New World: Milton

[Dyme]

I used a lot of trees, effects and some bridges from WA. Milton includes a lot of large flat empty lots as well as a few houses I built myself. It has 2 parks, 1 pool, 1 gym, 1 library, and all jobs.  

Download link - http://www.4shared.com/file/193791404/45f4ec8c/Milton.html
.world link - http://www.4shared.com/file/206417777/768ffb52/Edit_Milton.html

[snowbawl]

Hmmm, are you just scared, or are you really a n00b who comes waltzing in to peddle your wares?  Needs more pictures, preferably of the entire hood.

Who be you?
Do we know you?
Do we like you?

[Dyme]

Ya, if by n00b you mean new account? I have downloaded from this site before. Made my account today and posted my creation. I should upload more pics, will in a bit. Deleted my account with EA cause I can't load crap onto their exchange.

[Sigmund]

Definitely needs some zoomed-out pictures, preferably displaying how many lots it has and what sizes they are.

[Dyme]

I only took one picture of the lot sizes on the left side of town, it's the png, the ones on the road are large and the ones on the sidewalks are smaller. the ones on the right are smaller to, and roughly the same size, big enough for most lots to be placed. And here are a few more screenshots.

[snowbawl]

So roughly, how many lots are we talking; since you refuse to provide all the pics, you know, like those of the right side of the road?

[Dyme]

86 lots total

21 - community

65 - residential

[Alwayswatching]

The neighborhood looks pretty good, but the lot layout looks very unnatural. You could try spreading it out in smaller clusters, not making groups of lots with the same sizes, and make more standalone houses.

[AloeOwl]

No offense, but you did not give any information. Is this base-game compatible? If not, Some of us would appreciate it if you could try and make it so.

[J. M. Pescado]

The neighborhood looks pretty good, but the lot layout looks very unnatural. You could try spreading it out in smaller clusters, not making groups of lots with the same sizes, and make more standalone houses.

How does the layout look "unnatural"? It looks DENSE, maybe. Of course, lot layouts themselves are unnatural, being that buildings are a creation of man, and not nature...

[uknortherner]

No offense, but you did not give any information. Is this base-game compatible? If not, Some of us would appreciate it if you could try and make it so.

Well, he does say that it uses WA bridges, which would suggest to me that it's not. It'll load up with just the base game, but like Zazazu's 'hood, all WA-specific objects will simply disappear. The problem in this case is that without the bridges, there could be a lot of routing issues.

[eforrest]

I would totally download and use this if the landscaping were just bit softer.  Too many plants in the water, and the tree placement seems to be a little...deliberate?  Otherwise, it's perfect.  Really.  I love the small-town feel.

Would you be willing to upload the .world files so that people who just want it for in-game use can tweak it?

[Zazazu]

Lot placement is too condensed for the small-town feel you seem to be going for. Also, those trees are going to be a huge problem for slower systems. Even if you remembered to cluster. Terrain sculpting on the unpopulated area seems interesting and you have some lovely river action, but I can't really see it for all the laggy trees.

[Alwayswatching]

The neighborhood looks pretty good, but the lot layout looks very unnatural. You could try spreading it out in smaller clusters, not making groups of lots with the same sizes, and make more standalone houses.

How does the layout look "unnatural"? It looks DENSE, maybe. Of course, lot layouts themselves are unnatural, being that buildings are a creation of man, and not nature...

Haha, I knew someone would point this out. I meant unnatural as in it wouldn't occur in a real-life small town.

