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Simmer's Lotting Lab.

Started by Simmer2, December 11, 2015, 07:24:45 AM

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Shark7

Actually I'll use the one with the emissions as they should be, its just my current region is 'high tech' or 'futuristic' so coal fired plants just don't fit in for the moment.

But I can always start a new 'low tech' region.  ;)

tigerbuilder

Simmer, these projects are great. The RRW has transformed our rails, and you are adding some real "icing on the cake".

In fact, you are making me feel like firing up the BAT to make some new freight handling equipment for you to work with.

Hope you keep it up!  ;)

Simmer2

Quote from: tigerbuilder on March 24, 2016, 01:38:49 PM
Simmer, these projects are great. The RRW has transformed our rails, and you are adding some real "icing on the cake".

In fact, you are making me feel like firing up the BAT to make some new freight handling equipment for you to work with.

Hope you keep it up!  ;)

Thank you tigerbuilder!

While we wait for vester to decide when it is time to upload the models for the Coal Power Plant, I have been busy with something else.  ;D

The Train Repair Yard I said I would build a few pages ago is now a reality and here are some pics to showcase it.
I'm making good use of mgb204 wonderful models for this project  &apls
Hope you like it  :)

So from this....




To this....


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belfastsocrates

That looks fantastic!! You may have saved me the effort of creating a dedicated GLR depot from scratch
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Gugu3

That is some impressive stuff! &apls

Tyberius06

OMG!!!!
That's fantastic. :)
I just need to find some space for this monster :) What are the dimensions of this lot?

Thanks your hard work! :)
You may find updates about my ongoing projects into my development thread here at SimCity 4 Devotion: Tyberius Lotting Experiments
or over there on Simtropolis into the Tyberius (Heretic Projects) Lotting and Modding Experiments.
I'm also member of the STEX Custodian and working on different restoration projects on behalf of non-anymore-active custom content creators.
Current projects: WMP Restoration and SimCity Polska Restoration.
Member of the NAM Team and RTMT Team.

Indiana Joe

Looks awesome Nick, you've become a RRW lotting machine!   :bnn:

My only complaint about the depot are these unlikely switches.  A suggested improvement:


Simmer2

#307
Thank you belfastsocrates ,Gugu3, Tyberius06 and Indiana Joe

Tyberius06, it is 30X13.

Joe.
Funny you point that section out  :D
I have pondered on that knuckle for over 1 hour while designing it and due to the tight 1 tile allowance within the 45 degree line I cannot make 2 dual and a single switch.
There is only one way and that is the "ladder" but it looks ugly. What you propose is not possible with the tight tolerance allowed on that particular design.
A single monorail perhaps but not with 2 rails at 12 pixels apart. I could have 2 gradual dual 45's and one split 22.5 plus an inverted 67.5 but it is not symmetrical.
So I looked at several north american specs and found that in some rare cases, triple switches or to be exact, "3 way turnout" are allowed but only in yards.
Besides, it looks elegant  :thumbsup:

Nick

Examples.

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APSMS

I miss the days of toy train track sets when worrying about having enough track pieces to finish the loop was my biggest concern (they were the wooden rail kind).

Excellent work, Nick, though I'm not fond of the catenaries. Will there be a version without, as my region uses diesel and steam, and only the trolleys are electric (appropriately enough, considering).

The coal pp was also great, but the semicircles seemed a bit sharp. Are they usually that way irl? It was the only thing irking me, and I had no idea if it was justified or not.
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schokoladeneis 1

Hello Simmer.
Thank you for your awesome lots.  :thumbsup: I have one thing I don't like that much. It's the grunge concrete texture you used on the last lot and on the recent one. For my preferences it looks too much cracked. It feels repetitive. Maybe if you know that I mean, and you agree on me you can change it for your next lots. Perhaps 25% less cracked would be good. Who knows? ;)

Simmer2

Hi APSMS
The depot is a replica of a real one as you can see from the top pic and it does have catenaries.
But it would be child's play for you to open the lot with LE and remove and or add what you wish.

Regarding the coal power plant, rail curves come in many radius, I picked one that fit the lot and building and made it.

Hello schokoladeneis 1
The majority here would disagree with you but hey, open photoshop and create your own pattern  ;)
Of course there will more choices as I create more textures, eventually.

Simmer2
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Golhbul

Such realism is SUBLIME ...

I remember SimCity ... I'll get back and get into the realism .... It's hard and tedious but what sweetness to the eye ....

Thank you very much

Shark7

Granted I know very little about trains, except the fact that they don't stop easily...so don't cross the tracks when one is coming.  ;)  But the switches look fine to me.

I do wonder, out of curiosity again, what is the sharpest curve that a train can negotiate?  Or perhaps worded better, how gentle does the curve need to be for a train to be able to safely traverse it?  And I'm rather certain you need a decent amount of clearance around the tracks because an engine or car will 'cut the corner' and not stay directly above the tracks (since the bogies turn but the structure can't bend).

Basically what I'm asking is when building my track systems, should I really leave a 1 square space between the tracks and any roads, etc in game to be more realistic?

That repair yard is absolutely beautiful and something that has not be adequately represented in game until now.  Definitely getting that one.  :)

c.p.

I love both the coal power plant and this new, huge lot :thumbsup:

I'm going to have to start playing on a region with some flatter cities  &Thk/(

Girafe

This LOT is amazing  &apls &apls

I am not just convinced with the concrete texture especially the cracks which are a little bit too dark / contrasted  ::)
At the opposite, I really love the grass and soil texture at the border of the tracks  :thumbsup:
The Floraler

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dyoungyn

I completely dis-agree that the concrete looks too dark and cracked.  I love it; and. looks more realistic and blends in VERY WELL with the road.  Great job and can't wait for release.

schokoladeneis 1

Quote from: Simmer2 on March 28, 2016, 06:33:52 AM
Hi APSMS
The depot is a replica of a real one as you can see from the top pic and it does have catenaries.
But it would be child's play for you to open the lot with LE and remove and or add what you wish.

Regarding the coal power plant, rail curves come in many radius, I picked one that fit the lot and building and made it.

Hello schokoladeneis 1
The majority here would disagree with you but hey, open photoshop and create your own pattern  ;)
Of course there will more choices as I create more textures, eventually.

Simmer2


My understanding of modding is not so good. Is it possible to change/replace a texture in a dat.-file or is the texture burnt in the dat. and/or the lot itself?
Thank u

mgb204

Textures on a lot can easily be swapped out using the Lot Editor.

The problem comes if the concrete texture includes other parts which you still need. Even then it's still possible to alter the concrete part only, but you'd need some experience with texture manipulation (GIMP/Photoshop Etc).

Simmer2

#318
Thank you all for the criticism and non criticism  :)

I promise that my next project will have a different asphalt texture (on my pics it is supposed to be asphalt, not concrete)
The concrete is the base of the buildings and the asphalt it the parking lot.

You will be happy to know that the lot test is now complete and it works as intended, trains will run through the lot and sims will come to work there.
Pictures will be posted here soon.

schokoladeneis 1
What mgb204 said is correct. You can use the Lot Editor to remove and replace any base and overlay textures however my textures are custom made to fit the lot and chances are you will not be able to find a suitable set of pre made textures to fit.

You can use Photoshop or Gimp to create your own textures and then you need other tools to cut it up, assign new IIDs and pack it in to a .dat file so the LE can see it.
Or you can pull the textures out of my .dat, remake them and then re-pack them.
Not easy, but doable.

Simmer2/Nick

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Simmer2

Once again thank you all for following me on this latest project.
You can now get it here http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3352

Have fun  ;)

Here are some more pics in a game setting and you can clearly see both commuter and freight trains go through the lot.

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