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25th Aug 2011, 08:24 AM
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 Tutorial: Adding Water Planes (For Custom Lakes or Rivers)
#1
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| zaide_chris |
Before you start it's a good idea to plan where you want to place your water planes and the terrain around them. Note: The center of the planes can't be under ground. Tools you should already have and know how to use:
Frequent Problems
If you have any questions about how to use S3PE or a hex editer please use the forum search or google. If they are just about the technical side of water planes ask in Water Levels from Twinbrook and Bridgeport. If they are about getting water planes in your world feel free to ask here. |
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Last edited by zaide_chris : 5th Feb 2012 at 11:06 AM.
Reason: More descriptive title.
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14 users say thanks for this.
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25th Aug 2011, 08:43 AM
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#2 |
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SandrineD
Lab Assistant
Join Date: Jul 2011 |
WP Generator looks good now but you can confidently roll unk1 and unk2 into one and label it opacity with the warning to keep the range under 00 80 or 32768 in decimal. You could also label unk3 as scale I guess. |
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C'est la vie, they say, because they can't change their world, but, we can! That's why we have CAW! :rolleyes: |
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25th Aug 2011, 09:00 AM
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#3 |
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SandrineD
Lab Assistant
Join Date: Jul 2011 |
My little version for academic curiosity. Its a simple html file with javascript to generate the Hex for the file paste it into an existing 707 file. Not as automatic as the tool above but I like it. A lot of extras could be added but... ps - you only need to bother with the parts between the big groups of ##########'s change those to what you want pps - seems to work ok in recent versions of FF, opera, chrome, IE |
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C'est la vie, they say, because they can't change their world, but, we can! That's why we have CAW! :rolleyes: |
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Last edited by SandrineD : 25th Aug 2011 at 01:58 PM.
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25th Aug 2011, 09:16 AM
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#4 |
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SandrineD
Lab Assistant
Join Date: Jul 2011 |
Here's what the output looks like... click for larger, readable image  |
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C'est la vie, they say, because they can't change their world, but, we can! That's why we have CAW! :rolleyes: |
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25th Aug 2011, 11:46 AM
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#5 |
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mikitta
Lab Assistant
Join Date: May 2010 |
Link to a good, free hex editor would be nice  God Bless, mik |
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25th Aug 2011, 11:52 AM
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#6 |
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SandrineD
Lab Assistant
Join Date: Jul 2011 |
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C'est la vie, they say, because they can't change their world, but, we can! That's why we have CAW! :rolleyes: |
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26th Aug 2011, 12:39 AM
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#7 |
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kiwi_tea
Site Helper
  
Join Date: Jul 2009 |
This is fantastic, and simple enough that with effort I can wrap my head around it! You guys are my heros! 
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CAW Wiki - A wiki for CAW users. Feel free to edit. "the rainbow trout that is anal sex" - TheEndIsNigh |
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26th Aug 2011, 11:16 PM
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Water plane coordinates
#8
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simgelf
Test Subject
Join Date: Aug 2006 |
Okay, I get the basic idea, but how do I figure out the X1 X2 Z1 Z2 coordinates? Are they in CAW, or do I have to do some fancy math? My goal is to make a world with a Crater Lake type volcano. Wish me luck! 
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26th Aug 2011, 11:37 PM
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#9 |
| zaide_chris |
They are in game or on your height map or you can do some "fancy math" If you had a 256x256 town 0,0,256,256 would make a plane that covered your town, 0,0,128,256 would cover half, 128,0,128,256 the other half. To find the coordinates in game you need to place a object then look at the Z, X, and Z of it in the "Property Browser" window. To find them on your height map most image editors show the coordinates of your cursor and those will match the in game cords. |
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27th Aug 2011, 01:03 AM
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#10 | |
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simgelf
Test Subject
Join Date: Aug 2006 |
Quote:
Thank you!  I can usually figure these things out after much trial and error  not to mention a few migraines, but I'm really glad you could answer my question! You've saved me a LOT of time and wasted effort! 
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27th Aug 2011, 02:01 AM
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#11 |
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SandrineD
Lab Assistant
Join Date: Jul 2011 |
cuter version with a form so you dont have to edit the html at all. put in the number and click create then click "go again" button to do another... |
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C'est la vie, they say, because they can't change their world, but, we can! That's why we have CAW! :rolleyes: |
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27th Aug 2011, 03:25 AM
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I like it! But...
#12
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simgelf
Test Subject
Join Date: Aug 2006 |
Quote:
Er... what do I do with it after generating pretty green page of hex numbers?  Wait, um, (stares at description above with sample hex for several minutes)  replace all the numbers in the hex editor?
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27th Aug 2011, 07:31 AM
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#13 |
| zaide_chris |
SandrineD's tool outputs the hex of a 707CA200 file you have to then copy that hex in to hex editor to make the file. The upside of this is you can download the tool. Mine is a php script that makes a binary file then pushes it to your web browser for download. I could post the code, but not many people have php and a web server on there computer to run it with. |
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28th Aug 2011, 08:43 AM
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#14 | |
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simgelf
Test Subject
Join Date: Aug 2006 |
Quote:
 Ah, so you and SandrineD are offering different routes to the same goal. Cool. Thanks for being so helpful! Cheers! 
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28th Aug 2011, 10:23 AM
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#15 | |
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simgelf
Test Subject
Join Date: Aug 2006 |
Quote:
Still need some help, I'm afraid. Hope my stupid question can help someone else who may be struggling. It's the definition of X1 X2 Z1 Z2 that is throwing me. If I place an object in the world to get one set of coordinates, X1 and Z1, and another for X2 and Z2, am I trying to define opposites corners, or a right angle? Okay, after posting this question, I went back to my world, painted a square in the area I want my water plane. The square has these coordinates (X and Z, Y being irrevelant for the time being) 453, 575 497, 575 450, 619 492, 619 So, which numbers are defined by/as X1 X2 Z1 Z2? |
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Last edited by simgelf : 28th Aug 2011 at 11:01 AM.
Reason: I want to clarify my question.
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28th Aug 2011, 10:54 AM
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#16 |
| zaide_chris |
You need opposite corners where the X2 is larger then X1, and the Z2 is larger then Z1 |
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Last edited by zaide_chris : 28th Aug 2011 at 10:55 AM.
Reason: spelling
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28th Aug 2011, 11:09 AM
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#17 | |
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simgelf
Test Subject
Join Date: Aug 2006 |
Quote:
So, from my coordinates I posted above, I'd get X1= 453, Z1= 575, X2=492, Z2=619. Okay, the fog is lifting. Phew! I think I sprained my brain, and it's WAY past my bed time. Thanks again! :D |
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28th Aug 2011, 11:17 AM
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#18 |
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DJ.
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Thanks for the great tutorial! I'll definately use it. (Of course, when I buy The Sims 3.  )
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28th Aug 2011, 11:28 AM
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#19 |
| zaide_chris |
"X1= 453, Z1= 575, X2=492, Z2=619" is right, |
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31st Aug 2011, 03:37 PM
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#20 |
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simsample
'Death, death, death' Until the sun cries morning
  
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SandrineD, I'm still getting the error I mentioned here when trying to use your tool. I'm using the version you attached to post #11 in this thread, my inputs were as follows: Should I be using integers, perhaps? zaide_chris, on your generator page today I'm getting a blank page if I click the advanced options. It seems to put the javascript in as a URL for some reason! I tried it in three browsers. It works fine otherwise, but I'd like to try the transparency options.
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I will choose a path that's clear- I will choose free will
RUSH Headlong Flight Performing Arts Award Star Rush OC Please check out my profile policies before PMing me! Thanks. |
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31st Aug 2011, 08:30 PM
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#21 |
| zaide_chris |
About my page sorry about that I will fix it soon until then it works in Google Chrome, I normally test in IE and Firefox too, but I didn't this last time. and about the planes you should be using integers as that is what both our tools take for all values other then Y as the files use ints in most places. My tool mine floors all the Floats to integers that the user inputs. SandrineD's tool doesn't have as many sanity checks. |
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3rd Sep 2011, 09:40 PM
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#22 |
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simsample
'Death, death, death' Until the sun cries morning
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See, I knew I was doing something wrong! Thanks zaide_chris. Here are some images of water planes in my game, in this case made with Zaide_Chris' tool, although I have found that Sandrine's works wonderfully too.  The upper level of the stream is the water plane, the lower level is sea level. As you can see, water colours imposed by changing the world INI files work just as well for the water planes as for the sea.  I set the water to be slightly transparent, so that the ground texture shows through. When I first imported the water planes to my world, the edges were harsh and the appearance more opaque, as in my image here. However, after saving my world the water planes get edited by CAW, and fit my land contours much better. The filesize of the resources is smaller, too! So, if your water planes do not appear as you imagined, save and reload the world to see the effect. If your water planes vanish when you save, it is usually an indication that the centre of the water plane is beneath terrain, and so CAW crops the entire plane. This was described by Zaide_Chris here. In that case you need to edit your world design, or the size of the water plane, so that the centre is not covered. Thanks again to zaide_chris and SandrineD, for all of the research and the tools to allow us to do this! |
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I will choose a path that's clear- I will choose free will
RUSH Headlong Flight Performing Arts Award Star Rush OC Please check out my profile policies before PMing me! Thanks. |
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4th Sep 2011, 02:47 AM
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#23 |
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SandrineD
Lab Assistant
Join Date: Jul 2011 |
Nice images there. I did mention a more user friendly version with a form. So busy with non S3 project I forgot to ul it. Ironically I think it adjusts for non integer stuff Other things are possible too...  |
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C'est la vie, they say, because they can't change their world, but, we can! That's why we have CAW! :rolleyes: |
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Last edited by SandrineD : 4th Sep 2011 at 03:20 PM.
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4th Sep 2011, 10:00 AM
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#24 |
| zaide_chris |
simsample: that looks very nice. SandrineD: you uploaded that exact html file and signature.jpg in post 11, and not to tell you how to code, but if you add a Math.floor() to lines 258,259 and 261 it should fix all the need a int but got a float stuff. I have made a java program that can make water planes, but all the settings are hard coded as I don't yet know how to make a GUI. Give me 3-4 weeks and I'll get a working GUI . Class started up 2 weeks ago so I have stuff I need to do other then sims/wow/starcraft .
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4th Sep 2011, 03:30 PM
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#25 |
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SandrineD
Lab Assistant
Join Date: Jul 2011 |
Okay thats kinda silly. Good spot chris... in fact when I re-uploaded for some reason I attached the old one. The risk of working on two computers???? [my excuse] I've changed the attachment to prior post and will also add it here. Some notes: M.floor the x2 z2 was already done although it is largely redundant as calculations made using them are subsequently rounded or floored. I had done it anyway just to be obs-comp. In fact the error ss was having was bec. I didn't have something to cover for a tile size that was odd. So in that case such as his inputs when midpoint was calc it gave something .5 That was the main thing corrected in this revision which you hopefully should have, actually have this time  Tell me it works now :P |
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C'est la vie, they say, because they can't change their world, but, we can! That's why we have CAW! :rolleyes: |
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