Adara - Update 184 - March 26, 2012

[Tomas Neto]

Congrats on 100 updates my friend, and fantastic update again!!!

[nedalezz]

That update was so huge I have to seperate my comment into pointer 

1) Congratulations on Update 100, that is quite an amazing feat. You deserve to bask in all of this MD's great glory!

2) While the rock formation you have now definitely works, I would favor Option 2 as it just looks the most realistic

3) Mosaic...um, WoW?!?! Holy crap. That is one huge, magnificent, jaw dropping mosaic.

[bat]

The 100th update (Congrats!!) is really fantastic!
A lot of great pictures from Adara! Wonderful work! The mosaic is also fantastic...

[metarvo]

Good work, Battlecat!    The shorelines are nice as always.  I also like the re-zoned industrial area that has retained some of its character.

As far as the rock mod goes, I like Option 1.  Of course, I may be somewhat biased, since I myself use the Aubrac rock mod. 

[Cyclone1001]

Looks amazing and Congratz on 100 updates!

[RickD]

Congrats on your 100th update. With this one you have outdone yourself. The mosaic is epic.

Oh and I prefer option 3 of the rock mods, too. I think it fits very well in the region because it looks best with the trees.

[Connor]

Wonderful 100th update 

Personally, I would go for Option 3, but the decision is yours....

[canyonjumper]

Great 100^th update, Battlecat! Option 2 for me! That was an excellent mosaic!

             Your friend,
                            Jordan

[danielcote]

Wow nice. Are those all different towns or all one big spread out city.

[turtle]

Congrats on reaching the 100th update milestone. What a journey.

I like how you altered the coastline. It's much better now!

I prefer option two for rock mods. Number three looks a bit bland from the distance, but great when you zoom in. Also I think the trees go better with number two. Actually, I think I will change my own rock mod to number two.

Beautiful mosaic of the lake. However I do agree with Vester on the lack of traffic.

Great work!

Thomas

[FrankU]

Well, you made me feel guilty that I didn't comment on your work for such a long time.
I have been lurking a lot though, because it is interesting to see what you make. I like it very much. It is just that I didn't know what to add to you project... It's just beautiful to see what you do.
But now the time has come to congratulate you with your 100th update! 

[JoeST]

That is one SERIOUSLY AWESOME 100th update, especially that mosaic, which was just

And all those ones that I just caught up with, WOW aswell... just

Joe

[art128]

Seriously, 100 update. That's a milestone. Lets take the champaign !

I must say that I'm sorry for not posting there more frequently, I'm more like a lurker.. anyway I stopped there and It's time to leave a comment, also because the occasion is good, the 100th update.. 

I enjoyed watching at this update, both SC4 pictures and stats are really well done. I think this old industrial dock looks great there, and I'm sure it's a nice place to relax during the week-end. Nice choice for the rock mod, it fits just well with the ambiance of the city.
That master mosaic is really, really stunning, seriously I really loved it. I'm also thinking of making such a mosaic but unfortunately the way my city is built doesn't allow me to make a mosaic like that.

Anyway, great work my friend !
-Arthur.

[Battlecat]

vester: Welcome to Adara!  Thanks for pointing out the absence of traffic in that mosaic.  I'll admit I actually hadn't noticed the absence!  I've found at least one part of the problem already, but I'm going to take a good hard look at those alternate NAM options you've mentioned!  Thanks for stopping in!

BuildingUp: Thanks very much!  Glad you enjoyed the mosaic and the other details in today's update!

Ethan (ecoba): Thanks, glad you enjoyed the updated detailing.  The updated wharves made a huge difference.  Paeng actually keeps most of his custom work on his own site here.  He has quite a diverse collection of filler style lots on his site.   Thanks for your thoughts on the rock mod choices as well!

Jacob (ShultzCity): Thanks very much for your kind words!  Glad you like the wharves, I'm really happy with how they changed the feel of the neighborhood.  Thanks for your feedback regarding the rock mod as well! 

io_bg: Thanks very much!  The mosaic was a fun one to put together, especially since it doesn't represent the real geography of the area since it goes around corners! 

kimcar: Thanks!  Glad you liked it! 

armagin: I'm pretty sure it's the biggest one I've ever put together at the very least!   

djvandrake: Thanks!  You're right that I'm using the Olympic terrain mod.  It's always been my favorite for the type of regions I like to build.  I'm pretty much torn between my current mod and the one you've suggested! 

Geoff (calibanX): Thanks very much for your congrats and kind words!  It's really hard to believe how busy I've been over the last few months with Adara!  Have to say, Tomas Neto is certainly my inspiration for building mosaics on a more regular basis.  He certainly is the king of mosaics though!

kwakelaar: Thanks very much!  Glad you enjoyed the update!  I appreciate your thoughts on the rock mod as well.

Tomas Neto: Thanks very much as always for your support! 

nedalezz: Thanks very much, it's been a fun trip getting to 100 updates!  Great to hear your feedback on the rock mod.  That mosaic was particularly fun to put together.  It's actually quite hard to put together large scale mosaics with the current layout of Adara.  Most of the options I have right now would result in vast tracts of undeveloped forest for most of the mosaic.  Swinging around the lake like that provided a neat new choice.

bat: Thanks very much for your congrats!  Glad you enjoyed the latest update!

metarvo: Thanks, I'm really pleased with how the rezoned industrial area came out.  Adding those old docks in really put some nice finishing touches on it!  Also, thanks for your thoughts on the rock mod!

Cyclone1001: Thanks very much! 

Raphael (RickD): Welcome to Adara!  It's great to still be welcoming new visitors after 100 updates!  Glad you enjoyed the mosaic; it was a real pleasure to put together!  Thanks for your thoughts on the rock mod as well!

Connor: Thanks very much for your kind words and thoughts!

Jordan (canyonjumper): Thanks!  I appreciate your thoughts on the rock mod.  Glad you liked the mosaic!

danielcote: Thanks for stopping in!  The mosaic through several different cities.  It starts going south through Ellison Flats and across the border into Winfield.  Once it hits the lake, the mosaic takes a 90 degree turn and crosses the town of Westside until it hits the lake again.  Then the mosaic takes on last 90 degree turn and crosses through a different swath of Ellison Flats.  The only reason I can get away with that is because of the placement of the lake shores!  Hope that helps clarify what you're looking at. 

Thomas (turtle): Thanks!  Glad you like how the revised shoreline turned out, I appreciate you feedback on that!  Thanks for your thoughts on the rock mod!  Glad you enjoyed the mosaic, even with the lack of traffic.  I think I've found part of the problem, and Vester has provided some food for thought for the future!  Always glad to see you stop in!

FrankU: Guilt was certainly not my intent, I always appreciate your visits!  You usually have some good suggestions when you do stop by!  Glad you're still lurking about; I certainly appreciate that as well!  Thanks for your kind words and congrats! 

Joe (JoeST): Thanks very much for your enthusiastic response to this and all the other recent updates!   

Arthur (art128): Thanks for stopping in!  Nothing wrong with lurking!  I certainly don't hold that against anyone!  I appreciate you taking the time to stop in today!  Glad you like how the docks came out!  The mosaic was a lot of fun to put together.  It's pretty hard to find places where I can put a shot like that together since you pretty much have to transition across a simple lake texture to splice the shots together.   

Update 101
Ellison Flats – Putting on the Finishing Touches

Hello everyone, hope you all had a good weekend!  Just want to put a general thanks out for all your kind words and thoughts over the weekend.  Much of what Adara is today has come at the suggestions and thoughts from all of you!  Anyhow, moving right along, I managed to put the finishing touches on Ellison Flats over the weekend, so let's have a look at what was left to do. 
Oh, and as for the rock mod choices, the most common opinion from all of you seems to be "option X looks good if you really feel the need to change but what you've got works really nicely."  Honestly, it seems that the Aubrac mod is pretty universally liked for here in Adara, so I'm going to stick with what I've got!  Thanks for your thoughts everyone!

101-1: This is where I abruptly ended the last update!  Most of what you see here will be vanishing under a coating of trees, including that hill top. 

101-2: One of the reasons I often uses these as logging roads is because they don't have trees lining them.  While Peg's roads are more realistic, the tree lining can be problematic for clearcuts where operations have wrapped up.

101-3: Here's one of the two exurbs that I've put in.  This one is quite tiny.  For obvious reasons, people haven't built homes on the main road yet.  Fast moving logging trucks and driveways do not mix well.  There will be one more clearcut on the next tile up that is still active which will be the source of that traffic. 


101-4: This exurb has given me an interesting idea.  What if a lumber company decided to sell land in an old clearcut for subdivision instead of replanting it for future forest?  The homes would still be low density exurbs, but the forest wouldn't be as dense around them yet. 


101-5: Here's my interpretation of that idea.  Some small homes and shacks scattered through a meadow with a mix of trees growing up slowly around them. 


101-6: Carrying that idea on further, I've decided that the subalpine fir brush is an excellent candidate for representing replanted trees.  It does an excellent job of producing fairly uniform, densely packed trees that are very common in a replanted clearcut.  Replanted forests are usually a mono-culture because the intent is that the logging company will come back and log it again 50 – 60 years down the road. 


101-7: Moving right along, I realized one of the reasons cars aren't showing up.  I had the automata game settings turned down one level.  As it turns out, when automata is turned down from maximum, they don't show up at zoom 3 anymore which is why they aren't showing in that large composite!  I'll have to examine some of the other options to enhance it further later.


101-8: Here's a quick overview of what I've finished so far.


101-9: Moving along, there are still a couple more clear cuts to detail.  This one is relatively young.  Most of the replanted trees are still too small to show amongst the brush. 


101-10: Right near the border and carrying across is a recently abandoned clearcut.  The thick brush hasn't had time to grow in yet but the fireweed is rampant! 


101-11: The last clearcut is also covered in brush but it also has a few aspen groves popping up.  Aspen grow much faster than most coniferous trees and they also have the ability to fix nitrogen which makes them excellent early colonizers for clearcuts and other disturbed areas. 


101-12: Let's move on to the remaining project.  The only item that is left is the detailing along this shoreline. 


101-13: To get things started, I've put another small swamp in to this narrow bay. 


101-14: This area is a candidate for a small island. 


101-15: I went for a fairly rocky shore here, it didn't turn out to badly although the dark grey rocks tend to be a bit hard to pack other details around. 


101-16: Here's a wide beach for the resort area.  There are a handful of boats beached here. 


101-17: Most of the rest of the detailing followed fairly normal patterns, so I'll just wrap it up here.  With this shot, Ellison Flats is officially done!  There will be one more update and then we'll move onto tile number 7. 


OSITM Bonus 7: Hard to believe, but I did manage to put together a pretty awesome bonus for today!  Today we're heading back to Vavenby.  I've constructed a zoom level 4 composite of the urban area of Vavenby for your enjoyment today!  Click the image to load the full sized version.  WARNING: the linked jpeg image is 7 megabytes in size! 


And that's a wrap for today!  See you all Wednesday for some mapping and the final Zoom 5 composite image for Ellison Flats!   Then it'll be on to our first look at tile #7 Friday, which I've decided to name Greenwood after the small community that will on the tile.

[canyonjumper]

Wow! That is amazing, Battlecat! I particularly like 101-13, the swamp and the use of the NAM curves really works for the pic. Great mosaic of Vavenby, and I'm looking forward to seeing Greenwood !

                 Your friend,
                                Jordan

[ShultzCity]

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! I love those logging areas, they are super realistic. I notice you put some brown rye grass over the marsh as well - I think it looks much nicer!  Can't wait till you move onto the next tile, I'm finding myself literally waiting in anticipation for Tuesday and Thursday (Australia are a long way ahead of Canada and the US) updates...

I wasn't around on SC4D for the creation of Vavenby, but looking back on it now, I definitely like this one best. That composite image is just grand!

Keep it up! 

[Connor]

Brilliant one again. Your logging areas are both creative and realistic, and very aesthetically pleasing as well of course.

The composite of Vavenby was amazing too 

[Tomas Neto]

Great update, really fantastic!!

[ecoba]

Wow, really amazing update, my friend.

I love the way that the exurbs and the clearcuts in the corner of the tile turned out. The clearcuts with the varied age in the area creates a really realistic effect for an active or recently retired logging area. The large clearcut with the exurb built inside it is also a very realistic North American concept. It also appears that you have expanded your residential plugins a bit.

The finalizing shots of detailing and the resort really topped off to make Ellison Flats an absolutely unique tile. Can't wait to see where we'll head next!

Ethan

[nedalezz]

That is indeed an awesome bonus Very nicely done.

The exburb did turn out great, with the smaller trees and shrubs, the detailing worked out perfectly in my opinion.

The island in the lake also looks wonderful, but my favorite has to be the beach area. Just perfect!