Bird Pesticide (and Mutation)

[sim-al2]

That what I actually meant by the llamas. A 1x1 lot. Just a question, but is there already a llama tag to add in LE? I was thinking about and I think there is...

[RippleJet]

Uh yeah, about the cows, before your mod RJ, I downloaded a 1x1 generator that had cows walk around (and eat) for a good amount of blocks in my city.

Yes, there is an effect called Effect_cows, which is the one keel and boon1234 used in their 1×1 lots.

So rather then replacing other stuff, is the same possible for like a polar bear generating lot, instead of doing a replacement?

Unfortunately there is no Effect_polarbear, and since new effects cannot be created, polar bears would have to be spawned automata instead.

That what I actually meant by the llamas. A 1x1 lot. Just a question, but is there already a llama tag to add in LE? I was thinking about and I think there is...

Yes, there is an effect called Effect_llamas, used by the_dalai_lama and others on several lots.
There's also one called Effect_farmhorses, which at least sam has used in her Riding School.

[thingfishs]

well my head officially hurts

These animal automata are unpredictable things, but your mods seem to be working. A new discovery for me is that automata are and aren't spawned by the tree controller, and the results of these two methods are not the same. Animals spawned by the tree controller are only visible between zooms 4-6 whereas those distributed by the animal controllers are visible in all zooms. However, the "animal controllers" fauna, though existing in far greater numbers and far more predictable to distribute seem to vanish entirely when reloading a city. The "tree controller" fauna, though very unpredictable to distribute and in far fewer numbers (which isn't a bad thing), at least usually are there when you reload a city.
I was unable to get a CTD with apes & cows enabled. All my tests were done with an otherwise empty plugin folder.

So are "animal controllers" fauna merely temporary eye-candy and it's the "tree controller" fauna that we see in our cities?

What controls the eagles? (because I'd like to still be able to have them).

I'm still getting my head around the terms... what's the difference between an effect & automata? (and is an effect and an animated prop the same thing?)

Also can an animated animal prop be turned into new wild animal automata?

[RippleJet]

I'm not even sure I'll manage to explain all this myself...
It's a slight disadvantage that I've never batted anything...


Animated Props
They are ATC files, sequences of rendered views of a model (normally 20 different views - 5 zooms and 4 rotations).
They can be created, with OverPoP's BAB.

Automata Models
They are true 3D models, which may be rotated and viewed from any direction.
Think about a vehicle going around a corner or along a diagonal road...
It wouldn't look good if it would be an ordinary prop, which can be seen only at ortogonal, 90° angles.
Automata models can be animated, but several of them are in fact static.
All pedestrians and all animals are animated though (with legs and arms moving).
As far as I know, custom 3D animations have never been created...

Effects
They are, and will remain, a mystery...
Controlled from within the exe, unable to decode and unable to create new ones.
You can use all ingame effects in your lots though.
When entering a city, all effects are off and you will have to wait for them to start.

What controls the eagles? (because I'd like to still be able to have them).

We have eagles? I didn't know that... they must be high up in the hills and be controlled by the exe in that case...
At least, there are no eagle props, no eagle automata and no eagle effects.

Also can an animated animal prop be turned into new wild animal automata?

No.
3D automata can be turned into props, following Cogeo's Tutorial: SC4 Automata As Props,
but rendered flat, animated views cannot be turned back into 3D models.

[joelyboy911]

Slightly off-topic, but can you explain how the runway prop animates the Jet automata to land and take off?

[RippleJet]

Slightly off-topic, but can you explain how the runway prop animates the Jet automata to land and take off?

No, those props starting with Tag1x1x3_ are equally much a mystery.
They spawn UDI vehicles and other vehicles (e.g. planes taking off and landing),
but they are obviously hard-coded within the exe.

[joelyboy911]

Ah well, it would open up some seriously cool possibilities if we could customise those path-type props (take-off run and stopping distance provided by Maxis are highly unrealistic ).

Thanks for the quick answer.

[sim-al2]

The eagles appear when using the wild-animal type fauna spawner. Their small and hard to see because they are a brownish-gray color with a burgandy color in the middle. More like ones you would find in Africa than a bald eagle.

[j-dub]

RippleJet: about the 3D custom animation, are you going to tell me the street fighting, the flashers, the hookers, and the random guy getting punched and thrown out into the street hitting a light post while that thief from the Sims 2 was not made by Maxis? I only had the car jacking occur in one city, but I did manage to record it, but that video tanked once I uploaded it to the tube. Anyway, I found there was a car jacking que in the lot editor, it was a green diamond, but what I don't get is how the animation snaps to the car automatta, and aligns to the streets. Maybe it is a similar effect to the zoo animals escaping and running down streets. But considering these are effects listed in the lot editor, but will appear off lot, there is something weird going on here. Not to mention, it appears all the car Automata seems to have Sims driving inside (pending graphics settings see motorcycles), even though you don't see them through the windows, I did something and I could actually see this blond woman out of her car afterward, which may explain why the car driving around getting stolen effect is possible, because there needs to be Sims driving to steal the car from?

