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Some questions about editing custom lots

Started by bjamessuchy2, June 06, 2010, 06:36:29 PM

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bjamessuchy2

Even though I've been using custom content since it started being made, I just found out about this tool today!  Now I've been looking high and low for a tutorial or even just answers to a few of my questions but I've found nothing; perhaps someone here can answer my questions.

I'm really OCD when it comes to my city building.  It really really annoys me when I download a custom building, especially a really well-made one, and the query of the building or even the building name contains typos or other jumbles of letters and numbers, for example "NDEX00x0x000aC$$" as the name of the building.  That bugs me so much!!  I want to be able to rename it to what it was called when I downloaded it, without that jumble.

Another problem i have is when an extremely modern looking building based off of something from China pops up in the Chicago 1800s tileset.  This is extremely common, and it seems every custom growable building just shows up in every tileset.  It takes away from the realism and is problematic when I'm trying to build an american town.

So my questions are:  How do I change the in-game name of a custom building?  How do I change the tileset that the building grows in?  Can I change the image that appears next to a ploppable building in the side panels?  Can I change the descriptions of these ploppable (landmark, civil, etc) buildings?

These are my two biggest problems, but if people have any other good advice on how to tweek some of these custom buildings using this tool, let me know.

Indisguise

#1
you can change these things in the tool program and/or the ireader, find the Ireader can do more things, but Tool is a little more user friendly. After endly tutorial sessions with Ilive, Tropod, Buggy banged their heads against a wall trying to teach me the ireader, think Buggy has no hair (from pulling it out in fustration :D )

I use the tool program myself  :thumbsup:


In the tool program you can open a building and change the name that appears in game,  this would be the "Exemplar Name"  click on this line and edit this line to your desire.

To change the tileset in which a building appears in you be looking at the "Occupant groups" select this one and it will give you the option to select which tile set group.

As for changing the name that appears in the menus, not sure, think it the "User Visible Name Key", but the  Doozers don't use RCI plopables, I'll convert them to growables when possible, I find that they disrupt the simulator and have comute and demand issues when used to be worth while,  not 100% sure, have to ask someone else on that matter.


"$Deal"$ A word of warning, before changing any plopable buildings or parks, special functional lankmarks or civic building, make sure you bulldozer any and ALL of the buildings that you are going to change, as changing the stats of theses types of building and having old ones that were ploped with the old stats still in your city will cause the city to endless crash while playing and also crash if you try and bulldoze them after the change, this can make a city a unplayable and throwaway very quickly   "$Deal"$
Colossus X-rated

bjamessuchy2

Thank you for the help!

I did figure out on my own how to change the name and tileset but I just wasn't sure if what I was doing was right.  For altering the "exemplar name," I should change the one that is included in the .lot file, correct?  And within that lot file, should i change the exemplar for the "building" or for the "lot" or for both? 

Yes, I agree I dislike using ploppable RCI buildings.  I only wanted to know so I could clean up descriptions of some custom real-world landmarks.  I don't know how to convert things from just RCI ploppable to growable, can it be done easily?  I tend to trust the creator with all the complex statistics, I just want to clean up the cosmetic issues.

Lol I did download the Reader and I couldn't make sens out of it.  The SC4 Tool is much easier.

bjamessuchy2

#3
So I've just tested the first building I edited.  I managed to fix the text alright, but the building was a CO$$ ploppable and, even though I reduced the number of jobs to 0, the query still displays all the factors that a true landmark does not.  How do I convert this building to an actual landmark?

A second problem I've come across is that in some cases I cannot fully edit the exemplar name of the .lot file.  It forces the characters "0x" to precede whatever I type and I am limited to 7 characters.  But I am able to change the name of the .desc file.  Does it make a difference if I change the desc file or the lot file?

Thanks!

edit:  I have figured out how to change the exemplar name, apparently I needed to right click and hit "open IME"....I don't know what that is but it allowed me to type whatever I wanted.

BarbyW

You should download SC4PIM and the User Guide. Please make sure you read the User Guide carefully before starting.
I think you will find this will give you more flexibility than SC4Tool.
Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened. TP



Barbypedia: More alive than the original

Indisguise

yea barby's right, again  ::) 

I ment the that program not the tool  ;)
Colossus X-rated

chepetico


In the tool program you can open a building and change the name that appears in game,  this would be the "Exemplar Name"  click on this line and edit this line to your desire.


[/quote]



How do I enable in game editable names?

Thanks