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#1 Old 16th Jun 2015 at 6:57 PM Last edited by Jawusa : 10th Aug 2019 at 2:10 PM.
Default Mars Themed World
I would like to create a Mars themed world but I have never created any worlds before.

I tried couple of times but then, I gave up.
I'm trying it again...

Anyway, I started with the world today; I sculpted some mountains and craters and painted them with recolored terrain paint textures.
What do you think? Does it look like Mars? Can I start laying the roads and add the lots? Or does it need more work?

Edit: Pictures Removed

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Lab Assistant
#2 Old 16th Jun 2015 at 7:24 PM
If only ou could conect astronout career with traveller mod to come there. Quite possible.
Top Secret Researcher
#3 Old 16th Jun 2015 at 8:44 PM Last edited by mixa97sr : 16th Jun 2015 at 9:51 PM.
Are you kidding me?! The terrain paint looks awesome! Completely wonderful for starters...

You could start adding roads and lots... try with dirt texture. You don't have to terrain-paint all of the world before laying out the city plan. You can adapt terrain to its plan later.
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#4 Old 16th Jun 2015 at 9:14 PM
Thanks.

I think, I'll have to redo some of the crates because they are too close to each other...

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Mad Poster
#5 Old 16th Jun 2015 at 10:28 PM
IMO you should integrate a distant terrain into the world. I think a Mars World will be awesome, especially if you recolor the skies!

That being said, there needs to be a way to make sure that their helmets are on at the right time...
Field Researcher
#6 Old 16th Jun 2015 at 11:51 PM
Quote: Originally posted by jje1000
That being said, there needs to be a way to make sure that their helmets are on at the right time...


I suppose if you set the world state to winter all the time, disable snow, rain and fog and then give every Sim a spacesuit as outerwear then they should always have a helmet outside.
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#7 Old 17th Jun 2015 at 11:31 AM
@jje1000 I'm going to recolor the sky but first, I want to place all of the lots. As for the distant terrain, I have never created any custom DTs before (and I don't know how to do it) So, I'll ask someone for help for that.

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Mad Poster
#8 Old 17th Jun 2015 at 12:25 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Jawusa
@jje1000 I'm going to recolor the sky but first, I want to place all of the lots. As for the distant terrain, I have never created any custom DTs before (and I don't know how to do it) So, I'll ask someone for help for that.


I would suggest taking an existing distant terrain and recoloring it- it would also be much simpler!

I also have uploaded a procedural terrain sculptor, which can take you pre-sculpted terrain and erode it for more realism: http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...8&goto=lastpost

Quote: Originally posted by BourgeoisBanana
I suppose if you set the world state to winter all the time, disable snow, rain and fog and then give every Sim a spacesuit as outerwear then they should always have a helmet outside.


I would agree with that- you could have an airlock room that could be semi-enclosed (so it's essentially outside) in front of every door.

The only issue I could see is the frost that would appear on the ground. I think there is some way of disabling it depending on the terrain paint sound category used (?). That, or NRaas' Tempest might be the way to solve it.

By the way, have any of you seen the new trailer for The Martian?
Mad Poster
#9 Old 17th Jun 2015 at 5:00 PM
You would have to export the heightmap as a .png and then put it into World Machine.
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#10 Old 17th Jun 2015 at 5:05 PM Last edited by Jawusa : 17th Jun 2015 at 6:20 PM.
I already tried it. It's fairly complicated to use...

Could you help me with that tool, please?

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Scholar
#11 Old 17th Jun 2015 at 8:13 PM
Oh wow that terrain painting is gorgeous! Definitely getting that Mars vibe.

And I'd say not to worry too much about the distant terrain yet. I've never made a world myself but I get the impression that people typically leave the DT until very near the end of the process.

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Mad Poster
#12 Old 17th Jun 2015 at 10:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Jawusa
I already tried it. It's fairly complicated to use...

Could you help me with that tool, please?


Sure. Finish sculpting and lot placement, and send me the heightmap png. If you want, you could also toss me the weather files so I can take a look at them.

I'm looking forward to this, the initial work looks great!


Quote: Originally posted by Gingerxyz
And I'd say not to worry too much about the distant terrain yet. I've never made a world myself but I get the impression that people typically leave the DT until very near the end of the process.


IMO it's a bit easier to do the distant terrain at the start, since you can then sculpt to make it blend in, and plan your world around certain views, etc. Leaving it to the last means that you might have to go back and do a whole lot of re-sculpting and changes.

This was what happened in Point Ouerbacker, which was basically done but lacking a distant terrain. A large amount of work was needed to basically jury-rig two distant terrains together to make something that fit in, and a lot of the lots were placed fairly close to the edge of the lot, meaning that the distant terrain was a bit too close + the sculpting needed to avoid changing finished work.
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#13 Old 18th Jun 2015 at 10:48 AM
OK. I'll let you know if I'm finished with sculpting. I really appreciate your help. Thank you!

As for the DT, is it possible to create the DT using World Machine?

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Mad Poster
#14 Old 18th Jun 2015 at 2:03 PM
Yes, but I don't know how. It will probably work better to use the game's existing distant terrains, and then recolor them.
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#15 Old 9th Oct 2015 at 7:59 AM
Sorry for abandoning this project. I have been working on this.

I edited the sky colors but the colors still don't please me...
Screenshots

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Mad Poster
#16 Old 9th Oct 2015 at 3:51 PM
Perfect, The Martian just came out and I've been looking around for an alien world!

Let me know if you're still interested in putting this through World Machine.

It can do some pretty nice stuff:



IMO it would be a fun 'colonization world', where players essentially build up a colony from say, a default colony core. As such, it could be that you simply have a few lots placed down at the start, and instead provide a network of roads for simmers to place down lots. This could save on a lot of building!


Another cool thing you should look into is setting the temperatures cold enough so that sims automatically change into their outer clothing whenever they go outside.

That would mean that players could set the outer clothing to be a space suit, and include a semi-enclosed "air lock" porch for more realism.
Mad Poster
#17 Old 10th Oct 2015 at 12:38 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Jawusa
I want to do two versions; a DIY with empty lots and rabbitholes only and a fully built version, so anyone who wants to create their own Mars base can do that too. That would make a new gameplay challenge, like the Midnight Sun Challenge.
It's a bit difficult for me to lay the roads in such a large world. But I'll try.


I actually think a half-built approach would work well, plus an additional empty world option for those wanting a challenge.

You would have the core of the base built out, with all essential lots (i.e. hospital, greenhouse dome, etc.), plus a few habitation pods to start off. This would kind of be mimicking how a colony starts off small, and gets built out as more people arrive.





You would have an empty road grid for people who want to build additional housing and non-essential lots (i.e. Apothecary, arcade). Some template lots could be provided to allow players to customize to their liking.

I think the general layout of the world would work with a grid-like layout, since it is a new world and also because straight roads make placing lots down easier!

There are also a couple of new steam colonization games, but this one looks good: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfi...s/?id=472081504
Theorist
#18 Old 10th Oct 2015 at 10:36 AM
It looks great so far. When you go to place the roads, I suggest trying to make them low-key and not very visible. Roads are very un-Marsy and maybe even the footpath approach (ala jje1000's Praaven) might be better for this type of hood?
The colour's and sculpting show some very cool settings to play around in so kudos for that..

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Mad Poster
#19 Old 11th Oct 2015 at 3:57 AM
I would probably see the hospital as being something more utilitarian, IMO :D

Something similar to psychosim's space lots: http://psychosim.livejournal.com/40553.html



Quote: Originally posted by tizerist
It looks great so far. When you go to place the roads, I suggest trying to make them low-key and not very visible. Roads are very un-Marsy and maybe even the footpath approach (ala jje1000's Praaven) might be better for this type of hood?


I think roads fit the world perfectly (think moon buggies, exploring a large area). They just need to be the right type of road- probably dirt roads that blend into the dirt.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 11th Oct 2015 at 4:10 AM
Here's a nice image of a lunar base proposal:


I think in the end, it all comes down to where on Moh's Scale of Science Fiction Hardness you want to world to be!
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...FictionHardness

I.e. Lunar Lakes would be extremely soft sci-fi, while The Martian would be considered fairly hard sci-fi!
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#21 Old 11th Oct 2015 at 8:30 AM
Not everyone wants CC in the world and this might be a problem for some, so I'll try to create a Martian base without CC and only use EA's content.
Some also don't like Store content, so I'll skip them as well.

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Mad Poster
#22 Old 11th Oct 2015 at 7:45 PM Last edited by jje1000 : 11th Oct 2015 at 8:06 PM.
There's actually a lot of good non-CC options out there. That, plus the CAST tool makes a lot of things possible.

- There are some good sci-fi wallpapers that EA patched into the basegame.
- For windows, I would suggest the X-frame windows from Pets. There is also a basegame window and one from Late Night that's useful.
- There are no good sci-fi sliding doors outside of ITF. However, some other ordinary doors can be recolored to look decent. Lisen has a good set of sliding doors on MTS: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=424417
- There is a grey metal panel roof that looks good, as well as a solar panel roof.

Anyways, here's a shot of some of the possible options:


- There is some good free Store Content you should grab: http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/f...p?topic=18326.0
- The solar panel and windmill are definitely something I would suggest
- The white-contained plants are good sci-fi plants.
- The Renault Twizzy and charging station could substitute as buggies.

A lot of this is making do with what you have

Edit: A cool Sims 2 Mars base: http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=554401 and some cool shots from Anno 2205 of a lunar base:


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#23 Old 11th Oct 2015 at 9:38 PM
Thanks! That's really helpful! And how about rabbit holes? Are there any Sci-Fi themed rabbit holes in the game?

I'll use Late Night, Pets, Seasons and Into The Future expansion packs then. I hope these EPs are OK for everyone. The empty DIY version will probably work with just the base game. (I hope)
Anyway, I have made some changes to the world and will update you soon with new pictures.

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Mad Poster
#24 Old 11th Oct 2015 at 11:49 PM
Hmm, for Rabbitholes, I would probably suggest doing rabbitholes in basements. You could simply link them with an elevator from the ground floor into the basement.

There are also Rabbitholes that came with Lunar Lakes, but those are a Store Item. There are also Rabbithole Rugs by Jynx (here: http://modthesims.info/d/435107), but that's CC.

As for expansions, I think University might also come in handy as it has some of the Sci-fi devices which may come in handy, along with dorm furniture. Ambitions, maybe for the inventor's stuff. Showtime also has some sci-fi furniture.

Generations, Island Paradise, World Adventures and Supernatural are probably the most useless here, though there's always an item or two which may be useful.


I think it might also be a good idea to list out what kind of lots you want to build in the world.
Lab Assistant
#25 Old 12th Oct 2015 at 8:27 PM
You could also google Mass Effect 3 Mars to see some of their concept art or in game screenshots of what they did.
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