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[Dreadnought 8,231]

@TheMurderousCricket

Yo, guy --

The Poseidon terrain textures work quite well for me.  I use them primarily to texture dunes, sandy hill sides, and beaches.  And they are excellent for highlighting the differences in terrain elevations.

And @SIM-ple Jack is quite right about the spacing between plops.  The closer you place them, the more dense the effect -- but it can be difficult to place MMP's on top of the "plop" zone.  I leave a bit of distance between mine so I can create the effect of patches of grass or trees showing through the sand -- or to blend into tree lines.  And, as he also pointed out, you have to be careful to keep them away from roads, rails, and other plopped lots.  The Poseidon terrain effect will "cover" these items and obscure them -- it looks terrible. 

The center of the Poseidon "plop" acts like a plopped lot -- above and below ground.  The game will not allow you to run pipes through them -- therefore, it is better to run the pipes, rail, and subways first. 

Below are a couple of shots that will help show the varying densities achieved by close plops and distanced plops.

 

 

 

 

[Brad 343]

not as nice as PAENG's mine. Sullivan mine Co. will employ over 2500 workers. I still need to built the housing and a supporting town. PA map's 1st project. there are lots more.

[Haljackey 17,385]

Revamp. Yes this is the same location

 

[TheMurderousCricket 5,096]

Considerable progress with my revamp of the JENX texture plops.  I have increased the opacity of single plops, though not in the way I imagined at first... Anyway, the plops do not overlap by opacity anymore and are non-transparent.

But! What is even more important, I played a little with the opacity maps of JENX's original .fsh files. I edited them considerably, creating a wind-swept look for all sand-styled texture plops instead of the default circle that was in place. I really like the way the plops look right now. 

 

As you can see, no overlapping happens and one can easily place each plop at greater distances than two tiles away.  Below you can see the exact distribution of the plops seen above:

 

 

As you can see, they are 3-4 plops away from each other now. The "beach texture" in the upper left corner seems a bit shy today though and I had to use the 2-tile setup (size of each patch is chosen randomly in this mod). 

I think that the modifications above may be a good material to share onto Simtropolis but I have to ask for permission first. I still have to wait anyway because the dependencies needed for this mod to work are on SC4D which, as you know, is down at the moment.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,450]

20 hours ago, Dreadnought said:

you have to be careful to keep them away from roads, rails, and other plopped lots.  The Poseidon terrain effect will "cover" these items and obscure them -- it looks terrible. 

Actually, there is a plus side to that. Occasionally, I plop a lot that's missing base textures. Sometimes I can bury them with this tool, saving me the trouble of going on a dependency safari. Sometimes I do that because I just don't like the way the lot was made, or I want to add variety to a lot I may be using multiple times.

 

20 hours ago, Dreadnought said:

The game will not allow you to run pipes through them -- therefore, it is better to run the pipes, rail, and subways first. 

I use a universal plumbing cheat. Pipes are already there.

A few other uses-

Filling those wide radius curves

 

Getting a more natural perimeter on farms and other hard-to-mmp objects

 

Ironically, the waterfalls and water fill lots were supposed to be the stars of Poseidon, and they're the features I use the least.

 

9 hours ago, TheMurderousCricket said:

Considerable progress with my revamp of the JENX texture plops.  I have increased the opacity of single plops, though not in the way I imagined at first... Anyway, the plops do not overlap by opacity anymore and are non-transparent.

But! What is even more important, I played a little with the opacity maps of JENX's original .fsh files. I edited them considerably, creating a wind-swept look for all sand-styled texture plops instead of the default circle that was in place. I really like the way the plops look right now. 

 

As you can see, no overlapping happens and one can easily place each plop at greater distances than two tiles away.  Below you can see the exact distribution of the plops seen above:

 

 

As you can see, they are 3-4 plops away from each other now. The "beach texture" in the upper left corner seems a bit shy today though and I had to use the 2-tile setup (size of each patch is chosen randomly in this mod). 

I think that the modifications above may be a good material to share onto Simtropolis but I have to ask for permission first. I still have to wait anyway because the dependencies needed for this mod to work are on SC4D which, as you know, is down at the moment.

