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I thought I'd share a little background information about how Three League Island was created. There were a number of learnings that might be interesting. Inspiration I wanted to create a credible looking nuclear power plant (NPP) and looked at many images on the web. I always try to find aerial views as they give you the best sense of how to place the buildings. The first inspiration came from the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania. The idea to put an NPP on an island somehow fascinates me. It is like a modern version of a castle and moat. The other source, which is the Ironbridge power stations in the United Kingdom, inspired the placement of the four cooling towers along a 90° railway curve. Support Buildings I did not use random industrial buildings as support buildings. I looked for buildings that would match the colour and style of the more modern of the two NPPs: The grey dome and grey cooling towers and the main buildings with the striking reddish-brown and beige stripes. For the latter I found complementing designs in the rear view of Perry Station, the Golden Dragon Industrial Center (GDIC) with similar stripes and the SFBT Factory Building by Sam Johnson. The Factory Building by Sam Johnson also comes in a grey variant (below bottom left). The low flat building is Pacific Supply and the long dark grey one near the transformer station is Industrial Building 45, which I used several times on the island. Industrial support buildings as well as industrial offices are typically simple designs. They have to be cheap and the same design is often built several times. For offices I use the marvellous SimPrague Bata Shoe Factory 24 and 25 and Factory 44. These BATs come with a large number of variations and that adds to the impression of realism, especially when grouped together. Powerlines I used two types of powerlines. The smaller poles, which form a part of the transformer stations, can be found in the Power line pack. The larger ones are the German Themed 220kV high voltage pylons (HD). While these look great as they are more delicate than many others, they can also be somewhat fidgety to use. They need to be placed on the same terrain height so that the cables connect. I recall trying to use them a few years back (with a lot less experience and patience) and I got very frustrated. It can be very hard to spot if you got it right. I use a trick for seeing if the powerlines connect properly: With the eraser I mark the space underneath the powerlines and the switched colours show me if I got it right. For that reason it is important to place the pylons before anything else. Otherwise you risk destroying your work when using this trick. The images below show the pylons too close (left), on different heights (middle) and properly aligned (right). The pylon set has different types and there are especially tall ones for crossing rivers. The tricky part here is that the river pylons do not align with all of the other ones. You need to use the special Anchor Pylons to connect to them and those in turn align with the rest. Like many powerlines and pylons, the ones I used are not fully functional. Their power covers an area of 5x5 tiles, not enough to reach the next pylon. This is not an issue if there are powered lots in between, such as farms or factories. But if not, e.g. when creating farm fields with MMPs, then the gap needs to be bridged. I use A_1P Cable Route Marker and the more visible PEG Underground Conduit as well as the warning buoy from the SM2 Power Pack for the connection on water. I mentioned in a different post that I did not use any custom lots on Three League Island. But I make heavy use of MMPs and that can be tricky as well with pylons and powerlines. They tend to block larger areas in their vicinity from placing MMPs. What helped here was removing the pylon temporarily, doing the MMP work and then replacing it. Fences and Checkpoints It took me a long time to get the right fences and checkpoint buildings. For fences I tried MAXIMUM SECURITY FENCE, SNM Security Fences and SNM Security Fences v2. For the latter I shared an image last year. These are great BATs but I felt that they dominate the landscape too much. I then found a fence in the SC4D LEX Legacy Ultimate Airport Pack. The airport fences are much more delicate and what's more, they come with fractional angle lots which the others do not have. Here is a comparison: The following image shows the fence even better. The gates are from CT14 Industrial Grunge Fillers. BTW, do not get discouraged by the scary warning on SC4Evermore for the SC4D LEX Legacy Ultimate Airport Pack which says that this pack is obsolete. I still use it and there is currently no alternative unless you use sc4pac. The installation is not straight forward either. The fences aren't listed separately. They are part of the Airport Rental Car unit. For checkpoints I initially tried different toll booths and settled on Mr Snoopys New Toll Stations. But then I also found the Control de seguridad (also here on STEX) which has more details. I use both. Parking, Parking, Parking Lastly, I want to turn your attention to the parking lots. The island has many support buildings, a railway station, transformer stations etc.. The workers in those buildings need sufficient parking spaces and the large number I added increase the sense of realism. I use the excellent Scoty Modular Parking. It is a big set and I still have not mastered everything in it (I still shy away from the diagonal parking). But it has such variety and is very versatile, including a wild parking set I like a lot (see below). Three League Island would not work without it. This is it. To all who liked it and posted such kind comments about Three League Island: Thank you very much! I hope this post inspires you to try things out yourselves. Be bold!
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- aulton
- power plant
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Hi there! Puignevat, the 3rd entry of my CJ, a mediterranean small town surronded by olives, oranges, and vienyards fields. When I build mediterranen big cities I am used to zoning residential areas with medium density, especially 2x2 or multiples of 2, and I leave 1x1, 1x2, 1x3 for low density areas. That is what I am used to. But in this case I wanted to try zoning only 1x1 with medium density since there are many buildings of this type, and that way I was able to leave spaces for patios and gardens inside the blocks of houses. I think it is quite good for a small town like this. Hope you like it!
