Cities: Skylines

Cities: Skylines

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Find It! 2 User Guide
By sway
This guide will be updated when new features are added. Also read the FAQ
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What is this mod?
This mod allows you to search, filter, select, and place assets. It also provides some extra info that are usually not available in vanilla game.

Some assets are hidden in vanilla game and they can only be placed with this mod or other similar mods(props, station tracks, pillars, non-DLC airport runways, propless paths, etc.)

However, Find It 2 does not control the actual "placing" step. It simply calls the in-game placing tool to handle the placing step. Some other mods, such as the anarchy mods, can alter the behavior of the in-game placing tool, but Find It 2 itself does not alter any placement mechanism.
Required Mods
Mods you need to get before you get Find It! 2:

Harmony 2 (Mod Dependency): Some minor features in Find It 2 use Andreas Pardeike's Harmony patching library. Find It 2 uses boformer's Harmony 2 mod as a dependency.
Incompatible Mods
Mods you need to remove before you get Find It! 2:

Find It! 1.5.4
- the original version. Not available on Steam workshop anymore. Use the game's content manager to remove it, and make sure it is deleted from your drive.
Check if you have a "837734529" folder in your workshop download folder, delete it.
On Windows the default steam workshop download folder path is
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\255710\

Find It! 2 [BETA] - the beta version of this mod
Find It! -汉化版 - the Chinese translated version of the original Find It! 1.5.4 mod
Semi-incompatible mods
Mods you need to tweak before you use Find It! 2:

Cities: Skylines Multiplayer (CSM) [Beta] - This mod can break Find It 2 and other mods that use xml serialization. Run the game as administrator may temporarily solve the incompatibility issue
Installation
Steam users should get this mod by subscribing it on Steam Workshop. Steam will automatically update the mod for you.

Sometimes Steam is glitchy and it doesn't download the mod for you. Try to restart the Steam client. You can check if Steam really downloaded this mod for you by checking if you have a "2133885971" folder in your Steam Workshop folder. On Windows the default path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\255710

You can also download this mod from Github[github.com] Epic and Origin users may be able to get this mod from Github, but I only own the game on Steam so I only tested this mod on Steam. Some minor features rely on Steam so they only work on Steam. Also you will need to manually update the mod in the future.

After the mod is downloaded, start the game and go to the content manager. Make sure Find It 2 is enabled.
Recommended Mods
Mods that are not required, but many players use them together with Find It 2 to improve gameplay experience:
------------------------------
Growable placement mods(see the "Placing buildings using Find It 2" section in this guide).
USE ONLY ONE at the same time:

Ploppable RICO Revisited: Recommended. Go to its mod settings and enable the options for non-rico growables to mark them as historical

Plop the Growables: This mod is not maintained anymore. Only use it if you're not using Ploppable RICO Revisited. Both mods can disable zone check and let you place growable buildings in unzoned area
------------------------------
If you don't want your hand-placed growables become abandoned(see the "Placing buildings using Find It 2" section in this guide)
USE ONLY ONE at the same time:

Advanced Building Level Control: Recommended.

No Abandonment: This mod is not maintained anymore
------------------------------
Panel resizing mods. USE ONLY ONE at the same time:

Yet Another Toolbar - its panel scaling feature has some limitations. Make sure you read its description

Resize It - Resize It's scaling feature breaks Find It & Find It 2. Keep the scaling at 100%

More Advanced Toolbar - potential compatibility issues not really fixable(see FAQ)

Advanced Toolbar - can't use light background theme
------------------------------
Other mods:

Picker: to locate placed assets in Find It 2's panel
Mods you probably don't need if you have Find It! 2
Mods that have the same or similar features as Find It 2. They are compatible with Find It 2, so you don't need to remove them. But these mods are older mods that are no longer maintained. You probably don't need them if you already have Find It 2

Airport Roads: Airport Roads came out before Find It 1 and it was the only mod that allows you to place vanilla runways and taxiways. Last updated in 2018. You can find runways and taxiways in Find It 2 by searching "runway" and "taxiway". Sunset Harbor DLC added a new type of runway - "Aviation Club Runway" and it is only available in Find It 2.

More Beautification: More Beautification came out before Find It 1 and it was the only mod that allows you to place props. More Beautification shows props in the game's default panels. Last updated in 2017.

Search Box Mod: Search Box Mod came out before Find It 1 and it was the only mod that allows you to search for assets. Last updated in 2015.
How to Use
After you start the game, click the magnifying glass to open Find It 2's panel. Default keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + F

Type in this search box to perform a keyword search. It will look for the keywords in asset name, author name, asset type, asset description


Keyword search tips
Search by building size: (size)x(size), (size)x, x(size)
Example: 4x3, 12x, x2

! - EXCLUDE search
Example: !restaurant
This will return all assets except those with '-restaurant-' in any data field(title, description, author name, custom tag, etc.).

# - search by custom tag only
Example: #restaurant
This will only return assets with a custom tag which contains '-restaurant-'.

$ - exclude assets with a specific custom tag (need v2.7.1 or above)
Example: $test_tag
Assets tagged with the test_tag custom tag will be excluded
You can use it to search for new assets that are not tagged

+ - OR search
Example: +weed +grass
This will return all assets with '-weed-' OR '-grass-' in any data field(title, description, author name, custom tag, etc.).

Example: +japan +jp shop
This will return all assets with '-japan-' OR '-jp-' in any data field, AND must have '-shop-' in any data field.

% - search by workshop ID
Example: %123456789
Workshop ID is in an asset's steam workshop url.
Search by workshop ID is only available with this prefix.

You can also combine the rules in one search:

Example: #tag1 !hotel sway 2x2 +store +shop
This will return assets that satisfy every condition at the same time: with a custom tag which contains '-tag1-', must not have '-hotel-' in any data field, must have '-sway-' in any data field, has a building size of 2x2, and must have '-store-' OR '-shop-' in any data field.

Road search tips
Network tabs multi-select search logic (needs v.2.6.3 or above):

Hold shift or ctrl to select multiple tabs
Linux users: for some unknown reason it is shift AND ctrl on Linux

Road Type + Lane Flag = AND search. Example: Small Roads AND One-way Roads

Lane Flag + Lane Flag = AND search. Example: No Street Parking AND Bike Lanes

Road Type + Road Type = OR search. Example: Medium Roads OR Large Roads

Use this button to change the sorting method:


Relevance -
If you don't use any keyword, the results are sorted alphabetically . If there are some keywords, it uses a weighted evaluation function to calculate the relevance score of each asset, and then sorts the assets based on the relevance scores.

For example, the words in the author name have higher priority than the words in asset description. So if you type "sway" in the search box, assets made by "sway" will show up before assets named "expressway"

Recent DLs -
Sorted by an asset file's parent folder creation timestamp. By default this sorting only works with assets downloaded by Steam workshop subscription. It will also work with local custom assets you downloaded from other sources, if you put assets in their own folders.

Many UI components will explain what they do in their tool message when you hover your mouse on them. This guide will skip features that should be self-explanatory



The search tabs feature works like web browser tabs. It can be enabled in the Quick Menu pop-up(requires v2.7 or above)




Re-clicking a chosen filter tab will jump back to "select all"





Right-click and drag the asset type panel to move the panel. You can also hide it by un-checking the corresponding option in the Quick Menu Pop-up




Click the magnifying glass icon in the search input box to export your search results in HTML files (needs v.2.8.0 or above)



DLC assets will have a DLC icon on them. Move you mouse over the icon and it will show the name of the DLC


Assets downloaded from the Steam Workshop will have a Steam icon on them. Move you mouse over the icon and it will show the author name. Right click this icon to see it on steam workshop


Assets dynamically generated by mods will have a blue Steam icon on them. Move your mouse over the icon and it will show the name of the mod



Double-click asset thumbnails to open the shortcut menu
(need v2.6 or above)



Custom tags & extra filters
Please watch this short Youtube video by Czardus to learn how to use custom tags and the extra filters panel. Starting from 3:11
https://youtu.be/nkssoNeLC5g?t=191

bad_thumbnail
If an asset has terrible default thumbnail, add the custom tag "bad_thumbnail" to the asset and Find It 2 will attempt to generate a custom thumbnail.
Not applicable to every asset. Not applicable to networks.
Remove the custom tag and RESTART the game to change back to default thumbnail

hidden
Assets tagged as "hidden" will be hidden from future search
You can use this tag to hide dependency assets(requires v2.8.3 and up)
Use the custom tag panel to see assets tagged as hidden
Remove the hidden tag to make the assets appear again

creator_hidden
There is an option in mod settings to allow assets creators to define and hide dependency assets (disabled by default, requires v2.8.3 and up)
If enabled, assets with creator_hidden or #creator_hidden in the description will be excluded from future search results
These assets are always accessible under the creator_hidden option in the extra filters panel
Placing buildings using Find It 2
Find It 2 does not control the actual "placing" step. It simply calls the in-game placing tool to handle the placing step. Some other mods, such as the anarchy mods, can alter the behavior of the in-game placing tool, but Find It 2 itself does not alter any placement mechanism.

If you are new to using mods & custom content, you should first read this beginner guide by AquilaSol
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1411897315

Especially the part about buildings:

Buildings come in various types. The two main types are Growables and Ploppables.

Growable buildings grow in zoned areas, and have a size limit of 4x4 units. They work just like the grown buildings from the vanilla game. People live, work and shop in them as normal. When installed, they will be added to the list of buildings that can grow and appear automatically.

Ploppables are zone-free buildings, but only function as services, parks or uniques. These are generally bigger than 4x4.

The Ploppable RICO mod adds RICO functionality to ploppable buildings and growables to make them into usable homes, shops, factories and offices

Ploppable RICO buildings
If you are using the Ploppable RICO Revisited mod, Find It 2 will have an extra RICO tab for RICO buildings handled by the RICO mod. If you are not using the RICO mod, workshop buildings labeled as RICO buildings will show up as services, parks or unique buildings in Find It 2, depending on the template chosen by asset creators.

