DJ's Lot Editor Adventures!

[djvandrake]

Greetings Fellow SC4D'ers   

Since I'm not quite ready for my Mayor's Diary, I thought I'd start a little thread about my recent lot editor projects.  I'm hoping for your feedback, suggestions, ideas and such so please feel free to share, comments encouraged.

I've really been having fun with the Lot Editor.  It's absolutely addicting.  The nice thing is if I don't like any of the options available for a spot in my city, I can just make exactly what I want myself (well, almost....:roll:)  You'll see that in my second project that I'll show in this opening post.

For the first project, I'll start with my biggest one yet.  This is a park that I've placed in my CBD to give those weary office workers a place to get away during lunch. This park is dedicated to my friend Cedric, who inspired me to open the lot editor in the first place with his creations in Virtual Eden and Antigone.  Here it is in the Lot Editor.



And here's a few shots of it in game.  PLEASE pay no attention to the buildings around the park, my CBD is very much a work in progress and there's a LOT of growing that needs to be done. 

In the summertime, an overview shot....



A little closer.





A few night shots.





And finally the Maples in full fall color.





Overall I think it turned out well, but I'm not completely happy with it.  I wanted the flower beds to look a lot more natural and realistic, but I ran into the problem of hitting the limit for the number of props on a single lot.  I had arranged a whole gaggle of individual flowers and it looked pretty good, but one little segment of flower bed was over 50 props, and I couldn't place them all. Does anyone know how to increase the number of available props on a lot?  I know it's limited to about 1,000 because of the hex code for the lot, but I seriously doubt I'm close to that number.  Maybe so, I haven't had the patience to count.

On to the next project, and this one was born out of necessity.  I'm placing a pretty extensive bullet train network in my cities to connect them all to the CBD (and the main station, which I'll show here in a future update).  But the problem I had is the capacity of the station is 6 X that of a typical bus stop. I could ring the station with bus stops, and all the sims would go to the closest one and overwhelm it.  I also got tired of trying to place a 3x2 parking garage next to a 1x1 bus stop(s) next to a 6 x 1 train station and try to make it look right.  Always too much dead space.  So, I solved the problem by making my own "Park-N-Ride" complex that serves as a super bus station and parking garage all rolled into one. (I transit enabled it for Bus, Car, and Peds)  It has the same capacity as the station, so it won't get overwhelmed.  It's 6x2 to go along with the bullet train station that I like to use, which is 6 x 1.  Here it is in the lot editor.



I'm not a big fan of the darker base textures, but I wanted the red brick to play off the colors in the parking garage and the cherry trees that I've selected for the lot.

Here's a few shots in game.  I'm finding I have some interesting options with placement, road, and rail between the two buildings.

Here it is in the fall....





and in a different location in the summer.







In the back I couldn't quite get the garage entrance and the overlay textures to line up, but it's pretty close.  I'm fairly pleased with how this project turned out.

Anyway, There's the first two of hopefully many more to come.  Please give me your feedback, and thanks for viewing my projects.

[BarbarossaS]

I think you should leave fumblings out of the title of this thread, because what you've made so far is pretty darn good! 
Keep up the good work! 

-Stijn-

[joelyboy911]

Well... It's good to humble - but you have every right to be proud. I think you've done a superb job.

[FrankU]

I agree with Joelyboy and BarbarossaS. 

And because I am a lover of modular approach I have a solution to your props limitation.
You could consider to make the park as a series of smaller lots. You could make a lot for each flower bed. If you then make one or two lots for the trees, a lot for the fountain and a lot for the pavement with lantern (you could even use the Pedmall tile that already exists). Then you can make an endless variation of squares and parks with these six or seven lots.

[Badsim]

Hi Dane , 

I agree with the three comments above mine .... I told you "More than promising" by PM and I'm glad you decided to open a thread here .

... but I seriously doubt I'm close to that number.  Maybe so, I haven't had the patience to count.

Each base texture and overlay ( for each tile ) being an item as well as props , 8x15=120 + 40 overlays ( quick estimate ... ) , = already 160 items .
Let see ... about 80 streetlamps + 80 light cones , something like 180 or 200 small bushes , more than 40 seasonal trees , more than 30 benches ... and so on ! You shouldn't be surprised to reach to 1200 items for that Lot - if your LotConfigPropertyLotObject list is extended to 0x88EDCDFF ...

FrankU is giving you a clever and interesting advice ,  , but , if like me , you rather prefer to work with a global view , the only solution to add more props is to split your Lot in two Lots . From the original one , just erase an half or a third , save as a new Lot and then do the same for the other part . Quick and simple .

If you remember it , at Simphoni I've shown several example from my work , like the Fountains ' Plaza :



In fact ...




About the overlays for the Parking Garage Lot , I suggest you to rather use a street overlay  ... then you can "Transit Enable" the concerned tiles with SC4Tool , as street (to avoid traffic lights ) and configured as "Cul de Sac" ... like I did there :



As the 3 parking garages look like a single building , 2 accesses  - if you can adjust their  positionings - would be enough .

Hope to see more of your work , great taste and a good eye for details ! 

 PLEASE pay no attention to the buildings around the park, my CBD is very much a work in progress and ...

Indeed ! 

Greetings  .

Cédric .

[djvandrake]

I think you should leave fumblings out of the title of this thread, because what you've made so far is pretty darn good! 
Keep up the good work! 

-Stijn-

Thank you very much for the encoragement.  Much appreciated. 

Well... It's good to humble - but you have every right to be proud. I think you've done a superb job.

Thank you very much for stopping by and for your kind words. 

I agree with Joelyboy and BarbarossaS. 

And because I am a lover of modular approach I have a solution to your props limitation....

Thanks for your comments and your advice.  That appears to be what I'll need to do.  I initially tried to divide this into three lots, but the flower beds would overlap and I couldn't get things to line up right.  The modular approach would be much better for those sections. 

Hi Dane , 

I agree with the three comments above mine .... I told you "More than promising" by PM and I'm glad you decided to open a thread here .

Hi Cedric!  Thank you for stopping in and viewing my thread.  Your comments, encouragement and insights are much appreciated.

…to reach to 1200 items for that Lot - if your LotConfigPropertyLotObject list is extended to 0x88EDCDFF ...

You are correct.  I’m there!  Dividing the lot is going to be the only way that I get all that I want out of it.  It hadn’t occurred to me (until you posted your pics of the fountain plaza) and it should have that I need to make the divisions along clean lines where overlay textures don’t overlap.  That way I don’t have to try and align individual props or groups (that was very hard, and it didn’t work).  Thanks for posting that.   I do like to work in the global view like you to preserve the sense of scale and symmetry.   I think combination of modular and division of larger segments may work best.  There will be more to come on this park, it’s going to take a while to get it right.

About the overlays for the Parking Garage Lot , I suggest you to rather use a street overlay  ... then you can "Transit Enable" the concerned tiles with SC4Tool , as street (to avoid traffic lights ) and configured as "Cul de Sac" ...

So that’s how you do that?  Wow.  Thanks!  An actual entrance off the road is far better than any overlay texture. 

Hope to see more of your work , great taste and a good eye for details ! 

That means a lot and I thank you.  I do have another project I thought I’d share.  This one is not near as grand of scale, just a little lot I put together for my mid-high rise residential areas.  I’ve never been happy with the in-game parks or tennis courts.  In cities around here, mid-rise or the smaller high rise residential buildings almost always have a courtyard with amenities next door (or even between the buildings).  So I thought I’d create my own to give the tennis courts a more polished look and add in a pool, gazebo, or outdoor grill.  I started with one that’s 3 X 3 but I think I’ll do some more shapes and sizes too.  This way my buildings aren’t jammed together and I’ll have more freedom later to custom lot some of the nicer high rise condos.

Here it is in the Lot Editor.



Pegasus made a really nifty fence to go around the tennis courts, and I unabashedly appropriated it for my personal lots.  I use the lamps that SWI created, the rose beds from SG and the individual rose bushes from FC.  I’m really amazed by the talent and creativity exhibited by the SC community.

And a few pics in game.  This city is still fairly young so it has quite a bit of growing to do.  I don’t think I’m past stage 3 yet.





I’m working on a few different versions to avoid repetition with different amenities and a different color palate for the flower beds. I like the primary colors better than the pastels, but there’s more to choose from in the pinks and purples.







Thanks again for stopping by and please leave a comment. 

[Pat]

I agree so far you should change the fumblings to humblings, I say humblings cause you have been humbled here cause you are learning yet... I look forward to see what you do next and show next as well..

[metarvo]

Good work, DJ.    The fence around the tennis court is rather realistic, and the central park and the hospital are also well done.  I like what I see here. 

