Spa's Atlantic Retreat

[existenz]

Love the look of all your newest buildings. Am eagerly awaiting their release but in the mean time Merry Christmas and a great new year. 

[ky72x]

Everything rocks on the bats, but one thing that drives me batty is when different lots have different wealth levels and make the sidewalks randomly change from square to square.  Not sure if theres anything you would actually want to do about that b/c its kind of frivolous

thanks!

Yep, I hate that too, lol. 

[spa]

Wow busy place the last few days. Thanks for the comments eveyone. Just some replies for now.

Ky72x: Thanks. They'll be released sometime early in the New Year
Fledgeling: Thanks. Window glass has been a long difficult thing for me so I'm glad you like what I have come up with.
Jmyers: Thanks. The Five Fishermen is my favourite of the newest bunch too.
Simdad: I guess it can be kind of done now. I'm slowly building up the local set.
Tag: Thanks. The orange night colour was a bit of an accident. The windows are more opaque than transparent (40 opacity) so the wood floors have really bright lights on them which seems to end up orange.
SimShady: Yeah it's kind of annoying. It doesn't bother me too much though as the Maxis textures are kind of close. It's not something that I can deal with as I'm not much of a modder but I'm sure it would be possible to create a mod that forces all sidewalks to say medium wealth. The problem is that you would also have to make it so that the base textures on the building lots also switched. I don't know if that could be done without going in and adjusting things manually but it may be possible since I seem to recall someone made a mod that unified grass textures a while back. This won't be something I take up but I feel yours and Ky72's pain. It is also my own complaint at times.
Existenz: Thanks. Merry Christmas to you too.

So I'm leaving for the folks place for the next few days this afteroon. Since I'll be out in the country on holiday, I'll probably come back with some new bats. I don't know when I'll have a chance to showcase whatever I get started though because I'm also moving on Janurary 1st. It's going to be a busy week or two but I'll try and sneak back in between now and New Years. One idea I'm toying with right now though, inspired by Matt, is a set of 1x1 North American shops. Below are the three from the Kingsway in Toronto that I thought might work well.

I'll see what I can do with them. Happy holidays everyone.

[Sim Shady]

Merry Christmas!   

[spa]

Thanks Sim Shady.

So I'm back home again for a few days. It was a nice Christmas in the country. The busy pace will continue into the new year though as I'm moving on the 1st. In between, however, I did get a set of four commercial shops basically finished. They're based on the buildings I posted above on Bloor Street in Toronto (around Royal York Station in the Kingsway). Below are my four variations.

From top to bottom they are the the Bake Sale, Henry the 8th Ale House, My Thai Kitchen and Sempre Pizza and Pasta. My playing style has changed slightly and I have found myself with more 1x1 commercial spaces. Needless to say I'm getting pretty tired of Dieppesse diner and the other 2 or 3 Maxis Cs$$ and Cs$$$ that grow on 1x1s. These four shops will all appear on 1x1s. If there is demand, I could also make some 1x2s. Before any lot making though, I still have to figure out what kind of effort I'm going to put into lighting them. Anyway, that's what I was up to on my holiday

[baconrocky]

Could we expect to see some more well known brand stores? like Starbucks?!?!!?!?!? lol

[ky72x]

Wow, these buildings look really nice.  The signs are really detailed and clean.  I get pretty annoyed with those pesky Maxis 1x1 filler lots too... these will surely be a good remedy for that! 

I'd prefer them as 1x1 lots, but 1x2 lots could be useful as well.  But then of course with the 1x2 lots you'd have to put the fence in the back... some cars... maybe a tree. 

Keep up the great work! 

- Kyle

[simdad1957]

I'm really glad that you have decided to do some 1x1 commercial BAT's. This fills a definite niche in the game. Up until now, I have avoided creating 1x1 commercial lots just because of the poor selection of buildings available to grow. This will certainly open up more options in the game. Excellent work!

P.S. - I second the request for a 1x1 Starbucks storefront cafe. A great idea! We just got our second Starbuck's here in Moncton; Hmmm I think I'll stop by right now for a latte!

[magee_b]

I'm really glad that you have decided to do some 1x1 commercial BAT's. This fills a definite niche in the game. Up until now, I have avoided creating 1x1 commercial lots just because of the poor selection of buildings available to grow. This will certainly open up more options in the game. Excellent work!

P.S. - I second the request for a 1x1 Starbucks storefront cafe. A great idea! We just got our second Starbuck's here in Moncton; Hmmm I think I'll stop by right now for a latte!

Where is the newest one? Saint John is getting a standalone store out towards Home Depot....

[simdad1957]

Second one is a kiosk inside the Champlain Place mall, just across the parking lot from their existing Starbucks in the Chapter's bookstore - strange . I think they are also scouting out a third site downtown.

[magee_b]

yea... odd that they would have 2 so close together... starbucks seems to be on the move in atlantic canada. heck, even the library at UNB in fredericton serves a large selection of starbucks products.

[simdad1957]

The nicest Starbuck's I've been in is the standalone cafe in Halifax at the top of Clayton Park, adjacent to the Bayer's Lake Power Centre; excellent ambiance.

