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ÆRDEN ~ new streets!

Started by vortext, May 31, 2013, 11:31:03 PM

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Schulmanator

Delightful! What great details and craftsmanship.  :thumbsup:
See the all-new National Capital Region!:http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=15118.0

rooker1

Congrats on your 100th comment and the move to The Best Sellers section!

SC4D Staff!
Call me Robin, please.

vortext

#102


First of all I'd like to thank y'all for pushing my MD into the Best Seller sections!  &apls %BUd%

Today something a bit different from previous entries. Though if you've followed my former thread you might already be used to my tinkering with and babbling about textures. If not, you better get used it.  ;D

In any case, this round started a while ago with a small yet fortunate mishap: I'd accidently mis-connected a blur filter to the height map. Big deal you may think but it actually kinda is, if only because of the subsequent explorations, as detailed below.


Left column shows noise filter → height map. Right column shows noise filter → blur filter → height map.
Top row shows the actual height map, i.e. without any surface texture applied. Bottom row shows height map with surface texture.


Note the change in brightness and contrast, which is due solely to the 'new' height map. Quite a pleasant surprise and curiously I started to play around with the other settings which effect it (lighting angle, environment, etc). Turned out this has a pretty powerful effect on appearances and made me wonder why I hadn't fooled around with it earlier. Best of all the these settings can be saved as a preset and thus applied across numerous textures, who knew?!  :D

And thus I revised the most viable candidates while paying even more attention to contrast, brightness and tone than before. You see, previously textures needed a metric f*ckton of adjustment layers in photoshop in order to look decent in game. Needless to say a bit cumbersome. None of the textures on show have had any post-processing yet, though admittedly it could use some to pull hue and saturation closer together. That said the potential texture pack is growing larger so without further ado, pictures please!







First up: various grass and dirt textures. The heavy tiling is on purpose as these'll be multi fsh textures eventually. I refrained from adding flowers or too deviating tones (i.e. primary colors). At the moment I'm trying my hand at a few more worn out ground surfaces.







Next up: stone textures. Scale is something I still grapple with. Small cobblestone especially can look nice and pretty on screen but turn out fairly monotonous in game. 



Finally: overlays then, path and gardens. The latter are the hardest to make by far. The former has offset connectivity, albeit limited to cornering at the moment. Not sure if I'm going to make all three way combinations, however, diagonal connectivity does need to be improved. That is, I want to make 1x1 orthogonal-diagonal transitions as it now stretches over two tiles. Hm, I wonder why would that be my default. .


What's all this then?!

Ah yes, a new region calls for new streets, doesn't it?!  ::)  $%Grinno$%

While I was fiddling around with my former streets in order to take advantage of nam 31.2 functionality it dawned on me it might in fact be easier to start anew from scratch.

Transposing the IDs was a bit of an annoyance to begin with and creating new pieces while I haven't got full access to or control over the original textures became bothersome (remember my former attempts at streets were based on CPs textures and/or random textures taken from the internet). And with an eye on the cobble stone project I figured a bit of practice would be a good thing anyway. Though some tiles need to be redone the unpaved textures are near complete, not accounting for fancy intersections with other networks yet. Here're some progress pictures.



A question for fellow NAMites. Notice the flipped diagonal street stub circled in red. If I drag it out one more tile, it'll be okay. Another tile further yet and it's flipped again. Very annoying indeed and I just cannot fathom why a simple texture override would cause such behavior. Any ideas?!

Other than that, the various radii make for pretty squiggly streets.



The long term game plan is to integrate the unpaved textures into the cobble set, like so.



Note both textures are already outdated, however, I'd like to hear some thoughts on the width. It's a tad wider than default Maxis streets or the SAM. As a result the light poles appear to stand both on and off the street, as does the postbox, depending on rotation. Personally I'm split on the subject. On the one hand I kinda like the disorderly look it creates, plus this width is a great fit for tram-in-street later on. On the other hand it creates the illusion the light poles are misaligned and I get a bit annoyed looking at it for too long.  &sly

At any rate, some proper in game pictures to wrap things up.





I tried to add some dynamic movements to the intersections, it might need to be toned down a bit.

And the final shot for today. Those empty stretches of sidewalk will need to be covered up somehow. .  ;)



That's it! Critism and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Bye for now!






