Adara - Update 184 - March 26, 2012

[GaBoR]

Nice rural setting! great imagination with that campping area!

[bat]

This river looks beautiful! Also wonderful work on it!

[djvandrake]

Winfield looks wonderful and I really like that campground. 

[Battlecat]

Cyclone1001: Thanks very much!

Jordan (canyonjumper): Thanks!  I'm actually using a couple different sets of rapids and waterfalls.  First, there is a set available on the Three Rivers Region Exchange right here on the forums.  Another set by dedgren can also be found on the STEX, the waterfalls and rapids were released separately here.  Hope these help!

mightygoose: Thanks, I'm very glad you find your visits inspiring! 

Ethan (ecoba): Thanks!  You're right that Adara is effectively a Canadian recreation, although it's on completely imaginary terrain.  Even right in my area here in the Fraser Valley there are a couple farms I can think of that look like they're straight out of Europe or even Asia!  It's nice to have an excuse to throw in little tidbits like that farm, even if I can't do it too often! 

Glad you like that stream as well, the pieces came together very nicely.  The rapids really do fit perfectly, they use the Edmonton style water for their base, but it fits nicely with the Tahoe style.  As for the campsites, this is the fourth in the region.  There's one in Delmar Junction, Vavenby, Jackson Pass and now the one here in Winfield.  Thanks as always for your kind words and thoughtful feedback!   

Connor: Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed this update!

GaBoR: Welcome to Adara!  Thanks for you kind comment!

bat: Thanks very much, I had a lot of fun putting that river together.  I'm really getting a good feel for the limitations of each of these different textures available!

djvandrake: Thanks for your kind words!

Update 83
Winfield – Higher Education

Today I'm going to finish up Winfield!  It's been a busy tile to develop.  I first revealed Winfield back in update 60 back on November 25th.  Of the past 23 updates, 21 of them have been dedicated to the development of this tile!  Now let's go on with the last blast!

83-1: This is the last block of empty land on the Winfield Tile.


83-2: First thing I've brought the main road around the point and then out to the top of the map.  This is the old highway that used to go around the lake.  With the bridge across the lake is in place, it's just a secondary road now.  And I'm going to make sure that on future tiles it's an ugly road to help justify the existence of that bridge! 


83-3: First bit of development in this area, a block of fairly simple residential and commercial development.


83-4: The biggest feature here is going to be the local university.  Now that Winfield has surpassed 50,000 people, a small university is getting started.  This one isn't going to be huge; it's probably a satellite campus of a much larger university somewhere in one of the really big cities that I'll eventually build.  I'm going to use the fantastic pieces of the Clayhurst University set by JBSimbo.  This will also mark the northern end of the GLR network.


83-5: Casting around, I've finally found a nice batch of buildings to fill in this space.  Such a fantastic looking selection here!  I'm really looking forward to the first expansion pack. 


83-6: Once I've got all the fillers in place and I run the game for a year, this is what the university looks like.  You really just can't go wrong with this set!


83-7: Here are the businesses near the university.  There's a small path from the residences, I figure the students walk here for groceries and other stuff if they don't feel like taking the GLR to downtown. 


83-8: The next item on the agenda today is the hilltop.  This area is going to mark the leading edge of urban growth here. 


83-9: I've decided to terrace this hill a bit, but I'm going to leave numerous gaps to hint at what would be future growth. 


83-10: I started here, but I quickly decided to add some more terraces.


83-11: Here's the bulk of the urban growth I'm going to leave in the area.


83-12: And done.  But wait, this doesn't quite look like what I'm shooting for.  Something is missing.  Fortunately, adroman over in his MD: McKay . . . or, The Real Australia has provided a solution . . .


83-13: And here's the missing link.  One more new subdivision with some homes under construction. 


83-14: For one additional detail, here's another patch of neighborhood where the trees are being chopped down to make room for the next phase of development. 


83-15: Taking the idea and running with it a bit, here's a new block of lakeshore housing just getting started.  A few finished homes really help give the area a feeling of transition.  Don't worry, I don't plan to use these in every city, but Winfield is a bit of a special case since I've been emphasizing rapid growth ever since I started here. 


83-16: Around the corner, I've added two more details.  First, there's a large Lowes which could only be built out on the edge of a city like this.  They've certainly built their store in anticipation of the future growth planned out here.  For an additional detail, the residential area is an exurb in the process of being converted to full density residential. 


83-17: Only a few residents here have sold out so far, but I'm sure more will follow considering how valuable land with development potential is in a city growing like Winfield. 


83-18: Next I'm going to finish up the lakeshore.  I've split it into two phases due to the length remaining. First, up is this bay beside the bike trails. 


83-19: Here's the edge of the bike trails.  This area deserves a proper park. 


83-20: Just a nice grassy slope extending down to the shore.  This park isn't nearly as formal as the waterfront park near the tourist area.


83-21: The modern developers are pushing homes down a lot closer to the water, but there's still a requirement to leave some screening at the shoreline.  Development in Winfield also follows a pattern I wish was common in reality, as many large old trees as possible are being preserved, replanting is not an option!  It's a nice excuse considering I have the nice tree brushes that put down full sized trees right away!


83-22: This is an interim shot of the portion of the lake I just finished up.  I've still got one more piece left which will then finish things up.   That's next! 


83-23: Here it is, the last section of shoreline. 


83-24: Rather than boring you with another batch of interm shots, I've just got a couple detailed shots of the finished shoreline.  I've been experimenting with techniques to obtain a more variable shoreline by placing the trees before the green rye grass.


83-25: The idea of the technique is the placement of the trees determines the width of the grass on the shore.  Rather than a narrow line, the width varies from non-existent to quite thick.  It's still going to take some more work to sort out the exact technique though. 


83-26: For the moment though, this will do the trick.  As of today, it's official.  Winfield is done!  Coming up next is a run at mosaics and maps which will be presented in the next two updates.  Assuming things go smoothly this weekend, I should have the next tile fully terraformed and ready to roll for introduction by mid to late next week.


And that's a wrap for development in Winfield! I'm not 100% sure what I'll have for you on Monday.  The maps might have to wait until Wednesday, but I'll certainly have a mosaic prepared and the full tile composites.  Have a good weekend! 

[djvandrake]

Winfield Looks great!  I like your university layout.  Looking forward to those mosaics. 

[mightygoose]

another wonderful update, and aneer onequest, where are people getting those under construction houses from?

[bat]

Another fantastic update of your great looking city!
Looking forward to more...

[io_bg]

Sorry for missing a few updates! Today's one is just fantastic! I particularly like the park next to the lake Looking forward to more!

[ecoba]

A great conclusion to a great tile.

Winfield is most definitely my favourite quad completed so far. The presence of Williston Lake throughout the city is somewhat intimidating, but also seems to make it the perfect spot for a city. In my mind, at least. Is Winfield a fairly new city, or is it quite an old lake. As when, of course you know, dams are built to create lakes, a large area upstream of the dam becomes flooded, it seems that simply really convenient placing of Winfield's body could have been the only solution to avoid much of the city flooding if it was in the same general area, prior to the lake's construction. Do you understand what I mean, also, sorry to go a little off topic.

Anyway, the ever growing suburbs of Winfield are quite an interesting mix of homes. I like the picture of the exurb turning into suburb. What would you say the median homes price of Winfield, 400.000 CAD?

Nice to have an update from you today, I was really craving one...  

Ethan

[canyonjumper]

And an awesome conclusion to an awesome tile! Winfield is looking good! And I really love your shorelines, they're so detailed !

And mightygoose, they are all on the STEX, but just for convenience, here you go!

                -Jordan

[Tomas Neto]

Another fantastic update!!! Great pictures!!!

[woodb3kmaster]

What a terrific end to the series of updates on Winfield! I've really enjoyed watching you develop this quad bit by bit. Your university looks really superb, very fitting for a city the size of Winfield. You know, I never realized it before, but now that I think about it, Williston Lake and its surroundings remind me strongly of Big Bear Lake here in southern California - it has a similar style of development going on, and the lake's setting in a forested mountainous area isn't too different from what you've created. Art really does imitate life, doesn't it?

Looking forward to seeing those statistics amd maps!

[Cyclone1001]

Amazing,I'm ready for more farmland

[Nanami]

Wow, I just left here 1 week. And this MD's page, increased 2 pages.
All of the update are great!

[Battlecat]

djvandrake: Thanks very much, glad you like the university.  I'm very pleased to present the composite images for Winfield today!

mightygoose: Thanks very much!  I first saw those homes under construction in adroman's MD, McKay . . . or the Real Australia. He was kind enough to post the link to their location here on the STEX. There are a bunch of different lots, sadly all as separate downloads but well worth the time it takes to get them!

bat: Thanks!  Today and the next update will a bit of reflection while I finish the prep work on the Option 3 tile and the surrounding area! 

io_bg: Thanks very much!  Glad you enjoyed that park, I'll probably be using that style a fair bit for waterfront residential going forward since it worked so nicely!

Ethan (ecoba): Thanks!  You've got a lot of good points in your post and not off topic at all!  You are absolutely right that any existing towns or cities on the valley bottom would have been flooded out by the dam after it went in.  As such, I think that in the case of my world, Winfield and Westside would be relatively new towns.  They were probably initially founded on the wealth of logging that would have been provided by the lake itself. 

All the trees below the waterline are usually removed before the reservoir is flooded, although they can be left behind and preserved.  I have a co-worker in our Operations department that actually worked as an underwater logger up in northern BC where several large reservoirs were built and flooded very quickly.  In Adara however, the logging industry tends to prefer to cut the trees prior to flooding.

I think that your estimate of 400K for a home in Winfield is pretty accurate.  That's about the going rate for an equivalent home in Kelowna, BC, the town I used as inspiration for Winfield.  Of course if you're willing to settle for a really old place, you can probably get a lower price in some locations!  Glad you enjoyed this update. 

Jordan (canyonjumper): Thanks very much!  Glad you like the finished appearance, I'm looking forward to showing some composite and mosaic shots!  Also, thanks for taking the time to answer mightygoose's question!

Tomas Neto: Thanks for your kind words! 

Zach (woodb3kmaster): It really is amazing how much California and BC have in common when it comes to development!  I pulled up Big Bear Lake on Google maps.  Except for the scale of Williston Lake, you're right that the development patterns are strikingly similar! 

Thanks very much for your kind words regarding the university!  I was really worried it wouldn't fit in, but it seems to have found a very comfortable home in Winfield!  I've got a couple new pieces of information about the region today in addition to the usual stuff!

Cyclone1001: Glad you're looking forward to some farming.  I intend to add some early farm work on this tile before demand drops to zero.  There's going to be a fair bit of urban work here as well. 

976: Yeah, it's been a week of fairly rapid growth!  Thanks for stopping in! 

Update 84
Winfield – Mosaic Day

As I suspected might be the case, life has prevented me from doing any work on the mapping for Winfield over the past weekend.  On the bright side, I've got three mosaics for your today and the composite images!  A couple of them are quite big, so this update may take a bit longer than normal to load! 

But first, voting for tile number 6 is officially closed.  Option three has won out, completely overwhelming the competition!  I'm looking forward to getting started on this one!  I'll have preview images for you on Wednesday or Friday this week!  The official name for tile #6 is tentatively Ellison Flats.  Granted, that's going to be a bit of a misnomer, but I'll have more information about the reason for that name when I present the first pictures. 

84-1: To start off this update, here's the full tile composite.  As usual, click the image to view the larger version! 


84-2: For the real fun today though, I've got 3 mosaics to show you.  This first one is the smallest, extending across the urban core of Winfield.  I know the edge shows on this one; I didn't want to miss any of the stuff up towards the edge here.  Someday, I'll extend this mosaic across the border! 




84-3: The second mosaic extends from the waterfront area of Winfield across the lake past Westside through to the European style farm. 








84-4: This last mosaic is the biggest.  It extends from the shoreline by Winfield University through the suburbs all the way to the point where the GLR crosses the border in the highland suburbs.















84-5: Last but not least for today, here is the regional composite.  Click on the image to see the full sized version.  This one is pretty big so be patient as it is downloading! 


And that's a wrap for today.  Up next, it's time for some maps!  See you all later.

[io_bg]

Great work, Battlecat! The overview is completely amazing! (I even saved it on my comp ) I wish I had the patience to fully complete every city tile I've started developing.
Can't wait to see the maps!

[ShultzCity]

Incredible!! I'm absolutely loving this MD, mainly due to the attention to detail and superb realism. I would never even dream of making a map looking so great - my attempts at regional realism usually go down the drain after the first to cities  . May I ask where you got those orange sport fields from??

Keep up the good work!

[Cyclone1001]

Very nice! It all fits so perfectly.

[Rady]

Extraordinary! And extremly inspiring for my MD ...!

[ecoba]

Absolutely breathtaking!

Winfield really does look modern in the overviews, I guess that it's just the city's height (building wise) and position on the lake that makes it stand out from the heavily agricultural tiles to the northwest. After seeing these overviews I do agree that Winfield and Westside and most definitely newer cities, and in these past couple of updates their suburbs have started to expand, which is definitely a sign of urbanism.

Really? The home prices in Kelowna are around 400.000? That's a bit higher than I expected. The average home price where I live right now is about 330.000 (CAD). And that's for the really nice old homes in the central areas of town, and for the historic neighbourhoods stretching out to the south by the university. Newer homes here are actually a lot cheaper, I'm not sure why the case wouldn't be similar in Winfield.

Ethan