Vodhin's Flag Test Set Part 2

[Vodhin]

Vodhin's Flag Test Set Part 2

http://www.vodhin.net/CustomScenery/Vodhin/HowTo/Pic_FlagTest02.jpg



Here's the second set of models for testing the various flags in RCT3. These are for flags 33 thru 64 and the models are a little different, you'll note the pack is 5 time smaller than the previous set, and that's because I used one model and then created the different scenery OVLs with the different flags from the one- a neat way to keep the scenery (and load times) small!

These testers also have a transparancy (alpha texture) on them, using the SIAlphaDS setting. The alpha texture is applied to 2 single cubes on top of the flag itself, and shows the possibilities that I am working for: lattice structures.

For those who want to test this, please download and place these in the usual Themed folder - they will not interfere with the previous set so no need to worry about that. The scenery pieces will appear in the scenery menu, and can be found more easily if you filter for just small scenery items.

Place these around your parks, on paths, in the air, in the water, whatever- then observe what happens- I did a little looking and have not seen any effect other than the known flag 33, which enables collision detection.

My initial test had these set as full tile pieces, and this set is now set as wall pieces. Let's see what we can find...


Download the Second Set of Flag Test Items- Click Here (http://www.vodhin.net/RCT3Community/request.php?356)

[marnetmar]

Sounds good Vodhin, hopefully someone will figure out what some of these are for.

[The_Cook]

From studying the spreadsheet of SID settings I would hazard a guess that bits 45-64 don't do anything. They are purely there to pack out the structure to the next word boundary, although they could be used as flags in further expansions if the developers so decided.

[khmaster]

Not to be rude, but whats the point of this? Is it like a game?

[coinich]

No, this is exploration for the greater good of mankind. We are on an important mission here to find out what these flags do. The fate of the human race could depend on us.

Or just the people here at the forum who are cluless about flags.

[The_Cook]

Not to be rude, but whats the point of this? Is it like a game?

We're trying to reverse engineer the game files so that we can create better scenery for the rest of the community. If you're not interested in creating custom scenery then this thread probably won't be of much interest to you.

[coinich]

Different flags do different things. Flag 33, if selected, enables collision detection. (note in the pic it is not on the path like the others.) Others add things like recoloration (is that a word, and is it set with flags?) or the ability to raise items off of the ground (another wild guess). They can be a scenery designer's best friend or worst enemy.

[Vodhin]

The flags seem to create a set of instructions telling RCT3 what can be done with the scenery piece- but it is becoming more and more apparent that these are not stand alone on/off switches. Some do work alone, but others might only work in combinations:

Heres a not-so-accurate example:

[07] With Ground (alone means nothing)
[13] Skew (again means nothing)

but together they make fences slope on hills

If we can discover half of the stand-alone flags, the combinations might become apparent. We do have some example sets of flags for various items, but we still don't know all the possibilities.

[jonwil]

just FYI to all doing research on the flags, its not 64 flags, its actually 2 sets of 32 internally. (i.e. in the game itself)

[Vodhin]

Ah, so they do go in pairs, then... That means that this test is probably useless... but you never know...

Thanks for the tip, Jonwil ;)

[StayingDead]

Hmm i might you help out abit with this if you still need finders. I have just got into custom scenery making and hopefully this will help all the scenery makers to know which flag does what ;].

[skippytim]

Hmm, Im downloading to try

[jonwil]

No they dont go in pairs.

Basicly, the first set of 32 checkboxes is one set of 32 flags and the second set is another set of 32 flags which is stored in a seperate piece of data and doesnt have any direct relation to the first set.

When I got some free time, I plan to get RCT3 into the debugger again and look into the flags and see if I can see anything that helps shed light on what they do. (for example, is xyz flag read when the object is placed or when the park is saved or when the object is first drawn or every frame)

[Vodhin]

Understood... I've taken 'snapshots' of the the available sids for the more interesting items and am pattern searching...

[Maxamillious]

Someone needs to make a table in the first post of a 'Findings Thread' so that everyone can keep track of what the flags do.

Also I'm sure there's a file in RCT3 somewhere that says (in a more complex manner) Flag# = "output command" I don't know how many people here know C++ and other like computer lanuges but I could get my hands on a copy of the program that's used with C++ to write programs and see if I can get anything out of the files that come with RCT3 . . . Though I don't know if that would help anyone . . . :bored:

[Uries]

If flags require another flag to work, does the other flag work as a trigger for an effect? If so would a debugger indicate that it is missing a trigger?