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Started making my first World this week...

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  • TadOlsonTadOlson Posts: 11,380 Member
    It wouldn't matter if all of the lots were empty as it would leave the player to set the town up themselves and those with Pets could build and design lots with that in mind while others might no think of those things while building.I build mine to not cause pets to get stuck as I want to be able to add pets to the town.
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  • Mrknowitall526Mrknowitall526 Posts: 386 Member
    Okay so I just spent the past 4 hours working on a 64x64 lot. It turned into a sort of apartment/condo complex:

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    Here's a bunch of community lots I placed close together so they look like one: (this was not today!)

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    I knew this was going to be the "painful" (yet fun!) part of CAW. Spending hours and hours building lots! But it is fun. Luckily I only placed one other 64x64 empty lot in the world.
  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    Looks good!
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  • Namaya92Namaya92 Posts: 934 Member
    I've been thinking about creating a world on the side as an extra project as well, but I always think my ideas are better than the actual outcome haha! Or that I might get bored of building before I finish it...
    Your houses already look amazing! I'll definitely be downloading them if you put them up somewhere :)
  • Namaya92Namaya92 Posts: 934 Member
    edited July 2017
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    Great job!
    I agree with the straight road principle to some extent by the way, but living in a very flat country (Netherlands), there are many curved roads here too;) Especially in towns and villages. And you could still add 'reasons' for the road to not be straight at some points of course.

    Utrecht, a Dutch town:

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    When you compare that to Manhattan you can see the difference ;)

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    Ok I know this is an old post but I wanted to quote you @JoAnne65 because I live in the Netherlands too and I also happen to study history so I can actually provide you guys with a reason as to why roads in Europe are curvy!

    This shows the difference between a city that was planned from the start and a city/town that is as old as the Roman period and grew steadily over the centuries. In medieval times, creating straight roads wasn't always possible because of forests, lakes, hills they couldn't flatten, etc. Nowadays you might not be able to see these 'obstacles' anymore because they have disappeared. But Dutch cities (except for Rotterdam which had to be completely rebuilt after WW2) don't take down a whole area and rebuild it in a more organized or symmetric order. They just rebuild the roads in the same direction as they used to be just modernize them, flatten the land and maybe widen them a little. In the map of the Dutch town you can often see little patches of straight road. Those indicate that this little area was built at once as a project to expand the city. The curved roads that lead to it, usually went around any obstacles that were there to make their way to the piece of open area where they could easily build a new farm/village area.

    In old cities you often have something that we call 'a ring'. This is a big highway that will circle around the (usually old) city centre. If you look at plans from old cities like Antwerp or Amsterdam, you can see that inside this ring, the roads are messy and curvy all over the place. Outside the ring you can usually find more places that are similar to the Manhattan map.
  • Namaya92Namaya92 Posts: 934 Member
    Here's an example of Amsterdam where you can see how roads gradually will get more straight the more you move outside the city centre. Together they form a messy whole. with curves that can't be explained anymore today. The city walls don't exist anymore either, just the canal that it was surrounded by.

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  • Namaya92Namaya92 Posts: 934 Member
    edited July 2017
    Rflong7 wrote: »
    @Namaya92 wrote: »
    Here's an example of Amsterdam where you can see how roads gradually will get more straight the more you move outside the city centre. Together they form a messy whole. with curves that can't be explained anymore today. The city walls don't exist anymore either, just the canal that it was surrounded by.

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    Yes, curved roads had a reason- a hill, a river, a big rock. It's what I say, don't curve the road without giving it a reason. :)

    Yeah but my point is that in some cases the reason might have disappeared over the years and so you can have curvy roads in a city that as of now don't make sense anymore. So the curvy roads in Mrknowitalls city might originate from very old medieval roads that had to go around something ;).
  • Namaya92Namaya92 Posts: 934 Member
    edited July 2017
    Rflong7 wrote: »
    @Namaya92 wrote: »
    Rflong7 wrote: »
    @Namaya92 wrote: »
    Here's an example of Amsterdam where you can see how roads gradually will get more straight the more you move outside the city centre. Together they form a messy whole. with curves that can't be explained anymore today. The city walls don't exist anymore either, just the canal that it was surrounded by.

    2drgm5z.jpg

    Yes, curved roads had a reason- a hill, a river, a big rock. It's what I say, don't curve the road without giving it a reason. :)

    Yeah but my point is that in some cases the reason might have disappeared over the years and so you can have curvy roads in a city that as of now don't make sense anymore. So the curvy roads in Mrknowitalls city might originate from very old medieval roads that had to go around something ;).

