Urland - a (mostly) rural Coastline

[threeswept]

How amazingly detailed! I do love the overview of the area - a patchwork of green. Lovely!

[Battlecat]

Nice to see another update so soon!  Nice job on this latest tile, it looks amazing!

[Tomas Neto]

Very pretty this update, with a rank of impressive details!!! The dedication with that you present your cities is fantastic too!!! 

[Nardo69]

Oh boy, already more than 45 days passed? Well, I had been rather busy on simforum the last week with my village competition but now it's about time then to get Urland out of the Inactive MDs and back to life!

As always before we start:

metarvo: Actually I was inspired by a HV running through the woods of my parents neighbour village. The bushes and scrubs underneath the wires have a height of 3-5 meters and are yet not as high as the wires itself or the surrounding wood trees ... 
Hopefully you are not too disappointed - yet no rails to come in this tutorial nor in the upcoming update (but that will be the end of the railway free updates - promise! )

threestooges: There are sone jagged edges and it took some time to cover them. Glad you like them.  As for the railways, well beneath this one there will be one more railwayfree update ... 

threeswept: Thanks for the compliment! But the overview isn't finished yet ...

Battlecat: Well, one fast one and then some time to wait ... typical me, somehow ... Hope you like the tutorial!

Tomas Neto: Thanks man! The problem about dedication is just it doesn't accelerate my working speed at all, just the opposite ... 

So, as I said before - no update  but a small tutorial  :

Nardo's way of a temperate deciduous forest

My home is Germany, or more exactly South Germany with a lot of dense temperate deciduous forests. I like the different tree mods but they have one thing in common: compared to the woods I love they aren't by far dense enough.

I tried then with SimFox's great tree models but if I placed them in the desired density structures get lost in an indefinable greyish green. Soi I developed my very own way to create the variety of green in the desired density:



That's the area I want to plant trees. The forrest roads are already laid out include a watchtower from kwakelaar's great city wall set as some nice eyecandy.



The basic skeletton of my woods mainly consists of two of SimFox's trees - the first is the "Big Round Tree" which is also VERY suitable for any kind of solitaire trees on fields etc.!



I plant them not too dense. Pls don't make my mistake and rotate the map frequently while planting or any kind of trees will look a bit ... uniform at the end!



The second "Skeleton" tree model is SimFox's Large Plane Tree, one of the most versatile tree model available at the moment. Unlike the Big Round Tree clicking frequently on the same place change the tree modell giving a greater variety,



The sekeleton is finished. Don't place these trees to dense or you might have problems to insert other tree models!



Here I added quite some CP trees, namely larches and broad leef trees. Deciduous forrest have a large variety of green (which I do like) especially end of May and in Junde so don't be afraid to mix different modells!

Note however that the larch trees are mainly located at the border of the forest which will lead uis directly to the next step(s)!



Forrests in my homelands mainly consists of two areas: the inner forest and the borders. While the inner forest is mainly dominated by not too much different trees as the big trees consume most of the sunlight the borders have a incrdeible number of different trees - larches, cherry trees, walnut and chestnut trees just to name some. In addition to them you find also a lot of bushes and scrubs in the lower area forming something as a wall between free fields and the wood.

This wall has an important function as trees do get sunburn. The trunks of the trees inside the forest don't stand sun (except for winter sun) and exposing them to sunlight will lead to the death of the tree.

In Simcity the forest border is IMHO the most important area of the forest as it is the area which is mostly not covered by other trees!

In this example I will plant a lot of Simfox's chestnut trees at the borders.



Another really important tree model from SimFox is the Small Mapple Tree as it is the best model IMHOP for larger bushes and scrubs available - for fences as well as filers on the forrest border!



Not a European tree yet I like to plant some of the Eucalyptus trees in the forest due to its visibal big branches to finish the forest of.



And that's the result after it's done. Before I developed that method I prefered tree lots now I prefer Mayor Model Trees.

What do you think?

Have fun!


Bernhard 

[rooker1]

Hey Bernhard,
I think it looks fantastic and is very helpful for some of us that just throw down a tree or two and call it done.  In my case, I guess the pollution won't let that many trees grow.  Now I just wish you had of turned off the grid and added some grass type of vegetation by Chrisadams3997.

Robin 

[TheTeaCat]

Hi Bernhard

A mini update with a built in tutorial - very nice indeed 

The watchtower is a great idea and looks fantastic surrounded by all the trees.
Excellent choice of BAT for it too. 

