Rural Renewal Project

[TheTeaCat]

What a wonderful project you started chris

This is going to revolutionise the way way rural areas are played. No more grid even better. I look forward to the release when they are ready.

a very well deserved
for you

TTC

[Schulmanator]

This is fabulous! I am SO GLAD you are doing this! 

[EDGE4194]

wow chris- i am still in awe. I am especially excited about the flora as well. It is truly something i have been wishing for. I can't wait to start using your fantastic creations 

[BigSlark]

Holy Cow! (Sorry, pun intended.)

This is amazing. I had always thought this was missing but no one undertook the project, I don't have the skills, and BAT'ers are cool enough for doing what they want in my book, let alone the projects that the rest of us peons request.

Keep up the great work and I cannot wait to see a release.

Cheers,
Kevin

[Dark_Jedi06]

Wow...

I'll have to wait to start my rural area until this amazing project is released.

[iamgoingtoeatyou]

wow, this will truly change the way we make farmlands and rural areas! amazing

[Chrisadams3997]

FromTheAshes, Sober, Schulmanator, EDGE:  Thanks!

Diggis:  hmm, wondered if anyone would catch that... good eye.  As for the gates, I wanted to allow more flexibility for people to have some open, some closed, however now that I've discovered the property that'll let me randomize it... when I get time I'll play around with it, and BarbyW's offered some help on the subject. so we'll see.  I'll try to get some feedback on what people would like to see--it's a tradeoff between control, well, just plain coolness(fences opening and closing is definitely cool in my book.)

I've sent you a link for the lots.  As for the gravel roads, like you said, some tractors, maybe front end loaders, and what I'm thinking is some piles of a couple of different styles and sizes of rocks(the gravel has to come form somewhere.)  I know of a place nearby I might take some pics at once I get a camera.

Andreas:  Pebble Pushers.... hum, I like that.  At any rate, they'll have plenty to plop from this.

Jeronij:  They already are plopable, that's the only way to go in my book.  In fact, your and CP's trees served as the template I based my modding on (I also looked at your tutorial afterwards, which reiterated what I'd figured out from the .dats)  I'm also letting folks play around with the flora if you PM me about it, but I'd consider them more of an alpha then a beta, as I still intend to add several more models to the present ones, and I could have to tweak the current models.  from a modding standpoint their fully functing though.

Barby:  I'll PM you about that when I get to it.

TTC:  Wow, my first cuppa , I'll have to remember this page.

BigSlark:  Aye, but still looking for ideas to include.  It's the details that make something like this really great.

Dark_Jedi:  Heh, then you should have a little while for planning it....lol.  Guess that depends on how much I include in the first release.

iamgoingtoeatyou:  I didn't know you did rural areas , with all those spectacular cities you make, don't think  anyone'd ever notice a couple of farms.

Chris

[Gaston]

Chris,
    Evrything is looking great.   I'll see if I can post some pics sometime tomorrow.     The cows generate like....    well like rabbits actually.       But that is great.   The fences are FANTASTIC.     The only thing I have found is where the tiles line up on the lft/rt corners (curves) don't quite look right where they line up.   This is what I will make sure I get a pic of.     The gravel tracks are flawless as far as I can tell.    I'm gonna try a few more things with um before I say they are perfect.


---Gaston

[Chrisadams3997]

Gaston:  There's several of them that I know Aren't quite centered right creating that effect.  I corrected a couple of them today(the "diagonal gate closed" and the "1x curve 'T' Right" if I remember correctly,) but as you find any, just list them here(preferably by the name shown in the menu so I know exactly which one, so that I can start fixing them.  That goes for any other testers.  Thanks guys.

Also on a totally off topic note, I'm looking into buying a digital camera right now, nothing fancy(read 'expensive'), anybody have any pointers on what to look for.  It'll be my first digital one, so it's all a little over my head right now.

Chris

[flame1396]

there isnt a simple T intersection 

And I notice that the little trail lots occasionally show no texture below them (just blackness) after a couple quick zoom changes

[Gaston]

there isnt a simple T intersection 

Actually I thought the same thing.    BUT, it isn't needed.    The fences themselves are right on the edge of the lot so.....
     To get a "T" intersection just put a straight lot then a n "L" lot and viola you have a "T".    Trust me it works.     I played with it for a while till I spotted it by accident.   LOL   


---Gaston

[Chrisadams3997]

Yep, there are actually several ways to get a 't' due to the fences being right on the edge of the lot.  Here's a quick(and horribly crude) illustration:


The Yellow are normal 1x Straight pieces
The Red is a Corner
The Marroon is an 2x overhanging(offset) piece

The first one is the one that Gaston proposed.  Notice that you can get the same results but with different lot footprints.  Hopefully this illustrates some of the diversity that can be achieved with this layout, though occaisionally it takes some imagination .

Chris

[Andreas]

And I notice that the little trail lots occasionally show no texture below them (just blackness) after a couple quick zoom changes

This should only happen after switching to underground mode (i. e. for laying pipes) and back, or after saving the city. However, if we can incorporate the trails into the Street Addon Mod (or a similar mod), all problems related to the transparency will be gone.

[Ennedi]

I was playing with this set for a while, and first results are:

Very well designed, perfectly performed and fantastic looking set! 

The slope tolerance is very good, more than enough.
Working with these pieces is very comfortable because of their flexibility (offset pieces do a great work here)
Plopping is very comfortable too, yellow arrows are logical and clear.

There are a few little details to think about, but I think everything is near perfect.
I will make some more experiments in various surroundings

Btw, about sheep - I made a request
here, but I see the main discussion in this topic - it seems it is much more attractive 
After thinking about sheep I am sure the best way to make them is not to create automata, but static props. It could be a group of sheep plopped in the way similar to trees or ploppable water. In this case they wouldn't affect for example neighboring road, and it could be possible to put trees/bushes close to sheep.

[jayo]

Hurry up! .lol.I 've got lots of heath land to fill.

[flame1396]

I didnt see the flora earlier. and Andreas was right. I'll love it

- Pebble Pusher.... guilty as charged 

[Chrisadams3997]

Just a quick update here.

While I appreciate Ennedi's findings on the slope tolerance, I finally got around to testing it on some more extreme terrain and found a few limitations, so I went back to the drawing board to work out possible approaches to tackling heavy slopes.  Didn't sleep much last night, but I came up with a solution.

These are the new slope friendly pieces:


There are three of them for 1x straight and diagonal each, set for three different slope levels.  Essentially the posts and cross members are separate props that are no longer slope conforming like the previous props, so that they are always straight up, which helps everything line up properly.  I've placed each on a flat tile after the slope just to illustrate the principle.

Here's a pic of the original straight pieces for comparison:


The concept will be to level out areas for that less slope friendly curves and such and then use these to connect them through any elevation changes.

Chris

[Orange Julius]

Hmm...it's a work progress! Looks good though!

I have one request...to make truly good ranches...it needs...
BLUEBONNETS!
They look especially lovely from a distance.

[Gaston]

Chris,
  I tried to get you some pics of this awesome set but I couldn't get clip to pic to work and uploading .png files takes just too much time.   So as per your PM...
                   It is the "2x Curve Right" and the "2x Curve Left" that don't seem to line up right.   They match up but the angled end looks a bit odd.
  I haven't tried the slope tolerance yet, but it doesn't seem to bad to me so far.   

  The only other oddity I have noticed is the difference in the color between the TE'd entrance and the rest of the fences.   I'm sure this will be addressed before the final release.


   You deffinately deserve a pat on the back for creating this.     Well done indeed.


---Gaston

[Chrisadams3997]

hmm, did someone order bluebonnets.


And while the jpeg compression doesn't do it justice, there's a few indian paintbrushes in amongst them as well.

Gaston:  I'd always meant to go back and redo those pieces.  The first time I'd used a bend modifier on it, which would work well on something with an even curve the whole length of it, but that doesn't quite apply to these particular ones.  I've gone back in and redone them with lofts with much better results, though I messed up the texturing and have to go back and re-render them, so no pics yet.

As for the Ranch entrances, that's quite intentional.  A lot of these type of gates have metal railing coming up to it off of the road, which is the case here(painted to match the rest of the entrance.)  When I can get to it, I'll be making several more of these props with some different designs, so they won't all be that way.

Chris