Creating NB's, Cities and Streets

[sb]

I hope it's ok if I open a thread.

I discussed this with a couple of people here who expressed some interest in a thread like this. I admire the streets and neighborhoods some people have created and put to such spectacular use. It's hard to do successfully. Not everyone bothers, and it isn't necessary to go to all that trouble in order to create wonderful atmosphere. Gayl and I have spent almost 4 years developing ours, but that's because we use the landscape and the views so much, and our work is very, very visual. I'd love to know how you do it, if you do it; what works for you; what does not work.

[thelunarfox]

I would certainly find this helpful. Personally, I'm rather lazy when it comes to creating the world. I know what it looks like in my head, but I don't really want to spend the time it would take to make it actually look good for outdoor shots. So I crop the pictures close and only bother with the faces, lol. *is a cheat*

Except for when I created the village. That I really did put some thought and effort into that. I wanted it to look makeshift. The people are meant to be living out of buildings that are already there, with a few that were probably built by people using whatever materials are available. I wanted it sparse but not run down. I think I took about two months on that one. I know I started way early knowing it would make an appearance.

Before I even started building it, I sat down and wrote all my thoughts on the village, what it needed, what I needed, and what I could actually do. I poked around online to find inspiration in lots for it, bookmarking and downloading threads and sites with fitting downloads. And then I went to work. In my case, with S3, I built the terrain from the land up. I needed a very specific view. The rest was pretty easy once I'd gotten the lay of the land because I already had an idea of what I wanted so I had direction, but not too specific an idea so that I was inflexible.

The final tour is here. I actually worked to make it playable too, so it's not just for show.

[sb]

I love that town! I love the way you have it set up, it makes so much sense. It does look like people took whatever they could find, whatever wasn't so broken it could not be fixed or used in some way, and then used it.

So you built it up from the beginning with a very specific, very clear view in mind? Knowing where everything should go (within limits) so that you could capture what you want, the view you want, the atmosphere.

[blackdaisies]

@thelunarfox that Town is amazing! It really has a lot of depth and I love the different areas. I appreciate you've gone into so much detail about the outskirts of the town too. TS3 certainly makes for lovely scenery, and your pics are making me want to install it now!

@sb this is a great topic and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing people's posts and picking up different ideas. I LOVE neighbourhoods, I always jump to look at people's neighbourhood pics, always.

And OMG I nearly forgot to mention that i love looking over your story pics. I don't rush through the story most times just so I can take in all of your detail, and I do go back and look for inspiration too.


Me, I spend a stupid amount of time on Simtopi. I go into detail building lots that are used as background elements only and sometimes I even go back and make them functional. For the sets/lots themselves, I have way too much fun going into detail even if they don't make it into the scene. I even make sure that there's something to look at through windows, and not just empty green fields. I usually surround the streets I want with a haphazard collection of terrain decor like the skyscrapers and then build taller lots for long street views. It's a big deal for me to make the neighbourhood at least believable, with lots of detail but still in the Sims world. . Whenever I find signs in Simlish too, I download with little discrimination.

Here's an older neighbourhood view of Simtopi - sims.blackdaisies.com/?p=1208#more-1208

I've been constantly building and rearranging it. Some more pics here and here. (Most of you have already seen them).

Here's an example of a lot I made JUST to have a background for the scene. Not a lot of the lot actually made it to the scene though, lol.

SPOILER: Click to show

I do all this work for my hoods and settings not just to get that detail for my story, but it also helps me get into the story. I'm a very visual person, so having the scenery really helps me figure out what I want to do at times.

[drew]

just popping in quickly, great idea here, as I will have to re-do 2 sub hoods since my main neighborhood is fried like yesterday's bacon. So I will take all the advice and tips I can get. Does anyone know of any neighborhood decorative objects besides the ones at MTS and N99? I got Arenenia's as well, or is that pretty much all that is out there for download?
Also hoping to attempt a beach/resort area.

Talking Sims 2 here~

[sb]

Thank you blackdaisies! You know I have been in awe of your street scenes and lots for the longest time! I eat up every single detail! Using the NB decor and backing it up with taller buildings (putting them at a distance so the pixelation isn't so distracting) is something we do too. It's pretty easy to throw together something tall and then go back and rework it later if you want to.

You string your lots together, too. That's not the word I want, but you make a series of facades that look as though they are different buildings. It's very effective. I love that look.

The scenery does help. It helps me to know where I am in the world, how close different places are, who lives nearby. I am a very very visual person; it's awfully difficult for me to write unless I know what it looks like.

and I meant to ask, do you have your whole world set up on one map, or do you use several?

