Saturday 3 December 2011

TIPTORIAL: ROADS

STRAIGHT ROADS
  1. Click the ROAD TOOL, a panel will open on the right.
  2. By default PLACE ROAD is already selected
  3. Turn on the GRID, this ensures that your roads are straight.

4. Now zoom in close so that the grid is visible like in Fig A. But DO NOT zoom in too close like in Fig B. That is useful for placing sidewalks.

5. Put your Mouse pointer at the centre of a square, the BLUE spot on the picture below. Click and drag from Point A to Point B. then Click again to stop, Hit the ESC key. You MUST hit escape to stop the road tool

6. That is how you place a simple straight road.
CURVE ROADS
  1. Place a Straight Road like above, going from point A to point B. BUT when you get to point B, do NOT hit the ESC key, ONLY click ONCE. then drag the road to point C, click once, drag to point D, click once, drag to point E, click once, and finally to point F. Click once and hit the ESC key.

2. Each click creates a JOINT and these joints allow you to manipulate the degree of curve. So, the more joints you have, the more control you have over your curves.

3. Select the MOVE TOOL. 

4. Click the Road between Point B and C. Blue line will appear with squares on the ends. These little squares are like handles. Click one end and drag left or right. As you can see the Road will bend. Adjust till you are satisfied. 

5. Repeat at each Joint till you get a smooth curve.

6. Now you can create different types of curvy roads. Just practice.
JOINING ROADS AND INTERSECTIONS
  1. Intersections must be placed at the same time you place your roads. You cannot place all your roads and squeeze in the intersections later.
  2. Click the ROAD TOOL again. Select Place Road and drag a Straight stretch of road
  3. Select Place Intersection and put it next to your road. click and Hit ESC
  4. Place another Stretch of Road after the Intersection Piece
5. Click MOVE TOOL and select one road piece. A dark blue square shows at the edge. This is a handle. Click and drag it to the edge of the Intersection piece. Then let go. If you do it right, the two pieces should become one. The little blue square handle should now be green.

SIDEWALKS
  1. Select Place Sidewalk, under the Road tool panel.
  2. Click the Sidewalk on the Road piece, Point A and drag till you get to point B. The same rules for placing Roads apply to side walks. As long as the ends are touching the roads, the connection is complete.

3. Sidewalk Intersections are placed the same way as road intersections. See Picture below.


CUSTOM ROAD TEXTURES
  1. You must create your custom roads before placing your roads in the world. You can not place your road system and later decide you want to change the colors.
  • To create your own custom texture you need a graphic tool like Adobe Photoshop  that can open png, jpeg, bmp, tga or dds file formats.
  • The textures in the CAW tool are located in C:\Users\YourName\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Create A World Tool\UserToolData\SourceTextures
  • If you are using Adobe Photoshop you can download the Nvidia DDS Plugin from here. This will allow you to view and edit the original textures in CAW.
  • Anyway the important thing is that your texture is saved in any of the above file formats and is 1024 x 1024 pixels. Save it in a folder somewhere and be careful not to over write any of the original files.
2. I'm just going to use the stuff EA gave us, since making textures is not my forte. 
  • So on the Road Tool Panel, select Create Custom Road. A new window will open and all you have to do is select the right texture for each section.

ROAD NAME
Give your Road a Name…eg Dirt Road, Gravel Road
STREET TEXTURE
BASE TEXTURE
Select the main texture for your road
DETAIL TEXTURE
Select the detail texture, that is lines and borders. If you want a blank road, Create and use a Transparent texture.
SIDEWALK TEXTURES
BASE TEXTURE
Select the main texture. It affects both the sidewalks on the road pieces and normal sidewalks. If you want the side walk to be the same texture are as the road, then use the same texture for both
NORMAL MAP
I just use the EA normal map texture, usually with an ‘n’ at the end of the file name.  Eg “dirt_intersection_corner_n.dds”
OPACITY MAP
This texture affects the visible edges of the sidewalks. Leave this section blank if you want you sidewalks solid.
INTERSECTION TEXTURES
CORNER TEXTURE
Select the main texture. I suggest you modify the EA file, “sidewalkTile_concrete_corner_D.dss” if you are making your own.
CORNER NORMAL MAP
Use EA file
CROSSWALK TEXTURE
These affect the white stripes at cross walks, you could make zebra crossings here.


3. Click OK and you are done.
4. Your new road should show on the Right hand panel. Right-Click it an select SET ROAD AS ACTIVE.
5. You can make as many custom roads as you need. Just select the one you wish to use at any given time.

NOTE: ALWAYS END YOUR ROAD WITH AN INTERSECTION PIECE IF THAT END IS NOT ATTACHED TO ANOTHER ROAD. Otherwise you will have Routing Issues.

So that's all about roads. Thanks for reading.

36 comments:

  1. I have 2 little questions about the sidewalks:

    "As long as the ends are touching the roads, the connection is complete."

    1.) Does this mean that there should be (a little) overlap with the sidewalk alongside the road or should I avoid this?
    2.) Does this mean I have to add a sidewalk intersection on the end of the sidewalk or isn't this necessary?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1) Yes, a little overlap will do the trick. Sidewalks don't actually 'click' to the Road piece, they just sort of slide underneath. So as long as they touch or overlap, they will be fine.

      2) No, you don't need a sidewalk intersection when connecting sidewalks to roads. You only need them when trying to create joints with other sidewalk pieces or when ending a free-standing sidewalk.

      Delete
  2. I have placed roads on terrains many times and only a couple times have I encountered a difficulty. The road was down and beautiful. I went on to place lots and discovered parts of the road in three places sank into the terrain. I tried lowering and raising the terrain, removing and replacing the road, leveling terrain, removing lots that were near but not on the road. Where the road should hug the terrain, the road and terrain remain astrange. Have you encountered this problem of seeing fragments of terrain through the road? Were you able to reunite the two?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous,
      I think you are talking about when the terrain shows through the road... Yes, I have had that several times. My solution is to use the Smooth brush on the particular area. And keep the brush strength at least lower than 30. It generally helps. Most times this error shows up in-game and not in CAW. I think it is caused by what I call the "3D factor". I don't know the technicalities of it, but I do know that when you are messing around with 3D objects/meshes such annoyances are common place.

      Delete
  3. I am extremely new to creating my own world and am very happy I stumbled upon this page. It's very helpful! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Always glad to be of help. Plus you are welcome to the blog. Happy CAWing!

      Delete
  4. Thank you so much, I had been trying to place a dirt road all week and this page finally answered my question. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Randa Mae, sorry for the late reply. Thanks for visiting and I'm glad you found the tutorial useful

      Delete
  5. Beautifully done, krrank! I finally have an answer to my sidewalk question, thanks to this presentation

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ok So if it wasn't for your tutorials, I would have given up by now! I LIVE at this site the entire time I'm creating my world!
    I do have a question... there are objects in CAW that are specific to certain expansion packs, example: Bridgeport Buildings. I do not have ALL the expansion packs, like Adventures. What happens if I unknowingly add an object or feature that is directly related to an expansion pack I don't currently have?? Will it run? Please tell me I'm not wasting my time!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know it's been a few months, but I'd love an answer to this as well. I currently only have the base game installed, and some of the things sound very unfamiliar.

      Delete
    2. Hello Anonymouus and Leah,
      I'm really sorry. I seem to have overlooked this comment. Generally CAW is updated as new EPs are released and yes sometimes certain objects that you may not have will be there, but I dont think they will affect your game. CAW also creates the object list from the EPs you have installed. The Late Night Buildings in CAW are simply decorative and will not be editable in-game.

      Delete
  7. THANKYOU SO MUCH! I WOULD NEVER HAVE GOT ANYWHERE WITHOUT THIS TUTORIAL!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi,
      You are sooo welcome! Very happy to have been of service

      Delete
  8. Thank you so much for all your tutorials! They have made CAW simple and easy to use! I feel like I finally have a real chance at making the awesome world I've been searching for but couldn't find already made.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Another late reply, sadly. Hi Claudia! thanks for being a reader. I really appreciate it.

      Delete
  9. I can place straight roads normally and line them up with the intersections, but when I try to curve the road (doing pretty much exactly what you suggested, it only leaves the first one and leaves the handles/curve controllers. Is there a way to fix this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, I don't quite understand your question. Are you saying that when you make a curve road, it disconnects from the intersection piece? More info and a picture will be helpful for my understanding, if you can send one. Thanks

      Delete
  10. Hey I'm loving your tutorials, they have made using CAW a lot easier :) I was just wondering though do you have to place sidewalks along the sides of roads? I know that when you place a road peice there is a sidewalk section, is this all you need? MIght be a stupid question and the answer will probably be simple but I thought I'd ask.
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HI, Sorry your comment got spammed, but I fished it out.
      So, NO you don't need to add a sidewalk with a road piece, the one it comes with is all you need.

      PS: there are no stupid questions in this forum. Cheerio

      Delete
  11. Can we create a world that has no roads, only sidewalks?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Yes you can. But that means no CARS. Cheerio.

      Delete
  12. i've created my world and connected my roads together as they should but when i get in the game i am unable to use the roads, what am i missing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Michael. Exactly what do you mean unable to use the roads? Car do not appear, or Sims do not walk on them? Can you be more specific. Or send a snapshot?

      Delete
    2. my sims cant use the roads nor even drive a car on them

      Delete
    3. cant walk on them i mean

      Delete
    4. must it be that im not clicking on the set road as active buton, all im doing is clicking on the roads button and placing my roads in desired locations

      Delete
    5. ok i fixed it lol sorry about that

      Delete
    6. No, it's ok. how did you fix it? by placing the roads next to the Lots? That usually helps.

      Delete
  13. Hey, I wonder if you still drop by here.

    Awesome guide, but it seems I got smth wrong. Can't get rid of the corners on the crossroads. Any tips? Tnx in advance
    http://s020.radikal.ru/i720/1703/8d/2d1e50650f42.png - screenshot

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am completely off the grid this year and I sincerely apologise. You have probably long since answered this question by now, but for the sake of any others that may have the same query.
      NO you haven't done anything wrong, it's based on the corner map files and how the program interprets it. the simple solution is to use Terrain paint to mask the look, that's how EA does it in-game too.

      Delete
  14. Hey,
    I really love your blog. It's super helpful as I've just started the creating process. A couple questions however.

    1. How do you delete roads?
    2. Does Camera Routing and Sim Routing overlap, or does one replace the other?

    It's possible that I will have more questions, as I'm planning on trying to tackle the main town. I've worked on little individual lots and places, but planning the main town area so far has been very daunting. I've read your Chapter Two: Planning and Research, and hopefully I can follow that.

    Thanks for your easy to understand instructions, cohesive blog, and detailed steps. It's very appreciated. Take care.

    -G.N.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi, Thanks so much for using this blog! so...
      1. To delete roads, use the Select tool, arrow head that looks like a mouse pointer. Use it to click the road piece and hit delete on your keyboard.
      2. Yes the two overlap, they do not wipe out each other.

      Delete