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MGB's Mods and other stuff

Started by mgb204, May 04, 2015, 04:48:16 PM

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bombardiere

QuoteBecause I'm pretty sure I play SC4 in a fairly unique way.

I am not so sure about that. ;) A large part of my inspiration arrives from what I need or what I feel is missing in the game and I think that many other batters or modders do the same. :)

All right, I think that my aim is not as great as yours, but sure I want to "fix" things in the game in my own way. I have spent more time in batting or studying different modding aspect than I have actually played the game. This is part of the reason why I have not actively batted this fall. If I have free hobby time, then I have been actually playing the SC4 and building my Hong Kong styled metropolis. Not rural England for which I am making Bats. :) I think I understand what you mean with risk of a fatigue.

Anyway, I salute your efforts, but if you are ever able to do a UK road replacement mod, then you will be my God!. :D

M4346

#221
Good morning!

Firstly, thank you for the amazing work you do!

Secondly, I LOVE your TGN mod - and use this one specifically - it has completely transformed my cities and I am eternally grateful! lol

Finally, there seems to be an issue with some of its textures though - specifically, or as far as I can tell to date - the BSC Parks Wide Path [corner] textures.

To illustrate:





I have checked my files - and recently re-downloaded the mod just to make sure I have the most current version - but I can't / don't see a conflict.

I have also tried to modify the IIDs myself, but with no success.

ETA: The 'offending' textures seem to be 4da44650 (on the Tree Avenue Wide T) and 4da44600 (on the Tree Avenue IC).

Could you please look into this?

Thanks! ;D

PS. Ignore the base texture, these are old lots and I used a different one from the BSC base textures.
New Horizons Productions
Berethor ♦ beskhu3epnm ♦ blade2k5 ♦ dedgren ♦ dmscopio ♦ Ennedi
emilin ♦ Heblem ♦ jplumbley ♦ moganite ♦ M4346 ♦ papab2000
Shadow Assassin ♦ Tarkus ♦ wouanagaine

M4346

Sorry for the double post.

I managed to fix it:


I think I was just creating the textures incorrectly, but I also deleted the offending files from the original. I don't know whether loading it after the original should fix it too, haven't tried that.

Fix attached for your inspection.
New Horizons Productions
Berethor ♦ beskhu3epnm ♦ blade2k5 ♦ dedgren ♦ dmscopio ♦ Ennedi
emilin ♦ Heblem ♦ jplumbley ♦ moganite ♦ M4346 ♦ papab2000
Shadow Assassin ♦ Tarkus ♦ wouanagaine

mgb204

Thank you for the feedback.

I already knew about 4DA44664 (reported by KOSC), but the texture you show appears correct to me? Perhaps the texture is not correctly rotated on the lot, but the one in TGN is a mirror of the original. Of course that could be a result of my repository being more up to date than your files, but my edited texture looks just like the ones in the first screenshots.

As for 4DA44654, the original Alpha cut off the bottom, but my texture still has it in error. It's one of those things that's really easy to miss when you are making hundreds of these textures in one go. I'll get that fixed in the next release, which you might like to know will contain about 3 times the original number of BSC Grass Textures. With only me working on such a large mod, such minor errors can easily go unnoticed, so I'm always greatful to get feedback from users. As such if you spot any others, I'd love to know about them.

mgb204

#224
I've been working behind the scenes with Rivit on a number of changes/updates to GoFSH, which I will show you all at some point. But for today, it's time to jump back to the RRW Reskin (automation) project I showed off first in the summer of 2015. Having made the proof of concept, Eggman has continued to build the master repository to evolve to the point where it's almost ready for release. Rivit has once again provided a number of improvements to the process, through GoFSH, along with assisting with the repository. Simmer2 has also joined us in contributing to the repository and assisting the project. Meanwhile, I've been working on a huge number of rail crossing textures, trying to ensure they match Swordmaster's originally intended vision. We're on the home stretch here, so I'd like to offer everyone a preview version of the RRW Reskin mod, the creatively named "MGB Type 01" variant:





Type01 includes concrete sleepers and a light gray ballast, as shown above. Of course, eventually not only will more options be available, but the repository used to create them will be too. This means, armed with just two textures, you can customise the RRW network however you like.

This preview is intended to give you all a taste of what's to come, but also hopefully to get some feedback to help us to identify any areas that need improving or where textures are missing. Bear in mind, I'm talking mostly about Network Textures here. If you have suggestions for Lot Textures, we're happy to hear about them. But the priority is getting the entire RRW mod covered as complete as possible. It would be impossible to cover every lot texture however.

