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ÆRDEN ~ new streets!

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

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vortext

#180


Quote from: whatevermind on December 23, 2013, 11:03:41 PM
Um...Wow!

It's all incredible, and I know I've said before how much I love those cobble textures, still do. These lots also really interest me. That's probably not a surprise though. The harbor stuff pretty much leaves me speechless, it's all beautiful. Are there docks and piers planned to go along with those?

Yep, the docks & piers shown in NewSorgun will serve as the basis. You'll actually be able to plop the lots directly on the water, so no more tedious terraforming! Props for the harbor stuff go to Krashspeed (I'll never grow tired of this pun  :D). Anyway, glad to hear you (still) like the cobble stones!  :)


Quote from: 976 on December 24, 2013, 05:22:08 AM
wow, just wow...
it's interesting to have those transit texture. it's look kinda classic (or maybe european, I'm not know many about it lol just feel it's pretty different with normal SC4  :-[ )

Thanks! My intention is to create a classic, European look indeed so I'm glad that comes across!  :)


Quote from: kelis on December 24, 2013, 06:05:16 AM
oh my... if I had all that in my hands I cease to play simcity in the modern era to make a real old city, so c'mon just let us enjoy all that stuff  $%Grinno$% $%Grinno$% !! It's amazing my friend, I can't wait to see more about it.

And you haven't seen the list of planned add-ons yet. .  $%#Ninj2  Patience Jonathan, patience. .  :D


Quote from: vester on December 24, 2013, 06:49:43 AM
Someone has been busi.

Love the bats and sure am looking forward for the cobble texture.
Pretty sure I could use it or a lot or two.

Thanks Arne!


Quote from: droric on December 24, 2013, 09:54:23 AM
I love the props!  They all have so much detail and character in them.  The textures look great as well, perhaps something I will never master.

Can confirm: the details and variations are incredible!  :D As for the textures, little confused if you mean the BAT or LE textures?


Quote from: MTT9 on December 24, 2013, 01:47:04 PM
I'm not sure i've ever commented here but this is amazing!! Lots of work ahead, i'll look foward to see what happens :)

That makes two of us!  :D Thanks for stopping by!


Quote from: RepublicMaster on December 24, 2013, 06:19:20 PM
Oh my, I'm lost for words, there's so much great stuff here! I was building a city and I could have really made good use of those fabulous textures!

What an excellent Christmas gift! :D

I'm looking forward to using the textures too!  ;) Thanks!


Quote from: FrankU on December 24, 2013, 11:00:04 PM
Hi Erik,

This is absolutely stunning work!

Thank you Frank!


Quote from: vester on December 25, 2013, 05:50:05 AM
Quote from: droric on December 24, 2013, 09:54:23 AM
I love the props!  They all have so much detail and character in them.  The textures look great as well, perhaps something I will never master.

Yes the texturing work is great.

Mark: cgtextures.com is a good starting point.

Would love to hear some on how the texture work; including UV-mapping / Unwrapping ect,

Well, that's a subject for Krashspeed. He stops by here every now and again so maybe he'd be willing to divulge a little bit. Otherwise you could ask him over at Simpeg.


Quote from: Girafe on December 25, 2013, 06:10:07 AM
Really good job on the props especially the characters, I love them  :thumbsup:

I can only concur: the workers are brilliant!


Quote from: sunv123 on December 25, 2013, 08:08:54 AM
Wow, those are fantastic props! Just Wow! :thumbsup:

I can't wait till they're released! ;)

For you too Victor: patience.  ;)


Quote from: greenbelt on December 26, 2013, 01:19:13 AM
&apls fabulous Vortex.  I have place this MD in my SC4 Showcase bookmarks folder.

Thanks, both for the kind words and for stopping by!  :)


Quote from: Bipin on December 26, 2013, 05:23:53 AM
Loving this! A job well done, that's for sure.

Thank you!


Quote from: benedict on December 27, 2013, 03:05:12 PM
Great stuff.

And congratulations, your MD is number one on Ben's Top Ten this week.

Thanks everyone!  :thumbsup:


Quote from: greenbelt on January 02, 2014, 01:56:31 AM
re-reading your journal again from the beginning.  I have a couple of questions.  I will try to add them all to this post via edits.

#1. 
QuoteTo make things even more interesting, I also let the game run on rhino speed while treeing and paused occasionally to accentuate a certain month. And why stick to just one tree controller, when you can use all three of them, right?!  ;)
won't the game CTD if we use more than 1 tree controller?

Yes and no. . . In general it's a bad idea to combine tree controllers from different creators unless you're absolutely sure what you're doing. What I meant in the quoted passage: I used all three of my controllers, one after another, which is safe to do. Similarly, one could use multiple of CPs controllers one after another, which in fact I've done in the past as well.

