The Diary of World-Builder - Cypress Lakes

[Chuckles_82]

Ah well, I guess I'm stuck with it the way it is, then. I don't want it to be a city - something it is clearly not. But my goodness that is a LOT of reading - well worth reading though!

I just came across this today, and I must say it is coming along beautifully. I hope the patch didn't cause permanent damage!

I really hope so too! It would be a lot of hard to work to have to rebuild the world part from scratch. At least I have the lots though, if worst comes to worst.

[Chuckles_82]

Many thanks to Louise56 for posting a link to a workaround for the install problem! I can now play (test) my world! It's early stages yet, and I still have so many lots to build, and landscaping to do, but one needs a break from all of that at times. Once I get into it, I might build a few lots in game, and save them to the lot bin.

[Chuckles_82]

13/11/2012

Well, after such wonderful news that I was able to install and play my world, that is all I've done all day (as far as sims go, anyway). I've pinpointed a few things that I need to fix - spiral stairs ugh. A few patterns didn't export, though I've no idea why - sadly I'll have to replace them. And of course, as I suspected my CAP pattern did not export. Maybe if I add it to the export file next time...

After re-opening my world in CAW and EIG, I have discovered that all of the patterns I am having trouble with have a little custom folder on them, so I think they must be store patterns. They weren't in EIG until I replaced my store content package file. They are also the patterns that I cannot save my custom recolours. I'm going to try and pinpoint where they came from, and see if it's possible to include the file, though I think I may just have to change them out. It might be kind of cheating if I include store patterns in my download.

There's a few minor things not sitting right, and one major one (the stage at the diner/coffeehouse needed space at the back of the stage). But I'm writing a list of everything I need to change or investigate. I'm keeping an eye on times when the game lags or freezes. I also installed Overwatch (my first major mod!) so if any sim has a route fail or gets stuck, I will know about it. Sometimes I think it's just because some other sim is using what they want. I haven't seen any issues other than that yet. I think I was very thorough with my route paint.

On the whole I am totally loving playing my world, even if I haven't built everything yet!

For anyone interested, and this isn't specifically sims related, Windows 7 has a 'snipping tool' that allows you to drag a selection over anything on screen to copy it. Like a screenshot, but only the bits you need If you open the Start menu, and type in 'snipping' it should come up. It is my new best friend!

[samoht04]

Glad you are having so much fun! 

For anyone interested, and this isn't specifically sims related, Windows 7 has a 'snipping tool' that allows you to drag a selection over anything on screen to copy it. Like a screenshot, but only the bits you need If you open the Start menu, and type in 'snipping' it should come up. It is my new best friend!

Ooh? That is cool! Will help for tutorials etc. !  Thank you for telling me about it!

[Chuckles_82]

15/11/2012


Well, after several weeks of play with one sim, I added a foal to the mix to test out things for horses, too. Later I'll add a dog and cat, to cover all bases. I haven't found too many more issues, and most of them quite minor.

Today I felt like building again, so went hunting for some inspiration. This is what I came up with for the library:



Mine only vaguely resembles the structure - it reminded me of a combination of a small-town church and small-town library.


Front


Back - I may yet recolour the doors to the vault


Children's section and Conference/Video room


Main area

I made the stone foundation the same stone as the Vault - I will see if including the package file in the world file will keep it when I export it next time. If not, I'll have to swap it out.

[Chuckles_82]

18/11/2012

Today I went back to editing the terrain - I smoothed a few ridges that were a little pointy, smoothed a few sections of sidewalk that were too bumpy, and did some detailed painting. I also made sure all the trees (hopefully all) were firmly planted into the ground and not too raised. I replaced all my store patterns (there were about 3 I used extensively), painted dirt under a few foundations that I had missed, and put mud underneath a few downpipes that I had missed. I moved a few spiral stairs and one unroute-able chair. I dimmed a few lights, and deleted the planter out the front of the bistro (it was causing some strange clipping). That takes care of everything that I have found so far.

I have plenty more terrain that I can add detail to yet - a looong tedious process, but well worth it. I built the beach yesterday, and am quite proud of my terrain-painted rocks. I also recoloured the weeping willow to make it a bit greener.

I have started thinking about how I will set out the thread for my world when it is complete, but am a bit stuck on the logo. I'd like to put all the pictures into nice decorative boxes. I'll have to have a look around to find a style and fonts that I like. I'm going to start typing in Word all the information for the lots as I go, that way it won't be a huge job when I'm finished.

And of course, I have been putting of creating the mini-maps for a few rabbit-holes - I still have that do. All of that is just the short list!

[Chuckles_82]

18/11/2012

So I exported my newly corrected world, ready for some more play-testing. I'm very excited to confirm that by including my custom pattern in the .world file, it safely exported!

[Andy_555224]

Hurrah! It'll be beautiful.

[saltpastillen]

18/11/2012

So I exported my newly corrected world, ready for some more play-testing. I'm very excited to confirm that by including my custom pattern in the .world file, it safely exported!

That's great news!

[DeLouche]

This is looking absolutely fantastic. Glad you're enjoying playing it too!

Looking forward to downloading it when it's done!

[Chuckles_82]

Thank you Andy, Saltpastillen and DeLouche!

Yesterday I built the Showground, where the seasonal events will take place. Not all of the items fit on the lot, so some of them may go on other lots.





This lot was originally going to be the site for my apartment building, but I think I'll make the apartment/townhouse lot on a much smaller lot now. I would have liked the stalls to go all the way around, but this is how it all fit best. I will add flags all the way around in CAW (like the ones across the street in AP). If it doesn't look right I will have to either a) download a mod, or b) make my own mod enabling them for in-game use. I'm not yet sure how the seasonal marker works. I tried placing each of the seasonal items one on top of the other, but they all stayed, so perhaps the actual item will change with the change of season. I'll make sure it is working properly of course before export.

EDIT: sorry for all the die-hard soccer/football fans - I tried putting the circle in the middle of the field, but it just looked untidy. I figured it was better to just leave it off.

[samoht04]

Wow, that looks like a great festival lot! Love the football pitch! 

[Chuckles_82]

The alternative to terrain paint is this:



I used the terrain paint texture in CAP - though it still has much more detail than the grass itself, it does at least look grassy. The circle in the middle is the round rug Which do you think looks better?

[Gogowars329]

I think the pattern from CAP looks better.

[saltpastillen]

I like the CAP one. I especially like that it makes the field a different color/tone than the surrounding grass. Also, the circle rug is a nice touch.