Adara - Update 184 - March 26, 2012

[Tomas Neto]

Fantastic update again!!! Great work!!!

[Battlecat]

bat: Thanks very much for stopping in!  Glad you enjoyed the view!  I appreciate each and every visit, I mostly just keep the stats for my own amusement! 

sumwonyuno: That's absolutely correct, silly me for not posting that information!  There's supposed to be a key in the first part of the graph, apparently it got deleted by accident.  I really love that particular R$$ building, usually buildings like that are reserved for R$$$. 

Cyclone1001: Thanks, glad you enjoyed the update!

Jordan (canyonjumper): Yeah that was a pretty large update.  And this one is as well!  About half the city names I've used so far are from real BC towns.  Thanks for visiting and for your support!

Turtle: Good to see you again!  I had a pretty good holiday, hope yours was good as well!  I'm slowly moving forward with Winfield here; glad you enjoyed the various neighbourhoods I've put together so far!  It's been quite challenging to allow for some unexpected developments, but I've allowed a few like the high wealth towers that grew near the shore.  Thanks for stopping in!

Ethan (ecoba): Thanks for stopping in as always!  I appreciate lurkers just as much; they're just really hard to count!  :-)  I'm really happy with how that neighborhood turned out as well!  You're right about the doubling and tripling of buildings, I've see so many developments with multiple identical buildings; it's just a part of reality.  I've even got a development like that going up right next to my office! 

ShultzCity: Welcome to Adara!  Thanks very much for stopping in and for your kind words!  Also, I've found your MD quite inspiring, I'm looking forward to getting a chance to test some ideas you've mentioned in your recent tutorial!   

mightygoose: Thanks!  Not sure what's up with those trains, It seems to be kind of out of my hands! 

976: Thanks very much!

djvandrake: Thanks!   Glad you approve of the transformation!  I had a lot of fun putting the final touches on this area. 

Geoff (calibanX): Thanks very much!  I'd love to get my hands on more diagonal buildings, but these things do take time for people to develop.  They do make a big difference though, glad you like it! 

Kwakelaar: Even though it's not entirely realistic, I find the green space visually appealing.  I'll be putting it in where ever I can I'm sure!  Thanks for your kind words!

Tomas Neto: Thanks very much!

Update 76
Winfield – Back to Suburbia

Welcome back everyone!  It was a busy weekend, but I've still managed to put together an update for you all!  Today I'm going back to the suburban development and I'm also finally heading up towards the highland area on the East side of town.  Hope you enjoy it.

Also, for those of you who are waiting on the release of the GLR Sandstone style mod, it's been slightly delayed by a small issue I overlooked while preparing the textures.  I've got some work to do to replace the textures for the dragable network so that all the colors match up properly.  Hopefully I'll have that done soon!  Anyhow, here goes update 76! 

76-1: To start off, the AI has been yelling at me about airports for ages now.  Finally I downloaded one of the functional airport mods that contain a set of airport shuttle lots.  This little bus stop is the first one.  It grew rapidly to its full capacity and thus will have to be replaced already!


76-2: First on the agenda today, this little block of leftover land.  I'm going to put some apartments and a few offices here. 


76-3: Just a quick WIP shot as I level out the terrain to make room for the buildings I'm hoping for.


76-4: In the meantime, I got tired of the yelling and built a new airport shuttle building.  This is the largest capacity one on the list.  It seems to be meeting the demand now.


76-5: A fairly standard block of apartments here, but this will do the trick for now!


76-6: These two blocks aren't very exciting, so I won't be spending to much time on them.  Just a few offices and a couple smaller commercial service developments.


76-7: Now for the real fun, up to the highland for some suburban development!  I'm going to be zoning out larger blocks going forward, but I'm still phasing it so I don't loose track of what I'm doing.  I'm going to use the black street style up here, just for something different. 


76-8: Here's the first block of development ready to roll.  I'm going to add a commercial block at the GLR corner, and also up at the avenue near the tile boundary. 


76-9: Phase 1 of growth is done.  By the way, this is for the second time.  Right about at the time I was finished most of this update I had a power flicker and lost everything!  Next it's time to make everything historical and fill in the gaps!  Oh and also weeding out any buildings I don't want.


76-10: Late in the fall the residential has pretty much finished filling in.  There are a couple empty lots, but they'll sort themselves out given time.
 

76-11: By the time spring has rolled around, I've finished up this area, complete with a mixed forest on the slope below. 


76-12: Here's a quick look at a park hidden in the middle of this area. 


76-13: Time for the next block, this one overlooks the canyon.  There always more room for houses of worship, so I've added on in here. 


76-14: Once again, here we are at the halfway point.  This neighborhood has been a lot more stubborn about developing nicely.  I'm trying to avoid the maxis style homes that I mostly use for cabins. 


76-15: While I wait for this to finish growing, I'm going to plop in some trees and foliage clinging to the canyon walls. 


76-16: It seems appropriate to stick with fast growing deciduous trees here.  It's hard to see but there's a fair bit of random shrubs on the slope as well. 


76-17: Still having some trouble with growth, how about a couple quick shots of the GLR in action?  This one disappeared behind the trees while I was grabbing my camera. 


76-18: But this one was kind enough to pause while I focused.  It's just leaving the station to head out towards the edge of town. 


76-19: Last shot for the day today.  This is a quick overview of the completed neighborhood.  Turned out quite nice if I do say so myself!


For the next update I'll continue to the other side of the canyon and continue sweeping north along the highland edge.  Hope you enjoyed this update!  Thanks for stopping by, I'll see you all next time! 

[ShultzCity]

Very nice! I love the suburban areas, and the natural feel to it all. I'm going to take a lot of inspiration from your MD as I try and build my region

[canyonjumper]

Nice update! I agree with you; that neighbourhood turned out well. I guess the GLR didn't want it's picture taken . I can't wait 'til you 'jump' the canyon .

                    -Jordan

[Tomas Neto]

Great work on this suburbs!!! Very nice update!!!

[Cyclone1001]

Looks good, not much else to say.

[mightygoose]

well another fantastic update, i like the fact im not the only one to use individual zones for houses.

very pituresqe although the river didn't quite seem up to your usual exceptional standard XD

[threestooges]

You sure you haven't used GLR before? You seem to be handling it just fine. The couple of GLR shots too were nice touches. I particularly liked 76-17. While the tram itself is hidden behind trees, it's the trees themselves that interest me. I don't normally think about it, but running through a residential neighborhood, it probably would be nice to have the buffer. Granted, I like trains, so I'd probably try to find a place without one, but then, that's just me.

Nice work on the canyon, 76-16. I can think of a number of areas around here that looks quite similar (perhaps a bit more dried grass around here, but the idea's still the same) and trees at the bottom really do help complete the look. The small bushes you've used, even though they don't stand out on their own, help to break up the textures and add a bit more depth. You don't really see them there, but you would miss them if they were gone.

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted around here, but it's been great to catch up on what you've been up to lately. The lake turned out nice. the bridge looks good, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the boat dock ultimately turns out. It's coming along quite well. Makes me realize it's about time I made another Greenacre update. Looking forward to what you have in store next.
-Matt

[bat]

Nice views of the suburbia's development!
That are 19 great new shots of Winfield!

[djvandrake]

Very nice work on these lower density suburbs.  They look great. 

I really like the GLR you've put in and the action shots are a treat. 

[kwakelaar]

A nice new neighbourhood and I like the way the church is situated on the top of the hill, in the last overview image it seems like the perfect spot it.

[BuildingUp]

Absolutely wonderful update. Really love the fall foliage and the way you planned out the suburbs. 

[Battlecat]

ShultzCity: Thanks!  Despite them being horribly inefficient, I really like the way suburbs usually look!  Glad you found some inspiration!

Jordan (canyonjumper): The GLR trains move surprisingly fast, it's sometimes really hard to catch them!  Thanks for stopping in, and for your little play on words there!

Tomas Neto: Thanks very much!

Cyclone1001: Thanks!  Glad you like this update!

mightygoose: I find the individual zones is the bet for creating a neighbourhood that doesn't have any mansions.  Making things historical is the only way I've found to reliably kill them!  I have to agree with your assessment of the river.  I seem to recall it was put together near the end of a play session, so I was pushed for time on the first draft.  I hope it looks better after today's update! 

Matt (threestooges): It's funny you know, I find the GLR incredibly intuitive to use.  Granted, I've pretty much closely examined every single possible piece of this system while working on the sandstone mod which always helps!  We have similar tree buffers along our normal railways here in BC, even if it's just some large trees at the back of people's homes. 

Thanks for your feedback on the canyon and pretty much everything else!  I agree with how the plants affected the texture, sometimes it doesn't take much to break up the surfaces.  It's interesting how the slope of surfaces impacts the quantity of plopable features you can put down though! 

bat: I've been adding pictures fast and furious lately!  Actually, I should go have a look and see how many photos are in my archive!  I keep a duplicate copy of every image I post here!  Thanks very much for your kind words!

djvandrake: Thanks, glad you like the latest work!  I was pretty uncertain about how it was going to turn out in the long run, but it seems to have come together quite nicely! 

kwakelaar: The spot for that church just called out.  Actually, I received that particular church as a reward just a short time before starting on that neighborhood!  I figured it was just meant to be!  Thanks for stopping in!

BuildingUp: Welcome to Adara!  Thanks very much for stopping in to comment!  The shots of the fall foliage really have to be taken at the right time in my region since the plopable trees I use in other locations aren't seasonal.

Update 77
Winfield – Slumping Demand

Well things have come together nicely, but not nearly as fast as I would have liked.  I've got an update for today, but I'm going to be prioritizing getting my next candidate for the GLR mod out the door.  I've finally managed to ID which textures are part of the dragable network so I can lighten them up visually to match the puzzle pieces.  But that's a project for another day, today I've got suburbs to grow!

77-1: Here's an overview of the are as it looks right now.  A fairly simple terrace with a couple trails from the lowlands. 


77-2: My first block of residential.  There are multiple cross border streets here, which will help blend the edges when I develop the next tile east of here.  It's probably not going to be the next tile though.  In fact, I think I'm going to put that decision up for a vote in the next update or two. 


77-3: Here's the area when development is about halfway done.  It's lagging a bit though, which is a point of concern. 


77-4: Here's the neighborhood in its near completed state now.  Still a few lots to fill, but that can take care of itself.


77-5: By the GLR station I'm adding a small bit of commercial development.  I'm shooting for some corner stores and some other commercial services. 


77-6: While I'm waiting for things to grow, mightygoose made an excellent point.  The river valley wasn't my best work exactly, and there's some more I could do.  I'm not exactly experienced with these rocky river valleys, so it's taken some getting used to.  Here's the valley as it looked in the last update. 


77-7: I decided that more was the order of the day.  I increased the density of the rocks where I could, and added some more greenery amongst them.  It's still not perfect, but it's an improvement. 


77-8: Honestly, the river looks much nicer at this angle anyhow.  I'm reasonably satisfied with this for now but I may come back again at a later date, particularly if anyone has thoughts on what else could be done. 


77-9: Hey, lets look at it one step further out just for fun and because I happen to have the shot. 


77-10: So, as I mentioned, the residential lots have been slower to grow and I'm also starting to get more and more of the ugly maxis style low wealth.  So I had a look at the demand chart.  Looks like I've almost built out residential demand here!  Good thing I'm slipping in a bit more commercial, but I'm going to need a more robust solution.  I'll see what I can do about that in update 78. 


77-11: In the meantime, a few more commercial lots should help bolster demand while I polish up the area I want to finish today. 


77-12: But first, another action shot.  It wasn't too hard to get since the GLR is quite nice and busy! 


77-13: A missing feature of the community is graveyards.  Here's one out in the suburbs.  And as you can, I'm transitioning to the large lot residential style now.  With these lots, I have a higher chance of getting visually appealing homes in the low wealth bracket. 


77-14: In the meantime, some more businesses have popped up.  A minigolf place that's way off the beaten track, and a small pub fill out this area nicely. 


77-15: And the homes are growing nicely.  I've transitioned back to grey streets here, I'm imagining that this is an older neighborhood.  When demand gets high enough, many of these might get split in the real world.


77-16: One last block of growth for today.  Despite the slumping demand, this will develop fully. 


77-17: Right out of left field, here's the finished marina.  I finally managed to add the visual road access back on to the lot. 


77-18: Just to wrap up the day, here's an overview showing the edge of the currently developed city. 


That's all for today.  For the next update, it's time to go back to Westside and add a few more businesses, possibly even a bit of industrial development to the community.  If a miracle happens, I might update Saturday, but it's most likely I'll be back with another round of development Monday morning.  Have a great weekend everyone! 

[djvandrake]

I love your residentail blocks, they really look great. 

[Tomas Neto]

I agree with djvandrake, another great update!!! 

[Cyclone1001]

^ Third. Great stuff

[ecoba]

Gasp, I missed an update! How horrible of me... 

Well, this will be a long reply then.

Airports? Hm, well those shuttle lots over the city certainly seem to maybe have doused that issue. I really like that first shot of the airport shuttle lot, the midrises around as well as the large amount of trees in Winfield certainly make the lot blend in nicely, and it almost looks more like a realistic bus stop to me then a shuttle lot. Or is that what it is and I'm just missing something.

I like how those apartments grew, of course they will probably re-develop into some custom buildings after a while, but I think the Maxis ones that grew there are really a nice blend for the area. The Euro set is definitely Maxis' strongest building set. I like the creek in the canyon, and the updates to it in Update 77 did improve it a bit, you're right, but it seemed very realistic from the start. Ah, the suburbs, they've grown up nicely. It's a shame that the demand is slumping, that happens to me after a while, and so I think that's why I have such a weakness at large cities. I think that the area at the top of the hill has finished off nicely as well, and the contunuation of the suburbs across the creek really seems nice, and that certainly is a nice variety of smaller commercial BATs ever, I haven't seen much of them in a while.

Hoping for Update 78 soon!

Ethan

[io_bg]

Great-looking suburban development! I particularly like the shot with the GLR-in-road running through the forest!

[canyonjumper]

Awesome shots, Battlecat! I really like the way you used PEG's Marina lots. That turned out really well . Have you considered using a demand mod? There's one I use that let's you change the demand while playing, using the ordinances menu. It works really well. Anyways, excellent 77^th update, and looking forward, as always, to the next one. And as for my play on words, I couldn't resist

                  -Jordan

[mightygoose]

fantastic work, it really looks like a small town there, and the river looks much, much better.