Three Rivers Region

[jplumbley]

If anything, I think those bridges would be better suited as Underwater Tunnels.  Also, I dont think a bridge would be warrented to that small island in the south (Erasville), it would make much more sense for it to be connected by ferry.  To be honest I dont think a bridge would be required for this set of islands.

[Gaston]

Sorry but I must agree with the rest of the colaboration team here on this.   Deffinately a ferry system is more acurate for what we are trying to achieve.   

BTW - while we are sorta on the subject.
     Is there anything you have to do to get the ferry system to work better in a city?      My ferries never seem to make an impact.   My sims will travel way outta there way just to cross a bridge before they will use the ferry.      Anything I can do to encourage people to use the ferries?


---Gaston

[dedgren]

It's been a pretty rotten week.  The weather's headed south...

...in more ways than one...

work has been a real struggle to keep up and my trusty laptop died.

Yeah, that laptop- the Toshiba Satellite I've done 3RR from when I'm out and about.  I've updated from Fairbanks, Alaska, Midland, Texas and Helena, Montana, among others.  I've drawn maps and made signs at 36,000 feet/about 11,000 meters.  I've responded to many a PM from the office.  Speaking of the office, the old Toshiba has doubled as my traveling office for about two years.  It has worked flawlessly during that time, and has taken anything I've thrown at it and done great.  It's just worn out- the letters are gone or pretty much gone on about half the keys and the screen is in pretty tough shape from getting shut and crammed into an already full briefcase.

As I've noted in a new forum section we've started in order to give folks who are interested in computer graphics software and the things you can create using it a place of their own [linkie], I lost my beloved portable copy of Paint Shop Pro 8 with it, as I can no longer find the installation disk...

...I did, however, find the CorelDraw installation disk I bought in 1992-



I wonder, as I was using Windows 3.1 at the time, if it would even work now? 

...so, as well as dealing with a new laptop (an HP lugtop, actually- it should come equipped with wheels and an extendible handle), I need to introduce myself to the next generation of graphics software.  I think I bought PSP8 in 2001, and I've spent a bunch of the time since then learning it inside and out.  It's, accordingly, hard to let go.  More on this as we move ahead over the coming weeks.

I do note I didn't lose anything, 3RR-wise.  I pretty much religiously cross-level everything I do that's new every three or four days into three different locations.  When the laptop went, it just took one of them.  If you don't learn anything else here as a MDer, BACKUP YOUR WORK FREQUENTLY.  Like Joni said,

...you don't know what you got 'til it's gone.

* * *

Like I said, our weather isn't so great.  It's a lot like, in fact, the weather in 3RR.  Here's a pic from Boissevain taken two weeks ago.



And another from about the same place this morning.



Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

* * *

I said I put up a pic or two of Josh when I got back from Helena.

   

It was really great to be with him for a few days.  He's doing fairly well, all things considered.  It's hard to be apart from your child for any length of time, but he's always in our hearts and thoughts.

Missing him has certainly contributed to the down week, I'm sure.

* * *

Heh!  Erasville!



I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone decided to make some improvements on the things I'd put into my maps.  Thanks, sc4luv2, I'm really flattered.  You know, it's funny.  One of my major pastimes as an elementary and high school student was to draw maps of elaborate island groups on lined notebook paper, then create an entire highway system that covered them.  I wish I could find one somewhere- sc4luv's map of Erasville and environs brought all that back to me, and the thought made me smile a bit.  It's amazing to think about my doodling then in the context of my doodling now.

I think the public has spoken, though.  Traffic counts over those two long bridges, even if there was a developed port there, would probably mean a per trip cost in the astronomical range, and no DOT, faced with urgent funding needs elsewhere, would likely build what our friend has mapped.  I'd be concerned, too, that the freight generated by the port, having no other means of ground transportation out (the port at Falls City is served by the DW&W), would mean that R-9, which is a secondary road up the Iron Hook Cape, would be a truck nightmare.  A stub freeway off of F-28 from Des Plaines would likely have to be built, and there would be huge additional cost associated with that.

The new island popping up made me think of Surtsey [linkie].  What an amazing world we live in!

So, I think 3RR will stay the way we've laid it out to date in this instance.  That shouldn't stop anyone, any time, from making future suggestions along this line.  If nothing else, they're great to read and always provoke some thought.  Thanks again, sc4luv2, and I'd like to extend an invitation for you to join our collaboration team formally.  Send me a PM if you would be interested- I see from looking at your other posts here that you are a roadgeek type, unless I'm sorely mistaken.

So, that's it for now.  Much more to come over the weekend.


David

[meldolion]

well my friend,
I'm sorry for your poor toshiba demise (i'm writing now and developing my region on a Satellite too ....)

Hope everything else is well, and you child Josh in fine

Luca

[dragonshardz]

well, we could have Erasville be a resort town..maybe.

i'm sad to hear that you lost PSP8.

[sc4luv2]

Ok, here's a surprise,

3RR Money!!! (TRRM) dollars

So far, I got the bills made (from 1-100), it's also based off USD.


$1 -
$5 -
$10 - (dedicated for you, dedgren)
$20 -
$50 -
$75 - COMING SOON
$100 -

The map is updated.....


(more islands)

Coral (beta):


Info:
COMING SOON

Also, on the Pine Cone map, there, your request is done, but not using ferries. (To admit, I don't like ferry crossings.)

Thanks,
sc4luv2

[Jmouse]

How Sad! Losing a companionable computer is like having your favorite lounge chair collapse into a heap of polyester and toothpicks.
But you didn't lose very much of 3RR and that's the good news.
Anyway, whenever I have an SC4 setback, I often find the replacement work produces a better result. So who knows, maybe that's why bad things happen to good people sometimes!

Until next time...
Joan

[dragonshardz]

READ THIS!!!!     
sc4luv2, i don't think they want a bridge system like that. Underground tunnels, such as the Chunnel would be a more acceptable idea, but dedgren has stated that the highway system you propose would not only be costly but a traffic nightmare as well. Please respect dedgren's wishes in this area. Pine Cone is supposed to be rural, not an area of large cities. I ask you to please consider returning the area of Pine Cone to its original state as a non-archipelagic rural area. Erasville, with a few changes, could easily be a worthy addition, but NOT as a port. It's position would be better suited to a resort town or quaint fishing village. Your highway design would destroy the natural beauty of this area, which is the reason it has been made a rural area. Again, Erasville should be connected by a ferry to the mainland. Sc4luv2, I know you want to help and make 3RR go farther, BUT the majority of the people visiting here after your post with the first map have said, in many ways and as politely as is possible, that due to dedgren's wish for 3RR to be plausible as a real-world entity, your plans are NOT an option!

Please, respect dedgren when he says that he does NOT want a highway system like that!

<<<< How I feel when someone DOES NOT LISTEN!!!!

[dedgren]

GO. HERE. NOW. [LINKIE]

You'll see SC4 history being made.


David

[sc4luv2]

Ok, let me press the Pine Cone Reset Button here.

Now it's back to normal, see:



Thanks,
sc4luv2

[Yoman]

Maybe a dotted line representing the ferry to Avon Bay and its perfect

[sc4luv2]

Ok, i'll do it.



Thanks,
sc4luv2

[Andreas]

Hehe, the money bills are funny. But shouldn't the sims pay in simoleons (§) rather than in dollars ($)?

[Gaston]

Hehe, the money bills are funny. But shouldn't the sims pay in simoleons (§) rather than in dollars ($)?

I seem to remember a discussion reguarding money a few months ago.     I recall something about wanting to use images of "Natural resources" and animals.   Things like bears, moose (we discussed moose plural), mountain ranges, etc.     If I remember properly we even talked about what the bills would look like.   I am going outta town for the rest of the weekend or I would look back and see if I could find it.   

I do have a suggestion.    Perhaps anyone wanting to participate might want to go back to the very beginning of 3RR and read every entry.   I would even go as far as suggesting skimming over the very first stuff over at ST.     This would go a long way in helping anyone wanting to participate in the project to understand the passion we all have for this place.      I personally welcome every suggestion and read them all.    I love new ideas.   BUT, I also would like to have people know what happened before, because that dramatically influences our future.     
PLEASE, keep making suggestions.    New ideas inspire great things.     Afterall, look at all the great projects happening on this site alone. 

I hope I have not over stepped my bounds with this post, David.     



---Gaston

[dedgren]

I'm often really touched by the comments here when I fire up 3RR after being gone a few hours.  I'm often also reminded of how much I have invested in this project- not just time in front of the computer or spent on research, but emotional investment.  3RR and all you collaborators and readers have become a part of my life that I can't now imagine being without.  On the other hand, I'm recognizing based on the comments of the past couple of days that a strong component of my emotions is the desire to maintain control over my vision.  I'm going to have to come to terms with what collaboration really means- doing that may actually account for the infinite number of reasons I've come up with to delay its start; that delay now running into months.



I've quoted Mel Brooks [linkie] here before...



...It's good to be the king!

Well, yes... and no.

