Create-A-World Tips, Tricks, and Annoyances

[Elanorea]

After doing an uninstall and reinstall of the base and WA, I still was having crashing on edit-in-game (or loading the exported map) with my map only. I then tried cleaning up my road bits and making sure that I had no dark blue connections. Saved and tried to edit in game again. Golden. Now I can move on to placing trees and such with the knowledge that all my work will not be in vain.

EDIT: Done.

You can download here. It is called Dragon Cay. There is a dragon, and the cay looks like its tail.

Remember, lots are basically blank and none of the functional rabbitholes have been placed. Should work in just basegame, but I'd be interested in knowing if some of the objects (mainly the dragon head) show without WA. Also remember, I like tiny lots. Most of the lots are at least 14x14, but I do have a 10x10 and a few 11x25s. There are very few "large" residentials over 20x20, but a few of the designated community lots should hold multiple rabbithole buildings. Loads if you use the compact ones found in the Pudding Factory.

I was going to try it, especially as I'm running the Base game only, but your link's broken.

Think this is the correct link: http://www.4shared.com/file/175740710/6fb22351/Dragon_Cay.html?s=1
Downloading now, will see if I can get it to work...

[uknortherner]

Think this is the correct link: http://www.4shared.com/file/175740710/6fb22351/Dragon_Cay.html?s=1
Downloading now, will see if I can get it to work...

Cheers! Off to give it a try.


EDIT: Installed without any problems. As expected, WA-specific decorations do not show up in the base game, so the dragon head isn't there. Another issue is with the road running along the beach near the billboard - it's both partially obscured by a lot and partially buried by land.

[Lion]

Thanks for the link.

Zaza, you need to paint some areas off limits to sims. They just run up the cliff to visit the gym.  

Also, none of the community lots have names, but interactions are fine (e.g., visit park). No interaction with the dragon head park.

[Edit] Liking the little fishing pier. Simple and very nice.

[Edit] Some of the roads are not conforming to the terrain. How to fix it? I don't know.

[Edit] If you want to give address to the lots, you can do that in the property browser of the lot.

[J. M. Pescado]

Zaza, you need to paint some areas off limits to sims. They just run up the cliff to visit the gym. 

I don't see anything wrong with that if they can make it that way. The wife does stuff like that all the time. She will run over cars, fences, and even small buildings in her direct-line path to whatever she wants to get to. If an obstacle is shorter than it is wide, she goes over it.

[Lion]

Custom Roads

To use roads other than the default base game one, go to "Road Tool", click on "Create Custom Road". You will then select textures for all the components.

If you don't want sidewalks, like mentioned by KawaiiMiyo, you can either use dirt_intersection_crosswalk.dds for the sidewalk opacity map to eliminate the gap, or use grass_medium_base.dds for the Sidewalk Textures - Base Texture to make it disappear. See below (Intersection on top, Road in the middle, and Sidewalk on the bottom):



On the left, it's a dirt road with no sidewalk (or grass_medium sidewalk). It's thinner but does not look good connecting to intersections. It also has a detail texture that makes it lighter in the middle. On the right, it's a dirt road with solid sidewalk. It's wider and connects well with intersections.

Textures for the left one:
Street Textures:
Base Texture       dirt_light_base.dds
Detail Texture       dirt_street_detail.dds

Sidewalk Textures:
Base Texture       grass_medium_base.dds
Normal Map       dirt_sidewalk_base_n.tga
Opacity Map       dirt_sidewalk_opacity.dds

Intersection Textures:
Corner Texture       dirt_intersection_corner.dds
Corner Normal Map    dirt_intersection_corner_n.tga
Crosswalk Texture    dirt_intersection_crosswalk.dds

Textures for the right one:
Street Textures:
Base Texture       dirt_light_base.dds
Detail Texture       dirt_intersection_crosswalk

Sidewalk Textures:
Base Texture       dirt_light_base.dds
Normal Map       dirt_sidewalk_base_n.tga
Opacity Map       dirt_intersection_crosswalk.dds

Intersection Textures:
Corner Texture       dirt_intersection_corner.dds
Corner Normal Map    dirt_intersection_corner_n.tga
Crosswalk Texture    dirt_intersection_crosswalk.dds

You can also have a thinner windier sidewalk:



Notice it does not connect well with it's own intersection.

Textures for this one:
Street Textures:
Base Texture       dirt_light_base.dds
Detail Texture       dirt_street_detail.dds
         
Sidewalk Textures:
Base Texture       dirt_light_base.dds
Normal Map       dirt_sidewalk_base_n.tga
Opacity Map       dirt_sidewalk_opacity.dds

Intersection Textures:
Corner Texture       dirt_intersection_corner.dds
Corner Normal Map    dirt_intersection_corner_n.tga
Crosswalk Texture    dirt_intersection_crosswalk.dds

You can change the base textures to have different roads. Here are some examples.


