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ÆRDEN ~ new streets!

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

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Schulmanator

See the all-new National Capital Region!:http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=15118.0

noahclem

That's a beautiful history Erik  &apls &apls  Thanks for offering another peak into how things work around here and congratulations on a year of development in Ærden's newest iteration. It's a fascinating style and the untold amount of effort you've put into it is certainly bearing fruit. Can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us  :popcorn:


Also, fascinating investigation of McDuell's terraformer technique. There must be a bunch of fascinating applications for it....

carlfatal

Some others said it before: wonderful region shots! In particular I love that traffic view, cause I am always wondering, how other people manage the region as a whole (and I am somewhat addicted to maps and sat images...).  &apls

And the last picture reminds me to an unfinshed project. Great work with Dave´s houses here, but also with the street. I really have no clue: is this MMP or a real street, is this horse a MMP too or a car?
If SC4 leaves its boundaries like it does on pictures like this one...  &apls

I hope, you will have a lot of fun with this region in the next years of development too!  :thumbsup:

vortext

#323


Wait what, it's almost been two months already?! What's up with February & March, they always pass by so fast, I remember the exact same thing happening last year. Then again, maybe not too wondrous since February is so short.

At any rate, RL kept me plenty busy lately. In fact, during this first quarter of the year I've probably spend around 5 evenings in the region trying out a new mmp combination but that's it as far as development in Ærden goes.

Bit sad indeed, however, I should have more time over the next months. What's more: I've got a new pc! For those curious, specs are the same as I posted here, only difference is that I opted for Win8.1 pro instead. Of course a new machine initially means spending more time than you'd like getting everything up and running, which is exactly what I've been doing these past weeks.

When it came to SC4 I was prepared for an ordeal, however, it ran pretty much right off the bat. It's incredible how fast and responsive the game is now. Even with shadows, clouds & waves enabled there's very little, if any lag - depending on tile size and amount of flora of course.

The only real issue so far is z-fighting, which is particular evident in shallow waters but also on some flup models. After tinkering with the graphics card the issue is more-or-less resolved in the closest zooms. However, it's still pretty darn ugly when viewed from afar but alas, it seems I'll have to learn to live with it.


z-fighting in action. Still not perfect but on the upside, notice how the flora also gets buffed up! Also, first gif on new pc, yay.  :bnn:


Apart from that I've had far more serious trouble with rendering of overlay textures. Every now and again the new system would throw an error message during the formerly smooth running batch process and just stop. The infrequent, seemingly random nature of the error was already pushing all the wrong buttons but what really drove me up the wall was the contents of the accompanying error log which simply read:  'unknown exception at unknown location'.  %bur2$

After spending way too many evenings trying to pinpoint the issue, I finally came to my senses and figured my time would probably be better spend devising an alternative method to render the overlays, which luckily proved quite easy. The batch itself is already up and running, I just have to refine the settings for the alpha masks a bit more.

As for release of the LE textures, I find myself leaning towards a modular approach lately. That is to say, release multiple, smaller texture packs instead of one huge pack. The reasoning is various textures are at various stages of development. So I asked myself: why should, for example, the base textures be held back only because I'm not satisfied yet with some garden overlays? Besides, smaller packs would also allow me greater flexibility for future updates. Thoughts on the subject are appreciated.

As for the cobble stone roads. . . I'm sorry to say I haven't worked on those for quite some time. However, seeing the awesome progress Noah is currently making on the TiA front definitely is motivation to continue shortly. While the two projects may seem disparate, they're not.  ;)

Anyway, since I migrated over to the new pc I also sorted out various archives and wip folders. So as promised here're random pictures.



Gaellithorp, one of the oldest settlements in the region – both in terms of fictional history and actual development. This spot right in the middle was rather difficult to fill. I wanted some kind of communal building however, none of the churches I tried were a good fit. More so because I imagined Christianity didn't reach here quite yet. Rather the villagers would still be pagan, mixed with some Roman influences. A proper temple, on the other hand, was way too exotic. Then one evening I suddenly remembered this particular BAT by Swi. And as it turns out it's actually called 'Dutch Forest House', which I took as a sign this was the appropriate building for the spot.  ()stsfd()




Quiet country roads, what else is there?!  :D




Playing around a bit with new tools, trying to get a damp, rainy look. Turned out okay I guess. 


And that's about it for today. No actually, there's something rather exciting going on behind the scenes but I'll keep that a secret for now.  $%#Ninj2






Quote from: Simcoug on February 10, 2015, 02:26:04 PM
Awesome!  I love that street region view. 
Counting tiles sounds like fun, but a quick alternative is to just make a pipe connection where you are planning your street route and you will magically see where it is on the next tile (bulldoze the offending pipe once you get everything squared away).
Although something tells me you already knew that and really were counting tiles because it is a fun SC4 activity  :P

What?! You mean to tell me terraforming the water ways in order to count from the edge, accidentally hitting 'save and exit' and consequently rolling back three weeks of progress isn't fun!?  ???  $%Grinno$% Thanks for the most excellent tip Matt!  :thumbsup:


Quote from: romualdillo on February 10, 2015, 03:41:08 PM
Great pictures!!! I think the road layout is the most realistic one I've seen in the game...  &apls

Thanks for the kind words! Really appreciate it since it took a lot of effort to build.  :)


Quote from: art128 on February 10, 2015, 03:52:46 PM
The street region view is indeed quite splendid. I had no idea the region changed that much over the time.

Thanks Arthur!


Quote from: packersfan on February 10, 2015, 07:15:32 PM
That is a sweet looking region and road network.  I wish I could combine my gameplay with the modding to create incredible images like I'm seeing here.

Thank you!


Quote from: FrankU on February 10, 2015, 11:51:13 PM
Hi Erik,

Great views.  &apls

I wish I had time to develop a region like that. But you know... there is a huge, still unfinished, lotting task lying in front of me, waiting...

Thanks Frank! Maybe one day once the lotting is finished. .  :)


Quote from: mgb204 on February 11, 2015, 12:58:53 AM
Great update as always, really nice to see how your different attempts have matured over time. Somewhere in my mind I know I need to focus on getting the landscaping finished before building, but I always come unstuck by trying to rush a region. For about a year I've thrown myself into modding as opposed to playing, I do wonder if I really have the patience to attempt anything resembling a region like this. Whilst at a glance the numbers may not seem that high, I think that's a good reflection of the quality and attention to detail from every angle, you definitely have something to be envious of here :).

Thanks Robin! It does take a bit of patience indeed. It's been two years since it's inception and still so little development. .  ::)


Quote from: Gugu3 on February 11, 2015, 01:45:48 AM
Great pics!

Thanks!


Quote from: dwelln8hss32 on February 11, 2015, 06:22:11 AM
Love your region choice and region views. Arden looks daunting but fun! I too count tiles to line up roads and streets, so I know what you mean. I thought I saw a street mismatch in the lower right side of the image, south of the smaller mountains, but the zoom level is panned out too far to make out details. Arden looks like an impressive undertaking! Have fun with it and looking forward to your updates as always.

Thank you! There're actually multiple misalignments and first thing on the to-do-list is fixing them now I know the waterpipes trick.


Quote from: Schulmanator on February 13, 2015, 04:18:53 AM
Nice new pix! It's a great area :D

Thanks!


Quote from: noahclem on February 15, 2015, 09:16:51 AM
That's a beautiful history Erik  &apls &apls  Thanks for offering another peak into how things work around here and congratulations on a year of development in Ærden's newest iteration. It's a fascinating style and the untold amount of effort you've put into it is certainly bearing fruit. Can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us  :popcorn:


Also, fascinating investigation of McDuell's terraformer technique. There must be a bunch of fascinating applications for it....

Thank you Noah!


Quote from: carlfatal on February 15, 2015, 01:04:45 PM
Some others said it before: wonderful region shots! In particular I love that traffic view, cause I am always wondering, how other people manage the region as a whole (and I am somewhat addicted to maps and sat images...).  &apls

And the last picture reminds me to an unfinshed project. Great work with Dave´s houses here, but also with the street. I really have no clue: is this MMP or a real street, is this horse a MMP too or a car?
If SC4 leaves its boundaries like it does on pictures like this one...  &apls

I hope, you will have a lot of fun with this region in the next years of development too!  :thumbsup:

Thanks Carl. To answer your question, the lot is Transit Enabled and I turned the street textures into LE textures, so I can connect the actual streets with the lots, visually that is.The horse is just a MMP on the lot.




Happy easter everyone!
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

romualdillo

Congrats for your new computer!!! I'm glad you could solve (almost) all problems caused by the migration.
Great images, btw.  :D

feyss

I didn't post since a while, but I've only seen great pictures here since my last message. I hope the game will not be capricious with your new machine. Kepp it up   :thumbsup:

metarvo

It's good to see you back at work on Ærden, Erik.  This is a stunning update, and I particularly like the third pic with the clouds and rain — this effect is difficult to do in any perspective, let alone the top-down angled view SC4 gives us, and yet you've done it quite skillfully.

&apls

Good luck with the new computer!  :)
Find my power line BAT thread here.
Check out the Noro Cooperative.  What are you waiting for?  It even has electricity.
Want more? Try here.  For even more electrical goodies, look here.
Here are some rural power lines.

FrankU

Hi Erik,

Nice to see you are back again!

HGood developments and nice images too.

What hit my attention was the Swi "Dutch Forest House". What do you think: does it look Dutch? Not really to me, although indeed it's possible this thing, or something similar, is hiding in one of our forests... It's a nice thing, although the roof is way too yellow.

And a bout the texture sets: It does not really matter. Both have their advantages and disadvantages:
Small sets have the advantage that they are small.  ;D If someone only wants a small amount of textures the download and game lag is less. But you have a longer list of dependencies when you want them all. You also can lose track: what texture is where...
Large sets: all in one. Many textures that are not used, maybe. But gives a short dependency list.
My personal opinion: I do not care about the length of dependencies listings. Lets make small sets with clear namings.

Frank

Simcoug

Love the pics, and I actually like the forest house.  It has a bit of a fantastical look, but I think it gives the area some character. 
As far as the texture packs - I think a modular release would be great.  The sooner we can get our hands on these the better (plus some texture packs can get pretty heavy and I always hate having to keep a large file in my plugin when only about 10% is actually used... but that's not to say I wouldn't use 100% of your textures... I was just trying to make a point about some 'mega' packs... and... umm... what was I talking about again?)

vortext

#329
Hi there, today marks the release of the base texture set!  :bnn:

Forty two (42) brand new, 256x256 pixel multi-fsh base textures for you to enjoy! Get them here.

Here's an overview and a couple of zoom 6 close ups. Click pictures for large.









Needless to say feedback is much appreciated (e.g. color, saturation, etc) and I'm partially open to requests and suggestions as well.

Finally, overlays, paths and twotoned base textures (i.e. merger of base and overlay) are forthcoming. As are various garden overlays and stone overlays, though both require some work still.



Stay tuned.  &opr






Quote from: romualdillo on April 05, 2015, 04:52:05 AM
Congrats for your new computer!!! I'm glad you could solve (almost) all problems caused by the migration.
Great images, btw.  :D

Thanks!


Quote from: feyss on April 05, 2015, 09:37:51 AM
I didn't post since a while, but I've only seen great pictures here since my last message. I hope the game will not be capricious with your new machine. Kepp it up   :thumbsup:

Thank you and will do!


Quote from: metarvo on April 05, 2015, 01:47:00 PM
It's good to see you back at work on Ærden, Erik.  This is a stunning update, and I particularly like the third pic with the clouds and rain — this effect is difficult to do in any perspective, let alone the top-down angled view SC4 gives us, and yet you've done it quite skillfully.

&apls

Good luck with the new computer!  :)

Thanks, I'm glad you liked to rainy pic!  ()stsfd()


Quote from: FrankU on April 06, 2015, 12:13:48 PM
Hi Erik,

Nice to see you are back again!

HGood developments and nice images too.

What hit my attention was the Swi "Dutch Forest House". What do you think: does it look Dutch? Not really to me, although indeed it's possible this thing, or something similar, is hiding in one of our forests... It's a nice thing, although the roof is way too yellow.

And a bout the texture sets: It does not really matter. Both have their advantages and disadvantages:
Small sets have the advantage that they are small.  ;D If someone only wants a small amount of textures the download and game lag is less. But you have a longer list of dependencies when you want them all. You also can lose track: what texture is where...
Large sets: all in one. Many textures that are not used, maybe. But gives a short dependency list.
My personal opinion: I do not care about the length of dependencies listings. Lets make small sets with clear namings.

Frank

Hi Frank, thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. And yes, the roof is way too yellow, even after toning it down by a large degree. Lets just pretend it's a newly made hay roof, okay?  :D


Quote from: Simcoug on April 07, 2015, 06:55:11 PM
Love the pics, and I actually like the forest house.  It has a bit of a fantastical look, but I think it gives the area some character. 
As far as the texture packs - I think a modular release would be great.  The sooner we can get our hands on these the better (plus some texture packs can get pretty heavy and I always hate having to keep a large file in my plugin when only about 10% is actually used... but that's not to say I wouldn't use 100% of your textures... I was just trying to make a point about some 'mega' packs... and... umm... what was I talking about again?)

Dunno what you were talking about either. . but the base textures are now up!  :D I too thought the forest house added a nice fairy-tale touch, glad you liked it! Thanks.
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

epicblunder

Awesome.  Cobbles 2,7 and 6,5 look delicious   :thumbsup:

romualdillo

#331
Already downloaded!! I'll put them to good use soon...  :D (I think I don't have to say I love them!!!)

Simcoug

I had a pre-release party earlier this week - they are already getting integrated into many of my WIP lots. As far as requests... I'd love to see another red brick version (or two or three   ;D )... You can never have enough bricks   ;)

FrankU

#333
Wow!  &apls

But.... I'll wait until your overlays are finished. I just might use them next to or instead of CP's textures for my farms. I don't know how quick you are, and I also don't know how quick I'll be. So this might get interesting.  ;D

But under the condition that you make a comprehensive set of base textures and overlays with paths and other structures with the red brick texture. Did you have that in mind?

Good work!

noahclem

An exciting day indeed!! These textures are just stunning. Would be nice to make a mod to replace similar-looking but less beautiful textures with these. And I love that you did a fanned stone texture  :bnn:

Dantes

Your landscape looks great. I like the rural design.

kelis

Those textures are perfect !! Thank for your work and gor share it. You will see them in my MD for sure  &apls &apls
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vortext

#337


Quote from: epicblunder on April 27, 2015, 08:40:00 AM
Awesome.  Cobbles 2,7 and 6,5 look delicious   :thumbsup:

Thank you!


Quote from: romualdillo on April 27, 2015, 10:15:37 AM
Already downloaded!! I'll put them to good use soon...  :D (I think I don't have to say I love them!!!)

Thanks, looking forward seeing them in use!


Quote from: Simcoug on April 27, 2015, 07:22:08 PM
I had a pre-release party earlier this week - they are already getting integrated into many of my WIP lots. As far as requests... I'd love to see another red brick version (or two or three   ;D )... You can never have enough bricks   ;)

Thanks, glad to hear they found their way already. Request noted!


Quote from: FrankU on April 28, 2015, 02:47:10 AM
Wow!  &apls

But.... I'll wait until your overlays are finished. I just might use them next to or instead of CP's textures for my farms. I don't know how quick you are, and I also don't know how quick I'll be. So this might get interesting.  ;D

But under the condition that you make a comprehensive set of base textures and overlays with paths and other structures with the red brick texture. Did you have that in mind?

Good work!

Thanks. As for overlays, the teller currently stands at 42 which I consider to be the basic shapes set. . Still have to derive the paths from them, and add a bunch of more exotic shapes. Does that sound comprehensive enough?!  :D


Quote from: noahclem on April 28, 2015, 03:00:48 AM
An exciting day indeed!! These textures are just stunning. Would be nice to make a mod to replace similar-looking but less beautiful textures with these. And I love that you did a fanned stone texture  :bnn:

Thanks! Fanned cobble is my holy grail, already made 3 of them but still not quite to my own satisfaction. .will probably try my hand at another some time.  ::)


Quote from: Dantes on April 28, 2015, 03:38:14 AM
Your landscape looks great. I like the rural design.

Thank you!


Quote from: kelis on May 04, 2015, 02:10:10 AM
Those textures are perfect !! Thank for your work and gor share it. You will see them in my MD for sure  &apls &apls

Thanks, looking forward to see them pop up!






For today something fairly boring but it's one of thing which made me go: 'this is too crazy to be true but it actually works!' As the title indicates I'm talking about a hybrid T21 lot file.

First things first though, I should probably briefly explain what a T21 is so everyone can appreciate the full extend of craziness later on.

In short a T21 is a type of file which is used to place props on traffic networks, stuff like trees, light posts, parked cars, etc. Basically it's a 1x1 lot applied to an individual network tile. And this is not just an analogy, since technically a lot file and a T21 file actually use a number of the same properties.

click for full size


On the left a lot file, on the right a T21 file. Similar properties highlighted in green. Highlighted in red near-similar properties, further bolstering the argument T21s are just a special kind of lots.

Now, while it's really simple to edit a lot, either with the Maxis LE or SC4PIM, there's no simple way to edit T21s. In other words, getting props on a T21 typically means copying them over from a proper lot file, and the same goes for all subsequent adjustments you want to make.

On a side-note I should mention there's a – private - tool available to edit T21s but I find it too abstract to use, I like to see what I'm doing. Besides for the current pet project I'm using a fair number of small props and things get confusing fast.

So, given the similarities between T21s and proper lots I'd already successfully managed to rework T21s to lots (and vice versa) in the past. However needing to rework the files every time a prop is moved is still far from ideal, obviously.

Enter the crazy idea: would it be possible to just mesh the two file types together?

In short yes!  ()stsfd()



Notice the hybrid file actually has two Exemplar Type properties, crazy! Furthermore, the SC4PIM doesn't seem to mind all the network related properties in the lot file, and similarly the game doesn't seem to mind all the lot related properties in the T21 file. It sounds kinda hard to believe but it actually works! Don't ask me why though.  :D

So, what does this mean? It means the lot can be edited in the SC4PIM, just like any other lot, and once in-game the changes take immediate effect as T21s! No more tedious copy-paste in between!

Now, I'll spare you the technical details to arrive at a T21 lot hybrid, in part because I haven't figured them out myself just quite yet. So far I've had SC4PIM saving errors, Reader crashes and flat out refusals. Moreover, I have no clue if it's actually safe to use, especially when it comes to making overrides for Maxis' original T21s. For all I know there's massive save-game corruption going on behind the scenes. .

Hopefully that's not the case though because I'm thinking this could potentially make way for some sort of dev kit: a set of hybrid T21 lots so you at home could, with some patience, edit the look of the street and road sides to your hearts content. Of course there'd still be some caveats, namely the placement patterns and what not, but still: wouldn't it be nice if you could edit the vanilla T21 files yourself?!

I think it would and so I've attached a set of hybrid T21s lot for the vanilla streets to this post. They seem to work though I've not had the chance to try them all out, obviously. Needless to say using the files is at your own risk!!

That said I'm curious to learn if the Maxis LE can handle them, and of course how it works out in game. I'd also really appreciate if someone could shed light on the save-game side of things.

And that's about it for now. I'll leave you with a sneak peek as to why I was tinkering with T21s in the first place.  ;)


time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

mgb204

That's a very awesome find, who'd have thought combining properties would work, I wonder if this might have other applications?

It would certainly make custom T21's possible for many more users, I don't see why it would cause problems, but I understand your caution here.

TheTeaCat

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