    Yes but those can be seen as Old city roads and not just placed on a Flat map. :)

    totally depends on the story you create around it of course. Amsterdam is as flat as a city can be, since it was originally built on water. It still has a bunch of curvy roads. like the one under 'de krommerdt' doesn't make sense at all if you look at it now, but who knew what was going on there back in the medieval times when they built that road. It's all about the story you imagine behind the roads you build. Just because a city in CAW is built in modern times doesn't mean it has to look like it was built yesterday, that's what I'm trying to say. The same goes for Utrecht, the one JoAnne showed, as well. As flat as it can be, but curvy roads everywhere :P
  • Namaya92Namaya92 Posts: 934 Member
    edited July 2017
    Rflong7 wrote: »

    *Have you ever seen Sims jump out of their taxis, run across a small area, and jump back into a taxis? This isn't about history, it's about game mechanics and not just having curves in a road close to another road. Of course, I'm used to the early game and it might not do that. :lol:

    Well game mechanics is a whole different story lol. In that way it would be best of course :P. My inner history student just came up to show an example of why and how completely flat cities in real life can have curvy roads :).

  • Rflong7Rflong7 Posts: 36,584 Member
    edited July 2017
    @Namaya92 wrote: »
    Rflong7 wrote: »

    *Have you ever seen Sims jump out of their taxis, run across a small area, and jump back into a taxis? This isn't about history, it's about game mechanics and not just having curves in a road close to another road. Of course, I'm used to the early game and it might not do that. :lol:

    Well game mechanics is a whole different story lol. In that way it would be best of course :P. My inner history student just came up to show an example of why and how completely flat cities in real life can have curvy roads :).

    Even a back story could be a reason.
    I am also not saying Don't do curving roads, I am saying have a reason for them. But game mechanics should come first.
  • Namaya92Namaya92 Posts: 934 Member
    edited July 2017
    Ok sorry this is the last time I'm posting history stuff here but talking about all these roads and old cities and about imagining reasons why some stuff in an old city doesn't make sense planwise etc made me think of this lovely story that CAW people might appreciate (and it might even inspire you for some unique building).

    Across the central station in Amsterdam you can see this huge hotel called the Victoria hotel. It was built in the 19th century. If you look closely at it, you will see that the hotel is built around a tiny house right in the middle of it!

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    Turns out, when the hotel was planned, the owners managed to buy out all the houses and terrain that they needed but there was one old man that refused to sell his property. They tried everything, but he always held his ground so in the end they gave up and just decided to build around his house instead. This little house is a protected monument now so it will never be bought and demolished. I thought this was a cute little story to share :P . I was reminded of it because I thought to myself that roads could also be randomly curvy because old farmers might have refused to sell their lands so they had to build around them.
  • Namaya92Namaya92 Posts: 934 Member
    edited July 2017
    Rflong7 wrote: »

    But see, can't do that on the map BUT it can be Build that on the Lot. That actually is a known thing for a lot of people. Love the story, thanks for sharing. :)

    Yeah that's what I meant, I mostly just shared it because I randomly thought of it because of our conversation. I never used CAW before so I don't know much of the game mechanics when it comes to building a world/lots. I'll completely trust you on that :P (I play your Legacy Island III and it's amazing so I admire you a lot already hehe). I was just sharing a nice story about that little house.
  • Rflong7Rflong7 Posts: 36,584 Member
    edited July 2017
    @Namaya92 wrote: »
    Rflong7 wrote: »

    But see, can't do that on the map BUT it can be Build that on the Lot. That actually is a known thing for a lot of people. Love the story, thanks for sharing. :)

    Yeah that's what I meant, I mostly just shared it because I randomly thought of it because of our conversation. I never used CAW before so I don't know much of the game mechanics when it comes to building a world/lots. I'll completely trust you on that :P (I play your Legacy Island III and it's amazing so I admire you a lot already hehe). I was just sharing a nice story about that little house.

    It's a Fun Story and an Awesome picture.
    Adding to your history about streets and reasons; Legacy Island grew from one tiny world map to a huge map... streets were added after an Expansion but the main layout stayed the same. :cookie:
  • Mrknowitall526Mrknowitall526 Posts: 386 Member
    edited July 2017
    I was excited/surprised to wake up and see 14 notifications on this thread, LOL! But interesting posts nonetheless.

    My world is based on the city/suburbs of Allentown, PA (Pennsylvania). About 60 miles north of Philadelphia. My world is called Allentown and all of the streets are named after actual streets.

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    It's actually a conglomeration of 3 cities, multiple boroughs (small towns with their own government), and more suburban/rural townships. But, unlike many places in PA, it's not just small towns separated by miles of nothing in the middle of nowhere. They basically blend from one into the other in a suburban sprawl kind of thing.

    You can see in the city of Allentown, the streets are grid like, but as you leave the city they get less straight. I live out the country side, not visible on this map but to the north and west, and the roads here are in fact curvy for reasons like "Farmer Bob refused to sell his land, so they made the road go around it" kind of thing. You can see in some of the small boroughs (Emmaus, Catasauqua on the above map), the streets are grid-like again until you leave the municipal limits.

    Route 145 (aka MacArthur Road) is one of the major retail centers with 2 malls and most stores, national chains, etc., that you'd expect in a large city. Notice it's not inside the Allentown city limits.

    Anyway, to get back on track, yes I plan to post the individual houses as well. I only have 3 different ones so far (including that large condo), but I've placed some of the others in multiple places and changed the color, siding, etc.
  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    @Namaya92 Really interesting! And yes, I think that's the reason you'll find old towns often have curvy roads and newer neighborhoods more straight ones. I can also imagine in old towns houses were built first and the roads sort of followed. Meaning a house could even be such an obstacle. And in the old days (till 100 years ago) waterways were often more important than roads, where transport was concerned. As for the game I agree with Rflong it's very important to keep the routing in mind by the way, because you don't want a world with routing issues...

    (only the center of Rotterdam was destroyed by the way, not the entire city ;))(and I think the plan of Amsterdam is also based on the canals?)
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  • Mrknowitall526Mrknowitall526 Posts: 386 Member
    Started decorating a unit in one of the buildings ... spent about 3.5 hours tonight!

    Pool in the common area of the building
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    I should start a Tumblr I guess, LOL. I like to share these pictures! I feel like we spend so much time designing stuff, and then I have no one to show it off to!

    This is why CAW takes so long ... all the lots! It's fun but I'll never get to play it at this rate...
  • KatyFernlilyKatyFernlily Posts: 738 Member
    > @Supersoph13 said:
    > Mrknowitall526 wrote: »
    >
    > Supersoph13 wrote: »
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    >
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    > I'm not sure. I'm no expert but from what I've gathered there's a few simple objects, even from the base game, not included, like benches for example. I found none in CAW and wanted to create little gardens without them actually being on lots. I got some from MTS in the end, one from WA and two from the base game.
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    > I believe it's the same with roads and paths - (if you're not creating your own) - those from EPs, like Bridgeport's roads, won't be in CAW either.
    >
    > Glad you liked the link :smile:
  • KatyFernlilyKatyFernlily Posts: 738 Member
    The thing with placing benches in the world (NOT on a lot) is that your sim will decide to get an ice cream then drive 10 miles to that bench to sit and eat it.
    It's best to make it a small lot (small park or similar) so sims are not driving forever just to sit and eat or read a book. It will still look like part of the scenery.
    Good luck with your world - CAW is so frustrating and time consuming but the end results are very rewarding.
  • KatyFernlilyKatyFernlily Posts: 738 Member
    > @Mrknowitall526 said:
    > Thanks! Yes, it is a ton of work, but really fun!
    >
    > I experimented with public and hidden room markers to make the other half grayed out and wanted to set the front door as an NPC door, but I couldn't get it to work so I will have to come back to that.

    Here is a nice mod to fix the NPC door thing: http://www.modthesims.info/d/450059
  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    edited July 2017
    @Mrknowitall526 Good job there, it looks beautifully detailed!
    (yes, you definitely could start a Tumblr, but I hope you'll keep sharing your progress here as well :blush: )
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  • KatyFernlilyKatyFernlily Posts: 738 Member
    This is to no one in particular, just what I like... I don't like flat maps with grid type roads. I prefer to see hills and curves and interesting features like ponds, rivers and waterfalls, pretty trees and flowers. I think curved roads make for an interesting map as long as they make sense and lead somewhere or connect to other roads in some way.

    I don't like the game rabbit holes either. I like to use the rabbit hole rugs/doors and create my own work places. Neat thing is you can make them on smaller lots and save room for pretty stuff like parks, farms, clubs, etc. You can even combine them to make shopping centers or strip mall type lots. Do I need a 64x64 Fire Station? I think not. (Exaggerating to make a point). Also, I don't want to see a million street lights on the sidewalks or roads. I tend to put the street lights on lots. In the real world there isn't a street light every 5 steps.

    I think your "first" world is great, by the way! I appreciate anyone who has the patience to work with Create-a-world Beta. I, myself am working on a world and I'm barely started on it because I've spent 2 weeks just planning it out in my mind, looking at landscapes, houses, etc. It's so very hard as I'm trying to replicate a real world place.

    Don't loose patience on your world - it's really good! If you want inspiration take a look at Nilxis's world, Uranesia. Some of the really detailed worlds that some have created took years to complete.
  • Namaya92Namaya92 Posts: 934 Member
    edited July 2017
    Give me your tumblr link and I'll follow you! Your decorations look great! I never have the patience to go through all the decor when making a room so mine always look a little empty XD.
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