possible?

Thanks sooo much for this tool  :thumbsup:
Jonathan

Daeley, thank you very much for pointing me to you wonderful toll and this thread.

I have one more question. Once I've created Paths with you tool, how do i actually make them into SC4Path file. I tried making text file out of it and import it into SC4Lot file as SC4Path file, but it doesn't seem to work - it stays a text file, doesn't get encoded...
I've used existing Path file from another Lot and simply replaced it content with one generated in Pathing Tool and then encoded it. this works, but I wonder if there is more straight forward way to do it.

Quote from: SimFox on March 05, 2009, 04:45:38 PM
I've used existing Path file from another Lot and simply replaced it content with one generated in Pathing Tool and then encoded it. this works, but I wonder if there is more straight forward way to do it.

I don't know how others create their path files, but that's exactly the same method I use for making LTEXT files most times. The same goes for custom exemplar files and the like, so I would say it's the most straightforward method after all, as you just have to change the IDs and the (plain text) content, or certain properties.

I might have missed how to do it in the latest release, but the ability to rotate and flip textures would be wonderful.  With every change, Joris, this becomes more and more sophisticated- I'd say indispensable, too, but it's been indispensable from the get-go.

Oh, and SimFox- the "cut-and-paste" from another file method is the one I use, also.  It would be nice if the Reader allowed the creation from a menu of an "empty" SC4Path file, but that's just one more wish on the list.


David

QuoteOh, and SimFox- the "cut-and-paste" from another file method is the one I use, also.  It would be nice if the Reader allowed the creation from a menu of an "empty" SC4Path file, but that's just one more wish on the list.

Very Easy, use the attachment and put it in the templates folder where reader.exe is, replacing the template.xml file.
There are 2 path files, one for a model or lot, and one for a texture (they have different GIDs),
To use in the reader, right click and select import from template, then the 2 path files should be in the box that pops up, click ok and they're there.

David, in the download in Daeley's post below, the texture rotation button are in Options menu > Texture,
Maybe small buttons could be made between the 2 viewing things?

Jonathan

File at the link has been updated! [Click me] (http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~jjborms/SC4/SC4%20Path%20Creator.zip)

minor upgrades since last downloadable version (from the top of my head)
- no longer starts a path as "path0" but as "car_0_2"
- keeps same path name when copying a path
- when doing a reverse/mirror/flip, will change the name of the path if it was named XXX_entry_exit_XXX (e.g. reversing a path called boat_1_3 will rename to boat_3_1)
- when changing traffic type, will change the name of the path accordingly (e.g. changing a path named car_0_2_a from car to sims, will rename it sim_0_2_a)
- added lots of nice icons everywhere, courtesy of famfamfam free icons (www.famfamfam.com > silk icons) makes the file size a bit bigger, but I think it's worth it - it's still < 1Mb.

can you check if the icons look ok? On my Win XP look&feel they look ok, they should look good on Mac and Win Vista as well, but I can't test that :p

more goodies coming :)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhomepages.vub.ac.be%2F%7Ejjborms%2FSC4%2FPathCreatorV20.jpg&hash=b3ae940f6480f11ef83d92c21a713150783804a5)

not too much functionality changes, but the GUI has been completely revamped. All components are moveable, resizeable and can be minimized. The buttons have been moved to a toolbar, which can also be dragged to the top, left or bottom of the screen. The program will remember your preferable configuration.

Once I got the last thing or two worked out, I'll post a version.

Joris- that is so great!  Just in time, too, for a new round of FAR/FARR/WC/Rural Roads puzzle pieces.

Two requests- 1) as 90 degree transpo network curves are not uncommon, would it be possible to do a "Rotate 90° Right" and "Rotate 90° Left" command?  In conjunction with the "Flip X-Y" these would make it very simple to path these symmetrical curves.

2) a bit ago, rotate and flip/mirror commands for textures were requested.  I actually thought you had noted that they were implemented in a later post, but I can't seem to find them.  If they are available, could you point me in their direction. please?  If not, they would also be great to have.

Thanks so much, my friend.  Those who came before and did all that pathing without this tool must be insanely jealous.


David

Quote from: dedgren on March 27, 2009, 09:48:47 AM
Two requests- 1) as 90 degree transpo network curves are not uncommon, would it be possible to do a "Rotate 90° Right" and "Rotate 90° Left" command?  In conjunction with the "Flip X-Y" these would make it very simple to path these symmetrical curves.

well, with a mix of Flip, Mirror and Reverse, you should be able to rotate paths as well in any direction. But I can look into this.

Quote from: dedgren on March 27, 2009, 09:48:47 AM

2) a bit ago, rotate and flip/mirror commands for textures were requested.  I actually thought you had noted that they were implemented in a later post, but I can't seem to find them.  If they are available, could you point me in their direction. please?  If not, they would also be great to have.