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- mediterranean
- mmp
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Version 1.0.0
51 Downloads
Hey there guys - I'm presenting you with 2 new car MMPs. I turned these 60s Polish Car Props made by @moto.kloss into MMPs because even tho we have some very good MMP car options out there, they're usually modern cars that in my opinion can feel a bit out of place in some environments. So I turned around 35 models in that MS Motokloss 60s Car Props into 2 MMPs that will help you create some rural and low wealth scenes in a more realistic way. Dependencies: MS Motokloss 60s-70s Car Props Additional pics: As always: any criticism, reviews and problems, just write below or in my BAT thread. -
1. ELOARIA - Region view and City of Riu d'Oms
kergelen posted a City Journal entry in Eloaria Region
Eloaria, a mostly growable region, inspired originally in the Mediterranean, but mixing different styles. Eloaria is the name of my region, and also my first and only MD I started some years ago at SC4Devotion. Meaning this City Journal is a continuation from my old MD. The region is the same, I simply enlarge it a few weaks ago (still working on it) because I have plans to develop a few islands and much more. Last months I restarted playing SC4 deeply, and I'm enjoying it most than ever. IMO last DLL mods (specially Submenus, Copy buildings function, Growify function, etc) makes SC4 lighter and smoother to play. It's a relatively new experience so thank you and @memo and @Null 45 for your great contribution. And of course all with NAM49 improvements. So I want to thank you all NAM members still active ( @Tarkus , @rsc204 , @Lucario Boricua, @Shadow Assassin, @rivit , etc) and other active BATers, LOTers, MODers, CJers (such as @Barroco Hispano, @hugues aroux , @jestarr , @smf_16 , @Tyberius06, @Ulisse Wolf, @Haljackey and much more ) who continues to make this game growing. It's also nice to see old time players their style I always admired ( @Ke|is @art128, @mitsos ) still on the road. And of course thanks to @CorinaMarie and @Cyclone Boom Administrators Team for maintaining this site. Even though I miss @BadSim and his incredibly imagination with Antigone, and @Girafe creations (although I know he is still active). And much more members. I'll start with my region (I know, I have to finish terraforming or exporting some maps, I have to thing what I want exactly on the east tiles): And a "mosaic" I recently show on "show us what you are working on" threat. Sorry to repost it, I want my last city be the first in my CJ- 4 Comments
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- eloaria
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Made a little progress of this river & shoreline MMP project recently. And since it would be too much if I wait for it to be done first, thought I should start writing an entry for it and chipping on my todo list. So, here's a little progress... Rural Landing Strip It's a small landing strip with just dirt and sand for the runway. Barely enough for the crop dusters and small airplanes transporting produce of the local farms in the area. Rural Dock Mainly for the olive farm, but the local farmers along the shoreline also use this dock. Here they load their produce and send them outside of the town. Sims also come here to buy fresh produce directly from the local farmers. Rural Flying School With the airplanes become such a major instrument to the life in the town, whether for passenger and transporting goods, it's necessary to have a flying school to train sims into skillful pilots. Although, there are lots of complaints about the runway that is clearly need a little bit of expansion, especially considering that this is for beginners learning to fly. But they mayor just ignore it and told them "If the runway is not enough, just use the river... git gud" And here for the main actions (turn on the volume 🔊) Probably the coolest shots I caught by accident. I was recording for a landing, but got a better one instead. How would you rate the skill of this pilot? Also, made some of these short showcases of the area. I thought you guys would love these too, so here they are. --- Okay, that's all for this entry. And since I'm doing this Youtube thing, please give the videos a like if you enjoy them. That would help my channel a lot, I mean seriously... that helps A LOT. Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you again on the next one. Cheers! --- Bonus (just photo dump)
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Entry no.49 - Highway 704 Extension
TakemeThere posted a City Journal entry in Pretoria Metropolitan Area
This update marks a return to the original concept I had for the CJ all those years ago: functional transportation improvements. You see Houston, we have a problem... While my region's highway network is already quite extensive, it turns out my constituents think much like Americans—you can never build enough freeways to satisfy them! In Pretoria, one of these issues exists in the Middle East Borough, where Lindin City is located. Overview of the Problem Below is a regional overview of the all the highways and interchanges seen so far. The main goal of the highway network is to efficiently funnel rush hour traffic to and from the Central Pretoria(where the Central Business District/CBD is located) from each of three boroughs; The North Point, Middle East(M.E.) and South Shore - Only the latter two are relevant in this location. Traffic from the South Shore and Middle East Boroughs have three options to cross the large bay and river standing between them and Central Pretoria. These 3 options collectively provide 16 lanes of highway traffic. IRL, a single free-flowing highway lane is estimated to allow a little over 2,000 vehicles per hour(a range of 1,800 to 2,400 vehicles to pass per hour) this gives us a capacity of around 16,000 vehicles per hour, per direction in total. However, it's important to note that once congestion reaches 100% or more capacity decreases to around 1,500 vehicles per hour. In the overview above the westernmost crossing is the six-lane Cisco Bay Bridge, connecting Dresden and Calgon via Highway 702. Built in 1964, this bridge is always at 100% capacity and often higher approaching 110% to 120% during rush hours. When free-flowing, about 7,000 vehicles per hour can use the bridge in the peak direction. But when congestion exceeds 100% traffic starts to slow down reducing capacity to around 5,000 vehicles per hour and causing hour-long delays. It experiences this severe congestion because this bridge carries about 90% of the traffic from Dresden and the South Shore. In terms of real-world equivalents, it's comparable to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge or the George Washington Bridge in terms of regional importance. Next we have the six-lane Sky Bridge, which crosses the narrowest part of Cisco Bay via Highway 700. The current cable-stayed bridge, built in 1989, replaced a cantilever bridge built in 1937. Before Highway 704 was built and connected to Spaghetti Junction, this bridge operated at about 85% capacity with a traffic flow of about 5,500 vehicles per hour per direction, while handling about 70% of the traffic from the Middle East Borough and the remaining 10% of the traffic from Dresden and the South Shore. Lastly, the easternmost highway crossing is the four-lane Higgs Boson Bridge-what can I say, I like science! This bridge carries the eastern stub of Highway 705 over the Trueno River and rarely operates at over 50% capacity, averaging between 1,500–2,000 vehicles per hour in the peak direction. This low capacity factor is due to a major constraint: the eastern stub of Highway 705 lacks a direct interchange connection with Highway 700 in LC. Instead, it funnels traffic directly into the downtown area, which is perfect if that's your destination but not so much for drivers who want to go beyond there. These drivers must navigate multiple intersections and a low-capacity single-lane on-ramp that feeds traffic onto the northbound 700. Unfortunately no practical solution exists to fix this problem, an interchange at this location is prohibited since it's located in a dense neighborhood and would require the demolition of a large number of buildings to accommodate. While I do love my highways, that's a non-starter. This route is however also still useful for people who traveling through LC to connect with the western section of Highway 705 and heading to work in the large industries of Baycole(e.g. The Apotex Refinery). This lack of a direct connection between the 705 and 700 wasn’t a huge problem since this traffic would not detour onto the 705 but instead just continue down the 709 and connect to the 700 in Cisco Bay instead and from there cross the Sky Bridge on its way north to Central Pretoria(path 1 on the street map below). However, the situation worsened after Highway 704 was built, which is ironic since that highway was constructed to alleviate congestion, though on a different part of the highway network—in the 700/707 joint section. The 704 provided a congestion-free alternative to the CBD and even though this was a much longer route for people travelling from the South Shore to get to the CBD, it was still a often a quicker alternative to being stuck on the perpetually crammed Cisco Bay Bridge. This increased the proportion of South Shore using the Sky Bridge from 10% to 25%, which brought that bridge's capacity to 100%. The solution was simple - create an alternative connection to highway 700 & 704 from the 709 so as to take advantage of the spare capacity(about 2,000-2,500 vehicles per hour/direction) available on the underutilized bridge located there and divert traffic away from the route over the Sky Bridge. This new section of highway would designated as a southward extension of the 704 and turned Spaghetti Junction into a 5-way interchange; The best and most cost-effective path was determined to be along the red dotted path seen on the local street map below. The land through which is entirely undeveloped resulting in very few NIMBY concerns and makes use of the existing highway bridge and interchange between the 705 & 709. An alternative and slightly more direct route along the purple dotted path was also considered, but this would require the construction of a new river crossing, new interchange and required some expropriation & demolition in Mayfield, all for very minimal time savings at a much higher cost- thus it was declined. Synopsis from above; 1 - The long route that most traffic currently takes and has resulted in congestion on the 700 over the Sky Bridge and through LC due to increased traffic flow from Dresden(purple arrow) to the 704 2 - The short but less preferred route because it's such a go through Downtown LC (exactly where the #2 is on the map). Having so many extra cars cutting through the downtown area also creates an unsafe enjoinment for road users and pedestrians alike, a situation the current major of LC promised to rectify. Hence why he had no objects over building an entirely new stretch of highway in another part of the city. 3&4 - Additionally some traffic from the 709 also began to spill out onto local 2-lane streets and roads in an attempt to seek out alternative and less congested routes, which were never meant to be main thoroughfares. Overview of the Project Here's the end result beginning with an overhead shot of the entire extension and a high zoom shot of the area around northern entry point 2. We'll follow that with by a series of close ups at various angles where the 704 branches off from Spaghetti Junction The 707 turns north-east here with the NB lanes running under the 704, while the 704 continues eastward before curving south 5. A 550-foot tall structure called the LC Hillsboro-Roads Transmission Tower overlooks the junction While making this update realized I never released the updated HD-version of this particular BAT with the others a few years back. So for those of you who would like your own citizens to worriedly question; "just what is that thing really being used for...?" here is the updated version of this dark and nefarious looking hi-tech tower, heheh... 😁 Junctions in motion 8. 9. Tall sound walls are used to reduced the noise pollution coming off of the highway so that the residents of the Neighborhood of Rockcut can get some sleep If you're wondering what that high-tech looking lot at the top of the last couple of images is, that would be the Hillsboro TS (Transmission Substation) which was originally featured all the way back in entry number 2! The substation and local area has undergone some changes since it was last seen on the CJ 12. 13. Moving on to the Duluth Road interchange which passes diagonally underneath. An embankment was built up on both sides of the road so that it stayed open while the highway was built Further back we can see how dramatically the highway curves southward as it moves through the neighborhood of Rockcut 16. These next couple of shot might be my favorite because of the "open" feel to them 18. Messing with the angles a bit 20. 21. 22. 23. Back to some normal angle closeups, with an mmp focus 25. 26. 27. Emerging from a tunnel underneath the 704 is the Fastraxx ME commuter train line. Previously I had this tunnel continue under the river in a tunnel but then I thought wouldn't it look do much more interesting to have it pop out here and go over it instead? 29. 30. That little single piece road tile I left there is the last remaining remnant of a road bridge over the river that previously existed in this spot 32. 33. Playing with the angles again 35. 36. 37. Moving on to the next portion, overhead high zoom shot of the entire southern section of the extension I think seeing the automata in motion really helps to get an idea of the changes in the elevation grade of the highway quite well. Straight down; Looking North Further back Even further back still "World's smallest interchange" merger of the 704 extension and the 705 stub, might need to upgrade this mini-interchange in the future if demand warrants it The Lealand Sewage Treatment Plant is tucked in this little corner of the city as well Taking a look down the river towards the rail bridge 45. 46. The "Butterfly interchange" between the 704/705 and 709 48. 49. Concluding the entry I some long & wide pano shots; South East view North West view The completion of the new extension was indeed a success and reduced the congestion over the Sky Bridge by transferring about 1500 to 2000 vehicles per hour in the peak direction to the bridge in LC instead. But who can say how long this will last for before the effects of urban sprawl rear their ugly head again. This will likely be the last time I work on this city, a final few parting city-wide shots 53. 54. Sayonara L.C. it's been fun 👋- 7 Comments
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Entry no.48 - The Movement Episode
TakemeThere posted a City Journal entry in Pretoria Metropolitan Area
Last time I showcased the 3D CAM in the City of Cisco Bay, this time around it's neighbor Lindin City takes the spotlight. Unlike CB Lindin City has undergone some notable changes, but I won't be covering that today because the central theme of this entry is movement; First some still shots of city from new angles. Here's downtown Lindin City with the Mount Royal transmitter overlooking it 3 4 4 5 5 6 7 8 Perspective view of the city Skyline Moving to the largest object in the city, the infamous Spaghetti Junction. Here's a 360 drone view of the interchange from various unique angles 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Now lets get to the Action! Spaghetti Junction is now a fully functional 5-way interchange, more on that later. The 3D CAM really brings out the best in NAM interchanges, especially since they are true 3d models and don't deform no matter which angle you view them at 23 I particularly love the way highways look from lower angle vantage angles like this one, this is my favorite shot of the set; Straight down views also work very well for NAM highways, Looking directly East Now Westward, Zoomed up, On to the next city over, part of the Spaghetti junction interchange spills over into the town of Evermore as well And finally looking back East again. Next time we'll check out a major new development in the city, have one last look at Dresden and then move on to new areas of the region, chow for now!- 11 Comments
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Version 1a
292 Downloads
Warning! Please take yourself time to read the Readme in order to avoid nasty side effects, such as the double icon bug, and some entries not working the way you want. Dependencies: BSC Common Dependencies Pack Version 8 or higher: https://sc4evermore.com/index.php/downloads/download/3-sc4d-LEX-legacy-bsc-common-dependencies-pack In particular, you need the following files: BSC MEGA Props – CP Vol01.dat, BSC Mega Props – CP Vol02.dat Seasonal Flora Patch (if your terrain mod doesn’t support seasonal flora): https://www.sc4evermore.com/index.php/downloads/download/25-flora-fauna-and-mayor-mode-ploppables/36-lk33-seasonalflorapatch Submenus DLL (optional): https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/36142-submenus-dll/ Other MMP plugins related to CP's content you might be interested in: BSC CP MMPs for CP MEGA Prop Packs: https://www.sc4evermore.com/index.php/downloads/download/25-flora-fauna-and-mayor-mode-ploppables/132-bsc-cp-mmp-for-cp-mega-prop-packs Description: This plugin contains, as its name already implies, a few plant MMP's derivated from CP's props. Like all other MMP's, they are available in your Mayor Mode menu. There's nothing special to tell about them, and there isn't really a coherent theme they all would be part of, but in my opinion they are a nice addition to the game, and they aren't part of any other upload. Some of them are seasonal, therefore, please read the item descriptions carefully, because some of these seasonal items need to be planted in in-game September, and some in March. Note about the adapting MMP's: Two of the MMP's are seasonal but come with 4 seasons. Unfortunately, it is not possible yet to make MMP's with 4 rotating seasons (the maximum is 3), thus, I've resorted to a bit of a dirty trick there that, as far as I know, hasn't ever been used by anybody yet: Both of these MMP's (the Cherry and the Plum Tree) have been turned into so-called adapting MMP's. That means: They will not change the look over in-game time, but after plopping them in your cities and saving, you can just replace a file to make them look differently (the graphics will adapt automatically). There are 4 files per tree, and they have been named accordingly, but please make sure to read the installation instructions below to avoid the double icon bug! By the way, the cherry and plum tree additionally come with 3 variants with different season cycles, where I simply left out one of the seasons each. Please read the in-game description to know which seasons will be applicable. The flowers also come in both an always flourishing and a seasonal variant. The seasonal variant will be there for 3 months after plopping, and then turn invisible. Available languages: English, German Submenu compatibility: This upload has been optimized for usage with memo's Submenus DLL mod. This means that users who have installed this mod will find all entries located in their own submenu (in the Mayor Mode menu, where all other MMP's are). Users who haven't installed it will simply find all entries somewhere in the MMP menu. The submenu icon looks like this: Please also note that due to the number of entries there are 3 further submenus: Trees – Seasonal Flowers – Evergreen Flowers. All other entries are located in the default CP Floral MMP's submenu. Installation: Step 1: Move or copy all files except the Readme into your Plugins folder of SC4. Step 2: The folders "Cherry Tree" and "Plum Tree" contain 4 files each, every file with the same entry but with varying graphics. Only use one of these files per folder! Remove the 3 others from your Plugins folder. To change the season, you can just replace the file you've left there with any of the other files. To uninstall, remove all of the MMP's that come with this plugin, and then remove all of its files. Compatibility: This plugin is only compatible with SC4 Deluxe or SC4 with the Rush Hour Expansion Pack.- 1 Review
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- mmp
- collection
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Entry no.47 - A Twisted point of View
TakemeThere posted a City Journal entry in Pretoria Metropolitan Area
Wow, it's been so long I don't even know what to say! But I do know where to begin... A few weeks back I happened to come across this in my chrome homepage feed; https://gamerant.com/SimCity-4-change-camera-angle-3d-mod/ Immediately I assumed it was some sort of April Fools' joke due to the timing. I'm guessing most did, after all we've had a few of these in the past, exactly like this if I recall correctly. At first I shrugged the 'news' off, but in the days that followed I found myself thinking more and more; "what if it's not a joke?" Finally, curiosity got the better of me, I was prepared to say; "Okay, you got me, good one." but lo and behold, there she was. So, I downloaded the mod, dusted off my copy of SC4, and booted the game up once again. All I can say is; MIND BLOWN. It pretty much goes without saying, but this is one of the greatest SC4 mods of all time, up there with the NAM. Thank you @memo, for gifting us with this development and for personally getting me back into playing the game for the first time in years. I honestly wasn't sure if I would ever play SimCity 4 again especially with the release of Cities Skylines 2, though it also helped that Paradox really fumbled the ball on that one. For now I've just been enjoying playing around with the new camera and scoping out all my cities from entirely new perspectives. So while I haven't done much work in new areas of my region just yet I'll be revisiting an old fav and the very first city I profiled in the CJ; Cisco Bay. This entry also serves as a sort of mini tutorial of the 3D CAM mod and my own personal experiences with it. So without further ado, let's enter into the 3D realm... Top down view - Camera Pitch 85, Camera Yaw 0 This was the first angle that I tested A camera pitch of exactly 90 will result in buildings not showing up, just the bare lots (seen the images in the spoilers below) and water also becomes completely transparent. Buildings will start to appear as you slowly deviate from 90 degrees; by about 85 degrees they should all be visible. Here's how the city map I made many years ago compares with that top-down shot, not too shabby, I'd say! I'm rather proud of how accurate it turned out, considering such views weren't available before. Mapmaking will become so much easier with this top-down view. Perhaps someone could develop an automatic map-making mod, just a thought... Straight down - Camera Pitch 10, Camera Yaw 0 Yaw 0, low-angle pitches make for an interesting perspective, particularly with regards to transportation networks. However, many individual buildings will unfortunately have noticeable distortions at this angle. The Side profile - Camera Pitch 0, Camera Yaw unchanged. This angle allows you to capture ground-level shots of a city's skyline silhouette, which can help in identifying the tallest buildings and structures in a city, and more easily observe the changes in elevation. Most buildings will have a skewed perspective, but the effect is less evident if the yaw is changed. The good thing is that, no matter how unusual or warped a building's profile is, its overall height is accurate. However, it's important to note that a pitch of 0 isn't actually possible - the closest the game seems to allow is a pitch of 1 degree; entering 0 will not lower the pitch any further than 1. This means that buildings closer to the camera will be at a slightly lower level, so it's not a perfect height comparison but it's close enough to it. Another interesting effect is that once you get close to a pitch of 3, the background completely disappears (above ground level), resulting in a blacked-out sky. This makes sense when you think about it since the background is only 2D and doesn't extend indefinitely; there is a limit to its size. This limitation becomes evident as early as pitch 15 when zoomed out to higher levels. The black background feels a bit bare, so adding effects like clouds does wonders to enhance the overall ambiance. The black background also lend itself well with night time shots; The 45/45 "all-evens" view - Camera Pitch 45, Camera Yaw 45 Compared to the other angles this one is generally less interesting as it's closer to the standard frame of view. But it can create nice symmetrical vantage points as it lines up perfectly with diagonal networks. This angle also has the benefit of limited building distortions. 9 It also works well with mmp edited terrains 11 Low Angle perspectives - Camera Pitch from 5 to 20, Camera Yaw unchanged or 0 Next, a look at various areas of the city using various other perspectives, starting off with views of Broadcast Hill and the Sky Bridge. The blue tiles seen in the distance is just a custom background I use. 13 The Sky Bridge and The Great Western Tower 15 16 17 18 Palmetto beach 19 Downtown CB Network elevation changes are so much more noticeable using low pitch perspectives 21 22 23 24 25 Broadcast Hill overlooking the Guardian's Gate bridge(no fog vers.) 26 A foggy haze rolling through Cisco Bay as if often does along the Trueno River 27 One of my favorite shots of this whole set; the small but detailed Port of Isuza These views really demonstrate the beauty of the in-game Rail Cantilever bridge, perhaps still the game's best when it comes to intricate details. 29 30 Hydro corridors never looked so good either 31 Electrical jungle 32 Don't even ask me what's going on here v. Just an absolute mess of metal and wires, any guesses as to how many pylons are in there or where the corridor starts and where it ends(furthest)? ?♂️ I'll close things out with my favorite pic - I love how you can get so much into one single compact image now. This mod pretty much eliminates the need for vertically extended panoramic screenshots. Also with Sepia editing you can made neat postcard-like images like the ones below. Thanks for stopping by, feels good to be playing SimCity again!- 10 Comments
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Hi Friends, I have made some progress with the Bald City. Covering fairly large city tile with MMPs is taking even longer than I thought it would, and I keep distracting myself by adding things that I don't need to that serve to make everything much more complicated. Perhaps more on that in a future update. Today I present to you just a few pictures. The beach / dunes and the start of the ambitious MMP river. I hope you enjoy. If you have any tips or ideas, please comment below. 1. The very edge of the tile, beach and dunes. If you don't like this picture you probably shouldn't bother scrolling further to be honest. We have a lot of beach and dunes. 2. I assume the crane is lifting some pipes to an area out of shot. I plopped it thinking it would be a big brown box (there are a few MMP big brown boxes that continue to bamboozle me). Once it wasn't a big brown box, I thought I'd let it continue to crane. It's not hurting anyone after all. To be honest I would like more construction type lots, it's something I have never really downloaded. I think I remember having a giant skyscraper foundation once, but something more mundane, (new homes under construction, road work, laying gas pipes) would probably suit my current style more. 3. A wide shot because I love these houses so much that I wanted to get them in the picture. I'm trying to focus on building nature and 'unbalding' the tile, but these things deserve to be seen more. 4. A second wider zoom showing us the area to the east of the houses shown in 3. 5. a dash of beach, a slosh of dune, a hint of seawall. I've had this set of retaining walls in my plugins folder forever, but it looks particularly at home here I think. 6. A bit more beach and a bit more dunes. 7. Important question: What does one plop on top of a sea wall such as this? I want a nice path my sims can wander down, but everything I tried looked far too manicured (to be fair, most of them were 'parks'). If you have any ideas for something that my sims could stroll along, I would appreciate it. 8. I managed to use the notorious JRP river gate pieces and combine them with the JRP suburban canal pieces and bit of a ugly hack at the LOT editor to get this, the transition between my MMP river and the game water. I'm quite pleased with it, a number of people helped with this picture. I have already shouted them out over in the "Show us what you're working on" thread and it seems rude to summon them here, but they know who they are! 9. Finally the area behind the 'river gate' / sluice affair. I've tried to create a sort of floodplain, but I think to be honest it's all a bit squished in here because the terrain in this region is actually reasonably hilly, and this kind of area makes sense on flat ground. To avoid massive cliffs each side I've had to keep this area reasonably compact. Join us next time as we travel further up the MMP river towards the bald campsite. (That's a campsite with no trees, not a campsite specifically for the bald).
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Hi Friends. My last CJ post was 3 years ago apparently. To be honest I have not loaded SimCity in that entire time and have only occasionally lurked the ST forums, but here I am, making another - always perhaps fleeting - return. Do tell me what I've missed! The story of this CJ is as follows: I had this tile, in this region. The city is called Grundsburgh for reasons that I don't remember. I made a tutorial on this tile about creating sand dunes and uploaded it here on ST with loads of trees and rocks and and MMPs and the like to demonstrate what one could do with a coastline and a dream, but I never really 'finished' the tile. If I could be bothered, I'd link that sand-dune tutorial here (but I can't be bothered). You might want to check it out though, if you like MMPs. Anyway, at a certain point in time, (which I can't remember right now) I came to a certain decision (which I also can't remember right now, but it involved an over complicated plugins folder and a feeling that I would never get things organised and it was probably more effort than enjoyment to play SC4) so I stopped playing, this tile, this region, SimCity altogether. For some reason, before I stopped playing, I used some kind of command to remove all the trees (I guess, both God Mode Trees and MMPs) from this tile. I think it had something to do with me using the Arden (seasonal, coastal) tree controller forever, and basically being married to it; a reliable tree controller husband who satisfied everything I was looking for in a tree controller - and then on a whim, cheating on it with the Pacific Northwest tree controller. I instantly regretted the fling, and decided to erase all evidence (because it would have crashed the game when I loaded this tile otherwise) by using a cheat that I now don't remember to essentially remove all the foliage, the rocks, the trees, the shrubs, bushes and grasses. Everything from the tile. This has left everything in this tile bald. The (bald) Sand-dunes with Dutch houses (houses that really bring the sand-dune verisimilitude) The (bald) Supermarket / Suburbs - (those trees in the middle of the houses to the top left centre of the pic are lots, not MMPs) The (bald) probably painstaking laid electrical pylons, the interchanges which are probably no doubt now outdated by a spectacular new version of NAM that so far I haven't downloaded (or maybe 5 new versions) The (bald) town by the sea that I think I only built to serve as a backdrop to a sand-dune tutorial. The (bald) attempt at messing about with these slope tolerant houses that I saw in a CJ once that I probably intended to demolish later. (I do really love the Swiss style design with the stilts on the houses closest to the 90 degree corner of the street and repeating throughout though). This (bald) diagonal and FA residential area that I never finished. The diagonal in the bottom of the image really behaved, the one in the top not so much. Don't get me started on the FA bit. This (bald) weird area of farmland and village that I was cultivating right on the corner of the tile with more manually laid (not to mention non-functional) pylons. This second interchange and agridustrial area which probably looked relatively ok (although unfinished) when it wasn't bald - unlike now where it looks basically horrendous. Finally, this completely bizarre (bald) campsite, which I must have thought was a good idea at the time I started plopping it (and apparently by flattening too much terrain - creating out of context giant cliffs that show off the rock mod). Imagine how sad and windswept you would be if you were staying here. The only trees you see are the trees on tiles that have grown or been plopped. No MMPs. No God Mode Trees. Nada. Now, I am back. The plugin folder is still largely a mess, perhaps beyond redemption, but I intend to MMP this tile back into life. (eventually). The next few CJ entries (if I am enthusiastic enough to make them) will be a story of MMPs. I started by drawing the course of a needless river, which will make things much more complicated and probably be a real challenge to get right with painstakingly laid MMPs, but a challenge is good. The mouth of the river as it flows into the 'sea'. (All SC4 game water is - as far as I am concerned - 'Sea' by definition, which is why our river must be made of MMPs). Upstream, towards the town and a number of potential bridges where we might struggle later. Past the windswept campsite and beneath the cliffs that (thanks to our drawing of a river here) now make more geological sense. I couldn't be bothered decided not to continue sketching the river in, but I imagine It will curve round past the houses and due north to the edge of the tile. If I can keep the road there I will, but that will be a big challenge unless someone can make me a MMP tolerant optical illusion lot that lets me make a 'bridge' on essentially flat land there to the west of the crossroads.... So next time I load SC4, I will try to re-MMP this tile, to make it look nice again. I expect that I will get into trouble at some stage, because it's really hard to do these kinds of things without some LOTTING / BATTING power to make clever workarounds to certain situations (for example, roads / rail lines crossing the river), but let us see how it goes, maybe we will all learn something. As Heraclitus said back in the day; Nobody steps in the same river twice. Thanks for reading.
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SIM-ple Jack's "This is War!" resource library
TheMurderousCricket posted a topic in SC4 - Custom Content
Good morning all, I would like to ask SC4E staff for information regarding the military-related files gathered by @SIM-ple Jack in one of his dedicated threads. I always considered this library to be particularly useful for this kind of content but now, due to migration from SC4D, all of the links leading to the old page redirect to the welcome message inviting to SC4E... At the same time, searching SC4E for any item yields no results. I assume this might be caused by files simply not being reuploaded yet. But aye - this is such a downer. Any tips or info regarding this excellent selection? -
Version 1.0.0
470 Downloads
Hey everyone! The newly formed JulioC Productions presents you a pack of 10 MMP paths that you can use to create a great variety of different scenes. You can use them to create parks, trails, roads, fields, etc - Your imagination is your limit. Like you can see in the pics, you can put other MMPs on it without a problem. My inspiration to create this pack was a SFBT plugin that was published on the former LEX/SC4Devotion, and since I wanted to use them but couldn't download it at the moment, I decided to create my own versions of it Each click will give you a path of 4x4m - or 1/4 of a game tile. If you want, of course you can use the Model Tweaker to edit the size to make it more pleasent for you As shown in the pic on the spoiler below, you have 10 different MMPs to use in the game: No dependencies are needed to use this set - you just need to paste it in your plugins folder and run the game. They will obviously be found on the mayor mode ploppable menu I recommend directly extracting the folders I've uploaded for the plugins, as I plan to release more content in the future and this would make it more organized for you. Finally, I'll leave you with some example images I've made of how you can use this plugin. I hope you like them. If you have any problems, criticisms or suggestions, just contact me here at Simtropolis. Thanks -
Version 1.0.0
423 Downloads
Thanks to @Tyberius06 for supporting me. Specs: This DLC contains buildings and props. Does not include lots. AGC_Buildings_VK_ AGC_Props_VK_ Doesn't Include MaxisNite or Darknite (for now) I will update this DLC constantly so you must be on the lookout. Scale of the models: 133% on all axes. Installation: Unzip the "Barroco Hispano DLCs" in your Plugins Folder (I highly recommend respecting my folder system because I plan to export or update thousands of BATs). Now you can make voluntary contributions to support me in continuing to create more content for SimCity 4 (I decided to use Paypal instead of Patreon because I want everyone to have access to my content). https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=WF9FDNHXCHDVU Thanks to the few people who have donated to me. -
Version 1.0.0
1,679 Downloads
This DLC contain 60 sims. Specs: You can find them as MMP's and props (Props= AGC_Sims_Casual_F and AGC_Sims_Casual_M) I will update this DLC constantly so you must be on the lookout. Scale of the models: 133% on all axes. Installation: Unzip the "Barroco Hispano DLCs" in your Plugins Folder (I highly recommend respecting my folder system because I plan to export or update thousands of BATs). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will buy more 3d models with the money I receive (I decided to use Paypal instead of Patreon because I want everyone to have access to my content). https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=WF9FDNHXCHDVU Thanks to all people who have donated to me! -
Hi Guys, I'd like to ask if there is any possibility to increase the size of MMPs like sand / rock / gravel path plops? I'd specifically like to see bigger instances of plops generated by the way of this set. While it is quite possible to cover extensive area with these plops, I'm just wondering if there is any simple way to make a single plop even bigger than it already is, so that it covers more space?
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Hello Everyone, I'd like to ask - is there any way to remove shadows from MMPs? I have a problem with PEG's rock ploppables which come with MTP pack. The shadows which are attached to the boulders and rocks in this package look terrible the more slanted the terrain is. In fact, they don't even look well on a flat terrain... I thought I found the properties that control the props shadowcasting in iLives and tried to either remove them or enter "0" value in the "Shadow strength" property. I have a memory that I did something like this in the past and it worked. This time, it didn't. After these actions were taken, the shadows were still present. I even removed all of my plugins to check whether I have duplicated instances of these rocks somewhere and the game reads incorrect file but this was not the case either. Do you have any idea how to simply get rid of this problem? And yes, I know that I can just turn shadows off in the settings, but this is not a solution.
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I was wondering if I can find some sort of tutorial on how the "FloraParameters" and "FloraPreferences" exemplar properties work. I would like to make MMPs with a specific plopping sequence, namely: first prop in all orientations, second prop in all orientations, and likewise through to the last one. Also, if possible, to set parameters in such a way that the props get plopped right at the centre of a tile (this is not essential, just desirable). Still related to this project: do MMPs using "ResourceKeyType0" behave differently from the usual "ResourceKeyType1"? It seems to me they do, because I recently plopped MMPs of S3D models and the props wouldn't rotate along with the map, which looked most odd. Thanks in advance for any hints.
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Version 1.0.0
623 Downloads
Special thanks to @Tyberius06 and @thepabray75 for helping me buy this bundle. You can find images and info of what this DLC contains here: Specs: This DLC contains props and mmp's. does not include lots. Includes MaxisNite and Darknite (Choose only one). I will update this DLC constantly so you must be on the lookout. Dependencies: Highly recommended Scale of the models: 133% on all axes. Installation: Unzip the "Barroco Hispano DLCs" in your Plugins Folder (I highly recommend respecting my folder system because I plan to export or update thousands of BATs). Now you can make voluntary contributions to support me in continuing to create more content for SimCity 4 (I decided to use Paypal instead of Patreon because I want everyone to have access to my content). https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=WF9FDNHXCHDVU Thanks to the few people who have donated to me. -
How do I get rid of menu items but not the props they represent?
TheMurderousCricket posted a topic in SC4 Modding - Open Discussion
I have recently downloaded a set of trees that has been listed as a dependency for one of the BATs. However, this dependency adds close to 25 new items to my nature menu in-game and I'm not really happy with that. What should I do in order to remove the menu items representing these trees while, at the same time, retaining them as a "background" dependency? -
Version 1.0.0
549 Downloads
Special thanks to @SIM-ple Jack for helping me buy this bundle Specs: You can find them as MMP's, props & buildings AGC_Buildings_Lost-City_ ... AGC_Sims_LC_Explorer_ ... AGC_Animals_Mule_ ... This collection includes scouts and mules: Dependencies: The latest version or at least version 4.0 (05/06/2022) Scale of the models: 133% on all axes. Installation: Unzip the "Barroco Hispano DLCs" in your Plugins Folder (I highly recommend respecting my folder system because I plan to export or update thousands of BATs). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will buy more 3D models with the money I receive (I decided to use Paypal instead of Patreon because I want everyone to have access to my content). https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=WF9FDNHXCHDVU Thanks to all people who have donated to me! -
Since my mmp collection is almost 400mb, I thought they might deserve a thread all by themselves, as the skill set involved is somewhat different than BATs and Lots. Requests for these tend to get lost in those mega-threads. Not a request, just a suggestion: Plop Corpses Road Kill Before anyone comes roaring in with their panties in a twist about inappropriate subject matter, remember, we have ghosts, zombies and chalk outlines scattered about these games. And it is 2022. Public demises are becoming more commonplace every day for assorted reasons. It's kind of rare to hear of someone going in their sleep, today. It would also add realism to war scenes, accidents and other situations. Thanks, in advance, if anyone makes these.
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poll Dressed or Plain: How do you like your lots?
SIM-ple Jack posted a topic in SimCity 4 General Discussion
Things are always done the way they are done, simply because they always were done the way they were done. The advent of high quality mmp's by creators like Barroco Hispano, Girafe, Jeronij and others, have provided many more options for players and creators to dress up their cities and lots. I propose that the long-standing tradition of dressing up lots with dependencies should come to an end. Eliminating trees, bushes, vehicles, etc. would create more natural, uniform cities. Options/Pros and Cons 1. Dressed(w. dependencies) Pros: The creator gives their vision of what the lot should look like, and allows them to make a more attractive preview. Player doesn't have to do much except grow or plop the lot. Cons: Long list of dependencies, unless props are vanilla Maxis or baked into the building. Depending on how it was made, player may have very few options of making it their own vision. 2. Plain(no, or few dependencies) Pros: Creator only has to concentrate on the building and base, without thinking about decorating. Allows unlimited options for how your city comes out looking. Cons: May not be eye-catching enough to potential down-loaders, but creators simply have to dress their preview pics better. 3. Both Pros: Lotters could potentially increase dl stats by offering more choice. Players have more choice in how their cities look. Cons: A little more work for creators. Discuss. -
Guys, I would like to ask for your kind help. Some time ago, I have created a set of 3x3 forest lots, to accelerate the process of creating forests and wooded areas. However, I have recently noticed that any MMPs that I place close to my forest lots, completely obscure the shadows normally cast by the trees used for the lots. In other words - it's as if the MMPs do not receive shadows from the trees. Any tips or instructions on how I could force the shadows onto the MMPs, so it looks normal again? Thank you.
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Version 7.0.0
8,058 Downloads
This DLC will contain trees, plants, rocks, ponds and everything related to the environment. Updated to version 7.0, see below to see what's new. You can find images of what this DLC contains here: Specs: You can find them as MMP's and props (Note that seasonal props end in "Summer" and "Autumn." I removed the winter state that means that the winter version is everwinter). I will update this DLC constantly so you must be on the lookout. Scale of the models: 133% on all axes. Installation: Unzip the "Barroco Hispano DLCs" in your Plugins Folder (I highly recommend respecting my folder system because I plan to export or update thousands of BATs). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will buy more trees with the money I receive (I decided to use Paypal instead of Patreon because I want everyone to have access to my content). https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=WF9FDNHXCHDVU Thanks to all people who have donated to me!
