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The Eaton MD

Started by Sober, June 10, 2007, 11:00:39 PM

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Sober



Well, the region isn't much of an ... original one to do for an MD per se, but let's just work on the assumption I've only had SC4 for about a year, and I'd rather not tackle terraforming too much, nor am I exactly trying to outdo anyone else at it (And fail miserably). But that's not to say I can't have fun with this, which is the whole point. Oh, and those assumptions are truths. :) I've played SimCity since my friend got me to play SC2000, then I got hooked on it, then 3000 and then I finally decided to pick up SC4 about a year ago. So I have a bit of idea what I was getting into. But enough of this life story, I'll save it for another post before I bore everyone here.


Rather wordy intro, I might say
I started Eaton maybe a month or so back but only put a bit more time into it since all I have is a single course for summer (still 1st year at U of T). I've gone through a bit of the Maxis Berlin region, then a Toronto region I got off the STEX, but it was too small for me. Then I decided to grab a more popular map then see how far I'd get on it. Well, Eaton is a nice 20482 bitmap, and I was throughly pleased it's a 64 large city sized region. I've only gone through 4, and I can easily say I'm never going to be finished on those 4, or even be satisfied with just those four. Time to get ambitious.

Of course, anyone else can pick up the region map on the STEX, here. It's a pretty flat region with some hills to the south, with a set of rivers running into a larger body of water. I'm sure the creator made an MD/CJ on Eaton when he first made the map (I'm working with that assumption since he made some Lots for his region and CJ), and I've seen another CJ on ST on Eaton. But I'm going to put my own spin on it.

***I know nothing of this region, how it fits into any context of wherever it may be found in whatever other fictional canon, if it does or does not, and I have not read the creator's CJ (if it exists, or if it ever did at all), so I'm going to play it out as if it was something original. Even though it isn't. Just forget the line before this. Good.


In the beginning...
There was Eaton. It was assumed it was always there. Noone is quite sure when humans broke off from the limping demon monkeys and evolved, or if evolution was even real, that Eaton was actually only 26 minutes old when the first cities appeared as the crazy preachers downtown Eatonville say it was, but what is known is that the "region" of Eaton is ruled by the Mayor (such a humble title) Kelvin (that would be my real name, you can call me that if you wish), and promises he will always rule the region (he had used God Mode when he founded the city, so he may see his city rise to greatness, or disparity, whichever may come first). His original founding fathers (and mothers) of Eaton are long gone for the most part, replaced by advisors when they get to old or the Mayor decides they have outlived their usefulness and ... disposes of them, and replaces them with a new clone from his secret underground lab. But you didn't hear that from me. That explains why it always seems the same advisors keep bothering you with issues through the passage of time. You'd think he'd get some more competent advisors.


[size=0]This was Eaton, as it was before the first people arrived.[/size]


How this MD (and I) work...
It's mostly ad lib. Quite simply that, except for putting the pictures together and planning (for the most part) the cities, everything posted about the region or what a picture is 'saying', I will have something by the time before I hit the "Post" button. The unexpected. How exciting*. Also, the planning is not as on the spot, since I have a bit of a thing for realism in my cities (I keep telling myself that), alot of my inspiration is taken from where I live, and where I visit (and have visited), and I try to incorporate some of that into my cities. Or Google Earth. Or Street View on Google Maps. MD-wise, who knows? Only time will tell, but this is for fun (getting the creative juices going, and keeping them going), and I hope you read this (most particularily read, too many words to the next picture, huh?).

*Also, I am the mayor, but don't find it too strange if I refer to myself in the third person, or dive right into role-playing myself as the mayor. Especially if I switch back and forth a couple of times in the same sentence.


Alright, here we go
Welcome to Eatonville! The founding city in the region of Eaton, and I'm sure you've seen this thumbnail on your way in, but repeating is a good way to geting attention from others, so here we go again! Eatonville is the first and founding city of Eaton, and citizen here are particularily proud of living here, especially descendents of the founding families.

Hint: Click for a larger picture :)
This is Eatonville today, divided by the Eaton River (didn't see that coming, did ya?) into North and South Eatonville.




The first highrises in Eatonville, on the South side, some company (whose name will escape me until next time I post) put up five of them just along the side of the river.



The same location, but years later of development and growth. Though an expensive endevour, (and after a rather heated arguement with the contractor), only two were left because the mayor didn't feel these highrises were needed and were quite unsightly. This also caused some problems with North and South Eatonians, since the North Eatonians live in the area where Eatonville, and Eaton, was first founded, seeing this as an attack on their pride. Plus, they were confusing to some who lived near the region, especially to Eatonians visiting relatives since they sometimes forgot which building their relatives lived in, sometimes going through four of the massive highrises only to be in the wrong one each time.




The North side of the Eaton River. Mid- and high-rises dominate North Eaton, particularily high-rise condos going along the area where the North and South and joined by bridges.


This was an old park (file photo - lost) until it was renovated a couple of years ago to fit in with the wealth and growth in the area. Some of the original buildings still stand around the park while a high-rise towers above the park (and provides some shade late in the evening).



The old pier around since the founding of Eatonville. The city council has promised a huge renovation project here when Eaton's population hits half a million (Current population - just above 485 000).



Eaton today.

Some archived pictures of Eatonville in it's early days:

One of the first churches in Eatonville. And some deviant mischiefs caught TP'ing a tree
These kinds of shops are no longer found in Eatonville except in the darkest alleys.
Picture of the old suburbs in Eaton

That's all for now :)

Sober

Saving this post space for something special I have planned :)

Mulefisk

Great start!
I really like the shot of the park. The composition is excellent.

Looking forward to seeing more!

bat

That's a wonderful start, Sober!
Great pictures! :thumbsup:

Also looking forward to more! :)

kwakelaar

A very nice introduction, and yes I did read everything and I even quite enjoyed it.
Eaton seems like great city so far and I look forward to see what you will be doing with the rest of this map.

Sober

Well, I welcome you to Ennawye, which is another flourishing city south of Eatonville. No river partitions the city, so there is a large, uninterrupted city. Well, actually the city is built strangely, and that is once of the main attractions. See so for yourself:



There is a small community (quite religious - bonus points if you can spot the church in the bottom left and the religious school) that would rather not let their part of the city be replaced with high-rises; they don't mind they shade they offer, though. They essentially lie in the middle of the city, which is a weird place to place a small community, but noone complains. It's quite quaint, and they are pretty welcoming (except for those contractors who want high rises). So it's been left in peace.


The community park at a lower altitude. Usually a huge mob appears in the morning rush hour through the park for those who live south (of the picture) since that is really the only bus stop and bus route for those who don't live closer to the larger arterial roads.



Construction of the Mariott Hotel allowed for hundreds of jobs, and cages rooms for visiting tourists. Located in the business district, many surrounding businesses find how easy it is to get people over here to close business deals than to use video conferencing.


Some mosaics:

[size=0]Well, it's 4MB, 1600x2445 resolution ^^[/size]


[size=0]slightly smaller, but at night (800x1464)[/size]



Oh, and:


I wish I could explain this. Just stare in awe.


Next time:

The industrial district. Bring a gas mask. And an air freshener.

bat


Sober

Replies  (some very belated ::) ):
Mulefisk: thanks, I really like that part shot too. Maybe I should grab an evening/sunset shot and see how that goes later, if that building is still standing  :D

bat: thanks for the support (x2 in fact). Point anything out if you think it looks weird, especially when it comes to plopping, I'm especially nitpicky with it

kwakelaar: thanks for reading, and yes, I'm also excited to see what I'll do to this region over time





Well, time to celebrate Happy 500,000 plus to Eaton, as in, the population decided to soar past 500,000. As such, to fullfill promises and such, the old flimsy near-lifeless pier has been hit with the paddles (and God's circular terraforming tools, 'cause he sure likes them circles), then after a few thousand simoleons later, a couple of cusses and endless accidentally demolishing all that hard work to get it just right, I present:

Well, I haven't named it yet. We decided to name it after the first ship that pulled into dock, but calling it the Dusseldorf-Fromandschmitz Quay, kinda made us question if it was that great of an idea. (jeez, who names their boat that?) We have people working on a new name.

...

I have just been informed, that in a landslide vote of 12-3 from a bunch of random people surveyed on the street, we are keeping the name. Stupid public, what do they know? :P



Here is the new pier, still at the same location, at the end of Main St., but much of the land was replaced everywhere. So it took a bit of patience to terraform it correctly with the god mode tools, and the CDK lots are pretty picky, but it was fun nonetheless.



The main entrance into the pier. Parking is just a turn away. Not show in a greater zoom are the food courts, where they serve mainly fish 'n chips and anything guaranteed to give you scury. Arrrrr!


The giftshops are on this side, plus a wooden plaza for looks. The giftshop at the bottom centre always has Seinfeld reruns running from the minute they open. So, if you're here on vacation or just on your lunch break, there's Seinfeld at least.

That's all I have for now, I spent quite a deal of time trying to get that. Hopefully I'll get some industrial sector pics up, it'll have you sickly pale how I make those darn coal miners down in the dark all day.

Sober

[size=0]so no replies since the last and this...
Oh well, that's never stopped me. :)[/size]


Welcome to Carson's Paradise! Keep the children behind, not because we're heading to the casino later, but because unless you like to stunt your children's growth (if you don't chain smoke in the home already and feed them food laced with ear medicine), they shouldn't be coming along. We also don't supply gas masks, but don't worry if you didn't bring one, there are people to carry your unconscious body back to the hospital for inhaling the melange of smoke, chemicals and ... well, I never never knew what the third thing was, but it's just as lethal.


[size=0]It's a concrete jungle too, but the smokestacks are the trees now.[/size]

Carson's Paradise would be a misnomer for most people, especially the soot-covered workers who (almost) inhabit the coal mines and work the oil derricks, or just get occasionally less dirty in the manufacturing plants. After petitions to move all the smokestack and assembly line-based industries out of Eatonville and Ennawye, it eventually passed. The man leading the relocation of these industries was Carson O. Genic, the guy the neighbours complained about because he chain smokes 4 packs of cigarettes a day around children, but was as healthy as 2 oxen. He's the kind of guy who said he like the smell of burning coal in the morning. Well, anyways, I gave him the job to watch the development of the industrial sector here, and he called it paradise. He isn't the kind of guy you'd invite to weddings, but he's done a good job. Carson still runs most of the sector, particularily the coal mining district, while his son, Al R. Genic runs the oil fields.







Shots of the oil refinery and powerplants, this is where most of the oil in Eaton is brought to be used to power your homes. Everyone loves oil power, except those crazy dudes who bring their armies to you and tell you to hand it over... they're just crazy about it!







The coal mines in Carson's Paradise. The mines employ quite a lot of people and are also one of top providers of energy. Also shown is the new coal powerplant, and another one is currently under construction. That's alot of coal, eh?





Newly discovered oil fields and the new refinery


The water treament plant, since most water used here turns colours we'd rather not mention, it gets sent here, then back to your homes in that blue colour everyone likes, not those icky-sticky brownesque colours. Oh, and the floating stuff gets removed too if you're worried.


Pictures too big for you(r browser) to handle, but here we go with thumbnails:



The entire water treament complex, some of the water also gets shipped to countries who lack fresh (and bottled) water


The new docks


The garbage docks, because someone is willing to buy our garbage, those wackos... :)





and back in Eatonville...

More development!


The business district on Main St., at night. Click for an expanded view


More offices


Condos, because that's where most people live in a large city now. Gone are most of those small single family houses.



The same park shot in my first post, but during dawn.

dedgren

...and this is very cool.

Sober, my man, you are way too self-effacing.  This is nifty work here, and shows a great deal of promise.  I got caugth up in other stuff and didn't manage to comment closer to the get-go, but you've gained a place on my "lurk" list, and I won't go so long without commenting down the road.

Nice oil patch, btw.  Hope your wells aren't dry holes.

Good luck!


David
D. Edgren

Please call me David...

Three Rivers Region- A collaborative development of the SC4 community
The 3RR Quick Finder [linkie]


I aten't dead.  —  R.I.P. Granny Weatherwax

Skype: davidredgren

BigSlark

I love your development-it simply looks right. I have a question, though. In the second picture, what is the building on the far left? I don't think I've seen it before.

Looking forward to more,
Cheers,
Kevin

Pat


WoW Sober this is awsome MD you got here i will be following with intrest here - pat

Don't forget the SC4D Podcast is back and live on Saturdays @ 12 noon CST!! -- The Podcast soon to Return Here Linkie

sebes

Man, those pictures are awesome. I love your oil-industries! I have tried to make them myself once, but where not nearly as beautifull as yours. And refineries are amongst my favourites.....
Check my MD:               
Rhenen,NN

Sober

dedgren: Well thanks, I appreciate the lurking. God knows I lurk around in 3RR once in a while as well ;)

BigSlark: If it's one of the oil refinery buildings, the white/silvery one is the refinery from tag_one on the STEX. Also, you should grab some of the refinery props, they sometimes make good fillers and they provide jobs. The black one is just the Maxis Oil power plant. If that's not it, sorry, growables' names just escape my mind (like many other things). If you want, just point to where it is some other time, and I'll get back to you on it if it hasn't grown over.

patfirefghtr: thanks for visiting, appreciate it

sebes: thanks! and I might try a trick (short of touching the mod tools) to see if I can keep the dirt roads with the oil fields the next time I get back (also message to self)


Also, I'm short on updates, but development is going good, just nothing I found noteworthy of displaying. So in that case, I'll just have to be somewhat cryptic about what I might be planning on doing soon:


[size=0]Explosions = cool. Skylines = cool. Exploding skylines = cool as long as it ain't mine.[/size]




[size=0]Whatever got that statue has a heckuva right hook if you ask me. Lucky it wasn't mine.[/size]

Pat


Sober that aint right soooooo not right to leave it open ended... I cant wait to see what type of
incident is planned  &apls - pat

Don't forget the SC4D Podcast is back and live on Saturdays @ 12 noon CST!! -- The Podcast soon to Return Here Linkie

bat

Wonderful pictures, sober! Great work! nice industrial area! :thumbsup:

threeswept

Hey, Sober...for someone who has played the previous incarnations of SC and most recently SC4, you've made an impressive collection of cities here!

kwakelaar

Those are some impressive industrial estates, also love the nigh pictures from the refineries.
Great work on the mosaics, very colourful.

FissileBread

Wow, really nice city I especially like your mosaics.

haha Those shots are from that trailer before Transformers. I remember being there and I was like we're DEFINITELY going to see that!

Keep up the good work.

Sober

Replies:
patfirefghtrI can get pretty evil if I feel like it. Hoping to spend more time on this disaster after I'm done with classes. Or just not study so hard for my exam  :D

bat: thanks alot, I also like how my industrial sector came out (and is still)

threeswept: Well, SC4's really just the first real time I cared about aesthetics than 2000 and 3K/3KU, but it was still good practice. :)

kwakelaar: buildings at night never cease to amaze me, I really appreciate BATers who nightlight their buildings. In fact, I really need to start playing with the game at night more.

FissileBread: sometimes I like to go overboard with mosaics, that's why I ended up with a 4MB large one I had to host somewhere, heh. Hopefully the JJ Abrams move isn't a LOST spinoff, but sounds like it won't be. Almost fooled me for being part of the Transformers movie for a minute too.


Well, here's what I kinda have in mind in doing, so the monster/exploding/uppercutted Statue-of-Liberty stuff may take a lesser priority because I want to try to get some urban sprawl going, so I've set up a single farming/small town community (for now), get them up and running. Feels homey until I put highways through farmland and replace more with subdivisions! I live in the suburbs, and though it's kind of grid-ish, there are still places where you drive by and that small-farmtown look is still there. The farmland is still there but I'm pretty sure it's no longer being tended to.

But enough of that, I can increase my word count with pictures. Right? 1000 words? Why did I waste all that time writing essays when I could've just used pictures to equate the word count? $%Grinno$%


[size=0]An overview shot of the community of Farmer's Dozen. Take in the sights, cause one day it won't be there, and there's going to be a midtown.[/size]


[size=0]Down the main street, the small 3616 population enjoy most of their time watching movies and hanging out around the neighbouring fast food
restaurants. Oh, and there are a few book stores.[/size]



[size=0]These farms may possibly be in the way of the planned expansion. When? Only I can say. Replaced with what? Well, I have a long list, so I'll roll
2d10 and pick that number. :)



Bad irrigation design, it kind of catches more runoff than irrigating. So don't drink the water. Really, why else does it look relatively brighter than
regular water, like in the Eaton River? Really, don't drink the water.



The small town that grows south of the Eaton River. Not too shabby. South Main Street (not not Main Street South, that doesn't exist) runs through it.[/size]


Back in Ennawye:

[size=0]The Cobb Real Estates Misc. Co. has started putting up high-rises. Some say it's where the rich of the rich live because they don't like their
mansions. Some say working in the bureaucracy grants you a free unit. Some say that it provides good shade in the parks it towers over in the
afternoon. Some say the walls are too thin for my liking if you catch my drift. But you didn't hear it from me. ;)[/size]


[size=0]I'm a parks man myself. I have more fun making parks than watching cities grow. This is a neighbourhood park in one of the few low-density
communities that dot Ennawye. Some say it's bad city planning, others say it's style.[/size]





That's all I have for this [period of regular updating].

-Kelvin