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SimCity 4 Devotion Custom Content Showcase => BSC Place => Team Custom Content Projects => BSC Creations => Topic started by: xannepan on October 05, 2007, 06:52:11 AM

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Title: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 05, 2007, 06:52:11 AM
I found some time to play with BAT again. Don't want to raise expectations... Not sure if I'll have time to finish  &mmm... Still a long way to go.

I'm trying to find out if this can be build on a hill in the game... All walls go beyond the ground level.
I already found out that  the building ''merges'' on a hill if I use a thight LODS.
I'll also try to create the intended effect by creating a custom foundation.

This is probably the most complex building I have ever started... no straight angles at all..  :(

I also playing with photoswhop to create to wall textures with vines etc... Currently this is the best I can do.
Any suggestions on how to create textures like this are most welcome.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ObladiOblada on October 05, 2007, 06:58:15 AM
I can only say that this is amazing!!! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 05, 2007, 07:18:02 AM
just one more pic...

One finished this is one step closer to a medieval town in simcity...
together with the SAM this will look great.

For inspiration take a look at

http://www.medievalworlds.com/

for what could be...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jeronij on October 05, 2007, 07:19:58 AM
 ??? ... :o ... &apls &apls &apls

Great to see you back to BAT, and I feel shocked by the beautiness of this model  ()stsfd() .... really really nice  :thumbsup:

btw, the grapewines in the last picture are looking really nice.... photoshoped  %confuso .... bump mapped ?¿
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Emperor Stormont on October 05, 2007, 07:40:10 AM
That is simply stunning work. I wish you all the very best with this

I already have ideas about how to use this once finished. Truly fantastic Xannepan... &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on October 05, 2007, 07:48:07 AM
This beautiful, xannepan. I am in awe of this.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Serkanner on October 05, 2007, 07:53:35 AM
I can hardly believe I am looking at a model and not a cut-out picture of a true castle. Amazing piece of work and I do hope you will be able to finish this.

:thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sebes on October 05, 2007, 08:15:54 AM
It almost looks like if you took a picture from a finished bouwpakket (assembly kit?) that you can put on a miniature train world.... Awesome!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: JBSimio on October 05, 2007, 08:44:21 AM
Holy buckets!!!  This is what happens when you "find some time?"  That's incredible!

JB
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glenni on October 05, 2007, 08:44:58 AM
Woooooooooow!
I really can't say more than that, cus i'm speechless after seeing that! :o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: M4346 on October 05, 2007, 08:48:49 AM
Oh WOW! :shocked2:

Welcome back!  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DuskTrooper on October 05, 2007, 09:06:53 AM
That's really something....welcome back, BTW ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Revol on October 05, 2007, 09:27:56 AM
That is mind blowing! Fantastic work!  &apls I saw a pic of that castle recently and hoped someone would model it someday  ;D It would be perfect as Castle Zenda for my M.D  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: M4346 on October 05, 2007, 09:39:35 AM
I just thought of this, and thought I'd run it past you, but maybe you can consider making it merge with the CAL Canals?  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: beskhu3epnm on October 05, 2007, 10:09:56 AM
xannepan = one of my heroes.

I wish you had all the time in the world to model...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Ennedi on October 05, 2007, 10:53:52 AM
It will be one of the most beautiful objects in SC4, and the idea with walls going beyond the ground level should be a suggestion for other BAT-ers making buildings placeable on slopes  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FromTheAshes on October 05, 2007, 11:19:19 AM
Beautiful building! You could try to make the wine a bit more detailed on the texture but actually this seems ok to me. You wont recognize it ingame.
PS: Thanks a lot for the link, it's a great website. As a big fan of medieval architecture and city life I love the pictures there!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on October 05, 2007, 12:57:03 PM
That's absolutely amazing. I'd love to see it as a water/land ploppable or canal compliant.
The textures are great, maybe the vines are too blue, but that might had been your intention.

And thanks for the link, lots of inspiration there  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kwakelaar on October 05, 2007, 01:34:48 PM
That is quite an exceptional model.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: RippleJet on October 05, 2007, 01:48:07 PM
Quite an exceptional model indeed, and quite exceptional too see you back, Xannepan! :thumbsup:

Hope you will stay for a long time! :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FromTheAshes on October 05, 2007, 01:50:06 PM
Mh, xannepan, I'm thinking about creating a huge "medieval-mod" for sc4 for months. Including new civic buildings, SAM (maybe a new texture, Glenni postet a great one weeks ago) and so. This WOULD take ages, but in the end we'd have one of th best game additions ever. The problem: I'm student, I aint got much time. So I need someone more.. experienced. If you're interested, just let me know (pm or post, I don't mind).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on October 05, 2007, 02:03:16 PM
Whoa, that's one awesome model indeed!  &apls  And Burg Eltz isn't that far away from my hometown, although I haven't visited it since almost 20 years now. No offense to Maxis, but their castle set and even the Neuschwanstein landmark are rather mediocre compared to this beauty. (Where's that "love" smiley with those floating hearts when you need it?)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on October 05, 2007, 03:03:05 PM
all i can say is...

O-M-G :o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: GrizzlyBuilder on October 05, 2007, 03:11:47 PM
awsome.   simply awsome. 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Krio on October 05, 2007, 03:56:01 PM
Indeed a stunning model as everyone has said. Lookin forward to see this finished, that is one of the most interesting BATs at the moment.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ElPhantasmo69 on October 05, 2007, 10:05:00 PM
The old-world master has returned! You've been sorely missed, glad you're back!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 06, 2007, 02:32:00 AM
Need some help.

1) I remember someone mentioned a script for 3dsmax(-7) to generate night previews but cannot find a link.
Can anyone help please?
2) Any pictures from the back-side of burg eltz would be highly appreciated....

Thanks,

Alex

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mickebear on October 06, 2007, 02:58:20 AM
Hi Alex

You'll find the script and instructions here (http://download.yousendit.com/876BF1BA5AC59564)

greetz

Mika

PS: remeber that as you are part of BSC, you can always ask advise at our private board...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Ennedi on October 06, 2007, 03:07:42 AM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg371.imageshack.us%2Fimg371%2F9845%2F50539970qw0.jpg&hash=fcacae36aea664010dd57eada28ebed4716bb167)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg371.imageshack.us%2Fimg371%2F4725%2F5238127072aa21e58b7wi7.jpg&hash=925528a095d46b48e3cde51b35f4734d2da6aa42)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg371.imageshack.us%2Fimg371%2F6566%2Fburg20eltz203va1.jpg&hash=ca1f2811432c24458fed9b72193690b9538cfe53)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: M4346 on October 06, 2007, 03:27:46 AM
You can also try this -> Click! (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Burg_Eltz)  :thumbsup:

Good luck!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 06, 2007, 04:37:16 AM
Thanks guys  ;D but I'm really looking for pictures of the backside.... I've looked everywhere on the www without success  ()sad()

And I DO have the batformax script... But what I'm looking for is the script to render nightlight previews in 3dsmax...

Anyway.. good to see this community still alive and kicking...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jeronij on October 06, 2007, 04:44:31 AM
Quote from: xannepan on October 06, 2007, 04:37:16 AM

And I DO have the batformax script... But what I'm looking for is the script to render nightlight previews in 3dsmax...


If you find it, pls, tell me where I can download  ;D . I am not aware of such a script, and would be so useful  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 06, 2007, 05:51:40 AM
I foudn this on simtropolis... by SimFox...
But no script...
I'll ty this once I get to the nigltlights...

Here is how you do it within 3ds MAX:
set all your lights, or/and night materials you plan to use
Go to Render menu and there to Environment...
In Environment and Effects window find frame titled Global Lighting and click on the color swatch. Put following values for RGB 128,128,191
You're night setup is done. It will, slightly depending on your lighting setup be almost 100% accurate to what you'll see in game. If you use default rig it will whole 100% like the final night export, because this setup exactly recreates what happens during night render pass I took the numbers from the script
If you use some sort of GI setup (FG is also form of GI) result may slightly differ as your GI may affect night Alpha pass. But this is separate and HUGE topic.

see also:
http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=37&threadid=87257&enterthread=y

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on October 06, 2007, 06:59:46 AM
About the accuracy, a least in my case, I have to drop 50% the multiplier of the nitelites once I've set them to my likeing, because in the max preview they render half the intensity than they would render for the game.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Strechnitz on October 06, 2007, 08:06:35 AM
Oh my, the fact that you are active again alone is wonderful news.
BUt this model surpasses my boldest dreams.
It is truly spectacular. A great promis for the future :thumbsup:

Strechnitz.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 06, 2007, 08:41:45 AM
first nightlight shot...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on October 06, 2007, 09:03:00 AM
Drool, drool, drool. Dammit my keyboard needs cleaning now. That is gorgeously gorgeous, xannepan. &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Yoman on October 06, 2007, 09:07:14 AM
I love the subtle feeling of the night lights, not overpowering, just perfect :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: LoneRanger on October 06, 2007, 10:41:57 AM
Driewerf [triple] wow!!!
That's an amazing looking castle.
I agree with Yoman about the lightning, it creates exactly the right atmosphere.

Dunno if it helps but I found a site with some detailed foto's of Burg-Eltz.
Might be worth to take a look.  :)

http://www.pbase.com/sandpiper/burg_eltz
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on October 06, 2007, 11:26:43 AM
They look great.

One thing, are you rendering with Catmull-Rom? because your images look a bit blurred, but maybe it's because the dark textures.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 06, 2007, 11:43:23 AM
DebussyMan; I have no idea what you are talking about  ()what()  ;D

Can you give me a quick explanation on how I should render once I'm ready to export to SC4 format?


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on October 06, 2007, 11:59:17 AM
First, start with reading the instructions that came with the bat4max.

Sorry would write how to, but I am not on my own computer, as I am visiting RippleJet.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 06, 2007, 12:10:12 PM
I did read the instructions... test renders worked fine, although I could not get nightlighting to work...
But are there any additional rendering settings in 3ds-max (v7) that I need to change??


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on October 06, 2007, 01:03:46 PM
In the antialias tab, at the rendering window, you should choose Catmull-Rom instead of Area.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on October 06, 2007, 01:56:16 PM
Quote from: xannepan on October 06, 2007, 12:10:12 PM
I did read the instructions... test renders worked fine, although I could not get nightlighting to work...
But are there any additional rendering settings in 3ds-max (v7) that I need to change??

There is no nightlighting preview in Max, only the global lighting workaround to give a rough representation.

Sorry if this is a dumb question...Have you named the lights with the "nitelite" prefix?  Also, when you export the model for SC4, remember to reset the global lighting back to white.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 08, 2007, 07:27:30 AM
Hi guys,

Ok.. first test render in 3ds-max-7. What a difference with gmax; only 30 minutes or so to render.
A few questions:
1) I have labeled all lights with "nitelite" prefix.. but somehow they do show up in the day render.
2) There is no night rendering... (I don't see night renders during rendering in 3ds-max not do I get nighltlught in the game)
3) I render the lot in gmax... in DRAFT quality mode.. does it matter?
4) Currently I have rendered everything in one model - including those parts of the wall that extend below the ground level. I'm using square LODs. The idea is that -eventually- the parts of the wall extendig below the surface only show if the castle is on a slope. Currently, the red arrow shows the castle will not adjust to the slopes properly.  I have no idea how to solve this problem. Does anyone have experience with using building foundations?

I'll keep on experimenting myself.. but any suggestions will help.

Xannepan
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on October 08, 2007, 07:57:27 AM
He he, Max's render speed when compared to BAT is something else, eh?

Problems one and two are more than likely related.  Did you get Cycledogg's updated CPBuildingMill.ms script?  If not, I've attached it here (saves you having to search the mammoth thread at ST  :thumbsup: )

Check that there are no typos in the nitelite prefix (my usual mistake).  The lights will illuminate in day mode when preview rendering, but the script will turn them off when exporting normally.

Rendering the LODs in draft mode have no bearing on the final render as far as I know, but I usually export them on full setting.

As for the foundation, you would probably have to set the foundation to null...Sam explains how to do this in her Ship Tutorial found HERE (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2443.0)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on October 08, 2007, 08:34:46 AM
Could you post a screenshot of the castle within iLive Reader with both wireframes and textures turned on ?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 09, 2007, 02:46:53 AM
Hi everybody,

Ok problem with nitelites is solved. Callagrafx thanx for pointing out the typos  ;D.... looks great now. I'm making progress.

What I'm really getting frustrated about is the foundation issue... I have added some pictures to illstrate what I want to achieve. Look at the pictures as 2D cross sections through the terrain, the green part being the terrain the building is placed on, the purple part the building and the blue part the building-foundation.
When the building is placed on flat terrain, you'll see NO foundation (first picture). When it is placed on a hil  the foundation will become visible, depending on the shape of the hill.

Here is what I have sofar;
In 3dmax I have one model of the castle with walls that go beyond the surface level (z=0). To split this is a buidling model and a foundation model I use a slice-plane modifier. Works great.
Now I have two models. The building itself, which renders perfectly well as long as I use square LODs. As soon as I use complicated custom-made LODs that fit the building more tightly rendering is completeyl messed up.

Rendering the foundation is even more problematic...
Here is what I have tried sofar
1) normal LODs as well as custom made LODs
2) rendered the LODS in gmax with building as well as foundation Model type option checked.
Both with normal square LODs and also with custom made LODs rendering (after 10 attempts) does not work.. or at least it does not look propery in the game. In 8 out of 10 cases I get the stupid colored boxes (last picture) But even when I do see parts of the foundation model... the shape is completely messed up..

More specific questions;
Will 3ds-max render properly when buildings are below the z=0 plane?
Do building models and foundation models need the same LODs?

I'd be perfectly happy to share the model with anyone who think can help...

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jeronij on October 09, 2007, 02:56:50 AM
I havent played with foundations, but I think it is a separated exemplar/model, so you should render two different models. However, the foundations use to be squared, and I am not sure if that is what you are looking for. I would try making one single LOD (three instances of course) for the whole model, including the under z areas, and render it as a normal model.
When you make the lot, mod it, and make sure the foundation is the smallest possible. Perhaps you should make your model as a prop, and use some existing (invisible) building to mod the lot properly. this way, the foundation would be small and hidden under the model, and the model LODs would fit the terrain naturally ( maybe not perfect, but better that the pictures you showed us  ;)

I hope this helps
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 09, 2007, 03:57:15 AM
Thanx jeronij.
I have tried my concepts is gmax... and there is works perfectly.
Here is what I did.
Picture left: two models: one for building, one for foundation. Only for the Foundation I have used custom LODs.. see how nicely it merges witht he landscape...
Picture: right. Same but now standards LODs for both building and foundation. Result is not that great... foundation does not ''follow'' slope well enough.


Now the key question: will BAT for 3ds-max (v7) work with custom made LODs?






Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on October 09, 2007, 04:04:21 AM
Yes it will
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jeronij on October 09, 2007, 04:06:45 AM
Quote from: xannepan on October 09, 2007, 03:57:15 AM
Now the key question: will BAT for 3ds-max (v7) work with custom made LODs?

It will  ;) . Remember that you are rendering the LODs with the GMAX, which supports custom LODs, and you use MAX to create the textures and apply them to the GMAX generated LODs.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 09, 2007, 04:50:06 AM
I'm going crazy here...

Here are screenshots of the foundation model in DATGEN.

look at the first picture... completely messed up... even got holes in the textures?????

In next post I'll attacht he 3ds-max model of the foundation... I'd appreciate if any one of you could have a go at it...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 09, 2007, 04:52:37 AM
Here is the model...

The picture shows the model. The custom LOD in 3ds max doesn't fit it completely.. but better than the square box LODs...

:bomb:


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jeronij on October 09, 2007, 07:17:07 AM
I have downloaded the model and tried to make some testing, but the unit systems we use are different, and I had to re-scale the model to meters and I totally loosed the scale  &mmm

However, I made a render test with normal results. What I have noticed is that you rendered the foundation model as a building model in GMAX. You should render the LODs in GMAX like a foundation and not like a building.
This will bring you to a conflict that I just noticed now after testing this. The fsh IDs for the foundation seems to be not correctly handled by the BAT4MAX tool, and you will have to change them manually ( or with the existing Datgen tools) to fit the required id. In my case, all the fsh were named 00030### instead 00031### . After I changed this, the model looks ok in the Reader:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg530.imageshack.us%2Fimg530%2F5272%2Fxanepplodsha7.jpg&hash=8dbecb512cd405ae8900d594d19fce81f8a59ce1)

I hope this helps somehow  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on October 09, 2007, 08:36:31 AM
The model looks a little complex for a LOD....have you tried creating a new shape following the path of the foundation, then extruding to the right height?  This will make  the foundation solid too, which it should really be.  Once that's done, convert to an editable mesh and duplicate for LODs 4 & 5. 

It looks like the gaps could be normal related, in that some vertices are flipped.  I discovered this happens a lot with boolean operations and the only way I found to avoid it was convert the target object to an editable mesh before each boolean operation.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 09, 2007, 08:51:50 AM
Thanks Jeronij,

This sure helps, although I'm not looking forward to changing the IDs manually.
By the way; I did render the foundation in gmax as foundation as well as building, but that didn't seem to do the trick. At leat now I understand why.

Than there's one other thing. What I see in the pictures you poster puzzles me. I see parts of the building (above surface parts of the building) and not the castle wall below the surface... Maybe it has to do with the slice modifier I'm using...

I'll try a few more things tomorrow... If that doesn't work I'll have to give up  &mmm and be happy with the model without the foundation...

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jeronij on October 09, 2007, 09:11:03 AM
Quote from: xannepan on October 09, 2007, 08:51:50 AM

This sure helps, although I'm not looking forward to changing the IDs manually.

Alex

In the reader you have a tool called TGI editor which allows you to change all these ID's with a single click or two. I am sure Datgen has also something similar  ;)

Quote
Than there's one other thing. What I see in the pictures you poster puzzles me. I see parts of the building (above surface parts of the building) and not the castle wall below the surface... Maybe it has to do with the slice modifier I'm using...

If you look at the models with textures and wireframe, you will see why the foundation looks like it looks like. If you make your foundation model with some sort of floor, it will look different, probably better, but also some parts of the uppers walls will also be seen from this point of view. However, in the game, these parts of the foundation wont be visible, since they are covered by the building LODs.

I hope you can understand my sometimes confusing english  ::)  ;) )

Dont give up. This model is really worth some headaches  ;D . If you dont get it to work, and want to send me a model ( in meters and not inches) I can give a try to the LODs for you  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 09, 2007, 09:35:53 AM
Quote from: callagrafx on October 09, 2007, 08:36:31 AM
The model looks a little complex for a LOD....have you tried creating a new shape following the path of the foundation, then extruding to the right height?  This will make  the foundation solid too, which it should really be.  Once that's done, convert to an editable mesh and duplicate for LODs 4 & 5. 

It looks like the gaps could be normal related, in that some vertices are flipped.  I discovered this happens a lot with boolean operations and the only way I found to avoid it was convert the target object to an editable mesh before each boolean operation.
`

callagrafx; Oh.. no... you've gotta be kinding about these normals...  :bomb: But it may explain why it looks the way it does...
The only strange thing is that the above gourn-level part doesn't seem to be affected  ()what()

Jeronij; the model is not quite finished... I was jsut testing the foundation idea today. Once I have t finished I'll be happy to share it with you to see if you can find out what's wrong...




Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: toxicpiano on October 09, 2007, 10:05:32 AM
Magnificant work xannepan! Had you thought a SG CAL canal version?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Pat on October 09, 2007, 11:16:55 AM
WOW OMG that is soo stunning Xannepans!!! All i have to say is wonderful works here!!! - pat
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on October 09, 2007, 11:19:19 AM
It's the slice modifiers that are causing the problem I think.  If you look at the mesh top down with the slices active, you'll see the polys "open" up.  Not sure there's an easy way around...looks like you will need to create a new shape as I outlined above, and use that as your foundation model.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kimcar on October 09, 2007, 04:03:51 PM
 &apls &apls Wow . what a masterpiece on the way. Great comeback mate. Nice to see your creations again. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 11, 2007, 06:29:15 AM
I stopped working on Burg Eltz for a few days...

But I'm still working with BAT: I managed to import the antwerp cathedral in 3ds-max... and decided to do some restyling. Somehow I never managed to finish it the way I would have liked to, simply because memory issues in gmax. Moreover with flickr and the city of antwerp being available in birds-eye view in live maps I have many more pictures I can work with.

The screenshot shows my progress.. I have finished added stair towers to the two main tower, and this time I can manage to be more realistic towards the second tower (which now is only half finished)
The size is about similar to that of the notre dame... only this cathedral has a tower of 123m.

Don't worry about burg eltz... I will continu.



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: freedo50 on October 11, 2007, 07:53:51 AM
Wow that looks absolutely magnificent xannepan, this is a cathedral on a par with debussyman's amazing efforts. Looks like we've gone cathedral mad!  :thumbsup:

Fred
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: RippleJet on October 11, 2007, 08:04:25 AM
 :o
Another masterpiece, Xannepan! &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 11, 2007, 08:10:57 AM
Quote from: freedo50 on October 11, 2007, 07:53:51 AM
Wow that looks absolutely magnificent xannepan, this is a cathedral on a par with debussyman's amazing efforts. Looks like we've gone cathedral mad!  :thumbsup:

Fred

Thanks guys,

This model was released by BSC a long time ago already.
I made a serious design mistake back then... Didn't know anything about the need for economic modelling at that time, so the poly count is way to high... let's see how rendering in 3ds-max will work...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mickebear on October 11, 2007, 08:56:15 AM
I join the gang with a drool on the mouthside...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Emperor Stormont on October 11, 2007, 09:22:50 AM
Oh my goodness, Antwerp cathedral looks simply stunning, I adore BAT's like this, the amount if detail is what makes these such a joy to use.

Excellent work  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on October 11, 2007, 10:00:15 AM
Quote from: xannepan on October 11, 2007, 08:10:57 AM
Thanks guys,

This model was released by BSC a long time ago already.
I made a serious design mistake back then... Didn't know anything about the need for economic modelling at that time, so the poly count is way to high... let's see how rendering in 3ds-max will work...


It should handle it a lot faster.  A couple of tips though... First, you should enable the 3GB switch.  This will tell your system (XP Pro hopefully) that it can use more than 2GB of memory & VM. This is how you set it:

Go to Control Panel > System
Click on Advanced tab
Click on the Settings button under Startup and Recovery
Click on the Edit button and your boot.ini file will open in Notepad
Under Operating Systems, add /3GB to the end of the line

Restart Windows and you should be able to render oh so much more.

Second, render with scanline and under the renderer tab, make the anti-alias Catmull Rom.  You can render with MR and a GI setup, but it's a memory hog and a bit of bitch to set up.  Last, don't go too mad with lighting, it's another memory hog and is the cause of many an Error 6
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Pat on October 11, 2007, 11:11:21 AM

WoW simply stuning....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on October 11, 2007, 01:02:21 PM
Great news! I always tought it would be impossible to to overcome your original, But you've certainly done it. Just fix your smoothing groups, they're not imported correctly from gmax. This very notisable in the front archivolte and gablet.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 12, 2007, 12:49:30 AM
Quote from: DebussyMan on October 11, 2007, 01:02:21 PM
Great news! I always tought it would be impossible to to overcome your original, But you've certainly done it. Just fix your smoothing groups, they're not imported correctly from gmax. This very notisable in the front archivolte and gablet.

DebussyMan, thanks... I didn't notice it initially. Fixing all these things after import in 3ds-max is quite a lot of work. I started it but did not fix everything yet... Progress is slow but steady.. the differences (see picture) may be small but take a lot of work
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mickebear on October 12, 2007, 03:37:54 AM
It is soo magnificent to see our cathedral as this kind of a picture - I live in Antwerp, about 1 km away from the cathedral and walk by it almost daily...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 12, 2007, 10:25:31 AM
Quote from: mickebear on October 12, 2007, 03:37:54 AM
It is soo magnificent to see our cathedral as this kind of a picture - I live in Antwerp, about 1 km away from the cathedral and walk by it almost daily...

I love Antwerp... great city.
Here is progress towards a more realistic model of the real thing..
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 12, 2007, 11:38:01 AM
one more .. that's it for today..
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mickebear on October 12, 2007, 12:14:29 PM
below the 2nd window from the left, there is usually a flea market with lots of 'antiques' on sale and often in front of the main door, you can find jongleurs...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on October 12, 2007, 01:10:30 PM
again, WOW :o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: thundercrack83 on October 12, 2007, 01:16:05 PM
Whoa! That cathedral looks amazing, xannepan! Magnificent job, my friend!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sim Shady on October 12, 2007, 04:10:49 PM
thats amazing the details, the structure, the everything!   :satisfied:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 14, 2007, 09:46:00 AM
Added statues and revised upper part of the left tower to make it more closely resemble the real cathedral.
A lot of work....
After today progress will be much slower again due to busy time at work. But I will continue both this and Burg Eltz. Burg Eltz is a bit easier and I may be able to spend some time on in the evening hours.
Any detailed pictures of the backside of the Antwerp cathedral are most welcome...

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: thundercrack83 on October 14, 2007, 09:48:22 AM
The amount of detail on this cathedral is astounding, my friend! I can't wait to see more progress on it!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on October 14, 2007, 11:54:45 AM
Stunning :thumbsup:
A piece of art remastered to it's full.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Pat on October 14, 2007, 06:27:23 PM
Stunnnnning just stunnimg work Xannepans!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 22, 2007, 12:47:16 PM
Good progress... ready for test rendering. Rendering in max is fast... but results are soooo unpredictable... I did everything according the book. Sometimes it works and sometimes this is what happens...

Why o why does this happen  :bomb:  :angrymore: ggrrrrr....

Any suggestions guys ?

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on October 22, 2007, 12:50:05 PM
Not sure what is going on ?

I would suggest that you try to export the lotss and render them again in gmax.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on October 22, 2007, 01:01:09 PM
When you re-installed, did you also re-install the texture fix from the official site.  It looks as if the BAT LOD export is mis-assigning the correct texture refs.  Try re-importing the LODs into BAT and saving as a new file...Export this as normal. 

There are also problems with the pasting of the model name into the Export box in Max, if you do multiple renders then the IDs also get screwed.  It's always best to save the Max scene just prior to pasting the name in.  If you have saved the scene with the model name in the export box, shut down Max and restart, then merge the scene into a completely fresh one and re-save.  There are a few bugs like this and they are a PITA, but easily worked around once you know the cause.  Let us know if you're still having difficulties.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: zero7 on October 22, 2007, 01:04:53 PM
There's a simple rule to follow when using Bat4Max that seems to avoid all the problems - don't change the LOD size after exporting.  

If you do make changes to the LOD size then re-export the LODs, render to a new model in gmax.  Save your max file to a new version and then render to the new model file.

This is why you'll see comments in my thread along the lines of "I'm not going to change the LOD, so I can show an in game render". I don't try an in game render until I know that the changes I've yet to make will fit within the LOD.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 27, 2007, 05:47:36 AM
Thanks guys, reimporting it in 3ds-max worked!
It's rendered now so next I'll start work on the lot. But i'll keep it simlpe.
BSC_team: any rules on how to release this on the LEX? Who is willing to provide assistance in making the installer, or should I just post the scmodel etc files zipped?

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on October 27, 2007, 05:54:29 AM
You can make the readme with the sc4tool.

Andreas had a link to it in his signatur. Think its still there.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: M4346 on October 27, 2007, 05:56:48 AM
That does look stunning! :shocked2:  &apls &apls

I think the next step would be to contact someone to mod, lot and package it and make it LEX-ready and have it posted... Barbyw comes to mind?   ;D

Good luck! And I can't wait to see this in the game!   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on October 27, 2007, 06:13:03 AM
Stunning indeed, great work!  &apls

SC4Tool can be found here: http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=315
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on October 27, 2007, 06:42:35 AM
Xannepan, I can lot, mod and package for you with no problem. If you would like me to do that for you, send me a PM and I'll send you my email address or post at BSC.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: LoneRanger on October 27, 2007, 08:26:06 AM
That turned out to be an amazing cathedral Xannepan.  8)
Gonna be hard work to build a city worth of that creation.  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on October 27, 2007, 07:56:57 PM
You are one of my BAT heros! I am so thrilled that you have works in progress. I would love to build a whole village of nothing but your BATs!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 28, 2007, 12:45:15 PM
in game picture of the cathedral.
Next post: progress on Burg Eltz
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 28, 2007, 12:48:05 PM
Good progress on Eltz. All of my previous problems with the foundation were solved once I merge everything into a new fresh scene. Don't even have to render it as a foundation. The only thing that is crucial is that the LODS fit the walls as closely as possible. For the building itself a more crude LOD is used.
Look how well the hills form shape around the castle walls.

I'm planning to release this with ''blank'' base textures so the terrain textures+rocks will merge with the castle.
But a lot of details have to be fixed before I'm ready... this is just a quick test.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on October 28, 2007, 01:56:00 PM
I can only say one thing to that - WOW &hlp &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: M4346 on October 28, 2007, 02:01:38 PM
Oh yes! Burg Eltz is looking really, really good Xannepan!  :thumbsup:  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on October 28, 2007, 02:15:13 PM
Note sure which of them I should comment on.....

the cathedral or the castle ?




well


on both     



WoW
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: JoeST on October 28, 2007, 02:16:49 PM
I have to say, i forgot how good this thread was

*falls over.... stone dead*

That is amazing
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Krio on October 28, 2007, 02:39:14 PM
I've died. Bury me to that cathedral.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on October 28, 2007, 03:04:21 PM
So nice to see that the skills are as awesome as always.  It was a great day for the community when you arrived back and started making magic again.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on October 28, 2007, 04:50:23 PM
That is so awesome it's superawesome! A jewel ready to be made!  :satisfied:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: D66 on October 28, 2007, 04:54:02 PM
Welcome back Xannepan!! Wow,  &apls stunning work as always
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on October 28, 2007, 05:00:16 PM
That castle is awesome, it fits great with the sorroundings. I also love the mix of floor textures you used.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: SimFox on October 29, 2007, 05:46:01 AM
Both Castle and Antwerp Cathedral - one of my favorites- are looking great. :thumbsup:
About that shadow issue with foundation of the castle. There is rather simple solution to that. You should render foundation with castle on top, but only foundation LODs. For simplicity you can attach all the stuff about the foundation in single object and then in it's properties set it invisible for camera, but make sure it is still casting shadows.
This way when render is done your foundation will receive all the shadowing that have to be there and will be a perfect match for the castle.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: thundercrack83 on October 29, 2007, 08:26:08 AM
Incredible. Simply incredible! I don't really know what else I can say that hasn't already been said!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Strechnitz on October 30, 2007, 01:27:39 AM
Hello Xannepan,

I've never been to Burg Eltz you so wonderfully recreated. But it seemed soo familiar.
And now I remember why. the Eltz stars in an comic album of Yoko Tsuno. drawn by Roger Leloup. ;D
For those who are interested. It is album 14. "Lightning of Wotan" or "de bliksem van Wodan.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg142.imageshack.us%2Fimg142%2F6656%2Feltz0nv1.jpg&hash=09a2d638254ca64879ce262e75784ca824705495)

good luck with your wonderful bats.

Strech.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ejc on October 30, 2007, 05:41:11 AM
oh boy oh boy oh boy...

xannepan is back in active :thumbsup:

EJC is cheering out loud right... NOW $%Grinno$%
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Emperor Stormont on November 04, 2007, 01:21:20 PM
OMG those recent updates were just stunning, such fantastic work. I'm looking forward to both  &apls  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 07, 2007, 09:30:45 AM
no pictures for now...
but still making slow but steady progress.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on November 07, 2007, 10:30:25 AM
Quote from: Strechnitz on October 30, 2007, 01:27:39 AM
good luck with your wonderful bats.

Something tells me luck has nothing to do with it.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 09, 2007, 01:06:24 PM
Help.. how on earth can I upload on the file exhange??? I've released Burg Eltz on simtropolis LEX, but cannot find the upload 'button' on sc4devotion.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on November 09, 2007, 01:13:10 PM
Try now.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: royal on November 09, 2007, 01:57:20 PM
Wow, I`m stunning. Great work, I can't descripe it.
My uncle lives in Wierschem, that`s the next town to Burg Eltz, and my grandma lives in Müden/Mosel. Wonderful  :thumbsup: &apls
Route from Wierschem to Burg Eltz (3km) (http://maps.google.de/maps?f=d&hl=de&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&saddr=wierschem&daddr=Burg+Eltz&sll=51.124213,10.546875&sspn=9.770154,20.566406&ie=UTF8&ll=50.202946,7.356033&spn=0.038896,0.080338&z=14&om=1)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Serkanner on November 09, 2007, 01:59:21 PM
I dare say this fabulous castle is amongst the five best models made for this game ever. But I will have to think real hard which the other four are.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on November 09, 2007, 02:04:44 PM
I agreed with Serkanner and put it with Caliban's Duke Chapel and Swiss Re building as well as xannepan's churches as being among the best BATs ever made. It is truly scrumptious and gorgoeus and I've run out of superlatives. &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: TheTeaCat on November 09, 2007, 03:21:02 PM
Its Astounding.  &apls &apls

It has got to be one of the most beautiful BATs I've ever seen. Thank you so much for sharing this with the community. Its is an absolute gem  :thumbsup:

A very well earned
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg259.imageshack.us%2Fimg259%2F378%2Fnewglassteacup311e418ebk8.png&hash=0a93624831fb108fc41df29c027e7cc2b08ed5e0)


:satisfied:
TTC

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: M4346 on November 09, 2007, 11:50:58 PM
Not only is this an incredible model with amazing detail and breathtaking beauty, but it is also an incredibly useful and versatile creation with its very generous custom foundation allowing for immense flexibility!

I applaud and thank you!  :thumbsup:  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 09, 2007, 11:53:00 PM
Thanks you all for the support and motivating comments.
I'm really happy with 3dsmax... rendering is so much easier and the possbilities for making beautifull models are worth the investment. Like Antwerp cathedral, I'll try to re-style Roermond Munsterchurch... my first ever model.. as well as the Maastricht and Cologne churches.

I'm still not sure how to work on the lot for the Antwerp cathedral. I want to keep it as simple as possible, just like the real thing, but in the back side the building is a bit smaller and there is a lot off open LOT space, I need to do something with. In Antwerp at the backside there is a small garden that is surrounded by buildings..
I'm currently looking into the gardens at the backside of the Reims cathedral as an example...
Any suggestions?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on November 10, 2007, 04:00:21 AM
Personally , as this masterpiece will be inevitably the highest touristic attraction of any city , I would create a "Souvenirs" market , using gascooker's props ....under Porkissimo's seasonal trees ...

It took me a long time to post something there , you're an alive legend ... I would not have bet about a come back . More talented than ever . &dd

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on November 10, 2007, 05:15:52 AM
Here's an in-game shot:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg117.imageshack.us%2Fimg117%2F3248%2Fburgeltzcw6.th.jpg&hash=bc9df0a61cf040477e478487e7f3657f2aadf5b1) (http://img117.imageshack.us/my.php?image=burgeltzcw6.jpg)

Just like the real thing - amazing!  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: tag_one on November 10, 2007, 07:27:19 AM
It's really a masterpiece! I hope you'll stay batting for a long time, your work is really good and a great addition to every city  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 21, 2007, 10:31:38 AM
Okay guys&girls. Antwerp Cathedral is ready. I've released at Beta version for testing at the BSC private LEX.

Here are some ingame screenshots.

The backside contains a garden, modelled as a seperate prop, which can e removed from the LOT if you'd wish to do so.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on November 21, 2007, 11:00:55 AM
That is absolutley beautiful.  Awesome work.  I don't know what else to say..... :o

&apls &apls &apls

Robin   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kwakelaar on November 21, 2007, 01:19:01 PM
I think the first release of this was already fantastic, now new and improved again a true beauty.
And I am very happy the garden is a prop
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on November 21, 2007, 04:26:37 PM
The four tombstones look a bit out of place, but WOW, what a magnificient building!  :o  If I wouldn't know better, I'd say the night shot is an actual photo...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mattb325 on November 21, 2007, 04:52:40 PM
Quote from: Andreas on November 21, 2007, 04:26:37 PM
....WOW, what a magnificient building!  :o  If I wouldn't know better, I'd say the night shot is an actual photo...

Couldn't agree more - this is magnificent!!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Emperor Stormont on November 21, 2007, 11:15:54 PM
OMG That is truly stunning work, congratulations on finishing such a fine building.

I look forward to using it.  &apls  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Adept2Rock on November 22, 2007, 04:50:04 AM
Beautiful cathedral! &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 22, 2007, 07:24:17 AM
Thanks you. Andreas: yes the tomb stones are a glitch remianing from an experiment in the lot editor. I have noticed another glicht with the garden property, which does not merge well with the cathedral LOD although there is not overlap in the design in max... ONly way to solve it is probably not to work with separate garden prop but to include it in the model. I can release the rendered model wihout with garden anyway. We'll see.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 23, 2007, 12:07:50 PM
While finalizing the Cathedral here is a preview of Gare du Nord revisited. Looks much better in 3dsmax. Just wait until I'm ready to post some close-ups. This time I will not include the bus station nor the rendered sidewalks. Wrt the previous model I have excluded the fourth tower in the right back side. The right roof now resembles the real station. I used google-earth screenshots for the roof texture, which - after some processing - look stunning. I'll not include the modern expansion of the station so I had to improvise for the right side wall. I used the only picture (attached) I could find from the early days of the station for inspiration. If anyone has pictures of the right back side, or of the tracks during the early years of the station I'd appreciate it if you could share. I'm also desperatetly looking for detailed pictures of the roof junk. (I already did an extensive search on the internet, flickr etc but could not find good material).

A technical question concerns the strange lighting problem at the backside to the tracks. Any suggestions?

About the size of the station. I cannot play with the width of the station since I'm bound to the 16m width of the railroads in the game. Currently everything fits and blends in nice with the size of Porkie's and my own Paris buildings. However, in reality the station (building as well as tracks) are longer than the current 3dsmax model. My proposal is to keep the length dimensions as is. But I'm open for suggestions.
Another issue is that I'm strugling how to fill up the empty spaces that wil remain in the left back side.
Finally in the previous version I did not model the glass parts in the roofs. I left it open instead, so you could see some of the things that were happening inside the station building in the game. My plans are currently to model the glass roof anyway. You'll get a sense of transparence but no real-transparency in the game off course, unless anyone knows how to make real-transparent glass.

Alex






Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 23, 2007, 12:10:04 PM
the right side wall
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on November 23, 2007, 12:16:10 PM
The original looks incredible, and this looks even better.  What an amazing job you doing with redoing your stuff.  I'll rip apart my city to make this fit in place of your original one.   ;)

&apls &apls &apls &apls

Robin   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 23, 2007, 12:17:39 PM
and one more...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Revol on November 23, 2007, 12:37:53 PM
stunning work! I didn't think you could improve on what is already one of the masterpiece BATs &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Krio on November 23, 2007, 12:49:02 PM
Oh my Guinness! Awesome!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on November 23, 2007, 01:16:10 PM
Awesome indeed.

About the transparency. There is a way to make real game transparent things by editing fsh files. I don't know how, but there are may people here that have investigated on the subject.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Serkanner on November 23, 2007, 01:41:53 PM
Its truly amazing that an, in my opinion, perfect model can be improved. But you have really done that.  :thumbsup:

As far as I know both Cogeo and Swamper77 have mastered the technique of making "true" transparent glass which let you see the automata.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on November 23, 2007, 01:49:39 PM
Swamper77 teached me how to edit a model to achive true transparency as well. As mentioned, it involves editing the S3D files in the building model manually with the reader. For the gmax/3DSMax model, you just need to create a regular transparent texture with the desired opacity. The BAT renderer will render them transparent, but all parts that are displayed against the black background of the rendering window will show up either completely transparent or completely black in the game. With the manual modification, this can be fixed, though.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Serkanner on November 23, 2007, 02:11:05 PM
My apologies Andreas, I didn't know you have mastered that skill as well. I will remember it ...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on November 23, 2007, 04:07:41 PM
xannepan, i always loved using your gare du nord, and i really cannot wait to see this revised one in the game, i can already tell it will be incredible!  :thumbsup: :thumbsup: &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on November 24, 2007, 03:34:52 AM
OMG , I've spent so many time to LotEdit again that Gare du nord ( spliting the bus and the train stations in two Lots perfectly coordinated ...) . I don't know if I must be happy or cry .... :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on November 24, 2007, 04:15:28 AM
Quote from: xannepan on November 23, 2007, 12:07:50 PM
A technical question concerns the strange lighting problem at the backside to the tracks. Any suggestions?

Hi Alex...

The problem is the CamLight Rig is not wide enough to fully encompass the model.  I had the same problem with a couple of mine.  The easiest way to fix this is to open up one of the CamLightRigs (I edited the standard one and re-named it) and change the hotspot/falloff of the mainlights to be much wider.  The lights are grouped so the best thing to do is go to Group > Open to edit the lights individually.  You will also have to move the lights back as well, but as long as the ref coordinate system is set to "local" then you can move it along the axis of projection.  Once happy, remember to select Group > Close.

Once you've done it, save the Rig, open up the model and go to Xref Scene, click on the Xref and at the bottom of the window, browse for the altered rig.

That should work.

Lee
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on November 24, 2007, 06:26:23 AM
 ()stsfd()
But it is sooo big ...  &mmm
But of course the original station is that big, too.  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Emperor Stormont on November 24, 2007, 11:31:59 PM
Truly wonderful, so pleased you have decided to improve the station, has always been a favourite of mine and have used it in my recent new Imperial Quarter, so that shall be replaced once this is ready.

So fantastic to have you back and creating such beautiful work.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 26, 2007, 07:32:34 AM
Quote from: Andreas on November 23, 2007, 01:49:39 PM
Swamper77 teached me how to edit a model to achive true transparency as well. As mentioned, it involves editing the S3D files in the building model manually with the reader. For the gmax/3DSMax model, you just need to create a regular transparent texture with the desired opacity. The BAT renderer will render them transparent, but all parts that are displayed against the black background of the rendering window will show up either completely transparent or completely black in the game. With the manual modification, this can be fixed, though.

Andreas; does that mean that the ''real'' transparency (ie the result after modding in the reader) only works for parts of the building (like a glass roof) that are rendered against a black background?

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on November 26, 2007, 08:27:02 AM
Well, if you create a model with (semi-)transparent parts, such as windows, they will be transparent if you use a material with a transparency (or opacity) setting. This means if you model something behind that window, you will be able to look "through" the window in the game and see what has been modelled there. However, if the area behind that window (or a glass roof) would show the black rendering background, those parts wouldn't be transparent in the game without manual modification of the SC4Model file. This is most apparent when you create a greenhouse, or a tram stop with glass roof.

Have a look at this picture:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg473.imageshack.us%2Fimg473%2F5981%2Fjesgreenhousewe1.jpg&hash=4aedf4365a01c692e61f5b532db202241641e7e2)

It shows some greenhouses that jestarr created a while ago. Look at the upper area on the left picture - you will notice that the glass seems to be missing in the area where only the green base texture of the lot is behind the glass, but not the floor of the greenhouse model. This is the transparency problem we're talking about.

I assume jestarr used less than 50% opacity for the glass texture, so it becomes completely invisible. If it was more than 50% opacity, that area would become completely black, like the renderer background. Now with the manual fix the model looks like on the right side - a complete transparent roof, with correct transparency across the whole glass structure. Hopefully, that will answer all remaining questions. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 26, 2007, 10:11:37 AM
Thanks Andreas... that leaves just three question: How much work does it involve to make a model like gare du nord transparent? Can I learn it myself? Or can you help me?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on November 26, 2007, 10:16:36 AM
If you know a bit about the Reader, you can do it yourself - it's just a few simple clicks, actually. However, a large model like the Gare du Nord will be split into a load of FSH textures, so it might take a while to process them all. I don't know if there's a tutorial available online, but I guess it couldn't hurt to post one. I'll see what I can do... :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on November 26, 2007, 10:45:11 AM
To be honest, the current glass texture looks more realistic than if it were see-through...Years of diesel (and steam) fumes rising up will make the windows filthy and opaque...you've only to visit one of London's main stations to see that.  I'd leave it as is, maybe add a raytrace reflection set to around 10 with a sky environment map to make the windows more "window-like" but that's it IMO.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on November 26, 2007, 10:57:18 AM
IMHO, I like Call's suggestion.  If the glass were to be too clear/see through it would look good but maybe too unrealistic.

Robin
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 26, 2007, 11:19:00 AM
Ok guys I'll consider it.
Question is how to deal with night view... just have a look at these pictures. During night there is much more to see inside... I'm reaching the polycount limit quickly so I cannot put a lot more junk (benches, people etc) inside... But it doesn't really look lifely... Also no trains without transparency... I could try to model a few trains, but the'll be static.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 26, 2007, 11:23:38 AM
Another night view. Look at the concrete floor in the front of the station hall ... really empty...
So the choice is to make static models with people benches and what have you.. or to remove the floor from the model, leave it black and let the 'real' transparency do its work. I the latter case in the LOT editor I could put moving people, trains etc inside the station...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on November 26, 2007, 11:38:52 AM
I really like how it looks so far.  And I hope you can find a way to show trains inside, static or not.

Robin   :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on November 26, 2007, 01:24:05 PM
It seems that you adapted not only the textures but also the arches compared to the former BETA version!  :)
Great!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on November 26, 2007, 01:37:07 PM
Perhaps you could model the floor as a prop so you can place it under the "transparencized" building, and add people, trains, etc. on top of it. To get more realism, you should render the separate platforms with a dummie of the roof so it gets the right shadows.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 27, 2007, 12:39:11 PM
Again I need your help;

On exporting the LOD in gmax I get an error code = 12, export failure?

On exporting/rendering  in 3ds-max I get code = 8.

Is there anywhere I can look for an explanation on these error codes and how to fix?

By the way: do I need to let the gmax-BAT exporting of the LODs finish 100%? Or do I only need generation of the proper file-name?

Latest problem: on rendering trees for Antwerp cathedral I get another erro in 3ds max : "png-library internal-error" and after that code 6.

I'm lost and frustrated... this keeps me from doing the fun stuff
Thanks,

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 18, 2007, 08:15:57 AM
Hello all,

I justed wanted to let you know that Barby and I are making progress on the Cathedral. I also have a prelim version of the newest Gare Du Nord almost done.

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on December 18, 2007, 08:41:44 AM
Good news!  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Pat on December 18, 2007, 11:57:42 AM
Alex I cant wait to see the new stuff coming out!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 21, 2007, 12:37:01 AM
Paris, Quai Anatole France no. 29. Art Nouveau building.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on December 21, 2007, 03:42:21 AM
you're going back to making parisian buildings? this is a beautiful moment :'(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on December 21, 2007, 04:17:05 AM
That is beautiful.  Great work.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays
Robin   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Nealos101 on December 21, 2007, 05:16:30 AM
Great work Alex, and the idea of transparent glass or dirty glass is up to you on how far you have gone, dirty glass may seem more realistic IMO for Gare Du Nord.  Btw how did you fix those 3ds rendering Errors?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on December 21, 2007, 05:24:36 AM
Great news indeed. And very good choice of subject. Those curvy roofs are always tricky to make.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on December 21, 2007, 05:50:02 AM
If I were able to change your Karma I would raise it!  ;D
&apls  &apls  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: toxicpiano on December 21, 2007, 08:04:57 AM
Looks georgous!  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 23, 2007, 12:24:19 PM
Progress on rue du four no 25.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Pat on December 23, 2007, 12:55:25 PM
that is wonderful Xannepan!!! Merry Christmas!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: tag_one on December 23, 2007, 01:17:09 PM
Fantastic work Xannepan! Great to see you working on Paris style buildings again!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on December 23, 2007, 01:20:49 PM
Very nice. These will be great additions to your previous work.  :satisfied:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glenni on December 23, 2007, 04:01:49 PM
Great Paris w2w's Xannepann, do you also have some diagonal versions planned? That would bea blessing for the people trying to recreate paris. ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on December 23, 2007, 04:05:31 PM
There's more, oh man :'(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: RippleJet on December 23, 2007, 04:48:14 PM
Truly incredible, Alex!
Your Parisian w2w buildings are so wonderful and a must have for anyone building European cities! &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Vario80 on December 23, 2007, 04:50:55 PM
Looking good already.  :thumbsup: Love the details you have put in sofar.  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on December 23, 2007, 05:05:26 PM
Just perfect, like Quai Anatole France.

I think that there is a lack of Parisian buildings with no shops in the ground floor (like Bd Jules Sandeau and Champ de Mars from Porkissimo). I'd appreciate, if there were more of them because they are more suitable for being used as residental homes than the ones with shops.

@ Glenni:
Porkissimo intended to create some diagonal Paris-BATs. Maybe they will be released next year.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: bat56 on December 24, 2007, 03:33:24 AM
Wonderfull Parisian buildings Xannepan, especially Quai Anatole that is truly unique.  &apls

Sam!____ :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 27, 2007, 12:41:10 PM
I started a new large Paris project. This will take some time to finish. Here's a first screenshot.
I'll take a short break for a week or so before I continu.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on December 27, 2007, 12:45:16 PM
 :shocked2: excellent!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jeronij on December 27, 2007, 12:55:26 PM
The level of detail is amazing  &apls  &apls

Really inspiring picture  ;) ¡¡¡
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on December 27, 2007, 12:55:42 PM
Wow! Excellent indeed. &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kimcar on December 27, 2007, 01:00:36 PM
In fact this is a huge project. it`s already gorgious to see what you have done yet. &apls &apls &apls Have a nice break. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: tag_one on December 27, 2007, 01:06:57 PM
omg this looks huge and very well detailed. I guess this will be another masterpiece from you (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.fok.nl%2Fs%2Fworshippy.gif&hash=0b7858ccf9e53448338f4510630790d77ce3b8f8)
Keep up the great work! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Krio on December 27, 2007, 01:13:05 PM
Wow. Really awesome and inspirising. You make us others look bad :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on December 27, 2007, 01:26:48 PM
 (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cosgan.de%2Fimages%2Fsmilie%2Fkonfus%2Fg040.gif&hash=355c5107db686b843470c6ed8b3ee565849baaba)
This smiley is self-explanatoring, isn't it?  ;D
:thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on December 27, 2007, 01:30:03 PM
This looks like a sure fire WINNER!

I am eager to see it when finished. A masterpiece waiting to be completed  :satisfied:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on December 27, 2007, 05:20:17 PM
 :o

Enjoy your break and have a Happy New Year.

Robin   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Adept2Rock on December 28, 2007, 12:52:59 PM
Good work! &apls So beautiful! ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Strechnitz on December 28, 2007, 12:59:06 PM
Breathtaking!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on December 29, 2007, 02:43:00 AM
Each time the same wonderment ... :o

On a side note , I truly love your last seasonal tree props but I've had to point (on the LEX) an inconvenience with them ; they are eclipsing (visual glitch) any others props in their model squared (cubical  ::) ) volumetric field . It's a real pity , I've currently renounced to use them along streets/roads ... This inconvenience is even visible on the new Antwerp Cathedral Lot . Can we hope to see you work again on them ?  ()what()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on December 29, 2007, 03:28:52 AM
I noted the problem with the trees with xannepan and it is only a problem that occurs in LE. It is as a result of the technique he has used to make them and there is no solution.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on December 29, 2007, 03:43:17 AM
Thanks for the quick reply BarbyW , have to start a mourning period so .&mmm
There is already a large choice of trees , but only a little of Christmas ones ...  $%Grinno$%
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glenni on December 29, 2007, 04:37:15 AM
Dude, badsim, why mourn, she told you they work in-game, though look weird in LE  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on December 29, 2007, 04:49:23 AM
Ooops ! ...  $%Grinno$% ... alright !  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 04, 2008, 04:53:32 AM
Some more pictures..
It took me two full days to tune the night lights... this is really a frustrating problem in max. But I'm happy with the result. These buildings will be release as part of the Bourse. There is many work to do on the central circular building.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on January 04, 2008, 04:58:46 AM
This look amazing..... :o .....the detail in your work is out of this world.  &apls
I may have to make a Euro city now.  ;)

Robin   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 04, 2008, 05:02:11 AM
Here are some in game screenshots. As you can see the backside of the building matches the curved of the 90-degree curved road that were released as part of the NAM. The only 'problem' is that the point at which the 90-degree curve connects to a straight road piece is too distant from the building corner (arrow in picture). Maybe some one from BSC can create some custom paths for the lot these buildings will be placed on eventually (with the rotunda building in the center).
Modelling this has turned out to be quite difficult as I'm bound the the 16-m scale of the game. So to have enough room for the rotunda building of the Bourse, the two corner buildings have to be seperated by 2x16m (avenue piece) rather than 1x16m (road piece).
Let me know if you also want these buildings released seperately.





Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: tag_one on January 04, 2008, 05:12:38 AM
They are wonderful Alex  :thumbsup: The details on the facade are amazing and the roofs looks also very great.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on January 04, 2008, 05:20:17 AM
Yes please release these separately as well as part of the Bourse. Let me know when you are ready for lotting and I will see what I can do before screaming for help with pathing.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glenni on January 04, 2008, 05:48:14 AM
That is fantastic, alex! I have never seen such a clever use for that place in a city! but to make this fit completely in a city, do you also plan a version for the inner side of the curve? :) :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Revol on January 04, 2008, 06:11:38 AM
I am so excited about this building, it looks wonderful so far!  ;D It would be great if you could release the other buildings separately too, I can see a lot of uses for them  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Strechnitz on January 04, 2008, 06:41:47 AM
Wow the Bourse is coming along very well.

It would be a great asset to city building if you also release them seperately. they will add great variety to squares.

Strech.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on January 04, 2008, 07:22:27 AM
Of course it would be great if the buildings were released seperately. (The first ones suitable for that puzzle pieces shown, aren't they?)
I'm sure that you will create yet another superb Parisian BAT!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kimcar on January 04, 2008, 07:56:56 AM
 &apls &apls Fantastic work on these. Geez you working so fast. Keep it up :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on January 04, 2008, 11:13:50 AM
 &apls Indeed, as previously mentioned, It would be great if you release them separately.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on January 04, 2008, 12:31:10 PM
 :'( AMAZING!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 04, 2008, 01:17:12 PM
Thanks all. Experimenting with statues...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lollo on January 04, 2008, 01:22:39 PM
Just found your showcase... your works are amazing!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Mulefisk on January 04, 2008, 01:28:41 PM
Excellent stuff!

And I was just thinking about how someone should make some buildings to go with the new curved road pieces in the NAM. :P Weird.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on January 04, 2008, 02:14:19 PM
 &apls This is fabulous! I can't wait to see this one in game!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Emperor Stormont on January 04, 2008, 07:39:23 PM
I cannot wait to be able to use this, I have also loved this building and it shall be a joy to use in Atlantis.

Simply fabulous work, I am awe of both yourself and Debussy..........  &apls  &apls  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Chrisim on January 05, 2008, 03:39:42 AM
Thank you for uploading the JENX Gare du Nord BSC at the LEX! It is a wonderful train station, especially for large cities! Perfect, except for one detail
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg258.imageshack.us%2Fimg258%2F9914%2Fgaredunordtextureissuelg3.th.jpg&hash=53b9d09940f4958c50a84a13d461484cdcf56875) (http://img258.imageshack.us/my.php?image=garedunordtextureissuelg3.jpg)
The second track from left disappears in brown dirt. It is also visible on the LEX download page in the night light view.
Any chance that you can resolve it to make the Gare du Nord really perfect?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 05, 2008, 09:07:44 AM
Chris... I have no idea what's causing this texture flaw. Possibly a faulty overlay texture. In that case the easy solution is to open the lot in the lot editor and remove it yourself.

I'm not quite finished with the corned buidlings yet. Actually the nice fit to the puzzle pieces was purely coincidental... I designed it merely as part of the Bourse. But curves are a problem when you are bound to the multiple of 16m dimensions.

I had some time with to play with BAT again. The roof turned out to be easier than expected... And look what you can do with some great pictures from flickr.
Next week I'll eb traveling for work for a longer period... so I've no idea how much time I'll have to spend modeling.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sithlrd98 on January 05, 2008, 09:52:47 AM
After lurking , I must say the amount of talent I see here is amazing.... this looks great!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sauron620 on January 05, 2008, 10:48:54 AM
Wonderful BATs !  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kimcar on January 05, 2008, 11:05:01 AM
 &apls &apls Fantastic result xannepan . Wow  :o really great looking roof :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: thundercrack83 on January 05, 2008, 12:04:07 PM
Outstanding, xannepan! Absolutely outstanding!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on January 05, 2008, 12:25:28 PM
Xannepan,

A long time ago, I've started downloading with your very first parisian buildings (before Porki's ones) and since, I've follow your evolution.
I'm a bit ashamed not to have found your topic earlier.
I've seen the modifications you've made on your Gare du Nord (I was thinking that it was perfect!), well, you find a way to increase (again) its level !!

What can I say ? THANK YOU SO MUCH &apls.

I will download the new NAM to be able to use your Bourse buidings.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on January 05, 2008, 12:28:27 PM
Chrisim: I missed an extra overlay on that tile when I was checking it. I have revised the lot and am uploading an update to the complete package and also a separate file containing just the lot for anyone who has already downloaded the package. They will be on the LEX shortly.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Chrisim on January 06, 2008, 04:10:01 AM
Thank you for the quick update, BarbyW, for making the Gare du Nord really perfect!  :) :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Krio on January 06, 2008, 06:18:45 AM
Commenting this theard has become pointless when you can't give criticsm. Just like with Debussyman's theard.  $%Grinno$%
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 09, 2008, 06:58:53 AM
just some in game shots to keep you up to date
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 09, 2008, 07:01:34 AM
I created overlay textures from the latest NAM for the curved roads.. (just needed 2 custom made textures to complete it). Unfortunately the LOT si not fully transit enabled. I wonder how difficult it is to ''copy'' the path files from the NAM to a lot...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 09, 2008, 07:02:37 AM
All I still need to do is re-render the corner buildings, because I'm not completely satisfied with the night lighting. Moreover, if I'm going to release the corners as seperate lots, I'm going to include a sidewalk texture at the curved side of the corner buildings so it connects tightly to a puzzle piece (will be rendered as part of the building). Also I need to position the models in max slightly more away from the origin.

Just one last picture..



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on January 09, 2008, 07:07:40 AM
 :o ....speachless.

Robin  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Krio on January 09, 2008, 07:19:34 AM
 :o :o :o

Most awesome work ever!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on January 09, 2008, 07:37:11 AM
Like rooker1 wrote ... I'm just speachless!  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on January 09, 2008, 09:28:43 AM
Excellent stuff  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kimcar on January 09, 2008, 10:12:06 AM
 ::) Not too bad. Miss some details , like the mosquito on the left window . ;D Nan just kidding. It`s just incredibile how the look is. Can`t be better then that.  &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Strechnitz on January 09, 2008, 10:47:59 AM
The result is astonishing!

Bravo &apls

Strech.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on January 09, 2008, 11:20:18 AM
 &apls &apls &apls &apls &apls for this creation ::). As usual, your buidings are amazing :thumbsup:.

I'd like to know if, in the RL, the corner buidings must be in the 4 corners of the "LOT" or if they are only on the front with something else (a park?) behind ()what()? Thanks.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on January 09, 2008, 12:06:57 PM
omg.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on January 09, 2008, 01:55:42 PM
Spectacular. No other word for it!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jacqulina on January 09, 2008, 02:04:08 PM
excellent work the details are awesome &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on January 09, 2008, 03:49:23 PM
Quote from: kimcar on January 09, 2008, 10:12:06 AM
::) Not too bad. Miss some details , like the mosquito on the left window . ;D

I'm sure xannepan sent the window washer to take care of that before making the preview pic. ;)

Well, what else can I say? This is awesome work, and I doubt that anyone else could do it even better. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kimcar on January 09, 2008, 08:07:17 PM
Quote from: Andreas on January 09, 2008, 03:49:23 PM
I'm sure xannepan sent the window washer to take care of that before making the preview pic. ;)
In fact , he just send me the bill.  $%Grinno$%
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Emperor Stormont on January 09, 2008, 09:02:54 PM
Oh that is truly stunning work, I love the detail inside when the lights are on.

Words escape me, it's beautiful  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: nova vesfalo on January 10, 2008, 02:33:45 AM
Breath - taking ! The Halle aux blés derves that BAT  and you made it some wonderful !!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on January 10, 2008, 05:22:48 AM
I just find the RL buiding, shame on me : It is so close to the Halles (just like in your picture, actually :P).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 10, 2008, 05:51:38 AM
 :thumbsup: Une_ame. Google earth also give a good view on the Bourse. Off course the Halles where replaced by the modern shopping centre. 
I don't interfere that much with lot building, but maybe we should release two lots, one with four corner buildings and one with only two (like in RL). Barby: what do you think?


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: thundercrack83 on January 10, 2008, 11:54:32 AM
Absolutely incredible work here, xannepan! Incredible!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on January 10, 2008, 01:22:38 PM
xannepan, I will make two lots as you suggest. That will not be a problem.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 18, 2008, 12:38:29 PM
Gross St Martin in Cologne remodeled in 3ds-max
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on January 18, 2008, 01:09:22 PM
That is beautiful, xannepan. Truly beautiful.

Here's a picture of the Bourse de Commerce in LE.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy171%2Fbarbyw%2Fbourse.jpg&hash=079025d201192f604121e1295e35339ac6a442c5)

Here is a GoogleEarth picture of the real thing:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy171%2Fbarbyw%2FbourseGoogle.jpg&hash=274ac44be445c19da270453787b1a80c329b1f35)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on January 18, 2008, 07:53:53 PM
Thanks Barby for the Lot and the satellite picture.

I like to compare both, and I see that you're very close to the reality with this lot ;).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on January 18, 2008, 08:47:19 PM
Barby, that lot is absolutely incredible! Xannepan, great to see your cathedral in 3ds max! &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sauron620 on January 19, 2008, 06:14:41 AM
It's....it's...it's...perfect  :o

You have done a marvellous work  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xxdita on January 19, 2008, 06:23:14 AM
Bourse De Commerce looks amazing. Excellent work xanepan & Barby.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on January 19, 2008, 11:03:21 AM
It's difficult to find new words everytime to describe my pleasure ...  :D

A little wish: Haussmannian buildings with no shops or offices in the ground floor - I use only such buildings for residental zones ...
I hope I'm not asking too much ...  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mightygoose on January 20, 2008, 12:56:31 AM
if that lot is TE i will cry....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on January 20, 2008, 01:52:11 AM
If you mean the Bourse, MG, then start crying ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on January 20, 2008, 03:51:56 PM
 :'(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on January 21, 2008, 06:13:14 AM
This is one of the most unique BATs I have ever seen and the fact that it is TE'd is incredible.
Great work!
I think I will  :'( too.

Robin  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 22, 2008, 05:32:38 AM
Avenue de l'Opera 33, my first diagnonal building. No 28 is nearly similar, which is currently in progress.

N1_2888 : I can make some Hausmann style buildings without shops, but I completely depend on good quality pictures. If you can post some good pictures of a real buildings in Paris I might consider making a model of it. What I definitely need is a good, detailed birds-eye aerial picture, showing the roof and backside of the building. (Google earth is not good enough only shows top, live maps from microsoft unfortunately does not cover Paris in birds-eye view). And a good picture of the front facade(s). Currently I rely mostly on great books with aerial pictures by Arthus-Betrand, Cameron and Salinger and Guignard.





Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on January 22, 2008, 06:36:46 AM
Xannepan,

I've send recently an e-mail to Porki in order to know if he plans to release his new diagonal W2W buidings. Until now, I've got no answer. When I see your 33, av. de l'Opéra diagonal W2W building, I 've thought that maybe you were working together one more time :). Am I right ?

I must admit that the picture of your next diagonal buiding is very promising :thumbsup:. Keep going &hlp!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 22, 2008, 06:43:22 AM
Une_ame: although I love Porki's work off course I'm (unfortunately) not working with him. I sure hope he'll surprise us hopefully in the near future.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: thundercrack83 on January 22, 2008, 06:49:36 AM
Your work just continues to impress me, my friend! Everything that you show us here is absolutely amazing! Keep up the fantastic work!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Adept2Rock on January 22, 2008, 08:10:55 AM
Yeah so good your creations!!!There is also a SFR shop!! &apls And Diagonal Parisian is so good pour our cities!! &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on January 22, 2008, 08:49:07 AM
First: The diagonal buildings look great (as all your creations  ;) )!

Quote from: xannepan on January 22, 2008, 05:32:38 AMI can make some Hausmann style buildings without shops, but I completely depend on good quality pictures. If you can post some good pictures of a real buildings in Paris I might consider making a model of it. What I definitely need is a good, detailed birds-eye aerial picture, showing the roof and backside of the building. (Google earth is not good enough only shows top, live maps from microsoft unfortunately does not cover Paris in birds-eye view). And a good picture of the front facade(s). Currently I rely mostly on great books with aerial pictures by Arthus-Betrand, Cameron and Salinger and Guignard.

Last summer I spent a few days in Paris, but most photos I've taken there are of bad quality!  &cry2

http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=batignollescc4.jpg
Boulevard des Batignolles

I think that there is a lack of buildings without shops that have an uneven length (1x1, 1x2, 1x3; 3x2).
If I were a better BATter, I'd make them by myself! But I am not - you and Porkie are the masters of creating Parisian buildings!  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sauron620 on January 22, 2008, 09:32:18 AM
For your first diagonal BAT, I think it's excellent  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on January 22, 2008, 10:01:38 AM
Diagonals? WOW!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xxdita on January 22, 2008, 04:09:43 PM
Very impressive diagonal Xannepan.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: CabraBuitre on January 22, 2008, 07:31:56 PM
Great work!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on January 23, 2008, 02:53:08 PM
Quote from: xannepan on January 22, 2008, 06:43:22 AM
although I love Porki's work off course I'm (unfortunately) not working with him. I sure hope he'll surprise us hopefully in the near future.
&hlp Yes, probably!  &hlp
http://paris3d.9online.fr/panoG1day.html
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on January 23, 2008, 03:14:20 PM
:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 24, 2008, 12:15:11 AM
Wow... Porki's really has a whole city in store for us... Can't wait to see these released. As far as I can judge he is going to save me some time modelling diagonal street props! :)

I'm especially interested in his technique also. I'm spending a lot of time experimenting with the best way to get a proper floor texture for the diagonals. As I have to use buildings overhanging the lot currently I modelled the floor texture as part of the building. Unfortunately this results in a visual error at edge of the floor texture.
Also I hope intuitively we have taken the same sidewalk distance for the diagonal wall to wall.

In the mean time I have also rendered a mirrored version of my first diagonal.

I have uploaded the diagonal for modding and scrutineering at BSC. I'm sure Barby and the rest of the crew there will find the time to do the great work the've always been doing. If they're done these buildings wil be released!

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glenni on January 24, 2008, 01:05:08 AM
Well that sure as hell blows my upcoming diagonal BATs to pieces :'(
Your work is just unbeleiveably good, Xannnepann &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Krio on January 24, 2008, 01:08:32 AM
Quote from: Glenni on January 24, 2008, 01:05:08 AM
Well that sure as hell blows my upcoming diagonal BATs to pieces  :'(

He already did "destroyed" my diagonal bats :(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 24, 2008, 01:39:22 AM
Glenni/Krio: let me asure you that  I'm constantly amazed by the great work that every one releases.

What's even more important is that you enjoy modelling yourself! Off course all the ooohhhss and aaahhsss are motivating and I wish I had more time to respond a bit more to myself  &ops... but I'd rather spend as much time as I can modeling..
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on January 24, 2008, 05:38:19 AM
"....but I'd rather spend as much time as I can modeling" Nobody will complain about that !!! ;)!


Xannepan, I found something interesting to help you finding pictures of Parisian buildings. This website, the PagesJaunes (YellowPages) is dedicated to give phone numbers BUT also give front picture and aerial picture of almost every buidings in Paris :o!!

Form example : http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/trouverlesprofessionnels/rechercheClassique.do;jsessionid=610DE45501892B19C76B04DE7BA7FAAB.yas05f

On this page, enter the following adress : 33, avenue de l' opera, Paris (in the white window at the top of the page after the word Ou (where). Then, click on the pink button " trouver" (find).
In the middle of the page, you will have all the buisness that you can find at this adress (with the phone number, of course!!) BUT you also find additional informations amongst which you will find a picture of the front (Photo) and aerial view (Vue aérienne).

If you enter 28, avenue de l'Opera, Paris and click in Photo (in Pink), you will found 4 different pictures of the buiding (2 of the front - facade vue1, vue2 - and 2 of the sides - rues adjacentes).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 24, 2008, 07:05:26 AM
Thanks Une-ame (actually I use this great site a lot already  ;D). Together with my aerial photography books they are an important source of information for me.

Even better: entire paris in 3D (similar to google earth) --> http://v3d.pagesjaunes.fr/

Here is avenue de l' Opera nr 30.







Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on January 24, 2008, 07:28:30 AM
Good, well I will try to find something else ;)!

BTW, thanks for those new creations. A little question, the numbers 28, 30 and 33, avenue de l'Opéra are all corner buidings, do you plane to BAT "regular" W2W diagonal buildings (that can be place between 2 others) ?

Tanks to N1_2888 for the link on the Porki's site. The new buildings he is showing are very promising.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Adept2Rock on January 24, 2008, 07:57:00 AM
Good work my friend!You made a big pack?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 24, 2008, 08:02:59 AM
Quote from: Une_ame on January 24, 2008, 07:28:30 AM

BTW, thanks for those new creations. A little question, the numbers 28, 30 and 33, avenue de l'Opéra are all corner buidings, do you plane to BAT "regular" W2W diagonal buildings (that can be place between 2 others) ?


Yes! First the corners... these are the most difficult! As soon as I can find the time the regular ones. ...

This game sill has soo much potential. Unbelievable. With the NAM, the mods, the fantastic buildings and LOTs..  it's really too bad that maxis/EA abandoned it (us). But who needs them anyway  ;D







Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on January 24, 2008, 09:10:03 AM
Thanks to Xannepan and Porkie there will be the possibility to rebuild Place de l'Étoile with realistic Parisian BATs.  :)
(Ok, only with eight avenues ...  ;) )

I've tried to do this with other wonderful diagonals that are already published:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fthumbnails%2F3fa29cc9d5e762054b0928471c5eedf6.jpg&hash=2d2e9b3ea96c228171cec9a0e875e29f03bab302) (http://"http://www.ld-host.de/show/1093")
_____
EDIT: http://www.ld-host.de/uploads/images/3fa29cc9d5e762054b0928471c5eedf6.jpg
I don't know, why it doesn't work ...  &Thk/(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on January 24, 2008, 07:19:38 PM
N1_2888: I've always dreamed of recreating this, with xannepan's and porki's new diagonal sets, I can't believe it will be finally possible. Just amazing work being done everday.

Beautiful new building, xannepan!

BTW: Where is the Arc de Triumphe Roundabout from? :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on January 25, 2008, 05:28:36 AM
From here :  http://simcity.ea.com/coolstuff/landmarks/index.php + Lot Editor ( :D).

You can also check : Sim City 4 Devotion Custom Content - Discussion and Requests > Where can I find this ....?¿ > French buildings. You'll find a lot of links to numerous French Buildings and Maps
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on January 25, 2008, 11:36:30 AM
"..Also I hope intuitively we have taken the same sidewalk distance for the diagonal wall to wall. "

Xannepan, Porkie send me an e-mail explaining that he plans to start releasing his new BATs on the STEX this week-end ()stsfd(), maybe you can e-mail him something to check if yours sidewalk distances are the same ?

Keep going :thumbsup:.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on January 25, 2008, 11:50:32 AM
This weekend?! Yeah!!!  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on January 25, 2008, 11:55:31 AM
Quote from: N1_2888 on January 25, 2008, 11:50:32 AM
This weekend?! Yeah!!!  :)

Great news indeed! :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: thundercrack83 on January 25, 2008, 01:32:19 PM
This is fantastic news! I can't wait to download them! Excellent work, xannepan! Excellent work!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 25, 2008, 02:12:36 PM
Quote from: Une_ame on January 25, 2008, 11:36:30 AM
"..Also I hope intuitively we have taken the same sidewalk distance for the diagonal wall to wall. "

Xannepan, Porkie send me an e-mail explaining that he plans to start releasing his new BATs on the STEX this week-end ()stsfd(), maybe you can e-mail him something to check if yours sidewalk distances are the same ?


Already done that  ;) ... I can confirm he will start releasing his first building soon. He never actually measured the sidewalk distance, so I'll just wait until he releases his buildings. For me it will not be that difficult to make adjustments if needed.

