Three Rivers Region

[seemurray2 21]

Your cj continues to look great!  I love the look of the river and tributary on that last post!

[dedgren 830]

So I'm on the road, and can't create a whole ton of sexy graphics...

...your photoshopping skills aren't that good anyway...

I'll ignore that...anyway...can't create a whole ton of sexy graphics to make an announcement, so I'll just rely on that old favorite:

REALLY BIG TYPESIZE.

_________________________

 

HEY, EVERYBODY, SURFACE WATER

 

RAPIDS, CREATED BY YOUR

 

HUMBLE AUTHOR, ARE NOW ON THE

 

STEX AT:

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=16289

_________________________

I'm pretty proud of these puppies.  Before this last weekend, I had a passing familiarity with the ilive Reader, mainly gained through changing the max rail grade allowed in bigredfish's Tunnel and Slope Mod.  I had downloaded the Lot Editor (who hasn't?) but it has sat like a paperweight in my SimCity 4 folder for years.  Same goes for Andreas Roth/SFBT's SC4Tool.  Now I know basically what all of them do (kinda sorta) and can actually make them do it!

I won't bore anyone with the gory details, but let's just say that my wife has never heard language like that before (and that's saying a lot- her first marriage was to a jazz musician who spent a lot of time over on the dark side- but that's another story...).  None of the three programs are what you would call intuitive.  The Reader, in particular, makes things seem tantalizingly close to apparent, but then just leaves you hangin' out there... I think it was what Neil Young was thinking about when he sang, "Numbers don't add up to nothin'."

But I muddled through, and created this-

#1

Essentially, it's some "game" fountain effect props and some game rock props on a textured lot that matches up with the Edmonton Water color (thanks, timotheus4) and blends pretty well with cycledogg's Columbus terrain.

Here's the readme:

   The lot and texture files you are thinking about downloading allow you, in conjunction with brtim2’s Ploppable Edmonton Water (available on the STEX at: https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=16095), to create animated rapids on surface water streams. There are four variants of the rapids (numbered, oddly enough, 1, 2, 3 and 4) which allows you to place several of the lots adjacent to or near each other without creating repetition of the patterns of rocks and water spray. The files should be unzipped into their own subfolder in your (speaking to Windows PC users here- I am clueless about modern Macs) “My Documents” plugins folder.  They'll show up near the top of your "Parks" submenu in "Mayor Mode."  Unfortunately, they don't appear in perfect order and may not come one after the other (hey- everything I know about the Lot Editor, the ilive Reader and SC4Tool I learned in the last four days figuring out how to put these together).

   Everything that is needed is included in the zip file or in the “vanilla” Rush Hour or Deluxe SC4 game. For the technical-minded among you, this means that the zip file includes the necessary custom textures and the game includes the rocks and animated “water spray” effects. I’d suggest as a plus that you obtain, if you don’t have them already, some additional ploppable “Mayor Mode” trees, rocks and other stuff, such as those created by folks like jeronij and cycledogg. You can use these, as shown in the tutorials referenced below, to further customize and integrate ploppable water streams and shorelines into your terraforming. I note that the lots will tolerate a moderate slope (water, after all, does flow downhill), but are not meant to be used on a cliff face.

   I see these lots as being transitional, as ploppable water “technology” is moving along pretty quickly as of late. It has certainly generated a lot of recent interest, at any rate, as the comments left at my CJ, Three Rivers Region, would appear to indicate. The discussion and some tutorials start here on page 9 [ link ].  The lots are specifically addressed here on page 15 [ link ]. 

   If you would have any suggestions (or remaining questions about how to use the darn things), don’t hesitate to PM me at ST, or just put them in a post at 3RR. Thanks in advance for enjoying these.

   Thanks to brtim2, Vandy, jeronij, aleking, cycledogg and pegasus for inspiration and, as appropriate, encouragement.  The edited lots also could not have been made without ilive's Reader and, for creating the textures, Andreas Roth and SFBT's great SC4Tool.  I guess I should also thank Maxis/EA for throwing us, like a bone, the Lot Editor.  These latter could do much better, but don't get me started…

Here's some more rapids downstream.

#2

And from a little further back.

#3

A little more...

#4

Hey, I think they're pretty effective- but then I'm somewhat biased.

