Greenacre

[threestooges]

What? No takers yet? I hope I didn't make this too difficult. There is another update set for today, but keep in mind, the competition is good for all week, so feel free to give it a shot. As for your thoughts Derry, while it may be madness, that wasn't what I meant by going one step beyond, though that was a good guess. Any thoughts on the pictures?
-Matt

[rooker1]

Hey Matt,

I'll give it a try for a few of them.

1.
2.Spa in Spa's Atlantic Retreat
3.TTC in GVR2
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.threestooges in here
9.
10.
11.

I have to give the rest some more thought.

Robin 

Yay for my ability to edit into posts. This'll make things easier. Robin, you have 2 correct. -Matt

[Battlecat]

I certainly recognize a few of them, but boy there are a lot of shots on this site!  I'll have to do some digging before I make my full set of guesses! 

[art128]

Here's my guess for all the pictures, MAtt !

1 -
2 - Spa ,Spa's Atlantic Retreat
3 - TheTeaCat ,  TheTeaCat plays GRV II
4 - Emilin , Blackwater (with Islas Gemas)
5 - Rooker01 , Mind scape
6 -
7 - Pat , Waterfalls... MD by Pat
8 -  meinhosen , Chasing the Daylight , Southern Pacific Daylight #4449
9 -   I dunno if I can tell it   Art128 , Svanskinahya People's republic
10 - ManuelR , Valdivia - the beauty of Europe
11 -


The update was really nice, Matt, I really enjoyed watching it.
-Arthur.  

Very nice start Art. You have 7 correct. Not saying which ones though. Some of these were easier than I thought, but the game's not over yet. Good luck.

Heheh, I know with one isn't correct.. It's the 10 I guess ! l Anyway, there's always that last one that no one know from where it come from, except you, Matt..  - Arthur.

[Earth quake]

It's a nice competition Matt.

1st picture: It's a JBsimio's bat and it found in "JBSimio Inc"
2nd picture: It's a SPA's bat and I found in "Spa's Atlantic Retreat"
3rd picture: It's a pic of TTC and I found in "TTC's Challenge 8 - Getting stuff in and out"
4th picture:It's a picture of  Emilin the and I found in the update of Totoromota of Blackwater (with Islas Gemas)
5th picture It's a picture of Rooker1 and I found in the "Mind Scape"
6th picture: I think it's a picture of Battlecat and I suppose is in "Adara - Rediscovering Simcity 4 -"
7th picture: It's a picture of Pat and I found in the "Waterfalls... MD by Pat ___ Back after on the mend!!!", update "Number Three......"
8th picture:  It's a picture of meinhosen and I found in the "Chasing the Daylight , Southern Pacific Daylight #4449"
9th picture: It's a picture of art128 and I found in the "Svanskinahya Socialist People's republic | update2, Karnav quarter."
10th picture: It's a picture of blade2k5 and I found in "Blade2k5's Accurately Scaled Maps - Requested South Africa Maps Pictorial."
11th picture :



Excellent work Vivien. You have the locations of 10 out of the 11. It seems the 11th is proving elusive for the moment though. As for #10, the location is correct, but what map is it? I'm sure you know, but I just want to check.

[Earth quake]

Sorry for the "double post".
The name of the map is Santa Barbara.

[threestooges]

You are correct Vivien. So, where does that leave us? 1-10 have been figured out already:
1: JBSimio Inc.
2: Spa's Atlantic Retreat
3: TTC's GRV II Challenge 8
4: The Totoromota Update from Emilin's Blackwater(with Islas Gemas)
5: Robin's first update of Mind Scape
6: Adara by Battlecat (now in the classics section)
7: An early update of Waterfalls by Pat
8: Chasing the Daylight by meinhosen I thought this one would be more difficult since it was down in the Real Life Pics of General Interest section.
9: Update 2 from Svanskinahya Socialist People's Republic by art128
10: Blade2k5's first posted map in his thread of cartographic awesomeness (I also thought this one would be tougher too but he does some good maps.)

That just leaves #11:



Whoever can get this one wins.
-Matt

[ecoba]

 Is it by Fred (mrbisonm)?

It looks like his work...

Ethan

-Nope, sorry Ethan, not Fred.

[Jmouse]

I believe the bonus picture is Nike Point in Pine Cone, a 3RR township. Here's a {Link} to the original photo - it's the sixth entry.

Later...
Joan

Joan, you are absolutely correct! As per the rules set forth at the beginning of this competition, you may claim the subscription, select someone to give it to, or decline it at your option. Just let us know. Thanks again everyone for playing. Hope you enjoyed it. From here we'll head down to the southern coast of Greenacre for our next update, which will be in the morning. Until then, take it easy.

[Battlecat]

Congratulations Joan!   

I spend a fair bit of time yesterday scouring the site for that last shot.  Frustrating thing is that I was certain I'd seen it before!

