Difference between revisions of "Tutorials:Creating A World That Doesn't Suck Planning"

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[[image:TVRcaw_banner.jpg|center]]
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{{TVRcaw_headertemplate}}
 
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{| class="nicetable" align="center"
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|-
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! [[Tutorials:Creating A World That Doesn't Suck/Basics|Basics]]
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| Starting a New World, Navigating CAW, The User Interface, Exporting a World, etc.
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! [[Tutorials:Creating A World That Doesn't Suck/Grid|The Grid]]
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| About the Grid, Using the Grid with Roads and Lots, etc.
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|-
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! [[Tutorials:Creating A World That Doesn't Suck/Roads and Sidewalks|Roads and Sidewalks]]
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| Working with Roads, Grading, Using Custom Textured Roads, etc.
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! [[Tutorials:Creating A World That Doesn't Suck/Objects|Objects, Bridges and Effects]]
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| Placing, moving and rotating objects, working with bridges and effects, etc.
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|-
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! [[Tutorials:Creating A World That Doesn't Suck/Lots|Lots]]
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| Placing and moving lots, Conforming Edges, Sloped Lots, etc.
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! [[Tutorials:Creating A World That Doesn't Suck/Distantterrain|Distant Terrain]]
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| About distant terrain, placing distant terrain, customizing distant terrain, etc.
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|-
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! [[Tutorials:Creating A World That Doesn't Suck - Sculpting|Sculpting]]
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| Using the tools, sculpting hills, cliffs, beaches, etc.(Includes Videos)
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! [[Tutorials:Creating A World That Doesn't Suck/Painting|Terrain Painting]]
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| Painting your world like a pro, with technique suggestions from creators.(Includes Videos)
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|}
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{| align="right"
 
{| align="right"
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[[File:CAWicon.png|left|frame|Create a World Icon]]
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=Planning Your World=
 
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[[Image:TVRcaw_roadlayoutBridgeportExample.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Bridgeport's Main City Road Layout (click for full size).]]
'''DO NOT EDIT WITHOUT DIRECT PERMISSION FROM TVRDESIGNS OR QBUILDERZ.'''
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[[Image:TVRcaw_specialfeaturesTwinbrook.jpg|thumb|350px|right|A Little Extra Area in Twinbrook (click for full size).]]
 
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Before you even open CAW, it is recommended that you have at least some idea of what your world is going to be, even if it's just "Desert," "Remote," "Small," or "Quaint Town". This will allow you to choose your world's size and map type easily.
''Create a World'' ('''CAW''') was released in late 2009 by EA's development team. The program, which is used by creators around the world, is the major tool required to create a world in The Sims 3.
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As with a lot of EA's releases, there was no documentation provided that taught technique or anything beyond the extreme basics of the program. Of the information provided, only navigation of the user interface and a brief description of its features were covered.
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====Size====
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The first thing you need to decide is the size of your map. Sunset Valley, Twinbrook and Bridgeport are all ''Large'' maps, though they use up a lot of space around the edges in inaccessible hills. Do you want a small, cozy neighborhood that's just big enough to fit everything, or a bustling urban landscape with houses and businesses everywhere - or maybe a small town surrounded by wilderness? Once you get past terrain sculpting, you won't be able to easily re-size your world without losing work, so be sure of the scale!
  
This guide has been created in the hopes that it could fill in where EA's lack of documentation abrubtly ended. It contains all the information that is, currently, known about CAW as well as some techniques, tips and hints on painting, sculpting, routing and many other un-addressed features of the program.
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====Terrain====
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What kind of landscaping do you want? What trees do you want to use to compliment this? What kind if climate do you want? What sort of vibe? All these questions need to be asked when altering terrain. The way you sculpt your map will depend on what kind of area you are trying to portray. Some examples could be long flowing cliffs and hills or jagged, pointed mountains surrounded by desolate desert. The climate you are trying to show will also be reliant on what trees and architectural styles you want. Another thing to consider when on these things is the weather. Will it be a cold place or will it be heated? These are all factors in deciding foliage.
  
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====Buildings====
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This is one that is absolutely vital. Your landscaping can look absolutely gorgeous, but when it comes down to it, your world needs to have a good layout and nice buildings. To do this, you should have at least a small idea of what kind of street template you want. This might mean, for a city, you want close knit streets that intersect all the time, creating a sort of grid look. Conversely, it could mean you want one road running through your town with a few side streets running away from that.
  
If you have any issues on something that '''isn't covered''' in this guide, you can either '''PM TVRdesigns''' or, alternatively, go to the CAW forum which you can find under ''Create > Sims 3 > Create-a-World.'' or, for convenience, [http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=616 here]
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====Special Features====
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These are fun little nooks and crannies that you can put into your world for sims to explore and have fun with. For instance, there is a mine area in Sunset Valley and an old warehouse area with train tracks running through it in Twinbrook. This could mean you would like a little harbor area or a waterfall with a river running through your world. You need to have some good ideas for this, if you want your world to be interesting.
  
=Word of Warning=
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====Distant Terrain====
Before you commit to reading this guide or making a world, you need to understand something; '''CREATE A WORLD IS VERY TIME CONSUMING.'''
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If you are going to make a world that is large, you might want to consider using "Distant Terrain." It becomes increasingly difficult to add these to your world in a natural-looking way if you have already sculpted your world. If you decide that your world needs distant terrain before you start it, you can make the land on the edges of your world meet up with the distant terrain to create a nice, flowing landscape.
  
For a '''WELL DONE''' world, it can take months, even a year to finish. You cannot, in any way, create a decently sized, '''QUALITY''' world in under a month. Because every task in CAW is tedious, even a basic map without lots will take you a month. This isn't to say that its not fun, it's very fun! However, if you hate monotony or you cannot stand doing tasks over and over, CAW is really not for you.  
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====Things to Remember====
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Once you decide all of these things, remember that you cannot change the map-size; you need to be absolutely certain that you can fit everything you want into the map size you choose. You can export the height map of a half-completed world and save it into a bigger map (more on this in another section), but this involves re-doing all the lots, paint, objects and decoration.
  
=Key=
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You might also want to consider whether you want to add a second water-level. These can be seen in the EA world Bridgeport, amongst the mountains. Adding these can be difficult for the non-experienced, but it can also give your world a much more realistic and fun feel (see this section for details).
This article uses acronyms, phrases, and colour codes which are explained below.
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*'''CAW''' Create a World - ''Just a shortening of the program's name.''
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*'''EIG''' Edit in Game - ''This is pretty self-explanatory, it is the version of The Sims 3 that functions directly with CAW to allow you to build lots for your world.''
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* <span style="color:#ff0000">'''RED TEXT'''</span> in screenshots indicates something is done poorly.
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* <span style="color:#FFA500">'''ORANGE/YELLOW TEXT''' </span> in screenshots indicates something that is acceptable.
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* <span style="color:#008000">'''GREEN TEXT'''</span> in screenshots shows a good outcome!
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=Programs=
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{{TVRcaw_headertemplate}}
*'''Create a World''' is the main program used in this material and can be found [http://www.thesims3.com/game/tools/world here] at thesims3.com
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*'''S3PE''' is used to change things like sky and ocean colour in .world files. It can be found [http://dino.drealm.info/den/denforum/index.php?PHPSESSID=pupje8btfgb3c1elcka7ljckb3&topic=189.0 here] at simlogical
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*'''Photoshop .dds Plugin''' is a useful little plugin for Photoshop which allows it to read files in a .dds format. Find it [http://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-texture-tools-adobe-photoshop here]. Please note that this plugin is free, but Photoshop is '''NOT'''.
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====Paint Programs====
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*'''Paint.net''' is one of a couple of programs that can be used to edit terrain and road texture files. These are generally in a .dds format. Find it [http://paint.net/ here]. Please note, this program is free.
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*'''GIMP''' is another program that can be used to edit terrain and road texture files. Again, in .dds format. Find it [http://www.gimp.org/ here]. Please note, this program is free.
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*'''Photoshop''' is, perhaps, the most well known of the paint programs, but it has one major drawback. '''It costs. A lot.'''
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Latest revision as of 21:12, 10 September 2012

