Vertical changes now default to number of clicks, but you can choose to enter standard floating point values for more control. Horizontal changes are still in number of tiles. Descriptions changed to show whether value is in clicks or tiles.

I hope that this helps to make the GridAdjuster easier to use.

Would people find this tool less scary with different labels? For example, "Amplitude" could be changed to "Stretch vertically" or "Stretch up and down", "Phase shift" to "Move horizontally" or "Move back and forth". Or, is that still too complex? Being a mathematician, I have a hard time coming up with easy-to-understand descriptions. I'd love to hear a layperson's ideas of good labels.

Hi Mootilda, I have read the post and comments so if I missed it, I am sorry. Is this compatible with LotAdjuster?

Lee

I'm more of a mathematician like you, so you may discount my comments appropriately. With that qualification in mind, 'stretch vertically' is short and clear, but I prefer 'shift horizontally' or 'shift left-right'. 'Move' could be construed as 'stretch', if the user is thinking in terms of moving points rather than the entire curve. Similarly, back-forth is used elsewhere in the interface to refer to the front-back of the lot. (I don't think that's what you meant in terms of the curve, right?)

Tweaking the interface however, doesn't bring that much clarity, imo. I think what's needed are some simple tutorials, for example, how to build a small bridge or carport arch that's smoother than what's possible in-game, like the properly dug basement which you already have. Simple tutes will ease average players into the tool, and then some will explore the more complex functions.

I am decent at writing tutorials in layman's terms, but you may not want to wait for me to post one. I'm still at the experimentation stage with this tool but I won't have much time to play for a while, so it might be a long wait! Alternatively, you can of course wait for a builder extraordinaire to submit something amazing. Some followers are sure to come along and the community will produce more tutes for you.

Yes, all of my utilities should work together without any problem.

How about "offset" or "horizontal offset" for Phase? Stretch vs. Offset is a pretty clear distinction in my ears.

Yes, I like the word "shift", but I'm afraid that people will confuse "left-right" with the left and right sides of the lot, just as they might confuse "back-forth" with the front and back of the lot.

My only concern is whether "offset" is widely enough used to be understandable to a layperson. This is where being a mathie and a software developer fails me completely...

I would be very pleased if people wanted to produce tutorials which use the GridAdjuster (or any of my tools, for that matter). I actually enjoy writing tutorials, but it's difficult to find the time for tutorials and for enhancing existing programs and writing new ones.

Right now, I'm investigating whether I can add a new level to an existing lot, which may allow us to have more levels in the base game, add a basement to an existing house which is not on a foundation, add a second floor under an existing modern roof, etc.

Mooitlda, I was trying to make a basement using this tool. It's gone weird. I'll play with it some more later to see if I can figure it out myself, but it may be obvious to you.

I'm making a basement under a house which has a bay, built beyond the basement limits. I built the levels, with rectangular dummy and basement floor, and the main floors above with their bay. Deleted the dummy level walls. Then tried to sink the basement using these settings:
Levels 0-5
Depth 13 - 22
width 2-8
Elevation 10 (I want a six-step foundation)

(Does the depth count from the far side of the road, the near side, or the footpath? I'm assuming from appearances that it includes the road.)

Result - weirdness, as pictured. The levels have not sunk at all, the ground has been raised by what looks like 8 clicks, but hollow, under the building. And the bay has been pushed down.

I'll experiment some more later. I'm hoping this doesn't mean I have to include the shape of the bay in the basement and dummy levels, but it might.

Wish - that the program could identify enclosed areas and determine it's own depth/width for the level from that.

The primary problem is that you are trying to change level 0, which is the ground level. To create a basement without a slope, you must start modifying the grid with level 1, which is the dummy level. This is because you want the ground level to remain at an elevation of 0 and to push level 1 underground.

If you want the basement to be underground, then the elevation must be negative; perhaps you meant to set an elevation of -10 clicks (desired foundation height of 6 clicks, less the basement elevation of 16 clicks) ? I assume that you are also adding 16 clicks per level, so that all levels above the basement will have standard height walls.

