The Greater Terran Region

[Haljackey]

Replies:

deathtopumpkins:  Ya, sorry about the glitches.  I am going to fix those!

mrtnrln:  "You haven't seen nothin yet!"  Double negative I know, but just wait to see what I have in store for you here!

bat:  Hey, thanks a lot!  Thanks for your continued support!



News Update!

The Greater Terran Region has just hit TWO Milestones! 

1.  A review of The Greater Terran Region has been posted.  Only those deserving enough have the privilege to be reviewed.  patriots_1228, who is new to The GTR, provided an honest, unbiased review of the region over at Simtropolis.  Here is a link to the review if you want to check it out.

2.  The Greater Terran Region has become one of the most viewed City Journals on Simtropolis.  Click here for a list of the most popular City Journals on Simtropolis.  As a Mayor's Diary, The GTR is the most viewed MD in the "Recently Published" area, and hopefully, will soon make it into the next category, "Best Sellers" if 100 replies are achieved.

I also believe that The Greater Terran Region got into this week's top 5 Mayor's Diaries, by growth, according to The SC4 Devotion Mayor's Diary Statistics.



Now, a region update!  I have been able to clean up the region a lot, making the terrain and water actually use the same texture throughout the entire region!  I also have some transportation plans for the region.  Have a look:

The Region photos are extremely large.  Please click on the thumbnails to view them in their natural resolution.
-The thumbnails are directly linked to the images, so you should see no advertisements or popups!   

Region view:


Transportation view:


Long-Term Highway proposals.  Please note that these are just proposals and have not been finalized.  Light blue represents possible routes, where the lime green shows some RHW networks that are hard to see in this view.


Current Region Stats:

Residential Population:  15,352,336
Commercial Population:  11,226,541
Industrial Population:  125,628

Compare this to the region view in the first post to see a drastic difference.



Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this update!  More development is to come!

Best,
-Haljackey

[deathtopumpkins]

What are the black lines running horizontally across the region? [Those are the glitches...]
Congratulations!

That is quite an extensive proposed highway network! I would make most of the future ones RHW though. Especially with all of the new features supposedly in v21.

[Patricius Maximus]

I would as well.

[MandelSoft]

Well, that's massive²!!! And congratulations reaching these milestones, Hal!

[bat]

Nice region overview pictures there, Hal! Great work on that region! Also great cities!

[bohort]

It's very dense 
But it is very beautiful !
Good 

[Sciurus]

Very good city, welldone!

[Haljackey]

Replies:

deathtopumpkins:  Those lines (glitches) are caused because I run SC4 at such a high resolution.  When SC4 came out, it was not high-def or widescreen-compatible.  However, with a few overrides, I have been able to get SC4 to perform like a brand new game with minimal consequences (The black lines in region view and a few texture glitches).  Running SC4 like this also enables me to produce high-resolution pictures with ease (1920x1200), and thats why all photos here are linked to their full, original resolutions.
-Yes many or the planned highway systems will include the RHW, as I begin to address the huge, open areas of The Greater Terran Region.

Patricius Maximus:  Thanks for your reply here!  (PM is a GTR regular at Simtropolis.)  I plan to incorporate many more RHW networks to The Greater Terran Region.

mrtnrln:  Thanks a ton!  Yes it is a massive region!

bat:  Hey, thanks a lot!  Glad you like my region/cities!

bohort:  Yes, the urban areas are dense, but beautiful too!  Thanks for the comment! 

sciurus54:  Thank you very much!



Update Time!

Its time to show some developments happening in the city of Escape.  As I begin to expand and redesign the city, I must first look at the current state of the city closely.

Also, the region's council has given the green light start construction of many of the proposed highways as soon as possible! 


Pictures
Click the images for full resolution! (1920x1200.) See my picture information section on the first update of this page for more info.

A central look at the new CBD.  If look closely, you can see a raised road bypass the entire area.  (Cilcking for full resolution may help.  Its next to the bullet train line).


The city has begun to reconstruct a busy road in the outskerts of town to prepare for this area's development:


A closer look at the current terminus of the new road.  Widening will continue to push northward.


Looking at a major urban junction and rail station.


Stadium complex.  To the south is a busy older RHW and overpass.


However, before that overpass was built, an intersection existed.  It was The Greater Terran Region's busiest, and was a traffic nightmare.  This old photo shows the worst pileup in the region's history which led to the overpass' construction:
(Sorry, this image is not in any higher resolution!   )


A large, multi-highway complex on the east side of the basin connects to the Mar Sara Bridge directly left of this photo:


Looking east from the last photo, we see this huge network compress itself into a 12 lane superhighway with a collector-express system.


The collector/express system terminates at this highway interchange.  The remaining highway heads east out of The Greater Terran Region.


In the northwest district, a new microwave power plant helps quench some of the region's huge power thirst.




Well, I can't believe that's 10 images already!  I hope you enjoyed this update!

Of course, more is to come...

This MD is getting close to 3,000 views and 100 replies, and may head into the "Bestsellers" MD section soon.  As a City Journal at Simtropolis, The Greater Terran Region has surpassed 800 replies and is about to hit 15,000 views.  Thanks everyone for your continued support!

Best,
-Haljackey

[deathtopumpkins]

Oh. It's the resolution.
Good. RHW always works best (I've found) when planned before an area develops.

Pretty neat raised road, and nice stadium!
That's a tremendous pileup!

Nice sepia shot, and that superhighway IS massive.

[bat]

Nice new set of pictures there! And the picture of the big car accident looks very nice, too!

Looking forward to more...

5 more to 100 replies.

[Patricius Maximus]

It looks very nice. I like the microwave plant and collector/express system especially.

Reply #96...

[Haljackey]

Replies:

deathtopumpkins:  Ya, sorry, its the resolution.  You will see some of the new RHWs in this update!
-Glad you liked a bunch of pictures from the update!

bat:  Thanks, glad you liked them!  Yes, that accident was absolutely massive.  That's why I built that overpass. 

Patricius Maximus:  Thanks a lot!  Glad you enjoyed the update!



Update Time!

I pose to you a question. Where should I build a huge airport for The Greater Terran Region?   

The time has come to build such a facility as the entire region is growing from all directions.  The three major airports in the region are very cramped and overcrowded. 
-Although expansion projects for the current airports are proposed, they will only provide short-term relief.  A huge new airport is needed to ensure that The Greater Terran Region remains prosperous in the long term.

There have been three proposed sites for this airport thus far.  Each one has several pros and cons, and I am not entirely sure where to build it.

The best way for me to show the sites to you is through an updated region view.  This region update will also show you ongoing construction, the proposed expansion areas for the existing airports, and new highways that are being built.

Legend:

Blue:  Airport area (both existing and proposed).

:  Existing airport.

:  Highway construction.

:  Major interchange construction.
A:  Proposed airport site.


The Region photo is extremely large.  Please click on the thumbnail to view it in its native resolution.
-The thumbnail is directly linked to the image, so you should see no advertisements or popups!   





Pros/cons to each area.

A-On flat, open land, central location.
-Far from current developed area.

B-The lake provides a natural "airport free zone", whereas this would limit high-rise construction nearby on land.  Central location.  Room for expansion.
-Very expensive to build on water, far from current developed area.

C-Close to current developed area.
-Far from the rest of the region, consumes valuable coastal areas.



Its up to you to decide! If you know of another suitable location to build an airport, let me know!
-So far I am leaning to site A.  Is this the best location?

I hope you enjoyed the new region view!

Best,
-Haljackey

[deathtopumpkins]

I'm leaning towards site A as well. It seems to be centrally located, and on suitable terrain, and remember, the region will expand towards it, and it's better to have it already there waiting.
Also, make sure a nice big highway goes to the airport.

That's a pretty cool map. 

[CasperVg]

I would choose for Site C, as it is indeed close to the existing development, and has a lot of planned/under construction highways leading to it already. It may be in the outback of the region, but the non-serviced area's all have the smaller airports to serve them instead. The proximity of the lake/river nearby gives a good clearance from the skyscrapers, so the airplanes will always have room enough to land easily, as long as you don't build a massive bridge near to it, like in my new avatar 

99th Post, do I get a runner-up prize? 

[Ryan B.]

I'll take Reply #100.  Congrats, Haljackey! 

I'd go with option "A".  It might be far from any development, but that's why we have highways, right?

[The_Hutt]

Go with 'A'. Option B makes little sense when there's available land. Option C puts planes on an approach path that crosses those skyscrapers merely kilometers to the north, creating undesirable noise pollution and possibly inhibiting vertical growth in that area.

For a region this size and of such high density, I would definitely consider constructing multiple mid-size airports, a la Southern California, positioned at opposite ends of the region. If not, your airport should probably have at least four, preferably six, parallel runways of 3,000 meters or greater in length to efficiently handle the capacity.

[bat]

I also think option A is the best!

And congrats on more than 100 replies here at your MD! 

[deathtopumpkins]

I know I already commented and all, but congratulations on becoming a best seller!

[Haljackey]

Replies:

deathtopumpkins:  Thanks for voting!  Glad you liked the map!
caspervg:  Thanks for voting!  99 posts?  You got the last double-digit post!  Congrats!   

burgsabre87:  Thanks for voting! You got the 100th reply!  Thanks for sending The Greater Terran Region to the Bestsellers section! 
-Also, glad to hear your own MD is getting back on track!  I missed OC!

The_Hutt:  Thanks for voting!  I will take your comments into consideration!  4-6 runways running 3km long?  Thats 3/4 the length of a large tile right?  I will see what I can do to prepare land for that!

bat:  Thanks for voting!  Also, thanks for the congrats! 

deathtopumpkins (2):  Thank you very much!  I feel honoured to have the GTR with all the amazing MDs in this category!   



Update Time!

The Greater Terran Region has become a Bestseller!  My thanks go out to everyone who has contributed to make this MD successful!   

I have a large update in store for all of you!  

Thanks everyone for voting!  The results are in!  I took sample polls from three areas and there was a clear winner in each.

The GTR @ SC4D's results:


The GTR @ ST's results:


ST chat results:


Total:



It looks like site A is the winner!  The construction of Terra International Airport in this location will begin shortly!

But enough about the stats. Now its time for some pictures!   



Pictures
Click the images for full resolution! (1920x1200)

The GTR's road network is expanding at a unprecedented pace in order to encourage growth away from the dense urban centres.


A zoomed out shot of a new RHW running parallel to a lake.


But the region's mass transit system is expanding too.  New hubs constructed in the outskirts of town were made to handle inter-regional commuters.  A new trans-regional bullet train network will zip sims all over The GTR.  Here is a shot of a bullet train bridge being constructed.  The highway above runs parallel to this network.


In the city of Escape, a new pair of Y-junctions dramatically decrease the time it takes for commuters to reach the Mar Sara Bridge and the main district to the north.  This should also counter the abandonment problem in this area which is mainly due to long commute times.


A cluster of one-way roads provide direct links to various areas of Escape's southern CBD.


Where two new RHWs meet, a new RHW interchange needs to be made.  The terrain in this area will make it challenging to construct a full interchange here.


A few moments later, work on the main overpass has already begun:


Lastly, I will leave you with a zoom out of Site A; the site you have selected for The Greater Terran Region's new airport.




Well, that does it for now.  I hoped you enjoyed this update!

Best,
-Haljackey

[deathtopumpkins]

That's some pretty scenery. It's weird to see open countryside in the GTR.

Neat bullet train bridge construction shot too.

That should be an interesting interchange when it's complete!