VeTram's L.E Project with your Help!

[VeTram]

ok , ok  here comes the lighthouse ....what do you think?..pls feel free to express what you think , and write your own opinion. Also dont forget to correct me whenever i do something wrong.. This is a ploppable landmark lot , which i made transit enabled for cars and pedestrians in SC4Tool..write me also, if i must take the pictures in other way..
I know this is not the original Maxis Lighthouse reward,  but didn't i wrote that nothing is sure in this project?, ...Badsim is always inspires me...

 

[sam]

That looks pretty nice so far.

Just check that all the fences line up with each other properly though.

If its a tourist attraction and you want the appearance of people walking on the lot, you could try adding one or more of the random walk props.

Congratulations on the transit enabling.

[FrankU]

VETram,
I like the lighthouse very much.
The base texture is great, the parking spaces and street are great too.

I just think that you should make the lot as empty as possible. Especially if you want to put it at the end of a pier, I am afraid that fences and lightpoles would be blown off in a real storm.
I live near the North sea, not even one of the worst on Earth, but as far as I know the lighthouses are standing on just the flat ground.
Perhaps my comment sounds negative, because I just said, hopefully in a polite way, to throw almost everything off your lot, but what will remain: the lighthouse itself, the base texture, the street and the parkinglots would remain as a fantastic lot. 

[Badsim]

Hi Antoni .

Looking generally good ! 

Like sam , I think you should work again on the fences ... After have looked attentively to the fences you're using , it seems that these props are a little too short to adjust them perfectly side by side and to place them all at the edge of the pier at the same time .So my suggestion is to keep these props for the open rolling gate ( they are excellent there ) and to use the one from the solar plant ( named ; Up48x48_SolarPlant_Prop_29a4 ) , which is just one tile long , for the rest . Furthermore , the warning boards everywhere are repetitive and unuseful ... if  you decide to follow this suggestion , take this occasion to move a little your streetlights at the interior .

The ornate wall at the feet of the lighthouse doesn't fit , but that's mostly a question of taste ...

If you want to add Sims , use these props ; Amill4x4x4_small and/or Amill4x7x4_small-medium ... there is also interesting props from Simgoober : fishermen ,




They are timed props ... Right now I don't remember from which pack they are coming from but , if you're interested I can make a search .

FrankU , your point of view is perfectly valuable but living (like VeTram) along the mediterranean see , the storm aren't so terrible here and there's fences and streelights on every pier ... like many other things , what would be an aberration here is ordinary there .

Cedric .

[VeTram]

Hi to all friends  ...here i am once again ..  
Thank you so much sam , FrankU , and Badsim , really where are you Jeff?..
Here , although we are already in the middle of September , it is always making too hot ( around 24 min - 35 max! ) , and it is not so easy to stand infront of a monitor of the pc ...also recently some serious health problems appeared with my father's health , and this is the main reason that i didn't manage to reply earlier..
Finally , dont forget , that nothing is ready in my project , and whanever i update , it is always a recently work ..so , i need some days to prepare it and update here..this is what i have done this time also , as you will see below .. .....most of all i am trying not to stress myself , but sometimes it isn't so easy...

sam , wrote

If its a tourist attraction and you want the appearance of people walking on the lot, you could try adding one or more of the random walk props.

No , my friend it is not a tourist attraction but i do want the appearance of walking people around , but what exactly do you mean?  Do you mean , what Badsim also proposed to use Amill4x4x4_small and/or Amill4x7x4_small-medium , when you mean people walking?  and which are the random walk props? ..pls write me what do you mean.  I am glad you liked my lighthouse , and i am always waiting for your support generally.

FrankU , thanks first of all for your participation.  I have really taken very seriously your proposals , as you will see below , there are some serious changes , that i have made to the lighthouse and the pier generally. Of course it is true ,as Badsim wrote, that  the storm aren't so terrible here , but although i made something different in the pier ...which is something that i mostly have seen in the piers of Greek islands. I have also changed to a little more brighter the lighthouse's texture..i hope you still like it. Feel free always to express your opinion , and proposal which are very important to me..

and finally Badsim.. i hope you have received my p.m  Thanks so much ,indeed for your participation and support , once again..

As you will notice , in the picture below , i have changed almost everything.. ...i have changed the fence and i used the fence you suggested. so no more repetitive warning boards..also streetlighths were moved into the interior, the ornate wall doesn't exist any more , people props were used ( the ones you suggested)....and i DO want those fishermen people props ( i looked around also , but didn't find them)
In the pictures below , you will not only see the new appearance of the lighthouse , but you will see the whole pier with the lighthouse..  ... I need your opinion , and please always feel free to suggest anything you have in mind.