Joelyboy: The plane generator prop is something else. It seems it is similar to the traffic generators because it physically has nothing to do with the simulator, at least in my case, the animation works without an airport and the planes fly in and out, take off and land. However doing a lot with the animated plane needs a good amount of tiles for stability. One of the reasons I did not share that lot with anyone else is I questioned the stability of it. I noticed it somehow could exceed the lot it needed to land on if I extended the runway. The dang game even allowed the jetliner to lane on an avenue.

Sim-al: In my area, those giant brown birds are actually quite common. Their more like Hawks and not eagles. Very rarely in RL they randomly visit the neighborhood. Both Hawks and Eagles have sharp claws, so make sure these guys don't land on you. They can mistake our arms for tree branches.

[Andreas]

I always thought those were vultures, as they often appear above run-down areas:

[sim-al2]

I've never really seen them in my cities. Of course, I never really let buildings get run-down. I do agree that they actually do look more a lot like vultures that that I can actually see them.

[RippleJet]

RippleJet: about the 3D custom animation, are you going to tell me the street fighting, the flashers, the hookers, and the random guy getting punched and thrown out into the street hitting a light post while that thief from the Sims 2 was not made by Maxis?

Of course they were made by Maxis... in other words, not custom animations...
Custom in this respect means something made by us who are customizing the game.

I only had the car jacking occur in one city, but I did manage to record it, but that video tanked once I uploaded it to the tube. Anyway, I found there was a car jacking que in the lot editor, it was a green diamond

All animations and effects are green diamonds in LE.
You always need to test your lot in the game, to see what they really are.

but what I don't get is how the animation snaps to the car automatta, and aligns to the streets.

There is a number of Pedestrian exemplars (look under Pedestrian in Reader's Navigator), which basically are automata, but made as ATC's.
Thus, they cannot move around freely in the game (that would require 3D models).
Their appearance is probably controlled through the Occupant Groups, e.g. 0x410B = Automata: Rioting Standing Sim

There are also some full 3D pedestrian animations, which have the property Crime Type.
Take for instance a look at Ped_male-Prostitue_08F (found under Pedestrian in Reader's Navigator).
That's a full 3D animation, with Crime Type set to 0x9 = Solicitation.
This is the same as the IID of the Crime exemplar named Solicitation Crime, and most likely ties the pedestrian to the crime scene.

Maybe it is a similar effect to the zoo animals escaping and running down streets.

No, the animals escaping are ordinary automata which are spawned by a LUA script.

But considering these are effects listed in the lot editor, but will appear off lot, there is something weird going on here.

Effects have no limits. Consider the fireworks effects, which extend over the whole city tile.

[RippleJet]

Further on the subject of carjacking...

There's only one vehicle exemplar with the Crime Type set to Car Theft.
That's the light green luxury sedan, Vehicle_LuxurySedan_10D70000.

The model is a 3D model, with 100 animation frames.
However, as is the case with most car automata, all frames refer to the same vertex block.
Thus, the car is in fact not animated at all...

There are also no thieves animated anywhere in that model.
So where do they come from? I'm pretty sure I've seen them in the game myself...
I'd say those thieves are most likely controlled from within the exe...
and probably based on a property within that vehicle exemplar...

As far as I can see, there are two options...
Either the Crime Type property, set to 0x08 = Car Theft,
or the Occupant Group, 0x4229 = Automata: Carjacked Vehicle

[vil]

Motorcycle riders, convertible drivers (like some rail car and truck-trailer loads or steam engine smoke) are effects, controlled by entries in the "Regp" section of the vehicle S3D. Not sure about the hijacks though - nothing in the 10d70000 S3D.

[vil]

The car jack itself:



Apparently done via exemplar entries and game code, nothing interesting in the vehicle S3D

[RippleJet]

Thanks for the in-game picture, vil!

I wonder if modding a custom automata car model the way this light green sedan is modded,
would allow that car to be hi-jacked as well...

[sim-al2]

Maybe make a custom tank...

all your sims would definitely be worried then.


Is it possible to increase the length of a crime automata? I never really see any (besides the tp tree and fighting occasionally).

[thingfishs]

It's been a surprise to me that some people haven't seen the carjacking as at times my cities have been plagued with them (prior to finding out they were a crime indicator and it just required police presence to make them disperse)

Here's a couple of my old shots:

   
(That is some fleet footed criminal activity right there)

[sim-al2]

Wow that many carjackings on one block... I don't think I want to live there.

[thingfishs]

RJ, the domestic wildlife dat is still allowing polar bears and the occasional giraffe (and elephant) through.

Also what are the differences between the two types of animals (as I outlined earlier: visible in different zooms etc) Through the SimMedieval project I now have a lot of interest in understanding and gaining as much control over these as possible. Along with car automata blocked, we now have cement trucks as dogs and the mayor's limo as a bear!