Three Rivers Region

[Andreas]

Looks like Amsterdam even invented the FA-CAN-AM already.

EDIT:  Welcome to the Double-0 Club, Andreas! -DE

[FrankU]

Well, Amsterdam invented the Stock exchange. That's for sure.
About all other fractional angles I cannot speak for Amsterdam. But surely Amsterdam was not the first city with unpractical, but aeshetically pleasing, angles.

I don't know if there is some restriction to angles, that would be a question to Quantum Mechanics specialists...

[girlfromverona]

Jayson, I've just had a chance to try out the sidewalk mod. It works fine - only problem is, I use your White Sidewalk Mod as I like my sidewalks to have a consistent look. I was hoping the WSM would override the other textures in your new mod, regardless of wealth, but unfortunately they don't. 

Any chance you could try to make make a version where a) sidewalks only show up when something is plopped next to the road (so rural roads don't get sidewalks), and b) they only use the white textures?

[dedgren]

Back to our ongoing



fine-terraforming tutorial.  Part Five, which we posted just about two months ago...

...how time flies...

...can be found here [linkie]- it's recommended that if you haven't read all the previous parts in sequence that you would do so.  In that case, Part One is here [linkie].

Today, we'll start with the roughed-in small transparent ploppable water lake we created in Part 5 using using the 9x12 TPW "panes" available on the 3RREX here [linkie].

n.b.- PLEASE HOLD OFF ON DLing THESE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO- I'M POSTING a VERSION 2.0 SHORTLY, AND WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN IT IS UP.  CONSERVE BANDWIDTH AND ALL THAT.

Here's where we left off.

#1


As you can see, the shore of our lake are very griddy.  Our first fine terraforming job, then, is to smooth the shore out and make it more natural appearing.

We'll start in the upper right-hand (northwest) corner of the lake, in the area we've circled in green.

#2


Ahh, but is it the northwest corner?  Being mistaken about this can certainly lead to frustration when we start moving the terrain around.  We'll step back out to the control panel and check the compass arrow in the corner of the screen to make sure.

#3


Now that we're north-oriented for sure, zoom to view level four by pressing the [ 4 ] key and, if it isn't on already, turn the grid on by pressing the [ G ] key.

The first thing we run into is the left (west) edge of our northwest-most ploppable water pane, which we've marked with a straight green line.  The shore, then needs to be moved in here toward the center of the lake.

We'll do this by selecting the Mayor Mode "Raise Terrain" tool, then setting it to its smallest radius by pressing the [ shift ] and [ 1 ] keys at the same time.  Then, we'll set it to its lowest force by pressing the [ shift ] and [ f1 ] keys at the same time.

The tooltip is then positioned over the top left-most (northwest) corner of a gridsquare at one end, in this case the bottom (south), of the area where the PW pane edge is exposed.

#4


A few left-mouse clicks and the shoreline begins to rise above the "water level."

#5


We'll repeat the same process on the the top left-most (northwest) corner of the adjacent gridsquare along the PW pane edge by positioning the tooltip...

#6


...and clicking a few times until a nice irregular shoreline emerges.

#7


After we're satisfied that we have a nice, natural-looking shore and the PW pane edge is completely covered, we'll move on to our next challenge- a 90 degree corner on our lake shore, which has been marked with green lines.

#8


These are corrected wherever they appear by raising the terrain in the top left-most (northwest) corner of whatever gridsquare that is "inside" of the 90 degree corner- a hint in terms of finding this corner easily is that it will always be "under" water.

#9


A few clicks raise this corner sufficiently to give us a nice rounded area in the shoreline.  If you find you've gone too far, use a F=1 R=1 "Gouge Valleys" mayor mode tool to back up to just where you want things.

#10


While we have this tool selected, let's use it to randomly smooth some sharply breaking corners on the landward side of the shoreline.

#11


A few clicks will drop these down to where the grid becomes smooth and uniform with neighboring areas.  Don't hesitate, though, to be a little random in doing this- a key secret to effective fine terraforming is to never let what you do become predictable.

#12


Repeat this on-shore technique anywhere around the lake you see a sharp break extend for two or more full gridsquare edges, as it does here.

#13


Just a couple of clicks makes a huge difference...

#14


...as this pic shows when we turn the grid off.

#15


Here's the area we've been working on- compare it to the pic we started with to get a sense of how just a few fine terraforming clicks make a huge difference.

#16


As we work our way clockwise around the lakeshore, we find an almost perfectly straight area.  That's fine for a canal or an artificial body of water, but not for our lake.

#17


Select and set up a F=1 R=1 Raise Terrain tool, and position its tooltip as shown.

#18


A few clicks begin to alter the shoreline.

#19


Repeating the technique on an adjacent gridsquare erases all traces of the formerly linear shore area.

#20


A little onshore lowering with a  F=1 R=1 Gouge Valley tooltip completes the process.  These are most often one and two- at the most three click changes.  It's that subtle a process.

#21


Here's the whole upper left (northwest) corner of our lake after our initial fine terraforming efforts.

#22


And, after 10 minutes or so, here's the whole lake, with...

#23


...and without the grid.

#24


Before we wrap this up for this part, let's do a small island.  There's really no trick to this at all- except for not disturbing the single gridsquare where each of the 9x12 PW panes is plopped.  You will recall all of these are dead level, which is why we don't see any artifacting along the adjacent edges of the panes- they line up perfectly in all three (x, y and z) axes with no overlap.

A nifty trick that allows these gridsquares to be located easily is to simply click on the 9x12 PW icon in the "Build Water Systems" Mayor Mode submenu.  This causes each gridsquare that can't be disturbed to turn brown.

#25


Keeping in mind where these gridsquares are located, we'll position the start of our island a safe distance away with the "Raise Terrain" tool set to F=1 R=1.

#26


A couple of clicks and our new island breaks the surface.

#27


An unobstructed view.

#28


From there, it's just a matter of raising the lakebed around that point a click at a time until you are satisfied with the size and shape of your island.

#29


Here's that northwest corner again with the grid turned off.

#30


Here's the whole lake...

#31


...and here's where we started out.

#32


That wasn't so hard, now, was it?

In Part Seven, which is here [linkie], we'll create an outfall from our lake and look at how placing rocks, plants and other stuff ties our terraforming efforts all together.


David

338952

[bob56]

Cool!!! Can't wait to read!

I am unable to access the 3RREX...It says I'm not allowed to access the area. This should be open for everyone, right?

Thanks

EDIT:  Bob, everyone should be able to see the 3RREX.  If anyone else is having trouble, could you let me know.  I don't have time to look at permissions right now- I'll PM Alex (Tarkus) and see if he can do that pending me getting back on later this afternoon.  Thanks for letting me know this. -DE

ANOTHER EDIT: Bob, I've just checked the permission settings, and the LEX Scrutineer group wasn't able to access the 3RREX.  I've checked the box now, so you should be able to get in there now--let me know if it's working or not.  -Alex (Tarkus)

EDIT #3: Yup, I've got access. Thanks!!!

[Korot]

I can get to the page, but am unable to see download link, unless it is the jeroni plopable water rapids and waterfalls.

Regards,
Korot

[Tarkus]

Thank heavens for iced coffee-

Yes, absolutely.  I live across the street from a Starbucks myself, which is very handy.  I'm addicted to Grande Iced No-Whip White Chocolate Mochas myself.  There probably wouldn't be an RHW without them.

Stunning developments here as always--I can't wait to mess around with the new TPW.  The Fractional Angled Building stuff is great, too--that will be a real groundbreaker there.  Hope you and Heather have a safe trip to Helena and Austin!

(And Jayson, thanks for the T21'd sidewalk curve mod--I'm looking forward to playing around with it!)

-Alex

[Ryan B.]

I find Starbucks horribly inadequate.

Allow me to paraphrase that Dos Equis commercial:

I don't always drink coffee.  But when I do, I prefer Tim Hortons.  Stay thirsty, my friends.

Tim Hortons, of course, was named for - & founded by - the former Sabre & Maple Leaf () Tim Horton, who was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident.  Horton's #2 hangs in the rafters of both HSBC Arena and Air Canada Centre.

Thanks for catching that, Wes!

[threestooges]

It's been FAR too long since I commented here last (pun intended?) but I've certainly been keeping up with things as best as I can. The FAB concept is something that has just been waiting for the right catalyst, which I think has been found in Jon and the others.

Incidentally, Jon, if you're interested, I'd love to hear how you were able to get the storefronts rotated so quickly. I don't have much in the way of functional buildings that would fit that location, but it'd be good to know for the future.

Looking forward to the continuation of this tutorial David.
-Matt

[sithlrd98]

This is gonna be a long post .......for me anyway 

Too bad it doesn't work with your sidewalk mod though.

Jayson, I've just had a chance to try out the sidewalk mod. It works fine - only problem is, I use your White Sidewalk Mod as I like my sidewalks to have a consistent look. I was hoping the WSM would override the other textures in your new mod, regardless of wealth, but unfortunately they don't. 

Any chance you could try to make make a version where a) sidewalks only show up when something is plopped next to the road (so rural roads don't get sidewalks), and b) they only use the white textures?

Since this was more of a "proof of" type thing , I purposely set the T-21 to show up on all lot types(civic,.etc). I only set the individual sidewalks to appear with certain wealths. As this is still a beta thing , that will change.The overall plan is to create the mod to encompass all of the WRRC/FAR additions. I mainly was trying to make the first mod to show the Maxis wealth textures as I think that there are still plenty of users that do not use any sidewalk mod. I do plan on doing a mod that is only the "white" texture so that it works with my white sidewalk mod , since the basic setup is there it will only require small changes. I will also do a JRJ version that is set-up just like the original road mod that he did.Of course the biggest obstacle is time...although now that I get the basic idea , this will be finished!

one thing.
try to make the s3d of the road texture raised to around .1m (i think) - to avoid any noise on sloping land
and have this as the main model not relying on t21.(basically what is in the far plugin already but raise the model)
and have the sidewalk separate form the road s3d.   this should cut back the number of props/models for the t21-and man hours

dave

Dave,you lost me...I am kinda flying blind with these...and up till now haven't really messed with model files. I basically am re-cycling a model , changing what verts need adjusting and making a prop exemplar. I really don't know any easier way , but agree that by the time I'm done doing it this way , I'll have over 100 props.

Oh, and forgive my stupidity ,  I already have the road at 0.006000. If I move it up to 1.000000 , will it affect the paths...meaning will ped/vehicle traffic still travel above them?
Jayson

First, the name change really threw me!

As far as the above quotes, I've been thinking about your original post and am still not sure what you mean.Are you saying to  make one prop exemplar pointing to all three(or however many) sidewalk texture props, then when creating the T-21 using whichever Resource Key Type number corresponding to whichever sidewalk?
If that is correct , then won't it just blanket the road texture? Also, if I change the Vert in the original S3D , won't I need to change the IID anyway since the originals have the Y set at 0.0?  If that is also correct , then I have no choice but to make new props.

I'm sure that , once again I'm overcomplicting things , but I'm new at this!

I have another idea of how to do this but I'll just wait to see if anyone else has anyother ideas , as I already tried a few other things and failed!

Jayson

[wes.janson]

Tim Hortons, of course, was named for the former Sabre & Maple Leaf () Tim Horton, who was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident.  Horton's #2 hangs in the rafters of both HSBC Arena and Air Canada Centre.

Not just named for, but founded by as well. The only coffee place that I have seen people literally line up down the block to get in, while a Starbucks across the street sits with half a dozen people in it.

[M4346]

Hi David!

Really enjoying the tutorial! Very useful indeed!

Don't mean to be a PITA though, but it appears that the linkie monster may have ravaged part three: there are no linkies under the tags (anymore?) 

Not the end of the world, but it might be inconvenient, or worse, inconsistent!

M

Here we go again...

This is the third part of what is planned to be an extended tutorial on fine terraforming techniques.  Part Two can be found here [linkie].  Part Four is here [linkie].  It is recommended, since each part builds on the information provided in previous ones, that you would start at Part One, which is here [linkie], and work your way forward.  On the other hand, far be it for me to tell anyone what to do...

...

In the next section of the tutorial, Part Four [linkie], we'll smooth the other bank, place the culvert and plop some water.  See you there!

Edit: Whoops! Found another one:

Well, that's it for this part.  We'll look at how basic fine terraforming with the new PW works, and then head back to our lake and stream project in Part Five [linkie].  Thanks for your interest in this.

[JoeST]

Quick fact check.. (to go alolng with Marius's finds):

Your header pic for the latest update is Part5, shouldn't it be Part6

Joe

[girlfromverona]

I do plan on doing a mod that is only the "white" texture so that it works with my white sidewalk mod , since the basic setup is there it will only require small changes.

You da man! 

Seriously, that is very cool. I am totally going to use that when it's ready. 

[dragonshardz]

99 posts in 11 days? Yikes...

[dedgren]

We interrupt the last post to make this post...

I've been in a "parent training" pretty much all day, and needed something I could work on and look like I was paying attention at the same time.



So I ginned up something for the MIS that I had promised our great friend Alex (Tarkus) a little bit ago.  I think more realistic RHW cloverleafs are, err... imminent.

* * *

We made 20,000 page views again this month-10^th in a row- when we passed 340,000 just a few minutes ago.  3RR started the year with just about 205,000, so that's 135,000 page views since January 1^st- not much less than half of all the views we've had in three and a half years at SC4D in the past six months.  Exactly a year ago, we were on page 206 at just over 4,100 posts and had 97,000 or so views [linkie].  That's pretty neat- we've thus also doubled the number of posts and pages we had in two and a half years in just the last year.

[tabular type=4][row][data]99 posts in 11 days? Yikes...[/data][/row][/tabular]

That's all due to you, folks.  What a great ride this has been, and what a pleasure to have shared it with all of you.  We'll be knocking on the door of a half-million views right around 3RR's fourth birthday.

* * *

So, back to our tutorial, now in progress.

Later.


David

340,011

[Haljackey]

Loop ramps will never be the same again!  Fantastic work David!!   

[deathtopumpkins]

Loop ramps will never be the same again!  Fantastic work David!!  

Seconded!  Very nice work David! 

[Tarkus]

Make that thirded!  Thanks so much, David--having better loop ramps will be an absolute lifesaver!

-Alex

[JoeST]

and a fourth....man they look good