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So this is a WIP. Sunny beaches? Resort hotels? I'm sure anyone could guess what my intent is with this area's final product... (click for full size - it's a fairly large image)

This month I'm celebrating the 1st anniversary of my NYC train set. To kick it off, I'm sharing some WIP images of my upcoming train depot/yard shop for the new Metro Overhaul Mod headed by Bloody Penguin and Lazarusman who are working hard bringing us this awesome mod. This will be among the first such depots that will function the same as buses and trams but for trains on metro lines. This means no more underground only blocks for metro lines. Also note the third rail tracks! Lazarusman is doing a great job on them. The metro will now come above ground and even on elevated lines and be dispatched from the yards and back when taken out of service making our trains on metro more realistic. I look forward to making some real train yards around these. Trains that already exist on the workshop will be ported to be used as metro so there's no need to wait for new trains for this. This will finally give me a good reason to use metro in this game and see my trains in a proper subway system. Exciting times ahead. In Game first test of the model Since we cannot place tracks right next to each other, I may model some old tracks for bays 3 and 4. Hopefully my next test will be actually making a functional line.

Previews from the Olympic Aquatics Stadium (zoom 4): However, I have bad news. As some here know, I had an unforeseen event and I'll be without my laptop I use to make my BATs for a few weeks. On the other computer I'm using the programs do not run well, and the Maracanã and Copacabana Palace Hotel will be postponed, because they are very complex and softwares crash. Although it won't be in STEx soon, the Maracanã will appear in Elavery's CJ To 'replace' these delays, I will try to make some less complex buildings for the project.

A aerials few I took last weekend - night lights, disabled tonemapping and maximum fog are a match made in heaven:

I added the code for texture selection. Missing are: LOD textures Node textures (intersections, sharp turns) Meshes I will not publish it before LOD and Node textures are working. Skins can be published as separate mods with simple xml configs: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <SkinsDefinition xmlns:xsi=" http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd=" http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"> <Skins> <Skin name="Red Brick" id="boformer.RedBrick" network-name="Basic Road"> <Segments> <Segment index="0" main="RoadSmall_D2.png" apr="Basic Road_APR.png" /> </Segments> </Skin> <Skin name="Rusty Bulkhead" id="boformer.RustyBulkhead" network-name="Quay"> <Segments> <Segment index="0" main="Quay_d.png" xys="Quay_xys.png" /> </Segments> </Skin> </Skins> </SkinsDefinition>

The problem is to do with stability of adjacent networks. This might look like a simple overpass, but actually from the perspective of the games code it's very complicated. No less than 8 crossings in the space of four tiles, all made with the same network, DirtRoad (what we use as RHW). As a result, sometimes the game gets things wrong. To get the code to "try again", you just need to click around with the RHW tool randomly. Usually after a few attempts the games code will get things right and everything will work as expected. However there is often a specific spot that will work, so a bit of trial and error can be needed. If all else fails, add a few RHW-8S starters a tile or two from where the RHW-4 crosses, to add additional stability. Although that shouldn't be necessary here.

Honestly, the opposite is more likely. For example, let's take RRW (Real Railway). Assuming everything else is the same, technically the code base and amount of textures, models etc have all been increased with NAM 34. In reality, is that going to be the difference between your computer running well or not?, unlikely. For most users the real "enemy" is somewhere between the size of their cities populations and the sheer amount of content installed. DATPacking has only one real benefit, loading times. Since the same amount of content is loaded either way, just that SC4 can process (index) large DATs more efficiently. Not surprising really, see the difference of copying a large file from one disk to another v.s. many small files with a much lower overall size. This is really more about how hard drives work than anything else.

Well, that's key to the game - part of the challenge lies in designing a transportation infrastructure that works. Therefore, the game needs some limits and conditions under which vacancies in a building will not be filled. First the game notices "hey, we could use some more industry or people will go out of work". That's your first challenge: Keep those demand bars under control, fill demand. Find suitable space and lay out those zones. Now the game checks for access to these zones, and if it can't get your Sims to that shiny new factory within the allowable parameters and limits, the factory will end up unused. There's your second challenge: bring supply and demand together. Buildings ending up unused are a problem because these unfilled job vacancies are like empty calories: They decrease your commercial/industrial demand by the number of job vacancies, but they don't actually lead to more employment.

