Commonwealth of Marathon

[rooker1]

Awesome picture, I want to see more of this area, please. 
This is definately my favourite picture of your Decmeber count down so far. 
The golf course was very good as well, but the picture seemed to be washed out.  But the golf course itself reminds me of summer and the last time I golfed.
Great work and only 240 more posts to Classics.   

Robin 

[Earth quake]

OMG. 
Dustin; It's just splendid, incredible pic, I love. 

Really excellent work, just realistic.
Just I want a new pic.

(hard rock hallelujah .....)

[threestooges]

Dustin, no surprise Marathon is in OSITM. I loved the recent history update and the recent pictures are great (as are all the prior ones), that rail yard looks like it just stretches on for a while. Sorry I haven't commented here in a while, but I'll certainly try to get around more often.
-Matt

[JBSimio]

Hi Dustin,

I managed to miss a couple of great pictures and a fantastic history lesson.  Sorry about that... but I did have my reasons.  Regardless, the history update was wonderful!     I've enjoyed all the daily pictures so far, but I think today's might be my favorite to date.  (Not really sure why, but it is.)

Until next time,
JB

[Jmouse]

Oh yes, I like this one. Colorful, busy looking and just an all-round good photo.

Later...
Joan

[Lilojame]

Hi Dustin!
A very busy looking picture there and darn, it does look good as everybody before me stated. Am I right to think that you "forget" to turn off the grid? But even so, the picture still looks really awesome. Even the slight crispiness becomes it very nicely. Great work! 

See you soon,
Karin

[thundercrack83]

Robin (rooker1): Thanks, Robin! I like this one a lot, too. Like I said, those Logistics Centres are great!

Earth quake: Thanks, my friend!

Matt (threestooges): Hello, my friend! No worries! I'm glad that you enjoyed the history, and I hope to see you around again!

Jon (JBSimio): That's OK, Jon! We've all got too many things to do, right? Thanks for your kind words, my friend, and for coming by!

Joan (Jmouse): Thanks so much, Joan!

Karin (Lilojame): Wow, the grid is on! I completely missed that! I am disappointed in myself, I always make a conscious effort to check for that. Oh, well—Better luck next time! Thanks for dropping in!

It's 2:30 AM here in the northeastern United States, so I thought I'd get today's picture out of the way before heading to bed...

DECEMBER 5

Just another cityscape shot from around the Central Marathon Bus Terminal that I showed a while back. Another one of those Flip Canvas Horizontal deals...have to learn some new tricks!

Update will definitely be today. Definitely.

Stay tuned!

[Lilojame]

Hi Dustin! (I hope you are having sweet dreams.)

It happen to everyone at one time or another. Besides, it didn't ruined the picture and is not so visible.  As for todays picture, it looks very nice, yet again.

Looking forward to the update!

Your Truly,
Karin

[bat]

Great pictures there for both days!! It's wonderful!!

[rooker1]

Sweet shot my friend. (No grid on) 
Ah, good catch Karin, I had missed that the grid was on.  Shame on you Dustin, I take back what I said, "Awesome picture", now it's just great. Great works as always and Don't worry you can't remember everything all the time.
See you later today for the next update.
Robin 

[flyinbird93]

greay pic for the day!  youve got me tuned it cant wait for more!

[Simpson]

Hi Dustin

Teaser of December 4; this is looking superb my friend, as well, you have done a really fine work in this area 
Teaser of December 5; one of the best american city I've ever seen, this is really perfect 

I'm looking forward to the next update of today my friend

Take care, David

[art128]

Splendid work on the downtown my friend, great choice of towers
And the Logistics Centers's teaser is really awesome !  great use of theme !
Arthur

[projectadam]

Dustin,

Excellent updates for the month! I really enjoyed the history update that was done on the second. I have a question that I have been wondering about recently. You have pictures of buildings in your updates but you also showed your transportation of the entire island without any buildings so I was wondering, do you have two regions? One from the very start and the other is used just for the building shots or do you delete everything after a building shot? Keep up the great work for the month.

[thundercrack83]

Karin (Lilojame): Hello, Karin! Thank you for the sweet dreams wish! I slept quite well, aside from the puppy licking my ears every once in a while! And thank you for your kinds words, as always, too!

bat: Thank you so much, my friend!

Robin (rooker1): I'm pretty annoyed that I didn't catch that grid! I was going to enter that one in the Picture Competition, but not now! Thanks for stopping in, Robin! It's always a pleasure to see you here!

flyinbird93: Thanks!

David (Simpson): Thank so much, David! Your support is very much appreciated!

Arthur (art128): Thanks again, Arthur, for your comments, and for coming by!

projectadam: Hello, my friend! Thanks for your kind words! To answer your question—I have multiple duplicates of the region, just so I can be prepared for any contingency. I can get a bit confusing at times, but for the most part I keep things straight in my head! For some teasers, I just open up any blank tile and build away, then delete it. It gives me a bit more freedom to play around, and also gives me ideas for when it's time to build different parts of the region. I hope that answers your question! Take care!

UPDATE X
You're So FAR(R) Away From Me
5 December 2008

Our good friend Karin (Lilojame) asked me a question via PM about the smooth road curves that were used in the golf course shot on December 3.

So, in lieu of what I had originally planned for the next update, I decide to do a preemptive update, touching on these curves. A few of them are available in the current version of the NAM. However, a majority of them are a part of a project called the Fractional Angle Roads (FAR) and Fractional Angle Railroads (FARR), put together over at 3RR by our good friend David (dedgren).

QUICK NOTE: The FAR/FARR is currently not available for public use. However, public BETA testing has been on-going since the project started, and if you are interested, feel free to contact David (dedgren) about whether it is still available for testing. This is not a guarantee that it is still available for testing. Only David can answer that question.

With that out of the way, we'll begin!

Here's the pieces of the FAR, exactly as they labels show them in the game:

1. Road S-Curve (available in the NAM)
2. Road 45-Curve (available in the NAM)
3. Road 90-Curve (Small)
4. Road 90-Curve (Large) (available in the NAM)
5. Fractional Angle Road--Short Curve
6. Fractional Angle Road--Long Curve
7. Fractional Angle Road--Straight Piece
8. At-Grade Intersection: Fractional Angle Road (FAR) / Orthogonal Rail

First, we'll look at the curves that are available in the current NAM.

One issue to pay attention to is the placing of the small 90° curve. As the picture above illustrates, the game forces you to leave a one-tile space between the beginning of the curve and the road where you left off when plopping. Not a big deal, just something to keep in mind!

Here's a shot of all the NAM pieces in use, with them all labeled. NOTE: The trees and lamp posts surrounding the curves are not part of the curves themselves, but the work a mod by sithlrd98—the name of which escapes me presently. It's available on the STEX, so a quick search will take care of it for you! Sorry!

Now we move on to the pieces of the FAR!

Here is the FAR Long (left) and Short (right) Curves placed, prior to any further connections.

Then...

...with the menu on, we show the procedure for FAR Straight Piece placement.

And...

...the FAR pieces in game, along with corresponding labels! Sorry for not connecting the rail, I forgot about the piece and threw it in there at the last minute!

Another thing to watch out for—

Be careful when using the Bulldoze Tool around the curves, as you may accidentally encounter the above!

Another caveat (grid on purposely...) is that the guide tends to disappear...

...when building on slopes, but again, nothing of major concern, just to be aware of!

The Fractional Angle Railroads (FARR) function exactly like their automobile counterparts...

As with the FAR, here are the FARR pieces as they are labeled in game:

1. Rail S-Curve (available in the NAM)
2. Rail 45-Curve (available in the NAM)
3. Rail 90-Curve (may be available in the current NAM, maybe not. I'm not sure on this one)
4. Fractional Angle Railroad-Short Curve
5. Fractional Angle Railroad-Long Curve
6. Fractional Angle Railroad-Straight Piece
7. At-Grade Crossing: Fractional Angle Railroad (FARR) / Orthogonal Road

The procedure for placement is also the same.

The picture above shows the NAM curve pieces in use, along with the labels as before, and...

...the pieces of the FARR in use, too.

Same caveats as the FAR apply...

...but as I said, no major cause for concern.

Of course, all this procedure would be for naught if we didn't show the fruits of it!

Some of those are new pictures that I was playing around with in the game, and some are beta test shots that I took for 3RR that I then "Marathon-ized."

Finally...

http://www.youtube.com/v/MK5FHAmkvs0&hl=en&fs=1
"So Far Away" by Dire Straits. Brothers in Arms, 1985.

Once again, a song in my head while playing...Gave me the title for this update and all!

Thanks for coming by!

[JBSimio]

Wonderful update, Dustin!   

First, I really enjoyed today's (although it was still yesterday for another 30 minutes over here) picture.  It appears that you have quite a variety of buildings and styles going on in Marathon.  I'm eagerly awaiting the moment you show us how they all fit together.

As for the FAR(R) update... again, very nice!  (needless to say, really!)  The pictures of it in action are beautiful.  I especially like the one with the bridge and the one directly above it, but they're all truly great pictures.  (any of which would surely do well in that little competition you may have heard of)

Til next time,
JB

[Jmouse]

Straightforward - and helpful - demonstration on how to use the sometimes-confusing FAR/FARR pieces, Dustin. Some of the arrangements I've tried look like they were laid out on a cocktail napkin during a boisterous party for "free-thinking" engineers, but that part of the fun! The last half dozen shots look very realistic and make me even more anxious to get back into the game.

Thanks for the explanation...
Joan

[Lilojame]

Hi Dustin, my friend!
I have to say that you have 2 things in your plugins folder that I am dying to get my hands on.  So, in my opinion your are very fortunate to have them.
The presentation of the FARR pieces was very interesting (and the "watch out for" shall be very useful for when FARR actually comes out). What I am wondering right now is... why the heck didn't I noticed the pieces that are in the NAM... I need to go in game and find those.
And now to the pictures at the end... they are all fabulous and they remind me on how the roads are layed out here in my country. I cant decide wich one would be my favorite since every single one looks great.
So, to sum everything up, you are doing a great job in this special time and todays update was again masterly done!

See you,
Karin

[sim-al2]

The 90° Rail-Curve is not available in the current NAM. Other than that detail, your small eyecandy update is a very nice visual presentation.

[bat]

Nice work there with the FAR and FARR!!!
Wonderful pictures of your work, too!
Looking forward to more...