Oooh, I always wanted to know how to make those arbors! I always used to put tile between the pillars and the 'floating' lattice work, not anymore now! Great tutorial GreenCats, with very clear explanations and helpful screenshots! :thumbup:
Great! So pleased I could help. The floating is a personal pet hate. I understand that it's there to leave room for tiles between levels, but it's a pain. Good job it can be fixed :P
Hi, Green~!!
I'm a frikkin idiot with CFE--do you have any tips I could use if I'm having problems with L-shaped stairs not....shaping?
They're on foundations, and while I can easily get the bottom stair to snap (even when I don't want it to) I can't get the upper level stair to fit between the 2 floor levels at ALL.
Hi, Green~!!
I'm a frikkin idiot with CFE--do you have any tips I could use if I'm having problems with L-shaped stairs not....shaping?
They're on foundations, and while I can easily get the bottom stair to snap (even when I don't want it to) I can't get the upper level stair to fit between the 2 floor levels at ALL.
Hmm, I'd love to help if I can. Is there a reason given for them not snapping into place?
Do you have any pictures of the problem? I'm not sure I understand :oops: xxx
Instead of pics, how about just sending you the troublesome bunch of pixels straight out? If you want to, can you take a peek in this lot? I cleared it with Custard for CC and it's clean--it's a WIP I just started. :oops:
I tried looking up different vid tuts to see if anyone was doing something I was missing, but really--the stairs just WON'T set in! :XD: I've marked the place where I want the stairs with red floor tiles.
Firstly, wow, your WIP looks very exciting! I can't wait to see more
Ok, so you're actually using a different method from the one I described in my tutorial.
The 'stacking' method I describes adds a new level for the split level landing. Using your method, the landing and the upper floor are actually recognised by the game as being on the same level - they're just at different heights - so no extra level is required. I'll be writing a tutorial on this method soon eventually, I just haven't got to it yet.
Assuming you want to stick with the method you've got, here's how you fix it.
You'll need to tile over the area at least two squares to either side of where you'll be placing the stairs. The stairs will always take the most direct route down, so you need to block the way by placing floor tiles.
I also added in the walls now because I don't want to deal with them later.
You could just place the stairs now but you'd end up with an ugly gap (if you have floating stairs this won't matter). To place the stairs you'll need to turn cfe on otherwise you'll mess your wall up and might not be able to place the stairs anyway.
If you don't want that gap, here's how to get a smoother transition between the two heights. First, use the stair tool to create a middle height between the two heights.
Level down to the new height, leaving one row of transition tiles between the 1/2 height and new 3/4 height.
Bring the tiles shown highlighted below up to full height.
It should now look something like this.
I levelled the level above to fix that weird wall. I also realised I deleted the wall by the landing by mistake at some point so I've replaced that.
Turn cfe on and place your stairs. After you've placed them you can remove any floor tiles you like.
Oops, forgot the rest of the wall.
If you want the floor tiled, you're going to have to have a little atrium like this.
:shock:
Should have known I had botched it up! :XD:
Omg, thank you for all of that!
I'm loading the game RIGHT NOW to get those stairs acting right--I never thought to tile up the rest of the floor level to keep the stairs from snapping--CLEVER! :thumbup:
Yeah, I'm going to try that method you used to NOT get the floating stairs or the gaps--I had planned on using CC angled fences I got from TSR and have done with it, but if I can master a CFE trick that's worth 2 in the bush!
You'll hear me screaming all the way from NYC if I mess up again.
Stay tuned for more of MurfeeL's Nonsensical Build Mode Goofups-- Chapter 2: Up A Mountain And Down Some Stairs!
For some strange reason the upper stairs wouldn't snap flush against the wall, but they snapped perfectly one tile forward, so I just let them stay there and moved the entire staircase one tile forward. :roll: Stairs. :roll:
But yeah, using that 1/2 ; 3/4 ; full height stair trick with the extra stair creating another level in the middle worked like a charm!
Ahhh....bliss~! 8)
YAHOO~! ^0^
And by god I'm never doing this crap again!
Thank you SO MUCH for your help, Green! I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help! *squishy hugs*
Thank you GC for this tutorial! I'm soo glad I found it! You do a really good job of explaining....and I actually understand it! I luv your arbor trick and I am definitely book marking your page!
Thank you GC for this tutorial! I'm soo glad I found it! You do a really good job of explaining....and I actually understand it! I luv your arbor trick and I am definitely book marking your page!
Thanks again!
Thank you!! I'm so pleased it was helpful :-)
I look forward to adding more tutorials to this thread in the future - I just have a lot on right now.
xxx
Do you have any tips on here for removing dark colors at upper portions of CFE walls?
I've tried the sledgehammer and undo, but it doesn't seem to do anything. I've added some of the buydebug ceiling lights specifically at the walls in question (usually 1x4 or 2x2) and that seems to help sometimes. Oddly enough sometimes I have to put the ceiling light straddling the wall to actually get light onto the darkest upper wall portion. But I still see shade difference between walls in most cases. To camouflage more, I've found medium to dark tone patterns (non-horizontal) help some. Maybe I need to remove shades in the windows??? I have full shades in all my windows and doors. Maybe more table lights? Purchased ceiling lights seem to not work that well. Wall lights better...
I tend to see these lighting issues and it's driving me batty. It may push me to do less CFE in the future or just minimize CFE effects.
Sorry my post is rambling. I'm just trying to share the tricks I'm trying.
Do you have any tips on here for removing dark colors at upper portions of CFE walls?
I've tried the sledgehammer and undo, but it doesn't seem to do anything. I've added some of the buydebug ceiling lights specifically at the walls in question (usually 1x4 or 2x2) and that seems to help sometimes. Oddly enough sometimes I have to put the ceiling light straddling the wall to actually get light onto the darkest upper wall portion. But I still see shade difference between walls in most cases. To camouflage more, I've found medium to dark tone patterns (non-horizontal) help some. Maybe I need to remove shades in the windows??? I have full shades in all my windows and doors. Maybe more table lights? Purchased ceiling lights seem to not work that well. Wall lights better...
I tend to see these lighting issues and it's driving me batty. It may push me to do less CFE in the future or just minimize CFE effects.
Sorry my post is rambling. I'm just trying to share the tricks I'm trying.
Hi there :-)
I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you have a picture?
If you're talking about walls sitting on top of other walls, here's the relevant section on lighting from my split level tutorial.
I've chosen vertical sliding because vertical patterns do a much better job of concealing diagonal joins than horizontal ones do. I've also gone for quite a dark shade of wood, because usually the whiter the colour you use the more difficult it is to light. Here's the join in my build from the outside. Not too bad. You don't have to include windows in your landing area if the different heights bothers you.
You're never going to get the lighting absolutely perfect inside, but the buydebug lights will help. I've gone a bit mad with them, but I think it pays off. Remember that the natural light from your windows will have a different impact on your lighting scheme for day and night, so make sure you are designing something that works well for both.
Just reviewing your CFE. Wow! I have such a problem with modular stairs. Would love to use them. Will be trying this out in next build.
Also love, love the arbor fix. Drove me crazy that it would float above.
Thank you thank you.
The floating arbor has been driving me crazy for so long, can't believe I didn't see your tutorials earlier! Thank you so much for putting these together, they're such a major help! :XD:
Comments
Thank you Behak, and you're welcome. I plan to get one up about curved arbors at some point.
Great! So pleased I could help. The floating is a personal pet hate. I understand that it's there to leave room for tiles between levels, but it's a pain. Good job it can be fixed :P
Thank you, saitouamy, and you're welcome. I hope it's helpful :-)
Thanks, yanti!
I'm a frikkin idiot with CFE--do you have any tips I could use if I'm having problems with L-shaped stairs not....shaping?
They're on foundations, and while I can easily get the bottom stair to snap (even when I don't want it to) I can't get the upper level stair to fit between the 2 floor levels at ALL.
Hmm, I'd love to help if I can. Is there a reason given for them not snapping into place?
Do you have any pictures of the problem? I'm not sure I understand :oops: xxx
I tried it 2 different ways--I thought having no walls next to the CFE 'dip' would help...it didn't. :roll:
[EDIT]
Okayy...photobucket's not showing my other pic--lovely.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/gj1zrbd65rz66pl/WIP_in_need_of_prayer{1}.zip
I tried looking up different vid tuts to see if anyone was doing something I was missing, but really--the stairs just WON'T set in! :XD: I've marked the place where I want the stairs with red floor tiles.
Ok, so you're actually using a different method from the one I described in my tutorial.
The 'stacking' method I describes adds a new level for the split level landing. Using your method, the landing and the upper floor are actually recognised by the game as being on the same level - they're just at different heights - so no extra level is required. I'll be writing a tutorial on this method soon eventually, I just haven't got to it yet.
Assuming you want to stick with the method you've got, here's how you fix it.
You'll need to tile over the area at least two squares to either side of where you'll be placing the stairs. The stairs will always take the most direct route down, so you need to block the way by placing floor tiles.
I also added in the walls now because I don't want to deal with them later.
You could just place the stairs now but you'd end up with an ugly gap (if you have floating stairs this won't matter). To place the stairs you'll need to turn cfe on otherwise you'll mess your wall up and might not be able to place the stairs anyway.
If you don't want that gap, here's how to get a smoother transition between the two heights. First, use the stair tool to create a middle height between the two heights.
Level down to the new height, leaving one row of transition tiles between the 1/2 height and new 3/4 height.
Bring the tiles shown highlighted below up to full height.
It should now look something like this.
I levelled the level above to fix that weird wall. I also realised I deleted the wall by the landing by mistake at some point so I've replaced that.
Turn cfe on and place your stairs. After you've placed them you can remove any floor tiles you like.
Oops, forgot the rest of the wall.
If you want the floor tiled, you're going to have to have a little atrium like this.
I hope this helps! xx
Should have known I had botched it up! :XD:
Omg, thank you for all of that!
I'm loading the game RIGHT NOW to get those stairs acting right--I never thought to tile up the rest of the floor level to keep the stairs from snapping--CLEVER! :thumbup:
Yeah, I'm going to try that method you used to NOT get the floating stairs or the gaps--I had planned on using CC angled fences I got from TSR and have done with it, but if I can master a CFE trick that's worth 2 in the bush!
You'll hear me screaming all the way from NYC if I mess up again.
Stay tuned for more of MurfeeL's Nonsensical Build Mode Goofups-- Chapter 2: Up A Mountain And Down Some Stairs!
For some strange reason the upper stairs wouldn't snap flush against the wall, but they snapped perfectly one tile forward, so I just let them stay there and moved the entire staircase one tile forward. :roll: Stairs. :roll:
But yeah, using that 1/2 ; 3/4 ; full height stair trick with the extra stair creating another level in the middle worked like a charm!
Ahhh....bliss~! 8)
YAHOO~! ^0^
And by god I'm never doing this crap again!
Thank you SO MUCH for your help, Green! I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help! *squishy hugs*
CFE can be pesky, but you have clearly explained, how to overcome, what can be troublesome.
Going to attempt the split level stairs and have bookmarked your great tutorial for future reference.
Thanks and you can bet shall be popping back!!!
Oh that's so great to hear! Thank you and you're welcome.
There will be more tutorials coming, I'm just pretty slammed with work etc. right now xx
Bless you! *hugs*
Thanks again!
Thank you!! I'm so pleased it was helpful :-)
I look forward to adding more tutorials to this thread in the future - I just have a lot on right now.
xxx
I've tried the sledgehammer and undo, but it doesn't seem to do anything. I've added some of the buydebug ceiling lights specifically at the walls in question (usually 1x4 or 2x2) and that seems to help sometimes. Oddly enough sometimes I have to put the ceiling light straddling the wall to actually get light onto the darkest upper wall portion. But I still see shade difference between walls in most cases. To camouflage more, I've found medium to dark tone patterns (non-horizontal) help some. Maybe I need to remove shades in the windows??? I have full shades in all my windows and doors. Maybe more table lights? Purchased ceiling lights seem to not work that well. Wall lights better...
I tend to see these lighting issues and it's driving me batty. It may push me to do less CFE in the future or just minimize CFE effects.
Sorry my post is rambling. I'm just trying to share the tricks I'm trying.
Hi there :-)
I'm not quite sure what you mean. Do you have a picture?
If you're talking about walls sitting on top of other walls, here's the relevant section on lighting from my split level tutorial.
Great! You're welcome, and thanks for commenting
I want to do some more in the future, I just don't have the energy to be very active here at the moment. *hugs*
Also love, love the arbor fix. Drove me crazy that it would float above.
Thank you thank you.
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The floating arbor has been driving me crazy for so long, can't believe I didn't see your tutorials earlier! Thank you so much for putting these together, they're such a major help! :XD: