Growable Industry

[GC_Vos 714]

I've been playing around with the idea to get into growables. I feel the Workshop really lacks major industrial assets like Collosal Mills. I think we can all agree most generic industry looks too scattered and saturated. I would very much like to turn industry into something like this, without relying on parks or monuments:

So I would like to design some 4x4 steelworks modules which would have pipes and some structures connecting w2w, as well as tower above any other industry. This way once a few of them grow next to each other, they will form huge structures.

Any ideas or suggestions for this are welcome, I haven not started modelling yet....

I also have one question for those of you who have done a lot of growables. How do you go about handling corners and levels? I've seen some threads on this subject but couldn't find anything related to industry. Can I just set each asset to level 3, without the risk of it upgrading to something else?

[Judazzz 1,936]

I really love that idea, one of the main things C:SL is lacking is credible, realistically-sized industry (4x4 is sufficient for a small warehouse, storage facility or auxiliary buildings, but not for actual plants).
Suggestions:
- oil storage/refineries

- ore/coal storage/processing

- chemical plants

- steel mills

- production lines (think car industry)

- shipyards

No idea how to implement it, though: in theory the Eyedropper Tool should be sufficient to place different parts of the complex in the right places, but it can be a bit tedious and buildings need to grow first before you can copy them to their desired location. Personally I wouldn't mind (I already use that tool to combine several growables into something resembling a complex), but I can understand others don't really want to go down that road.
The Sub-Building mod in theory would be the most suitable (afaik.), but unfortunately it will result in ploppables rather than growables. No idea if the mod can be altered in such a way that you can include growables (which would then only appear once there is enough demand, and only will upgrade as a whole rather than one building at a time) in combination with roads and props. Downside would be that you don't have control over which growable would grow where, which may result in weird-looking complexes).

[Ryno917 102]

I like your modular idea - sounds very cool!

I guess the plan is to have a certain connector/detail in the same spot on every lot so that when they grow next to each other, the details line up and make it look like one large structure? Very cool idea. Anxious to see what you come up with!

[boformer 3,169]

A talented modder could create a mod that spawns the right modules next to each other (and connect them so that only all modules at once can be demolished). The mod would have many uses:

• Semi-detached houses
• Large Skyscrapers (depth 8 cells, infinite width)
• Industrial complexes

 

 

 

[GC_Vos 714]

Thank you all for the comments!

You guys are spot on. @AJ3D Themes are something I will want to look into. For now I was just gonna do some generic 4x4. If I end up making enough assets it might justify a theme, until then I'm fine with it spawning randomly.

Spacer lots, smoke stacks, these are definitely things I would want to add. Also on the L1,2,3 note I might be able to add different levels of grunge while keeping the same model. So L1 would be super rusty and brown, L3 would be shiny metal. But that's more down the road.

@Judazzz @Ryno917 @boformer Yes, my thoughts are to have a bunch of standardized pipes/catwalks/scaffolding/structures that would align either vertically or horizontally (or both) so for example some 16x8 zoning would look like one lot. Eyedropper tool would then come in really handy. This is where my question about corners came in, though it's not that uncommon to have pipes 'capped' at their ends.

I would be interested in a 'right module' mod, but the idea is to actually use the randomness to our advantage. Been trying to find the right picture to illustrate this, I will try to mock something up in a bit.

[Matthias King 348]

I'd love to see this. Like you, I've found Industrial is one of the things in the game that is extremely lacking.

I'd really like to see a handful of purpose-built growable modules that fit together to form a bigger 'whole.' Something else I'd really like to see are realistically sized warehouses. There's one on the workshop currently that I've used quite a bit, but it's the only one. There should be more. Five or ten variants of styles and types of warehouses based on those you find in virtually any real city would be great. That would lend a lot of realism to industrial areas.

I'd also like to see some light industry and some cleaner, hi-tech industry like silicon valley type factories.

[boformer 3,169]

Got another idea. The game supports multiple meshes per building (one of the features that is not enabled in the asset editor). These meshes will only be displayed when a certain "flag" is set on the building.

The idea is to add 4 flags (CONNECTED_N, CONNECTED_E, CONNECTED_S, CONNECTED_W).

If no flag is set, a simple building will be rendered (no extra meshes).

If one of the four flags is set, an extra mesh will be rendered that connects the building with the adjacent building. It could be a tunnel, some extra walls, pipes...

The flags are set by a mod.

Right now the multi-mesh system is used to render different amounts of garbage on the garbage dump, depending on fill state.

[Avanya 2,605]

Sounds like a very cool idea! Regarding corners I think you can set a growable to be a corner building, if you'd like to have those be different from the rest. I haven't played around with it, but I remember seeing it while messing around in all the options.

[GC_Vos 714]

@boformer These flags, could a mod use them to make growables interact with each other? Because that sounds like a gamechanger.

Also I am thinking towards a system of pipes that could also be placed manually accross roads etc. Right now I'm trying to figure out a good 'standard' where all the important connections are on the grid.

@Avanya Thank you! Yeah I'm gonna have to look into the templates, I'll just start with a regular L3 for now

[boformer 3,169]

16 minutes ago, GC_Vos said:

These flags, could a mod use them to make growables interact with each other? Because that sounds like a gamechanger.

I guess, if someone makes it. There are only about 10 active mod developers....

[Ocram's Razr 963]

If RCIOH ploppables and/or 8 tile deep (even wit 4 tile wide) zones become possible, there will be no limit to what can be done in Cities: Skylines. Functional 4x8 field lots could make 16-tile-deep (road-to-road) farm fields of infinite width (perfect for American-style farms). Combine deeper lots with interaction and you could get the most intricate and sprawling industrial plants in the game.

[GC_Vos 714]

WOW I will definitely want to play around with that! Looks awesome and the perfect scale. Kinda reminds me of...

[Roadman20 601]

Shoot. I would love to implement this.  Seattle's industrial area would be on a whole another level once this takes off.