My first (new) project: seeking advice and resolving doubts

[MichelleBrujah]

So I got CAW on my parent's desktop and I'm starting all over again. For now I'm leaving my other project behind (to my bf's delight for retrieving his laptop), and I'd love to make something special for my best friend and me - recreate the world we're role playing in...

To keep things short, I want to make a world from scratch, as I haven't found any to suit my needs, so I'm resigned to do it and a bit scared. I must warn you all that I'm not asking for anyone to make me this world or anything like that, I'm just asking for the ways to do it myself, in a comprehensible way, english is not my main language and so I need a bit more explanation than others, I'm afraid. That's why I apologize for asking, I haven't found what I'm looking for, maybe because I don't know the words to look for it

I'm going to make (hah) The Reach region in Skyrim, concretely Markarth and a bit of the land around. I think the Distant Terrain could be skipped with really high mountains. And here's where my problems start.

http://i42.tinypic.com/65al49.jpg

At first I thought about making my own height map and then exporting it. I'm ok with that, but I find difficult following some of the tutorials. Is there, anywhere, an easy peasy tutorial, a really clear one, for idiots (and non native english speakers) for me to follow and actually understand it?

Or, my other thought, an easy peasy tutorial about making really high mountains, a believable cordillera. The city is in a canyon, so I'd have to design it first and then make the mountains around it, keeping the entrance and exit clear, of course. I think that maybe this could be the easiest path, provided I'm able to make believable mountains.

http://i40.tinypic.com/s2ze6h.png

Second, I've been looking for lot tutorials, specifically lots with various ground levels. My question is, Markarth has a lot of stairs, maybe I could solve that with community lots to communicate the different ways? Would sims use them? Or maybe I'd just use the usual roads?

Thanks for the attention, and again, I apologize for any trouble or my (surely) many mistakes. Of course if there's someone willing to help me with the world be welcome :p

[simsample]

Hi MichelleBrujah, this looks like quite a project!

If you want feedback on a world you are creating, regarding the design and implementation, you should start a thread in the Creator Feedback Forum (click 'Create' at the top). Be aware that you should not start a thread there until you have begun your world, and have some images to show people of what you are doing.

For tutorials, please read the forum announcement- I have links in there to our CAW tutorials, Pacimfic wiki and many other useful resources. Linked in there is a start-to-finish tutorial on the wiki here.

For the stairs, I don't think it's possible to have the modular stairs off-lot, although the spiral staircases are available in Super CAW. (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=468279) So adding lots which have the stairs on is a good option. Someone made a world with steps leading to a lighthouse, which is similar to what you're trying to achieve:
http://www.sims3.simsdesignavenue.net/creations/themes/galaad/galaad/phare/EN//diapo_04.jpg
(World here (http://www.sims3.simsdesignavenue.net/avenue.php?lg=EN&rub=galaad&sel=galaad%20island)). That is done by placing the stairs on a lot of their own.

You would have to be careful that sims could get to all parts of the world without having to enter those lots though, as that could cause some route lagging. It's one of those things that you'd really have to try and then test to be sure.

[MichelleBrujah]

Hi simsample, thank's for the quick answer (I love your Jericho world BTW)

I have created nothing yet, that's why I posted my doubts here instead than at the feedback forum. I wanted to be sure I had all the info before actually starting.

I think I'll start designing the city and then adding the roads leading outside, and then the mountains. I have decided to make Markarth plain or as flat as I can... just to avoid routing issues and such. Well, not exactly plain, but with... *googles for the exact word* terraces? Maybe then, I just could use the normal roads instead of stairs. I have to create custom roads either way, as the city itself is made of stone, completely, so it won't be a big deal... I think?

[simsample]

If you use roads instead of paths and staircases, you have the added bonus of making the world work better, anyway. There are certain things that don't function without roads (schoolbus and carpool, for example) so it is good to have roads if you can. So in that case, slopes or ramps instead of stairs would work much better, and you could probably keep it with the same 'feel' as the original by careful use of texture.

We have some textures for download in our resources section here, but if you want the ones from skyrim maybe it's possible to extract them yourself? Of course you would need to have permission from Bethesda if you used those and then uploaded that world for others to use. However, a quick Google shows that several people have evidently already extracted some Skrim textures, so maybe there would be something you'd be able to use in your world already available.

Of course, if you eliminated roads then you would eliminate cars altogether, so not have to worry about the vehicles looking out of place!

[High Plains Gamer]

There are some problems with trying to model a world from a piece of fiction, from a specific theme or even a real world city. The first is you are limited by the rabbitholes you can use. There are tricks you can use to avoid those problems, such as placing them in basements or even making your own custom rabbitholes. But still, the the rabbitholes tend to look pretty much the same in every world.

Second, cities and CAW do not work well together. You could probably count the number of successful Sims cities on one hand. As a practical matter, you can get by with about 150-200 lots, max, before you will start experiencing lag. EA worlds actually have far less -- around 100. So you have to find ways to trick the game to make it look larger than it actually is.

Also, building styles in the Sims pretty much be the same. You are limited in the wall, doors, windows, etc. you can use. If you don't use cc, you pretty much are stuck with the items EA provides, which really is quite limited.

If you look at EA's worlds, and even player created worlds, you will find that they mostly look the same: small towns with similar downtown areas and homes which are pretty interchangeable.

[MichelleBrujah]

Oh I know that, and I was planning to use CC on this world... I know that could take people back from downloading it, but I still haven't decided if I'll put it up for it (lol I don't even know if I'll be able to make the world in first place), but I have no problems of sharing it if people want it. But I'll use the CC. It's a world mostly for my friend and me, so...

About the rabbitholes, I was planning to use the rabbithole rugs, the doors or the medieval replacements MajikGoldy has at TSR. And the replacement medieval careers by Simverses. And the rest, imagination :P

Also, Markarth it's not that big... I was actually surprised to know it, and relieved. I don't think it would take more than 40-50 lots in the city (maybe a lot less) and then some other lots away from the city for farms and other locations. I've been writing down a list