Quote from: sc-4 on August 31, 2013, 08:08:17 AM
It looks....interesting , i can't wait to see more of this ! :D

Thank you! Hope today wasn't too disappointing.  ;)

Quote from: art128 on August 31, 2013, 09:01:21 AM
Interesting indeed! Nice picture. :) 

Thanks Arthur!

Quote from: Flatron on August 31, 2013, 09:16:32 AM
I like what you composed there :) The sheep and the carriages and the photoshopping. It's great!

It started with the wagon wheel peeping through the trees by chance.  :)  Glad you like the final outcome!

Quote from: sunv123 on August 31, 2013, 09:19:33 AM
Looking forward to using the MMP pack! :D

Great work here Erik :thumbsup:

Thanks Victor!

Quote from: Kergelen on August 31, 2013, 10:15:50 AM
That's a great set of MMP.  :thumbsup:

The last update is very nice and I like the atmosphere with the frog. I think I was in a lurking mood the day I saw it $%Grinno$%

So you actually spotted the frog I painstakingly photoshopped into the scenery, did you?!  $%Grinno$%  Thanks! 

Quote from: Girafe on September 01, 2013, 05:29:41 AM
;)

He he, one friggin' '   ;)

Quote from: sunv123 on September 01, 2013, 05:45:56 AM
&blush

Enjoying the mmps?!  ;)

Quote from: nbvc on September 01, 2013, 06:58:31 AM
Your landscapes look fantastic. :thumbsup:

Thank you!

Quote from: Gugu3 on September 01, 2013, 01:08:59 PM
Looking promising... $%Grinno$%

Yep, civilization is in sight. Thanks!

Quote from: rooker1 on September 03, 2013, 05:03:45 AM
The last two updates are amazing.
In the last update, very last pic....where did you get the fence?

Robin

Thanks Robin. The fences are CPs lodgewood fences as mmp, though I'd no luck finding the download again - an Asian site iirc.

Quote from: Schulmanator on September 09, 2013, 05:07:57 PM
Delightful! What great details and craftsmanship.  :thumbsup:

Thank you!

Quote from: rooker1 on September 17, 2013, 04:16:51 AM
Congrats on your 100th comment and the move to The Best Sellers section!

SC4D Staff!

&dance Thanks again everybody!  &dance
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

whatevermind

I like the dirt streets. The textures on them are nice, and I can certainly think of many uses for them! Personally, I prefer my signs and streetlights and mailboxes, etc. outside the street right-of-way. So for that I would suggest using thinner textures, or including a mod to relocate those things further out (if that's even possible).

RepublicMaster

The new dirt street textures look great, especially seeing the curves! :D

epicblunder

#105
Quote from: vortext on September 21, 2013, 02:10:16 PM
Quote from: rooker1 on September 03, 2013, 05:03:45 AM
The last two updates are amazing.
In the last update, very last pic....where did you get the fence?

Robin

Thanks Robin. The fences are CPs lodgewood fences as mmp, though I'd no luck finding the download again - an Asian site iirc.

simcoug's handiwork.  excuse me while i get my chopsticks   :P

memo

Ohh, I've missed No Lurker Day... Sorry for that. :-[ Absolutely outstanding texturing work. :thumbsup:

Quote from: vortext on September 21, 2013, 02:10:16 PM


A question for fellow NAMites. Notice the flipped diagonal street stub circled in red. If I drag it out one more tile, it'll be okay. Another tile further yet and it's flipped again. Very annoying indeed and I just cannot fathom why a simple texture override would cause such behavior. Any ideas?!

Yeah, I've encountered this issue a couple of times. It's not a problem with your texture replacement, but it is an error in the diagonal streets RULs themselves. It is less noticeable with the standard diagonal street textures because the diagonal end stub is almost symmetrical. Probably, that is also why this error got included in the first place.

Girafe

Really interesting work on the textures.

I love the paved stone texture and the dirty road  :thumbsup:

Regarding the grass ones, I can noticed few repetitions but I am sure you can tweak them.

;) 
The Floraler

This is the end, hold your breath and count to ten, feel the earth move, and then...

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *    *   *   *   *   *    * 

vester

Very interesting work.

Maybe you have said before, but am asking anyway.

