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Travis' Random Shots

Started by travismking, January 07, 2011, 09:08:49 PM

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travismking

This is not going to be a typical MD, but more a collection of random shots from cities that I like.  There will be little post-processing as I prefer to spend my time playing rather than in Photoshop, so things like Pause Bars and cursors will be seen in most shots.

To begin with, here is the historic center of one of my cities, this took a long time to get it the way it is, because all the rowhomes are grown and not plopped.





and an overview of the whole area


Travis

oh no, it seems another Travis has appeared. I had to do a double-take when I saw the title. :D

But, I like the creative use of the maxis rowhouses. Despite having enough CC in my plugins folder to choke a horse, I still try every now and then to find a new use for a maxis building- they're usually very good models, used sparingly they blend right in. ;) On that note, perhaps a few of the other maxis rowhouses would look good in your scenes just to break the repetition- but that assumes the repetition was accidental. :P

I'll be looking forward to more. :)

travismking

so YOUR the one that took my username ;)

Actually the repetition was not accidental, its the look I was going for, giving it the "planned" look. Tonight i'm in the process of going through every single building in my plugins and changing the tilesets around, Ive already done all the maxis buildings and am about halfway done my custom content ... Long process when you have almost 4 gigs of custom content, but I think itll be worth it

Also, if any of you guys have any comments on how I can improve, please post it :)

Tomas Neto

Nice city, and very good start on your MD!!!  :thumbsup:

dedgren

I'd be interested in seeing the "commute" view of the area of your city you have shown so far.  With that kind of "grown" rowhouse density, your streets should be packed.  'Course, maybe you took the pics on a Sunday?


David



D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

travismking

Actually there are not too many cars on the road ATM, most either walk or take the Light rail, which has been extended into the historic district, along with a few new buildings grown that I really like. the area has changed a fair bit since the last update



the building on the west side of the district (left of pic) is the tallest office tower in the country



and a traffic volume view of the west side, most of the traffic are pedestrians walking to the commercial buildings, or to the Light rail stations to go elsewhere in the surrounding areas (sorry, the interface has to stay up to show traffic views)

Nikom

I like those friendly roads, and the rowhouses ;) Keep doing great work  &apls

travismking

#7
My first attempt at detailing a pond, Im not quite sure I like the outcome, but not quite sure what is missing. The forest will obviously continue once Im sure Im happy with the outcome of the detailing. Any suggestions ?




edit: actually I filled in the forest, and it looks pretty good with the trees filled in, im happy with it, but still would like suggestions from the kings of rural on how I can make it look a little better. Also, does anyone know of a tutorial on how to make a tree controller? Mayor mode trees are a PAIN :p


rooker1

 It is definately a very good start.  But I would like to suggest some more variety with the trees, some rocks along the shore, some fallen trees, some other types of flora, grasses and maybe other colours of plop water. 
I have tried my hand at this type of thing recently and can tell you that it take alot of patience and practise to get it all just right.
Well that may be more than two cents, but it is what I think.

Robin  :thumbsup:
Call me Robin, please.

travismking

thank you Robin, You are very right, its not easy at all and takes a lot of time and a good eye for detail. I will keep working with it tonight, and hopefully can make it look a little better

Albus of Garaway

Beautiful pond! Although I wouldn't consider myself a "king of rural," I do have some suggestions. :)

The biggest part of the natural landscape is: variation, variation, variation! It doesn't matter how pretty one texture may look, use at least upwards of ten different textures/flora/rocks to detail your pond. Think about how much variance there is in nature, and how nothing is ever repeated.

Good luck! You have a really wonderful start on your ponds, and I can't wait to see more of your work!

Jason

travismking

Im still working on it, but I think this is a lot better than it was before


rooker1

You are getting there, but it still needs more. 
Have a look at some of the pics Badsim has posted in his MD lately to get some other ideas.

Robin  :thumbsup:
Call me Robin, please.

travismking

Tonight I'm going to do some custom lots and am working on finding the props that I want in almost 800 megs of just props. Anyone know if there are there any programs (other than pimx) that can view all props in a file and show them at one time, instead of having to look at them all individually? How do lotters know which prop pack has which props in it?

Albus of Garaway

You're right, that is beginning to look much better. Keep going! :)

Jason

travismking

The results of tonights work, its getting better, still working on downloading even more rural stuff, I downloaded more today, some more rocks, dead trees, logs and other stuff, if anyone knows of some stuff I dont have please reply with a link :) Also, I need to manipulate the lighting a little bit, as the jpeg makes it look a fair bit worse than it does in SC4


rooker1

Definitely coming along. &apls

Robin :thumbsup:
Call me Robin, please.

noahclem

You're making a lot of progress here  :thumbsup:  A couple things I might consider:

I think having all these very large, evenly-spaced boulders right on the shoreline is this picture's current weak link. The woods look great and of course the water is fine (nothing too tricky there ;) ). Most importantly, you've done an outstanding job with the flora between the forest and the lake (what should be the most difficult part). The little bits of flowers (not overdone), various grass and reed textures, and the bits of greenery and and small rocks extending into the water really look beautiful but those big boulders draw the eye away from them. I don't think the smaller rocks are doing you any harm but I'd ditch those big PEG boulders if it was me.

To make things a bit easier on yourself you could sometimes place trees close enough to the water to hang over it it (especially willows) which results in a pretty nice look.

As you do more of these type of scenes I'd also recommend trying out other water too, especially the Jeronij ploppable transparent stuff, which has its own unique advantages and disadvantages.

travismking

Thanks for the tips,  I really dont like those mossy green boulders either.  do you happen to have a link to jeronij's water set? is it this one?

noahclem

Yep, that's it. I think you'll be pleased with what you can do with it  :)  Nothing wrong with the PEG water you're using either, both have their own advantages and disadvantages....