• Welcome to SC4 Devotion Forum Archives.

SC4 Tool Bug-Report and Wish-List

Started by cogeo, June 25, 2008, 11:58:06 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

cogeo

Hi,

I have been playing around with SC4 Tool since almost it's first release. It's a great tool, helping custom content developers a lot.

But I think there is room for improvement too (only I don't know if there are resources available).

Anyways, if you are planning an update, below are some points that would be nice to have.

Fixes:
- Fix the rep count bug for "Transit Switch Traffic Capacity" and "Transit Switch Entry Cost" properties.
- If I remember correctly, the texture creator allowed a texture to be copied (scaled-down) to the lower resolution (farther zooms) textures automatically. In the last version (V2.2.7) this was limited to zoom 5 only. Eg you can't specify a different texture for zoom 4 and scale it down automatically for zooms 3 to 1. This is very frustrating esp for rail textures, which use different textures for zoom 5 and zooms 1-4 (I need to make all textures manually).
- There is a small problem with the TE editor, the LotConfig line contents shown in the bottom may not display all 8 digits (truncate the last digits) if some of the hex digits are letters (not numbers). In Microsoft fonts all numbers need exactly the same space (width) but this is not the case with letters. Either use a fixed-pitch font (eg Lucida Console or Monotype.com - these are narrower too), or base the width calculation on (more ?) letters (I think D is the widest).




New Features:
- The most useful new Tool would be an Installation/Conflicts Analyzer. As SC4 Tool already has an algorithm that scans the whole installation (for textures), I think it wouldn't be too much work to extend this to all other records (exemplars, S3D models etc). The output should be a list (a screen with a ListView control) containing all conflicts found in the installation. Each item should contain an icon too, indicating the conflict type detected, eg Duplicate (if both items are identical), Override (same type and Exemplar Name but different contents) and Conflict (same TGI IDs but completely different content). I can give more details if you are interested.
- A Search-by-ID(s) and Search-by-Name feature would also be extremely useful.
- A useful variation of the above could be a special search for the "Terrain Properties" exemplar. This is contained in all Height Mods and Terrain Mods. Players can't identify which one actually takes effect, so they often can't render their maps correctly. The tool should scan the whole installation and generate a list with all "Terrain Properties" exemplars found (datfile with full path), and point out which one takes effect (the one loaded last). Then the player can modify his installation as needed.

SC4 is an old game, but I think the above features are still much needed.

Jonathan

May I add to the list that a patch for Vista is released (that allows you to use SC4Tool while in Aero and lets you see textures)

And a TE button for RHW would be good too.

Andreas

I know that SC4Tool has a few quirks, but at the moment, I don't think there will be an update. simrolle has left the community due to RL since quite a while, and although we had some loose contact now and then, I haven't seen him for a while. After the last release, simrolle switched to a new version of his development environment (which he uses for his RL job as well), and it turned out that some SC4Tool source code wasn't compatible anymore.

simrolle actually tried to port it for the new version, incorporating the functionality in a predecessor tool called "SC4Explorer", but it never got very far, due to the aforementioned RL issues. SC4Explorer was even faster in file handling, and it would have superseeded SC4Tool eventually. I don't know if simrolle wants to make his code public, or transfer it to someone who continues the development, but most likely, this would be very hard due to the lacking documentation of the code. Anyway, to make a long story short, don't count on an SC4Tool update/bugfix at the moment.  &mmm
Andreas

0rion79

Hi all. I have a question about SC4 tool, because I don't understand if I'm doing a thing in the right wor wrong way.
I'm making experiments on plopable buildings to see if I can make them to host more than 1 kind of job. EG, from a huge all-do industrial facility, I expect to find both handworkers (Dirty), 1st class handworkers (manufacturing), engineers (Hi-Tech) and a full set of emergency doctors, lawyers, managers and even the employed in restoration services (bar, floor-cleaning) that I consider as commercial office/service employment.

So, I have tried to modify the parameter "capacity satisfied" in this way:
I-D = 600
I-M = 300
I-HT = 150
CO$$$ = 10
CO$$ = 20
CS$ = 10
Still, when I try to plop the building in the game, I se that only the I-D jobs are calculated and I earn taxes only from the I-D job.

So, the question is: is it a bug in SC4tool, is it me that is using the tool in the wrong way and I need to change some other thing too, or am I trying to do something impossible?
Thank you!

Andreas

You cannot add more than one resident or job type to a building. §§ and §§§ residential and commercial buildings have multiple properties in the "Capacity Satisfied" property, but they serve for the occasions when a building decays due to bad environmental conditions. But it's not possible to mix RES, COM and IND, or have more than one wealth type active.
Andreas

0rion79


0rion79

Sorry, new problem with SC4 tool and I guess it is something alreday well known because it is not possible that I'm the first one to notice this.

Since I dont' know how to program, I have used SC4Tools to edit the transit switch points of my mass-transit buildings, since I wished my Sims to enter from main door and NOT to use them as teleporting shortcuts.
As a result, nothing has changed and, instead, SC4Tool can't open anymore the trainst switch point propriety of the buildings edited with itself!
Is there a fix of it? or can I use some other tool to force sims to enter in buildings only where I want from? The reader or datgen are too complicated for me.

"invalid cell range for this operation"


************** Testo dell'eccezione **************
System.Exception: Invalid CellRange for this operation
   at C1.Win.C1FlexGrid.CellRange.set_Image(Image value)
   at sr_SC4Lib.sr_ExemplarPropEditor.ShowTransitSwitch()
   at sr_SC4Lib.sr_ExemplarPropEditor.NeueAusgabe()
   at sr_SC4Lib.sr_ExemplarPropEditor.ShowProperty()
   at sr_SC4Lib.sr_ExemplarPropEditor.set_ExemplarProp(ExemplarValues Value)
   at sr_SC4Lib.sr_NewValueEditor.DisplayProperty()
   at sr_SC4Lib.sr_NewValueEditor.TreeView1_AfterSelect(Object sender, TreeViewEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.TreeView.OnAfterSelect(TreeViewEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.TreeView.TvnSelected(NMTREEVIEW* nmtv)
   at System.Windows.Forms.TreeView.WmNotify(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.TreeView.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Assembly caricati **************
mscorlib
    Versione assembly: 1.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.4322.2407
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/microsoft.net/framework/v1.1.4322/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
SC4Tool
    Versione assembly: 2.2.7.0
    Versione Win32: 2.2.7.0
    Base di codice: file:///C:/Programmi/SC4Tool/SC4Tool.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Versione assembly: 1.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.4322.2032
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.windows.forms/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.windows.forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
    Versione assembly: 1.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.4322.2407
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Versione assembly: 1.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.4322.2032
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.drawing/1.0.5000.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/system.drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
SandBar
    Versione assembly: 1.1.0.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.0.0
    Base di codice: file:///C:/Programmi/SC4Tool/SandBar.DLL
----------------------------------------
SandDock
    Versione assembly: 1.0.6.1
    Versione Win32: 1.0.6.1
    Base di codice: file:///C:/Programmi/SC4Tool/SandDock.DLL
----------------------------------------
sr_SC4Lib
    Versione assembly: 2.1.3.0
    Versione Win32: 2.1.3.0
    Base di codice: file:///C:/Programmi/SC4Tool/sr_SC4Lib.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.Data
    Versione assembly: 1.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.4322.2032
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.data/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.data.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Versione assembly: 1.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.4322.2032
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.xml/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.xml.dll
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.VisualBasic
    Versione assembly: 7.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 7.10.6001.4
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/microsoft.visualbasic/7.0.5000.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/microsoft.visualbasic.dll
----------------------------------------
sr_Resources
    Versione assembly: 1.0.2205.21686
    Versione Win32: 1.0.2205.21686
    Base di codice: file:///C:/Programmi/SC4Tool/sr_Resources.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.resources
    Versione assembly: 1.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.4322.573
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.resources/1.0.5000.0_it_b77a5c561934e089/system.resources.dll
----------------------------------------
Eyefinder
    Versione assembly: 1.0.4.2
    Versione Win32: 1.0.4.2
    Base di codice: file:///C:/Programmi/SC4Tool/Eyefinder.DLL
----------------------------------------
C1.Win.C1FlexGrid
    Versione assembly: 2.5.20052.212
    Versione Win32: 2.5.20052.213
    Base di codice: file:///C:/Programmi/SC4Tool/C1.Win.C1FlexGrid.DLL
----------------------------------------
C1.Common
    Versione assembly: 1.0.20031.116
    Versione Win32: 1.0.20042.118
    Base di codice: file:///C:/Programmi/SC4Tool/C1.Common.DLL
----------------------------------------
FSHLib
    Versione assembly: 0.3.2.41616
    Versione Win32: 0.3.2.41616
    Base di codice: file:///C:/Programmi/SC4Tool/FSHLib.DLL
----------------------------------------
Accessibility
    Versione assembly: 1.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.4322.573
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/accessibility/1.0.5000.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/accessibility.dll
----------------------------------------
mscorlib.resources
    Versione assembly: 1.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.4322.573
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/mscorlib.resources/1.0.5000.0_it_b77a5c561934e089/mscorlib.resources.dll
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM.WINDOWS.FORMS.resources
    Versione assembly: 1.0.5000.0
    Versione Win32: 1.1.4322.573
    Base di codice: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.windows.forms.resources/1.0.5000.0_it_b77a5c561934e089/system.windows.forms.resources.dll
----------------------------------------

************** Debug JIT **************
Per attivare il debug JIT (Just-In-Time), è necessario impostare il valore
jitDebugging nella sezione system.windows.forms del file di configurazione
dell'applicazione o del computer (machine.config).
L'applicazione inoltre deve essere compilata con il debug
attivato.

Ad esempio:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

Andreas

What exactly were you doing when you encountered the crash report message?
Andreas

0rion79

Andrea, nothing at all. Just using SC4tool and other open programs in background, as bitTorrent or MSN...
nothing that can interfere. For sure, I wasn't modding wile the game was running but I have had that problem.
The most strange thing is that buildings in the game looks stable! No crashes, no bugs.. just Sims entering and going out from them as they want...

rooker1

I had SC4Tool working on my home computer some time ago with no problems.  The other day I went to open it and I couldn't.  I would double click on it and nothing would happen.  So I figured I would uninstall and reinstall it and that would most likely fix the problem, but it didn't.  I still have the same issue.  
Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem may be?

Robin  &mmm
Call me Robin, please.

Andreas

*shrugs* No idea, sorry (regarding both of you).
Andreas

0rion79

Andreas, I think I may have had an intuition about the problem: other programs can open the transit switch point with no troubles but the values order is different. Even if data is saved correctly, then maybe SC4Tool can't re-sort the data saved by itself in the user-friendly grid and so the message error.
What do you think?

z

I have run into the exact same problem.  It appears that SC4Tool is saving the data incorrectly.  You can do simple things like delete entries or add entries without any problem, but if you try to do something like change the travel type in a dropdown box, you run into trouble.  The data is written in the wrong place, which is why SC4Tool can't read it the next time.  This can be verified by looking at the data in I'live's Reader.

I take it from the discussion above that it's not possible to fix this.

Is there any other program with a nice UI for editing the Transit Switch Points?  I've taken to using Ilive's Reader and just modifying them in hex, or using SC4Tool and then using the Reader to patch things up.  For those who want to do this, the following codes are pretty essential:

;Travel Types for Transit Switch Point
[0xe90e25a1]
0=Walk
1=Drive Car
2=Ride Bus
3=Ride Train
4=Freight Truck
5=Freight Train
6=Ride Subway
7=Ride El Train
8=Ride Monorail
0x10=South
0x20=East
0x30=South+East
0x40=North
0x50=North+South
0x60=North+East
0x70=North+South+East
0x80=West
0x90=West+South
0xa0=West+East
0xb0=West+East+South
0xc0=West+North
0xd0=West+North+South
0xe0=West+North+East
0xf0=All Sides
0x81=Outside-to-Inside
0x82=Inside-to-Outside

Jonathan

I know this is an old topic, but SC4 is getting old now, and technology is moving on. Tools like ilive reader and SC4Tool are great but they are now starting to show their age. For example in Vista/Windows 7 Aero must be turned off to use SC4Tool without it freezing when you open a menu.

Also we have discovered more about the game now, for example there is no RHW TE option in the SC4Tool, I imagine that given the source code of SC4Tool it shouldn't be very hard to do because there are the other network there.
In the reader, EffectDirs have to be edited in hex view which takes more time. Things like S3D files need more options in the reader (more to the extent of Cogeos tool). RUL files are so long/big they have to be exported edited then imported. And theres probably more.

Don't get me wrong these tools are great, and without them we and SC4D wouldn't be here but they do need a little updating.

Rayden

I think Andreas already mentioned that most probably none of those tools will be updated as the guy who did them is not active anymore or something like that. On the other hand a lot of things are already possible to do with PIMX and maybe some others will be implemented, but I leave that for Wouanagaine to confirm ;)

Andreas

#15
Yes. simrolle got hit by a severe case of RL when we finally published a public version of SC4Tool, and when he returned about a year later, he discovered that his new development tools were not working properly anymore with the source code (he needed the new versions for work and couldn't keep the old ones). So an updated SC4Tool would have meant to reprogram large parts, something he tried to achieve, but then RL hit again, and I think he finally had to give up after spending way more than a year together with me and some other testers in order to develop SC4Tool. It was never intended to replace any of the existing modding tools, but merely for filling the gaps that existed back then, and I think it still fills some nieces niches quite nicely.

When we started SC4Tool, I was basically looking for a tool in order to display my database of the Maxis buildings, and then, it grew to the current shape over the following months. Sure, it has some bugs, but back then, we either didn't catch them, or we only discovered much later that something was wrong - and back in those times, the RHW wasn't even in the planning stages, so no wonder that there isn't an option for TE'ing RHW lots. ;) Even though simrolle would release the source code, I guess it wouldn't be that much of a help, since all this wasn't really planned in the first place, and thus is probably poorly or not documented at all - making it hard or even next to impossible even for simrolle himself to port the code over to his new tools.

Apart from some small, yet very useful tools, such as cogeo's SC4Model Tweaker, Null45's FSH tools or your own little programs, wouanagaine is pretty much the only "serious" programmer who's left when it comes to SC4 Modding tools. Fortunately, he's still with us when it comes to SC4PIM, but some of his older tools are not likely to receive any updates anymore - mainly because his laptop with the source code was stolen once. I'm not a programmer, so I can't tell if it's feasible to work together at an application, but if so, other programmers should adopt wou's tools (if he agrees), and help him with the development, so the missing features could be integrated sooner.

Personally, I'd love to see a visual T21 editor, for instance, which shouldn't be too hard to program, seeing that the LE-X already features most of the functions that we'd need (editing LotConfig items by arranging props, writing exemplar files), but obviously, there's a lot of other things to do, and we all have a limited amount of free time...
Andreas

thingfishs


Andreas

Quote from: thingfishs on December 30, 2009, 05:29:45 PM
it does what now? ;)

Ehhh, I guess that should be "niche".  &ops  Note to self: Don't post long explanations in foreign languages at 3 AM, esp. not when freudian slips could be detected in them, even though they were not intended. ;)
Andreas

sithlrd98

Quote from: Andreas on December 30, 2009, 05:19:11 PM
Personally, I'd love to see a visual T21 editor, for instance, which shouldn't be too hard to program, seeing that the LE-X already features most of the functions that we'd need (editing LotConfig items by arranging props, writing exemplar files), but obviously, there's a lot of other things to do, and we all have a limited amount of free time...

You aren't the only one! That would be almost as awesome as PIM-X!

I also must say that Nulls tools were a much needed addition when it comes to batch IID replacement/override! Saved me so much time when I was compiling the last few NAM curves mods! And thanks to Cogeo's tweaker, it is sooooo much easier to re-size models and to move models offset/centered than the alternative! Of course SC4 Tool , just like Reader ,  is still indispensable for the quick and dirty stuff . Even with its "bugs",  it is still a useful tool to triple check with!

Jayson