Show us your Farm Land!

[Fluffyvito 40]

Thanks, elemented9 i think I might start a CJ.  Its about time I stopped lurking anyway.

[Nardo69 51]

Well, not only farmland but ... fooling around a bit in the MM trees & things menu ...

Have fun! 

Bernhard

[heitomat 156]

@Kabuto23: That is truly amazing!  Great shots and an impressive realistic look.

@Nardo69: I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Your tree lines and forests always amaze me. Fantastic work! 

[jacqulina 162]

wonderfull farmland

[heitomat 156]

This has been nagging me for a while now: Where can I find the grey, gravel rural road as shown in the great pictures by Kabuto23 and Nardo69? I was hoping for it to be included in the SAM, but it wasn't..

*EDIT: Thanks to CaptCity I've now found the gravel paths. 

[runnerguy347 30]

Here's my first attempt. This is about 50 years into the city.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Just testing some random stuff I'm tinkering with, nothing exciting...

 

[heitomat 156]

@T Wrecks: What's not exciting about your picture? It's great! I love the small fields with paths in between, the variety of fields, and also the farm buildings seem to be custom BATs (?). Very realistic! That small shed at the bottom, next to the road; is it a rural bus stop (or similar) or simply some kind of rural prop? Anyway, it's very scenic.

[thingfishs 417]

T Wrecks: What are those paths you're using there?, they look great.

[heitomat 156]

@thingfishs: The paths that T Wrecks used look like the BSC Forest Tracks. I'm not quite sure, though, as T Wrecks seems to have a lot more vegetation alongside the tracks than what's standard. Maybe additional trees and such can be plopped afterwards.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Well, in fact the BSC Forest Tracks served as an inspiration - let's say I stole the overlay textures and the icons, manipulated some icons to add some new shapes, and then I made totally new lots with different ground textures and a wild mix of ad-hoc prop families (each a mixture of Maxis, Cycledogg, SimFox, and SimGoober props) that will not only randomize which prop appears at a given spot, but also if any prop appears at all. It's in the testing stages...

The farm fields are a heavy manipulation of the original BSC Farming EP - new  designs, new props, new queries. I made it so that all growing farms will look like simple fields, i.e. the farm lot has the same design as the field lot it's assigned to. This way, the overcrowded look in rural areas can be avoided, and you can have huge areas of open fields that actually work as farms, give employment etc. I added a little "patch file" that will make sure some of the additional props I used are overridden with manipulated versions that are displayed up to zoom 1 and conform to slopes.

The farms, finally, are 100% self-made using the stupendous farming props by JMyers - I love his work! They are intended to be plopped wherever the builder sees fit, and they work like any ploppable industrial. Some of these farms will blend into a given type of field (the ones depicted are universal, though), and I marked the edges where the field can blend into the lot with marker props that are visible when plopping and disappear afterwards. Likewise, the farms are made with those dirt paths in mind, and where a dirt path leads off a farm lot, there's also a corresponding marker to aid in the planning process.

It's quite a long-term project, and I changed direction while I was at it several times, but now I finally seem to be getting somewhere. Glad to hear that you like the picture, it's much appreciated!

Oh, almost forgot: That small shed is just there to make it easier to spot what's the actual farm lot and what's field lot. So technically, it's a farm building, but I made it rather small and nondescript on purpose. It could just be a deserted tool shed, a rural bus shelter or whatever...

EDIT

Jeez, so much waffle! If you read through all that boring mumbo-jumbo, you have truly deserved a picture - this time slightly photoshopped, I hope you don't mind. I like the simplicity of that scene somehow... the fields are outdated, though.

[thingfishs 417]

wow, that sounds like a really great project with some clever ideas. I'm glad you've gone with jmyers' farm props, they are fantastic. I look forward to seeing where it goes.

The main thing that's always annoyed me about fields is the "box effect". Whole fields divided into little boxes? it doesn't look right. Here is an example of my vineyards that try to avoid this look:

 

And the winery itself:

[crazychickensc12 84]

Straight outa the CJ! Enjoy!

[heitomat 156]

That's a great picture, crazychickensc12. I love the river! And I agree with you,thingfishs: That box effect has annoyed me too. Great vineyards and winery, by the way. I'm hoping for a release one day.

T Wrecks, your work looks amazing. So realistic! And thanks for the hint on JMyers's work. I have to admit I wasn't aware of his creations..

[thingfishs 417]

thank you heitomat, and don't worry it will be released soon. It's been sent off to be turned into a reward, however the dependency list is a little ridiculous with 4 packs using only one prop each! So I will re-sort a bit tomorrow and resend it. I can't wait to have to have it out there myself.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Hey thingfishs, couldn't you at least warn me? My lower jaw still hurts from hitting the desk after I saw your picture... those seasonal vines are just about the coolest stuff since the invention of sliced bread! Totally awesome!

So far, I have restricted myself to general stuff that grows in temperate climates, mostly grain and vegetables. Looks like I don't need to take care of the wine department at all, eh? The boxy look is also something I have been trying to eliminate. We should found an Anti-Box League.

The only doubt I have about your vineyards is the base texture... isn't that a bit too green? Or is it just a placeholder so far? In the vineyards I know, the ground is mostly bare soil with some occasional weeds.

The winery looks superb, great work! I only wonder whether the front lawn might be a tad too saturated. Maybe the roofs could be "dirtied up" a tiny bit more, too, but in the end that's always a matter of taste. But the rest... those tanks and everything... a picture to get lost in and start dreaming. Hey, I might just open a bottle tonight! Before I forget to say it, I also like how considerate you are to use dependencies with a sense of user-friendliness. 

@ heitomat: Hey, glad I could point you towards JMyers' stuff! His small shops are pretty awesome, too. In fact, almost everything he does. A definite recommendation!

@ crazychickensc12: Wow, I love how that railroad viaduct spans both the street and the river!

 

 

[thingfishs 417]

Yeah, "Ban the Box" I say!

Thanks for the high praise T Wrecks 

I agree about the lawn and roof comments, but I'm happy enough with them, and as my first ever BAT it's been an exhausting 3 and a half month learning curve putting it all together; I've had enough.  

As for the vine base texture no, that's not the finished item, just the default grass on the LOT I built them on. FWIW this is Shottesbrooke Winery, which is my family's business and which I know like the back of my hand. Coming soon, (with under 10 dependencies!!), to a STEX near you

 

[heitomat 156]

By the way, as I'm quite new to the custom farm stuff:

It's said that the SG Fields only appear when a (custom) farm calls for it. I've downloaded most of JMyers's farms, and I also got the SG Fields - i think it was listed as a dependency on at least one of them.

However, when reading the provided readme-files from JMyers (I'm a good boy, I know), I can't see that it's mentioned that his farms will "call for" the SG Fields. What does this mean? Did JMyers make his own fields to accomplement the farms? Do the farms use standard Maxis fields?

I'd love to find out myself, but I can't (yet) as I'm studying for an exam next week. For me, it's impossible to start the game "just to check something", you know.. "Where did all those hours go?"  

-Member of the Anti-Box League-

[Larks2242 251]

Great work crazy, reminds me of Age of empires 2 for some reason

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Originally posted by: heitomat
 

By the way, as I'm quite new to the custom farm stuff:

It's said that the SG Fields only appear when a (custom) farm calls for it. I've downloaded most of JMyers's farms, and I also got the SG Fields - i think it was listed as a dependency on at least one of them.

However, when reading the provided readme-files from JMyers (I'm a good boy, I know), I can't see that it's mentioned that his farms will "call for" the SG Fields. What does this mean? Did JMyers make his own fields to accomplement the farms? Do the farms use standard Maxis fields?quote>

AFAIK, practically all farms made by BSC members werde intended to form a part of the BSC Farming Expansion Pack, or BSC Farming EP in short. This pack consisted of a bunch (well, three bunches) of fields, made by SimGoober (SG), BarbyW (BLS) and Vlakhaas (CSX). I guess this started to become self-evident for the BSC members at some time so they didn't always mention all field dependencies separately, or so I'm speculating.

Not all farms require all fields, of course - SimGoober's "Melony's Melons" farm, for example, only requires the melon fields by SimGoober himself, but many other farms are multi-purpose. I don't remember exactly because I have switched over to self-customized stuff long ago, but it might well be that BSC farms can also call for Maxis fields. 

In any case, if you don't want to dig into the analysis & modding tools, the safest way to go is to get the three field packages I mentioned from SC4D. This way, when you download a farm, you can be quite sure that you have all required field lots. It doesn't necessarily mean that you need them all, but it can't hurt to have them all.

Restricting the fields to only those that are actually in use requires some basic modding knowledge and is rather time-consuming, so I would probably not recommend it to novice "farmers".

 

[heitomat 156]

Thank you for the answer. I'm a player, not a modder, so I follow your advice and pick up the other two bunches of fields as well. Variety never hurts.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Aaaaah, what a feeling. I had been overhauling my entire plugins folder for more than a year, during the last months of which I also made a new region from scratch. Then I started playing on it (on and off, not very much all in all) for about half a year, only to come to the conclusion that while the basics were OK, there was still a lot of room for improvement.

So I quit playing that region, went back to the drawing board, made some changes for several months, and tonight I have finally re-started the region. It was great to play the game again, and for the first time in all these months, I have the feeling that I'm beginning to get the hang of it all again, and that I can catch up to all the folks who meanwhile had been building awesome regions. 

The start I made today is only small, but sometimes the magic is in the details, don't you think?

[heitomat 156]

That's a stunning picture, T Wrecks! Great details indeed; the texture changes on the grass, the water, the flora, the rural lamp post.. Everything! I assume we'll see more of your region as it develops. I can hardly wait! 

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Hey, thanks a lot! I'm glad you like it. 

Originally posted by: heitomat

the texture changes on the grass,quote>

...thanks to Cycledogg's terrain mod,

the water,quote>

...by timotheus4, IIRC...

the flora,quote>

...thanks to Cycledogg, Jeronij, Pegasus, chrisadams and SimFox...

the rural lamp post.quote>

...by Maxis. 

Standing on the shoulder of giants once again, I guess.

I assume we'll see more of your region as it develops. I can hardly wait! quote>

I don't know yet - at the pace I'm building (this is a small map, and it will probably take almost a week until it's done!) it will be quite a while before I start a CJ, and then it will probably be in my native language over at simforum.de, simply because I don't have so much time. But we shall see... 

Right now, I think I have another picture. It's unspectacular, but that's exactly the look I'm going for. I don't like it when farmland looks too utopian, like a huge paradise garden... maybe you recognise the farm from that first picture I posted. This time it's modded and introduced into the game, and this time I applied it the way it was meant to be used: I waited for the fields to grow, and then I plopped the farm where I thought it would look good.

[newyorkrunaway1 110]

i am getting many ideas from these farm pics.... hopefully soon i will get to the farm part of parkland!

[heitomat 156]

@T Wrecks

Amazing as always! Incredibly realistic. I also like your forests.

What's your building technique? Do you zone for farms and wait for development, demolish the building that comes with the fields, repeat if necessary, and finally place a ploppable farm building where suitable? Or did you create fields that come without any buildings?

I'm just wondering, as I find it way more realistic with vast fields and a few farm buildings here and there (as seen on your picture), rather than having a number of small fields with a farm building on each and every one of them..

Also, do you use PEG's rural roadways or did you mod it yourself? If it's PEG's, is it compatible with PEG's no rail dirt mod?

An awful lot of questions, sorry about that.. Anyway: Fantastic work! I absolutely love your rural scenes! 

[penguin007 27]

Here's some farmland pics from my CJ Siberia

Will

[Larks2242 251]

Awesome job both T-Wreaks and penguin007 some really cool rual farms!

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Originally posted by: heitomat

@T Wrecks

 Amazing as always! Incredibly realistic. I also like your forests.quote>

Thank you once again!  I like these trees very much, too. It's a lot of work because my region was made with older Cycledogg trees, so I'm basically bulldozing all forests and replacing them with mayor mode trees... 

What's your building technique? Do you zone for farms and wait for development, demolish the building that comes with the fields, repeat if necessary, and finally place a ploppable farm building where suitable? Or did you create fields that come without any buildings?quote>

I made "farms" that work just like your average Maxis farm, but look like ordinary fields. In some cases, I added a little difference that will make the farm easier to spot - e.g. a tree, or a tiny shed.

I'm just wondering, as I find it way more realistic with vast fields and a few farm buildings here and there (as seen on your picture), rather than having a number of small fields with a farm building on each and every one of them..quote>

I feel exactly the same. It dawned upon me when I made one of my first rural communities, and all those buildings out in the fields dwarfed the actual village. That's why I made the mod this way.

Also, do you use PEG's rural roadways or did you mod it yourself? If it's PEG's, is it compatible with PEG's no rail dirt mod?quote>

In fact, I use the reguar SFBT Street Tree Mod for streets inside villages, and the SAM for rural streets. The difference is that I added a modification to the SAM - it was originally made by uroncha, and it added seasonal Cycledogg trees, tractors, haybales and other stuff to rural streetsides. I modded it in a way that it would take over the trees from the SFBT Street Tree Mod. This causes more variation and eliminates the seasonal change (I play without seasonal effects). So what you see is the SAM with PEG's gravel texture + uroncha's mod + my own tweaks to that mod.

An awful lot of questions, sorry about that.quote>

You're welcome - it' only shows that my pictures are apparently of some interest to you, and this, in turn, is nice to know.

Anyway: Fantastic work! I absolutely love your rural scenes! quote>

Thanks again - if you want to see the final result from further away, feel free to check out the screenshot I posted here. I can't tell you how happy I am to see things coming together and working out the way I had hoped. 

@Penguin007: Whoa, some nice work with the RRP draggable paths there. I just love that cow pasture!

[Nardo69 51]

Seems to be the person who draw me to the simforum has found quite some audience here ...

OK, not much news from me, just a single picture ...

Have fun!