I had envisioned, way back when, my role in 3RR collaboration as a sort of benign deity.  I'd create something to start with that put everyone on the same sheet of music, then just stand back and only intervene enough to keep anyone from wandering way too far off track or to liven things up when the going got slow.  The issues raised by our friend sc4luv2's recent contributions weren't, uh... really foreseen.

...so much for any notion that I'm any sort of all-powerful deity, eh?

Al (Gaston) hit one thing (well, a number of things, actually) right on the head.

I do have a suggestion.    Perhaps anyone wanting to participate might want to go back to the very beginning of 3RR and read every entry.   I would even go as far as suggesting skimming over the very first stuff over at ST.     This would go a long way in helping anyone wanting to participate in the project to understand the passion we all have for this place.      I personally welcome every suggestion and read them all.    I love new ideas.   BUT, I also would like to have people know what happened before, because that dramatically influences our future.     
PLEASE, keep making suggestions.    New ideas inspire great things.     Afterall, look at all the great projects happening on this site alone.

I'd restate that by saying that anyone who wants to become seriously involved in collaboration has to be relatively familiar with the course of 3RR over time, and particularly here at SC4D.  All the backstory and quad specific info is on this site, but the stuff at 3RR-ST is helpful in terms of getting filled in on the things that I consider important- scale, realistic slope, a connection, but not a slavish one, to the real world.

The trouble is, that's so darn hard. It is.  I spend significant time when I'm writing posts anymore just looking for old stuff that I want to refer to.  I've compounded my own problems by not keeping up with the TOC, which has fallen 20 pages behind again.  I can't imagine what it's like for you folks, because I know what's here based on way more time creating it and looking at it and thinking about it than anyone else could possibly spend.

I've also let stuff get fragmented.  The Gazetteer was an effort to not have that happen, and it's worked pretty well, although I don't know how accessible folks find it.  The backstory is a mess- it's in about five different pieces in as many different places.  Something else that is not in view is my original vision and the rules for collaboration.  I have most of the 3RR Atlas ready to go, but integrating it and doing the detail work will take several days of concentrated effort.

So, here's what I'm going to do.  This weekend will be a maintenance and organization weekend.  I'll be doing a bunch of stuff behind the scenes to address at least some of the issues I've noted here.

I'll keep you posted.


David

n.b.:  I want to make sure that everyone understands that the one thing I don't want to see here on 3RR is anyone feeling like they're getting a hard time from anyone else.  I'm pretty good at saying "no, that's not quite what I had in mind"- although I appreciate the intention, nobody needs to take that task on for me.  Constructive criticism, on the other hand, is not just welcomed, but sorta expected.  If you think something can be better here, including especially anything I do, don't hesitate to speak up.  Just remember that you're addressing a friend in the company of other friends when you do that.  Thanks.  -DE

[BigSlark]

Well put, David. I hope that organization weekend goes as hoped (because we all know plans are just plans when it comes down to it) and that the magical beast that is 3RR keeps going strong. I can imagine that keeping up with it and us readers takes an incredible amount of time.

If you need any webspace let me know. I don't have a domain but I've got everything else.

I hope your Saturday is going well.

Cheers,
Kevin

[Gaston]

Well David, I'm back from Milwaukee.  (Susan had to do research in Maquette University's archives).      I spent two days sitting around waiting for her to finish.    This is when I wish I had a lap top.    Man I could have gotten some great play time in.

    Okay that being said, I want to appologize if I over stepped my bounds or if I made anyone feel they or thier ideas were not welcome.    I guess since I have been involved with this project basically since it's inception over at 3RRST, I get a bit defensive and protective of it.    If someone wants to make suggestions as to the direction of a part of the project, the more the merrier.     I'd like to think we all here are open to new ideas.     I hope I have not stepped on your's or anyone else's toes with any comment I have ever made.      I would feel really bad if that were the case.

    Glad to here you are getting to do some "housework".     If you need me for anything just let me know.


---Gaston

[Pat]

Al as your CML says you are a solid citizen and that is all that is needed to be said there........

[dedgren]

If you've looked at the 3RR section of the forums, you've probably noticed several new "child boards."  These don't work yet, but you can probably see the direction I'm heading...

While I'm working, I'm pleased to let everyone know that the lugtop (HP Pavilion dv9543cl, Intel T7300 (2 Ghz), Vista, 2Gb RAM) is in fact more powerful than the desktop where I've been doing the mapping, as I can save stuff the other computer runs out of memory on, and I can also cut and paste layers again.  Here's a bit of resulting eye candy.



That's an almost half meg .gif, in case anyone is having trouble viewing it.

Still workin'.

Later.


David

[Pat]

OMG David that is stunning wow