Importing a model as a "tree" in the asset editor

[wallacet 336]

I was looking at my roundabouts today, and how bland they are. I wanted something to put in there, but I realize you cannot make a ploppable that would look realistic, due to having to be placed on a road (which, if your roundabout is made of highway, cannot be done). Anyways...I was in the asset editor, looking at making a new park for something else, and noticed it asks you to import a model under the "tree" option in the asset editor. Can a model (such as an obelisk or something similar) be imported as a tree, and therefore not have to follow the rules of the road, so to speak? I have not created a model, nor tried this, but I'm assuming someone already has. If so, what were the results?

[boformer 3,169]

I think it is possible to make parks like that without hacks. Download the mod "ModTools" from the workshop.

 

This is a tutorial how to make a round asset: http://www.skylinesmodding.com/t/how-to-make-your-assets-round/189

 

Follow the tutorial, it should work off-road

[TPB 563]

Not sure if just making it circular does the trick. You need to set m_placementMode to onGround,

but maybe thats also in the tutorial :- ) Haven't read that one yet.

[Shroomblaze 320]

I make a lot of trees, if you Import something as a tree 2 things will happen. They will change sizes when you place the item randomly and 2 they will sway back and forth in the wind. So an Obelisk would look bad moving.

[iviaarten 534]

I make a lot of trees, if you Import something as a tree 2 things will happen. They will change sizes when you place the item randomly and 2 they will sway back and forth in the wind. So an Obelisk would look bad moving.

ah, so that's how they made this horrifying thing: https://imgur.com/a/74NIw

 

 

found it on reddit http://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylines/comments/32akt6/warning_do_not_mix_the_new_tubeman_mod_with_the/

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

 

I make a lot of trees, if you Import something as a tree 2 things will happen. They will change sizes when you place the item randomly and 2 they will sway back and forth in the wind. So an Obelisk would look bad moving.

ah, so that's how they made this horrifying thing: https://imgur.com/a/74NIw

 

 

found it on reddit http://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylines/comments/32akt6/warning_do_not_mix_the_new_tubeman_mod_with_the/

 

That made me laugh last night

 

I been wondering about filler items too. I have some areas of my city reserved for when I get the right decorative things to plop. I miss the fountains from SC4.

[wallacet 336]

I make a lot of trees, if you Import something as a tree 2 things will happen. They will change sizes when you place the item randomly and 2 they will sway back and forth in the wind. So an Obelisk would look bad moving.

Got it. A fountain might not be so bad. As long as it is low enough to the ground I don't think sway would be noticeable. When the size changes, is it just in height or lenght/width too?

[iviaarten 534]

 

I make a lot of trees, if you Import something as a tree 2 things will happen. They will change sizes when you place the item randomly and 2 they will sway back and forth in the wind. So an Obelisk would look bad moving.

Got it. A fountain might not be so bad. As long as it is low enough to the ground I don't think sway would be noticeable. When the size changes, is it just in height or lenght/width too?

 

judging from the trees, I'd say all of them are scaled in the same way.

[Shroomblaze 320]

 

Got it. A fountain might not be so bad. As long as it is low enough to the ground I don't think sway would be noticeable. When the size changes, is it just in height or lenght/width too?

 

 

The height and width are scaled together.

[wallacet 336]

Got it. A fountain might not be so bad. As long as it is low enough to the ground I don't think sway would be noticeable. When the size changes, is it just in height or lenght/width too?

The height and width are scaled together.

I'm going to create a 2x2 box tomorrow, import as a tree and plop a few down. I guess there's no way to disable tree scaling on a case by case basis?

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

Did I miss something or we cannot make simple items as props to put down? I saw some billboards made.

[wallacet 336]

Would they not have to be next to a road like everything else that's plopped? I don't have any billboards downloaded so I don't know

[TPB 563]

Would they not have to be next to a road like everything else that's plopped? I don't have any billboards downloaded so I don't know

 

Not everything has to be plopped on a roadside, you can change the placement type with a little bit of work. There is Roadside, onGround, onWater, onShore, onSurface as placement modes.

 

Did I miss something or we cannot make simple items as props to put down? I saw some billboards made.

 

Props are only usable inside the asset editor, that's the detail. And you can place them anywhere, like vanilla props when you are making a park or whatever. But they are not in the game's menu once you start a city, you can only use them to build other assets with.

 

I'm currently looking at a possible way to change the menu location as a workaround for this, which would allow us to have props in-game

[boformer 3,169]

I found a netter tutorial that uses a hex editor: http://m.imgur.com/a/gTd7C

[Shroomblaze 320]

 

 

 

Not everything has to be plopped on a roadside, you can change the placement type with a little bit of work. There is Roadside, onGround, onWater, onShore, onSurface as placement modes.

 

Props are only usable inside the asset editor, that's the detail. And you can place them anywhere, like vanilla props when you are making a park or whatever. But they are not in the game's menu once you start a city, you can only use them to build other assets with.

 

I'm currently looking at a possible way to change the menu location as a workaround for this, which would allow us to have props in-game

 

 

That would be amazing, I don't even download props from the workshop because I don't feel like making custom stuff just to add a few things. There are a lot of cool props that I would love to place stuff around... for example, roadside construction cones.

[wallacet 336]

I created a 2x2 square and imported it into the game as a tree. It plopped down perfectly inside my roundabout. The amount of sway depends on wind conditions of the particular area you put it down in. Looking at the wind data, I saw no wind inside my downtown area (either from pure coincidence, or C:S takes into account tall buildings that would block breezes, which is new info to me!) 

 

With the tree option, you can place the object over roads and what not, as long as the center of the object is off the road. I plopped down 5 in various locations, and the size difference was not as bad as I would have thought(and really, you can just demolish and re-build if you're that picky...there's no cost option to set, so I believe the cost is similar to a tree).

 

 

I might try to piece together a model for my own cities for my roundabouts. This is about the easiest way I have seen so far to add an object without needing to be on a zone square and not having to worry about interference. If you place in a downtown area, there is no sway to the object. TPB...the option you were discussing about ploppable props...would it allow you to plop over something, such as the square corners on a round road?

[TPB 563]

Yes it would, but i tried and its not possible for now, they didnt expose the menu category so if you try to change it it breaks the asset.

[wallacet 336]

What is generally an acceptable poly count for a model in this game? I know I cannot rely on my knowledge of SC4 for this, so does anyone have a ballpark number?

[Shroomblaze 320]

What is generally an acceptable poly count for a model in this game? I know I cannot rely on my knowledge of SC4 for this, so does anyone have a ballpark number?

 

Well for me personally I try my hardest to keep my tree poly count below 150 and below like 350 Tri's... That is a Max number. I do try to keep it as low as possible though. If I do go over those numbers I will consider another angle to try and lower the poly count or I will consider posting it anyways as long as it's not super high. If your tree is getting to the point where it is at 200-300 polys and like 1000+ Tri's I would reconsider your approach on modeling it.

[wallacet 336]

Is there a good way to reduce polys? I noticed last night after I made some shapes, the "edit poly/attach" modifier really knocked the count down, but doing that makes it much harder to edit the object.

[Shroomblaze 320]

Is there a good way to reduce polys? I noticed last night after I made some shapes, the "edit poly/attach" modifier really knocked the count down, but doing that makes it much harder to edit the object.

 

The best way to reduce poly count is to start off by designing it off low in the first place by making sure you don't use more vertex than you actually need. It's harder to reduce poly count later on. But you can watch this video also to help you reduce poly count if you are already far along.... 

 

 

Also a way to cut down on poly count is to create billboard planes for leave textures instead of making actual geometry. Leaves don't need geometry. 

 

Here's are 2 videos that show you how plants can be constructed in low poly form. Even if you don't have these programs you can benefit from seeing how planes in whatever program you are using can be used to create seemingly 3d geometry.

 

Tree -

Plant -

[TPB 563]

Thank you for sharing Shroomblaze.

 

Consider suggesting those great tutorials or others you may know of to the Tutorial's topic, in this forum : )

[Cool_Z 1,547]

 

 

The best way to reduce poly count is to start off by designing it off low in the first place by making sure you don't use more vertex than you actually need. It's harder to reduce poly count later on.

 

I completely agree with that. That's why I say people should use modelers like 3DS, blender or maya and not Sketchup (who is frendlier but gives far less control).

[merc187 46]

 

 

 

The best way to reduce poly count is to start off by designing it off low in the first place by making sure you don't use more vertex than you actually need. It's harder to reduce poly count later on.

 

I completely agree with that. That's why I say people should use modelers like 3DS, blender or maya and not Sketchup (who is frendlier but gives far less control).

 

 

You can use a "decimate" modifier in Blender to reduce poly's but it's pretty rough.

 

Here's a good video I watched that reviewed this feature very well IMHO.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVuXGFYotSA

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

 

 

 

The best way to reduce poly count is to start off by designing it off low in the first place by making sure you don't use more vertex than you actually need. It's harder to reduce poly count later on.

 

I completely agree with that. That's why I say people should use modelers like 3DS, blender or maya and not Sketchup (who is frendlier but gives far less control).

 

We gonna go there again?   Why wouldn't one be able to control poly count in Sketchup? It's very doable.

 

But yeah....what Shroomblaze said....... Every 3D modeler have the capability to control poly count at the beginning of model creation that depends on your modeling habits.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

 

 

We gonna go there again?   Why wouldn't one be able to control poly count in Sketchup? It's very doable.

But yeah....what Shroomblaze said....... Every 3D modeler have the capability to control poly count at the beginning of model creation that depends on your modeling habits.

 

 

[wallacet 336]

 

 

 

We gonna go there again?   Why wouldn't one be able to control poly count in Sketchup? It's very doable.

But yeah....what Shroomblaze said....... Every 3D modeler have the capability to control poly count at the beginning of model creation that depends on your modeling habits.

 

 

 

I learned that lesson the hard way. I think the final poly count for the lighthouse I made for SC4 was something like a couple hundred thousand polys. It took hours to render. It was my first BAT and everything was cylindrical (I think I assigned like 50 sides to a cylinder to make it ultra round). Mistakes were made....

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

 

 

 

We gonna go there again?   Why wouldn't one be able to control poly count in Sketchup? It's very doable.

But yeah....what Shroomblaze said....... Every 3D modeler have the capability to control poly count at the beginning of model creation that depends on your modeling habits.

 

 

 

Don't worry, I still think you're Cool Z

[Cool_Z 1,547]

 

 

 

 

We gonna go there again?   Why wouldn't one be able to control poly count in Sketchup? It's very doable.

But yeah....what Shroomblaze said....... Every 3D modeler have the capability to control poly count at the beginning of model creation that depends on your modeling habits.

 

 

 

I learned that lesson the hard way. I think the final poly count for the lighthouse I made for SC4 was something like a couple hundred thousand polys. It took hours to render. It was my first BAT and everything was cylindrical (I think I assigned like 50 sides to a cylinder to make it ultra round). Mistakes were made....

 

 

 

 

 

 

We gonna go there again?   Why wouldn't one be able to control poly count in Sketchup? It's very doable.

But yeah....what Shroomblaze said....... Every 3D modeler have the capability to control poly count at the beginning of model creation that depends on your modeling habits.

 

 

 

Don't worry, I still think you're Cool Z

 

 

 

Well, wallacet's answer explains why I have a problem with sketchup. I know that some people know what they're doing with it, but as it gives an easy acces to modelling for some it can be quite decieving later when you have to reach certain goals.

 

And as most people here on simtropolis will be respectful of what the game can accept in terms of poly count... I can't help but think that some steam workshop posters will export models will totally absurd poly counts. That's not only a sketchup related problem, but the fact that it can be used by people with almost no knowledge of modelling, and then not caring about what they do makes me a bit worried about it.

 

Anyway... even gula (the guy that worked for Maxis) posted an almost 5000 tris growable... and he's not using sketchup 

 

 

Edit : and I didn't say that sketchup was FOR people with no knowledge about modelling, or that it was for people with less talent, just that it was more easy to use. (Damn, Blender has the most amazingly confusing way of doing things ever).

[wallacet 336]

We gonna go there again? Why wouldn't one be able to control poly count in Sketchup? It's very doable.

But yeah....what Shroomblaze said....... Every 3D modeler have the capability to control poly count at the beginning of model creation that depends on your modeling habits.

I learned that lesson the hard way. I think the final poly count for the lighthouse I made for SC4 was something like a couple hundred thousand polys. It took hours to render. It was my first BAT and everything was cylindrical (I think I assigned like 50 sides to a cylinder to make it ultra round). Mistakes were made....

We gonna go there again? Why wouldn't one be able to control poly count in Sketchup? It's very doable.

But yeah....what Shroomblaze said....... Every 3D modeler have the capability to control poly count at the beginning of model creation that depends on your modeling habits.

Don't worry, I still think you're Cool Z

Well, wallacet's answer explains why I have a problem with sketchup. I know that some people know what they're doing with it, but as it gives an easy acces to modelling for some it can be quite decieving later when you have to reach certain goals.

And as most people here on simtropolis will be respectful of what the game can accept in terms of poly count... I can't help but think that some steam workshop posters will export models will totally absurd poly counts. That's not only a sketchup related problem, but the fact that it can be used by people with almost no knowledge of modelling, and then not caring about what they do makes me a bit worried about it.

Anyway... even gula (the guy that worked for Maxis) posted an almost 5000 tris growable... and he's not using sketchup

Edit : and I didn't say that sketchup was FOR people with no knowledge about modelling, or that it was for people with less talent, just that it was more easy to use. (Damn, Blender has the most amazingly confusing way of doing things ever).

I used 3ds Max. I just didn't know at that time how to control it. Too much power! With subsequent models I dropped the polys each time. In my defense, for a first model, it was a good looking lighthouse!