Ennedi plays Shosaloza

[toxicpiano]

Very nice work. Some of reminds of Krakow, which a gorgeous city 

[Simpson]

Hello Ennedi

Your update is very good 
And the environment is so beautiful
The lake is beautiful too 
Continue 

[Ennedi]

Again I had some RL work and I haven't enough free time to prepare everything I planned. The Shosaloza capital - Malecon - still grows, but now I need to let it achieve higher development stage. I also started to build the next big city (this one with the seaport, it will be called Vera). I'd like to see some regional cooperation at last.

But last few days I was a bit tired of making downtowns, especially on these horrible slopes - it also means a horrible amount of time  In addition I received two very interesting things to test: FAR (Fractional Angled Roads) showed by David in 3RR, and the new version of Chrisadams' RPP (Rural Renewal Project) ploppable plants, paths and fences.

So I decided to play a bit with this new stuff and relax a while in rural landscapes. I'd like to invite you to a nice village today  We will stay here a week or two and then we will return to busy cities.
But earlier

Hello Adam,
An excellent mod that will surely help fix some of those ugly walls in our cities. Thank you for taking the time to construct a tutorial that shows us the advantages and disadvantages of such a mod. As some of those rocks look out of place and might not be worth the ability to make diagonal walls.
Owen

Yes, showing strong and weak sides of this mod was exactly my intention. And I also think that sometimes might not be worth to use it. But everything depends both on your plans and your map. The DJEM influence is almost invisible on some maps and very harmful on others, I tried to show it. It can be also an information for map makers 

Hi, Adam ...
Excuse me my silent pause ...
I'm here now and I think for ever ...   
Best Regards ...
Nick

Hello Silur, very nice to see you again!

I can't believe I haven't stopped in here sooner . . . 

Adam, it's absolutely amazing the heights to which you're taking the game.  It's absolutely indescribable . . .

All of those pics are perhaps the finest SC4 pics I've seen.  Ever.  Malecon is just breathtakingly realistic.  There's so much that's amazing I don't even know where to begin.  Everything is just absolutely perfect.
And having started to mess around a little with the terrain stuff myself, I'm absolutely fascinated by your latest DJEM experiments.  Thank you so much for sharing your findings!
And congrats on your second OSITM--I cannot think of a more worthy MD for such an honor!

-Alex (Tarkus)

Hello Alex, I know you are one of the most busy people here in SC4D, both creating your own MD and all this amazing network stuff  . So I'm very glad you found some time to visit me 
We will definitely return to developing terrain stuff together in NHP! At this moment I simply have no time to do more than one thing at a time. But I have some ideas about INI files and textures, as I know Heblem would like to make something new and maybe we will find some time for it? 

Hi Adam,

I've only recently started to use retaining walls and the diagonal edges bug the hell out of me!
I think I will download your mod once I've finished my current quad (can't bear the thought of any corruption problems!)  And I am still using no terrain mod, so maybe that would be the right time to install that as well.
I've been looking at some of the terrain mods in use and think the Italia mod is the one I like - will that work with your  DJEM?
Very informative and whilst a lot of it goes over my head, the end result is impressive 

Paul

Hello Paul, thank you for your visit!
This mod is very simple and shouldn't corrupt anything. Please read the end part of my last update ("where to install this mod") carefully and you wil not have any problem with it.
There is a separate mod version for each terrain mod in the zip, Italia Terrain Mod has it's own mod file too. Use only one file from the zip! Each version has a name corresponding with terrain mod name, so it is very easy.
Many aspects of modding are really easy, if you started to play with LE, I suppose you will start look at mods too in future 
It is very good to open some dat files in Ilive Reader and look at their internal structure (and then maybe chnge some parameters and look what will happen?). Even if you will not create a new mod, your understanding of SC4 will increse greatly!

Adam!
Brilliant, my friend. Just brilliant! Your experiments with the diagonal walls just proves again how your talent, your patience, and your perfectionism is a masterful combination! I have to read over the update again because it's a bit over my head, but either way, it's absolutely incredible work.

Dustin

Hello Dustin, you are very nice, but I know some other perfectionists on this site, for example one guy makes excellent MD statistics from one year, and this task needs really a lot of patience, creative and logical thinking! 

I want to add my gratitude as well, Adam. I'm just glad I don't have to understand what you do to appreciate its value!

Terrain is a very important element that can be easy to disregard in favor of more "urgent" concerns, but it is, after all, the foundation of a region. Admittedly, I do not plan ahead very much, preferring instead to let things happen as they will. I'm rather particular about the looks of the basic landscape, though, so I shall do a bit of experimenting in my newly-terraformed region before proceeding. Once again, your ideas are an inspiration!

Until next time...
Joan

Hello again Joan!
Fortunately SC4 is too complicated (although it's an old game  ) to plan everything and adjust everything. You choose a map which you like and play on it, and trying to carry out your ideas you often meet various surprises  - it's a fantastic aspect of this game!
But sometimes you have a vision - for example a beautiful large beach - and it is good to know what to do to achieve it, or to know that somebody else found a simple solution  The reason of showing my (little and simple) experiments is exactly the same as your idea of the Mouse House BATing tutorial! This theme is above my head yet, and I'm sure I will start from your thread if I will want to learn it! 

Fantastic testing there with your DJEM! Great work on it!

Looking forward to more...

Thank you very much bat!

Hi Adam,
you have done a great work!!!  And your testings sessions are really accurate

I've just one question....
Can you give me some detail on how did you built the pier in the picture below? particularly the diagonal part.....
thank you very much
Luca

Hello Luca, very nice to see you!
Please look at this picture



This is a Japanese waterfront set (I don't remember from which site is it, it's name is "teibou". Owen (Yoman) modified it and sent to me. This is very interesting set, it has a few little bugs which I will report to Owen. I don't know if he will decide to release it, but if you would like to use it you can contact with him..

Hmm... where have I seen this before?
Nice to see that your DJEM has a little bit of a different effect... I always thought pjot's one was too extreme, yet I lacked the knowledge at the time to fix that...
Plus, it didn't work with my terrain mod. That's the annoying thing about using custom elevation scales, I suppose...
The pictures of Malecon, though, look breathtaking, especially with that lovely blue sky.

You have seen it in the NHP Area 51 
I'd like to suggest you something (it can be useful also for other people who want to modify their terrain parameters):
- My Diagonal Jagged Edges Mod is very simple. It includes only the Terrain Properties exemplar file.
- If you will place this file exactly as I proposed in my last update (first change the terrain mod folder name adding zzz at it's beginning, then putting the DJEM file into this folder), you will have a separate Terrain Properties exemplar in the best place to make other terrain modifications.

You can change for example the beach width and height, water transparency, maximum terrain height and other parameters - everything in the same exemplar and without any conflicts.
You can also return to some terrain parameters which were modified by other mod (for example Gizmo's Water Flora) but were overwritten by the CPT No6 terrain mod file.
And of course you can remove DJEM from this exemplar (simply changing the MaxNormalYForCliff value again to the original one. Which one? check it in the CPT No6 file) and use it to other modifications.

Personally I use the Terrain Properties file in slightly another way: I take the file, make all modifications I want and mark them in the file name. Then it looks like this:
"ENN_TerrrainProperties_Italia_DJEM_MaxHt3500_Bwidth30Balt100", which means:
"Terrain properties include MaxNormalYForCliff = 0,77, Maximum Terrain Height = 3500 m, MaxBeachWidth = 30 tiles, MaxBeachAltitude = 100 meters (these are beach parameters for nice dunes ). All other terrain properties are the same as in Italia Terrain Mod."
This way I always know which terrain modifications I use at the moment, and I can choose the needed version from the collection of earlier created mods.
I'm glad you like city pictures! I know you are critical so your opinions are important for me 

I don't see that much difference between your creations and his creations, they're both fantastic. About giving me pleasure and inspiration, I'm not expecting less than that, and I don't had to wait very long, I just have to look at your latest update, very educational and elucidative.
Thanks for your MD.
Cheers
Silvio

Edit: I had not seen yet your 25th update when I answered to your 24th one. That said, the educational also goes to this latest update, the 25th

Thank you Silvio! More information = more new creations! Somebody can make something much better than me taking my findings as a start point  And If I will make a mistake, there is no better way to get to know about it than to show my work and ask for opinions 

WoW Adam first off my hats off to you sir!!! Second thank you for this as I now can call it quits on trying to modify Pjots... Thank you a million again Adam and I cant wait to see more of your Shosaloza!!!!

Thank you very much Pat, of course I will try to show something you will like too 

Adam - First and foremost, thanks for your efforts in updating the Diagonal Jagged Edges Mod!     I know folks have been asking about this for a long time now.  We will no longer have to choose between terrain and walls.

I have been using the Meadowshire terrain with MaxNormalYForCliff changed to 0.85 to make the walls work better.  This worked but I lost my snowcapped mountaintops as a tradeoff.  I have downloaded your beta version and find the results much more pleasing so far.  I haven't built a lot of walls yet, but the terrain looks much better.
I wanted to remind you that there were 2 additional terrain files released as options with Meadowshire - higher snow and lower snow.  The only difference is the MaxTerrainHeightProperty, but I think it would be good to support all versions in the final release.

It took me a minute to figure out where my snow went, but I have it all sorted now.   

Thank you and welcome to Shosaloza! I'm glad you found my mod useful and working correctly 
Of course I forgot about two Meadowshire patches! I made mods for them, complete all Meadowshire DJEM files in one zip and attached to this update. Choose only one of them, names speak for themselves.

Awesome stuff Adam, but there's no version for the normal Columbus mod! 
Fred

Don't worry Fred, it is attached to this update!
Btw there is an information in the Columbus Mod readme that there are five essential files (a player should choose only one):
- "CPT_Columbus_Play_Terrain_Parameters" - standard version for use with Maxis trees (without any additional tree controller), and four files
- "CPT_Columbus_Play_Terrain_Parameters_ForUseWithCPT_No7..." - standard, Snowcapped, Sonwcapped Low and Snowcapped Lower versionsfor use with CPT No7 Cycledogg's Tree Controller.
I used the Columbus Mod installer from German Simcity Plaza and I found only four options for use with CPT No7. So I made DJEM for these versions only. But if somebody uses the first version with Maxis trees, I am almost sure that my mod "Standard" version will work good. My mod doesn't include any files changing textures or terrain brushes.
The Columbus Mod is still interesting. It is a bit different from newer Cycledogg's mods and it has some interesting aspects, we will research it in NHP in future 

Stunning groundbreaking work again Adam
DJEM is another little gem from you. You do know how to find new stuff to tweak
and then show the results so well also.
Stunning pics to show your results as well and its nice to really see the difference too.
Another fantastic update - what will you have in store for us next
till the next time
regards
Derry

Thank you Derry, I can always expect some nice words from you - it's very motivating and encouraging!
I hope you feel better now - best wishes for you!

Very nice work. Some of reminds of Krakow, which a gorgeous city 

Thank you! My inspirations are from many Euro cities and I didn't try to recreate any of them. But I'm glad these pictures can evoke some memories  In fact I lived in Krakow 7 years (I studied there, these were good times  ) and it is quite possible it has a significant influence on my city-connected ideas 

Hello Ennedi

Your update is very good 
And the environment is so beautiful
The lake is beautiful too 
Continue 

You are very nice, thank you!

At the beginning - some mountain landscapes with Chris' grass and flowers. There are also a few nice paths here 



I'd like to have such place in RL...







I made some experiments with Chris' RRP pieces. I was always unsatisfied of an unnatural farmfields borders, especially if they are diagonal. I used to hide these borders behind plants. I was curious how Chris' stuff works in such situation.
I also wanted to check new ploppable paths possibilities. Here are a few results:

1. We can hide diagonal farmfield border using Chris' grass. It looks good, but a bit unnatural IMO - something like weeds invasion 





...But we can improve it plopping some additional dirt pieces:



I don't know if it looks better, but it is definitely more realistic, also from the agricultural techniques point of view 

2. I was also interested in pastures. Here is an usual one





But ploppable pasture grass is uncomfortable in many situations - for example if I want plop a cow  , build a path (from various sets - there is always problem with textures) or to use fantastic Chris' new fences. So tried something different:



Is it good? I don't know, maybe some opinions and/or ideas? 

3. Look at the picture below. You can see two kinds of farmfield border here: one with grass only (weeds attack  ) and the second one with the new Chris' grass mixed with Jeronij's bushes and SFBT rhododendrons (mixing is important to achieve a natural look!)



What do you think, which one is better?

4. Now let's look closer at farmfield borders. Using ploppable paths and the new Chris' grass is definitely a good idea...







...The previous grass version and various wildflowers work very well too. Ploppable paths are very helpful in various situations, look at diagonal edges:





...But this method of creating paths between fields has sense too:





This path leads to a nice place



...But we haven't enough time today 

The next update: More farmfields, some general views and of course FAR roads! Update is planned this week 

At the end: I attached two zip files to this update, both include the Diagonal Jagged Edges Mod:

a) For Meadowshire Terrain Mod (all versions ie. standard, Higher Snow Patch and Lower Snow Patch)
b) For Columbus Terrain Mod.

Best regards
Adam

[Nardo69]

A long time ago someone said on another site that I was one of the best rural players he knew.

Well, that was real along time ago, I guess I am really a rural pioneer but I wish my farms would look half as good as yours! (guess I should concentrate more on my railways and drive some teenagers crazy at the competition ...  )

I always wanted to have such natural looking greens in Sc4, I even lurked into Chris's thread and got the Betas but the results .. o well ...

Take care my friend and don't forget to make backups, I want to see more of these farm fields!

Bernhard 

[pvarcoe]

Man o man Adam.

That is some of your best work yet.
Those are some of the best rural shots ever.
The amount of detailing is unbelievable, and has achieved the desired results IMHO.

Using the grass to smooth the diagonal edges on fields is a complete success.
The use of paths along field edges is really good too.
I'm not sure I would use it along all field edges, but certainly many.

Again, just stellar work.

Phil

[mightygoose]

epic work... trluy awe inspiring, nothing else needs saying....

[iamgoingtoeatyou]

What game are you playing and where can I get myself a copy? It can't be Simcity 4, it's too good

[kimcar]

 :oGeez ! This is so perfect . You are a true artist  Thanks for our eyes Adam. 

[Jmouse]

Adam, the first photo brought tears of joy to my eyes, and by the time I got to the third one, I had the box of Kleenex on my lap!

Truly you are a pioneer and many will follow in your footsteps, but I cannot imagine any of them coming close to this kind of achievement! You see the same things as we do, but like a master artist, you see them in a slightly different way. Then somehow you're able to translate your vision into a thing of timeless beauty!

Your work brings much pleasure...
Joan

[Chrisadams3997]

This must stop now.  You shouldn't torment us mere mortals with so many things we could never hope to achieve ourselves, lol.  As always, a great eye for the terrain, and how to vegetate it for that matter .  Everything is stunning, so I'll jump right to the only thing that gives me a little pause, that being this picture that you'd asked for opinions on I noticed :

So I'll give my opinions.  To stretch back to original intent, the two original flower models(the yellow and white) as well as what I call my scrub were developed based on what I saw in a number of overgrown pastures on a road trip to Dallas.  For the most part, a well stocked and maintained pasture will usually stay fairly short, though it depends on the type of grass in the stand.  For such situations I've found it best to leave it mostly just the normal grass texture, possibly with overgrown spots(due to spot grazing)-particularly farther away from sources of water and other gathering areas.

An unstocked or understocked pasture on the other hand would initially find itself grown in with taller grass and numerous weeds.  After several years of neglect or mismanagement, medium sized woody plants would be expected to start growing in.  This is all of course dependant on the environment in question and the plants native to the area.  What you show here doesn't give the impression of a pasture.  Partly because it would be expected that the area around the pasture would be more overgrown than the pasture, whereas you have it the other way around here.  To pull up an old picture, here's a case of my interpretation of using flora in pastures, here seeing a significant difference between a few well maintained areas, and one well overgrown.



Well, that's my two cents on the subject, lol.

Chris

[catty]

Those rural pictures are stunning 

Are you taking Holiday Bookings, A couple of weeks there would set me up for the year 

Tree to sit under, book, sandwiches, a cold drink and a really great view when you take a break from reading

My idea of Heaven

[ejc]

damn

you make us not want to play sc4 anymore do you?

you are showing us how it can be done.. and so, we realise we just suck at the game!!

the way you present a rural area is just... no words

truly worthy you were in OSITM

please continue

E

[Simpson]

Hello
Your update is magnifical 
I love the street in the city (it's realistic)
The fields are beautiful too 
It's will be my preferate city 

[bat]

Beautiful rural area there! And fantastic work on that update! The pictures are excellent again!

Looking forward to the next great update...

[vester]

Just been looking at your last two updates. WoW.

Only one thing: Some water. Lakes and river would just but the dot over the i.

[rooker1]

This is a fantastic update.  I am really impreesed at how well you have used Chris' grass,flowers and paths.
This type of city building hasn't been of interest to me for quite some time.  But after looking at this update, I may change my mind.
Everything looks so nice and I think I have spent about an hour going over the pics again and again.
I can't wai to see where that path leads to.
Robin 

[ScottFTL]

Thanks for the welcome, Adam.  I have been lurking and enjoying your work on Shosaloza for quite some time.   

And many thanks for the update to the DJEM mods.  I wasn't expecting anything so quickly!

Now to the update... Your work with the farms and Chris' rural pieces is AMAZING!  I just finished building a farming community, and you have given me many ideas for improvements now.  I do agree that the grass mixed with shrubs and other flora makes a more realistic border.

I can't wait to see what you do with David's FAR pieces.

[Yoman]

Hello Adam,

I have to say, that was one of my favorite updates ever from you. Mostly because of how much it inspired me! So many questions comments etc in this reply....ok lets start at the beginning

The small cow farm on the mountain side looks excellent. I wasn't aware that Chris released his fences and double track paths though? The shot after that with the small cut through the forest is just beautiful, with the grass coming out from the treeline and covered the edge, just great. The next few shots are just another great example of your incredible ability to work with flora.

Now comes your farm town, this has been the greatest source of inspiration in this update. As I was about to do some farms outside of Odessa. Your idea of hiding diagonal edges with the attack of the weeds is great. I was cutting back on the amount of diags I had in my farmland due to the ugly jagged edges, buy you've saved me from doing so! And in the process given me a hundred other ideas. On the second image, closeup of the diag section, may I ask what photoshop effects you are using? They look excellent. Your pasture, both with and without the flora looks incredible. That flora has proven so useful to me to make areas appear overgrown and abandoned (cough, old fighterbase cough)

Your combination of Chris's paths and flora and jeronij's flora along the outside of the farmland also looks excellent. I love both versions to be honest. What farmfield type is that in the lower right corner of this image? The paths in the vineyards and around the outside of the small field look incredible as well.

Alright, I have to go to dinner now, once again a great update though Adam

Owen

[paroch]

Hi Adam,

Wow, where to start on this great update.  I really wonder how you keep up the consistently great quality in you MD.  It is consistantly of such a high quality.

First up, the rural pics are great.  And where do I get Chris's grass and flowers?  Are they on general release?  I don't think I've seen them.

The second picture is just beautiful - really there is no other word for it 

The farm fields look great too.  I always enjoy the way you show us your experiments.

And the paths along the edge of the fields are a great idea - very well done.

More new ground broken there Adam - what on EARTH can you come up with next??!!??

All the best,

Paul

[TheTeaCat]

Adam

Here you go again. Making the rest of us gape at some of your best work IMO so far. I have been waiting to see how you would
tackle rural areas and I am glad to see that its even better than I anticipated

You seem to have a knack/skill/eye for detail that I would pay dearly for
will this cuppa do for payment?


The first and second pics are without a doubt my favourites

I really hope you enjoyed your month in OSITM as I did, and thanks for sharing such wonderful pictures, hints, tips, and
more thoughts and experiments with us. I learn so much about this game from you and you force me to challenge my skills
with the game all the more - thanks for that as it makes the game more enjoyable as I try new ideas or just to improve my cities.

until the next time
regards

Derry