Commonwealth of Marathon

[dsrwhat316]

Ah, nice (seriously!) industrial pics, Dustin! 

A quick question: are those the original lots made by jestarr, or are the re-lotted by you? I always have my eye out for good lots... 

This MD has had such exponential growth; at this rate, you'll be in the Classics section at the start of the New Year!

~ Dan

[rooker1]

Hey Dustin,

Great to see Jess' bat at work in your city too.  I have all of his stuff in my plugins and believe that it is an absolute must in anyone's plugins.
Just a couple more days and you can relax a little, although I hope you don't relax too much    .

Robin 

[warconstruct]

Very beautiful image, that predicts large and beautiful industrial park , I am impatient to see the continuation !

[Jmouse]

You're so right about jestarr's industrials, Dustin. There are none better anywhere, and it looks like you placed them very well. Hope you're getting the best of that virus.

Later...
Joan

[thundercrack83]

Jon (JBSimio): Hello, there, Jon! You're definitely right about the shuddering, my friend—it would be traumatic to play the game with out them, or all of the great custom content we have at our fingertips these days! Maybe, one of these days, I'll take everything out of my plug-ins folder and try to play the game as-is...See how long I last!

Paul (paroch): Hey, Paul! I think the cylinders are firing pretty well again now, thanks so much, my friend! As for those seasonal trees, well, there just one of the many things that I am so amazed with here at SC4D! Hope all is well with you, Paul! Thanks for coming by!

bat: Thank you, my friend! Three more days after today!

Dan (dsrwhat316): Thank so much, Dan! Unfortunately for me, I did not do any re-lotting on the industrial lots, that is all the work of Jess (jestarr). But hey! How can I improve on such magnificent work, right? It's always good to see you here in Marathon, my friend! Take care!

Robin (rooker1): Hello, Robin! "Absolute must" to say the least! They are like oxygen for anyone even thinking of putting together an industrial area! And don't worry, my friend—while things will certainly slow down here in Marathon come January, it won't be to a standstill by any means...(I hope...)

warconstruct: Bonjour! Thank you so much for your wonderful words, my friend!

Joan (Jmouse): Hi, Joan! I'm almost at 100% now, I think. I'm glad you enjoy the industrials, too! I know you fancy the more rural ones, so today's picture should be a special treat for you then!

DECEMBER 28

As I said above to Joan (Jmouse)—another rural shot to offset the industry from yesterday, again featuring the wonderful STR! Also, in the bottom left-hand corner are the Center-Pivot Irrigation Fields (CPI), which are another 3RR exclusive, available at the 3RREX now!

Still working on that update, but I have to do a bit of holiday visiting that I missed out on while I was convalescing on Christmas Day. My brother is en route to our parents' house from Virginia now, so I'll be heading there first for dinner.

See you soon!

[Jmouse]

Oh yes, if industry is a necessity - rural areas are the luxury. There's nothing left but "ahhh" to say about STR. Glad to hear you're beating the virus, too - as long as you're well enough to play SC4 that's all that matters, eh?!

Hope you have a safe and pleasant visit...
Joan

[deathtopumpkins]

Great rural pic Dustin! 

And I missed the last pic, but I must add my appreciation for jestarr's industrials too. I have every one he's ever released, and I must say they are essential to any industrial area.

[thundercrack83]

Joan (Jmouse): Hey, Joan! Rural areas are a luxury! I like that a lot! And you're right, being well enough to get in there and play is all that matters!

deathtopumpkins: Thank you so much, my friend! I'm happy to hear you like the industrial shot as well! Take care!

DECEMBER 29

It's after midnight on the Eastern Seaboard and I'll be doing some traveling tomorrow—well, technically today—so we'll get today's picture out of the way now.

A bit of a throwaway picture, but I thought I'd try something a bit different!

Still working on that update, too. Perhaps tomorrow evening sometime? That's certainly not set in stone, though...

Take care!

[bat]

Two great new pictures there! Wonderful work on them!

[thundercrack83]

bat: Thanks, bat! I'm glad you liked them!



Forgive the abrupt and preemptive post, but I just noticed that we've passed...

10,000 views!

In less than a two month span, we've eclipsed 10,000 views...That's over 5000 views a month! I really do not know how to thank you all, this is just incredible!

We're also a stone's throw away from 500 posts and the Classics! I don't know what to say!

Thank you all so very, very much!

Update's on the block!

[kimcar]

  Congrats Dustin . With high quality of work that`s what happen 

[deathtopumpkins]

Congrats Dustin!

* deathtopumpkins pushes Marathon one post closer to the classics.

Nice pic yesterday too. A simple one, but it's nice. I love Jeroni's breakwaters.   

[JBSimio]

Two more great pictures, Dustin.   

The STR looks especially good the way you've used it there.  Today's picture just shows that simple (though it may be) can be just as good as anything else.  Congratulations on all your ridiculously rapid success here! 

JB

[dsrwhat316]

Simple and elegant describes that pic, Dustin. Very cool!

Don't worry about stalling to make an update (something I do a lot, as well!); it's better to give quality than quantity. I'm curious to see an update, though  !

~ Dan

[Jmouse]

Nice picture, Dustin. It reminds me of the jetties in Galveston, Texas City, Freeport and around Bolivar where I spent many a happy hour fishing. As mentioned earlier, there's much to be said for the beauty found in simplicity.

Later...
Joan

[thundercrack83]

kimcar: Thank you so very much, my friend!

deathtopumpkins: Thanks for your comments, and for the push toward the Classics!

Jon (JBSimio): Hi, Jon! The STR is just another in a laundry list of things here at SC4D that I simply cannot get enough of! I'm so glad you enjoyed today's picture, too. I felt like it was a bit of a phone-in from my end, though! Take care, my friend!

Dan (dsrwhat316): Thanks, Dan! And I'm definitely with you on quality over quantity! As for the next update, well...

Joan (Jmouse): Hey, Joan! I've never made it down to the Galveston area of Texas, but I'll be heading to Google Maps to check it out! Thanks so much for your continued support, my friend! I don't know where I'd be without you, and not only in Marathon!

UPDATE XIV(a)
Arteries, Obsessive-Compulsiveness, and Triskaidekaphobia
29 December 2008

First!

[tabular type=1]
[row]
[data]
tris⋅kai⋅dek⋅a⋅pho⋅bi⋅a |trɪskaɪˌdɛkəˈfoʊbiə, ˌtrɪskə-| noun. Fear or a phobia concerning the number 13. [< Gk triskaídeka, thirteen + Gk, equiv. to -phob(os) + -ia.]
[/data]
[/row]
[/tabular]

I hope that answers two questions that some of you may have—why "XIV(a)," and what in the world is triskaidekaphobia? Though, you are all very smart folks, I have no doubt that more than a few of you out there knew what it means!

Moving on!

When we last left off on Marathon Island back in UPDATE VIII: The Highway is Alive Tonight, Part II: Nobody's Kiddin' Nobody About Where it Goes...

...That's what the island looked like, highways all placed! So, the next logical step is to get some of the major arteries of the island put in place, isn't it?

To illustrate this my method for doing this, I will employ our trusty friend, Tile E.

First step in the process is tracing the entire border—minus the unnavigable parts, of course!—of the tile. However, at the corners...

...I leave a one-tile space and connect to the other tiles accordingly.

Why?

Because I like it that way, that's why!

Ha-ha-ha! Just kidding...powerlines is why. Rather than build a power plant in each tile, I'd like to build a central power facility in the future, and this is just a bit of pre-planning on my part. To do the math:

18 tiles on Marathon Island - 2 (one that is 100% water and 1 that is 98% water) = 16 tiles / 16 power plants!

One power plant on the island would almost certainly be completely unrealistic let alone 16 of them!

Back on track...Here's a zoomed-out shot of the traced borders.

Next step!

As illustrated in the picture, I draw a road that is 30 tiles long, then plop two single road tiles. On those tiles?

Our first avenue!

We continue the process on the other side...

...and...

...connect it to the "island ring" that we so meticulously measured the same way, all the way back in UPDATE I: We Begin...At the Beginning! (Or, Constructing Marathon Island)!

Following the "30, then 2" process both north-south and east-west, we get this—

A grid of arterial avenues for the tile!

Now we connect the avenues on each side of our sunken highway with overpasses.

But, while my obsessive-compulsive need for order that foments not only the grid, but the precise construction of it, is always looming, some "randomness" is definitely essential. So...

...we'll extend this diagonal! To do so, though, some adjustments to the highway are necessary...

Bulldoze...

...then build a tunnel!

And our diagonal has crossed the highway!

But now we have a bit of a strange intersection—

Too strange for that looming obsessive-compulsiveness I alluded to earlier! But, in keeping with the continuing "randomness" theme—or, controlled chaos, as I think of it—we'll tweak things and add...

...a roundabout.

Above is a zoomed-out shot of where the northern off-shoot of the roundabout leads. Note that I had to line things up with the grid intersection at the top left!

The northeast-southwest diagonal continues through the tile...

...until it reaches the southwest corner. I haven't come up with a solution to that other strange corner that's shown here, but as you can probably guess, it's bothering me like crazy!

Now to connect this diagonal!

The illustration explains the method, and we get...

...this! Next...

...we follow the same pattern in the northwest corner, leading us to...

...the above.

We're also faced with another odd occurence and corresponding solution...

...splitting the avenue! One of my favorite things to do!

There's the finished product!

And there's a complete overview of the tile!

Using this method—30, then 2; 7 avenues, etc.—I simultaneously feed and fight the obsessive-compulsive demons throughout the entire island, giving us...

...the arteries of Marathon island!

Here's the same picture with Traffic View.

As you can see, there's a balance between grid and randomness. Well, perhaps not "balance," maybe "parity?" But, in all honesty, despite the fact that my need for order is present in the set-up, realistically, it makes sense to me that these sort of major roads would have a more organized construction. The much more random set-up will come into play when we start filling things in with secondary and tertiary roads.

So, there it is! The next layer of transportation on Marathon Island, and an exploration of my psyche! Odd, isn't it?

See you soon!

[deathtopumpkins]

Wow, Dustin. Never knew anybody put that much thought into designing a city's arteries... 
I think the final result is spectacular, and that was a very interesting and informative look at the methods you use.

[Jmouse]

That's some amazing work there, Dustin, but the level of preplanning is awesome.

I'm with you on the power plant angle, and you've thought of a good way to deliver electricity. One or two questions come to mind, though. In the third photo (Tile E outlined) the highway runs straight through the quad with no way to get on or off. Surely there will be some ramps to come?

The other questions that come to mind might be unanswerable at this point in development. What if you find the perfect spot for a certain beloved building and it won't fit - not enough room for it? What if the Sims react negatively to the layout? I've seen them clog streets and roads trying to avoid an avenue for no apparent reason. Also it will be interesting to see how you place schools, fire stations and the like which have specific coverage areas.

You can bet I'll be watching every move because my own playing style is diametrically opposite. Spontaneity usually gets me in trouble and is my downfall more often than not, but I've never dreamed of laying out an entire regional transport system at one time. Major highways maybe, but...

Anyway, I'm really anxious to see how your plans play out. There's no doubt in my mind that there's much to learn here in Marathon...
Joan

[Pat]

Hey Dustin I think you have hit an all time record here or something but you have a hot MD other then Casper Portforilo's!!! 2 months in the MD world and the Next post you will be Classic when you are done with OSITM WOW!!! Anyways what a masterful and well planned out area here and also great last few updates you have had!!!

I cant wait to see more!!!

pat

[bat]

Welcome to page 26!

Great work there on that part of your region! Nice road layout there!
That's another great update there!
And looking forward to the update/teaser of the 31st December...


BTW, CONGRATS on 500 replies in just 55 days!!!