 

From your initial preview pics, I thought you were working on a modern art masterpiece! But, wow, these are marvelous, especially the dirt brush. A grass brush would be great to make, too, if you can do it. Please share on the STEX.

Here is another batch of textures you might be interested in fixing. They apply with the fauna brush and are very quick to use. Unfortunately, they were modded as temporary textures, and will fade away within minutes. Maybe you can make them permanent?

 

[Barroco Hispano 26,919]

@TheMurderousCricket I've done something like that in the past but the downside is that (for now) we have to stick with replacing the Jenx textures until we figure out a way to make new icons/lots. 

water texture

[TheMurderousCricket 5,096]

1 hour ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

From your initial preview pics, I thought you were working on a modern art masterpiece!

Truly it puts "Pic" in "Picasso".  Just a proof of concept over there.

1 hour ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

But, wow, these are marvelous, especially the dirt brush. A grass brush would be great to make, too, if you can do it. Please share on the STEX.

Thank you.  I really like them and I specifically wanted to reproduce the effect of sand trails. Grass brush can be altered in the exact, same way, so I'll have a look and might generate an opacity image that has a grass blade look!

Regarding the STEX upload, just like I said, I'll have to make sure if it is ok to freely distribute derivatives of JENX's files. SC4D availability also plays a role because a proper documentation with the link to the source dependency would be great. Unfortunately, cannot do it right now with all links being "trapped" out there.

1 hour ago, Barroco Hispano said:

I've done something like that in the past but the downside is that (for now) we have to stick with replacing the Jenx textures until we figure out a way to make new icons/lots.

Cool handiwork. Yes - I didn't even try to make additional items. I believe this is something out of my depth. I actually had to copy my properties from resaved JENX lots and paste them into original files to get everything working as intended because my edits did not even show up in-game!

2 hours ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

Here is another batch of textures you might be interested in fixing. They apply with the fauna brush and are very quick to use. Unfortunately, they were modded as temporary textures, and will fade away within minutes. Maybe you can make them permanent?

Hmm... Interesting. There is just one culprit that I can think of at the moment, namely, "Flora parameters" variable in iLives. I have seen some MMP items disappear when messing around with these lines, so if they have been used there (and used poorly), it might well be the case why they are not permanent. But this is just a guess based on my prior experience.

[Haljackey 17,385]

Traffic simulator switched on. And boy is there a lot of it.

[pclark06 12,059]

I've been focusing on the Super Touring era of cars but here's a couple of F1 legends:

[Girafarig 1,412]

4 hours ago, Haljackey said:

Traffic simulator switched on. And boy is there a lot of it.

"One more lane, bro. I swear, just one more lane, that's all we need to fix congestion, bro".

[SIM-ple Jack 17,450]

So, I guess the trees didn't do it for you folks, either!

Well, let's try some water, then.

[Lazarou Monkey Terror 1,837]

Re-lotted the 'gygatower', even managed to copy over the subway station that came with the original. Always admired the majesty of this thing.

If anyone fancies building some vaguely futuristic 'megatowers' then that would be greatly appreciated! 

 

[Haljackey 17,385]

Nexus station

[Dreadnought 8,231]

Yo, guys --

A bit off-topic --

Does anyone have a link to the OLD SC4 Plugin Manager ??

Mine has stopped working and I think I need to download another copy and re-install it.

Not to be confused with newer versions -- I need the ORIGINAL -- OLD -- version of Plugins manager.

I need to convert a model to a prop.

[sejr99999 8,365]

58 minutes ago, Dreadnought said:

Yo, guys --

A bit off-topic --

Does anyone have a link to the OLD SC4 Plugin Manager ??

Mine has stopped working and I think I need to download another copy and re-install it.

Not to be confused with newer versions -- I need the ORIGINAL -- OLD -- version of Plugins manager.

I need to convert a model to a prop.

SC4PluginMan.zip

this is the one I've been using for many years

[Dreadnought 8,231]

5 hours ago, sejr99999 said:

SC4PluginMan.zip

this is the one I've been using for many years

THANK YOU so much -- !!

I'll give it a try --

[Barroco Hispano 26,919]

60 new sims 

Download:

 

[Dreadnought 8,231]

Yo, guys --

Off-topic, again (although, this is beginning to be what I'm working on) --

I tried another copy of the OLD Maxis Plugin Manager -- and it still does the same thing. 

