SC4 Model Tweaker Development/Support thread

[FrankU]

Hi Ncgaio,

As far as I have see you can download the latest version of the Tweaker form the LEX. I was looking for the alst version some weeks ago and found the one on the LEX being the same as the latest I had found on this thread.

And to Cogeo: I don't know if you know already, but with my Win7,x64,SP1 system I can rotate models without problem, but not scale. Scaling makes the program crash.

[NCGAIO]

Hi Ncgaio,

As far as I have see you can download the latest version of the Tweaker form the LEX. I was looking for the alst version some weeks ago and found the one on the LEX being the same as the latest I had found on this thread.

Unfortunately no longer available ... I do not know if it was due to problems with Win7 but it seems that this magnificent work Cogeo gone!

[cogeo]

Unfortunately no longer available ... I do not know if it was due to problems with Win7 but it seems that this magnificent work Cogeo gone!

Model Tweaker hasn't gone, instead the new version is about to be released "officially" soon, maybe tomorrow (it's not Easter here, and I hope I will find some time to finish it). I have disabled downloads from the LEX after I got a report that the download contained only the executable, and not the full installer with the documentation. Apparently uploaded a wrong file. You understand the frustration, it was like that for nearly 2 years!

I don't know if you know already, but with my Win7,x64,SP1 system I can rotate models without problem, but not scale. Scaling makes the program crash.

Quite surprised to hear this, as I was thinking that the problem was solved. Are you sure you are using the last version, ie V2.35-TEST? Pls open the About box. If yes, do you have this problem with all models, or with one specific model only? If so please tell which model this is (or send it to me) to take a look.

On the other hand, I had think many times that would be very useful the possibility to rotate models 45 degrees. It could easily make many diagonal buildings.

I know, it would be nice (make diagonal versions out of orthogonal models), but unfortunately this is not possible because for 20-Z/R models each view corresponds to one of the four rotations only, the back faces are missing and the textures are specific to the viewing angle. Here is an old discussion on this. Only 1-Z/R models, eg automata, can be freely rotated, and actually not all of them, only those which are designed as such. However, for models with relatively simple LODs and for small angles, it may be possible to perform a rotation with fairly acceptable results. You will have to fool the program to allow this. Here is how:
- Open the model in the reader and change the 1st model IID from say 0x00030000 to 0x00030001. This way the Tweaker won't find 20 properly numbered models and won't group them as a single 20-Z/R model.
- Open the model in the Tweaker. It will display it as 20 separate 1-Z/R models. You can select them all and rotate them by the desired angle (the Rotate command, as opposed to Reorient is enabled for 1-Z/R models).
- Then open the model in the reader again and change the ID of the 1st model back to 0x00030000.


The new version will be the same as V2.35-TEST (the one dl-ed from the link in my previous post), only it will now be named V3.00, and of course won't have that warning at launch (it has quite a few new features, and is considered stable, as it was sufficiently tested).

It may be possible to add some new features before releasing it. If you have any new requests please post them now, as most probably there are not going to be any future releases (SC4 is dying anyway).

[NCGAIO]

For those who followed the development is gratifying to know that this tool is still active dear. About the announced death of SC4 ... though it seems near I believe it will take a couple of years to bor that this will happen. And certainly not by the launch of the new ... (Despite what appears in the advertising market will not be possible to do anything like what was done here).

All information is on the increase of traffic in the best sites. Perhaps knowing that the new players also stay with the two for the best of both worlds, a good simulation in the new game and the excellent art portion can be generated by ten years of moding SC4.

[FrankU]

[

I don't know if you know already, but with my Win7,x64,SP1 system I can rotate models without problem, but not scale. Scaling makes the program crash.

Quite surprised to hear this, as I was thinking that the problem was solved. Are you sure you are using the last version, ie V2.35-TEST? Pls open the About box. If yes, do you have this problem with all models, or with one specific model only? If so please tell which model this is (or send it to me) to take a look.

