graphic bug?

beutelschlurf · March 25, 2009, 04:21:51 AM

moin ...,

i've got the following problem ...

i rendered and had the result of a nice facade, ...

but in the lot editor appear some ugly pixel!

what have i done wrong?
renderd again ... still there!
need some advice ...

thanks a lot!

b_schlurf

Diggis · March 25, 2009, 04:40:24 AM

Just out of curiosity, what does it look like in game?

beutelschlurf · March 25, 2009, 04:46:10 AM

moin diggis,

looks the same, there it fell in my eyes first, then i started rerendering and loting!
do you know something about it?

b_schlurf

Diggis · March 25, 2009, 04:57:41 AM

Not from what you have presented no, although sometimes the LE shows things different from the game so thought I would check. Can you attach the SC4model file here so we can take a look for you?

beutelschlurf · March 25, 2009, 05:14:18 AM

due to the lack of knowledge what you mean by saying "attach the SC4model file here" i send it to your e_mail adress

b_schlurf

Diggis · March 25, 2009, 05:40:04 AM

I've checked the FSH files in the model file to see if the render was correct and it appears to be fine. The marking on the LE image isn't a rendering issue that I can see. I am at work at the moment so can't check any further in LE or game, but will do when I get the chance.

beutelschlurf · March 25, 2009, 05:43:03 AM

thanks a lot diggis!

b_schlurf

cogeo · March 25, 2009, 06:14:02 AM

If the FSH textures are OK, then the problem is probably due to an ID conflict with SC4 stuff.
Especially occurs if the BAT has been exported many times. What's the instance ID of your exported model? If it's greater than 0x0030####, conflicts are quite likely. Search the SC4 dats for conflicting TGI IDs.
There is a patch for BAT's ID-generating script by Maxis, however I would rather recommend against using it.
Try to delete all exported models from your Plugins folder (esp previous versions of this model), and re-export. If this doesn't work, I will post a tutorial tonight or tomorrow.

BarbyW · March 25, 2009, 07:32:23 AM

Diggis asked me to check this for you as well. I have looked in LE, the X_Tool and in game and do not see any graphic glitches at all.

beutelschlurf · March 25, 2009, 07:39:42 AM

moin BarbyW,

thanx for checking out,
mmh

,to be honest i've not a clue why it's pixelish on my maschine, i'll do it on my laptop and we will see if it's still there!

thanks anyway!

b_schlurf

Diggis · March 25, 2009, 12:54:10 PM

Quote from: cogeo on March 25, 2009, 06:14:02 AM
If the FSH textures are OK, then the problem is probably due to an ID conflict with SC4 stuff.
Especially occurs if the BAT has been exported many times. What's the instance ID of your exported model? If it's greater than 0x0030####, conflicts are quite likely. Search the SC4 dats for conflicting TGI IDs.
There is a patch for BAT's ID-generating script by Maxis, however I would rather recommend against using it.
Try to delete all exported models from your Plugins folder (esp previous versions of this model), and re-export. If this doesn't work, I will post a tutorial tonight or tomorrow.

Cogeo, you might be right. B, do you have the modelnames.MS file from the official site? I checked the IID's and they are 0x003***** but my models come out 0x0003**** so it's possible that this is the issue.

I have checked the file on my machine and it looks fine, like barby. Maybe your computer screen is dirty.

SimFox · March 25, 2009, 01:35:47 PM

i don't think this is a conflict with anything. Would it be then the entire slab would be textured by something else...
More likely it is a result of DX3 (or is it 4) compression. It is similar to the JPG compression but uses on group of 4 pixels as a unit rather than a single pixel as JPG.
I don't remember all the details... I was tinkering with the issue a year (or so) ago thinking how to better appearance of gradients...
You wouldn't see it on preview cause preview is an uncompressed image and what you see in game/Lot Editor is heavily compressed. So some deterioration would always be there. It could manifest itself by blocks of solid and sometimes not fitting colors (where "wrong" averaging had occurred)

cogeo · March 25, 2009, 01:41:18 PM

Quote from: Diggis on March 25, 2009, 12:54:10 PM
Cogeo, you might be right. B, do you have the modelnames.MS file from the official site? I checked the IID's and they are 0x003***** but my models come out 0x0003**** so it's possible that this is the issue.

I have checked the file on my machine and it looks fine, like barby. Maybe your computer screen is dirty.

If you have installed the new modelnames.MS the IIDs will always be in the 0x0003#### range (only the group ID will change at each export). If you have the old one, the 1st export will be at 0x0003####, the 2nd at 0x0004#### and so on. The sequence will be reset for each brand new BAT. The old script seemed to have problems determining whether a BAT is really "brand new". So the IIDs may keep increasing and become 0x0010####, and finaly 0x0020#### or 0x0030####, and in this point cause conflicts with the SC4 dats. However I do prefer the "old" script, for two reasons:
- The new one only exports in the 0x0003#### range, that is it is only the group ID that changes. With so many BATs and prop-packs being released every day, conflicts (with other BATs/props) are quite likely.
- Unlikely with the new script, the IIDs generated with the old one can be controlled. Take a look at any of my BATs, each pack uses the same group ID, with the IIDs being 0x0004####, 0x0005####, 0x0006#### and so on (I leave 0x0003#### for the others

).

Btw what are the IDs of this model? (better just post the entire filename pls).

beutelschlurf · March 25, 2009, 02:08:24 PM

moin,

thanks for helping me, at least, trying to ...
what do you mean by MS. or ID or IID
here are the file names of what i think you mean ...

model_file: 96 Spring Street-0x5ad0e817_0xf6612b7c_0x450000
after the plug-in manager: 96 Spring Street-0x6534284a-0xf6612b7c-0xd6d6cfca
after the lot editor: 96 Spring Street-0x6534284a-0xf6612b7c-0xd6d6cfca
do you mean those filenames?

you see, when you talking about the number like 0x003### ... and stuff like that, i do understand ...

like nothing.
i'm sorry ... so in the end, what can i do?
do i have to reinstall or reboot something? like the plug-in manager?
do i have to live with it?

b_schlurf

cogeo · March 25, 2009, 02:45:24 PM

Wow, your model has reached instance ID 0x00450000, that's well above 0x00300000!
Actually I would expect that you would have problems much much earlier.
Surely you have the old script installed, but as I mentioned above I wouldn't recommend installing the so called "fix".

What you need to do is first clean your Plugins folder (My Documents\Simcity 4\Plugins) of the older versions of the model (esp old, forgotten and "garbage" files), and then get a new Group ID and start exporting again at 0x00040000, following the procedure presented in this post. You don't need to generate new props and relot, just change the model ID (in the building's or prop's "Resource Key Type 1" property) using the Reader, so that it references the newly-generated model.

cogeo · March 25, 2009, 02:58:32 PM

Some clarifications:

- "modelnames.MS" is the Maxis Script that generates model names (and ID numbers) for exported models (.MS is the file extension - it's only 2 characters long, not 3 as usually).
- ID means identity number, ie a unique (or should-be unique) number identifying each SC4 item.
- Your model is named 96 Spring Street-0x5ad0e817_0xf6612b7c_0x450000, and this means that the Type ID (or else TID) is 0x5ad0e817, the Group ID (GID) 0xf6612b7c and instance ID (IID) 0x450000. For every SC4 item, the TGI IDs combination must be unique, otherwise this causes conflicts.

Hope this helps.

Diggis · March 25, 2009, 03:23:33 PM

As simfox pointed out though, that isn't the issue with this file as it is just a mark on the model, not a whole FSH tile replaced. And interestingly enough the problem isn't present on either my machine or Barbies. Which means it's a conflict in your plugins most likely.

Can I suggest you try loading the lot and model in an empty plugins folder. If it displays fine then you need to put stuff back in slowly and see if you can find what file is conflicting with it. Once you find this we can look and see why this is occuring.

SimFox · March 26, 2009, 02:10:26 AM

Can I have a look at the discussed file?

I'm just curious how such a link to a particular machine can exist...

beutelschlurf · March 26, 2009, 04:08:39 AM

moin guys,

quite busy in here!

to SimFox:those are the newest files of the model
i tried it with various modifications yesterday, different textures or no nightlights
http://www.file-upload.eu/download-1550501/95-Spring-Street-1x2-LM_96d6d185.SC4Lot.html
http://www.file-upload.eu/download-1550503/96-Spring-Street-0x5ad0e817_0xf6612b7c_0x450000.SC4Model.html
http://www.file-upload.eu/download-1550502/96-Spring-Street-0x6534284a-0xf6612b7c-0xd6d6cfca.SC4Desc.html

to diggis: might work, hope it works!
[edit:] removed everything but its still there ...

btw: did it on my notebook and guess what ... !the same happend!

thanx to everybody

b_schlurf

beutelschlurf · March 26, 2009, 10:23:38 AM

moin guys,

guess what

,
it's gone, at least for now!

explanation: somehow a transparent texture has caused the pixel in the lot editor and the game. maybe there got not rendered correctly.
i deleted them and the pixel vanished ...
now i can go on to prepere my way to the lex!

anyway thanx to you all!

b_schlurf

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graphic bug?