Developing the City of Pololomia
Replies:
Urban Constanta: Thank you!
Odainsaker: I didn't know that- so thanks for that brief slice of urban history. I basically went for a style that is green, takes up space and has paths/parks running through these neighbourhoods.
RandyE: It is harder to build extensively with diagonals because there are fewer buildings to use, but I have worked out ways of creating diagonal city blocks. As for the industry and commerce a lot of that style you were talking must be because I used Mattb325's buildings which are spacey, have green spaces and look rather modern.
kschmidt: It means a lot of use of the "Make Historical" button! I used the No Maxis buildings mod and I have in my head a list of buildings which suit various themes. The "standard" you were talking about is actually growable for the green suburbs.
licoricebomb: The horses can be found here- https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2862.
Entry 2: Developing the City of Pololomia
In this entry I show you the current state of Pololomia and finished areas. This is a large city tile I'm working on and one which is a basic template for the style I go for when playing SC4. Enjoy!
1.
So this is the city of Pololomia as it stands. In the southwest corner is the city centre, then the city fans outwards and decreases in density...
2.
The W2W buildings I have used are mainly Jasoncw, NoFunk and Goofyguytpa creations which can be found on the STEX.
3.
While I have found that Mattb325's creations are great for filling in city blocks which aren't necessarily W2W.
4.
The W2W Buddhist temple is zero7's Z7 Temple and Stupa.
5.
Every city block I create has parking in the middle, back alleys or gardens at the back which connect together. It's easy to place buildings down but it is a lot harder connecting them together- so I use car parking, trees, parks and other fillers to make each city block unique. Also MMPs are useful too for adding variety to blank texture tiles!
6.
An even trickier thing to pull off is density transitions. Ideally in the centre of cities and the inner city area the buildings are at least several floors high with higher buildings dotted around. But in mid-rise areas this can be anywhere between 10 to 4 floors high with the occasional tower block. While for low-rise areas it can be anywhere from ground floor height to four floors high.
7.
The secret to diagonal city building is hiding the jagged square edges of the textures. In this picture I have hidden/disguised most of the jagged square edges so that it all blends together. SFBT Diagonal Fillers and Simcoug's Diagonal Tenements are some of my preferred methods for building diagonally.
8.
And now back to the inner city area and this time railways. Now railways really need to separate and divide a city. So that means walls, tunnels and bridges. Having road crossings on a railway in an inner city area is not very common. So in this picture I used FLUPS to really emphasise the railway splitting up the city, lastly every bit of the railway is bordered with fences and walls.
9.
Little roundabouts can be a great cosmetic addon or architectural addon even if it's a little unrealistic. Also tight FLUPs in urban areas are some of the coolest things this game has to offer.
10.
Roundabouts can also prove to be a useful means of separating streets and SAM streets...
11.
In this neighbourhood I used KingOfSimCity's Maxis Mansion Overhaul mod which is incredibly cool stuff. Large lots, green areas and those FA tennis courts!
12.
But it's also important to break up a themed area with other fillers: for instance WorkingManProductions Allotment set and FrankU's parks (tree fillers).
13.
The next entry will show further development from Pololomia and more finished city scenes. I think this city will take four or five weeks to finish. In the north and east I want to create rural areas and farmland and THAT is the trickiest transition of them all - urban to rural!
So see you then!
And thanks a lot for your comments!
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