Airman's Hangar

[airman15 4,113]

@raynev1- Good point, and i'll give you that. It's just looking at the history of Lincoln, it was a premier name that certainly requires to be garaged every night. And thank you!

@MushyMushy- The first generation of Ridgeline, I am not particularly a fan of. As for the newest ones I think they did it justice! I had a chance to see one at the dealership while Carol was being serviced and I was impressed! The only thing that stood out were the badges being a tad big. That said, it wasn't like those enormous bricks Dodge has been using on the Ram.

@Fantozzi- I dunno. Most of the high wealth cars already uploaded are insanely expensive performance models. SimCity can benefit from a few luxury brands that happen to come with a V12. My only bit of advice is to start by not being broke all the time!

And now, for a family photo!

[airman15 4,113]

Good lord! I was slacking for a whole three months without an update?? Remember kids, this is what happens when you OD on RL!

While this is late, I hope it can still be considered fashionably late. When you have the taste for British luxury sport you can get away with anything, even with your choice of ladies. Just ask her ahead of time if she prefers shaken to stirred!

 

[airman15 4,113]

Now that I finally have one backlogged project off the table, I can move onto the next one. Three month pauses with only a teaser is not the way to go about making mods, I admit. With that out of the way let's move onto the next development- The R33 Skyline!

Spoiler

I know it's not a Skyline. This generation of Impala sometimes gets compared to one because of these tail lights. I like to think of it as a Troll's Skyline.

 

[airman15 4,113]

The new (despite being as old as SC4) sedan is coming together. These are fairly common for their age group and I spot one or two on the roads I take during the week. I don't know if they made their way abroad, the basic design is rather conservative as most GM vehicles built this time were.

I have all of the faces textured but they will still need work. Some Impalas for this year feature black trim all around like this which would make it easier to identify in the game. Since I am not sure if it was part of a special package, it would mean taking some extra time to experiment with them as it makes the car look totally different. Should I just keep it "clean" or go for the trim?

I kind of messed up the front fascia in this shot by having it slant down too much. The bottoms of the headlights should be level. Yet the grille on the real car wants to give the impression of being angled.

The back is looking good so far. I admit I like how it looks on the real car! It features a Utah style plate and comes with a frame. That bar next to the circles is supposed to be there.

[Jasoncw 11,941]

It just goes to show how fast time flies, I can't believe it had been 3 months! 

The new car is looking good. You know cars much better than me and use automata much more than me but my inclination is to do the distinctive variation, because these types of cars tend to look so similar, especially at SC4 scale. 

[airman15 4,113]

@Jasoncw- I would have had them out sooner if I didn't keep forgetting to photograph them in the game. On the other hand, RL matters must be priority.

I appreciate the comments so far! I believe automata is a crucial element of the game that should get the same attention as most MMP's and Bats do. To me, an Impala like this would be a better fit  versus the Porsche for the Smalltown, USA suburbs I like to build after getting a CBD and a Government district running. Or perhaps someone would like to go for a London theme and wants something other than a default Luxury Sedan, so a Vanquish could be the in-between they're looking for.

Being that the game will only use low poly models for vehicles there isn't much wiggle room as to how detailed they can be. Even the textures are restrictive to a certain point. But this kind of simplicity works well for the game. I will add all the minor details anyway to make them unique.

[raynev1 1,886]

That Impala looks good so far . I like it . 

[Fantozzi 4,068]

23 hours ago, airman15 said:

I believe automata is a crucial element of the game that should get the same attention as most MMP's and Bats do

Of course! What would be the sense of all the cool network - the NAM - if there was no serious looking traffic on it? And with one or two reskins it isn't done. You need many different custom automata to get some good looking action on your roads. They are as essential as networks are. They spring the road network to life.

[DavidDHetzel 1,816]

@airman15 I'd love t see more average joe cars. Maybe some cars from older generations? Like an old 90s Honda or Toyota? (I got a few I'd like to see personally)

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

I can readily report this didn't make it to Europe. We got the Opel/Vauxhall Vectra instead, which was sadder and worse.

It looks like a badge engineered Ford Five Hundred, if the Five Hundred wasn't newer. Car design was bad during the early 2000s. Good thing we have the Impala.

[airman15 4,113]

@raynev1- Thanks! Some of the minor burrs in the last photos should be resolved by next update.

@Fantozzi- That's very true. Without the appearance of movement cities would be not much more than dioramas. Granted there are some Journals here which are published that way and the results look good. As far as gameplay, who wouldn't want to see networks being used? For modular airports I always add in a couple runway generators to show aircraft taking off and landing.

@DavidDHetzel- I know Mikeseith made a few "everyman" cars like a '78 Corolla and I have seen someone post a 2010/2012 Civic somewhere on the Exchange. It wouldn't be a bad idea to add in more of the 90's models as those are still common. My first Subaru was a '97 and I see a ton of those running around even if I think to myself they must be on their fourth set of Head Gaskets! 

@Thin White Duke- Just the name "Vectra" says that car -really- wants to be noticed! It almost reminds me of the Dodge Avenger in a way. Come to think of it, the early to mid 00's were kind of a dark age for automotive designs, weren't they? You had a few exceptions like the pickups from Ford, Chevy and even the CR-V. Then you look at travesties such as the PT Cruiser, the Hummer, and almost everything from Chrysler and even Saturn. Reviews for this generation of Impala on KBB show it's a decent car aside from supposed build quality.

[airman15 4,113]

Since it was mentioned this generation of Impala has two looks, I decided to perform a little experiment and I would appreciate some input on it! The Impala has two looks; one with black plastic trim and the other a 'clean' look. I still haven't worked out the front yet but I will get to that. So far which would you say is the better result?

Better 1-


Or better 2-

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

1 all the way

[philforhockey51 4,216]

That's a tough one because will the change be very noticeable in game? I like better #1 better.

[airman15 4,113]

@Thin White Duke- Alrighty, that is 1-0 in favor of including the trim!

@philforhockey51- And now it's 2-0 for trim! As far as fine details like this, HD textures should let you see it. Even SD should let you get a good look at the closest zoom levels. The Vanquish has silver trim running between the windshield and rear window along the roof. That feature was about 4 pixels wide on the texture. You could also make out a vague shape for the emblem which was all that was needed for a model seen from a distance. The Impala's trim is about the same width. It should be displayed better in contrasting colors such as the plain white I am using to test the model with.

[raynev1 1,886]

I have to say the trim package looks better , now that is 3-0 . Right . You're doing a great job .   

[tonyr 926]

The trim looks better...

[airman15 4,113]

@raynev1- So far I am liking the way the trim looks! Consider that 3-0 indeed!

@tonyr- I'll take that as another in-favor for trim! 4-0 feels like we are getting a unanimous decision!

More progress on the front, the grille, hood and front bumper are as they should be! The headlights will need some fine tuning but there isn't much more to do. Seeing that the trim is quite popular with this fine crowd, I will keep it on!

[SimCoug 5,973]

I had a friend a while back that had an Impala... his nickname for the car was 'pimpala'.  Our sims will enjoy this fly ride.

Looking good airman!

[airman15 4,113]

Impalas coming around the corner with modelling done.

Spoiler

Later on, there could be an another surprise! Will reveal by next post.

 

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

40 minutes ago, airman15 said:

Later on, there could be an another surprise! Will reveal by next post.

You insufferable tease! 

The models look exactly as perfect as you'd expect. I'd tell you to keep up the great work, but you don't need that.

[airman15 4,113]

@Thin White Duke- Insufferable? On what charge? That sort of false indictment is not warranted! You should know this is the way I normally reveal new items based on the leads you should gather in older posts!

Now it's time to put arrest to the mystery and get on with a flashy reveal!

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

Beep beep, it's the meme police! You done posted a Trump meme and your punishment will be blackmail from a major news network!

[airman15 4,113]

2 hours ago, Thin White Duke said:

Beep beep, it's the meme police! You done posted a Trump meme and your punishment will be blackmail from a major news network!

Let me tell you. I gotta say that reply was so, so low energy that Jeb Bush could do it better! That was all just a big mess. I'm not saying it's fake news but it's fake news and let me tell ya by who! It was done by the no-good Crooked Hillary and her bad hombres in Jai-na!

Let me tell you how i'll solve it! I'm going to build a (Fire)wall, and make Simtropolis pay for it! We need to Make Meme Making Great Again!

Eugh.. I couldn't stand to speak like this all the time and I have my own bad habits of repeated words and typos..

[SimCoug 5,973]

I should just stop everything and BAT a doughnut shop to coincide with this newest release... 

[airman15 4,113]

@SimCoug- That would be an awesome idea! Given that I keep postponing the times I want to upload new things, your shop would already be on by the time I finish the cover photo! 

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

Don't be so sure. I remember SimCoug kicking off a little trailer park lotting project some time in the last millennium.

[airman15 4,113]

@Thin White Duke- Oh come now! It couldn't have been that long. After all, we were in the 90's what, 10 years ago?

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

More like four. I turned six last year.

[airman15 4,113]

And I still have trouble multiplying double and triple digit numbers.. Why does the 4th grade have to be so hard??