The left hand field does not bring up the drop-down categories where you drag-and-drop your descriptor.  I recently changed from WIN 7 to WIN 10 -- and I think the old Maxis software app is not going to work in that program. (Yes -?  No-?)

If you're running WIN 10 -- what plugin manager are you currently running -- ?

AND -- have you got a link I can use to download it -?

ALL HELP APPRECIATED --

[Tyberius06 12,251]

36 minutes ago, Dreadnought said:

Yo, guys --

Off-topic, again (although, this is beginning to be what I'm working on) --

I tried another copy of the OLD Maxis Plugin Manager -- and it still does the same thing. 

The left hand field does not bring up the drop-down categories where you drag-and-drop your descriptor.  I recently changed from WIN 7 to WIN 10 -- and I think the old Maxis software app is not going to work in that program. (Yes -?  No-?)

If you're running WIN 10 -- what plugin manager are you currently running -- ?

AND -- have you got a link I can use to download it -?

ALL HELP APPRECIATED --

Why don't you try SC4 PIM-X instead. Much better than the old PIM.

You can download it from my Google drive and also there should be all the instructions and necessary files to install it to WIN-10

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14iN7-s8vVaC35uMLzG3h2K56MkfkebjC/view?usp=drivesdk

[Brad 343]

project #2. the port of Lake Erie.

[kschmidt 6,202]

18 hours ago, Tyberius06 said:

Why don't you try SC4 PIM-X instead. Much better than the old PIM.

You can download it from my Google drive and also there should be all the instructions and necessary files to install it to WIN-10

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14iN7-s8vVaC35uMLzG3h2K56MkfkebjC/view?usp=drivesdk

Hi, have you viewed my responsse post on the BSC BLS Parkts TM 02 under Can´t find it thead ? Very interested or you can find what your looking for !

Sincerely yours,

Kschmidt

  Edited June 30, 2023 by kschmidt  

[SIM-ple Jack 17,450]

My region as of 15 minutes ago-

 

Plop water- JPN Downtown/Urban Canal Set links can be found here-

Water mod- Timotheus4 embrx02 water is perfect match in tile, not quite in region.

[Brad 343]

SIM-ple JACK, where did you get the ploppable water? I tried Paengs pond water but it messed up my main water texture.

[Dreadnought 8,231]

@Tyberius06

Yo, guy --

I got your download -- will go to work on it in the morning.  I noticed a reference on putting certain files into certain folders -- sounds complicated -- but I will give it a try......

THANK YOU sooooooo much -- !!     

[art128 4,622]

After some months long focused work (basically doing almost only that) on finishing my region, I'm glad to say that it is 99% finished. Only thing left are some reserved spots for future BATs. (Using maxis 1x1 farm parks as placeholders)

Some may remember the region I had previously that I showed pictures here and there. It was quite developed, even managing to reach the 1 Million citizen. However it also had a lot of big projects and ideas that I simply don't have the will to commit to finish since these would require a lot of custom BATs and LOTs. (airport, port, racetrack, army bases, ski resort.. etc.) This was too  time consuming and such a big task that I decided to start anew. 

In order to focus on a realistic looking Japanese-y city, I purged my plugin folders of stuff that I believe would not fit correctly, such as Hong Kong residential towers or Russian apartment blocks. I also decided to not make an airport or a port, which enabled me to save quite a few hundred megabytes of plugins.

The region is a 4x4 large city tiles, custom region created from Moonlight's grayscale of an area east of Tokyo he posted on his blog long ago. I modified it to better align the river with the tiles corners and added some mountains.

This will be my final SC4 region project. I will elaborate on that matter later. I'm planning to open a CJ in the near future so I can start showing pictures.

In the meantime, here's a region view as well as an overview of the city center:

 

[Haljackey 17,385]

The latest

[younghappy 308]

9 hours ago, art128 said:

After some months long focused work (basically doing almost only that) on finishing my region, I'm glad to say that it is 99% finished. Only thing left are some reserved spots for future BATs. (Using maxis 1x1 farm parks as placeholders)

Some may remember the region I had previously that I showed pictures here and there. It was quite developed, even managing to reach the 1 Million citizen. However it also had a lot of big projects and ideas that I simply don't have the will to commit to finish since these would require a lot of custom BATs and LOTs. (airport, port, racetrack, army bases, ski resort.. etc.) This was too  time consuming and such a big task that I decided to start anew. 

