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Town Redesign

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Oh man, that is the ultimate question. Has anyone seen Mel lately? Someone light the mel-signal.

Replies

  • rasendori5818
    45 posts
    edited July 2013
    Guess there is no better way than putting everything into inventory
  • sony1319
    936 posts
    edited July 2013
    Me when I did a redisign I put every building in a corner (so that you don't lose the money from them and your caracters can continu there task) and all the decoration in inventory. Removed all the roads and river and started redesining :D
  • MacJiggles
    326 posts
    edited July 2013
    Does anyone have statistics on how many squares are on the board, and whats the grid for each square?? I want to make a grid layout and make scale sized paper buildings so I can lay it out exactly how i want...

    FYI if you want to know the size of buildings etc... check this out:

    http://simpsonswiki.net/wiki/The_Simpsons:_Tapped_Out_buildings
  • sony1319
    936 posts
    edited July 2013
    MacJiggles wrote:
    Does anyone have statistics on how many squares are on the board, and whats the grid for each square?? I want to make a grid layout and make scale sized paper buildings so I can lay it out exactly how i want...

    FYI if you want to know the size of buildings etc... check this out:

    http://simpsonswiki.net/wiki/The_Simpsons:_Tapped_Out_buildings

    I made one when i design my town every square is 16x16 without squidport it is 208 x 208
  • grannybern14
    385 posts
    edited July 2013
    sony1319 wrote:
    Me when I did a redisign I put every building in a corner (so that you don't lose the money from them and your caracters can continu there task) and all the decoration in inventory. Removed all the roads and river and started redesining :D
    This is what I did after the squidport update. Plan on spending a fair amount of time!
  • chrisp530
    2611 posts
    edited July 2013
    I would NOT put any limited time or premium buildings in your inventory. Odds are there won't be a problem, but a number of people have posted about putting limited/premiums in their inventory and then they disappear, having to either repurchase them or lost them forever. Just move them off to the side.

    I think trying to redesign an entire town is overwhelming. I try to focus on one area at a time and then build off of and work from there
  • vic147
    624 posts Member
    edited July 2013
    Just to be safe, don't put the limited time buildings and decorations on inventory, put them on a corner far away and start redesigning on the opposite direction, ( there have been many complaints about disappearing buildings)
  • dsfsfsdf554
    145 posts Member
    edited July 2013
    vic147 wrote:
    Just to be safe, don't put the limited time buildings and decorations on inventory, put them on a corner far away and start redesigning on the opposite direction, ( there have been many complaints about disappearing buildings)

    This

    Better be safe than sorry. Don't worry about the jumbled look, it's just temporary
  • pharrah2003
    920 posts
    edited July 2013
    What I did from the get-go is in my mind laid out a basic concept. As I looked at all the available buildings what immediately came to my mind was 5 basic areas: residential middle class, downtown, ghetto, industrial, and high end estates. Then I conceptualized how these areas would flow together, thoughts like higher end things should be closer to the waterfront, ghetto and industrial more inland. Then just like the saying "wrong side of the tracks", I just had to place water between those two primary types. Next as I put the plan into action I found there are four more things that played a huge role in what I found aesthetic, colors, sizes, symmetry and related content. Colors are tricky though, if I put too much of the same color in an area it feels heavy, so I found there is a balance. Symmetry i am picky about too, some things if too perfect don't look natural, like trees in a forest don't usually grow in straight lines, but intentionally planted areas do. If I can hit those 4 points in an area as well in the transition to the next area, I found I loved it.

    Here are some example from my town and what I mean.

    Lets take part of my downtown.

    With this particular part I like how the reds from the open stage play off of the restaurants and the purple from the colosseum does too. I also like how the size of those restaurants look like they belong together. Content wise this is like the higher end date night area of downtown. And, I am happy with the symmetry.