[sb]

Since I started this, I'm going to offer up two different things:

1. General shots of our neighborhoods. Some of you have already seen these. They are what they are.

2. Shots gone wrong. I couldn't use these shots. Either there was no way to fix a glaring problem, or I didn't see it in time. These are the kinds of problems I hope somebody will help me fix.

Edited to explain what I think the problems are: inadequate contrast between buildings in the foreground and buildings in the background (everything blurs together); lot looks it's falling off the edge of the world; and the last one, which didn't work because it was obvious there was nothing on the other side of the sidewalk. I tried to put cars on the other side of the road but it still didn't look 'real'.

[mmmcheezy225]

I love this thread!

When I created Noble Hills, I was in a rush. My deadline for the world completion was approaching, and I needed the world fixed and functional to start the story. I decided to get the sculpting, painting, etc. done. That's what I was focused on. I figured I could do everything else in-game. I even spruced up a few areas to make it look more polished than it actually was. Needless to say, Noble Hills will not be uploaded for public use anytime soon.

I do like it, though. It's the first world I've ever made that I considered to be somewhat salvageable. Maybe I'll go back into CAW one day and fix it up.

[laura]

Oh man, I won't pretend my hood is even on par with any of these, lol! I'm quite aware that I'm a writer and not a superhood builder. My neighborhood, my lots, my homes, are usually pretty sparse compared to what some people do. I guess they have an atmosphere of what they're supposed to be, but I don't go through every little painful detail that I see some people doing with their hoods. So I'll steal Lunar's answer, crop close and write in all the other details, lol!

I guess I see my sets more like a theater stage - it represents what it's supposed to be, but it isn't exactly down to the painful detail what I would imagine it to be for real.

Blackdaisies, SimTopi looks amazing! I agree with Beth, the different buildings on one lot is always the way to go. They look so crisp! My computer can't run lots that big though, so I usually piece together smaller ones instead, and then I get the grassy gaps in between, even if the lots are actually paved. And they're fuzzier in the background too. It's the best I can do with what I have though.

Beth, I don't know what on earth was wrong with those shots, but they looked amazing to me, lol! (Really, what was wrong with them?)

[sb]

Laura, you are a fabulous writer. You don't need the shots at all. Your work transcends it.

I see definite problems with the shots (foreground blurring into the background in the night city shot; nothing to indicate distance in the waterfront shot; and lack of realism in the street shot). I probably rely on the visuals to make up for other flaws. Thank you for taking a look at them!

[dinuriel]

Heh. All of your neighborhoods put mine to shame

If we can put much stock in the theory of multiple intelligences, spatial is doubtlessly one of my weak points, and it shows with my neighborhoods. No planning at all.

Naroni is loosely divided into quadrants for the shires, but it's otherwise unplanned (though if I had Night Life, I would have made each shire a different subhood) and most of the buildings are still under construction. The Ashelia neighborhood is similarly arranged by country. The other hoods I use, Maxis built for me (IFV is, obviously, shot in Veronaville; Orbis Umbra is shot in Pleasantview, as was THIV before it).

But I figure it's okay because A) with only the base game, you don't have the option to see the surrounding lots and B) most of my chapters are shot indoors, and sometimes even in dark, windowless rooms. I know the theoretical layout of these places in my head, and that's good enough for me

[muzegoddess]

Great discussion topic. Very interesting to see how everyone goes about creating their world. What I have created has taken a lot of time and a lot of trial and error, not to mention several stints of rebuilding. I have different sections of my city and for some reason I've felt the need to actually have those sections separated into subhoods. I have the main hood (Las Vistas) which is still a work in progress; the beach hood (another wip), a vacation hood, and my downtown, which is the only section that is pretty much set up the way I want it. I tried to have most of these sections meshed together into on main hood but the game couldn't handle it.

For the downtown I spent months playing around with the placement of lots and hood decor, going in and out of lots to see if what I placed around it looked right, using the camera mods to get down in there and look at the views from several angles. I wanted that tight feeling of tall buildings almost blocking out the sun in some areas while other areas have parks and open space. I guess most importantly I wanted balance and I wanted the city to flow naturally (not a big building here with a small house right next to it). The downtown is broken up into sections as well (business district, shopping/ entertainment district, residential, industrial, airport area) and I chose the map I used for it specifically for that purpose. Lot choices were also important as I can't build to save my life, so a lot of time was spent choosing just the right ones and some of them inspired how I set up certain sections. I could go on about this ad nauseum, but here are a few pics to show you some of what I have.

muzegoddessupdates.blogspot.com/2009/07/downtown-las-vistas-business-district.html

[sb]

Van: I'm completely amazed you have only the base game. You absolutely make it work! Yeah, with a lot of dark rooms, wine cellars, forests, sure it's ok. And even if you had NL, you might have decided to keep it the way you've created it.

