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BSC Parks missing Textures around Pathway and some Parks

Started by luvs2draw, January 15, 2019, 12:38:27 PM

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luvs2draw

Hello Everyone,

I have been having a problem wit "BSC Parks". When I build a park and use the BSC Parks pathways and Parks, it seems that the base texture for the Pathway and some parks is missing. It will show trees but no base texture. I have all the Dependencies install. I'll attach several pics so you can see what I am talking about.

Any help would be appricated. 

Tyberius06

Hi!

Could you upload your picture in JPG format, because I assume these PNGs are too big for the system and we can not see them. With MS Paint (default windows paint program) you can convert these images into JPG with the "save as..." option).
Bear in mind that you can only upload 4 images and these are can not be more 2 mb by each and all together.

- Tyberius
You may find updates about my ongoing projects into my development thread here at SimCity 4 Devotion: Tyberius Lotting Experiments
or over there on Simtropolis into the Tyberius (Heretic Projects) Lotting and Modding Experiments.
I'm also member of the STEX Custodian and working on different restoration projects on behalf of non-anymore-active custom content creators.
Current projects: WMP Restoration and SimCity Polska Restoration.
Member of the NAM Team and RTMT Team.

mgb204

Bear in mind that the BSC Parks were designed such that you can choose between a number of base textures, which in effect alter how the pathways look. As such, the files for those textures contain many choices, which if they are simply missing, tells me you've probably failed to install this component.

Otherwise, ensure the file "BSC_Park_Textures_zDefault.dat" is installed in Plugins. Which is the default base texture included with the base parks set.

luvs2draw


luvs2draw

mgb204 I have the texture file installed with only I style of Pathways chosen, Brown Brick Large.

luvs2draw

I am using the Appalachian Terrain Mod. I don't know if that makes a difference in the texture not showing up or not?

luvs2draw

mgb204 I have the BSC_Park_Texture_zDefault.dat is installed in the BSC Base Set folder. Does it need to be installed outside of the Base Set folder into the Plugins?

mgb204

OK, looking at the screenshot, I think you are confusing the Base and Overlay textures. The brown brick (pathway) is the Base texture used on these lots and it obviously present.

The Grass textures (overlays), might look very much like terrain, but in fact they are not the terrain, but TGN overrides of the BSC textures. It's easy to tell, because if they were missing, the white borders between them and the pathway wouldn't be there. So I'm pretty certain that's what's wrong here, but let me know if I'm not right.

You mention use of the Appalachian terrain mod, but it looks like you are using the SV version of TGN. You are free to do so if that's what you wish, just pointing it out in case you've done this in error. In any case, the TGN overrides in the last release (v2) only cover a small number of the textures from the three BSC texture mega packs. So whilst you may see some of the park pieces with TGN, others will not have been overridden, hence the grasses don't match up.

If you confirm which TGN version you are using, I can give you an updated file that should give more consistent results.

luvs2draw

mgb204,

Thanks for the reply. When I took the screen shot I was using the "SV Terrain" Mod. Thought that was causing me the problem so I choose the "LK Appalachian and installed it to see if it would make a difference, and it didn't. I have the "MGB TNG 2.0-AP" installed. I remove the "Maxis Street" folder, because it keeps the Cul-de-sac's (Z_ Maxis_Cul_de_sacs) from showing up in the game. I made a "Plugins" folder and placed it in the z___NAM folder. I then DAT Pack the MGB TNG 2.0-AP folder but it will not Pack these 3 files, z____MGB TGN BSC Vol1-3 Override.dat, z____MGB TGN Diag Filler Override.dat and z____ MGB TGN Parks 205 Override.dat, which I put in my Plugins folder loosely, by them self's.

pressus

Maybe I can help you in this way:

- In the Plugin folder leave only NAM and delete everything you wrote about here (copy somewhere else)
Only NAM stays.

- now you're adding compatible(to MGB TGN) Terrain MOD: only by Lowkee or Gobias, put it after z_Nam folder in new place forinstance zz_Terrain,

- in the other new folder zzz_Terrain, so after zz_Terrain, put base textures mod, so only one of MGB TGN mods for Gobias or Lowkees Appalachian, put all files, do not delete anything,

- add the MGB Diagonal Filler Set and Paeng's Parks 205 to the Plugin folder,

- to the zzz_Terrain folder, where MGB TGN is, you can add a file z_LK_FloraTuningParameters_Seasonal_Maxis_or_other.

Now everything should work, you can try with other 'Parks' plugins but they may be incompatible, as it may be with BSC Parks.
Before you start throwing something, check the operation according to the instructions above.

Good luck and remember about order and cleanliness in plugin folder  ;)
Sorry guys, I'll be here next week, so good luck!

mgb204

Quote from: pressus on January 17, 2019, 04:47:05 AM
- now you're adding compatible(to MGB TGN) Terrain MOD: only by Lowkee or Gobias, put it after z_Nam folder in new place forinstance zz_Terrain,

This will not load after the NAM. My advice is to leave TGN alone and keep it in the original folder z____MGB Mods, that way it just works. IF you know what you are doing, feel free to mess with it, but it's really not recommended.

There is no load order problem here, I've stated already that TGN is working as it should in the picture. Likewise, there are no missing textures either. Everything is exactly how it should be, so the more messing around you do trying to fix something that isn't broken, the more likely you are to break something.

