Raymond's Newbie Thoughts

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

I have finally fixed my computer, restored almost 99.9 data, Though i still couldn't figure out if win10 or Nvidia caused this trouble, whatever i just managed to fix both of them, when i saw those familiar screens came back, I felt joyful, All my power saved these day could be emitted.

Those maybe not the final output in game, however i'm really enjoying what it looks like right now.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

①⑦ Tractor Automata : Thanks to inspiring CoriBoom™ for give me this idea, I really like these John Deere Tractors, so i want to make props of them first, and then… Automata!

I want to add some special signs somewhere.

[Terring 6,473]

Oh boy, this is awesome! Your floating vertiport looks so shiny and so badass. It really look like something from the future. The textures with the reflected sky and ocean look like reflections of Earth from orbit, while the illuminated windows reminds me an old futuristic concept named Aeropolis 2001. Your textures are like a mix of my two favorite things, Space and future

All it needs is some extra detailing (for instance, the satellite dish might need its own colors to be a little more distinguished) and it'll be ready for action. Oh, and nice idea of making new tractors as automata. A variety of vehicles has always a good place in my books. You know how to rock the community, Ray

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

1 hour ago, Terring said:

the satellite dish might need its own colors to be a little more distinguished

Thank you Terring for the over compliment, It maybe not that good as it is now. As Robin has suggested, I should render it with SD, And i haven't been skilled at the trick which i learnt from @Diego Del Llano. Anyway, I will try my best, And Yes, I will do the other parts as you suggested, i have got some ideas from the pics you shared before, Probably a tough work, but it's worth.

@Terring BTW, Can you tell me who is that guy clapping there, Thanks!

[Terring 6,473]

On 3/8/2020 at 8:00 PM, Raymond7cn said:

BTW, Can you tell me who is that guy clapping there, Thanks!

To be honest, I've no idea who he is. It acts here as a reaction image, an image you can use to show how you feel right now. And right now I'm applauding you for making such an incredible work here

[Whte_rbt 1,431]

Its Billy Dee Williams in the film Lady Sings the Blues from 1972.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Thank you @Whte_rbt, I have found out this movie,  I do like old movies.

-----

I have a stupid question when i was modeling air corridor of that floating airport today, when we drag a road through the mountain, is there really a hole within the mountain? what's the theory of the tunnel of SC4? if we drag a more wider road, will the tunnel became more bigger? I'm just curious!

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

2 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

... when we drag a road through the mountain, is there really a hole within the mountain? what's the theory of the tunnel of SC4?

Nope. None at all. The game records the coordinates of each tunnel entrance as well as what type of network and that's all. When running the simulation it calculates the time spent as if the tunnel existed for the calculated distance which gives the simulated effect that it's really there.

Here's a little example of what you can do to a tunnel (because it's not really there.)

Before:

 

After:

 

And you can see how the game treats any traveling Sims as if the tunnel did exist.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Thank you Cori, @CorinaMarie Sorry for the late reply due to modeling, I got it now, Actually, I had that thought also because of this:

Besides, i saw some Cliff pictures of the England and German, then i started to think if we could make a cliff which upper part spreads out over the bottom, Yes, I thought a while, Just as you told me about the tunnel, Unfortunately, it seems impossible, unless we could make a mountain Lot.

-----

Ah, I just got another strange question, Can we have a cave in SC4, I haven't seen it before from others's CJ, you know that's not a real cave, Just looks like a cave, haha, I also think of cave people, we don't have them as MMPs, Right? Let me give it a try someday, @Terring may feel uncomfortable when they were put with his Lots together.

 

[hugues aroux 3,784]

... and make cliffs like seawalls are made in the game ?? !!

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

2 hours ago, hugues aroux said:

... and make cliffs like seawalls are made in the game ?? !!

I couldn't express my thought very well, Hugues, Let me go to find a picture for reference.

I couldn't found out that one, It comes from an old movie, All i remembered is that cliff is more cliffy, many big pine trees from bottom to the top, and that's UK, Anyway, it's a pretty beautiful scene, I get to think about if i could make it in my cities.

[Terring 6,473]

Yeah, caves in SimCity 4!

Now that's something we really need. We can have lakes, forests, rocks, waterfalls, rivers, so why not caves? And some cavemen too. We can build historic, modern and futuristic cities, so why not some primitive settlements as well? Now having cavemen in future environments might sounds a bit silly, unless they're techno-barbarians, survivors on a post-apocalyptic world, or supporters of anarcho-primitivism. Anyway, I think I'll agree that the best way to make caves is by making them as lots and buildings, something like a 3D version of a seawall, instead of tunnels. With that way you can create both land and sea caves, like the Cave of Altamira in Spain and the Blue Cave of Kastelorizo in Greece.

