Somewhere in my Mind

[Flipside]

Hi folks. This is my region - Somewhere in my Mind - set on one of the default Maxis maps (the one with five large city tiles). It's my baby, it's not all done, it may never be.  I started playing it back in the days before I had any custom content at all!!! Yes, truly they were the dark ages. So it's undergone some serious reinvention over time - and is undergoing some now, and it will continue to. I have a few "Before Plugins - After Plugins" pics that I think are quite interesting. Big difference ...

Anyway, I play all my cities on Hard and I don't use cheats. I do love custom content though - SimGoober's lots show up a lot, Pegasus', BSC's parks, I have NAM now finally. Cycledogg's trees and terrain mod, NDEX towers, etc. I'll credit stuff as it comes up.

I'm still learning about, and evolving with, the game. Constructive criticism is very welcome - ideas about what I should build or do, etc. Feedback is much appreciated.

Here's a shot of the whole region for starters. You can see I'm doing a big overhaul of the South which isn't yet complete (hence, all the cities don't seem to match ).





And one which delineates all the city boundaries.





Hope it interests you.

[dedgren]

Hey, Flipside!  That's some major development, without a doubt.  The detail in the pics is pretty small for a person of my delicate years, but my seeing eye dog tells me that there's good stuff to come once you start showing us close up shots.

We'll be watching for the next update.

Good luck!


David

[meinhosen]

Flipside,

Looks like you've got some great things in store for us when you start showing us those cities.  I, for one, really want to see those "pre-custom content" pics and some comparison "after" pics.  Your city names are unique... are there any good stories behind those names? (such as Splitsville, or Awning Drip)

I'll be here for the next update.

[bat]

wonderful development! Great region + regionoverview!

[Flipside]

Dedgren: Thanks for the kind words. Hope you and your seeing-eye dog enjoy the rest.

Meinhosen: Funny you should ask. Some of the names are totally random, some are puns, some are references. Splitsville actually doesn't mean anything, but you know, since I'm in the process of totally altering that city, I think it just might become a vacation destination for those Sims seeking to forget a bitter breakup or an unhappy past life. 

Awning Drip is what it seems to be. You know when you're standing under an awning on the street and it's raining? Sometimes you get a sudden shower of run-off. 

Bat: Thanks for the encouragement.

Okay so ... the first city I'll spotlight is Batrax, which is in the South to the East of Artika.

Batrax was originally just an ugly feeder city for Artika. I hadn't gotten around to making it anything to look at. But when Artika was wiped out by a spate of "natural" disasters, strangely, Batrax was as well! 

This was it before ...






Yuck! Yuck yuck yuck yuck!!! Total grid-city mess. No water, utterly flat terrain, BORING! ;)The only cool part was the cemetery ...

Note SimGoober's rural hospital though ... I think it's the only building still standing from the old city in the new one.

This city deserved destruction ... 





...

[Flipside]

The Reformation

So ... the citizens of Batrax (Batraxians?) fell upon hard times, I guess there is a vengeful God ... or something. 

Suddenly hills sprouted out of flats ... suddenly the Sun went 'round the Moon, suddenly the snow came down in June ...

Err, forget that last bit. N E way ...

The city fathers had enough Whiz-dumb to salt away some serious cash in case of emergency. Well, now it was time to bust it out! Reconstruction had to happen! The Sims of Batrax couldn't live forever in dilapidated housing that lacked water and power. A couple months, sure, but hey, not forever.



But where do you go from there?

Clean up, I guess ...



As you can see, the city's profit-loss ratio was getting a little scary at this point.

But the budget hemorrhage couldn't end before the infrastructure was rebuilt ...

A new highway was commissioned relinking Batrax with Artika. Plus, some long abandoned structures were bashed down.







And finally, some new development. Ensconced in the hills in the centre of the city, a new industrial district begins to take shape, complete with a SimGoober canal!  Also, the first new residential development springs up. Oh, and look at that mountain pond!



My residential area (still needing a name) grows larger ... included in it are some of the low-wealth 1960s era British towers I found on the STEX ... and some great trees courtesy of ... I forget. And I can't just look in the plugins folder, this is the wrong computer. But man, Lombard Poplars! I love 'em! Weeping Willows! To die for!



A few more years of maturation ...



...

[Fred_Ginger]

Gee Flipside, when I get annoyed with my cities I just blow 'em up, never thought about changing the topography!  Will be waiting for more.....

[Flipside]

In that last pic, you can see the wonderful Slaytforke (sp) Mill, as well as some cool farms from Mickebear. Also, the Hansen Hosiery Mill (I think), plus many of Mickebear's small Mediterranean industries.

You can also see a different residential development in the top right hand corner of the last pic. Here's a better view:



Meanwhile, the area around the mountain pond (still in need of a name) continues to blossom.



Some industrial close-ups:















Okay, enough industry! I hear ya. The enlarging residential area ...



There's a big contrast in Batrax ... some citizens have recovered from the disasters very quickly and are again well-off ... some haven't.





Closeup ... come to think of it, I should probably turn that little elementary school around ...



Commerce rears its head! You can also spot a SimGoober train station which replaced a conventional one because of high usage.



It is the happy city which has fireworks ...



A cute little downtown ... I see a Bank of Nova Scotia among other delights.



Farms span the North-East of the city. Also, one of SCBA's minor league stadiums was built - a favorite hangout of farm boys and the industrial proletariat. Hey, bread and circuses, right?





Two more residential images:





The virgin North-West:



Last two, overviews:





You can see some development in the North-West, as well as the bird's-eye view of how everything else has played out.

And that's where I left Batrax. Thoughts, questions, advice, comments, insults?

[Flipside]

Gee Flipside, when I get annoyed with my cities I just blow 'em up, never thought about changing the topography!  Will be waiting for more.....

Hi Fred. That city had about $800,000 Simoleons in the bank so ... I didn't want to start from scratch there. Besides, disasters are more fun.

[bat]

Wonderful updates and pictures!

[emilin]

I have to admit I was a little hesitant after the first introduction. The region didn't look all that interesting, but after this one I'm totally hooked. What an unconvensional and very... what should I call it... LIBERATING approach to the game. And the cemetary name kills me (pun intended).

[Flipside]

Bat: Thank you kindly.

Emilin: I kinda worried the initial pics aren't impressive enough and I thought that by starting off with showing what I built that sucked and I destroyed might turn people away. Maybe I should edit the first post to add some teaser shots that are actually nice? 

Anyway, I'll be on to another city since the last update brings Batrax up to date. Was that a good or a bad sentence? lol. Not sure which ... For the next update, I'll either keep it small with another mid-sized or rural city or plunge into my metropoli.  Not sure which yet ...

Anyway, thanks for responding, guys. Always appreciated.

[Pat]

   well flip i do have to say to you what a very impressive region you got that is large amount of sims you got living in there wow,  far as building style i would say hmmm what are looking to accomplish here a more rural look or a urban or even a green dream?   if you are going for a rural look i would do it with a green design and make it a haven for the sims to want to get away from it all type town. IMO Pat

[Flipside]

  well flip i do have to say to you what a very impressive region you got that is large amount of sims you got living in there wow,  far as building style i would say hmmm what are looking to accomplish here a more rural look or a urban or even a green dream?   if you are going for a rural look i would do it with a green design and make it a haven for the sims to want to get away from it all type town. IMO Pat

Thanks, Pat. 

I'm not sure what I'm trying to accomplish, actually. I think a hodge-podge.

One idea I do have is I think the South will be more rural than the North. I want all types of cities in my region, though.  I guess my goal with that is to try to integrate them all realistically.

I live in Vancouver; it's about 50 or 60 miles from downtown until farms start cropping up and there's everything in between. Like Vancouver, every urban area has it's hinterland and I'd like to reflect that in my region.

I'm not the sort of player who likes to plan extensively, either. Some people lay out their whole terrain and their entire transportation grid before zoning anything. I admire that spirit, but it's not my own. I always found my best cities came about by accident and my best ideas were spontaneous and worked out better than I'd ever imagined. I do have loose plans for what I want to do, but they're always subject to revision depending on how the simulation goes. 

Thanks for your response.

[threestooges]

One general suggestion I always offer when I see it: turn off the U-Drive-It icons to give the pics a better/less cluttered look (after all, unless you are taking the picture just for them, they don't offer much to the scenery). I like how you ringed the pond with the wildflowers and the dead/bare trees: an interesting contrast. The avenue next to the pond is interesting... seems like if you got going quick enough you could get a heck of a jump and clear the dip after leaving the tunnel. An orderly industrial sector, plenty of residential, commerce and a ballpark to boot: a good start for what looks like it will be a very nice city. I like your style of just playing as you go (without too much planning ahead). I play a similar way and it sometimes surprises me with the end result. Keep it up and never worry that your pics aren't good enough (even the best had to start somewhere) and you have a good start on that too.

[Flipside]

One general suggestion I always offer when I see it: turn off the U-Drive-It icons to give the pics a better/less cluttered look (after all, unless you are taking the picture just for them, they don't offer much to the scenery). I like how you ringed the pond with the wildflowers and the dead/bare trees: an interesting contrast. The avenue next to the pond is interesting... seems like if you got going quick enough you could get a heck of a jump and clear the dip after leaving the tunnel. An orderly industrial sector, plenty of residential, commerce and a ballpark to boot: a good start for what looks like it will be a very nice city. I like your style of just playing as you go (without too much planning ahead). I play a similar way and it sometimes surprises me with the end result. Keep it up and never worry that your pics aren't good enough (even the best had to start somewhere) and you have a good start on that too.

Hi threestooges. Thanks for the in-depth response.

Usually I turn off UDI icons for pics, but sometimes I just can't be bothered with the little cities like that one. 

I'm a bit ambivalent about the paint-on water ... but I think it looks okay there.

I'm worried people might not wade through to the good stuff since I showed what I demolished first. Hope not.

Anyway, I'm gonna do another update in a few mins ... this time I'll change gears and switch to my urban areas ...

[Flipside]

City of the Vanished, City of the Salt Springs Eternal

Okay, so ... COV-COSSE () is easily the largest city in my region (a little under 500,000 Sims right now) and I could probably do an entire CJ on just it alone given all the changes I've made to it. But I'll condense things.

I think this city is interesting because when I started it, I wasn't using plugins at all.  A totally virgin game!  I built it up to about 220,000 Sims and used about the same amount of the map that is in current use before I had *anything* installed in the plugins folder.

Then ... I left the Dark Ages.  I lavished the city with creations from BSC, Pegasus, NDEX, Cycledogg and many more. I gave it Road-Top Mass Transit and NAM (latterly). I tore it up on a massive scale and rebuilt it on an even more massive one.

And I think it's quite interesting because what a contrast! If any of you have forgotten about what a difference the custom content given to us by all the great BATters has made, I think this city will remind you. What is really brought home to me is what creative limits were imposed by Maxis's Plain Jane version; and also, what creativity is now possible thanks to the work of so many selfless folks who love SimCity.


Without further ado, into the way-back machine we go ...

City of the Vanished was founded off the banks of the Lion Bird Milk Lake (in the bottom portion of the screen), home of some very strange wildlife indeed. A very blue-collar city in these days ... also, the city fathers failed to put much thought into imaginative transportation networks.  *Note: Don't the bridges look terrible without the Bridge mod that makes them level? *Note 2: The pic always reminded me of what I think the nicer (!) industrial wastelands of 19th century England might have looked like ...



As it grew, it grew eastward (westward from the angle the pic is taken at). You can see the Mayor had a soft spot for green spaces in his city - too bad there was nothing much to elaborate them with before plugins ... 



Like I say, the city expanded eastward. 



Okay, that's a bit of a jump ahead, but the Mayor failed to really record the painstaking progress of the city to that point. I mean, it was thrown out with the rest of the archives. Hey, COV didn't have a Bureau of Bureaucracy back then. Don't be so harsh. 

As you can see, a budding metropolis had grown up - yet not at the entire expense of anything green. See, the Mayor has it in his head that he'd like to build a HUMANE metropolis. You know, one where walking the streets isn't the equivalent of two packs of cigarettes ...

The working class industry that fueled the city in its early years is by now mostly gone, replaced by Big Science industry or Big Commerce service jobs.

A closer look ...

The downtown:



Lion Bird Milk Lake:



The Covey Cove:



The First Districts (Commerce and Residential - so named because they were the first districts of each to be zoned):





And the last of my oldies I'll put up right now, the Monument Park Area:

Monument Park was built to commemorate the dissolution of Ben Affleck and J-Lo's relationship. Sniff, it touched us all. It gave us Gigli. Those were the days ...

Ahem. So in light of the importance of it, it was easy to see that the university and country club needed to be demolished to make way. 



And the park built ... a statue of both Ben and J-Lo - separated by a giant phallic-shaped building ... what could be more appropriate! 



You'll notice as time goes by ... two Maxis theatres developed ... they play Gigli 24/7 ...









So ... after that, I decided I needed plugins, man. Translation: I finally got a new computer which could handle a whole bunch. 

So I got them. Finally, I could impose my true vision upon this city. Mwuahahahaha! And that true vision I shall begin sharing ... 

[Flipside]

  Just before I go to bed, I'll give a teaser of the shape of things to come.

At night, so not to reveal all my surprises ... 



Oh hell, one in the daytime too.

[Flipside]

So ..

The first thing I wanted to do was redesign the parks (Ill Will Hill and Warren Zvonareva) which lie around the centre of the city. They were too small and dull. I was thinking bigger.



That's Ill Will Hill. The whole block would be demolished to make way for the new incarnation of it. What of the thousands of residents there, you say? Hey, you're asking too many questions. 

This pic shows the early destruction and also Warren Zvonareva park (named after two real-life minor celebrities for no good reason ) as it was before. The area around it would also feel the wrecking ball. 



Redevelopment ...







The last shows the area (bottom of the pic) where the new Canal Zone Park would be built.

The CZ Park site from the opposite angle - post-demoliton.



Construction ...









Finally the finished product. This was the first BSC Park I ever made, but I still like it a lot. I think it really makes the city. The park now provides a natural divide between the downtown area towers and the less dense commercial and industrial areas to the west.











]

This last pic from way up above shows the impact of the parks, as well as the long way I have to go in remaking the city into something cool.



Next, I'm going to radically remodel the area around the seaport ...

[thundercrack83]

Excellent work, Flipside! I lvoe the region shots at the beginning and also watching you destroy and recreate the city after changing the terraforming. Quite an interesting concept. Also, I like the names of your cities and other landmarks, very creative! I'll be looking forward to more!