Currently, the preview is packed in one of my friendly installers, which can be found here on my Google Drive. I intend to update this style as development continues, eventually releasing the mod on the exchanges, including TGN/SWN compatible textures for the included crossings.

Sciurus

Nice work mgb.  :thumbsup:  Maybe these textures could fit to lightrail too ? $%Grinno$%
L'atelier d'architecture
* * * * * Longwy * * * * *

Andreas

Quote from: Sciurus on January 30, 2017, 01:14:46 AM
Maybe these textures could fit to lightrail too ? $%Grinno$%
That's when I thought immediately as well when I saw that blue train skin. :) The light ballast and "cleaner" look would look nice in cities, whereas the more "rusty" RRW appearance works pretty good in rural areas. The prospect of creating an entirely new set of textures with just a few clicks sounds very exciting alright! :thumbsup:
Andreas

mgb204

Quote from: Sciurus on January 30, 2017, 01:14:46 AM
Maybe these textures could fit to lightrail too?

Tell you what, when I've got a spare moment, I'll make a set for the El-Rail and Basic GLR (probably the Rural one). Since it would be child's play with the resources we have. I think my issue with it is two fold, I spent a lot of time making my GLR textures. Plus the difference in gauge is a problem. Because if you updates any part of El-Rail/GLR, the rest will no longer match. So I'm talking about Tram in Ave/Road/Street and in total 4 variants of the GLR network. It's the largest single part of my Sidewalk Mod, bigger than the rest combined. So whilst covering El-Rail and Rural GLR is quite manageable, extending that for complete coverage is a huge task. One that requires hundreds of custom new textures that don't exist in any form right now.

Noah's project for GLR is probably the one to wait for, since that is pretty much what he's aiming for.

Alan_Waters

Great, but there are a few little flaws:


When approaching the tunnel changes:


_Michael

Quote from: Alan_Waters on January 30, 2017, 09:55:44 AM
Great, but there are a few little flaws:

I assume the process will not change lot textures as well, although I may be wrong. Not sure about the second issue. Override  based perhaps?

Simmer2

Due to the massive amount of custom textures, I decided to forego re-doing them all and opted instead to make transition points.
Therefore the new NAM will include transitions, to my lots, that will change according to the color scheme you pick on installation.
The rest of the lot will remain in RRW color scheme.

I hope that clarifies the issues. I cannot speak on behalf of other lot makers.

Nick
________________________________________________________________________________

mgb204

A couple things are at play in your screenshots, I'll try to address them all:


  • SG ST Station (by Simmer2)
    As noted by Simmer2, rather than re-make thousands of textures, literally months of work. The only lot textures supported by the process are where the entrance to the lot transitions from the Reskin style to the original textures. I don't see this changing.
  • Tunnels (& Bridges/other BAT models)
    It's very hard to replace the textures of a BAT model. Somehow (because I suspect he's a genius), Rivit has found a way. In the case of the tunnel, there is an error there I believe in certain rotations. Most likely that will be fixed eventually. Bridges mostly suffer a similar fate, but again work is underway to try and support them eventually.
  • My RRW Ramps
    Whilst this comes under the heading of BATted models too, due to the slope, replacing it with an automated texture probably isn't going to work, if it does it would be a tremendous amount of work to do, it's impractical. For any styles I release, I will happily re-render the models to match. This hasn't been done for the preview version. But of course, that doesn't provide a solution for styles released by others. I'm happy to share the models (3DSMax 2011), but even then, that will never be a complete solution.

    A smarter way of doing this would allow the model to link back to whatever textures are installed. Easy for a flat texture, much more complicated for a ramp like this. However, I've an idea of how to do it, it's just finding the time. If I manage to achieve this, the plane used will be able to be re-used for any network. So it will be immensely flexible, but since coming up with the idea, I've had no chance to really get into it. If you got back a few pages, I tried to adapt some models by BuddyBud for much the same sort of thing last year. Sadly, after a tremendous amount of wasted time, I binned those completely. It will need new models to work.
  • My Rail Depot Lots / RDP Textures
    As it happens, I've made that transition piece earlier today, just not in time to make the preview release. I will add all my RRW lot textures (not that there are many) in due course.
  • Other misc. Lot Textures
    Right now we have transitions for Simmers textures, coverage for popular packs like the BSC, NCD, WMP and Maxis/NAM textures and more will no doubt be included as time goes on. But right now this is not our focus, the priority is the Network textures.  I.e. specifically those items you can create using just the Rail Tool.