Look at all those trucks lining up to get at the frieght station... ah, they just don't have anywhere else to go, and no throwing freight on trains as they pass by.

Southern winter vacations had arrived, and with them, free time to experiment with the game. After years of playing and roaming the site, a simple test on using a sidewalk mod overflowed on the creation of my own sidewalk mod, all thanks to the high tech advancements by Rivit and MGB (a.k.a. rsc204). Well, in fact it begun a little before: in March I uploaded a fictional map, and surprisingly, people is using it! So, to take advantage of the momentum already gained, I'm opening this thread, to give support on this couple of humble custom content I've done, but also to try creating something more. By now, I let you with what is already done: Ciudad del Lago (map) A 24x24 km square region with lots of hills and natural canals, and plenty of pre-terraformed plains to build Veredas Santiaguinas (sidewalk mod) A Santiago de Chile inspired SD sidewalk mod for Maxis networks, lots and NAM networks, made with MGB's Automated Sidewalk Mod. Now it also includes SCILT support! Basaltic Sands (sand and beach texture mod) Blackish SD sand textures for basaltic beaches, from Polynesia to Iceland Basalt Column Tiles (sidewalk mod) A SD sidewalk mod made of sliced basalt columns, for your hotspot-placed cities <-- working on this Basalt Columns (cliff texture mod) A SD cliff texture that mimics basalt columns, with different hues for various locations: Iceland, Spain, Yellowstone, New Zeland, Taiwan, etc. <-- researching m93 KOSC SuperSHK+ retexture for Veredas Santiaguinas and Sudden Valley (override of SuperSHK textures) What it says on the title

This is just a mini tutorial showing industrial freight preferences for how it chooses to ship its goods out of town. The main principle is that they want the quickest route to the neighborhood connection. (I tried to explain this in chat, but I feel I wasn't able to convey my idea very well.) In the following picture the key elements are: The industries in the upper left are zoned so their street access is to the north which means the rear of the buildings are to the south and adjacent to the rail line. The truck traffic for the farms north of the rail line passes by a rail station before it connects to the road. The industry and farms south of the east/west road are farther from the train station and therefore do not use it. The main thing is that in order to convince them to use the freight station, it must appear to them as the quickest route. They will not drive a wee bit further to get to it if there is a neighborhood road connection in their sight. In this next picture, I'm showing how the industry is zoned so the rear of their buildings are adjacent to the rail line. When that is the case they will just toss the freight directly onto a train. No train station is needed. I made the industrial zones face the direction I wanted by holding the Ctrl Key and then drawing the zone starting at the street and then dragging away from it. I hope this clarifies what I was saying in chat. Edit: This was created to illustrate a principle. It is NOT a recommendation for how to deal with slopes.

So, I was going to dive in and do some smaller medium wealth commercial services, but this fell out of me when BATting... I am going to have fun with the roof details...

A little WIP pic today. 2 more oil tanks which fit on 6x6 lot. The fixed roof one is more or less done - it needs props and some that sort of touch ups. The floating roof I'll add a little walkway going into it and it has no LOD or normal map yet. with a bit of luck I'll finish them tomorrow, so won't be long until they're on the workshop. Oh, and tris count is currently just below 900 and just above 1000 (will prob end up about 1100 tris), so they're on the lighter end

I confirm it now works well and it appears normally in the list ! Thank you very much !

Hi v701, This has been reported previously, and it's believed to be a site bug. After a bit of experimenting (unpublished, edited and republished), I think I've fixed it. Can you confirm it now shows in the index list?

I couldn't resist, so here's a rough early test before the textures are done and it's all properly placed with sub-buildings:

Here's mine!

Im going to go try this myself right now, to see if I can build an industrial area that primarily uses freight stations, freeing up roads for car traffic. I mean why bother having freight stations if they are hardly used? That's no fun.

Haha! Is it weird that when I bulldoze something and see all the little red frowny faces, I sometimes tell my Cims not to get their knickers in a twist?

Another building which will be finished on ∞.12.31

A touch of nature just south of Central Monroe.

Some road construction/planning.

Pristine sunken rail corridor

@DeltaGamer Yes my veggies are larger in tris than the vanilla trees but so far they do not cause any performance issues. I made a shorter version of the grass clusters. These can be placed in more urban situations. It's another 2 piece set. See Steam page for more details. Steam Link http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=689986108

I'm pretty sure that only a side of the requisite industrial zone needs to be touching the rail, not only the back side. Keep in mind that using the CTRL key to face zones will prevent (or at least make it difficult for) other sized industrial lots from growing (this includes lots with a different orientation, e.g. 5x3 vs 3x5). Obviously the front won't work (needs road access), but since industrial zones are by default omnidirectional, this isn't actually of much concern. I would recommend using the CTRL key only when you are trying to get one specific IND lot (or set of lots) to grow in a given zone, like for the COM and RES zones. @RandyE Tree-type network structures make your game run smoother, but wreak havoc on congestion unless you're running the game on high or ultra capacities, since the NAM is geared toward more realistic road networks and the more efficient pathfinder allows for more populous cities. If you're running the MAXIS default simulator (no transit/traffic mods installed), then it doesn't really matter anyways, since Sims will always take the shortest route, and cram onto buses when the roads run out of room. Your grid effectively functions like a tree structure, since all the possible routes get ignored for the one that happens to be the shortest, even if it's a side street that 2000 other Sims are already using.

I tend to agree. I have well over 70 games that run on Win 2000. And -- I am extremely partial to a bunch of Sid Miers' stuff as well as the Europa Universalis series and the Total War series. (When I get tired of building cities -- I can go blow up a few as a change of pace! lol-lol) Moving to -- say XP -- would allow me to use some of the newer lotting tools , and Nam 34. But that would eliminate all of the games unless I have an entirely new computer built. I am also not inclined to move to a newer OS because I'm stubborn. I never have liked the Microsoft habit of releasing new software every couple of years. Most games are never updated -- so you're stuck with new computers if you wish to keep the old games -- or losing the old games if you update your old computer. Catch-22. I still have an old 4mb, dos 6.0 machine because it runs a good naval wargame that no one has ever updated. (Plus -- Microsoft is rich enough without getting more of my money!) My gut feeling is to stay with "2000" and simply try to update the system for more speed. But -- I will investigate building a new machine for XP -- just to see what the cost might be.

Automata modelling is quite difficult say compared to making BATs. Firstly they are some of the only True 3D models used by the game. Secondly they are smaller and thus a bit more intricate. But mostly it's that you can only use a limited number of polygons for a single model, so you have to be ruthlessly efficient with your modelling. The best tutorials on this are by Vester and can be found here.

As a Bernie supporter, I am glad he is finally going to endorse. No, he is not a sell-out. He had a goal, he ran a great campaign, and his ideas will continue into the Convention. The Dems MUST change, they MUST adapt and they MUST update the platform. As a country, we are so behind other Western countries and that is no place for America. These Repugnicans are so behind the times that it is ridiculous. Hate of change, hate of rights (unless its a gun), hate of governance. Annoyed now. IGT