In the mean time the BSC team is still working on TE-ing the Bourse lot. Aftetr that's done I can work on some more diagonals.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on January 25, 2008, 04:04:31 PM
YEEEPEEEEEE &hlp
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Hogmeister on January 25, 2008, 04:09:55 PM
Xannepans buildings are always a must have and these will be no exception  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Krio on January 25, 2008, 04:21:20 PM
Xannepan, I appreciate that you keep my work as needed as your, but if I'm honest I have only 3 bats which can compete with yours: Sokos Hakaniemi, Helsinki City Hall and Erottaja Metrostation. Maybe Annankatu-bats are also as realistic as yours, but you beat me in every field of batting  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 29, 2008, 11:54:59 PM
Bvd St Germain 280, another corner building in progress... this time without shop windows as requested  ;D.
By the way: looking back I'm not so sure this is the right choice for a corner building. As this is a diagonal building it does not make sens to make a growable out of it. So this wil probably be a plopable and we all know by now the probblem with plopping residential buildings... we'll see how to solve that.

Although I do have quite some time to work on this progress is tremendously slow... don't know why  but I spent much more time to get this right then I normally do. Maybe also because I lack quality pictures of all angles and improvising is difficult once you started out from pictures.

If you look at the picture you see a ''trick'' I apply for efficient modelling. I have one ''window'' model which contains the window frame, the blinds, curtains + the window glass. I the first stages of the model I apply these same structures to all windows. Only in the final phase I randomly delete most of the blinds, most of the curtains etc. This works very efficient. Also cool to see that once you delete many of the blinds the building really comes to live.






Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Adept2Rock on January 30, 2008, 05:55:43 AM
So beautiful picture!  &apls :thumbsup: Good luck!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on January 30, 2008, 09:05:43 AM
As far as I know there is still no possibility for creating plopable Res-buildings in a way that works.  &mmm
But the building is as superb as usual.  ;)
Maybe it could be modded as office building ...

Orthogonal BATs without shops - that would be great (made in the sizes I mentioned before ...).
E.g. if you reduce the depth of "Quai Anatole France" it would perfectly fit on a 3x2-lot.

I hope I'm not too ... er ... unverschämt  $%Grinno$%
(a lot of translations are possible - I don't know which is the most suitable: http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType=relaxed&sectHdr=on&spellToler=on&search=unversch%E4mt&relink=on).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: simdad1957 on January 30, 2008, 03:32:45 PM
Yup, as far as I know, ploppable residential buildings just dilapidate because of "commute distance" issues. This is a fine looking building however and you could just choose to make it a ploppable non functioning landmark. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xxdita on January 30, 2008, 06:07:46 PM
It is possible to avoid delapidation of a residential, you just have to have high enough demand and desirability for it. The only real issue is that the commute paths don't show up.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sim Shady on January 30, 2008, 07:27:23 PM
Well heres the trick to get ploppable residentials to work.  Zone residential, let something grow, then plop your residential building on top of it.  It works, but there is no traffic or commute from the plopped building.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 31, 2008, 06:45:25 AM
progress
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Alfred.Jones on January 31, 2008, 06:51:09 AM
The detail in that is insane!!

My computer would die if I tried to render that!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 31, 2008, 06:53:33 AM
Actually this renders in 10 minutes, eve on my 6 yo computer. I'm fortunate to be able to afford 3ds-max, which renders much more efficiently :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: RippleJet on January 31, 2008, 07:30:30 AM
Excellently detailed model, once again xannepan! &apls

Quote from: Sim Shady on January 30, 2008, 07:27:23 PM
Well heres the trick to get ploppable residentials to work.  Zone residential, let something grow, then plop your residential building on top of it.  It works, but there is no traffic or commute from the plopped building.

Those who think ploppable residentials work, should read this post and the discussion on the following page:
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=3036.msg94888#msg94888
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Adept2Rock on January 31, 2008, 08:26:35 AM
So beautifuuuul!!Thank You!! &apls :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on January 31, 2008, 10:15:25 AM
Looks very, very promising!  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Pat on January 31, 2008, 10:22:07 AM
 &apls &apls &apls soooo beautiful there Xannapan!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on January 31, 2008, 12:06:56 PM
I love you :'(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: bwatterud on January 31, 2008, 04:58:54 PM
With this and porkie's diagonal buildings, I'm going to have to find some way to fit Parisian buildings in an American themed city. 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: CabraBuitre on February 01, 2008, 03:15:48 PM
I concur, quite the beautiful creation!  It's awesome having you create again for us!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Hogmeister on February 01, 2008, 04:43:55 PM
I am just pleased that Paris provides such wonderful inspiration, the grand public buildings are exquisite
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 03, 2008, 05:41:41 AM
Ok the diagonals are done and are now beeing scrutineered and modded by BSC.
I also re-rendered rue du four 13 and 13 IN 3DS-MAX (gmax version released in 2006).

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xxdita on February 03, 2008, 06:13:40 AM
The detail is absolutely stunning. It's gorgeous at night!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: JoeST on February 03, 2008, 06:17:06 AM
That i have to agree with Dita here... WOW stunning

all your work is literally
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.orlyowl.com%2Fupload%2Ffiles%2Fomg.gif&hash=e051f0ec7e71c4496044896d303d6b373943aa91)

Thankyou

Joe
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on February 03, 2008, 06:12:45 PM
Wouhaou &apls, I love your picture!! :o.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on February 03, 2008, 09:41:13 PM
Well, this night view mod ...   ;D
... but I'm sure your BATs will be of the same high quality as usual.  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sim Shady on February 04, 2008, 09:18:46 PM
Omg Porkismo+Xannapan=ownage
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cammo2003 on February 04, 2008, 11:09:01 PM
Quote from: Sim Shady on February 04, 2008, 09:18:46 PM
Omg Porkismo+Xannapan=ownage

That about sums it up.

Only I'd say it as Porkissimo + Xannepan = t3h ub3r1337 0wn4g3!!!!!!!!!1111

:D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vistla on February 05, 2008, 01:51:48 AM
Wow!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: RebaLynnTS on February 05, 2008, 06:40:23 AM
Looks like you build a real model, and photographed it.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 08, 2008, 03:48:21 AM
A 1-tile wide addition for the Paris set.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on February 08, 2008, 05:25:31 AM
 :thumbsup:

With a little courtyard, this one could be a CO$$ or a RE$$!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on February 08, 2008, 05:31:25 AM
Be-au-ti-ful!!!  ;)
What about an additional version with windows instead of the shop (hoping that my wishes are not annoying for you)?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: SC4BOY on February 08, 2008, 06:47:34 AM
Looks spectacular to me.. its a great little lot.. lots of charm and character.. even the touches on the "blank side" of the lot.. looks very convincing.. The window frame dividers seem a bit strong.. almost like religious crosses in the windows.. but perhaps this is necessary for it to have definition in all but the closest zoom.. nice work anyways...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on February 08, 2008, 06:55:41 AM
The windows looks OK for me %wrd: in that kind of buidings, the frame is made in wood with white paints for the old one and, after upgrade, the change is always made for white strong plastic and the frame is always quite large (because of double glazing).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Adept2Rock on February 08, 2008, 08:02:30 AM
Yeah so beautiful bats!But you can't make a french store?If you want idea, no problem!!I think the real store make a good look! ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 08, 2008, 11:32:24 AM
Quote from: Adept2Rock on February 08, 2008, 08:02:30 AM
Yeah so beautiful bats!But you can't make a french store?If you want idea, no problem!!I think the real store make a good look! ;)

I'm note sure I understand what you mean? The store is quite realistically modeled from an example of a picture of the real rue du renard (pages jaunes photo de ville). But maybe I miss your point :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Adept2Rock on February 11, 2008, 01:45:05 PM
Ok sorry!My english is so bad! :D Ok continue with les pages jaunes!  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: thundercrack83 on February 11, 2008, 01:58:03 PM
Wow! Stunning! Absolutely stunning, xannepan!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Adept2Rock on February 18, 2008, 10:27:10 AM
So beautiful la bourse du commerce! &apls :thumbsup: I love!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: SC4BOY on February 18, 2008, 10:42:12 AM
Quote from: BarbyW on January 18, 2008, 01:09:22 PM
Here is a GoogleEarth picture of the real thing:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy171%2Fbarbyw%2FbourseGoogle.jpg&hash=274ac44be445c19da270453787b1a80c329b1f35)

Just curious.. especially given the just-posted release.. is that on the lower right a tram, glr, rail? or what at the lower right? (not trying to hijack a thread.. but I'm curious) If they are is there a station inside? or alongside?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Hogmeister on February 18, 2008, 10:55:40 AM
If you look through the green arch on the picture you can see its just steps

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi248.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fgg192%2Fmikejfrench%2Fg1%2Fbdc.jpg&hash=d5dd8688940c62544d661fc90dae7e3efc50c927)

Edit: Here is a better pic

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi248.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fgg192%2Fmikejfrench%2Fg1%2Fbdca.jpg&hash=dea8dd68a49adda19a9f287be8040dfbd19f1270)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: SC4BOY on February 18, 2008, 11:29:09 AM
Thanks..
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on February 19, 2008, 06:35:03 AM
It is one of the numerous entrances to the semi-underground complex formed by the Halles commercial mall, a railway station and several metro stations ;).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Quesh on February 19, 2008, 02:18:23 PM
You're a great talent  :thumbsup:
Thanks for all LOTs and BATs, there are beautiful  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Vario80 on February 19, 2008, 02:24:09 PM
This is going to be another masterpiece from you.  :thumbsup: Absolutely great and stunning work, love the little details you have put in to the building.  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: threeswept on February 19, 2008, 02:28:55 PM
Hey, Xannepan...I have to say that this is one of the most amazing creations I've seen in a very, very long time. Thank you for such a stunning piece of work!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on February 19, 2008, 04:08:35 PM
It's good that you didn't add that escalators to your delightful BAT. :D
Looking forward to more buildings from this beautiful city!  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cammo2003 on March 08, 2008, 09:14:46 AM
Quote from: Hogmeister on February 18, 2008, 10:55:40 AM
If you look through the green arch on the picture you can see its just steps


Actually, it looks like they're escalators.  :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on March 25, 2008, 01:06:59 PM
They are, indeed :P!

Any news of the Hausmannian Diago. BAT or any new buidings ()what()?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: swi21 on July 17, 2008, 06:41:03 PM
You allways were my favorite BATer, I love your stuff more than anyone else's. This new series of Parisian buildings (diagonal or not) are a real pleasure for the eyes! Thank you for all the work you share with us all!  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 29, 2010, 09:08:25 AM
(http://D:%5CJENX%20BAT%5CJENX%20PARIS%5CRueJeanBeauvais23%5CSources%5CJENXPARIS_Rue_Jean_des_Beauvais_23.jpg)

Hi everybody. After a long absence I've created a small building again for the Paris set. I'm a bit rusty, so it took weeks before I got 3dsmax installed again, bat4max and the game etc. I forgot how to create a lot from the model, so I'd like some help from the BSC team to make an appropriate lot (plopable and growable versions).

I uploaded the sc4model on the BSC private lex for scrutineering etc. I also will share my 3dsmax model files + textures used from now (warning: the 3dsmax files are messy)

BSC team: whoever is willing to help, please feel free to upload to the LEX once you're done.

Thanks in advance for your help :-)

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: tag_one on August 29, 2010, 09:15:03 AM
OMG You're back! :o So great to see a legend returning to the BAT again :thumbsup:
Love your model. As perfect as always! I think Barby will surely enjoy lotting it when she has the time  ;) 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on August 29, 2010, 10:22:02 AM
First of all: Great that you are back! :)

A very little criticism: Compared to the original building the BAT's facade seems to have a yellow tint. Generally the colours look a bit too saturated.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sam Johnson on August 29, 2010, 10:30:53 AM
Great to see you back, xannepan :)

Really good looking new BAT, but I personnally think it won't harmonize with all the other parisian BATs, because of the different (maybe better) lighting by Let there be Light. I would recommend to use older light rigs (for example from Chrisadams BAT4MAX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1992)) If you want to let it look good between the other parisian BATs, this would might be the better way.

Anyway, as I said, great to see you and your BATs back :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 29, 2010, 10:45:23 AM
What a surprise to see you back  ;)

Nice parisian BAT

I think it would be very good idea to see you to take a part for this amazing project of Triumphal Way Team
Maybe Badsim will contact you

you check what is it there: http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=8942.msg341643#new (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=8942.msg341643#new)

Anyway wait to see you batting Parisian stuffs    :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 29, 2010, 11:23:44 AM
Hi guys,

For now I'll stick to the simfox bat, but i'll make the model files (3dsmax 2010) available to you, so maybe you can render yourself :-)
As for the color: this building on Rue de jean Beauvais happens to have a yellow brick color, so yes it differs a but from the "common" paris buildings.


Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on August 29, 2010, 12:07:36 PM
Hi  Alex ,

Even if the link to your picture doesn't work , have to say that it's nice and comforting to see you back at the same time I learnt ( yesterday ...) Porkissimo's web page (http://paris3D.9online.fr) has disappeared , which reminds me we can't expect anything from him anymore . :(

That's life , and I can just hope he has the one he wanted ... (what is rarely the case .)

If you don't know anything about the Triumphal Way Project , like Girafe suggested you , I invite you to have a look at , by clicking on my signature (Fluctuat Nec Mergitur being the motto of Paris ) and you'll get the full idea of the project , who are the members and what has been done so far , while Carlos ( Debussyman) has started to BAT Le Louvre !

Fortunately , someone else ( N1_2888 ) has started a BATer career with parisian BATs of highest quality and  Orange_o has also several parisian BATs in his secret cardboards , but  anyway , your work has been  , is , and will be essential to this project ...

Thank you so . :)

Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: WC_EEND on August 29, 2010, 01:38:35 PM
Well I'll be, it's good to see you return, I've always loved your (and Porkie's) Parisian W2W's and I use them very frequently (I try to biuld complete cities using them ;D)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on August 29, 2010, 02:26:48 PM
Welcome back Xannepan, great to see a true legend back to the community.
&hlp
I was writing about you a couple of days ago and....bam ! Here we are. Coooooool   ()stsfd()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on August 29, 2010, 03:08:35 PM
I am delighted to see you back. Welcome! And I am eager to see what you have in store for us.  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on August 29, 2010, 06:29:28 PM
This is one of the happiest days I've had in a long time. Welcome back!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: CabraBuitre on August 29, 2010, 08:23:56 PM
Welcome back!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 29, 2010, 10:37:52 PM
Thanks for the warm welcome!

I was actually inspired by all good work mentioned in your responses to come back. I have always kept looking at the forums for the great progress that is made in all those fantastic projects.

I stopped BAT-ting years ago because of a small disaster that happened at home. Both my laptop crashed and the DVD with my backup contained reading errors, so i lost all my models, textures etc.  :'( :'( :'(. But it is never too late for a new start, although I must say it's not easy to go through all the stages of installing game and tools, learning to make textures and models again... Also I don't expect to produce any great structures on the short term, because I really need time to practice on some small projects. But who knows... Paris and the medieval theme are still my favorites.

Anyway, I also have a request. For the Paris theme I'm looking for some characteristic RL pictures of Hausmann-style functional buildings (hospitals, police stations, schools etc (not museums.. plenty of those :-) ..An address in Paris would be fine so I can have a look a streetview in google earth. But all other pictures are appreciated :-)

Second question: I'm currently using simfox bat4max (which offers really cool options for nightlights). But I'm happy to also render to building in another bat4max version. Question is do these support max 2010?

Alex

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on August 30, 2010, 01:31:11 AM
Quote from: xannepan on August 29, 2010, 10:37:52 PM

Second question: I'm currently using simfox bat4max (which offers really cool options for nightlights). But I'm happy to also render to building in another bat4max version. Question is do these support max 2010?

Alex


Hi Alex... in a word, no.  Since Max 2009, Mental Ray has been upgraded and as such, earlier versions of B4M designed to use MR won't work. Simfox's version is the only option available to you.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on August 30, 2010, 10:18:06 PM
QuoteHausmann-style functional buildings (hospitals, police stations, schools etc

The first place I think of when I read your last post was the "Ile de la Cité"  ::) : In front of Notre Dame, there's a large plaza, when you get out of the cathedrale, on your left hand you've got the Seine river, one your right hand the Hotel-Dieu (which is an Hospital) and in front of you, the Préfecture de Police (Quai des Orfevres for all the Maigret's lovers).

I will come later with more place if you wanna.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on August 31, 2010, 02:04:32 PM
Quote from: xannepan on August 29, 2010, 10:37:52 PM
Thanks for the warm welcome!

I was actually inspired by all good work mentioned in your responses to come back. I have always kept looking at the forums for the great progress that is made in all those fantastic projects.

I stopped BAT-ting years ago because of a small disaster that happened at home. Both my laptop crashed and the DVD with my backup contained reading errors, so i lost all my models, textures etc.  :'( :'( :'(. But it is never too late for a new start, although I must say it's not easy to go through all the stages of installing game and tools, learning to make textures and models again... Also I don't expect to produce any great structures on the short term, because I really need time to practice on some small projects. But who knows... Paris and the medieval theme are still my favorites.

Anyway, I also have a request. For the Paris theme I'm looking for some characteristic RL pictures of Hausmann-style functional buildings (hospitals, police stations, schools etc (not museums.. plenty of those :-) ..An address in Paris would be fine so I can have a look a streetview in google earth. But all other pictures are appreciated :-)

Second question: I'm currently using simfox bat4max (which offers really cool options for nightlights). But I'm happy to also render to building in another bat4max version. Question is do these support max 2010?

Alex



I'm also myself working on some parisian civic building (actually a big W2W school and a fire dept W2W corner).. But some other works are apprecied too ! If you want (As I live in Paris) I can give you some pics, adress etc of some cool building, just ask me by PM !  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: peterycristi on September 01, 2010, 04:51:24 AM
Hi Xannepan,

It's really great to see such a legend coming back to BAT! I hope you'll keep your fascination for this old and ever lasting game for a long time and let us see a lot of your great works!

saludos

Peter
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 05, 2010, 09:57:38 AM
Rue de Rivoli. I'll render both in maxisnight and darknight.

I'll also make some variations including corner buildings. Corner buildings will require me to squeeze the building a bit, too allow for sufficient sidewalk distance (it can't be helped I'm afraid, but first experiments show that you hardly notice the "squeeze").

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on September 05, 2010, 10:08:21 AM
Really good creation  &apls &apls

what the number of the building int Rivoli street ?

maybe the light in he court are too much  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on September 05, 2010, 10:10:53 AM
Glad to see you back in the battlefront! but to be honest I don't like the result or the mentalray renders... I feel the new buildings will clash too much with your pre-existing BATs and those of other Parisian Batters like Porkissimo or (currently) N_2888...  ()sad()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 05, 2010, 10:28:14 AM
Hi guys. About the MR renders; is there anyway to load a 3dsmax2010 file in 3dsmax9. I also am struggling with the renders blending in, and I do have y old version of 3dsmax-9. unfortunately the 3dsmax2010 files won't load in max-9 :(
Anyone know of a solution?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sam Johnson on September 05, 2010, 10:43:55 AM
Quote from: DebussyMan on September 05, 2010, 10:10:53 AM
Glad to see you back in the battlefront! but to be honest I don't like the result or the mentalray renders... I feel the new buildings will clash too much with your pre-existing BATs and those of other Parisian Batters like Porkissimo or (currently) N_2888...  ()sad()

I agree with Debussyman, even if mentalray isn't the problem it's the kind of light sources and some other settings used in Simfox' lightrigs. I'm also using the mentalray renderer but with the same kind of light  maxis used in gmax.
I don't really understand why we should change the kind of lighting after seven years.. We'll only get (or are having) a huge mix of buildings rendered in different ways.. the result of this is that many BATs rendered with the new technique will look out of place between older BATs.

The only problem is we don't have an alternative for the newer 3dsmax versions, as callagrafx said. However you could try to take one of the rigs from chrisadams Bat4max and don't use the functions of LTBL, but I guess this would be a bit difficult, because LTBL changes many more settings than only the light rig..  &mmm


As far as I know there's no direct way to load .max files from 3dsmax 2010 in 3dsmax9  :(



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on September 05, 2010, 01:00:57 PM
I hope you do not mistake my continuing critisism ... &mmm

You see the transitions between the six vertical segments which apparently form the model's facade. This fact strikes you if you look at the balconies or the cornices. Furthermore it is a bit out of scale. Already existing Parisian w2ws (those ones with a width of two tiles) use to have seven or eight windows per storey, your new BAT has only six.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 05, 2010, 11:29:02 PM
Quote from: N1_2888 on September 05, 2010, 01:00:57 PM
I hope you do not mistake my continuing critisism ... &mmm

You see the transitions between the six vertical segments which apparently form the model's facade. This fact strikes you if you look at the balconies or the cornices. Furthermore it is a bit out of scale. Already existing Parisian w2ws (those ones with a width of two tiles) use to have seven or eight windows per storey, your new BAT has only six.

No problem N1_2888. I always value input for improvement. However, I think your criticism is partly based on a misconception about Paris buildings and proportions and number of windows per story from your side :-). Have a look at google streetview and you will find a lot of variety. However, it may just look better the way you suggested. I'm stuck to the 16m width multiples anyway, so I could try to sqeeuze in one more... let's see...

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on September 06, 2010, 01:18:22 AM
Quote from: xannepan on September 05, 2010, 10:28:14 AM
Hi guys. About the MR renders; is there anyway to load a 3dsmax2010 file in 3dsmax9. I also am struggling with the renders blending in, and I do have y old version of 3dsmax-9. unfortunately the 3dsmax2010 files won't load in max-9 :(
Anyone know of a solution?

The only solution is a dirty one but it generally works, but it means a bit of reworking.  Export the mesh as a .3ds file, then import that into Max 2009.  You will probably have to retexture and everything will become editable meshes, but it will work fine.  But there's no need to export, as the B4M scripts should also include the original light rigs, and all you have to do is choose Scanline as the renderer.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 06, 2010, 08:01:57 AM
Quote from: callagrafx on September 06, 2010, 01:18:22 AM
The only solution is a dirty one but it generally works, but it means a bit of reworking.  Export the mesh as a .3ds file, then import that into Max 2009.  You will probably have to retexture and everything will become editable meshes, but it will work fine.  But there's no need to export, as the B4M scripts should also include the original light rigs, and all you have to do is choose Scanline as the renderer.

Call; I figured this out last night :)... Question however: does bat4max v3 work in max 2009? or max-9? (i believe there is a difference between these version, but i'm not sure)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on September 06, 2010, 08:42:43 AM
Hi Alex... Sorry, I mistyped the 2009 bit  &ops

ChrisAdams version (which is here (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1992)) works with Max 2008 and lower.  Simfox's v.3.5 should work with v9 but I'm sure just how compatible.  If you want to use Max 9, then Chris's would be your better bet.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on September 06, 2010, 12:32:17 PM
Quote from: xannepan on September 05, 2010, 11:29:02 PM
However, I think your criticism is partly based on a misconception about Paris buildings and proportions and number of windows per story from your side :-). Have a look at google streetview and you will find a lot of variety.
Sorry, I should have expressed myself more clearly. I referred to already existing BATs and not to already existing real buildings. Even those Parisian w2w BATs with seven or eight windows per storey (which I consider as a kind of standard) look very bulky if you compare them with central-European w2w models having up to ten windows (cf. Ferox' W2W Pack).
QuoteHowever, it may just look better the way you suggested.
I'm sure it will though it already looks very promising. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 06, 2010, 01:03:13 PM
Okay guys. So i have exported the 3ds to max-9 and managed to render it.
Appart from the too bright colors I have an issue though with ALN bat4max v3 render...: it looks smoothed, not as crisp as I'm used to. Have a loook at the screenshot. The version on the left is the max-9 version rendered with ALN bat4max v3. The version on the right is Simfox bat4max rendered in max-2010.
I suppose i missed a config setting in max-9... any suggestions?

Thanks
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on September 06, 2010, 01:13:20 PM
Are you using Catmull-rom antialiasing?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sam Johnson on September 06, 2010, 01:36:34 PM
There are a few of possible settings that could be responsible for this result. Probably it's a combination of many of these. A few examples: Which Exposure Control do you use?, What kind of gamma setting do you use? I'd recommend to check these 2 settings. Usuallay you don't need anything of these both for a "game like" render, that means, turn off any exposure control and any gamma settings.
I guess even if those settings are right, you'll need to adjust your textures. And as Debussyman said, it seems like you aren't using Catmull-rom antialiasing, without it the BATs will look very blurry.

I hope I was able to help  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on September 06, 2010, 02:43:32 PM
Quote from: DebussyMan on September 06, 2010, 01:13:20 PM
Are you using Catmull-rom antialiasing?

DebussyMan stop quoting yourself :P

Got that comment from him a few times myself. But a very good thing to do.


Love your work, X.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 07, 2010, 07:24:40 AM
Okay. Catmull did the job. Here are some screens from the 3dsmax9 rendering. Still thinking about how to tune the nightlights.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 08, 2010, 05:39:15 AM
corner version
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on September 08, 2010, 07:21:36 AM
Oh mon Dieu mais c'est magnifique!! :o

Oh my God but it's wonderful! :o

Guillaume :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 08, 2010, 10:50:28 AM
In game picture of the two buildings at night.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on September 08, 2010, 11:05:20 AM
excellent  ;)

ps: your facade is very clean in the sense it's very vertical it's ok for Rue de Rivoli however Haussman buildings have a lot of flowers / plants or something else on the balconies which puts more details and "breack" the vertical facade
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on September 08, 2010, 03:11:37 PM
I fear this (http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=765) is going to be out-dated soon. :(

:D

&apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on September 08, 2010, 09:51:47 PM
Babuloziwad !!!!!!

&hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mcarch on September 09, 2010, 05:35:06 AM
Are these gonna be ploppable?  Ploppable with CS jobs would be great  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on September 09, 2010, 02:20:23 PM
Quote from: N1_2888 on September 08, 2010, 03:11:37 PM
I fear this (http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=765) is going to be out-dated soon. :(

:D

&apls &apls &apls

Absolutely !  :o

I fear we're going to have a new extension to the T.W. Project . :(

:D

&apls &apls &apls

Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: serebii666 on September 10, 2010, 04:10:46 PM
Your buildings look wonderful! keep up the great work!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 11, 2010, 04:26:42 AM
another variation in progress
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on September 11, 2010, 04:47:16 AM
Nice rooftop terrace, but the table and chairs look a little overscaled.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Gilikov1994 on September 11, 2010, 04:54:16 AM
very very nice :), btw.. your BAT's are only in Parisian style?

groet, Giel :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 11, 2010, 11:08:17 AM
another corner variant
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on September 11, 2010, 11:15:38 AM
The last one is awesome  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on September 11, 2010, 11:42:26 AM
I think I'll say the same thing as Une_ame, it's Babuloziwad!!! &apls &apls &apls

Guillaume &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on September 12, 2010, 11:53:55 AM
Superb work ,  Alex ... can't wait to play with these babies .  ::)

That's really exciting for me to see another dream becoming « virtually real » !   &hlp

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fileden.com%2Ffiles%2F2006%2F9%2F1%2F198038%2FRue%2520de%2520Rivoli01.JPG&hash=2b0561ac056b1c4ce3a054957a16e272ab6d4f34)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fileden.com%2Ffiles%2F2006%2F9%2F1%2F198038%2FRue%2520de%2520Rivoli02.jpg&hash=65cc6d54825ccf46a9ed17bc928640526f34331a)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fileden.com%2Ffiles%2F2006%2F9%2F1%2F198038%2FRue%2520de%2520Rivoli03.jpg&hash=1e20556d8e747d452ad256f480696afbd477b33e)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fileden.com%2Ffiles%2F2006%2F9%2F1%2F198038%2FRue%2520de%2520Rivoli04.jpg&hash=2cacaa31960b00315ec333926d14fd75b9f452b4)


It would be perfect that you release a few others corners for variety ... of course not  about the twenty of that kind as I estimate them along the 3 Km of Rue de Rivoli . $%Grinno$%


Have also another request ; please take care about the LODs so I can add props under the arches ... another way to get some realism  & variety . :thumbsup:

Thank you .  &apls

Now , that's just impossible to do not request the iron gates of Tuileries's garden from somebody of the T.W.Team !!!  ;D


Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 13, 2010, 12:06:16 PM
Rue de Rome 17 (near Gare St Lazare). In progress...

http://maps.google.com/maps/svpw?source=earth&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmaps.google.com%2Fmaps%3Fll%3D48.87564720%2C2.32394290%26layer%3Dc%26cbll%3D48.87564720%2C2.32394290%26cbp%3D%2C%2C%2C%2C&panoid=-yVXURNTtF96UVdnO8JBCA
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: editfish on September 13, 2010, 12:12:19 PM
Xannepan is awesome as always  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Orange_o_ on September 13, 2010, 12:38:08 PM

Beautifull  &apls

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnsa20.casimages.com%2Fimg%2F2010%2F09%2F13%2Fmini_100913093820252016.jpg&hash=0c3ccea6ea9a42b3f44eeeb52e43104c96e1f6ee)
(http://nsa20.casimages.com/img/2010/09/13/100913093820252016.jpg)
Clic for enlarge
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Fledder200 on September 13, 2010, 02:54:41 PM
awsome!!! can't wait!! i need some new Franch housing!!! love it!!!  &apls :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on September 13, 2010, 10:01:35 PM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freewebs.com%2F8458848%2Fcat_OMG.jpg&hash=f18e8aae1484e0f5c558dd6a460f2b1262e98cfb)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on September 14, 2010, 10:44:18 AM
It's unbelievable!! You'll re-recreate Paris after Porkissimo!! &apls &apls

Une_ame > Mais où c'est que tu vas chercher les images? :D

Guillaume :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 15, 2010, 05:55:22 AM
update + another rivoli corner variant. In progress (still working on some details )
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on September 15, 2010, 07:01:54 AM
Love this!!  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: threeswept on September 15, 2010, 07:31:19 AM
Superb...as I've always remembered. Glad to see your creations again!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: namspopof on September 15, 2010, 07:48:17 AM
Very beautiful  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on September 15, 2010, 08:14:02 AM
Really amazing! I wanna live there! $%Grinno$%

Guillaume :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on September 15, 2010, 10:04:42 AM
Quote from: Sciurus on September 15, 2010, 08:14:02 AM
... I wanna live there! $%Grinno$%

Guillaume :thumbsup:

... Neither do I !!! (Moi non plus !!!) :D

Hi Alex ,

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fileden.com%2Ffiles%2F2006%2F9%2F1%2F198038%2FRue%2520de%2520Rivoli05.jpg&hash=898431e3cda445bb0a5baa47064b80196fb81670)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fileden.com%2Ffiles%2F2006%2F9%2F1%2F198038%2FRue%2520de%2520Rivoli06.jpg&hash=99613f58f9c2aaff59e785072ef5e63cf6ac02e5)

My first feeling about your nightlighting for Rue de Rivoli was that it seemed a bit strange . After all , I don't know Paris that much (I didn't visit it since a least 15 years ...)  . But my point of view  was mostly « according to parisian BATs already available for SC4 » . Since , I've searched and found various night views and have to say that your nightlighting for Rue de Rivoli  is just ... :o.

I'm just curious and impatient to see them with Gizmo or Simfox day/night Mod ... (despite the « blackness symdrom » for street/roads/avenues .)

That said , I would have prefered more bluish roofs for Rue de Rivoli's BATs . A small criticism compared to my admiration . ;)

&apls &apls &apls

Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 16, 2010, 03:04:49 AM
Inspired on Westin hotel.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: serebii666 on September 16, 2010, 10:31:05 AM
Wonderful! Just fantastique!  :thumbsup:




P.S. Are you planning on doing Les Galeries Lafayettes? with your level of skill, Its glass dome would be easy to accomplish!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on September 16, 2010, 11:25:58 AM
Excellent, I love it!! &apls

And if you do the Galeries Lafayette as Serebii666 recommanded you, I wish you good luck for the christmas lights $%Grinno$%

Guillaume :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on September 16, 2010, 12:21:15 PM
The nightlights are really good.


Me like it !!!  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on September 16, 2010, 02:11:32 PM
you put trees on the balconies good  &apls &apls

more flowers will ne appreciate but it is small details

the level of this parisian buildings are very high congrats  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 16, 2010, 10:38:12 PM
Thanks guys. I plan to do one or two more variations on Rue de Rivoli. But before that I'll focus on a few more diagonals. And I intent to stick to my promise to make the 3ds files and textures available (but not before I release the lots :))

Something completely different: Does anyone have any experience with bridge building? I'm thinking about creating some Paris bridges. I know the basics of bridge building (start, repeat and centre pieces + tight LODs) but wouldn't know how to mould these into a functional ingame bridge. So I'd like to work together with some-one.... :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on September 17, 2010, 04:39:46 AM
Your best bet would be to talk with Matt (threestooges).  I would drop him a PM with your interests. ;)
This may also help....How to model a bridge for SC4. (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=930.0)

BTW....I love your work.

Robin  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on September 17, 2010, 06:24:20 PM
More diagonals would be very much welcomed and Parisian bridges would be a true delight. I'll reserve a place of honor for just such a bridge in my cities.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 28, 2010, 08:27:40 AM
just to let you know I'm a bit addicted to civilization-5 right now... but will continue on these buildings :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on September 30, 2010, 01:23:07 PM
Remembering your request about a Police station with the Hausmann style, I think yo should take a look at this adress : 10, rue Pierre Lescot 75001 Paris.

Her is a view with Googlestreet

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg839.imageshack.us%2Fimg839%2F223%2F10ruelescot.png&hash=d9c455d3e1321c8f9a73b8f2516ec391519194da)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on October 24, 2010, 03:49:52 AM
Hi Alex ,

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg163.imageshack.us%2Fimg163%2F2866%2Foverviews01a.jpg&hash=ee0a34cd2883adbdaab783c0ca15ed47ebd8e265)

OK , nothing against Civilization 5 ... $%Grinno$% , just wanna let you know I'm ready to place these babies at their right places !  ;D

:thumbsup:

Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 14, 2010, 06:01:02 AM
Found some time to continu.
Diagonal, and Hotel regina on rue de rivoli.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on November 14, 2010, 07:08:17 AM
Splendid job Xannepan  &apls &apls
Cédric will be happy  ()stsfd()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 14, 2010, 09:04:04 AM
Hotel regina in game at night, with the statue of joan of arc as prop.
I'm not completely happy with the base night lighting as the abruptly stop at the building border... can't be helped I'm affraid, not unless I create a base texture that protrudes the lot. But there are other disadvanages with that approach.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mightygoose on November 14, 2010, 09:42:56 AM
lovely...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on November 14, 2010, 12:33:56 PM
I am always excited to see more from your Paris collection. I will save a select spot in my greatest cities for your works.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: serebii666 on November 14, 2010, 10:20:13 PM
Just beautiful!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 15, 2010, 12:09:06 PM
hi guys and girls,

I have uploaded all my 3dsmax model files including textures on the lex, as promised. Feel free to use these as basis or inspiration for your own buildings. The only kind requests I have is that you do not upload sc4 files exactly the same as these buidlings and that you wait with uploading anything based on these models until I have had a chance to upload the sc4 files myself. I have requested Barby's help to assist me in making beautiful lots of my buildings ;)

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on November 15, 2010, 01:19:35 PM
Looking forward to explore these files.


Can't extract the texture(s) CONC4.jpg in both files.

btw: the explore can't open the two textures.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on November 15, 2010, 05:08:10 PM
In my case only the picture in the second ZIP archive is corrupted (I used 7-Zip for extracting).
_____

EDIT: Some textures are missed:

Conc1.jpg
Conc9.jpg
CONCRETE.JPG
conNbr1.jpg (CONNBR1.JPG)
conNbr2.jpg (CONNBR2.JPG)
DOOR1.JPG
DOOR1BUM.JPG
Finishes.Ceilings.Acoustical Tile.Exposed Grid.2x4.Pebble.White.jpg
_images_db_londonstore1.jpg
oldbrick2.jpg
ROOF ZIN.JPG
Shop1.jpg
TN_Free_Textures_024.jpg
window.jpg
window1.jpg

Rue de Paris:
TN_Free_Textures_024.jpg
conNbr1.jpg
window.jpg
Conc9.jpg

Rue de Rome 17:
Conc9.jpg
oldbrick2.jpg
window.jpg

"JENXPARIS_Rue_de_Rivoli_Corner1_V01g.max":
Shop1.jpg
Conc1.jpg
window.jpg
CONNBR1.JPG
CONNBR2.JPG

"JENXPARIS_Rue_de_Rivoli_Corner2 V02e.max":
CONNBR1.JPG
Shop1.jpg
_images_db_londonstore1.jpg
window.jpg

"JENXPARIS_Rue_de_Rivoli_Corner3 V00F.max":
Shop1.jpg
_images_db_londonstore1.jpg
window.jpg
CONNBR1.JPG

"JENXPARIS_Rue_de_Rivoli_Corner4_V00f.max"/"JENXPARIS_Rue_de_Rivoli_Corner5_V00f.max":
Shop1.jpg
Conc1.jpg
CONNBR2.JPG
CONNBR1.JPG
window.jpg

"JENXPARIS_Rue_de_Rivoli_Part2 V01i.max:"
conNbr2.jpg
Shop1.jpg
Finishes.Ceilings.Acoustical Tile.Exposed Grid.2x4.Pebble.White.jpg
CONNBR1.JPG
window.jpg
(CONNBR2.JPG)

"JENXPARIS_Rue_de_Rivoli_Part3_V00i.max":
conNbr2.jpg
Shop1.jpg
CONNBR1.JPG
window.jpg
window1.jpg

"JENXPARIS_Rue_de_Rivoli_V07m.max":
Shop1.jpg
window.jpg
CONNBR1.JPG

Rue Jean de Beauvais 23:
CONCRETE.JPG
CONNBR2.JPG
TN_Free_Textures_024.jpg
DOOR1.JPG
DOOR1BUM.JPG
conNbr1.jpg
ROOF ZIN.JPG
window.jpg
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on November 16, 2010, 10:08:51 PM
I've always missed the Hotel Regina in sc4. Looking great!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 20, 2010, 10:47:37 AM
Prefecture de police Paris just across Notre Dame.
Still a long way to go. I'm experimenting with a new approach to texture the building using screencaptures from google street view... more difficult than expected, but the result is nice.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on November 20, 2010, 01:18:28 PM
This is looking fantastic! I would love to have schools, fire stations and hospitals in the same theme of Parisian buildings to make a fully complimentary cityscape. I am excited about your progress. &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on November 21, 2010, 06:06:05 AM
I have started to play with the lotting on these but am not sure whether to continue in the way I have done the three in the image below. All except one of the BATs is 2 tiles deep; the odd one is 3 tiles deep. I have tried to make these look like the actual Rue de Rivoli - as far as I can - with the parking at the front. Unfortunately this leaves a half tile at the rear. I would appreciate comments from all before I continue. Should I do the rest like these or start again with nothing at the front?

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy171%2Fbarbyw%2Fruderivolifront.jpg&hash=e6bc85f86e42f583d378322730f23f3ab660b02e)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy171%2Fbarbyw%2Fruederivolirear.jpg&hash=17f05399a07d132ae9d8ada5552faace581217c4)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on November 21, 2010, 07:16:19 AM
While the additional parking lots look nice, I think they won't mix well with the other W2W lots, since you can't control which one will grow. There have been some agreements on the setback which are consistent for most of the W2Ws that have been released, so you might want to have a look at those. But as the parking lots are a nice idea, I wonder if you could use this design for a ploppable version. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: BarbyW on November 21, 2010, 09:11:55 AM
These are the ploppable ones, Andreas, and by no means finished. If I use the W2W agreed set back I still need to add another tile to all of them as the building fills a 2 deep (or in one case 3 deep) lot. The building on the right of the rear image will need to have different props too but these were just three quick lots to see what they looked like. I need to cross check with other Paris BATs to see what set back they have for the growables.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 21, 2010, 09:31:39 AM
Hi Barby,

The easiest way to go for is to keep the sidewalk distance that I used in the test lots. These fit perfect with other W2Ws, and also don't give any problems with the corner buildings (for which the sidewalk distance is fixed per design). But the parked cars do look good :)
Anyway; let's wait what others have to say.

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 21, 2010, 09:33:43 AM
Quote from: BarbyW on November 21, 2010, 09:11:55 AM
... If I use the W2W agreed set back I still need to add another tile to all of them as the building fills a 2 deep....
`

Barby, I'm not sure I understand... why do you need another tile?



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 21, 2010, 09:40:32 AM
some progress...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on November 21, 2010, 09:43:08 AM
It looks like this is coming along well. The parking in front sounds like an interesting idea, but it would break the pattern we have for the other Parisian W2W lots. My preference would be to not have the parking, or to have two versions- with and without.

I am excited to see the final product :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on November 21, 2010, 09:48:01 AM
The prefecture is amazing, wait to completion  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on November 21, 2010, 12:44:19 PM
The buildings look very nice.

Barby's point is particularly troublesome for corner lots.  If cars are placed in front of the corner piece then that  piece will either extend out or be an alley for 1/2 a tile.  On corners this means that they will no longer be W2W.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on November 21, 2010, 10:40:40 PM
 &hlp &hlp &hlp
I've been out for a long time and seeing that beauty one my screen for my come back is stunning. Can't wait to see it with the roof and some cars parked in the court.

Barby, your lots are nice but as far as can remember, the distance between the arches and the circulation is very small one the RL rue de Rivoli. As a result, the only way to reproduce it here is to delete the parking lot in front and have overhanging props for the parked cars.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 22, 2010, 10:34:52 PM
Hi,

I'm making good progress with the Prefecture. Currently looking for examples for fire stations (and next hospitals) in Paris, in a similar Parisian building style as the prefecture. Screenshots, google maps links etc would be appreciated.

Alex.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 24, 2010, 03:23:55 AM
Almost done (well.. except for the lot etc).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on November 24, 2010, 04:14:38 AM
 :o &apls
Wow, the arch doorways in the front look great.

Robin
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on November 24, 2010, 06:12:33 AM
Amazing work Xannepan  &apls &apls &apls

wait for the interior courtyard  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on November 24, 2010, 06:39:06 AM
I Remember see this building in the real life near of the Notre Dame, is the beautiful building in the building zone, and you make the great work !

&apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 24, 2010, 08:34:07 AM
All,

I need to re-render all my recent buildings before I can release them... I forgot to use catmull-rom anti-aliasing... Results are much more crisp now!
Fortunately rendering only takes a few minutes on my new PC...


Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 24, 2010, 10:05:06 AM
Allright... re-rendering done already. Here's an in game screenshot... Buildings are now ready for getting a nice lot.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on November 24, 2010, 02:08:07 PM
I think the lot is almost done. As far as I remember, the inside court is mainly a car park for the prefecture's officers.

Maybe a bit more cars inside, delete the arrows and add a flagpole above the gate. One can be seen in the pic below taken from the inside (you can see one of Notre-Dame towers behind).

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm5.static.flickr.com%2F4151%2F5069354216_6c7fd45570_z.jpg&hash=c69a9ce745278410b318a8de5e9d5a384c4cb3ad)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: peterycristi on November 24, 2010, 10:23:47 PM
really nice work! but in my opinion some parts, especially the entrance section, look too much like "boxes with texture". If you could work out the details there a little bit more, the building would really be greate.  &apls

saludos
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 25, 2010, 11:14:25 AM
guess what's next
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on November 25, 2010, 11:25:10 AM
Gare/Musée d'Orsay
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 26, 2010, 04:34:36 AM
some progress... but still a long way to go...

The main problem I forsee is lack of pictures of the musee of the top (roof) and inner court at the left side/entrance. I'm also no sure how to deal with the left side, which was "cut off" when the station was transformed into the museum. Perhaps a blind wall?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Methene on November 26, 2010, 05:34:16 AM
Quote from: xannepan on November 26, 2010, 04:34:36 AM
some progress... but still a long way to go...

The main problem I forsee is lack of pictures of the musee of the top (roof) and inner court at the left side/entrance. I'm also no sure how to deal with the left side, which was "cut off" when the station was transformed into the museum. Perhaps a blind wall?


Superb, as usual. Have you tried Bing Maps? Granted the aerial view is not extremely detailed, but it is better than google maps for a general impression.

A blind wall would work for w2w environments, although a train station side would work as well... Sort of two models in one, one as a functional train station, one as a museum. So the real life decision could be undertaken in Sim City 4, as well. Although I have no idea how much effort that would be, so I was merely immagining in-game.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on November 26, 2010, 06:04:29 AM
Superb Xannepan  &apls &apls
This one is better than the prefecture according to me, more detailed.
Thank you for sharing lot of parisian bats it's very well appreciated  :thumbsup: 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on November 26, 2010, 11:43:48 AM
Oh mon Dieu! :o :o It's just AMAZING! &apls &apls

Guillaume &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 28, 2010, 05:46:12 AM
Quote from: Methene on November 26, 2010, 05:34:16 AM
... Sort of two models in one, one as a functional train station, one as a museum.

I like the idea, but I can only work from example. Pictures of the station are rare on the internet. If anyone can find pciture of the old gare d'orsay (gare d'orleans) I'd appreciate it.

In the mean time, I'm working on the museum entrance....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on November 28, 2010, 06:09:55 AM
What about that (http://www.europeana.eu/portal/brief-doc.html?start=1&view=table&facet1=title&query1=Gare+d%27Orsay&operator2=and&facet2=creator&query2=Laloux+Victor&operator3=and&facet3=&query3=)?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 28, 2010, 08:11:07 AM
The maps help... but the station had underground rail system. I currently don't have a clue how to deal with that  ()what()..
For the model it makes live easier... but for the eventual lot we'd have to see how the station can be connected to the railway system
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on November 28, 2010, 08:44:54 AM
To me it looks like semi-underground:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi941.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fad252%2Fvester71%2FGare%2520dOrsay%2F06-524999.jpg&hash=f29099d2673744296ab0cffedb64c2a6baddaf4d)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi941.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fad252%2Fvester71%2FGare%2520dOrsay%2F06-500730.jpg&hash=467374fb8af8ea8924bbc77fdd2fe53a4eca1214)


I thnk it is a bit like Copenhagen Main Trainstation:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi941.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fad252%2Fvester71%2Fmisc%2FKBH-H1.jpg&hash=662dc9945c88bef120feabf8a1be5fd98417aaf8)

where you have the entrance level and below you have the train running.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on November 28, 2010, 04:48:24 PM
Another cross section:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.expositions-universelles.fr%2F1900-photo%2F1900-gare-orsay-69.jpg&hash=f094e18be7be80b9b01f6bbdb686d4613b84f196)

I think the tracks were entirely below grade. If you want to stick with the original building the only way to make the model a station will be within the framework of the NAM underground railway puzzle pieces. If it is nevertheless to be a station suitable for the standard railway, some improvisation will be unavoidable.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mightygoose on November 28, 2010, 05:04:36 PM
why dont you just build it so it requires 8m on slope at either side of the lot... thus the rail is above ground and the station is at ground level where it needs to be? use a hole digger as end user to create the shape.... nice solution with any real compromise....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on November 28, 2010, 05:28:15 PM
Great work....  ;D

I have only acouple of the Gare d'Orsay... and both from the interior. Probably useless but well...

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi232.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fee249%2FDebussyman%2Fgare1.gif&hash=2cb379d9655187343de2f280262a52697c1e6eb1)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi232.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fee249%2FDebussyman%2Fgare2.gif&hash=c574fb6b74cab8607d1e5565e4c492dddef51b57)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on November 29, 2010, 04:47:42 AM
Creating another station for the NAM U-Rail puzzle pieces sounds like a good idea. I think not many people are using those pieces, even though the set has been expanded pretty well, thanks to ebina's great efforts. We have so many transit-enabled (terminal) stations, but rarely other stations - and with the U-Rail pieces, one could build the current situation in Paris, since there actually is an underground RER station at this place.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 29, 2010, 08:07:22 AM
Thanks for the suggestions and pictures! (some of which I hadn;t found yet :)

A combined subway and underground trainstation seems like an excellent idea! I hope I can count on help of the NAM team to help with Transit enabling it.
I'll finish the model (which will still take some time) and upload it for scrutineering and for transit enabling the lot


Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on November 29, 2010, 09:32:47 AM
Actually, the transit enabling for an underground rail station is very easy - it's the same as the Maxis railway station. So you just need to add some Transit Switch properties, which should be done automatically when using SC4PIM, if I'm not completely mistaken. But naturally, the NAM Team is always there with some advice, if needed. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 02, 2010, 11:00:10 AM
not a lot off time... but I'm making a bit of progress
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on December 02, 2010, 11:04:54 AM
Amazing work  :thumbsup:

nice work going slowly  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on December 03, 2010, 02:21:27 AM
I think you gonna collect the best station awards after Gare du Nord "$Deal"$.

The BAt in the pic you show share the same advantages than your other parisian station : textures (roof, walls and windows), shape and molding (statues !!) look the same.  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on December 04, 2010, 01:04:59 AM
Oh God! :o &apls &apls

Guillaume &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 05, 2010, 12:33:19 AM
progress on the roofs...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on December 05, 2010, 03:37:08 AM
Nice job  :thumbsup:

ps: we can see repetition in the tiles roof behind the statues
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on December 05, 2010, 07:44:19 AM
Wow  :o

This is looking beautiful! I would love to use a station like this! I hope you stick with mightygoose's suggestion and go no deeper than a realistic 8m for the tracks. That would be perfect for rail tunnels after leaving the station or for being crossed by eventual 7.5m elevated networks. I've been following your thread occasionally since you started being active again (I'm a big fan of your work, especially Amsterdam Centraal & Gare du Nord) but will be checking in much more often now  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on December 10, 2010, 02:22:29 PM
I left you Rue de Rivoli , I find you again at Musée D'Orsay after the Prefecture de Police ... Like for Debussyman , just can't get enough of your pharaonic & breathtaking work !  :'(

How lucky that community is ...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 12, 2010, 11:06:40 AM
I'm making good progress on musee/gare d'orsay.
I'm nearly at the point where I need to get busy with all kinds of small details, subtle texturing improvements etc.

Main problem still is the back side of the model (from the perspective of attached picture) for which I cannot find any pictures...
I'm thinking of releasing three models
1) museum (with front entrance as current museum). I'll have to make some educated guess of how to deal with the back side (closed backside)
2) train station with ground level tracks. Back side will be similar to gare du nord with trains entering the back side of the station hall (open back side where tracks enter the hall)
3) trains station with underground level tracks (closed back side)

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on December 12, 2010, 02:17:21 PM
I believe your solution for the ground level station will be good... all train stations have more or less the same disposition regarding that part.

I love how this is turning out, the iron lattice ornaments look great  :satisfied:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Nardo69 on December 12, 2010, 02:53:51 PM
I looked around and didn't find anything about that facade. So I asked in the German railway forum Drehscheibe Online (http://drehscheibe-online.de/).

I opened a thread in the historical forum (http://www.drehscheibe-foren.de/foren/read.php?17,5152913) and in the foreign country forum (http://www.drehscheibe-foren.de/foren/read.php?30,5152915).

In the historical forum I received the answer that most probably all tracks were laid below street surface = underground and that there weren't a station head with ground level tracks.

I linked you both threads, maybe some more answers will come. If you need a translator feel free to ask me.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on December 13, 2010, 04:23:41 AM
Hi Alex ,

Nothing new for you about Orsay as a railway station ... you have to use compromise & imagination , I'm afraid of ... at least nobody should be able to contradict you !  ::)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg221.imageshack.us%2Fimg221%2F6182%2Fmusedorsay01.jpg&hash=4acbb784e3b938c1d3f4ccf74a304743387fee23)

About Orsay as a museum , you have now to chose between a W2W version with Caisse des Dépots & Consignations , like in the reality , or an isolated version .

For a W2W version , ( personally  it would be my prefered ) I've found a single picture ( at night  ... ) . Walls obviously are blind and the glassed-in part doesn't seem to go down as far as the ground , this is the best picture I've found of it :

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg192.imageshack.us%2Fimg192%2F580%2Fmusedorsay06.jpg&hash=5f0fe194ed16667bef0e829953fce0b26cfba960)


For an isolated museum version , I would suggest you to model and texture the blind walls like the others facades around and the glassed-in part from the roof to the ground ...

Hope this will help you a little to take the proper decisions . ;)

Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mmorales2 on December 16, 2010, 03:53:21 PM
When do you plan on releasing all the recent BAT's you have created? I am dying to get them :'( &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 21, 2010, 11:19:20 AM
Release is waiting for Barby (she is going to make the lots and define realistic grow (res) and plop (com) properties). I haven't hear from her in a few weeks.. so I guess she is busy with RL.
If it takes too long I'll consider trying to make the lots myself (I have no real experience in this area).

Here's some progress on gare d'orsay.. Still some work to do. The rail and street textures are for testing lot placement etc..



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on December 21, 2010, 11:40:14 AM
Nice progress about this train station  &apls &apls
the only thing which is strange is that the rail tracks are not centered with the pylons of the structure  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 21, 2010, 11:49:36 AM
Girafe; the architect of the station did not have to deal with lot sizes of multiples of 16m  $%Grinno$%. Scaling the station model is not an option... The ony way to solve it is to create custom paths for rails that are indeed centered wrt the pylons (which is way beyond my modding skills).

So I'll transit enable the lot based on the rails road textures as you see them now. Additionally in the lot editor I'll add some eye-candy overlay side-track textures to make it visually more appealing... Maybe the NAM team can help to transit enable these... (I know some of them did exactly the same for the first version of gare du nord)

Alex


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on December 21, 2010, 12:06:57 PM
Looks great. Sure you can get some help getting some custom path. Chrisim maybe.
It would get the dot over the i.


Have a look at north country dude's Railyard and Spur Textures, Mega Pack 1.02 (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2177) and Railyard Textures, Mega Pack 2 (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2177)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on December 21, 2010, 12:26:09 PM
I wouldn't worry too much about the transit enabling (or network enabling, to be precise). As long as the lot touches a railway line somewhere, it will work, speaking from a functional aspect (like you can simply plop the Maxis railway station next to the tracks somewhere). Just make the lot network enabled where it works, and use some eye-candy tracks and platforms for the rest.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 22, 2010, 09:51:47 AM
I have done a test render today and Transit enabled the lot. Here are some in game screenshots... Just a little bit of fine tuning needed now.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Nardo69 on December 22, 2010, 10:26:36 AM
Looks good so far. :)

Sometimes the supports of such big roof constructions were deliberately placed between the tracks in order to keep the platforms free from pillars etc - especially in the first half of the 20th century these platforms were thriving of live because of all those people who sold hot dogs, refreshments, news papers etc. or had to load and unload the trains' luggages. If I remember Karlsruhe Hbf is such an example (even though it went into service after WWI). Maybe moving the RR station half a tile out of the center could do the trick?

The left, smaller side of the station looks a bit empty IMHO, a signal box etc. could look fine there (and would give a great view to the men who had to operate the switches and signals. ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 24, 2010, 11:53:50 AM
The models for both the museum and for the station are ready. I will not change them anymore.. (unless you want me to go completly beserk :P)
I have managed to get a better position of the station hall with respect to the tracks. The station has 4 tracks leaving the hall.

The front of the station is not network enabled, but instead hangs-ver the lot (don't worry.. no immortal lot syndrome :) )

I'm currently creating props and the lots.

Here are some screenshots from the game, from the station...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 24, 2010, 11:54:39 AM
.. and from the museum. The lot is still a but empty but I will work on that.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Nardo69 on December 24, 2010, 12:57:14 PM
Well, nightlights are spectacular ...!  &apls

By any chance, do you have plans for a through station? Because unlike terminus stations there's quite a lack out there ...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Ciuu96 on December 24, 2010, 01:35:09 PM
BEAUTIFUL station, I like this a lot!  :thumbsup:

Quote from: Nardo69 on December 24, 2010, 12:57:14 PM
By any chance, do you have plans for a through station? Because unlike terminus stations there's quite a lack out there ...

Agreed, there is a great lack of through stations, especially if you would like to have many tracks going through the station.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on December 24, 2010, 01:52:17 PM
Lovely work alright, surely a "must have" download! :)

Quote from: Nardo69 on December 24, 2010, 12:57:14 PM
By any chance, do you have plans for a through station? Because unlike terminus stations there's quite a lack out there ...

Heh, actually, I was wondering the same, I guess it shouldn't be too hard to remodel one side for a through station.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 24, 2010, 10:55:59 PM
I'll make the model (3dsmax) file available also.. so any one who wants to create a through station out of it cn try  ;D

Mind you: my models are "messy" (this one in particular) I hardly name anything, there are duplicate textures etc etc...


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on December 25, 2010, 02:44:14 PM
I'm sure, all of us appreciate the fact that you make your 3ds Max models available for the community. This being said no one will complain about trivialities like unnamed objects or duplicate textures. I just hope that there will be no missing textures this time. ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: peter007 on December 25, 2010, 03:23:51 PM
Looks great. When are you releasing the station. I'm looking forward to it  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on December 26, 2010, 01:11:39 AM
I will ask the same question than Ernst but for all your projects you show here. The "Rue de Rivoli" BATs (Debussyman just shows a wall of the nearby Louvre project), the "Préfecture de Police" (a city size covering Police station ?) and the "Gare d'Orsay".
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on December 26, 2010, 12:43:49 PM

Do you intend , like it seems you have started to , to add the sculptures for the museum version ?  :thumbsup:

Stunning work , Alex .

&apls &apls &apls

Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on December 26, 2010, 01:11:56 PM
I think this is my 3rd time back in this thread looking at the most recent version of Gare d'Orsay. It's just beautiful. When I noticed you starting to BAT again I tried not to get my hopes up that anything like this would come to be!  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 28, 2010, 10:23:57 AM
I have started working on some bridges. Here is pont neuf. I still need to split up my model into a start /repeat and center piece, following the Jeronij tutorial. (model may change a bit... not sure yet how to deal with the start piece...)  I'm pretty sure I'll manage to get the bridge finished up to that point. After that I'll  contact the bridge building team to help me turning the models into a sc4-bridge...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Nardo69 on December 28, 2010, 12:10:48 PM
Looks great. :)

If you leave the lamp posts away (and maybe replace them by catenaries) this would be also a great railway bridge!  ()stsfd()

Anyway I'd like to see this beauty both as a road bridge as well as a street bridge (red heringbone maybe, grey SAM plaster definately!)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on December 28, 2010, 12:23:41 PM
Quote from: Nardo69 on December 28, 2010, 12:10:48 PM
Looks great. :)

If you leave the lamp posts away (and maybe replace them by catenaries) this would be also a great railway bridge!  ()stsfd()

Anyway I'd like to see this beauty both as a road bridge as well as a street bridge (red heringbone maybe, grey SAM plaster definately!)

100% agree !  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 28, 2010, 01:27:01 PM
I will continu posting updates on the bridges in this the bridge engineering dept forum.
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=12278.0
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on December 29, 2010, 05:34:50 PM
Can you see the Scrutineer board?  I am having some small troubles with the Gare d'Orsay model.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 29, 2010, 11:59:24 PM
Lowekee... where is the scutineering board?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on December 30, 2010, 01:53:48 AM

Hi Alex ,

I can't test it at its right place because I haven't yet "drawn" Ile de La Cité at its right scale for the TW project , but you can see it in situation with « my » Seine ...

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg821.imageshack.us%2Fimg821%2F8428%2Fpontneuf01.jpg&hash=e2cf992716e8acac21a52ed96b52ff7fdafe04d0)

Some visual glitches at that angle of view too :

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg340.imageshack.us%2Fimg340%2F4455%2Fpontneuf03.jpg&hash=e071094faf65bc450500b92bc15383c396469db3)

And , I'm sorry to insist but the texture is too bright for the turrets notably .

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg28.imageshack.us%2Fimg28%2F2629%2Fpontneuf02.jpg&hash=69c0f9b5c08442dfc833dad59f2335cdbbf44a2a)

Without speaking about the fact there's currently no matching textures for the banks all around ... but maybe that last point is among your projects ?

The TW Project can't ignore your work ... in fact , considering the current situation of the TW Team , there's no future for the project without you .

Thank you . :thumbsup:

Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on December 30, 2010, 10:19:59 AM
Quote from: xannepan on December 29, 2010, 11:59:24 PM
Lowekee... where is the scutineering board?

If you go to the main Forum board, and can find the word "band", then you can see my post.

Quickly, the model is off-set wrong in zoom 3 and 4 in all but the facing north direction.  This can be fixed with Cogeo's Model Tweaker. 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 11, 2011, 10:03:17 AM
Just a brief update: Barby is still working on the LOTs for my new set of Paris buildings including gare d'orsay, but is dealing with some RL issues that are causing some delay. We'll get these buidlings to the STEX asap.

In the mean time I'm still working on some bridges and making good progress. Currently I'm working on a more complex bridge model for which I'll need some more time.

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on January 11, 2011, 12:07:43 PM
WOW xannepans your creations are GREAT ! I like so much your buildings over Paris, well done and keep up the good work :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 04, 2011, 11:57:45 AM
Just across the street from Gare St. Lazare...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Yan077 on February 04, 2011, 12:42:27 PM
Another fantastic parisian W2W ! I love it !
It's a pity the Triumphal Way Team is asleep !  :'(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: serebii666 on February 04, 2011, 02:03:01 PM
Stunning!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Evillions8 on February 04, 2011, 07:23:53 PM
I hope the roof texture is a WIP.  ???

Anyways, I'm loving the model!  Keep it up and nice to see you back! :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 05, 2011, 03:51:11 AM
In game screenshot. There are multiple ways this can be placed along side diagonals. Here I used a lot with a triangular square in front of it.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on February 05, 2011, 10:56:18 AM
Very nice! This will be another great addition to any W2W town.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 06, 2011, 01:37:40 AM
FYI; I have just uploaded the museum version of "Musee d'Orsay" on the BSC private LEX for scrutineering. (Gare d'Orsay was already ready). Included are set of properties for the square in front of the museum.

And a bit more good news. I found one of my backup DVDs, which include the 3dsmax models of gare du nord and antwerp cathedral. As promised I will upload the 3dsmax files on the LEX asap.

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on February 07, 2011, 12:17:19 AM
I feel like a cat in front of a nicee mouse.......

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F__gXsZ7-eRVw%2FS67xH-FHc4I%2FAAAAAAAAXzI%2FarBPwZIB_54%2Fs1600%2Fhappy-cat.jpg&hash=4d6521dde35827202c31ab56c7991dda93fc103a)

I foresee a lot of fun !

&hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp &hlp
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on April 09, 2011, 01:37:38 PM
Today xannepan published one of his new BATs - the Prefecture de Police (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2619):

Quote from: xannepan (LEX)I didn't have time (nor won't I in the near future :-( )to provide links to all the dependency packages.

I've started to look for some of the download links (I guess, I've done the easier part of the job so far ::) ):

  • BSC MEGA Props - Misc Vol02.dat
    => LEX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1771)
  • Lights_MHW_Median_Maxis_Orange.dat 1)
  • Lights_STR_$$_Maxis_Orange.dat 1)
  • MI_El-RailFaceLiftMod_Standard_Maxis_Style.dat
  • Maxis Amill Offset 22 m.dat 2)
  • OrangeTSC MegaProp V.01.dat
    => LEX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1955)
  • PorkieProps-Vol1.dat
    => STEX (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/11421-porkie-props-vol1-european-street-accessories/)
    => SimCityKurier (http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=272)
  • ms family multi euro mod ad-on high wealth.dat
  • ms family multi euro mod ad-on low wealth.dat
  • ms family multi euro mod ad-on medium wealth.dat

  • BSC Textures Vol 02
    => LEX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=638)
    => SimCityKurier (http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=384)

Who is willing to continue/complete this list? (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.simforum.de%2Fimages%2Fsmileys%2Fwave.gif&hash=6d760fe274da7fc3d9d8789a7b467e68a52a0f04)
_____

1) Maybe included in one of xannepan's new bridge downloads.
2) Probably a part of BSC MEGA Props Misc Vol02 (the first dependency).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on April 09, 2011, 05:57:36 PM
Another exciting addition to the game Awesome!  :satisfied:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Simcitler on April 10, 2011, 01:13:07 AM
Quote from: N1_2888 on April 09, 2011, 01:37:38 PM
Who is willing to continue/complete this list? (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.simforum.de%2Fimages%2Fsmileys%2Fwave.gif&hash=6d760fe274da7fc3d9d8789a7b467e68a52a0f04)
I´ll give it a try!
STEX is currently down, so no links so far!

Quote from: N1_2888 on April 09, 2011, 01:37:38 PM
  • BSC MEGA Props - Misc Vol02.dat
    => LEX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1771)
  • Lights_MHW_Median_Maxis_Orange.dat 1)
  • Lights_STR_$$_Maxis_Orange.dat 1)
=> Uniform Street Lighting Mod (STEX)
  • MI_El-RailFaceLiftMod_Standard_Maxis_Style.dat
=> El-Rail Facelift Mod (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1423)
  • Maxis Amill Offset 22 m.dat 2)
=> BSC MEGA PROPS - Misc Vol02 (http://url=http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1771)
  • OrangeTSC MegaProp V.01.dat
    => LEX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1955)
  • PorkieProps-Vol1.dat
    => STEX (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/11421-porkie-props-vol1-european-street-accessories/)
    => SimCityKurier (http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=272)
  • ms family multi euro mod ad-on high wealth.dat
  • ms family multi euro mod ad-on low wealth.dat
  • ms family multi euro mod ad-on medium wealth.dat
=> ms european car replacement mod (STEX)

  • BSC Textures Vol 02
    => LEX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=638)
    => SimCityKurier (http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=384)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on April 10, 2011, 02:20:19 AM
Quote from: Simcitler on April 10, 2011, 01:13:07 AM
I´ll give it a try!
Thank you! :)
QuoteSTEX is currently down, so no links so far!
I've tried to find them with Google:

Prefecture de Police (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2619) - dependencies with links:

  • BSC MEGA Props Misc Vol02 => LEX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1771)
    BSC MEGA Props - Misc Vol02.dat
    including
    Maxis Amill Offset 22 m.dat
  • Uniform Street Lighting Mod => STEX (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/25925-uniform-street-lighting-mod/)
    Lights_MHW_Median_Maxis_Orange.dat
    Lights_STR_$$_Maxis_Orange.dat
  • El-Rail Facelift Mod => LEX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1423) => SimCityKurier (http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=759)
    MI_El-RailFaceLiftMod_Standard_Maxis_Style.dat
  • Orange MEGA Prop Pack Vol01 TSC => LEX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1955)
    OrangeTSC MegaProp V.01.dat
  • Porkie Props Vol 1 => STEX (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/11421-porkie-props-vol1-european-street-accessories/) => SimCityKurier (http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=272)
    PorkieProps-Vol1.dat
  • European car replacement mod => STEX (http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/12973-european-car-replacement-mod/)
    ms family multi euro mod ad-on high wealth.dat
    ms family multi euro mod ad-on low wealth.dat
    ms family multi euro mod ad-on medium wealth.dat

  • BSC Textures Vol 02 => LEX (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=638) => SimCityKurier (http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=384)

No responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information.  :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on April 10, 2011, 07:14:41 AM
Out of curiosity, does one need the latest NAM version to get the new Parisian bridges? I have an older version and I can't find the bridges in any menu.

Thanks
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on July 10, 2011, 02:52:05 AM
I'm doing some experiments on the paris seine river banks...

Also I need to find some time & esp. energy to finish making the lots for the buildings I still hav in store (rue de rivoli etc)...

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on July 10, 2011, 03:14:01 AM
That's beautiful !! We need something like that for our cities, great job mate.  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on July 10, 2011, 04:53:38 AM
Excellent quais! &apls (That's funny, the sentence is the same in english and in french ;D )

Guillaume :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on July 10, 2011, 04:55:24 AM
Your work is great. I will cheer for any new works for you.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on July 10, 2011, 07:15:00 AM
Looks great!  &apls   Are those embankment walls a bit high though?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on July 10, 2011, 08:53:28 AM
good job  ;)

but the textures don't fit so well.

The walls are too bright and the Rivoli's buildings are a little bit too pink
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: supremec on July 10, 2011, 09:20:06 AM
That's excellent  &apls  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on July 11, 2011, 09:24:56 AM
Still experimenting, but it is going in the right direction. In the screenshot you can see I intend to make corner pieces with different curve radius from sharp, to smooth, to very smooth. Placing these will be just a bit challenging but can be done (you have to adjust the river shores with the terrain tools a  bit).

I'm still struggling with the base textures, which are partly based textures on lots and partly included in the model. Now I come to think of it, it's better to create seperate models for base texture and for walls. That way it can be easier to adjust base texture independent from wall models.

Another item on my list is to add some variation (screenshots) to avoid repetition, although these particular models restrict the possibilites (as it requires seamless textures from piece to piece). I'm thinking of experimenting with prop families a bit.

Finally, I also have experimented a bit with lots. I figured out how to place props (trees) below ground level (with reader) and that gave some great results.

As for the colors, perhaps it has to do with the jpg compression. In my test city, everything blends in pretty well with my (and Porkies) Paris building set. But also here...: still experimenting to get the best result, so suggestions are appreciated.

The wall height is quite realistic when compared to RL (Paris). Basically these can be plopped at any ground level, but with this height (picture) ships can pass bridges that are build at similar height.

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on July 11, 2011, 11:16:13 AM
I was not convinced by the first picture but this second one is really good. I would say that you need darker texture where the water "hits" the walls.

Maybe to add small details which avoid the fact that it's too repetitive.

Feel free if you need trees for this wall set :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on July 11, 2011, 11:21:21 AM
Quote from: Girafe on July 11, 2011, 11:16:13 AM
I was not convinced by the first picture but this second one is really good. I would say that you need darker texture where the water "hits" the walls.

Maybe to add small details which avoid the fact that it's too repetitive.

Feel free if you need trees for this wall set :)

Girafe: I agree that darker textures near the water would look better.  I did use already quite a gradient making the texture darker near the water. But the "level" of darkness towards the water  is really difficult to control, since the height of the river shore is different for each player(/map)
I posted some additional new screenshots in my previous post; in the second and third you can see how the walls look for different shore heights.

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MR.Y on July 11, 2011, 02:19:35 PM
release, when??? Can't wait...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: TJ1 on July 11, 2011, 03:57:32 PM
Thats Beautiful!!!  &apls  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: supremec on July 12, 2011, 03:01:43 AM
It's superb, and with beautiful trees and props, it will be awesome  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on July 12, 2011, 04:43:45 AM
Great progress again!  &apls  I believe you on the RL wall height realistism but my favorite placement you've shown is the lowest elevtion one. I look forward to seeing how the trees and details work out  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on July 12, 2011, 07:22:51 AM
New experiments.

picture 1: For one version of these walls I wanted to try to reduce the sidewalk distance between road and river wall (which was one tile wide as you can judge from theprevious pictures). One way to do it is by creating overhanging models on 1-tile wide TE lots. I think the results is great. It will be more challenging for curves and diagonal pieces, so may be that's something for later releases.

picture 2: I tried to create a low level road and a high level road. The idea is -as you can guess - that I try to have the low level road pass under the bridge. Visually I'm confident it will work out. You'd just have to plops the walls twice: once for the high-2-low level road and another time for the low-level-2-river. Overhanging models will be able to make it visually fit under te bridge. Functionally, I'm not sure. I know there are under bridge pieces released some time ago, but I'm not sure if these were actually functional. f these would work I could use these.


Then gfinally @ noachlem: happy you like the result. The point is that you can completely control the height yourself :). Only in the picture you liked most, the walls are not high enough to let boats pass bridges that are build at similar height.

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on July 12, 2011, 11:02:24 AM
I have uploaded gare d orsay. Although I'd like this to be scrutineered first, the response from scrutineers is not as quick as it used to be :)
Since I don't have that much time myself anymore I decided to upload the station anyway, otherwise it may never get released. Having said that; I did make a readme, check dependencies and tested it myself. But it all takes soooo much time which I'd rather spend creating great BATs.
Anyway; I hope it works fine, if not please let me know and I'll see what i can do.
-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MR.Y on July 12, 2011, 11:43:35 AM
Gare du nord??? You had uploaded it a long time before...do you meant another station (may gare du est) or do you updated it?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on July 12, 2011, 12:46:10 PM
Before I start, great work again on the walls. Let me know if you need another tester  ;D

First, I forget if I've told you but I did find a solution to your (and my) earlier troubles with bridge length. You may have already figured something similar out. I had to change the water level using ilive's reader to do so. See the tutorial in my signature for details.

Second, you've been mentioning bridge height for boat traffic in your post here and it's made me curious.... I haven't had time to test it yet but I'm wondering if bridges that are placed when the water level is lower allow ferries to pass still after you return the water level to normal.

I'll get back to you on that.