Just to show you what TGN is doing, remove the file from TGN "MGB TGN BSC Vol1-3 Override.dat" from your plugins, then load the game. Note how all the terrain-matching grass textures for the BSC Parks will now be gone. But, and this is a big but, the whole point of TGN is to make such textures match the terrain. So the question is, would you really prefer to remove that feature, over having a more complete version of it which solves the mismatch? Of course this is your choice, but since you chose that option during install, I figured you'd prefer to have the updated version. Note however that 6 variants of TGN exist, I simply need to know which one you would need, assuming you want it, so I can upload it for you.

pressus

@ mgb204: Generally I agree with your opinion. In my advice I wrote 'for example' and it seems logical to me. An ordered Plugin folder makes it easier to use for the game. It is important that this folder is functional.
I've tried all of the MGB TGN plugins for terrain compatible mods by Gobias and Lowkee in accordance with the instructions and recommendations and I never had any problems.
So good luck in reconstruction  :)
Sorry guys, I'll be here next week, so good luck!

luvs2draw

mgb204,

I'll leave everything as it is. The TGN I guess I need is for LK Appalchian Mod ( which I already have installed). I am also using Paeng's Sidewalk Mod

mgb204

I think the simplest option here is to provide all 6 TGN options for the BSC Texture Update. I've setup a folder on Google Drive which anyone can view using this link. Once there, choose one of the following TGN variants (folder name), then download the file you need from there:

  • AP - Appalachian
  • BO - Berner Overland
  • BOu - Berner Overland (Unified Wealth)
  • PY - Pyrenean
  • SV - Sudden Valley
  • SVu - Sudden Valley (Unified Wealth)
    This file (TGN BSC Vol1-3 Override.dat) should replace the equivalent one from your existing TGN mod.

    Note that you can download all variants if you want, but the file names are identical, so they need to be kept in separate folders. But most people will probably only need one file. Eventually this update will be included in an upcoming TGN release. But, right now everything is taking me much longer than I hoped to get to that point.




    Quote from: pressus on January 17, 2019, 08:35:42 AM
    @ mgb204: Generally I agree with your opinion. In my advice I wrote 'for example' and it seems logical to me. An ordered Plugin folder makes it easier to use for the game. It is important that this folder is functional.

    I think there is a misunderstanding, I'll quote from the readme of TGN (relevant part in Purple):

    Quote from: A Brief Note on Load Order
    This mod absolutely MUST load after the z___NAM folder. It also needs to load after any other files that modify either the NAM textures or any/all of the supported networks of this mod. The most common cause of problems comes from users altering the default install folder, therefore think twice before changing it.

    In order to avoid problems for you, the end user, I have included a simple folder z____MGB Mods. The default installer path should typically be used when installing. That way everything should work without you having to think about load order further.

    All of my mods are undergoing a refresh to enable them to co-exist with no user input required. If you have another of my mods with the same z____MGB Mods folder you may be asked by the installer if you wish to use the existing folder with the same name. You should always accept this step.

    All of my mods released from Jun 2015 support this setup, previously unsupported mods will be updated in due course.

    However, if for example, you wanted another texture override to show instead of mine. That mod ideally needs to load after TGN. Changes made in recent NAM versions mean that using a traditional prefix system will no longer override the NAM textures. (i.e., zFolder, zzFolder, zzzFolder or z1_Folder, z2_Folder). To override the NAM your prefix must include a minimum of 4 underscores after the z. Therefore to override this mod, you need to use 5 underscores. For further information or help with load order, please visit the relevant support forums on one of the communities various sites.

    The point being, that the folder name you mentioned (zz_Terrain) would prevent the TGN mod from working. z___NAM would load after it, which causes many problems. It doesn't really matter where the actual terrain mod loads, it doesn't need any special load order, since it only needs to load after the original (part of the game files), which anything in Plugins will do automatically.

    Frankly you can use whatever system you can make work, but advising people to use an outdated system might lead to problems. Usually where creators like myself have to help fix them, despite making an installer to do it right and documenting it, people still change that folder, breaking the mod in the process. Hence I felt the need to point it out. It doesn't hurt either to dispel that these older naming systems simply no longer work. Many users just assume mods are broken, when in reality, they just aren't loading in the correct order.

pressus

Yes, you're right, it's a good idea to read the installation instructions  ;), I have everything OK and I do not have any problems in my Plugin folder and the game  ;)
Sometimes there are errors and we are here to remove them  :thumbsup:
Sorry guys, I'll be here next week, so good luck!

luvs2draw

Thanks mgb204. I believe I found out what I did wrong. My mistake. I believe I put 2 folders, LK Terrain Textures and LK Starter Set, in the zzz_terrain folder before I DAT Packed it. I now have the 2 LK folders located in my plugins folder starting before the z____MGB MOD's folder and just the zzz_terrain folder starting after the Z____MGB MOD's folder. I used the z____ folder you provided and ran the installer for the Terrian MOD again and let it install where it should go. I don't normal change the folder structure but I thought it would make a difference by adding the 2 LK folders in with the Terrain MOD. Smack my hand for doing this, I believed I learned my lesson. Thanks for all the help it has been greatly Appricated.

luvs2draw

I started the game and (poof) the Texture overlays work. I've enclosed a pic for you to see.