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How To Create and Modify T21s (Xyloxadoria's Way)

Started by Xyloxadoria, February 22, 2009, 12:43:28 PM

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Xyloxadoria

How to Create T21 Exemplars


Intorduction


This is a tutorial on how to create T21 type exemplars. Before we start, here are a few basics about them:

    * T21s can be put on any transit network you want.
    * If you are making your own transit network, you can use T21s to add as much detail as you want to them, T21s dont have the polygon limit that transit models have
    * After you create a T21, it will always appear on the network
    * Most transit tiles already have T21s, you will mostly be adding to them.
    * In order to make them you will have to know how to use reader and Lot editor

Okay lets get started. Today we will be adding highway mast lights to the RHW 6-C. This is an example, and all you have to do to make your own is change the props and network tile. The method is still the same  Here is a picture of what it will look like when it is competed:


As you can see in the picture, there are the competed lights, and the normal barriers. The normal barriers have already been added using T21s, so we can use that data and add our own.

Before you get started Make Sure you Have theese three things
RHW 3.0 - http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=19188
Highway Light Towers V2 - http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=10960
My concrete block prop- Attached to this tutorial
If you don't want to download this, you can use your own props as a substitute, the only thing that will change is the look.



Finding The File


In order to get them you will need reader. Go to reader and open the main RHW file.
After it opens, press the exemplar  analyser button.  A new window will pop up. When it pops up press the search button, then press the filter button. Uncheck all on the right side then only leave "21 network lots" checked. Then press refresh. Your screen should then look like this:

Close out of the filters window, and you should now only have T21s listed. Now you need to find the file for the existing RHW 6-C center barrier. Lucky for us, the RHW creators were nice enough to label it for us. Its near the bottom of the list and is called "RHW-6C-Barrier-Center. Select that file, and right click on it. After that, select "sync with file ?" and it should go to the file you will need in the RHW DAT. Right click on the file that is now selected , and pick " Copy File(s)" Then, go into the blank.dat on the left, right click in the middle blank area, and pick "Paste File(s)"

You are now done with what getting the file that you will need to change, so now all thats left to do is change it. Keep the new file you made open, you will need it later.

Exemplar Value Information

In the file, you will notice a bunch of values which i will explain here:
LotConfigPropertyZoneTypes defines what zones your props will appear on, make sure to put all the ones you want in the values are as follows:
0x00=None
0x01=Low Density R
0x02=Medium Density R
0x03=High Density R
0x04=Low Density C
0x05=Medium Density C
0x06=High Density C
0x07=Agriculture/Farming
0x08=Medium Density I
0x09=High Density I
0x0A=Military
0x0B=Airport
0x0C=Seaport
0x0D=Spaceport
0x0E=Landfill
0x0F=Civic/Plopped

LotConfigPropertyWealthTypes is for wealth:
0x00=None
0x01=Low
0x02=Medium
0x03=High

Flips Allowed is for mirroring:
0x00= Both
0x01= Mirrored
0x02 = Non Mirrored

The last one that you need to know about  is kPropertyID_NetworkPlacementPattern It defines the pattern that the props will appear in. The pattern happens on a 4x4 grid, and each value defines a 1x4 column.  Put four of them together to make the full pattern:


Creating a T21

Okay now that you know what everything does, you can start actually making the T21 itself. The first thing you will need is a empty lot to place props on. So go into Lot Editor, find a empty lot and save a copy. I use the open grass area for this.  Make sure to remove any props so that you don't confuse existing props with the one that you are going to be adding.  The reason for this lot is to help with the placement of props for the T21.
Now you have that lot, you can begin to use it to layout how your lot will be. Go back to reader, and have the Lot file and the T21 file you created open. Go to the T21 file first. There should be a LotConfigPropertyLotObject item there that starts with 0x00000001. Thats a prop. copy it and paste it into your lot file. Then right click in a blank area of the Lot file, and pick re-index lot config. After that save the lot, and open it again in Lot Editor.