P.S. - Spa, I'm sorry we've hijacked your thread and turned it into the Starbuck's discussion page. I'll stop now.

[spa]

So I haven't really done any batting in the last couple of days so just a couple of replies for now.

Baconrocky: Thanks. I went back through my folder of pictures from the Kingsway and there is the possibility of a second set of small shops that are similar to these but none of them are brandnames. Starbucks doesn't cut it just yet, but there is one in an building that I might bat on Spring Garden Road in Halifax so maybe eventually.
Ky72x: Thanks. Maxis's 1x1s are fast becoming the bane of my sim city existence. As mentioned I can easily forsee a second set of 4 Kingsway shops to further add some diversity. There has been interest so I will be making 1x2s for these as well. I really, really like your idea of some cars, a fence and maybe a tree here and there for the back alleys. I wish I had thought of that earlier! Maybe add a bit of street garbage to make it more alleylike and I think it would be perfect
Simdad: Thanks. It seems to be a bit of a void so I'm seriously looking at creating another batch of 1x1s. No Starbucks planned just yet though.

On the Starbucks discussion (I don't mind a tangent in my thread now and then so need to apologise), they're definitely on the move here in Atlantic Canada. I remember when there weren't any at all. They first appeared a few years ago but were confined to Chapters stores. Now they're into full invasion take no prisoners mode. There is now a Starbucks in the Marriott Hotel on the Halifax waterfront and two on Spring Garden Road. No sign of one yet on Quinpool but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. When Starbucks arrived on Spring Garden, there was a lot of chatter as to what it would mean for the Second Cup next to the TD Bank. Second Cup though seems to have done fine. Instead Timothy's was the one that went under.

[ky72x]

Heh heh.  Well technically the various props in the back alley was your idea, because you use them all the time in your previous 1x2 lot releases! I thought it was obvious. But anyway, I think they would blend very well with your other 1x2's, so it would definitely be great to have them. 

- Kyle

[spa]

It was obvious, I was cracking the joke back to you Unfortunately the internet isn't always great for that type of humour! I will definitely make a set of 1x2s of these as well. I don't have anything to show yet, but I have lit and rendered Henry the 8th and My Thai Kitchen. I should have a picture of these in game sometime tomorrow since the girlfriend and I are now officially old and are staying in together with junky food and the TV.

[ky72x]

If you had used the tongue smiley, I would have gotten it immediately. But my sense of humor is pretty strange at times, so it's mostly my fault in this situation. 

Back to your work, I can't wait to see those two buildings in-game!  However, I'm going to be spending time with my Grandma for the New Year's holidays, and I'm leaving later today.  So I probably won't be able to see the update!  Oh well.

Have a Happy New Year, see you later.

- Kyle 

[spa]

Kyle: ahh I'll have to be more choosy with my emoticons Have a good new year!

So as promised the Kingsway Shops are now all lit, rendered and in game on 1x1s. Check them out below.

And at night

I still have to make the 1x2 lots but they won't be anything different from my usual 1x2s (fence, some parked cars, some trash, maybe a tree or two). You may (or may not) notice that I ended up tinkering a little bit with the Henry the 8th. I shrunk th exterior ducting slightly and I livened up the green plaster walls a bit more. It turns out that when next to each other in game, the slight variations in the roof textures stand out which was a nice surprise! Anyway, barring any major complaints these are done and will be ready sometime in Janurary.

[ky72x]

Well, it looks like I'm still here! 

Yeah, the green color on Henry the 8th looks a lot better.  Does the Sempre Pizza and Pasta building have nightlights on the front of the building?  It doesn't look like it.

I suppose these would be released altogether, huh?  It would seem like a hassle to have to package these separately. 

- Kyle

[TopCliff]

Those look amazing. Plenty of people have created great things for big CBDs and downtowns, but you're the one who's creating the stuff for midtowns and small cities like Anaheim and Fresno. I can't stand the wait for these. Keep up the good work. Later.

[spa]

Ky72x: Thanks. Don't worry these four are coming together as Kingsway Shop Pack 1. Whenever I get around to the next four they'll be shop pack 2
Topcliff: Thanks. I'm happy to help fill a little forgotten niche.

So today's update is more of a work in progress, the Lexington. Since I last showed it I added the ground floor. Check out the photos below.



So the way this is shaping up, I'm thinking of using the current 3x5 version with the below ground parking garage and making some small variations to make a 3x4 without the parking. One would fit the lot tight and the other would have more space on the back. Right now I'm a little at a loss as to what to do with the courtyard on the right side. I was planning on a utilty shed over the little nub that sticks out (it has to be there to hide the parking garage) under the assumption that the below ground parking garage would need some services. I'm not wedded to the idea though and the rest of the patio is up in the air... i.e. I'm open to suggestions! One option would be to get creative with the lods so that I can put props can in the centre. That would allow for a lot of variety and allow people to customize the courtyard if they want, but even if I do that I still have to decide how the building relates to the space. Right now all the detail stops at the 2nd floor and I'm not sure how to carry through to the courtyard. Suggestions are welcome. One note, please ignore the black blotches where the retaining walls meet. I'll be redoing the loft that created the problem piece Anyway, feedback/suggestions are welcome.