Intro Movies

[nectere]

Has anyone figured out how to make the neighborhood intro movies yet as seen in the base neighborhoods i.e Pleasantview etc? I assume its the reia file? I cant find any info on how to work with this file type or what it does.

[Nihale]

I think it's just the fancy thumbnail in the menu. I deleted the one from Pleasantview and it still does the flyby when I go into the 'hood.

[baratron]

Don't you do it by hitting "video" mode while in the Neighbourhood? I think you pretty much need a custom camera to be able to swoop over the Neighbourhood smoothly rather than getting stuck in the streets.

[Venusy]

It's the .reia file in the N00X (1 to 3) folders. Unfortunately, no one seems to know how to open them or make them. You could try copying and renaming if it's an alternate reality 'hood...

[shc]

I am sorry for commiting necromancy.

I've been scanning threads in order to learn how to make my own 'intro movies' and the only info i can find shows that;

a) The intro is not actually a 'movie' but a pre-scripted cam motion, sort of like the special event camera.
b) The .reia file is what is responsible for this pre-scripted cam motion.
c) No-one knows how to make this said .reia file because they don't know the program that creates it and an internet search only brings up links about something real estate related.

However when I did my own google search, if you look amongst the real estate and the sims 2 who, what, where reia links I happened to find some links about a programming language called Reia. I have no idea if this has any relation to the .reia file in sims 2 as I know sweet f all about programming and languages and whatnot. But I thought that maybe someone in the sims 2 modding community who is knowledgeable about such stuff may be interested in the links, so I hope you don't mind if I post them here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reia_(programming_language)

http://wiki.reia-lang.org/wiki/Reia_Programming_Language

http://tonyarcieri.org/articles/2008/08/05/reia-now-creating-modules-on-the-fly

http://github.com/tarcieri/reia/tree/f6cef38b832c02558ac35fdd05de652c50aaf2ca

[Nepheris]

Most of your information does not line up with my personal experiences.

a) The intro *is* a sort of movie, as when you copy the .reia file from e.g. Pleasantview to a random generated 'hood, the exact same Pleasantview intro movie will play. I think I've read somewhere that someone claimed their intro movie changed to reflect changes in their hood (new houses and such), but that's never been the case for me.
b) Copying the .reia file (while giving you the copied intro movie) will not give you the flyover cam motion in a hood. Naming your hood as one of the standard hoods (Pleasantview, Riverblossom Hills, etc) while that hood is not currently installed however, does. (Thank you Emma)

What I've surmised is that the .reia files are made in some way known only to EAxis, who for some reason don't feel like sharing. I don't know anything about programming languages, but I'm guessing the reia you're talking about has nothing to do whatsoever with TS2 intro movies.

[shc]

I don' see how my information does not line up with your so-called personal experiences, apart from you claiming that the 'movie' does not reflect changes in your game. Since I have noticed this in my game long before I decided to go on this little search and others have posted of noticing the same thing in thier hoods, this just proves that you are not as observant as other people.

Now what is interesting of what you said is the fact that the 'flyover cam motion' can be replicated in custom hoods using a copied .reia file if the said custom hood is occupying the same N## as where the .reia file originated. This information shows that the .reia file has been programmed to only work for that N## slot. I am sorry Emma for missing this little tidbit in my search.

What I've surmised is that the .reia files are made in some way known only to EAxis, who for some reason don't feel like sharing. I don't know anything about programming languages, but I'm guessing the reia you're talking about has nothing to do whatsoever with TS2 intro movies.

I believe I said in my post that I had no idea if it had anything to do with TS2 'intro movies' and I also admitted I knew 'sweet f all' about programming languages as well. But I thought someone with knowledge of such things may want to know of it so they can make that judgement call. As you said you do not have this knowledge so you are not of any authority to say if it is or if it isn't.