Hi Cogeo,

I took a look. It is version 2.30 that I used. I'll try 2.35 before I post again. Sorry to have upset you.

And is SC4 indeed dying? I hope not!
It's not the oldest living game yet. I sometimes play Quake, the original form 1996. Last year I found out that lots of people are still making new levels for this game! Maybe we can try to outage it?

[cogeo]

Hi folks,

I would like to let you know that development of the new version of the tool and its (updated) documentation is completed. The program is the same as V2.35 (test), the one that was made available for testing in this thread some little time ago, only the warning on launch has been removed. Making the installer and releasing it is just a few minutes work. However before doing so I would like to have it a little more tested, and this time I'm talking about the documentation. I did proof-read it - and found several points to correct - but I think it would be better to have it checked by some more members, preferably native English speakers.

If you are interested, send me a PM and you will get the new version of the tool + documentation, along with its source (it's in html). You can make your revisions and send the revised file(s) back to me, or tell me your suggestions and I will carry out the updates. You can make suggestions about both the content (eg inaccuracies, ommisions, needed clarifications etc) and linguistic mistakes or possible improvements (eg make a phrase sounding more "natural").

Thank you in advance

[cogeo]

If you had previously installed an older version of SC4 Model Tweaker, you have to uninstall it before installing V3.00. Please uninstall it as described below:

A) If you had installed the older version using an installer: This is easy, simply uninstall the application using the standard Windows setup services. From your Windows Taskbar select Control Panel->Add or Remove Programs (in Win7: Control Panel->Programs->Unintall a Program), and in the list displayed find SC4 Model Tweaker and click Remove (or Uninstall).

B) If you had installed the older version manually (incl test versions): Delete all Tweaker's files and shortcuts, and then open the Registry Editor (in the Taskbar select Run, and type-in regedit), go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cogeo\SC4 Model Tweaker, and delete the whole "SC4 Model Tweaker" key (tree's branch).

[cogeo]

Hi all,

The new version of SC4 Model Tweaker (V3.00) is now available for download on the LEX. Here is an image of the new program.



It contains a number of new features, upgrades and fixes. These include:

- Upgraded User Interface: Added two new columns in the list, Model Name (making it easier to identify models) and Changes (easier tracking changes - in the current editing session only). Also the list is now sortable by any column; a small arrow indicating the sorting column and order is displayed next (WIn XP) or above (Win 7) the column's title.
- Added the Merge Models command. Useful, among others, for network models and bridges.
- Fixed the crashes-under-Vista/Win7 issue.
- A few minor bug fixes.
- Updated documentation (special thanks to woodb3kmaster for reviewing/correcting the help files).


Installation

The application comes in an msi installer form, installing the program, the documentation and creating the necessary program menus. Before installing the new version, you have to completely uninstall any older version, whether it was installed using an installer or manually. Please refer to the previous post in this thread, for instuctions on how to uninstall an older version.


Suggested User Interface settings

SC4 Model Tweaker features a standardised yet customisable user interface, so as to make the application more familiar and comfortable to as many users as possible. However I would suggest that you set the UI options as shown below. Right-click on the Toolbar and select Customize.

Then go to the "Toolbars" tab, select the "Standard" toolbar and check the "Show text labels" check-box. This makes it easier to identify the toolbar buttons.



Then go to the "Options" tab and uncheck the "Menus show recently used commands first". This is a nice feature offered by Microsoft as a default, but it's mostly useful for long menus. However the Tweaker's menus are short, and in this case it proves rather counter-productive, as it hides most of the menu commands, requiring the user to expand the hidden part, thus causing delays. Therefore it is recommended that you disable it.




Using the Help System

SC4 Model Tweaker, although quite self-explaining and easy to use, includes detailed documentation, in online and context-sensitive help. It can be invoked in two ways:

1. Select the Help->Help Topics menu; this will open the documentation's Help Index page.
2. As shown in the pic below, click the Help button on the Toolbar. The cursor will change to pointer+questionmark. Then click on any UI item (window, button, menu item etc) even if it is disabled.



This will display its associated help topic.




Please report any problems in this thread. Also feel free to ask for help (on how to use its features) if you have troubles.

Hope you enjoy the new version!

[FrankU]

Wow, this looks great!
When and if I have time I will use it.

Thanks for the effort you put into this. 

[NCGAIO]

  Again, again, again ..... Very good to know that we are still here. And from what I've seen after E3 I think we will still stay for a long time with SC4. Remains now hope to achieve an SDK or at least to release compilations of DLLs.


Fantastic work ... congratulations.

[knapp]

Just tried the new version because the old one crashed under win7 and it worked.
Great!!! Thanks very much for your work and the time you sacrify for the SC4-Community 

[jmyers2043]

Hi Cogeo

I've been downloading some things from other sites recently. Boy, what a surprise. There is some careless modeling and modding. I downloaded this program today and put it to good use. Thank you for this great tool !!!

- Jim

[Dublin]

Awesome tool with great improvements, glad I found it again. Quick question, I've been having great fun getting various models tweaked to the proper size and one thing that I would like to do is this; there are a few items that look great re-sized and great in their original size, is there a way to have both? Thanks

[FrankU]

Yes, sure there is. It was my own question some time ago and it was answered in this same thread in reply #170. You could read the whole discussion, beginning with my question in reply# 168, but to make it easy I quote the most important part

@FrankU: Carl already replied, now let's be a little more specific.

First of all, if you are going to release modified versions of other peoples' work, you should definitely make new models and exemplars and keep the originals, because other lotmakers may be using them in their original form. And it would be best to ask the creator's permission anyway, because they may not want them modified, who knows?

Here is an example:
If the model's ID is 0x5ad0e817,0x12345678,0x00030000, you can copy the 20 0x00030##0 S3D models, paste them into another (new) datfile, and renumber them to, say, 0x00031##0. This is an IID that neither Maxis, nor any BAT-exported model will ever be using, so it's almost certainly unique (unless someone else uses the same technique and number). Renumbering is done by using the reader's TGI Editor tool, and takes just seconds, as it can renumber all models at once. Then you can modify them with the Tweaker. Making the exemplar can be a little more troublesome, as the PM may not recognize such a model (ideally you could make a copy of the XML file too, and set the correct/updated dimensions in there, but this is just additional work). Better create the exemplar using the original model and then modify it in the reader - you need to set the new TGI IDs in the RKT1 property, as well as the new Occupant Size (if you have resized it).

Now if you are going to release these, you should only include the updated S3D models and the new exemplars - not any FSH files. You should also list the original prop-pack as a dependency (you need it because the FSHs are there).

Hope this helps.

[Dublin]

Thanks so much, kinda skipped thru he posts and missed that one.

[NCGAIO]

You can read this LINK as is the identification of the model to TGI.

[City Planner]

I love this tool, its so essential to the game in making a uniform size for everything.  There is one thing thought... I am getting a small error when uploading Mike Seith's Car props.  It says that the DIR is outdated and I need to use the Reader and than shuts down.  I looked in the reader but I see no way to scale the props.  Is there a way around outdated (DIR) message?  Thanks in advance

[NCGAIO]

Open the dat in Rader and press right-click on the files page  then  on the new frame click "reindex"  and then rebuild  "directory"  after  just save.

[cogeo]

Are you sure you are using the new version (V3.00)? Pls check the About box.

If so, please send me the file that causes you troubles to take a look. My email is public.

[City Planner]

Thank you for your reply.  I am using v 3.00 .  I am trying to upload Mike Seiths 'ms family eurocar props'.  The website is not allowing me access to send an email to you Cogeo but the link that I am talking about with the files are here- http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/14400-european-cars-automata-and-family-props-new-instances/

NCGAIO, if I reindex and rebuild the Directory will it mess up the ms props that are already in-game?