There is something i would like to ask , out of this project but very important one..Is there any way to copy my original Maxis RU disc , and use it instead of it , because i many times have wondered what will happen if my original disc destroy one day , especially when i move it very frequently from my pc to laptop.. what you do about that?

so , here we are... ....Of course take notice that ships are missing. I have already ready them , but i wanted to see the pier without ships standing alone..Dont ask me , if there is any functional lot , because it is NOT .. Do you like the slope part of the pier in the one side? I have seen it many times in Greek islands ports. I was looking for the right and necessary stairs for days , but i didn't find anything better to suit.  I dont like so much the fence standing in the slope part of pier , but i couldn't find anything else to fit better either.
I hope to add those fishermen people props ( it is very familiar in Greek ports) . I dont like either the red sides of the street with the little grass i think , i dont know exactly where it comes from , but i will look and try to move it..What about the cars in the parking? I would like to see and some freight cars..what do you suggest? ..also i think i need some walkways for people ( i wonder if there is any texture or overlay texture) . It would be nice if there is any craffity for the walls! ( i dont know if they exist , i looked around but didnt find anything) There are benches , lighths , electrical boxes ,  etc ..is there something i have forgotten to add?...whenever i work , i will keep notes from now on , because there are several things into my mind that i forget later!... ( hehe , not so young)
Should you ask me if i am satisfied with the result?  No , is the answer ,but for the present i am afraid the result is the mirror of my abilities today..so nothing is sure that will remain the same till the end of my project. I think my motto will be  " nothing is sure" hehe 
Something that i have noticed , and need your advice. From one hand i want to avoid repetitions , and from the other hand i am trying to avoid too many small custom lots. So , i have noticed that if i make ( lets say a part of the pier over the slope terrain) and i want to avoid repetitions with people props , i can use a lot without people props, then go to L.E make a save to the same lot with people props this time , and use it in game...what i can see is that the old lot remains and i can use the new lot next to it. So i have only one lot , but this way i have two different lots in game...is that anything wrong with that?  just wondering... ....and by the way , is it preferable to use single big lots or small ones? this is a question i think need experience to answer to myself , perhaps you know the answer. I know , i know too many questions .. ...but i think i am in the right road ...just need some help to understand some things earlier , in order to avoid mistakes in the future. I have realised that most of the answers will come along during the progress of project , which means practise , practice and practise..this is my conclusion since now..
       

and a latest pic , i have transformed a little the part infront of the stairs , with the same texture of the lighthouse , some road-barriers and lampost , and finally the Greek flag.

[dsrwhat316]

If you want to add people props to your lots, the props mentioned will give you small groups of people. If you want just single people props, type in aper2x2x4 in the search box. You can choose a male, female, or child prop. This'll give you a bit more variety in your crowds.

~ Dan

[jmdude1]

hi antoni!
sorry its been so long! ive had computer issues but i think (and hope!) ive fixed them (so far) and here i am. ive noticed youre getting some very good help with your project and people have some great and smart ideas.
so...im here with my thoughts and comments.
i have a comment about the people walking props sam mentioned. the props you have used are people standing in groups. there are also props that have people which walk around.  im not sure the exact names of them, but i think 1 of them has the words 'state fair'. this prop has the people who are walking on the state fair lot in the game. you could also search in the L.E. with the words 'random' or 'walk', these might help you find these walking people.

uhm, about copying your maxis disk, i dont think its possible. i tried doing that for my brother but i couldnt get it to copy. but the game is so cheap now, he just bought a new game.

and to answer some more questions. in my opinion, i do like the raised side of the pier. i wonder if the ships still look ok next to it? what i mean is, i hope the slope pier isnt too high for the ships. but im sure it looks fine cause the ships are high out of the water. but maybe there arent going to be ships there because of the fence? or maybe a more basic fence could be used? i see youve already searched for other fences so im not sure what to say. i just search for 'fence' in the L.E. and try them all out. maybe download some more prop packs? hehe.

the red sidewalks along your street are from a street mod i believe. im not sure which one though. i think the red appears along high wealth lots. perhaps the parking lots are high wealth? so you can change the wealth of your lots to low weath, or no wealth if you want. im not 100% sure if this will work since im not sure which street mod is being used. (or if it is a street mod)

if you wanted, you could also reverse your parking lots so the cars are able to park away from the road. that way it would seem like the cars can just drive into the parking spaces and they wouldnt need an entrance to the parking lot. then you would be able to remove the empty stone lot near the stairs and end of the parking area. or are these stone lots for people to walk to the stairs? either way, they could be removed since they look out of place (i read that youre still looking for textures or overlays for this). people are able to walk around or between cars to the stairs and since its just a pier, not a park, i dont think you need the walkways. this is only my opinion of course. 

