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Solar Panel Props and Lots

Started by cogeo, November 11, 2009, 09:29:10 AM

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cogeo

Hi,

I have made an animated solar panel prop, using overpop's BAB Tool. Here is a pic (next is its static version).



The panel is "sun tracking" (swivelling), and represents an installation located in the northern hemisphere (for the southern hemisphere the direction must be reversed) and must be facing southwards, in order to look OK. Most probably I'm going to make a fixed (non-swivelling) panel prop too.

Now I need to make the lots. I'm considering making three lots:
- A very simple lot, containing just a single solar panel prop, maybe with transparent background (or you think some base texture would look better, and which one?). This can be used by the players in modular layouts.
- A small power plant (1x2 or 2x1) with one panel and some support structures, like a small shed and a small transformer/control box.
- A larger power plant (farm) with 10-20 panels, a larger shed/building and a small power substation (and some paths in between).

As I haven't been downloading custom content lately, and it makes no sense to re-invent the wheel, I would like to ask players about suggestions of suitable props, esp the transformers and substations (the smaller the better), and sheds (preferably with some windows). I would strongly prefer props in prop-packs (not the ones included in lots).

Looking forward to your replies.

warconstruct

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Earth quake


cogeo

warconstruct & Earth quake: thank you for your comments.

There is some little progress:



You can see the fixed (non-swivelling) panels, and two types of lots (unfinished yet).
The small lots are for modular layouts, while the 1x2 ones are intented for use as autonomous power plants.

I searched for props, but didn't find anything very much suitable. So I had to BAT that small shed (it shouldn't be casting shadows on the panels, neither be too big). It's not finished yet, some details are missing. The transformer isn't mine, and I think it's on the big side, so I will have to BAT it myself too, I'm afraid. Same goes for the much larger "park" (not done yet), this needs a bigger building (or should I use the same one?).

Should I remove the texture in the modular (1x1) lots (ie make them transparent), or maybe replace it, eg with a light-coloured grass, or mixed grass/dirt? Any suggestions?

I have to finish BATting and check their behaviour on sloped terrain.

Hope I will be able to showcase more stuff soon.

Tomas Neto


cogeo

Hi again,

I have finished with modding of the lots/buldings, and some few lot details are remaining. Here is a pic:



The lots at the front are autonomous (small) power plants, while the ones at the back are for modular lots.

And the larger "parks":



I think it makes no sense making more (larger and/or differently oriented) lots, as the combinations are numerous (these ones represent an installation located in the northern hemisphere and must be facing southwards, in order to look OK). Instead I would encourage players to make their own lots, using the LE.

I have some questions:
- Should I remove the texture in the modular (1x1) lots (ie make them transparent), or maybe replace it, eg with that light-coloured grass, texture? Any suggestions?
- Does anybody really need an (animated) prop suitable for an installation in the southern hemisphere? The direction must be reversed, and this is quite a bit of work. Is there some known way to reverse the animation (without modifying it again)?
- Any other suggestions or wishes?

The pack is going to be released within this week.

hooha47

I think these look great.  I tend to prefer transparent textures, but for these, I think it's better if they aren't.  I like the grass texture you show here.  I can't wait to see these solar panels swiveling around in my city.   :thumbsup:
"If you want to have cities, you've got to build roads." - Cake


See all my lots on the STEX
And see my parking lot projects thread here and my mayor mode ploppables thread here

thingfishs

#7
Agreed that these look great (especially the animated one :thumbsup:), and as a resident of the southern hemisphere I would suggest not worrying about it, there's no hemispheres in SC anyway. (unless as you say it can be easily done) I was wondering at what speed the animation runs in game?

cogeo

@hooha47: Does it look better now?



How about the 1x2 ones? (I changed the texture at the back).


@thingfishs: indeed, SC4 doesn't have hemispheres, and the sun is always at the... left side (if you rotate the city view it doesn't change). I would wish if this could be changed (I know the length of shadows, ie the sun angle) can be changed, but I'm not sure about this one. So you're right, this makes little sense. As fot the speed of animation, it's the one you see in the first pic. I know, it's fast, and I will see if I can change it, ie specify a slower frame rate. But there are limitations in this, if it's set much slower the animation won't be smooth, unless the number of frames is increased too, which in turn would increase the filesize and resources usage. I'll see what I can do.

hooha47

I'm not sure which is more realistic, but I think I like it better now with the grass texture under the panels in those 1x2 lots.
"If you want to have cities, you've got to build roads." - Cake


See all my lots on the STEX
And see my parking lot projects thread here and my mayor mode ploppables thread here

tamorr

I'm not sure how the BAB Tool works but I do know a bit about animation in the visual cartoony sense. If you could slow it down by 50% that would look fine since a Sim day doesn't change very rapidly. It may not be as smooth, but you could expect it to be that way. I mean look at timed props they tend to jerk around with using multiple for one item to do something different through out the day.
   So in essense it wouldn't really truly look all that bad, at least you wouldn't have to stack props on each other to get a simular effect.

