Bombardiere's London/ English Bats

[Hotwheeler 409]

Wow,you are really going on the right way.You clearly improve your skills and your models get better and better.As for 3. ,i`m pretty sure i already saw somewhere SC4 pics with a historic era and automatas replaced by historically correct models.I guess it works kinda like replacing for example the Vanilla Trains with Custom Content Trains.

As for your little Prop Pack:This looks faboulous and i also kinda made a happy squeaking noise because of the classic Policeboxes which are famous for being used as the outer shell of a time travelling device in a 50 years old british Sci-Fi Show...(which is also one of my favorite TV shows....)

Keep up your great work,there is always a big need for period correct stuff.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

 

1. I not a big fan of mega prop pack, so I am wondering on how to release my props. Do I do a separate prop pack, as these could be used in many lots or should I just include the props with building uploads and later perhaps refer these buildings as dependences?

2.  

3. How to make a prop family? PIM-X has that option, but I am unsure how to use it. And should I need an id number for a prop family or does PIM-X take care of this?

4.  

5. This is not related in my 3d model work as such, but I am interested in making 19^th century victorian city. I know that there are horse and wagon props, but does any had tried to replace Maxis car automata with horses and carriages? I don't care lack of animation.

1. What some people do is they release an "Essentials" file to which they point as an external dependency. This can contain a wide range of stuff - from props through textures to custom queries. Then, when they make new stuff, they re-package this essentials file and give it a new version number / identifier. In your case, it would result in ONE dependency link such as "Bombardiere Essentials Oct 2014".

   Now let's say it's Decembre 2014, and you are releasing something along with newly made props. In this case you could update your Essentials file with the new props and simply tell people to (re-)download the latest version (and overwrite the older version with it, if they already have that).

   In this way you can keep the count of your personal dependencies at just one, and nothing will be duplicated or packaged with any other stuff that people might not be interested in.

2. Basically, you give each prop a new property called "building/prop family" or somesuch (not at my SC PC currently), and then you assign the prop family IID to all of the "family members". Normally you need to have an IID range reserved for you because if you just invent an IID, chances are there will be conflicts with existing assets.

   However, I already have an IID range, and there are plenty of slots left (I'll never use them all), so I'll be happy to provide you with a number of IIDs from my range.

3. Not that I know of.

[Belfastsocrates 1,753]

Oh I love the look of those street clocks and the police box! The litter bins look like the ones we have in Belfast as well. 

 

I'll enjoy using these in Perseus

[rsc204 21,857]

Great props and buildings, like many others commenting here I am also looking forward to some new British-themed content for SC4. Prop packs are fine for things like the phone/post boxes and such-like, that way others could re-use your props for their lots/buildings with only a small dependency required. Every serious player accepts dependencies for what they are, they make the game better.

 

If you need any further assistance with lotting/modding I would be happy to help.

[Bombardiere 591]

Thank you all

 

Mntoes, T Wreck, Rsc204. Both have their pros and cons. I think I will do a prop pack, but I try to avoid dependecies madness. I plan to include a few functional lots, which uses the props. Plazas, police kiosk and water tower.

 

@T Wreck I haven't looked into making families, but I could use perhaps 5 IDs.But I am not in hurry.

 

@ Belfastsocrates Sorry but the Street Clocks are not mine. It is just for a comparison. Those are from Historic Harbour's excilent props.

 

@Hotwheeler I am a Doctor Who fan too. I am sure that lamp can be modded to blink and the box to fade in and out, but that is beyound my skill level. My police box will be a normal police kiosk.

 

Currently I am looking into how to make custom lot icons. PIM-X doesn't work well with small 1x1 lots.

 

Another thing is that does SC4 tolerate two functions in one lot? Such as if I make my Village Pump as a functional water tower, is it possible to include a small park or health effect?

[mntoes 271]

For custom Icons follow this tutorial:-

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/_/simcity-4/batlot-editor-tutorials/creating-custom-lot-icons-r62

[Bombardiere 591]

Ok, I must stop now. I am falling into prop madness.

 

 

 

So I have practiced. Indeed I have practiced. End result are:

 

1 x Police box (Functional police kiosk)

1 x Village Pump (Functional water tower)

2 x Phone Boxes (K1 and K6 type)

1 x Drinking Fountain

6 x Mail Boxes

2 x Bollards

2 x Benches

2 x Litter Bins

2 X Cattle Troughs

 

Plus three Irish colour variations. (Green ones grouped together)

 

 

I have also made some lots for these props. Two plazas, a functional water tower (about same capacity as Maxis water tower) and a police kiosk. (Not much for police use, but perhaps eye candy)

 

I am not a good lotter, so I would appreciate feedback. I have only used Maxis and my props. I need adjust the stats a bit and do some testing before I upload, but I think I could get these ready by next week. If somebody is interested in testing the lots and props then please send me a private message.

