Farms North of Grasmere () My SC4 MD Scrapbook

[Vizoria]

Replies:

000: Thanks again for your kind comment!

kbienu7: Yep, definite level up, I realised that NBVC paving stone MMPs could fit into tight nooks and crannies. As for your lag question, no I don't see much lag. It does take time for the pop-up though.

romualdillo: Cheers!

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Entry 61: Five Pines

Lots and lots of Communist housing and notorious housing projects. Links before anyone starts asking for the tower blocks:
SFBT Moscow Housing Blocks- http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3302
SFBT PreFab Filler Lots- http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3301
SFBT Otradnoye Blocks- http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2562
SFBT Chertanovo Prospekt- http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2560
SFBT Block 44- http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2543
SFBT Khrushchyovkaa- http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2739

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This Thursday the entry will concern Downtown in Erinsberg. See you then.

[Alan_Waters]

Delicious! 
I have a feeling that I got out of the house, took pictures of the surrounding area, and you have posted pictures (I live on the outskirts of Moscow). 

[Themistokles]

So this is what turns out when a SC4 master turns sadistic time his Sims? No, I'm just kidding, it looks horribly good

PS. I don't think the poor Sims on pic 31 will get much sleep though... 

[vinlabsc3k]

Great dormitory suburbs!!


Only a flaw: At night the parking lots are too bright (pics 5,31) and the streetlights too (pics 13,24).

[korver]

Excellent work as always. I also got a chance to catch up with some of your previous updates - your MMP work lately has been most impressive

[kbieniu7]

Looks massive! Ang huge! Great layout of the blocks, looks like a one, planned quarter. Those shops and makets with huge parking lots fills the area perfectly. Maybe just... I think about a school somewhere here, that would be a good idea - communist planners didn't care much about the architecture of the blocks itsefl, but such things as basic public services were actually taken into consideration then

[Vizoria]

Replies:

Alan_Waters: A testament to the quality of the BATs, I must admit this was one of the easier areas of the city to complete due to the large lot sizes.

Themistokles: We are all demi-gods ruling over our Sims. As for pic 31, well the transportation department accidentally installed 5000-watt light bulbs because... reasons.

vinlabsc3k:  As for those night lights, the problem is too many light sources on one tile. It's a problem which plagues many CJs and MDs.

korver: Thank you very much!

kbieniu7: Though the area is very much communist in style, the public services are distributed in a very British fashion: all over the place. So it's like Russian flats meet British councils planning style's.

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Entry 62: Downtown part 1

Since the downtown is really split into east and west, I thought it appropriate to split it up into two entries to do some justice to the various details.

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At the top is east Downtown. While towards the bottom is west Downtown.


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East Downtown.


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Queen's Stile Station. The main railway station of Erinsberg.


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The diagonal strip which is the heart of Downtown.


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My first foray into diagonal skyscrapers.


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The older buildings are part of the former town Eaglescliffe, this became absorbed by the growing Erinsberg. In typical British fashion newer office blocks rise up while modern 20th century buildings usurped many of the older pre-20th buildings.


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This tiny city block is one of my favourites in Erinsberg, I like the European nature of the block.


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Eaglescliffe Studios. The main movie studio facility in Erinsberg.


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Pure W2W city blocks.


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Just download all of Jasoncw's and NoFunk's content on the STEX. That's what I did.


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Eaglescliffe station. Passenger platforms and the pedestrian overpass were hastily added many years ago when a severe fire tore through Queen's Stile Station. It only took three weeks to clear all the rubble and level the ruins around the tracks, thus enabling trains to safely pass through. But the restoration work took a couple of years and with the busiest train station in Erinsberg shut down, the Eaglescliffe station was a temporary substitute.


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NYBT and BarrySanders W2W FTW!


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I even snuck in some FAR fillers.


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This Sunday- Downtown part 2!

[Guest]

Impressive, some pictures were difficult to discern the orthogonal and diagonal buildings! A beautiful city, great!

[Vizoria]

Replies:

000: Thanks for your comment!

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Entry 63: Downtown part 2

This time with photoshopping goodiness! Let the Downtown tour commence.

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All photoshopping was achieved by using GIMP.


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The main change is lowering the brightness levels by 9% and increasing the contrast by 19%.

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At other times I do the classic horizontal flipping trick.


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Black and white pictures can make a nice change.


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All pictures have the same brightness and contrast settings, though a couple had the effect applied twice.


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Here the brightness/contrast setting was applied twice.


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The threshold colour change. One of my favourite photoshopping effects.


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The lower brightness and higher contrast can be a useful compromise between Maxis Night and Darknite.


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Threshold with a desaturated, dim turquoise colour.


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A mosaic, and not just any old mosaic.


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Inspired by Takingyouthere's CJ entry Encyclopedic Entry no.3 - The Blueprints (link- http://community.simtropolis.com/journals/entry/27454-encyclopedic-entry-no3-the-blueprints/). I decided to replicate his photoshopping approach.


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My method involves using an edge-detection filter, followed by auto-equalizing of colour and then desaturation of all colours. This is followed by either threshold or appliance of a general colour.

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This Wednesday- Sanariya Hills. Minus the photoshopping.

[Guest]

Beautiful!

[metarvo]

The photoshopping effects in the daytime pics really help to drive home the impression of a bright, sunny day.  I can almost feel the sun's rays when I look at pic #3.  Oh, to be in that park now!    This is not to diminish the night pics, though.  Pic #29 in particular showcases a group of buildings which are different and yet fit well together, all while looking nice lit up at night.  The larger lots which come with their own parking blend in nicely here due to the abundance of parking elsewhere.  Finally, I like that picture at the end.  It resembles a historic or concept sketch of the area; either way, it helps to place this city within a timeline.

Nice work!

[Gugu3]

Very nice city you have there!

[Vizoria]

Replies:

000: Thank you very much!

metarvo: Higher contrast does make the pictures look better, however I also found lower saturation levels can improve the realistic feel to. Thanks for the comment.

Gugu3: Cheers!

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Entry 64: Sanariya Hills

This is the wealthiest residential area in Erinsberg. Another feature in this entry is more experimentation with photoshopping. So enjoy!

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Clouds have intrigued me whenever I saw them in SC4 CJs/MDs, so I decided to give them a go with an airbrush tool on GIMP and different painting options.


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The area without the clouds. Let me know what you think about the clouds because I do have other ideas to implement as well.


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Sanariya Hills Hotel.


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I've been working on creating darker nights by decreasing saturation and lightness levels whilst increasing contrast in the picture.


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Higher saturation can give the illusion of sunset/sunrise.


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Another picture with the threshold effect.


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I created darker nights in these pictures because that is a truer reflection of what is seen on a clear sky at night.


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A reasonably thick layer of fog lays over the area.


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Sanariya Park.


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Smack bang in the middle of the wealthiest suburb in Erinsberg.


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Lower saturation can improve areas with a lot of trees, whereas higher contrast makes it a bit too bright.


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This part of Erinsberg is kind of like the Beverly Hills equivalent of LA.


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On GIMP there is a render option for fog. I used this to create clouds. I personally prefer the airbrush method though.


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I use GIMP to turn a picture of typical Maxis Night and convert into a replica of a Dark Nite picture.


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Clouds created with the airbrush method.


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More dense fog.


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Since I've only got about another fifteen or so entries remaining, I may as well spend a bit more time exploring GIMP to add further variety to the pictures. I will definitely be working some more on my cloud creating techniques.

[Guest]

Same thing Simtropolis: good work!

[Themistokles]

I think I have missed a couple of the latest updates and going back through them I must say I'm not disappointed... you're the undisputed master of weaving interesting, seamless and varying cityscapes using heaps and heaps of high quality CC! 

As regards clouds, the little experience I have is working with steam train steam in my last update. That one i did in paint.NET by making an (elliptical in my case) semi-translucent white shape and then go into Effects>Distort>Bulge, adjust it to a suitably irregular, cloudy shape and then use Effects>Blur>Gaussian blur to soften them up. In my case I did this in multiple layers to make the steam look like it was left behind the locomotive. I think this could also be done in Gimp, although I know much less about how that would be achieved. Anyway, maybe that could be some input for your experiments, too

[metarvo]

Nice job on the suburbs.    Features such as wooded areas make things pleasant.

[dyoungyn]

Vizoria,

Fabulous work.  May I kindly ask where you got the following amazing store from?  I absolutely love the lot.  I do understand that along the street is a collection of other lots.  It is only the big store lot I am looking for.

[Vizoria]

Replies:

000: Thank you!

Themistokles: Thanks for your advice on photoshopping clouds. Right now I am getting good results by painting in white clumps for where the sun illuminates the cloud and grey clumps for the shadows. I use an airbrush to balance out the colours and nuance the textures. Lastly I use an airbrush overlay to create shadows by selecting the "darken only" option. Look at picture 30 of this entry to see what I mean. Thanks!

metarvo: A suburb can never have enough trees.

dyoungyn: That lot is big and I believe it is this link here- https://www.toutsimcities.com/downloads/view/1581.

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Entry 65: Cromney

Today you are in for a treat: FA industry and some more cloud scenery.

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Simmer2's railside slidings- http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3332.


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The VW Automobile Factory, only the largest industrial BAT ever! http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2578


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One thing about industrial areas is that there are often wide grassy areas between buildings and site complexes.


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High traffic volumes and still days means lots of smog.


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And now the good stuff!


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Scour the LEX for C.P.'s FA industry.


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Here is one link for the biggest FA factory- http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3298.


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FrankU's warehouse pack, a must have for industrial area fillers- http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/22968-modular-warehouse-pack/.


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This is my third picture were I painted in clouds. Man's got to experiment.

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The next stop of this tour is the city centre. I have an even bolder idea for a cloud picture- a cloud inversion. Just wait and see!

[dyoungyn]

Thank you, you lead to the right place.  You industrial is wonderful.

[manga rivotra]

Very interesting work with big industrials lots ! That is something difficult to succeed and you manage perfectly ! 
I like also the effect of mirrored and desaturated pics, specially  on the pics 4,9 on the previous update and on pic 21 on this update.