St Andrews - 10th October 2011 - Small Heath still lives!

[scott1964]

Looks good.  Where did you get your fish harbor?

[rooker1]

 Awesome update.
I really like the first pic with the old style industrial lot and the bridge.
I do have one suggestion for you.  If you know how to use LE, open it up and remove the break wall from the fishing lot, replace it ingame and make your own break wall with plopable rocks that you have already used in that area.  The end result will look awesome and than the fishing port would fit in perfectly.

I look forward to your next update!!
Robin 

[bat]

Great pictures of that town!
And the harbour is really nice!
Fantastic updates there.
I'm looking forward to more..

[Reikhardt]

Replies:

wallasey: You're not wrong! Despite the football team I support being in the real Small Heath, I still acknowledge it is far from picturesque 

Tomas Neto: Why thank you sir!

Noah: Thanks! The rock mod is one from one of these to packs Rock Mod Set 2 or Rock Mod Set 3!

Kergelen: Thank you!

Matthijs: Thank you! The furnace you refer to is the Old Lime Kilns which is very good for putting a bit of industry into a rural town!

scott1964: Cheers! The Somy Fishing Harbour is over on Somy's Japanese site. You can download without translating or registering. And many thanks for being the 100 post on my MD. I never thought I'd hit that landmark so quickly 

Robin: Many thanks! You have hit upon my biggest problem! I tried to put the harbour deeper into the coastline to try to partially hide the ugly breakwall as I cannot use the LE! I have read the guide to it, but I simply haven't had enough time to try it! Learning the LE is on my list of 'to do' items for SC4...

bat: Many thanks! Glad you enjoyed the update!

[Reikhardt]

Today we'll have a look at local farms:

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Here's a few shots of some the housing in Small Heath:

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And to finish off, a look the local school:

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As ever, thanks for your views and comments! Hittings 100 comments so quickly has been a fantastic motivation to keep up the work on St Andrews!

Next up: Something a little different to round of the OSITM month!

[Tomas Neto]

Awesome farms and fantastic rural town!!! Amazing update my friend!!! 





Edit: Welcome to the Best Sellers !!!

[bat]

The farms are really beautiful, also great pictures of the other areas.

[RickD]

Love the rural town. Great work.

[kwakelaar]

This is a great update, looks like a realistic small rural community.

[Reikhardt]

Replies:

Tomas Neto: Thanks! And cheers for my first welcome to the Bestsellers! 

bat: Thanks Bat!

RickD: Cheers!

kwakelaar: Thanks for the kind words!

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And so we come to the end of the month and the end of St Andrews as an OSITM. To finish off the month I thought I'd do something a little different.
My good friend, Sticks Calhoun, writes a (mostly) daily webcomic and a few months back he ran an extended story, which he kindly gave me permission to re-interpret in SC4.

Sticks & The Stump

I was hiking on a mountainside when I came across a splintered stump seeping sap





"Help!" It gurgled. "I'm dying, but with your aid I can still live to see one final spring."
"What can I do?" I inquired.
"Pull the axe from me. A dead oak lies ten paces to the west. Fell it. Though it no longer grow, it still draws water from my roots."

I took the axe and approached the rotting tree.



But even though it was hollow with rot, still it cried whilst being struck.
I wasn't going to swing again, but it was too late.
The already crumbling trunk shattered and fell to the forest floor.



I solemnly returned to the seeping stump and told what happened.



"I swear I thought he was dead!" the stump beseeched. "I would never call for the felling of another tree, unless to aid the forest."
"How could a tree hurt the forest?" I asked.
"Look at the tree to the east."



"See it's height? See how it's shadow covers the ground, impeding growth?" It gurgled.
Indeed I did. Shrubs scraped for what little light escaped the tree.

Once more my axe swung.
Once more a tree screamed.
Once more a tree fell.



Then I heard the cheering.
The shrubs were not shrubs at all.
They were Kudzu vines, now left to grow unfettered.



I buried the axe into the cracked stump.