 

By the way, I have a question about the parks. The parks can have low, medium or high wealth, but does this have any game effect? For example, do R$$ like medium wealth parks and R$$$ high wealth parks? Only Maxis plazas are high wealth, allmost all other Maxis parks are medium wealth. I suppose there is no point to make low wealth parks, but assuming that park wealth level has meaning in the game, would low wealth attract R$ population?

[SimCoug 5,973]

I love the props, don't stop!

[KonstantinII 1,106]

I see...tardis lol

[Hotwheeler 409]

Hehe,seems like there are quite a few Whovians around here.Someone here even have a Tardis GIF as an Avatar.

But back to business:Your Props look great and i love all those tiny details.Would be pretty funny to have an animated Tardis(aside from other DW related Props like times prop Weeping Angels....),but this one looks perfect,too.

Keep up the good work.About if the low wealth parks wouls attract R$ people:Well,they can be already attracted by almost everything from clean Water to low taxes,so why not.Might be useful for people who plan bigger areas with Low Wealth Housings.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

By the way, I have a question about the parks. The parks can have low, medium or high wealth, but does this have any game effect? For example, do R$$ like medium wealth parks and R$$$ high wealth parks? Only Maxis plazas are high wealth, allmost all other Maxis parks are medium wealth. I suppose there is no point to make low wealth parks, but assuming that park wealth level has meaning in the game, would low wealth attract R$ population?

Prepare to be underwhelmed.

 

Whereas you need the correct wealth for anything RCI (otherwise it wn't work), ploppables like parks and landmarks don't have RCI occupants. This means that for ploppables and parks, wealth level only affects two visual aspects:

• [only if wealth-dependent textures are used on the lot]: the texture wealth level to display
• the wealth level of the  surrounding sidewalk

That's it.

[Bombardiere 591]

Thanks everyone

 

 

Prepare to be underwhelmed.

 

Whereas you need the correct wealth for anything RCI (otherwise it wn't work), ploppables like parks and landmarks don't have RCI occupants. This means that for ploppables and parks, wealth level only affects two visual aspects:

• [only if wealth-dependent textures are used on the lot]: the texture wealth level to display
• the wealth level of the  surrounding sidewalk

That's it.

 

 

Thanks, I kind of guessed that.  This means that there is no point to set wealth levels for the props.

 

I am relatively new to Sc4 and I don't know everything that has been written or discovered about the inner workings of the game. I remember that I have read from somewhere, perhaps offical guide or Maxis material, that it is good to put a playground in areas where population is young. The age level is low. But does playground really have any special function or would any park lot do just fine? Unless there is something hidden in the code, I don't think that the playground has any special game function.

 

And what about the rewards? For example City Hall reward describtion says something about the building will make city government more efficient. But does it have any hardcode extra function or is just about mayoral, landmark and park effect?

 

@Simcoug I bet you do. But I need to keep my focus on the buildings So many ideas to do and there is no way that I can do it all.

 

 

However, I will take inspirations. If there is some interesting period items, then please post pictures. (Though no weeping angels for now )

 

I applied and got a prop range, so I will upload the props soon. I have made some lots for police station / office, so those will follow soon. Years ago I do some stuff with hex decimal, but I have forgotten most. But I guess for now it is enought that I will just increase my allocated range as 00, 01, 02, 03 ,04, 05 etc... 

 

 

[Jasoncw 11,940]

When it talks about that kind of stuff it's 99% wrong. I really don't like it when things do that because you're trying to understand what things actually do and it's lying to you. 

 

All parks, landmarks, and most rewards are essentially modded the same way. They increase desirability, increase the caps (your population ceiling for each category of sims. If you hit the cap that category won't gain more sims until you build something that increases the cap (if you literally never build any parks your population will be limited)), and that's mostly it. Landmarks function like really big and expensive parks. Most rewards do too. The house of worship is basically a park, and the convention center is basically a plaza. The airport doesn't actually function as a a transit type, it is also basically a giant plaza. City hall is a plaza. The plazas favor commercial while the residential-looking parks favor residential.