I must admit that I have to agree with Robin regarding the grid

Till the next time

regards
Derry

[Battlecat]

That's a neat way to produce a good looking deciduous forest!  Thanks for sharing your technique!

[joelyboy911]

Very nice, I've been using a method similar to that (but different in many ways, of course) for a little while now. I agree about Mayor Mode trees. They're the best.

Although, isn't that an evergreen forest? Since deciduous means the leaves fall off?

Anyway, SimFox, C.P and others have made some excellent tree models. Its great to see how other people use them.
Plus, I also like Goldiva's but I doubt they would fit in, in Germany!

[Andreas]

Although, isn't that an evergreen forest? Since deciduous means the leaves fall off?

Well, technically, you're right, but oaks and maples and chestnuts (and even larchs) are deciduous trees in RL.

[Tomas Neto]

Fantastic tutorial my friend!!! Great work!!! 

[Fabian93]

Hi,
I guess it's the first time I write here but definitively not my first visit .
Recently I had a look over most of your MD on this Forum - your rural areas are quite impressing I must say  and some of them even remind me of where I live a little bit.
That tutorial is fantastic and pretty helpful, I will try that out soon, even though I'm a rather lazy person that prefers to plop the same trees over and over 

Keep up the good work,
Fabian 

[Nardo69]

Hello To All!

This time I don't wait untill I fall into the Inactive MDs ... 

Actually I planned to do this update and last time's tutorial in one single update but RL didn't let me. So I continue more or less from Update 10 plus the tutorial ...

Anyway before start as usual Replies & Answers:

rooker1: Hi Robin - glad you like it. About the grid: I usually do two kind of screenshots:

• Tech shots for any kind of documentation, LE work or tutorials. In Tech shots I allways turn the grid on for aspects of terrain shape, size and scale.
• Art Shots, any kind of screenshots intended for updates etc. These screenshots follow asthetically rules of photography. As such grid is always off

And since last update was a tutorial, grid was turned on.

TheTeaCat: Hi Derry! Yes, I felt like doing a tutporial especially since I couldn't get my thoughts updated ... 
Yes, I still do love Kwakelaars Citywalls, especially because sometimes you can use them in another way

Battlecat: Your welcome! I just wish I could do your alpine pine tree woods, too ...  

joelyboy911: No, they are deciduous. The trees fall off, my home SW Germany is famous for its autumn colours. I do like Goldiva, too, but Palm trees ... well ... I had some banana farms in Urland (and got virtually beaten for that) but for palm trees in Germany Global Warming isn't effective enough at the moment ...

Andreas: Thanks for the answer, my friend!

Tomas Neto Thanks for the compliment!

Fabian93: Hello and Welcome To Urland! Glad you like my rural settings. Actually I did the same as you some time ago but you know the result wasn't convincing. And if the result isn't convincing I look for new ways!

And now let's go in medias res and begin

Update Nr. 11: Rammelsbach III (and final)

Last time we did the forrest tutorial in Rammelsbach so now we start in the middle of the forrest!



The watchtower on the hill. The RRP paintings are Green Rye and Big yellow flowers. I like them - they remind me of dandelion.



You can hardly see the access road through the trees.



The access road crosses the whole little forest until it reaches its border - defined here by another dirt track.



Another angle shows this nice view on the transitions from wood to fields. You can also spotr some of the older JeroniJ trees here - especially Ulmus and Aesculap add some nice green variation in the middle of the woods!



Another finished corner of the map!  This overview also shows how neat SimFox's "Big Round Tree" looks as a solitary tree!



The other corner of this border of the map is finished, too. I especially like the small country lane that goes up the hill between the two fields:



with some trees and RRP painting it turned out really neat I think!



Another detail with a raised hide. I showed it before. I like it in its very own simplicity ... 



The shores of the Ihner reached now a state that can be regared as "finished" even though I am not completely happy with the shore on the right side of the pic. 



And here we are: The finished overview! 



From another angle. Building this map I developed the idea of the village competition I initiated and run at the simforum.de!

And as a last goody I'll show you a small lot that mostly disappears in its surrounding:



That's it for today!

Have fun!


Bernhard 

[TheTeaCat]

Superb. That's about it really just superb.

I tested out your technique for making forests and woods and testify to how effective it really is.
Thanks for sharing those tips.

I think the first pic is my favourite of this update. It looks just fabulous



regards
Derry

[Swesim]

Beautiful updates!
It was interesting to read the "tutorial" on how to plant that forest.
However it remains to be seen whether I will have the patience to do it myself...

[Tomas Neto]

Awesome update Bernhard!!! 

[Battlecat]

Fantastic update!  That old tower in the woods looks very cool!  I'm sure it would be subject of several good ghost stories in the area.  This area has come together very nicely!  Looking forward to more as always.

[Nardo69]

Hello to All!

A little bit faster than usual and stuff that had been shown elsewhere ... but there is a good reason for this:

Today the First SC4Devotion Thematic Contest is starting! 

The village I am going to show you today was my entrant to the Dorfwettbewerb at the German Simforum that I initiated and moderated.

Since the Sc4devotion competition has almost the same rules as the Simforum competition I thought it would be a good idea to show you how an entrant can look like. (And in addition to this I'll get my MD closer to the MD clasics ...  )

But as always before we start:

TheTeaCat: Hi Derry! Glad you like it! And your use of the tutorial did look great, too!

Swesim: Thanks for the compliment! Actually, you would be surprised how fast you'll get with a little bit practice!

Tomas Neto: Thanks for the compliment!

Battlecat:  Hehe, now that you mention it ... but actually I know some of these watchtowes that have been built in th 19th century for family trips in the nature with or without a small guesthouse

Now, let's go in medias res:

Update Nr. 12: Leonhardt

The overview with the required building and places. Note that a shopping center wasn't required in the Simforum competition!



The budget. The village does make some money ...



Again the overview, this time a tad closer at the village



The church with the cemetary and the village plaza.

The church had been erected upon the basement of the Thermae of a roman castellum. The walls can partially be seen upon 80 cm above ground!

On the plaza you'll see one of the most important places to be in Leonhardt: Thorsten's Trinkhalle (a kind of refreshment stand that sells beer, beverages, fast food etc.). It's the best place to discuss the latest loss of the local sport club at a beer and a Currywurst ...

In addition to this the local pub "Wilder Mann" opens at 8.00pm and where else could you stay until you get your first beer in the pub?



The sportfield of the TuS 04 Leonhardt. Some say they are the worst team in their league and the only reason they weren't relegated is that they are already loosing playing in the lowest league ...



The townhall, built in not-so-good time. The grey street was the main road until a new road around the old center was built in the fifties.



The new village center. Around the new road a new "CBD" and some villa were built after the war.



In the eighties a supermarket was erected, well, not on the green field but in the middle of the forest - almost ...



Behind the new main road you can find the houses of the "High Society" of Leonhardt



The first seddlement after war had been erected for Sudetendeutsche, Germans, that were forced to leave their homes in today's Czech Republic after WWII. Most moved on to villas or other places but the houses stayed ...



This stair was necessary to guide the workers to the farms and the industry at the RR station. Today it is hardly used at all ...



The local railway line was electrified in the sixties for freight trains. The local freight terminal has been closed and removed years ago, today only commuter trains are stopping once an hour and direction at the flag stop that had been a RR station ...



Most people of Leonhardt were always working at  small industrial area at the railway station. It was the main reason why there had been bombing raids in WWII, too.



The old main road went down through this serpentine to the railway station and the factories. Today it "only" connects the old part of the village to the factories and the railway station.



The old bridge of the river Qualch had been erected in the 17th century. It survived some bombing raids without any remarkable damage but was eventually blasted by SS troups on their retreat on April 19th 1945 ...
After the War it was rebuilt to keep the typical view of the landscape.



The creek Sittersbach (from the left side) flows in the river Qualch.



And that closeup closed my entrant and this update.

Hope you liked. Maybe it encourages and/ or inspires you to take part in the Thematic Compatition ...


Have fun!


Bernhard 

[rooker1]

Hello Bernhard,

Wow...those are some fantastic pictures.So many small details here and there.  From the trees, the rocky shore, the river itself, the terrain is still beyond my own patience, but you make it look so easy, as always!  Great work!
It's always a pleasure to visit your MD and see a new update....actually it's even nice to go back and relook it over! 

I look forward to this competition you speak of.

Robin 

[Battlecat]

Fantastic details in this tile!  You're really getting good at creating high quality shorelines on your plopable water rivers!  That really is a very nicely laid out town there!

[Earth quake]

Awesome update, the village is really nice.
The church is really pretty and the river and the creek are really beautiful.
Excellent work.