Tutorial: Adding Water Planes (For Custom Lakes or Rivers)

[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:

S3PE (http://dino.drealm.info/den/denforum/index.php?board=19.0)
A hex editor

Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus-plus.org/) with the Hex Editor Plugin (http://sourceforge.net/projects/npp-plugins/files/Hex%20Editor/)
HXD (http://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/) - Recommend by SandrineD
XVI32 (http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm)


Instructions:

Backup your World!
Figure out where you want your Water planes and how many you want. For each water plane you want you need to know the Y, X1, Z1, X2 and Z2 cords, and the Instance.

Y is the height.
X1 and Z1 are the cords for one corner of the the plane.
X2 and Z2 are the cords for the other corner.
The X2 needs to be larger then X1, same for Z2 with Z1.
X2 minus X1 and Z2 minus Z1 need to be more then 32 or when you make the planes you need to go to advanced and check "Force one Tile".
The Instance of the first plane needs to be 0, the second 1 the third 2, ect.

After you have info for all the planes you want go to Sims 3 Water Plane Generator (http://zaidesthings.netai.net/)

One at a time for each water plane you want enter the Y, X1, Z1, X2, Z2 and Instance then hit download.
A file should start downloading save them all togeather in the same folder.
DON'T rename them:!:
DON'T change any settings other then Y, X1, Z1, X2, Z2 and Instance unless you know what your doing:!:

Open your world in s3pe.
Export the one file with a type of 0x90624C1B to the same folder as the water planes.
Edit byte 0x12 of the 0x90624C1B file with your hex editor to the number of water planes you want to use.
Import all the water planes you downloaded and the 0x90624C1B file back in to your world.
Done.


Frequent Problems

The water planes is square but I want another shape.
You need to "clip" the water plane by having it go under ground on all sides then save and reload. As simsample shows here (http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=3382791&postcount=26).
Water planes vanish after save.
The center of your water plane is most likely under ground so the game is "clipping" the whole thing.
I extracted a water plane from one world and want to use it in another but it's not working.
CAW edits water planes whenever you save after making at-least one terrain change, so it's always saver to just make a new plane rather then reusing one from another world.


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 (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=425205).
If they are about getting water planes in your world feel free to ask here.

[SandrineD]

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.

[SandrineD]

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

[SandrineD]

Here's what the output looks like...
click for larger, readable image
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/6396023/1024/Picture-Box/707op.sm.jpg (http://picturepush.com/public/6396006)

[mikitta]

Link to a good, free hex editor would be nice :)

God Bless,
mik

[SandrineD]

http://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/

[kiwi_tea]

This is fantastic, and simple enough that with effort I can wrap my head around it! You guys are my heros! ;)

[simgelf]

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! :lol:

[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.

[simgelf]

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.

Thank you! :D I can usually figure these things out after much trial and error :turtle: 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! :lovestruc :lol:

[SandrineD]

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...

[simgelf]

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...

Er... what do I do with it after generating pretty green page of hex numbers? :blink:

Wait, um, (stares at description above with sample hex for several minutes) :help: replace all the numbers in the hex editor?

[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.

[simgelf]

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.

:anime: Ah, so you and SandrineD are offering different routes to the same goal. Cool. Thanks for being so helpful! Cheers! :Pint:

[simgelf]

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.

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?

[zaide_chris]

You need opposite corners where the X2 is larger then X1, and the Z2 is larger then Z1

[simgelf]

You need opposite corners where the X2 is larger then X1, and the Z2 is larger then Z1

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

[DJ.]

Thanks for the great tutorial! I'll definately use it. (Of course, when I buy The Sims 3. :( )

[zaide_chris]

"X1= 453, Z1= 575, X2=492, Z2=619" is right,

[simsample]

SandrineD, I'm still getting the error I mentioned here (http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=3624296&postcount=167) when trying to use your tool. I'm using the version you attached to post #11 in this thread, my inputs were as follows:
y=30
x1=1700
z1=25
x2-2048
z2=92.1

y=36.6
x1=1759.8
z1=448
x2-2048
z2=619.5
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. :)

[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.

[simsample]

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.

http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1230446-Screenshot-136.jpg
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.

http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1230445-Screenshot-133.jpg
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. (http://thumbs2.modthesims.info/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1227659-Bluefunk_00425-Aug-1111.46.jpg) 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. (http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=3625933&postcount=186)
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 (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=425205) and the tools to allow us to do this!

[SandrineD]

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...

http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/6395755/1024/Picture-Box/V25.jpg (http://picturepush.com/public/6395755)

[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 :).

[SandrineD]

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 :rolleyes:

Tell me it works now :P

[simsample]

Thanks Sandrine, will try that one out too. I made your other version (post #11) work just fine too. I think I was inputting something incorrectly! :)

[ParsimoniousKate]

Can some bright spark please help me :help: :blink: Please! I am officially desperate!

I have spent an age trying to get this to work in my custom world I'm working on because I didn't plan the sea level very well and it's too low down relative to a number of large ponds in the city part of the world (I don't want to raise the entire sea because it would mess up the entire coast line which I've put a lot of work into - the landscaping is about 80% done so starting over is not an option).

I am a useless artist who finds anything more complicated than 3D meshing and Photo-shopping a struggle. After trying to follow this process from the tutorial over and over again and failing I passed it along to my husband (who is a computer genius), but sadly he can't get it to work either which is frankly a little bizarre. I was about up to attempt no.46 when I decided it was time to ask for help because clearly I am just not getting it, even after reading the whole related water level thread 8 times I just have no idea what has gone wrong.

Here's what I did altogether:
1. Used 2 objects to work out the 4 X and Z coordinates. The smallest X and Z became X1 and Z1, the larger X2 and Z2. It is a small rectangle in the middle of my city so even if I'd got the coordinates the wrong way round, or typo'd (45 times), it should still be within the central area of my city.

2. The land height is 15, the sea height is 10, but I used height 18 for my water plane so it should definitely not be hidden underneath the land. I figured at soon as it showed up I could just adjust it down to 14, but so far it's eluding me.

3. I used the values in the water plane generator link to create the binary - possibly I am getting the instance number wrong because it didn't say if the sea is instance 0 or 1 or something else. I assumed that "Edit byte 12 of the 0x90624C1B file with your hex editor to the number of water planes you want to use" means if I am adding 1 then the instance should be 1, but I have tried everything from 0 to 0F out of desperation.

I did NOT touch the advanced settings! I have attached one of the many binaries I've tried although I haven't edited it at all myself.

4. In S3PE I extracted the 0x90624C1B instance and changed byte 12 (0x0C) to 01 (first, obviously I have tried it with other numbers too as mentioned above although I don't know if it should be the same number, if the water plane instance is 0 because the sea doesn't count, should the 0x90624C1B count be 01 - I assumed so, although I've also tested having these numbers the same and that doesn't work either). I did NOT change anything else whatsoever! In each attempt I extracted a fresh copy rather than re-editing the same one to rule out carrying forward a previous mistake.