[Earth quake]

Congratulation Jmouse.
I'm a little disappointed not to have win because I don't discoverd the 11th picture.(but this picture was really hard to found)

[Jmouse]

Thank you, Matt, but I already have a subscription. Even if I didn't, I wouldn't feel right about accepting the prize, though. Certainly not for one lucky guess when several others worked so hard to find the answers.

Therefore, I choose to forfeit the subscription, and suggest that it be awarded to whoever got the most right answers.

One thing I will do, however, is offer to purchase a subscription and donate it to the winner if there's to be another contest in OSITM. I think it's a splendid idea that's good for SC4D and good for the members. 

Later...
Joan

[threestooges]

Replies:

Thank you everyone who participated in this little contest. Hopefully it reminded a few people of where SC4D has been over the years. It was certainly fun going back and finding some of these pictures to use.I ahd a feeling the 3RR one would be tough, especially for anyone searching for it, as I basically went to the middle and picked a picture from it reflecting it's collaboration development. As for the prize Joan, as per your wishes, it shall go to the person who had the most right during the competition.

That person is Vivien (Earth quake), with 10 out of 11 right, and all very detailed at that. Congratulations. I'll see what all I have to do to get that subscription set up. We'll be in touch.


-Derry (TheTeaCat): Thanks, and unless I missed it, elsewhere, welcome to Greenacre! The traffic views took a bit of time to assemble, but they should be easy enough to maintain, and they'll give the opportunity for development progress over time too as long as I remember to take pictures. Thanks for the link there too, though it wasn't quite what I meant about the "one step beyond" though). They have a good sound.


-Joan (Jmouse): I told you I'd post the maps eventually, and I'm glad they met with approval. The traffic flow is helped by the fact that I tend to not make people commute that far. Most tiles have at least some form of all three zones in them. The trains and light rail help quite a bit too. As for the thought that went into the placement of the rails, it was more along the lines of "my developement is going this way, let's bring the rail along and put a station where I start building." Looking back on the US, that's sort of how it happened, railroads being a major force behind city development. Here, some cities brought the railroad to it, and some just grew up around it as it went. Not much rhyme or reason here, just what I felt like as I went. I do think rail travel holds promise, both intra and intercity. It's just an expensive up front cost of entry. Anyway, I've gone on long enough, and you know how I can talk if you get me going on trains. Glad you enjoyed.


So for today's update, we're going to look at a location I promised I'd get back to last time I was in OSITM. That area is around Firefighter Creek.

16.1


Firefighter Creek has its source from a reasonably moist hill. It receives significant rain throughout the year with maintains the level of the creek. It's a fairly slow moving body of water which supplies ample irrigation for the village of Patrick and the surrounding agricultural area. If you look just up and to the left of the town, you'll see a holding pond near the water tower that supplies the drinking water for the area.

16.2


Patrick itself is a quiet little village that many of the local farm workers call home. For being such a small town, it does have a fair selection of shops. Several tenants specialize in antiques and it's slowly becoming a popular get away spot for those who enjoy picking up knick knacks.

16.3


Part of the creek's name derives from Firefighter Falls, so named for the strong spray it produces. Even though the creek isn't large, and doesn't flow that fast, the path it takes here is narrow enough to give the water quite a bit of force, resulting in the cascade you see here.

16.4


The second source for the creek's name is arguably derived from this old firehouse. Still in sevice, this station provided the staging ground for battling a major wild fire that spread along the hills north of the town, along the ridge separating this area from the valley. The creek provided sufficient water for both hose crews and aerial drops.

16.5


One of the local farms. It specializes in husbandry and, though the field may seem somewhat small, the horses here are taken out for rides regularly as part of a local horseback riding tour that goes past several farms along the roads, stopping for a quick lunch in Patrick itself, before heaidng back.

16.6


You may recall this area from an earlier shot, but here is where Firefighter Creek empties into the ocean after a quick set of rapids which are just off the lower edge of the picture.

16.7


Told you I'd get back to this area for a more detailed look Pat. Hope you all enjoyed.
-Matt

[ecoba]

Ooh, what a lovely little village, Matt.

...and it happens to be named after Pat...

Coincidentally, you're a poet and you didn't know it! ! But really though, that's a wonderful little village and a great blend of Maxis and Custom Content. And the detailing put into the stream is really amazing. Greenacre is becoming one of my favourite MD's (Now that I think of it, I can't imagine why I never came here before!). I really like that horse farm, I make lots of my own farms with RRP fences, too! Although, Matt, I find it peculiar how you got that house to face the RailRoad. Is it a custom lot?

Ethan

[Tomas Neto]

Fantastic work!!! 

[rooker1]

Hey Matt,
Fantasic contest and I'll get the rest setup for Vivien (Earth quake).

This group of pics are awesome.  I'm not too big on the colour of the plopable water, but it's just my taste I guess.  Some of your river "sides" don't seem high enough to the point that the water is alomost ready to spill over.  Hope that makes sense. Other than that, I Love it all.

