Adara - Update 184 - March 26, 2012

[canyonjumper]

Great update Battlecat! I like how use names from around BC (Salmo) in your updates. Update 80, here we come!

                              -Jordan

[djvandrake]

Great stuff!  That high tech parcel really looks nice with the walls there and the water.  First rate work. 

[warconstruct]

Very beautiful updated news! I like much the industrial park at the edge of the lake! would have installed you an tourist area with hotel can be, at the edge of this splendid lake 

[Rady]

Looks very nice! Are these powerlines eycand or functional? I do have some functional of that kind, but they can only be placed on even terrain ...

[Nanami]

Great town!

[bat]

Great pictures of that beautiful shoreline!! 

[Battlecat]

Connor: Thanks very much!  I had a lot of fun putting that area together.

Cyclone1001: I'm experimenting with a bunch of ideas to create the feel of an area that's changing  I'm not going to use it in too many places, but this are is growing rapidly so some construction scenes and unfinished subdivisions fit in quite nicely.

Tomas Neto: Thanks very much for your kind words as always! 

Jordan (canyonjumper): When I started off this game I was just inventing names.  It was when I started Vavenby that I realized that there are plenty of excellent city names here in BC than can be used.  I've even travelled through most of the cities whose names I'm using so far!  I'll probably be using many more of them going forward!   Glad you're enjoying that touch, thanks for stopping in!

djvandrake: Thanks very much!  Everything came together very nicely for that industrial site.

warconstruct: Thanks!  The industrial park is part of a mixed feeling I'm shooting for.  Here in British Columbia we have a handful of communities that started off as lumber towns near large lakes.  As they grew and some of the mills shut down, the first instinct of many towns was simply to attract new industries to the area.  However a couple of cities realized that there was as much money in the tourist industry and so they began encouraging redevelopment of industrial lands to tourist areas.  Kelowna is one of the more dramatic examples of this sort of success.  Many towns in the area around Kelowna are trying to tap into the now booming tourism in the area. 

In the case of my region, Winfield (the urban area on the east side of Williston Lake) was ahead of the curve and began developing some of it water front for tourism early on.  Westside, the area from today's update went the industrial route, but the city council is trying to change its plan now.  Even though Adara is a snapshot in time, I'm shooting for the feel of ongoing change in some places. 

Rady: The poles you see there are not functional, they're eyecandy only.  I actually transmit power along these routes with hidden one tile grass park lots.  These particular poles can be found on the Three Rivers Region exchange.

976: Thanks!

bat: Thanks, I'm really happy with how this section of shoreline has come together. 

Update 80
Winfield – Jackson Pass Border Details

Hi everyone!  Today I'm taking another run at one of my favorite things to do in Adara.  It's time to do the border blending work between the Jackson Pass and Winfield tiles!  There was some interesting stuff I played with in the area, including the concept of cross border streets! 

80-1: This is one of the areas that I'm going to be detailing today.  It's been a while since we've looked at this area though.  The grid is on in the next couple shots just to give a feel for the local terrain. 


80-2: So we'll peek across the border.  This is a small block of exurbs that crosses the border between the two tiles.  By the way, the new technique for clearing the black space I detailed a few updates back is working very nicely indeed!


80-3: Here's the other area I'm going to focus on today.  It's another cross border street connection. 


80-4: You might recall the crazy winding hairpin curves that access this area!  This is where I initially started using those small residential docks, a theme I intend to carry across the border into this area. 


80-5: Just for reference, here's a detailed shot of the shoreline on the Jackson Pass side of the border.  This are has a fairly narrow gravel shoreline with a varying swath of grass.  It transitions rapidly to large coniferous trees right close to shore like most of the areas along this lake. 


80-6: So, starting with the lower area, here's the rough residential zoning and the draft shoreline.  I've included a few of the small docks here to continue the theme. 


80-7: And some homes grew.  Here's absolute proof that I'm not using a subway or something to sneak them up to the main road.  The bus is just "encourage" growth a bit, it helped spur growth when I dropped it in the area. 


80-8: Here's a few samples of the homes.  Most of these are small cabins, including a few nice small maxis homes, a few are larger buildings though. 


80-9: At this stage I've just finished putting in the details before I start dropping trees in place.  Trails down to the docks, and the core shoreline textures are all done. 


80-10: Once I drop the rest of the details in place, here's the finished area. 


80-11: One finished cross border mosaic.  The four way intersection is on the Jackson Pass tile, but the small white house that's clearly visible is on the Winfield tile.  Of course, as far as my maps are concerned, this whole area is still part of Salmo. 


80-12: There's still the highland block left to deal with.  The power lines and zones are all in place. 


80-13: Another batch of homes, much like the last time, there are some nicer quality homes in this exurb. 


80-14: And here we are with trees in place.  A small hidden stream runs through here from the neighboring tile. 


80-15: And here's the cross border edition of the finished area.  I'm hard pressed to find this one, and I made it! 


80-16: Last but not least, here's a full cross border mosaic extending from the hills behind these small exurbs all the way down to Salmo.  The boundary between these two tiles runs diagonally from the lower left to the upper right of this image. 




And that's a wrap for today!  Next update I'm going to be asking once again for all your input about which part of Adara we head to next!  I'll have some maps and more information for you on Monday along with the regularly scheduled update!  If things go really nicely, I'll be finishing the entire remaining area between Westside and Salmo in the next one or two updates.  See you later!

[Fabian93]

WOW
Fantastic Update - you really pay a lot of attention to those little details (not just in this Update, but in every )
I personally think that you've perfected the way of building landscapes across the border. When I try to do this, there're always some points where I'm simply not able to connect it well with the neighbouring tile... whereas yours is just flawless!

Keep up the great work ,
Fabian

[bat]

Very nice work on that 80th update. All pictures are great! And wonderful overview of that really nice area!

[turtle]

Hi Battlecat,

Wow, you really have made a lot of progress since my last visit. However, this time I have good reason as I'm abroad, with internet only from time to time. I love what you did with Winfield and Westside, and I can't wait to see your updated region map. You just keep getting better at making those cross-border mosaics, always minding the smallest of details. Congrats on that.
I'm not sure in which direction I'd prefer you to go. I got my urban desire satisfied for now, so I suppose you could go for some farming areas again. You also did a lot of mountain farming. How about floodplains with wide open spaces, and lots of agriculture? Anyways, I'm sure I'll be satisfied whichever way you decide to go. Great work so far!

Best regards from Palestine
Thomas

[mightygoose]

fascinating, i thought it was impossible to make street neighbour connections?

moving on, the seamless cross tile transitions are something i to attempt to do, it is very good to see someone else do it so well.

[djvandrake]

Fantastic!    Thanks for taking the time to show us the progressions of how you build your landscapes.  Very helpful and informative.  You do first rate work. 

[Cyclone1001]

Amazing, you can make the borders blend. Not very easy to do, my friend

[Tomas Neto]

Impressive update again!!! Fantastic work!!!

[Connor]

Very nice update, and that cross-border mosaic is great 

[canyonjumper]

Excellent stuff! That is an excellent mosaic!

                       -Jordan

[scott1964]

Looks great  Now for my question.    How do you get the curvy streets? 

[kwakelaar]

And you just keep going... I have had quite a lot of catching up to do. It is great being able to follow your development.
I think the abandoned lumber mill area was a great idea. Industrial areas can sometimes look awful certainly the way maxis planned them. But yours are a true delight to look at.
The last update with the cross border mosaics is the most impressive one, you have really been able to perfect your technique in that area.

[ecoba]

Wow, here in Adara things sure do move fast!

I really think that going in and detailing the edges of each city tile is really something unique about Adara. So much work goes into the details!

Ethan

[emgmod]

Fantastic! I have been lurking for a while, and I finally decided to comment. I like how you marge buildings across tile borders, which I really need to learn.