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ÆRDEN ~ new streets!

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

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c.p.

#300
Pretty nice picture for not making the cut :o

The cobblestone roads are great. &apls  I agree with not cutting through the avenues.


Thanks! Reason for leaving the picture out was I had trouble dividing the storyline over 6 pictures, not because of aesthetics. ~ Erik

mgb204

#301
Quote from: vortext on January 12, 2015, 01:23:27 PM
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...

Ooh, that is an inspired idea... I think I will play with this, never was too happy with the brown grass when using SV, you'd never guess looking at the picture how you did it, great stuff  :thumbsup:.

Thank you! Yes, the terrain paints are fun to play around with. It adds a whole new way of detailing to the game and it's visible in regionview, too. Perfect for making large meadows I can tell you! ~ Erik 

FrankU

#302
Nice, really nice Erik!

I am looking forward to the cobblestones, while awing at your image.  :thumbsup:

Thanks Frank! ~ Erik

Schulmanator

#303
Nice new goodies you have... the cobblestone looks great!

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

vortext

#304
Speaking of new goodies. .  ::)

The other day I got bored with texturing, saw CP's Salem map in the LEX spotlight and decided to. .



. . do some more texturing.  ;D

Took a discarded LE texture and re-sized it to 512px while cutting all the detail sizes in half. Funny thing is, with the default tiling factor of 2 it gives about the same result as the current HD terrains. . sure there's some repetition but nothing a multi fsh could't take care off. . ah yes, the lure of new terrain. . not to mention a matching HD tree controller. . I need way more vacation. .

time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

carlfatal

#305
Wowowowow!  :o

I was lazy, I know... Eventually I cant stay still, I must give some comment to express my thoughts, if I look to the last pictures. The cobblestone roads (if I understand right, they are roads) are intriguing, the same applies to the new grass texture. So there is a way to run out HD?  $%#Ninj2

And at least the picture with the fields and the small road, where the brothers "drive" with their horses and wagons... that is so beautyful, so idyllic.  &apls

To Kwakelaar´s cloister: Indeed it matches well with the castle here seen from above. I always shrink all directions, not always with the same strength to let it match the game grid. But maybe I wanted only to advertize a BAT I love...  $%Grinno$%

Thanks Carl! You're correct the roads are roads.  :D

As for outrunning HD terrain, unfortunately the game still crashes when trying to use 512px texture in software rendering. In other words the half size is merely for my own convenience, 1024px just takes way too long to render, my pc is quite old. .  ~ Erik

benedict

#306
Congratulations, your MD was number one on BTT for the week ending 18 November.

Sweet, thanks everyone!  &apls ~ Erik
Click on the banner to celebrate!

noahclem

#307
Sounds like you've got a fun new distraction on your hands--sometimes I think we need those to keep us from going crazy or getting sick of this game  ;D  I'd love to see another tree controller from you and will be very curious to see how the multiFSh implementation changes the look. ....

I love that last picture  :o

Thanks Noah! And you're right, I just need something to tinker with from time to time. Recently I've been going through Carl's (Lowkee) terrain thread. With all the seasonal flora nowadays it has started to bother me the terrain remains evergreen. . Carl got quite far in that regard but it's a tricky area. I fooled around with the .ini and suddenly my textures turned black. .   %confuso  Think I'll stick to transit textures for the time being. ~ Erik

Gugu3

#308
Simply stunning! &apls

Thanks! ~ Erik

romualdillo

#309
I'm the voice in your head: Yes, I think you need more vacation...

Yeah if could you stop talking please.  .  :troutslap: ~ Erik

vortext

#310
So once McDuell had revealed his Terraformer exploit used to create a FAR bridge, I got curious about the effect it'd have on lots. So without furter ado here's our tiny plateau town.



Next I went into the Terraformer and flattened the area, back in game and. . .



it's afloat! Well, parts of it are.



At closer inspection with the grid on you can see the props and models are at their initial height, as is the street. The textures on the other hand are at the new ground level, as are the animated horses.



Notice the routes actually go up to street level as if nothing happened! I also ran the simulator for a while, dezoned, saved, bulldozed, saved-and-exit-to-region, etc. All was still well when I came back. Finally here's what happened when I drew the street further out.



A nice demonstration of slope & foundation thresholds. Some of props got lowered too. All in all a neat trick! In theory this opens up the possibility for functional floating cities, albeit one would have to use props to stand in for textures - certainly doable. Terring?
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

vortext

#311


Hi there, today marks exactly one year of proper RCI development in the region. And to celebrate the occasion this update will be all about cold numbers and boring facts, hooray!

Well, just two numbers actually. Fact of the matter is RCI development so far consists solely of 7343 agricultural jobs which sustains a population of 17217 low wealth residents. And that's it as far as the numbers and facts go, quite a relieve, isn't it?!

Now if you think it doesn't amount to much for a years work, I'd agree with you as far as the numbers go. However, I'm actually rather pleased with the region as a whole and to see why we need to go back in time . . . cue flashback music. . . no wait, keep in mind the next pictures show the end state of each particular region before I moved on. That's kinda paramount.



Autumn 2011, the very first iteration of Arden (with a boring A yes) in the Agia Triade region with Italia terrain. Note the small patch of seasonal forest in the lower left corner, it's all manually plopped Oaks.




Spring 2012, second iteration of Ærden. Switched to the Salt Lake City region with a slightly modified version of the Meadowshire terrain. This was the first time I took great care of detailing, I even named all the streets!




Spring 2013, third iteration which was a composite of Agia Triada and Salt Lake City, though I never completely rendered the region . . honestly don't know how I could've stand that, especially since I tend to give people flak for not rendering the entire region before building. Maybe because I was so focused on building a proper city, which if interested you can read more about here. But again, the regional development went as far as you can see, i.e. not very far indeed.

So back to present day and the developmental state of the region. Hopefully it's clear by now why I'm quite proud of it, even though there's still a f*ckton of empty land – pardon my French. Also click pictures for full size, opens in new tab.




Satellite view. The difference in foliage between some tiles is due either to the tile being saved on a different date than its neighbor or being saved with a different tree controller. Or possibly both. . probably should've kept track . .  ::)




Traffic view. Since it's still streets only, I actually count out the tiles to determine where the neighbor connections should be – visually that is. Of course a mistake is easily made so here's a fun little game: spot the misaligned street connections.  ;D


And that's about it. I'd also written a bit explaining my overall approach to the region and subsequent choices regarding the staple of lots but alas, I didn't find the time to finish it properly. Besides it might be kinda boring, come to think of it. But for posterity's sake I'll leave you with the very first grown lot dressed up with mmps and everything. At time of writing the picture is just about 2 hours away from turning one year old.


time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

Simcoug

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

romualdillo

Great pictures!!! I think the road layout is the most realistic one I've seen in the game...  &apls

art128

The street region view is indeed quite splendid. I had no idea the region changed that much over the time.
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

Props & Texture Catalog

packersfan

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.

FrankU

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...

mgb204

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 :).

Gugu3


dwelln8hss32

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