Balace in all things

[Metalpuritan 160]

I am having a hard time finding balance in my commericial areas.  A balanced look.  I have achieved a balance in my residential areas.  I absolutely HATE the maxis buildings, they are drab and dull.  My industrial areas and my residential areas are beautiful, thanks to TWrecks' IRM mod and jmeyers low wealth residentials and Mattb325's medium and high wealth residentials.  I have been able to create massive suburban sprawls that look organic and rather artful.  I look at my commercial areas though and it is this ugly spot in all of my cities.

 

I get SimGoober's ploppable lots to add that suburban feel and those are awesome, I wish I could use them as growables but I can't have multiple named chains/franchises of the same lot (You know it is bad when you get bultiple Border's Books right next to each other, like 4 or 5 of them and you destroy them just to have them come right back on you)popping up next to each other because that is just tacky looking and using the growables using the old bulldoze grow and repeat till I get something different then make it historical technique is just ridiculous as the same stores keep popping up over and over again.  

 

Anybody got any suggestions for what growable lots I should get for my commericial zones to match the beauty of the IRM and Jmeyers' and Mattb325's residentials?  Commericials that grow and look great?  Or just a particular modder who deals in commercials like that?  I tried W2W but so few are of a matching design and do not go well with any other kind of commercial except for other W2W, and most W2W sets that match the residentials I have are not an extensive collection enough to fulfill the suburban sprawl area I need to fill.

 

Ultimately I would like to grow my commercial areas naturally, and just plop an occasional named store from SimGoober's selection here and there, so I need a set of commercials that can bridge the gap between SimGoobers lots and the beautiful residentials and the IRM, for that all around journal quality look.  

 

Yeah, I am talking cosmetics at this point, I already know how to balance the demands.

 

*Note I already realize that the IRM does not work with CAM, which I admit, soon I will have to activate, soon being if I can achieve this delicate balancing act with my commericial areas.  I already know what I am going to do with my Industrials when I get the CAM, sadly I will have to dump off the IRM and go all out mods for that, but the existing Industrials on both the LEX and the STEX are quite sufficient in looks to fill that gaping hole.

 

So here I am, stuck at commercials, both low and medium wealth(High density/wealth when I get to that point and then need the CAM), toss me a line here, I need some advice.  Your suggestions will be fully welcomed.  Thanks in advance guys.

[EyeofMobius 27]

For my Core style commercial areas with sky scrapers I did alot of my beautification with the road networks and parks. For example:

 

I used the NWM to set up a huge boulevard with a 2 or three tile space between the directions of traffic and used that for parks, plazas, underground malls etc.

 

I encouraged the growth of R$$$ high-rises by creating private driveways with a street doing a loop 2 deep from an avenue. Then I was able to use some parks and walls to decorate the base of the building.

 

Another thing to look for is sidewalk and corner fillers for NAM Far and Curves that match the sidewalk texture you are using for the sidewalks.

 

The last bit of advice I have for this is depending on your preferred style you can really get a lot of aesthetics out of GLR, Canals, Trains, El-Rail, etc. See if you have a set theme for the area and if there is anything that catches your fancy from the collections of set items where you get a tonne of tiles to choose from that all work togeth as a pack.

[Turjan 1,048]

There are really so many different styles of commercial buildings available that I don't really know what look you are after. If I'd take a guess, most downloads are commercial buildings. I use a mix of stuff from many different modders, and it often enough looks quite good - to me . The stuff I like best is for medium density, and high density is just a wall of skyscrapers, anyway.

[Metalpuritan 160]

Yes, I see now I was not specific enough.  My cities are by and large green areas, lots of trees, everywhere trees, are there any content creators that make green commercial areas with enough of a variety that buildings do not repeat too often, or not often enough that I do not spend hours growing and deleting the same building over and over again?  Lots with parkinglots, that have geen spaces and parking lots that are in logical places on the lots?  Can someone drop a name or a link to some of thier files?

 

*note: I am in the process of scouring the STEX and LEX for such lots/BATs.  It is obviously going to take a very long time.  A link or even just a name would help me considerably.

[Turjan 1,048]

I think you really have to start with a link yourself so people get a better idea what to look for. I mean, one of the modders you mentioned has a few lots:

 

 

... and some more. Is this what you mean?

 

Obviously, the game loves repetition. You will always get that. The only cure is to increase the number of lots. And plops, of course.

[Cefien 361]

Why, if you're using the CAM, i suggest you to look upon the CAM commercial lot at sc4devotion first.

[Metalpuritan 160]

Sorry, I would rather hunt and peck to get the buildings I want instead of grab a bunch of buildings and then hunt for all the dependencies and then only like a few of the whole bunch.  The CAM is good for more than just tall buildings(I got the agricultural and Industrial(hunt and pecked for industrials) lots.  It creates even growth too amongst the residential and commercial buildings, with CAM your residential highrises start growing at the same time your commercial highrises do, which makes total sense, THAT is why I have the CAM, not for the buildings.

 

Of special note:  I found a way to get T.Wrecks' IRM to work with CAM, don't ask me how though because I don't know, I just downloaded everything I thought I might need for this region I decided to settle on and suddenly now the IRM works, I was keeping it installed just for the filler lots, now the IRM lots are growing.  I have paeng's makeover installed but those lots aren't growing anymore.  I am scared to uninstall paeng's makeover though as it may be in part responsible for the IRM working(That is how little I know about why the IRM is working with CAM.).