as for the freight cars in the parking lots, im not sure if there is such a thing for random props. you could place each freight car seperately but that would require many more lots for you to make if you want randomness.

there are grafitti props, just search for 'grafitti' in the L.E. but as far as i know, they are vertical, so they would only look good on straight walls, not slanted ones.

and lastly...about the randomness on lots. i know you can plop a lot, edit it, save it and plop the new lot, but i dont think its a good idea. and, it would take a lot of time to change your lot each time and exit/restart the game. im sure other people with have more knowledge on this subject than i do. i think what you have done, and your progress is great. but...remember its almost impossible to replicate something from real life to sc4 exactly. sometimes you need to work within sc4 limits or content and like you said, you will see this with practice. as for large or small lots, thats your choice too. i make big lots with buildings but i also have many filler lots to fill up empty spaces. i have 1x1 lots with parking on 1 side, parking on both sides and corner parking. i also have 1x1 empty lots. i have about 10 1x1 lots with only shipping containers on them, straight and diagonal pieces.    the thing that helps me with this is putting them all in 'my' menu....which is the power menu.    since nobody puts their lots/bats here i have lots of space for my stuff. and i also have my lots sorted in this menu so its easy to find everything. if you do this, you can have many lots, big and small and this can help you with adding more variety to your in game creations.

ok....i think im done!    my answers might be bigger than your questions. haha. sorry about that. youve done so much work so fast and you may already know about things which i have said, if so, i apologize. also, i know there are many people who may be able to correct me if im wrong or offer more accurate help (such as with the street mod or the random walking people) so please feel free to do so since these are just my friendly offerings of help and opinion.

i think your results look great! and as always, i will continue to watch for more updates. and be careful of that hot weather! hehe. its only 5 degrees here tonight, its getting colder. you can send some warm weather here if you want. 

[VeTram]

First of all , a big "Hi" to all friends , and i hope you are all very good in health and everything in your life..

I want to thanks a lot for once more , my friend jmdude1 ...Jeff , thanks so much my friend for all your support,  and of course friend
dsrwhat316 for his help.

Jeff , i read carefully whatever you wrote. I tried for the walking props , you mentioned and i did used them. THANKS , my friend
As you will see , in the continuation , i have changed many things , so many of your suggestions are already used in my custom lots. Your suggestions , gave me new ideas , and i finally decided to make things much more simple , and i hope much more realistic. I am always waiting , for your opinion , and please feel free and write whatever you may think.

  Unfortunately , there were no more responses , although there were many questions in my last post , and this was the main reason that i decided to wait for some time , before update again..ok ok i do not want to complain about anything, i just only repeat how important your help is always for me , and as i see many views in the thread , please dont hesitate to write   , your opinion. It is always a great help for me..

As i always do not want to get you tired , i will go on post some images from my latest update , and i will return very soon to mention more .. I hope you like them.. Badsim , i am always waiting for you!..

[FrankU]

Hey, this looks really good!
Although I liked your dam with the higher part very much. Nice combination of ships. I see a lot of PEG, but also some small ships that I think are the cargo ships uploaded by Jestarr. But how did you get rid of the base texture?

http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=15643

[dsrwhat316]

But how did you get rid of the base texture?

Jeronij has actually made a tutorial for exactly that purpose. Check it out by clicking here.

You're doing a great job, VeTram! I'm not sure if you know how to do this, but if you want to add more than one overlay texture, hold the "D" button as you are placing the texture. Just thought I'd give a friendly piece of advise.

The lighthouse jetty looks good; perhaps some benches and a few other small props could liven up the place a bit. Take care!

~ Dan

[jmdude1]

hi antoni,
things are really looking good here. i like the 2nd last pic with pegs crane and barge combo, it looks good with your lot. i also like your use of the construction lot too.  have you been working on any other areas of your port? 

[VeTram]

Hi , to all friends

-I am ready to update my project , exactly one month after my last update..I will try NOT to get you tired , by writting about the difficulties that i have faced , etc etc ...so i will move immediately to let the images speak for me , and may be i will add some few comments, just only for help.....I really hope you like them , and as always please feel free to express your opinion and whatever else's you may think ...

