SC4 Devotion Forum Archives

As your first poster I say... WOW!!!! :o

Fantastic work! I love the effects you've added to the image. They look very nice! The choice of BAT's is superb as well!

-Jason

Excellant Start  :thumbsup:

Simply stunning! I feel like I'm there already. It's not a surprise, but you've really captured the look and feel of rural England perfectly. Great work so far!

Amazing. Nicely done! :thumbsup:

Bravo!  Glad to see Tendering here, as it is work of such quality to deserve the audience it'll receive here.  &apls

Excellent start!  Nice job with the photoshop effects, I'm also liking the layout of your town so far, looks very peaceful.

Really great start!!!

Thank you all for your nice comments.

I hope for this region to be a vast improvement on the former "Tendering".  ;)

Quote from: Albus of Garaway on August 23, 2009, 05:58:33 PM
I love the effects you've added to the image.

Quote from: Battlecat on August 24, 2009, 11:43:36 AM
Nice job with the photoshop effects

Thank you.  :) I'm going to try and keep improving the effects if i can...

Quote from: djvandrake on August 24, 2009, 10:23:54 AM
Bravo!  Glad to see Tendering here, as it is work of such quality to deserve the audience it'll receive here.  &apls

Thank you again dj for your comments both here and at Simphoni.net!


Next update coming now...

Beautiful work!  Love the walls along your farms. 

This has a great look to it. Very nice start indeed.

Geoff

Amazing start :thumbsup: wonderful photoshopping and lotting (the plazas)! &apls

I really like the feeling of your town!

Amazing work again!!!

I love Park Row and the Marketplace.  Very nice!!  &apls

My favorite picture is the one of Park Row!

Thank you all. ;D

Quote from: io_bg on August 26, 2009, 03:29:03 PM
Amazing start :thumbsup: wonderful photoshopping and lotting (the plazas)! &apls

Thanks! The plaza is made up by me from a number of smaller pieces I have which came from ST and SC4D. I plan to put a lot more attention and forsight than before into making up areas with modular pieces like this for pedestrian walkways, plazas and parks.

Quote from: djvandrake on August 27, 2009, 10:12:38 AM
I love Park Row and the Marketplace.  Very nice!!  &apls

Quote from: Albus of Garaway on August 27, 2009, 12:57:23 PM
My favorite picture is the one of Park Row!

Park Row certainly is popular. :D Thanks guys.

I wish I could see the pictures.. but it doesn't load for me. Every picture has a red cross.

Nice job on the effects.  :thumbsup:  &apls

I love the effects you use, but I adore the actual feeling you have here, very old style, very brilliant work.  &apls

Quote from: Glowbal on August 28, 2009, 04:15:51 AM
I wish I could see the pictures.. but it doesn't load for me. Every picture has a red cross.

I'm sorry, my host doesn't allow very high daily bandwidth usage for free accounts. :( You'll need to check back again. And I need to find a better host...

Quote from: djvandrake on August 28, 2009, 09:49:34 AM
Nice job on the effects.  :thumbsup:  &apls

Quote from: BuildingUp on August 28, 2009, 04:17:54 PM
I love the effects you use, but I adore the actual feeling you have here, very old style, very brilliant work.  &apls

Thank you both. That is encouraging as I'm trying to use effects to the best of my ability, and create much more authenticness than I've ever managed to with the game before.


No update coming this weekend. I haven't got anything new to show just yet.

Nice start - I can almost feel the rain one me. For my taste the villages are a bit uniform - have you tried all the nice Gascooker buildings? I also would replace the church - it's a rather old BAT and there are quite some better alternatives by now, e.g.:

St. Barbara Church (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2034)

Bosham Church (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=17530)

and some more - just have a look at the LEX ;)

I do love what you did with these small walls and the farms. BTW any chance to see a railway line?  :D

About your host: There are quite some free host for pictures available (and your pics do load slowly according to their size!) The classic one is Imageshack (http://www.imageshack.us), it does have some problems from time to time but also does work better than your host!

