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WIP - Haveki Island - Surprise Update, March 31 (Page 7)
LeeMortis
Posts: 557 Member
Well, I was going to keep this project to myself for a bit longer... but, you all know how it goes. One wants to show off what one has made so far, and hopefully receive some positive feedback 
Having been gone for quite some time from The Sims gaming, I have recently returned to finally play my previous world (Overlook Bay), but found that with the new expansions, and the tremendous work shown off by many world creators here on the forums, I was no longer as excited about OB as I used to be. Mostly because I didn't feel like I could turn it into a proper downtown area with the Night Life high rises... and I also really wanted the bridge from Bridgeport.
Well... the idea behind my new world (while still developing in my head) is that a large chunk of land from the former city of Overlook Bay was separated from the mainland during an earthquake many years ago. What became of it was an island that floated out to the ocean where it finally settled. Over time, people have rebuilt what was on the island and it has now become a very lively and beautiful place where many Sims seek to live.
Just like Overlook Bay, Overlook Island (if I keep that name for it) will feature many different types of terrain and areas so that one can always find a suitable place to live - whether you want to live up in the mountains, in the tropics, in the city or own a farm... plus many more interesting places to choose from. All, of course, blending well together (I should hope) so that the world still feels realistic.
Ok... here are my first pictures. I'll explain them a little as well.
This is just a basic overview taken in CAW, where I have outlined the areas that I am planning on making. As you can see there are a lot of areas still open for ideas... though most of it will be the mountain areas, where you'll be able to go hiking and discover many... lets say - interesting things. Some areas are not added to that map because I want to keep them a secret as well.
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Here is another "planning" picture - this time taken in EIG. It shows what I have done so far (not much as you can see... this will be a long project - don't expect it to be finished any time soon). It also shows the different areas that were listed in the previous pic, which (as you can see) I've not begun work on at all. It's also worth noting that I'll probably redo the layout of roads in the central downtown area, as I'm not happy at all with those.
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Since the idea is that this island is basically a piece of rock that was torn from the mainland during an earthquake many, many years ago you will be seeing many broken rocky areas throughout the island. Here is a bit of beautiful scenery right by the main downtown area.
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The coasline of the main island will mostly be rocks as well, all in keeping with the main story idea. Among the trees there you may notice a large open green patch... I plan to build a beautiful park there. Oh... and you'll just have to imagine those mountain ranges in the background to have proper terrain painting. I'll get there...
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Wanted to show another picture of pretty much the same area, from a different angle. I'm working very hard on the terrain painting, and I'm hoping this will be appreciated by y'all. I'm actually using four different terrain paints on all those rocks. I think they come out quite nicely, if I may say so myself.
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And here is pretty much all I've done today. This will be a small industrial area, possibly featuring the Criminal Warehouse. I hadn't originally planned for an industrial area here, but as I was sculpting and looking around for objects to use in the area this all just kind of happened. Good thing, actually, as that means I don't need to cramp an industrial area in among the firestation and police station and the harbor, like I originally thought I would.
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Well, that's pretty much what I got so far. There is another area that is (almost) finished that I'm not showing off here today because its along the river, and I may need to make changes there as I start working on the opposite side of the river which will be where all the filthy rich sims in town will live.
Hope you enjoy these pictures, and any feedback is welcome. I'll be updating this thread every now and then, when I feel I have something worthy of showing.
Having been gone for quite some time from The Sims gaming, I have recently returned to finally play my previous world (Overlook Bay), but found that with the new expansions, and the tremendous work shown off by many world creators here on the forums, I was no longer as excited about OB as I used to be. Mostly because I didn't feel like I could turn it into a proper downtown area with the Night Life high rises... and I also really wanted the bridge from Bridgeport.
Well... the idea behind my new world (while still developing in my head) is that a large chunk of land from the former city of Overlook Bay was separated from the mainland during an earthquake many years ago. What became of it was an island that floated out to the ocean where it finally settled. Over time, people have rebuilt what was on the island and it has now become a very lively and beautiful place where many Sims seek to live.
Just like Overlook Bay, Overlook Island (if I keep that name for it) will feature many different types of terrain and areas so that one can always find a suitable place to live - whether you want to live up in the mountains, in the tropics, in the city or own a farm... plus many more interesting places to choose from. All, of course, blending well together (I should hope) so that the world still feels realistic.
Ok... here are my first pictures. I'll explain them a little as well.
This is just a basic overview taken in CAW, where I have outlined the areas that I am planning on making. As you can see there are a lot of areas still open for ideas... though most of it will be the mountain areas, where you'll be able to go hiking and discover many... lets say - interesting things. Some areas are not added to that map because I want to keep them a secret as well.
************
Here is another "planning" picture - this time taken in EIG. It shows what I have done so far (not much as you can see... this will be a long project - don't expect it to be finished any time soon). It also shows the different areas that were listed in the previous pic, which (as you can see) I've not begun work on at all. It's also worth noting that I'll probably redo the layout of roads in the central downtown area, as I'm not happy at all with those.
************
Since the idea is that this island is basically a piece of rock that was torn from the mainland during an earthquake many, many years ago you will be seeing many broken rocky areas throughout the island. Here is a bit of beautiful scenery right by the main downtown area.
************
The coasline of the main island will mostly be rocks as well, all in keeping with the main story idea. Among the trees there you may notice a large open green patch... I plan to build a beautiful park there. Oh... and you'll just have to imagine those mountain ranges in the background to have proper terrain painting. I'll get there...
************
Wanted to show another picture of pretty much the same area, from a different angle. I'm working very hard on the terrain painting, and I'm hoping this will be appreciated by y'all. I'm actually using four different terrain paints on all those rocks. I think they come out quite nicely, if I may say so myself.
************
And here is pretty much all I've done today. This will be a small industrial area, possibly featuring the Criminal Warehouse. I hadn't originally planned for an industrial area here, but as I was sculpting and looking around for objects to use in the area this all just kind of happened. Good thing, actually, as that means I don't need to cramp an industrial area in among the firestation and police station and the harbor, like I originally thought I would.
************
Well, that's pretty much what I got so far. There is another area that is (almost) finished that I'm not showing off here today because its along the river, and I may need to make changes there as I start working on the opposite side of the river which will be where all the filthy rich sims in town will live.
Hope you enjoy these pictures, and any feedback is welcome. I'll be updating this thread every now and then, when I feel I have something worthy of showing.
1
Comments
I love your sculpting!
Thanks, man!
Johnnywr:
Thanks! That means a lot coming from you. Love the worlds you're showcasing here on the forums.
VanillaTwilight93:
And, thank you. I'm trying to really work on the sculpting in every section of this world. One of the reasons this will take a long time to complete... but it should be worth it in the end.
Nothing new to show today. Hard days work, and I'm tired. Going to see if I can get the Pets demo working and play around with that tonight instead.
I LOVE your rock sculpting.
Also... I think it did something to CAW as well, because I've been fighting crashes during save several times today, which hasn't happened once prior to the Pets Demo.
Anyway - this is not for ranting! This is for showing progress and having fun, and I'm quite pleased with what I managed to do today. I might also mention the fact that my new project has a new name (as you may notice in the thread title); Haveki Island. "Haveki" means torn in the Tongan language (if the translator I used is correct) which I felt was a good representation of the name and the story I have in mind. I thought it a good idea to change the name of the island, because I'm worried that some people overlook (no pun intended) this thread, thinking it's about my old world Overlook Bay. Names were too similar.
Ok - here are the latest pictures:
Managed to add the Old Pier restaurant from Overlook Bay. It was a lot of work making it fit in a new world because of it's unique lot shape, but I'm really proud and happy about that lot so it needed to be somewhere in the new world as well. Some serious counting and testing got it done in the end. I'm going to make further changes to the lot itself... mainly change the flora to match its new environment.
The lighthouse area also got done today, and I quite like it. The empty square spot where the road connects is reserved for a kind of "Lighthouse Café" that I will build. Originally I wanted the lighthouse connected directly to the café, but after seeing how poorly textured it is up close I decided to place it further away. The end result is probably better than what I first had in mind, as I really like the little path leading out to it.
Just a close-up view of the lighthouse path to show off the custom terrain paint I created specifically for this little area. Large and Small pebbles, which I quite like. I'll probably be using a lot of different terrain paints throughout the island... anyone know if many paint layers will affect speed of game?
And, lastly, I present an overview of the entire area that's been worked on the last couple of days. Not a lot of ground covered, but it's progress... Hey! If I can keep up this pace, I should be done some time after new years... then all that needs to be done is build some 200 lots (estimated final tally).
And now on to responing to comments:
chris2chris:
Thanks, buddy! Good to see you're still around.
BSIRegina:
Thanks. Glad you notice the work I'm (trying) to do with the sculpting. I'm trying, this time, to really make sure that every square inch of the world will be done with love and care. I always did feel that Overlook Bay had a number of areas where I had done a bit of a rush-job. This time I want my Sims to be able to go anywhere and really enjoy where they are (not everything will be pretty... but I'm hoping it will all be well made).
Well I'm glad that you were able to get your game working after the Pets demo. And it seems that all the bugs it brought to CAW is making things difficult for you.
Hi. Yeah, I started with a height map that I made in Photoshop. However it is very rough and basic, so everything needs to be finetuned in CAW with the sculpting tools (notice the green patch in the upper left corner of the lighthouse pic). Many areas are also sculpted from scratch as I come up with ideas... the whole path and rock where the lighthouse is located is completely done with the CAW tools.
Glad you like what you see so far. I hope the CAW issues I've been experiencing can be fixed. It's worrying me since I've got so much to do before this world is done...
You, on the other hand, mess up your game with the Pets demo, probably had to reinstall and update the whole thing from scratch, get back into working on your world and have more sculpting, terrain painting, objects placed, and a lot built!
Hehe... Thanks
As for everything you're describing... I certainly know the feeling. Sometimes I'm just running the camera back and forth, back and forth, looking at everything and wondering how in the world I'm going to connect one area to another, and trying to find out why I'm not liking certain stuff.
But... it's always fun. I don't grow tired of stuff (unless things really start not going my way) - I rather obsess... wanting it to be finished so I can play.
Sneakfeline0:
Thank You. I'll see what I can accomplish over the weekend, and maybe I'll have something new to show on Sunday.
Nice work and I'll definitely be a Lurker to cheer you on.
Thanks, guys! Glad people seem to like what I'm trying to build here.
I'll see if I can post another update today - but progress has been slow so far this weekend. And, the parts that are done aren't much to take pictures of until I get some buildings in place.
Are you going to need help like you did with OB?
Hi, there. Good to see you! Yeah, I'm fairly confident this world will become much better than Overlook Bay... and larger
As for help with building... I'll probably be looking for a couple of lots. Many from Overlook Bay will be re-used in this world as well, and many will be built by myself. Especially residential as I only got one of those in OB. I'll notify when I'm looking for lots.
Just thought I'd pop on in and let everybody know I'm still working on this world. Nothing's been finished that's picture-worthy, though (working in the downtown area, so it's mostly just empty lots with adjacent roads, and a few scattered trees...).
Good news, though, is that the crashing issues I was having has (knock on wood) been fixed. It was as simple as the LAA thing, which I had forgotten all about since my new computer handles the game so well now. Apparently, CAW requires LAA still.
Keep you posted! And thanks for all the encouraging words.
Thanks.
Got a little bit of an update for you guys today. Let's cut right to the chase and present the pictures:
Been working mostly in the downtown area so far, and here is a cool little area that I was very happy with. However - turns out the game doesn't let me make it routable under the bridge. This was one of those things I had intended not to show prior to release, but since it won't work in game anyway I might just as well show it off. Fishing and collecting was supposed to be available under the bridge there... anyone know if there is a way to allow a Sim to route there?
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This will be the only residential area in the central downtown area. Some temporary lots were placed to make the picture more eye-catching. Lots were made by happyjme for the Overlook Bay world. These lots will be there in the final version of this town as well, but I may switch up the order of them a little. I feel these townhouses will work very nicely right there by the coastline.
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The stadium I built for Overlook Bay has found a new home on Haveki Island as well. Some further changes to the stadium lot to replace the trees will be done so it fits in its new non-tropical environment. I also attempted a nice little floral WELCOME notice adjacent to it.
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As I'm pretty much done with downtown (until I get lots in place, after which further decor will make its way in), I have today moved on to the small river area between downtown and where the filthy rich Sims will live. Maybe, technically, it's not a river; rather an inlet. Either way, it ends in a tiny lake/pond and a small waterfall.
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So these are the pictures I'll show today. I've already begun work on the luxurious area as well. Done the roads and placed the lots that will be available for rich Sim mansions. Tomorrow, if time and inspiration allows, I'll finetune the sculpting, paint and place trees and decor.
Hope you enjoy this small update!
Hey, buddy. Glad you found this thread. If you are interested, I might be interested in a couple more townhouses (as apartments, like you suggested in the OB thread) for my new world. Let me know if you have the inspiration, and I'll let you know the specifics (lot sizes and such) for what I would like.
No hurry, however, as this world won't be completed in a long time yet.
I have made some decent progress so far this weekend. Finished up the upper class area today, and started working on parts of the massive mountains. A refreshing change from the downtown stuff I've been working on the past few days...
I'll see if I can get some new pictures up tomorrow, or Monday.
Thanks. I'm quite happy with my sculpting work so far. I find that I'm learning a lot of new little tricks each time I load up CAW. I'm thinking that if I ever make another world after this one I'm not going to bother with a height map at all
I've been taking a break for a couple of days (wanted to play for a bit), and I've also exported a personal "Build Version" of the town so I can get started on building some of the downtown lots now that I am basically finished with that area. So that means that I'll either be building lots or continuing with the world file, depending on what mood I am in.
Ok. Said I was going to bring another picture update after the weekend, and here it is:
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After downtown was done, I moved across the river/inlet and began work on the upper class area. Here you will find 5 beautiful mansions for your filthy rich Sims, where they can enjoy some privacy and keep the papparazzi out of their back yards. As you can see here, I've also painted up a large part of the islands spectacular mountains. It's been tough work, but I feel they're coming together nicely. It's a pain in the rear since I wanted those extremely steep and high mountain sides, and it's stretching the terrain paint awkwardly. I've discovered some ways to improve it, so it shouldn't be too noticable for the most part.
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Here you see part of the inlet between downtown and the rich hood. This particular area offers some fishing, and a nice slope leading down to the water on each side of the river.
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The road leading up to the mansion of all mansions on Haveki Island (yeah, the house is not there yet). I already have a family planned that I know will live up there... they'll be celebrities. I went with the default French Roads in the rich sim area, but I may change that slightly. It was the only thing that made the French bridge come out naturally...
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And, finally, I present yet another fishing spot. I like this little area where you'll be able to walk along the river or on the raised area. Maybe you'll find some surprises there too? I'll be aiming to add interesting areas all over the map for you to explore. Some quite simple, but still nice (like this one), and I'll also be creating some more spectacular hidden places around the world. It's one of the things I'm really aiming to do with this one... allow for people to find really scenic and fun areas where you'd least expect them.
Alright. That's it for today. I don't know when I'll have another picture update for this world, but I'm fairly certain that you will see some completely different kind of scenery the next time, as I'm planning on starting work on the other side of the suspension bridge, where things are not so fancy... I sure hope it comes out like I've pictured it in my head
Also thought I'd announce that I've started to put together the story behind Haveki Island. It's been the plan all along that I include some tombs and other puzzle solving throughout the island that will help you uncover some deep secrets. The way it's shaping up, I'm hoping it will present a good, fun challenge for those who like to play with adventurous Sims. The town, however, will function just as well even if you're just looking for a nice place to live and work and party and everything else a Sim likes to do!
But, to give you an idea of how things will work in the Story/Mystery part of town, here's a few hints: In all kinds of locations spread throughout the town you may or may not stumble onto clues... things that tell part of a story - the story of how Haveki Island, once part of a small town called Overlook Bay, drifted out to the ocean after a massive earthquake. If these things interest you, there will be directions on where to go to find out more information, and if you start to follow the trails, you'll soon find yourself immersed in an epic story. Not only will you have to find your way through a variety of tombs and other hidden places on various locations, but you will also have to solve other kinds of puzzles and mysteries so that you can continue your quest.