...well , here we go... i had left my project into Lighthouse Pier , which is just a part of a big Bulk Seaport ... ..as you can see there are a very few changes in this, mostly in texture...notice that the ships just waiting stand-by..


and in a closer view..as you can see i finally tried to leave it as simple as i could ....i was looking for fishermen props fishing in the dock , but since now i did not manage to find them...



lets move further inland to the Bulk Seaport..



here is another smaller pier ..and the beginning of the main dock for the Bulk Seaport , as seen in right..and of course a closer look right away..





we are now at the begining of the Bulk Seaport Dock , and as you can see there are a lot of trucks , rail-lines with vagons full of cargo , every possible way of tranporting...



a closer view from the sea..i ought to mention that most of the props are from Peg's wonderful work...



the inner corner of the dock , and the Bulk Seaport still continues....



here you can see a far away look of the continuation after the corner , as seen from the view of the sea...notice that the dock with the ship in the middle of the dock body , is a Functional Bulk Seaport made from Pegasus , with a little transforming...



a closer look at the Functional Bulk Seaport ...



now you may guess ,that the seaport finishes somewhere here....but the truth is NO!...NOT yet. ...

Let's move back to the front of where we start , and that was the lighthouse pier , remember?..
let's see what else is around...



Hmmm...a construction site plus a Seaport Police station made by Jeronij .. , and it seems that the seaport has another side....
...the fire station comes from Peg again..




as you can see , most of the seaport is standing on a big Pier.....so it has two sides..



here is the right side of the port , where you can see there is plenty of dock-room for at least 3 big Bulk Ships..



in the centre of the port , there are several Logistics Lots made by Cogeo , which i think are ideal for a busy port like mine.. the first one nearest the Police station is a functional freight rail-station ..you can see the train passing..



the end of the right side of the big pier , no worry about fire as there is another fire station waiting...the empty place near the station , is under construction and open for suggestions...



a more general look of the big pier , as seen from east and west ..





the whole Bulk Seaport from higher....as you can see there is plenty of room in the city... 



and finally my favourite.....IkoNio by night!...







That's it!...this is an honest , hard work of a month full of SC4Devotion...ok ok with some rest sometimes... if i had questions? yes! too many, but i tried to move on and find the answers through the experience of work...i promise NOT to do so , again...
in fact there are some questions left , but for my next post, not now..

special thanks to jmdude1 ( thanks jeff) , dsrwhat316 , FrankU , for their support..

[papab2000]

Very nice 

[jmdude1]

nice work antoni, glad to see youre still at it.  youve been busy with your LE, i like the addition of the rail as it adds to the realism of the port.

[TheTeaCat]

Excellent stuff 

Just a query - How do they unload the ships?
You need some cranes in there to help.

Other than that it looks real good


TTC

[VeTram]

Thanks so much for replies since now, thanks always jeff my friend , thanks papab2000

thanks so much TheTeaCat , for your support and nice words. I want to answer to your query , that those ships made by Peg , are specially designed to have cranes on them , as seen in the following pic. I had also noticed so , since i saw carefully those ships..



...of course there are and some ships that they don't have cranes , but for those ships i have put those bubbas-bulk-barges ..made by Peg again

[FrankU]

VE Tram, this is really a work fo very nice quality.
The whole thing is thought through very much. I like everything in it!
Maybe one small point of criticizm: you used Jeronij's diagonal seawalls. You did the parking textures and the trees away, but you left the orthogonal fences. That's a pity. I think these fences are not good here. I guess the port can do without them.
And further: very good, Cogeo's lots are also very appropriate. I hadn't thought about this. Tonight I will try to work with them too, if it's OK.

[VeTram]

No! my friend FrankU there are no orthogonal fences left in jeronij's diagonal seawalls. I don't know where you noticed them , but i suspect you may mean those yellow-black lines like the ones i have focused in the following pic.  These lines belongs to the texture itself and if i moved them , i had to move and the texture also.. But as you see , there are just lines and NO fences!



I want to thank you , for your support , and you must know that i really desire every criticism. Thanks again for your attention.

[FrankU]

VeTram, the picture in your last post shows exactly what I mean.
I know the yellow lines are in the texture. They are ok. I was talking about the low fences that make up the zig-zag pattern in the picture: the fences between the parked cars and the lampposts. I think you can better do without them. In my opinion harbours and ports don't use fences to keep people off the water line.

But anyway: this is a very tiny, minor criticism... You expected more from me than just a lot of "awesome" and "fantastic", I guessed. So I searched for something to say.

[VeTram]

oh! ok my friend FrankU ,  now i understand what you talking about.  Thanks once again for your support and interesting
as for your opinion about those fences , i put them because of safety reasons ,as sometimes we hear about accidents with cars fallen into the water.....
for sure there aren't such fences in ports , and then i will follow your advice. Thanks once again