 

Educational buildings actually do act according to age though. The game doesn't have middle schools but they could be made by changing the age range that the school affects. You could also make a K-12 school. Universities actually do educate university aged sims, etc. This is why libraries are actually the best way to educate your sims longterm, because they educate a wide age range of sims, and because sims pass some of their education onto the replacement sims.

 

So yeah almost all of that kind of stuff is flavor text. As you do more modding you'll see what the buildings actually do because they can only do what they have properties for in the lot editor. The city hall lot doesn't have a "city expenses coefficient" property for example.

[catty-cb 4,412]

...I applied and got a prop range, so I will upload the props soon. I have made some lots for police station / office, so those will follow soon. Years ago I do some stuff with hex decimal, but I have forgotten most. But I guess for now it is enought that I will just increase my allocated range as 00, 01, 02, 03 ,04, 05 etc... 

 

Feel free to ask for another range if you need it, and that applies to anyone who wants a range

 

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2490.msg486975#msg486975

 

I also keep a backup of the Prop Family Index over here

 

https://community.simtropolis.com/clubs/26-city-builders-website/cb-groups

 

So if SC4D is ever down or you can't access SC4D then feel free to request a range over there, but it is very much a backup to the main request topic at SC4D.

 

If you get stuck re your range numbers and the correct sequence you can use your computer calculator and change it to Scientific and HEX, it works quite well or always happy to help if needed 

 

-catty

[vortext 573]

Some neat stone houses here and props are great too! I'll echo Simcoug by saying: go prop crazy! 

 

1. This is not related in my 3d model work as such, but I am interested in making 19^th century victorian city. I know that there are horse and wagon props, but does any had tried to replace Maxis car automata with horses and carriages? I don't care lack of animation.

 

Oh yes please, that'd be amazing! I'm keen on making 'historic' cities as well so you sure have my interest. Keep up the great work! 

[Bombardiere 591]

@Jasoncw Thanks for explaining that. I did suspect this, but I secretly hoped that something would have been hidden in the code. But hopefully this will help me to better understand what is possible and what is not. In theory, I could make a reward building with negative upkeep and pretend that will make a city budget more efficient. Or maybe I have to look into business deals.

 

@Catty. Thank you. I think I am sorted for now. If I understand correctly I have now 255 ids, so those will last for awhile.

 

@Vortext There are plenty of train, bus etc replacements so horses must be possible. But it is still beyond of my skill levels and I will not look into it anytime soon. I was just wondering that SC4 is on 10th year, so someone must have tried this and if not, why?

 

But enough of small talk. I am happy to announce my first upload.

 

 

I have tested these in my computer and those should work as intend. But that doesn't necessary mean anything, so please report if I have done something silly. I think that I will follow T Wreck advise and upload these as it is and if (when) I do more props, I will update the pack.

 

Thank you for everyone for your attention and suggestions. Hopefully this is only the first of many.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

Congrats on an excellent first upload!
 
Just a heads up:
In the new updated file, the red phone box still appears missing. I think you may have re-uploaded the same ZIP by mistake, as both are identical size.

[Bombardiere 591]

Congrats on an excellent first upload!

 

Just a heads up:

In the new updated file, the red phone box still appears missing. I think you may have re-uploaded the same ZIP by mistake, as both are identical size.

Shite! It seems that I can't get it right. Thank you Cyclone Boom. I reuploaded it again. And this time downloaded it to make sure what I have included in the pack.

 

I appreciate your warning.

 

I have police station ready, but I am still hesitant to upload that, because I am looking ofr small mistakes and playing with the props.

[cmdp123789 710]

Take your time.. Stex isn't going anywhere

[Mike the Mayor 51]

Yes yes yes! Finally - a BATter doing English buildings. I'm really looking forward to seeing your productions after the tasters you've given here. The buildings on the page before look brilliant. We could really do with some decent English terraces as I think the closest thing to them at the moment to the right scale are Vanderaap's wonderful Amsterdam buildings.

 

Great looking props too!

[Bombardiere 591]

I was able to do my second upload. The Police Station. Testing and lotting takes time and I work slowly, but stone buildings are next.

 

 

 

 

 

And here is preview on what I am currently working. Ok, more stone houses. But these are slightly more detailed. I created walls instead of a solid box and proper windows. As I use GMAX, I will be doing only Maxis nights. No Darknite option. May be later I can update the buildings with better light, but I am not thinking that too much.

