First of all, I'm new to these forums, and am still finding my way around such. I was not able to post a thread in the tutorials sub-forum of Create-A-World, so I figured I'd post it here. Please excuse me for this, and if possible, move this thread into the Tutorial's Section.

Hello, I've always loved placing docks and homes on top of water. However, when doing such, every bit of seawater on top of the lot becomes transparent, losing the deep blue hue of realism. While there are possible solutions such as terrain paints, or shallow water, neither of these gave me the results I was looking for. After some messing around with a certain world I'm working on, I ran into this fortunate find. I have not seen any other threads using this method, or have found this method online. I decided to create this tutorial since a few hours Google-search provided no results. What I'm about to show you will solve these problems.

You will need s3pe, and a Hex Editor in-order to do this.
Tutorial for Water Level Creation (Ask questions related this creating water levels in this forum, I'm not as versed as they are) http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=3624176


Let's begin! First create your world, for demonstration purposes, I've chosen to use a very simple tiny map with an elevation of 100. You may follow this tutorial exactly, or create it in your own world. REMEMBER TO BACK-UP YOUR WORLD BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS!



Next, this is where the prerequisites come into play, you'll have to create a water layer using this tutorial here. http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=3624176 Please do not ask me on how to use a hex-editor or how to create certain water tiles, I've only figured this out by sheer luck. I followed the post on the fourth page for some instructions for hex-editing, I hope they help you too.
I used the following parameters in the texture maker.
Y = 25
X1 = 100
Z1 = 100
X2 = 200
Z2 = 200
Instance = 0
Opacity = 2500



Now that you have the water tile (First time is always the hardest, but once you learn it's like riding a bike!) you'll need to make sure it's in the location you want it. For this tutorial, I built around the tile, but worlds in progress may not be able to do such.



Next, save your copy of the world, exit Create-A-World, and re-open the world. This will cause the Water layer to obtain opacity (You may have noticed that it was very opaque to begin with). Also, any parts of the "flooded" water leaking outside of hills or such will be cropped for you. If you are pleased with your results, continue. If not, re-apply a new water layer to the world.




Next, in Create-a-World, place the size of your Lot. I understand some computers crash when placing lots, and since editing in game will not allow you to place lots over water, I recommend Placing your lot before adding the water tile if you suffer from these bugs. I have not tested this, so I cannot give any information. You should immediately notice that the water has not become transparent. I used a lot size of 15x35.


Next, build whatever you are planning to build over the water, I used a dock for this since it's long and deep over the water, and gives a good example. Notice how the sunlight bounces off the water layer like a real sea. Changing color ramps will also affect the water layer (or so I have read).


Here is the world from above, the dock far into the water, but the ground hidden by water. I realize that making a water layer the same level and opacity as your sea level for ocean lots will be harder to make, but I believe with plenty of trial-and-error, such is possible.


These lots are completely routeable, and look realistic, too. I hope this tutorial has helped you well, Enjoy!


NOTE: I happened to find a small error using this method, around the shoreline area. However, this is BY FAR less noticable, and only visible from a certain angle.


Thank you for your time and patience, if you have any comments or concerns, please let me know.

Brilliant!

I am afraid I don't understand this. What is this water tile you're talking about - is it like a carpet tile that looks like water? And when do you use it - you say don't place them yet, but you don't say when the right time is, you don't mention them again.

The water tile is a type of file within the package that allows for a floating layer of water. If you look at bridgeport around the mountains, you'll see multiple lakes which use these tiles. Twinbrook uses one of these tiles to create the dam. If you follow the link to the placing water tutorial, that should help with creating the water level. And no, it's not a carpet tile, carpets don't have animations. But if they did that'd be interesting... hmmm... Anyways, follow the link I provided, and post your questions it should help with any of the water tile creation issues. Those people work with the S3PE files by far more than I do, and unlocked the water tile / level available to us. If you can't find the link, I'll edit my post to put it near the top to stick out. I hope this helps.

Ah that sort of tile - I get you now. I call that a water plate. ty.

This is very interesting, Kahn Piura! I'm moving it to the tutorials section.

One thing I'm curious about though is will this work in the open sea? For a coastal lot, for example? I guess you'd have to make the water plane the same level as the current ocean, and I'm not sure whether that would work correctly due to z-fighting or not. Perhaps this method is only suited to lakes.

Will definitely try this!

Could you lower the base water level below the land, then add a waterplane to the correct sea level? That way there wouldn't be any Z-fighting?

Googleing z-fighting right now..........


Edit:


Aaha! Got it.

that would be a challenge not just for having the water at the same Y-value, but also since both layers of water are transparent. When placing two water tiles ontop of eachother, it would produce a large dark square where light had to go through two transparencies. (Like having two windows in the same spot) Hmm, what about creating the water plate to extend to the lot's edges? that way, the plane will cover the depth, and it won't create a darker opacity. Using grid mode, of course. A question about water layers though, I read about not being able to use integer values in the generator, but what about setting both values to the same decimel? such as x1 = 101.5 x2 = 183.5 that could get rid of having to use grid spaces, but not rotation.

You can't use decimals in water planes cause the format simply doesn't support them, and if you try to use them my tool will chop them off so you still get a working plane.

Yes, you'd be limited as to the lot's location, as it would have to be perfectly aligned to the world axes and also at integer co-ordinates!

How do you add a houseboat and a port?
I tried using CAW to create a lot that was a port. That worked.

When I use CAW to add a houseboat lot, the view moves quickly to the edge of the world, outside of the routable area. But it makes a houseboat lot. But I can't place it where I want it.

Ingame edit I can place a lot in the water, and build a pylon foundation that looks sorta like a dock, but I can't put a moring cleat on it.

This is from the caw faq on the EA forums:

Sims BR's Tutorial: How to Place Diving Spots in Other Worlds by mcrudd EA IP Forum
Guide to Houseboats in game & in CAW by SimGuruSemedi EA IP Forum
IP Caw Version 1.18.46 Up! Discussion & Troubleshooting Thread by the Community EA Caw Forum
Quick Stilted Foundation Guide to Fitting Lots onto Water by Joolster EA Creative Corner Forum