I also did NOT rename any files!

5. In S3PE I opened my world file (the one that is in C:\Users\Kate\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Create a World Tool\UserToolData\Worlds) and imported the 2 files, I tried leaving the compressed box checked, I also tried unchecking it. That didn't seem to help.

I have tried going into EIG to see if it shows up there but not in CAW, I've also tried installing the world directly to game after editing (no re-save in CAW) to see if it shows, but nothing. Obviously I have been restoring a back-up copy of my world before edit each time so again, I'm not accidentally bringing forward a previous mistake. I did have a look at the bridgeport water levels someone posted, but it just looks like a lot of random garbage to me!

Can someone please put me out of my misery and look at the attached files and tell me what I've done wrong because this has made me extremely fed up.

I know I should have planned for this issue from the beginning (and clearly I need to be better at following tutorials because obviously I have made a consistent mistake somewhere) but I've been working on my world for 3 weeks solid but the 5 meter drop down to the community ponds looks so stupid and all the addition of little pathways down just looks really weak. If I fix that by raising the sea level it'll take me at least another week to re-do all the detail of the coast line :( Honestly at this juncture the prospect of that makes me want to cry! I've been trying to fix this water problem for a couple of days now (this is day 3) so I am officially at the end of my tether.

Any help would be appreciated!

[zaide_chris]

Your S3_90624C1B_00000000_0000000000000001%%+UNKN.bnry is wrong, but it's not your fault you did set byte 12 to 1 but it's byte "0x12" that needs to be set to the number of water planes your adding, I'm sorry for the confusion and have edited the 12 to a 0x12 in the Tutorial.

The Sea is not a water plane so are right about not including it in the count.
Next time ask after the first few tries. I'm willing to help, I'm not going to bite any ones head off :).

Your 0x90624C1B after editing 0x12 and not 12 should look like:

0e 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 08
00 00 01 00 00 00 b8 88 00 00 00 68 06 00 98 3a
00 00 79 86 01 00 00
And once again i'm so sorry about the error.

[ParsimoniousKate]

Firstly thank you for actually replying. I have been a member here for a very long time and during that time have learned that posting requests for help should only be done as a very last resort as most experts don't like to be bothered by us flakey artistic types failing to understand modding tools.

It never occurred to me that the problem may have been with the tutorial. Obviously there is a small but significant difference between byte 12 and byte 18, but I was so busy trying to ensure I accurately followed the tutorial that it never occurred to me to take a random stab-in-the-dark at the other bytes around 12 (not actually true, I did try byte 11 by accident once!)

Needless to say it works fine now, although it has taken quite some time since then to sift through various 'opacity' options to find any that work. I do feel it might be worth mentioning in the tutorial that it is not a range of values, there are only some within that range which work. The default is completely opaque and looks rather plasticy. Personally I found that 512 looks good for a more realistic clear water effect, and 768 is a good match for the CAW default sea water. I ran out of patience after that so those are the only ones I've found.

I think I'm going to crawl back under my rock now. Thanks again for your help.

[armiel]

Thank you for this tutorial.

I thought it was ridiculously hard, by looking at the tut, but it was actually really really easy :)

Here is my quick draft:
http://thumbs.modthesims.info/getimage.php?file=1232731

There is one huge plane on the corner of the map, on height 100, and another narrower coming under it towards another edge of the map on height 50.


Now this has nothing to do with the tutorial, at least I hope so, but I did run into an interesting problem. After I had made what you see in the picture, I flattened the terrain so I could show people where my planes are and how big they are. That I could do, and I also saw that my planes were not square anymore, but round where the edges of my terrain had been. So I saved the map under another name, so I could continue to work with the terrain I already had.

I closed CAW and loaded the new save I had, and boom, my screen started blinking and I got a message saying something like "Nvidia graphics drived has crashed and recovered (kernel)." That kept blinking on the screen until I forced CAW to shut down in task manager. I started to panic slightly, but thought, Imma load CAW up again to see if it was a one time error, and this time I could not even get to open a world. Same blinking again, and I had to close it. I tried normal sims game next, and again the same blinking occurred.

So, I rebooted my PC, and have not had the blinking after that. I did open CAW and managed to load the first save of the map, no problems, but I'm terrified to edit it :P

The reason I'm posting this, not to scare people, is that I'm curious if this has happened to anyone else, or was it just my graphics cards time to start dying?

[zaide_chris]

armiel: As far as i have known no one has had CAW crash the graphics drivers do to water planes but it is possible. Could you upload both the the working version and the flat crashing one so i can look at them? The planes becoming not square has been called "clipping" and is normal, simsample figured it out here: http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=3382791&postcount=26.

[armiel]

Thank you for the quick reply, and yeah, I saw simsamples post earlier :)

Just to make clear what you want me to upload, all the CAW files for the world so you can open it in your CAW, or just the waterplanes and the file that handles them? I'm at school at the moment, but I can upload any files you want as soon as I get home.


ETA
ok, so I'm attaching all the files for the world, sorry if there is too much :P

[zaide_chris]

armiel (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=3642405#post3642405):
I was able to open your flat version of the world on both the PC's I have with CAW so not sure whats wrong. I also looked at the water planes you uploaded by them self and the ones in your worlds and they all look correct. So that leads me to believe it's your PC or just a random crash.http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/30279_110913203656armiel_world flat.jpg
If your up for it could you try loading the flat world again?

[armiel]

Thank you for your time and for testing, it's good to know that I had not done stuff wrong. :)

I uninstalled my graphics drivers completely yesterday, then installed them back, and I am able to modify the sculpted version now. I took the water planes out of it in s3pe, then flattened it and put the planes back, and now I have worked on the water area very tiny bit at a time - it seems to be working. *knocks wood*

I also added one more plane of water, and noticed that the x and z are actually not the same in my world objects and the water planes. I had 4 objects, I took the x and z out of them and made a water plane - it went to a wrong side of the world. So I put x values to z's and z values to x's, and got the plane going exactly where I wanted.

like this (left are x values of the object, right are z)
845 1231
803 1231
845 1105
803 1105

So the plane I first made went wrong place, so what I had to do was:
X1=1105,Z1=803,X2=1231,Z2=845

Then the plane went exactly where the objects were.

Oh, and I would rather not poke the flattened version now that I got at least one of them working :P All though I hope it really was just a glitch and that reinstalling the drivers helped.

[SandrineD]

I've been busy on non-S3 stuff so only just came back.
Is this all worked out or should I also take a look at this?
It really sounds more like a hardware thing.

[armiel]

I think it's been worked out. At least I have been able to CAW, and have had no crashes since reinstalling the graphics driver.

[Simsimillian]

Is there a way to change the direction of the current? If not I'll just flip my entire world over... water flowing away from the sea kind of bothers me :lol:

[zaide_chris]

Simsimillian: Sorry there's no way to change the direction of water that I have been able to figure out.
Also I know it look like the water is moving only one way but after going to a lake I see it more like the waves that wind going over a body of water makes, so water that looks like it's going away from shore could easily be explained from a constant onshore flow. And adding rapids and other water effects where the water would be moving at a fast rate also helps to enforce this idea.

[Simsimillian]

Well, I hadn't gotten round to putting in any objects apart from my distant terrain so I flipped everything over :up:
I'll just have to get used to the idea of the sun rising over the ocean, which is a bit disturbing to me :rolleyes:
I guess it's clear the sims live on the East Coast :report:

oh and thank you all so much for the tool + help! this is great stuff to work with :)

[Arisuka]

I seem to have the same problem as Pistachio. I did the steps exactly as adviced, and made sure many times that the coordinates were the same, so that I hadn't taken wrong coordinates, and changed the height to higher so that it wouldn't be underground for sure. I also changed the right byte. Something must be jamming this, but what could it be... : / I'll keep trying to redo the steps again.

My world is the biggest size, but the maximum height is 200. Could this have affect in any way to this? Also the area where I'm trying to get the water is completely flat, so the middle section is certainly not under ground.

Here's my coordinates, could there be something odd with them...?

y 92,34009

x1 1470,618
z1 246,678131
x2 1647,29944
z2 249,402969

[zaide_chris]

Arisuka:Could you please upload your 90624C1B file?
Your cords look okay other then you using a ',' and not a '.' as the Decimal Separator, but I think my tool catches that based on where your sending the request from.

[Arisuka]

Just to make sure, I tried using the '.' too, that didn't make any difference. :/

Here's the file from my world:

[jedi_waffle]

This worked perfectly for me! Granted, I did have to give myself a crash course in hex editing, and it took me all night to figure out some pretty basic things (like that 0x12 =18), but I successfully imported a water plane in my world, exactly the size/location I wanted, and have saved it successfully, etc.

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have been following the other water plane thread but thought "I could never do all that stuff, it's way too technical". The tutorial and the WP generator are great for non-computer-savvy people like me. Thanks to you, sandrine, and zaide_chris for putting so much work into figuring this stuff out.

I was wondering if it would be possible to add some special/simplified instructions for changing water opacity? I've noticed that you did this in one of your screenshots, and I've read you guys discussing it in several places in this and the other threat, but it's not quite clear enough for me to figure it out on my own.

Again, thank you for putting in so much work to enhance the CAW experience for everyone! I am amazed at how perseverant and creative you guys are!

[simsample]

I was wondering if it would be possible to add some special/simplified instructions for changing water opacity? I've noticed that you did this in one of your screenshots, and I've read you guys discussing it in several places in this and the other threat, but it's not quite clear enough for me to figure it out on my own.

I'm glad you've made it work, jedi_waffle- and that you've found this useful! :)

I got the water to look transparent by changing the opacity level in the plane generator program.
For Sandrine's program, you can type in the transparency as a percentage, and experiment until you get the desired effect.
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1235989-ScreenHunter_01Sep.2713.54.jpg

For Zaide_Chris' program, there is a figure for opacity which you access by clicking 'Show Advanced' on the web page:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1235990-ScreenHunter_02Sep.2713.55.jpg

http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1235991-ScreenHunter_03Sep.2713.55.jpg

If it won't work in your browser, try using Google Chrome.

You can experiment to find a suitable opacity for your world, but I found that a figure above around 2500 was totally opaque, whereas figures below that give some transparency. I used a figure of 1750 for opacity in the screenshots in post #22 above.

Also, I found that when the waterplanes were initially imported into CAW, they look totally opaque, as in this image:
http://thumbs2.modthesims.info/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1227659-Bluefunk_00425-Aug-1111.46.jpg
If you then save the world and then reload it, CAW will edit the water planes to fit the terrain, so you'll be able to see the transparency correctly.
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1235995-Screenshot-196.jpg
If your water plane disappears completely when you do this then it usually means that the centre of the water plane is covered by terrain (as the game will crop the planes from the centre outwards), so in that case you'll have to edit your lake/ river shape to make it work.

I found that once I had the water planes in CAW, I could save as many times as I wanted, and the planes would remain intact and retain their transparency. They also looked nicely transparent when imported into the game, too.

I hope this helps!

ETA: Arisuka, I just noticed your post! It seems that your 906 resource is incorrect. If you look at Bridgeport's, you'll see that there is a figure 06 to indicate the six water planes:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1235999-ScreenHunter_01Sep.2714.25.jpg
Yours is set to zero though:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1236000-ScreenHunter_02Sep.2714.25.jpg
You need to set that to 01 if you have one water plane (or 02 if you have two, etc).

[Arisuka]

Simsample: The file I linked was the un-edited, original resource from my world. I did edit that resource exactly as said, then saved the world. But when I opened it in CAW, the water plane was nowhere to be seen. :/

[jedi_waffle]

I got the water to look transparent by changing the opacity level in the plane generator program.
For Sandrine's program, you can type in the transparency as a percentage, and experiment until you get the desired effect.
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1235989-ScreenHunter_01Sep.2713.54.jpg

For Zaide_Chris' program, there is a figure for opacity which you access by clicking 'Show Advanced' on the web page:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1235990-ScreenHunter_02Sep.2713.55.jpg

Ahh! *smacks forehead* I was using zaide_chris' program but didn't think to try the advanced settings! I will give that a try. Thanks for the help.

[Arisuka]

I still haven't got this to work, mysterious... I could record a video where I'd do the steps, so that you could see if there's something I do weirdly? Because I can't get these to show up in any world, old or new.

[simsample]

Arisuka, perhaps you could post your files exactly as they are when imported into your world? Then I could put them in a test world and see if they are showing up for me.

[Arisuka]

OH, I might've realized the one thing I repeatedly did wrong! I exported the 0x90624C1B file, but did NOT open it separately in s3pe, I just edited the file in the world files and saved the world. : P Man, just... OOPS? lol

[simsample]

Hmm, it shouldn't matter really whether you edit the 906 in the world file or before importing, as long as it is correct.

Have you got it to work yet?

[Arisuka]

I now exported the 0x90624C1B file, and tried to open it in s3pe, but simply got an error message 'Could not open package'.
'Hit unexpected end of file at 0'

I've included the imported files from my world, if they'd shed any light to this. The 906 is the one I edited in the world file.

[simsample]

Try the file I attached to this post, Arisuka. It works in my world, but your water level is tiny- so it's wasy to miss!
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1236964-ScreenHunter_01Oct.0103.53.jpg
It's that little blue line, is it meant to be that small? Little stream, perhaps?

I ticked the 'force one tile' box in Zaide_Chris' tool.

[Arisuka]

The 'force one tile' seemed to do the trick! Now I can see the water in my world! Now... gotta set them cords right so that I have a lake instead of a watery stripe.

[simsample]

Hooray! :)

I noticed that sometimes very narrow strips need to be forced to one tile, but you might find that you don't need that if you make it wider.

[Arisuka]

OH OH RIIIGHT, it's as the white line - but mirrored! NOW I got me a lake!! I'll do some landscaping and add a stream and post some pics!!

[simsample]

Flip them around, so that you have the smallest coordinates first. So you're really describing the other two corners to the ones you have marked x1, x2 in your image.

So,
x1 1491.41931
z1 240.9882
x2 1647.04126
z2 399.825256

y 83.3251

Zaide_Chris' tool also rounds the figures down, so you can do that yourself (or round up) to save inputting all of those decimal places if you like! So x1 1491, z1 240 etc.

ETA- Well done, you got it! I was too slow typing! :lol:

[Miuki]

Hi! This tutorial is extremely useful. Thank you very much zaide_chris, SandrineD and simsample for tools and explanation. So far it caused no issues for me. (Knocks on wood). I've sucessfully imported 5 waterplanes to one world.
However, opacity options still don't work in Zaide's Tool in Firefox and it's a pity. Any chance you want to fix that someday?

[simsample]

I'm glad it worked for you, Miuki! Sandrine and Zaide_Chris' toold work brilliantly. :)

I hope Chris will fix the tool to work in Firefox too, I have been using Chrome to make it work. A standalone version would be even better! ;)

[zaide_chris]

The bug in Firefox and IE is now fixed.

[Miuki]

simsample Definetly! :)
zaide_chris Hooray! Thank you very much for not abandoning humble Firefox users. I've downloaded Chrome just to get your tool to work fully.

[simsample]

Thanks for that, zaide_chris- it's good to know you're still supporting this! :)

[armiel]

The link to the waterplane generator tool by Chris gives a php error.

Warning: Unknown: open_basedir restriction in effect. File(/www/zaidesthings.com/projects/thesimsthree/waterplane.php) is not within the allowed path(s): (/home/:/usr/lib/php:/tmp) in Unknown on line 0

PHP Error Message

Warning: Unknown: failed to open stream: Operation not permitted in Unknown on line 0

PHP Error Message

Fatal error: Unknown: Failed opening required '/www/zaidesthings.com/projects/thesimsthree/waterplane.php' (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in Unknown on line 0

Is the whole tool down, or is there an alternate route to get to it?

I tried on Opera, Firefox and google chrome.

[simsample]

I'm getting it too, I hope it will be back again soon! :(

I'll PM Zaide_Chris.

[armiel]

Ok, cool Simsample, thanks.

I was just about to start making a stream for the West world when I noticed this. Oh well, I'll just have to play more Jericho while waiting ;)

[simsample]

:lol: Whilst I'm quite happy for you to play MORE KIMI RAIKKONEN in Jericho, you could always download Sandrine's tool instead to try it. Similar to Chris' but it is a stand alone program.

Newest version in this post:
http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=3634256&postcount=25

Be sure to use INTEGERS (whole numbers) for the co-ordinates; so use 1234 instead of 1233.999998 (although I notice Sandrine mentions she floored the inputs, I haven't tested it recently).

Edited to add: I notice that someone asked about changing the water direction in a previous post; I managed to do this with Jericho!

[zaide_chris]

I'm so sorry they (the webhost) says i used too much cpu power so i need to upgrade to a non free host. I will get the page up else where soon and then i'm going to start on a java version.

Edit: Any one know of a good cheap web host with mysql and php that runs less then 2-4$ a month?

[armiel]

aww, well good to know you're still keeping it up. Thank you!

[zaide_chris]

Okay, I have the tool up again for temporary use at http://zaidesthings.netai.net/

[armiel]

Thank you! Will look in to it tomorrow :)

[simsample]

Thank you, zaide_chris!

[armiel]

OK, I have no idea if this is related, but after importing a new waterplane made with the tool in new location, I can't open my world anymore.

I attached my waterplanes and the resource file, the instance 1 is the new one I made, the other two files work.

When I try to load my world with all 3 files included, caw says it's unable to load the world cause it was trying to divide it with a 0. Sorry I don't have an exact error since all my stuff is in finnish.

If I just made a mistake with the values, that's good, but i thought to post this incase the tool got broken somehow.

Thank you for all your hard work with this Chris!

Edit
A warning to any person who downloads the files below to snoop around them - they may break the world to a state it's not repairable anymore. Handle with caution and do not import to a world you care for ;) (happened to me, hoping it doesn't happen to you) I was stupid not to back up first so breaking my world was my fault only, and while I could resurrect my world from an older back up, I lost a lot of work done.

[zaide_chris]

armiel: I'll look in to it more but with a quick look at the files they seem fine, sorry for the work you lost.

[armiel]

to me they look fine too, so like I said I don't know if it has anything to do with the tool. Thanks for looking into it.

ETA
I imported the files to an egypt world i had, apparently they work all though i can't see them anywhere since the world is sculpted differently. But i can see something worked cause water opacity changed. So it's just the one world that got borked...?

ETA2
I imported them to the earliest version of the world that got borked, and got the same error on load up. also, this is how the world looks like after it errors (pic attached). I can't move around or anything, it just looks like that.

[Duds]

Hi there,
When I tried yesterday I had the unable to divide by 0 error too. :cry:
I used Ari water levels from post #52 to see if it was my game but they came out fine.
I had used IE9 with Chris's tool then Firefox and still got the error.
I next moved to try it with Sandrine's tool and (after sorting a hex editor thing) it all loaded up fine.... well I didn't get the divide by 0 error. :D

What I did fine was that with my 16 water planes... [16 planes to make up my river system flowing down a hill side]... I couldn't get the last on to show up (the 'F' plane - or last file) unless I set the 0x90624C1B file to a byte of 10 (I presume it should be '0F' for my 16 planes).

And another annoying thing is that saving and reloading doesn't seem to be changing the opacity and deleting the overhang.... :( but I can live with that, because at least the world has its water planes now.

[Freayn]

Hi, everyone!
I'm having trouble getting the water plains to show up, and I'm getting pretty frustrated. I was hoping someone here could help? (:

It seems like I've tried about two dozen+ different coordinates, including some I saw posted by zaide_chris on the first page. I've used a Y coordinate that is be higher than all of the land I have in my world (but still within the height limits) so that the middle of the plain definitely isn't under ground. The X and Z coordinates I was using are also within the limits of the map (it's the largest, if it matters). Still, none of them are showing up!
Then, I downloaded and used the file Pistachio attached to her post (for the 707CA200_blabla file only), and, HALLELUJAH, it worked. However, they're not the right coordinates for me, so I can't actually use it.
But anyway, that makes me assume that it's not a problem with the 90624C1B_blabla file, but with the 707 one. Right...? (As you can see, I'm clueless.)

I've attached the files I tried using last, which of course didn't work, otherwise I probably wouldn't be posting here. (:
Am I just typing in bad coordinates? What am I doing wrong?

[zaide_chris]

Duds: the planes not clipping may be do to the fact that you need to cover a lot of space before it clips. When using them for rivers you need to use rocks and stuff to hide edges. Can you give me a list of all the coordinate sets you used? I'm still looking in to the divide by zero error but I couldn't get it to pop up for me before my video card died.

