The Sci-Fi City Project

[GlobexCo 33]

When I opened SC4Tool I had already an ID range and I used this 0xFC782DA0 - 0xFC783188, I hope that anyone has the same range, I'll check.

About textures, when I opened the first time the pack with the Reader I couldn't see anything, so I opened again SC4Tool to see if there was something in it. When I opened again it with Reader and then with LotEditor, all textures were OK. (My plugins folder is empty since I had to clear it for the HMN project)

What do you think about it? There are some hull images, maybe I'll use it to replace normal Maxis empty paths.

[chris0101 8]

As pointed out earlier, there will have to be hundreds of buildings for this thing to fly. Plus you're looking at doing a lot of things over again.

I'd say that this is going to be as big as the SimMars project. Maybe get some more people on board and this will take off.

[GlobexCo 33]

I know that this is a big project, but at the moment only one person said something about a little help with BATs (Andisart). I've got lots of ideas and drawings, so I only need someone who can create them with BAT; I asked if someone could join this project, but it seems there's not enough interest! I'm doing something, but if there's only one person, probably the first SciFiCity mod will be released for SimCity 9!

[GlobexCo 33]

Here's a little update: sci-fi flats (probably $ or $$)

Soon I'll upload a part of the level theory...

[GlobexCo 33]

Here we are!

The Utopian City and the future: The Sci-Fi City Project

Planning the first release of the Sci-Fi City Project

At the moment there isn’t a theory behind all the future buildings of this project. (Cities XL uses Gmax to create buildings, so a part of this work will be compatible with that game, I hope). What I’m going to explain is the entire work that the first release of this project needs.

First we need to split the city in three different levels. The first level (0-15m) is for commercial services – shops, markets and little offices – and all the buildings must be $. Then a Lev1 building can have another  structure on it. The second level (16-31m) is for offices, hotel and medium wealth residences; we can consider it as $$. On it there’s a third level (32 - ∞m) for high wealth residences and important offices, so the Lev3 is $$$.

Transports

SimCity 4 and the NAM have got different types of transport: the railway (Lev1 – Lev2), the elevated railway (Lev2 – Lev3 – GLR Lev1), the monorail (Lev2 – Lev3), the high speed rail (Lev1 – Lev2), the highway (Lev1 – Lev2) and the road (Lev1 – Lev3). Textures and models of these networks must be replaced. The railway, the elevated rail and the GLR will be the same kind of transport: the MAGLEV. This will be very similar to the Maglev of Transport Tycoon 1. So all the models will look like this.

The only difference between the railroad (and his NAM elevation) and the elevated rail (and his NAM add-ons) will be the presence of a transparent tube around the railway. The tube will protect the trains when they will go out of the city. A station will convert railway into GLR entering in the city perimeter. Many GLR features (tram in road, in avenue,….) can’t be used because a car can’t pass on maglev lines. The monorail will be a tubular express for passengers, very similar to the ATEX (Japanese BATs), but functional. The high speed rail will be replaced by the hanging monorail (HMN). Each system needs also one or two stations: remember that each level has his own station. The road texture will be replaced with sidewalk textures and the ground part of it will be only for people. By changing paths, cars will fly above sidewalks. One way roads and avenues are very similar to normal roads (also textures will be the same). The distance between ground and cars is not definite yet. Highway only needs a replacement of textures where normal line paints will be replaced by neon lights (I saw it on Halo 2). To increase number of possibilities, also SAM textures will be replaced. SAM 1 will be replaced by sidewalk textures (same as a road) but different paths: probably normal road distance doubled. SAM 2 (or street) will be connections between normal road and highways, a special lot will decrease the path numbers. SAM3 will be a normal road with bridges on Lev2 and SAM4 with bridges on Lev3; special lots will connect levels and SAM stoppers will be very important. Other SAMs won’t be used (at the moment). NAM underground rail needs only the replacement of the starter piece because rail textures are different. For normal underground will be created stations that cover different levels. This is a project of replacement of the March 2009 version of NAM. If new version of NAM will be release, that project will be updated.

Some parts of the NAM can’t be replaced, such as canals or RHW, so they can be removed from the NAM plug-ins folder that will be included in the sci-fi pack.

Buildings

I’ve already told you something about levels. Now I’ve got to explain it better. Actually SimCity uses a wealth/stages system to subdivide buildings; instead of this the Sci-Fi City uses a level/stages system. Each level has got at the same time $, $$ and $$$ wealth: so the same building must be modded for each wealth level. A city without the stage system can’t grow and isn’t realistic. Even a sci-fi city like Coruscant many years ago was a little sci-fi colony. So there are three levels and here’s a diagram:

	City levels
Level 1	0 (LotEditor textures) – 15m / floor level 2: 15 – 16m
Level 2	16 – 31m / floor level 3: 31 – 32m
Level 3	32 - ?m

 

Use your fantasy to build sci-fi buildings and create strange architectures. A buildings can also have one level or two. For example a skyscraper can start from 0, 16 or 32m to add more variety to the city. The next picture shows how levels must be built. On the left there’s no link between the third level and the building (transparent); on the right side the structure touch all the levels. So in the first example there’s only $ and $$ and nothing made for $$$. Next to these buildings there’s an example of how a road will be – special lots will be bridges between the two sides of the road.  No railings at the moment , that’s just an example.
 

 

Measures are very important here; the level floor must have an height of 0.2m, railings are made with cylinders (color: Gmax grey, horizontal diameter: 0.1m, vertical diameter: 0.05m) and between floor and railings there are 1.3m. Floors must use this texture:

UVW Mapping is also important: this texture must have a box or planar mapping and on a 3x4 SC4 tiles settings are: length 48.0m – width 64.0m – height 0.2m – U 10.0 – V 10.0 – W 1.0 – Z alignment – Map channel 1. Use this to make other UVW maps.

..........

This is what i made in the last three weeks - new texts in future

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

I've finished the skyscraper I was doing:



The text "SUNDAY FLATS" and the lift will be animated as props with BAB - these pictures are old, in my model there are also the two levels

If you can't see these images, I'll attach them.

[Follarch 326]

A SciFi city bat thread!?! I NEED to look at this. Maybe you could get the guys who run the Deismaran Empire and Atlantis here too.

And cool towers, though there seems to be a LOT of negative space. Maybe fill in the gaps more to make it more solid.

[timcravey 168]

We are liking what we're seeing!

[GlobexCo 33]

@ Archean

I saw that tower in Futurama (Matt Groenig) - the original building had few empty spaces; but in my building, filling spaces can make the overall view boring, but I can add something in the right part. I sent a PM to shadow_prophet (thank you)

@timcravey

Thanks. About the SimMars project, I'm batting a spaceport and above the entrances I'll put this sign: "Earth-Mars connector". Maybe SimMars still needs a link to Earth (don't know).

[mightygoose 92]

these were my notes when i was taking a stab at this... my second plaza levels where at 14th floor and then the 20th

the important project developement bit, read if you intend to help out

name

firstly height class

a -150m no plaza level

b -100m 13 storey

c -300m 13 storey

d -500m 13 storey

e -700m 13 storey

f -900m 13 storey

g -1050m 13/19 storey should have some plaza at both levels or neither, or one... (wrong order)

h -1200m 13/19 storey

i 1200+m 13/19 storey

then purpose

1 = commercial service

2 = commercial office

3 = residential

4 = industrial

then letter corresponding to the building within that height and purpose, so my first bat is BLOCK B1A

my second BLOCK G2A

my third BLOCK B1B and B1C

basically the way i want the reward system to work is that buildings in the A height catergory will be the only growables apart from residential

once you have grown all of height class a in a catergory say the entire A1 range then you unlock to plop the B1 range, these will be expensive to plop. then once you have plopped all of B1 you unlock the C1 set etc.

i have chosen this system as most of the lots will have either overhangs for placement next to elevated avenues/roads or skybridges to connect the set of raised plazas together and this would be virtually impossible to make modular to allow for growables. however there will be multiple combinations of lots to give enough diversity so every FBP CBD wont look the same. however it regulates the growth of the future so people will have to save up to develope the future city bit by bit. i mean im looking at the price tag for the bigger lots in height classes F G and H to be over the million mark.

this will allow for very clever planners to build sprawling multi layered cities that look like they would be impossible to build in game otherwise.

as for jobs i gon on the principle.... the base is 4 people per square of land the lot covers the overhang is 5 people per square of overhang per floor, the main buildings are 6 per square per floor. then add 3 for luck

so for my building B1a in red

base = 80 (4x5=20,20x4=80)

overhang = 100 (4x5=20,20x5=120)

mainbuilding = 2592 (3x3=9,9x6=63,54x48=2592)                                  [job calculator up for review]

total + 3 = 2775 cs$$ jobs for block B1a.

when uploaded the name will be as follows to include all necessary for searches.... in this case BLaM menon place FBP block B1a

hence i have chosen to name block B1a as menon place...

G2a will be named the farsight suites

have

base = 5x6x4 = 120 x 3 floors = 360

overhang = 6x6x5 = 180 x 20 = 3600

main building = 5x6x6 180 x 220 = 39,600

A1a=

A1b=

A1c=

A1d=

A1e=

A1f=

B1a= menon place batted 2775 cs$$

B1b=

B1c=

B1d=

B1e=

C1a= huntingdon mall 50% batted

C1b= club: AIR 50% batted

C1c=

C1d=

C1e=

D1a=

D1b=

D1c=

D1d=

E1a=

E1b=

E1c=

F1a=

F1b=

G1a=

commercial office

A2a=

A2b=

A2c=

A2d=

B2a=

B2b=

B2C=

B2D=

C2A=

C2B=

C2C=

C2D=

C2E=

D2A=

D2B=

D2C=

D2D=

D2E=

D2F=

E2A=

E2B=

E2C=

E2D=

E2E=

E2F=

F2A=

F2B=

F2C=

F2D=

F2E=

G2A= FARPOINT SUITES 20% BATTED CO$$ 45,563

G2B=

G2C=

G2D=

H2A=

H2B=

H2C=

I2A=

I2B=

well thats the commercial rundown at 65 bats that may be added to maybe but for now thats it i have 1 batted and 3 more underway...

so once they are done i will do a style featurette and you guys can have a pop...

cos i'd rather not do 250 bats all by myself lol

total + 3 = 45,563 co$$ jobs.

this may sound a hell of alot but to think that the res buildings are going to have pops up to 20,000 or more, yes they can be grown, and you will probably demolish many non FBP bats to increase demand anyway before you plop i do believe it can be held non dilapidated. the maxis limit for occupancy of any type i believe is around 65,000 and i have grown three 8500 capacity res$$ lots at the same time on the same street so why not one 24,000 capacity lot. and no none of them dilapidated. ive have seen people have five or six kd5rax tapei lites grown in the same city, they are 16000 jobs apiece. im sure this number can be met. if under testing it is deemed it cannot be then revision of the job figures will have to be done, but for now we will see what happens...

anyway i hope this has been a bit of an insight into the project. warpedone, glenni, once B1a is textured i will use it to demonstrate the style and some key features that most of the lots should have. then you can go your merry way into knocking up a couple... i should not that by growing some of the res towers you can skip ahead of the plop game so if you grow a D3 class tower you can skip into the D class of commercials and industrials.... sorta an if or function in the reward modding....

OP4 is going to work on some outer city shanty/slum lots for use with this set or on there own. they will contribute to certain special lots that are none RCI. i hope to release around 50 lots(nearly half will be the complete shanty set) as the base pack in september/october this year so modders may wish to start considering the complexities of the issues i may encounter.... any other batters are welcome to get in on the action too.... i hope to release about 5 packs in total bringing it up to around 250 lots or the sim mars final target lol....

when i say pack i mean that basically over the a period in september three lots will be uploaded every day till all are up. with the shanties being quite small they may be bundled into groups for upload.

well that pretty much outlines the project as of yet. one building 95% batted, a bit more roof junk needed, then i need to learn how to nitelite, then i need a modder and a lotter to create this as a test lot. i hope most of the modding script will be transfereable between lots as the reward chain is pretty systematic..

post here if you are up to the challenge so to speak. you may think im crazy but hey.... why the hell shouldn't i be crazy....

the synopsis and style guide....

right...

 aim of the project....

to creat a large set of structures covering the

entire range of structures offered by maxis, not quite

as much detail though, so when combined with a no maxis mod you

can create entirely futuristic cities.

who is this aimed at.

this is ot aimed at new players this is more for old dogs that have

been playing for years. the buildings will be ploppable too but the

job counts will be high in the higher densities even to levels

never before attained in residentials. it means that they will be

difficult to lure out or if plopped difficult to sustain. do to the

interwoven transit links that are prevalent in the models it will

also require careful city planning to prevent congestion and maintain

commute times. the NAM and HSRL project are the only dependencies

but this allows for

a city that looks like it was impossible to build in sim city four

the simple complexity of overlapping roads and skybridges will add

a new detail to the game never before seen. also when those

developement cj's come to an end cos they cant find any taller buildings

they can now look here. a full readme will be supplied with recommended

example combos of buildings and planning ideas.

drawbacks

due to the difficulty of making the set work. this may not appeal to everyone

and it will be pretty exclusive not many other bats out there will be available

but after first release i intend to release this post to allow free reign for

anyone who wants to supplement the work here.

the style.

for this major set released in three bursts we are going for a clean concrete

style overall, sort of startrek meets coruscant. down to the nitty gritty

most of the buildings are quite boxy and are traditionally made up of three parts.

the one storey base is of low wealth and is basically the substreets. the system works

predominantly with elevated avenue/roads in dense areas. consisting of graffitti boarded

up shops burning bins and the like. then if there is an overhanging base always 3-6

storeys for outskirts or 12 storeys for high density(to maintain skybridge coherency

creating a second ground level almost.). some buildings are without them but they

are sporadic at most. then onotop of this is a plaza level. upon this sits the main

structure. this is virtually free reign in design.. i will post some pics soon as possible

to illustrate my meaning. also if possible we can share the same concrete and overhang

texture to tie in more.

what we are potentially doing

60 commercial buildings

60 residential buildings

40 industrial buildings

40 civic/miscillaneous buildings

a new elevated highway texture and models(possible)

a new elevated/ground avenue texture and models(possible)

a new road/elevated texture and models(probably)

a new street texture(probably)

a couple of new transport buidlings lol. a space port, a space elevaor and a

rooftop airport.

from you guys

im am looking for any of these... the style rules are laxed for the majority

so i want you guys to create the real landmarks of the set...

ideally i would like some of them to be released with part one in october but

this may not be possible due to your other work constraints...

thanks for reading...

[GlobexCo 33]

1.       Question: how many years old is it?

2.       I think that building levels and skybridges as I wrote (15m – 30m - … is easier because you can configure them easily when you open Gmax and you don’t have to calculate storey.

3.       Your height and purpose subdivision can be used (my last bat is a BLOCK C333a because it’s 256m high, lev1,2 and 3 are Res).

4.       I can see only 4 bats – they can be converted into the new 3 levels system if you still have the models. Can you post pictures of them?

5.       These buildings have been batted only by yourself?

6.       Plop buildings? A nightmare! Imagine a Landmarks menu with 250 buildings in it! If you need the first and the last, your mouse and your finger will burn! Growable version is more comfortable and easier to use. By using the historical function, your city will be eyecandy and functional.

7.       “for this major set released in three bursts we are going for a clean concrete

style overall, sort of startrek meets coruscant. down to the nitty gritty” – I prefer hull textures, they’re more sci-fi.

8.       Transports lots are OK

9.       My set of road texture replacements is better and easier (increase paths and mod textures, nothing else)

Thank you mightygoose

This is an example of levels (15m open and 30m closed)

[Evillions 552]

PLEASE!! Upload this to Simmars! I'm loving what I'm seeing. I wish I could help out. My darn BAT panel and icons arn't showing up.

[GlobexCo 33]

@ Evillions

Uh? Someone who wants to help this project?

I must help him - what's the problem with GMax?

When more buildings will be available, I'll ask you about an exchange between the two projects.

[Aro0w 1]

looks interesting.

I'll keep my eye on this

[mightygoose 92]

i was merely hoping you may have found some use of my notes, as a point of interest.

[GlobexCo 33]

I'm here again, and with some new BATs!

First I've got to tell you this: Gmax is really boring; so I'll use 3dsMax.

Here's my first building with BAT4Max:

The Quantum Power Generator:

But also the PNG I'll use to mod the intro of SC4:

So... welcome to SimFuture!

I'm batting many other buildings, but actually I'm trying to convert them from Gmax to 3dsMax (bye bye standard definition). I'm also collecting screenshots from Halo 1,2 and 3 to replace menus in SC4 (or SimFuture?).

I'll return as soon as possible with new pictures.

[SimFox 802]

Don't make them in HD - there is absolutely no point in it.

HD mode is that only to improve appearance of smallest things at Zoom6. But this doesn't come free. If you go this route your file size will at least double and appearance at Zoom5 will degrade somewhat with fine details particularly vulnerable.

[GlobexCo 33]

"fine details particularly vulnerable." - for example?

[SimFox 802]

Problem is hat game only have 5 real, pixel per pixel Zoom levels. So, to achieve 6 presentational Zoom levels one have to be "created" from already existing. In traditional way that is how Zoom6 produced - Zoom5 is simply magnified 2x. As a result you have blurry, pixelated image. HD turns this situation around. It generated pixel per pixel image that is twice the size of Zoom5. So, naturally it looks perfect at zoom6 but for Zoom5 it have to be shrunk 2x. And this is done in a most primitive way by simply discarding every second row and column of pixels. Naturally smallest/finest details will suffer the most...

[Follarch 326]

I'm in love with that generator, and I think it would fit beautifully in my journal.

And if youre taking images from Halo, might i suggest batting some of the towers from Halo2, 3 and ODST? The buildings in New Mombasa are to die over. As well as some of the bridges seen in trailers. There's also a cool bridge found in the Suez Canal map of Battlefield 2142, but I can't find an image for it. Perhaps you know it?

[GlobexCo 33]

@ SimFox

So Zoom6 is perfect for previews but ineffective in game. There's no way to improve the 3d engine of SC4, maybe adding some new zooms?

@ Archean

Unfortunately I've got only Halo 1 and 2 - I can't find anywhere Halo 3, so if someone has some screenshots of Halo 3...

About Battlefield 2142: I didn't know the game, but I found some interesting pictures (thank you for this). I also found this

Not the right map, but I think that the bridge is the same.

[SimFox 802]

No Zoom6 is effective in game but only, well, at zoom6... the very nature of it dictates that it is beneficial only to very small objects - like some sort of street props. not buildings of which you'll see only small/smallish parts at that zoom level.

As for the preview- the most effective preview is one that will give you 1to1 view of what you gonna have in game. In this sense all previews zooms are equally effective as they give you what you gonna see in game.

[GlobexCo 33]

Hello everyone. I'll be away for two weeks and without a PC .

But I can post what I'm going to BAT and a picture with some buildings (maybe someone will BAT it, why not?).

So, this is the center of new mombasa (Halo) and in SimFuture will be the Spacelift to link Earth and Mars - really sci-fi!

And what I've done

A couple of buildings for you

Feel free to partecipate to the project!

Bye.

[GlobexCo 33]

I'm here again.

I prepared a list of interesting and useful games:

- buildings: Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, Battlefield 2142, Battlefield 2142 NS, Earth 2160, X2 the threat, X3 the reunion, SC 2000, TTD

- UI: Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, Battlefield 2142, Battlefield 2142 NS, Earth 2160, X2 the threat, X3 the reunion

- vehicles: X2 the threat, X3 the reunion, Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3

If someone have 1 of these games, please post here interesting screenshots

If someone know other games, please tell me

Thanks

[Follarch 326]

I feel like I can add a little something to this. I've made a skyscraper recently that fits the SciFi style.

Of course the sidings and base of the tower can be changed, but the teardrop shape of the tower fits well in the Sci-Fi style of skyscrapers you think?

[Djohaal 121]

Hmmm... I'm thinking about doing some future-ish buildings for my cities, they'll not be compliant with your folks's standards though. However I'll more than happyly share the original 3d models for adjustments

Something I imagined was creating a preset disposition of walkways on the corners of all lots (much like puzzle peices) so that any two contigous buildings would ALWAYS have connecting walkways.

[ianpaschal 77]

Halo wins. Make New Mombasa if you want a stunning future city.

[GlobexCo 33]

@ Archean

Not bad! But I think that it'll look more sci-fi adding a big structure on the curved side and more details such as external lifts and neon lights.

@ Djohaal

If you have good skyscrapers or strange and sci-fi buildings, feel free to share the original 3ds file (remember all the textures!). I'll add the two level floors. I'm preparing also a prop pack with these floors.

@ Scipio

New Mombasa has a lot of interesting buildings, but other things are not so sci-fi (roads, bridges,...)

I also started to mod the UI and  his pngs. Little previews here for you.

In-game menu

Main population/ region name UI

Both are made using X2 screenshots. I think that this is the first real new UI, because the SimMars one only changes colours. I hope it'll run.

I also discovered in Simcity_1.dat a lot of menus and icons not used in the game!

Another preview: no cars, airplains or ships in SimFuture, only spaceships.

This is a M6 (will replace helicopters)

[Follarch 326]

Wow, you're really good at these BAT's. And you're trying to restyle the game itself? Wow, big project.

[GlobexCo 33]

Hello everyone.

Here's something from my PC:

1. I'm BATting something for suburbs:

2. City hall will be something like this.

And more...

[bdswim 14]

Cool stuff here!

You might want to know, automata (vehicles & stuff like that) and BATs are not the same. A BAT is simply a box with a picture flashed on it, automata is an actual 3D model (even though the principle is the same--get a detailed object onto a similar object using as few polys as possible, but also taking into account that you can rotate the model in any direction)

And before you do anything drastic about changing paths, all you need to do is raise the model in the air before exporting it (that way if you put a shadow under it, the shadow's on the ground not in the air).