Here's the overall area.  Note the incomplete terraforming and superdetailing- think we'll ever get that far?

#5

So let's shift gears a minute.

Here's what the rapids menu icons look like after installation.

#6

I hate most of the picture icons in SC4.  I'd rather scroll through something that immediately tells me something.

I need to say I'm sorry here that I didn't learn enough to get the menu icons in order or together.  I thought I'd whipped that problem, but it's apparent from my own "full" instead of test installation (where they had acted perfectly, the rotten little...oh, yes, dear?) that this remains an issue needing to be addressed.  Any help or tips or suggestions would really, really be appreciated here.  I know it can be done- I just don't know how to do it and the T&E method, while conducive to developing a very fine-grained understanding, is just slow as h-ll.

You see that there are four (count 'em, four) variants.  This is mainly so that two rapids lots can be put adjacent to eachother without the same rocks and effects being in the exact same place.  I plan to experiment with prop families at some point (once I figure out how to make prop families).

I love pop-up info that actually tells you something about what you're pointing at.

#7

The reason to point the arrow upstream when the lot is being positioned but before you left-click to plop it is because the water spray effects really only properly work in one direction, which is with the spray heading downstream.  Besides making them free to plop and not cost anything, the lots all have positive pollution and desireability effects that I set in the Reader.  Don't ask me what they are right now- it's late.

Here's closeups of the four variants after being plopped and without any trees or other stuff (rocks, logs, etc.) added.

#8

#9

#10

#11

So, that's it.  Enjoy these.  Let me know what I can do to make them better.  If you hate them, let me know why.

I'm off to Carlsbad Caverns with family tomorrow (the 29th) on my last full day in Texas visiting one of our adoptive kids who is in a hospital here.  I fly back to Alaska on Friday, so likely will not be back at a 'puter 'til July 1st.  Hopefully, nothing will go radically wrong at 3RR or with these lots before then.

And, since I'm a lawyer, if you use these lots and your computer develops hives, or hair grows on your palms, or the IRS visits your bank account and makes a little withdrawal, well- hey.  Sh Stuff Happens.  I did the best I could.  Tomorrow's another day.

[tchaos713 5]

This is really, really, really (once more for emphasis? naw) good. Developments like this one keep the game moving forward even though it's been four years since it came out!!! I am very impressed, to say the least.

Enjoy Carlsbad...

[Darmok 34]

You should go to Texas more often, David.

If everytime you do you come up with things like that, by all means go!

That's one heck of a good idea! And the actual lots looks great (according to your pics)

Can't wait to try those in the weekend my friend!

Enjoy your time with your family, as "they" say, it's priceless! (yah, "they don't foot the bill don't ""they"!)

Have a great time.

Regards

John

[GMT 389]

great ones!

gotta get them right now

waiting for more

[E.J.C 9]

your scenery is beautiful, but I never see an elevated highway in the middle of "somewhere" ;-)

[Rayden 7]

Nice tutorial and great job done with those tools. You've completely fooled me this time, as I didn't thought of you using tools to build those rapids, but instead used some other kind of trick using ploppable water.

Well done.

Silvio

[Micah 16]

Oh thanks! I downloaded them and was wondering how to use them. The tutorial was fantastic!

[Battlecat 14]

Excellent addition to the game!  This will really bring ploppable water rivers to life!

[ElBarto92 7]

Excellent lots, David, real useful for realistic surface water streams. Hope to see more lots from you in the future. Have fun at Carlsbad..

Andr

[dedgren 830]

'Lo there.  Well, back from the caverns.  I'll post a few pics before bed.

Before I start, though, I want to note something I'm doing and invite your feedback.  As is clear by now, this is an image-centric CJ.  Based on a discussion over at MrCinatit's "Guide to Creating a City Journal" topic thread, I've become more aware of the impact of even a few extra kb per pic.  In doing my bit to speed things up around here, I am going to increase my pic compression to 25%, up from 15%. Now, THIS IS IMPORTANT:

If there is a decrease in the image quality of 3RR's pics that reduces the enjoyment of viewing this CJ, TELL ME ABOUT IT, PLEASE.

Right away.  In a post, in a PM, it doesn't matter.  Please let me know.  I'll continue to adjust until I hit the right ratio of viewability to size.  Thanks in advance.

So, I'm still in Texas...

#1


Lyle Lovett, eat 'yer heart out...

Today, we took our two adopted boys over from Midland, where we're staying, to Carlsbad Caverns just across the line into New Mexico.

#2


This is another place I haven't been in 25 years or so.  You never forget the cave entrance, though...

#3


...once you've seen it.  Picture this hole in the ground with a bazillion bats (hey, bat, my man, this one's for you) flying in and out of it twice each day.

Nor do you forget what's inside.

#4


This is just otherworldly stuff.

The trip's a little rougher than I remembered...

#5


...but the facilities, even at 800 feet below ground...

#6


...are right up to date...if a bit unique.

#7


In any event...

#8


...RL sometimes does have its attractions.

#9


But enough...let's see some more of 3RR.
______________________________

Pratt Island

This is Pratt Island, a small island in Hotham Sound south of Pineshore.  A map of the island can be found at this link.

Map of Pratt Island

The following are a few pics taken on the north end of the island around the community of Willoughby.

Pratt Island was once farmed extensively (by a family named, not surprisingly, Pratt, which settled the island late in the 1800s), but is now yuppifying at an alarming rate and the former farms have reverted to open area and bands of woodland.

#10


Because there's good line-of-sight across the water into Pineshore, there are a number of comm towers here up on Wild Horse Hill.

#11


The old ferry terminal at the north end of R-351 is now surrounded by houses that start in the 500K range for a fixer-upper.  Some idiot mayor had 3RRDOT construct a four-lane down the hill to the terminal, but he was booted from office the next election.

#12


A closer look...

#13


Not exactly heavy traffic there, eh?

A shot of the shoreline neighborhood just south of the terminal.

#14


And, over on the other side of the island, the obligatory Ruby Tuesday's and Starbucks across the street from the Mud Bay Yacht Club.

#15


See 'ya over the weekend.

EDIT:  (8/15/06)  Added link to Pratt Island map, along with specific references to places based on the map.

[KT3 5]

David

You are a genius my friend. This water mod is excellent.

You mentioned that the icons may not appear all together on the menu.

Would you like me to mod your mod for you so they all appear together? I have successfully modded the work of Pegasus and Jeronij, so that thier icons appear in the order I want them at the top of the relevant menus. If you wish, I could mod yours in such a way that they appear all together, right at either the top or the bottom of the relevant menu.

Keep up the excellent work my friend, look forward to more

Regards

Katie (Mountain Momma)

[sloppet 3]

Great update dedgren! Those last pics are just breathtaking, nice worko, keep it up mate!

[Rayden 7]

Nice update, and I hope you're enjoying a lot your little vacation on the "cowboy land". Impressive scenery there.

[tchaos713 5]

Another excellent update!! I don't think that pic quality has really suffered... on the other hand, I have a high-speed connection, so I don't really care how big they are...

The only caverns I've ever been to are the ones in Virginia (Luray, Shenandoah, Endless). I've always wanted to see the ones out west, but when we went we didn't go that far east... (!)

[jacqulina 162]

wow you have done a wonderfull job with the rapids nice presentation lovely pics,love that mod just what i wanted

[TinySim 4]

Lovely Island! Where can I get those comm. towers?

[dfnva 34]

The rivers and streams, with the rocks and all are amazing. I'm going to go back and look at the other pages, but this is amazing.

Dan

[halo_lover 1]

Cool cave, btw.

I love the region. The island looks so natural yet pure and realistic. Good road network as well! Great use of custom lots.

[psteverific 8]

No, don't worry... the pictures look fine. I didn't even notice the diference at all.

Nice work on the Island, always so detailed with you

I really enjoyed those pictures of Texas. the caves are really cool looking. I don't think i've ever seen a W/C in any of the caves I've visited, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised... it is Texas after all, the land of  "go big or go home".

[Tommy_Vercetti3 3]

The little peninsula or island looks great! The water around it looks good too.

[Yoman3 5]

Great update. I downloaded the rapids too.

[Zelgadis 638]

So that was you!  I just downloaded those rapids.  And the other stuff that went along with them as well. 

I have to admit, I'm terrible at checking the creator of a STEX offering when I download it.  It's one of my failings... 

ISF

[Fallon144 1]

excellent, I love the real life pics as well

[dussin23 1]

Well, after a lengthy absence, I've finally decided to come back to SC4.  I had a lot of technical problems and probably wouldn't have come back if not for this CJ sticking in my head.  I'm doing a full-reinstall of the game as well as all mods and plugins.  Not only is this CJ fun to look at and inspiring, it's also useful when it comes to reconstructing your own game.  The tutorial aspect is invaluable and should be considered essential reading.

I think it was a good idea to compress the images a little more.  On the web you can get away with quite a bit of compression, and with a CJ like this every little bit helps.  I have a fast connection but it always took a minute or two for these pages to load.

I hope you are enjoying your stay in Texas.  It's an interesting place to say the least.  I've lived elsewhere but I was born and raised here, so I'd definitely know.

Thanks again, Dedgren, for sharing all this with us.

[Darmok 34]

Good work David and thanks for sharing those inspiring photos!

Never went into a cave, always saw them in pics or documentaries.

Beautiful!

---

On topic:

That small island is a gem!

pics 13, 14 and 15 are pure beauty!

Again the simplicity/beauty equation! you never miss with it!

That small ferry terminal in that modest setup is litteraly stealing the show! That particular picture for me represent the essence of this game!

Enjoy the rest of your trip my friend!

[mattb325 28,880]

Hi Dedgren

Thanks for the ploppable water rapids, I must say, that and the edmonton water (oh, and let's not forget all of the wonderful in-depth tutorials here) has got me using these far more frequently in my hilly regions!

Excellent work, the island is very picturesque indeed and texas is one of those places I will have to get to one  day...it looks breathtaking

[dedgren 830]

You've got Comments, Questions or Requests-

I've got Responses!


Hi, there.  Still in Texas- a last minute glitch now has me departing tomorrow morning, and I'll be back in Alaska in time for dinner...

...yeah, after a whirlwind tour of the airports in Houston and Minneapolis.  Why does one have to fly so far north and east to get so far west?

Nothing can bother me today, though- I've just spent much of the past two weeks with our older adoptive son who's at a hospital here in Texas.  His little brother, who hasn't seen him since Christmas, came down with my wife and her mother, and a wonderful time was had by all.

Josh and Tristen are 7 and 9, respectively.  Both are special kids, and we are very lucky to have them with us.  We're hoping Tristen gets to return home early next year, so I'll probably be doing 3RR from "on the road" back from Midland again around Christmastime.

Okay, okay, enough of the proud dad stuff...sheesh!

Anyway, I've been working on both the new and old "We've got Mail" posts.  I'll be posting more of the responses, by the by, to the old one back on page 13 during the remainder of the afternoon today, as wife, mom and Josh are driving back to Memphis, Tennessee by way of Biloxi, Mississippi (more family there) and I'm at the airport hotel between Midland and Odessa waiting for tomorrow's flight and I've thus got an uninterrupted stretch of time ahead of me.

Since the new "We've got Mail" won't go up probably until the 4th, I'm taking a few minutes here to respond to three recent posts, found back up this page a bit, in the interest of being timely.

On June 29th, E.J.C. wrote

I never see an elevated highway in the middle of "somewhere" ;-) quote>

Actually, E.J.C., I have.  It was in western Sicily on a trip from the place I lived in Italy, Monte Calvarina, during the very early 1908s 1980s (Thanks, S_A!).  I was touring by train and on foot visiting the various Greek and Roman temples on the island, and from the temple at Segesta, one can see a miles long stretch of autostrada, elevated for no apparent reason, crossing a valley.  I have a picture of it buried somewhere in storage- I took it because the elevated section struck me as really odd at the time as well.

But the elevated highways of SC4?  Give me a break!  They are completely unrealistic in a rural setting generally, and are not much better in urban settings.  Most urban elevated highways tend to run on earth or concrete berms for any distance, and are only on columns or stanchions when they cross other roads, rail lines and such.  So I agree with you totally- the elevated highway around Johnston's Corners in the pics on page 14 of this CJ is absolutely misplaced.

So why is it there?  Bluntly put, because of the current limitations imposed by the absence of highway overpass and interchange puzzle pieces in the NAM.  Saying this, by the way, is in no way intended to knock the NAM, which is an effort of Herculean proportions on the respective parts of those involved.  More than any other single "user contribution" to SC4, the NAM expanded the game's horizons beyond all limits.  It's just that those guys (and gals, I'm sure) couldn't do and, to the extent the effort is still alive today, can't do everything.  I would give anything to have puzzle pieces that would allow "up and over" diamond interchanges like those that are so common here in the 'States... 



...to be realistically incorporated into the SC4 freeway system.  That pic, by the way, is I-88, the East-West Tollway, over Winfield Road just northwest of Naperville, Illinois, where I grew up.  These, by comparison, are just not acceptable.

Here's another thing the NAM should allow us to be able to do.

The divergence of a limited access highway into two highways, or into a continuation of the highway and a surface road is extremely common, especially as is the case in much of the rural United States. where, outside of towns, the interstate that was built to replace the former US highway, was built right on top of the old right of way.  At the edge of town, the interstate and old highway would diverge, with the old road becoming the "business route" into town and the interstate bypassing it to one side.  This is what I was trying to model at Johnston's Corners.  The above pic is the junction of US 40 (Colfax Avenue) and I-70 just east of Aurora, Colorado, where essentially just that is going on.

There's been a pic of a junction sort of like this floating around the various NAM topics for over a year.  Wait a minute...ahhhh, yes, here's one.

I'm sure someone P'shopped this, because it was around way before the last iteration (October, 2005) of the NAM.

Here's what I've been doing as one kind of workaround.



The exits to the east and west of Johnston's Corners are another makeshift substitute for what I hope someday will be offered as the real deal in the NAM.

Okay, so back to my use of elevated highways.  In order for the "workaround" exits to be possible, I have to use the NAM elevated highway "perpendicular one-way road" exits.  Why don't I use the corresponding ground highway exits?  Because they don't exist.  If, as in Johnston's Corners, the highway turns on the diagonal, it has to stay elevated.  Why, Because no diagonal elevated-to-ground highway transtition piece exists.  Again, NAM Gods, I am not complaining.  I know you all are overworked just making incremental progress on something that is really, really hard.  And you are doing it for grins.  Maxis/EA could fix this for us next week, I'd bet.  But they won't.  And for no better reason than because they are busy doing the Rural Bumpkin expansion pack for The Sims2.

So that, E.J.C., is why you see elevated highways where they shouldn't be in 3RR.  I'm going to really make an effort to minimize their use where I absolutely don't need them from this point on.

Also on the 29th, Katie (KT3 - Katie's Mountain Retreat) wrote:

Would you like me to mod your mod for you so they all appear together? I have successfully modded the work of Pegasus and Jeronij, so that thier icons appear in the order I want them at the top of the relevant menus. If you wish, I could mod yours in such a way that they appear all together, right at either the top or the bottom of the relevant menu.quote>

Katie's referring to my Ploppable Rapids lots



available on the STEX here

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=16289.

This is the problem with the menu icons.



Katie, if you can fix this, I'd be forever grateful (not that I'm not already grateful that you've seen fit to grace us with your beautiful CJ- it has become a much anticipated daily stop on the rounds).  There's a price, though.  You have to tell me how you did it, or share the knowledge with everyone some other way.  I almost didn't post to the STEX when I realized that I hadn't gotten everything just so, and I would hate to think that others in a position to contribute something worthwhile might be more restrained than I.  I'm working on a "down the road" Lot Editor tutorial based on my experiences creating ploppable rapids, and I'd really hope to include that piece of knowledge for all to use.  So, thanks again so much- I'll PM you over the 4th to work out the details.

TinySim from Sweden rounds out these responses.  On June 29th he posted

Where can I get those comm. towers?quote>

These comm. towers?



The two to the rear are by brtim2 (Terketmek) of Ploppable Edmonton Water fame and are available on the STEX at

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=2959.

The third tower is by carlosau and is on the STEX at

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=12255.

Enjoy!

Finally, I'll let everyone in on an experiment.  I've been trying various ways to work out an overview map for 3RR.  The following is a promising candidate.  Click on it if you dare- right now it is a thumbnail for the full 867kb overview map.



More over the next few days.  Later.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

...during the very early 1908s. I was touring by train and... quote>

Are you that old?

Overview map looks brilliant, too.

[NicolaiS 8]

The region itself has been a long time favorite of mine. What I do like to know though is how you made that image and which program you used?