[Disclaimer: You do not want to read this if you are not specifically interested in sea ports! It's long, wordy and full of ungamerelated issues.]
This is the compiled and edited version of my Thoughts on Ports series, initially started in Province of Lazarus, now carried over in Developing Islas Gemas (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=261.0). It is supposed to be an indepth tutorial on portmaking in SC4, but I realize that I sometimes dwell to long on, well... let's call it as it is, shall we: facts and figures for port NERDS. Use it to whatever extent you find it useful. Skip the rest.
I will go rather deep into most issues on portmaking, but I will NOT tell you how to terraform your port. There are already to very good tutorials available on that issue by jeronij (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=24.0) and wounagaine (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=14.0).
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Building a port - the hard way, part I
Why should I want to build a port in SC4?
Because they can be quite beautiful if you like the grittier side of the game. And because it's a real challenge. Even though some new BAT:s from SOMY has raised the bar considerably, it's still considerably less than the stuff available for building air ports. And terraforming a decent port is not an easy task. You can get a real sense of accomplishment from building good sea ports.
Can't I just use the ingame ports?
They look nothing like real ports, and they tend to be very ugly. The ingame ports can be used as single piers in your custom port, but I have personally decided to stop using them altogether.
What do I need to build a good port?
Everything you can get your hands on! I will provide lists with links in some later post, but start off with a search on STEX for "Sea Port", "Heavy Industry", "jeronij" and "fukuda" and you will have something to start off with. And you DO need the new SOMY (http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/somy000/index.htm)
Realism and SC4 ports
Striving for realism is good, but it's more important to work with the game. SC4 wasn't build for realism and trying to achieve it at any cost often results in something both ugly and very unrealistic. I think it's better to make it "look realistic" than actually copying reality.
When it comes to sea ports this problem becomes blatantly obvious. Even a midsize commercial port these days have capacity to take on vessels up to 250 meters in length. The bigger ports often handle several ships of 320-350 meters at the same time. There just isn't room for that kind of ports in the game, and besides that none of the available BAT:s even come close to a realistic scale when it comes to cargo ship size.
Let's have a look at the biggest ship ever built – the tanker Jahre Viking (currently renamed Knock Nevis and rebuilt into a floating storing device permanently moored in the Persian Gulf) – compaired to the Empire State building:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fjahre_viking3.jpg&hash=34c487fe9a55574249256304090026287809f9ed)
The Jahre Viking is 458 meters long, so the example is rather extreme, but that is only about 100 meters longer than the very common Maersk S-Class container ships that can be seen in ports around the world.
Considering the ingame scale a ship of that size would take up a quarter of a medium city tile on its own. You would have to build single quays stretching over several cities just to accommodate for a reasonably sized container terminal.
So, we basically have to pretend that things are smaller then they actually are to achieve realism in this case. This works very well, but you need to remember this when building the port structures, not just when you're placing the ships.
Different kinds of ports
When building a port you have to consider what kind of port you are building. What does it actually do? What kind of geography was it built in? What kind of financial resources were available to transform the environment? What role does the port play compaired to rest of your city's economy?
Ports look very different depending on their use. Export ports are often very onesided in their architecture. Here's a picture of parts of the Jubail oil port in Saudi-Arabia, a typical one good export harbour, in this case: crude oil.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Frastanura.jpg&hash=8d3d8b6085c0a50345c5d361fae2a9a6153bbe9e)
Once again: note the size! That tanker entering (or is it leaving?) the port is 250m long!
Here's another example, the Sao Luis port in Brazil. This is one of the largest bulk ports for export of red iron in the world:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fsaoluis.jpg&hash=0d32d8278321c833136ff9e3b95ef9b1893c2989)
Now, that's one big pile of ore right there!
As you can see from these examples export ports are often focused on one (or just a couple) of goods, so if you're building a port in a city with great natural resources you should probably think about that one you make your port too (there are naturally exceptions to this rule)
Import and transit ports are generally more diverse in their appearance. It's also more common to have big industrial areas in the close vicinity of import ports. You wouldn't really need a refinery in an oil EXPORT port now, would you?
This here is the port of Hamburg. Note the diversity of different terminals. Also note the dominance of container facilities that is typical of a modern import and transit port:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fhamburg.jpg&hash=53a0b79a87e5fd7c2b709c2ca03f6868dbfce607)
Geography and financial muscle also influence the appearance of ports. If you compare two of the biggest and most important ports in the world today, the Port of Rotterdam (know as the Europoort) and the Port of Shanghai you can see that they are very different. Both are located in similar environments at first glance, but they are in fact very different. The Rotterdam port has some of deepest berths in the world (almost 25 meters in the deepest harbours) while Shanghai has difficulty dealing with ships with draughts more than 12-13 meters depending on tides. This does not necessarily mean smaller ships or less commerce, but we'll get to that bit later.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Feuroport1.jpg&hash=157dba05b8f5e7568c8ffaa73850f67650884918)
The Europoort.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fshanghai.jpg&hash=382e5450e69e1d5efa85a7c89179c6059acfa238)
The port of Shanghai is too big to get a decent Google Earth shot at. This is just a very small part of it.
Culture and politics clearly matters too. This is port Jebel Ali in Dubai, the biggest man made harbour in the world. Like everything in Dubai it looks masterplanned from the start. That's because it is. No organic development here:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fjebelali.jpg&hash=67ad3552924c5e73e254336b64966e795afa3d67)
Big city, big port, right? Not at all. Many big cities rely on other things than their ports. On the contrary, a commercially dominated SC4 city should probably have a few smaller transit harbours and cruise ports rather than a big port complex.
On the other hand a medium size industrial city can have a huge port. This is a picture of Gothenburg in Sweden (where I grew up). As you can see the port is almost as big the city itself:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fgothenburg.jpg&hash=591babdedc0a4105c4e2caa5fbea0b8a13a4c528)
Building a port, the hard way, part II
Ports today don't function or look the way they did 10-15 years ago. For a number different reasons they are much more complex these days.
The first, and most important, change compaired to earlier times, is the drastic increase in container transhipments. Most of the major import- and transitports around the world are completely dominated by container terminals – the most important exception being The Port of Rotterdam that handles almost all of Europes primary import of crude oil, but that is also changing rapidily with the future building of new gigantic container terminals outside the current Maasvlakte. In fact, these days, the common way to measure the importance of an international port is in container tonnage.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fhongkoncontain.jpg&hash=19d86bd1f1f1bc725f55291cbd9cd29c8534a41b)
Massive container terminal in Hong Kong.
For SC4 this is actually a good thing. It's fairly easy to build good looking and realistic container terminals. Put them everywhere. Got a spare piece of shoreline? A container terminal. Refinery looking ugly? Tear it down and build another container terminal. Feeling bored? Hey, way not blow up the cathedral and build a container terminal?
The other big change concerns transhipment of crude oil. In the good old days the supertankers were the behemoths of the high seas. And ports were planned accordingly. In connection to the deepest berths were massive harbours with storage units and refineries. Many ports still have oil jetties reaching far out into the deeper parts of the sea to cater for oil carriers with to much draught to enter the proper ports.
But then: the Exxon Valdes accident happened. And new international safety and environmental regulations were imposed. These days all new tankers are required to have double hulls, making ships like this (http://supertankers.topcities.com/05c20b90.jpg) and this (http://supertankers.topcities.com/050200a0.jpg) virtually impossible to build anymore. Added to that should also be the technological breakthroughs that drastically decreases the draught of large tanker ships, making many of the deep sea petroleum harbours obsolete.
Don't get me wrong: super tankers are still impressive vessels but they are no longer the biggest and badest girls in town. That title now goes to the largest container ships. The Emma Maersk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_M%C3%A6rsk) is currently the longest ship to sail the seas. At almost 400 meters she is more than 70 meters longer than the average contemporary super tanker.
Container ships have another advantage over tankers: their draught is 10-15 meters at most (as compaired to the supertankers of the 1990s with draught in excess of 20 meters, going as high as 26 meters in the most extreme cases), making it possible for them to enter most of the worlds ports.
Where do the different harbour types go in the port?
Weather you are building a small port or a massive one, you should consider building the different harbours in clusters. In a small or medium sized port there is probably going to be one habour for liquid bulk, another for dry bulk and one or more container terminals (if you are going for a truly massive port this may no longer be quite as visible at first glance, but there should still be clearly defined clusters with different functions).
The usual way of placing these functions is 1. liquid bulk where the water is the deepest (the Somy off shore oil jetty is very good for realism since you can put the offloading unit outside the actual port if it looks to small to have a realistic depth for handling big tanker ships), 2. dry bulk comes next, and 3. container terminals a bit further inland. Really massive container terminals are sometimes placed a long way out in the harbour, not because they need water depth but because they take up huge space.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Flisbon.jpg&hash=59181853e99942837d8ef0c3b6d6c3ea6497b28e)
Classic port planning in Lisabon, Portugal.
If your port city is fairly old (like most European ports, or those on the east coast of the US) you can add general cargo areas – often referred to as "free harbours" and outdated older piers and berths to this. These areas should be located further inland and closer to the downtown areas than the newer harbours.
You can also add marinas, drydocks and fishing docks that can be put basically anywhere.
Fishing docks can often be located very far out from the centre port area since they might not have been part of the port when it was originally built.
Drydocks are facilities for repairing and building big ships. They are not dependent on deep harbours since the ships transported there are never loaded with goods. Hence they can be places far out to sea, or close to the city centre, depending on where they fit.
Marinas also go pretty much anywhere where there is space left. There is a common notion in the SC4 community that since marinas are luxury items they should not be mixed with dirty industries and such. In the real world, though, it doesn't matter how rich the people owning the yachts are, they still don't have enough money to outweight the corporate profits of an industrial harbour.
[On a side note: all of the above applies only if you are striving for realism in your ports. A good port complex in SC4 can be a mess of different industry BAT:s and still look extremely good. That's up to you!]
Other items and special cases
LNG (liquid natural gas) harbours are not very usual in European and American ports, but very common in Asian ports. But since the new Somy BAT:s are so good, most people are going to want to use the LNG stuff even if they are not building an Asian city. The one thing you should think about is that natural gas is extremely explosive (much worse than crude oil). You don't have to put the LNG pier halfway to nowhere, but you should never put it close to residential or business areas.
If your port is importing crude oil you are likely to have at least one refinery in the close vicinity of it. It doesn't have to be in direct contact with the oil docks themselves (pipelines work just fine) but it often is. Refineries are massive structures that look a bit like alien entities of some kind (at least in my humble opinion, lol) and there really is no need to remake them accurately. Just put every refinery BAT you've got in there, and surround it with lots of pipes and fueltanks and you'll be fine.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Frefinery.jpg&hash=5ef45b54f53a26306c752732d278ab95371f93f5)
The shell refinery in Rotterdam.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fref1.jpg&hash=973e541fb9c01f184af6624c50c5fc59abec38c8)
I have no idea if this monstrosity would actually produce petroleum, or moonshine, but it looks a little bit like the real thing, don't you think?
Most ports have large fresh water reservoirs located within or close to the port area. These are used for cleaning out cargo ships, cooling machinery, etc. The water in them is most often fairly green so I use Pegasus canal lots in combination with the Maxis water treatment plants to create them.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Freservoir.jpg&hash=ed26d4c9c5df84b9351c7649b288c8ee9284ad77)
OK, I modded them a little in the Lot Editor, but the basic plants work just fine too.
Transportation
Every port needs a good transportation network. Rails, roads and pipelines are a necessity. You do need to think about where to put different types of transportation, though. For instance, a large part of your average port is probably dominated by rails. That doesn't mean that everything is transported by train, or even need rail access.
Trains are the main transportation device for carrying containers and general cargo inland. A container harbour needs lots of rail to be realistic.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcontainrail.jpg&hash=214399b4208681108f20889d052231b5e9e38dc4)
This is actually one of four railyards I used for my biggest container terminal.
Dry bulk harbours also need rail access, but to a lesser degree than container terminals. Actually, the most common way to transport ore or coal to further destinations is by large barges but this is not really possible in SC4 due to the lack of barge BAT:s available. So you either can pretend that the bulk is transported by train, or put relevant industries in connection to the harbour (like a steel mill, or a coal plant).
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fbarges.jpg&hash=d723fd4d31f00fe73875c30f7d3f65581e6bb7ec)
Barges loading on the left. Bulkers unloading on the right.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fnobarge.jpg&hash=6b702b34ad094ec6175aa6cae920bcfda3c4e48f)
In this case we just have to pretend that the smaller bulker is actually loading ore or coal for further transport inland.
Oil harbours doesn't really need rail access at all. The crude oil either goes directly to a refinery or is transferred through pipelines or by other, smaller, tanker ships.
[Please help to keep the linklist uptodate by reporting broken links or adding new items. PM the author with such information.]
