help with L.E

[VeTram]

thanks so much jmdude1   .....for all your help

For another time it is already too late here , and i must wake up early in the morning for work...

BUT

i think my friend , with your help , i have come to final solutions....i will return back tomorrow , with details

thanks again...i hope you will let me add you to my friends list.

[jmdude1]

alright, sounds good! i hope you get it to work...i will be waiting to see some pics.    if not, we will keep trying.
sure, you can add me to your friends list.

[RippleJet]

so , the colclusion is that WE NEED SHIPS OFFSET RENDERED , but as we have mentioned peg's scows are NOT offset rendered...

I've just quickly browsed through this thread, being on vacation as I am...

However, it is possible to offset models without re-rendering them. Check Chrisim's tutorial here:
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=4093.0

It would also be possible to convert a prop's resource key to Resource Key Type 4,
which does allow offset values for a model that isn't rendered offset. Take a look at this post:
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=4789.msg162006#msg162006

You may take a look at Somy's ships in his prop pack N° 4 (on the LEX).
Those ships are using RKT4's to be offset in all four directions.

This would also not require you to include the model file,
which you would have to if you change the model according to Chrisim's tutorial.

[VeTram]

RippleJet , Thanks for your useful comments , which i will read carefully exactly after completely finish the purpose of this thread.  I am now in a point , that after so many efforts , together with great help from friends here , very close to the wanted target.
Today , i have started to use the scows in game , and there is something that i noticed , which i believe i know where it comes from. As you may see in the pic below there is a distance between scows that i think that is because the lot of scows is 2x4 tiles , although in the pic of friend jmdude1 on his first post in this thread seems they are nice close together.


I tried to make lots smaller in width (1 instead of 2) but i get a message from L.E that i may not save a lot that has objects extending beyond it's bounds.
So , once again i wonder how jmdude1 , managed to put the scows so close together ?   jmdude1 

And something more , that i am wondering....can i delete the desc files after making the lot?  At the moment i have them into my plugins folder.

jmyers2043 , thanks for your comments , and i will also ask you the same as jmdude1 asked ...are they released anywhere?

[jmdude1]

congratulations, you got it to work.   

im not sure why you arent allowed to put the scows on a 1x4 lot. i think thats what mine were on. if you check back to one of the 1st links i gave you about my original question, my pic shows a 1x4 lot under the scow. im confused why it wont work for you....it should work ok. maybe try it again?     let me know if you can get them to a smaller width.

also, you need to keep the .desc file for each scow. i made a folder for each scow into which i put the .desc and lot files in.

and just in case jmyers doesnt get back to this thread, he mentioned to me that the boats he made are not released......yet.   

[VeTram]

jmdude1 my friend , so your lot is 1x4   ......i have tried so , but the problem is that one tile width seems not enough for the "scow building" to insert in, as it needs two tiles width.. ....so the problem is the width not the lengh...

i hope anyone can help , and thanks jmdude once again for all informations 

[jmdude1]

alright, well i have my L.E. opened and im looking at a scow right now. i used a width of 4 and a depth of 1.  but i dont think width or depth matters as long as the lot is 4x1 (or 1x4), just rotate your scow to fit the lot properly. with my 4x1 lot, i have lots of room on both sides of the scow, but the front and back of the scow are almost touching the edges of the lot, not quite though. i had to zoom in more just to make sure though. also, if you look at my pic here
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2434.0
you can see that my scow fits on a 1 tile wide lot with room to spare. perhaps you could post a pic of your lot in the L.E. window?

[VeTram]

ok ,  my friend jmdude1 ,  i have finally managed to fix the scows to be placed nearer. I discovered that finally there is only one lot that can not fit in a 1x4 lot , and that is the lot with the first scow , and the other scows (coloured ,etc) fit ok .  So i will only have one scow that i can not place near the other scows , and so i will leave it that way.

I am already , preparing the dock in the game to place the scows , and i will surely post very soon , an image that i will dedicate to you. Once again thanks so much for all your interesting and useful help.

I am thinking to continue with this thread with any other project that may appear, and in fact another idea came into my mind...I decided to try to follow the diagonal side ( see the first image that i posted with the dock in Pireaus) in the infront of the dock. And i am wondering if there are any custom content (ships) that i can place it diagonal in dock. I looked at STEX , ( BSC Exchange is temporarily off ) and PLEX , and i did not find anything similar..so, is there anyone knows where i can find diagonal ships?  ( if they exist)

..jmdude1 

[jmdude1]

hi vetram,
well im afraid i only know of 1 set of ships that are diagonal and they can be found here:  http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&Keyword=cockatoo%2D210893&view=all#
a good thing about this pack is that they are all ready to plop.    no work needed.  if you search by the user name, there are also 2 other waterfront type lots he made (marina wall and dock) which might interest you...or not.  ive also had no luck with diagonal content for the waterfront, aside from seawalls.   hope this helps a bit!

edit: my link show all of cockatoos uploads, but the waterfront stuff is on the 1st page.

[VeTram]

jmdude1 my friend , thanks once again for the link , and generally for all your help. Unfortunately , the project is out of the realism of my dock, mostly because it is completely in Asian type , which is quite different than European style. Also and the ships , are the same Asian style..
Anyway , i have looked around , and i couldn't find any diagonal ship , and so i will leave it for the moment and just wait to be lucky in the near future. I hope any creator is reading this ...

As for the diagonal docks , i will use Jeronij's Shore Conforming Seawalls 2007 , with a little tranforming into L.E ,  and let's hope the same as the diagonal ships , for the near future..

Now , i want to continue , but i do not know if i must move into other forum , or stay here. Perhaps a moderator can tell me..

For the continuation , i am facing another challenge....

I have Peg's Bubbas Barge , which i want to use , but i dont want the whole lot . I want only the Crane Barge to float near the dock. I followed the known tutorial by sam "floating Lots on Water" but i think here we do not have any model ,as the Crang Barge are simple props. So , i am wondering if this is something that can be done...which means to float props on water...

here is and an image of Bubbas barge..

[jmdude1]

actually, i also use jeronij's seawalls too, they look great.  and i also agree about the diagonal ships, i hope a creator is reading this. but if you want to make a request, there is a bat request thread, somebody might be able to help there in constructing some nice diag. ships.

as for bubbas barge, i will have to take a look at it. i downloaded it too but for some reason i havent edited these to float on their own, perhaps because the lot itself is a dependancy? im not sure. if the barges are props then thats good. you just do exactly as you did with the scows, which were also props, so you need to create a .desc file from another model and copy the needed info.

[VeTram]

Can i ask something rather stupid , that i want to ask since a long time ago?...

In order to understand better what i want to mean ( english is a little pain for me..) , i will use an example , on a project that i am working now..

I want to transform a little the Logistics Centres MegaPack , and i want to understand what kind of Exemplar file it is  , and i want to ask the same question in general.. which means i open the lot in Reader , and i can see it is a CS$$ logistic centre plop ...so my question is where can we see what kind of Ememplar file a lot is , and how we can make a CS$$ ploppable while in PIM seems that CS Buildings are growable?....or in other words , what kind of lot should i use in PIM ,( where should i drag and drop the model file)  if i wanted to create a lot with a similar exemplar file like Logistic center lot?

I hope you understand what i want to mean , but as i want to be as simple as i can , i will ask the same in other words and try to make it simple...

well , when  i want to create a new lot and use some props , from other custom lots ,  and i want this lot to be in the area of seaport ( lets say on a dock , or a pier) , what kind of building should i use in PIM?

and more , how can i distinguish and ,  what kind of building was used in PIM , for any custom  lot?

jmdude1 , thanks for replying once again...just forget my last post for the moment , as i am working hard , to finish the pier i want to show with the vertical ships.  Very , very soon i will be able to post it and dedicate it to you... ...i am in the last details , but many times details are very important...

[BarbyW]

You are asking many questions and I would suggest that you go here: http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=307.0 and take the zip attached at the bottom of the first post as it is a Word document. There is something wrong with the formatting of the main post but I have asked Jeroni to look at it. It is essentially the same as the contents of the zip so just take that.
The information regarding what type of building used is in the Occupant Group property of the building exemplar. There is a way of making ploppables with jobs but you need to carefully follow SG's tutorial - http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=140&threadid=76236&highlight_key=y&keyword1=Making%20A%20Functional%20Landmark%20Lot -

With regard to seaports, these and airports are specialised and you can only replace the Maxis seaport with one of your design unless you make a new seaport developer file. I suggest you read the threads about functional seaports here: http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=241.0 as that shows the type of problems that can occur.
Good luck with your lotting.

[jmdude1]

vetram: "well , when  i want to create a new lot and use some props , from other custom lots ,  and i want this lot to be in the area of seaport ( lets say on a dock , or a pier) , what kind of building should i use in PIM?
and more , how can i distinguish and ,  what kind of building was used in PIM , for any custom  lot?"

im not sure, but i think this is the only part i can help with if i understand correctly. when you create a new plop lot, often you dont need to put a building on it (unless you want your boats).  when i create my lots, i just edit the simcity 1x1 grass file. on this lot there is a small building on it but its flat so it doesnt show up on the lot. this way, i dont need to add any buildings and i can just use props. for example, you mentioned the logistics center. i know you can download the large warehouse models and use them as props, actually these are great cause they are in a prop family as well, so each time you plop the lot you will get a different warehouse, which means you only need to make 1 lot with the prop family on it and you can get different results each time its plopped. so you can use the 1x1 grass lot, make it larger and place a warehouse on it, along with many other props. if your lot is too small, these props wont show up in the L.E. list, so make sure your lots is big enough.
i have posted pics of this here: http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2931.0#top
check out page 1 and 5 for what i have done. none of these lots have building on them (except for the flat invisible building), just props. i hope this helps?? im not quite sure i answered your question or not. if you open the 1x1 grass tile, you can see what i mean by 'flat building'.
maybe barby's post was more of what you were looking for? but thats beyond what i can do. i just create plop lots with no jobs and i only use the reader or sc4tool to edit the names, menu, menu position and stats of the lots. let me know if this helps or not.

[VeTram]

BarbyW : Thanks so much for replying , and for the link . 
I will read it carefully and i will come back to mention my impressions, as i had never noticed that link before. I don't know if i will find the answers to the main question of my above post , but for sure i will let you know when i finish it reading.

As for the link of SG , about making ploppables with jobs i have already read it , and i think i will read it again, but this is not what i wanted to mean with my questions.. I dont know , how else's perhaps i ought to write my questions , for others to understand what i want to mean.. so, i stop the questions here , and after reading your guide i will surely return back. For the moment i will just write , that when i am talking about seaports , i do NOT mean fuctional seaports , ( my purpose is not to customise fuctional seaports ) but i mean every other part of a seaport ( like piers , docks , warehouses , etc )  thanks so much once again..

jmdude1 , my good friend  , i think with your answer that you are much nearer to my questions , but please let me read Barby's Guide first , and i will let you know. By the way ,i saw your work in your custom lots , and they are very good indeed , to my poor opinion. I think we can become a team in the near future , and help eachother ( ok ok i know that i can not help you , yet ) 

Finally , i want to say that when i opened this thread i wasn't sure if i wanted to follow L.E , but now after almost 2 pages full of informations and great help from all friends here  , i am sure that it really worths the ...pain....i will return back very soon

[VeTram]

Here i am once again!....After a short period of absence , i return back and i post some first images from my project. Of course as you will see it is not finished yet , but it is a first result of everything mentioned above into this thread.

I want to especially dedicate this project , to friend jmdude1  , and of course to all friends here.

As always it is already too late here , and it is really very , very hot night, so i will surely return tomorrow and mention my impressions...hope you like it , and dont forget it is not finished yet..

[jmdude1]

nice work vetram! i like what i see. youve done a lot of work here. lots of ships and a good space for them to move around in.  you should post some pics in the 'show us your seaport' thread, they might be seen by a lot more people and you might get some good feed back by other people. im looking forward to seeing more!

[VeTram]

jmdude1 my friend , thanks so much for your support , and your impressions.  I will post many images in the continuation , as soon as i will have finished my work. By the way do you mean the thread in Simtropolis when you mention to post in "show us your seaport" ?


-Tomorrow early in the morning i am leaving for short vacations in a Greek Island.  I am going to rest for about a week , and quess what?  ...Yes! you are right!...i am taking the game with me , with all the tutorials and PIM and L.E  of course...I hope there is an Internet connection there , so i can be in touch..

many many thanks once again.

[jmdude1]

thats good news, i really hope to see more when you are finished. my seaport is also a work in progress, its take a lot of work to create a realistic port, as you already know. its good to hear that youre going to continue with your work, youve made some really nice things.
have a great time in the greek islands! i was in athens for a week in 2003, i had a great time but unfortunately i didnt have time to go to the islands. have a great vacation and dont work (on sc4) too much! hehe.
also, check out this section of the forums:  http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=14.0
all the 'show us your......' threads are there, including the seaport thread.    im sure others would be happy to see your work as well.

[jmyers2043]

Hello VeTram - I like your port. Especially the lighthouse and road that leads to it. You've done a good job with the inner harbor.