San Francisco Jaxom Style

[jaxom101]

*****WARNING Please Read******
If you're looking for a CJ with wonderful Made up City Names and colorful History's then this CJ isn't for you. That just isn't something I'm very good at. If you're picky on Spelling and proper English then leave now because I also suck at that. I would be lost without my Spell Checker and if I type without using it you will probably not like it.

If you looking to get involved in helping me build a huge Realistic Region with Major City's to Mountain Passes and all type of Villages and Farmlands then maybe you will enjoy this. Or if you're looking for ideas or tips on how to do many things in the game then think of this as a CJ/Tutorial that you may find useful.

MY GOALS
-To keep things looking fairly realistic.
-To showcase many of the Great BATs and lot's from all the great people involved in the Game.
-To try and feature ever type of area you may ever want to build.
-To push the limits of the game Mechanics to get the desired results I want.

My Hopes
-To get Ideas and feedback on how to achieve what I'm looking to do.
-To maybe even get some community feedback on how to make things better.
-To maybe even get some help from people out there in the form of Lot's and custom BAT's that may help me along the way.

[jaxom101]

With that being said let me introduce you to the Region I will be working on.




I created this Region using MallowtheCloud's Accurate Scale Map of San Francisco. I posted it on STEX and already have a 10/10 rating on it which I think is wonderful for a Map File. It has areas to build anything you could ever want from Major City's to Mountain passes and Farmland.

I will be starting with the Major City areas first. I like to lay out several areas first to get an Idea how things will look when I'm ready to start Building. Also deciding on how much Education and were I need to connect different area's I believe is important also. You don't want High education in an area you want Dirt Industry for example. And Areas with higher education will eventually demand more Commercial then anything. So deciding were you plan on having higher density and taller building all need to be planed out ahead of time. If you want more residential to grow you don't want to connect to an area were a lot of immigrants will be able to cross the border either and drive your demand for residential down.

I want things to develop realistically so everything will look right in Region view. I don't want Tall City's next to rural areas so it looks funny when viewed. You can see were I am looking for all the tallest Building to develop and branch out from here.



The area to the left of this is where I'm looking to build my major Seaport area also.





I will close for now with some Eye Candy and see how much Interest I can get on this project

[CasperVg]

Great work, awesome. I'll be following this one!

[Alfred.Jones]

Very nice start!! I look forward to seeing more

[jaxom101]

Well a couple of comments and 1 person that's going to look back in so I'm not boring everyone.

First things First
Senses this is going to be the Major Hub of the entire region I need to plan things out carefully here. Every Area will have a bit of everything. Residential, Commercial and Industry will be included to get the Balance of what I'm hoping for. This shows my Basic Idea to start. Everything from here on out will be Farms and Smaller Cities and Villages. This will be the only place for HD anything.



Setting an Education level for each Region is next. Education level is really one of the biggest Keys to get an area to develop the way you want.

Region 19
-0 Education – I want to keep them in Dirty Industry completely.

Region 20
- 50-100 Education – I want Mostly Manufacture Jobs.

Region 12
-100-150 – I'm Not sure what I want here and May have to see what happens later.

Region 21-29
-Max Education – I want Big City and Skyscrapers here so they need to be as smart as I can get them.

I use a 6x6x6 Grid that I have always used, 6x6 Squares per Block and 6x6 Blocks between Major Roads. I then delete and Move Roads depending on what's going there. I like LD & MD Residential at 6x8 and HD Commercial and Industry at 8x8. This Grid comes out in different Size within a few Squares no mater what you go with. And I use that area to Mix things up a bit so I don't start looking to Girded out. I will never do 6x6 With Parks in between and Bus Stop on every Corner type things. But Most Cites do look pretty Girded out so this system works Great. It also allows Major Roads to Pass threw areas and Match up later down the line. So all Areas will Have Major Roads passing threw them in the Same Places and I will deal with where they end up when the time Comes.

[thundercrack83]

Hello, jazom101!

Looks like you're off to a great start here, my friend. You've got everything planned out quite well, and I can't wait to see how you implement these plans.