Just for some actual clarification: This is incorrect, according to Valve Legal Information, Valve "respects the intellectual property rights of others, and we ask that everyone using our internet sites and services do the same." In other words, Steam who is run by Valve is subject to a basic intellectual rights agreement as soon as you sign up and agree to the terms and conditions. Which means anyone cannot do anything to any asset on Steam Workshop unless "you own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary consents to do the same." As listed on the Steam Online Conduct page which as a Steam Subscriber, you agree to abide by all the rules listed there. Again, this is incorrect. You must gain specific permission to "tweak" previously made content, not just mention the original author. Just as a thought about mass deletion by former modders - If this happens to become a thing: Under the Steam Subscriber Agreement - Section 6.B "You may, in your sole discretion, choose to remove a Workshop Contribution from the applicable Workshop pages. If you do so, Valve will no longer have the right to use, distribute, transmit, communicate, publicly display or publicly perform the Workshop Contribution, except that (a) Valve may continue to exercise these rights for any Workshop Contribution that is accepted for distribution in-game or distributed in a manner that allows it to be used in-game, and (b) your removal will not affect the rights of any Subscriber who has already obtained access to a copy of the Workshop Contribution." Which means that if someone chooses to remove their own work, Valve still has their legal rights to use any material for their own particular use according to Section 6.A of the Subscriber Agreement (not a steam user) and a steam user can still use that material if it remains in their game after such a removal but the original author's intellectual rights are preserved - meaning such content cannot be re-uploaded or tweaked in any way without express permission from the original author (the intellectual owner) Hopefully this helps to clarify some misguided ideas about intellectual property when it comes to free third part content. For those not sure whether all this U.S law applies to them - it does because in agreeing to the terms & conditions of Steam (Valve) you agree to be bound by such U.S law even if you do not reside there as many people who play the game do not. And again, I believe that the community needs to stop its entitled attitude and appreciate quietly any free content they get. Thankfully the wider community doesn't reduce themselves to fabricated "facts" just to assert their "rights" to do whatever they please. Those people should do some fact checking before they make false claims about intellectual rights validity.

Absolutely, you don't need explicit permission either, provided you link to the original model and don't include it in your lot. This is something that is very commonly done in the community, not to mention I don't think the intention of this challenge is for anyone to make their own models, although I suppose you could.

Wow, your skyline looks great (well-balanced and realistic)! Love shots like this. Here's a screenshot of one of the interstates leading into Downtown New Holland: And a bit closer:

Yes, it will make the arrows point the direction you want, however they won't grow then. To make the lot on agricultural ground be where I want, I zone first then draw my street (or road) so only one single tile is adjacent to the road. Then that's where the building's lot will grow.

Quickest, not shortest (Assuming you use Simulator Z). Edit: The rest deleted because I'm fairly sure I understood transit switch entry cost incorrectly.

EDIT: I didn't note I just bumped an old thread, erase this if is inadequate... Maybe some of Heblem's terrain mods? Sure, they are very saturated, but adjust nicely to the ecosystem you are trying to replicate. From less to most saturated: They are all old SD mods, so there isn't the crispy quality, but loading times are lower too.

Have a skyline screenshot from the Northern Bypass. This road is ideal for accessing the districts of north Markan, Nottenne, Fortesque and crossing the river. On a side note, I could do with a traffic reset button. I've removed rush hour but so many cars are blocking the roads and my public transport doesn't seem to be functioning properly. Trains are just sitting around, my subway trains seem to have disappeared. Growth might actually be getting stifled due to the rush hour traffic hangover as ambulances aren't reaching residences suffering from noise and hearses aren't reaching dead people in time.

My first attempt at an urban decay scene. Juxtaposition of the bright downtown and the ghetto: I'm going to be improving the detailing later on. This is a case where you don't want the auto bulldoze mod, to have rows of abandoned houses.

Awesome additions to the workshop! <3

Beautiful buildings, Feinbold! I love them! If I recall correctly, physical snow does not show on top of vertices of a certain color ... whatever that means ...

So all this with Ngon pushed my plans for larger oil tanks up my priority list. I've got a 10x10 version done which fits the rest of my tanks and my pipe props. I have plans for 2 6x6 ones as well.

Snowy night in downtown:

From what I've read, the display for a commercial (and industrial) building is the current demand for jobs / the total possible jobs that building could have. Neither number represents that actual number of workers in the building. The amount of workers could be zero and therefore you have no commuters. Use the traffic query tool to find the actual number of workers in the building.