Take care


Bernhard  :thumbsup:

There must be a lot of fog in Tendering  :D  Nice start. The stone walls must have taken a lot of time.

Good Luck with your Diary - Jim Myers

Quote from: Nardo69 on August 30, 2009, 04:36:56 AM
Nice start - I can almost feel the rain one me. For my taste the villages are a bit uniform - have you tried all the nice Gascooker buildings?

Thank you.  :) Yes, I have most of Gascooker's buildings already but I'm not using them in my plugins for this region yet. I agree, the villages could be perhaps too uniform, but I wanted to start off with the oldest buildings and work through the different eras so each area has more authenticity and is representative of its era. I also wanted these areas I'm starting with to have the most well-preserved historical districts as they grow into cities.

I don't have enough variety of Tudor buildings which is one of the main reasons it's very uniform-looking right now. However, over time some of the older buildings will be demolished to make way for the future while others will be preserved. So there shouldn't be quite so much repitition even within these existing areas as things start develop further.

Thanks for the feedback Bernhard!

Quote from: Nardo69 on August 30, 2009, 04:36:56 AM
I also would replace the church - it's a rather old BAT and there are quite some better alternatives by now, e.g.:

St. Barbara Church (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2034)

Bosham Church (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=17530)

and some more - just have a look at the LEX ;)

I do like that church personally so I will be keeping that one there. I also feel it well with the architecture that will be seen around that area of West Mersey at a later point. Thanks for the links though! I'd already downloaded Bosham Church recently as I downloaded most of mntoes's BATs. I've also downloaded St. Barbara Church now as that one will definitely fit in nicely somewhere. :)

Quote from: Nardo69 on August 30, 2009, 04:36:56 AM
I do love what you did with these small walls and the farms. BTW any chance to see a railway line?  :D

About your host: There are quite some free host for pictures available (and your pics do load slowly according to their size!) The classic one is Imageshack (http://www.imageshack.us), it does have some problems from time to time but also does work better than your host!

Quote from: jmyers2043 on August 30, 2009, 05:38:01 AM
There must be a lot of fog in Tendering  :D  Nice start. The stone walls must have taken a lot of time.

It is painstaking work laying out all of those walls, but definitely worth it! Thanks guys.

Railway? There isn't any yet.  ;) I'm hoping I can fit it in later as realistically as possible without too much headache. There is the potential for problems as I haven't considered where it's EXACT routes will likely be while I've been developing so far, which could make it hard to fit in without messing up any existing work. That is one of the challenges I will face though. What I am looking forward to developing Victorian areas because this is when many new train lines will be added and towns will grow significantly. I will also be making some entire new villages and towns pop up due to the coming of the railways, where it provides a commuter and freight belt.

Regarding my host: I've edited the previous updates and changed the links to Flickr where I'm now hosting the pictures as was suggested on another forum. Thankfully I only had three updates to edit. The only gripe I have is the unfriendly random URLs. I have to find out what they are from the Flickr account for each and every image, and copy and paste each time. I couldn't simply use Notepad or Word to "Replace" the first parts of the image URLs in the earlier updates, and I also can't change the last part of the URLs for each sucessive new image posted in future updates as I usually do with my own file naming system...

And now - time for the next update!  $%Grinno$%

You created a perfect atmosphere in this update!!! Great work!!!  &apls &apls

 &apls  Fantastic.  I really like your waterfront, that came together very well.  :thumbsup:

Very cute and quaint. I like it a lot! Reminds me of model villages...like Port Sunlight and Bournville. Great job!

Nice job on that waterfront!  Looks great!

Really awesome update!  :thumbsup: I'd love to take a walk in castle park  ;)

-Stijn-

Truly superb attention to detail. A bit too perfectly bucolic for my taste--the Tudors didn't really care for straight lines--but I read you're planning to (re-) build over time, which is a great idea and I look forward to seeing what those industrious Victorian sims do to this idyll.

Just a quick response here:

Quote from: gottago on September 11, 2009, 12:57:05 AM
Truly superb attention to detail. A bit too perfectly bucolic for my taste--the Tudors didn't really care for straight lines--but I read you're planning to (re-) build over time, which is a great idea and I look forward to seeing what those industrious Victorian sims do to this idyll.

