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Project Throxton

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  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    I know I promised to stay away for a month but I am so pleased with the progress on Throxton I thought I would share. I still can't get my head into working on Fenbury though :/ The ideas keep popping up for Throxton. The only thing that I still can't figure out what to do is the canal. The road layout has been fairly simple so far but at some point it must cross the canal and that is another sticking point.

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    The town I am partly basing Throxton on has a major town brewery. I thought this would make a good business/journalism lot. I have tried to copy it as faithfully as possible but I have considerably simplified the roofline.

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    The town library in the place I am using for Throxton has a perfectly hideous 1960s library. In saying that I am being very generous and I am well able to judge because most of the small market towns in the area have equally offensive libraries. So I started out making my own creation until I realised that I was modelling it on a library in Ashington in Northumbria. Like the brewery I am using that library has a fascinating history. More later as Throxton progresses.

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    I have a real thing against the architecture of modern supermarkets. In fact I refused to put on in Fenbury but felt I couldn't repeat myself here. In fact Devizes does have a lovely deli as well as 3 less than appealing supermarkets. I have taken what I consider to be the least offensive and prettified it for Throxton. If my sims are going food shopping then I don't see why they have receive a dismal surroundings moodlet. Shame there are no EA made supermarket trollies to park outside :)

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    This is based on one of my very favourite places to buy secondhand books, particularly poetry. I decided to use it as a base for the bookshop in Throxton. Yes it really does have a red telephone box outside. As mentioned before I believe it is one of the listed ones.

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    Now I like having a day spa in my games. Sending a pregnant sim for a facial or massage does improve a difficult pregnancy. Devizes has a plethora of beauty salons to choose from and I picked this one as a base. It is not original Tudor. There was a phase of modern building about 25 years ago where mock Tudor made a revival. I don't recognise the building but I do the style as I have seen plenty like it in Bristol.
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • HidehiHidehi Posts: 1,109 Member


    Fabulous new screenshots!!! So glad to see you are making progress on Throxton :)

    ... Love to read all the snippets of history that go with your choice of builds <3 x
  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    Hidehi wrote: »

    Fabulous new screenshots!!! So glad to see you are making progress on Throxton :)

    ... Love to read all the snippets of history that go with your choice of builds <3 x
    Hidehi wrote: »

    Fabulous new screenshots!!! So glad to see you are making progress on Throxton :)

    ... Love to read all the snippets of history that go with your choice of builds <3 x

    Thank you for your kind comments here and on the Fenbury thread. All the kind comments I received were much appreciated.

    Glad you enjoy the little histories. I will post more about the buildings as I complete them but at the moment they are shells and acting as markers :)
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • Vgrace573Vgrace573 Posts: 29 Member
    So very sorry to butt in, have a couple questions for you awesome world builders and can't fid the spot to start a new thread. Can anyone point me there?
  • PHOEBESMOM601PHOEBESMOM601 Posts: 14,595 Member
    Hi @Vgrace573 If you want to contribute to this discussion just type in the box at the very bottom of the page. I'm not positive that as a new member you have enough points to start a new thread. You can check by clicking on a category and if you see a button to start a new discussion up in the upper right, click that.

    Anyone else want to chime in and check on what I said? I haven't been spending a lot of time here lately.
    "People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    Love the buildings, completely agree with @Hidehi.
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  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    @Vgrace573

    @PHOEBESMOM601 is right as a brand new member you can't set up your own thread yet. What you could do is go to the CAW tool section under creative tools. There may be a thread with a similar query to you which you can join. There are also threads with links to instructions and tutorials there which you might find useful.

    You should beware of necro posting on threads more than 2 years old. Guidance about that cam be found at the top of the Home Page under pinned threads.

    Finally welcome to the TS3 forum. I hope you find your answers and happy simming :)
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • Vgrace573Vgrace573 Posts: 29 Member
    Thanks. Knew I couldn't but remembered once seeing a place where "newbies" could post questions and comments. Seems like the avatar was very flowery. Apologies again for jumping in.
  • PHOEBESMOM601PHOEBESMOM601 Posts: 14,595 Member
    "People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
  • Vgrace573Vgrace573 Posts: 29 Member
    THANKS!!!
  • Pan_NymiraPan_Nymira Posts: 45 Member
    Hi @Bettyboop55 !

    Regarding your canal issue, I have a suggestion for you:

    Maybe you could use the grand walls from Island Paradise as sides for the canal (they fit perfectly with the colour of the basic rocks and mountain terrain paint (the have some green mosslike stuff on them, but I think they can work as some greenery or seaweed) and then make a little space inbetween some of the walls, where you can put a lot for bridges, if you want some to cross it.

    Hope it was helpful to you. I'm following your build, looking forward to seeing more!
  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    @Pan_Nymira thank you for your suggestion about the canal. I like the idea of using EA terrain paint for the wall. These old canals are lined usully with brick and it is often that which needs to be renewed when they are rennovated. I need to investigate how to extract the terrain paint as I do not want to use anything classed as cc in this build. If I do go that route there is a cc canal kit to investigate which includes a lock that might take out a lot of fiddling about. At the moment though I am just putting down lot markers and placing roads. Plenty of time before I get to terrain sculpting :)

    I hope your revision is going well. I remember my degree finals as a blur of eat, library, lectures, revision and lots and lots of coffee. Still it worked. I am sure you are a lot more methodical and you will get the results you want :)
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    I just hope this post isn't going to be too boring. Basically it is divided in two.