Using dirt_street_base.dds


Using mulch_pineNeedles.dds


Using paving_flagstoneGray.dds and sand_dark_base.dds

[Zazazu]

I was going to try it, especially as I'm running the Base game only, but your link's broken.

Fixed now.

Zaza, you need to paint some areas off limits to sims. They just run up the cliff to visit the gym. 

Perhaps they are starting their workout with a little rock wall climbing.

Also, none of the community lots have names, but interactions are fine (e.g., visit park). No interaction with the dragon head park.

No, none of them have names. I did set types. Three of the big lots on the plateau are general, but there is a fishing lot and a school area, museum, art gallery, etc. There shouldn't be any interaction with the dragon head because it isn't a lot.

Some of the roads are not conforming to the terrain. How to fix it? I don't know.

I think I saw something about that. Will look into it.

If you want to give address to the lots, you can do that in the property browser of the lot.

I need to map it first. This was quick and dirty.

[Lion]

Now a question. I can't find the dds files for the new terrain paints that came with WA in the world tool. Can you?

[Lady Moiraine]

I was going to try it, especially as I'm running the Base game only, but your link's broken.

Fixed now.

I just downloaded it and had no trouble with the link, it installed through the launcher just fine, am going in game now to check it out, looks really good!

[ioscream]

I stll haven't got the "feel" for snapping roads to intersections and bridges.  What do I do - pull the road nearly to the bridge and then let go and see what happens?  Pull the road to the centre of the bridge?   And what signal do you get that a snap has occurred?   Last time I thought I had snapped the road to the bridge it was actually running underneath it into the river.

Usually what I've been doing is zooming in close to the road, and using one of the angle-anchors to make it as straight on to the next piece as possible.. then just dragging the blue anchor over top of the piece you are trying to connect to.. you know it snaps because the blue anchor disappears and the roads become one piece.. It takes a few tries to get it right, but just keep moving it around and releasing until it works.

Edit: Road anchors turn from dark blue to light blue, intersections, i believe, turn to green.

[ariffrazalin]

And here are the minimum lot size to fit in community lot rabbitholes

Bistro              : 20 x 20

Bookstore           : 15 x 20

City Hall           : 40 x 40

Corporate tower    : 30 x 30

Criminal           : 30 x 30

Day Spa      : 20 x 20

Diner              : 25 x 15

Graveyard           : 10 x 15

Hospital           : 30 x 40

Military           : 50 x 40

Police Station   : 25 x 30

School      : 30 x 40

Science      : 30 x 40

Supermarket   : 15 x 20

Stadium      : 40 x 50

Theathre           : 25 x 30

this is just for the rabbithole objects, make the lot larger if you want to place in decorations.

[jeredwolffe]

Ok here's a stupid question.  Has anyone been able to edit an already running hood?

[Lady Moiraine]

Ok here's a stupid question.  Has anyone been able to edit an already running hood?

That's more or less why I came on for my question, as far as I can see, we can only edit Rivervew and Sunset Valley, we use the lite version and that will load without any buildings or sims.  What I want to know is where are the Adventures worlds, can we use them to edit to make regualr towns?  I've tried editing someone else's worlds and I get an error that it can't open packaged files, so a world that has already been uploaded and installed won't work.  I'd love to be able to use the 3 adventure worlds as my regular towns!

[ioscream]

Ok here's a stupid question.  Has anyone been able to edit an already running hood?

That's more or less why I came on for my question, as far as I can see, we can only edit Rivervew and Sunset Valley, we use the lite version and that will load without any buildings or sims.  What I want to know is where are the Adventures worlds, can we use them to edit to make regualr towns?  I've tried editing someone else's worlds and I get an error that it can't open packaged files, so a world that has already been uploaded and installed won't work.  I'd love to be able to use the 3 adventure worlds as my regular towns!

I'm sure someone will hack them

[Zazazu]

My file has been mostly fixed. There is still a little bit of road wonkiness on the road that runs along the southern beach, but I've smoothed everything as much as I can without screwing up lots, and have conformed lot edges. You might notice some graphical issues when running quickly over the terrain, but they resolve on stopping. Sims can no longer climb mountains. There is now a clear pathway into the partially hidden beach rich in rare fish.  Lots are named.


Looking at the size constraints above, you'd definitely need the mini rabbit holes from Pudding Factory for my terrain. Works for me since that's what I'd intended to do, but might be a concern for others.

[Beehoosis]

Has anyone tried the "effects" yet?  My sailboats and seagulls show up fine, but I can't get the buoys nor the various types of surf to work at all.

[Lion]

Zazazu had buoys.

Do you all have white boxes in lots when you edit them in game? Those are mainly at the foot of stairs and can't be deleted. I thought the last patch should have fixed it, but I'm still having them.

[ioscream]

My file has been mostly fixed. There is still a little bit of road wonkiness on the road that runs along the southern beach, but I've smoothed everything as much as I can without screwing up lots, and have conformed lot edges. You might notice some graphical issues when running quickly over the terrain, but they resolve on stopping. Sims can no longer climb mountains. There is now a clear pathway into the partially hidden beach rich in rare fish.  Lots are named.


Looking at the size constraints above, you'd definitely need the mini rabbit holes from Pudding Factory for my terrain. Works for me since that's what I'd intended to do, but might be a concern for others.

Where were you having wonkiness on the road? Was it due to the fact that you had hills or something? Just trying to think of things to consider while I'm making my "world." I have a lot of rolling hills, and "interesting" terrain. Currently the roads look fine in the CAW, but I'd be curious to know what it looks like in-game.

[Moryrie]

Zazazu had buoys.

Do you all have white boxes in lots when you edit them in game? Those are mainly at the foot of stairs and can't be deleted. I thought the last patch should have fixed it, but I'm still having them.

Yeah, I still have them.

[J. M. Pescado]

Ok, flush to roads. What if my road network consists of mainly sidewalks. Should houses best be placed flush to the sidewalk too? Would sims go nuts routing if they ain't?

No. Sidewalks are a purely cosmetic routing device, though. They don't grant any bonus and often cause a speed penalty as sims preferentially use them in preference to straight-line navigation, while granting no intrinsic movement boost like roads do. Sims don't otherwise care all that much about sidewalks, they are unimportant. You can place lots against them or not, it does not matter.

[ingeli]

Edit-in-game DOES work, it just loads for a really long time. I left it on overnight, and this morning it was there. It works, but it has one flaw: it seems to load the caches (like all installed windows for example) really slow, and CAST is superlaggy. All custom content seems to have the same laggy effect. At the moment I have only sims3packs in, and all this is on a Windows7 machine. FPS numbers are high. An FPS limiter for CAW and Edit-In-Game, is that possible?

[Lion]

Ok, flush to roads. What if my road network consists of mainly sidewalks. Should houses best be placed flush to the sidewalk too? Would sims go nuts routing if they ain't?

No. Sidewalks are a purely cosmetic routing device, though. They don't grant any bonus and often cause a speed penalty as sims preferentially use them in preference to straight-line navigation, while granting no intrinsic movement boost like roads do. Sims don't otherwise care all that much about sidewalks, they are unimportant. You can place lots against them or not, it does not matter.

Sweet!

Edit-in-game DOES work, it just loads for a really long time. I left it on overnight, and this morning it was there. It works, but it has one flaw: it seems to load the caches (like all installed windows for example) really slow, and CAST is superlaggy. All custom content seems to have the same laggy effect. At the moment I have only sims3packs in, and all this is on a Windows7 machine. FPS numbers are high. An FPS limiter for CAW and Edit-In-Game, is that possible?

My Edit-in-game works well. It loaded Sunset Valley Lite with a few roads I added in 1 minute and 34 seconds. The CAST is not laggy at all. But I don't have any CC.

[Zazazu]

Yeah, without CC it was loading in about a minute. With, I don't know, as I haven't tried it. My game itself loads in about 1.5 minutes with a fair amount of CC.

No. Sidewalks are a purely cosmetic routing device, though. They don't grant any bonus and often cause a speed penalty as sims preferentially use them in preference to straight-line navigation, while granting no intrinsic movement boost like roads do.

This is most evident in SimEgypt, where it takes a good two hours to get from the pyramids to Al Whatever's Market due to all the crazy windy sidewalks.

I have most of the plateau populated, just having an issue with the mini rabbit holes. I used the normal Business, Athletic, Culinary (diner), and Law Enforcement buildings. My Science, Military, Criminal, and Medical buildings use the mini rabbit holes and I'm having major placement issues. I did find one major benefit of being able to design your own thing: from the plateau, I can see townies walking, jogging, etc. down below, even to the beach. That will probably be a bit more difficult when the area is built up.

[jrcaporal]

This tool is seriously shit!

[kuronue]

How lovely. I'm sure we were all waiting with baited breath for jrcaporal to come along and give us their professional opinion. It's alright everyone, you can sleep at night again, jrcaporal thinks the tool is shit.

[isabel_c]

Is anyone else having their lots vanish?

I've been trying to make a themed world, with a lot of small residential lots to emulate an urban setting.  The map I'm using is 1024x1024, and it has 146 lots total.  Most of these lots are clones; I cloned the empty residential lots in CAW, then dropped in a bunch of identical houses in edit-in-game mode.  The problem is that the blocks of lots I made last night vanished after I saved a a bunch of new lots in edit-in-game today.  The missing lots were still present in the Lots folder, but did not appear on the map in CAW or in edit-in-game, and I could draw new lots on top of them in CAW. 

So I loaded a back-up copy of the world, saved it with a new name, and went back into edit-in-game to drop in the new houses and community locations.  I added in all the new stuff, everything looked fine in edit-in-game, I saved and quit, and when CAW reloaded the map, all of the old lots had vanished again.  They still exist in the Lots folder, but I can't tell which lot is which and am not ready to experiment by swapping random files around.