Finally, it's difficult to see your picture clearly, since it's so small, but I would guess that you are not including your entire building in the range, which means that the bay window is not being moved in sync with the rest of the grid. That would certainly explain why the bay area ends up at the wrong elevation. There are several ways to fix this:
- Use the standard CFE technique to fix the bay area after using the TS2GridAdjuster on the smaller range.
- Run the TS2GridAdjuster multiple times, specifying the irregular range in smaller pieces of depth and width.
- Run the TS2GridAdjuster multiple times, specifying levels 1-2 with the range for the basement, and levels 3 and above with the range for the bay area.
- Specify the entire range in the TS2GridAdjuster, including the bay area, then use standard building techniques to reset the range in the area around the bay window. For example, I was able to reset the area around a bay window by adding walls to the ground, then removing them again.

Yes, the tool includes the road, for people who want to build something interesting over the road, and for people who want uneven roads (not recommended for novices).

TS2GridAdjuster is a general-purpose tool. Having the tool try to guess what you are trying to accomplish and setting its own depth and width would make it less general purpose.

It might make sense for the GridAdjuster to set the original depth and width based on the existing walls, but then how would it be able to tell whether you wanted the size based on the bottom set of walls (none), the middle set of walls (rectangular), or the maximum size of all walls (bay)?

Okay, that makes sense - overlooked that in the directions, obviously. And I overlooked the minus sign too, in fact - no wonder it went weird! That's what I get for thinking I know how it works. Thanks.

I don't know why the picture is small, perhaps I accidentally chose the wrong size. But you've answered the query admirably - it is all user-error naturally.

This sounds interesting. I'm not quite clear what you mean, but it might be obvious once I give it a go.


I understand. That's why I thought if the tool could identify the enclosed space (of a specific level) as the target area, it would be good for basement building. If the builder is doing something more tricky I realise that would probably need to be done 'manually'. Just a suggestion in case you thought it useful.

Anyway, I can see what went wrong with my work yesterday. Sorry not to get back to you sooner, I was unwell for the rest of the day. I'll be able to fix that building now, I'm sure. Thankyou!

The building is semi-fixed. I'm hoping you can help me finish the job...

Sinking it now works properly (thankyou), but I can't use the basement. The game thinks it is the upper level - windows, walls and furnishings appear on the floor above, and my test sim cannot access the basement either, but goes to the equivalent spot on the main level instead.

Occasionally, at just the right angle, I can place something on the edge of the basement, but never in the middle of the room.

My original test house didn't seem to have this issue - can't check tonight as that is in my full game. I'm using basegame currently. It's probably something dumb I am doing again, but I've tried everything I can think of thus far.

I'm sure I placed a double bed in the middle of the basement in my first test house, and sent my sim down to walk all over the space to prove he could. Today, he can't.

Any suggestions? I have packaged the empty house, so can give it to you if you want to look at it.

I should probably write a proper tutorial for my "real" basement method, rather than just attaching some notes to the existing tutorial. I'm sorry that it was confusing. I've been trying to get my next program working (add a level to an existing house), so I was hoping a a couple quick notes and some pictures would be sufficient for now.

Unfortunately, I can't tell what's wrong from your description. I'll have to see either the house itself or a screenshot or list of the options that you used for the TS2GridAdjuster.

One possibility for the UI would be to have a "snap range to walls" button (suggestions for better names appreciated), available when the current range has only 1 level. Clicking on the button would override the depth and width, setting them to the minimal range which includes all walls on that level.

Don't worry, it wasn't that confusing. The main thing that threw me was that the minus sign is easy to overlook. If that was written out, it would be a little easier to get the settings right.

I'm attaching the house for you to look at. It's a basegame lot, the only CC should be the invisible tile and crocobaura's open stairs.

The settings I used for this version were:
levels 1-4
depth 11-22
width 2-8
elevation flat, minus 10 clicks
16 clicks per level.

Would the higher-set basement (not four clicks) be causing trouble? The same problem applies to the other versions of this lot so far, all set six steps above the ground. The other test house I made had a four-step foundation/basement.

I want the bay and rear landing to be blocked out visually, as they are not part of the basement and look very odd at present. I think I know how to do it - wall just those sections, change the walls on that level to foundation (with your tool), then fill in the rest of the walls and leave them normal. Sink the lot. Then the basement walls will cut away during play, but those no-go areas will be walled up properly. I hope - haven't tried that yet.

I am hoping to upload this house if I can get it working. No hurry though.

No, the higher-set basement should not be causing the problem.

I'm beginning to think that there may be a problem creating a true basement with the base game. This basement is definitely behaving differently in the base game than it does in my all-EPs game. Perhaps a different invisible tile would work better? Or, we might have to do some research to find the minimal EP requirement for this technique.

Your best option for blocking out the bay and rear landing may be to leave some of the walls on the dummy level. You should even be able to create the dummy level using the foundation tool, rather than the wall tool, if you'd prefer not to use ConvertiWall.

As far as I can tell, this no longer has anything to do with the GridAdjuster, so it probably belongs in the "Sunken/True Basement Without Sloping Ground" thread. I can't confirm this because there is no way that I am going to attempt to do this using the original (non-GridAdjuster) technique.

Fair enough; I'm prepared to admit it could be a basegame issue again. I'll try the lot in an EP environment sometime and see.

Yes, leaving some of the dummy level walls would probably work, and involve less reloading of game and programs. Good suggestion. Thanks.

How do you elevate or lower walls and foundations? I'm trying to make my foundation 2 clicks high. ( If thats right.) I want my stairs 2 steps high from the ground. I did it before with the walls on the foundation, but I dont know how I did it. (Hope I'm saying this right.) :/

If you have the foundation already built and the ground is level with the road, then run the TS2GridAdjuster with level = 1 to max, and a depth and width which include your foundation. Select Flat Elevation = 2 clicks and Add per Level = 16 clicks. This will move your foundation to 2 clicks above the level of the road and all other levels on the lot will be shifted down accordingly.

I hope that this answers your question.

finally, you released.... :D

that can make every modification fast and easy....

This response are consisted of the following sections:
Modding
Lot fixing
Naming suggestion
Comments to comments



Modding:



Here, multi-morpho-stated objects may come in handy for certain common angles, shapes and positions.
Really wish for non-static object structure to fill the gaps between levels. There could have been an array to account for sims accesibility, at least one for object accessibility(-ies in terms of height or size), and two for building units and boundries to enable depth and horizontal variations. This should have been in TS3 wish list a long time ago?

Unfortunately, the present structure I know of is that objects (including windows, doors, doorarches, etc)(and their meshes and mid-mapped textures) are not but their wallmasks txtr files are staticly/statically proportional to the shape of the wall segment, the wall heights as defined in the corresponding Wall and Wall PS shader files, and that the lot grid points except its elevation/height are static to the general/global scale certainly not to the cameras.

Modification(s) at the mentioned shader files by means of substituting the "proportion" method with a method of "substraction from the lower end in a given level" for the general wall drawing may be a likely attempt. but then, various height settings for muti-stated objects are still in need for further various placement according to the heights desired by users. that's quite amount of labour repetitions if no such object template is made for more various object makers to free-to-use and easy-to-use.

Presently, Numenor's unlevelled wall and Mikeinside's Easy wall may offer some helps in certain situations.
various settings with top and bottom at wall.txt may be a fast convenience.




EP1 UNI is the only EP known capable of producing lots of >5 levels compatible to the base game.



Lot fixing



May lower the level 0 of the region to do the fix.

For future making, it may be more convenient to lower the ground/level 0 first and build the basement normally, and then re-level back the the ground/level 0 before using modular/connecting stairs or the like(s) to connect the upper level(s) to the ground.



Naming suggestion


Personally, I'd not.
but a suggestion for you, it can be just a common name as well.

"floor height adjuster" may be intuitive to most people.



Comments to comments:



Lol, their lots are appealing is not simply owing to grid-point value manipulation. It's their finally produced lots that are magnificient and special.
Some lots can still be not special without such manipulation.


Resonated here.

Yes it does. Thank you! I understand the tool much better now. But, I couldnt place the stairs on the foundation to the ground level.

Try using moveobjects on when placing the stairs.

Hi, I am a 'novice' as Mootilda stated in an earlier post but to me it seems like a novice is what you'd really need in this thread!
I am trying to find out how and for what this tool can be used and it's really complicated. I get the impression that the users and posters consist mainly of your 'Moo Tool Group' and therefore the language is rather technical. (See niol's post starting with: 'Here, multi-morpho-stated objects'). I had to get my daughter who is quite good in math to translate and explain a few aspects of the instructions and –she- had to resort to a book! lol!
Also, Mootilda's suggestion to only adjust little at a time and then resort to the game again to look how it changed the lot made me laugh. I just spend a whole afternoon doing just that with SimPE and I only had to alter two values both lying between 0 and 4. I got it right for one value at the second try and the other at the third meaning I only had to load SimPE and the game three times but it still took me the whole afternoon. I really can't imagine that you will find many people who would do that voluntarily.
Also, I was searching high and low for a something to have elevated or sloped roads and I'm rather good in searching but came up with zilch. I posted in a forum about that and no one there could help me. I turned to another project (adding basements to my row houses) and only then realised that I had the appropriate tool in my inventory all the time! So, that should give you an idea, how user-friendly the tool is.
Please, please don't take that personal I am just trying to be constructive.
Since I couldn't find all the answers I was looking for in this tread please let me ask a few simple questions and even if you think that these answers could be found in the thread, please indulgence with me and answer them once again:
Could the grid-adjuster be used on a lot without buildings just for changing the terrain? I would like to have something to produce a fully sloped lot (except for the edges of course) rising upwards from the street without too much tedious work with the terrain-tools. So far, it sounded to me as if the tool would only work on ground that is covered with floor-tiles, walls or foundations although the ability to shape the edges of the lot is mentioned repeatedly (only how?).
Could I use this tool to lift a house up? Including its basement? It's a simple rectangular shaped house and the basement runs along the whole lengths and wide of the house. The only thing I can think of that might be an obstacle is that there's another house standing next to it. They are one tile apart. As a matter of fact it is the lot with the non-sloped basements Mootilda used for testing her level-adder. I want to raise three of the four houses, each one a bit higher than the one standing right next to them. (I hope this explanation is understandable).
Let me add that these answers would help me overcome my fear in using the tool. Knowing that I could accomplish what I'm aiming for would be the right stimulus for me to finally investigate the abilities of the grid-adjuster. And outweigh the fear of mucking up my game with it. (I do have backups but still…)
I'm sorry, that this turned out to be such a long post. Please have a bit of patience with such a green newbie.

First, let me apologize for this tool being so complicated. I'd love it if someone could design a UI which was still powerful, but easier to understand. I know that math can be intimidating, but I just don't know how to do this without math; I originally designed this tool for my own personal use, but people asked that I make it more widely available.

Yes, it can be used to adjust the ground level. Just choose level = 0 and pattern = sloped and then rotate until the slope is going in the correct direction. If you don't want to change the lot edges, be sure exclude the minimum and maximum values from your range (ie, instead of left 0 to 40, use left 1 to 39). It's also a good idea to avoid sloping your road from sidewalk to sidewalk, so I'd suggest that you use a range that doesn't include the road (ie, instead of front 1 to 39, use front 11 to 39). The normal elevation of the road is 0, so you probably want to have 0 as your starting elevation.

If you want to adjust just your lot edges, then you'll have to do it in 4 separate steps (left side, right side, front edge, back edge). Alternatively, you can use the LotAdjuster to flatten your lot edges.

If you want to slope your road from one side of the lot to the other, it's a good idea to leave some flat areas for the pedestrian and vehicle portals (which you'll want to place yourself, using the Portal Revealer). If the portals are on a slope, they may not work as expected.

Yes, you can use the tool to raise an entire house up. However, you should be aware that the GridAdjuster will only change the grid elevations and will not move objects (such as doors, windows, and furniture).

The existing Bella's Belles Townhomes already had the 4 apartments at 4 different elevations, so I just used the GridAdjuster to change the elevations of the basements themselves. If I had wanted to adjust the foundation heights for those apartments, then it would have made more sense to use the constrainfloorelevation cheat to move both the grid and the objects at the same time.

Love this tool (so many possibilities!), just quickly one small question: how can I use it (and also LotAdjuster) with AGS? In which moment and in which folder should I select the lot which I want to modify?
Edit: I solved it by myself within the next minute, lol.

Just in case other people have the same question:

To use the TS2GridAdjuster with the AnyGameStarter, click on the "Browse" button on the Neighborhood selection screen and navigate to the appropriate neighborhood directory. Then select the neighborhood package. After that, proceed as usual.

I downloaded a house with no foundation, I want to add one. Can this be used for that?