Yeah I seem to remember playing around with some of those a long while back, when I first started out. I can't remember if I ended up using any of them, though. In the process of packaging these up - they are being lotted, and then the testing and tweaking needs to happen. In the meantime, here's some trivia tidbits about the naming conventions for this set... Legion Enterprises – Appearing in the three Synoptic Gospels, the story of the possession of the Gerasene demoniac would become one of the earliest accounts of exorcism in Christian theology. In the narratives of Mark and Luke, when inquiring as to the demon’s name, the possessed is said to have answered, “Legion, for we are many.” Mannheim, Doe & Deen – Robbie Mannheim, Roland Doe, and Douglas Deen were three pseudonyms given to an unidentified 12-year old boy who was rumored to have undergone a series of exorcisms in the late 1940’s in the St. Louis area, after having been introduced to spiritualism and the Ouija board by a favorite aunt. A number of newspaper articles published about the case would become an influence for a young William Peter Blatty, who would go on the write the novel and screenplay for the blockbuster movie The Exorcist, earning him an Academy Award. The Bruner Building – Joseph and Theobald Bruner were two brothers who underwent a four-year long exorcism in the Illfurth area of France in the mid 1800’s. The boys would contort and entangle their limbs in such a manner that observers could not force them apart, and allegedly predicted the deaths of several local townsfolk. Loudun Marketing – In 1632, a convent of Ursuline nuns became the scene of a mass possession in the Poitou region of France, lead by the deformed Mother Superior Jeanne des Anges. Vainglorious priest Urbain Grandier would be tried, convicted, and burned at the stake, allegedly having been responsible for the supernatural incident (though in most modern investigations, it is believed he had been implicated after having made an enemy of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu). The story would be adapted into various books, plays, operas, and films, including a notoriously censored version directed by British filmmaker Ken Russell. Dugdale & Lukins, LLC. – Rural English gardener Richard Dugdale became famous for having endured a yearlong series of exorcisms after having claimed to have been possessed in the late 1600’s. Known as the Yatton daemoniac, George Lukins would undergo an exorcism in 1788, though many believed he had either faked his possession or had actually suffered from epilepsy. Talbye and Knapp, Inc. – Hanged in 1639 for the murder of her three-year old daughter, Dorothy Talbye claimed to be acting under instructions from God, though Massachusetts Bay Colony governor John Winthrop would dismiss this notion, believing her to be possessed by Satan. Predating the Salem Witch trials by nearly twenty years, the possession of farmer’s daughter Elizabeth Knapp would be documented in a methodical, nearly scientific manner by her employer, the prominent minister John Willard, whose letters to Cotton Mather would be included in his study of Puritan life Magnalia Christi Americana. Blumhardt Communications – Lutheran theologian Johann Blumhardt would become famous for having performed an exorcism on a young girl after a two-year long possession in Mottlingen in 1842, which he chronicled in his book Blumhardt’s Battle. The German minister would afterwards become renowned for his many faith healings, and purchased a thermal spa to serve as a Christian retreat in 1853. Michel Public Relations – Suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy, German student Anneliese Michel died of malnourishment and dehydration after a ten-month long exorcism ordered in secret by Bishop Josef Stangl in 1975. Michel would weigh less than seventy pounds at the time of her death, and was said to be suffering from pneumonia and several broken bones. The girl’s parents and two priests were found guilty of manslaughter resulting from negligence for her death. The case would serve as a loose inspiration for the horror film The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Schmidt Ecklund Mutual – Emma Schmidt and Anna Ecklund were two names given to an unidentified forty-year old woman who underwent an exorcism in Earling, Iowa in 1928. Performed by Capuchin friar and Catholic priest Theophilus Riesinger, the rite lasted for nearly a month, wherein the woman alleged to have been possessed by multiple demons, including the ghost of her dead father as well as that of his mistress. Nicola, Martin & Peck – Reverend John J. Nicola authored a number of books and articles on demonic possession, as well as serving as a technical advisor for the movie The Exorcist. Controversial Catholic priest and former Jesuit Malachi Martin wrote the bestseller Hostage to the Devil, and claimed to have aided in hundreds of exorcisms throughout his career. Influenced by Martin, psychiatrist and author M. Scott Peck originally did not believe in the existence of Satan, until he had personally investigated and participated in two exorcisms. Larson and Hammond Tax Specialists – A frequent talk show guest during the media frenzy surrounding the moral panic of Satanic ritual abuse, American televangelist and author Bob Larson claims to have performed hundreds of exorcisms throughout the world. For a donation of $295, Larson also offers to perform exorcisms over Skype. Christian author Frank Hammond was one of the earliest proponents of deliverance ministries, in which prayer and the removal of demonic or unholy influences are used to prevent demonic control of others. Aubrey Consulting – Sixteen year old Nicole Aubrey underwent a public exorcism in 1566 in the French city of Laon, after claiming to have been possessed by the spirit of her deceased grandfather as well as the demon Beelzebub, who stated that he was in league with the Huguenots. The church maintained that it was proof of Catholic theological supremacy, while Protestants decried the entire incident as a hoax, used as propaganda during the French Wars of Religion. Cele Data Solutions – After claiming to have made a pact with Satan at the age of sixteen, orphan Clara Germana Cele was exorcised at St. Michael’s Mission in South Africa in 1906. Nuns in attendance who witnessed the possession were astonished at her nearly superhuman strength and ability to vocalize bestial sounds that they thought no human could make. Ossett Venture Capital – after being subjected to an all-night exorcism arranged through his church group, Michael Taylor returned home to murder his wife and strangle their pet poodle in 1974. Found naked in the street and drenched in blood, he was acquitted of her murder on the grounds of insanity. This British case would serve as an inspiration for part of author David Peace’s study of police corruption Red Riding Quartet.