But speaking about tunnels, five years ago @McDuell made a couple of interesting experiments. As he explained in this topic, he used the SC4Terraformer to create floating tunnels, resulting on something like this:

The tunnel will still be working normally, even though it looks like invisible. And yes, you can build something in the middle of it, like roads and railroads.

I asked if it's possible to place buildings inside the gap between the tunnel entrances-exits, creating highways going through buildings, and @Toby Ferrian posted a picture that proves it's possible! Sadly the picture is gone, but I remember showing a bridge going through a building. However, as McDuell warned, as the SC4Terraformer was programmed for Windows XP, it's not guarantee that it will work on all kind of machines, especially on the newer ones.

Maybe his experiments will give you some new ideas and new inspirations

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Thank you Terring, @Terring I often get inspiration from you, Yes, why noy, I'm going to prepare some for this thought, oh my Goodness, God knows when i could finish all my newbie thoughts.

The tunnel is so interesting, I have added Mcduell's post into my bookmark, Thank you!

[hugues aroux 3,784]

4 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

couldn't express my thought very well, Hugues, Let me go to find a picture for reference

hey this is my country ... the first photo is Etretat, not even 80 km from my home: Norman cliffs! I have spent great moments there since my childhood. I love this typical little town. it will be great to be able to do this kind of cliff!

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

@Raymond7cn

I believe both cliffs and caves could be created by batting. While I don't know any specifics on how it would be accomplished, I do remember @korver explained some of his technique in this post. There, among other things, you can see how he created rock formations.

Then there is also the PEG AREA 52 file that creates an underground area when plopped along the city tile's edge. I don't know if investigating that lot would reveal any secrets to how it's done (or even if it'd be useful to peek at).

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

11 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

I couldn't found out that one, It comes from an old movie, All i remembered is that cliff is more cliffy, many big pine trees from bottom to the top, and that's UK, Anyway, it's a pretty beautiful scene, I get to think about if i could make it in my cities.

The scene there with the white cliffs reminds me of when I visited the south of England several years ago and saw a rock formation known as "The Needles" with a lighthouse on the end too. The white colour of the rock is because they're formed from chalk (a type of limestone), and they remain this colour because they're allowed to naturally erode over time. They do make quite the spectacular sight, and this scene is from the Isle of Wight which is an island just off the south coast.

Here's a few pics:

 

This picture is captured from a boat down by the lighthouse:

 

It really is a spectacular sight at sunset too:

 

If curious, the tourist information website is:
https://www.theneedles.co.uk/

----------

You might've heard of the white cliffs of Dover too, and there's a song about that by the late Dame Vera Lynn who sadly passed away at the age of 103 last month.

Here is the video of her song, and it has a few more white cliffs shown:

So just thought I'd share this if any of it might help for additional inspiration.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

Thank you so much @hugues aroux @CorinaMarie @Cyclone Boom, I often learn and get inspiration from you, Dear Hugues, are you France? Sorry, i thought you are English, since I have your name confused with Hughes, I can tell that you are not far away from @Cyclone Boom, Just a sea between you.

Yes Cori, I remember that tutorial of Korver, Steve @thecitiescenter shared it to me for the Kremlin wall project, however i didn't notice other important tips he wrote. Thank you for that, I couldn't wait to learn Terrain Mod now, And I believe i could make beautiful Rock and stone models, I learnt it when i was modeling those Louvre Statues.

Oh, CB, I couldn't love this song more, Dunno why, It just brought back some wonderful memories and feelings as I spent quite a few months in the Northern part of the Canada, I like watching some old movies in the cinema, Unfortunately, the cinema just plays modern movies now. Ah, I just recall a good movie because of Hugues and CB.

I have bought a whole collection of Louis de Funès.

[hugues aroux 3,784]

3 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

I have bought a whole collection of Louis de Funès

wow ... what a surprise that you know Louis de Funès. A famous comic here in France during the 60s and 70s! Calm and peaceful man off stage, his antics have marked 4 generations here . I did not imagine that it could be known outside of france (Europe??). I don't know what the translation might make, but "Rabbi Jacob" is among the best films he has made.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

31 minutes ago, hugues aroux said:

I don't know what the translation might make, but "Rabbi Jacob" is among the best films he has made

That has a same name in chinese, Yes, Dear Hugues, He is very famous in China, at least among my generation, I watched his La Grande Vadrouille when i was 7 (1988), then i watched his other great movies, My favorite is his series Troops of St. Tropez, i remember that's 5 episodes, and also The Big Restaurant. most of his movies i have watched at least 10 times. 

