Adara - Update 184 - March 26, 2012

[RickD]

Your work was awesome before but the revisions make it even more perfect. Especially at Jackson Pass. It looks so much better with the wide radius curves.

Your composite images are stunning as always. 

[Tomas Neto]

Fantastic, really awesome!!! Great work my friend!!!   

[Battlecat]

cubby420: Well you won't have to wait long!  Here are the composites!

Cyclone1001: I have to say I feel that Greenwood is my best work to date.  Glad you like it!

Jordan (canyonjumper): Thanks!  I'm really happy with the new and improved regional composites.  The zoom 2 image is huge though! 

Geoff (calibanX): Sadly, today is the last day for rapid fire updates.  I'm hoping to put together more consistent regular updates in the coming weeks though.

RickD: Thanks very much!  I've been looking forward to those wide radius curves for a long time now.  It was nice to implement them on my older tiles.  It also means I'm more likely to use the RHW2 for regional highways now!

Tomas Neto: Thanks very much for your kind words! 

Update 136
Adara Rapid Fire Revisions – Wrap Up

Well, like many good things, this week is coming to a close.  And so today marks the final day of daily updates.  But fear not, I fully expect to be moving onwards with the next tile of Adara starting next week.  But for today let's have a look at the payoff for all the work this week.  Only three images, but what I lack in quantity today, I make up for in sheer mass! 

136-1: Without any further ado, here is the revised Zoom 1 composite.  Greenwood is pretty easy to spot since it has that nice line of wind farms.  It's in the upper left corner, directly north of Alexandria.  The top of the image is North East.  This image is 2 megabytes in size. 


136-2: Here's the really monster in the room.  The zoom 2 composite is linked below at a massive 12 megabytes in size and just short of 10,000 x 10,000 pixels!  On this image, Greenwood is in the lower right corner.  The top of the image is South West.  By the way, you might want to use this download link instead of clicking the image.  Some browsers and computer might get twitchy trying to load the image directly.  You can also right click the image and save the target for the same result. 


136-3: I promised at least one surprise for today.  I was hoping for two, but time hasn't allowed for it today.  This is a preview of where we're heading over the next several tiles.  To give you a bit of context, the two fully visible tiles at the bottom of this image are Delmar Junction (Left) and Alexandria (right).  Some of the terraforming here is done, some of it is incomplete.  But it's coming along next. 


My goal over the next several tiles is to fix a problem with the large regional composites.  They are getting quite large and unwieldy with large gaps in the developed region.  My first goal is to fill in the region so there is one tile that does not have any undeveloped tiles next to it.  Vavenby is the target of this goal since there are only three undeveloped tiles adjacent to it.  Plus, they're tiles I'm interested in working on right now. 

I even have tentative names for the next two tiles.  Dunster Bend and Lehman Valley are my next two stops.  Both of them are visible on the third image posted today.  Next week we'll get started on Dunster Bend.  I've got some fun plans for this tile!   See you later!

[Gringamuyloca]

75 pages of  awesomeness! The region overviews are so absolutely fantastic!   

I remember reading your first Adara post and wanting more...

...the way you have showed us what can be done... and sharing how you do it has kept me hooked!

Next week we'll get started on Dunster Bend.  I've got some fun plans for this tile!

yay!  Looking forward to what you come up with next!   

[metarvo]

It looks like there are lots of diagonal farms in the composite, and those smooth curves help to break the grid even more.  Keep up the good work, Battlecat!  Rapid-fire has been quite enjoyable, but a new tile will be just as good.

[noahclem]

I really like the look of your composites! The diagonals and curves present everywhere give the region a very organic feel. I would be thrilled if I could create rural areas anything like that 

[Girafe]

Impressive Region shot what a job made on this area 

if I had something to tell, I will change the square shape of the fields

Note: the tiny lake is splendid 

[TrebuTa]

Very impressive as usual! Lovin' it!

[Gayowulf]

Spectacular!  I especially love the detailing on the shore along the game water river in the composites.  It also really shows off the contrast between the farms on the valley floor and the forested hills.  It all looks very smooth and natural.

Very well done, Battlecat!

[canyonjumper]

A stunning conclusion to the rapid-firing! That zoom 3 composite made my browser crash I love how all the details make it all seamless, and I can rarely tell where a border is. Your attention to detail is excellent as always and I look forward to Dunster Bend next week!

                Your friend,
                               Jordan

[io_bg]

This is probably the most awesome region view I've ever seen! And I'm secretly hoping for some more urban development

[art128]

WAOW ! That's all I have to say ! 

[bat]

Congrats for 75 pages and almost 1500 replies...

And the region looks great! Also beautiful work on terraforming...

[Battlecat]

Gringamuyloca: Thanks very much!  Glad you've been enjoying your visits!

metarvo: 75 pages, wow it's hard to believe.  I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the number of updates I've posted!  There are a few diagonal farms in there and they do seem to have an interesting effect on the look of the composites!  Glad you like the results!

noahclem: Thanks!  I love working with the wide radius curves! 

Girafe: Thanks very much!  While I like keeping my farms very organic, as we move down onto the valley bottom there are going to be areas where square and rectangular farms will make sense.  But I do prefer to avoid it if possible! 

TrebuTa: Thanks for stopping in!

Alafel: Glad you like it!  I really wanted to give my game water shorelines the same quality of treatment that the plopable water gets.   Glad to hear it turned out so nicely! 

Jordan (canyonjumper): That image is a pretty big monster.  Even my photo editor is having trouble with it.  I've been pondering an alternate solution for displaying that image but I haven't come up with anything yet.  There are only a couple spots where I can reliably find the border in these new composites.  And I'm the one that put them together!  Thanks for your kind words, glad you enjoyed the update despite the difficulties!

io_bg: Thanks!  It was a lot of work (16 images stitched together per map tile) but the results were well worth it!  I'd love to get some more urban development underway sometime in here but I don't see anything extensive in the near future!  Suburban development is coming up in Dunster Bend though.

Arthur (art128): Thanks very much for your enthusiastic response!

bat: That number is still making my brain break a bit.  Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed the latest update!

Update 137
Dunster Bend – Welcome to Tile 8

Welcome to Dunster Bend, the 8th tile up for development in Adara!  This tile is located directly south of Alexandria.  I'm taking a different approach in taking the pictures for this tile, one that I hope will have an interesting pay off when I do the wrap up!  So let's get started on this and I'll explain my plans.

137-1: Here is Dunster Bend in its complete and untouched form.  I'll be applying a few in game terrain modification tools to this shortly but it's always good to start with the raw look.  Oh hey look, it's a zoom 1 tile composite.  The border with Alexandria is at the top of the image!  From the terrain on the tile, you'll probably be able to figure out where it is on the terraformer screenshot from update 136.  Go ahead a click to see a full sized version. 


137-2: Alexandria is only contributing two transport networks across the border to Dunster Bend.  We have a railway line and a RHW4 to run through the area. 


137-3: I've concluded it's best to start with the railway network.  It has so many more limitations than any other network.  In the case of this tile, the railway just runs through without any stops.  It winds along the edge of the mountains as you can see in this image. 


137-4: Here's an overview of the rest of the railway through the tile.  I used a lot of fractional angle pieces; I feel I'm getting quite proficient at placing them!  Of course, by normal standards, this railway is a bit, umm drunk what with winding along the edge of a flat plain like that!  As I said, I've got plans here!


137-5: And the plot thickens with the RHW running along a berm that cuts of the route between the flat plain and the main river. 


137-6: I was having a rough time making this section of highway look right until I realized the existence Fraction Angle RHW pieces that were added in the latest release!  They allowed me to make a fairly organic looking transition from one tile between the highways to fully adjacent. 


137-7: This is the north interchange for the town of Dunster Bend.  Dunster Bend is going to be a mixture of recreational community and small suburb to a much larger city that exists somewhere in the distance! 


137-8: A large section of fraction RHW leads to the south interchange of Dunster Bend. 


137-9: At last the secret of the plain has been revealed.  Dunster Bend is built along a small semi-artificial lake.  This area was a swampy marsh when the area was first settled.  It was a former branch of the main river that was abandoned by the main river.  It's effectively similar to an oxbow lake (link for those interested).  When the area was settled, it might have been mined for peat and then flooded for recreational use.  What you see here is just a quick scribble to rough out the area budgeted for the lake.  There will be some more stuff downstream at the south edge of the tile. 


137-10: Of course, accessing the farms over near Alexandria will also be vital.  There aren't any farm roads that extend across the border from Alexandria, so obviously access has to be from here.  In this particular case the roads on the east and west sides of the highway probably connected as an intersection where the highway is now.  The interchange provides bypass connections to both roads. 


137-11: The winding road paralleling the lake is the former main highway through this area.  The RHW4 is the new highway and it bypasses the town of Dunster Bend, making it a rather pleasant and quiet community now. 


137-12: And finally we'll wrap up the day in the same way we started.  Since I've reduced assembling the zoom 1 composites to a 5 minute job, I intend to post a composite after every one or two updates on this tile.  The exact rate will depend on how often I make dramatic enough changes to the look of the tile. 

A few unlisted changes have been made since the first composite.  I've done some polish on the tile terrain, getting rid of some of the rocky textures.  Another interesting thing to note on this composite is the powerlines that were built way back in Vavenby.   They cross through a relatively low pass and drop down into the edge of Dunster Bend.  I think I'm going to be rerouting their path though.  As always, you can click the image to see a larger version!


I'm really hopeful that showing the large composites every few updates will help provide context for the development of this tile.  Looking forward to hearing what you all think!  That's a wrap for today!

[turtle]

Nice work on that rough transportation layout. Interesting terrain and what a great idea with the lake, it looks like it will be a very scenic area. You got me with that winding rail-line. Though it looks cool, I'm not sure it's that realistic. It looks like it takes a few unnecessary turns and bends. Maybe you could straighten it a bit more out in some places. Either way, I look forward to see where you'll take us from here

[cubby420]

Thorough start to a new tile.  Looking forward to seeing where you go from here. 

[canyonjumper]

Great start! I look forward to seeing how the town will be laid out. Any inspiration for the idea?

                Your friend,
                               Jordan

[Jayster]

Very nice last few updates! I love the region view, making a realistic region is something that I dream off a lot. 

Looking forward to what is in store in the next few updates!

Jayster

[noahclem]

I like the winding rail route a lot    I thought it made sense just to keep the rail out of the way of prime development in the flatter area but avoiding wetlands (later reservoir/lake) is an even better excuse for a pleasant, winding route. Have you considered FAR-MIS for your interchanges? I think they'd fit the grid-breaking, organic feel your transit networks tend to have 

Look forward to more!

[bat]

Nice start on this part of your region!
And great work on the RHW...