Creating A World That Doesn't Suck

Planning | Compatibility | Basics | Roads and Sidewalks | The Grid | Lots | Buildings and Road Layouts | Sculpting | Objects, Bridges and Effects | Terrain Painting | Distant Terrain | CAW and S3PE | Custom Content | Glossary

Contents


[edit] Planning Your World

Bridgeport's Main City Road Layout (click for full size).
A Little Extra Area in Twinbrook (click for full size).

Before you even open CAW, it is recommended that you have at least some idea of what your world is going to be, even if it's just "Desert," "Remote," "Small," or "Quaint Town". This will allow you to choose your world's size and map type easily.

[edit] Size

The first thing you need to decide is the size of your map. Sunset Valley, Twinbrook and Bridgeport are all Large maps, though they use up a lot of space around the edges in inaccessible hills. Do you want a small, cozy neighborhood that's just big enough to fit everything, or a bustling urban landscape with houses and businesses everywhere - or maybe a small town surrounded by wilderness? Once you get past terrain sculpting, you won't be able to easily re-size your world without losing work, so be sure of the scale!

[edit] Terrain

What kind of landscaping do you want? What trees do you want to use to compliment this? What kind if climate do you want? What sort of vibe? All these questions need to be asked when altering terrain. The way you sculpt your map will depend on what kind of area you are trying to portray. Some examples could be long flowing cliffs and hills or jagged, pointed mountains surrounded by desolate desert. The climate you are trying to show will also be reliant on what trees and architectural styles you want. Another thing to consider when on these things is the weather. Will it be a cold place or will it be heated? These are all factors in deciding foliage.

[edit] Buildings

This is one that is absolutely vital. Your landscaping can look absolutely gorgeous, but when it comes down to it, your world needs to have a good layout and nice buildings. To do this, you should have at least a small idea of what kind of street template you want. This might mean, for a city, you want close knit streets that intersect all the time, creating a sort of grid look. Conversely, it could mean you want one road running through your town with a few side streets running away from that.

[edit] Special Features

These are fun little nooks and crannies that you can put into your world for sims to explore and have fun with. For instance, there is a mine area in Sunset Valley and an old warehouse area with train tracks running through it in Twinbrook. This could mean you would like a little harbor area or a waterfall with a river running through your world. You need to have some good ideas for this, if you want your world to be interesting.

[edit] Distant Terrain

If you are going to make a world that is large, you might want to consider using "Distant Terrain." It becomes increasingly difficult to add these to your world in a natural-looking way if you have already sculpted your world. If you decide that your world needs distant terrain before you start it, you can make the land on the edges of your world meet up with the distant terrain to create a nice, flowing landscape.

[edit] Things to Remember

Once you decide all of these things, remember that you cannot change the map-size; you need to be absolutely certain that you can fit everything you want into the map size you choose. You can export the height map of a half-completed world and save it into a bigger map (more on this in another section), but this involves re-doing all the lots, paint, objects and decoration.

You might also want to consider whether you want to add a second water-level. These can be seen in the EA world Bridgeport, amongst the mountains. Adding these can be difficult for the non-experienced, but it can also give your world a much more realistic and fun feel (see this section for details).

Creating A World That Doesn't Suck

Planning | Compatibility | Basics | Roads and Sidewalks | The Grid | Lots | Buildings and Road Layouts | Sculpting | Objects, Bridges and Effects | Terrain Painting | Distant Terrain | CAW and S3PE | Custom Content | Glossary

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