Blackwater (with Islas Gemas)

[bat]

Welcome to page 39!!

Really great work on that road!! Nice small harbor and villages there!
Wonderful update! Looking forward to more...

[rooker1]

I love this island.  Great work.  Your use of lots always fits together so well.  I usually get very jelous after looking at your MD.  I can't wait to see what you have for us next.

Robin 

[thundercrack83]

Beautiful villages, emilin! And the island looks fantastic, too! As always, you're doing a fine job here, my friend! Keep it up!

[sebes]

Very nice update again Emilin, the last evening pictures are the cherry on the cake.. Loving it

[Pat]

Emilin, wow you have done alot of good stuff here yummies!! I so cant wait to the next update...

[nedalezz]

Incredible small towns. The fishing villages look immensely realistic.

There are alot of BATS I see that I would love to have! Namely, the one with the rounded buildings in the picture third from last, and the 1x1 ones common in your fishing towns. Have they been released?

Again, fantastic update, and the region shot is a sight to behold.

[emilin]

There are alot of BATS I see that I would love to have! Namely, the one with the rounded buildings in the picture third from last, and the 1x1 ones common in your fishing towns. Have they been released?

Those are all MickeBear's BAT:s I think. They should be on the LEX. Search for creator MBEAR.

[kimcar]

  Great last update of Islas Gemas you have done emilin . I really enjoy to look at your work. Can`t wait for your next project 

[Strechnitz]

Boy, I sure have missed a great update. You know how much I enjoy your villages and hamlets. And these are just as great as the others my friend

Strech.

[emilin]

Personal replies:

Air6: Thanks and it's good to see you again. I can obviously not blame you for not commenting in a while since I seem to have fallen into lurk mode myself lately. I kepp telling myself that I will make up for it later though. And I do follow your new diary with great interest. I promise to leave more comments there in times to come.

Yoman: Thank you so much. But, no more villages for a little while now, hehe...

bat: Thank you!

rooker1: Thanks! And you will not have to wait either...

thundercrack83: Thank you as always!

sebes: Thanks! I really should have edited those nightshots though. I don't use any nightime mods and the ingame nights are basically too blue for my taste. But it's good to know they were appreciated none the less.

Pat: Thanks a bunch, Pat!

nedalezz: I already left an answer on the BAT:s but of course also a big thanks for commenting.

kimcar: Thanks! Coming right up...

Strechnitz: Thank you so much for those kind words.


Welcome to the Metropolitan area of Blackwater!

As many of you know the region of Islas Gemas was made by Heblem of NHP and LBT. When I requested that map from him I also asked for another region – a 7x8 tile modeified version of the Stockholm area in Sweden. That map (aswell as the Islas Gemas map) is available for download on STEX, by the way.

This, however is not that map. When I started out with the Blackwater project a few weeks ago I soon discovered that Heblems original map was too small for what I had in mind so I expanded and redesigned it completely in the Terraformer. I still credit him for the original map, without which this region would not have been possible, but everything that might be flawed is my own fault.


About the geography of the region:

Blackwater is a 16x16 large city tile region (the same size as 3RR) with mostly flat terrain and rolling hills. It is located in a sort of delta and the large water to the west on the map is supposed to be a portion of a large sweet water lake while the water to the east is the ocean coast. I have forested the entire region but there is still a lot of fine terraforming to be done as we go along.


What is Blackwater?

It is a metropolitan area that contains the capital of a nation I have yet to decide what to call. The city sprawls out from the center with a lot of suburbs and smaller towns interconnected to it. I imagine that it will be about half the size of London or Paris.

The region is for the most part identical to the county of Stockholm in Sweden. Some features have been changed, and I do not intend for Blackwater to actually be Stockholm (though the similarities sometimes will be striking, that is unavoidable). I intend it to be a little older than the real Stockholm (about 900 years old) and the climate to be a bit warmer (like London). The language spoke in this fictional nation is English and the names that appear will resemble those found in the south of England for the most. The architecture will be a mix of Scandinavian, French and central European (but not very British).


The project itself:

I have raised the bar for this project. This is the region that I will try out everything that Islas Gemas wouldn't let me do (that is also the reason I am keeping Islas Gemas around for development – I will likely the need to develop something a bit quicker from time to time).

You will see me switch between rural and urban development. Farms and highrises. I have started out by some more advanced lot making (not Badsim advanced, hehe... ) that will be featured in the next update. I also have plans for a complete Blackwater mass transit mod with train skins, busses and e-rail (I suspect I will need some help with that ). Everything in this region will be custom made to my liking (as long as I have the skills to do it – or the potential of gaining the needed skills).

Basically, everything will be allowed to take all the time it needs to take. I have no illusion of ever finishing this region and I have no plans to ever start another one (those things are of course always subject to changes of heart). This is what I will do with this game from now on.

So, if you feel like it, please come along for the ride. And all support and help is much appreciated – not matter if it's a small comment of encouragement or a complete tutorial on how to mod a new intersection.

Now, let's have a first look at the region, shall we?


This is the complete region as seen from straight above it. Remember that this is 16x16 tiles. Do you have any idea how long it took to forest all of it? Thank god for tree controllers


Here you can see the highways marked out. Most of them are built, but I am still waiting for the release of the new Euro mod for the RHW which will most likely make me redo most of them.


This is the location of the downtown area and the proper City of Blackwater. The actual city will cover not more than 5-6 tiles - the rest is suburbs and sleepy towns and such.


To the far southeast of the map I have plans for a resortlike smaller town called New Haven. It will be placed just where the rails end if you can spot it.


This transit hub is the skeleton of Southwater - a fairly large city at the county border.


To the far north is the planned location for the largest international airport. It will be just inbetween the river and the low hill.


I think this is a pretty nice part of the outer archipelago. It feel right to end with this one.

[rooker1]

Now this looks very interesting.  But than again why would it be anything else.....it is from you after all.  If I can be of any help with this new project of yours, don't hesitate to ask.  PM me if this is of interest to you.

Robin   

[thundercrack83]

This is going to be amazing, I can tell already! I am on the edge of my seat, my friend--awaiting this fantastic project!

Dustin

[Yoman]

Excellent excellent excellent! I'll be looking forward to this 

And how can that not have a big port, after all the city only I repeat only, covers 5-6 large tiles 

[kwakelaar]

This is a great (and big) new project. Maps and overviews are a nice introduction to the region.

[Grneyes]

OMG!!! This is going to be awesome!!! So much land! So many islands! I can't wait. Loved Islas Gemas, that turned out awesome..so realistic!

MaryBeth

[freedo50]

Oh wow, I can't wait to see this, it already looks great! The region looks really cool, flat, but still interesting - I've been looking for one like this forever, evidently I missed this one
Looking forward to seeing more 

Fred

[Shadow Assassin]

This'll be interesting to see.

I like how Blackwater looks (and that's a cool name, too).

[krbe]

If was just going to say how I admire your small settelments in Islas Gemas - then you turn up with a gigantic Stockholm map! You got a lot to do

And I'll be visiting Stockholm tomorrow! Looking forward to the X2000 ride from Malmö

[flame1396]

Whoa... If you bust out some AK-level badass I will be psyched

[figui]

great introduction to this new project!
this looks like a nice region to develop, i'll be following your work with great interest.
and i'd agree that a big seaport should go somewhere near this metropolis

mauricio.