Third, regarding your underbridge road ideas, the best solution I've found is from Kazuki on a Japanese website. His lots convert traffic to subway and can be found here: http://klex.blog85.fc2.com/ (http://klex.blog85.fc2.com/)

Coincidentally, he's one of the few other people to pursue vertical wall lots (also found in that link). The closest thing I've done to what your designing now features his work (wall lots later modified by me) is this:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi779.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy77%2Fnoahclem%2Fxannepanthreadshot.jpg&hash=336c1754dae6c25a660272f7584bfa1504e7e56d)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi779.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy77%2Fnoahclem%2Fxannepanthreadshot2.jpg&hash=f892a39834a7b9bedab882c508e4c862ada3eff8)

I'd be more than happy to share my re-lots of his work but am not sure what the protocol is to do so.

Anyways, thank you so much for all your contributions and I hope my suggestions/links prove themselves useful.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on July 12, 2011, 02:12:21 PM
Quote from: xannepan on July 12, 2011, 11:02:24 AM
Although I'd like this to be scrutineered first, the response from scrutineers is not as quick as it used to be :)
If you (and the BSC scrutineers?) agree, I could take over this job (especially regarding the W2Ws).
(I already use to do the modding stuff of the Paris lots, which are to be published on the German download site SimCityKurier (http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/files.php?cat=39).)

Quote from: MR.Y on July 12, 2011, 11:43:35 AM
Gare du nord??? You had uploaded it a long time before...do you meant another station (may gare du est) or do you updated it?
Currently just the museum version (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2616) is available.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MR.Y on July 12, 2011, 02:35:28 PM
@N1 2888: he was editing his post, before there stand gare du nord...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on July 12, 2011, 09:55:02 PM
Quote from: MR.Y on July 12, 2011, 02:35:28 PM
@N1 2888: he was editing his post, before there stand gare du nord...

Yep... Sorry for the confusion.  ;D

One other thing. I find to my surprise the gAre is still not on the lex. I'll check what's gone wrong.....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Getron on July 13, 2011, 12:09:37 AM
Xannepans,

The paris seine river banks looks really great. Something we missing, new river bankments.
Great work  :thumbsup:

Getron
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on August 03, 2011, 02:14:16 AM
Just come back from the RL and fell on you're Seine wall

OMG. Soooooooo nice. I specially love the first pic of your July 12th post.

Add one those lots Porky's overhanging good old trees or Girafe last ones and "voila !". Job's done  :thumbsup:

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 04, 2011, 04:55:30 PM
I was glad to see the Orsay railstation on the LEX today, but I have a problem with it. Maybe something is missing from my part but I would like to be sure it comes from me.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fthumbnails%2Fd5406cb9babbc63c05bce947fefee3ed.jpg&hash=29ee15aa4715012749690b2faa0ae00f39e5002d) (http://www.ld-host.de/show/d5406cb9babbc63c05bce947fefee3ed.jpg)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 05, 2011, 01:00:29 AM
Girafe; that is strange. I checked and doubke checked, in my game the overlay textures do show up.... Also the dependency checker in sc4tool doesn't show any dependencies that are not listed in the readme, whcih are the porkie props.

It is a bit of a mystery...

Does anyone else have this problem? Please let me know.

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 05, 2011, 04:52:32 AM
Yes it was the BSC text. volume 3 which was missing.

Thanks for fixing :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 05, 2011, 07:44:20 AM
Quote from: Girafe on August 05, 2011, 04:52:32 AM
Yes it was the BSC text. volume 3 which was missing.

Thanks for fixing :)

Yep. Still i am confused why the sc4tool didn't list the dependency... Usually it works fine. Anyway.. Problem solved :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 12, 2011, 11:26:30 AM
I have continued the experiments with the seine river banks. I have created some tree prop and rendered them with a height offset to place on the river banks...

Started creating some new trees... so far so good
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 12, 2011, 11:36:28 AM
Select your tree,

=> propertie

=> return black option on

It will increase your foliage (be careful if you use alpha map, this option could be too black)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 12, 2011, 12:22:01 PM
Girafe, can you explain a bit more? :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 12, 2011, 12:38:39 PM
Of course.

Generally the problem with the foliage is the density and the contrast which are difficult to render properly.

For giving more contrast, it exists an option regarding the "shadow" and mental ray.

Select your tree (foliage) and click right on it.

You have an option Object property
Select it and switch to mental ray.
Here there are 3 options:
select return black option (it's the option which will give the most contrast).

It works fine when you leaves are modelled but if you use alpha map (often used for pines, your foliage will be to dark).
I think in your case it could be good.  ;) 

Feel free if you have any further questions.

EDIT:


Be careful on adding flora on a BAT that could not fit to other available flora even if they are well looking.
It's ah hard choice, and up to you  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 12, 2011, 11:00:09 PM
Hi girafe,

Unfortunately i am still un max 9, which doesn,t have this option...

On the other hand, these trees and vines are all modelled as props, but in such a way that they blend in perfectly with the river banks. But they can be replaced byother tree props. The problem there is that these would need to be put on the lot with a negative height offset. So it requires some modding of the RKT4 exemplars to work with existing props.

For trees on ground level it should be no problem to use existign tree props.

Additional note : I often active anti aliasing on the reader on my tree properties. That provides a better result, however does put restrictions on the trees. when two of them are placed closely together you,ll get graphical glitches.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: supremec on August 13, 2011, 03:28:59 AM
Incredible  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 14, 2011, 09:38:33 AM
I have decided to create some prop families to get some variation on the river banks on a single ploppable LOT. Here is the result of a prototype.
What you see is a single 3x1 lot plopped 3 times. The vine properties nicely vary (randomly) each time the LOT is plopped.

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: teddyrised on August 14, 2011, 09:58:43 AM
Wow &apls that's really some superb work you have there!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 14, 2011, 11:39:05 AM
I really advice you to switch to 3dsmax12 which is now free and fully compatible with bat4max.

The idea of the family is good,

You have a shadow problem with the foliage and need more contrast :)

Anyway this set looks promising :)



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on August 14, 2011, 03:42:15 PM
The results are realy impressive indeed.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 15, 2011, 06:18:44 AM
Quote from: Girafe on August 14, 2011, 11:39:05 AM
I really advice you to switch to 3dsmax12 which is now free and fully compatible with bat4max.

The idea of the family is good,

You have a shadow problem with the foliage and need more contrast :)

Anyway this set looks promising :)

Girafe thanks! I have troed 3dsmax12, however that means I need to switch to simfox bat4max version. This bat4max is just as good, maybe even better, but still different than the version I'm using. I have tried to switch in the past, but it requires such a huge adjustment to my textures (which render with different results) that I cannot use anything anymore from my 50+ previous bat models :(... I'm just not up to it  :-[

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on August 15, 2011, 07:50:02 AM
Quote from: xannepan on August 15, 2011, 06:18:44 AMI have tried to switch in the past, but it requires such a huge adjustment to my textures (which render with different results) that I cannot use anything anymore from my 50+ previous bat models :(... I'm just not up to it.

Is it the same problem for all of the textures?  Something like they are all a little too dark?  If so, I could make those corrections quite fast.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: namspopof on August 15, 2011, 08:12:20 AM
This is just wonderful !  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: supremec on August 15, 2011, 08:34:22 AM
Awesome waterfronts  &apls  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 15, 2011, 09:54:01 AM
Quote from: Lowkee33 on August 15, 2011, 07:50:02 AM
Quote from: xannepan on August 15, 2011, 06:18:44 AMI have tried to switch in the past, but it requires such a huge adjustment to my textures (which render with different results) that I cannot use anything anymore from my 50+ previous bat models :(... I'm just not up to it.

Is it the same problem for all of the textures?  Something like they are all a little too dark?  If so, I could make those corrections quite fast.

if I am right it's just a question of gamma which changes. So a fix for one texture should work for all of them  &sly

You are using chris Bat4max?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 15, 2011, 10:34:38 PM
Lowkee, Girafe:

Yes I'm using Chris' bat4max. I suppose a single type of correction to the textures would work. In fact simfox offered to help me do the correction some time ago, but then I went back to RL for some time... so I didn't have time to follow up on that.

If you look at the pictures on page 18 and 19, you'll see some early results of simfox bat4max in max 2010 (rue de rivoli buildings). At the time it was easeir for me to switch back to max9 and chris' bat4max.

Anyways, what I could do later today is attach a model + textures of some of the seine river banks. (I'll upload them anyway for the community once finished). Perhaps one of you can render them in 3dsmax2011 (rendering takes just a second, these are small models). and post some results here....


One other thing. I have decided to change the bump map for the river bank walls. Imo they were too regular, which gave a bit too expensive look. The new bump map has a more irregular stone pattern which I think looks more realistic.
-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: carlfatal on August 16, 2011, 03:54:39 AM
Hi,
it´s my first time in Your thread. But i have to thank You for minimum Your last bridges. And now i saw Your new Paris buildings: I love Your stuff!
And aside from this: thanks for Your old framework houses I use for my old town set. You´re one of my favorite batters, and if there is a chance to upload my set, then only cause of people like You and Your work...
Greets, Carl
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: adfiver on August 16, 2011, 09:32:19 AM
I love Paris and your creations! Thank you so much!

Please forgive me if you already had to answer questions about one of your recent works, JENXPARISRueDeRivoli (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2660). If possible, please help me understand what could be wrong when I use it.  &mmm
Thank you!



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: peterycristi on August 18, 2011, 04:23:44 AM
This will be a great adition to the TWT project! Fabolous work!  &apls  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 20, 2011, 12:11:07 AM
Hello everyone,

I'm still spending many hours on the river banks... what a job. While I'm making progress i also encounter many problems that require advance modding, and also some limitations that you won't encounter for regular BAT models. Additionally, as you can see in the picture, there are some minor fundamental graphical glitches that I'm affraid cannot be solved. The most frustrating thing that bugs me is a graphic glitch with the textures. Even though the textures of the different models are exactly the same in 3dsmax, in the game some models appear slightly lighter than others, which is notable in the base textures. If you look carefully you can see it in the picture attached. If anyone has an idea what's causing it, please let me know.

To add trees on the lower level of the river banks I needed to create a completely new tree set. I have tried many hours to use existing trees, but they all produce poor results as soon as I try to mod the RKT4 propsto get vertical offset. The only way to make trees fit with the river banks models (which do already have tighly fitting LODs) is to create special LODs also for the trees.  I actived the anti-aliasing option in the 3ds files to make the trees blend in smoothly. This all requires many many hours or repetitive modding in the reader, which is becoming very boring   ()sad(). (If only the sc4 model tweaker wouldn't crash on activating transparency :'( )

Next thing I'm working on is to create several additional exemplars for each tree models, so I can also use them on the overhanging smooth corner lots. This will only work for the trees at ground level, so the corners won't get trees at lower level. Anyway, still again many hours off work ahead.


-Alex






Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DerChrischi on August 20, 2011, 04:47:59 AM
Speechless! Awesome! Genial!  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on August 20, 2011, 04:56:06 AM
Awesome! ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on August 20, 2011, 09:28:21 AM
I am speechless.........

Robin
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iskrem on August 21, 2011, 03:00:38 AM
Fantastic work Xannepan  &apls
Looking forward to more updates on the river banks!

Regards Iskrem
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 21, 2011, 03:16:40 AM
Well.. here is a small update without pictures this time. I finally managed to get all the trees positioned correct on the overhanging corner lots. Additionally I succeeded in displaying the maxis people props below ground level. It looks good. I'm currently experimenting with making prop families (of my own new prop set and the porkie props) to get some random variation. I'm using a temporary family ID range which I requested some time ago, which I hope will be assigned to me... if not then I have a lot of work that I need to redo...

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on August 22, 2011, 11:43:32 AM
Quote from: xannepan on August 20, 2011, 12:11:07 AMI actived the anti-aliasing option in the 3ds files to make the trees blend in smoothly. This all requires many many hours or repetitive modding in the reader, which is becoming very boring

Can you use Reader 1.4?  It can runs scripts to do that for you.  In fact, I have attached one :).  Now, I have never done this for myself.  Is the only change in the Material section?  I have an image for what the script does:  Link (http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/7412/transparency.jpg).

Edit: Looking at the image, looks like my alpha threshold is different, and I didn't mean to do that.  Hmm --- Looks like reader can only set this to between 0 and 255

  Move the .lua to your root Reader 1.4 folder (the one with the .exe in it), and it should show up as a script to run (you have to open a file to activate the script box).  The script very much should go through every S3D at once, every those with multiple mats.  ::)

Let me know if this works, or you need something different.

A script could potentially change you Family values too.  If you have seen my posts about the OS bug, then this is a major hurdle for scripts.  Otherwise, it is a breeze to change Building/Prop Family values.  (For if you got a new range, it could be assumed that all you would need to do is add a multiple of 256 to the family value).

From within the Lot Exemplar, not so easy because of the way Reader handles multiple reps.  You can't say, "get the 13th rep".  You have to get the whole string.  However, you can't put the whole string back in (from what I remember), so you have to do a bunch of juggling to separate that family reference.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 22, 2011, 02:20:00 PM
Lowkee, if this works you'll be my hero!  ;D
I'll try asap. In the mean time I have found a fundamental problem with my models, as a results of which I need to rerender them.
I'll get back to you when I have time to use the script!
-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 23, 2011, 12:41:47 AM
And... it works!!! fantastic... karma pts for you my friend!!   &apls &apls &apls &apls  (edit: that strange ()what() either I forgot  &mmm how to give karma or I don't see the option anymore .... can anyone point me in the good direction where to give karma?)

ALso thanks for pointing out scripts in general... extremely useful.

Something different. Do you perhaps know how to get rid of the graphical glitch with anti-aliased models during night view... see picture... it really looks bad. The model LOD bounding box cuts of the night lights (I'm using USL by the way).

-Alex

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on August 23, 2011, 07:08:23 AM
I have given Carl (Lowkee33) a karma point for you, Alex (xannepan).

Robin  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on August 23, 2011, 08:05:02 AM
Thanks for the KP :)

I may have had success dealing with the OS bug too:  Link (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=13000.msg392691#msg392691)

As for the shadow issue, this sounds out of my league.  Perhaps a PM to Smoncrie or Cogeo?  Smoncrie has posted similar shadows, and also pictures of the models without issue: Link (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=13548.msg391173#msg391173).

The only thing I can think is to lower the Alpha Threshold.  If 255 is black and the background of your FSH is gray, then perhaps the game thinks the gray is part of your model.   &mmm
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 24, 2011, 06:13:56 AM
Thanks Lowkee, I'll check with the other guys for the 'shadow' issue.

Another question to you guys;

I have created some props in an attempt to "alter" the wall appearance at low wealth levels. It is a prop with the LOD created in such way that it seamlessely fits as an overlay on the original wall model. The idea is to make the wall less clean at low wealth levels.

The basic Riverbank lot is a 1x1 Ploppable Park with no wealth level. The 'overlay' prop, which I want to appear only in low wealth areas has its wealth level set to low wealth (to be precis I have created 3 slightly different of these props which are added to a prop family in order to avoid repitition. The family is put on the lot. The random appearance does work as intended). However, something seems to be missing or not working with prop wealth levels, because in the game the prop always appears. I have also tried to set the prop wealth level to high, and tested again in the game in the same area). Again the prop appears, so it seems the prop wealth level setting is not effective.

Any ideas what's causing it? Or can any one point me in a direction to a tutorial on prop wealth and how the game uses it?

Thanks in advance.

-Alex





Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 24, 2011, 06:18:55 AM
Low wealth level in Paris  &Thk/(  :D


However it's a nice idea for the game and add diversity always welcome, but I can't help you with this setting sry
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 24, 2011, 07:21:02 AM
Quote from: Girafe on August 24, 2011, 06:18:55 AM
Low wealth level in Paris  &Thk/(  :D


However it's a nice idea for the game and add diversity always welcome, but I can't help you with this setting sry

:D... well perhaps medium wealth then  :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on August 24, 2011, 08:19:50 AM
Prop wealth (and the other requesters, crime/garbage) is activated in the Lot Exemplar.  You have to set the last value of the 2nd rep of the LotConfigPropertyObjects to 1.  However, I couldn't get it working right with plops.  Probably best to have three lots if you want different wealthed props.

For growables, this works very well.  Maxis Family 0xA0000001 has all types of props on it, and sometimes people use it without knowing about the LotConfig change.  This makes the chalk outline prop appear randomly.  If the 2nd rep of LotConfig is 0x00000001, then the chalk outline will appear in the general area of crime, moving around every month (though some crimes don't seem to activate it).  The garbage props will only appear as your cities garbage levels increase (and then go away when garbage is removed).   

Also to note that your props don't need the Prop Requester or Wealth properties at all. 

I've done a little with it, the most complicated thing Here (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=12843.msg373021#msg373021).  Mostly I just use it for cars, it makes lotting a little easier when all you need is one family.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 24, 2011, 09:03:41 AM
Quote from: Lowkee33 on August 24, 2011, 08:19:50 AM
However, I couldn't get it working right with plops.  Probably best to have three lots if you want different wealthed props.

Yep, that could be a solution. I was hoping it would work, so i could reduce the numer of ietms that appear in the oalready overloaded park menu.
Sofar i have the following a huge number of lots already for straight pieces, corner pieces, smooth corner pieces, mirrored versions, version with and without trees, with vines and without and combinations... Pooooh... Soo many work done already... Just need to figure out how to use DAMN i guess.

Anyways i really appreciate all the help you guys provide me with!


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 26, 2011, 04:32:39 AM
I am making good progress on the seine river banks (spending a good time of my last days of vacation  :P). I have resolved several graphical glitches with differences in texture brightness between models, which where extremely annoying (Still don't know what's causing these glitches, but the solutions works). Currently, I'm working on the transit enabled set. This will allow to place the roads as close as possible to the river, without the need for an extra tile for the river bank lot. The results are good. These are TE lots with overhanging props, so placing them is a bit challenging, and there are some limitations. But it will work. I also created corner pieces that nicely fit the NAM road s-curves, as you can see in the picture. To finish the TE lots I still need to do a lot of modding. Basically, I have all the model files in place. But for each model I have to create multiple exemplars, because I need offset several versions that can be placed as the overhanging props of the TE lots. I'm doing the same for the trees, which are particurly challenging to place of the corner pieces. I'll probably won't make TE corner pieces with trees... simply too much work and too little time. :'(

All with all, I'm happy with where this is going. Altough I have learned to become creative with prop families to avoid repitition and get some nice variation one worry that remains is the huge amount of lots I'm producing (TE version, normal versions, highwall set, cascase wall set, corners, smooth corners, inner and outer corners, highwall to cascase wall transitions, stairs etc etc).

Any volunteers that eventually are willing to help me make a DAMN config file for these lots?


-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iskrem on August 26, 2011, 09:18:48 AM
Looks fantastic that last picture  :thumbsup:
Can't wait to download these!
Don't worry about the high number of lots, I personally think its great - more lots = more variation  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on August 26, 2011, 11:54:09 AM
Looking very nice, btw.   :)  I am glad the issues have been sorted out (other than that one... ::) ).  Oh boy.     
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cogeo on August 26, 2011, 12:11:06 PM
Only keep in mind that TE lots plopped next to each other do not conduct traffic.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on August 26, 2011, 12:33:53 PM
Quote from: cogeo on August 26, 2011, 12:11:06 PM
Only keep in mind that TE lots plopped next to each other do not conduct traffic.

Definitely a hassle, though not necessarily a deal-breaker for the project. Draggable bridges, including diagonals, can be done with the zero-slope-mod + lower sea level trick. I think they could then be drug through TE'd lots though I've never tried it. The boring Maxis pylons might not fit well with the Paris theme but network overrides could be used to place a bridge such as those you've already created.

Perhaps contacting memo would be helpful--there are other NAMites that could shed light on this issue but he might have the most experience working with it.


Awesome progress here btw  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on August 26, 2011, 01:03:28 PM
Another downside of TE is that you can't hover a puzzle piece over it.

Another way is to make the lots plopable on water.  This would save the land tile.  Props would be an issue, but we would just make sure to set the sea-bed level properly via terraforming.  The upside is that, since water is always flat, your model is garenteed to line up with itself (granted your model is the "building" of the lot).  Then you can really get wild and add a foundation model.  The model wouldn't cast a shadow, so you could have really high embankments without issue.  (people will be ploping this on land). 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on August 26, 2011, 02:36:05 PM
@ Lowkee33: I'm not sure I understand your idea. Are you suggesting avoiding TE pieces by having the road run on the tile adjacent to the water and the wall plopped two tiles away on water (not shoreline)? Sounds great if possible, but how do you hide the sloping shoreline?

It should also be possible to replace the Maxis retaining walls with your walls--requiring again the zero-slope/remove-water trick and a bit (or more) of NAM advice. Again, this would remove the TE lot problem and with a bit of trickery could have wealth-dependent T21 props. Perhaps too complicated a solution though, just throwing the idea out there.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 26, 2011, 10:59:39 PM
Some great ideas over here guys, allthough I dpn't understand all the details (yet $%Grinno$%).

Cogeo: I'm well aware of the limitations of TE  :(, but for now it is the easiest way for me to deal with. I'm using overhanging models in order to avoid havind to plop 2 TE lots directly next to each other.

Noahclem: I still have to look into the lower water level solution. So far I still haven't had time to try it...

Lowkee33: About plopping on water... I tried something like that before... however it means (as far as I could tell) I'm stuck to a fixed wall height (doesn't it?).

Another idea I have been thinking off (not sure if it is possible at all) is to add these models as T21s to NAM puzzle pieces.  It would mean reusing existing (road) puzzle pieces (including the great curved pieces) and creating a new instance for each of them.


Ahh.. so many ideas and so little time..  :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 27, 2011, 02:44:29 AM
Guys,

I need some help again. I'm trying to solve a problem with diagonal road sidewalk textures. These clearly depend on the type of building you place next to it.  The result I'm trying to achieve is the same as the game produces when I place medium or high density residential zone next to the diagonal road. However, for a ploppable park (no matter which wealth level) the game always produces the grass sidewalks.
I was hoping my river bank lots (parks) can be modded in such way that these trigger the same sidewalk textures as residential zoning does.

Any ideas? Thanks,
Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Une_ame on August 29, 2011, 05:36:39 PM
One more time, thanks a lot for your creation.  :thumbsup:

To answer your last question, the first idea that come to my mind is to create them as a CO/CS$$$. Pb is, they gonna join the huge amount of plopable lots that is already in this categorie.  &mmm
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 29, 2011, 10:37:22 PM
Quote from: Une_ame on August 29, 2011, 05:36:39 PM
To answer your last question, the first idea that come to my mind is to create them as a CO/CS$$$. Pb is, they gonna join the huge amount of plopable lots that is already in this categorie.  &mmm

The strange thing is, that I have tried to do this... but same problem remains. It has to do with the fact that these are ploppable lots... somehow the diagonals sidewalks do not respond well to ploppables  ()what() ()what()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 31, 2011, 10:19:48 AM
The transit enabled road lot versions for the quais de seine are almost ready for testing.

During the past days I have mainly worked for hours and hours on creating lots, dedicated (offset) props etc. and solve glitches. I think the result looks good. The quais really look more alive now. Trees are all seasonal, but I needed many offset exemplars so I will only release with my own dedicated tree set. Vines are evergreens :). The lots also fit nice with my seine bridges. Here are some screenshots.

I have decided not to create special icons for the park menu. Maybe some day I will create a DAMN config file.

I will probably release the base set first and maybe later expansions... And I will also release all 3dsmax files + textures so anyone can alter or create expansions.

I still have to decide whether or not to release the non TE versions... I'm not looking forward to that much LOT work again, rather spend time in 3ds max :P

-Alex-

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Delecto on August 31, 2011, 10:51:11 AM
 &apls &apls &apls

Bravo xannepan, nothing more to say!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 31, 2011, 10:57:18 AM
Thanks Delecto.

The files are now on the BSC private lex for testing. Any help would be much appreciated.

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: io_bg on August 31, 2011, 11:43:36 AM
Absolutely amazing!
Just a small tip from me - please don't put all these in the park menu as it's full of other stuff :D Maybe the port menu will be a better choice since it's not that big.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on August 31, 2011, 12:39:34 PM
Awesome! As Ioan said in the port menu it would be better!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 31, 2011, 12:42:07 PM
Amazing development close to end  :)

I tested it a little bit.
I played with Q1 pieces, there are a lot of pieces indeed and a damn menu could be good.
All pieces seems to work correctly (really small glitches with diag pieces) and walk paths are going through trees.

I have a question regarding this situation where I am not able to drag a bridge
Do you use any mod like (road under bridges or something else).

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Fc5814ee7f0b5efaf730e4716c019a279.jpg&hash=0cd0827fb52218a8d12e13c3a2ebc2de05d4bb23)

I will check Q2 as soon as I will understand how it works (any special slope mod is required?)



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on August 31, 2011, 12:44:58 PM
Wow, they look beautiful Alex!  &apls &apls

I'm really wishing I had access to the private LEX ATM...  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 31, 2011, 12:52:21 PM
Girafe, thanks for these first test results. I should have mentioned that for these lots to display correct youhave to make sure your terrain is absolutely flat and your river bank as steep as possible. Sometimes it is needed to use the major mode terrain tools to do some tweaking.
Additionally, these work best at a height of more then 16 meters.
Another thing is that in most cases it works best to first draw your road network, and then plop these TE lots over it. In some cases,  e.g. for the diagonals, You will then need to redraw the roads again, as placing the diagonal lot will destroy the appearance of the road.
For the underbridge pieces it is absolutely neccesary to first create the bridges and then plop the underbridge piece.
All good material to be included in the final readme :)

I hope this helps...


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 31, 2011, 12:56:20 PM
Quote from: noahclem on August 31, 2011, 12:44:58 PM

I'm really wishing I had access to the private LEX ATM...  ;)

I wpuld be happy to send you the files in some other way.. The only thingis, that this is about 28 Mb.... If you know a solution, just let me know how to send them to you.

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 31, 2011, 01:03:31 PM
Quote from: xannepan on August 31, 2011, 12:56:20 PM
Quote from: noahclem on August 31, 2011, 12:44:58 PM

I'm really wishing I had access to the private LEX ATM...  ;)

I wpuld be happy to send you the files in some other way.. The only thingis, that this is about 28 Mb.... If you know a solution, just let me know how to send them to you.

Alex

filemail.com could be ok

Thanks for these precious elements, I will try  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mattb325 on August 31, 2011, 02:39:57 PM
Wow Alex!

This set is utterly amazing. :) I love the fact that you have created this as a straight sloping set. Something that has been lacking in SC4 for a long time.  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jeckyll on August 31, 2011, 03:02:31 PM
What about a sandstone version? Cuold you create it?
I hate maxis white brick :/
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 04, 2011, 11:43:39 AM
Finally! It is done. After days of testing and improving i have decided it is good enough for uploading. The upload includes a detailed readme, which is higly recommended!
Hope you like it. Pictures from your creations would be appreciated.
- alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on September 04, 2011, 12:20:04 PM
Great to see these uploaded!  &dance  I'll be sure to honor you request for pictures of the uses for your new walls  :thumbsup:

Quote from: xannepan on August 31, 2011, 12:56:20 PM
I wpuld be happy to send you the files in some other way.. The only thingis, that this is about 28 Mb.... If you know a solution, just let me know how to send them to you.

Alex

Thanks a lot for the offer Alex and sorry it took me a couple days to see it. I'd be honored to help you test future projects, perhaps using the method Antoine suggested.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: teddyrised on September 04, 2011, 12:43:57 PM
Thanks for sharing your works - I've just downloaded them and will give them a try in a tile that I'm currently working on. You wouldn't mind if we posts photos here, would you?

Sorry for not leaving any earlier comments - I was lurking around for quite a bit, and that's some fantastic work you've done there &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: hard8 on September 05, 2011, 04:33:57 PM
Do I need to use joerg Bridge Height mod (http://bridge%20height%20mod) or Columbus Textures for jeronijs?

also is the steepness determined by the when a type of lot that digs down like seaport and docks like pegs cdks lots that dig in or you'd build the steepness up from that level after those type of lots  are plopped?

which  NHP Hole Digging Lots by Shadow Assassin would you suggest using? the 15m? or 24m? or use the 10m twice to get the right height and steepness?

My bridges keep building two tiles in past the edge of the bank and the TE under road pieces wont connect

thx
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 05, 2011, 10:44:45 PM
Hi there,

No... Nothingnelse needed expect for the dependencies listed.
You have to use the major mode terrain tools for the modelling, i don't think the hole digger lots will help here.

The problem wit the bridges is a known game issue.(i guess you are referring to the underbridge pieces.... I do not have any under road pieces). Solving it is possible, but a bit difficult... See link below.
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=13185.msg380687#msg380687

If that is too much work, i suggest not to use the TER pieces for connecting roads.

Hope that works for you. Goog luck!

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: hard8 on September 07, 2011, 08:40:41 AM
Success I hope

I was finally able to get the road to build right to the edge on both sides, but on the other side I had to create a two tile bump out  on the other side in order to connect  it, I switched to a custom terrain mod the Columbus Textures for jeronijs mod and used the bridge height mod, but I think it's not needed, and that building bridges right to the edge where roads well build is trail and error, my sea channel is 24 tiles wide and I used Hole Digging Lots by  Shadow Assassin and digged the land up by 24m up and the channel I dug down several times with the 24down digger from the Hole Digging Lots by  Shadow Assassin!..

I used daeley cheats his setsealevel 0 dat  from this thread and very first post http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=11555.0 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=11555.0) to dig my sea channels with the hole diggin lots

I'm not sure I can duplicate what I did with the avenue bridge, but  well try again and remember that I need to do a 1 tile bump out, I also think my sea way is either 22 or 23 tiles wide now after having to bring the land out a bit more with the bump out for the avenue!..

I thought for the wide round pieces that the corners needed to be round, so I did that with the god mod flatten smooth tool, but after placing the wide round walls I found I had to make them diagonal and straight like I had in the first place before going back into god mode!..

I'm not sure I'll be able to place anything under the avenue bridges but well try to see if I can next game launch!..

I took some in game pictures for you, one shot shows the god mod round edge wall, which is wrong and not needed a straight diagonal  wall is needed instead


not necessary
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Froundithink.jpg&hash=818c52a15d425afb3df3669852ed20230a9e5680)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fworkedsomewhat2.jpg&hash=ee524a7f3b5acecacb48d41824a9e001b6dd08fb)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fworkedsomewhat3.jpg&hash=11f1f8dc11197c625e5bca158810e949a8375818)
worked,see pic above
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fworkedsomewhat.jpg&hash=1869c3eaf753928bef297f2392ea6f6d229bf871)

wont work--^^
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fworked.jpg&hash=71af3f1fa4c43978b3be768b2f3f2796c31a4244)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 07, 2011, 10:29:56 AM
Thanks for the elaborate post Hard8... good progress. Just a side note: I don't have a underbridge piece yet for avenue bridges. The underbridge included is on for 1-tile wide (road/street/tir) bridges etc.
-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: hard8 on September 07, 2011, 12:41:39 PM
I just wanted to let you know that the two tile bump out ideal of mine didn't work, and it doesn't matter how high or low my terrain is or how wide my sea channels are, the game builds the bridges one tile in words on one side and right to the edge allow me to use the bridge road under piece on the one side that build the bridge properly, I even tried the custom NAM bridges and no change!..

I'll use your seawalls on one side and someone else work on the other or just use them on long diagonal corners only and hope that my game building gets better and I figure something out, I only started playing sc4 rush hour again a month or so and had been playing other games before that for two years straight!.

thx
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ScottFTL on September 07, 2011, 01:05:24 PM
You may want to have a look at this tutorial: How to Build a Bridge the Exact Length You Want (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=13185.0)  "$Deal"$
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: hard8 on September 07, 2011, 02:47:44 PM
Quote from: ScottFTL on September 07, 2011, 01:05:24 PM
You may want to have a look at this tutorial: How to Build a Bridge the Exact Length You Want (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=13185.0)  "$Deal"$

I spent the last two hours following that tutorial and did everything it said to do with Reader and changed the sea to 235 meters and I changed  water opaqueness to 9  like it said to and I still have the  bridges building two tiles in words on one side like before and yes I download and installed the CPT_TerrainMod_Meadowshire and edited the CPT_No6_MeadowShireTerrainController_Essential.dat like the tutorial said  and I double checked in the reader and the changes I made with it showed as sea to 235 meters  opaqueness to 9
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on September 07, 2011, 03:10:19 PM
Hmm, sounds like I could have been a bit clearer in the tutorial. Sorry it hasn't worked yet but I think I know went wrong.

1. The 235 meter water height is just what I often use based on how deep my waterways are. From the look of your pictures, the bottom of your river is much deeper. Find out how deep the bottom is (probably using "terrain query" from buggi's extra cheats) and then set the sea level to ~5 meters below that in the reader. It should work after that.

* I've noticed bridge placement can be quite fickle, and for whatever reason I've found that making the small hole below temporary sealevel close to one of the bridge's ends works best.

2. Water opaqueness is only cosmetic, so best not to worry about it unless you're trying to fine-tune the look of your area.
3. You wouldn't necessarily have to use the Meadowshire terrain mod but any of CPTs. I'm sure something extremely or exactly similar could be done with others as well but I don't know for sure because I don't use them.

I was actually working on a file to set sea-level to 190m (and arbitrary value that should be widely useful) between ScottFTL's post and yours but hit a quick hickup. You could almost substitute the "zero-sealevel" file you used for the terraforming for the editing I suggested in reader, but I don't think the game lets you terraform to negative elevations, thus water wouldn't be possible, and thus no bridges.

Let me know if my suggestion helps. If I hammer out that new temporary sea-level mod I'll post here. Good luck  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: hard8 on September 07, 2011, 04:03:21 PM
Quote from: noahclem on September 07, 2011, 03:10:19 PM
Hmm, sounds like I could have been a bit clearer in the tutorial. Sorry it hasn't worked yet but I think I know went wrong.

1. The 235 meter water height is just what I often use based on how deep my waterways are. From the look of your pictures, the bottom of your river is much deeper. Find out how deep the bottom is (probably using "terrain query" from buggi's extra cheats) and then set the sea level to ~5 meters below that in the reader. It should work after that.

* I've noticed bridge placement can be quite fickle, and for whatever reason I've found that making the small hole below temporary sealevel close to one of the bridge's ends works best.

2. Water opaqueness is only cosmetic, so best not to worry about it unless you're trying to fine-tune the look of your area.
3. You wouldn't necessarily have to use the Meadowshire terrain mod but any of CPTs. I'm sure something extremely or exactly similar could be done with others as well but I don't know for sure because I don't use them.

I was actually working on a file to set sea-level to 190m (and arbitrary value that should be widely useful) between ScottFTL's post and yours but hit a quick hickup. You could almost substitute the "zero-sealevel" file you used for the terraforming for the editing I suggested in reader, but I don't think the game lets you terraform to negative elevations, thus water wouldn't be possible, and thus no bridges.

Let me know if my suggestion helps. If I hammer out that new temporary sea-level mod I'll post here. Good luck  :thumbsup:

I have a learning disability and I'm terrible with numbers sorry, did the "terrain query" thing for you and would appreciate some help figuring out the proper sea level number to use in reader please?

took in game screen shots

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fterrain.jpg&hash=85f6deb92716cc85c8177baf9cf6b087c1db21ec)


(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fterrain2.jpg&hash=a62f1b4a2447bf1648718b86ac8b18a2ca8296c3)
Whales did spawn in my game in the two deep areas

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fterrain3.jpg&hash=e50c57f596aadb2ff499ca544846828c66df0fb5)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fterrain5.jpg&hash=b8a665f2d46d164f459cbfba35131272c3c035e6)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fterrain6.jpg&hash=b8e3222f812b50df6f17d66a68e1193210015445)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fterrain4.jpg&hash=aad6902d76073082a16a1a1f79e01391a508dfc4)

sea water removed with daeley's zero sealevel.dat cheat
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on September 07, 2011, 04:20:43 PM
Whales, eh? Sounds like fun, maybe I should dig a hole  :D

Anyway, your elevation is the "y" value, so for most of your areas you will want to go just a bit below 194.5m--whether you go 0.1m or 10m below doesn't much matter--it's just that the lower you set the sea level the deeper a hole you have to dig. Obviously, if you want to build a bridge over your whale spawning zone you will need to set a lower value than your other areas (~40m).

The whole trick to this is that you have at least one tile of dry land before the end of where you drag the bridge. As you've noticed, for whatever reason, the game absolutely refuses to place a bridge without one pointless extra tile--this technique follows their rule but then covers it up with water after the bridge is in place.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: hard8 on September 07, 2011, 04:32:02 PM
Quote from: noahclem on September 07, 2011, 04:20:43 PM
Whales, eh? Sounds like fun, maybe I should dig a hole  :D

Anyway, your elevation is the "y" value, so for most of your areas you will want to go just a bit below 194.5m--whether you go 0.1m or 10m below doesn't much matter--it's just that the lower you set the sea level the deeper a hole you have to dig. Obviously, if you want to build a bridge over your whale spawning zone you will need to set a lower value than your other areas (~40m).

The whole trick to this is that you have at least one tile of dry land before the end of where you drag the bridge. As you've noticed, for whatever reason, the game absolutely refuses to place a bridge without one pointless extra tile--this technique follows their rule but then covers it up with water after the bridge is in place.

thank you very much for all the help, much appreciated  :thumbsup: I never been able to build a bridge on a diagonal straight sea channel yet, the bridge tool wont zone it for me!..
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 10, 2011, 06:53:32 AM
Continuing... Caserne Sapeurs Pompiers @ 28 Rue Blanche... a W2W firestation
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: bat on September 10, 2011, 07:23:57 AM
Great looking firestation there! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on September 10, 2011, 07:44:33 AM
Looks good  ;)

the texture on the roof is strange, is it definitive?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 10, 2011, 08:45:23 AM
Girafe, it is the same texture I'm using on almost all of my Buildings...  ;D
actually I got this from Porki years ago.... He used it also on some of his buildings... The only thing I still need to do is tune the UVW maps ...


-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on September 10, 2011, 08:51:02 AM
Strange, because this texture seems to be very blurred.

Will see after the uv mapping

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Fc2a5b4047ed2c7cc1ceb2305a6a8cd4f.jpg&hash=3bc9af8a17ceaa4fef5b0b27f3ab2f709f121e40)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F0c8c53421e2b43a5c8cab55faea9248e.jpg&hash=5b6c16a2a2a4911f540aec203d0cae9420f75825)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: hard8 on September 10, 2011, 09:41:54 AM
I did this to go with your train station, I wanted something different then a ploppable  eye candy canal for the front of your train station, I think it's one of your train stations!..

Not sure if I'll do a small 5 x or 6 by wide canal with the new Seine River Banks, there's a 100 or more tile span to the nearest sea channel

You asked to see pics, so thought I'd share!..

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fdramatic.jpg&hash=40897680758432b44f575b1557c0c6a9309ce9af)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fdramatic2.jpg&hash=959b2c279dd8e29f14d7ef05b92e03f8556ff177)

update

I ended up using peg's utopian canal

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2Fpegsutopiancanal.jpg&hash=62fea9f519ce7b29f3c59b16de67f24bda0a907c)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 10, 2011, 10:57:33 AM
Hard8; great to see you using the Seine river banks!

Girafe;. Bluring is probable the UVW map indeed... BTW where do you get those pictures? google nor bing maps don't have this much detail... can you pls send me the link?

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on September 10, 2011, 11:00:46 AM
He's using PageJaunes.fr here (http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/trouverlesprofessionnels/afficherFicheDetaillee.do?idBlocAnnonceur=014023202800000000C0001&idBlocAnnonceurIns=0&idLocalite=L07505600&noOrdre=1&actionAnnonceur=actionPlan&typeActionAnnonceur=PLAN&sousTypeAction=PLAN&critere.duree=1&critere.nbChambre=1&critere.nbAdulte=1&from=LR&idContext=-1220265338&portail=PJ)   (click on "plan et vue aérienne " then "vue du ciel "
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 10, 2011, 11:10:00 AM
ahhh.. pages jaunes... I hadn't looked at it for ages anymore... I can't believe how much more detail there is! wow.. this is going to be sooo useful.
For the firestation a bit too late though... let's just say it is inspired on Rue Blanche  ;).
I will try also to release a diagonal version.
-alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on September 10, 2011, 12:30:33 PM
I prepared a tuto but Arthur was faster than me.

It is for time the most detailed website for top views  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on September 10, 2011, 04:04:42 PM
Great new building! It is looking nice  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: hard8 on September 11, 2011, 01:55:12 PM
Ok almost done plopping all the new Seine River Banks, only have a area of walls equivalent to 10 or 12 large game farm fields left to do, that well be in the last two pictures near the bottom of this post!..

The islands are for pegs CDK work and I used Jeronij's breakwater seawalls in some areas of this large city, mostly around the islands  and where my farms well grow!..

this well be the last I post of how I used the new Seine River Banks, don't wont to spam the thread!..

I cropped these pictures, so hope they aren't over sized!..

in this first picture I'm showing how I used Nob's sea wall's to blend with a end piece

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls.jpg&hash=570238b7644c91cfd66b0ba1aecfd17ad4a2a68b)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls2.jpg&hash=74a7e11edaafbb2167c783ee6f98368d10280268)


(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls3.jpg&hash=daf63292928192cf9a6ce623c6e30a90da9fda57)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls4.jpg&hash=835b575c5034f117857d9e7a6305cec668778947)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls5.jpg&hash=bb6fd05c318e78a339deb5306e1db1f6e2a1e0f2)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls6.jpg&hash=627445d024f8c28a45ea59c39b6d9f5feacd3a6f)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls7.jpg&hash=93904472c75237ab7395a7204eeccdd2303703d1)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls8.jpg&hash=d3da4f06fcb7a83a4a31c0465940af5a32520025)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls9.jpg&hash=a2d4fe7041e894c5f8d18f961596c86a0cb9cdec)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls10.jpg&hash=699487f864ddfb2c320789877b45f3c71b0e7b40)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls11.jpg&hash=1deb69c757c934c01700d279d78b990e82e4d730)

still need to do these two areas in these bottom two pictures

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls12.jpg&hash=e2f41febfec250220ab5d69181b6a1f7691fcea0)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi296.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm172%2Fsretsgiarc%2FWalls13.jpg&hash=fc9e971ba90afc9a0a35bdb6e5af8bf535848f4b)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on September 12, 2011, 02:10:08 AM
Quote from: hard8 on September 11, 2011, 01:55:12 PM
this well be the last I post of how I used the new Seine River Banks, don't wont to spam the thread!..

Glad to hear it  ::)  In future if you want to show how you've used other people's stuff, could you please create your own thread, thank you.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on September 12, 2011, 03:36:10 AM
Great-looking firestation!  &apls
And I believe it's the first one in the Haussmann style  :thumbsup:


Quote from: callagrafx on September 12, 2011, 02:10:08 AM
Quote from: hard8 on September 11, 2011, 01:55:12 PM
this well be the last I post of how I used the new Seine River Banks, don't wont to spam the thread!..

Glad to hear it  ::)  In future if you want to show how you've used other people's stuff, could you please create your own thread, thank you.

Of course you'd be right if xannepan hadn't previously requested pictures.

Quote from: xannepan on September 04, 2011, 11:43:39 AM
Finally! It is done. After days of testing and improving i have decided it is good enough for uploading. The upload includes a detailed readme, which is higly recommended!
Hope you like it. Pictures from your creations would be appreciated.
- alex

If he meant pictures in a different thread than I misunderstood it as well and I think it's a pretty honest and harmless mistake. Perhaps a couple pictures here would have been enough though.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: hard8 on September 12, 2011, 07:58:11 AM
Quote from: callagrafx on September 12, 2011, 02:10:08 AM
Quote from: hard8 on September 11, 2011, 01:55:12 PM
this well be the last I post of how I used the new Seine River Banks, don't wont to spam the thread!..

Glad to hear it  ::)  In future if you want to show how you've used other people's stuff, could you please create your own thread, thank you.

Quote from: noahclem on September 12, 2011, 03:36:10 AM
Great-looking firestation!  &apls
And I believe it's the first one in the Haussmann style  :thumbsup:


Quote from: callagrafx on September 12, 2011, 02:10:08 AM
Quote from: hard8 on September 11, 2011, 01:55:12 PM
this well be the last I post of how I used the new Seine River Banks, don't wont to spam the thread!..

Glad to hear it  ::)  In future if you want to show how you've used other people's stuff, could you please create your own thread, thank you.

Of course you'd be right if xannepan hadn't previously requested pictures.

Quote from: xannepan on September 04, 2011, 11:43:39 AM
Finally! It is done. After days of testing and improving i have decided it is good enough for uploading. The upload includes a detailed readme, which is higly recommended!
Hope you like it. Pictures from your creations would be appreciated.
- alex

If he meant pictures in a different thread than I misunderstood it as well and I think it's a pretty honest and harmless mistake. Perhaps a couple pictures here would have been enough though.

Sorry I misunderstood, wont post ever again unless I need help badly!..

Owe in the future when you ask to see pictures, please give a link to where and what part of the forum you'd like to see them in and to the  moderator, you'll never  attract new members moderating your forums like the Gestapo, lighten up!. ???

Not afraid of your ban hammer either, was never under good terms here with you under a previous username, your a anal person callagrafx and always well be!..

I'll be cancelling my bell Canada internet in a month and wont have the same e-mail or internet provider in a month, so this hard8 username is irrelevant!.  %wrd

I'll be buying a WiFi card

EDIT: hard8 gained a lengthy suspension for intolerable rudeness.  That will almost certainly become permanent on any indication he/she's carrying out the threat to re-register under a different name.

This place is run by folks who work very had to keep it a top-notch SC4 site that everyone can enjoy.  Anyone who thinks that staff=Gestapo has never been truly oppressed by people who are into that sort of thing and obviously lacks any kind of decent education in 20th century history.  Anyone who would gratuitously refer to someone trying to moderate a website as being a Nazi is a cretin.

Buh-bye, hard8.  Don't let the door hit you on the way out
. -de
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on September 12, 2011, 10:24:40 AM
you forgot a "e" to rue Blanche   ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on September 12, 2011, 03:14:13 PM
Quote from: hard8 on September 12, 2011, 07:58:11 AM
Quote from: callagrafx on September 12, 2011, 02:10:08 AM
Quote from: hard8 on September 11, 2011, 01:55:12 PM
this well be the last I post of how I used the new Seine River Banks, don't wont to spam the thread!..

Glad to hear it  ::)  In future if you want to show how you've used other people's stuff, could you please create your own thread, thank you.

Quote from: noahclem on September 12, 2011, 03:36:10 AM
Great-looking firestation!  &apls
And I believe it's the first one in the Haussmann style  :thumbsup:


Quote from: callagrafx on September 12, 2011, 02:10:08 AM
Quote from: hard8 on September 11, 2011, 01:55:12 PM
this well be the last I post of how I used the new Seine River Banks, don't wont to spam the thread!..

Glad to hear it  ::)  In future if you want to show how you've used other people's stuff, could you please create your own thread, thank you.

Of course you'd be right if xannepan hadn't previously requested pictures.

Quote from: xannepan on September 04, 2011, 11:43:39 AM
Finally! It is done. After days of testing and improving i have decided it is good enough for uploading. The upload includes a detailed readme, which is higly recommended!
Hope you like it. Pictures from your creations would be appreciated.
- alex

If he meant pictures in a different thread than I misunderstood it as well and I think it's a pretty honest and harmless mistake. Perhaps a couple pictures here would have been enough though.

Sorry I misunderstood, wont post ever again unless I need help badly!..

Owe in the future when you ask to see pictures, please give a link to where and what part of the forum you'd like to see them in and to the  moderator, you'll never  attract new members moderating your forums like the Gestapo, lighten up!. ???

Not afraid of your ban hammer either, was never under good terms here with you under a previous username, your a anal person callagrafx and always well be!..

I'll be cancelling my bell Canada internet in a month and wont have the same e-mail or internet provider in a month, so this hard8 username is irrelevant!.  %wrd

I'll be buying a WiFi card

*sigh... do people never learn?  I used the words "please" and "thank you".  Hammertime!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: namspopof on September 12, 2011, 04:55:31 PM
Your work is always superb !  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: tslate on September 26, 2011, 09:16:08 PM
I've been having difficulty with one of the parisian bridges.  For some reason traffic refuses to use it; all other bridges I've placed in this location receive traffic.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi302.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fnn110%2Fdjchandni%2FChicago-21Jun591317096100.png&hash=d8a50a67442e279417bc01fd6469599059543f10)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi302.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fnn110%2Fdjchandni%2FImage1.png&hash=b03a90f96e6b66ff73f8ea58d3a01c24200299f9)

I've tried demolishing and rebuilding the bridge in various different ways and nothing seems to work.  I have no idea how to try to correct this issue.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on September 26, 2011, 11:22:05 PM
It looks like a LHD/RHD problem. Does this bridge actually have a left-hand drive version?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on September 27, 2011, 04:33:30 AM
That very well may be the problem.  My right hand version works perfectly.

Robin
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on September 27, 2011, 05:36:32 AM
I suspect LHD troubles as well. My bridges of this type work just fine and to the best of my knowledge the only known issue with them is a conflict with choco's unreleased RHW-10 cable-stayed bridges.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: tslate on September 27, 2011, 11:06:12 AM
I suggest a LHD version, then!  Heh.  Or is there a way to painlessly switch between left and right?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 01, 2012, 10:36:11 AM
WIP
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on January 01, 2012, 10:40:11 AM
WIP is really nice,

Glad to see you here  :)

Just thing I am not confident about is the blurred texture of the metal roofs
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 01, 2012, 10:48:37 AM
And that is a WIP ? ;_;  you must be kidding, right ?  $%Grinno$%
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Jack_wilds on January 01, 2012, 03:17:03 PM
Quote from: art128 on January 01, 2012, 10:48:37 AM
And that is a WIP ? ;_;  you must be kidding, right ?  $%Grinno$%


WIP[W.I.P.]= Work In Progress...  ;) and its progressing rate-along  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glazert on January 01, 2012, 04:13:24 PM
I like the variety of window styles and roof features, but still remaining within the same general height, so that they would look fine next to each other.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Delecto on January 02, 2012, 01:12:13 AM
Great job and nice to see you back!  :thumbsup:

Sam.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on January 02, 2012, 07:33:16 AM
Nice buildings, but I agree with Girafe's opinion about the roof texture! :)

Guillaume :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 02, 2012, 08:04:41 AM
backside view... sometimes I like the back sides of these buildings better then the front views :)

As for the roof texture: I have mentioned before I got this texture from Porkie long time ago, and it happen to like it myself :) I have only a limited amount of suitable textures and this one produces the best result imo.... BUT... if you have textures you think are nicer pls post them here and I'll try them out :)

Anyway: I'm using an (even more) sloppy way of modelling to get some quicker results... the sloppy modelling doesn't show after rendering so I'm a happy bunny :P

If RL (work) doesn't get in the way I hope to finish these in a week or so.

-Alex




Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 02, 2012, 11:08:37 AM
Both sides are looking very nice  &apls

Glad to see more activity around here  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 02, 2012, 11:15:45 AM
Looks fabulous!

i'm curious to know what is your way of modeling ..
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on January 02, 2012, 01:25:31 PM
Think your newest work looks good,


... BUT....

the textures on the back walls,

is just off, in my eyes


The green/dark area on 1st ond the 3rd is to strong...

... and the 2rd and 5th the difference... also looking for that white salty around the edges of the more wet area in the middle ...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on January 07, 2012, 06:02:59 AM
I  agree partially  with Antoine about roof textures ( at least this is coherant with those  already available ) and Arne ( if used properly , backsides should be rarely visible ... ) , I'm rather annoyed by the dividing walls overtaking on each sides , but , and most of all : thanks to keep on feeding the Parisian BATs set ( I know that I'll resume The Triumphal Way sooner or later when I'm looking at your work  ;) ) .

&apls &apls &apls

Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 08, 2012, 11:49:22 AM
Ok, tried to solve the blurry roof textures (partly at least... not much more I can do now) and reduced saturation of some of the back wall textures.

This is an ingame night shot of the commercial versions of these buildings.

BTW: Building are all inspired on the buildings in Rue Chateau Dun.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 08, 2012, 12:06:45 PM
Looking really sweet! Though i'm not really sure about the lighting inside the second and the third one from the right.... I think the green and red colors inside the buildings are a bit odd. Same for the first one on the left, i'd rather see an orange color like the one on the right and your previous works.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on January 09, 2012, 07:20:48 AM
Nothing to criticise for my concern  : very aesthetically appealing !

&apls &apls &apls

Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 09, 2012, 08:35:49 AM
I also like the nightlighting as is. At first I thought it gave it an active nightlife or even red light district look, but then I noticed the fast food signs  :D  The whole set is shaping up to be a nice addition to Paris-styled cities  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: muxcomee on January 10, 2012, 03:53:59 AM
Looks Excellent :D

I think everything looks nice, not much, if not anything to critique here.  &apls

Looks real city-like and "night-life realistic".
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 13, 2012, 07:53:21 AM
Thanks for all suggestions and nice comments.
I'll take suggestions into account to improve where I can. Some things remain a matter of taste off course :)

I'm using the same 6 base models to make some variations.
Currently working on some CS$ models (previous set included only CS$$ and CO$$). Here is an example.

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 13, 2012, 07:55:33 AM
Looks great Alex! I like on this one the top windows.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 14, 2012, 09:56:18 AM
two more
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 16, 2012, 11:06:59 AM
And another one
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 16, 2012, 11:15:04 AM
Well, you're staying busy!  ;)  Nice work on all these buildings  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 16, 2012, 11:21:28 AM
The only question that comes to my mind is... when ? :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on January 16, 2012, 11:23:25 AM
Holy sh*t  :o

You know, when I first came across your BATs I actually wasn't too sure if I would ever use them because of the paris signature. However there are so many of them now, it would be a crying shame not to  ;)

Keep 'm coming  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mattb325 on January 16, 2012, 11:24:47 AM
Great job on these Alex! I don't often play in the Parisian style, but I love how these will all blend in perfectly with the older creations  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Delecto on January 16, 2012, 02:05:52 PM
Look great Alex.  :thumbsup:
You are a real BAT machine at the moment.



Sam.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 23, 2012, 11:23:33 AM
a difficult/challenging project...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: philipp3108 on January 23, 2012, 11:40:37 AM
looks like "la samaritaine" :)
i like it! :) :)

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Samaritaine
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 23, 2012, 12:33:42 PM
Oh god, this building, one of my favourite in Paris!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 23, 2012, 01:23:32 PM
I'm very curious! Looks like a great start  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 25, 2012, 10:53:52 AM
some progress screenshot on Le Samaritaine. Still a long way to go in finishing the model, fine tune textures and reduce the repetition,
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: io_bg on January 25, 2012, 11:10:27 AM
Oh that looks fantastic, great work &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 25, 2012, 11:38:26 AM
Looks perfect so far and a really exciting building (now that I've looked it up  :P )
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 25, 2012, 11:40:10 AM
Oh btw, it's "La Samaritaine" ,not "le" :D

Anyway, fantastic progress. Seems like another masterpiece is coming ! ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Delecto on January 26, 2012, 12:19:29 AM
Great progress, can't wait for more!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on January 26, 2012, 04:53:14 AM
Breath taking.
Your work never siezes to amaze!

Robin &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 26, 2012, 12:13:18 PM
Thanks for the encouraging remarks everyone!

I'm making progress. Now I have to decide to model the roof according to its state of the past decades (extremely messy) or according to the renovation plan (LA Samaritaine is to be renovated and reopenend in 2013/14). I only have some low res pictures of the renovation plans though.
Any preferences?

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on January 26, 2012, 12:14:59 PM
Quote from: xannepan on January 26, 2012, 12:13:18 PM
Any preferences?

extremely messy  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 26, 2012, 12:15:52 PM
It looks awesome  &apls &apls

I'd vote for the renovated roof look but either is good.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on January 27, 2012, 08:54:37 AM
Awesome work! &apls


Guillaume :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Aaron Graham on January 27, 2012, 08:56:15 AM
Wow!!! Lovely work on the detail, Keep it up. &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 27, 2012, 09:11:53 AM
About the preference, it depend. Do you have two picture ( even small ones ) of the two roofs ?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on January 27, 2012, 09:14:49 AM
My first thought is to go extremely messy.
But as Arthur has pointed out, if we had two chioces to see, that would be nice. ;)

Robin :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 27, 2012, 11:22:25 AM
tweaking nightlights... getting close to a finish..
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on January 27, 2012, 11:24:28 AM
The night lights look great.

Robin &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on January 27, 2012, 11:31:09 AM
Looks good,

More details on the roofs would be appreciated  ::)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Fff72a2cadccd915bbc928ece69cc3384.jpg&hash=712948d818547022d7f30c1519f604bc3728ea3f)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 27, 2012, 11:34:37 AM
That night light... :O
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Badsim on January 27, 2012, 01:53:57 PM
Hi Alex ,

That's exciting to see all these parisian BATs brought to SC4 life  , what you're doing ( the development of the parisian set ) is really a devotion and I'm officially requesting a K-point from me here as your work is so precious to all and particularly to my own work ...

&apls &apls &apls

Here is a clickable picture of your latest creations in situ  :

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg707.imageshack.us%2Fimg707%2F1403%2F001327413548.th.jpg&hash=ecf964a5828edaf8ab75333c8f442bbfb5060a0f) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/707/001327413548.jpg/)

Thank you so much . :thumbsup:

Cédric.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on January 27, 2012, 02:34:29 PM
K-point given on behalf of Cedric (Badsim)!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Dantes on January 27, 2012, 02:47:01 PM
 :o Badsim  :o
The picture is awesome  $%#Ninj2
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on January 28, 2012, 01:47:12 AM
Congrats to both for the accomplished work! &apls &apls


Guillaume :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 28, 2012, 07:48:55 AM
Great screenshot badsim!

I have finished the model, included more roofjunk as suggested by Girafem. Now all that is left to do is create the lot, which i will keep simple.

Here is an ingame screenshots of my own.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 28, 2012, 08:32:33 AM
Wow, looks just beautiful in game! Perfect  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 28, 2012, 11:29:12 AM
Mmmm.... what's next?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on January 28, 2012, 11:35:36 AM
Looks nice even if I am sure you can go further in to details and textures
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 29, 2012, 02:42:14 AM
La samaritaine looks really wonderful! Good job!

As for the newest, I have no idea so far. ^__^
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: seven_sins on January 29, 2012, 03:12:17 AM
My guess: Grand Palais?

I hope so  ;D

By the way, great work

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 02, 2012, 11:47:27 AM
No not grand palais. It's the senat, palais du luxembourg.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on February 02, 2012, 12:12:15 PM
Looks wonderful, as used to look your others incredible creations.

I downloaded the Samaritaine. I'll try to use it and post a picture of it in situ
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 02, 2012, 12:20:18 PM
Looks great! I'm also excited to try out the Samartaine  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 02, 2012, 12:40:34 PM
Project looks good,

but you have already problem with tiled textures that we can clearly notice above all on the roofs 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 02, 2012, 12:42:35 PM
Girafe... I am not even half way with this project :-)
Don't worry about the textures... I'm sure iwill fix them . lol

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 02, 2012, 12:45:20 PM
Quote from: xannepan on February 02, 2012, 12:42:35 PM
Girafe... I am not even half way with this project :-)
Don't worry about the textures... I'm sure iwill fix them . lol

nice :)

Think, even sure that Badsim will really enjoy all these parisian BATs and will recover Triumphal way project as soon as his situation will be stable
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: seven_sins on February 04, 2012, 02:19:06 AM
Very impressive work  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 04, 2012, 10:27:22 AM
the model is nearly done. still fine tuning the textures and adding some details.
Next are the nightlights.

The major challenge will be the lot. I'll try to create "les jardins", the gardens using D66's (?) great props. But that will take some time.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 04, 2012, 10:37:30 AM
Looks good,

pavement in the court is too big, you can reduce it twice,

the texture on the rotonda is not good, too stretch.

For night lights I have seen in the Samaritaine that you tried to play with auto illumination, test to illuminate the ceilings alone or + the roofs it gives sometimes nice result as light up only by the roofs is physically wrong :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on February 04, 2012, 10:49:42 AM
Super work.


Great work.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 04, 2012, 10:54:36 AM
The rotunda is a challenge indeed. I'm using a cylindrical UV map, but I'm not happy right now.

For the pavement, the pattern is exactly the size of the real texture. For the court texture I'm using the dimensions of the game standard sidewalk base texture...

I'm not sure I understand your suggestions for the nightlights  &mmm. Can you elaborate?

Mind you I'm still using 3dsmax-9 which has limited possibilities in comparison to later versions. Yet I never suceeded in producing similar results with simfox' bat4max....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on February 05, 2012, 05:54:45 AM
That's great, I'm admirative. &apls &apls


Guillaume :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on February 05, 2012, 08:26:52 AM
Superb work!

Here's something for you:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg209.imageshack.us%2Fimg209%2F9733%2Fdayu.jpg&hash=6c520bc13f8272b2dfca1df2611e64c3fa5d696b)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg810.imageshack.us%2Fimg810%2F4688%2Fnightqr.jpg&hash=fa64c250e81d7e0302d64ec6745799c06dd70eb9)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on February 05, 2012, 01:17:27 PM
I think this is coming along nicely. It will make a fine addition to any classy city.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 12, 2012, 10:13:57 AM
I just wanted to let you know I'm still working on the senat, but progress is slow as I am currently working on the lot (something I do not enjoy at all :( )

Here is works in progress view from within the game
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 12, 2012, 10:20:57 AM
looks good  &apls &apls

I am not with the green tints but it's normal we have each our flora tint :)

Could you share once you will finished, the .max of the garden for a rework, ty

Anyway good to see you working on Parisian BATs,

Next project could be Parisian city hall   ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 12, 2012, 10:27:06 AM
Thx Girafe,

Yep, I will share the models after I have finished.

For the greenwork I have chooses the games own base texture fsh files, so the models blend in with the base textures I'm using for the lot itself. But I agree there are as many variants as there are BAT creators lol

City hall is indeed high on my agenda... but also challenging! :)

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on February 12, 2012, 10:36:43 AM
Looks great, Alex! :)

I remember when with school we ran around the fountain and the grass field during sport class the Saturday morning, in the cold breeze.. :(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Delecto on February 12, 2012, 01:49:54 PM
Admirable job.  &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 15, 2012, 05:54:03 AM
I ran into the unforeseen problem that i have reached the max number of props onn a lot limit  :angrymore:... The lot isn't even halfway done. I will now have to use my tree models and combine them into single models... Will take some extra time ... Boring work ahead of me :(

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on February 15, 2012, 06:03:06 AM
Maybe you can try making separate lots like for the Saxon Palace by Ferox?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 15, 2012, 08:23:05 AM
Quote from: art128 on February 15, 2012, 06:03:06 AM
Maybe you can try making separate lots like for the Saxon Palace by Ferox?

Now why didn't I think of that. Thx!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Earth quake on February 17, 2012, 03:34:28 AM
Simply wonderfull.  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 17, 2012, 05:27:59 AM
I am taking a break from the senat.... I need to work on something fun again for a while... (i hate the lot editor, pim is also sooo slow somehow... :bomb: :angrymore:)

Maybe city hall this time.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 18, 2012, 12:49:28 AM
hehe, I never understood the development of pim; surely a good software, but for people who didn't take part its development, the software is clearly not easy to use.

City Hall could be fun  $%Grinno$%, an hospital could be too...

Do you have a pic of the current state of senat,

if you choiced the Assemblée Nationale there wasn't gardens  :D


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on February 18, 2012, 02:43:57 AM
Taking a break eh ? Something fun to make, in Paris. Well I can think of some things that might look great in the game, here I go:

You can try making a new bridge? This time for the EL-Rail:

the passerelle d'Austerlitz, which is a parisian subway bridge.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstorage.canalblog.com%2F96%2F75%2F129048%2F7214625_p.jpg&hash=6b4e2f1279b9cfbf209bef67463174c06a248f12)


Moving on, the can try the Gare D'Austerlitz with the EL-rail line going through the station!
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuppix.net%2Fa%2Fb%2F3%2F84a11af418418aeffe075ea7fc2d1.jpg&hash=9fc2a2cb24b653d6b98191cb57dca825a309b985)

A building I saw which was looking really good: The Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, located between the Boulevard St Marcel and the Rue des Wallons.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuppix.net%2Fb%2F7%2F8%2Fd01dae97a2f521d00b59989bfaf25.jpg&hash=4c48fb52ac9cac8d5efc05dedc8824a0e2256093)

And what about a modern church ? The Saint Marcel Church on the Boulevard de l'Hopital.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuppix.net%2F9%2F6%2F1%2F8742d88f1aabe3d623f30b49404b4.jpg&hash=eccad105cf21e89ba74b3d3fddcf8c72b718fec1)(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuppix.net%2F7%2F1%2F3%2Ff0b9e9b0dd8e182cd4dbb8cd00ba7.jpg&hash=9a62490338829c0b32c78c4c9bacf5f3a5cca1f7)


These are just some quick ideas! ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 18, 2012, 09:12:56 AM
Thanks Art for the inspiration indeed.
But for now I'm working on hotel de ville. Did make too much progress yet, but it's a start :P

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 18, 2012, 01:35:03 PM
That already looks good :)

wait for the sculptures  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: seven_sins on February 20, 2012, 02:12:58 AM
It looks great  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Earth quake on February 20, 2012, 03:08:42 AM
Excellent start. I'm impatient to see ,as Girafe, "l'hôtel de ville" with his sculptures, but mostly finished.  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 20, 2012, 06:59:50 AM
Thx guys!

I have got most basic wall elements in place, although fine tuning is far from finished. Unfortunately, Max is already becoming slow. So adding the statues is probably one of the last things I'll do.





Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 20, 2012, 08:01:39 AM
WIP looks good,

for max, how much RAM have you?

It's quite easy to buy RAM for 20-50€

8GO RAM is what I have and allows to deal with high poly trees.

Amthaak has 12 GO and it seems to be really helpful with heavy project
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on February 20, 2012, 08:12:22 AM
Looks great!

As Girafe said, you shoudl consider buying more RAM if your motherboard allow more RAM modules.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: WannGLondon on February 20, 2012, 08:28:29 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 12, 2012, 10:13:57 AM
I just wanted to let you know I'm still working on the senat, but progress is slow as I am currently working on the lot (something I do not enjoy at all :( )

Here is works in progress view from within the game
This is absolutely beautiful xannepan, I have many of your great buildings in my city. You are an amazing BATter.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 21, 2012, 07:34:13 AM
I have 4 Gb of RAM.. and working on a (powerful) laptop. But extending it is not possible. ANyway I think I will manage, just need to keep track of my polycount.

Here is an update... I have added many more details and completed a rough outline for the roof.

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 21, 2012, 08:06:25 AM
Your progress is looking spectacular as always  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on February 21, 2012, 08:09:58 AM
That is beautiful!! :satisfied:

Robin &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 22, 2012, 01:32:27 PM
Looks like a gruyere  :)

you can change your RAM even on a laptop, I did it on an old toshiba and it worked nice for 2 x 20€
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 24, 2012, 11:09:41 AM
quick progress screenshot. added some statues already. Perhaps I can finish this weekend, but no promises :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 24, 2012, 12:00:27 PM
looks nice,

Remember I want all the details  :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on February 24, 2012, 02:12:54 PM
Nice new details, Alex!

Also, congrats on the CML, quite well deserved! :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on February 25, 2012, 03:03:39 AM
It's AMAZING! :o &apls  But don't forget the little statues in the front ;D
And congrats for the CML, which is well deserved! I agree with Arthur!


Guillaume :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 26, 2012, 07:17:53 AM
First in game screenshot. Although the real building is LARGE, I will reduce the size by 90%...
Next on my to do list is nightlights, props for the square and gardens.

-Alex


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on February 26, 2012, 07:31:10 AM
Hmmmmmm, that wonderful building in front of the Senat.... :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: nbvc on February 26, 2012, 07:39:17 AM
Fantastic work. &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 26, 2012, 08:07:09 AM
Looks awesome, French and EU flags are still missing  :P

Pagesjaunes could help you a little bit even if there are not lot of roof junk

&apls &apls &apls
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F91d691ec04ff3d142662e6432db53718.jpg&hash=73f2df0d0bbe3d9fb267b4895156499a2af467a2)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: WannGLondon on February 26, 2012, 08:30:40 AM
Gorgeous, cannot wait to see it on the LEX.  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on February 26, 2012, 01:08:02 PM
That is one beautiful building and congrats on your CML.

Robin &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 27, 2012, 03:18:05 AM
Experienced BAT-ters: I need your help! The ingame screenshot below shows a problem I'm running into with Hotel de Ville

Because the building stretches below ground level I'm getting all kinds of artefacts in the game. I have tried multiple types of LODs already. The best solutions so far seems to use LODs that just start a ground level, ignoring the part of the building below ground level (which will render anyway). But the later still produces artefacts as seen in the image.

It is not an uncommon problem. With quai de seine and with the seine bridges I ran into similar problems. But there the solution was to get rid of the shadow. I can do that with this building too, and indeed the problem is solved. But I'd rather release it with shadows.

Any ideas?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 27, 2012, 04:08:57 AM
LODs should be always positive and can't be below zero. Underground part will render even if they are not in the LODs. Normally it works correctly, it's what I used for GAN Tower.

Think too, to ungroup your objects, for me it provokes sometimes problems.

I could have a look this evening if you need / want. 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 27, 2012, 05:42:40 AM
I'm not an expert batter but I wanted to stop by to congratulate you on your CML  &apls &apls

Also, progress on this one--It's looking great and I hope you're able to keep the shadows!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 27, 2012, 06:54:05 AM
Quote from: Girafe on February 27, 2012, 04:08:57 AM

I could have a look this evening if you need / want.

That would be great! I'll post on the pre-lex.

Hope you can solve it... I'm out of ammunition. Grouping can't be the problem, since I ungrouped everything already.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 27, 2012, 02:45:09 PM
After few hours of research and fight with your BAT... don't know how you can manage giant project kile this  :o

Seems that if you BAT is not of the size of the LOT you have this problem. You can also BAT the sidewalk as you did.

Moreover, BAT all the walls of the "pool".

Hope I will help.

I didn't see the flags on the city hall &ops

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F99c4055258a2b9925a26de84119cb606.jpg&hash=77ade26bb025ea300bb53cce07d09d6d9dad8155)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 28, 2012, 12:21:05 AM
Thx Girafe,

Hahaha.. indeed a large project file allright :). FYI: the only way for me to handle projects like these is to approach them as a sculpturer not as an engineer. With that I mean: I don't pay any attention anymore to naming objects or aligning them perfectly to grids, or to each other (perhaps only for the basic elements I do, just to make sure the overall proportions are correct). All I'm focused at is how it will look in the game. Additionally, I used modifier on top of modifier on top of modifier (meshes, boolean, deformers etc etc). Furthermore, I have learned to take into account the specific simcity lighting setup (for instance for fine details I found out that lines/splines with 5 sides still show up after rendering while lines/splines with 4 sides hardly show because of the way the lighting casts shadows etc). I know I'm probably breaking many rules of professional 3d-modellers with this, and my 3ds files are a mess. But again: I'm focused on the rendered end result, not on a perfect model. As a result I can also make giant BATs like these much faster as ever before. Hotel de Ville sofar took me 2x5 hours in my weekend and several hours on several nights during the last 2 weeks.

As for the shadow issue: I think I understand what the problem is now... However, to fix it will require a complex LOD as my "pool" walls are quite complex.  I'm not sure my computer will be able to handle it. I'll give it a try. But if not, then I'll have to turn of the shadows in the reader.

Finally: I'm struggling with the flags. I could off course render two models, one with and one without flags... And perhaps the flags will only show on quatorze juillet :). 


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 28, 2012, 04:53:20 AM
We have each our way of batting as lot of sc4 batters learn by themselves. I think it doesn't matter how you do, just the result counts. And with your approach to focus on the render in game, I think you are right.

But I stay amazed by the mountain of work achieved in a short period. Seems you are like Koreans at Stracraft 2, they have 4 hands   ::)

For the pool I will check tonight again. I am asking if the problem comes from the fact that the pool is not closed or by the fact that the size of the LODs are not exactly the same of the LOT (pic right down on my last IG pic).

In the second case the only things you have to do is to extend the sidewalks until a multiple of 16m. Up to you to do complex LODs if you want to add props after on LE but I would say not necessary.

I think it's a pity to not keep the shadow, but it will depend on what you will be successful.

The idea of the flags is just a personal thing, and at my taste makes the BAT more realistic. In another hand, people in their MD, maybe do not want a french or UE flag. It remembers me the problematic of the Peninsula and Hong kong "Parliament" of Pierre (STEX).

Anyway, hope to see good news and new pics of Luxembourg's garden  :thumbsup:   
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 28, 2012, 11:05:18 AM
Quote from: Girafe on February 28, 2012, 04:53:20 AM
...the size of the LODs are not exactly the same of the LOT...

Unfortunately that didn't solve the problem. But after rendering it five x 50 minutes (good thing that I was working at home today) I have managed to fix the problem.
I have rendered the building without basement ("pool" as Girafe refered to it) and without base/pavement texture. Next using the same LOD. I rendered the basement only now with base texture. From the latter model I created a prop without shadow, while the building itself does have a shadow. Now all I had to do is make sure the prop and the building are properly aligned in the LOT editor. There are very minor graphical glitches, but hardly noteable.

Thx for your help girafe!
-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on February 28, 2012, 11:46:57 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 28, 2012, 11:05:18 AMNow all I had to do is make sure the prop and the building are properly aligned in the LOT editor. There are very minor graphical glitches, but hardly noteable.

You've pretty much made a foundation out of the basement.  If your model is only of the basement, you should be able to go through the whole "export process" with it (re-fit LODS, export to BAT...).  However, when you render the LOD in BAT, select "foundation" rather than "building".  I think it's there in the LOD section.  Then do the rest of the MAX export process.

With this foundation model, go into PIMX and drag it to the "foundation" section.  Once you have a Building exemplar of the actual building, add the property "Building Foundation" and set it to point to the Instance that PIMX made for your foundation.  The foundation will never cast shadows, and will always be directly center with the building.  No need to worry about LE for that part.

If you have already rendered the basement, I think all you have to do is change the 5th digit in the S3Ds to 1 (so something like 0x00031000), for all of the 20 S3Ds.  The process through PIMX would be the same.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 28, 2012, 12:18:01 PM
Lowkee.... how could I forget... this is exactly what I did for Burg Eltz. How stupid of me, it all comes back now: exactly the same problems there.
Thx for reminding me!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on March 07, 2012, 12:08:39 PM
Hi xannepan

I really love your work, your bats are amazing and its a pleasure use them, as I can see you love Paris, I can understand you, Paris is a beautiful city with a lot of beautiful buildings, I know that, but you are from Netherlands Right ? In Netherlands exist many interesting buildings, Do you think to create some bats from Netherlands ? Could be interesting see some  new buildings from Netherlands created by you  :thumbsup:

Greetings
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 08, 2012, 07:58:13 AM
Kelis, you are correct.. I am indeed from the Netherlands. ANd there are some fine buildings... Just think about amsterdam central station. BUT.. Currently I am addicted to Paris buildings.. So the chance that i will switch themes is very low.

In the mean time I have spend all my time in modding... Not sure it will be worth the effort, but puzzle solving is something I just like doing. I will pick up hotel de ville and the senat soon.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 16, 2012, 11:25:33 AM
Time for an update.

I have been working on place de l'hotel de ville for which I have created dozens of props to make it more lively. I have added 2 additional special lots next to the regular one. One with a market, and one with a concert by Queen for celebrating my birthday. Too bad there is no sound in these images... but Freddy actually sings three songs which I have added as ambient sounds that play between 20 and 2 hrs (Still fine tuning the effects) and the crowd applauds and cheers. Unfortunately, I did not succeed to make the sounds seasonal, otherwise I could have just made one lot with he market and concert showing up in the desired season.

Nightlighting changes depending on the month of the year. There are 3 states. One projecting my red-lion avatar on hotel de ville in may (my birthday) and special lighting in july to celebrate quatorze julliet. Same goes for the flags displayed during daytime. I will consider making a "non-seasonal" version of hotel de ville for players that just want one state of nightlighting.. it is  fairly easy to mod.

Trees are all HD (I will re-release the trees for quais de seine) and the majority of props are also HD (not all of them.. for some props it just doesn't look good).

Well that's all for now... RL is keeping me very busy these days so I'm note sure when I will be able to finish and release (same goes for the Senat). I'm also a bit of a perfectionist and there are many little things that I'm not 100% happy with right now.. on the other hand solving these small issues (as well as modding) seems to take more time than modelling buildings such as hotel de ville itself.. :(

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 16, 2012, 11:26:08 AM
two more pictures
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on March 16, 2012, 12:00:05 PM
Awesome pictures  &apls &apls  This one's looking really promising  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on March 16, 2012, 12:23:21 PM
I'm gonna get me one of those... This one is from extraordinary quality, even considering your already diverse high-quality oeuvre. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mattb325 on March 16, 2012, 09:50:31 PM
Amazing stuff, Alex! The nightimages are stupendous  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on March 17, 2012, 08:13:46 AM
Looks really nice,

Regarding the trees:

Reflexion standard parameters:
reflexivity 0.3
glossy: 0.38

you are a little bit too blue and you can try to scale the leaves at 110-120%

EDIT: your flag are not so good  &mmm
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Aaron Graham on March 17, 2012, 08:49:08 AM
Looks great. :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on March 18, 2012, 12:02:03 PM
The concert looks like a LOT of fun! I will be in the audience for sure!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 20, 2012, 12:20:59 PM
The updated version for Quais de Seine with HD trees and Hotel de Ville + place de l'Hotel de Ville are now on the LEX.
Let me know if you find major issues.

Enjoy!

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on March 20, 2012, 04:05:43 PM
Hi Alex  :)

These last projects are an amazing add to our game, The Paris city Hall looks amazing, as always you did a great job with the model and textures and also with the nightlights and the lots, so I just can say THANKS for your great work !!

Ok, I have got a request for you, not difficult, you only have to do some changes in the Paris Quais de Seine, of course if this its possible  :D I was thinking that many people use for your cities the Euro asphalt sidewalk.

http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/17351-euro-asphalt-sidewalk/

Can you make a version with these textures? I think that could be so good for us  ;)

Thanks my friend and greetings.

# Jonathan


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: toxicpiano on March 20, 2012, 04:41:07 PM
Quote from: kelis on March 20, 2012, 04:05:43 PM
Hi Alex  :)

These last projects are an amazing add to our game, The Paris city Hall looks amazing, as always you did a great job with the model and textures and also with the nightlights and the lots, so I just can say THANKS for your great work !!

Ok, I have got a request for you, not difficult, you only have to do some changes in the Paris Quais de Seine, of course if this its possible  :D I was thinking that many people use for your cities the Euro asphalt sidewalk.

http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/17351-euro-asphalt-sidewalk/

Can you make a version with these textures? I think that could be so good for us  ;)

Thanks my friend and greetings.

# Jonathan




I second this request :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: WannGLondon on March 20, 2012, 09:12:25 PM
You are a true artist, Alex.  &apls Just started using 3ds max 2012 and i hope to one day model and BAT as well as you.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 20, 2012, 11:13:22 PM
Hi guys,
I understand your desire for more texture variations. Unfortunately it is not as easy as it may look like. To make quais de seine i had to be extremly creative but in the end i ended up in rendering the sidewalk textures as part of the models. Changing them would mean i would need to re-render all those files once more..that would be a months work if spend every evening on this.
I did share the 3ds max model files though, so if anyone feels up to it.... :-\
It would require you to use 3ds max (preferably version 9) with chris' bat4max and then some simple (butnboring) steps:
1. Open the 3ds model file in max (only those that contain sidewalk textures)
2. Change the sidewalk texture (do not make an other changes, especially not to the LOTs)
3. Select the matching .sc4model file as output for rendering
4. Render

Repeat for each file.

If anyone feels up to it, I ' d be willing to support the effort ..

-alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 21, 2012, 10:58:39 PM
WannG: good luck with max :-) always good to see a new bat-er. my advise prctice with something easy and small. First get the hang of rendering workflow. It can be quite frustrating.

-alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: namspopof on March 22, 2012, 05:35:44 AM
Your work is fabulous Xannepan !  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 22, 2012, 07:36:20 AM
Working on project 15 16 5 18 1 7 1 18 14 6 18


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on March 22, 2012, 08:19:29 AM
Are you making an topsecret island which is hidden from the space time continuum?  ???  :D <a href=http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Numbers">linkie</a>
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on March 22, 2012, 08:57:15 AM
Fabulous work Alex  &apls &apls &apls

Thanks for sharing with the community,

what's this new project, something in Paris?

still stay the Panthéon you didn't do  :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on March 22, 2012, 09:17:54 AM
The new project name doesn't make any sense. I mistranslated it, or I missed something...

Operagarnfr?!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on March 22, 2012, 10:50:20 AM
WOW, here we got, A code numbers... I think these numbers are the words on the alphabet and yes, our friend MaaRTeNs have reason, I think its the Opera  :) I can't wait to see it !!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 22, 2012, 01:28:19 PM
Quote from: mrtnrln on March 22, 2012, 09:17:54 AM
The new project name doesn't make any sense. I mistranslated it, or I missed

You are correct... I made a spelling error..uhhh miscalculation :-)...
14 and 6 are wrong, should be 9, 5


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on March 22, 2012, 03:12:49 PM
Ah, now it makes more sense! ;)

Operagarier!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: WannGLondon on March 22, 2012, 06:45:44 PM
Quote from: xannepan on March 21, 2012, 10:58:39 PM
WannG: good luck with max :-) always good to see a new bat-er. my advise prctice with something easy and small. First get the hang of rendering workflow. It can be quite frustrating.

-alex
Thanks Alex, will keep that in mind.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 23, 2012, 02:10:40 AM
...and I still missed an "n"  :bomb: :angrymore:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on March 23, 2012, 02:37:38 AM
Crazy project you have launched 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on March 24, 2012, 03:10:02 AM
The Opéra Garnier... ok, well good luck ;D


Guillaume &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 31, 2012, 02:50:56 AM
a picture is worth a thousand words
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: peterycristi on March 31, 2012, 03:04:31 AM
this will be without doubt one of the most beautifull buildings for sc4!  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on March 31, 2012, 03:08:09 AM
Oh my..
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on March 31, 2012, 03:16:57 AM
I can't believe it, you are doing this monster  &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on March 31, 2012, 03:20:20 AM
Amazing job Alex  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: WC_EEND on March 31, 2012, 03:57:07 AM
As a huge fan (and heavy user) of all the Parisian BATs (which are very useful for creating European-looking W2W cities), I really appreciate all the work you put into making all of these BATs.

Xander
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on March 31, 2012, 04:50:45 AM
What? How? Why? Uhm... I can't come up with one word to describe this, but sure your level of awesomeness has increased :thumbsup: You're really BATting like a boss!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on March 31, 2012, 11:04:32 PM
Awesome project!!! but I'm not really convinced on your approach on it. First, I feel the facade elements lack depth. Cornices and pediments look too flattened, and I feel that it would be worth the sacrifice to model some of the elements you treated with bumpmaps. Also, I'd like to see some more chromatism (you're missing some blue and red elements that would accentuate a lot the details). The column crownings are not very convincing, can't put my finger on what is wrong but at least I think they are too thin. The geometry of the domes is too crude, and the central one looks too flat; maybe exaggerating a little the proportions would make it look better from the SC4 angle. Not sure about the gold texture either, looks too "yellow" (there's a gold material I uploaded to the pri-lex, maybe you'd like to try it). I don't know if it is the final one, but the roof texture isn't really working. Finally, I think it is too stretched on the z axis, the half-point arches from the main entrance look a tad distorted.

Sorry for the lenghty suggestion... but I really love this building and hope you get it just perfect  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Aaron Graham on March 31, 2012, 11:45:48 PM
Lovely work!!! :O
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 01, 2012, 12:48:00 AM
Debussy, thanks for your suggestions. I have taken into account a few (not all ;)) of them. The main dome is now subtle more outspoken.
I have added statues and details amongst others to the roof, all which are indispensible in creating more depth.
As for the textures: Porkie and I agreed long time ago on a "desaturated" color approach for his and my Paris set. I guess it's a matter of taste ( find many buildings way too saturated  ;D). As usual I will upload the 3ds-max ,so modding textures and rerendering should be easy.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on April 01, 2012, 01:34:31 AM
Hmmm... I would still recommend to enlarge a bit the crowning of the main facade cornice, at least enough to cast a shadow on the frieze. The gold doesn't convince me yet, it lacks "shine"; you should try playing with the material modifiers to get it right. Personally, I love the light blue zinc color of the real opera, but if you think it'd fit better with the dark one, I have no argument. The ribs of the side domes are too square and thick, round, slightly tapering ones with perhaps a ripped texture or bump map would make them look much better, like in the picture:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blork.org%2Fmondaymorning%2Fimages%2Fparis-from-lafayette.jpg&hash=8d549ec20df6b0b3e6181bdf853d04c4c8360178)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: supremec on April 01, 2012, 02:02:18 AM
Undescribable  &apls  &apls  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on April 01, 2012, 04:33:04 AM
Tuuuuuu... tu tu tu tu tuuuu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej1zMxbhOO0).

:thumbsup:

Cheers,
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on April 01, 2012, 06:30:34 AM
Spectacular  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: WannGLondon on April 01, 2012, 08:17:24 AM
I do not know how you do it Alex, amazing.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 01, 2012, 11:06:56 AM
Thx, everyone for the nice comments and suggestions. In the meanwhile here is the first ingame screenshot.
I used Debussy's gold texture this time... indeed much better :)

I'm creating a relative small lot with overhanging building so it will fit nicely to diagonal roads (don't worry I will take into account the immortality issue). I only need to make base sidewalk texture props that will fit the diagonals. Choosing the sidewalk props represent kind of a problem though, since I have to decide either release with a lot fitting to a 4 avenues (below) or 2-roads-2-avenues configuration. Anyway.. with some simple lot editing everyone should be able to adjust to their preferences.


   ||
  /  \
-      -
-      -
  \  /
   ||

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on April 01, 2012, 11:21:02 AM
Good job but be careful to these parts, wall texture in not appropriate:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F3d9445e220633160bbc3e32b6e3b100b.jpg&hash=1939723a99e6759bb069bd5309aea138b656ab81)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 01, 2012, 11:29:39 AM
Quote from: Girafe on April 01, 2012, 11:21:02 AM
Good job but be careful to these parts, wall texture in not appropriate:


Well I politely tend to disagree :P I took some pictures during my last visit to Paris a few months ago, but also on Page Jaunes you can see the wall texture I'm using for these parts closely approximates the real building. Pictures on the web are often too saturated or photoshopped heavily so the appreciation of colors is off...
Only for the stairs I'll consider something a bit more gray-ish. After that it will have to do... I'm spending way too much time with BAT these days :)

Alex

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on April 01, 2012, 11:53:09 AM
tiling is smaller even if we can distinguish stones, your texture looks pixelised on certain parts:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.urban-exploration.com%2Fexploration-urbaine%2Fimages%2Ftoit%2Fparis%2Fopera%2Fopera_garnier_quartier_haussman_14.jpg&hash=1a30da3321dce65f9be97755ebde2213c6af70cc)

:P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: peterycristi on April 02, 2012, 02:52:41 AM
fantastic bat!  &apls but i think, you should maybe try out another texture for the golden statues. They just look simply yellow for me. Just the same problem like with pont alexandre. Concerning the modell i think that maybe on the rotunda you should do crowning details to go a little bit more outside. If you look at girafes photo and on much other photos, you can see, that the architect wanted to crown the opera with the rotunda. just check girafes photo and you'll see, that the details of the rotunda are going like away from the roof and not just straight up (difficult to explain in english, but i hope you understand what i mean). Even it seems to me as there are missing some details in the rotunda, especially on the top. Yours just doesn't look like a crown at all. All the rest is really wonderfull so far!  &apls

saludos
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on April 02, 2012, 03:34:45 AM
Great to see this one on a diagonal overhanging lot--you can never have too many of them  :thumbsup:  And indeed those gold textures from Debussyman look great. Very nice work so far  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on April 02, 2012, 07:46:45 AM
Quote from: peterycristi on April 02, 2012, 02:52:41 AM
but i think, you should maybe try out another texture for the golden statues. They just look simply yellow for me.

Actually, I think they look too green...  I originally made it for the Berliner Dom, so it would mix well with he copper roof. Here I believe you should change the hue to something more yellow/orange.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 02, 2012, 09:51:53 PM
I have slightly adjusted the crown, although I must say the perspective in Girafe's picture is really distorted. Pages jaunes gives a more realistic view.

I agree the gold is just a bit too green. I will fix it one ast time... But I can alread see it will be difficult to keep everybody happy ;D Next time please specifyyour desired RGB values  ;)

Now comes a phase that I hate... Creating the lot. Although this time it may not be too bad, as I'll keep it really simple. I have used the SFBT semperoper reward dat file as a basis (with a new instance off course) so modding is done.

After this one this one is done I propbably will do some row and corner buildings, although a courthouse, hospital, school, jardins botanique, river banks extensions and a few more bridges are still also high on my own wish list.  (For myself I have modded my previously released Pharmacy Bailly as a small hospital, and my bourse the commerce acts as a stock exhange now)

Additionally, I would really like to spend some time on going through the maxis set and delete all buildings which proportions don't fit Porkies and my own Paris set.

Argh... This really is a hobby... After soo many years I still haven't played the game  :-\










Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on April 06, 2012, 12:13:29 PM
Assemblée Nationale next?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Sciurus on April 07, 2012, 02:50:50 AM
Quote from: Girafe on April 06, 2012, 12:13:29 PM
Assemblée Nationale next?
Or Le Trocadéro, Les Invalides in the whole.... :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: 958517907 on April 07, 2012, 06:11:33 AM
I very like your bat,hope you made more..... :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: seven_sins on April 10, 2012, 02:50:57 AM
I really like your idea of creating more civic buildings to replace the maxis ones.

Btw do you have plans to create grand palais/petit palais and galeries lafayette?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 11, 2012, 11:41:46 AM
In my never ending attempt to create a 'playable' Simcity Paris set I am creating a word document with a list that shows growth stage, zone and wealth properties + a small picture for each building. Currently, I have limited my effort to "Haussmann style" residentials and commercial growables and commercial ploppables. Included are my own buildings, porki's and SBFT buildings. Civic and reward, landmark buildings remain to be done. Although not completely finished yet, it is amazing how rich the Paris set is already.

To achieve a playable set I have started modding the existing buildings (with PIM-X) to get a "correct" and consistent distribution accross growth stages, wealth levels and zone types. (the modded DESC/exemplars are not on the STEX or LEX!).

I could use some help and advice. If someone feels up to it, please have a look at the document and give me your opinion + your motivation on where there are gaps, and which properties (stage, wealth, zone) you think would be good to change.

Some additional remarks:

Obviously, you will note that most buildings have growth stage properties in the range between 4-6. One thing I'm trying to figure out is how to deal with lower growth stages (that is which "type" of buildings stage 1-3/4 would fit a Paris set.)

Two options have crossed my mind: (1) buildings such as those you find in Montmartre, or (2) Medieval timber frame buildings (Paris style). In the latter option the development of a city through growth stages would be a kind of historical development through time. In any case I would need to start creating new buildings. Let me know what you think, or if you have alternative thoughts and ideas. Personally I prefer option two because next to Paris buildings I enjou creating medieval buildings too.

One more remark/thought about growth stages: I'm struggling how to deal with the number of stages (8). It seems a bit much for dense W2W european cities (even for medieval ones). Therefore, for many buildings I have created two growable lots for a single building (eg one for stage 5 and a similar one for stage 6). (Effectively, this means that I combine two stages into 1).

One additional thing I have started is to 'disable' all buildings from the Maxis set which (imo) do not fit with the Paris set (in terms of size proportions). On top of that I have excluded the buildings that remain from the Europe set. This way the Europe set will be completely attributed to Hausmann buildings (including perhaps someday the lower stage buildings).

Finally, please feel free to post pictures of buildings + adress (residentials, commercials, civic) that you think would be a nice addition to the set as described above. Please limit your input to residentials or commercials (services/offices) Paris buildings. Civic buildigns are okay too. I have plenty of ideas for landmarks buildings ;-).

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on April 11, 2012, 12:07:04 PM
I love the idea of making medieval buildings the first growth stages and then going up to haussmann style; that's pretty much the type of evolution I've always wanted for my cities.

Regarding suggestions, these might be useful if properly converted to Residential, perhaps located in "transition" stages between the timberframes and the haussmanian: http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2302
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: philipp3108 on April 11, 2012, 12:54:29 PM
first place that came to my mind was Place Francois in the 1st arrondissement when you mentioned lower growth stages.
dunno if this is what you meant but i like the 3 or 4 story high buildings pretty much.
especially i would like to see some buildings that fit into roundabouts.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_ug6iW-03X8Y%2FS1-OQWHoKJI%2FAAAAAAAAG_8%2FTlEZaz8GVXI%2Fs640%2FIMG_2989%252Bff%252Btop%252Bfran%2525C3%2525A7ois%252B1er.jpg&hash=a625e2bd6444476969990a7ac1fbe3d009b816af)

i really adore the rue maurice utrillo in montmatre but i doubt the buildings are do-able..

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm1.static.flickr.com%2F39%2F120730390_42bb2691e4.jpg&hash=c1895aad2b89baab21acb6086c523dab2c381b8f)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 11, 2012, 09:16:18 PM
Good idea carlos.

And philipp: suchpictures are exactly what i meant. Certaintly the firs one is do-able.

-alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on April 11, 2012, 09:47:53 PM
I think about how Paris is a city already, and the lower stages are meant for the rural/per-city life of a region.  If you're going to try to simulate the growth of Paris you will need some non-W2W buildings (a whole bunch of miners too) to be the buildings that get replaced by W2W.

But if you want to simply crank out W2W buildings, it might not be too hard.  Make your whole block one lot, but only give it a corner building or something (stage 1).  This would be technically lower density, and PIMX will adjust stats correctly.  Stage two would be the with the other corner, and then the next stages get denser and denser.  Maybe you need to make something with four corners if you run through the stages too fast.  I could post some images if you want.

I'm going to go off on a tangent here.  I find my block very interesting in terms of growth.  We live very close to the harbor in a brick building.  Our apartment shows it's age in many places, an original bathtub (with faucets like one would attach a hose to), a marble fireplace (non-working now), and a wood stove exhaust vent in the kitchen.  We also have two doors leading to the stairwell, which makes us think this apartment was a shared-bathroom sort of place.  The additions to the building are very clear, two rooms on the first floor, one room and a porch on our floor, and nothing on the 3rd.  We can see the original windows in the bricks, but ours are much nicer now.  All of the buildings on the block are about a foot (or less) apart, and from the back porch we can see all of the little additions that have happened to each separate building.  At one point, life in this area got better, and someone came along and put a new front on all of the buildings and connected them.  From the front this is a W2W block, but the fact is that the buildings are all really separate building blocks.  I think that type of growth would be the ultimate in a SC4 growth simulation, representing spans of density and wealth.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on April 12, 2012, 09:49:39 AM
Quote from: xannepan on April 11, 2012, 11:41:46 AM
Two options have crossed my mind: (1) buildings such as those you find in Montmartre, or (2) Medieval timber frame buildings (Paris style). In the latter option the development of a city through growth stages would be a kind of historical development through time. In any case I would need to start creating new buildings. Let me know what you think, or if you have alternative thoughts and ideas. Personally I prefer option two because next to Paris buildings I enjou creating medieval buildings too.

I'm very much in favor of the second option too. In fact, it's what I try achieve myself and you're right, there're very little stage 1/2/3/4 buildings that fit an European, w2w enviroment. I also like the suggestion from Carl to create expanding lots, which I've also done myself with these (http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/21490-tsc-medieval-houses-pack/) BATs from TCS. Admittedly they look a bit .. erm . . silly shall we say?  ;) I do enjoy watching a city block develop though.

Maybe you could try to create an expanding BAT. That is, start with a simple model for stage 1, add a floor for stage 2, another one for stage 3, an addition on the backside for stage 4 etc. This is also how it was done in RL and would create the typical 'overhang' most tudor buildings have, like so.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.static.flickr.com%2F7148%2F6813042749_24a691935b.jpg&hash=c01dc102d8bc7a31af8676b0e002e46f8812cf25)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.herefordshire.gov.uk%2Fhtt%2Fimages%2Fledbury_heritage_centre2_church_lane_8dec08.jpg&hash=a08d32eb57ae6c31925bddd14d7691305c1191b0)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwpcontent.answcdn.com%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F2%2F24%2FTudor_New_St_Worcester.JPG%2F170px-Tudor_New_St_Worcester.JPG&hash=33dec9750119edd08ea5dfa6414192e362c722ce)


Sure these are English examples but it's only to convey the idea most medieval buildings were not created in one go but evolved over time instead. It would be awesome if this could be recreated ingame with corresponding stages. My two cents.  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on April 12, 2012, 10:51:38 AM
Quote from: vortext on April 12, 2012, 09:49:39 AM
Sure these are English examples but it's only to convey the idea most medieval buildings were not created in one go but evolved over time instead. It would be awesome if this could be recreated ingame with corresponding stages. My two cents.  :)

For the sake of clarity, this was what I was trying to convey in my tangent :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: philipp3108 on April 13, 2012, 08:26:52 AM
nice to hear that :)
there are some buildings with a similar size at place francoise

http://maps.google.de/maps?hl=de&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&q=1+Rue+Fran%C3%A7ois+I,+75008+Paris,+%C3%8Ele-de-France,+Frankreich&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x47e66fdb4ed2a337:0x130b82c349e737e0,1+Rue+Fran%C3%A7ois+I,+75008+Paris,+Frankreich&gl=de&ei=J0aIT8-GEszBswb3kPiwCw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ8gEwAA

do you have plans to do some modern buildings as well?
i really like the citroen showroom and the louis vuitton store at champs elysees.
i know it's totally different from what you've did before but... ;)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.archicentral.com%2Fwp-content%2Fimages%2Fcitroen_showroom_paris_01.jpg&hash=05251abf4bd11debea1219c6924ef020c206968e)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.europenethotels.com%2Fphoto-galleries%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F02%2Flouis-vuiton-paris.jpg&hash=650f3287016beba1e712ece8e2ce475b49022d60)

-philipp
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on April 13, 2012, 12:18:20 PM
Check google street Paris: http://maps.google.fr/

Around Rue Saint Jacques you have interesting buildings whic are a good compromise with Haussmann archi:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Fa866fce7f6caf709599da53af3f75c5b.jpg&hash=d9c2d736aa371990865370bef88db4a563d6de66)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Paul 999 on April 14, 2012, 04:43:09 AM
Today i have get a closer look at the Quais de Seine pack. But i don't understand how i can use it, look at this picture:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg822.imageshack.us%2Fimg822%2F9590%2Fraamsdonksveerriverbank.jpg&hash=9ca1fa298ed0c5b5f97a75291f6225b543017335)

The wall have a hight of 40m and it looks not so nice as i have see in a MD. What do i wrong?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: philipp3108 on April 14, 2012, 05:40:06 AM
there are two versions. one version with a pedestrian walk and one with a street tile. you just mixed them up.
and the wall is not steepy enough.. you've got to use the terrain tool to fit the perfect size.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: toxicpiano on April 15, 2012, 03:26:12 AM
The Quais de Seine pack is wonderful, however my one gripe is that none of the pieces have icons in the parks menu  :(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Paul 999 on April 15, 2012, 03:39:04 AM
Quote from: philipp3108 on April 14, 2012, 05:40:06 AM
there are two versions. one version with a pedestrian walk and one with a street tile. you just mixed them up.
and the wall is not steepy enough.. you've got to use the terrain tool to fit the perfect size.

How can i make my ground steepy enough? i use the ground tool at the original game and it don't work.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 19, 2012, 02:59:17 AM
Icons for quais de Seine can be found in the seaport menu.
For terrain modelling use the mayor mode modeling tools... it will require some practice but it can be done. Also make sure your ground level is not too high...

I'm working on some new Medieval buildings for the lower stages of the 'Paris' set. These are all inspired on screenshots that can be found of medieval worlds.com.

Plenty of variation.. and more to come :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on April 19, 2012, 03:30:15 AM
You've taken another direction... and yet again you show you're a modeling-master :thumbsup:  This will be very usefull for old city centers.

Best,
Maarten
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on April 19, 2012, 04:16:46 AM
Looks great so far  :thumbsup:

Are you also making some corner BATs as well, with a small tower or something? In any case, think I'll leave some room to spare in my city centre  ;)

@Paul 999, with the use of a 15m groundlifter, the walkway will be just above waterlevel. If the cliff still shows through the quay wall, the water is too shallow. Use the terraforming tools to deepen it a bit. Like Alex said, it takes a bit of practice.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on April 19, 2012, 04:24:02 AM
Good work Alex,

It remembers me one of the most beautiful city center in France / Europe, called La Petite France in Strasbourg  ::)

You have begun a nice set, color variations could be fun, and more variety of details like flowers boxes at the windows, lamps... too 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 19, 2012, 06:07:10 AM
Quote from: Girafe on April 19, 2012, 04:24:02 AM

color variations could be fun, and more variety of details like flowers boxes at the windows, lamps... too

Yep... I think for the high wealth versions I will add flower boxes, lamps etc..
I also will add some civic buildings...
I'm in doubt about varying roof colors (orange maybe).... Personally I like a uniform look, but some variation may be fun.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on April 19, 2012, 10:56:31 AM
Quote from: Paul 999 on April 14, 2012, 04:43:09 AM
Today i have get a closer look at the Quais de Seine pack. But i don't understand how i can use it, look at this picture:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg822.imageshack.us%2Fimg822%2F9590%2Fraamsdonksveerriverbank.jpg&hash=9ca1fa298ed0c5b5f97a75291f6225b543017335)

The wall have a hight of 40m and it looks not so nice as i have see in a MD. What do i wrong?

  The perfect depth is about 45 meters. 
  If you use the "zero sealevel dat" to temporarily get rid of all water you than can decorate the river bed and make the wall exactly how you wait it using the hole digging lots.  If you are unhappy with the land height and want to lower it than you lower the river bed by the same amount to be sure you keep that 45 meter difference between the two.  Once you have the hang of it, it is an awesome set.

Robin ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on April 19, 2012, 02:50:48 PM
Quote from: xannepan on April 19, 2012, 06:07:10 AM
I'm in doubt about varying roof colors (orange maybe).... Personally I like a uniform look, but some variation may be fun.

I think the changes should be "light" maybe more brownish textures for the beams, slight variations for the roofs.

IMHO, the idea is that people could have enough buildings which are close and enough different to buld a small "medieval" village  ;)

In you I trust  :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on April 19, 2012, 05:10:29 PM
Beautiful models!

How about some variation on the plaster color, perhaps some with more brownish or other with more yellowish color. Maybe some even blue or light red. Like in this picture:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage.shutterstock.com%2Fdisplay_pic_with_logo%2F197410%2F197410%2C1273420629%2C1%2Fstock-photo-rouen-medieval-city-of-normandy-this-city-was-burned-joan-of-arc-in-52687300.jpg&hash=1f96379480528c03355215a256e7d2300dc1f2a6)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Paul 999 on April 22, 2012, 03:47:39 AM
Quote from: rooker1 on April 19, 2012, 10:56:31 AM
The perfect depth is about 45 meters. 
If you use the "zero sealevel dat" to temporarily get rid of all water you than can decorate the river bed and make the wall exactly how you wait it using the hole digging lots.  If you are unhappy with the land height and want to lower it than you lower the river bed by the same amount to be sure you keep that 45 meter difference between the two.  Once you have the hang of it, it is an awesome set.

Robin ;)

Thanks, i be a lots closer now, I have make the hight of the wall 15m and the total depth 45m (30m below the see). But is still see the ground behind the walls, see picture.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg196.imageshack.us%2Fimg196%2F716%2Fraamsdonksvee2.jpg&hash=9d143699948a09ab66d7016527330a00c6ef7020)

Your walls look so good, but it is really complexed to use for me now ;)

I would prefer a wall pack whit a overhanging of 1 title, so even if you make a wall of 8m you can not see the ground behind the walls. Whit a overhanging wall you can also make a wall close on the ground (combination whit the different channelpacks), and not only on the sea how it works at this moment. Perhaps you can once expand the package whit this overhanging walls.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Paul 999 on April 22, 2012, 09:09:58 AM
I have try something today, here is the result.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg10.imageshack.us%2Fimg10%2F7941%2Fraamsdonksveer3.jpg&hash=f7bda6f26ade3a385e43a3df76769480fd92c308)

Thanks for this great set!  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 22, 2012, 10:38:32 PM
Looks great Paul!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on April 24, 2012, 10:11:36 PM
I like your idea to expand on the Paris building set a bit, and I have a few thoughts on some ways you could stretch that out, especially to get some of the lower and higher growth stages.  The idea of using stages to represent different time periods is I think a useful way of approaching things - and it helps add more variety in what you can include.

First, the lower ones, which are perhaps easier to solve.  The idea of going with earlier in history and/or more rural works well here, and I think the timber frames you posted earlier make good stage 2/3 type buildings.  Smaller Haussmann buildings then can pick up in Stage 4 and beyond.  As for Stage 1/2 though, I suggest going even smaller and sparser and older.  Think medieval village, buildings of stone or wood, roofed in wood or thatch - maybe even including tile or slate for higher wealth buildings.  Mostly 1 floor, with rare excursions to a second floor, at higher wealth commercial for example.  Lots would be rural/farming/cottage industry for all zones.  Buildings would take up 1/4 to 1/6 of a lot, and buildings would generally be smaller in plan dimension, and thus more of the long and skinny variety.  Early roof technology after all would have trouble spanning longer distances, and that sort of extravagance would be reserved for the wealthy or civic/religious buildings.  Larger buildings get larger in plan, start including courtyards (think monastery style), but generally don't grow vertically.  These could still be more or less W2W buildings, they would just have ample back yards.  Sorry I don't have pictures, but if you've been to rural parts of Europe or the eastern US, you've probably seen what I'm talking about.

Stages 2-4 are then occupied by larger medieval style buildings - such as the timber frames you showed earlier, and larger buildings of the same aesthetic I described above - just now with 2-4 floors, more stone, more decorative trim, etc.  Lots would be more urban, but still containing a rural/cottage industry element in some cases.  Lower wealth buildings may still be visually farm or working lots, higher wealth may have decorative gardens or paved courtyards.  These would generally all be W2W buildings, but like above, not taking up the entire lot, maybe only 1/2 to 2/3.

Stages 4-6 are pretty well covered by the current W2W sets, but of course more buildings can always be added to the same general size/massing concepts, with the same sort of lots.

Stages 7+ get a bit trickier, and this could go two ways, by growing in size or moving forward in time, or probably a mix of both.  You can push the current W2W buildings taller, into the 6-8 floor range and still be realistic enough.  By the 8-10 floor range it starts looking more like DC or Chicago, and beyond that, you start looking like New York.  However, you can also increase the size of the buildings in area - using more 5x or 6x lots, and filling them up - waffle iron layouts of 6-8 floor buildings.  The trick here is of course to retain European looks and heights, and not become early 1900s Chicago or New York or Philly.

I could also see many of the landmark/civic buildings doubling as higher stage growables.  Many of them would even fall into CAMeLot range, certainly the Louvre is a stage 15 if ever one existed.  While you wouldn't want these growing in as much quantity as the typical W2W Paris sets, you could create fictional buildings of similar size that would help provide more buildings in these stages without the high recognition of using Parisian landmarks.  Or pick lesser known but still large buildings, such as the Conciergerie.

Moving forward in time presents tons of higher stage buildings, but you hit the problem of one modern tower looking much the same regardless of where it's built, and again you might have to resort to landmarks to get distinctly Parisian modern buildings.  Still, you have La Defense, Bir Hakiem, and all sorts of individual buildings to pick from (such as the Finance? Ministry, Arab World Institute, National Library, etc.).  You can also use buildings that maintain a lower height and more W2W layout, but retain European aesthetics.  I seem to recall the center of St. Denis having a complex something like this, and I'm sure that's not the only town.  Rem Koolhaas and Le Corbusier come to mind as architects to mimic for this sort of modernist European style (yes I know they do/did work elsewhere).

Just some (lengthy) thoughts on the subject.  Apologies if I completely putzed some of the names/locations, it's late here and I'm running off some foggy memories.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 29, 2012, 11:31:09 AM
sorry for the short message...not much time. just some pictures.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on April 29, 2012, 11:40:15 AM
That's some great progress! Glad you've decided to give the buildings some color. I'll take proverbical hat off for you.. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on April 29, 2012, 11:40:38 AM
pics are just fine  ;D Great work in progress  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on April 29, 2012, 11:53:30 AM
Pardieu! I'm eager to see a huge metropolis made up with these  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 29, 2012, 01:05:23 PM
Thx guys!

I,m a bitpuzzled by the base textures i,m using for the farm(first picture) somehow the base textures i actually chose in the lot editor don,t show up in the game... Any suggestions?

Another thing: i,m thinking of making SAM textures that will fit the medieval theme... I,m not really that happy wth the cobblestone textures i created for the current SAM ages ago. Maarten, perhaps you can give me a suggestion here... Is it wise to make a replacement pack, or just an entirele new SAM addon?

A few final things. I,m currently still experimenting with stages. I just use stage one for testing the buildings i,ve got sofar. I haven,t made up my mind yet on how to deal with stages 1-3. Also wealth levels are still something i need to figure out how to handle. Perhaps higher wealth levels will get some flower baskets and decorations etc. And then finally i need to think on how i can differentiate between residentials and commercial buildings.

Anyway.. Any suggestions are very welcome again! I,m reading all of them and already have taken into account a few of them! Thanks!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on April 29, 2012, 01:31:41 PM
I am excited to see this !I may go back and redo some of my older cities once you release these. Have you thought about medieval civic buildings as well, so we can have a uniform city? To add functionality, a thematic ferry port and subway station (disguised as something else but still functional) would be welcome as well.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on April 30, 2012, 03:18:38 AM
Quote from: xannepan on April 29, 2012, 01:05:23 PM
Another thing: i,m thinking of making SAM textures that will fit the medieval theme... I,m not really that happy wth the cobblestone textures i created for the current SAM ages ago. Maarten, perhaps you can give me a suggestion here... Is it wise to make a replacement pack, or just an entirele new SAM addon?
I'd suggest to make a replacement set first to start off. SAM 8 or SAM 9 are good sets to override, since they are quite complete. If it's a good set, we might want to add it to the SAM v4.0 as a new set later.

Best,
Maarten
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on April 30, 2012, 03:34:25 AM
About the farms, which are great btw, the lot does seem to have base textures, only not the one you wanted, right? If so, my guess is there's a texture with the same ID somewhere in the plugins folder.

The difference between commercial and residential building would be rather small. Industrial buildings would probably stand out more, say a black smith with some stables, a timber shop or a shipyard.

And as it happens I'm also working on a new cobble stone set to go with the  dirt streets (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=13223.msg396260#msg396260) I created earlier, which would look pretty neat with your farms I imagine.  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on April 30, 2012, 03:53:54 AM
Quote from: xannepan on April 29, 2012, 01:05:23 PMAlso wealth levels are still something i need to figure out how to handle. Perhaps higher wealth levels will get some flower baskets and decorations etc. And then finally i need to think on how i can differentiate between residentials and commercial buildings.

Seems like this is what props are for.  Low wealth have laundry, mid wealth flowers, high wealth statues.  Commercial buildings have signs/flags.  Getting props to fit snug to your models will take some LOD work, but the plus side is that you can make the props HD.  This is what I did for some small commercials I wanted to at least have the same materials/architecture as the houses I was making.  Another plus is that the signs are in a family, so not only can the "fine soda" sign appear on any building color, but it would also be easy to add another sign to the family (only problem is, I can't think of any other types of stores :)).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 30, 2012, 08:57:55 AM
Wealthprops are a good idea Lowkee... I'll try that.
Meanwhile some civic buildings... I have re-rendered some buildings I created ages ago... and created a few new ones...

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on April 30, 2012, 11:37:10 AM
Do I spotted your badge on the city hall entrance  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Kergelen on April 30, 2012, 01:39:46 PM
Your project is impressive. Although not usually comment here I always look your work with interest.
The re-rendered buildings looks very well and the new ones are still better. &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on April 30, 2012, 05:47:30 PM
The new civics will be a perfect addition! Bravo!  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on April 30, 2012, 09:19:01 PM
Wow, that is some amazing work!  Love the farm buildings especially.  One thing that jumped out looking at the Civics picture is how large the roads look relative to the buildings.  I don't know how feasible this is, but you might try using overhanging props to "crowd" the streets a bit more.  Some maybe permanent, some maybe timed - but I'm thinking things like market stalls, wagons, shanties, people working, trees/plants, etc.  Maybe spreading as far as covering the sidewalk space on some lots.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 07, 2012, 06:41:06 AM
After having creating dozens of additional medieval houses I started a new experiment... only two preliminary pieces sofar (1 tower, 1 straight wall piece). I'm thinking of city gates that act as police stations/firestations etc....
All pieces will have a foundation, so they can be build on slopes.

This is still fun... what's to come is many hours of modding and lot editing ... not looking forward to that :(

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on May 07, 2012, 08:50:09 AM
The walls look great Alex  &apls

Great work on this project!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on May 07, 2012, 08:50:40 AM
So this is really going to be an entire medieval set huh? . . me likey  ;D

Eagerly awaiting further progress (fingers crossed for diagonal city walls  ;)) and I'll be more than glad to lend a helping hand when it comes to lotting. Keep up the good work  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on May 07, 2012, 11:53:40 AM
I really like the idea, but I don't like so much the texture of the wall (controversely, the texture of the roofs is top).

IMHO, the merlons are too large:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.colourbox.com%2Fpreview%2F2647128-589054-merlons-of-fortress-belgorod-dnestrovskiy-ukraine.jpg&hash=f50ea14c1150413100fedb3301baa134c9472eb5)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on May 07, 2012, 05:45:12 PM
I am excited about the walls. The bottom part of the walls looks great... appropriately aged and nicely textured. The top part is perhaps a bit too "clean"... perhaps it wants to be a little more rough around the edges like the bottom is.

I am excited about the prospect of seeing these in action. I will certainly redo the heart of ancient Schulmania once these are finished!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on May 07, 2012, 07:35:12 PM
This a magnificent job... I like the walls... and the whole concept of "Medieval-ness??" in it... but I have to agree with the comments above... the walls are great, but they need years to pass them by... if you know what I mean... too clean for being medieval walls... BUT! keep it up... this still is amazing
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AhmadAzunai on May 07, 2012, 07:52:25 PM
Quote from: Paul 999 on April 22, 2012, 09:09:58 AM
I have try something today, here is the result.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg10.imageshack.us%2Fimg10%2F7941%2Fraamsdonksveer3.jpg&hash=f7bda6f26ade3a385e43a3df76769480fd92c308)

Thanks for this great set!  ;)
from where I can download the building like that? can enybody give me a link or a keyword to download it? thanks
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on May 07, 2012, 07:59:50 PM
Quote from: AhmadAzunai on May 07, 2012, 07:52:25 PM
Quote from: Paul 999 on April 22, 2012, 09:09:58 AM
I have try something today, here is the result.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg10.imageshack.us%2Fimg10%2F7941%2Fraamsdonksveer3.jpg&hash=f7bda6f26ade3a385e43a3df76769480fd92c308)

Thanks for this great set!  ;)
from where I can download the building like that? can enybody give me a link or a keyword to download it? thanks

Do you mean the walls in water...??? or the dutch buildings in the city?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on May 07, 2012, 08:03:11 PM
Quote from: cmdp123789 on May 07, 2012, 07:35:12 PM
too clean for being medieval walls...

Well... in medieval times they were new.  ;)

Anyhow, great job with those!

A few ideas:

Porte Villeneuve:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F8%2F86%2FPorte.Villeneuve.lez.Avignon.2.png%2F447px-Porte.Villeneuve.lez.Avignon.2.png&hash=bfde68927c51b0b3bc6c04002349bbe6c37bc27f)

Porte Flavigny:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F3%2F3b%2FPorte.Flavigny.2.png%2F524px-Porte.Flavigny.2.png&hash=5661d88054e38fd5dc3ecc192a2b325a9b5e9ff3)

La Tour de Nesle:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2Fb%2Fb7%2FTour.de.Nesle.png%2F379px-Tour.de.Nesle.png&hash=6ebea63551614a5dbf8d1a0022796aeb8321c3ae)

The old Louvre:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F6%2F69%2FChateau.Louvre.png%2F377px-Chateau.Louvre.png&hash=5b32245eb2f9f8ab778ed8a29578d14176facddf)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AhmadAzunai on May 07, 2012, 08:31:12 PM
Quote from: cmdp123789 on May 07, 2012, 07:59:50 PM
Quote from: AhmadAzunai on May 07, 2012, 07:52:25 PM
Quote from: Paul 999 on April 22, 2012, 09:09:58 AM
I have try something today, here is the result.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg10.imageshack.us%2Fimg10%2F7941%2Fraamsdonksveer3.jpg&hash=f7bda6f26ade3a385e43a3df76769480fd92c308)

Thanks for this great set!  ;)
from where I can download the building like that? can enybody give me a link or a keyword to download it? thanks

Do you mean the walls in water...??? or the dutch buildings in the city?

the dutch building...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on May 07, 2012, 08:35:13 PM
well... the stex is full of them... just go to the stex and type "amsterdam"you will find a lot of them... and if you find an author of your likeness.. type his name and search for him ot her... whatever... the thing is people like haamergold or tattoed millionare made lots of them... so go search the stex... probably you will find some in the lex too.. not sure...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AhmadAzunai on May 07, 2012, 09:05:33 PM
Quote from: cmdp123789 on May 07, 2012, 08:35:13 PM
well... the stex is full of them... just go to the stex and type "amsterdam"you will find a lot of them... and if you find an author of your likeness.. type his name and search for him ot her... whatever... the thing is people like haamergold or tattoed millionare made lots of them... so go search the stex... probably you will find some in the lex too.. not sure...

thankyou so much It is so many there
I'll grab it all,,:)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 07, 2012, 10:26:54 PM
Quote from: DebussyMan on May 07, 2012, 08:03:11 PM
Quote from: cmdp123789 on May 07, 2012, 07:35:12 PM
too clean for being medieval walls...

Well... in medieval times they were new.  ;)



Hahahaha :)

Well guys, I agree on the clean walls... However, from experience with the quais de seine I know it will be extremely difficult to add details (grass, dirt etc etc). Since these are repeating pieces the repettiion in texture will look bad :(

However, this is just the first version, textures, building proportions etc have to be fine tuned. I,m using Carcassonne as an example, but also have looked into the old pictures of Paris former walls. Thanks for posting these Carlos! I had found a few of them already... But not the old Louvre.....

-alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 08, 2012, 10:04:29 AM
my 3dsmax playground...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on May 08, 2012, 10:57:50 AM
hehe, strange water  $%Grinno$%

(what a pity you don't have max12, lot of water textures are registered and fit well to this application)...

Finally, I come back on the wall texture, not 100% satisfied with it, but I would say it is not bad  ::)

Do you have a pic from the other side of the walls, this view is interesting as often people put all the details on the exterior and not on the interior  ;D

Few names which could inspire you (even if Carcassone is the best medieval architecture you can find in France):

- Mont Saint-Michel
- Guérande

have a look there: http://www.chateauxmedievaux.com/ (http://www.chateauxmedievaux.com/)

- Guénedon, just for fun, maybe for 5 years crazy guys are building a real castle in the forest with the tools of middle age  $%Grinno$%
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 08, 2012, 11:10:17 AM
Haha... It is not supposed be water  ;).. i just need a semi transparent plain to indicate my ground level... Every part below that plane will be added as foundations... But ... You post reminds me that I should allow thee lots to be build (at least partly) on water as well :-)

Thx for the examples... Useful!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on May 08, 2012, 11:26:16 AM
I like the last pic of the walls... interesting... Now the question is... you said it would take a lot of time for details.. isnt it possible to create a texture with a pattern, that somehow wont look like it repeats itself? I mean, you could use the same texture and add something over that texture to make a difference, instead of creating different textures for different parts... si o no?? %confuso
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on May 08, 2012, 07:31:24 PM
I like this... it is coming along well. I am eager to see your next pix of this project.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 09, 2012, 11:41:44 AM
First prototype of a gate, front and back view..

I would really appreciate pictures of back sides of walls...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: peter007 on May 09, 2012, 11:52:21 AM
Nice Gate. I really like the detail you put in the wall. Especially the back where the stairs are. Maybe we can find some tourists on it or if you realy want it to be medival some CATAPULTS!!! :D
It looks like the tilling on the towers aren't completely right. It's like there's a seam in it?

-Ernst
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on May 09, 2012, 12:20:44 PM
looks really nice  ;)

you have just a small texture's junction problem on the roof  :P

I don't remember exactly but I know that the transit enable for the gates was a problem in a previous set (TSC old one)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 09, 2012, 12:27:35 PM
Damn guys.. You are both right... I completely overlooked the seam... Mmm.. Not sure how to solve that right now...

About TE: I,ll just make overhanging models on a 1x1 tile lot. I,m also thinking of adding all towers into a building family... That way I only need one menu slot and you can cycle through the different types with the TAB key. (same for wall variations off course)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: WannGLondon on May 09, 2012, 09:04:17 PM
Quote from: xannepan on May 09, 2012, 12:27:35 PM

About TE: I,ll just make overhanging models on a 1x1 tile lot. I,m also thinking of adding all towers into a building family... That way I only need one menu slot and you can cycle through the different types with the TAB key. (same for wall variations off course)


That is an absolutely wonderful idea!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 09, 2012, 09:34:14 PM
Mmmm bummer... I just learned building families can't be used on ploppables.... And no way of cycling through either I believe...

That leaves me we different lots for each tower, wall variation....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on May 09, 2012, 09:48:27 PM
Quote from: xannepan on May 09, 2012, 09:34:14 PM
Mmmm bummer... I just learned building families can't be used on ploppables.... And no way of cycling through either I believe...

That leaves me we different lots for each tower, wall variation....

Are you sure about that...? I remember making a ploppable building family.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 09, 2012, 10:16:29 PM
If you could teach me how... that would be great! Sofar all the tutorials I read say it can,t be done.... :(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on May 09, 2012, 10:20:51 PM
Well... I wouldn't know how because Barby did it forme  &mmm           I remember it was one of my earliest BATs, don't remember which one exactly. But I do recall I made a white and yellow versions which randomly changed when plopped. Now that I think about it... I believe it was actually a prop family and not a building family. Maybe you could do de same, making the towers and walls prop families instead of building families.  %confuso
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 09, 2012, 11:01:55 PM
Yp, it must have been a prop famly.. I have done the same for the quais de seine. Two problems in this case: I would like to prevent the random appearance, and secondly, Props cannot have foundations. Tosolve the latter I could model the foundation as part of the model, but then -inorder for the props to appear correctly, I would have to turn of the ground model property, which means no shadows.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on May 10, 2012, 01:47:14 PM
Quote from: xannepan on May 09, 2012, 11:01:55 PMI would like to prevent the random appearance,
Isn't that the point of a family?

Quoteand secondly, Props cannot have foundations. Tosolve the latter I could model the foundation as part of the model, but then -inorder for the props to appear correctly, I would have to turn of the ground model property, which means no shadows.
Here's an idea: Make a new model that is a little smaller in all accounts (doesn't need textures even), but don't extend it underground.  Have this model cast your shadow and place it in the exact same spot as the towers without shadows.  The point is to trick us into thinking the actual tower is casting the shadow.  Might work...?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 10, 2012, 09:17:22 PM
@lowkee: yep usually random appearance is a good property of a prop family. In this case I was looking for a mechanism that would allow me to cycle through the different tower e.g. with the TAB key (much like cycling through NAM puzzle pieces). That would give us much more control, and reduce menu slots significantly.

I have been thinking about the same idea as for the shadows... Well.. Still plent of time for me to think about it as I first need to  the time to finish the wall pieces anyway.

BTW: I still would like to send you the farm lot to have a look at those textures... That is is the offer is still open ;-)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on May 10, 2012, 10:19:38 PM
Whew, Europe is getting out of bed. :)

I'll send you me e-mail for the lot, are they custom textures?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on May 11, 2012, 09:55:17 PM
Love the walls.  Love 'em in the water, too  ;D  Amazing work!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 12, 2012, 03:09:16 AM
a few more gates.. now before I'll add new pieces I will fine tune a bit and start rendering to test in game and do the modding....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on May 12, 2012, 03:27:00 AM
Looks good Alex,

I just would like to see diagonal pieces.

Few things more,

the street texture seems to be bright vs the texture IG but I could be wrong. I have the corrected texture but for Simfox settings.

Regarding the tower without roof, an entrance on the top should be more realistic ^^
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on May 12, 2012, 03:43:01 AM
Quote from: Girafe on May 12, 2012, 03:27:00 AM
I just would like to see diagonal pieces.

Me too   :)

Otherwise the walls look great, love the overall variety. Keep up the good work  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 15, 2012, 09:04:55 AM
Diagonals are in progress both for 45 degree and FAR.

Meanwhile I bought a snow plugin for max. Experimenting with it, but thinking of adding snow (as seasonal props) to the medieval set....It will be a lot of work though.. Suggestions are welcome again.. eacg of them will be taken into account :)

@Lowkee: I accidentally deleted the farm lot for which you offered to have a look at the texture issue...

-Alex

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on May 15, 2012, 09:56:17 AM
Quote from: xannepan on May 15, 2012, 09:04:55 AM
Diagonals are in progress both for 45 degree and FAR.

This is going to be the best citywall set by far!   :P

Mixed feeling for the snow props, on the one hand the example looks pretty convincing to me, so yes. At the same time, however, it would somewhat restrict its usage; imho a city with half the buildings snow covered seems kinda silly. That said I'm a bit biased since I'm struggling with a similar snow issue for the seasonal tree controller I'm working on.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on May 15, 2012, 10:07:49 AM
Looks nice as always,

But to be honnest, snow version is too complex for the additional value and will not be so used by players.

The game is not designed (for time...) to be seasonal, above all with snow. I would prefer more pieces or something totally new ::)

Moreover, the snow doesn't maintain on such roofs, too heavy for the structure of this age.

Regarding, this kind of plugin for max, they are IMHO not so realistic and a by hand made is better even if longer.   

;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 15, 2012, 10:08:26 AM
I'll make the snow props optional :) ..maybe release them as an update, after the initial set is done...

In the end I hope to achieve something like this

http://img3.photographersdirect.com/img/30236/wm/pd2699853.jpg

Anyway the snow plugin is still giving me a headache... I want to make a much thinner layer of snow.. but for that the script unit setup conflicts with the unit setup required by bat4max..

..oh well... as always it will take some time figuring it out...

Rendering of the basic wall props, towers, gates included is going quite well by the way..

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on May 15, 2012, 10:31:45 AM
Quote from: xannepan on May 15, 2012, 09:04:55 AM
@Lowkee: I accidentally deleted the farm lot for which you offered to have a look at the texture issue...

Problem solved!

Maybe the snow can just be a material?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: JoeST on May 15, 2012, 10:38:45 AM
fricking AWESOME stuff :D man you're amazing Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 19, 2012, 04:19:53 AM
This is what I have got so far. Some glitches... &mmm some that can be solved, some that can't. You get the best results if these are placed on slightly un-even terrain, so placing a good wall can be a bit challenging at times. Placement in water or on a slope that is partly in the water is possible and gives great results too.

I still need to tune the examplars. Currently each lot is modeled as a police station and generate hundreds of police cars :)

In the end I want only the towers and gates to act as small police stations and jails, while the wall will be purely decorative (still placed in the police menu though).

I'm still working on some variations too... just not sure when to stop...

-Alex




Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on May 19, 2012, 05:07:38 AM
Amazing development Alex  &apls &apls &apls

I spotted the same texture bug on the tower roofs (cone junction).

Is there light? like this:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbaetlanguedoc.blog50.com%2Fimages%2Fmedium_Les_murs_de_Carcassonne_la_nuit.jpg&hash=19a7fdd88b6ea6edfa6bafa2eb60309b5585ba69)

Something you could add, bridge of Carcassonne  :):

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.over-blog.com%2F500x333%2F4%2F31%2F22%2F18%2Fcarcassonne%2Fcarcassonne-0110.JPG&hash=f69cb9d44cd5e871ea1bd4f25f0f904fb62c17e9)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on May 19, 2012, 07:25:58 AM
Wow, these are looking stunning Alex  &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on May 19, 2012, 09:57:02 AM
Oh, those (far) walls are gorgeous &apls 

I assume you've also made transition pieces? i.e. farr to diagonal, farr to farr etc.

Can't wait to see it all finished & released, I may just start a new region when that happens. Keep it up  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on May 19, 2012, 10:14:05 AM
Quote from: vortext on May 19, 2012, 09:57:02 AM
Can't wait to see it all finished & released, I may just start a new region when that happens. Keep it up  :thumbsup:

Me too, I'm waiting for your last bats to do a new region with all of them, I love your work my friend !!

&apls &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Kergelen on May 19, 2012, 11:47:38 AM
Amazing set of walls! It's like a dream &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 20, 2012, 08:42:58 AM
Thx! Glad you like it. Little set back: I propably need to re-LOD everything. The tighly fitting LODs are too complex and start to affect game performance. Down side of less complex LODs is that foundations won't melt as nicely as they do right now...

This is going to be an enormous amount of boring work  :'(

Quote from: vortext on May 19, 2012, 09:57:02 AM
I assume you've also made transition pieces? i.e. farr to diagonal, farr to farr etc.

Before I start project I always collect dozens of RL pictures... as far as I know transition from straight to diagonal pieces are almost always formed by a Tower at the corner...

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mrbisonm on May 20, 2012, 09:03:42 AM
Quote from: xannepan on May 20, 2012, 08:42:58 AM
This is going to be an enormous amount of boring work  :'(



I feel with you, since I know too well how freakin' boring that can be. I had to re-LOD all my farmbuildings twive.........

Nice wall btw. The only thing I feel is more or less missing (not really important though), is the textured "waterline", you know, where the water meets the air.............Great stuff, can't wait for it to be released.

mrb
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 20, 2012, 10:33:57 AM
Thx mrb...

Turns out some other issue was causing the performance problem  :satisfied:
Still I need to add a few pieces to complete the set, better be a bit more economic where I can.

In the mean time I have started playign with BAB a bit... thinking of making a water mill with the wheel animated.. perhaps also some windmills...

Any other suggestions for animations?

Someday I need to find out how to create and replace automata by medieval automata... horse drawn carriages etc..

-Alex

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glazert on May 20, 2012, 01:53:55 PM
Oh my! Not only are you preparing a realistic and flexible set of walls which could be used as castles or town walls, but you are thinking of bringing medieval Sim City alive with animations and automata. You are making it diifficult to choose between 19th Century Paris and medieval towns and villages.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 27, 2012, 01:18:37 AM
Next time I'll try to make a movie... but for now a screen shot will have to do :)
...both the windmill and water mill are animated ...

Obviously some details will need to be fixed, but much has to do with lot placement, to which i didn't pay too mich attention yet.

I'll try to add some foam effects to the water mill also, but that will require some effect modding (hopefully with Lowkee's help)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on May 27, 2012, 02:39:51 AM
Looking great there Alex! Both the windmill and the water mill are fantastically detailed.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on May 27, 2012, 03:46:07 AM
Looks really promising Alex !!

Hope to see an animation soon with a video  :)

ps: I believed that BAB only worked with Gmax and not with 3ds, I am wrong  &sly
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mave94 on May 27, 2012, 05:05:51 AM
Those mills look fantastic! It is great you are going to make them animated. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on May 27, 2012, 07:53:51 AM
Both the wind and water mill look fantastic  &apls Can't wait to see them in action.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on May 27, 2012, 08:32:28 AM
Quote from: Girafe on May 27, 2012, 03:46:07 AM
Hope to see an animation soon with a video  :)

Me too!  That looks terrific.

Quote
ps: I believed that BAB only worked with Gmax and not with 3ds, I am wrong  &sly

Looks like a 3D model to me, much too HD to be from BAB.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 27, 2012, 09:38:36 AM
Nope.. I am using BAB, but only for the parts that actually are animated. The other parts are rendered in 3ds max. i started from a 3ds max model, then exported as 3DS and imported in gmax. Next thing to do is (re-) apply textures in gmax to the moving parts, and apply a black texture to none moving parts. Then create the anim (easy, just a rotation) and BAB it (which in gmax takes a night)
BAB (gmax) is slow but really works great! But it would be great if we could have a (HD) version for 3ds max :)

I would like to try to also make real 3d model animations, maybe to add some animals (maybe some farm animals,like pigs, sheep). Looking at the horse animations in simcty-1.dat it should not be too difficult. These are low poly models. What I don,t get is that I can only find back 3 or 4 s3d models version to create motion... Which seems too few for the relatively smooth motion of the horses in the game.

Anyway, i shouldn,t be overambituous here or raise expectations. There are many unfinished projects at this moment and even more great ideas. moreover for most projects I stopped at the boring repetitive work... Still sooo much to do  :'( Also the weather is fantastic these days, so i am not spending as much time on this as during the past months.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on May 27, 2012, 03:46:12 PM
Quote from: xannepan on May 27, 2012, 09:38:36 AMBut it would be great if we could have a (HD) version for 3ds max :)

My experience is that the size of the 2D animation is dependent upon the size of the FSH.  Doubling the size of a regular model's FSH makes it HD, but doubling the size of an animations FSH doubles the size of the animation.  I don't think we can have 2D HD animations.

Compaired to a 3D animation, there are some pluses though.  2D animations can cast shadows, and I would imagine they are much less heavy on the computer.  Plus you get the lighting and shadows the model casts on itself much easier with BAT.

I've made a small windmill 2D animation (picture Deadwood's mills but with the spinning).  I ended up doing a fair amount of GIMP work on the animation to get rid of the poor rendering that BAT had done.

For something like a windmill, a 3D animation might be simpler.  You might have a lot of frames, but if you get them using the same MAT then all you're doing is a little math and some GIMP work.

QuoteI would like to try to also make real 3d model animations, maybe to add some animals (maybe some farm animals,like pigs, sheep).

I'm thinking chickens would be the easiest to turn into effects, but...

Quote
Anyway, i shouldn,t be overambituous here or raise expectations. There are many unfinished projects at this moment and even more great ideas. moreover for most projects I stopped at the boring repetitive work... Still sooo much to do  :'( Also the weather is fantastic these days, so i am not spending as much time on this as during the past months.

Yep.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: RickD on May 29, 2012, 03:35:06 AM
I can't blame you for not batting when the weather is great outside.

The mills look fantastic, especially the water one.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on May 29, 2012, 03:38:10 AM
Stunning work on the mills  &apls  Enjoy some nice weather for me--it was in the 20s here this weekend but it snowed this morning!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on May 29, 2012, 03:44:19 AM
Exciting new stuff! :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DerChrischi on June 16, 2012, 04:33:14 AM
Hello, you B.A.T.-Genie!  :P
First: I love your work! I can use everything from you und i am so happy that you are batting.
Second: I need help with one of your BATS: please look at this Picture: (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Fce05a88a6f76c1b59c51d699e9da69bf.jpg&hash=84f54110da619d8a1e0229c7e0e0019703eee058) (http://www.ld-host.de/)

I don´t know, what i can do against the Proplems. I hofe downloaded it twice and i have every time this Problem. Hove you an Idea, what i can do? Thank you for your help or what are thinking about my Problem!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on June 16, 2012, 04:38:07 AM
Did you read the read-me? and pay attention to the fact that game needs to run 1 year for fixing this problem...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DerChrischi on June 16, 2012, 04:40:00 AM
I've read it, but well-read! Thank giraffe! My mistake! Very very sad, such a cool part! I'll have to wait then!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Hellken on October 02, 2012, 09:37:41 PM
Hello xannepan: I love your work.

I am looking for a file called: JENXPARIS_Prop_JoanOfArc-0x6534284a-0x597d641b-0x39ec381e.SC4Desc

Is it on the LEX? I went through all the files and I still can't find it. Thank you.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 26, 2012, 10:48:10 AM
Hello,
Just a short message that I am back. At the moment I am still enjoying a short very sunny vacation on the Turkish riviera, but back home it is really cold and dark already. So plenty of time to pick up various BAT as well as MOD projects. No promises as to when I will finish any of these though  ;)

Hellken: it think I attached it in some previous post in this topic. I am affraid I have done some uplifting of the rue de rivoli buildings (not uploaded yet) and I have lost the old files.

-alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on October 26, 2012, 11:35:11 AM
 time to work Alex %%Order?/ %%Order?/ %%Order?/
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on October 26, 2012, 11:42:16 AM
Great to have you back and I can't wait to see what your next project is  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 07, 2012, 12:42:41 PM
I know there exists a pretty good Eiffel tower already in the game. However, I never liked the night lighting of that tower that much. So I decided to try some of my newly acquired BATting skills. Here is the result. I will give it "seasonal" lighting, with some (at least the two you see in the screenshot) color variations.

A more ambitious part of this project is to add the many dozens of flashing white lights that appear several times at night (same as the real tower). However, that will require to duplicate and mod the blinking light effect from the game (the current blinking light blinks to slow, additionally I need some fase difference in the blinking cycle). I'm hoping Lowkee will return some day to continue work on the effect dir tool he was working on. If not I might try to give it a go myself. I already managed to write a script in Matlab to read the effect dir and find all entries related to a single effect. Writing a new instance of that effect is a bit more challenging... not looking forward to that one :( Anyway.. let's see how far I will get :)

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on November 07, 2012, 12:45:56 PM
You are mad and you know it. though I don't mind that. ; )


Would be fun if the elevators were animated as well...  ::)



  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 07, 2012, 01:10:48 PM
Quote from: art128 on November 07, 2012, 12:45:56 PM
Would be fun if the elevators were animated as well...  ::)

Haha... Hmmm.. Actually I must confess: I tried, and if it wouldn't be soo much work and extremely complex I'd continue. I have become pretty good in using BAB (still need to upload the windmill and watermills someday). However since the size of the animation in BAB is restricted it required me to stack multiple elevator animations inside a pylon on top of each other and make sure the respective timing is properly adjusted. Additionally, BAB is available only for gmax :-( so it required me to fit a gmax rendered animation with a 3dsmax model, which was really challenging. In the end I gave up after having done two animations. since four animations would be required to make the elevator go all the way up the pylon, it was just too much work. Moreover I was too sloppy in my modeling, so the gmax and 3dsmax models just didn't fit seamlessly. Learned a lot though.

As for the flash lights: I might first try to use the red, green and blue fast blinking lights, to see if it works at all. Although the real tower has all white flash lights, perhaps I should just accept some degree of artistic freedom for the sc4 version ;-) especially since I'm note sure how using dozens of effects on a lot may affect game performance... Let's find out :P



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on November 07, 2012, 01:36:34 PM
Really good job Alex.

The night lights are beautiful.

One made for France's presidence of EU I enjoyed.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.smart-http.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2008%2F09%2Fla-tour-eiffel-aux-couleurs-de-leurope.jpg&hash=f17dd622ecf3a4064f8a523cdb38a0661e1d36dd)

I am not an expert but regarding the lights animation, what about doing lot of models with short timing (few days). It could be an alternative to BAB that could be used with max  &Thk/(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on November 07, 2012, 01:49:13 PM
I can't give you advice on the animation technicalities but I can tell you that's a great model with excellent lighting!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 10, 2012, 12:51:30 PM
I have actually managed to create all new effects! The Tour Eiffel now contains flash lights (run from 22-24h).
Actually.. why don't you have a look yourselves:


http://youtu.be/hMXPKeqV1f8







 (http://youtu.be/hMXPKeqV1f8)

PS. I still need to do some fine tuning... and this one will go to the priLEX for scrutineering first...
PPS. Anyone who can advice me on better video capture? I'm using snag it right now... but I'm not really happy with the vid quality sofar...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on November 10, 2012, 01:09:48 PM
Quote from: xannepan on November 10, 2012, 12:51:30 PM

PPS. Anyone who can advice me on better video capture? I'm using snag it right now... but I'm not really happy with the vid quality sofar...


Fraps.



Very nice work on the light effects!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on November 10, 2012, 01:24:07 PM
Wow, awesome lighting Alex  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on November 10, 2012, 08:06:40 PM
Quote from: xannepan on November 07, 2012, 12:42:41 PM
I already managed to write a script in Matlab to read the effect dir

Ah, we have finally found the definition of insanity  $%Grinno$%

On a more serious note, this looks great, amazing work with the lights. And a good video too!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mave94 on November 11, 2012, 02:36:26 AM
Wow, that looks awesome! Congratulations on managing the lightning effects. :thumbsup:

-Matthijs
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmyers2043 on November 11, 2012, 05:41:12 AM
Quote from: xannepan on November 10, 2012, 12:51:30 PM
I have actually managed to create all new effects! The Tour Eiffel now contains flash lights (run from 22-24h).

Yes, this is very cool!

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ScottFTL on November 11, 2012, 01:10:58 PM
Quote from: xannepan on November 10, 2012, 12:51:30 PM
I have actually managed to create all new effects! The Tour Eiffel now contains flash lights (run from 22-24h).

Wow!  That is amazing.   &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 11, 2012, 01:19:01 PM
A quick and dirty screenshot for WIP.
New animals (these are not replacements)! Zebras!

Still trying to get the god mode brush to work. Sofar, I have used copies of the horse model animations, because another thing I still haven't figured out how to import s3d animations into illive reader.


-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on November 11, 2012, 03:33:37 PM
Mmm, I'm getting ideas for a zoo here.

Great work, Alex.


Cheers
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on November 11, 2012, 03:36:10 PM
New animals would be most welcome! Lions, tigers, zebras... oh my!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on November 12, 2012, 08:51:15 AM
The light effect is really really awesome!  &apls  &apls

And also great to see the work on the animal brushes though I'm wondering, are you still working on the medievall stuff as well?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sunv123 on November 12, 2012, 08:56:07 AM
Quote from: Schulmanator on November 11, 2012, 03:36:10 PM
New animals would be most welcome! Lions, tigers, zebras... oh my!
Quote from: vortext on November 12, 2012, 08:51:15 AM
The light effect is really really awesome!  &apls  &apls

And also great to see the work on the animal brushes though I'm wondering, are you still working on the medievall stuff as well?
Boom, got a great idea! The medieval horses that knight rode on! %BUd%   
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mattb325 on November 12, 2012, 03:12:55 PM
Just when you thought youd seen it all - lights and zebras  $%Grinno$%

Brilliant work on this, Alex  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmyers2043 on November 12, 2012, 05:32:40 PM
Alex, I started for you a topic in the scrutiny threads. You should be able to see it.

- Jim

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on November 13, 2012, 12:06:44 AM
Just saw the tower in-game. Amazing job on both modeling and night effects!   &apls

My only complaint would be that it shouldn't be a landmark with jobs, as it dilapidates if you want to put it in a setting far from a road or an all-plop city, asi is often the case with Paris recreations.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 13, 2012, 07:47:35 AM
Good suggestion on the landmark with jobs. i will change that.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 13, 2012, 09:41:52 AM
Quote from: vortext on November 12, 2012, 08:51:15 AM

... are you still working on the medievall stuff as well?

Yes... but because there are sooo many lot and desc files that have to be created (for different stages (1,2,3) and wealth levels progress is slow.. mainly because that working is extreeeeeemly boring boring boring...

I might consider posting the wind and watermills for testing soon.. and perhaps version1 of the walls and add all new stuff in expansion packs...

In the mean while I have worked a bit on animals.

I have managed to isolate the existing game lion and create a seperate brush for it. Additionally, I have created a bengal tiger brush. The tiger is still based on an existing in game model (in this case the lion) with a different skin... but it doesn't replace the lion. In all fairness the lion model is not ideal for a tiger.. on the other hand it is not as bad as creating a pig from an elephant lol.





Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on November 13, 2012, 11:26:07 AM
Quote from: xannepan on November 13, 2012, 09:41:52 AM
yes... but because there are sooo many lot and desc files that have to be created (for different stages (1,2,3) and wealth levels progress is slow.. mainly because that working is extreeeeeemly boring boring boring...

Ah yes, that can be quite tedious. Let me know if you need a hand, I'd be happy to help out since it would be a shame if such great models remained on the shelf because of that.  :)

Quote from: xannepan on November 13, 2012, 09:41:52 AM
on the other hand it is not as bad as creating a pig from an elephant lol.

:D






Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on November 13, 2012, 03:22:36 PM
Have you though about doing animations with farm animals:

- chickens running
- pigs in the mud
...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on November 13, 2012, 05:24:29 PM
The tigers look AWESOME! I am excited!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 13, 2012, 08:54:25 PM
Quote from: Girafe on November 13, 2012, 03:22:36 PM
Have you though about doing animations with farm animals:

- chickens running
- pigs in the mud
...

Yes I have. Actually, I got the idea for creating new animals when I was working on the medieval farms. My first plan was to add pigs and sheep. I do have a rigged pig model on the shelf (that is an animated low poly model) with uvw unwrapped textures. All I need to do is figure out how I can get an animated model from max into the reader... Single frame is not a problem, but multiple frames is something I don't think the reader supports :( . So that is the reasons I am still using new instances of existing 3d models included in the game already, and just giving those a new skin. For chickens and pigs I just don't have a good base model to start from atm.

