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ÆRDEN ~ new streets!

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

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belfastsocrates

The cobbled-streets are looking absolutely superb! Really lovely work

The cloister scene is lovely as well.
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kelis

Every time that I see your workds, I just want to be part of it... I really like your work, your vision of the old cities and how you are working with details, really if someday you want to do something bigger or if you just need help with your works, just let me know it, I'm really interested in all your works my friend !!
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vortext

#282


Why yes, hi there folks! Even more replies because honestly I did not expect this many comments on what I considered to be a flimsy behind-the-scenes look. Thanks!  &apls :bnn:
Besides I need some help deciding on a way forward with the cobble stone road intersections in general, and with the streets specifically. But first things first, onward with the replies!




Quote from: TheTeaCat on November 30, 2014, 11:51:49 AM
Oh my word!! just caught up on so much!
Where to start on saying ..... awesome!

Derry

Thanks Derry!


Quote from: romualdillo on November 30, 2014, 12:22:32 PM
Arggghhh!!! I can't stand without having those incredible cobblestone textures!!! They're absolutely gorgeous!!! And yes, they would look strange in non-urban environments. Anyway, I would like to know how your textures look with my buildings!!!  ::)

Thanks! Now you know!   ;)


Quote from: vester on November 30, 2014, 01:16:21 PM
Quote from: TheTeaCat on November 30, 2014, 11:51:49 AM

...awesome!

Amen!

Well that certainly is an appropriate exclamation.  :D


Quote from: FrankU on November 30, 2014, 01:26:25 PM
Hi Erik,

You overclassed yourself!
The cobblestone texture is fantastic. Hardly any glitches.... I did find one! You guess where? The dirt road is also a very fine development.

And congratulations with the job as global mod. Does it take a lot of time?

Frank

Thanks Frank! If by glitches you mean instances where the pavement doesn't align then yeah, I can spot about half a dozen of those. Otherwise you need to enlighten me what you meant. As for being GM & time, yes, I spend most of my time nowadays doing super secret moderator stuff. $%#Ninj2  $%Grinno$% Lately I've noticed an uptick in number of PMs though that's probably coincidental. And it's fun being able to rummage through the site archives.


Quote from: noahclem on December 01, 2014, 04:46:27 AM
Well, that was quite the "housekeeping"  ;) If I may comment point by point:
-Congratulations on becoming a GM! The site is lucky to have you.
-The cobblestone textures, including all those curves, look perfect. Congrats on finishing the road set.
-Nice work on the next textures. I found the diagram of how they were derived from the cobblestone ones really interesting and informative.
-The monastery is looking great! The re-scaled statues fit perfectly (kind of nice how common batters over-scale things as it turns out) and I love the monks--are those publicly available? Indeed it would be great to have the building in HD--which reminded me that rambuckel has batted a number of things somewhat similar to that so I wonder if she'd have a useful HD monastery-ish bat lying around somewhere....

Thanks for the kinds words Noah. Monks will be released, eventually. .  ::) Rambuckel has more than one suitable BAT lying around for sure, I hope she'll return to them in the future.


Quote from: Simcoug on December 01, 2014, 07:00:45 AM
Two overrides for the price of one!  Genius!   :thumbsup:

Thanks! Though afterwards I realized it obviously won't work for tiles with any vanilla components, as those would get mangled too.


Quote from: Vizoria on December 01, 2014, 07:10:45 AM
Great work! Is that FAR streets I see!?!

Nope, those are roads.  :)


Quote from: Gugu3 on December 01, 2014, 07:52:12 AM
Awesome! &apls &apls

Thank you!


Quote from: mgb204 on December 01, 2014, 10:56:52 AM
Quote from: Vizoria on December 01, 2014, 07:10:45 AM
Great work! Is that FAR streets I see!?!

I don't think so, if I am following correctly Erik has used different road textures by assigning the cobblestone roads and rural variant different wealths, you could in theory have 4 different road textures and still be able to utilise all the FAR/WRC pieces too, if you can keep the adjacent wealths in check, nice  :thumbsup:.

Great stuff as always here, I especially like the castle from your last update, really gives off an eerie vibe with all the lingering mist, not somewhere I'd want to be alone on a dark night.

Yep that's correct. I'd actually planned to use different size stones for the pavement so to reflect different wealths and densities. Given I'm already having enough trouble dealing with just one type of pavement however. . Though in theory it'd just be a matter of replacing the pavement since the curbs and gradient are in separate layers, so, who knows.  ::)

Also glad to hear you enjoyed the castle pic, that one took quite a bit of work.  :)


Quote from: carlfatal on December 01, 2014, 03:22:38 PM
Heya Eric, that is some fantasic work!  &apls

And to find a new word while waiting for an inspiring idea isn´t procrastinating, it´s creative. Ah, maybe some people use "procrastinate in a wrong way, it should be meant as a positive, doesn´t it?  :thumbsup:

Now, that I returned to play SC4 again, American way with cp BATs and Simcoug´s lots, now you come up with such a jewel! I have another project in my mind, something like Waldeney but different and closer to the new possibilities of this game. And your streets are perfect to visualize some European look in the 19th century.
Don´t understand me worng, if I say, i would love to see some usable country road matching these streets, and then, with more new BATs (and yes, I also would love to see Kwakelaar coming back...)... I am dreaming, but if I look to all the work done while I was gone, I think I am allowed to do.

Keep this wonderful work, I am really impressed!  :thumbsup:

At least: I love Kwakelaar´s BATs, but there is some cloister puzzle available at ToutSimCity, sadly I haven´t a name or a link. I used it in Waldey, and if I think about Kwakelaar´s... It should be able to shrink it, by maybe 10 to 15 percent. I always disliked it´s scale. Especially if I look to his perfect framework townhouse set (without visible framework), he overscaled the cloister a bit.  $%Grinno$%

EDIT: found it, the second one

Thanks once again for the kind words Carl! I tried re-scaling the Schiffenberg BATs once, quite some time ago, however it resulted in strange graphic deformities ingame. iirc I resized the height only though, that might have had something to do with it. At any rate, it's not that horribly oversized imho, especially not in conjunction with the monks. As for you suggestions, look closely  ;). The rest of that set is already reserved as well and I try to adhere to a 'one time use only' policy for landmarks but thank you for thinking along anyway!


Quote from: art128 on December 02, 2014, 08:43:15 AM
Loving the monks and statues inside the monastery.  :thumbsup:

Thanks Arthur!


Quote from: belfastsocrates on December 02, 2014, 10:04:07 AM
The cobbled-streets are looking absolutely superb! Really lovely work

The cloister scene is lovely as well.

Thank you!


Quote from: kelis on December 02, 2014, 02:42:25 PM
Every time that I see your workds, I just want to be part of it... I really like your work, your vision of the old cities and how you are working with details, really if someday you want to do something bigger or if you just need help with your works, just let me know it, I'm really interested in all your works my friend !!

Thanks for your kind words and offer Jonathan! I'll keep it in mind.  :)






So about the cobble stone roads, as indicated previously, I'm having some difficulties with regard to intersections. What it boils down to is a lack of a uniform design. By which I mean 1) how to transition from cobble stone to another surface and 2) which texture set to use. Here's a picture to demonstrate.



On the outer left the ortho road-street tile which I'm actually no too dissatisfied with. No, the issues are with the three- and fourway intersections. Should there be an 'end' to the cobble stones with a double row of small stones, like the three way? Or maybe just keep the curbstones running straight along, as with the fourway? Also note the fourway uses the cosmetic re-textured streets as the curves do kinda match. On the other hand if I were to use the re-texture intersection tiles there'd be a difference in street surface for people who don't have it installed, yet want to use the cobble stone.  :-\

As always your comments and suggestions are appreciated. For now I'll leave you with two pictures which have been sitting on my HD far too long and both are representative of a typical work day. Though while some folks are hard at work, others are hardly working. Spot the lazy bum.  ;)




time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

romualdillo

Quote from: vortext on December 15, 2014, 02:43:24 PM

Quote from: romualdillo on November 30, 2014, 12:22:32 PM
Arggghhh!!! I can't stand without having those incredible cobblestone textures!!! They're absolutely gorgeous!!! And yes, they would look strange in non-urban environments. Anyway, I would like to know how your textures look with my buildings!!!  ::)

Thanks! Now you know!   ;)

Yes I know!!!  $%Grinno$%

I think I prefer the double row of small stones for all the intersections. I think the long stones should be used only as sidewalk limit, because I read them as drains on both sides of the road. The small stones fit better, not only for asphalted streets, but as limit for dirt roads. (You can also do your own street texture, too, with a drain channel in the middle ::)). IMHO.

The last pictures are great!! The first scene is really bucolic, and the second... Do I see new walls for the historic harbour?




Gugu3


noahclem

Beautiful pictures  &apls   I'm seriously wondering if our lazy friend really exists though  &Thk/(   Wonderful little bats. As for the textures, I would imagine the best place to put the transition, especially with street connections, would be at the edges of tiles. That would allow a single texture to be compatible with similarly cobble-stone-modded streets or vanilla streets, as well as all SAM streets. I'd suggest widening the right turn turning radius if possible too, taking advantage of all the space available  :thumbsup:

Kergelen

I think is better the double row of small stones because it makes the transition smoothly for cars and/or carriages.

The cobbled stones textures are really nice and very suitable for your region or an old town. Great for so far &apls


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FrankU

Hi Vortex,

I referred tot the fact that on some spots the cobblestones do not perfectly match, although it is probably only visible for the perfectionist....

I think the best way to connect streets and cobblestones is the way you show in the three way section. In the four way section you see small triangles of asphalt. These cannot be made in real life. Every street maker would use the cobblestones for that transition. So I guess it is more realistic to do that either.
This points to something that can be a problem in game: your connections are based on certain principles. Every principle you choose will have its exceptions. In real life the streetmaker uses his (or her) brains to decide which is the best practical (and if he/she is good also: beautiful) way to do. Therefore in real life not all connections are based on the same principle. There is improvisation....
So whatever you do: there will probably occur situations where you will not be able to have the best solution.

Example: if you connect your cobblestones to a red brick street I think the solution of your four way intersection can be made. Because with brick you can make these triangles. But in any case I think the three way intersection principle is better looking.

Succes!

Frank

mgb204

I agree with FrankU, but for a different reason, simply that these cobblestone roads are so different to any other network stuff that I find it hard to see why many people would want to replace every stretch of road with them and then connect it around Maxis or SAM streets which are clearly of a very different time. Therefore make them as best as you can for their ideal environment, the historical-street connections.

vortext

#289
Al right, the verdict is in: double row of small stones it is! And Noah's suggestion to push the transition to the edge of the tiles solved a lot of headbreakers, too.  &idea

Here's how it stands atm.



Still have to iron out the fine details but at least there's a way forward!   %BUd%




And while I'm here I might as well do some replies. too lazy for the banner though. .

Quote from: romualdillo on December 15, 2014, 03:46:27 PM
The last pictures are great!! The first scene is really bucolic, and the second... Do I see new walls for the historic harbour?

Nope, those walls are Namspopof's which I lowered to act as harbor walls. 


Quote from: noahclem on December 16, 2014, 10:19:11 AM
I'm seriously wondering if our lazy friend really exists though  &Thk/(   

In the bottom of the second pic, in between the stone slabs.  ;)


Quote from: FrankU on December 17, 2014, 03:10:59 AM
[...] although it is probably only visible for the perfectionist....[...]
[...] there will probably occur situations where you will not be able to have the best solution.

And that in a nutshell is at the heart of it. I always want the perfect solution to every problem, yes please.  :D 


And of course thank you Gugu3, Kergelen and mgb204 for your input as well!  :thumbsup:
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

Vizoria

So is this RAM- Road Addon Mod? Those cobbled roads look great!

vortext

Thanks! As for naming, there isn't any official acronym (yet).   

However there's already a RAM, namely the Rail Addon Mod (aka Single Track Rails) so that'd be confusing. Privately I've dubbed it CCSM, i.e. Comprehensive Cobble Stone Mod as eventually I intent to cobble-fy more than just the roads.  $%#Ninj2 That said I'm open to suggestions. Keeping in line with the nomenclature maybe Real Cobble Stone?!    :D
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

romualdillo

I think we found a good name to call them  $%Grinno$%!!! (Perhaps it's a bit general, but I think it's a good name). The new transitions look fantastic, now they're compatible with all the textures.

I've seen examples of Namspopof's work, but I didn't know his name. The walls look wonderful there!!

vortext

#293
Shown this in a private thread, figured might as well post here.



Got nowhere near as much done over the holidays as I'd hoped but it's progress nonetheless.

Also still not sure if I actually like how some street tiles will in effect become part of the road. On the other hand it does mean I can apply the 'dirt' filter since they're all cobble. However I might opt for a different approach to the avenue intersections. I did a survey and figured adding the small cobble strip might be sufficient in most cases, rather than running the cobble roads through the avenue.

At any rate, thoughts?
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

Simcoug

Great!  I think the transition looks good and it will work for all SAM versions too, right?  I was playing around with your latest version and everything was working without a hitch... just waiting for the other network transitions  :thumbsup:

mgb204

Yup, this is the right approach for me, this way no little bits of steet will ruin the cobblestones.

vortext

#296
It'll work for SAM in so far I can take these textures and re-number them to the appropriate IIDs. However it depends on the width of the particular SAM if it'll look good. For instance SAM 3 & 4 are quite a bit wider than the vanilla streets so those textures might need a bit of additional work - either blend in the SAM texture in or re-do the tiles from scratch.

And thanks both for reassuring me this is the best way forward!  :thumbsup:
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

romualdillo

#297
The transitions look great!! I really do think that the little cobblestones were the best choice, not only for asphalt streets, but for dirt streets (or other cobblestone streets).

Thanks! And I'm actually thinking about porting those dirt textures over to proper streets. It'll be a nice fit indeed. ~ Erik

Ah yes I can see myself taking a liking to do replies this way!  ;D

dwelln8hss32

Awesome work on the cobblestone streets! Very nice indeed.  &apls

Erik, if I may interrupt a little and inquire about a texture I saw in a .jpg posted in your Potyomkin's Travels a while back... http://i.imgur.com/cl4Crab.jpg

That cracked dirt texture right off the water is lovely and I could use something like that or a variation of this "broken earth" texture. I feel like I've seen it elsewhere. I'm curious as to how it was made? (Feel free to PM me if the question is too distracting in your thread).

Jake
All metropolitan dreams start somewhere... in the minds of many, in the feet of less, but in the hands and hearts of only few.

vortext

No worries for distracting the thread, at the moment it's wip all around anyway!  :D

The actual dirt texture is found in Gobias' SV mod (SV Textures A.dat to be precise) so you may recognize it from his terrain. I used it for an override of JENX' terrain paints, along with several other of Gobias' textures. For example the meadow in the top, as well as the mossy surface at the bottom of this picture (which initially was part of the update you refer to but didn't make the final cut so now I have an excuse to show it  ;D).



If you want I can do a write up of the nuts-and-bolt, or simply check your PM.  ;)
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana