Ennedi plays Shosaloza

[nedalezz]

Wow wow WOW at that coastline! It looks so realistic and detailed! You've also made great use of those Japanese residential lots and BATS...thats an incredible fishing village. You are right, SOMY's fishing harbour is indeed a masterpiece.

[Badsim]

Hi Ennedi ,


What a way to end a special interest of the month !!!....almost all of these pictures are nearing perfection , the five last ones are perfection !

About what I love , I think all has been said before me ... I particularly enjoy the fact you didn't try to bring together fishing stuffs , the way you've dispersed them is so apt . Great use of these path overlays that I don't know ...

The only thing I dislike ... is this original generic Maxis ' base texture on a few Lots ... the only thing that can make us remember this is still SC4 ...

So Oshima district is achieved , of course many others things are coming , but I guess it's always a strange moment when we've worked so hard ... a mix of satisfaction and melancholy . To enjoy without moderation .

And thank you for your advices , I never tried such methods of work so this is a totally new open world you've opened for me .

[sebes]

Even now when the month is almost over this MD deserves to stay a special interest section ! 

It's amazing how realistic looking Shosaloza becomes when you play the game.. Simply Amazing. 

The fisherport, but also the boardwalk and commercial alley are absolutely great. But the last few "nature" pictures are absolutely inbelieveable: you must have spent some hours in getting them as gorgeous as they are now, and it 's again a proove of your artistic talent om making such good looking nature views in this city building game !!

[emilin]

NOB rules!

I just had to get that off my chest when I saw your excellent use of his wonderfull BAT:s. But, that is not the best part of your update: your amazing sense of scenary is... well mindblowing! I can't even begin to imagine how much work is behind creating scenes like that. Bravo!

[Ennedi]

Welcome in Shosaloza!



thundercrack83: Hello Dustin, thank you for your continous support!

Jmouse: Thank you very much for your visit! Maybe it doesn't show, but many things are difficult for me and they need a lot of time.
You asked if I could to the nightshot of the lighthouse - I will think about it

Shadow Asassin: Thank you very much, I appreciate your opinion - I know you are not too inclined to saying compliments

figui: Thank you Mauricio, I send you the Seagulls Generator - look at the end of this update, you will find an attachment there

rooker1: Hello Robin, as always great comment - thank you! Yes, I will think about this brick texture (I have some new ideas) and about
arranging this village (Toi) in slightly another way. I will also try to make a path around the lighthouse. When we will make the first
round across the whole region, I will return to every city and look what could be improved. Maybe it will be a good time to make some lot
editing?

Picture two, I don't like, only because of the blue sky back ground.  I know there is nothing you can do about it.  I just don't like pictures where the edge of the map shows. 

Don't worry Robin, such problems can be easy solved! I made this picture especially for you:



iamgoingtoeatyou: Hello, nice to see you! You have also your own part in keeping this game still alive and better than earlier!

Yoman: Thank you, the best thing in these SFBT paths you like is they are easy to use and achieve perfection

M4346: Hello Marius, thank you for nice words and for interesting link about dolosse! These concrete blocks are props on Somy's harbour. But do you know there are ploppable ones yet? you can see them in the Japanese thread.

meldolion: Hello, thank you for your visit, I know you have much work with you new map

capo: Thank you for your visit too, especially if you haven't much time! It's always a pleasure to see you here!


bat: Thank you very much!

LoneRanger: Thank you, such region needs another inspiration than building cities, but I like mountains, driving mountain roads and
"extreme engineering", so this map fascinated me - and it isn't such big!

rushman5: Thanks a lot for nice words, but we all are equal in our playing here!

tooheys: Hello Dave, it's a pleasure to see you again! I'm glad you like these landscapes, I hope I will show more nice cities in future

Schulmanator: I'm glad you had some pleasure here, best wishes to Monkey Island!

nedalezz: Thank you very much, this is a harbour I suggested you to use some time ago - but now Qumma looks more and more modern, so maybe you need something else now 

Badsim: Thank you very much, your opinions are always important for me!
You are right, I didn't want to put all fishing stuff together, and the specific shape of this city enabled me to make three small towns,
my intention was to show different ways to build something similar.
As for Maxis textures - of course you are right, but the lot editing time is still before me. Now it's a time of making landscapes - but you can be sure i will ask for your help in next few months.
Making today's update I was thinking about you, I know you made such comparations yet, but maybe you will find something useful here?

sebes: Hello and thank you! Yes, it is a city building game, but it was modified by people with a great imagination. For me, both aspects - cities and landscape - are equally important.

emilin: thank you very much, yes these nature parts need much time, but you know it good - your landscapes are amazing for me!

OK, we go to the update:



We finished visiting the second part of Shosaloza, and before we will go to the next one, I want to show you something else.
Some time ago I announced the Terrain Mods Gallery. Today I want to start with it.

Terrain mods and everything wchich is connected with them (forests, water,rock mods, maps, terraforming) is a large theme, so my gallery
will be divided into some updates. Of course I will build next cities in Shosaloza all the time, and I will show various landscapes in the meantime.
All picture I will show are not photoshopped, and they are without any frame this time - I want to show everything as it looks in game.

I choosen one of the Shosaloza cities (for those who know this region - it's D1 tile). The landscape is diversified, but not extreme. We have here some mountains (max altitude 1499 m = 1249 m above the sea level wchich is equal to 250 m), soft hills, a large valley and a seashore.
Of course I modified this terrain. Changes were subtle (at least in my intention), but they involved not less than 75% of the entire area. I lowered the main valley to make a soft flat space at the seashore (and raised the sea bottom to the same reason), softened most hills and sculpted some mountains to show various rock textures better.
I also made some flat areas in the main valley (now the gradient is not constant, but there are 3 levels in it, it would be useful if I would want to build a city here).

As you see, the difference is not very visible and the original landscape was not destroyed, but now this area is much more "playable".
Before...
11.1


...And after
11.2


We will see this city tile many times to compare various terrain mods. To make this presentation a bit less boring I added some details:

11.3


11.4


11.5


11.6


This stream is an interesting side theme. To make rapids and waterfalls I always used the 3Wave Freestream Mod, not Jeronij's Water Drop. The 3Wave mod gives bigger and more smooth stream. But it always fow all the way to the sea - to stop it in the particular place on the land you must make a deppression (and then make it invisible!) When 3Wave stream flows down, the bigger gradient means bigger deppression at the end. (of course if it reaches ingame water, it ends). Jeronij's Water Drop has a limited distance.
I didn't like straight lines in the foam stream in the Jeronij's mod. But when Jeronij presented this mod with his new ploppable water, I changed my opinion and here is the result.

I have some conclusions after this experiment:
- Don't make rapids (and a waterfall too!) on a very steep slope - you will lose control on it and you will see separate white shapes with straight edges.As you see on pictures above, the upper part of the stream is easier to control than the lower one.
- Jeronij's Water Drop covers small stones, but you can use them to hide a cluttered structure of the stream. Big stones can be placed on the sides to optically control rapids. If it isn't enough, you can use dense bushes to hide unnecessary foam splashes outside of the stream.

Look again at the sea water at the stream mouth. As you see, it changes it's color from shallow to deep. You can see it often in Google Earth (but colors are often unnatural there).

11.7


11.8


It could be done better, but... what do you think?
I show this water not only for aesthetical reasons. It will be very important in the near future, when we will build the main seaport in Shosaloza.

And the last note: I didn't put much trees on this terrain. I want to show textures, we will play with forests (Tree Controllers and other stuff) in future.

Now we can start the Terrain Mods presentation.
I want to compare some newer CP's terrain mods: Italia, Olympic, Missouri Breaks, Meadowshire, Grand Canyon and Painted Desert mods. We will also look at the new Heblem's desert mod. In addition, I will try to research some combinations between these mods and show how they work with various rock and beach mods.
But the presentation is not my main goal. I would like to answer for some specific questions, I will return to this theme in the next update.

Each of CP's terrain mods consists of:
- CPT No 6 Terrain Controller. This one is essential.
- CPT No 5 Essential But Interchangeable With Other CPT No 5. This file is essential too, but can be replaced (as the name says). This file adds some rocky and stone textures on higher elevations and moderate slopes, I don't know it's other functions. This is not a rock mod!
- CPT_C... (for example CPT_C_ItaliaCliff). This one can be replaced by the PEG's rock mod. If you haven't any of CPT_C files in your PLugins foder, you will see the original Maxis rock texture.
- CPT_B... - a beach mod.
- CPT_W... a water mod.
The last two files are not present in every CPT terrain mod.
As you see, we can make many combinations between these files, and we will make them looking what is good with what and where.

I will start with the combination wchich I use in Shosaloza now:
- CPT No 6 Italia Terrain Controller
- CPT No 5 Olympic Essential...
- CPT_B_Olympic Beach
- PEG Rock Mod Red-Brown Granite.
Italia mod make the landscape very diversified and multi-colored. Grassy textures are not very flashy, on higher elevations you can see many yellowish and reddish textures.

Olympic Beach:
11.9


Flat surface, about 370 m:
11.10


The same level, some soft slopes - January...
11.11


...And March
11.12


As you see, some textures changes during the year. In summer all area showed on last two pictures is green. These changes can be uncomfortable for some people, but they appear mainly on slopes at middle and higher elevations, and on flat surfaces around 700-800 m (near the snow border). So I think such changes will not affect your cities.

Soft hills about 400-500 m:
11.13


11.14


The CPT No 5 textures begin from about 720 m. This is also the lowest level for the snow.
11.15


And at last - rocks:
11.16


11.17


The Red-Brown Granite is in my opinion one of the best rock mods. It isn't repetitive, and it looks good both in closeups and in general views, and - it's rare - on very steep slopes.

Now let's see the same terrain mod (Italia), but with the original Italia Cliff:
11.18


11.19


It looks good, but maybe you know I replaced it by Red-Brown Granite?

Now we go to the Olympic Terrain Mod (original version, with the Olympic Cliff).
We don't need to show a beach - it is the same as in Italia mod.
Grassy textures are more "flashy" green because of textures with bushes:

11.20


11.21


11.22


11.23


11.24


11.25


The CPT No 5 textures appear at about 760 m, higher than in Italia Terrain Mod.
And now Olympic Rock:
11.26


As you see, it is practically the same as Italia Cliff (but names are different).

The material I collected for this update is too large to present it in one message. So I'm finishing at this point, and next terrain mods (and some conclusions after this part of presentation) will be posted today evening or tomorrow.

Adam

[figui]

hi Adam!
what a wonderful update!
the first picture you made for Robin is great, nice effect
and the terrain mod gallery seems to be really useful, i have too much to learn here

last, but not least: thanks for the seagull generator, i'll try it next time i can, RL is conspiring against my sc4 inspiration

mauricio.

[Yoman]

A very informative and well designed update, I look forward to the next of these, as I always love updates that give insight to the game.

[threestooges]

First, thank you for telling me about Somy's building. I will look through his site to see if I can find it. You have made another amazing update with the harbors. If you have any questions about anything I have said in my previous posts, please let me know and I will try to clarify it. You continue to impress with the building combinations. Your terrain mod gallery is off to an impressive start and, when finished seems like it will be a very useful tool for anyone who is trying to decide what they want to use. Also, if you have not considered it already, I would suggets that you submit your picture of the lighthouse (either the one at sunset in the previous update, or the one you have made for rooker... that is just fantastic work). I will be very interested to see what you will have for your next post.

[cameron1991]

WOW! That stream is amazing! It looks very realistic!  I'm looking forward to the next update.

[Ennedi]

Hello again - not too much Shosaloza for today?



figui: Hello Mauricio, thank you for nice words, I wish you more free time and don't worry, all of us have much work (and much problems
sometimes) in RL. We must finish it all and then enjoy our passion without any stress.

Yoman: Thank you, it's an intention of this "gallery" to be informative - at least for some people. The theme is large and it's only a beginning, but I hope we will come to any constructive conclusions.

threestoges: thank you, first of all I'm glad you can find something interesting for you here. And of course, if I will not know/understand something, I will ask for your help (I will check your previous messages too) And thanks for the tip about the lighthouse!

cameron1991: Nice to see you here, welcome in Shosaloza - I'm glad you like the stream, it needed some hard work



We finished a presentation of the Olympic Terrain Mod, but didn't say anything about a very important thing: the snow.
There is less snow in the Olympic mod than in Italia, but it looks better - there are no unnatural straight edges on it's border. But the snow in the next terrain mod - Missouri Breaks - looks identical as Olympic, so we will have a chance to look at it now.

So, now the Missouri Breaks Terrain Mod (an original version, with the Missouri Breaks Rock). It has it's own CPT No 5 file, rock textures in it are bright-grey and they blend very well with bright rock mods. In fact, there are only two CPT No 5 files in all CP terrain mods: Olympic (darker, more red-brown) and Missouri Breaks.
Let's see on this mod. I show mostly the same places as in the previous update, to enable the comparation.

The general view
12.1


The Missouri Beach - it is very similar to the Olympic Beach, we will compare beaches in future:
12.2


Some other views...
12.3


12.4


12.5


12.6


...And now look at the lake and snow around it. As you see there is less of it than in the Italia mod, but it looks more diversifed, no straight sharp edges (almost), it is semi-transparent in some places. In my opinion it looks better.

12.7


And finally the Missouri Break Rock (look again at the snow too):
12.8


12.9


This rock looks very good, but maybe something more distinctive?
Let's try the PEG's Mossy Granite:
12.10


12.11


12.13


This is a great mod. It's only disadvantage is a repetitive pattern visible n large flat walls, but it is easy to break it using much micro-terraforming - you can believe me, I used to do it in my previous region.
The Mossy granite looks best on moderate slope and on the rough terrain.

Now let's see something else: the PEG's Limestone - Jeronij's version:
12.14


12.15


12.16


12.17


What do you thing? For me it's a revelation!
This mod harmonizes very well not only with CPT No 5 textures, but also with other Missouri Breaks textures visible on lower elevations:

12.18


Now we will present the last mod today: the Meadowshire Terrain Mod (original version, with the Meadowshire Cliff)

12.19


12.20


12.21


12.22


12.23


Grass textures are very similar to the Italia Terrain Mod. The snow is also identical as in Italia.
The Meadowshire Cliff is very interesting. It doesn't look very good on closeups, bu at the middle and bigger distance it looks really great. I didn't emphasize it enough (no Photoshopping), but if you will look carefully at this rock, you will see parallel lines as on the sedimentary rock. Using precise terraforming you can achieve fantastic (but subtle) effects on this rock.

OK, it's a time for some conclusions:

- Italia and Meadowshire mods have he most diversified grassy textures (maybe I should say: most various colors, I think the amount of various textures is similar in all mods).
- Olympic is the most flashy green. it can make some troubles in rural areas, but it is great on open spaces, meadows etc. In the urban
environment it can be completely covered, and also used in a bit tricky way (it need some fences and trees and you can arrange a great looking recreational area).
- Missouri Breaks is the most subdued one, it needs another way of arrangement, and also another forests.

And some tips:
- Don't make too steep slopes! It is important both for map makers an for players. You can have problems with rivers, rapids and waterfalls. Your rock textures will look worse, they will be blurred in the vertical direction. You will have unrealistic snow edges, especially in Italia and Meadowshire mods, but also in the Columbus terrain Mod and others including the default one.
If you want to control textures using terraforming tools, it is much better to have some reserve, not to work on extreme gradient.
In fact, the real mountains are not such steep as we think looking from the valley. The angle of 45-50 degrees is very steep, and 70 degrees is a rock wall. Of course there are vertical walls and overhangs in RL (look at Yosemite), but we don't need such slopes in SC4.
In addition, it is good to think about the viewing direction used in SC4. We don't need extreme slopes to make the map looking good and playable.

-Various terrain mods (especially rocks, but not only) will look good on various maps. It is good to have all terrain mods and make some experiments.

- If you have the map yet and if you choosen the terrain mod, you must use various terraforming tools depending on the terrain mod you use. It is especially important at rocky terrain.


At the end I would like to say why I started to making this gallery.
My intention is to answer for the following questions:

- What to do on the map to make it playable?
  1. Making cities: how to arrange the terrain to have it diversified, but to enable building works and avoid huge terraforming during the building process?
For example, if you want to build a city on a hilly terrain, it is possible to prepare all hills and valleys in SC4 Terraformer, and then - if slopes are made correctly - to drag smooth roads on these slopes without an intervention of the slope mod (of course your slope mod should be enough tolerant to your terrain).

  2. Arranging the terrain: How to control textures, make realistic rivers, waterfalls, forests and use other ploppable stuff?
To solve these problems it is necessary to research settings of particular textures in terrain mods.

I hope I will come (with your help of course) to some results wchich could be useful for other players.

Adam

[TheTeaCat]

Adam

Magnificent progress you have made with this most fascinating MD . Your simple clear explanation of your techniques and methods (in a foreign language too ) astounds me. Its been a joy catching up and marveling at the pics you presented to us. Thank you for giving me a pleasurable 30 mins rereading your md from the start 

regards
Derry

ps made this for you

[Pat]

Adam OMG wow Updates 11 and 12 are just wonderful here!!!! I did at least come away with some good ideas for Waterfalls and i thank you for those idea's - pat

[thundercrack83]

I have to tell you, Adam--you have really taken this game to another level here. Your attention to detail is absolutely amazing! I can stare at this pictures for hours and, because all the different terrain mods look great in your work, I can't pick a favorite! Incredible work, here, my friend! Incredible!

[TheTeaCat]

To make rapids and waterfalls I always used the 3Wave Freestream Mod, not Jeronij's Water Drop.

Adam i forgot to ask wher you got this as I lost it when my HDD failed and have been searching for it a long time now. Any help would b appreciated

regards
Dery

[jplumbley]

This is really cool!!  What are the rapid plops or lots that you used from the lake to the river down the side of the mountain?  Im currently playing with the ploppable lots on the STEX when you search for Edmonton Ploppable Water, they dont give me the same effect as what you have and I like yours better.

[threestooges]

I actually had the same question as jplumbley regarding the rapids. From what I can tell, it's plop water, with plop rocks, and the wave3 stream effect running the whole length and providing the rapid effect (at least I think that's how it wad done... please let me know if I am anywhere close to being correct). If you have the chance, it would be interesting to see a tutorial demonstrating how you made the stream... it looks great.

[Ennedi]

TTC, jplumbley, threestoges -

My rapids are made using Jeronij's Rural Culvert and Water effects set. You will have the "Water Drop" position in your park menu, this is this one.

And here is the Wave3 Free Flowing Stream Mod made by qurlix.
Derry, I understand, I had also some problems to find it, I wasn't be able to find the proper key word to search it

I have no time today, but I will try to make a tutorial about these rapids and making a stream (maybe on Monday or Tuesday - as soon as possible )

[Shadow Assassin]

This is very informative. As for terrain mods, I use the Columbus terrain mod with modified snow levels and Missouri Breaks rock textures.

The first picture (on this page, anyway) looks great, but realistically, there should be a slight curvature to the horizon. A horizon is never perfectly flat that far above sea level, there is always a slight curve (you can see the earth's curvature on an open area from any high point above 200m, this includes buildings).



At sea level, it looks (almost) flat. You can see a very slight curvature, but other than that, it's more or less flat.

For this image, a link is posted. I suppose the same effect could be done with a fish-eye lens... but in any case, you can see the very slight curve. This is, IMO, about the same height as you posted that picture... but depth perception in SC4 is fiendishly difficult to do due to its views.


In any case, I seem to have gone way off topic in that sense.

This terrain info is most definitely informative, and it'll probably be put to good use in your CJ later on down the track, eh?

[Ennedi]

@Shadow Asassin, thank you for an interesting message!

As for terrain mods, I use the Columbus terrain mod with modified snow levels and Missouri Breaks rock textures.

Yes, the Columbus terrain mod is a great one, it gives much possiblities wchich were not replaced/improved by newer CP's mods. I used this mod for a long time and was very satisfied on it, but my skills were too poor to made a good use from it.
I definitely will try to research this mod in this section of my MD.

Thank you for drawing my attention to the horizon's curvature, I didn't think about it making this picture, it's usually a slight effect, but it is visible and can help a lot to achieve a realistic effect.
My Photoshopping skills are still very poor, but I am trying to learn more, a few days ago I bought a Photoshop CS2 Bible and another book with some special effects. I will return to this theme (and I see more funny and interesting things what can be done, of course all such things are "off topic", many people will say it will not be SC4  )
This picture was rather a joke, and it isn't done professionally, I tried to change the water surface to imitate light effects, but for example I didn't soften the horizon line and didn't alter the sky color right above the horizon.
One of the most interesting things for me at this time is light. I still remember your excellent Caldera picture, your use of light on it was very good - I like the effect that some color remains, but the surface looks shiny - I would like to know how to achieve such effect

This terrain info is most definitely informative, and it'll probably be put to good use in your CJ later on down the track, eh?

Yes, I will do it, the Shosaloza terrain (two parts of it divided by water and the main valley) enables me to do it. I have a few different plugins folders in this region, so it will be easy. It will also be realistic; For example, the highest mountains in Poland - Tatra Mountains (their size and shape is similar to the Teton Range in USA, but they have more alpine look) are divided into two parts: eastern - granite, and western - limestone. The border between these parts is sharp and clearly visible. So, I can do the same
Exactly at this moment an idea came to me - how to achieve two different rock textures in one city? I have two cities (B1 and B2) in wchich I must do it

[bat]

Welcome to page 13!

Great pictures of that, Ennedi! Wonderful work!