FrankU's Lottery - Space Center update

[carlfatal]

Heya Frank,
long time since i was active here but i always will find my way back to SC4. 

Looking through Your thread again i only can say i am impressed by Your lots. Wonderful in it´s "basic" look: this modern Raadhuis Hilversum. 

But if i look to Your cemetery, i only can say the same like vortext. A cemetery imho should look more consistant. And - mostly cemeteries grow the time they exist. So i would prefer some kind of puzzle to build them in a more realistic way. Normally they are huge lots, more like parks (at least here in Germany), if you don´t count smallest hamlets. This is not the way the game releases rewards but it would look more individual and would give players every chance to fit them into a special situation.
Then also it would make sense to build parts like a maintenance area or old/new areas with different borders and ground textures.

Nonetheless i only say this cause i really love Your lotting art.

Greetz, Carl

[FrankU]

Thanks, Wouter, I'll keep a place for you to stay when your game is over. 

And Carl, welcome back!

Thanks for your compliments, but in one respect I do not agree. I know cemeteries that have old abandoned parts that are surroundend by the newer parts. That is what I wanted to achieve here. You can also see that it is not filled yet.
I admit, though, that the lot has maybe a bit too much the look of two separate lots lying next to each other.
Of course I could make the first cemetery as an old one, the second as a newer one and the third as a large combination with a church... I am not sure myself here. As you know there are three cemetery reward lots in the game.
And then you suggest a modular cemetery. In itself a good idea, although done before (e.g. Pegasus). But in this case I say no: I am remaking the dull Maxis Rewards. When I have finished that set (or get bored by it) I can consider new projects. So I may put it on my to do list, but I can tell you that this list already contains ideas for at least another decade of lotting.... Or one year of lotting without RL issues asking for attention.

Frank

[noahclem]

Very nice looking cemetary reward replacement 

[vortext]

The thing with cemeteries, especially the old ones is they take up a huge amount of ground. Ingame it could easily consume half a small tile. Obviously, it would be rather inappropriate to make a reward lot that large.

In any case, the new version is an improvement for sure. The lay-out is sensible and the two tones of grass makes each part stand-out better. 

[Swordmaster]

Good lots Frank!


Cheers
Willy

[FrankU]

Hi Guys, thanks for the compliments.
I was not really happy with the sharp cut between old and new. So I changed the lot a bit. Now the old part is separated form the new by a large row of rhododentrons.

You like?



And



Greetings,
Frank

[metarvo]

Cemeteries don't often get as much attention as RCI buildings, but it's good to see that someone is working on this necessary part of any city.  The inclusion of details such as prime burial plots is a nice touch.  The transition is fine, too.  Good work, Frank.

[Flatron]

better, but cul-de-sacs on a graveyard? don't!
I mean it's your choice, but I'm not the greatest fan...

[FrankU]

better, but cul-de-sacs on a graveyard? don't!
I mean it's your choice, but I'm not the greatest fan...

Hi Flatron,

What do you mean by cul-de-sacs? No cars entry here. You mean that all paths, also pedestrian, should go round, so that people do not need to walk past each other? Do you fear for ghosts in the cul-de-sacs? Please explain....
There are no dragons here.... I checked myself!

[Flatron]

Yes, I meant that the pathes should be interconnected, because otherwise, burials can become a logistical problem as everybody wants to spill some holy water over the coffin and if you have to go back the same way as you went there, it might get a bit poky/cramped. (just personal experience from catholic funerals)

[FrankU]

Hmmm, yes. I see.
Well, I am not sure I will be able to make these. The space on the lot is quite small and I have just a very limited amount of textures.....
Shall I leave it in this lot, but try to make interconnections on the larger lots that will come?
Can you live with that?

[Flatron]

After all, it's your lot and I think you should decide. But I can live with it, nevertheless, that was just a suggestion. I didn't intend to sound demanding or rude

[FrankU]

After all, it's your lot and I think you should decide. But I can live with it, nevertheless, that was just a suggestion. I didn't intend to sound demanding or rude

No, no, I did not think you were demanding or rude. Don't misunderstand me. It's all OK if you have comments. I always try to use comments in improving my work. Thanks.

[gn_leugim]

they look wonderful!

[FrankU]

Getting old.....
But being revived today!

I finally finished the interior rearrangements in my house, put up the computer in a new location and was able to reconnect it to the internet.
So I maneged to find time to do some lotting this weekend. I more or less decided to finish te second cemetery and did some fooling around with the third.
The first one stays as it was. Flatrons remark did not lead to another set up. It would take too much space.

Have a look.

This is cemetery reward number 2. A bit larger, no remains of an old cemetery. Just an almost completely filled new one with pool for reflection.



The third one. Not yet finished and in some ways I am not yet happy with it, because the look is too different.
For this set of cemeteries I used TenDoornkaat's Embden church upload. It contains textures, props and a church. It would be spoiling of good material if I would not use the church itself I thought. So I added the church to the cemetery. The idea is nice?
But questions remain:
1. Is the lot too small now?
2. Should the church be within the walls of the cemetery or should it be adjacent to it?
3. Is it better to throw the church out and give it as a separate (non reward) ploppable addon to the set?

A problem is that the LOD of the church model is quite large, so I cannot put props near it, because the prop will look as if it is covered by the church model. So I even cannot put a fence touching the church wall. Therefore I made a little room between the church and the cemetery.

Take a look and please give me your opinions.

Here it goes


FrankU
(And do not fear: the Farm Fields are still on their way. And as I make backups, there will be no post saying "Sorry guys, all is lost...")

[catty]

They both look really good, I especially like the touch of colours on the graves of the first one, you can imagine people leaving flowers or balloons, etc ... it would be nice to see that on the second cemetery and maybe a couple of people here and there, as every-time I've visited the local cemetery it always seems very busy, but otherwise

[kelis]

Yes, you are right catty, the colours of the first one are really great !! I like so much your work in LE my friend, everything that you do with that program looks really Dutch, has that special touch. Keep up the good work !!

Groeten Frank 

[w_swietwoot]

I'm diggin' it too! Looks sober, which fits perfect.

Good work on avoiding the LOD problem, I didn't notice any obvious empty spots. And way better than the original lots with its transparent textures.

[FrankU]

Catty, Jonathan and Wouter,

Thanks for your feedback. The second one, actually Cemetery 3, was not finished by far, and Cemetery 2 indeed needed a final touch.

I was not happy with #3 though, so I changed it.
It is now a 7x9 lot and I incorporated the church within the walls.

Please comment. I added flowers and people as you can see.
Edit: Huh... you can't see the people. They are there for sure. Maybe it's nighttime on the lots? Sorry, but I didn't check.





Modding wise: the cemeteries now have exactly the same stats as the original Maxis ones, because I use a copy of their building exemplars. They are meant as replacements, remember? But I am considering to raise the values of #2 and #3, because they are so much larger. Do you think that is a good idea, or should I leave everything as is?

[APSMS]

I think that the relots look very good. Unfortunately I can't comment on their realism in details, because I'm only familiar with Californian cemeteries, which are usually on hills (which I know are difficult to find in the Netherlands) and are generally very sprawling (Forest Lawn is a good example).

But for dense European graveyards, FWIW I think they look very good.