   The lots in my oppinion look fine, and I could come up with a few ideas already for my own lot making. :)
I do like the basic building you have and your transformer you made smaller.
  "It is wiser to think about your actions before doing them, but be warned One must act quickly before another takes action for you."
  "Knowledge may be Power, but it is how you use that Knowledge that makes One Powerful."
  "I am a Philosopher, Punnist, Poet, and Rambler so keep in mind I think ahead and backwards to point where communication is sometimes not completely understood, even if Enlish is my primary language, it doesn't mean I know it well N proper."
  "Always do your best to acheive your goals and Dreams one at a time."
"Patience is a virtue."

Andreas

Pretty much all solar power plants I have seen are usually built either in the desert, or on grassy terrain, so the grass lot is definitely more appropriate. :) The animated solar panel is nifty! I hope the animation cycle is a bit slower than in your pic, though, as it takes a whole day for one cycle in RL. ;) If I'd have to be very picky, I'd suggest to tone down the blue of the panels a bit, but that's really only because I'm used a slightly lighter tone of the panels here. But I guess that differs from manufacturer to manufacturer. In any case, it looks so much more realistic than the Maxis solar power plant. :)
Andreas

cogeo

#12
Hi again,

I have checked if making the animation slower is possible, and I have found that the frame rate is rather fixed. So making the animation slower can only be achieved by rendering more frames. The x and 1/x times setting in BAB utilitiy just includes the same frame twice, thrice etc, and this effectively makes the animation slower (albeit less smooth) without increasing the filesize considerably (presumably the conmpressor finds repeating patterns and compresses the images efficiently). This however still has the limitation of up to 196 frames, and although the filesize is not increased much, the runtime resources are increased, ie there is no runtime benefit compared to taking (equally) more samples (frames).

So I elected to not use this feature, and instead reduce the frame step. I have made two animations, shown in the pics below (wait for the animations to dl completely):



Compare it to the animation in the first post. The first consists of 67 frames and the second 100 (the original had 33). Their filesizes are 1.1MB and 1.6MB, while the original is 590K.

Which one should I use? Should I include all three in the pack (and have the player deleting the two unwanted ones)?

Another funny feature is that they keep swivelling even during the night. I can change this so that it displays a static prop (turned to the original position) at nighttime.

Synchronizing with the simcity "day" is impossible, as the prop keeps animating even if you stop the game (take a look at the ingame pizza and hot dog - though I think this can be changed), but basically because of the extremely long simcity day (the number of frames required would exceed the limit of 196 by far).

As most people appear to prefer that green texture (it's the same as in the maxis windmill) so I'm going to keep it.

Andreas, indeed there are differences from manufacturer to manufacturer, and most I have seen are actually darker, dark blue, almost black-blue. Take a look at this pic. These are the ones I had in mind, and I think these are the ones most players are familiar with. But I could make a lighter render for you, if you think it would look better (pic please). Btw the darker ones are for countries with less sunlight, for tropical/subtropical areas there are offered even some orange/brown-coloured ones!

I'm going to test the thing a little further and post again.

Andreas

Hmm, the additional resources are a downside, but the gentle loop in the last example is definitely more appropriate. Personally, I rarely play in night mode or day/night cycle, so I don't care if the animation stops during the night, but it might be an option to use timed props indeed. As for the lighter blue of the solar panels, here are two pics: The one on the left shows the local solar power plant. It's probably a bit misleading since it reflects the cloudy sky, but the example on the right is a plant in Spain (I think) that has been erected by the same company.

 
Andreas

thingfishs

I agree, my vote is for the last one. Personally I think putting all three in is unnecessary.

TheTeaCat

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If I had to choose I'd go for the 3rd version also.
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tamorr

   Hmmm.... I really didn't like the first one's speed, and the second one hit the spot I prefer. Although the third one is kinda' more realistic as they do go pretty slow over the course of the day..

   If anything I would have to say having at least two of them in the pack, namely the last two, would be ideal for those who want to keep the resources down, even if it is not much... But like I said my favorite is the second one.. So it is primarily up to u to include or not... :)

   And Andreas I think I have seen that second one on the Science Channel showcasing alternate energy sources. Those were some nice looking ones too.
  "It is wiser to think about your actions before doing them, but be warned One must act quickly before another takes action for you."
  "Knowledge may be Power, but it is how you use that Knowledge that makes One Powerful."
  "I am a Philosopher, Punnist, Poet, and Rambler so keep in mind I think ahead and backwards to point where communication is sometimes not completely understood, even if Enlish is my primary language, it doesn't mean I know it well N proper."
  "Always do your best to acheive your goals and Dreams one at a time."
"Patience is a virtue."

hooha47

Outstanding.  I really like the 3rd one, the one that moves the slowest.  Great work.  &apls &apls &apls
"If you want to have cities, you've got to build roads." - Cake


See all my lots on the STEX
And see my parking lot projects thread here and my mayor mode ploppables thread here

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blade2k5

Outstanding!! &apls  Incredible!!  &apls  Wow!! &apls  Nice work!! &apls

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