Growable buildings
Find It 2 does not disable zone checking or modify any simulation mechanism. The game by default will remove growable buildings that are not placed in the correct zones. You have three options:

1. Follow the vanilla simulation mechanism. Zone the grid properly before you place the building. For example if the building is a low density residential, paint a low density residential zone under it. If the building doesn't meet all simulation requirements, the game may remove it again(such as not enough workers or customers). You will also need to set the building as a historical building to prevent future upgrades that will again change the look of the building

2. Use the Ploppable RICO Revisited mod: recommended. Go to its mod settings and enable the option for non-rico growables to mark them as historical

3. Use the Plop the Growables mod: use this mod only if you don't plan to use RICO buildings

You may also want to get the Advanced Building Level Control mod or the No Abandonment mod, if you are not interested in the management part of the game and you don't want your placed growables become abandoned

Real Time, Real Construction and other similar mods will affect building construction time and prevent instant building placement. You need to adjust their mod settings or some buildings will not show up when you try to place them. Building Themes mod will remove plopped growables if they are placed in a district with different theme Toggle It mod has a feature for hiding buildings.

Performance Tuning
If you have a slower PC but a lot of assets, the search speed in Find It 2 can be noticeably slow.

Optionally you can disable some features to reducing the searching lag:

In mod settings, you can disable instant text search



In Quick Menu, you should only enable these two options when you really need it

Other
Remember to check out the mod settings page


Remember to read the FAQ
https://steamproxy.net/workshop/filedetails/discussion/2133885971/2574320091924857500/
Known minor issues on Linux
Tested on Arch Linux and Ubuntu 20.10. Flatpak Steam:

- If an asset creator updates their asset recently, that asset would be moved to the top of the 'Recent DLs' list.

- 'Hold SHIFT' and click doesn't work -> for some unknown reason on Linux you have to hold SHIFT AND CTRL to make it work.

- Scrollbars in the custom tag and extra filters panel may disappear after a refresh. Use mouse wheel to move up/down.
11 Comments
testudo 5 Feb, 2023 @ 12:36pm 
I have sometimes missed functionality, where I can locate/select/activate the 'found' asset.

For instance, assume I want to act on all instances of a particular asset and I know the name of the asset - but cannot locate them in my city: I would use FindIt! to get that asset and then have it "clicked on" in my city so that I can then apply some action on it. (Such as replace it with some other asset, or maybe add a particular prop onto it, whatever.)

If there were more than one instance of that asset, there would be an "Activate next" button that then activates the next instance of the same asset - going through them one-by-one in the city.

This could be similar functionality to RON (The network replacer) whereby I can select and replace any network assets. With FindIT!, you could achieve this on any asset - and do other things but just replace it!

In a perfect world, the game view could optionally be zoomed in and centered to this asset in the city.
jcc5018 13 Dec, 2022 @ 10:42am 
Hi, I think I have saw videos of people using find it with some sort of randomize button to place assets, but I am not seeing an option to do this.

If I am mistaken, I was hoping for an option to filter down to certain assets, like a housing style, and then within the selected or displayed assets, a random item would be selected to be place that changes with each new click. The idea being to eliminate the need to select and try to place each individual asset when trying to build a plopped neighborhood.

Is this function included? or can it be added if not?
sway  [author] 12 Jul, 2022 @ 12:07pm 
@ajgarces79
Need your output log file
ajgarces79 11 Jul, 2022 @ 12:05pm 
Everytime I install "FInd It" it removes the roads tab on the index bar. Any idea why that is?
Bombcar 27 Mar, 2022 @ 8:40am 
I wish you could search the workshop as easily as you can search in find it. Would be great for finding buildings of particular size.
Szenderman 11 Feb, 2022 @ 1:00pm 
@sway
So that means it's not possible to get those sizes via find it? Ah, too bad. Thanks though, still love this mod and use the s*** out of it! :steamthumbsup:
sway  [author] 11 Feb, 2022 @ 12:58pm 
@Captain Nicholas
The "building asset" itself is 2x2 but sometimes the game does extra modification to generate different variations to the asset when it is procedurally generated(grow), not directly placed. A similar example is that some vanilla growables don't have backyards if you place them instead of letting them grow with zoning
Szenderman 11 Feb, 2022 @ 12:30pm 
Not all growables show up in the find it panel. For example, in the eco commercial there is a 2x4 electric charging station in the game, but Find it only has the 2x2 version. There are a lot like this. Is this a known issue? Am I doing something wrong?
DetonatorDevil #FixTF2 7 Dec, 2021 @ 1:17pm 
I managed to fix it already, seems that my "enable all" button didnt want to work.

Find it is pretty useful to say the least, I have been fiddling with it for a few hours and... do you think it would be possible to make a window open up to show all of the downloaded props n´stuff?
sway  [author] 7 Dec, 2021 @ 9:36am 
@H5SKB4RU
Did you follow the steps in FAQ #2 to troubleshoot?