Difference between revisions of "Tutorials:Creating A World That Doesn't Suck - Roads and Sidewalks"

From SimsWiki
Jump to: navigation, search
(Created page with "center {| class="nicetable" align="center" |- ! Basics | Starting a New World, Navigating C...")
 
Line 37: Line 37:
  
 
'''DO NOT EDIT WITHOUT DIRECT PERMISSION FROM TVRDESIGNS OR QBUILDERZ.'''
 
'''DO NOT EDIT WITHOUT DIRECT PERMISSION FROM TVRDESIGNS OR QBUILDERZ.'''
 +
 +
===Roads and Sidewalks===
 +
Roads are a crucial part of any world because they allow for sims to get around using bikes and cars. Some users compare the road tool to Photoshop and Illustrator's pen tool, and it is true, it is rather similar. You have 4 points along a road section. An end point, an angle arm, another angle arm and another end point. Manipulating these points is the trick to getting great and naturally curving roads. Its not really something that can be taught via a text guide, so for a reference, I have created a video on the subject.
 +
 +
<span style="color:#ff0000">[ Curving Roads and Sidewalks by '''TVRdesigns''']</span>
 +
{| width="80%" style="background: transparent;"
 +
|class="MainPageRight" width="25%" rowspan="5" valign="Top" style="border: 1px dashed #055a81; padding: .5em 1em; margin: 1em; background-color: #f2feff;"|
 +
<span style="color:#ff0000">'''Tip #6'''</span> - You can make roads with custom textures, these will be covered later on.
 +
|}
 +
 +
===Road Grading===
 +
[[Image:TVRcaw_TVRcaw_roadgradingflickerexample.jpg|thumb|250px|right|An example of a road flickering (click for full size.]]
 +
[[Image:TVRcaw_roadgradingbumpyexample.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Sunset Valley's bumpy roads (click for full size).]]
 +
Road grading is an important part of placing roads and sidewalks in CAW. If you do not grade your roads, they will flicker when you are in-game. There are examples of this in Sunset Valley. Another very annoying issue that presents itself when a user doesn't grade their roads is also present in Sunset Valley; bumpiness. As you can see in the photo to the right, this issue would make for an excruciatingly funny driving animation, but for actual playability and aesthetics, it is insane, if not completely unrealistic. Grading your roads fixes this issue. Open up the tab located next to the actual roads tool and examine the modes that it presents you.
 +
*The most common tool that you can use to grade your roads is the ''Smoothen Road'' tool. When this is selected, you can click on a particular road and it will level itself so that it is smooth. You can also click the little circle next to ''Connected Roads'' for the tool to level every road that is connected to the one that you click.
 +
*The ''Limit Road Grade'' function is a rather unspectacular one. Basically, you input how many tiles you want the slope to last for and it smooths your road so that it ascends/descends in that amount of tiles.
 +
*Finally, the ''Flatten Road'' button can be used in conjunction with the ''Smoothen Road'' tool to make roads completely level. Place the mouse at the level of the road that you want to level the entire road to and click.
 +
 +
{| width="70%" style="background: transparent;"
 +
|class="MainPageRight" width="25%" rowspan="5" valign="Top" style="border: 1px dashed #055a81; padding: .5em 1em; margin: 1em; background-color: #f2feff;"|
 +
<span style="color:#ff0000">'''Tip #7'''</span> - Make sure that you don't accidentally have 'Connected Roads' selected when you are using these tools. If you use it accidentally, the difference may not be completely apparent until after you have saved or you cannot use the Undo button to go any further back.
 +
|}
 +
 +
Along with the above modes, you are given Options for each mode that are very useful for getting that nice grading.
 +
*The ''Speed and Quality'' slider can be used to change the factors that are involved when you grade your slope. For smoother slope, use the "Quality" end of the slider whereas, for a slope that cars can go up or down faster on, use the Speed end. However, most roads can be graded just as effectively by using the default setting.
 +
*If you want to have more, or less, tiles affected by the grading tool on either side of your roads, you can change the settings in the ''Road Edge Parameters'' box at the bottom of the ''Road Grading Tool'' tab. The numbers are exact in game tiles, just like everything else in CAW. The tool is set to 3 by default, but you can go as high as you want. This can be useful if you are wanting to sculpt cliffs along a road that is going up hill because it can give you more room to work with.
 +
 +
 +
 +
 +
 +
'''There is a section on getting the perfect slope further into this guide.'''

Revision as of 08:35, 16 July 2011

TVRcaw banner.jpg
Basics Starting a New World, Navigating CAW, The User Interface, Exporting a World, etc. The Grid About the Grid, Using the Grid with Roads and Lots, etc.
Roads and Sidewalks Working with Roads, Grading, Using Custom Textured Roads, etc. Objects, Bridges and Effects Placing, moving and rotating objects, working with bridges and effects, etc.
Lots Placing and moving lots, Conforming Edges, Sloped Lots, etc. Buildings and Road Layouts Making a Workable Road Layout, Picking a Building Style, etc]]
Sculpting Using the tools, sculpting hills, cliffs, beaches, etc.(Includes Videos) Distant Terrain About distant terrain, placing distant terrain, making custom distant terrain, etc.
Terrain Painting Painting your world like a pro, with technique suggestions from creators.(Includes Videos) CAW and S3PE Making your world a city, changing sky, ocean and sun color, etc. ((ADVANCED!)


Contents


DO NOT EDIT WITHOUT DIRECT PERMISSION FROM TVRDESIGNS OR QBUILDERZ.

Roads and Sidewalks

Roads are a crucial part of any world because they allow for sims to get around using bikes and cars. Some users compare the road tool to Photoshop and Illustrator's pen tool, and it is true, it is rather similar. You have 4 points along a road section. An end point, an angle arm, another angle arm and another end point. Manipulating these points is the trick to getting great and naturally curving roads. Its not really something that can be taught via a text guide, so for a reference, I have created a video on the subject.

[ Curving Roads and Sidewalks by TVRdesigns]

Tip #6 - You can make roads with custom textures, these will be covered later on.

Road Grading

An example of a road flickering (click for full size.
Sunset Valley's bumpy roads (click for full size).

Road grading is an important part of placing roads and sidewalks in CAW. If you do not grade your roads, they will flicker when you are in-game. There are examples of this in Sunset Valley. Another very annoying issue that presents itself when a user doesn't grade their roads is also present in Sunset Valley; bumpiness. As you can see in the photo to the right, this issue would make for an excruciatingly funny driving animation, but for actual playability and aesthetics, it is insane, if not completely unrealistic. Grading your roads fixes this issue. Open up the tab located next to the actual roads tool and examine the modes that it presents you.

  • The most common tool that you can use to grade your roads is the Smoothen Road tool. When this is selected, you can click on a particular road and it will level itself so that it is smooth. You can also click the little circle next to Connected Roads for the tool to level every road that is connected to the one that you click.
  • The Limit Road Grade function is a rather unspectacular one. Basically, you input how many tiles you want the slope to last for and it smooths your road so that it ascends/descends in that amount of tiles.
  • Finally, the Flatten Road button can be used in conjunction with the Smoothen Road tool to make roads completely level. Place the mouse at the level of the road that you want to level the entire road to and click.

Tip #7 - Make sure that you don't accidentally have 'Connected Roads' selected when you are using these tools. If you use it accidentally, the difference may not be completely apparent until after you have saved or you cannot use the Undo button to go any further back.

Along with the above modes, you are given Options for each mode that are very useful for getting that nice grading.

  • The Speed and Quality slider can be used to change the factors that are involved when you grade your slope. For smoother slope, use the "Quality" end of the slider whereas, for a slope that cars can go up or down faster on, use the Speed end. However, most roads can be graded just as effectively by using the default setting.
  • If you want to have more, or less, tiles affected by the grading tool on either side of your roads, you can change the settings in the Road Edge Parameters box at the bottom of the Road Grading Tool tab. The numbers are exact in game tiles, just like everything else in CAW. The tool is set to 3 by default, but you can go as high as you want. This can be useful if you are wanting to sculpt cliffs along a road that is going up hill because it can give you more room to work with.



There is a section on getting the perfect slope further into this guide.

Retrieved from "http://simswiki.info/index.php?title=Tutorials:Creating_A_World_That_Doesn%27t_Suck_-_Roads_and_Sidewalks&oldid=51519"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
game select
Toolbox