"You lied!" I cried. "That tree was keeping an invasive plant at bay."
"I have no eyes, I cannot see!" The stump gurgled through it's sap.
"I could only sense desperate life trying to grow.I could not know it was Kudzu. "
"But still now you see how all life in the forest depends on death."
"Knowing that will you aid me a final time?"

"I will fell no more trees." I replied.

"I would not ask you too." The seeping stump answered. "I sense a heavy rain will come in two days."
"Will you dig a trench to keep the rains from eroding my soil and washing me away?"

I dug into the night.



I was home when the rains came.



I was home when the slope slipped.



I was home when my village was buried.



I was alone when I dug myself out.

I trudged back up the mountain.
As I climbed, I could see the rent where the earth had slipped away.
I knew it well. I had spent the day digging there.

For a week I plotted while the stump's mad laughter rolled down the mountainside.
How do you punish a shatttered stump? It's dying on it's own.
Killing it would only ends it's misery sooner. That was the simple truth.

And then I knew how to make it suffer for the rest of it's twisted days.

It was early morning when I returned, but the stump was already awake and gibbering.



"Here to help?" It gurgled. "There is this pesky human who-"
"Enough!" I cried. "I will hear no more of your tricky talk."
"Oh? Then leave." it croaked.

"I will. I'll leave you alone on your mountainside."
"In your remaining time, as the rot that riddles you takes over, regard this sign and it's words that will serve as your epitaph."

The End

As you can see, all the build up leads to a bad pun 
I hope everyone enjoyed this little departure from the normal updates. For those interested can I ask you to take a look at the original story at Sketchy at Best and take a look at Sticks Calhoun's other pages. (Warning he likes his puns!) If you do take a look, leave a comment and say that you came from here!

Many thanks to Calhoun for his Epic and everyone who views and comments here!

Next up: A scenic waterfall near Small Heath.

[RickD]

I liked the story and the pics but I did not get the joke. Probably my english isn't good enough. 

[rooker1]

  Too funny my friend! 
It's been a very enjoyable month with you in OSITM. 
Great work all around, thanks.

Robin 

[bat]

Nice story with great pictures there!

Looking forward to the waterfall...

[canyonjumper]

lol, that got me laughing It was a great month in OSITM for you!

                Your friend,
                               Jordan

[Tomas Neto]

Very nice, story and pictures fantastic!!! 

[Reikhardt]

Replies:

RickD: Thanks! The joke is that 'Crack of sap' is a pun on 'Sack of Cr*p' (Sorry Mods    ) The author of story is from the US, which probably explains a lot 

Robin: Thank you sir! It's been quite an honour to be given an OSITM and I hope I've entertained for the last month! Thanks to you and the rest of the admin team!

bat: Thanks Bat, I hope I don't disappoint!

Jordan: Many thanks, I only wish I could take credit for the story, but I had to give credit where due

Tomas Neto: Cheers! Glad you enjoyed!

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Just a replies update out of politeness but here are a few rough, early work in progress shots of the next update:

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Many thanks for all comments and views!

[kelis]

Great diary, I like the rural ambient, Great job my friend 

[bat]

Nice start on this river! Looking forward to the finished version...

[noahclem]

Great job with your OSITM!    I look forward to seeing what comes of your new work shown here--it reminds me that I wish I could borrow your waterfall-making skills    It's always a pleasure to visit St Andrews

[Reikhardt]

Replies:

kelis: Many thanks, glad you liked it!

bat: Thanks Bat, hope the end result meets your expectations....

Noah: Thanks Noah, I like making falls, but it does take an age sometimes.




And so to Bordesley Falls. This is probably my favourite set of pictures I've made in SC4, hope everyone enjoys viewing them as much as I enjoyed making them!

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Thanks for all views and comments, the great feedback on this site makes the work worthwhile!
Next update may take a couple of weeks as I want to take some time make some alterations to my terrain plugins and I want to experiment with DAMNifying my menus before I wear out my mouse wheel!

Next Up: The riverside town of Salwarp