Works from an Urban Design/Planner

[sk.lion]

Works from an Urban Design/Planner
Done in Sketchup, shown in SimCity 4

I have started this thread as a sort of eye opener for poeple who use sketchup, and see what uses SKP has that you may not have ever thought of before. I think that there is much potential in creating custom content for games in Sketchup.

About
For about 5 years, and even before SimCity 4 came out, i have been creating custom content for the SimCity series. The main difference between me and most custom content creators for SimCity, also known as “BATers”, is that I use Sketchup to do the bulk of my modeling and texturing. Not many people know this, but it can be used to create buildings and content for SimCity!

I use Sketchup mainly because it is a more visually interactive and engaging program to plan and create custom lots for SimCity. Though GMAX has its advantages, and I still have use the program to export my building to SC4, I have always have and always will prefer Sketchup to do my modeling in.

Anyways, I thought it might be useful and inspiring to beginner BATers and even designers not interested in SimCity to see what can be achieved by using SKP to create custom content for gaming. And at the same time, I just wanted to show people what kind of design concepts and lot types I mainly create and use.

Now for the pictures!
To start off, I would like to mention that all the following custom lots shown in the pictures have been modeled in SCP and then exported to GMAX, then to SC4. These lots are all used for conceptual purposes only.

Here is the first picture of a cityscape I created for a “new urbanism” demonstration, this was actually one of the earlier models that I created to be view by the SimCity 4 Community. Most of my work until only recently has been created for research and visual purposes, and not meant to be used for the simulator. Most of my work, is for planning and design testing.

Like I mentioned before, a great deal of the work I do that involves SimCity is for design and planning purposes. Right now, I am actively pursuing a career based in the urban planning and/or design fields. In this picture, I designed an “open” mini mall, with back alley/lane enabled lot. As you may have noticed the texture work is not up to par with SC4 standards… but this lot was done for conceptual purposes.

Before the render, the Sketchup side of the modeling

Some row housing I created, to visualize what “skinny” lots and residential would look like, and the best way to lay them out. In a lot of my work, I have been focusing my attention to small lots and spaces for my work. I think the future of urban housing for cities will be around using small spaces for infill and better utilization. As you can see in the second pic, I still use GMAX, to do some texturing work and of course to export to SC4.

I’ll be upfront, I am not a fan of huge towering buildings that dwarf the surroundings and more important, do not serve the human scale. I look at Burj Dubai, and shake my head… though I do get the urge to draw up a tall building, or two, or three. The following picture is of “Trend Place” towers, one of few high rises over 20 floors I have created. It was inspired by the concorde pacific towers that are located in Vancouver BC.

Along with Trend Place, I created a few parks to compliment the set, of course as usually, it ends up turning into another set altogether. I have a bad habit of turning little add-ons into full fledged projects!

These next few pictures, I was experimenting with lot configurations, and more back alley development. It eventually ended up becoming a project to find out what back alleys would look like in SimCity 4. Today, most of my lots involved some sort of use of the back alley/lane, since I think it is a brilliant way to keep cars away, and encourage pedestrianism.

Around 1 year ago, I began to create more detailed work with models for SimCity, this building called “Ceder Place” was intended to demonstrate a “master planned” mid rise residential complex. It was made complete with townhomes and private park in the back. Though the full creation never became into full fruitation, it was an interesting project to work on regardless.

[img:1zopcv90]http://starrdarcy.mypicgallery.com/newurbanism/sdrelease9_large.jpg[/img:1zopcv90]

The next pictures show what I have nicknamed, the “houses in nowhere” and are the result of many hours trying to explore smart growth concepts, and to see what it would look like. Unfortunately, the results didn’t really live up to what I wanted, and instead became an example of what NOT to do in smart growth. The roads go nowhere, and non of the houses had garages for cars, so what was the use for roads? Oh well, it showed that smart growth is not as easy as it sounds!
[img:1zopcv90]http://starrdarcy.mypicgallery.com/newurbanism/new-suburbs5_large.jpg[/img:1zopcv90]
[img:1zopcv90]http://starrdarcy.mypicgallery.com/newurbanism/new-suburbs4_large.jpg[/img:1zopcv90]
[img:1zopcv90]http://starrdarcy.mypicgallery.com/newurbanism/new-suburbs1_large.jpg[/img:1zopcv90]

And finally, the last pictures I will show here is of some of the work I have done in the past. As you can see, I try to fit as much into my lots, even if it looks really cramped. Hmm, would people really want to live here? This is the main reason why I use SimCity, as tool to test out urban design and planning concepts. However, I have been thinking more and more about actually starting a City Journal or perhaps a few custom lot releases to the SC4 community.

A small canal set, for irrigation uses.
[img:1zopcv90]http://starrdarcy.mypicgallery.com/zoneindy/canals3_large.jpg[/img:1zopcv90]

Double level highways, used for eye candy
[img:1zopcv90]http://starrdarcy.mypicgallery.com/zoneindy/highway-test4_large.jpg[/img:1zopcv90]

Some of the mid rise condo lots, with more double level highway work
[img:1zopcv90]http://starrdarcy.mypicgallery.com/zoneindy/highway-test2_large.jpg[/img:1zopcv90]

Calgary inspired suburban homes
[img:1zopcv90]http://premium1.uploadit.org/starrdarcy//Diferent_ofthesame.jpg[/img:1zopcv90]

Tenements for urban areas, kind of gloomy looking
[img:1zopcv90]http://premium1.uploadit.org/starrdarcy/backyard/example2.jpg[/img:1zopcv90]

Use of the back alley/lane concept
[img:1zopcv90]http://premium1.uploadit.org/starrdarcy/backyard/backlot1a.jpg[/img:1zopcv90]

To close off
This is small sample of the work I have been creating over the years, and most of it has not been published to the web. Though, over the next while, I will be working hard to introduce Sketchup as a invaluable tool in the concept process for larger projects, and even smaller creations. As well as a useful modeling tool for those who are new and old to modeling for SimCity custom content, and not to mention other games too!

In my opinion, there is still a lot of uncharted territory when it comes to uses for Sketchup and other games, formats and media. There is a lot of imagination out there in the gaming community, most of which lyes with the average gamer who wants their own touch to a game.

The biggest challenge right now, and its rather unfortunate... is that to get access to some key features in Sketchup, in order to export to the proper game files, and use with other programs you will need the pro version. And while i was fortunate to have the money to drop for the pro version, most custom gamers out there don't have this kind of cash. Currently there are other programs like GMAX that have these export features and are still free. In my opinion i would like to see the export features become part of the basic version, or at least made available for separate purchase.

Despite this setback, and i believe that sketchup has a future with the custom content creation community. And i have made it my personal goal to get Sketchup part of the gamers modeling tools.

Thanks for reading, comments and advice welcome.

-starrdarcy

[solo]

Awesome stuff Stardarcy.

Is this sort of medium your profession or hobby?

[Glenn at home]

Great stuff. What is your process, SU to GMax via 3ds output? Is there a SC plugin for GMax?

[solo]

From SU ----> .3ds ---> gmax.

[JuanV.Soler]

Quite interesting.
Thankyou -.

[Glenn at home]

@solo said:

From SU ----> .3ds ---> gmax.

Yeah, I believe that is what I asked? I just wanted to be sure