If everything above worked, you should now have a single RHW barrier prop on your blank lot that you created earlier. It can help to place the props that you will be replacing.  The first thing i did was to replace the normal barrier with the "Boat" barrier. Add a prop type in RHW and it will show up. Use the existing barrier to place the boat barrier, then remove the old one.  Now , you have to add the actual lampost prop, the lightcone prop, and the concrete block prop i made (my concrete block prop is optional, it solves a barrier/lampsot blending issue, get it in the attachment)
When you are all done, you should have a lot that looks like this:

After you save it, the lot file will now have all the prop placement data you need. All thats left to do is copy the prop placement data into the T21 file.

Now, once again, go into reader and open the lot file and the T21 file.  Go to the lot first, and find all four props, they should be a LotConfigPropertyLotObject  or a LotConfigPropertyLotObjectData item that starts with 0x00000001
Copy the properties over, and before you paste, delete any prop exemplars that are already there, as this is a total replacement. If you were adding more you would need to keep it.
After pasting the properties into your T21 file, reindex lotconfig and save.

Now you will have to change the placement pattern ID Go into the kPropertyID_NetworkPlacementPattern and change what is there to 0x01,0x02,0x04,0x08. That will make the lights appear every 4 tiles. You can put any vlaue you want here. I just did every 4 becsue i think it looks the nicest. And also if you want to you can change the name of the file by changing the Exemplar Name value, but this wont effect anything.
There is a property in the file called Exemplar ID that defines what ID your file has. You will need to change that number to be one higher., so that your file is unique. Just change 0x5EC4B100 to 0x5EC4B101 then reindex lot config, save the file and youre done!


Replacing existing T21s

Theres one more thing that has to be done. Since the T21 on the existing barrier was made to appear on every tile, one more T21 needs to be made to eliminate duplicates on every fourth tile. To do this, go back to the original file and make a second copy of it in the file you created earlier.  Keep everything the same, theres just one thing that needs to be changed, and its the network placement pattern. Change it to 0x0E,0x0D,0x0B,0x07. Dont change the exemplar ID so that this will overwrite it. Then re index lot confing, save the file and you will finally be done. Now, just place the file in your RHW folder, rename it with a zzz_ at the start (so that it loads last) and go to the game and test it.

Other Useful Information and Tips
This section has some extra Information that will help you when creating T21s

Adding on to Existing T21s

If you're going to be adding on to existing T21s to have something that appears every tile, you will need to add your props to the existing T21s and then make additional T21s to go where the old ones dont. Otherwise your props will overwite the old ones compltley and only yours will appear.

Using T21s from other files

If you want to copy stuff from other T21s into a existing T21, all you need to copy over are the props

Using Mutiple T21s on the same tile

You can have more than one T21 on the same tile as long as they use a different pattern. If there is the same type of pattern on a tile, one is choosen at random. Creating a T21 to eliminate duplicates like what is mentiond above will eliminate this.

Creating T21s for Lots That Dont have one

To create a T21 for a tile that doesnt have one, first take a existing one that is similar with other properties. You will then need to change the kPropertyID_LotConfigNetworkTileId to be equal to the smallest FSH instance value of the tile you want to add t21s on to. The FSH file is the road texture used on that tile, and the smallest value is typically used for the zoom 1 texture. To find the FSH file for the tile, open the file you think its in, sort by entry in reader, then scroll through the FSH section until you see the texture you want to add to. Look for the smallest instance value to the right and use that.

Sharing Values

As with most other things in the game, each T21 ExemplarID has to be unique. If you are thinking of making your own T21 project, check in the appropriate thread to request a  value range and to see if the values you want to use are already being used.

About This Tutorial

This tutorial was created by Xyloxadoria with help from buddybud, Tarkus, and other NAM Team members. If you have any questions about this tutorial, feel free to PM me.



sithlrd98

It is good to see a very well planned out tutorial on one of the most usable features in the game. Looks very good Xyloxadoria , wish I had it a year ago...lol!  &apls


Jayson

buddybud

Fantastic work Xyloxadoria. The one thing i would add is the "unknown"  0xCA81B8D4 property controls the size of the grid. by default it is 0x04 throughout the game. You can use 1,2,3 quite easily, however you can also increase it beyond 4 but can not fill in the spaces beyond the 4x4 grid (limited by 4 reps). However you could use it to place things 8 tiles apart if a 0x08 were used for example.

Thanks for the hard work.

Bud

JoeST

awesome tut Xyloxadoria, do you give us permision to upload to the wiki?

Joe
Copperminds and Cuddleswarms

smoncrie

#4
A very nice tutorial Xyloxadoria.  I would suggest a different way to find the T21s.  This way collects all the T21s for a tile together regardless of how they are named.

Very briefly: Use Analyser/Search/Prop. Click on the Name scroll box arrow, type kprop and select kPropertyID_LotConfigNetworkTileId. Then press Find and press the Value column header to sort the exemplars.

Also, the interaction of multiple T21's on a tile depends on all the properties that control if the T21 is to be used: pattern, wealth, zone, rotation, flip, etc.; not just the pattern. And you can still get cases where one T21 is chosen at random if the patterns are different, but the intersection between the patterns is not empty.

Xyloxadoria

You can put it on the wiki and make any changes that need to be done.

manchou

Hi !!

I've a question !!

Is it possible to have several T21 exemplar for 1 texture ??

An exemple to understand what i say : I've a T21 examplar, it's attached to a texture ID, and he appears every two tiles ! So the placement pattern is : 0x0A, 0x05, 0x0A, 0x05 ! That is ok ! But i would  add an another T21 exemplar to the same texture ID, and this time, the placement pattern will be every tiles, so : 0x0F, 0x0F, 0x0F, 0x0F. At the final à have two T21 exemplar for one texture ID !

In my exemple, the texture ID is : 0x5E54B900 and ID of my T21 exemplars are : 0x5E54B900 and 0x5E54B901.

But in the game, it doesn't work !! It can possible to do that ??

Thanks for your help !  :)
My BATs or here but it is in french ;)

jondor

Quote from: manchou on October 09, 2011, 09:06:40 AM
Hi !!

I've a question !!

Is it possible to have several T21 exemplar for 1 texture ??

An exemple to understand what i say : I've a T21 examplar, it's attached to a texture ID, and he appears every two tiles ! So the placement pattern is : 0x0A, 0x05, 0x0A, 0x05 ! That is ok ! But i would  add an another T21 exemplar to the same texture ID, and this time, the placement pattern will be every tiles, so : 0x0F, 0x0F, 0x0F, 0x0F. At the final à have two T21 exemplar for one texture ID !

In my exemple, the texture ID is : 0x5E54B900 and ID of my T21 exemplars are : 0x5E54B900 and 0x5E54B901.

But in the game, it doesn't work !! It can possible to do that ??

Thanks for your help !  :)

According to the tutorial it is possible, but from testing in game it seems that it is not.  The game will randomly choose between two T21s that fall in the same tile.  In your example, the way to overcome this would be to add the props from your second exemplar (5e54b901) to your first (5e54b900) and change the placement pattern of the second to 0x05, 0x0a, 0x05, 0x0a.  That way they would not share tiles and the props will show up the way you intend.
All new animated railroad crossing props for networks of all sizes! (Phase 1 complete)--> http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=13209

Mostly writing pony stories on FimFiction.net, but Cities: Skylines is my new best friend.  Anything and everything I made for SimCity 4 is fair game for use and distribution.

manchou

Ok I understrand! So ... it's not possible, i have to find an another way. Thanks Jondor  :thumbsup:
My BATs or here but it is in french ;)

ivo_su

Why after release of RHW v 5.0 that T21 mod does not work and light towers do not appear. Is there anything that needs to be edited to be as before. I saw some pictures of the show Vince that he has found a way to do this, but fritters you tell me how?