Cities: Skylines (the Sim City we deserve)

[MatskiMonk]

@eran0004

If I set surfaces to ShadeSmooth in Blender, is that something that carries through when imported to CSL, or will it just revert to the mesh geometry? Just noticing on your two images that the cycles rendered one has polygonal columns, where as the shaded one is smooth?

 

[eran0004]

@eran0004

If I set surfaces to ShadeSmooth in Blender, is that something that carries through when imported to CSL, or will it just revert to the mesh geometry? Just noticing on your two images that the cycles rendered one has polygonal columns, where as the shaded one is smooth?

Yep, that is carried over into the game. When I model waterspouts I make them rectangular and then add smooth shading so they appear to be round, it’s a great way to reduce the tris count

Edit: I reached the top of the column, here comes the hardest part to model: the sculpture on the top. I prepared some views from the front, back, left and right, calibrated the scale and position of them thanks to the very helpful ball that it's standing on.



This is what I've got so far 😅

 

[MatskiMonk]

My efforts are decidedly more tame!

I've rebuilt the model a couple of times since my last post, drawn the textures in Corel, and learned how to texture(ish). It's not great, the proportions are off - but it's better for the game than it would be if I'd have gone for real world dimensions. edit: still aiming for 1x1 for the house on its own.

This texture map doesn't include transparency, illumination or a normal map... just the diffuse... and the contrast/saturation/brightness isn't finalised yet - apparently these can change significantly when you import to the game. Next step is to do the bare minimum to get it in game, see how it looks, and double check I've not messed anything up completely.

It's nearly 2000 tris, and 900 faces though. I was expecting/aiming for quite a lot less than this. It's the way I've done the windows that has caused it I think.

 

[eran0004]

I've given up on trying to model the statue myself, it's too complex for my skills 😅 (I'm an engineer - not a sculptor)

Instead I've done a bit of a hack and used photogrammetry to generate a mesh from screenshots of the SketchFab model. Obviously this model is not good enough to use in the game, but I'm going to use it as a framework to build my own model around it. It's going to be much easier to model it when I have 3-dimensional guidelines.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Success! Or.. Sucksess!

It's not finished, but at least I know I can get from a blank screen in Blender/Corel/Photoshop to an asset on my map.

Textures are too bright, as expected, and the scaling is off (asset is too small?), there is currently no Alpha map for the glass, no illumination map for lighting, no normal map to give the roof tiles some bump, and it's not snowfall compatible... aaaand there's also no LOD...

... other than that, I'm pretty happy. Blender flipped a bunch of faces at some stage, so my first import didn't show half the faces, but the biggest problem is how unstable the asset editor is in the game. It repeatedly quit to desktop with every attempt at a save operation, then threw a bunch of errors, and as I look at it now... it's mirrored (the 4 panel windows should be on the left side of the building).

Spoiler: For reference

This is the style of the building I was aiming for. It's not actually my old house, you can't get a decent view of that in streetview, but it's very similar externally.

 

[eran0004]

@MatskiMonk Nice! It’s a special feeling to see an asset you made yourself in the game

For the windows you want a specular map rather than an alpha map. If you set the specular map to 255 for the windows, the game will create a glass material along with a fake interior (basically just some floors).

I also recommend running the asset editor in the -noWorkshop mode (you can set that in the Steam launch options: right click on the game in Steam and select properties), otherwise a bunch of memory will be wasted loading a ton of assets you don’t really need when you’re creating your new asset. For me it runs a lot smoother that way.

Edit: Geometry done. Next step will be to make textures.

 

[MatskiMonk]

! It’s a special feeling to see an asset you made yourself in the game

It's certainly encouraging, but I've got a long way to go to achieve my aim.

Thanks for the pointers. Speeding up the asset editor would be really good, but since the Airports DLC I seem to have a bunch of errors, I think I need to rectify them too.

 

[TJ13]

CitySkylines will be next week's Free Epic game again.
For those who are still on the fence can pick it up again.

 

[eran0004]

It's going to take a while to texture this thing.

 

[MatskiMonk]

It's going to take a while to texture this thing.

View attachment 1120051

Highly impressive work though.

 

[eran0004]

Got most of the textures done, pretty much just the base left. I wish the gold would be as shiny in the game too

 

[MatskiMonk]

I'm getting there with my first asset, but, it's taken a back seat to GT7 this past week or so!

Been experimenting with the various elements of the texture. Sorted out the illumination map so the windows light up when they should, and the specular, so it goes clear windows and the fake interior, and the colour map so the front doors can change colour...

... then I remade them all because the texture files were a mess.

... then I made the garage as a prop, so it can be placed where necessary as it's not always in the same place in relation to the house (also with a colour map so the garage door can change colour).

I've even made LOD's for everything, though I realised when I took this, that the LOD diffuse texture for the house is wrong.

Pretty happy now. The modular way I was trying to make the houses hasn't really worked. The texture mapping gets messed up too easily and my normals keep flipping. By the time everything is sorted out it doesn't save that much time. Anyway, I've spent way too much for such a simple asset, but given I reckon I need to make at least 50 or so different houses, it was worth taking the time to figure it all out.

I've also got something like 1700 hours in the game, and I've never noticed that 'trash cans' appear and then disappear when the garbage trucks come round!

 

[sirjim73]

I'm getting there with my first asset, but, it's taken a back seat to GT7 this past week or so!

Been experimenting with the various elements of the texture. Sorted out the illumination map so the windows light up when they should, and the specular, so it goes clear windows and the fake interior, and the colour map so the front doors can change colour...

... then I remade them all because the texture files were a mess.

... then I made the garage as a prop, so it can be placed where necessary as it's not always in the same place in relation to the house (also with a colour map so the garage door can change colour).

I've even made LOD's for everything, though I realised when I took this, that the LOD diffuse texture for the house is wrong.

Pretty happy now. The modular way I was trying to make the houses hasn't really worked. The texture mapping gets messed up too easily and my normals keep flipping. By the time everything is sorted out it doesn't save that much time. Anyway, I've spent way too much for such a simple asset, but given I reckon I need to make at least 50 or so different houses, it was worth taking the time to figure it all out.

View attachment 1123708
View attachment 1123707

I've also got something like 1700 hours in the game, and I've never noticed that 'trash cans' appear and then disappear when the garbage trucks come round!

Your house....
In the middle of your street...

 

[eran0004]

The Independence Monument is now on the workshop!

Steam Workshop::Independence Monument, Kyiv

steamcommunity.com

 

[eran0004]

I shuffled things around quite a bit in the city centre. With the new monument finished I needed a suitable location for it. In the animated gif below there's a before/after comparison of the road layout ("after" is the one with more buildings). As a part of this shuffle I demolished the old trade school campus and created a new university campus, since it has a more monumental style.

 

[eran0004]

Yet another first person drive video. This one is rather long, from the city centre to the new prison, passing by the airport and then joining the highway to the tune of an epic soundtrack. In the distance you can see the new wind turbines I downloaded from the Steam workshop.



Some new roundabout artwork. I created a pattern with a wall network (copy-paste-rotate with MoveIt) as a template for placing the bushes. Worked pretty well.


A new neighbourhood at the outskirts of the city. When I was born, my parents rented an apartment in one of the buildings that this asset is based on, but we moved when I was around two years old so I don't remember much of it. I've been told that triangular balconies are not ideal for furniture. When building this, I checked the total number of homes (district info view) and made sure to add the same amount of parking spaces, plus some additional for visitors.


I'm really happy with how this street turned out, with the tree-lined road, the generous space for walking/biking and the hedgerow.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Lookin' good @eran0004

___

My progress has ground to a halt for a bit whilst I get to grips with GT7. I'm now looking at pretty much every building in the town where I live, wondering how few, or more likely how many, buildings I'll have to model to be happy with my Home Town Project, and I've started looking at Cooper County a bit differently now, wondering if there's assets I could be making to help characterise the various towns and villages around the map - which is crazy because I don't have time for all this! I have decided that the upper West Side of the main city in Cooper County, which was an area called Little Romania or Little Bucharest in previous versions of the city, will now be Little Kyiv, and the centre of the area will be Eran's monument - generally I use the area to whack down some communist block housing, but it will be nice to have something a little more picturesque there aswell!

 

[CodeRedR51]

FYI this game is on sale on Steam this weekend for like 80% off for the base package. Debating if I should give it a go.

 

[eran0004]

The area around the rest stop went through some big changes. I downgraded the arterial road to a collector and built a new highway section to go around the rest stop. The interchange caused me some headache but I like the way it turned out in the end. A few more businesses and restaurants were added to the rest stop and a new farm was built as well.

The new farm required new workers which required new housing.

The crime rate might be a bit high 😅 (actually, the wheels are still there, they're just scaled down by a lot due to some weird glitch)

 

[eran0004]

This is a smart trick, if you play with mods:

 

[eran0004]

I started working on a new map. Going back to the island map concept, that's what I like best. The map has got three different kinds of biomes: forest, shrubland and field. I'm using some taller trees for the forest this time and I really like the look of it! I'll be adding a basic road network around the island and some gravel footpaths as well.

 

[eran0004]

I finished the map and made a rough plan of where things should go. The town will be rather small and based around fishing and tourism. No airport, but perhaps a small grass airstrip and a helipad.

A view of the landscape.

 

[eran0004]

I started building the town and I like the result! I was afraid that the town would be too small because it doesn't look like a big patch of land when you see it from afar. Once I started building though I realised that the area is pretty big after all. Financially I'm already operating at a small profit but perhaps that can be explained by the fact that the town doesn't have any education or healthcare.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Some of my bus lines aren't spawning buses... most frustrating..

 

[eran0004]

Some of my bus lines aren't spawning buses... most frustrating..

View attachment 1138613

Strange. How many buses are there in a depot I wonder?

 

[MatskiMonk]

Strange. How many buses are there in a depot I wonder?

Well, just this moment, I looked at the bus models... mostly I use Biofuel buses, but all the lines used the standard bus model, I changed them all to use the Biofuel bus model and they all started spawning.

There's a reasonable chance this went wrong with the airports update, and I've just not noticed before.

 

[eran0004]

Well, just this moment, I looked at the bus models... mostly I use Biofuel buses, but all the lines used the standard bus model, I changed them all to use the Biofuel bus model and they all started spawning.

There's a reasonable chance this went wrong with the airports update, and I've just not noticed before.

I remember there was a bug related to the biofuel/normal bus depots and the vehicle selection system, but I believe that caused the wrong bus model to appear rather than stopping them from appearing at all. If you have some public transport mod there’s a chance that there is some conflict there.

 

[MatskiMonk]

I remember there was a bug related to the biofuel/normal bus depots and the vehicle selection system, but I believe that caused the wrong bus model to appear rather than stopping them from appearing at all. If you have some public transport mod there’s a chance that there is some conflict there.

As far as I'm aware, the only Public Transport mod I'm using is the Ticket Price Modifier, I switched that on and off and it didn't seem to make any difference. It appears it only affected bus routes that were supposed to be using the default Biofuel bus model. The ones that still worked (as best as I can remember) where ones where I'd specifically selected a model to use. Reselecting the default models cleared it up, and now the buses are working hard to reduce the thousands of people waiting at the bus stops!

Anyhow... managed to squeeze a cargo airport next to my export hub...

The entire area is only half done, the airport and the docks still need a lot of work. Stuff like the toll booths were just dumped in there and I need to find somewhere better for the water pumping truck depot as everything on both sides of the bay still frequently floods.

The airport was supposed to basically take cargo from the internal rail loop that serves my industry, but, of course, as soon as you attach a road to it, everyone starts using trucks to get there... which has meant my traffic levels have jumped... though it's not terrible... the bigger problem is the amount of planes! I might use traffic manager to ban trucks from the road into the cargo airport, hopefully that will force the freight back on to the rail loops.

 

[eran0004]

Some progress on the town centre. Each block is a bit of a puzzle and it takes time finding the right buildings to suit the location as well as the shape of the block. The assets are mostly a mix of British, French and Dutch buildings from the workshop. Around the square I've placed some light commercial uses and the post office. The rest of the town centre is mostly residential, but there's a few corner shops and somewhere there's an old pub hidden away in a narrow alley.

Here's an overview of the town. The harbour is work in progress, I just set it up to be functional for now, since it's the only external connection. Behind the town centre, on top of a rather small hill (barely noticeable) is the church and the cemetery. Behind that is another residential area.

The cobblestone roads I'm using in the town centre don't have any streetlights, but I added some manually as props. I deliberately tried to space them rather far apart, to create a more dramatic atmosphere at night.


Lastly, an overview of the island, to get some sense of the scale.

 

[MatskiMonk]

and somewhere there's an old pub hidden away in a narrow alley

I see "the Cavendish" on the market square, I think that's a fictional pub, but quite a few of the other ones by that person are in the town of Rugby, and I've (gotten) drunk in most of them . The Cavendish asset is much better than his earlier ones.