Port St Claire (#36)

[RickD]

That's about it. I hope it wasn't too disappointing.

I nominate this for understatement of the month. 

Very nice ship, by the way. 

[sunv123]

I think you should put a few more houses near the "downtown"  of the town, because it looks kinda weird, a few taller buildings, then nothing? It still looks good though, keep that in mind. The forest and the farms are very nice too.

Wait. . . that guy again? He should take a break from fishing really. And his dog is harassing the dock workers!

Poor workers!

[art128]

Wonderful update once again Willy. Splendid pictures.

[vortext]

Missed a couple of great updates here! 

The maps are pretty neat, living in Noord-Brabant some of these names sound familiar indeed. Did you hand drew these maps? Or let me rephrase that, how did you went about creating these?

The historic update is great, a shame really we'll be entering the modern age soon. Though I'm curious to see the transformation, keep it up! 

[Swordmaster]

Replies

I guess i should comment first now, as i almost miss the last update.

I really like the strories you add to every image, can't help but wonder what will happend eventually to Arlington Island...

Hello again and thank you. Arlington will be part of the historic center of St Claire. In a previous version of the city I had a bunch of Parisian buildings there, but I'm thinking of some more fitting ways to develop it. One thing I'm certain of is that bridge will become a tram-in-road.

Great rural pics! The detail and harmony between elements is very nice. Truly some great work here!

Thank you! Very glad you're coming back here.

A very pleasant surprise to see historic era work here! Very much enjoyable with a nice, unique, and detailed feel. Of course my favorite part is the dog harassing the workers    Really great pictures, lotting, etc and I'm looking forward to seeing what else you'll do with your extra free time 

Thanks Noah. Yes, I wanted to take a stab at it anyway. Despite my reservations, because it takes up a lot of time. But the border is hard to draw between what is acceptable (some cars on the roads) vs. what is not (power lines). This border has shifted considerably since the first update. I'll have to keep that under control because I do want to move forward with some pace. And as you'll see in this update, there's a lot of ground to cover. . .

I nominate this for understatement of the month. 

Very nice ship, by the way. 

Thanks! Well, the ship will stay with us, in case you wondered. Museum piece some day.

I think you should put a few more houses near the "downtown"  of the town, because it looks kinda weird, a few taller buildings, then nothing? It still looks good though, keep that in mind. The forest and the farms are very nice too.

Poor workers!

Thanks for the input! You're right that it's a weird view, but it's a sign of St Claire's rapid growth. This is by no means any definitive kind of look, so stay tuned.

Wonderful update once again Willy. Splendid pictures.

Thanks, Arthur!

Missed a couple of great updates here! 

The maps are pretty neat, living in Noord-Brabant some of these names sound familiar indeed. Did you hand drew these maps? Or let me rephrase that, how did you went about creating these?

The historic update is great, a shame really we'll be entering the modern age soon. Though I'm curious to see the transformation, keep it up! 

Thanks! Don't worry about modernity too much. It's a long way, and should be gradual as well.

About the maps: it's a hand-drawn base with vector overlays, then sent through a couple of GIMP effects (old photo, photocopy) a number of times. If you want to know in detail, let me know.



0.8.  A closer look at the region. . .

This and the next few updates will show what the plan is. To keep everyone on board, there will be some pictures from St Claire as well.

Two updates ago, I introduced the state PSC is located in. New Brabant will continue to play a modest role in this MD because the transit networks should be logically set up to connect with specific places outside of the city.

This map shows a New Brabant overview from the present, with PSC's municipal borders highlighted in yellow. As you can see, it spans several counties. Click to enlarge.



There are twelve MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) in the state, of which the Antioch Valley MSA and the Dyle Sound MSA have over one million inhabitants. The largest, however, is the Port St Claire MSA. It extends beyond the borders of the city proper, but not much. It includes Winchester, Phillipville, Eton, Pendaloosa, Stockton, and Williamsport.

The City of Port St Claire is the result of two major consolidations (1883 and 1952). The abbreviation "PSC" is widely used by its inhabitants, especially those born after '52. The adjective "metropolitan" is officially used by City Hall to refer to the whole thing. The terms "urban" and "regional" have some limited usage as well.

The term "city" has varying usage, with people from the suburbs, although actually part of the city, referring to the downtown areas as "the city". The previously independent cities of St Claire and St Mary may also refer to themselves as "cities", although according to official language, they are "towns".

This map shows the entire city (within the stripe-dotted line), with the rivers as reference points. Click to enlarge.


The city's official surface area is 2,110.970 sq mi (5,467.394 km²). This may appear to be overly large for a municipality, but then, one quarter of that area is part of state or national parks. Moreover, PSC has some unique history on that part.

Two consolidations occurred in PSC's history: a "small" and "big" one.
- Prior to 1883, King James County was divided in incorporated cities and towns (municipalities), and unincorporated areas. (New Brabant counties don't have townships or similar subdivisions.)
- In 1883, all unincorporated areas were merged with the municipalities to form a number of cities (the "small" consolidation). These were in turn subdivided in towns. The two foremost cities that originated were Port City and the City of St Claire.
- In 1952, as a result of the exponential growth following WWII,  a second consolidation occurred in two rounds: Port City merged with the City of St Claire to form Port–St Claire (the hyphen was later dropped). In a second round, a limited number of city councils could vote whether to join the new city, or to remain independent. Circumstance, political manoeuvring, and blackmail, primarily concerning funds for the freeway projects that were slated, resulted in an all-out merger over a three-year period. The founding date of PSC, however, remains set on 1952. With this "big consolidation", the city obtained its near-square shape.

(To be continued.)



Back to the 18th century, some views from St Claire:

0.8.1.  Housing on Palgrave Street.


0.8.2.  Housing on Salisbury Road (St Claire's main street).


0.8.3.  A wedding party in McCormack Street.


0.8.4.  For he's a jolly good fellow. . .


0.8.5.  Housing on Gateshead Road, and some guy working on the school yard.


0.8.6.  Finally, a misty fall morning near County Hall. Click to enlarge.




That's all, folks! I hope you've become a bit more familiar with what's going on here. Please leave a comment with your suggestions, remarks, or whatever you like. We'll be returning soon.


Cheers
Willy

[jmyers2043]

Looks like you are making good use of props. These are nice pictures. I enjoyed looking at them.

- Jim

[MTT9]

Great maps, very professional. And loved the misty fall morning, although the County Hall looks a bit lonely...

[Swordmaster]

Replies

Looks like you are making good use of props. These are nice pictures. I enjoyed looking at them.

- Jim

Thanks, Jim! It always surprises me how much time it takes to create a single lot.

Great maps, very professional. And loved the misty fall morning, although the County Hall looks a bit lonely...

Thank you, Matt. I'm still working on R$$ lots and rowhouses. Expect the 19th century to start looking more urban.



0.9.  A closer look at the region. . . continued.

Something that might pique your interest, a map showing the design of the region. I'm using this as a guide to develop the city.

The names shown are those of the towns in PSC. "Towns" are the lowest administrative subdivision of PSC, organized in nine boroughs, which in turn form the City of Port St Claire. Some of these towns were independent prior to consolidation, some were organized later as suburbs/exurbs of the existing towns.

Of course, these are just names to you, but to me, I pretty much know how each of them should look and feel. St Claire, St Mary, and Frankfort form the core, and each have their particular CBD. There are the coastal communities by the ocean that are mostly tourism-based; high-wealth communities bordering the national park; inner cities with rowhouses just outside of the three CBDs; middle-class sprawl in the western portions; and so forth.

The yellow to orange colors are random; they simply show the town areas. Green is parkland that is not part of a town (there are many more small parks). Red are airports. Purple is the Port District. Grey is owned by the US Navy.
Click to enlarge!


This is what it's all about. . . King James Lake. Sorry for it being a little "naked", but I'm not planting trees in advance. There are 362 land tiles, so that would be a bit tiresome.




Today, I went and bought a new monitor (resolution 1920x1080). I wasn't sold on widescreen, but that's all you find nowadays. After half a day, though, I'm already hooked on it. Firing up my laptop (1280x800), I was even annoyed by the small screen

It's a hassle to get colors right, though. They weren't perfect on the previous monitor, either, which is no big deal for private use, but a little problematic regarding the railroad textures I'm working on.

The result is, of course, that I can post widescreen pictures. Or link to them, that is. Let me know what you think of it, and whether the colors are looking right.

0.9.1.  An overview of what eastern St Claire looks like in the early 1790s.
Click for HD version!


0.9.2.  St Claire didn't have a place of worship until presbyterian Guy Brooks funded the construction of one. On any Sunday morning, it fills up to the brink. Looks like mass is just done here. One of these posh coaches is surely the doctor's.
Click for HD version!


0.9.3.  In 1796, mayor Van Dyke's mansion was finished. It also doubled as City Hall, previously housed in County Hall. That's why you'll always see a bunch of folks walking (or riding) up the lawn to do some business.
Click for HD version!


0.9.4.  Trying my hand at a rain picture. I'll need to get that right, because there's a lot of that in the region.
Click for HD version!




That's it for today. If you enjoyed it, don't forget to leave a comment. If you didn't. . . leave one, too!

Cheers
Willy

[art128]

Beautiful two updates, Willy! The morning foggy picture of the county hall is wonderful.

[noahclem]

Great updates again    Nice to see more maps, this time with more detailed plans for PSC's future as well as more details on its place within the region. The area is quite large--is it planned to be mostly urban? And are you sure you set enough land aside for the port area    I guess it's called "Port" St. Claire for a reason! Nice work on the last scenes and the rain and fog effects are pleasant as well. I'll have to return after work when I have access to a monitor wider than 1024px. Speaking of which, congrats on your new purchase. My new laptop has a 1920x1080 screen and I just love it. Good luck with the colors 

[RickD]

So much planning. I am impressed. This is my favorite style of MD.

[io_bg]

What a fantastic start of your MD! The attention to detail is amazing! I'd eager to see more!

[rambuckel]

Amazing updates again! I really like your ideas!

[MTT9]

Just when i was about to ask for a region view!!! Maybe you can add some trees just to the near tiles, even with photoshop. It would add a lot.

As usual, pics have great details Willy. Hope to see some more towns appear nearby

[wallasey]

Can't believe how much I have missed! This just keeps getting better and better!

That is certainly a big region you have there, it will be interesting to see how it all develops over time. I like the setting in time.

The ship sailing up the sound was a great touch, furthermore keeping it in view shows consistency in the storyline which is always a plus. I like the changes in weather too!

[vortext]

Oh wow, those maps are just terrific! And your lotting skills are improving, too.

Out of curiousity, which region are you playing on? It has quite amazing waterways, though a little too flat for my taste. Guess with all this planning ahead there's no change we'll see some mountains arise unexpected?! 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to see it develop, especially Port Anderson, that's gonna be huge! 

[Swordmaster]

There are a just a handful of ways to provoke me into showing something unintended. Looks like our good friend Vortext hit the nail. . .



Shows that you just can't assume anything in PSC


Stay tuned folks.

Willy

[vortext]

There are a just a handful of ways to provoke me into showing something unintended. Looks like our good friend Vortext hit the nail. . .

Hehe, sorry 'bout that! 

Looks great though! And I'm assuming you're making the region from scratch then?!

[art128]

That some sexy mountains you got there, Willy!

Last update was wonderful! The overview is my favorite picture, nice autumn colors.

[Gugu3]

very nice!!!!!