Holy crap, you rock

MUST TRY THIS NOW! I have been eagerly waiting and waiting and now it's finally here! Mootlida, you have to be one of my all time favorite creators. Thanks for everything you have done and especially this :D

The only downside to this is that everyone can now make things like v1nd1 or cokebuilder, less specialy, but MUCH easier.

This is the release history for TS2GridAdjuster:

Release 1.2.3:
Bug fix: When running all EPs and SPs, I found fish in my basement walls. Concluded that water level should not be higher than the ground level, so I changed the water level to default to the new ground level.

Release 1.2.2:
Minor bug fixes:
- If an error occurred when creating or removing a basement, checkboxes for Versioned backups and Clicks disappeared.
- There were more restrictions than necessary on the range when removing a basement.

Release 1.2.1:
Bug fix: Default water level was set lower than necessary when converted to number of clicks.

Release 1.2:
- New pattern: (no-slope) basement
- Allow hood prefixes which are not 4 characters long or which otherwise do not match standard naming conventions.

Release 1.1:
- Added a checkbox for Clicks. Vertical changes now default to number of clicks. Uncheck box to use floating point elevations for more control.
- Changed descriptions of fields, to make it clear whether they require a number of clicks (vertical: up and down) or a number of tiles (horizontal: back and forth).
- Lot Catalog selection is now handled by a button, rather than a checkbox. This should be more intuitive.

Release 1.0:
Initial Release

To-Do list has been moved to the Moo Tools social group, to allow for more discussion:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=328162

Feel free to join in conversations about new features or new utilities in that group.

I'm working on a tutorial for curves. For now, take a look at my notes about the meanings of the various values:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthre...813#post2170813

Reserved for future use.

How is this a downside? My hope is that we'll see more interesting and modern houses with this tool.

Oh no, don't take it offensively, it will get more awesome houses, and that I am SUPER eager for, i meant it like, for the people who spent the time to learn it it was a waste now that the tool is out, lol. You know? It seems very useful and I as soon as my time frees I am testing it out.

No offense taken. Just didn't understand what you were saying.

Thank you so much for this! Finally, I can adjust lot edges! The lack of this ability annoyed me so much when making rivers that crossed multiple lots. I would have to make the rivers before putting down lots, now I can do it after. Let me know where to send brownies!

You have a tiny C+P error in the OP -- it says "You need the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 to run ConvertiWall".

Thought you might want to know. Thank you for making this! =)

Just be sure to follow the TS2 rules for lot edges: the lot tiles between each major neighborhood tile (every 10th lot tile) must be sloped. Any other pattern at the edge of the lot will produce a blue tear.

If you find that you are not seeing water at the edge of the lot, please let me know. I may have a solution.

I'll try to make a multi-lot spanning river and report back. I'll avoid changing the 10th tiles.

question: The elevation value, what units does it use? Clicks, I hope? If not, how much is 1 click down?

[Update:] TS2GridAdjuster uses number of clicks. [end update]

You can also choose to use the elevations that are inside of the lot package, which are just floating point numbers.

A standard wall is 16 clicks (3.0 floating point); 1 click is 1 / 16 of a standard wall or 0.1875.

In my research, I found that the game is completely happy to have walls which are not a multiple of clicks. This means that the GridAdjuster can actually create a smoother curve than you can create in-game.

I could change the GA to use "clicks" fairly easily, if that's what people would prefer. Or, perhaps I could add a checkbox for "clicks", so that you have a choice of which units you prefer.

Thanks for the info. I like the option of either floating point numbers, for fine control, or clicks. That is, if it wouldn't be too much trouble to put in. Haven't tried to do the river experiment yet, but will do it.

I like the sine wave option. I think you mentioned you might do conic sections? I would be happy to have them, especially parabolas. Could build the Arecibo radio telescope! Do you think it's worth putting a poll in the thread, asking builders if they would use such a feature if you did decide to add it? I wouldn't want to add to your workload unnecessarily.

Mootilda, you surely deserve one of the highest prizes awarded to the most dangerous mad ( and GENIAL) scientists! For now I am lost in admiration,can't wait to use your gem.But for a basic downloader like me it will be very risky...You know,if well used its a wonderful firework and if used by ignorant innocent hands it could be a terrifying earthquake in some sims-neighborhoods...
More seriously I'll learn how to use your fantastic gridadjuster,because it seems relatively difficult.Then I'll enjoy it deeply.
THANK YOU so much for your new great addition to the game.Big hugs.

Suggestions for people who find the GridAdjuster complex:

- Be sure to backup your neighborhood and keep the backup until you are completely happy with the results.

- Try playing with a test lot before adjusting a real (existing) lot.

- Create a test lot which has the same sun direction as the lot that you want to change.

- Take a picture of the GridAdjuster specification screen and a picture of the resulting lot, so that you don't forget what options you used when you get something that you like.

- Limit yourself to changing one level at a time. Multiple levels can wait until you understand everything else.

- Don't bother with Relative changes until you have a firm understanding of the other values. The Relative checkbox is there to help produce more complex patterns, so leave this till the end.

- Start with flat elevations, especially changing different areas on the lot. Then, move on to slopes, then rotations. When you move on to curves, start with the default values. Then, try changing one value at a time and watch what happens. I'd suggest starting with Elevation, then Amplitude, then Period. Keep the changes small (in the 1-10 range).

- Remember that both Sloped and Curved patterns can produce flat grids with the wrong parameters. For a curve, this will occur if you set either the Amplitude or Period too low. I have found that an Amplitude of 4 clicks (.75) gives a nice curve with a Period of 10 tiles. A Period of 1 or 2 should produce a completely flat grid, so avoid those values.

The coding is almost complete. Then, I need to do some testing to make sure that everything still works as expected. Hopefully, this will be available by Monday.

Have you already got a set of lots with a shared river, using your old technique? If so, I'd love to see the lot packages.

I suspect that you will need to have one neighborhood vertex underwater for this to work. Just remember that you need to have a Slope between that underwater vertex and the two adjoining major vertices.

I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your experiments. Will you be writing a tutorial when you've figured it out?

As long as I have an equation and can determine the best way to parameterize that equation for the typical TS2 user, it's not that much work to add a new equation.

My next project is hyperbolic paraboloids (saddles), since I already have the equation from my Soaring Starter. However, I'll add elliptical paraboloids (cones) to my list.

Works as expected. Really nice. And many possibilities.

You can convert sloped lots to flat lots, flat lots to sloped lots and of coure you can create cool roofs.

I love it.

I was asked to change the LotAdjuster so that people could choose a pattern for the expanded terrain, rather than just using the neighborhood terrain. It made more sense to me to have a more general program for all grid levels. Glad you're finding it helpful.

Search Tags:
By the way, if people have ideas for search tags for this, I'd appreciate suggestions.

Thank you for all the precious explanations.Its like a tutorial and greatly appreciated.Big hugs again.

Just found a simpler way to make a real basement using the GridAdjuster instead of CFE:

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthre...451#post2172451

I suddenly have this vision of a non-Euclidean R'lyeh lot.

Of course, we're limited as far as equations go. The only sample points are at the (fixed location) vertices and there can only be one elevation per grid point. You'll see how this limits our options if you make the amplitude of the curve too high.

The walls will go straight up and down between the levels and, as far as I know, the only way to get slanted walls is to create a custom mesh.

There's also no way to get windows which follow the height and shape of the wall, without a set of custom meshes for each wall section. I wanted to put windows under my hyperbolic paraboloid, but there's nothing available that comes close.

In addition, walls and floors only work with a standard 16-click (3.0) height wall. That is, unless you install unlevel walls, which have their own set of problems.

And, annoyingly, single-sided floor tiles are the norm and ceilings do not follow the pattern of the floor tile above them. (See the comments in my Soaring Starter for an example of how badly EA botched the ceilings on modern lots).

Guess I may have to change my policy on CC on my lots. At minimum, it appears that I need an invisible tile for real basements and a set of double-sided floor tiles for ceilings.

If anyone has a solution for any of these problems, please let us know. It sure would be nice if we could deform windows the way that we can deform the walls and floors.