Creating my own Street/Parking Lights...

[BlackDragonAJ89]

Well, so much for surprises. I was trying to get a lot of stuff for my Eagleland Project (which includes just a whole lot of things done) during the holidays so in January I could surprise everyone with a big collection of work accomplished, but since I've ran into the ground in dealing with modding well, never mind, let me get to the question:

I've built up some street/parking lights to use on my lots and some future T21 examplars to go with my transportation retexture to match my massive building set project, but the problem is, I can't understand the tutorial on Sim Tropolis on how to modify my models into light props.

Here's what the light poles look like if you're curious...

[MandelSoft]

May I ask you which part you don't understand? I have a lot of experience, when it comes to making custom streetlights.

[BlackDragonAJ89]

It's about modifying them with the reader and setting up the light cones. I know how to change the group/instance ID, but that's about it. =/

[MandelSoft]

Open the Reader and copy an existing light prop exemplar file (there are a few in simcity1.dat), and place it in your own dat file. Change the Instance ID of the exemplar file and then, you can change the Exemplar name (that will be the name of the prop). You may also change the occupant size (which tells the LE how big your object is, no matter how big your model is), but you can also leave it. Now we are going to change the RKT4:


The RKT4 describes your object (the RKT4xm does the same, but then for mirrored T21 tiles). So how is it build up. Double-click on the RKT4, and you see the following screen:


These values might not say nothing to you, but lets examine these values

[tabular type=4 caption="Lightpole, Night"]
[row][head]Value[/head] [head]Function[/head][/row]
[row][data]0x00000001[/data] [data]Day/Night state (0=day 1=night)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]X-position (1 meter = 10000 units)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]Y-position (1 meter = 10000 units)(height)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]Z-position (1 meter = 10000 units)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x27812821[/data] [data]Model type (leave it as it is)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x5AD0E817[/data] [data]Type[/data][/row]
[row][data]0xBADB57F1[/data] [data]Group ID[/data][/row]
[row][data]0xDDE00000[/data] [data]Instance ID[/data][/row]
[/tabular]

[tabular type=4 caption="Lightcone #1, Night"]
[row][head]Value[/head] [head]Function[/head][/row]
[row][data]0x00000001[/data] [data]Day/Night state (0=day 1=night)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]X-position (1 meter = 10000 units)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]Y-position (1 meter = 10000 units)(height)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00080000[/data] [data]Z-position (1 meter = 10000 units)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x27812820[/data] [data]Model type (leave it as it is)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x5AD0E817[/data] [data]Type[/data][/row]
[row][data]0xBADB57F1[/data] [data]Group ID[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x5DFF7762[/data] [data]Instance ID[/data][/row]
[/tabular]

[tabular type=4 caption="Lightpole, Day"]
[row][head]Value[/head] [head]Function[/head][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]Day/Night state (0=day 1=night)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]X-position (1 meter = 10000 units)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]Y-position (1 meter = 10000 units)(height)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]Z-position (1 meter = 10000 units)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x27812821[/data] [data]Model type (leave it as it is)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x5AD0E817[/data] [data]Type[/data][/row]
[row][data]0xBADB57F1[/data] [data]Group ID[/data][/row]
[row][data]0xDDE00000[/data] [data]Instance ID[/data][/row]
[/tabular]

So this is what it does. Replace the IID's with your own and you're done.

I hope it helps,
Maarten

[BlackDragonAJ89]

Okay, I think I could handle doing this...

However, when I add my own IIDs into the RKT4, do I have to make a unique one, or can I use just the IID that is already made for when the standard prop was done?

Also, if I wanted to add another lightcone (as you see some of the light poles have two and four lights), would I simply just duplicate Lightcone one and change the position values to where the new one is supposed to go?

[MandelSoft]

Okay, I think I could handle doing this...

However, when I add my own IIDs into the RKT4, do I have to make a unique one, or can I use just the IID that is already made for when the standard prop was done?

The IID value of the RKT4 refers to a model with corresponding model. So the IID 0x5DFF7762 refers to my own lightcone (or in this case, a lit area appears on the ground without a cone). However, your model must have GID of 0xBADB57F1 in order to make it work properly. The exemplar file, on the other hand, should have a unique ID, if you don't want to replace an existing light.

Oh, and by the way, you might want to remove the Building/Prop Family ID. In my example, this prop randomly placed on a street/road with low wealth. If you don't want that to happen, remove the property.

Also, if I wanted to add another lightcone (as you see some of the light poles have two and four lights), would I simply just duplicate Lightcone one and change the position values to where the new one is supposed to go?

Precisely! It's simple as that.

Best,
Maarten

[BlackDragonAJ89]

Okay, one more question;

My street/parking lights are the tallest that you can build (around 14m tall), and they need the tallest of the lightcone. Which of these codes (0x5ad0e817,0xbadb57f1,2cb70000, as sampled from the Sim Tropolis guide for the tallest lightcone) would I use and where would I put them in the RKT4 fields?

[RippleJet]

Which of these codes (0x5ad0e817,0xbadb57f1,2cb70000, as sampled from the Sim Tropolis guide for the tallest lightcone) would I use and where would I put them in the RKT4 fields?

All four of them.
Those are the Type, Group and Instance ID's.
The Type and Group ID's are already inserted in the table above by Maarten though.

In other words:
[tabular type=4 caption="Lightcone #1, Night"]
[row][head]Value[/head] [head]Function[/head][/row]
[row][data]0x00000001[/data] [data]Day/Night state (0=day 1=night)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]X-position (1 meter = 10000 units)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x000E0000[/data] [data]Y-position (1 meter = 10000 units)(height)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x00000000[/data] [data]Z-position (1 meter = 10000 units)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x27812820[/data] [data]Model type (leave it as it is)[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x5AD0E817[/data] [data]Type[/data][/row]
[row][data]0xBADB57F1[/data] [data]Group ID[/data][/row]
[row][data]0x2CB70000[/data] [data]Instance ID[/data][/row]
[/tabular]

 
The Y-position needs to be given in order to raise the lightcones to the correct height.
In the example above they are set at 14 m (0x000E0000).

The X- and Z- offset positions depend on which of the four arms in your model you're looking at.
Note that the values can be negative as well. E.g:

• -2 m would be 0XFFFE0000
• -4 m would be 0XFFFC0000
• -6 m would be 0XFFFA0000
• -8 m would be 0XFFF80000