In order to focus on a realistic looking Japanese-y city, I purged my plugin folders of stuff that I believe would not fit correctly, such as Hong Kong residential towers or Russian apartment blocks. I also decided to not make an airport or a port, which enabled me to save quite a few hundred megabytes of plugins.

The region is a 4x4 large city tiles, custom region created from Moonlight's grayscale of an area east of Tokyo he posted on his blog long ago. I modified it to better align the river with the tiles corners and added some mountains.

This will be my final SC4 region project. I will elaborate on that matter later. I'm planning to open a CJ in the near future so I can start showing pictures.

In the meantime, here's a region view as well as an overview of the city center:

 

Now if that didn't stop me in my tracks * pulls laptop table closer for a good look *

[Ke|is 3,337]

15 hours ago, art128 said:

After some months long focused work (basically doing almost only that) on finishing my region, I'm glad to say that it is 99% finished. Only thing left are some reserved spots for future BATs. (Using maxis 1x1 farm parks as placeholders)

Some may remember the region I had previously that I showed pictures here and there. It was quite developed, even managing to reach the 1 Million citizen. However it also had a lot of big projects and ideas that I simply don't have the will to commit to finish since these would require a lot of custom BATs and LOTs. (airport, port, racetrack, army bases, ski resort.. etc.) This was too  time consuming and such a big task that I decided to start anew. 

In order to focus on a realistic looking Japanese-y city, I purged my plugin folders of stuff that I believe would not fit correctly, such as Hong Kong residential towers or Russian apartment blocks. I also decided to not make an airport or a port, which enabled me to save quite a few hundred megabytes of plugins.

The region is a 4x4 large city tiles, custom region created from Moonlight's grayscale of an area east of Tokyo he posted on his blog long ago. I modified it to better align the river with the tiles corners and added some mountains.

This will be my final SC4 region project. I will elaborate on that matter later. I'm planning to open a CJ in the near future so I can start showing pictures.

In the meantime, here's a region view as well as an overview of the city center:

 

Beautiful work Art, love how the region looks. Hopefully you will manage to open a CJ soon, would like to see more about this !!

[raynev1 1,886]

You guys have made some awesome scenes , glad to see the game still being played .

 

[WannGLondon 2,298]

On 6/30/2023 at 4:28 PM, art128 said:

After some months long focused work (basically doing almost only that) on finishing my region, I'm glad to say that it is 99% finished. Only thing left are some reserved spots for future BATs. (Using maxis 1x1 farm parks as placeholders)

Some may remember the region I had previously that I showed pictures here and there. It was quite developed, even managing to reach the 1 Million citizen. However it also had a lot of big projects and ideas that I simply don't have the will to commit to finish since these would require a lot of custom BATs and LOTs. (airport, port, racetrack, army bases, ski resort.. etc.) This was too  time consuming and such a big task that I decided to start anew. 

In order to focus on a realistic looking Japanese-y city, I purged my plugin folders of stuff that I believe would not fit correctly, such as Hong Kong residential towers or Russian apartment blocks. I also decided to not make an airport or a port, which enabled me to save quite a few hundred megabytes of plugins.

The region is a 4x4 large city tiles, custom region created from Moonlight's grayscale of an area east of Tokyo he posted on his blog long ago. I modified it to better align the river with the tiles corners and added some mountains.

This will be my final SC4 region project. I will elaborate on that matter later. I'm planning to open a CJ in the near future so I can start showing pictures.

In the meantime, here's a region view as well as an overview of the city center:

 

I mirror this style of gameplay and I am very jealous that you are nearly complete with your region! I dream of the day I complete my five (plus) regions and can begin "gentrifying" each tile and their neighborhoods. I attempt realistic gameplay to the best of my ability and similarly to you, I model BATs specific to the cities that I am working on at the moment... Anyway here is one of my current models in-game: