Frostwolf limps into GRV II

[frostwolf]

Let me first warn my fellow players that my map will probably not appear as yours do; being a mac user, I find that all methods of attempting to form greyscale images based on these maps have more or less failed in producing the desired map. Several greyscale maps, some of which I managed to make myself, were attempted, the best of which ended up being, as I call them, the "biblical method" ("the lesser shall be exalted, the exalted made lesser," wherein the mountains became valleys, the water became mountains, and the land itself water), and the "Ark Method" in which the entire map became water. My computer apparently can't read greyscale maps properly.

So it is that I find myself in the unenviable position of having to hand-terraform the entire region. This may take a while.

[Rayden]

Download the map from this link - http://rayden.zftp.com/sc4/Bordertown-GRVII-A.zip - extract the folder from inside and copy it into your regions folder. See if it works that way.

[frostwolf]

 

Yep, that'll work, and a thousand thanks. I was not looking forward to probably three days of terraforming in between papers and other activities. 

I'll be posting images soon.

Edit: Slower going than expected, due to a slight screwup concerning the use of two of CP's tree controllers at the same time by accident. The act caused a bug where attempts to delete trees planted in the corners and east-west sides of the region caused the region to crash. I will be redownloading the region and sending it back through the mill. Should have images up sometime tommorow.

I hope.

[frostwolf]

Challenge 1
The Grand River region, forming the border between Scotia, in the North, and Nexia in the South, has long been an unsettled wilderness. The area is rich in timber and mineral resources. Recently, however, the area was finally opened to settlement. These two countries, Nexia and Scotia, have therefore formed an alliance to turn this area into a new eden.

Scotia is a much poorer country than Nexia, mostly through a lack of infrastructure. Much of Scotia's industrial and commercial base is tied up in fishing and aquaculture, as the Scotians have a very strong attatchment to the sea. Local authorities are Governor Lynn Cannox and Mayor David Badger.

Nexia is much richer, and is more focused on manufacture, industry, banking, and international trade. If airports, seaports, high speed rail, and public transportation are built, Nexians are more likely to have them. Local authorities are Governor Fred Bison and Mayor David Wolf.

Because of various difficulties in running the map the first time around, I unfortunately had to scrap and restart. Thus, I was not in any mood to deal with trees and other details at the moment. Without running trees, I jumped straight into the project, finishing challenge 1 sans city detail.


City View with City Names


Challenge 1 transportation map.

Highway 101 enters the region along the West Fork of the Iron River. Because this river is impassable to large craft above this area, this bridge is low. After crossing the river, the road turns east, along the Grand River, into Bridgetown, where it crosses from Scotia to Nexia, thereby forming the backbone of the city center. Here, as the river is passable to larger traffic, the bridges are raised up on high ramps to allow passage below of smaller scows and barges. The road then turns east again, before heading southeast to the coast near Manchester.

The S&N Railroad enters the region skirting the iron-rich mountains on the North-eastern edge of tile A (Scott's Landing), crosses the south end of Fern Lake (here, too, the river below is impassable to larger craft, so low bridges are the order of the day), before entering Bridgetown from the North. It then crosses the river close to the main road and heads due south into Oak river before turning east through the other regions, rejoining the road and exiting inland in Manchester. Because the Grand River mouth is, at this time, incapable of supporting a large port, and because no other coastal tile is planned for seaport expansion, this rail line allows connection to the industrial and agricultural heartland of Nexia, as well as the mines and logging operations around Fern Lake in Scotia. Future expansion is planned toward Iron Mountain, but that is a long way off.


Tile E (Bridgetown, facing NW: Note ramps raising bridge to sufficient height to allow river traffic along Grand River.)

Total cost of transportation routes: $35,000-$40,000, between both countries, greatest expenditure, Bridgetown bridges, about $15,000-$20,000 for terraforming and bridges.

Think that covers everything.

[mrbisonm]

I will give you my opinion later, when I finished the second challenge judging. But I can already see that the points would have been quite good, but......lol......you have an advantage there. You know how we judged the others before you made yours.

Anyways, try to get your second in as quickly as possible.

Nice job

Fred

[frostwolf]

Well, of course I looked at everyone else's judging before I did this. I'm no fool.

Okay, Challenge #2. First, the region view, showing the new road. The old road, Highway 101, at the bridge. The new road, Highway 22, is marked on the map. It heads east across the Oak River before turning south into the city of Oak River (H) and then turns east again at the Oak River Power Station into Oak Springs (G). This road was built in this way to increase access into what is to become the agricultural and industrial centers of Nexia (which, if you've already forgotten, is the country on the South side of the river.)



At the same time, these roads also provided access to the new utilities that were ordered up by Nexian governor Fred Bison. There was some debate as to where these industries should be located, and some talk of putting them in Scotia. However, Scotian mayor David Badger, having had to pay a considerable amount of money for the bridges of Bridgetown, did not have nearly enough money to build the necessary facilities. With required power and water output for 20,000 people, about the only place with enough money to build such complexes was Nexia. In the city of Oak River (H), the Grand River Valley Power Authority (GRVPA) built a large geothermal complex. The main complex is supported by three unnmanned generators and a substation. Two large solar cells were thrown in more or less as an afterthought, to fill in the remaining area.


GRVPA Geothermal Facility and Worker Housing (Facing North)


Closeup of facility (All power units except SNM Power provided by Pegasus)

Meanwhile, in Oak Springs (G), Newman Inc. was contracted to build a water supply station. Two large reservoirs were dug to support the water company, supported currently by at least one water treatment plant to help purify and process the water. The output of this building is more than sufficient to provide water for at least 200,000 residents under the most liberal projections. (Real world numbers relating to water usage; I have no clue what SC4 water usage is like)


Newman Inc. Water Company (facing North)

[mrbisonm]

Again it looks good, although I personally find the powerplant a little too big for a 15 to 25 thousand population. We will have a good look at your first and second challenge within the next week. Nice work.

For challenge 3, I will find someone who will control your oponent's side.......!

Good luck.

Fred

[frostwolf]

Really?  Whoops. I thought it was a bit small. All told, it's only about 16,000 MWH. Adding in industrial facilities, commercial districts, and, with proper clearance, a future power drain like a municipal or even regional airport (there's no tile in the city large enough to support an accurate international airport, let alone a runway big enough for a 747), I kind of figured I'd need a lot more power than that in the future. Of course, I wasn't really sure how much I'd need, so I probably went slightly overboard

Also, quite naturally, I had no clue what you were up to.

And just to make it interesting, I'll take the North side of the river, which has essentially no money, two small settlements currently under construction at Tiles E and L, and, of course, following this seperation, does not have access to the power and water stations I just built. This leaves the south in control of the larger settlement on the south side of the river at tile E.

Like the man said, I like to live dangerously. Also, if there's to be war, I want the high ground.

[mrbisonm]

Also, if there's to be war, I want the high ground.

lol.....not dumb at all.......lol. We'll see.
Power and waterplants will be judged by the looks of size and not by what they produce since thsat we don't see. If the powerplant looks a bit too big or too small to supply a population of 15K to 25K, it will be judged with lower points. That is why we mentioned the population count in the challenge. The acceptable marge will be large though.
If any of the non-official Players need to have some questions answered, please do so in the challenge 3 thread as all the other players.

Good luck

Fred


.....liking to live dangerously you say?........hm.......

[frostwolf]

Because my old backstory no longer works for the challenge, I've rewritten it. Here's the new backstory. All challenge material obviously remains the same. This is written just prior to the revolution, and serves to highlight some of the things I've been working on recently. I'll do some post revolution stuff in a day or so. If anybody wants to see more pictures, or better pictures of specific areas, let me know.

N.B. I use custom content from just about everyone, and I've lost track of everyone whose stuff I use, as every peice of custom content I use is someone else's (without bootcamp, Mac users can't play with the fun stuff). You'll see stuff from Simpeg, Simtropolis, and this site. Since this is as good a place as any to say it, thanks everyone for your stuff, and  . Terrain mod is Columbus, with CPT Generic Tree Controller, and lots of mayor mode trees. Water mod is brigantine from Pegasus.

Background Rewrite
The Grand River Region is a former wilderness area on the southern border of New Caledonia. Though the region has been sparsely populated in the past, it is only recently, under the government of governor Fred Bison that the region has been truly built up.

The region is divided by the Grand River into North and South, or Scotia County and Grand County respectively. Three smaller rivers feed into the Grand; Fern River, Iron River, and Oak River. North of the river, most of the trees are pines and other evergreens, such as redwoods, firs, and larches. South of the river, the forests are mostly oak, elm, and pine. The North is also dominated by the Iron Mountains, a good source of coal, iron, and other mineral resources. However, as of yet, these resources have not been exploited.

As of this writing, only five settlements have been built: Bridgetown, North Bridgetown, Oak River, Oak Springs, and Sand Point. Of these, only two have enough population to truly be considered cities: Bridgetown and Sand Point. Currently, the region is almost entirely agricultural, though Sand Point has a medium-sized fishing harbor and Bridgetown supports a burgeoning industrial town.

The south is rumored to be home to a group of separatists who believe that the region can support itself without help from the rest of New Caledonia. The separatists are rumored to be heavily armed through international connections. The North, with less population, is less involved in the movement, as it is more to their advantage to stay with New Caledonia.

Bridgetown (Tile E)

The regional capital. Built on the south side of the Grand River, Bridgetown is home to the only bridges linking the North with the South.


The Grand River Bridges form the only connection between North and South. The bridges were raised to allow for river traffic to pass underneath, in the hope that as the region expanded, it could become an industrial center.


"North Bridgetown" (Tile E)
Technically a part of Bridgetown, North Bridgetown is a tiny settlement on the North side of the river, supporting a few foundries and several local farms.


Sand Point (Tile L)
Caledonians have always had a connection to the sea, and Sand Point is home to a transplanted mayor originally from the New Caledonian region of Scotia, Mayor David Badger, as well as several other Scotian families. As such, the city is based almost entirely upon seafood. There are a few farms, not pictured, toward the west.


The harbor is dominated by four large seafood packing houses: three owned by Somy Seafood, and one owned by Jestarr Seafood. Despite appearances to people unfamiliar with seafaring, the harbor is tiny, and, without dredging equipment or substantially larger facilities, cannot support craft longer than 80 feet. Local fishing boats, however, crowd almost every square inch of the waterfront.


Sand Point is also home to the local volunteer rescue boat. Most of the city fathers, including Mayor Badger, are on call 24 hours a day, ready to respond to any emergency.


Just offshore lies the Sand Point Light, a screw pile lighthouse whose beacon warns ships away from the dangerous shoals near the point.


Oak River (Tile H)
Oak River is home to the geothermal power station that serves as the main power supply for the region. The station's main power comes from one main and three auxillary generators, supported by two solar panels. From here, power is fed into the main transformer and sent out through high tension wires. A small group of houses provide homes for the power station workers.


Oak Springs (Tile G)
Oak Springs is the main water supplier for the region. The water from the springs here is incredibly pure and pollution free, which is why Newman Inc. built it's plant here. Two large reservoirs, fed by water pumped from the springs, provide water for the main pump. The local settlement provides homes for the workers.

[mrbisonm]

Not considering what you were not to build or show us in the official challenges, we considered you first challenge to gain 7 points. Roads were quite logical and efficient, but the rail-bridge over the lake is off budget, such a long and difficult bridge would have cost a fortune and surely not satisfy the Governor. 4 for the route and 3 for the rails.

Then for the second challenge, your second route was an excellent choice giving access to most of the south-west, 4 points were given.
Nice choice of lots chosen for the powerchallenge, but houses are a little too close for comfort and only 3 points were given.
The waterstation looks better, although again the worker's homes are a little too close, but nevertheless, we gave you 4 points for the waterchallenge because it was nicely done.

A total of 11 points were given for challenge 2.

Hint, the next time please turn off the grid when taking pictures, it somehow destroys the image in a way. Thanks.

Nice going and we are eager to see how you handle challenge 3 now.


Lynn and Fred

[frostwolf]

April 9, 0200 Hours
This is the Caledonian News Service. Only a few hours ago, heavily armed seperatists took over all territory south of the Grand River in the Grand River region. According to sources within the regional government, at the order of the governor, local law enforcement officers have retreated to the north side of the river and have established barricades controlling the bridge, leaving the seperatists in control of the south. A checkpoint has been established on the road just north of the bridge, manned by sheriff's officers and hastily deputized local civilians.

Local officials have declared a state of emergency. At this time, access to the south is severely limited, but we do have photographic confirmation that the rail lines south of the bridge have been severed. More news will follow as events unfold.


Report to Governor Fred Bison from Chief Regional Supervisor David Wolf, April 19
Sir:
Though almost all contact has been lost with the south over the last ten days, and it is still unclear who the seperatists are, how they were armed, and what exactly happened, some things have become more clear with time.
I confess that there was some confusion about exactly what you wanted me to do about the rail lines, so, under the rule "better safe than sorry," I took the liberty of cutting them just north of the bridge in the early afternoon of the 9th.

I am told that they have also cut the rail lines south of the bridge, and though it is difficult to see from this image, there is a seperation just south of the bridge.

The local sheriff has established a police checkpoint just north of the 101 Bridge, manned by locals and deputies. They have strict orders to avoid confrontation but also to ensure that no weapons or violent elements cross the river. A watchtower has been erected, and a permanent gatehouse is under construction.

I await your further orders and instructions.

[frostwolf]

Just so that it is clear, and in case people aren't very good at close reading, the seperatists control the south, the loyalists, the north. The destruction of the rail line was the only picture from the south that I included, as, strictly speaking, I no longer have any control over the south. It's someone else's problem now

Despite the lack of infrastructure, I chose to build in the North for several reasons. I like the fishing town I built at Sand Point, and I was planning on spending most of my time and energy in the north anyway. Mainly, I like having the mountains at my back. It gives me someplace to go if things really get bad. I also built a border checkpoint because, let's face it, nobody, but nobody, is going to ignore a group of "heavily armed seperatists" taking over a huge swath of territory. Technically, I suppose the gatehouse is military, as I'm using the small gatehouse from SNM, but it doesn't have tanks or attack helicopters, so it doesn't look military.

Oh, and before I forget (again):

The newest road is Highway 2, which connects the North west side of the river and Haven.

[mrbisonm]

Thank you for your update.

We have now taken note and copied the pictures of your challenge 3, it will be judged after the deadline.
Now you can do whatever you wish to do within your regionhalf only, but make sure not to overbuild it comparing to the rest of the region. It might give you some serious problems later on.
You do NOT have the right to touch anything of the part that belongs to the Separatists.

Challenge 4 will be partially given by your adversary and you will give a challenge to someone else. Who will be challenging who and the matter of the challenge will be discussed in the Challenge 4 thread once everyone has turned in their part of this challenge.

Are you ready to be told what to do by a Separatist and a Governor? Good luck and we hope you enjoyed this one.

Lynn and Fred

[jmyers2043]

I like the fishing town I built at Sand Point

That makes it the two of us. I like it as well. I also like how you've zoned Tile E.

[frostwolf]

No pictures here today. Working on papers and getting ready to graduate has slowed me down considerably, and doing pictures is too much of a hassle at this moment. However, I figured I'd just post a quick preview of what I've been working on in the odd moments of quiet, just so nobody thinks I bailed on the project. Pictures will probably be posted later in the week.

What is in the works:
-Farming communities have sprouted up all along the northern banks of the Grand River, and along the tributaries to the north. Fern Lake has also begun to establish itself as an industrial town, and as the home of the regional waste to energy plant. Regional population 3500 and climbing.

-Main power and water supply serving the North side of the River are under construction.

-Rail lines have been extended along the base of the Rampart Mountains, allowing for development of the mines.

-Rail lines have also been extended along the northern river bank, connecting Bridgetown with the coast, thereby allowing greater flexibility in transportation.

-Border checkpoint has been completed at Bridgetown. Traffic across the bridge is still heavily restricted. Several watchtowers have been established along the north bank of the Grand River to watch the separatist region, and patrols continue to sweep the river. Contact with the South remains difficult at best, with no clear authority as of yet, but, for the most part, cordial. With no military forces in the area, control over these operations falls to the Sheriff and his deputized posse. The situation is reported as completely stable.

-Supervisor is currently engaging in studies for the establishment of a local airport supporting VFR traffic. Which city will be chosen is still "up in the air."

-Feasibility studies into regional airport have begun. According to sources within the Supervisor's office, a regional airport capable of supporting narrow-body jets is feasible, but runways large enough to support wide body jets are "unequivocally insupportable" in the region. Projections state that the price tag of such a project would almost certainly involve six figures at the least, and would take up a massive portion of land, making such a project unlikely to be seriously considered at this time. At this time, it appears that a much smaller airport serving commuter jets and propeller aircraft is considerably more realistic and likely.

-Feasibility studies are also underway into potential future establishment expansion of harbor facilities at Sand Point and along the river. According to sources within the Supervisor's office, both of these studies are, at this stage, an anticipation of potential future instructions by the governor. As the source noted, "Better safe than sorry."

[zzsteven]

 Mayor Badger,

As the representative of the Southern Council of ROwdey UNDesireables and Righteous LowlifeS I would like to thank you and your police forces for the restrain shown during the recent troubles. The council expects this restraint will continue. It is our hope to avoid further escalation which will lead to possible bloodshed.

In the spirit of coexisting together we have a few requests for the development of Oak River ( Tile H):


1- Zone an adequate amount of industrial to accomadate the citizens of Bridgetown and Oak River.
2- Zone some commercial to give the residents a place to aquire needed services.
3- Zone additional residential to foster growth in Grand County but not more than the jobs will allow.
4- Adequate power, water, and garbage disposal resources are to be provided.
5- Police, fire, health, and educational facilities are to be built as needed to promote the growth and wellbeing of the       citytile.
6- Provide adequate road/rail/ mass transit transportation as required to provide timely and uncongested movement.

The ratio of RCI is left to you as is the building of parks and other items to foster desirability.

Mr. Mayor please do not misconstrue our attempt for a civil conversation as a sign of weakness, we will bare our fangs if required.

Respectfully,

Stephen Blumrath


A personal note to Mr. Badger,
I have the sad duty to report that Mr. Wolf passed away during the troubled times. The stress was more than his heart could withstand. We had many spirited discussions and a few arguments over the years, I will miss him.

SB


(ooc) I tried to keep this within you your background story, hopefully it was close. zz

[frostwolf]

From Chief Supervisor Badger to Representative Blumrath:

Re: Requesting confirmation of orders

Sir-

Your instructions on industrial zoning are unclear. You say that the industrial zone in Oak River must "accomadate" the populations of both Bridgetown and Oak River. Bridgetown already has a sizable industrial district. By "accomadate" do you mean, "have access to road and rail?" If not, then explain.

Also, what bank of the river do you wish your new industrial district to be on? Rail access is provided to the East bank of the river. I can connect the east bank to Bridgetown with a new road if you want.

Power and water are both provided to Oak River at this time. Water is being pumped from Oak Springs, and the power station at Oak River is still well within capacity. With your permission, I will expand the water pipes to connect to Fortuna, for future development, and increase the water import to allow for the increased development.

Is there a target population of Oak River that you have in mind?

Housekeeping: Your school and hospital funding in Bridgetown is at capacity. Do you wish to increase funding to these institutions, and do you wish such increases to be automatic in the future?

Reply as to instructions.

Yours, etc.
David Badger
Chief County Supervisor, Rampart County

OOC: When they say, don't touch the seperatist region, I take that seriously. You are in charge in the south, you call the shots. Also, start thinking about what kind of checkpoint you want on your side of the Bridgetown bridge, if any. The only checkpoint built is the one on the North side of the river.

Looking forward to working with you.

-David

[zzsteven]

To County Supervisor Badger:

Sir,

The council realizes it is lacking in basic information regarding the infrastructure and zoning of Grand County. As a result we request the following:

  1- An aerial picture of Oak River.
  2- An aerial picture of Bridgetown showing the current zoning.
  3- A description of the power and water connections made to the various city tiles. The current agreements between the citytiles will also be needed.


The councils plans are to turn Bridgetown into a center of commerce the world will envy. Adjacent areas will provide the support for this vision.

-Industrial development should be along the east side of the river. This will also require a freight/passenger train
station.
-Residential development is to be of low and medium density with provisions for the future need to increase density as the
region developes.
-Road requirements are covered under item #6.
-The connection of water pipes with Fortuna is agreed to.
-As Fortuna is currently outside of our realm of responsability do not increase the budget to accomadate them yet. Per item #4 the budget shall be appropiate to the demands of Oak River and Bridgetown.

Respectfully,
Stephen Blumrath
Southern Council of ROwdy UNDesirables and RightEous Lowlifes

OOC:  Regarding the funding in Bridgetown: According to the rules I am only permitted to work in one tile. This presents a bit of a problem since the schools and hospitals are in the southern territory. I would say no, neither of us are allowed to do anything in the south part of Bridgetown at this time.

I can't wait (and dread) to see what you have in store for me LOL

zz

[frostwolf]

Understood. Images to follow shortly.

-Badger.