Smart City Plan: How to Create Mods

You can create mods for the game, and extend it with new buildings, new graphics and even scripts, if you like. Do it like this:

• Download the “Construction Crane” mod. You can download it directly inside the game: Goto “Settings” -> “Mods” -> “Download”.
• In Windows, right-click the Windows start button in the task bar, and select ‘Run’. There, type
  %localappdata%
  and press ENTER. You should find a folder named “Smart City Plan” and under that, a folder named “mods”. A folder named “construction crane” should be in there, which contains the just downloaded “Construction Crane” mod.
• Copy the “construction crane” folder and name it how you want your mod to be called, like “my mod”.
• Go into your new “my mod” folder and take a look at its content. You will find these files:
  – icon.jpg – an icon for the mod
  – crane.png – The image of the new building
  – mod.json – a text file in JSON format containing all the info about this mod.
• Open the mod.json file with a text editor, like the free Notepad++ editor. It will look like this:
  
{
"file": "construction crane",
"description": "A simple construction crane for decoration",
"version": "1.0",
"buildings":
[
{
"Name": "Construction Crane",
"Description" : "A construction crane for decoration purposes",
"Id" : 7001,
"Width": 2,
"Height": 2,
"Image": "crane.png",
"Price": 100000,
"UpkeepCost": 0,
"MaxResidents": 0,
"MaxWorkers": 0,
"CommercialNeedFullfilled": 0,
"WaterNeeded": 0,
"PowerNeeded": 0,
"NeedsRoadAccess": false,
"NoiseRadius": 0,
"PollutionRadius": 0,
"PublicTransportRadius": 0,
"HealthRadius": 0,
"CrimeRadius" : 0,
"FireRadius" : 0,
"LeisureRadius": 0,
"EducationRadius" : 0,
"ReligionRadius" : 0
}
]
}

  You can edit this freely. Assign a new building image, set a name and description. Here are some notes for the various attributes:
  – Id: An integer number, this must be a unique id. No other building should have the same number.
  – Width, Height: Width and height in tiles for this building. Maximum is 6×6.
  – Image: Png image of this building.
  – WaterNeeded, PowerNeeded: Only set this if MaxResidents and MaxWorkers is 0. Otherwise this will be calculated based on the amount of people living/working here.
  – xRadius: Radius affecting a specific issue.
• You can of course have more than one new building per mod. For this, add another building object contained in curly braces ( { } ) below the ‘buildings’ entry, like this:
  
{
"buildings":
[
{
"Name": "Building 1",
"Id" : 7001,
...
},
{
"Name": "Building 2",
"Id" : 7002,
...
}
]
}

• Once you have your mod ready, you can startup the game and see it in action. If there is a problem with your mod, the game will show the problem in the mod browser.
  When you update your mod, you don’t need to restart the game, in most cases it is enough to hit the ‘Update’ button in the mod browser.
  Note: Don’t click the ‘uninstall’ button. Your mod will be deleted from disk then.

If you want your mod to be played by other people and be visible in the mod browser on the “download” tab, do it like this:

• Be sure that you have a nice icon, and an updated description and the correct file name entry in the “mod.json” file.
• Create a .zip file of your mod folder.
• Send the file to game (at) ambieragames.com and add this text to confirm that you own all the rights to the included assets, and that you license your mod to be used for free by all users and the game:
  
I [INSERT NAME HERE], confirm that I created this mod for the game "Smart City Plan" and grant permission to anyone to use this mod and included images and texts for any purpose, including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it freely.


You can also create mods which replace graphics from the existing game, not only add new buildings to it. For this, create a mod with a mod.json file looking like this:

{
"file": "new water pump",
"description": "new graphics for the water pump",
"version": "1.0",
"replacedGraphics":
[
{
"replace": "pump_1x1",
"with": "newpump.png"
}
]
}

This replaces the graphics of the water pump with a new image in newpump.png. Images which can be replaced are these:

sand, sand_stone_small, sand_stone_big, sand_cactus, mud, grass, grass_bright, grass_stone,
grass_tree, grass_tree2, grass_tree3, asphalt_tram, burned, asphalt, asphalt_street_lr,
asphalt_street_tb, asphalt_street_x, asphalt_street_trn_1, asphalt_street_trn_2,
asphalt_street_trn_3, asphalt_street_trn_4, asphalt_street_jnc_1,
asphalt_street_jnc_2, asphalt_street_jnc_3, asphalt_street_jnc_4,
bridge_street_begin1, bridge_street_begin2, bridge_street_begin3, bridge_street_begin4,
bridge_rail_begin1, bridge_rail_begin2, bridge_rail_begin3, bridge_rail_begin4,
bridge_tram_begin1, bridge_tram_begin2, bridge_tram_begin3, bridge_tram_begin4,
zone_1, zone_2, zone_4, zone_5, zone_6, zone_7, zone_3, rail_lr, rail_tb, rail_x,
rail_trn_1, rail_trn_2, rail_trn_3, rail_trn_4, rail_jnc_1, rail_jnc_2, rail_jnc_3,
rail_jnc_4, rail_lr_asphalt, rail_tb_asphalt, rail_crossing_1, rail_crossing_2,
tram_lr, tram_tb, tram_x, tram_trn_1, tram_trn_2, tram_trn_3, tram_trn_4, tram_jnc_1,
tram_jnc_2, tram_jnc_3, tram_jnc_4, asphalt, asphalt, asphalt, asphalt, asphalt,
asphalt, asphalt, asphalt, asphalt, asphalt, asphalt, subrail_lr, subrail_tb, subrail_x,
subrail_trn_1, subrail_trn_2, subrail_trn_3, subrail_trn_4, subrail_jnc_1, subrail_jnc_2,
subrail_jnc_3, subrail_jnc_4, pipe_lr, pipe_tb, pipe_x, pipe_trn_1, pipe_trn_2, pipe_trn_3,
pipe_trn_4, pipe_jnc_1, pipe_jnc_2, pipe_jnc_3, pipe_jnc_4, power_lr, power_tb, power_x,
power_trn_1, power_trn_2, power_trn_3, power_trn_4, power_jnc_1, power_jnc_2, power_jnc_3,
power_jnc_4, powerplant_wind, powerplant_solar, powerplant_solarthermal, powerplant_coal,
powerplant_nuclear, powerplant_fusion, water, water_start, water_start_2, water_start_3,
water_start_4, water_edge_1, water_edge_2, water_edge_3, water_edge_4, water_corner_1,
water_corner_2, water_corner_3, water_corner_4, debug_size_tile, debug_size_tile2,
asphalt, cursor, cursorbad, badtilemark, buildoverlay, buildoverlayradius, marker,
train_station_t1, train_station_t2, train_station_t3, train_station_t4, train_station_t4,
train_station_t5, train_station_t6, train_station_t7, train_station_t5, train_station_a1,
train_station_a2, train_station_b1, train_station_b2, police_small, police_big, fire_small,
fire_big, hospital_small, hospital_big, hyper_station_1a, hyper_station_1b, subway,
tram_station1, tram_station2, bus_station1, bus_station2, bus_stationb1, bus_stationb2,
launch_pad, airport, car_factory, chem_factory, coal_mine, pump_1x1, pump_2x2,
pump_drain_1, pump_drain_2, pump_drain_3, pump_drain_4, watertreatment_3x3, school_1,
school_2, school_3, library, park2x2, park3x3, church1, church2, stadion, stadion2,
cinema, building_1x1_l1_h1, building_1x1_l1_h2, building_1x1_l2_h1, building_1x1_l2_h2,
building_1x1_l2_h3, building_2x2_l1_h1, building_2x2_l1_h2, building_2x2_l1_h3,
building_2x2_l2_h1, building_2x2_l2_h2, building_2x2_l2_h3, building_2x2_l2_h4,
building_2x2_l2_h5, building_2x2_l2_h6, building_2x2_l2_h7, building_2x2_l2_h8,
building_3x3_l3_h1, building_3x3_l3_h2, building_3x3_l3_h3, building_3x3_l3_h4,
building_3x3_l3_h5, building_3x3_l3_h6, building_3x3_l3_h7, building_3x3_t1_h1,
building_3x3_t1_h2, building_3x3_t1_h3, building_3x3_t1_h4, building_3x3_t1_h5,
building_2x2_l1_h4, building_2x2_l1_h5, building_3x3_x1, building_3x3_x2,
building_3x3_x3, building_3x3_x4, building_2x2_x5, building_3x3_x6, building_2x2_x7,
building_2x2_x8, building_3x3_x11, building_2x2_x12, building_2x2_x13, building_2x2_x14,
building_2x2_x15, building_3x3_x19, building_1x1_l3_h8, building_1x1_l3_h9,
building_1x1_l3_h10, building_1x1_l3_h11, building_2x2_l3_h2, building_1x1_l2_h3b,
building_1x1_l2_h2b, ind_1x1_l1_h1, ind_1x1_l1_h2, ind_1x1_l1_h3, ind_1x1_l2_h1,
ind_1x1_l2_h2, ind_1x1_l2_h3, ind_2x2_l1_h1, ind_2x2_l1_h2, ind_2x2_l1_h3, ind_2x2_l2_h1,
ind_2x2_l2_h2, ind_2x2_l2_h3, ind_2x2_l2_h4, ind_3x3_l1_h1, ind_3x3_l1_h2, ind_3x3_l2_h1,
ind_3x3_l2_h2, ind_3x3_l2_h3, com_1x1_l1_h1, com_1x1_l1_h2, com_1x1_l1_h3, com_1x1_l1_h4,
com_1x1_l1_h5, com_2x2_l1_h1, com_2x2_l1_h5, com_2x2_l1_h3, com_3x3_l1_h1, com_3x3_l1_h2,
com_3x3_l1_h3, com_1x1_l1_h6, com_1x1_l1_h7, com_2x2_l1_h4, com_2x2_l1_h2, farm_2x2_h1,
farm_2x2_h2, farm_3x3_h1, farm_1x1_h1, farm_1x1_h2, farm_1x1_h3, farm_1x1_h4, free_area_item_1,
free_area_item_2, free_area_item_3, free_area_item_4, free_area_item_5, free_area_item_6,
free_area_item_7, free_area_item_8, free_area_item_9, upclhouse_1, upclhouse_2, upclhouse_3,
upclhouse_4, building_3x3_l3_h1_green, building_3x3_l3_h4_green, building_3x3_t1_h1_green,
building_3x3_t1_h3_green, building_3x3_t1_h4_green, building_2x2_x12_green,
building_2x2_x13_green, building_3x3_l3_h2_green, building_3x3_t1_h2_green,
building_3x3_x2_green, building_3x3_x11_green, watertreatment_5x5.

You can of course also still include new buildings additionally in there as well, in a “buildings” section.

For an example mod doing this, take a look at the “Desert” mod.

You can also add some game logic in your mod by supplying a script. Scripts are done using JavaScript, and defined in the mod.json file like this:

{
"file": "my script mod",
"description": "a mod for testing scripts",
"version": "1.0",
"script": "script.js"
}

So your mod also needs to have a script file included, in this case named “script.js”. Put this code into there, just for trying it out:

new function()
{
this.LastTimeRan = 0; // last time this mod ran

this.run = function() // <- called about ~30 times per second by the game
{
var now = game_get_time();
if (now – this.LastTimeRan < 120) // only run every 120 minutes in game time
return;

this.LastTimeRan = now;

game_send_mail(‘Population: ‘ + game_get_city().Population, ‘hourly report’);
};
}

This code will send a mail every two game hours to the player, with the current population amount of the city. Not very useful, but good as example code.
It works like this: You need to define a function object, which has a method named ‘run’. This is being called every game logic step. In there, you can do your game logic and access and manipulate the game.

Here is a list of most basic functions which are available to you:

• game_get_city()
  Returns the city object. Contains everything to get infos about the city and to modify it. Example:
  game_send_mail(“City Population:” + game_get_city().Population, );
  Another example, to set the money:
  game_get_city().Money = 23; // this is 23 thousand $
• game_get_time()
  returns game time in minutes (1440 minutes is a day). You can get a displayable day/time by doing this:
  var hours = Math.floor(time / 60);
  var days = Math.floor(hours / 24);
  hours -= (days * 24);
  var timeAsString = “Day:” + day + ” Hours:” + hours;
• game_open_dev_console()
  Opens the debugging developer console. This is useful for inspecting game objects and available functions. (See in the API docs – how to debug a mod)
  game_send_mail(txt, subject)
  Sends a mail to the user. Takes text and subject as string. Text can be HTML Code.

For a detailed description of the mod API, see the official Smart City Plan mod API documentation[www.ambieragames.com].

By Ambiera