Terring's Terrible Lots

[Terring 6,476]

I've upgraded all stage 2 CO$$$ lots. Before we see how they're now, let's see how they used to be until now. In other words, let's see my original version of those lots from back in 2013 and compare them with the new version of 2022. In my first attempt, we'll find ponds with ducks, spaceports, gardens, trees, flowers, underground garages, solar powered rovers, and many Maxis buildings for reasons I'm going to explain later.

⬆️ That was back in 2013.
⬇️ Now in 2022, not only you have all the above stuff, but from now on you'll also get better parking lots, a larger variety of futuristic cars, robots, bicycles, Akira-styled badass bikes, benches with neon nightlights, entrances and exits for the underground garages, futuristic installations on the Maxis buildings like domes, flying cars (I promised them in my previous post above ), and even green roofs!

I'm gonna explain later why you'll still get some old-school Maxis buildings in your cities of the future, but now I'd like to introduce a big game-changer in my project. From now on, and when possible, Maxis buildings will get futuristic improvements, such as domes, solar panels and green roofs. For instance, those lanky Maxis buildings will now have some beautiful beds with flowers instead of old-school roof junk.

This is the only SimMars building you'll get in this stage, but have a look at its lots. They now have better grass textures, better parking spaces, robots, and even parking sheds for bicycles. And yes, I know that there are lots of cars and bicycles for those buildings, but you can imagine that not all of those vehicles belong to employees and customers of those office buildings. Some of them may belong to residences who live nearby.

And it looks like somebody has parked her/his car on the sidewalk, with somebody complaining about it. Now that's something that @AndisArt and I can confirm that it's a very common thing in Greece

That's a lot of bicycles, don't you think?

The "Cities of Tomorrow" expansion pack for SimCity 2013 not only introduces new buildings, but also upgrades the older ones by installing various futuristic elements and technologies on them, such as solar panels, biogas plants, neon lights, green roofs and holographic advertisements. Inspired by this, Maxis buildings in Barsoom Project (or "Cities of Tomorrow" project? I really need a cool name for this project, unless I decide to just stick with the "Barsoom Project") will be modificated when possible with the addition of futuristic modules and technologies, such as green roofs, solar panels, and extra rooms by modular installations. This is something that actually happens in real life, with older buildings getting updates and improvements such as antennae and Wi-Fi hubs. It's a nice and fun way to add a touch of history, I guess

Some of the props found in SM_Mars Props pack made by @Mary Maurine Mayo fit like glove on some of those Maxis buildings, like those domes. They look awesome

And look! Flying cars docked to aerial parking spots, like spaceships on space station! I told you that we'll get flying cars

As you might have noticed at the 2013 pictures, some of those lots originally had Maxis-made multi-storey parking garages. Back then I was thinking to keep them and just add SimMars rovers on them, to give an extra historic touch and some variety on my lots. Nowadays, those parking garages look so outdated and so out-of-scale compared with the on-ground parking areas, that I decided to remove them. They just don't look nice anymore, and we already have lots of underground garages in my other lots. However, just replacing them with on-ground parking was not enough. I wanted something unique and futuristic. One of the ideas I was examining was a tower parking garage, which stores lots of cars in a tower by using an elevator.
Something like this one:

Looks neat, but there is nothing like that in SC4 community as prop, so I decided to improvise and end up making something fun and silly, but still based on the idea above. So, I came up with big, heavy-duty, ion-engine drones that pick your car and hang it a couple of meters above the ground . Just pray to Princess Celestia that this drone will not break down and let your car go

Another Maxis building. This one comes with modular rooms that can stack up like Lego bricks. And yes, modular construction already exist. And look! Those modules also come with aerial parking areas for flying cars and vans made by @Huston

Because of the way those props have been placed, different ways of view will give you different results. Depending on which angle you see them, those flying cars sometimes will look like they're parked and other times they'll look like they're just flying around. I think that this gives you a feeling of activity in your city. We don't have flying cars as automata, so this is the next best thing we can have for now.

This is what happens when you mix the technological badassery of cyberpunk with the naturalistic harmony of solarpunk

Electric wheeled car? Bicycle? Flying hydrogen car? Cool bike? Make your choice and have fun

And last but not least, green roofs! Now this is something that the game really needs. Green roofs already exist, and they come with so many benefits, such as reducing greenhouse gases and improving the local biodiversity, that it would be a heresy to not include them in my futuristic relotting projects. Those Maxis buildings also come with solar panels and roof ponds.

Before I call it a day, let me explain once again why there are still Maxis buildings. I've had already explained it a few times in the past, but I'm gonna do it once again. Every grow-able lot has its own stage. All the above lots, for example, are stage 2 lots. When I futurize a Maxis-made lot, I always make sure to preserve its stage, no matter what. If I start replacing all Maxis buildings with SimMars buildings, eventually we'll end up with stages with plenty of lots and stages with next to non of them, breaking thus the game. This is something I really need to avoid, so I always preserve the stage of any lot I'm playing with. If I can replace a Maxis building with a SimMars building without changing the lot's stage, that's the way. If the same happens with more than one SimMars buildings, even better. But if using SimMars buildings will either upgrade or downgrade the lot stage, then I'll have no other choice than using a Maxis building, preferably something more modern that will fit better in my future cities, like most of the Maxis buildings above. But just because we might have to use an old Maxis building, doesn't mean we can't upgrade it by adding stuff like green roofs and solar panels

Besides, not all Maxis buildings are bad. Many of them are actually beautiful. After all, having some Maxis buildings will not hurt. They can even add a touch of history that can tell you how this city evolved. As some of you might have noticed, many artists, architects and visionaries tend to forget that cities have pasts. Unless a city is built from scratch in the wilderness at some insane pace (Rome wasn't build in a day, but future cities might do), you will always be surrounded by the evidence of earlier times, like Parthenon in Athens and the Empire State Building in New York, which is a good thing. It gives your city an identity, a charm, a personality that makes it unique and interesting. Otherwise, you might end up with something totally futuristic but also antiseptic

Progress so far. What's ready (2013), what's under development, and what has been improved (2022).

R$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

R$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

R$$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CS$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CS$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CS$$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CO$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CO$$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

I$ 1 2 3

I$$ 1 2 3

I$$$ 1 2 3

Rewards

Airports

Seaports

[hugues aroux 3,864]

11 minutes ago, Terring said:

Cela fait beaucoup de vélos, vous ne pensez pas ?

I can't tell if there is too much or too little bike, but most importantly, there is an R2D2 on the bottom left of this picture [...]1fc7.jpg ... you - have - an - R2D2 in props!? Madre de dios .. I want one !

[Terring 6,476]

Here it is --> NH Props V1

Have fun

[Terring 6,476]

No, the project is not dead. I'm just very busy right now with my postgraduate studies and exams. I'm not saying that I'm going to put the project on hold, but that the updates will not be as often as I'd like to. Right now I'm updating the stage 3 CO$$$ lots, which will have only Maxis buildings but heavily futurized. Here is a small taste, with domes, arrays and green roofs. More hopefully soon.

[Terring 6,476]

Well... better late than never

Now that I have some free time, I upgraded all stage 3 CO$$$ lots. Before we see them, let's see first how they used to be back in 2013. In one of those buildings I even tried @tariely's idea from Simpeg.com about solar panels.

⬆️ This was back in 2013.
⬇️ Now in 2022, all buildings comes with new textures, better parking lots, bicycles, greater variety in cars, futuristic upgrades such as domes and modular expansions, parking places for flying cars both on ground and on air, hanged cars, robots, green roofs, even more solar panels, and even small greenhouses for the workers.

The ponds with ducks and the underground garages are still here, of course

Some futuristic technologies and expansions for the offices.

I know, those communication arrays on the roof of those buildings look silly, but it's the best thing I could do. I tried to give them some green roofs, but the model of those buildings was not flat enough and refused to work with me. But hey, at least they look more like the James Webb Space Telescope.

But when possible, add green roofs, preferably with trees and flowers.

Even more upgrades, with domes, antennae, communication arrays, bicycles, and flying cars parked a couple of meters above the ground. Aerial parking, anyone?

But how those flying cars can stay on air? Here is how. Those cars have their engines still on to stay floating. To prevent them from running out of energy and crashing to the ground, the skybridges that connects them to the building (which have ion engines under them to expand however they need without using pylons or something to support them) provide them with the energy they need to stay on air.

And yes, of course you can have both bicycles and flying cars at your city

Back in 2013,  I made most of the Maxis buildings to be constructed only on in-corner lots. This is because, in most cases, their original lots were not in-corner and had their parking spaces isolated from the road network, thus getting parking lots surrounded by buildings and without access to the road. By making their lots in-corner, I tried to get a more realistic result with parking lots actually connected to the road, and at the same time as less Maxis buildings in the city as possible. Just have Maxis in corners and let SimMars get the rest. This however could limit the variety of the lots available and make many of them very difficult to be used. To fix this problem, and to have an even more awesome result, I've made some extra lots that can be constructed anywhere, while turning their parking lots for bicycles and wheeled cars... into landing lots for flying cars!

Speaking of flying cars, here are some more Maxis buildings, now with extra and modular roofs that can be used for flying cars and other vehicles as well. Too bad we don't have flying cars as automata. That would be awesome.

And of course you can't have a city of the future without green roofs, solar panels, hanged cars, and even small greenhouses. That's right, greenhouses on the top of office buildings. Hey, workers are humans too, so why not cultivating some of the food they need? If you can grow your own cereals and corn for your cereal bars and popcorn on your working place, why not?

Hmm, the green roofs of some of those buildings look funny and glitchy, as if the white roof of the building is fighting the green roof just above it. Don't worry, I'll fix it.