Building a port - the hard way, part III
Alright, now we're closing in on the actual building process. Still some way to go before we get there though. This edition of Thoughts on Ports focuses on the BAT:s and plugins needed to build a good SC4 port. These are of course not all of the available port related plugins out there, but they are "the essentials", so to speak.
I have not included marinas and naval bases here (but they aren't that hard if find if you need them). Neither have I included the industrial stuff that I normally use. You will need a selection of industrial BAT:s but you can basically chose any good ones you like from the LEX or STEX (I like the stuff from Simgoober and Gascooker myself – especially for the older port areas – but anything goes).
Walls
There are two important set of walls that you need to download: Pegasus CDK industrial style and Jeronijs shore conforming Seawalls. There are advantages and disadvantages to both of them – and sadly they don't blend very well together, but you are likely to be needing both of them anyway.
Pegs lots "dig in" to the shoreline while jrjs lots are conforming to the shore so you will have to consider that when terraforming the shoreline. Pegs lots are easier to use and get a very good looking result from, but they lack diagonal pieces. So unless you are going to make a completely square port you will need jrjs walls for that reason alone (they have other advantages too, but the diagonals are what makes them unavoidable).
A good complement to these walls are jrjs breakwater set. It's not really an essential, but it looks really really good so you will probably want to use it.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Flink1.jpg&hash=12bacdc087346060cafcbb40b2381b1b68b3b383)
jeronij's seawalls (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/Default.htm) (search for uploader "jeronij", page 4)
jeronij's breakwater (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/Default.htm) (search for uploader "jeronij", page 4)
Pegasus CDK walls (http://simpeg.com/forum/) (look for "CDK" in the download area, known as PLEX)
Docks and lots
So, what to use for the actual docks, quays and piers? There are several good options here, but none of them perfect for every thinkable port. You don't need all of them, but you need chose wisely depending on what you would like to achive. And you might want to bring out the LE to make some custom lots (it's rather easy if you have some good docks and stuff to start from).
My personal favourite among the port lots is Japanese batter NOB:s set (not on STEX but downloadable link can be found below this section). They have greyish tone that looks absolutely realistic in any port. And with the old storage buildings they are perfect for an older, slightly run down, port. And the crane props alone are worth the download. Get them now!
For a more modern look the new Somy lots are clean and extremely well detailed. You can also consider using Fukudas harbour pack, or jrjs industrial docks. If you really fall in love with the NOB set (like I did) you can modernize it by removing some of the storage facilities in the Lot Editor.
I have also listed several downloads for more specific purposes. If you are making a small port you might not need all of them, but check them out and chose for yourself.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Flink2.jpg&hash=5ad6fd2a07af655b10fa03f305f83b114947b083)
NOB:s port set (http://tokitoko.hp.infoseek.co.jp/lot_others.htm)
SOMY:s port set (http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/somy000/index.htm)
jeronij's cargo docks (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/Default.htm) (search for uploader "jeronij", page 1)
Fukuda's harbor pack (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=harbor%20pack&type=all%20)
Vandy shipping (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=vandy%20shipping&type=all)
Pegasus garbage dock (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=garbage%20dock&type=all)
Fukuda's coal docks (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=coal%20docks&type=all)
Fukuda's oil pier (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=oil%20pier&type=all%20)
Fukuda's drydock (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=dry%20dock&type=all)
SOMY:s fishing port (http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/somy000/p5.htm)
Pegasus CSK canal lots (http://simpeg.com/forum/) (look for "CSK" in the download area, known as PLEX)
Ships
Well, you are going to need ships if your port is going to look good. Lately a good number of high class ship BAT:s have been released making realistic port building so much easier. The two most notable examples are Somys and jrjs releases of the two best ship sets ever to come to this game. If you only download those two sets you will have more than you need (but of course you will want even more). The Somy ships are slightly underscaled in my opinion but in combination with the bigger jrj container ships you have a complete set of modern commercial tradeships. A set of older cargo ships uploaded to the STEX by jestarr can also be very useful, especially for variation.
Beside the above mentioned ship BAT:s there are several very good looking ships included in some of the dock lots. Most noticeable are probably Pegasus new Vandy shipping, with two excellent general cargo ships, and Fukudas Coal docks with a medium sized bulkship that has a lovely tarnished look to it.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Flink3.jpg&hash=f4a7807d1aade7ec6a5dd9232b918962377bf86d)
jeronij's container ships (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/Default.htm) (search for uploader "jeronij", page 4-5)
SOMY:s ships (http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/somy000/index.htm)
NACM cargo ships (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=cargo%20ships&type=all)
Vandy shipping (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=vandy%20shipping&type=all)
Fukuda's coal docks (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=coal%20docks&type=all)
Sim Gyon Bon port (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=sim%20gyon&type=all)
Fukuda's harbor pack (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=harbor%20pack&type=all)
Pegasus scows (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=scows%20prop%20pack&type=all%20)
For your refinery
Refineries are so common in port areas so I included some links, though I stated earlier in this post that I wouldn't include industrial BAT:s. So, sue me.
SOMY:s refinery pieces (http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/somy000/p6.htm)
BriPizza (http://www.bripizza.net/sc4/wcp/wcp.html)
Tag One's ploppable refinery units (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=ploppable%20oil&type=all%20)
Fukuda's distiller units (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?page=1&keyword=chapapotex%20distillers&type=all%20)
Odd BAT:s
jeronij's maritime control tower (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/Default.htm) (search for uploader "jeronij", page 1)
Building a port - the hard way, part IV
In part IV we will have a closer look at Port Remington from the Province of Lazarus, how it correlates to its counterpart in reality, and what was actually used to build it.
Port Remington is a semirealistic building project. It was never meant to be an exact copy of a real port, but I modelled it after the Port of Rotterdam, also known as the Europoort. The real port, however, is much larger (probably about 4-5 times larger) but since it took me nearly two months to finish Port Remington, and I still haven't seen any examples of a bigger SC4 port, you will have to forgive me for scaling it down.
The Europoort is clearly visible from a mindblowing 207 mile altitude shot in Google Earth. As you may notice, the city of Rotterdam is NOT visible from this distance. The port is in fact much bigger than the city itself – it stretches all the way up to Hook of Holland.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Frot1.jpg&hash=b6918427d87ad22e9c503f4582085039b5d82bf3)
When we move in a little closer we can make out the features of the harbours making up the port. This shot is a little blurry, but you can still see it stretching all the way from the left to the far right of the picture. The actual city of Rotterdam is located northeast of the port.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Frot2.jpg&hash=f7d0ab63205b439aa3cbc7ff684b493c12107026)
Hmmm... I wasn't really sure about going into details like this but what the heck – let's take a quick tour of the port before we move on.
Below is a picture of the Maasvlakte. This is the newest and deepest part of the port. To the top left (just inside the "crooked arm") is the 8th Petroleum Haven that can handle ships up to 500.000 DWT (there are currently no tankers in service that are bigger than that), and the reddish area just above where Google Earth says "Europort" is the EECV bulk import quay, most famous as one of two possible berths where the worlds largest bulker (the Berge Stahl) can call (actually this isn't completely true, but I learned long ago not get into arguments about facts and figures on the internet so I'll let it stand).
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Frot3.jpg&hash=9b77f0204b1ef9e775b8e84040eacae18c9c5657)
A little further inland we can see the petroleum harbours and refineries along the Caland Canal. This is a heavily dredged waterway for large ships. The difference in watercolour is actually difference in water depth too.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Frot4.jpg&hash=1b60c9459f7648bb65353fefaf43bed9da7b0e16)
Even further inland we have the older petroleum harbours, and some container facilities, and also some wharfs.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Frot5.jpg&hash=02be6a2708788dab40b0c148bab23ee1c46ebd5f)
And the really old parts of the port are the most eclectic. A little bit of everything around here. To the north is the city center of Rotterdam, by the way.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Frot6.jpg&hash=342007b0ef7f40813545a4ce8368be9c5107d450)
Ok, let's move on to how I tried to implement this into SC4. First we have the overview of the entire port (click (http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/963/overviewcompleteqo2.jpg) for larger view):
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fovervcclick.jpg&hash=36856c17e1aaf12730ffb7a9d201db0a411f37a2)
As you can see I have tried to maintain the main concept of the original port, but I have scaled it down and taken considerably liberties with the placement of different functions. I have also added stuff that isn't really there – mainly the LNG facilities and the sweet water harbour. Instead of eight petroleum harbours I have only three.
To make this port I made tonnes of custom lots, but none of them require any advanced Lot Editor competence. Most of them were just different simple fillers – and if you for some reason don't feel like making your own filler lots I'm sure you can find some to download. For the rest of them it was mostly a question of rearranging and removing stuff from original lots that were to "crowded" for what I wanted.
In the following pictures I have marked out the essential custom content used. I think that most of you will be able to recognize the abbreviations used, but if you don't you can just ask and I'll be happy to explain. Many lots have been customized, but I have marked who the original author of them is.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Foverviewspear-1.jpg&hash=47c3b9a0a1fee1e925e9ce1b75bddc09d787d9f6)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fsemover1-1.jpg&hash=8e754f6ad5d038550b64c5c2e282babbf8ba02fa)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Flct2tut.jpg&hash=4f68f063cec562b8ac17a5092715df6aa1479b02)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2F2nd1tut.jpg&hash=faad7df900f2cd45af4808ead8bb2d042a00ae94)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fchemstrat1tut.jpg&hash=cd164c6d54d4555be963208168587b05a9b0d397)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Felmar1tut.jpg&hash=c45eebf7fa1e9db632460502e15444ec51395dc4)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ffree2tut.jpg&hash=f55b4367eed96a67e19e852a06da05061008c080)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ffukuda1tut.jpg&hash=04b521bc1b54f05ee9225cb5c87344f327f2dbca)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fgenc1tut.jpg&hash=d3f3b172e648fc82e52d1f480cfe497f3eed715e)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fgideontut.jpg&hash=332bade200f35d6315cc90355d56382765505c70)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Flct4tut.jpg&hash=0806343fab944841a9a2fc1d149e93d6a443ec81)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fpass3tut.jpg&hash=6daf6844da5b4a4f2599f7c0c06c8b8f40a1708a)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Froro2tut.jpg&hash=01f61a75ec7c10d6972edcd1526160b9f0b0dbe4)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Frpbc2tut.jpg&hash=1ce395de5a0f16b09899e8c86ec71bdb19786e2b)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fyard1tut.jpg&hash=09b7880da82f19e397c0d99f39d17cccf072bdea)
Building a port – the hard way, part V
Time to build a port from scratch then. I will now go into detail about the development of the port of Santiago de Zafiro in Islas Gemas. Santiago is loosely based on Santa Cruz de Tenerife, but scaled down to about one third of the size. This will also have impact on the port, but I will try to maintain the overall concept as good as I can.
First we take a look at the real life counterpart with the assistance of Google Earth. Here's an overview of the port of Santa Cruz. As you can see it is a quite complicated structure built in difficult terrain:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ftenover.jpg&hash=e164c1b717c0bc2758f5e5a80fe53015f457908f)
And here's a closer shot of the port divider:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ftendivider.jpg&hash=59b44ded4985ebdb7368ee8fd874f8b16d6b3390)
Just to the south (outside of the overview shot) is a rather interesting structure. It's an old oil jetty, with tanks on the sure and what looks like rudimentary refinery site (the brownish clutter in the middle). The size of that tanker is about 150m which leads me to believe that the water is not extremely deep, at least not for a petroleum harbour. The fact that it is located outside the normal port, however, hints that it is an early deep sea terminal. Though refinery items are present it is reasonable to assume that this is mostly used for import of oil intended for power plants - not refining into petroleum. They're not big enough for that:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ftentanker.jpg&hash=696c9e0416c0b5ae3526bfea8489468ff0d851b4)
When we move a little further up the site we enter an old container terminal. Once again, the size of the ships tells us that the water is comparably shallow. I'm not sure what those ships berthed at the pier actually are (due to bad picture quality). They could be some cargo ships, fishing trawlers, dredgers or even the coast guard. Your guesses are as good as mine:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ftensouthdiv.jpg&hash=3d8ab284d1d5adb7e79769f4ab91353672587e58)
Just inside the container harbour is a marina:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ftenmarina.jpg&hash=6a4c3f039a65dcc0f1797af6691c330dede3b1ea)
As we move along to the "upside" of the divider it looks like a large cruise port. Not at all surprising considering the kind of island Tenerife is. We can also see another marina structure just at the edge of the cruise port that looks absolutely beautiful. I will show a close up of that structure too:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ftencruise.jpg&hash=aaaedd0c5b6be61284ac95c0e1f1adcd2d5fed87)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ftenmarinasmall.jpg&hash=357ef2bbd784e7f3162b8d6b7922b523ca332901)
When we look at the remaining part of the port it becomes obvious that it is to a large extent actually two ports, and that the later part is much more modern and probably also located in deeper waters. Here we see a container terminal with huge ships (one is over 300m) and also another oil jetty (just outside this picture is a tanker ship of over 250m that is obviously exiting from that jetty):
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ftendeep.jpg&hash=f44d4c11c403d48fbfc3db4fe8680d3954ccd11f)
And just above the modern part of the port is some sort of fishing harbour/marina:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ftenfish.jpg&hash=30e8ea53e36778b8e2b6ff189d7d5fa45eb056c0)
So, if we go back and summarize what can be seen in the overview shot, it is something like this (obviously a lot of it is my speculations, so please correct me if you have better information):
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ftenover2.jpg&hash=cbbf0c99f7477c92bdcdfafc79af62ebc9e7cd84)
That was the original port, now let's see what we can use. This is the spot I'm going to use:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Foverport.jpg&hash=4ff42ec93b54f53ad5052f5fa140a0a7cd36b6f6)
Since it is much smaller I cannot maintain the structure with two of everything (one old and one modern) so I have chosen to stick to the older structures. It seems to me that Islas Gemas is a little less developed than the real Islas Canarias, so it seem like the proper way to do it. The next is a shot of the same spot when basic terraforming has been done:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fbasicterra.jpg&hash=f16efef61f6f4fd325cb86d657c7bbbc0f8263f4)
The terrain is difficult to begin with, and to add to that is that it is located on three different city tiles (who said this was going to be easy, hehe). We will start of with the oil terminal to the south. It simple wasn't possible to put a jetty there like the real life counter part has, so I had to terraform a complete terminal in one location. It does look a bit square, but not unrealistic in my opinion. There are certainly oil ports that look like this in real life too:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fpetro1.jpg&hash=6e3047cb15ef92f946ec5fc35dc256f6c1243cd0)
Time to add the oil jetty. I'm using Fukuda's oil pier here. A wonderful BAT, but HELL to place correctly. Very careful terraforming is needed first. Something like this:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fpetro2.jpg&hash=8f129e6381fc2a20d129b13fba8b20324d493cd3)
The oil jetty is put in place:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fpetro3.jpg&hash=0e329bb374596dfa6aaf7dd0af530f01237a6ef0)
For the seawalls I wanted to use something new, so I thought that PEG:s CDK3 would be nice. I have edited away all the trucks and lorries (that seemed inappropriate for an oil harbour) but no advanced lot editing other than that. It also turned out to be one of the easiest sea walls to place, so I can highly recommend it for use:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fpetro4.jpg&hash=bedb9df88cca65e985b794f1213c3f05b59d2c05)
Now, we add the land structures. Mostly oil tanks, with some refinery pieces (pretty close to the real life version). All added BAT:s in this picture was made by SOMY:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fpetro5.jpg&hash=6f645a18b0e48dc0ec1c3a4f2fd7d5f1cd70b8f6)
Ports in general, and oil ports specifically, are high security facilities so we have to add some fences too:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fpetro6.jpg&hash=38125422cb212f378e78d3ef3ffec38114d554dd)
And we finish the area by adding some dirty industry (which can also be clearly seen in the real life version):
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fpetro8.jpg&hash=07718cff9d533935fa1580080848dfb9ec316007)
And, of course, an oil tanker by SOMY:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fpetro9.jpg&hash=1f917bee127dfbbce3b84fb33f213154f45ca008)
In the end it looks like this:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fpetro10.jpg&hash=bc365715e64b1a13cdb8e752f9fe46b54ee37486)
Now, let's move on to the central parts of the port. I forgot to take a shot before placing the first pieces of the container terminal, but here's how it looked with the first structures in place:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont1.jpg&hash=8453d30254f1bfe60a05652cf6bbd6cd2582ed13)
Those are all NOB ports, but I have taken away the old warehouses in the Lot Editor (again, nothing advanced, just the easy editing stuff). Now comes the explanation to what toook me so long to finish. For some reason I decided use modified versions of jeronij's earliest shore conforming walls. I really, really, like the look of them, but I still recommend using his later walls instead because fine terraforming the terrain to fit them takes FOREVER. They are incredibly sensitive:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont2.jpg&hash=e2645353ae42939bac131046e9fe934f0b03f1c9)
But, it can be done if you really want them. No need to worry about the corner piece right now. That can be covered up by underwater flora later:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont3.jpg&hash=03257e0d5acd0bfb1c8f7238cea52365b068f7eb)
Sadly, this diagonal had to go. There simply was no way to make it work with the walls (or any other walls for that matter). To bad, I liked the organic look of it:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont4.jpg&hash=8b14f5be214a0368b07974bc8d79f241cc991c17)
But, SC4 is the art of the possible, so:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont5.jpg&hash=cb2af0a492483dd64f14fa922d5d2e929ca5cdc2)
More walls added:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont6.jpg&hash=47f8fd8b9715da0533f7c2cc9571a4f29af246bf)
A canal exit too (there is one in the real life port as well but it doesn't show on Google earth because the river bed is dry most of the year):
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont7.jpg&hash=5b8317f505b35e054c782cef89829912307e7ed5)
And container lots and an old BAT called "beach club" that will have to represent the luxury marina in the real life port (I will add some pools and stuff later):
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont8.jpg&hash=2c43c8e01646e29816d6c402cd4be314c6f89088)
The container terminal is shaping up. You may notice the lack of trains and rails. This is perfectly logical on an island. You normally don't use that kind of transportation on islands, so there are none anywhere on Islas Gemas. That makes other means of transportation to the port necessary, so I added a truck and lorry garage and logistics centre:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont9.jpg&hash=050be994ddea266fee6d9857b767743868cf0482)
The warehouses in the middle of this picture also functions as power plants (by RayDen, available on the LEX) which is a very nice feature:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont10.jpg&hash=a34581b682ef871810eb7fee3a93a0d744311d59)
Let's finish the main part of the port first. We begin with adding some underwater flora (very useful to cover up the corner pieces that wouldn't look very good when clearly visible):
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont21.jpg&hash=3141b0a578feffb1093b0aaeec4f9049c84fc257)
We add one of SOMY:s ships at the container terminal. I will not be using jeronij's larger ships in this port since I consider the harbour to be too shallow for them. This smaller ship is better here:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont22-1.jpg&hash=741c4862b9193441e22480e37a304bece6f8519b)
For the cruise port I couldn't resist using this awesome looking, brand new, SOMY BAT:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont24.jpg&hash=4c49238b6c06b3751ebc3ad4808f7ab3475f0c51)
And I have also used another older cruise ship by SOMY. This one is BIG! It'll have to berth at the outside of the pier. It might look a bit out of place in this small port, but I still think it's rather realistic. Unlike cargo ships, most passenger ships don't go very deep in the water so it could probably call here. If it did it would probably be a rare event... and it just so happens that when I was researching the Tenerife port I found a bunch of articles on the time when the world's larges cruise ship called (http://www.losgigantes.com/images%202004/news_queenmary2.jpg) there. So in this case I have the perfect excuse for using an oversized ship. :)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont25.jpg&hash=5515193e345438ddb5ce37c3d088aa180df188bf)
From some distance the cruise port now looks like this:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont26.jpg&hash=6c989a479e2b1e09e719fefd9bddcace89d7a9e9)
Then I did some more work on the recreation area in the middle of the port. I really like how it turned out. Not at all very far from the real thing, in my opinion:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont27.jpg&hash=9fff22a077909645cc618134e4c4d04e75d192d5)
We end with an overview of the entire area. That white monument to the far left looks pretty much like the consert hall (http://www.arcspace.com/architects/calatrava/Tenerife/1.Tenerife.jpg) that is located in that place in the real life counterpart. Smaller, but OK.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fcont28.jpg&hash=1170e62036e27ce9393943b4c8ea479c2285619d)
Now, it's time for the last part of the port. Located on yet another city tile. I decided to make this into a small fishing and cargo port with some marina facilities (quite like the northernmost part of the Tenerife port). First, a look at the empty area:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ffish1.jpg&hash=40c5d01c06204cea2ce491f6aa397cd11e6bcd56)
Jeronij's breakwater seemed perfect for the outside of the pier, and turned out to work just fine:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ffish2-1.jpg&hash=bd0818a312b8ebd24c49d70b67d935fc5fe73de2)
For the actual harbour I decided on Cal's new "old english" seawalls (available on the LEX) and I have to admit that I fell completely in love with them. Not only do they look wonderful, but they might be the easiest seawalls I have ever worked with:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ffish3.jpg&hash=794bacb2a84c2e12077d992c1d1e6c13ee80bbc0)
And some more:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ffish4.jpg&hash=f9f6255804dd3e0f0bd5458962cf60f959a22199)
Underwater flora wasn't necessary for covering anything up this time, but it looks a bit more alive this way:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ffish5.jpg&hash=2cdcb3977be37ebfbcf4506b976f199ed7d35574)
Some smaller ships were added after that. One is from National Aviation Club Member (uploaded on STEX by jestarr) and the other too are Peg's scows (and I still refuse to treat them as scows when they look so much like small cargo ships. Sorry about that if you ever read this, Peg, hehe...)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ffish6.jpg&hash=d0d8c6800e3f41664b8356411133a7bb3efceeea)
Additonal items were added. Some parking lots and stuff:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ffish7.jpg&hash=8077bbee0354026207092b4ce5f1b5a35352bf4a)
Zoom out, and we get this:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Ffish8.jpg&hash=da4bf14fdc90b64dcf5e8bcdd195ab04d5e143a7)
This is as far as I can go at this point. Now I have to work on blending the port into the rest of the surroundings. But that goes outside the purpose of this as a tutorial. Basically, we're done.
And from a region shot view, the finished port looks like this:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fendport.jpg&hash=921aa5995652712275dc18d7847ee4cd73030500)
This space reserved (just in case)
Hi emilin ,
As already said there and here , I'll have no time for the next months to train myself with this higher quality tutorial ... :'(
Anyway , you have to be as highly congratulate for this .
Definitely " put under my elbow " , a french phrase meaning something like "pinned for later" . Thanks .
emilin, hello and thank you for the effort invested here... a fascinating tutorial...
This is not a tutorial at all! This reads as great novel about a fascinating subject. As I was born in Rotterdam myself I have always had an interest in ports and stuff and in every city I build I try to create one.
With this wonderful explanations about real world ports and its functions, and great examples of how to incorporate them into the game I know I will get back to port building again.
Thank you very much for the hard work you put into this and I am looking forward to every or any new installment.
:thumbsup:
GREAT tutorial. I'm building a port myself right now and found this fascinating. Thanks! :thumbsup:
Once again SC4 is kicked into the next dimension by the kind of work that folks pay commissions for in RL.
I've said elsewhere, Emil, that you own ports as a SC4 development genre. After reading this, I'm afraid to even think about a port without asking your permission.
This. Is. Amazing. Work!
David
I agree with David. LOL!
I think I won't be doing ports anymore! :P You are just too good! I do love the "tutorial" though... looking forward to its completion! &apls
As I've said before, I'm not all that interested in ports (not 'girlie' enough for me) but as someone who loves to read and learn things, this is really fantastic information! &apls &apls &apls
This a fantastic presentation. :thumbsup: Thank you so much for this. I live several hundred kilometers from the nearest industrial port and never really knew anything about them or had much interest in them, but due to your excellent presentation I found myself completely fascinated by the subject (and am now downloading a bunch of the stuff you mention.) I don't know how much port-making I'll actually get around to doing in the game, but I'm sure the next time I go to Seattle or Portland or wherever, I'll look at the port areas with a little more interest, and have more of a clue what I'm looking at. ;D
:thumbsup:
Amazing harbors!!! fantastic tutorial, a bunch of new ideas &idea and thank you for the links :D
&apls
This is absolutley amazing. Great read for anyone who is going to make a port. Great work and thanks for all those links.
&apls :thumbsup: &apls :thumbsup:
THUMP ! The sound you just heard was my jaw hitting the ground. I think you should take out the first line of this tutorial:
Quote[Disclaimer: You do not want to read this if you are not specifically interested in sea ports! It's long, wordy and full of ungamerelated issues.]
And replace it with:
EVERYONE should read this !!! It was mesmerizing to me. The combination of real pics and screen shots was fantastic. Thanks for showing us. And don't stop please. I am looking forward to the rest of this tutorial.
---Gaston
This is one of the best how to tutorial ever made !
I've used the one from Province of Lazarus, it nice to see such a big tuto here !
Well done, even I can understand it... One day I'll hope to make as nice ports as you do! &apls
It is a very well made tutorial, and interesting to read. Great work Emilin &apls
I've said this before about SC4Dthat every time I vist I learn somnething new.
This time it has been as one of the best "Tutorials" I've ever read.
This information about different types of ports and their functions to a masterclass in gameplay and the amount of info in your pics well what can I say
Kettle's Boiling! ;)
Here take a seat, put your feet up and enjoy this cuppa ()stsfd()
You've earned it ;D
:satisfied:
This is wonderful and unique work !
Thank you very much !
I really love this tutorial that I had to read it all again. Great job on this one.
Robin :thumbsup: &apls :thumbsup: &apls
Great stuff! I agree with Gaston that everyone should read this. I'm about as intersted in making a 100% accurate port as I am in making a 100% accurate city...not very much. I do, however, look to better the cheap knock-off looking ports and cities that I do make, to make them that much more realistic. I also respect those that make extremely accurate ports and cities, and really really respect those that look to teach others how to do it better as well.
VERY nice job you did here. I can't imagine how long it took you to type all that, gather the pictures, and label everything so you don't have 1,500 people asking "where did you get that?"
&apls Bravo...
I do have one suggestion. I would like to see if Jeronij could move each section to a consecutive page some how. For me it is difficult to wait for so long while over 100 images load on the first page. On top of that having to reload just to get all of them to show takes forever (or it seems like it)
---Gaston
I've been eyeing the title of this topic since quite some time, but never got around to read it. But now I finally had the chance, and I'm as amazed as everyone. You attention to detail is astounding, and you made extremely good use of the Google Earth screenshots. :thumbsup:
I got inspired! , thank you very much for this useful tutorial :thumbsup: &apls
I love this tutorial. I used to live in Corpus Christi, Texas, which is a big oil port (importing)... When you enter the city from the interstate, your first view is of several refineries, and oil tanks dot the landscape north of the freeway. Because of this, I have always been fascinated by ports, and this tops it all off. Great job.
This is a truly excellent tutorial and will be of considerable use when I build my city's port. Many thanks.
Stewart
I'm glad to make my first SC4Dev post to congratulate what has been an inspiring tutorial, especially the lists of custom content which will act as an excellent reference.
This has got to be one of the best presented tutorials I've come across. More than a tutorial, but also an informative lesson on ports that is very interesting. Thank you for sharing your knowlede and skills with us. &apls
Having lived in Alaska and now Washington, I've seen a lot of ports and I have to say these are amazing. I do have one question though, do you know of many lots for smaller ports, marinas, and harbors. Having lived in Alaska, I find myself sometimes wishing I could build ports similar to the one on the Homer Spit as well as those at Seward, Seldovia, and other smaller towns. Just for an example, these are some views of the harbor at end of the Homer Spit: Google Map View (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=59.604776,-151.421793&spn=0.014244,0.040169&t=k&z=15&om=1), Photo 1 (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1482341), and Photo 2 (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/746638)
I've also found a few photographs of Seldovia's harbor set up. Photo 1 (http://www.alaskais.com/images/SeldoviaBHR.JPG) and Photo 2 (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/746612)
For Seward, I've found these: Photo 1 (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/21215) and Photo 2 (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/99051)
I've tried using the Pier set by Pegasus, but they just don't quite have the same look and feel to them.
In the course of this last week I read all of your tutorial. Got fascinated, started downloading and begun with my first real port project. Couldn't resist my eagerness. It's all your fault!
What I'd like to say had been said already. In two words: Brilliant work.
I was amazed, by the way, about the beautiful bats from SOMY and NOB.
Thanks for everything.
After all this: who needs a SC5 anyway? I have played the game for 1,5 years now and never had a dull moment.
I just found this tutorial last week and it is definitely one of the most complete, well written tutorials I've ever seen and all the background information is excellent. :thumbsup: Since then I've been trying to implement some of the advice emilin gave, but I'm coming across some trouble. All the major port sets seem to be made for the old style ports described in the tutorial. Small, cramped ports mainly for goods. Not too many container lots. I've been editing some of Peg's port lots to resemble newer style container ports, but it's very slow going. Has anyone found a better way?
Also, joining up different port sets is a real pain, especially in those parts where the pieces meet. Either you get ugly overlap or a bunch of blank ground. What do people put there to cover it up and make it look nice?
Quote from: castironpigeon on September 05, 2007, 06:40:05 AM
Also, joining up different port sets is a real pain, especially in those parts where the pieces meet. Either you get ugly overlap or a bunch of blank ground. What do people put there to cover it up and make it look nice?
Having been to ports like Seattle and Portland as well as the small one in Anchorage, "ugly overlap or a bunch of blank ground" is rather realistic. Each company sets up it's wharf side and rarely do the companies ever build them to match their neighbors. In Seattle, it's common to see blank ground between the different lots containing the wharves. Industrial areas are typically ugly areas to begin with since most of them were, and still mostly are, built with function in mind and not form.
Finding this amazing tutorial came at the right time. I have had RH for only three weeks and am just about ready to start a port on my very first region ever! So haven't built much yet - hopefully will make it easier to terraform a port without demolishing anything I have built. So thank you, thank you and once again thank you. &apls &apls
Oh Castironpigeon, Yes, it does take a whole lot of time.
I was ambitious and have built a large port with the help of a lot of self edited lots. I took Fukuda's and NOB's lots and made a lot of variations. Mainly emptier lots, because they where very stacked with buildings.
And yes, it takes a lot of micro-terraforming and bulldozing before you get your harbours right.
What helped a lot were the Harbourpier lots by Jeronij. I used them here and there to fill up the gaps and the corners.
And then, in the end as my harbour was finished, it took me an awful lot of time to persuade enough sims to come to the city and work in my beautiful harbour. But they came and the city is flourishing.
Masterpiece in tutorials Emil!
Wonderfull how you take us through building a port ( ()stsfd() content on seeing Rotterdam as your example port, I am Dutch never the less).
Nik-Nik
Quote from: emilin on March 18, 2007, 04:25:10 AM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Feuroport1.jpg&hash=157dba05b8f5e7568c8ffaa73850f67650884918)
The Europoort.
Big and getting bigger... hehe.. Check out these expansion plans!!
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg526.imageshack.us%2Fimg526%2F1641%2Fportexppi7.jpg&hash=16dfbb83a8ea72fce3bbde3ed9ea268ba954d92d)
Oh.. and great work.. nicely laid out and well presented.. and a learning process too!! :)
And also I'd not feel bad at all about that airport.. I thought it looked "artificial" in exactly the OPPOSITE as others have said... haha.. Maybe I'm just weird, but in keeping with your great work on the ports I feel that you should make the airport at least partially built on reclaimed land, just as your ports are. I find MANY examples of island airports on areas of rugged terrain such as yours are "built up".. especially the runways which are very often extended out into the former water area on landfill..
If that kind of prime land area where you have your airport were actually available on your island, it would have LONG AGO been snapped up by commercial and residential developement! Airports are normally built on low value land, not prime island real estate! I think a
reclaimed land airport would look
great on your city as well.. fit perfectly in your scheme.
However you decide to go, have a good one..
edit: Oops.. that last part probably should have been posted in your city journal.. I've read both and I think I'm mixing them up... LOL... oh well..
After seeing this thread the Port Authorities of Rotterdam hired Emil to expand the Maasvlakte :thumbsup:
Which pipeline set (with the ships, which is really what I'm after) are you using?
what do you use to make the land look so square like that?
You need to do a lot of terraforming.
In my opinion it is most easy to use the SC4 TerraFormer tool by Wouanagaine.
It has an option: "make harbour". With this tool, especially if you make the brush square, you can place your harbour tiles on the exact heigth.
After having placed the harbour tiles on the right places, you need to make the bottom of the water low enough. Usually I do this also with the square brush, but now I use "flatten". In the brush options box I put the min height to 210, and the max heigth to 211. Now you can make the bottom of the water exactly flat. Now you have your harbour areas flat an sharply lined. No problems with connecting lots to each other and to roads and streets.
If you want more realism you do this only for the tiles directly next to the quays. You can alter the other tiles with the normal terrafoming tools.
CONGRATULATIONS to author emilin for that GREAT tutorial &apls...i just noticed it , as i was looking around for informations for my under construction port.. i followed the link to download NOB'S port set ,but it seems that doesn't work....help pls.. &ops
NOB's files are being re-lotted by XXDITA due to an unfortunate consequence of using old blank lots (check for GROWABLE LANDMARKS) or some such.. NOB is retired from SC4 due to RL reasons. They are not completed Empty Lot Growables (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=907.0)
Can you write it more simple just to understand what you mean? ( my english are not so perfect) ..perhaps do you mean that NOB'S files doesnt exist any more , because of some reasons ....? and if so, are there any such files in emilin's tutorial ? (the link in the begining of the thread for NOB'S files in page 1 still exists) ...which links are normal without problems? and finally are there any alternately files to NOB'S files for use in ports? thanx SC4BOY anyway.
Quote from: emilin on March 18, 2007, 04:25:35 AM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi109.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn65%2Femilin_2006%2Fnobarge.jpg&hash=6b702b34ad094ec6175aa6cae920bcfda3c4e48f)
Emili,
How the heck did you make the bulk grounds? I guess I see Simgoober's Hardun Coal stuff, but what is the brownish texture with the small heeps behind SOMY's silo's? :(
I have been searching sooo long now and I can't find anything that matches these pictures. :'(
Please???? reveal the secret to me???? ()what()
It's most likely self-made lots by Emilin, to fit that particular need. You could do your own as well, they're not that hard to do. ;)
Ha, yes, I do have some experience with LE.
But how did Emilin do it? Is it just some base and overlaytextures? It looks quite flat. Or are there some incomprehensible props on them? I can't see quite right. It seems that there are some heaps of sand?
Some clues might be interesting...
Thanks in advance.
Sorry for my bad english
I don´t know where i can find a lot of car in the port
In the post nº 3 say "custom lots with various car props" but i haven´t found nothing in stex or lex
Could you say me any link?
Please sorry for my bad bad bad english
clemenclm2001,
First, no need to apologies for your english. This is an international site and you did just fine.
Those LOTs you are talking about were made by emilin. They are his own Custom LOTs.
This type of thing can be done relatively easy in LE.
There are tutorials HERE (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=47.0) that can help you. Good luck and if you need any more help, you can PM me.
Robin :thumbsup:
thank you rooker1 and....
How can i get the LE??
my registration in the official site of simcity don´t work, i don´t know why
Quote from: clemenclm2001 on December 24, 2008, 10:21:45 AM
How can i get the LE??
my registration in the official site of simcity don´t work, i don´t know why
Try clicking this little button up on top: :)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi232.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fee198%2FRippleJet%2Fbn3_support_down.jpg&hash=5adb03b10d0828d7b4647b64b0d1ce6fbd26e636) (http://www.sc4devotion.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41&Itemid=)
&apls
Thank u guy!
It's a huge project,Comprehensive model for port!
Perfect lesson :D
Great tutorials!
Amazing tutorial. I've really taken alot away from it and its inspired me to have a bash at creating my hown town/area... if anyone is seeking inspiration for the dirtiest industrial riddled place on earth just type Teesside into google! It inspired Blade Runner (Ridley Scott is originally from here).... just finished 12 hours of terraforming....nightmare!
Cheers again! Something to keep me entertained while I relocate to Sweden...will have to visit Gothemburg and get some inspiration from that.
Quote from: FrankU on August 14, 2008, 05:10:27 AM
Emili,
How the heck did you make the bulk grounds? I guess I see Simgoober's Hardun Coal stuff, but what is the brownish texture with the small heeps behind SOMY's silo's? :(
I have been searching sooo long now and I can't find anything that matches these pictures. :'(
Please???? reveal the secret to me???? ()what()
Glad i'm not the only one who tried tracking this down! I've given up
Hello all ,this is a great tutorial &apls , but i cant find the NOB port set , so can you help me please?
Ludo.
As stated about 6 messages above:
Quote from: SC4BOY on May 04, 2008, 10:39:45 AM
NOB's files are being re-lotted by XXDITA due to an unfortunate consequence of using old blank lots (check for GROWABLE LANDMARKS) or some such.. NOB is retired from SC4 due to RL reasons. They are not completed Empty Lot Growables (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=907.0)
For now, its not available that I know. NOB has temporarily withdrawn his lots for re-doing.
Thanks , I hasn't saw your post &ops and i'm sorry if my english isn't good &ops
Does anyone have a copy of the fukuda harbor pack? The file on the stex has been locked due to missing japanese (i think it was) props. I think I should have them all and really want to play with that pack.
I do have it and edited the files, so the missing props aren't there anymore. I just don't know if it is allowed to upload them somewhere.
Maybe you should ask Fukuda to upload them again together with the props?
As with most files as long as its a private transfer and not a public download there isn't any problem. Thats how I got my japanese lots/props back before the lex, made a query on the japanese lot thread at simtrop and found someone to email them to me. If its not too large a file and you have the original can you email both?
Don't know which props were missing but the japanese props are still on the stex. Links in http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2606.0
*EDIT* At least I think that might be the ones... in any case I have the ones from NOB, SOMY, National Aviation Club Member, and a few others for the life of me I can remember the names.... Also, does fukuda frequent the forums at all?? Last I read he was leaving for a time due to RL issues (like that's more important (kidding))