    @Michael, it's totally possible to make all game textures using this automation, as Rivit proved, that includes BATs, which I'd have thought almost impossible to do well.

I think that covers everything you've shown here Alan_Waters. I think with the exception of the main textures on Simmer2's lots, you can expect to see everything here supported in due course. Thanks for your feedback :).

rivit

At the risk of overkill, I was writing this as mgb204 replied
Quote from: Alan_Waters on January 30, 2017, 09:55:44 AM
Great, but there are a few little flaws:
Thankyou for trying it out - it was the intent that things be found - we at talking about close to 4000 tiles that are changed in this process and there are bound to be things we have either not found or do not yet have a solution for.

The tiles for the approaches for URail are now in the archive.

The MAXIS tunnels are in the archives, My RRW tunnels will probably be in RUM for RRW but here it is important to note we are talking about BAT textures with rendered rail. I have invented a method to edit these on the run, but they are as yet untested.

The same holds for bridges and stations that have rendered BAT textures - but that problem already exists for RRW and it hasn't stopped us using it.

Quote from: _Michael on January 30, 2017, 10:28:55 AM
I assume the process will not change lot textures as well, although I may be wrong. Not sure about the second issue. Override  based perhaps?

Regarding Lot Textures the archive contains changeable textures for RRW, BSC, NCD, WMP and Simmer2 transitions - we know of several more sets - there are more lot Rail textures than you can use in a lifetime and to be frank most of them shouldn't exist.. (correct use of base and overlay could have stopped much of this proliferation)

However, be that as it may, all constructive feedback is welcomed - we want this to be really good.


eggman121

#233
Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

As pointed out above from my colleagues there are some things that can't be changed and have existed as part of the RRW since its inception.

The RRW is unique in the way that it arrived a tiny bit too late and as such, alot of the content was not created to handle the new standard.

There where a myrid of Lots and station that where not covered when the RRW was first released.

My foray into RRW land was brought about by the fact that I wanted to make overhead wires for the RRW but the Puzzle pieces had all sorts of different angles and positions and as such was unfathomable to complete the task. That led me into Flextrack (a standard base where the tiles where aligned consistently). So with all these projects under my belt I decided to make the Flextrack the top priority.

Customization was not considered part of the project but when users wanted variety and the experiment with making Ballast and Sleepers, with two Base textures applied to alphas seemed to work there seemed to be unlimited opportunity to make something unique.

What would take years to manually make now takes a click of a button and one hour of your time doing something else while waiting. Something that the RRW should soon have.

So, Unless you don't like the RRW rails, the RRW should be the main rail system for your cities. There has been alot of time invested in it to make the adoption worth while.

It has been a hard slog but everyone will see the benefits in due course.

I have huge respect for my colleagues on this project Ron, Robin and Nick.

Sure there are some inconsistencies but the benefits out way the time invested.

So. We will continue to tidy up and hope to have a package up sooner rather than later.

-eggman121

Tyberius06

Thanks guys the hard work with RRW and the texture customization projects. I like the brown RRW, and I will love the new skins too.
Thanks again!

- Tyberius
You may find updates about my ongoing projects into my development thread here at SimCity 4 Devotion: Tyberius Lotting Experiments
or over there on Simtropolis into the Tyberius (Heretic Projects) Lotting and Modding Experiments.
I'm also member of the STEX Custodian and working on different restoration projects on behalf of non-anymore-active custom content creators.
Current projects: WMP Restoration and SimCity Polska Restoration.
Member of the NAM Team and RTMT Team.

belfastsocrates

Absolutely thrilled!!!

Sorry for planting the concrete sleeper thought in your head but this is exactly what I've been waiting for. The concrete sleeper and grey ballast will suit my modern rail network and thank you to everyone that has contributed to this, I'm so incredibly thankful and thrilled.
A unique nation fusing technological prowess and unparalleled grandeur

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination" - Oscar Wilde

Badsim

Just tested your MOD and , even knowing what it does , surprised that it works !  :D

From now , the RRW reskin automation is something I'm waiting for  eagerly , as , to be frank , none of the textures already proposed convinces me at 100% ... well that's a question of taste regarding textures , but I disagree with the railways narrowing : for sure I'm not a specialist of the real thing nor a purist nor its ingame reproduction , but we are not there for ... blah blah blah endlessly ...  and I've got for rule to do not criticize something when I know the amount of work behind the scene . Congratulations to you , guys  involved in this decisive implement . &apls &apls &apls

C.

°   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °   °


mgb204

#237
Quote from: belfastsocrates on January 31, 2017, 09:25:17 AM
Sorry for planting the concrete sleeper thought in your head...

No worries, no one puts a gun to my head re: what I make, suggestions and ideas fuel new content, it's a good thing  :thumbsup:

Quote from: Badsim on February 03, 2017, 07:41:49 AM
From now , the RRW reskin automation is something I'm waiting for  eagerly , as , to be frank , none of the textures already proposed convinces me at 100% ... well that's a question of taste regarding textures , but I disagree with the railways narrowing

Indeed, texture styles are a matter of taste. It's that side of things we wanted to improve, the number of choices for everyone. Bear in mind, two things automation won't do, you can't change the rails, you also can't change the overall style. It simply replaces the ballast/sleepers of the originals, nothing more. So you can choose any texture to generate new sleepers and ballast, but the overall RRW texture is the same. That said, to automate what we have is new ground entirely, since I don't see any volunteers to make a new set of 4,000 + rail textures, it's the best solution we have, even if it's not perfect.




I'm re-posting this from ST (Link), in the hope someone else might be able to illuminate the cause of my problem...



So here in Cyan/Blue is my normal Sidewalk Overhanging Filler. In Red are my PedMall overhanging fillers (note the better lining up of the latter). Both of these have the models raised by .2m in height, which is necessary to avoid anything they cover (Lot/Network textures) from showing through. It's this tiny offset that creates the problem of lining up the pieces, because the Sidewalk is exactly a 16x16m square, the offset skews the perspective, giving the impression they don't line up. To counteract this, I adjusted the PedMall variants to be .2m longer, which as you can see solves the issue.

The key problem here is z-fighting, which seems to affect RKT0 models in a way it doesn't with RKT1 models. RKT0 = True 3D models, RKT1 = BAT Models. These problems have plagued development of some really cool stuff, it's also messing with the UB plans too. So once again, I realised the UB props would need to be raised, but for reasons that are beyond my comprehension, even though .2m is clearly sufficient for the Pedmalls/Sidewalks, .45m is necessary for the UB network props. In fact, you can still see some z-fighting going on (the black lines), to kill those, I've had to further raise them to .5m high. Why is that a problem? Well simply put, things don't line up properly, most clearly seen with the Rail texture. This problem gets noticeably worse by raising the props to .5m too. There is no way to compensate for it either, because any alterations that fix it in one rotation, will have the knock-on effect of making the other three worse as a by-product.

So I've managed to make smart-props that adapt to the installed textures. They even adapt to show sidewalks too as a separate layer that match what's installed. The UB lots are functionally working. But, why do models made exactly the same way need to be raised by .5m instead of .2m, to work in exactly the same situation? That's also why you don't get shadows upon them incidently, they are too high and above the shadow.

If someone is able to assist me here, they'd work perfectly if only I could keep them at .2m, I'm totally stumped  :angrymore:



Tarkus

We ran into a similar issue with the puzzle piece-based NWM transitions a number of years back.  Dave (superhands) and I had finagled the IIDs such that we could actually stick wealth textures under the puzzle pieces, as there was high demand for that sort of thing.  But we got a flood of z-fighting complaints, and had to make it an optional feature for those whose graphic cards could support it properly.  The models were, IIRC, slightly raised, but it was still a no-go.

The only way I can really think of to get around it is to very carefully edit either the S3Ds and/or the textures such that the base texture doesn't overlap any spot where the network overlay exists.  That would have been what I would have done with the NWM transition PPs, had we not rendered them mostly obsolete with the draggable transitions just a short while later.

-Alex

mgb204

Thanks Alex, I think now I can see the problem is a combination of the Shadow texture and the use of multi-textured layers on the props. It's much clearer when I place a Rail Viaduct PP over them. Because the shadow for those networks isn't a whole tile wide, you can see how the shadow is preventing the overhanging piece from displaying. So long and short, I just need to stop trying to be so clever and combine the two textures into one. A shame, because with multi-textures it picks up everything according to the user's installed content. By combining them I need to make specific textures for the purpose, which bakes-in sidewalks and the like. However, I can release a GoFSH automated script and the textures can at least be changed. So it's possible to retain some of the flexibility whilst making them actually work in the first place. Without your comments, I may not have been able to work out what was going on with the z-fighting.