Organizing hood layout
maxon:
Quote from: cwykes on 2007 February 21, 23:46:52
How do the block sizes in Sc4 relate to the block sizes in The sims2? for example, if you want to place a whole load of 2x2 lots back to back to make a crowded area, you need the roads 4 squares apart in Sims2. Is that 4 squares in SC4?
I just answered that yesterday in this thread
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,7341.0.html
Here it is again:
Quote from: maxon on 2007 February 21, 04:37:07
No of Squares SC4 No of Squares TS2
no square (i.e. surrounded by roads)
1x1
1x1 3x3
2x2 5x5
3x3 7x7
4x4 9x9
5x5 11x11
and so on
Bridges - you can only use the first one
Trees - watch it, a single small tree in SC4 becomes 9 trees in a clump in TS2
witch:
Talking about trees, every time I create a new hood based on one of my sc4 templates, the trees come in as a different type, they're all the same as each other in the hood, but each hood has a different type.
cwykes:
thanks for posting it again - I hadn't read the other thread. Basically it's impossible to make a terrain allowing lots of equal depth back to back. You can have ?x1 backing on to ?x2 or ?x2 backing onto ?x3 or you can have a one tile gap. So I can now stop hoping to find the ideal terrain for my 3x2 willow walk lots! I've been thinking about making a city area with small lots very close to each other. I think 3 deep is too big for a city lot, which means building on 1 deep lots or accepting a gap. :(
maxon:
Quote from: cwykes on 2007 February 22, 01:34:09
thanks for posting it again - I hadn't read the other thread. Basically it's impossible to make a terrain allowing lots of equal depth back to back. You can have ?x1 backing on to ?x2 or ?x2 backing onto ?x3 or you can have a one tile gap. So I can now stop hoping to find the ideal terrain for my 3x2 willow walk lots! I've been thinking about making a city area with small lots very close to each other. I think 3 deep is too big for a city lot, which means building on 1 deep lots or accepting a gap. :(
Yes, essentially - I generally use 1x1=3x3 or 2x2=5x5 for urban systems, very occasionally a ?x3 for a long street.
What works quite well is using 3x2 lots with 2x3 lots (if you see what I mean) or those very small lots that were posted at MTS2. With the 1x1 or 1x2 community lots, you can get a nice row of lots along the street (especially if you concentrate on getting the street lighting consistent which helps the effect). 1x1 is a very small shop whereas 1x2 gives you more room to develop a proper shop like lot. I use the 1x1 for things like corner shops/newsagents and the larger lots for food shops and so on. I really prefer small lots nowadays - it makes for a better, more interesting panaorama.
Combing uneven with an even fills up the space (obviously) - or for more suburban hoods, I often just stick in a row of trees between the lots. Those - what would you call them - dumpsters? - the sort of big dustbins you can get from the neighbourhood decorations also work well like this - they look good behind a community lot and you can see them from the lot view like the trees.
Also JadeElliot suggested a nice touch with the beaches - you know the waves you can have breaking on the shore? Well, you can sort of turn them front to front (the the breaking wave bit overlapping in the middle) and what you get left with is the beach bit. Use them like this on dry land and you can make sandy paths in the neighbourhoods - they often work well again running behind residential lots in a suburb (have a look at her site to see some pictures).
cwykes:
Lots of great ideas there - I think I'm missing the dumpsters you mentioned as I've only got base game and OFB, but I could try and fit a row of trees between the lots - sometimes they just won't place in a small gap. I was thinking of a row of advertising boards along the road instead of/among the ?x1 shops. I'm all in favour of small lots - they don't lag the PC so much! But I've never tried anything smaller than 3x1 for community lots and 2x2 for houses. I'll have to get some small plots and experiment. I made several 3x1 lots on desert terrain to fit down the middle of the road in strangetown and a few more for the riverside in Veronaville. I'm doubtful about making a playable house on a 2x1 or 1x2 especially if Winter in The Seasons forces Sims indoors, so we can't put items like the bookcase and armchair in the garden any more. Winter might mean I have to build a whole new lot of community lots with walls and rooves rather than outdoor markets/ swings etc. I use the OFB awnings for a market stall type lot.
I realised just now that if you place more roads cutting across to give you city blocks, you can fill all but the centre square(s) of each block using small lots. So you don't need a long row of trees or a big gap - Doh!
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