Realistic Desert Regions

[JohnB 66]

Hello, I have been working on a project to make realistic desert regions. I have worked for 5 weeks trying to make a saguaro cactus. I am planning on having the cactus be as flora in god mode instead of a prop. I have tried to make the cactus look realistic. I learned many new BAT skills during this project. After making the cactus in Gmax, I rendered it. The cactus looks great. Its very realistic. The problem came after render. Since BAT does not render small stuff good, meaning it makes it blurry and makes it lose details, the cactus looked very blurry and lost most of the details. After that I tried some things to make the cactus look better. Nothing worked. Then I decided to get the free trial version of 3ds max  in hopes that 3ds max will render the cactus more clearely. I made the cactus again in 3ds max, and got BAT for Max. After render, I was incredibly dissapointed to see that the cactus looks the same after render with 3ds max as it it did with gmax. Its still very blurry and lost its details.
So anyway, here is a photo of what my cactus looks like in 3ds max.
link to photo
Here is a photo of what my cactus looks like after render with BAT for 3ds max.
link to photo
This project is now complete. Please look on the last page to see some photos of the completed project

[Alkaola 18]

yep johnb great work it looks realistic and good detail , its very good

[JohnB 66]

Do you guys like the cacti? Please tell me.

[JohnB 66]

I have made a final version of the cactus. I have made 3 different kinds of cacti. I have tried everything I can think to make the cactus render more clearely, but nothing works. I will be making these cacti into flora in god mode, so that realistic desert regions will be possible.
Here is a photo of the cactus in gmax.
link to photo
Here is a photo of the 2 different kinds of cacti after render.
link to photo
Here is a photo of the 3rd kind of cactus after render.
link to photo
Please tell me what you think of these. I did all I could to get them to render clearely.

[JohnB 66]

Deleted

[Slabrankle 4]

awesome man

[JohnB 66]

Hey, I have found an old desert terrain mod by Teirusu.
He never finished the mod per say, but he did release a beta version a long time ago. This mod gives us the possibility to make realistic desert regions. The redness of the desert can be increased or decreased to your liking. You just have to play around with the terraform tools. Here is a picture of what the region looks like with the mod.
link to photo of mod
I have put my cacti in this desert region. I think they look pretty good. Once I'm done with turning them into flora, it will be possible to place the cacti like trees all over the region, without making a lot. Here is a photo of my cacti in the desert region, so far its still on a lot.
link to photo
This mod is not perfect, but Teirusu never finished it. Until he finishes it, this mod will do fine for our desert regions in my opinion. I need to know if you like my cacti though? I did make ridges on the cacti, but they never showed up after render. Here is the link to Teirusu's unfinished desert terrain mod. I hope Teirusu dont mind me giving this link out. link to mod
Just put the dat files in your plugins folder.

[NintendoMaster128 30]

If only the quality were better so we could see more detail, but it won't really be noticed in the game.

[JohnB 66]

the quality of the cacti, heh. i tried everything that I can think of to get the cacti to render good. I even got 3ds max, but that didnt help neither. Here is what the cacti looks like in 3ds max before render. link to photo

[flamesrock 6]

Please continue!!! A real 'desert terrain' mod could open up many many doors.

Maybe you and teirusu could pair up and work on other terrain mods too, ie tropical.

[HeXy 246]

very nice work JohnB, the only thing I could suggest is try texturing lines onto the cacti (if you havent tried that already), but they look great as they are.

[JohnB 66]

Yes I have tried putting textures on the cacti, and they dont show up on an object that small. All that shows up is the color of the texture. Do you really like the cacti as they are? I hope so, because I tried everything I can think of to get the ridges to show up. I think the current desert mod beta is ok for now. I have no idea where Teirusu is. No one has heard from Teirusu in a long time. Would you use my cacti with the current beta desert mod?

[JohnB 66]

Not many people interested in desert regions for sc4.
I wonder why?

[ardecila 124]

Because all the custom content and all the transit and such things we have are designed to work with a temperate climate region, that's why. Really.

If you get this working properly, it could work out really great.

[JaWood 194]

Here's my idea for getting some more detail in the cacti. Apply a texture thats light green stripe dark green stripe alternated in the jpg. Make sure there's a BIG difference between the light green and the dark green. Also, if after you render, the texture still doesn't help, enlarge the texture using the UVWmap imputs. You may have to totally exagerate it in order to see results.

I hope this helps.

[JohnB 66]

Ok here it is. After a lot of work and help from many people here at Simtropolis, my desert flora project is finally complete. I have made 3 different kinds of Saguaros and made them into flora for mayor mode. Below are some photos of a Ghost Town I made. These kinds of cities are now possible with this mod.

 

 

 

 

 

These photos are much smaller then their original size, but you can still see the saguaros.

 

 

[+Guest]

Hey, JohnB, I have to say that those saguaros had turned out really great! Final screenshots you've posted here are lookin' great.

Your saguaros looks really great with this desert terrain mod.

[SkyTearer 10]

Amazing job! A+ work, I think it's great you did it because it will add so much more realism for those of us with desert regions, i mean bush green trees in a desert?

[subedei 3]

Looks awsome JohnB. Its a agreat addition to the STEX. 

 

 

Subedei

[Superstar 69]

wow, john, taht is simply UNBELEIVEABLE, great work

[Speedy 0]

JohnB this is simply great! I think you have started the desert region pretty well and I love the cactuses!! nice...

[Alkaola 18]

like i said johnb its amazing , and I REALLY want this for my desert regions .......

 

when you expect to put it on the stex  i love it!

[pansarkatt 2]

Great cactuses! I have a desert region where they would be perfect. Will they be available soon?

And great work!!

[Flying_Dutch_Man 0]

Very nice work John and Gizmo! This will greatly add to the versatility of the types of CJ's here at ST. Keep on innovating!

[MrCinatit 30]

wow...that is fantastic, JohnB....i didn't know this was going on, or i would have replied.

i am working on a terrain called Kiphtin Bay (you can see some previews in the city journals, end of cheap plug), where i have some desert terrain. those cacti would be spectacular for that part of the region.

great work.

[JohnB 66]

Thanks so much. I am glad you like them. Expect to see them on the stex and the mods forum very soon.

[CitiSweeper 5]

Yeah, from your post I'd say that it's perfectly matched to dessert terrain.

My suggestion is to make them in many varieties. Have you tried different branch and stem configutions such as 2 or 4 stems?

[flamesrock 6]

I love it! Made a terrain specifically for this, and will certainly make more! True desert terrain has finally arrived in simcity

https://www.simtropolis.com/Maps/Maps.cfm?Str=Desert%20Oasis

[crazyarchitect 7]

very cool, it's about time we got some cacti, it makes the very cool, very rare desert regions even better, thank you JohnB

[frogface 352]

see it came out quite well eventually
well done, it looks like its finally finished then