How to create eyecandy city

[zziobs 0]

Hello! (i hope I'm posting in right sub-forum/thread)

I played Sim City 4  as a strategic game for a very long time. Cities with big budgets nice stuff. And now I want to make art out of it. But there's a problem. I'm pure strategy gamer and dont use anything that modify game behavior. I have been doing it for so long that I forgot how to use more creativity less logic. I always think of civic buildings' range to save Simleons. That makes my cities look way to square and unnatural. I'm so used to of it I just cant correct it. And that's where I need your help.

I want to know How did you started artistic cities. How do you make them eye candy and most importantly what should I do to get similar results

As I'm on trials I wont be using any mods. (For now.) But I will start using them as soon as I pace up my left brain. 

I'm currently on Pacific Rim National Park, Canada (map by NHP)

----

I'm almost done tuning map. And started planting trees. And I'm about to start city #1 a farming community at C4 R5 Check the map and tell me where else to develop and what. Any suggestion for decorating with trees in god mode also welcome.

I don't seem to find good fictional city names so I m just naming city 1 city 2 etc If you have any suggestion, go ahead.

Thanks a l'avance 

PS: This is not CJ

C = Column

R = Row

[feliwi 4]

First of all, congratulation that you reached the in my eyes 2nd phase of the game. It is much more exciting to make the perfect city instead of playing sim city in a strategic way (there are much better simulations)

My suggestion would be to download a cheat mod for almost limitless money (eg use cheat o matic). After you have to explore the possibilities of Lot Editor and maybe of the BAT. After you should decide what style should your city about (such as rural or urban, climate facors, typical architecture, terrain mods, etc). If you decided take a look at typical real life cities, such as Tokyo for a dense Asian city, or midwest American cities for typical American cities). I would suggest to start with American cities because they are layed out very simple and a lot of Maxis stuff can be used. And then it's more or less your turn. Use lot editor to add more life to your cities, keep on downloading, or even make complete eye-candy districts in Lot Editor.

And one last important point, make it realisitc. For example the most cities don't have dozens of highways or airports with 5 or more runways.

Just think of a motto for your city like an important port and industry city and develop,

it's your turn

[MandelSoft 2,775]

Making eyecandy cities is quite hard, but it's definintly worth trying.

Using mods is quite unavoidable when making eyecandy cities. In any case you should have the Network Addon Mod. This will greatly improve the possibilities of transport networks, and even adds a whole new network: the Ground Light Rail. It also adds roundabouts, more highway interchanges, cosmetic pieces (like smooth curves), overpasses and underpasses. I would also reccommend the Rural Highway Mod (currently called the Real Highway Mod) to make realistic highway networks.

A terrain mod will change the look of your landscapes and a water color mod will change the color of the water, so you can get rid of that light blue Maxis water. This is how your city could look like using a terrain mod:

Also downloading buildings give your cities more variaty of buildings. The less repetition, the better the cities look.

Another tip is using non-optimal layouts for your cities (like non-gridded roads and streets). This will make your city look more natural. I mean something like this:

Here you can find a tutorial how you could name your cities:

https://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.cfm/Main.SimCity_4.A_guide_to_naming_your_cities

I hope it helps!

Best,

Maarten

[zziobs 0]

Thanks a lot for the ideas feliwi and mrtnln 

I spent long time searching something proper  money making building. There are few of them I dont seem to decide the best of them. And I got NAM installed NAM Rural highways and few of the PEG's rural and farm stuff, rural roads etc. I already have few BATs in my archive .  But I cant start before I have some money mod becoz cheating with cheat "weakness pays" is way too puny. Any suggestions for that ?

I found many screenshots in forum posts. How do people get their coats clear and cleaned and also some kinda concrete block coasts. what is that ? a canal mod ?

I'll kepp looking and testing though a single hint can be very helpful.

Quick Edit: I forgot to mention It will be med size low economy american city around coasts and rural around hilly part of the map. first (top) two rows of the map(Mountainous Part) will be kept as is for now. Some resort or logging camp can be set up over there)

NOTE: Screenshot in this post is not mine I just borrowed it. I'm sorry I don't remember the author's name.

[masochist 111]

There's a very useful tutorial on how to create straight-edge coastlines [right here]. 

To get it all nice and purty like in the picture, though, you'll need some seawalls.  The ones in the picture were made by marrast and can be found [right here].  There are a fair few more that you can grab from the STEX, and a billion more ways to dress up your seashores: beaches, ports, marinas, etc.  Take a look through the [show Us Your Waterfront Property] and [show Us Your Riverside/Lakeside/Oceanside] threads for ideas.

In regards to your monetary problems, there are plenty of "Money Trees" and such on the STEX.  You could also grab the [Extra Cheats Plugin] and use the 'moolah' cheat.

[heitomat 156]

Like feliwi said, a motto for your city is a great way to start. It's much easier to give your cities character when you have a particular direction or a background story in mind.

Also, I agree with mrtnrln: You should definately try some terrain and water mods. I also recommend different terrain tools that can be "painted" on your terrain to add realism, like ploppable rocks, footpaths, flowers etc. Even livestock and construction vehicles can be placed this way.

Finally, it's a fact that eye-candy and realistic cities often cost a fortune to run. You asked for a simple solution to this everlasting problem, and my recommendation is the Cousin Vinnie Mod. It appears as a city ordinance in the budget, and it gives you 200.000 § a month when checked. With this, you don't have to place any "money lots" in your cities, and you can turn it on and off as you need it.

I hope you found this helpful, and I look forward to see your progress.

[zurrabear 20]

I would just add to all this incredibly good advice that it really pays to experiment with the custom material you download.  To maximize its potential you have to know what it looks like, what it can do, and how you can combine it with other game elements creatively.

I also strongly second the suggestion to obtain items that will enhance your terrain's realism.  There's a LOT of it out there, and can really pick how you want your undeveloped land to look.  To me, landscaping has become half the fun of the game, and it's every bit as challenging as making the city itself.

One big aspect of urban eyecandy is, to me, retaining natural landscapes within the city.  May not be necessary so much in a small city, but with some of the tools available you can create some really nice little oases the mesh well with more planned elements like park tiles.

A modest example from one of my cities:

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

Pegasus is brilliant for this kind of thing. Do download some of his work.

[zziobs 0]

That naming tutorial is excellent; masochist

I guess Cousin Vinnie mod is the best option Thanks for that tip and links heitomat

Peg's MTP and CDK are one of the mods I will be using for this city yes I agree Peg is best for rural stuff. 

Installing mods is one of the most tedious jobs I have ever done. It took long time geting desired mods and dep.s installed and unneeded stuff removed. I'm still testing mods.

Since this is my first attempt; again there's a dilemma bout the texture mods. There are number of texture mods. I'm using Windjammer water texture and Weathered Granite Rock mod. Does anyone think anything else is better suited for mountains(evergreen forests covered) and oceanic waterbodies. 

@ Zurrabear which mod has those trees ?  I'm not into ponds but I like the trees. They look awesome. And you landscaped it very nicely.

I ve planed long sessions this weekend. So I guess there will be some progress with city. But I want to be sure I'm ready with all the things I need

Thank you !

[Terring 6,476]

"And one last important point, make it realisitc."

I will disagree a bit. Usually something realistic = something boring. The best way to make beautiful cities is to free your mind. Think outside of the box, make plenty of experiments and let your heard leads you. It's your city, your rules. And remember, it's a game and not quantum science ;-)

[zziobs 0]

 " And remember, it's a game and not quantum science ;"

You are right but there's a reason behind my cautious approach. I developed couple of bigg regions no cheats no mods with just few BATs and lots of patience+hardwork +time. When I moved fm old HDD to new HDD few BAT and cities were corrupt and didn't transfer It went unnoticed and kaboom. I don't want to take that risk with mods installed and that's why I don't want start my main region unless I'm sure all installed mods work(and are useful) and all unneeded stuff is removed from plugin folders. Unmanaged plugin folder with too much unnecessary stuff could be hard to backup and restore.

Second reason for I'm asking this question is that I tend to develop service building clusters making my cities square. Which looks weird. I'm so used to of this budget optimization I don't seem to find a way to break free. That's what I asked in my very first post. How did you people break free of this.

"Think outside of the box,"

That's kind of a problem. Old habits don't change easy. I had all kinds of cities including industrial to commercial Mixed up to High Tech but basic framework been same -- Clusters. Clusters of Residential buildings with service buildings centering it. But I'm working on it.

---

Watching your city growing is very addictive part ; Growing your own city is very fun yet a difficult task. And hats off to all those eye candy screenshot artists in forums.

I'm trying to diversify my layouts by placing as mrtnrln said. But it will take some practice. Mods seawalls ponds etc will also take some practice for that eye candy perfection. Screenshots are very inspirational. They give me the ideas to unleash the true potential of this game. I'm glad forum is full of such screenshots.

---

NOTE: - Post moved ??? My Apologies for posting in wrong subforum.I ll try to post in correct one next time.

[tomfoolery_79 85]

I'm going to finish up my strategy city, then do what you are doing.

I think the simpliest way to circumvent this "writer's block" is look at the city journals on this site.  I've gotten very inspired by looking at other people's creativity.  I'm not very creative and have to steal ideas from other people.