I hope this clears things up a bit. It's a tricky subject though so don't hesitate to ask away, either here or in my tree controller thread (which reminds me. . .)  :)

time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

krashspeed

Quote from: vester on December 25, 2013, 05:50:05 AM
Quote from: droric on December 24, 2013, 09:54:23 AM
I love the props!  They all have so much detail and character in them.  The textures look great as well, perhaps something I will never master.

Yes the texturing work is great.

Mark: cgtextures.com is a good starting point.

Would love to hear some on how the texture work; including UV-mapping / Unwrapping ect,

I don't have any routine for texturing, I just do whatever seems right. I know that's a not a good answer, but it's the truth. If you have a specific question I'll try to answer it and please do drop by Simpeg.

Thanks!  :)




epicblunder

Quote from: vortext on January 08, 2014, 10:36:46 AM
(which reminds me. . .)  :)

/poke /poke /poke

I'm not sure why i'm poking; i just want to see what turns up.   :satisfied:

vortext

#183


Alright back again with another round of Texture Talk though it'll be a short installment. I've polished the dirt and grass textures some more and I think they look okay at the moment (things may look different to me tomorrow, I can keep on fiddling to no end really ::)).

So here's the latest state of affairs: ten dirt and ten grass textures in zoom 6 (and png for optimal detail). Don't worry too much about the tiling as the base textures will be multi-fsh textures eventually.

*click pic for full size*


So, what do y'all think?! If you want to judge these texture even better you can pick up a beta file here, which also holds an overlay set. The overlay texture itself is a bit outdated, however, what matters are the shapes: are they any good for lotting? Or maybe you think a particular shape is missing? Please give them go in the LE and let me know! I'd also appreciated feedback on the base textures of course, especially with regards to usage with different terrain mods.


Moving on.


Last time I didn't get any feedback on the darker streets. Understandable as everyone was in awe with Krashs' harbor props. However, I've tinkered a bit more and like to hear your thoughts!


Up close in zoom 6


zoom 5


zoom 4


zoom 3

Yes, no, maybe?!  :-\

Finally I'm happy to report Ærden has welcomed the first residents and the regional population count is a whoppig 1139 sims!

Stay tuned!  &opr



Quote from: krashspeed on January 08, 2014, 11:21:56 AM
I don't have any routine for texturing, I just do whatever seems right. I know that's a not a good answer, but it's the truth. If you have a specific question I'll try to answer it and please do drop by Simpeg.

Thanks!  :)

Whatever you're doing, you're doing it right obviously!  :D


Quote from: epicblunder on January 08, 2014, 11:24:54 AM
/poke /poke /poke

I'm not sure why i'm poking; i just want to see what turns up.   :satisfied:

He, stop poking!  :angrymore:  :D
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

art128

I like the dirt streets. They look fine except at zoom 3 but that's the game engine's fault.
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

Props & Texture Catalog

Gugu3

I like the road texture...agree with Arthur about zoom 3...but that is a game deficency :thumbsup:Well done anyway!

FrankU

Hi Erik,

I like the textures and the shapes of the overlays. You made a lot of different overlays, so we have versatility here. But.... Are you planning to make the paths as overlays too? Or do we have to make our paths by adding two overlays to one base texture? The problem then is that I cannot add another path to the same tile, like one of those brick or stone paths by CP.
In my lots I combine overlays and base textures with different paths of stone, sand, concrete, brick or whatever CP made available. Sometimes it is a hell of a puzzle to find the right combination of base texture with overlays.
CP made combined base tiles plus separate overlays of different textures. Seeing the amount of shapes and textures you show in the file I guess we are going to have an enormous set of textures and overlays? What are your plans?

And another thing. Your textures are very good looking, but when I compare them with other grasses I think you have a bit too many dark textures. Maybe you can lighten up some of them?

Frank

Simcoug

Awesome - so the 'streets' texture will just override the maxis dull grey streets?  I'd be interested in that!   ;D




mgb204

This has to be the most jaw-dropping use of simply nature I've seen within SC4 thus far. Trying not to miss all the great works like this can even be daunting sometimes.

I come across this MD at page 10, region pop of 1139... on page 10, that's odd... 3 hours or so later I'm finished gawping at all the shots of the region and struggling with the mind-bending amount of work that must have gone into this. By page 10 I find myself thinking I don't want to see so many residents until at least page 20! Truly stunning work here, and more than a couple tips amongst these pages to improve my game too. I will be keeping an eye on future updates from now on, thanks so much for taking the time to make and present this.

vortext

#189


Wait, what? It's been two months since the last update?! Well, time certainly does fly, doesn't it!  :D

As you may have guessed already, this will largly be a status update on various projects. No worries though, there're some pictures at the end so skip right ahead if you're not one for reading. ;)

First of all the Historic Harbor project is coming along nicely. The props, all 1260 of them (double that for HD/SD) have been organized in a somewhat coherent and nitpicker friendly fashion. For example, in the Cargo folder you'll find separate .dat files for barrels, carts, crates and sacks. Similar in the Street Furniture folder you'll find benches, a bulletin board and posters, various fences, light posts, clocks, etc. Most of the props belong to one or more families and have been timed or given the random chance property.

The lots sets themselves are almost finished as well. The last hurdle to take is implementing this little feature, which I came across only recently. And yes, it is as awesome as it sounds, it'll save you a lot of scrolling through the menu. Speaking of which, the lots are located in the seaport menu and also show up as seaports in the city budget.

Furthermore we've created a number of 'seasonal' MMPs. I use quotation marks around seasonal because these MMPs do not contain trees but cargo and workers instead. Since Krashspeed made many variations of the same models we decided it'd be nice to put these on rotation, so to speak, with the models changing every four months. Of course you do not have to worry about the date you plop these MMPs since the models are not bound to any season. To give you an impression, here's the selection for the worker MMPs.



If everything keeps rolling along as it has done the last few weeks I think we'll be able to get the entire set in the hands of our beta testers shortly and work on the documentation while awaiting their feedback.


Right. As you can imagine, this takes up a good chunk of my time at the moment. However, I still saw the opportunity for some preliminary work regarding the cobble stone textures.


Well, this was far easier than anticipated (excuses the pun, I couldn't resist  ;D).

For various reasons I decided to put the dirt street textures on the back burner and focus on the road cobble stone textures first and foremost. I still got some kinks to work out though. For instance how to apply the wear-and-tear gradient on intersections as my current approach is to render the texture as one entity, with all elements backed in. However, I'm thinking it might be worthwhile to render stuff like the gradient and curbstones separate from the actual pavers and then put it back together in photoshop. I figure this will be especially useful with an eye on GLR textures, so I can re-use elements later on.

As for the LE textures, I've completely revised the overlays. Not only are the shapes a little smoother but more important is that the rendering process is automated even further. It takes me two mouse clicks and about 45 minutes to go from basic shapes to a proper overlay set. At any rate, I've settled on about 40 base textures which I'm currently fine tuning in terms of hue and saturation.


So, at this moment you may say to yourself, 'this is all fine and well but it's the same stuff this guy has been harping on and on about for months. What about Ærden?!'.
Well, I'm glad you asked!

As of yet the region is home to about 5000 sims, mostly concentrated in two villages though I'm currently sprinkling family farms throughout. Furthermore the config has undergone some changes yet again. I had a change of heart with regard to starting point for the proper city after watching this clip. Pretty inspiring stuff and quite indicative of what I plan to do. But of course plans are boring without anything to show for, so I'll leave you with some tinkering and teaser pics. Enjoy!


. tinkering .  &idea


. . tinkering . . &Thk/(


. . . tinkering. . . %wrd



Also, finally got around to making a decent monastery with Kwakelaar's Schiffenberg set, something I've been wanting to do ever since I came across it years ago. ()stsfd()




Finally a few proper pictures to conclude this update.



The latest residents to the region moved in yesterday and live in the middle of friggin' nowhere. .




Picture taken some time ago, before I had farm field fillers in place. .


*click pic for full size*


These lots are already over two years old! I did a very simple retextured with an alpha version of my LE textures.


That's it for now. Bye!  :)




Quote from: art128 on February 12, 2014, 07:42:37 AM
I like the dirt streets. They look fine except at zoom 3 but that's the game engine's fault.

Thanks Arthur but as I said, the dirt streets are postponed for now.


Quote from: Gugu3 on February 12, 2014, 07:47:49 AM
I like the road texture...agree with Arthur about zoom 3...but that is a game deficency :thumbsup:Well done anyway!

Thanks! Zoom3 always is a bit awkward indeed.


Quote from: FrankU on February 14, 2014, 02:46:31 AM
Hi Erik,

I like the textures and the shapes of the overlays. You made a lot of different overlays, so we have versatility here. But.... Are you planning to make the paths as overlays too? Or do we have to make our paths by adding two overlays to one base texture? The problem then is that I cannot add another path to the same tile, like one of those brick or stone paths by CP.
In my lots I combine overlays and base textures with different paths of stone, sand, concrete, brick or whatever CP made available. Sometimes it is a hell of a puzzle to find the right combination of base texture with overlays.
CP made combined base tiles plus separate overlays of different textures. Seeing the amount of shapes and textures you show in the file I guess we are going to have an enormous set of textures and overlays? What are your plans?

And another thing. Your textures are very good looking, but when I compare them with other grasses I think you have a bit too many dark textures. Maybe you can lighten up some of them?

Frank

Thanks for your feedback Frank, both here and in PMs. I hope to send you the latest revision sooner rather than later and it will include the new overlays!


Quote from: Simcoug on February 14, 2014, 11:07:42 AM
Awesome - so the 'streets' texture will just override the maxis dull grey streets?  I'd be interested in that!   ;D

Thanks! That was the plan indeed - and still is I guess, it'll just be a while before I get around to it.


Quote from: mgb204 on February 14, 2014, 07:57:12 PM
This has to be the most jaw-dropping use of simply nature I've seen within SC4 thus far. Trying not to miss all the great works like this can even be daunting sometimes.

I come across this MD at page 10, region pop of 1139... on page 10, that's odd... 3 hours or so later I'm finished gawping at all the shots of the region and struggling with the mind-bending amount of work that must have gone into this. By page 10 I find myself thinking I don't want to see so many residents until at least page 20! Truly stunning work here, and more than a couple tips amongst these pages to improve my game too. I will be keeping an eye on future updates from now on, thanks so much for taking the time to make and present this.

Thanks for the kind words! I hope you weren't too disappointed to learn the current population count. And yes, it's save to say I've sunk a good couple of hours into this endeavor. :D
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

Girafe

Amazing job,

I really enjoy the cobble stone textures, they are perfect for small villages  :thumbsup:
The Floraler

This is the end, hold your breath and count to ten, feel the earth move, and then...

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *    *   *   *   *   *    * 

kelis

I like so much your MD ! I always wanted to do a city inspired in the old Amsterdam ( Fantastic video  :) ), but I always had problems with plugins and I was not able to get a good result, but I think you are doing an amazing job with this type of region and I have to say that it's very inspirational, so please keep up the good work my friend !!

Greetings :thumbsup:
.                                                                                                                      

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FrankU

Hi Erik,

The video about Amsterdam is great, indeed. Maybe now finally we all know that the city didn't grow ring by ring, like may seem to believe.

Anyway: your developments are really interesting and the Daeley trick sounds interesting too, althought I don't really understand how it works. He really found some funny flaws/features in the game that can be put to good use.
And I am looking forward to using your textures and lots. You seem to have found (or BATted?) some nice small crops for the lots! Could you elaborate on these?

c.p.

Lots of interesting (and mysterious) things going on here. $%#Ninj2
The cobblestone streets look great :thumbsup:
I'll be interested to see how that trick from Daeley works out.

Kergelen

Great work on all fronts you are working.

I love the cobble stone FAR streets.

Fantastic pictures. Seem drawn from a tale &apls


                                    Links to SC4 websites

M4346

Incredible work and a great inspiration! Also love all the tinkering! :D
New Horizons Productions
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Shadow Assassin ♦ Tarkus ♦ wouanagaine

APSMS

Commenting because I'm trying to not be a lurker and maybe get people to comment on my stuff when I post entries in my MD (which, admittedly I haven't done much of). There's a lot of stuff going on here, and I'd like to offer some support/opinions, esp. since I always seem to forget to do so even when I have something to say.

I would definitely be interested in a Cobble Street override. The ones currently available in the SAM/GLR-in-Street are ugly imho. These ones blend much better. I also notice you've adapted the Dirt Streets to fully replace the default texture, including Draggable WRSC! Nice work there (not that I'll use it in particular), especially for maybe adapting other street overrides to do the same thing (I guess it's just a matter of making the textures, though).

Since FAR streets aren't available (yet? &Thk/(), would the FAR cobble streets be a retexture/overlay for the Roads, or are there plans I've not heard of yet? (I thought autoconnect was the straw on the camel, but I could be wrong)
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

My Mayor Diary San Diego: A Reinterpretation

Simcoug

Good stuff!  I really enjoyed that clip too - I hope you don't get too attached to parts of your city, because it looks like it will be built, torn down, and rebuilt again.   :o

And I am really curious about the 'under water' residential.  Is that grown?  Please explain!  (with the right model, a dock full of 'house boats' seems like a possibility)

I don't know if you've seen the drama TV show 'Vikings' but your Monastery made me think of the poor monks who suffered through waves of 'barbarian' raids.
Unfortunately there's not much in the way of BATs...  &mmm   

benedict

#198
Good to see you back with an update, and good to see you back at number one on BTT this week.

Edit: and another week on top - well done.
Click on the banner to celebrate!

Gugu3

Wow!very nice as always!nice pictures...and great work on the cobblestone texture &apls