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SimCity 4 Devotion Custom Content Showcase => SFBT Place => Team Custom Content Projects => SFBT Creations => Topic started by: Andreas on April 25, 2007, 05:10:12 PM

Title: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Andreas on April 25, 2007, 05:10:12 PM
I guess it's about time to show some presence here, now that I've made myself a bit more comfortable with this place (it's been about time, really :) )...

We had some discussions within the SFBT about bringing our creations to the English-speaking community, and SC4Devotion seems to attract quite a few "devoted" players of our favorite game lately. The SC4D LEX is up and running again, hopefully with a bright future - and this future will include the latest SFBT BATs, lots and mods as well! We learned quite some new things over the last few months, including the possibility to make our work truly bilingual.

As of now, all SFBT creations will feature a bilingual installer where you can select an English or a German version, and the lots contain both English and German language strings, which will be shown depending on what language you have selected when installing your game. Unfortunately, we can't provide other translations as well, but other language installations will show the English language strings by default.

All older SFBT creations will be updated gradually and uploaded to the SC4D LEX, starting with the SFBT Essentials, which will be needed for virtually any SFBT download. If possible, the readme files will link to external dependencies that have been uploaded to the SC4D LEX, the remaining ones might point to other fansites, such as Simtropolis or Pegasus Productions.

As you might now, one of the SFBT policies is to keep the dependencies on a minimum level, mainly using the resources the SFBT Essentials provide. Therefore, it's necessary to update the Essentials download now and then, usually about every six months or so. For our regular followers, we're also planning a special updater that will update the files in your SFBT folder, so there's no need to download every BAT and lot once again. If you used the file paths that were suggested by the installers, you will be able to update your entire collection with a few clicks.

We're still sorting out a few things at the moment, but you can expect the first uploads soon. Those will include the well-known BATs and lots, a batch of "classics" from our beginnings (some of them never released before) that have been brushed up to the current standards, and also a few brand new items, fresh from the SFBT labs. I'll try to showcase them as good as possible, but remember that making "pretty pictures" for the showcase also means less time to develop, so one or another goodie might slip into the LEX unannounced. ;)
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: spa on April 25, 2007, 07:18:22 PM
Welcome! Nice to see SFBT making a presence here on this growing site. Looking forward to the updated early creations and these unknown classics.
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Gaston on April 25, 2007, 07:22:46 PM
This is great news.    SFBT has some wonderful stuff out there.


---Gaston
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: rooker1 on April 26, 2007, 08:12:07 AM
Thi is great news indeed.  Welcome here and I can't wait to see what comes first.

Robin    :thumbsup:&apls
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: M4346 on April 26, 2007, 08:17:05 AM
Yep, great news it is, and a warm welcome from me! (For what it's worth. :P)

Good luck! ;D
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: jeronij on April 26, 2007, 10:39:43 AM
Welcome at your English home  :thumbsup:

I feel really proud with your presence here  ;)

Impatiently waiting to see these unreleased items... ::)  ;D
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Andreas on April 26, 2007, 02:50:43 PM
Thanks, guys! :) I've just uploaded the April 2007 version of the SFBT Essentials, which have been updated with the latest props and textures. They contain both English and German language strings now, so if you have a German version installed, all texts should show up in German, otherwise the English text will be displayed. I'd be glad if someone could actually test this and report back. There are text strings for the SFBT RCI queries (the statistics portion in the bottom part), and most props feature a hover query. In addition, you should find three Mayor Mode tree buttons (birch tree, poplar and spruce), which should show up in English as well.

Please note that this is the only installer that is not Mac compatible, since I used the Nullsoft installer (the same that has been used for the NAM) due to its ability to actually check if a file is newer and stuff like this. The description shows a link to the German ZIP download, which includes an English readme file as well. Get the new Windows version here: http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=750 And finally, some pics that show the props that are contained in the SFBT Essentials:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg248.imageshack.us%2Fimg248%2F8395%2Fpropsbaustellewo3.jpg&hash=256cb32b9dc9746a3acb83928beba608b87bfe06)  (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg248.imageshack.us%2Fimg248%2F1290%2Fpropsstephenhhsc4.jpg&hash=a4d16cff734bf361f539158592731aa42d5fcc5e)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg248.imageshack.us%2Fimg248%2F5471%2Fpropspartybv8.jpg&hash=39174946b310805b769b73ce937f307ca99dac88)  (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg248.imageshack.us%2Fimg248%2F4011%2Fpropssicherungya0.jpg&hash=459a82244895e739ac9c2255d618ad75ec0cc308)
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: sebes on April 27, 2007, 03:01:50 AM
Wunderbar!  I am glad you decided to show up here more often. The SFBT team has made many of favourite additions to the game.  The proposed updating method soudns like music in my ears. Danke mein Freund!  :satisfied:
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Shadow Assassin on April 28, 2007, 07:16:51 AM
It's good to see the SFBT stuff on the LEX.

QuoteUnfortunately, we can't provide other translations as well, but other language installations will show the English language strings by default.

As long as LTEXT files are used to provide the language strings rather than the exemplar files themselves, it should be an easy process to just switch in and out whatever language we use - the SC4 dat files use the same method. Useful for localization purposes, wouldn't you say?
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Andreas on April 28, 2007, 08:39:51 AM
Quote from: Shadow Assassin on April 28, 2007, 07:16:51 AM
It's good to see the SFBT stuff on the LEX.

As long as LTEXT files are used to provide the language strings rather than the exemplar files themselves, it should be an easy process to just switch in and out whatever language we use - the SC4 dat files use the same method. Useful for localization purposes, wouldn't you say?

Of course I know how to do it (and as I already mentioned, the SFBT downloads here are already bilingual - both English and German in the same file), but what I meant is that I don't have the resources (both time and abilities) to add other languages was well.
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Shadow Assassin on April 28, 2007, 09:33:35 PM
Oh, okay. Thanks for clearing that up. :)
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: SC4BOY on November 30, 2007, 04:33:55 PM
Hi!!! Great to see the GREAT SFBT logo here as well as all over elsewhere in SC4 land.. :)

I notice a LARGE number of fine SFBT buildings that are on the LEX. I have a question that applies to all of them. Have you reviewed them against the CAM/ X Tool standards for numbers such as occupancy/stages? You don't mention this on the DL's so I thought I'd ask..

Nice to see you here as always.

I guess that I mean do they conform to the Colossus ID's Thread (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2103.20) and the X-tool criteria (sorry I can't add much.. I'm no expert by far :( )
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: royal on December 01, 2007, 02:14:47 AM
M4346 has reviewed some buildings and towers of the SFBT for the CAM :
http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1315

I think that are the towers made by ChP and AJ :)
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: SC4BOY on December 01, 2007, 07:00:56 AM
Hehe.. thanks a lot for the reply.. :) Yes I noted that those were marked as "CAMeLOTs" .. I already dl'd those.. These are quite unusual for a western city, but I think they can be a great "variety" addition, or to model certain locations or "style".. Thanks to the creators! :)
Title: Question Please
Post by: SC4BOY on December 05, 2007, 02:47:14 PM
I am not sure where to ask about this. I realize this item is not an SFBT creation. I have the HerbST pipeline (english) set. It has worked fine before, but I have added a number of added items to my SUM profile. I have not used the pipeline set in quite some time, but I started to use it (I know it is documented as having no dependencies) today and it crashes my SC4 to desktop everytime I place any piece (well I assume it is any piece.. I tried a few and each caused the CTD) Do you have any ideas about how I might best approach this? It crashes even on a city with nothing else in it.. ie it is the only item being placed. None of my other things (and there are hundreds) cause the crash. If you have any ideas about this situation, I'd love to hear about it. Sorry for posting here, but I have no connections to the german sites other than you folk.. :)
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Khiyana on December 05, 2007, 02:53:24 PM
I had the same problem, and herbst re-uploaded a revised pipline-set, these causes no crashes anymore.
Here is the link --> Pipeline-Set (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=18846&v=1)
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: SC4BOY on December 05, 2007, 04:01:29 PM
Quote from: Khiyana on December 05, 2007, 02:53:24 PM
I had the same problem, and herbst re-uploaded a revised pipline-set, these causes no crashes anymore.
Here is the link --> Pipeline-Set (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=18846&v=1)


Hmm.. well that did stop the crashes by itself, but I still get crashes when I have my full plugins loaded. I guess I'll start a binary search to try to find out what the conflict is. Thanks for the note..

edit: .. .well after a bit of testing it DID FIX the "basis set" which is what you gave me the link to. It seems to be the parts from the "extras" part that now is crashing it.. I'll go back and see if that part has an update too. OK I found the "extras" link  HerbST Extras (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=18847&v=1) .. now to see if that fixes this last part.. :)  YAY!! At least it doesn't crash with a full plugin folder and nothing else placed, but that is a step forward!! WOOT!

I will say though that only the GERMAN set seems to have been fixed.. I got the english version and it still crashes.. an evil plot to force me to learn german!!!


Title: Menu and CTD
Post by: SC4BOY on December 08, 2007, 03:15:31 PM
The following menu for a Construction Lot causes my SC4 to crash to desktop 100% of the time. Any thoughts on this?

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg520.imageshack.us%2Fimg520%2F8248%2Fconstrctdpd4.jpg&hash=17bbc27682f39cce3e2e4ea296bf1bf846a97999)
CTD Icon
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Andreas on December 08, 2007, 04:06:16 PM
This issue was reported in a thread at PEG's forum as well (http://simpeg.com/forum/index.php?topic=4643.0), but apparently, the SFBT Construction lot itself works fine, because the person who reported a crash first said it wouldn't crash the game anymore after sorting out some things. So I can only guess that it's indeed another file that conflicts with this one, causing the game to crash once you're trying to use it.
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: DFire870 on December 08, 2007, 04:31:59 PM
I've been having the CTD problem with the SFBT construction set and highway bridge construction set. This happens with the MMLs and the individual lots, and I dunno what the problem is. I have all of the dependencies, so it's not that.
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Chrisim on December 09, 2007, 02:42:07 PM
I have no problem with these sets, therefore no clue about the problem you face. I suspect a conflict with another download.
Do you still have the problem, when these two sets (and the SFBT Essentials) are the only contents of your Plugin folder?
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: SC4BOY on December 09, 2007, 04:57:05 PM
Quote from: Chrisim on December 09, 2007, 02:42:07 PM
I have no problem with these sets, therefore no clue about the problem you face. I suspect a conflict with another download.
Do you still have the problem, when these two sets (and the SFBT Essentials) are the only contents of your Plugin folder?

Umm.. if you mean the construction lot? Yes I am sure it is a conflict of some kind.. but to me it is the SFBT one that conflicts.. at any rate I use the BSC construction lot and am playing happily on.. I don't have the time to go through a binary search of my 2GB plugins.. It worked before, crashed when I put it in, and stopped crashing when I took it out.. and with the BSC construction set it doesn't crash..

If I had time, I am confident I could zero in on exactly the file that has some conflict with the German lot.

In the meantime I'll go on enjoying the great other SFBT lots :)  .. can't wait to get the XTool on those nice looking large building for CAMpatible adjustments.. or maybe someone else has already done it by now.. At any rate they look great..
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: DFire870 on December 09, 2007, 05:03:37 PM
I did some diagnosing and apparently Swamper77's Airport Support File is the culprit. I'm not sure how it would conflict with the sets unless it has something to do with them being in the airport menu?
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Andreas on December 10, 2007, 03:04:24 AM
Thanks for the hint, DFire870. The SFBT Construction lots were moved to the airport menu because it was the only one that wasn't overcrowded at the time they were made, and apart from the "Building: Airport" occupant group, they don't carry any airport properties at all, but are merely eye-candy parks. I don't know how exactly Swamper's airport support file works, but considering that most of the modular airport lots are merely eye-candy as well (and only one building, like the tower, has actual airport functions), I don't really see why the construction lots should affect the game, but not the modular airport lots.

Are you a bit familiar with the modding programs, such as the Reader? Open the MML DAT and try to edit the occupant groups in all exemplar files in order to move them back into the park menu by removing the "Building: Airport" occupant group (0x00001508) and adding a "Building: Civic" and "Building: Park" occupant group (0x00001005,0x00001006). Don't remove the "Building: Landmark" occupant group (0x0000150A) from the construction lot, though, since this one is necessary for the MML functionality.
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: DFire870 on December 10, 2007, 03:19:18 AM
I've never used the Reader before, but later today I'll download it and try it. So do I only need to edit the MMLs?

-- John
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Andreas on December 10, 2007, 03:31:10 AM
Yes, the MML DAT will override the original lots, if it's loaded after them (that's why I placed it in the "zz_BSC MML Mod" folder). Open the DAT in the Reader, click on "Fill the list", and then click on the exemplar file that is included in the list on the left. Look for the "Occupant Groups" property in the right pane, double-click it and edit the hex values in the input field at the bottom (be careful not to delete any comma accidentially). Then click on the "Apply" button right of the input field, followed by another click on the "Apply" button at the bottom of the window. Repeat this for every exemplar file in the DAT, and then don't forget to save the file.

EDIT: Here's a screenshot that illustrate the process, hopefully, it helps. :)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg502.imageshack.us%2Fimg502%2F1526%2Feditingoccupantgroupsza9.th.gif&hash=68c61faf187bf4efe36f2bb3ff7600420d797562) (http://img502.imageshack.us/my.php?image=editingoccupantgroupsza9.gif)
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: DFire870 on December 10, 2007, 05:58:12 AM
That did it. :thumbsup: I edited only one of the MMLs to see if it would work, and it didn't crash when I tested the MML and the individual lots.

Thanks!

-- John
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Andreas on December 10, 2007, 11:14:55 AM
Sweet, thanks for the confirmation. I'm still unsure why it would be affected by the airport support file, but I'll create a workaround for that in the next release.
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: SC4BOY on December 19, 2007, 12:53:01 PM
Hmm.. I have a problem. I am trying out the SFBT "GLR Tram Mod" as it looked pretty cool. After setting up my GLR tracks, I cannot plop these color stations on the GLR track.. it only will place "crosswise" .. which of course doesn't work very well.. :)

Is there a trick to placing these particular stations? I have other GLR stations which seem to place just fine.
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Andreas on December 19, 2007, 03:20:30 PM
Which version do you use? The one available at the STEX, or the LEX version? The first one is designed for the GLR puzzle pieces, whereas I updated the other one for the draggable GLR.
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: SC4BOY on December 19, 2007, 03:25:22 PM
I believe I have the LEX version.. how do I tell? The docs and the file neither one have any revision number or any other distinquishing notes.

edit: Oh I do recall one thing..The first thing I tried was the puzzle pieces (I had to learn how to place the stations by tracking down info on GLR usage.. I've never used it before).. And when I used puzzle pieces I could never get the station to connect to the tracks.. it looked ok, but a train didn't seem to ever go through the station. And when I tried to "activate it" by dragging el rail thru it it would drag only thru the station pieces and would not go onto the puzzle pieces.. I don't know if that is normal or not.. as I say I'm kind of new to using the GLR in an actual city.

The tracks I have I made by a combination of draggable and puzzle pieces.. I was sort of learning as I went.

When I try to plop a station on the tracks it goes ACROSS the tracks making an "X" instead of in line. If I line it up inline, it shows red and won't place.

(edit2: I just looked and the LEX shows I have downloaded the lot one time so it is highly likely that I have the LEX version)
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: Andreas on December 19, 2007, 03:50:58 PM
Check the edit dates of the lot files. They should read "2007/06/08" if you have the LEX version that plops onto the draggable NAM. Also, the dependency list in the readme file should show "Network Addon Mod June 2007 version". Those stations will only plop on a stretch of draggable GLR. If there are any puzzle pieces in the area where you want to plop them, it won't work. Try to bulldoze your puzzle piece network and recreate it with the draggable GLR. For most situations, that should be done very fast - I was able to replace an entire GLR system in my city in under 15 minutes, while building the puzzle pieces took several hours before.
Title: Re: SFBT Creations @ SC4D LEX
Post by: SC4BOY on December 19, 2007, 04:00:55 PM
Yes I have the LEX version.. and that does seem to be it.. if I clear out puzzle pieces so NONE are withing about 2 tiles of the station spot, it places ok.. thx.

Any idea why the other stations will place, but the SFBT one requires all draggable? The stations I used turned out to be the modified Tonkso and Marrast versions for no particular reason..

Edit: Hmm.. now that I'm getting some to work, why is it that if I place near a curve (not beside but even 2 or 3 squares away) does it cause the drag network to revert back to el rail?