Theme: A gothic city evoking film noir and classic detective stories. Think, in particular, of The Third Man, A Touch of Evil, and The Maltese Falcon. Also an element of classic gangster films, like the original Scarface. All these brought into modernity. Muted tones – a sense of greyness – and orange orchards on the outskirts a la Chinatown. Think also: The Big Sleep. Double Indemnity. Set definitely in the Sims universe, within SimNation, so quirky and upbeat despite what it is depicting.


Required Expansions: WA, HELS, AMB, FL, LN, GEN, PETS, SHT, SEA

Store Content: Riverview, Lucky Palms (gold), Regency Arcade venue

Optional Store Content: Monte Vista & Venue (some flowers + the premium content on some seasonal lots)).

Custom Content:

CC already used
- Matrix54 patterns (found in this thread).
- Jynx's Rabbit Hole Doors (not rugs)
- Distant terrain object by i_saw_drones (comes in world zip file).
- Fences by Neon Light Designs (matrix54)

CC permitted if needed
- Three New Pushable Tomb Objects by Alopex


Technical Challenges: Particularly, the distant terrain. Getting the palette right, a stylish pastel & grey-green world. Getting consistent flora and realistic hills (one of the major failings of Riverblossom Hills). Building convincing apartments when my furnishing skills are so limited – perhaps I will need collaborators? I might ultimately need someone to mesh and texture the DT for me. Optimising the flora layer, and having a carefully planned economy of flora-per-chunk! (Almost) no overloading this time!


Physical Description: Grimschurch is set on the flood plains of a river, near the river's mouth. It has a major highway passing through it, connecting to other coastal cities, and also inland. Outside the city there are large farm estates, mostly owned by the local elite – horsebreeders, and crumbling historic mansions surrounded by farms. There are also small rented rural homes where farm workers reside with their families. The city itself mixes skyscrapers with gothic, historic, haunting parks – a sense of gargoyles prevades. A grey and quaint beach, and a large port area nearby. A river slices through the scene, with the city on one side, and farming land on the other. Around the edges are coastline and rolling hills (eventually a distant terrain object). Buildings tend towards art deco in the wealthier areas, and pragmatic (corrugated iron, etc) in the poorer areas. Weatherboarded villas and brick mansions in the farming areas. The flood plains are mostly clay, the river beds are silted, and the city is cobbled and concrete. Bars are sultry, and slightly sacrilegious. Slightly antiquated technology – a sense of being left in the past.

Climate: Grey, without being especially foggy. Slightly damp and cold winters, but never snows. A sense that things might rot if not maintained. No dramatic sunsets, but perhaps significant, milky sunrises. Rain, if there is a weather expansion.

History: Founded as a fishing town, Grimschurch extended inland as its population grew and it became a major port. A significant trafficking trade grew with prohibition (or the Simlish version, whatever that would be, a ban on nectar). Land on the plains was sought after and seized by the wealthy, and has remained mostly in those families estates. The city has grown mostly inland, with a brief and mostly failed attempt to create a tourist industry around the beach, not appropriate to the town's climate. In its hey-day there were churches active in Grimschurch, but they have been converted into music venues. A sense of lots of things concealed, of being “haunted by history”.

Inhabitants: A large part African American, many jazz artists, and several hip-hop artists, all with a Parisian influence. A small Asian community thriving in a Chinatown district that evokes Shang Simla in its interiors. Plenty of femme fatales, and a number of characters in the Private Eye active career, dressed like gumshoes. Trenchcoats on the men. Gloves on women. Hats on both genders.

Motifs: Given the name, the Grim Reaper should feature. Art deco and jazz styles.


This is just a section where I discuss my design decisions, to sort of make sure I have a broadly justified reason for them. Feel free to ask questions about the project.

(Q) Why not make a fully-fledged period-themed world based on the 1930s?
(A) I'd try making a period-themed world, but it's just not worth the trouble. EA has made it so that it won't operate with any integrity. Who really wants a 20s or 30s or medieval-themed world that EA then immediately populates with modern taxis and Sims in lycra? If they'd given us some control over the demographics of our worlds, I'd have given it a shot.

(Q) Why is it so important that you have a distant terrain?
(A) It's a little bit about pushing boundaries - my own in terms of meshing, and pushing the current limits of world building more generally - but it's also that I'm tired of EA forcing me to make islands. There is really only so much you can do with an island. I want a sense of neighbouring towns, of a place that is less isolated and that could be bigger and more urban than an island could realistically be.

Central already laid. Sketches needed: Farm estates & port district.

Centre:

The city centre has the greatest density of lots in the world, and is therefore probably going to present the greatest performance issues for those with lower end computers. I should bear that in mind as I build it, and consider mitigating that somehow if possible.


Ports & Shoreline:

Estates:

Reserved - Inhabitants Design

Reserved - Distant Terrain Design

Examples of where the DT will need to connect:

I like all the things I have seen on the pictures. Could you post a screenshot with the whole city in birds-eye-view without fog? You can´t see a lot on the photo you have posted.

The city itself is a definite work in progress, but I'll get a decent shot for you. This world is very large, and CAW is not cooperative when one wants to take birdseye pictures of a large area, but I'll do my best.

I like where this is going! With showtime coming out, the whole performer aspect will really shine through, and LN can only add to that.
The only thing that worries me is the Distant Terrain. It seems like a pain to make lol

As with Port Piston, if you need me for anything, except meshes (I'm still learning to put them in game, but I have gotten better), I'm available, as you know.

It's a WIP, but this, clearly, will be your best world yet. ^_^

It's like a dream-bridgeport with extra gloom and a film noir sort of setting-I think this is gonna be really awesome and, judging by the reference pics, it sure is.

It looks great, and to make it even more Film Noir, you can set it in the 20s, and have people dressed in 20s clothing and have mobster sims and hangouts.

Also, what does Reserved Inhabitants mean?

That's just the post I'll use for developing the Sims that will live in the world. ^_^

It's going to be a contemporary world, but with a dated 30s feel to it. Some of the art deco will be faded and cracked - historic. With Sims trying to recapture a certain 30s glamour, many of them failing slightly. Poorer families will have old woodbox TV sets, etc. Very little flashy, ultra-modern furnishing. The ports have seen more lively days.

Oh! Well still very exciting!

I'd try making a period-themed world, but it's just not worth the trouble. EA has made it so that it won't operate with any integrity. Who really wants a 20s or 30s or medieval-themed world that EA then immediately populates with modern taxis and Sims in lycra? If they'd given us some control over the demographics of our worlds, I'd have given it a shot.

Well we could always work with script editing and custom content, but its not worth the trouble right?

It's mostly beyond my capabilities. I have no script editing experience at all, and I'm not convinced I could get a satisfactory result even if a talented modder came on board. The game is designed solely with contemporary worlds in mind. Even futuristic ones like Lunar Lakes get saddled with contemporary taxis. It's also enough work as it is. Period-themed worlds really demand a more flexible game altogether.

Hnnnnnnggggggg Want

*reads statement about wanting to push boundaries*

That's all I needed to read. Time for me to get to work...

CUSTOM EVERYTHING!
Within reason, of course...

Do you still have those custom walls you did, Matrix? I seem to have lost anything you did in the past for Grimschurch, looking through my folders. :S I went back and tried to redownload them right now, but the link is dead.

This is an interesting world and everything done so far looks lovely.Will keep an eye on this

I delete nothing.



Those?
I want some of them to look better.

Some of those look really good. One of the challenges I will have with the art deco housing (which there won't be HEAPS of, but still) is exterior paint and interior wallpapers.

In terms of exterior painting, I'm looking mainly at straight forward acrylic block colours which is easy, but I'll need some art deco accents to really establish the period art. The lack of curved walls is killing me, I can tell you. Examples:



In terms of interiors, I'm looking for patterns like this:

*stares for a second with eyes wide open, sweat dripping from his forehead, down to mexico*

I'll see what I can do. *begins work minutes before you even read this post*

Whoa. Whoa! Idea. I need to find someone with meshing experience. I can just get a very simple object to mimic curved walls on some of the exteriors! It would just have to fix into a 1x1 corner space and match up with the walls.

I could do that, but it has always been a pain for me to get things into the game. This is as far as I got.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg84....jpg&res=medium

My UV maps always break, so if Someone wants to do the UV mapping for the wall (if I make it), let me know.

And shadows are also a pain to make. (as you can below)

Umm.. just out of interest, did you do custom DT for this world?