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ÆRDEN ~ new streets!

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

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art128

#500
You only started BATing a few months ago but you already are better then me in all the ways! Well it's not like I seek out different ways of doing stuff etc, am only interested in creating bats, not the how to that go along.

Anyway, great work these bats look good. :)


Well what do you know, 500 replies! :clap:
You're now a Classic... Congrats!  &apls
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

Props & Texture Catalog

vortext

#501
Quote from: art128 on July 05, 2016, 03:16:30 AM
Well what do you know, 500 replies! :clap:
You're now a Classic... Congrats!  &apls

  :o %BUd%

Sweet! Thanks Arthur for the swift move!  :thumbsup:

And thanks each and everyone of you who has commented here in the past 3 years!!    &apls &apls &apls

You're all truly deserving the pink elephant!!  &dance  :party:
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

Simmer2

Congrats  &apls &apls

Btw you got mail  ;D
________________________________________________________________________________

Vizoria

Became a classic after posting medieval entries. Makes sense.

&apls &apls &apls

Fantastic pictures and here is to seeing this medieval city/area completed.

Akallan

Congratulations! This is a CJ who deserves to be seen by all! &apls ;D
My CJ :


My european road textures project : S N T - v.2.1

kbieniu7

Congratulations for being moved to Classics! Good luck with your gaming and batting projects! Now it's definetely time for your medieval city to grow into a powerful kingdom  :thumbsup:
Thank you for visiting Kolbrów, and for being for last ten years!

noahclem

Huge congrats on such a well-earned promotion to the Classics  :bnn: &dance :squirrel:

I had a chance to catch up on the most recent goings on here a few days ago and very much enjoyed it. Your unique style of playing, modding, and presenting, along with your immense skill, set Ærden apart and I'd consider it among SC4D's biggest assets. Great work and cheers to the next 500 posts!

vortext

#507

click pic for fullsize

Hello there. . It's been quite a while, hasn't it?! Figured I might post something so to not fall into the classic (hehe, get it) trap of postponing until I've got something polished to a shine because as you can see, there're quite a few places I haven't shown yet. We're looking at Haefwold by the way, one of three 'Roman' villages in the region.

At any rate, hope everyone had a good summer. I did, finally graduated, had a nice vacation and now looking for a job once more. In the meanwhile I have plenty of time for SC4, though I'd be lying if I pretended my interest in Ærden hadn't waned. However, there're still a few projects that I'd really like to get finished and I'm gonna spell them out so that you guys can call me out on it. :D So here goes, in no particular order:


  • a proper, HD, seasonal T21 street side mod. By which I mean a European counterpart to the Japanese street mod. Or an upgraded 2016 version of SFBT / Jeronij mods, if you would. I've got the T21s pretty much figured out (including proper diagonals & wrc) and gathered a boatload of suitable props. I'll get back to this shortly because a decision needs to be made regarding flora / timed props.
  • the cobble stone roads. . . started two (3?) years ago . . and so close to finished . .  :-[
  • Wide Radius Curves for SAM, again close to finished, a shame if it'd fall by the way side

So yeah, there you have it: my to do list for this autumn.  $%Grinno$%

Anyway, as you may or may not know, this site will celebrate its 10 year anniversary come November. Initially I'd plans to make a couple of video tutorials regarding lotting in SC4PIM, however, that's a bit short notice. So as an alternative I was thinking of perhaps doing a couple of live streams during the month. For example I'd start by making a simple park lot, and you could follow along at home. Please let me know if there's interest in such a thing. No point in going through all the hassle of setting things up if no one is gonna watch. And that's it for now. Will be back with replies & other stuff soon.   :)
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

Tyberius06

Oh, very nice little village. And those future plans :)
I can't wait for the cobble stone streets/road :) They are very nice and I could deffinitly use them. :)
Any tutorial would be nice and very welcome. Especially as the most of the tutorials are quite broken on the site because of the dead pictures. :(

Anyway nice to see you are active and have such a nice plans... :)  :popcorn: &apls
You may find updates about my ongoing projects into my development thread here at SimCity 4 Devotion: Tyberius Lotting Experiments
or over there on Simtropolis into the Tyberius (Heretic Projects) Lotting and Modding Experiments.
I'm also member of the STEX Custodian and working on different restoration projects on behalf of non-anymore-active custom content creators.
Current projects: WMP Restoration and SimCity Polska Restoration.
Member of the NAM Team and RTMT Team.

Themistokles

First of all, a belated congratulation to the very well deserved move! :) And that image is simply wonderful. It looks so well constructed and lay-outed and real and stuff. &apls

And, by the way, all those projects sound breath-taking. They'd make it so much easier to build realistic cities.
Come join me on a hike to St Edmea!

Latest update: 7

"In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy." - John Sawhill

vortext

#510
So regarding the picture competition, Tyberius made a good point. It's daunting to put a snapshot of your latest work up against a highly polished, multi-tile-spanning mosaic. To me it seems quite obvious that to invigorate the competition the threshold for entry needs to be lowered one way or another. So I was thinking, as an experiment, what if we tighten the rules a bit: no photoshop, nor mosaics allowed.

Now, this may seem counter-intuitive but imho it will level the playing field somewhat. As in, pictures will be judged on individual SC4 building skills, and composition of said picture. Both these skills can be trained with time, and do not depend on whether you have access to, say, photoshop. And yes, I realize there's gimp, and you can train polishing skill as well but that's besides the point I'm trying to make – which I hope comes across because I also realize I'm rambling a bit. :D

Anyway, another idea. Since we're having the like system in place, what if we used that for voting? Say, the first picture to reach 10 likes wins? yes, no, maybe? Discuss.  "$Deal"$




Okay so while I'm here a few words on the T21 mod. Last week I said there was a decision to be made regarding the use of seasonal flora versus timed props. And thinking things over once more, it seemed obvious to me: seasonal flora is the way to go. So what, you ask?

Well, it means the trees will go out of season from time-to-time. For example when a lot upgrades to a higher/lower wealth during winter, the street trees adjacent to the lot will change accordingly. And since they're flora they'll always start their yearly cycle with the autumn model, even if it is for example January. To remedy this, however, it is sufficient to click on the offending street tile during autumn so the trees will be redrawn and start their yearly cycle synced to the ingame calendar.

Now, I fully realize this may become a bit annoying to the casual player, however, behind the scenes seasonal flora offers benefits over timed props. Without going into too much technical detail, a single flora exemplar does the same as 3 prop examples so that alone saves quite some work. Consequently working with flora families (yes they exist), in combination with cohort files and hybrid T21-lot files makes things much easier and flexible for development.

So with that out of the way, this is the selection of trees I'm currently working with.





The big models are reserved for low density, medium / high-wealth and inversely, the smallest trees will be deployed in high density zones. Next a look at the urban stuff I've collected so far.



So all things considered it's already clocking in at around 12 dependencies, and I actually do want to include flowers & bushes too. If you think I've overlooked some prop pack please let me know, but keep in mind it has to be High Definition props – no SD allowed! Also, I'd really like to have diagonal parking bays, too.  ::)

Finally lets have a look at some actual T21 action, right?



Part of the project is adding diagonal T21 with vanilla streetlights, so the the streetlight models themselves can still be overridden by other mods.

And final picture for today.



Starting to put it all together and working out the kinks to arrive at a nice distribution.

Ok this took bit longer to write down than anticipated and now I don't have time for replies.  :-[ I swear they're coming!  &opr
time flies like a bird
fruit flies like a banana

belfastsocrates

Quote from: vortext on September 28, 2016, 05:05:30 AM
So regarding the picture competition, Tyberius made a good point. It's daunting to put a snapshot of your latest work up against a highly polished, multi-tile-spanning mosaic. To me it seems quite obvious that to invigorate the competition the threshold the entry needs to be lowered one way or another. So I was thinking, as an experiment, what if we tighten the rules a bit: no photoshop, nor mosaics allowed.

Now, this may seem counter-intuitive but imho it will level the playing field somewhat. As in, pictures will be judged on individual SC4 building skills, and composition of said picture. Both these skills can be trained with time, and do not depend on whether you have access to, say, photoshop. And yes, I realize there's gimp, and you can train polishing skill as well but that's is besides the point I'm trying to make – which I hope comes across because I also realize I'm rambling a bit. :D

Anyway, another idea. Since we're having the like system in place, what if we used that for voting? Say, the first picture to reach 10 likes wins? yes, no, maybe? Discuss.  "$Deal"$


I agree completely.

There's always a place for photoshop and mosaics, perhaps every other month we dedicate that month for the showcasing of photoshop work or mosaics? That way everyone gets to take part?

Not sure about using 'likes' the current simple way of indicating a preference is quick and easy enough IMO




Fabulous work in regard to the T21 mod utilising HD props as well, very very exciting!
A unique nation fusing technological prowess and unparalleled grandeur

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

matias93

About the picture competition, I remember there was a similar discussion on simtropolis about the huge assymetry between contestants' skills, and one of the ideas that rised was to separate the contest on some kind of leagues, even if that division has its cons too.


Now, about that magical and perfect idea of a T21 mod, it is evident that a landmark mod is in construction here, and unless get some portable liquid nitrogen cooler, I wouldn't be capable to use it: so much HD seasonal props are not a thing a humble work-oriented laptop could manage.
Only one thought about the method for updating the trees: even if is a very intuitive way to do it, it would be fatal for players that use network tags, because they get erased irreversibly when networks are updated, even only with wealth changes. Maybe a warning would be useful to avoid alarmed comments.

"Lets be scientists and as such, remember always that the purpose of politics is not freedom, nor authority, nor is any principle of abstract character,
but it is to meet the social needs of man and the development of the society"

— Valentín Letelier, 1895

Seaman

Quote from: matias93 on September 28, 2016, 07:05:12 AM
Only one thought about the method for updating the trees: even if is a very intuitive way to do it, it would be fatal for players that use network tags, because they get erased irreversibly when networks are updated, even only with wealth changes. Maybe a warning would be useful to avoid alarmed comments.

may I ask, what these "network tags" are? Never heard of that term before.  &ops

_Michael

#514
I would oppose the change.
There is one simple reason for this stance: "SC4 Picture Competition" implies it is about the image as a whole, including photoshop edits and mosaics. If you want to judge city building skills, a competition named, "SC4 City Building Competition" would be more appropriate.
The Picture competition is not just, and should not just be about the quality of the city, it should be about the quality of the image, and in a competition, there will always be better and less-good entries.
Photoshop and mosaics widen the reach this competition, and banning them outright, I belive,  would but put a lot of users off. I'm aware of very few CJ/MD that has never enhanced any of their images, and why because they want to make the best pictures. The best pictures, for the Picture competition.


And a word on the T21 mod - It looks like it could a fantastic mod. I will definitely be using it, if you release it!

APSMS

Not so sure about changing the rules, but I can say that unless likes are time stamped, I would say they are not the way to go, since many times posters even now forget the rules about time limits, and it would be very difficult to discern the winner if people vote after the fact, or at least, after the requisite 24 hours, especially in cases of ties.

The biggest benefit, besides exemplar saving, that I can see with seasonal flora is that the trees don't change as they might when using a timed prop family (for variety). The tree remains the same. It will, however, still be pretty annoying. I suspect I'm going to using that historical button significantly more than I already do just to keep the trees from going out of sync making me redraw everything.

Still excited about the idea, though. We've needed a good HD street mod for a while now.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

My Mayor Diary San Diego: A Reinterpretation

matias93

Quote from: Seaman on September 28, 2016, 07:29:19 AM
Quote from: matias93 on September 28, 2016, 07:05:12 AM
Only one thought about the method for updating the trees: even if is a very intuitive way to do it, it would be fatal for players that use network tags, because they get erased irreversibly when networks are updated, even only with wealth changes. Maybe a warning would be useful to avoid alarmed comments.

may I ask, what these "network tags" are? Never heard of that term before.  &ops


Label, not tag, sorry (both are 'etiqueta' in Spanish). I refer to those names you can put on roads, streets and avenues, the ones that are on the last button of the green mayor mode menu. Those labels got erased anytime a road or street is redrawn.

"Lets be scientists and as such, remember always that the purpose of politics is not freedom, nor authority, nor is any principle of abstract character,
but it is to meet the social needs of man and the development of the society"

— Valentín Letelier, 1895

Themistokles

HD streetside T21 mod... I'm all for it :thumbsup: (Regarding seasonality, I'm personally not using it so much because, yes, in SC4 I'm something of a control freak. I want my trees to be when I want them, where I want them and as I want them. With seasonal trees, for that's way too much going back and forth between the seasons for me. But it's your mod, you make it the way you want. :) )

On the matter of the Picture competition I agree with michae95l, I think the picture competition should be for all images, whether they're edited or not is a stylistic choice. And as I like to like posts because I like them, would I be liked or disliked if I'd like both competitor's images? :P Seriously though, I'd like to like also the image I end up not voting for, just to send a signal of appreciation of their hard work, too.

Really interesting discussion raised though! I'm happily surprised to see how much has been going on over here the latest days.
Come join me on a hike to St Edmea!

Latest update: 7

"In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy." - John Sawhill

Akallan

I'm like you about the trees Themistokles! :P

In terms of images, of the same opinion that michae95l. To each his own style!
You can create a subject image contest where one is free to do whatever we want, without rules. And create another image contest where there there are rules to regulate and bring everyone to the same level.
My CJ :


My european road textures project : S N T - v.2.1

korver

#519
Well, originally I posted some of my thoughts into the SC4 Picture competition thread, but wasn't really sure if that was the right place and didn't want to get too off topic so I edited them out. But anyways, I still think that there needs to be some drastic changes so I'll share what's on my mind..

Probably the number one complaint I have is the severe lack of pictures being inducted into the HOF these days. I took a look at the HOF and how many pictures were inducted per year - I believe the high water mark was 2008 where we had 128. In recent years, we've had 12 in 2014, 4 in 2015, and only 2 this year. I know the player base is smaller, but there's virtually no representation from recent years - which is a real shame, considering how far the game has progressed, with all the newer buildings and mods being released and whatnot.

I think that Michael brought up a great point. Putting more limitations on the Best Picture competition probably won't help, and there's the very real chance it could backfire even more. And besides, many people in the past already were posting unedited pictures and the competition was stalling for months at a time. I predict we'll still see the exact same scenario play out, with overall activity remaining very similar to what it is right now.

Originally I suggested a couple of changes to the SC4 Picture competition to hopefully alleviate some of these issues, like lowering rounds from 3 to 2, putting in some sort of safeguard to stop the competition from stalling for months on end - it might help some, but more than likely the competition will still remain pretty stagnant. I just wish there was a better way to get current pictures better representation in the HOF. Now, I don't know the exact number of pictures that should be inducted.. but the current pace that we're at, with 2-4 pictures being inducted yearly, isn't enough..

I think one possible solution is to supplement the Best picture competition with something else so we can get more pictures inducted. Maybe there could be some sort of alternate competition where each user can submit one picture - no restrictions on photoshop, mosaics, or anything else. Once we get X amount of pictures submitted, or after an allotted amount of time, users can "like" the pictures they believe are HOF worthy. The top 5 pictures with the most likes get inducted to the HOF. Keep on doing this periodically until a healthy amount of pictures are inducted yearly. I know it's similar to the ST Challenges (but without being so strict in regards to subject matter, so that should hopefully attract more attention) - but IMO it just makes much more sense for this day and age. You also don't have to worry about one particular user "overtaking" competitions or scaring away other people too much - since they can only submit 1 picture and everyone else will have a chance.