You're absolutely right there. I'd love to be able to re-create some of the best preserved Tudor areas I've ever seen in the UK with the irregular layouts and narrow streets. The problem is that I have no diagonal Tudor buildings at all which highly limits what I can do with them. Of course, I could have made the layout less rectangular, I suppose, but doing that in the past has often prevented me adding a lot of attention to the details which is something I'm really trying to "improve" further from all my previous regions/CJs. On that note, it is good to hear that you enjoyed the attention to detail as that is where I'm trying to work hardest so it is encouraging to have some feedback on that. :)

Quote from: djvandrake on September 10, 2009, 10:19:19 AM
&apls  Fantastic.  I really like your waterfront, that came together very well.  :thumbsup:

Quote from: Battlecat on September 10, 2009, 10:26:09 AM
Nice job on that waterfront!  Looks great!

Thank you both. Looking back at my previous attempts using WFKs in my previous region, I wasn't happy with the overall look and felt a lack of realism. I spent a lot of time on the waterfront here trying to get it 'just right'. I'm glad you both like it.

There is another WFK feature in West Mersey that I've created (yet to be shown) - and I spent quite a bit of time there too. I demolished and recreated West Mersey's waterfront from scratch aswell because the first attempt just didn't quite cut it...

Quote from: threeswept on September 10, 2009, 10:24:35 AM
Very cute and quaint. I like it a lot! Reminds me of model villages...like Port Sunlight and Bournville. Great job!

Wow, thanks a lot! At first I had misinterpreted your post as I thought you meant a miniature model village (which seemed a nice comparison)! After a quick wiki search tonight on Port Sunlight and Bournville I found out what you actually meant. :) And it's still a nice comparison.

Quote from: BarbarossaS on September 11, 2009, 12:27:46 AM
Really awesome update!  :thumbsup: I'd love to take a walk in castle park  ;)

Thanks Stijn. The park and castle will always remain a tranquil heritage site immersed within the town of Chesterfield as it grows over time.


Cheers for your comments everyone else! Update 5 is on its way...

What a lovely little village. Your pictures are amazing.

Very nicely done.  So realistic and a nice job on the effects.  &apls

How lovely! You've really done a great job on that waterfront. Your custom lotting is also terrific.

Please do share your method for Photoshopping rain into your images. I learned a method online, but it produces much heavier rain. I'd love to have the kind of light rain you use.

I like the picture of St. Helena's Church the best. It really pops. The stone wall at Ramparts Farm seems different than the others for some reason. That's a nice shot too.

Beautiful update again, I'd only like to see a clearer photo or two of your riverside areas. All around, superb. Bravo.

Quote from: tr0ub1es0me on September 13, 2009, 04:13:55 PM
Wow, thanks a lot! At first I had misinterpreted your post as I thought you meant a miniature model village (which seemed a nice comparison)! After a quick wiki search tonight on Port Sunlight and Bournville I found out what you actually meant. :) And it's still a nice comparison.

Oh, and I meant it in the best light possible. Model villages were meant to be a place you'd want to live (well, and as long as you worked for the Cadbury's or Lever Brothers or whomever). They were meant to be all encompassing for everyone. And, this is what I see here. Simply superb! And, the castle grounds...well, let's just say I'm booking my next trip to Tendring.  :thumbsup:

Very nice work :)

Quote from: woodb3kmaster on September 13, 2009, 09:39:16 PM
How lovely! You've really done a great job on that waterfront. Your custom lotting is also terrific.

Please do share your method for Photoshopping rain into your images. I learned a method online, but it produces much heavier rain. I'd love to have the kind of light rain you use.

Thank you! There isn't actually any custom lotting per se, and I've only ever really used the Lot Editor a couple of times for a few things since it was first ever released! There is a lot of combination usage of other people's Lots though to attempt at creating seamless effects in the parts of the layout.

For the rain: it is quite simple really. The rain effect needs to be added to a separate layer or image (it can work as a copy of the same image), and then this is overlayed on top of the original image and the opacity is adjusted to make the image with rain more transparent while the bottom image shows through more. This effectively makes the rain appear lighter and more realistic.

I think that Photoshop's own rain effect (without doing this) is far too white and visible to look realistic.

You can also make the overlay image as a plain colour (such as an image just filled completely black or a dark colour) with the rain effect added. When made opaque over the original image the difference would be that the colours would be darker due to the black overlay, which can give an additional effect of the overcast skies reducing the amount of light.

Quote from: jmyers2043 on September 14, 2009, 04:54:22 AM
I like the picture of St. Helena's Church the best. It really pops. The stone wall at Ramparts Farm seems different than the others for some reason. That's a nice shot too.

Thanks jmyers203!

The brown stone wall at Ramparts Farm is the same as those shown in the almost all the other images of the last update, except shown at a closer zoom. However, those brown stone walls used around most of Chesterfield are a different set to those that were used around West Mersey and a few other parts of Chesterfield. I think they are made by jeronij, and can provide a link if necessary.

Quote from: gottago on September 14, 2009, 05:03:30 AM
Beautiful update again, I'd only like to see a clearer photo or two of your riverside areas. All around, superb. Bravo.

Thank you. ;D When we return to Chesterfield in future I will include some clearer shots along the length of the developed riverside there.


And thank you very much everyone else for your nice comments.

Update 6 is now here!

It's impressive the realism of your cities!!! Awesome work!!!  &apls &apls &apls

 &apls  Another first rate update! Very well done.

Wonderful! I like taking time to look through the rain to see what you've done beneath. Really super - and, very detailed.  &apls

Great update  &apls
Looks like a nice place to live  :)
Love the way you take and edit your pictures - looks so real  :thumbsup:

Fabian

Sorry my CJ's been pretty inactive lately. I have been messing around with my plugins quite a bit, and also modifying some Lots using the iLive Reader to try and get certain buildings that have halted growth to start appearing once again. I've also been working long hours for the past month or so which has left me with not much free time for this. However, I've been able to spend some time on a couple of areas in the region, and also managed to prepare screenshots earlier today for the next (fairly un-elaborate) update.

Quote from: Tomas Neto on September 21, 2009, 09:59:08 AM
It's impressive the realism of your cities!!! Awesome work!!!  &apls &apls &apls

Quote from: threeswept on September 23, 2009, 08:20:39 AM
Wonderful! I like taking time to look through the rain to see what you've done beneath. Really super - and, very detailed.  &apls

Quote from: Fabian93 on September 23, 2009, 08:26:32 AM
Great update  &apls
Looks like a nice place to live  :)
Love the way you take and edit your pictures - looks so real  :thumbsup:

Fabian

Thank you Tomas, threeswept and Fabian! Good to hear your impressions. I'm not completely satisfied with the 'realism' and detail in some areas, but I must press on. Practice makes perfect!  ;D

Quote from: djvandrake on September 21, 2009, 10:24:11 AM
&apls  Another first rate update! Very well done.

Thanks deej! Glad you are continuing to enjoy this CJ.


Update following now...!

Yay! A new update for Tendering!!  &apls

Your shorelines and pier look great.  The water seems to have a touch of conflict around the pier base.

I really like Mortimer Farm too. :)

Fantastic update again!!!  :thumbsup:

Wonderful update--the stone walls and the openness of the village are very appealing.  &apls
I'd only remark on your water texture, which looks too turquoise for such a misty, northern climate.

A very pleasant town and nicely done.

I've missed a few excellent updates!  I really like the work you do with photo editing, and the last shot in today's update looks amazing. 

It's just splendid update.
The port of West Mersey is really nice, the third picture is beautiufl. :thumbsup:

I like that November atmosphere in all your pics (even though I amnot a big fan of photoshopping).

My favourite of the last two updates is Red Row.

Take care my friend!


Bernhard  :thumbsup:

A very lovely bunch of pictures. Nice work. ;)