Clarification please: No required product for "Streets of the Mediterranean Redux"?
maikdecker
Posts: 2,752
in The Commons
In the ad for "Streets Of The Mediterranean Redux" there's no required products mentioned and as there seems to be no "Stonemason classic" with that name (Streets of the Mediterranean) in the shop (anymore), does this mean that this product contains all the buildings and stuff (models), not only the optical fluff mentioned in the ad (textures etc.)?
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I was wondering about this also. I have the original Streets of the Mediterranean by Stonemason, SKU 6711 so I wasn't worried, but will there be a conflict with SKU 92145?
Regardless, the bundle is in my cart as it is one of my most loved sets and I like the other bits too.
Yes, it is a standalone product - I collared Jack to ask him. I don't know if there may be conflcits, it may depend on how old your original files are (I can't recall if it had an update to use .duf format and I am not sure it is currently installed).
It would pretty much have to be standalone since the original is no longer available. And the file list in the wiki has .dsfs for all the objects. One strangeness is that the textures install in a subdirectory UNDER the original Stonemason textures, but that does not imply the original ones are required; it looks like a complete kit. (I have to speculate based on the file list; I'm not buying the package, for reasons I'll give in a different thread.)
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/read_me/index/92145/file_list if you'd like to save on navigation into the wiki.
Oddly, Stonemason (The PA for the original Streets of the Mediterranean) is not shown as one of the artists for the Redux version.
Yeah that threw me a bit. But Dreamlight did two products based on it.
Yes, but Dreamilght's products only added to the original "Streets of the Mediterranean" and did not include the original geometry.
This was apparently Stonemason's choice.
It's not the first time and Jungle Redux is in the same situation:
https://www.daz3d.com/jungle-ruins-redux
The original SotM props are in the "Props" folder and are .daz files with .ds camera and lighting suffixes, whereas the new set are under the "Environments" folder with .duf suffix. The data files have slightly different path names and the .dso suffix (not .dsf) , so neither of these should conflict.
However, some of the texture files appear to have the exact same name, so the new would presumably overwrite the old ones - I haven't bought the new set yet, so I can't say for sure whether the same-name files are identical or different. The store page for Redux suggests that all the texture files are 4096x4096 whereas the original SotM says "up to 2048x2048", so maybe if you buy the Redux the old one will actually look better?!
Yeah, upon looking at this again, it occurs to me that I may have misspoken, because I don't know what subdirectory Stonemason used for the original textures. The ones in this kit install under
/Runtime/Textures/Stonemason/AMS/
and if that's the same directory Stonemason used, yeah, it looks like they'll overwrite, since the names of the texture files themselves look like Stonemason's naming conventions were preserved. (I can't think of any other reason KA would start filenames with 'SMMS.')
My original assumption had been that KA used a different subdirectory so that the textures would NOT overwrite the old ones, but then, if that was the intent, why install under /Runtime/Textures/Stonemason at all and not somewhere under /Runtime/Textures/KindredArts? So I have to flip that and work on the assumption, now, that KA intended for these surfaces to overwrite the old ones ...
I have the original, and that is definitely where the textures are located, and how they're named (beginning with SMMS).
To be perfectly honest I do not think that the new product looks noticeably better than the old one. And the night or rain versions could have been done easily before, while a snowy mediterranean is kind of deviant anyway. The rain version in particular is unsatisfying, because it only has a rain VDB but no wet textures or puddles.
I wouldn't call it a must-buy if you own the original version.
Thanks for all these helpful answers
No worries, we still love all your products. Some of us - like me for example - might still be happy to see some older "less than perfect" stuff come up with some slight updates for a low price, because we missed the originals due to being here early enough to buy the original ones...
And it's quite common among artists to consider their older works less valuable than their newer, made with more skill works... I bet even many of the greatest painters of the world would have loved to have the option to buy back some of their early works... but we are lucky that it (usually) didn't happen, because it's educational to see how an artist evolves from the simple beginning to their prime...
Can someone identify the clothing of the girl featured in the bundle cover image? Is it already in the store or a to be released product?
I think the top is fefecoolyellow's dForce Casualwear set with Texture add-on
The jeans are obviously not from that set - sorry I don't recognise them.
Jeans and shoes looks like Stray HD.