Digital Art Zone

esther - 01 December 2012 11:33 PM

one of the stonemason sets already has a little basketball court.

Predatron has one in City Streets (a set that fits perfectly to those by stone mason)

http://www.daz3d.com/shop/city-streets

I’d like to see a street scene that can be easily changed with facades and treatments to show urban decay over the decades then urban renewal. 

For example a street scene from the 1930’s… 1970’s… present time

With props or elements that can mix and match

Old vintage signage to classic neon to cheap plastic signage 70’s style

Old streetcars to electric rail or busses

Old buildings that can be razed and replaced with new ones with old and new buildings mixed together

Old mechanical STOP/GO signals to more modern street signals

I envision a main street with small storefronts, a barber shop, movie theater, wig shop, hardware store, general store as the ‘hood goes bad, a pawn shop, X Rated movie theater, barricaded stores and then some new trendy stores and boutique hotels, coffee shops as it gets revitalized

You get the idea I think!

cosmo71 - 04 December 2012 12:22 AM

esther - 01 December 2012 11:33 PM

one of the stonemason sets already has a little basketball court.

Predatron has one in City Streets (a set that fits perfectly to those by stone mason)

http://www.daz3d.com/shop/city-streets

...I often combine parts of different sets together to get a more unique looking setting.

In one pic I used several US2 blocks, the ground and some props from The Warehouse District & Tin Pan Alley, and walkway from NYC Townhouses to create a section of a construction site.  In another I combined Tin Pan Alley with part of Streets of the Mediterranean to create an abandoned area of Zagreb in the 2050s.  In yet another I used AntFarm’s Office and Ferval’s Le Village.

I’ve also mixed parts of Stonemason’s sets with the above mentioned City Streets, Trash Stash, Dystopia Blocks, and even Sparkyworld’s Ruined City.

Greetings,

Kyoto Kid - 04 December 2012 01:24 AM

[...deletia…]In another I combined Tin Pan Alley with part of Streets of the Mediterranean to create an abandoned area of Zagreb in the 2050s.

This broke my brain.  I cocked my head to the side, and made a ‘buwha…?’ sound.  Aloud.  It got me strange looks.

I kinda love it…but it’s a total peanut butter and chocolate thing.  Who comes up with this?  (Well, you do, obviously!)

As for Urban Sprawl 3…oof.  I _JUST_ got my partner to agree that I could pick up US2 in some upcoming paycheck.  How?  By showing off the AWESOME PROMO PICS that were missing for MONTHS on US2!  Congrats on getting those up, they look amazing!

A hospital, a run-down police station, tower cranes! There’s always construction going on in the big city…or even the mid-sized city.  Similarly building pits blocked off by temporary walls for construction (a place for mobsters to dump a body the night before the building commences!) would also be incredible.

Essentially stuff that makes the city feel alive; neon signs, constant construction somewhere, scaffolding over some of the sidewalks for repairs being done to buildings, a run-down Bowery/slum/red light district, outdoor cafe areas (BYO furniture for us, of course).

A few trivially simple interiors that can be relocated into any particular building, the door disappeared/window transparent, or something, so we can decorate the interior with shop/restaurant/apartment decor, maybe even with a balcony.

Hills (or at least somewhat varied heights of the ground) and staircases, Housing Projects.  Water towers, and oil storage tanks (common just outside the urban areas)...  A port with cargo cranes!

OMG, I’m hyperventilating…must stop…

I think the number one thing to think is, ‘what makes a city seem alive, vibrant, relevant, a place that people want to be, and are excited about?’  That’s what I’d go for.

Of course I’m not quite the target audience…I don’t even have US 2 yet.  (Although I have ALL the Stonemason ruins!  I’m a nut for ruin porn… )  But I will…oh yes, I will...

Thanks very much, and my breath is virtually abated, waiting for the WIP images…

— Morgan

Some old Art Noveau and Art Deco buildings mixed in with the newer stuff.

Greenspace, as the pre mentioned Central Park idea, or better yet, something like the High Line park in New York.

A Waterfront District would be pretty cool.

Some Administrative and Municipal Buildings like a City Hall, Court Building, Police Precinct etc.

A nice big ugly* Brutalist building for the Aliens to blow up…

*Not to step on anybody’s architectural aesthetics, there is Good Brutalist, and Bad Brutalist, and the Bad Brutalist has got to go…

a souvenir giftshop with postcard racks like they put out on the sidewalk.  a museum looking building. a library looking building.

Or something like the French Quarter in New Orleans

I own Urban Sprawl 2 and it’s great.

+1 on a WATERFRONT section.  Either lakeside or riverside will work.  98% of the world’s population lives near water for a reason.

Also +1 on the construction lot with giant crane.  Ubiquitous in all major cities.

My only other suggestion is feedback based on one tiny frustration I had with US2:  Please make sure all the walls/bldgs are separated from the ground planes that they sit on.  There was one wall that I really need to hide in US2 that I couldn’t because it was part of the ground plane for that section of the city.  Just a minor thing, but there it is.

Thanks for your great effort on these sets.  I also use Urban Ruins 1, 2, 3, 4 all the time.

Mostly… places where people walk, whether solo or in pairs, or in crowds. Common meeting places. Places where stuff happens and there are stories to be told. Streets with little parks in the medians. (Boston has a lot of these.) River bank parks with rollerskating lanes and cherry blossom trees, and bridges in different architectural styles spanning a river. (Boston again… can you tell what city I live near?) Or a waterfront with loading docks. Mixed architecture, signs in different languages suggesting a multi-ethnic neighborhood. Little shops and grocery stores. Sidewalk cafés, jazz clubs. A hair salon. Shop spaces with neutral shaped signage that can be turned into whatever we want by adding merchandise and sign textures.

Sample images:

http://www.bu.edu/celop/activities/i/esplanade.jpg
http://www.boston-discovery-guide.com/image-files/esplanade-cleanup.jpg
http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/578401/99671462/stock-photo-boston-in-the-spring-with-cherry-blossoms-at-charles-river-esplanade-99671462.jpg
http://boston.curbed.com/uploads/boston-public-gardens.jpg
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/snarl/files/2006/07/060730 Boston Chinatown 01.jpg
http://c3155192.r92.cf0.rackcdn.com/ckeditor_assets/pictures/root/4692/content_south-end-boston-condos-for-sale.jpg

Edited to add: in US2, the Seaview Hotel corner and Vendei corner (or however it is spelled) are two of my favorite locations, because they look like places people might be meeting or standing in. So a waterfront park area that could go near US2 would be really great.

cosmo71 - 04 December 2012 12:22 AM

esther - 01 December 2012 11:33 PM

one of the stonemason sets already has a little basketball court.

Predatron has one in City Streets (a set that fits perfectly to those by stone mason)

http://www.daz3d.com/shop/city-streets

The rims have no nets. 

-MJ

Kyoto Kid - 04 December 2012 01:24 AM

cosmo71 - 04 December 2012 12:22 AM

esther - 01 December 2012 11:33 PM

one of the stonemason sets already has a little basketball court.

Predatron has one in City Streets (a set that fits perfectly to those by stone mason)

http://www.daz3d.com/shop/city-streets

...I often combine parts of different sets together to get a more unique looking setting.

In one pic I used several US2 blocks, the ground and some props from The Warehouse District & Tin Pan Alley, and walkway from NYC Townhouses to create a section of a construction site.  In another I combined Tin Pan Alley with part of Streets of the Mediterranean to create an abandoned area of Zagreb in the 2050s.  In yet another I used AntFarm’s Office and Ferval’s Le Village.

I’ve also mixed parts of Stonemason’s sets with the above mentioned City Streets, Trash Stash, Dystopia Blocks, and even Sparkyworld’s Ruined City.

KK, if you ever get time, I would love to see these.

-MJ

Ethnic areas like Chinatown, Little Mexico, etc… some Noir style settings…

MJ007 - 04 December 2012 09:55 PM

Kyoto Kid - 04 December 2012 01:24 AM

cosmo71 - 04 December 2012 12:22 AM

esther - 01 December 2012 11:33 PM

one of the stonemason sets already has a little basketball court.

Predatron has one in City Streets (a set that fits perfectly to those by stone mason)

http://www.daz3d.com/shop/city-streets

...I often combine parts of different sets together to get a more unique looking setting.

In one pic I used several US2 blocks, the ground and some props from The Warehouse District & Tin Pan Alley, and walkway from NYC Townhouses to create a section of a construction site.  In another I combined Tin Pan Alley with part of Streets of the Mediterranean to create an abandoned area of Zagreb in the 2050s.  In yet another I used AntFarm’s Office and Ferval’s Le Village.

I’ve also mixed parts of Stonemason’s sets with the above mentioned City Streets, Trash Stash, Dystopia Blocks, and even Sparkyworld’s Ruined City.

KK, if you ever get time, I would love to see these.

-MJ

...several are in my DA gallery and were posted in the past here (well in the old forums). I’m sure you’ve already seen a couple of them.

I have every one of Stefan’s “contemporary” urban sets (including the Dark Places bundle) as well as UF4 - Street Level.

MJ007 - 04 December 2012 09:55 PM

Kyoto Kid - 04 December 2012 01:24 AM

cosmo71 - 04 December 2012 12:22 AM

esther - 01 December 2012 11:33 PM

one of the stonemason sets already has a little basketball court.

Predatron has one in City Streets (a set that fits perfectly to those by stone mason)

http://www.daz3d.com/shop/city-streets

...I often combine parts of different sets together to get a more unique looking setting.

In one pic I used several US2 blocks, the ground and some props from The Warehouse District & Tin Pan Alley, and walkway from NYC Townhouses to create a section of a construction site.  In another I combined Tin Pan Alley with part of Streets of the Mediterranean to create an abandoned area of Zagreb in the 2050s.  In yet another I used AntFarm’s Office and Ferval’s Le Village.

I’ve also mixed parts of Stonemason’s sets with the above mentioned City Streets, Trash Stash, Dystopia Blocks, and even Sparkyworld’s Ruined City.

KK, if you ever get time, I would love to see these.

-MJ

...some of them are in my DA gallery and were posted in the past here (well in the old forums). I’m sure you’ve already seen a couple of them.

I have every one of Stefan’s “contemporary” urban sets (including the Dark Places bundle) as well as UF4 - Street Level.

Szark - 02 December 2012 03:21 PM

Just being using some of the buildings from 2 and yes I can do this myself in Photoshop but I sure would like night time mat Presets for some windows to glow. Like you did with UF3 & 4 and Greeble Blocks 1 and 2.

Well what did I find in the texture file for US2, some Ambient maps for glowing windows but no presets to make them work which I no big deal but I had no idea they were there.