Siilijoki

[noahclem]

Welcome to update 27 if Siilijoki!!

In a way this is a culmination of months of work on the North Pohjanmaa/Tunturikyla area. The two areas are essentially the same city but are divided by SC4 tiles. Today we'll overcome that however, and this update features two pictures combining both municipalities! You can probably find the border if you look closely but I don't think you'd notice it if I hadn't pointed it out.

I've showed bits and pieces of the Empire Bay Interchange (previously known as the Tunturikyla Interchange or North Pohjanmaa Interchange) in the past but with this update everything should really make sense. First, let's start with a map of the area:



Roads are black, motorways blue, rails red, and trams green. The featured interchange is at center.

Here's a composite view of the interchange and its surroundings:
26.1



The idea is to provide the dense development here with solid motorway access and a road connection to the city center. The previously shown motorway construction is to the west (left) of this picture.

Previously we've seen North Pohjanmaa around its train stations and the portion to the east of the river--today we'll see the area on the west half.
26.2




The area has many highrises but a number of lower wall-to-wall buildings mixed in as well
26.3


The waterfront, with it's views here unobscured by hills, is main reason for the areas popularity and dense development. You can see a view from here the western end of the promenade--the reflection of the full moon makes for an enchanting view
26.4


People especially love the shoreline on a nice sunny day!
26.5


Though the area is active late into the night
26.6


26.7


Eden Hill lies to the west of the area. An observation tower is at the top, containing a restaurant and a radio station--the tower is named for the hill. thanks Elias 
26.8


Just down the same slope a beautiful view of moonlit waters can be seen
26.9


A mosaic of the area from north to south
26.10









Also viewable from Terring's Tower is a beautiful park, yet to be named...
26.11

Any winners looking for naming rights? 

Each time I see part of this interchange, it reminds me of some of the stuff around the LA area (Google maps is a wonderful thing). LA and its surrounding areas is quite interesting from a freeway point of view for me. It's system developed over several decades before, during, and after the Golden Age of the auto, so there are plenty of varieties of transit network to observe, including some rather decadent interchange ramps. With the hills that it has, it certainly has some interesting solutions for how to handle them.
-Matt

Thanks Matt! LA certainly has some inspiring freeways and they seem particularly appropriate to this type of work. Besides negotiating hills I also really enjoy the crazier interchanges near downtown like the one you showed (perhaps my favorite in America besides the Marquette interchange in Milwaukee: http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&q=milwaukee&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x880502d7578b47e7:0x445f1922b5417b84,Milwaukee,+WI&ei=0-OJT9noBYjS4QTm9pWICg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQ8gEwAA

I also really love LA's modern stack interchanges incorporating HOV lanes and mass transit. Keep the google maps coming, it's an awesome thing to have 

Fantastic new views there! The river is looking great. Also nice shot of the bridges.

Thanks a lot bat! The river and the bridges were a lot of fun to put together 

Excellent!!your work is amazing!!!really like your region! &aplsHave a lot oof things to learn from you

Thank you very much! I'm glad you like Siilijoki so much and it's always nice to have you around    Let me know if there's anything you want to learn from me so I can explain it clearly here!

Good job with the flora as always

Thanks Antoine, I could work with flora like that if you hadn't created it!

Hmm, I don't fully get what you are trying to to with the elevated RHW there. Do you plan on using the ground-elevated transition for getting down the hill quicker? Or do you plan on continuing the highway elevated for a while? I think the latter won't be very realistic. I can't see a reason for building an elevated road there. But maybe I am missing something. 

Anyway, I am really curious to see it finished. I know that it is very hard to work on such terrain and I am sure you will find a creative an good looking solution.

I ended up getting rid of the elevated section. The idea was that it would be cheaper to build an elevated road than to raise the terrain with thousands of cubic meters of dirt--but I'm happier without the elevated section. We'll go back to that area soon and the road is finished now, though not the rail or any surrounding development. Thanks!

I like the second picture... I can see that your are having some fun with intersection lately, and you've done a pretty good job ! Keep it up !

Thanks! Yeah, I've been doing a lot of playing around with RHW but I like playing with all kinds of SC4 stuff.

Your MD is one of the best at the moment, there's not too much MMP and the right amount of Highway construction

Thats so awesome to hear! Really glad you like Siilijoki so much and welcome back any time! Siilijoki tries to balance nature, cities, and transport in a way that's fun for both me and the viewer--and if I succeed in that I'm very happy 

Great updates going on here! Apologies for being dormant!

Regarding your second pic. I know a section of highway which may provide some help. What I would suggest is to make use of the contours of the hill. Sounds a little bizarre I know; you have used 6S So the feasability of some form of split level may be the way forward.

What is your junction like? Is it a simple interchange with a road?

As for the rail line, think you need that on the opposite side of the highway.

I hope these google images are of use. They are all of the same section of road which I believe is relevant to your situation here.

M6 Tebay 1

M6 Tebay 2

M6 Tebay 3

M6 Tebay 4

Hope this was of use! There is a good trumpet interchange a little to the North on the last google link.

Good luck!

Great to hear from you again and no worries about being dormant    That stretch of motorway is very interesting and does seem to apply to this area quite well. Thanks for the links!

The part of the interchange I was showing is the edge of a larger "conglomeration" of mini-interchanges which are divided by the shape of the terrain. This part is just a road intersection that splits into multiple motorways on the western end. You're right that the rail would be best off on the other side of the motorway but that isn't possible using regular rail tunnels (and this is primarily a freight line) because of the shape of the valley. Also, following the contours of the hill is pretty tricky here because of the limitations of RHW intersection puzzle pieces, though I do really like the idea of split level RHW-6S's--something to try to work out somewhere else perhaps....

Great pictures again, Noah! 

I love the wrecked boat in the "Tunturikyla Interchange"-picture 

I hope that's not the boat of the lonely paddler from the last update =)

Don't worry, the paddler is okay    Very glad you liked the pictures and I hope you enjoyed these ones 

That's some great scenery you've shown in the first three photos, Noah. You've given me some good ideas on tree placement, and I always enjoy seeing a passing train in the scene. I wonder how you got that nice chunk of rock to appear under the interchange in the second photo. Then seeing a train pass over an eye-catching expanse of water with sunbeams playing on the wavelets is just icing on the cake. And I would love to see how you plan your interchanges on paper.

Looks like excellence is the norm for you...
-Joan

Thanks so much Joan! I'm glad if the tree placement here inspires you--it took me a while to learn but it's been a lot of fun and I'm really happy with how it's been working out for me. I always like to show a passing train (I've been known to temporarily throw in a traffic generator to the get the effect when needed) and the rock in the interchange pic is part of my rock mod--one of Ennedi's HD ones on the LEX, which I highly recommend and will give you the details of. Paper interchange drawing coming soon if I can get the cat to stop destroying them 

Nice work, lovely pictures, Noah! I'm eager to see more of the interchange, and future developed areas in the mountains.

Thanks Arthur! More of the interchange soon (it's done now) and hopefully development isn't too far away 

Yes, we want to see more of the interchange,you are doing a great job with it 

Thanks Kelis! More to come on that I promise!

Great pictures: I love the combination of nature, bridges and RHW.
Looks so realistic!

Thanks Kergelen! There are MDs with amazing highways and MDs with amazing nature and I'm trying to make mine the one that combines them both    Really glad you liked it!

Oh wow.  This is super!!

Robin

Thanks Robin! More on this headed for the NUTs board....

This is going to be one fantastic transportation unit, Noah. I hope you'll explain how and why all of this works together, assuming the six-lane tunnel somehow ties in with what you've shown us in the last two updates.

I'm eager to see how it all turns out...
-Joan

Explanations coming soon Joan! I hope you enjoy it 

[Kergelen]

 
This is an incredible update!!
I like the amazing interchange and the city surrounded by forest. Also you have a great deal of making nice pictures.
In this update I like specially more than one picture. The presentation, 26.4, 26.7 and 26.9 are all very inspiring

[bat]

Fantastic work on that new city there! Great highway, too.

[Gugu3]

Thank you!!! ;DWell i really like the way you terraform and make a great use of your slope mod!!!The interchange is spectacular!!!Really well done

[Terring7]

I'm always in for great cities with lot's of green belts and detailed places. Way to go my friend
Eden Hill? Terring's Tower?
I'll repay you for it

[Sciurus]

Really good!


Guillaume.

[RickD]

Empire Bay Interchange is a monster!  A beautiful monster!  Very, very impressive!

[art128]

Ara Ara~ Now that's one big and complicated interchange! The surrounding area is also very beautiful, Noah!

[rambuckel]

Indeed Noah, I enjoyed watching your pictures!  As always inspiring and fascinating! I'm really looking forward to more!

Best wishes, Theresa

[apeguy]

A fantastic update, I love the choice of skyscrapers and the RHW interchange is one of the best I've ever seen.

Nice work.

[rooker1]

Incredible update once again!!
Your opening pic. is absolutely beautiful and 26.1 must have taken forever to plan out and get everything just right.
Awesome update!!

Robin

[kelis]

Fantastic update once again my friend !! I like the water mod that you are using, it looks good !!
Keep up the good work 

[rooker1]

Fantastic update once again my friend !! I like the water mod that you are using, it looks good !!
Keep up the good work 

Good point kelis....what is the water modd you are using?

[tb7]

nice pics! 26.11 I like most 

the fence on the basket and tennis court in pic 26.10 - were did u get them?

[Jmouse]

Noah, your title photo looks as real as any I've ever seen. It's stunning, and could easily be a picture postcard or a travel magazine centerfold. What zoom level did you use? And is it in HD?

26.1 makes me think of the "spaghetti bowls" in Houston or Dallas. I've tried to trace yours out to see what leads to where and why, but I haven't been able to wrap my mind around it just yet.

As always, your urban areas are some of the best and most inviting I've seen. You manage to create them in a way that looks less crowded because you've achieved a balance between high-rises and green space that is near perfect. Nothing is overdone or underdone.

The night shots are dramatic on one hand (26.6) and serenely beautiful on the other (26.9). The mosaic says it all, and the last photo (26.11) is just too good to be true.

You have outdone yourself again...
-Joan

[Framly]

Stunning shots

The interchange looks fantastic!

Great mix of buildings, parks and floral-work!

i really like the big mosaics

[Ol.S / Benoit]

The first picture is quite simple, but so nice...
Also, amazing work on that city, great update !

[threestooges]

That interchange blends exceptionally well with the terrain; the crowning jewel of the update. You continue to impress with your mastery of mixing transit networks. Blending the bridges, tunnels, and overpasses all combine for a great visual effect. That, and the last mosaic in the update really show why this MD is something special. As for the interchanges, I'm somewhat surprised you've seen that interchange of all places, but indeed, it's nuts. I can only imagine the signage on the Marquette Interchange, with 4 freeways in a configuration where you normally only see signage for two.

Loved this update Noah. Very well done.
-Matt

[noahclem]

Thanks you all for the great response!!!

The previous update was one of the most time-consuming I've put together and the culmination in a way of several months work. I really appreciate you all taking the time to let me know you liked it 

Replies will follow below, but first a special announcement! After more than a year's absence today a "relatively polished" photo from the very center of Siilijoki will be shown!

Since work took over my life for the season a few weeks ago I've continued to play a bit of SC4 but haven't had the time to do any sharing really. Most of that work has been in Central Siilijoki, a place long neglected. I've finally installed CAM and am currently building commercial demand like crazy after a massive education campaign throughout the region. The central train station has been replaced and moved, the northern end of the downtown freeway system (the tunnel entrances and local access from the bridges) has been modified, and numerous buildings have grown or been replaced.

Work is ongoing, especially with regard to my plans for a system of canals and their layout, my development of a special "TIA-6" hybrid network, and a number of other things.

But enough talk, let's see the first finished picture from Central Siilijoki in 15 months!



Note the motorway at bottom right headed towards the bridges and over the river. This area is almost immediately adjacent to the Siilijoki River and very close to where a large of traffic crossing the bridges connects to the local street network. More to come on this area for sure 

This is an incredible update!!
I like the amazing interchange and the city surrounded by forest. Also you have a great deal of making nice pictures.
In this update I like specially more than one picture. The presentation, 26.4, 26.7 and 26.9 are all very inspiring

Hey, thanks so much!! I had a lot of fun trying to create the effect of moonlight reflecting off the water in the pictures you mentioned. Usually I use an online tutorial to learn new GIMP effects but I couldn't find one in this case so I tried to figure it out myself--glad you liked it!

Fantastic work on that new city there! Great highway, too.

Thanks bat, glad you liked the pictures and the highway!

Thank you!!! ;DWell i really like the way you terraform and make a great use of your slope mod!!!The interchange is spectacular!!!Really well done

Thanks!! Sometime soon I'll do some kind of tutorial on my interchange planning and creation, especially the terraforming stuff. I have a lot of weird techniques I use to get the slopes right (most of the time I play without an RHW slope mod) and I figure some people could benefit from the tricks that took me so long to figure out....

I'm always in for great cities with lot's of green belts and detailed places. Way to go my friend
Eden Hill? Terring's Tower?
I'll repay you for it

Thanks Elias, glad you liked it! I loved Siilijoki park and Noah's Tower 

Really good!


Guillaume.

Thanks Guillaume! Glad to see you back in Siilijoki 

Empire Bay Interchange is a monster!  A beautiful monster!  Very, very impressive!

Thank you very much Raphael! I hope your interchange is a good first part to your award. As mentioned in this update I've been doing a lot of work on Central Siilijoki and I think that's the best place for the next part of your award--the loft apartment near the center with plenty of restaurants and bars around. Stay tuned for updates on that 

Ara Ara~ Now that's one big and complicated interchange! The surrounding area is also very beautiful, Noah!

Thanks Arthur, I'm veryglad you liked it!

Indeed Noah, I enjoyed watching your pictures!  As always inspiring and fascinating! I'm really looking forward to more!

Best wishes, Theresa

Always a pleasure to have you visiting Theresa and I'm glad you liked the update again. Hopefully you saw Alba Ave on the map. In the last couple days I've decided on an expansion of your street--I won't say what just yet but it's a pretty unique and cool plan I think--and I hope you'll agree

A fantastic update, I love the choice of skyscrapers and the RHW interchange is one of the best I've ever seen.

Nice work.

Thanks for such a nice compliment! I really appreciate it. More skyscrapers and just a smidge of RHW for this teaser and I hope you find it enjoyable as well 

Incredible update once again!!
Your opening pic. is absolutely beautiful and 26.1 must have taken forever to plan out and get everything just right.
Awesome update!!

Robin

Fantastic update once again my friend !! I like the water mod that you are using, it looks good !!
Keep up the good work 

Good point kelis....what is the water modd you are using?

Thanks Robin! The watermod is Drunkapple's "darkblue" one, found in one of his two packages of watermods on the STEX. I've been trying hard to find it and will continue until I can track it down and add it to my "frequently requested links" section (of course you'll be the first to know). Not sure why it's so hard to find with the new site there 

EDIT: found it! http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/26528-drunken-water-mods-or-how-not-to-do-it-in-hd/

My water also looks the way it does because I've edited the transparency in reader to 9 meters instead of the default 35m or whatever it is. Edit the property "depthformaxalpha" in your terrain mod controller dat if you want to try something similar. I'll probably do a tutorial on it soon (have been meaning to forever as I've been asked about it via PM) but feel free to ask if you have any questions in the mean time.

And yeah 26.1 did require "a bit" of effort    The process began last fall and only now is presentable in its entirety. A pretty satisfying thing to be done with, especially when people leave such nice feedback 

Always a pleasure to hear from you my friend!

Fantastic update once again my friend !! I like the water mod that you are using, it looks good !!
Keep up the good work 

Thanks very much kelis! The water mod is drunkapple's dark blue one from the STEX. I'm trying hard to find the link and will update here when I do. I've also edited my water's transparency settings (see previous reply for details). Always a pleasure to have you around 

nice pics! 26.11 I like most 

the fence on the basket and tennis court in pic 26.10 - were did u get them?

Thanks! There will be more on the park area from 26.11 coming soon. The basketball and tennis courts are from the NUTS and can be found here: http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=1749. Not sure about the fences themselves. They actually look a bit different in my picture because they're right on the border between the tiles so they have black background between the chainlinks.

Hope to see you around here again 

Noah, your title photo looks as real as any I've ever seen. It's stunning, and could easily be a picture postcard or a travel magazine centerfold. What zoom level did you use? And is it in HD?

26.1 makes me think of the "spaghetti bowls" in Houston or Dallas. I've tried to trace yours out to see what leads to where and why, but I haven't been able to wrap my mind around it just yet.

As always, your urban areas are some of the best and most inviting I've seen. You manage to create them in a way that looks less crowded because you've achieved a balance between high-rises and green space that is near perfect. Nothing is overdone or underdone.

The night shots are dramatic on one hand (26.6) and serenely beautiful on the other (26.9). The mosaic says it all, and the last photo (26.11) is just too good to be true.

You have outdone yourself again...
-Joan

Glad you liked that title picture so much Joan! The clouds are my own addition but everything else is untouched, just the way Girafe's trees and Drunkapple's darkblue water mod came together in SimFox's darknight mod's twilight. The picture is taken at the very closest zoom and the trees and water mod are both HD. I've said it 1000 times and I'll keep saying it: Girafe's trees are absolutely beautiful and he's got a huge variety of them to boot.

As for the interchange, think of it as a simple "diamond" interchange (the most basic kind, seen everywhere in America with four ramps, a freeway down the middle, and a regular road crossing it) combined with a 3-way freeway interchange with no stopping points in any direction. I just put them together in a way that wouldn't cause "weaving" problems from off-ramps and on-ramps being too close together.

Green is good and I'm especially flattered when an avowed "urban disliker" can appreciate one of my densest areas. I'm curious if you can still find my most recent urban area appealing 

I had a lot of fun trying to get the nightshots to look just how I wanted. The moonlight effect present in several was something I fumbled though myself and the more urban nightshot took some tricky work to not make the waterfront promenade overly bright. In any case, I'm very glad you liked them, as well as that mosaic which was another new challenge for me because of its size and that it crossed the tile border. As for the last picture, I've got an idea of who might be the park's namesake....

As always, it's a very sincere pleasure to have you share your detailed thoughts and such nice words with me here 

Stunning shots

The interchange looks fantastic!

Great mix of buildings, parks and floral-work!

i really like the big mosaics

Thank you very much Framly! It's really nice to hear such kind words and of course Rondnoir is frequently an inspiration. I've sometimes thought of the first (interchange) mosaic as something like a RHW version of Rondnoir--not sure if you or others would think the same 

The first picture is quite simple, but so nice...
Also, amazing work on that city, great update !

Thanks Benoit, really glad you liked it! As for the first picture, sometimes a simple combination of some talented creators' work (girafe, drunkapple, and simfox in this case) can turn out perfectly. It barely took any effort from me so I really have to thank them 

That interchange blends exceptionally well with the terrain; the crowning jewel of the update. You continue to impress with your mastery of mixing transit networks. Blending the bridges, tunnels, and overpasses all combine for a great visual effect. That, and the last mosaic in the update really show why this MD is something special. As for the interchanges, I'm somewhat surprised you've seen that interchange of all places, but indeed, it's nuts. I can only imagine the signage on the Marquette Interchange, with 4 freeways in a configuration where you normally only see signage for two.

Loved this update Noah. Very well done.
-Matt

Thank you very much Matt, your comment certainly vies with the most encouraging I've ever had! The variety of networks, bridges, tunnels, and water were indeed a huge challenge to implement and took a lot of graph paper planning and attempting, bulldozing, and re-attempting to achieve its present form. Ultimately the shape of the terrain relative to the city tile borders, combined with my plans for the areas watercourses and the region's transport plans dictated something very similar to what I eventually implemented. I'm also really glad you liked the last mosaic--it's one of the largest I've ever assembled and one of the first to span city-tile borders.

I actually used to live in Milwaukee, though the current iteration of that interchange was in the late stage of construction at the time. Visiting the area later, my girlfriend was terrified whenever we'd have to drive over the fifth level of the interchange (high enough that the junction is a substantial feature of the city's skyline). While I admire nice stack interchanges I really appreciate that the Marquette Interchange is not a conventional one, especially enjoying the 5 levels and all the local street access that's combined into the junction. It's been a huge inspiration for my SC4 interchanges, including this most recent one. Siilijoki has had a central interchange planned on paper for some two years now, though construction has never begun and plans have changed many times. I think the time to release some graph paper sketches is coming very soon....

Thanks again!

[Terring7]

Looks like Manhattan of the near future