I do have a question for you, though: Is a "street-by-street" recreation of San Francisco, using maps, GoogleEarth, etc., or is this you're own take on the city? Either way, I'm sure it will be great!

[jaxom101]

Hello, jazom101!

Looks like you're off to a great start here, my friend. You've got everything planned out quite well, and I can't wait to see how you implement these plans.

I do have a question for you, though: Is a "street-by-street" recreation of San Francisco, using maps, GoogleEarth, etc., or is this you're own take on the city? Either way, I'm sure it will be great!

This is totaly made up and Im just using this area because I like it. I actualy did render and have the Life Size map and thought about that but several things stoped me.

1. This area is FAR from being square enough to look right.  You could cover the Major areas and make the best of it but

2. The shear time in doing just that. I enjoy the short times I get to play.

Im good enough from years of playing that I can make it do just about anything that can be done. I can Free hand cut a Shore line for Seawalls in minutes and not miss a thing. I can do a little work with the B.A.T, Lot Editor and Reader to Mod thing's a little when needed. So I just want to jump in and make a cool looking Region and have fun. I have a Bad habbit of starting thing and stopping so this is hopefuly a reason to keep going and complete something. Years of playing and I have never completed a single City much less a Whole Region.

[Pat]

Hi Jaxom101 welcome to the wonderful world of MD'ing!!! I like your goals you have set here and I for one will be back in as much as I can... Two things if I may?  One would be when taking pics turn off the grid as that will give a better feel for the pics and to do that just hit "G" on your keyboard.. Number 2 would be downloading this wonderful mod here [linkie] as it will remove that nasty yellow pause thingie lol.... I will be back for more devolpment here and again great start!!!!!

[jaxom101]

Pat
Thanks for the advice. That’s what I’m hoping for more of. I’m good at making things work but I’m not good at making them look good when they do.

Now I’m at my first dilemma. I want to run a GLR Avenue down through most of Downtown and the HD Residential. At the end of each area I will go underground and use Subways in the other areas. The first Picture will give you a good Idea of were I want it to run.



My first question is, does anyone know of an Avenue/GLR Bridge? I hate going underground to cross the River in the few places I need to cross.



Does this area look decent? My question is, Will ped malls look the best here and do they need to be side by side to look right? Can I mix different Lots with Lights and benches here?



Any suggestions here on things I might look at doing to make it more realistic?

[CasperVg]

It looks really nice, I would suggest you use a different colour of pedmalls tho, it doesn't seem to fit the area. Other than that, great planning and I'm sure the area will get very nice! 

[thundercrack83]

Looks good to me, my friend! As of right now, I don't believe there are any bridges that incorporate the GLR-in-Avenue into them for technical reasons that are beyond my expertise. Your solution to the problem seems fine, though!

As for the ped malls, I tend to agree with caspervg--if you can find ones that match the surrounding a bit better, it would be perfect. Then again, it looks pretty great to begin with, so it's completely up to you!

Looking forward to seeing more development!

[Pat]

Jaxom I do agree with Casper and Dustin on this that the ped malls need to be changed to a diffrent color...  Im trying to figure out what you are going to do with those large flower gardens??? Other then that Dustin is right the way you handled the crossing there of the river is perfect!!!!

[jaxom101]

Pat
   The Flower Beds were there just to give me an Idea were I wanted my Avenue/GLR to run.

As far as Ped Mall's there don't seem to be alot of options. I also couldnt find any Addon Packs for them. Would it be easy to make my own? I would also like to see different Props along the way. Benches, Trees and maybe even some Street vendors in different areas. Im also using 2 Rows so Maybe if I left one and did the Row closes to the Road in Regular Tile with Props might look better.



Im also not real Happy with the JS Sea Walls. They look great at certain Zoom Levels but you get the Water Bug as soon as you zoom out a little and they disapear totaly when you zoom all the way out. There just dont seem to be alot of Choices in Seawalls out there for $$$ Type areas that also Handle Diags and Roads Crossings.



Now you dont see the Walls at all


How hard would it be to Edit a Set of the Japan Walls to be placable on Water? Or is there more set's out there that Im not aware of?  Jeronij has some Great sets for more Industrial and Rual areas and Pegs RKT3 Set is nice but dont handle angles.

[bat]

Great start there on your San Fransisco, jaxom101! Looking forward to more of the development!

[Pat]

Hey Jaxom as far as editing the walls I dunno how to avoid the water bug at all but on the ped malls I like the red brick one the best honestly.... I cant wait to see what you do for them though...

[szymcar]

You are building a little untypically. I don't like such a grid of streets but I will wait with the assessment. 

[sebes]

OK - I read your first post, and you can consider me a SFJS-regular already - this MD is going to be to my likings, that's for sure.

Looking at the pictures of your next updates proofs it. The carefull planning is showing, and believe it or not, I thought I could picture how the end result would look like (just wonder where the airport will come...).

But to my surprise, the second update already proofs I was wrong. I still love the MD, and will do so for ever probably - but the first developments showed me something that I did not picture myself.... so I am very pleasantly surprised, a second time.

And you don't stop to surprise me there... the third update made me gasp for breath. You have the GLR going underground to cross the river. I never ever thought of doing that, and think I did not even see it before in any MD. It's so good thought.... I really want to applaud for that. True, seeing GLR cross the bridge would be great too... (it will also be an awesome day if someone will manage to that). But for now I think do did the best thing. You can even make a opening bridge now, so that barges can pass, without hampering public transport!

But also the pavements used in the ped zones of the avenue is unique! I really hope that somebody can help you to get those worked out as you want, with street add on junk. The result will be awesome ( I think I can picture the result - but at the same time think I 'll have to adapt my mind again after a next update )

Regarding seawalls - I am with you. In town I like the JS walls that you used. I less dense areas I prefer the Marrast walls, and in industrial areas I like PEG's CDK-IND the most (with inside en outside corners, but - no diagonals  unfortunately , so diagonals shores can only be build like steps... )

I will stay tuned to see you solve this and what you decide...

[TopCliff]

Hey there Jaxom. Looks pretty good so far, good use of the GLR Avenues. I think the seawalls you're looking for are Marrast's classic seawalls. Look great at any zoom, can handle road crossings, and they look great anywhere. I hope I've helped. Say, you wouldn't happen to be JaxomLotus, would you? Just curious.

[jaxom101]

bat
   Thanks for the Comments.

Pat
   Your right, I like the red ones also. Now I need to find the Texture so I can make some Lot so it dont look so barren.

sebes
   Thanks for the Great Comments. Do you happen to have a Link to the Marrast walls? I searched every were and couldnt find them. I would like to take a look at them. I dont want to use the JS Walls in the Whole City but nothing else looks right here. Im giving the Airport thing alot of thought. It will probably be about 2 Regions below this one.

szymcar
   Keep in Mind Im trying to create a City that will span 5-6 Large City Areas. Most Typical US Citys do look very Grided. They run Roads NS and EW untill they run into something then they deal with it. In my Last picture Im about to post you will see how many Angles I will have to deal with just in this area. And Realty is there is only a handful of good Diagonal bats out there to use. You could porbably use most of them in one Picture then you would have to use them over and over. I also like to Grid everything out like this just to get an idea what I want to do. And it also helps to make sure all the Areas will look like one continues City in Region view. Its also easy to go back when Im done and knock out big areas to break up all the Grids. Remember I plan on putting in things like Malls, Parks, Zoos and even some Apartment Complexes. So alot of the grids will get knocked down later.
  I also figure I will have around 100 Large Scyscrapers in this area when Im done. This area is all about Big Buildings and dense City blocks. I have alot more areas I can try my hand at a more contemporary style.

Red Brick does look good. Just looks bare for now.


Thats alot of angles to think about


Theres the basics. Now for some real decisions


Just had to Show some future area I hope to work with


Can you say PEG MTP


Well its back to work. Next update I should have the Whole area Grided out and all the walls in place and maybe ready for a test run.
 

[TopCliff]

The red brick does look better. And methinks that mountainous area would be the Sierra Nevadas, right? Good luck with this monstrous task. Maybe you could look at some of the older SF recreations so you could see how some people did what and stuff.