Quote from: vortext on November 13, 2012, 11:26:07 AM

Ah yes, that can be quite tedious. Let me know if you need a hand, I'd be happy to help out since it would be a shame if such great models remained on the shelf because of that.  :)
on the other hand it is not as bad as creating a pig from an elephant lol.

Thanks! that would be great. I'll the to organize the files a bit.. If that works out I'll get back to you.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 14, 2012, 08:59:35 AM
Wow it turns out there are much more animals in the simcity1.dat file than I expected (polar bears, kangaroos, chimps, brown bears). Some of these I have never seen in the game. I will make some mods to "unlock" these animals and provide brushes and ploppable lots.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on November 14, 2012, 09:16:03 AM
I think I've seen brown bears, actually. Or am I wrong?

Cheers
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Simcoug on November 14, 2012, 10:03:21 AM
I've seen brown bears as well, but none of the others.

Great work on this.  Between nbvc's sea creatures and your land animals, our cities will be over-run by nature in no time  :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: CasperVg on November 14, 2012, 10:30:18 AM
I think the polar pears, chimps, etc. are used in the Zoo reward, but not as actual fauna. That would be nice to have for variety actually :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 14, 2012, 10:50:18 AM
Quote from: CasperVg on November 14, 2012, 10:30:18 AM
I think the polar pears, chimps, etc. are used in the Zoo reward, but not as actual fauna. That would be nice to have for variety actually :)

You are partly right, with the exception that the zoo uses animated props, not real 3d models. By the looks of it though MAXIS used the samen 3d models for creating the animations.

Indeed brown bears are included. If you use the god mode tree brush also brown bears appear.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on November 14, 2012, 10:56:49 AM
Quote from: xannepan on November 13, 2012, 08:54:25 PM
Thanks! that would be great. I'll the to organize the files a bit.. If that works out I'll get back to you.
Cool  :thumbsup:

As for new farm animals; wouldn't it be possible to take an existing 3d model, scale it back to proper dimensions and then reskin it?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 14, 2012, 12:47:43 PM
Quote from: vortext on November 14, 2012, 10:56:49 AM
Quote from: xannepan on November 13, 2012, 08:54:25 PM
Thanks! that would be great. I'll the to organize the files a bit.. If that works out I'll get back to you.

As for new farm animals; wouldn't it be possible to take an existing 3d model, scale it back to proper dimensions and then reskin it?

That's how i created the bengal tiger with the lion model as a starting point. Problem is, that the existing animals are difficult to fit with a pig or sheep.

As for chickens... Due to poly count limitations and the small size of a chicken, I don't think it will look acceptable...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on November 14, 2012, 01:03:32 PM
Quote from: xannepan on November 14, 2012, 12:47:43 PM
Problem is, that the existing animals are difficult to fit with a pig or sheep.

As for chickens... Due to poly count limitations and the small size of a chicken, I don't think it will look acceptable...

Guess editing the vertices (or what it's called) in the Reader is too cumbersome? Besides, it would probably mess with the skin fitting anyway.

Maybe you could get in touch with NGAICO, he seems pretty knowledgeable on the subject, at least I remember seeing a number of animations and effects he made as well (and sorry if I misspelled his name  :-[).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Hellken on November 23, 2012, 01:42:17 AM
Quote from: xannepan on October 26, 2012, 10:48:10 AM
Hellken: it think I attached it in some previous post in this topic. I am affraid I have done some uplifting of the rue de rivoli buildings (not uploaded yet) and I have lost the old files.

-alex

Is the "Joan of Arc" statue prop lost also? 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 02, 2012, 10:49:53 AM
Back to posting here again for a change. You probably know by now I have started playing with the effect dir.... much of the experiments are posted elsewhere.

But I started to play with water... Guess what these experiments have resulted in... better waterfalls (still much tweaking to do).. and... RAIN. This is NOT photoshopped ;)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on December 02, 2012, 11:02:22 AM
Exceptional Alex. The rain is too big but the progress on this domain is fabulous  ::)

Keep going on this way  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on December 02, 2012, 11:03:16 AM
Never been so happy to see it raining!  :D

Though it begs the question, can it be made so the water remains in the city after saving?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on December 02, 2012, 11:07:29 AM
Maybe a stupid question, but an effect (rain is an effect) could be Mayor mod ploppable with seasonal modding like flora?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 02, 2012, 11:13:02 AM
As always with rain it will be a trade of between raindrop size (easy for me to chance), rain density, and computer performance. At this moment I don't have a huge city, but I tested in the maxis big city tutorial and performance seemed to be fine (in all fairness I do have a very high end MSI laptop)

There is no 'water' attached to this rain as with the rain effect brush in god mode. So no surface water is generated, neither is your city flooded.  Sofar it is an effect you can put on a lot. It's either on (lot placed) or off (lot destroyed) although I can program a random chance effect appearance.

No clouds, sounds, lighting yet... all possible on the long run.

By altering the gravity properties, speed and effect color, snow should be possible too.

Performance is my main concern.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on December 02, 2012, 11:26:36 AM
Definitely an intriguing idea. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on December 02, 2012, 01:35:31 PM
Very clever, Alex. I'm paying attention here.

Cheers
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mattb325 on December 02, 2012, 02:04:47 PM
This is amazing stuff, Alex - look forward to seeing your progress  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 02, 2012, 03:55:18 PM
Quote from: xannepan on December 02, 2012, 11:13:02 AM

Performance is my main concern.


Same problem of experiences Gizmo. Even the current hardware much more powerful does not help the way inefficient and unstable in that the animations are implemented in the game


With high or mid graphics set the screen lags when scrolling are inevitable in some larger cities with any transit.



"$Deal"$  - http://gizmo.webspaceforme.net/index.php?action=downloadseffectmods&sa=weathermod (http://gizmo.webspaceforme.net/index.php?action=downloadseffectmods&sa=weathermod)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on December 02, 2012, 04:00:17 PM
Ah I see, didn't know there were, in fact, two different kinds of rain. 

Still the question remains, is it theoretically possible to make the rain tool work properly? Or is there something hardcoded that prevents different waterlevels ever becoming a reality?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 02, 2012, 04:20:10 PM
Nothing in this sense can be saved with the game then the answer apparently is unfortunately ... no!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 03, 2012, 10:47:45 AM
I feel a little simcity burn out coming up  &ops. Better to finish something I started some time ago.... have a look here..

http://youtu.be/_jwfA2XlA2o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rambuckel on December 03, 2012, 02:26:25 PM
Awesome presentation of brilliant BATs ... thanks for sharing!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on December 03, 2012, 03:31:54 PM
Those animated mills are awesome! hope you continue with your medieval set...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on December 03, 2012, 05:21:21 PM
Looks great....


but isn't the wind mill turning the wrong way around ?

Here is a youtube of Dybbøl Mølle / Dybbøl Mill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF2km2GFUr4).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmyers2043 on December 04, 2012, 05:11:05 AM
that may be the case. But I'd rather have them turn clockwise, the same direction as the Maxis Wind Power generators.

Nice models!!

- Jim

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on December 04, 2012, 06:46:56 AM
Oh, beautiful mills!
Gives me the opportunity to expand my Dutch windmills set.....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on December 04, 2012, 07:31:06 AM
Awesome work Alex  :o  Love the video and, more importantly, the mills!  Hopefully you don't get too sick of SimCity too fast  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: metarvo on December 04, 2012, 09:54:26 AM
Good job!  :thumbsup:  I don't see too many water mills for SC4, so this one is a welcome addition.  The wind mill looks really fine, too.  The SC4 burnout isn't good, but it happens to the best of us.  I'm sure you'll be back into the game again before too long.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 04, 2012, 01:37:31 PM
Quote from: jmyers2043 on December 04, 2012, 05:11:05 AM
that may be the case. But I'd rather have them turn clockwise, the same direction as the Maxis Wind Power generators.



Same plane with another texture as i suggested for those who always insisted on doing it at BAB.


Result much prettier and lighter, congratulations!


I hope fervently that his "burn out" SC4 still take too long to happen ... not before concluding with effdir edition. OK!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: QuaPolska on December 05, 2012, 08:07:30 AM
Hi there. I have a question. Will there be more models of this period? How so, you can specify what you plan to do? And so overall a very good job  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 05, 2012, 12:05:08 PM
Thanks for all the nice comments.

To avoid a burn out maybe an intermezzo change of theme would be nice. How about a nice airport terminal building. Not sure however which one to choose. Dulles, TWA terminal at JFK?... Any suggestions?

(BTW: believe it or not, I actually HATE flying ;-)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on December 05, 2012, 12:12:20 PM
CDG!

No.

Hiroshima.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on December 05, 2012, 12:13:33 PM
Well, looking at the pictures of TWA terminal, and the fact that you hate flying, Sydney Opera House came into my mind as an alternative immediately. I'm well aware that this would be a very ambitious project, and so far, no BATter ever tried to pick up the challenge, but if there's one BAT request of mine, it would be this one. :)

That said, yeah, I know I'm crazy, but after browsing your thread, and looking at your portfolio so far, which had me hitting the floor with my jaw more than once, I'd say you'd be one of the very few people who would master such a project. "Sloppy" modeling or not, your creations keep me in awe, and regardless how you decide, I bet it will be another masterpiece.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 05, 2012, 12:23:35 PM
CDG would be extremely ambitious.. :S

Andreas: even though I hate flying, an airport would fit nicely with my effectdir mod (in progress) that allows multiple planes and functional diagonal runways... The opera is nice though :)... maybe later...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: peterycristi on December 05, 2012, 01:07:39 PM
Well, great work so far! Who woudn't love that mills! Concerning the airport i don't know, if this would fit with your efectdir, but i think, that there is a lack of historic airports, even if in real there are not many of that buildings left. So i would suggest and love to see ingame Tempelhof Airport, Berlin:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bics.be.schule.de%2Fson%2Fverkehr%2Fluftbruecke%2Fimages%2F%2FLandesarchiv_Berlin%2F114490.JPG&hash=047e20c0db403b2da0f1f768bf4a8a98341aad49)

Built in the 30's it should be a perfect object for your BAT skills, as it is a mixture between classic and modern architecture. If you need more pictures, just ask

saludos

Peter
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 05, 2012, 05:45:50 PM

Well .. considering that you want to make use of diagonals to show something totally different from what has been seen before.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.ning.com%2Ffiles%2FQSKshKWSwKoOlbktWE27PqAoH2WuH-6GcRIjTj-xswo48tGe3JCwa18UgwsNEfG4sSLP-IRLL%2AJNRYiT7zvUFAz5oSqjNe0Q%2FAeroporto_Dallas.jpg%3Fwidth%3D750&hash=20d09b4eaf5dba9a3387bb333e0cb97429905208)

International airport of Dallas / Fort Worth


(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.ning.com%2Ffiles%2FjrrCUEv3XRvPH1pn0UJmb1Ts9HopxVWneHeNwyY-Q1MDmFFSTFSqlrmKQNQ6CjRBy1octdBFYEXQKp1FAlL2z9ioYLfAFZQV%2FMadridBarajas1.jpg&hash=04ebd02f58b6eacbbd485e16b72090f6c5e06597)

International airport of Barajas in Madrid

..                                                                     Or for something more symmetrical...

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2Ff%2Ff4%2FO%2527Hare_International_Airport_%2528USGS%2529.png%2F220px-O%2527Hare_International_Airport_%2528USGS%2529.png&hash=5850a15efa5e19654420c34b76a7824f14de1cb1)                   (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.ning.com%2Ffiles%2FjrrCUEv3XRu3rKwVeq-Ntjk2h1YdHERwmG7PphWEMuF4YV9g8%2ABOZ-QJZajvXlr7PPsromwhkDbEa95OfjXrsMEg%2A2jzFMKt%2Fchicagomidway1.jpg&hash=fbf652b7787fcddb1e6e174766fcd6fbc9d5fb13)


Chicago O'Hare International Airport                Chicago Midway International Airport
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on December 07, 2012, 07:10:04 PM
Whoa, weather effects! I'm wondering if these could be built into extensions of the clouds, or are they entirely separate parts of the game?  Excellent work on those mills too!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 09, 2012, 03:00:25 AM
After some experiments, and many problems getting max to work on my new laptop (still dealing with viewport refresh bugs ~nvidia and windows-8) I have decided to start with a relatively easy airport model; Dulles. I really like Saarinen's work, so maybe I'll give a go at JFK TWA terminal after this.

The screenshot is really early work, much needs to be done, esp textures and adding details. At the same time I am facing some tough design choices. Saarinen designed the airport with mobile lounges, and much of the terminal is designed to fit with these. I am considering to go with my own interpretation and leave out the mobile lounges and associated docking ports, but replace them by something else... not sure yet how to deal with that. Additionally I have a hard time of finding pictures of back side of the Original Saarinen terminal design (that is the side near the tower) so I need to go with my own interpretation here too.

That's all for now folks.





Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on December 09, 2012, 04:20:27 AM
Looks great Alex. 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 09, 2012, 05:54:45 AM
and a few hours later...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on December 09, 2012, 06:22:02 AM
Excellent work on the terminals Alex  &apls  I'm quite curious to see the front. And good terminal choice, I'm a big Saarinen fan too  :thumbsup:

@NCGAIO - the last terminal you suggested is actually Chicago Midway, an older airport mostly used for shorter flights and perhaps most famous for jets flying into neighboring buildings on numerous occasions. Chicago O'Hare is much, much larger and less symmetrical  "$Deal"$
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 09, 2012, 09:57:11 AM
Quote from: noahclem on December 09, 2012, 06:22:02 AM


@NCGAIO - the last terminal you suggested is actually Chicago Midway, an older airport mostly used for shorter flights and perhaps most famous for jets flying into neighboring buildings on numerous occasions. Chicago O'Hare is much, much larger and less symmetrical  "$Deal"$


Exactly  was a inattention... were actually two images but I had to leave before combining them with the text. I forgot to go back to correct. Done !


Thanks! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Serkanner on December 09, 2012, 10:51:11 AM
That terminal looks very promising Alex.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 09, 2012, 10:59:47 AM
Some in game WIP. I am creating the terminal as an overhanging model, so no need to transit enable it. With a tight fitting LOD (still issues that need to be resolved) it is now possible to use elevated road puzzle pieces at the front side of the terminal. The tunnel can be used for any 16m network pieces, but I like train or light rail :). Here is a quick and dirty screen shot. I would have prefered a road height of 7,5 meters, which would better fit the model proportions, but since there are no elevated road puzzle pieces for that height I had to use the 15 m height...

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on December 09, 2012, 01:22:03 PM
Looking good! My airport is perhaps a bit small and plain in comparison...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcgheetysonairport/3654065739/lightbox/

I look forward to seeing your new work :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: krbe on December 09, 2012, 01:26:13 PM
The Dulles Terminal would be a great addition - finally putting some soul into the airport! If you're making a series, T3 (wouldn't mind the saucer part as a standalone) and T5 at JFK would be great siblings to Dulles-Saarinen.

I must admit that the lower level entrances do look a bit odd. That being said, will there be a possibility to attach the standard modular pieces to it in any way (possibly with a separate lot with a small extension piece on the side(s))?

Now I just wish I had some mobile lounges lying around!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rambuckel on December 09, 2012, 03:45:04 PM
Great work again! Your skills are admirable  &apls &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 11, 2012, 11:50:11 AM
Thanks for the motivating comments!

Some in game screens once more. I have decided to revert back to the original model, 8 meters elevation instead of 15 meters. Instead of using an elevated road puzzle pieces now you just need to elevate the terrain by 8 m (using one of those leveling lots).
Additionally I played a bit with transparent windows for the terminal. Not sure it was worth the effort but if you look in the close up screenshot you can actually see people moving inside the terminal.

All that is left for me to do is add some stunning night lights, improve the road textures in the front of the terminal and add a few more details to the building itself and to the lot to make it a bit more lively. After that I need some help. I have no clue on how to make this a functional airport, and I believe I read somewhere all functional airports need to be packed into a single dat file in order to prevent the game from crashing..

Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on December 11, 2012, 12:42:47 PM
QuoteI have decided to revert back to the original model, 8 meters elevation instead of 15 meters. Instead of using an elevated road puzzle pieces now you just need to elevate the terrain by 8 m (using one of those leveling lots).

I'm glad to hear that! I was going to comment about the 15m thing before but I couldn't think of a good solution for it so I just kept my mouth shut  ;D

Are you having the transit-enable portion be a road or a one-way road? OWR would definitely be best imho.

I've been thinking it for some time but realized I've not really said it: lots of people tell you that your work here is of the highest quality and I definitely agree. What's even more impressive though is how innovative and revolutionary the things you do are. A K-point for that, more specifically for this project.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mattb325 on December 11, 2012, 02:04:41 PM
 &apls I really love how this is coming along

The terminal just looks fantastic - the texturing is excellent
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glazert on December 11, 2012, 02:50:54 PM
I really am stunned at how versatile you are. Not only have you brought us exquisite Parisian constructions but now you show you can handle modern building with curved windows.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on December 11, 2012, 03:13:31 PM
Oh, been missing these recent developments. Great airport building! I agree with Theresa, I always admire people who can throw in some model as if it's a breakfast omelet. And a really good omelet, at that.

Cheers
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on December 11, 2012, 06:57:18 PM
Looks great!

Quote from: xannepan on December 11, 2012, 11:50:11 AM
I believe I read somewhere all functional airports need to be packed into a single dat file in order to prevent the game from crashing..

Essentially, yes. I haven't looked into it with the AC airports, but that's how the BSC Functional Seaports work, and I believe they use similar methods. It comes down to only being able to have one controller file loaded, and that file needs to contain/reference all of the ports of that type you want to use. Then they use a series of enabler/disabler files to control what actually shows up on your menus. BSC left some placeholder spots available for custom seaports, I don't know if AC did the same.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sunv123 on December 12, 2012, 05:04:49 AM
Looks very interesing! Will there be USA/Western style road model for this BAT? It seems like the airports are built with the euro texture.

Quote from: SwordmasterI always admire people who can throw in some model as if it's a breakfast omelet

That's a delicous and interesting omelet! :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Serkanner on December 12, 2012, 09:57:36 AM
Quote from: sunv123 on December 12, 2012, 05:04:49 AM
Looks very interesing! Will there be USA/Western style road model for this BAT? It seems like the airports are built with the euro texture.

Quote from: SwordmasterI always admire people who can throw in some model as if it's a breakfast omelet

That's a delicous and interesting omelet! :D
Yummy indeed!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 12, 2012, 12:03:18 PM
I am glad you all like it, and thanks for the k-point Noa!

About the roads and transit enabling. I avoided TE-ing the lot because of the game crash that may occur in relation with puzzle pieces. Instead the front lower level side (arrivals section) is a seperate lot that seemlessly fits. Consequently there are no textures "baked into" the lot, you regular road texture will appear.. Another benefit of the seperate lot is that you could actually use it to make an aditional level....

Hmmm.. difficult to explain in words.. I'll have to include some pictures in the readme for this one.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 15, 2012, 01:30:49 AM
A bit of progress... The graphical glitches are a result of an issue with my new hardware &*(**&^*^!#@#
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Serkanner on December 15, 2012, 03:46:05 AM
It looks absolutely brilliant.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on December 15, 2012, 05:12:19 AM
You are truly a man of many talents!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 20, 2012, 11:05:01 AM
Well the runways are as good as ready, at least up to a point where I really cannot improve upon.
There are still bugs, but I really think many of these are intrinsicly related to the game.  NOt sure when and how to release the air traffic controller. There are no runway lots yet with a sufficient length. Perhaps Voltaire can also help here (he already offered to help out, yet he also is busy with RL :)

For now I turned back to playing with the weather effects. Again much learnings here.
I isolated the lightning effect, which was exceptionally difficult because of the cross reference to section 3 and 4 from the sec_indx entries in section 12. Each time you think you understand the effectdir, something that is specific to a particular effect pops-up.
Anway, I figured out how the cross references work and I now can control earthquake shakes (section 4 which was already known), and the screen flashing (which is controlled in section 4) effects associated with a lightning strike.  I want to attempt creating a lightnig effect that is triggered randomly and can strike anywhere on the map.


I also found out that the last entry in section 4 controls the delay by which the screen flashes. The third entry the RGB values and the before last entry is the overall brightness (over time). What I hope to achieve is to tweak an entry in section 13 in such way that instead of a quick white flash, I get a stable dark screen overlay, which I hope to use to make it darker during rainfall...

I also created snow (similar to how Lowkee did it) which looks great. And at least on my laptop the snow nor rain doesn't seem to cause any performance issues. For snow I want to try to create some white terrain brushes in section 2.

Perhaps a good idea to see how I can add all new knowledge to the wiki....


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 20, 2012, 12:58:08 PM

Not wanting to bother you but since you do not know when they will release it maybe could post the new controller in the web link that sent me the other time, grateful! :thumbsup:


There are several planes to the lightning that are randomly used for this purpose then it must be many references.



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 21, 2012, 09:56:46 AM
Have a look at this early WIP and tell me what you think... (by the way... I cannot solve the performance issues possibly related to this upcoming mod).

http://youtu.be/wI5IkPrigDo
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on December 21, 2012, 10:00:07 AM
Oh my! That's sweet! Who could have imagined that ten years after the game's launch we will have weather controller?!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on December 21, 2012, 10:16:09 AM
Sweet. Does the snow stay on the ground or ?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 21, 2012, 10:28:25 AM
I am trying to make the snow stay on the ground. Fairly sure I can simulate something with the section in the effdir that controller terrain textures (same as a volcano casts an ash like texture of the terrain). Again my main concern is peformance impact.

I also have random lightning working (made it non destructive).

Once i have the snow textures done I am going to try if I can do it without the lot. I am thinking of mis-using (replacing) the groundfog (or other cloud) effect and replace them by the new weather effects.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on December 21, 2012, 10:30:32 AM
I am stunned and thrilled. I can hardly believe it!

You are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sunv123 on December 21, 2012, 10:40:15 AM
Oh my gosh........ thatisoneofthecoolestsc4relatedthingihaveeverseeninmylifeohmygoshthatisamazing. (it's not just a mix up of letters)

YOU NEED TO KEEP GOING.... I LOVE THE RAIN RIPPLES AND IT WOULD BE SWEET IF THE SNOW COULD STICK. Keep it up dude. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on December 21, 2012, 11:19:44 AM
This is so, so cool!! The water ripples are just. . .   :o . . couldn't believe my eyes.

Now I'm wondering, performance issues aside, if a fullblown thunderstorm would be possible?!  ;D

Keep up this awesome modding!!  &apls

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 21, 2012, 11:35:32 AM
Quote from: xannepan on December 21, 2012, 10:28:25 AM
I am trying to make the snow stay on the ground. Fairly sure I can simulate something with the section in the effdir that controller terrain textures (same as a volcano casts an ash like texture of the terrain). Again my main concern is peformance impact.

Similarly to the mod rain creates water over the terrain?

If so then maybe also suffer the same problem of not being saved by the game.

The combined effects of rain on the water is really a good illusion and even manages to look like the raindrops are those responsible for water ripples.

Regarding performance you may have noticed that even in the case of a clean map  this type of effect has impacted the scrolling.

Quote from: art128 on December 21, 2012, 10:00:07 AM
....Who could have imagined that ten years after the game's launch we will have weather controller?!


Well .. we must consider that despite not having current tools for debugging Effdir in 2005 the Gizmo had something very near ...

Gizmo - Weather Mod (http://gizmo.webspaceforme.net/index.php?action=downloadseffectmods&sa=weathermod)

The launch of the effect that would be the problem was in another area (CSI-trigger) that could have been done with Lua script for any given condition.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on December 21, 2012, 12:32:27 PM
You're doing awesome work.

Not sure "what" your raindrops are: are they a "pure" effect, or something from a FSH?  The snow that I made was a FSH.  In an attempt to reduce the strain on the computer I made the FSH have more than one snowflake on it.  I then had the FSH spread out across most of the screen.  The total effect was that although each flake had a sibling that was moving exactly the same, it was hard to find it in crowd of other snowflakes.

Your effects look much different than mine.  Mine had starting point way up in the Y axis and then fell down into the world (the snow flakes could go behind buildings/flora).  Yours seem to be on a layer in front of the world.

The video is (add curse here) awesome!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 21, 2012, 01:22:02 PM
Lowkee: Sofar both raindrops and snowflakes are FSH based effects. I had the same idea of replacing them perhaps by FSH containing multiple drops or flakes. Adding rotation and alhpa variation over time perhaps can be used to get rid of any left repetition. Otherwise think I used exactly the same approach as you did, with the exception that I didn't want to flakes and raindrops to fall all the way down to the surface in order to shorten the time a particle needs to be simulated
Moreover, I didn't like the drops gliding along the terrain once they touched the ground. (I just found out I can tune u24 in sec1 to also stop that from happening). Anywaynthat's probably the main reason why it looks different.

I currently only spread out the drops over an x,z from +500 to -500 area. Not sure how to always get them to spread out over the complete map size. Did you have a look at that already?

NCGAIO:. I am not sure I completely understand your latest response :( Are you saying it is possible to create a lua script to make the rain or snow start, depending on a certain other condition? That would be very intersting!

Sofar on my new MSI laptop I have no performance impact at all on a clean map.

About the ripples. I could easily have each raindrop causing a ripple of its own. But I decided to splits these effects so I could control the number of raindrops and the water ripples independently. Again the main reason is performance management.

About uploading the planes: I'd be happy to share them already in this stage. I am considering of just uploading a public beta release. Otherwise I'll send you a pm with another link.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Delecto on December 21, 2012, 01:45:36 PM
Fantastic work on the rain and snow, sc4 enter a new dimension in 2013!  :thumbsup:

About your graphical problems, try lowering your graphics settings in SimCity. When I bought my last NVIDIA graphics card, I've put all the settings to the maximum and I encountered the same problems as you.
Lower settings solved my problem.

I hope it help!  &mmm ::)


SAM.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on December 22, 2012, 03:43:05 AM
It's amazing to see what the original Maxis crew planned for SC4 and added it to the basic game, but apparently locked or deactivate due to time and/or performance issues. I wish EA would have picked up that some day as another expansion pack, together with some small bugfixing and extensions, like better menus (less scrolling) or more building styles. Whenever I see a new screenshot of the upcoming SimCity 2013, I get more and more disappointed of that cartoony plastic dollhouse look. Anyway, my current PC (three years old now, but equipped with an SSD since a couple of months) is powerful enough to run SC4 smoothly, so I won't stop playing that game anytime soon (if I ever find some time to do so anyway).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mave94 on December 22, 2012, 04:04:35 AM
Such an amazing work! I thought it was impossible to make a weather controller, but apparently it is possible. I like the ripples in the water. It's just, wow! &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 22, 2012, 04:34:36 AM
Thanks for all the nice comments once more. It helps. I am excited for all the new discoveries I am making... the boring work of actually finishing something.. starting the game a 1000 times for testing is not as much fun... I hope I can keep up with it...

Andreas: rain is the only effect in the effect dir that was left behind by Maxis. The snow and the water ripples are my own creations, but off course inspired and preceded by the work gizmo and lowkee have done (except for the ripples  ;D). Actually, the idea for the water ripples comes from the volcano effect. When the lava hits the water there are red ripples. I just created my own fish and tuned the settings a bit (removed the desctructive properties). But indeed the effectdir lays out the work for many more new things that can be done in simcity.

Just some ideas for the future, of which I am sure they are now possible to realize.

-Skiërs skiing downhill. 100% sure it can be done. Just need to create a skiiers animations, the effect dir won't be that difficult
-Automatically raising the terrain once you plop a NAM on-slope puzzle pieces... Fairly sure it should be possible, but needs a lot of work. (the volcano effect does something similar, ie raising the terrain be a predefined height). Main uncertainty is attaching the effect to a puzzle piece and activating it during plopping.
-1x1 tile terrain raising brush with a specific predefined elevating heigt. Same as before yet propably less challenging. (MAybe we can get rid of the leveling lots)
-New animals (done that already... just need to fine tune before releasing it)
-Purple rain.. lol
-All kinds of cool fountains
-car/motor racing tracks
-ice rink with real ice skaters

Meanwhile.. anyone dreaming of a white Christmas?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMqKKZ2CMEk&feature=youtu.be

Still needs much tuning, and I am sure there are some limitations to how easthetic I can make it look. The major concern remains  performance impact. But on this undeveloped medium sized map sofar I experience no issues. And I am  also fairly sure I can make the mod much more efficient (which is the boring work I'm affraid).







Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on December 22, 2012, 04:43:36 AM
Quote from: xannepan on December 22, 2012, 04:34:36 AM
-Skiërs skiing downhill. 100% sure it can be done. Just need to create a skiiers animations, the effect dir won't be that difficult

What?! That's just crazy! Crazy good, that is. :D 

The snow effect on the ground looks great, too. Hope you can keep your interest while doing the tedious bit.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: metarvo on December 22, 2012, 07:12:05 AM
I've always wanted to have weather in game.  This will work well with some of those snow terrain mods out there.  Amazing job!

&apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jeckyll on December 22, 2012, 11:43:09 AM
Quote from: xannepan on December 22, 2012, 04:34:36 AM
-All kinds of cool fountains

Yeah that will be very useful!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 22, 2012, 12:05:38 PM
One of the downsides of the current approach with the snow is, that it covers everything, even the roads....  Not sure how to solve that, unless the pothole effects (a texture which only appears on road) contains a yet unknown secret I can make use of (reverse).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: DebussyMan on December 22, 2012, 01:12:10 PM
These effects and weather are awesome!  :o

Given your now vast knowledge on the subject, I was wondering if you could consider developing a mod that I've always wanted: pre-automobile traffic! perhaps some random sims walking down the actual street (not only sidewaldk) along with horse drawn carriages, or one or two 1910ish motorized vehicles. And now that we're at it, perhaps changing the sims' graphics to something more adequate clothe-wise.  ;)

Not sure if all that is possible, but certainly has been a dream of mine for a long time. I remember a couple years ago Swamper started tinkering around it, but he's gone now and nothing was achieved.  ()sad()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 22, 2012, 01:32:50 PM
It can be done, no doubt about it. Again, time is the only issue. As for the pedestrians, these are not real 3D models (unlike most other traffic), but also here new animations could be created. It is a lot of work though. Apart from that the main constraint is that currently the reader cannot import 3d animations. So for that a new program/ script needs to be developed. But also that is possible since the 3d format is known.

Replacing a car by an existing horse model for example is easier. I believe there are soms funny mods out there already that replace train automata by girafes :)
Adding a non animated carriage model to a horse may also something that would be possible, a bit more difficult perhaps. A remaining issue would be traffic speed. It would seem silly to have pedestrians walking ith the same speed as horses and carriages. There is no known way (to me) to vary speed between automata travelling on the same network type.

If you'd be willing to attempt animations, I'd be happy to dig into writting an import script to get them into the game :)

-alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on December 22, 2012, 02:19:47 PM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-ScHH8BGvB2c%2FT378r8YbSDI%2FAAAAAAAABXE%2FIF-K2gCucWE%2Fs1600%2Fmother%2Bof%2Bgod%2Bmeme.JPG&hash=8c7d494e4f9dc64d3c5ad512217c2f2c3a74065c)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedawgpound.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F10%2Fdrooling_smiley.gif&hash=c1ed2e05af9fd07ffa9f35c4c39ffac41fa7aa91)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: WannGLondon on December 22, 2012, 03:08:32 PM
Alex, you make the game a better experience, one mod, lot or project at a time. Love the snow.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 22, 2012, 03:38:19 PM

&idea  Some observations to help develop ...

Quote
"-Skiërs skiing downhill. 100% sure it can be done. Just need to create a skiiers animations, the effect dir won't be that difficult"


Models of animated skiers Full3D already exists in the game ... just  reskin the wakeboard and swimsuits for a Snowboard with winter outfits.

Quote
"Main uncertainty is attaching the effect to a puzzle piece and activating it during plopping."

I also thought about putting an effect on parts of the CAN-AM but would be added to the controller do not think it would happen!

Quote
"As for the pedestrians, these are not real 3D models (unlike most other traffic"

Well .. pedestrians who walk following the sidewalks are really animated 3Dfull models, as well as police activities, firefighters in firefighting, crimes and many others scenes.


Quote
"Apart from that the main constraint is that currently the reader cannot import 3d animations. So for that a new program/ script needs to be developed. But also that is possible since the 3d format is known."

This is not exactly true ... yes there is a way to import 3D animations for the reader, a little laborious yet!

Quote
"Adding a non animated model to the carriage horse may Also Possible That would be something, a bit more difficult perhaps"

As the animated model horse is already present in the game then only enough to attach the model of a chariot. But this would have to be modeled for no overlapping triangles over the horse to avoid blinking effect when joined.

Quote
"There is no known way (to me) to vary speed between automata travelling on the same network type."

What determines which network is to be followed as well as other details for particular automata or group of them is expressed in respective Lua script.

:thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 22, 2012, 10:10:48 PM
NCGAIO, Yes you are right! There is a skier in the game, it just moves a bit strange for a snow skiers. But perhaps for a first beta version it's not that bad.

Can you please give me some indication how to import animations in the reader? I have tried and have no clue.

Same for the LUA. Can you offer some help/hints how to do it? I really like to make a LUA script (if possible) that generates weather. I seem to remember that there is a moisture property in the game that 'behaves' seasonal (amongst others). Perhaps that would be something that can be used to trigger rain and snowfall and thunderstorms. I am trying to find some inspiration by looking at other effect triggers in the game. The pothole effect and garbage effects are interesting. They seem to be triggered by time and funding properties. So far I haven't found any lua script for that yet...

BR,
Alex




Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 23, 2012, 02:49:27 AM
Is there anyone with enough experience in the effect dir that knows exactly how paramater u1 and u2 in section 1 work (u1, u2 is the designation used in the reader).

I already figured a few things out

1) xxxx8xxx has something to do with the effect being displayed on the watersurface
2) xxxx1xxx has something to do with the effect spreading out (randomly?) over the entire terrain (without the need to specify initial x and z shifts). This seems to work for the terrain texture effects.
3) xxx11xxx same as above but now for s3d based effects... not completely sure about this one
combination of 1) and 3) ==>
4) xxx19xxx same as 2 and 3 but now for s3d based effects on water surface (the water sparkle controller works this way)

I think these parameter should be interpreted as a series of 32-bits and that each bit controls a specific behaviour property.
Unfortunately as some many parameters remain unknown results remain highly unpredictable. I just found out that my rain effect kills as waterfalls from flowing. This can only mean there still is a bug ... :(


Edit: corrections on next page
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Serkanner on December 23, 2012, 04:59:56 AM
It never stops to amaze me how many things are still being discovered with this game.  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on December 23, 2012, 05:21:25 AM
Amazing developpment Alex  &apls &apls &apls

For the timing of snow and snowy ground, it could be good to align the timings with seasonal flora. The winter livery starts the 1st december. I think snow could begin few days before (last week of november)  &Thk/(

If you need to test "animations" on powerful pc, feel free to ask  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 23, 2012, 12:28:56 PM
Quote from: xannepan on December 22, 2012, 10:10:48 PM
NCGAIO, Yes you are right! There is a skier in the game, it just moves a bit strange for a snow skiers. But perhaps for a first beta version it's not that bad.

There is more than one model that would serve both for skiers simple as for one "Snowbord Slalom Xtreme" doing the editing of some vertices.


Quote
Can you please give me some indication how to import animations in the reader? I have tried and have no clue.

Ok! That would be no problem but which involves your understanding about editing animations on S3D.

I will continue ... wait

Quote
Same for the LUA. Can you offer some help/hints how to do it? I really like to make a LUA script (if possible) that generates weather. I seem to remember that there is a moisture property in the game that 'behaves' seasonal (amongst others). Perhaps that would be something that can be used to trigger rain and snowfall and thunderstorms. I am trying to find some inspiration by looking at other effect triggers in the game. The pothole effect and garbage effects are interesting. They seem to be triggered by time and funding properties. So far I haven't found any lua script for that yet...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Jasoncw on December 23, 2012, 02:12:12 PM
Super cool stuff you've got going on here!

Weather and seasons are something that don't really affect gameplay much but they change the feel of the game.  The original SimCity (or at least one of the editions of it) had seasons and it added a big sense of realism and time.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 24, 2012, 01:55:32 AM
I have hit a fundamental limitation. I was wondering how it is possible that my rain and snow effects would affect the waterstream/fall and fountain effects. It turns out  there must be  a build in limitation to the total number of particles that can be generated in the game. So as soon as I try to spread out the rain/snow flakes over the entire map and increase the number of particles to have an acceptable raindrop/snowflake density, waterwalls and fountains stop from spraying water.

For the experts: the parameter in section 1 refered to in the reader as "high detail" actually means: the number of particles generated when the visual game settings are set to high.

The only way to "solve" it is by trying an approach Lowkee has proposed before, that is using FSH files with multiple drops/flakes. I'll try that now and keep you up to date on progress.


Finally as small correction to my previous post about u1 in section 1

The 4th entry in u1 (xxxxNxxx) represents 4 bits
bit 4: display on/over water
bit 3: display on/over land
bit 2: unknown?
bit 1: refers to something like: spread the effect randomly over the entire map.
so if bit 4 is set to 1 then the hex number for N=8
bit 3=1 is set to 1 then N=4
if both are set to 1 then N=C (ie display both on water and on land)
etc




Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on December 24, 2012, 04:38:07 AM
Fascinating work with the snow!  I'm a big fan of winter in simcity and would love to have another tool for making nice winter scenes  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 24, 2012, 06:04:59 AM
I have hit a hard fundamental problem in the number of particles unfortunately. Using multiple snowflakes or raindrops on a single FSH works, but it's not enough for zoom 4-6, nor for large maps, on which it just looks very bad.

I won't give up yet though. I think it should be possible to create a bit more compact rainshowers that occur randomly distributed on a map, yet with sufficient raindrop /snowflake density.

After a quick start this is turning to be more difficult then expected, as with the planes, as with the animals... Still making new discoveries and puzzle solving is a lot off fun.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 24, 2012, 11:28:30 AM
Guys, the rainshower approach actually works! and it looks good. It gradually moves accross the terrain. Now all I need to do is attach some clouds to (above) it. This really solves a huge issue I was running into yesterday. Well probably no updates for the next few days :)

Merry Christmas to all!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on December 24, 2012, 12:03:14 PM
Really good news Alex!!!

Merry Xmas to you ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on December 26, 2012, 01:07:42 PM
This is excellent news about the weather effects! Keep up the amazing work!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on December 28, 2012, 09:32:53 AM
Hi Alex,
  I'm on winter break, so I'm trying to get this editor together.  Have you noticed that Reader doesn't show many of the variables within Section 2?  Have you changed the values of them, and are they what the Wiki says they are?

-Carl
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 28, 2012, 12:44:54 PM
Yes the spec for sec 2 on the wiki seems to be ok. I am using it for the snow, cloud and plane shadows.

I really need to take some time to update the wiki by what I have learned. (I now have a spec for sec 3, and for u11a,b and the sec indx in sec 12. Also a partial spec for several yet unknown parameters in sec1, esp u1 which is crucial to the behavior of many effects). There is also more to u34 then I initially thought, it can redirect to sec13 with post fix _slave,_terrain,_water or _death.
Anyway, if you need some help before i get to update the wiki, let me know.

By the way: I know somehow the day and night mod(s) modify a PNG but also require the effdir. Do you have any idea how the PNG is linked to the effect dir?

(I am trying to make it dark(er) during a rainshower/thunderstorm, but using terrain shadows or sec3 lighting effects don't look good enough.)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Lowkee33 on December 28, 2012, 05:49:11 PM
The only difference between Gizmo's Day/Night effect and the Maxis effect is a small tweak to entry 1134 in Section 1.  Day/Night mods typically use the lighting exemplar to change the colors.  SimFox' mod has no effectDir in it.

Right now I'm just plugging away at getting all of the sections to be visible and editable.  Then to try to make isolating effect easy.  The format of the data (Windows Forms DataGridView) is a little precarious.  The program is too easy to crash as well as get too many entries added to an effectDir.  After that I will start putting variable names into a file so that the column headers can be defined at run time (and also edited easily if there is something new figured out).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jdenm8 on December 28, 2012, 09:49:08 PM
This is just incredible! The rain is fantastic and I love the ripple effects (Which could be very slightly improved through the use of a different texture).

Is there a way to attach a sound through the EffDir? I'm sure the Volcano has sounds and the Lightning Strike certainly does, though they may be more related to the hardcoded disaster properties rather than the effdir.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 28, 2012, 10:21:54 PM
Sounds are certainly possible. In fact if I find some time today I will try to get them to work for the rainshowers.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AngryBirdsFan436 on December 28, 2012, 11:51:41 PM
SO COOL! I have a question: will there be a hurricane effect? Ranging from Tropical storm to Cat 5?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: CasperVg on December 29, 2012, 12:10:45 PM
Quote from: xannepan on December 24, 2012, 01:55:32 AM
I have hit a fundamental limitation. I was wondering how it is possible that my rain and snow effects would affect the waterstream/fall and fountain effects. It turns out  there must be  a build in limitation to the total number of particles that can be generated in the game. So as soon as I try to spread out the rain/snow flakes over the entire map and increase the number of particles to have an acceptable raindrop/snowflake density, waterwalls and fountains stop from spraying water.

For the experts: the parameter in section 1 refered to in the reader as "high detail" actually means: the number of particles generated when the visual game settings are set to high.

<snip>

That seems to be how the game handles it, indeed. However, I don't think the limit isn't that rigid. In fact, "Graphics Rules.sgr", a file (in C:\Program Files\SimCity 4) that defines the graphics options, has a few settings that might be of interest for you.

optionGroup $VisualEffects
   option $Low
      property particleDensity       0.25
      property particleScale         2.0
      [b]property maxParticlesTarget    400[/b]
      property particleDamping       0.0
      property particleLODOffset     2    # subtracted from the zoom.
      property effectPriorityLevel   1 
      property useScreenShake        false
      property useScreenFlash        false
     
      property demolishModelThreshold 24

   option $Medium
      property particleDensity       0.5
      property particleScale         2.0
      [b]property maxParticlesTarget    1200[/b]
      property particleDamping       0.0
      property particleLODOffset     0    # subtracted from the zoom.
      property effectPriorityLevel   3
      property useScreenShake        true
      property useScreenFlash        true
   
      property demolishModelThreshold 18

   option $High
      property particleDensity       1
      property particleScale         1
      [b]property maxParticlesTarget    5000[/b]
      property particleDamping       0.0
      property particleLODOffset     0    # subtracted from the zoom.
      property effectPriorityLevel   5
      property useScreenShake        true
      property useScreenFlash        true
   
      property demolishModelThreshold 12
end


I would experiment with these myself, but right now I'm quite busy because of upcoming exams. Keep in mind that the game uses some parameters to choose the High/Medium/Low option though - a computer with a

1.8GHz processor and 500MB RAM is considered "High speed"
1.6GHz processor and 400MB RAM is considered "Medium speed"
any lower than that is "Low speed"
certain graphics cards will default to "Software rendering" (lowest possible settings)

I hope playing around with these settings cures the disappearing effects at least a bit.

EDIT: You might be able to play around with these renderproperties on the fly (without restarting the game every time) using the "renderprop" cheat, that is part of Buggi's ExtraCheatsDLL. For example: renderprop maxParticlesTarget 10000
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 29, 2012, 12:49:56 PM
Casper, thanks for pointing that out. I already found out that changing the ingame graphics settings affected the effect behaviour. For now, I have found a way of working that still gives good enough results, and has limited effect on performance on large undevelopped maps. I have briefly tested  the effects on the medium map with the maxis large city tutorial. I have average performance without the effects and with the weather effects I experience only a slight additional impact.


I 'll be ready for posting a progress video in the next few days. And maybe a first version for testing early next year.



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 29, 2012, 01:14:57 PM

This thread can help you ... -  Ground Fog  (http://community.simtropolis.com/topic/360-ground-fog/)


Considerations for manipulating Effdir ... -  Effects Dir editor?  (http://community.simtropolis.com/topic/1376-effects-dir-editor/)


The key word about the limitations imposed is "Drawcall" ( at the time of the release of the game of course)

Pinched this discussion are some "explanations" about what was left out. as well as the involvement of the Mod Squad with Maxis that was much more flexible.

simsnetwork.com/news/2003 - chat about simcity  (http://www.simsnetwork.com/news/2003/11/20/chat-about-simcity)

Sorry ... would complete the post on the export of animations and
scripts but I think I deleted the draft. I'll rewrite and send Pm ok! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 30, 2012, 02:12:33 AM
Thanks NCGAIO. Looking forward to your PM :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 30, 2012, 02:24:49 AM
Here is a preview video of what I have got in store ;)

Some comments in advance:
-The youtube compression unfortunately is much too strong. The rain and especially the snow look much better in the game then they do in the video.
-The red circles are a indicator that I am using during development and will be removed in the final version.
-Some of the effects need some time to "start up" (esp. the clouds). Starting up phase happens for every rotation or zooming action. It cannot be prevented.
-To limit performance impact I stopped using single particle raindrops and snowflakes. Instead I am using FSH with multiple raindrops and flakes. As a consequence at the edges of the rainshowers and snowstorm may look a bit strange.
-I can create instances of the effects that are toned down or up, ie heavier rainfall, or a lighter snowstorm.
-The snow doesn't stay on the ground yet mainly because I can't get the texture right.
-I have removed the destructive effects from the lightning... perhaps in a later release I can bring it back if people want it. It would help to add to the game experience.
-Sofar the effects are still placed on a bunch of lots. The start once a lot is placed. I think by making the exemplars 'seasonal'  and adding a random chance I can create a single lot that produces partially random and partially seasonal weather effects.

http://youtu.be/4tHUtPE6YnE
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Air6 on December 30, 2012, 04:40:11 AM
Unbelievable ! If someone had told us that we can play with the weather, I will have not been believing it. SC4 is not the same game thanks to all batters and modders like you. Many thanks for your work  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on December 30, 2012, 06:22:37 AM
Quote from: Air6 on December 30, 2012, 04:40:11 AM
Unbelievable ! If someone had told us that we can play with the weather, I will have not been believing it. SC4 is not the same game thanks to all batters and modders like you. Many thanks for your work  &apls

I think exactly the same !! You are amazing my friend !!!

wow  &apls &apls

PD: You'll release more medieval models?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 30, 2012, 06:44:49 AM
Vortex has offered help to finish the medieval set :-)
Time and RL are the issues ;-)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmyers2043 on December 30, 2012, 08:00:28 AM
Nice video, Alex. It has been fun watching the progress.

- Jim

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on December 30, 2012, 08:15:44 AM
Someone replace "Renaissance Man" with "God", please.

I have no idea what you're doing here except that it looks awesome. With that in mind, maybe this is a dumb question, but are the effects limited to be placed on lots? Could you for instance make an MMP that evokes them?


Cheers
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Kergelen on December 30, 2012, 10:33:57 AM
Amazing video and effects, visually and soundly  :o &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mave94 on December 30, 2012, 11:19:42 AM
&dance Unbelievable!! Just one of the most awesome things ever done with SC4! &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on December 30, 2012, 07:16:35 PM
Absolutely incredible. I am truly impressed!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 01, 2013, 11:13:01 AM
Happy new year friends!

No time for a video today... there is nothing fake about this picture, just too bad you cannot see the motion....
The effect dir is great! More surprises soon!


(As for the weather mod, I am still struggling with the snow textures. As soon as I have that done, it is time for a cleanup followed by a test release)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on January 01, 2013, 11:19:55 AM
Wow! I am impressed with this. You have been on a roll making some great and much desired new stuff!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on January 01, 2013, 12:39:05 PM
Does the moon moove during the night?  ::)

Quote
(As for the weather mod, I am still struggling with the snow textures. As soon as I have that done, it is time for a cleanup followed by a test release)

:)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 01, 2013, 12:46:52 PM
Quote from: Girafe on January 01, 2013, 12:39:05 PM
Does the moon moove during the night?  ::)


Off course. Also during day time, but is's easy to have it appear during night only. Don't expect any Keplerian orbits though :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on January 02, 2013, 02:33:03 AM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv727%2FIVStudios%2Femoticons%2Fjaw_drop_smilly.gif&hash=03758e80bdf582101b73897a03cc35e046cee152)Oh... my... freakin' ... GAWD! Those weather effects look amazing! You've outdone yourself again, Alex  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on January 02, 2013, 04:07:03 AM
I've seen a moon on some SimCity 2013 screenshot, but this one looks a lot better. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sim_link on January 02, 2013, 07:37:52 AM
The work you are doing here is fantastic... never thought I'd see weather in SimCity. And that moon...
Wow. Stunning!  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 02, 2013, 08:08:34 AM
A slight setback... For these effects to appear correctly the position where an effect appears is relative to the position where the lot is plopped. I have found a property in the effect dir to generate a random position, but sofar - after a full day of searching  :angrymore: - I did not find a solution to have the effect appear relative to the center of the map. I need the center position to make it work though... Otherwise the effect lot always has to be positioned (approximately) on the center of the map.

mmmm... :-\
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on January 03, 2013, 03:31:45 AM
jaw braking :O

I was wondering, one thing I miss about sc4, comparing to older versions, is the flood disaster. I have found once a disaster controler named flood in the Scdata1 but I was pretty much at a dead end because I don't know nothing about effects and stuff like this.

is there any change you can do something about it? create floods?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 03, 2013, 10:50:52 PM

I am looking for a way to trigger an effect without having to plop a lot. If I trigger the effect via the cheat mode (ctrl+x, typing Effect <effectname>) it turns out the effect is placed centrally on the map. Almost exactly what I want.

I am looking for something similar.

I have looked a bit into the LUA scripts, but I don't understand yet how they work. Does anybody know if what I want to achieve would be possible?

Side question: does anyone know what starts the fireworks during game start?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on January 04, 2013, 01:29:34 AM
QuoteSide question: does anyone know what starts the fireworks during game start?

and 4th of July too I think. So much meaning for Europeans and non-Usa lol

About the main topic, I have no clue =\ but that would be great thou using a lot isn't that bad I think.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 04, 2013, 03:12:34 AM
Ah.. I need to clarify my earlier post. I want to achieve two things here.
One is to have the effect appear in a position that is not dependent of a lot position. Second is to create timing properties for the effect to appear (snow during winter, moonrise during nightfall etc.). The latter is propably possible thorgh an effect exemplar, and putting the effect on a lot. So for that reason a single 1x1 tile lot will do fine, and in principle I don't mind using a lot at all. But that doesn't solve the position problem. So in fact I am looking for an other way beyond lot to solve both timing and position problem. And perhaps for that reason a LUA script could be used...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 04, 2013, 04:15:36 AM
awesome work with the moon  :o  Wow. Keep it up  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on January 04, 2013, 04:34:24 AM
This is just incredible, the moon, the rain and cloud effects . .and a rainbow too. Just  :o  &apls

For those reading along and curious about the medieval models; Alex sent them to me a while ago. At that moment RL was busy for me but things have calmed down since and I'll start lotting asap.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 04, 2013, 05:46:18 AM
Quote from: xannepan on January 03, 2013, 10:50:52 PM

I am looking for a way to trigger an effect without having to plop a lot. If I trigger the effect via the cheat mode (ctrl+x, typing Effect <effectname>) it turns out the effect is placed centrally on the map. Almost exactly what I want.

I am looking for something similar.

I have looked a bit into the LUA scripts, but I don't understand yet how they work. Does anybody know if what I want to achieve would be possible?

Side question: does anyone know what starts the fireworks during game start?



This can help you ...


The green stuff will return!  (http://community.simtropolis.com/topic/3570-the-green-stuff-will-return/#entry197278)


"CsiTrigger" is the condition for Lua scripts.

note: I sent e-mail about animations ... Tks for the download link.   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 04, 2013, 09:42:47 AM
Thx NCGAIO, but the info is a little to sparse for me  &mmm
What I learned is how to trigger time dependent advice messages by LUA scripts.

It doesn't tell me yet how to trigger an effect...

Never mind... I have found some effect trigger LUA scripts in simcity1.dat. I'll explore them a little further now...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 04, 2013, 10:28:52 AM
So I am really stuck again this time.
In simcity1.dat I find the following in LUA with TGI   CA63E2A3     4A5E8EF6     FFA79144     

-------------New Years fireworks----
a = create_advice_fluff ('aacbd9bb')
a.trigger  = "game.g_month == 1 and game.g_day < 8 and game.reward_instance_count('031F0000')== 1"
a.title   = [[text@aacbf7b8 Happy New Year!]]
a.priority  = tuning_constants.ADVICE_PRIORITY_MEDIUM
a.mood = advice_moods.FLUFF
a.news_only = 1
a.effects = effects.NEW_YEARS_FIREWORKS
a.timeout = 15
a.persist = 1


Looking for the definition of the constant in bold above i get to LUA with TGI CA63E2A3     4A5E8EF6     FF048A3E     
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Global effect flags (for conditional props and effects)
--
effects = {}
   
   effects.POOR_FIRE_COVERAGE = hex2dec('aa3753d2')
   effects.UNHAPPY_SIMS = hex2dec('aa3754c5')

   effects.FIRE_STRIKE = hex2dec('2a5f6e60')
   effects.POLICE_STRIKE = hex2dec('2a5f6e61')
   effects.HEALTH_STRIKE = hex2dec('2a5f6e62')
   effects.EDUCATION_STRIKE = hex2dec('2a5f6e63')
   effects.TRANSIT_STRIKE = hex2dec('2a5f6e64')
   effects.TV_CREW_AVAILABLE = hex2dec('0a89dfd4')
   effects.MISSILE_BUNKERS = hex2dec('eaad9fc4')
   effects.MISSILE_LAUNCH = hex2dec('2aaec104')
   effects.LLAMA_SPIT = hex2dec('4aaec141')
   effects.LIGHTNING_BALL = hex2dec('4aaec3ca')
   effects.BALLOON_LAUNCH = hex2dec('8ab1ad6f')
   effects.NEW_YEARS_FIREWORKS = hex2dec('cacbdfc6')
   
make_table_const(effects)

Instance 'cacbdfc6' is unfortunately NOT defined in any simcity#.dat file....
I was hoping it would lead to an exemplar for the effect... but that seems not to be the case.
The question is what will happen if I put in a reference to an exemplar I created.... but I am not so hopefull... let's see..





EUREKA? Well not really....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 04, 2013, 03:10:08 PM

Quote
This article contains a list of all the relations of the SimCity 4 file types


Effect Dir
ea5118b1 - Effect Resource Tree
           Children
              FSH, ResourceKey, In section 1 the effect may call itself a texture by instance.
              S3D, ResourceKeys, In section 1 a list of resource keys may call random S3D files.
              FSH, Resourcekey, In Section 2 terrain dependent FSH file.
              Exemplar, ResourceKey, In section 5 terrain brush exemplar.
              LUA, String, Section 6 string links to a representative string in LUA generators/attractors/repulsors by var.
              EXE, CID, Section 7 U4 property almost certainly links to the exe by classid.
              TRK, ResourceKey, Section 9 resource Key links to a track def for sounds.
              EXE, String, Section 10 strings almost certainly link to the EXE for train variables.
              EXE, CID, U4 in section 12 probably links to the exe by classid.

          Parent
              EXE, CID, the exe may call an effect in 13,14,15 by instance or CID.
              EXE, String, the exe may call a string in the effdir directories 13,14,15 by name.
              Exemplar, property, 0x4a08c700 property calls an effect name for use by exemplars (often disasters).
              Exemplar, property, 0xc98204b8 property calls an effect name for use in an effect exemplar by string.
              Exemplar, property, 0xc98204b9 property calls an effect name for use in an effect exemplar by string.
              Exemplar, property, in absence of the 0xc98204b8/9 property Exemplar name of gid 0xc977c536 calls an effect by string.
              S3D, name, the effect name in the REGP section of an S3D may spawn an effect by directory name in the EFFDIR.
              LUA, , fx, the fx command allows to reference an effect inside the effect dir from an LUA.
http://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=Relations (http://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=Relations)

"$Deal"$ -  Animated Props Solved (http://community.simtropolis.com/topic/6508-animated-props-solved/#entry1048037)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 05, 2013, 12:46:32 AM
I am affraid it's not going to work. There are several ways to start effects from the effect dir, but non of them allow me to do it scripted AND without attaching it to a lot.

1) I can create a property exemplar for the effect, with timing triggers etc. This property can then be put on a lot, and the effect will occur depending on the defined timing property. This is what I have used sofar, and probably I am stuck with it.

2) via the advisor lua scripts I can trigger an effect, however, as far as I can tell only a predefined number of effects (see my. previous post). the effect is refered to by an ID that is not defined in the games .dat files. I have not been succesful to create a reference to my custom made effects.

3) via automata lua scripts I can "attach" an effect to an automata (e.g. the steam to a steam train) referenced to by string name in the effect dir.

4) Finally there is a section in the effect dir that refereres to lua scripts. However, these scripts not trigger the effect itself. Instead they trigger lua scripts that run simultaneous with the effect when it occurs (e.g. Fauna getting out of the way of a tornado)

I am open to suggestions off course, but they'll have to be very explicit... Otherwise I'll end up spending another few days on this, which is not what I wan to do anymore...





Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Andreas on January 05, 2013, 04:22:16 AM
Well, if there isn't any other way than attaching those effects to a lot, it's probably not a bad idea to make "useful" lots, such as an observatory for the moon effect, some skiing-related lot for the snow effect etc. For creating seasonal flora, we have to plant the trees at a specific time, so it's not that bothersome to have some workaround for getting these effects, I'd say.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 05, 2013, 06:55:19 AM
I will see what I can do Andreas. What bothers me most is that some effects require the lot to be place exactly at the center of the city (moonrise/set, sunrise/set etc). Fortunately that is not the case for most weather effects. I will now go for the approach using lots. There is always room for improvement for a second version should I ever find out if there is a effect dir property that enables central map placement.

By the way, today i started splitting my files into two dat file, a weather controller, and a celestial controller.

The good thing about this all is that I am still learning. I am sure my. Learnings from the weather and celestial controller will help fixing the last bugs in the air traffic controller, as well as help improving the (new) animals I still have in store.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 06, 2013, 07:24:56 AM

I said before that I admire your perseverance on the job but I think the search for a perfect thing sometimes only serves to complicate because will always find that could be better, do not you think?


Despite big visual impact of weather mods personally think that other implementations are much more interesting and less prone to problems (performance)


In SC4 always there are some complex solutions to accomplish what we want but invariably they also then become complex problems to solve.


As someone who is already involved in the community for  many years you've probably seen several projects that disappear due to RL and particularly I'm rooting for this project continue forever.


If the lot is the way safely and less prone to errors and interferences then  make it (I guarantee that there will be also a lot less complaints about the functioning.)


note:PM
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on January 07, 2013, 09:00:27 PM
Truly amazing work, your videos are just mindblowing.  &apls

One idea on triggering effects, and I have no idea if this is feasible, but I haven't seen it mentioned here yet so let's see if it's any good. Terrain brushes use and can trigger effects. There are two properties related to the brush cursor itself (i.e. the green circles), but there is also a property, Comp1IDOfEffectToPlace, that tells the brush what effect to trigger. The three fauna brushes use this property, as does the rain tool. The property names a GID and IID for an effect, which match up with an effect listed in Section 14 of the EFFDIR.

That's as much as I know about it, it was something I noticed during my research on brushes, but haven't looked any further into. It's usefulness, I think, would be in that you could create a new brush, and "paint" the effect into action, letting effect scripting handle the rest as to when/what appears.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 08, 2013, 02:03:40 AM
Interesting lead about the terrain effects! I'll have a look at it.

I'll keep exploring for simplification and optimization of the celestial and weather effects.
NCGAIO; I hear you :) but keep in mind that the work I am doing is to make it all actually work... 
No worries though about editing the existing effect dir. That is not what I am doing... I am just adding new effects. The existing effect dir should not be modded. Also I am more and more comfortable about performance impact. These effects should not have much more impact then when using the waterstream and waterdrop effects. Not 100% sure though, just hopeful.

Meanwhile...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: M4346 on January 08, 2013, 02:16:34 AM
It's the dawning of a new era for SC4  :D $%Grinno$% ::)

&apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 09, 2013, 02:16:15 AM
I have decided to release soon as a beta version, otherwise I am affraid RL will become too busy and I won't release at all.
Also I need feedback from a broader audience.

A new teaser video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz_gtp82i0A&feature=youtu.be
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on January 09, 2013, 02:46:38 AM
 :o :o :o :o :o &apls &apls &apls &apls wonderful! just... Wonderful!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on January 09, 2013, 02:52:22 AM
Aurora.... Crazy......
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: M4346 on January 09, 2013, 03:38:10 AM
 ??? :o I'm speechless!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Bipin on January 09, 2013, 04:29:33 AM
Jeeze, that's crazy. I can't wait to try this out!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmdude1 on January 09, 2013, 04:58:28 AM
wow.... now 'that' is how to create a teaser. great work.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmyers2043 on January 09, 2013, 05:10:42 AM
That is very cool. I am excited about the thought of seeing a lot of screen grabs in City Journals.

- Jim

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on January 09, 2013, 05:54:41 AM
Aurora Borealis, my last track in my music folder  ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ynic0Em-hs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ynic0Em-hs)

Fantastic Alex.

I have few questions:

-is it possible that during the day the sun leaves its orange tints and switches to yellow / white ones. And when dusk comes it takes again orange / red colors?

- does the moon light up a little bit?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 09, 2013, 06:21:00 AM
Quote from: Girafe on January 09, 2013, 05:54:41 AM

-is it possible that during the day the sun leaves its orange tints and switches to yellow / white ones. And when dusk comes it takes again orange / red colors?
- does the moon light up a little bit?

The sun actually does that as it rises... I had limited time to make the video, so I forgot to put in a scene with the sun higher up in the sky.
At this moment the moon only shows at night at constant brightness.

Tuning of the effects turned out to be extremely challenging since I still do not understand many of the parameters in the effect dir. I will include a list of limitations in the readme. Still there are many improvements that are possible, but I just don't have the time to implement them :( (e.g I could make the sun more lively by adding some dynamics to the texture).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: peterycristi on January 09, 2013, 07:51:19 AM
It's just... i can't find words!  :o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 09, 2013, 10:36:05 AM

:) Needless to say ... wonderful work!


Are the news that keeps even more kindled interest in the game and you're doing it very well! congratulations  &apls &apls

- tks citation!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: threestooges on January 09, 2013, 10:52:44 AM
Wonderful work there xannepan. Thanks for looking into an area of the game that's been relatively overlooked and pressing the boundary of what's possible ever farther. That moon, around 2:50 in the video where it's silhouetting the trees on the edge of the map, almost looks like a moonrise over a hill (imagining the edge of the map as the crest of the hill). Looking forward to seeing its progression and release.
-Matt
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: epicblunder on January 09, 2013, 12:08:05 PM
 :o  ohmygodohmygodohmygod........    &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 09, 2013, 04:29:56 PM
Simply amazing
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sunv123 on January 09, 2013, 05:27:59 PM
Tis a great work of digital art and it's just amazing. Though, there is one thing that I dislike and that is the fact that you have to put it in the center. For large tiles, the center is pretty hard to find and it's a hassle. It's not that bad though, I would appreciate it if you could find some way to fix it, even though it may be very hard indeed. &mmm If you could, it would be over the top.

Overall, it's a great work of art. ()stsfd()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on January 09, 2013, 05:53:14 PM
Quote from: sunv123 on January 09, 2013, 05:27:59 PM
Tis a great work of digital art and it's just amazing. Though, there is one thing that I dislike and that is the fact that you have to put it in the center. For large tiles, the center is pretty hard to find and it's a hassle. It's not that bad though, I would appreciate it if you could find some way to fix it, even though it may be very hard indeed. &mmm If you could, it would be over the top.

Overall, it's a great work of art. ()stsfd()

It's not hard to find at all unless it's developed already. Use the power line tool to count tiles. There's one pylon every ten tiles.

Great work, Alex!


Cheers
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: epicblunder on January 09, 2013, 06:50:19 PM
Quote from: sunv123 on January 09, 2013, 05:27:59 PM
For large tiles, the center is pretty hard to find and it's a hassle. It's not that bad though, I would appreciate it if you could find some way to fix it, even though it may be very hard indeed. &mmm If you could, it would be over the top.

Or just ctrl-X, type in terrainquery, hit enter.  Now your query tool will give you the x and y tile number when you hover over it (the bottom line, NOT the top line, which is distances in meters).  For a large city you want tile 127 of each.

Also, in my limited testing the mod seems to work with the DarkNite mod, but the sunrise seemed to be too light before the sun came up.  However that may be the animation and the cycles not properly sync-ing up because of my impatience.  I still haven't gotten the aurora to appear, though.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 09, 2013, 10:29:44 PM
Readme file ;-) : To find the center I have created a helper: hit CTRL+x type in "Effect jenxscreencenter". A marker will be placed in the screencenter. but indeed only of undeveloped terrain and water, so good point aout that one.

The limitations in the readme explain that I haven't succeeded in doing it without placing it in the center, which is indeed the bigges limitation (and frustration) of all. That's also why I put all the warnings in and why I consider it a beta release.

About the aurora: I have had some PMs about this also. It should appear in january nights. But I guess because months can pass much quicker then 24hrs in SC4, it may be a lucky shot to have them appear. have an idea how to improve by using the visual state changes prop, and will implement in a nex release. If you have some experience with Ilives reader you can open the dat file, find the aurora effect exemplar and tune the simulator date and time of day properties.

Epic blunder could you please post a sceenshot about the light issue and query the game clock (hover the cursor over the game date for a few seconds without moving the mouse)

Please keep reporting unknown issues guys! It will help me improve the plugin.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 10, 2013, 12:23:52 AM
I deeply apologize but I already had to update as I forgot to include the FSH texture for the aurora (they where still in the dat file for the unreleased weather controller).
Also I changed the aurora exemplar a bit. Aurora should now display always if you switch to night time in january (on my PC it works fine). I also updated the readme, by adding some more nuances to the limitations section.

For now I really recommend this plugin only for patient and experienced players ;-)


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: weixc812 on January 10, 2013, 12:55:57 AM
Thank you so much for sharing  &apls
I've never imagined a mod like this, so creative that I can't believe myself :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Kergelen on January 10, 2013, 02:14:07 AM
I really enjoyed your presentations. Are very exciting.  &apls &apls
Would it be possible to make a reflection effect of moonlight on the sea? I imagine the moon on the sea.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 10, 2013, 02:29:47 AM
Quote from: Kergelen on January 10, 2013, 02:14:07 AM

Would it be possible to make a reflection effect of moonlight on the sea? I imagine the moon on the sea.

I think it is possible by applying a water specific texture which fades in and out. Unfortunately, I won't have any time for it soon.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: epicblunder on January 10, 2013, 11:11:33 AM
I took a series of screens.  I used the updated 2.0 mod, and i still can't see the auroras with simfox's Day'n'Night installed.  The screens are on my online storage here (https://skydrive.live.com/#cid=506BD9ACB46AF1F6&id=506BD9ACB46AF1F6!1949).  If they appear out of order you can sort by name in the top right corner.  Clicking one brings up a slideshow setup like windows default picture viewer.

After i uploaded those photos something occured to me:  I was testing that with Gobias' terrain, which has it's own lighting exemplar included in the terrain mod.  So maybe it's not darknite which is causing your mod to act funny, it might be the lighting exemplar in the terrain.  I'll have to do some more testing when i have time tomorrow to know.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 10, 2013, 11:50:25 AM
Thx. That helps. I cannot yet explain all that I am seeing though... Part of it indeed must be due to another day/night setting.
It seems some effects are (just a bit) out of sync with each other. But not the ones I expected??? I'll have to think about it...

Did you download the update wrt the aurora?


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: josh6 on January 10, 2013, 03:55:59 PM
Hi xannepan, I love your work, its amazing.

I was just wondering if all or any of the weather/sun-moon mods can also be applied to region view

I would love to see a rain shower over my entire city and even  my city in the night.

Regards, Josh6
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 10, 2013, 10:28:20 PM
I haven't looked into regional effects, but Unfortunately, I haven't encounterd anything sofar that would make it possible.. So I am not hopeful.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on January 11, 2013, 01:52:07 AM
Quote from: josh6 on January 10, 2013, 03:55:59 PM
Hi xannepan, I love your work, its amazing.

I was just wondering if all or any of the weather/sun-moon mods can also be applied to region view

I would love to see a rain shower over my entire city and even  my city in the night.

Regards, Josh6

I dont think that is possible. I may not know the effect dir and stuff like that, but I know that what you see in the region is a saved thumbnail image of your city, not the actual city, so don't expect interactivity with it in the region view I say.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 11, 2013, 08:02:15 AM
It turns out for both city and region view you can trigger individual effects via the CTRL+X cheat mode, then typing "Effect <effectname>".

Problem is that the effects need some spacing properties which determine how far clouds etc spread out. These props are sofar only optimized for city view. But I can try to make some effects to optimize for region view. I do not know how to trigger them though besides using the cheat code.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on January 11, 2013, 08:08:06 AM
I checked a little bit these effects.

1. I am not able to find the center of the map with your tip and extra cheat dll. After typing the text in the box, what should happen?

2. Moon effect works nice (used it with Simfox's Darknite without problems).

3. Celestial effects (I have the sun for day + moon for night, is it normal? I thought it was only sun)

4. I was not successful with the aurora (with v2 version of course  %wrd).

Hope to see weather effects soon  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 11, 2013, 08:14:52 AM
Hi,

Can you try if you can trigger the aurora by using the effect cheat

Ctrl+x then "Effect jenxaurora"

Thx
Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: josh6 on January 11, 2013, 08:23:16 AM
Quote from: xannepan on January 11, 2013, 08:02:15 AM
It turns out for both city and region view you can trigger individual effects via the CTRL+X cheat mode, then typing "Effect <effectname>".

Problem is that the effects need some spacing properties which determine how far clouds etc spread out. These props are sofar only optimized for city view. But I can try to make some effects to optimize for region view. I do not know how to trigger them though besides using the cheat code.

Thanks for attempting to figure this out!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on January 11, 2013, 08:52:24 AM
Quote from: xannepan on January 11, 2013, 08:14:52 AM
Hi,

Can you try if you can trigger the aurora by using the effect cheat

Ctrl+x then "Effect jenxaurora"

Thx
Alex

Nothing  %wrd I maybe do something wrong, was someone successful with it?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 11, 2013, 09:05:53 AM
Mmm..I'll have to check toroughly once more. Sorry about that.

About the celestial: they include sun and moon indeed, and also the aurora (which perhaps doesn't work)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 12, 2013, 07:54:03 AM
Hello,
I'd like your opinion about a possible feature for the weather plugin I am working on. Please vote for the poll above.

Thank you!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on January 12, 2013, 08:32:44 AM
Question: are the destructive effects in the weather mod really destructive, or are they only visual counterparts of the disasters?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 12, 2013, 08:37:53 AM
If I include then they will be really destructive. That means lightning will cause fires, tornados demolish buildings. I think the destructiveness can be tuned, but I have no idea if I will succeed in doing so. So best is to assume desctructiveness is similar to the disasters you can trigger yourself already in the game.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on January 12, 2013, 08:50:32 AM
I think it shoud be 2 different package (one destructive and the other not).

Moreover the best could be to choice during the installation the weather effects we want:

- rain
- lightning
- snow (does snow could be adjust in fonction of the height for example in winter under 1000m snow is rain and up 1000m snow is snow?)
- rainbow
...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kbieniu7 on January 12, 2013, 09:13:07 AM
Quote from: Girafe on January 11, 2013, 08:08:06 AM
1. I am not able to find the center of the map with your tip and extra cheat dll. After typing the text in the box, what should happen?

I have the same problem. Typing this cheat does nothing, both with and without all other plugins installed. However aurora, as well as sun and moon, works.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 12, 2013, 10:19:17 PM
Argh...I think I know what's wrong. I shared some fsh texture between the jupiter and the aurora plugins. They started out as a single file, but when I splitted them of, I forgot to duplicate the shared textures. Same happened to the FSH textures for the aurora effect...
I'll try to fix it. In the mean time you can use the terrainquery "cheat" as suggested in on of the previous posts.

By they way: the marker won't show up if there are buildings covered the terrain surface. It should display on roads etc though.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Mack The Finger on January 13, 2013, 07:33:54 AM
Hello xannepan,

I am not able to find the center of the screen either. Tried it with a fresh installation, too.
The cheat just doesn't do anything for me. Tried it on a new large tile.

