TJ Streak's Not So Naughty Sims

Converting X-Plane Objects to the Sims 3

2012-05-16T06:38:00.000-06:00

X-Plane is another flight simulator program that has a nice selection of scenery items which are easily converted to the Sims 3. The X-Plane library is considerably smaller than the items one can find for flight simulator, but things like the houses and commercial buildings look much better.

Many of the skyscrapers and commercial buildings I have uploaded to this site are conversions from X-Plane, version 9. Version 10 was released last December, and the buildings in that version look even better than those found in Version 9. Additionally, if one goes to x-plane.org, One can find a large collection of player made objects, mostly airports and aircraft, which can be converted. Plus there is a sizeable selection of sci-fi and other vehicles.

I was doing X-Plane conversions before I was doing Flight Simulator conversions simply because the modding community is more active for X-Plane than it was for flight simulator. In fact, the difference between the X-Plane community and the Flight Simulator community is that the former really places an emphasis on modding, primarily because the X-Plane program is rather stingy about providing custom items and because the commercial third party developers have not taken a real interest in this program until recently. The good news is that information about doing these conversions is readily available, and the developer of X-Plane has gone out of its way to support the modding community.

The process for converting items from X-Plane to the Sims 3 is very similar to the process used for converting objects from Flight Simulator to the Sims 3. The main difference is that you need to use different conversion tools.

Actually, that's not quite true. Model Converter X does import the X-Plane format. This means that instead of importing a BGL or MDL file, you import the X-Plane OBJ file. Otherwise the process is the same as described in the Flight Simulator conversion lesson.

You have alternative methods, as well. First of all, Laminar Research, X-Plane's developer has released its own scenery and conversion tools which are available HERE for free.

Secondly, the commercial program AC3D can be used for the conversions. This is a payware program which will set you back $90.00 after the trial period expires. AC3D is more than a conversion program, however, it is a 3d modelling program, which in some ways appears to be more powerful and easy to use than Milkshape.

Additionally, AC3D allows the import of Collada (Google Warehouse) and Second Life files. I have not played with these features and I really have not explored AC3D's modelling capabilities. But someone who might be interested in working with Collada files or Second Life files should give this program a good look over. It certainly costs less than paying $300.00 for the professional version of Sketchup, and unlike Sketchup, is made specifically for the creation of game objects.

Just to give an example of how an AC3D conversion works, Part 3 of my Flight Simulator conversion looks something like this. The other parts of the lesson are the same.

First, you open the X-Plane model you want to convert into AC3D:

There are a number of places to look for X-Plane models. By default, the program is installed on a folder on your desktop. I preferred to install it in my Programs (x86) folder on Drive C. In the Resources subfolder you will find a subfolder entitled Default Scenery. It's easy to overlook, but it contains a motherlode of scenery objects which can be converted.

In this case, I have gone into the US Objects and buildings subfolders to install a mainstreet collection of business buildings:

I then just export the file as a 3ds file, which I can then load into Milkshape to do the WSO conversion. Unfortunately there are no TSR Workshop or other Sims 3 plugins for AC3D, so one has to go into Milkshape to make those conversion. In short AC3D is used to convert from X-Plane's format to a standard format. Milkshape then does the conversion from the standard format to a format which can be used in the Sims 3.

It's an unfortunate fact of life, but most games use their own proprietory formats, which makes doing conversions a major pain in the ass. You have to have some sort of program for every format you are working with.

But after you export the model in the 3ds format, you can move onto Part 4 of that lesson, and do further tweaking and conversions in Milkshape.

Converting Objects from Microsoft Flight Simulator to The Sims 3, Part 7

2012-05-15T22:06:00.000-06:00

Riverboat Natchez: a multipart model

It is important to note that there are several things I did not go over in this lesson. First, I did not deal with items with multiple meshgroups. I did not deal with night textures, and I did not deal with the bump maps.

With respect to the night textures, I have not figured that out. One will find buildings with night lights at luna sims lulumai, but I have not figured this out, yet. I have done a preliminary experiment, but my night lights seem to be on all the time. When I figure this out, I will post an update.

I also have not dealt with the bump maps. As is the case for night textures, I have not figured this out.