Freayn: The instance on the 707CA200 file you uploaded is 1 the first water plane needs to be number 0 as computers often start there(think of it as being zero away from the first one :) ). Rename the file from "S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000001%%+UNKN+Y=150.3,X1=5,Z1=6,X2=400,Z2=401" to "S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000000%%+UNKN+Y=150.3,X1=5,Z1=6,X2=400,Z2=401" and it should work. If not please post again. My video card is fired so I can't even start Sims 3 right now or I would test it for you. Good luck.

[Duds]

Hi Chris,
I have attached the co-ords I used for my water levels, Hope you get your video card sorted soon.

[zaide_chris]

The divide by zero error has been fixed. The files the tool was making where all broken, as i forgot to update one of 3 php files for the tool on the server. Sorry for any problems it make have caused and my delay in fixing it. I'm working on a java version still, but I've got collage classes, job hunting, relationships, family pleasing and enjoying video games for myself that all come first.

Freayn: You will need to remake your water plane.

[simsample]

Thanks for updating, zaide_chris- we all appreciate it! :)

[Freayn]

Thanks soooo much, zaide_chris, that did the trick! (Sorry for the late response, by the way; I've been really busy too now that classes have started back up.)

[Jero]

Hi,
first: thx for this great tut! I get the basic idea now, but I've still a problem.

6. Edit byte 0x12 of the 0x90624C1B file with your hex editor to the number of water planes you want to use.

I have no idea what to do at this point. And i don't know with what kind of keywords i could use to search for help in Google....
Is there a tut for dummies?^^
I'm using Notepad++ with the Hex-Editor Plug-in.

Hope you can help me,
Jero :blink:

[simsample]

Jero, you need to edit that byte in the 0x90624C1B resource to represent the number of planes you have. So if you have one plane, it will be 01, for two planes 02 and so on. Remember that this is Hexadecimal (base 16) though, so if you have 10 planes it will be 0A, 11 will be 0B and so on.
In this image (where I have imported the resources to a new file in S3Pe) you can see the relevant byte highlighted- in this case I have two water planes (two 0x707CA200 resources) so it is set to 02:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1270285-Bluefunk_0103-Feb-1221.21.jpg
To change that I would just open up the 0x90624C1B resource in my hex editor and change that byte, then save.

[Jero]

Thx for the answer, simsample!
I think now i understand this step, but I'm still doing something wrong, 'cause it doesn't work for me... there are no water planes in my world.
( sorry for my bad English in the next texts, if it won't work for me^^ I am German. )

I have two water planes now, too.
So I only have to change the byte to 02, haven't I?
I uploaded a .rar-file with the 3 files and a picture. The 0x90624C1B resource is already formed. Could you look for mistakes I've done perhaps?

after taking the photo I importet the three files into my world in S3Pe and save the world. But opening the CAW I always have to see a world without water planes....
Hope you can help me a second time,
Jero

[simsample]

I'm not getting any water planes either, Jero. What co-ordinates did you put into the water plane tool?

[zaide_chris]

Jero: You didn't make a mistake. You just found a bug with my tool. Your water planes are too small for my tool, checking "Force one tile" under advanced should fix them.

The error is caused by trying to brake planes up in to "tiles" that are 32 by 32 or bigger but when the planes are less then 32 wide in ether direction my tool chokes.

simsample: Files made with my tool have the cords tagged on to the end of the file name.

the cords he used are
Y=35,X1=63,Z1=56,X2=67,Z2=128
and
Y=20,X1=76,Z1=137,X2=79,Z2=189
one has a X2-X1 of 4, the other 3, way smaller then 32 :(

edit:
I fixed the tool to throw a error on planes smaller then 32 wide ether direction and added the same direction to my first post.

[simsample]

Wow, that was quick, zaide_chris!

Ah, yes, I forgot about the co-ordinates being in the file name, I just imported them to a world without really looking! :lol:

Thanks for getting that fixed, and so fast too!

[Jero]

Sorry for the late answer.
Thx for your help! Now it works! I can see my own water planes in my world!!!^^
unfortunately there has only been two lines floating anywhere over the ground of my test-world.

I'm going to try it tomorrow again with improved coordinates.
Hope I won't have any problems again :-)
Jero :up:

[simsample]

@zaide_chris and anyone else interested in the water planes- you may be interested in the 'pond tool' that atavera found in the CAW executable. See here to unlock it:
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=468279

[zaide_chris]

I knew EA would have had a much easier to use method or tool, but for them to have included it in CAW but then disabled it for the users, that's just messed up.

[simsample]

I guess they thought the 'end user' wouldn't be 'intelligent' enough to figure out how to use it! :lol:

It's not as accurate as your water plane tool- as it's point and click, so difficult to control the precise elevation. So I don't think this in any way makes your tool obsolete. Besides, a new patch for CAW will have to be compiled each time EA updates.

[Jawusa]

Please help me
I imported the water planes from Bridgeport and decorated the waterfall.
But the lake (above) does not look exactly like the lake (downstairs).
What can I do?

[zaide_chris]

Are they both the same depth?
Do they both have the same opacity?

Try opening the world and make a small height change by both lakes then save. CLOSE CAW and reopen your world. That may fix it other then that I need your .world file or all the 0x90624C1B and 0x707CA200 parts extracted in a zip.

Also(from first post):
I extracted a water plane from one world and want to use it in another but it's not working.
CAW edits water planes whenever you save after making at-least one terrain change, so it's always saver to just make a new plane rather then reusing one from another world.

[Jawusa]

Thanks,
I smoothed the terrain and now it looks better than the old version.

[simsample]

The water planes do have a slightly different quality to them to the sea though- as can be seen quite clearly in Twinbrook. The water is not so reflective, and the ripples seem a little more pronounced.

[Parhelion]

Is there another reason that would cause a water plane to "disappear" besides the center point being below ground?

I've been following this tutorial and having a field day working on a project I never thought I'd be able to do, and I managed to get two water planes working perfectly.

The third water plane I've tried to add, however, shows up when I open CAW after using the S3PE tool to import my changes; when I attempt to save, the water plane disappears. The only way to get it back again at that point is to re-import the plane and reopen CAW. (It appears to fully delete it?)

Here's what I know about the plane:
+ The center point is not below ground.
+ I used the online tool to download the binary, and am using a very small plane so I checked Force Single Tile.

Things I think may be suspect:
+ This plane has an opacity of 1500, which is different from my other two planes.
+ One of the edges of this plane may be layering under the edge of an earlier water plane. (They are lined up together creating a multi-level waterfall, but because this part is angled, I can't get it to line up right without a lot of issues.)


Are there any ideas?

[simsample]

+ One of the edges of this plane may be layering under the edge of an earlier water plane.
That may be significant; if you change the co-ordinates of the water plane so that it is not beneath the other plane, does it work?

[Parhelion]

That may be significant; if you change the co-ordinates of the water plane so that it is not beneath the other plane, does it work?

After several little experiments, I think I've found the culprit.

My original plane was 20 x 25 units large; even though I had 'Force Single Tile' selected in the binary download tool, the game refuses to save any planes that are this small. It would not save a plane until after I pushed the size of the plane a few pegs over the < 32 limit.

It's not a huge issue because the game appears to fix ugly corners that stick out into the air, but thought I'd post my findings if this comes up on anyone else's game.

[Nilxis]

Thank you so much! :) I didn't have any problems. Here's a pic of what I've done with my water plane:

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x460/Nilxis/Screenshot-91.jpg

[zaide_chris]

That looks wonderful.

[wikerd]

Sorry for reviving this thread, but since it's a tutorial, I guess it's not as bad (I hope?).
I started a new world after seeing this, and didn't do anything except make the basic shape of my world (no details, no smoothing just a rough draft), because I didn't wanna waste too much time on something I wasn't sure would work.
I read every singly comment, numerous times actually and got everything done following the steps, but my water planes aren't showing... I sorta made them higher than the land... say if the land was 15, I typed in 16 on the Plane Generator. I did thick the "Force One Tile Box" and I edited the file that was supposed to be edited, and imported everything back into the world (including a bnry.bak file that was created after I edited the 906... file, hopefully that's ok o.O).

I really have no idea what i'm doing wrong as i'm very slow with this stuff. I spent 5 minutes staring at the program wondering what 0x12 was, until I went back and re-read the thread again and found mu answer xD.

[zaide_chris]

First no problems reviving this thread, posting here will makes it so I don't miss your post, so it's not bad at all.

Ok when I add the files you have uploaded one water plane shows up the issue is you gave them all the same Instance each one needs to have a different instance
Rename your files from
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000000%%+UNKN+Y=16,X1=232,Z1=157,X2=601,Z2=206.bnry
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000000%%+UNKN+Y=16,X1=899,Z1=998,X2=1245,Z2=1037.bnry
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000000%%+UNKN+Y=17,X1=403,Z1=1824,X2=607,Z2=1856.bnry
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000000%%+UNKN+Y=27,X1=229,Z1=1812,X2=385,Z2=1865.bnry
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000000%%+UNKN+Y=53,X1=112,Z1=1798,X2=221,Z2=1838.bnry
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000000%%+UNKN+Y=63,X1=642,Z1=202,X2=696,Z2=215.bnry
to
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000000%%+UNKN+Y=16,X1=232,Z1=157,X2=601,Z2=206.bnry
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000001%%+UNKN+Y=16,X1=899,Z1=998,X2=1245,Z2=1037.bnry
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000002%%+UNKN+Y=17,X1=403,Z1=1824,X2=607,Z2=1856.bnry
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000003%%+UNKN+Y=27,X1=229,Z1=1812,X2=385,Z2=1865.bnry
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000004%%+UNKN+Y=53,X1=112,Z1=1798,X2=221,Z2=1838.bnry
S3_707CA200_00000000_0000000000000005%%+UNKN+Y=63,X1=642,Z1=202,X2=696,Z2=215.bnry
Or re-download them giving them instances this time.

And all 6 should show up, but as water planes that have a Z2-Z1 less then 32 or X2-X1 less then 32 will disappear after saving, you will only have 5 if you reload.

Under 32 planes have to be put in right before or after the world is packed, so make your last water plane bigger if possible.

[wikerd]

Thank you so much for the answer, it worked :)

[ruffdog24]

So when I go to Sims 3 Water Plane Generator this pops up

Oops! Google Chrome could not connect to zaidesthings.netai.net
Suggestions:
Access a cached copy of zaidesthings.*netai.*net
Go to netai.*net
Try reloading: zaidesthings.*netai.*net
Search on Google:

I've also used internet explorer and firefox.
As well as restarted my computer... mainly due to a thunderstorm
Thanks for the help

[zaide_chris]

Could you try again?

Everything looks/works fine for me.

[ruffdog24]

Ya it works on my old laptop, thanks, I forgot that some websites don't work on my new computer for instance my online classes website.

[AyamePasse]

I have to say, this tool has all the potential to be a LIFESAVER! But I can't seem to make it work right. D: Namely because I'm completely DER and have only been using CAW for a few days.

After much being an idiot, I SWORE I finally understood what the instructions were telling me to do... But I think not. I tried placing one item on one corner, and another diagonal from that, so that, if you lined them up, they would make a square... But no matter what I do, I get a rectangle only about a third as long as it is wide. If THAT'S not the case, then instead, I end up with something way off adjacent from where I told it to go (example, I put an item upper right and another lower left, and instead, it places the water even further upper right than the upper right coordinates, and IGNORES the lower left).

I'm feeling mega stupid right now; everyone makes it look and sound so easy, yet I consistently fail every time I try (which has been about 3 dozen now >.<). I HONESTLY think I understand the instructions, yet after placing one item on one corner, and another on the other corner which, if you added two more corners according to those, would form an obvious square, I still end up with the following coordinates:

X1=906
Z1=528
X2=973
Z2=751

(Or close to it, as, again, I've tried multiple times), and it STILL forms a rectangle. PLUS the only way I've figured out to rotate my world was by clicking the 'Snap To Grid Mode' and selecting the up arrow next to 'Rotation (Degrees)' until the grid is at the angle I want my water to be. Needless to say, when I save my world after I've done this, the next time I load it, the grid angle is back to what is was BEFORE, and thus my unwanted rectangle of water is STILL at an angle with a corner protruding from my waterfall... When I try to rotate the grid again, the water doesn't move relative to my land. God I feel dumb... :( I am SOOO sorry. I'm sure this tool is as awesome as everyone says, I'm just an idiot. :blink:

[armiel]

Just a thought, but I think your x1 should be something like 800, and z1 550, or 600. Should be closer to the size you want. The values '20' mean that the edge of the water is really close to world edges.

[AyamePasse]

Just a thought, but I think your x1 should be something like 800, and z1 550, or 600. Should be closer to the size you want. The values '20' mean that the edge of the water is really close to world edges.Sadly, I figured that out, but I still fail miserably now that I think I understand the instructions. :( Thank you so much for your quick reply though. :) Think I'm gonna edit that last post to be more focused on my CURRENT problem.

EDITING THIS TO AVOID A DOUBLE POST: Yeah... I still fail.

I have a theory, that being; because the location I want the plane to be is not PERFECTLY ALIGNED WITH THE GRID (I.E. its at an angle, with the grid diagonal across it), that must be why I keep getting rectangles even though I place my items (for finding my coordinates) down in such a way that if you drew straight lines from each, you'd get something more square... So how do I fix that? :( How do I rotate my world so the area I want my Water Plane to be lines up with the grid? I'm not too keen on having to completely relocate my waterfall to prevent some big corner of water protruding from it... I'm using the Riverview template, so my waterfall position is in a location that was there when I started, pouring into the ocean exactly where I want it to...