I hope you have time for at least one more update before Sunday.

Robin 

[Earth quake]

A nice island, really nice island... 
This village is really beautiful and the small waterfall in the 3rd picture is just splendid.
Great work.

I accept this "Subscription" and once again, congratulation for another participants.

[Battlecat]

That's a classy little town there!  It stands out quite nicely on the region map with the river.  I particularly like 16.6, you did a great job detailing that farm. 

[Jmouse]

Good-looking island in 16.02, Matt. I like the way the little village has developed - the W2W buildings are especially attractive and very appropriate in this setting. Excellent work on Firefighter Falls, too.

Overall, you've done a great job on this update. Each photo is interesting in its own way, and I really like the horse ranch. Reminds me of the old Houston Fat Stock Show and Rodeo, preceded by several different trail rides, including the well-known Salt Grass Trail.

Watching the participants arrive in Houston and ride alongside busy highways under the watchful eyes of police was so exciting. Soon after, the stock show and rodeo opened and was in town for at least a couple of weeks. I even got to shake hands with Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys, when I was a child! That was the only time I ever got to see him in beautiful living color, 'cause all we had back then was black-and-white TVs! Lots of wonderful memories from those days long ago.

Later...
Joan

[threestooges]

Replies:
-Ethan (ecoba): Glad to hear you liked the update, and glad to hear you'll be coming around more. As for the house facing the rails, that's actually a part of the farm lot itself. If you'll notice, in that pic the road curves which effectively allows the lot to face that way. Surprisingly it grew that way and I think I ought to find a way to better incorporate that house and driveway into the area. Unless the owner has a railcar it'd be tough to drive right out of there at the moment. Thanks for stopping by.


-Thomas Neto: Thanks! Glad to hear you enjoyed it.


-Robin (rooker1): Thanks for taking care of that Robin, and Jeroni, thanks again for the subscription! As for the PW, it may be a bit blue, but I tried to soften it with a bit of the TPW too. It does appear to be spilling at some points, partially because I wanted it to be a very shallow stream. I've seen this in a few places before, where the slope was so slight that if the water level rose even an inch it could spread out quite a bit. Perhaps not the safest in terms of flood control, but that's the way it works sometimes. Hope it doesn't seem too unrealistic. As for more updates, I do have a few more things planned, as you'll soon see.


-Vivien (Earth quake): Thanks Vivien! As I recall, the waterfall and others of similar size, can be found in the 3RREX in the 3RR section of the site. It's under Jeronij ploppable rapids and waterfalls I believe. As for the subscription, you certainly earned it, and Robin (rooker1) is going to go ahead and get that set up. Enjoy!


-Battlecat: Well thank you very much. That's a fine compliment coming from someone who has made their share of nifty little towns. As for 16.6, you could say I had some inspiration for that one based on another MD around here, though those farms there tended to focus on cattle. For such a relatively small area it does stand out pretty well on the map doesn't it? Glad you enjoyed.


-Joan (Jmouse): JBSimio's work just fit this area so well with his Small Town stuff. I think much of it is plopped (partly why there's so much of it too) but it does get the feel I was looking for. If you don't mind my asking, what's the Salt Grass Trail? I'm not too familiar with Texas aside from a visit there many years ago. Really neat you got to meet Roy Rogers, and it sounds like the Show and Rodeo was an excellent event when it came there. Glad I could bring back some memories of it, and glad you enjoyed.


So today's update will focus on Independence, the main industrial sector of Greenacre. Filled with many warehouses, distribution centers, and some high tech firms along the canals, the area is in a battle with the local residential zones. The area is desireable, even with its industrial undertones. Residential is beginning to move in and the area is changing. Likely soon dirtier industries will pull up stakes, take the moeny for the land and set up shop somewhere else. Not sure where that'll be though. Time will tell.

However, before I show the area, I had commented to Jon in Covington about his mosaics and the way I got around "cut cars" in them (you'll see in a minute). Anyway, since Jon was good enough to put together a BAT tutorial for me as I was working on the boat for 3RR (now all I need is a "how to make a convincing weathered wood texture" tutorial), I thought I'd show here, for him and anyone else with a curiousity about it, an easy way of working around it.

So here's the problem:



When you turn off that layer, the car shows through no problem, and the blue-ish car that was in the lower layer disappears:



Well, pulling out the eraser tool makes it easy to erase the parts of the upper layer that are cutting off the car:



This leaves you with the best of both worlds. The car now fully shows and you get the extra traffic where there wouldn't have been before. Since traffic moves around as you take pictures, you can also use this erasing technique to show more cars on the roads where the images overlap which can help improve the liveliness of a scene.



So with that having been said, let's see what that can do (click on it to link to the full size 1783x4359):



This has been a fun week so far, and I still have a thing or two left for tomorrow. Until then, take it easy.
-Matt