 

 

On lower right corner is my latest work on progress. A Georgian Townhouse. I got inspired on town house discussion so much that I went and made a quick proof of concept test model. The windows are quite ugly and I am not happy with the brick texture. And for some reason, my previous buildings didn't suffer much SD <> HD Zoom 5 distortion, but this particular building looks strange on HD level 5 zoom.

 

@Mike the Mayor I also use Vanderaap's, Hammergold's and others Dutch buildings, but those are overscale in my opinion. Many are $$$ and I need more low and medium wealth buildings. So I try to make a few myself.

[Mike the Mayor 51]

 

@Mike the Mayor I also use Vanderaap's, Hammergold's and others Dutch buildings, but those are overscale in my opinion. Many are $$$ and I need more low and medium wealth buildings. So I try to make a few myself.

 

You mean too big? I didn't think they were too bad at all, my only gripe is that haarlemmergold's are so close to the road / vanderaap's are further back, so they can't be used instantly together. Other than that I love them.

 

Love the look of the terrace above though, very Bloomsbury-esque. Watching this thread with enthusiasm.

[vortext 573]

The stone houses look great! The brick walls are very nice, though I have to say it's a bit odd the roof tiles differ in size, imho it'd be more realistic if these were uniform. Are you also planning to release those houses shown in the first post? I like those a lot as well. 

 

Re: carriage automata. I'd reckon technically it's no different from other automata. It's just a niche product, so to speak, and I guess that's the reason why there aren't any yet. Besides, the trend for historic cities is quite recent, relative speaking, and the majority of content was produced before that time.  

[mntoes 271]

I really like the stone house. I  was going to point out the odd size roof tiles but someone got there first.. .  A very promising start on the townhouse as well. I don't want to sound condescending but the improvement in your work is very noticeable.

[IRE505 109]

I have only just seen this thread now! I love it! Great work on the props and building models and being from Ireland I love the irish themed pieces! Definitely more plain Irish and UK stuff needed for the game. What I have noticed as a difference between Irish and UK buildings is that Irish ones seem to be a lot simpler in design compared to British buildings, if that's of any help! There are some great Irish georgian townhouse examples from the town which I live in, Limerick in the south of Ireland, you should check it out!

[Bombardiere 591]

Townhouses, eh? I had a bad week at the offices and I had unload my frustration towards Georgian Townhouses.

 

 

It looks like I will be doing variations. I still need to work with brick texture. I would appreciate ideas and guides on how to improve windows.

 

Thank you for your input so far.

 

@Mike the Mayor. Yes, in my opinion those are too tall. The Floor is over exaggerated, Probably an attempt to match Maxis giant people. I think this affect many French style buildings too and was possibly a batting trend back then. Thank you for reminding me about Bloomsbury. I tend to pick names for building from streets and so far I have used mostly East London / Spitalfield streets.

 

@Vortext I will not release the red townhouses. Those need more work. But I was lotting stone cottages when this townhouse madness hit me. Those will be uploaded, but are inferior product and filler only.

 

The oddly shaped roof tiles came with other textures, so I just used it. But it may not be unrealistic. I am not an expert on architecture, but I have a book where is some pictures of similar roof on north English stone houses. Very old ones.

 

@Mntoes Thanks, when one starts from the bottom, there is only one way to go. I haven't done any 3D modelling before this fall. Only opened Blender and toyed with ready made models.

 

@Ire505 My guess it is money matter. Rural areas and designs get simpler and the function is more important. It is only fashionable capital where people need to impress with architecture. Georgian period is pleasing to novice as designs were often symmetrical and plan.

[Hotwheeler 409]

Ohhhh,they are precious.I always loved the british georgian Townhouses, even if i am more into NY Rowhouses.

The fact that they often were connected under the street pavement kinda made me imagine lots of interesting and mysterious stories.

This also reminded me of a website i once found where you can see georgian Townhouses disected so you can see the floorplans etc...

 

Maybe this one might contain some useful input for you:

 

I am a Link

[IRE505 109]

Oooo, these are very nice, They could also look good in red brick or like in the post above, that beige colour. Good detail on the lot, although the roof texture looks a little repetitive, maybe? It would also be nice to add some of that detail aorund the windows that so many of them have, but its not necessary, as you set out to design non-descript filler lots.

[SimCoug 5,973]

I'm excited about the townhouses, great start!

[Mike the Mayor 51]

Wow, they've come out great, really liking them! One can have so much fun with townhouses as there are so many variations, styles, colours etc.