More Awesome Than You!

It's still a work in progress, but here is the town I've been working on for awhile.  Ashfordville!

Before you say that's it's too straight and deliberate - that was my intention.  I wanted a town that wouldn't push me into an OCD-induced twitch fest.

There are 55 residential lots, and 21 community lots.  There's a trailer/poverty district, and the largest residential lot is only 40x30.

I know it may be too small for many of you, and it still needs some work, but I thought I'd share.  Maybe get some advice on how to give it that "wow" factor.

(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OsMMrD7boms/S2G9ir-yT6I/AAAAAAAABLk/eUw5thN6Hf8/s576/Ashfordville.jpg)

Looks good so far.
I downloded the .world file of Coconut island, and although it's a wee bit close togetherat the start, after I emptied the central huts (after i saved one of each wonderfull make to the housebin, for safekeeping) it was less of a freak-out for me.
Sometimes, i wish we had seperate districs again, or a way of connecting a couple of small worlds together, but that is probably just me, hehe.

I dont have CAW, so I cant comment on what is actualy possable, compared to what I *think* is doable.
However, one of the things I remember loving and hating at the same time on Sims2, was that I liked to seperate certain areas out by adding walls or fences in the neighborhood.

Often, I used to use the walls to fence area's off, so i knew which area belonged to which Sim-Type.
Maybe that might help seperate your poorer districts, and allow you to make fake gated comunities for the ultra-rich ones?

You can take pictures with "Fog" off.

For small communities I had always thought it nice to have a uniform style for all lots.  For a quadrangle community like this a brownstone or modern style should look nice.

It does look a bit boring, but I have seen country towns laid out exactly like this.

Maybe work on the surrounding landscape to make it more interesting? The fields on the slope do not look very realistic. Fields on slopes might be narrower and laid out in steps according to the contours. (I haven't tried this in CAW yet but assume it's more versatile than the field decorative items in TS2.)

To figure out what to put in, think about who built this town and why it was built in that specific spot. Who owns the fields, what do they plant there and who comes to work on the fields? To make it look realistic, there should at least be roads so that they can be reached. You could think about adding a river or a railway, something to add detail. Towns like this would normally be built near a river.

I based the field layout on that of the town that I currently live in.

Thank you for the fence suggestion.  I added some fencing to the "poor" area of town, along with a little fire pit and place for my drug addict or homeless sims to hang out.  I may add a very tiny residential lot in that area for good measure.

And yes, I know that I can take the fog off.  I just wasn't sure if that was standard, i.e., if people wanted to see how it looked exactly in game. 

I like that layout - it looks like I won't have to scroll all over the place just to find whatever building I'm looking for, which I always approve of.

Updated Screenshots (without fog this time)  ;)


(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OsMMrD7boms/S2YWYlzEQ5I/AAAAAAAABMI/oILzROzWbVM/s576/Screenshot%201.jpg)

(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OsMMrD7boms/S2YWY0SVt0I/AAAAAAAABMM/4TZP4LS7QLU/s576/Screenshot%202.jpg)

The "poor" end of town, including a 10X10 lot for homeless sims.

(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OsMMrD7boms/S2YWY4cHr1I/AAAAAAAABMQ/yzITWV9W_RQ/s576/Screenshot%203.jpg)

A view of the lake, and the lot I built for my hippie commune.

(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OsMMrD7boms/S2YWY9J52LI/AAAAAAAABMU/juXS-rZGq8U/s640/Screenshot%204.jpg)

Finally, your business district.  All businesses and city services in a central area of town.  No more driving halfway up the mountain to get to the science labs.