Journey to Ajaw Xulman It's time for a vacation! So, we're headed south to Harar. We're going to visit the lost city of Ajaw Xulman, deep in the semitropical rainforest. It's not really lost of course. No one misplaced it. Rather, it is just off the beaten path. Kind of like Nemo and Dory... they were not actually lost, either... but, I digress... Vacation time! I'm ready - let's go! And some final wishes from us:

Wow, lovely screenshots, guys! Gibraltar looks amazing - I love your style, and you have a great eye for detail! I also thought I recognized Coney Island before I read the description, especially the first one with the massive housing projects behind the 'boulevard' (and even without the iconic Cyclone and Parachute Jump ). And it's great to see some of your screens, @Avanya: I always wonder if our modelers and modders have/take time to actually enjoy the game itself, instead of just creating, creating, creating for others...

A portion of Tillamook

Here's the small town of Degelman Crossing. A typical town you're likely to see in the Canadian Prairies.

Lovely images everyone My first attempt to create a river, using the in game water. You are welcome to make suggestions. Another shot:

Here are two roundabouts from the same town

I updated the tall grass. I realized that when creating it, I had the "More Natural" LUT active. So I desaturated it so it looks better in more default biomes and LUTs.

Try this script (enter in mod tools F7 console): You may have to change the search term from "smoke" to something else (case-insensitive). var search = "smoke"; // replace with "" to display all props var mgr = PropManager.instance; for(int i = 0; i < mgr.m_props.m_buffer.Length; i++) { // check if the prop data instance is in use if(((PropInstance.Flags)mgr.m_props.m_buffer[i].m_flags & PropInstance.Flags.Created) != PropInstance.Flags.None) { // check if search term in prop name if(mgr.m_props.m_buffer[i].Info.name.ToLower().Contains(search.ToLower())) { Debug.Log("Prop " + i + ": " + mgr.m_props.m_buffer[i].Info.name); // output id and data } } } It will output a list of prop IDs. Write down the ones you want to remove. Then run this script for each one: PropManager.instance.ReleaseProp(1234); // replace 1234 with the prop ID