I've tried exporting the height map so I could rotate it in Photoshop, but when I did, my items (lots, waterfall effects, trees, etc... even streets) did not rotate with it (not suprising), meaning I'd have to redo ALL of them... D: Fortunately I backed the world up first, but still... Can't you just change the angle of the grid and have it STAY that way? When I change it in 'Snap To Grid Mode', obviously the changes don't save... I'm so confused... :( And I feel like a total JERK for not being able to understand this tutorial... And CAW in general, for that matter. I've been working on this world for about five days now. You'd think I'd at least have the GIST of it. :faceslap:

EDIT: That theory is a correct one. If I place objects in a square using the grid, I get a square plane. So I guess I either have to redo my waterfall (and the ocean, for that matter) or use a bunch of lots and make a 'patchwork lake', unless there's some way to rotate my world COMPLETE with lots, streets, etc, or rotate the grid and have it STAY that way?

UPDATE: (If anyone's still watching >.<) I managed to rotate that stretch of land using photoshop... NOT what I wanted, but I REALLY needed my waterplane at a certain angle, even if the game magically clipped the exposed corners.

Now, however, CAW deletes my plane as soon as I save. I add it to the .world file, opened the world in CAW and it was there. I saved, it was still there. I took my world to EIG and couldn't see it, but I also can't see my waterfalls in EIG, so I figured that was it. I placed a house on the bank of my lake (the lot cuts into the plane a bit, but that didn't seem to be a problem when it was just an empty lot), saved, and when I went back to CAW, the water plane was gone. It wasn't invisible either; when I click on 'View World Statistics' or whatever it is, where it had once shown a pond, now there is nothing listed. Also the plane's .bnry file has been deleted from the .world file and byte 12 in the 90624C1B .bnry file has been changed back to '00'.

I read someone having that problem earlier, but they had determined it was because their plane was small. Mine is quite large, about the size of a 200x200 lot (if there was such a thing). Seems this really wants me not to have Water Planes, lol.

[simsample]

If you have any terrain intersecting the water plane (zaide_chris reports that the clipping works from the centre outwards) then the game will reduce the size of the water plane accordingly. This means that when you save, if the water plane is clipped to zero size, CAW will edit the files accordingly. Perhaps you could post an image of your waterplane and land layout as it is now, so that we can help? Show us a before saving and after saving image.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to rotate the orientation of the planes, although Sandrine was having some success with making diagonals:
http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=3622455&postcount=135
In this thread:
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=425205

[zaide_chris]

Do you have any screen shots you can share?

The plane being deleted normally means the plane is too small or the center is under water.

Have you tried to get a plane to clip? with clipping you should be able to use a rectangle for any shape as long as the land border is thick enough.

I can make you a diagonal water pane but they have issues making it past saves and they have issues with fishing in game, so I haven't made a tool to do it.

[AyamePasse]

Thanks guys. I managed to get it to work, and I don't even know HOW. I didn't delete my lot, didn't change my plane size or the land surrounding it. I DID rotate that stretch of land using the exported height map and photoshop so it would be the right angle, but for a while that didn't keep it from disappearing either...

Sorry for not replying in so long, my CAW started malfunctioning (things like using 3gb memory when just an hour earlier it was about 500mb, and zooming in and out instead of panning up and down)... Plus I don't get an internet connection very easily. I've yet to try the multiples I wanted to do, but so far so good... I'll post a screenshot once its presentable.. just for kicks. ;) And if I have anymore problems I'll probably be back. ^^;

[simsample]

Glad you got it working, well done! :)

[forstbergs13]

Is there a way to add different color to each water plane? If I missed information about this, sorry for my laziness...

[zaide_chris]

No sorry there is no way to color water planes.

[simsample]

No way to have each plane a different colour, as zaide_chris says. However, Sandrine D managed to recolour all of the water textures by editing the DDS image in the game files:
http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=3622026&postcount=124
And of course it is possible to change the water colour using custom colour ramps as described here:
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=459198
So perhaps that will give you some ideas.

[Volvenom]

ETA: Arisuka, I just noticed your post! It seems that your 906 resource is incorrect. If you look at Bridgeport's, you'll see that there is a figure 06 to indicate the six water planes:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1235999-ScreenHunter_01Sep.2714.25.jpg
Yours is set to zero though:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1236000-ScreenHunter_02Sep.2714.25.jpg
You need to set that to 01 if you have one water plane (or 02 if you have two, etc).

I have been adding 2 water planes in my world and the game won't open. I know I added 4 files through s3pe first, but then deleted the bakfile and imported again. That may be my problem, or it may just be some of the numbers.

I kept the same 08 on the two spots in the upper line and then 02 on the second line. The tool had lots of troubles with my numbers, but after a while I think I got it.

What have I done wrong?

Update1: I tried to import them into another save and I still had the same problem.
Update2: Sandrine's tool give me a number error on the numbers. Zaide's tool makes the file for me from the same numbers. I lower the middle of the pond too, still doesn't work. The waterplane with these numbers will float a bit above the ground.

My numbers are:
Pond 1: x1 = 752, z1 = 778 and x2 = 794, z2 = 812, Height 146
Pond 2: x1 = 738, z1 = 822 and x2 = 780, z2 = 882, Height 105

[simsample]

Volvenom, try testing them with a completely flat map, so that you can see exactly where the water planes are. I don't have access to CAW at the moment, so I can't test for you.

[GLachaille]

I just wanted to take a moment and thank all those on this tread - especially zaide_chris, Simsample and SandrineD for getting this working and the recommendations for tools. Worked like a charm on the first try!


Volvenom --I am a novice with water plans -- only done one in my world - but if you are willing to share your height map, I will double check your numbers and see if I can get it to work - maybe you just need fresh eyes?

[Volvenom]

Thanks for the offer GLachaille. Patience isn't my strongest asset. I'm a fast and hard worker though, so this garping hole instead of a waterfall was such a pain to look at. I just used the regular pond tool :) It's an island so they will have swimmable oceans.

[glimerre]

Now this part...: "6. Edit byte 0x12 of the 0x90624C1B file with your hex editor to the number of water planes you want to use."
I could not find a thread about ways to use hex editor. Trying to figure out it via http://www.flexhex.com/docs/howtos/hex-editing.phtml put me into serious migrane :D
I downloaded this hex editor, i opened it, opened that file that I've exported from s3pe and... Got a bunch of numbers. But 0x12 nowhere in sight. I never used it before, so sorry for beeing such a noob :D I just really need those water layers. Help, anyone? :blink:

[glimerre]

I MADE IT!!! :D Thank you so much.


ETA: Arisuka, I just noticed your post! It seems that your 906 resource is incorrect. If you look at Bridgeport's, you'll see that there is a figure 06 to indicate the six water planes:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1235999-ScreenHunter_01Sep.2714.25.jpg
Yours is set to zero though:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1236000-ScreenHunter_02Sep.2714.25.jpg
You need to set that to 01 if you have one water plane (or 02 if you have two, etc).

Those picks made it clear what is that 0x12 thingy xD I guess this tutorial isin't quite for the begginers... :D Thanks again ;)

[sakasiru]

Can you please help me? I want to place some water planes in my world. First I used the objects from the Destinations Addon, which caused routing problems. Then I tried the pond tool from super CAW, which doesn't really place the planes how I want them. Now I think I figured out how to do the trick with creating them myself, only to find that S3PE is nowhere to download anymore?! Help, where can I get it? Or is there any other way to include custom made water planes now that I missed?


Edit: Thanks, I got it now. Seems the site was down for a while.

Still have a few problems properly placing the planes, but then I made extremely elaborate rivers and swamps to fit the destinations objects.
Is it okay to place the water planes and then make them closed by land, before saving? Will they be there after reopening?
Also, is there a way to determine te exact middle of the plane, so I do not cover it accidentally?

[zaide_chris]

Is it okay to place the water planes and then make them closed by land, before saving? Will they be there after reopening?
I'm not quite sure I understand you correctly, but it's okay to edit the terrain as much as you want around the water planes as long as you don't clip them too small or cover the center.

Also, is there a way to determine te exact middle of the plane, so I do not cover it accidentally?
The exact center of the plane is at the average of the cords so Y = Y, X = (X1+X2)/2 and Z = (Z1+Z2)/2.

If you get under 32 by 32 the plane will be too small and may disappear when you reload the world in CAW.

[zaide_chris]

Here is my Sims 3 Standalone Water Plane Generator. It may still have some bugs and it uses some cutting edge JavaScript/DOM APIs, so I can't guarantee it working in any browser other then most recent version of Google Chrome. It does not work in Internet Exploder 9 or Firefox. I'm going to look into getting it working in Firefox and maybe Internet Exploder, but as I said I'm using some cutting edge APIs, and it may not yet be possible.

[Aree]

I'm really sorry if this has been asked before and I missed it, but is it possible to make non-rectangular waterplanes at all? I saw the note about if you want a different shape, you must terraform around the plane to get what you want. I completely understand that, and in 99.9% of cases, that's perfectly fine. However, I just had an idea for a world a few hours ago and I'm trying to figure out what is and is not possible so I know if I should move on to my plan B idea (which also may not work, but in spite of not being ideal, should be more possible)

[zaide_chris]

It's possible but they don't work well, and CAW tries to "fix" them by making them rectangular. If you can explain what you want to do in more detail I may be able to help you.

[Aree]

Oh! I forgot about this! I was curious if creating anything like this: http://i45.tinypic.com/29q08jo.jpg would be possible. The terrain couldn't do much good in this situation because the boundaries between areas of the spring are very thin. And while you could get away a thicker boundary to keep the springs from overflowing and causing whatever damage that would do, you can't really get away with shaping the springs with the terrain. I'm not married to doing this yet, and I'm still learning, I'm just curious what the technical limits will be for my plans

[simsample]

Aree, see the problems heaven was having here:
http://modthesims.info/m/showthread.php?p=4032686#post4032686

[ruffdog24]

I can't find 0x90624C1B in S3PE I've searched and the closest I came to was 0x9063660D if it helps this file has a Tad as WTXT. Thanks for the help

[simsample]

ruffdog24, are you looking in the world file of your CAW world?

[ruffdog24]

Yes I am

[simsample]

Not sure why it wouldn't be present in your world; try creating a new world and getting it from there.

[ruffdog24]

Alright sounds good, just to be safe I'll still be able to put the water plane into my actual world?

[simsample]

Yes; import the resources generated by the water plane tool as well as the 0x90624C1B (that you mod) from the new world. Those are what you need. :)

[ruffdog24]

Yay hopefully it will work this time last time I tried and my water plane didn't appear, but I think that was due to a lack of knowledge when it came to the Hex editor

[sakasiru]

I have importet my waterplanes, and after saving and reloading they now look fine. Exept two of them don't clip right.

I thought a portion of plane that reaches into open air will dissapear after saving. However, in two places a plane reappears under the land that is supposed to clip them and continues into the air. It is visible after saving and reopening, it is visible in EIG. I didn't try to export is yet, though.

Have I done someting wrong? How can I make the projecting part dissappear?

[AyamePasse]

I have importet my waterplanes, and after saving and reloading they now look fine. Exept two of them don't clip right.

I thought a portion of plane that reaches into open air will dissapear after saving. However, in two places a plane reappears under the land that is supposed to clip them and continues into the air. It is visible after saving and reopening, it is visible in EIG. I didn't try to export is yet, though.

Have I done someting wrong? How can I make the projecting part dissappear?If you're referring to a corner or edge of the squared plane protruding from a rounded piece of land, I had that issue as well, I had to adjust my land to compensate... I'd thought that was normal...? >.<

[LadyGreenEyes649]

Alright, read through the whole thread, and took a look at the stuff on modding the CAW, etc. Now I am totally confused! The page on modding states there are some unspecified issues with the pond tool. Anyone know what those are, or if that is still accurate? Recommendations as to whether the pond tool, via the mod, or the water planes, are the best way to go? I would dearly LOVE to place some water planes, but am unsure how to go about it. Do I use the AriWaterLevels.zip included in the thread, and/or the 707.rar? Where do I place these? Once there, do I use the water plane generator to place them into the game, or is that a separate method? I don't mind playing around with coordinates, if needed, but do those have to be set ahead of time, or can they be altered, as with other objects in CAW? I guess what I really need is the step-by-step Idiots Guide to Water Planes for CAW. I have a world I really NEED these in ,as the only other method is placing the river effects over deep trenches with water at the bottom, which really does NOT have the look I want.

I do have the distant terrain stuff in CAW, so assuming it's set for that, but it's been so long since I did that (along with a few other odds and ends), I can't remember how I even did it. So, if someone has time to set out the steps for this, and the best method (for best look, even if it's more complicated), that would be most appreciated! What I am looking for is:
1. best way to get the water planes in game - whether generator, download, of a combination
2. where to place the download
3. how, in detail, to get the planes into a world
4. whether the planes can be moved/adjusted once placed, by playing around with the x,y,etc location values. Done that with other items, so willing, if it's possible.

What I have installed for CAW works through Pets and Supernatural. I haven't installed Seasons or University yet, so I haven't changed CAW for those. Trying to finish a world in progress first, and get it exported to the game first, in case of any issues. Something that will work with what I have, and preferably with any updates needed once I install the two latest expansions, would be great. TIA!

[auntielynds]

It's been a year since I did this, and I don't remember too well the process. Only that it was a huge pain in the rear. I must have done it a dozen times before I got a successful outcome. :faceslap:

[LadyGreenEyes649]

It's been a year since I did this, and I don't remember too well the process. Only that it was a huge pain in the rear. I must have done it a dozen times before I got a successful outcome. :faceslap:

Well, hopefully someone can explain it! As it is, I have the river effects placed, with trenches underneath with actual water down below the effects. On the surface, it doesn't look bad, but I have no idea if it would work for fishing or not. Water planes would so easily solve that issue. Just hoping I don't have to do some mod-type thing, because I haven't ever done any of that, and really have no idea how. Never had time to figure it out.

At least I know this is actually complicated, and I haven't just gone brain dead, lol!