Americana , What do we want, What do we need?

background

memcneil70 said:

background said:

memcneil70 said:

Yet those motels still service drivers across the West. I drove from Denver to Sacramento in 2019 on the I-80 with Bugsy, a Spitz, and had to stay at two that looked very much like Stonemason's motel and also the others in the store. The two that were hotels were actually in the worse shape in the rooms. I am familiar with them while in the military. We didn't always get fancy or safe overnight quarters while traveling alone.

I had to stay in central London overnight, years ago, and the company found the cheapest accomodation they could. When I arrived the guy at reception asked me if I wanted 'extra pillows', I had no idea why at the time, but apparently this was 'secret' code for, did I want him to arrange for a lady of easy virtue to share the room with me.  

Oh that reminds me of my arrival at Osan AB So. Korea. Because I was an NCO and female, there were no transient quarters on base for me, so I was sent to a 'hotel' off base. The men I had traveled with from Seattle helped me with my luggage and we arrived at the hotel and they assumed I was a round-eyed competitor of their local residents. That room featured a bed with each leg sitting in cans of kerosene and a shower where bugs crawled out of the drain. I didn't sleep very well. And then I arrived at Kunsan AB and a prefab barracks that had been in Vietnam and had bullet holes and different colored holes, blood and other stains. The gang latrine had a hallway running through it. So old motels are pretty nice in comparison.

I'm a bloke, but i would still be suspicious of any accomodation that had holes in the walls, however they got there. 

I was working in Holland one time, and the job required wearing special overalls, in case they got contaminated. The changing room was on one floor and the overalls were on the floor above, close to where you went into the containment. There was a lift between floors. So this one day I strip down to my underwear and get into the empty lift, and just as the doors are about to close this young woman steps into the lift ( there were very few women working in the building ). It was kind of an awkward situation, but she seemed quite used to the idea of being in a lift with a guy just wearing underwear.  Nothing happened of course. 

Mr_Fluffkin

I would love to see some interiors that fit the style/houses of "Main Street USA" or "The Suburbs".

jmucchiello

Mr_Fluffkin said:

I would love to see some interiors that fit the style/houses of "Main Street USA" or "The Suburbs".

Always this. I wish most "Street" products had Add-Ons for their façade storefronts.

daveso

namffuak said:

He already did the classic motel - with one glaring item missing. Right under the big Sunset Motel sign should be a rectangular sign with 'No Vacancy' in big neon letters - with the 'No' separate, to be lit when all the rooms were booked. Typically the 'Vacancy' was always lit.

TBH, there haven't been many true motels built in the past 30 or so years - if the room's door doesn't open to the outdoors it's actually a limited service hotel.

route 66 motels had a ton of neon. a lot were single story long structures, with a pool outfront. Neon seemed to be a big thing back in the 50s and 60s, probably prior as well. 

 

garrett_3d

What about an RV park along a stretch of road? Plenty of those about IRL.

FrankTheTank

Ok, this is a good example of the eclectic nature of Americana rest stops. Never been to this one but one day I'm gonna have to visit. 

https://sillyamerica.com/roadsideattractions/uranus-missouri-and-the-uranus-fudge-factory-and-general-store-in-st-robert-missouri/

 

EightiesIsEnough

I think other ideas for an Americana set should be:

• Street sections including those for driveways.
• Gas stations, particularly those based on the 1970s.
• A campground set for building a national, state or provincial park, which would include a ticket booth/checkpoint; washrooms/outhouses; a lake, pond, brook and river; a bailey bridge for vehicles; a bridge for walking; dirt road sections; grassy or hilly sections for the side of the road; spaces for parking cars, campers and trailers; a fire extinguisher station; a place where drinking water can be obtained; picnic tables and picnic table shelters; a playground; a dock for the lake or pond; a lifeguard station; a sand or gravel beach; and grassy spaces for tents.

 

namffuak

Something very common in the US from the 1940s through the early or mid 1960s - the roadside rest. Always between population centers on state or US highways these were a spot along the road with room for one or two cars to pull off, with a picnic table or two and a trash barrel. Usually shaded by several large maple or oak trees.

 

Mr_Fluffkin

Add-ons for the Urban Sprawl would be cool as well. A park for example, that seamlessly fits with the US squares.

barbult

Mr_Fluffkin said:

Add-ons for the Urban Sprawl would be cool as well. A park for example, that seamlessly fits with the US squares.

That's a good idea. There could be some housing or transportation squares, too, like a bus station. 

EightiesIsEnough

EightiesIsEnough said:

I think other ideas for an Americana set should be:

• Street sections including those for driveways.
• Gas stations, particularly those based on the 1970s.
• A campground set for building a national, state or provincial park, which would include a ticket booth/checkpoint; washrooms/outhouses; a lake, pond, brook and river; a bailey bridge for vehicles; a bridge for walking; dirt road sections; grassy or hilly sections for the side of the road; spaces for parking cars, campers and trailers; a fire extinguisher station; a place where drinking water can be obtained; picnic tables and picnic table shelters; a playground; a dock for the lake or pond; a lifeguard station; a sand or gravel beach; and grassy spaces for tents.

 

I should add to the campground set idea a few more items: sections for a walking trail, a boardwalk for some sections of a trail, and steps for a hill along a trail. 

WendyLuvsCatz

homeless camps

furiousstug

Christmas on Main Street add-on, with undisturbed snow and streets plowed versions.

genaris

Building on what namffuak said, rest stops/truck stops one sees along freeways and major highways would be great.  An example is when freeway travelling you cross over into another state, there is typically a large "Welcome to..." archway or display board and there or shortly after will be a large rest stop with bathroom buildings, vending machines, green spaces/park-ish areas to relax, stretch legs and walk animals, tourist literature and information racks & kiosks.  These large rest stops usually have a separate designated flow and parking area for semi-trucks.  When I moved from 30&40 degree temps and dirty, leftover snow in Ohio in MARCH and drove to Florida, I arrived at the state line and one such rest-stop just as the day dawned. I felt like I was living the equivalent of the "Wizard of Oz" scene where Dorothy opens the black&white cabin door and steps out into Technicolor-- it was already in the 70s fahrenheit that early in the morning and palm trees in the medians swayed gently in balmy air.  Very vivid moment... and memory from like 45 or 46 years ago! Architecturally those buildings weren't/aren't  all the same everywhere but they mostly do share a certain public institutional style that in all it's varied forms manages always to signal a bland yet distinct post-war "American" style and have for decades, regardless of whether the parking lots were filled with rows of fins, land-yachts, station wagons clad in vinyl fake woodgrain, k-car mini-vans, or nowadays, mostly blocky, tall SUVs.

namffuak said:

Something very common in the US from the 1940s through the early or mid 1960s - the roadside rest. Always between population centers on state or US highways these were a spot along the road with room for one or two cars to pull off, with a picnic table or two and a trash barrel. Usually shaded by several large maple or oak trees.

 

chris-2599934

Not something I need personally, but how about a strip mall? Or businesses just laid out along a strip of highway? That seems like a very american scene to me, but it's a long time since I've been to the states.

EightiesIsEnough

I agree with the idea of having interiors to go with the buildings in the Main Street USA set, especially for the restaurants and the Elementary School (and at least the school has doors that can open).  I also think it would be nice to have interiors created for the houses in the Suburbs set.

Phoenix1966

Some have been mentioned before, but here's my list for Main Street Add-ons:

Garage/yard/bake sales

block parties

halloween decorations

pools/backyards

parades(Memorial Day, 4th of July, etc.) 

And for Americana...a really rundown biker bar.

Stonemason

Thanks for all the replies, these are some good ideas to work on,

jmucchiello

How about a Pawn Shop? Is that Americana? Check Cashing storefront?

garrett_3d

Lizard Lick Towing compound complete with Ron & Amy? 

SilverGirl

Minneapolis/St Paul have residential sections of Victorian houses. Some are still single-family, some have been split into rental units. (I'm guessing other big cities have similar, but I'm not well traveled.) I'd love to have that in my runtime. :)

garrett_3d

Ranch House/Steak House. An original 1950's estabishment with obvious generational upgrades.

1950's/60's Drive In Movie Theater.

garrett_3d

Mardi Gras street party.

jmucchiello

garrett_3d said:

Ranch House/Steak House. An original 1950's estabishment with obvious generational upgrades.

1950's/60's Drive In Movie Theater.

There exists a drive in theater. It's old but it's not like Drive Ins have changed recently.

garrett_3d

You mean Moonshines? I think we could do with a newer option, it does look dated now and pretty low poly (no offense meant to Jack).

barbult

garrett_3d said:

You mean Moonshines? I think we could do with a newer option, it does look dated now and pretty low poly (no offense meant to Jack).

It was appropriate poly count for the decade it was released, I suppose.  

jmucchiello

I guess. I'd rather have Rosa Cantina that fits exactly into Stonemason's Main Street USA, along with Joe's Garage, Main Street Hardware, etc. And there's no "why not both?" as SM only has so much time.

3Diva

I didn't realize you had a dedicated thread when I posted this in the Commons, but since I found this thread, I'll post it here too.

I'd love to see a charming, picturesque, cozy town square. Maybe with a charming bandstand in the center. A square lined with cozy little shops. Maybe something like a bookstore, coffee shop, bakery, art supply store, etc.

        

Something completely picturesque and cozy would be really nice, IMO. ;)

 

jmucchiello

Great photos. There are various assets in the store that are quaint shops. But most of them are facades. And while that is probably the common use for such assets.Some of us would like to walk inside.

https://www.daz3d.com/modern-store-front

https://www.daz3d.com/boutique-front-bundle

https://www.daz3d.com/boutique-front-bundle-20

And all of the various "Streets of..." style assets.

Cybersox

escrandall said:

Greyhound Bus Depot

This is one of the tops on my WL as well. The only one that's out there is rather ancient and not really suited for close-ups.

Beyond that, a firehouse would be nice, as the only really good one out there is FIrst Bastion's on Rendo.  Wouldn't mind seeing another police department or hospital on par with 1st B's as well

Also needed -

the upper level for a subway station.  The market is swimming with subway platforms and trains in both clean and destroyed version, but the upper level with the ticket booths/machines and turnstiles?  Nope, there are a few for exteriors, mostly VIctorian or early 2oth century, but nothing for subways. 

Area 51/Military airbase

Submarine pen/shipyard/ship docks -