They're in the Options > Texture submenu  :) Available from the latest download - not yet on LEX - link two posts above

awesome updates :)

Joe

PathCreator V2 is here :) File at the link has been updated [Click me] (http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~jjborms/SC4/SC4%20Path%20Creator.zip)

If there's no bug reports, I'll update the LEX version in a couple of days.

A couple more suggestions,
A way to change all X Y or Z values of a path, either by setting the all the values to certain value, or to raise or lower by a value.
Being able to flip all the paths at once, and also have a rotate button for each path(as David suggested)
And support for Stop Paths.
EDIT: Also a button to redo the entry/exits points, because manual editing can 'confuse' it.
And an undo feature is really important.

Also two bugs(I think)
If you make the Top View larger(so it zooms in effectively), to drag the points in path you have to offset the mouse which is very awkward.
And in the SimCity View if you have paths at a hieght then lots of grey lines are drawn on the yellow square, and it makes it harder too see.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi200.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa230%2FwarriorST%2FSCV.jpg&hash=810d094a8cf96464ec384d13aa78b42047fe1244)

But after suggesting all that, which came to mind while working on the most complicated tile I've ever seen, I realised how amazing it is, literally every path I did need to be copied, reversed, copied, flipped, copied and then reverse.
So instead of having to do 4 paths, for each one, I only had to do one and press a few buttons,
so thank you very much again for this wonderful tool :thumbsup:

Jonathan

Joris, I can't seem to break it.  Great work!  There be examples of what it makes so easy to do out during the coming week.  Thanks so much for your time spent on this.


David

really cool program once i figured it out, still don't know how to make a sc4path file but this is ever useful.
it maybe a good idea if you could make it so you could hide paths so it's easier to follow everything and make sure you have all pathes needed. that and save as sc4path file but don't know if you could do that lol

Thanks for the feedback :)

Quote from: Jonathan on April 07, 2009, 01:11:19 AM
A couple more suggestions,
A way to change all X Y or Z values of a path, either by setting the all the values to certain value, or to raise or lower by a value.

I'll see what I can do :) To raise everything an easy solution would be do use word and do a replace all ",0<newline>" into ",15.0<newline>" (I don't remember exactly what the wildcard for newline is)

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Being able to flip all the paths at once, and also have a rotate button for each path(as David suggested)

Flip/Mirror/Reverse All buttons shouldn't be too hard to do. I'll have a look at it. For rotation I'll have to look a bit at the exact math :)

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And support for Stop Paths.

I know you'd like this, but it's a lot of work, so that's not going to happen soon, sorry  &mmm

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EDIT: Also a button to redo the entry/exits points, because manual editing can 'confuse' it.

could you elaborate on what you mean by "confuse"? Do you update after manual changes in text view?

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And an undo feature is really important.

That would probably be a lot of work, so that's probably never going to happen. Sorry. Applications like these should be designed from start with undoing in mind or it gets really hard to implement later on.

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If you make the Top View larger(so it zooms in effectively), to drag the points in path you have to offset the mouse which is very awkward.

I can't seem to reproduce this bug... strange.

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And in the SimCity View if you have paths at a hieght then lots of grey lines are drawn on the yellow square, and it makes it harder too see.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi200.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa230%2FwarriorST%2FSCV.jpg&hash=810d094a8cf96464ec384d13aa78b42047fe1244)

I see, that's a bit annoying indeed. I can probably ad a checkbox to remove the grey lines.

Quote from: onlycoop on April 11, 2009, 01:12:28 PM
it maybe a good idea if you could make it so you could hide paths so it's easier to follow everything and make sure you have all pathes needed.

not a bad idea! Just have to figure out where to put that in the GUI :)

Thanks for giving feedback about the feedback :)

I have no idea how hard anything I suggest is, so if I suggest somethings that are never going to happen, I'm only only asking in case they can be done.

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And support for Stop Paths.

I know you'd like this, but it's a lot of work, so that's not going to happen soon, sorry 

Oops, did I say that before, sorry  &mmm

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If you make the Top View larger(so it zooms in effectively), to drag the points in path you have to offset the mouse which is very awkward.

I can't seem to reproduce this bug... strange.

The points were quite close together, which is why I made the view larger.
I get it on this path for example (I know not a real path but it happened on the paths in the picture I had last post)
SC4PATHS
1.2
1
0
0
-- car_0_2
1
0
0
2
0
11
0.7581,6.252,0
1.097,6.4125,0
1.5251,6.466,0
2.0897,6.6069,0
2.6132,6.4838,0
3.1873,6.1425,0
3.3984,5.6359,0
3.4406,5.2982,0
3.3984,4.9604,0
3.1873,4.3694,0
3.0185,3.9894,0

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EDIT: Also a button to redo the entry/exits points, because manual editing can 'confuse' it.

could you elaborate on what you mean by "confuse"? Do you update after manual changes in text view?

I found the problem,(me) I normally update after making manual changes but I forgot just before copying into the reader

And hiding paths will be great :)

Jonathan

Don't feel discouraged to suggest things though, I like the feedback :) and sometimes I just think "oh what the heck, I like the challenge" and try it anyway, so don't give up hope about the stop points yet ;)

Now I see the problem with dragging those points: when you want to drag a point, the program checks if there is a point drawn close the coordinates of the click. In that specific case the points are so close together the editor picks the wrong point. I should be able to correct this by making the check radius smaller.

File at the link has been updated [Click me] (http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~jjborms/SC4/SC4%20Path%20Creator.zip)

a few small requested changes (that didn't take much work) to the last version:
- you can now show/hide the grey lines that appear for points with z <> 0
- changed the "flip" button to a (much requested  ;)) "rotate" button (after I figured out rotate clockwise is just flipXY followed by mirrorX)
- reduced the "click" radius so you should be much less likely to grab the wrong point when dragging/deleting points.

Thanks for the last update it's better now :)

2 more things (sorry)
Can you highlight the entry and exit sides on the aerial view? (so like if a path has an entry/exit of 3/2 the 3 is highlighted green and the 2 highlighted red or something)
And when you change the entry/exit points on edit path box it doesn't not change the name, like the type of path does, I think it is meant to isnt it?

Jonathan

I wanna say one more huge, HUGE thank you for a wonderful tool you've created for us all!!!
&apls

Hey folks!
I hope this is the right spot for my question, since it is related to this pathing tool.
After a break of several years I recently began fiddling with SC4 again, but this time I try to actually do some modding instead of just using other peoples stuff. I'd say I'm not a complete noob anymore, but I'm definitely just a beginner, so of course I had to encounter some problems on the way ;)
Right now I'm trying to path a lot made by someone else, a 5x10 lot with a straight avenue going through it from east to west.
It is transit enabled originally, but just cosmetically as far as I can see. But fully enabling it turned out to be much more complicated than I expected it to be.

Viewing the lot via SC4Tool tells me that the outermost tiles are TE, but the six inner tiles are not. My plan was to enable those six inner tiles too.

Due to the attachment a couple of posts earlier I'm able to insert a SC4Path file into the lot (there wasn't one before, as far as I can tell), but what exactly do I have to put in there? Do I have to insert a Path file for each tile seperately? Since the information I could copy&paste from the Path Editor seems to exactly the same for each tile (except exit and entrance direction ofc)
SC4PATHS
1.2
2
0
0
-- car_1_2
1
1
2
0
0
2
8,-0.4837,0
-8,-0.4837,0
-- ped_2_2
2
2
2
0
0
2
8,-0.4837,0
-8,-0.4837,0
I did read some forum posts and tutorials, e.g. http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=7219.0 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=7219.0), but apparently I'm missing something. I noticed a certain correlation between the values of the tiles in SC4Tool (at the bottom, beneath the picture) and the LotConfigPropertyLotObjectData entries in the Reader, so I'm not even sure if the Path Editor is actually needed.

As you can see, I'm a bit confused :D
Maybe I just want to accomplish too much with too little knowledge.

I hope somebody can point me in the right direction, maybe a more beginner-friendly tutorial. Or maybe tell me which more profound mistakes I made ;)

Thanks in advance!

I believe the transit enabled tile entries need to refer to a certain path file you use. This means that you can use the same path file over and over again. You need to do the following steps:

1. Open the Reader and open your TE-lot.
2. Add you paths to a SC4 Path file.
3. Then go to the Exemplar file containing Lot Configurations.
4. Search for the LotConfigPropertyLotObject entries starting with 0x00000007 (TE-entries).
5. The number of Reps is usually 15. Add one Rep and let it refer to the Instance ID (IID) of the path file. Then it will use the path file as an overrid for the standard paths
6. Save and check in-game with the cheat DrawPaths if it works.

Best,
Maarten

Heh, I didn't know you could path lots. That opens up a couple of new possibilities to me.

Cheers
Willy

Thanks a lot for your quick reply, Maarten!
I followed your advice, and it worked. But upon further research I came to the conclusion, that the Path Editor is actually most useful for custom pathing. With my particular lot, that has a straight avenue going through, the SC4Tool seems to be enough as it can add the basic paths by itself.
I think this may be the reason why none of the lots I examined actually contained a SC4Path file, because they all had straight standard networks going through.
I made some embarassing mistakes on my first couple of tries, that's why I couldn't get it to work :D

That does definitely not mean that I'm not grateful for your help, as it allowed me to understand what I'll have to do as soon as I need this tool to draw some custom paths.

Add file Path to TE Lots, it would be something absolutely revolutionary and promising. I definitely have to use this if eventually find a way to be able to put a number of such lots, side by side, I think very dreamy.