Dock problem

[kakashisen77 0]

hey guys, i'v always been fustrated at the fact that you can only build docks, beachs and other buildings related to this area in certain places and if im unlucky, there will be only 1 place on the whole map which will be suitable and turn blue... and so i tried reshaping the land to lower and then steeper but still its red... so i was wondering how you guys do it? is there a special technique for doing this.? Cheers

[simmax 0]

The best thing to do is to use the God mode tools. Press CTRL+ALT+SHIFT while clicking on the 'god mode' button, and you'll have access to the same tools as those that you can use for terraforming. Then, to reduce the size of the tool, press CTRL + [numbers 0-9]. This is useful for beaches. For piers, you have to lower the land on a few tiles until you're just above the water level - again, it's useful to reduce the size of the brush (still CTRL + number). Hope this helps!

[Sam 163]

When trying to place the lot, you may notice that some squares on the lot are outlined in red, and some in blue. The red tiles of the lot must be placed entirely on land, the blue ones must be placed entirely in water. You can't place either red or blue squares on tiles that are half in and half out of the water, ie transition tiles.

Beaches are quite flexible in their placement, provided you follow the red and blue tile rules.

Ferries and docks are much harder and as well as following the red and blue tile rules, you need a very flat area, very close to water level. The water edge also needs to be perfectly straight. To get this you will almost certainly need to use leveling tools as someone previously mentioned.

[Gnargenox 6]

By placing a road tile next to the waters edge, you can create a nice flat space at the appropriate elevation, thereby starting an area to build docks. Continue placing road tiles one at a time, making more and more level areas along the waters edge. Modify the terrain if needed with the up, down or leveling tool and re-level with street tiles. Bulldoze the roads and you should have a nice place to set a dock.

Beaches are easier to place along fully straight or diagonal coast lines. Water edges that are too steep or bumpy or stick out like a pennisula need to be smoothed (some pennisulas will work if fairly symetrical). Using the terrain tools is more like painting with a paintbrush rather than modifying vertices points in autocad.

It can be very frustrating getting a beach or dock to go exactly where you want. Don't be too concerned about your money, just smooth and manipulate the slope however your need it (I've never bothered with God-mode tools). I've found that if you imagine the grid you see when placing roads to still be there while you're terrain editing, raise or lower the land only slightly around each point the grid lines intersect. Like in the four quadrants of an x-y graph (while zoomed in and using the ctrl+2 size for up, down and level tools, one or two clicks). That should give you a smoother look.

Also there are other custom beach lots here on the stex that are even easier to place. Some don't even need to be in water. Some are only one tile wide and stretch way into the water. See if there are any you might like.

[storms991 0]

I don't even place them even more, I just use marrast emankments.

[Rochefort 13]

Hi kakashisen77

Its a common problem but one that can really have a very simple solution, so I've knocked together a few images to help you out.

As you can see in the pic, I've got a coastline that is definitely NOT harbour, marina or beach friendly. The water's edge is too steep and no matter where I try, nothing will plop. I've laid two roads to mark out where I want to lay my small marina so it's visible for you to see how you can easily lay your desired waterfront item regardless of terrain.

Now, If I zoom in a little, I can see a row of tiles sitting about where I want my coastline to really sit. For the purpose of this explanation I've circled my "target" tile.

All I need do is lay a single road tile and it will naturally level the ground.

Now, all I need to do is expand the area laying tile next to tile, next to tile.

Demolish when you're happy with the area you want to plop on.

Test....now, we're cooking !!

And we're done !

Who needs rocket science anyhow?

Rochefort

[kakashisen77 0]

omg, Thnx a heap rochefort really helped! and thanks for everyone elses contribution! really appreciated.