New building, existing skin

[zzc]

So I've decided to try and make a coal liquefaction plant, to make oil to coal.

I've decided to just start with an existing building and just change the data. Which parts to change?

So which files do I need? The .bca, anything else?

[RulerofRails]

I'm no expert at this, but I will try to help anyway.

Duplicate existing building:
1. Copy both .bca and .bty files for the current building
2. Rename them with the name of your choice
3. Then you need some internal edits to replace the previous industry name with the new one
A. 1st and 2nd mentions in the bty file, leave the others, they are for the model of the building (we want to keep the existing model)
B. Both mentions (header and footer) in the bca file.

Tip: when renaming make sure that names are followed by 00 in the hex.

When renaming in HexEdit, click at the start of the previous name in the Character area, this is by default on the right, It's the area where the current names are displayed, other values in the file are displayed as ". . . ." . Then just type the new one there (overwrite mode). When you get to the end of the word/phrase, you will probably need to click in the hex area and type in 00 to make sure the program knows it's the end of the name. The RT3 files have garbage in them also (untidied extra letters/words). The principle is that the game doesn't see reads a value/name/etc. until 00.

PS. Use Pjay's notes, but the instances are bty file: decimal positions 004 and 034; bca file: position 004, and -148 from end of file.

[zzc]

I'll start with the furnace, separating both cycles into their own buildings.

[zzc]

Not sure whats wrong, can anyone have a look?

Setting factory name to Furnace Ceramic.

Cycles;

Should be 1 Rock to Ceramic - I got the goods names wrong.

Demand only 1 machinery - keep that.

Game ctd when loading buildings.

[RulerofRails]

Two things:

1. the names in the bty file, at the end you entered ".." in the character (left) window, this is NOT the same as clicking in the hex (right) window and putting 00 there. The red "..." we see are just a way of representing characters that the program doesn't think are human friendly.

We see the same thing after Ore in the bca file.

2. The main problem in the bca file is that you didn't remove the 2nd production entry. The bca file is variable length depending oh how many production entries it contains, check Pjay's notes:

Code: Select all

HEADER  (55)
PRODUCTION ENTRIES (x*188)
FOOTER (169)

The 1.06 Furnace file is 55+(3*188)+169=788 bytes long.

To drop a production entry, the new file will be 55+(2*188)+169=600 bytes long.

To remove an existing entry, you need to MANUALLY DELETE the 188 bytes it contains. You also need to change the # of production entries at dec. address 51, it's an integer (you got this bit right).

This is where making your column the right width + offset really helps. If you take the wrong piece (start/stop in the wrong place) then the game wont run.

To add new production entries, you need to copy/paste an existing one into the correct location. And of course increase # of production entries.



I made up a file for you.

[zzc]

Using your file to refer, I was able to correct mine after several false starts and voila, a furnace doing ceramics only.

Fixed my copy of furnace to make ingots only - this will affect all the maps.

[Gumboots]

You could rename the new one to Cement Works if you wanted to. In 1.06 "Ceramics" is rarely used as anything other than a feedstock for the Concrete Plant. We've often thought that calling the cargo Ceramics was a tad bonkers.

[zzc]

I've done a coal liquefaction factory. Its just a reuse of the Machine shop skin, should I offer it to Hawk?

I know coal to oil is a really complicated process, but for RT3 I think just 1 coal to 1 oil is the best I can think of. I set the start dates to the same as oil cargo. Maybe it should be later - around the time houses stop demanding coal and oil?

to ROR and Gumboots too.

Have fun playing with it.

And now the default furnace are all suffering losses - need to retrain the workers

[Gumboots]

I'd start by looking up when coal to oil conversion started becoming a commercial proposition. That would give you a good idea of a likely start year for your industry.

You may also find that it needs to produce 2 Oil for every 1 Coal o have a useful profit margin in the game. Coal and Oil are very close in base price. Usually an RT3 industry will make a product that is worth 2-3 times as much as its raw materials.

[zzc]

I'd start by looking up when coal to oil conversion started becoming a commercial proposition. That would give you a good idea of a likely start year for your industry.

You may also find that it needs to produce 2 Oil for every 1 Coal o have a useful profit margin in the game. Coal and Oil are very close in base price. Usually an RT3 industry will make a product that is worth 2-3 times as much as its raw materials.

Looks like coal liquefaction started around 1910s, 1910 is when RT3 houses stop accepting oil and coal.

IRL it became important for Germany for their war economy. The technology was largely forgotten after the war due to cheap oil. The massive oil price spike in 70s made renewed interest in this technology. Seems even the USA military has several such projects. There are environmental costs however.

The 1 to 1 cycle is intended for use in areas where coal stockpiles easily, near steel mills. That should cheapen the coal price to be profitable. Maybe a new cycle of 1 coal to 2 oil in 1980?

[Gumboots]

It won't reduce the coal price unless there is a massive oversupply of coal. In a more normal situation, where the steel mill is only adequately supplied, or even a bit under supplied, the cells around the mill will have the highest coal prices on the map. The only exception would be if you also had electric plants chewing coal, in which case their cells would also be high demand and therefore high price.

[zzc]

Or have oil refinery/plastic factory to demand the oil. I notice that oil price is quite cheap when it first appears, then after the houses stop accepting, the price increases across the board. Like from $30 to $90.