    First, as you know, I am in the planning stage for Throxton. Yes I have thrown down roads and built a few lots but I only have nebulous ideas of what the final look will be. The reason is quite simple, I am basing Throxton on several Wiltshire landmarks, the village of Avebury and the market town of Devizes. I do not want to make exact replicas. In fact I can't as I simply don't have the building skills or decorative items without using mods and cc. I am reluctant to do this, I am not comfortable with either having been a vanilla player since I first started playing.

    So I have decided to take what I need for inspiration for Throxton and modify it as I am best able to make it work in CAW/EIG. I hope you are not too disappointed but I simply cannot replicate things accurately unlike the clever person who created the sims version of Notre Dame. I will also be playing with the layout of the town part and I am currently having a serious rethink about the canal in order to make it fit nicely and create natural looking landscapes.

    Second. Some of you may remember me saying when I built the Tudor area in Fenbury that it was based on a alley of tudor buildings in Devizes. It really is a step back in time but it also reflects how Devizes has changed over the centuries. At one end of the alley is probably the earliest church in Devizes. It makes for some very pretty pics.

    Here then is my work on Throxton's alley. I have decided to include both the consignment store and potion shop in the alley.

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    Here is the entrance to the alley on the bookshop side.

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    On one side of the alley is a more modern building that is both accommodation, street end, and a deli, alley end.

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    The potion shop in the early stages of build.

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    The consignment store.

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    Down the alley looking towards church end.

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    Finally down the alley towards the bookshop.

    I have been working elsewhere in Throxton but I think I will save those pics for another day, assuming you are not asleep already :D
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • HidehiHidehi Posts: 1,109 Member


    ..... zzzzzzz ..... ;) only teasing you @Bettyboop55 ....

    Your updates, screenshots and explanations on how and why you are doing things always makes absolutely fascinating reading!!!! :D

    By the way have you tried to use the 'Tropical Retaining Walls' for your canals? I think they come with Island Paradise and @Pan_Nymira has mentioned them already .... but just to illustrate that they could make a great lining for your canals ... especially if you won't mind deviating from the original reddish brick look ... here is one of my screenshots:


    YqDdan6.jpg?2

    They are quite fiddly to place but definitely worth it. You'll find them under the Environment tab in CAW and you can obviously adjust the height according to your needs.
    Have a great weekend and Happy Simming! x
  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    edited May 2019
    @Hidehi and @Pan_Nymira thank you so much <3 I thought you were talking about terrain paints and as we all know these have to be extracted and added to CAW. I was rather dreading it. As for the colour of the bricks that isn't really an issue. The real canal builders would have used whatever was made locally and one thing you can say about the UK is the colour of the brickwork varies considerably :)

    Where are my manners! I hope you enjoy your weekend as well. Now back to building the church .....
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • Rflong7Rflong7 Posts: 36,584 Member
    Hi :)

    I'm Loving your builds and your comments about them. :+1:
    I really love the orange bricks. I don't know why but seeing it makes me happy. :mrgreen:

    You won't have to extract the paints, it's been done years ago. Cawsters has them by world, if you want. Also linked in the CAW tutorial post sticked at the top in CAW- 3 post in has links to them. :)

  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    @Rflong7 thank you for the kind comments :) Not sure the orange bricks will last, hubby reckons they should be more of a rosy red but then he is Captain Fussy. Thank you also for the thread. I did find it a while ago but thought, given it's age that the info was out of date. I notice there are some for Dragon Valley so I definitely want to get my hands on those. Anyway my computer tech thanks you because letting me loose with S3PE is likely to end in tears all round :p
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    edited May 2019
    I think I might have found my way forward with the canal and how to cross it by road. This is obviously in the very early stages and is, quite frankly, a pigging mess. At the same time I have settled on the riverside fence to line the inside of the canal. The canal side roads will be adjusted once the bridge is in place as I know trying to pass roads under other roads or bridges causes real routing problems.

    I must admit to spending a very frustrating time yesterday playing around with retaining walls. In the end it was easier to use the fence. As for colour of the stonework it is not so out of place as many buildings in that area of Wiltshire are made from Bath stone which is a similar colour. Given the price of it, even in Georgian times I doubt very much it would have been considered for the canal. Maybe where the canal meets the river Avon in Bath. I will need to check.

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    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    I like the effect of the narrow streets there! And the Tudor style of the houses. Reminds me a bit of York, or Chester.
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  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    I like the effect of the narrow streets there! And the Tudor style of the houses. Reminds me a bit of York, or Chester.

