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ÆRDEN ~ new streets!

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

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vortext

#240
Thanks!  :)

The reddish hue you see on the left hand is because the road & sidewalk are next to a slope. Slopes have a weird effect on both transit and LE textures. The diffuse texture in the DB download is calibrated to the best of my abilities, like so.


The street is transparent, so bottom row of 4 is the actual sidewalk, top row of 2 is the sidewalk prop.

Granted there's still a slight difference in hue which I could not get rid off. That said, it's a near perfect match if you ask me.


Paeng's sandstone.
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

Girafe

Thanks,

I just tweak it for the bus stop and it works well  ;)

The only thing I am asking is should I turn the mapping 90° for the bricks going in the same sense  &Thk/( (which I was successful to change with 3dsmax)

The Floraler

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

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

vortext

#242
Nice to see it has already found its use!  :thumbsup:

Quote from: Girafe on September 13, 2014, 10:27:36 AM
The only thing I am asking is should I turn the mapping 90° for the bricks going in the same sense  &Thk/( (which I was successful to change with 3dsmax)

Add kSC4BuildingModelRotationProperty to the prop desc and you can just rotate it in LE.

Note with RKT0 props: they may appear properly rotated in LE but differ 90 degree in game. In that case counter rotate 90 degrees in LE and it'll show correctly in game. Slightly annoying and not actually sure why that is though.  &mmm

Thanks for the K-point!  :)
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

FrankU

Hmmm, Erik,

This sidewalk stuff sounds really interesting!

The image, by the way, shows how useful it would have been if Diggis had added diagonal pond edges to his set.

romualdillo

It sounds really interesting!!! I did not understand a word, but it looks great. It is one, two or twenty steps further than my capacities in modding... I will have to wait until the mod for dummies is released.  :P

Keep the good work!!  :thumbsup:

art128

I'll have to agree with FrankU. The sidewalk talk is interesting for sure, even though I'm not really interested in it. But to each his own. The picture is wonderful though.

Can't wait to see more from this project. :)
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

Props & Texture Catalog

vortext

#246
Hi there, it appears I've gotten a little rusty making a full fledged, story driven update so I decided to switch things around a bit. I should also mention I did a bit of housekeeping and finally added a table of contents to the first post! I'm happy to inform you today marks the 24th entry in this MD. Though today's entry is not quite an update, nor will it contain much teasing, however, I hope you will enjoy it nonetheless. 

As you may or may not recall, Ærden features a mountain lake. A four tile spanning mountain lake in fact. One faithful night some time ago I thought to myself: 'what a shame I cannot see this lake in its entirety', obviously begging the question why I hadn't made a mosaic yet. Easier said than done though, because it's quite large but more so because it turned out the water levels weren't quite as even as I thought. And of course I could not resist tinkering with the water & terrain as well so a relative simple mosaic turned into a week-and-a-half side project. :D 

In addition, I found old psd files tucked away in a little corner on an old pc a while back, which was quite a nice surprise because I considered them forever lost (I searched for them last year for OSITM). Furthermore I recently put the finishing touches on a MMP scene which I worked on for quite a while, mostly whenever I was bored though, hence slow progress. So to sum it all up: today's installment is a weird hodgepodge of old pictures, a MMP scene and the aforementioned grand mosaic at the end. But lets start with the lake in region view.





Yes, I know, too bad it sits at the edge of the region. Maybe one day I'll extend the region a bit just to make it fit properly. Or not.

On a side-note, you may notice the lake hasn't been named yet, mainly because I'm horrendously bad coming up with names. In other words: I'm open to your suggestions. Anyway, continuing.

As you may also be able to tell, there used to be a river running down the narrow gorge and to the right into the valley, before is was completely cut off due to an earthquake.

The constant stream of water meant the delta used to be flooded on a semi-permanent basis: because of torrential downpours high in the mountains during summer and fall and because of melt water during the spring. It's no surprise then that in order to keep dry feet the prehistoric inhabitants build their houses on poles.


Click picture to open full size in new tab. This was functional.



However, there was also the forceful tide coming in from sea which could make the water level rise in a heartbeat. The only momentary relieve the prehistoric inhabitants had from the water was in the heart of winter, when the delta used to freeze over. Though this caused another problem, since they mostly lived of fishery.


Click picture to open full size in new tab. This was eye-candy.



To date – by which I mean around 900 AD – the only remnant of the prehistoric inhabitants is the large and mysterious group of sculptures, currently located deep within the boggy marsh, yet to be discovered.


Click for full size.



As you can see the area has been subjected to geological forces which have eroded the land while at the same time deposited large quantities of sediments, hence the water is very shallow. The number of plant species has increased as well.

Back to the lake then. I said the river was cut-off, however, this is not quite correct. In a small miracle of nature, water has found its way out from the lake at the very bottom of the gorge, only to be disappear back into the earth a couple of hundred feet downstream. During winter time we can catch a glimpse the stream from this angle. Otherwise it'd be hidden from view by foliage.


Click for full size.



From this angle however you can clearly see the water thundering down into the earth again. Future geologists will be stunned to learn they cannot determine where exactly the water resurfaces again.


Click for full size.



Finally the lake itself. Since this is a four tile mosaic, I opted to add clouds after the fact. Otherwise smoothing things out would've been next to impossible. Of course I also made draft versions of the other angles but because of the steep slopes this is the best angle. The start of the gorge with the stream at the bottom can be discerned on the left hand side.

Click picture to open full size in new tab.



And that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this admittedly quite random assortment of pictures.  :)






Quote from: FrankU on September 13, 2014, 12:33:21 PM
Hmmm, Erik,

This sidewalk stuff sounds really interesting!

The image, by the way, shows how useful it would have been if Diggis had added diagonal pond edges to his set.

Thanks Frank, I hope we can put it to good use. And yes, arghh, diagonal ponds. . I still hope Diggis will return one day to make those.


Quote from: romualdillo on September 13, 2014, 06:13:49 PM
It sounds really interesting!!! I did not understand a word, but it looks great. It is one, two or twenty steps further than my capacities in modding... I will have to wait until the mod for dummies is released.  :P

Keep the good work!!  :thumbsup:

Thanks! No worries you didn't understand a word, that's how I feel whenever there's BAT speak!  :D


Quote from: art128 on September 20, 2014, 02:38:01 AM
I'll have to agree with FrankU. The sidewalk talk is interesting for sure, even though I'm not really interested in it. But to each his own. The picture is wonderful though.

Can't wait to see more from this project. :)

Thanks Arthur! What can I say, I like tinkering!  ;)
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

catty

very nice, I especially like pictures 5 and 6   &apls
I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?" DEATH thought about it. "CATS," he said eventually, "CATS ARE NICE.

Schulmanator

Great new pix! Impressive nature work :D :D :D
See the all-new National Capital Region!:http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=15118.0

romualdillo

Great pictures again!!!  &apls  What kind of name are you thinking of for the lake? German, English, Mayan...?

epicblunder

Delicious lake.   &apls

I suppose you could call it Eriksvotn (-votn i believe is the icelandic masculine suffix for -lake).

belfastsocrates

OMG!

What a fabulous update. Simply stunning, I'm still trying to take in that overview image of the lake with cloud cover, it's one of the most realistic looking in-game images I've ever seen.
A unique nation fusing technological prowess and unparalleled grandeur

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination" - Oscar Wilde

Vizoria


Simcoug

Awesome pics!  Yes, an appropriately placed cloud can do wonders to tie a mosaic together  :D
It has been a while, but your pictures inspire me to dig into SC4 again  :thumbsup:

FrankU

Nice area Erik!
Good to see you working AErden again. (how on Earth do you write the AE as one letter? Cannot find it... ()what() )

metarvo

Good work, Erik!   :thumbsup:  The river going underground is a work of art if I do say so myself.
Find my power line BAT thread here.
Check out the Noro Cooperative.  What are you waiting for?  It even has electricity.
Want more? Try here.  For even more electrical goodies, look here.
Here are some rural power lines.

noahclem

Outstanding update Erik  &apls  I particularly love the large lake and its environs and the river that goes underground. Great explaining and presentation too  :thumbsup:

Jmouse

The lake and surrounds are beautiful, and I like the islands as well. That creek is a work of art, though. Outstanding photos.

As for naming things, I feel your pain – it's one of the more frequently asked questions in the forums.  But I've found a way that works for me, and maybe it will give you some ideas. You already have a head full of memories and words, so drag some of them out and put them to good use.

Name things after friends, family, schools you attended, places you've been and pets, to name a few possibilities. Our family dog is named "Boston," so one of my tiles is called "Boston Mill." I raised my two children on "Moonshine Hill" Road, north of Houston, and there's a red oak tree in my front yard. "Calabash" is a blast from the 1950s. You can also put two words such as "bone" and "tree" together to form "Bonetree." Change a word – my daughter's first name is Julie so I'll name a town "Juliette." Finally, if a good name pops into your head, write it down ASAP.

I hope this helps a little bit.

juliok102013

 :o

&apls &apls

Need I say something? This is wonderful Vortext! The river is ... is amazing! And this picture ... My God, I think I need not say: http://i.imgur.com/UD6IcAl.jpg

carlfatal

Hey Eric,
I can remember, that you were working on a tree controller, when I stopped playing SC4. I was not only pissed by the grid, - the seasonal stuff did run directly into my projects, forcing me to change everything from scratch on again. I was tired, especially after my first tries to plant a forest or at least something, that is not only a group of trees. Sadly your controller set came out, after I made my first steps into playing Sims 3...  $%Grinno$%
Yeah, and after starting my second MD here I downloaded these controllers and started playing around with them. Until now I did not build anything in a region where I used them, but I LOVE to plant trees and bushes and stuff with them. It is so nice to see, how they work on different places, and it is a very impressive experience to mix them for more variety. So the first I want to do with this comment is to thank you for these wonderful tools (although I have NO clue, what kind of wizardry is going on, if I see, what you are doing with them).  &apls

Yeah, and back here I also found this thread, and damn - I wasn´t able to answer anything, I was stunned by the pictures, sunken in your explanations about your texture- and terrain work. The cobblestone streets, the rural roads, the terrain textures, that look like some kind of 3D - wow! And wonderful, how you dive into "virtual" history here. Particularly I admire your work with MMP´s and different water textures.

But enough for now, keep up this fantastic work!  :thumbsup: