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Lake Creation Tutorial Needed for Attractive Lakes and Beaches
MadDoctor61
Posts: 414 Member
So, I decided it might be easier to rebuild my custom world from scratch, eliminating all my amateur mistakes. The biggest issue were my lakes. To get down to water level, the slopes down to beaches were too steep and they looked horrid in other ways as well. This time, I raised the water level so I didn't have to alter the landscape around the beaches as much. The first lake looked better than any of my others but still not that great. The biggest annoyance about starting over was that my graveyard cornered onto one of the lakes and the deathfish spawner was in the lake. You can't match the old lot to the new landscape. Anyway, I saved the first version of the revised world and started a new game with it. Because the water lever was raised, the basements are flooded.
I've looked around the net but haven't had much luck. I found a number of them that barely mention how to do so. There are mentions of mountain lakes above water lever, but little about using them in designs. Some YouTube videos show lake creation but they seem to zip through it as those tutorials where on world building, not lake creation. Are there any good tutorials for CAW nubies on lake design and how to sculpt attractive, functional lakes?
I've looked around the net but haven't had much luck. I found a number of them that barely mention how to do so. There are mentions of mountain lakes above water lever, but little about using them in designs. Some YouTube videos show lake creation but they seem to zip through it as those tutorials where on world building, not lake creation. Are there any good tutorials for CAW nubies on lake design and how to sculpt attractive, functional lakes?
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Comments
For those at sea level:
1. Check out Nilxis' tutorial on making a beach, it describes how to gently slope the beach (which you could use for lakes as well). It just involves creating terrain "steps" with the flatten tool and then gentle smoothing the steps. http://nilxisdesigns.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/como-hacer-una-playa-de-arena-facil.html
Nilxis also has some other really great tutorials if you want to check them out, including some decorating tips.
For those above sea level:
1. Water planes - mod the sims has tutorials on this, but I always found it to be somewhat complicated.
2. SuperCAW pond tool - if you have SuperCAW or download it, it has a pond tool that can be used to carve out lakes and ponds directly in CAW. However, it has known issues, one of which is that if you're not careful it can flood your entire world, and cannot be undone. My suggestion with this is to save right before you use it and make sure the pond/lake has edges above where the water level will be all the way around. If it does flood, exit without saving and reload the world. I've been using the pond tool for years and find it's a decent work-around with careful use.
3. Make a "pond" in a lot using EIG - it won't be part of the official world water, but if you're going for just aesthetics and fishing use, this will work well. If you want boats to use it, this is not a good option.
Hope these help! And if you don't have a world showcase thread already, you should make one so we can watch the progress!
I've heard of SuperCAW. I've also heard that there are problems with it. I'd love to have more opinions from those that use it and good tutorials for it. I'm a little afraid to try it with my capabilities as they are now.
The water planes I've heard of, but can't find a decent tutorial for them.
What is a world showcase thread? It might be interesting, but it might bore everybody to tears.