    3lDFUPul.jpg"width=655"

    With this section of downtown, the golds, reds and pinks is why I chose these items to go together. Again, the size of the buildings being two story I feel complement each other as well. Content is more of a family night out area. And, I am happy with the symmetry. :)

    omT1J7Kl.jpg"width=655"

    In part of my transition out of my primary residential area, I have this little funky area I really enjoy. Content wise I liked the retirement castle on the out skirt of the residential and near the mountains and water. I really like how the stripes of the bus match with the retirement home as well the size of the buildings in relation to each other. This is actually the area I found too much similar color isn't good. By placing the apt there it helped to break it up and lighten it up, yet the door were a perfect match! :)

    vP6983Bl.jpg"width=655"

    One of my more recent areas also a funky little area I chose to put together mainly because of the yellow of their lights when turned on also content wise, a late night diner by a hotel and hospital make sense.

    dpPOsO0l.jpg"width=655"

    Anywho, once I got the overall town layout, the playing around to figure out what would go next to what, the decorating was the fun part!

    I could show a lot more examples as my whole town follows this method of madness. :D

    Additionally, a huge benefit I found is by having designated areas, when something new comes out it usually fits in one of those areas/categories (residential, city, industrial, upper and lower end) and then there is forest stuff and now breach stuff, so I have not needed any major redesign, just minor moving around to make room in the designated areas. :)

    Well I am sure I have said probably more than you wanted to hear, but I hope you found some of it helpful nonetheless. :D
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • direwolf987
    7450 posts Member
    edited July 2013
    I am in the middle of a remodel. I took pictures of all the things I wanted to keep the same. Then I put all my buildings into a corner and stored all non-premium items. I then deleted all the roads and rivers.

    As for rebuilding my town, I laid it all out in Excel. Had it mapped for the roads, rivers, and building placement.

    Here is my Excel picture.

    OjO1RUC.png?2


    Map Key
    Black = Roads
    Blue = Water
    Green = Parks (no buildings)
    Grey = Pavement

    It's hard to read on the forum, but it only took 2 hours to transfer my map to my Springfield. I am however on day 30 or so of my redecorating and am only half way done.
  • agentkhoff28
    73 posts
    edited July 2013
    First off Pharrah, that was an excellent write up and a great description of your process. Your town looks SO awesome! Very inspirational!!! I love all the trees, and how all the buildings flow so well together.

    Second, I've been redesigning smaller areas as apposed to a full redesign which I have found works better with my time availability and my vision (i.e. brain power :wink: ).

    One of the main things I have been doing when redesigning an area is to make sure the tops of buildings don't cover the roads so it is easier to find my characters. It will take up a little more space, but it makes it much easier to find everyone to put them on tasks.

    I am writing this from my laptop so I don't have any snapshots to show examples, so I will use Pharrah's first picture as an example. See how the road behind Pimento Grove and Asia De Cuda is hidden...characters can hid behind here when you are trying to find them. Whereas the road behind the Aztec is not covered, so would be able to see even Ralph, walking down that street no problem.

    Again, Pharrah, I love your town, just used your picture to help describe my thought. :D
  • pharrah2003
    920 posts
    edited July 2013
    First off Pharrah, that was an excellent write up and a great description of your process. Your town looks SO awesome! Very inspirational!!! I love all the trees, and how all the buildings flow so well together.

    Second, I've been redesigning smaller areas as apposed to a full redesign which I have found works better with my time availability and my vision (i.e. brain power :wink: ).

    One of the main things I have been doing when redesigning an area is to make sure the tops of buildings don't cover the roads so it is easier to find my characters. It will take up a little more space, but it makes it much easier to find everyone to put them on tasks.

    I am writing this from my laptop so I don't have any snapshots to show examples, so I will use Pharrah's first picture as an example. See how the road behind Pimento Grove and Asia De Cuda is hidden...characters can hid behind here when you are trying to find them. Whereas the road behind the Aztec is not covered, so would be able to see even Ralph, walking down that street no problem.

    Again, Pharrah, I love your town, just used your picture to help describe my thought. :D

    Thank you. :oops: I am very happy you enjoyed my write-up and town shots. :)

    I totally agree about streets being open, most of my town is pretty open so I usually find everyone easily but moreover, as soon as I take someone off task I put them right back on task. Because I go through everyone like that they don't have a chance to get away. ;)

    Many players totally understand the time it takes for a redesign and dealing with time constraints. What I would recommend is roughly laying out your buildings around where you think they will go and the buildings they go by. Then start decorating. As you decorate your town bit by bit you will find it helps to in ironing out streets and block dimensions and helps to keeps you on target of what you want where rather than realizing later you want it somewhere else and having to tear it all down to redo it somewhere else. This is what I did when completing the last third of my town and it was super helpful. It was funny because I kept moving and moving the buildings around a blank piece of land over a several days while decorating bits here and there around the edges working my way in. :)

    Good luck to you. I am confident it will come out great! :thumbup:
  • ecneralc
    3182 posts Member
    edited July 2013
    I'm in the middle of a redesign I moved all buildings to the side and put all decorations into inventory this is what I've done so far


    BRKPgUr.jpg
  • Indys2nd
    1906 posts Member
    edited July 2013
    I always move my buildings out of the way and then just store the decorations. Otherwise, you never know, you could accidentally sell one. I also work on one piece at a time. Maybe divide it up by neighborhoods. You also might want to figure out where your landing zone is and put a message in hedges or fences that says under construction or something. Some of my neighbors have done that before, so we know what's happening. One neighbor put EVERYTHING but the Simpson house in storage. I thought his Springfield had been reset at first. :shock: It was and still is an amazing town. Then I realized he was redesigning it.
  • BillionDuck
    159 posts Member
    edited July 2013
    Some of these desings are amazing. And the ideas are great.

    Me in this thread
    120924_o.gif
  • ecneralc
    3182 posts Member
    edited July 2013
    Some of these desings are amazing. And the ideas are great.

    Me in this thread
    120924_o.gif

    Love that movie lol
  • dessskris
    195 posts
    edited July 2013
    gosh, you guys all have really cool towns. redesigning my town always takes me hours. it's so tiring, but it's fun as well. I personally am not into expanding because it'd be difficult to find my characters then. I now only have a line of road LOL and I don't really like it that way but it's for efficiency. I'd like to redesign my town again probably next month or the next one. will do better planning and collect enough money to get more land expansion.
  • pharrah2003
    920 posts
    edited July 2013
    indys2nd wrote:
    I always move my buildings out of the way and then just store the decorations. Otherwise, you never know, you could accidentally sell one. I also work on one piece at a time. Maybe divide it up by neighborhoods. You also might want to figure out where your landing zone is and put a message in hedges or fences that says under construction or something. Some of my neighbors have done that before, so we know what's happening. One neighbor put EVERYTHING but the Simpson house in storage. I thought his Springfield had been reset at first. :shock: It was and still is an amazing town. Then I realized he was redesigning it.

    Identifying landing zone - good tip. Because it is the first thing people will see you may want to personalize it or ensure what you most like to be clicked is there.

    A temporary under instruction message, also a very good tip.

    :thumbup: :thumbup:
  • chrisp530
    2611 posts
    edited July 2013
    indys2nd wrote:
    I always move my buildings out of the way and then just store the decorations. Otherwise, you never know, you could accidentally sell one. I also work on one piece at a time. Maybe divide it up by neighborhoods. You also might want to figure out where your landing zone is and put a message in hedges or fences that says under construction or something. Some of my neighbors have done that before, so we know what's happening. One neighbor put EVERYTHING but the Simpson house in storage. I thought his Springfield had been reset at first. :shock: It was and still is an amazing town. Then I realized he was redesigning it.

    Identifying landing zone - good tip. Because it is the first thing people will see you may want to personalize it or ensure what you most like to be clicked is there.

    A temporary under instruction message, also a very good tip.

    :thumbup: :thumbup:

    :thumbup:

    That is a great tip, but just remember that unless you have all the land/water, your landing zone is going to change. I made this mistake and now have the Church as my landing zone. My town is to massive for a full redesign, but I'd like to eventually get my Town Hall or username in my landing zone.
  • SeungyeonAngel
    293 posts
    edited July 2013
    jwlizard76 wrote:
    Oh man, that is the ultimate question. Has anyone seen Mel lately? Someone light the mel-signal.

    yeah i just visited his town today and this guy always does something new! right now he demolished squidport and did a combination seaside complex. crazy cool. i wish i could think of stuff like that! :shock:
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