Rickk

Well at least I know I've filled one of those requests. https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=11229

http://www.alturasforums.com/stuff/header.gif align=baseline> This thread goes hand-in-hand with my Pierce County region journal, which can be found here: https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=63125 Here, I will construct various buildings for Pierce County specifically, but will release them to the STEX for everyone to use in their cities. The only thing I'm good at is making models, so I will need help with lots (especially because I can't get SC4 to work on my computer to even test them out - I have to use a friend's computer). So if there are those willing, please help me with lots! You will be credited enormously when the file is uploaded to the STEX! Up first is, for Puyallup's South Hill, are EQUITY APARTMENTS. There are two of these apartment complexes within two blocks of each other along South Meridian (see the CJ for more information). I happen to live in one called the Hamptons, which are brown and green, and the Chestnut Hills complex is a two-tone brick red and brown. Here is what I have so far: http://www.alturasforums.com/stuff/eqaparts01.jpg align=baseline> http://www.alturasforums.com/stuff/eqaparts02.jpg align=baseline>

mambomumba: There are actually glass sliding doors on the backside (they act as probably the primary window, I keep mine open as much as I can), but because you can't see them from the angle in the game, I didn't feel the need to model them. It would have been a waste of time and polygons. This is called the Hollywood Technique. T Wrecks: So why is it that ploppable residentials don't work? I really need these in a plobbable form, but if I can't do any better than a landmark, I can make them myself (so no worries there). However, I would like a growable alternative version to release on the STEX - so could you do one of those? The lot should be fairly simple. Out front is parking (medium wealth residential cars), the parking should be nice looking and in the back is well manicured lawns, no trees. Think you can whip me up what you think I'm talking about? It will likely be a 3x3 lot with the parking. Thanks again, man.

Wrecks: Here in Washington, it's not really important how many windows there are because it's usually raining and its dark out anyway. During the summer, it gets really bright and sunny (and hot) and having less windows means it wont get so hot inside because like 2% of the population has air conditioning. The windows are actually like that on the building, as I modelled this building from a real one. Also, I'm hoping the lot size will be 3x2, but I'm having some rendering issues. When it is done rendering, I want to plop it onto a static lot and hope you can add peoples so there will be a ploppable and growable version of each (so six total). Does that sound good? Can you take a lot I make and change it? Where should I send them to?

http://www.alturasforums.com/stuff/header.gif align=baseline> About this Journal If you're one of those people who thinks that interesting cities don't exsist outside of areas with more than a million people living in them, you're quite mistaken. After all of the travelling I've done around the country, I always have found that Pierce County, where I've been living for almost a decade, is perhaps the most interesting place I've ever been to. It's rich in dynamics, culture, and history. It's seen stagnation and booms, and with it all those that have helped shape it in some small way. This Journal is going to act as a means of making a model (not exact, but not too far off) of Pierce County and surrounding communities. It will eventually include parts of Thurston and King Counties aswell, but that will come later. I'm going to work with what I know best at first (Tacoma, Puyallup and Orting) and then move outward to other communities like Bonney Lake, Sumner and Lakewood. For those of you who live in this area (or who are handy with Google's new satellite imaging site..), input and suggestions for change would be greatly appreciated. For those of you who don't live here, feel free to do the same. Now, on with the tour... A Brief History The first settlers of the land that is now Pierce County were the ancestors of today's Nisqually, Puyallup, Squaxin, Steilacoom, and Muckleshoot Indians. These tribes settled the area many thousands of years ago, where the saltwater, lakes, and rivers made for an abundant selection of food. In 1832, the Hudson Bay Company established Fort Nisqually, the first permanate settlement in the region. The fort grew quickly, trading with immigrants and natives alike, and by 1852 Pierce County was born. The Territorial Legislature of Oregon that year decided Thurston County (which stretched all the way to what is today Canada) was too large, and broke the county up into three seperate counties: King, Jefferson, and Pierce. Steilacoom was originally the principal city in the county, but only because it was the only town with its own jail. The law locating the county seat contained the following language: 'Pierce County is not the largest in the state, but it is one of the most important; it has about 125 miles of salt-water shore line, with many bays and inlets and several important islands. It has a greater variety of elevations than any other county in the state, reaching from the tide level of Puget Sound to the summit of Tacoma-Rainier, which mountain is wholly within the boundary of the county, thus giving a panorama of scenic beauty unequaled anywhere, and a climate ranging from a mild and salubrious temperate zone quality in the valley to the most rigorous, up on the mountain side. The mountains and foothills are full of coal and precious metals. The rivers, fed by the glaciers of Mount Tacoma, possess almost immeasurable waterpower.' Mount Tacoma would later be officially renamed Mount Rainier, and is one of the tallest mountains in North America. It would also be immortalized as a Washington State symbol and even be pictured on Washington State license plates. As population grew due to railroad travel from Portland to Seattle, 1854 saw the founding of such cities as Orting in the county. A few events add a dark side to Pierce County's history, including an 1855 Indian war, an 1885 Chinese Restaurant crisis and an 1893 panic that resulted in fourteen banks declaring bankrupcy. Despite all of that, Tacoma was founded in 1873 and quickly became the regional leader for industry and production. Ezra Meeker also arrived in 1890 and founded Puyallup. And in 1889, the State of Washington was established from the Oregon Territory. World War I brought with it large amounts of production for Tacoma and the region grew quickly. It was during this same time that the US Army purchased 70,000 acres of land south of Nisqually and named it Camp Lewis (later Fort Lewis). 1918 also saw the establishment of the Port of Tacoma, which would spawn such awful smells that the term Aroma of Tacoma began and would last until the early 2000's when Tacoma changed its pollution laws. During World War II, Puyallup was home to the Japanese-American immigration camps that scar the nation's history. Japanese-Americans and Japanese immigrants were placed in the camps during WWII for fear from the US government that they may be spies. After World War II, the ground on which the encampment stood became the Washington State Fairgrounds, home to the annual Puyallup Fair (which is the seventh largest state fair in the nation). Area Guide This section will cover each area being used in the game and give a short description about it. It will constantly be updated. Cemetary Hill | Area of Orting Cemetary Hill is named so because of the placement of three cemetaries along its main road, the Orting-Kapowsin Highway (or OK Highway as locals call it). Two are civilian cemetaries and one is a military cemetary, but all three have been in operation for almost a century. The first structure built on the hill was a brothell, which later became a house now owned by the Taggart family. Most of the hill is owned privately by the Coats family, which refuses to sell any of its land to developers. However, new residential development has snuck up on the hill in the last decade, as well as a major rock quary and excavation site near the base. Manorwood | Area of Puyallup's South Hill While this area is named Manorwood, it is composed of three high-wealth residential developments and a few older lower and medium-wealth developments. Prominately are the Manorwood communities (North, South, East and West), Forest Green and Crystal Ridge. Houses in this area can reach into the millions of dollars and, like most suburban developments, are nestled along the hillside with twisty winding roads. Orting (Or-tING) | Population 3,710 (2000) Founded in 1854, and then later incorporated in 1889 when Washington became a state, Orting was one of the very first cities in Pierce County. Nestled in a valley, it is hugged on both sides by the Puyallup and Carbon rivers. It is somewhat of a dangerous place to live, as it is under constant lahar threats from Mt. Rainier. If a lahar were to occur, from say Mt. Rainier's eruption or a glacial slip on it, the city of Orting would have roughly 30 minutes to completely evacuate - something that, as more and more housing developments settle in it, it will not be able to do due to congestion. Orting was made famous in the movie Dante's Peak, whose premise was based on Orting. It was also featured in National Geographic in 2000 (I'm pretty sure). Patterson Hill | Area of Orting Patterson Road winds its way up this enormous hill, just outside of Orting, to several low-wealth manufactured and mobile home residential communities. Roughly 20% of Orting's extended residents live on Patterson Hill, making it well travelled. A new residential development has also begun on the hillside with talks of more on the way. Puyallup (pew-al-UP) | Population 33,011 (2000) Originally founded by Ezra Meeker in 1890, the city of Puyallup quickly grew due to its placement. It offered an alternative destination for travellers looking for a commercial area who wanted to avoid the industrious Tacoma. The railroads took notice, and the downtown section of Puyallup grew into what is today Historic Downtown. The city was made infamous, however, when it hosted the Japanese Concentration Camps during World War II. The area was later converted into the Washington State Fairgrounds, and at the annual Puyallup Fair (the Washington State Fair, Do the Puyallup), you can see a tribute to the city's past. Puyallup's North Hill | Area of Puyallup Rural. More to come. Puyallup's South Hill | Area of Puyallup When commercial developers wanted to expand in Puyallup, they ran into the problem of developing in historic downtown. To remedy this, they all began developing south of Puyallup on South Hill along Meridian Street. It was a smart move and the area exploded with commercial development. Housing developments came afterwards and increased Puyallup's population so much that by 2000 the city of South Hill was incorporated (see South Hill). During the 1980's, the South Hill Mall was erected and it only fanned the flames of commercial growth in the area. Today, Puyallup's South Hill is the place to go if you're looking for something. Village Green| Area of Orting This area is named after the predominate housing development on this side of Orting, Village Green. It also includes the White Hawk community, too. When developers in the late 1990's couldn't build eastward along the valley, they got the approval from Orting to build west instead. Thus, Village Green began. It is now home to an extensive number of people, and is part of the incorporated area of Orting (the city moved its boundaries to include it for taxes), but has met some resistance from Orting locals who insist these newcomers are not welcome in their city. When plans were drawn up to build a new elementary school in the area, and not in Orting, the community practically rioted - so instead it shared duties with the old elementary school and the grades were devided between the schools. BAT (and Mods) Showcase Currently using: 01 files by pegasus 01 files by skippydam73 01 files by timotheus4

Sorry for nto having any pics, I forgot to grab them from my friend's computer. I'm a little dissapointed that I can't create diagonal streets, only roads. Orting is paved paradise now. Anyway, Fairlane, it unfortunately doesn't go as far as Carbanado. The edge of the map ends a little before South Prairie. Sorry I'm actually thinking of remaking the map and scale it down a bit (I can also include more of rural Pierce County). Right now buildings would be greatly spaced. Halfing the scale would probably help a lot. I think I'll look into that now.

Im getting ready to make my first real update on this region (and actually show how its going), but I've run into a few problems and was hoping there are some mods that can help me - but I cant seem to find them in the Modding Section. Is there a mod that makes sims drive farther away than just next door without complaining? Because I'm using a realistic scale, there is a large distance between even small cities. I plan on using the RCI Ploppable mod and the Industry Quadrupler mod as well. When wintertime comes, I may end up using the snowcapped mountains mod. Anyway, get ready for pics!

Model is done! Here it is with the three different color schemes! Now I'm going to add nitelites and export them in BAT. If all goes well, they should be on the STEX this week.

Sorry for the long delays and continual lack of pictures. The only way I can play SC4 is whem I'm over at a friend's place (they live just a few apartment buildings away from me, though). That and my wife doesn't want me spending all my time over there. So updates will be slow, but well worth it. I will post an update of things I've done. I've begun founding various sections of towns I'm most familiar with. Right now they include: Puyallup Puyallup's North Hill Puyallup's South Hill Manorwood (part of Puyallup's South Hill) Orting Cemetary Hill (part of Orting) Patterson Hill (part of Orting) Village Green (part of Orting) I will begin working on road systems in those areas first (likely Puyallup) and then move on. I plan next to start laying out areas for Lakewood, Tacoma, Sumner (Scumner, hahah) and Bonney Lake next. That should be tomorrow! So be prepared for an update! Oh, and I've already begun work on a series of BATs (that will be released on the STEX) for this region. If you haven't visited downstairs to the BAT Open Discussion forum to check them out, do it now! https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=63143

This will probably be the last update before this model is finished and ready for rendering. Let me know what you think. And man, this is so much easier than doing skyscrapers! http://www.alturasforums.com/stuff/eqaparts05.jpg align=baseline> http://www.alturasforums.com/stuff/eqaparts06.jpg align=baseline>

I use 3DS Max 5.0, rendered with Brazil RS engine.

Added textures (one set of three, but they all work the same), added some detailing and the roofs. Next step is to create gutters and the patio railing on the backside. After that will be windows (ugh - I always procrastinate and do the hardest part last...) http://www.alturasforums.com/stuff/eqaparts03.jpg align=baseline> http://www.alturasforums.com/stuff/eqaparts04.jpg align=baseline>

Thanks T. I think I could use your services. Don't worry about tranist enabled lots yet, I'm not ready to model them yet anyway. But yes, I would like to have growable and ploppable versions of this building.

Okay, the first post has been updated. Pictures on their way soon. I'm really dissapointed in this post. I had it all formatted in HTML the way I wanted it, but this blasted WISYWIG editor is such a piece of junk and it ruined everything, then failed to even work for a minute, then re-formatted all my text wrong. Fortunately I had the sense enough to just try and work with it instead of giving up completely. Is there anyway I can turn this stupid WSYWIG editor off?!

Hey, I can see the hill I live on! Glad someone is doing a CJ using this region, it's an excellent place. And this looks like its going to be an awesome CJ! Keep up the great work!

Absolutely. You dont even have to credit me fully (I would like a little mention, though ) The file is up on the STEX now, under 3DS Files.

I have decided to upload my unfinished work to the STEX so hopefully someone else can work on this project and see its completion. It would make great work for a new BATer to try, since the building is about half-way done. It should be up on the STEX on the next go-around. Thanks for your help, everyone (especially HONG KONG!!!). Hope to see this one on the STEX soon!