Informative update! WIP: Thistlecreek Village - A Sims 1 Makin' Magic Inspired World!

LOL Well imagine that i'm in LOVE with building, and when i was creating my world I got so fed up with building that i either used the same house over and over as an "area" thing, or when i got really sick of it i just used EA houses from the bin. If you want to use less lots, you can either place 2-3 small rabbit holes in one lot, use the merged ones, and don't forget that some bar/nightclub types can also double as Showtime venues. I also think that you can place rabbitholes without a lot. @Rflong7 might be able to help with that, I have no idea how its done but i know she did it. I'm pretty sure that 100-110 lots in total should be fine ,according to each ones set up that is - it might be hard for older/smaller machines depending on the lvl of detail on the lots. I had a huge lot in my world with so many stuff on it, and so many textures that even though i have a good gc, it still took a while to load. Keep CASt and diversity of foliage to the minimum and you should be fine. Its been so long for me that i forget the terminology. More recent CAW users can come to my aid here. I think its better if you use up to about 4-5 types of foliage on each CAW "square" , and I think its about 7 types in each lot. Also the more CASt textures you use on a lot the more it takes to load.

Hi, @geminiagre :mrgreen:

There were only 2 rabbitholes that work okay on the map- The horse training building and the grocery store (I used an expansion version). The Sims will have problems traveling to work when the buildings are on the world map. I had several testers and they just didn't work right. :(

@mooredt21 :blush:

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So here are building wips I completed before moving back to sculpting and painting in CAW to fill in some areas that look too flat and bare.

It's a brighter day in Thistlecreek! I guess the game didn't want to give me overcast days for snapshots lol!

https://40.media.tumblr.com/4a8ff56868b3e785d54fbb1e4a97bb43/tumblr_ns68zxGU0s1tjvzwco3_1280.png
https://41.media.tumblr.com/a529c65d26aa6605f4b74f4a5e5c3e27/tumblr_ns68zxGU0s1tjvzwco4_1280.png
Above are the Stonewall Townhomes and Greenwood Condominiums respectively. There are two lots of each. They all have the same floor plan with small varying differences. They are Late Night style apartments. (Stonewall is my absolute favorite and I have my test Sim living there ;) )

http://41.media.tumblr.com/260ce1952c296a3f5543f534b841ce31/tumblr_ns68zxGU0s1tjvzwco2_1280.png
https://40.media.tumblr.com/13c9baf3fdc4be960ebe287662cafcc7/tumblr_ns68zxGU0s1tjvzwco5_1280.png
These new buildings are Pinetree Bar and Jenny's Diner. They are on the same lot, which is set as a "coffeehouse" and has a Showtime stage attached to Pinetree Bar.

http://41.media.tumblr.com/c8fead5166f358f91165f9470f2ceb48/tumblr_ns7m8op3rI1tjvzwco1_1280.png
And finally a lot full of wip shops/restaurants. I am still unsure, after finishing building, if I should leave it as a shell or furnish it. I fiddle with this lot when I get burned out from CAW to give me a break from the constant crashing lol.

So CAW keeps crashing every time I go to paint terrain :angry: I end up having to redo these little areas a few times.
https://40.media.tumblr.com/c6f63b65098f361a66ea512238ecf4a3/tumblr_nsd3barNTy1tjvzwco1_1280.png

Doing these little areas makes me wish I was better at painting the larger mountain areas; I'm a stickler for detail but at the same time the larger areas drive me bonkers.

Small Hints for crashing CAW. Have you edited your page file? Gets much better if you do. Plus CAW for some reason loads your entire DCCashe. If you are not using many Store items, before launching CAW you can move your TS3 folder somewhere safe, And then launch CAW. It will load faster and there will be much less crashing. Mine would crash as soon as it loaded and tried to do anything if i didn't do that. In fact what i did exactly is that i had 2 Sims 3 folders. One for CAW and one for playing. So i had my regular one in the Electronic Arts folder when i wanted to play, and switched to the temp one when i wanted to use CAW. Also if i wanted to use a few store items, i just installed only those items while i had the temp folder in.

Let me grab a link to the page file tutorial, brb

Ok can't seem to find it I'll just try to type it all :p
This is for windows 7, might be a bit diff for other OS

ok go to Control Panel -> System
There should be a column on your left, the last option should be "Advanced system settings" Click on that
A new window should open, there got to the "advanced tab" and click "settings" under "performance"
A new window should open again, go again to the "advanced" tab, and where it says Virtual memory click on "change"
If "automatically manage paging file size" is selected uncheck it
Select your basic hard drive from the list
and check Custom size
On initial size AND maximum size you will type in the recommended page file MB shown at the bottom of that window. Exactly that number and in BOTH boxes the SAME. This number should be your RAM + half of it. For example i have 8GB of RAM so its about 8000MB plus half of it 4000MB , makes it about 12000MB that my recommended amount (12286MB to be precise) and that 's what i have in BOTH boxes initial and max.
You click on nothing else, everything else should be unselected.
Ok each window till you are done
You might need to restart, it 'll ask you if needed
Now you will have less much crashing, and everything will be running more smoothly

Now what we did...When your computer runs out of RAM (as much as you have TS3 and CAW can't use more than 4GB anyway) it uses part of your hard drive as extra RAM. Most computers by default have this set to automatically manage, or they have diff initial and max values. That causes the computer to simply write over that and use anything that is left or try to allocate more when needed, making it run slower. Therefore its easy to use all the RAM and have no page file left to use so CAW (or any other program that might run into this issue) crashes
So now we reserved space on the hard drive to use as page file , when it runs out of RAM, and since the initial AND max are the same, it will NOT use that space for anything else. So it treats it as extra "RAM". Its always there , it access it very fast (not as fast as RAM but the difference is not that noticeable) and things stop crashing cause there is more "RAM" for them to use.

you are very welcome :) CAW is quite buggy on its own and we all have struggled with it a lot. Due to the FPS issue with the game I had to create my world export it and install it in game, build everything, place everything in the bin after noting down where goes what, go back in CAW, open EIG and place all the buildings on the appropriate lots... CAW is a pain, but an addiction too :P

Thank you so much to geminiagre for the CAW advice; I haven't had a crash since! :grin:

But in the meantime, here's a building update!

http://40.media.tumblr.com/28695a0731633d2607c57d2ccd4a8291/tumblr_nsqca1NFu21tjvzwco1_1280.png
(Thistlecreek Ferry Port that shuttles Sims to an offshore island resort)
http://40.media.tumblr.com/994a5fa3b3fb94e976f8d5cab03c2742/tumblr_nsqca1NFu21tjvzwco3_1280.png
(Anderson Community Library, also my favorite building thus far)
http://41.media.tumblr.com/90eabaae6b93732183f31dfcc64858ec/tumblr_nsqca1NFu21tjvzwco4_1280.png
(Famous Crab Shack and biggest tourist attraction in town)


http://41.media.tumblr.com/fac054773973547c7dbefb6306117258/tumblr_nsqcdzhuL31tjvzwco1_1280.png
Here's a wip that will have a bowling alley, coffee shop, and some other store ideas :smile:

http://36.media.tumblr.com/c2199fe04065e3b8da5a607adad1b326/tumblr_nsqcciGtzR1tjvzwco1_1280.png
And a lovely scenery photo to end the night. This picture really makes me wish I knew how to make distant terrain but meshing goes far over my head lol.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend ahead of them! I'll show an update on sculpting shortly.

Wow! I wish I could build like that. The library, especially, is breathtaking!

Thank you @Khala_Oakeage and @berta108 :smiley:

Thank you so much @HopeAK and @purple_roses2110 :) I hope Thistlecreek Village meets everyone's expectations!

I've taken a short break the past couple days because we have a new kitten and he's a tad sick. (We sure do have a full house now with two cats and a big dog o_o) I've been taking small moments to flesh out shrubs and flowers in some zones in Thistlecreek here and there to be a little productive and have a few building shells completed but this week might be a little slow. I really want to get the leftover sculpting tweaking and painting done so I can export, test, and maybe do an empty world beta test.

I should have some picture updates by the end of the week on the progress I've made. Stay tuned!