Retro's Practice Makes Perfect

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

18 hours ago, That Retro Guy said:

Like the top caption asks, which face of the school is the front?

I go with the idea that the parking lot should be adjacent to the street.

Ofc, it doesn't always work out right for that, but I don't let that stop me. (Such as my little fire stations are often backwards.)

[That Retro Guy 321]

Wait a minute! 

Is that a Graveyard behind Mal's Practice?!! 

It is kinda cool that all of the parking lots connect with one another.  I wonder if there are any filler pieces that connect the parking lot to the road?

[Propfam 2,288]

On 8/4/2021 at 7:13 AM, That Retro Guy said:

Wait a minute! 

Is that a Graveyard behind Mal's Practice?!! 

It is kinda cool that all of the parking lots connect with one another.  I wonder if there are any filler pieces that connect the parking lot to the road?

It's called for a reason.

[Henry Crun 75]

On 07/04/2021 at 12:49 AM, CorinaMarie said:

I go with the idea that the parking lot should be adjacent to the street.

Ofc, it doesn't always work out right for that, but I don't let that stop me. (Such as my little fire stations are often backwards.)

See, every day is a learning day and @CorinaMarie does it again. I always assumed the arrow on the lot meant that was the Sim access point and for the small elementary school the corner of the buildings looks like the entrance. I've been using the tips @rsc204 gave here (YouTube video) about the Highway Disconnect tool (if I haven't plopped or can re-plop a lot) or the Rail Viaduct Puzzle Piece trick to fake access to the car park.

The knowledge that Sims can access all around the lots is very handy to know if I need to plop into a developed space or want to encourage access from other sides. Before I added the PedMall tiles, everyone was coming in through the car park (and still are with the Fire Station & Police Station.) Great tip! 

Judging by the queue for the medical centre, I may need to upgrade! 

 

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

On 4/7/2021 at 8:13 PM, That Retro Guy said:

Is that a Graveyard behind Mal's Practice?!! 

It is indeed. That's from (or inspired by) Paeng's Cemetery and Park Walls. My actual file name in plugins is CEM_205_vCori_2Lots.dat so I've modified or relotted or did something, but that was in 2018 so I don't recall what I tweaked specifically. Then as its dep, I have z_cem205_resource.dat which might be the original from their file.

 

On 4/7/2021 at 8:13 PM, That Retro Guy said:

I wonder if there are any filler pieces that connect the parking lot to the road?

To somewhat match the parking lots on the Maxis lots, you can use RLM Industrial Parking Lot Set One. Sample:

 

But, learning the tricks @Henry Crun mentioned will prolly give a better look than the RLMs and might be easier to work with. There's also SAM-1s, ofc.

 

10 hours ago, Henry Crun said:

I always assumed the arrow on the lot meant that was the Sim access point ...

That is a logical assumption. Especially since the arrow auto-orients itself to the streets and roads, but yeah, for civics the Sims can access them from any side.

[That Retro Guy 321]

Never say die!

I'm taking another crack at building my Ultimate Spread-Out Cloverleaf,

Firstly, I found the center of the city tile and lowered the terrain until I hit water.  I then used the leveling tool to create the lake that the cloverleaf surrounds.

Thus:

It looks OK, but my OCD is yelling at me to make all 4 corners look like the upper-left one.

Oh!  Just to save everybody from counting, there are 20 cells between both sets of parallel roads.  (Road - 20 cells - Road).

I know that the roads will be replaced by the proper RHW pieces.

So I went to the southern part of the cell, and began the RHW-6S Highway when I ran into a bit of a problem.

Thus:

Let me walk you through this: (I did the following for both sides of the RHW-6S).

• Point A:  I plopped the RHW-6S Starter Piece, dragged the RHW-2 through it, demolished the Starter Pieces, and filled it in with the RHW-2.
• Point B:  I plopped the FlexRamp E1 to create the North-bound off-ramp.
• Point C:  I plopped the proper curve from the original Curve Tab.  I placed another such curve at Point E.

Problem:  i can't connect Point D to Point E.  No matter what I tried.  I realize that I'm probably forgetting something basic but I've only had 1 day off of work in the past month, and my brain is really fuzzy at this point.

I actually thought about making a video about this (I still might do that tomorrow if I feel up to it . . . I have to work tomorrow night, so we'll see).

So far, so good (except the problem, of course).  3 lanes heading North (Point A), the right lane becomes the off-ramp (Point B) while the left and middle lanes continue on.

Huzzah! 

I'm going to bed now . . . if I can make it that far before falling asleep. 

[That Retro Guy 321]

I worked on the USOC a little tonight after work.  Things are progressing nicely.  I guess that you can't use Curves on RHW and expect them to connect so I just deleted the Curve and used RHW-2 as a Diagonal to connect where I need it to connect.  It's looking nice thus far.  If there is a way to use the Curve in the default Curves tab and be able to connect it, please let me know how. 

I even got the lake in the middle looking spiffy (if I do say so myself).

Thus:

It's not perfect.  Has anybody ever seen a square lake in real-life?  Maybe there's a way to make it more natural looking (ie: rounder).

Now the newest problem:  Because the Cloverleaf themselves are L0 - L2 or L2 - L0, I need to figure this out:

I have to figure out how to make the L2 off-ramp for the Elevated Highway become the L0 on-ramp for the Ground Highway.  I tried using one of those Raiser things.

Question:

• 1.  What Height is L2?

I thought it was 15 ft but when I tried using the 15 ft Raiser thing, the off-ramp actually went up in height.  I was trying to make a gentle slope like @CorinaMarie did when she showed me how to make a bridge over a river and use the gentle slope to get to ground level.  Suffice it to say, it didn't work.

Then again, @CorinaMarie's gentle slope was straight.  Mine needs to be Diagonal.  Maybe that has something to do with it. 

One thing that I did figure out is I have to be absolutely happy with the shape of the lake before I really start building this thing.  The Leveling tool loves to destroy anything in it's path.

More tomorrow, I'm sure . . .

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

12 hours ago, That Retro Guy said:

Has anybody ever seen a square lake in real-life?

I've seen real life retention / detention ponds which are artificially created and which are square. They are not uncommon in central Indiana.

[That Retro Guy 321]

I made a (much) shorter video this time . . . about 7 1/2 minutes showing my US-OC
 

The original 31+ minute monster will be taken down at Midnight tonight so I don't get nailed by the Copyright hammer.  I didn't realize that the in-game music is copyright protected.  Oops!

[That Retro Guy 321]

I laughed when someone gave me a 'Like' on that 31+ minute Monster of a video of mine. 

Are you ready for the latest?  

Someone actually subscribed to my Channel.  

Once again, whomever you are, and wherever you are . . . You just made my day!  Thanks!  

It looks like that, once again, I screwed up embedding my video into my post.

I Copy+Pasted the YouTube link into this box that I''m typing in right now.  Evidently, I'm still doing something wrong.

The question is:  What?

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

6 hours ago, That Retro Guy said:

I Copy+Pasted the YouTube link into this box that I''m typing in right now.  Evidently, I'm still doing something wrong.

The question is:  What?

The linky you posted is different than the URL I see once clicking it. It might be as owner of the channel they show you a different one and their servers know how to convert it, but ST isn't part of their domain and so doesn't know how to make that odd linky an embed.

Try it using this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-BGKV9SWnY

To get this:

 

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

Just to add...

It is a bit odd as I tried pasting in the shorter URL and it does display in the post editor here. A sure way to get the long URL is to load your YouTube video and then copy the link from the address bar at the top. When pasting this into the post editor it should then automatically resolve properly.

Looking at your post though in the HTML code though, I see the problem:

<span><a href="https://youtu.be/d-BGKV9SWnY" rel="external nofollow">https://youtu.be/d-BGKV9SWnY</a></span>

Those pesky <span> tags were getting in the way somehow, and I've noticed this happens sometimes too occasionally in posts like with quotes. If this occurs, try clearing the post editor (copy any text to Notepad), and then try again with pasting the link. All being well it'll then work properly.

I've removed those superfluous tags and then fixed the video to display properly in your post above by pasting it in.

[That Retro Guy 321]

When I started fiddling around with my US-OC (I made the image that you see in Post #45 of this thread in late February), I found a piece that would indeed lower the off-ramp from L2 to L1 and then from L1 to L0 for the on-ramp.  The problem is that I can't remember which piece it is and where to find it.

Help! 

[That Retro Guy 321]

My OCD is going to be the death of me someday.  I am currently revamping my US-OC.

Yes, sports fans, US-OC Version3 is coming soon.  I must be nuts! 

Here's my US-OC Version2 pic.

The proposed lake was going to be in the center square.  Everyone who's old enough knows that Paul Lynde belongs in the center square. 

I have abandoned the idea of having a lake in the middle of my US-OC for one very important reason:

Since this huge thing needs to be centered in the middle of the city, that's going to be some primo Commercial real estate in the CBD.  I thought and thought until my brain started smoking (nasty habit  ).  I decided to have FLUP OWR ramps run under the Ground Highway into the CBD.  (I can just run the OWRs under the Elevated Highway . . . obviously).  I'll try to post a pic of the CBD within the next couple of days if/when I figure out the FLUPs connector pieces.

It also dawned on me that even if I do manage (somehow) to build my US-OC, the Sims that live in that city would need a way to get on and off of it.

I tried (once again) to figure out FLUPs.  I read @CorinaMarie's Tutorial Cori's First FLUP - With Pics but since it was written almost 5 years ago, I'm wondering if things have been updated and changed.

Here's a pic of my FLUPs attempt (Note:  This isn't the center of the Cloverleaf . . . I did this at the South end of the map trying to make it work):

As you can see, I'd like to have 2 OWRs running under the RHW-6S.  The problem is that every single piece in the FLUPs menu that I tried to connect the OWRs underground fails to work.  . . . which raises a few questions.

Questions:

• 1.  What am I doing wrong this time?
• 2.  Which piece is the correct one that will connect the FLUP ramps in this picture?
• 3.  Since I'm spreading out the Cloverleaf, the North-bound RHW 6-S lanes in this picture will be separated from the South-bound RHW 6-S lanes leaving only half of the RHW-6S for the OWR FLUP ramps to go under.  Does a FLUP connector piece even exist in the game to connect an OWR FLUP ramp under only half of a RHW 6-S (be it the 3 North-bound or the 3 South-bound lanes)?

 

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

14 hours ago, That Retro Guy said:

it was written almost 5 years ago, I'm wondering if things have been updated and changed.

And I haven't Flupped around since then so I've no idea if (or what) has changed in the interim.

(For the most part, I like the addition of the SAM and STR and that's about the most I use for now.)

[That Retro Guy 321]

Oh, good!  People are still talking to me.  I was beginning to wonder. 

I noticed that none of the questions that I asked in my video have been answered.  I thought that maybe hearing the sound of my voice (such as it is) on my video had caused me to be ostracized or something. 

It's late, and I'm in a silly mood.  Bedtime. 

[That Retro Guy 321]

OK.  Here we go again . . .

I'm working on the 'intersection' that will allow the Sims to get onto (and off of) the US-OC.  (Not the Cloverleaf itself, you understand.)

Here's the situation:

Ramp A1

Before placing the Ramp:

And after placing the Ramp:

Ramp B1

And after placing the Ramp:

Ramps A1 and B1 look great, don't they?  Everything is as it should be. 

Now look what happens when I try Ramps D1 and E1:

Ramp D1

Before placing the Ramp:

And after placing the Ramp:

I tried to fix it with the RHW-2 piece:

No luck. 

Ramp E1

Before placing the Ramp:

And after placing the Ramp:

Once again, I tried to fix it with the RHW-2 piece:

And, once again, no luck.

Am I doing something wrong (again), or am I just cursed? 

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

4 hours ago, That Retro Guy said:

Am I doing something wrong (again), or am I just cursed?

As you'll know, I have no idea as I use a very minimal amount of NAM and your endeavors are much more elaborate than anything I've ever tried. I'm replying to casually wonder if a topic in the NAM Forum might present your questions to more experts?

I'm not trying to discourage you nor say to not post those here, but I'm wondering if this is a little too hidden here.

[Henry Crun 75]

Hey Mr Retro,

Not sure if you've had a reply else where or figured it out yourself yet.

Is the issue that the highway is RHW-6S up to the flex-lane piece but needs to be RHW-2 after the junction as the D1/E1 junction strips one lane from the carriageway for the slip road? Because you're placing the flex piece in an existing stretch of RHW-6S, dragging RHW-2 over it makes no difference. I think you have to bulldoze the highway after the junction and redrag RHW-2. Alternatively, on a blank area place a RHW-6S starter piece, the D1/E1 flex a few tiles further up the highway route and drag RHW-2 through the starter piece and the flex piece and it automatically transforms into the correct pieces.I'm not terribly good at this photo lark but hope this makes sense.

HTH

Dave

[That Retro Guy 321]

OMG!  It worked!  

It never even occurred to me to place the FlexRamps first and then 'draw' the highway.  Thanks, man! 

21 hours ago, Henry Crun said:

Mr Retro

Thanks for the respect you're showing me, but it's just Retro.  

[Henry Crun 75]

On 04/05/2021 at 8:13 PM, That Retro Guy said:

On 03/05/2021 at 10:38 PM, Henry Crun said:

Mr Retro

Thanks for the respect you're showing me, but it's just Retro

Retro,

Sorry 'bout that. For some reason, this was in my head when I started typing it....

The Young Ones - YouTube 

Dave

[sevithethird 54]

On 3/27/2021 at 9:01 AM, CorinaMarie said:

Yes. When your Sims get so upset that they start a riot.

Game time will stop. They'll be turning over cars and starting fires. If left unchecked, they can destroy a city tile.

I was searching for threads about crime or police dispatch and I found this conversation. A couple of days ago, I tried to use the police dispatch function to a spot/tile where a crime (fighting) is located. In a rare chance, I saw the police arrest although it disappeared very fast. I'm wondering if there was a mod for this kind of game option in SC4.   

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

1 hour ago, sevithethird said:

 I'm wondering if there was a mod for this kind of game option in SC4.   

I'm uncertain what you'd like the mod to do.

Let you see more of the criminals being arrested? Or, you can use the U-Drive-It feature and apprehend them yourself.

[sevithethird 54]

14 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

I'm uncertain what you'd like the mod to do.

Let you see more of the criminals being arrested? Or, you can use the U-Drive-It feature and apprehend them yourself.

Oh, sorry my bad. Yes, that's what I'm trying to look for. 

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

22 minutes ago, sevithethird said:

Yes, that's what I'm trying to look for. 

Hopefully you mean the latter part for UDI as that's built into the game.

As far as watching the game handle it, the only way I know would be to keep the crime data view open and click on the icon in the map as it appears so you can jump to it and watch. For the duration, I'm not aware of any way we can change that. I do know that part is not set via the Lua code which is where most everything else about automata is set.

[sevithethird 54]

2 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

Hopefully you mean the latter part for UDI as that's built into the game.

As far as watching the game handle it, the only way I know would be to keep the crime data view open and click on the icon in the map as it appears so you can jump to it and watch. For the duration, I'm not aware of any way we can change that. I do know that part is not set via the Lua code which is where most everything else about automata is set.

Uhm maybe I just couldn't remember if UDI has that, but it sparked my interest so I'll try it right now  Anyway, I guess it was a once-in-a-game time event that I caught someone through a police dispatch. Thanks for all the tip!

[That Retro Guy 321]

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but real life has been an absolute bear recently. 

 

I'll try to post more when real life eases up a bit.

Thanks for your patience.