Realistic Cities For Dummies

[metasmurf]

I'll make it 100

Really like the suburb layout, gave me some ideas. Looking forward to the next part. On that subject, I made a tutorial on designing rural areas myself, which can be found at: http://www.csgdesign.com.au/CSGf/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1579

[Unassigned]

Interesting thread. I like how the civics & utilities are augmented with parking spaces, fields and whatnot.

Since noone else has posted on this, I believe the station from post #90 is Amsterdam Central Station, this is the LEX link.

[blueeyesman]

Amsterdam Central Station, this is the LEX link.
[/quote]
yep that be the lot.....i was still trying to find it... anyways its a good station... been a little busy with my big region map with my 12-14 tile super city but will continue on the tutorial map when i find the patience... making a 1 tile road bridge in a 5 tiled double Avenue space is gonna be hard..... think you could make a mini tutorial on that....im a little stumped... my other idea was to use the RHW and HSR(mostly the GHSR version) mods and use that 5 tile bridge section for a highway/regional HSR crossing section.....thing is does anyone have links to a Ground level HSR tunnel mod? if i do the RHW/HSR style i'm gonna cancel the North/south highway on the west side and make the east side of the river avenue the Highway. oh just curious as to which level crossings did you mean smileymk? the ones near the main station or the ones near the large freight yard? as to the over-treed forrest. it is only temporary, with some mods i found recently i might be re doing the forrest scheme

[deadwoods]

Great thread.

Can I make a shameless plug? Where you've got the ped paths connecting streets in your new suburb in post #90, you could also use my NAM PMT Bike Paths. These require the NAM and reuse some of the dirt tracks towards the end of the Ped Mall Tile tab ring. Not only do they look similar to what you have, they also allow peds to walk across them so you encourage walking.

[j-dub]

Wow DW, those look great, up until now, I did not even know of these, because in zoned areas, you would see pavement instead of dirt.

[smileymk]

We're here!

As you can see, the SC4D community has answered my call for a big push to reach the 100-post milestone - and has been rightly rewarded with the promotion of this MD to the Best Sellers section.

I'd just like to say a huge thank-you to all those of you who have taken the time to read, appreciate and/or comment on this thread. You guys have kept me going throughout the past 4 or 5 months and I really appreciate this.

It's evident from the comments I've read that the majority of you are learning lots out of this MD and are finding it very useful for your own projects. This is fantastic, and long may it continue.

So, in short, cheers guys, and may we go marching on towards the Classics board!

To all those who have posted since Lesson 12, here are your responses:

yochananmichael: Thanks for your kind words. As for the 6-C, it's best to do it in stages, starting with the middle, then the outside, then the inside. I might provide some step-by-step screenshots if I get time.

dedgren: And it's my pleasure to share my techniques with you all. Congrats, by the way, on reaching 10K posts for 3RR. That really is an achievement.

metasmurf: Indeed, you are the one who finally got the MD to the line. Many thanks. Like I said, I'm afraid I can't offer any prizes, but surely seeing this thread in a higher echelon of SC4D is worth it, right?
And I've had a look at your tutorial, it looks good. The technique I'm going to show you in Lesson 13 is a bit different, but similar in basic principle. All I can say is I hope you like it.

Unassigned: Cheers. And thanks for providing the link.

blueeyesman: I'm a little perplexed about the '1-tile road bridge in a 5-tile double avenue' you mentioned. If you could point it out, or maybe post a screenshot, that would help a lot, especially to provide recommendations as to whether you should do that RHW/GHSR thing.
As for the level crossings, I meant all of them. Maybe you can get away with those in the freightyard because of the slow moving trains, but it would still be better to keep cars away from the trains.

deadwoods: Of course you can make a shameless plug. Thanks for the recommendation, and I have downloaded it with intent to make use of it.

j-dub: Neither did I, which makes the discovery all the better.

And that's all from me for now. Lesson 13 is making good progress.

Thanks once more for your continued support.

Chris

[Terring7]

Your advise for outskirts shopping precincts is very interesting. I'm going to build something similar, with underground parkings, lot of plazas and plenty of tram lines. This will be very useful for developing skyscrapers too.

Congrats for your M.D. becoming a Best Seller

[samboo18]

First off I would just like to thank you smileymk for creating this guide.  I was very pleased to see it updated as I think its an excellent starting point for people like me who understand the game but are trying to get to that higher level of realism.  This, the RHW Interchange Guide and countless hours of browsing the CJ's, Mayor Diaries and the City Building Concepts forum over at Simtropolis have been very helpful. 
As you are getting into suburbs I thought this concept might be of interest to you http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/topic/23329-fused-grid/page__hl__fused+grid.  Iv'e used it in one of my recent cities and was quite impressed with the results in terms of realism.  Although In my mind its more suited to a North American style of suburbs.  Its quite similar to what you have done here but might leave a bit more room for trees, parks, pedestrian paths etc.  Anyway cheers again for this great guide looking forward to future updates 

[smileymk]

Hey guys. Lesson 13 will appear in a moment.
But first,

Terring7: Good luck with that project, and thanks for the kind words about the MD's promotion.

samboo18: Yes, that concept was of interest. I did have a look at it, and although I had to defend my town whilst I was there (Milton Keynes was mentioned by others, with some interesting things said about it), it did provide a good insight into an alternative suburb design.
Thanks for providing the link.

And here is Lesson 13!

Lesson 13 - Outskirts

Outside of the town, we have a huge open area. And we have to fill it, because in real life, there are things in between towns besides grass.
In real life, farmland rules outside of town boundaries, so we need to reflect this by filling the open area with farmland.

Farmland is unusual in that zoning it is one of the first things you do, unlike everything else we've done recently where zoning came after building all of the infrastructure.

But you do need to do some things before zoning farmland.

The first task is to provide access to each plot. You want to use streets for this. Lay them out about 15 tiles or more apart, like so:


Then add SAM. In real life these roads don't have much of a surface, if any, and aren't really proper roads, so you need to reflect this by texturing your streets with one of these SAM textures:

- SAM-3 (PEG dirt road)
- SAM-4 (Gravel road)
- SAM-5 (Trolca dirt road)

I used a modified version of SAM-4, purely because I like the look of it:


Next you need to add boundaries between different farms. The best things to use are trees and/or hedges. For this I used the BSC Hedges. Place them so that you get farms that are reasonably sized (something like 10x15 average size), but vary the sizes and make them irregularly shaped - some rectangular farms are OK but they can't all be like that:


To the south of this area we have the town's outer ring road. We don't want farm buildings growing along this route. So we need to provide some sort of barrier - and trees are perfect for this.
You should build your hedges so that they leave a 1-tile gap from the avenue. Next to your avenue, on the rural side, place your favourite tree lot alongside the whole route:


This has the added advantage of creating a nice-looking and definitive boundary for your town.

Now it's time to zone. Use the low-density industrial zone tool for this. You need to fill in all of your farm areas. Hold the mouse down to help fill irregular areas, and hold Shift to prevent any extra streets from cropping up.

When done, the area should look something like this:


Now you have to wait for things to start developing. Once they do, the tasks you need to do depend on what kind of farms develop.

In any case, you need to add a farmhouse for the landowners to live in. Use the low-density residential tool and the CTRL key to create 2x2 plots that are one tile away from the farm building that has already developed:


We have already added trees alongside the avenue to the south. It's also a good idea to add them alongside main roads that run rurally, like the one that runs through the centre of our area here.
But it's also OK to have some farm buildings on the main road.

So, by all means, using the same tree lot as with the avenue, build trees alongside the main road, on both sides, but do NOT demolish ANY buildings that get in the way. Leave them as they are:


You now need to add detail, depending on which lots you get.

There is one lot that has no place in our outskirts whatsoever, and that is this lot here:


Buildings like this belong in freightyards. Not here. The size is simply too big to be realistic, and the texture is also unrealistic, as well as being hideously ugly.

If you see this appear anywhere in your rural areas, whip out that bulldozer and take it out without haste.

When you see ploughed areas of farmland, like this:


You don't need to add any detail. These will become crops later on.

With crop fields like this:


Or like this:


All you need is a building to process the crops for market. And as you can see, the computer has already provided them for us here.

With plain textures, like those in the picture showing how to zone farm houses, you need to add the most detail. These are typically livestock farms.
Fences are a must here, to provide enclosures for the different types of livestock. As I found some cow lots in my list, I decided to add these too, but you don't have to:


Make sure you don't block any developed farm tiles with fences. Planning it out is a good idea here.

Continue until you finish off the rural area. And that is that for outskirts.

There isn't much left to do in this project. The next lesson will focus on completing the city, with ideas on how you can vary certain things to add extra interest.

See you then,
Chris

[yochananmichael]

Great job Chris. I did see your comment over at ST and it was a good one. I have seen a fused grid here in the States before and indeed the walking paths make it easy to get from the residential areas to the shopping and business areas along the main roads/avenues. The farms are great and the tips are sound. I look forward to Lesson 14 and on to the next project!

[Tomas Neto]

Very nice work!!! Fantastic rural area!!!   

[Terring7]

I always tried to build efficient and still nice looking farms, but no success. This lesson is very interesting and I think I'll try it in my Martian farms in my M.D.

[yochananmichael]

Cheri o Chris on your nation and the world witnessing the marriage of your Prince William and the new Princess Kate. I in the United States applaud and congratulate you and all your fellow countrymen and women on such a momentous occasion. Great Britain should stand tall and proud in the knowledge that your nation is is such good future hands.

BTW the farms are great and I look forward to when the last part of this project is out.

John

[smileymk]

Hey guys. Lesson 14 is now ready, thanks for your patience.

Also,

yochananmichael:
(1) Thanks for the kind words. The fused grid with walking paths is a good idea - I might even adopt it for the 3rd project.
(2) I hope you guys in the US enjoyed the occasion. From the news reports I saw, as well as the interviews on the BBC with the Americans who came to London, you guys certainly were enjoying yourselves. I myself was proudly sitting at home, watching as the two did that now-famous balcony kiss, and feeling even more proud to be British than normal (this coming from a true British patriot!)

BTW, the words "Princess Diana" are not to be used here, however much you may want to make the comparison.

Tomas Neto: Thanks.

Terring7: I'll have a look at your MD when I get a chance and see how well you're implementing my ideas.

And now it's time for Lesson 14. It's a short one, but let's hope you like it anyway.

Lesson 14 - Completing the City

First of all, I should say that the city is not actually complete. I don't mean to use the title like that. Even without a lazy PC, there's no way that a large city tile is going to be fully filled and an update done within the 45-day limit.

What I will show you is what completed areas should look like, and some ideas that you can use to vary your estates.

Firstly, this is an idea of what a finished suburb should look like, apart from some finishing touches and detailing:


If hills prevent construction, like on the west edge of the suburb here, it's probably best to leave them untouched rather than leaving yourself a real mess.

And this is how a rural area should look. It is supposed to be representative of an area, it is not an area itself:


So, basically, that sort of layout should be seen across the entire rural area.

Now, with regards to doing the rest. You make the estates using the techniques we learnt in previous lessons. But there is one vital rule to follow:
Don't make 2 estates the same. EVER!!!

Each estate should have a character of its own, and that means a different street layout, different placement of amenities, different everything. So you need to vary your estates in some way. Ideas include:

- Using trees at the edges of town to create a 'gateway' in, instead of just going straight into development, like so:


- Filling gaps at junctions with shops and having grass behind them - there's no point in putting a whole estate into a space like this:


- Where street bridges are used (we built an old historic bridge in the CBD lesson), make the street leading to it a main route through the relevant estate:


- And finally, having streets directly alongside avenues, leaving the avenue for through traffic (you see this a lot in the UK):


And that's it. Just some ways to vary your estates so that you can fill your city tile realistically and aesthetically (because variety makes things look better).

We're almost done with the 1st project. The next lesson is on detailing and forms the penultimate lesson in this project.

Until then,
Chris

[yochananmichael]

  fantastic as ever Chris keep up the good work!

[Unassigned]

  Interesting CJ, keep going. I have your ideas here in mind when I build.

[j-dub]

And finally, having streets directly alongside avenues, leaving the avenue for through traffic (you see this a lot in the UK

Some time ago, that did seem like it used to be a common trait here in the states back then, if there was enough space, they used to build the side street right next to the avenue as well. However, more often, the Frontage Road seems less popular by the communities that have them in my RL. They like to shut them down, despite being in developed areas that lack higher speed routes for a distance.

Unfortunately, during the 90's, there is not as much room, and I have had to see houses get either torn down, or a big piece of their front yard taken, and landscape destroyed, in order to clear the way for an avenue.

People are lucky when they don't get the road they reside on, turned into a high capacity pass. Actually, to be more precise, its happening in my RL right now this construction season, widening roads very close in front of people's houses. It seriously is quite an ugly, muddy mess. When you live or build whatever on a road that goes some distance, you must never assume traffic will stay the same way for over a decade.

[smileymk]

Hey guys. Let's just jump straight into it, shall we?

yochananmichael: Thanks for the kind words. I will.

Unassigned: I'll keep going alright. That people are using my ideas in their own work makes me happy.

j-dub: Interesting observation about the problems of avenue-street combos. Maybe you should point the people who are smashing up houses in the direction of Lesson 1? It might help them to help your community.

And now, Lesson 15.

Lesson 15 - Detailing

"Small details like wheelie bins are crucial."

(East Neuk Model Railway Club, Railway Modeller August 2008)

Let me give you a bit of background info. about that quote. These guys are the creators of Law Junction, a UK N-scale model railway that, at the time, was one of the more well-known layouts on the UK exhibition circuit. This is a layout featuring over 20 ft. of accurate, true-to-real-life main line running, a procession of a variety of fast moving trains, and a true impression of modern-day Scotland.
And here is this guy talking about how important wheelie bins are - a tiny detail which would only be a few millimetres tall and only a couple of millimetres square at the base.

But he is absolutely right. It is the tiny details like these that turn average model railways, and SC4 cities, into great ones.

So, how do we detail a city? Let's start with the transport network, and one of the motorway junctions:


You can see I've added some signs - mrtnrln's UK Motorway / Prime Road Signs to be exact. Road signs are something that you see every day in the real world, yet in SC4, they're often nowhere to be seen. Therefore placing them makes for an essential and great way of detailing the city.

It is important that, when you place signs, you place them correctly, and you place all of the signs that you need to place (as far as possible, according to what signs you can find). Different countries do things differently, so getting that accuracy means getting out there and seeing how things are done for yourself.

For example, this is how an approach to a junction in the UK should be signed:


I will also show you the fork. Notice the gantry - you want to be using these on major junctions AND on motorways wider than 3 lanes (at least in the UK):


You often see advertising billboards alongside motorways and main roads, so plop these down as well:


There is still something vitally important missing from our motorway. Traffic!

Unfortunately, SC4 only creates traffic where there is traffic according to the query tool. Our motorway is not part of the commute from the suburbs of our town to the centre, so the game leaves our motorway empty.
But motorways are not empty. Ever. This motorway should be busy with through traffic.

That's where traffic generators come in. You should be able to find some on the STEX - pick your favourite. I used the Euro Traffic Generator.

Place these lots at regular intervals (10-20 tiles, depending on the lot) to create a constant stream of traffic on both your motorways and main roads. The volume you use depends on the road - heavy for motorways, less so for surface roads:


So that's the roads done. What about the railways?

Under UK law, all railway land must be fenced off, to prevent trespassing. So a good way to detail railways is to give them boundary fences, like so:


Again, what you use is up to you. Really for a UK railway there should be palisade fencing, but I don't know of any suitable lots, so for now I've made do with the RMIP Airport Fences. They do work well as ordinary fences too.

Rural areas provide plenty of detail opportunities - for example, you can put some wild animals in the fields - these are just the God mode ones but what works for you is also fine:


You can also add rural power lines or telephone wires alongside main roads. I'm making use of the 3RR Telephone Poles (6th item down once the page loads):


What about rivers? These just cry out to be detailed with all sorts of things such as rocks, moss, plants, you name it. You could (and should) go to town with deatiling rivers - I've just added some rocks and moss using the PEG Pond sets:


To finish the lesson, we'll detail the suburbs next. Each and every house should have fencing surrounding the sides and back of the property. For those that don't, you can place a boundary using trees or a suitable solid ploppable fence that you know of (if you do then a link would be appreciated!). Placing trees at the back of all properties that have open space behind them is a nice touch too:


And finally, let's throw in some cameos for good measure. It's possible to have all sorts of cameos - but the more mundane and everyday they are, the more realistic your scene will be. Things like the 4 men on a zebra crossing have been done, so come up with something original. I put some cyclists on the suburb's pathways (the set is called PAMU Bikes, it's on the STEX):


And to conclude this lesson, let me say that you can never detail your city too much. What I've given you today is just a handful of ideas on some things you can do. The complete list of detailing projects is endless - the more ideas you can come up with, the better.

And above all, enjoy doing the detailing. It's actually quite fun, and whilst it may not be the same as concocting crazy motorway junctions, it will still give you a lot of satisfaction, and will transform the overall appearance of your city, so it's well worth the effort.

Next time we will add the finishing touches to the city, and conclude the first project.

Until then,
Chris

[Exla357]

Looks fantastic, Chris! #Goes to download some sign packs#

-Alex

[Reikhardt]

You're right, the road signs really do make your road networks come alive.
I'm not great with road transport layouts myself, so I find this incredibly informative. Many thanks