Muze: I want your downtown....wow. I mean. Wow! My downtown is squished all together because I used the DT that came with the game. I tried including it with the main hood but experienced the same thing you did. It crashed. I've never been happy with it. Now that I've seen what you accomplished, I'm going to try to find a different map. I can use the Hood Replace thing to copy over the streets and lots and NB decor (all except for the 3 or 4 occupied residences). Thank you for giving me some incredible ideas!

[blackdaisies]

and I meant to ask, do you have your whole world set up on one map, or do you use several?

I do use several maps actually. I have the main neighbourhood, then I have two "Downtown" hoods... the default Downtown which I customized a bit, and "East Simtopi" which is more like the edge of town, and the suburbs. And of course, the Sim State University campus.

@laura, thank you. SB is right about stringing together buildings in one lot, it's easier to work with. My old computer couldn't run big lots either so a lot of those lots were just facades and shells. I have been going back and fixing them up now to be a little more functional.

dinuriel Settings can be created and visualized a lot of different ways. From what I've seen from your stories, your pics are really atmospheric already without going too much into the neighbourhood. Me, I don't think I could have written a believable neighbourhood with just words, it's just not a strength of mine.

@muzegoddess, i love the way your city's set up. It looks similar to how I set my city up except yours looks more organized and it shows that you've planned it out really well. It looks really cosmopolitan. I love the street views of the park and the shops.

[sb]

Illandrya, I agree with you about blackdaisies' writing, but I understand how she feels. I would never ever attempt to write without using images. My writing is not that good. I absolutely rely on them to carry at least 50 percent of both the mood and the storyline. Without the visuals, there isn't any story.

[laura]

Beth, my Lake City is actually using the default game downtown too, just majorly overhauled

I will share this one post that has some half-decent views of my hood. I'm not as good at the urban stuff as some of the rest of you are. I hoods I use most often are more suburban and rural for my story. But I see lots of neat ideas in this thread to borrow for my Lake City though!

Muze, I like how you described the process of planning your city, with getting the flow from one part of town to the next. That was probably the only thing I really took time to get right in my city, though in a much more ongoing and scattered way. I've only just recently gotten to a point of calling my Lake City truly "done". I've been working on it for four years, lol! It has commercial and residential areas, the corporate section with all the taller buildings, the university campus, and some slummier parts too. <-- or well, slummy for LH standards anyway, lol!

[sb]

Dec 25, 2010 18:19:03 GMT -5 @illandrya said:

beth ... like blackdaisies, you are selling yourself short I'm a words person. I wouldn't be reading if the words didn't tell the story.

I guess I'm totally confused. We have long sequences, sometimes critical sequences, that include no text at all. I'm flattered, but I don't understand.

And I will admit I'm the exact opposite. I love the visuals. If it's a horrible piece of writing, they don't make up for it, but beautiful shots make a huge difference to me. I fall in love with them. I go back and look at them again and again.

[sb]

Laura, the default city works very well for me too, unless I get out to the edge of it! I would never have guessed Lake City was the default DT. And you've put as much work into the suburban and rural areas as I have into the urban. I adore the train detail! In my opinion, what you accomplished is lot more difficult to do. In an urban setting, it's not hard to squish buildings and NB decor together to create an illusion. It is very very hard to do it the way you've done it.

[blackdaisies]

Dec 25, 2010 18:04:43 GMT -5 @illandrya said:

I'd just like to say that you are selling yourself short here. I'm not a visual reader, I tend to skip over the pics quite often (sorry to everyone who spends hours on their images *oops*). In fact, I read your first 35 chapters on my iphone and couldn't really see the pics at all. I didn't need them. The story (and its neighbourhood/characters/imagery) more than held its own with just your words

Thank you... I have to admit, I am surprised though, I'm generally used to being told that my images carry the story. Like Beth, I'm very visual... I actually shoot first, write later. This is really interesting to hear though.

[qui]

here is my little city. I started rebuilding for Still Caught Up and this was the lot I was currently taking shots on.

3rd and Manglewood: 50 Miles Bar

SPOILER: Click to show