[clearlypowa]

Beautiful work. I am new in Lot Editor (i just realize my first lotting yesterday  , and as u said in your first post : it's addicting.

Keep going and good luck

[djvandrake]

Well, I got so busy working on another project that I forgot to post a few more pics of these amenities lots that I made.  I think they turned out pretty good, but a lot depends on what grows next to them.  I'll have to custom lot some nice condo towers later (when the city grows more) so that textures and entrances match up.

I agree so far you should change the fumblings to humblings, I say humblings cause you have been humbled here cause you are learning yet... I look forward to see what you do next and show next as well..

Thanks for stopping in and for your kind words.

Good work, DJ.     The fence around the tennis court is rather realistic, and the central park and the hospital are also well done.  I like what I see here.   

Thanks Metavro!  I'm glad you like.  Although I can't at all take credit for that cool hospital, that's Cedric's lot.  He showed that to demonstrate what transit enabling for street would do.  I've been playing around with that a lot too.

Beautiful work. I am new in Lot Editor (i just realize my first lotting yesterday   , and as u said in your first post : it's addicting.

Keep going and good luck

Thank you!  The lot editor is a lot of fun at times, isn't it.   I hope you start a thread too so we can see your creations.

Ok, here's a few more pics of some of the amenity lots that I made.  Firstly another version of the 3 x 3.





Then I made a few versions that were 2 x 3.  Being only 2 wide limits things a bit, but I certainly can spruce up a tennis court or make a nice pool plaza.  Here are two of them in the lot editor.





And a few shots of these lots in the game....










For some reason the animated sim props only swim at night...Don't know why that is.

And finally here's a tennis lot with a different color palate for the flowers.



I made this to match the park lots I made in this shot that you can see on the other side of the street.  I made those to have a fence on one edge to line up against a drop off or other terrain feature were there is a view.  Just beyond this pic to the south is the ocean.

Thanks for stopping in.  I have a much bigger project in the works that I'll show next time!

[Pat]

looking very good there with the pool and tennis court Dj!!!

[BarbarossaS]

I totaly agree with Pat here! Are you gonna apply for LEX with these?

-Stijn-

[clearlypowa]

nice and beautiful lots. nice looting too 

I think that u should  upload your creations on the STEX 

[FrankU]

Yes, I also agree. Your lots are very fine and you should definitely throw them onto the STEX. 

[djvandrake]

Thankyou Pat, BarbarossaS, kakimalaki, and FrankU for stopping in and for your kind words.  Much appreciated. 

I hadn't planned on uploading my lots because I haven't paid any attention to the dependicies.  There's probably 6-8 other packs or lots that would be needed for these.  I use several things from Peg (the light cones and the tennis fence), the lampposts are made by SWI21, the flowers by FC, the shrubs by SimGoober, the trees are by CP, the sunflowers are by MJB (I think) and I can't remeber the details of the fences, textures, and the pool!  That's a lot to ask someone to download.   

Maybe I'll do another version more suitable for upload.

Thanks again for stopping in.

[Battlecat]

Well you've certainly got a good eye for lot making, even if the dependencies are a bit complex.  Keep up the great work!  I hope to see something on the LEX or STEX sometime in the future.   

[Tomas Neto]

My friend, what joy to find your topic and see your wonderful creations! What's a great surprise to me!!!  I agree with Battlecat, it would be great to have their projects in the LEX or STEX! Continue this excellent work!

[djvandrake]

Well you've certainly got a good eye for lot making, even if the dependencies are a bit complex.  Keep up the great work!  I hope to see something on the LEX or STEX sometime in the future.   

Thanks for your kind words and for visiting my thread.  I'm glad you like my lots.  When I get a bit more time I'll have to create something for upload.

My friend, what joy to find your topic and see your wonderful creations! What's a great surprise to me!!!  I agree with Battlecat, it would be great to have their projects in the LEX or STEX! Continue this excellent work!

Hello Tomas!  Thanks for visiting my friend, and for your kind words. 

Real Life has been taking most of my time lately.    I've got another few projects that I want to show the results of here, and hopefully I'll be able to post an update soon.  Thanks again!

[Pat]

Dj take your time and I cant wait to see what you show next and that is for sure!!

[FrankU]

DJ,
I have some 800MB as dependencies on my HD. You must be using a real rare bird for your lots to make me download some new file! So try me!