How do *YOU* decorate your world? (not lots)

einshelmdweiylle

Just as the title states, what's your personal take on world decor? That is, not lot decorations, but like the ambient objects not placed on lots. I'm not asking for a tutorial on physically placing objects, that's self-explanatory, but more like sharing insights or tips/tricks on making your world feel more aesthetically natural. Trees obviously add more to your world (unless your striving for a barren environment) and terrain paint can help but I'm thinking more along the lines of world objects i.e. fences, barns, street objects, stone walls. Any thoughts?

Jessa_Dakkar

I'm not sure if my answer is exactly what you are asking, but here goes! I am aiming to have my world feel full and lively even before developing a single lot. My world is really small, and as much as I want to add it all, it just isn't reasonable. So I decided on a rather suburban feel to my little world with lots of greenery.

I added quite a few bird effects for movement and a feeling of life.

A lot of plants don't cast a shadow and I find that a little odd so I make my own shadow with a darker terrain paint just under plants. Adds depth. My world needs lots of that as it is extremely flat. I also wanted to create a world with lots of flat lots for builders to work in.

I have placed a few fences, took me a little while to learn how to finesse them into place.

I have been meticulous about adding stroplights at intersections, streetlights, using plenty of road grates and sewer lids on the roads, lots of road signs...

I've been working on this little world since last fall, haha, and it is finally coming together. I do keep jumping in the edit in game option to see how it looks with the in-game lighting. I also see mistakes there I hadn't noticed in CAW.

I have a few lots where the landscaping blends seamlessly with the landscaping of the world so it doesn't feel so much like stepping onto a defined lot, but one large connected area.

einshelmdweiylle

@Jessa_Dakkar Actually, your answer stays on topic with my question, thanks for the feedback. But yeah, traffic and street objects are a must-have for worlds. At the moment, I'm trying to assemble a central river canal in one of the worlds I'm creating. Then next I'm going to build a terrace on the outskirts of my town. Perhaps I could place seeds/auto plants within them. Just some ideas.

Modsey

With terrain paint, it helps to keep your brush on a low Opacity and Falloff setting for a more natural look as well as layer different textures and colors together. You might lay a darker shade of green grass over light grass along hills and overlap different rock types for a more natural look. Anywhere where the ground suddenly drops up or down like a cliff or ridge should be painted with dirt or rock for a more natural look.

Depending on where in the world you imagine your world to be, choose the types of trees in the area and how they'd be spaced. A world in the north-west states of the U.S. or Canada would have more evergreens and more trees than say a normal, sort of beachy southern California look. Pick where you'd like your world to be and look at images of places in that area on google or bing.

Placing rocks along the edge of ridges or on steeper hills or pathways can add a more natural look and add to its appearance.

Harsh terrain paint lines are not good, try to avoid those.

I'm staring this thread so that if I discover new ideas or think up new tips or just want ideas, I can come back to this and post

Corinini

I try to break up my world into neighborhoods and give every neighborhood a unique feel. I have all the store worlds installed, so each neighborhood in my world is usually associated with 1-2 worlds/expansion packs.

My current world has two urban neighborhoods, the old city and a newer downtown area. The old city is up on a hill (Monte Vista), and it's walled-in, although I used the wall pieces to build my own rather than the walled city that comes pre-built (with routing issues). My downtown area is in the flatlands and I use more more modern architecture and objects, although there are some ruins on the outskirts including sections of an old great wall. I also have a few suburban areas and islands. Then I use associated rabbitholes, mailboxes, houses, street lights, fire hydrants, benches, etc... for that neighborhood. It adds variety without seeming out of place. Lots of traffic lights in my modern urban neighborhood and at major intersections, more signs out in the burbs. Billboards go along "highways", and anyplace that traffic converges. A lot of my inspiration came from Heidelberg and Barcelona, as well as every sim world - in fact, I can't share the world because I used Photoshop to combine the terrain from Monte Vista and Isla Paradiso as the base for my map. I wanted the perfect world, and I recognize my own limitations, especially with terrain sculpting and painting - it's unfortunate that I can't share it but that has also given me the freedom to use and modify exchange lots liberally.

I also pick certain areas where I want to place spawners and "build" those out. An abandoned mining area, ruins, an abandoned neighborhood with the shell homes, wind farm, fishing holes with some boats/driftwood, waterfalls, etc... These areas will have a number of landscaping objects to flesh them out such as rocks/statues/lights/effects, spawners and no lots. I prefer to keep most of my spawners off of lots due to the dreaded lot rotation problem.

I try to keep any unused space free from objects, except trees which cluster. I use so many strategically, my world files get pretty big. I try to use consistent tree/plant types throughout the world as well, although they gradually change between the coastal areas and the hilly ones, this allows a greater variety without using too many per chunk.