The Iron Coast 04/04/2010 Update XV - Censing the Journalist III

[Tomas Neto]

Really a marvelous tutorial!!! Fantastic as you create a place that looks to be so real!!! Awesome!!! 

[Battlecat]

That's a very interesting approach to your detailing!  I really like how you're using the terrain texture to guide your work.  Thanks for taking the time to detail your approach, I'm looking forward to seeing more of this!

[Jmouse]

I really enjoyed seeing how you went about creating a little stream and "decorating" it, John. There's so much available to us now, it's hard to know what to use where, when to use it and how to use it effectively to achieve a realistic look.

Also, it gave me great pleasure to see this in your reply:

...i am actually more excited by the scope and grandeur of the project as each day passes...

A lot of originality, strength and determination have already been invested in the Iron Coast. I, for one, feel connected to it somehow, and based on posts herein, I don't think I'm alone in that feeling.

Later...
Joan

[marsh]

Damn that looks great!!!  Your putting all the ploppable nature downloads to great use. Keep it up man!


BTW:

WELCOME TO PAGE 7!!!

[sumwonyuno]

The final products are nice and realistic!   

[Haljackey]

So much detail in every single tile.  Nice work Goose!

[ldvger]

Goose-

Lovely stream work, indeed.  Using plop water has always been a challenge for me, especially getting it to run downhill realistically.  I'm really hooked on jeronij's tranparent blue but do find it's elevation above the terrain to create some odd effects from time to time.  A little word of advice: don't forget to add rapids and turbulence to your streams, as RL water doesn't flow at much of a downhill angle before it becomes turbulent. 

As for my PS issues and greyscale problems, well, I think I am figuring it out, with lots of help, a little bit at a time as I stumble through my first attempt at creating a greyscale map from scratch.  I've started a thread over on the Mapping Tutorials forum you might want to stop by and read if you have time.  I've invoked your name and work there a couple of times as an example of what I am attempting to achieve.  Plus, that's where I'm asking all my questions and describing my PS problems, rather than taking up space in your MD.  Your guidance would be most appreciated!

Keep up the great work!

Lora/LD

[kwakelaar]

Congratulations on your OSITM, you deserve it.
Your style of handling natural features is very good, the different brushes work together very well indeed. And like Lora mentioned before me maybe put in some waterfalls on the way down the mountain. Also the meadows from the previous update are great looking examples of someone going into the smallest details when playing the game.

All though this is something from two updates back I will just give a few thoughts about your architectural references. I am sorry but this is something I truly enjoy contemplating.
First the reference for the Neues Rathaus I would say is more in the line of Flemish Gothic (Town hall Brussels) rather than a reference to orthodox church architecture. And the problem with NeoGothic is that it is often more Gothic than any original building from the period. I don't think these are the best examples of real medieval architecture.
Secondly in most countries where you can find timber framing you can also find the construction technique of jettying. It would be quite a coincidence if all these places would have the same rules concerning council tax. In Germany and the Netherlands taxes were often based on the size of the property rather than the size of the ground floor of the house built on that property. Jettying was indeed done to gain extra space, but also to protect the front of the house against the weather. There are also examples of jettying in rural areas, were the need to gain extra space is not so obvious. This can have been done because the load on the floor/roof beams is better distributed using such a way of construction.
And my last comment concerning the Salisbury Cathedral; When the cathedral was built there were no architects in the way we know this profession today. Very often the concept for a new church building would be given by the clergy (the bishop), and the translation of this concept would be handed over to master builders. From what I have read about the Salisbury Cathedral it is one of the (few) examples of a Gothic cathedral being built according to one concept or plan. It is true the tower and spire have been added on later, but this building has only had two periods of construction. The cathedral itself was built in one go and then the second phase of construction saw the completion of the tower. My point is that this building is not the best example of a cathedral built in stages throughout the Gothic period.
All though this is not very relevant to your MD, I hope you don't mind me going a little further in explaining my earlier comment.

Gjermund/Kwakelaar

[Swesim]

I have a feeling that this is going to be an MD worth following for sure, Your terraforming is both interesting and realistic as well as informative.
Of course the presumed steampunk setting adds to peaking my interest and curiosity...
Keep up the good work!

[Nanami]

What a great MD! Great work!

[antimonycat]

NIce work on the pretty mountain terrain and the stream's source! It looks very natural. Will we see it turn into a larger river a few miles (or city squares) down?

[mightygoose]

Replies

SC4Devotion

Ethan(Ecoba) – as far as I am aware, David(Dedgren) plopped his flora wherever he wished. Thank you for the kind words and I do believe I will adopt this technique region wide.

Deathtopumpkins – I just showed you how I do it! Thank you and welcome back.

Connor – thanks, if you have any suggestions don't hesitate to blurt them out though.

CSGdesign – all in all it was about two hours work on the sections you see in the previous update. I'm glad I inspire you.

Jordan(Canyonjumper) – thank you for your continued support.

Tomas Neto – I hope you found that update useful.

Battlecat – it was as much an experiment as a tutorial, I will see how it plays out in other areas. Thank you for your tenth comment.

Joan(Jmouse) – as I mentioned to you previously, immersion is a vital part of what I am trying to achieve, and I am ecstatic that I have hooked at least one fan, I would love to think you are correct about the others too, but I feel they may take more convincing. As to the stream and available plops, I think people are too determined to use just one set and call it a day, I think that a mixture of all available content is the only way to achieve high levels of realism.

Marsh – thank you and I will try my best to maintain the standard of my work.

Sumwonyuno – thank you for your kind words.

Haljackey – thanks my friend, and when are we going to see GTR 3.0 eh?

Lora(ldvger) – welcome back, I did notice the lack of turbulence and rapids in my stream; this is yet another thing I have little to no experience in so I need to do some experimentation before I start using it effectively. I did spot your thread over in the mapping room, and I watch with interest as you progress down your route simultaneously with me and mine. I will continue to monitor and will interdict as and when I feel I can be useful. If however I haven't dropped by and you are stumped do not hesitate to leave me a reminder and brief overview of the issue here. I am always willing to help if I can.

Gjermund(Kwakelaar) – your continuing contribution honours & enthrals me, I quite look forward to your responses. Thank you for your kind words regarding The Iron Coast achieving Of Special Interest This Month, and also for your comments regarding my nature work. Now to business, having further researched Flemish gothic architecture (a subgenre I did not know about), I agree it is perhaps a better definition of the influence. The exaggeration of many revival styles was a somewhat deliberate choice. While not the best example of medieval architecture it does demonstrate many elements typical of a classic late gothic construction in a very profound and obvious way. To the casual reader it was therefore quite appropriate; however it seems I got caught telling "lies to children" [linkie].

By no means was I suggesting that taxation was the sole motivation for the technique, but many people in real life have asked me why it was so prolific in more urban environments, I plan to implement a similar tax within my MD so was trying to cut corners again. It is true that this image is not the best example of a cathedral built in stages throughout the period; it is an example that clearly displays the dichotomy of design between the stages to even the passing observer. It is fantastic that you would challenge my choices and there are a couple more updates on the way that I think will definitely tantalise your obvious passion for architecture.

Swesim – welcome to The Iron Coast, I am elated that you like the terraforming and I am pleased the steampunk sparks your interest. I just hope I can satisfy that curiosity of yours.

976 - welcome to The Iron Coast, thank you for your kind words.

Antimonycat - thank you for your words, the stream actually stay pretty small maybe doubling in size downstream when it merges with another. It exits into a relatively narrow channel between an island and the mainland.

Simtropolis Forum

Benedict – thank you my friend.

Tostartpressanykey -

Skimbo – welcome to The Iron Coast, I am glad you like what you see.

Korot – it appears as though you  allowed adequate loading times, are you sure you allowed adequate loading time as there were a veritable plethora of images on that page. I look forward to your comments and thank you for your responses.

CG – thank you for your kind words.

Roger51 – welcome to The Iron Coast, it will be some time before that stream gets close to civilisation so do not be worried just yet.

TmiguelT – I just did, didn't I. Or are we guilty of only looking at the pictures.

Simtropolis City Journal Section

Maxcormier – thanks and welcome to The Iron Coast.

Boon1234 – thanks and welcome to The Iron Coast. I am thrilled to be among your favourites and I am very relieved that so many are happy with the style of journal I am producing. I also like the fact you have an interest in steampunk. Good show.
Roger51 – thank you for your additional comment.

Jamonbread – thanks and welcome to The Iron Coast. This project is not going to be a short one, but I am prepared for that, it means I am not rushing for updates. I can show what I want when I want, and people seem to be happy with that.

Irvingtwosmokes - thanks and welcome to The Iron Coast. I hope to see you back again in the future then.

Harishna – thanks and welcome to The Iron Coast. The trees you speak of are made by Simfox, just search for him. They are made by Simfox, just search for him on the STEX.

From the Sketchbook

This update has taken far longer to create than it will to show. My main achievement was getting something to render from 3dsmax for the first time in nearly two years. Once this had been achieved I decided to start researching exactly what I want to make for The Iron Coast. So here I present to you, what I have been up to.

Now I hope I have your attention, and that you suddenly realise the possibilities that I now have in front of me. No major promises just yet but I am sure I can come up with something. From now on all replies will be shown in all locations, that way any useful tips in one are not missed in the others.
See you soon.

[DebussyMan]

Seems like you've got all planned up, but there are some things I don't understand: first, where are you going with this? are you trying to make a 200mts high cathedral? Also, I don't see how a religious building would fit with the steampunk concept... however, if you're looking for ideas, I'd recommend to get more inspiration from mainland Europe gothic, famous for its verticality (St. Nikolai ruin in Hamburg, Köln, Ulm, Beauvais, Rouen, etc.)  than English gothic, which tends to horizontality (With important exeptions of course).

Oh, and a last thing. If you're going to make large buildings, I wouldn't recommend rendering in HQ, rendering times will grow enormously, as well as the file size.

[b22rian]

ah these are the first actual city and region pics ive seen
very nice, quite nice.. all of them.. i would say my favs..
are the sprawling suburbia, goose does the rural areas
better than anyone ive seen.. , and than the landscape and
nature pics add the final touches.. to a game that most of
us relate to urbanism alone.. great overall variety and certainly
one of the best MD's we have currently going on.. i look forward
to future updates.. thanks Much again goose for all your hard work and
diligence and most of all for your patience !

[Battlecat]

Looks like you've got things well sketched out.  It'll be interesting to see some of these ideas become a reality!

[Tomas Neto]

The way that you presented your idea of the BAT project that you want to do for the Iron Coast, I'm sure it will be something fantastic!!! I loved the examples of Gothic windows!!! 

[canyonjumper]

The idea looks like it will look great! Excellent way of presenting it, Goose!

                    -Jordan

[marsh]

good luck 

[Jmouse]

It's always great to see you get out the sketchbook. It was, after all, the birthplace of the Iron Coast!

I'm pleased to see you've attracted the attention of several architectural aficionados. Reading and studying their comments is, and will be, a great help to folks like me. I enjoy seeing pictures of vintage structures, but, sadly, have no idea of the story behind what I'm looking at. The unexpected ideas and interests fostered by "a simple computer game" are phenomenal.

And speaking of clever ideas, it seems you've designed your updates to read like an exciting novel. At the end of each "chapter," there's a hint of more delightful things to come. Good job!

Later...
Joan

[CSGdesign]

Getting Bat4Max to work remains one of my greatest challenges.
At first it was because it is in Program Files and the script doesn't work with a space in the folder name.
The new Bat4Max overcomes this apparently - I gave installing it a quick go but it failed and I've spent many long hours trying to get Bat4Max to work so I lost interest fast.
Shame, since 3ds Max is sooooo much better to use than Gmax, but what yer gonna do?
Glad to see you've mastered it - congratulations... I look forward to seeing your modeling skills get applied to your diary.