New buildings

[bombardiere]

I open up a new thread, as the old one is getting crowded.

Here is what I have done with Ceramic Factory. (one on the left) It looks better as upgraded. I have the building files almost ready too. Only thing I haven’t done is new cargo names, as I don’t have the cargo alpha and without it, the game crashes.



The building converts rocks (sand) to ceramics 4 per annum.

Base price is 1 900 000



If this is ok, I’ll send this to Hawk so that he can put this in ftp folder.

[pure al]

Wow! Excellent bombardiere! Did you change the chimney? I must be missing something, I still haven't done any of that :?

One point on the roof, could you possibly make it a much lighter colour, so that from a distance the building looks unique and no comparisons can be made to the original. Just grab a lighter roof texture from another building, and stick it on. :D

Ore Mine with a Coal Mine behind it:

[bombardiere]

One point on the roof, could you possibly make it a much lighter colour, so that from a distance the building looks unique and no comparisons can be made to the original. Just grab a lighter roof texture from another building, and stick it on.

You are right of course. See updated version. Different enough? :)

I'll convert it to dds and then it is ready to be wrabbed up.

About Blender, you got a PM.

[pure al]

Yep that's perfect.

I'm working on the quarry atm, and I've chosen to use the Aluminum Mine as the base. Reason is the quarry should occupy a large area, and since in the future we may add new 3dmodels, it's best to use a large model. It's a very complicated model, so it's taking longer than I thought. Screenshots soon.

UnUpgraded Quarry Building with Aluminum Mine behind:


Upgraded Quarry Building with Aluminum Mine beside:


I've still got flying pixel lines all over the place, and they need to be cleaned up, but it's taking longer than it should.

Edit: It looks like pixel lines are being shown even in places where there is no texture nearby, so I really don't know if they can be removed. When you zoom in up close they dissapear, it's just when you get further away from it they become more apparent. I guess I'll leave it now, I can't spend hours looking for phantom lines. btw the quarry's files take up 6MB, is that a little too much? afaik ddt files would be smaller, currently I'm using targas.

[pure al]

Bombar have you managed to get RT3 to read new 2D files? I've just been trying both tga and ddt but both aren't recognised and all I see is the generic placeholder. Is it something to do with the MipMaps?

[bombardiere]

Bombar have you managed to get RT3 to read new 2D files? I've just been trying both tga and ddt but both aren't recognised and all I see is the generic placeholder. Is it something to do with the MipMaps?

I haven’t try this with buildings yet, but it can’t be ( ) any different than with the locos. Sorry I read your question wrong. No, my guess it is line 64. At least so Pjay writes in the file list. Line 124 may be the texture picture. But there is at least one more building name line, possibly 154. I make a safe bet and name all this with same id.

Edit: It looks like pixel lines are being shown even in places where there is no texture nearby, so I really don't know if they can be removed. When you zoom in up close they dissapear, it's just when you get further away from it they become more apparent.

Yup, You can’t really get rid of these pixels. It is because the way smaller skins are selected. While big pictures have enough space between texture parts, when the game zooms out and uses smaller pictures (32x32, 64x64 etc) there isn’t enough extra room in the picture and areas overlaps.

Anyway looks sharp. Hey what is your situation with other possible buildings? I still want to do a pottery :) , but that is not for this patch. If I have time and schedule isn’t urgent, I could make Cement Factory out of Recycle Plant. Hardly used and it has some kind of domes, which I associate with cement silos. (does those have cement silos???)

[pure al]

Yup, You can’t really get rid of these pixels

I'll just stick the original parts back into that building. I can't wait for us to start inserting new models, then these sorts of problems won't happen.

I make a safe bet and name all this with same id

Yep me too, all my ids are 'quarry' apart from building name which has a capitol Q. Are you going to make a 2d file for the ceramic factory? If you do please let me know if it worked.

The Cement Factory is all yours bombar. Although I think Milo wants the following in a building pack:

Smelter
Kiln
Concrete Plant
Electronics Plant
Pharmaceutical Plant
Construction Firm
Hospital

And those would be with new 3D models. Also we should probably make brand new models for the buildings we've allready done, but not now. Have you got the insides of the bty & bca files done? My trial hex editor ran out a few months back, and I don't have a clue how to work out float numbers in Hexplorer. I'm about to try a hex plugin for Notepad++. So many things have to be decided, like how much an upgrade costs, the date etc, so lets focus on finishing the three buildings we've got done for patch 1.06.

[bombardiere]

Al I forgot. You need .imb file for 2D picture. Same way as the engines need XXX_NE.imb for beauty shot. I need to do some testing. Do I have time till next weekend?

I'll just stick the original parts back into that building.

Leave it. I think it is better have a slightly different building rather than worry about the pixels.

Oh yeah, I was thinking Concrete Plant. Still, I think cargo chain Rock > Cement > House would be much more simple. So no more new building for now?

And Float for Hexplorer, check this one.
http://babbage.cs.qc.edu/IEEE-754/Decimal.html

[pure al]

Yes I believe we have time, but better ask Milo. I also forgot about imb files, I'll look for them now and get back to you. Thanks for the float-hex converter link.

I put the missing parts of the building back, it just looked too weird with phantom pixels when we're supposed to be professionals :D

I have a question for you, why is there reference to the chemical plant in the aluminum plant's bty file:

Do you think I can remove that part from the quarry's bty?

Also just saw this 'Kiln: Rock -> Ceramics' in Milo's building list, are we going to call your ceramic factory the kiln? I'm confused.

[milo]

Grabbed all of the building proposals I found in the other thread:

Rock/Sand - Warehouse for now, if buildings become available then Cement Factory, Asphalt Plant, contruction/Building Companies.

Ore - Warehouse for now. Later - Smelter

Dye - Textile Mill, Warehouse. Later - Newspaper/Printing Plant, Paint Factory

Ingots - Warehouse, Tool & Die. Later - Banks, Electronics Factory

Machinery - All factories (Auto, T&D, Lumber Mill, Refinery, Meat Processor, Aluminum Mill, Power Plants etc.) and Warehouse. Demand should be relatively low compared to main inputs for the factories.

Money - Houses, all Factories/Plants (payroll), Dept. Store/Retail, Ports, (in theory, all buildings should demand money, although to different degrees). Later. - Banks and any other new buildings.

Ceramics - Warehouse, Dept. Store/Retail, Oil Refineries (refractory catalysts), Bakeries. Later - Aerospace Manufacturers.

Concrete - Warehouses, Houses (general city demand). Later - Construction/Building Companies, Airports?

Electroncs - All buildings (after 1950s) with demand adjusted to suit needs.

Medicine - Warehouses, Houses (gen'l city demand), Dept/Retail. Later - Hospital, Nursing Home.

Just ideas. For example Tools could go to Retail and Perfume to Department and Pottery for both.

The Ore Mine by pure al is a great start. Quarry for rock and crystal, Dye Plantation for dye? Everything else can be filled in with a warehouse for now.

Manufacturing Plant: Don't worry about this for now. We'll use warehouses for 1.06 and construct real buildings for a later Pack:
Smelter: Ore -> Ingots
Kiln: Rock -> Ceramics
Concrete Plant: Ceramics + Steel -> Concrete
Electronics Plant: Crystals + Ingots -> Electronics
Pharmaceutical Plant: Chemicals -> Medicine
Construction Firm: Ceramics, Concrete, Lumber ->
Hospital: Medicine ->

We should also sort out exactly the additions we want to make to existing buildings. Stuff off the top of my head:

* Radio Stations demand 2 Electronics
* Cinema demands 1 Electronics
* Electric Plant demands 1 Electronics and 0.1 Machinery
* Nuclear Power Plant demands 2 Electronics and 0.1 Machinery
* Furniture Factories convert 2 Lumber + 1 Dye -> 3 Furniture
* Textile Plants convert 2 Cotton + 1 Dye -> 3 Textile
* Plastics Factories convert 2 Oil + 1 Dye -> 3 Plastic
* Toy Factories convert 1 Lumber + 2 Dye -> 2 Toy
* Tool&Dies convert 1 Steel + 1 Ingot -> 1 Machinery until 1880; then they convert 1 Steel + 1 Ingot + 1 Oil -> 2 Machinery
* All factories demand 0.1 Machinery
* Windmill demands 0.1 Machinery
* Houses demand 0.03 Medicine, 0.02 Electronics, and 0.03 Concrete
* Military Depot demands 2 Concrete and 1 Electronics
* Department Stores demand 2-3 Ceramics and 1-2 Electronics
* Retail demands 1-2 Ceramics and 1 Electronics
* Bakery demands 1 Ceramics
* Distillery demands 2 Ceramics
* Dairy Farm demands 1 Ceramics
* Stadiums demand 1 Medicine

Did I miss any?

[davion76]

I was wondering what the added consumption will do to the economics of the various industries. EG the nuclear power plant now consuming electronics and machinery. Will the hamper the ecomonics? Increase the production (like corn does in cattle yards)?

If this would hurt the economics (or maybe even if it doesn't) could/should we create code to reduce the maintenance costs(overhead) of the industry if these products are supplied?

[milo]

It looks to me as if buildings with demand-only chains are charged for overhead but not for the materials for those chains. The Barracks, for example, seems to get Ammunition and Alcohol for free. For the most part, I think these will be balanced by the new production chains, which in most cases are competing with existing chains and can only increase a building's profits.

[bombardiere]

I have a question for you, why is there reference to the chemical plant in the aluminum plant's bty file:

Do you think I can remove that part from the quarry's bty?

Oh it is those "lazy" programmers :D (sorry I couldn't resist ) My guess is that the files were recycled and that is why old text shows. All text strings (loco/building name .3dp file or picture file name etc. ) must end double zero. This informs the code to stop reading. Anything after 00 is ignored.

So, my answer is yes.

[pure al]

Hmm that's strange, maybe they thought it would make things confusing for anyone taking a look inside (did for me :?). Thanks Bombar

[WPandP]

Okay, so I tried my hand at it, and I think I have figured it out. I created a "Railway Express Agency" building, and it is working!

The only thing is, I can't come up with a cargo recipe that works, and it seems like I need to create a new cargo type. This is where I am stuck.

I have created a cargo type called "Parcels", and have edited its IMB, CTY, and DDS files, and it shows up in the editor as an available cargo for the Port/Warehouses. But, it does NOT show up in the game interface, and when assigned to a Warehouse recipe, it doesn't show up as being produced in that warehouse. The game works fine, it just fails to display anything.

I had tried cargo formulae for the REA office using mail and/or goods, but mixing freight and express like that results in drastic unprofitability and little discernible game effect. So, I figured I need another freight-style cargo that I can convert to and from goods to make the building work well. Or, maybe I can just leave it as goods-->mail, and let it run at a huge loss.

Once I figure this out, I can post this building. Any ideas?

[milo]

Copied the cargo rules from the older building thread. Earlier rules override later rules:

• Cargos that do not exist yet in the current game year (or do not exist on the start date of a tutorial) are disabled.
• If the wartime special condition is enabled, then anything that isn't meat, cheese, weapons, ammo, diesel, or clothing is disabled.
• Passengers and mail are enabled.
• For each port or warehouse enabled in a region containing at least one building, all cargos it generates are enabled.
• If Barracks are enabled, then Troops are enabled.
• If Recycling Plants are enabled, then Waste is enabled.
• If a building is type-2 (farms + factories), is not a port or warehouse, is not a recycling plant, and is enabled in the Industry page, then all of the cargos it generates are available.
• All remaining cargos are disabled.

[WPandP]

It does not appear to be an enabling/disabling issue, at least according to the criteria given. I have set up a scenario with a few "RwyExpressAgent" buildings in it, which have the formula Goods-->Parcels. The building type is available in 1880, but no matter when I set the date I can't see anything. I have all industries enabled in editor, including my new one. I also have a warehouse which supplies Parcels on the map.

I am thinking that there is some other file(s) that must be edited to get Parcels to work. Please note that I am not using Patch 1.06 yet, so this is the first extra cargo. In other words, I haven't run out of available slots for loads.