unwanted props appearing in game

[thingfishs]

Hi again,
This time I have made a lot, and everything looks fine until I place it in game. Then however, new props appear in the car park that I've neither placed nor seen before. I have a feeling this is to do with conflicting IIDs or whatever they're called, but I could be way off. How do I go about identifying and fixing this issue? thanks.



The only props in this section are the light poles (from a high school of Deadwoods') and some carcluster lots that can't be seen. Those fences/walls are the issue.

[cogeo]

This should be quite easy to find:
- Locate the unwanted prop(s) and write down their IDs (the instance ID, and if it is included in a prop-family, the prop-family ID as well).
- Compare these to the prop IDs you have placed into your lot(s).
It may even be a conflict between an instance ID and a prop-family ID, though I think the game can distinguish if the LotConfig line refers to a single prop or a prop-family (storing this information in the 12th rep).

If both props are from other developers, it would be best to notify them too.

As for your lot(s), I would suggest using the standard prop-families for clusters of parked cars. There are two prop-families, one is for workplaces (visible during the morning and noon) and the other one for residences (visible during the evening and night). They both use the same models, only they are visible during different times of the day. The resulting variety is reallynice, and some developers (eg mikeseith) have expanded them too (even more models).

Hope this helps.

[thingfishs]

thanks cogeo,

how do I locate the props though? they aren't actually there in the LE... as I said in my previous post the only props in that section are the lights and the cars.

[cogeo]

Ehmm, try this:
- Write-down the IDs (IID and prop-family) of your car cluster props.
- Open your lot in LE, click Add Prop, move to the top of the list, goto the edit-box and type-in the ID. If you move to the car cluster prop (the "correct" one), select the next prop, and then go to the edit-box again, delete the last digit and type it again (this will focus the next matching prop).

Chances are though, that the unwanted prop(s) won't even be listed in LE. In such a case you have to find it yourself. You should start removing parts of your plugins and exhaustively find the plugin that causes the conflict. Remove half of your plugins, then half of the half and so on. If the problem is "solved", then add half of the removed plugins, then half of the half. This test is easier to make in a new (empty) city (to avoid error-messages or crashes). And of course. you should backup your region (copy the region's folder somewhere else) and not save your city on exiting.

I had considered making a utility (a sort of "installation analyzer" thingy) which would detect conflicts and search (locate) items by ID and type, but never made it. Now that SC4 is a 7 y/o game, I think it no longer makes sense.

[thingfishs]

ok well I've done the half by half thing and have narrowed it down to one megapack. The fences only appear when I have BSC...MJB vol1.dat installed. I use this excellent prop pack a lot so I certainly can't keep it out of my plugin folder... What do I do now?

[BarbyW]

Can you please give me the IID of the prop that is causing the problem as I can check the MJB file for conflicts?
It also looks to me as though the lightpoles are standard Maxis ones - $$ - so I am curious as to why they are showing as deadwoods' props.

[cogeo]

Well, you have already done the hardest part!  

Now the next step is identify the conflicting prop(s) - or this is a model conflict?

Who made the parked car props? If they are yours, just use different IDs (MJB's prop pack was released long before and is one of the most used ones in custom lots, so don't expect MJB to make the change). If they are made by someone else, just report him/her the conflicting props.

Or send me the stuff to take a look.

[BarbyW]

I have checked the BSC MEGA Props MJB Vol01 and the SNM Fencing pack by deadwoods - these appear to be the fences showing - and there are no IID conflicts.

[thingfishs]

Thanks Barby & cogeo,

The car cluster ID is 0xa000003d and it appears to be by Maxis as they're still there with an empty plugins folder.

The poles were from a deadwoods school that I started lotting this project on, they're not showing as his props.



Barby I've just seen your reply, but don't fully understand it? If there's no conflict why are these fences that I didn't place and don't appear in the LE, appearing in game? (only when the MJB pack is installed)

[BarbyW]

In your original message you said:

The only props in this section are the light poles (from a high school of Deadwoods')

I will check the deadwoods school if you tell me exactly which one you used as the base lot.

[thingfishs]

it's from this set: http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=489 and it's the stage 3 lot.

[BarbyW]

Are you making a school lot? If not why did you use this as a base lot?

[BarbyW]

Can you send me the lot with the problem so I can check it for you? I have checked everything I can without the lot and have no idea what is going on.

[thingfishs]

Yes I am making a school lot... I will send it to you, thanks.

[BarbyW]

I have looked at your lot and the fences ARE in the lot in LE. They were placed there by deadwoods in the original and you have not made any changes to the car park area. I removed some of the car props and took the following picture to show you:



The fences are hidden under the car cluster props but not part of them.

[thingfishs]

OK, well don't I feel like an idiot... 

thanks for your help and sorry for the wild goose chase.

So I did something I should have done once I found the MJB issue which was load that plugin into my LE plugin folder and sure enough the fences appeared. So it turns out it's the MJB chain link fence - not the SNM fencing.

I notice the cars that appear in your lots are different to mine Barby. I guess this is a question for another thread but how does that work?

[BarbyW]

The cars only look different as I keep mikeseith's European mod in plugins. These are still Maxis props and in any lots I make I would not list the mikeseith mod as a dependency because it isn't. His mod changes the appearance of the cars but keeps the same prop family IIDs.