    Yes they are all about the same age. Chichester and Exeter do as well but the streets have been widened over the centuries so the closed in effect is not the same.
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • tammyjo329tammyjo329 Posts: 2,747 Member
    Just peeking in while taking a break from CAW myself. I see you have been busy and your pics look great! :smiley:
  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    tammyjo329 wrote: »
    Just peeking in while taking a break from CAW myself. I see you have been busy and your pics look great! :smiley:
    tammyjo329 wrote: »
    Just peeking in while taking a break from CAW myself. I see you have been busy and your pics look great! :smiley:

    I hope all is going well with your build :) The building has been a great distraction while I tried to work out what to do about the canal.
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    edited May 2019
    There is no way this can even remotely be described as exciting but it marks a major breakthrough for me.

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    Who would have thought a large Chinese bridge would have looked like this in the English countryside. It was the best of the default bridges and it actually resembles some of the arched bridges I have seen over the Kennet and Avon canal. Anyway this is the canal view looking towards what will one day be Devizes wharf. Hopefully that is :)

    I am going to take a break from working in CAW for a couple of days. I hurt my back quite badly about three weeks ago and while my computer chair is probably the most comfortable to be in, sitting on the computer for hours on end has upset my neck and shoulders. So this old wreck is going to do what her physio says, gentle walks and painkillers. When I feel a bit better I must give some attention to Fenbury. Even if it is only putting in spawners and ocean waves :)

    Raspberries I meant to say Throxton wharf. I need a break and some more coffee .........
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    I have managed to divide my time better between Fenbury and Throxton in the last few days.

    One major feature I have not mentioned is the Down. Roundway Down is on the approach to Devizes and at it's highest point it has the remains of an Iron Age Fort. In Betty's opinion it is also the site of a Roman Hill Fort but the archaeological digs don't support this. Betty's Latin teacher always liked to point out that it was too far from the nearest Roman road, the Fosse Way but I still maintain that with the Romans crossing Salisbury Plain a few miles on from Devizes they were unlikely to leave the route that exposed. Anyway I digress. I am not entirely happy with the landscaping and I am trying to think of a way to make the fort walls little green mounds of earth, as they are on the real thing.

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    I will point out the views from the real fort are pretty good which resulted in a major Civil War battle being fought there. No pun intended :) More on that when I get to developing the Down hamlet.

    I have also indulged in a spot of building by the canal. This is based on a photograph of where the Kennet and Avon canal comes into the city of Bath. I had to adjust the height of the terrain to accommodate the canal bridge so I thought I would add the build.

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    Finally is anyone else having problems with Imgur? I have been unable to get to my saved pics for the last 48 hours or so.
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
  • Bettyboop55Bettyboop55 Posts: 2,646 Member
    This is a long but hopefully not too boring post. The last few days I have concentrated my efforts on developing an area based roughly on Devizes wharf. All along the Kennet and Avon there are wharves and canal basins. In the old days these were literally the stopping off points to load and unload cargo. Long before the UK had a decent network of roads, it had a decent network of canals with intersection points between the different canals and river systems. The Kennet and Avon is a baby canal when compared to the Manchester Ship Canal, although it does eventually reach Bristol Docks. I will add that the UK canal system is nothing in comparison to the Dutch canals and I suspect that our early canal builders owed a large debt to the Dutch for their engineering skills. Most of these canals were built long before mechanisation being dug out by hand. As the roads improved and the railways were introduced many of the smaller canals fell into disuse and were neglected. Thanks to a lot of dedicated canal enthusiasts many have been restored so that they are now places for recreation. Perhaps in time their usage will be reconsidered as we need to reduce our carbon footprint. Horses pulling barges along a towpath next to the canal has been missing from our landscape for far too long.

    I am assuming the wharf at Throxton has been renovated and that part of it has been naturalised. This is certainly true of the Kennet and Avon, where it is possible to hire cabins by the waterside.

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    Now I am a bit stuck. Devizes has both a theatre and a cinema. The cinema is pure deco but is now sadly used as a bingo hall (weeps softly into hankie). The theatre though is quite unusual in as much it is not a pretty little Georgian number but an old canalside warehouse. I have seen several plays there and it works well as a theatre. Many of the loading doors have been bricked up. It is still possible to moor barges alongside. I plan to use this as my theatre lot with a rabbit hole rug. Please note as usual I am not happy with the brickwork. It is far too pale to see the lines of building clearly. It needs a bit of a rethink.

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    Finally it is not uncommon for old industrial sites by the sides of rivers and canals to be redeveloped. This has been done using the old warehouses themselves. London's dockland is a classic example or Saltford Keys in Manchester another. Here I have opted for a different solution and put down a row of modern townhouses. These are based roughly on a house hubby and I viewed many years ago. The one we saw was by the side of the river Avon in Bristol. In the end hubby refused to consider moving there because he was quite worried about the flooding. As it turned out he was right (smug doesn't even cover it). I will say the house we saw was not as fancy as these. I will also add that I have added lots of fencing and decorative planting to soften the stark lines.

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    Well that's it for this post. I am going to take a couple of days away from building. Hubby says he no longer recognises me and, now my back is a little better, I must get up and moving more. Back to the cardio rehab programme.
    I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
    Wherever I am friends call me Betty

    Sim enim est vita
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