[Nepheris]

You don't see how the info doesn't line up with my experiences?

a) You claim it isn't a movie, I claim it is. If the .reia file was just a collection of camera movements, there is no reason why the exact same intro movie plays for custom hoods as the one you copied it from.

b) Learn to read. I specifically said the camera movement is in no way related to the .reia file. It is related to the name of the neighbourhood. You do not need to copy the .reia file in any way to get the camera movement, just simply the name of an original EAxis neighborhood. Copying the .reia only will only give you the intro movie of the related neighbourhood, and not in any way the flyover camera motion you seem to associate with it.

c) I'm using common sense here. While I admit that I know nothing about programming languages whatsoever, I still *guess* the reia programming language you speak of has nothing to do with TS2 in any way, shape or form. *Guessing* does not equal *having the authority to say it ain't or is*, and seeing as I made this very clear in my post, I see no reason for you to harp over it. Just sharing here.

I recognise your attempts to get into the spirit of the forum, but please, practise basic reading comprehension first without galopping off into the direction of moar fight. Otherwise, you will get P&L at.

[Alex]

Well the .reia file is just a recorded video of the scripted flythrough. As Nepheris said, if you move that file, you are merely associating the video file with another neighborhood. Where the flythrough data is kept, I have no idea. It seems it's tied to certain neighborhood names. Calling any neighborhood (even existing ones) Pleasantview, Strangetown, Veronaville, Riverblossom Hills, Desiderata Valley, Belladonna Cove, Sedona, Europa or Lakeview will create their own individual flythroughs (the last one is very glitchy though). Apparently some other names create one as well, but they appear to be inconsistent.

[shc]

b) Learn to read. I specifically said the camera movement is in no way related to the .reia file. It is related to the name of the neighbourhood. You do not need to copy the .reia file in any way to get the camera movement, just simply the name of an original EAxis neighborhood. Copying the .reia only will only give you the intro movie of the related neighbourhood, and not in any way the flyover camera motion you seem to associate with it.

I concede I misread that bit of your post.

I recognise your attempts to get into the spirit of the forum, but please, practise basic reading comprehension first without galopping off into the direction of moar fight. Otherwise, you will get P&L at.

I have no idea what you mean by this. I don't care about this forums games of moar fight and other what not childish antics. Obviously from my profile you can see I am not a frequent poster here, and honestly I am not even that much a lurker here either. Once in a blue moon I come to check if the mods I have from here have had any updates then I leave. People being nasty to each other in the belief that it makes them clever is not something that interests me, I have no need to belittle someone to make me feel good about myself. Now that I make myself clear on that I shall move on from it.

Back to 'intro movies'.

Okay I think there is some confusion when each of us talk about this intro movie. When I am talking about the intro movie I am talking about the flyover cam that occurs when you first enter the hood. When you talk about the intro movie you seem to be talking about something else other than that and honestly I don't know what it is you are refering to if it is not the flyover cam.

To recap, you say that the .reia file doesn't effect the flyover cam, that the cam is tied to the actual worded name of the Eaxis hood (not the number), but the .reia file does effect the thing which you call the intro movie. If you don't mind me asking what is the intro movie you refer to (I am not trying to be a bitch, I honestly would like to know in order to better my comprehension of the matter)

[Sol]

If you don't mind me asking what is the intro movie you refer to

The flyover cam is the one when you first enter the hood if it has the right name. The other movie is the one where you choose which hood to play. All custom hoods just has a picture and the EAxis hoods has a little movie there.

[talysman]

Although it's fun watching a big pile o' you fighting, I'll step in and simply report what I did last night. Actual data about a file format is always better than how someone *feels* about that format.

I don't have Pleasantview, Strangetown, or Veronaville anymore, but I have hoods in slots N001, N002, and N003, where they should be. They are not named the same as the default basegame hoods. I copied the .reia file to the appropriate neighborhoods. The animated buttons appeared for those neighborhoods; I'd hesitate to call them "movies", because they're more like really big animated GIFs. The animations were clearly for the original hoods, not the ones I created. Clicking on one of the buttons popped up the info for that neighborhood, with the PNG graphic I'd created. However, entering a hood did not trigger the flyover cam sequence.

Next, I peered inside a .reia file. The header identifies the file format as RIFF (Resource Interchange File Format), one of the many descendants of IFF. Specifically, it's the one Microsoft created for WAV and AVI files. I saw at least one chunk labeled "frameP", which makes sense if it's a video wrapper.

Conclusion: the flyover cam sequence is not part of the .reia file, but is hardcoded and linked to the names of the EAxis hoods. The .reia file is just an unexplored video format.

[maxon]

the flyover cam motion in a hood. Naming your hood as one of the standard hoods (Pleasantview, Riverblossom Hills, etc) while that hood is not currently installed however, does. (Thank you Emma)

ooo - I did not know that.  The trouble is I don't want to rename Little Carping, especially to Pleasantview.  Still, maybe temporarily.

[shc]

Sol:- Thank you. I have never given much thought to the animated pic in the Hood selection screen. I've always supposed it was akin to the animated avatars some people use.

maxon:- Thank you for your clarification and the information regarding RIFF, it was much appreciated.

[Tigerlilley]

Just thought I'd step into say, good fight guys.  Good work.

Mean and non-retarded noobs make me happy.

[Tamha]

Well the .reia file is just a recorded video of the scripted flythrough. As Nepheris said, if you move that file, you are merely associating the video file with another neighborhood. Where the flythrough data is kept, I have no idea. It seems it's tied to certain neighborhood names. Calling any neighborhood (even existing ones) Pleasantview, Strangetown, Veronaville, Riverblossom Hills, Desiderata Valley, Belladonna Cove, Sedona, Europa or Lakeview will create their own individual flythroughs (the last one is very glitchy though). Apparently some other names create one as well, but they appear to be inconsistent.

This is interesting information, I may have to attempt to make a Sedona, Europa and a Lakeview to see these flyovers. I wonder if they were at one time intended for extra base neighborhoods or perhaps foreign game releases, or if they planned on making one for each terrain then decided to link them to the neighborhood name (probably for ease sake). Either way, looks like an idea EAxis abandoned in earlier development.

[seelindarun]

Calling any neighborhood (even existing ones) Pleasantview, Strangetown, Veronaville, Riverblossom Hills, Desiderata Valley, Belladonna Cove, Sedona, Europa or Lakeview will create their own individual flythroughs (the last one is very glitchy though). Apparently some other names create one as well, but they appear to be inconsistent.

No.  The discussion is about which names get you the 'hood flyover.

[Nepheris]

Uh, allow me to ask a stupid question. Is everyone supposed to have those? I don't have a Lakeview or Europa in my create-a-neighborhood screen. Do Canucks not get those two or is my installation borked?

Nah, you don't have Sedona, Europa and Lakeview as standard hoods. They're probably names EAxis fiddled around with pre-release. (I know that if you open up Veronaville in SimCity4, it's called 'Europe', and Lakeview sounds like it could've been a name they were toying with for Pleasantview)

The names still work though, I've tried it out with a neighborhood of mine. Renaming it each time gave distinctly different flyovers.

[kazebird]

Has anyone tried Riverside (original planned Sims 2 hood.) I bet it has a flyby.

[Quinctia]

I recognize Sedona as one of the terrains available to you if you go to make a custom neighborhood.  I'm wondering if they wanted to tie flyovers to terrains, which makes a bit of sense, as they can be different elevations and sizes, but they didn't want to expend the effort necessary to have the game autogenerate this stuff for custom hoods in the end?

It's kind of a shame, because I'd love to get this sort of thing working for custom hoods I've spent a lot of time on.  I do like seeing the camera fly over the Veronaville that my one legacy family has completely taken over at this point.