CT14's Railroad Lots and BAT

[CT14 2,486]

Chopping the LOD for the Ice Dock so workers can hang out

[CT14 2,486]

Very quick low poly model of the Pearne Building, made from Street View snaps

[BartonThinks 3,416]

On 8/3/2020 at 12:05 AM, rivit said:

There is this one which I resurrected from SimCity files - cant remember where actually. You could make some color variations - black should do ;-) 

Don't edit the S3D in Reader - it will clobber the Driver. Clone/Renumber are OK 

ModelTwithDriver.dat

I was doing some digging on SC4D last night, and I'm 99% sure I found where this came from (at least, the version with the driver). The creator is Romualdillo and you can find in-progress shots of the model in this thread:

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=16518.440

It looks like the version shared by Rivit was an early draft, with the driver added to the original Maxis model. Romualdillo ended up revising the textures and created a number of color variants, plus an open-top version, and a fire engine version. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like these were ever made widely available, and Romualdillo hasn't posted in nearly two years. Very tempted to send a Hail Mary PM in his direction to see if he's willing to share the files.

Now for the good news.

I checked out Romualdillo's LEX profile, and it turned out he released a prop pack for a bunch of R$ lots circa 2015. I had seen the pack in the LEX a couple times before, but I had never downloaded it, since it looked like it only contained props for Spanish cities. This time I decided to take a peek, and while there aren't any Model T props in the pack, there is a minor treasure trove of smaller HD props that can be used for 19th century and early 20th century American cities.

Some fun things that aren't readily apparent from the screenshot:

• Since the prop pack was designed for Latin American/Spanish cities, I've skipped a bunch of stuff that didn't feel like it would fit in U.S. environments. (Admittedly, the streetlights would look a little out of place in American settings, but I love the quality of the prop.) Anyway, the pack is BIG.
• Almost all of the props pictured come in a bunch of variants. For example, there are 10 clothesline variants, 24 types of sheds, and 48 street posters.
• For the structures, about half of the variants aren't a great fit for U.S. cities due to the roof textures. But there's at least 4 or 5 versions of each that should work.
• The majority of the props come with slope-friendly foundations. Even the dog houses, kennels, and clotheslines are designed to handle slopes.
• Each plank of the wooden fence is it's own unique prop, which means any fence created with these props will conform closely to slopes.
• One set of props I left out was a series of utility poles and cables that can be used for telegraph networks or power lines. I haven't tried them out, so I don't know well they work with other props or if they can handle slopes. However, they look really nice in his lot previews.

Not sure how much of this stuff will fit the projects that you're working on right now, but I figured you'd be interested in at least some of this stuff. I know a bunch of these props are going to be a game changer for the lots that I'm working on right now.

Link to prop pack on the LEX: https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3228

(Don't mind me if you're already aware of this pack. SimCoug is credited as troubleshooting a number of the props, so this pack might not be the secret I think it is. It seems like they came out about a year after SimCoug stopped updating New Sorgun, so that might explain why I've never seen them before.)

[rivit 3,391]

10 hours ago, BartonThinks said:

It looks like the version shared by Rivit was an early draft, with the driver added to the original Maxis model.

Actually more a case of parallel evolution - the original is in Plugin007 the AirforceBase.dat. I added the driver effect from the lowrider (He's a bit big for the ModelT). 

Romauldo's versions, which look very good, have much better drivers which look to be explicitly modeled like JFF did for his carriages and that fire engine is really terrific.  

[BartonThinks 3,416]

1 hour ago, rivit said:

Actually more a case of parallel evolution - the original is in Plugin007 the AirforceBase.dat. I added the driver effect from the lowrider (He's a bit big for the ModelT). 

Romauldo's versions, which look very good, have much better drivers which look to be explicitly modeled like JFF did for his carriages and that fire engine is really terrific.  

Hmm, no kidding. I went back in Romualdillo's thread and he mentioned that you helped him add the driver to the car, so I assumed that it was all part of a single development stream. (And yes, the fire engine is excellent. I was consoling myself that I might be able to modify the FSH files to replicate something close to his color variations, but I am a long way away from being able to recreate that fire engine.)

[justforfun 7,802]

On 07/08/2020 at 5:13 PM, CT14 said:

Massive shout out to @justforfun and @rivit for the horse drawn automata!

Lovely to see my carriages roaming in appropriate settings! Adapting lots to pre-car cities is time-consuming but definitely worth it. 

 

10 hours ago, BartonThinks said:

I was consoling myself that I might be able to modify the FSH files to replicate something close to his color variations, but I am a long way away from being able to recreate that fire engine.)

I was going to model a horse-drawn fire brigade but time for this kind of work has been very little lately. Chances are someone will make one before I get the chance of doing so. 

 

Perhaps slightly off-topic, is anyone aware of a road-texture replacement mod that would work well in period cities? Sort of SAM for road? If it was ever created I must have missed it. 

[BartonThinks 3,416]

2 hours ago, justforfun said:

Lovely to see my carriages roaming in appropriate settings! Adapting lots to pre-car cities is time-consuming but definitely worth it. 

 

I was going to model a horse-drawn fire brigade but time for this kind of work has been very little lately. Chances are someone will make one before I get the chance of doing so. 

 

Perhaps slightly off-topic, is anyone aware of a road-texture replacement mod that would work well in period cities? Sort of SAM for road? If it was ever created I must have missed it. 

I'm currently working on a prototype reskins the roads and streets using dirt textures, but I'm not sure if that would fit the type of period cities you're talking about. Later on, I'd like to create some cobbled or brick roads as well, but I doubt I'll get around to that any time soon.

One person who may be worth trying to track down is Vortext. I don't know when he was last active, but he created a cobbled road reskin that looks fantastic (it's actually the texture used in the Model T screenshots) and that he was willing to share with other users once upon a time. As far as I know, he also had a SAM-style system that allowed him to switch between dirt and cobbled roads.

[CT14 2,486]

Thanks - I wasn't aware that Vortext had done Road Addon Mod-type stuff. This bodes well for also doing it for avenues, perhaps?

I'm going to hunt for attachments to old posts to try to find examples.

edit: this thread with @noahclem work is of interest. Noah, if you are reading this we'd love to test your cobblestone tram and maybe help complete it!

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=16937.msg503615#msg503615

edit 2: found another Model T reskin by Gizmo in Vehicle Props 4.0

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3505

edit 3: I didn't end up finding reference to Road Addon Mod but will keep looking.

[CT14 2,486]

DeepAI Image Colorization API

https://deepai.org/machine-learning-model/colorizer

It's hit or miss, but can offer some rare insight into paint and such. I've found that even scholars argue about the correct colors of these buildings because so few written descriptions exist.

Here are some of the best results I got on a small collection of prototypes. It tends to work better on clear pictures with blue sky, green grass etc. Bonus: One of these pictures shows a building I've almost finished modeling...

This lumber in Sellwood is very lumbery:

As is this (not a spill, just how they used to unload with no dock!)

Trees, water and bricks!

Coal Breakers... There are so many of these, pick your favorite and get modeling!

Most were natural wood colored.

Last generation were steel and glass.

Some shaft area buildings:

Flume built after a flood:

 

[CT14 2,486]

Minneapolis Mill District

1885 tail race in Minneapolis....

Crown Mills in Portland

Sterling Mine - this is one of those very hard to figure out color schemes but with green as a key, we can see it's pretty much brown and tan.

Lonsdale mill houses

[CT14 2,486]

Niagara Falls Mill District

Portland 1898 waterfront

The Hawthorne Slough 1870s

East Portland 1898

Downtown Portland waterfront 1920s

That's all for now...

[BartonThinks 3,416]

20 hours ago, CT14 said:

edit 3: I didn't end up finding reference to Road Addon Mod but will keep looking.

I'm not sure if this is helpful, but the most useful information that I've found on how the SAM works and whether it can be applied to other networks is from the SC4D Wiki:

https://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=Override_Network

https://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=Puzzle_Piece

https://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=Tutorial:Creating_Puzzle_Pieces

Unless I'm mistaken, a SAM-style addon mod for roads already more-or-less already exists: the Network Widening Mod. That is, the NWM uses the exact same functionality as the SAM to override the game's road network with new textures and paths. It just uses plain old asphalt instead of fun new driving surfaces.

From everything I've read, there shouldn't be any barrier to creating a new set of network overrides to create period-appropriate road textures. The main issue -- at least as far as I can tell -- is the amount of work it takes to implement an override network in the first place. The bare minimum is a new RUL, a new puzzle piece, and a complete set of textures. I know that all of the NAM overrides also use custom paths, though I'm not sure if they're required or if the game would just revert to the default network paths. There's also the issue of how to ensure the network is compatible with other networks, which... well, let's just say I've got a lot more reading to do.

A few additional notes:

• Tarkus helped lead the efforts on the NWM and seems like the go-to expert for override networks. Not sure if it would be worth tagging him in this thread or sending him a PM.
• One thing I noticed in the NWM documentation is that they used the game's road networks when developing avenue overrides because of limitations with the game's dual-tile networks. I don't know whether or not that would affect an Avenue Addon Mod or not.

As far as Vortext goes, I don't think he ever created something like a Road Addon Mod for his cities. The cobblestone roads that he created were a simple texture override for the game's road network.

His road textures also included a dirt road for rural areas, as seen below...

...however, I believe he achieved this effect only by using different textures for different wealthing levels. That is, he used a rural road texture for wealth 0 roads and wealth 7 roads (unzoned/IR), and then he used a his cobblestone road texture for wealth 1-6 roads (all other zone types). As a result, his dirt roads would only appear in areas without any residential, commercial, or industrial zoning.

It's maybe worth noting that the above image comes from this post in his AERDEN thread. The thread includes some detailed notes on how he achieved some of his mods to the game. He also developed a series of dirt street textures for this cities, and at one point, he was working on cobblestone versions of tram-in-avenue and tram-in-road networks.

Edit: Haven't gone through the entire thing yet, but Vortext's other big thread (Arden Tree Controller Help Desk) contains some other stuff about network retextures and overrides. Unfortunately a bunch of the older pictures are gone. However, I did find this discussion between him and Tarkus about adding new override networks to NAM.

[CT14 2,486]

Hey, that's really helpful. I'd missed both the wiki page and that post in AERDEN (Spent a while in that thread last night, but I'm easily distracted...)

As well as the fact that NWM is doing what we've been discussing.

I cannot wait to get a rough avenue/tram-ave going! I think I'll start with that, and try to pick a theme.

Another thing I haven't found is information about texture families - I want the road surface to change from tile to tile.

[BartonThinks 3,416]

2 minutes ago, CT14 said:

Another thing I haven't found is information about texture families - I want the road surface to change from tile to tile.

I forget exactly how multi-FSH files work (swear I read about it at some point), but I think it might only work for lot textures. Found this post from Diggis on SC4D where he says they wanted to implement it for SAM but couldn't make it work for networks: https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=15673.msg453851#msg453851

[BartonThinks 3,416]

Another thing... one advantage of all the existing override networks in NAM (such as the different options in the NWM) is that, rather than creating a new override, it would be possible to simply reskin these networks. This was something I had pegged as a down-the-road project for whenever I had enough STEAM lots to support a larger city (i.e., one where dirt roads start to look a little out of place in certain areas).

For example, the NWM has the TLA-3 and NRD-4, which could be reskinned in cobble, brick, etc. If the default road network is reskinned using dirt textures, this would allow dirt and cobble/brick roads to coexist within the same city.

Similarly, the TLA-5, RD-4, and RD-6 networks could be reskinned to create a new set of avenue textures. Again, you'd be able to have dirt avenues and cobble/brick avenues coexist within the same city, without the hurdle of a completely new override network.

The only hiccup is that, if you're reskinning the NWM networks, they will keep their path files, so you'd need to find a network where the path files make sense for whatever you're trying to achieve and don't cause unintended problems (for example, the NRD-4, RD-4, and RD-6 networks operate a little differently than the game's standard roads).

[CT14 2,486]

Hmm. I'd be targeting either a new override with default paths, or a texture replacement for the default for most of these.

NRD-4 could be useful for an override for olden times, though.

[Zerovoltz 1]

CT 14.  How do I get your stuff?  I LOVE old cities and I see these threads and stuff you are doing.  I'm trying to build a city loosely based on pre WW2 Kansas City, MO.....a town with lots of brick wharehouses, a unique parkway system along it's boulevards...lots of fountains, vast stockyards, TONS and TONS of train yards and freight houses.  bluffs and a lot of old shotgun shacks, etc etc and so on....and it's so hard to find the stuff to make it happen.  Please help.

[CT14 2,486]

Thanks for the kind words @Zerovoltz. Stockyards sound like a fun project - I feel like most of the props exist to make that happen.

Other than my uploads (all linked on first post of this thread) these screenshots have mostly Cycledogg houses (on both Cycledogg and Simcoug lots), IRM W2W lots, then JBSimio, spa, and Simgoober W2W commercials. I've been going through and adding SCILT textures to all the growable lots, standardizing W2W setbacks, and removing cars and other obvious 21st century props. Some of these may be worth sharing when I'm done.

The horse and carriages are by justforfun.

And there's "BSC No Maxis" to block almost all default content from growing (this can mess up your cities if you don't have a fully balanced set of custom content).

Here's a shotgun house. I think the Simcoug Residential lots also use this model

[justforfun 7,802]

14 hours ago, BartonThinks said:

The only hiccup is that, if you're reskinning the NWM networks, they will keep their path files, so you'd need to find a network where the path files make sense for whatever you're trying to achieve and don't cause unintended problems (for example, the NRD-4, RD-4, and RD-6 networks operate a little differently than the game's standard roads).

As far as I'm concerned I would be perfectly happy with a simple reskin of standard roads, to complement with the existing SAM cobble and dirt streets. In fact I was planning on making one myself, perhaps a brick road override, provided I get the time and there is interest for this in the community. Now that I found out about Vortext's reskin though I think I could rather use his if it became available. Thanks for digging!

[CT14 2,486]

Notes on some Ardecila content I want to work into layouts. The North Paulina house looks like a real treat, I've always figured tons of great content is hidden without keywords like this and we just have to browse more creator upload lists.

 

 

 

[BartonThinks 3,416]

6 minutes ago, CT14 said:

Notes on some Ardecila content I want to work into layouts. The North Paulina house looks like a real treat, I've always figured tons of great content is hidden without keywords like this and we just have to browse more creator upload lists.

 

 

 

Ooh, I'd downloaded the Chicago Water Tower before, but this is my first time seeing 1363 North Paulina -- that's a great find.

Also, quick note for anyone else interested in those brick streets: they're also available as a SAM-2 override from Rivit in red brick or grey brick.

[CT14 2,486]

Yep, all the Ardecila uploads are rather old.

Heading back to Troy for a building that I came across during the Gasholder project:

[CT14 2,486]

New lots for the Ice Dock. 2x4 freight station, 1x4 dock with no engine, 1x8 dock with engine. This'll likely be the release set.

The Historic Harbor workers seem to be able to get in and out of the platforms okay...

[BartonThinks 3,416]

I love this. My only note is that I think it would make more sense if the textures on the 1x4 and 1x8 lots matched up with the dirt on the rim of the 2x4 lot (not sure if the asphalt is a placeholder or not). This is such a great showcase for those reefer cars. Also, so impressive to see those workers up on those platforms. Wouldn't have thought that was possible.

(Edit: For whatever it's worth, I also really like the look of the SM2 farm fences on this lot. They feel like a natural fit.)

[CT14 2,486]

Thanks! The base textures are a placeholder, yeah.

I like the farm fence too, since this type of industry would generally be near a food producer. I probably overuse the other board fences.

Workers on platforms is just a custom LOD (see first post on this page). Simple but a little time consuming. I use the Boolean Subtract to chop down parts of it and leave room for other props to fit in. Same as for garages, etc.

Here is another WIP, Seneca Breaker - first look - uses a new 7.5m viaduct prop and requires NAM 37. Not yet vertically scaled 133%. Almost got the spacing for the viaduct worked out in this shot, it needs to be a little wider still.

The prototype building had a viaduct leading to its culm pile and to other lines.

 

[noahclem 262]

On 14/08/2020 at 7:48 PM, CT14 said:

Thanks - I wasn't aware that Vortext had done Road Addon Mod-type stuff. This bodes well for also doing it for avenues, perhaps?

I'm going to hunt for attachments to old posts to try to find examples.

edit: this thread with @noahclem work is of interest. Noah, if you are reading this we'd love to test your cobblestone tram and maybe help complete it!

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=16937.msg503615#msg503615

edit 2: found another Model T reskin by Gizmo in Vehicle Props 4.0

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3505

edit 3: I didn't end up finding reference to Road Addon Mod but will keep looking.

Hi! Fortunate timing that I'd spit this as I've been out of the SimCity loop since spring. But yes, I'm happy to make available any files that would be helpful and any contribution would be welcome. The only progress I've made on project in a long time was a largely-finished readaptation of the TIA on-slope FLUP lot to my spec and figuring out the automatic system for TOS intersections and network wasn't actually functional for tram. I'd like to continue but not sure when is realistic and important thing is just to finally make it available to people who might enjoy it.

Let me know if can offer any tips on how to implement what you're trying. NWM is indeed fertile ground for customizing--I usually use paver textured versions of owr1 and nrd4 (as well as ToS, TOR, amd TIR), put bike lanes and/or parallel parking on rd4 and have 8/9 lanes with the 3tile nwm networks. Creating new override networks probably isn't realistic or best use of time.

[CT14 2,486]

Just saying hello and I would like to get some of these WIP out the door this year - Seneca Breaker and Ice Docks.

I've gone back to school full-time as of this term (and still working too) so my time is very short, but finishing these projects would feel great.

Hope everyone is well!