So yes, all low density and high wealth office lots have been futurized. I think I'll keep working on low density lots for now. After all, they're the very first lots you see when you build a city. So I think my next step will be the medium wealth offices. Or the low wealth shops and services. Or maybe the family houses. I don't know. We'll see.

Progress so far. What's ready (2013), what's still under development, and what has been improved (2022).

R$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

R$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

R$$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CS$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CS$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CS$$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CO$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

CO$$$ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

I$ 1 2 3

I$$ 1 2 3

I$$$ 1 2 3

Rewards

Airports

Seaports

[Terring 6,476]

One of my favorite mods is the Diagonal Intersection RoadTop SubwayBus Station (also known as MTRT) made by @uroncha back in 2005. It's a set of bus stops and subway stations that can be placed on top of streets, roads, one-ways and avenues, just like Road-Top Mass-Transit (RTMT). What I enjoy the most in MTRT, however, is that it also includes bus stops and subway stations that can be build on top of T and X intersections as well, which is very convenient for me. Why building bus stops and subway stations next to crossroads, when you can build them on the crossroads themselves? My only complain was that MTRT includes Subway-Bus stations for roads, one-ways and avenues, but not for streets. If RTMT comes with subway and sub/bus stations for streets, why not MTRT too? So, I decided to make 4 new lots as a little add-on for MTRT to include road-top sub/bus stations for both straight and diagonal streets, as well as for tee and cross intersections. You can now get them from here.

[Terring 6,476]

Adding the Fallout Prop Pack Vol1 made by @Ulisse Wolf into my already large dependency list is a good excuse to keep the Maxis motels to my future cities

[Ulisse Wolf 4,453]

2 hours ago, Terring said:

Adding the Fallout Prop Pack Vol1 made by @Ulisse Wolf into my already large dependency list is a good excuse to keep the Maxis motels to my future cities

You're inspiring me to create the Fallout Prop Pack Vol 2

[Terring 6,476]

11 hours ago, Ulisse Wolf said:

You're inspiring me to create the Fallout Prop Pack Vol 2

Vol 2? Bring it!

[Terring 6,476]

What's this? A new set of modular plaza-parks? And empty like a canvas this time so you can paint your plaza-parks and customize them as you wish? Bring them on!

OUT NOW

[Terring 6,476]

No, it's not over. Barsoom Project is keep going strong. I just prefer to work in silence, avoid making announcements, and make my relots whenever I feel it, leading to experimentations and better results. Summer heat, especially in warm countries like Greece, doesn't help either. Yet, I've made some progress and experiments, including more buildings with landing lots for flying cars, more graffiti, and better textures for my agricultural zones made by @Pegasus.

[Terring 6,476]

Something small I've been working on. Mini fountains inspired by SimCity 3000.

[Terring 6,476]

And the above Mini Fountains are now available to download

[SneakyDeaky 1,130]

4 hours ago, Terring said:

And the above Mini Fountains are now available to download

Do these work with our sidewalk/plaza mod? 

[Propfam 2,301]

4 minutes ago, SneakyDeaky said:

Do these work with our sidewalk/plaza mod? 

Of course!

[SneakyDeaky 1,130]

5 minutes ago, elfrjz said:

Of course!

As if there were any doubt!

[kSlank 151]

A lot of lots

[Terring 6,476]

OK, everybody (and everypony), I think it's high time for me to learn some modding. I'm working on something cool but I'll need your help. I want to use those subterranean hangars made by @2ch.net simplayer:

but I need them as props, not as buildings. What tools do I need to create prop versions of those models and how to do that?

[Terring 6,476]

Thanks to fellas at Discord I've begun to learn how to use PIM-X and iLive Reader to mod stuff. That's right, we're going to the next level

[Propfam 2,301]

On 1/22/2024 at 11:06 PM, Terring said:

Thanks to fellas at Discord I've begun to learn how to use PIM-X and iLive Reader to mod stuff. That's right, we're going to the next level

Looks so cool and surreal!

[Terring 6,476]

I know this topic is about lots, but let's try something different for ones

You know me. I love buildings cities of the future, with cool futuristic stuff such as AIs, cyborgs, holograms, fusion power, flying cars and spaceships flying around, all that stuff. In fact, I'm so obsessed with this theme try to futurize as many elements of the entire game as possible by using various futuristic mods and BATs such as SimMars, and even adding new music tracks for my jukebox made by artists like Vangelis and Tangerime Dream and from games such as Anno 2070 and SimCity: Cities of Tomorrow. The only thing left (apart from the UI for now) is to change the old and overly played loading texts, from silly and nonsensical stuff to futuristic but still silly ones. So I've been working on a mod that uses @Craig-Abcvs's Text Loading Mod as a template to replace all of the Maxis loading texts with 120 new ones, most of which are either based on real life emerging and seriously proposed technologies and concepts such as nanotechnology and transhumanism, or are references to science fiction stories such as Star Trek and Deus Ex. And of course we'll have couple of SimCity memes. Just for some fun

Here are some examples:

Coming soon