[Toby Ferrian 873]

19 hours ago, Terring said:

and @Toby Ferrian posted a picture that proves it's possible! Sadly the picture is gone, but I remember showing a bridge going through a building

: )

[Terring 6,473]

Thanks, Toby

[BartonThinks 3,416]

On 8/5/2020 at 6:42 PM, CorinaMarie said:

@Raymond7cn

I believe both cliffs and caves could be created by batting. While I don't know any specifics on how it would be accomplished, I do remember @korver explained some of his technique in this post. There, among other things, you can see how he created rock formations.

Then there is also the PEG AREA 52 file that creates an underground area when plopped along the city tile's edge. I don't know if investigating that lot would reveal any secrets to how it's done (or even if it'd be useful to peek at).

I am stunned to find out that Korver's scenes are created almost entirely in-game. I always assumed there was more Photoshop work behind his CJ entries. Mind-boggling.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

①⑧ Tree House : Today inspired by Terring's @Terring oddities, I recalled a child's dream and this movie (Stand by me)

Unfortunately, River has left us, RIP, however his movie will always be there with our childhood. You couldn't have a tree house in my period of china, whereas i did have the same fellows and those interesting thoughts as his, dilapidated factory, frozen river, wilderness, they are all our fairylands, we like talking as an adult, we're smoking (not real cigarette, just leafs), we have those big dreams, about my dream… well, I dreamed to marry Shirley Temple at then,

though i even didn't know she is not that girl in the movie anymore, and probably could be my grandma. Yeah, Anyway, let me bring some tree houses to you, you may couldn't have it as me, but you deserve it in SC4.

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

32 minutes ago, BartonThinks said:

I am stunned to find out that Korver's scenes are created almost entirely in-game. I always assumed there was more Photoshop work behind his CJ entries. Mind-boggling.

Yes Dear Barton, Mind-boggling to me too, I thought @korver is just a great Photoshoper, Unbelievable so many efforts behind. I'm more speechless to look at his works after i knew it. Unbelievable!

[Wiimeiser 444]

23 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

...Is that the scene referenced in Pokemon?

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

1 hour ago, Wiimeiser said:

...Is that the scene referenced in Pokemon?

Ah, @Wiimeiser I don't know Pokemon, Is that a game? I seem to hear of it from my son. This scene comes from a movie "Stand by me".

[Wiimeiser 444]

That looks like it, then.

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/List_of_references_to_popular_culture_in_Pokémon

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

I have to say that i underrate the difficulty of the Vertiport, Yes most of the shape has been modeled, whereas, when i began texturing and lighting, I found that it's too hard! Just like i gave up the Minas Tirith tentatively, The first hardest thing i have to face is that i don't have reference. it's just like painting as a real painter, to make a perfect work, i have to be or at least acted as a painter, but apparently, i'm not.

Then i learnt some knowledge about color and architecture and some more deeper tricks of 3ds max. even though, I had to throw out 3 works i made, since when they merged together, they're not perfect, while i'm writing right now, i start over again the fourth time.

Nevertheless, I still don't want to give in this time, and i must remind myself that i'm just a newbie who just began modeling less than one year. And maybe after this i could be more confident to model other Giant BATs. 

I miss simtropolis, I miss you my friends here,  i have modeled it for 40 hours and is sleep-deprived, But…I will be back with success.

[Terring 6,473]

Take your time, Ray. You have already made incredible things and I know you can make even more awesome things, so you have no reason to push yourself if you don't feel like that. Take your time, gather knowledge and power, and when you're ready go and conquer the land of SimCity modding

[Raymond7cn 6,772]

@Terring, Thank you for encouragement, Terring,  I couldn't remember how many times i have tested it, i'm still working on it, since this is the first time for a new way of rendering, as before, I just followed the normal process of modeling, most of settings (BAT4MAX) i barely even tweaked them, but this time, i want a futurist texture like a chrome or car paint on this building, meanwhile, I also need the environment like sky and clouds could be reflected due to these textures, so i leant HDRI and environment map from YouTube. (there are still some useful stuffs in YouTube)

Yes, you have seen my output, it's not too bad, but when rendering, it changed because of other parameters like skylight and sunlight and global lighting and ambient occlusion and others, I wanted to get a perfect combination of them which means i had to make some tests, however sometimes my comp couldn't support some of them due to heaviest load. not to mention more mental ray settings got involved then.

Then i was aware that i may ran into some more deeper area of 3ds max, i recalled one most important thing which @mattb325 has said to me is 'Experience', those settings need to be understood one by one during tons of modeling, that's why i'm facing an inconceivable difficulty right now.

so i tentatively gave up the most perfect thought, whereas i haven't given up the hope to make it more perfect, if i give up right now, it means stultify my previous efforts. Yesterday i got a not too bad rendering and leant some from these tests, Anyway, i'm still working on it, Pain and happiness.