[Roobs]

For snowbawl:

[Dyme]

Thank you all very muck for the advice, it's true that I may have way overdone it with the trees, but I do like using many different types of trees as it gives a more earthy feel. I do agree that all the same lot sizes is kind of unrealistic... And I am in the process of making a better world though. I've decided to make an island world this time since I'm not happy that I could see the edges of my map even though I used the correct routing tools and spent a lot of time getting the edges of the map just so, I thought it would just fade out like Riverview but it didn't. Oh well. But I have uploaded the Milton.world file for any one that is interested in editing it in CAW. Anyone is welcome to do what ever they want with it. Here's the link: http://www.4shared.com/file/206417777/768ffb52/Edit_Milton.html

[eforrest]

Thanks, Dyme.  I'd like to work on it, if you don't mind, but only for my own use.  However, I will need the additional folder in order for me to tweak it in CAW.  The one containing the layers and lots.  Would you mind uploading those files?

[pbox]

Is this base-game compatible? (..)

Well, he does say that it uses WA bridges, which would suggest to me that it's not. It'll load up with just the base game (..)

Not necessarily. I'm base game, and haven't been able to use any worlds that were made with WA installed, no matter whether they use any objects from WA - even completely empty worlds that only have a few blank lots will work exactly once and then never again. I can use worlds that are made with the base game, so it seems to be the builder's game version and not the objects that are making the difference.

[Dragon Slave]

One thing I see that makes it look unnatural is the flatness of it.  It seems like the elevation of the hood would roll with the hills that surround it, or at least gradually level out to flat terrain in the center; the outskirts still retaining a slope that sweeps upwards into the hillsides.  I probably wouldn't notice it as much if there wasn't a such a sudden change in grass color.  That really makes it look like the hood was plopped down overnight. 

Overall, I don't think it looks bad or anything.  However, you seem open to constructive criticism, and this is one area where there might be room for improvement.

[cassblonde]

For snowbawl:
**pic**

OMG! It's Sim City!!

[J. M. Pescado]

Well, he does say that it uses WA bridges, which would suggest to me that it's not. It'll load up with just the base game, but like Zazazu's 'hood, all WA-specific objects will simply disappear. The problem in this case is that without the bridges, there could be a lot of routing issues.

The only bridges in the game are WA bridges. The Riverview viaducts aren't in Create-A-Crap, so without WA's bridges, you are stuck building only single-landmass maps.

[hussy]

This is actually the type of layout I've been wanting. I might download it and check it out.

[Zazazu]

For snowbawl:
**pic**

OMG! It's Sim City!!

Hah, it kind of reminds me of that, too! Incredibly straight lots on a terrain with trees in every available blank space. I was forever cheating into God mode to add trees in SC4.

[Mops]

Thank you so much for this great neighborhood!  I really like very much the way you organized the placements of the lots. They arenotall located at at street, but also to smaller sideways.  It's my favourite now!!

[tjstreak]

The basic idea of the layout does not bother me.  It looks like many towns in the western United States (i.e. west of the Mississippi and east of California).  Most of these towns were laid out by the railroads when they came through (and a few by the Army), meaning that they are all built along a grid.  It reminds me a lot of a town I might see in Nebraska (Kansas is too flat.)  It's too lush for Wyoming or Montana or the Dakotas.  (Of course, east of the Mississippi, is very heavily forested comparatively speaking - so this could work for many places in Illinois, Indiana, and perhaps Ohio)

It does seem that a lot of the lots do not have a road next to them.  Years ago I had to deal with a subdivision designed by an incompetent developer who set it up so that some of the lots in the subdivision were not next to a road.  We had to replat the entire subdivision -- a major pain.  (The neighbors were not happy upon discoverying that there was an easement by necessity across their property!)

Also the main road though town should exit off of both ends of the map.  Most western towns are sited along major highways.  Those which are not tend to become ghost towns.

A western town is typically divided into blocks which would allow (on the average) four houses in one direction, with two in the other.  The lots tend to be very deep and an alley will run the long way down the block.  This becomes very apparent if you look at the plats for most western towns.  (Or just drive around one.)

I dislike the idea of doing another friggin island neighborhood.  Everyone is doing friggin islands as if most towns are built on islands.  I mean the smart town fathers build their towns on high ground -- not a friggin flood plain!  Islands are for vacations with the understanding that the whole thing will be washed away during the next hurricane.