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ÆRDEN ~ new streets!

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

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vortext

#260



If you happened to miss the first three parts of Potyomkins' Travel, I simply refer you to the table of contents (didn't add it for nothing  ;)). So without further ado, the fourth installment. Enjoy!






01 | 'Finally, we've crossed that darn river! It feels like it has taken us a year!', Benjamin exclaims as they disembark from the ferry. His two older brothers, Linus and Paulus, roll their eyes at the level of exaggeration. Meanwhile their escorts are in conversation with official and serious looking men in uniform. It wouldn't be the last time they see these liveries.




02 | On the road once again and Benjamin was right they'd been waiting on the ferry an awful long time. As dusk began to fall, so did the trees. For miles on end they are travelling through stretches of cleared forests. The experience is made all the more surreal by the fact no one is around. The workers have already left to make it back into the city on time, their escort explains. In the distance they can indeed see the towering silhouette of the castle, dileanted against an ever-changing violet sky.   




03 | As they approach the city, however, traffic picks up and everyone is in a hurry to make it through the gate before it closes for the night. Again uniformed men are on the scene and their escorts have a lengthy exchange of words with them, much to the chagrin of the people lined up behind.




04 | Once inside the brothers are taken aback. Fire and smoke seemingly everywhere and groups of men scattered throughout. The flickering lights in combination with the maze-like streets leave them completely disorientated. The worst thing above all, however, is the smell: rotting carcasses along wasting excrement, smoked in manure and served on a platter of unwashed bodies: it's an extremely foul stench unlike anything they've experienced before.




05 | As they take a sharp turn, however, a vast empty space opens up, barely lit despite a huge fire in the middle. The hectic chaos from moments ago dissolves into an eerie and equally disorientating nothingness. Suddenly out of the thick fog the castle materializes right in front of them. 'We're here', Benjamin whispers to no one in particular, 'we're finally here. . '








Quote from: catty on October 12, 2014, 11:00:13 AM
very nice, I especially like pictures 5 and 6   &apls

Thanks Catty! These are actually the only two angles from which it's visible.


Quote from: Schulmanator on October 12, 2014, 06:45:30 PM
Great new pix! Impressive nature work :D :D :D

Thank you!


Quote from: romualdillo on October 13, 2014, 01:39:58 AM
Great pictures again!!!  &apls  What kind of name are you thinking of for the lake? German, English, Mayan...?

Thanks! As for naming, so far I've used a mix of English, German and Saxon names from a random name generator, so in general it's a European gist.


Quote from: epicblunder on October 13, 2014, 08:53:36 AM
Delicious lake.   &apls

I suppose you could call it Eriksvotn (-votn i believe is the icelandic masculine suffix for -lake).

Thank you! I've googled a bit and Icelandic family naming practice is pretty interesting.


Quote from: belfastsocrates on October 13, 2014, 09:03:40 AM
OMG!

What a fabulous update. Simply stunning, I'm still trying to take in that overview image of the lake with cloud cover, it's one of the most realistic looking in-game images I've ever seen.

Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed it!


Quote from: Vizoria on October 13, 2014, 01:16:51 PM
Wow! Surreal nature pictures.

Thanks!

Quote from: Simcoug on October 14, 2014, 07:38:59 AM
Awesome pics!  Yes, an appropriately placed cloud can do wonders to tie a mosaic together  :D
It has been a while, but your pictures inspire me to dig into SC4 again  :thumbsup:

Thanks! And yes, the clouds came in quite handy indeed. Hope to see another NewSorgun update soon!  :thumbsup:


Quote from: FrankU on October 15, 2014, 05:30:19 AM
Nice area Erik!
Good to see you working AErden again. (how on Earth do you write the AE as one letter? Cannot find it... ()what() )

Thanks Frank! Next time use alt0198 for Æ and alt0230 for æ, though I just copy/paste most of the time. ;) Also, in case you were wondering it's pronounced as the 'a' in cat and hat.


Quote from: metarvo on October 15, 2014, 06:58:12 AM
Good work, Erik!   :thumbsup:  The river going underground is a work of art if I do say so myself.

Thank you. It took forever to get those few rocks right.  :D


Quote from: noahclem on October 15, 2014, 09:44:51 AM
Outstanding update Erik  &apls  I particularly love the large lake and its environs and the river that goes underground. Great explaining and presentation too  :thumbsup:

Thanks Noah!


Quote from: Jmouse on October 17, 2014, 10:43:59 AM
The lake and surrounds are beautiful, and I like the islands as well. That creek is a work of art, though. Outstanding photos.

As for naming things, I feel your pain – it's one of the more frequently asked questions in the forums.  But I've found a way that works for me, and maybe it will give you some ideas. You already have a head full of memories and words, so drag some of them out and put them to good use.

Name things after friends, family, schools you attended, places you've been and pets, to name a few possibilities. Our family dog is named "Boston," so one of my tiles is called "Boston Mill." I raised my two children on "Moonshine Hill" Road, north of Houston, and there's a red oak tree in my front yard. "Calabash" is a blast from the 1950s. You can also put two words such as "bone" and "tree" together to form "Bonetree." Change a word – my daughter's first name is Julie so I'll name a town "Juliette." Finally, if a good name pops into your head, write it down ASAP.

I hope this helps a little bit.

Thank you Joan, your suggestions already proved usefull for today's update!


Quote from: juliok102013 on October 18, 2014, 07:55:04 AM
:o

&apls &apls

Need I say something? This is wonderful Vortext! The river is ... is amazing! And this picture ... My God, I think I need not say: http://i.imgur.com/UD6IcAl.jpg

Thanks Júlio!


Quote from: carlfatal on October 27, 2014, 03:48:15 PM
Hey Eric,
I can remember, that you were working on a tree controller, when I stopped playing SC4. I was not only pissed by the grid, - the seasonal stuff did run directly into my projects, forcing me to change everything from scratch on again. I was tired, especially after my first tries to plant a forest or at least something, that is not only a group of trees. Sadly your controller set came out, after I made my first steps into playing Sims 3...  $%Grinno$%
Yeah, and after starting my second MD here I downloaded these controllers and started playing around with them. Until now I did not build anything in a region where I used them, but I LOVE to plant trees and bushes and stuff with them. It is so nice to see, how they work on different places, and it is a very impressive experience to mix them for more variety. So the first I want to do with this comment is to thank you for these wonderful tools (although I have NO clue, what kind of wizardry is going on, if I see, what you are doing with them).  &apls

Yeah, and back here I also found this thread, and damn - I wasn´t able to answer anything, I was stunned by the pictures, sunken in your explanations about your texture- and terrain work. The cobblestone streets, the rural roads, the terrain textures, that look like some kind of 3D - wow! And wonderful, how you dive into "virtual" history here. Particularly I admire your work with MMP´s and different water textures.

But enough for now, keep up this fantastic work!  :thumbsup:

Thank you for the kind words Carl! Glad to hear you're enjoying the tree controllers, not many people seem to mix them while that kinda was my idea behind making three of them, as it gives the most varied results indeed.
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

Gugu3


romualdillo

Great work!!!!  :thumbsup: I'm looking forward to the next chapter!!!!

Simcoug

Great update!  The shot inside the castle walls with the crowded streets and fires is excellent.   :thumbsup:

carlfatal

Wonderful!

I agree with SimCoug about this night picture, it feels so lifelike. And indeed i would have preferred to stay out of a town in these days, although you can make pittoresc pictures of it if you own an early camera...  $%Grinno$%

Another spot: How you mixed the castle and the town walls - intriguing. Sometimes BATs seem to be made for putting them together, this is such a case.  :thumbsup:

c.p.

Nicely done. &apls  Kind of a bleak (but magnificent) place.  I hope they're able to establish their town soon (if that's where the story is headed -- I guess I'll just have to wait and see.) %confuso

noahclem

Beautiful update Erik  &apls  Such character and detail--very curious where the story goes next  :thumbsup:

belfastsocrates

Absolutely sublime! I loved those images, particularly the men and hustle around the fires, just wonderful.
A unique nation fusing technological prowess and unparalleled grandeur

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination" - Oscar Wilde

vortext

#268

roads link

Quote from: Gugu3 on November 04, 2014, 01:58:52 AM
Amazing update as usual &apls

Thank you!


Quote from: romualdillo on November 04, 2014, 08:11:37 AM
Great work!!!!  :thumbsup: I'm looking forward to the next chapter!!!!

Thanks! I'm looking forward to it as well, no idea (yet) what's gonna happen!


Quote from: Simcoug on November 04, 2014, 09:13:23 AM
Great update!  The shot inside the castle walls with the crowded streets and fires is excellent.   :thumbsup:

Thanks Matt! I really enjoyed lotting that scene so I'm glad you liked it.


Quote from: carlfatal on November 04, 2014, 12:17:18 PM
Wonderful!

I agree with SimCoug about this night picture, it feels so lifelike. And indeed i would have preferred to stay out of a town in these days, although you can make pittoresc pictures of it if you own an early camera...  $%Grinno$%

Another spot: How you mixed the castle and the town walls - intriguing. Sometimes BATs seem to be made for putting them together, this is such a case.  :thumbsup:

Thanks Carl! As I said, that scene was fun to put together. As for the walls and castle, if I'm not mistaken they were actually made by the same person so that'd explain why they go together so well.


Quote from: c.p. on November 06, 2014, 09:20:28 PM
Nicely done. &apls  Kind of a bleak (but magnificent) place.  I hope they're able to establish their town soon (if that's where the story is headed -- I guess I'll just have to wait and see.) %confuso

Thank you Brian! I try my best to steer away from a too idyllic representation of the period, so I'm happy to read that comes across!


Quote from: noahclem on November 07, 2014, 10:42:55 AM
Beautiful update Erik  &apls  Such character and detail--very curious where the story goes next  :thumbsup:

Thanks Noah! As for what happens next, your guess is as good as mine!  :D


Quote from: belfastsocrates on November 10, 2014, 05:24:52 AM
Absolutely sublime! I loved those images, particularly the men and hustle around the fires, just wonderful.


Thank you!




A bit of housekeeping to start with today. As you may have noticed a bright red 'global mod' badge recently appeared on my profile. That's because I was offered to join the site staff as Global Moderator, which I did obviously. In addition there've been a number of other changes to the site staff, plus there're some changes to the site in the pipeline as well. You can read more about the latter here. And in case you were wondering, the list of current, active staff members is right here.

Other than that I'm pleased to say I've completed the first part of the cobble stone re-texture, namely the proper road network.


Which curve do you like best?


dia x dia intersections are the same as their ortho x ortho counterparts with the help of overhanging models.


Insert far-fetched pun here.

Next hurdle to take are intersections with other networks. And if the amount of procrastination is anything to go by, this proves to be quite a big hurdle indeed. See, funny thing is, despite the fact I've made many a texture override already, this actually is my first time dealing with INC ( intra-network connectivity. Yes, I made that term up one night to get a semblance of productivity while putting the actual work off. So what?!).

At any rate, what had me distracted?



Another texture set you ask? Well, yes and no.

Yes because sooner or later, I'm gonna want to connect all the cities together. However, when I gave this some thought I felt it'd be a bit incredulous to have cobble stone roads running through the middle of nowhere. So, I wanted roads with an unpaved surface. It's not a completely new texture set from scratch, however, as that would've been too much work indeed. Instead I indulged myself in some tinkering.  ::)



As you can see, the cobble stone texture serves as input for a new filter. Though it was quite tricky to derive a uniform height map, the rest was quite straightforward. I may play around with the saturation a bit more but for now I'm happy with the result. But of course I had to see it in a proper context so cue distraction number two!  ;D





It had been a while so I went back to work on the monastery. Did some (re) lotting and mmp-ing on the front side of the complex. The back is still frighteningly empty, though I made a provisional start with the cemetery, a vineyard and brewery to fill it out.

And finally a close up of the courtyard. Too bad the Schiffenberg BATs are SD. If you read this Kwakelaar, please please return to BATting! On the other hand, PEGs severely shrunken statues make perfect HD props. And yes I know traditionally courtyards don't have a path through the middle but how else was I supposed to show off more of Krashspeed's excellent monks?!  ()stsfd()



That's it for now! Bye, Erik.  :bye:
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

TheTeaCat

Oh my word!! just caught up on so much!
Where to start on saying ..... awesome!

Derry
Kettle's on. Milk? Sugars?    ps I don't like Earl Grey  $%Grinno$%
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - If you're not part of the solution , you're part of the problem!
"Never knock on Death's door: Ring the bell and run away! Death really hates that!"
Tales at TeaTime      Now A proper NUT      TTC plays GRV II

romualdillo

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!!!  ::)


FrankU

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

noahclem

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....

Simcoug

Two overrides for the price of one!  Genius!   :thumbsup:

Vizoria


Gugu3


mgb204

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.

carlfatal

#278
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

art128

Loving the monks and statues inside the monastery.  :thumbsup:
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

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