What program are you using ?

Love the pave stone textures (both the road and this one) and the dirt roads.


Would agree with Antoine, that the grass tend to get a bit repetitions.

FrankU

Great work again!
I'm curious what direction your work is taking us....

woodb3kmaster

As captivating as the story you've been telling us is (and don't let my lack of comments fool you - I've really been enjoying the story so far), it's great to see some more behind-the-scenes work. Your skill at texture-making has grown by leaps and bounds since the last time you showed us your work on it. These new dirt streets in particular look fantastic! I look forward to trying them out eventually.

One thought that crossed my mind while I was reading/ogling your update: Have you considered using the cobblestone street textures as a road override? From a historical perspective, I think it would make a fair amount of sense to use them that way, and it would make the road network useful in both our historical MDs. Of course, turning the cobblestone textures into a road override for NAM 31.2 would require somewhat more work to account for all the FAR-3 and FAR-2 textures (not to mention all the possible intersections with the dirt streets), but I believe it would be effort well spent, not just for your (and potentially my) MD, but for the community at large. Something for you to consider, at least...

No matter what you ultimately decide to do with your textures, I'm sure it'll be astounding once it's ready for the limelight. Keep up the fantastic work, Erik!

Feel brand new. Be inspired.
NYHAVEN - VIEWS FROM WITHIN
Nuclear City - 5/8

Simcoug

You know you can count me in as a fan of the new dirt/cobblestone textures.   :thumbsup:
What's that you say?  You need testers??   :P

FrankU

Quote from: woodb3kmaster on September 24, 2013, 02:18:06 PM
One thought that crossed my mind while I was reading/ogling your update: Have you considered using the cobblestone street textures as a road override? From a historical perspective, I think it would make a fair amount of sense to use them that way, and it would make the road network useful in both our historical MDs. Of course, turning the cobblestone textures into a road override for NAM 31.2 would require somewhat more work to account for all the FAR-3 and FAR-2 textures (not to mention all the possible intersections with the dirt streets), but I believe it would be effort well spent, not just for your (and potentially my) MD, but for the community at large. Something for you to consider, at least...

That would indeed be a great project. And I think the work would not be too much, because not all roads need to be overridden. Historical roads are quite straghtforward. No roundabouts and no FAR-2 and FAR-2, I'd say.

APSMS

Quote from: vortext on September 21, 2013, 02:10:16 PM

Quote from: rooker1 on September 03, 2013, 05:03:45 AM
The last two updates are amazing.
In the last update, very last pic....where did you get the fence?

Robin

Thanks Robin. The fences are CPs lodgewood fences as mmp, though I'd no luck finding the download again - an Asian site iirc.

Those look an awful lot like these. For Robin and me, very domestic (not Asian).

Also, there was a frog? Or is someone just pulling my leg? &Thk/(

Very nice texture work, though I'm not sure what added worth wider streets are when the pathing doesn't reflect the textures
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

My Mayor Diary San Diego: A Reinterpretation

benedict

Great stuff as always, and this week finds your MD back at number one on Ben's Top Ten.
Click on the banner to celebrate!

RickD

Erik, please tell me, what is the name of the game you are playing and where can I get it?  :o  No, seriously, fantastic MD!  &apls (and sorry for not commenting earlier)
My name is Raphael.
Visit my MD: Empire Bay (My old MD: Santa Barbara County)

threestooges

Introducing an MD which needs no introduction, the OSITM Committee is pleased to showcase the works of our own vortext.



Looking forward to seeing what you have in store this month.
-Matt

TheOtherRick

Alrighty then...I have just gone through two cups of coffee and this entire MD this morning. I will admit to just skimming over the replies and your replies to the replies...but I did pause and actually read when you expounded on techniques and projects. All I can say is "Oh my GOD!"  &apls :thumbsup: Fantastic stuff going on here Vortext! The .gif shots were simply amazing. I am curious as to the status of the MMP pack with the seasonal plants, wagons, etc. Lastly, that dirt road looks supurb. I will be following this MD closely from here on out and look forward to more...more...MORE!  ;)

vortext

#118


To kick this month off the third installment of Pytomkins Travels. In case you missed the previous parts a really short recap: the Potyomkin brothers were banned from their village, prompting an adventurous journey into Ærden. Enjoy!



05 01 | Last time we saw the brothers they were passing some sheep. They themselves had already noticed signs of civilization before passing the animals though. And with the night rapidly approaching the first order of business is to find a place to spend it. Secondly they need to get their stories straight.





05 02 |They are a little too late, however, to work out their story as out of nowhere a group of men stands on the path. The man in charge orders them to stop in a thick, almost foreign accent. Short in posture and words, he introduces himself as Garsill and questions them. His men meanwhile swiftly enter the wagons. Taken by surprise the brothers surrender control and timidly sit back.





05 03 |It's an early rise the next morning. The brothers take in the surroundings while discussing the unfolding events.

Though they'd been properly treated the situation hadn't been overly friendly. Moreover, they were a little disappointed to learn they hadn't arrived in Ærden just yet. As Garsill had explained during the nightly ride, Nosfor castle was an outpost build to secure the mountain passage. Once inside they were given a meal during which little was spoken, much to their relieve. It was made clear they'd be escorted from here on, without mention of their destination.





05 04 |As they take off for the last leg of their journey Garsill instructs his men once again. They are expected to repeat his message verbatim when on audience but they keep messing it up, much to his chagrin.





05 05 |A few hours into the final descent and the landscape is getting flatter and wetter. The wind is picking up as well and clouds are chasing overhead at a pace the brothers haven't seen before.





05 06 |Quite suddenly the thick forests recede as they enter the spacious valley floor. The path winds around small pockets of water until they hit a small stream which they follow alongside. Then they come to a definite halt at the riverside. 'Now what?', Benjamin asks. 'Now we wait for the noon ferry. . ', Garsill's man answers.





Quote from: whatevermind on September 21, 2013, 03:10:50 PMI like the dirt streets. The textures on them are nice, and I can certainly think of many uses for them! Personally, I prefer my signs and streetlights and mailboxes, etc. outside the street right-of-way. So for that I would suggest using thinner textures, or including a mod to relocate those things further out (if that's even possible).

Thanks for the input! Of course a T21 mod to move everything out of the way is possible yet a bit tedious. Instead I chose the other option and reworked the textures (quite a bit actually).


Quote from: RepublicMaster on September 21, 2013, 05:30:40 PMThe new dirt street textures look great, especially seeing the curves! :D

Thanks! The curves are great indeed, we can't thank Willy enough for them!


Quote from: epicblunder on September 21, 2013, 09:53:53 PM
simcoug's handiwork.  excuse me while i get my chopsticks   :P

How could I forget. . . &ops  Thanks for providing the link!


Quote from: memo on September 21, 2013, 11:10:10 PM
Ohh, I've missed No Lurker Day... Sorry for that. :-[ Absolutely outstanding texturing work. :thumbsup:

Yeah, I've encountered this issue a couple of times. It's not a problem with your texture replacement, but it is an error in the diagonal streets RULs themselves. It is less noticeable with the standard diagonal street textures because the diagonal end stub is almost symmetrical. Probably, that is also why this error got included in the first place.

Thanks for the explanation!


Quote from: Girafe on September 22, 2013, 06:11:22 AM
Really interesting work on the textures.

I love the paved stone texture and the dirty road  :thumbsup:

Regarding the grass ones, I can noticed few repetitions but I am sure you can tweak them. ;)

Thanks! The textures have since been re-re-re-re-tweaked.  :D


Quote from: vester on September 22, 2013, 08:23:11 AM
Very interesting work.

Maybe you have said before, but am asking anyway.

What program are you using ?

Love the pave stone textures (both the road and this one) and the dirt roads.


Would agree with Antoine, that the grass tend to get a bit repetitions.

Thanks! I'm using Filter Forge, very nifty program. If interested I'd watch the site the coming months as it usually has holiday sales this time a year.


Quote from: FrankU on September 23, 2013, 01:54:35 AM
Great work again!
I'm curious what direction your work is taking us....

Thanks Frank. I'm curious too.  :D


Quote from: woodb3kmaster on September 24, 2013, 02:18:06 PM
As captivating as the story you've been telling us is (and don't let my lack of comments fool you - I've really been enjoying the story so far), it's great to see some more behind-the-scenes work. Your skill at texture-making has grown by leaps and bounds since the last time you showed us your work on it. These new dirt streets in particular look fantastic! I look forward to trying them out eventually.

One thought that crossed my mind while I was reading/ogling your update: Have you considered using the cobblestone street textures as a road override? From a historical perspective, I think it would make a fair amount of sense to use them that way, and it would make the road network useful in both our historical MDs. Of course, turning the cobblestone textures into a road override for NAM 31.2 would require somewhat more work to account for all the FAR-3 and FAR-2 textures (not to mention all the possible intersections with the dirt streets), but I believe it would be effort well spent, not just for your (and potentially my) MD, but for the community at large. Something for you to consider, at least...

No matter what you ultimately decide to do with your textures, I'm sure it'll be astounding once it's ready for the limelight. Keep up the fantastic work, Erik!

Thanks for the thoughtful reply Zack! What I had in mind initially was for the road and TiR to remain untouched so it could provide a modern touch to the re-textured cobble stone GLR network. Then again, FAR cobblestone hadn't crossed my mind yet and frankly, it would be nice.  . ::)


Quote from: Simcoug on September 24, 2013, 02:45:16 PM
You know you can count me in as a fan of the new dirt/cobblestone textures.   :thumbsup:
What's that you say?  You need testers??   :P

Thanks! Guess I'll have to make some decent rail intersections first though. ;)


Quote from: FrankU on September 24, 2013, 11:33:06 PM
Quote from: woodb3kmaster on September 24, 2013, 02:18:06 PM
One thought that crossed my mind while I was reading/ogling your update: Have you considered using the cobblestone street textures as a road override? From a historical perspective, I think it would make a fair amount of sense to use them that way, and it would make the road network useful in both our historical MDs. Of course, turning the cobblestone textures into a road override for NAM 31.2 would require somewhat more work to account for all the FAR-3 and FAR-2 textures (not to mention all the possible intersections with the dirt streets), but I believe it would be effort well spent, not just for your (and potentially my) MD, but for the community at large. Something for you to consider, at least...

That would indeed be a great project. And I think the work would not be too much, because not all roads need to be overridden. Historical roads are quite straghtforward. No roundabouts and no FAR-2 and FAR-2, I'd say.

Well, the appeal of the road network is the FAR functionality. And I plan to re-texture roundabouts to have continuous paving any way, so it forms a small city square.


Quote from: APSMS on September 25, 2013, 12:26:28 AM
Those look an awful lot like these. For Robin and me, very domestic (not Asian).

Also, there was a frog? Or is someone just pulling my leg? &Thk/(

Very nice texture work, though I'm not sure what added worth wider streets are when the pathing doesn't reflect the textures

Thanks for the input! Basically I wanted wider streets so it'd cover more sidewalk but you're right though and I have narrowed it down a bit. Also, consider your leg pulled!  ;D


Quote from: benedict on September 30, 2013, 01:45:09 PM
Great stuff as always, and this week finds your MD back at number one on Ben's Top Ten.

Thanks Ben!


Quote from: RickD on October 09, 2013, 07:27:27 AM
Erik, please tell me, what is the name of the game you are playing and where can I get it?  :o  No, seriously, fantastic MD!  &apls (and sorry for not commenting earlier)

Thanks Raphael!


Quote from: threestooges on October 31, 2013, 10:12:27 PM
Introducing an MD which needs no introduction, the OSITM Committee is pleased to showcase the works of our own vortext.



Looking forward to seeing what you have in store this month.
-Matt

I'm honored to be OSITM during this festive month!  :)


Quote from: TheOtherRick on November 01, 2013, 05:59:12 AM
Alrighty then...I have just gone through two cups of coffee and this entire MD this morning. I will admit to just skimming over the replies and your replies to the replies...but I did pause and actually read when you expounded on techniques and projects. All I can say is "Oh my GOD!"  &apls :thumbsup: Fantastic stuff going on here Vortext! The .gif shots were simply amazing. I am curious as to the status of the MMP pack with the seasonal plants, wagons, etc. Lastly, that dirt road looks supurb. I will be following this MD closely from here on out and look forward to more...more...MORE!  ;)

Thanks for the kind words! You'll be glad to know the mmps are available on the LEX. ;)
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

Gugu3

Excellent as always!!!!lovely pictures! &apls