Now I could have waited months, or years or never to post this basic technique -- waiting until I had perfected everything. I have been able to do these basic conversion for nearly six months, hoping that I might perfect evertything, but it just has not happened. So it's time to pass the baton onto others.

As far as multimple meshgroups, I have not quite perfecected this, and it might be the subject of a future lesson when and if I do. There are basically two methods of dealing with multimple meshgroups which I will deal with in a very shorthand fashion.

First, one can always make a super-texture, consisting of all the textures in a multiple meshgroup object. That is one texture contains all of the textures needed, and the UV mapping is adjusted accordingly. If you are not following what I just said, this probably is too advanced for you; go back and tackle som simply projects.

The second method is to create multiple meshgroups within TSR Workshop. I have done it with the seaport model, but still find it a difficult process. Perhaps someone else can perfect this.

Converting Objects from Microsoft Flight Simulator to The Sims 3, Part 6

2012-05-15T22:05:00.003-06:00

Part 6 of this lesson involves putting everything that was done in the previous parts together. We are largely going over the same material which was covered in earlier lessons on making custom items for the sims. The process is pretty much the same regardless of whether one is making a dress or a skyscraper, or in the case of this lesson, a boat.

Open TSR Workshop, and Select the "Create new Project" button:

Then select "New Project"

This will open a file selector box. Typpically I will just clone one of my earlier objects. All of these objects are basically the same thing. They are all clones of clones of clones of one of Manustyle's objects which had been enabled for CAW, a couple of years ago. It basically works, so why ch ange it? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Typically, I will just do a clone of the last object I made. Since I don't remember what that is, however, I will clone the York Federal Building I did about a year ago. After selecting the building, I fill in the project details for my new project:

And click through to the main work screen:

Once in the project screen, select the mesh tab, and then the import button for the high resolution mesh.

Select the wso file that was made for the Lahaine Princess in part 4 of this lesson. Then open the materials tabl under Group 0, and import the base dds file you created in part five into the alpha map and the diffuse map. Import the specular dds you created in part five into the specular map.

When it asks you whether you want to update all LODs, answer yes:

Repeat the same process for the medium LOD. Use the same mesh and textures that were used for the high LOD. As a practical matter, it won't make much difference. Since the boat will be in the water, and not close to any sims, it will always be seen in the medium LOD. The number of vertices in the mesh is small enough, that it should not cause any problems with the game.

Generate the Shadow Meshes for both LODs

Export your model as a Sims 3 Pack. It is also possible to export as a package file, but there is no reason to do that. For whatever reason, the package format stopped working in CAW after Generations. Maybe someone has figured out the solution, but they have not shared it.

Install the Sims3pack into your game using the launcher. You should have the boat available in game and in CAW.

Converting Objects from Microsoft Flight Simulator to The Sims 3, Part 5

2012-05-15T22:04:00.004-06:00

Now that you have made modifications to your mesh, it's time to work on the textures. In step three, you should have made a note of the textures used by the model. If you are like me, however, you just left Model Converter X open, so you could retrieve that information quickly when you needed it.

In any case, find the VEH_WATER_LEHANIEPRINCESS.DDS file and load it i nto photoshop (or whatever graphics program you are using). Keep in mind that your graphics program must be one which supports DDS file, which really does limit your options. The file should look like this:

Once it's loaded, flip it on its vertical axis:

Then saved the flipped texutre to your projects file.

Do the same thing for the specular image. This model also has a bump map and a night texture, you might also want to flip and save those as well. however, we will not be using either of those textures.

Converting Objects from Microsoft Flight Simulator to The Sims 3, Part 4

2012-05-15T22:04:00.000-06:00

Now that the most difficult part is done, we need to prepare both the model (mesh) and the texture for importing into TSR Workshop. Let's start with the mesh, although one could just as easily start with the texture.

Open Milkshape. Now import the mesh file that you converted in Part 3. Since this is not a standard Milkshape file, you have to use the import function rather than the open function:

Notice that our little boat is at a funny angle. Plus there are several LOD's we neither want or need. I am going to delete all of the LOD's except the one with the highest resolution. To do that, I go to the groups tab on the right hand side of the screen and just select the LODs I want to get rid of. Then delete.

Next, I go back to the Models tab, and select the rotate tool. I then go to the upper right hand screen, which shows the model perpendicular from where I want it. I rotate it 90 degrees counter clockwise.

My boat is now positioned correctly, however it is too low in the water. It is shouting "Mayday! Mayday! I'm sinking!" Let's fix it.

Select the move tool from the models tab, and deselect the x and z axis. We will only move the model along the y axis.

Now my little boat is sitting happily in the water, rather than under it. I am ready to work on the texture. Save your file in TSRW format (.wso). To do this, you will need to have installed the TSRW plugins.

Keep Milkshape open and open up Photoshop (or other appropriate graphics program). Keeping Milkshape open just allows you to load the texture to preview what it is going to look like. It allows you to make little tweaks to the mesh -- which seldom is needed, but still nice to be able to do.

Converting Objects from Microsoft Flight Simulator to The Sims 3, Part 3

2012-05-15T22:02:00.003-06:00

This part of the conversion lesson gets to the heart of the matter. The first two parts provides some background about what is possible and what is needed. The next three parts really just restate material presented in earlier lessons about meshing in Milkshape, texturing in Photoshop and putting it all together in TSR Workshop. This is the part of the lesson one really needs to convert items from Flight Simulator X to The Sims 3.

The good news is, the conversion is remarkably simple. In fact, it's so simple, it probably does not even need to be explained if you just use the tools described in Part 2.

First Step, we open Model Converter X. Then we click on the import button which brings us to a selector box. We then go to the Microsoft Flight Simulator directory, which by default is located at: C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Games/Microsoft Flight Simulator X. The base game files will be located either in the scenery folder or the Sim Objects folder. Third party add ons can be located just about anywhere. Often they are found in a special folder bearing the name of their publisher or developer.

The hardest part of the whole process is finding and/or selecting an object to do. Generally I just browse through files for things I find really interesting. There are thousands of items to choose from, so finding a specific item can be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. However, there is SOME organization to the files.

For example, if I wanted something from San Francisco, I would go to the North America West (NAMW) folder. Once there, I would notice two additional folders, a scenery folder and a texture folder. The scenery folder will have the BGL files, and the texture folder will have the textures for those scenery items.

Once I open the scenery folder, I would then scroll down and open the SanFran.bgl file into Model Converter X. I could then scroll through all of the buildings, or simply select the building I want from the list button.

For this project, however, I am not going to do a building from San Francisco. I am going to do a simple little boat: The Lahaine Princess. Unless most of the building models, it is located in the Sim Objects folder, in the boats sub folder. I simply scroll down until I find it, when I do, I select it:

After it is selected, I find myself back in the Model Converter X main screen, where my model appears.

By selecting the information box, I get a popup giving me more information concerning the model:

What I want here is the name of the textures. The texture for anything in the Sim Objects file does not appear with this model. Instead, it is found in the Scenery/Global directory. Just look for the names listed in this box. Make a note of the scenery name -- or simply do not close the Model Converter X program.

Next, I simply save the model in a standard format, in my project folder. The two options available are the Wavefront (.obj forma), or the Autodesk format (.3ds) I tend to prefer the .3ds format because the material assignments don't tend to get lost when I work with a model in Milkshape. But that is not a huge issue with this conversion, so it really is a case of six one way, half a dozen the other.

I tend to have a big project folde in my documents folder. Each project has its own project folder. Since I have hundreds of projects, it makes it easier to keep track of the relevant files this way.

Converting Objects from Microsoft Flight Simulator to The Sims 3, Part 2

2012-05-15T22:02:00.000-06:00

To make the conversions from Microsoft Flight Simulator to The Sims 3, you will need to have several programs:

First, you need you basic modelling programs: Milkshape, Photoshop (or other program which allows for the editing of DDS files), and TSR Workshop. These are the standard tools for any modelling project.

Second you need a program which will allow you to convert files from Microsoft Flight Simulator to a standard format. Flight simulator has two types of files with model information, the MDL files for indivdual models and the BGL files which contain collections of models and sometimes no model information at all. Model Converter X at http://www.scenerydesign.org/ is a free progam which does the needed conversions.

Finally, you need Flight Simulator X itself to do the conversion. At $20 to $30, it is a bargain just because it contains thousands of models. Plus it is an interesting program in its own right. Most of the medles which can be converted are found either in the Scenery folder or in the Sims Object folder.- You will find buildings and other large objects in the Scenery folder, and individual models like planes, boats, trains and cars in the Sim Objects folder.

Converting Objects from Microsoft Flight Simulator to The Sims 3, Part 1

2012-05-15T22:00:00.002-06:00

Screenshot of upcoming version of Rio de Jeneiro for Flight Simulator

Back in December, I made apost about whether I should make a lesson for converting items from Microsoft Flight Simulator to The Sims 3. Since that post received exactly zero responses, I assumed there was not demand for this type of lesson. Moreover, as I read the screeds about the evils of custom content, I really feel no need to contribute to the degridation of people's games by uploading custom content for it.

However, one world creator has requested such a lesson. It probably does not hurt to have this knowlege available in the modding community in case someone ever wants to take advantage of it.

I would note that Microsoft flight simulator has thousands upon thousands of items which can be used in the Sims, particularly for world building. Like the world builders in Sims, flight sim modders are interested in modelling entire cities, and particularly airpots. But if you look at some of these models, it becomes apparent that a mega-airport, like JFK, is more complex and has more "parts" than even the largest of the Sims 3 worlds. The main difference between Simmers and Flight Simmers is that Simmers generally build fictional cartoon cities, whereas Flight Simmers want to get their models as close to real life as possible.

While the base Flight Simulator game, in and of itself has thousands of models, there are third party sceneries, both payware and freeware, which contain thousands of additional objects. I have only uploaded the tiniest fraction of those models here, and more to give others a taste of what is already available.

For world builders who are in need of ideas, the real world has a wealth of them. How about a tropical island. Flight Simmers love them and there are all sorts of sceneries for Carribean islands. If the Carribean is not your thing, how about the Pacific, or the Greek Islands? Those not your cup of tea, how about the Azores, the Canary Islands, the Maldives?

If you are interested in cities, how about London, Paris, New York, San Francisco or Chicago? Too conventional? Well how about Miami, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Rio, Taipei, Hong Kong or Singapore?

Don't like big cities? How about a small town in Alaska, say Ketchican or Dutch Harbor? Or medium sized cities like Vancouver or Victoria?

They are all there, just waiting to be taken

Cruise Ship 1

2012-01-20T08:40:00.003-07:00

Cruise Ship at Barnacle Bay

I have been planning on adding a cruise ship or two to Rain City. So far, I have not seen any cruise ships for the game. Moria uploaded an Ocean Liner at Mod the Sims, and I believe it is based on the Queen Mary. Previously, I uploaded the Titanic.

Flight Simulator and various add-ons provide, maybe, a dozen cruise ships. This is the first one from the Microsoft Flight Simulator base pack.

Download Cruise Ship 1

Another New Blog

2012-01-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

I have not been posting much here lately. Instead, I have been playing with flight simulators. Perhaps it was inevitable once I started filching buildings and other items from these flight simulators.

In any case, I have started a new blog detailing my misadventures in simviation: TJ Streak's Flying Sims. Unlike many blogs dealing with flight simulators, I am going over a lot of basic material on how to actually use these programs. Most of the other blogs and sites are maintained by experienced flight simmers who tend to go at a million RPM when explaining how to do things. There is precious little help for the new flight simmer in the blogosphere.

Since I am a noob at simviation, my site might actually be useful for someone who is similarly situated.

Cement Pads

2011-12-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

I received a request for some cement pads. Generally, I don't take requests (I will just point someone to a tutorial), but I had already done a number of cement pads. I did not upload them because I did not believe there would be much interest in them.

There were designed specifically for Rain City, where I have used them in a number of places.

The first was placed under a shopping center, which had been placed over one of my tunnels. This is still a work in progress which explains why it is still rather rough. However, it does give a different look and feel to that tunnel. This is the largest of the cement pads.

Following that same theme, I used three of the 40 x 40 slabs to create a long tunnuel next to two union square. This tunnel has a texture which matches the sidewalk texture better than the first slabs shown.
I will put something like a convention hall or similar building on the tunnel. The road leading up to the top of the tunnel still neets a lot of work.

The slabs in the second picture actually lead into an entire tunnel complex. The main difference here is that instead of using the cement or sidewalk texture, I used a forest texture, then placed trees on top, to give more of a park feel.

I would not that these slabs, like the tunnels underneath them have no substance. The sims do not recognize they are there, and will acutally walk down the tunnel slope and will disappear into the area below. The prevent this rather funny effect, I have placed non routable paint along the edges of the tunnels, so the sims cannot enter the tunnels from the side.

For the upload, I have included the pads I already have made. I do not plan on making any more at the moment, or slabs of different sizes or using different textures. But if you have followed my building making tutorials, these are even easier to make than a deco buildings. They are nothing but textured cubes, and the sides of the cube all share the same texture.

Download 20 by 20 Cement Pad

Download 40 by 40 Cement Pad

Download 80 by 80 Cement Pad

Download 120 by 110 Cement Pad

Download 40 by 40 Sidewalk Pad

Download 40 x 40 Forest Pad

Himiji Castle

2011-12-17T17:28:00.002-07:00

I noticed that a couple of people are trying to make Japanese inspired worlds. As an homage to Japan, I made this quick conversion from Microsoft Flight Simulator of Himiji Castle in Japan.

The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network of 83 buildings with advanced defensive systems from the feudal period. Himeji Castle is the largest and most visited castle in Japan, and it was registered in 1993 as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country.

Download Himiji Castle

World Tour: The Marshall Islands

2011-12-10T19:32:00.004-07:00

The next stop on my simulated world tour was Enewentak Atol in the Marshal Islands. This atol was used by the U.S. to test nuclear weapons and remained uninhabited until the 1970s. While it has a landing strip, it has been abandoned and is partially covered by sand. However, this did not stop your intrepid world traveller.

Given the history of this atol, thinking of an appropriate project was something of a challenge. I mean, what sort of buildings does one find on an abandoned South Pacific island?

Maybe, I should do a model of a nuclear weapon, or a crater, or some bombed out buildings?

For a while, I was thinking of adding a cruise ship. I'll do that later.

So I settled on a South Pacific resort, actually taken from a Tahiti scenery set.

So your simmies can bask in the residual radiation of nuclear tests conducted a half century ago. After all, the half life of these weapons is only a few thousand years!

Download South Pacific Resort

World Tour: Honolulu

2011-12-10T19:30:00.003-07:00

The first stop on my simulated world tour was Honolulu, Hawaii. The Hawaian Islands are at long range for the Learjet 45, at just under 2,400 nautical miles. I was running real low on fuel as my plane came over the hills. It was a relief to see the city of Honolulu beneath me. It was even a bigger relief to see the airport in front of me.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor took place 70 years ago, yesterday. A memorial was placed over the place where the U.S.S. Arizona was sunk as a grim reminder of that fateful day, and all of the lives which were lost.

My Hawaian model is of the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

Download Pearl Harbor Memorial (U.S.S. Arizona)

World Tour: San Francisco

2011-12-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

Since I have been converting Flight Simulator buildings into Sim 3 buildings, it was inevitable I would actually start playing with the flight simulator. My latest flight simulator adventure ahs been taking a Learjet 45 around the world. I thought it might be an interesting project to make a model of something at every stop along the way.

My trip started in San Francisco. What is more emblematic of San Francisco than the Golden Gate Bridge? So, here is a model of it:

Now, this model is truly massive. It could easily span someone's entire world. So it really is not useable as an in game functioning item. Of course, this is just as well, because I don't know how to make custom functioning bridges. I suspect it has something to do with slots, but I really don't know.

Someone was asking about it on Mod the Sims, but no one there seemed to know how to make functioning bridges either. At least they are not sharing if they do know how to make them. I know it can be done because I have seen a few models floating around.

This is a shame because there are a lot of bridges which can be made. In New York alone, there is the George Washington Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge which immediately come to mind. In London, Tower Bridge and the Millenial Bridge. (I have walked across both.)

By the way, I have models of all these bridges and many more which can be converted from flight simulator programs. Flight Simulator simmers like to fly under bridges. But I don't know how to make them function as bridges in the Sims 3.

The Golden Gate bridge really is intended to be a deco item on distant terrain. You have your world, and in the distance, across a bay, is another large piece of land. And the Golden Gate Bridge spans the distance. Your sims never can use the bridge -- because it is on distant terrain, after all. But it gives the illusion that your world is much bigger than it really is. It is an ideal addition for one of those island worlds.

Download the Golden Gate Bridge

Next stop: Honolulu

World Trade Center

2011-12-10T19:23:00.002-07:00

I received a request on the Sims 3 Create a World forum for the World Trade Center. This was a simple project, two very large cubes with a texture plastered on them. I got the texture from a Google Warehouse model and the mesh from a Flight Simulator mesh -- although it would have been just as easy to make my own cube. The advantage of using the pre-existing cube was that I did not worry about resizing it.

Originally, this was going to be a transparent model to reflect that while it it gone, it is not forgotten. It was transparent in Milkshape, but converting it to a Sims 3 model, not any more. Oh, well.

Download World Trade Center

Horsey Haven Mk 1

2011-11-28T08:23:00.002-07:00

Suffice it to say, I sort of have lost interest in making building using the in game tools. With over 300,000 lots available on the Web, I ask: "What's the point." In fact with so many lots available, lot builders have to go to great pains to even get someone to look at their creations. As a general rule, a lot has to be very very good before I will even consider downloading it. My lots, as a general rule, are not that good.

However, I had a specific need. I started playing in Appaloosa Springs. I did something I typically don't do, I started with a family from the bin: the Funke family. Actually, I played with the Funke's when the Sims 3 first came out. I played them for a couple of generations and suspect those games are long since gone. So this was Funke version two for me.

Anyway, I cheated and gave the family a decent ranch home in Appaloosa Springs. I really didn't have much choice because affordable multi bedroom ranch homes were in short supply. So I just used one of the homes in game.

Eventually the kids grew up. Spencer was the first to go, and the family had enough money to give him a basic starter home. I left him to the tender mercies of the story progression, and he has done just fine in the ghost buster profession and has since moved into a nicer home (with my assistance). Irene, who was a horse lover got a basic one bedroom house when she left the home where she could raise her horses. Again, when I visited here again, I saw that she had become a single mother, and her parents had enough money they could help her out a little by transfering another 20,000 simoleons so she could build an additional bedroom for he kid. (It did not take that much).

However, Carol was of interest. By the time she moved out, the original home was really to big, so the family moved to a smaller home in town. Some of the proceeds from this move were to be used to help Carol get a start in life.

Now I have set up the scenario!

Carol had been an equestrian since she was a teenager. My goal was for here to do the horsey thing in a big way. By the time she was a young adult, she had mastered the riding skill and she had a pretty good horse. She could make a nice living racing her horses, typically winning about 2,800 simoleons a day by racing. In fact, school seriously got in the way of her equestrian career, which is more true to life than many of us would want to admit.

I wanted her to have a nice ranch home where she could raise her horses. She had a budget of 80,000 simoleons, but I really did not want to let her spend more than 65,000. I wanted her to have a two bedroom home, with basic furnishings in a western style. Also, it needed a barn to house six horses, the maximum number of pets one can have in the game.

With over 300,000 lots available on the web, do you think I was able to find ANYTHING which fit this bill? Of course not! Since Pets is relatively new, the vast majority of farms were not made with horse raising in mind. Second, most of the creators really don't seem to have a concept of what a horse ranch or farm is. Most of the homes were spawling mansions costing hundreds of thousands of simoleons, far exceeding my budget. I did not want to use cheats.

I looked around the web for some decent house plans for a farm house. I found one which was a little too modern for my tastes, but otherwise fit the bill for what I was trying to do. It basically had a big open area for the living, dining and kitchen areas. The first floor also has a basic bathroom, a decent sized master bedroom and a utility room for the washing machines and whatever. In a pinch, the utility/storage room could be used as a bedroom.

The second floor was simply a loft, which overlooks the great room below. This made it ideal for Carol to pursue here non-horsey interests, like music and painting. This layout created a vaulted ceiling for the great room, giving it an even more spacious feeling. Dormers lit in more light along with generous windows along the side walls.

However, it would be incredibly easy to add at least two additional bedrooms and a small bath to this upstairs. It simply is a matter of adding the new walls and laying the floor. So this one bedroom plus loft home can grow with the family becoming a four bedroom home as the family grows.

What appealed to me about this design was the wrap around porch, which really created more of an old timey farmhouse look. Perhaps this feature is more southern than western, but I like it.

Also, I decided to make the building a log cabin. This perhaps is more appropriate for the Pacific Northwest, and particularly for Alaska -- but I will use this home in the rurual area of Rain City.

The home itself came out at slightly under 35,000 simoleons. However, I wanted a home for her horsies as well, so I added a barn. The first floor of the barn has six horse stalls. I also put in a lot of hay bales, which may be a mistake. Horses tend to leave their stalls if there is something of interest in the barn itself. Also, the barn has two storey barn doors at both ends. The first floor of the barn is actually two stories tall -- allowing for the addition of farm machinery in the future.

I added a garden area on this same level, in case Carol wanted to start growing carrots. After all she really needa a place to spread all of that horse manuer! The area is fenced in and has two gates which can be locked. However, horses, and foals in particular, can jump the fence.

Above this are two levels of storage space. I have left it empty at the moment, but it could be clutterfied. Or one could stick things like an inventor's table, exercise room or a chemistry set as well. I guess one could even put in a good sized apartment, but who want's to share their living space with horses?

I have left the yard pretty open and free of plants and other vegitation. First, this helped keep the costs within budget. The house plus barn comes to 65,000 to 70,000 simoleons, depending how much stuff one wants to start with.

Also, the yard area is a horse training area. I have put a track around the outer parimeter of the lot, givein horses a lot of space to practice their racing skill, which they will do spontaneously. Sedondly, horse jumping gates can be added to both the back and front yards:

Keep in mind this is a work in progress which I built for me and my game. I really did not build this for upload, but thought that others might find this type of lot useful. As I continue to play the game, I will make more refinements and add the stuff I should have included in the first place.

Download Horsey Haven Mk 1

Seattle Skyscrapers

2011-11-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

I have been working on more Seattle skyscrapers. I am not making them available for download at this time.

1001 Fourth Ave.

1111 Third Ave.

1000 Second Ave.


Key Tower

One Union Square

IDX Building

US Bank Center

Washington Mutual Tower

Rainier Building

Two Union Square

2011-11-11T06:10:00.002-07:00

I have been so busy with other projects, I have been neglecting Rain City. Plus, since I now have all this flight simulator stuff, I have been playing flight simulator and learning how to fly my sims planes. The name "sims" is not restricted to the Sims games. Flight simulator, train simulator and city simulator gamers often refer to their people and objects as "sims."

Construction on Two Union Square began in 1987 and was complete by 1989. The226 m (741 ft) building is the third tallest in the Seattle skyline. Two Union Square has 56 floors, 1,126,428 sq ft (104,648.6 m²) of rentable space, and an underground concourse connecting to the Seattle Hilton Hotel and shopping at Rainier Square.

Like many of the other buildings unique to Rain City, I have not made this available for download. However, it will be included with the Alpha 5 version of Rain City, when that is uploaded. There are plenty of other skyscrapers for people to download on this site, so I have no qualms about reserving a number of these skyscrapers for my projects.

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (St. Petersburg)

2011-11-07T23:00:00.002-07:00

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is not one of St. Petersburg's most notable structures. I lacks the size and grandeur of the Winter Palace and Palace Square. It does not represent the city as the Admiralty building does, and it does not evoke the same majesty as St. Isaak's. But taken on its own, it is a pretty impressive building. It is not located along St. Petersburg's most famous street, Nevsky Prospect. Instead it is located on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated.

Download Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood

Another Gherkin

2011-11-07T19:21:00.001-07:00

A while ago, I uploaded a model of the Gherkin. However, it had some major problems with its UV mapping, problems I really did not know how to fix. I just found this model of the Gherkin which did not have those problems.

I can't see much difference between the two models. The earlier one is a little more colorful. This one actually has more detail modeled. Since I have no immediate plans to make a London world, it seems like a no brainer to go with this model. Meaning, the UV mapping on the other model is on an indefinite hold.

Download Gherkin

The Sydney Opera House

2011-11-07T19:19:00.002-07:00

The Sydney Opera House is not a supertall, but it certainly is big in its own right. The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney.

The Sydney Opera House was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007. It is one of the 20th century's most distinctive buildings and one of the most famous performing arts centres in the world.

This model was converted from Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Download the Sydney Opera House

Taipei 101

2011-11-07T19:17:00.002-07:00

Taipei 101, formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. The building was architecturally created as a symbol of the evolution of technology and Asian tradition (see Symbolism). Its postmodernist approach to style incorporates traditional design elements and gives them modern treatments. The tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. A multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses hundreds of fashionable stores, restaurants and clubs.

This model is a conversion from the one appearing in Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX.

Download Taipei 101

Petronas Towers

2011-11-06T21:36:00.002-07:00

Perhaps to make up for my refusal to upload my new Space Needle, I am uploading another Super Tall: the Petronas Twin Towers located in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Standing at 451.9 meters, the Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world for six years, until Taipei 101 was completed in 2004. The height of the towers is measured to the top of their structural components such as spires, but do not include antennas. Spires are considered actual integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, to which changes would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Towers still remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.

It also is another building from outside Western Europe and the United States.

Download Petronas Twin Towers

Eureka~

2011-11-06T21:24:00.002-07:00

Just because I have not uploaded anything for several days does not mean that I have not been working. Actually, I do have several new models I just have not gotten around to uploading yet.

My big project however has been converting Microsoft Flight Simulator files to the Sims 3. For a while, I was using the FS2Xplanes conversion utility. However, this had its limitations. First, it did not work with everything. Native Microsoft Flight Simulator files seemed to be resistant to opening. Secondly, it had problems with a number of non Microsoft files. I was trying to get it to open some files from some Gibraltar scenery I just installed. Finally, it required an additional step. Namely, I would have to convert a file and open it in AC3d, and convert it into a 3ds file I could open in Milkshape.

I found a new conversion utility which works with both Flight Simulator MDL and BGL files: Model Converter X. This is a very handy utility and it converts directly to 3ds files, eliminating the need to convert from an obj file to a 3ds file in AC3d. Also I am able to open up the native flight simulator files, the scenery files, and even aircraft, ship and ground vehicle files.

X-Plane has a rather limited library of model files, and some of their models are not particularly high quality. Microsoft Flight simulator does have a lot of nice files from all around the world. So the world I can model has gotten considerably larger. All in all, it was worth a weekend worth of effort.

Most importantly, Flight Simulator has many of the skyscrapers I want to make for Rain City. Yes, it has the Columbia Tower, which I already have done. One important difference is that Flight Simulator files come in several LOD's, whereas my Simlumbia Tower only has 1 LOD. However, there is not a huge difference in the number of vertices and faces between levels of detail.

One trick to using the modeling program is that the textures needs to be flipped vertically, otherwise the UV mapping won't work.

In any case, I got around to redoing the Space Needle. I think this new version is quite an improvement.

And no, I am not going to upload it, at least not for a while. If someone is not doing a Seattle world, they really don't need a landmark so unique to Seattle. Besides, there are similar buildings I have uploaded and others I am planning on uploading which are pretty similar in style.

And if someone IS doing a world based on Seattle, they need to do SOME of their own work, rather than simply copying everything that I do. I remember one world creator on the Sims3 Create a World forum slamming Manustyle because his NYC layout was not perfect. Then this guy turned around and used a lot of Manustyle's buildings for his own NYC world (which I have not seen mentioned for several months now.) What a lot of people lose sight of is that 90% of making a world consists of making it interesting and unique from other worlds. There is a lot more to it than simply plopping down other people's work and claiming it for your own.

So, the Space Needle is mine for the moment.