Is there any other way to calculate exactly where the lots should be placed?
Like how many tiles from West to East, and then South to North?
Counting tiles is very tedious but if you use the road tool, which costs 10 simoleons for each road, so then 100 is 10 tiles, 700 is 70 tiles. etc. It could be counted fairly quickly that way. 

I know it's amateur hour, but that's all I could think of.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kbieniu7 on January 13, 2013, 08:29:55 AM
Road tool is good idea, but it costs more, if there is a hill or anything to destroy on its way.
Xannepan mentioned better way: type the cheat "terrainquery" and then with query tool try to find a tile which coordinates are: x=127,y=127 for large cities, x=63,y=63 for medium, or x=31,y=31 for small ones.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Mack The Finger on January 13, 2013, 12:10:06 PM
Quote from: kbieniu7 on January 13, 2013, 08:29:55 AM
Road tool is good idea, but it costs more, if there is a hill or anything to destroy on its way.
Xannepan mentioned better way: type the cheat "terrainquery" and then with query tool try to find a tile which coordinates are: x=127,y=127 for large cities, x=63,y=63 for medium, or x=31,y=31 for small ones.

That worked quick and perfectly, thank you. That was a great idea. 

I was now able to test the mod. I'm using simfox's day'n'night, and the moonrise/moonset and the sunrise/sunset are working just like in the video. However, during 4 January months the Aurora did not work, but the cheat worked fine.

This is an awesome innovtive mod! It's already gave me a hundred ideas for pictures...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 14, 2013, 10:16:02 AM
Some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that I have managed to balance between performance and acceptable rain and snow effects in such way that a rain shower now doesn't generate more particles then the waterfall/stream effects that were unlocked by jeronij some time ago already. On the maxis large city tutorial performance for the weather mod is really acceptable. If the shadows are turned off performance is actually quite good. No guarantees for mega cities with much traffic though...

Other good news is that I can reduce overall game brightness during rainshowers and snowstorms etc, which give a much more realistic atmosphere during storms. The sims are stupid though so they won't turn on the lights...
Also the snow cover now works fine, albeit there is no way to control height nor avoiding placement of snow on steep terrain.

The bad news is, that I still don't know how to position the sun/moonrise effects in the middle of the screen. So the aurora mod lots will still need to be placed in the middle of the map. Other than that controlling the timing of the effects remains difficult, as I have trouble finding out how the timing properties in the effect dir relate to the game clock. An finally, I don't seem to be able to create tornados above water, but lets agree that is a minor thingy...

I am currently defining the spec for seasonal behavior of the weather effects, and random chances etc.

All with all despite the few hours I can spend on this these days. it's progressing really well.

-alex




Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 17, 2013, 08:19:36 AM
Last time I presented Aurora, goddess of the dawn, renews herself every morning and flies across the sky, announcing the arrival of the sun.

Today I present Jupiter god of the sky and thunder.

http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2883

Only with your feedback I can improve this plugin.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: pagenotfound on January 17, 2013, 11:43:34 AM
Excuse this outburst BUT:

THIS. IS. FREAKING. AWESOME!!!!!1     &hlp &hlp

Seriously actually seeing weather for sc4? Never thought I would see the day. I haven't a clue how you did it but you just blew my mind. Wow.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: andisart on January 17, 2013, 12:25:08 PM
Xannepan, wow...... :o :o :o
First let me get off my chest that I am in absolute AWE of your work! I mean, wow, this is what the community has dreamed of for soo long! This has always been one of the most-asked-for mods since the game's release 10 yrs ago, so it's a big deal. This is probably going to become one of the most favorite SC4 mods EVER. That Aurora video gave me showers of goosebumps!

I wish I could support you with mod knowledge, but this is way beyond me I'm afraid. I will, however, do my best with testing and giving feedback.

Now, for the mods, I just spent a couple of hours with them and here are my first impressions and thoughts/ideas:

- The rain and snow animations look georgeous and realistic. It was a really cool and exciting moment to see them appear the first time!

- The seasonal timing of the different effects throughout the year worked nicely as it should

- Performance was only lightly affected with shadows turned on full. However, this was played in an empty (tho large) map. Shadows turned off there was no more performance impact. I play on a 4 yr old laptop (Intel Dual Core P8400, 2.26Ghz, 4GB Ram, GeFore 9600 GT)

- I spotted on several occasions rain, snow and also cloud effects moving fast over the map, as if they were dragged to the place they should appear. I have the impression, this appeared only at the start of an effect.

- clouds and thunderstorms seem to have gathered in a cove-like mountain valley. was that coincidence or on purpose? If so it would be really cool for it would be realistic.

- the rate of lighting strikes during thunderstorms seems to be set too high atm. Especially on smaller storms it appears a bit more like "rage from above" than a natural occurance (this is also important to consider in regards to the destructive mod option). Also I noticed that lightning often strikes far outside the actual stormclouds which looks a bit odd. Similiar to the above point, sometimes the lighting moves fast in one direction when spawned, but not as far as the above.

- just as an idea: to add variety maybe add storms that only have lightning inside clouds, but no actual strikes. This occurs in nature too. (not sure if you've added this already)

- the snow on the terrain builds up nicely, but what sticks out is that the whole map terrain texture is then covered at the same time, no matter where the snow storm occurs. I know you said you had run into issues with this point. Maybe instead of the idea of getting the texture to change only where the snow actually falls you could add just more snowstorm spawns. If there are, say 4 or 5 spawns on a large map it probably looks more convincing when the whole terrain turns snow-covered.

- the effect with the darkening during storms is really cool, but it appears a bit odd on Zoom 1 and 2, if possible I would restrict it to Zoom 5, 4 and 3. The reason is that only on these zoom levels you are actually under the clouds. On Zoom 2 and 1 you are above cloud level. And as we know, the sun is always shining above the clouds 
:sunny:

- the rainbow is a wonderful idea, but I think a realistic or convincing execution of it will be difficult. In reality a rainbow is of course always closely tied to the direction of the rays of the sunlight. In the mod the rainbow is always in the same angle and also appears when the sky is dark from the storm and there is no sun (some sun is required for it to exist of course), which looks odd. Also, if combined with the celestial mod, the rainbow would need to allign with the movement of the sun in the sky. Otherwise it might look really odd if you can see the sun in that corner and the rainbow in a physically off angle to it in another corner. This might not bother others, so it's just my 5 cents  ;)

- celestial movement hasnt correctly alligned with the day-night cycle of the game for me. I waited 3 or more full cycles with no improvement. Mod usually was a bit behind game cylce (terrain was fully bright before sun started rising)

- not sure if that's what you meant in an earlier post, but the texture of the sun setting is getting red way too early. It should be much closer to the horizon before starting to turn its color

- not sure if I noticed correctly, but is the moon rising in the same spot every day? If so, could the path be altered to bring more variety and realism

- probably for a future idea: the full moon should cast light on the terrain at night. Also different moon phases would be desirable for the future (more realism). I guess you could also think of different sun phases, as in angles of its way (high in the summer, low angles in the winter)

- none of the ctrl+x commands worked for me in either mods. I can use other cheats like "weaknesspays" or the terrain query

Note: I tested with otherwise empty Plugins folder
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 18, 2013, 03:14:45 AM
Thanks for the feedback andisart! This is exactly what I need to make improvements!

I am glad you like how the rain and snow turned out and that the seasonal timing works! Also very happy to hear the performance was ok sofar.

Indeed rain and snow move a bit especiallty at the start of an effect (that's why for now I left the circular terrain marker in the beta version, to keep track of the center of the rainshower etc). Movement is influenced by a gravity property that helps the rain/snow to travel accross the terrain instead of having it at a steady location all the time. The consequence is that on steep hills and mountains movement can initially be very fast untill it has found a steady spot. Often that is indeed in valleys (as intended, albeit I cannot completely predict/control the behavior). There are different type of clouds. Those associated with rain and snow fall. These are very dense clouds and they behave as described.
Next to these there are different type of cloud decks which spread out over the entire map. The latter do not travel accross the terrain in the same way the rain/snow clouds do. I had to make some choices as to cloud density. Realistically a storm would have a very thick cloud deck with almost 100% density. Obviously you'd not be able to see anything of your city anymore in that case. So I had to limit cloud density. Consequently, also lightning looks a bit weird as if it is not associated with clouds sometimes.
I tried to have lightning appear only with the dense snow/rain clouds. But that really looked totally weird.

I have been trying to figure out the lightning strike rate. At least on my computer the strike rate on flat terrain is fine. On mountain like terrains indeed strike rate is too high. Unfortunately atm I have no idea how to control it :( Probably one of the many parameters in the effect dir that are still unknown.

Lightning flashes should actually also appear without lightning strikes already... But these are full screen flashes, not really within clouds. (Good idea though, not sure if it is possible)

For the snow cover I also did many experiments. I eventually chose for full map cover. If I limited the snow to appear to areas where snowfall (animated) appears only you end up with an ugly patchy terrain which looks weird. And even on turtle speed winter season doesn't last long enough to have the snowfall to appear everywhere (at most two snow patches). It is due to performance issues that I had to limit the extent of the snowfall (animation) area. Snow fall covering the entire map at once is simply not feasible.

I can try to limit the darkening to zoom 3/4/5. Not sure if it is possible but it's a good idea to experiment with.

I hear you on the Rainbow... but I'm affraid it's the best I can do within the possibilities of the game. I do have some plans to improve the texture and the ends of the rainbow.

Sorry to hear that celestial movement is not synchronous. Do you have any experience with the Ilive reader? In that case you could (1) open the jenx_aurora.dat file, (2) find the exemplars for Sunrise/set moonrise/set (3) Adjust the property which is called Prop Time Of Day. This property has two values (=represention an hour during the day, 24 hr clock) that control when an effect should start and when it should end. Especially, the start property is important for synchronization. If you want you can play with thee properties and see how it improves celestial movement (if you decide to do so I'd love to hear back from you on which values work best for you).

-The moon casting light would be cool, but I don't think I could make it realistic knowing the limitations of the effect dir. Reflection on water is something that may be possible though. I can create some random variation in the spot where the moon/sun rises.  Moon phases is also possible (in progress actually) but the phase the game selects would be random for each night. Sun phases as you suggest should also be possible, but are not on my priority list atm.

About the ctrl+x. That is strange. Did you type in "Effect " before the actual effectname?

Hope this helps!
-Alex



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: [Delta ²k5] on January 18, 2013, 03:38:13 AM
Great first beta! I enjoy watching the snow falling to the ground :) Stunnig that something like this can be done using Matlab :D
One thing which could be improved: when the clouds are very dense you could tone the light a tad down (not as much like on the snow storm, only a tad ;) ) This is the only thing I gotta say about his beta &apls simply great work!

Now the only thing we need would be some plugin to fix those wired timings in SC4 one day still covers months :D but I think that's not your part ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kbieniu7 on January 18, 2013, 06:46:05 AM
Wow, Alex, that's the purely pure awesomeness!

I've installed the mod and after a short game I have some remarks:

-like the Andisart said, thunders during the storms seem to occur a bit too often. As I opened the mountainous city, and the October has started, there beginned the bombing! There was a thunder after thunder (just those full screen) and I had a one great roar which was lasting whole November, even despite the fact that clouds had gone. The ones caused with a cheat had quite reasonable frequency.
- the effect of darkness is geogous! During the winter, with snow falling it creates breathtaking and mysterious atmosphere!
- After the bombing I had the year, with no effects at all. Then came the october with next bombing. I understand, this is the effect of probability?
- I was playing on large squares with dense-forested areas with about 10.000 citizens. Performace seemed to be almost untouched, just during a while after zoom changing. Only funnel cloud affected more.
- All of effect cheats work.

I'm not keen on modding in SC, so I'm asking: is it possible to add new disasters to disaster menu? Could it be the way to create weather effects, which are possible to steer?

EDIT: At the moment I have the same thunder-bombing-Oktoberfest, but this time on the seaside.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: andisart on January 18, 2013, 09:55:07 PM
Thanks for the feedback, Alex. Some things sound like there's no easy fix, but I guess that's the world of modding, right?
Too bad with the snow spawn instances and performance, it would surely have looked great.

About clouds, I forgot to mention that I thought it would be cool to have a cloud cover/blanket, where you cant see through only if you pop down to zoom 3, 4 or 5. That'd be a cool effect, but I guess the performance issues would apply here as well.

About the poll above, it's closing in on a tie, I just wanna say why would you not offer the option to have destructive force of the weather. It's such a cool idea imo. And who doesnt want it just uses the regular version.

I did try the cheats it with "Effect " in front, so it's weird they didnt work. But on the last page other readers have reported the cheats also not working.

Do know the reader, so will play around with those settings for time and report back.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 19, 2013, 10:54:11 AM
Something completely different. A small mod, but useful. No more Hole Digger and Raiser Lots needed.
This lot raises itself and then destroys itself. Perhaps I can even attach it to an onslope puzzle pieces so that it raises itself. Have to figure out how to avoid the destructive nature of the effect :P

http://youtu.be/oBq4dYppvdI
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Dantes on January 19, 2013, 10:56:26 AM
Interessing mod, I love your smart movies  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 19, 2013, 11:37:18 PM
So I was thinking. What if I attach the god valley lake or rain tool to a plopable lot, same as I did for the raise-'n-destroy lot?

Well I turns with the rain tool, by placing the lot I can fill holes with water. And now here is the important discovery: the lot is not destroyed, and each time you open the game it regenerates the water! See crude screenshot.

Keep in mind: I am still not sure I can really pull this one off.. The water edges at the shore are a concern, not sure about creating ripples/sparkles/wave (don't think so to be honest). but surface waters does not seem to be impossible anymore either. The biggest threat is the time I can spend on this. Work is getting busier each day, and I am not going to give up my social life either :). Finally I still have a huge amount of unreleased work I need tofinish someday..
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on January 20, 2013, 12:28:12 AM
To be honest, this could be the discovery that beats them all. I think everyone will be really anxious to see if you can finally break that age-old pain.

&apls


Cheers
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: w_swietwoot on January 20, 2013, 12:42:08 AM
Really great stuff you're making. Breaking all the sc4 barriers! Wow!
This weather modd, water and leveler tools, those extra airplane automata, it doesn't stop. &apls
I can't help with the technical stuff, but just wanted to say: keep it up!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 20, 2013, 05:03:45 AM
Quote from: xannepan on January 19, 2013, 11:37:18 PM

Well I turns with the rain tool, by placing the lot I can fill holes with water. And now here is the important discovery: the lot is not destroyed, and each time you open the game it regenerates the water! See crude screenshot.


Just to see if I understood it right ... this means that when you save the game the texture of water left by effect on the lot also is saved ?

If not that, which means "regenerates the water" ...

Quote from: xannepan on January 19, 2013, 11:37:18 PM

Keep in mind: I am still not sure I can really pull this one off.. The water edges at the shore are a concern, not sure about creating ripples/sparkles/wave (don't think so to be honest). but surface waters does not seem to be impossible anymore either.

The effects called by .exe has some parameters related to exemplar properties as reported in table wiki -  Exemplar_properties  (http://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=Exemplar_properties)- in this particular case in section #  Watter (http://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=Exemplar_properties#Water)...  now how to relate them to an additional effect is something that seems difficult to achieve ... but ...

Quote from: xannepan on January 19, 2013, 11:37:18 PM
The biggest threat is the time I can spend on this. Work is getting busier each day, and I am not going to give up my social life either :)

This was one of the reasons the compliments previous ... is a tedious work of trial and error, so don't have as leave to admire his perseverance.

But (everything has a but) the dangerous is that new ideas going emerging and as you said before  " the time is finite ", then maybe do not enough to make everything!

I hope that at the end your initial idea about editing effects return to the focus and go to MTS2, then would can continue if the real life exhaust it your time available.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 20, 2013, 05:07:25 AM
It does not save the texture. It fills the holes again (in an instance, so you hardly notice) the same way when you place the lot for the first time.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glazert on January 20, 2013, 05:43:09 AM
Is it possible to join up the holes, effectively to make a stream?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 20, 2013, 07:11:18 AM
Quote from: xannepan on January 20, 2013, 05:07:25 AM
It does not save the texture. It fills the holes again (in an instance, so you hardly notice) the same way when you place the lot for the first time.

Ok! then when you use "hole-'n-destroy" it will lower the terrain and show the texture of the water?... or are you referring to a plane texture prop  over this depression !

If this is the case, it can use the effect of treatment stations for the animation effect on the texture of water.

&idea ..maybe could look up a olden S3d animation model that I left behind, so would have a truly animated water with water appearance flowing to streams or rivers.


Saw! what did I say! ... this game is an addiction and if you are careless he takes its time.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 20, 2013, 10:23:55 AM
Wow. This is huge. Hope you're able to figure it all out  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AngryBirdsFan436 on January 21, 2013, 01:39:41 AM
I downloaded your weather mod and it's GREAT!! But can there be some other stuff like hurricanes ranging from Category 1 to Category 5? That would be awesome!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 23, 2013, 10:51:51 AM
Quote from: AngryBirdsFan436 on January 21, 2013, 01:39:41 AM
I downloaded your weather mod and it's GREAT!! But can there be some other stuff like hurricanes ranging from Category 1 to Category 5? That would be awesome!

Possibly... but how would you imagine a hurricane would look like? Just let me know your ideas and I can try, although in all honesty for now I will be focusing on getting out some bugs, trying to improve some functionallity, and making so effect optional.

I do have an update on the surface water experiments.

I can make it work but there are limitations.

The way it works is as follows: you first have to use the terrain brushes to model a lake or river. Then you place a lot in the river/lake and it will be filled up with water (applies only to the lake/river in which you plop the lot). You can have multiple lakes/rivers on different levels. As long as the lot is left in place, water will be permanent. Destroying the lot will get rid of the water once you save and reopen the map. Water will then only be destroyed for that particular lake/river.

Now the limitations:
1) Care should be taken there are no gaps in the lakes/rivers.. otherwise the water will leak out and fill up the entire city. Destroying the lot will get rid of the water again after reopening it. BUT there are limitations (see #2 and 3)
2) The water really acts as water. Meaning you can build bridges over it. HOWEVER, the bridges will be destroyed once you reopen the city. So this is a serious limitation that cannot be solved I think.
3) Placing water is semi destructive. Existing roads will be destroyed but it seems that buildings are not... so You can have an underwater city in fact. Don't get your hopes up: it doesn't look very wel because of the LODs around buildings
4) Shorelines are jagged, less smooth as the actual game water.
5) You can place harbors etc on the water, they will generate boats etc, BUT... the boats appear underwater, at the actual game water level. No clue how to solve it, not sure it can be done.
6) For the same reason sparkles/waves will not appear at the water surface.
.. probably some more limits that I haven't encountered sofar.

Despite the limitations I do think it will be possible by a combi with auto hole digger effects, to make use of this discovery. e.g. I think canals with real water can become a reality someday (same water textures as the actual game water textures)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 23, 2013, 11:36:48 AM
Fascinating stuff on the surface water  :thumbsup:

It's a shame about the bridge destruction. It sounds like the bridge destruction is somewhat similar to what happens with the "zero sea level" cheat--does that mean all bridges and tunnels are destroyed or only the ones next to the surface water? If roads in the water area are also destroyed that would mean a "zero-slope" bridge setup wouldn't be an effective workaround, leaving only "fake" bridges using overhanging props and subway transitions. But am I correct to understand a road adjacent to the water wouldn't be destroyed, alloying for dam/reservoir setups? It's too bad there's not some way to make the water effect happen before the tile is loaded, similar to the way adjusting sealevel can be used to edit things underwater without destroying bridges and tunnels. Doesn't sound like something possible though.

The depth of automata problem doesn't sound very practically solvable but boat lots should work I would think.

Just my two cents, keep up the good work  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 24, 2013, 12:22:44 PM
Quote from: noahclem on January 23, 2013, 11:36:48 AM

The depth of automata problem doesn't sound very practically solvable but boat lots should work I would think.

Just my two cents, keep up the good work  :thumbsup:

"I think" (1) that position of automata sea level has no solution! Maybe the one reason for the shipwreck of old experiences to use Ferries as  transport network. Point to Point


even the elevation of the model in relation to the axis of height for a given transport (eg ATEX) causes  offset to x, y in view of the game so it  also is not solution.

Maybe it was possible to continue using the old trick of goaskin to transport with a more modern face

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2F4D6Tcaa1lgw%2F2.jpg%3Ftime%3D1359061038426&hash=18ee9b038bd02138cae760956a72f9b4b25da4af)  - Mod Canal Addon (CAN-AM) (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=7662.msg446945#msg446945)


Note : (1) in the case of simcity is always good to say "I think" before someone comes up with something new.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 24, 2013, 10:33:52 PM
Quote from: NCGAIO on January 24, 2013, 12:22:44 PM

Note : (1) in the case of simcity is always good to say "I think" before someone comes up with something new.

Hahaha.. That is indeed very true...  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 06:11:06 AM
I have decided to attach the alpha version of the surface water mod here so you can experiment with it a bit, and perhaps give me some feedback. Use with care ;)

Here is how it works:
1) Unzip in your plugins folder. 2) Open your game and a map/city. 3) Use the terrain tools to dig some holes and/or canyons etc. 4) Then in look in the park menu for the water placement lot. 5)  Plop the lot in any of the holes or canyons you just created. 6) Place multiple lots in the same hole/canyon if you want to raise the water level.

You can now save your city and return to it. All surface water will be preserved. Delete the lots you placed and the water will be gone, but only after you save and reopen.

Limitations are mentioned in one of my previous post... But perhaps you will find out some new possibilities too, that I haven't though of.

One of the things that I find most interesting is that you can now have surface water with the same texture as the actual game water textures. Perhaps this would allow to make more realistic canals etc.

Looking forward to your feedback :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on January 25, 2013, 07:18:17 AM

How can I open the Effect Dir Editor Script with the ilive reader?  %confuso
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on January 25, 2013, 07:24:28 AM
Okay, I had a quick test run and this, THIS is amazing!!!  &apls &apls

On the other hand, now I need to rethink the entire grand masterplan for the canals I had planned! Thanks a lot!!  :thumbsdown:

Kidding of course! :D It's genius, really! A few observations though.

1) I created a bassin with 20m high 'walls' but the water engulfed the entire map, despite the water level remaining below the 20m.  &mmm

2) Which brings up another point, imho the water level is raised too high at once. Would it be possible to have it only raised by say 5 meters? Or even perhaps different levels per lot? Say, a 5m lot, a 10m lot etc., much like the ground raising lots. 

3) somebody ought to BAT canal locks so eventually we can have proper transitions between different water levels (ok this has nothing to do with your mod but it would be nice).

4) EDIT! If you raise or lower the terrain with the god mode tool, the lot is destroyed and more important, the water will disappear!

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 07:25:24 AM
Quote from: HurricaneMod10 on January 25, 2013, 07:18:17 AM

How can I open the Effect Dir Editor Script with the ilive reader?  %confuso

Currently there are no available editors for the effect dir. Ilive only allows to view it. I have created matlab scripts to read and write the effect dir, but editing is difficult and is done manually in matlab. I can share my matlab scripts but doubt it will be useful.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 07:35:03 AM
Quote from: vortext on January 25, 2013, 07:24:28 AM
Okay, I had a quick test run and this, THIS is amazing!!!  &apls &apls

On the other hand, now I need to rethink the entire grand masterplan for the canals I had planned! Thanks a lot!!  :thumbsdown:

Kidding of course! :D It's genius, really! A few observations though.

1) I created a bassin with 20m high 'walls' but the water engulfed the entire map, despite the water level remaining below the 20m.  &mmm

2) Which brings up another point, imho the water level is raised too high at once. Would it be possible to have it only raised by say 5 meters? Or even perhaps different levels per lot? Say, a 5m lot, a 10m lot etc., much like the ground raising lots. 

3) somebody ought to BAT canal locks so eventually we can have proper transitions between different water levels (ok this has nothing to do with your mod but it would be nice).

Thanks for the feedback vortex! Good points... but I am affraid the section 5 entries remain much of a puzzle to me. I have got this far by many hours of trial and error...but it is tiring.... and I haven't found a consistent relation yet between the behavior and the properties in section 5.....

But what you can try is open the mod dat file in Ilive reader and tune the following (terrain brush) exemplar
6534284A     6A01FC2A     0C8AA2DE     
Properties Comp1Width and Comp1Strength should control the behavior to a large degree.  Both props have entries for each zoom level, but since I am using the brush as an effect-prop instead of an actual brush, I think only one of these entries is relevant (probably the first).

Another thing you may try is to create another lot (just open in lot editor and save as) and replace the jenx_water_1 effect by either jenx_water_2 or jenx_water_3. These effects have slightly different settings and it may make a difference. If you want the lots to be water compatible again you'd have to add a property in the reader (Lotconfigwatercompatible) and set  it to 1.



Question vortex: where did you plop the lot. At the base of the basin, or on a slope? You may want to try to experiment with this... it seems to make a difference, not exactly how though :(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on January 25, 2013, 07:39:17 AM
I'll see what can be done with tinkering. It's rather curious though at 22m the water remains in the bassin.  &Thk/(

EDIT. I cut the values for Comp1Strength in half and what do you know, water remains in a bassin with 12 meter high walls. Cut it in half again and it sits in a 6 meter high bassin!

DOUBLE EDIT! Who would have thought we would ever be able to do this!?!

(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/is23uxf2nbd96f3/JENXposeidon.jpg)

Yes, multiple water levels!! Needless to say this opens up all kinds of new possibilities!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 08:28:30 AM
Good that this worked out.
Two questions though...
Do your basins really have different depths? If you dig larger holes you'd have to see the water transparency behaving similar as real water... Not sure that's what I am seein n your picture.

Second, what happened to the contrast of that screenshot ;) ? Is it the mod?

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on January 25, 2013, 08:34:59 AM
Could you please to show me a share with your matlab scripts for me with the editing? The scripts could be moddable to save your work with the Effect Dir that was only allow and view it.

and thanks for letting me know about this difficult situation with the editing on Ilive.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on January 25, 2013, 08:37:11 AM
Quote from: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 08:28:30 AM
Do your basins really have different depths?

No, they're all 6 meters deep. The bottom of the basins, hence the waterlevel, is at different heights. I imagined something like this could work out well in a urban enviroment as ornamental, modern sculpture like fountains or something, silly me.  :P

Quote from: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 08:28:30 AMSecond, what happened to the contrast of that screenshot ;) ? Is it the mod?

Erm . .  ()what() The only thing I did was convert png to jpg so what's going on with the contrast?!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Bipin on January 25, 2013, 09:22:09 AM
Xannepan is a god. It's that simple.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: epicblunder on January 25, 2013, 10:04:36 AM
Quote from: Bipin on January 25, 2013, 09:22:09 AM
Xannepan is a god. It's that simple.

Frickin WORD.  My mind is officially blown.  Again.

Do you know how much time this will saving on filling in lakes in real-world maps?  No more spending a couple hours MMPing water over a whole tile.  Just build a 2m wall at the egress of the lake and drill a hole 1m shy of the water-lot depth somewhere in the middle of the lake and BAM! instant lake.  Of course you'd need to drop the water transparency in the terrain mod to almost nothing but that's a minute price to pay...

Quote from: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 08:28:30 AM
Do your basins really have different depths? If you dig larger holes you'd have to see the water transparency behaving similar as real water... Not sure that's what I am seein n your picture.

That look like Gobias' SV terrain mod.  In it he set the water transparency MinDepthforMaxAlpha at only 6m, so the water turns completely opaque very quickly.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sim_link on January 25, 2013, 10:20:08 AM
That's simply amazing... your advances to this game have been stunning. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, you pull this off.
Simply epic, no other way to describe it!  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 25, 2013, 10:27:54 AM
......................  :(


Any response to my post  ???  !!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 10:34:57 AM
Quote from: NCGAIO on January 25, 2013, 10:27:54 AM
......................  :(


Any response to my post  ???  !!

I did send you a PM, can't remember when exactly but can't be more then a couple of days at most.

As for your post.. I think we have a language difficulty... Was not sure what you want me to respond to. Can you try again please to explain what you mean? :)
Thanks.

Edit: I completely missed the video (didn't show up on my ipad). That looks cool. I'd love to work together with you on this. How do you want to continu NCGAIO?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Serkanner on January 25, 2013, 11:16:01 AM
I can hardly believe what I have just seen. Water on different height levels. I propose to award a Nobel prize to Xannepan!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mattb325 on January 25, 2013, 11:58:36 AM
Unbelievable....and simply amazing, Alex!! Saving different heights of game water is one of the holy grails and it looks like you've cracked it.  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 12:28:13 PM
And with the most simple effect possible, just one very simple entry.  $%Grinno$%

So guys, what do you think. I don't think I can solve the limitations I have mentioned, simply because the water itself is hardcoded. The effect dir merely allows placing it via a lot rather than with a terrain brush. And because the lot regenerates the water each time the game is started it becomes permanent. (Unfortunately that's also why bridges are destroyed on game startup :( )
But is it enough to release on the lex?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 25, 2013, 12:31:32 PM
.......
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 12:33:55 PM
Quote from: NCGAIO on January 25, 2013, 12:31:32 PM
.......
I don't understand NCGAIO  ()sad()

I responded to your post earlier. I think it looks great what you have done!
Please let me know how to continue. I would be happy to test what you have created! :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 25, 2013, 01:40:03 PM

:) Sorry, the  ....  was not an answer, was at work and had to leave.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmyers2043 on January 25, 2013, 05:48:06 PM
How about that. Real above sea level water. Who would have thought.

- Jim

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 25, 2013, 06:01:01 PM

I think not ... at least until  can understand what resets the sea level!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 26, 2013, 02:40:50 AM
Exploring some possibilities.
Maybe.. just maybe sparkles will be possible too... It may require some random invisible lot plopping (under water ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on January 26, 2013, 03:00:31 AM
Looks kind of similar to sawas, which are used for rice cultivation...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 26, 2013, 03:24:35 AM
Yep Maarten, that was what I intended with a quick & dirty attempt.

Quick question: does anybody know which property in which exemplar makes ploppable boats appear on the water surface?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Yild on January 26, 2013, 03:37:08 AM
who needs SC5  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on January 26, 2013, 05:55:13 AM
Mountains lakes now feasible  :)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sunv123 on January 26, 2013, 05:56:29 AM
Now I don't have to make rivers at sea-level. :thumbsup: This is great!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Delecto on January 26, 2013, 05:59:23 AM
 &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 26, 2013, 06:34:05 AM

I think this should be more useful in this case ..

HOW TO FLOAT YOUR BOAT
( or... Bats on the Water ) (http://www.simpeg.com/forum/index.php?topic=470.0)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on January 26, 2013, 08:13:53 AM
everytime I came here is to be like:  :o :o :o :o :o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on January 26, 2013, 06:42:52 PM
So, I downloaded the Poseidon mod and tried it out.

Technical Check
First, and I know this is very early in the development of the mod, so some of these are probably just not gotten to yet. The lot still retains the text and properties of the "small flower garden" it was made from, including desirability and demand impacts, plop and monthly costs, etc. I'm also curious about the inclusion of a rain tool terrain brush in the mod, what part does this play? Do the effects require this to work? Would the default rain tool in SC1.dat work for this?

Empty City Check
Next, I tried it out on a blank city tile, and it mostly acted as I had expected, being familiar with the rain tool, but I'll get into some of the oddities anyways.

As expected, when the water is raised, it doesn't have any edge at the edge of the city tile, showing instead a gap between water level and the terrain below:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0001_zps7b3bc888.jpg&hash=91847d7ff68b6b18096ded8666816c70e70e3571)

Likewise, when you raise or lower terrain under an area that has water from this mod on it, you get the sharp edges and "erased" water typical of the tool:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0002_zps165c88aa.jpg&hash=ee8f8f42001c6d9ea3f7762e8513bd45d99ad89a)

Something I hadn't expected is that not all of the land below water level gets covered up:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0005_zps34de5ca9.jpg&hash=bbed7c005b8ca721dde968884452814a6751ca6e)
That image shows two areas that were below water level, but stayed dry. These also show the water cliffs at the edge of the higher water really well. (For what it's worth, all this testing was done with the Sudden Valley terrain and water).

The next shot just shows some mountain forming in a city that was previously completely covered with water from the mod:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0007_zps315a5f11.jpg&hash=1082cce817e8746f1072163e558173e60aac5b11)

The next two images just show the remaining bits of water left after raising the mountains and erasing most of the water the mod had placed. Note at this point I'm pretty sure the lots had been destroyed.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0008_zps8c44b13f.jpg&hash=a19e43f047e088dcc42597d80675b190a94f3ffc)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0011_zps65e69188.jpg&hash=277aea46ecfca45a5b830fd6aa9e4a59534f6967)
These show the water gap at the edge of the city and the water cliffs as well.

An interesting note about the water, is that when the slivers of remaining water are thin enough, they can be seen through. This is probably due to the transparency settings.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0012_zpsb5220948.jpg&hash=a5013eae427e897df0df96feed32afa62a02e0bf)

I tried a parting of the seas as well, raising a small strip of land out of an otherwise underwater area, and this is one shot of the results, pretty much as expected:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0014_zps6c22922c.jpg&hash=5c3cae7366ce0e4f22dc24136b837f81f1af7ae6)

My next test consisted of trying out creating water at two different elevations, so I carved out a water in some high ground, and filled it with water. That went as expected, and the river filled beautifully. I then lowered a corner of the city down to sea level to get a comparison going. One interesting effect of this (other than it actually worked - multi-level water!  ;D) was that when sea level water was introduced to the city, the high level river made with this lot got edge of city water gradient as well, and the usual gap had disappeared.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0019_zps69f710e2.jpg&hash=c828de0a9cbb51baf5d77389869e5c57f9469206)

The Great Flood and the Wrath of Poseidon
Next up was a check on an existing city. Well, I built a small test city and then started playing with this mod. Here's the city just before placing the lot in the river that you can see kind of winding through the city, separating the northwest corner from the rest of the city.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0026_zpsb58cffd5.jpg&hash=74c4ef968ddadb3c0035b73a31ccd5e1bc46aa16)
As you can see, I also included a corner of sea level water to watch if/how that interacted with the mod. I also specifically built some zones and a road and a powerline across the riverbed to see how they would be impacted by being in the way of the water.

Then I placed the lot in the river, and this is what happened:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0027_zps355ae4ec.jpg&hash=77e6a87bf15373b9de031192e25b51051985b056)
So far, so good. The houses in/near the riverbed were destroyed, this was expected. There were some landslides and dezoning that occurred in the industrial area near the river bend. This mod has some terrain raising/lowering effects that I hadn't expected, and this was the result. Initially it was limited to a few localized areas and only took a few buildings out. Interestingly, the trees in the riverbed survived. In general, trees were not impacted by rising water.

One thing I had not expected was that the road across the river was not destroyed. In fact the sims kept using it. I ran the game for over a year afterwards to see if this was just network simulator lag, but they just kept on driving through the river.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0030_zpsd8ba4095.jpg&hash=f6dedce8dfbe1025302d4b2f04d843f7bdc8ba06)
The powerlines next to the road were destroyed where they crossed the river, however. I ended up just putting a windmill on the other side to keep those farms powered through the testing.

Everything looked good, so I saved the game. That raised the water level:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0034_zps5716be59.jpg&hash=29f40cb0077aae2f3d6392bdf6a99adddbd7b6dc)
By this point, the city is in disaster stage, the power plant is flooded and powerlines all destroyed. Landslides and the resulting damage are increasingly widespread. The power plant area (bottom center of city) seems to be sinking, though it could just be a visual effect of the rising waters. The city was not flat, so it's hard to judge apparent sinking unless there is visual damage (such as dezoning).

Here's a closeup of the area around the power plant. You can see the landslides in the industrial area becoming larger. The farm at left also looks steeper than it had been. However, farms don't seem to be destroyed by rising water, they just flood and pollute. The water takes on whatever water pollution existed on tiles it covers, so agricultural areas get really nasty really fast. The residential area around the cemetery has suffered a good bit of destruction as well.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0036_zpsa8cc81e1.jpg&hash=6829bee40ae831cb6d43125af5c9b39966bf5a4b)
Another oddity becomes visible in this image - I think this related to the LOD issue you had mentioned earlier, in that the ploppable buildings in particular seem to stay "dry" even when they are far under water, see the coal plant as an example.

This is the riverfront neighborhood from earlier, the one built partially into the riverbed. It is now even further underwater. This would have been a good time to use some boat MMP's in retrospect.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0044_zpsb619e484.jpg&hash=ec1f35481e4f257f4d1a3f791708913544acbf7e)

Saving the game again raised the waters again. Call in the national guard, this city's in some real trouble now. Survivors have been ordered to evacuate the area, search and rescue teams dispatched to low-lying areas.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0050_zpse6a73d24.jpg&hash=5496ea2f46864621e441851df1751d67645d7716)
You can see from this image that this put the water level high enough to flood into the sea level lake in the corner, causing the water level there to rise to match. Interestingly, streets seem to flood before the zones next to them.

Sims arriving at the fire station for help are out of luck, it's under water. An emergency shelter is set up on the upper floors of the police station across the road.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0056_zps8320aeb9.jpg&hash=be7d7d54f3a9e442067e478b2e8b6c314c2c6498)

At this point, the water level seemed to keep on rising:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm503%2Fwhatphots%2F13002%2F13002-img0060_zps6c45ebf1.jpg&hash=cf5c419d5cddd070593c4c271ed302dcaf5af475)
Given enough time it did eventually cover just about the entire city.

So, finally saving and exiting this city, I reloaded it and found that the water level had reset to where the lot had initially put it, contained in the river bed. The destruction from the flood, however, remained. The power lines and water pipes were gone, as were several buildings. Ploppable civic buildings and roads and rail and farms seemed to be unaffected throughout. I ran a few more tests to see what all would cause the water level to jump, and it seemed to boil down to two causes:


  • Using the water pipe underground view, or
  • Saving the game.

One of the weird parts of all this was that some areas underwater got destroyed, and others didn't. My guess is that it was really the raising/lowering of terrain that did the damage, and the water did nothing (except the water pipes, that I can't explain with landslides). There were also some interesting graphical glitches to the whole experience, which can kind of be seen in the above pictures. Mostly it involved those buildings that stayed dry underwater having sides that allowed you to see under the water. Particularly once the runaway water level rise started this became more noticeable as each building slowly succumbed to the flood. The graphical oddities all seem to be normal from what I've seen of the rain tool though, and are probably just in the clunky functionality of that and nothing that could be solved with or attributed to the mod.

Destroying the Poseidon lot caused saving and water pipe viewing to work normally again, as expected. Saving and reloading after destroying the lot caused the water levels to all return to normal.

Conclusions
The mod is highly volatile, but useful. For creating surface water in a MD or a city you're actually playing, you might want to plop the lot, take your pictures, then destroy the lot before saving. Not sure why saving caused the water to rise, but the destruction it causes is very real. On the other hand, if you're looking for a flood disaster, this is perfect for that!  :D  I had a lot of fun playing with this one. The flood disaster is one I had always wished they had kept in SC4, and now we have a way to do it with these amazing lots!

I hope you find all that to be useful. I can send you the full set of unedited pics (70 total) and the unabridged notes to go with them if you want, just PM me an email address. Keep up the great work!  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 26, 2013, 10:00:22 PM
Wow, thanks for the torough testing. Especially the differences in behavior between MMPs, plopabble, growables etc are interesting to dig in too... Also I had noticed road indeed go under water, but then again bridges are destroyed. There may be some interesting learnings. Anyway your post is going to be very useful for me!

Many of the issues are however because of the water effects (actually a terrain brush) itself. And this brush unforntunately is hardcoded. All the effect dir can do is refer to the terrain brush and tweak some of it's properties.

My biggest surprise (and worry) however is the raising water level each time you save and reload the game. I hadn't noticed that and I'll do some testing later today. If I cannot disable that (and to be honest I don't think I can) it may be a show stopper for this mod... :( 

Edit:

Well I have tested it an it's bad but then again not as bad as I initially feared. Apparently, the save behavior is different then the
save-exit-reload behavior. What happens is that each time when you reload or save the game the effect is re-activated again and when you exit the game all water is 'destroyed'. Not a problem if you exit the game and then reload. Actually in that case it is exactly the behavior that is needed to make the water reappear again, because once you exit it is destroyed. Without the exit however the water is not destroyed, but saving does cause reactivating the effect --> water level raises.

However in my new version I could tweak some properties so that it never raises the water level beyond the "enclosing edge" of a valley (their is a mathematical term for this, but I forgot  &Thk/() For example, the water in my rice fields picture posted above will never flood the city no matter how many times I save.
Would I have created a deep valley that initially was only filled half way, then repeated saving will raise the water level up to the point where the valley is completely filled.

How to deal with it then. Well today I will see what is still possible by tweaking properties of the lot, the brush and the effect dir. I still do not understand however what the meaning is off all the unknown parameters :(

The worst case "solution" is to initially plop not one lot, but as many lots that are needed to fill a valley completely up to the edge. Once the maximum is reached saving will not cause it to fill any further.

Well guys, it is a setback.. but as I have mentioned in a post at simtropolis: I choose to think in terms of possibilities rather then in limitations and accept the fact that this mod will not make everyone happy ;)





Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on January 27, 2013, 02:14:24 AM
that is very nice, nice testing Whatevermind  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mave94 on January 27, 2013, 02:20:22 AM
Wow, that looks so great! Like a wish come true: would this mean we can build "below sea level"?  :) :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 27, 2013, 04:22:16 AM
Nice work on the testing there whatevermind  :thumbsup:  Hopefully a number of these shortcomings can be mitigated. And there's a bit of great news here too: If the roads aren't destroyed by water then 0-slope or viaduct-based bridges should work in these new waters....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 27, 2013, 05:09:57 AM
Quote from: noahclem on January 27, 2013, 04:22:16 AM
: If the roads aren't destroyed by water then 0-slope or viaduct-based bridges should work in these new waters....

Well unfortunately they don't. I think it has to do something with the pylons(support pieces) of any bridge that is destroyed. Perhaps there is a property in those support pieces that can be tuned, I haven't looked into it yet.

I have been tweaking the effect from early this morning until now... Without much success :(
Yes, sometimes the water level is limited to the enclosed valley edge... But sometimes it isn't. I think it has to do with how deep the valley is, but also with how steep the valley is and its width. Not sure if I can ever tune this in such way it will behave in a predictable way, and that is really the least that has to be achieved before this can ever be released officially.

I just wished we could have a peak at the game's source code... Not to modify it (I know that that is not allowed) but at least to learn from what the effect properties mean and how these effect properties are processed....

Well anyway I am not giving up yet... But very close to that point nevertheless.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 27, 2013, 10:11:00 AM
Here is a new version of the poseidon mod. I am affraid it still has many of the same issues. There are some differences though

1) There are three lots now, refering to three different brushes. The brush exemplar are easy to edit in Ilive's Reader. Esp the comp1strength and comp1width properties control much of the behavior of the brush (the last of the 5 values for those props is relevant).
2) The lots now have their own custom icons (very crude, yet easy to recognize) in the park menu now
3) I removed the base texture of the lots, which prevents the lot from "demolishing" the water above the tile once the game is saved and/or reopened.
4) I added a pulsating marker that shows up on top of the water surface, so the lot is a bit easier to find back in case you'd want to demolish it. ( &idea: perhaps I could use this texture based effect as the bases for more lively water... well.. first things first)

I created a simple video of the mod in action.

http://youtu.be/RY4hhJRGARU

Note:

I found out the best way to use the poseidon lots is by plopping them several times in the same valley, until the water level reaches a max. As a rule of thumb it seems to hold that the deeper the valley, the more lots you'd need to plop.
Once water level doesn't rise anymore saving the game won't cause the water level to rise any further either. That will "solve &mmm" the issue whatevermind mentioned in his ellaborate test report.

Plop the lots only in valleys/holes/canyons which don't leak. In most cases  (%wrd) I have seen this should prevent the entire map from flooding.

For testing you may want to use CTRL+ALT+SHFT to get back to the god mode menu, then use the raise or lower terrain option to "clear" the map from water. This way you can start over again without having to save and reopen. Obviously you shouldn't do this in a city you want to preserve as it will destroy it.

I appreciate your feedback off course, even better any finding from tweaking the brushes in the reader. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Indiana Joe on January 27, 2013, 10:17:03 AM
Sounds like some awesome progress.  But on a side note, I really like that idea of "more lively water."  I've always wondered if that sparkling effect that appears on the waters surface can be turned into a moving wave texture effect.  Do me a favor and write this down on a sticky note; you should come back to it once you're done with Poseidon.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rambuckel on January 27, 2013, 03:45:19 PM
All these mods you created in such a short time are really brilliant. I'm much too birdbrained in all those technical issues to understand what you're talking about but I'll nevertheless try to use your wonderful creations ...

Keep up your great works!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on January 27, 2013, 06:33:22 PM
Wow! Areas flooded where the depth was less than 0.01m are not shown up to approximately the water depth of 0.01 m (1cm) by the "MinWaterDepthForDeepSeaBedTexture". Similarly in areas where flood plain depths may be less than 0.8 m (1 ft.) are likely to get the deep with surface river flooding up to this water depth we use deep seabed texture for terrain (No texturing beyond that depth).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 27, 2013, 08:43:02 PM

May be the modification of the texture!
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AQj7vebAR28/UQYcK6mAbXI/AAAAAAAABnM/hB5-7CUmfqM/s422/GAp%2520por%2520whatevermind.jpg)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 27, 2013, 11:37:33 PM
NCGAIO. I am sorry... But I don't get your point  :(   
I am doing my best but your English text/words is very difficult to understand. (I don't doubt your best intentions!) I also don't understand what exactly you are showing in again another video. Is this something you did with the rain tool. Or did you create mods to do this? If so I would really appreciate it if you could share with the community. You have posted other nice videos before, but I never was able to find any mod or so... Did I miss them??

Anyway: you have said earlier that many things were not possible or would have a too high performance impact (e.g. with rain). Sofar hardly anyone has performance problems with the weather mod. So my friendly advice for the day:
keep thinking in possibilities, not in limitations :)

Even now with all the limitations the poseidon mod is something that can make some simcity-4 fans (including myself) ver happy. And that is enough for the start of a beautiful,(looking outside) yet rainy day :)

Off to work now...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ivo_su on January 28, 2013, 12:44:09 AM
Alex I want to express my enormous gratitude to your work. Your last mods are simply amazing and completely changed the game, making many impossible things possible. Project Jupiter is just standard for a job well done, very effective and simple to work with him.
Personally, I have great difficulty in Aurora, looking right and center, I could not achieve the desired effect, and so far I have not seen a sunrise or moon. Maybe if you are able to reorganize Aurora using best practices from Jupiter, without having to be positioned exactly in the center, this will lead to greater optimization.
At this point I only tested alpha1 Poseidon and I can say that I am satisfied and happy with what I saw. I think it will be a revolution in the construction of canals and they will now have a real water. Maybe NAM and in particular to consider Diggis puzzle pieces working under water. Perhaps if separate lots to the water level will be easier in order that you can plop one Lot in several holes and they have the same level of water in them.
Anyway, what I want to say is that you do chudesai I'm a big fan of your work.

- Ivo
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AngryBirdsFan436 on January 28, 2013, 01:26:50 AM
Nobody answered my question! :(
Well I have a request: Will there be a hurricane effect for the Weather Mod? Ranging from Tropical storm to Cat 5? Please reply!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 28, 2013, 01:59:33 AM

Okay ...  :thumbsup:   


Good luck with the mods ! :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Diggis on January 28, 2013, 02:27:11 AM
Quote from: AngryBirdsFan436 on January 28, 2013, 01:26:50 AM
Nobody answered my question! :(
Well I have a request: Will there be a hurricane effect for the Weather Mod? Ranging from Tropical storm to Cat 5? Please reply!

Xannepan responded right below you:



Quote from: xannepan on January 23, 2013, 10:51:51 AM
Quote from: AngryBirdsFan436 on January 21, 2013, 01:39:41 AM
I downloaded your weather mod and it's GREAT!! But can there be some other stuff like hurricanes ranging from Category 1 to Category 5? That would be awesome!

Possibly... but how would you imagine a hurricane would look like? Just let me know your ideas and I can try, although in all honesty for now I will be focusing on getting out some bugs, trying to improve some functionallity, and making so effect optional.


It's now up to you to explain how it would look in game.  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AngryBirdsFan436 on January 28, 2013, 03:52:28 AM
Oops! I didn't look! Sorry!  :-[
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on January 28, 2013, 06:37:18 AM
Quote from: NCGAIO on January 27, 2013, 08:43:02 PM

May be the modification of the texture!
[image]

That issue was mentioned in Whatevermind's (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2596.msg447441#msg447441) post. If there's proper ingame water on the tile the side texture will appear!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 28, 2013, 08:23:01 AM
Some really good news for aurora. While working on the poseidon mod I learned how to trigger and place an effect without having to place a lot at all (via a LUA script sc4game.effect.create_effect function).

So there is a great chance I can now get rid of the issue of having to place a lot in the center of the city.
Same will work for the weather mod all well, although with a lot you can easily choose if you have weather or not for each city independently and you can get rid of the weather by demolishing the lot.

So back to aurora for a while.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ivo_su on January 28, 2013, 08:49:03 AM
Great news Alex, I was hoping just that. I guess you will not only correct the effect of Northern Lights, but also with the moon and the sun, not to plop Lot at a designated place.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on January 28, 2013, 09:01:34 AM
Oh man, that's a real breakthrough, Alex! You've outdone yourself again! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Simcoug on January 28, 2013, 09:35:13 AM
Like all the dedicated NAM members, your recent mod work will keep this game alive for another decade.  Thank you so much!   &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on January 28, 2013, 11:26:12 AM
Great news again. You make it hard for us to take you seriously when you say it looks like something isn't possible  :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ElPhantasmo69 on January 28, 2013, 11:43:09 AM
I hope that no one has asked already, but is there going to be a version that is rain only as opposed to rain and snow, etc; or a version that just installs optional components of the weather mod?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Carny on January 28, 2013, 02:03:45 PM
Hi people. :)
Sorry for my bad english, but i need help.
Anyway, first of all, thanks for your incredible work on the awesome mods!

Now, the question: Yesterday i downloaded AURORA mod (following all the requirements and indications in the readme file) but i could not see its effects properly, because the (CTRL+X) "Effect Jenxscreencenter" doesn't work for some reason on my city tiles. Without it and its markers, as you can imagine, i can't position correctly the park-lot in the center of the tile.
I've installed the "Maxis extracheat dll" as required, but the effect still not work.
Any suggestion? 

Thanks in advance.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: aix on January 28, 2013, 03:21:07 PM
Quote from: Carny on January 28, 2013, 02:03:45 PM
Hi people. :)
Sorry for my bad english, but i need help.
Anyway, first of all, thanks for your incredible work on the awesome mods!

Now, the question: Yesterday i downloaded AURORA mod (following all the requirements and indications in the readme file) but i could not see its effects properly, because the (CTRL+X) "Effect Jenxscreencenter" doesn't work for some reason on my city tiles. Without it and its markers, as you can imagine, i can't position correctly the park-lot in the center of the tile.
I've installed the "Maxis extracheat dll" as required, but the effect still not work.
Any suggestion? 

Thanks in advance.

I am also experiencing this problem. I have the Extra Cheats and the Aurora mod installed in the root plugin directory (not the My Documents) without any sub-folders. I type "Effect Jenxscreencenter" and no marker appears. I have tried several variations in capitalization to no success. I tried it in all city tile sizes with a variety of terrains. I do make use of custom terrain and water textures. 

Thank you for all your hard work and I was literally STUNNED at the beautiful and breathtaking videos that showcase this awesome mod!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Carny on January 28, 2013, 03:43:18 PM
Quote

I am also experiencing this problem. I have the Extra Cheats and the Aurora mod installed in the root plugin directory (not the My Documents) without any sub-folders. I type "Effect Jenxscreencenter" and no marker appears. I have tried several variations in capitalization to no success. I tried it in all city tile sizes with a variety of terrains. I do make use of custom terrain and water textures. 

Thank you for all your hard work and I was literally STUNNED at the beautiful and breathtaking videos that showcase this awesome mod!

Fixed it. ;)
I downloaded precisely the "extra cheats DLL" linked in the readme of Aurora Mod, i moved it to plugins directory (in my documents), i removed trees in the center of the tile (to see better) and now the marker is visible.

Solved this problem, i noticed another one: during sun rising and sunset effects, when i scroll the screen sky colours invades the city tiles. Also for some seconds weird black spots appear on the background. Nothing seriuos, but the sky during sun effects probably needs more "stability" and some fixes. :)

Anyway, i'm trying to use both AURORA and Jupiter mods on a wild landscape with seasonal flora controller, and they are generating awesome scenes . :D
I am speechless. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: aix on January 28, 2013, 04:10:53 PM
I moved both Extra Cheats and Aurora mod itself into the top of the My Documents plugin directly, and still no results. My landscape is relatively barren with no vegetation. Below is a screenshot with the cheat dialogue re-opened to show how I am typing in the code.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fawkers.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F01%2FNoMarker.jpg&hash=17ef90f4a8f1dbdf7d167daade440b05a5f67694)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ivo_su on January 28, 2013, 05:13:11 PM
This rapid test is how to build a true water channels and CAN-AM mod. Looks really nice, but the problems are that the boats will sail under water, as the paths are buried pretty deep. Given this concept has a future and generic

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg198.imageshack.us%2Fimg198%2F4204%2Fsimcity4201301290301305.jpg&hash=602f26a26c9fe4068bc6b98bc3c1255a0aa9f3ae)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg577.imageshack.us%2Fimg577%2F7183%2Fsimcity4201301290258101.jpg&hash=9bb6d093c5c5549b27dc5bddfcdf1d85e4d620ff)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg38.imageshack.us%2Fimg38%2F6841%2Fsimcity4201301280045001.jpg&hash=7cc99fb35a55462cfaaa43a2baae75b3748af34b)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 29, 2013, 03:07:11 PM

Just to get this straight ... which means here the expression "true water - canals"


Canals are built at sea level?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ivo_su on January 29, 2013, 06:02:04 PM
Quote from: NCGAIO on January 29, 2013, 03:07:11 PM

Just to get this straight ... which means here the expression "true water - canals"


Canals are built at sea level?

This means that water is mod and it is a liquid, as in the original version of Max, not water props turned into pieces with the help of Lot editor or other program.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on January 30, 2013, 03:19:50 AM
Ha! Finally we can make real Dutch landscapes where the canals are on a higher level than the polders. Good for my Dutch theme! Thank you soooo much!

This is really a great development.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on January 30, 2013, 04:34:06 AM
 :) Thank you "ivo_su' ... it was really enlightening!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: weixc812 on January 31, 2013, 02:17:14 AM
Hi, Xannepan,
Maybe I'm just repeating, a little feedback of the Jupiter and the Aurora Mod. Two red circles on the ground appear when it's raining.(Just like the ones of a robot attack)  ()what() And they move as the cloud moves....
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi953.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fae11%2Fweixc812%2FAlFerrid-Oct22011359562240526F672C_zpsb595bfc6.jpg&hash=713ee0d86bccb8d7334c20483f05a9e7ae41370c)
As to the Aurora mod, I type in the order you give us in Ctrl+X box, but no red circle appears. Then I put a lot in the approximate center of the map, nothing seems to appear.  &mmm So what's wrong with it? Where did I make mistakes?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 31, 2013, 04:59:21 AM
The red circle in the screencenter has a bug. I am working on a next version that won't need a lot to be placed in the center anymore.
The red circle for the rain are intentional. They will be removed in a full version.


Although I have succeeded in triggering effects via LUA scripts there is a setback that may make it all impossible after all. If have found no reference what so ever in the existing LUA scripts to have time triggers based on the 24hr game clock. Triggers on days, months and years are all there. For the aurora I need the 24 hr clock trigger though to sync sunset/rise moonrise/set effects....'

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: weixc812 on January 31, 2013, 06:46:51 AM
Thanks for your reply, Alex  ;D
Can't wait for the final version of Jupiter and Aurora Mod. You really make the game totally different, openning a new era for us.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on January 31, 2013, 10:22:12 AM
 :angrymore: :angrymore: :angrymore: :angrymore:
I can't believe there is no trigger functionality for the 24-hour clock in LUA.... now i can't sync with the game-clock
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 01, 2013, 10:43:40 AM
A new version of AURORA is uploaded to the lex (bug fixes + some new features). Still in a Beta phase as it still requires the lot to be placed in the center of the city.

MOst important changes:
-CTRL+X "Effect jenx_screencenter" should now show the placement helper marker
-sync error with game clock during medium and fast game speed should be fixed
-introduced phases of the moon
-introduced a comet that appears in the sky at night (random chance)
-hopefully the aurora will now show up for everyone. It should be triggered between 22-23 h in january nights
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ivo_su on February 01, 2013, 01:53:43 PM
Alex I still have problems with this mod. The effect shows relative center of the map but not exactly. It surrounds the four tiles, but which one is correct. Also, other issues arise.
- How much zoom, I need to look for the moon
- Does it matter which direction the compass is on my card
- Which side of the map will appear on the moon
Anyway, for now the effect is still not working for me unfortunately.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on February 01, 2013, 07:47:32 PM
I tried out the Alpha 5 release of the Poseidon mod today, and I have to say that overall it is an improvement. Unfortunately many of the same bugs are present, even if they're not as easy to trigger as they were. Some comments on what I noticed:


  • The red locator beacon is great! For a final release I would keep it, but give it a less obvious color. Since the lot is underwater and/or invisible, you need the beacon to find it, but you don't necessarily want red circles in your pictures.
  • I know the three lots come with different strengths, but I could barely see any difference in the behavior of them. It could just be the cities I was testing them in, but the chance that any of the three would work and the effect it would have all seemed to be the same.
  • On that note, I couldn't get them always to work. I suspect this might be tied to the 'don't overflow the basin' changes you made, in that perhaps they have a height limitation and won't work in too shallow a valley? Or perhaps there's some other reason for them to only work some of the time. I found that sometimes a single lot filled the basin, other times I could place dozens and still not see anything. Sometimes the first lot or two or three would cause a very small amount of water to appear in part of the basin, and then a dozen more would do nothing until finally I had enough in the basin to simply flood the entire city. Chances of the basin filling as expected were better with deeper/steeper valleys, but even then on the same valley it could vary from one attempt to the next.
  • Tied into that, the overflow limitation works well, it was much harder to make the mod flood the city. Not impossible, and sometimes the first lot would do it, but it was generally harder to do.
  • The sparkles work great. I noticed they are cumulative with the more Poseidon lots you have in the city. I also noticed that the sparkles only seem to appear on sea level water. So if you have sea level water in a city with a bunch of these lots, your ocean will be all party time, and your high level lakes/rivers relatively placid. Either way it's a neat effect.
  • I took a more rigorous look at whether or not these lots were causing terrain changes this time around, and I can't find any definitive evidence that they do raise and/or lower terrain. However, there's no other way to explain some of the behavior I see with shifting land and buildings being permanently left up or down. It's not as extensive as the previous version, so there's much less damage from using these, but it is still there.
  • The first placement of a lot in the city seems to have the greatest impact on land shifts. It also sometimes has a big impact on moisture, causing a noticeable terrain texture shift throughout the city. This is really only visible on bare cities though.
  • The lots have amazing slope tolerance, in case you wanted to cover a mountain side in red beacons.  :P
  • The savegame and water pipe view bugs are less of a problem than they were. They seem to be most easily triggered after the lots have already flooded the city. However, on a few random occasions they happened at random. In general however, as long as the water remained in the rivers, these bugs rarely occurred.
  • I did have an instance where the lot actually took out a roadway, a very steep one, and it only happened once.
  • Any level of flooding seems to knock out power lines.   &Thk/(  But you can drag power lines through lightly flooded terrain to restore power.  ???

Overall, it's definitely more stable than the first release, with more predictable results. It still takes some trial and error to get the look you're after, and the side effects can be entertaining for sure. I think for sure I'll be able to get some great use out of this, and I hope maybe there's a way to work out some more of these bugs.

Outstanding mod, even if it is a little fussy.  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 01, 2013, 10:45:18 PM
Quote from: ivo_su on February 01, 2013, 01:53:43 PM
Alex I still have problems with this mod. The effect shows relative center of the map but not exactly. It surrounds the four tiles, but which one is correct. Also, other issues arise.
- How much zoom, I need to look for the moon
- Does it matter which direction the compass is on my card
- Which side of the map will appear on the moon
Anyway, for now the effect is still not working for me unfortunately.

Ivo-su, you can place the lot anywhere in the inner circle of the marker. All the other questions are all answered in the readme. If you follow that in detail you shouldn't have any problems.
(If the lot is placed correctly (lot placement arrow pointing norht) the moon rises north, sets south, sun rises east, sets west. Moon appears only at night, sun only during daytime)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 01, 2013, 10:50:19 PM
Quote from: whatevermind on February 01, 2013, 07:47:32 PM
I tried out the Alpha 5 release of the Poseidon mod today, and I have to say that overall it is an improvement. Unfortunately many of the same bugs are present, even if they're not as easy to trigger as they were. ....
Outstanding mod, even if it is a little fussy.  &apls

Thanks again for testing whatevermind! In all honesty it was pure luck / perhaps a bit of intuition that the changes I made increased the stability. But there are just too many parameters in the effect dir that I do not understand. I am not sure if I'll ever be able to improve it any further (at least not without getting a trial&error burn out)

What do you think; Should I place this on the lexin this stage? Or is it to immature?
-alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 02, 2013, 06:45:14 AM
I have updated JUPITER mod. Still a beta release but I don't think there is really much more that needs to be improved or can be improved.

Whats new in version Beta 2
-Fixed the bug that caused violent lightning at higher altitude maps.
-Partial solution for nights that became too dark during rain/snowstorms. If this happens lightning can be reset by toggling between day and back to night mode again. In this case unfortunately it is necessary that the weather lot has power.
-Minor tuning of the climate.
-Tornados are now optional.
-Removed all red circular markers that were left in for testing purposes
-Now <10% of all lightning strikes are destructive (applies to destructive version only).
-Minor bug fixes.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AngryBirdsFan436 on February 02, 2013, 09:02:56 AM
Well, what I want for the next Jupiter release is a hurricane! If you want to know how a hurricane landfall feels like, strong winds, heavy rain, flooding, storm surge, etc. I want a scale from Tropical Storm (63–118 km/h), Cat 1 (119–153 km/h), Cat 2 (154–177 km/h), Cat 3 (178–208 km/h), Cat 4 (209–251 km/h) and Cat 5 (252 km/h and above). If it's impossible for it to be destructive, just make it an effect!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on February 02, 2013, 09:22:08 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 01, 2013, 10:50:19 PM
Should I place this on the lexin this stage? Or is it to immature?

First instinct is that it's not ready for a full release. It does work very well though, all things considered, and I'm sure there's a lot of people who would like to have it even if it is a bit buggy. You could maybe just pick up aesthetic changes (i.e. beacon color, menu icons, etc.) to pretty it up a little - and then offer it on the LEX as an "as is/no support/use at your own risk" sort of mod. Makes it easier for people to get but gets the point across to use it carefully.

Otherwise, just leaving it attached to the forum keeps the files available for anyone who wants it, which also works since people will still find it, and having to read through here will help make them aware of known issues they might have without having to try to condense it into a readme. I hate to say don't release it, but I keep thinking whether or not this would pass scrutineering in it's current stage, and I don't think it would, so perhaps just leaving it attached to the forum is the better option in the long run.

Quote from: xannepan on February 02, 2013, 06:45:14 AM
...In this case unfortunately it is necessary that the weather lot has power.
...Tornadoes are now optional.
Oh this crazy simworld! :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Neofita on February 02, 2013, 10:15:22 AM
I installed the latest version JENX_JUPITER_BETA1 I have to go back to the previous.
After installing the new version come into play,I am looking for an icon JENX_JUPITER_BETA1 in the menu park.
I select weather lot to plop and at this point I have the game crash.
Previous version in my work normally.

I already know where the problem is or where I made mistake
I had installed JENXMODS_JUPITER_Weather_Controller_nondestructive and PLOP_1x1_JENX WEATHER CONTROLLER_7e032cdd.SC4Lot Remove all file and install JENXMODS_JUPITER_Weather_Controller_non_destructive_BETA_V2.dat and PLOP_1x1_JENX WEATHER CONTROLLER_NO_TORNADO_4596f3a6.SC4Lot This combination of files did the crash my game.
I reinstalled again and now I have these files JENXMODS_JUPITER_Weather_Controller_non_destructive_BETA_V2 and PLOP_1x1_JENX WEATHER CONTROLLER_7e032cdd.SC4Lot.
Now everything is ok.
Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for this mod :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on February 02, 2013, 03:03:21 PM
I'm not sure that it will be look like a game_events.time.clock.hour = 24 (0)

Quote from: xannepan on January 31, 2013, 10:22:12 AM
:angrymore: :angrymore: :angrymore: :angrymore:
I can't believe there is no trigger functionality for the 24-hour clock in LUA.... now i can't sync with the game-clock
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on February 02, 2013, 03:25:17 PM
I need to get a download with the full version on matlab but I can't be able to get a work on it.

Quote from: xannepan on January 25, 2013, 07:25:24 AM
Quote from: HurricaneMod10 on January 25, 2013, 07:18:17 AM

How can I open the Effect Dir Editor Script with the ilive reader?  %confuso

Currently there are no available editors for the effect dir. Ilive only allows to view it. I have created matlab scripts to read and write the effect dir, but editing is difficult and is done manually in matlab. I can share my matlab scripts but doubt it will be useful.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 03, 2013, 10:37:02 AM
Just to let you know: I have started releasing a first set of fauna effects on the lex. All animals can be placed in the game via a god menu animal brush or via a lot in the park menu. The releases will include animals left in the game by MAXIS, some of which have never been used, but also a set of completely new animals (such as the zebras and bengal tigers). More animals will follow soon!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 03, 2013, 01:06:06 PM
Quote from: xannepan on February 03, 2013, 10:37:02 AM
The releases will include animals left in the game by MAXIS, some of which have never been used ..



What are the models not used? Just curious as to whether any escaped me.


Good job of editing the textures original despite having been a little dark in the game for zebras. Still it's good to see that brought forward this idea.


Less problematic and more attractive.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: andisart on February 03, 2013, 04:57:01 PM
Really, xannepan, what is next??
You keep amazing me... New animals, wow, I didnt even know it is possible to create animated models!!!
How do you do that? Is there a tut or some reference?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 03, 2013, 10:09:33 PM
Quote from: NCGAIO on February 03, 2013, 01:06:06 PM

What are the models not used? Just curious as to whether any escaped me.


Perhaps I should have been more carefull in choosing my words :) I have never seen some animals myself, such as monkeys (at least not the s3d version) , dolphins, kangaroo... Maxis did put in some of these animals in the zoo that comes with the game, but merely as animated props. It maybe that the animals are used in some UDI missions but I am not sure...

Glad you like these NCGAIO, and indeed easier to create.

@Andisart. There is no tutorial, it still requires effecf dir editing to make those. Sofar I only use maxis included 3d animal models as the basis, i just give them a new instance, new skin (zebras uses the horse model, tiger uses the lion model) and create a new effect dir. Anyone that wants to try effect dir editing can have my scripts... You do need matlab though in that case.



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: M4346 on February 03, 2013, 11:04:13 PM
I didn't know the collective noun was a sloth of bears... you learn something new every day! :P

These look great, thanks! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 03, 2013, 11:29:29 PM
Quote from: M4346 on February 03, 2013, 11:04:13 PM
I didn't know the collective noun was a sloth of bears... you learn something new every day! :P


I didn't know either... according Wikipedia it is though :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on February 04, 2013, 08:41:07 AM
I would love to seen more animals with such as snakes, spiders, alligators, chimpanzees etc and there are lots of more animals on the list from Wiki site is log onto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_names website. I would like to get a download with matlab and create a new effect dir for animals, but I can't get it.

Quote from: xannepan on February 03, 2013, 10:09:33 PM
Quote from: NCGAIO on February 03, 2013, 01:06:06 PM

What are the models not used? Just curious as to whether any escaped me.


Perhaps I should have been more carefull in choosing my words :) I have never seen some animals myself, such as monkeys (at least not the s3d version) , dolphins, kangaroo... Maxis did put in some of these animals in the zoo that comes with the game, but merely as animated props. It maybe that the animals are used in some UDI missions but I am not sure...

Glad you like these NCGAIO, and indeed easier to create.

@Andisart. There is no tutorial, it still requires effecf dir editing to make those. Sofar I only use maxis included 3d animal models as the basis, i just give them a new instance, new skin (zebras uses the horse model, tiger uses the lion model) and create a new effect dir. Anyone that wants to try effect dir editing can have my scripts... You do need matlab though in that case.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 04, 2013, 04:12:33 PM

Well ... with respect to chimpanzees i think should be on the list of Alex.


Just to clarify the Zoo animals are animations texture and the S3D models are used in the condition of "Escape from Zoo" so you can only see chimps running around town if that happens.


Regarding other before of animating them by the effect will need   get or make the models  also combining some properties, so models new are no longer so simple.


&mmm As for the famous "kangaroo",  unless I missed something think it is a mistake of interpret ...


(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4SmIHXt0lh8/URBPltVQuXI/AAAAAAAABqw/HbzKHm99eG0/s232/duvida%2520canguru_a.jpg)(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wEfSp5XFRGI/URBPsUnYL2I/AAAAAAAABrE/Txs0xF9ap2w/s232/duvida%2520canguru2a.jpg)(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-c_GdObr46Lo/URBP1Ir_JbI/AAAAAAAABrY/BY3lyVCQ1Ec/s232/duvida%2520canguru3a.jpg)

- Alex i had some curiosities about the Poseidon but do not think appropriate to post here then if send a PM  i will get an answer? :)


note: I'm still waiting for the e-mail I sent. ()sad()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AngryBirdsFan436 on February 04, 2013, 06:03:54 PM
Anyway, did anybody read my post about the hurricane effect? I want a hurricane effect in the next Jupiter release!

Given that you've posted about it multiple times, and xannepan has already answered you about it, that would qualify as being "read".  Just because you may want a hurricane effect does not mean that there will be a hurricane effect in the next Jupiter release, and your post comes off as demanding.

Consider this an official warning--removing this warning is a violation of Site Rule #5 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=15094.msg433292#msg433292).

-Tarkus (in Admin mode)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on February 04, 2013, 06:45:01 PM
hehe, I am not here for a demand or whatsoever but I just would like to thank you for your hard work on animals of course (love the giraffes  :P) and your updates on weather & celestial animations :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AngryBirdsFan436 on February 04, 2013, 07:46:42 PM
Quote from: AngryBirdsFan436 on February 04, 2013, 06:03:54 PM
Anyway, did anybody read my post about the hurricane effect? I want a hurricane effect in the next Jupiter release!

Given that you've posted about it multiple times, and xannepan has already answered you about it, that would qualify as being "read".  Just because you may want a hurricane effect does not mean that there will be a hurricane effect in the next Jupiter release, and your post comes off as demanding.

Consider this an official warning--removing this warning is a violation of Site Rule #5 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=15094.msg433292#msg433292).

-Tarkus (in Admin mode)


Oops! Sorry! I won't do it again! I'll just be patient!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 04, 2013, 11:56:17 PM
Let's just say it was your enthusiasm  AngryBirdsFan436..

NCGAIO: I also encountered the texture problem ocassionally... In the game everything seems to look just fine though. Go ahead with the PM.. I'll try to answer it asap... although work is very busy lately so I it may take some time before I can answer. I won't spend too many time on poseidon anymore unless I'll discover something by playing with the other effect. The only thing I want to do is clean it up a but as Whatevermind suggested, and perhaps then post it as an alpha release...

Meanwhile I have been working on some Dolphins... They look cool... I just can't get them to swim yet  :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on February 05, 2013, 02:42:44 AM
Hi Xannepan,
Did you know about the NBVC dolphins on Simpeg?

http://www.simpeg.com/forum/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=715

I don't know if they are comparable, because I did not use them and also did not read the whole discussion, but it would be a pity if you tried to uncover something that has been uncovered already.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 05, 2013, 03:00:24 AM
Quote from: FrankU on February 05, 2013, 02:42:44 AM
Hi Xannepan,
Did you know about the NBVC dolphins on Simpeg?

http://www.simpeg.com/forum/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=715

I don't know if they are comparable, because I did not use them and also did not read the whole discussion, but it would be a pity if you tried to uncover something that has been uncovered already.

Yep I know them.. but Simpeg version are not animated, just static props. All "my" animals are fully animated 3d models :)... for the Dolphins it means they actually swim :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: andisart on February 05, 2013, 05:01:09 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 05, 2013, 03:00:24 AM
Yep I know them.. but Simpeg version are not animated, just static props. All "my" animals are fully animated 3d models :)... for the Dolphins it means they actually swim :)
Oh, Oh, Oh, I love Dolphins! And they will swimmmm??
In my cities??
That's so exciting I feel giddy...
Xannepan whatya dooing to us?
hehe ;-)
Seriously, CANT WAIT! ur the best
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 05, 2013, 11:17:46 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 04, 2013, 11:56:17 PM

NCGAIO: I also encountered the texture problem ocassionally... In the game everything seems to look just fine though.

Maybe I should have explained better ... I am not referring to the texture problems that are motivated by the fact iReader only identifies them by ID but the fact that the model is not a ganguru as many suppose, just watch the third photo.

Quote from: xannepan on February 04, 2013, 11:56:17 PM

Go ahead with the PM.. I'll try to answer it asap... although work is very busy lately so I it may take some time before I can answer. I won't spend too many time on poseidon anymore unless I'll discover something by playing with the other effect.

So best left for later because the work will also prevent me from going back to this in the coming weeks.

Quote from: xannepan on February 04, 2013, 11:56:17 PM
Meanwhile I have been working on some Dolphins... They look cool... I just can't get them to swim yet  :D

I think I suffer from the same problems of sailing boats  that  are executed by exe in the certain peculiar conditions of the game. In recent memory i only remember seen them "swimming" through the mod Stex... -  Udi Dolphin  (http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/25980-dolphin/)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 05, 2013, 11:55:19 AM
I'm loving the critters! Haven't seen much for in-game pics around so I hope you don't mind if I show a quick one so people know how good they look ;)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.majhost.com%2Fgallery%2Fnoahclem%2F20130118%2Fgirafe1.jpg&hash=749521f634316a2f172ec0581e1001d7e47cb1d6)

Thanks for all the great work you've been doing Alex!

And my hat's off to the maxis dudes for these nice models.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 05, 2013, 12:28:40 PM
Great pciture Noah!

NCGAIO: you are right.. :o. I completely missed that...mmmm.. What is it then? Nothing comes to mind at this moment...

By the way: I solved the issue with the dolphins... They swim now! Already on the LEX.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 05, 2013, 12:53:35 PM
Thanks Alex! Just a quick and dirty job to see if they like to jump MMP fences--which they do like to do ;)  Somehow things around here can't help but make me want to build a zoo.... As a potential option I wonder if it might be a good idea to also release a single download containing all the animals. If you're done finding them that is.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 05, 2013, 01:22:54 PM
Quote from: xannepan on February 05, 2013, 12:28:40 PM

By the way: I solved the issue with the dolphins... They swim now! Already on the LEX.


&apls This will really draw attention. With new models his work will bring a new idea to the fauna of the game.


As always, congratulations.


note; correct the LD.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on February 05, 2013, 03:48:53 PM
Quote from: xannepan on February 04, 2013, 11:56:17 PM
Let's just say it was your enthusiasm  AngryBirdsFan436..

NCGAIO: I also encountered the texture problem ocassionally... In the game everything seems to look just fine though. Go ahead with the PM.. I'll try to answer it asap... although work is very busy lately so I it may take some time before I can answer. I won't spend too many time on poseidon anymore unless I'll discover something by playing with the other effect. The only thing I want to do is clean it up a but as Whatevermind suggested, and perhaps then post it as an alpha release...

Meanwhile I have been working on some Dolphins... They look cool... I just can't get them to swim yet  :D

Wow! You are so amazing to creations the models with animals but I could might be creating the small or large spiders on the 3d models. Just a share with post them on here. I can't be able to get a work with the Effect Dir as usually at the moment.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Yild on February 05, 2013, 09:44:33 PM
first off - i didnt seen your animals mod in game (live) but i was wandering is there a possibility that some 'objects' animals, cars, ships could move from one point to another? i.e cruise ship that can actually move on route that _we_ choose? (if possible path could be marked (x, y or tile) by ploppable 'rocks', 'buoys', etc.)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 05, 2013, 10:42:19 PM
Noah: at this moment I am releasing them one by one as creating each of them is still a lot off work. And I get stressed by having so many unfinished stuff laying around. But a mega pack eventually is certainly possible.

Yild: it is actually something I want to look into. In the effect dir I can set a reference to a repulsor or attractor LUA script.  Don't know exactly how that works yet and also have no idea how accurate the attractors can make effcts follow a certain paths... Perhaps even some prey and predator behavior can be put in, i.e. zebras start running away as soon as a lion appears...

HurricaneMod: your English is really difficult to understand, but I get your point by now... I really can't help you beyond what I have already said that I can share the matlab scripts... But you'd have to try to get and learn to work eith matlab first. I also don't have time to make tutorials / readme or give any explanation to the scripts. Also please note the scripts are helpful but it still requires a lot of manual editing before you can create an effect. All in all it is not easy.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on February 06, 2013, 07:17:23 AM
Hi Alex,

Didn't know NBVC's dolphins were static. Swimming is more realistic so yours have certainly a big plus!
And in the meantime you did release a whole zoo! Great!  &apls
It just would be good if animals behaved decent and stayed behind the fences. Even my cows are running through gardens and across streets. Not good!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 06, 2013, 07:21:06 AM
Quote from: FrankU on February 06, 2013, 07:17:23 AM
Hi Alex,

Didn't know NBVC's dolphins were static. Swimming is more realistic so yours have certainly a big plus!
And in the meantime you did release a whole zoo! Great!  &apls
It just would be good if animals behaved decent and stayed behind the fences. Even my cows are running through gardens and across streets. Not good!

:) those naughty animals.


Guys, in the mean time I discovered how to solve an issue that I though could not be solved: for the brushes in some cases lots of running animals where created while the number of animals walking at normal pace was low. I can and will solve that issue, so please keep an eye out for updates of these files.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but it really has to do with new discoveries I am still making each time I play with the effect dir...

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Simcoug on February 06, 2013, 07:34:20 AM
Quote from: xannepan
In the effect dir I can set a reference to a repulsor or attractor LUA script.  Don't know exactly how that works yet and also have no idea how accurate the attractors can make effcts follow a certain paths... Perhaps even some prey and predator behavior can be put in, i.e. zebras start running away as soon as a lion appears...
That is interesting!  It seems that while playing the game I do notice that the wandering llama or moose will usually stop short of zoned areas, and move off in a different direction.  I thought it was random chance, but perhaps Maxis was more deliberate in that respect... 

Great work on these animals - I'm looking forward to what players will create with these new effects :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmyers2043 on February 06, 2013, 08:39:43 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 06, 2013, 07:21:06 AM
... for the brushes in some cases lots of running animals where created while the number of animals walking at normal pace was low...

Ha, I was worried my computer was on the blink. Good to know.  :thumbsup:  Thank You.

- Jim

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 06, 2013, 09:35:53 AM
Meanwhile I have updated the animal brushes I found issues with. All uploaded already.

Looking back at the past months I cannot help being sad that Maxis didn't pick up on this back then... there are so many things that are still possible with effectdir... They could have made good money with expansion packs.. Even today I'd rather pay for a SC4 expansion then buy SC2013.

Well never mind we just have to do it ourselves.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 06, 2013, 09:48:46 AM
Great to see you figured out the running/walking issue. It hadn't occurred to me that they could be walking instead but that will be very nice. And as far as the megapack thing goes, that will be nice to see but I agree it's nice to get these available instead of risking them getting lost or forgotten.

I certainly agree on the Maxis thing as well. It's hard to understand how they wouldn't have thought they could make money off of all the cool unfinished stuff they left around but I'm just glad they did leave it around instead of leaving it out. And even more glad you've dug it all up for us and shared these awesome creations!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 06, 2013, 10:28:01 AM
Well the strange thing is there isn't that much real unfinished stuff laying around... (except for maybe the animals)

But the effectdir framework has such a huge potential to be creative with... I'm beginning to wonder if they didn't just lack the creativity and fantasy to use :)

If the attractors and repulsors work the way I hope they do then we are really in for a revolution... (think about ski tracks you can lay out.. and animated skiiers following the track)

My problem is time.. and lacking an easier tool that could be used by more than just myself... I hope someday others will pick up effect dir modding.... ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 06, 2013, 10:48:56 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 06, 2013, 10:28:01 AM
If the attractors and repulsors work the way I hope they do then we are really in for a revolution... (think about ski tracks you can lay out.. and animated skiiers following the track)

That sounds interesting for sure! And what about replacing skiiers with animated water? Free flowing rivers to our heart's desire someday. . ? ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Yild on February 06, 2013, 11:57:14 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 06, 2013, 10:28:01 AM
If the attractors and repulsors work the way I hope they do then we are really in for a revolution... (think about ski tracks you can lay out.. and animated skiiers following the track)

:thumbsup:

I really appreciate your enthusiasm and work that you have done in this matter, thanks
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mattb325 on February 06, 2013, 01:21:46 PM
A huge thankyou for all of the new animal flora. You are a genius  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: memo on February 06, 2013, 01:44:46 PM
Quote from: xannepan on February 06, 2013, 10:28:01 AM
But the effectdir framework has such a huge potential to be creative with... I'm beginning to wonder if they didn't just lack the creativity and fantasy to use :)

Most of us do not know the potential of the Effect Dirs either, until you come up with yet another great addition. :thumbsup:

Quote from: xannepan on February 06, 2013, 10:28:01 AM
My problem is time.. and lacking an easier tool that could be used by more than just myself... I hope someday others will pick up effect dir modding.... ;D

Could you perhaps briefly state what kind of features such a tool should have?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 06, 2013, 04:33:31 PM
Quote from: xannepan on February 06, 2013, 10:28:01 AM

But the effectdir framework has such a huge potential to be creative with... I'm beginning to wonder if they didn't just lack the creativity and fantasy to use :)


:) Well .. in this case we can not forget that this was not the purpose of the game is not it? After all it is a simulator situations for cities and as such he had a large processing load at that time, with all the details of this work

Although somewhat confusing the part of the animation until brought a quirky realism to the  (game) simulator with some creative freedom. Simply complete the missions in the game especially the aquatic missions  to realize it.

Now as everything has a processing cost of the option taken at that time was the most effective although the development of the hardware chart currently has rendered it obsolete.

My compliments for the creation of mods Fauna  mainly the Dolphin as something that did not exist in the game since the maxis only left the "swimmingdolphin" ( 751)  so the idea of repeating the structure of the horses was very good.

Just as a suggestion think should replace ..XX00c00 by ..XX0000 because despite being the model more labored he gives the impression of being stopped when various lots are ploped near and exclude the "animal_place_dust" since it has no effect on water.

Also as sugestion with respect to the Dolphin  a boat maybe as the fishing boat would be more realistic to use as a marker for the batch as below.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X1XgLOxgtE4/URMDROgvhsI/AAAAAAAABsA/ZP7hOtmOwDU/s300/barcosgolfinhos_a.jpg) (https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nTZpnSl9pdU/URMDhaEYToI/AAAAAAAABsU/TWAv4GnwFOw/s300/barcosgolfinhos2a.jpg)


&idea Maybe would be a tool very useful for placing propables Water that could have varied models as suggested in the controller aerial  mod maybe through an installer.


Again congratulations, great job &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 06, 2013, 05:42:43 PM
Quote from: vortext on February 06, 2013, 10:48:56 AM

...with animated water? Free flowing rivers to our heart's desire someday. . ? ::)

For those who have a good micro can try this effect which was erroneously called water flow unfinished but  it is actually used to the situation of burst of pipes to flood the surrounding areas.

With a little mod might be possible to increase the breadth and really occupy a river with two or three tiles.

But not for any machine, with all certainty!

Wave3 FreeFlowing Stream Mod (http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/14707-wave3-freeflowing-stream-mod/)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 06, 2013, 06:04:13 PM
Yes, I'm aware of the freeflowing water mod. What I meant was being able to 'steer' the water, similar to how one could potentially lay-out ski tracks Alex mentioned.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 06, 2013, 07:08:09 PM

As there is no the possibility of having two different levels for the texture of the "water of game", so to speak, all the water flows could only happen in flat maps and also restrained by the  lowest point on the edges of flux.


So the only way I see to simulate water in unevenness is plopando simulation with lots of "orient slope" as one who was in CAN_AM.


As regards the skiers and other aquatic automata currently they can only be shown at sea level by existing effects, not even raising the models make they appear.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 06, 2013, 10:44:03 PM
Good idea om the 000 and c00 replacement. I have left the animal dust in because I think I can tweak it such that it will appear above water.. Shouldn't be difficult. Same goes for the water boats and skiiers, I can make those appear above land with a few bit settings. (For those of you wo are interested I have added signficant amount of new information on the wiki, effdir sections)

For free flowing water, my first idea is to improve the textures of the waterstream and waterdrop effects that are used in qurlix and jeronij mods. The probem with these effects is that the color settings were tuned to the original maxis water color. I can adjust those colors fairly easy so that it fits better with current color variations of the water. I don't think I can make this particular effect steerable though because it uses a FSH instead of a Model resource. I also want to make additional waterfall effects, improve the existing ones but also include some variations... Not too difficult

Anyway this is all still far out.

For an editor let's see what I have already:
A readeffdir script: fairly stable, but doesn't take into account all excotic redirections yet. Not really a huge problem since there are only a few effects that use these
A writeeffdir script: idem.
An isolate effdir script: works in most case, and isolates a single effect including most redirections from the maineffdir and outputs the isolated effect
An appendeff script, for putting two effects into one effdir file.

I think the scripts are fairly easy to port to python or c++ or what have you.

The reason I am stuck to matlab is because of the build in grid editor for variables and matrices. So a grid based editor with some specific delete, copy, cut, paste functionallity is what is needed to make a great tool.

Lowkee is working on something, but he hasn't been around for some time...

Hope I have answered most questions.. I am of to work now.. Bye
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 07, 2013, 09:43:43 AM
Okay. I have fixed the "dead dolphin" graphical issue NCGAIO suggested. I also have the placement dust working on water. It is usefull., because it indicates where near the surface the Dolphins and whales will actually appear (the circular marker does a bad job here, because it is positioned at the bottom of the river/lake/sea/ocean, while the animals are created near the surface).

I will upload the updates in a minute.

Next is adding some custom birds. Crows to begin with, maybe some aras and flamingos.

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 07, 2013, 09:52:30 AM
Nice improvements  :thumbsup:  If you're taking requests I have a silly-sounding one that I would actually really enjoy: wooly mammoths, re-skinned from the elephants. The could fit in nicely with a lot of the winter stuff going on these days  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 07, 2013, 10:17:20 AM
Quote from: noahclem on February 07, 2013, 09:52:30 AM
Nice improvements  :thumbsup:  If you're taking requests I have a silly-sounding one that I would actually really enjoy: wooly mammoths, re-skinned from the elephants. The could fit in nicely with a lot of the winter stuff going on these days  ;)

Noah... are you any good in reskinning? If you send me the FSH texture I can put them in in 15 minutes :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Grasool on February 07, 2013, 10:56:16 AM
Hey Xannepan,

I want to thank you for the weather controller. It is awsome. But you know what would make it even more awsome?! If snow would be optional, like the tornado is.

Anyways, thanks for your work.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 07, 2013, 11:59:08 AM
Never tried it before Alex. I assume the original models with skins that i'd modify are buried somewhere in one of the SC4 dat files? I might have a chance to look into it before too long but am pretty busy at the moment. Thanks  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 08, 2013, 06:27:00 AM
 :) Texture for animals in Dat-2 and  to facilitate the Elephant is 7ab50e44; 1abe787d; aa50e3f6.

If it's only for editing texture is easy but if you want to add fangs then gets a little more complicated because there are 26 frames &mmm


Alex! might suggest a table so who wanted something different would the changes and only give him work to add.

&idea   I think I have a collection of Pre-historic in low-poly somewhere lost here. If you think interesting to would  mount a Jurassic Park as the Peg but animated version.


edit: - Interesting things with the new versions of aquatic because models appearing on earth, there is no longer a limit to the height ?

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 08, 2013, 08:07:24 AM
I have just uploaded a first set of completely new birds: crows. Still making use of an existing 3d model, but with new instance and new FSH texture. Took me some time (too long  :()  to get the sound effect working properly, but I figured it out.

NCGAIO: New aquatic animals would be great, think of orkas, turtles, sharks. But I also have a long wish to make a few farm animals, sheep and pigs. I still need to learn how to import new animated 3d models into the reader. I want to avoid using excel... there must be something easier. Perhaps I'll create a small matlab script. I also know the reader can execute LUA scripts... I'll have a look at that.

Jurrasic Park.. good idea also. Well... If you happen to have animated 3d in a dat file I can create the effect dir.. no problem.


I'll think about the table :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 08, 2013, 10:23:31 AM
Girafe... I need some tropical jungle flora for my macaws  ;D

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Simcoug on February 08, 2013, 10:57:19 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 08, 2013, 08:07:24 AM
But I also have a long wish to make a few farm animals, sheep and pigs.

I think those would be well received... I know I get bored with cows, horses and llamas :)

Chickens would be neat, but perhaps too small.  Would Buffalo work using the cow model?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: whatevermind on February 08, 2013, 03:58:58 PM
Quote from: xannepan on February 08, 2013, 10:23:31 AM
Girafe... I need some tropical jungle flora for my macaws  ;D

:D Priceless!

I'm going to second the mammoths and dinos and such - this is SC4 after all, a hint of craziness is to be expected.  Puts a new spin on "wild" flora. On that note, are there any plans to create mixed animal sets, similar to the existing Maxis animal brushes?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 08, 2013, 08:37:48 PM
Yep, mixed animal sets are on the agenda. I have also added new occupant group IDs which will perhaps enable some LUA generator scripts...

If I have time this weekend I'll try to figure out the animation import issue. I already have some low poly rigged animals in max. I can import them into the reader, the reader just doesn't recognize the individual frames... In fact it puts al animated frames in frame 1, once I use the import function. This is unfortunate, because if I export an existing maxis animation, it does export all frames. Perhaps I'll have a look at the reader source code to figure out what's going on.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on February 09, 2013, 04:55:28 AM
Ah, yes, even better!
Great developments. And I second the request for chicken, pigs, goats(?), different cows (brown, brown/white etc), sheep, turkeys, whatever farm animals we can think of.
Although for farms they will be useful not before we can have fences that actually work!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 09, 2013, 06:37:35 AM
Quote from: FrankU on February 09, 2013, 04:55:28 AM

Although for farms they will be useful not before we can have fences that actually work!

The problem with animals roaming outside the fences can be solved the same way that Alex has limited the new effects simply create a new substitute for the effects that are used in the game.

Quote from: xannepan on February 08, 2013, 08:37:48 PM
In fact it puts al animated frames in frame 1, once I use the import function. This is unfortunate, because if I export an existing maxis animation, it does export all frames. Perhaps I'll have a look at the reader source code to figure out what's going on.

EDIT: not necessary
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 09, 2013, 07:13:29 AM
Yeah! I have succeeded in importing custom animations. Still a little rough around the edges... but I now have flamingos :)

NCGAIO is right. I can control the size of the region in which the animals spread out.. at least approximately.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 09, 2013, 08:03:22 AM

:) I think that's a nice idea for the game. You could use the three textures of  horse  and then create herds more restricted for the farms. The same with the cows.

With Lua scripts to take them and throw them out of corrals you would many happy farmers

Quote from: xannepan on February 08, 2013, 08:07:24 AM

NCGAIO: New aquatic animals would be great, think of orkas, turtles, sharks. ...

Orcas are already in the game  then it will be easy so for the turtles can use the same pigeons effects  as they will be small in the game, just put a head to east.

For  sheep can use a llamas reduction in low position because I believe that was the same used by the game to make the animation atc / avp.

%confuso But I had not really asked about new marine animals so I guess do not understand my question so I'll repeat  Ok!

The whale models are appearing on earth (sand) beyond sea level from 250 up to 253 mts, you have tried taller?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 09, 2013, 08:20:59 AM
Quote from: NCGAIO on February 09, 2013, 08:03:22 AM

Orcas are already in the game

Are you sure? Can you tell me the TGI? I can't find them.


I am not sure I understand your question.. is it a bug you are referring to?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 09, 2013, 08:56:26 AM

Absolute certainty.

Orcas - ID:  09300000 - 09300012- 09300014

More:

whalebodyfull - 08100012 - .........   Dogs - 08c00c00 - ......  Llamas - 0aa00000 - think  reduction used for sheep atc/avp


&mmm  I have not mentioned to " be a bug"  but when you changed the definition of the lot "only for water"  the models began to appear on land too. My doubts about and how high is this possible?

image - note: the darker ones are just replacing the markers but note how the model theoretically lower overlaps the marker.


(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-TFjGjBfnTYM/URbU9j9J6-I/AAAAAAAABxk/EPRT5TNSJH0/s640/BALEIAS%2520NA%2520AREIA_DUVIDAa.jpg)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 09, 2013, 09:52:18 AM
Interesting... well not completely sure I can explain it... There is a property in the effdir section 1 (called u1 in the reader) that controls much of the behavior. u1 is actually a set of bits, one of which needs to be set to have resources appear on water, and one for the resource to appear on land. I guess I accidentally set both bits :P... but again not sure completely.

Thanks for the ID of the orcas! I completely missed them :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 09, 2013, 10:33:28 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 09, 2013, 09:52:18 AM

Thanks for the ID of the orcas! I completely missed them :P

If It is part of a condition  not implemented maybe so not appear on the Navigator of the  Reader.

&mmm  I had already understood before with respect to u1 ... My question was about being the possible shift in height to the model?

Is possible move whale-Marks in z axis but the same can not be done as the model "submerged" so to speak, i wanted to know if somehow you adjusted the height of  effect?

With other offsets could think of fishing boats leaving the beach or docks for submarines ... eventually many other things.

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IrLWjc6Ytpg/URbRPoUcevI/AAAAAAAABwg/o65SVkVsoSE/s640/BALEIAS%2520NA%2520AREIA_DUVIDA%25202A.jpg)

But at the moment only curiosity to know eg if the effect of smoke from the tugs could follow trains.

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xEJrj9uQomU/URbSChuhGVI/AAAAAAAABxE/hxy-A3dgJjU/s320/fuma%25C3%25A7a%2520rebocador%25201.jpg)

?

:o :o :o  -"This is the first time an all new s3d animation was used for an animal effect, created in and exported from 3ds-max. Please let me know if you encounter issues with the animation."

That means that soon we will have several models animated in three dimensions for the game ??? :) :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: flunight on February 09, 2013, 05:34:24 PM
xannepan,
thanks for your excellent mods, great job!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: halenbyname on February 09, 2013, 06:31:08 PM
I love the mocaws man. Keep up the great work!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mave94 on February 10, 2013, 01:31:16 AM
Great work! It is getting better and better and you managed to make custom 3d models! &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Diggis on February 10, 2013, 02:18:06 AM
Out of curiosity, does this mean you are able to add new effects for use on a lot?  Say for example, a smoke effect or something similar?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Terring7 on February 10, 2013, 03:32:58 AM
I'm going to turn my cities into zoos, with eagles and bears sharing the city with my Sims. Can't wait to see your next surprises :thumbsup:
And what next? Alien animals? ;D

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.wikia.com%2Falienplanet%2Fimages%2F9%2F92%2FSkewer.jpg&hash=6aede70bc54446cfd9c8a73b958a3c692ed5af96)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 10, 2013, 06:51:27 AM
Quote from: Diggis on February 10, 2013, 02:18:06 AM
Out of curiosity, does this mean you are able to add new effects for use on a lot?  Say for example, a smoke effect or something similar?

Yep that is possible. The animals but also the eifel towers strobes and even the weather all are effects that can be used on lots similar to props.
But for things like existing smoke etc that was already the case with jeronij mod (I think it was jeronij..). It is fairly easy for me now to chance properties of the maxis smoke effects though (size, density, color etc)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 10, 2013, 06:58:09 AM
Quote from: NCGAIO on February 09, 2013, 10:33:28 AM

Is possible move whale-Marks in z axis but the same can not be done as the model "submerged" so to speak, i wanted to know if somehow you adjusted the height of  effect?

With other offsets could think of fishing boats leaving the beach or docks for submarines ... eventually many other things.

But at the moment only curiosity to know eg if the effect of smoke from the tugs could follow trains.
:

I think there is already a steam train, which has smoke (not sure though)

With the u1 parameter I can control to have an effect appear at fixed height either in absolute sence, or relative to the terrain ground level. Water seems to be a special case. It is fairly easy to have effects move on the water surface.. Controlling the exact depth under the water surface (as with dolphins and whales) is more difficult and requires settings of properties in the u30-u40 range in section 1. I do not fully understand these, so I just copied settings from existing effects.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 11, 2013, 05:49:26 AM
I have actually managed to create some nice looking sheep. I am really happy with the result, as creating the animal animation was not easy :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmyers2043 on February 11, 2013, 06:46:40 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 11, 2013, 05:49:26 AM
... I have actually managed to create some nice looking sheep...

Time to make some new farms!  &hlp


- Jim


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 11, 2013, 06:52:50 AM
Great sheep!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Serkanner on February 11, 2013, 09:19:45 AM
I find the sheep a bit meeeeeeh  :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Terring7 on February 11, 2013, 09:40:21 AM
Very nice :) :thumbsup:
I wonder if this technique can be used for vehicles as well, like having helicopters and spacecrafts flying around the city &Thk/(
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jeckyll on February 11, 2013, 10:08:36 AM
I wonder what will be next?  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 11, 2013, 10:41:33 AM
Pigs are next.. actually already on the LEX.
I'm getting handy at this... created the pigs and had dinner (pork actually) in between this and my last post :P

Still difficult though... I have to keep the polycount low and the models are small... so there is very little margin for playing with details and textures. So, chickens are out of the question.

Terring7: sure you noticed the planes and helicopters in the game? They also make are controlled by the effect dir.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 11, 2013, 02:51:52 PM
Quote from: xannepan on February 10, 2013, 06:58:09 AM

I think there is already a steam train, which has smoke (not sure though)


You referred to this image on SC4 old -  OLD SC4 Freight Train (https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-tIqtANhW54k/URlzXRremwI/AAAAAAAAByU/3UQPY5mlV6M/s640/LOCOMOTIVA%2520A%2520VAPOR_A.jpg)

But what happens after the updates it became random besides the fact that he was only available on freight trains.

Currently it is easier to see on this image as UDI -  smoke train UDI  (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7XjsRG3u2Dk/URlzj0fuM_I/AAAAAAAAByo/_MJHLO9c-v4/s640/TREM%2520A%2520VAPOR%2520a.jpg)

Being an used effect on the moving subject as well like Track condensation for  aircraft would be interesting to understand the operation.

Many things sometimes go unnoticed as the moving wheels of the steam locomotive but bring realism to those who like the details.

Quote from: xannepan on February 11, 2013, 10:41:33 AM

Still difficult though... I have to keep the polycount low and the models are small... so there is very little margin for playing with details and textures. So, chickens are out of the question.


How are within the range of 200 as the majority of Maxis and perfectly acceptable although I do not think they have thought of populating land with these models in quantity in those days

As I have suggested before  think it would be much  interesting if you create a new thread to discuss aspects of animation where all stakeholders could collaborate without the material stay dispersed among posts on  its thread  creation.

Much about the creation of effdir effects and  this new technique of import animated 3DS could be enhanced and spread it to new creators and so the SC4 also gain a greater visual appeal in the style of the new game that is being released...so what do you think?

NOTE: Read the PM for some details about their new S3D animals
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on February 12, 2013, 02:28:53 AM
The sheep are great!
But are they to be kept behind the fences?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 12, 2013, 05:58:31 AM
;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on February 12, 2013, 06:07:59 AM
Is this an image of your not-yet-finished "fossile terrain mod" or are these dinosaurs actually walking around after they have been dead for 65 million years?  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Terring7 on February 12, 2013, 07:22:15 AM
&dance &dance DINOSAURS!!! &dance &dance
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Delecto on February 12, 2013, 08:23:37 AM
 :D  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 12, 2013, 08:23:50 AM
Finally we can start our cities in prehistoric times!  $%Grinno$%

EDIT: have you thought about a new animations for people? And a people brush perhaps? That could be easy for filling large squares and plazas instead of using Maxis' people props in the LE.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on February 12, 2013, 09:30:30 AM
Awesome.. Now that's really something that I've never seen before. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 12, 2013, 09:31:54 AM
haha, very nice!! great work  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on February 12, 2013, 10:58:21 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 10, 2013, 06:58:09 AM
I think there is already a steam train, which has smoke (not sure though)

Think rivit upload one to STEX.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 12, 2013, 03:09:39 PM

Thanks  ... but not exactly this was more about relocate the effect which existed for freight trains. (As pictured)... It is more a discussion about  effects of that the search for a model!

The animation made ​​of polygons by Rivit was a good effort but far from the effect generated by textures .
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 13, 2013, 06:27:11 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 12, 2013, 05:58:31 AM
;)

Great ... just the sound it makes him look like a T-Rex through with flu! :D

The "03A0....'  would give a beautiful stegosaurus to keep him company.

Without forgetting the request of noahclem for the mammoth since it is more easy...A nice texture to it if needed. - mamouth (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6yXfGlN5b9w/URvr4AVPPlI/AAAAAAAABzM/6jJCH1apmPc/s256/MAMOUTH.jpg)


If you have something else in mind this has several side views :thumbsup: 
http://www.geocities.ws/artureptil/ (http://www.geocities.ws/artureptil/)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Yild on February 13, 2013, 08:00:24 AM
Quote from: NCGAIO on February 13, 2013, 06:27:11 AM
Quote from: xannepan on February 12, 2013, 05:58:31 AM
;)

The "03A0....'  would give a beautiful stegosaurus to keep him company.

Without forgetting the request of noahclem for the mammoth since it is more easy :thumbsup:

Stop this madness! Why don't you do it by yourself, you have plenty of examples now, so...

I would rather see a "fence" than new animals...

...and "other" repulsors/atractors... thanks mr. X  :-[


ps. my personal favorite... Steerman crop duster... I couldn't resist  :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 13, 2013, 09:24:13 AM
Yild..See PM "$Deal"$
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: andisart on February 13, 2013, 01:31:54 PM
OH MY... Every week I drop by and am utterly gobsmacked each time. I dont think I ever been shocked by a thread so many times in such a short time.

Brilliant work, all I can say.

Only I need to beg you that at some stage you create some sort of tutorial or an extra thread as suggested. This could be the beginning of another new era for SC4 custom content.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mrbisonm on February 13, 2013, 02:06:57 PM
oh my oh my......what are you doing here? Making me go nuts with all that stuff?
This is really a great find and your works are wonderful. I will be a regular here from now on, trying to get a shut eye in between your posts and uploads...... ;)

Thumbs Up, Pal!  :thumbsup:

Fred
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 13, 2013, 10:42:50 PM
Guys, I am getting a bit overloaded with requests and PMs at this moment. There is no way I can keep up... so please understand I cannot answer every PM or request.
I do like all your ideas though :)

About the tutorial. I am still thinking about it, I have taken no decision yet if I will create one. It is a lot of work. Moreover, for the final step matlab is still required as there is no user friendly effect dir editor at this moment (and I will not make one). So at this moment it feels a bit pointless too spend weeks on a tutorial.

There are however plenty of tutorials on the web on uvw unwrapping, bones, rigging and animation (works in gmax, and any version of max, no need for bat4max).

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 14, 2013, 03:35:41 AM

:) Alex ... it is certain that there are many tutorials for rigging and animation  as well as Unwrap and UV Mapping in  Web but they have little use when it comes to create  S3Ds. animated.


Then as fixed or rotational animations do not depend on effdir to appear in the game, I think could share only the method of export and import 3Ds. animated with the community. ;)


Neither needs to be a detailed tutorial but only the concept of importing and arrange the frames in Reader would be enough for many produce all kinds of animation.


That alone could bring for old SC a visual graph busiest, in the style of the new SC that is being released as eg: lifts, machinery and moving charges, real cranes finally a myriad of other things.


Regarding the editor to EffDir think those who realize the effects that it could cause will agree with your position! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 14, 2013, 08:22:20 AM
No no.. Once you have the uvw unwrapping and rigging done, you create an animation in max. Next step is to convert the animation into frames (this is a 1 line script) then use the export as 3ds in max. Import that file into the reader and you are mostly done. It really is as simple as that. The difficult part is in creating the animation in max (unwrap, rig, animate). That latter part I can write down in a tutorial for sure, but it won't help if you can't unwrap, rig and animate.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on February 14, 2013, 12:46:32 PM
Quote from: xannepan on February 05, 2013, 10:42:19 PM
Noah: at this moment I am releasing them one by one as creating each of them is still a lot off work. And I get stressed by having so many unfinished stuff laying around. But a mega pack eventually is certainly possible.

Yild: it is actually something I want to look into. In the effect dir I can set a reference to a repulsor or attractor LUA script.  Don't know exactly how that works yet and also have no idea how accurate the attractors can make effcts follow a certain paths... Perhaps even some prey and predator behavior can be put in, i.e. zebras start running away as soon as a lion appears...

HurricaneMod: your English is really difficult to understand, but I get your point by now... I really can't help you beyond what I have already said that I can share the matlab scripts... But you'd have to try to get and learn to work eith matlab first. I also don't have time to make tutorials / readme or give any explanation to the scripts. Also please note the scripts are helpful but it still requires a lot of manual editing before you can create an effect. All in all it is not easy.

Xannepan: Unfortunately I do not have a matlab on here.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AngryBirdsFan436 on February 18, 2013, 04:42:21 AM
Erm, how about a mod that replaces all people to ponies? :P :D Anyway, great work!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmyers2043 on February 18, 2013, 06:22:24 AM
Quote from: AngryBirdsFan436 on February 18, 2013, 04:42:21 AM
Erm, how about a mod that replaces all people to ponies? :P :D Anyway, great work!

I'll expand on that idea. A mod for SimMars, SimRoman Empire, SimCowboy   :P :D   
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Aaron Graham on February 18, 2013, 06:48:48 AM
Great work on everything your doing. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: AngryBirdsFan436 on February 19, 2013, 03:09:27 AM
Well, do you get what kind of ponies? Well if you want to know, I want it to be based on the ponies in the animated TV series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. If you make one mod that replaces people to ponies, bronies who play SimCity would be proud! :P :D :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: epicblunder on February 19, 2013, 09:03:39 AM
Quote from: AngryBirdsFan436 on February 19, 2013, 03:09:27 AM
Well, do you get what kind of ponies? Well if you want to know, I want it to be based on the ponies in the animated TV series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. If you make one mod that replaces people to ponies, bronies who play SimCity would be proud! :P :D :)

/facepalm  ...is there a barfing emoticon around here?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on February 19, 2013, 11:18:13 AM
Quote from: epicblunder on February 19, 2013, 09:03:39 AM
Quote from: AngryBirdsFan436 on February 19, 2013, 03:09:27 AM
Well, do you get what kind of ponies? Well if you want to know, I want it to be based on the ponies in the animated TV series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. If you make one mod that replaces people to ponies, bronies who play SimCity would be proud! :P :D :)

/facepalm  ...is there a barfing emoticon around here?

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sherv.net%2Fcm%2Femo%2Ffunny%2F1%2Fthrowing-up.gif&hash=b178b782d0ccca3ed8eb275faf518d5af0e35426)

We could do with a UK mod that turns cows into horses :D :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: epicblunder on February 19, 2013, 12:11:27 PM
Quote from: callagrafx on February 19, 2013, 11:18:13 AM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sherv.net%2Fcm%2Femo%2Ffunny%2F1%2Fthrowing-up.gif&hash=b178b782d0ccca3ed8eb275faf518d5af0e35426)

Hahaha   :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on February 22, 2013, 11:08:05 PM
Quote from: jmyers2043 on February 18, 2013, 06:22:24 AM
Quote from: AngryBirdsFan436 on February 18, 2013, 04:42:21 AM
Erm, how about a mod that replaces all people to ponies? :P :D Anyway, great work!

I'll expand on that idea. A mod for SimMars, SimRoman Empire, SimCowboy   :P :D

Not to forget SimScythians and SimRohirrim.


Cheers
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on February 23, 2013, 03:40:46 AM
Someone asked for crocodiles?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sunv123 on February 23, 2013, 07:11:24 AM
Crocs are nice.

Eh, horse meat burgers?.....

Quote from: callagrafx on February 19, 2013, 11:18:13 AM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sherv.net%2Fcm%2Femo%2Ffunny%2F1%2Fthrowing-up.gif&hash=b178b782d0ccca3ed8eb275faf518d5af0e35426)

Ugh.........
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mrbisonm on February 23, 2013, 08:45:06 AM
Crocodiles would be nice. Sould be fun to recreate the Nile river or the Bazou or Balou or whatever they call the swamps down there in Louisana in the US.

I don't know what people have against horsemeat btw. It is healthier than beef. Just because some idiot made a "pet" out of it and then said they shouldn't be eaten. Bafff, I love that meat, it reminds me of Moose, dark, lean and tasteful. I buy it all the time. (not for City-slickers)   ;)


Fred
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Yild on February 23, 2013, 09:10:49 AM
you didn't even bothered to check LEX... :P

Xann... any news on repulsors/attractors ?  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sunv123 on February 23, 2013, 09:28:57 AM
Quote from: Yild on February 23, 2013, 09:10:49 AM
you didn't even bothered to check LEX... :P

Xann... any news on repulsors/attractors ?  ::)
I check the site before the LEX. ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mrbisonm on February 23, 2013, 09:46:58 AM
Quote from: Yild on February 23, 2013, 09:10:49 AM
you didn't even bothered to check LEX... :P

Xann... any news on repulsors/attractors ?  ::)

Alex asked a question about crocodiles, so I didn't bother to look at the LEX (I don't go there every 30 minutes)  :P

me
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 23, 2013, 12:48:50 PM
Quote from: xannepan on February 14, 2013, 08:22:20 AM
No no.. Once you have the uvw unwrapping and rigging done, you create an animation in max. Next step is to convert the animation into frames (this is a 1 line script) then use the export as 3ds in max. Import that file into the reader and you are mostly done. It really is as simple as that.

Very good to know that it is that simple ... then neither is necessary to reverse the axes to import or set the same number of frames or etc .... well maybe my reader is different! :)

in time : their hole/raiser lots  go to the LEX?


Quote from: Yild on February 23, 2013, 09:10:49 AM

Xann... any news on repulsors/attractors ?

But why wait, Why do not you do it by yourself ? :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 27, 2013, 09:17:50 AM
So I gave all the new fauna a try and in general it's really, really sweet. However I've ran into an odd problem with the birds; they don't show when I use the godmode brush. All I see is dust clouds but no birds. The bird lots, however, work fine as do all other godmode fauna brushes. Any ideas why this is?  &mmm
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on February 27, 2013, 05:26:41 PM
Probably the settings for visual effects in the game are set for medium and in this case will only appear in batches. Try to apply them in high! :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 28, 2013, 05:16:09 AM
Yep, that was it! Weird though this only effects the bird brushes but it works like a charm now. Thanks!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on March 28, 2013, 05:31:25 PM
I'm not happy with that I can not be able to get the afford with MatLab site. I'm going to working a plans with cyclones (hurricanes) for SimCity 4 in-game later in a near future.

Firstly, I would like to get a MATLAB and then I would be able to get hurricanes with destructive winds systems which involve strong winds, heavy rain and thunder storms by the tropical cyclone events.

Secondly, Tropical Storms can cause power outages with branch blown down, which could cause floods with minimal damage winds. Create a hurricane can be done with any super typhoon in categories, it send a HUGE downpour. That means it rains VERY hard. Some hurricanes may cause floods or land slides with their water is called a 'floodwater' with their massive damaging winds. Tornadoes are one of the best Visual Effect Dir with the full force of hurricanes. Even hurricanes could be able to get their tear with shingle blown off and send it onto the ground. There are branch blown down, power outages, mobile homes damage, no traffic, no sounds, it is very scary indeed with hurricanes at the scripts etc.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 31, 2013, 09:13:07 AM
Just wanted to let you know I am still batting (trying to finish the Dulles airport). Progress is slow due to RL, but also because 3ds max 9 just doesn't work on my new windows-8 computer, so I had to switch to 3ds max 2013 and simfox bat4max.

Any tips on speeding up rendering? I am used to making lots of preview renderings, but it is just so damned slow, that I am wondering I am doing something wrong :P

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: callagrafx on March 31, 2013, 09:36:58 AM
Quote from: xannepan on March 31, 2013, 09:13:07 AM
Just wanted to let you know I am still batting (trying to finish the Dulles airport). Progress is slow due to RL, but also because 3ds max 9 just doesn't work on my new windows-8 computer, so I had to switch to 3ds max 2013 and simfox bat4max.

Any tips on speeding up rendering? I am used to making lots of preview renderings, but it is just so damned slow, that I am wondering I am doing something wrong :P

Reflectivity slows things down somewhat.... also final gather settings for previews are the same for final render, so try changing the precision to be quite low for the previews.  To reset them back to the proper settings for render, just hit the "day" button.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on March 31, 2013, 01:52:55 PM
Still seeking 3DS models for jet bridges? :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ROmeoBOT on April 20, 2013, 04:48:47 AM
Hi!
I need a straight diagonal Paris building, 1x1 diagonal or 1,5 left and right diagonal? There are lots of corner building but it's hard to find straight diagonals? Is there anywhere where I can still download this, don't mind if it is ploppable residentials, its easy to change in the reader.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on April 23, 2013, 01:32:02 PM
Hi Xannepans,
I was just working on the FreeMat but I can not be able to get the export with m to eff file.  :(
How can I change it the file with the export is look like a m.file to eff. file, many thanks? I have been just working on the script with the FreeMat.

end

    effdir.sec(1).entry(i).bright_adj_over_time_rep=fread(fid,1,'uint32'); 74
    effdir.sec(1).entry(i).bright_adj_over_time_rep=fread(fid,1,'uint32'); 74

I don't think about the script with this full stop ";" is look like a (fid,1,'uint32'); 74 or (fid,1,'uint32'); 74; is it right or wrong?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: ROmeoBOT on April 25, 2013, 10:40:57 PM
Hello again!
There is a building, cornerRow 14d, that would fit nicely as diagonal, 22,5 m. Anyone has the model and could rotate it 45 deg? It's part of Rue de la Bienfaisance. It might be only 21 m so maybe it should be 5-6% wider. I have some diagonal roads that I would like to line up with these great Paris buildings.

I only need the model, I can lot it myself.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on April 27, 2013, 02:57:20 AM
ROmeoBOT: I don't have the 3ds model for that building anymore.

HurricaneMod10: I do not really understand your question or what you are trying to do. The scripts are not perfect but there should be no problem with reading the main effect dir. Once you have isolated a single effect and edited it so it contains no bugs (!) the writescript should not cause any problems either. I unfortunately cannot provide any support for these scripts.

I have finally decided to uninstall windows-8 and try to get 3dsmax9 to work again. I gave up on 3dsmax2013. SimFox script works fine but the rendering remains so damned slow I became frustrated to work with it. Hopefully I can now render my modular mega (straight and diagonal) runways to go the Dulles airport and air traffic controller effect dir.


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: HurricaneMod10 on April 28, 2013, 10:49:28 AM
Sorry about that English but I'm not very good with that English. Anyway I was just looking for a change it with the files from the export should be like a m to effect files were just like this one of the program is called on this software.

Quote from: xannepan on April 27, 2013, 02:57:20 AM
ROmeoBOT: I don't have the 3ds model for that building anymore.

HurricaneMod10: I do not really understand your question or what you are trying to do. The scripts are not perfect but there should be no problem with reading the main effect dir. Once you have isolated a single effect and edited it so it contains no bugs (!) the writescript should not cause any problems either. I unfortunately cannot provide any support for these scripts.

I have finally decided to uninstall windows-8 and try to get 3dsmax9 to work again. I gave up on 3dsmax2013. SimFox script works fine but the rendering remains so damned slow I became frustrated to work with it. Hopefully I can now render my modular mega (straight and diagonal) runways to go the Dulles airport and air traffic controller effect dir.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 20, 2013, 06:04:04 AM
Winter has returned here... That in combination with some days off work give me some time to BAT a bit. Rendering....
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmdude1 on May 20, 2013, 07:38:50 AM
excellent news. i'm looking forward to see what you have been working on.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 20, 2013, 09:03:31 AM
Well.. the fact that winter has return is not really excellent news lol.
Anyway.. let's just say that my new project will require a large city size.... But is builds on something I started some time ago already :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on May 20, 2013, 09:34:53 AM
Airport when...  ;D ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: [Delta ²k5] on May 24, 2013, 05:59:44 AM
Sounds like we'll finally see some new, realistic airport buildings / setups  &apls can't wait to see some progress :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: eugenelavery on May 24, 2013, 06:30:52 AM
Other than the tired SCAG terminals and a few futuristic Japanese terminals, the airport terminal is a vastly under-represented BAT.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 24, 2013, 06:57:59 AM
Boy have I got some surprises coming for you  ;D

Currently trying to figure out how to include the airport in the AC airport controller. Airports can - unfortunately - not be released as individual plugins. It's a bit cumbersome. Still it'll be worth it once figure out how to mod.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: josh6 on May 24, 2013, 09:44:53 AM
 %BUd%
Can't wait!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on June 04, 2013, 04:22:19 AM
At this moment I am uploading a short video with a preview of my work on airports. The fine tuning phase takes much longer then I had hoped for. I can not make any promises on when it will be ready (maybe a few weeks maybe longer then a month).

http://youtu.be/MnlriU1VCWo

When ready the following items will be included (future expansions are possible):

- Dulles airport terminal. Included are three versions with different sizes representing a local, regional and international airport version. All are fully tuned with SC4PIM. The airports will be merged into the AC functional airports version. There will be no automatic stage upgrade for these airports. The version I will upload will contain jet bridges at the backside of the terminal. But for the purist among use the jet bridges (not a part of Saarinen's actual terminal) are optional.

- Three prefab runways with parallel taxiways (one fractioned angle) of approximate realistic size (which means they are HUGE! you can see them in the movie, but who complaints about small maps in sc4 these days  ;D  ;D  ;D). In the first release there will be no 45 degree diagonal version.

- Several taxiway connector pieces for the prefab runways. With these you will have flexibility in your runway layout. More connector pieces extending this flexibility are possible, but will not be included in the first release.

- Runways and taxiways are based on flat BAT models. The models are overhanging a 1x1 tile lot. As a result you can " transit enable " the taxiways by dragging roads underneath (one way roads recommended). With the taxiway plane generator you will be able to generate planes traveling from their airport apron to the runway and v.v.  The roads will be fully covered by the taxiway models, so you won't see them. As a result initial road placement requires some patience, but with the "draw paths" effect enabled it should not be too difficult.

- Taxiway plane generators (based on a LUA automata generator script), i.e. lots that you will have to plop along side your taxiways. They should not be placed close to other networks, unless you want planes driving through the streets of your cities or on your highways.

- Runway plane generators, i.e. plane generating lots that you will have to plop on top of your runways. Helper pieces for correct positioning are included. The runway plane generators are based one effect dir modding. Planes taking off and landing are sound enabled (note: occasionally audio suffers from an inherent game bug  :angrymore:). At this moment the take off and landing paths are still to short, albeit significantly longer then the original maxis effects. There are also several really minor graphical glitches. Solving this has low priority for me.

- Multiple 3DS airplane models (a large range of boeing and airbus models by Sainry, and a constellation propellor plane by Voltaire). At this moment for each model only 1 or 2 texture skins are included. But there are place holder included in the effect dir mod, so anyone can extend the texture set without effect dir modding. For each model there are placeholders for 10 different textures. I will included a developers readme for texture modders/artists.

- Night lighting: all runways and taxiways are fully lit at night. I also included approach lighting system props which you can optionally place in front of your runway. The lighting system night-light array is based on effect dir modding.

- Several airport props (radar towers etc). Since the runways and taxiways are large overhanging models on 1x1 lots it sometimes is cumbersome to find back the small lot once the runway is placed. I used these props as visual indicators for the lot positions (so you can find them back for destruction etc).

- Custom menu icons.

- As usual, I will make all 3ds max models available, so anyone with modeling skills can extend the set. If anyone feels up to it, HD rerendering the run/taxiways in max 2013 will dramatically improve the model quality (I tried, but I don't have the time.. in 3ds max 9 rendering of a single runway piece takes 30 minutes, in 3ds max 2013 2 days. Given that a single runway is composed of 7 huge models I won't try again)

Final note: As this mod/plugin stretches the limits of what we can get out of this game, some inherent bugs will have to be accepted  &mmm
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on June 04, 2013, 04:39:04 AM
Holy
Freakin'
God


:o :o :o :o :o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on June 04, 2013, 05:09:07 AM
Quote from: art128 on June 04, 2013, 04:39:04 AM
Holy
Freakin'
God


:o :o :o :o :o

There is not much more to say... AMAZING !!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on June 04, 2013, 05:20:53 AM
Holy ruminant! This ain't a joke? no 1st of april around the corner?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgarcia on June 04, 2013, 06:46:51 AM
 &apls &apls &apls :D AMAZING!!!!! I shouting!!!!!!

Awesome work.  Looking forward to it - I think it's time I get a new comp!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jmdude1 on June 04, 2013, 06:47:42 AM
wow! from animals to auroras to airports to super awesomeness......you are a sc4 genius!

aside from the NAM team, I think you are providing some of the most interesting and exciting content for the game.

once again, you continue to amaze us.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mave94 on June 04, 2013, 08:52:22 AM
Holy moly! Freakin' amazing what you're doing!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on June 04, 2013, 09:24:45 AM
FA runways at proper scale? Not even mentioning all the other goodies (among these, the nightlighting stands out for me). You're a god.


Cheers
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: [Delta ²k5] on June 04, 2013, 10:21:25 AM
Sounds and looks good, but I got some questions / suggestions:

Q: Are the new ariport lights steady? (i.e. the blue lights on the taxiways / lights on the runway) and are they updated too for the RMIP AC-Team Set in some way?

S: could you slow the planes speed down on approach and on taxiways? They seem to be kinda fast. Also it would be great if the planes come in more horizontal ;)

Anyway really great work!  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on June 04, 2013, 11:02:28 AM
Taxiway lights don't flash.. I think it looks too distracting in the game. I did a bit of studying on taxiway, runway and approachlighting.. But I am not an expert, so let's say everything will be approximate realistic :)

Plane flight path tuning is extremely difficult, unpredictable and error prone. I won't be touching it again any day soon :P. Even now plane generation is still not 100% stable, with strange dependencies on rotation, lot position bulldozing near the generator etc... However the maxis planes suffer from exactly the same issues, so I don't thin it can be solved.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on June 05, 2013, 05:25:55 PM
Quote from: xannepan on June 04, 2013, 11:02:28 AM

.....any day soon :P . Even now plane generation is still not 100% stable,....





Maybe the Same problem suffered by the generation of automata for CAN-AM. It seems that putting plans with texture over the path somehow affects the stability of the "follow road"  in the script.


I gave up the Hippodrome animated exactly because of the randomness of the generation of automata ( racehorses ) on track.


An alternative to try would be to insert the texture through an effect ( eg building_footprint_ok) to see if the enhances the stability of automata
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on June 06, 2013, 05:05:40 AM
@NCGAIO: I was actually referring to the flying planes, based on the effect dir :)... the taxiway plane generator based on LUA script seems to work fine.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Uzil on June 06, 2013, 06:13:37 AM
I am literraly speechless...  :shocked2:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on June 25, 2013, 03:16:05 AM
are details like these that makes SC4 more and more worthy playing :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 13, 2013, 01:46:51 AM
some in progress shots for the airport dlc (for free ;-)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 13, 2013, 01:48:21 AM
airport firestation (based on Stansted airport firestation)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 13, 2013, 01:49:00 AM
more night shots, using USL
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 13, 2013, 01:49:40 AM
beautiful Dulles airport
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 13, 2013, 01:50:13 AM
rental car yeah!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 13, 2013, 01:53:54 AM
avis
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 13, 2013, 01:54:29 AM
alamo. All rental car lots, generate accompanying buses to take you to and from the airport terminal.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on August 13, 2013, 03:37:29 AM
 &apls &apls Great job ... as it always does!


The mod traffic control will be included or yet intends to release it alone?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Rayden on August 13, 2013, 03:41:04 AM
Beautifull shots, you're doing a great job on the airports. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on August 13, 2013, 03:42:01 AM
That is awesome! I love the night shot of the runways. And those rental car lots are to die for.

Robin &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on August 13, 2013, 03:52:00 AM
Awesome!

Now I can't decide if I want to use your terminal or hanneda's.... Hnnnggg

Do you think you can add an extra " Nippon rent a car " version? basically the same colors as Avis.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on August 13, 2013, 04:16:48 AM
Beautiful night lights. That must have take its time.



Quote from: art128 on August 13, 2013, 03:52:00 AM
Do you think you can add an extra " Nippon rent a car " version? basically the same colors as Avis.

If you do, let me know. I can send you some textures for the signs that I am using on a bat project of mine.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi40.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fe242%2Fvester_DK%2FBATs%2Fhk00697L01_zpscd7858cb.jpg&hash=aeea30074d93fd1a8822106742368a83a7c0463f) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi40.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fe242%2Fvester_DK%2FBATs%2FNippon_Rent-A-Car_Sendai_Station_Terminal_zps2a51c9a1.jpg&hash=8438ed2fa56f72a68f9fcc84f77dd33883a20c02) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi40.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fe242%2Fvester_DK%2FBATs%2Ffile_1_0_2_zpse01c5ec2.jpg&hash=dc687f4823524999e278fd0ffeaabdb845f32a7c)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 13, 2013, 09:09:46 AM
NCGAIO: I will include the traffic controller indeed. It still behaves unpredictable, but I think it is an inherent game issue from which also the maxis runway effects suffer from. I will probably create several packages for upload.. It will be too big for one package only. I am so NOT looking forward to creating the uploads... installation will be complicated because of the airport issue with the game. Also tracking all dependencies will be boring work :(

Art: I will also upload all 3dsmax files again, so it'd be easy to replace the avis text with the nippon car rental text and logo.

Night lights are a result of using the Uniform Street Light mod.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on August 13, 2013, 09:23:04 AM
Impressive! You are a man of many talents :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Dantes on August 13, 2013, 11:13:11 AM
Fantastic work! I like the shareing cars points
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on August 13, 2013, 11:14:46 AM
great... work...  :o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on August 13, 2013, 03:00:59 PM
Quote from: xannepan on August 13, 2013, 09:09:46 AM
I am so NOT looking forward to creating the uploads...


Reason of jobs well done. :)

As I already said before ... sometimes fetch perfection hinders a bit. The mod is already pretty good and make it to behave better than the effects Maxis should not be a concern

Many do not care about detail and the times nor even the want it  ... a few days ago I posted on one question about reducing the number of planes. ???


"Night lights are a result of using the Uniform Street Light mod."

And the  light on the airplane would be shifted socerfield eff. ? ;)



Speaking of which... and returning a little to the past i still have doubts about the case of effects on land or water , remember? -  LINK (https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-TFjGjBfnTYM/URbU9j9J6-I/AAAAAAAABxk/EPRT5TNSJH0/s640/BALEIAS%2520NA%2520AREIA_DUVIDAa.jpg)


You put for wiki that  "Bit 17: display on land only" and "Bit 18: display on water only" but in the case appeared in both then "only"  not  was misapplied and maybe were possible in both ? Or it could be that the absence sets for the two ?

I was thinking of a use for  (sml, med, large)wake&wash eff  for automata on land but if the condition is even to be one or the other it would not be right for the game.


So if it was easy for you (and leftover while ... of course) could separate the effects below to a file with both sets ? then it would be possible to test.!



smlwake
smlwash
medwake
medwash
largewake
largewash
racingboat
motorboat


Nc Thanks!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 14, 2013, 01:52:09 PM
Agree on the perfection. However, in this case it is just a lot of work to create a packages for uploading, including a readme. It is also work I do not enjoy.

I will work on the wakes for you as soon as I have time. It should not be to difficult.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mattb325 on August 14, 2013, 03:21:58 PM
Oh Wow! :thumbsup: Legendary work on the airport. I am speechless !  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gutterclub on August 14, 2013, 03:56:13 PM
Absolutely stunning work!

Loving that you will release seperate 3DS files, would be keen to render myself seperate Firestation and Rental car BATs in BAT4MAX 5 with Darknite for personal use.

Thanks so much for these!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on August 14, 2013, 05:34:33 PM
Quote from: xannepan on August 14, 2013, 01:52:09 PM

I will work on the wakes for you as soon as I have time. It should not be to difficult.


tXs! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgarcia on August 14, 2013, 07:42:21 PM
Dulles is coming along wonderfully.  Wunderschön!    &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: sunv123 on August 15, 2013, 07:08:56 AM
Wow, those rental car shops look amazing!! &apls

But the airport... it's just beautiful. :o

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 17, 2013, 07:25:02 AM
Got a bit tired of modding for a while... So I decided to train my bat skills a bit
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 17, 2013, 07:26:53 AM
backside
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Rayden on August 17, 2013, 10:34:44 AM
Nice! Airport terminal? Must be ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on August 17, 2013, 11:19:32 AM
Great work.

Looks like the JFK Airport TWA Terminal
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 17, 2013, 10:49:15 PM
Indeed, JFK TWA terminal 5 it is. Like the Dulles airport terminal another great work by architect Eero Saarinen.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: iamgoingtoeatyou on August 17, 2013, 11:31:15 PM
One of my favorite buildings! The default international airport terminal in Simcity always reminded me of this building, it looks fantastic already!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: weixc812 on August 18, 2013, 06:46:29 AM
Wow, I've been longing for a new airport pack   ;D
Keep up the great work  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 19, 2013, 02:33:51 AM
Awesome work Alex :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Earth quake on August 19, 2013, 03:12:42 AM
Impressive work ! This airport terminal is perfect.  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on August 21, 2013, 08:07:59 AM
Great look ... you intends to stay single with the historic Saarinen head house or have plans to do all the JetBlue terminal, would certainly make a great addition to airports.


(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F0%2F02%2FJFK_T5_Diagram.jpg%2F240px-JFK_T5_Diagram.jpg&hash=a3bca8a31f4eff3fdf82c525c193d9d1b07486d9)


Quote from: xannepan on August 17, 2013, 07:25:02 AMGot a bit tired of modding for a while...


:( :( :(  -- News for the game are greatly missed ... !

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 21, 2013, 10:39:24 AM
Don't worry.. I will get back to modding.. just needed a change of mind for a minute.  I have no plans to make the jetblue terminal for now. After the airports are finished I will finish the medieval walls probably. And I do want to get back to Paris someday.

Currently creating apron lots for the TWA JFK terminal... pfff.. lotting s*cks.



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Delecto on August 21, 2013, 10:47:27 AM
Superb work Alex.  &apls &apls &apls
Can't wait for the release.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on August 29, 2013, 09:29:52 AM
What is an airport without a parking garage. It's modular by the way.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Gugu3 on August 29, 2013, 10:22:49 AM
Looking wonderful!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on August 29, 2013, 10:28:42 AM
Looks promising Alex  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glazert on August 29, 2013, 01:32:50 PM
I really like the lighting on the parking garage.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on August 29, 2013, 03:52:13 PM
That's some really outstanding work as always Alex  &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgarcia on August 29, 2013, 07:21:24 PM
Gorgeous - beautiful  &apls!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 10, 2013, 10:57:34 AM
While awaiting feedback from scrutineering I made this last night. I'll probably add seasonal variation for night lighting. (Lot is still in an unfinished stage)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on September 10, 2013, 11:06:35 AM
Great work. In just one night :o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgarcia on September 10, 2013, 11:20:02 AM
I'm in love with this project - absolutely wonderful!   &cry2 &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glazert on September 10, 2013, 12:55:51 PM
Really impressive building, without a rectangle in sight - apart from the air conditioning.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on September 10, 2013, 02:28:51 PM
Looks cool  :)

I am eagerly waiting for the next parisian BATs  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Jack_wilds on September 10, 2013, 03:19:53 PM
luv your airport project  :thumbsup: its incredible  &apls  making work together with AC's airports all the better  :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: jaredh on September 10, 2013, 06:51:19 PM
Simply amazing.  One night?!?!

Wowsers
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: rooker1 on September 11, 2013, 04:22:41 AM
Awesome!

Robin &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: RepublicMaster on September 11, 2013, 12:11:41 PM
Looks excellent! I can't wait for this wonderful addition. :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: [Delta ²k5] on September 12, 2013, 02:34:39 AM
 ??? :o I - am - stunned. Great work!!!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 15, 2013, 11:18:24 AM
Still patiently waiting for some test results...
Meanwhile... does anyone know how to tune the brightness and contrast of the game road texture in BAT to get a seamless fit with the actual game road network? (see picture)
(I exported the euroroad texture FSH and converted it to jpeg in photoshop to get it in BAT).

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on September 15, 2013, 11:39:06 AM
Looks interesting :)

Quote from: xannepan on September 15, 2013, 11:18:24 AM
Meanwhile... does anyone know how to tune the brightness and contrast of the game road texture in BAT to get a seamless fit with the actual game road network? (see picture)
(I exported the euroroad texture FSH and converted it to jpeg in photoshop to get it in BAT).(I exported the euroroad texture FSH and converted it to jpeg in photoshop to get it in BAT).

You use Simfox's BAT4MAX?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on September 15, 2013, 12:33:26 PM
Nope. I am still using chrissims version, mostly. Only use simfox bat4max for the occasional HD props.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: memo on September 16, 2013, 02:39:09 PM
Quote from: xannepan on September 15, 2013, 11:18:24 AM
Meanwhile... does anyone know how to tune the brightness and contrast of the game road texture in BAT to get a seamless fit with the actual game road network? (see picture)

There is a tutorial for that kind of thing: http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=5229.0 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=5229.0)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: weixc812 on September 16, 2013, 09:52:12 PM
Really can't wait to see them released  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 05, 2013, 08:02:13 AM
This or that...

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 05, 2013, 08:06:08 AM
So I have started releasing the airport theme pack I have been working on for so long. After careful testing there is still a chance of bugs in these files. Please report them here, or as a comment on the LEX.

For the Dulles and JFK functional terminals I ask you to be patient please, I am still waiting for some final feedback and test results.
I am also considering some model and lot improvements (pictures posted earlier contains still glitches). At the other hand if I keep being too much of a perfectionist these will never get released....

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on October 05, 2013, 11:16:06 AM

As always said ... all your work is already very good and do not need to ever be on the verge of perfection.


Beyond what "most times small imperfections are only visible to the eyes of artist because the great public will not even notice them."


Congratulations for your dedication and time spent to provide all this material &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Terring7 on October 05, 2013, 12:12:49 PM
Must... have them...

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FjXVem.gif&hash=77b05c0194937acc621c3d5a0de3243bef4b3e0a)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on October 05, 2013, 12:25:34 PM
This piece is bugging:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F03896b1d14b442bcb43e7a0bc151cf0f.jpg&hash=3a2ba3d79ecabcbb16741b839d15c371aad2dfdf)

Congrats for breaking the 100.000 views  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 05, 2013, 12:51:51 PM
Damn... I did some last minute modding on that piece.. Wished I hadn't now.
I will lock the file for now and fix tomorrow morning.

One more thing. The wall pieces are not created to connect on corners. The idea is that you need a tower (or gate) at a corner (no matter the degree of the corner). I will put it in the readme as I'll have to re-upload anyway.

Thanks for positive comments and for testing.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on October 06, 2013, 09:59:09 AM
Thanks for the tip with the walls, I just tested to see them but didn't play further with them  ::)

You have LOD bug here I think:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Ffcfe5680bb34b024574bc2a2d38dbd42.jpg&hash=8c55e72a7463a82579fedccd8ea232c5e965c973)

EDIT:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ld-host.de%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Fb8d0aba3a5fa299a78204047226c0b8f.jpg&hash=62533433b188fbe728305e7fab3c8d01ca82526e)

You surely forgot 2 winter props for the lindens  ;) and I get texture problems, is there a dependency for them (for the dependencies, you can use the new feature on the LEX dependency tracker which is really useful for downloaders :) )

City Hall misses too dependencies  ;)

Good job with the medieval set  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 06, 2013, 10:19:34 AM
Strange there is that texture issue again. You reported one earlier for one of the airport models, if I remember correctly. The texture dat file is included in the Cologne Gr St Martin church. I am using the texture ID range assigned to me, so what you show in the picture shouldn't happen unless some-one else uses my texture ID range.

Can you try to rename the texture dat file by a zzzz_ prefix and move it to the plugins root folder. Just to check if the problem persists.

I just downloaded the gr st martin church and installed in a blank plugins folder, and opened in the lot editor... somehow the winter trees are just there.

I will check the LOD issue... you where the first to notice and I completely overlooked myself sofar.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgarcia on October 06, 2013, 10:37:13 AM
You recent releases are amazing.  &apls Thank you very much!  Love all of them.   :D

The revisions to the bridges - do we need to remove the old models (deleting them in game also before deleting)?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 06, 2013, 10:39:23 AM
No need to remove the old bridges as long as you follow the installation instructions. You may need to rebuild your already existing bridges I suspect...

I have asked the NAM team to update the versions included in the NAM by the revised models, so hopefully they will be included in the next NAM.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on October 06, 2013, 11:05:18 AM
I checked the LOT under the LE, and the 2 winter props are missing.

The guilty file for the texture problem is..............   JENXTEXTURES_QS
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 06, 2013, 11:23:27 AM
Damn... that file became obsolete in the new version of the quais.. which I haven't uploaded yet. I now remember I reused the texture ID without keeping in mind other players would end up with a texture conflict. Can't even remember which of the QS lots uses that texture....

Mmmm.Can't think of an easy way to solve it, as I'd need to re-upload every file from the past two days... And I am uploading like hell since I am dealing with an unstable PC, and lack of time in the next few months.....

Will see what I can do! Thanks for checking Girafe. Really appreciated!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgarcia on October 06, 2013, 12:41:54 PM
Thanks Xannepan - will continue and install the bridges.   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on October 06, 2013, 01:07:13 PM
Thanks for all of the great stuff you have uploaded! Christmas came early this year :D  :satisfied:  &apls  :thumbsup:  ;D  &dance 8-)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: RepublicMaster on October 06, 2013, 04:58:33 PM
Great set of new uploads! The airport set is much appreciated. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 09, 2013, 10:24:23 AM
Thanks all.
I am a bit frustrated that after so many hours of scrutineering there are still some mistake and dependency issues. I will solve asap.
One issue is a texture ID conflict with the quais de seine. I  have been working on some optimization for those for a long time already, which I will now complete asap.
The new versions will no longer need the TE lots, as I learned how you can build them on the steep river shore tile. I will also see if I can harmonize the tree leaf colors with those of Girafe a bit (mainly a saturation difference).

Still patiently waiting for the airports to be uploaded to the LEX :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Jack_wilds on October 13, 2013, 03:52:21 PM
just wanted to pop in and give a resounding  :thumbsup:   &apls 

your airports as I REALLY like 'em... especially the traffic control aspect with more and better planes in the sky AND I luvthat it was integrated with Votaire's and Ripplejet's AC airports your just expanding what was great to be even better... I believe U did good by that   :) 
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: APSMS on October 20, 2013, 03:00:35 PM
Your work is incredible. I have a question, though. I'm trying to install, and your instructions say to place the zz_Enable JENXAIRPORT Dulles.dat file into the appropriate folder (x-Ports; airports; etc.), but I can't find that file. Am I supposed to rename the JENXAIRPORT Dulles.dat file? Or is it somewhere else that I'm not looking?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 20, 2013, 09:49:21 PM
It shpuld be included in the functional airport 2.2 file and automatically installed in the correct folder. Sorry for the confusion in the readme. Let me know if it works out.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 21, 2013, 11:06:50 AM
Works in progress.

Revised the quais de seine. The color of the trees are now better "compatible" with trees by Girafe. Placement is easier and no longer requires transit enabled lots (which also reduces the number of lots in the menu). Sidewalk texture now changes depending on the sidewalk mod you may have installed. New creations such as river cruiser, house boats, barges.

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on October 21, 2013, 11:12:54 AM
I think we are using the same barge models  $%Grinno$% anyway your barges looks better  :)

what do you mean about the sidewalk mod ?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on October 21, 2013, 11:18:37 AM
Love the trees!  :thumbsup:

Since you're reworking the quays: could all of the top pavement be detached from the actual walls?! This way you (or some else) could re-render those bat files with the appropriate sidewalk texture so it extends to the water front (or any other pavement textures for that matter). It'd allow for greater usability imho.

edit: or am I misunderstanding you and is this already the case?  ()what()



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 21, 2013, 12:13:00 PM
The sidewalks are now indeed independent s3d models with uv texture unwrapped. So the quai sidewalk texture will change automatically to the sidewalk mod texture. No need to re-render.

Kelis, i must have completely overlooked your barges sofar. Otherwise i might not have created the same models once more :P

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on October 21, 2013, 12:21:38 PM
That is absolutely awesome news for my river fronts  :o   All the mentioned changes are huge, perhaps especially the sidewalk mod thing. Just one question though: Any chance at HD renders? (sorry to ask again :'( )
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Simcoug on October 21, 2013, 12:29:59 PM
Quote from: xannepan on October 21, 2013, 12:13:00 PM
The sidewalks are now indeed independent s3d models with uv texture unwrapped. So the quai sidewalk texture will change automatically to the sidewalk mod texture. No need to re-render.

That is awesome news!  I'm trying to picture the lotting in my head, and I think I understand what you did, but could give a simple explanation (especially regarding your curved pieces) - maybe other BATers can see how you achieved this and more seawall lots will be developed in the future that are sidewalk mod compatible.   ;D


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on October 21, 2013, 12:45:00 PM
Improvements look good, you can increase the size of te leaves by 120%
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 21, 2013, 09:13:57 PM
Girafe, i think that is a good point. I decreased the total tree size by 120, but forgot to increase the leave size back again. Mmmmm there goes another round of rerendering :(

Simcoug. It is actually very easy in 3dsmax. You don't even need BAT4MAX since no rendering is involved. I will see if I have the time for a more elaborate tutorial later, but in short these steps are required (3dsmax required, won't work in gmax i think)

-first create a 16x16m (1 tile) rectangle. No need to texture it. Put a uvw map modifier on it. Put is a side temporarily

-now use a line to outline your sidewalk piece with the intended shape (for my quais i needed all kinds of curved shapes). Make sure you close the line.

- copy the uvw map modifier from the rectangle and paste it to your new sidewalk piede. The following steps are optional: You may want to texture with a sidewalk texture extracted from the game just to see if it displays correctly. You may want to check if during the paste operation the uvw map modifier box has not rotated. It should be in the same rotation as on the rectangle. After done you can delete the rectangle, but again thisnis entirely optional.

- in top view: select the sidewalk piece. And rotate it by -90 degrees around the origin of the grid! (Not around its own axis). It is important to do this is top view and that the rotation is -90, not 90.

- select the sidewalk model and export it as 3ds file (e.g. To your plugins folder). If it asks to keep the uvw wrapping, select yes.

That's all in 3dsmax. Now you need the reader. Best is to select an existing full 3ds model (e.g. an existing car model). Once the quais are released it is best to use one of my sidewalk models (s3d and corresponding prop exemplar) included in the dat file.

- Copy the s3d and exemplar and paste it (preferably to a new dat file).

- give both entries new instance IDs. Make sure the exemplar points to the new instance ID of the 3ds model and also change the exemplar name property in the exemplar entry.

- select the s3d entry an in the right pane of the reader select the import option. Import the 3ds file you created in max. Hit apply.

- if you already used one of my sidewalk s3d entry in the reader you are done. If you used another s3d model (e.g. The aforementioned car) as a starting point then you need to make sure the skin texture point to the correct sidewalk texture ID (you can do that in the right pane of the reader)

You are done. You can now select the model as a prop in the reader and apply it in the lot editor.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 21, 2013, 09:15:59 PM
Noah. I don't think I will make HD quais... Not that it is difficult, but too much time involved.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: memo on October 22, 2013, 12:13:27 AM
I'd like to add that, when you insert your models into the s3d files directly, you should pay attention to the number of polygons, even if the model is flat. Try to keep it as low as possible, because the game will have to load and render them completely, even in zoom 1. A rectangular 16x16 plain model usually does not require more than 2 triangles - if the model is curved, I guess the poly count increases quite a bit. Remember that by default a usual BAT has only 3 faces / 6 triangles in zoom 1 and 2, as the game has to display a lot of these models, and most of the props are not displayed at all.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 22, 2013, 12:23:13 AM
Memo, in general that is true (and a good point indeed). However the modular quais (and most river/sea walls) need tightly fitting LODs (otherwise they won't seamlessly fit together or blend correctly with the water). Having that said it means for the quais it is actually more economic to do it this way :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: krashspeed on October 22, 2013, 09:19:11 AM
This is very interesting, but the model and texture seem to be banding where they overlap. Wouldn't raising the sidewalk in LE fix that?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 22, 2013, 09:29:15 AM
Krash: I have no clue what you are refering to...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: krashspeed on October 22, 2013, 09:38:22 AM
Quote from: xannepan on October 22, 2013, 09:29:15 AM
Krash: I have no clue what you are refering to...

In your seawall image at the left end of the street, the sidewalk texture and grass lot texture are interfering with each other and causing a banded appearance. Would raising the sidewalk in LE cause a problem and would it stop the banding?

Edit: Wait.... what does your sidewalk show as in LE? Is it a prop or texture?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 22, 2013, 10:12:54 AM
Ah now I see what you mean. The props are already raised slightly. Raising more will cause other graphical problems. Some glitches remain, unfortunately, but most pieces are not affected.


Meanwhile I have uploaded the new Quais de Seine to wetransfer for testing. Usually, I would go for the BSC private board, but there are not many scrutineers these days with sufficient time for testing. I will wait for a week or so before I will upload to the LEX. Any feedback is much appreciated.

Note; once you deinstall all old quais de seine files, this will also resolve a texture ID conflict in the recently uploaded medieval set.

*** link removed: official version now on the lex ***
-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: krashspeed on October 22, 2013, 10:21:35 AM
I just downloaded it, Thanks!

I have some ideas for using the sidewalk technique already :).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on October 22, 2013, 10:37:26 AM
Quote from: krashspeed on October 22, 2013, 10:21:35 AM
I have some ideas for using the sidewalk technique already :).

I bet you do. .  ::) Nice seeing you around here!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: krashspeed on October 22, 2013, 10:44:44 AM
Quote from: vortext on October 22, 2013, 10:37:26 AM
Quote from: krashspeed on October 22, 2013, 10:21:35 AM
I have some ideas for using the sidewalk technique already :).

I bet you do. .  ::) Nice seeing you around here!

I visit here often, but post seldom. I know the Simpeg crew so well, but I don't really know anyone here - except yourself.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on October 22, 2013, 10:59:08 AM
Quote from: krashspeed on October 22, 2013, 10:44:44 AM
I visit here often, but post seldom. I know the Simpeg crew so well, but I don't really know anyone here -

- and that's why you should post more often!  :D

Back to topic, Alex, this is friggin' amazing! One of the major drawbacks for using your quays was the Maxis texture but no more. &apls

(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/tepzjywqc4w38c7/xquay.jpg)

Earlier report of misalignment was due to old quays still residing in plugins.  :-[
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on October 22, 2013, 12:27:53 PM
Are the quays available now ? :o
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on October 22, 2013, 12:43:47 PM
Available just for testing and scrutineering. Se wetransfer link a few posts back.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on October 22, 2013, 01:01:33 PM
Thanks my friend !!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgarcia on October 22, 2013, 06:14:58 PM
Wow - the update to your Quais de Seine is amazing - I use SAP Euro asphalt texture and although the riverfront is amazing, had not used it before - did not like that it did not match but now.............so looking forward to using it.  Thank you so much... &apls ;D :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on October 29, 2013, 06:38:13 AM
Quote from: xannepan on October 21, 2013, 12:13:00 PM
Kelis, i must have completely overlooked your barges sofar. Otherwise i might not have created the same models once more :P

Hi Alex;

what about the barges ? I can't wait to have all of them on my hands, I like so much !! are you thinking to do more models ? or maybe some varieties colours ? You can not imagine how many time I was waiting for some barges like this, even for the houseboats that you are uploaded to the LEX, I think all of them are perfect to recreate some Dutch scenes and things like this, so thank you so much and I will be looking forward to get the barges  ;)

Groeten
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 01, 2013, 08:48:25 AM
I will work on the barges a bit more before releasing them Kelis. Colour varieties, perhaps...

Meanwhile I finished the Louis Vuitton building. Now on the LEX.



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: MandelSoft on November 01, 2013, 10:29:49 AM
Oooh! That looks magnifique! Excellent work, Alex!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 03, 2013, 03:54:05 AM
Thx Maarten. Here is another works in progress. Just need to add some details and nightlights
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Delecto on November 03, 2013, 05:02:17 AM
Look great!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: shanghai kid on November 03, 2013, 05:10:24 AM
wow, that looks great  ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgarcia on November 03, 2013, 07:04:03 AM
That is beautiful... :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 03, 2013, 11:20:06 AM
It's on the lex already :) (rainy day... so plenty of time for BAT ;)

Next

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on November 03, 2013, 11:45:43 AM
Parisian station of Line 6, nice!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on November 10, 2013, 08:17:32 AM
Hi! to be honest, fantastic work... Im crazy about every release you make... although, have you ever thought bout doing some generic buildings from london? they are somehow alike to paris buildings... of course not the same, but you know... just a thought... plus, since kelis is doing a recreation of NYC, I decided to move on, and start a new journal of London... maybe you could help me a little??  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on November 10, 2013, 08:20:33 AM
Quote from: cmdp123789 on November 10, 2013, 08:17:32 AM
although, have you ever thought bout doing some generic buildings from london? they are somehow alike to paris buildings... of course not the same, but you know... just a thought...

Seconded!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Uzil on November 10, 2013, 08:37:05 AM
Hi xannepan,

I have a huge problem with one of your last upload :

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage.noelshack.com%2Ffichiers%2F2013%2F45%2F1384101400-simcity-4-2013-11-10-17-34-21-86.png&hash=a26dc24d32faf3a134df791de1c9990ca8784719)

How avoid this ?  &mmm
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on November 13, 2013, 03:30:35 AM
Hello again... I'm having a little problem with the Jupiter mod... 2 actually...

1. Every time I plop it, my game crashes... I have the left hand driving in this particular moment, because of the recreation I mentioned...

2. I can't activate them as cheats neither... Maybe someone can help me?

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on November 13, 2013, 04:29:35 AM
1) did you try it with right-hand driving? And if so, does the game crashes as well?!

2) you have to prefix the cheats with the word 'effect'. So for instance, you'd type 'effect jenx_fleecyclouds' for the fleecy clouds.

Also, in the graphic settings clouds need to be enabled, though the weather effects only appears in zoom 1,2 & 3 iirc.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on November 13, 2013, 10:01:15 AM
Well... actually when I tried it with the Right-hand driving... I could plop it.. but, the effects werent showing.. which is weird, I mean, I would get clouds and stuff... but never actual rain or snow..

es I made sure the clouds were enable... Im gonna go ahead and try the cheats, to see what results out of it.

Thank you! I will stop by later to comment on the actual results.

EDIT= So game crashes... and well... nothing has changed except for the cheats... it works, I was missing the effect... This is so weird..!! I remember that when I had the right driving it worked correctly...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 13, 2013, 10:19:48 PM
For the quais: are you 100% sure you de-installed everything from the previous quai version. The missing trees indicate there may be something left. Can you try the new quais in an empty plugin folder and then try again?

For the weather controller: I am clueless why rhd or lhd should have an influence. I know by know that one of the weather lots (i believe the one without destructive effects) may crash the game for some players. I have a possible solution, but just haven't found the time to upload. The other lot should not CTD though.
Rain and snow should be visible in all zooms, if graphical details are set to high, clouds are one, and hardware rendering is used. Other things you may try is try to turn off shadows. There is a maximum number of particles the game can simulate (note, cars, planes, clouds, raindrops, snowflakes are all based on particle effects), so there may be a possibility that a NAM traffic option (for denser traffic) may be limiting weathter effects for showing. Finally, not also that rainshowers do not cover the entire map, they are local effects, so in closest zoom you may not see it if you are zooming in on a dry area :)

For London: i have no plans there... Sorry


Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Uzil on November 16, 2013, 07:43:15 AM
Quote from: xannepan on November 13, 2013, 10:19:48 PM
For the quais: are you 100% sure you de-installed everything from the previous quai version. The missing trees indicate there may be something left. Can you try the new quais in an empty plugin folder and then try again?

It's working fine with a clean plugins folder.
I am good to make a good cleaning in my folder  :-[
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on November 16, 2013, 02:02:41 PM
" There is a maximum number of particles the game can simulate :thumbsup: (cars, planes, ..... are all based on particle effects &mmm ")

%confuso Just out of curiosity ... where does this information?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 16, 2013, 09:53:21 PM
I can't remember exactly, but the number is defined in one of the game installation files. I think the topic was adressed in this thread some pages back when I was working on the effect dir. I discovered this with one of the earlier effects versions I created when I still simulated each raindrop individuall, and found out that other effects (waterfalls etc) stopped playing. I am not 100 % completely sure if the maximum also holds for non effect dir automata (ie cars on road).

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: N1_2888 on November 18, 2013, 02:01:27 PM
Are there any plans for creating new Parisian W2Ws? I think, some years ago I've already moaned about the lack of small ones (i.e. 1x1 tiles). :D I just ask this question because I'm currently working on such a building (http://www.ld-host.de/uploads/images/d9713dab847051cd52d1c439301e623d.png), which, however, will only ease, but not remedy the deficiency. &mmm
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on November 23, 2013, 04:02:34 AM
Hey Xannepan,

I am currently making a new instalment of plugins  on my computer and I got your V2.2 Funcional Airports, but, unlike the Version 2.1, where I would see all airports, in your case I can only see the maxis ones, and the two you released (JFK and Dulles). all others, like SG's Helliport and so on, are missing, even with the "u dont deserve it " cheat.

I have all dependencies installed. I am also installing this on a different folder than MyDocs, having a new SC4 shortcut assigned to it. can it be the cause?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 23, 2013, 08:46:04 AM
I have heard the same from some other players, and I am a bit puzzled. Can you try to move the enabler dat files to the x-ports\airport folders and let me know if that solves your problem?

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on November 23, 2013, 10:31:27 AM
They are already there, as you can see in the image attached.

Also, I tried to install V2.1 on my old plugin folder, the one still at the Docs folder, and the same thing happens.

Carlos
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 23, 2013, 09:38:34 PM
Mmm... It looks like something happened to the order in which the game loads these files, as I am quite sure the dat files themselves are correct (note that I only added airports, but did not change anything related to the original v2.1 version).
Let's figure this out....

Try renaming the ones you would like to enable with a zzz_ prefix.

-alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 25, 2013, 01:59:41 AM
Back to some small effect dir experiments. Here is how water surfaces could look a bit more lively. Again I am trying to balance between performance impact to the game and nice graphic effects. Smaller waves/ripples look better, but also will demand more of your pc....
It works with any water color mod, but safe to say it does not look good on FSH which have baked in static ripples.
Once released the FSH I am using for this effect can easily be modded by anyone up to it.


http://youtu.be/9hbsDL12iOA

the vid qual appears to be suboptimal.. in the game it actually looks much better. Zip file attached. Unzip in plugins folder. Start the game, and place the test lot anywhere on your map. It will take some time before a proper interference pattern is established.

Feedback will be much appreciated.

I probably release this as a pack of several effect dir based water mods, including the ones requested some time ago by NCGAIO.

Other things I might be able to do is let the water surface freeze during winter (to be included in a possible new release of the weather mod) .... just need to design a good texture that does the job. Can't stop the seatraffic though... so that may look a bit weird...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on November 25, 2013, 03:32:11 AM
i'll try that latter at night wehn I get home  :thumbsup:

About that video... **drolls** want it...

Amazing... just two cents thou, it looks a bit random (should it?) and from what I see the water movement has no connection with the waves (maybe its impossible to do so, donno)... anyway... Amazing... *having a  eyegasm*  :satisfied:

:thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 25, 2013, 06:11:00 AM
It's random indeed. Shouldn't it be? I didn't really look into the physics... Anyway it is also the best the game allows me to do :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on November 25, 2013, 03:46:21 PM
Quote from: xannepan on November 25, 2013, 01:59:41 AM
I probably release this as a pack of several effect dir based water mods, including the ones requested some time ago by NCGAIO.

:) glad that you remembered...  would still like to try them.

As for your concerns with performance problems think given the overall lack of concern general with the limits of  game this is it already overtaken. Who wants to try a mod then have make at the own risk and if it works well on your system then enjoy the good luck.

I remember the initial curiosity about why a system for effects so detailed and with intensive CPU usage for a simulation game of cities.  ( Although one can not complain about something that makes changes are possible)

This passage from Inside Scoop maybe is the best explanation ..

Quote
..The script similar in style to the particle script you saw earlier can be used to assemble any effect of these parts into an overall" visual effect . " This effect can be created by the game , started , moved around , and stopped at will . ....
.... The beauty of this system is que if our artists decides They want to tweak the look - a different ring or grid , different timing on the various effects - They can jump straight in and tweak it Themselves , while the game is running . This leaves the Engineers with more free time for lunch ."
by Andrew Willmott , Software Engineer

Unfortunately it all take its toll with 2D acceleration techniques for the rendering the frame that was used for the game. Therefore animation will always be something that charges a high price for performance on misbehaving systems installed SC4.

But since you are with their hands dirty, if possible could enjoy and make a modification to the size and frequency of the "heli_closetoground"  well as the
"sparkles_of_purification" so that it can be applied in just three tiles then would be useful for channels systems such as CAN with Call and Simgoober texture along with those you've quoted.

tks..Nc
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Vlasky on November 25, 2013, 04:04:51 PM
That is amazing! I love your modds. It's as if weather mod always existed, that's how integral part of the game it is in my mind! Thank you for creating these mods.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 26, 2013, 08:55:57 AM
Poseidon is coming along quite nicely. The picture shows the water ripples (they will move as demonstrated in the youtube movie).
I also have created beach paint, rock paint and several water texture effects (turqouise water paint in picture).
All effects can be created by plopping a lot. Ideally these would be MMPs but sofar no succes on effect based MMPs :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eODxm1uDfaA&feature=youtu.be (it'll take some time before its available in HD)

I have also made a bit of progress too with the surface water mods, but those lots will remain very risky to use.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on November 26, 2013, 11:16:46 AM
Well, I guess they should be random, they are made by the winds, but in the mayhem of the surface and multiple waves generated at once, it ends be a bit random.  :thumbsup:

Btw, I  renamed the "SC4_Functional_Airports_V2.2" to "aSC4_Functional_Airports_V2.2" and now it works perfectly ;) thanks
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on November 26, 2013, 12:47:00 PM
The water effects look great, though it seems to be a feature primarily intended for video (as opposed to dramatic weather pictures). That's not to say it isn't pretty sweet.  &apls

The beach paint looks great too and it made me wonder: is it possible for example to modify this set (http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/18216-smp-terrain-texture-brush-pack-01/) so all brushes can be used at the same time? I'd think so, since your fauna brushes are also newly added to the menu but I couldn't get it to work, though admittedly I only tried quickly.

A few terrain brushes simultaneously would be nifty to have imho, even if it's only temporarily. Since it appears quite easy to change textures, one could quickly tailor them to specific scenery. Ideal for MDers I imagine.  ;)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: weixc812 on November 26, 2013, 05:58:15 PM
Quote from: xannepan on November 26, 2013, 08:55:57 AM
Poseidon is coming along quite nicely. The picture shows the water ripples (they will move as demonstrated in the youtube movie).
I also have created beach paint, rock paint and several water texture effects (turqouise water paint in picture).
All effects can be created by plopping a lot. Ideally these would be MMPs but sofar no succes on effect based MMPs :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eODxm1uDfaA&feature=youtu.be (it'll take some time before its available in HD)

I have also made a bit of progress too with the surface water mods, but those lots will remain very risky to use.
Quite interested in this Mod, hoping to hear more about the progress.  :thumbsup:
btw, it's Ok to place a lot to gain these effects, just like Jupiter goes.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: RepublicMaster on November 27, 2013, 02:26:53 AM
The water effects look great! Now all we need is improved waves. ;)

Keep up the great work!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 27, 2013, 06:19:48 AM
Poseidon waterfalls (works in progress).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY5xGxLztPg&feature=youtu.be

improvements
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOpMiy4Ze_Y&feature=youtu.be

Vid includes again the water ripple effect. Unfortunately in the video it is a little too subtle, but in the game it is just right imo ;)

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on November 27, 2013, 06:37:01 AM
Looks nice Alex :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Gugu3 on November 27, 2013, 07:21:06 AM
Wow...this is gonna make creeks and rivers even more realistic!SC4 is going into another dimension with all the recent progresses with NAM,your stuff,ecc...
&apls &apls &apls &apls &apls

You guys are creating a completely new game!
Cheers
Guglielmo
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glazert on November 27, 2013, 08:09:09 AM
I really like the waterfalls. Over what height range do they work?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on November 27, 2013, 08:37:11 AM
The waterfall is excellent!  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Swordmaster on November 27, 2013, 11:07:28 AM
Absolutely wonderful!


Cheers
Willy
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: RepublicMaster on November 27, 2013, 01:41:02 PM
The waterfall is wonderful! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on November 27, 2013, 02:05:27 PM
just... *drolls*  :-[
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on November 28, 2013, 03:24:01 AM
Just wow!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on November 28, 2013, 05:41:15 AM
Fantastic work  &apls &apls  I love Poseidon!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on November 28, 2013, 08:20:12 AM
Maybe a silly question, but why didn't they give us this in the original game? Why did one of us have to dig into the game ten years after release to find this out?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 28, 2013, 08:32:07 AM
I am fairly sure pc performance back them must have been a concern :S

In the mean time my experiments to create MMPs for these effects, esp. for the terrain paint brushes are sadly failing :(
I quickly created a matlab script to attach effects to S3D model repg section, but unfortunately only the models appears not the effect :(

Question to all of ya: I have seams between my HD water surface textures... Any idea what's causing it?

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on November 28, 2013, 02:22:26 PM
Quote

KARYBDIS


Posted 29 November 2005 - 01:34 PM
Ah what the heck. Here's how to make your own animations for Models for anyone who's interested.

A model animation consists of 3 parts. The Base anim, the Registation type, and the effect

the Number of frames in the ANIM section of a model must equel the number of transforms in the REGP section if you wish to have an animation.

ANIM sections need not have anything relevant. All you're telling it is Frames Per Second, the type of animation (repeating, one shot etc) and the sections to use for that frame. Since this section doesnt actually animate, the sections per frame should be the same for each frame of the animation. Open your S3d In reader and just adjust the frame count as needed. Make sure all entries are the same as the initial entry created by the BAT or by Simcity4 depending on the object and just leave them that way. You can adjust properties like animation type as you want.

REGP just defines the point at which an animated part moves from or moves at, and has sets of transforms which move/rotate it. In addition it has a name fx_##_name, where the fx defines it as part of the effdirectory, the ## is the number of the effect in the REGP block, and the name is an entry in the Effdir file (Section 13 entry for interested modders). YOU WILL NEED TO TYPE THIS IN MANUALLY IN DATGEN4's HEX EDITOR. I cant emphasize this more. Reader does not show data for this section, and Datgen4's S3D viewer is the only way to see what you've typed. Open the REGP section of the S3D in Datgen and try to follow through with the values. You can see the general idea from the old S3D spec though it didnt cover everything I'm afraid and our new one was always restricted from being handed out. The First 3 32bit numbers show the coordinate that the motion is attached at. and the next 4 32bit numbers show its rotation.

EFFDIR's are more complex. See the spec in the known formats in the R&D section of simtropolis for info on it. You'll have to make S1 entries from scratch. I'm sorry about that but its true. If you DO to it though, you can have things like flying missiles etc.

I'm afraid it doesnt get much simpler than this, but it is possible to do. Good luck if any of you are interested



I'm afraid this is all I can give you for manual typing of REGP (From the original ModdSquad S3D work)

REGP (4 bytes)
DWORD - Size of regp area including header
DWORD - Number of effects in regp area
(Effect):
BYTE - Length of Effect name including the 00 ending byte
Effect Name ( fx_##_effectname )
BYTE - 00 (end effects name)
WORD - number of effects subgroups for this effect
(Effect Subgroup):
DWORD -?
DWORD -?
DWORD -?
DWORD -?
DWORD -?
DWORD -?
DWORD -?
...
...


As to what all the DWORDS at the end mean. Hint Hint. Look at Datgen REGP section for what could possibly take up 7 values.


I posted the entire text because not even remember where he was.

In fact the reader  shows the content RGP with  the Hex tab  as also allows to edit and paste a section (right click) 

Maybe it was useful to consult the relation ( exemplar)  on wiki for your problems and congratulations for changes in the effect of the waterfall ..  in white is  much better than the original!  &apls

suggestion:  think it could also bring back the effect of smoke from the engines as in vanilla SC4  which was excluded in the updates ( optional of course ) sure lovers of railroads would have fun too.


  image rivit -.  Show us your... railroads and GLR (https://lwhkew.blu.livefilestore.com/y2pLHLN0mxnywvhUkY-fd_Q8aANJQso125d9nY-8jCiNeMZDG7vAcqZWODFBV7-rHvaWC30Kbd9A9w53myeWo13RBfacnNpeWb9WnklkdNRUZv3hQSIkxKZdT7ioGQqmVU5/The-Express-800x600.jpg?psid=1)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on November 28, 2013, 02:49:34 PM
Quote from: FrankU on November 28, 2013, 08:20:12 AM
Maybe a silly question, but why didn't they give us this in the original game? Why did one of us have to dig into the game ten years after release to find this out?

One of the reasons .... (Or excuses so to speak)

Quote
zenbungle (Nov 19, 2003 6:28:27 PM)

Rain and surface water were recently discovered in the SC4 coding. Is this something that will be "unlocked" in a download or will we have to wait for an expantion pack?

MaxisKevin (Nov 19, 2003 6:28:27 PM)

Often times in development we start on features only to have to cut them later because of time contraints. Surface water is one of those. So there's still some infrastucture in place for that in our code, but no where near a full feature that we could simply "activate".

But lacked the other side of the story that were the techniques employed to make possible the game well executed in median hardware those times --  >:( CTD :angrymore: GRAPHIC BUGS

Quote
by Paul Pedriana - Software Engineer E.A.



"......  Unfortunately for us, video card manufacturers and 3D programming interfaces are designed much more for first-person games than for God-view games such as SimCity. This is the reason SimCity 4 has to do so many tricks to work well. If 3D card and programming interfaces were designed to better support God-view games such as SimCity, we would have the following features (which I won't go into detail explaining):


Scissoring
Depth sprites
Better support for offscreen color and depth surfaces
Much higher video RAM sizes
Viewport viewplane scrolling
Better support for depth offsetting ... "

source:- wayback ( sometimes )


&mmm  - IMO it seems so....    &sly  good times those of the partnership 3dfx & E. A.

Now the funny ... ten years after AMD back to speak at proprietary API for graphics cards (Mantle) and MS includes Direct2D in new windows.


The world really turns a lot of .. meanwhile everyone run to buying  new hardware to testing if they are going the right way

ps: Alex ... sorry  the post out_topic
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 28, 2013, 09:08:45 PM
Thx NCGAIO. I am fairly sure my modding of thr S3D is correct. There must be something else wrong, or it is just not possible to have effects show up in MMP plopped S3D.

The steam engine is a good suggestion. If time i'll look into it. As far as I can tell now the REGP of the engine model still includes the smoke... So there must be something else wrong with it.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Indiana Joe on November 28, 2013, 09:40:50 PM
The waterfalls look great...but I'm absolutely stoked for the animated water surface.  The thought had come to my mind long ago, I thought perhaps it would be as simple as overriding the sparkling effect, but I never looked very far into effect modding.  What you've done looks fantastic.   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 28, 2013, 10:51:05 PM
Thx!
Please be careful with the effect attached a few posts back. There is a bug that causes an increasing numbers of ripples to be created over time. Eventually this will crash your pc. Fix by now, so I'll attach maybe later today a new version for testing.
-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on November 30, 2013, 12:19:39 AM
I think I understand the basic mechanism that controls the surface water effect brush I have created some time ago. The effdir dir parameters that determine the brush properties in section 5 basically control the brush in the same way the brush exemplar properties do (to which section 5 refers to). So it seems like duplicated functionallity in this case. This is a good thing, since I have not mapped every parameter in section 5 to a corresponding brush exemplar property. But now there is also no need to further dig in to it. I can simply control the brush properties from the exemplar.

There is a caveat.  For the surface water brushes basically every local valley (your lake to be) within the brush width boundary fills up water. Each time you apply the brush the water level rises. The degree to which it does (water level height) is determined by the brush strength. It will NOT rise beyond the slopes of the valley. If you are fairly sure the valley you have is the only valley within the brush boundaries it is all fine. However, sometimes it is very difficult to see/determine you have a very shallow valley surrounding the valley you intent to fill with water. If that valley is within the brush width boundary the brush will be unforgiving. It will fill that shallow valley with water... and destroy your buildings (ploppables only I think) in that area.

The other side of the coin is that if the valley if wider than the brush size it won't fill at all. So all with all for an 100% safe use of the surface waters in the upcoming poseidon mod there would need to be a perfect match between brush width and valley size, which is impossible to do.

The god mode gives you more control, ie you the brush properties vary per zoom level and you can control them to some degree with the shift and control keys and with ctrl+num.
For effect dit brushes applied to lots I have only one specific set of properties per brush effect that I can define in the effectdir. So best I can do is created several brush lots each one with different properties. Additionally, I have visualized the brush width with circular markers similar to those that appear when you plop a police station (small sideeffect is that the game thinks these lots are police stations and despite their capacity is zero the advisor will sometimes start nagging about road connections).

The video below shows how I first apply a brush with a relatively small width by plopping the effect lot. Plopping multiple times fills up the center valley progressivly, but never beyond the slopes of that center valley. The second brush has a large footprint. Now you see it will fill up surrounding valleys... eventually also the entire map (because it is 100% flat it is considered as a valley).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MbL-5R2FMw&feature=youtu.be
(currently uploading... will that about an hour before available after timestamp of this post)

All in all the surface waters should be applied with extreme care.

For people willing to test and provide feedback you can download an alpha version (surface water, terrain paint, waterfall) here:
http://we.tl/drxM2mltBW

Note that the ripple generator will not create ripples on the jenx surface water. For that I have included a single ripple generator. Plop it mulitple times randomly distributed in your lake.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 01, 2013, 12:50:53 AM
Small side project for Bipin.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Bipin on December 01, 2013, 05:58:22 AM
Thanks a million Xannepan, I really appreciate the gesture!  &apls This will be perfect for my needs. As it's quite large at the base, is the right colour and even has wind effects (yes, really)!

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ftardis1.tinygrab.com%2Fgrabs%2F8afcd25076c27e023c6c81de96c5c6f56ad8825ab9.png&hash=36ea621f9567b9b9cc3cfe4c1f7373b42ad5c0ce)

This seems to be when there is little wind and the column of smokes rises vertically. It has the ability to "sway" both left and right quite a bit, as one would expect on a windy day. Beautiful work Xannepan. These will be an excellent addition to my cooling towers.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 01, 2013, 11:35:14 AM
Quote from: xannepan on November 28, 2013, 09:08:45 PM
Thx NCGAIO. I am fairly sure my...... ...........steam engine is a good suggestion. If time i'll look into it. As far as I can tell now the REGP of the engine model still includes the smoke... So there must be something else wrong with it
.



Yes
, but only for the old motor (SteamEngine_11790000) section does not exist for FreightEngine_10AA0000 and despite the fact still be in the string section, if I remember correctly is divided into section 1.

Very annoying to see Effedir the reader, so only your infinite patience to solve. txs


For a bit of light on the water mod - Change in a mod ground "MinSeaLevel -10" "MaxSeaLevel 500"

With this, you can change the Sealevel through "setsealevel" trick play the map ledge below.

Make changes in sea level and save the game without leaving the city and analyze what happens to the mod water at various heights from the ground.

Remember that when you go out to the area and then return to the city, the level again reset to default in the ground mod

You can also disable the display of the terrain texture "DisplayTerrainSurface" to help visualize, but it has the disadvantage error to redraw the buffer, so you have to rotate the view of a shift and others.

I think you can come to some conclusions, but only to say this is unlikely to have any solutions, because apparently this is the way the code interprets the depth between the textures of water and land as a limit.

As for the surface effects appears the same Automatos problem they will always be at the default level (Sealevel indicated tuning ground) ... It seems to be the maximum before raising the level ps:


If possible attention to the effects I mentioned before. txs  :thumbsup:



(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zAZu2AJLPbI/UpyUGueNAGI/AAAAAAAACKE/wrAR4Qd3WYk/w600-h370-no/XANEPAM+AGUA+JOGO.jpg)









(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-CZ81CYcTcPI/UpvUTpaPY_I/AAAAAAAACJk/rOmetP_oNyg/w600-h344-no/XANEPAM+AGUA+JOGO+3.jpg)(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-AQj7vebAR28/UQYcK6mAbXI/AAAAAAAABnM/hB5-7CUmfqM/w422-h213-no/GAp+por+whatevermind.jpg)

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: nos.17 on December 02, 2013, 06:58:46 PM
Quote from: xannepan on November 30, 2013, 12:19:39 AM
...

For people willing to test and provide feedback you can download an alpha version (surface water, terrain paint, waterfall) here:
http://we.tl/drxM2mltBW

Ok, I have been trying desperately to keep up with and make sense of this (amazing) mod, and decided to to some quick testing of my own. What I came up with could actually be bugs or may be the product of my own ignorance, I'm not sure. Anyways...


---- Texture Brushes/Surface Effects ----
All of the texture brushes and surface effects worked very well.  &apls One suggestion though - maybe decrease the radius of the rock brush slightly because it is more ostentatious than the others. This will help it blend in with other textures in smaller areas too.


---- Water ----
First off the only lot that appeared to do anything was the Surface Water 1. 2 or 3 did not appear to have any visual results for me.  ()what()

I was only to reproduce this once, but when I plopped the Water 1 it made a large sinkhole:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FgimWWBg.png&hash=86badc6b2ef22534bfe88f4c2bb260127e9e3568)

When I used the ground leveler, on the already flat ground, the water completely dissappeared above/around the previous hole:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSpCyqHp.png&hash=7aec7533265c6b32297b6d624347dfe453e45ca6)

Next, I repeatedly placed Water 1, 2, and 3 (again seeing only effects from 1) on top of the mesa. Is this how it is supposed to work? All of the ground has a blue tint, acts like water (cannot place buildings etc), but is not like previous ss I have seen where there is actual visual flooding. The mini map says my city is covered with water, but it does not appear as I have expected:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FDosnnHd.jpg&hash=d3a3deff3b5187721bbfe02751d2b45cbf2f68e6)

Another little visual oddity? On a little spot of green that (appeared to be) above ground, I used the terrain level tool, only to find out that the ground was already flat (the green spot was not actually above water), and this appeared:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FsehBb3z.png&hash=7d64ef9a5f3d8f45fce1c69165dd4a5951d6fff2)

** Edit **
Placing the surface effects & the ground moving seems to make the water show up at the proper height, flooding most (but not all) trees. This pic is only 1/2 flooded:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FyjeJPLg.png&hash=81cb5b89904c1d54a10f33bafff5b7a0b19c031b)
**
---- End ----

Thats all for now... Anyways, excellent job again overall  :thumbsup:.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 02, 2013, 10:25:19 PM
Thnks for testing! It triggers me to make sure there is a good readme .
The issues with the water are well known limitations I cannot solve. Once the water is plopped, it is permanent but as soon as you use a terrain brush, you erase it. Once that happens the only solution is to bulldoze the water lot(s) save and reload the game. Then the water is gone and you can try again.

Did you read my 30 Nov post with the video? It explains a bit how the water lots work and how they can be applied. I think you need to understand the basics of the mechanism before you can properly apply them.. It is not easy t udnerstand i am affraid, but this is largely unfinished functionallity left in the game by Maxis which I am trying to unlock and repair as good as possible.

I also recommend to use a darker water color mod. For the light original water color I am fairly sure the ripple generators won't be visible. I will include an optional darker water color mod in the poseidon beta version.

Good suggestion of the rock brush :)

-alex



Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 03, 2013, 02:46:16 AM
Just having some fun: Niagara Falls set

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on December 03, 2013, 03:26:43 AM
Great work Alex  &apls   The lighting on the falls looks great!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: nos.17 on December 03, 2013, 12:05:46 PM
Quote from: xannepan on December 02, 2013, 10:25:19 PM
Thnks for testing! It triggers me to make sure there is a good readme .
The issues with the water are well known limitations I cannot solve. Once the water is plopped, it is permanent but as soon as you use a terrain brush, you erase it. Once that happens the only solution is to bulldoze the water lot(s) save and reload the game. Then the water is gone and you can try again.

Did you read my 30 Nov post with the video? It explains a bit how the water lots work and how they can be applied. I think you need to understand the basics of the mechanism before you can properly apply them.. It is not easy t udnerstand i am affraid, but this is largely unfinished functionallity left in the game by Maxis which I am trying to unlock and repair as good as possible.

I also recommend to use a darker water color mod. For the light original water color I am fairly sure the ripple generators won't be visible. I will include an optional darker water color mod in the poseidon beta version.

Good suggestion of the rock brush :)

-alex

Yep I'm trying my best. I've read more and I understand more now, so will try to to a little more testing. By the way, I do usually use a darker water mod (by SHK I think), but I just opened a new blank region to test. The ripples are indeed visible, but barely.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: weixc812 on December 03, 2013, 09:44:17 PM
Oh my God... what do I see? A colorful waterfall!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 04, 2013, 02:18:18 AM
Thx everyone!

Here is a preview of the result of a pebble paint and brown surface water brush lots, combined with a few MMP rocks.


NCGAIO: can you try to be more specific what you want with the heli_closetoground and sparkles_of_prufication effects? I understand the part of the frequency for the heli effect: you want it slower, correct? But what do you mean by restriction to 3x3 tile size.. By the looks of it it already seems to fit a 3x3 tile area. Do you want it bigger or smaller?

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: gn_leugim on December 04, 2013, 04:24:18 AM
OMG..

I can name a list of usefull textures for that.  "$Deal"$

Pebbles
small pebbels
rough sand
dirt (dark, and light)
asphalt
concrete
different stone textures maybe?

Maybe it could be possible to make this is such way, people could easly replace the textures for the ones they would need, like some refereing to their terrain mod (other possibility is to link the terrain mod textures to brushes like these so one can paint rocks where he wants and not only have them where the mod wants) or others as he would want.

Is it possible to link it to external .png files instead of .fsh? that would make constumization way easier then :)

Maybe I am just day dreaming anyway or asking too much  ::) anyway, amazing job you've done!  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Simcoug on December 04, 2013, 05:28:53 AM
Quote from: xannepan on December 04, 2013, 02:18:18 AM
Here is a preview of the result of a pebble paint and brown surface water brush lots, combined with a few MMP rocks.

Really impressive work - this opens a new options for nature detailing!   &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 04, 2013, 06:43:37 PM
The heli_closetoground is slightly larger than three tiles and thus appears over the  canal walls of  this size, beyond which is also set for water level, which in this case is wasteful processing as it would be used only over plans texture.
.

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-01o9b0sKvO0/Up_n0qr1FjI/AAAAAAAACK4/tFEc8VIJ2II/w362-h376-no/effect+heli_closetoground.jpg)

Really the ideal effect would be a sparkles_of_pufication just a little bigger than the original two tiles but it gets very dark on Simgoober texture and in this case would only serve to Call_G texture
.

click to enlarge
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ocXl49VNPbI/Up_njOnjK_I/AAAAAAAACKk/_WuJCmaBJ0M/w355-h224-no/effect+sparkles_of_purification.jpg)

I just used the "heli_cl .." for the  post about  canal just because of the color but if you do the modification of "sparkles_of_purification" to serve in both textures then this would be the best option.

It reminded me of this post (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2596.msg465536#msg465536) on the subject of bit 17 / 18 for "only"  water or terrain and as we can see above a word "only"  appears is not be appropriate.

So, not wanting to abuse the good will if you could make a change for those strings in the Post also act in both situations would be doubly grateful


Txs, Txs, :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 04, 2013, 10:55:21 PM
Okay. I understand the part of the size. Should not be a problem. I can also make sure the effects can appear both on water and on land.
I have two more questions.
- about the sparklesofpurification: do you want the sparkles or the darker texture? Or both?
- do you want the darker texture of the sparkles effect to be lighter?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 05, 2013, 06:57:10 AM

;D Ok! Images are worth a thousand words ... my fault :thumbsdown:

click to enlarge
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bMAJ9JjRzRs/UqCkP6lYdkI/AAAAAAAACLk/xtwIDnbqvjs/w701-h426-no/xanepam+mod+sparkles.jpg)...(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lM6-_gfiRfw/UqCkJfqp-4I/AAAAAAAACLo/VRHBHck-zfQ/w701-h470-no/xanepam+mod+sparkles+SG.jpg)


The color of the texture on the effect is useful when used to texture Call_G but it is too dark for the Simgoober.


The "sparkles"  are unnecessary or could be reduced because  are very unreal.


With the effects of drag which are mentioned in the previous post (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2596.msg465536#msg465536) the functional navigation over canals could be more realistic and attract more use than just eye-candy.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 05, 2013, 09:22:04 AM
Okay. I will see what I can do.
In the mean time I already tried to mod the heliclosetoground effect. But unfortunately this was no success :(
The effect "footprint"/size is very difficult to control and it will take me days to mod (time that I don't have :( )
Also on top of the water surface it looks horrible, basically because it is a FSH based effect in section 1, and not in section 2. Section 2 fishes are "projected" on the water surface. Section 1 FSH effects are not. When displayed on terrain the opacity is just right, so you don't see the glitches that you get when displaying on water.

I will now have a look at the sparkles... let's hope it will work better.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 05, 2013, 10:09:16 AM
Hi NCGAIO,
I have modded the sparkles effect. I split the sparkles from the darker shimmer color. (Effect_jenx_sparkles and Effect_jenx_shimmer). Footprint is increased to approximately 3x3 tiles. I had to adjust the color and opacity of the "shimmer" effect to make it look better. I also included the wake and wash effects.  All effects work now on land and water.

I did not include test lots, so those you will have to create yourself in the reader.

Pls test it and let me know if this is what you meant:)

By the way. Poseidon will also include and optional bridge wash replacement mod (for all bridges) with a wash/wake effect that better fits the ripple generator.

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 05, 2013, 11:08:31 AM

I'll test as soon as possible!


the image that lacked above.


(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8jhSnsQDzg8/UqDOkJkrukI/AAAAAAAACMM/Nk9HdvU03-o/w702-h478-no/xanepam+mod+sparkles+3.jpg)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 06, 2013, 07:32:17 AM
First Beta is on the LEX  :P

http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3077

Next effect dir project: OLORIN
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 06, 2013, 05:25:30 PM

()stsfd() In the first place my thanks for your attention and I apologize for being slow to respond although the reason is the same as always RL.

Now what interests ... I understand your explanation of the reasons that led him to editing sparkles beyond simply the size.

Had suggested exactly that so it could be used to both canal textures , but unless I missed something, the result is almost imperceptible when applied to textures.

Then i returned to test without background textures and the result was as seen below


(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1Ee-OWignt4/UqJ3W_zHxvI/AAAAAAAACNA/-EHJPKKQD5w/w702-h479-no/aaaaa2.jpg)....(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lI_4p3e9zJk/UqJ3W-VHrwI/AAAAAAAACNI/5Dhr6Pz4UUY/w702-h479-no/aaaaa3.jpg)

For that reason  would be useful for me know the texture that you used to visualize them so try  understand what is the problem

Regarding the effects of trawling they behave well

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ZqB47b46qwc/UqJ3Xmw3wjI/AAAAAAAACNQ/lxAEx3Bn_RM/w702-h479-no/aaaaa5.jpg)

Also did not understand the suggestion of lots for testing the effects as props since that way they would be only stationary effects  thus would be useful only for pictures of boats in CJs or as effects on other applications.

The intention was to use them exactly as they are used in the game for water automata (REGP) but for automata over the  terrain texture the same way as does the "steamtrainsmoke" that we mentioned before.

But as the name of the strings was different became necessary editing the section in S3D model and for some reason it did not work then if you could do a test in the game using the original name of the strings in the modified effect would be very useful to know if would work in this case and reason to look at the problem of editing strings .

  All in good time, of course! ... so to speak, once you have a little break  :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 06, 2013, 11:30:06 PM
Ah... I understand better now. We are getting there :)

A few more questions.

I changed the color of the texture to white. Can you please test on a canal water surface instead without background texture. If that doesn't look good, I will change the color again.

For the canal automata: where can I download the automata? Or are the standard part of the game?  (I never used the canals before).

FYI: I renamed the wash/wake effects because for POSEIDON I have created an replacement mod, which may conflict with what you are asking :P
What is the exact name of the effects included in the REGP sections?




Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on December 07, 2013, 03:08:04 PM

I used the image of canal automata just as a example  but the test was done in modifying the original automatas in regp section to match the names of the strings to the effect that you used.

It was this change that did not work it seems to me because of flaws in editing but I'm not 100% sure of it

As for the strings do not think there can be conflicts while preserving the original names since that  water automatos of the  game will never appear on earth  but if this is your concern then you same can do the  tests.

In  "reader" images  below are three originals models with effects on regp section as  will be able to see the right.

click to enlarge
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-n5ozfoUULdM/UqOpvsQ4qOI/AAAAAAAACOI/kzDpRNi52FE/w702-h527-no/aaaaa8.jpg)...(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uYE2D6wbuck/UqOpvo91t3I/AAAAAAAACOA/CFbTkOhZQyw/w702-h527-no/aaaaa7.jpg)...(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QKXMr17zUd8/UqOpvlMJs5I/AAAAAAAACN4/n6sYOifL42c/w702-h497-no/aaaaa6.jpg)

After enabling effect for both situations the rest could be just like you did with the taxiway at the airport mod for creating a dat models with TGIs modified along with a plopavel that spawn on a path.

Now if not want  to have all this work could  replace the TGIs models using any civic model that is spawned with a building as the police station for example:

van: 5AD0E817 BADB57F1 108C0000 -  car: 5AD0E817 BADB57F1 10640000

In case of problems with the depth in displacement could try to raise the S3D (SC4 Model Tweaker) though this is precisely the doubts that I quoted in previous post  if some effects really may or may not be displaced in depth in relation to terrain textures.


Certainly i will test the mod textures as soon as possible  &mmm    :(  only regret that when we are finally paying attention to this, it is precisely in this time of the year when the time gets scarce for me.

But do not forget the matter because I'll stick around! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on December 07, 2013, 06:14:28 PM
On a different note, I wanted to see if you know what is going on with the medieval civics shown in the picture below. There are no dependencies and this is the first time I have ever seen this happen.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi189.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fz141%2FSchulmanator%2F2013%2520Default%2F1_zpsf0427d81.jpg&hash=4ace3888d356ce6e13ef9b1b7f051f9759f2f427)

Do you know what I need to do to fix it?

Thanks
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 07, 2013, 09:40:25 PM
NCGAIO: that helps! I will see what I can do. I am starting a new job next year so I also expect to have very little time for SC4 :(

Schulmanator: it is a texture ID conflict with the old version of the quais de seine. If you remove the old version of the quais completely and instal the new ones the issue should be solved. Hope that will work for you.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: swordstalker2008 on December 07, 2013, 11:45:09 PM
Love the Waterfalls!!!

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi357.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Foo16%2Fdemerson08%2Fwaterfall_zpsa5c2f0ee.jpg&hash=9df022022ae3b5ab1dd06eaaa7b173ce21243171) (http://s357.photobucket.com/user/demerson08/media/waterfall_zpsa5c2f0ee.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: swordstalker2008 on December 07, 2013, 11:46:55 PM
I did have a problem with your water mod though.... It just has different shades of blue with no real texture. What did I do wrong there?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on December 08, 2013, 05:32:50 AM
Thanks! Will do :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Shroud on December 08, 2013, 05:40:40 AM
That waterfall looks awesome!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: swordstalker2008 on December 11, 2013, 06:18:24 PM
This is the issue I was talking about...

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi357.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Foo16%2Fdemerson08%2Fwaterissue_zpsb960dd9a.jpg&hash=1624daadb449d6967cfb66c628fa46c19477719f) (http://s357.photobucket.com/user/demerson08/media/waterissue_zpsb960dd9a.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 11, 2013, 11:01:09 PM
Swordstalker, the ripples will be generated only after plopping one or more ripple generator lots (see readme). Therefor the watersurface itself has no texture, just the blue color as shown in your picture. I do expect you have a graphic card setting issue. It doesn't look like you have set it to 32-bit color depth. If you have, then please not that for some graphic cards the game resets to 16-bit color depth when running in full screen mode. In that case try to run the game in windowed mode. In summary, set the graphics card to 32-bit, plop the generator lots.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: swordstalker2008 on December 12, 2013, 12:22:55 AM
Thank you for the response. I checked to make sure it was set to 32 bit and it is. Not seeing any ripples when I plop the generators. Im gonna try to figure out how to run in windowed mode to see if that fixes it.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on December 12, 2013, 01:24:48 AM
Windows mode will not help in showing the ripples. make sure you plop the ripple generator lot, not the single ripple lot.
Also have a look at your games graphic settings and make sure every option (except for shadows) is set to high .
Hope that works :)

And... The ripples are subtle and take about ten seconds to generate a stable pattern
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mr_hellmonkey on January 20, 2014, 06:40:37 AM
Edit:   Figured it out, I did not have the extra cheats dll installed.  Now its working.  Just updating incase anyone else is having the same problem.

Not sure if this is the right place or not, but I cannot get the weather mod to work properly.  All I am getting is a lightning storm that starts on October 1st.  I have not gotten any rain, snow, fog, or any other effects.  I did let the game run for over 20 years on turtle speed.  I have tried destructive and non destructive .dats and both lots.  I thought it might have been a plugin conflict, so I removed all plugins and used only this mod and it still would not work.  I also tried the commands to force the weather and those would not work either.  Is there something I am missing or some dependency I might not have?  Do I need the extra cheats .dll?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mr_hellmonkey on January 22, 2014, 08:38:08 PM
Spoke too early.  The extra cheats.dll lets me manually turn effects on or off, but the seasons/weather wont change.  I just get the lightning storm in October still.  Any ideas on what I can try?  Ive tried having this be the only mod on m plugins folder.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mr_hellmonkey on January 23, 2014, 02:41:28 PM
OMFG...   Tried this at work on a different computer and it works just fine.  Both games are the steam version, but have over 2 GB of buildings and mods.  I hate when stuff like this happens.  I do a lot of programming at work and stuff like this drives me up the wall...  Im not blaming you Alex, just venting in general. 

Anyway, the only difference is that at work,  the game and plugins are on the same drive.  At home I have an SSD, so the game is on that, but My docs is on my data drive.  Im going to try moving the my docs/sc4 back to the C drive and see if that fixes it.  If not, im gonna pull my hair out trying to figure this out.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on January 23, 2014, 03:03:38 PM
Well, to be honest, I have the same problem. Nothing shows up... couple of clouds and thats it. I have everything on the same drive and stuff... it just wont work... so any tips would br great on this
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mr_hellmonkey on January 23, 2014, 03:40:49 PM
Quote from: cmdp123789 on January 23, 2014, 03:03:38 PM
Well, to be honest, I have the same problem. Nothing shows up... couple of clouds and thats it. I have everything on the same drive and stuff... it just wont work... so any tips would br great on this

I made a bit of progress.  I created a new account but did not copy over anything.  I launched sc4 and it was a clean install.  I copied the weather mod files to the new account plug-ins folder and viola, weather.  Im have no idea what is broken in my account so Im probably just going to remake it.  However, I have to go to work, so I will update either later on tonight or sometime tomorrow.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mr_hellmonkey on January 23, 2014, 09:37:16 PM
Well...

Good news/bad news.  Good news, I figured it out.  The bad news is a city in the region was causing the issue, so I had to wipe the city.  Not sure what was wrong with it, but now its working.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: woodb3kmaster on March 26, 2014, 11:33:40 PM
I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Alex, but there seems to be a problem with the tree props on the Place Hotel de Ville and Jardin du Luxembourg lots. Since installing the updated version of the Quais de Seine, A lot of them have disappeared from the Jardin du Luxembourg, while the winter versions of the trees on the Place Hotel de Ville have been replaced by brown boxes. I suspect that you changed the IIDs of at least some of the tree props when you re-rendered them, resulting in this new incompatibility. I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one who would appreciate updated versions of the lots in question, with only the new versions of your awesome trees. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on April 04, 2014, 10:29:55 AM

If this receiving notifications from a peek at the Tropod tool ...


()stsfd() - SC4Reader Tool (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=16386.msg479255;topicseen#new)


A real hand on the wheel to test the parameters ... ...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 18, 2014, 10:40:15 AM
Found a bit of time to create a new effect. The Geneva fountain or jet d'eau.
Busy time ahead at work again next few months so it will take quite some time to fine tune and upload etc.
-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glazert on May 18, 2014, 02:20:55 PM
Well, that certainly puts existing fountains in the shade! Look forward to it. I wonder how i can plan a suitably spectacular city setting worthy of it . . .
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on May 19, 2014, 01:27:56 AM
Indeed a stunning fountain! This is a real one.  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on May 19, 2014, 09:10:02 AM
Outstanding work  &apls &apls  Looks great already!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on May 24, 2014, 11:20:50 PM
making my own.... (don't like the maxis one)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glazert on May 25, 2014, 02:31:25 AM
It has an attention to detail which the Maxis one lacks by comparison.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on May 25, 2014, 04:11:50 AM
Stunning !!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Schulmanator on May 25, 2014, 08:49:16 AM
Excellent idea!!!  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: belfastsocrates on May 25, 2014, 10:05:11 AM
Superb! The detail on this, and all your work, is truly fantastic. It's a joy to use your creations.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on July 06, 2014, 10:25:57 AM
I have got a few things in store.
First : urban renewal in Paris... Les grand moulins... playing around with reflection maps a bit.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on July 06, 2014, 10:33:06 AM
Looks great!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on July 06, 2014, 03:44:36 PM
Wow! it looks really good  &apls  Have you ever considered doing Lafayette Gallery?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on July 12, 2014, 10:14:37 AM
Revisiting the Quais de Seine (once again) and creating some expansion pieces
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on July 12, 2014, 10:16:10 AM
day
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: art128 on July 12, 2014, 10:19:17 AM
Restaurants and clubs are a nice idea for the Quai de Seine. :)

I also like the night view of the Grands Moulins. What are they gonna be ingame? IRL it's part of Paris' University.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgarcia on July 12, 2014, 04:43:26 PM
Wow - another update of the Quais de Seine.....wow   $%Grinno$% :o  I am sure it has great addons.  The image you showcased is wonderful.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Mr.Lin on July 12, 2014, 06:42:41 PM
Wow,that's amazing !
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on July 24, 2014, 03:16:38 PM
Hey.. So I know you are probably working on the quais.. but I was just browsing the different exchanges to download something, and that something is a must in any Euro city, which is Cathdrals. For some reason, the only version available for the St. Paul's Cathedral is underscaled and doesnt look good.

I know that you probably have some projects in mind, but on the other hand, your technique for this kind of buildings is impeccable... is there any chance you could BAT it??
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgb204 on July 24, 2014, 04:18:57 PM
I've only recently download the Quais De Seine, so it's great to see these new pieces, they will surely make a great addition to a fantastic set.

What I'd really love to see is a mirrored version of the steps shown here:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi991.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faf39%2FMGB204%2FQuais_zps61a4a184.jpg%7Eoriginal&hash=7fcef7f7b62cc1e01a7059e88ed92fc39bc378ef)

This would allow for steps to go down from right to left on the other side of a bridge like above. In any case I look forward to seeing what you come up with in the end.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: marbour on January 28, 2015, 06:48:55 AM
I've been having trouble with your JENXAIRPORT Firestation as it is missing the ground texture, i've been trying to find the solution for weeks now and altough i have found people with the same issue i've never found the cause or the solution can someone help please?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vester on January 28, 2015, 07:08:41 AM
With no pictures of the problem people can only guess what is up.

One way of solving a problem that you are descriping could be go into underground mode and back to normal mode (water pipes / underground network)
and live with you have to that...

...another way is to open the lot in the Lot Editor (Maxis or PIM-X) and add the texture yourself.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on January 28, 2015, 07:36:59 AM
Cross checked the texture ID with the existing ranges and turns out they're found in shokthrpy's parking pack (http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/27563-shk-parking-pack/), which is missing from the dependency list.

On a sidenote, I second mgb204's suggestion for mirrored stairs.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: pxljce on February 04, 2015, 04:44:52 AM
Not sure if the texture in the attached image issupposed to be there and just hidden with some creative mmp's or if I'm doing something wrong. The height that they're sitting on is 45m based on suggestions seen in other posts. And I've made sure all the dependencies are correct and run cleanitol to remove all the old bits replaced by the dependencies. Also made sure nothing is in my plugins from the old walls. Experimented with a whole truckload of different heights and nope, no go, that texture keeps poking out at me. In mgb204's post above I think I can see the sandstone texture poking out as well on the side. Any suggestions?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on February 04, 2015, 05:08:25 AM
I think that's normal behavior for those walls. You can prevent the texture showing at the sides by placing 90 degree corner pieces and prevent it showing at the bottom by using them with water or on a shorter slope (maybe try 30m). The base texture can be completely removed using reader (and perhaps the PIM-X LE which I'm unfortunately not familiar with) though it's a bit of a hassle.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: pxljce on February 04, 2015, 05:54:27 AM
Thanks, I'll mess around with water opacity/height/mmp's to get it right. Tried taking out the base texture in reader (attached image), seems sidewalk and the texture underneath are one and the same. Such purty walls though it's worth it.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 04, 2015, 07:28:39 AM
Hm no, those are not the same textures. My guess is you inadvertently deleted some of the sidewalk props as well. For the textures only delete the lines which start with 0x00000002.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgb204 on February 04, 2015, 10:13:09 AM
That screen shot was from my first proper use of these walls, I spent a lot of time making sure of the exact depth of both the walls and the riverbed was consistent. Using the TerrainQuery tool from Buggi's ExtraCheats.dll you can check the exact height, I used 231m for the riverbed and 270m for the embankment here.

I'm trying to work out exactly which part you are unhappy with, do you mean the sidewalk texture that aligns with the face of the wall? If that wasn't there then it would make the edges look more open since the model doesn't include the inner-parts that you wouldn't usually see but would need to be there in real life. If this is your problem, I think you need to look at how you transition from the Quais to avoid this showing but I wouldn't consider it a glitch or anything like that.

I'm pretty sure you can't remove the base texture having tired it, previously plopped lots still show everything whereas new lots don't have any of the walkways, so somehow this must be connected to the model pieces or this behaviour would be different.

Whilst I'm here, I had another idea for a useful new piece, how about Diagonal Under bridge lots for use with DBE Bridges?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 04, 2015, 10:47:01 AM
Quote from: mgb204 on February 04, 2015, 10:13:09 AM
I'm pretty sure you can't remove the base texture having tired it, previously plopped lots still show everything whereas new lots don't have any of the walkways, so somehow this must be connected to the model pieces or this behaviour would be different.

()what()

Just re-downloaded the set to make sure my previous tinkering wasn't interfering and deleted the base texture from lots without any problem. Granted you have to re-plop the pieces which is a bit odd but other than that the sidewalks show just fine, which is not surprising since they're actually props.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgb204 on February 04, 2015, 12:10:35 PM
Not sure what we're doing differently here, I took out all the textures in the Reader, perhaps that's the problem, but I swear that's all I removed and the top sidewalk part on mine is then missing?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 04, 2015, 12:14:11 PM
Quote from: mgb204 on February 04, 2015, 12:10:35 PM
I took out all the textures in the Reader, perhaps that's the problem

That's not it either as I took 'm out in the Reader, too. Very strange indeed.  ???
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: pxljce on February 04, 2015, 12:42:03 PM
Yeah I also gave it a try again and made sure I only removed the base texture (0x00000002) in Reader and not any props -- plopped, and same as before -- no walkway. Puzzlement.

@mgb204: Thanks, I'll try the height suggestion. But it would be great if I could figure out how to remove that base texture without the walkways going byebye.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 04, 2015, 01:12:27 PM
Well the good news is I've actually been able to reproduce the disappearing sidewalks while only deleting the base texture. Moreover I've been able to bring them back. Now if what I think is the culprit is confirmed than it'd be one of the very rare occasions where proper 'Reader etiquette' has such an profound effect. What I'm talking about? Reindex LotConfig

Since honestly it couldn't possibly be an issue with the base textures it had to be something else. On a whim I asked myself: what would happened if I didn't Reindex the LotConfig once the base texture was deleted and lo and behold. . sidewalks were missing. Opened the lot in the Reader,  reindexed lotconfig and. . sidewalks are back.

So if you could try this: open the lot in the Reader, right-click in the right pane and choose 'Reindex LotConfig'. Now save the file, go ingame and replop the piece.

If this is not it, than I'm really out of ideas. .
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: pxljce on February 04, 2015, 01:34:31 PM
Gave that a try and no luck. I generally re-index/rebuild directory as a default, but thought maybe I'd been slack this time. No difference the walkways are still MIA. I'll keep poking it with a sharp stick till it surrenders.  $%Grinno$%
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 04, 2015, 01:42:32 PM
Welp, I'm stumped. . maybe somehow the lot files got corrupted, have you tried it on the original files? And also, have you tried deleting the textures in SC4PIM yet?

This is the craziest issue since a long time. Seems to me it's not the props or textures but rather something during saving the files which messes things up. Keep poking. .  ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: pxljce on February 04, 2015, 01:54:10 PM
Now that you mention it when I looked at it in pim(p)x LE right in the beginning there was only the base texture. The prop that forms the walkway wasn't visible... I'll do it from scratch. Re-download, check that I didn't do something blindingly stupid re. files/old files/dependencies etc. and see what things look like in pimx LE/what happens when I delete it. Try out Reader again(and re-index of course). For tomorrow. :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 04, 2015, 02:06:36 PM
Yeah probably best to start anew with freshly unzipped files.

Also re-reading your previous message I just wanted to make it clear re-indexing the .dat file is different from re-indexing the actual lot file itself. Failure to do the latter is what caused the sidewalks to disappear on me.

At any rate, time for bed indeed.  :sleeping:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: pxljce on February 04, 2015, 11:37:29 PM
Quote from: vortext on February 04, 2015, 02:06:36 PM
Also re-reading your previous message I just wanted to make it clear re-indexing the .dat file is different from re-indexing the actual lot file itself. Failure to do the latter is what caused the sidewalks to disappear on me.

Thank you so much for catching that, it did the trick. No more base texture and beautiful walls with shiny walkways intact. I wasn't even aware of the option. &ops I'll make sure to use it from now on.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on February 05, 2015, 03:31:15 AM
Yep, you really want to make it a habit as well. Like I said this is one of the very rare occasion where failure to reindex the lotconfig has such an immediate and noticeable effect but it goes to show why I called it Reader etiquette. So as a public service announcement:

When you make any change to a lot file in the Reader, no matter how small or insignificant a change it may seem, always right-click and select Reindex LotConfig before you save the file!!


Anyway, glad it finally is resolved. Also curious if mgb's issue is the same. And by the way, mgb, the above also goes for T21s as they're essentially 1x1 lots applied to a network tile.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: mgb204 on February 05, 2015, 04:50:19 PM
 :P I think you've hit the nail on the head, I can tell you I didn't re-index my files because I'm lazy and so I always fail when something like this comes up. To be honest I quickly modified the files to test them out, I wouldn't make this modification personally, in the process I totally forgot about this.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 05, 2015, 12:03:05 PM
Things to come

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FA5ietgp.png&hash=14d30ed18f9a28c04baf2b222aef5fe940a8902f)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on March 05, 2015, 01:54:28 PM
OH YES!  &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 05, 2015, 08:47:42 PM
May not be what you think
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Girafe on March 06, 2015, 01:19:23 AM
 ()lurker()   :P
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on March 06, 2015, 03:05:37 PM
 ()what()  El Zorro? ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on March 06, 2015, 04:12:19 PM
What is it then? lol ::)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: romualdillo on March 06, 2015, 05:54:23 PM
Hear me Roar?  ;D Or 17th century Spanish soldiers  ()what()... Those are the only things that come to my mind...
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on March 07, 2015, 10:22:12 AM
Quote from: NCGAIO on March 06, 2015, 03:05:37 PM
()what()  El Zorro? ;D

That was my guess too  :troutslap:
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on March 07, 2015, 11:09:17 AM
Sandeman Sherry?

"Het geheim dat je deelt met Sandeman"
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: catty on March 08, 2015, 02:43:26 PM
Quote from: xannepan on March 05, 2015, 12:03:05 PM
Things to come

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FA5ietgp.png&hash=14d30ed18f9a28c04baf2b222aef5fe940a8902f)

&apls

Blades or Sails and even if you can't get them to turn it looks fantastic   ()stsfd()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 09, 2015, 09:41:59 AM
Hehe... Catty... you figured it out. Have you also seen my city hall? I am going by my new name XAVE now ;-)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: catty on March 09, 2015, 10:20:38 AM
Quote from: xannepan on March 09, 2015, 09:41:59 AM
Hehe... Catty... you figured it out. Have you also seen my city hall? I am going by my new name XAVE now ;-)

Haven't seen it yet, was just voting   :thumbsup:  unless something changes the Cathedral is going to be winning

-catty
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on March 09, 2015, 10:33:12 AM
Over the weekend I've had a few twitch streams open in background and a certain point I noticed some very distinct and strikingly familiar buildings by a certain xave, figured it was you. It looked great! Too bad my pc is very out of date. .  all the more reason to get a new one sooner rather than later.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on March 09, 2015, 01:09:43 PM
Is it possible to get a link to your twitch channel? that way we can all see what you mean.. I mean haha if it wasnt for vortext.. I would still be lost.. so a link would help a lot  ()stsfd()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on March 09, 2015, 01:18:01 PM
Sorry for the misunderstanding, it was during the paradox stream when the guy went into the workshop to grab an interchange I noticed some familiar buildings there. Here's the channel  (http://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive/)but I don't know if you'd be able to find again, guy streamed for like two days ~ 10h straight - you want the patron saint of roundabouts casts of 7 & 8 March. In case you're curious you can see him 'lotting' a custom building here (http://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive/b/633086881).
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: xannepan on March 10, 2015, 11:13:32 AM
Ever since simcity-4, city simulation has become more off a hobby for me than just occasional game play. Over the years I have created many custom buildings (mainly Paris and medieval themes) and mods (amongst other the Jupiter (weather) and the Aurora mods) for simcity-4. Simcity 2013 was a major disappointment on all accounts.

I have been fortunate to have been invited to test Cities Skylines' modding tools during the beta phase for the past couple of months. And during that time I have also been able to play the game. Cities Skylines exceeds my expectations. The potential that can be unlocked by the community and by DLCs provided by CO is unbelievable. I am absolutely overwhelmed by how great this game is.

Additionally, I have gained the utmost respect for CO. It is unbelievable what a small team of creative people can do. Aside from developing a fantastic game, CO actually listens to the community to the best of their abilities.

Bound by an NDA, it has been challenging for me not being able to respond to all the comments, questions, critisicm, (sometimes unjust) speculation on the forums. And I kept thinking if only you could get to play the game for half an hour and - like me - become captivated by studying the little CIMS in their daily routine, or laying out the most amazing road interchanges. Finally a game again I can enjoy again without having to shoot someone.

Off course some I do share some of the criticism that also has been shared on the forums. I could even create a list of a dozen or more features that I would like to see changed or improved. But all that is driven by my enthusiasm for this game, and there is a time a place for everything. So for now I am just giving this game a 10/10.

For me personally that also means the end of my Simcity-4 era.  With some sadness I am moving on, and I will start creating custom content and mods for Cities Skylines (under my new avatar name Xave). Goodbye and thanks to the SC4 community and friends for all the fun.I hope to see you all soon again on some of Cities Skylines forum.

-Alex
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: swordstalker2008 on March 10, 2015, 12:05:07 PM
Very sad day to see you leave the SC4 community. I hope this new game lives up to what you says it can.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Glazert on March 10, 2015, 02:55:34 PM
I shall certainly watch out in the Skylines forums for what you come up with. I have been following the Skylines forums for some time. I have not yet bought the game. A recpmmendation from someone whose work I admire makes it more likely that I will. I don't think I have lost anything by waiting.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on March 10, 2015, 04:09:46 PM
Indeed a very sad update.. I understand now the "you might not like it".. although I think cities skylines is a good game.. its too quick to drop sc4.. there's a lot of content and history to just drop the game..

Anyways, I wish you luck on your new projects.. and I ask you one last question.. is there any chance you will release the last seine's river banks you were working on?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: romualdillo on March 10, 2015, 04:47:14 PM
It's sad news, very sad... But I wish you the best in your new projects.

&apls &apls &apls &apls &apls &apls &apls &apls &apls &apls &apls &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Simcoug on March 10, 2015, 06:20:08 PM
Looking forward to your new creations Alex.
I'm curious - since you've had some extra involvement with the modding side of C:S, how difficult would it be for someone who created a model for C:S to also run it through the BAT?  I'm guessing that the modeling is done the same using 3D modeling software - so how many extra steps would it be to render said model for both games?  Is this an apple's and oranges thing, or would the process be possible with minimal effort?  Thanks for the insight.

Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on March 11, 2015, 12:56:23 AM
If and/or when other people from the community agree with you and leave..... What must we do with all our SC4 efforts? Will the Nexis/FrankU Dutch farms set be too late?
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: catty on March 11, 2015, 02:19:52 AM
Quote from: xannepan on March 09, 2015, 09:41:59 AM
Hehe... Catty... you figured it out. Have you also seen my city hall? I am going by my new name XAVE now ;-)

Yes it looks great as does the fire station ... sorry to read of your decision regarding this site and the game you will be missed   :(

Quote from: FrankU on March 11, 2015, 12:56:23 AM
If and/or when other people from the community agree with you and leave..... What must we do with all our SC4 efforts? Will the Nexis/FrankU Dutch farms set be too late?

Hi FrankU

The RTMT Team had just started back up again and we are working towards a new release I think we are going to be having some discussions later regarding this ... There are a lot of us who's computer's simply aren't up to playing this new game and you know my site caters for SC3K players (plus all the other games) but there is still quite a large number of people that are still downloading the SC3K files so I still think your work will be wanted and needed ... its a really difficult call to make and I would certainly hope that people stay on this site even if they don't play SC4 anymore but that's something for this site and its staff to decide on.

-catty
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: cmdp123789 on March 11, 2015, 10:18:03 AM
Well, I hope this game goes well as it looks like a good game.. but I think the adaptation process is going to be very long... so I dont see people just dropping simcity 4 and going into the other one.. I also agree with Catty, not every player is up to this game in terms of computer specs, and in my opinion, there is so much content for sc4 right now, that it will take at least 4 or 5 years for that game to catch up.. which by the time, we will have more content too for sc4.

New game, true, good game so far, true, but in the end, sc4 hardcore players are still gonna be here even if they have the new game, and we are still going to want more content.. it is because of people like Catty, or you Frank that this game is alive after 12 years.. and it took them 12 YEARS to come up with a game that sort of looks like the new thing.. but we will have to see.. competing against the custom content we have is hard.. so no, dont you guys dare to drop your work to move on, and no dont think sc4 is over because its fa from over..
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: kelis on March 11, 2015, 10:22:34 AM
I agree my friend, you are 100% right... &apls
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: catty on March 11, 2015, 10:29:46 AM
Totally agree with cmdp123789 post   :thumbsup:  and just to confirm while I haven't talked to all the RTMT Team yet, those I have talked to are still committed to releasing v4.0 just as it seems the NAM Team are working towards NAM33   ;D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: noahclem on March 11, 2015, 02:53:47 PM
Thanks for all your amazing works Alex. The name Xannepan has become synonymous with innovation, quality, and doing the undoable while your prolific works have been appreciated by untold thousands. Your discoveries and wisdom have added to the capable of many modders and batters and your legacy in the SC4 world is gigantic. I'm happy to hear you're enjoying the new game and am sure you'll do great things with it.

It's easy for those of us most invested in to SC4 to get uncomfortable about a potentially great new game that threatens the value and relevancy of our efforts but if it's really the case that this game is what some people say it is then it's a good thing for us all. I think this site is also most interested in seeing what the wishes of the community we enjoy so much are and there's no reason Devotees shouldn't feel welcome to share their experiences and creations in Cities: Skylines with our community here.

Best of luck in all you do, anywhere you do it, Alex :)
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: NCGAIO on March 11, 2015, 05:48:45 PM

Well ... the truth is that the new graphics requirements (windows) are condemning not only SC4 but also many other legacy aplications for a confront with increasingly difficulties to run properly (at least outside of DWM) especially in the world of portables and this just tends to worsen of course.


While it is likely a great support  CO  to a community of modders do not believe in any way that Skylines become successor of something like SC4 in relation the interest in modify it.


I do not think even remotely will be possible to have the creative freedom that was praised in the games more recent , given the limits that are imposed not only by used technologies that make it more difficult but also by commercial interests that are totally different..(  the same with SC13 )


Certainly it is very sad to see his departure Alex  :( but  is perfectly possible to understand how exciting should be work on something new that although  not allow  for  same realism visual as used to seeing in SC4 mod brings a new horizon of possibilities on Latest technologies.


Unfortunately SC4 will never allow a more realistic animation to the level of current engines and this stateness in the game certainly does not fit the new publics that certainly prefer something closer of the real.


And now with no hope (RIP Maxis / Emeryville ) of that there will be some type of  continuity in new simulators (by EA)  may be time even to look at other horizons
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Bipin on March 11, 2015, 06:15:40 PM
It certainly is unfortunate to see you leave us for CSL exclusively. Nonetheless, I know that whatever you do, whether it be here or there, it'll be awesome!  &apls My only qualm with this is that I'd like to see you coexist in both the SC4 and CSL modding realms. Akin to film and digital photography, one has come to supersede the other, but at the expense of extinguishing an irreplaceable quality, inherent only to the former. One is not better than the other, they are just different. Like film and digital, SC4 and CSL should be able to coexist. I'm sure you can agree with me on this one Xannepan as we've both had plenty of time to play this game, that SC4 and CSL are different animals, shroud under similar skins. I do wish you'd BAT for SC4 every so often, but I'm sure you'll also agree with me in saying that if there is one game out there which has a chance to do justice to the illustrious Sim City series, it'd be Cities: Skylines. So on that note, good luck with your future in CSL. I look forward to working with you in the CSL community and helping get the custom content community over there off to a spectacular start!

SYOTOS,
Bipin
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: belfastsocrates on March 12, 2015, 05:30:44 AM
On to pastures new :)

I would like to echo the comments that others have posted regarding their admiration of your work and its contribution to the SC4-community. A wonderful array of beautiful and detailed BATs which many of us are proud to have in our cities.

I truly hope that this new game provides the much needed boost our city-simulation community needs and completely and totally embraces custom content and game manipulation. If it does indeed live up to that idea then it will be successful.

I wish you all the best and I look forward to seeing what marvellous creations you develop for the new game.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: FrankU on March 13, 2015, 12:47:53 AM
Hmmm, the simple fact that Xannepan and Bipin are going to do some modding for CSL just might persuade me to transfer too....

But maybe it's better to thank you first for all that you have done for SC4.  &apls  &apls  &apls  ()flower()
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: Zeratai on June 22, 2015, 10:50:16 PM
Hi, I hope you can help me; about Quais de Seine pieces, there is only 1 corner piece on my seaport menu, I can't find the other corner so I can END the walls. Did I installedit worng or why I dont have it.

Hope tog et answered :D
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: feyss on September 15, 2015, 03:47:53 PM
Hello,

I know xannepan has left, but maybe someone could help me.

I have a problem with the "Quais de Seine" as you can see in the following picture:

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage.noelshack.com%2Ffichiers%2F2015%2F38%2F1442351404-simcity-4-2015-09-14-17-16-53-85.png&hash=a53a2d35d3032f84953976cc104dbef0cbc5d977)

It fitted perfectly before but now it is ruined and I don't know why.  This totally stop me to continue the city  &mmm

Could it be caused by an other mod I installed recently ?
--> a three controller ? I don't think so...
--> a tunnel mod ? But I installed it before.
--> a diagonal jagged edges mod ? But I also use it before.
--> something else that changed slope values ?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: vortext on September 16, 2015, 08:06:28 AM
Rather than a slope issue it seems like the quays have somehow become offset, as evidenced by the 3 quay pieces to the left of the bridge with the tree, those are still aligned correctly and properly cover the slope. The quays have had multiple updates (and iirc at least one of them altered the offset) so is it possible you have build this city with an old version of the quays and now loaded it with the latest version? Or perhaps the other way around? And what happens if you replop the quays?

It seems very unlikely to me a slope or tunnel mod would be the culprit. While they do affect various slope settings they typically do not alter already existing slopes in any way, shape or form. At least not to the best of my knowledge but there's a first for everything - though I hope that's not the case here.
Title: Re: Xannepans creations
Post by: feyss on September 27, 2015, 12:26:05 PM
You were right. I had both versions of the quais in my plugin folder due to a backup  from my external hard drive ::)

Thank you vortext  :thumbsup: